[u]Part 38[/u]
[b]Illyrian Safe House, Salisbury, England, Earth[/b]
"Where is Princess Mirana?"
Michael, who was sitting at a table in the mess hall, scarfing down a quick dinner, raised his head and met Jemma's furious gaze steadily. "My wife isn't missing, is she?" He asked innocently, picking up another chip and chewing it deliberately. Michael just hoped that Alex had put the pedal to the metal and that he and Isabel were far enough away that a search party wouldn't be able to find them easily.
"Where is she General? I demand to know!" Jemma was practically yelling, causing the heads of those seated near them to turn. Michael tilted his head, examined her with interest. He hadn't been sure it was possible to rile the Illyrian. He was pleased to finally have solid proof that she hadn't ever spent time in a cleansing pod.
"Far away," Michael replied, narrowing his eyes. "We're not opening the portal tonight."
"We'll see about that," Jemma snapped, turning on her heel, her long trench- coat flaring out behind her as she stalked away.
Michael glared at the people seated nearby still staring at him. "What?" He demanded. "Eat!" They all quickly lowered their heads again, in complete obedience. It annoyed him even more. He absolutely hated that he had so much control over complete strangers. He was nineteen frigging years old for God's sake! It was just [I]wrong[/I].
He pushed back his chair, stood and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He might as well follow Jemma, find out what the leader of the Illyrian Guard thought would change his mind. He was only half-way to the door of the mess when it became more than obvious. Because his daughter had just come through it, absolute fury etched on her lovely features.
"What have you done?" She demanded. Jennetta marched right up to him, started poking him in the chest in an action entirely too much like Maria. And, dammit, it hurt!
"Ow," Michael said mildly, grabbing her hand and lowering it to her side. "Not here. Let's go somewhere private." He looked over his shoulder uncomfortably. People were staring again, although they were trying to pretend that they weren't.
"Yes here Michael! I'd like you to tell me, in front of our people, [I]why[/I] you countermanded my direct order," Jennetta yelled. Michael glanced past her at Jemma, who had come up behind Jennetta, a smirk of triumph on her face.
"Jenny."
"We are going to Illyria," she cut him off. "Tell me where Isabel is. Now."
Michael stared at her, his heart breaking. He could see how brittle Jenny was, how all of this was an attempt to hide how much she was hurting over Ren's death. "Jennetta, this isn't going to bring him back. Going to Illyria is [I]not[/I] going to bring him back."
Jennetta froze. He saw a tremor pass through her. "What?" She stared at him in complete disbelief and then scowled.
"Ren wouldn't be happy to see you behaving like this," Michael continued, swallowed as she flinched. He knew he was hurting her, but he had to get through to her somehow. Someone had to. She had to understand that they could not lead a group of complete strangers - innocent humans - through a portal into a world they had no control over. She had to get that they had no chance of winning at the moment, divided as they were.
"I think I know better than anyone what Ren expected of me," Jennetta replied fiercely. "You have no right to stop me from claiming my destiny."
"I have every right," Michael snarled, crossing his arms. "I'm your father."
"Little good [I]that's[/I] done me," Jennetta said with disdain. "You don't really know how to do [I]anything[/I], do you [I]Dad[/I]? You're afraid because of it - because you can't remember who you once were and you know you aren't the great general you used to be anymore. You're a coward. [I]That's[/I] why you don't want to go. Not because you're worried about all these people." She swept her arm around, indicating the gathered masses in the mess, who were completely silent, all pretense at cheerful dinner chatter by now gone. "We all know it's true."
"Jennetta, stop it!"
Michael was still staring at his daughter, his mouth hanging open, disbelieving that this was his gentle child. It didn't quite register at first that Maria had come up beside him, that it was she who had cut off their daughter's tirade.
"Stay out of this Maria," Jennetta said dismissively.
