Choosing Grounds (AU/UC/XO/ADULT) Xander and Maria needed

[NightshadeIsis]

OOC: UPPING.

[magikhands]

*Maria*

"What's going to happen to us?" Kyle asks me. "I don't want to end up as a puppet to some weird woman. You know me. What if she makes me go near Tess? I don't think I can hold back if she does. And then she'll probably kill me or our world if I'll hurt Tess

I hug Kyle closer understanding what he was saying. "I don't know what will happen. But try not to think of that right now. What she did was to show us her power. We need to concentrate on not pissing her off and try to figure a way home."

I don't know where all this knowledge or calm came from but I know that freaking will do no good. The last thing I want is to draw that woman's attention to me.


ooc: If no one takes Angel and Willow is free...worse comes to worse, we can pair them together

[isabelle]

*Max*

I watch Kyle and Maria holding each other and I feel almost jealous. They're here in this mess with someone they can call a friend, someone they can rely on. The only other person here from my world is Tess, and I don't know if I can trust her at all. In all the other worlds, Tess was a traitor and a murderer. In two of them, she murdered me -- or the other Max. Can I judge her by that? The others all seem to be like the people I knew, well, except Liz. My Liz wasn't interested in being my friend anymore, certainly not my girlfriend, but this one was married to 'Max' and still she doesn't like me, either. Even Isabel is distant since I'm not her Max.

I feel like I'm entirely on my own.




*Zeus*

This is really bad. This woman manipulating all of us. And what's worse, she's taken Quixote. She was my friend. Hart's 'guardian angel.' But she's here, siding with the powerful psychopath! All she gives is more riddles about answers. I can handle her riddles when I know she's on my side, but this I don't like at all.

"What about Hart and Rome?" I ask her. "You're going to let her destroy them? We all need you."

[KatnotKath]

OOC: I don't really know where this came from, but hope it's okay...

~Liz~

As I stand here waiting for an answer, hoping that I'm taking the right tact for the moment at least, I find myself looking over at Max. Seeing him makes me want to feel him, inside... I know he's not my husband, but it's been so long, and I feel so cold... The only feelings I have now are guilt, pain, fear, worry and upset... Happiness, pleasure, love - they're like far distant memories that I touch... They're there, in my mind, but I can't reach them...

I see Maria with Kyle, and I desperately want to help them, and yet the help they need most, the comfort, I don't know if I could give...

Since Max died, I've built up walls, shut part of me away, afraid to allow myself to feel for fear that it will make me weak again... I fight, and survive, I protect those I love, and yet in truth, I don't live... I'm a shadow of my former self - everyone knows it... I'm stronger for battle, but the cost I know has been great...

My parents, before I moved out, always used to tell me I had to move on - they didn't understand what Max was to me, but they recognised what I was doing to myself... I was giving up on love, I was locking away my heart... It belonged to one man, and that man is gone... He was my husband, my partner, mysoulmate, my first and only love, and I will never forget him...

Clenching my fist, I look down briefly at the ring which sits on my finger, in a position which is so right, and yet so wrong... I don't usually wear it, I think it makes me weak, because it makes me think of all this, and yet standing here, waiting, wanting, I need to see it... I swallow and take a deep breath, looking back up, and fixing my gaze on Medina once more as I wait for answers to the questions I've asked...

[StormWolfstone]

~Medina~

"I ... I guess I didn't want her to give up yet. A second chance ..." Zeus begins responding and I notice that Moon simply tenses as she stands beside Bray.

At first, as I give some explanation of what I want, Pride remains silent but Lex reacts just as I had expected the man to do. "Sell crazy somewhere else, ya freak!" He snapps and I watch his fists clenching as he begins to move toward me. I clench my own hands, fully intent on teaching them all a lesson by using him as an example. "We're all stocked up here!" He charged and I waited, planning to see how the others reacted though I'd easily stop him before he had the chance to do any harm to me.

Pride responded by calling after him, "Lex, no!"

Max showed me that I wasn't wrong for choosing him for this group as he throws up a shield and causes Lex to fall back. That was simply too funny and I couldn't help but smirk.

I catch Liz glancing toward Isabel and then watched her look my way. "Why us Medina...? What do you want from us...?" Good, the girl wasn't being weakened by being around a replica of her husband.

"You off your trolley?" Lex snaps at Max and I can't keep from laughing. "What did you do that for?"

"Lex, he just saved your life," Pride interjects.

"I don't need your help you...you..." Lex begins.

"The name's Pride," he announces, "Now just get up and back up, before you get us all killed."

Tai-San spoke up towards her Tribe mates, or at least those that she had known as her tribe mates, "Lex, Pride, Bray... let's calm down and allow ourselves to be centered. We should simply sit down and listen to what the woman has to say and remember those we care about back home."

"Very good, Tai-san." I compliment with a smirk.

"What about Hart and Rome?" I notice Zeus asking as he looks at Quixote. "You're going to let her destroy them? We all need you."

"Zeus, you are wasting your time. Quixote was never meant to be in your world in the first place. She'll be learning her true place soon." I speak out.


Looking out at all of them, I can't help but smile. "Liz, you asked me why I chose you. It's simple, you are all similar in certain things you've experienced and you are all incomplete." With a laugh I waved my hand causing Liz's ring to vanish from her finger and held it in my hand. "Here's the deal, each of you has someone you have lived for, someone that you lost, but there is something more that you have the chance for here."

