Chapter 8 – Truths Unveiled

As Aranam's group continues through the southwestern areas of Arcceonn, they are not far more wary of what could lie ahead. After the encounter with the mysterious Delta Force Four, Aranam has become suspicious of everyone, and for good reason. His relationships with his friends are being strained, as is his trust of the young Oracle, Vera. In Arcceonn, it is often difficult to differentiate between friends and foes, but he shall find out soon enough…

It was late at night, the group having settled down to camp again, with Dallon again standing guard. He was certain they would be attacked again, given the ominous feel in the air…and he had a sneaking suspicion it would be very soon. He heard a rustling noise, one that sounded like something dashing quickly across the dead leaves on the forest floor. Dallon heard the sound, but the source moved too quickly for him to track. "You really should watch your back Dallon…" said a voice that came from behind him. Dallon spun around and found himself face to face with Aranam…but something about him wasn't right. His Aura glowed bright red, as did his eyes, and he was much darker in color. "What the…Aranam!" Dallon exclaimed. "No…I am a specter from your past…" replied the Aranam doppelganger in a confident tone. At this, Dallon's eye widened in fear; "Raynar II! No! You're dead!" Dallon exclaimed when he realized an important detail, Raynar the Great's Aura was blue, like Aranam's, but this one's was red. "Alright, nice try…" Dallon replied, "I don't know who you are, but you're going down!" "I'd like to see you try!" replied the doppelganger as the two entered fighting poses as they once did on the battlefields of old.

Dallon attacked first with a Shadow Punch, the doppelganger effortlessly leaping away before striking back with Dark Pulse. Dallon was slammed into a tree and knew immediately he was in for a tough fight. Dallon got back up and struck again, and again missed his mark before his foe attacked him repeatedly with Blaze Kick before slamming him back. "This is it Dallon!" the opponent shouted as he ran at Dallon to finish him. "Take this!" Dallon shouted as he used Payback, releasing all the damage he had taken from the foe back into his enemy. The foe put up an Aura shield, but it wasn't enough; the attack shattered the shield, doing grievous damage to Dallon's enemy. He skidded back a distance but stood back up as if unharmed. "Hah! Really, that's all you've got! You disappoint me!" exclaimed his opponent. Dallon was seething with rage towards the insolence of his opponent, but for some reason, the enigma surrounding his opponent seemed to be fading, until Dallon realized who he was really fighting, and so knew how to defeat him. The foe lunged at him, with Dallon teleporting out of the way before chopping him in the back of the neck. As if struck by lightning, his foe dropped to his hands and knees, his Aura fading. "Nice try, but your disguise didn't fool me this time" Dallon said. His foe laughed and replied, "Indeed, you've gotten stronger…" His foe's appearance changed, the body completely changing shape and color until it revealed the lithe form of a Zoroark. "Evening Dallon, I trust you're in good health…well, for a ghost type anyways…" the Zoroark said with a wide grin. "As good of health as I can be…" Dallon replied smugly, "Fenris…"

As these events took place, Aranam and the others were fast asleep in the camp. Suddenly, Aranam woke up, being nearly unable to sleep anyways. He looked around at the others to ensure that the rest were asleep before standing up and walking away into the forest. He had a lot on his mind, and he hoped that if he just walked around for a bit, he might find some answers to the many questions in his head. His mind drifted between many different trains of thought, moving back and forth between his late team leader Fenris, recent developments, the Delta Force Four, the legend surrounding this land, and finally Vera. To him, Vera was an enigma; a near indecipherable encryption that he was desperate to understand. He found her interesting, especially her personality, in that she seemed to be of many contradictions, quiet yet outgoing, calm yet passionate, but most of all she seemed indifferent to him as far as his past or status…and yet she seems to show some type of interest in him personally. An enigma… he thought, An enigma that was never meant to be deciphered, and yet I try to understand her…but why?

Unbeknownst to Aranam, he was being watched from the shadows; ironically, the one watching him was no one other than Vera. Hmm…why are you up so late Aranam? she thought, What's on your mind? Vera reached out to him with her telepathy, only to be nearly overwhelmed by Aranam's metal screen. Immediately she knew that she had alerted Aranam to her presence. Aranam spun around and froze in his tracks upon making eye contact with Vera. "What do you want?" "Aranam…I just heard you wake up, and I was wondering…is something bothering you?" Vera asked. Aranam was about to say 'No' when he realized that something was bothering him. "Yeah…I guess something is…" he replied, "Maybe we should talk about it…"

"So…you became Team Avenger's leader fairly recently" Vera said as she walked beside him, "How did that happen?" At this, Aranam paused for a few seconds before he replied, "We were in some ruins, the ones where we found the map to Arcceonn…" Within minutes, Vera almost couldn't bear to hear more, but she listened as intently as possible. "…Fenris gave his life to save the three of us, and so we all escaped in one piece save Razon's right eye" Aranam said as he finished the story, "but in the end, Sir Draco was not responsible for Fenris' death…the blame for that is mine and mine alone." "What…no! Vera replied in shock, "You're not responsible for his death…why must you be so hard on yourself?" Aranam didn't respond at first until Vera said to him, "You know what really happened that night after you defeated Registeel?" Aranam shook his head no, to which Vera responded, "We had a talk that night, during which you told me a lot about yourself…it wasn't easy getting you to open up, and I hypnotized you so you wouldn't remember what had happened." Aranam, although shocked that she had hypnotized him, strangely enough wasn't in the least offended. "But…why did you want me to forget?" Aranam asked. "Because…" Vera began when she caught herself, sighed, and said, "Because I said something I shouldn't have…and it was too soon…but now, maybe I should say it now." "What is it?" Aranam asked, although he had a suspicion he knew what it was. "Aranam…we've known each other for a very short time, I know..." Vera said softly, "But in that time…I've realized that…I love you."

Aranam felt as if his heart would leap out of his chest; it was a massive shock to him, as he thought that the last thing that anyone could feel towards him was love. He had never known his real family, so to him, this was new. "Wow…really?" Aranam asked in surprise. "Honest, I swear my life on it" Vera replied as she and Aranam moved slowly closer and closer until their mouths met in a kiss.

(I'll have to stop it here, otherwise this could get out of hand, so I'll leave what happens next to your imagination…*nudge-nudge, wink-wink*)