Part 10: Reliving
"I...I can't belive this," Ariel shook her head in protest. Even though she knew that the visions she had experienced were true, she still could not bring herself to believe that she and David were aliens. And that her best friend and the love of her life were also aliens, for that matter. It was all too much.
David looked briefly over at Ariel and saw that she looked every bit as stunned as he felt. "So now what?" David asked Brian, unconsciously acknowledging Brian's leadership role. "What are we supposed to do about Khivar and his followers?"
"Not to mention Max and his group, who also decided that we're the enemy," Ariel added bitterly, with a heavy sigh. She could see Brian's look of determination and knew instantly that he planned to make a stand against whoever would attack them. "Brian, David and I...we've never practiced our powers for anything like this. We're not ready...How can we possibly be ready in time?" Ariel rubbed her temples. "God, I have a headache."
"We'll be ready," Brian assured them. "We fight with everything we have in us, and no matter what happens, we stick together."
Kara agreed completely with her brother. "That's the important thing. We can't let anything separate us this time."
Ariel nodded slowly. She and David instinctively looked to each other, both with the same question in their hearts: would they use their powers to kill if they had to? David gave an answering nod, and Ariel responded to him mentally with a resigned, "OK." Ariel refused to let her family be killed, especially not again by Khivar's soldiers. But what about Max and his friends? There had to be a better way than fighting again over some stupid misunderstanding. "If Max and his friends show up, we have to show them that we're not the enemy. We all died last time because Khivar divided us. We can't let that happen again." It felt strange to Ariel to hear herself say these things about the past, but she knew that this had to be said. But the time to talk and plan was over. Before anyone had the chance to respond to Ariel's statement, the front door was blasted open.
Ariel, Brian, David, Kara, and their protector leapt to their feet as one and turned to the source of the blast. Brian raised a shield around them, and the others added their power to that shield, causing it to glow with a bright green light.
"Max, what are you doing?" Ariel asked as Max and the others walked in. Ariel noticed that Isabel looked the most uncomfortable, as though she understood Ariel's situation and didn't want this any more than Ariel did.
"We know that the four of you are Skins and that you're working with Khivar. Now, we want to know what his plan is," Max stated, his voice calm and determined, with an air of easy authority.
Brian faced Max with equal determination. "Khivar is just as much our enemy as he is yours, Max. He betrayed us all."
"Then why are Nicholas and the other Skins outside trying to set up a surprise trap for us?" Michael asked with more than a touch of annoyance and belligerence. He was in full soldier mode.
The color drained from Ariel's face. "Oh, my God..." she whispered.
"They're out there?" Kara asked incredulously. She couldn't believe that they had been found so quickly. "Oh, great. You led them right to us!" she exclaimed angrily, her voice dripping with accusation as she addressed Max and his group.
Brian cut in. "Enough! This bickering isn't helping. If the enemy is out there, we have to be ready to deal with them. Remember what we said...no matter what, nothing separates us." Brian gave Ariel a reassuring hug and just held her in his arms for a moment. That was all the time they had before all the windows in the house shattered around them....
Chaos reigned as the followers of Khivar stormed the house. Dangerous blasts of energy were exchanged all around. The two sets of Royal Four could not band together, for the mistrust between the two groups had grown too great. Despite the promise to stay together no matter what, Ariel was driven apart from David, Brian, Kara, and their protector when an energy blast caused a chunk of ceiling to fall down right where the group was standing. Ariel had no choice but to back up the staircase, while the others were forced away from the stairs. Ariel fought off a nearby enemy, but was pushed further and further upstairs during the battle. Finally, Ariel pushed the enemy back toward the thick of the battle, where he was killed.
Max saw Ariel heading upstairs and started to run towards her. Seeing this, Ariel turned and fled the rest of the way upstairs. She had no choice. There was no way to find her family at this point, and she had exhausted her powers to the point that she had very little left. A warning voice inside of Ariel told her to stay downstairs, that she couldn't let history repeat itself. But everything was happening just as it had before, and Ariel couldn't fight it.
Max let loose a deadly bolt of energy toward Ariel. Ariel barely managed to get a shield around herself in time. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold the shield very long. "Max, please, stop..." Ariel leaned against a wall for support. "We're all going to die here if we can't fight Khivar's people together. We can't let it happen again."
Just then, Ariel saw an enemy heading up the stairs toward them. "Max, look out," She warned. God, it was all happening again. Just like the last time. "No!" Ariel cried out as Max sent an energy blast toward her, just at the same time as the enemy directed an energy blast at Max. Time suddenly seemed to slow down. Ariel had a vivid flash of what happened in that other lifetime at this moment. She had shielded Max and had been killed herself as a result. Then Max had been murdered in the ensuing struggle with the enemy. The flash ended, and Ariel returned to the present with a jolt. She knew what to do. Calling on every remaining ounce of strength, Ariel envisioned a shield of pure white light around herself and Max. She could feel the energy begin to take form as rays of light wove a beautiful forcefield extending out from herself toward Max. As the shield extended, the energy blast that Max had sent toward Ariel was neutralized.
