Part 34
Isabel paused in the entrance to the hospital cafeteria. She could see Max sitting at a table in the corner, by himself, his head in his hands.
Not for the first time since he had returned, her heart went out to her brother.
She missed him so much - and she was so worried about him. Max's constant state of confusion and suspicion seemed to be draining him bit by bit. The only time he seemed even remotely secure was when he was with Liz or Jennetta.
The emotional roller-coaster on which he was trapped had to be stopped. Isabel had to make him trust her again.
She had no choice. She could not bear to see him suffering and she could not bear to have him hate her.
He was her brother.
She braced herself for rejection, thought about the pep talk Alex had given her earlier. He had reminded her that Max loved her. She just had to make him remember.
Isabel marched resolutely across the room, plunked herself across the table from him. "Hi."
Max's head snapped up. His brows came together briefly but his tone was not angry as he replied, "Hello."
"Are you okay?" Isabel demanded, deciding that abrasive was the best way to go at the moment. He was likely to just throw "gentle" back in her face.
"Yes." He replied, looking past her, his expression suddenly distant.
"I don't believe you." She told him sharply. Max's gaze came back to her face. He frowned more openly.
"I don't particularly care what you believe Mirana." He snapped.
"Don't call me that. My name is Isabel - or Izzy as you usually call me." Isabel's voice was shaking, but she would NOT let him get to her.
Max continued to scowl at her. "I don't know Isabel." He finally replied.
"And I don't know Jaxon Falconer." She insisted. "I want MY brother back."
His expression softened. "I do too." He muttered. For the first time Isabel felt a stab of hope.
"So what are we going to do to make it happen?" Isabel asked him. Max did not reply, just shook his head in frustration.
"I have an idea. Why don't you tell me what you DO remember about Michael and I and Liz and anything." Isabel had no idea if there was any point to this, but she wanted to keep him talking. He seemed open to it at the moment and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
"I don't remember anything." Max told her shortly. "At least anything about my life here. Well, there was ONE thing."
"What?" Isabel leaned forward eagerly.
"Something to do with Liz." He replied. "It's private."
"But you had a memory?" When he nodded she continued. "That's a good sign. It means that your Max memories are still there. We just need to sort through your fake Jaxon ones and deal with them."
Max grimaced. "Real memories, fake ones...How am I supposed to tell the difference?"
"Well, I know for a fact that there is NO way that I ever betrayed you - in this life or the last." Isabel told him. "So you can just get rid of all those memories right now."
Max tilted his head. The shadow of a smile appeared on his face.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Isabel demanded. He looked amused. She had no idea what that meant.
"You're exactly the same as you were before you betrayed me." He replied. "Mirana was so determined all the time - determined that we were going to triumph over the Dernians, determined to marry Tristandor, determined that I was going to be the best ruler Illyria had ever seen. She ordered me around all the time. At least that's what I remember." He had sobered, sounded sad.
Isabel stared at him dumb-founded. "Tell me what happened."
Max eyed her a moment longer, finally nodded. "Very well - but it's not pleasant. I've realized that these memories are probably not real, but I have them. They FEEL real."
"I understand."
"Tristandor came to the Citadel in the spring." Max told her. "You had met him in the Waylandian Ring the summer before. You loved him immediately, but he only felt the urge to leave his people when they began to insist that he be cleansed."
"You mean podded to lose his emotions?" Isabel asked.
"Yes. He and I were close almost immediately. You were married soon after his arrival. The three of us were inseparable."
"What happened?" Isabel whispered. So far it sounded how she expected it would. She, Michael and Max had always been a unit - a close threesome. It made sense that it had always been thus.
"He brought Sabrya to Illyria." Max had a far-away look on his face. "He told me that if I married her, the four-square we would create would be powerful enough to defeat Danala and the Dernians. Our gifts were complementary he told me. Together we would be unbeatable. And then you both betrayed me."
"How?" Isabel swallowed. Even though she knew none of this had really happened, the devastation on Max's face made her want to cry. To him it HAD been real.
"On the day Sabrya and I wed, Tristandor's army took the Citadel. Sabrya and I had already retired to our chamber. She tried to murder me in my bed that night. Before it could happen Tarsus came and took me away. He told me that the whole marriage had been a plot to do away with me so that you and Tristandor could take the throne. His leader, Danala, had tried to stop it - wanted to save me. She knew that the only way to reconcile the planet was to come to an agreement with me. But by the time I went to meet her, she was gone."
Isabel frowned. "Gone where?"
"I never knew. Tarsus and I went to war against you the next year. I never knew that you weren't even on Illyria any more." He told her, shaking his head in disbelief.
"But Max, YOU weren't on the planet either!" Isabel told him. "You were here. We were killed and somehow brought here. I don't know how, but it's the truth. We were NEVER separated."
Max scraped a hand through his hair. "I KNOW it - but I don't REMEMBER," he replied in frustration. "What are we going to do?" He swallowed, closed his eyes.
When he opened them, Isabel's eyes locked with his. "The question is Max, if you're never able to recover your real memories, are you going to be able to get past the fake ones? Are we going to be able to start over?"
He stared at her, his expression unreadable. But he never had a chance to answer.
Michael came careening into the cafeteria, Alex hot on his heels.
"Jennetta! She's gone!"
Max jumped to his feet. "What do you mean she's gone?" He demanded.
"I mean she's gone. Alex and I were playing with her." Michael sounded very upset. Isabel stared at him. She knew that he had bonded with her little sister, but he almost sounded hysterical. She had NEVER heard him sound that way before.
It freaked her out.
"She decided to go see Maria." Alex continued. "When we went in there a few minutes ago, Maria said she had never been there."
"Where IS Maria?" Max snapped, already striding out of the cafeteria.
"I'm here. Max! We need to find her."
Isabel blinked. Maria was coming towards them down the hallway fully dressed and looking almost as hysterical as Michael had sounded.
"Liz is gone too." Kyle told them as he came around the corner.
Relief suddenly seemed to hit them all at once. "She must be with Liz." Isabel voiced what they were all thinking.
"Why would Liz take off with Jennetta without telling anyone?" Max asked suspiciously. The group all exchanged looks.
"Er, I don't know." Isabel saw Maria swallow convulsively.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Max told them. "We need to find them immediately."
"But where do we start looking?" Kyle asked, sounding perplexed.
"We split up." Max decided.
"Hey!" Kyle suddenly exclaimed. "Where's Tess?"
***********************************************************************************
Jennetta was crouched in the back seat of Tess' SUV. She had her eyes closed, was concentrating on making sure that neither Tess or Liz noticed her there. It didn't take that much power really. She could still listen to the conversation that was taking place between the two older girls in the front seat.
Mind-warps had been one of the first things she had learned to do after she had emerged from her pod.
She had been playing with Michael and Alex on the front lawn of the hospital when a shiver had gone down her spine. She had turned around to see Tess and Liz exiting the hospital and walking towards the parking lot.
