Human Side Stories: Lorelei 3

Lorelei 3

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Commissioned by Binge Reader

Word Count: 1017

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Zhu Shizi is undoubtedly the most infuriating existence I have ever met. Having been courted by the snobbiest of snobs, such an accusation is harsh, but for the Dhamphir lying primly before me, it is a title well-deserved. 

Every word I speak to her has to be considered. An errant thought, said aloud by pure accident, can lead to over ten minutes of her purposefully slowed speech. Contrivances flow from her lips with utter ease from mere consideration of a stratagem. An endless spew of literary garbage can usher forth from her lips unceasingly, at the mere mention of a book.

Without a doubt, I had before a spy capable of withstanding outlawed, enhanced interrogation techniques with ease, yet I did not have the rights to inflict such satisfying methodologies upon her person!

Never have I ever desired to wring another’s neck, but this damned Dhamphir sitting before me infringed upon that proud achievement of mine! It was no trifling matter, either! As I said before, I’d been courted by a multitude of arrogant men with only prestige and wealth to their name. Amongst them, however, I found none I wanted to physically wring from the mortal coil with by bare hands!

I am quite sure that anyone else would be utterly incapable of speaking with her!

I am the Keeper!

The reason for my existence, the purpose that I am to exist for, is to be the judge of all those who die! I am to weigh and measure all, whether good or evil, without distinction! I am to be true neutrality, the being who has the right to declare what is good and what is evil!

Yet, now I wish to cast this Zhu Shizi to the very depths of hell, have her declared the ultimate enemy of all living things, and see her churn in the flames of eternity, repeating endlessly, until someone with a modicum of decency pops out!

Oh, how Li Song manages to deal with her, I do not know!

“Neither do I.”

Oh.

I said that aloud.

<Yep.> Ereshkigal sighed.

+Uh-huh+ Morrigan chuckled.

{You fool.}Hel seethed.

My face felt as though it’d been set aflame.

“I apologize—

My words, however, were interrupted without care.

“I don’t know why Song hasn’t killed me. After everything I’ve done, after what I did to him, I ought to be dead. He’s killed so many others who wronged him less, yet here I am.” Zhu Shizi’s words carried a weight that was unfamiliar to me, coming from her voice. I required a moment to realize that the Dhamphir, laying on a curtain of scarlet locks, and staring directly upward, was speaking to me for the first time. Truly, speaking. “If I were in his place, he’d have killed me. You. You’re the Keeper. The one who’s supposed to be humanity’s final judge… yet you hate me.”

I coughed, and desperately ignored the laughter in my head.

“H-hate is such a strong turn of a phrase, Ms. Shizi. I apologize for that.” Regain control, Lorelei. Comport yourself. Better is expected of you. There shall be no moments of weakness before someone you cannot trust. That is for private, or for an individual who you wholly trust. Neither is the case here. Breathe. Good. Keep yourself controlled. But, capitalize on this breakthrough, before you lose yourself. “Perhaps, you simply underestimate Song’s character, then?”

“No. You do. Everyone does. I know who Song is. The rest of you… only have pieces of the picture. Some more than others, but not as much as I.” What a fierce, self-effacing pride this woman had. Was she even aware of the extent of her failings? The words that she uttered? I know him the best, she has simply said. No one else can compare to me, in regards knowing Li Song. Of course, I was aware of the open-secret of Song’s courting of her, and the greater secret of her statement regarding her lack of interest in him. Yet, with those ardent, assured words, I believed the latter secret to be a complete lie, even if she didn’t realize it herself. “If it meant saving a single, innocent person, he’d give everything.”

Her words ended on a note that brokered no more conversation in that direction, as though a part of her realized what she was revealing in regards to herself. Such a prideful person, so entranced with the need to be important, would naturally abhor the notion of being granted mercy, just because it’s what’s righteous. Not only that, but neither did Li Song hate her more than anyone else. It might be strange to consider, but those who are involved with the sin of Pride, rarely wish to see any of their actions cause negligible results, even if those results would’ve made them suffer.

In equal measure, I can extrapolate, that Shizi feels neither loved nor hated by Li Song. The love he offers, the courtship he extends, is one that shall be extended to others in time, and perhaps with greater skill. The position of his most hated foes lies to those vanquished or sealed away. There is… nothing special in regards to their relations with one another, in her own gaze. She commands nothing of him… while he nearly commands everything of her. 

Both are consequences of her own pride.

<What a piteous thing. Truly, nothing grants a greater fall than pride.> Ereshkigal’s musings were unusually critical, especially regarding her esteem for warriors. <Ah, but I do not see a warrior, child.>

+She’s a fool who has buried her truths beneath tens of thousands of layers.+ Morrigan snorted, her derision was evident. +Her own desires are enigma to her. Whatever earnest emotion that shall come of her shall be pure, because it shall be filtered through the thousands of layers of abrasive particles, which she calls a personality.+

{And, that’s why Lord Odin keeps her company.}Hel scoffed. {He’s one that enjoys greater misery than his own.}

It seemed that while I’d taken a step forward, I was still several thousand meters away from the marathon’s beginning.