They had to end this - now.

And he knew exactly what to do…

"Tess, help me!" Michael yelled at his sister. He could feel Tess’ indecision. She knew that Danala was their sister, was reluctant to completely destroy her.

Michael felt no qualms whatsoever.

The bitch had hurt his daughter. He owed no loyalty to her.

His loyalty was to his REAL family - Jennetta, Maria, Max, Isabel, Liz, Alex…even Kyle and certainly Tess.

Danala was going down.

He was beginning to go blind from the intensity of the light that Danala was creating. He could feel his eldest sister gathering energy from the walls around her. He realized that the entire complex in which they found themselves was like a giant power conductor…just like Stonehenge had been when Isabel had opened the portal from Illyria.

And Michael understood. Stone increased their power.

Michael threw up his own hand. He had to access some of that power before Danala completely drained it - had to control it so that SHE couldn’t. He used his connection to Tess through their linked hands to try and communicate to her what he was trying to do.

~*Tess!*~

**MICHAEL!**

~*Help me Tess!*~

**She’s our sister Michael!**

~*She’s going to kill us! She does not care a flying fig about either of us. She’s one of THEM Tess. You have to help me.*~

**But we’ll be alone!**

~*You will never be alone Tess. I promise.*~

Michael could see images whirling through his younger sister’s mind…knew her loneliness, recognized in it the same feeling he had always had growing up…

Flash*

Seven year old Tess breaking free of her pod, seeing the other three pods dark and empty…knowing that she had been abandoned…

Flash*

Ten year old Tess decorating Nasedo’s house for Christmas…then crying herself to sleep when he never came home…

Flash*

Sixteen year old Tess seeing Isabel across the quad at school, approaching her long-lost friend with her heart in her throat…

Flash*

Tess hearing Max telling Michael how to be romantic, realizing that he was in love with someone else…

Flash*

Max yelling at her, "YOU’RE not one of us!"

Flash*

"I knew it was meant to be!" Ecstatic happiness that her destiny with Max had been confirmed by his mother on the message from the orb… Max pushing her away from him with a simple, "No…" and going after Liz.

Flash*

Michael and Isabel telling her that she had to stay in Roswell while they went to England with Liz…that she couldn’t help them bring Max home…

Flash*

Pam coming to Tess, telling her who she really was…renewed hope that at last she wasn’t going to be alone…

Flash*

Kyle telling her that he loved her… Tess refusing to accept that it could be true…she had learned not to trust love…

Flash*

Tess realizing that Danala was evil, that she wanted Tess to be evil, that she could not be….she was alone again…

~*Tess! Listen to me! I promise that if you help me…you will NEVER be alone again…*~

He could hear Tess sobbing somewhere outside the connection. **How can I believe you? Everything I’ve ever been told has been a lie!**

Michael frantically searched his mind for an argument that would convince her…he was still competing with Danala for the energy in the room, felt himself weakening in the battle against his older and more experienced sister. His legs were beginning to give out on him.

He had never been very good at controlling his powers.

He had gotten better - but in a tug-of-war against someone of Danala’s experience? He had already lived two separate lives in the years that she had been refining her gifts…

Finally he threw out the first thought that came to mind. ~* You’re an aunt!*~

**WHAT! What on Earth are you talking about?**

Michael threw an image of Jennetta in his sister’s direction. He showed her all that his daughter was - her intelligence, her sweetness, her dimples…and then he threw her the image of Jennetta in the transformation pod, her eyes closed…

~*Help me Tess!*~

Michael felt Tess’ rage explode within her - rage that her brother was going to lose his child…He felt the exact moment that she began to help him absorb power from the walls around them.

The brightness of Danala’s energy was beginning to fade to the periphery of his vision. He and Tess were handling so much power it was drowning out the other girl’s…

And Michael knew exactly when they began to win…because Danala spoke to them.

~~Tristandor! Sabrya! Don’t betray me again! Please! I cannot bear it…~~

Michael felt his heart contract at her sobs. He felt Tess weakening beside him.

