◦✶ . ⁚ ⁛ ✦ sister.
Death, as she was coming to realise more and more, had a way of reshaping one’s priorities. And it was unkind to the extreme in doing so. The first time, though she had little to no memory of her previous life, she knew that it was a miracle that she had been given another chance to live. And she had promised not to squander that, and resolved to obey Father in all things, and to value her family even more. She had succeeded in doing those. Now, with this death not being her own, she forgot about the first resolution.
It was the second that caused her to respond so violently. First, a brief shake of the head in foolish denial. Then just a general, uncontrollable shaking from shock, from anger, from grief. She had never cried before, but now, the strange sensation of moisture brimming below her violet pupils threatened to overwhelm her. Strangely enough, it was her dear, sweet sister’s last words that held it back. That caused the momentarily dimmed spark of those dark, purple orbs to return, and her lips to pull back in a feral snarl – she didn’t hear the high-pitched tones of innocence that the child-like form before her fooled so many with. No distinction between sister or brother, one half or the other. It was only Pride, and they were responsible for this.
Instinct coupled with their…their crime caused her next action. In a blinding flash of movement her right arm was raised as the tips of index and little finger extended at the speed of light, embedding themselves in the wall behind the smaller thing so that their edges grazed its neck on either side. The two in-between those fingers followed suit, and victory flashed in Lust’s eyes as she watched them drive through the fleshy vessel to fly out the other end in a shower of blood that spattered the walls. She knew it wouldn’t last. She knew that that one act had most likely just ensured her death. That the shadows lurking in this room could be on her at any moment. But after this…she was trying to find a reason to care.
With one hand holding Pride in place and the other becoming a claw, drawn to do battle, her breath came in heaves of exertion and fury. “He was our brother.” Her voice was barely a whisper, its natural huskiness almost sounding choked. “My brother. He was one of us. We were all supposed to live for the Promised Day…you just betrayed all of us! You betrayed him! You betrayed me!”
ah, death. an outcome of their morbid talents inflicted upon mortality, one of the five devastations that rode upon horseback and brought forth a dismal end to humanity once in legends. a result of a natural process when humans exceeded their pitifully small idea of longevity in a life. it was a temporary state of being for the homunculus obtained by error. few humans before had tried, and failed, in futile attempts to kill them -- for so long they had basked in the arrogance that, with the exception of their father’s unruly might, no force could destroy them.
and then their sister was thrown to the pyre, akin to a witch. a scapegoat, a demonstration, a display that near-immortality did not equate to invincibility. amidst celebration from wretched humans who thought themselves victorious, it had been SELENE and her alone who ventured forth to father ; she, with the audacity, who begged to be granted the role of enacting vengeance in the form of a warning. gluttony wept and envy mourned, but it had been wounded pride that lowered itself to the sunken, filth drenched floor to ask for justice on her behalf.
a mistake, in hindsight. or so it seems now in this instance. one which, if needbe, she was more than willing to correct on her end.
somehow she had anticipated a violent reaction. but her definition, at least pertaining to the one she regarded as her sister, would have been a voice of protest ; a screech of defiance or denial, daring to ask why over and over as though grief deafened her. no one lay a hand upon the epitome of pride itself ( not even greed -- in all his righteous fury -- was that stupid ) but the motion of events which followed had happened so quickly. no time had been spared for a reaction, although an audible gasp could be heard on her end at the lightening fast sensation of being practically pinned to the wall ; entrapped, ensnared, the hapless rabbit cornered by the wolf. it felt more like a harsh brush of cold air as opposed to a razor blade sensation nicking ever so lightly on pale pearl flesh. and then the swords were drawn, a war declared when the fatal blow was delivered and thrust into her neck. she had heard the blood splattering before the nerves embedded in her container could recognize the sensation that she had been fatally impaled.
you killed me. black, black eyes widening in realization amidst shock and awe. little harm was done in truth, it would be less than minutes for resurrection to occur. still, deliverance has transpired and the delicate bonds signifying sisterhood had been severed then and there. you killed me. red lightening began to emit violently from her corpse and the darkness which surrounded the room seemed to swell with anticipation ; an almost unconscious reaction, as though the shadows were a secondhand limb or another entity attached and capable of taking over without selene’s direction. a thousand teeth would silence their shrill sister at once, with a thousand eyes boring witness with a mix of indifference and hatred ---- but lust deserved better. she could be reasoned with. or alternatively, this could merit a battle that was centuries in the making.
❛ and you were our sister before you died a stupid, needless, pitiful death. you -- one of our finest! -- embarrassed us. we -- ❜ selim and selene. one in the same. brother and sister. halves of pride. ❛ had to take matters into our own hands before we allow another incident. he wasn’t our brother, he was a convenience from a failed attempt to create a portal. how unlike you to actually be attached to something below you. and above all else, how unlike you -- ❜
all this time in speaking, it seemed as though selene were indifferent and never wounded. not a child mortally wounded and choking on her own blood. the lightening ceased, her healing complete. and with that, the shadows had lunged forth, slicing off the extended daggers which pinned her by her neck, and effortlessly preparing another as though it were a sword. her eyes narrowed, a dangerous look blazing in her eyes. ❛ -- to make a very, very foolish mistake. ❜
