Maruken: I'm back and on a roll! 2 chapters, relatively short ones, but none the less 2 chapters!
Sloth looked down on her sleeping child and tucked her bangs behind her ear. The child made soft murmurs of comfort and snuggled closer to Sloth. The child actually looked like more of a teenager than a kid. It was decidedly female, the very developed breasts and wide hips made sure of that. She was about as tall as Sloth when she stood at full height, maybe even taller.
The water homunculous began to silently reminisce, memories of her 2nd child whom she foundly named Lethe flooded her mind. She began to recall Lethe's traits, her personality. Happy came to mind but was quickly followed by brooding. Yes, Lethe was always happy on the outside, even in anger she felt happiness radiate from her. In fact, the happiness was contagious, often Sloth found herself smiling for no apparent reason at all.
However, mostly during the night, that abounding happiness seemed to fade into something darker. At times her face would scrunch up and she'd turn to face the wall, seeking solitude in a corner. During these times Sloth would try to comfort her, find out if anything was wrong. The first time Lethe batted Sloth's hand away and huddled into herself. Sloth was confused and felt helpless, and if there were two things Sloth hated the most, those two emotions were it.
She spun around and walked out the door, leaving Lethe alone. That time she ran into Pride and he asked what was wrong. She confessed and Pride accompanied her back to her room and confronted Lethe, who was still brooding in a corner. Lethe was shocked there was another person in the room, typically she only saw Sloth and occasionally Wrath, her mother's first child. But this was most certainly not Wrath, somehow the idea of bringing a complete stranger into her house angered her, it made her feel betrayed in a way.
Lethe expressed her anger in a flurry of attacks, clawing and screaming at anyone who came close to her. Pride finally got irritated with Lethe's defiance and grabbed her by the throat, which terrified the homunculous. She began sobbing and wailing, futiley flailing about in the grip of the older homunculous until a sickening crack was heard and Lethe's head fell, her neck bending at an impossible angle. Sloth's immediant reaction was one of terror, then motherly protection.
She scooped her 'dead' child up and petted her hair, whispering soft comforts. Pride looked at the display of affection, vaguely reminded of how his wife pampered their son. Presently he was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of harsh breathing. He looked back to the pair and saw Lethe clinging and sobbing into Sloth.
He left, deciding that the two would probably want to be alone. At least it fixed Sloth's immediant problem.
Little did Sloth know, but Lethe was having the same terrifying flashback, only from a different point of view.
That night Lethe was plagued by a sudden rush of emotions. She had been thinking about her mother but was instantly bombarded by feelings of dislike, even feelings reminiscent of hatred and fury.
Lethe found this strange because her mother was always nice to her, except in a few instances. She tried to understand, even justify her emotions, but to no avail. They wouldn't leave, nor did they make any sense.
Sighing, she gave up on her emotions and silently let them run wild. When she felt a hand of her shoulder she instictively whirled around to see who it belonged to. When she came face to face with Sloth, her emotions took over. She batted the hand away and turned back to her corner, hunching over to make herself less visible.
Her acute hearing picked up footsteps and the sound of an opening door, then a closing door. This lead her to the conculsion that Sloth left the room. After deciding that, she went back to wallowing in her emotions. Several minutes later Sloth returned, but she brought a stranger with her.
Who was this man? Why was he here? How DARE mother bring a stranger into my house! Lethe began to fume more and more as her train of thought traveled further down this path.
When this man squatted down next to her and reach out a hand, rage consumed her. She viciously attacked like a ravenous animal, till the man drew it back. She was to caught up in her fury to notice the strange gleam in the man's eye or the way his features contourted ever so slightly to express irritation and annoyance.
The only thing she did notice was the sudden pain gathering at her windpipe and shooting down her spin. The horrific sensations sent her into hysterics until an explosion of pain occured in her neck and consumed her entire being. She blacked out and awoke within her mother's embrace. All unknown hostility towards her mother fled her mind and she clung to Sloth in a vice like grip, pouring her fear out in tears.
Unconsciously the flashback made her squirm a bit and attracted Sloth's attention.
"Ssshhhhhh. It's okay." She whispered consolingly into Lethe's ear. The whispering seemed to achieve the desired effect and Lethe settled down again, resuming a peaceful sleep.
It appeared that over time Sloth developed a bond with Lethe exactly like the one she and Wrath shared. What was even more interesting was the relationship between Lethe and Wrath.
At first Wrath became insanely jealous and threatened Lethe at every chance he got. This invoked anger from the girl and she slapped him. This angered Wrath who attempted to choke her, this only enraged Lethe more and she punched him and that eventually led to a full fledged fight.
Over time however, the two began to see eye to eye and a tacit agreement of some sort was created. From then on, little true agression came from either of them and when it did appear, it was never aimed at each other. Wrath even began to think of Lethe as an older sister when she became more humanoid and at times when Sloth couldn't be found he ran to Lethe for comfort.
Maruken: From what I've read on greek mythology, Lethe is the river of forgetfulness. I can't very well call the new homunculous Sloth now can I? If you keep reading you'll find out the two other's names.
Thank you for reading! Please review.
P.S. That means you Emily