He landed with a soft grunt.

He slowly rose up on both feet, taking a deep breath as he squared his shoulders and never taking his eyes off of the sins. Sloth stood with his back towards Johan, but the other sin saw him right away.

Envy’s eyes widened and Sloth whipped around to face Johan.

For a moment they stared at him.

Then Sloth turned back to Envy, protectively getting in between them.

“Johan...” Envy muttered lowly. “You are home!”

She said it with a small smile and immediately Johan felt relief and happiness flood into his body. But it was all fake. Johan knew this would happen and ignored it when his heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t mind me.” Johan smiled. “You seem to be having fun-”

“Johan!” Sloth interrupted. “Don’t trust her. Take Signe and get out, I’ll be right behind you.”

Envy laughed. “Don’t listen to him, stay here with us. You just got here.”

Wow. They must have taken acting lessons. Johan looked from one to the other. Neither broke character. Well, Johan could play that game too.

“Don’t worry.” Johan said unbothered, using the happiness Envy gave him to boost his confidence. “I’ll be taking Signe.”

Johan saw Sloth’s back tense up, and he looked back suspiciously. Johan just smiled comfortingly, wanting to laugh.

He raised his arm.

Roots shot up through the floor with the loud, shattering sound of cracking tile. Sloth whipped around but he only had time to look at Johan in shock before roots grabbed him, one on each wrist and ankle, and he made a choked sound as he was pulled to his knees. Envy startled back as one grabbed her ankle.

“Johan! What are you doing?!” Envy yelled, immediately followed by a shriek as another root wrapped around her neck and pulled her down to the ground. Her head hit the tile with a loud thump, and for a second she laid still. Johan felt the happiness drain from him but now his smile was real. He watched with satisfaction as Envy tried to glare at him, almost choking herself in the process.

He sighed and turned around, straightening up with the confidence that Note would keep him safe.

He met Signe’s wide open eyes. So she was awake then.

“What are you doing?!” Sloth yelled angrily as Johan simply walked the small distance to the couch and lifted Signe into his arms, careful to prop her head up against his arm like Sloth had earlier, her wound hadn’t fully healed yet like Note’s had. She didn’t make a single sound.

She was so limp...just dead weight in his arms. Johan gave her a concerned look but her eyes were looking at something else. Was this supposed to happen?

He grabbed her closer, getting a good hold. First priority was getting out of the palace, then he could figure out what was wrong with her.

"Sloth, I know you were never on my side." He said with a mockingly fake, happy voice as he turned back to the sins. Envy was still struggling against the roots, but Sloth was just looking at him, cautious yet with a calm demeanor as he watched Johan.

For a second Johan thought he would say something but then he looked at Signe and immediately seemed to change his mind. He turned to look at Johan with a resolute expression.

"Johan-!" Envy hissed.

“Shut up.” Johan told her, the bitter feeling was back. “You’re not my friend.”

A wave of horror hit him and he sucked in a sharp breath as his body became petrified with fear. A chill going down his spine, legs weak.

Johan clenched his jaw and swallowed, eyes on Envy. He had been expecting it but that didn’t make it any easier. A sinister smile grew on her face as he took a small, unsteady step forward. Getting out of her range would be difficult like this. Drops of sweat ran down the side of his face and his heart pounded.

“Feeling afraid?” Envy asked with a sickly sweet voice. “I can help with that.”

He glanced around and saw something glint in the corner of his eye, an idea hitting him.

Well. Fair was fair.

Laying innocently on the floor in front of his feet was a needle. He eyed it, sweat dripping down his chin, and choked back a sobbing laugh. Would he be able to kick it? Envy would get a lot angrier if he did.

He kicked it.

Envy gasped. “Johan!” She screamed, struggling harder, but it got her nowhere. The needle went into her arm.

Johan didn’t know the details about the needles, only that they were poisonous. Though as far as he knew, they weren’t deadly, only enough to knock someone out. He wasn’t sure though, but he’d rather see her dead than let her catch them.

Envy writhed on the floor and Johan felt his heart immediately calm down, the fear leaving him. Finally she fell quiet, unmoving except for her eyes that never left Johan.

He turned to Sloth.

With glaring eyes and thin-pinched lips, Sloth met his eyes. Johan walked over to Envy and ripped the needle from her arm. He couldn’t let Sloth follow them either. He turned back to see the taller man watching him, eyeing the needle with a tense expression. His gaze flickered to Signe for a long moment before his head fell, long hair hiding his face.

“You don’t have anything to say?” Johan asked, needle glinting between his fingers. Sloth stayed silent.

Johan huffed.

“You can’t even look her in the eye. Do you really think you’re on the right side?” Johan asked, knowing he wasn’t going to get an answer out of him. It didn’t matter anyways. He bent down, ready to poke him-

“…Take care of her.” Sloth whispered. Johan stopped. He straightened. Suddenly he felt conflicted. He looked down at Signe. She was watching Sloth.

Johan shook his head and sighed. “Of course.” He poked Sloth with the needle, watching as he sank to the floor.