When Max saw what Ariel had done, he finally realized that they were on the same side. Wordlessly, they turned toward the enemy and finished him off together. Ariel let the shield down, unable to keep it going. "Max, we have to get back downstairs before everyone gets killed," Ariel warned him, her voice growing weaker with fatigue. She managed to stand and walk with him downstairs, although she was almost completely drained from the effort of creating and sustaining the shield. Max helped Ariel downstairs and gathered everyone together to fight a cohesive battle against the enemy. Thankfully, everyone was still alive, and there were fewer enemies left. But there were still too many of them. Then Ariel remembered something about the husks and, in a flash of inspiration, she had a plan.
"The husks," Ariel whipered to the group. "We have to break the husks." Ariel, Brian, David, Kara, Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess joined hands and pooled their powers. There was plenty of debris around the house now, and so with a concerted effort, the eight of them caused the debris to launch directly at the back of the enemy husks, shattering the enemy skins into dust until none remained. There were cheers of "We did it!", high fives, and hugs all around.
In the midst of this, Ariel began to feel dizzy and had to lean on the wall again for support. Brian quickly came to her side and wrapped an arm around her, but suddenly found himself catcing her in his arms as she lost consciousness.
"Ariel! Ariel, wake up!" Brian cried out in alarm, shaking her gently at first, then more forcefully when she didn't respond. He brought his cheek to her lips to feel for breath, but she wasn't breathing.
"What happened?" David asked as he ran over and knelt down beside his sister.
"I don't know...she just fainted in my arms! David, she's not breathing!" Brian responded, in a panic now.
Max saw Ariel's condition and was overcome with guilt. "She used too much of her powers," He explained to everyone, who was now gathering around Ariel in concern. "It's all my fault! She was already exhausted when I went after her. I forced her to protect herself from me, and she saved my life." Max knew that he had to fix this."She needs energy. Let me help her." David nodded and moved over a little as Max sat down by Ariel. "Ariel, you have to look at me," Max said in a commanding tone as he put a hand to Ariel's forehead. Soon, a connection had formed, but Max wasn't sure that it would be enough to heal Ariel. The others watched anxiously as Max worked. Brian held Ariel, and David kept hold of Ariel's hand the whole time. When Max was finished, he was exhausted, and Isabel helped him sit down in a chair.
There was a collective sigh of relief as Ariel began to breathe again. But she still did not regain consciousness. Everything that could be done for her had been done. Now there was nothing to do but wait and see if she would wake up....
"I...I can't belive this," Ariel shook her head in protest. Even though she knew that the visions she had experienced were true, she still could not bring herself to believe that she and David were aliens. And that her best friend and the love of her life were also aliens, for that matter. It was all too much.
David looked briefly over at Ariel and saw that she looked every bit as stunned as he felt. "So now what?" David asked Brian, unconsciously acknowledging Brian's leadership role. "What are we supposed to do about Khivar and his followers?"
"Not to mention Max and his group, who also decided that we're the enemy," Ariel added bitterly, with a heavy sigh. She could see Brian's look of determination and knew instantly that he planned to make a stand against whoever would attack them. "Brian, David and I...we've never practiced our powers for anything like this. We're not ready...How can we possibly be ready in time?" Ariel rubbed her temples. "God, I have a headache."
"We'll be ready," Brian assured them. "We fight with everything we have in us, and no matter what happens, we stick together."
Kara agreed completely with her brother. "That's the important thing. We can't let anything separate us this time."
Ariel nodded slowly. She and David instinctively looked to each other, both with the same question in their hearts: would they use their powers to kill if they had to? David gave an answering nod, and Ariel responded to him mentally with a resigned, "OK." Ariel refused to let her family be killed, especially not again by Khivar's soldiers. But what about Max and his friends? There had to be a better way than fighting again over some stupid misunderstanding. "If Max and his friends show up, we have to show them that we're not the enemy. We all died last time because Khivar divided us. We can't let that happen again." It felt strange to Ariel to hear herself say these things about the past, but she knew that this had to be said. But the time to talk and plan was over. Before anyone had the chance to respond to Ariel's statement, the front door was blasted open.
Ariel, Brian, David, Kara, and their protector leapt to their feet as one and turned to the source of the blast. Brian raised a shield around them, and the others added their power to that shield, causing it to glow with a bright green light.
"Max, what are you doing?" Ariel asked as Max and the others walked in. Ariel noticed that Isabel looked the most uncomfortable, as though she understood Ariel's situation and didn't want this any more than Ariel did.
"We know that the four of you are Skins and that you're working with Khivar. Now, we want to know what his plan is," Max stated, his voice calm and determined, with an air of easy authority.
Brian faced Max with equal determination. "Khivar is just as much our enemy as he is yours, Max. He betrayed us all."
"Then why are Nicholas and the other Skins outside trying to set up a surprise trap for us?" Michael asked with more than a touch of annoyance and belligerence. He was in full soldier mode.
