Ajax and Shaula remain together in this wasteland where just a few minutes ago a green meadow had been and a large tree had stood.
The ground is cold from Ajax’s absorption of the heat in the area. The heat emanating from the fire that had been set off by Shaula in her distress at having seen the corpse of a man who was brutally killed.
Shaula, for a long time during her childhood, had spent her life powerless. She recalls her step father, the man who she grew up with, who she should have loved as her only male role model.
The one who was the only father she remembered during her childhood and the one who was supposed to care for her after her parents had died when she was a toddler.
The person who she grew to hate the most in all of existence. The person who took so much from her.
The man whom she had first killed.
She had set fire to her childhood home and killed her step-father and step-mother. She felt pure ecstasy hearing the fire spread to the master bedroom where she had placed their unconscious bodies.
She had drugged them to prevent them from being able to run away if they woke up from the smell of smoke or the burning.
Then, she made it look like there was cookware with grease left in it accidentally left on an active stove.
To complete the scene, she allowed herself to be partially burned on her right arm and right thigh. Nobody suspected her. They had no evidence of wrongdoing or foul play.
The police tried to interrogate her to see if she had anything to do with it but… she didn’t crack even as a seventeen year old.
She faked tears and anger at their deaths. She put on quite the performance.
In the end due to lack of evidence, she was placed in a group home but she left there after she found the conditions deplorable. She instead found a part time job and focused on finishing up her time in high school.
She needed some psychological counseling as well and antidepressants from what was left of the trauma they had inflicted on her. She couldn’t afford a place to live, choosing instead to put that money into her treatment.
But in the end, she felt wonderful. They would never harm anyone ever again. They were dead. But… not everyone had met their justice. Her justice.
She recalls the man who had gotten her and Lisa fired because she wouldn’t just sit down and take his abuse. Martin Jevgeni. She had met him the day she was summoned.
A bitter reunion that will never amount to anything now. She regrets not killing that man right then and there. Now she won’t have the opportunity to.
By the time she returns to her world, he will… probably be dead. Dead, having received no consequences for his actions. Perhaps on his death bed surrounded by his friends and family. Because justice will never have been given to him.
But here is Shaula now. On this world without consequences for her anymore, not real ones. A world where she has been given transcendent power. And what is she doing? Has she abandoned her justice?
Has she grown complacent after finding someone she loved? Someone she didn’t want to see this side of her?
Spending her time in the woods with the one she treasures when… when things like this are happening.
But, why else would she have this power if not to make changes to the world around her? She can do what she wants now… All of her ties to her old life (except the one most important to her) have been severed.
So… she’s going to find them. Those who did this to the man she laid to rest. Those who invaded her life with their violence.
“Shaula… Are you ok?”
“...”
“Shaula?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Sigh. Alright, Ajax. Let’s start this now.”
“Alright.”
Ajax sees Shaula’s face. Truly what he and she had seen in this dead meadow was grotesque. Ajax… cannot offer mercy to those who did this.
He considered who he was in the past. A person believing that everyone could be redeemed. A person who didn’t believe in hell but who believed that nobody deserves an eternity in hell either.
He wished to… be merciful. Couldn’t everyone and anyone be washed of their sins? Isn’t that what he had always learned through Christianity? Isn’t that…
No. He can’t believe that right now. The ones who did this cannot gain salvation. When she finds them and kills them, he will witness it.
“Hey, Shaula… Why do you think that octopus thing brought us here? Actually… where is that little guy? Oh no, did we kill it accidentally?!”
“No, it’s still alive. I can still smell it. It’s… Actually, yeah, why did it bring us there?”
~
Ajax and Shaula find the land squid again. It has returned to its den in the tree where Darius had led them to originally.
“Wow, after that, it just came back here?”
“That’s fine… I mean, I did get pretty upset, it was probably scared...”
“Well, yeah...”
The squid crawls out of its hiding place, its many eyes staring directly at Ajax. It crawls towards Ajax in supposed excitement; not that Ajax can truly tell. Then, it climbs up Ajax's body.
“Woah! This guy got friendlier!”
“Eww...”
The land squid as large as a black bear climbs onto Ajax’s shoulder and… shrinks to about the size of a large pitbull, its tentacles wrapped around Ajax’s back, shoulders and upper arms.
“Hey look, it can change its size too! Octopuses on earth could do that super easily... What a good little guy!”
Ajax pets one of its tentacles on his right arm as the land squid squirms around. The eyes on that tentacle close as it allows Ajax to pet it.
“Same number of eyes though… But really, it does seem like a nice squid. What should we name it?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. You know what? You can pick this one, Shaula.”
“Ok… Oh, what about Gabriel?”
“...biblically--”
“Because it looks like a biblically accurate angel, yeah.”
Ajax furrows his brows for a moment as he looks at it again. It really does look like one though. If it spoke to him telling him not to be afraid, he’d fall like Goliath or run like he was delivering a message to Athens.
