A strangled cry escaped Maria's lips.
"WHAT?" Michael jumped to his feet.
Ashtar looked around at the others and started to explain only after he saw no one else was going to do it. "It all has to do with the chemistry of a male Dilana. It is different from a woman's, naturally. His...seed, if you will, is more concentrated with matte's - reproduction cells - than a females. Matte's need to be stimulated before they will work. Imagine the molecules in a cold liquid. They are moving rapidly trying to sustain the cold. They are highly excited and they lose that excitement as the liquid begins to warm. Well, a male's matte's are highly excited when he is with his soulmate, and instead of them just slowing like a liquid, his matte's expand. During your first bonding, your matte's entered her body. Please keep in mind that matte's continuously expand inside of the female body until they are neutralized. This can't be done by just mating, it must be done by a sharing of the mind and soul. We have a ritual just for that. In it you will connect and share everything. After that, Rusu, will decide if she will be with child. This ritual is usually done right after the physical mating, but you have waited, which means that your matte's have expanded to an extreme size by now and pretty soon, her body will not be able to contain them. They will continue continue to grow and eventually kill her."
"Rusu? Is that our God?" Michael asked.
Ashtar smiled and said, "No, it is more of a philisophy than a person." Michael nodded.
They both had so many questions but they knew that this was no time to ask them. They had to do this ritual now!
Maria then looked at Michael. He saw tears spilling down her cheeks and he moved in to take her into his arms when he saw her eyes narrow. At him. "You! Again!" She yelled. Then she got up and began to pace, her arms flying wildly. "I knew it. I fucking knew it. I told Liz, I told her, and she didn't believe me. I said 'leave it to Michael to just wreck havoc on the rest of my life.' And now, I don't even know how long that will be! Because of you!" She said the last part looking at him once again and then she walked over to Michael and started slapping him; hard at first and then progressively weaker as her sobs began to take over.
Michael would have laughed at how cute she looked, if only the situation hadn't been so horrible.
Finally she crumpled next to him, having exhausted her anger, and allowed him to take her in his arms. She cried uncontrollably. Michael bent in and whispered in her ear to try to lighten the mood. "Hey it's going to be okay. Besides, aren't you the one who seduced me? And who's idea was it for chocolate sundae heaven?" He smiled when he heard a little giggle escape her lips, and squeezed her close. "Don't worry, we're tougher than this thing. We'll beat it, okay?" She nodded in response.
He looked up at the others, his face sobered and his voice turned hard. "What do we do?"
*****
The women had ushered Maria off to a room in the house and the had taken Michael to another. Despite their separation, they were still with each other, their thoughts lingering on the edges of each other's minds.
Sintama and Kisa instructed Maria to remove her clothes and then they dressed her in a sheer, sparkly white chemise. A crown of flowers was placed on her head and an amulet with some odd design was placed around her neck. Kisa told her the amulet was the Dilana's symbol for woman. All of this was done with a sense of urgency.
"Do you have anything partial to you that you can offer during the ceremony?" Lana asked her. Maria considered this for a moment and then removed the vile of Cyprus Oil from her purse and showed it to Lana. Lana nodded and said "that will be fine."
Maria removed her shoes as instructed and placed them in front of her bag. *I can't believe how calm I am for someone who just found out that their boyfriend's sperm was going to kill them.* she thought to herself, laughing bitterly. Then she heard Michael send her a mental wink from somewhere else in the building. *You sure are. Oh, and Maria? I love you!*
Maria was going send him her love when she heard something that made her momentarily freeze. She turned quickly on Disora. "What did you just say?"
Disora looked at her and repeated her words, a small smile on her lips. "I just said that I never thought that in all of my sixty-five years that I would ever, not only see, but participate in a Dilana marriage with a human."
"Dilana marriage?!!" Maria cried out, involuntarily. "You mean that Michael and I are getting married?"
Maria held her hands up in front of her, palms facing out, and backed away from the women. "Oh No! NONONONONONONONO-NO!!!! I don't think so. I'm only sixteen!" she said, pleading. "And...oh and just a sophomore in high school. I am waaaaaay to young to get married. I'm just a child!"
Sintama walked closer and spoke carefully. "What is the matter, child? So you are getting married earlier than you thought. What difference does it make whether you do it now or later? Either way, you will end up together. There will never be anyone else for you. And besides, it's not like it is a human marriage. No one besides us will have to know until you are old enough to have a traditional human marriage. At that time you can have your white gown, and flower arrangements, and everything else every human girl wants. But for now, you have to do this if you ever want to have your dream wedding."
Maria was still too angry to answer. The words fell on deaf ears.
*What's wrong?* Maria heard Michael's voice in her head.
*You wouldn't believe me if I told you, no forget that, I'm telling you! We're getting married. This is all your fault! * she shot back.
