Smile Like You Mean It (A Demon Razing Hell Quest)

-Synopsis: They say Hell is where bad people go, and that Home is where you make it, so what does it mean when you make your Home in Hell?

Booker is a capital D Demon. That is one of the few things he remembers after waking in an alley with a static filled hole in his skull and the instinct that he needs to find something that's missing.

And so he sets out in a Hell very different than the one presented by religion trying to piece together who he is and what happened to him. To do so he'll research forbidden knowledge, make demonic deals, and kill whoever gets in his way all with a smile on his face.

--Tags: [Affably Evil Demon], [Functionally Dysfunctional Urban Hell], [Taking The Whole Show Over]

Smile Like You Mean It

Prologue

--- ??? ---

The world was on fire, and all he knew was agony as his skull was pierced.

For an eternity the flames continued, eating away and devouring his mind, body, and soul as they left nothing behind. Inflicting a level of pain and agony unending so great that his mind shattered again and again as it tried to futilely piece itself together.

But it was in this state of shattered sanity, that some tangential part of him had looped around through the pain, feeding the rest of his mind into the flames in an attempt to try and salvage some piece of himself, retaining only that which he would never give up even if it meant the death of everything that made him, him.

Those things were far more important to him than any thought in his head, any bit of personality that described his ego, or even all of the power that he’d accumulated over the years.

Which is why the hellfire consumed all of it, everything he was, before they could touch that which was precious to him.

Sadly though, this was not enough to stop the hellfire from eating away at these things that he clung to more in insane instinct than any conscious thought. Dimming recollections of what he was after, what he desired more than life itself, what he’d make his own even if he had to raze all of heaven and hell to the ground to do so.

But still he clung on to what he could, even as all that remained was the knowledge that there was something out there that he desired with all of his being, something that he could acquire if he found it once more.

Something that he knew he would find so long as the desire to do so remained, that longing emptiness that would drive lesser men to the abyss, it would push him to find what he could not even remember any more and he would make it his.

Which is why, as he hit the ground, his consciousness fading into the darkness, his power brought down to that of a lowly worm, his sanity a figment of the imagination, his body broken utterly, and his soul barely a spark of existence…

He couldn’t help but smile.

So, which District are we starting in? (Please Choose 2)

Hint: Each district represents both of the Sins that make them up in some way.

[]-Pride

[]-Greed

[]-Lust

[]-Envy

[]-Gluttony

[]-Wrath

[]-Sloth

---

Vote Results:

-EnvyxWrath= Kids, who wants to kill a nazi?

---

Ira Invidia (I): A Warm Open

--- ??? ---

When an eternity of hellfire finally came to an end he found himself fading in and out of consciousness, the shambles of his mind trying to stitch itself back together.

In these intermittent bouts of darkness and thought he saw a number of things, and thought about an even greater number of things as his body refused to work for him.

The first of these things was the graffiti covered brick wall of whatever filthy gutter he found himself thrown in, his body clearly left to the rats by whatever power thought him dead.

(But I’m not dead… I won’t die… until I can do so with a smile…)

It was a powerful thought, and arguably the first real revelation about who he was as an individual.

The second revelation was the fact that it was the only thing he knew about himself, the agony of whatever had left him in this alley having devoured every other thought and memory in his head, save for those that had formed in said alley. (Troubling…)

It was this second revelation that allowed him to realize his third, namely that whatever he’d forgotten was important because of… reasons he wasn’t actually all that sure of, beyond a bone deep longing of sorts.

These were quite the big thoughts for what in some ways could be considered a newborn mind, which is likely why the darkness so gracefully dragged him back into slumber so that mind could cook just a little longer.

---

When consciousness next returned he found himself looking up at a young woman bundled up in an oversized coat. Her gracious green eyes glittering out from beneath long brown hair in a mix of compassion and desperation as she regretfully attempted to rob what she thought to be a dead man.

“I’m really sorry about this…” She told him as she dug through his pockets. “I know you’ve already had a bad day because of the Smiling Man but I… I really need to get out of here…”

(The Smiling Man?) He thought, a sense of familiarity coming from the title. One that filled him with an odd mix of satisfaction, admiration, boredom, hatred, and perhaps most curiously hunger…

For the first time since arriving in this alley, who knows how long ago, he found his fingers twitching, wishing to reach out and…

He wasn’t quite sure but part of him wanted the girl to flee (protect your innocence…) While another part wanted her to stay (don’t leave me alone!) And yet another wondered (what does your flesh taste like?)

It was a disconcerting set of feelings to say the least.

A sentiment the girl clearly shared if the way she stumbled back with wide eyes meant anything.

“You’re waking up?” The girl clearly grimaced, despite how much of her face was covered. “I-I’m sorry.” Was her response before running off on her own.

Whether that was rude, smart, kind, or cruel he wasn’t sure. His understanding of those concepts… still a little mixed at the moment. (Something is clearly wrong with my head right now…)

A worrying thought, given how his mind was the only thing with any sort of power at the moment as he was just gaining the ability to move his fingers.

Thankfully, the darkness decided to force upon him another comforting map before he could become too distressed by that point.

---

Once more his mind struggled free of the comforting embrace of nothingness, the empty feeling inside of him beginning to gnaw at him in a way it hadn’t while he was distracted by that girl from earlier. A gnawing that was quite painful in truth, as he found it wasn’t quite limited to the emotional sense of the word. (Need to… need to find a distraction… Something to numb the emptiness…)

Believing this to be quite the brilliant idea he began testing his limbs, finding them to be much closer to working order than they had been during his previous bout of consciousness, for this time he was actually able to use his long limbs to pull himself to a standing -if slightly uncoordinated- position by leaning against the wall he’d been propped up against.

Actually walking proved a… more difficult task than he’d initially assumed, if only because of how his limbs seemed to want him to act like some newborn lamb rather than a fully grown… (human?)

He paused at that, wondering why that thought seemed to be a question rather than a statement of sorts. (I mean, of course I’m a human… aren’t I?)

In front of him was a window, the glass dark and dusty due to both the light and disuse, but thankfully seemed to reflect the alley proper.

Meaning when he stepped in front of it he was able to quite clearly see what he believed to be a handsome enough man with short -albeit long for a male- hair, his bangs covering his forehead even if they did nothing to hide his dark eyes. (See a human.)

Sadly the makeshift mirror and the alleyway were both too dark to be too precise with the coloring of anything, but from what he could see of his own scarred skin by rolling his pale sleeves up to a position he was more comfortable with at the moment, he was of a tone that could pass for a tanned white man or a pale black man beneath the paler scarring that littered his arms.

(I wonder which one it is?) He considered his limbs for another moment before taking another glance at his reflection.

Only instead of a somewhat handsome human he found himself staring at a dark brown rabbit man with glowing red eyes and a pair of horns.

A brief inspection behind him proved he was alone. And a second of his cloths proved that he was wearing the same half charred white button up he’d seen on the rabbit man.

Returning his gaze to this new reflection he found himself staring at a now white rabbit with red eyes, dark stitchwork visible all over his fur.

He raised a hand to his cheek, feeling smooth flesh even as his rabbit reflection ran clawed fingers over the stitches on its cheek, the motion pulling the fur slightly, and revealing something hidden beneath the fur.

Rather than being intimidated by this he found himself thinking (interesting) even as a blink of the eye returned the reflection to that of a human.

“So I’m either not actually human or I’m insane…” For some reason he felt completely comfortable with both of those possibilities.

It was as he pulled back from this closer inspection that he realized he had a smile on his face, one that he hadn’t even been aware of, one that now that he noticed it filled him with (love/hate/fear/hunger/joy/despair/acceptance).

He blinked, not having expected such an extreme reaction from just noticing the smile.

It was the extremity of this reaction that had him do something that he’d come to realize was the height of foolishness…

Namely…

He tried to stop smiling.

(The pain kept coming, but he’d keep smiling because…)

(Her smile made the pain go away…)

(And it came back when she finally stopped…)

(He smiled, his eyes wide as he realized that monster’s smile was the same as his…)

(Despite the whole building burning around him… he couldn’t help but smile…)

(Two fingers pressed up against his cheeks, forcing them into the shape of a smile he didn’t feel…)

(And so he’d continue to smile because if he didn’t… well…)

The Smile Didn’t Like That…

Shattering glass and pain snapped him out of it as he found his fist half way through the glass, sending massive cracks through it and fragmenting his reflection into seven very different eyes, before turning into seven reflections of a man who was very clearly shaken in spite of the smile on his face.

“Right… not doing that again…” He chuckled, leaning a little more towards the insanity diagnosis than just a few moments prior.

Pulling his hand free of the glass, he found he’d done quite the number to the poor thing.

