IX

"Get your claws OFF ME!"

Ekimu instinctively jumped away from Makuta's bed. Just awakening, Makuta glared at him. "You," he hissed.

Trying hard to keep his breathing steady, Ekimu said, "Makuta, you're having a nightmare. Please, try to wake up."

Makuta's eyes were wide with anger and fear, as if he were a caged animal. "I see through your trickery," he said, speaking in a voice Ekimu did not recognize. It was cold and harsh. "You want me to get better, to fix me, you claim," he continued, "but you can't fix what isn't broken. You can't stop me, Ekimu… I'll make sure of it."

"Forgive me," Ekimu said, slowly approaching Makuta. "I hadn't known you felt that way. And please"—he braced himself—"forgive me for this."

Makuta hesitated, a confused expression coming over him. "What are you playing at?"

Ekimu responded by lunging toward Makuta without warning. As he crashed into him, he reached out, grabbed the edge of his brother's mask and yanked.

Caught off guard, Makuta froze for a second. But he quickly recovered, grabbing the side of Ekimu's mask as well. "You claim to fear nothing," he sneered, "but I know better. I know your worst fear of all—"

"Your hand is slimy," Makuta remarked, pointing at Ekimu's hand.

Ekimu immediately whipped his hand back, cradling it with his other. "N-no," he whispered, staring blankly.

Makuta's face was pure disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

Ekimu practically fell against the cave wall. "No, it's… it's not that."

"Uh-huh."

"No, really. I was, just…"

"Of course you were."

Ekimu shot up straight. "Stop it."

"It just seems oddly convenient," Makuta replied smoothly, "that the moment I point out your hand is—"

"It's not that, I promise."

Makuta stopped. In all the time with his brother, whatever the situation, he found that whenever Ekimu ended a sentence with "I promise," he would always be telling the truth.

He started to ask what was wrong, but his voice trailed off as he put the pieces together. "It's what happened during my nightmare, wasn't it?"

Ekimu sighed. "Yes," he said eventually. "Either during or after—I can't be sure." He put his hand to the right side of his mask, wincing as he touched it.

Makuta's eyes widened. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, it's—nothing to worry about, really. Just a small scratch I got while making a mask. Incredible how high metal can fling when your hands slip."

Makuta folded his arms. "I was going to say, 'I hate to say this,' but I actually don't hate to say it. You make a terrible liar." He turned to the end of the tunnel, where light spilled out like a waterfall. "There's the exit if you were wondering."

"Thank you," Ekimu said, and briskly walked out.

Makuta narrowed his eyes.

"Seriously? You said you were over secret-keeping!"

Ekimu sighed at Lelaka's sentence. "I know," he said, "but I don't want him to know what he did to me."

Lelaka looked incredulous. "How can you be worried about your looks when—"

"That's not what I meant," Ekimu said. "Apologies for the interruption. But I'm worried that if I tell him, well… you know how he is with feelings, Lela—he'll think of himself as a monster!"

"You know him better than I do," Lelaka said, shrugging. "But still, it's just wrong to keep the truth from him, y'know? And if you keep on keeping on with it, he'll figure it out sooner or later."

Ekimu recalled thinking close to the same thought when looking at the crystal jars that morning. "I suppose so," he said after many seconds of silence. "Alright, Lelaka. I'll tell him tomorrow—I promise."

Lelaka nodded, standing up. With a grin, she nudged his arm. "You'd better. If you don't, I've been training with a staff on how to bash someone's head in."