The Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony Canto III (2024)

Lust: Canto 2

That night, Tom laid wide awake in his bed, staring up at the darkness that swallowed his bedroom whole. He thought about the girl that was on the beach. He couldn't explain it but he had to find her and know who she is. There was something alluring about her that was pulling him towards her. He saw her from a distance but even so, he knew that she was beautiful. Questions with no answers filled his head as her image danced in his mind.

Finally, he made a decision. He reached over from his bed and adjusted the alarm clock on his cell phone. For several weeks now he had a fairly constant routine. Now, he was about to break his mundane lifestyle.

He slept and what seemed like no time at all, his alarm clock went off at five in the morning. He reached over sluggishly and punched the keys until the damned machine finally shut up. He got up, stretched, and got ready.

He had his normal attire on except that he was wearing his regular shoes instead of the dress shoes he usually wore for work. He skipped his hygiene and went right for the door.

Instead of the subway, he headed down for the beach. He didn't know what he would find, if anything, but he had to do something because he was driven crazy about this girl.

It was still raining.

As he walked, the buildings slowly progressed from their dreary persona to a more optimistic and friendly design. Houses replaced apartments and newly bought cars took over shoddy, hand-me-downs. He was entering beach front property, where only the richest and most well off people lived. They all lived by the motto, "If you got it, flaunt it."

At the last house Tom stopped and took a deep breath of the salty wind that blew in from the ocean. The ocean's presence was more prominent at the beach front. The wind blew fiercer. The waves crashed louder.

Tom walked down a flight of stairs and stepped off of the sidewalk and onto the beach. He walked forward and was finally at the border of the beach face. He gazed at the ocean and then turned around and looked up at the morose Olivine City. The rising sun, though blocked by the rainy clouds, began to illuminate the dark city and wake it up from its restless slumber. From this morning light Tom saw his apartment building. He didn't know exactly where the girl he saw stood, but he knew it was somewhere along this region.

He opened his mouth and then closed it. Truth be told, he didn't know where to go from here. He now felt embarrassed at his plan of action. He kind of expected the girl to just pop up from nowhere. But that obviously didn't happen.

He looked down at the sand and, not for the first time in his life, wished he was a stronger man. His stomach then growled and he remembered he didn't eat any breakfast.

He placed a hand on his stomach and looked up and saw nearby a small diner that was made of nothing but concrete and wood. It sat idly next to a rotting pier with boats of all models and sizes tied up next to it. The diner looked unclean and unsafe but Tom was hungry and he damned the consequences that might happen.

As he walked to the diner, he looked towards the south and saw the famous lighthouse that Olivine was known for. It stood proudly near the edge of a tall cliff as if daring the ocean to bring it down. Its gaze swept across the ocean as it alerted nearby ships where the shoreline was. Soon, it will fall asleep for its daily slumber as its parent city wakes up to the morning sun.

Once upon a time, the lighthouse had a pokemon in it, but the pokemon repeatedly became ill, no doubt from the noxious fumes of the city, and it finally died much to the gym leader's sorrow who loved the creature. The city built a small memorial to the pokemon and decided to implement a real light bulb that wouldn't become sick like its predecessor did.

Though the lighthouse was near his apartment, Tom hadn't taken the time to go inside of it yet. It was free to the public and it was actually a haven when it came to battling pokemon. Tourists that go to Olivine City usually place it at or near the number one spot to do while in the coast side city. When he first heard this, Tom thought that was crazy. But the more he thought it, the more it made sense, what else was there to do in this melancholic city?

He shrugged and continued his walk.

He took the steps up to the diner and placed a firm grip on the railing. The wooden steps were slick from being covered in moss and soaked in water. His shoes barely gripped them in the first place. The steps creaked under his weight as he took his tentative steps up. Once he was on the deck, he looked up at the sign and read:

The Lighthouse Diner​

Fresh fish and krabbies served every day.​

Immediately, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a wave of sounds and scents along with a blast of heat as well. Cacophonic sounds of talking, belching, music playing and groaning played with his ears. A mixture of dissimilar smells, ranging from putrefying to sweet filled the air. And a roaring fire from the brick fireplace gave warmth to those who shivered from the cold rain. Tom then realized that someone from the back of the shop shouted for him to close the door. Blinking twice, he walked in and slammed it behind him.

That only seemed to intensify the sounds and smells, with nowhere to go, they bounced about in the room with much celerity.