He also found his flesh pushing the glass free through no action of his own, the small cuts they left behind quickly stitching themselves shut. (And that’s a point in the ‘not a human’ direction as well…)

“Come on, I think it was over here.” A voice called from one end of the alley.

“And I don’t get why we’re heading towards the broken glass.” A second added. “People are breaking into shit all the time.”

“Yeah, but around here our people. Meaning either it could be some of our boys who we can a cut for helping or it could be some other fucks thinking they can do something in our territory.” The first voice explained with something resembling logic.

(Need to hide.)

(Or charm them.)

(Easier to just kill.)

(Am getting hungry.)

(Could play dead.)

(Bargain maybe.)

(Too many unknowns.)

He stuttered a step, the cacophony of his own thoughts far more disorienting than he’d been expecting as his mind went in more than half a dozen directions at once.

Unfortunately, given how he was still getting used to ‘walking’ that single stuttered step was enough to send him crashing to the ground.

“Huh, who is this asshole?” One of the voices asked.

“Probably just some junkie drugged out of their mind.” The other dismissed him, (how dare he?!)

He blinked, not sure why he was so offended by that when (better they underestimate than over, it’ll make things easier.)

“Bet this is the one breaking glass and shit.” One of them said, as he felt a kick to his side. “Fuck, man looks like a fucking Smiler…”

Several of his thoughts aligned at once, with the single plan to (kill them both.)

Not even really thinking about it he reached out with one of his hands and pulled on the leg of the man who kicked him with an amount of force that he hadn’t expected from himself as scrawny as his reflection had been.

Still it provided him with an opportunity he wasn’t quite willing to throw away as it brought his attacker down to his level, where with surprising ease he grabbed the man’s throat before ripping it out with a clawed hand.

He felt a burst of something inside of him as he watched the man rapidly bleed out, almost as if the life was leaving the man and instead entering him.

With far more ease than before he managed to climb to his feet, where his (victim’s) compatriot punched him across the jaw.

A few moments prior this would’ve been enough to knock him back to the ground.

Now it just made him growl in rage/hunger/excitement.

Faster than either of them realized he grabbed the man by both his shoulder and his head before burying his teeth, his fangs, into the man’s throat and ripping it out.

Once more he felt a burst of something filling him with energy he hadn’t had prior, even if the sensation was less noticeable than the first time. (Because you were weaker/emptier/poorer/hungrier.)

He shook his head as another wave of thoughts crashed down on him, and he tossed the man to the side as he tried to steady himself against the brick wall rather than once more falling to the gutter like the two men he’d just killed.

For whatever reason be it that they struck him first, that they were clearly ne'er do wells, or simply because he wasn’t human he found he wasn’t all that guilty or concerned about the killing bit. In fact some part of him wanted more of it.

His eyes drifted to another nearby alley window, where he once more saw his reflection.

Only this time he saw a smiling man with a bloody maw full of fangs and a hole filled with flickering static beneath his now parted bangs. The entire visage quite clearly answering the question of ‘is he a monster or is he just insane?’ (Clearly it’s both.)

And he couldn’t help but smile at that.

We’re a not-human in an alley with two corpses and no memories. What now? (Hint: Question marks are our undiscovered skills. They’re all Lv. 1 right now.)

[]-Study these men, something is clearly odd about them. Maybe they have something worth learning/taking? (P????/G????)

[]-Study the alley, there has to be some clue about what happened, be it how we got here or what happened to us. (E???/P????)

[]-Stalk/Observe the locals, see what we can learn about this place on our own. We need to test our mental faculties if we are to rely upon them. (P????/E???/G???????)

[]-Speak to the locals, ask some questions. Attention can be good or it can be bad, it can also mean less work for the common question of where we are. (L???/?????)

[]-Seek out that girl from before. She seemed the kind/easily manipulated sort and she might be able to help us. (L???/E???/G???????)

---

A/N: Fun Fact, I wrote Smile Like You Mean It’s chapter first, and by the time I finished the other two the chapter poll had shifted so I had to re-write it. (The original draft is a free patron bonus chapter for anyone who is curious.)

---

Tutorial Skill Checks

-As a base each skill check will consist of me rolling a number of dice based on our current character Rank (Based on Total Class Levels: Lv > 0 = 1, Lv. > 5 = 2, Lv. > 15 = 3, Lv. > 30 = 4, Lv. > 50 = 5, Lv. > 75 = 6, Lv. > 105 = 7.)

-As a Demon our power revolves around Advantages and Disadvantages, with the former granting a Dice and the latter taking one away.

-Additionally, should the total +/- of Advantages and Disadvantages tilt so that one side has a 3 Dice advantage or no Dice at all, then that will be an auto-success/fail.

-Lastly, our success and failure will be tiered based on how far over or under our roll is, with ties being an outright reroll of both in clashes.

-After all of this we gain 1XP to all of our used skills in the rolls.

Example:

-Study the locals.

--They’re not on alert so no roll on their end, but on ours we roll 2D6+1=10 for knowledge , 2D6+1=9 for more esoteric observations, and then 2D6+10 for our more predatory observations.

---

-Find the girl.

--For her escaping: She has a Survivor level of 5 so that’s 2D6+5 = 12.

--For us: We’re Lv. 7 since we have 7 Lv. 1 classes, but we also have advantage due to tracking her down immediately, meaning we’re actually rolling 3D6+1 = 12, which would have us reroll for 2D6+5 = 10 vs 3D6+1 = 16. (Note: Added the tie rule after this.)

--The second ???? was a backup roll in case we failed to track her down with ???????? that wouldn’t have given us advantage on this next check.

--Due to us finding her on the first try the girl has a double Disadvantage on the Social roll due to both being Guilty for robbing us and the fact we caught her so quickly meaning we auto-auto win the challenge of whether or not she tries to run again since she now has no dice to roll with. (Her Lv. 5 Survivor does give her a perk for negotiations on the next roll depending on your choice though.)

---

A/N: Also, quick warning, pretty sure this story is going to be the most experimental of the three if it continues until the end.

---

Ira Invidia (II):

--- ??? ---

(G???????: We need to leave.)

His eyes darted around the alley, searching for the source of the voice he’d heard.

(E???: We’re not even going to pretend to be sane are we?) A second voice drawled, almost mockingly.

(S????: That would be too much work for too little gain.) An exhausted third pointed out.

Once more he checked all around the alley, but no matter where he looked he couldn’t find the source of these voices. At least not until he noticed his fractured reflection staring at him and telling him exactly where the speakers had disappeared as his eyes changed color flickered between several colors.

“Voices in the head…” He huffed in amusement. “What fun!”

(P????: Yes, yes, we’re insane. We’ve already discovered this, but there’s more new things to learn! I mean, look! There’s something odd about these two… Why aren’t you investigating!) A fourth (more sophisticated) voice cried.

Part of him -(the one you should absolutely ignore)- wondered if it was a good idea to heed the words of these voices, but given how they were him in a sense he decided to listen to them in so long as the ideas they voiced were intelligent or beneficial to him at the moment. (Smart man!)

(G???????: No, we need to leave before someone finds us with these bodies.) The first voice growled.

(W????: He has a point, if we don’t leave people will seek vengeance.) A fifth agreed. (We aren’t in a condition where we can fend off everyone who seeks us.)

(G???????: We need to learn more about our prey before we hunt them down.)

(P????: Oddly reasonable for you two, but I’m always in favor of bettering ourselves. We can learn on the move.)

“So that’s three in favor, out of… how many?” He asked.

(L???: There’s seven us in total!) A chipper voice answered. (Oh, and you don’t have to listen to us if you don’t want to!)

(G????: He’s right, for once, you should just ignore everyone else and search this lots’ pockets. We can’t afford to be wasteful in a world like this!) The final voice threw out.

(E???: We also can’t afford to be caught until our work is done.)

“That one has a very good point.” He admitted before looking down both ends of the alley. “Though I’m not sure which way we should go to avoid attention.”

(L???: Ooh, ooh, go the way the girl went!)

(G???????: He’s got a point… The men you killed came from the other, if someone sees you walking out covered in blood they might put two and two together.)

(L???: Oh, no, I just wanted to make a new friend!)

“Regardless, it’s a good enough direction.” He decided before heading in the same direction as the girl, only to pause as he came to a street with more people than he’d been expecting. (Or perhaps not…)

(G???????: No look at them. More than one person is covered in blood or openly carrying a weapon… They’re all ready for violence, but look at them… They watch their fellows with fear hidden behind anger… They’re merely prey pretending to be prey… How delectable…)

He found himself salivating as he boldly stepped onto the street, his eyes meeting a man who startled at his sudden appearance before putting on a bold facade as if the man wasn’t scared.

(G???????: Go ahead… Take a bite… Show everyone here what a real predator looks like!)

