So I needed a little warm-up and used my “What the plot”-cards for that and since it was so much fun and MORE than a “short” piece, I decided to post it here XD
prompts: "tell us about the time your guardian angel refused to protect you" and "execution, space-time-continuum, velociraptor"
Warnings: implied violence&death by dinosaur, insane characters, supernatural characters
“No.”
“No what?”
I stared at my guardian angel as if they’d grown wings. Which should be something they had anyway, but not mine. No, mine had no wings but blue glowing horns and their arms crossed and a gaze so adamant, it felt final.
“No to this, to you, to this whole damn mission. Velociraptors? Seriously?”
Helplessly, I shrugged. As if the Velociraptors were the weird part of this story.
“But it’s your job.”
“No”, they shook their head to fast, their twenty-two eyes seemed to become one, reminding me of Sauron, “My job was to protect a normal person with a normal life. You were supposed to be mediocre, remember?”
Again, I shrugged but this time I had to grin: “That’s a pity then that I don’t remember being told to stay mediocre.”
“This is your own fault.”
“How?”, They could accuse me of much, but the situation they were supposed to get me out from for sure wasn’t my fault!
“Free will was a mistake”, they grumbled, dropped down onto the floor and stared at me, knowing very well they were stuck with me now. It was a rule after all that they couldn’t simply vanish and do whatever they wanted. We’d both learned that the hard way.
“Okay, listen”, I tried, shuffling a bit closer, ignoring their death glare with practised ease, “I couldn’t know the new machine would cause such a mess with the time and space continuum, okay?”
“But you built the machine!”
“I am a scientist after all, what was I supposed to do? Not build it?”
“Yes?”
“Nah!”, I shook my head and lifted my fist into the air, “It’s my honour of ...”
“Shut up”, they rolled their eyes and I wanted to know if they were allowed to even. This one seemed rather rude for an angelic creature.
“Are you actually a devil? A demon?”
Used to that question, they threw some of the dirty straw of the ground at me.
“I asked you to sit still for one damn week at least. Not even a month, not even a year. Just one damn week. And now what? I have to rescue you from an execution! With a velociraptor!”
Okay, to be fair I could see their point, but really, it wasn’t fair to blame it only on me.
“It was supposed to be the fifteenth century. How should I have known that they have tamed dinosaurs and use them to execute people?”
The deadpan look was one I was familiar with and the bright moonlight shining into my cell only heightened the round features.
“Listen”, they leaned forward and threw some more straw at me, “You claim yourself to be a scientist but does this look like the fifteenth century? What’s with all the filth? The murder and torture? Where’s all the culture and colours? You got it so wrong, I am not at all mad that they’re gonna kill you.”
“Is this personal?”, I asked but they looked away, pressing their knuckles until a satisfying crack was to be heard.
“Come on”, I grinned, “Those might be my last hours. Can’t you tell me why this has you so worked up?”
They squinted at me and then huffed: “It’s just on principle. I liked the century, okay? It’s my favourite.”
“With all the torture and wars?”
“I told you it wasn’t like that!”
We stared at each other for long moments, their pitch black eyes and rainbow coloured skin once more fascinating, especially with the enigmatic light.
“So, now what?”, I asked a bit later, “You’ll just stay and watch me get eaten?”
“Sure”, they shrugged.
“Okay”, I replied and leaned back against the cold stone wall of my cell. Maybe I should have worried more and maybe I should have panicked, but instead I felt calm and quiet, too used to last-second-rescues and insane situations. I appreciated the night as much as I could see through my small window, not even feeling the cold. The flimsy medieval farmer costume I’d gotten from a Halloween store for sure couldn’t be the reason for that. I wondered if my guardian angel was helping out by making me feel warm but I didn’t care enough to ask. Instead, I watched the way the clouds shifted slowly through the sky, covering the moon now and then, as if to hide it from our sight.
“They would have mistrusted you even if it was the actual fifteenth century and not some wild medieval filter horror fantasy”, they told me with their quiet, raspy voice which only seemed to echo in my head, “Your clothes look horrible and your green skin will forever be too obvious, but you know that at least.”
I stretched my arm out so it caught some light from the moon, the green almost greyish in this world. I had known. Of course, I had. I turned it around and opened my palm as if to catch each particle of colour I found. There was barely a difference between day and light here and I wondered if their sunrise and my execution would be here soon. The thought didn’t fill me with horror but with fascination. I giggled.
“You’re insane.”
I grinned: “You know you love me.”
“You’re a nuisance.”
“And I’ll forever come back to haunt you.”
They sighed dramatically: “I know. Sadly. But I’ll hide your equipment, I promise!”
“You can try!”
I’d only ever died once, despite their efforts to save me from getting between the lines but I already knew I’d always find a way back. And I was sure I’d find my equipment anywhere. I had a mission to continue after all.
Sudden voices outside and a low growl made us perk up and for a second I thought my guardian angel looked worried, maybe even thinking about rescuing me.
“Will you get into trouble?”
They shrugged: “A stern talking probably. But they don’t have anyone else to guard you.”
I laughed out loud, enjoying how the sound seemed to explode in this cold and silent space.
The guards coming into my cell looked at me with fear and confusion, unsure what to make of this strange creature who looked almost like them, a glitch in the matrix maybe. Five of them pointed their weapons at me, even though I would have followed them willingly, simply out of curiosity.
I turned to my Guardian Angel one last time, winking: “It’s always an honour to study Earth. It’s a pity I didn’t get to see much from this world this time.”
“Maybe”, they hissed, forced to follow me till the bitter end, “Don’t try to eat the pope next time.”
I snorted, remembering the taste I’d gotten and then I laughed and laughed and laughed, even when big teeth sank into my chest, ripping me apart, sinking the grey world into darkness.
“Welcome on Earth, visitor”, a familiar voice said and I opened my eyes once more, staring at a world that looked as if it had been coloured by an especially happy five year old.
“This”, the disembodied light voice introduced a familiar, scowling figure in front of me, “is your Guardian Angel. They will accompany you during your time here and help you stay safe.”
“Hi”, I grinned, feeling a bit strange in my new skin, although it looked exactly like my old one, “Fancy seeing you here. How was it?”
They pulled a face: “Horrible. Your intestines were everywhere. At least my superiors stopped the scolding because I was still throwing up. No more dinosaurs please.”
I sat up properly, the fondness in my chest swelling thanks to their scowl: “I’ll try.”
As if put my feet down on the ground, sensing the soft, grassy texture for the first and thousandth time, a well known excitement took me over.
“But”, I couldn’t but grin and through their exasperated eye-roll I could see the hint of a mischievous smile, “I can’t promise.”
OH MY GOSH i will be completely honest with y’all in the midst of all the bullshit in this bitch of a year I completely forgot this was coming and I’m so excited it’s here @whattheplot