"I won't stay out of it," Maria told Jennetta firmly. "You are my daughter and you are going to stop screeching and you are going to listen to your father." Michael watched his girlfriend glare at Jemma. "How dare you approach her about this anyway? Michael is your superior and you have no right to question him. You're the one who said that he was in charge. Well, he made a decision, and just because you're not happy about it, you don't have the right to go over his head."
"[I]I[/I] am the queen," Jennetta said fiercely. "I get to decide what we do."
"No, you do not," Maria told her, stepping forward, a fierce expression on her face. "You are not queen yet. Until he abdicates, Max is still king of Illyria and once I tell him how badly you are behaving, I have a feeling he might choose to continue sitting on his throne. We have not gone through everything we've gone through for a spoiled brat Jennetta Elizabeth. So just shut your mouth and listen to your father."
Michael watched Jennetta's face crumple, his heart breaking. "Maria." he said warningly.
"No Michael," Maria snapped. "She has no right to talk to you that way. We have been through hell and back, all for her, and she dares to call you a chicken?"
"Maria!" He said more insistently. He was already moving forward as his daughter's legs gave out on her and she collapsed onto the floor, her sobs already wracking her slender body. Michael dropped to his knees beside her, pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair, trying to comfort his broken child. He glanced around the room, then turned and glared at Jemma. "Get these people [I]out[/I] of here," he ordered.
Jemma, for once, jumped to comply. The large room was emptied in minutes, but Michael barely noticed. "It's okay baby. It's going to be okay," he crooned, rocking back and forth, as Jennetta finally released her grief over the loss of the person she had not known she loved until he was gone.
"I'm sorry," she gasped through her tears. "I'm sorry Father."
"I know. It's okay." He stared at Maria, who was now on her knees behind Jennetta, looking helpless. Their eyes met and held. He could almost read her thoughts, because they were his exactly.
They could not let her suffer like this. They had to [I]do[/I] something. But Michael still knew he was right. Barreling through the portal was not the answer.
"Time grows short."
Michael glared at Jemma, who had returned after she finished getting rid of the troops. "Shut up about that! We're not going!"
Jemma sighed, sat down wearily in a chair nearby. Michael continued to stroke his daughter's back comfortingly, but her weeping was gradually subsiding. She seemed all cried out for the moment. Michael felt Jennetta turn her head to regard the older woman. "Tell me why," Jenny whispered.
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to go back so badly? What do you miss most?" Michael could almost hear the real meaning of her question. [I] Why had Ren wanted her to be queen so badly? What was worth saving on Illyria?[/I]
It was a question Michael had often asked himself. All his memories of his home planet were of pain and grief. He had been murdered in his first life there. He had lost his daughter in [I]this[/I] life there. What was the hell-hole worth anyway?
"The potential," Jemma said quietly. "The potential for greatness that lies in our people, once they move beyond their fear of the unknown. It was why Gordian Falconer was a great king and it was why Jaxon was even greater, from what I understand. They wanted great things for our planet and the people were willing to follow them."
"Those dreams turned half the population against them," Michael said. "You can't force great things on people not ready for them."
Jemma met his eyes. "They [I]were[/I] ready. The marriages between you and Mirana and Jaxon and Sabrya - the fact that you were all judged by the Ring and found worthy - the people would have accepted it. If it wasn't for the perfidy of a madman, I would have been home long before now and Illyria would be enjoying its Golden Age."
"But there can be no Golden Age without the Chosen One," Michael reminded her. "If we hadn't died before, there would be no Jennetta now." He squeezed his daughter lightly, where she still leaned against him. He couldn't tell whether she was listening or not anymore though, wondered if she had allowed herself to get lost in her grief.
Jemma shrugged. "Who can say for certain? All I know is what is now and what must be accomplished to move things forward."
Michael narrowed his eyes at her, his understanding now complete. "You don't think Jenny [I]is[/I] the Chosen One, do you?"
