Lorelei awoke to the nose tickling scent of cheap dollar store perfume. It was positively acrid, the kind of smell only a little kid would love. Had she seen the bottle the obnoxious concoction had originated from there was no doubt it would be adorned with text describing a “strawberry scent” or something to that effect; a proposition completely destroyed by the blatant artificiality of it all. She felt like she had fallen asleep inside of a cotton candy machine instead of in her room.

Not that her awakening was completely terrible, far from it. A warm mass shifted in front of her, providing the perfect amount of heat to offset the room’s air conditioning. Something soft cushioned her head. She opened her eyes a slit, just enough to make out the difference between light and shadow. She confirmed it was what she thought, a tangle of fluffy strawberry blonde hair. It was so soft she felt like she could sink into it forever and forget the world.

Seriously.

Waking up next to Beth was the best.

A bitter, nutty smell permeated the room, rousing Lorelei from another night of still and dreamless sleep. Coffee, the average kind nobody liked but bought because they had a buy one get one free coupon. There were a few other scents as well. Eggs, batter with a hint of cooking oil.

An idyllic breakfast time if there ever was one.

Slowly, she sat up to the protest of her weary body. She’d spent most of the night sitting in the lotus position reading a novel, something her aching thighs and back were all too quick to remind her of. Why was it even a named position if all it did was make you feel crappy? Who the hell liked sitting this way enough to actually “invent” it?

“What a position. Criss cross applesauce. More like complete garbage...sauce,” she groaned.

Lorelei looked around the room lazily. Nice and plain, though not for lack of trying. Her proprietor kept on pestering her about decorating the place. Just another reason she hated having to deal with other people, extraneous decoration was just letting the ego sit in the driver’s seat. Couldn’t he see that?

Naturally, this meant that the room was completely empty save some furniture here and there. Why wouldn’t it be?

Beth was dead after all. All that crap with the strawberry kiddie perfume had been nothing more than a dream. A cruel joke dredged up by her unconscious mind

There was nothing for Lorelei to share anymore.

Correction, there was nothing she had to share. Same destination, different path. Who cared? A few people in her life were trying to get her to take on a more optimistic mindset but when the mere act of waking up was enough to remind you of your dead foster sister there was little point to it.

Why couldn’t they just leave Lorelei alone? Leaver her be as her heart turned pitch black and crumbled away.

Hunger dulled her misanthropy somewhat. The smell of the spread taking form in the kitchen was...acceptable. She wasn’t quite ready to give the cook more credit than that yet.

She extricated herself from her covers, got up, and went through the door. Another day was waiting for her.

Another day without her sister.

She grunted a morning greeting to Levi as she plopped down in her chair. It wasn’t her chair, per se, just the area of the table nearest the wall she had taken a liking to. Before she knew it she was always sitting there for meals. It was scary how humans formed habits like that.

There was already a mug of coffee in front of her. No doubt it was the perfect temperature with her preferred ratio of coffee to cream to sugar. Lorelei was convinced part of Levi’s knight training had been listening for heartbeats or breathing patterns or something to that end. She had no idea how he did it, but it seemed he had nailed the practice of predicting when she’d emerge from her room down to a science.

Her room. Why was she calling it that again? It was his place, a residential area he rented directly above his book shop.

Levi plopped a plate down in front of her before turning to get his own. There was a respectable pile of eggs and pancakes on it, far more than someone with any common sense would think to give to a thirteen year old girl. In comparison, Levi’s plate held half a pancake and what may have passed for a single egg had Lorelei not known better.

“Oy,” she groaned at him, trying to get his attention as he dipped a tentative tongue into his own coffee to check its temperature.

“What is it?” he responded.

“What’s with all this food you gave me? Switch the plates,” complained Lorelei.

“You’re a growing girl, I think I balanced the portions out pretty well,” he shot back.

“Uhh no. The complete opposite actually. What even made you think I can finish all of this.”

“What’s with you? Morning sickness?”

A dull pressure began to mount behind Lorelei’s eyes. “I want you to think real goddamn carefully about what you just said and what it means before I blow this whole place up.”

“Noooooo! I’m sorry, okay?! Please don’t blow it up! I won’t get the security deposit back if you do that!” protested Levi.

Levi carried on whining in the vain hope his attempt at levity would distract her from the situation at hand. Primarily, he was trying to throw her off from any more commenting on the food and what it implied about his finances.

