A Future Forsaken
By Emily Jennings
Max left in Departure with Isabel & Tess, who didn't kill Alex. 20 years later & the world has changed. Antar & Earth have formed an alliance & 'aliens' are a thing of faerie tales. Can Max & Liz truly forsake their love now that the ultimate boundary has been diminished?
Author's note: Second chapter up! It might be a little confusing but hopefully any ambiguities will be explained in subsequent chapters. I hope you like it, tell me what you think.
----
'Mommy! Suzie Lewis' parents are taking her to Antar this year. Can we go to Antar Momma? Can we?'
Elizabeth Parker held a thin cotton summer dress to herself and surveyed her reflection in the mirror critically. She put the dress back on the rack, 'No sweetie, you know how busy Daddy is at the moment.'
The little blonde girl pouted and crossed her arms, sulking, 'It's not fair! Suzie Lewis has been three times already and she says it's the best place ever! She says her parents are going to move there next summer. Momma! They're going to move there!'
Liz patted her daughter good naturedly on the head and moved towards the store exit. 'Well that's up to Suzie's mommy and daddy, isn't it?' she said dismissively, motioning for the security guard to bring the car round.
'I HATE YOU!' the little girl screamed, glaring at her mother. The entire store went quiet and people turned to stare.
Liz froze and turned towards her daughter in shock and disbelief. 'Claudine!' she hissed, after a moments pause, 'This is neither the time nor the place.'
Her eight-year-old looked at her in contempt, 'I hate you' she repeated passionately, simply and directly. 'You never want to do any of the things I want to do, and I hate you for it' she said. 'My teacher says you're a founder of history but you're just selfish. You did all those things when you lived with Grandma and Grandpa, with the Royal Four, but you act like you never. You want to keep all the fun for yourself and let me have none!'
Her large brown eyes were wide and brimming with unshed tears and her voice was thick with emotion. Her bottom lip quivered dangerously and suddenly she sat abruptly on the ground, sobbing and looking at her hands, no doubt angry at herself for crying.
Liz knew that this was where her maternal feelings were meant to kick in, but right at that moment she could not summon up the compassion to comfort her distraught daughter. She looked at the little crying figure and what she saw was a monster, a parasite. Something that constantly fed off her, drained her energy, took, took, took, but never gave.
Liz squared her shoulders and turned from her daughter. There was a murmuring from the other watching customers. 'Claudine! Get up!' she ordered coldly. There was a gasp from a woman near by, no doubt a mother herself, of shock.
Claudine's head flew up, her tears abruptly stopped from her own disbelief of her mother's actions. She rose, feeling small and scared, and began to walk out the shop, where she could she the car was waiting.
When Claudine passed her Liz followed, ignoring the stares she got, and stepped into the car. 'Let's go home' she told her head of security and leaned back, disregarding her daughter's anxious looks.
Vaguely she was aware that she had become the monster, that the girl at her side was just a little girl, and that somewhere in the past twenty years she had become everything she had always despised.
She sighed and leaned back into the leather upholstery of the car and then made a quick decision. 'Stop the car here and let me get out.' The driver shot her a glance in the rear-view mirror but began to pull over immediately. She got out of the car, 'Take Claudine home, I'll call if I need collecting.'
Tony, her head of security, looked as though he was about to argue but hesitated and thought better of it. He nodded and handed Liz a mobile phone, a flickering of understanding passed between them. He had always understood.
She watched as the car pulled away and thought absently that she should have said a few words to Claudine directly so the girl wouldn't be upset, but it was too late now.
She turned down the nearest street, not knowing where she was or where she was going. She did not even know why she had gotten out of the car ...
----
'What now, Tess?' he spoke tiredly, quietly.
The blonde opened her mouth as though to say something and the King threw his hand up in a hasty refusal, 'Do not say it! Don't even think about saying it!'
She gave him a withering glare and continued anyway, 'My name, is --'
He growled in frustration and threw down the pen he had been holding, 'I am not! ...' he said, his irritability making his voice rise and agitation show clearly on his face, '... going to call you Ava!'
'Well you damn well should Zan!' she glowered patronisingly. 'It's my name for Gods' sake!'