She could feel Michael's frustration. *You seduced me! And what do you mean married?*
*It's all part of this little ritual that we have to do if I want to live! They didn't share that little bit of information with us. I don't have a choice! I now have to marry an alien, who incidentally I love but that's besides the point, and after all of this your god or philosophy or whatever, is going to decide whether to knock me up? This has to be the worse fucking day of my life!* Maria sent the message attached some images of daggers and very large knives to give him a concrete impression of what she wanted to do to him at that moment. *Oh, and it's going to be a cold honeymoon!* she added.
*Maria!* Michaels mental voice was exasperated. *You need to chill. Don't you think there is something you're forgetting? Like, that you don't have a god damn choice. If we don't do this, you are going to die and I don't want that to happen. So, suck it up and quit being such a bitch!*
*You'll pay for that one later, Michael Guerin.* Michael could feel the anger drain out of her and her mental voice went soft, almost child-like. *Fine, let's do it. I just...I just don't want to die, Michael.*
"Okay, let's do this," she said aloud to the women.
*****
They couple were rejoined in another room in the house. This one was bare except for what looked like a round bath tub filled with water. There were mantels adorning the walls and each one supported small votive candles. There had to be over a hundred in all.
Michael's clothes had also been removed, and replaced with sheer, sparkly white pants that were tapered tightly at the bottom. She could see ALL of him illuminated in the candle light, through those pants and it made her smile.
*Are you crazy?* she asked herself a moment later when she realized what she was doing. *That...beautiful, special part of him is what got you into this mess. Stop drooling and focus, girl!*
Michael could feel her staring at him appreciatively and then laughed when he heard her self-chastising. *Cold honeymoon, huh?* he threw at her. He laughed even harder when he saw the icy glare she sent him.
"Stand before me, children."
Michael sobered and joined Maria in front of Ashtar. "Hold out your hands," he said. They both did as they were told and Ashtar dropped a purple transparent crystal sphere, no larger than 5 centimeters in diameter, into one of each of their hands. "Look at them."
Michael and Maria looked at their stones, and upon closer look, they noticed that they were multifaceted and that there was another green inner sphere. "These are Asarra crystals. Asarra is our native word for energy-flow. To perform this ritual there must be a solid energy flow between you. Between two Dilana, these stones aren't always necessary but because we have one Dilana and one human, we will need these. It will make a solid transfer ability between you. We hope." He added the last part under his breath and Michael asked what he meant by that.
"You are the first Dilana-human soulmates we have ever seen. Up until now, it has been unheard of. We don't know exactly what will happen." Lana said, speaking for the group.
"That's just great! And what if she can't handle this ritual and it ends up killing her. Did you ever think of that?" Michael asked, his temper beginning to boil.
"Michael," Maria said, trying to keep him calm. *You said it before, we don't have a choice.* He could sense her growing anxiety, and knew he should quiet down, for her sake.
"Sorry," he grumbled. "Go ahead."
Ashtar nodded and started giving instructions. "First, you will add your offering to the water. Then the two of you will climb into the waiting bath. Don't worry, the water is warm. Are you both right handed?" he asked. They nodded. "Good. You will hold these stones in your right hands. You will sit in the bath with your legs crossed and face each other. Maria, with your left hand, you will clasp Michael's fingers with yours and hold the Asarra crystal between your palms. And Michael, you will do the same with your left hand. It will flow in a circular pattern between you. Your palms must stay suspended in the air, this will allow a free transfer of energy. You will need to stare into each other's eyes and synchronize your breathing. You must free your mind and accept whatever comes to you. Concentration is key. We will leave you alone in the room, it is soundproof, to prevent distraction. I will be right outside if anything goes wrong. You won't have to call, I will be able to tell. There is nothing else we can do now." He started to back away when he added almost absently. "Good luck."
*****
Once they were alone, they began to add their offering. Maria added three drops of her oil and Michael added three drops of Tabasco. She looked at him questioningly. "I thought it was sorta appropriate because of yesterday, you know? It's taken on a new special moment for me now." She smiled at him and then they helped each other into the water. *What's the bath for, I wonder? Alien baptism?* Maria thought.
*Be serious,* Michael sent and then laughed himself.
They got into position, with their legs crossed, the warm water reaching to their chests. The joined hands and then stared into each other's eye. That lasted for just a few seconds before Maria burst into a nervous giggle.
"I'm sorry. This just all seems so cheesy. Okay, I'm fine. Let's do this." They once again looked into each other eyes. It took them a few minutes before they could relax and synchronize their breathing.
And when they finally got it right, their hands began to glow. But they didn't really notice. They were intently focused on each other.
In the beginning, Maria focused deeply into his brown eyes. She took notice to the slight flecks of green and yellow hidden amongst the browns. But then, the longer she went on, the less she saw of his eyes. She had begun to look past his eyes. She looked deeper until she couldn't see anything anymore. She was no longer a single being.
She was one part of a two, one side of a coin, and she and Michael were now one. A few moments passed before they could completely accept their oneness. And once they did, their world went black.