“Okay. Alright. That’s…” Dyllan paused, rushing through a gauntlet of emotions and thoughts before continuing. “Good? I think? Is that good?”

“Stay true, my Cunning.”An icy purple flame flickered alight in the air beside Cedric, then grew into a blaze before burning away to leave behind a black and green drone. Cedric’s Vice. “Well, I’ve never really been one to crave ‘happiness’, nor have I desired ‘fun’. I’m also not one for ‘hoping’, and I don’t really care if the people I hang out around are ‘nice’ or not.”

“Yeah.” Andie shuffled herself around a bit, pushing herself deeper into the rubble she was nestled in. “I’d mark that down in the ‘not good’ category.” Her smile grew awkward and forced. “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten into a fight with Cedric’s Nightmare. Fuck. First time in my whole damn life that instinct and impulse disagree, and of course it ruins everything.”

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“Hang on -” Dyllan held up a hand to gesture for Andie to wait. Cedric had changed the phrase he used to summon his Cunning, just like Dyllan had with his Rage. Nightwalkers didn’t do that. “Let’s let Cedric finish talking.”

Cedric nodded gratefully at Dyllan. “Stay true, my Kindness.” A second purple flame ignited beside Cedric, this one burning away to reveal a white and red drone - Cedric’s Virtue. “Instead of hope, I find more warmth in plans. I seek comfort not in the company of nice people, but good people. I would rather be satisfied and surrounded by interesting things, than happy and living a life filled with fun.” The two drones melted down into glowing purple energy. “Stay true...” The energies swirled together and cooled into a new, solitary drone. This one was gray, with a blue circle on top. A mathematical symbol cut out of the colored circle - same as the other two drones. But rather than a plus or minus symbol, this one had an “equals” symbol. “…my Empathy.”