He began to open his mouth, feeling his teeth itch as they turned into fangs ready to rip into the meat and-

(P????: Now isn’t the time for bestial violence!)

His mouth snapped shut as he shook his head clear and started in the direction opposite the man. “What was that?”

(E???: That is what happens when you lean too hard into one of us. You start to behave the way we would, were we the ones in control.)

“Interesting…” He wasn’t sure if that was something to be concerned about or not. (After all, they’re already me and they’re already in my thoughts, so who could say who is really in control.)

(P????: An interesting philosophical, but right now we should focus on the actual project at hand… Look around and we’ll see what we can learn shall we?)

He nodded to himself, before taking a proper look around as he wandered through the streets. All around him were a number of tall buildings made of concrete underlining that he was in a rather dense city of some kind. The architecture all painted various hues of red and black while also being oddly pointy and damaged to the point where the buildings should’ve been abandoned but for some reason were not.

It was while looking at this that he noticed the blood red sky up above, alongside what appeared to be some kind of runic script. (Is that real, or merely another hallucination?)

(E???: It’s real. It’s also a spell circuit… Too big to read from here -can’t even take a guess at what it does- but it’s probably not why the sky is red.)

(P????: Perhaps it’s a reaction similar to how water particles normally turn the sky blue… Though that wouldn’t answer what particulate is causing the red…)

(G???????: Blood… Can still taste it in the air despite leaving the alley… There’s been so much bloodshed it’s stained the very air… Not as good as true blood, but still a mouth watering flavor, wouldn’t you agree?)

“I do…” He admitted, unable to help but lick his lips.

As his gaze came back down to street level, he found his eyes locking onto an odd insignia of an X of sorts with an additional line capping the end of each that was hanging off of banners here and there, or painted onto the buildings if they lacked said banners. A symbol that he found quite common on those who walked near him, be it stitched into their clothing or tattooed onto their flesh.

(P????: Clearly every person or business here affiliates with whatever organization this represents, but what does the symbol actually mean?)

The answer was staticy feeling in his mind as if he remembered it, less by definition and more with his emotions towards it, emotions that were most clearly defined as (annoyance/disgust/rage.)

He frowned. “Well that wasn’t very clear at all…”

Regardless of clarity of definition, he felt like even associating with whatever this symbol represented was sapping at his own intellect, as if whatever it represented was such an extreme form of stupidity that it was somehow contagious.

(W????: The symbol is for idiots and pathetic wretches who’d rather blame the innocent than take responsibility.) An angry voice growled, filling his mind with red.

(P????: Now, now, we need a clear head to think. I’m noticing another oddity on the fellows surrounding us.)

He blinked before taking another subtle look at the people around him, for a moment thinking them no different than an ordinary person before spotting the thing the voice was talking about.

Namely that while the people around him for the most part looked human, almost everyone also had several traits that were distinctly not. The most common of which were claws and fangs, glowing eyes, and in a few instances even horns and tails. (At the very least I shouldn’t stand out too much.)

(P????: I’d think not. They’re all like us, both human and not… Though with a less clear divide between the two…) The other voice mumbled, piecing together his thoughts for him. (Nice of him to do that.) (You’re welcome, still this means that they can't turn off whatever phenomenon causes our transformation…)

(E???: We can only manage that because everything is so shattered in here, and even then only just barely.)

(G???????: Should just cut loose, restraint is pointless. Revel in the Madness of it all.)

“That does sound fun…” He admitted, thinking about loosing his claws and fangs into those near him.

(E???: It may be fun, but it won’t see our work get done.)

“A valid argument.” He sighed, feeling smaller than a moment before as he felt a sort of longing in his chest for something he couldn’t quite name.

(L???: Oh, oh, I’ve got an idea!) The happiest of his voices shouted.

“Oh, do tell!” He grinned.

(L???: Well, we’ve got no direction at the moment, right? So why don’t we try talking to the people around us, maybe they’ll give us some?)

(P????: No. Caring about strangers’ opinions is how you end up tied to a worthless organization full of idiots.)

(S???: Though getting someone else to do some of the work for us would be nice.)

“The question is who?” He wondered, taking another look at those around him and finding all of them wanting be it due to either their affiliation with that (annoying/stupid/vile/disgusting) pinwheel or because they were just bland and blended into the scenery.

(L???: Well what about that girl that we woke up to? She seemed nice in a ‘desperate street rat trying to survive’ kind of way.)

“Well, at the very least she was more interesting than anyone here.” He noted with a wry grin, before taking another look around. “But how are we supposed to find her when she’s run away and we’ve moved in a different direction?”

(G???????: Hmm, it’s more fun when they run… The fear makes their meat so much sweeter.) That one purred as his stomach growled.

(Are we a cannibal?) He idly wondered, while considering his delight in the taste of blood.

(P????: That would depend on your definition, but… probably.)

(W????: You’re not eating her, she’s innocent.)

(L???: Yeah! She’s going to be a friend not food!)

(G????: Innocent? She stole from us! That’s worthy of a death sentence!)

The red voice scoffed. (W???: She stole nothing of value.)

(G????: Nothing of- Everything is of value as long as it's ours!)

“Regardless! None of this explains how we’re going to find her.” He pointed out as he came to a stop, uncaring for the various eyes on the mad man talking to himself in the middle of the street.

(G???????: Hmm, her scent ‘s in the air, still fresh enough that the blood and filth of humanity has yet to consume it. The innocence makes it stand out against the rabble.)

He inhaled, but (I can’t smell anything…)

(W????: I smell the blood of the innocent and the damned alike, but not the girl.)

(G???????: Grrah, need to feel the beast… let it guide you on the hunt…) The feral one growled as his skin began to feel a little too tight on his bones.

(E???: Dangerous route this one, be careful not to over indulge it lest it consume you.)

(W????: True but the Beast has purpose, value we shouldn’t neglect.)

“Alright, the ‘beast’-” (It uses a capital B.) “Ah, apologies.” He coughed into his hand. “Ahem, the Beast is a valuable tool, but that doesn’t tell me how to use it.”

(E???: The Beast is a state of mind. Leave it to the unconscious mind, you’ll just direct it as the conscious mind.)

(P????: So long as you remain more man than Beast at least.)

Before he could parse that ominous thought, he found himself hunching over as his stomach began to growl, the tightness of his skin growing even worse as his mouth began to water. All around him the world grew brighter, the darkness fading so that he could see through the darkest of shadows as well as the shadows cast by every person he saw.

(G???????: Not the time. Time to hunt!)

His heart began to pound in his chest and he began to move, his eyes taking note of recent scuffs picking apart the ones that were too big and too heavy, before seeing the ones that were smaller than the rest. Small enough to be the (prey/friend/girl) he was after.

Moving in pursuit his calm walk slowly shifted into a spiraling sprint as he sought out his (prey) not caring in the slightest about the people around him or the fact that several flinched away from his bloodstained form and snarling maw, (all that matters is the hunt!)

A trail of something floated through the air, unseen by all but the mad man following it, through back alleys and streets as he barely took notice of the people and things that surrounded him. Details that in a clearer state of mind might’ve meant something or triggered some sort of response from the voices in his head but currently meant nothing in the face of his growing (hunger.)

Coming into an alley walled off by a chain link fence, he easily leapt over said fence in spite of it being as tall as he was, before finding that the cloud of (scent/emotion/madness) that he’d been following expanded into such a large thing that it consumed his vision.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

(She’s nearby…) He growled both internally and ex at that thought, not sure whether it was him or the voices making the sound.

His eyes darted around the brickwork alley, taking note of the various filth and debris that littered the ground, the torn up posters depicting odd imagery, and the overflowing dumpsters before falling on a large wooden board lying against the brickwork, too close to really hide anything of import and yet…

(G???????: The rabbit’s den is buried, need to dig it out.)

The voices seemed to disagree.

The only places he could see the girl hiding would be inside the dumpster, which while viable in the short term was not somewhere he could see her staying in long enough to cover this entire alley in… (whatever I was tracking.)

“Which leaves you…” He smiled, before grabbing the edge of the board and tossing it aside to find a small alcove in the alley brickwork.

An alcove just big enough for a sleeping bag, a backpack, and a terrified green eyed girl who could be no older than ten and four bundled up in a heavy scarf and jacket.

(G????: There’s the thief!)

(G???????: Food!)

He growled, ready to rip into her throat and- (Enough/Enough/Enough!)

The voice’s echoing presence was enough to force him to flinch.

(W????: She’s a child!)

(L???: Friend not food!Friend not food!!!)

(E???: What would your mother think of this behavior?)

He found himself flinching once more as the voices that weren’t all for killing the girl reprimanded him.

(P????: As I said, will you be a savage beast or a proper gentleman?)

