Chapter 2A:
Zygreal

"Where am I?" She whispered. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the light, she discovered that she was in a hut and she was lying down on what seemed to be a makeshift bed made of straw and blankets. She felt a little lightheaded and there was still a slight sting from her thigh. She felt nauseous as she sat up, but she could distinguish a slight humming and the faint smell of bacon and eggs. Sefie flopped back down on the "bed".

"Let's see … I'm in a strange hut … I'm hungry … and …" Her eyes widened. She looked around and spotted her wet clothes being dried up across the room. She cursed. She was wrapped in a blanket and she didn't know where her crossbow was.

"So, you finally woke up."

She quickly glanced up to see a man. From the clothes he was wearing, he seemed to be a priest or at least, she thought he was. Then she remembered everything that transpired from before. The undead … the silver light … the figure … it must have been him who saved her.

"Were you the one who saved me?" She inquired, hesitating for a moment. The man laughed. "Sef, don't you recognize me?" She frowned. Sefie knew she had a little problem remembering people's names and faces. She had … some sort of a … selective, short-term memory.

"I'm sorry, mister. I can't seem to remember you …" She whispered. He laughed again. "I see … I didn't expect you to remember me, imouto. You were only 3 when I left." Sefie looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean? I don't have any brothers." She replied. As far as she knew, she only had 2 siblings which were her younger sisters, Ketha and Kiha.

He sighed. "I'm Zygreal … your brother … " He ran his hand through his hair. "Look … I know this may be difficult for you to understand. Let's just say … I was exiled from our kingdom because of … plausible reasons …"

Sefie raised an eyebrow. He did resemble her. He had the same dark blue hair like his father. He also had her eyes … sky blue mixed with a tinge of green. He was probably the only person she knew who had the same color of eyes as hers … which scared her even more. Yes, she was scared. It's not like everyday some stranger would come up to you and say he was your older brother. But the unusual thing is, she felt a strange connection with him, an aura of some sort. She felt she could trust him somehow. She kicked herself mentally. She was nuts to even try to trust him. "I mean, What he was saying right now is ridiculous." She thought. She pursed her lips. "Plausible reasons ... what in the world could that be?"

"What in the world do you mean about plausible reasons?" Sefie demanded to know. He smirked. "Let's discuss this after you eat." He handed her some clothes. "Here, change first." He smiled and closed the door.

to be continued ...

Added Info: Zygreal is an online friend of mine from the Anime-Illusions guild, pRO ... he's an M.E. priest and a good friend of mine.

Sorry if it was a little hurried ... ; ... doing my homework while writing a fic ... tsk tsk.