Chapter 4 - Only Lies...?

"Hello again."

Zelgadiss opened his eyes. It was her again. Once again she was dancing around him in circles, a slightly different dance from the other night, though.

"Hello." A smile could be felt from the Reflectation. Then Zelgadiss felt that she was even more indistinguishable than the other night.

"I...yesterday I asked you for help. Well...I...lied, in a way. You see, I need you to help my host...because I cannot. There is some force barring me from entering into her dreams. But she needs someone to talk to. And so therefore, I pick you."

"Nani??"

"You are the most sensible, and have had the most...traumatizing experiences in this group. Please, help her. I beg you." She stopped dancing and once more, stepped up to Zelgadiss. And once again, his face reddened as he felt lips upon his. When she departed from the kiss, she spoke once more. "Please, I hate to have to do this. Help her, just talk to her. Give her safety. Don't worry, you know who she is, just think for a moment."

"Uh, I.."

"Please...and...don't mention me. Don't. I must go now.."

"W-wait! How do you expect me to-"

He opened his eyes. A strange feeling to open your eyes when you thought they were already open, he thought. He thought over his dream. After an hour passed by, he watched Aleinas get up. Then it struck him. The only possibility...it was him. No, -her-.

"Oy! Aleinas!" He hurried to his feet and went after Aleinas, who was heading in the direction of the stream once again. "Aleinas!" When the both of them reached the stream, Aleinas had finally heard him.

"Graywords..." Aleinas turned to him. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? The truth. You're not a man, you're a woman! That's why you keep hiding your face, isn't it?"

"Oh? Prove it. Prove I am a woman, then maybe I'll admit it. Maybe."

Zelgadiss grabbed Aleinas's hood before he was pushed away. "Why do you keep hiding your face then?"

"For reasons that go beyond my gender."

Aleinas backed up a few steps, meeting a tree. Zelgadiss sent a hard punch but he was taken aback when it was blocked easily. He had put in quite a bit a power into that punch, and speed, and yet his attack was blocked easily. Not only that, Aleinas's arm...it was hard, kind of...like his? He drew back his hand and aimed another punch with his right. This time it was caught. His right fist caught in Aleinas's left, he aimed a third punch with his left. Aleinas ducked and spun under his arm, causing Zelgadiss's fist to hit the tree and his right arm was twisted because Aleinas was still holding it. Zelgadiss hissed at the other.

"Don't mess with me." Aleinas let go and the two started fighting. As they did so, they kept nearing the stream. Punch, punch, block, punch, draw back, kick, punch, block. "Fighting won't do any good, you can't win against me."

"You're just being overconfident."

More fighting. They were right next to the stream now. Then with Aleinas's back to the water, they stood, Aleinas's arms held together and still by Zelgadiss.

"Not bad, Graywords. I expected less."

"Well then, you're not only overconfident, but you underestimate others." He growled and pushed one of Aleinas's legs towards the water. Aleinas slipped, but locked the other leg around Zelgadiss's, causing him to fall as Aleinas..fell... He immediately grabbed Aleinas's leg and kept him from sinking. He thought this was a stream! Why was it so deep!?! More than half of Aleinas's body was underwater, and he had to try to pull him back up, but couldn't. He watched hands reaching for the bank, they couldn't. "Aleinas, your sword!" He watched as a longsword came out of the water. The blade dug deep into the earth a few inches away from the water. With that and Zelgadiss's help, Aleinas was pulled out of the water, then collapsed on the ground. Strangely, the hood and mask were still in place. But if it wasn't just his imagination, then Zelgadiss saw that Aleinas was shivering and trying to catch breath...half in fear. He could tell.. "Gomen.."

"...It's okay... No need for you to apologize, you just didn't know.. You should be careful around this stream next time. It's not normal. It's an abyss of water that goes on and on." Aleinas sat up and sighed. "Damn...my clothes..."

"You're going to catch a cold. We should get back to camp so you can dry them off."

Aleinas just chuckled in reply. "So what gave you the idea that I am a woman?"

"A Reflectation." Zelgadiss answered, then mentally smacked his forehead. He wasn't supposed to say that!

"Na...ni?....." Zelgadiss looked up at Aleinas. Aleinas was stiff... ".........Whatever you heard from that thing...they're all lies. I lost my connection with it years ago, and later on it was stolen from me. And you'll have to believe me. Because if I still had my Reflectation....I wouldn't be in the mess that I'm in now..." He watched Aleinas leave him there, by the stream..