For English, I wrote the dialogue-driven short story “Hope” that takes place after Kimberly’s Marked arc. The goal of the project was to be able to write a compelling story that used dialogue as a narrative device, in contrast to last year’s narrative project, which was designed to be written without any dialogue.

Hope

“This must be it, huh?” I stare at the ruby-red hilt of Excalibur lodged in the stone, waiting for its master. The skulls of adventurers past lie haphazardly on the ground, all killed by the weapon. Fissures in the cave’s floor expand out from where the sword is lodged. Etched in the stone are words I cannot read and a carving identical to her birthmark.

She grins at me. “Guess us being together was fate all along, huh? Who else could possibly take this thing if you hadn’t saved me from the dull life of nobility.”

“Somebody else with your birthmark, I suppose.” We laugh and I give her a peck on the cheek for good luck (not that she needs it) before she walks over the stone.

She pauses only for a moment before yanking the blade out and the fissures glow red, matching the sudden glowing of her eyes and the sword. After a few moments the glow subsides and she stands intact, weapon in hand. She twirls the impressive blade around and smirks as I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “Nobody can stop our reign now, my dear,” she gleefully laughs. The rain outside torrents down as we embrace.

Pain.

It’s always there, always constant. It only gets worse after moments like this, when I remember the day it all began. When her eyes became colder and her smiles sharper.

When my captain became a monster.

Subconsciously, I knew this day was coming. I can’t hide forever, no matter how isolated I make my home, especially when she has that. The inevitability doesn’t make me dread it any less.

I know she’s arriving before I even see her. The pain from the scar intensifies and pulses, peaking when she knocks at the door.

I know how to ease the pain, how to make it all go away. How to make everything better. She knows, too. And she knows I will do it. So she waits for me, for as long as it’ll take. Because we both know it won’t take long.

I fight off the urge for as long as possible, trying to focus on anything else – the gentle blowing of the fading curtains, my hands digging into the musty chair, the sound of the ocean’s waves crashing against the steep cliffs – before I succumb to her will. I rise from the chair and the pain fades away as I walk towards the door.

The tilt of the floor lets the door swing open without much effort, revealing her at the door with a few members of her crew behind her (nobody I recognize). I see the cursed sword at her hip and feel a shiver run through my scar.

“Kimberly.” I stare down at her boots, different from the ones I last saw her in. Her entire outfit has changed, in fact, with far more expensive fabrics and jewelry adorning her body.

“Francine, my love,” she coos. The pain throbs in my back again as I feel an urge to look her in the eyes. I refuse for a few seconds before the pain overwhelms me. I lift my head to see her long brown hair and violet eyes and instantly feel relief. “You know, resisting like that is futile. It never works. Nobody escapes me forever. You know this best, after all.” Her eyes glint and her bright red lips smile facetiously at me.

“What can I do for you, my captain?” The words stumble out of my mouth before I even realize what I’m saying.

“I need to discuss an important matter with you. May I?” She raises her eyebrows in false concern. The people behind her stand in silence, heads bowed, spirits broken.

“Yes, captain.” I don’t resist this time when I feel the urge to step aside, letting Kimberly and her crew – two men and one woman – enter my run-down house.

She looks around at the bare-bones furnishings, the tilt of the floor, and the leaking roof and clicks her tongue in disappointment. “How dreadful! You sure have fallen far, my darling.” She leans her face towards mine and lightly puckers her lips.

I flinch and back away, pain blossoming from both my chest and back. “What do you want…” I feel a headache begin to set in. “…Captain.”

She recovers from my rejections without a hitch and drapes herself across the armchair. “A miracle has happened, my precious Francine.” She snaps her fingers and the woman – a long-haired brunette in a backless dress, probably her current “favorite” – brings over an object bundled in a silk blanket before she disappears into the shadows again. Kimberly takes the object and turns it towards me, revealing a head of brown hair and a pair of aqua eyes, causing my eyes to widen. “Her name is Nadine. I don’t know whose it is, but that’s irrelevant.” She lets out a light chuckle. “While I am blessed to have received an heir to my empire, I can’t have a baby on the ship, oh no. And that’s where you come in.” She locks onto me, coolly staring me down with her violet eyes, knowing I understand exactly what it is she intends for me to do, and inherent refusal to do so.

Pain.

Brain pounding, scar throbbing, heart booming. “Abso…lutely… not…” I gasp out my refusal between shocks of pain, as I stumble towards the door, away from here, away from her, away from these repressed memories, away from everything. I hear a snap and the two men block the door. I glare at them for a few moments before my knees buckle and I collapse, gasping for breath, waiting for the release from the pain that won’t come.

“You know, I still love you. I always did. You made me who I am today, after all.” She walks towards me and pulls out Excalibur and lifts my chin with it, the cold blade sending shivers down my body, sending pain and commands through to my X-shaped scar. “And deep down, no matter how much you try to hide it, you still love me too.” She pulls the sword away and takes Nadine from the woman and places her in my arms.

“Hate… you…” I gasp between the barrages of pain attacking me from every side, struggling to stay lucid, instinctively clutching Nadine to my breast with what little strength I have.

She continues, ignoring me. “I will send you adequate supplies to support her through adulthood. I will come pick her up when she has reached adolescence. Try to run away with her, and I’ll stop overlooking your mutiny.” Memories of dull-eyed friends drawing swords flash through my head and my headache intensifies, causing me to involuntarily let out a faint whimper. “I’m glad to see you understand. Goodbye, my pet.” She stands up and saunters towards the door, her entourage in tow.

I lift my head to see the brunette looking back at me as she leaves. Before her head snaps back forward and I only see her back with an X-shaped scar, I thought I saw a tear running down her cheek. I know exactly what she’s feeling.

Pain.

I look away from their retreating figures and down at Nadine as her eyes open, looking for her now-absent mother. Her face begins to scrunch up as she realizes her mother isn’t here. She begins to wail in loneliness, snot and tears dripping down her face as the merciless wind blows through the ajar door.

I start rocking her back and forth as I stand on my shaking legs and close the door. “Shh… it’s going to be alright… Francine’s here… Francine’s here…”

After what feels like hours of cooing, her tears run out and she falls asleep. As I stare down at the gently smiling face that looks like hers, I feel something I haven’t felt in a long time.

The absence of pain.

“I’ll make sure you don’t become like either of us,” I murmur as I give her a kiss on the cheek for good luck (which I’ll definitely need).

And as the golden rays of the sunset begin to shine through the window, I feel something else I hadn’t felt since that day in the cave.