Shaula glances at Mrs Litun and her child for a moment. She crosses her arms and thinks to herself about something. Sigvor, Dzan and Mrs Litun look at her with curiosity. She finds herself behaving a bit too seriously in this situation. She decides to take off her mask and places it away. If Sigvor and Dzan are already exposed, there’s no point in her being hidden as well.
There aren’t any pigs around here as it is, so whatever.
Mrs Litun looks slightly less on guard upon seeing the beautiful human’s face. She notices a brief peek from Bels at her as well. She smiles. Seeing this young mother and her child, Shaula feels happy that they survived and sad that they had to suffer like this. She rubs her jaw with her right hand in contemplation.
Dzan, Sigvor and Mrs Litun watch as the human woman bites her lower lip, shuts her eyes tightly and opens them as if having resolved something to herself. Shaula walks slowly and calmly over to Mrs Litun and stops a couple paces away. She stops approaching when she perceives an anxiety in Mrs Litun who holds the boy Bels tighter in her embrace. The beastkin woman’s mutilated brows crease.
Shaula feels no offense at Mrs Litun's caution; the boy in her arms squirms a bit. Shaula opens her mouth.
"Mrs Litun… My name is Shaula. I want you to know that I am not going to stop until the people who tried to harm your son and you are completely annihilated. You aren't the first people they've attacked even today… These vermin have already killed dozens of people."
Shaula grits her teeth, remembering the sight she had seen outside. If she was able to sleep soundly and dream in this current body of hers, she would have faced nightmares for weeks.
"I know it doesn't give you much solace, but the people who tried to harm your son are dead, Sigvor and Dzan made sure of that. But, of course, that's not the end of them. There are more of these insane monsters out there. I know about them now. I've received information about the real reason they've come out here today. I will root them out, I will find every last one of them and I will kill them. I promise to you and your son… I will kill them."
Dzan looks towards Shaula with a determination in his own eyes. Whatever she is going to do, if she decides to ask him for help, he will offer it. However, Sigvor looks at her and Dzan with apprehension as she scratches her right ear. There was a reason she had abandoned her own thirst for vengeance long ago.
The killing was almost always more trouble than it was worth. There are too many loose ends to deal with even if you killed just one person. Family members and friends seeking vengeance, city guards looking into the murders, even the church getting involved… Of course, she wasn’t given the power that Shaula has at her disposal.
If anyone had both the will and the ability to root out a terrorist organization of human commoners, it was her.
Yet still, what Shaula is attempting is the destruction of a cult that has access to weaponry that is nearly impossible to come by legally or illegally. Whatever this organization is, it could be a monster with a wide reach, perhaps even multiple cells in different cities. What if she brings that kind of trouble home with her? She's made a heavy promise and Sigvor doesn't believe that she's one to make promises and not keep them.
It seems that Jelli brought someone troublesome into our fold… I'll leave it alone for now because of what Ajax has helped stop today. If it wasn't for him, Mrs Litun and Bels would have been killed without anyone doing anything to stop it. This entire building might have been destroyed. I owe the two of them the benefit of the doubt right now.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Shaula meanwhile stares intently at Mrs Litun's face while trying to gauge her reaction. An unreadable expression washes across the woman’s face, with hints of anger and frustration most apparent. There doesn’t seem to be any relief in her upon hearing Shaula’s declaration, but Shaula would handle this duty nevertheless, just as she had promised.
Fuck… What did I just promise though? I mean, I'm not certain that I'll even find all of them. Imagine me back on Earth promising to find a terrorist group with ties to city cops. Isn’t… Isn't this a little above my pay grade? Have I really let these powers get to my head too much?
Shaula has taken a heavy weight onto her shoulders. She's promised quite a lot, perhaps more than she can actually handle. However, she's not just doing this for Mrs Litun. She's doing it for herself. The sight and smell of the bodies downstairs was harrowing. Seeing Mrs Litun's disfigurement and the sight of her holding her child in her arms as if he would disappear if she were to let go of him…
It lit a fire in her heart.
It doesn't surprise her at all that she's willing to go this far. After all, even on Earth, she had promised to herself that she would exact vengeance against her enemies, true vengeance for her parents and for her community, though most of all for herself. She glories in the pain of her enemies. She wishes for them to feel the pain that she has lived through for even a moment of their wretched lives.
She’s lost too much to only wish for good things for good people. She had made it her life’s purpose to make sure that bad things happened to bad people, especially the ones who had ruined her own life.
In this world, she’s doing the very same. She’s living truer to herself than she was when she had first arrived in that blue forest. The most important thing is that now, she's been given the ability to seek her retribution with less consequences to herself than ever before.
What can I do but try to live the way I was meant to?
"Ms… Shaula, I think, right?" Mrs Litun suddenly asks.
"Yeah, you got it." Shaula replies with a smile.
"I'm… I'm thankful that you would try to take on a burden like this for me. I don't know where your confidence comes from, but both Dzan and Sigvor seem to respect you so I will accept your promise graciously. I'm… I'm more worried about my child and my husband…" Mrs Litun's lips tremble.
"I… I understand. Your child has gone through something horrible. I've gone through things like this before as a child myself. It will be difficult for your son and for you…" Shaula admits. Mrs Litun looks at her with some surprise after hearing her honesty. She feels a little more sympathy for the human woman after hearing the pain in her voice.
Whatever she went through, it must have been just as painful.
"I’m thankful that someone like you is on our side. Ms Shaula, I'm… I'm worried that my husband will try to seek a healer for my disfigurement. A healer that’s able to deal with an injury like this… No, I'm sorry, we’ll get through it like we always do. As a family, we’re strong… I’ll make sure my son sees that."
Shaula opens her mouth wide, having not even thought of that.
She should have realized it earlier. Even now, subtle streams of tears are falling down Mrs Litun's face. It doesn't seem to be merely an emotional response to the trauma she's faced but actual pain causing her to repeatedly cry. Still, she’s trying to be strong for her child.
"The wound you have… is causing you a lot of pain, isn't it…" Shaula asks, in resignation.
"Yes it is, even the feeling of air against it… Well, it's not easy. I appreciate the help that you’re trying to offer me, but please don’t trouble yourself. My family doesn’t need revenge. We will not stop striving for happiness, just to spite those evil people. My child and I will be fine. Live for yourself, dear." She speaks softly, giving an earnest smile at the end of her last sentence. Shaula looks at Mrs Litun with wide eyes.
This woman… she’s really trying hard to downplay what she’s feeling, isn’t she…
Shaula can tell that the woman knows her son is listening to her right now. She tries to downplay the pain that both of them have gone through, though Shaula can understand exactly why. She doesn’t want her son to be even more worried after all that he’s gone through himself. She speaks in words in an inspirational cadence while her child rests in her arms.
Almost as if she's trying to convince herself too.