“Today’s the day!”

The sins had all been perplexed as the princess suddenly spurred into a giddy squeal. All had been normal up to this point, although Lucy already knew what the girl plotted.

“Lucy is finally taking me to see the world!”

“Oh? The entire world? Or just around Araponza?”

Elizabeth’s excitement came to a crashing halt.

“This lil ol’ island is pretty big in of itself, and if you don’t have me or someone else to feed you, you’ll starve well before you see any of it.”

“Perhaps I’ll start with the town nearby then. I can figure out the rest from there.”

The girl sat back in her seat, slouching down in defeat. The others had finished their breakfast but many stuck around.

“There is a slight problem with your proposal,” Westin grabbed the strawberry trail leading down from the girl’s head, “you’re the only person any of us has ever met with pink hair. I doubt people could mistake you for another pink hair girl who’s not the princess.”

“What should I do then? Change my hair color?”

“I believe our other princess should be capable of that.” Xandir eyed Hayley.

“I am capable of many things, but…” she deliberated on her confession, “hair is not really my thing. My hair is perfect as is, not some strange mutation, so I’ve never had to worry about it.”

“Guess that just leaves Alex” Lucy suggested.

The room went silent, the other sins growing uncertain. Lucy could feel the tension in the air.

“T-the last time Alex spoke a word to any of us was when you were lost.” Dustin regretted speaking, as now all eyes were on him.

“By that logic, I guess I’ll ask her then.”

Lucy hopped out of her seat, leading Elizabeth toward a destination unknown. Having stormed off in a huff, she had no intention of asking for directions, but she could narrow down where her target was hiding.

Knocking on the mysterious entrance on the second floor, she was greeted by the sound of her pounding as it reverberated on the wood and then silence. Lucy was determined to get an answer, but before she could assault the door with furious and obnoxious patterns of thumping meant to force the victim into answering out of frustration, the contents of the room revealed themselves.

The raven haired girl peered out for a half-second before realizing who stood in front of. The door had swung open, the girl embracing Lucy, the latter frozen in shock. After the hug, Alex had relinquished the girl and stared at her. When the brunette could process what happened, she stared back at the girl, however, not returning the happiness.

“This hugging and staring crap is getting really annoying. Could you please talk to me!”

“I-I sorry, I very bad at speaking.”

“I’m not really good at it either, but if I never tried talking to people, I’d never have met my best friend.”

“Her?” Alex pointed toward Elizabeth who jumped when her named was called.

“No. But I did come to ask if you could help her look different.”

“Oh,” the sin seemed disappointed, but quirked her head back up, “how so?”

“Her pink hair is a bit of a problem. We need her to not stand out in a crowd.”

“I’m not really that great at hair, but I can try. This will take awhile though, so you should probably just leave in my care.”

Turning toward Elizabeth, Lucy could see neither of the girls wanted to associate.

“Well, it’s this or being stuck in this tower. Or running the risk of being taken home.”

With a sigh, the princess joined the sin of lust while Lucy’s attention was drawn elsewhere. Westin had signaled her downward, keeping silent until the two entered yet another room unknown to the sin of envy.

“Just you and me I suppose.”

Elizabeth was hoping the girl was feeling more talkative but was met with staunch silence. The sin of lust had her closed firmly shut, not even letting a molecule slip through. Instead of giving the princess directions verbally, Alex simply pointed to a chair.

“So, you seem to talk to Lucy a lot. Any reason why her in particular?”

The words bounced off the brick walls, passing the ghost that had been searching through various drawers. Searching turned into digging as objects were thrown every which direction.

“I mean, I was her friend for like, six years. She’s really nice; well, she was. Maybe it’s because I never had other people to talk to or befriend, but I was considering that’d we get married. Well, you know, when she was a-“

“Aha!” Alex had pulled out a bottle from within chest box.

For a moment, Elizabeth regretted the decision. Her hair was unique and interesting; could she really sacrifice it?

“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

“You wanted freedom, yes?”

Taking a drawn out inhale, the princess nodded.

“Good. And if satisfying your curiosity keeps you quiet, then I guess I’ll answer your question.”

