Her hands and feet were bound to a steel table, surrounded by nurses and doctors wearing masks. She tried to scream, but the gag on her mouth silenced her. Something was wrong, though. Luna was watching herself.

"How are you today, number sixteen?" The doctor came from beside her and prepared a fiendish looking saw with a drill attached.

"Ready for our duet?" The doctor personally removed her gag.

Then it wasn’t her reflection that was on the table anymore; it was replaced by Elizabeth, who pleaded to her for help.

"Mama! Mama! Help! Help!"

The doctor then guided a massive drill towards the child’s chest.

=0o0=

"No!" Luna yelled loudly as she woke up. She was in the sleeping quarters of the landraider, with Shiny the only one with her. Luna remembered everything. They had been travelling through Ostrin for the past day, and ever since they left the village, they had stuck to the wasteland as they made their way through the countryside.

It was early afternoon when everyone politely insisted that Luna take a few hours to rest, as she had resorted to avoiding sleep once again, and for good reason. The nightmares never left her now. She wasn’t having visions of the dead anymore, but in her sleep she could not find peace. The medicine stopped working. Her meditation did not help either.

Elizabeth offered again to help her, but Luna declined. Although she can help, it would make them more visible to magical trackers, and she cannot put the child's safety at risk.

The long journey had taken its toll on everyone, and if it hadn't been for Elizabeth's abilities, everyone would have died long ago. The Landraider was completely destroyed, with Annie, Ada, Sylvie, and Tinkerton-G barely keeping it moving. Its engines were severely damaged, reducing its speed to a crawl. The distance they could cover in a day was cut in half, making the trip even longer.

They have run out of everything. Food, supplies, ammunition, and Luna can’t help but blame herself for everything that has happened to them. Especially since her nightmares were affecting her combat strength and making everyone worried about her. She hasn't properly spoken to anyone since they left the village. Luna's shame and guilt were eating away at her, so she distanced herself from everyone.

When evening came, they decided to camp near a well-secluded area. Their campground was near a cliff with a spectacular view of the countryside of Ostrin. It also gave them high ground to see if anyone was trying to sneak up on them. Everyone enjoyed a dinner of roasted rabbits that Baldric caught while they were doing maintenance work on the landraider. Everyone ate around the fire pit, aside from Luna, who just took one bite from her meal and gave the rest to Willow.

As they were cleaning up, she saw Elizabeth, Annie, Willow, and Shiny enjoying some sweets.

"After you have all finished enjoying dessert, Sunny, you need to brush your teeth."

"Awww, do I have to?"

"Yes you do, young lady. You can’t meet your grandfather with your teeth dirty and filled with cavities."

"But bounty hunters are supposed to be scary. If my teeth are clean, I won’t be scary to anyone."

"You can be scary and have clean teeth. Now no excuses, and brush your teeth."

Elizabeth began to pout. Annie gently grabbed her hand and the two of them headed to clean up.

"Thanks Annie." Luna whispered to her, and she replied with a wink.

=0o0=

Soon everyone decided to sleep, with only the GEA’s working on the landraider. Luna, however, was wide awake and sensed she did not plan to sleep anytime soon, got up and looked for Baldric, who volunteered for the first watch.

She found him taking care of the strider that they all decided to take along with them. Baldric was wiping the horse’s metal skin, and it grunted happily.

"I like this guy." Baldric said as he sensed her behind him. "How come we never got a strider before?"

"They are hard to find and are very temperamental, remember? Remember when Marko tried to rear one in and it broke his arm? Plus, they choose only who they want to ride. "

"Then I say it chose us. I mean, it helped you back there, didn’t it? And it hasn’t tried to stomp us to death yet." Baldric said as he polished one spot until he was satisfied. "Isn’t that right, boy? You like us, don’t you?"

The mechanical horse stamped its foot down two times.

"See, two stamps is a yes."

Luna just watched both of them as he polished the horse’s face, and it loved the attention.

