The Truth Behind Lies

Tess had spent the better part of an hour pampering herself once again. She had bathed in one of the biggest tubs ever to exist using the apple and citrus oils to make her skin soft and sweet smelling. After she had indulged herself in the bath she had dressed in her favorite red dress. The dress was held up by thin straps that crossed behind her neck as a halter. The plunging neckline held little to the imagination as she padded her bra just a smidgen to increase the effect. It fit skin tight until just about the hips where it flared out some to mid thigh. Finishing her adjustments, Tess spun around twice in the mirror giggling in joy.

She remembered what it was like to be Ava, what her life had been like on Antar before she met her demise. Some parts were still a bit fuzzy, but she would get the answers she sought. A small part of her brain was nagging her about why she was willingly allowing herself to be around Kivar. He was the one that murdered her after all, even after she betrayed Zan and framed Vilondra. Something did not add up, her first clue had been the way Kivar had reacted to Liz. If he was truly that terrified of the girl why not just kill her? She would find some time to dig through the annals, in hopes that it would bring her some answers.

Stopping spinning, Tess kept her smile on her face as she left her room for a walk. She wanted to explore the place that would be her new home, wanting to memorize all of the newest parts. As she walked past the room where Liz had been placed she noticed that the door was open, peaking inside she glared that the girl was no where in sight. Pushing aside her anger. Tess continued on her journey out of the palace and down towards the gardens. As she approached the gardens she heard soft voices, intrigued, she pressed forward getting close enough to hear without being seen. What she heard shocked her to the core and made her angry at the same time.

~~

Liz had allowed Zol to escort her out of the palace by her arm, jerking it free when they reached the last step. "I don't have to be manhandled. I am quite capable of walking on my own you know."

"I know that but if you would bother to look around you would realize that you are an alien among aliens. You are safer if I drag you than if you try to walk on your own. Now follow me, the garden is this way." laughed Zol with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Begrudgingly Liz followed, afraid to speak more than she already had. Looking around her she realized that even though she looked slightly different than the others, she did not feel entirely out of place. All of the buildings looked remarkably human, the tress and flowers the same as well. The only difference were the people, a striking number of them blond, very few brunettes. While they seemed mostly human, they seemed to have elongated necks making them slightly resemble giraffes, a soft blue glow seemed to surround the men, while a white-gold glow surrounded the women.

Zol and Liz walked for a few minutes before the gate to the garden came into view. The stark black wrought-iron fence surrounded trees and flowers for what seemed to be miles. Staring at the strange V formation on the gate, Liz took a moment to realize where she had seen it before. Smiling softly she spoke, "The V-Formation, the royal Antarian Seal. Is this the royal family garden?"

Slightly impressed with her knowledge of the seal, Zol nodded before taping each planet in order ending with the one that represented Antar. With a loud clanking the gate swung open and Liz and Zol entered walking down the winding path. He led her to the rose garden, where he used his powers to conjure up a blanket for them to sit on. "Why don't we start first by answering some of the questions you have Liz? I know that in due time we will get to know each other but until then I will try to answer your questions."

Sitting down on the blanket Liz cast her gaze over to the white roses. "Why does everything around here look so human? The only thing that looks alien to me are the people. What did Kivar mean when he said that I was supposed to be dead?" Fear was fighting to make itself known on the surface but Liz would not give this stranger the satisfaction of seeing her tears.

"While as a race humans are considered inferior some of their ideas have been adapted into our culture. If you really think about it, by us adopting parts of earth such as their buildings or city parks were are in a way honoring that civilization are we not?" a small chuckled escape with the words. "As far as why Kivar thinks you are dead. Well that is a story that is going to take some time to discuss. As long as you are willing to listen I will share that story with you."

Smirking slightly Liz rolled her eyes at the overly dramatic way Zol was acting. "Where else am I going to go? I don't know my way around and I doubt that anyone would help me. Besides if I ran into Tess, or should I call her Ave here, she would probably kill me."

Black eyes met brown as Zol thought over his words carefully. "The reason Kivar thinks you are dead is because you are the identicle image of Lyssaria. I would imagine that you have a fondness for science and white roses just like she did. Like yourself she was part human, part Antarian. Back then it was frowned upon, considered totally unacceptable to not be pure.

Lyssaria was the younger half sister of Rath, King Zan's second in command. Growing up the four of them, Lyssaria, Zan, Rath and Vilondra were inseparable. They always played together but most importantly they always protected each other. As they were growing up everyone just assumed that Lyssaria was full Antarian just like they were, so it was never questioned. As the children started to get older and mature it became obvious that they had feelings for one another. Zan loved Lyssaria with all his heart, as did Rath but more in a sisterly way.

Rath's father, General Zyton had managed to fool everyone until almost the very end. See he knew that Zan and Lyssaria had feelings for each other and that the King planned to have Lyssaria marry him and be crowned Queen but Zyton would not allow it. He hated his daughter, feeling like she was a stain on the royal line, and so upon his deathbed, mere days after the announcement that King Zan was getting married, he told his secret.

Everyone was shocked at first, Lyssaria the most because she had powers you see, just like any Antarian would have. She had never known that she was different, but her life changed so rapidly that she would never get the time to think about it. As soon as it was found out, Zan's parents broke off the engagement and entered negotiations for his wedding to Ava. Zan, Rath and Vilondra were forbidden from speaking to her as more than a servant and though they refused things became difficult for Lyssaria.

