HSS: Lorelei 6

Lorelei 6

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Commissioned by Binge Reader

Wordcount: 1114

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The notion of a pure soul intrigued me immensely and was an opportunity for me to finally exercise my newfound qualities.

“Fuck off and introduce yourself a one-time-use traffic stop.”

Understandably, Miyakuro took one look at me before slamming the door in my face.

“Touch my tatami door and die.”

I was intruding. That was doubtless.

“The fact that you’re still fucking here means you’re just here to be passive aggressive and British at me. But I fucking repeat myself. Fuckin leave.”

However, he could not bar my way with good conscience.

“What’s a conscience? Can you eat it? Is it tasty, nutritious, and filled with tranquilizers so I can feed it to the Aspect intent on driving me insane?”

He’d set me on my current path, emetically attacked me, and had it so I had many sleepless nights. Indeed, I was intruding, being an annoyance, and a myriad of other things, but those three previous facts gave me every right to ensure the safety of a girl whose soul has been rendered completely null.

“So, you go from being scared out of your wits to becoming an idiot willing to do anything to prove herself. Good fucking job. Very good job. I would clap for you, but this door I’m holding needs maintenance. Please, come back when it’s finished… never.”

The fact of the matter was that I’d never stoop so low as too barge my way into someone’s home. However, I would stoop as low as to remember Miyakuro’s household routine and coincide my attempted entrance with the individual of his affection.

“Fucking, fucking, fuck--.”

“Ah, how sweet of you to say that. You’re quite nice!” Mayu overheard my words, but not Miyakuro’s, but that did not matter. She steps onto the wooden floorboards before the sliding door of the home with a smile, and she accepts my offer to aid her with her purchases. The bags were laden with food, and I was unfamiliar with going to markets and buying foodstuffs, but I was more than capable of carrying them. “Come in, come in. Kita-kun’s friends are always welcome.”

“I hate her.”

“We are not friends.”

“Aww, the two of you are so close! I’m so glad.” Perhaps, I underestimate the offensive abilities of Miyakuro’s lover. With a single sentence, through the implication that Miyakuro and I were friends, I felt as though my heart were torn in two. I didn’t like those words in the slightest, but I place a smile on my face at her insistence and bore the weight that came with insistence. “Ah, you’re that Keeper, aren’t you? Have you come here to see if our lovely girl’s soul is fine? We would appreciate that very much, wouldn’t we, Kita?”

Mayu opens the door to reveals Miyakuro’s face. A truly cataclysmic toll on anyone’s sanity.. I dearly wish that the door would close again, but I could not allow it until… ah, my goodness, I never thought anyone would ever kiss Miyakuro on the cheek.

“First, the Aspect of Time’s not my daughter, I’m just raising her and taking care of her until she’s got higher mental capabilities again. Second, I get more than kisses on my cheek, you prude.” Miyakuro’s words earn him a smack in the back of his head from his lover, but that was all. He withstands it with a withering glare aimed at me, before prying the bags I held with his only arm. He turns and limps to follow his lover towards the kitchen. “Third, you only get five minutes with her with your power. Any more than that and I’m nailing you to the next mass-driver delivery to Earth on the bottom of the Cradle.”

That… that was a genuine threat that the Reincarnation of Odin will see through, should I go beyond his allotted time limit.

My throat was too tight to talk, but I miraculously manage to nod.

…

Elma’s words echo within my mind.

The Hierophant is correct, in that I fear my power, and that I had attempted to do the impossible my doing my duty through purely human means.

Miyakuro had done the same, but he’d done so in a manner that had me searching for an answer for my own peace of mind.

I much prefer the sudden shock and surprise from Elma than Miyakuro, and I don’t wish to give him any credit.

However, that was here nor there.

For the first time, I was about to interact with the soul of another being, and that being was the Aspect of Time. An artificial god amongst gods, even amongst the ranks of Concepts, who was meant to destroy another Aspect, and make the other into the strongest being to ever exist.

All the deities within my mind urge me to attempt my first action with that of another’s soul, but I ignore them.

I sought only to comprehend, to analyze, and understand, instead of merely glancing at the surface. I would search for any wrongness, any remains of the previous existence that claimed power over a body meant to overcome every challenge, and look upon a pure soul for the first time.

I was to do this to a being which can kill me in a single blow, due to my many inadequacies as a Concept.

But, who else needs to be confirmed utterly pure of spirit by the Keeper of Souls?

Who else requires their souls searched for affliction and hidden taint?

Whomsoever else exists would be more than a mouse who I would experiment my power upon?

Was this too large of a first step to take? Absolutely.

Yet, this was the only way I could overcome my fear about trespassing beyond mortality.

I had to do something for another person who needed my help, and my help, alone.

The help only I could offer, but have withheld until now, out of fear over my powers and my position as Keeper of Souls.

So, whilst my gods watch, I descend, for the first time, into the soul of another.

I found myself in a cragged, desolate void, reeking of nothingness, emptiness, and only what came before.

At the sight of it, I feel fear for the first time.

However, the moment I felt the need to run… something resounded throughout the vast, empty space.

It was warmth, laughter, and simple joy.

A child’s bliss was wearing away the cragged, inky emptiness.

My fear faded instantly, even as I retreat to do as I was told.

I knew, without a doubt, that I could do… something… to further help the darkness recede.

But, not without Miyakuro’s eye.

Or, of course, his permission.

After all, if he’s done so well already, he’d hate for me to muck it all up.