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In the depths of the Serpent’s sinister, unwelcome realm, where all the golden maidens whom couldn’t withstand Him nor the Crow fiend found solace, one unrevealed occurrence lie undisclosed betwixt bedewed foliage and thorny branches.
At the rear of the shadowy, mysterious fog obscurating the outskirt of the secretive lagoon mirroring lunar phases, a dim golden hue could be perceived amidst the darkness which veiled the caliginous, foggy domain, along with a harmonious motif faintly resonating in the tranquil atmosphere, interrupted arrhythmically by the steady tinkle of droplets reaching the floor, depicting concentric ripples on its surface.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared the golden complexion was emanated by a pair of ethereal, golden tinted lasses nonchalantly floating above the floor’s reflective surface in the furthest corner of the area; apart from one narrow fissure, a blockade of thorny branches secluded their presence from any unwelcome gazes.
One of the tightly embracing maidens wore an embellished calf-length nun garment, complete of embroidered crosses on the skirt and frills around the hem of her veil, collar and dress; one wooden cross, attached to a string with a knot, hung by her neck loosely.
Her gilded hair, carefully braided, rested on either side of her upper chest; her legs were clad in light socks.
Wrapped on her feet were one pair of tapered, simple flat heel shoes, while her sleeves terminated with stiff, buttoned cuffs.
The other maiden wore a knee length, frilled dress; it had poofy short sleeves and flared around her waist; it flowed down majestically stopping short of her calves, which showed off some calf-length socks with a decorated hem; the annexed collar’s lip was held together by one lustrous oval brooch.
On top of the dress lay a remarkably frilled apron with wide, ornate shoulder straps; on the bottom left edge were embroidered a handful of grapes and some vines; the ends of her apron were fastened together on her lower back with a fluffy, soft-looking bow.
The lass’ head was adorned by a bigger ribbon tied in a way akin to the apron, which kept her extraordinarily chaotic yet gorgeous waist length hair away from her eyes.
Her apparel was completed by a pair of strikingly red, sharp pointed slippers adorned by an equally red ribbon; a garish detail which noticeably stood out against the predominant golden tinge of their bodies and attire.
The last-mentioned maiden of the pair was clutching tightly in her hand one fistful of fabric which belonged to the other woman’s right shoulder; the other hand grasped her sleeve in a firm hold, as if her beloved could vanish at any moment.
The pitiful scene was complimented by her adorned head resting on the lass’ chest;
her warm, grieving tears, an outcome of her sorrowing and lamenting, stained the tranquil damsel’s pristine collar.
Her cherished companion wore a bittersweet, yet peaceful smile on her lips; her eyelids lie closed, reveling in the forlorn, tragic scene.
Her right hand cupped the keening girl’s cheek, while the other is delicately holding her shaking head close to her bosom, lightly scratching the unruly hairs on the nape belonging to the bemoaning lass’ neck.
Muted whimpers coming from the red-shoed woman accompanied the sweet, melancholic chant murmured by the other.
Once the sighs turned to stifled sobs, the humming faded into one long, dimming note, until only heartbreaking sniffles and weeping characterized the mournful moment.
The one previously singing lass, occupied with comforting the other, softly spoke up.
“Elise...”
Her word loudly ringed in Elise’s psyche unpleasantly once more, bouncing off the inside of her skull multiple times and turning into an infernal dissonance she only was able to hear.
-
“How could you, Elise?!”
Elise observed in dismay the way those two wretched peons of His held her beloved firmly by her arms and couldn’t help but mirror her frightened facial expression; how her brow frowned and her amber irises contracted in despair, witnessing the dreadful consequence of Elise’s seemingly selfish actions.
“I trusted you! I trusted you, Elise!” the restrained young woman cried out, thrashing about all she could, with little to no effect on her surroundings.
Elise recalled how her knees giving out caused her to slump on the ground, incapable to take any action or to impart any order to the monster consuming her revered bosom friend piece by piece.
“You betrayed me! You betrayed me, Elise!”
Her shrieks and entreaties for help reverberated in what seemed the pits of Hell, for the situation was appropriate for a place of that kind.
The realization of her grave mistake, bringing Lebkuchen as her Good Company, swooped down on herself making her body feel weaker than it already was.
“I will never forgive you, Elise..! Never!”
Lebkuchen’s wails and suffering moans were the only noises that were perceived by her sense of hearing, tenfold so.
“I loved you, Elise! How...how I loved you, Elise!”
Her last words engraved themselves directly into Elise’s soul, burning through her longings and prospects, which included her bosom friend.