For some reason, Jennetta had known that something was wrong. Liz should not be alone with Sabrya.
As Jennetta hid now, she asked herself why she hadn't told Michael or gone to Jaxon. What had possessed her to get in this car? She was a child - what could she do to help Liz? She had been stupid and reckless, lying to her father about where she was going.
Nothing had happened so far, but Jennetta had entered Tess' mind, had seen that her thoughts were in disordered confusion. She could not get anything else from her. All Jennetta knew was that Tess was about to do something she didn't want to.
"So, Isabel didn't say anything else?" Liz was asking, sounding worried.
"She just said that he had jumped out of the car and that they were close to the Reservation." Tess replied, sounding distracted. "We're almost there. Don't worry Liz. We'll find him."
The car pulled to a stop suddenly. "Why are we stopping? We're in the middle of nowhere." Liz asked, sounding confused.
"I can feel him Liz. Can't you?"
"No." Liz sounded even more confused and a bit suspicious. "What do you mean you can feel him?"
"He's out there somewhere. C'mon. We have to go on foot from here."
"I'm coming with you." Jennetta let her mind-warp go.
Tess and Liz both whirled in their seats. Liz looked horrified, Tess shocked.
"Jennetta! What are you doing here?" Liz demanded. "Does Maria know where you are? I can see by the look on your face that she doesn't. What were you thinking?"
Jennetta thought quickly. Tess was beginning to eye her suspiciously. "Jaxon disappeared. I saw you leaving, thought that you were going to look for him." She replied. She had figured out that this was why Liz had gone with Tess - to find Jaxon, who she thought was missing. Jennetta wasn't sure if he was missing or not, but she did know better than to tell Liz, in front of Tess, that she should not be trusting the curly-haired blonde.
Liz's face softened. "Oh. Well, I think we should call Maria right now. She's probably freaking out."
"NO!" Tess exclaimed. Liz turned to stare at her. .
"Why not?"
"Because that would spoil the surprise." A new voice interjected. "Good work Tessie - not only did you bring me the witch that has Jaxon in her thrall, you brought me the brat that everyone on Illyria is proclaiming as the Chosen One. The false one, might I add."
Jennetta turned to stare out the window at the girl standing there, peering in at them.
She heard Liz gasp. "Tess, what's going on? Pam, what are you doing here? Ohmygod! Jennetta! Run!"
But it was too late. The girl standing outside of the car, the one Liz had called Pam, lifted her hand.
Jennetta could hear Liz screaming as she fell into unconsciousness.
Part 35
Michael eyed Maria worriedly out of the corner of his eye as he floored the Jetta's accelerator. She was staring out the window at the darkening desert landscape, her face practically petrified with fear.
After several attempts to reach Liz and Tess on their cell phones had failed, the group had split up and were now systematically searching the most logical places they might have taken Jennetta.
No one had been able to figure out why either Liz OR Tess would have taken off with the little girl.
And yet somehow they all knew that they had to find all three girls as soon as possible.
No one had dared voice the thought that Jennetta might not be with either Liz or Tess at all.
Max and Kyle were headed for the Reservation, had decided to stop at the Crashdown, the Hardings and the Evans' on their way through town. Isabel and Alex were going to the Pod Chamber.
Michael and Maria had drawn the short end of the straw and were headed out to the Santa Anna Hot Springs, via Fraser Woods.
Michael wasn't really sure why Maria had suggested they go to the spot where they had entered the portal to Illyria nine Earth months ago. It was also the spot where they had returned. Strangely, while a year and a half had passed on Illyria, only an hour had gone by on Earth.
But when Maria had suggested it, somehow he had known that it was right.
Unfortunately the Woods were a good two hour drive from Roswell. It had been agreed that the three cars would stay in close contact through their cellular phones. In fact, Maria had just spoken to Isabel, who had been calling from the Pod Chamber. There had been no sign of the three missing girls there. It had been decided that Isabel and Alex would go join Kyle and Max at the Reservation and that they would then all head out to the Woods if the two boys had not found anything.
Maria had been silent ever since.
Michael could not figure out what was up with her. He had tried to convince her that she should stay at the hospital. After all, she HAD just come out of a coma.
Maria had adamantly refused. She had threatened to just follow them all anyway, so they had let it go.
The way she was freaking about Jennetta...It was weird.
Michael could understand Maria feeling a connection to her because the little girl had saved her life - but the way she was behaving...There was something else going on.
This was leaving out entirely the level of anxiety that had claimed him as soon as he realized that Jennetta was gone. Sure he had bonded with her, attributed it to the fact that she was from his home planet and was a lost and scared little kid.
And yet he KNEW that he had to find her - at all costs.
"We're here." Michael said into the tense silence several long minutes later.
Maria was out of the car before he had even pulled to a complete halt. "Jennetta!" She called. "Baby! Are you out there?"
Michael felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of the pile of rubble Maria was climbing.
It had once been a cave - a cave housing the hot spring where he and Maria had entered the portal to Illyria.
The cave that Isabel had destroyed when she had reopened the portal from this side, bringing them back.
Michael didn't remember much about that day.
He remembered Isabel practically strangling him with her hug after she had realized that he had returned to his normal personality - that he was no longer Mr. Zombie-Man.
He remembered having to tell Liz that Max wasn't coming back, even though he couldn't remember why, remembered the way her entire spirit had seemed to shut down for the protection of her sanity.
He remembered the fact that he had been wearing tights - which was something he would rather forget (although Alex refused to let him).
He remembered seeing Maria so weak that day and remembered the rush of love that had filled him at the sight of her. He had not wanted to be parted from her ever again after that day.
Michael shook his head, began picking his way through the rubble. He wondered why he thought they were going to find anything out here. There was no way anyone could possibly have managed to get through the debris to enter the cave that likely still existed underneath.
Maria was still yelling. "Jennetta! Please! Liz! Can you hear me?"
Michael watched her for a minute, a perplexed frown on his face. "Maria?"
She whirled to stare at him. Her blue eyes were wide, panicked. "They're not here Michael!" He could see that she was starting to shake. "I was so sure that they would be here!"
Michael hurried forward, pulled her into his embrace. "It's okay. We're going to find them." He stroked her back awkwardly.
Maria was muttering to herself. "How could I have lost her again so soon? What kind of mo..." She cut herself off abruptly, wrenched herself out of his arms. "I'm calling Kyle." She said, turning away from him, pulling a cell phone out of the pocket of her coat.
Michael stared at the back of her head, blinked. She was being SO weird.
He moved away from her slightly, began to rummage through the debris, decided to keep busy physically, since his brain was largely running on fumes at this point.
No sleep in three days, jet lag, a girlfriend in a coma and then not, the return of your so-called leader without his memories, and now the complete disappearance of a little girl that you had mysteriously bonded with tended to do that to a guy.
And that was when he heard it.
