Chapter 12
Omi paced the room. He wasn't sure if he should even try to go to sleep, though he needed to. Exhaustion was starting to set in and Zig was still unconscious, therefore he couldn't keep watch to ensure Kila didn't try to kill him in his sleep.
As fast as she is, it probably wouldn't matter who was keeping watch. Omi thought. He looked over as Kila who was laying on her uninjured side with her back to him. He knew she wasn't asleep, every once in a while she would look back at him with a glare.
"Will you stop pacing! It's getting on my nerves!" she growled.
"Sorry." he said as he stopped. Then he realized that there was something different in her voice. It was slight and hard to notice. He reached out with his power to confirm his suspensions. Depressed? How can she be depressed? Omi thought.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"Nothing other then the fact that you won't leave me alone!" Kila said as she glared at him. This time he could see it in her eyes.
"No something is wrong." he said as he walked over to her, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. She tensed up when he did. "Why are you feeling depressed?"
"Just leave me alone." she said curling up into a ball. He could see hints of tears in her eyes.
Jeez I didn't expect to break her this easily he thought a moment, All that happened recently must have crushed her ego.
"It's not good to keep all your feelings locked up inside you." he said gently, "Please, talk to me. Or scream at me, whichever you prefer."
She was quiet a moment, the she said, "Why are you helping me?"
"Because you needed help."
"But..." she said with a slight sob, "I was always told that the wild mudokons were vicious savages that only care about themselves and terrorizing the Cartel."
"The only truth in what you just said is that we do 'terrorize' the Cartel. But not for the reason's you're suggesting."
"Then why?"
With a sigh Omi told her about the delicate balance of nature and how the Cartel was destroying it. He was just starting at the part where his father started the revolution when he notice she had fallen asleep on him.
I hope she got all that, I would hate to have to repeat myself. he thought as he yawned. He pulled a blanket over her and then collapsed on the couch and joined the dreamworld as well.
Chapter 13
Over the next few days Omi had to contend with Kila's 'mood' swings. Sometimes she would be depressed, other times she would be just plain nasty. While she was easier to talk to when she was depressed, Omi knew he will have to start convincing her of the falseness of what she has been taught in her angry state. And to do that, he needed to prove to her that Squawks was a living lie detector. At the moment she just saw the Mindcaller as an exotic pet.
Omi was trying to think of a way to convince her of Squawks ability, when something dawned on him. He didn't really pay attention to it before, but sometimes while she was in her angry state he would get the feeling that she liked him. It was always very brief, for she buried it as quickly as it came to her. So he decided to try to use that.
"You like me, don't you?" he asked her.
"Wha?" she looked at him in shock, "Whatever give you that silly idea?"
"Just a hunch. So...do you or not?"
He could see the emotions running through her head on her face. She turned away from him, he could have sworn he saw her blushing.
"No." she finally said.
Immediately Squawks flew up and started to attack her.
"Hey what the...?" Kila said surprised as she tried to fend off the Mindcaller. Omi calmly and gently grabbed Squawks and stroked its neck to calm it. "Why the hell did that thing attack me?" Kila demanded.
"Simple, you lied." Omi answered.
"Huh? What does that have to do with it attacking me?"
"Mindcallers react violently to those who lie. You lied so Squawks attacked you."
"But I didn't lie..." Kila protested.
Squawks reacted again only this time Omi kept hold of him. Kila looked at the Mindcaller trying to get to her. With a depressed sigh she sat down on the bed.
"What was the point of this?"
"Well over the past few days he has been in the room with us right?"
"Yes."
"And have you seen him attack me?"
"No." Kila thought a moment, "And that means..."
"Everything I have told you is the truth."
"If that's so then why didn't he attack me when I was telling you what I...thought was truth?"
"Because there's two types of lies."
"And those are?"
"There's the unwilling lie, which is when you hold a lie that someone has told you as truth, and a willing lie, when the individual tells something he or she knows is a lie. Mindcallers react only to willing lies. What you were telling were unwilling ones."
"Then how do you know that you are not unwillingly lying to me?"
"Because everyone else here will tell you the same thing. And that's because we all know the truth."
Kila was quiet a moment, the she asked, "You asked me if I liked you. Well now it's your turn. Do you like me?"
Omi took a deep breath before answering, "I don't just like you, I love you."
Kila couldn't help but notice that Squawks didn't react....
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