[Kitsumi]

The Seraph's face flushed bright red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "Kzeleck's 'typical interests' have nothing to do with me. I am merely his partner, not his lover. Although judging by your spite, you must be a lover spurned."

It was slightly pleasing for Gloria to learn that her guess had been correct. The woman had indeed been cast aside by Kzeleck at one point. Although she knew it was heartless, after being called a whore, she couldn't help but throw out one last barb. "Kzeleck, you were going to marry a vile woman like this? I can't blame you for fleeing the planet. Perhaps its better that you retain no memories of your time with this...serpent."

[Jedi]

He backed off at the woman's words. Alter? He was almost wed to this woman? His eyes were wide in confusion. He barely heard Gloria's insults, but held up a hand to her. "Who are you?" he asked the woman strapped in the chair. "What is your name?" The woman rolled her eyes. "You really have lost your memory, haven't you?" Kzeleck nodded. "My name is Alana. You use to be a good man, when you were betrothed to me. But something happened the night before our wedding. Something you never told me about." She looked to the Seraph, wondering if she were curious. "I'm sorry for the harshness I've shown you. It's only because of the harshness Kzeleck showed me. That is, before he came here. Would you like to know how an Akzerd wedding is like?" Kzeleck had never heard that name before. So he assumed it was the name of their species.

[Kitsumi]

This female alien was switching from hostile to apologetic quite easily. Gloria wasn't at all ready to trust her. She hoped that Kzeleck would have common sense and take the proper precautions. The last thing they needed was to trust this woman just because she had known Kzeleck before he landed in Evelon.

"Akzerd...is that what you both are?" Gloria pointed between Kzeleck and Alana. "Sure, tell us about the wedding. Perhaps you could tell us a bit about what happened directly before, also. Maybe we can help figure out what exactly happened."

[Jedi]

Alana nodded. For that's what their species called themselves. "The month before a wedding, a couple is set on a trail. A trial in which they are pitted against many a beast, warrior and evil creature. They must fight to the end, slaying their enemies. On the final night, they are to battle each other. The winner is to be the head of the family. The loser must tend to the house, the children and all matters of cleaning. It was before our duel that you left me. Unannounced, I might add. You disgraced me worse than any before me." Kzeleck backed up even more, shame taking hold of him. "Though I have no memory of such, I am... sorry. If there's anything I can do-" "You can free me from this chair." Kzeleck stepped forward, but paused to look to Gloria. He wasn't sure he should, so he waited for her opinion.

[Kitsumi]

There seemed to be at least some sort of sincerity to Alana. At the very least, she had good reason to be upset if her story was true. But without Kzeleck's memory, there was no way to tell if the story was true. It could be that she was only trying to gain sympathy.

When Gloria's partner looked to her, she felt a bit of warmth. He really valued her opinion? "Kzeleck, can we talk for a moment?" she asked. "Somewhere that Alana won't be able to hear us. No offense, Alana, but I'm not sure whether or not I'm willing to trust you just yet."

[Jedi]

Alana rolled her eyes again. "Go ahead. I'll be here, waiting for your decision." Kzeleck grabbed Gloria by the shoulder, so as to keep Alana from hearing. "What is it you think? I'm not sure what to decide of her story." He pulled her along until they were in a separate room, far from the view of their guest. He locked the door, just to be sure that there would be no intruding. That way, even if she'd managed to break out of her seat, she wouldn't be able to sneak into the room.

[Kitsumi]

"I don't know either," Gloria said honestly. "On one hand, her story might make sense. You ran from your wedding, crash-landed here, and lost your memory. On the other hand, what if she's been spying on us? She could know your name from watching us, and could be making up an elaborate story in order to get us to trust her." After a pause, the Seraph continued. "Now that I think about it, how do we know that she really is one of your species? She could have some sort of device similar to yours that changes her appearance. She could even be a shapeshifter!"

[Jedi]

"There is one test." He unlocked the door and stepped back to where Alana was. He grabbed a bandana, the same one he'd used to blindfold Gloria when he'd first met her. Over Alana's eyes, he tied it, making sure it wasn't loose enough to come off. He looked to Gloria and pointed to the back of the room. Where he pointed, there was a safe. After he was sure that she saw it and looked back to him, he started signing different numbers with his fingers. Five, seven, one, four. After he finished signing the numbers, he pointed back to the safe, hoping she'd understand.

[Kitsumi]

Kzeleck's actions were beginning to confuse Gloria. But when he pointed to the safe, she walked over to it. Of course, not knowing the combination, she couldn't do anything. Luckily, her partner seemed to be giving her the numbers, in a way that wouldn't give it away to their captive. Kneeling in front of the safe, she twisted the dial according to the number of fingers that Kzeleck had held up. When the safe popped open, she gave him a thumbs up. Reaching in, she pulled out a strange, lumpy item. At first, she thought it was a rock. It was hard, and covered in spikes. But it smelled sweet. Was it edible? It didn't seem to be from Evelon. Gloria had no idea why Kzeleck would want something like this, but she began to bring it over to where he and Alana were.

