Lotis Heroes Monthly - October 2021
Retelling Myths: Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood; plus - A Halloween Horror Story!
For this month, we’ve got two stories for you!
One being the second part of the Red Riding Hood Saga (first part here), and the second being a Halloween Horror story!
First up, we have…
(You can listen to a narration of the story here, and you can read the full text below.)
Warning: This story contains descriptions of violence, corpses, and organs. Furthermore, this story is completely fictional, please do not attempt to replicate it in any way. This story is intended for a mature audience only.
They say that love comes from the heart, and not the mind.
Having had a taste of both many times, I would have argued that love didn't come from either of those things.
Until, that was, I fell in love.
Let me start by clarifying – for what I am speaking of, it must be a mutual love. The heart and mind must come from someone whom you love with all your heart, and that same someone must love you with all their heart.
For you see, I have already tasted from those who have loved me with all their hearts, whilst I did not return their love – and I can assure you, it is not the same.
Indeed, I would assume that most of us have already done this – since that is the easiest way to deliver the ingredients to our kitchens, so to say.
No, my fellow connoisseurs, no other feelings will do. Not one-sided love, not hatred, not lust, not jealousy – no, nothing else will elicit the ecstasy that I have tasted other than mutually true love.
So, my dear readers, let me tell you about how I discovered this.
And do forgive me for being vague on the details. Though I'm sure that you can understand why privacy would be important to those like us with our refined palates.
However, I simply could not deny my fellow connoisseurs knowledge of this ecstasy that I have experienced – which is why I have written this.
One night, a few years ago, I met the most beautiful creature.
Their beauty was not just in their appearance – but also in their strength, their character, and their kindness.
Needless to say, I fell in love with them.
And, by some miracle, they gave me a chance, and eventually fell in love with me as well.
Our love for each other grew over the years, and our relationship became quite serious.
I was even contemplating either changing my diet, or telling them about my secret – or even both!
Had our relationship continued, I have no doubt that we would have married quite soon.
But, I digress.
As I had mentioned, our relationship continued for years, evolving into mutually true love.
One night, after we had passionately made love to each other, we laid in bed – basking in each other's love, and resting our tired bodies.
Suddenly, my partner said to me, "You're not quite human, are you?"
After a moment of silence, they laughed it off as a joke, thinking that it was silly of them.
“I would still love you,” they had said to me, with a kiss, “no matter what you are.”
But I knew – I knew right then and there that they had pierced right through all the veils and walls that I had put up, and had begun to understand me on a profoundly deep level.
With that thought in my mind, I fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up with that thought still in my mind.
We sat down to eat breakfast together, as usual, while still basking in the bliss of our wonderful night together.
As I smiled and stared lovingly at my partner, I wondered – I wondered if this would be the height of our love? The peak where I loved them the most, and the peak where they loved me the most – both plateauing at the exact same moment.
And then, although I had never intended it, I realized that this was the right moment. Any longer, and the whole thing would be ruined.
After all, you can marinate something for too long.
I walked over and picked up the frying pan.
Then, as my partner continued eating their breakfast, I swiftly struck the back of their head with the frying pan that we had just cooked ham and eggs with.
I picked up my partner, who was now dazed and unable to resist, and I carried them down to the basement kitchen. I stripped them of their clothing, and then I strapped them to the table.
Then, with one great swing of my cleaver, I severed the head from the body.
At this point, I should note that drugs should not be used on the ingredients, and definitely no stabbing through the heart or the head. Though I suspect that the more experienced amongst my dear readers would already know this.
Now that the ingredients were in my kitchen, I got to work and prepped the body for preservation – taking extra care with the heart and the brain.
I'm sure that I don't need to tell my readers how to prepare their ingredients for preservation, so I'll move on to the most important part – the heart and the mind.
To start with, let's talk about the mind – which is, of course, located in the brain.
Now, I know that lots of you like to cook the brain – but, for something as special as true love, I decided that fresh and raw was the way to go.
Long time readers should already know the best methods for extracting the brain and keeping it fresh. For readers that lack knowledge in this area, I highly recommend that you learn this beforehand. It is also recommended that the brain be consumed as soon as possible, lest the mind loses its emotional flavouring.
And so, after extracting the brain of my recently deceased partner, I kept it nice and fresh as I finished prepping the rest of the body for storage.