Michael raised his head, listened. He tried to ignore Maria, who was blathering to Kyle on the cell, something about knowing that Tess was responsible for this whole mess.
The sound continued, becoming more and more pronounced.
It was a beeping noise.
"Maria!" Michael barked her name. She whirled and stared at him.
"Kyle, I'll call you back." She hurried over to him. "What?"
"Listen."
Michael hurried off across the clearing and into the nearby foliage. He was pushing aside a bush when Maria suddenly called out to him. "Over here!"
She was staring down at the ground, a fearful expression on her face.
Michael was beside her a moment later, looking at the same thing she was.
It was a green orb - and it was glowing.
*************************************************************************************
Liz awoke with a splitting headache.
She tried to open her eyes, but found that the world remained strangely dark, even when she was SURE she had done so.
It took her fuzzy mind a moment to realize that she was blindfolded.
It took another minute to realize that she was bound hand and foot.
And suddenly a strange flash claimed her.
Flash*
Pam Troy raising her hand, blasting first Jennetta, and then her with white light reminiscent of Michael.
Liz was breathing shallowly when she came back to herself a moment later.
What on Earth had Pam Troy been doing at the side of the road in the middle of the desert?
It wasn't until she heard a little girl's voice that she remembered exactly what had happened.
"I don't understand why I have to go in here! I've already been podded."
It was Jennetta. She had been hiding in the back of Tess' SUV when Pam had suddenly been there. Liz still felt the absolute flabbergasted shock that had struck her at the sight of Pam Troy raising her hand and blasting Jennetta until the little girl was unconscious. She, Liz, had joined Maria and Michael's daughter in that state a moment later.
It was unbelievable.
Pam Troy was an alien!
And yet it all somehow made a strange amount of sense. At least there was now an explanation for Pam's appalling fashion sense. Liz snorted, started to laugh hysterically.
She realized that she was losing it, forced herself to take deep breaths, to calm down.
Jennetta needed her.
"To protect you Sweetie." Liz recognized Pam's squeaky voice right away, flinched. "You're still too little to look after yourself."
"I don't know." Jennetta sounded unconvinced and a lot younger than Liz had ever heard her sound before. "I don't think Jaxon would like this."
"Jaxon was the one who asked me to do this for you." Pam replied sweetly. "He and I are close friends you know."
"Why isn't he here?" Jennetta demanded.
"He will be." It was a new voice but Liz recognized it right away.
Tess!
Tess had betrayed them.
Liz couldn't quite grasp it.
She had come to trust Tess, had been sure that the girl had given up on her so-called destiny with Max, that they were friends.
How dumb could she have been?
And yet, a little voice in the back of her head told her she had NOT been wrong about Tess.
Something was wrong with this whole situation.
Liz shifted uncomfortably on the hard surface on which she was lying.
She heard movement to her right. "I think she's awake." Tess said, sounding relieved.
"Liz!" Jennetta's voice came closer. "Can't I untie her?"
Liz could feel the child nearby. "Not yet." Pam replied serenely. "But you can take her blindfold off."
She felt small hands reaching around behind her head. "Liz! Are you okay?" Jennetta whispered into her ear.
Liz blinked at the bright light that suddenly streamed into her face. It took a moment for the figures around her to come into focus. Jennetta was kneeling in front of her, Tess and Pam standing nearby staring at her.
The room was huge.
It was composed completely of stone - polished stone.
The walls were covered with symbols exactly like those in the cave at the Reservation where she and her friends had returned Michael's balance almost two years before.
Liz's eyes widened at the sight that greeted her directly to her right.
Five pods.
Four were dark, as though the light within had burned out long ago.
And one was glowing.
"What's going on?" She managed to choke out, feeling helpless, bound as she was. Her eyes automatically sought out Tess. The other girl looked away. Liz was sure that she had seen a flash of guilt cross her face before she lost sight of it though. "Tess! Please!"
"Why can't I untie her?" Jennetta demanded, turning to glare at Pam.
"Because I told you you couldn't." Pam snapped. Her tone became softer when she saw, as Liz did, Jennetta's spine stiffen. "She'll be okay Sweetie. Jaxon will take care of her when he gets here. Now come here. We've got work to do."
Jennetta glanced once more at Liz, sighed and climbed to her feet.
"Jennetta!" Liz called after her. "Whatever she wants you to do - don't do it!"
It was as though Jennetta did not hear her though. She didn't even turn around.
Pam eyed her for a moment, turned to Tess. "Deal with her. I know you want to. You deserve the right Sabrya. She almost stole your destiny from you."
Liz's eyes widened. She felt a chill run down her side when Tess' face darkened. The strange glow that Liz had noticed when she and Max had run into Tess at the Pod Chamber appeared in her blue eyes.
Tess was crazy. There was no denying it now.
She was walking towards her. Liz struggled against her bonds. It was useless.
She could barely even move.
"TESS!" Liz shrieked at her. "Has she brainwashed you?" Tess did not blink. Liz was sure that was what was going on here.
She just KNEW somehow that Tess had not betrayed them. Max, Michael and Maria had all been brainwashed - why not Tess too?
"Tess!" Liz tried again. "Snap out of it!"
A momentary spark of remorse appeared in the blonde girl's eyes, but then it was gone, like a light had been turned out.
Liz watched in horror as Tess raised her hand and it began to glow.
Liz's last thought was: when did she learn to do that?
Then all went dark.
Part 36
Jaxon sat tensely in the passenger seat of Kyle Valenti's red Mustang.
There hadn't been much conversation between them since they had left the hospital. Jaxon knew that he had some sort of history with Kyle, but he had absolutely no memory of it.
And at the moment he didn't particularly care.
All he cared about was finding Liz and Jennetta. Somehow he just KNEW that they had to find them as soon as possible. They had gone to Liz's, the Evans and even Tess'. There had been no sign of the girls anywhere.
With every minute that passed Jaxon knew that they were going to be too late.
His memories of Sabrya reminded him that she was capable of anything. He tried to convince himself that Mirana - Isabel - had been telling him the truth, that the recollections he had of their betrayal, including Tess', were false.
Yet they filtered through his mind clearly, crisply.
*Flash
Sabrya smiling lovingly at him. "Come to bed my love."
*Flash
The door of their chamber being blasted open, Tarsus standing there, a look of relief on his face.
*Flash
Tarsus grabbing Sabrya by the wrist, hauling her off the bed, watching the dagger in her hand fall to the floor. Shock, horror...betrayal.
He shook his head to clear it. He had to focus.
"Are we almost there?" Jaxon asked, clenching and unclenching one of his fists. He was desperately trying to hold on to his control.
The two people he trusted on this cursed planet - the only two - were in danger and it felt like they were never going to find them.
"It's just around the next bend." Kyle replied. Jaxon could see Kyle glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. "You don't really think Tess has done something, do you?"
