Wrapped in blankets, she lay halfway atop Zeke’s chest, staring up at the night’s sky. Countless stars, the big, bright moon - the smell of condensation and clean mountain air thick in the atmosphere.
Logan was out there - somewhere he didn’t see fit to inform her. He was an odd figure - as much went without saying… but what she found the most odd about him was how he continued to claim he was a monster, yet Ethel and the people of Anza had claimed him a holy man; fixing problems they weren’t even aware they had. The years had went a ways to make her accept the loss of Guy, but it seemed everything around her reminded her of those magical days - that likewise misfit fellow who seemed to reflexively do those very, same things. But he hadn’t been met with praise nor love; he had been feared and loathed - spat on and even attempted killed.
But he had done it for her, whereas Logan continued to claim that it was to serve his ulterior motive - finding ways to kill the Monstrum. Was that all there was to his world? Had he no other things on his mind except killing beasts and preparing to do so?
But she had to admit, there was something to his way of life. The freedom of the open world aside, he had found a cause to which he could dedicate his life - just as she had done to run Sitabee. Just as Mars had done. Just as Guy had done.
She had none of that now. All she had was a strange stone-faced man and a parasite living inside of her, allowing her to shoot well.
But perhaps, she thought, that was enough. The Monstrum had taken everything from her - the last she had ever really enjoyed had been the ride towards Sitalii. That day, her world had imploded in a shockwave that had destroyed everything she held dear - her man, what love remained for her people and any sense of herself. She had become her duty and it saved her from a lot of pain.
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Until the beach - until she had seen those writhing monstrosities bubble and burn, their murderous eyes still trained on her as they boiled and popped. Sure, it was dangerous. Sure, she would likely be killed at the hands of the monsters… but she’d take them with her. If they succeeded in burning those ruins, she’d be able to prevent more Luna’s from losing their all, but that was but a minor positive in comparison to the joy she imagined she’d feel as countless eyes popped and bubbled.
These things who had destroyed all she had dear, that had pushed her people into the abyss - depriving generations from the sight of the night’s sky could be killed. She glanced over at her gun and realized she had the power to do so - perhaps not now, but in time. Would simply defending herself against them be enough? Wouldn’t that be just another form of running away? Laying down and taking their abuse? No - she could do so much more. She could wreak upon them the pain that she had felt. She could end them.
Luna rose up to study her rifle, her pigment-deprived eyes more than capable of seeing every bit of the mechanisms in the moonlight. With the help of Logan’s voice at the back of her mind, she picked it apart and reassembled it, all the while feeling the breath of Zeke at her back.
An hour or so into her stimming, she heard Logan’s voice from nearby - how he had approached her so silently still impressed her, despite having seen it before.
He breathed heavily and she could tell, even without seeing his face, that he had dire news to bring back.
“We need to go back.”