Tom finally got a good look at the patrons. They ranged from strapping young men whose beard growth seemed quite abnormal to old men with one foot already in the grave. Some of the men, in particular the older ones, had women sitting next to them either saying nothing with mouths as tight as a sailor's knot to ones that had mouths wide open and were laughing quite loudly and hysterically. If this what a Wednesday morning offered, Tom thought, then he had to think what the inn's Friday evening was like.

He looked around and decided to sit at the bar next to an old man who was by himself. His body was hunched over like some sort of gargoyle and his fingers were knobby and wrinkly like a sickened tree branch. He wore a ratty flat cap and attire that hinted on how little he shopped for clothes.

The old man only gave Tom an ephemeral glance and went right back to his drink. Tom waited until a waitress came up to him and asked him what he will have.

"Uh…do you have pancakes?"

"We ain't got pancakes," she replied, her voice laced with poison.

"Oh…uh…what do you have then?"

"We got fish, krabbies, eggs and toast."

"Oh, well…I think I'll just have two pieces of toast and two eggs sunny side up."

"You sure you don't want some boiled krabbies?"

Tom looked besides the waitress and saw someone take his krabby and flip it onto its back. Using his knife, he pried the shell apart a bit. He then took the knife out and then opened the rest of the shell with his hands. Immediately, a collection of guts and other unsavory items spilled out of the opened carcass. The man then began to pick apart the meat from the shell and ate them with much satisfaction.

Upon seeing this Tom said, "Uh…I think I'm good."

"Mendy!" shouted the old man next to Tom so suddenly that it made him jump, "Give me another round of Octillery Rum!"

"Rob, you've had enough already. If you have any more you might piss yourself and fall down drunk."

Rob waved that comment away and said, "Nah…you see…that's exactly…what I want…it will help me…get rid of these…damn…nightmares…"

Mendy wasn't convinced though and she let him be. Rob called after her with an abundant amount of insults before he finally quieted down. Tom looked at the man with a peculiar look.

"You're not…are you that fisherman the newspaper interviewed about the two bodies they found?"

Rob gave a drunken look at Tom that made him wince, he mumbled to himself and said, "You a reporter?"

"No, I'm just interested in the story. Can you tell me more about it?"

"Believe me…laddie…you don't want to know about it. Those two bodies…they were killed…by the Siren…"

"The Siren?"

"Aye. I didn't believe in monsters like the Siren before…always figured they were caused by pokemon or somethin'…"

"What makes you think it was a siren?"

Rob looked at his glass with an almost tearful glance. Tom handed him his glass of water that the waitress had earlier put down for him. Rob quaffed the drink down like it really was alcohol and slammed it down hard on the counter.

"She's been calling me…"

"Calling you? How so?"

"She's been singing to me. She's…luring me to her with her seductive voice. I can't resist her…"

"When did this start?"

"Oh…this began after I found those damn bodies…she must have allured those poor souls to her…and drowned them without a second thought…"

Rob became wide eyed. His hand began to quiver.

"She's now hunting new prey….she's hunting me…"

He began to cry and then he cradled his head in his arms. His uncontrollable sobs left Tom in an awkward position.

"I'm going to die…die…" he blubbered on, "I'm going to die…"

Tears rolled down his cheek and by now his speech had become so slurred from drunkenness and crying that Tom wasn't able to understand him by now. He sat there and absorbed what he was just told.

"Come on…" Tom said rubbing the fisherman's back, "let's get you back to your home. Where do you live?"

At the very mention of home, Rob straightened up and almost immediately stopped crying though tears still ran down his face. He looked at Tom with a wild look in his eye and said, "I ca-ca-can't go out there…"

His eyes flickered to the entrance and back to Tom.

"Why not?"

"Be-because she'll sta-start singing to me…and once I hear her voice…I'm as good as d-dead."

Rob then gave a laugh that was full of irony and sadness.

"The melody she'll sing to me…will be my Swan Song…"

He gave another icy cold laugh which made Tom shiver in the warm and joyful diner.

~ 1 ~ 1 ~​

Besides the trip to the shore, the rest of Tom's day went relatively normal. Talked to the stray magnemite, took the subway, worked at his office, took the subway back and talked to the magnemite again.

However, instead of staying at his apartment for the rest of the night, he decided to head back down to the beach again. He needed to see girl from yesterday but he couldn't answer why. Perhaps if he saw her, she could answer that for him.

After a quick dinner he quickly walked out of his apartment and took the same route he took this morning back down to the beach. Once he was on the beach he looked around for the strange girl but wasn't able to spot her, again.

