Lumière pulled the metal gate away from the elevator's entrance, stepping inside before closing the gate back behind him. There was a lever mounted to a golden plate on the wall, and Lumière instinctually reached out to pull it to the side. Almost instantly, the elevator began to lurch toward the direction the lever was pulled. With a sigh of relief, he stood in the centre of the elevator, enamoured by the experience of that interesting 'rising' feeling he had never encountered before. Lumière glanced to the side of the elevator, staring at the metallic wall. His reflection seemed slightly warped in it, and instantly, Lumière felt his heart drop. His reflection was missing the left half of his face. He reached up to feel his skin, and all he felt was the piercing warmth of his muscle tissue being open to the air. When he retracted his hand, his fingers were covered in a light film of crimson blood.
Lumière's entire figure seemed to grow illusory before his skin began to flake from his body like ashes. The flakes of his flesh burnt up in the air, leaving behind a thick smog that churned like a reddish-black miasma. He tried to move away from danger, but the bones of his legs were showing, and his feet had already vanished, so he toppled to the ground in a painful heap. He tried to suck in an anxious breath, but his lungs had already joined the thick cloud, leaving his chest a gaping mess of ribs that fractured into thin films of dust. He tried to see, but his eyes had left him.
Lumière tried desperately to be Lumière, but his entire being had already faded, dissipating into the air. Soon, all that was left was an incurably cold darkness.
"What a little raven you are, to claw your way into my dreams." A feminine, disembodied voice rang out.
Suddenly, Lumière was sure that he could see once more. He was sure that he could see a woman sitting at a cafe counter, holding a steaming mug in her hand as she turned her back towards Lumière. She tilted her head, gazing at him out of the corner of her eye as she raised the mug toward her lips. A faint smile curled up on her expression. Then, all of a sudden Lumière realised he could feel once more. However, when he glanced up, he noticed that the woman had disappeared, a streak of fluff wisping past.
"Well, if you're going to make me relive it, then you're welcome to follow. Hell, you can be me if you want. Maybe it'll be more interesting that way. That's what all the others say is fun, anyway." The woman's voice rang out once more.
The room began to shift- as if colour was being painted with a bristled brush all around him. The soft interiors of a sunlit cottage came into view. Plants sprouted from the rooftop, and sunlight shoen in from the windows. He sat on the edge of a bed, his feet dangling above the dark wooden floor.
Lumière saw the woman appear once more. She wore a bright yellow lacy dress. He saw the fullness of her round face face, which was pale in complexion. She had black lines like bristles on her face and a messy head of black hair. Her eyes were a bright blue, with pupils like slits. Moreover, peeking out from her hair-
'Are those… cat ears?' Lumière marvelled, confused yet enamoured.
He reached out a hand towards her, but his soft, small hands made contact with a cold illusory surface.
'A… mirror?'
Lumière's thoughts began to race. He touched his hands to his face, and the reflection of the woman in the mirror copied his exact movements. He recoiled from the mirror, but his movement felt sluggish and weak. Looking down towards his abdomen, he realised his stomach had bulged outwards. His whole body felt intensely heavy.
'She's… pregnant?' He thought, anxiety creeping up his skin. 'Have I become her, or is this some sort of illusion brought on by the labyrinth?'
Lumière's eyes widened slightly. Suddenly, he felt a large force wrap around him from behind.
"Are you going to stand there staring at yourself in the mirror all day?" A gruff yet sultry voice rang out, seeming almost illusory.
A man had begun to hug him from behind, and as he stared up at the man through the woman's eyes, his- rather, 'her' face lit up a bright crimson. Slowly, Lumière felt himself acclimate to the point of view of the woman from her own eyes, and it began to feel as if he were simply watching a play take shape in front of him.
"Eh?" She felt the warmth of love embrace her- as if love was a hulking, haired beast with a beard that resembled a quilted blanket more than facial hair. The woman turned around to look up and smiled.
"Good morning, Kalum." She spoke sleepily. Her cheeks flushed a bright red, and her heart felt elation staring at the man who was twice in size in comparison to her.
"Good morning, Aris." He smiled in return. Without hesitation, he picked her up off of the bed, carrying her in his arms towards the dinner table. Because she was pregnant, he was loathe to let her do anything mundane herself, like walking to the table for breakfast. TO him, she was already doing enough, so he was happy to take care of her in the meanwhile.
