We’d been flying for two weeks already. Nia and I picked up shifts to pull our own weight. No one rode a pirate ship without chipping in, not even family friends and exes on the run. My shift cleaning the tools and weapons ended, so I was headed to the library where Nia was working on organizing all their tomes. One of Jin’s friends was a collector who needed help maintaining the extensive collection.

  That was good because it made it easy for me to avoid my sister the past two weeks. After I initially confronted Nia about the bounty hunters claims, she vehemently denied stealing anything.

  I didn’t believe her. I still don’t.

  She didn’t take that well, and now we were in a cold standoff. So much for Jin’s recommendation. I couldn’t avoid her forever though.

  I found Nia sitting at a large antique wooden table, leather bound tomes, electronic tablets, and holo’s of databases spread all around her. Her long dark hair was loose today, waves draped over her back and shoulders and she was back to wearing her scholar attire. I guessed we didn’t have to bother with our cover stories here, the pirates weren’t likely to betray Jin and I. Today she was in a deep purple skirt, the soft layers pooled around her feet. Her top was more structured, still purple, it fell above her baby bump and had patterns wrapping down her arms with golden clasps shaped like wasps. She was so immersed in her work, she didn’t even notice my walking up. She hated to interrupt when she was this entrenched. Even when she was little, I couldn’t pull her away from a task as simple as a puzzle until it was complete. I decided to wander a bit.

  The library was surprisingly large considering most libraries were electronic. Jin was a lover of all things antique though so I wasn’t surprised. His second in command was standing in an aisle putting books back into place. I’d only met her twice, Eirin, I think. She was dressed in a mix of Syndicate and space fare with a complex red top with golden clasps like Nia’s but black leather pants and knee high boots similar to my own. She was probably classically trained like my sister then. She smiled at me as I approached.

  “Hello Naomi, how are you doing today?” She said sweetly. She was about my height with deep brown eyes and chocolate hair pulled up in a messy bun atop her head.

  “I’m well, and you?”

  “I’m doing much better since your sister arrived. We’ve made more progress in cataloging in two weeks than I had months prior. She’s a godsend.” She smiled but I flinched a little. Her smile dropped, picking up on my discomfort. Any sort of religious talk was triggering for me.

  “I came across an excellent book on how families can cope with the changes when one becomes blessed. It helped me get through my husbands conversion.”

  I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. No self help book was going to get me through my sister changing irrevocably. Was she even the same person I grew up with?

  “How about I leave it for you in your room. If you get bored, what’s to lose right?”

  “Right.” This was awkward now. “How did you meet him?”

  Her smile was so bright it's blinding, apparently I’d brought up her favorite story. She led me over to some comfy chairs in a reading nook as she talked. “We met in Xenalba actually. Seven seasons prior, while traveling, he sought a piece for his collection. I accused him of stealing from my shop.”

  My brows raised. “Was he?”

  “Oh yes,” she laughed. “But he always denied it.” This wasn’t helping the case of my sister lying.

  We spent the next thirty minutes catching up and telling stories of her husband and Jin. I wanted to ask about his adaptation. How it changed him. It occurred after they had met, but Nia was right there and it felt intrusive. Nia wandered over as we were laughing.

  “Sorry to interrupt, I’m starving, shall we grab a bite?” She looked at Eirin and I. Eirin declined though. “I’m meeting Jin, y’all enjoy.”

  I steered Nia to our rooms instead of the cafeteria though. “We needed to chat.”

  “What about?” Nia said unperturbed.

  “The Cleaver.”

  We still had a three day head start on the Cleaver if he’s traveling by ship, but the moment we disembarked on the planet, we would lose our shielding from him. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out where we went since his bounty hunters disappeared on K121. Jin thought we’d only have a few weeks at most before he pinpointed our location on the planet and cleaved into someone. We needed to be as secluded as possible. I needed to know more about how ability. Could he sense Nia’s location? Did he have to track us via conventional technological means or did his power simply tell him who to jump into? Can we view out of peoples eyes before cleaving them open? Did it only work on humans, not objects or animals? I knew it was a sore subject for Nia, but this conversation simply couldn’t be put off anymore.

  She set her jaw and tensed her frame, still standing by the windows, gazing out into the stars.

  “I don’t mean to pry, but how do we prepare, how do I protect us from him?” I started.

  “Right,” she said, still facing into the void. From behind, you would never guess there was a large egg strapped onto her. She heaved a deep sigh. “Very well. Shall I start with how we met, or skip straight to the logistics?” She turned to me at last.

  “Whatever you are comfortable starting with.”

  Her lips compressed, her gaze distant. “You’ve only seen him at his worst. Covered in the carnage of your friend. But I met him at his best, being awarded for his heroic endeavors keeping the city safe. He was the most striking man I ever laid eyes on. His hair and skin are as silver as ice. His face looked carved from granite with black markings accentuating his features and glowing golden eyes. You have always found the godtouched repulsive, but I found him so very enticing. He has a reputation of course. But that added to the allure.”