"I don't know WHAT to think anymore." Jaxon muttered. "Why have we chosen this place? Why would they come here?" He asked Kyle a moment later as his companion pulled his car up in front of a collection of small but neat buildings. There was a small market of some sort in front of one of them.
"It's a Native American Reservation." Kyle explained. "An old guy named River Dog used to live here. He gave you guys a lot of information about Nasedo and your past."
Liz had told him about Nasedo. Apparently he was a shape-shifter, a Dernian - he was the one who had been sent to protect he, Isabel, Michael and Tess on Earth.
And apparently had done a bang-up job of it too, Jaxon thought sarcastically to himself.
Jaxon had stepped out of the car. He looked around. Nothing looked familiar and yet he could feel something...
"He used to live here?" Jaxon inquired. He looked at Kyle questioningly.
Kyle looked uncomfortable. "He was killed." He paused. "By your friend Tarsus." He snapped a moment later.
Jaxon blinked. He was not surprised. It seemed that Tarsus of Dernia was not at all the person Jaxon had believed him to be. "I regret it." He said softly.
A young man with black hair and dark eyes was watching them from a nearby porch. Kyle nudged Jaxon. "That's Eddie. You and Michael lived with he and River Dog last summer."
Eddie was walking towards them, a strange look on his face. He stopped a few feet away. "I thought you were dead." He said to Jaxon.
Jaxon smiled weakly. He'd forgotten about that little problem.
"Reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated." Kyle told Eddie, smirking. Eddie frowned.
"Have you seen River Dog?" He asked Jaxon. "We haven't seen him since you and Spiky left the Reservation last summer. He just disappeared."
Jaxon shook his head.
"He's lost his memory." Kyle said to Eddie in an undertone, as though Jaxon was unaware of his own condition. He scowled at Kyle.
Oh there was history between he and Valenti all right and apparently not ALL of it good. The annoyance that often graced Kyle's face when he looked at Jaxon - well, it was all there in black and white.
"Have you seen Liz?" Kyle was asking Eddie.
Eddie shook his head. "Nah, but Tess was here a couple of days ago."
Jaxon had been staring off across the open desert behind the buildings. He was getting a sense of something in the air...He didn't like it. His head snapped around at Eddie's comment though.
"What did she want?" He demanded.
Eddie just shook his head. "She didn't want anything. She just went out into the desert for a few hours and then came back."
"Was she alone?" Kyle asked suddenly. The look on his face told Jaxon that he was beginning to accept that Tess was heavily involved in Liz and Jennetta's disappearance somehow. He looked resigned, and yet sad.
"No, she was with another girl." Eddie told him. "She was really trashy - too much make-up, really tight jeans. The whole nine yards."
Kyle looked like he had swallowed something vile. "Which way did they go that day?" He asked.
Eddie pointed them in the right direction.
"I guess we should check it out. Shall we?" Kyle asked Jaxon with a smirk on his face. Jaxon could tell that he was just trying to mask how upset he was.
"Isabel and Michael are on their way." Kyle told Eddie before they left. "Point them in the right direction when they get here."
Eddie nodded, frowning after them.
Jaxon and Kyle started out across the desert, going North.
************************************************************************************
"Michael! Don't touch it!" Maria grabbed his arm as he reached down to pick up the glowing green orb.
Michael turned around to stare at her. "Why not?"
"It's an orb!" Maria replied. "Don't you know how much trouble those filthy things have caused?" She demanded, her tone disgusted.
Michael eyed her like she was crazy. "What the hell are you talking about Maria? What do YOU know about orbs?"
He watched her face darken. "Too damn much." She muttered under her breath. She shook her head, stared straight at him. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you activated one of these things?" She asked. "You brought that maniac Tarsus of Dernia right down on all of our heads - he turned you into a zombie, practically kidnapped Max and nearly tore us all apart. I think you should just stay away from that thing."
He just knew that she was hiding something from him. That answer had just been too pat. Her eyes were now dancing around the clearing, almost hysterically.
"Maria." She refused to look at him. "Maria!" Maria turned her blue eyes on him. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"What do you mean?" She asked evasively, moving slightly away from him.
"You're acting all psycho!" Michael replied, feeling like pulling his hair out. He heard Maria snort in annoyance, start muttering under her breath.
"Well, excuse me! I just came out of a coma for God's sake, not to mention..." She cut herself off abruptly.
Definitely psycho. Michael just stared at her, shook his head.
He moved to pick up the orb. "We don't have time for this." He muttered. "This orb is here for a reason. I'm going to find out what it is."
"MICHAEL! No!" Maria made a move to smack it away from him, but Michael put his hands up over his head, well out of her reach. She started to jump up and down trying to get her hands on it.
"Maria! Would you settle down!" He yelled. "See! I'm fine! I'm touching it. I haven't been turned into..."
His head suddenly felt like it wanted to explode.
Michael fell to his knees in agony, tried to drop the orb, but it was like it was grafted to his hands.
He could hear Maria screaming at him from what seemed like a very great distance.
And then the visions began.
*Flash
"Were you eavesdropping Tristandor?" Michael recognized that voice immediately - Tarsus of Dernia.
"You're damn right I was! You never tell us anything. We're not just going to sit on our butts and wait for you to exterminate us." Michael could feel Maria beside him. He could feel his own fear and horror. They were coming for her. He had to stop it.
*Flash
"I love you Michael."
"I love you too."
*Flash
He and Maria standing in a stone circle, staring intently at the orbs in their hands. "I guess we're okay." He said to her and then a beam of light knocked them both off their feet...and Max was there.
*Flash
"When has Michael ever been capable of sense?" It was Max and he sounded disgusted.
*Flash
"I think it's the baby Michael." Complete panic claimed him.
*Flash
"Well, it's a little sooner than I would have liked, but its your babies I want to be having, so at least I got that right!"
*Flash
"Michael! I'm going to kill you!" Maria screaming in agony, Michael feeling helpless, guilty and yet so incredibly happy he could barely see straight.
*Flash
"Ren told me about your mother Michael. She should be named for your heritage. Her name is Jennetta."
*Flash
"Michael. You have to accept this. You need to protect your child."
"This is insanity Max! I should be with you! I'm your right hand. Your mother told us so!"
The flashes ended abruptly, as though a hand had ripped them out of his head.
When Michael became aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was lying face-down on the ground.
Maria was kneeling beside him sobbing. "Michael!" She was running her hands up and down his back. "Wake up! Damn these things!"
He could tell that the orb was no longer in his hands. He heard Maria grunt as she heaved it away across the clearing. He faintly heard a thud as it landed.
Michael groaned, rolled over onto his back, stared up at the stars.
Maria's face came into focus. "Are you okay? What happened?"
He didn't reply immediately. He didn't know how to tell her what he had to tell her. She was going to freak. She was ALREADY half-way to a patented Maria flip-out.
How was he supposed to tell her that Jennetta was THEIR daughter.
He had no idea - but he did know one thing.
Whoever had taken his child was going to pay.