(Right…) He inhaled, before exhaling. (Need to be sure of whatever choice I make…)

You found the girl. Now what will you do with her? (Top 2)

Note: Some choices will resonate with certain classes while repelling others. In such cases the names after the + will grow stronger, while the ones after the - will grow weaker.

[]-Kill Her. (+G????/G??????? -L???/W????/E???)

[]-Leave her alone. (P????/E???/W??? -G????)

[]-Recruit Her. (L???/S????/E???)

Any Questions -for her- before we do that? (Max 3)

[]-Write Questions In Comments. (+Depends on the questions asked.)

Submitted Questions:

-Recruit Her (Lust/Sloth/Envy)

-Do you have a name? (Lust)

-May I have my things back? (Greed)

-Do you know anything about restoring lost memories? (Pride)

---

Quick Tutorial Add On: Forgot to mention it last chapter, but no skill can go below 0XP, meaning if you’re at Lv. 5 (0/12) then losing an XP in that skill won’t cost you anything.

---

Ira Invidia (III): Considering Questions And Offers

--- ??? ---

(First and foremost I suppose…)

“Hello, child. It was so terribly rude of you to run off earlier.” He greeted, forgoing his own introduction due to not actually having a name to give at the moment. “Now then, I believe you and I could have quite the intriguing conversation… So long as you know not to run this time?”

The young woman shivered, not answering his mostly rhetorical question as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

“Glad to see you agree.” He grinned, enjoying the way she squirmed as he looked down on her.

(En??: You’re scaring her.)

(Lu??: Don’t be a meanie. Give her a smile and assure her you aren’t going to hurt her.)

(Gr???: Yet.)

(Glu?????: Heh, fear makes the meat taste so sweet…)

(Sl???: Whatever we’re doing, scare her too much and she’ll stab you. Street rats are like that.)

(Lu??: If we want to calm her down, we need to start with something simple and non threatening.)

He considered that for a moment, the girl saying absolutely nothing as he considered her, the only sound coming from her being her frightened breathing. “Come now child, aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

The girl audibly swallowed, visibly considering whether or not she should lie to him as her face creased in worry before letting out a quiet, “Lydia…”

“Lydia.” He repeated, tasting the name and wondering if the flavor would ignite any memory of his own.

(Pr???: Still can’t recall our name, but I can tell you that Lydia means-) “Noble one, or beautiful one… I wonder which your parents meant for you?” He idly asked, dismissing the more boring meaning of ‘from Lydia’ while not actually expecting an answer to his question.

Not that that stopped him from noticing how the girl flinched at the word ‘parents’. (Interesting…)

“Now then… Lydia, while I may not have been or currently be in the rightest of minds, I am aware of the fact that you took something from me.” He growled, not quite meaning to as he felt the desire to-

(Gr???: Kill her and just steal it back from her corpse already!)

(Glu????: Eat her while we’re at it… She may be more bone than meat, but we haven’t had a proper meal in who knows how long.)

(Lu??: Hey, let’s at least give her a chance to give them back, please?)

(Well since you said please.) He ignored his more violent thoughts as he leaned down at the waist, taking not of just how much taller than her he was before sticking his hand out and kindly requesting, “May I please have my things back?”

He liked to think that the ‘before I take them back’ was best left unsaid, and the fact that she cautiously put something in his hand meant that it was rightly heard.

“This, this is all I got… and the, the Sin from stealing it.” Lydia promised, her voice soft and fearful as she quickly withdrew her hand, almost as if she were afraid he’d bite the hand off.

(Glu?????: We still could.)

Standing back up, he inspected the object she’d returned to him.

Fitting perfectly in his long fingered hand was a silver pocket watch with two rabbits chasing each other on the cover, one with antlers and one without. A number of chains circled and connected the two in an intricate knot that would bind them together forever even as they were both slowly choked to death by the bond.

His thumb traced the chains as he felt a set of emotions he couldn’t quite name.

(Glu?????: Longing…)

(Wr???: Guilt…)

(En??: Regret…)

(Lu??: Love…)

(Sl???: Peace…)

(Pr???: Acceptance…)

(Gr???: Satisfaction.)

More on reflex than anything else, bloodstained fingers gripped the lid of the watch. His index and middle finger pressing down before pulling up and snapping the watch open to reveal the engraving hidden on the other side of its cover

Booker H. Freeman.

You are both the second worst and the

second greatest thing to ever happen to me.

I will always hate and admire you,

Emilia Lafayette.

The watch snapped shut once more, the storm of emotions inside of him far wilder than anything he’d felt in the short time since his awakening. With emotions so complicated that he found himself desperate for anything else to think about.

A shifting brought his attention back to the young woman in front of him, looking like she wasn’t sure if she should flee while he was distracted or stay still in case it angered him once more.

“Thank you, my dear.” He told the girl with no small amount of honesty as he slipped the watch into one of his pockets for now, deciding to deal with those feelings when he was alone and knew more about his situation.

(Lu??: Oh, oh, introduce yourself!)

“Ah, yes! It occurs to me that I’ve yet to introduce myself, Booker H. Freeman at your service.” He informed her as he bowed with both a smile and a theatrical flourish of his hand.

While it wasn’t overly apparent, he could tell by the slight relaxing of the girl’s shoulders that this introduction had done something for her nerves even if he wasn’t quite sure what.

“Now that we’ve put this unfortunate business behind us, perhaps you can help me with another issue plaguing my person?” He asked, taking a step back so that he wasn’t quite looming over the girl any more.

Lydia watched him cautiously, her eyes darting around a bit as she climbed to her feet. “What, what exactly do you need help with?”

“Well as embarrassing as it is to admit, I’m currently missing a few… memories involving the where, why, and hows of how I found myself in that alley earlier.” He explained, keeping the fact that he’d forgotten far more than that to himself.

The girl stared at his face for a moment, more specifically his mouth before asking him if, “Can you, uh, stop smiling?”

“I’d rather not.” He confessed, some instinct telling him that to do so was a terrible mistake.

“Then you, uh, you might be a victim of the Smiling Man?” Lydia offered, looking uncomfortable.

He tilted his head. “You mentioned him before, and those ruffians you fled from called me a Smiler I believe?”

“Yeah, the Smiling Man is a, a Demon that runs around these parts feeding on people and leaving them as little more than smiling husks.” Lydia explained with a shiver. “Though I haven’t heard of any of his victims being able to talk once he’s done with them.”

(Pr???: The question is whether that’s because you’re the exception or the cause? The fact that you don’t doubt her when she calls him a Demon could be a point in either direction.)

(En??: The Beast makes it pretty clear which direction we should be leaning.)

(Glu?????: Smiles are nice, but they don’t matter nearly as much as the hunt, the kill, or the feast.)

“Hmm…” Taking all of that into account, he decided it was best to point out that, “If none of the Smiling Man’s other victims can talk, then there’s no telling if he’s responsible for my memory loss or merely someone who exploited said memory loss.”

“On the uh, bright side, if you’re walking around you should get your memories back once you’re done healing.” Lydia offered with a wry grin of her own.

(Lu??: Aw, she’s trying to give us hope. How cute!)

(Sl???: People like us don’t deserve hope.)

(En??: Everyone deserves hope. The good to get them through the day, and the wicked to make their suffering all the greater.)

(Sl???: Show her your bullet hole. Street rats are made of stern stuff. Might be able to point us towards a back alley doc to get it fixed.)

“A valid point.” He nodded, before parting his hair over the hole in his skull. “Though I’m not sure how long this’ll take to heal.”

Lydia grimaced, but didn’t flinch away as would normally be expected of a child her age. (Told you.) “Yeah, that’s, uh, that looks like you’re still under something… surprised you’re walking around with that… Especially after the Smiling Man got to you.”

“So the two aren’t connected then?” He asked, letting his hair fall since it clearly made the thus far helpful child uncomfortable.

“Not as far as I know, but… I don’t normally go looking for Smilers.” Lydia admitted, looking away as she guiltily brought up the point about robbing his incapacitated corpse.

(Gr???: Still say we should gut her for that.)

(Priorities.) He told himself, before asking the girl if, “Given my little… problem here, I don’t suppose you know where I can find someone nearby to mend this injury of mine?”

“Uh, no…” Lydia frowned, causing his eye to twitch once more. “Healers aren’t common around here… And I haven’t really left Ira Invidia since my… dad brought me here.”

“Now, now. No need to frown just because you can’t help me child. You’ve been plenty of help as you are.” He assured Lydia, getting a weak smile out of the girl. (Better… shame we’ll have to end it.) “In fact, as helpful as you’ve been I can’t help but be curious as to why you felt the need to steal from me during my incapacitated state?”

That got a flinch out of the girl as she refused to meet his eye, instead rubbing at her wrists as she looked at the ground. “Sorry… It’s just… I, I don’t want to be here.”