  My brows furrowed together. “Why sister, I had no idea you were into the bad boys. We had them aplenty in the Bog.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “I grew up among pirates and could shoot off their fingers from a distance. They were boring. The godtouched Guardians were new and mysterious. Surely you’ve found someone in your life you were drawn to, despite you knowing better?”

  I huffed, crossing my legs. She was aware of all my conquests. I flung my hand at her to carry on.

  She smiled slyly and continued her story. “Mutual intrigue led to shared experiences, initially only at the Syndicate, but later during our personal time. Of my three years away, I spent half of that with him.”

  I blinked. I supposed I was hoping it was a passing fling, but almost two years together was clearly more serious. “What happened to end it?”

  She turned away again, still standing in front of the window, her hands on the seal as if she couldn’t face me for the next part. “That’s the problem. It didn’t.”

  Silence rang in the room until the gentle hum of the engines, the distant whirring of doors filled it. I stared at the back of her head. They were still together when she left? I sat up, placing both my feet on the floor, my thoughts swirling. I opened my mouth to ask why she left without telling him, why she never told me she was seeing someone, was he chasing her or the egg, a million different questions.

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  But what came out was “Do you love him?”

  Her shoulders fell, then shook as if she were softly crying. I stood up to join her. Not touching her, but there in case she needed me.

  “Yes.” She sounded confident, then added in a whisper, “but it doesn’t matter now.”

  It was late into the night, and I lay in bed dwelling on everything Nia told me all about The Cleaver, about Marcus. His limitations, his strengths, his past, his achievements. She shared some of it, but a lot was still uncertain. She had no idea how far he could jump. Said it never came up in conversation, but that could have been intentional. He needed twenty four hours to recharge and he could sense a person’s blood to cleave into whoever was within range. The range was a bit vague, but they had to be in the same room. She also told me how he often brought her chocolates and saved her a seat at every banquet. How the week before she fled he asked her to move in with him. I had asked her why she never told him her plans. If they were so close, didn’t she trust him to understand and support her? Apparently not, was all she said. After that, she retired to her room.

  I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Did she really love him? Or was she just intrigued, pulled in by his dark allure? A scorned man with the power of a god. I blew out a long breath. What a tangled mess.

  The next morning I met up with Jin and Eirin to discuss our strategy. I hadn’t bothered to alter my time schedule since there were three separate shifts on board so I picked to match my own. Jin and Eirin were already in their lounge sipping coffee when I arrived. Eiron was in her usual blouse and pants, her long hair pulled up today.

  “Morning, have you had your tea yet?” Eirin greeted me. I held my steaming mug in response and settled in opposite the pair. I was uncertain how to start this conversation. The couple shared a long look.

  “We have located a few settlements which are still somewhat active. My understanding is you prefer the smallest, the most remote correct?” Jin said.

  I smiled, gracious for the easy topic to begin with. “Yes, the less people we interact with the better, but we will still need access to resources of course.”

  He nodded thoughtfully, tugging at his short beard. Eirin leaned forward. “We have immersive holovids from the three settlements. These were taken off a drone from one of those conniving corporate realtors. They send their drone out to scope out land and resources and find reasons to remove those who already reside there.”

  Sounds to me like they stole someone’s drone, footage and all.

  She flicked her hand and a holo environment appeared all around us. This was really nice tech. We couldn't afford tech this nice back home. We were now sitting on a dirty street amongst a city, however, many of the windows in the buildings were broken, the vehicles left to rust. A market was taking place down the road though so there was some society there.

  “What happened here?” I asked, taking in the sights. The city used to be fairly modern, with white and steel grey rounded buildings.

  “We’re not sure, there’s been a lockdown on communication from their government. It's considered a quarantine planet now. We’ll have to sneak you in. Every city looks the same, but it doesn’t appear to be a plague or sickness as the people are fine, most fled, some stayed. My theory is extreme weather given the state of the buildings, “ Jin said.

  The image changed. Now we were sitting atop the roof of a building overlooking the shambles of skyscrapers in the distance. The roof was connected via a passageway not unlike the ones we used between our ships at the Bog. Each rooftop housed a restaurant or a market, with people bustling about as if their city hadn’t been destroyed nearby. I could even hear music playing in the distance. I leaned forward to peer over the edge of the roof this video was taken on. Below us brown water drowned out the first few stories of the buildings. Their city had drowned and yet they simply moved on. Now these were people I could relate to. Even the decor was still vibrant, their clothing colorful, mosaics adorning the floor. Nia would appreciate it too.

  “It's perfect.”

  Eirin and Jin grinned. “We thought you would go for that one. Reminiscent of the ROG we think, with its personality. The last is similar to the first, just depressing really.” Eirin said.

  The holovid disappeared. “The transport will set course for the City of Koum. The next question is how many men you’ll be taking with you.”

