Close Nemesis

Chapter Fourteen: Aacis's Home

XALIR:

My recent capture at the hands of Oppugnant has really shaken a nerve within me. At first, after I discovered Laiva's silver wedding ring in the scorched ruins of my apartment, I was left reeling in shock and anger.

Oppugnant's attack on Entrek's skyrise apartments had been broadcast across hundreds of media outlets throughout the galaxy, but when I learnt of it first hand, it rattled me.

Now, a wave of confused emotions overloads me as I lie on a soft mattress in the spare bedroom of Aacis's house on Wocian. I stare at the ceiling, and my vision occasionally goes dark as an excess of silver leaks from my eyes. I'm mad at Oppugnant for killing Laiva, but I'm also empathizing with them. I'm mad at myself for doing so, but I can't really help it. There's something within Oppugnant that I recognize. Is it hate? Love? Those two opposing emotions are so similar, yet so different.

Much like Oppugnant and I. We both hide our true identities behind a mask, we both fight each other for the wrong reasons, and now, there's no turning back. Once we go too far, we can't escape our habits. We can't escape our mistakes.

I long for Oppugnant. Not romantically, I don't think. But I still long for a close connection with them. Yet, I also long for their demise at my hands.

I sigh, listening to the nearby crashes of waves against the sandy shore of Vesar Island. The home of Aacis and his now widowed wife is a spherical building made of thick igneous rock. The house is divided into many rooms: the kitchen, the dining/lounge room, the bathroom, the master bedroom, the kid's bedroom, and the spare bedroom.

Mimicking the crashes of the waves with my voice, I allow water to materialize in the palm of my hand.  I scoop it into my mouth, and I push hot air out of my hands, drying them.

Then, I continue staring up to the tattered green tapestry on the ceiling. It's hard to see in the dark, but I can just make out silver paper vine-like pattern stuck onto the tapestry.

There is a Craykello phrase stitched on the tapestry. I am able to understand this phrase, despite being a Plassilmaver.

The first symbol on the tapestry is Abk. The second is Uvt. The third is Qrit.

The word is Qrituvtabk, which means "Complementary" in Craykell. This tapestry was woven when Aacis and his wife had kids. The phrase symbolizes how they are complementary to Laiva and I, since they are our closest friends.

Well, since Laiva and Aacis died, all I really have left is Aacis's wife, Zwartwa. I have all the friends in the world, and yet, I'm only close with a few of them. Zwartwa wasn't not as close to me as Aacis was, but we still had a good friendship.

Anyway, sleep continues to evade me like Oppugnant has over the past few years, so I slide out of the comfortable mattress, sneak out of the tattered wooden door, and turn right along the green carpet of a curved passageway until I reach the igneous tiled kitchen, where I find Zwartwa drinking a glass of cloudy brown meat broth in the triangular glass kitchen table. I walk to the kitchen counter to find a purple citrus fruit and squeeze its namesake juice into a decagonal wooden cup.

Once I sit down, I drink my glass of purple juice, staring at the faded yellow enamel of Zwartwa's curved fang-like teeth that protrude from her mouth.

"So, couldn't sleep too?" she asks groggily.

I nod in response, staring at the water filling her featureless black eyes.

"Yeah..." I respond. "I miss Laiva."

"I do too," Zwartwa responds hungrily. "I want food."

"You could always eat a purple! Or even a perapplae! Laiva always left a bowlful of them in our kitchen.