Isabel paused in the entrance to the hospital cafeteria. She could see Max sitting at a table in the corner, by himself, his head in his hands.
Not for the first time since he had returned, her heart went out to her brother.
She missed him so much - and she was so worried about him. Max's constant state of confusion and suspicion seemed to be draining him bit by bit. The only time he seemed even remotely secure was when he was with Liz or Jennetta.
The emotional roller-coaster on which he was trapped had to be stopped. Isabel had to make him trust her again.
She had no choice. She could not bear to see him suffering and she could not bear to have him hate her.
He was her brother.
She braced herself for rejection, thought about the pep talk Alex had given her earlier. He had reminded her that Max loved her. She just had to make him remember.
Isabel marched resolutely across the room, plunked herself across the table from him. "Hi."
Max's head snapped up. His brows came together briefly but his tone was not angry as he replied, "Hello."
"Are you okay?" Isabel demanded, deciding that abrasive was the best way to go at the moment. He was likely to just throw "gentle" back in her face.
"Yes." He replied, looking past her, his expression suddenly distant.
"I don't believe you." She told him sharply. Max's gaze came back to her face. He frowned more openly.
"I don't particularly care what you believe Mirana." He snapped.
"Don't call me that. My name is Isabel - or Izzy as you usually call me." Isabel's voice was shaking, but she would NOT let him get to her.
Max continued to scowl at her. "I don't know Isabel." He finally replied.
"And I don't know Jaxon Falconer." She insisted. "I want MY brother back."
His expression softened. "I do too." He muttered. For the first time Isabel felt a stab of hope.
"So what are we going to do to make it happen?" Isabel asked him. Max did not reply, just shook his head in frustration.
"I have an idea. Why don't you tell me what you DO remember about Michael and I and Liz and anything." Isabel had no idea if there was any point to this, but she wanted to keep him talking. He seemed open to it at the moment and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
"I don't remember anything." Max told her shortly. "At least anything about my life here. Well, there was ONE thing."
"What?" Isabel leaned forward eagerly.
"Something to do with Liz." He replied. "It's private."
"But you had a memory?" When he nodded she continued. "That's a good sign. It means that your Max memories are still there. We just need to sort through your fake Jaxon ones and deal with them."
Max grimaced. "Real memories, fake ones...How am I supposed to tell the difference?"
"Well, I know for a fact that there is NO way that I ever betrayed you - in this life or the last." Isabel told him. "So you can just get rid of all those memories right now."
Max tilted his head. The shadow of a smile appeared on his face.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Isabel demanded. He looked amused. She had no idea what that meant.
"You're exactly the same as you were before you betrayed me." He replied. "Mirana was so determined all the time - determined that we were going to triumph over the Dernians, determined to marry Tristandor, determined that I was going to be the best ruler Illyria had ever seen. She ordered me around all the time. At least that's what I remember." He had sobered, sounded sad.
Isabel stared at him dumb-founded. "Tell me what happened."
Max eyed her a moment longer, finally nodded. "Very well - but it's not pleasant. I've realized that these memories are probably not real, but I have them. They FEEL real."
"I understand."
"Tristandor came to the Citadel in the spring." Max told her. "You had met him in the Waylandian Ring the summer before. You loved him immediately, but he only felt the urge to leave his people when they began to insist that he be cleansed."
"You mean podded to lose his emotions?" Isabel asked.
"Yes. He and I were close almost immediately. You were married soon after his arrival. The three of us were inseparable."
"What happened?" Isabel whispered. So far it sounded how she expected it would. She, Michael and Max had always been a unit - a close threesome. It made sense that it had always been thus.
"He brought Sabrya to Illyria." Max had a far-away look on his face. "He told me that if I married her, the four-square we would create would be powerful enough to defeat Danala and the Dernians. Our gifts were complementary he told me. Together we would be unbeatable. And then you both betrayed me."
"How?" Isabel swallowed. Even though she knew none of this had really happened, the devastation on Max's face made her want to cry. To him it HAD been real.
"On the day Sabrya and I wed, Tristandor's army took the Citadel. Sabrya and I had already retired to our chamber. She tried to murder me in my bed that night. Before it could happen Tarsus came and took me away. He told me that the whole marriage had been a plot to do away with me so that you and Tristandor could take the throne. His leader, Danala, had tried to stop it - wanted to save me. She knew that the only way to reconcile the planet was to come to an agreement with me. But by the time I went to meet her, she was gone."
Isabel frowned. "Gone where?"
"I never knew. Tarsus and I went to war against you the next year. I never knew that you weren't even on Illyria any more." He told her, shaking his head in disbelief.
"But Max, YOU weren't on the planet either!" Isabel told him. "You were here. We were killed and somehow brought here. I don't know how, but it's the truth. We were NEVER separated."
Max scraped a hand through his hair. "I KNOW it - but I don't REMEMBER," he replied in frustration. "What are we going to do?" He swallowed, closed his eyes.
When he opened them, Isabel's eyes locked with his. "The question is Max, if you're never able to recover your real memories, are you going to be able to get past the fake ones? Are we going to be able to start over?"
He stared at her, his expression unreadable. But he never had a chance to answer.
Michael came careening into the cafeteria, Alex hot on his heels.
"Jennetta! She's gone!"
Max jumped to his feet. "What do you mean she's gone?" He demanded.
"I mean she's gone. Alex and I were playing with her." Michael sounded very upset. Isabel stared at him. She knew that he had bonded with her little sister, but he almost sounded hysterical. She had NEVER heard him sound that way before.
It freaked her out.
"She decided to go see Maria." Alex continued. "When we went in there a few minutes ago, Maria said she had never been there."
"Where IS Maria?" Max snapped, already striding out of the cafeteria.
"I'm here. Max! We need to find her."
Isabel blinked. Maria was coming towards them down the hallway fully dressed and looking almost as hysterical as Michael had sounded.
"Liz is gone too." Kyle told them as he came around the corner.
Relief suddenly seemed to hit them all at once. "She must be with Liz." Isabel voiced what they were all thinking.
"Why would Liz take off with Jennetta without telling anyone?" Max asked suspiciously. The group all exchanged looks.
"Er, I don't know." Isabel saw Maria swallow convulsively.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Max told them. "We need to find them immediately."
"But where do we start looking?" Kyle asked, sounding perplexed.
"We split up." Max decided.
"Hey!" Kyle suddenly exclaimed. "Where's Tess?"
***********************************************************************************
Jennetta was crouched in the back seat of Tess' SUV. She had her eyes closed, was concentrating on making sure that neither Tess or Liz noticed her there. It didn't take that much power really. She could still listen to the conversation that was taking place between the two older girls in the front seat.
Mind-warps had been one of the first things she had learned to do after she had emerged from her pod.
She had been playing with Michael and Alex on the front lawn of the hospital when a shiver had gone down her spine. She had turned around to see Tess and Liz exiting the hospital and walking towards the parking lot.