She had noticed it soon after arriving here. While Lorelei had experienced nothing but ordinary accommodations Levi often demonstrated a personal standard of living appreciably below hers. When she got a full pancake platter he got an egg. When she got a nice new blanket and a private room he would sleep on the couch with a ratty piece of cloth. There was one time he dragged her to the theatre and bought her a movie ticket, only to sneak in from the roof to spare himself the expense ( he had aso employed the age old tactic of going to a different screen after his movie had ended to make the most of the trip).

Long story short, Levi was neglecting to spend money on himself, opting instead to throw it all away on Lorelei.

She was sure that an outside observer would be able to twist this into some perverse demonstration of affection, but in reality it was just stifling.

On top of that, there was the sneaking undercurrent that the whole thing was a long, meandering apology on Levi’s part. An “I’m sorry for taking part in the fight that got your sister killed.” That kind of thing, happens all the time.

Seriously, this was why dealing with people she had prior history with was so troublesome. What had she been thinking, taking his offer like that?

“I know I’m being presumptuous coming here, but I thought...maybe...maybe it’d be for the best if you stayed with me for awhile. Only if that’s what you want, of course!”

She had been weak during that moment. Surely, the isolation of losing Beth and being ordered around by the Congregation had eroded her common sense. She would’ve reached to grab the first branch offered to her. It just so happened Levi was the only one to offer.

“I’m full,” she said, pushing forward a plate with all of its eggs and half of its pancakes eaten. “You should have the rest.”

“I can wrap it up instead so you can eat it later.”

“I can hear your stomach growling from here.” Lorelei got up, not wanting to further argue with her caretaker about how much a growing girl should be eating. “I’m going for a walk. Don’t follow me.”

“Huh? But I thought maybe we could-”

“See you later.”

“W-wait!” Levi scrambled in front of her to block her exit. “You didn’t forget about this weekend, right?”

“Oh, that? No, I haven’t forgotten. I promised to go so I’ll put up with it.”

Seemingly satisfied, Levi stood aside and Lorelei slipped past him to descend to the shop below.

Even though it was still early morning there was already somebody rifling around in the shop. Hugo kept watch from the desk while reviewing an outline Lorelei had seen Noelle giving the golem a few days earlier. Apparently the policewoman was a real Ivy League smartie and had been giving Levi and Hugo tips on how to lay out the books and promotions to attract more customers.

That, or Levi’s original layout was so bad anything was an improvement over it.

The mystery shop attendee stepped past the shelf he had been browsing and into the open. Lorelei’s irritation spiked a little upon seeing him: Derek Peters.

Derek was in her year at the local school. She hadn’t seen much of him since getting wrapped up with the TWE but they were on friendly terms. A better way of putting would be that he had no problem coming up to her and talking her ear off about endless inanities.

He had unfortunately become a common sight in the shop due to a procedural error on Levi’s part. The mage had ordered a recurring magazine subscription with one of his suppliers which came with some less than wholesome titles. His efforts to conceal them had been less than exemplary, resulting in The Dusty Tome becoming a convenient resource for anyone craving some old school smut.

The weirdest part about it was that Derek had a smartphone, so relying on some old, creepy magazines was entirely a personal choice.

“Oh! Lorelei! How’s your dad been this morning?” asked Derek, strolling up to her as if he hadn’t been browsing exploitative erotica a minute beforehand.

“He’s not my dad,” she replied. “Levi’s been pulling the creepy paternal act again. You wouldn’t happen to know what his deal is?”

“Huh? I just talk to him down here sometimes.” Derek scratched his head in confusion. “What’s wrong with acting paternal? Doesn’t he take care of you?”

“You’d get it if you were me,” she said dismissively, “I’m not about to get into it with a kid who lurks around to browse pinup girls.”

“This is research for my future photography career.”

“Oh well. Excuse me then. How was today’s selection monsieur?”

“Lacking,” he sighed. “These modern day rags don’t hold a candle to the classics. The photographers really strove to capture the essence of the girls back in the day, y’know? These days they know they can’t compete so it’s all done on the cheap. The art form has really taken a hit.”

“And yet you’re still here.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t like them.”

“Annnnnnd there it is.”

Exasperated, Lorelei made her way towards the door. No good would come from furthering this stupid discussion.

“Leaving? Wanna hang out today?” asked Derek.

“No...today’s private,” said Lorelei.

“I won’t pry,” said Derek. “Just...try to have fun.”

“What the...you too huh? No wonder you and Levi get along.”

Spring had given way to the humid oppression of summer over the last few months, and today was proof of that. It was positively sweltering out, Lorelei had ditched her favorite hoodie for a plain black t-shirt and jeans. Even then, the jeans felt like a bad move and she should have swapped them out for shorts.