“Oh, am I such terrible company?” He grinned, knowing that wasn’t what she meant but not having the context behind what she actually meant.

Unexpectedly, the girl glared at him for a moment, “That’s not-!” before flinching once more. “Sorry… I meant, Ira Invidia… I’m not, I’m only here because my dad dragged me here… I don’t believe in that stuff.” Lydia tried to explain as she gestured towards a poster with that windmill insignia or the one beside it bearing before more quietly confessing that, “I’m not a nazi…”

The girl flinched once more at that confession as if she was expecting him to physically lash out at her, only to relax near completely when he didn’t. (Interesting…)

(Pr???: Based on context, Nazi is likely the name of those represented by that idiotic windmill.)

(Wr???: They’ve also hurt her. She’s more scared of them than of a strange man covered in blood cornering her in an alley.)

(Gl?????: Insulting. We’re clearly more intimidating than those maggot filled wretches.)

“Quite right.” He smiled, more to himself than anything though by Lydia’s grateful smile she seemed to think he was encouraging her.

(Sl???: Let her think what she wants as long as it keeps her loyal.)

“Any, uh, anyway you need a lot of Sin to buy your way out of Ira Invidia.” Lydia continued to elaborate. “It’s cheaper because I’m still young but if I can’t get the Sin in another year or two… It might as well be impossible after that.”

“I see… So I’m guessing my exit from this place will be ‘impossible’ as you put it.” He guessed with a tilt of his head, fairly certain that just because something was impossible to the girl didn’t mean it was impossible for him.

(Pr???: It really doesn’t.)

“Maybe?” Lydia grimaced once more. (That’s such an annoying habit…) “Um, you’re uh, you’re not from Ira Invidia, right? I mean I don’t think you are but…”

“No I’m not.” He answered, fairly certain that if he was he’d have killed more people and burned down any building clinging to those annoying symbols.

(Wr???: We’d have burned them all alive.)

(En??: Needless to say, you’re not here because you live here.)

(Glu?????: Though this wouldn’t make the worst hunting ground with all the prey wandering about.)

Lydia smiled, (looking much better) as she told him, “Then you should be able to buy your way over the wall… I think…”

“But we’ll need a decent amount of… Sin,” He was assuming that was the local currency based on what she’d said, “to get anything done.”

“Uh, we?” Lydia asked, looking like she was once more ready to flee. An extreme shift from her previous countenance to say the least. (I wonder why?)

(Sl???: She’s scared we’re going to take the Sin she’s saved up already. Losing what little they have is the greatest fear of all street rats.)

(Gr???: An option for quick funds, but probably not the most profitable in the long term. As much information as she’s given it might be better to make her work off that debt of hers.)

(Pr???: Yes, a source of information would be invaluable given the current lack of memories.)

“Look, you uh, you seem like a nice enough guy but there is no us… I, I felt bad for stealing your watch, that’s the only reason I’m helping you now.” Lydia lied, not bringing up her blatant fear of him after how easily he’d tracked her down. “And as is, I’m thinking we’re just about even on that.”

(Gr???: Regardless, she’s not going to go anywhere with you unless you can offer her something she wants. Only idiots work for free after all.)

(The question is what to offer her?)

(Lu??: Ooh, ooh! We can offer to be her best friend forever!)

(Wr???: She’s hurt and scared. The honorable thing would be to aid her.)

(En??: Or we can teach her how to help herself. Give her the power to fight her own battles without us.)

(Glu?????: Hmm, rats are predators to some creatures. Might be entertaining to teach her she doesn’t have to be a scavenger.)

(Sl???: Both of those options are too much work. All we need to do is take her with us when we leave and she’ll be ours for no extra work.)

(Pr???: Yes, she’ll merely be a tool to our goals. No need to become too invested in her.)

(Lu??: Or, we can become super invested and work our magic a bit.)

(Gr???: Doubt she’d say no if we do that, but the question is if it’s worth the price.)

(What do you mean?)

(En??: You’ve got more tricks than just the Beast, if you want you can draw on them but you’ll need to be careful lest they turn you into a slave to your own power.)

(Lu??: Oh, don’t scare him like that. This is just us giving our offer a little more razzle dazzle to get her to say yes.)

(En??: Addiction is always a slippery slope with consequences we can’t see.)

(Glu????: Better to indulge while you can, rather than waste your life on regrets.)

(Pr???: Philosophies aside, you need to make a decision. You might think faster than most but time is still passing for the girl.)

His mind snapped into focus as he looked at Lydia as the girl began to creep away from him.

(Gr???: Don’t let her run.)

“Stop.” He said, causing the girl to freeze in place as he offered her a hand and a smile full of teeth. “Tell me child, how would you like to make a deal?”

Sinful Boost Tutorial

-In hell Sin is both currency and power, with many uses for both. There a number of ways to gather Sin and even more ways to spend it.

-One such way is the Sinful Boost, where we use Sin to guarantee that we’ll hit the maximum success, at the cost of consuming however much Sin we need to reach that level after our base Roll. As an added bonus however we’ll also gain double XP for any choice we use Sinful Boost on. (Tempting no?)

-Now, currently our Sin is based on those two kills earlier. Those two were E Rank lesser Enemies, meaning they were each worth (2D6) so at ((2D6=10) + (2D6=8)) = 18 Sin.

Our actual goal for this check will depend on what we offer her, one has a goal of 5/10, one 8/16, and one 10/20

[]-Offer Friendship. (Lu??/Wr???)

[]-Offer Power. (En??/Glu?????)

[]-Offer Freedom. (Sl???/Pr???)

[]-Sinful Boost.

[]-No Boost.

---

A/N: Remember that experimental note? Here’s the really experimental part. (Also that three way tie is going to make it really clear that we’re insane by the way. (Good job to whoever switched their vote.))

---

Ira Invidia (IV): Start Of A Metamorphosis

--- Booker H. Freeman ---

Lydia stared up at him, her caution and fear plan for all the world to see, “Do… do I have a choice?”

His eyes widened in shock that she would think him so ungentlemanly, before putting on an amicable smile to reassure/disarm her. “Why of course you do! You’re free to leave whenever you want, all I ask is… that you hear my offer before you do.”

(Gre??: We’re not really going to let her go with her debt unpaid are we?)

(Of course we would, it’d be rude to hold a young maiden captive!)

(Slo??: Besides we lack the resources to hold her captive.)

(That too.)

Lydia gave him another once over, her eyes darting to each side as she searched for a way to escape before she eventually swallowed and asked, “What offer?”

He straightened out his clothes to try and make himself a little more presentable, a means of stalling for a moment as he in turn asked himself, (How do I do this… razzle dazzle, as it were?)

(En??: We’ll take care of the actual ritual here, all you’ll have to do is direct it and keep it going. If you stop too early we’ll face both a backlash and be unable to start it up again without an even greater cost.)

(Gre??: Which’ll make this investment a little too expensive, for multiple reasons.)

(And again, how do I start this… ritual?) He wondered, not quite sure what he was working with yet but willing to trust the voices for the moment.

(Lu??: With style of course! Snap your fingers twice and then just follow the flow!)

(En??: There’s a lot more to it than that but… we can talk about that later.)

“Well?” Lydia frowned with an impatience born more from anxiety than anything else.

Giving his audience a smile, he raised one hand into the air as if it were a centuries old habit and told her, “How about a little… demonstration of what I can offer you?” before snapping twice and feeling an immediate shift in the ether around them.

Something that the girl clearly felt too given the way she was looking around. “W-what are you doing? What’s that sound?”

He tilted his head and raised an ear before noticing that there was in fact a jazz sort of tune slowly building. (I’m curious about that too…)

(Pri??: Our power is vibrating the air molecules around us, thus generating a sound indistinguishable from music.)

(Lu??: The real fun is how the song changes based on what we’re doing!)

(En??: Speaking of, you really should start directing the power before it slips us.)

(How?)

(Lu??: By singing of course!)

He blinked, drawing a blank at that even as the magical music began to build in power.

(En??: You’ve got five seconds to start singing before we explode.)

It was at this moment that he also realized that the young Lydia had pulled a knife on him, her hands shaking with clear fear at what she could feel coming from the air around her.

“Now, now, there's no need for that, my dear. I assure you that with this offer there is nothing to fear.” He promised, feeling the power around him shift as he wagged a finger through the air before pushing aside the blade. “I’m aware that your situation here is rather quite severe, but don’t worry because I'm here to make all your problems disappear!”

“And how do I know you’re sincere?” Lydia asked in song before blinking and gaining a panicked look. “Wait, why am I singing?”

“Don’t be irate for it won’t be too long, just while we’re clinging to the power of the song” He assured her as the music dimmed. “But let’s reinstate the actual point, because I’d hate to disappoint.”