“You think we’ll be able to find it again? While we’re gone I mean...”
“Yeah, all we have to do is use our sense of smell. If you’re worried, just memorize his scent. I’ve already done it.”
“Alright, Shaula. Uh... Also… where are we going to get new clothes?”
Ajax and Shaula have tried as hard as they could to stare at each other’s faces. In that meadow, Shaula had incinerated their clothing to ash. Right now, Shaula and Ajax have been walking completely naked.
Ajax has tried especially hard not to get erect while looking at Shaula’s naked body, her voluptuous breasts, her ass and thighs... It hasn’t been easy.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Ajax… I have an idea about that but you’re not going to like it...”
~
Ajax and Shaula are in a room. A dirty room that appears to have been repeatedly ransacked. Shaula illuminates the room by placing a small fire right in the centre of her forehead, continuously burning.
She has become better at the use of her power over the past two months. She can now freely control which parts of her body emit the flames now down to the square centimetre of skin. Even her eyes can emit fire but this blocks her sight so she doesn’t do it too often.
“Ugh… This place is really still a shit hole, huh… I mean, I know they’re dead and can’t use this shit anymore but… this feels like graverobbing...”
“That’s life, bud… I mean, even worms rob our nutrients while our corpses rot, so...”
“...What’s that mean? Shouldn’t we try to be better than worms?”
“We are better, like, we’re stealing shit they can’t use in hell and we’re not feeding off their corpses or anything. Plus, we wouldn’t do this to good people. This is nothing, just forget about it.”
“...What’s with that logic...”
Ajax and Shaula are currently at the bandit hideout; the bandits who the Immortal Emperor Alin and the merchant had killed.
Shaula has always known how to find her way back to here, but she never returned to this place. There were terrible events that transpired concerning those who lived here; their meeting with Alin have also left scars on their hearts which still haven’t faded yet.
But… they needed clothing.
Ajax and Shaula find clothes that fit them among the messy pile of shirts and pants left in the bandit hideout. Shaula disinfected them by applying a high heat. This treatment also dissipated any lingering scents but only from the clothes.
The food in this place which had been partially rotted even when they came here last has already rotted even further.
There are smashed jars on the floor. It looks like some animals came into this cave and messed it up a bit.
Ajax and Shaula step on the broken glass without even noticing. Their healing factor doesn’t even register pain like this anymore.
Ajax looks at the dirty cave room in sadness. The men who were living here will never return. Because… Ajax had allowed them to die--
“Ajax?”
“Huh? What?”
“Forget about them, Ajax. They were fucking murderers… All they’re good for is the clothes we’re wearing now.”
Ajax and Shaula are both wearing men’s clothing. Beige, long sleeved shirts and dark brown corsair pants.
They fit somewhat uncomfortably but they’ll do for now.
Ajax disregards Shaula’s comment about them. Sure, they were murderers and thieves. But… they were already stopped. He had stopped them, he had even taken away their ability to walk (foolishly).
In his world, he could have taken them to prison. Here, they would have met the death penalty, that is the certain outcome of their capture. If he had left well enough alone and not interfered, they’d still be killing people even now.
He wouldn’t care if people like that merchant had died but even a man like that had an innocent child. But they said they wouldn’t kill the children!
Then, Alin had--
No. Forget it, forget it, you’re just going in circles… It’s not worth thinking about anymore. They’re all dead. Forget about it...
Shaula looks at one of the broken jars of spices as she fixes her hair with both hands. Spices...
“Sigh… You know, if we had these spices, we could maybe have seasoned some of our food better...”
“Hm. Yeah, like that time Darius brought us the armoured turtle meat, you cooked it and… it tasted like… unseasoned chicken breast...”
“Yeah. I mean, it was fine, like, beggars can’t be choosers but… at least a little salt would have made it better...”
“...Oh, wait, speaking of armoured turtles, you’re going to get it, right?”
“Oh, shit! Yeah, just a sec--”
Shaula sprints out of the cave towards the second exit leading to the descending cliff staircase that she and Ajax had traversed. To retrieve…
“Ah! Here it is!”
Shaula wanders back into the cave with a large, heavy turtle shell in her left hand. Her strength has only continued to grow as she slowly siphoned Ajax’s energy over the last two months.
Ajax has tried to find an upper limit to how much energy he can absorb. How much heat he can siphon. How cold he can make his surroundings. There is no ceiling. So all he’s done for two months is keep absorbing and absorbing.
He can permanently place strength into his senses and abilities as a result and Shaula can partake in his surplus as well.
While Ajax focused on improving his reflexes and agility through this steady energy absorption over the last two months, Shaula portioned her energy into her physical strength. She is far stronger than she has ever been at the moment.
Her ability to lift, throw, run and jump are all top notch. Meanwhile, Ajax is more capable than an olympic gymnast and more nimble and quick footed than a mountain goat. He is also fast enough to race championship cars.
