Young Writers Society

I did more work around the guild, and Zath looked minorly disappointed. I guess I did the right thing.

“Rose, are you sure you should be working so much?”

“I lazed out yesterday, so I should work more today.”

“That’s not a go-”

“Anything else for me to do?”

“There’s no way-”

Mammon’s jaw dropped as he beheld the literal shimmering guild hall. He had no missions, so he asked if I could clean it up, so I went a little overboard.

“Rose, this is insane.”

“Yeah, I know I went a little overboard.”

“A little? ROSE, I GAVE YOU THAT JOB TEN MINUTES AGO!!!”

“That long? Dang I am being lazy today as well.”

“Rose.”

“I should go around town and ask if anyone needs help.”

“Rose!”

“Maybe Gallson and Thalias need a few scales?”

“Rose!!!”

“Or I could help Jal-”

“ROSE!!!”

I jumped.

“What?”

“Why are you working so hard? Even you don’t normally do this much. You are making us worried.”

“I... I can’t tell you.”

“I get it... but listen, whatever it is probably won’t be solved by killing yourself through overworking.”

“I... I’m sorry.”

“*sigh* Don’t be, just take a break. Walk around town. Visit the park. I gave you the day off, so enjoy it.”

“Okay...”

I walked out of the guild hall with a sad expression on my face. I guess I panicked since realizing that Sloth made me less empathetic. My worst fear is that I would hurt the innocent, yet I feel a pull to gather more shards. I don’t want to be the bad guy.

Jalad walked by.

“I heard Mammon yelling. I’m guessing he also told you that you are overworking?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You seriously had us all worried.”

“Jalad?”

“Yes?”

“If I told you to kill me, would you, do it?”

“What? Why?”

“I’m just asking.”

“And what would happen if I didn’t in this scenario.”

“The world being destroyed.”

“I don’t know what kind of nightmare you had, but I’ll answer you. If you told me to kill you, or the world would be destroyed. I guess I’d just save you and the world.”

“But what if you couldn’t?”

“Hmm. Well, that will never happen. If you are having nightmares about when you got bloodlusted, don’t worry. Whenever you are in trouble. I will save you. After all, we are best friends.”

“I thought Dallel was your best friend.”

“Eh, we are closer to brothers than friends.”

“Ah, well, I just want you to promise that if I tell you to, you will kill me.”

“Not promising that.”

“Jalad.”

He grabbed my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, his expression serious.

“Listen, Rose. I see you as a sister, and I don’t kill family. I would never be able to kill you.”

With that, he walked off.

‘Sloth, am I able to remove memories?’

‘Duh, we are a god after all.’

‘If I ever turn evil, I will remove all memories of me from them, so they will only see me as a threat.’

‘You do that... I get it.’

‘You do?’

‘Yeah, you care for them, but would you actually accept death if they tried to kill you?’

‘Yes. I already have once.’

‘Then, I will help you.’

‘What?’

‘If you get another Sin, I will silence it myself.’

‘...’

‘Innocence?’

‘Thank you, Sloth.’

‘No problem... Rose.’

I smiled. Sloth seemed surprisingly kind for a shard.

_

I sat in the park, taking a nap, despite Sloth going dormant, she still impacted how easily I rested, of course I was still aware of my surroundings, but my dream was terrifying.

“Innocence, Sloth.”

I saw Sloth in her true form, a beautiful human woman in sleep clothes. I was also in my true form, a catkin child wrapped in cloth. I saw a valkyrie with full armor, Wrath, a fat elven woman dressed in a gold robe, Greed, a succubus not wearing much, Lust, a human woman with a chef’s hat, Gluttony, a dragonkin woman with a crown and purple clothes, Pride, and a small wolfkin woman in beggar’s robes, Envy.

Behind me were two more women. One was an elf wearing white robes and had a deep smile on her face, Peace. The other was a catkin, and she wore a regular citizen’s garb, in her hand was money that she was about to hand to someone that wasn’t here, Benevolence. She stopped smiling.

“Why are we here, Wrath?”

“Benevolence, were you giving to the poor again?”

“Of course, it’s in my nature.”

“We are evil. We should hurt those in need.”

“You can, I won’t. Now, why are we here?”

“To discuss Innocence.”

“Why me?”

“Because you started the Remerge.”

The others looked at me in surprise, but I didn’t know what the big deal was. Neither did Sloth for that matter.

“So? I was tired of my summoner, and she had a way out. Not like she did it with force.”

“That’s not the issue.”

“Then what is?”

“If Innocence does the merger, then we won’t be able to hurt those she cares for. She’s too kind.”

Benevolence stepped forward.

“And what’s so wrong with that?”

“We are the evil god, not the partial evil, not destroyer of only the bad guys. We are the bad guys.”

“Well, what if I don’t want to be evil?”

My question shook Wrath who acted like I had just murdered her entire family.

“What if you don’t want to be evil? You may lack your memories, but even still that’s just insane.”

Even Benevolence looked at me in shock.

“As much as I hate to agree with Wrath, we are still evil. I may like helping, but I don’t stop myself from killing.”

“Neither do I though. I just kill the bad guys though.”

Wrath sighed in relief.

“At least you don’t want us to be pacifists, but I’m still against you doing the merger. Sloth, what were you thinking?”

“That I was tired of doing work, and Rose gave me a perfect way to not do work.”

“Who’s Rose.”

“That would be me.”

This caused them to murmur more.

“Someone named Innocence? Can she even be trusted anymore?”

“She is stronger than us if that’s the case though, plus, we possess weaker bodies. She is her own body; wouldn’t it be better to go for a pure body.”

Then Lust spoke up,

“Honestly, I think we should let her do the merger, but make one of the sins the core.”

“I refuse.”

They all looked at me again.

“If one of the sins is the core, they’ll destroy the world. I don’t want that.”

Peace, Benevolence, and Sloth all nodded.

“Sloth? Even you agree?”

“Eh, Envy, I just don’t like work, I’d have to do too much to destroy things.”

“We need to take revenge though, for what the others did to us.”

“Why?”

Wrath looked at me in shock.

“Why? Why do we want revenge? Because they tore us from our seat and tore us to pieces, simply because they were jealous of our strength. They called us a monster!”

“So, why do we need to prove them right?”

Wrath was taken aback by my response,

“I may not have all of my memories, but I still recognize you, I still understand you. And you said that it’s because I don’t have my memories that I’m skeptical, but I remember when I matured as a dragon.”

They leaned in.

“In that moment, I remembered everything, but you know what I thought? My first thought was, ‘Why did I do those things’ no envy, no wrath, no pride. I was ashamed of myself. So, if you want revenge, then take it on your own. I will never merge with you unless you promise to never hurt an innocent life.”

Each shard had a different reaction. Wrath was fuming. Envy was awestruck. Lust was... yeah. Pride looked confused. Gluttony seemed impressed by my boldness. Greed looked disappointed. Sloth looked cheerful that I stood up for myself. Benevolence seemed encouraged by my resolve. Finally, Peace gave a light nod, encouraging me.

Wrath grabbed me.

“Listen here, brat. I will be the core, if I have to rip you apart to do it.”

I smiled.

“Try me.”

Then I woke up

“She’s alive!”

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the guild’s medical room. I tried sitting up, but Mammon pushed me down.

“Don’t move, you will hurt yourself.”

“What happened?”

Dallel rushed in with Royce and Jalad.

“Rose, are you okay? Don’t scare us like that!”

“Scare you? I was taking a nap.”

“A nap?”

They looked shocked. Royce spoke first.

“Rose...”

“Yes?”

“During your ‘nap’ your heart stopped entirely. You were dead.”