Then, to reward myself after a morning of hard work, I prepared the brain for my lunch.
Carefully, I diced the brain into bite-sized pieces, and lightly seasoned them with some kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper, finishing off the dish with some lemon juice to add some zest.
As I sat down in front of my meal, I did not know what to expect.
Excited, I picked up a piece of my partner's brain with a fork, and I put my lover's mind into my mouth.
And that was when I had finally tasted true love.
As we all know, the mind is where some of the tastiest emotions lie. And while I have had minds from those who were in love with me before, their emotions had never tasted like love. There was joy, there was lust, and there was even obsession – but never love.
But, as I ate my lover's mind, I could taste the love that was there. And tasting true love, true love that I had returned with all my heart – well, I had never had such intoxicating flavours before!
The flavours danced around my mouth and on my tongue – I had finally tasted love, and it was delicious!
Hungrily, I devoured the rest of my lover's mind.
It was one of the most satisfying meals that I have ever had.
Similarly, as my readers may have already guessed, that was also the case with my partner's heart.
For the heart, you can cook it in whatever way you like – provided that it is seasoned lightly, as you do not want to overwhelm the natural taste of the love that it has been marinating in.
As for me, I sliced my lover's heart into pieces that were a bit on the thicker side. Then, I pan-fried them with some garlic, alongside some chopped celery and carrots.
As I sat down in front of my meal, I could already smell that something was different about this heart.
Excitedly, I sliced off a bite-sized piece of my lover's heart with my fork and knife, and I put it into my mouth.
And there it was, marinated to perfection – true love.
With every slice that I ate, true love oozed out of my lover's heart, gushing into my mouth.
It was one of the most delicious meals that I have ever had in my life.
And that, my dear readers, is the story of how I had finally tasted love in the heart and the mind of my lover – and had two of the most satisfying meals in my life.
Some say that true love only comes once in a lifetime.
That may very well be true.
They also say that we should try to hold on to that true love for as long as possible.
That, I will debate – after all, just as how marinating meat for too long will ruin the meat, too much love will overwhelm the taste of the heart and the mind. Especially when the quality of that love starts to decline.
As for giving up what could have possibly been the only true love in my entire life, for two of the most delicious and satiating meals that I've ever had?
Well, my dear readers, I am delighted to report that it was well worth it!
After all, as they say, love makes everything better. Bon appétit!
Hopefully, you enjoyed that Halloween Horror story!
Honestly, I was a little bit disturbed by my own story... 😅
I hope that you gave the narrated video a shot as well - I worked really hard on it! Next up, we have...
Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood
The campfire that I had made burned brightly, lighting up the dark of the forest night.
As I sat on the grass next to the fire, I pulled the red riding hood that I had on around me, trying to make myself more comfortable.
Feeling lonely, I concentrated and allowed the mana to flow through my body.
My two wolves, one grey and one white, appeared before me.
Reaching out, I gently rubbed my wolves' heads.
They seemed to enjoy it.
As they curled up next to me by the fire, I found myself remembering things from long ago.
And before I knew it, I was lost in my memories of the past.
~~~
Many years ago, when I was younger - when I was 'Little Red Riding Hood', as some might say - I lived in a castle.
Not as a princess, or as a noble, or as anything of the sort.
Instead, I was merely a lady-in-waiting to my beloved Princess Snow White.
My father, a soldier, had saved the king's life on the battlefield. As a reward, my father was granted a knighthood, while I was given the honour of becoming the princess's court lady.
I still remember the day when we left our small village behind to move into the castle.
My grandmother, who lived in a small cottage in the forest just outside of the village, came to bid us farewell.
I hugged my grandmother, my head not even reaching her waist at the time.
"Now, you be good, dear," she said to me, "Learn what you can, and listen to your parents."
"Yes, grandma," I said, "but will you be okay all by yourself?"
The local woodcutter, a family friend, laughed and said, "Don't you worry, kid! I can take care of granny here while you're gone!"
"Oh, not you too," my grandmother said to the woodcutter, "I can take care of myself!"
"Besides," she continued, "You're still young. You might not want to be a woodcutter anymore after a while. I wouldn't want to be the one to hold you back if that happens."
