184. Fate Fulfils, Destiny completes

[You can read 60 chapters in advance and GOT fic on -patreon.com/misterimmortal.]

[A/N: This indeed happened. It's called the Mỹ Lai massacre.]

Hector continued his story, but it felt as if he was reliving his past life to him. "My company had 150 men, and we left in two different groups. The leading battle group consisted of a hundred men who were to enter the village directly. Meanwhile, the other 50 men and I were to secure the surroundings first.

"My superior officer, Lt. Colonel Baker, tried to secure the Sơn Mỹ region before but only got limited success. Since then, we started calling it Pinkville. This time, the 11th Brigade commander told us to go in there aggressively and wipe them out for good. We were told that by the time we arrived, nearly all the civilian residents of the hamlets in Sơn Mỹ village would have left for the market by 07:00 and that any who remained would most likely be VC or VC sympathizers.

"Some of them probably misunderstood the command to destroy everything. Anyway, the mission went pretty well under my command. I got my troops to clear the surroundings, and we headed towards the Mỹ Lai village. We could already hear the gunfire and expected to support the troops.

But, as we slowly started to enter the village, the smell of burning flesh, screams of agony and fear, and the heat of the burning roofs of houses hit us."

Hector stopped at that. The scenes reappeared in his mind. He had to take a breath and continued, "As I started going deeper, I saw dead bodies of old men, women, and children. Just lying there on the side of the road or at the gates of houses. I thought the fight must be intense. But then my eyes fell on the first soldier from my company. He was in the middle of shooting a man in the head with his rifle at point-blank. At that time, I realized my men were doing the killings.

"I stopped him and asked what was happening. He looked confused and simply said the order was to burn everything, poison the well, slaughter the livestock, and leave no one alive.

"Angered, I rushed to the village center. On the path, the body county kept on increasing. None of them had any weapons with them. But when I reached the center, I saw hell on earth. They had drugged ditches, pushed people in them, and then shot them to death.

"Mothers tried to shield their babies with their bodies but didn't survive. Kids who could walk tried to crawl from under the bodies only to be shot again. I saw a woman fixing her blouse, probably after being r*ped and then being shot.

"I tried my best to stop them, shouting orders. But it was as if they had been possessed. Even the 50 men who were with me slipped around and let their demons out."

*Sigh* He laid on his back on the sand and added, "As I walked around to save as many poor villages as possible. I saw those guys doing strange things. Setting fire to the hootches and huts and waiting for people to come out and then shooting them... going into the hootches and shooting them up... gathering people in groups and shooting them. As I walked in, I could see piles of people throughout the village.

"They were gathered up into large groups. I saw them shoot an M79 grenade launcher into a group of people who were still alive. But it was mostly done with a machine gun. They were shooting women and children just like anybody else. We met no resistance, and I only saw three captured weapons. We had no casualties from enemy fire. It was just like any other Vietnamese village—old papa-sans, women, and kids.

"As a matter of fact, I don't remember seeing one military-age male in the entire place, dead or alive—by the time the massacre ended, they had killed over 600 villagers,"

Diana was taken aback by all this, "How did you stop them?"

"I shot my NCO commander in the head right there for refusing my command and for shouting at troops to kill them all. Once his body dropped, they all started listening to me.

"I remember jumping into a muddy blooded ditch at the end because I heard a baby's cries. I found a little girl, under her mother's corpse, riddled with bullets. She was fine and needed some first aid. I knew at that very moment what I needed to do.

"After I reported everything to my commander, the whole operation in the Sơn Mỹ region was stopped, and instead, a rescue operation started. But I knew exactly what was going to happen. After being interviewed by a dozen senior officers, I was awarded a promotion, and a letter of commendation by the General in charge of the whole war.

"The news of the massacre never left Vietnam. Coverups after coverups were made. Pentagon got involved and buried all the files deep. But I continued to do the job, with the same guys whom I despised the most. Now with a higher rank, I was above guys from other companies who also participated in the atrocity that day.

"But life goes on. After an extended intelligence mission, I planned the next mission to help us win the war. It was an ambush on the VC's biggest brigade. After getting permission, I led my men into the ambush.

"We were under enemy fire as soon as we dropped down from choppers. In the first minute, we received 20 casualties. But we kept going. There were about 300 of us with enough firepower to wipe the enemy out. But we miscalculated. The enemy was more than double our numbers.

"One by one, in that hailstorm of bullets, no tree or ditch could save our men. Some bled to death, and some were blasted away. We could do nothing but keep firing to have our deaths delayed.

"But we had serious explosives, so we used them and eventually killed enough to push them into retreating. But by that time, most of my men's hearts had stopped beating. I looked around at the field of dead bodies. I couldn't bring myself to feel any pity. So instead, I walked around to find any survivors.

"Every time one would cry for help in a low voice, I'd go and shoot them dead. I repeated that the whole evening until I found the last man alive, my previous commander, Lieutenant Colonel Frank A. Barker, one who was behind the massacre for his foolish commands. He asked me why I was doing it, but I just killed him.

