Maria couldn't believe it. It took her a moment to process the information but she realized that Camille Valenti had just said that she knew Maria had powers. That meant she knew something about the aliens.
Camille Valenti produced a small orb from her pocket and held it tight in her hand.
Maria scowled "I'm not impressed yet," she said even though she was terrified. The orb she held was similar to that of the one she had used during the ritual with Michael back in Sedona.
Kyle smacked Maria upside the head and said, "Show some respect."
"Don't fucking touch me!" Maria yelled.
"Did anyone ever tell you patience was a virtue, child?" Camille asked, smirking. "Just wait." She put her hand up in front of her and closed her eyes.
Maria could sense a power source stronger than anything she had ever experienced building inside the petite woman. A rumbling noise grew inside of the house and the lights began to flicker. The power inside the woman grew and grew and almost knocked Maria backwards. She heard a clinking sound and looked to see that the glass of water she had just been drinking was vibrating on the counter. The light in the house finally went out and was replaced by a blinding white light. The counter top was vibrating so badly that the water glass fell off the side, shattering on the floor.
Maria held her hand up to protect her eyes from the blinding light coming from Camille and she had to fight from blacking out when she saw the woman begin to transform. She saw the woman grow at least a foot in height. Her curly brunette hair lightened and grew straight. It then shortened, being sucked in by the roots. Her sharp pointy nose smoothed out and widened and her thin lips became full. Hair grew above her upper- lip and on her chin and she grew sideburns. She had turned into a man!
As though a flip had been switched, the silver light had dissipated and the pale yellow kitchen lighting returned. Maria blinked several times trying to get rid of the spots she was seeing and then looked at the man in front of her.
She heard a deep voice in her head. *He's a very powerful shapeshifter...* Ashtar's voice.
"Nacerro, I presume?" she said cursing herself for the shakiness she heard in the voice.
The man in front of her nodded. "Very good," he said in a deep voice.
Kyle put his hands on her shoulders from behind and whispered in her ear. "But that's not all. Don't you recognize him Maria?"
He did look familiar but she didn't know how or where she had seen him before. She looked into the man's eyes and a vision flashed in her head.
***Flash***
Amy Deluca sadly running her hand over a picture in a photo book.
***Flash***
A close up of Amy's hand touching the photo.
***Flash***
A finger tip running over a picture of Amy and Karl Deluca on their wedding day.
***End of Vision***
*OH MY GOD!* The man standing in front of her had been the man in the picture. The vision she had earlier that day had been trying to tell her.
Maria crossed her arms over her chest to try and cover her shaky hands. "So what? I was told about you. I know you're a shapeshifter. So, you changed into my father. Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Are you really that dense?" Kyle asked, massaging her shoulders. To the man in front of him he said, "Should I tell her or do you want to?"
"Oh, please take the honors," Nacerro said.
Kyle hissed into her ears. "You see Maria, Nacerro didn't shapeshift into your father. He IS your father!"
"You're a liar!" Maria cried, fighting to shrug out of Kyle's claw-like grip.
Nacerro was smiling brightly at her, seemingly delighted by Maria's reaction. Finally he said, "I'm afraid it's all true my dear."
Maria looked hard at the man in front of her. She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized him for a few minutes before finding what she was looking for. Truth.
She saw the truth in his eyes but she refused to believe it. Maria extricated herself from Kyles grasp and turned on him. "I told you not to fucking touch me!" she yelled.
Kyle shoved her away. "Quit being such a bitch! Just listen!"
She heard a pleasurable sigh from behind her and turned around to shoot a look of death to it's owner. "Aaah," Nacerro said. "Making up for lost time, I see. Afterall, it's only natural for brothers and sisters to have their little squabbles."
Maria clenched her jaw and walked over to the table, taking a seat. Through gritted teeth, she said, "I want answers. I want the TRUTH!"
"What would you like to know first, my dear?" Nacerro asked.
"Even if you were my...," she trailed off. She just couldn't say it. "How is it possible that Kyle and I are brother and sister. It just doesn't add up."
"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Can I tell her?" Kyle asked anxiously, his eyes lighting up like an excited child.
"Be my guest," Nacerro said, his eyes never straying from Maria's face.
Maria glared at the man in front of her and then turned to Kyle. "Go ahead," she said, her voice hard. She was surprised how steady her voice was after the blow she just received.
Kyle walked in a little closer and cleared his throat dramatically. "Let's see. Seventeen years ago, there was a lonely sheriff who had a thing for a little flighty girl in town. He was crazy about her but too scared to approach her. There was also this new...person in town. And this person saw the sheriff's attraction to this woman and through observing the woman, saw that she too was attracted to him even though she despised him for putting her in jail a few years earlier. This new person chose to get in between them. This new person was...special."
Maria rolled her eyes and spoke impatiently, "I get it Kyle. You're talking about your dad, my mom, and Nacerro. Would you quit with the dramatics and just get on with it!"
"Fine. So, Nacerro, chose to get in between them. He posed as a man and lured your mother into bed, eventually marrying her. But, unknown to your mother, he had a secret life. He did the exact same thing to my father, only this time posing as a female. This is how we came into being." Kyle smiled broadly, and Maria shuddered at the site of all those teeth.
The man sighed and spoke. "Maria, dear, you must understand that I had my reasons. There was something special about both of your parents. I saw that if they produced offspring, their children would be smart and powerful and strong headed and that's what I needed. So, I altered my reproduction cells, copying the genetics of both Kyle's father and your dear mother Amy, and I created you two. Understand that you are exactly as you would have been, had you been spawned from Jim and Amy, except part of you has Tyrvanas blood which makes you even more powerful."