The foul weather made the appearance of the woman approaching Lorelei on the sidewalk all the more disarming. She was tall and slender, with sleek black hair and curves in all the right places. Even with a full police uniform on there wasn’t a thread out of place. She swung a bag absentmindedly but the put togetherness of everything else about her made even this innocuous action look like the posing of a model.

While there was nothing concrete to criticize, Lorelei found the very existence of the woman indecent, not least of all her personality.

‘Yoohoo! Lorelei!” cried out Noelle.

“Stop right there!” commanded Lorelei. “I have a terrible feeling this is going to be one of those days where everybody under the sun bothers me with petty conversation.”

“Petty? No such thing. Conversation helps us understand others and, most importantly, ourselves,” said Noelle with a totally blank expression.

“Shut up! I know you don’t mean that! There’s nobody in the face of the Earth who could mean that less than you!” accused Lorelei.

“That’s true. I tolerate conversation with everyone with the exception of men, women, and children.”

“That’s almost everyone!” yelled Lorelei, exasperated. “Please tell me you have a reason for being here.”

“Of course, it’s this,” said Noelle as she flourished a baton. “Just got given this puppy. Black polycarbonate, brand new state of the art!” Noelle continued to spni the baton, bragging, before bringing it sideways into a nearby telephone pole.

“Hup!” she exhaled as the baton cracked into the pole, sending a splinter of wood flying. “Pretty cool, right?” she asked as if her behavior hadn’t been completely inappropriate for her standing.

“I hope they revoke your badge,” groaned Lorelei. One minute of interaction and she was already exhausted with Noelle.

“I’m in no rush to job hunt,” said Noelle, holding out the bag to Lorelei. “I’m actually here to give you this.”

Lorelei peeked inside. The bag contained a number of feminine hygiene products, some of them peppered with ridiculous marketing slogans such as “made from 100% organic cotton!”

“This is such overkill,” Lorelei sighed. “Let me guess, Levi gave you these to hand over to me? It’s the same with the food.”

“I’m sure he’s just doing whatever it is he thinks he’s supposed to,” said Noelle. “Besides, he said you got angry at him last time he picked this stuff up for you.”

“That’s because he did it while I was next to him in the store! Everybody could see some smelly old guy handing me pads!”

“Well...maybe he could use some more tact,” said Noelle. “Want me to tell him to return all this and buy some Maxi Pads?”

“Maxi? Why so specific?”

“Maxi dress?”

“Stop it.”

“Maxie’s World?”

“I don’t even know what the fuck you’re talking about!”

“Oh, sorry. Maxie’s World was an animated show made by DIC Animation City in 1987 to tie in with the “Maxie” fashion doll line. However, the show was short lived and the toy line was dissolved soon after. It’s nothing more than a vignette lost to time. That being said, there are still a few fans who-”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. That’s enough.” Lorelei tried her best to dismiss the topic. “You’re the only person I know who’ll bring up something so dumb to try and be funny.”

Lorelei began to walk away, not wanting to put up with Noelle’s antics any longer. She’d leave the bag to her as well. Walking around town while holding that crap would be totally humiliating.

‘Right…,” Noelle muttered to herself. “It never gets any easier with her, does it?”

Finally free of distractions, Lorelei stood in a derelict corner of Ithaca City Cemetery. While the area saw an occasional visit from groups of rowdy students it was overall tranquil and just under the radar enough for Lorelei to go about her work.

There wasn’t much to interact with in the immediate area, just a few overgrown trees and some grass. It looked relatively untouched, which was by design. Lorelei had cast a glamour here some time back to dupe the function of her filter and not draw attention.

With a wave of her hand, Lorelei dispelled the second level of the glamour, revealing polished stone and a vibrant display of flowers of all colors, some blatantly unnatural. The stone, gleaming in the sunlight, had one word carved into it: Beth.

This was her shrine. While the Congregation had justified confiscating Beth’s body for all manner of reasons, they had no right to stop Lorelei from memorializing the young witch in her own way. Technically the shrine was unsanctioned and if anyone caught wind of it they’d have it removed, but Lorelei wasn’t about to let them in on it.

This place was for her and her alone. A place where she could mourn in peace without the surface level or magical worlds intruding upon her. Just her, a grave, and some flowers. Nothing more needed to be there, any other addition would be unnecessary.

Ever since Beth had passed Lorelei knew the only purpose a monster such as herself had in this world would be remembering her sister as she was.

This was her meaning, her only justification for living in this pointless world.

She would tell it to no one.