The gruesome scene terminated with one more soul slowly shaping itself into one golden lass between nefarious, vile hilarity; overpowered and utterly crushed, Elise miserably muttered her companion’s name one last time before her gaze, as if a prayer of that kind could unmake the heinous happening.
-
Elise looked up with her glistening, disconsolate eyes, pleading forgiveness to the other intangible entity once again.
Attempting not to choke on her own words, she managed to utter her appellation, acknowledging how it could strangle her then and there.
"Lebkuchen…"
One of the crystalline beads quickly forming at the edges of her eyes rolled down her cheek; following the previously delineated agleam streams, it plummeted down to the reflective ground.
Shimmering down its way, the golden tear merged with the bottomless, aphotic material which composed the floor.
Had the deplorable, obnoxious chatter and those detestable mocking cackles ceased at once to let her summon her wishes properly, perchance...things could have developed differently.
Lebkuchen took hold of her chin, lifting Elise’s tear streaked face to earnestly gaze at her weeping eyes; gently wiping one salty bead from the grief-stricken lass' cheek with her thumb, she spoke softly.
"Elise, I had absolved you from my harsh judgment long ago."
The lass in question gasped, taken aback by Lebkuchen’s statement; how could have she been deserving of forgiveness, given the horrendous fate she subjected her venerated bosom friend to?
She had never forgotten the unbridgeable forlornness, the aftermath pursuing Lebkuchen’s forced “departure”; it haunted her ideation at any time, rendering her unable to take heed to anything but her own excruciating agony.
Lebkuchen solemnly placed a peck on Elise's quivering lips, lingering in place a short while.
"During this time without you, I have had the means to reflect on your choices."
Once they separated, she affectionately stroked Elise's bow, letting it bounce back to its shape slowly once its soft ear was released; helplessly, the poor lass' eyes welled up anew with tears of grief.
Close enough to brush one another’s lips at every uttered word, Lebkuchen whispered again.
"...likewise, I'd wager you dedicated a great deal of your remaining lifetime in the same manner."
Only Elise herself knew how witnessing the demon consume her close friend pervaded and besieged her mind, subjecting her to everlasting repentance; the never ending streams of thoughts sternly imposed the liability of the misdeed upon her in the shape of lucid dreams tormenting her from nightfall to dawn without fail.
Not even her endeavors to attain serenity throughout joining a monastery could suppress the unfathomable remorse, which lead to ponder about whether or not her persecution was justified; needless to say, there was not even a single instance where Elise didn’t deem it suitable.
Elise tugged on Lebkuchen’s dress, urging her to hold the dejected young woman in an even tighter embrace, as if to become one individual.
Lebkuchen complied, heartening the maiden with softly spoken, meaningful assurance.
"Meeting you again overflowed me with immense elation."
Elise clumsily took ahold of her cross, clutching it in her hand and kissing it in a plea directed toward the other lass, lamenting, for her by then fragile soul had been shattered again, with no intention to coalesce.
She recalled one of the first foreordained meetings with the ill-fated golden maidens; the same day Elise unearthed those bedeviled slippers, in the very same place during eventide, sparkling specks waited for her floating lazily in the air, like her very own starry sky manifested itself in the unintentionally neglected backyard.
She stared awestruck at how the speckles combined themselves to spawn a portrait of a young woman, golden in colour as the luminous flame burning inside her lantern; her shoes were the oddity out of her attire, for they were as red as young blood.
“I was once what you’d call the Good Company, despite these red shoes…the object of her affections, I suppose…”
Elise tilted her head to the side, a puzzled expression pictured on her features.
“What are you talking about?”
The golden girl sighed and closed her eyelids, thoughtfully cupping her own cheek with her hand.
“I was forsaken in His den by the one I loved…”
Her hand trailed down, grazing the shockingly deep, frayed gash of unknown source, which teared her neck open.
“Whoever you bring to keep Him company…bear in mind - this will be their fate.”
The lass disappeared without leaving a trace, letting the courtyard slowly return to its usual modest lightlessness, only toned down by the downcast moonshine.
Elise frowned, more befuddled than she ever had been; she didn’t give it much thought, instead trudging to the backdoor to get some well deserved shut-eye.
-
The second instance, during Wednesday’s dead of night, Elise was better aware of her assignment, albeit the area and its lousy, bothersome inhabitants didn’t quite aid her focus.
Trudging about the nearly abstract surroundings, which included collapsed walls composed of endless slabs and pots as decoration, she came across the same effulgence as every other night since that Monday.
Elise inched forwards and placed her lantern on the dusty ground, waiting for the celestial presence to reveal herself, red shoes encompassed.
“You’ll come face to face with it, too.”
The golden maiden absent mindedly toyed with her apron, absorbed in her own concerns.