The turtle shell that Shaula had left near the bandits’ hideout for later retrieval, the shell given to her by the first raptors that she met, is what allowed her to return to this place.
Having memorized its scent, she found the hideout quite easily. Now that she has it back, she’s going to take it with her to the places where humans are. It has some sentimental value to her right now. Her first souvenir in this world.
“Shaula, you remember the directions to the road, right?”
“Man, really, what would you do without me? Of course, I remember. Once we find it, we just go left until we reach a city. Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Ajax… I might kill again. Are you sure you can handle it? You’re not going to be squeamish about it, right? You can just stay in the forests while I take care of shit… I can still track your scent and--”
“No. I… It’s fine. We’re in this together, Shaula. As if I’d wait in the woods while you ‘took care of shit’... I can’t turn my eyes away from it anymore.”
“Sigh… Alright.”
“By the way, grab that bag for me there, would you?”
“This?”
Shaula sees a dusty cloth satchel in a corner of the cave. She picks it up while still holding the turtle shell in her other arm.
“Just a little something to keep shit in, these clothes don’t have any pockets. Sigh… looks like it doesn’t have any currency or anything… I still don’t know what people use for money here.”
“Whatever, it’s not like we need money to survive, Ajax. Just so long as we have clothes, we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Alright… let’s head out.”
Ajax and Shaula leave the cave with the clothes on their backs and the cloth bag. They walk towards the road, finding it fairly easily.
A place with bad memories for the two of them, where many people had died with minimal effort. A place where they felt fear and loathing.
Ajax and Shaula head in the direction that they remembered the merchant carriage was travelling. Towards--
~
It is now around sunset.
Ajax and Shaula find what is at the end of the road. Walls. Tall walls about seven metres high. And a gate. A large, metal gate that is currently welcoming a queue of carriages. A solid portcullis in an archway.
Ajax and Shaula are currently some distance away from the gate. There is a forest of large trees in this area as well. Ajax and Shaula hide in this area behind these trees while surveying the first human population centre they’ve seen in this world.
Ajax directs energy to his eyes in order to gain a clearer look at the gates. He sees…
“There are four men at the gate. Two of them are… currently inspecting a carriage. I guess it’s a customs inspection point for the city. Man, look at those huge ass walls though...”
“Probably because of the weird animals, right? Like Darius, Mace and Ion or… Gabriel.”
“Oh yeah… you wouldn’t want those just wandering into the city. Although, Gabriel could probably still climb over it.”
“Also for war I bet.”
“So, how are we going to get in the city then? Through the gate like those carriages? What if there’s a toll or something?”
“We’re not going through the front, dipshit. Even if there isn’t a toll, there’s no need to. We’ll jump over the walls into the city at a place they’re not patrolling. No need to expose ourselves. Just in case they have wanted posters of us for killing those religious freaks.”
“You’re right… I totally forgot about that...”
“Come on, why’re you such a moron? Get your head out of your ass...”
“Alright, alright… By the way, did you expect this place to be so… large? Like, we didn’t even stumble onto any villages and now we found a city…”
“I think the forests were hard to cut down. I mean, just look at those huge trees, you’d have to clear that completely before building farms and shit. They probably couldn’t do that while they’re in a war with the demons… Just easier for us. Alright, let’s wait an hour for the sun to go down completely and sneak in then.”
Ajax and Shaula relax for a bit as night falls. The stars come out… as well as the moon of Omicron. Ajax and Shaula have seen it a few times already. A red moon. It looks as if Mars is hanging in the sky… truly an alien world.
They eventually leave the forest and follow the walls, listening. Ajax and Shaula are still walking behind the trees of the forest some distance away from these walls.
Shaula decided to leave her turtle shell behind in a spot in the woods because of how conspicuous it is.
She can always find it later just by scent alone.
Ajax and Shaula try to find a spot along the walls where they don’t hear movement or anyone who can detect their intrusion. A place along the walls where no one is awake to find them. A place with no heart beats or at least hearts beating slowly and calmly in slumber.
A spot where no one is patrolling over the walls.
They’ve seen night patrols strolling on the wall, looking for any sign of intrusion. It’s not merely a fence but quite a massive achievement indeed.
Ajax and Shaula keep themselves quiet and out of sight from these men. Suddenly--
“AAAIIIIIIIEEEE!!”
“A scream? Shaula, you heard that, right?”
“Yeah, it’s on the other side of the wall there!”
Ajax and Shaula have reached a spot along the wall about a kilometre away from the gate. There are no patrols here at the moment but Ajax can hear… two heartbeats.
One of them is beating in distress, rapidly thumping in panic. This must be the woman who screamed.
“Alright, Shaula, let’s go!”
“Huh? Wait--”
Ajax, having made a snap judgment to offer his assistance, scoops up Shaula in his arms in a princess carry and leaps over the walls with her.
Someone’s in trouble and while he’s here, he can help them.