**Danala! We can still stop this!** Tess exclaimed. **YOU can stop this…**

~*Tess, she’s playing you!*~ Michael screamed at her with his mind.

~~Think about what the three of us could accomplish on Illyria together.~~ Danala offered.

She sent images of Michael, Tess, Danala, with Jennetta and Maria as well, gathered around a table, laughing, hugging…Michael blinked when he realized that Kyle was there as well. And then he knew…Tess WAS in love with Kyle.

Danala sent a picture of thousands of people in a square cheering for he and his sisters. ~~We can be a family again. All we need to do is rid ourselves of Jaxon Falconer and his silly twit of a sister once and for all. And then we can be together my beloved ones.~~

Michael could feel Tess beginning to let go of their connection. Danala’s false promises were too tempting…~*Tess! She’s lying! Fight it! You already have a family!*~ He sent her images of Max, Isabel, Liz, Alex…tried to show her how much he loved them…tried to remind her of how much he KNEW she had come to love them…

He sent her images of the carnage in Dernia - disaster after disaster caused by their older sister’s emotionless and incompetent rule…he remembered it all thanks to the orb.

He sent her images of the peaceful High Kingdom of Illyria, of how beloved Max and Isabel were there…of how beloved THEY, Michael and Tess, had been there because their marriages had united two ancient enemies with a new hope of peace.

Finally he sent her an image of Danala killing Jennetta with a blast of her hand. The very idea of it made him physically sick, but this was no time for squeamishness.

He was fighting for his sister’s soul here. He was fighting for the lives of his nearest and dearest.

He would stop at nothing to win.

Michael sighed with relief when he felt Tess beginning to power up again.

He could feel Danala beginning to weaken. ~~Tris! Sabbie! No! Please!~~

But Michael felt no emotion from her. She wanted to win for the principle of it but the irony of all ironies was that she was going to lose because she didn’t care.

She didn’t care about anything enough to win. Tess and Michael were going to defeat her with the power of their love for those they were protecting…

He realized that his sister Danala had been dead from the day she had entered her transformation pod in Dernia a generation ago.

Living without emotion was not really living at all.

Michael grasped Tess’ hand and made one last push to drain Danala…he felt her beginning to fade away…she was burning out…THEY were burning her life force out…

And then - with a flicker - she was gone.

Michael began slowly to disperse the energy he held within his fragile human body. He couldn’t quite believe the extent of it…

He spoke to Tess in his mind. ~*Let it go slowly Tess. If we release it all at once we might still kill them all.*~ He felt that Tess understood.

It felt like an age before the last of the power they had collected had been released. It then took another few moments for Michael to get his bearings.

He blinked, clearing his vision. He was still seeing dots in front of his eyes due to the damage the intense light they had created had caused.

Michael could see Isabel, Alex and Kyle all huddled protectively in a little group over Max and Liz. Max and Liz had their arms wrapped around each other.

He saw Alex tentatively beginning to open his eyes. "Is it over? Did we win?" His friend asked in confusion. He was looking around, clearly searching for Danala’s body, for any sign that she was dead.

"She’s gone." Michael told them all quietly.

"You better mean gone as in dead, not gone as in "Uhoh! She escaped and will return to haunt our dreams!" If Alex was joking, it meant he was going to be all right.

"She doesn’t exist anymore." Michael replied firmly.

"Michael." He realized that he was still holding Tess’ hand. He looked down at his sister. "Thank you." Her blue eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"Thank you." Michael returned. He looked across the chamber at Maria, who was crouched against Jennetta’s pod. Her eyes were open and she was staring at him, her lips pressed together.

Michael took a deep breath, went to join her. "Are you all right?" He asked as he knelt down next to her.

"That was some light show." Maria replied, her tone unreadable. "Is she really gone?"

"Yes."

"So how are we going to find out how to fix our daughter?" She asked him, licking her lips.

Michael sighed, pulled her into his arms. All the anger he had felt at her for not telling him the truth about Jennetta the moment she found out had drained away. There just wasn’t time for it.

Jennetta needed them strong and together.