Author: vegas312
Rating: Mature
Coupling: All CC
Summary: Post Graduation. It's 2014 again, and the end of the world has occurred again. What if Future Max was right? What if their worst enemy was the only one that could save them all?
AN: Song below is "Hear You Me" by Jimmy Eat World. The lyrics do not belong to me, and copyright infringement is not intended so yeah please don't sue me. Also one of the scenes below came from the eppy "Balance," which I do not own either so yeah please don't sue me.
AN2: I know, I know I'm late. lol Better late than never right?
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Chapter 10
'There's no one in town I know
You gave us someplace to go
I never said thank you for that
Thought I might get one more chance
What would you think of me now?
So lucky
So strong
So proud
I Never said thank you for that
Now I'll never have a chance'
No one said anything as they stared helplessly at the slumbering girl lying before them, and all wondered when Kyle would return with Isabel. Each had their own questions as to the events of the future that would lead a future version of Kyle to have come back to save them all. No one knew who exactly Serena was, and how she came to be in such a state that not even Max would be able to heal her without help from Isabel. Well one person did have some inklings who Serena was, and she was slowly putting everything that she had heard and felt that night, and nothing was looking too good.
Liz paled as she thought of everything she had done to help make sure that the world would be safe from their enemies. 'Has everything I done worth nothing? Or am I the reason that the end of the world happened again? I must have broken my promise and told Max everything. Kyle knew all about Future Max, so I must have told him and probably everyone else including Max. Oh God, what have I done? How can I fix this?' Looking back down at the girl who future Max proclaimed was a friend of theirs, she bitterly wondered whether would her need for love, rather her love for Max, was the reason for everything. "This is all my fault," she whispered softly to herself.
"Babe, are you okay? Maybe you should rest for a bit. You did faint after all." Maria placed a hand on Liz's arm startling her out of her thoughts.
"I'm fine. Really I'm okay." Liz grabbed hold of Maria's hand and gave it a squeeze. Seeing the disbelief on her friend's face, Liz gave her a shaky smile before moving away and walking over to her bed. A blue and white quilt with a star pattern laid across the end of her bed. She picked up the spread and hurried back over to Serena. Bending down she laid the quilt across her, and when she was done she rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet staring sightlessly. Maria looked down at her friend in concern before turning to catch Max's attention. With a nod of her head towards Liz, she mouthed, 'Do something.'
Max nodded before tilting his head towards the door. Maria getting the hint walked past him and gave him a brief smile. Stopping at the door where Michael was leading against it, she resisted the urge to make him hold her. She still remembered what had happened last night when she caught him at Courtney's house. Sometimes she thought understood him, then other times she was left standing trying to figure out what had just happened. Fighting the urge she rubbed her hands down her arms to give herself something to do. "Michael, we should probably go downstairs and close the restaurant. We don't want the customers trying to call Mrs. and Mr. Parker and telling them Liz fainted earlier."
For a minute Michael didn't answered rather he continued to stare intently at the unconscious form of Serena. He shook his head as if to clear it before he turned back to Maria. "Yeah, we better go check on the restaurant." Moving away from the door he opened and motioned Maria to go before him. Maria hesitated and stared at him before walking out the door with Michael right behind her. Closing the door behind them, they headed downstairs leaving their friends alone to deal with each other.
Oblivious to what was going on around her, Liz continued to rock back and forth while staring at the wall. Silently Max stared openly at Liz and took in the dull look in her eyes, the tear tracks that had dried on her cheeks, the stray hair that flew around her, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't recognize the girl before him as the same girl who had only told him yesterday that she didn't want anything to do with him, the same girl who had once demanded that he let her fully into his life, the girl whose spirit called him from the first day he had laid eyes on her. No matter what had happened yesterday, he couldn't stand to see her broken like this...it was if a light had gone off inside her.
Feeling as if someone was staring a hole through her head, Liz ran her fingers through her hair and froze as she found herself drowning in eyes the color of amber that seemed to be turning the color of warm honey. Max. Her heart thumped and her body leaned forward of it's own accord. It was like swimming in love because that had to be the emotion that shone so bright in his eyes. It was an emotion that she had seen thousands of times in the mirror when she thought of him. 'How can he still love me after everything that I've done to him? He should hate me! He did hate me otherwise Future Max wouldn't have disappeared last night. God, why am I obsess with being love by him? We're not meant to be. I have to stop it and just let him go once and for all.'
Anguish and longing shone in her eyes as she stared back at him. Breaking the eye contact, she turned away before she gave into the urge to let the sudden sheen of tears that cover her eyes fall down.
"Liz, don't do that. Don't shut me out." Max's voice sounded harsh and rough in the quiet of the room. He could see her closing herself off from him again. She loved him. He had saw it. It was a brief moment, but she had shown him. 'Why did everything between us have to be so hard? Wasn't teenage love supposed to be carefree?' He thought bitterly. Nervous he licked his dry lip as he thoughtfully eyed Liz. "Liz, we're going to have to talk eventually. Would you please talk to me about what's going on?"
