Displaced

Chapter 80

Sensation returned to Gabriela in a sudden rush as her head reformed into its original state, good as new. She blinked and her vision quickly gained clarity, revealing the same familiar tent that she'd become so familiar with the past season. Normally she would spend at least a minute or two staring up at that fabric roof in quiet resignation, wallowing in the melancholy that came with one more failure, but not today. Today, rage replaced that sadness—a scalding rage towards her enemies, her allies, and herself.

Quickly jumping to her feet, Gabby seized the Blade of Eternity and propped it up onto her shoulder, making sure to keep the edge of the blade away from her neck. The crystalline blade remained as sharp as ever, no matter how many robots she sliced with it. Sure she could always heal any nicks she might accidentally inflict upon herself, but just because she dealt with pain all the time didn't mean she liked the experience. Wasting no time, Gabby strode out of her tent, a woman on a mission.

"Oh!" a voice to her left called out. Gabby turned to find Chitra walking up to the tent, a small bag in her hands. "You're up earlier than normal."

"I'm going to go have a chat with the Emperor," Gabby informed her.

Chitra blanched. "Not looking like that, you're not!" she firmly replied before dragging Gabby back into the tent. "Did you even look at yourself? You look like you haven't slept in a week and your hair is an absolute mess and-"

"I don't care how I look!" Gabby hotly retorted.

"Well I do!" came the stern response, Gabriela's mood having little effect upon the unflappable Ubran. Chitra's steely grip on her arm remained firm despite the squirming and she quickly set about stripping off Gabby's rumpled clothing. "Following protocol is important for the rest of us you know. I don't want to be judged harshly just because the only person I'm serving can't be bothered to try to look decent when making an appearance before the Emperor."

"We're in a war and you still care about appearances," Gabriela snarled.

"Gabby, what has gotten into you?" Chitra asked with concern.

"I'm sick of this, that's what!" she yelled back. "I'm sick of going out there day after day and fighting and dying and then getting back up and doing it again for nothing! I'm sick of that smug bastard sitting in his palace or wherever, safely far away while he fills me with holes! I'm sick of this lack of progress! Every day I'm here is one more day that... that..."

Her voice drifted off as she found herself unable to finish that thought. Quickly two slender arms wrapped around her waist and she felt the soft touch of Chitra's amber hair against her shoulder and neck.

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything more," a soft voice assured her.

"He's laughing at me now, did you see?" Gabby continued, her voice quieter but no less harsh. "He knows where I'm from and he's decided to rub my face in how I'm stuck here instead of back home with my children, flying parodies of Mexican flags and mocking me with terrible Spanish."

"He knows where you're from? Are you saying he's another person from your world?" Chitra asked with concern.

"Of course he is! He must be!" Gabriela asserted, her tone dripping with venom. "Who in this world would be able to make robots with guns and chainsaws? From the first moment I saw those things, I knew their creator must be from Earth. It's not like this is the first person from home that I've met. Remember that jerk back in Gustil that I killed?"

"How could I forget? You wouldn't stop harping about him for days!"

"He laughed at me for wanting to home," Gabby spat. "This asshole's no different, living in luxury with a robot army. If he wanted to talk, he wouldn't have killed me seventy-two times first. No, this is some plot of his. He's trying to hurt me mentally. Well, I won't let him get away with any of this. I'm going to hunt him down and flay him alive if it's the last thing I do!"