“Now then,” he coughed into his hand as he led her from the alley as the song once more began its rally. “From where I stand, you seem to be in dire need of a friend. An ally upon whom you can depend to help you ascend from this pit full of those who do nothing but offend.”

In front of them a group of men covered in those windmills walked down the street with weapons in their hands so as to force all who crossed them to meet their demands.

Lydia pulled away from him. “Don’t condescend, I don’t need you to protect me from them… This offer of yours you can just rescind!”

(Slo??: Look at the way she trembles, she’s clearly lying.)

(Lu??: Right, everyone needs a friend, we just need to keep trying!)

(En??: No, she resembles someone pretending they don’t spend their nights crying in fear of the creatures lurking near.)

He grit his teeth at this new insight. “Quite right, I didn’t mean to slight. I can see that all you need from me is someone to help set you free from the world that brings you so much fright.”

“I don’t need anything from you!” Lydia growled, beginning to march to their right.

“Perhaps that’s true.” He confessed, as he moved to pursue her down the street. “But allow me to offer you another view in case we never meet again?”

Lydia simply ignored him, his power dimming as she continued to walk.

(Gre??: You’re losing her, we need something that won’t make her balk. Hold on…)

“Hey you!” A voice squawked, drawing their attention to one of the men from before. “I know you!”

(Ugh, what a chore…) He growled through his smile. “That’s clearly untrue, just looking at you I can tell that down to your core you’re something to abhor.”

“Not you!” The man snarled, before pointing at Lydia. “Her, I know her…”

The girl squeaked, trying to make herself small as the men’s friends turned their attention towards the pair.

(Gre??: Perhaps this is how we’ll ensnare…)

“From her reaction I can infer that you’re but a source of despair. So kindly leave.” He told the man, hoping to repair his standing with Lydia.

The man gave him a disgusted look. “The fuck are you talking like that for? Doesn’t matter, you can go ahead and scatter she’s what I’m after.”

(Wra??: Which is why we should send him to the hereafter.)

Lydia flinched away as the man unswayed reached for her, though not as if to attack.

Regardless and without a thought, his hand shot to the man’s wrist before pulling it back.

“You know Lydia, I just realized what it is you really need to be freed.” He grinned through a smile full of fangs as the man began to grimace and the child stared on as if in a trance, one borne of fear, awe, and most importantly envie.

Now with something he could levy, the music began to advance once more as he felt his power re enhance with this brand new chance to seal this deal.

“Right now, my dear, you’re so filled with fear.” He sighed as he stomped the man’s knee and forced him to kneel. “But don’t worry, with me here we’ll make this fear disappear like this easy kill here.”

He grabbed the man’s throat and tore it out in a single swipe, uncaring of the many witnesses that may gripe.

“What did you just do?” Lydia gasped.

“Something that you could do too.” He laughed, before turning towards the crowd rushing towards them, taking longer than they should’ve thanks to the curse of the current verse.

“Right now my dear you’re filled with fear, but don’t you worry with me here, will make all that fear just disappear.” He promised with a smile as he felt the power flow. “You see, I’m a dangerous foe, while you are a defenseless little doe, but don’t you worry and don’t you woe because I can tell this is the start of something great! Oh, I can’t wait!”

“Wait? For what?” Lydia frowned, looking between him and the men in the distance. “What’s happening?”

“The start of your metamorphosis my dear!” He grinned, taking the girl’s hand in his and giving her a spin. “The way you are is such a sin, that in order for you to win we really must begin!”

“Begin what?!”

“Your metamorphosis!” He answered once more as he let the first man come to fore. “You see you can be dangerous, but you need to change for this!”

The man swung on him but he easily danced around the strike, and kicked the man’s knee out like he had with the first.

Moving on instinct he swiped Lydia’s knife from where she hid it before putting it in her hands. “Now, you’ve a knife. Tell me, can you use it? Or will you recuse it for the rest of your life?”

“I-I’m not going to kill him!” The girl told him, backing away until her back hit a store front.

He shook his head and gave her an affronted smile. “Not with that attitude you won’t!” Which is why he killed the man for her and began pushing more power into his magic.

Dropping into a crouch so that he was eye level with Lydia he asked, “Tell me child, aren’t you tired of being afraid? Don’t you want that terror to end? To do this you must learn to defend!”

“You’re insane…” The girl (finally) realized.

“True, but not the point.” He reminded her, before standing back up. “Allow me to appoint myself as your mentor, your tutor on how to deal with your tormentors! Like these two!”

Lydia looked down at the two men on the ground before turning to the crowd of men who had stopped trying to get closer, but were talking amongst themselves while glaring their way. Eventually the girl’s eyes drifted to one of the larger windmills on a building near them, the same one that marked most of the buildings around them, before finally meeting his eyes with a determined look.

“What do I have to do?”

He couldn’t help but smile, as the music suggested he started up the chorus.

“Right now my dear you’re filled with fear, but don’t you worry with me here, will make all that fear just disappear. You see, I’m a dangerous foe, while you are a defenseless little doe, but don’t you worry and don’t you woe because I can tell this is the start of something great! Oh I can’t wait!” He laughed, while searching the bodies of the two he’d killed. “This is the start of your metamorphosis!”

He gave Lydia a meaningful look, as he briefly paused and let his magic begin to bubble beneath the surface.

Lydia licked her lips before swallowing and admitting that, “The way I am is such a sin, that in order to win we really must begin!” allowing his magic to wrap around her and sink its hooks in.

“Yes! This is the start of your metamorphosis! You can be dangerous but you need to change for this!” He felt his magic twitch before finding an old flintlock on one of the bodies. “Ooh, a gun, what fun! Here you take it!”

“W-what am I supposed to do with it?” Lydia asked as she fumbled the gun between her hands.

He rolled his eyes, before swiping the gun back and pointing it at the various windmill wearing men. “You take it and you go bang, bang with it!”

One of the men dropped to the ground, as the rest jumped at the sudden sound, before returning their attention to him and the girl that was now holding the gun again. “Your turn! I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it!”

Lydia held the gun up and shook her head. “I-I can’t!”

He gave her a kind smile and a pat on her shoulder. “It’s fine, you can learn. After all, this is just the start of your metamorphosis!”

“Are you sure I can be dangerous?” Lydia frowned up at him, not noticing how he was letting the thugs rush towards them.

The first man reached him with a bat full of nails raised, and he caught the bat before ripping it away and slamming the nails into the hooligan’s face.

“Right now my dear you’re filled with fear, but don’t you worry with me here, will make all that fear just disappear.”

Another man tried to get Lydia before having the hooligan’s back broken by the bat.

“You see, I’m a dangerous foe, while you are a defenseless little doe, but don’t you worry and don’t you woe because I can tell this is the start of something great!”

The third stumbled back in his tracks after seeing how quickly his friends were dispatched by the smiling mad man and swiftly deciding to try running instead.

“Oh I can’t wait!” He laughed, before swinging the bat and removing the man’s head. “This is just the start of your metamorphosis!”

He gave Lydia a confident smile, only to find the poor girl staring down at the ground with a frown. “The way I am is such a sin, even if we begin, could I possibly win… I-I don’t think I can be dangerous…”

He gave Lydia a confident smile before noticing what was behind her. “Hmm, I have an idea for this problem’s panacea!”

With a quick step and a swing he broke the window open, an act that surprisingly required a decent amount of magic, before stepping over the broken glass and grabbing a bottle of alcohol and some cloth.

“This is merely the start of your metamorphosis my dear, there’s no need to fear. I think you just need to change your mindset for this.” He explained as he lit the cloth. “Perhaps some fire will inspire you to be a little more dangerous? If you can’t kill yet, perhaps you can burn this?” He pointed to one of the windmill banners. “I doubt it’s something you’ll regret.”

Lydia stared at the offered incendiary before taking it from him with shaky hands, and glaring up at the windmill. “I hate everything that swastika stands for, I… I want to burn it and so much more…”

“Then do it.” He encouraged the girl, before reaching down and pulling up a bag of marshmallows. “We can roast smores as the fire roars!”

“Right now I’m filled with fear, but I won’t worry with you here, we’ll make all that fear just disappear.” The scared girl promised herself. “I see, you’re a dangerous foe, while I’m… I’m a defenseless little doe, but… I’m not going to worry or woe because… Because I can tell this is the start of something great!” Lydia smiled a grin full of fangs before laughing as she threw the incendiary. “Oh, I can’t wait!”

He felt his magic twist propelling the bottle further than it should’ve gone before smashing into the banner and setting it on fire.

“This is the start of my metamorphosis!” Lydia grinned at him as she took his hand and he gave her a spin. “The way I was was such a sin, and now that we’ve begun my battle will be won!”