She was demoted to servant status just like the other humans here. Her job was to serve Ava, help her transition from her world to this one. Through it all Lyssaria never lost who she was. She was still the same smart, beautiful woman she had always been. What many did not know was that she was clairvoyant. She would get flashes, images of things to come. She was the one that warned of the attack on the palace by Kivar but before she could let them know who the traitor was she was murdered by Ava.

After the bodies were discovered of the royal four, Ava included we were able to extract DNA from them and mix it with human to make the clones who we sent to earth for safekeeping. We wanted to do the same to Lyssaria but when we found her there was not enough left. Ava had stabbed her but Kivar had tortured her until she died, then cut her body up into pieces. He knew that Lyssaria was the key to Zan recovering the throne and he wanted to make sure that there was no way she could be brought back.

So you see, that is why he is surprised that you look just like her. Both Lyssaria and her human mother were murdered but we suspect that there may have been another child, or that someone secretly was able to clone her. I can tell though that by looking at you, you are her. You believed you were human correct?"

Liz sat in utter silence as she absorbed the words that Zol had spoke. Was she really a hybrid all along? She had no powers so that could not be right. "Of course I was human. I have the birth certificate and records to prove it." She proceeded to explain to Zol about her parents and the events that led to her being shot and how Max had healed her. She also spoke about the arrival of Tess to their group and everything that they had gone through.

"Ava was right, when Max healed you he changed you. Though if I am right your alien side had been laying dormant since you escaped your pod so early. We had lost all hope that there were any survivors of the crash until I got a message in 1983. One of the protectors, I believe he goes by Kal, was in Roswell looking over the pods that had been placed there when he discovered a fifth pod set away from the others in a hidden room. He would never have found it had it not been for the sound of a baby crying. He sent us word that he had taken the baby to the nearest hospital, where he discovered a family that had just lost their baby girl. He managed to switch the children before the doctors became any wiser, disguising you as the daughter for that family and their real child as the dead abandoned baby.

You see I was the one in charge of the project to that would allow our king and his family to return to us one day. So when I got word about a fifth alien child I kept it all extremely secret and did some snooping around of my own. It seems that Zan's mother, at the last minute decided that Lyssaria should be with her son. All human subjects are required to give a blood sample in preparation for the cloning. We had originally planned to clone the humans so that there would be enough workers but when the war came we had to change our plans. So Lyssaria was cloned and hidden on the ship with the others. One of the protectors must have found your pod and hidden it away."

Liz stood up from her spot and started to pace back and forth across the grass. Things in her life had just become so much more complicated. Closing her eyes she focused her thoughts on Max, surprised at how quickly their connection opened. She could feel his pain, anguish and fear so she spoke out loud to him. "Max I love you. Please stop trying to punish yourself over this. I know you were never with Tess and I will return to you my love but you have to stay strong."

Zol was not the least bit surprised to hear Liz talk out loud to Max. Lyssaria and Zan used to do it all the time, this was just more proof she was who he thought her to be.

Turning her head back to the other occupant of the garden Liz sat down biting her lip softly. She once again started talking speaking about how she couldn't possibly be this Lyssaria person because of Tess and the whole destiny message.

Zol stopped her rambling to speak again. "Liz there are things about Ava, Tess, that you must understand. She is different from any of us, she was the first successful cloning/hybridization experiment. Ava was never really born. When Kivar was young he made it his life's work to overthrow the ruling family of Antar. His people, the Skins, had always been a warring nation, always seeking to rule by force and pain. He knew that he would need to get someone on the inside to help him, someone the king would trust.

At first he started to try to seduce Vilondra and it worked for a while, that is until she became resistant to his powers. In anger he had some of the scientists here clone himself but change the genetic make-up from male to female. He hoped that if he could engineer the perfect woman, part seductress, part lover that he might be able to get an ally into the palace. The problem was that he succeeded but he also altered Ava's ability to make the right choices. He has forever been able to influence the way she thinks and acts. From the very beginning she was programmed to only love Zan and to betray them all. I doubt she even knows this much, I only know because I had a chance to access the data that Kivar so wanted to keep hidden. In the end Ava or Tess, has a choice who she wants to be. If she kills Zan again her fate will be sealed but if she can realize that there is someone out there that loves her and chooses to change, maybe she can change the way her life is."

Shock registered in Liz's brain as she tried to absorb all of this information. Everything seemed to click in place now, this was why she was so persistent about destiny, about her and Max belonging together. "I know that deep inside I can forgive her for everything she has done. Being programmed that way does not excuse her actions but it makes them easier to forgive." Standing Liz started walking out of the garden as Zol followed. She had had enough of this place.

~~

Tess was shocked beyond words at what she heard. Is it really true? Did he create me to be his pawn in this game? she thought. Tess knew she would get the answered she sought, perhaps a visit to Zol and then a trip to the records that he spoke of.

As she walked away from the garden, Tess thought about her life in Roswell. Even though she tried to force the issue of her and Max, she could not deny the attraction she felt for Kyle. He seemed to care for her simply because she was Tess, not caring that she was alien. All of this warranted more attention and time, but for now she was hungry and wanted to eat. The last words she heard from Liz stopped her for a moment as she remembered what Lyssaria had told her.

She had just stabbed the only girl that ever posed a threat to the crown yet the girl did not hold hate in her eyes.

"It's ok Ava. I forgive you for this. If you just knew what I know about Kivar and what he has done to you."

"You don't know anything! Just shut up and die!"

Lyssaria smiled as she spoke a final time before passing out, "I forgive you Ava, in this lifetime and an all the others."

Shaking her head she wiped away the small tear before locking her emotions back in the box she kept them in. Standing tall she walked away from the garden and into the city in search for food.