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Marie’s ear twitched at the sound of the door opening. It was 4 in the morning and she’d just been checking on Beau’s unused room to make sure no one had ransacked it for the little belongings he kept there. The guy had always been trusting and insisted on having the door open in case anyone wanted to use the space, but Marie was more cautious. The door clicked shut and she quickly turned to greet whoever had wandered in. She immediately halted as she caught their scent on the breeze, squaring her shoulders as she faced an unfamiliar figure. The stranger seemed just as surprised to have found her in the room, staring confusedly with a single purple eye. Their low heat signature didn’t strike her as odd, given the amount of cold-blooded creatures she knew of, and their scent wasn't threatening, just strange. They still seemed to be recovering from whatever had confused them, so she decided to make the first move.
“Who are you and what did you come here for.”
The stranger snapped out of their disorientation, straightening so fast it was almost comical. They spoke formally, in an accent she had trouble placing.
“My name is Dominus, Dominus Temporum," He paused, considering for a moment. "I suppose ‘Dominic’ will suffice here. Marie, I’m looking for Beau, have you seen hi- “
Marie cut in sharply, “How do you know my name?”
The stranger’s – Dominic’s – face faltered, eye darting about the room. He recovered quickly though, returning to his usual upright demeanour. His words carried an air of extreme importance in the way he enunciated each one, and he gestured widely with his hands as he spoke.
“I’m a Weaver, Marie. I have existed for the span of your entire universe, and every event, every birth and death of a star or planet or civilisation was strung along by my hand. However, someone has been rewriting my painstakingly crafted timeline, and I need to find your brother as soon as possible. I know he is here, and you cannot hide him from me. I am here to finish some business from a long time ago.”
Marie’s blank eyes narrowed, her claws unsheathed in apprehension. She spoke cautiously, “What do you want with my brother?”
Dominic’s expression fell, the energy in the room shifting so quickly Marie's shoulders tensed. She could taste the bitterness of his regret in the air and it made her skin prickle.
“That’s not something you need to hear. Nor do I think I have the courage to tell you.”
“Tell me what your ‘business’ is or I’ll personally make sure you never leave this room again.”
The god sighed in defeat, and clasped two of his palms together. The nervous energy and formal bravado from before was gone. He looked very… small.
“I used to think myself unkillable, but given my unfortunately tangible mortality as of late I may as well get it over with.”
His hands opened to reveal a fat beetle floating between his palms, iridescent blue and shimmering in the low light. As soon as Marie picked up the scent she froze.
Marie’s fist moved faster than her train of thought did. The god’s hands slammed together in surprise, crushing the beetle as her sharp knuckles broke the skin of his cheek and he fell backwards, buckling the wooden door as he slammed into it. Hot, angry tears matched her blood boiling in long-dormant veins as she dug fists and claws and teeth into Dominic’s skin. He attempted to duck away from the furious woman but she caught him by the wrist, kicking him to the ground with a sharp hoof. When she eventually ran out of energy to keep throwing punches she forced his arms into the ground, two with her own hands and two with her knees. The god stared at her with a petrified eye, trembling like a trapped animal in fear and pain. Glowing white blood lit Marie’s fury from where it was spilled and pooling on the floor.
She was the embodiment of all-consuming, fiery rage; bared teeth and wild, unseeing eyes. The low growl rumbling in her chest built to a roar.
“Why did you do it?! Why did you kill us?!! My friends, my family, my entire fucking culture is gone because of you. Beau can’t even remember- he can’t remember anything and it’s your f-fucking- its all your fault!”
Sobs wracked her small frame and her arms shook as she tried to keep her grip on the god. Her hands abruptly touched the ground as Dominic’s arms ghosted through her clenched fingers, and he reached over to carefully place her in a sitting position. She threw a few weak punches before being completely overwhelmed by grief. She didn’t even try to shake off the spindly hand on her shoulder.
“It was never my decision to make. I don’t know why your people came into being so abruptly like that when they weren't supposed to, but an anomaly like that cannot go without action. It’s my job as Weaver of Time to make sure everything happens as it should. Even if I must take lives with me. It is not a pleasant burden to bear.”
“Why did you let Beau suffer for that long? He and I could have gone with everyone else, but I had to stay to look after him. You left him trapped in that place for so long.”
Dominic sighed, “I couldn’t have predicted that Beau would have survived. I could not make myself known by interfering. There was nothing I could do.”
Marie’s ears twitched and she wiped her face on her shirt sleeve.
“If you’re some kind of- some kind of God then why couldn’t you see it coming? You could've prevented this without killing, right?”
“I can't edit the timeline so smoothly here on Earth. And I can't go back, either. Everything has been falling apart and its only getting worse as time progresses, do you realise how frustrating it is? To have these obligations and no way to perform them? Its enough to drive someone to madness. I'm so tired Marie."
His ears folded back, and he flicked a thick, purple tear out of his lashes. Marie cursed her sympathetic nature, drawing the god down to awkwardly hold him in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. He took a few moments to respond, shoulders slumped as he almost seemed to crumple in on himself in resignation. She could tell, in that moment, that he knew he didn't have any choices in his life. And he had resigned himself to that a long, long time ago.
“I need to kill him Marie.”
Marie shoved him away like the contact burned, scrambling to her feet.
“What?! No you are fucking- you are not going to just waltz in here like some kind of creep and tell me you’re here to murder my- my brother?! If you think for a fucking second I’ll let you get anywhere near him you’re out of your goddamned mind!”
“I never wanted to hurt you or your family but it can’t be helped-”
“‘Can’t be helped’ my fucking foot, Temporum!” She was practically hissing now, a growl kicking up in the back of her throat again. “You want more of your blood on this floor? You're not invincible, I can and will kill you if you even think about touching him again.”
Dominic brought one hand up to rub his temple, the other three raised in surrender.
“Okay, okay, I understand your feelings about this. I’ll leave, for now. Just no more punching, please? Existing in this dimension is painful enough as it is.”
She squinted at him, suspicious, but slowly unclenched her fists. Holding his side where a sizeable bruise was forming he stood, slowly, and produced a bandage out of the air, gently prompting the blind girl to open her hand for it.
“This is for your knuckles. I always found it amusing that the dead on Earth could still get injured. This planet is an enigma to me, even after shaping its history for so long.”
It took her a moment to process her thoughts, staring blankly at the small roll of fabric in her hand.
"You can't keep him safe forever, Marie. He will die. There is nothing either of us can do to prevent that."
She snapped her head up, eyes narrowed and mouth open in protest, but was met only with the enveloping silence of the cool night and an empty room. Ears twitching, she clutched the bandage tighter and locked the door behind her.