The Weapon
The Weapon awoke from those dreams that seemed to be more than just dreams, with a strange sensation of wetness creeping down her face on both sides. She didn't understand this hollow and painful feeling, which seemed to both manifest as a physical sensation and have no physical cause at all. It was somehow different from the low level of pain seemingly omnipresent throughout her tiny frame.
She finally blinked and rubbed the tears from her eyes, only to be confronted with the doctor, who clearly had news for her she wasn't going to like. Rather than dealing with that immediately, she turned her attention to Yulia and begged to be helped to the bathroom once more.
She did her business and washed her hands, and then for good measure washed her own face. It didn't escape her attention that she was now able to muster slightly more strength and she was able to walk with assistance.
She had Yulia walk with her back to the bed, rather than carry her, because she wanted to see if she could do it and she wanted to further build up her strength and endurance. By the time she got to the bed, she was too exhausted to put herself back in it, so Yulia had to gently set her down in it anyways.
The doctor was no longer willing to be ignored. "Based on some of the tests I have run, you have several medical conditions in their early stages of a very concerning nature."
The Weapon was unsurprised to discover that among these were indeed hemophilia, HIV, Leukemia, chronic iron deficiency, PCOS, Osteoporosis, and an unspecified neuromuscular disorder. The doctor was actually shocked to learn she could even build muscle.
She was surprised to learn that she had a rare type of skin cancer, a severe allergy to several common types of pollen, asthma, and hyperthyroidism. There were even some markers in her blood suggesting that she was vulnerable to kidney stones, and between all these problems she would need a very specific diet and an even more specific set of medical responses.
There wasn't a part of her body that wasn't in some way inferior to the average mortal. Her eyesight was worse than normal, her hearing and sense of smell were worse, her taste buds were probably worse, and her temperature regulation was basically shot in comparison to other girls her age.
The solution was very multifaceted. They could excise the cancerous skin and hope the cancer wouldn't return. She could start chemo and start blood transfusions or marrow transplants for leukemia. With the proper hormonal supplements and diet, she could control most of the other issues. The hemophilia couldn't be solved directly, but she could take some pills that helped her body produce the missing clotting factors. She also had to be ready to receive a blood transfusion at any time, even for minor injuries. Finally, she could take pills twice a day to keep the HIV in check.
The Weapon saw no reason not to agree to all of it except for the chemo. She wanted to try to build up her strength before tearing it down again. However, the Doctor balked at the prospect of writing prescriptions for someone called, "The Weapon."
He also refused "The Warrior's Chosen Weapon" and "The Warrior". When he kept pressing her for a real name, all she could say is that hers was long forgotten. She was sure she had had a real name, once. She had no recollection anymore of what it might actually be.
When asked if she had a birth certificate, The Weapon also was unable to provide one. So it was that she had to begin the tedious task of applying for a birth certificate and a social security card before she could get treated for her medical issues.
She was in the rare position that she got to name herself almost immediately after being born. Of course, due to her physical age, she had to list her date of birth as December 21st, 2005.
She had filled out basically all the information for an Oklahoma birth certificate except for the name. It occurred to her that her continued survival would be an almost constant exercise of fighting the fate that awaited her.
So, bastardizing both Proto-gaelic and Italian, she chose for herself the name Moira Rose Belladori. The middle name was merely because it was highly suggested she listed one and she loved roses. Especially their spiky little thorns.
Unfortunately, Yulia only understood Russian, Continental Spanish, and English, so she did not understand why this name amused The Weapon so much.
With the power of extreme bribery, Moira was able to get the birth certificate streamlined as well as the social security card. Apparently, there were a large number of teens and young adults in Oklahoma who had grown up off grid and needed to go through similar processes to rejoin society.
By the end of the week, Moira had started taking a veritable boatload of medications and supplements, and already was in possession of a state ID. She enrolled in comprehensive physical therapy. She had to eat a rather specific diet, and not a small amount of it, either.
That last part was the hardest, as the stronger she grew, the more powerful her metabolism became, and the more food she needed. It grew to feel like she spent almost half the day eating food.
There was only one saving grace to all of this. She was the Warrior's chosen weapon. Each day, more of her power bound itself to this new vessel she found herself in, and each day she grew stronger.
She tried to not let it get to her that lifting 5 pounds overhead had somehow become an achievement, or that very minor incidents could quickly become life threatening. She was the weapon, and if the weapon was not suited for battle, she would forge it until it was. If her wife knew these thoughts that motivated her, she would probably be very upset.
Yulia was convinced that Moira was pushing herself too hard. In fact, maybe she was. However, short of physically forcing Moira to stop, there was nothing that Yulia could do.
Moira's stubborn schedule of physical training and therapy was brought to a screeching halt one day when she had her first period. Yes, she knew damned well what was happening. She had even expected it to be painful. What she had not expected was for it to feel like the combined armies of hell were going at it in her abdomen.
Yulia snickered, assuming that Moira was exaggerating from lack of experience. What she did not realize is that Moira had a constant low level amount of pain that to her was bearable and even ignorable, but to others might have been rated at a 4 and led to them seeking out prescription painkillers. She didn't know any better and assumed this was normal.
However, even well treated, PCOS is well documented to cause severe menstrual cramps, and Moira was, in fact, not exaggerating. She was unable to make herself get out of bed, so had to call the physical therapy people and apologize for her absence. Luckily, or maybe not, the pain seemed to come and go in waves, and the initial sensations Moira was feeling were actually towards the bottom in intensity. It got worse to the point that she couldn't even escape into sleep because it hurt so bad, and when it eventually returned to the baseline Moira had basically gaslighted herself into thinking that it was mostly alright and walked herself to the bathroom.
While she was in there, she got to experience new and profound levels of physical discomfort. The specifics were better left undescribed, but suffice it to say that she was unable to walk herself back to bed, and collapsed on the floor right by the door.
Yulia found her like that, curled up like a fetus, and could only be grateful she had had the foresight to get a room with an attached bathroom with a door that opens outwards. She shuddered to think what inadvertent damage she otherwise might have inflicted upon her wife.
Moira was gently placed back in bed, and Yulia took that time to go out and feed. She assumed when she came back that Moira would have gotten herself into another, similar situation, but to her surprise Moira was right where she had left her, seemingly not having moved a single muscle.
Moira, for her part, had felt the warrior's spirit within her slowly crushed by this turn of events and had largely given up on life. When Yulia made her take her nightly round of pills and supplements, she went along with it out of habit.
Exhaustion finally pulled her back to sleep, and she dreamed anew.