Bullets or Blades: A Trigun Love Story

Prologue

Cold and dark. That's all I can feel and see. It's not a harsh cold but a comforting one. The darkness is a familiar one and feels just right. I can hear a beating. It is steady and strong. I just manage to open my eyes just a sliver. I see the most angelic face. She's a luminous pale blue color. Her limbs were long and fragile. Wings flowed behind her like she was just as she looked; an angel. The markings on her face glowed a vivid white as she smiled down at me.

    " My beautiful offspring," she spoke to me but her mouth did not move. She ran her long, thin finger down my left cheek. I noticed that a muffled alarm began to sound. I moved my gaze from the angel's face to my surroundings. We were in some kind of tank filled with a clear liquid. Blinding lights were flashing just outside of our tank. A door slid open and a hord of strange creatures rushed in.

    " No need to be afraid, my darling. You are different from I. The humans must take you away from this tank and raise you as I cannot. Be brave my little one for I know you will do great things."

    A loud whoosh came from above us. More light streamed in as shadows blocked some of my views. The angle lightly pushed me upwards towards the light. As I reached the top of the tank, hands dove into the water and lifted me out. My eyes burned as the lights continued to flash. My throat was aflame with the cries I was unaware I was making.

    "TURN OFF THOSE BLASTED LIGHTS!" said the creature, human, cradling me. The horrific lights stop and I open my eyes just a sliver again. The human holding me had a kind face. They had brown hair buzzed on the sides and longer, combed to the side on the top. They also had short stubbly hairs coming from their pale chin. They smiled down at me, calming me enough to stop my crying.

    "That's it, sweetheart—no need to cry. I am going to take good care of you. My name is Doctor Marcus Kartz." said the human as he rocked me, stepping down from the ladder that was leaning on the tank. He looked back at the angel in the tank and held me to where I could see into the tank. The angel had her hand on the glass and smiled at me.

    "How do you feel about naming her Maria?" asked Marcus. The angel looked at Marcus and nodded her approval.

    "Alright, Maria it is."

            ✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴

"Marcus, is it time for music practice yet?" I asked as I scribbled on the worksheet that I was meant to be working on. I would draw random little doddles. Mostly depictions of my mother, a plant. It had been about a year since I was born. Marcus said I was a miracle as he never got the chance to have children. He also says that I was a biological phenomenon because of how I aged. I was the equivalent of an 8-year-old human.

"Have you finished your math?" Marcus asked as his focus never left his microscope. I let out an exasperated sigh, flunging my head back, and making my arms limp.

"Didn't think so," Marcus said with a smirk. Marcus has raised me over the year I've been here. He has taught me all of my lessons from music to math. We also experimented with my ability. At about 6 months old I fell while playing tag with Marcus. I scraped my knee and was bleeding. That was the first time that my ability had manifested. Marcus liked to retell this story to all of his crewmates. After I fell, I sat up and placed my hand on my knee in an impulse attempt to stop the pain. My eyes began to glow the same luminescent pale blue as my mother when she gave birth to me. I also developed glowing markings on every inch of my skin. My hand began to glow a bright white. The light kept growing and growing until suddenly it diminished and went out. The markings and glowing went away. Marcus looked at me with a shocked expression. I didn't know what I had done exactly or how I had done it but when I removed my hand the blood, scrape, and pain were gone.

"Ow! Shit," Marcus said as he sucked on his finger, " Maria, do you mind?" he asked with a sheepish smile. I got up, dusted off my white dress, and made my way over to his work desk. I took his finger and examined it. It was a needle prick, a small wound. I placed my fingertip on his. The glowing started and in the blink of an eye it was gone and his finger was healed.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

BAM. The ship rattled and the emergency lights flashed as an alarm whaled. Marcus grabbed me by the shoulders and forced me to look at him.

"Maria, I need you to do exactly as I say. Do you hear me?"

I was in shock and didn't say anything.

"MARIA, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" yelled Marcus this time, shaking me. I nod and focus on him.

"I need you to get to an escape pod. Wait for me there for 2 minutes. If I'm not there in the 2 minutes, go."

"I can't leave you and what about Mother?!"

" I'll go make sure she's okay. I need you to do this for me."

"But-"

"Please, Maria..."

I nod once again, unable to form words and run through the maze of corridors. Mother's tank was nearby so I made my way there first. I pressed the hatch button to open the door and rushed inside. She looked just as panicked as I was.

"Mother, are you alright? Do you know what's happening to the ship?"

"Maria, you need to leave. I'm fine but the ship is self-destructing. Go to the escape pods quickly."

"But what about you?"

"Do not worry about me, my little one. You need to worry about yourself this time. Please, hurry to the escape pods. Make me proud, little one."

Tears well up in the corner of my eyes making my vision blurry. The longer I delay the louder the explosions get and the more the ship rattles, threatening to blow up. I nod to my mother and rush to the door opening it and making my way down the hallway. My lungs burn as I inhale smoke, running for the escape pods.

I finally make it to the escape pods. The once pristine white room was charred and filled with a suffocating fog of smoke. I slammed my fist onto the green button opening one of the doors to the escape pod in front of me. I step in and shut the door behind me. The escape pod is almost pitch black. The only light is the dim shining of the far-off stars in the inky space. The dim light provided me with just enough to find the control console and start up the escape pod. A sudden aggressive rattle from the ship flung me from my seat causing me to slam into the console, releasing the pod from the ship.

"NOO! MOTHER! MARCUS!"

The pod hovers just below the ship. I can barely see the ever-lasting explosions coming from my home through my tears. I whip the tears away as I realize that the ship is coming closer. This made me get a hold of myself. I grabbed ahold of the steering controls and headed towards the beige planet below me.