"Once we’re done, we’ll contact Vhlad and get your head sorted out properly this time. Didn’t he say he knew a brain doctor?"

"Psychologists I think are what they are called." Luna corrected him.

"Yeah that. Once we bring Elizabeth home, let's buy a... psychologist for you." The two of them chuckled. "There you are, big fella, a nice and shiny plate that puts show horses to shame." The mechanical horse walked circles around them as if showing off.

"Any names for this guy?"

"I will give him a proper name when I think of it. Your nicknames recently are terrible. I still can’t believe you called the ball of light that keeps following you, "Shiny." I’ll give you a one for creativity." The mechanical horse began to slowly lie down as it began to rest.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I’ll stand watch tonight." Luna said. Baldric did not even try to argue as he knew the outcome.

"Don’t burn yourself out now." He said as he placed a hand on Luna’s shoulder and headed back.

"Good night, Baldric."

=0o0=

It was a cloudless night, and although the moon wasn’t in the sky, the glory of the stars shone overhead. Luna lied underneath a tree at a height that was above their campsite and looked up at the diamond sky above her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not feel Elizabeth had walked up to her.

"Luna." The child said, which made her sit upright. "I can’t sleep."

"What’s wrong?"

"I had a bad dream."

"Come here. Lay down beside me." Luna scooted so Elizabeth could lie down underneath the tree. She then offered her arm as a pillow, which Elizabeth rested her head on, and both of them stared into the beautiful night sky above.

"Wow!" Elizabeth said as she looked at the sky.

They were observing the sky when Luna saw a bright star that got her attention. "You know, when I am out camping on my own during contracts, I find the best way to fall asleep is to watch the stars in the sky and try to count all the constellations I know."

"I do too." Elizabeth said to her. "It was my favorite thing to do before me and my mama would sleep at night."

"You know that bright star there?" Luna pointed to the star that shone the brightest in the night sky. "That’s the-"

"Travelers star!" Elizabeth said before she could finish.

"Alright." Luna chuckled. "How about those ones? The three bright stars that are close together?"

"That’s the warrior’s belt." The child said proudly.

"Alright, how about that one?" Luna pointed at another constellation.

"It’s the Large Trident, and the one next to it is the Celesta, or the Farmers' Shield."

"Alright, Alright I’ll admit, you know your constellations. Elizabeth look!" Luna pointed to a comet. Luna thought she saw it with a lot of rainbow tails for a while.

"Wow!" They said it in unison. “Luna, did you see it? Did you see it?"

"Shhhhh, you'll wake everyone. But yes, I saw it. And it was beautiful. Did you make a wish as it passed?"

"No."

"You need to hurry then. Make a wish." Elizabeth closed her eyes tightly, and Luna could hear her muttering to herself.

"Finished!" Elizabeth replied happily. "Did you make a wish too, Luna?"

"Hmmmm, I did."

"What did you wish for?"

"I wish that… we would get you home safe." Luna said truthfully.

"I wish that my mama was safe and that the bad people would not find her." They continued to watch the night sky again in silence. "Luna, do you think my mama is safe?"

She took a long time to answer.

If she had not found Elizabeth all those weeks ago, where would she be right now? Princess Alice was disabled and said to be captivatingly beautiful. That was common knowledge, and now thinking about it, would a woman like her have a chance alone?

The area where Elizabeth was found was deep in a criminal and monster infested area, and it's safe to assume Princess Alice would have landed there too. A young, disabled, beautiful woman deep in dangerous territory, Luna shuddered at what could have happened to her. Every logical part of her was telling her that she would either be dead or worse, but there was a feeling in her gut, a slim feeling, that she was alive and safe somewhere.

Finally, Luna spoke. "I’m going to make you a promise. Once we get you to your grandfather, the moment you are safe. I will personally look for your mama."

"Really?" Elizabeth said as she turned and looked straight at her. Luna turned and faced the child as well.

