Loreley
Leviathan kicked her legs lazily, slowly swirling her body through the water and careful to avoid disturbing any natural wildlife finally returning to this section of ocean. It was her duty to clean the seas, lakes, and rivers after the Elf Wars, and after fifty years, she only got this one area fully cleansed and somewhat back to 'normal.' How... boring.
It probably didn't help she tended to blow off her duty...
Leviathan giggled, twisting her body downward, deeper into the clean ocean. Her favorite pasttime, aside from mindlessly swimming and daydreaming, was observing the humans from a distance. Master X's Neo Arcadia was home to ninety-nine percent of the remaining human populance, but one percent still attempted to cultivated some sort of life in the more 'cleansed' areas the Guardians got around to. In the years of this section of ocean being clean, a little rural village of humans made a nearby beach their home, and it fascinated the Reploid to no end how... easily humans would 'de-volve' after catastrophies.
Not a single Reploid lived among the humans of the little village, although they had a few machines they had salvaged and thrown together. Yet, as far as she saw, it was like looking back thounsads upon thousands of years into the past, when humans relied on reed or grass nets to fish and lived in stone houses and used fire to cook their food. Granted, their fishing helped her job of cultivating a healthy ecosystem in this quadrant, and they gave her entertainment...
Leviathan crossed her arms over her chest and spiraled through the water faster than the fish trying to race her, bulleting through the waters and leaving a trail of silver, sparking bubbles in her wake. She swam for the village, angling herself upwards toward the surface as she came closer.
Her head broke the surface and she peeked over to the beach where a line of men were wading out to throw nets, women rooting through the shallows for shellfish. The Reploid hid herself behind a rock outcropping when she was near enough, watching in fascination. She lifted one of her protective ear muffs up and amplified her hearing. Although the crash of the waves on the shores still drowned out most of the conversation, she heard enough that nearly made her dissolve into giggles.
"Think the boatmen will see 'er again?" one of the fishermen asked the others as he tossed his net into the waves. "The siren that lives in the ocean, you know?"
"The Loreley?" another verified. When the first nodded, he snorted. "Ain't no such thing as a Loreley, man. We're living in an advanced age... although we don't seem like it."
"They never said there ain't no Loreley," the first fired back.
"Before the War, twas said the top scientists managed to explore the entire ocean. Ain't no mermaids or krackens down there."
The first man remained charmingly stubborn, and Leviathan thought it too cute. "Loreley live in more than oceans, man. Rivers, lakes, anywhere there's water."
The third man finally grinned. "So I could have a nicely shaped, drop-dead beautiful Loreley live in my bathtub? Hell yeah, mate."
"If ya read fantasy books," the second said with a smirk. "If ya steal a Loreley's mirror, you could get 'er to marry ya!"
"Pah, why? They're bad luck. They steal your souls." The first said. "They eat men!"
"You're such a damn pus, you know that?" the second man said, shoving the first playfully. "Why don'tcha go with the boatmen? Go find yer Loreley!"
Leviathan closed her ear muff and dove back into the ocean, smirking to herself. Humans were incredibly fun to play with. She'd have to find the boats when they sent them off... bring a little mythology back to life, just for the hell of it.
Not like she had anything better to do.
"She will get inside your mind, lovely Loreley...
When she cries "Be with me until the end of time!"
You know you will ever be with your Loreley..."
It probably didn't help she tended to blow off her duty...
Leviathan giggled, twisting her body downward, deeper into the clean ocean. Her favorite pasttime, aside from mindlessly swimming and daydreaming, was observing the humans from a distance. Master X's Neo Arcadia was home to ninety-nine percent of the remaining human populance, but one percent still attempted to cultivated some sort of life in the more 'cleansed' areas the Guardians got around to. In the years of this section of ocean being clean, a little rural village of humans made a nearby beach their home, and it fascinated the Reploid to no end how... easily humans would 'de-volve' after catastrophies.
Not a single Reploid lived among the humans of the little village, although they had a few machines they had salvaged and thrown together. Yet, as far as she saw, it was like looking back thounsads upon thousands of years into the past, when humans relied on reed or grass nets to fish and lived in stone houses and used fire to cook their food. Granted, their fishing helped her job of cultivating a healthy ecosystem in this quadrant, and they gave her entertainment...
Leviathan crossed her arms over her chest and spiraled through the water faster than the fish trying to race her, bulleting through the waters and leaving a trail of silver, sparking bubbles in her wake. She swam for the village, angling herself upwards toward the surface as she came closer.
Her head broke the surface and she peeked over to the beach where a line of men were wading out to throw nets, women rooting through the shallows for shellfish. The Reploid hid herself behind a rock outcropping when she was near enough, watching in fascination. She lifted one of her protective ear muffs up and amplified her hearing. Although the crash of the waves on the shores still drowned out most of the conversation, she heard enough that nearly made her dissolve into giggles.
"Think the boatmen will see 'er again?" one of the fishermen asked the others as he tossed his net into the waves. "The siren that lives in the ocean, you know?"
"The Loreley?" another verified. When the first nodded, he snorted. "Ain't no such thing as a Loreley, man. We're living in an advanced age... although we don't seem like it."
"They never said there ain't no Loreley," the first fired back.
"Before the War, twas said the top scientists managed to explore the entire ocean. Ain't no mermaids or krackens down there."
The first man remained charmingly stubborn, and Leviathan thought it too cute. "Loreley live in more than oceans, man. Rivers, lakes, anywhere there's water."
The third man finally grinned. "So I could have a nicely shaped, drop-dead beautiful Loreley live in my bathtub? Hell yeah, mate."
"If ya read fantasy books," the second said with a smirk. "If ya steal a Loreley's mirror, you could get 'er to marry ya!"
"Pah, why? They're bad luck. They steal your souls." The first said. "They eat men!"
"You're such a damn pus, you know that?" the second man said, shoving the first playfully. "Why don'tcha go with the boatmen? Go find yer Loreley!"
Leviathan closed her ear muff and dove back into the ocean, smirking to herself. Humans were incredibly fun to play with. She'd have to find the boats when they sent them off... bring a little mythology back to life, just for the hell of it.
Not like she had anything better to do.
"She will get inside your mind, lovely Loreley...
When she cries "Be with me until the end of time!"
You know you will ever be with your Loreley..."