Part 15
She had not been to the windmill for so long. Chloe figured that if she wanted to see Metropolis, she would go there. There was nothing more pathetic than staying far away from something you want and looking at it from a distance. She was a go-getter, and it had been her limitation and advantage at the same time. People who stayed away were cowards.
Now though, Chloe sat on the very top, looking out at the bright lights that called to her. Someday she was going to be a celebrity journalist and all of Metropolis would stand in awe of her. That was, of course, if she lived to join a prestigious news agency. That looked bleak at the moment since she knew she can't stay away from Lex.
On the ground, close to the funny little van, two young men gazed up at her. Neither spoke until Liz and Maria stopped beside them.
"What are you two doing down here when Chloe's way up there?" Liz asked.
Max answered, "She looks like she has a bunch of problems."
"Well," Maria rationalized, "finding out that the love of your life choked you death isn't a problem to you two?"
Michael stares her down. "That is precisely why we're staying away. Can't deal with chick problems."
"That's true," Maria agreed sarcastically. "You have no talent for it."
"Someday I'm going to find a way to shut you up," he warned.
"You already have," she said, eyes twinkling.
Liz sighed. "So why did we go looking for her anyway, if you're not going to talk to her, fix her problems?"
Max, with royal assurance, informed his wife, "To protect her, of course."
"Thus the staring," Maria repeated, all along not taking her eyes off her soldier.
~~
Chloe looked up to see Isabel standing beside her. She smiled in welcome, and the princess settled on the space close to Chloe.
"I'm surprise to see you here. I thought there was an Antarian agreement to leave me alone."
"Max and Michael were stupid then; they still are now," Isabel said, the fondness for the two belying her words. "You know men. Let them smell that something is wrong and they will run for cover."
"I don't know men," Chloe answered. "The only one whom I got seriously involved with killed me, remember?"
"You okay?"
Chloe nodded. And then shook her head. "I wish you didn't come here to tell me what you told me. Maybe things could've worked out. Or not. Either way, I'm very confused."
Isabel took a deep breath. The night air was cool. She missed the fresh scent of oxygen after spending months inside the van with the same faces. "I never want to go back to who I was back then," she started. "Usually I push back the memories of Vilandra. She was the biggest bitch, wasn't she?"
That brought a grin to Chloe's lips. "She definitely was."
Isabel chuckled. "But now, being who I am, I can tell you that there are memories I hold on to because my husband is far away and I'm afraid I'll be alone forever." The princess faced her past life's bane and reached for her hand. "I remember you. Ch'ali," Isabel said, going back to the name she was more familiar with, "when you returned from the convention, I knew something changed. You fell in love. And you were suddenly more beautiful than you ever were when you were just my brother's fiancé."
"Thank you." Chloe did not know why she blushed, and told herself it was inappropriate.
"And then I remember Lexan, when Zan, Rath and I came to your viewing." Isabel's words brought goosebumps to her skin. "He clutched your crystal in his fist. Lexan refused to give it to Zan. My brother told him that we needed to catapult your essence to the stars, because that's our way. Lexan didn't let go. He was dead long before his body died."
Chloe took a deep breath. Isabel telling her about Ch'ali, she could accept freely. Images of Lexan Chloe could not take as well.
"You were lovely. He was hideous. And both images because of love. Even though the past was tragic for all of us, I hold on to the memories because I take comfort in the fact that even though Jesse and I are sad now, someday we might find a way to be together."
"Well don't take lessons from me, Isabel," Chloe finally replied, "because I'm not exactly model material when it comes to love."
The two blonde women looked back at the other two girls climbing the windmill. Liz and Maria sat with them and scoffed at the cowards below.
"So what do you want to do now?"
Chloe took a deep breath. It was so much easier when she was tending to the heartache of being in love with her best friend while he was in love with another girl. That was relatively less tumultuous than what she had found with Lex. Her involvement with Lex was one day nothing more than a look, to possession the next, and past life murder the next. "I have no idea."
"Given," Maria gushed, "that this guy killed you in the past. Is he hot?"
"Maria!" Liz protested.
"Seriously though, if you're in love with him, and he's attractive, who cares how destructive he is! I fought tooth and nail for the guy I love."
Isabel grinned. "Until you discovered you can become a star."