"I swear it. Even if I die doing so, I’ll make sure you see your mama again." Elizabeth smiled at her, but Luna saw worry and sadness in her eyes. Both of them continued to watch the stars again.

"Luna."

"Mmmhm?"

"The people we helped. Why did they call you the… Skyguard butcher?"

The question surprised her and she did not want to answer it. The silence stretched on for minutes.

"Because I did… bad things. I did… really bad things."

"Like what?" Elizabeth asked innocently.

Luna looked up and remembered her life, a life filled with torment, abuse, loss, and anger. She dedicated her life to getting revenge, a revenge that wasted years of her life and she still could not find peace.

"I hurt people, Elizabeth. And I… killed people. A lot of people." Luna said as her voice started to shake.

"Why?"

Why did I do that? Why did I kill all those people? Luna gritted her teeth.

"Because I was angry. Because they… deserved it."

They deserved it! She screamed in her head.

"Really?" Elizabeth asked her sadly.

"Really."

"What did they do?"

"They… did things to me, things that… destroyed me and made me… into what I am."

Everything came back to her as clear as day.

They deserved it! They are the monsters here, not me! They are!

"Luna. I don’t think you are a bad person." Elizabeth said as she watched her.

"I am." Luna said. "I am."

"No. No, you’re not. My mama said that bad people don’t feel sorry for the bad things they have done. Luna are you sorry for all the bad things you have done?"

No! Because they deserved it!

What about the others?

They all do!

Do they?

Luna had vivid memories of Skyguard. A hellish prison where they tortured and experimented on her at all hours of the day and night. She recalled the mass graveyards where they were forced to dig and bury their fellow inmates. She remembered the screaming corridors and the devices they used to cut her open and pluck out her bones while she was still awake. Her friends who were kept in cages and brought out only to be slaughtered like pigs.

She remembered the fevers, the pain, the cries of her fellow captives, the dead's bloated bodies, pumped full of the chemicals they were testing on living creatures. She remembered the night they tested her with a new serum called Venom, a drug that made her lose all control. But something went wrong, and she overdosed to the point of insanity. She destroyed the prison while under the influence of the serum. Her bloodlust, however, was unsatisfied.

Luna struggled to breathe and was completely drenched in blood when the venom wore off and her consciousness returned. She then realized what she had done. An entire town had been wiped out.

Civilians were violently ripped apart, and their parts and organs were strewn all over the streets. As she looked to see what she had undeniably done alone, Luna found the uniforms of soldiers who were guarding Skyguard. The town was near the prison, and it was the one they were all living in. For a moment, for one brief moment, she felt happy, and it disgusted her to the point that she vomited violently.

Luna walked through the town and found that she was thorough. Some tried to run, and the ones who did not get away in time, she hunted down. Anyone that tried to hide or got in her way, Luna savagely mutilated. No one in the town was spared. She then witnessed something that broke her heart. That night, she murdered a mother and her daughter. The child was young, perhaps two or three years old, and the mother hid her in her arms. Both of them were dead because of her.

Luna could only laugh, laughing so violently that it caused her to break down and weep. There was only one thing that was on Luna’s mind that night that she repeated over and over. They took everything away from me. EVERYTHING.

She began to cry.

"Yes. I wish I had never done those things. I wish I could take them all back. But I can’t Elizabeth. I can’t."

The child said nothing as she cried beside her. When Luna finally began to compose herself, Elizabeth spoke softly.

"You are not a bad person, Luna. You’re a good person." Elizabeth turned to face her and slowly gave Luna a tight hug. She returned the hug and silently cried her heart out.

Once Luna’s shudders started to cease, Elizabeth hummed for Luna a lullaby. She recognized the tone and hummed as well. Finally, Luna felt that Elizabeth had fallen asleep. She then turned carefully, so as not to disturb her, and looked into the stars above.

Elizabeth placed her hand over her as she slept. Luna promised herself that she would bring her home no matter what.

She will not go through what I did. Her innocence, her hope, I won’t let her lose that like I did.