Reunion

Reunion

Iria and Kay knocked on the door to the comfortable house. The garden outside was filled with herbs of different kinds and they gave off the most wonderful scent. Kay was amazed. Definitely the home of a healer, she had said. That only confused Iria. If the healer was the partner of the Hunter, why would she risk the lives of so many and participate in the killing?

But Iria could not follow on that train of thought when the door abruptly opened before her. A woman about her height stood before her. Her hair hung to her shoulders and was a deep black. Golden tiger-eyes gazed at Iria from beneath long dark lashes. The woman's clothing were all the same color of her eyes. A deep amber that glistened in the fading light of the day. She smiled at the two of them and gave a small nod. Her eyes sparkled with kindness.

Iria was certain that this woman could not have done what the report said she had. Iria read the gentleness and kindness in her gaze; this woman had risked her life to give back the life of another. She probably saved lives daily. She could never willingly take a life. The gossip was more than likely right. So why would the mission be to take these people out? How had the facts gotten confused? She supposed she'd find out.

"May I help you?"

Kay started at the voice of the golden lady. It was a voice that could have calmed the wildest beast. Neither she nor Iria had ever heard a voice like that. No wonder she was a great healer. A voice like that could calm raving lunatics. Iria smiled. This lady probably could have tamed Zeiram.

"Yes. Are you Thea?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, I am she. Who are you two?"

Kay bounded up the porch and to the door. Iria smiled. "I am a Hunter and this is Kay, my apprentice. May we come in?"

Thea nodded. "Oh, yes. Please forgive me. Come in." Thea stepped back and allowed the two to enter. "Take a seat in the living room. We don't have much, but it's enough. Would either of you like something to eat or drink?"

Iria shook her head. "Not right now. We would just like to ask you a few questions about an incident that happened a while ago here."

"Oh." Thea sat across the Hunters and smiled. "Well, what would you like to ask about that unfortunate incident?"

Iria leaned back. "What happened?"

Thea smiled at the Hunter's bluntness. She reminded Thea of her husband, Micah. Blunt and to the point with everything…including questions. Thea shook her head and took a deep breath. Her mind wandered back to that day…and wondered what would happen to Micah if she told these Hunters. She shook her head and began. She had to tell them.

"Micah, my husband, and I went to the market like usual on that day. It was a lovely day and I was bargaining with Joshi, the vegetable seller, when suddenly a group of administrative officers came from nowhere, completely armed and started shooting like maniacs. I had no idea what in the world was going on. It had just happened without warning. Luckily, the administrators were too far gone to even hit anyone properly, but there was still a chance that someone could die or get hurt."

The woman stopped and turned her face away from the Hunters as she continued. "I immediately turned to Micah, but when I looked he was no longer with me. He was in the midst of it, taking down the officers like they were pests. I had never seen him move so quickly or with such deadly grace. My husband had no weapon. I couldn't let him by chance get hurt. I had already spent too long patching him back together. There was no way I would allow him to get hurt. So I helped him and beat off the crazy administrators with my staff. We were not the only ones who tried to stop them. Before long all the men of the village had taken courage and were helping us stop the officers.

"After it was all over, I began helping the wounded villagers. Then I calmed the administrators after they regained consciousness, but they accused Micah and I of starting the entire thing. It was almost as if they didn't realize what they had done." Thea's eyes came back to the present and smiled at the two women before her. "That is what happened. You probably got the report that we started it all."

Iria nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact, we did." Iria paused and sat up. "Healer Thea?"

"Please, just Thea."

Iria nodded. "Thea, how could your husband perform such a feat?"

The healer paused and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure. I think, perhaps, he was a Hunter before he was attacked by that thing called Zeiram, but truthfully I'm not sure and cannot be sure until his memory returns."

Iria stiffened. "Zeiram. How do you know about Zeiram?"

Thea blinked in surprise. "Who doesn't? After the incident on Mice everyone knew about Zeiram. I found Micah about a day after it was all over. Zeiram spawns were feeding off his life. I only recognized what it was from seeing it on the news. I barely managed to save his life. I was a miracle that I could."

Iria's heart was pounding in her chest. It could have been anyone who had been attacked by Zeiram. Anyone at all. Calm down, Iria. "Where did you find your husband?"

Thea lifted an eyebrow. "In an escape pod. Why do you want to know so much about Micah?"

Iria felt a chill run through her. No, it couldn't be. I killed him. Iria shook her head. "I must find out who he really is. It is essential for the completion of this mission. Where is your husband now?" It just couldn't be him.

"Working in the fields. He has a job as security for the warehouse but he often helps our neighbors in the field. Why? What's wrong?" Thea asked in confusion.

Bob appeared with a hum. "Iria?"