The woodcutter laughed: "Me, not a woodcutter? I can't imagine that!"
Funny enough, grandma would turn out to be right.
"Come now, my dear," my mother said to me, placing her hand on my shoulder, "we have to start on our journey soon - finish saying goodbye to your grandma."
I nodded, and squeezed my grandmother again, "Bye, grandma."
In response, my grandmother gave me a gentle pat on my head.
Finally letting go, I walked over to my parents, who had been getting the wagon ready.
With one final goodbye, my family bid farewell to my grandmother and the village where I born, and we began our journey to the royal castle.
***
Princess Snow White was a kind and beautiful person.
To me, she was as pure as the white snow that she was named after.
We had met when we were both little children.
And although I was her lady-in-waiting, the two of us grew to become quite close over the years.
That's not to say that we never fought or that we never got angry with each other.
But, she was my beloved princess, and I would like to think that I was hers.
As I grew up, in addition to being the princess's lady-in-waiting, I had decided that I wanted to take sword fighting lessons as well - I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a part of the princess's personal guard or not, but I decided that I would like to have the option, at least.
And so, I trained with Caliburn of the Band of Seven.
The Band of Seven were seven dwarfs who served as the princess's personal guard.
When the princess was very young, even younger than when I had met her, she and her mother's convoy had been attacked during their journey.
These seven dwarfs arrived, and helped fend off the attackers - saving the young princess and the previous queen from the would-be abductors.
The seven were rewarded with knighthoods and positions as the princess's personal guard by the king, and their efforts over the years would earn them the name, the Band of Seven.
When I had approached them about training, it was Caliburn who took me in as her student. Later, when she felt that I had earned it, she would gift me with my rapier.
Those years that I had spent with my beloved Snow White were the happiest years of my life, and I will never forget her.
However, that would all come to an abrupt end, when Snow White died.
***
Snow White's mother, the previous queen, had died of an illness many years ago.
The king would soon remarry, and the new queen would give birth to a son.
Over the years that I had known her, while we weren't the closest of friends, the new queen had always treated me... without contempt, at the very least.
We got along well enough, as a queen and a lady-in-waiting to her stepdaughter would - nothing more, and nothing less.
Her son, the prince, was quite close with his half-sister, Snow White, and I could see nothing but love between them.
Towards me, the prince was quite friendly as well. He was growing up to be quite charming.
Which is why, I didn't suspect a thing when the queen gave me a basket of apples to take to Snow White.
"I just had these freshly picked," the queen had said to me, gesturing to a basket of apples on the table, "See that my stepdaughter gets a basket."
"Yes, Your Highness," I had said, as I dutifully picked up the basket.
I walked through the halls of the castle, and made my way to the princess's room.
"Princess," I said, as I entered the room, "the queen asked me to bring you these freshly picked apples."
"Ah, excellent!" Snow White said, as she looked up from her book. Giving me a smile, she said, "Why don't we enjoy these with some tea then?"
"That would be lovely," I said, "I will hurry back with the tea."
Snow White giggled and gave me another smile.
I left the room, not knowing that that would be the last smile that she would give me.
A short while later, I would reenter that room, and be greeted by a horrifying sight.
Snow White had collapsed on the floor, a bitten apple not far from her.
Stunned, I yelled out, "Princess!"
In my shock, I dropped the tray of tea and cups that I had been carrying, and I rushed over to her.
She was barely breathing, and her face had contorted into an expression of pain.
"Help!" I yelled, "Something's happened to the princess!"
***
Snow White had been taken away, to be seen to by the doctors.
For hours, I waited for word on her condition.
Finally, my family and I were summoned into the throne room.
Strangely, the Band of Seven escorted us.
Even more unusual, as we entered the throne room, I began to notice that there was an abnormal amount of soldiers stationed there.
As the doors to the throne room closed, some of the soldiers moved in front of them, blocking the exit.
Ignoring all that, I rushed up to the king and queen, who were seated on their thrones.
"Please, You Highnesses," I said, "what happened to Princess Snow White? Is she alright?!"
"Silence!" the queen shouted, "As if you don't already know."
I froze in place, "I-I beg your pardon, Your Highness?"
The queen made a motion, and one of the doctors stepped forward.
"Repeat what you told us," the queen said to the doctor.
