Title: Mythology

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Author's note: I've added back the list of people are, and taken out all the dead people. You might want to read it, I will be adding to it if important people come up, and taking people away if they die or are no longer important to the story.

Okay, just a reminder of who the major players still alive are:

Tess of course

Alex-Tess's son, named after Alex Whitman

Nicolas and Khivar-same people they were on the show

Arya-the regional ruler from the province of Tel'ai, which is the capital province on Antar. She was recently deposed by Khivar and is now the leader of the Resistance

Khai-main general, used to be the leader of the Resistance, now the protector of the Granolith, Rath's younger brother

Shalimar-a member of the Resistance, helped Tess escape, now in hiding from Khivar

Morxan-a merchant originally from Larek's planet, has agreed to help the Resistance fight Khivar

Ceyla-A General of the Resistance under Arya

Places of importance:

Tel'ai-capital province of Antar, has Dimaras Rock, where Zan met Ava. The Triaji Desert, the Cortai Jungle, the Landra River, and the Fel Mountains are all located in this province as well.

Antar-the capital city of Antar has the same name as the planet.

Mt. Sinai-a mountain in Tel'ai, it's name means (in Antarian) 'mountain of fate'

this is the stuff of legends...

Chapter Three: The Forces Wait

Day 3

Ceyla watched with interest as the army spread out behind her, flanking her on all sides. They were nervous, apprehensive, and she could feel it in the air. The wind whipped through the ranks, clanking metal together, causing swords to smashing against the ground. A storm was brewing, piling up from the east and charging through the sky in a long and vicious race.

It was the first battle Ceyla had ever lead. She was young, far too young for the task ahead of her. When Khai had lead the Resistance, she had been an assistant to Arya, working mostly on theoretical strategy and diplomatic matters. Once Khai was forced to flee with the Granolith and Arya had assumed control of the Resistance, Ceyla had been promoted first to Captain and then to General. Green and untried, this battle scared her.

She turned and looked out over the hills. They were camped between the Landra River and the capital city if Antar. Far out to her left, the mountains rose, hazy and dark. They were distant, and even the great Mt. Sinai, which towered thousands of feet above all the other mountains and stood by itself in the middle of plateau, seemed small and insignificant.

The hills in front of her sloped downwards into a long stretch of fields, then the rose up again. On the distant fields, she could just make out the Royal Army of Khivar, milling about as they too prepared for the upcoming battle. There were far more of them than she had ever seen, then anyone had ever seen. It appeared as though Khivar had moved everyone out, forced every soldier to fight.

Arya joined Ceyla at her perch. She smiled reassuringly at the younger woman, then turned and looked into the distance. "The clouds of war are gathering," she remarked quietly. A strand of silver hair blew in her eyes, and she pushed it away impatiently, drawing a deep breath as she did so.

"Yes," Ceyla agreed. "Why is Khivar doing this?" she asked, gesturing to the distant royal army. "So many soldiers, so much destruction. The intergalactic community will turn on him. They'll have to turn on him."

"He obviously hopes to gain something by this, something greater than intergalactic approval," Arya mused. "Something that means he won't need intergalactic approval."

Ceyla turned her puzzled blue eyes to Arya. "What could that be?" she asked, running a hand through her black locks.

Arya shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "That's what worries me." She was the only one in the entire Resistance who knew where the Queen was. And Khviar thought she was dead. A dead person holding a hidden secret. The Queen was as safe as she could be given the circumstances.

Unless…

Arya turned abruptly and glanced back at the army. Unless Khivar somehow managed to find Shalimar. The woman was hidden well, but Khviar was brilliant and ruthless and determined, and Arya had long since learned not to underestimate the skin king.

"I wonder if he has prepared his technology as well," Ceyla mused, breaking into Arya's thoughts. "He could use it to possess Resistance members on the battlefield, have them attack their own troops." It was a terrifying thought, the amount of power Khivar wielded.

Arya nodded. "I don't know much about the technology, but I was told that in order to possess someone, Khivar still has to know exactly where they are." Because Khivar's conscious had to find the conscious of the person he wanted to possess, and because Khivar probably did not want to have his spirit stuck in the cosmic void indefinitely, he needed at least a rough idea of where his intended target was, so that he would be able to find them. It was precious little to be grateful for, but Arya nonetheless sent a prayer up thanking God for small favors.

