Disclaimer:
No. I make no
claim to these characters....they are not my preciousssss
Spoilers: If you’ve gotten this
far, there is none
Pairing: Podsters
Pronunciation Guide: Chalsa
(Ch - ALL - sa)
Lemin
(LEH - min)
Author’s notes: Queen Fadilia Kedar: Max/Isabel’s
mother
King
Alaric Kedar: Max/Isabel’s father
Cian:
Max/Isabel’s ancestor, first king of Antar
Andaria:
Tess’ mother
Radim:
Tess’ father
Kedrans:
race from which Royal Four descended
Iturians:
race from which Khivar descended, and overthrew and killed Zan and the Kedrans
Cerideans:
special core ops of the Iturian army, mostly psyonics and telepaths
Eshtari:
capital of Kel Abara, location of the palace
Badr:
1st moon of Antard
Cedris:
2nd moon
Pela:
3rd moon
Kaptar’s
Jewel: constellation in the Antarian’s star system
Yun’s
Garment: Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights
Saren Dari: desert plain on Antar
dashka
: good luck charm
elkarl
: Iturian hand weapon
capaechea:
long haired woolly creature, with long flanks and a large hump on its back
kii:
location where various endangered animals are kept for protection
Tir
Lamar: sister city to Eshtari
kashkar:
slur, equivalent to witch
plascer:
plasma weapons, compact, length of your hand
mesnya:
Antarian money
spuriun
- slur, similar to bastard
naxion
- Antarian element on their periodic tablle, similar to oxygen, yet denser
Chapter Sixty Nine
***
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.
-
Henry David Thoreau
***
Lives
lived together,
in
union, as one.
See My
Plan.
It is
drawing ever closer.
As the
darkness falls,
you do
not see what lays ahead.
Blindness
plagues them,
pride
begets them,
and in
it all they will see the fruit of their labor.
See My
Hand,
extending
out into the chaos of brooding hatred;
it
will end as I have declared.
The
Unseen will be seen once more.
He
will be known by his chosen ones.
No
longer will the veil be over their eyes.
They
shall see what their wickedness has wrought.
Once
again the Lord of the Manor shall cleanse,
purifying
those who have repented,
who
have turned from the darkness into the light.
He
shall reign again,
and
the people rejoice.
But
until that day arrives,
the
veil of darkness shall remain.
None
shall see that Day.
No one
shall understand what that day will bring.
For
everyone shall be transformed;
everyone
will not remain unchanged.
Song
of Chalsa, daughter of Lemin, Seer of Eshtari
~~~
The
noises just seemed to fade and her worries subside. The rough stone surfaces had been dressed in a silver-glossed
ivy. Where she stood it bore its
thickest dressage; its thin, waif-like leaves shimmered under the gentle caress
of the rays of muted light travelling through the cracks of the old
tunnels. It welcomed her like a deep,
haunting, momentous revelation. As she
approached the living wall, her hand held tentatively in front of her as she
drew nearer, Tess closed her eyes and began to breathe slowly and deeply. The cool, damp appendages from the vine
brushed the back of her hand and crawled slowly up her arm, as if clinging to
her, wrapping itself around her arm in almost a vice-like grip.
Finally
the tips of her fingers grazed against a hard surface, as she snaked her way
through the living plant life. Taking a
deep breath, Tess bit the inside of her lip and dove deep into the recesses of
her memory for the correct trigger - what would she need to do to bring her
people safely through the unknown passageway that had been built into the
city's foundation since the time of Alaric.
"What
is this?" She heard a low male
voice gasp in awe. From her own memory,
she would have guessed it belonged to Lt. Siothrun.
Her eyes
remained closed, even though through the thin veil of human cells, she could
see a faint light pulsing in front of her face. Tess stood there several minutes, as she waited patiently, the
faint light now screaming through her eyelids, before she allowed herself to
view the images that now danced before her.
The bright yellow light pulsed through several smooth, expertly crafted
symbols that had been engraved deeply into the stone. The characters were familiar, yet did not belong to the Antarian
alphabet.