"No. I think we've said everything that had to be said last night." She didn't raise her head to look at him.
"Last night huh? What was last night? What kind of show were you putting on? If you wanted me out of your life that bad all you had to do was say so instead of pretending to sleep with Kyle." He snapped at her no longer caring that he didn't want to hurt her feelings.
The color drained out of her face as she snapped her head up to meet his heated gaze. She opened her mouth to say something when the air next to them started to change and a light filled the room. As the white light dimmed, there standing in the room now was Isabel, Alex, and Future Kyle.
Sensing the tension in the room, Alex looked back forth between Liz and Max and raised an eyebrow. "Hey guys, you've totally missed catching the new transportation of the future....Air Kyle." He gave a weak smile when no one laughed and turned to Isabel with a bewildered look. Isabel squeezed his hand as to give him reassurance that everything would be okay. He squeezed back and smiled. Future Kyle cleared his throat and hurried over to where Serena laid between Liz and Max. Bending down beside her he slowly pulled the quilt back. He swore as he took in the sight before and ripped the rest of the quilt off her. Everyone gasped as they looked at Serena only to find that what looked to be spider webs were binding her to the floor.
"What the hell is going on? What did you guys do while I was gone?" Kyle glared first at Max and then Liz.
"Calm down Kyle. We've seen those before when Michael was sick," Isabel reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "Although I'm not sure why Serena has the spider webs on her unless she's out of balance."
"Out of balance? I think Maria told me this about one time something about Michael almost dying because he was out of balance. But I'm not sure what this has to do with Serena. Whatever it is we have to hurry because I think we're running out of time." Kyle picked up Serena's arm and felt for a pulse. He sighed as he felt the weak pulse that seemed to be slowing down even more if that was even possible.
"I'll go get some water." Liz spoke up startling them all. Standing up, she wobble a bit before up riding herself and straightening her shoulders. "I should probably go downstairs and grab Michael and Maria as well."
"I'll go with you." Alex frowned in concern of his friend and hurried over to catch up with her. Liz smiled gratefully at him before heading towards the door. The two headed out the door leaving the others behind watching them.
Hearing the click of the door, Kyle shook his head and went back to holding Serena's hand. "Serena. I know you're in there listening to what's going on around you. Now you have to stop taking a nap and wake up now because I need your help. I really need your help if we're going to save the world because I don't think I can do it on my own." He searched her face for any signs of consciousness and closed his eyes in pain when he didn't see anything. "Come on and fight. I know you can do this."
No one said anything as they all waited for the others to come back not sure what to say or do. A few moments later footsteps could be heard outside the door, and the door open with Maria, Michael, Liz, and Alex hurrying in.
"Shit! Whitman wasn't lying when he said she had grew spider webs." Michael stood staring incredulously at the sight of Serena covered in spiderwebs. "Don't we need the stones to make this work?"
"No. We don't have the time to get them. Plus Isabel can get us into her subconscious." Kyle motioned for everyone to get closer. "Her pulse is dropping as we speak, and if we have to run off and get the stones it'll be too late then we're all screwed."
Moving quickly everyone formed a circle around Serena with Kyle holding her right hand and Isabel holding her left hand while everyone clasped hands to form a connection...a chain to each other so no one would get lost when they entered Serena's consciousness. Isabel took the bowl of water from Liz and took a drink before handing to Alex, who took a drink as well and passed it along until finally everyone had taken a drink.
"Are you sure I can do this Kyle?" Isabel looked worriedly at the still form of Serena. "I could make things worst, and I'm still not even sure I can get into her subconscious much less all of seven of us there."
"You can do it. You've done it before. Just concentrate." Kyle smiled encouragingly at her.
Isabel took a deep breathe and turned to Alex and gave him a smile when she felt him squeeze her hand. "Thanks," she whispered to him. Instructing everyone to close their eyes, she waited until she was sure everyone had followed her instructions before she closed her own. Nothing happened at first and blew out a frustrated breath before she concentrated harder to connect with Serena. Again nothing happened and just when she was getting ready to open her eyes, she felt the familiar circulation of her powers and then nothing. Taking a deep breath she smelled strangely enough the ocean as if she was standing right on the beach. She opened her eyes to see all of them standing on a beach with a lone figure sitting in the sand staring at the water as the sun started descending in the sky.
"We did it. Guys! Open your eyes." She told them excitedly as she hadn't believed that it would actually worked.
As everyone took in the beach scene, Kyle moved away from them and started down towards the lone figure that was sitting in the sand. As he got closer he noticed the wind blow and teased what had to be Serena's long dark hair. Finally arriving he sat down next to her and waited until she noticed him.
"You know when a girl tells someone that she's dying, she at least hopes that people will let her die peacefully." She pushed a dark strand of hair out of her face before turning to stare at Kyle.
"Your eyes are blue!" He said the first thing that came to mind. "Your eyes are usually brown, so why are they blue now?"
