Simone helped Lewis set up camp and hummed to herself. Once they were done she got the fire started and settled down next to Lewis. Once he called out to her she just pointed at her self with a confused face. “But I’m not that strong…” Sure she had destroyed the castle looking for him but she had been panicking.

She rubbed her neck before she got up. “I’ll try though since you asked me too.” Simone circled him and put her arms around him in various places giving him a light tug. She would look up at him and blush a bit. She was hardly trying maybe because she didn’t want to hurt him.

Once she got a good grip on him she gave it everything she had. Perhaps a bit too much as she threw him out of her arms and into a tree. The force of it made her stumble backward and fall on her butt with an eep.

Her eyes were huge but then it dawned on her what she did and she got up and ran after Lewis. “I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT YOU. I WOULD NEVER HURT YOU ON PURPOSE!” She began to panic as she kissed him all over trying to send him the healing magic.

Lewis felt her grip around him tighten. “Take this seriously.” Perhaps a poor choice of words. He had never fought a God, and wouldn’t dare do it, for the fear of getting tossed aside like a doll at their sheer strength. What happened was basically what he imagined it would be like facing one.

He hit the tree hard, harder than he was expecting. The blow knocked the wind out of him, but as he was coughing and trying to catch his breath, he was already moving ahead with his plan. The guide was already trying to remedy her ‘mistake’ but this was good. He got the point across.

“Listen to me,” Lewis said finally as he managed to get his voice back. “You’re stronger now. Each Sin we’ve defeated has gifted you more strength based around their domain. This might explain why the Sins are getting harder as well. Perhaps the power is evenly distributed among the living…

The assassin smirked. “With this…we stand a chance.” He clapped his hands together. “Time for a crash course. Ready? We’ve got a lot to cover in a little amount of time.”

Simone snapped out of it and looked at him directly. “Even if that is true… Where do we start? How do we know what my powers are? I can heal and I got a bit of strength but… How do I figure out what else I can do? I don’t know how to fight like you do… I’ve been going by instinct.” She rubbed her memory, “I hit Gluttony with the poker because I remember doing it to the fey’s wife.”

She was rubbing her head now as she tried to figure out how else she was useful. “So far I can only conjure magic through my mouth… Which sounds weird… I can’t just kiss them too death! THAT’S GROSS. I’m not doing it.” She crossed her arms and stared at him.

“It’s not like they are you. It’s different when it’s you.” She groaned a bit. “But… are you actually going to show me how to fight?” He already knew how fast she was… Which could have been the result of killing Sloth.

“Show you how to fight?” Lewis smirked. “Of course.” He shot forward at frightening speed, and lunged at the guide with a right jab. As he thought, her instinct took over and she weaved out of the way, a terrified look across her face. Lewis didn’t let up, throwing the weight of his punch into the ground, and turning it into a sweeping kick. Once again, instinct took over and she guarded with her arms, but the blow knocked her back.

“What the hell Lewis!” she cried out, her eyes tearing up. “That hu-” She stopped. She was going to say it hurt, but it didn’t. Was he holding back?

“No, I’m not holding back,” Lewis said as if reading her mind. “You’re stronger than that. Faster even. You have the survival instincts. It’s going to just take a bit more pushing…” He put up his guard. “Listen to what I say, and act. Read what’s going to happen, and predict what’s next.”

For the rest of that day, or what counted as one in the mental landscape, Lewis and the guide Simone trained. While she wasn’t exactly soldier material, she was far better off than the average person, and if this were truly an army of zombie Simones, this would be adequate enough.

Still, after a long day, they were going to need rest. Knowing that her stamina probably wasn’t built for this, Lewis went about to rekindle the fire, and the two settled down.

“Tomorrow, we’ll move in. We can fight for a while, but just be wary of your stamina. If you collapse, I won’t be able to protect you easily. It’s better to run away and try again.” He laid back, staring at the starless sky. It’s Pride I’m worried about. How to take her down… He closed his eyes. “We shouldn’t need to keep watch. From what I gather…Pride won’t leave her domain. Get some rest.”

Simone had no idea she could be strong and it showed through their training. She doubted herself and she was more horrified than anything that she had this ability and she never knew it. The number of times she had let herself be victimized and for what? However, she realized without Lewis showing her now that she would have never known to begin with.

The little Guide was tired after everything. She laid down next to him and listened to what he had to say. Everything was so weird to her now. “I’m still scared but I’m also worried that I won’t be good enough when the time comes… I didn’t know I could do stuff like this. She didn’t know either~ I can feel her confusion.”

She pressed her face into his arm and a thought crossed her mind. “Lewis?” Her stormy eyes popped open to look at him from where she was. “I think if we are fast and can get around them that taking her down shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Pride built herself on the highest point of the mountain. She uses her magic at a distance… If we take her out the magic should fade and they will die. What if Pride isn’t physically strong like the others?”

It was just a thought but still, they would have to make it past the army first. “We’ll just have to see how the morning goes,” she laid her head back down and put her forehead against his arm again. In the morning, they got ready and headed up the mountainside.