Tom sighed. He felt exhausted at this point. Little sleep the night before and a taxing day as it was led him to feel awful. And his addiction to see who this girl was was driving him crazy. His heart had to know but the rest of him just wanted to sleep.

Maybe I should follow up on Rob's lead and just get hammered…

The sounds of distress splashing and cries of help snapped Tom back to the moment. He looked around and saw from a distance someone who was barely keeping afloat in the turbulent waters. He blinked and instinct kicked in.

He untied his shoes, pulled off his socks and unbuttoned his pants. He thought he could swim fine with his work shirt on so he kept it on. Right when he was about to dive in, he saw something that made him almost fall over.

It was the girl from yesterday.

She looked at him with inquisitive eyes as he stood there awkwardly in his boxers. Before he could stop himself he shouted, "What are you doing? There's someone out there that needs our help!"

She just looked at him like he was confusing artwork.

Tom shook his head and without a second glance dove into the water.

He barely had time to register her. He only saw her for a few seconds.

Splash, splash, splash, splash.

But he knew exactly what she looked like.

Left, right, left, right, left right.

Long and flowing, chocolate brown hair.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

Large auburn colored eyes.

Faster, faster, faster.

A delicately built face with a small nose but full lips.

Go, go, go, go, go.

Smooth, vanilla-colored skin.

Will she die?

Small, thin, confident looking and strong.

Almost there, almost there!

Very nicely sized breasts.

Wait, were her breasts that big?

Tom grabbed the person, who he saw was a young woman, and began to drag her back to shore. His thoughts on the mysterious, beach girl were pushed aside by his thirst to live and his desire to save this girl's life. His arms, already tired from the swim out, began to ache under him. And now with one arm mainly doing the swimming, he was wearing out quicker.

But he pushed on.

Go, go, go!

The rain pelted him adding insult to injury but he didn't notice. His eyes were firmly fixed on the beach. They were so tight and focused that he seemed to have locked on one of the grains of sand. That grain of sand was his goal, his destination. If he reached it, then the girl's life could be saved.

He was breathing harder and the salty water was getting into his mouth. He spat it out and kept going.

I can do this, I can do this…

The salty water made tears form in his eyes. He tried his best to wipe them out but they still kept coming.

Breathe, breathe, breathe!

His whole body was screaming for him to stop and rest but he knew he can't.

Almost there, almost there!

He was so close….

Little more…just a little more…

He collapsed onto the beach and let go of the woman. He flipped over onto his back and looked up at the clouds. He was breathing so hard that his lungs ached from it. But through the dull pain, it almost felt good to him.

The girl next to him wasn't moving and when he realized this, he sat back up and flipped her over. He was taught CPR before but it had been awhile since he last done it. His quivering eyes snapped back into focus again and his shaky hands became stoic despite his rapidly beating heart. He performed the motions and the actions and he was glad that he still remembered them all.

Suddenly, the girl opened her eyes again and had a severe coughing fit. She lurched up and tried to expel all the intruding sea water. Tom instantly relaxed and collapsed again onto the beach to recover. He was relieved that she was alive and he was proud that he still remembered his valuable lifesaving skills. As her amount of coughing was slowing down, Tom said, "Hey, are you alright? Do you want me to call a hospital?"

She shook her head, "No…I think I'll be fine…"

She spat out the salty taste in her mouth and looked up at him and gave a weak smile, "Thanks for saving me…" she said meekly.

"Haha, it wasn't like I had a choice now did I? What were you doing out there anyway?"

She coughed and looked embarrassed when he asked her that. She glance up the shoreline and said, "Can I make it up to you? Let me buy you a cup of coffee, you must be cold after you jumped into the ocean to save me."

At the very mention of "cold," Tom realized that he was indeed freezing. He was shivering constantly and his teeth chattered like a constantly going typewriter. He also remembered that he didn't have any pants on.

"That would be uh…great actually…you sure don't want to have someone check you out?"

"No," she said after another round of coughing, "I think the best doctor at the moment is one who prescribes caffeine."

To fortify her statement, she slowly got up without any help from him. She gave another smile and said, "Well…uh…how about you put on your pants then and we can get ourselves nice and warm."

~ 1 ~ 1 ~​

A nearby coffee shop provided Tom and his companion, whose name was Maria, the warmth they needed from the cold. Though Tom's clothes were still damp from swimming in the ocean, the heat from his caffeinated drink spread throughout his body from his stomach. It felt refreshing and relaxing. It was weird though, Tom thought, that the girl insisted on going to a coffee shop. You'd think someone who nearly experienced death would want to go home and rest but apparently she didn't seem too bothered by it.