Iria set her glazed, confused eyes on the image. "Yes, Bob?"

"It is not who you think it is. It can't be."

Iria sighed. "I know, Bob. But I just can't stop thinking it."

Bob sighed and spoke. "After hearing this woman's story I've come to a conclusion. I have found out that the major monopoly of the city, Teran Tipiday—ring a bell—has hired an assassin to take this renegade hunter out. Obviously, the administrators took the situation to them. They want this hunter exterminated…but why would they go to that company? And why would they blame the healer and her husband. There lies the question."

Thea looked even more perplexed. "What's going on? Who do you think my husband is? What does that company has to do with anything? I admit it probably has all the administrators bought, but why would they want my husband dead? He is only my Micah."

Iria shook her head and smiled at the woman. "You are right. The only people Tedan Tipiday would want dead just to keep its secrets hidden is myself…and Gren, whose already dead. But this has nothing to do with their Zeiram project. What could they be up to now that they would want this Micah dead? Does he know something? Or are they afraid because he was able to take out the berserk administrators?"

Kay stared at Iria in amazement. "Iria, you don't think that this Micah is Gren do you?"

Thea was completely confused, until suddenly a name they had said, hit her with the force of a meteor on a planet. "Iria?" Thea paled considerably.

Iria didn't notice. Her attention was on Kay. She flicked her beads, just like Gren used to do; it was force of habit. "No, Kay. Thea's husband could not be my brother. I killed him myself. Even if this Micah was probably a Hunter and on a space pod and attacked by Zeiram…he still couldn't be Gren. Gren had everything to do with the Zeiram project. This is something else entirely…We have to find out what Tedan Tipiday is up to now and what it has to do with this Micah."

Thea grabbed onto Iria. Iria turned in confusion and stared into the tortured eyes of the healer. Iria had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't realized that the healer was still present. Iria began to smile but then she saw Thea's knuckles were white with strain. Thea could not believe what she was seeing and hearing. How could this Hunter know Micah's habit of flicking his beads? But then, could this Hunter be the Iria in my husband's dreams? "Your name is Iria?"

Iria nodded. "Yes, what does that have to do with anything?"

Thea ignored the question. "Why did you kill your brother?"

Iria's eyes filled with pain, wondering why out of all they had said, the healer had latched onto that subject. But she answered the question, staring deeply into the healer's eyes. She was desperate, but about what? "Zeiram had assimilated him. Gren begged me to stop the pain. So I killed him and then I killed Zeiram for Gren."

Thea's eyes closed in pain. But then shot open at the sound of a door opening. "Micah's home." Her eyes widened as she rushed to the door. Iria and Kay only stared at her in shock. What could have gotten into her? Iria shook her head. It didn't matter. She stood up. The husband was home and now they could talk to him about the situation concerning his life. If Tedan Tipiday was involved and they were sending an assassin after him…and he may have some connection to Zeiram, then she really needed to talk to this man.

Suddenly the sound of hushed whispers coming from the next room was abruptly cut off by a loud, astonished, "What?!"

Iria and Kay stood as the man known as Micah came through the door, his wife behind him, desperately grabbing onto him.

Micah's long white hair hung to his shoulders, the beads clicking as he moved and then came to a stop. His body was built and hard with labor and training. His eyes glowed a blue-gray. He lifted an eyebrow and flicked back his beads. Just like Iria had. "Who are you?"

Tears ran unchecked down Iria's cheeks. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It had to be a dream. No, it couldn't be. Her eyes were playing tricks on her. It could not be Gren. Gren was dead. Zeiram had assimilated him. She killed him because he had begged her too. It couldn't be him. It couldn't be her big brother. Gren…

Kay stared at Iria and then back at the man Thea called Micah. Iria didn't even try to stop the tears going down her cheeks. The moment Kay saw the man flick back his beads, she knew he had to be Iria's brother. But how could he be? Iria had killed him. It wasn't possible…was it?

Feeling finally returned to Iria's body. She clutched the charm she wore around her neck and ran into the man before her, sobbing away her grief, her shock, her pain, and her love. "Gren, Gren, Gren…Gren…" Iria chanted his name as she clutched him, sobbing away all the emotions she had kept inside on the man she called brother. "Big brother…Gren…" Micah stared down at the woman grabbing onto him in confusion and slowly wrapped his arms around her.

Thea and Kay could not stop the tears from flowing down their own cheeks. But for different reasons. Kay's tears were for Iria's happiness. Her brother was alive and whole. Thea's tears were for the love she saw and the fear that she would loose the man she loved because of that love. Now Micah…no, Gren…would not have to live with the pain of not knowing. He had his sister back… The question was would he still want her?