"That was not what happened and I resent the implication!" Maria folded her arms in front of her. "Besides, I never stopped loving him."
"Luckily, Max saved me, not hurt me."
"So I've heard," Isabel murmured. "One thousand seven hundred eighty four times," she added under her breath.
"What's wrong with them?" Chloe asked, pointing to Michael, Max, and the freshly awake Kyle.
All four young women watched as Kyle waved his arms around, yelling back at something that Max said. Chloe watched in fascination as Max turned rocks into targets using his hands. Michael jogged a few yards away and raised red glowing fists.
"They're pissed off because they can't touch Lexan."
"Okay, I've had it!" Chloe burst. "They insist that they're different people now. So all should be forgiven and forgotten. What about Lex, then?"
"To be fair," Isabel said, "they did not try kill you."
"Yeah," Maria added drolly, "Isabel did."
Isabel narrowed her eyes at Maria. "Kindly remember that you are the only one in the group without powers or any hope of gaining some."
"Ooooh!" Liz giggled. "Be careful, Ria, or she's going to dreamwalk you to death."
Chloe rolled her eyes. To go from one group of friends who thought that the smallest burp was an earth-shattering problem to a group who treated genocide as a joke. "Lex is stupid too, don't worry. He's letting our past come between us now."
~~
Lex mulled. It was nothing new really. Luthors were known to sit in the dark and brood. This time, the object of his mulling was something new to his family. Unless of course his ancestors also had past lives of being the tyrants of distant galaxies. Lex wouldn't exclude that possibility.
He couldn't help thinking back to the last images of his kingdom imprinted in his brain. It was as if his memories of that life resurfaced to the point that to him, it happened yesterday. He wanted to forget the overwhelming guilt that possessed him; at the same time, Lex wanted to remember it so much that it would haunt him so that he would not even think of touching Chloe.
Easily, the feeling of standing out in Ch'ali's garden, clutching her crystal in his hand, returned to him. He had stayed there drenched under the rain while his people approached him to give their condolences, to tell him that with the departure of their young queen, Ch'ali had given them the gift of life. Lexan knew then that by twilight, he would cause the waters to rise so high that the entire kingdom would be flooded in memory of his wife.
He had pushed away towards the ceremonial room where her body lay. Ch'ali was as beautiful as day and as peaceful as the night. Under the light of a thousand candles that hung from the ceiling, her skin was porcelain. Lexan was afraid that if he touched her he would break her.
The bruises around her white neck screamed to him that he already had broken her. She was the most precious gift that he had been, by some miracle, able to steal from Zan and Antar. And there she lay dead, testament to how great a man he was.
Lexan had dripped a puddle of water in front of the pedestal that held Ch'ali. He looked at her unblinkingly but did not move. He could have spent his entire life staring at his wife.
"You killed her."
"I did," he had responded, without hesitation, without looking back at the person who owned the voice. He had taken Ch'ali from one death trap to another. She would not have survived in his home.
"We will avenge her, Lexan. You know that."
He had not needed to look to know that the firm promise was Zan's.
A foreign voice shook his from his reverie.
"So I just heard from my friend back home that I am not the father of the child to be borne by the daughter of the sun. Looks like it's all right if I talk to you."
Lex focused on the man in full black attire, whom he recognized as Angel. "You're more than human."
Angel smiled in such a tight way it looked like a wince. "I'm a vampire."
"That's new, although not surprising. There are fat-sucking vampires here," he said offhandedly. "Youth-sucking ones too."
"I can see how morbid you are. I understand."
"So you know." Angel nodded. "You'll have to keep her away from me. But you can't suck her blood or turn her. Just make sure she stays away."
"You know what, Lex. I can call you Lex right?" Angel gushed, remembering that the man was rich enough and would be a valuable potential client. "I have advice for you."
"I'll take whatever I can get," Lex affirmed seriously.
"Good." Angel sat down on one of the chairs and rested his elbows on his knees when he leaned forward. Lex prepared himself to imbibe the wisdom that only centuries of living can give a man. Angel took a deep breath. "Never kill a woman you love."
Lex stared at the vampire for several heartbeats. When Angel did not say anything else, Lex narrowed his eyes.
"You don't like my advice," Angel concluded.
"That wasn't." Lex shook his head. "Never mind."