Amusement danced in her eyes as she leaned her chin on her hand as she stared back at him. "My eyes are blue? That's all you can say to me? You're such a charmer really." She let out a soft chuckle as she moved to stand up. Seeing the others she started towards them and called over her shoulder when she realized that Kyle wasn't behind her. "Are you coming or not?"
By the time he got up, she was already standing with the others and waiting for him. "So I guess the first thing I should say is 'welcome.'"
"Welcome to what?" Alex asked.
"Welcome to the consciousness of the Granolith. Not many people make it here." She smiled at them as they all stared at her in varies degrees of shock.
"Huh? What do you mean the Granolith?" Kyle asked not sure what was going on now, but not liking the paleness of Serena's face.
"I mean that..that.." Serena paused and tried to take a deep breathe. Clutching her stomach, she bent over as pain racked her body.
"Are you okay?" Kyle gently grabbed her arm and made her sit down on the sand.
"All of you are going have to leave. This body will not last any longer, and you can't be in my consciousness when I stop breathing otherwise you could end up trap here."
Everyone looked on confused not sure what was going on except that danger was coming closer and closer.
"Wait I thought you said this was the consciousness of the Granolith." Max spoke up and looked on with concern at her. He moved hesitantly at first, "Is is possible for me to heal your body from inside here?"
"Thank you, but even your healing cannot heal me. The time traveling took a toll on my body and it's against the rules for there to be two of me in one timeline. As for your question about the Granolith, yes this is the consciousness. A long time ago when the Granolith was given to the very first ruler of Antar, a High Priest was chosen to guard it and advice the ruler of the wishes of the Granolith. This was a tradition that continued until the rule of King Zan of Antar, whose High Priest had slowly been seduced by power and became corrupted. King Zan asked the Granolith to appointed him a new advisor one that could not become so easily corrupted, so the Granolith instead created me and inserted its consciousness in me."
"Zan of Antar?" Max asked curiously. "Was that me?"
"That was you, but that's a story for another time." She smiled at him before turning to stare back at the sunset. "I'm sorry but we're out of time. Once you leave here I will no longer exist, well this version of me anyway."
"You can't die!" Kyle yelled and turned her to face him. "I can't do this on my own. I can't face another person dying around me. I just...I just can't."
Serena started to tell another joke, but stopped once she saw lines of sorrow and unhappiness that resided in his eyes. She moved slowly until there wasn't even an inch separating them, and wrapped her arms around his with her head resting on his shoulder. He raised his arms and hugged her back to him tightly.
"Listen to me Valenti. I know I always joked around and teased you about your capabilities, but you're one hell of a guy. You can do this. You're the only one who can do this. I know it's hard to have all these memories of losing everyone you've ever loved, but this is your chance to save them."
"Serena," he interrupted, but stopped when she reached up and placed her fingers on his lips to silence him.
"Right now everything might seem hopeless, but you have to believe and not give up faith that everything will turn out all right. There's a lost soul right that needs you to help her find her way home, and I think you need her to so that you can find your way home. It's okay to fall in love, and sure it hurts to lose someone, but just ask yourself if you rather be alone and not know love and then make your choice. Also you got to remember that you're not alone in this timeline for however long you're here. There's six people behind you that have stood beside you and loved you for two lifetimes, so whenever you feel alone remember that."
She stopped and let her words sink into him before she slowly pulled away. She gave him a sad smile before leaning back in and kissing him on the cheek. As she pulled away she whispered to him, "I'll always be around when you need me. When all seems lost go to the Granolith for help, and help will come as soon as possible. Take care of yourself okay?"
Kyle pulled her one last hug and closed his eyes against the pain of losing another part of his family. For years it had just been him and his dad, then their family had grown and expanded over the years thanks in part to the people behind him who changed his life over the years. "Goodbye Serena."
"Goodbye Kyle."
He dropped his arms and stepped away. She waved at the rest of the group and started walking back to where they had found her at first. No one said anything as they watch her settle back down on the beach hugging her knees as she stared out at the water.
Kyle slowly turned away from her and looked at the others. "We're going have to leave now. Isabel, please wake us up."
"Are you sure? Shouldn't there be more for us to do?" Isabel asked worriedly. "Do you want to stay here while we leave so you can have some more time with her?"
"No." That one word conveyed to all of them the hurt and pain that he was trying to keep to himself.
"Okay if you're sure then. Everyone get back into a circle formation and then close your eyes." Isabel waited until everyone followed her instructions again before closing her own eyes and concentrating on waking them up. Again she felt that familiar tingle and opened her eyes with a gasp and found that they had all returned to Liz's room.
Kyle tugged his hands away from Maria and Isabel, and without a word he walked away from them and headed out the window towards the balcony. Isabel started towards the window, but stopped and looked helplessly at Alex. "What are we are going to do?"
"I don't know Isabel. I don't know." Alex pulled her into his embrace.
'And if you were with me tonight
I'd sing to you just one more time
A song for a heart so big
God couldn't let it live
May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads the sleepless go
May angels lead you in'
'May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads the sleepless go
May angels lead you in'