“This is the start of your metamorphosis!” He agreed as they continued to twirl to the music his magic produced.

“I can be dangerous, I just need to change for this. I won’t be filled with fear, with you here, we’ll make all that fear disappear. I won’t be a defenseless little doe, I’ll become their most dangerous foe, I’ll become the source of their worries and woes!” Lydia sang as she spun. “This is the start of something great!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see how dangerous you become.” He told her as they both stared up at the fire while surrounded by the bodies of the people he killed, he couldn’t help but smile. “After all, this is but the start of your metamorphosis, my dear!”

---

A/N: First, this one was technically something we should’ve gotten last chapter, but I kind of want to limit it to one Tutorial per chapter.

Equipment Tutorial

-Occasionally, we’ll come across items of power that the different members of our Cadre can equip changing some of their stats.

-As a base each member of our Cadre has three gear Slots for: 1 Offensive, 1 Defensive, and 1 Accessory. These numbers can be raised through different Perks available to different characters through their Classes.

-Lastly, we can trade out all of our equipped items in between events or a single slot type upon acquiring a new piece of equipment.

New Item:

Fey Feeling Stopwatch

-Bonded Accessory, Booker Only.

+/-1 To Checks involving Emilia Lafayette: Our feelings are mixed.

-1 Wra??: We burned her world down.

+1 En??: And watched her rise from the ashes.

[]-Equip the Fey Feeling Stopwatch. (Net: +1 En??, -1 Wr???)

[]-Don’t equip it. (Net: No change.)

What do we do now? (Pick 2)

[]- Get to looting. (Gre??, +Loot)

[]- Keep on rioting. (Wra??/Glut????)

[]- Look for somewhere to lay low. (En??/Slo??)

Are there any questions you have for Lydia?

[]-Write-In.

Ira Invidia (V)- End Of The First Day

--- Booker H. Freeman ---

“So… what was the deal with all of that singing?” Lydia asked as she squished a half melted marshmallow between two graham crackers.

“What, you didn’t like my singing?” He couldn’t help but wonder with a smirk before plopping his own smore into his mouth. “I quite liked your little verse myself.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Lydia scoffed, before stuffing her own treat into her mouth with a touch of color to her cheeks that was from neither the fire nor the blood of the bodies that littered the street around them.

(Lust: She’s embarrassed, but she really does have a nice voice. Bit unrefined but we can work on that.)

“I’m aware.” He admitted, before explaining that. “It was a ritual of sorts, that allowed for… an alternative use of the power I had on hand.”

Lydia considered that for a moment before swallowing her snack. “Okay… I get what you’re saying, but… you started using it on me before those guys started causing trouble.”

(Greed: Good thing too, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten our claws in her.)

(Hmm, is the magic that invasive?) He wondered.

(Envy: It’s more the idiot’s domain than mine, but the Sinner’s Song is a means of manipulating casualty in our favor. The more we need to do so the more power it costs.)

(Lust: Don’t worry, the song can’t force people to do things they don’t want to. In fact if people sing along they can even use it to nudge things in their own favor!)

He couldn’t decide whether that soothed or troubled his thoughts on the matter.

(Greed: The fact that it costs us something for something that might not even get us anything makes it a fool’s deal.)

(Sloth: Then again, empowering our allies will make it so that we don’t have to do as much work ourselves.)

(Envy: Be it this or the beast, power always has a price.)

(Lust: At least my way we can make friends.)

(Valid points. Valid points.)

(Pride: In case you’ve forgotten, the girl is still waiting on an answer.)

He blinked before turning his attention back towards Lydia. “Ah, apologies, my dear. During our initial debate, you were quite reluctant to hear me out so I began my… song so as to prevent you from exiting before my offer could be made.”

Lydia frowned. “So you used a slaver effect on me?”

“NevER.” He snarled, ready to rip impudent whelp’s throat out for suggesting that-

(Wrath: That’s not what she meant.)

He felt his rage immediately evaporate as he caught sight of the terrified girl in front of him, before coughing into his hand. “Ah, apologies, my dear… I have issues with…”

(Lust: A lack of consent.)

(Gluttony: Kleptoparasites.)

(Greed: Theft of person.)

(Sloth: Forced labor.)

(Wrath: Strawman beatings.)

(Envy: Enforced misery.)

(Pride: Stunted potential.)

“All of that…” He summarized, a bit surprised by the strength of these varied reactions but far more curious about what those reactions said about him.

(Envy: We may be a mad monster…)

(Pride: But we’ve standards thank you!)

“I… I think I get it… I mean if someone called me a nazi…” Lydia grit her teeth as she glared at one of the nearby corpses before shaking her head.

The young woman reached for another marshmallow to console herself of whatever thoughts were in her head before finding the bag empty. “We’re out…”

(Lust: Aww…)

“I suppose that means it’s time to get to work.” He nodded as he began examining their surroundings.

(Sloth: Aww…)

“What did you have in mind?” Lydia asked, doing the same as she tossed the bag into the fire. “Looting the bodies?”

(Greed: Yes.)

“Hmm, tempting.” He admitted, eyeing the various fallen ‘nazis’ he’d killed during his little song.

(Sloth: No, we need to move.)

He paused. (Why?)

(Sloth: People like this, they find safety in numbers. If their friends show up, they’ll keep showing up until we’re dead.)

(Greed: A sunk cost fallacy that’ll leave them dead and us broke. If we’re lucky.)

(Wrath: Unless we slaughter them all. With the way the girl acts around them, I’m sure they deserve it.)

(Envy: We were only so dangerous due to the song. If more people show up we’d have to actually fight them at a disadvantage.)

(Gluttony: They’d be lambs to the slaughter if you gave into the HuNgeR…)

(Envy: Hmm, we’ve enough sin to do it but… I’m not sure it’d be worth the cost… Then again, none of us are in charge here are we?)

No they weren’t.

As insane as he seemed to be he was still cognizant enough to make his own choices, which is why he decided that, “It’s best if we find somewhere to lay low for now. We’ve been here for a while and the last thing we need is for one of their friends to find us.”

“Couldn’t you just kill them like you did these guys?” Lydia frowned, looking quite ugly as she did so.

(Lust: Ah, she thinks we’re stronger than we are!)

(Sloth: We need to keep her thinking that. Turn it around, make it about her rather than us.)

He nodded more to himself than to her question. “I could but the real question is if they’ll be smart enough to bring reinforcements after seeing us surrounded by the dead. While I could handle a decent number of them, at a certain point their numbers may overwhelm my ability to protect both of us, and I prefer an outcome we’re both in favor of.”

“R-right.” Lydia nodded back, looking at their surroundings with a little more caution.

(Sloth: Good it’ll keep her alive.)

“I don’t suppose you’ve somewhere we can properly reconvene and discuss how we’re leaving this city? I’m sadly not very familiar with this locale at the moment.” He confessed, as he took in their surroundings with some distaste. “Preferably somewhere without that… insignia you burned.”

“Good luck with that, just about everyone here is a racist asshole.” Lydia warned him as she rubbed her shoulders. “I… I had my alley nook, but… it barely fit me let alone someone as tall as you.”

(Pride: And we’ve yet to fall so far as sleeping next to the trash.)

(Envy: But we have fallen low enough to not be picky.)

(Greed: Doesn’t matter where we stay so long as it’s ours.)

(Sloth: Preferably a place we won’t have to work to maintain.)

“There might be some abandoned buildings or something nearby.” Lydia offered anxiously as his silence dragged on. “People tend to avoid refilling wherever the Smiling Man is roaming until he’s moved on.”

“A fantastic idea!” He assured the girl with a smile. “Barring my own situation, I don’t suppose you know where he was most recently active?”

“I… I might, but…” Lydia shook her head. “Nevermind.”

“But…” He prodded with an encouraging grin.

“But it might be dangerous… or at least it would be for me.” The young woman admitted. “From what I’ve seen you should be safe.”

“I should be.” He agreed, giving the girl a smile. (Especially if I am in fact the Smiling Man brought low.) “Why don’t you lead the way, my dear?”

“R-right.” Lydia nodded as she took one more look around them before setting off. “It should be over this way.”

He easily followed the young woman, finding that thanks to their height difference his long stride allowed him to keep up with her jog while maintaining a brisk walk.

After several minutes of wandering through the streets Lydia slowed her pace with a(n ugly) grimace on her face. “Yeah, we’re in the right area now…”

“Oh, how can you tell?” He wondered, unable to really tell this area apart from any of the previous ones.

(Envy: I can feel it… The shadows are deeper here than elsewhere.)

(Pride: That could just be the passage of time and the setting of the sun.)

(Envy: No. There’s something here. A lingering darkness… It feels like home.)