They broke their gaze at the sound of tinkling and bells. The two turned to the figure that solidified from dancing little blue lights.
"So everything is falling into place," Leo said, looking directly at Lex.
"Are you insane?" Lex replied sardonically. "Everything's a mess. And you're to blame for this too because you didn't even warn me."
Leo sighed. His eyes fell on Angel. "Hey."
Lex rolled his eyes and introduced the two. "Leo, Angel. Angel, Leo. Unless you two know each other."
"Oh yeah," Angel drawled. "Vampire and whitelighter. We're from the same circle."
The whitelighter smiled and extended his hand. "I'm actually familiar with the Angel of LA. Your work is greatly appreciated up there."
Angel's eyebrows rose at what he took was a compliment. "Well thanks. What you're doing. you know, saving people, healing them, watching out for good. Well, I think it's great too."
Lex blurted acerbically, "Focus on my problem, will you?"
Leo nodded. "Sorry. And I was just looking for Chloe. The best way to approach this is to speak to her directly. See what she thinks of what she saw."
"What is she supposed to think?" Lex countered. "She fell in love. She got killed. By me."
"Well the best thing to do is not kill her this time," Leo offered. Lex glanced at Angel, who had on a look that made him want to strangle his two visitors.
A knock on the door brought Lex to his feet. He opened it to his butler, who said solemly, "Master Lex, there is a young woman here who wants to come in."
"Chloe Sullivan?"
"No, master. The young woman claims to be your sister."
Three men inside the room sighed in exasperation the moment that Glory walked in. The blonde gave them a winning smile. "Hello everyone!"
Leo stalked forward and took Glory by the upper arm. "You know what. You two have to excuse me and Glory over here. We have something important to talk about."
While Leo was starting to orb them, Glory was able to gasp out for Lex, "Don't worry, bro! He's just pissed because of the destruction I caused when you got killed. Oh and stay away from the new kids in town. Rath is itching to blast you to pieces!"
When the two vanished, Angel turned to Lex. "Looks like you have a long and dangerous road ahead of you."
"Looks like," Lex agreed absently.
Angel handed him his business card. "We're always here to help out."
Lex took it.
"Someone will call you regarding the prices."
She had not been to the windmill for so long. Chloe figured that if she wanted to see Metropolis, she would go there. There was nothing more pathetic than staying far away from something you want and looking at it from a distance. She was a go-getter, and it had been her limitation and advantage at the same time. People who stayed away were cowards.
Now though, Chloe sat on the very top, looking out at the bright lights that called to her. Someday she was going to be a celebrity journalist and all of Metropolis would stand in awe of her. That was, of course, if she lived to join a prestigious news agency. That looked bleak at the moment since she knew she can't stay away from Lex.
On the ground, close to the funny little van, two young men gazed up at her. Neither spoke until Liz and Maria stopped beside them.
"What are you two doing down here when Chloe's way up there?" Liz asked.
Max answered, "She looks like she has a bunch of problems."
"Well," Maria rationalized, "finding out that the love of your life choked you death isn't a problem to you two?"
Michael stares her down. "That is precisely why we're staying away. Can't deal with chick problems."
"That's true," Maria agreed sarcastically. "You have no talent for it."
"Someday I'm going to find a way to shut you up," he warned.
"You already have," she said, eyes twinkling.
Liz sighed. "So why did we go looking for her anyway, if you're not going to talk to her, fix her problems?"
Max, with royal assurance, informed his wife, "To protect her, of course."
"Thus the staring," Maria repeated, all along not taking her eyes off her soldier.
~~
Chloe looked up to see Isabel standing beside her. She smiled in welcome, and the princess settled on the space close to Chloe.
"I'm surprise to see you here. I thought there was an Antarian agreement to leave me alone."
"Max and Michael were stupid then; they still are now," Isabel said, the fondness for the two belying her words. "You know men. Let them smell that something is wrong and they will run for cover."
"I don't know men," Chloe answered. "The only one whom I got seriously involved with killed me, remember?"
"You okay?"
Chloe nodded. And then shook her head. "I wish you didn't come here to tell me what you told me. Maybe things could've worked out. Or not. Either way, I'm very confused."
Isabel took a deep breath. The night air was cool. She missed the fresh scent of oxygen after spending months inside the van with the same faces. "I never want to go back to who I was back then," she started. "Usually I push back the memories of Vilandra. She was the biggest bitch, wasn't she?"
