Avarice

Ten years. One solid decade tonight; one whole decade of being denied and pushed away, only to find him again. Valerie wondered how long he would run, how long she would have to run after him. She would voyage to the ends of Skordrya to find him; she would never stop loving him, no matter how he felt. Valerie would be united with her love, and she would make him love her. She thought about it now, so dearly, so fondly. Valerie and Julius; no, Julius and Valerie.

"Silly girl! He always comes first, precious, precious Julius! My darling Jules, my love! Stop talking to yourself. You look daft."

She felt guilty, like his feelings were all her fault. He definitely didn't love that girl, what was her name, Ava or Annah or something. She loved him, but not in the way Valerie did. The girl couldn't fathom the love Valerie had for sweet Julius! She must have been confused; Valerie freed her from that. Even when Julius raised her from the dead, that couldn't mean they loved each other. No, no, no, no, that would be silly, she thought. Preposterous, even! Julius just didn't understand Valerie's feelings, that was it.

"Ride to him, Valerie! Ride to your love, and stop talking to yourself!"

The lovestruck young woman rode determinedly through a vibrant green forest over a path of smooth, light grey bricks, every hundred feet passing underneath a white wooden arch overgrown with pink flowers.

"My dear Julius wouldn't be here, no, not ever! He wouldn't be caught dead here... ha! I made a joke, didn't I? Julius does have some weird hobbies... Look! On the far horizon! 'Tis a dark castle! Look at the spires... He would love that!"

She rode out of the forest, melodramatically leaning into the neck of her chestnut steed, which galloped indifferently across a vivid green field. A deep, rocky canyon lay in the ground like an open grave at the end of her ride, and Valerie was forced to go on foot down its treacherous, unforgiving cliffs.

"Don't lose heart, Valerie! 'Tis but a price you must pay for love, the truest love! Go to him, your perfect knight in shining armor! He must love you after your many valorous trials... right?"

Valerie could not help but remember the day she met her love, Julius. He was perfect. The cherry blossoms behind him brought his pale face out of his dark hood; they did for Valerie, anyway. His shoulders were her ideal width, though she didn't have a preference before. He was tall- was he? Surely he was. How else could she look up to him so fondly? And his voice was perfect. He must have been confused, because he soundly crushed her heart with it when Valerie professed her undying love to him. He spouted some nonsense about how they just met and how he very literally just waltzed into her village to announce his turning of the village into a relentless horde of shambling zombies. How cute he was! She loved him.
* * *
Julius sat in an oaken chair upholstered with soft red velvet. His leg, though obstructed by his black hazy robe, was crossed over his knee, and his hands were knit together in his lap. His chamber in the top of the dark castle's tallest tower should keep that strange, disturbing girl at bay. She was always annoying, though she may have held some value to him once. He could have used her. Now, though, he could not. That girl...

"No, what a poor word choice. That... that, that thing, that monster... That's the word. That monster changed me. I'm different now. Where did all the depravity go? The madness? The sadism, the cruelty, where did they all go? All my precious twisted desires, the rebellion, the hatred, they were gone with Annie. That monster took the only person I ever cared about from me, the only person I could relate to, the only person I could love! The only person I could not hate, no matter how hard I tried... How easily reduced to rubble I was. Look at me now! Alas... The only things around me are zombies. Mindless drones, moaning incessantly. Even Annie... I was not skilled enough to bring her back, not really. How tragic for me. How mortifying that my love, hell, my disembodied heart, now shambles as a slave... oh. Oh! Oh. I know!"

When he finished his certainly necessary soliloquy, he formulated his scheme while swaying and spinning to the window. His eye just so happened to catch a white figure in the canyon, and he grinned furiously. She would come willingly into the heart of Julius's storm.

"She will die. And she will suffer... Annie, I swear to you, I will eliminate her with extreme prejudice. No, poor word choice again. Justice; yes, that's it. I will bring you justice, my love!"

Julius remembered the day he met his enemy. She stuck out from the earthen brown town square like a blossom-pink sore thumb. Her hair really was mesmerizing. It was a very bright pink... a ridiculous shade, though pretty. Her face was red; she was constantly blushing around him. Her eyes were the same ludicrous pink as her hair... her hair. It was so entrancing. Julius could not examine a single detail on that monster's body for more than a few seconds without glancing at her hair for a moment. He couldn't help it; it was just... there. Everywhere on this girl, her long pink hair stole attention. He hated it! Julius had almost blasted her across the town square with dark magic, but he couldn't have killed her then. The hair, it was like a drug; it was addicting to look at. He couldn't have harmed her, the hair would be sullied! Wasted... just like Annie.

Julius punched a stone wall in anguish, his magic shattering it into fragments that exploded into the dark courtyard filled to the brim with rotting, shambling, reeking idiots. All the zombies he had raised, they were nothing! All were controlled by him, they were useless without him. Just how he had intended. His influence would be gone forever.
* * *
A visitor climbed the dark tower's walls to be reunited with her love, and Julius let her approach so he could be reunited with his. Valerie was so ecstatic! She dug her gloved fingers and booted toes into any crevices she could find and climbed to reach Julius. She was already fantasizing about getting married in the ruins of her village, under the now dead cherry blossom trees where she met her love. It was only half an hour until she reached the top, where Julius had smashed a hole in the wall for her! How sweet of him; he really cared! Valerie stood in the opening and looked at Julius, who sat straight in the oaken armchair with its luxurious velvet upholstery.

Julius spread an arm out to offer Valerie a hug. In his hand was a black obelisk, sharp at one end. She ran to his ice-cold... no, his warm embrace. She was finally truly happy... and Julius was as well. He adjusted the weapon as he held Valerie in his left arm, grabbing the obelisk by its side, then plunged it through both of their hearts.
* * *
The zombies remain, now skeletons guarding the cursed castle, albeit poorly, as they are without will. At the top of the tallest tower dance the souls of Julius and Annie; Valerie's was nonexistent from the start. Their bodies are nowhere to be found, though it is safe to assume that Annie's is among the skeletal swarm in the courtyard. So rests Julius with his love as his hatred steeps in the obelisk, which will be found lying in the middle of the room at the top of the tallest tower by a very wicked woman. That is a story that will change Skordrya forever; this one is over, and is ancient history for the lovely world of Skordrya, dearest reader.