"I don't believe in any one person having the capability to change an entire world, no," Jemma admitted, her chin raised. "I believe that one person can inspire others to do so, but no one is [I]chosen[/I] to do it. They [I]choose[/I] themselves."
"And you've chosen [I]yourself[/I]," Maria said, glancing at Michael. "That's why you're obsessed with getting back there."
Jemma sighed. "I don't want to rule Maria. I want to make sure that the rightful rulers do so. I accompanied Princess Andrina to this planet to assure their strength and I will go back there to make it so. If Jennetta is the one chosen by the people, I will accept it and I will support her. And since you have all chosen her, she will be accepted."
"So you don't care who rules?" Maria demanded, sounding disbelieving. "What kind of cause is that anyway?"
"I do not deny I prefer the Royal Four. They are known quantities and they are beloved," Jemma replied, frowning. She glanced at Jennetta, her expression unreadable.
"Which is why you made Isabel and I think we were falling in love again," Michael accused, his anger beginning to get the better of him. He tried to stay in control these days, but sometimes these Illyrians just really pissed him off. "So that [I]we'd[/I] want to rule. You actually thought I would betray my own daughter!"
"What? I did no such thing!" Jemma exclaimed, looking surprised. "What do you mean that someone [I]made[/I] you? I had heard that you and Mirana were trying to be together, but I certainly had nothing to do with it! I would have to have the ability to mind-warp were I to." She trailed off, a pensive look on her face. "You do think it was a mindwarp?"
Michael nodded, still scowling. He did not believe this woman. Not one little bit. But she did seem truly flabbergasted. "It's why we sent Izzy away. To hopefully get her away from the source of it, which would break it."
"And you thought [I]I[/I] was the source?" Jemma sounded impatient. "How could you not be aware that I cannot mindwarp?"
Michael and Maria exchanged glances, Michael shrugging at her. They [I]had[/I] assumed, but there had not been any other obvious answer.
"What [I]is[/I] your gift anyway?" Maria asked. "I don't think we even know."
Jemma met Michael's eyes again and smiled slightly. He rolled his. "She's a warrior, like me," he ground out through clenched teeth, guessing, but knowing that he was right. He suddenly wondered how he could have been so blind. It was why she seemed to think she knew everything about what he was supposed to be like!
"Has the warp been broken?" Jemma asked, getting to her feet. "Where [I]is[/I] Mirana?"
Michael narrowed his eyes again. "I told you - no one gets that information."
Jemma looked impatient as she said, "Well, we must know General. If it has been broken, proving that it existed, we need to sniff out the perpetrator. There are about thirty members of the guild on the premises you know. We cannot have a traitor in our midst. Not at this delicate time!"
"Dad, trust her. We need to get to Illyria. Please. I know I've been behaving badly, but it's only because we [I]need[/I] to get there."
Michael looked down at Jenny in surprise. She had been quiet for so long, he had been unsure if she was even listening any longer.
"Jennetta, why do you trust her?" He demanded. "She just flat-out said she doesn't care if you sit on the throne or not! She is not loyal to you!"
"I know," Jenny replied, moving away from him and looking directly at Jemma. "But she [I]is[/I] loyal to Illyria and I cannot rule Illyria without Ren."
"Jennetta, sweetie, tell us." Michael glanced at Maria. She seemed to have tuned into something in their daughter's plea that he had not. "Why do [I]you[/I] need to get there so badly? You asked Jemma for [I]her[/I] reasons, but they're obviously not yours. What do you [I]need[/I]?"
Jennetta moved away from Michael. "Don't you understand? I need [I]him[/I]!"
"What?" Michael demanded. "Jenny, he's dead!"
"I know that," Jennetta snapped. "But you know better than anyone that it doesn't mean that he's really gone. Dad, [I]think[/I]."
"I don't [I]want[/I] to think!" Michael exclaimed. "Just [I]tell[/I] me!"