"Thank you for buying me a cup," he said after he gave a hearty swallow to his beverage.

"Haha," laughed the girl who was nursing a Caffé latte, "I don't know why you should be thanking me! I owe my life to you."

"So why were you in the ocean in the first place?"

Instead of answering his question, Maria stymied it with another question.

"So, what do you do for a living, Tom?"

"Oh, well, I work at Olivine's Department of Agriculture and Food. I monitor price regulations and the amount of fish and such that is hauled in."

"That's sounds…"

"…uninteresting…"

"Not really the word I was going for but…"

"It suits it nonetheless."

"I take it that's not what you really wanted to do in life is it?"

"Not by a long shot."

"Then what do you want to do?"

Tom set down his mug and smiled. He then replied, "I want to be either a linguistic expert or a translator for an international organization."

"A linguistic expert? What languages can you speak?"

"Well…I can speak some Hoennese…" he said in the respective language, "Though I'm fluent in both Sinnohan and Classical Sinnohan," he said again though this time in Sinnohan.

Maria looked confused at what he just said. He then translated for her to which she smiled and said, "That's amazing! But why did you study Classical Sinnohan as well?"

"A lot of the most famous ancient literary works were written in Classical Sinnohan. I find it befitting that the land where the world supposedly originated from is also where human culture began. These literary works offer not just what life was like back then but a window into the philosophy and knowledge of mankind."

"Classical Sinnohan…wasn't Alexander's Inferno written in Classical Sinnohan?"

Tom raised his eyebrows, "Yes, it is. It's actually one of my favorite epic poems of the Middle Ages."

Tom was surprised that Alexander's Inferno was one of the first things that came to Maria's mind. It's not really a subject that one talks often over a cup of coffee. It was written by the famous poet Alexander Moretti who lived in southern Sinnoh. The poem is unique in that the main character is the author himself. The poem is about Alexander's journey through the Circles of Hell in order to reach his next destination, Purgatory. It was filled with irony, tragedy and satire that was fit for the ancient Sinnohan culture.

"I remember reading that when I was in high school," said Maria, "It always left an impact on me. There's something foreboding yet enticing about that story…"

"Yes, well many historians credit the poem for establishing some of our religions of our modern world. Like the mighty creator Arceus or the rulers of time and space of Dialgia and Palkia. Some researchers even claim that Johto's and Kanto's religion of Lugia and Ho-oh were affected by this poem as well. I have my doubts about that but one can never be sure one way or another. We will never know everything about the past which is why it's exciting when we discover new artifacts from it every year!"

Maria tilted her head to the side and said, "What's your thought on Lugia and Ho-oh? Do you think they exist?"

"Oh yeah, no doubt about that. We have written proof about their existence for many centuries now. It would be foolish to say otherwise. Whether they're still alive now or long gone is hard to say. After the towers burned down, no one has seen them for quite awhile. However, I always like to think that the Mighty Ho-oh is still watching us and making sure us humans don't get too out of hand. Haha, I don't exactly imagine him as a very…forgiving…legendary."

"And you don't think our Wise Lugia is any different from that? If the legends speak true about his wrath, I don't think he would show mercy on those who have sinned against Arceus…"

"And that's exactly why Alexander's Inferno is so enthralling! His explanation of Hell, which he has laced with both comedy and tragedy, has made poets, historians and philosophers ponder the meaning about what it means to be human and what it means to be a hedonist. Is it possible to give in and fulfill our bodily desires like sex and food while at the same time be a devout follower? You might say no but what if I were to add that the person in question helps the needy and always says his prayers to Arceus? It's these questions that we must ask ourselves what it means to be a pious follower."

"But what about the different religions in our world? The Weather Trio of Hoenn, the many different religions of Unova and Sinnoh, the crazy one involving the Golems and ours of Lugia and Ho-oh? Is there a right one? Which one guarantees that we go to heaven?"

"Don't know. Could be all of them, just one or none of them. Certainly the debate of the "correct" religion has been going on heavily for the past several centuries. Wars have been fought in order to promote or defend their religion. But times have changed and we (for the most part) have grown to accept the idea that people have different ideas or opinions and we should accept that."

"Haha, this is all a bit heavy over a cup of coffee, isn't?"

Tom laughed in response to that and replied, "Yeah…I was thinking the same thing…"

The two chatted on about the poem and other things as well, finally, Tom asked, "So, do you have a boyfriend?"

