Uniting As The Ten- Part Two Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Nineteen

Jason's POV:

I stare at Max wide-eyed. She stares down at the ground, an ashamed expression on her face. She better not be feeling ashamed for a decision a psychopath made that she obviously doesn't want any part of.

"W-What?" I ask her. She nods her head and looks back up at the frozen dream.

"One minute he despises me and wants me dead, the next he cares about me." She replies, her voice turning so bitter at the word 'cares', Octavian would've been surprised.

"Max..." I trail off, not knowing what else to say. Setràkus Ra wants her as his daughter. I guess that's what those papers are for. Adoption papers.

"And what is this? What does he have to agree with for this to happen?" I question. Max immediately tenses up, her expression anxious and slightly scared.

"Um...promise you won't get mad?" She asks me, chewing her lip nervously. She fiddles with her fingertips and her hands are actually shaking. I'm not sure if she's afraid of the agreement with Setràkus Ra or me getting mad at her. Probably both.

I nod my head and give her shoulder a slight squeeze. "I promise."

She sighs heavily and stares down at the floor again, her hands still shaking.

"I made a deal with him. If he leaves earth alone..." She takes a deep breath. "Then I'll come with him and become his daughter."

"WHAT?!"

Max flinches at my sudden shouting and I try to control myself. I steady my heavy breathing and try to look less like I'm about to slap her. Which I'm not planning to do, I swear.

I take another heavy breath and look back at Max. Now she looks really ashamed. She stares at the floor again and avoids my eyes.

"Max." I call out to her as softly as I can manage. She glances up at me and I can see a long, curved scar on the left side of her face from her forehead to her cheek, almost going over her eye. She's already been through so much, she doesn't need an evil, sadistic Mogadorian leader asking for her to be his daughter and her friend yelling at her after she attempted to sacrifice herself to save the world.

"It's okay." I tell her, and that's all the words I can think of. Instead of saying anything else, I softly grab her and pull her into a tight hug. She hugs me back and I'm careful to not touch any of her scarred skin, but it's hard not to when her clothes are completely torn.

When she pulls away from me, she turns back to the frozen dream, looking at her future self with disgust. She examines the tattoos on her arms and the braid in her hair. Seeing both Maxs, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that I like the original Max a lot more.

"What are those symbols? The tattoos?" I ask her and she seems to relax at the sound of my voice. She glances down at the tattoos on her arms and purses her lips, a dark, slightly scared look in her eyes.

"Half of them are for the Mogadorians. They symbolize that they're part of the Mogadorian army and what their role is. The other half are symbols for the leader." She explains, her voice bitter and cold. Now I'm really confused.

"Leader?"

Max clenches her jaw and stares at Setràkus Ra coldly with more hate in her eyes than I've ever seen, with Octavian as an exception.

"A king's only son is the heir to the throne." Max tells me and I automatically get it.

"If you become his daughter, then you're going to be the next Mogadorian leader after he dies." I guess. She nods her head and looks back up at me, then sighs and looks around the room.

"And Octavian? I'm guessing he meant by living with each other you'd have to get used to each other?" I ask her and she nods her head again. I grab her shoulder again and give her a reassuring squeeze. She gives me a small smile and turns away, and even scarred up, she really does look absolutely beautiful.

"Thanks."

"Wh-What?"

She side-glances at me and smirks.

Oh.

"You-You can read my mind?" I guess and she nods her head.

"Don't worry, I'll forget all of this when I wake up." She replies.

"Why?"

She shakes her head and slightly furrows her brows in confusion. "I don't know. I just have a feeling that I won't remember any of this, and we only have a few seconds left."

I nod my head and pull her into a second tight hug. She hugs me back and buries her head in my neck, wrapping her arms around my neck as well. I softly stroke her hair until the dream blurs together and I wake up back on the bed in the penthouse, wondering what's going to happen to Max.

Max's POV:

I lie on a random bed in Dulce Base, trying to recall the dream I just had. I can't remember any of it.

I look down at my tattered camp shirt and jeans and notice the new pair of clothes lying on the edge of the bed out of the corner of my eye; a loose black t-shirt, black jeans and a black Mogadorian trench coat.

Are they serious right now?

I quickly change into the t-shirt and jeans but leave the trench coat behind and walk out of the bedroom. The moment I step outside, I notice the tall figure leaning on his back against the wall next to the door.

"Morning." Octavian mutters to me. I growl at him and start towards him, my hands clenched into fists.

"Max." A voice calls to me. I turn right to the direction of the voice and Setràkus Ra is walking down the dark hallway towards Octavian and I with Bryce Lawrence, Curtis, Michael Varus and Remo Helmer by his side like little dogs.

"I talked to them about our agreement. They're going to respect you for now on." Setràkus Ra tells me. I glance at Bryce and when he catches my eye, he automatically looks terrified and looks away. Good. He better be.

"Beloved Leader, with all due respect, maybe we should just continue with the invasion. It'll be so much more efficient for the Moga-" Octavian starts but Setràkus Ra interrupts him with a wave of his hand.

"I've made my decision, Octavian, and you'll follow it, or you won't be apart of this army anymore." He replies and Octavian goes silent. Setràkus Ra turns towards me, his eyes kind and polite.

"As you can see, Max, I've made my decision. You will live with us on the Mariot.

"And you will become my daughter."