Roswell Fanatics

Maria

"Max...." I gasp as he begins to collapse. But, Isabelle goes toward Max so my attention stays on Michael. I pull Michael out away from Max.

"Michael?" I ask as tears fill my eyes. "Are... are you okay?"

"That stupid bitch..." I say as my eyes turn to Ulyssa for a moment, "she meant to hit me, but you..." I wrap my arms around me, "oh, thank goodness your okay!"

*Max*

I feel Isabel's hands moving through my hair and I feel very comforted by it. I resist the urge to lean back and relax. We're still in danger and there's a lot to sort out.

Isabel's questions are good ones and I want to hear the answers to them. I take another breath and give a slight nod to Isabel, letting her know I'm feeling better. I sit up slowly but deliberately. It must be clear to Ulyssa already that I was near my limit but I can't let her think I'm down and out or that I'm too debilitated to continue our negotiation.

I glance at Michael, still a abit concerned that he hadn't spoken yet. He looked okay and it felt like he should be fine. Maybe, like me, he was tired and perhaps playing possum...

I turn to Ulyssa, hoping she'll answer Isabel's questions, but at the moment I'm beginning to become even more angry. We've been manipulated, threatened and co-erced. And now she's attacking us again.

"You said you'd comply with ALL our conditions save the age of the children at transer," I remind her. "Perhaps you've forgotten number five. You are not to harm us or anyone-else. In attacking Maria and hurting Michael, you've voided our agreement."

I stop myself from the rest. If she'd voided the contract, then it would all be over. We'd owe no children and she'd be prohibited from taking any action against us, including the nightmare she'd shown to me and Michael. Somehow, I don't think it will be that easy. Afterall, she hadn't actually signed the document herself, yet...

.

Michael/Ulyssa

As my eyes open I find myself staring into Maria's worried looking face. Shifting my hand, I hear her say "Oh, Thank goodness your okay" and notice her face relax slightly. Lifting my head from her lap, I see Isabel holding a weary looking Max and that's when I realize that Max must have brought me back, back from the brink.

Looking from Max and Isabel to the ghostly figure of Ulyssa shifting above the parchment, I feel the urge to lash out at the sadistic bitch for trying to hurt Maria, but unfortunately for us, our powers did not work against her so once again we were at her mercy.

"You said you'd comply with ALL our conditions save the age of the children at transfer. Perhaps you've forgotten number five. You are not to harm us or anyone else. In attacking Maria and hurting Michael, you've voided our agreement." Max says, attempting to find a loophole of his own that would get us out of this mess.

Ulyssa's ghostly figure remained silent for a moment, but I knew the exact excuse she would use, and something told me that Max did as well. Ulyssa hadn't signed the contract yet. Suddenly the piece of parchment Ulyssa was hovering above changed from a aged beige color to a pristine white. Ulyssa’s form shifted slightly, her hooded head turning to look directly at Isabel and Max.

“I’d not signed it before, now it is signed” She says, the parchment rustling slightly as a golden symbol glowed brightly from it.

“As you will note...” she says gesturing toward the document “...I have amended the agreement to include my stipulations.” Ulyssa says before reading aloud the amended agreement

We, the undersigned, do agree to enter a contract with Ulyssa, based on the following conditions:

1) Only four children will be conceived under this agreement, one child per couple as specified, to be surrendered to Ulyssa. A time frame of 6 months will be allotted for conception to take place[/u]. Ulyssa will have no claim on any additional children now or in the future.

2) Ulyssa will take custody of each child at her leisure, but no later than 6 months following birth.

3) These four children will truly be safe and well and raised as Ulyssa's children. The eight of us will be allowed at least one inspection visit to the place where Ulyssa intends to raise the children, prior to transfer of custody. Visitation will be allowed every five years. Visitation will be optional for all eight of us but at least one parent will visit at that time.

4) The children will be raised in a morally responsible fashion. They will be taught not to hurt people and to use their powers, if any, in safe, helpful, and non-destructive ways.

5) Ulyssa will cause no harm to any other human being or cause any other living creature to be hurt. She will not cause any damage or adversely affect this world, Antar, or any other. Nor will she allow the children to cause harm.

6) Once the children are no longer an issue, we will guaranteed that our lives will not be disrupted in such a manner again and that we will be safe from suspicion from all law enforcement and alien hunters for any reason for the rest of our lives.

7) If any of these conditions are not met, this contract will be void, and all children will be returned to their birth parents, immediately.


“Now, if no one else has any further objections?” she "Maxwell, as the leader of your clan, you must recite the following phrase ratifying said contract"

"Nece in accord cu Ulyssa" she says, waiting for Max to says the words and seal the deal.

okies... I'll wait on your edit.


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ooc: ooops I meant to say no later than 6 months, not sooner. Sorry! I'll change it now!

You haven't edited the post yet, but I'll assume that the 'later' for 'sooner' is the only change...


*Max*

'Leader of my clan,' I think. I'm supposed to be king of a whole planet. Why is it so hard to be leader of even eight people? Twelve counting the four children we're now agreeing to concieve and give away.