That brought a grin to Chloe's lips. "She definitely was."
Isabel chuckled. "But now, being who I am, I can tell you that there are memories I hold on to because my husband is far away and I'm afraid I'll be alone forever." The princess faced her past life's bane and reached for her hand. "I remember you. Ch'ali," Isabel said, going back to the name she was more familiar with, "when you returned from the convention, I knew something changed. You fell in love. And you were suddenly more beautiful than you ever were when you were just my brother's fiancé."
"Thank you." Chloe did not know why she blushed, and told herself it was inappropriate.
"And then I remember Lexan, when Zan, Rath and I came to your viewing." Isabel's words brought goosebumps to her skin. "He clutched your crystal in his fist. Lexan refused to give it to Zan. My brother told him that we needed to catapult your essence to the stars, because that's our way. Lexan didn't let go. He was dead long before his body died."
Chloe took a deep breath. Isabel telling her about Ch'ali, she could accept freely. Images of Lexan Chloe could not take as well.
"You were lovely. He was hideous. And both images because of love. Even though the past was tragic for all of us, I hold on to the memories because I take comfort in the fact that even though Jesse and I are sad now, someday we might find a way to be together."
"Well don't take lessons from me, Isabel," Chloe finally replied, "because I'm not exactly model material when it comes to love."
The two blonde women looked back at the other two girls climbing the windmill. Liz and Maria sat with them and scoffed at the cowards below.
"So what do you want to do now?"
Chloe took a deep breath. It was so much easier when she was tending to the heartache of being in love with her best friend while he was in love with another girl. That was relatively less tumultuous than what she had found with Lex. Her involvement with Lex was one day nothing more than a look, to possession the next, and past life murder the next. "I have no idea."
"Given," Maria gushed, "that this guy killed you in the past. Is he hot?"
"Maria!" Liz protested.
"Seriously though, if you're in love with him, and he's attractive, who cares how destructive he is! I fought tooth and nail for the guy I love."
Isabel grinned. "Until you discovered you can become a star."
"That was not what happened and I resent the implication!" Maria folded her arms in front of her. "Besides, I never stopped loving him."
"Luckily, Max saved me, not hurt me."
"So I've heard," Isabel murmured. "One thousand seven hundred eighty four times," she added under her breath.
"What's wrong with them?" Chloe asked, pointing to Michael, Max, and the freshly awake Kyle.
All four young women watched as Kyle waved his arms around, yelling back at something that Max said. Chloe watched in fascination as Max turned rocks into targets using his hands. Michael jogged a few yards away and raised red glowing fists.
"They're pissed off because they can't touch Lexan."
"Okay, I've had it!" Chloe burst. "They insist that they're different people now. So all should be forgiven and forgotten. What about Lex, then?"
"To be fair," Isabel said, "they did not try kill you."
"Yeah," Maria added drolly, "Isabel did."
Isabel narrowed her eyes at Maria. "Kindly remember that you are the only one in the group without powers or any hope of gaining some."
"Ooooh!" Liz giggled. "Be careful, Ria, or she's going to dreamwalk you to death."
Chloe rolled her eyes. To go from one group of friends who thought that the smallest burp was an earth-shattering problem to a group who treated genocide as a joke. "Lex is stupid too, don't worry. He's letting our past come between us now."
~~
Lex mulled. It was nothing new really. Luthors were known to sit in the dark and brood. This time, the object of his mulling was something new to his family. Unless of course his ancestors also had past lives of being the tyrants of distant galaxies. Lex wouldn't exclude that possibility.
He couldn't help thinking back to the last images of his kingdom imprinted in his brain. It was as if his memories of that life resurfaced to the point that to him, it happened yesterday. He wanted to forget the overwhelming guilt that possessed him; at the same time, Lex wanted to remember it so much that it would haunt him so that he would not even think of touching Chloe.
Easily, the feeling of standing out in Ch'ali's garden, clutching her crystal in his hand, returned to him. He had stayed there drenched under the rain while his people approached him to give their condolences, to tell him that with the departure of their young queen, Ch'ali had given them the gift of life. Lexan knew then that by twilight, he would cause the waters to rise so high that the entire kingdom would be flooded in memory of his wife.