"Oh my God." This came from Maria. Michael whipped his head around to stare at her, recognized the dawning comprehension on his girlfriend's face.
"What?" He said again, feeling like a total bone-head. "[I]What?[/i]"
"The Four Square," Maria breathed. "Michael! The Four Square can bring him back! You've done it before!"
Michael blinked. The Four Square? And, abruptly, he understood. The healing stones. Nasedo.
They had brought Nasedo back to life once upon a time, when he had been killed by the Special Unit. Ren was a shapeshifter and Nasedo's son. They should be able to do the same for him.
But to do it, they needed Max and Tess. Which meant that they needed to go to Illyria to save them first.
He looked at Jennetta in annoyance. "Well, why didn't you just [I]tell[/I] me that this was why you wanted to go to Illyria so badly? This makes perfect sense!"
Jennetta looked at the ground. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I.I didn't think you'd go if you knew that the only reason I wanted to was to save him."
Michael stared at her. "What? Why the hell would you think that?"
"Michael!" Maria exclaimed. "Watch your language!"
"Maria, she's a grown woman," Michael snapped. He moved forward, placed his hands on Jenny's shoulders. "Jenny! Why?"
"I." She swallowed. "I heard you talking to Maria Dad. You.you didn't believe that I could feel this way about him. I didn't think that you'd let me go." She smiled sadly at him. "Michael, you see me as a child. You just told Maria that I'm a grown woman, but you don't [I]see[/I] it. You are willing to have me be queen because you think you can protect me, that it will all just be a big game and that you'll be there to watch my back. But you don't want me to be a grown-up and my love for Ren makes me a grown-up. So I went with the way I thought you'd understand. I thought you'd go along with it if you thought it was to claim my throne, to honour Ren's memory that way."
Michael's mouth was hanging open again. "But the attitude? What was with the attitude?"
"Well, the fact that you let Isabel leave seems to indicate that we're not going anytime soon," Jennetta replied. "I was pissed off. So sue me. I'm your daughter."
"Good grief." Michael glanced over at Maria, who looked like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "What am I going to do with you two?" She demanded, raising her hands in the air. "You are [I]both[/I] insane!"
Michael just grinned. He couldn't help it. "But you love us anyway." He turned his head, looked at Jemma. "We need to find out who the hell is messing with Isabel's head. Fast." He turned to Jenny, continued, "We can't bring her back here until then. I won't sacrifice Izzy's sanity for what might not work anyway."
"Michael, it will work," Jennetta replied firmly. "I know it will."
"Maybe," Michael allowed. "But don't forget that even if we go, we still need to find Max and Tess and come back. And it might not be as simple as that."
"We'll bring Ren with us," Jennetta said. "That will speed up the process."
"But." Michael swallowed, voiced the fear that he and Alex had already discussed but that he had never brought up with anyone else, "Max and Tess.They may not be in any position to."
"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Jemma said, interrupting. "I cannot believe that any member of the Royal Four would have been executed summarily anyway. There is no point without all of you. Mirana and Tristandor could still be used as figureheads for rebellion. He needs you all. I can't believe he'll kill any of you without all of you."
"I wouldn't put [I]anything[/I] past Tarsus," Michael snapped. "He hates Max's guts."
"But from what I understand, he enjoys playing games with him more," Jemma replied. "I feel that Jaxon still lives."
"Well, I guess we'll find out," Michael shrugged, pretending at a nonchalance he did not feel, the thought of a universe without Max, Tess or Liz too painful to contemplate at the moment. He looked at Jennetta, gently brushed a lock of hair off her cheek. "My daughter has a plan and it's time to get cracking." He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Although she has to understand that, to me, she is always going to be a little girl."
And as Jennetta hugged him, Michael knew it was true. In his heart, she would always be the little girl who had first stolen it. But if she needed her bloody shapeshifter to mend [I]her[/I] heart, he was damn well going to do everything in his power to get him for her.