I press my lips together, banishing those thoughts. We've been through this. I know this is the way it has to be. I can't keep second-guessing it, even if I do regret that there wasn't a better way.

I look at the contract, reading Ulyssa's changes. "Six months," I say alloud to those who can't see the paper clearly enough to read it at the moment. "Six months to concirve and the children taken before they're six months old."

The first one, clarifying six months for conception is more than generous. I can't argue that. But the second clause makes me pause. Six months old. I don't know why she would wait that long. I'm still not sure why Ulyssa can't use her strange ability to manipulate time to take the unborn children and age them more rapidly so they're gone before we get attached to them, before anyone knows... But I have a feeling We've already taxed her patience too much. As I told Isabel, we can't provoke her. She's signed the document now, but if she choses not to comply and attacks again, I won't be able to save anyone, including me...

At up to six months, everyone will know that we're parents. And as Isabel pointed out, we still don't know how we'll ever explain how these children disappear. The contract says Ulyssa will be sure we're not in trouble with the law, but it's still a concern...

The only good thing would be if the extra time give us more time to find a way to stop her from taking the children at all, but I'm guessing probably not. Our powers don't seem to work against her. I don't know how we'd be able to prevent it.

The previous version had a stipulation that if they weren't collected in time, we'd keep them. I want that back, but then we do have the last one that says if any of the conditions aren't met, so that would include the time frame for collecting them. In fact, here, if she neglects to pick up ONE child prior to six months after birth, all four of them will be returned. That's better. I don't expect Ulyssa to 'forget' to take the children, but at least we'd have a chance...

I wave my hand over the contract, adding one more essential phrase that was missed in condition three. We need to see and approve of the place the children will be. That may be implied by 'safe' but best to spell it out...

3) These four children will truly be safe, well and happy and raised as Ulyssa's children. The eight of us will be allowed at least one inspection visit to the place where Ulyssa intends to raise the children, prior to transfer of custody. Transfer will only take place if the environment meets our approval. Visitation will be allowed every five years. Visitation will be optional for all eight of us but at least one parent will visit at each time.

I look up and around at everyone. As expected, they're all watching me with solemn eyes. I see one or two nods and more than a few eyes bright with unshed tears. They've already signed it, even if none of us like it. As much as I want to, I don't think I can back out now. I resist the impulse to hang my head in surrender. I won't give her that satisfaction.

Squaring my shoulders, I turn to face Ulyssa. My voice is firm as I repeat the words. "Nece in accord cu Ulyssa"

Michael/Ulyssa

After Max has ironed out all the details of our agreement with Ulyssa and says the magic words, I watch as the parchment roles up into a scroll-like shape and disappears into thin air. "It is done" Ulyssa says, just as the room grows dark and for the second time tonight, I lose control of my body and its movement. In the dark, I grope to raise from the floor and once again move against my will, through the darkness. The shifting and shuffling of feet tells me that the others are doing the same thing. I want to yell out, to Maria to Max to Isabel, but my vocal chords seem to be paralyzed. It's not until I come to a stop that I regain the usage of my own limbs and, I presume my voice.

"Well, now that the agreement has been signed, there is just one more piece of business to take care of before I release you to your duties" Ulyssa metallic voice echoes in the still unlit room.

"Lumen" I hear Ulyssa say and with that, the room was once again flooded with light. Bowing my head, chin to chest, I squint against the harshness of the sudden change from darkness to light. After several moments pass, I open my eyes and allow them to adjust to the brightness of the room. Once they have fully adjusted, I raised my head to find myself standing face to face with a bleary eyed Liz, who looks just as stunned to see me standing in front of her as I am to see her in front of me.

Looking over to my left, I nearly gasp at the sight of the others, who are all positioned just as Liz and I were. All lined up to and facing one another, Tess stood before Alex, Isabel before Kyle and, my stomach lurched suddenly, Maria before Max.

As we each observed the others, the looks of shock and bewilderment started to set in. Swinging my head over to Ulyssa, who had now taken a position near the door, I can't help but ask the question I already knew the answer to.

"What the hell is this?" I yell, as though saying it louder might somehow intimidated her.

"You of all people should know!" she says, "You've always known" she adds, sounding amused.

"No, I don't know, why don't you explain it to me." I say, louder still, the anger starting to bubble up inside of me.

"Very well..." she begins, hesitating slightly "...these are your mating partners" she added evenly.

"WHAT!" I yell again, my eyes moving from Liz, Max and Maria, then back to Ulyssa.

"No, no...we never agreed to this!" I protest loudly, taking several steps in Ulyssa's direction. Even though I 'd been the one who was expecting Ulyssa to drop a bomb like this, I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"You never disagreed either" she corrected. "With all of your rules and conditions you neglected to include a clause that would stipulate whom you would or would not be paired with. Therefore, I've decided these are the best pairings to produce the finest offspring. These four pairings must produce the offspring. I will accept no others."