[Jedi]

He watched as Gloria brought the fruit over. It was a type of fruit that he had experienced over the few years he'd spent on Evelon. "Open your hand, Alana." At first the woman refused, "Untie me first." Kzeleck returned the refusal, opening her hand by force. When Gloria stood close enough, he grabbed the fruit from her. The first attempt began hissing at his touch, causing him to drop it back into her hand. He bared the burning sensation as he grabbed it a second time. He then dropped the item into Alana's open hand. "AHHH!!!" she screamed at it's touch. She threw it off as soon as she could. "She is the same as I am." A tear made it's way out of her blindfold. "What the hell is wrong with you," she said through a painful sob.

[Kitsumi]

Gloria had no idea what Kzeleck wanted with this...thing. When he tried to take it from her, she didn't expect him to react the way he did. For some reason, it seemed to burn his flesh upon contact. The Seraph caught the item as he dropped it, staring in shock. She didn't want to say anything that would give Alana any hint as to what was happening. But her expression was concerned as he took the item from her again. This time, he was able to successfully drop it into the other alien's hand.

To Gloria's surprise, it had the safe effect on Alana that it had on Kzeleck. The woman screamed and threw the fruit. Not wanting to watch the woman's pain, Gloria hurried over to collect the fruit and place it back in the safe so that Kzeleck wouldn't have to touch it again. "This...thing has some sort of effect on your species, doesn't it?" she asked. "I'm sorry Alana. But we had to be sure that you really were who you said you were." She still wasn't sure if they should set the woman free...but after causing her the pain that they had, it was probably the least they could do. If Alana tried anything, hopefully two against one would be enough to subdue her. Besides, both Gloria and Kzeleck knew this place well - they knew far better than Alana where to find weapons.

[Jedi]

Kzeleck let Gloria go after the fruit, as he went to grab a washcloth. He ran it under cold water, then came back to Alana. He held her hand in one hand while scrubbing away the burn with the right. Gloria managed to get in an apology before he did. "I'm sorry too. Gloria probably would've never gone along with it if I told her the effect it had." Once the burn lessened, he began untying her hand. As it was free, Alana reached up and took off the blindfold. As she was able to see, she reached out and slapped Kzeleck as hard as she could. He didn't stop her either. He took it at full force. "That's for the burn. And this," she said as she slapped him again, "is for kidnapping me." After her second slap, he grabbed her wrist. "I had no choice. You were going to hurt Gloria." She began untying her other hand, taking short breaks to wipe away stray tears. "Boo hoo. I'm surprised you actually care about anyone but yourself."

[Kitsumi]

When the Seraph put the fruit in the safe, she made sure that the safe locked upon being closed. She pretended that it took longer than it actually did. It was just too difficult for her to see the pain on the other woman's face. When she heard the sound of slapping however, she quickly turned around. Although she wanted to be gentle with Alana - after all, she had apparently been through a lot, being left at the alter - she also had to say what she was feeling.

"Alana, stop hitting Kzeleck." She walked towards the two of them until she was standing between them. "I know that you were hurt. But you can't assume that this Kzeleck is the same man as the one you knew years ago. He lost all of his memories - he didn't even know the name of your species until you said it. So be angry at the Kzeleck who left you at the alter, but don't take it out on the one who didn't even remember you." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she shrugged. "Besides, who knows? What if he was kidnapped and taken to Evelon with his memory erased? You have no way of knowing what really happened."

[Jedi]

Alana was about ready to slap Gloria also. "If it wasn't for how he felt about you, I'd kill you right now." Kzeleck had no idea what she was talking about. He couldn't think about Gloria in anyway except as a friend. "I'd kill just to have him think of me that way again." Kzeleck was quickly getting fed up with Alana. "What gives you the right to decide how I feel about who I feel." He began walking away, heading for his room. He backhanded an item off a table on the way out, a sign that frustration was wracking him. "Way to go, Gloria. See what you did?"

[Kitsumi]

At this point, Gloria didn't care about being gentle. "What I did? You're the one making him angry, you bitch!" It was her first time ever swearing. She would have stopped in shock if it weren't for the fact that she had plenty more to say. "First off, you couldn't kill me - unless you know how to kill the immortal? Second, Kzeleck has no feelings for me. For pete's sake, I was in your position when we met! I was strapped to that same freaking chair. He was going to kill me, until he decided to take me on as a partner instead."

As she had been speaking, Gloria had been moving closer to Alana. Now she was in the woman's face, finger poking hard against her chest. "So you had better calm down and stop agitating things around here. Otherwise, you're gonna make me rethink my policy on killing aliens."