Simone was becoming into her instincts as Lewis had taught her. There was a small patrol of three on the cliffside. Hiding behind a set of rocks the guide put her hands on the ground. “Come on move… If I am stronger move,” she sounded frustrated as she tried to warp the landscape. After a few moments, the power rippled and the ground threw the three undead Simone over the cliff. “I did it!” She was trying to be hushed. “I cleared the way!”

As the morning came, Lewis felt almost at full strength. He figured he was going to need it, thanking the gods that he was at least able to rest even a little bit in this realm. It wasn’t long before the two started to make their way up the mountain, splitting off on either side of the path. At Lewis’ mark, they each hid, and waited as the first set of targets came close. Lewis nodded as the first three ‘zombies’ were taken out with a swift, powerful strike from the guide.

“Good,” Lewis said as he motioned for them to keep moving. They rushed up the path, ready for the next round. It took little time to run into the next set, Lewis motioning that the next was his to take. Without skipping a beat, he dashed forward, and before they could react, slit each of their throats. Another two down.

Four more came out from behind the trees on the path, to which he motioned for the guide to take a shot at. Like before, it was easy work to warp the world to her needs, disposing of them. This went on as they progressed up the mountain, between avoiding more patrols and eliminating others.

Still, the progress was taking a toll on both of them. “It’s not much father now. We’ve managed to avoid Pride’s gaze for now, but we should be prepared to make the last sprint once she finds out how close we are…”

Lewis looked up the crimson mountain to their goal. “Ready or not…”

Going up the last bit of the mountain got a bit harder. Pride took notice of them finally and the numbers were increasing. “Think Simone, think,” the guide yelled to herself as they were getting away. She could change the environment. That meant more than landscapes. She ran past a water source with Lewis and skidded to a stop. “I can do more than just the earth at my feet. Stop thinking small. Think on your feet,” she was reassuring herself as she threw her hands into the water. “Come on,” she pleaded as the army of Simone was closing in.

Fog gushed out of the water and surrounded the area. She grabbed Lewis’s hand and pulled him, “This way.” It was causing a whole array of problems for the undead Simone. They needed Pride to see where they were going.

“I’m… I’m going to try something. I need you to trust me. I need you to find me when you are done,” She kissed him hard allowing the magic to flow from her to him. It was making her tired. She imbued him with speed and strength. “I’m going to send you now. I’ll be here when you are done.”

She could see the temple through the fog she had made, “I’ll keep them down here.” With that, she launched him as hard as she could towards the temple. A tiny circle of magic caught him so he didn’t hit the ground hard. It appeared she had given him a soft landing in the temple entrance which was vacant.

The fog below lifted.

While Lewis had not expected getting launched to the top of the mountain, he landed with grace, and adapted tot he situation. The intense fighting could be heard down below, but Lewis tuned it out. All he had to do was take out Pride, and the rest would fall.

The head of the snake. He gripped the bone dagger tightly, and approached the altar where Pride was waiting.

“Welcome,” she said as Lewis approached her ornate throne. Her eyes shimmered as she adjusted herself in her seat, leaning forward as if to examine Lewis. “I am concerned that it took you so long to get here. You must be slipping.” She leaned father forward, her low cut red dress exposing herself more, as if to tantalize Lewis into something more than just a fight.

“Think, Lewis…this world is beneath you…she is beneath you, that worthless whore of a guide…” Pride stood up, her steps resonating as she walked forward. “Just think about it Lewis, with you at my side, we could even take Wra-”

Lewis threw the knife into Pride’s throat, cutting her off mid-tirade.

“Shut up,” he said as he walked forward, grabbing the hilt of the dagger and yanking it out. Pride’s body fell back with an unceremonious thud. “That was…easy,” Lewis said, wiping the dagger down with his jacket. He turned around, and started to make his way back down the mountain.

It wasn’t long before he found her…

The guide staged herself throughout the mountain. She was hitting the army and running but she was running out of energy fast. It was an arrow that caught her in her shoulder but she still didn’t stop. If she tried to pull the arrow out she was just going to cause more damage.

Finally, when she was tired enough she sat down behind a tree. She could hear them getting closer but she was too tired to care. Was she really not going to make it now? Then she hit all the bodies hit the ground and she took a sigh. “Thank goodness,” she let it low out of her mouth as she closed her eyes to rest.

“Good job Lewis. I knew you could do it. I'm just goin-,” she managed to get out to him before she passed out from the arrow stuck in her. She had underestimated how much damage had actually been done by the stupid thing. Sleep was feeling pretty good right now.

When the guide finally awoke, she couldn’t move. The sun was high in the sky, and despite her inability to get up, she could feel the warmth of it. There were sounds to her left, a bubbling stream of water. She could hear someone washing something. There was silence for a moment, and then steps towards her. Simone felt a cool cloth, followed by sharp, almost agonizing pain rip through her shoulder. For a moment, the pain caused her to black out, but she was back moments later.

This time, she could move her head. She could see him, Lewis, rinsing a blood red bandage in the stream. Around her, the crimson and brown leaves fell, almost making the scene look…serene.

He walked back over to her after carefully rinsing her bandages, and knelt down. “You’ve been out for awhile. I’ve done what I can with the bandages to keep you alive, but…I’m not a healer,” he said. “You’ve done well, but you need to recover. Save your strength, and get some rest.”

It was strange. His voice was almost…sincere.