Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Ira of Wrath (Benesha)
I am Benesha Badila. I was born in the royal branch of the Badila household, but not through conventional means…
Scientists used the DNA of my father and mother to create me in a laboratory. I was born through genetic engineering and an artificial womb, alongside six other girls whom I therefore regard as my sisters.
At the age of 7, I decided to challenge my sister Maeve's claim to the authoritative position in our sisterhood. She did so on the basis of being born from "Pride" and because she is from the Dutch royal family. I refused to believe that "Pride" is a more successful trait than "Wrath"...
"So what if you are a princess? I am too!
I am better than you!" I said. "Pride blinds people from their shortcomings. Whereas wrath allows us to inflict harsh punishment on violators. Wrath is justice, something this world needs more than ever."
"The thing is, Ira, I have no shortcomings," Maeve responded. "I challenge you to find just one shortcoming in me, and if you succeed, I will be submissive towards you."
"You just wait. I will find more than one shortcoming!"
"How can we measure who the superior sister is?" Maeve contemplated.
"We could have a duel," I suggested. "You know, a combat match to see who is the strongest."
"Or we can play chess or checkers!" Minah suggested. "I think that's a good idea," Eliza responded.
"Or maybe we should do sports? Or singing?" Haniya suggested. "I suck at both!" Kayla lamented.
"What do you say, Acedia?" Maeve asked.
"I don't care what measure you girls want to use," she answered.
"I didn't ask if you cared, did I?"
"Why don't we just look at the stats the scientists have on us, to see which of us has an overall better score?"
We all seemed to agree that Mandane came up with the best idea.
So we went into the laboratory system in secret; without the scientists' knowledge, to look at our stats and compare them to each other. These were our scores, from lowest to highest:
Mandane Esfahani (Sin of Sloth, Codename "Acedia"): Intelligence 50, academic ability 50, decision making 50, physical ability 50, cooperativeness 50.
Kayla Graven (Sin of Gluttony, Codename "Gula"): Intelligence 70, academic ability 65, decision making 60, physical ability 40, cooperativeness 90.
Eliza IJzerhart (Sin of Greed, Codename "Avaritia"): Intelligence 80, academic ability 75, decision making 80, physical ability 75, cooperativeness 60.
Minah Sawada (Sin of Envy, Codename "Invidia"): Intelligence 90, academic ability 90, decision making 85, physical ability 55, cooperativeness 45.
Haniya al-Bacchus (Sin of Lust, Codename "Luxuria"): Intelligence 95, academic ability 90, decision making 90, physical ability 100, cooperativeness 80.
Benesha Badila (Sin of Wrath, Codename "Ira"): Intelligence 98, academic ability 95, decision making 95, physical ability 90, cooperativeness 20.
Princess Maeve (Sin of Pride, Codename "Superbia"): Intelligence 100, academic ability 98, decision making 98, physical ability 85, cooperativeness 10.
"Looks like I'm the superior sister," Maeve said, triumphantly. "Acknowledge and admit my superiority, Ira, Invidia, Avaritia."
We were frustrated, since we couldn't deny that she is the most skillful out of us all.
"What is it, Benesha?" Maeve teased. "Did you bite your tongue? What happened to that energy you showed before? Where did it go?"
"Remember that these stats are a snapshot, so things can change in the future. I might surpass you one day."
"I'd love to see you try."
"You just wait!"
"This isn't the African jungle nor the Sahara Desert, but the Dutch Lowlands. I reign supreme here, got it?"
After Maeve proved her superiority over us, we decided to follow her orders.
The scientists split us up after this ordeal. I guess they feared what we would be capable of doing when acting in unison.
Anyway, not too long after I was born, my mother became pregnant and gave birth to Sansula, my younger brother.
My father was delighted to have a son. Since succession to the throne in the Badila household happens paternally; from father to son.
I think that's too old-fashioned. If I am the first born child, that right belongs to me. Females aren't regarded as equal to males when it comes to this.
So I've always wanted to prove myself to my father. That, even though I'm female, I'm as competent as any male can be.
I love Sansula though. I was delighted to be someone's older sister…
My parents however, when I was 7 years old, also decided to adopt Lilith and gave her the name "Alisha".
I was taken aback when I saw them return home one day with this devil of a girl. "So we meet again, Ira," she smiled. "Please take good care of me, as my sister."
Lilith promised me and my sisters that she would physically and psychologically destroy us, to prove that she is the magnum opus of the laboratory.
To make matters worse, when my sisters and I looked for each other's stats in the laboratory, we also came across that of Lilith.
Lilith's scores were 100 on intelligence, academic ability, decision making, physical ability, and cooperativeness. She's someone I cannot beat by myself.