"Y-Yes, Your Highness," the doctor said, nervously, "Princess Snow White has been poisoned, and she is in a dire condition. We were able to trace the poison back to an apple that she had eaten."
"Poisoned?" I said, "From the apple?"
"Yes," the queen said, pointing her finger at me, "Apples that I had given directly to you!"
There was an audible gasp throughout the courtroom.
By the queen's side, I could see that the prince had a horrified look on his face.
On the queen's other side, the king was in a state of distress.
Around the room, the soldiers and the court cast suspicious looks at me. Even the Band of Seven seemed to look at me with disgust.
"W-Wait!" I yelled out, "I didn't do anything to those apples, I swear!"
The queen looked at me angrily, "Then are you saying that I poisoned my own stepdaughter?!"
"N-No!" I tried to say, "Wait, Your Hi-"
"Arrest them!" the queen yelled, "They are to be interrogated and executed!"
"Wait!" my father shouted out, "Please, my queen, my king! Let there be an investigation first! Place us under arrest, but, I beg of you, don't execute us without having an investigation conducted first!"
The king looked at us.
He raised his hand, about to say something.
But, the queen stepped in.
"My love," she said to the king, "Princess Snow White is in a dire condition, we don't have time for an investigation - we must interrogate them now, so that we may learn of the poison's nature, and save our daughter!"
The king, seemingly overcome with distress, put his hand down, and simply said, "Do as the queen said."
The Band of Seven drew their weapons and closed in on us.
All seven of them - Gram, Durandal, Joyeuse, Ascalon, Dainsleif, Galatine, and even Caliburn - seemed to have no hesitation in doing this, despite our many years of friendship.
"Please," Caliburn said, "don't make this difficult."
"Mentor, please!" I said to her, "I am innocent!"
"We'll see about that!" Gram said, anger in his voice.
My father drew his sword, "Let us go! My daughter is innocent!"
Seeing that, I drew my rapier as well.
My mother could do nothing but try to hide between us.
"You see?" the queen yelled, from her throne, "Their resistance is proof of their guilt!"
"No!" my father yelled, "We are only ask for a fair investigation into this, before you execute us!"
"Get them!" the queen yelled. She pointed her finger at me again, "She poisoned the princess!"
Thoughts raced through my panicking mind, 'Why is she saying this?!'
'I would never hurt Snow White! Never!'
'Could it be... that the queen...?!'
Suddenly, I could feel my anger surging throughout my body.
But it was more than just that, there was a new sensation there too.
"I did not!" I yelled.
And with that, a grey wolf and a white wolf suddenly appeared from out of thin air, landing beside me.
That was the first time that my magic had manifested itself.
Before I could understand what was going on, the wolves angrily charged at the queen.
"You dare make an attempt on my life?!" the queen yelled.
A staff appeared in the queen's hand - this was her magic, rumoured to be one of the most powerful in the land.
With ease, the queen unleashed her magic bolts from the orb at the tip of her staff, blasting my wolves away.
"Run!" I heard my father yell.
Taking advantage of the wolves' sudden appearance, he had managed to fight off the guards, and had gotten the doors opened.
I looked back at the wolves - they had begun to disappear.
Quickly, I grabbed my mother's hand, and we ran out the door.
As we were about to leave, Ascalon swung his sword at my father.
My father was barely able to parry the sword away.
"Pa!" I yelled, about to rush back into the throne room.
But my mother pushed me away.
"Run!" she yelled.
Before I could stop her, she ran back into the throne room, and shoved Ascalon away with all of her might.
I wanted to rush back in, but the soldiers started to obscure my parents from my vision.
"Run!" I could hear my parents yelling to me again.
Seeing no other choice, I ran away as the soldiers started to pour out of the throne room.
***
I had somehow managed to escape from the castle.
My knowledge of the castle's layout and secrets certainly helped, as did my new wolves.
However, I did find myself having trouble with controlling my new magic.
It was a hard-won escape.
But, now I was risking it all, by being so close to the royal family and their guards again.
I had no choice - it was the day of my father and my mother's execution.
In the middle of the city where the castle had stood on the side of, many had gathered in front of the execution stage. I had hidden amongst the crowd, using a red riding hood that I had hesitantly, but desperately, stolen off an unattended horse to hide my face.