"You fucking bitch, you tricked us..." I said, advancing on Ulyssa. "...you knew all along and you made us think we...FUCK!" I yell exasperatedly, as I turn from Ulyssa, unable to finish my sentence.

"Well if that is all, we shall see each other again in about one years time, at which point you will be shown where the children will be reared, as per our agreement." she says, adding "You may leave whenever you are ready, your world has been restored."

Hmm... This is just before the prom so does that means that Alex has "been to Sweden?" It would be interesting to have him with Tess after she's been mucking through his brain, eh?


*Max*

When the lights go out and everyone moves, I'm far more annoyed than scared. We've done this before. It's nothing but pointless theatrics.

Then the lights come on and I'm not facing Liz. I'm not facing Tess, either. It's Maria! Blinking, I look from her to Michael and then to Liz, who is standing opposite of him. Michael starts to argue with Ulyssa but she merely laughs and disappears.

My heart sinks as I realize what's happened. I tried to make this work and I let myself assume it would be as it seemed. Michael tried to warn me but I forgot to put it in the contract. We all did. It probably wouldn't have made any difference, anyway. She changed the timeframe, she would have changed that, too, if she wanted this. Still, I wish I had remembered to try.

"Maria," I say softly. She was the one most vocal about how she didn't want this and now I'm the one who has to do it with her. To make a baby and then give it away. She'll be the mother to one who could be Antar's heir, and will be, until I take that away from him or her. "I'm so sorry."

Without moving any closer to her, I take Maria's hand, hoping to offer some comfort and compassion, without forcing intimacy too soon. Maria is very cute, pretty even, and I care about her. We've become much better friends in the last nine months, but this is way more than we'd ever want.

My eyes meet with Michael's again and then with Liz. I know Michael wasn't always very fond of having Liz in the group, but I know they're friends now. I'm sure he'll treat her right, but I still feel sick. It was hard when I thought we were both going to be forced into this, knowing that she didn't love me anymore, but somehow this feels worse. She and Michael?

Beyond them, I see my sister. She was 'destined' to be with Michael but she loves Alex, I'm sure, and yet, now she's with Kyle. Do they have anything in common? Behind me, I know Tess is facing Alex. I don't have any idea how that's going to work out, but I'm guessing they're no more comfortable with each other than I am, or Isabel or Liz...

yesh..I missed a lot. I'll try to have a post up later on this next week. Sorry for taking so long. RL has been kicking my butt lately (plus I don't reccomend taking summer school unless you really like school or enjoy pain...hmm..I must be a masochist or something. lol. )

Kyle

As Ulyssa returns everything seemed to go a bit chaostic ways. Maria started yelling at her, Michael went to stop her and she hurt both of them. It seemed like Michael was hurt badly and Max went to help him. I was afraid of moving from my spot. What if she'd think I'd try to say or do something that didn't please her? But Michael's healed and everything seemed to be fine. Though Max looked tired.

'God..this is too much already...' I though to myself.

Max and Ulyssa discuss about the contract. What good would that make? It was already signed - by both of the sides. Well not completely after all since Ulyssa and Max had to say something to to parchment. Something I wasn't was it was.

The room was black again. Why couldn't she just keep the light up? But then I felt like I was moving again. Oh no, what now? I was stopped. Everyone else was too, or that's what I figured when I didn't hear anything...expect Ulyssa saying she had something to take care of. Then the lights were brought back on. I raised my hand to shield my eyes, but after I could see again I saw Isabel right in front of me.

'What now?' I though to myself again and looked over at Ulyssa.

"What the hell is this?" Michael yelled.

"You of all people should know! You've always known" Ulyssa replied and sounded like she enjoyed the whole situation.

"No, I don't know, why don't you explain it to me" Michael again.

"Very well......these are your mating partners" Ulyssa explained and my eyes grew a bit wider. Mating Partners? Me and Isabel? I looked back at her.

Michael started arguing with her. Ulyssa explained that with these pairs will become the best offspring and she wouldn't take any other pairings's babies. And here I was thinking it would be me and Tess...but Isabel? I hardly talk to her. Sometimes at some classes or when I really have to..but we're not close to each other. Well I wasn't so close to Tess either but..

"Well if that is all, we shall see each other again in about one years time, at which point you will be shown where the children will be reared, as per our agreement. You may leave whenever you are ready, your world has been restored." Ulyssa said, breaking my thoughs. Then she was gone.

Great. Me and Isabel. Why? Why did was it her? Not that I'd complain, but...she she..well...She and Alex would be much better than me and her. She didn't like me..right? She liked Alex. I looked around. Alex and Tess, Liz and Michael, Max and Maria. It's still Alien-human. Of course. What would she do with a mere human baby anyway? I looked back at Isabel.

"Um...Well...I...Don't know what to say..About this. So maybe I should just..be quiet.." I mumbled and looked away.

Great, Now I couldn't even say anything. I was too nervous to say that. Isabel was really beautifull and I was going to be with her...But it was still so odd. I looked over at Tess and Alex. I would've been easier if it would've been someone I'm close to.