Despite his countenance, which seemed hefty, harsh, and fierce, his grip on her was gentle, as if he was fearful of bruising her skin. He set her down in the wooden chair he had carved for her at the end of the table, and then pulled his chair from the other end to sit down right beside her. Aris watched as Kalum settled into his seat. His seat was twice as large as hers, looking like a throne at their small table. He hunched over the table like a giant, and a smile crossing his face.
"Let's eat, then." He spoke in a gruff tone of voice. "Unless… you're not hungry?"
The fluffy ears on Aris's head shook a bit, and her expression took on an annoyed, pouting look.
"I'm always hungry…" She shook her head. "Don't joke like that with me."
Kalum just laughed loudly in response.
"Don't worry. I've cooked enough to sate your appetite, little dove."
There was a large white cloth covering the table, but despite it, Aris's enhanced senses could smell the scent of rich oils and charred vegetables underneath the tablecloth. A small strand of drool had already collected at the edge of her lips, and every nerve in her body was anxious to start eating. A quiet chuckle escaped her mouth as the imagery of foods crossed her mind, and nodding to Kalum, he pulled the tablecloth away from the table.
Immediately, a large spread of delicacies came into view, and steam poured in droves into the open air. Charred bright-red tomatoes, steamed berries, and thinly-sliced cucumbers were set to the left. Two entire steamed fish, a dozen eggs fried in seed oil, black rice, and slightly-charred flatbread sat in the center. On the right, freshly-fermented yoghurt, chocolate cakes with light cream filling, and hand-pies filled with fruit sat waiting to be eaten ravenously.
Aris looked over towards Kalum. Despite his looks, her husband was a master chef, in every single regard. Had Aris not stolen him away from his line of work, he was sure to have served some nobleman in a large fortress, make wealth in a culinary district of a large city, or run a profitable business. Still, he had chosen her above all of that.
Kalum picked up a still-steaming iron kettle, pouring hot water into the cup beside Aris. The bottom of the cup had been filled with bright flower petals, which quickly seeped their flavours into the hot water. She took a sip, and the flower tea bathed her tongue in a pleasant sweetness.
"Go ahead and eat as much as you wish." Kalum smiled. "It's all been cooked just for you, so it would be a waste not to enjoy it thoroughly."
Aris's countenace lit up brightly, and without hesitation, she began to gather a plate of every delicacy. Her fork dug into the fish, which was gently salted, and still tasted of the creek beside their home- fresh and light. The charred tomatoes were rich, and spread atop the flatbread made it feel like an entirely new delicacy. When she bit into the chocolate cakes, warm cream spilled outwards onto her tongue, and the yoghurt was a wonderfully delicate balance of tartness and sweetness.
"Are you enjoying it well?" Kalum laughed. "You've spread half of the entire meal onto your cheeks."
He reached over, wiping the excess cream off of her lips with his thumb. With his other hand, he reached over, rustling her hair and rubbing her ears back against her head. Aris's face lit up a bright crimson colour, and ignoring her embarrassment, looked over towards Kalum's plate. He had not picked up a single of the delicacies laid out on the table, instead waiting for Aris to have her fill. Out of annoyance, she shook his hand away, and using her fork, began to place food onto his plate.
"How can I enjoy it well if you're not eating alongside me?" She huffed.
After they had both eaten their fill, and shared the laughter of the morning's conversation, Kalum retrieved her coat from a rack on the cottage's wall that he too had carved. He slipped it over her shoulders, and helplessly, she was lifted up into his arms once more. They stepped out into the morning air, closing the heavy wooden door behind him. In the center of the veridian forest, a creek stretched through the clearing, surrounded by tall grass that waved in the gentle wind. A fence had been built alongside the cottage to facilitate a space for the growth of flowers. More often than not, Aris would tend to the flowerbed, but in her current state, Kalum had taken to caring for them. Under his touch, they had suddenly begun to flourish much more, and so she was both jealous and in admiration of his natural skill.
Kalum's eyes drifted hesitantly towards the forest, but Aris's remained on the pretty sights.
"The sky is really pretty this time of year, isn't it?" Aris smiled softly.