Waving my hand, I cause one of my many slaves to appear. "I'll let Marly explain what can happen if you don't do as I wish and your world is destroyed."

The slave, wearing torn clothing, shook her head and placed her hands out in front of her as she pointed finger toward them before speaking weakly, "You will witness the destruction, then be bound here to endless torture until begging to be free. A vow to serve forced from you will hold you for as long as the Goddess so wishes. I have been her slave for a thousand years and there is one that has been bound to her for a much longer time."

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

Incomplete...? I stare at Medina, unable to understand how anyone can talk about the things we've been through, albeit indirectly, and actually have a smile on their face... It's cruel, devilish even...

She laughs, and I look down, immediately knowing what's happened. My ring...no... I look back up to find her holding it just as I knew I likely would, and despite myself, and my determination not to be weak, I feel myself beginning to crumble. No... That ring hasn't been any further away than when it's sitting around my neck since the day I got it... Even when hiding it from my parents, it was always there, on the chain with Max's...

I still have his of course, on the chain, so it's not a complete loss, but I feel as though a piece of me is missing, and it's only because another person appeared, this one wearing clothing that was rather the worse for wear, with look of despair in her eyes, that I don't immediately cry out. Medina's reason for bringing her here to talk to us makes me listen though, although my gaze never shifts from the ring that Medina currently holds. How I want to feel it on my finger again...

The words which come from Marley keep my attention though, speaking of destruction and torture... A thousand years...even longer... The more I learn about this woman, the less 'god-like', and more devil-like she seems to me... How can she do this without an ounce of remorse it seems... How can she think that our lives, and those of our friends, and, are just something to play with...?

Anger, fear, emotions flood through me, but I have to try and keep control of myself, and much as I hate to do it, I want to rebell and refuse, I know I'm going to have to do the thing which I'm assuming Medina wants. I draw in a slow breath, and then adress her once more. "Medina, please...my ring, please don't take it..." I try to continue to speak in a calm, clear voice, but I know there's an edge of pleading to my tone now... When I nearly lost my ring once before, I almost fell apart...I can't do that now, but it's absence causes this hole inside me, to feel even greater than normal, and much as I try to ignore it, much as I try to be strong and hide my feelings, inside I feel like I'm losing my husband all over again...

[Anna-Liisa]

Kyle

"I don't know what will happen. But try not to think of that right now. What she did was to show us her power. We need to concentrate on not pissing her off and try to figure a way home," Maria says as she hugs me and I feel a bit more relaxed. She had a way of making me feel stronger, even if I can't say I'm strong now. I'm scared, that's what I am. I hear people talking, but I don't look at them. I can't right now. Not until I hear Medina talk again when she answers Liz's question. I look at her. Incomplete? I see Liz's ring taken away and almost immediately grab the necklace mine was in. I can't keep Tess's ring in my finger, so I kept it in a necklace. I could say it was some sort of a 'I can't throw this away until I've moved on' thing. I hide it under my shirt so Maria or anyone wouldn't see it.

"Here's the deal, each of you has someone you have lived for, someone that you lost, but there is something more that you have the chance for here," Medina says and I can't help but to look at Tess. She was the one I lived for, even if this Tess wasn't the one from my world. What chance? To move on? "I'll let Marly explain what can happen if you don't do as I wish and your world is destroyed," Medina says and I look at a person who had just appeared. Her clothes were torn and she speaks really weakly. She explains what would happen if we'd disobey. My eyes widen. She can't be that... cruel. I stand up and look at her. I know I shouldn't say anything, but hearing Liz's ask for her ring makes me want to say something. I don't know what and I feel myself shaking all over. But I need to stay up. If I'd fall back down I might not get myself back up again. I just need to say something about this.

"What do you mean... incomplete?" I ask. "All of the humans are incomplete in a way. So... that shouldn't be a reason for choosing just us," I say. "At least I can't believe that's all... I just can't." And I feel like I can't keep my voice from breaking either. I feel so weak and that's not just because of this situation. Tess in the same place... Alex alive... everything coming back at the same time and still everything is different. Nothing's like it used to be, except Maria. I close my eyes. "How can you make us go through this? Meeting dead and those who betrayed us..." And I can't believe I can still talk normally even if I'm almost broken.

[Anna-Liisa]

Bump

[magikhands]

*Maria*

After that...slave that Medina brought in finished explaining what would happen if we go against her wishes Kyle parts from me and stands. I swallow hard, my throat consticted with fear. How can really be doing this to us? I think back to my life before this. Thinking of the day she was shot and healed by Max, then the loss of her best friend...at the hand of someone they thought they could trust.

Yes, we've lost. We all have lost someone close to us no matter what dimension she pulled us from. I'm still a little shocked to see Alex standing next to me.

"What do you mean... incomplete?" Kyle asks bring me out of my thoughts. "All of the humans are incomplete in a way. So... that shouldn't be a reason for choosing just us. At least I can't believe that's all... I just can't." I hear the pain in his voice as it cracks, knowing the pain he's gone through. I reach out and take his hand giving it a squeeze letting him know that I'm here. I'll always be here for him. "How can you make us go through this? Meeting dead and those who betrayed us..."

"Kyle..." I whisper warningly. I truly don't want to piss this woman off. She showed up how much control she has on us, and I personally don't want to be at the recieving end of it.

[StormWolfstone]

bumping this... any other characters going to respond to what's happening?