Malum {Undergoing Major Editing}

Chapter Twenty-seven: The Return.

I stood in front of the same gates I entered Hell from. Emotions swarmed inside me and a gigantic pit grew in me. I swallowed and turned around to see the place around me. This place felt so wrong to me but a part of me didn't want to leave. A part of me considered this as home. Stupid, I know but it did feel like home. I brushed the thought away and faced my friends. My friends .

How I'll miss them. I'll miss the times we fought for unnecessary things and how Wrath would punch people for no reason. I'd miss Lust flirting shamelessly with everyone. I'd miss Pride's narcissistic self. I'd miss Envy's sneers whenever something displeases him. I'd miss Gluttony's constant talk on food. I'd miss Sloth representing my everyday mindset. I'd miss Greed's constant want of...everything. I'd miss it all.

I said my goodbyes. I hated goodbyes mainly because the departures I had in my life was so unplanned. I never got to say goodbye to my mother. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to them before I lose them as well. I walked over to each sin, hugging them and bidding my farewells.

The last two were Lust and Wrath. I approached the taller one of the two.

"Goodbye, Lust."

"Bye Maia, it was a pleasure knowing you, love."

"Likewise," I hugged him. He felt so soft and I wanted to remain in that position forever. We parted ways and I smiled. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes but I immediately moved on to Wrath. He stood at the back of the crowd, trying to hide from me.

"Hey," I said, sheepishly.

"More like bye," he corrected.

"Yeah...bye," I replied, feeling uneasy.

"I'm going to miss you," he stated.

"I-i'm going to miss you too, Wrath. A lot."

I hugged him but he didn't feel soft. He felt tense and rigid. The hug felt so uncomfortable yet I held it. I held onto him. One last time before I let go.

I whispered in his ear, "if, hypothetically, I wanted to come to Hell while I was on Earth, is there a direct path?"

"Contact Lucifer, I guess," he whispered back.

I let go of him using all the willpower I had left in me.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," I sighed, "I am going to miss all of you guys. You gave me something I never thought I'd have: a family."

After a couple more minutes of us saying our goodbye speeches, the gates of Hell opened. We were going to take the same way we took when coming. Joshua really wanted to go to Heaven for some reason. I agreed to go to heaven if he takes me to Lover's Lane as a date when we get back.

Lucifer walked towards us and silence filled the group. I could feel the atmosphere around us tense up and become thicker, I guess that is the aura that being the king of Hell gives you. The sins looked at each other with worried glances.

"Well, I guess you are going to leave now and I suppose I should provide you with some means of transportation?" He asked.

"Please," I replied.

Lucifer whispered something under his breath and two horse like figures appeared. They were black horses giving off smoke. Their figures were....bones? The skin of the horses were a translucent black and I could see their pearl white bones. Lucifer threw a saddle over the two horses and handed them over to us.

"These are the equorum, they will take you till the obice of heaven, they cannot go further than that because they are children of Hell," Lucifer explained.

"Right," I started, "thank you,"

Lucifer grinned, a devilish grin that just made me swoon. I gulped then looked away. I saw that Joshua had already mounted the horse and he was talking to Lust about something. I went over my my horse and tried mounting it but I really didn't know how to.

"Here let me help you," Wrath whispered.

His arms snaked around me and lifted me up, placing me on top of the horse. My cheeks felt hot as I thanked him.

"ad eas capere obice caeli," Lucifer spoke.

The horses neighed and began to walk towards the gates. I heard the Sins yelling their final goodbyes.

***

The horses galloped. The wind smashing into my face. Joshua's horse was ahead of mine, cutting through the grass, creating a path for me. I tried to push the thoughts of the Sins out of my head. It is going to pain me for sometime but I'm used to the pain of losing someone. I may have lost them but I gained so much more from this experience. Time flew by so fast as the equorum rode deeper into the fields of Incompertus.

The equorum stopped and neighed loudly, once I looked up I saw the gates of heaven once again. Warmth filled me when I saw the familiar sight. I dismounted the horse and patted its head.

"Thank you," I whispered, even though I didn't think horses understood English.

I began to walk to the gates with Joshua next to me. I held out my hand, took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The familiar scent of the place swirled around me, welcoming me into it.

***

"Maia?" Diligence said.

"Hey," I replied.

Temperance shot a worried glance at kindness, who seemed to understand and ran out of the room. I shook off the uneasy feeling that was building up inside of me.

"What are you doing here?" Chastity slurred.

"I wanted to come back here once before we left," Joshua answered.

Chastity made a sound and slumped onto one of the couches. Kindness came back panting as she chirped, "hey guys!"

"H-h-hey," Joshua stuttered. I glanced over at him to catch him looking like a lovestruck fool.

***

I laid down on the bed the virtues gave to me. I couldn't sleep so I decided to go on a walk. Walking down the hallways I heard the virtues talking.

"Thank God she didn't see you," Humility thanked.

"If she did, she would have had a heart attack," Charity informed.

"That would have been fun to watch," Chastity grumbled.

"Chas," someone warned, "don't."

I tried to angle myself better to see who this person is. Her voice sounded so familiar. I must have moved too much because I knocked over a vase. All the heads shot in my direction and I mentally cursed myself. I heard frantic whispers from the room and Kindness came out.

"H-hey Maia," Kindness greeted, "what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep. W-who was that? Her voice was familiar."

"Who was who? It's just us seven."

Kindness grabbed my arm and took me away. I didn't protest because I knew it wasn't my place to know. She walked out into the garden and sat down on the bench.

"I come here when I can't sleep too," she informed.

"Kindness, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she replied.

"Is my mother here?"

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Authors Note:
Sorry for not posting in so long, so many things have been happening at the same time.

I feel like this is such a shitty chapter.

Lxrxib