As the swivel chair revolved so its sitter could see their reflection, Elizabeth silently drank in her surroundings while listening to the older girl. The room was rather bleak, with the only light being obscured via a curtain. Art supplies were strewn about, not including the barber materials haphazardly scattered around the floor like traps just begging to be stepped on.

“Your friend interests me. For personal reasons I only like talking to girls, but that brat Hayley is insufferable. Lucy is far easier to talk to.”

“Then why don’t you talk to her more?”

“I don’t like talking.”

“Why?”

“I’m not good at it.”

“You seem fine to me.”

The girl didn’t response, instead she wrapped a towel around the princess, began brushing violently, then put the brush aside to grab rubber gloves.

“The instructions say to do a few things before this step, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Elizabeth swallowed nervously, wondering what she had agreed to. Her imagination ran wild as she contemplated the possibility of going bald, or her hair turning a completely different color, or going bald!

After waiting anxiously for several minutes, she could feel a strange substance being applied to the top of head. The fingers of the barber pushed on her scalp, applying enough force for Elizabeth to wince.

“Just so you know, I don’t have much of this stuff. I’ll have to cut off what doesn’t turn red.”

“As long as you leave some.”

After adapting to the pressing of the sin’s fingers, the princess began to relax, opening her eyes to see the once pretty pink giving way to a powerful crimson.

“You’re not enjoying me pushing on your head.”

“Huh?” Elizabeth’s eyes shot open in confusion.

“I can make you enjoy things you’d normally hate. I’m very good at changing minds, but not forever.”

“Could you change how other feels about you?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“No, only how others feel about others.”

The two sat in silence, Elizabeth watching as the barber tossed the empty bottle of dye. Slowly, the princess could feel some slight pain returning to her scalp, but it quickly died down.

With a heavy heart, the girl watched as Alex approached with metal blades. Holding her eyes shut, she tried not to cry as she accepted her fate.

“I hate it.”

Elizabeth didn’t respond. For the sake of not breaking down into a crying fit, she couldn’t respond.

“I hate delivering bad news.”

Snip snip snip

“But everytime I speak, that’s all that ever seems to come out.”

Snip snip snip

“Even now.”

Gathering all her courage, the princess peaked at the mirror. In front of her was a red, short haired girl. At the barber’s motion, Elizabeth stood up.

Turning around, Elizabeth approached the girl, embracing her. Alex simply held her arms out, unresponsive. As her mind began to process the events, she immediately dropped her scissors.

“Thanks. I know you don’t like talking, but it means a lot that you helped.”

Breaking from the hug, Elizabeth left Alex to her thoughts.

“You got her to talk?”

“Yeah?”

“How?!”

“I don’t know. She seems to like me and I guess that’s why she talks to me. She doesn’t really talk much, just stares.”

“I was hoping you would be able to convince her to get along with the rest.”

“Why? She seems to be okay on her own, even if she’s weird.”

It was only when the sin of greed had closed the distance between them that Lucy realized the room they were in was pitch black. Already accustomed to seeing in the dark, she was more focused on the teen talking to her.

“Keep this between you and I, but I don’t feel comfortable here.”

“Is it the others? Is it me?” Lucy asked confused.

“No. Actually the opposite: you guys are the only reason I’m sticking around. Have you noticed something strange about this place?”

The girl tilted her head, unsure of what he referred to. Even racking her brain, she couldn’t begin to guess.

“We have running water and electricity. We had them since I was first here and probably before then. Water and electricity don’t come from nowhere, somebody has to be generating it.”

“What’s your point?”

“We like to think Jade isn’t around and just brought us here for no reason, but I have a feeling he wants something from us, just not right now. He wouldn’t be doing all of this for us if he just wanted us to be happy.”

“Well, whatever he wants, I’m sure we can do it.”

“I don’t know, I just get an ominous feeling thinking about it. The first time I thought about it, it gave me the creeps. The problem is that Xandir and I don’t exactly gel, if you catch my drift, and Hayley can be a pain, Dustin barely does anything, and Alex is Alex. You can talk to Alex, so maybe you can convince the others to trust you enough to bail before Jade returns.”

“What do you think Jade will have us do?”