Maria eyes were boring holes into the table. It took a minute before her throat cleared enough so that she could speak. Tightly, she said, "Why did you need two who would produce powerful and smart kids?"
"Yeah, why did you?" Kyle asked, confusion crossing his face. Maria noticed that the mad gleam had disappeared from his eyes and he actually looked like the Kyle she had always known. She still received no comfort.
She returned her attention to Nacerro and rapped her finger nails on the table. "I'm waiting," she said, coolly.
Finally, he spoke and what he said chilled her to the bone. "You see," he continued, "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Let me start in the beginning. There is a prophecy amongst our people that roughly translates to 'three powers will arise in the year of the three aligned moons and in the year of the five aligned moons, these three will bring forth the end of the Tyrvanas dynasty.' The text it came from was in an ancient language that was dead to our people. As the legend went, the text contained all the prophecies until the end of time. Many spent their lives trying to decipher it, but with no luck. Then a...I suppose hermit would be the best term...came to us with knowledge of the language and he was able to decipher it.
"He found another prophecy that read, 'the fifth son of the seventh ruler shall produce two of mixed blood. Only they will have the power to defeat the three powers if their will is strong. If their will is not strong, the empire will vanish.' I am the fifth son of the seventh ruler of Pearlan since the beginning of the Tyrvanas Dynasty. And each year of the aligned moons signals twelve human years. Seventeen years ago, after learning of the location of the three powers, I began to look for a man and a woman in which I could procure my two. I took an interest in one pair of people especially. I saw that they were destined to be together and that's how I chose your parents."
"Three powers? That means...." Maria's mouth fell open when she understood what he was saying. She stood up in her chair, the legs squeaking on the tiled floor, and cried, "I'm supposed to destroy Michael, Max, and Isabel?!!!"
Nacerro, her father, smiled and nodded. "Yes, child. You learn quickly."
Maria was outraged. Her fear melted away and she stalked up to the man and got into his face. "Well, you can forget it! I love Michael and I wouldn't do a thing to hurt him!" She spat. "My will isn't strong!"
Not showing any anger, the man touched her on the chest as she had Hank, and she went flying backwards, painfully slamming in to one of the counters. Still in the same calm voice, he said, "Did you ever think that I could just force you? Because I can."
"But your prophecy says, 'If their will is strong and mine is not!" Maria answered, rubbing the back of her head through her sponge rollers. Her head was spinning but she refused to betray her weakness, her fear. "Besides, I would never hurt the father of my child!"
Nacerro arched an eyebrow and his face twisted. "You're pregnant?" The man yelled, finally showing a new emotion. Anger. "Did you know this?" he asked Kyle.
Kyle nodded. "Yes, I just learned today."
The man walked up to Kyle and smacked him hard across the face with the back of his hand. "You stupid imbecile! Why didn't you tell me?! Don't you understand what this means?!"
"I'm sorry," Kyle cried, holding his hand to his face. "What does it mean?"
Nacerro looked over to Maria and the evilness in his eyes caused her to visibly shrink backwards. "Is Michael the father?" he asked in an inhuman voice.
Maria nodded, unable to reply.
"You stupid slut!" he cried. "How dare you mate with a Dilana!" He was visibly repulsed, his nose flaring as he said the last word. "Are you trying to ruin everything?"
His anger faded almost as rapidly as it had come and he muttered, "That would explain why you've awoken early." Louder, he said, "How did you not die after the mating?"
"I did die," Maria squeeked. "But then we did the ritual."
Nacerro nodded. "Don't you get it? You died because of the blood inside of you! It was never meant for a Tyrvanas and Dilana to mate. But somehow you lived. How did that happen?"
"Rusu gave us our lives back."
Nacerro threw his hands up. "Rusu! The infamous Rusu! It must have known!"
"Known what?" Maria asked.
The man ignored her question. "Maria, I buried your bodies' knowledge of your true race deep inside of you and Kyle. You weren't supposed to awaken for six more years. Then, you were supposed to train with me, but now you've ruined that!"
Maria found her strength just then. She narrowed her eyes and stood up, a smirk on her lips. "Good!" she yelled. "I hope I foiled your entire plan."
Nacerro slapped her hard across the face, but she stood strong, fighting the temptation to nurse the stinging pain. She smiled, and said, "Besides, what does it matter if I have a child? It that another one of your prophecies?"
An idea occurred to her just then. Her visions always came to her out of nowhere or when she was connected, but what if she tried to bring on a vision. They always seemed to tell something of the future. She closed her eyes and tuned out the loud breathing of Nacerro. She blanked her mind and breathed deeply, pushing inside for some semblance of a vision. Then it came to her.
***Flash***
Maria holding a dagger to Michael's throat.
***Flash***
Maria trying to stab it in but unable to.
***Flash***
Maria looking down and seeing her stomach glowing through her blue shirt.
***Flash***
The glow moving from her stomach to the hand in which she held the dagger.
***Flash***
Maria dropping the dagger and looking Michael in the eye.
***Flash***
Maria crying and kissing Michael.
***Flash***
A furious Nacerro.
Wait, that last part was the real Nacerro.
"That's it," she said, smiling almost to herself. "My baby can stop this, and you. My baby won't let me kill Michael!"
Nacerro's jaw clenched and he said, "Kyle, let's go."
The two walked towards the door and walked out, but Nacerro stuck his head back in and said, "You may think you've won, but I'll be back. We will not let this baby ruin anything for us." Then he was gone.
On unsteady legs, Maria walked towards the door and slammed it closed. Then she leaned against it and slid to the ground, sobbing loudly. Her body was exhausted and she found that she couldn't move.
A few minutes later, she saw movement off to the side and she heard Michael's voice.
"Maria! What's wrong?"