“The ruinous grief of your biggest, heaviest regret…”
Elise scoffed at her, folding her arms across her own chest almost in provocation, addressing the lass.
“What’s yours, then?”
The entity smiled wistfully, ultimately directing her somber gaze towards the condescending lassie.
“The same as yours — We all share the same penitence.”
The golden girl dematerialized, leaving behind only a pearl rosary in her place.
Elise bent down and picked it up, turning it over in her hand while brooding about the recent happening.
She huffed, hastily stuffing the possibly blighted object in her apron pocket and closing her fingers around the lantern’s handle once again; straightening up her back and legs, she was once more ready to carry on with her duty.
“This oughta be worth some good pocket money.”
-
Elise placed her beloved’s wooden pendant over her heart, covering it with her hand as if to conceal the ageless item from her own gaze, undeserving of acknowledging its presence and signification.
She leaned her head on the crook of Lebkuchen’s shoulder, resting her temple on the prominence of her collarbone, close to her neck.
She then murmured faintly, as if the closeness would allow her words to reach her companion without needing to be heard.
“The golden maidens warned me, some even tried to dissuade me from progressing with my intentions…”
-
Wandering about the town of Kieferberg during that last stormy Friday twilight, sleepless and troubled altogether for her impending judgment the following day, a further golden luster unsurprisingly took the contour of a maiden before her very own eyes.
Irked, Elise exhaled in displeasure, waiting for the shape to unveil itself completely by tapping her foot redundantly on the bare, sodden soil, causing water droplets to land on the immaculate ruby red lacquer of her footwear and darken her white socks with asymmetrical patterns.
This one damsel seemed to enjoy a great deal rambling about His offerings and feats, applauding each and every aspect of her reward and subsequent sojourn in His wicked, rotten realm.
“Oh, He’s given me all I could ever want!”
Exasperated by her rambling, Elise decided to reciprocate her interest by inquiring the arrogant, pompous maiden.
“Which was?”
Elise dryly questioned, contemplating about how even pinecones would have made more of an engaging subject.
The golden figure sneered at her, gesturing outwards widely with her own hand to perceivably represent her own concepts.
“Why, luxury! Wealth! Opulence!”
She clasped her hands together and accosted them to her cheek, almost in adoration.
“Oh, I can’t wait to have you and your inamorata with us!”
Elise shook her head briefly, unsettled; her fretting ceased at once, displaced by feelings of abashedness.
Staring at the silhouette scattering in golden, radiant particles which blended with the rainfall and pattered down on the by then soggy hay, Elise mumbled to herself, taking her typical pondering stance, where her knuckles grazed the underside of her jaw.
“My what…?”
Sighing in resignation, she unwittingly looked down when relaxing her arm and only then grumbled, frustrated.
“Great, my shoes are soiled. Exactly what I needed, for goodness’ sake...”
-
Elise shifted even closer to her darling dearest, letting the tip of her nose brush Lebkuchen’s neck.
“I began having a clue about what was approaching, yet...i decided to go forth, indulging in my self-centered wishes, hoping to provide you a better life as well..”
She slowly exhaled in anguish, summoning in her own thoughts possibly her most treasured memoir.
The vivid image of her hallowed friend’s elegant, overly familiar features, irradiated by the sunset’s tepid orange and pinks painting a warm hue over them was burned directly in her conscious; she recalled the way her flowing headpiece complimented her hair in that moment, despite Elise’s preference aligned with Lebkuchen’s gilded locks free of the veil’s figurative constraint.
Her breath hitched reviving how their slight height gap allowed them to lean their foreheads on one another without causing their noses to bump; oh, how Elise gazed lovingly at her serene, soft traits, allowed for once to marvel at Lebkuchen’s delicacy and beauty, revealed by the means of Lebkuchen’s act, consisting in splitting her heart asunder and letting her feelings pour out.
She could not refrain herself from noticing how close they were to kiss, leading her to yearn cradling Lebkuchen’s jaw in her own calloused hands, skimming over those bronze-colored long lashes of hers with her thumb; her unbearable longing to caress her plush lips with her own reflected in Elise’s lustrous golden irises, unable to focus anywhere but her treasured friend, soon to become lover.
The hand placed above the cross tingled, evoking the reminiscence of the intimate, recognizable touch of her adored companion grazing her rough hands, which echoed in the rear of her own mind along with her own momentous words, uttered with a sincere smile.
“We know each other better than anyone else, don’t we?”
The mere remembrance was more than enough for the pitiable lass to shudder and shed tears once again, mourning their last lighthearted figments of contentment.
Elise circled Lebkuchen’s neck with her shivering arms holding on for dear life, lest she was deprived once more of her long lost lover.
