The Ways of Leland

Death is a Privilege

Immediately I throw myself up against the wall. My black feet misses a step and I stumble.I don't recall when the tears started to fall, but when they did they wouldn't stop. The goddess is still standing over Kiki's body. Her stance is still enchanting, even when her white slippers were being covered in blood. I stare at Kiki. She was so nice, so kind...

Even now, somewhere deep in my heart, I want to laugh. I want to laugh at Kiki's death, maybe even stab her a few times myself. That place in my heart wanting to keep following my-the- goddess. To think of Kiki as someone who betrayed my sweet and beautiful goddess. That traiter.

"Why did you do that?" I finally managed to sputter out. I felt like barfing. I was so sick at the sight of her-the sight of myself.

The goddess stalked over to me. Her long slender legs took graceful steps across the small gap that separated us. When she reached me, she gently took my chin under her fingers to make me look right into her eyes. My body felt heavy, i couldn't move.

Her eyes were so different, like a predator in the midst of a hunt. I was the prey trying,wanting, needing to get away, but couldn't. I was stuck in my position, in her trap. They were no longer their ocean cerulean but gold with flakes of red.

"Because" Her voice was so slick and soft."I want you to experience true pain. True despair." The last words were more enunciated than the others. More attractive.

She continued."Death is a privilege of the living. A destiny without reason,continually roving on, evermore. How fleeting a thing it is. One cannot live and forget about death."

Again the fading piece of my heart became more vibrant. This makes sense.

"My dearest Leland, do you know what my name is?"

"N-no"

"It's Akira, the goddess of lost souls." I shivered at that. Akira, something so right but so wrong

"I see. But that still doesn't explain why you killed her!" I got more in her face. Akira looked unfazed. She gripped my face tighter.

"The reason is because she was a traitor. I knew she was trying to tell someone about me since I made her my regalia. But goddesses need regalia to carry out our needs. Since I have you I don't need her anymore. So I used her for a message. I killed her is so I can see your face scrounge up in pain, so you know that I see everything and so you won't be so stupid."

Her voiced stayed slick as she said this. She let go of my face and walked back over to Kiki. The body on the ground still held a face of shock and sadness. Her eyes were half closed. I wanted desperately to help her move. But I still was glued to my spot of the wall.

The goddess raised her hand over the body. Her eyes went white as she spoke some jumbled words. In mere seconds Kiki's body raise up into the air then vanished. There was no trace of blood at all and it looked like nothing had happened at all.

After it was done, Akira gazed at me. "Let's talk."

She gestured to the couch at the corner of the room. MY body started to feel light. I got up and sat myself on the stool facing the couch. The goddess sat on the couch. She stretched herself along the small chair, her legs stretching over the arm. She spoke a few more words and two cups of tea appeared, one in her hand and one in mine.

"Have I told you about Tarantos, my dear?" Akira said after taking a sip of her tea. She's acting like nothing happened. Like she didn't just kill one of her own followers. Why am I still here? Why aren't I running away? Why are we acting like nothings wrong?

I push away these thoughts. It felt like the right thing to do. "No, I don't believe so."

"He is the lord of death, his realm is the netherworld, you humans call it hell. He has his regalia round up the souls ready to die and makes sure they are punished accordingly."

"According to what?"

"How they lived, of course. If they stole, if they lied if they killed. There are several layers of hell that the souls go to, the 7th layer is the worst, whereas the first is the best. The first could be considered heaven. There is no pain, no sadness. It is truly a remarkable layer."

"In the perfect hell, tarantos' regalias would get the souls and give them to their master then the soul would be judged.But sometimes the soul doesn't want to go." Akira looked genuinely heartbroken when she said this. My heart broke for her.

"What do you mean?"

"Humans are strange creatures. They are almost driven by just their emotions. They allow these feeling to push them to the limit. Even in death, some emotions don't go away. They fester even inside their souls. Something that starts outside them becomes part of their soul. These emotions make the passage to the underworld very hard on them, because they want to come back. "

Akira takes a breath and finishes her tea. I am barely done with mine. Its lemony. She repositions herself then speaks."That's when we come in. We use certain powers that tarantos' regalias don't have then takes the soul back to hell. You see Leland, I can't have traitors when my job is so important. Kiki had to die."

Kiki had to die.

Kiki had to die.

Kiki had to die.

It was obvious,so so obvious.

Akira smiled at me. "Oh my darling, you must be so tired after all this. Let's go back to your house so you can rest."

My body suddenly felt very tired. I need to rest...

Akira stood up in front of me. She towered over me while I was sittting. She hooked my chin again. "Oh Leland, you have no idea how important you are to me."

At that comment, my heart leaped. I felt happy, like I was dancing on air. The goddess gathered me in her arms. She whispered tender words to me as the world swirled and blurred. In seconds I found myself covered under my blanket as my goddess looked over me. She kissed my forehead the same place she did before. I felt so peaceful..like I can drift away at any moment.

"Goodnight my darling butterfly. Your mission will start soon."

I drifted away, not before I felt the voices whisper one more thing...

"All monsters are human."

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Thank you to all who stuck around for this long. I have nothing to blame but myself for my hiatus and my laziness. I will not promise to be consistent because honestly, I don't know how consistent I can be. Anyway, thank you and remember....