The Beast

The Beast - Part 28

The Next day he woke up on his own accord, his muscles were sore but in a good way. Zu was already awake patiently waiting for his summary of the past few days. He liked giving good news but her face didn't look very reassured after he finished.

"Was the mission against the gate too much for you?" Gabriel didn't go into a lot of detail but she looked as if she just heard terrible news.

"You..asked..Taro..to..kill..Ania?" she uttered those words.

"He said if I had any demands to ask him. I thought you would understand how evil Aina is?" Gabriel didn't get what she meant.

"Okay, you had a long and exhausting day and survived deadly poison but think about what you just told me. You asked someone that has known Aina for years to betray her." It hit him, he opened up about his hate to the second worst person he knew. Taro had most likely already told AIna about his demand. He sank to the floor, he had done everything in his power to survive only to be doomed by his inability to shut up.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, it's not over just yet. You are overreacting." Zu grabbed his head and forced him to look into her eyes, "Think logically, Taro knows what Aina does with people. He might just shrug your speech off as a post escape tantrum. Please don't do something irrational now."

She was right, he wasn't dead yet. Stupid thinks happen and who wouldn't make mistakes when in his situation. "What now." He was calming down and a good, solid plan could make up for what he messed up.

"What do you know about Taro and what does he want from you?" He knew she was just trying to get him thinking but he needed it.

"He thinks in terms of profit, has no mercy just like Aina but at least he's not cruel. And he wants a bodyguard." That sounded bad but compared to the last captain it was a real upgrade.

"Keep thinking, what kind of bodyguard?" She was still refusing to let go of his head.

"He wants a dangerous copy of Verona."

"Who's Verona?"

"Forgot to mention her, she's Taro's well trained doll. Always by his side and practically his left hand."

"So be his right hand. Somebody profit oriented would change loyalty if you outperformed Aina's usage, right?" Zu was trying to calm him down but she had a point. Taro had been nice to Aina but who knows if that's a sign of loyalty or just good customer service. The longer he thought about it the more sense it made, if he proved his value Taro wouldn't sell him out for anything in the galaxy.

"But how?" He couldn't just walk up to Taro and tell him his aim was to outvalue Aina.

"Show him what you are. He is a mercenary, an opportunity will arise that you can take advantage of solving it with the very violence you are known for."

"And until then I just keep my head down and learn." That sounded like a plan. He had one year to convince Taro of his value.

"See, no need to panic." Zu was always helping, "By the way, you still didn't tell me why I was chosen to survive and it's about time." What a morning, first he figured out that he maybe just killed himself and now he had to explain to Zu that the reason she was still alive is because she was able to survive him.

"It's not nice, are you sure you want to know?" He was hoping for a yes but knew her answer as he asked his question.

"Yes, I wanna know why I am still alive."

"Aina wanted a gift to focus my attention on and Tibi concluded that you'd survive me raping you."

"Are you talking about the Tibi next door?"

"I am."

"Hurt her."

"What?!" That one got him off guard.

"She did horrible things. I want you to make her regret it."

"She was just following orders and is not in such a great position herself. You should be mad at Aina, Revenge can't undo what Tibi did." His proficiency as a killing machine got him to where he is right now but that doesn't mean he would enjoy hurting someone.

"I have watched the other hostages get shot by Ania after Tibi declared them as unfitting. One by one they died. And now you're telling me bringing justice to someone like that is wrong?"

Tibi wasn't under Aina's command anymore, she was his doctor now. Still Zu had a point but was that really the right way to proceed?