“I…I don’t know. At best, probably rob or kill some poor -er, unfortunate people. At worst,” Westin paused.

“Yes?” Lucy inquired.

Westin didn’t respond, gritting his teeth as if to physically hold back his thoughts.

“Yes?!” Lucy yelled allowed this time, gaining a hush from the teen.

“At worst, I think he might be setting us up for the slaughter. Like, he’s purposely sending us to die.”

The girl thought on those words, her mind filling with possibilities on how and why Jade would have them killed. Many of thoughts had fallen on the realm she entered the other day, that it may be connected.

“Look, if you can’t do it, just let me know. I’m fine with just convincing as many as are willing to listen. Just think on it, okay?”

Nodding, Lucy spun around and left, Westin joining her. Outside the dark room was a girl with scarlet hair waiting for the pair.

“Elizabeth?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“Hey there princess! Me and Lucy were just deciding on what to do in town today. I figured I’d tag along since staying in this tower everyday is just so boring.”

Clack clack clack

Footsteps echoed across the barren halls, each step struck the tiles with curiosity and a hint of impatience.

“When are they approaching?”

“Soon. Within a few weeks, but there is no way to be certain of the exact date.”

“I can pull some strings.”

“That won’t be necessary,” the voice immediately answered its guest, “You said time is of no concern? Then let these events play out naturally.”

The princess in disguise blazed past her companions, engulfing them in the dirt she kicked up in her wake. Just as Lucy was about to rush after her, she felt a hand stop her.

“Let me chase her. You just enjoy yourself.”

“Wait, what?” The sin turned toward Westin confounded.

“Me and the others were talking and we came to an agreement: you and that girl are…”

“Too close?”

“Attached at the hip. We’re all here to look out for one another. Besides, the one time you were here was to steal stuff. Take your time, enjoy yourself.”

Westin pulled out a handful of notes and gold coins, prompting Lucy to take it. As she put it away, she had prepared herself to thank him, but the man was already off in the distance. Shrugging her shoulders, she picked a different direction and began to wander.

The claustrophobic sensation of home was returning with a vengeance as she observed the buildings side-by-side, forming a barrier from the outside world. Each building was more outwardly wooden than those of Lumina, but with many more colors to choose from than the oppressive white which dominated the capital.

Her train of thought derailed as various scents invaded her nostrils and caused her stomach to cry out in agony. The smell of various meats halted any further progression, dragging the poor girl into one of the buildings. As she approached the source of the smell, her eyes lingered on hotdogs being spit roasted.

“You just gonna slobber on the glass are you gonna buy something?”

“Oh, uh…how much are those?”

“Aren’t you a little young to be running around here? Ain’t you got school?”

“It’s summer.”

“Oh right. Heh, it’s been too long. Where are your parents though?”

“They’re” Lucy stopped, trying her best to find an excuse, “busy.”

“Ah well, who am I to turn down a customer. That there is a footlong, roasted to perfection. Five scraps and its yours.”

Reaching into her pocket, Lucy struggled to drag out the paper without letting the coins drip between her fingers.

“Looks like you’re rolling in it, but a kid like you oughta be careful.”

“Why’s that?”

“There was a burglary the other day, they cleaned Sully’s grocery mart out and ran. Ol’ Shelly found one but they were just too fast and headed off into the mountains.”

Lucy’s pupils fled like lightning upon hearing the aftermath of her thievery. She realized the man, nor anyone else, would recognize her, but her stomach was now filled with guilt.

“Here’s your dog, take care and come back again!”

Walking out of the store, the sin had wanted nothing more than to distance herself from the town as soon as possible. Considering how well the woman had followed her, there was little down in the sin’s mind her aunt would not be a pushover.

As Lucy bit into her hotdog, the feelings of guilt were calmed by the filling sensation of food. Before she could take another bite, a revelation exploded from within: she had bought something.

While it wasn’t her money, she couldn’t but enjoy the power given too her. It was almost too surreal to simply be given something instead of having to take it.

“Hold on there princess!”

Elizabeth turned to see Westin trailing behind her. The princess eyed her surroundings as if any of the bystanders would attack her in an instance. No one had so much as moved a muscle to look at the duo.

