S E V E N  S I N S

———

THREE DAYS AFTER the truth about Death was revealed, the brothers gathered again to form their plan. They worked in secret, hidden by shadows of the castle walls and in the silence of the night. When it was finally time to come together once more and plan major points that would help them win the future war, they had already seen important progress in their surroundings.

Gathered around a round table in the library of the north wing, Dimitri rolled out a piece of parchment he had been working on tirelessly for the last few days. Wilhelm lit a candle to help bring light in the room. The flame danced in their silence, swaying to the beat of their hearts as Dimitri sat back down, gesturing to the drawing.

"These are the people that passed on in the last three days alone. This list includes souls that are sent to Heaven to live a peaceful afterlife as well as the souls sent here to Hell to repent for their crimes."

Calvin sat up a little straighter so that he could take a better look at the drawing that Dimitri had provided. Around twenty individual souls were recorded down, each with a vague personality evaluation as well as what they had been up to when they were still alive.

"I worry about how you spend your days," Wilhelm idly commented, a single eyebrow raised. "It must've been—"

"Horrifying," Fabian cut in. "Imagine seeing nothing but faces of the dead for days on end. I would've gone mad."

"I doubt any of us are still sane." Dimitri sighed, leaning back as he shut his eyes. "This place is toying with the last strings of my sanity."

Calvin sighed. "Lucifer runs Hell with an iron fist. The effects of his rule bleeds into the castle walls along with the cries of his once-human victims. There is no possible way we can survive this place with our sanity intact. One might even say that we should abandon it if we hope to live on."

Leaning his elbows against the smooth table, Calvin picked up a random piece of parchment so as to examine the drawing closely. His eyes followed every trace of the graphite, silently impressed by his brother's knack for art. Even so, it was regrettable that so many had passed in so little time.

"Are there any developments with your abilities?" Placing the parchment back down, Calvin turned to eye Dimitri closely, watching his expression.

The latter shrugged, peeking through his long dark eyelashes before fluttering them close again. The fine strands of hair grazed the skin of his face for a second before he opened his eyes again.

"It is more like an itch that can't be scratched. Before someone dies, I feel the need to be at the scene. To ease the passing or cause more pain depending on the situation." He paused, frowning. "Actually, no. It's more like I want to be there to pass judgement."

"Have you gone, then?" Fabian inquired.

Dimitri snorted. "Obviously not. Lucifer would throw a fit if I left the confines of Hell."

At that, the corners of Wilhelm's lips quirked. Light danced in his irises as he stretched his arms high above his head, reaching for the ceiling. The muscles of his upper body ached in a manner that was nearly soothing and he let out a sigh. Slumping back down into his seat, Wilhelm wore an amused smirk on his lips.

"We should plan a small revolt. Just something to stir up trouble and test the waters before going out into a full war against Lucifer. It is wiser to see what we're up against, don't you think?"

The red-head's index finger tapped against his chin as he waited for his brothers' reply, all of which were deep in thought. After a long silence, Calvin was the first to speak. He nodded once, rising from his seat.

"Before that, we should scout out Lucifer's strengths. Dimitri, do you think you can do that?" Calvin pivoted towards Dimitri, eyes glued to the latter as he waited for a reply.

"That doesn't seem to hard. I spend quite some time training with him anyway." Dimitri shrugged. "Leave it to me, then."

"Great! And that will leave me plenty of time to think of ways to mess up Hell more than the monstrosity it already is," Wilhelm all but cackled. Mischief carved its way into his features as he rose to his full height. His feet couldn't seem to move fast enough and within seconds, he had already darted out of the meeting room.

Fabian followed soon after, quietly retreating to his room without another word. Once the two had left, Calvin sighed loudly, shaking his head.

"I wonder at times what is it that goes on in their heads," he confessed. "Wilhelm is always so eager to fight, even when it should be drilled into his head that it is a sin to hurt others needlessly. And Fabian..."

"He's as emotionless as a stone?" Dimitri offered.

"Exactly."

"Each and every person has their own quirks. Perhaps our brothers merely have the worst of it all."

"I hope that's all it is." With that as his final word, Calvin patted Dimitri's shoulder twice, a grim smile on his face before he, too, left.

Now in solitude, the silence was starting to flood in, making Dimitri drown in it. He was left with the task of finding out Lucifer's flaws and capabilities. In order to win the war that loomed ahead, the information he's to gather required precision. One mistake, one false assumption, could lead to a catastrophe and the end of the four fallen angels.

———

Lucifer was late.

The sun was already high in the sky, signaling a time long past noon. By then, the pair should've already been in the fields, attempting to overpower one another with brute strength. Yet, there was still no signs of Lucifer anywhere.

Dimitri frowned, eyebrows scrunched and the corners of his lips turned down. If one thing was for sure, Lucifer had always been strict with his schedules and kept to it unless there were emergencies. To miss out on an event without providing a reason was out of character for him.

