Who Are You?

"From what I've seen of you, I get the most peculiar impression that you don't actually find me annoying."

"Peculiar? Me?"

"Yeah. I find you peculiar." I held back from elaborating. She was already giving me that undefinable look. "Of course, that doesn't mean I don't find you annoying."

"Oh really? Well that's good to know. You've only known me for what? Six days?"

"Technically... No."

"Oh, I almost forgot about when you dislocated my shoulder all those months ago."

"But I didn't know you as Meltri back then. You were just a hot chick I literally ran into on the street."

"A hot chick?" She shook her head. "I have a hard time believing that the Prince of Mya would have found me attractive. Especially then. Do you know where I had just come from? My mother's office. She loves to chew on me. I must be quite chewy. I could have been more stressed about it, though... I guess..." And she went on.

In her monologues, Meltri seemed to acquire a certain charm that was both beguiling and honest. Frustrating and comforting. Incorrigible and contradictory. It was impossible to ignore, absolutely entertaining, positively lovely. Yet, as she continued in her ramble, I found myself realizing some new facet of her that I had never seen before. But this one, unlike the rest of her features, had me suspicious. "Who are you?" I blurted out, interrupting her rant.

She was dazed, then suddenly fearful. Not the reaction I was hoping to see. I went back through my mind and recollected key points from her running commentary. "My mother's office." "She's ruthless, and I couldn't refuse her without some sort of punishment." "I guess I should be thankful, though..." It was that last one that bothered me most. Thankful for what? Does her mother have anything to do with how she ended up here? It rang in my mind. Something wasn't right. She works in an office? Who is your mother? Who are you? And that's when I asked.

"Huh?" She breathed in, trying to relax herself. "I... Don't understand." But she was lying. Through her teeth. And now she looked familiar in a new way.

"Who are you?" My insistence must have frightened her. She withdrew a step.

"What? What do you mean?!" She was on the verge of tears, but I was not about to feel sorry.

"What..." I narrowed in on her shivering gaze, "...is your name?"

She suddenly became calm, even regretful. "Meltri."

"Your full name."

"I am Meltri. Qua do not have a second name."

"But you aren't Qua, are you?" My suspicion was no longer there. I knew what she was hiding. She saw my confidence and her fear returned.

"My... name... is... Meltri." Her words came out slowly and carefully. She was telling the truth, yet she was still shivering.

"What is your last name?"

"Pavol... Please don't do this."

"What is your name?!"

"Please!"

"Answer me!" My anger flared, and the room suddenly felt much hotter.

"Meltri..." She held back, tears finally came. "...Volta." In that second, I grabbed her and pinned her to the wall.

"EATHOS!" I shouted down the hall. "We have a spy aboard this ship!"



If this makes no sense, that is because it is completely out of context. Meet Meltri, the impossible to define best friend/foil to Pavol and one of my favorite characters introduced in Part 2 of my book. This particular scene takes place in Part 3, shortly after Pavol and Meltri meet each other aboard the Nova.

Why did I post this? Because I like this scene and because it was already written.