“You know Eric, if you want to leave, you should leave. We’ve got six,” Jessica stopped herself, looking at the knight who hadn’t seemed to have overheard their conversation, “’five’ more sins to kill. If you’re already acting like this, I can’t bear to see you after we’re done.”
“Jessica, I told Adriana that I wouldn’t run off, and I’m sticking to it.”
“I got to admit Eric, that’s pretty bold of you. Can’t say I would feel the same if I were in your shoes.”
Jessica had picked up her pace, switching places with Adriana who was leading the pack alongside Matthew. After having slept nearly eighteen hours prior, the group had finally recovered their energy and returned home briefly before departing again, taking only enough to restock on food and miscellaneous supplies. They had decided that the queen could wait to hear the news until after two sins had perished, especially given that these sins were so close to Lumina.
The road to Hammington was a lot less exciting, the path leading through a well-kept marsh with docile creatures that would be interesting if they weren’t all hiding. Every pond had a bridge, the path had barriers to further guide travelers and protect them from any unruly animals.
“Hey, you weren’t listening to our conversation, were you?” The mage’s accusation was lost on the knight who was lost in his own world of thoughts.
“Sorry Jess, I was just thinking about who we might be facing next. Considering we know where Lucy is, that means there are still five possibilities.”
“Ah, that’s our leader,” she gave the man a pat on the back, “always thinking ahead. I hadn’t even considered who’d we be facing next.”
“You shouldn’t think too hard while drunk.”
“Hey! I’m not drunk. I’m not even buzzed…yet.” The redhead’s smug face had caused the knight to regress back into his own little world, no longer able to stand this one.
“So what’s Hammington like anyhow?”
“It’s small, unremarkable, but it had nice beef. It’s also where my dad was born.” The mage turned her attention to the rogue, Adriana focusing on the ground in front of her. “I haven’t been there much, even dad wasn’t big on the town, but the people are nice.”
“Guessing the town was named after it’s ham. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it.”
“Yes but, originally it was for how terrible the food was. It was the first town where no matter what diner you went too, you would end up sick. If you were lucky you’d get food poisoning. Eventually the mayor of the town cracked down on the food crisis, resulting in the Hammington we know today.”
The redhead was surprised to find herself enamored by the small facts, so much so that she couldn’t bring herself to wisecrack. Even when she thought about it, her attention shifted toward the town ahead and the clouds overhead.
“Oh great, as if finding a needle in a haystack wasn’t bad enough, we get to do it while getting drenched.”
As they entered the village, they came to a crossroads that led left, right, and straight.
“Alright, we need to search for any possible clues. Any odd behaviors could be a tipoff; we also remember what the sins look like in human form, yes?” Matt was relieved when everyone nodded. “Good. Me and Sarah will take the left road, Adriana and Brian will take right, Jessica and Eric will take the middle. If you find a sin, alert everyone before taking action. We’ve seen what they can do when their life is on the line.”
Adriana and Brian nodded, quickly heading out on their path. “Good luck you two.” Matthew waved to the mage and cleric before he left with Sarah.
“So Eric,” the mage took the lead, walking by various box shaped houses, “are you looking forward to fighting another sin? And if so, which one?”
The cleric shook his head furiously, “No, I really hope Brian and Adri find whoever might be hiding. I’ll be honest though, I’m not sure I’d feel confident fighting any of the other sins, especially one-on-one. I at least had the advantage of having fought Dustin before, but the rest would still be new to me.”
“Personally, I’d be okay with beating that bratty little shrimp. May sound hypocritical, but I like knocking arrogant people down a peg.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is obvious, not hypocritical” the cleric rolled his eyes.
“Wait, do you see that?!” The mage grabbed Eric by the stomach, holding him back while using her free hand to point toward a small girl in a lavish, white and pink dress. Jessica grinned wide as she thanked whatever god or goddess at granted her wish. “Speak of that devil…”
“Jess, we have to tell the others first. Don’t go gung-ho until we’re all ready!”
“Eric, listen to me: you can go warn the others while I take down the small fry single-handedly. You guys can clean up if I somehow get unconvenienced, how does that sound?”
“Well,” The cleric gave up reasoning with Jessica a long time ago, at least so he thought, “it’s your funeral I suppose. I’ll warn Adriana and Brian first. They can reach Matt and Sarah. Good luck Jessy” Eric had began making his way to the right side of town, “try not to get knocked down yourself.”
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The redhead made her way toward the town clearing, a circle with a fountain in the middle, no doubt the center of Hammington. Sauntering over, Jessica was wrapped up in ideas of how to handle the girl, neither knowing or caring if the girl could hear her or would turn around and spot her. Reluctantly for the mage, her target remained focused on the area in front of her long enough for her soon-to-be assailant to sneak up on her back.
As the small princess impersonator turned around, she seemed confused. “Hey, it’s you. Long time no see. What are you doing here?”
“Oh you know, taking in the sights, enjoying the food; oh, and I’ve been sent to kill you.”
“K-kill me?!” The woman drank in the horror that etched itself across her face. “Why would you want to do that?”
“One of you little jerks blew up a big town, ended a lot of people’s lives. In retaliation, and as a precautionary measure, we’re going to kill you right back.”