Ok, now time to get out. He threw out his ribbon and launched them onto the second floor where Note was still waiting for them. He immediately fell into a sprint.

“You can let go of them now!” Johan yelled as Note fell in step beside him. They ran down the hallway.

Suddenly he felt movement in his arms.

Johan startled and turned to look at Signe. Sweat was dripping down her face, a panicked frown on her face. Suddenly she turned her eyes to Johan, wide and terrified.

“Oh.” Johan let out a startled sound as he ran. He was hit with the realization of what this must look like. “Uhh. I know this seems bad, but everything is fine! Uh…Sloth deserved it!” Wait, no she wouldn’t care about that. Quick! “Don’t worry, he won’t die!”

“Shut up and run!” Note hissed.

Johan ignored him and glanced down at Signe. He sighed in relief. She was calming down. She still looked unsure, but she wasn’t panicking. The last thing they needed was another out of control deity. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I’ll explain everything later!” Johan promised as he rounded a corner. He didn’t know how long Envy’s poison would last but he was not taking any chances.

Finally out of the library with both Note and Signe, Johan felt exhilarated. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and he felt the strange need to laugh as they ran for the backdoor.

After a couple minutes of running and maneuvering through palace Johan finally saw the big backdoor-

And stopped in his tracks. A heavy weight slammed into him but Johan was expecting it. His heels ground into the floor and kept them both up as Note almost ran him over. He quickly looked around and shoved him. Note stumbled as he fell in through a doorway, Johan following right behind him and put a finger to his lips.

"Soldiers." He mouthed and pointed in the direction of the door. Note’s face fell into a scowl.

Johan sat Signe gently against the wall and peeked out into the hallway at the big wooden backdoors. They were beautifully carved and painted a bright white color, with big windows- and through them Johan could see two soldiers walking around, passing in and out of view.

Johan bit his lip. How did they get so close to the palace? The roots had been keeping the soldiers far away at the bottom of the stairs. The palace was elevated, there was no way to the back without going up the stairs first, not in such a short amount of time. Did the roots stop attacking them? Oh, that would be so bad. What if the soldiers had gotten into the palace? It wouldn’t be long before they found the sins and gave them the antidote!

He went cold with fear.

He looked at Note, the one that controlled the roots. It did it in defense, so it probably stopped when he woke up in the library.

He eyed the deities. Note seemed a lot better, his skin was less pale and he wasn’t sweating nearly as much as earlier. He had also just managed to run through the palace which meant his strength was coming back, but he was clearly not fine yet.

Signe though…

“Signe, how are you doing?” Johan asked, not expecting much. Her head was hanging against her chest, still in the exact same spot Johan had put her in, completely limp against the wall.

Johan didn’t see as much a twitch from her, only a very angry glare from where her eyes were barely able to see him at the angle. Her mouth opened up but nothing came out and for a second she looked scared. Then she closed her eyes, anger seeping onto her face.

Ok, not good then.

Johan crouched beside her. “I’m just going to look at the...uh...”

He waited a second but didn’t get any response from her so he gently lifted her head up to see the wound. He held his breath. It was more shallow than before and it was still knitting itself together, but it was going slow.

“She can’t move at all?” Note asked with badly hidden concern in his voice. Johan turned to see him staring at Signe.

“No. I think her wound needs to heal a little more first.” Johan said. He didn’t have much medical knowledge but it was starting to look much better. “Hopefully soon.”

Note huffed out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Unbelievable.”

Appalled, Johan turned back, but Note was only watching Signe. His face twisted, the corner of his lips turning down.

“They slit her-” Note growled but then stopped himself. With an angry jerk of his head he turned to glare at the wall. Oh, Johan realized, he was angry.

Johan ignored him. They needed to leave, they couldn’t just sit there. He had only seen two soldiers outside but he wouldn’t be surprised if there were more. That meant they needed a distraction. They couldn’t just fight their way through, even if Johan didn’t have to carry Signe-

Suddenly she jerked. Johan lost his grip on her chin, startled, and quickly went to catch her head before it jolted the wound. But instead of falling down, it rose up. Suddenly Johan met shocked green eyes as Signe raised her head up.

By herself.

She opened her mouth, but still no sound came out. She closed her mouth with a click and shook her head, eyes not leaving Johan’s as she pushed herself up on trembling legs and leaned heavily against the wall, one hand coming up to her neck. Johan surged forward to help her when she almost fell over, but the glare she gave him was enough to stop him.

Johan backed off. Why did she look so upset? He shared a look with Note who had turned away from the wall to watch, arms still crossed, but only saw a mirror of his own confusion.

Johan turned back to Signe. She was breathing heavily and was clearly struggling where she stood. With wide eyes and a deep crease between her eyebrows, she pointed violently in the direction they came from.

Johan frowned. What?

Signe pointed again. And again. More violently each time, but seemed to quickly realize that they didn’t understand her. Johan watched as she raised an arm high above her head and gestured, flattening the palm down.

Like a tall person? Oh.

“Sloth?” He tried. She nodded.

