Oh the glories of being exhausted. On to the next!

This is in Mnem's point of view, first person.

Side note: Sorry about the slight confusion in the last A/N. There will NOT be a sex scene! I'm sorry about that! The M rating will be for violence and language.

I didn't know how to react when she followed me home. Part of me feared for her life, another feared for my own. After all, my existence isn't exactly the safest. She stood right in front of me, out of breath and soaked in river water. Her determination is clear – it's actually quite admirable. She… I can see right through her. She's been through so much. She's just as terrified as I am. I know what happened to her – I was there. I feel terrible, but I had to do it. You understand, right? If I hadn't, everything would have been destroyed. It's my duty to this world to keep Them, to keep Him, to keep Her, within their prison. I have done my job well so far, and if I should have a child, then they will suffer as I have. I wish I did not have to do such a thing – but somebody must guard this planet, do they not?

She sits in my chair and I frown, staring into her eyes. She nearly knocks me off of my feet with those eyes. They're so… bright. So strong. I cannot bring myself to be angry with her for getting my favorite – well, my only – chair wet. I can make a new one, I suppose, I have time to spare.

Her voice rings out again and I barely contain the shudder. I can feel it, bursting in my chest, the tie. The bond is already created – I must sever it. I have to! I cannot afford to become close to anyone. Not yet. I am still young, I have plenty of time to find a lover, and I do not need to destroy all my father had worked for before he-

Oh, those eyes…

She does not take my refusal to follow her very well. She becomes incredibly, intolerably close. I shiver and look away, closing my eyes. I insist that I do not fight – which, of course, is not exactly a lie. I do not fight humans. I avoid confrontation… But it seems I have failed in that attempt as soon as she appeared before her friends, warning them of my existence. She ignores me.

I know there isn't a way out. I'm stuck following her back to her little camp and though I want to run, I can't find the strength to do so. Her aura is simply too hypnotizing, I can't stay away…

We arrive at her village soon enough, her three friends sitting around a fire. I do not like the light haired male. Not Vreagon; he has a wonderful heart, even if he has occasional difficulty saying what he feels. The other… Renel. I despise him and I do not know why. Perhaps it is because she hates him?

I tell them the truth. Well, as much as I can tell them, since much of it is a secret. I fear that I have said too much, as Ari seems to be piecing things together slowly but surely. I send her the images in a silent prayer that she will fear them and run, should I be unable to hold them back. She shudders. I think I have shown her… she looks at me and my breath hitches. My heart feels about to burst, my body frozen as our gazes lock.

I am getting far too attached. She will disrupt my duties! She will hold me back! She will… will… Damn, why can't I stand up?

Vreagon speaking broke the spell and after a few more moments I stand, my intention being swimming back home and pretending to never have met her, no matter the difficulty in doing so.

"What is your name?"

I freeze. She wants to know my name? Her, the one who has been capturing my attention? I shouldn't give it to her. To give one's name is to give them control. But I want to hear it on her lips. I want to hear her say my name, even if only once. I look back slightly, my voice cracking as I speak.

"Mnem. My name is Mnem."

I have to run. I have to run before things get too complicated. So I do.

The water does nothing to relax me, like it normally had. Instead I am sitting in my little cave, staring at where she had once sat on my chair. Stripping out of my wet clothes I move to the dresser in the corner, changing and picking up the clothes, hanging them up in a room just off to the side, carved for this particular reason. How I wish I could have offered her the same luxury. Perhaps we could have spoken properly, had both of us been dry –

No. No, no, no, that wouldn't have done well at all. To change clothes would suggest she had to remove her previous coverings down to the skin, and I… It isn't proper. It isn't acceptable, it isn't right. She is much too divine for something like this.

I sigh, sitting on my little bed in the corner of the room, far away from the hole where water sloshed at the edge of stone, occasionally making its way into my small home. Looking up at the painting of my father, I clench my sheets, clenching my teeth. That monster had done more than enough damage…

I cannot get close to her. To anyone. The painting on the wall is a memory, my reason for protecting this land. I must keep him away.

I suppose I must sleep. I am exhausted and the sooner the night passes, the closer we are to her forgetting I had ever existed.