To be continued.
[b]Illyrian Safe House, Salisbury, England, Earth[/b]
"Where is Princess Mirana?"
Michael, who was sitting at a table in the mess hall, scarfing down a quick dinner, raised his head and met Jemma's furious gaze steadily. "My wife isn't missing, is she?" He asked innocently, picking up another chip and chewing it deliberately. Michael just hoped that Alex had put the pedal to the metal and that he and Isabel were far enough away that a search party wouldn't be able to find them easily.
"Where is she General? I demand to know!" Jemma was practically yelling, causing the heads of those seated near them to turn. Michael tilted his head, examined her with interest. He hadn't been sure it was possible to rile the Illyrian. He was pleased to finally have solid proof that she hadn't ever spent time in a cleansing pod.
"Far away," Michael replied, narrowing his eyes. "We're not opening the portal tonight."
"We'll see about that," Jemma snapped, turning on her heel, her long trench- coat flaring out behind her as she stalked away.
Michael glared at the people seated nearby still staring at him. "What?" He demanded. "Eat!" They all quickly lowered their heads again, in complete obedience. It annoyed him even more. He absolutely hated that he had so much control over complete strangers. He was nineteen frigging years old for God's sake! It was just [I]wrong[/I].
He pushed back his chair, stood and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He might as well follow Jemma, find out what the leader of the Illyrian Guard thought would change his mind. He was only half-way to the door of the mess when it became more than obvious. Because his daughter had just come through it, absolute fury etched on her lovely features.
"What have you done?" She demanded. Jennetta marched right up to him, started poking him in the chest in an action entirely too much like Maria. And, dammit, it hurt!
"Ow," Michael said mildly, grabbing her hand and lowering it to her side. "Not here. Let's go somewhere private." He looked over his shoulder uncomfortably. People were staring again, although they were trying to pretend that they weren't.
"Yes here Michael! I'd like you to tell me, in front of our people, [I]why[/I] you countermanded my direct order," Jennetta yelled. Michael glanced past her at Jemma, who had come up behind Jennetta, a smirk of triumph on her face.
"Jenny."
"We are going to Illyria," she cut him off. "Tell me where Isabel is. Now."
Michael stared at her, his heart breaking. He could see how brittle Jenny was, how all of this was an attempt to hide how much she was hurting over Ren's death. "Jennetta, this isn't going to bring him back. Going to Illyria is [I]not[/I] going to bring him back."
Jennetta froze. He saw a tremor pass through her. "What?" She stared at him in complete disbelief and then scowled.
"Ren wouldn't be happy to see you behaving like this," Michael continued, swallowed as she flinched. He knew he was hurting her, but he had to get through to her somehow. Someone had to. She had to understand that they could not lead a group of complete strangers - innocent humans - through a portal into a world they had no control over. She had to get that they had no chance of winning at the moment, divided as they were.
"I think I know better than anyone what Ren expected of me," Jennetta replied fiercely. "You have no right to stop me from claiming my destiny."
"I have every right," Michael snarled, crossing his arms. "I'm your father."
"Little good [I]that's[/I] done me," Jennetta said with disdain. "You don't really know how to do [I]anything[/I], do you [I]Dad[/I]? You're afraid because of it - because you can't remember who you once were and you know you aren't the great general you used to be anymore. You're a coward. [I]That's[/I] why you don't want to go. Not because you're worried about all these people." She swept her arm around, indicating the gathered masses in the mess, who were completely silent, all pretense at cheerful dinner chatter by now gone. "We all know it's true."
"Jennetta, stop it!"
Michael was still staring at his daughter, his mouth hanging open, disbelieving that this was his gentle child. It didn't quite register at first that Maria had come up beside him, that it was she who had cut off their daughter's tirade.
"Stay out of this Maria," Jennetta said dismissively.