  “None.”

  “Naomi, we’ve talked about this. I understand the risk, but you will need protection.” Jin put down his coffee, apparently too agitated to keep it from sloshing.

  I shook my head. “Its not worth the risk. I won’t sacrifice your men. Nia and I are fully capable of surviving on our own.”

  Jin threw up his arms. “Sure you can defend yourselves against two bounty hunters and maybe one Guardian who still pines after your sister but you know full well a community without government like this is prone to gang activity, pirates, and worse. You’ll need backup.”

  “And if you don’t take someone, that means you would be the one he cleaves into,” Jin added.

  Eirin grimaced. “Do you really think he would do that? Kill his lovers sister? He’s not stupid, he’ll know the one person near Nia is her sister.”

  I contemplated her question, but I simply didn’t know the man. Was he so angry at her betrayal he would seek vengeance by killing me, or was he simply heartsick and wanted to bring her back unscathed?

  “I don’t know the man well enough to answer that and Nia is biased. She still cares for him.”

  “Well I wouldn’t put it past him,” Jin said.

  “What makes you say that?” I asked.

  Jin hesitated, peering at Eirin as if for permission. She chewed on her lip in indecision. “Well?” I pushed.

  “We’ve heard rumors of course. That he may have killed his first wife. No one could prove it though. Needless to say, it was a shock when it got out that he was seeing a Syndicate scholar.”

  My stomach churned.

  “But to be fair, those are merely rumors. I once heard that Jin here set fire to a ship with his ex lover aboard. People love to gossip.” Eirin smirked.

  I nodded, I’d heard that rumor too and knew it to be false. The ex faked her death and spread the gossip herself. He did set fire to her ship though, with no one on it, because she stole from him. I sighed and heaved out of the couch.

  “We have a few days left, I’ll think on it.” Right now my thoughts were bouncing back and forth.

  Later the next day, I sought out Nia to join me for the pub. They had decent food, no one could fault me resorting to alcohol to cope with our situation while I still had access to it.

  When I found her, she was standing in her room in nothing but a silk purple robe, tied over her bump. The swell of her abdomen appeared larger than the other day. Or maybe that was over a week ago. Was it really growing that fast?

  “Nia, how-” I started, but she flinched and turned away.

  “You startled me.” Nia said, still facing away.

  “Sorry, I’m sure it feels strange. It looked bigger already.” I responded, still feeling unsettled but uncertain why. Nia wouldn’t meet my eyes as she packed her bags.

  “It is growing. That’s expected, I presume.” Her words were pinched. She folded each item and packed them tightly into the small bag.

  I folded my hands, feeling awkward now. “I know its been a rough few weeks, care to join me for a drink? Well, not an alcohol for you of course…”

  She heaved a deep weary sigh, as if all her troubles, all her secrets had become too much to bear. Slowly, she turned to face me. I took it all in as if in slow motion. The robe was now open revealing her in underwear. Her belly was larger with what appeared to be the a third term baby bump, but there was something off about it. It was a bit too large for one thing, as if months had passed instead of mere weeks. Her skin was discolored, pale stretch marks across the sides but with a dark vertical line from her xyphoid to her pelvis. It resembled an incision line as if she already had surgery to remove a child. But I was certain she never had one before. But even if she had lied about something like that, this was far too fresh, the incision still healing. My brows furrowed in confusion.

  “What?” was all I could get out, my mind still reeling. Her fetus didn’t double in size overnight. She didn’t have a bag when we escaped the ROG. Nothing to hold a reborn Monstravi. What was happening?

  I took a step closer, reaching out. She held still, her expression cautious.

  She drew closer and grabbed my hand, placing it upon her bare belly. It was feverishly warm and thrumming. Thrumming like my bike did after I filled it with bloodchrome. The last time Rosemary was pregnant I would sometimes feel the baby kick. It never felt like this.

  “What-” I croaked out again. “What have you done?”

  She was no longer looking at me. She was gazing lovingly where our hands both lay. Her eyes shined, a glaze of tears held captive by her devotion. “I rescued it.”

  The thrum increased as if the thing inside her was pulsing in joy at her declaration. Then something heaved against the barrier that was her skin. But unlike the tiny foot of a fetus, the shape that pressed outward felt more like the serrated spine of a reptile. I snatched my hand away, my breaths rapid, I stumbled away from her.

  My stomach lurched violently as her stomach pulsed again, power making my skin tingle and the hairs on my neck stand on end. I dropped to one knee unable to tear my gaze away from her stomach. It pushed outward, her skin stretching until the outline of a claw, similar to that of a bobcat was revealed. Then another paw joined it, and another. They elongated, until they resembled the claws of an eagle, only there were too many and how was it not tearing through her skin right now?

  “It hasn’t decided what form to take yet. I can’t wait to see what it chooses,” Nia crooned, caressing the little predatorial claws.

  https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/154815/our-forbidden-kaiju