Slowly, Gren lowered himself and the woman weeping in his arms onto the couch. He looked pleadingly at his wife but she only smiled. It was as if she believed this Hunter. But how could she? What had this girl said that would make Thea believe that he was a Hunter? And that he was the girl's brother?

When there was nothing left for Iria to weep she looked up to him and whispered hoarsely, "How?"

Before Gren could answer, Thea did. "I found him in an escape pod floating in the midst of space while I was on my way home. When I entered the pod, there were Zeiram spawns or something was feeding off of him. But I had already told you that." Her eyes faded away and she turned her head to the side, returning to that time and horror glistened in her eyes with the memories. "There was practically nothing left of him. They had been feeding of his mind, his body and his soul. But it was strange. It wasn't as if they were taking their life force into themselves. More like they were digesting it and transferring all they took to a larger Zeiram form. I had seen and heard of the incident at Mice and assumed that was were they had been transferring it. But I knew it was already dead so I knew they were feeding what was left of him into themselves."

Thea paused. "I destroyed them all." Iria and Kay stared at her in shock, but Gren's eyes were as distant as Thea's eyes. "I took him onto my ship and into the life preserver. I kept him there until we landed on Rhea. I spent the next months trying to save his life and rebuild the man the Zeiram spawns had destroyed. His fevers came and went, but there was always one thing that remained constant. He only called out one name in his delusions, the only word he ever uttered clearly. The word was the name 'Iria'.

"It was because of that name that I first refused to marry him when he asked me. I didn't know whether he had someone else out there or if he only felt compelled to ask because I had saved his life. I lived in dread of Micah…Gren's… memory because I didn't know who his Iria was and I didn't know if I had ruined his life by following my heart." Thea turned to Iria. "But you're his sister. And you have no idea how relieved and scared I am at the same time."

Iria nodded and stared up at her brother. "So you have no memory because of what Zeiram did to you." Iria swallowed. Everything just got more complicated, but that fact did not even begin to put a damper on her joy. Her brother was alive and whole! Now he just needed to remember who she was. But Iria knew that amnesia was a fickle thing. But at least she would try to bring back his memory. "Now, I'll tell you what happened.

"You are the great Hunter Gren. The best in the field. I was your apprentice, your little sister. You and I were sent by Bob, the friend of ours that arranged our missions. The mission Bob arranged for us was to save the crew and the passengers of a space station of Tedan Tipiday. Unfortunately, when we got there most of everyone had already been killed by Zeiram. You fought him. Bob was severely injured. You told me to get away and to watch my back from now on. That was the last I saw of you until…" Iria swallowed harshly.

"Until after I got my license and found out Zeiram had attacked again. When I went on another mission that Bob sent me on I saw a clone or a spawn of Zeiram…in the form of you. I felt terrified and confused. It wasn't until later that I realized that it was a spawn of Zeiram, but that Zeiram had assimilated you. That was why the spawns knew me and knew how to fight like you. Zeiram even claimed your prize weapon and began destroying everything with it. I fought it…and you until you managed to get control of it. You emerged…" Iria began to sob again. "From its body…and begged me to stop the pain…to kill you… I felt as if I had died. I had to kill my own brother…" Tears streamed steadily once more down Iria's cheeks. Her racking sobs made it difficult to hear her, but Gren held her through it all. "So I did… I felt as if… I had killed a deep part…of myself that I could never replace..." she heaved. "It wasn't until I defeated Zeiram…that I realized I had a part of you still with me." She stared into his eyes. "You were in me."

Bob emerged from the disc on Iria's wrist and moved toward Gren. Bob flashed in disbelief. It really was Gren. He really was alive. If Bob could have smiled he would have. He said the only thing he could think of that would help Gren regain his memory at all. "Like brother, like sister."

Gren's eyes widened. Thea could see the images of memory suddenly rushing through his mind with that one phrase. Bob had obviously not survived the injuries he had suffered at Zeiram's hands physically. Thea let the tears fall from her eyes. Now that he remembered, would he leave here and her?

The memories rushed through Gren like a tidal wave. His head pounded with the rush of memories and thoughts. He closed his eyes against the overwhelming mass of memories. He remembered his little sister, the happy times, the missions, Bob…the fight against Zeiram and the pain that followed as he was assimilated by it…sort of. His body trembled and he shook off the terrible memories of that incident. His eyes opened and he turned to the holographic image floating above Iria's wrist in confusion.

"Bob?" Gren asked in bewilderment. Iria stared at her brother in astonishment. And then burst into laughter. Bob and his brother-sister comment. It had given Gren back his memory! She cried out in joy and wrapped her arms around her brother tightly.

"Yes," Iria said, joy filling her heart. "After the fight with Zeiram this was all that was left of Bob. But he's much more useful now than before." Both Iria and Kay laughed with relief. Tears of joy streamed down Iria's cheeks. She had her brother back! And he was whole!