"That is why he cannot possess the Queen?" Ceyla asked. "He doesn't know where she is?"

Arya nodded. It was also what kept him from finding Khai and Shalimar, again two things to be thankful for. "But we must be careful. If he ever does infiltrate the Resistance…"

"I know," Ceyla said quickly. "Keep our eyes open for someone acting oddly and report it immediately."

Arya gave Ceyla one last smile and walked away, hunting out her other Generals. She wanted to talk to them all before the battle began, and who knew how much time there was before Khivar decided to start the attack?

Max massaged his temples and glanced over at Isabel. Isabel paced angrily, her attention focused on Michael. Michael leaned back in his seat and stared at Maria. Maria placed a supportive hand on Liz's shoulder. Liz eyed Max uneasily.

Finally, Max broke the tense silence. "So what you are saying is that a future version of me warned you that the world would end if Tess left?"

Liz nodded.

"And you are just telling us this now because…?" Michael snapped in annoyance.

Maria glared at Michael. "Don't you dare blame her for this!"

"Why not?" Isabel cut in. "If she had paused long enough to think through the consequences before barging in and telling us that Tess was a murderer, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place!" She shook her head in disgust.

"We don't know for certain that Tess wasn't a murderer," Maria replied pointedly.

"It was Khivar who told us that! Are you seriously going to believe him?" Michael demanded. "He's our enemy."

"I don't know what I believe anymore," Maria retorted. "Max said Khivar was convincing."

"Of course he was convincing," Isabel snapped. "He happens to be the evil genius who killed us all and took over our planet."

"Yeah, with your help," Maria hissed.

"Guys, stop it!" Liz broke in. Her voice was loud and commanding, and all eyes turned to her in surprise. "We all screwed up, okay? We all believed she was guilty of murder. We all sent her away. There is no point in laying blame right now, because we have bigger problems to worry about. Such as our imminent deaths."

Michael forced himself to calm down and nodded. He looked over at Maria and murmured, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." His voice was unemotional and flat, but there was honestly in his eyes, and Maria accepted the apology somewhat begrudgingly.

"What do we do?" Isabel asked, her eyes on Liz. "How do we stop the end?"

Liz swallowed back her frustration and not having answers and shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "Without the Granolith, we can't go back in time to change anything. And without Tess, we don't have the four square."

"So what does that mean?" Michael asked impatiently. "That we're screwed?"

"No," Max replied firmly. "We know that it is coming this time. We're prepared for it."

"Not without Tess, we aren't," Isabel replied. "And she isn't here because…remind me again what happened? Oh, that's right, we sent her away." She rolled her eyes and flopped down into a chair. "We sent her to her death. We basically killed Tess."

Outside the door to the room, Jesse stood, his ear pressed against the wood, listening. It had only been a few days since the wedding, but already Jesse had gotten the feeling that there was some huge secret that Isabel was hiding from him. When Mr. Evans had approached and started asking him questions, he had realized that he wasn't the only person Isabel was lying to, and had reluctantly agreed to help Mr. Evans discover the truth about his children.

He had not heard much of the conversation, but he had heard the last sentence. It was the only part that mattered to him, the only part that seemed important.

We basically killed Tess.

Who was Tess, and what had happened to her, and how did Isabel play a role in that? Jesse walked over to the phone, his emotions fighting a bitter battle. He loved Isabel and he never wanted to do anything to hurt her, but he had heard the words from her own lips, and if she had actually killed a girl…

Jesse dialed Mr. Evans' number.

Blood splattered the ground. A man stood, his hand raised, a bloody sword clutched in his fist as he sneered down at his victim. The cement was stained red, the sun beat down on the bright silver of the sword, and the heavy hand of fate hung in the air. "So falls the great King," the man snarled, staring down at his victim with cruel triumph and mocking delight.

The man on the ground twisted in agony, turning to stare up at his attacker. Brown hair fell away to reveal brown eyes, old and worn with years of battle. The boy-king had grown into a man, a leader, but it was not enough to save him. Without his Queen, he fell like any other man and was forgotten in the heat of battle. Without all four, they were nothing special, nothing worth remembering.

