Pride & Humility

VII

Beta: Taintedletter

Picture done by me. 

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(PRIDE)

Pride let out a small sigh as Ellie curled into his side.

The night she came home with him and Wrath had been a busy one, to say the least. After Katherine had finally released Ellie to go to bed, the small girl had almost immediately woken back up and fled to Pride's room to seek refuge from a nightmare.

She had been scared by visions in her head.

How utterly ridiculous.

But that was how humans were. Humans were pathetic little creatures who cowered at the sight of power, and lusted over violence. They were creatures who jumped at the chance to slaughter their own, and betrayed one another with ease.

Every human Pride had met reminded him of these facts.

Humans either turned to whimpering bags of meat who pleaded for their lives or tried to hide behind a mask of false bravado when encountering Pride's true form.

They all paled with terror when they saw Pride devour their fellow kind, though.

You would think that witnessing such predictable actions for over three hundred years would have dulled Pride's amusement.

But low and behold Pride could still relish their faces as he toyed with them before death.

He loved it when they stood up to him, because it made their defeat to him that much sweeter.

Humans were such easily predictable things, he believed.

Until along came two oddities.

Katherine Bradley, who Wrath claimed, and Elizabeth Luxanna.

Katherine was... warm.

Pride had never known the touch of a mother, or been shown genuine care before meeting Katherine. The woman was sweet to a fault, and doted on Pride without restraint. Being tucked into bed was a novel experience, and having a motherly figure worry over him was... fine.

It made him wonder why all humans weren't like that. If they were, Pride wouldn't find them so disgusting.

On the other hand, if Pride had to describe Ellie in one word it would: puppy.

Because that is exactly what she was.

She yipped, barked, and dashed over to his side at every chance. She was a loyal dog who eagerly awaited her owner at the end of each day. All he had to do was give her a pat here, a compliment there, and spend time with her, and she rolled over for him.

No matter how much time passed between the two, she would go out of her way to be by his side and entertain him.

It amused him to see that innocent affection in her eyes, the way her whole face would light up with warmth when she saw him.

Puppy aptly described her.

No matter what he did by that point, Pride would bet she'd still come running straight back to him. Even if he locked her up, starved her, cut off her limbs one by one, she'd still give him that sweet smile.

She'd all too happily commit the taboo if he asked her to, thusly making her the perfect sacrifice for Father.

Yes, Pride had done an excellent job at cultivating her dependency on him. Now with him having "saved" her from her family her loyalty to him was cemented eternally in her heart. She would devote herself to whatever he asked to her, and she would do so with a wagging tail.