“He’s fine.” Johan reassured. “Once he gets the antidote it’ll be like nothing happened.” He continued but Signe shook her head again, suddenly angry.

Johan bit his lip. They didn’t have time for this. They couldn’t be arguing here of all places! “Signe, I know this is a lot. But we can’t stay here. They want us dead. Do you remember how you died?”

Confusion filled her eyes, then suspicion, and in quick succession it switched back to confusion and then finally realization. She gaped, hand coming up to her face.

“I’ll explain everything when we get to safety. But now we really need to go. Can you walk?”

Hesitantly she moved her hand back up, signaling Sloth again, and gave Johan a cautious look. Before Johan had time to say anything though, Note stepped up.

“He is fine here. We are not.” Note said coldly, Signe’s face fell into unease. Their eyes met. Johan held his breath. The walls were thick but if they got loud…

For a long moment they watched each other, neither backing down. Then finally it ended. Johan let out a breath of relief as Signe visibly deflated. She took a couple unsure steps forward and this time she let Johan help her when she stumbled.

Her balance was off but that was probably because she just got back control of her body. With some support she would probably be able to walk or even run.

Johan nodded. They could do this. Just get out, get to safety. Everything would be fine.

“Let’s go.”

He led them into the hallway, Signe walking behind him, on her own, and Note close behind her again. Johan slowly went along the wall towards the big doors, keeping close to the dark shadows, then he crouched down by the door and turned to them. “I’m going to cause a distraction. Once you see an opening, run. I’ll-”

Johan paused. Did he hear something? Alarmed, he looked past the others towards the other end of the hallway.

He frowned.

Suddenly he heard the sound of thundering footsteps.

The soldiers were here! Johan jumped to his feet. Dozens of footsteps echoed in the hallway as the first soldier to pass the corner stopped in his tracks at the sight of them. Then he yelled, sword pointing at them. More soldiers ran past him. “Catch them!”

“Shit.” Johan breathed. They didn’t have time to wait anymore!

Johan burst out of the door. He let his ribbons go. The closest two soldiers didn’t have time to react before they were down, but just as he had thought, there were more.

Soldiers were scattered around the garden, and like summoned by the noise, they charged. Note came to Johan’s side just in time for the first to attack, taking a sword from the downed soldiers and surging forward into the fight.

Johan stayed still as he took in his surroundings. Four on the left, six on the right and more rounding the corner of the palace. He glanced back, at least a dozen coming through the hallway, and who knows how many just behind them.

He took a deep breath and felt the tingling on his left ear, a bright gold light and his dagger materialized into his hand.

“Run!” He screamed and ran for the closest soldier, stabbing into him and sending him sprawling to the ground before sending out his ribbons and grabbing hold of two soldiers’ ankles, and pulled. Bones broke and screams filled the air. Johan ran forward, intercepting Note’s fight, quickly downing one of the three soldiers.

Even more soldiers were filling in but it was too slow. This was their chance! Johan chuckled darkly, setting his eyes on the last soldier standing in his way. He almost felt bad for him. At a good head shorter than Johan and wearing ill-fitting gear, he would be no match.

Johan kicked off the ground and in a second he crossed the distance, throwing the soldier to the ground. He raised his dagger high and-

"Stop!" The high, raspy voice cracked as it yelled.

Signe.

Johan paused, looking at the soldier beneath him and for a second everything seemed fine. Then he saw it. Through the mask a pink glow appeared. He jumped back just in time for the soldier's hand to miss him, instead only grazing the very edge of his ribbon.

He landed hard on his back, sending a jolt up his spine. He hissed in pain and forced his eyes open to see the edge of his ribbon turning to dust. His breath hitched, terror filling his body.

The helmet fell from the soldier as she sat up. Shoulder-length pink hair blew in the wind as matching eyes caught on him.

Gluttony.

With an iron grip on his ribbon, Johan urged his body to move but nothing happened.

A hand grabbing him snapped him out of it. Note had reached him.

He pulled Johan up from the ground and dragged him along. Johan threw a look over his shoulder, eyes fixating on the small sin still pushing herself up from the ground, then he saw Signe. She was running after them, but instead of running around Gluttony, Signe jumped, rage on her face, and stomped. Johan gaped as Gluttony folded up around her stomach, and with her long skirt held in one hand, Signe didn’t even look back.

Together they raced into the woods behind the palace, soldiers following close behind them! His heart beat like crazy. Four sins! In less than a day! Four! And an army!

Johan panted, his legs were burning and his wrist aching in Note’s grip. The woods turned into a mossy clearing and Signe ran past them.

He glanced back-

And saw his reflection in a soldier’s helmet. With a gasp he yelled. The soldier lost his footing and fell. Johan overtok Note and tok a wheezy breath, trying not to focus on the sudden barrage of shouts behind them as his vision blurred.

Just keep running!

Note stumbled behind him, almost dragging them both down but Johan refused to let it happen, pulling him right back to his feet.

Follow Signe! She would know where to go-

The ground opened up beneath them.