A monstrous heart

“Hah, I did it … I defeated one of the dark suns … I’ll rise the ranks in no time with this!”

From a short distance behind her, a small shadow approached, sliding across the ground. A young boy shot out of it, stumbling forward, dripping with sweat as he shouted with panic.

“Mum, dad! Where are you!? ”

Cecilia turned, finding herself face-to-face with the boy; a young Zayden.

“Ah, so you’re the son? I thought you were supposed to wait by the border.”

“Are you the soldier my parents said they were meeting? I know I was supposed to wait, but I got worried, so I came to find them.”

“That’s noble, but I’m sorry, the monsters already got to them; I tried my best.”

Cecelia put on her most sorrowful expression, stepping aside to show the boy the full horror of what happened to his parents; seeing them still, motionless, and still being sucked dry by several Hidreuze defiling their bodies. Zayden ran straight to them, his voice breaking as he screamed from the depths of his soul.

“No! No, no, no, no; mum, dad!”

He rushed to their sides, breaking down in tears as he collapsed to the floor.

“I told you not to go! I told you it was dangerous, but you didn’t listen! Why didn’t you listen ….”

With the boys back firmly turned to her, Cecilia inched forward, her hand gripping her blade one last time. As she approached, she noticed something on the boy’s arm; a tiny, frail Hidreuze, clinging tightly onto his skin, though seemingly not from trying to leech off of him. It whined and squealed, prying his tearful eyes off the floor, only for them to dig themselves into the creature itself.

“You. Is this what you were leading me towards!? I picked you up when you were weak, and you repay me like this. You wanted me to see my parents in this state; were you trying to make me a victim too!?”

The fragile creature began to wail even louder, almost as if it was doing so in protest, but it only amplified his rage, grabbing it tightly with his hand.

“Shut up; just go away!”

Pain forced his eyes to shut as his voice cracked, and he chucked the creature off to the side. As it hit the floor, Cecilia paid it no further attention, lifting up her sword as she prepared to deliver her final blow.

She swung down her sword, but instead of it landing, she screamed with panic as the tiny Hidreuze had jumped onto her face, latching on with unrelenting force as she stumbled back.

“Argh! Get off me you vile creature!”

“Huh?”

Zayden snapped to attention at the sound of the struggle, watching in surprise as the woman ripped the creature off her face, watching it squirm as it landed beside him.

“Alright that’s it; no more setbacks!”

Completely furious, Cecilia held her sword into the air, ready to bring it down for one final strike. The young boy froze, fully aware of what would happen if he stayed where he was, but being too paralysed to try anything different. Cecilia swung her sword as he closed his eyes, fearing the worst.

A high-pitched scream echoed out; Zayden opened his eyes, greeted by the tiny Hidreuze having jumped in the way, being crushed by her blade, smashing it down to the ground. Zayden scrambled towards it, cupping it in his hands.

“Hey, why did you do that; I threw you away, so why did you save me!”

The struggling creature cried out, and even though he couldn’t understand it, the pain it was feeling resonated through him. He held it close, shutting his eyes as he choked through his words.

“I’m sorry … you just wanted to protect me, and I couldn’t do the same for you.”

The creature in his hands glowed with dark energy, consuming it entirely as its voice got weaker. Its body became entirely wrapped in darkness, and then began to morph. The darkness soon dissipated, in its place revealing the visage of a still-small, but humanoid, baby girl. Cecilia’s face twisted with utter disbelief and contempt for what she saw.

“What the hell is that; the monster changed itself to look human? That’s disgusting; a creature without a heart could never be human!”

As the imposing woman threatened to cut him down for good, this time the boy’s expression hardened into one of pure defiance for his attacker, shooting her down with certainty in his voice.

“You’re the one who’s not human.”

With that, the woman’s patience was thoroughly spent, bringing her blade down upon him. Before it hit, he pulled himself and the baby into shadows, dashing away with no chance Cecilia could catch up.

“Whatever, my promotion comes first.”

She scoffed at their escape before turning back to the boy’s lifeless parents, taking the man, and dragging her prize forward as she began to walk back to her kingdom.

Back in the present, Cecilia face Reyna firmly, speaking with no regrets.

“That’s the truth, chosen one. ‘She’ is not a human who can shapeshift into a monster, but a monster who shapeshifts to appear human. I have no idea how it happened; in a desperate bid to find his parents, he’d picked up that little creature on the way, so I suppose they foolishly got attached. But the fact that it was somehow able to form the desire to become human is disgusting, it’s unnatural; it’s a crime against the world that I think would be better off dead. Do you see now why I didn’t want to let her go earlier? Well, at least I’ve got you; that’s the priority right now.”

Despite Cecilia’s sincerity in conveying what she felt was correct, Reyna’s stomach churned at the thought of what the woman had done, and how readily she dismissed the lives of those that weren’t on her side. She thought it wouldn’t be too bad being with the light kingdom; they seemed nice enough, but now she wasn’t too sure. As they rode forward, she felt uncertainty build up inside of her, thinking about the people she’d left behind.