He threw the chair back forcefully and stood, walking around the desk and towering threateningly over his wife, 'Why don't you just fuc --'
Max stopped abruptly and closed his eyes in despair. 'Vilandra' he whispered quietly and turned towards his little daughter huddled discreetly behind a large grandfather clock. A petite four-year-old child with large, long lashed cornflower blue eyes and long, fine brown hair unfolded herself from her hiding position and removed her thumb from her mouth to implore a hug off her father.
He swung her up and into his arms, burying his head in her hair. It broke his heart that she had heard a second of that. He hugged her tightly and for a moment he was someplace else, with someone else, and for that he was ashamed.
He pulled away and looked into his little girl's big, honest eyes. He smiled, 'Your hair is so long and beautiful now, just like Repunzle.' Vilandra smiled and traced her father's brow gently, filling him with warmth and understanding.
Thank you he uttered to her telepathically. Her smile broadened and she hugged him again.
'Don't fill her head with that crap!' Tess spat maliciously, referring to his reference to Repunzle. 'She's not a human child Max! Her place is on Antar with Antarian faerie tales!' She hated the bond between her husband and her daughter, hated that she could not have that kind of love.
Max sighed and turned to his wife, reviewing her coldly. 'Not now Tess, not in front of Vilandra'
Tess stayed perfectly still for a moment and then said, with abject coldness, 'She poisoned your mind Zan. You are in the wrong. You are the one that will not let this family work ....' She turned on her heel and paused and the entrance of the room, glancing back at her King, 'And that little girl will never be anything like her, I will make sure of that!' She walked out of the door.
Max sighed. Tess was right. Liz had made it impossible for him to love anybody else that wasn't Liz, and of course it was because of this that he could not make things with Tess work. Maybe, if he could sever all tie, he could move on, give up. But now? No. Now, she was attainable. He had already betrayed his family. Gone to Earth and had ... seen. Seen his future, or his past future, and how things could have been.
He sighed again and was aware of the little girl in his arms. Vilandra. Tess had been right about her too. Max saw Liz in her. Saw hope and life and happiness. And he did not doubt that Tess would do anything she could to destroy it.
It was not Tess' fault. She was in many senses a victim. She simply could not compete with perfection, with Liz.
Max stood, holding his little girl, and remembered a small windswept costal home with a piano and playing middle-c ...
----
T.B.C.
Please read & review
By Emily Jennings
Max left in Departure with Isabel & Tess, who didn't kill Alex. 20 years later & the world has changed. Antar & Earth have formed an alliance & 'aliens' are a thing of faerie tales. Can Max & Liz truly forsake their love now that the ultimate boundary has been diminished?
Author's note: Second chapter up! It might be a little confusing but hopefully any ambiguities will be explained in subsequent chapters. I hope you like it, tell me what you think.
----
'Mommy! Suzie Lewis' parents are taking her to Antar this year. Can we go to Antar Momma? Can we?'
Elizabeth Parker held a thin cotton summer dress to herself and surveyed her reflection in the mirror critically. She put the dress back on the rack, 'No sweetie, you know how busy Daddy is at the moment.'
The little blonde girl pouted and crossed her arms, sulking, 'It's not fair! Suzie Lewis has been three times already and she says it's the best place ever! She says her parents are going to move there next summer. Momma! They're going to move there!'
Liz patted her daughter good naturedly on the head and moved towards the store exit. 'Well that's up to Suzie's mommy and daddy, isn't it?' she said dismissively, motioning for the security guard to bring the car round.
'I HATE YOU!' the little girl screamed, glaring at her mother. The entire store went quiet and people turned to stare.
Liz froze and turned towards her daughter in shock and disbelief. 'Claudine!' she hissed, after a moments pause, 'This is neither the time nor the place.'
Her eight-year-old looked at her in contempt, 'I hate you' she repeated passionately, simply and directly. 'You never want to do any of the things I want to do, and I hate you for it' she said. 'My teacher says you're a founder of history but you're just selfish. You did all those things when you lived with Grandma and Grandpa, with the Royal Four, but you act like you never. You want to keep all the fun for yourself and let me have none!'
Her large brown eyes were wide and brimming with unshed tears and her voice was thick with emotion. Her bottom lip quivered dangerously and suddenly she sat abruptly on the ground, sobbing and looking at her hands, no doubt angry at herself for crying.
Liz knew that this was where her maternal feelings were meant to kick in, but right at that moment she could not summon up the compassion to comfort her distraught daughter. She looked at the little crying figure and what she saw was a monster, a parasite. Something that constantly fed off her, drained her energy, took, took, took, but never gave.