As Westin closed the distance, he was forcefully pulled into an uncomfortable whisper.

“Don’t go telling everyone I’m the princess!”

“Don’t worry girl, nobody thinks they’ll ever see the actual princess here.”

Letting go of her follower, the girl’s attention wandered around, her head turning every which way to mentally note every detail of every nook and cranny of every building.

“This place is huge.”

“Branton is called the Labyrinth town. If you keep going in one direction you’ll find your way out, but stray and you’ll be stuck forever.”

“What should we do first?”

“I have an idea.”

Walking over to a man, he held out his hand to reveal a golden nugget.

“Sir, could I interest you in a bit of gold?”

“How much?” The man was shook when he saw the gold rock.

“Twenty scraps.”

“No way! It’s worth way more!”

“Ah but sir, my parents are in desperate need of money right now. I cannot afford to wait.”

The man had hesitated for a second before swiping the gold chunk and slapping a sheet of paper in the boy’s other hand and running off.

“Wait, what was that?”

“I suggest we keep moving before he comes back.”

“Why?”

“You see, I can turn materials into metals. As we entered town, I thought it might be useful to turn a couple of rocks into gold. Course, eventually it’ll be a plain old rock again.”

“That’s awful!” Elizabeth scowled at the boy.

“How much did you make?!” Her mood shifted immediately from anger to excitement, taking the sin by surprise.

“Just twenty scrap.”

“Scrap?”

“Oh, right. In the castle town of yours, you trade gold and silver all the time, but we don’t have that in the country. We use paper money called scrap, because it’s scrap compared to what you guys have.”

The princess felt a twinge of guilt at those words. She figured it was on purpose, but Westin didn’t seem particularly angry or resentful.

“Sorry.”

“For what? Not your fault. Honestly, I prefer paper over lugging around coins; not is easy to steal, not as easy to lose.”

As the two continued onward, Elizabeth kept her eyes peeled on the various attire of the citizens, no two people entirely similar. Meanwhile, the girl’s nose couldn’t avoid the bountiful flavors from every store, every stand, and the various perfumes of the people. At the same time, her ears were open to the many conversations she could make scant details from.

It was one of these conversations, however, that stopped her dead in her tracks.

“You hear about what happened to the grocery store the other day?”

“How it was stolen? That’s old news.”

“Yeah well, you know Shelly right? The woman who tried to stop the burglars?”

“What about her?”

“Her Nephew’s apparently coming home in three weeks.”

“Big deal. People come and go all the time.”

“That boy was apparently traveling two whole years without coming home!”

“What?! What the hell is that dumb bimbo doing making some poor kid stay away from home for two fricken years?!”

Elizabeth had tuned out the rest of the conversation, her attention now squarely on fighting Lucy. As she caught up to Westin, the two began building a plan to find the other sin.

“Hey guys!”

Westin and Elizabeth jumped when they heard Lucy’s voice. She had just finished her food and discarded the wrapper, dusting off her hands.

“Oh uh, Lucy” the princess couldn’t stop her voice from trembling.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

Immediately the crimson haired girl wanted to smack her friend for using her own line against her, but had stopped when remembering how dire the news was.

“Listen. Your brother is coming back in three weeks.”

“Oh yeah, that. Really, three weeks?”

Lucy had fidgeted with her fingers, her head tilted and eyes staring toward the ground. Her voice was low, despondent.

“I overheard some guys talking about it. We should warn the others.”

Nodding in agreement, the girls led the way while Westin shadowed the pair. Once Lucy could see Elizabeth’s attention was on the path ahead, she let herself fall behind to join Westin.

“Your brother? What’s wrong with him coming back?”

“He’s the queen’s knight. Him and his friends are going to be really mad when they find out the princess was kidnapped.”

“Oh great, what else could go wrong?!”

“I think my aunt was the woman chasing us the other night.”

“Awkward.”

“Let’s not rob this town again, okay?”

“Sure thing. I like this town anyways, would be a shame to see anymore places go out of business.”

Westin’s gaze fixed on Sully’s grocery store where a ‘going out of business sign’ hung on the door.