The color drained from Ariel's face. "Oh, my God..." she whispered.
"They're out there?" Kara asked incredulously. She couldn't believe that they had been found so quickly. "Oh, great. You led them right to us!" she exclaimed angrily, her voice dripping with accusation as she addressed Max and his group.
Brian cut in. "Enough! This bickering isn't helping. If the enemy is out there, we have to be ready to deal with them. Remember what we said...no matter what, nothing separates us." Brian gave Ariel a reassuring hug and just held her in his arms for a moment. That was all the time they had before all the windows in the house shattered around them....
Chaos reigned as the followers of Khivar stormed the house. Dangerous blasts of energy were exchanged all around. The two sets of Royal Four could not band together, for the mistrust between the two groups had grown too great. Despite the promise to stay together no matter what, Ariel was driven apart from David, Brian, Kara, and their protector when an energy blast caused a chunk of ceiling to fall down right where the group was standing. Ariel had no choice but to back up the staircase, while the others were forced away from the stairs. Ariel fought off a nearby enemy, but was pushed further and further upstairs during the battle. Finally, Ariel pushed the enemy back toward the thick of the battle, where he was killed.
Max saw Ariel heading upstairs and started to run towards her. Seeing this, Ariel turned and fled the rest of the way upstairs. She had no choice. There was no way to find her family at this point, and she had exhausted her powers to the point that she had very little left. A warning voice inside of Ariel told her to stay downstairs, that she couldn't let history repeat itself. But everything was happening just as it had before, and Ariel couldn't fight it.
Max let loose a deadly bolt of energy toward Ariel. Ariel barely managed to get a shield around herself in time. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold the shield very long. "Max, please, stop..." Ariel leaned against a wall for support. "We're all going to die here if we can't fight Khivar's people together. We can't let it happen again."
Just then, Ariel saw an enemy heading up the stairs toward them. "Max, look out," She warned. God, it was all happening again. Just like the last time. "No!" Ariel cried out as Max sent an energy blast toward her, just at the same time as the enemy directed an energy blast at Max. Time suddenly seemed to slow down. Ariel had a vivid flash of what happened in that other lifetime at this moment. She had shielded Max and had been killed herself as a result. Then Max had been murdered in the ensuing struggle with the enemy. The flash ended, and Ariel returned to the present with a jolt. She knew what to do. Calling on every remaining ounce of strength, Ariel envisioned a shield of pure white light around herself and Max. She could feel the energy begin to take form as rays of light wove a beautiful forcefield extending out from herself toward Max. As the shield extended, the energy blast that Max had sent toward Ariel was neutralized.
When Max saw what Ariel had done, he finally realized that they were on the same side. Wordlessly, they turned toward the enemy and finished him off together. Ariel let the shield down, unable to keep it going. "Max, we have to get back downstairs before everyone gets killed," Ariel warned him, her voice growing weaker with fatigue. She managed to stand and walk with him downstairs, although she was almost completely drained from the effort of creating and sustaining the shield. Max helped Ariel downstairs and gathered everyone together to fight a cohesive battle against the enemy. Thankfully, everyone was still alive, and there were fewer enemies left. But there were still too many of them. Then Ariel remembered something about the husks and, in a flash of inspiration, she had a plan.
"The husks," Ariel whipered to the group. "We have to break the husks." Ariel, Brian, David, Kara, Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess joined hands and pooled their powers. There was plenty of debris around the house now, and so with a concerted effort, the eight of them caused the debris to launch directly at the back of the enemy husks, shattering the enemy skins into dust until none remained. There were cheers of "We did it!", high fives, and hugs all around.
In the midst of this, Ariel began to feel dizzy and had to lean on the wall again for support. Brian quickly came to her side and wrapped an arm around her, but suddenly found himself catcing her in his arms as she lost consciousness.
"Ariel! Ariel, wake up!" Brian cried out in alarm, shaking her gently at first, then more forcefully when she didn't respond. He brought his cheek to her lips to feel for breath, but she wasn't breathing.
"What happened?" David asked as he ran over and knelt down beside his sister.
"I don't know...she just fainted in my arms! David, she's not breathing!" Brian responded, in a panic now.
Max saw Ariel's condition and was overcome with guilt. "She used too much of her powers," He explained to everyone, who was now gathering around Ariel in concern. "It's all my fault! She was already exhausted when I went after her. I forced her to protect herself from me, and she saved my life." Max knew that he had to fix this."She needs energy. Let me help her." David nodded and moved over a little as Max sat down by Ariel. "Ariel, you have to look at me," Max said in a commanding tone as he put a hand to Ariel's forehead. Soon, a connection had formed, but Max wasn't sure that it would be enough to heal Ariel. The others watched anxiously as Max worked. Brian held Ariel, and David kept hold of Ariel's hand the whole time. When Max was finished, he was exhausted, and Isabel helped him sit down in a chair.
There was a collective sigh of relief as Ariel began to breathe again. But she still did not regain consciousness. Everything that could be done for her had been done. Now there was nothing to do but wait and see if she would wake up....