So the fact that I'll be sharing a roof with her, made me feel anxious and uncomfortable. But she somehow was actually really nice toward me, and didn't do anything suspicious or threatening.
However, appearances can be deceiving. I had a strong hunch that she was plotting something behind the scenes…
4.1
One day, during lunch break in middle school, I sat on the schoolyard with some of my female classmates. I was in grade 1, so about 13 years old, and so was Sansula.
Alisha, without my knowledge, got a group of five guys to bully my little brother.
"The one who's bullying impresses me the most, will have a date with me," she said.
The five guys, all fired up, went to Sansula in order to bully him.
He came running to me in tears afterwards, complaining that he got bullied by his classmates.
"Ah! Stop crying already!" I scolded him. "You're embarrassing me in front of my friends!"
"But…"
"Show me who dared to harass my little brother…"
Sansula brought me to the five guys who bullied him. "Aw, did you bring your sister to come up for you? She's pretty hot though. So maybe you did the right thing."
I felt disgusted by these guys. Your average street rats. Wearing sportswear that I literally use as pajamas. And wearing those ugly caps to hide their receding hairline.
"Apologize for bullying my little brother, or else…"
"Oh my! I'm so scared! A cute little girl is threatening me!" They said, One of them got closer and held me by my chin. "Say, are you single by any chance? You got some nice kissable lips, ya know?"
My friends and a group of other kids rushed to the scene to see what was going on. Sansula ran off, probably to bring a teacher. He could sense that things would get out of hand.
But from a distance, I noticed that Alisha stopped him in his tracks. I wondered why. Wasn't she aware of what was about to happen? Or did she do this deliberately because she didn't want any teacher to show up?
The five guys continued to harass me. At that moment, I lost control and all I saw was red. When I regained my composure, all those five guys lay on the ground, wounded. Unable to stand up against me.
I walked up to the guy that held me by my chin, and held his hand. "I should break your filthy five fingers for daring to touch my chin."
"No… please! I'm sorry! I'll never ever misbehave ever again! Please! Forgive me!" He cried.
I was just about to break his finger, if it wasn't for Tshikuta holding me by my shoulder. "Haven't you done enough?" He said.
Tshikuta always manages to keep me calm. It's like he was made for me. Since I'm Ira of Wrath, I need a person in my life who can keep my wrath under check. And that person is Tshikuta.
Alisha met up with the five guys that bullied Sansula on her request. They had a brief chat in the school hallway.
"None of you impressed me," she snapped. "In fact, I felt secondhand embarrassment. You all lost from a girl like her? Pathetic."
"You know, you're even more attractive when you're angry..." One of them said.
That one remark ruined Alisha's mood even more. "You know what, out of piety I will give you guys a greater reward than going out on a date with me," she smiled. "Follow me..."
The guys were excited and followed her. "Uhm, where are we going, Alisha?"
"To the sports hall."
"Do you have permission to go there after classes?"
Alisha showed them that she had the keys. "How did you get those???" Alisha turned around and winked at them.
The six were in the sports hall of the school. "I was thinking of rewarding you all with a date, but I changed my mind. Since that would ruin your tight friendships."
"You're such a thoughtful soul, Alisha! You're an angel!"
"Why don't we play dodgeball? The first to hit me with a ball, gets to go on a date with me."
"Oh that's easy! How many balls are we going to use?"
Alisha gave each guy one ball. "Five," she smirked.
"Are you sure about that? You're making it very easy for us, you know?"
Alisha took a couple of steps back. "Let's begin! I don't have the entire day!" She clasped her hands enthusiastically.
The guys all threw their balls at her, but she managed to dodge them effortlessly, surprising them.
Alisha then grabbed the balls and threw them at them with such force that it caused them injuries, including bleeding, broken noses, and black eyes. Some also lost teeth. All of them fell unconscious to the floor, experiencing significant pain.
"The only reward for those who failed to heed to my commands, is punishment," she said in an ominous tone.
Alisha walked up to the guy who said that she's more attractive when she's angry. "Do you still find me attractive?" She asked, as she looked down on him. "You also touched my sister with your dirty hands. Though I only asked you guys to bully Sansula. You had no right to even look my sister's way."
Alisha stooped and grabbed the guy's hand. "The black eye I gave you must hurt a lot," she pitied him, but not genuinely. "Want me to kiss your fingers, one by one?"
Alisha went on to break the guy's fingers, of both of his hands…
4.2
After I, Benesha, single handedly beat up five guys in front of many witnesses, I gained the respect from everyone in my school. From first grade to last grade. From juniors, seniors, to even teachers.
Everyone knew not to mess with me. Because of that, guys also didn't really regard me as "feminine". But I didn't care.