Tess snapped out of her dream, gasping for breath, and rolled onto her side. Next to her, Alex was screaming, his little lungs bellowing for everything they were worth. She crawled to him and picked him up, cradling the child in her arms.

"Hey, little guy, Mommy's here," she crooned. "Alex, sweetheart, don't cry, Mommy's going to protect you." After a moment, Alex quieted down. His cries turned into whimpers, and eventually even those faded as he stared up at his mother.

"That's a good boy," Tess whispered. "Now Mommy's eardrums don't hurt quite as much as they did a moment ago." She kissed him on the forehead and held him close, thinking about her dream.

The end of the world.

She sighed and stood slowly, glancing at the burning sun. Her body was shaking from fear and emotion, having just witnessed Max's death. Or, at least, a possible way he could die. It shocked her to the core, and she did not know which one bothered her more; the fact that Max's death had caused her anguish, or the fact that she was bothered that Max's death had caused her anguish. Should she love him or should she hate him? Should she mourn him or should she rejoice at his death?

It was a question that haunted her, although she knew it made little difference what she should do. No matter how hard she tried to push it away, the love was still there, and it drove her insane. She remembered what Larek had told her once, that Ava loved Zan more than anything else in the world, and that she would always love Max because she had some of Ava inside her.

But with that realization came another one, a depressing one that threatened to overpower her with its consequences.

In the dream Max had died because she had left. She had broken the Four Square, and without that, the other three hybrids could not take on Khivar and his army. The power was in the Four Square, in them being together, always united, always strong. If they could not defeat Khivar without her, how was she supposed to defeat Khivar without them?

She needed Max, Michael, and Isabel.

Morxan paused and stared about the abandoned street. He was on his way back to his house after having spent several hours arguing with Senate members over trade laws, and the conversations had left him with a foul disposition and a migraine. He was eager to get home, but something felt a little off, as though he was being followed or being watched.

"Come out," he ordered, peering around the emptiness. "I know you're there."

A man stepped out of the shadows. Dark hair fell over shadowed eyes. In one hand he clutched a bundle of cloth, holding it against his chest as though it was the most precious burden in the world. As the man stepped further out of the shadows and the light fell across his features, Morxan gasped in surprise and did a double take.

"Khai?"

"Morxan."

"How did you find me?" the merchant asked, eyeing the Antarian General apprehensively. He had never particularly liked Khai, but his meeting with the Queen had left him with a favorable impression of her, and by default, the entire Resistance.

"I have my ways," Khai replied noncommittally. "I need your help."

"Let's go back to my house, then," Morxan said, "and I will give you whatever you need." The man fell into step beside Khai, thinking. Originally, he had agreed to side with the Queen because he viewed it as a wise business decision, and because he admired her passion and resolve. And because they both harbored grudges against Zan/Max. It was an odd alliance, because he knew that although she disliked Max, she loved him as well; and she knew that he would have betrayed her in a heartbeat if it was more profitable for him to do so.

But now Khivar had destroyed his planet. He had not been there, but he had heard reports of what had happened, of how Larek, all his people, and the entire planet had been completed obliterated. Although Morxan had traveled much and rarely called his birth-planet 'home,' he did still have some loyalty to the place in which he was raised.

For what Khivar had done, Morxan would always be his enemy.

Morxan paused outside his house and unlocked the door, ushering his guest inside. Khai stepped through and glanced around the lavish house, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. Even when he was involved in a deadly struggle against a madman king, even when he was secretly breaking intergalactic laws and funding Resistance groups, Morxan still knew how to live in style.

Morxan glanced down at the bundle in Khai's hands. "That's the Granolith?" he said. It was not actually a question, and his voice was tinged with reverence. Even though the powerful object was wrapped in cloth and linen, he could feel its power, and it left him overwhelmed and awed.

"Yes," Khai replied. "And Khivar wants it."

"And you want me to help you hide it some place far away will Khivar will never find it?" Morxan guessed, leading Khai through the entryway and into a small side room.

"Not exactly," Khai responded. "I want you to help me ensure that Khivar will never find it, but I don't want to send it far away." At Morxan's puzzled look, Khai continued, "I want you to help me smuggle myself and the Granolith into Antar."

Morxan smiled despite himself, and found he had a sudden new appreciation for the Antarian General's cunning.

Next Chapter: The Waiting Ends

Due: Monday 2/6