Simone could tell that he was tired now and that was good. Though she was worried about him staying up to keep watch she knew that it was unavoidable. She nodded to confirm the plan and she used her ripped petals to reform into another cover for herself. She managed to make a blanket out of leaves and she laid down close to Lewis. “Okay. I’ll keep watch after you~”

She kept her promise and they swapped out so he could get some sleep. She was sitting near him and watching the weather. Once it came time to wake him up she gently shook him. “It’s time to start moving.” Her voice was low but careful as not to startle him. She had managed to make him a shirt in that time frame and had it laying folded up near him.

“Gluttony lives within a castle south as I said. She’s always been there and while she is not strong… Her realm tends to bother Lust and Wrath. We should proceed with caution.” She pointed to a path. "We can follow this and it shouldn't be a problem. We just have to watch out for Wrath's minions."

Nothing of importance happened while the guide Simone slept, and he was almost thankful when it was her turn to keep watch. He walked over the the rubble, and leaned his back against it, closing his eyes for his turn. Sleep came quickly, and with it, nightmares.

It wasn’t unlike Lewis to have unpleasant dreams. The brutal beatings from coming back short handed, the time that he nearly lost Xeik and Danwe to a black guild, the time that Akira was almost killed…his entire life was filled with death and trauma. This, however, was something more.

Chains were wrapped around his arms. He cried out but couldn’t speak. His strength was gone, and there was nothing he could do about. He longed for freedom, for a breath of fresh air. He wanted it. Needed it. Coveted it. But it wouldn’t come. Instead, he could feel her presence all around him. Her gentle touches, the caresses that longed for more. The touches got more seductive, and he could almost feel the longing desire from them.

Lust.

He struggled but couldn’t escape. They wanted more of him, and there was nothing he could do to fight against it.

Lewis’ eyes opened the moment the guide touched him. He sat up, and stretched, yawning. He didn’t feel much better, but some sleep was better than nothing. He noticed the shirt, and in an uncharacteristic way gave a quick, mumbled thank you before putting it on.

“Let’s get a move on then,” Lewis said as he made for the path. “Just stay close.”

The winding path was a strange one. If this were the real world, Lewis would have equated it to some quaint forest stroll that one would take as a casual hike. But the trees were off somehow. It took him a moment to understand why, but as he noticed, he grimaced. Each of the trees was warped into a face. Some of them were recognizable as Simone, others seemed too distorted to tell, but if Lewis had to hazard a guess, he would say they were of Simone as well.

“What’s the story on them?” Lewis asked, not expecting an answer. His guide wasn’t exactly up to date on Simone lore.

The thank-you made the guide smile at him. It was so unusual to hear it but she took it. “You’re welcome,” she was like sunshine now. She kept close to him when he instructed it and kept a lookout for anything uneasy.

“If I had to guess… It’s trees that grew from corpses. They make good fertilizer. About a thousand years' worth of corpses is here… Each tree showing a passage of time. Even life finds a way in this place even if it is disturbing.”

She spotted some apples, “We should have breakfast.” She began to climb up the tree and she pulled up on her skirt to use it as a basket. She was quick to collect the apples and slide down the trunk. “Here. They might not taste like the real thing though but its better than nothing. You need your strength.” Especially after last night.

She bit into an apple. “I am aware that Simone was burned at a stake a few times for being a witch. It went on nightly for a while. A week I think. Back then though magic was seen as a bad thing and it didn’t matter that it was a curse put on her. Edwin saved her and that was his heart the two were fighting over. He stayed with Simone up until he died from Greed stealing his heart. She had died at least five times while he had her. He was getting older and he couldn’t keep up with Simone anymore. I guess it triggered her grief over losing him… and she wanted to lose him on her own terms. Not that I think she had complete control over it. The trees could be about that.”

Lewis listened intently to her answers, and even stayed quiet after he took an apple from the guide. Despite them nearing the threshold of Gluttony, he was feeling surprisingly calm. He bit into the apple, and paused, curiously. The apple tasted like Simone. Curiously, he bit into it again, thinking it was nothing more than a trick of his imagination, but no…it indeed tasted of her.

He thought to ask the guide Simone, but pushed the thought away. Perhaps it was better to not know what she tasted. Instead, he looked at the warped trees, wondering just how this twisted mental landscape functioned. The thought of what his own might be brought a twinge of…fear? Was that the emotion? It was curious. He had never been one to feel such intense emotions, but…

“I’m being affected here,” he surmised. Each of the Sins is affecting me… He looked down at the half eaten apple. How much more would his mind and soul warp? Would there be any aftereffects? The thought worried him.

