"We have the girl you're looking for. How do you call her? Reena? The Aelia vessel."
As those words left Amar's mouth, Oz lunged forward. He pushed Asmodeus out of the way, taking his place pinning Amar to the wall
"Where is she? Tell me where Reena is motherfucker! What did you do with her? Did you kill her?"
Oz was seething. This new kid came in knowing more about him than he did himself. And Reena. Reena.
Asmodeus tugged at Oz. "If he really knows where the girl is, it's in our best interest to keep him alive master."
"She's not 'the girl'." Oz spewed angrily. "Her name is Reena. And I wasn't going to kill him anyway. I'm not the killing type as he says." Still Oz let him down.
Amar chuckled. "You'll become one eventually, all of you do. Anyways now it's my turn to ask questions."
Oz moved to lunge at Amar again, and Asmodeus had to hold him back. Amar took a step back and glanced wearily at them both, the slick grin never leaving his face.
"As I was saying. I've got lots of questions for you. For starters, how was Aysel born into a male body. A very feminine male body but still, how are you a guy?"
Asmodeus looked at Oz. He had been wondering the same thing since they had met.
Oz looked nervous, fidgeting with his fingers and not looking the other two in the eyes.
When he spoke, it was in a very hushed tone, and both Amar and Asmodeus had to lean in to hear him.
"I wasn't born a guy. I'm not in a guy's body. There's nothing wrong with the reincarnation process, its just something wrong with me."
Amar looked shocked. Asmodeus had a range of emotions playing across his face, ranging from fear to confusion.
Oz quickly added, "But I'm still a guy so please refer to me as such. My name is Oz by the way Amar, not Jana. Only the teachers still call me Jana."
Amar nodded. "Well look dude. I was sent to help you no matter what. So if you don't mind, I'd rather us be friends than at each other's throats."
Oz looked up at him, a gleam in his eyes.
"Friends?" Amar looked confused at the question. "Yeah, friends. You never had friends before?" Oz looked back down at the floor.
Meanwhile, Asmodeus had finally mulled over Oz's revelation. He walked up to Oz and pulled him into his chest, dwarfing Oz in his hug. "I apologize for not being there to support you master. I should have done better. After all, even with all my watching, I was not able to help you go through this."
Oz didn't respond, but was slightly shaken by the gesture. He pulled away.
"Don't worry about it Az. We hadn't met yet. You couldn't have done anything. Anyway, could we focus on more important things? Like Reena? You should start talking Amar."
—~—~—~—~—~—~
Oz walked home slowly, Asmodeus trailing behind him. "Are you okay master?" Asmodeus's voice was gentle, trying not to provoke or startled Oz in his entranced jstate. Oz didn't answer, instead continuing to stare at the ground with glossy eyes.
While on the outside, he looked not engaged, inside his mind was a messy tangle of thoughts. Reena was dead. Aelia brought her back. But according to Amar, she was barely Reena, and was being controlled by Aelia. Oz sighed.
"We're home master." Asmodeus's voice snapped Oz out of his thoughts. He looked up. They had in fact gotten to the dorms. Oz was glad they had gotten home this fast. He was confused and had a lot to think about. He needed to train. He needed to get strong enough to save Reena. He was determined to save her. He would. He knew he would. After all, Reena was waiting for him.