|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- FOREMAN ITTENER PIER--CUP 32--"ME AS MARTHA" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Foreman Ittener Pier  ||  -------> (Cup SRfi032, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Yes." Ferrajalt said, through his tears. "I want to tell you the truth. I was thinking of going." Lunatether burst into uncontrollable bawling, and she squeezed Ferrajalt as tight as she could. "I... I... I've never felt... so human..." Lunatether said. "I love you... thank you so much for helping me be human..." Ferrajalt felt horrible. Just a few minutes earlier, he was thinking of just abandoning this precious lover. How could he? How could he. After a little while. They both started sniffling, and Ferrajalt held Lunatether by her upper arms. "Look at me, Luna." She did. "I want to go home. I just... I can't get it out of my mind. What must be happening there. I have to go back." "Can't you wait for when we get Deep Violt C?" "I... that's gonna take weeks--months! I can't wait. Look--now that Whale is here I was... I think I might want to go back to the future and get to Walker Fantive. He can get me home." Lunatether's expression turned from tired to angry. "Wait a minute. If Whale is here, then Rallity can't be far behind!" "I thought of that." he said. She narrowed her eyes. "You love her and not me." "That's not true." "I think it is. I know what signs to look for to read people's emotions and detect lies. I've known for a long time, but I've been in denial. I always thought that with her body, I could make you love me. Now I see that that's impossible. I'll never be anything more than a machine to you." "Luna, that's now true!" Ferrajalt said, then he laughed a little, since Lunatether was giving him a "truth-detection" glare. "Come on! It's not!" "Ferrajalt, I love you. What I did at Hay-Hengren--I did it to get to know you better. You're a very complex person, but I think I know you. And the one thing you want more than anything, deep, deep down, is to be king." "That's not true." "And the reason you want to go back--you don't want to jeopardize your succession." "No." "And another thing, Prince--you can't face the truth." "That's not..." "I thought I could change you. But I guess it's a lost cause." "No!" "When you made love to me as Martha--you were making love to Hilltop's body, you know." "What!?" "The garter I wore--the yellow one? It was a disguise mesver. It made me look different, but I had the Hilltop body all along." "Huh?" "Let me show you." She leaned over and rummaged around inside a knapsack on the floor next to the bed. Soon, she got back up and showed Ferrajalt the garter. "Now watch." She put the garter on, and in a matter of seconds her form blurred and shuddered, only to come back into stability and focus as Martha Henruletta. "I'll be damned..." Ferrajalt said. "I don't want to be a princess--I just want to show you love." Lunatether said in a mocking way. Ferrajalt shook his head. "I don't know about any of this." "This what?" "All this... all these choices..." "Tell you what," Lunatether said, removing the garter and returning to her normal appearance, "I'll take you up on your previous offer. Go home with Whale. Me and Carroll can carry out the plot. And once we get the deed and keys, the first door I open will be to your quarters in the castle." Ferrajalt nodded thoughtfully. "Okay." "But may I ask one more thing of you?" "What." "Make love to me once more, before you go?" "Now?" "I want to remember it--remember YOU--as accurately as possible." "Well, I GUESS I could do it..." -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----