For some reason, Jennetta had known that something was wrong. Liz should not be alone with Sabrya.
As Jennetta hid now, she asked herself why she hadn't told Michael or gone to Jaxon. What had possessed her to get in this car? She was a child - what could she do to help Liz? She had been stupid and reckless, lying to her father about where she was going.
Nothing had happened so far, but Jennetta had entered Tess' mind, had seen that her thoughts were in disordered confusion. She could not get anything else from her. All Jennetta knew was that Tess was about to do something she didn't want to.
"So, Isabel didn't say anything else?" Liz was asking, sounding worried.
"She just said that he had jumped out of the car and that they were close to the Reservation." Tess replied, sounding distracted. "We're almost there. Don't worry Liz. We'll find him."
The car pulled to a stop suddenly. "Why are we stopping? We're in the middle of nowhere." Liz asked, sounding confused.
"I can feel him Liz. Can't you?"
"No." Liz sounded even more confused and a bit suspicious. "What do you mean you can feel him?"
"He's out there somewhere. C'mon. We have to go on foot from here."
"I'm coming with you." Jennetta let her mind-warp go.
Tess and Liz both whirled in their seats. Liz looked horrified, Tess shocked.
"Jennetta! What are you doing here?" Liz demanded. "Does Maria know where you are? I can see by the look on your face that she doesn't. What were you thinking?"
Jennetta thought quickly. Tess was beginning to eye her suspiciously. "Jaxon disappeared. I saw you leaving, thought that you were going to look for him." She replied. She had figured out that this was why Liz had gone with Tess - to find Jaxon, who she thought was missing. Jennetta wasn't sure if he was missing or not, but she did know better than to tell Liz, in front of Tess, that she should not be trusting the curly-haired blonde.
Liz's face softened. "Oh. Well, I think we should call Maria right now. She's probably freaking out."
"NO!" Tess exclaimed. Liz turned to stare at her. .
"Why not?"
"Because that would spoil the surprise." A new voice interjected. "Good work Tessie - not only did you bring me the witch that has Jaxon in her thrall, you brought me the brat that everyone on Illyria is proclaiming as the Chosen One. The false one, might I add."
Jennetta turned to stare out the window at the girl standing there, peering in at them.
She heard Liz gasp. "Tess, what's going on? Pam, what are you doing here? Ohmygod! Jennetta! Run!"
But it was too late. The girl standing outside of the car, the one Liz had called Pam, lifted her hand.
Jennetta could hear Liz screaming as she fell into unconsciousness.
Part 35
Michael eyed Maria worriedly out of the corner of his eye as he floored the Jetta's accelerator. She was staring out the window at the darkening desert landscape, her face practically petrified with fear.
After several attempts to reach Liz and Tess on their cell phones had failed, the group had split up and were now systematically searching the most logical places they might have taken Jennetta.
No one had been able to figure out why either Liz OR Tess would have taken off with the little girl.
And yet somehow they all knew that they had to find all three girls as soon as possible.
No one had dared voice the thought that Jennetta might not be with either Liz or Tess at all.
Max and Kyle were headed for the Reservation, had decided to stop at the Crashdown, the Hardings and the Evans' on their way through town. Isabel and Alex were going to the Pod Chamber.
Michael and Maria had drawn the short end of the straw and were headed out to the Santa Anna Hot Springs, via Fraser Woods.
Michael wasn't really sure why Maria had suggested they go to the spot where they had entered the portal to Illyria nine Earth months ago. It was also the spot where they had returned. Strangely, while a year and a half had passed on Illyria, only an hour had gone by on Earth.
But when Maria had suggested it, somehow he had known that it was right.
Unfortunately the Woods were a good two hour drive from Roswell. It had been agreed that the three cars would stay in close contact through their cellular phones. In fact, Maria had just spoken to Isabel, who had been calling from the Pod Chamber. There had been no sign of the three missing girls there. It had been decided that Isabel and Alex would go join Kyle and Max at the Reservation and that they would then all head out to the Woods if the two boys had not found anything.
Maria had been silent ever since.
Michael could not figure out what was up with her. He had tried to convince her that she should stay at the hospital. After all, she HAD just come out of a coma.
Maria had adamantly refused. She had threatened to just follow them all anyway, so they had let it go.
The way she was freaking about Jennetta...It was weird.
Michael could understand Maria feeling a connection to her because the little girl had saved her life - but the way she was behaving...There was something else going on.
This was leaving out entirely the level of anxiety that had claimed him as soon as he realized that Jennetta was gone. Sure he had bonded with her, attributed it to the fact that she was from his home planet and was a lost and scared little kid.
And yet he KNEW that he had to find her - at all costs.
"We're here." Michael said into the tense silence several long minutes later.
Maria was out of the car before he had even pulled to a complete halt. "Jennetta!" She called. "Baby! Are you out there?"
Michael felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of the pile of rubble Maria was climbing.
It had once been a cave - a cave housing the hot spring where he and Maria had entered the portal to Illyria.
The cave that Isabel had destroyed when she had reopened the portal from this side, bringing them back.
Michael didn't remember much about that day.
He remembered Isabel practically strangling him with her hug after she had realized that he had returned to his normal personality - that he was no longer Mr. Zombie-Man.
He remembered having to tell Liz that Max wasn't coming back, even though he couldn't remember why, remembered the way her entire spirit had seemed to shut down for the protection of her sanity.
He remembered the fact that he had been wearing tights - which was something he would rather forget (although Alex refused to let him).
He remembered seeing Maria so weak that day and remembered the rush of love that had filled him at the sight of her. He had not wanted to be parted from her ever again after that day.
Michael shook his head, began picking his way through the rubble. He wondered why he thought they were going to find anything out here. There was no way anyone could possibly have managed to get through the debris to enter the cave that likely still existed underneath.
Maria was still yelling. "Jennetta! Please! Liz! Can you hear me?"
Michael watched her for a minute, a perplexed frown on his face. "Maria?"
She whirled to stare at him. Her blue eyes were wide, panicked. "They're not here Michael!" He could see that she was starting to shake. "I was so sure that they would be here!"
Michael hurried forward, pulled her into his embrace. "It's okay. We're going to find them." He stroked her back awkwardly.
Maria was muttering to herself. "How could I have lost her again so soon? What kind of mo..." She cut herself off abruptly, wrenched herself out of his arms. "I'm calling Kyle." She said, turning away from him, pulling a cell phone out of the pocket of her coat.
Michael stared at the back of her head, blinked. She was being SO weird.
He moved away from her slightly, began to rummage through the debris, decided to keep busy physically, since his brain was largely running on fumes at this point.
No sleep in three days, jet lag, a girlfriend in a coma and then not, the return of your so-called leader without his memories, and now the complete disappearance of a little girl that you had mysteriously bonded with tended to do that to a guy.
And that was when he heard it.