"I won't stay out of it," Maria told Jennetta firmly. "You are my daughter and you are going to stop screeching and you are going to listen to your father." Michael watched his girlfriend glare at Jemma. "How dare you approach her about this anyway? Michael is your superior and you have no right to question him. You're the one who said that he was in charge. Well, he made a decision, and just because you're not happy about it, you don't have the right to go over his head."
"[I]I[/I] am the queen," Jennetta said fiercely. "I get to decide what we do."
"No, you do not," Maria told her, stepping forward, a fierce expression on her face. "You are not queen yet. Until he abdicates, Max is still king of Illyria and once I tell him how badly you are behaving, I have a feeling he might choose to continue sitting on his throne. We have not gone through everything we've gone through for a spoiled brat Jennetta Elizabeth. So just shut your mouth and listen to your father."
Michael watched Jennetta's face crumple, his heart breaking. "Maria." he said warningly.
"No Michael," Maria snapped. "She has no right to talk to you that way. We have been through hell and back, all for her, and she dares to call you a chicken?"
"Maria!" He said more insistently. He was already moving forward as his daughter's legs gave out on her and she collapsed onto the floor, her sobs already wracking her slender body. Michael dropped to his knees beside her, pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair, trying to comfort his broken child. He glanced around the room, then turned and glared at Jemma. "Get these people [I]out[/I] of here," he ordered.
Jemma, for once, jumped to comply. The large room was emptied in minutes, but Michael barely noticed. "It's okay baby. It's going to be okay," he crooned, rocking back and forth, as Jennetta finally released her grief over the loss of the person she had not known she loved until he was gone.
"I'm sorry," she gasped through her tears. "I'm sorry Father."
"I know. It's okay." He stared at Maria, who was now on her knees behind Jennetta, looking helpless. Their eyes met and held. He could almost read her thoughts, because they were his exactly.
They could not let her suffer like this. They had to [I]do[/I] something. But Michael still knew he was right. Barreling through the portal was not the answer.
"Time grows short."
Michael glared at Jemma, who had returned after she finished getting rid of the troops. "Shut up about that! We're not going!"
Jemma sighed, sat down wearily in a chair nearby. Michael continued to stroke his daughter's back comfortingly, but her weeping was gradually subsiding. She seemed all cried out for the moment. Michael felt Jennetta turn her head to regard the older woman. "Tell me why," Jenny whispered.
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to go back so badly? What do you miss most?" Michael could almost hear the real meaning of her question. [I] Why had Ren wanted her to be queen so badly? What was worth saving on Illyria?[/I]
It was a question Michael had often asked himself. All his memories of his home planet were of pain and grief. He had been murdered in his first life there. He had lost his daughter in [I]this[/I] life there. What was the hell-hole worth anyway?
"The potential," Jemma said quietly. "The potential for greatness that lies in our people, once they move beyond their fear of the unknown. It was why Gordian Falconer was a great king and it was why Jaxon was even greater, from what I understand. They wanted great things for our planet and the people were willing to follow them."
"Those dreams turned half the population against them," Michael said. "You can't force great things on people not ready for them."
Jemma met his eyes. "They [I]were[/I] ready. The marriages between you and Mirana and Jaxon and Sabrya - the fact that you were all judged by the Ring and found worthy - the people would have accepted it. If it wasn't for the perfidy of a madman, I would have been home long before now and Illyria would be enjoying its Golden Age."
"But there can be no Golden Age without the Chosen One," Michael reminded her. "If we hadn't died before, there would be no Jennetta now." He squeezed his daughter lightly, where she still leaned against him. He couldn't tell whether she was listening or not anymore though, wondered if she had allowed herself to get lost in her grief.
Jemma shrugged. "Who can say for certain? All I know is what is now and what must be accomplished to move things forward."
Michael narrowed his eyes at her, his understanding now complete. "You don't think Jenny [I]is[/I] the Chosen One, do you?"