"I checked every single body, all 300 of us. Then, after ensuring their death, I decided to walk to the side and sit by a tree to kill myself in peace. But that tree had a mine nearby. I stepped on it—blew my legs off—and my remaining body fell towards the tree, my back resting on it while giving me a clear view of dead American soldiers. And the funniest bit is that they gave me a medal of honor for killing our own soldiers.

"I was not American since the day I saw the massacre. I was a human. I planned that whole ambush not to kill the VCs, but to kill the demons I called my subordinates or colleagues."

He raised his fist in the air, eclipsing the moon. A dangerous aura radiated from his body, letting Diana know that these were his genuine inner emotions, "So, Diana. I say, to hell with morals. I will kill every single being in the universe that dares raise arms against innocent beings. That is why I will never go easy on folks who serve the likes of the Ten Rings."

Sighing, Diana also laid back on the side beside him. "Well, if you put it that way, I would say I understand. I know every human has evil in them, and it comes out when they realize they can't be held accountable. I can't say I've not seen that happen, but I have never experienced it like you.

"But, why does it bother you now? You did well. You brought those men to justice. I know they would not have been punished if you hadn't. What bothers you now?"

He thought about his whole life after his death, "Well, Satan, Lucifer, and all the angels were born for a role. What about me? Just a lowly human who killed, sinned, and is moved by inner feelings, who got all this just for making a stupid wish to Satan.

"Diana, I guess I am—afraid. That one day, I will just reach the end and realise... there is nothing. I exist for nothing. I don't even know what I am doing, I came here for vacation, and I've done everything but relax."

"Doesn't that answer your question too?" Diana asked him.

Hector stood up. He had more work to do, "How so?"

She chuckled a bit at what she was about to say and stood by his side. She held his hand in hers, "Have you read about the biblical angels? Or let's go a bit personal, my own father, Zeus. And they all are called gods and angels, while their actions can't be anything but demonic. While you—yes, you do kill. But those are only the worst of the worst alive, every time you kill someone, you also save thousands, millions, and sometimes billions of innocent others. So to me, all this makes you rather godly,"

"You are too good with your words, Diana. But that still doesn't answer my question. What's the endgame for me? Where does it lead to? What do my automatic actions mean?"

"They don't have to mean anything, dear." She blurted. "Look at me. My universe is dead. I'm lost in another universe which is totally strange to me. But I don't think much about that because I moved on. I don't know what my existence means. I'm just trying to live now. And honestly, I'm okay as long as I have my only friend and family in this universe close to me—you and Moony."

Hector held her hand tighter. He never knew he and Moony were this important to her. Or maybe he was just too dumb to realize it before. "Well, he does call you mom."

"He does? When?" She sounded excited hearing that.

"Always, Diana. I just never tell you not to hurt your feelings. You know, most pretty ladies hate being called that,"

"..."

*SMACK* She patted Hector's shoulder as if angry, "Why? I would have loved to know that. I love Moony. He's already my dear son."

Hector laughed heartily, "Haha, then I guess the family is complete. The boy always longed for a mother,"

"What about you? You never longed for a special someone?" She asked him, her cheeks blushing. She was too old to keep the shy girl theatrics going for too long.

Hector was the same. He may be one dense bastard, but not a total idiot. He felt close to Diana, as she was just like him, lost in destiny and in another Universe. She had no family either, which was worse as he had Moony.

"I do, Diana. But I never felt connected with any woman—until now,"

Diana's heart raced fast as soon as she heard this. She looked up at his face and their eyes locked. Love was a strange feeling; oftentimes, you don't need to say things verbally. Just a look is enough to convey a thousand words and emotions.

She stepped closer to him, saying, "You can always count on me, Hector—always,"

"I already do, Diana Prince," He tucked her hair behind her ear, "You're so gorgeous and kind,"

She smiled lovingly, "I won't lie. You're not the most handsome man I've ever seen. But you sure are the most beautiful in both universes. Your mind, heart, and soul—all of it."

With that, their faces inched closer to each other. While the moon and the stars stood shining as the witness, the little twigs and the grains of sand sang the song of love with the wind blowing over them.

Hector's red coat and Diana's red cape fluttered in the wind. Her arm held his broad back and his wrapped around her waist. They closed their eyes and let their breaths take their lips to each other.

Her lips brushed his, softly, delicately, like butterfly wings, just long enough that he could inhale her breath, feel the warmth of her skin, and the taste of her lipstick. He was no experienced lover, but this was the first time he felt his heart shiver.

Two souls met and fell in love in a universe not their own. Their journey was long, spanning millions of years. Their hearts were in a mess, thanks to the works of others. But, although their pasts were tragic, fate had finally worked its magic.

The heavens and hell cheered, and shinier the starry sky appeared. They kissed for long, as the two felt the warmth of love that the two longed.

[See Hector and Diana kiss on Discord at https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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