Michael raised his head, listened. He tried to ignore Maria, who was blathering to Kyle on the cell, something about knowing that Tess was responsible for this whole mess.
The sound continued, becoming more and more pronounced.
It was a beeping noise.
"Maria!" Michael barked her name. She whirled and stared at him.
"Kyle, I'll call you back." She hurried over to him. "What?"
"Listen."
Michael hurried off across the clearing and into the nearby foliage. He was pushing aside a bush when Maria suddenly called out to him. "Over here!"
She was staring down at the ground, a fearful expression on her face.
Michael was beside her a moment later, looking at the same thing she was.
It was a green orb - and it was glowing.
*************************************************************************************
Liz awoke with a splitting headache.
She tried to open her eyes, but found that the world remained strangely dark, even when she was SURE she had done so.
It took her fuzzy mind a moment to realize that she was blindfolded.
It took another minute to realize that she was bound hand and foot.
And suddenly a strange flash claimed her.
Flash*
Pam Troy raising her hand, blasting first Jennetta, and then her with white light reminiscent of Michael.
Liz was breathing shallowly when she came back to herself a moment later.
What on Earth had Pam Troy been doing at the side of the road in the middle of the desert?
It wasn't until she heard a little girl's voice that she remembered exactly what had happened.
"I don't understand why I have to go in here! I've already been podded."
It was Jennetta. She had been hiding in the back of Tess' SUV when Pam had suddenly been there. Liz still felt the absolute flabbergasted shock that had struck her at the sight of Pam Troy raising her hand and blasting Jennetta until the little girl was unconscious. She, Liz, had joined Maria and Michael's daughter in that state a moment later.
It was unbelievable.
Pam Troy was an alien!
And yet it all somehow made a strange amount of sense. At least there was now an explanation for Pam's appalling fashion sense. Liz snorted, started to laugh hysterically.
She realized that she was losing it, forced herself to take deep breaths, to calm down.
Jennetta needed her.
"To protect you Sweetie." Liz recognized Pam's squeaky voice right away, flinched. "You're still too little to look after yourself."
"I don't know." Jennetta sounded unconvinced and a lot younger than Liz had ever heard her sound before. "I don't think Jaxon would like this."
"Jaxon was the one who asked me to do this for you." Pam replied sweetly. "He and I are close friends you know."
"Why isn't he here?" Jennetta demanded.
"He will be." It was a new voice but Liz recognized it right away.
Tess!
Tess had betrayed them.
Liz couldn't quite grasp it.
She had come to trust Tess, had been sure that the girl had given up on her so-called destiny with Max, that they were friends.
How dumb could she have been?
And yet, a little voice in the back of her head told her she had NOT been wrong about Tess.
Something was wrong with this whole situation.
Liz shifted uncomfortably on the hard surface on which she was lying.
She heard movement to her right. "I think she's awake." Tess said, sounding relieved.
"Liz!" Jennetta's voice came closer. "Can't I untie her?"
Liz could feel the child nearby. "Not yet." Pam replied serenely. "But you can take her blindfold off."
She felt small hands reaching around behind her head. "Liz! Are you okay?" Jennetta whispered into her ear.
Liz blinked at the bright light that suddenly streamed into her face. It took a moment for the figures around her to come into focus. Jennetta was kneeling in front of her, Tess and Pam standing nearby staring at her.
The room was huge.
It was composed completely of stone - polished stone.
The walls were covered with symbols exactly like those in the cave at the Reservation where she and her friends had returned Michael's balance almost two years before.
Liz's eyes widened at the sight that greeted her directly to her right.
Five pods.
Four were dark, as though the light within had burned out long ago.
And one was glowing.
"What's going on?" She managed to choke out, feeling helpless, bound as she was. Her eyes automatically sought out Tess. The other girl looked away. Liz was sure that she had seen a flash of guilt cross her face before she lost sight of it though. "Tess! Please!"
"Why can't I untie her?" Jennetta demanded, turning to glare at Pam.
"Because I told you you couldn't." Pam snapped. Her tone became softer when she saw, as Liz did, Jennetta's spine stiffen. "She'll be okay Sweetie. Jaxon will take care of her when he gets here. Now come here. We've got work to do."
Jennetta glanced once more at Liz, sighed and climbed to her feet.
"Jennetta!" Liz called after her. "Whatever she wants you to do - don't do it!"
It was as though Jennetta did not hear her though. She didn't even turn around.
Pam eyed her for a moment, turned to Tess. "Deal with her. I know you want to. You deserve the right Sabrya. She almost stole your destiny from you."
Liz's eyes widened. She felt a chill run down her side when Tess' face darkened. The strange glow that Liz had noticed when she and Max had run into Tess at the Pod Chamber appeared in her blue eyes.
Tess was crazy. There was no denying it now.
She was walking towards her. Liz struggled against her bonds. It was useless.
She could barely even move.
"TESS!" Liz shrieked at her. "Has she brainwashed you?" Tess did not blink. Liz was sure that was what was going on here.
She just KNEW somehow that Tess had not betrayed them. Max, Michael and Maria had all been brainwashed - why not Tess too?
"Tess!" Liz tried again. "Snap out of it!"
A momentary spark of remorse appeared in the blonde girl's eyes, but then it was gone, like a light had been turned out.
Liz watched in horror as Tess raised her hand and it began to glow.
Liz's last thought was: when did she learn to do that?
Then all went dark.
Part 36
Jaxon sat tensely in the passenger seat of Kyle Valenti's red Mustang.
There hadn't been much conversation between them since they had left the hospital. Jaxon knew that he had some sort of history with Kyle, but he had absolutely no memory of it.
And at the moment he didn't particularly care.
All he cared about was finding Liz and Jennetta. Somehow he just KNEW that they had to find them as soon as possible. They had gone to Liz's, the Evans and even Tess'. There had been no sign of the girls anywhere.
With every minute that passed Jaxon knew that they were going to be too late.
His memories of Sabrya reminded him that she was capable of anything. He tried to convince himself that Mirana - Isabel - had been telling him the truth, that the recollections he had of their betrayal, including Tess', were false.
Yet they filtered through his mind clearly, crisply.
*Flash
Sabrya smiling lovingly at him. "Come to bed my love."
*Flash
The door of their chamber being blasted open, Tarsus standing there, a look of relief on his face.
*Flash
Tarsus grabbing Sabrya by the wrist, hauling her off the bed, watching the dagger in her hand fall to the floor. Shock, horror...betrayal.
He shook his head to clear it. He had to focus.
"Are we almost there?" Jaxon asked, clenching and unclenching one of his fists. He was desperately trying to hold on to his control.
The two people he trusted on this cursed planet - the only two - were in danger and it felt like they were never going to find them.
"It's just around the next bend." Kyle replied. Jaxon could see Kyle glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. "You don't really think Tess has done something, do you?"
