#SFF #AtoZChallenge Vengeance

A speculative fiction short story from a dreamer

A continuous #sff story during April. May Rose is the main character (🧑🏽 they/them pronouns).

"Would you really have fought a squid-like monster for me?" Jade asked May.

"Of course. I don't know if my weapon works underwater. But I would have fought to my last breath to try to save you."

Jade chewed her lip. "What if it meant you had to kill it?"

May shrugged. "Same answer."

"You would actually take another life? You who talks about the devastation, how the whole world suffered. How there has been so much death. You would take a life?"

"Wouldn't be the first time today."

Jade snapped to attention and slid away from May. "What?"

May shrugged again. "Many of the overlords live by the code of survival of the fittest. Killing to save the life of one you're protecting is just how it goes."

"You had to actually kill for me? Today?"

"I suppose you've never taken a life. I didn't grow up in your time, in your world. I survived in mine. Until I met you, I never gave it a second thought. Until you, if Nightingale told me to cut a student from the program, I did. No questions, no protests. I have no idea if the overlord who gave me so much is even alive now. It doesn't matter; you're here, that's all I care about."

Jade rubbed her temples. "I didn't know this side of you. It's horrible."

"What side? This is just how things are."

"It shouldn't be! We're not supposed to kill. Life is precious."

"Tell that to the billions who died when the Devastation happened. People from your timeline did that. It happened moments before you were taken. You might have known the people who did it. Or the people who didn't prevent it."

Jade curled up into a ball and wept. "I wasn't supposed to exist. How would I have stopped whatever the Devastation was?"

"I do exist. I was born into the remains of a broken world. How do you expect me to not fight to survive? You're alive, I'm alive. That's something to celebrate, not cry about."

The two didn't speak again for hours. Then they felt Piers surfacing.

"We're here," O'tien announced. 

May, Jade, and Piers rested on the shore, O'tien chatting in their minds. A small, beige creature approached them from the nearby path. May swore that hearts comically exploded from Jade's eyes.

"Look at the little cutie! Hello, little one. Aren't you adorable? Yes, you are!"

"You don't know what that is. It could be dangerous. Or infected." May tried to pull Jade back to the resting spot. It was useless.

"It's just a cute little guinea pig! Look how soft."

Piers shook his head. "Do animals approach humans without ruling, killing, or infecting them in your time? Keep in mind that I'm much older than I look, and actually was alive back then."

Jade made a face at them. "Maybe an overlord sent this fuzzy-wuzzy little snuggly down to greet us. Ever think of that?" She knelt beside the creature. "Are you a cute little welcoming party?"

The guinea pig seemed to dance in a circle. 

"Oh, we have a little ballerina! Aren't you just the cutest ever!"

Piers whispered to Jade. "Remember the other day when she thought I was the cutest ever?"

May flicked him. "What was she going to do with a whale? I love her, but she's got no sense of danger."

"Well, she did fall for you. That does prove a lack of a sense of danger." 

The two laughed. They kept watch, making sure Jade wouldn't be harmed by the creature.

"Well, well, well. You were right, Nightingale. They did find their way here." 

May stood and spun in one swift move, the weapon pointed at the voice. Piers rushed to Jade's side. The guinea pig made a frightened sound before running away.

"Vengeance belongs to us," Doña Marina said with her weapon raised. 

Question: Do you think you could prevent the Devastation?

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