The Boot Shiner (Destiny x Male Reader)

Chapter 29: Welcome Home

I used half of my ammunition to survive the night, but Gaia was able to spare some for me. She's shown me unlimited hospitality, so I owe her any hand that I can give to help the village and their people, despite me looking... ghoulish, says that zesty guy from earlier. The "meat" nickname doesn't bother me, but I do enjoy being called Noname as my name. It fits well...

This notebook is gradually getting more and more filled as I continue going, but we're alright. Gaia lets me cook as many darkness plants as possible in a pot, boiling them down until the water becomes a thick, glowing, darkened gold hue. I put some in a needle from the sack, about to inject it into my arm.

Gaia: Concentrated darkness... and it's keeping you alive...

Noname: Yeah, it's... not my favorite, and it hurts going inside me. It helps me wake up, relaxes my senses, and I notice I'm less sick.

Gaia: Exposure therapy... it seems...

Noname: Yes... but much worse...

Gaia snickers softly. It sends a shock through my soul hearing her giggle. It's like... a noise that I remember... but... I don't... at the same time. My mind splits in two as I lose focus, just nodding like I'm still attached right now. Finally, I wake up, then inject my arm.

Gaia: Woah, your eyes...

She quickly leaves the room. When she comes back, she holds out a mirror to me, a shattered mirror, but it still gets the job done. After injecting the liquid, I clutch my wrists in fear and shock at what I see. I see an actual freak, my skin pale, cuts on my face moving black goop through them. When I take my hand to touch my face, some of the darkness from my cuts try to reach out. The essence turned my eyes blue, then back to a dreadful, demonic gold like the essence.

When I squeeze my hand, I notice how the essence helps immediately. I feel no pain when I flex my muscles, nor do I feel pain when I stand up from the couch. With newfound strength and stamina, I sheath the robot leg and my pistol in my jacket, then go for the door with my sack.

Gaia: Wait, wait... let me... give you something proper for helping us out. Are you coming back to your cabin tonight?

Noname: I don't know...

Gaia: Well, in case you don't, you'll need this, follow me.

I follow Gaia outside to one of the stumps they use for a chopping block. She takes the axe off the stump and hands it to me. When I push it away, she shoves it against my chest, forcing me to take it. It's got a grooved handle for extra grip, a metal handle and metal blade, made of a material that I can't recognize, but it's light, and I later find out it was very... very durable, perhaps indestructible.

Noname: Thank you...

Gaia: I will say one thing... The key business... If you get that key again, we'd very much appreciate it if you can come back and get us out of here. The doctor... he seems like he's lost it, so... I don't care anymore.

Noname: If I find the key, I won't waste a breath getting back here. Thank you so much. Wait... one more thing, what do you mean by the gun taking care of it? For the metal?

Gaia digs into my coat and takes the pistol back out. She dumps the cartridges on the floor from the magazine. She takes a piece of June's leg that was lying on the floor, then inserts it inside the magazine.

Gaia: Put it in the gun...

The gun vibrates when it takes the magazine, and then it beeps twice. When I took out the magazine, it fabricated five rounds out of it. It's remarkable, legendary technology.

Gaia: We were once in the Golden Age... and now we use what's left to keep us going. I hope that serves you well...

The pistol is like me in a way. It uses elements from the outside to refuel itself. I like that in a way. Together, this gun and I will get along, I am sure of it. I put it back in my jacket, then shake hands with her. I begin walking west, a couple of the village's defenders either gasping or shocked as I leave. It says to me that this way is dangerous, and that the city may not be the best place to go.