Gren stared at his little sister and what was left of his friend in shock. "You're both safe. Iria…" Gren clutched his sister to him and hugged her tightly. Thea stayed only for a moment more and then left the room, letting the family reunite without the interruption of her presence.

But just as Thea was heading toward her bedroom, she was grabbed from behind. She turned and gazed into her husband's beautiful eyes. She swallowed. Was she really going to loose him?

"And where are you going?"

Thea took a deep breath and smiled at him. That smile took most of the strength in her. "I thought you would want to be alone with your family. After all, you just got your memory back and you both have so much catching up to do and everything."

Gren shook his head. "Thea." He smiled, his eyes shimmering with laughter. "Don't you know you're part of this family? You're my wife."

Thea shook her head and took a deep calming breath. "No, I'm not. I healed the Hunter named Gren, and married the man with no memory named Micah. You are the Hunter once more. I am just the woman who healed you. Our marriage is null and void…But now is not the time to talk about this." She gave them a strained smile. "You deserve to be alone with your family, to find out about everything you've missed and so Hunter Iria can fill you in on her new mission. It has to do with what happened to the administrators and with the same company that did that terrible thing to you with Zeiram. Fill her in, Mic—Gren." She nodded her head and moved away from his touch, closing the door of the room behind her, leaving a perplexed Gren and Iria.

Iria bit her lip. "I hope I didn't…"

Gren turned and smiled at his sister. "Don't worry about it, Iria. Thea's probably in shock herself and is recovering. She usually comes to me when there's something wrong, but I guess this time is different, because it has to deal with me." Gren grinned and sat down beside Iria. "So fill me in on the details. What have I missed?"

Iria smiled and began the long tale, beginning with his disappearance and ending with his death and her adoption of Kay. Gren was silent throughout the entire telling, waiting patiently till Iria was through. By the end, tears were streaming down Iria's cheeks uncontrolled. Gren leaned over and wiped them from her face. He gave her a smile and flicked back his beads.

"So it looks like I have two Iria's to take care of now." Gren turned and smiled at Kay. Kay grinned at him. For the first time in her life she had a family.

Gren turned to Iria and nodded solemnly. "I'm back now. And here to stay. I told you your big brother couldn't be beaten!" Gren grinned before turning serious again. "But I better give you an update on what happened here that day, and when it'll probably happen again."

"'When' not 'if'?"

Gren nodded. "When. Thea and I had come to the suspicion that whatever happened to those men will probably happen again. Mainly because of this." Gren dug into his pocket and pulled out a chip. He presented it to Iria and Bob who glowed brightly at Iria's wrist. "We found several of these at the scene. We think that who ever made these was using them to control the administrators mentally. Of course we can't be sure, it was just speculation before, but I think with Bob, we can probably find out what this chip actually is. But after what Thea just said I think we can safely assume it has everything to do with Tedan Tipiday."

Gren placed the chip onto the round disk, which Bob eluminated from and the image began to process the information on the chip. It looked like the one she had found so long ago when Gren had first disappeared and she had gone to get revenge for Bob. They were probably right. It was more than likely a chip from that company…What in the world could they be planning now?

Before she could pose the question, Thea ran into the room, her golden robes flitting about her madly. "Micah! We've got trouble! The administrators have snapped again, only this time security is with them and they're shooting people! They're headed this way!"

Gren stood up quickly, Iria and Kay right behind him as Iria took the chip and put it away so it could be analyzed later. Gren followed Thea as she went out the door, going into a room in the back.

"Where are we going?" Kay cried out as Thea flung open a trap door hidden beneath a rug on the floor.

Gren turned and smiled. "Getting away. Obviously, they've got orders now. The chips controlling them are probably more advanced, so we don't really have a choice but to get away before they kill us. Thea built this escape route beneath the city long ago in case she had to use for aiding injured people into escaping and the like." Gren smiled as he went down the stairs and stared at his wife's flapping robes. "Who would have thought you would use it to save yourself and not others?"

Thea said nothing as the four of them raced through hidden passage. Iria turned to Bob as they ran. "Bob, here's the chip. Run a scan and see if it is from Tedan Tipiday. We already suspect them, and are sure it is they, but you can never be too sure. And if it is, we know exactly where to go to get our answers!"

Suddenly a crash sounded from nowhere. The ceiling above them rumbled and their feet flew trying to get as far away from the ceiling that was threatening to collapse. Gren turned to Iria quickly, just as the walls around them began to cave in. "In case we get separated," he cried from ahead. "Meet up at our old apartment! Don't delay! Iria—" But his words were drowned out as the ceiling collapsed on top of them.

"No! GREN!"