Her body
hummed as the palm of her hand passed over each character, causing the light to
cease; it waited for her instruction.
There were six characters chiseled into the stone, each were repeated
twice within the smooth pattern that it formed. The characters ran vertically along the hidden entrance, and
studying it with a discerning eye, they formed a familiar symbol to the human
eye - infinity.
~~~
"How
is she doing?" Max worriedly glanced up from Isabel to the closest thing
to a physician - an almost albino-like alien garbed in a long sweeping robe -
Lt. Juno.
"She
is gravely ill," he replied softly, unable to meet Max's gaze. "Our equipment has not been programmed
with the diagnostic capabilities to analyze your hybrid forms."
Max
swallowed hard, as he watched helplessly as Isabel lay encapsulated in a thin
veil of purple light.
Larek,
who had left possession of Brody's body when they had been transported to the
Ithmarian ship, was now in his true form - a pale-skinned Ithmarian, robed in
his royal garb, was swift in his directions; Isabel was immediately put in
stasis and her body treated for whatever physical traumas her body had
sustained. There had been no promises
of a full recovery or even the slight possibility she would wake from her
comatose state.
"You
must focus now on the journey ahead of you, Zan," Larek urged gently,
placing a hand on his former friend.
"It will be a long road ahead that will be fraught with unexpected
peril."
"I
know." Max's gaze remained fixed
upon Isabel. After a moment of silence
he turned and faced the small group of strangers who stood around him, as if
waiting for signs of the king that had been bound to save a whole world. "Bring me up-to-date on the situation
on Antar."
~~~
The light
was neither bright nor dim; it just shone, like it was just there. Isabel licked her dry lips and tried to
move, lifting her right leg to walk towards the whole veil of light, but found
herself unable. It was like her muscles
were frozen, disconnected from her cerebral functions.
Isabel
felt like she was suspended in some sort of light, neither given the ability to
come or go as she pleased. She seemed a
prisoner of some unknown force. After struggling for several minutes to free
herself from the invisible force that held her, Isabel knew it was useless; she
was a prisoner of the invisible.
Her head
was slightly clouded and her memory was foggy.
Unsure of her situation, she decided fighting this unknown force was pointless. Isabel wasn't even sure if there was
anything to fight anymore. For all she
knew, she was dead.
Isabel
pondered the events that had led her to this uncertain physical and mental
state. She was definitely not
conscious, knowing that from her previous unconscious state that this was quite
different, yet all too familiar. She
felt 'The Presence' unlike she had before; it was very real and it seemed to
sustain her, rather than when Khivar's men had her drugged up and
unconscious. She wondered if she really
could be near the edge of death.
Am I
going to die?
The
thought was scary, yet comforting at the same time. She remembered the warmth that came from the Light. Isabel wanted to return to it, but she could
not help but remember her family - Michael.
She needed answers, but there seemed nothing she could do to find her
way out of this state of 'un-being'.
As her
thoughts swirled around, trying to conjure up a way for her to get back to
reality her surroundings began to dim; the film of light flickered and seemed
to waver as if someone or something was interrupting the electrical
current. Isabel's lids began to feel
weighed down, as in fact her whole body suddenly seemed to register the
enormous trauma that she had undergone.
If the invisible force was not constricting her body, she was positive
that she would have collapsed.
"I loved you, Isabel. A-all...all of you."
Isabel's eyes fluttered at the familiar voice. The unconscious realm she had awakened
within was now black. She forced her
head up and blinked several times, unable to focus at the image that was flashing
before her.
Jesse's pale face was resting in someone's lap. It was as if she were having an out-of-body
experience...She supposed she was. Her
chest tightened and her throat was dry and ached. She squeezed her lids shut, trying to block out the memory.
"Isabel, you do not belong with him."
"No, I belong with you.
But I don't think either one of us wants to think about that too
much."
Isabel kept her eyes shut, shaking her head, attempting to rid
herself of these memories. Why is
this happening to me? She didn't
want this. She didn't want to
remember. If she was going to die, she
just wanted it to end swiftly.