He had pushed away towards the ceremonial room where her body lay. Ch'ali was as beautiful as day and as peaceful as the night. Under the light of a thousand candles that hung from the ceiling, her skin was porcelain. Lexan was afraid that if he touched her he would break her.
The bruises around her white neck screamed to him that he already had broken her. She was the most precious gift that he had been, by some miracle, able to steal from Zan and Antar. And there she lay dead, testament to how great a man he was.
Lexan had dripped a puddle of water in front of the pedestal that held Ch'ali. He looked at her unblinkingly but did not move. He could have spent his entire life staring at his wife.
"You killed her."
"I did," he had responded, without hesitation, without looking back at the person who owned the voice. He had taken Ch'ali from one death trap to another. She would not have survived in his home.
"We will avenge her, Lexan. You know that."
He had not needed to look to know that the firm promise was Zan's.
A foreign voice shook his from his reverie.
"So I just heard from my friend back home that I am not the father of the child to be borne by the daughter of the sun. Looks like it's all right if I talk to you."
Lex focused on the man in full black attire, whom he recognized as Angel. "You're more than human."
Angel smiled in such a tight way it looked like a wince. "I'm a vampire."
"That's new, although not surprising. There are fat-sucking vampires here," he said offhandedly. "Youth-sucking ones too."
"I can see how morbid you are. I understand."
"So you know." Angel nodded. "You'll have to keep her away from me. But you can't suck her blood or turn her. Just make sure she stays away."
"You know what, Lex. I can call you Lex right?" Angel gushed, remembering that the man was rich enough and would be a valuable potential client. "I have advice for you."
"I'll take whatever I can get," Lex affirmed seriously.
"Good." Angel sat down on one of the chairs and rested his elbows on his knees when he leaned forward. Lex prepared himself to imbibe the wisdom that only centuries of living can give a man. Angel took a deep breath. "Never kill a woman you love."
Lex stared at the vampire for several heartbeats. When Angel did not say anything else, Lex narrowed his eyes.
"You don't like my advice," Angel concluded.
"That wasn't." Lex shook his head. "Never mind."
They broke their gaze at the sound of tinkling and bells. The two turned to the figure that solidified from dancing little blue lights.
"So everything is falling into place," Leo said, looking directly at Lex.
"Are you insane?" Lex replied sardonically. "Everything's a mess. And you're to blame for this too because you didn't even warn me."
Leo sighed. His eyes fell on Angel. "Hey."
Lex rolled his eyes and introduced the two. "Leo, Angel. Angel, Leo. Unless you two know each other."
"Oh yeah," Angel drawled. "Vampire and whitelighter. We're from the same circle."
The whitelighter smiled and extended his hand. "I'm actually familiar with the Angel of LA. Your work is greatly appreciated up there."
Angel's eyebrows rose at what he took was a compliment. "Well thanks. What you're doing. you know, saving people, healing them, watching out for good. Well, I think it's great too."
Lex blurted acerbically, "Focus on my problem, will you?"
Leo nodded. "Sorry. And I was just looking for Chloe. The best way to approach this is to speak to her directly. See what she thinks of what she saw."
"What is she supposed to think?" Lex countered. "She fell in love. She got killed. By me."
"Well the best thing to do is not kill her this time," Leo offered. Lex glanced at Angel, who had on a look that made him want to strangle his two visitors.
A knock on the door brought Lex to his feet. He opened it to his butler, who said solemly, "Master Lex, there is a young woman here who wants to come in."
"Chloe Sullivan?"
"No, master. The young woman claims to be your sister."
Three men inside the room sighed in exasperation the moment that Glory walked in. The blonde gave them a winning smile. "Hello everyone!"
Leo stalked forward and took Glory by the upper arm. "You know what. You two have to excuse me and Glory over here. We have something important to talk about."
While Leo was starting to orb them, Glory was able to gasp out for Lex, "Don't worry, bro! He's just pissed because of the destruction I caused when you got killed. Oh and stay away from the new kids in town. Rath is itching to blast you to pieces!"
When the two vanished, Angel turned to Lex. "Looks like you have a long and dangerous road ahead of you."
"Looks like," Lex agreed absently.
Angel handed him his business card. "We're always here to help out."
Lex took it.
"Someone will call you regarding the prices."