Alexander The Great Mage

Chapter 22 - Trust

"Sorry" Aleyria smiled sheepishly at Alexander who was glaring at her.

She had managed to inject a ridiculous amount of verdant energy into Alexander's head in an attempt to create a healthy environment for the brain to recover from any side effects of being injured by Irene's fireblast.

The flood of verdant energy had woken Alexander up and caused him to be extremely dizzy yet at the same time able to think very clearly about everything and process information very rapidly. It was like being high without losing mental acuity.

It felt really good initially until the verdant energy dissipated. Then the pounding headaches came. That was why Alexander was glaring at Aleyria. That, and for knocking him out in such an irresponsible manner with no respect for the elderly and for the King. Which was exactly what Alexander had conveyed to Aleyria just moments ago.

"If you weren't there, this wouldn't have happened." Aleyria said half accusingly.

Alexander glared at her even more.

"I told you so." Aleyria said very accusingly.

"See? I told you so." Buccephalas said with great satisfaction.

"Alright, let's focus on the main issue at hand." Alexander sighed. He had never liked such powerful and headstrong women with so many opinions and ideas. It made him really confused on how to react to them.

On one hand, he was a man's man, he was used to lording it over everyone. Literally EVERYONE. Male and female alike. On the other hand though, he was also an ancient day version of a gentleman. He liked to treat his women gently and he certainly did so. It was just that usually the women he treated gently were very submissive. He never had to deal with such powerful and opinionated ones before.

"Right." Aleyria agreed. "So let me just make this clear, you are being serious about the existence of dragons here in this world?"

"No, not dragons. Dragon. There's only one here in this world." Alexander corrected.

"And how did you come across this information?" Aleyria asked.

"Just tell her." Buccephalas urged Alexander. "She's your main pillar of support. You need to be as honest as you can with her."

"Hey, don't forget I gave her a standing invitation to kill me if she finds that I am like Perses." Alexander reminded her. "I think its a good idea to keep some things a secret, just in case I need to defend myself against her."

"Pffft." Buccephalas laughed. "As if keeping me a secret could save you from her if she really wanted you dead."

Alexander scowled internally at Buccephalas.

"Alright, do as you wish." Buccephalas said.

Alexander remained quiet for a while, and then sighed.

"Actually, ever since I woke up here in this world, I had some sort of soul being stuck to my mind..."

"Fickle!" Buccephalas chuckled.

Alexander ignored her and continued.

"It was a form of mechanical intelligence which had all the information collected by the Empire that rules thousands of worlds like this one. It then became sentient when the Power of Perses awoke within me."

"I.. I call her Buccephalas." He finished.

Aleyria narrowed her eyes in suspicion and tried to put her hand on Alexander's shoulder.

Alexander jerked his shoulders away violently.

"Stop doing that!" He snapped.

Aleyria laughed. "I hope you're not traumatized by me. I really had no other intention except to help you."

"Yes, I know you meant well. But next time please make sure you allow me to explain first before taking action. With great power comes great responsibility, you know." Alexander turned and sat on his throne. He looked at Aleyria and waited for her questions.

"Let me summarize the situation. A soul-construct created by an "Empire" that controls this world and thousands like it is currently stuck on you. It gained sentience by the Power of Perses. And this sentient soul being, which you named.. Boosfalas -?

"Buccephalas." Alexander corrected. "After my horse back on Earth, Bucephalus."

"Yes, Buccephalas told you about this Dragon, and said that she would help you "tame" this dragon so that you could "fuse" with it and "gain" control of all its powers? You don't find any of this suspicious?" Aleyria asked.

"Tell her "I can hear you, you know."" Buccephalas said crossly.

"She can hear you, you know." Alexander obediently said.

"Uh-huh." Aleyria nodded. "I know. Tell her I said so."

"She said she kn-"

"I KNOW. I CAN HEAR HER." Buccephalas snapped.

"Oh wait, she can hear me, you don't have to tell her that." Aleyria said.

"... ..." Alexander was speechless.

"The bottom line is, I don't trust her. I'm not doubting the authenticity of the fact that an Empire exists which controls this world and many other worlds, nor the fact that a dragon exists here, unbelievable as they may sound. What I do not trust is her motivation and her purpose. Why is she doing this?" Aleyria said to Alexander calmly.

"What must she do to gain your trust?" Alexander said quietly.

Aleyria shrugged. "Above all, Perses was a cunning God. If He granted this soul construct sentience, then you must know that it will be, above all its other traits, cunning. I do not know what it'll take for me to trust her. But until I do trust her somehow, I will not trust her."

"So you won't come with me?" Alexander asked.

"You're going?" Aleyria asked back in surprise.

"Yes." Alexander nodded. "I have to. I need to grow stronger, and for some reason, I do trust her."

A short silence hung in the air before Buccephalas said softly. "Thank you."

Alexander smiled and nodded internally.

"You won't be able to tame a dragon by yourself." Aleyria frowned slightly as she played with her hair, lost in thought.

"Yes, that's why I asked you to come with me." Alexander looked at Aleyria playing with her hair with great interest. Back on earth, if a girl did that while talking to you, it was a sign that she was nervous and rather interested in you. But Aleyria doesn't seem to be nervous at all.

"We don't need her. We can get Dubaza and the others to come with us. I'll make it work." Buccephalas sulked.

"... You were the one who said we needed her a few short minutes ago!" Alexander frowned.

"She's telling you, you don't need me isn't she." Aleyria asked with a cunning look on her face.

"What a smart-alec!" Buccephalas cried out.

Alexander laughed helplessly.

"I'm coming with you!" Aleyria announced.

"SHE'S NOT! TELL HER SHE'S NOT ALLOWED TO COME!" Buccephalas shouted.

"Great! Welcome to the team, Aleyria. I'm sure we'll be able to have a lot of fun and succeed together!" Alexander smiled and extended his hand.

"Thank you. I bet your friend isn't sharing your sentiments right now." Aleyria shook Alexander's hand and laughed.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'M NOT!" Buccephalas roared.