"We'll figure something out.
We'll figure something out for you and Tess and your...do you know if
it's a girl or a boy?"
"A boy."
Isabel swallowed hard, managing to open her lids slightly, enough
to see Max staring back at her. Snow
was falling in the background.
"Wow, you're having a son."
"Yeah, a son. A
son!"
The image
faded. She tilted her head slightly, waiting
for the next memory; but when it didn't appear, she wondered whether this is
what people meant by seeing their lives flash before their eyes.
"The
stars pale in comparison to your beauty Vilandra."
Isabel
straightened up at the image that suddenly flashed in front of her. The voice was familiar, but the face
unrecognizable. Khivar.
"Do
you really imagine I can be so easily wooed?"
She heard a raspier version of her own voice.
"Hardly,
Princess," Khivar said soothingly, stroking her face.
"Good,
because that would be a mistake..."
"A
vital one at that," Khivar finished, raising a bemused brow. He raised her slender hand to his lips,
which held a trace of a smirk, and placed a lingering kiss.
~~~
"Everyone
be on their guard," Michael commanded in a low whisper, not wanting to
break Tess' trance-like state. He
scanned the faces of the young soldiers nodding in awful agreement, as their
eyes remained transfixed upon the silent workings of their Queen.
Michael
was on edge as they had followed Tess' tentative steps through the darkened
tunnels, which had been hidden by overgrown vines and weeds. He understood Tess' wholehearted desire to
be an asset to their secret mission, but he also knew that memories were a
fickle thing, and as much as she might have wanted to recall the royal
passageway...But then she did it. It
was an amazing thing to watch.
He
wondered how he had been lucky enough to regain his memories at one time. The others either never seemed to be able to
or couldn't. He wondered now that the
time drew near, whether any of the others were drawing into themselves, as he
now watched Tess doing, and finding key to unlocking their past...
~~~
"So
we'll head to this base first?" Max said tentatively. All the information, which this new version
of Larek had been reporting to him, was daunting and confusing. Names and places that he didn't quite
remember, strategies and allies he knew not.
"Zan?" Larek cocked his head and frowned. "Is everything all right?"
Max
squeezed his eyes tight, as a shooting pain stabbed him between his
temples. Pressing heel of his hand
midway between his forehead, he tried to relieve the pain. Even in the darkness of his tightly closed
lids, he saw flashing and swirling before him, causing a nauseous sensation to
flood over him. He stumbled back,
trying to compensate for the sudden loss of balance, as he teetered back and
forth. "I-I don't know..."
Larek
caught him by the arms before he tumbled backwards, and slowly lowered him to a
near by chair. "I should have
foreseen this physical reaction to the strain you have put yourself
through."
Max shook
his head, trying to communicate, but couldn't find his voice amidst the
blinding misshapened visions.
What
the hell was happening?
~ * ~
"The
sequence runs counter-clockwise," Zan/Max explained, as his hand ran down
the length of Ava's arm. "Once you
have begun, it must be completed in a certain time limit or palace security
will be alerted."
"I
think I've got it," Ava/Tess said, focused on the remote entrance/exit
hidden in a narrow corridor, within Zan's royal chambers. Disbursing short, warm bursts of energy from
the palm of her hand, she finished entering the sequential code that Zan had
forced her to memorize.
After
the last burst of energy was absorbed by the crescent-shaped symbol, the code
had been completed and the various symbols engraved within the marble door
began to flash, illuminating the dark corridor so intensely that the symbols
gave way to the light and formed the sign for infinity. Ava/Tess took a step back, as the marble
door before her moved of its own accord.
The smooth marble grated on the unpolished floor underneath them,
causing a loud grinding sound of sorts.
"And that my darling is your way out," Zan/Max whispered into
her ear, as he snaked his arms around her waist, brushing his lips against her
ear. He spun her around until she faced
him. "If there is any trouble,
uprising, I want you to come here and take this passageway out. It will lead you to the Jendhani
Forest."