“What?! I didn’t blow up anyone. I’m innocent!”
“Doesn’t matter. We can’t let you live knowing that you could possibly do that to Lumina, especially when you’re so close.”
The tiny teen began to backpedal until she hit walked into something solid and cold. Turning her head, she could see it was a wall of ice that spanned across the entire gap between two buildings.
“There’s no escape. I can make this quick or I can make this painful, your choice.”
Darkness surrounded the teen, her figure transforming into the seer, her majestic coat and eloquent skirt contracting into a simple black overcoat with a collar that covered her mouth.
“Looks like you’re a fan of pain. Oh well, I was looking forward to this.”
In a moment, the seer jumped out of the way of an oncoming ice pillar that shattered the wall behind her, leaving a massive mess of icy shards in its wake. The seer had no time to rest as ice spears began to form under her feet, forcing her to keep moving or be skewered. Running around the fountain, she looped back to the mage, sending glass shards at her.
Jumping away from each other’s attacks, Hayley was relieved when she stood up and opened the eye on her forehead. “Now that I can see your next attack coming, I’ve got you right where I want you.”
“Oh? As a season veteran, I can tell you that seeing something doesn’t mean you can dodge it.” With that ominous message, When Hayley could see what the mage had planned, she ran as far away as her legs could physically take her; in the end it was futile as she was caught by a large glacier that ate her body, leaving only her head free.
“Any last words?” Hayley could see the mage in front of her face, icicles in the air, their pointed ends aimed in her direction.
Jessica had taken her silence as a no, readying her aim until the seer was incased by a furious white light. When the light dimmed enough for the mage to see her target, she saw the seer was now having over the place her body previously imprisoned, wings of light protruding from her back. The angel sent a blast of light heading for her foe. Jessica attempted to block with an icy wall, but the light blasted through it effortlessly and sent the mage flying.
Picking herself up off the ground, the redhead narrowly avoided another light blasting, running away from the oncoming angel to gain some distance and reassess the situation. Her escape was quickly thwarted when she slammed face first into a large glass mirror, her attempts to get around it fruitless as more mirrors joined it to form a wall. Another light blast came her way, Jessica proudly sidestepped it, her pride shattering like glass when the light bounced off the glass and sent her flying into yet another mirror.
Jessica, through the pain emanating from both her chest and back, opened her eyes to see the angel charging another blast of light in her hand. With a quick flick of her arm, a small spear of ice penetrated the angel’s back, breaking her concentration and causing her to ascend further into the air.
Forcing herself up, the mage began running, dodging a rapid onset of glass walls summoned from the earth. Anger and frustration had filled the trapped girl’s mind, as she took a small ice mallet and slammed it into the walls around her, causing the glass to crack, but not shatter. She continued to do this, running around the circle while the angel remained high above the fountain. After what seemed like eternity, she could hear another blast of light bouncing around, realizing a second after what was happening. Surrounding herself with ice, the mage braced herself for thousands of small light blasts to puncture her body.
Once the lightshow had ended, Hayley descended from the sky, the puncture wound beginning to take its toll, her vision growing faint. Straining her eyes as best she could, she used all four pupils to examine as much field as possible.
“Kuk!” All four of the angel’s eyes slid to the area her body was facing. Right in front of her was the mage, ice spear in hand, most of which was obscured as it penetrated Hayley’s chest. Returning to her human form, the small girl fell into the mage’s arms, her already deteriorating lifeforce now at nil.
“I’ll ask again, do you have any last words?” Jessica’s voice was somber and warm, her face serious.
“I just wanted to make mommy and daddy proud. Are they…are they proud?”
“They would be very proud if they could see their little angel right now.”
With one last smile, the girl’s eyes closed for the last time, her head sinking back as her body fell limp.
“Jess! You alright?!”
The redhead broke from her stupor to see the cavalry had finally arrived. “It’s over guys.” She could see the others analyzing the surroundings and the two people standing amid the chaos that had ensued, the mirrors from earlier having shattered into glass all around. The mage hadn’t even noticed the glass, but it was of no matter to her. “I’ll take Eric’s lead and bury her. Like he said, it’s the least I could do.”
That was the last thing she had told her friends for hours, her mind unable to forget the image of the girl being buried. She had taken a shot of liquor. Another shot. A swig. Several more.
“Jeez Jess, we’re going to have to buried you too at the rate you’re going.”
“I don’t care. Anything to forget Adri.”
“You sounded so high and mighty earlier. Everyone else is happy you managed to take on a sin all your own, so why are you so gloomy?”
“Adri, tell Eric I’m sorry. I didn’t,” she paused, taking another shot, “Killing is not seeing someone else kill. There’s a responsibility that I, me, I was the one to bury that girl. I’m the reason she’s in a hole in the ground. I saw her scared earlier, I smiled but I didn’t mean it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, I was lucky to get that stab in the back, I think that’s what did her in.”
Adriana patted her friend on the back, herself feeling hungover just hearing the mage ramble. “Take it easy girl. Tomorrow we’ll go home and take a break. Just promise me this will be your last drink, okay?”
Shoving aside her bottle only half empty, she just barely managed off her seat before hanging on to the rogue. “Take me home now Adri, I can’t be in this place anymore. I don’t deserve to be in this place anymore.”