"I don't believe in any one person having the capability to change an entire world, no," Jemma admitted, her chin raised. "I believe that one person can inspire others to do so, but no one is [I]chosen[/I] to do it. They [I]choose[/I] themselves."
"And you've chosen [I]yourself[/I]," Maria said, glancing at Michael. "That's why you're obsessed with getting back there."
Jemma sighed. "I don't want to rule Maria. I want to make sure that the rightful rulers do so. I accompanied Princess Andrina to this planet to assure their strength and I will go back there to make it so. If Jennetta is the one chosen by the people, I will accept it and I will support her. And since you have all chosen her, she will be accepted."
"So you don't care who rules?" Maria demanded, sounding disbelieving. "What kind of cause is that anyway?"
"I do not deny I prefer the Royal Four. They are known quantities and they are beloved," Jemma replied, frowning. She glanced at Jennetta, her expression unreadable.
"Which is why you made Isabel and I think we were falling in love again," Michael accused, his anger beginning to get the better of him. He tried to stay in control these days, but sometimes these Illyrians just really pissed him off. "So that [I]we'd[/I] want to rule. You actually thought I would betray my own daughter!"
"What? I did no such thing!" Jemma exclaimed, looking surprised. "What do you mean that someone [I]made[/I] you? I had heard that you and Mirana were trying to be together, but I certainly had nothing to do with it! I would have to have the ability to mind-warp were I to." She trailed off, a pensive look on her face. "You do think it was a mindwarp?"
Michael nodded, still scowling. He did not believe this woman. Not one little bit. But she did seem truly flabbergasted. "It's why we sent Izzy away. To hopefully get her away from the source of it, which would break it."
"And you thought [I]I[/I] was the source?" Jemma sounded impatient. "How could you not be aware that I cannot mindwarp?"
Michael and Maria exchanged glances, Michael shrugging at her. They [I]had[/I] assumed, but there had not been any other obvious answer.
"What [I]is[/I] your gift anyway?" Maria asked. "I don't think we even know."
Jemma met Michael's eyes again and smiled slightly. He rolled his. "She's a warrior, like me," he ground out through clenched teeth, guessing, but knowing that he was right. He suddenly wondered how he could have been so blind. It was why she seemed to think she knew everything about what he was supposed to be like!
"Has the warp been broken?" Jemma asked, getting to her feet. "Where [I]is[/I] Mirana?"
Michael narrowed his eyes again. "I told you - no one gets that information."
Jemma looked impatient as she said, "Well, we must know General. If it has been broken, proving that it existed, we need to sniff out the perpetrator. There are about thirty members of the guild on the premises you know. We cannot have a traitor in our midst. Not at this delicate time!"
"Dad, trust her. We need to get to Illyria. Please. I know I've been behaving badly, but it's only because we [I]need[/I] to get there."
Michael looked down at Jenny in surprise. She had been quiet for so long, he had been unsure if she was even listening any longer.
"Jennetta, why do you trust her?" He demanded. "She just flat-out said she doesn't care if you sit on the throne or not! She is not loyal to you!"
"I know," Jenny replied, moving away from him and looking directly at Jemma. "But she [I]is[/I] loyal to Illyria and I cannot rule Illyria without Ren."
"Jennetta, sweetie, tell us." Michael glanced at Maria. She seemed to have tuned into something in their daughter's plea that he had not. "Why do [I]you[/I] need to get there so badly? You asked Jemma for [I]her[/I] reasons, but they're obviously not yours. What do you [I]need[/I]?"
Jennetta moved away from Michael. "Don't you understand? I need [I]him[/I]!"
"What?" Michael demanded. "Jenny, he's dead!"
"I know that," Jennetta snapped. "But you know better than anyone that it doesn't mean that he's really gone. Dad, [I]think[/I]."
"I don't [I]want[/I] to think!" Michael exclaimed. "Just [I]tell[/I] me!"
