Fear Will Be Your Enemy

Three Men Can Keep A Secret If Two Of Them Are Dead

"Lust!" Envy shouted, the wind whipping through his greasy hair as he ran through the gardens. Gluttony had taken the other side of the castle, and the rest of the searchers were indoors. It was cold out- the grass dressed in frost and the wind howling. "Lust where are... you," he said, stumbling to a halt.

In the small clearing between the trees where Virgil and Pride were buried, Lust was slumped against the former's headstone. The front of his shirt was drenched in his own blood, the dark liquid a sharp contrast to his miserably paled cheeks. Envy ran forward, dropping to his knees next to the younger sin. "Fuck, Lust, what on earth-" but when he touched Lust's skin, he couldn't help but recoil at the cold.

Lust was dead.

Envy sat back against Pride's headstone with a dry sob, picking up a bottle of booze littered in the tall grass. Half empty. He shrugged, taking a long drink, trying to distract himself. Like he could somehow pretend Lust wasn't there.

A few moments later, he heard the crunch of Gluttony's tennis shoes on the frost and dead leaves, the other gasping. "Oh Lust, no..." he sobbed, rushing forward. "Envy, we need to-"

"It doesn't matter," Envy interrupted, shaking his head. "He's dead."

Gluttony crumpled to the ground next to Lust, the proximity to the corpse not seeming to faze him. Just as Envy had, Gluttony reached forward, brushing Lust's bangs out from in front of his lifeless eyes. He wrapped an arm around Lust, holding him tightly- as if by sheer force of will he could bring back the youngest sin. "We were supposed to be the SEVEN DEADLY SINS!" Gluttony wept, tugging on the roots of his hair. "But Wrath and Sloth haven't really been sins in over 20 years- and now Pride and Lust are both dead!"

Envy sighed, capping the bottle and tucking it inside his jacket. He stood up, reaching out and pulling Gluttony to his feet. "Hey," he said softly, reaching up and wiping the sin's cheeks of their tears. "Remeber the Creativities are trying to figure out how to get them back with the Dragon Witch right now! It'll be okay."

Gluttony wrapped Envy in a tight hug, burying his face into the other's shoulder as he sobbed. "You really think that's gonna fucking work?! We're compleltly screwed!"

Envy shushed him, comfortingly hugging the other sin back- though the doubts in his mind were growing as well, unable to control his own tears. "I don't believe that, and it doesn't seem like the others do either. We'll get him back. All three of them, I'm sure of it."

"What are we supposed to do with... with him?" Gluttony asked quietly as he pulled away from Envy's hug, though still holding his hand tightly- as if it was an anchor.

"Bring him inside, I suppose."

Gluttony paled, looking sick. "I can't... I can't carry him."

Envy sighed, nodding understandingly. "That's fine. We'll ask one of the guys who can teleport to help. For now let's just go inside, okay?"

The two sins walked slowly back to to castle, despite the fact that a freezing rain and a bit of snow had begun to fall. They clung to eachother, terrified of letting go- as if it would result in the death of yet another member of their family.

When they arrived back inside, there was a frenzy. Honesty had just choked to death on those same purple petals.

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The door of the cellar opened, and the Dragon Witch recognised their illuminated figures immeadiatly. Prince Roman and the Duke, Remus. 

They chuckled. "About damn time you two showed up. I assume Honesty and Anxiety have been delt with?"