Rather than pointing any of this out Lydia gestured to the ground where a number of bloodstains streaked off into an alley. An alley that upon closer inspection was filled with a pile of dead bodies.

(Sloth: Corpses swept to the side because it was easier than stepping around them. Human apathy at its finest.)

(Wrath: To be fair, dishonorable curs like them deserve little better.)

“People may kill each other left and right down here but… you only see piles like that where the Smiling Man has been.” The young woman explained with a shiver. “If we keep moving we’ll probably see some more in the other alleys.”

“And how do you know it isn’t simply a little bit of street violence like our own little slaughter this morning?” He asked her, wondering if the bodies they’d left littering the street would be swept into a pile like this.

“Because when someone kills you it only takes like a day to wake back up but when the Smiling Man kills you… you stay dead for a lot longer than that.” Lydia elaborated before shaking her head as she started once more. “Better than being left a Smiler I guess.”

“Quite.” He agreed more to add a somber silence to the conversation as he instead asked the voices in his head, (Did she just say people wake back up after dying?)

(Pride: She did. Curious… Especially since she mentioned it as if it were common knowledge, almost.

(Envy: Maybe that’s what the circle in the sky is doing? Bringing people back to life?)

(Gluttony: A hunt eternal. A buffet unending… How delectable.)

(Greed: No meal is free, there's a price we’re not seeing.)

(Envy: If that’s the case the shadows could be something suppressing the effect? Putting the payment on pause?)

(Wrath: A pause to the cycle of violence. Tch, a mercy they don’t deserve.)

(Sloth: Unless it’s tactical. Dead hands aren’t working hands.)

(Pride: There’s too little information for a proper hypothesis.)

“Okay, this should be far enough.” Lydia noted, drawing him from his thoughts as he found himself looking at a hotel of sorts composed of red brickwork and gray cement in a style that lacked much in the way of flash.

“Hmm, yes, I do believe this will do quite nicely for our purposes.” He grinned in agreement as they stepped into the lobby and found it empty of both patrons and staff alike. “Though I will admit I didn’t quite believe you about them abandoning the area on this scale.”

“Y-yeah, like I said, everyone is scared of ending up in a body pile. I’ve never had it happen to me but I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about people having to climb out from the bottom.” Lydia nodded as she ran behind the counter and began searching through everything.

He rang the hotel bell before asking her if she, “Found anything of value, my dear?”

“Register is open and empty so someone already got the stacks of sin, and the place is old school… but it looks like whoever was staying here ran with the keys.” Lydia gave an unseemly frown in frustration as she continued searching.

He wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by ‘old school’ (whatever that is) but he wasn’t overly worried, knowing they could simply break down a door or two if it came down to it.

“Wait… Found some!” Lydia cried in triumph as she held up a pair of keys.

“Very good.” He applauded with a grin since the girl seemed to deem this some kind of achievement even if he didn’t quite see it himself.

(Sloth: Encouragements keep the minions working so you don’t have to.)

(Lust: It’s also the friendly thing to do!)

With a theatrical half bow he gestured towards the nearby stairs. “Shall we find our rooms, my dear?”

“Uh, yeah…” Lydia nodded, looking a little off put for some reason he couldn’t quite decipher.

Instead of moving towards the stairs Lydia instead moved towards a set of handless double doors and pressed a button on the wall, causing them to open what he believed to be an elevator.

He couldn’t help but blink as he followed her before watching as she pressed another button causing the elevator to begin moving before stopping and opening on another floor after a few moments. “Ha, quite the little elevator operator aren’t you?”

Lydia gave him a confused frown, but didn’t let whatever was bugging her keep her from stepping into the hotel hall and looking for their room.

Once it was found Lydia seemed to pause before glancing his way with something a little nervous as she opened the door.

With the door open he could almost understand her nervousness. “Hmm, not the greatest of accommodations…”

The room itself was serviceable with a bed big enough for two, a small table and chair, balcony, and some glass box on the wall. Off to the side was a doorless lavatory with what he believed to be a shower off to the side. (Perfectly fine for a gentleman on his own, but definitely not for a young woman on the road.)

“I don’t know… it’s definitely nicer than the alleys I usually crash in.” Lydia argued, sounding a bit depressed as she did so before giving an (ugly) frown at the photo on the wall of a parade surrounded by banners of that (idiotic) windmill he’d been seeing everywhere. A photo that Lydia promptly grabbed and threw out over the building.

An act that left her with a beautiful grin on her face, at least until she saw the newly revealed bloodstain on the wall. “Though I’m not sure if it’s much safer honestly.”

“Don’t worry if anything causes us trouble, I’ll… deal with it.” He promised unable to hold back a smile full of teeth. “For now we should get some rest. We’ve a big day tomorrow after all!”

“Working on getting out of Ira Invidia, right?” The girl checked once more, an almost desperate edge to her voice as she held onto the edge of her jacket.

“That was our deal I believe.” He chuckled, amused by her paranoia and the fact it would likely grow worse until he delivered on extracting them from this city.

“R-right… this is for getting out of Ira Invidia…” Lydia told herself once more as she removed her jacket with a resigned look.

“Quite right.” He nodded, before spotting a magazine with a woman wearing far too little clothing on the cover and a fake smile.

(Lust: Eww, gross.)

He glanced at the young lady’s way before subtly throwing out the magazine and hoping she hadn’t seen such deplorable material.

(Lust: I don’t get why people like that stuff.)

(Gluttony: There’s no artistry to it. No emotion to revel in.)

(Lust: Yeah… Sex is boring.)

“So… how are we doing this?” Lydia asked him, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as she stood there looking deeply uncomfortable with his silence.

“Ah, well, I suppose I’ll sleep in the chair while you take the bed.” He answered with a terse grin as he realized just how uncomfortable these chairs looked.

Lydia blinked before turning to him. “Wait, you’re not…” She made a gesture towards the bed.

“What? No, no, no.” He wagged his finger at her. “It would be truly improper for a young lady such as yourself to share a bed with a non-relative. As is, we're already pushing the boundaries of decorum by sharing a room, but needs must given our current situation.”

Truthfully, he was still considering breaking down a door but if he could sleep in a room with a lock then that would be far safer for both of them.

“Oh…” Lydia said, looking stunned for some reason. (Why, it’s almost as if she’s never met a proper gentleman!)

(Wrath: Given what we’ve seen, that's fully possible.)

(Pride: Something we’ll have to rectify!)

“Um, uh, if… if you want I… I grabbed a second set of keys for af… nevermind.” Lydia half way explained, refusing to meet his eyes as she held the keys out.

(Why didn’t she mention this before?)

(Envy: You don’t want to know.)

(Sloth: You really don’t.)

“Al-right.” He accepted the keys, deciding to let it go as he checked the room number before realizing, (Ah, this is on a completely different floor. That’s why she didn’t share them, she was worried about us being too far from each other!)

“Yeah, just… just get out of here so I can, uh, bathroom!” Lydia shouted in embarrassment.

“Oh, of course.” He nodded, not wanting to be anywhere near any of that.

He quickly departed, not feeling an ounce of offense when Lydia promptly slammed the door behind him.

Deciding to completely ignore the matter, and not trusting himself to operate the elevator, he made his way to the stairs before locating his room. All while either ignoring the various stains on the walls and carpet or admiring the ones he was fairly certain were comprised of blood.

(Pride: That one was… three gunshots. First one merely clipped and the last was to make sure.)

(Sloth: Ugh, headshot would’ve been less work.)

(Gluttony: Claws on that one. Tackled them to the ground and ripped them apart.)

(Envy: Hmm, looks like someone was crucified there.)

(Wrath: No, they just impaled them. Crucifixion requires the entire pose.)

(Lust: The splatter makes such a pretty color…)

(Greed: Cheaper than paying for paint I guess.)

Eventually he did locate his room and found it to be basically the same as the one he’d left Lydia with. More so once he removed the painting and yet another one of those magazines of ill repute. (Well, at least if I ignore the lack of bloodstain.)

(Lust: I wonder if she’ll trade rooms with us?)

(No, no. Let’s leave her the good room. She’s clearly had a rough time of it and deserves it.)

(Lust: When you’re right, you’re right.)

(Pride: Of course.)

After a moment of simply standing there, he realized that this was quite possibly the first time he’d found himself both alone and without a goal of some sort since first waking up.

With nothing to do but take in the world around him, he stepped out onto the hotel balcony and took a deep breath of that bloodstained air as he took in the city in front of him.

A place with blood red skies, crumbling buildings, where bodies seemed to litter the streets, and the smoke of burning flames seemed to dance their way into the air much like the sound of screams and gunshots echoing all around.

To most people all of this would scream of something nightmarish, but him, he couldn’t help but smile as he looked out at this city full of opportunity and said, “Laissez le bon temps rouler.”