In the middle of the stage, battered and beaten, were my parents.
A small gasp escaped me when I saw their condition.
The queen walked up to the stage, leaving the distraught king and the uneasy prince behind.
"My citizens," the queen said, "as you know, our dear Princess Snow White was poisoned by the daughter of these traitors!"
As the murmurs spread throughout the crowd, I gripped the hilt of my rapier tightly, trying to control myself so that my wolves wouldn't appear.
"I am sad to report," the queen continued, "that Princess Snow White... has died."
Upon hearing that, my heart broke.
Tears began to stream down my face, and I desperately tried to conceal myself.
The queen continued speaking, but I couldn't hear the words.
All I could think about, was how my beloved-
"Execute them!" the queen yelled.
And before I knew it, the queen had given the order.
I reached again for my rapier and prepared to summon my wolves, so that we could charge the stage.
Then, I saw my father locking his eyes with mine.
He shook his head.
And then the blades fell upon the necks of my parents.
The crowd cheered.
But I could only stand there, unable to move.
***
They were hunting for me now.
I had to leave the city.
The night that my parents had been executed, I managed to sneak my way past the guards, and exited the city.
Before I left, I looked back at the castle one more time.
I had spent most of my childhood there, close to the ones that I had loved.
And now, barely an adult, I had been cast out of that castle, with my loved ones dead.
***
I had managed to make my way back to the village where I was born.
I walked into the forest beside it, hoping to make my way to my grandmother.
If anyone could teach me how to control my newfound magic, it would be her.
Suddenly, a creature leaped out of the tree at me.
Jumping back, I barely managed to escape its grasp.
My hand flew to my rapier.
The creature growled at me - it was an abnormally huge wolf.
Seeing this, my hand released my rapier, and I held up both of my hands, "Wait! It's me, grandma!"
The wolf slowly approached me, baring its teeth.
"M-My, what big teeth you have...," I said, as the wolf sniffed me, "Please don't eat me, grandma!"
The wolf moved away from me a little, and began to shrink.
I breathed a sigh of relief, as the large wolf transformed back into my grandmother.
"Oh, child, it is you!" she said, "I'm so sorry, it's been so long that I can hardly recognize you!"
I reached over, and gave my grandmother a hug.
"My, you have grown," she said, "I was afraid that you were one of those soldiers, coming to arrest and execute me too."
I pulled back, "You heard about what happened to ma and pa?"
She nodded, sadly.
Before I could say anything more, my grandmother gestured down the road and said, "Come now, dear. We can discuss more in my cottage, after I get some clothes on."
***
Over the next few months, I stayed with my grandmother.
She nursed me back to full health, and trained me in the use of my magic.
I practised over and over again, until I could summon and unsummon my wolves at will - until I had a perfect connection with them.
When I was ready, I headed out into the world again, armed with my rapier, my wolves, and my red riding hood.
I gave up my name, to avoid my hunters.
But, along the way, the people that I had encountered gave me a new appellation - Red Riding Hood, for the garment that had been with me since I had escaped and was forced out of my previous life.
To this day, I still don't know why the queen did what she did.
But, no matter the reason, I will get my revenge on her, for what she did to my beloved Snow White and to my beloved family.
~~~
I patted my wolves' heads again.
They looked up at me, as if knowing that our time was up.
Then, as the last of my mana was exhausted, my wolves disappeared.
I stared at the fire, alone again. --- Epilogue I held my rapier close to the prince's throat, threatening to pierce through it.
This was it - soon, I would be another step closer to getting revenge on the queen.
"W-Wait!" the prince yelled, "My sister is still alive!"
Stunned, I could only say, "What?"
"My sister, Snow White!" he said, "She's still alive, at the Tower of the Glass Coffin!"
Commentary
The second part of the Red Riding Hood Saga, and we're getting into Red's backstory this time - which is a retelling/reinterpretation/mash-up/what-have-you of Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood!
A fun tidbit - the Band of Seven are all named after famous swords!
Project Updates
The Sun Aegis - Continuing work on Part 7.
Audrey, The Unicorn Girl - Continuing to work with @Tobatoons, the artist for this project. Inking continues for Chapter 1!
Thank you for reading!
As always, please consider:
Don’t forget, more Retelling Myths can be found here!