They continued along the path, with Lewis mostly deep in thought. Finally, he stopped. There was a grand castle off in the distance, and he could almost feel the presence of another Sin waiting for them within.

“Simone,” he said finally, looking to the guide. “What happens…if I lose myself?” Lady Angela had said that if he dies here, he dies in real life, but she made no mention of what happened if he succumbed here. “I want you to promise me…” Lewis paused. “I want you to promise me that you will kill me if I lose my sense of self here.”

It was a lot to ask. The reality was, though, that…he had no idea what kind of effects it would have on his true body. Could any of the Sins take his mind? Steal his body? The possibilities were endless, and suddenly the stakes seemed higher.

“You must promise me.”

Simone turned on her heel when he stopped her to speak to her. His mind was heavy and she could tell from the looming silence. Her eyes got soft and sad for a moment. “I’ll do my very best Lewis. I’m not very strong but I will try for you or die trying, I promise you that.”

This was the most that Simone could promise him as she cupped his face, “But I don’t think it will come to that. I think you are far stronger than you like to give yourself credit for. You will not falter and you will make it through this. I should make you promise me that you will not give in. I will be there to pull you back just like last time, this is something I also promise.”

She hugged him to her and snuggled her head into his chest, “You are our only hope, Lewis. Everything we’ve done is for this moment and the moment leading to our freedom. You can’t fail here. You can’t leave us like this.” She peeked up at him innocently. “I’m going to be sad when I leav– when you leave here but at least you’ll have the other Simone.”

Taking his hand she pulled him gently towards the castle, “I won’t let you falter I promise.”

For the remainder of the walk to the castle, Lewis was silent. It wasn’t that he was per say touched by their conversation, or even emotional over it. But there was something akin to…courage? Confidence? What was that feeling? Pride?

Lewis scoffed. The absurdity of this realm was getting to him. It was nothing more than the world affecting his mental state. It would be gone the moment he left. At least, he hoped it would be gone. But now was not the time for these thoughts. The castle was near, and now was the time for action.

They stopped at the castle gates, which lay open and inviting. The drawbridge was down, and there were no guards in sight. Everything screamed that it was a trap. Lewis drew the bone dagger, reverse gripping it as he took the first step into the realm.

“This….this is too eas-” Before he could finish, he simply vanished into thin air. The silence hung in the air, as if waiting for the last syllable to be spoken, but it never came.

Lewis was gone.

Simone watched him walk with something new, she couldn’t pinpoint what it was but she was glad that she had managed to soothe him a bit. If she even did soothe him at all, she was choosing to believe she had.

The guide stood close enough behind him to remain safe should anything try and get her. If she died it would all be for nothing anyways but she had a promise to keep… and that meant going into the depths of hell with Lewis. Come hell or high water he was leaving this place intact, that was her promise.

She went to reply to him when Lewis suddenly vanished. The color vanished from her face as she collapsed on the floor. “No, no, no, no–” she kept repeating it as she felt the floor where Lewis had been stepping.

“GIVE HIM BACK. GLUTTONY!” She screamed out as she got filled to the brim with panic. She was fighting the anger back but it was only causing her mass confusion. The vibration of the castle was the first thing that gave way.

“Shhh… He’s sleeping,” Gluttony hummed from afar. “I’ll be keeping him.”

“When I find you–”

“You’ll do what? Hug me to death? Sing me songs to death? You are the weakest of us. There is nothing you are capable of. Now leave here… I need to entertain.”

The guide jumped up and started to search around the castle as she slammed open doors rocking the foundation. “I’ll fucking kill you myself when I find you,” it left a whisper from her lips. Still, she choked down the anger, she could not taint herself.

The sun was shining, and the halls of the tavern were filled with children laughing and playing. For once, Bat was okay with them being out and about while he was serving his customers. Still, Xeik looked to the orc who had taken them all in, and smiled. “I know, I know…I’ll let them know to keep it down.”

The dark haired boy ran up the stairs and to the rafters, following the rest of his guild mates to try and settle them. It was a hard task, but someone had to do it.

Lewis watched from above, in his little hiding spot among the support beams of the main room. There were a lot of potential enemies that could come in, and he knew to keep watch. Not that he needed to kill anyone…not anymore. He had even thrown away his weapons.

Still, old habits die hard.

“Lewis!” a voice called out from below. There she was, smiling below him, waiving.

“Simone!” he said with a charming smile as his slid off the beams, landing with ease. “I was wondering when you would show up.” He held out his hand. “Are you ready for the date I promised?”

The woman blushed, taking his hand. “Oh yes…my hero,” she said almost sarcastically. “What did you finally decide on doing?”