"Maybe he's not in the castle?" Dimitri wondered out loud to himself.

Not wishing to wait any longer, the spirit of death decided to take matters into his own hands. He left his room, scurrying down the darkened hallways as silently as he could. It was easy to slip past the different rooms and sections, and it was even easier to find Lucifer's study. The section that Lucifer had cordoned off for his own personal use was left unguarded, not a single red-fleshed demon in sight.

Glad that he wouldn't have to face those ghastly creatures, Dimitri silently celebrated at the ease of it all. Perhaps his prayers had reached Heaven after all and they were all looking out for him. Not a lot of things had gone his way since his descent.

Slipping into the study room, Dimitri made sure to lock the door behind him. This was a golden opportunity for him to examine the scenario they had been placed in. If anything, Lucifer must've kept the finer details of Hell in the study room where he could review in private.

Siphoning through document after document, Dimitri was met with pieces of parchment that held words beyond his comprehension. Although some were written in the language he was used to, others seemed to be words made by Man, something he had not learned just yet. Nevertheless, he copied down what he could on a separate parchment he stuffed into his shirt prior in his room, carefully replicating each swirl of a character and twist of a letter.

In the midst of it all, Dimitri noticed a leather-bound journal that sat on top of a stack of scribbled notes. Two words were scrawled on it in a brilliant shimmering gold, contrasting with the dull brown of its cover. There were flowers slotted into the book between the pages, most likely as a bookmark to label where Lucifer had last left off.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Dimitri flipped through the pages of the book, his touch feather-light against the paper as if afraid it would tear. Some pages were blank still while others were filled with words and detailed diagrams. Most of it, Dimitri realized, we're actually spells and potion recipes for situations he could not even begin to imagine.

He paused on a particular unfinished entry, pupils of his eyes fixated on the drawing of a beautifully decorated goblet. Even though it was drawn with simple black ink, it seemed to sparkle and shine from the page in an ethereal form. There was no title to it, merely a simple drawing with no other explanation as to what it is. Yet, Dimitri couldn't help himself but linger on it just for a second more than he needed to. It took him all he had to tear his eyes away, flipping the book shut and making sure it was back in its original position.

With the book closed, he returned to copying the task at hand, religiously copying the reports down for future reference. By the time he was done, the sun was already beginning to meet the horizon. There were still no signs of Lucifer.

Tucking the information back into his top, Dimitri was just about to leave the study room when a golden ornate box caught his attention. It caught the light of the setting sun, glimmering softly in its corner.

Interested heightened, Dimitri crossed the room to where the box was, flicking the clasp open before lifting the lid. He assumed that he would find something more valuable inside, perhaps a trial weapon that Lucifer might use in a war or even the goblet that was shown in his leather-bound journal. Yet, what Dimitri found inside that box was light years away from what he predicted.

The second the lid was lifted, seven separate colors whirled past him. Some of them were blinding while others were misty and fog-like. The shock of it all sent Dimitri stumbling down to the ground, palms pressed against the floor as the colors danced over his head for a brief second before flying out of the window.

Out of the seven colors, one remained. It was a bright red, colored like Man's blood. Slowly, it took the form of a woman, long hair racing down her back in large curls as her toes barely even grazed the ground. She was floating weightlessly, her silk dress dancing around her like the fires of war.

Dimitri could not move a single muscle in his body. It was as if he had been entranced, captured by the wisp that took the form of a human. Slowly, she began to smile but it was one of pure wicked glee rather than the serenity of angels Dimitri was used to. Her scarlet lips curled as she pressed a palm against Dimitri's cheek, leaning in so that she could whisper right by his ear.

"You desire war," she said, a smile in her voice. "The wrath of angels will guide you just as they will mislead you. Be careful who you trust. Anger is a volatile emotion and it can haunt the people nearest and dearest to you."

Before Dimitri could even form a reply or vocalize one of the thousands of questions running through his mind, the woman tore herself away from him, turning back into a string of color before darting out of the window like the rest of the box's contents. She was aided by the howl of the wind, the strong breeze stirring up a storm outside. Just as she disappeared from sight, the air calmed into a dead still.

From where he sat on the ground, Dimitri was able to read the fine print label on the box he had not seen at first. Engraved in the gold at the bottom of the box were three words that made Dimitri's breath catch in his throat. He hurriedly closed the lid, scurrying out of the study room and praying with all his might that Lucifer would not notice the box was now empty of its contents.

Three simple words were enough to make Dimitri's nights for the rest of the week sleepless.

SEVEN DEADLY SINS

————

social media:

instagram: twelvewonderingstars (private: aurorayeo)

twitter: aurorayeo (private: aurorayyq)

facebook: twelvewonderingstars