"Oh my God." This came from Maria. Michael whipped his head around to stare at her, recognized the dawning comprehension on his girlfriend's face.
"What?" He said again, feeling like a total bone-head. "[I]What?[/i]"
"The Four Square," Maria breathed. "Michael! The Four Square can bring him back! You've done it before!"
Michael blinked. The Four Square? And, abruptly, he understood. The healing stones. Nasedo.
They had brought Nasedo back to life once upon a time, when he had been killed by the Special Unit. Ren was a shapeshifter and Nasedo's son. They should be able to do the same for him.
But to do it, they needed Max and Tess. Which meant that they needed to go to Illyria to save them first.
He looked at Jennetta in annoyance. "Well, why didn't you just [I]tell[/I] me that this was why you wanted to go to Illyria so badly? This makes perfect sense!"
Jennetta looked at the ground. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I.I didn't think you'd go if you knew that the only reason I wanted to was to save him."
Michael stared at her. "What? Why the hell would you think that?"
"Michael!" Maria exclaimed. "Watch your language!"
"Maria, she's a grown woman," Michael snapped. He moved forward, placed his hands on Jenny's shoulders. "Jenny! Why?"
"I." She swallowed. "I heard you talking to Maria Dad. You.you didn't believe that I could feel this way about him. I didn't think that you'd let me go." She smiled sadly at him. "Michael, you see me as a child. You just told Maria that I'm a grown woman, but you don't [I]see[/I] it. You are willing to have me be queen because you think you can protect me, that it will all just be a big game and that you'll be there to watch my back. But you don't want me to be a grown-up and my love for Ren makes me a grown-up. So I went with the way I thought you'd understand. I thought you'd go along with it if you thought it was to claim my throne, to honour Ren's memory that way."
Michael's mouth was hanging open again. "But the attitude? What was with the attitude?"
"Well, the fact that you let Isabel leave seems to indicate that we're not going anytime soon," Jennetta replied. "I was pissed off. So sue me. I'm your daughter."
"Good grief." Michael glanced over at Maria, who looked like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "What am I going to do with you two?" She demanded, raising her hands in the air. "You are [I]both[/I] insane!"
Michael just grinned. He couldn't help it. "But you love us anyway." He turned his head, looked at Jemma. "We need to find out who the hell is messing with Isabel's head. Fast." He turned to Jenny, continued, "We can't bring her back here until then. I won't sacrifice Izzy's sanity for what might not work anyway."
"Michael, it will work," Jennetta replied firmly. "I know it will."
"Maybe," Michael allowed. "But don't forget that even if we go, we still need to find Max and Tess and come back. And it might not be as simple as that."
"We'll bring Ren with us," Jennetta said. "That will speed up the process."
"But." Michael swallowed, voiced the fear that he and Alex had already discussed but that he had never brought up with anyone else, "Max and Tess.They may not be in any position to."
"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Jemma said, interrupting. "I cannot believe that any member of the Royal Four would have been executed summarily anyway. There is no point without all of you. Mirana and Tristandor could still be used as figureheads for rebellion. He needs you all. I can't believe he'll kill any of you without all of you."
"I wouldn't put [I]anything[/I] past Tarsus," Michael snapped. "He hates Max's guts."
"But from what I understand, he enjoys playing games with him more," Jemma replied. "I feel that Jaxon still lives."
"Well, I guess we'll find out," Michael shrugged, pretending at a nonchalance he did not feel, the thought of a universe without Max, Tess or Liz too painful to contemplate at the moment. He looked at Jennetta, gently brushed a lock of hair off her cheek. "My daughter has a plan and it's time to get cracking." He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Although she has to understand that, to me, she is always going to be a little girl."
And as Jennetta hugged him, Michael knew it was true. In his heart, she would always be the little girl who had first stolen it. But if she needed her bloody shapeshifter to mend [I]her[/I] heart, he was damn well going to do everything in his power to get him for her.
To be continued.