Ava/Tess
furrowed her brow, unable to comprehend why Zan was showing her this. "I will not be needing this," she
said, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling up close to him. "No one has any reason to hurt me,
Zan."
Zan/Max
smiled softly, amused at the naiveté coming from the graceful woman who had
captured his heart only a year ago on the cliffs of Mizpah. She was everything he had ever wanted in a
woman. Strong and defiant, Ava never
bowed to convention, yet she was the picture of a graceful and elegant
courtier. Ava was always full of
contradictions, just when he thought he understood her and knew every facet,
there always arose something new and intriguing and surprising about the woman. "You have no comprehension of the
enemies I have, my love."
"Of
course I understand that you have enemies Zan," she chided, pulling away
from him slightly. "You have power
and rule over an entire world, do you think I am that naive?"
Zan/Max
grinned widely. "You, my darling,
are absolutely wonderful." Lowering
his head, he captured her lips with his, as his pulse raced from their close
proximity and their dark surroundings.
There
would be no other for him.
~ * ~
Max felt
a cool compress against his forehead, bringing him to. "Your Highness," Larek said
grimly, as his shadow hovered above him.
"Are you all right?"
He felt
slight nausea after the unexpected vision or flashback - at the moment he
wasn't quite sure which it was.
"Yes." Max swallowed
back the bile that rose in his throat, furrowing his brow in an attempt to
recall whether what he had just seen had indeed happened.
It had
felt so real.
"Ava."
"Pardon?"
Larek kneeled beside him, as the other Ithmarian checked his vitals. "Did you say something?"
Max
glanced over at his friend, who for some reason did not look as strange as he
had when Max had stepped onboard this ship.
"Nothing." His
thoughts drifted back to the emotions, which seemed to come parcel and package
with his visions. It was such an
overwhelming sense of belonging and completion when he held her.
Had it
been a dream? Max began to believe the trance he had
slipped into was more than a vision; it had been a memory. The more he dwelt on the memory, Max began
to wonder whether the closer he came to his home world, the more his memories
would return until he could recall the entirety of his life lived on Antar.
~~~
"Zan." As the warm breath passed her dry lips, Tess
awakened from her trance and found herself faced with a long, dark marble
encased passageway. The memory had been
vivid and it seemed to have guided her through the necessary sequential code
needed to unlock the door.
Tess felt
her stomach churn, and she stepped backwards, her hand feeling behind her for
something to steady herself. It had
been so real. A part of her even felt
as if Max had been with her. She shook
her head.
No. It was just a memory.
"Tess,
are you all right?" Michael's
voice broke into her reverie, as his hand grasped hers, steadying her.
"I'm
fine." She glanced over her
shoulder at Michael before turning her gaze back to daunting passageway in
front of her. "We must move or
we'll have nothing to show for our efforts," she said firmly.
The
warmth of his lips on hers lingered, as she unconsciously traced her bottom lip
with her fingers.
"Let's
move," Michael barked. "Her
Highness has pulled through for us, now we have to finish it."
Tess felt
a lump rise in her throat, as she approached the pitch-black passageway. Light.
There has to be a light.
Once the pad of her foot touched the cool marble floor, a row of blue
lights illuminated the corridor, as far as the eye could see. Her heart skipped a beat, as the passageway
eerily seemed familiar.
Their
mission had got off to a good start. It
was a good sign. Tess took a deep
breath and prayed that more memories would surface the closer they came to the
Inner Sanctum. She knew that the more
she remembered, the better their chances were of defeating Khivar.
Michael
led the team as they made their way towards the inside of the palace. Tess followed closely behind, with the other
soldiers watching their rear. Her
fingers trailed along the smooth walls, as if she were a child running her
fingers along a fence. Her mind drifted
to Khivar and his meticulous plans. What
was he planning?
She glanced down at her timelink, which happened to be set to the celestial movements of Antar's three moons, and the three light green moons were now fully eclipsed on her watch. "It has begun."