I had a loyal group of girls who followed me around wherever I went. Tshikuta went along with me, too. And sometimes I was accompanied by Sansula and Alisha as well.
I noticed that Alisha didn't have any perfect scores in all subjects. Be it sports, math, language, topography, history, social studies…
She did have high scores, but knowing her stats, she should be able to have perfect scores in whatever she does.
One day, I walked with Alisha to school. And I asked her why she was hiding her true potential. "What are you talking about?" She played oblivious at first.
"I saw your stats in the lab," I said. "I know that you're a monster."
"Hahaha," she laughed. "And that's precisely why I'm hiding my true potential, Ira dear."
"Huh?" I didn't understand what she was trying to say.
"Because I don't want people to think of me as a monster, but as a regular 14 year old girl."
"Fair enough."
"I see that you value Tshikuta a lot…"
"Don't involve him in our spat, please."
"Hmmm… Maybe I will one day."
"What would you get out of it?"
"I want to prove my superiority over all of my sisters in this experiment. And I want to keep Sansula for myself. I feel like you're standing in my way; you and your parents."
"You're a total psycho."
"I was born this way. Just like how you were born with "wrath"."
"But I wouldn't involve others into our battle for supremacy."
"I wonder though, how far you can go with that "wrath" of yours…"
"Meaning?"
"Would you go so far as to take someone's life? And if so, how? Would you be able to burn people alive? Or drown them? To physically torture them to such an extent that they would beg you to take their lives?"
"What…"
"I would love to see how far you can go, Ira."
"Forget about it. What you've been describing is borderline criminal. I don't want to go to jail."
"Ah, look at you, being so pseudo-ethical… It's cute."
"Huh?!"
"You didn't say that you'd never inflict such harm on people because you don't want to hurt them, but because you don't want to be persecuted by law enforcement," she smiled. "So suppose that you'd be in a setting where you could impose your "wrath" upon a person you deem deserving of it, and law enforcement wouldn't get involved, you'd be open to the idea of torturing and killing the person."
I increased my pace because I didn't feel comfortable walking with her anymore. Alisha is a dangerous individual.
At the age of 16, my parents informed me that they want me to marry Tshikuta; a fellow noble Badilite. And I gave my consent, since it's not like there would be any other man more fit for me than him.
"I'm glad you want to marry me, Benesha," he smiled.
"It's not like any other man would be able to take care of me," I replied.
"But you do like me, right?"
"Of course."
"I mean, you like me, right?"
"Yeah…"
"So you have feelings for me!"
"You've had a crush on me ever since you were 8. I only began developing feelings for you when I was 12."
"So what?"
"I'm just saying…" I was a bit flustered.
"You're cute, you know?"
"You're literally the only guy who says that…"
"And I hope it stays that way!"
I'm in love with Tshikuta. I'm glad to have someone like him in my life. I don't know what Alisha is plotting…
But if she messes with the relationship I have with Tshikuta, I'll definitely kill her. If she tries to take Sansula away from me, I'll kill her too.
I would need the cooperation of all of my sisters to take Lilith down, though. I haven't seen them in ten years. We may no longer share the same ideals…
Tshikuta, Sansula, Alisha and I went to a concert to listen to the most up and coming, popular musician in the world today.
Her stage name is Asaliy, or عسلي, which means "honey-like" in Arabic, but Westerners tend to call her "Ashley" since that is easier for us to pronounce. I like her music a lot, because I can relate to her lyrics.
She sang her most recent song titled "In Search of my Messiah", this being the lyrics:
Redeem me for I want to be free
Unlock my heart with your heavenly key
But there is nobody out there to save me
Awaiting my Messiah for what feels like an eternity
I am enslaved by my desires
Burning my soul is on fire
Can't you see the situation is dire?
I've been forgotten in this disaster
Bring me salvation
Where is my savior?
Is he heading my way on his white horse?
Dressed in armor?
Holding a sword?
Bring me salvation
Where is my savior?
Is he heading my way on his white horse?
Dressed in armor?
Holding a sword?
I'm growing impatient
Falling from hope to despair
Listen my heart needs to be repaired
I can't wait forever
Slay this demon inside of me
Who has been possessing me constantly
Can't you see who I truly want to be
It's someone you've set free
The Messiah in my life… is Tshikuta… I hope Ashley will find hers, if she hasn't already that is.
Tshikuta and I, together with Sansula and Alisha, applied for this utopia school the Dutch government built in the City of Utrecht, called "Utrecht Metropolitan Self-Development School".
When I entered the school grounds with my suitcase, I came face to face with my sister, Haniya. I hadn't seen her in a decade…
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