Lewis let out a chuckle, “Now, now…I can’t tell you. It’s a secret/” He winked, and led her out into the streets of Hoja.

It was a beautiful day, nary a cloud in the sky. The streets were crowded with people, but against all odds, Lewis was able to freely navigate around as if there weren’t a soul in the streets. It was perfect. “Almost there!” he said as they entered a building.

“Annnd…here we are!” he said with a wide smile.

My face hurts.

Simone gasped. The room was filled with glass panels, each holding a variety of elegant gems and stones. Rings, necklaces, and many others lined the shop walls, all waiting to be tested and tried on. “But…Lewis, I don’t understand?”

Lewis took her hand, and kissed it. “My darling Simone…” He swung his arm out. “I want you to pick anything in this store! Anything that your heart desires.” The ex-assassin looked at her, his hazel eyes seeming to dance, filled with light. “Anything that you want…”

“And if I asked for it all?”

“Then…” He winked. “I would get it all for you…that and more.”

“But what if…I wanted all of you?” she asked, almost sheepishly.

“I would give it all,” Lewis replied with an elegant bow.

“Oh..you’re so cute,” Simone replied blushing. “I could just eat you…”

The guide was crashing through rooms. The castle was well furnished. Gluttony got what she wanted most of the time but obviously objects didn’t appease her. Simone stopped her panicked run to stop by the fireplace. There was a fireplace poker, her hands twitched nervously before she took hold of it. “Fine. If it’s a repeat showing then you have the best seat,” her eyes were a little dark but so far she kept the anger to a minimum. It took a second to realize she could adjust herself and find the appropriate level of the emotion she could feel before losing it. This would do just fine.

It took her a long while to make her way up the stairs but when she finally got to the last few rooms she hadn’t checked it had occurred to her that the spatial magic being used was… physical in a way. This, however, allowed Gluttony to have more time with Lewis in their fake happy existence.

The Guide made it to Gluttony’s bedroom where she found the mirror where Gluttony was choosing to hide. She could see it all happen and it infuriated her that this was what Gluttony was choosing to use Lewis for. He could save them but the guide knew that if Simone was saved that all of them would cease to exist as they were. The selfish pricks.

Her eyes narrowed before slipping the poker through the petal skirt making a hole to hold it. Taking one of the big fancy gold chairs she heaved with all of her strength, once – twice- thrice before the mirror cracked.

Gluttony snapped her eyes to where the cracks were starting to appear, “That little bitch…”

Through the crack came the guide with glass cutting her and almost shredding her outfit but it didn’t matter. What did matter was her quick reflexes and she was much quicker than Gluttony. “I fucking told you to GIVE HIM BACK,” she screamed as she wailed the poker across Gluttony’s head almost sending her flying. “That’s for calling me weak!”

Gluttony laid on the floor moaning and groaning while the guide ran over to Lewis. She held his face, “Snap out of it. This isn’t real. Remember that we have to leave this place – YOU need to be able to get out of this place,” she pulled him down for a hard kiss as if trying to break the spell Gluttony had him over.

“My dearest-” Lewis said as she picked out a particularly large stone. “That would look-” Terrible. “Amazing on you…” He smiled, taking the beautiful piece out, and eying it. “Turn around…I’d like to put it on you.” He watched her turn, and paused.

I could end it right here. But that was an odd thought, wasn’t it? Why would he want to end it?

“And there we go,” he said as he snapped the necklace into place. “Perfect, just like…” The world shook. What? Simone turned around, and she smiled at him. That damned innocent smile.

But it’s wrong. It’s cracked/

“Are you okay?” Lewis asked, his smile strained. “Something seems wrong.” The world shook again. I don’t get it..

“Eve…g is jus…….fine!” Simone said, her voice fading in and out. But it wasn’t. The world around them was wrong. It was all so very wrong.

“Simone, where…where is my dagger?”

“Dagger? Honey, you don……eed a wea….” The world shook again, and suddenly, everything shattered. He started to fall alongside Simone, and his hand shot out to try and reach for her.

“Simone!” he called out. But that’s not her. “I’ll save you!” And this isn’t me. Lewis’ hand reached out, but there was no one to grab. He was falling. It was all a dream, but it was a pleasant one. A happy one.

Snap out of it. Lewis could feel her. The guide. She was calling him from so very far away. And then suddenly…

I taste apples.

Lewis awoke to find the guide kissing him, and his eyes were wide with surprise. Immediately, he rolled over, taking Simone with him as Gluttony recovered, her anger rising as she hammered away at Lewis’ back, trying to get at the guide. The assassin stared down at the guide Simone. “My dagger. Take it…I’ll protect you, I promise.”