At the very mention of that, Maria looked glum and sad. She averted his eyes and said, "My boyfriend passed away a few days ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! You seem to be coping well though…"

She gave a faint smile and said, "That's because he's really not dead."

"Wait…what?"

She gave a faint shrug and said, "I know it's confusing but you have to hear this! These past few days I was a wreck, I didn't know what I would do without him…he made everything in my life enjoyable! With him gone…it was like there was an empty void in my heart."

She looked out the window of the coffee shop and watched the rain fall.

"But this afternoon, I heard him. He was singing to me. It was like how he would always sing to me with his beautiful baritone voice. He was singing to me that he was fine. That he didn't actually drown. He was in the ocean and he was waiting for me."

Her eyes got wide and her body shivered in anticipation, "I couldn't resist him! I knew he would never lie to me! I had to join him and feel his embrace again! I love him so much."

Tom gulped and remembered his conversation from Rob that morning.

"And so…" she continued after taking a deep breath, "I walked to the beach, threw down my umbrella, took off my raincoat and jumped into the ocean. I tried to find him but…haha, I guess I failed…"

She looked sad when she said that. Tom was meanwhile scared sh*tless.

"Are…are you sure that was his voice?" questioned Tom.

"Positive, no one else has such a beautiful and sexy voice as him."

"If I may ask…what was his name?"

"Joe. Joe Millsap."

The blood drained from Tom's face leaving him as pale as a ghost. After running into Rob that morning, he looked up yesterday's paper to reread the special article of the two drowned victims.

One of the victims was Joe Millsap.

~ 1 ~ 1 ~​

The walk back to his apartment finally allowed Tom to catch his breath and process what had happen in the past two hours.

There was no doubt about it, there was a connection between Rob's siren and Maria's mysteriously singing, dead boyfriend. Though the sexes of the voices were different, they were linked by their power of enticing their respected victim to the sea.

Tom carefully squeezed the taser in his clammy hand. When Maria left for the bathroom, he saw in her raincoat pocket the dangerous weapon. After he heard her dead boyfriend story, he was afraid that she might do something stupid and dangerous with it so he pinched it off of her without her knowing. And when the two left the coffee shop, he called a cab and made sure that she got in it. Erring to the cautious side, he tipped the driver to make sure he saw her go into her apartment. He hoped to the bottom of his heart that the poor girl would get over her fixation of her dead boyfriend before it got the better of her.

But as his walking continued, a stronger, more prominent thought took over.

He couldn't stop thinking about the girl on the beach.

Of all the times the girl had to show up, why did she have to show up right when Maria was drowning? And why did she just looked at him when he told her to that they had to save her? It made no sense.

But the thing that really bugged Tom was what the girl looked like. She was the splitting image of his ex, Jenny.

Face, hair, eyes, body.

Except for the breasts. This girl's breasts were larger than Jenny's. Not that there was anything wrong with that, Tom thought as he smirked to himself, Jenny's were on the small side to begin with. Other than that, the similarities were so similar that it was creepy.

But the mere thought of this girl made Tom's heart pound ferociously. He wanted to hold the beach girl tightly. He wanted to smell her hair. Caress her body. Kiss her passionately. And in the end, make love to her.

At first, he was satisfied with finally seeing the girl up close and personal. But now he wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted more. He wanted all of her and at any costs.

~ 1 ~ 1 ~​

It was one in the morning and Tom still hadn't fallen asleep.

It was just like the night before where he tossed and turned in agony only this was worse. He knew he was tired, his body knew he was tired, but he couldn't fall asleep. The girl was a stronger presence than ever.

He stared at the ceiling with desperate and twitching eyes.

Why couldn't he stop thinking about this girl? There was something about her that was unlike any other girl he fantasized about. His nonpareil fixation on the girl was driving him to insanity.

He sat up, what was that sound?

He listened closely.

At first it was soft, like music dimly playing in another room. But then it grew louder. It soon became apparent that it was a woman singing. He couldn't make out any of the words at first, but then…

"Tom…come to me…I'm waiting for you…I want to see you…please Tom…please hold me….please kiss me….I'm waiting for you…come to me…"

Tears began to form in Tom's eyes. The voice was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard and the saddest thing as well.

But then he remembered something that Rob said to him that morning.

"She's now hunting new prey….she's hunting me…"

Tom gulped. He regretfully realized that he was the Siren's new prey.

"Oh, Arceus," he said as he tried to block out the singing and fall asleep, "have mercy on my soul."