Liz squared her shoulders and turned from her daughter. There was a murmuring from the other watching customers. 'Claudine! Get up!' she ordered coldly. There was a gasp from a woman near by, no doubt a mother herself, of shock.
Claudine's head flew up, her tears abruptly stopped from her own disbelief of her mother's actions. She rose, feeling small and scared, and began to walk out the shop, where she could she the car was waiting.
When Claudine passed her Liz followed, ignoring the stares she got, and stepped into the car. 'Let's go home' she told her head of security and leaned back, disregarding her daughter's anxious looks.
Vaguely she was aware that she had become the monster, that the girl at her side was just a little girl, and that somewhere in the past twenty years she had become everything she had always despised.
She sighed and leaned back into the leather upholstery of the car and then made a quick decision. 'Stop the car here and let me get out.' The driver shot her a glance in the rear-view mirror but began to pull over immediately. She got out of the car, 'Take Claudine home, I'll call if I need collecting.'
Tony, her head of security, looked as though he was about to argue but hesitated and thought better of it. He nodded and handed Liz a mobile phone, a flickering of understanding passed between them. He had always understood.
She watched as the car pulled away and thought absently that she should have said a few words to Claudine directly so the girl wouldn't be upset, but it was too late now.
She turned down the nearest street, not knowing where she was or where she was going. She did not even know why she had gotten out of the car ...
----
'What now, Tess?' he spoke tiredly, quietly.
The blonde opened her mouth as though to say something and the King threw his hand up in a hasty refusal, 'Do not say it! Don't even think about saying it!'
She gave him a withering glare and continued anyway, 'My name, is --'
He growled in frustration and threw down the pen he had been holding, 'I am not! ...' he said, his irritability making his voice rise and agitation show clearly on his face, '... going to call you Ava!'
'Well you damn well should Zan!' she glowered patronisingly. 'It's my name for Gods' sake!'
He threw the chair back forcefully and stood, walking around the desk and towering threateningly over his wife, 'Why don't you just fuc --'
Max stopped abruptly and closed his eyes in despair. 'Vilandra' he whispered quietly and turned towards his little daughter huddled discreetly behind a large grandfather clock. A petite four-year-old child with large, long lashed cornflower blue eyes and long, fine brown hair unfolded herself from her hiding position and removed her thumb from her mouth to implore a hug off her father.
He swung her up and into his arms, burying his head in her hair. It broke his heart that she had heard a second of that. He hugged her tightly and for a moment he was someplace else, with someone else, and for that he was ashamed.
He pulled away and looked into his little girl's big, honest eyes. He smiled, 'Your hair is so long and beautiful now, just like Repunzle.' Vilandra smiled and traced her father's brow gently, filling him with warmth and understanding.
Thank you he uttered to her telepathically. Her smile broadened and she hugged him again.
'Don't fill her head with that crap!' Tess spat maliciously, referring to his reference to Repunzle. 'She's not a human child Max! Her place is on Antar with Antarian faerie tales!' She hated the bond between her husband and her daughter, hated that she could not have that kind of love.
Max sighed and turned to his wife, reviewing her coldly. 'Not now Tess, not in front of Vilandra'
Tess stayed perfectly still for a moment and then said, with abject coldness, 'She poisoned your mind Zan. You are in the wrong. You are the one that will not let this family work ....' She turned on her heel and paused and the entrance of the room, glancing back at her King, 'And that little girl will never be anything like her, I will make sure of that!' She walked out of the door.
Max sighed. Tess was right. Liz had made it impossible for him to love anybody else that wasn't Liz, and of course it was because of this that he could not make things with Tess work. Maybe, if he could sever all tie, he could move on, give up. But now? No. Now, she was attainable. He had already betrayed his family. Gone to Earth and had ... seen. Seen his future, or his past future, and how things could have been.
He sighed again and was aware of the little girl in his arms. Vilandra. Tess had been right about her too. Max saw Liz in her. Saw hope and life and happiness. And he did not doubt that Tess would do anything she could to destroy it.
It was not Tess' fault. She was in many senses a victim. She simply could not compete with perfection, with Liz.
Max stood, holding his little girl, and remembered a small windswept costal home with a piano and playing middle-c ...
----
T.B.C.
Please read & review