Aris looked back up towards Kalum, who held her tight in his arms. All she saw was bright crimson. The foul liquid mixture of brain matter and red blood dripped down Kalum's neck- the remnants of his head which had been splayed over the outer wall of their home.
His hulking body toppled to his knees, still holding tight onto Aris. But, it was clear that his life had left him. The only thing keeping strength in his arms was the remnant will to hold her.
Aris's eyes widened, her pupils shaking and a scream hanging at the edge of her lips- caught up along with her breath. The sky began to churn like bloody flames. Clouds became wisps of smoke, and the blue sapphire colour above was replaced with crimson.
Nine blurry figures gathered around her, but as they stepped closer, one of the figure's facial features became clearer. He was a young boy with a slightly-malnourished countenance, and eyes that seemed as if they transcended time.
Standing in front of the other eight figures, a man with bright red hair and black eyes held a hand up to his face, gazing ruefully at the mixture of greyish-red liquid that dripped from his fingers. There was a bright-red mass in his palm that writhed about madly. It resembled the shape of a child, slightly-malformed. The man made a fist, and instantly, the child-shaped creature was crushed between his fingers. The young boy beside him watched the event, and despite being in league with him, began to shake slightly with apprehension.
"The child of a sinner cannot be allowed to live." The man with red hair grinned maniacally.
Looking down, Aris realised that her abdomen had been clawed open. In an instant, Kalum's head had been cleaved from his neck, and her child had been stolen away from her body. Her pupils shook out of horror, and not even a scream could escape her lips. Still held in the arms of her husband, who had grown stiff and cold, she watched silently as the nine figures vanished from the sky, leaving streaks of red staining the clouds.
{"Will you accept this much?"}
Countless murmurs erupted around Aris, like a cacophony of voices layered atop each other. Her sight had begun to darken, and so she listened as the murmurs in the distance continued on.
{"Will you accept this development? Will you accept this slight? Will you accept these sins?"}
{"Can you sin? Will you seek revenge? Will you kill them all? Despite not being able to gain anything back, will you destroy the world they love?"}
One more line rang out amidst the murmurs. The voice deepened slightly, as if it had grown intensely serious.
{"For power, for the ability to destroy them- will you accept me?"}
Hoarsely, without thinking about it for a moment, Aris spoke out.
"Let me kill them… I'll resign my soul to hell."
The scene around the woman began to shift. A thick blackish-red miasma engulfed the sky, and the landscape became a hellish landscape of destroyed structures, a sky of red smog, and brackish black trees that resembled craggy monoliths. It was obvious that countless time had passed. Aris had recovered from the wounds she had incurred in previous scenes. Instead of the bright yellow lacy dress, she wore a midnight-black cloak with a hood that covered her still, emotionless expression. She raised her hand, and floating over the hellish scene, she spoke.
"Aspect: Gluttony."
Her voice rang out, layered like several uninhibited cries of distant people experiencing agony.
In an instant, 'she' consumed all. 'She' consumed the fates, memories, and hopes of others. Nations had crumbled underneath 'her' gaze, and their citizens had known the agony of not only their beings, but the memory of them being consumed by 'her'.
Aris swallowed the world, and so only the cosmos took image around 'her'. The nine figures stood before 'her', but soon they too were consumed, the last expressions they held being ones of fear, anxiety, and despair.
'She' consumed time, and so the stars stopped glistening, stuck forever in brightness. When 'she' turned her gaze towards the cosmos,
'Her' child was taken from 'her' by them. It was a crime against the nature of humanity, of the nature of mothers and their children. 'Her' yearning grew to endless mad lengths, to want to repair that carnal need to protect 'her' child. 'She' grew to want everything in return for what had been done to 'her', to balance the scales - she was gluttonous for revenge, to repair all that had been done to 'her'.
All 'she' felt was the madness of vengeance.
Before 'she' could turn her attention towards the cosmos, three brightly-glowing blurry figures appeared before 'her'. In an instant, the burgeoning flame within 'her' heart was extinguished, and the life faded from 'her' eyes.
Lumière felt his gaze return to his natural body, and so he felt as normal as he had previously. There was no crimson miasma, no strange worldview, and no inconsistencies in his form. There was an inconsolable fear churning in his heart. Having witnessed the scenes of carnage from the point of view of an unstoppable force, he couldn't help but retch, his form violently convulsing as he was suspended in darkness.