Between sobs and whimpers, a handful of waning coherent sounds escaped Elise’s throat, caressing her meaningful other’s skin in a woeful endearment.
“Leb…I couldn’t keep our promise…”
-
As if on cue, Lebkuchen opened her eyes just as the colossal bells rang with deep tolls, symbolizing the beginning of a new hour, almost to provide her the courage to disclose her longings.
“Elise…”
Elise’s attention, focused on whatever on Earth could come out next from the lass’ enticing lips, got recalled by a tender voice spelling her own name coming from said young woman, which spoke again with imperativeness.
“Promise me you’ll be all right – with or without me, it doesn’t matter.”
Elise let herself giggle, certain no such thing as “without me” could ever ensue; with one heartfelt smile painted on her lips and a loyal gaze directed toward her, she answered her revered friend’s demand.
“I promise, Leb. I can’t expect you to watch over me forever, can I?”
-
“...and yet that’s precisely what took place...”
Helpless to halt her own weeping, Elise sought help in her suitor’s eyes, which unwaveringly, yet reverently contemplated her pathetically sorrowful features.
Holding her contemplation, Lebkuchen nimbly took hold of one of the ribbon’s ends between her nimble fingertips, pulling on the cloth to unfasten the bow; consequently, Elise’s gloriously disorganized tresses loosened up, devoid of their emblematic detail.
The poised young woman entangled her fingers in the golden fabric, gracefully freeing her dainty fingertips to tenderly tuck one of the long, tidy locks of golden hair behind Elise’s ear, brushing her cheek on the process.
Switching hands to better run her fingers through Elise’s ungoverned, magnificently messy mane, one corner of Lebkuchen’s lips uplifted in a half-hearted smile.
With one hint of a pensive sigh, the maiden spoke through her affectionate voice amidst hardly noticeable hilarity, stilling her hand’s ministrations ever so slightly.
“Leastways, the habit is not anymore of that color I wasn’t so fond of, is it?”
The other lass stared at her as if she had grown two heads, mouth agape and suspended breath altogether; torn between lashing out outraged or resuming her bewailing, she spoke affronted, louder than she had ever been since their reconciliation.
“Lebkuchen…! Don’t be ridiculous…!”
Without delay, Elise’s glassy eyes returned to their perpetual weeping; unable to bear her gaze, she laid her head on Lebkuchen’s breast.
Clutching her own arms close to herself, she muttered tristfully; the few words suffocating her usually dignified, bright voice barely spilled out of her lips.
”We could have gotten married, y’know..”
Taking into account Elise’s rightful reprimand, Lebkuchen cooed at her lovingly whilst gently prying one of the tightly latched appendages with the aid of her occupied hand.
“Elise...look at me, dearest.”
In an attempt to relieve the maiden of her anguish and calm her spirits, as the one hand freed from the other, the veiled woman endearingly held slender fingers between her own hands.
She wrapped the ribbon reclaimed from the lass’ head in a makeshift silken band on the ring finger, fastening the allegorical ring with one small bow in the place of where the stone embedding should have been.
Her face revealing one earnest smile which illuminated her features, Lebkuchen enunciated her innermost yearnings.
“Will you...be my spouse, Elise?”
Succeeding the reverential demand, Lebkuchen closed her eyelids and accosted the newly adorned hand to her lips, kissing those well known, lithe fingers in devotion.
Elise drew a brief, startled sharp breath, even after having assisted at the meaningfully sappy scene from the comfort of her lover’s bosom; she curled her fingers around the hand tenderly holding her own in a snug clasp, astounded by the unforeseen, yet welcome, query.
Promptly straightening up her posture, she gazed at her inamorata fondly, awaiting for her to open her eyes; only then returned the momentous confession with her own ardour.
“I...yes, Leb...of course I want to…!”
Elise drew her face near their joined hands; unhurriedly closing her eyes, she brushed her lips solemnly against the back of the hand holding her fingers dearly, in an everlasting pledge of loyalty.
“How I adore you, Lebkuchen..”
Longingly cradling her companion’s jaw in her idle hand, stroking the sensitive area adjacent her ear with her index finger, Lebkuchen touched her lips to her forehead, marking for the first time Elise’s skin as her abiding wife.
Incapable to suppress her own feelings, Elise sighed, her eyes welling up with gleeful tears; her disengaged hand slowly crept up her sweetheart’s neck, fingers crawling under her veil to stroke her concealed, neatly arranged tresses.
Affectionately threading her fingers through her disheveled, undisciplined hair, Lebkuchen purred contently against Elise’s forehead, as if to etch the following words in that very same place.
"There is no need to fret, Elise. We have eternity to make up for lost time together.”