42.
Ʌ NightmɅre
It was the kind of thing that could get Ginter's heart pumping in pleasure. If not for the thrill of it, then the heatstroke headache.
The tip of the sword met his stomach. It cut at the threads of his shirt. It poked, then pinched his soft, withered skin until he started to bleed. And the huge woman at the other end of it was readying herself for the full stab, or slice — whatever they used to do with swords in the olden days because he'd never seen a real one in his life and didn't this woman have an Infernape on her somewhere? Or a Lopunny? Certainly not Rapidash nor Emboar nor Seismitoad, but one of Flint's partners, because the eerie coincidences didn't stop at looks.
No. She couldn't finish Kamado's dirty work. She'd made some excuse. Someone else would have to execute this ancient pirate, if or when the time came.
Zisu dropped the sword in the sand, then motioned for the two teenage Security Corpsmen to unhand him. Ginter fell to his knees in the damp surf, exhausted. Oh, death would claim his sorry carcass like a Muddy Water eating a Thunderbolt. If this was all just a nightmare, then it was catered to his every deepest, darkest desire. He was the star of the charade. Just without the shining, shocking part. And Cyllene—
His chest nearly collapsed thinking of Cyllene. Where was she now? Who was protecting her? Why did she choose to go on like this, when she was still young and free and able to do anything in the world she wanted!?
Captain Zisu grabbed him by the sweaty gray scruff of his head and wrenched it upwards, until he was looking right into those smokey gray eyes.
"Why are you here!?" she demanded.
Ginter grimaced. He hoped this female rendition of Flint could smell the piss on him. "That's no way to treat your elders, woman."
"And we bully Tao Hua anyway. Age doesn't give you a free pass to ruin people's lives. Galaxy Hall was a masterpiece that cost thousands to design and build. It was the grandest building most of us had ever seen. Most of us thought we had a future on this accursed island, and you burnt it all like… like—!"
"But there is a future on this island, Captain. Believe me, there is."
"And how would you know, you stinky coot!?"
Her voice was so shrill — so full of fiery fury and with nowhere to direct it but the dying old man beneath her. Ginter's chest seized, and he coughed.
"You know my true identity, don't you? You recognize me when you sleepwalk. You've even called me my real name once or twice. I thought I was hearing things, but there aren't a lot of people called Volkner, even where I'm from. That first night you ran away from the village and Cyllene and I searched for you — Wasn't it because you were trying to track me down first? The part of you that knows me was worried about me?"
The moist heat of Prelude Beach bore down on his shoulders. It was getting harder to breathe, or even think, when his body felt so heavy and weak. His bones were aching. His heart…
"I don't know who you are," Zisu admitted. "Not when I'm awake. But… I do feel this warm connection to you. I'm supposed to trust you, right?"
Ginter watched her soften. Her fingers released their grip on his hair. The scarlet curls fell over her shoulders, frazzled and greasy yet full of that life and light he was so used to.
"That connection is why you don't want to kill me right now. In another time and place, we'd be like brothers. You're seeing me just like Flint would. As someone you care about."
She seized the sword again, this time pointing it straight at his chest. The trust was gone. The fire had returned.
"I'm not… But I'm not Flint!" she forced, almost choking on the name as it finally escaped her. "I'm not a man, or your 'brother!' I don't like feeling like I'm burning alive! Why are you here? Why won't you just go away!? You're the one causing all this, aren't you!? These nightmares! The sleepwalking only started after you arrived and started destroying our village!"
Nightmares… Dreams… Daydreams…
"Zisu, the fire was an accident. You know that—GEH!"
She plunged the sword into his heart. Twisted it. Wrenched it through the sinews until his skin went electric with pain and he screamed.
~N~
Quick shoutout to another fantastic time-travel fic, Timeslip by Nekodatta. Turo, from a future so distant he's born on the moon and grows up with an atrophied twiggy body, falls in love with Sada, who hunts Mamoswine with spears so her mother can make clothes for her tribe. It deals with a 14,000-year timescale, so a lot more extreme than the culture shock Volk and Cyllene are dealing with, but I think it has recently made some very subtle Hisui references!
Published by scrivenernoodz on FFN and AO3 July 27th, 2024. Please don't repost. Please do review!