"I don't know WHAT to think anymore." Jaxon muttered. "Why have we chosen this place? Why would they come here?" He asked Kyle a moment later as his companion pulled his car up in front of a collection of small but neat buildings. There was a small market of some sort in front of one of them.
"It's a Native American Reservation." Kyle explained. "An old guy named River Dog used to live here. He gave you guys a lot of information about Nasedo and your past."
Liz had told him about Nasedo. Apparently he was a shape-shifter, a Dernian - he was the one who had been sent to protect he, Isabel, Michael and Tess on Earth.
And apparently had done a bang-up job of it too, Jaxon thought sarcastically to himself.
Jaxon had stepped out of the car. He looked around. Nothing looked familiar and yet he could feel something...
"He used to live here?" Jaxon inquired. He looked at Kyle questioningly.
Kyle looked uncomfortable. "He was killed." He paused. "By your friend Tarsus." He snapped a moment later.
Jaxon blinked. He was not surprised. It seemed that Tarsus of Dernia was not at all the person Jaxon had believed him to be. "I regret it." He said softly.
A young man with black hair and dark eyes was watching them from a nearby porch. Kyle nudged Jaxon. "That's Eddie. You and Michael lived with he and River Dog last summer."
Eddie was walking towards them, a strange look on his face. He stopped a few feet away. "I thought you were dead." He said to Jaxon.
Jaxon smiled weakly. He'd forgotten about that little problem.
"Reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated." Kyle told Eddie, smirking. Eddie frowned.
"Have you seen River Dog?" He asked Jaxon. "We haven't seen him since you and Spiky left the Reservation last summer. He just disappeared."
Jaxon shook his head.
"He's lost his memory." Kyle said to Eddie in an undertone, as though Jaxon was unaware of his own condition. He scowled at Kyle.
Oh there was history between he and Valenti all right and apparently not ALL of it good. The annoyance that often graced Kyle's face when he looked at Jaxon - well, it was all there in black and white.
"Have you seen Liz?" Kyle was asking Eddie.
Eddie shook his head. "Nah, but Tess was here a couple of days ago."
Jaxon had been staring off across the open desert behind the buildings. He was getting a sense of something in the air...He didn't like it. His head snapped around at Eddie's comment though.
"What did she want?" He demanded.
Eddie just shook his head. "She didn't want anything. She just went out into the desert for a few hours and then came back."
"Was she alone?" Kyle asked suddenly. The look on his face told Jaxon that he was beginning to accept that Tess was heavily involved in Liz and Jennetta's disappearance somehow. He looked resigned, and yet sad.
"No, she was with another girl." Eddie told him. "She was really trashy - too much make-up, really tight jeans. The whole nine yards."
Kyle looked like he had swallowed something vile. "Which way did they go that day?" He asked.
Eddie pointed them in the right direction.
"I guess we should check it out. Shall we?" Kyle asked Jaxon with a smirk on his face. Jaxon could tell that he was just trying to mask how upset he was.
"Isabel and Michael are on their way." Kyle told Eddie before they left. "Point them in the right direction when they get here."
Eddie nodded, frowning after them.
Jaxon and Kyle started out across the desert, going North.
************************************************************************************
"Michael! Don't touch it!" Maria grabbed his arm as he reached down to pick up the glowing green orb.
Michael turned around to stare at her. "Why not?"
"It's an orb!" Maria replied. "Don't you know how much trouble those filthy things have caused?" She demanded, her tone disgusted.
Michael eyed her like she was crazy. "What the hell are you talking about Maria? What do YOU know about orbs?"
He watched her face darken. "Too damn much." She muttered under her breath. She shook her head, stared straight at him. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you activated one of these things?" She asked. "You brought that maniac Tarsus of Dernia right down on all of our heads - he turned you into a zombie, practically kidnapped Max and nearly tore us all apart. I think you should just stay away from that thing."
He just knew that she was hiding something from him. That answer had just been too pat. Her eyes were now dancing around the clearing, almost hysterically.
"Maria." She refused to look at him. "Maria!" Maria turned her blue eyes on him. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"What do you mean?" She asked evasively, moving slightly away from him.
"You're acting all psycho!" Michael replied, feeling like pulling his hair out. He heard Maria snort in annoyance, start muttering under her breath.
"Well, excuse me! I just came out of a coma for God's sake, not to mention..." She cut herself off abruptly.
Definitely psycho. Michael just stared at her, shook his head.
He moved to pick up the orb. "We don't have time for this." He muttered. "This orb is here for a reason. I'm going to find out what it is."
"MICHAEL! No!" Maria made a move to smack it away from him, but Michael put his hands up over his head, well out of her reach. She started to jump up and down trying to get her hands on it.
"Maria! Would you settle down!" He yelled. "See! I'm fine! I'm touching it. I haven't been turned into..."
His head suddenly felt like it wanted to explode.
Michael fell to his knees in agony, tried to drop the orb, but it was like it was grafted to his hands.
He could hear Maria screaming at him from what seemed like a very great distance.
And then the visions began.
*Flash
"Were you eavesdropping Tristandor?" Michael recognized that voice immediately - Tarsus of Dernia.
"You're damn right I was! You never tell us anything. We're not just going to sit on our butts and wait for you to exterminate us." Michael could feel Maria beside him. He could feel his own fear and horror. They were coming for her. He had to stop it.
*Flash
"I love you Michael."
"I love you too."
*Flash
He and Maria standing in a stone circle, staring intently at the orbs in their hands. "I guess we're okay." He said to her and then a beam of light knocked them both off their feet...and Max was there.
*Flash
"When has Michael ever been capable of sense?" It was Max and he sounded disgusted.
*Flash
"I think it's the baby Michael." Complete panic claimed him.
*Flash
"Well, it's a little sooner than I would have liked, but its your babies I want to be having, so at least I got that right!"
*Flash
"Michael! I'm going to kill you!" Maria screaming in agony, Michael feeling helpless, guilty and yet so incredibly happy he could barely see straight.
*Flash
"Ren told me about your mother Michael. She should be named for your heritage. Her name is Jennetta."
*Flash
"Michael. You have to accept this. You need to protect your child."
"This is insanity Max! I should be with you! I'm your right hand. Your mother told us so!"
The flashes ended abruptly, as though a hand had ripped them out of his head.
When Michael became aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was lying face-down on the ground.
Maria was kneeling beside him sobbing. "Michael!" She was running her hands up and down his back. "Wake up! Damn these things!"
He could tell that the orb was no longer in his hands. He heard Maria grunt as she heaved it away across the clearing. He faintly heard a thud as it landed.
Michael groaned, rolled over onto his back, stared up at the stars.
Maria's face came into focus. "Are you okay? What happened?"
He didn't reply immediately. He didn't know how to tell her what he had to tell her. She was going to freak. She was ALREADY half-way to a patented Maria flip-out.
How was he supposed to tell her that Jennetta was THEIR daughter.
He had no idea - but he did know one thing.
Whoever had taken his child was going to pay.