Unforgivable Sin: The Seven Sinners

"Well, That problem took care of itself," Jacob nodded. He was in no mood to chase after that violent girl any time soon, so he pushed all thoughts of her aside. Better to take care of their initial goal. "We have been sidetracked far too often in this quest to make another."

> Try to find "Pride"

The decision being unanimous, the group goes to look for Pride. After hours of aimless wandering the group came to what seemed like a small opening of a cave with a giant tree not far from it. When the group came close enough to the opening, the leaves on the giant tree rustled and turned purple all of a sudden, yellow eyes opened and arms extended out of the tree as the trunk was split in two to become legs, another treant. The treant looked down at the group, which seemed like spiders to him, and grabbed them with one hand, lifting them up to his eye level.

"Intruders?! Krok must exterminate all intruders!" the treant yelled and opened his mouth, throwing the group into his mouth and about to swallow before he saw the red-haired and eyed girl.

"Gluttony, would you spit them out? Pride wants them alive, not dead, not eaten." the girl said, wit a sigh.

"Sorry Greed." the treant apparently named 'Gluttony' said after spitting the group out onto the ground.

"Well, apparently you had a bit of a troublesome time finding this place, but you're here now. This is our hideout and Pride is becoming quite impatient with waiting for you." Greed said, smiling slightly.

Greed led the group into the cave, where they quickly came to a large room with four other people, three male and one female.

"Anyways, the chick there's Envy, Pride's little twin sister, though I hardly see the resemblence between them. The boy with the blue hair and emotionless expression's Wrath, although he seems not very violent at all. The guy half asleep over there's Sloth, you can see obviously how he fits his title. And the guy beside Envy's the one that summoned you all here, Pride." Greed introduced the others one by one, "The treant out there's Gluttony and Lust isn't here. All of us makes the Seven Sinners. Now then, Pride's waiting for you and it's best not to make him wait any more than you must."

As the group approached Pride, he looked at them with his cold eyes.

"So, you're the group I summoned. Took you long enough, but nevermind that. The world cannot afford to waste time at all, for the Heavenly Creatures, the ones that created this world are going to destroy it. I will not go into details, but just know that you must stop them. Although they may be a tad too strong for you to fight, so I'll have my successor aid you in this." Pride explained, "Xue Langya!"

Within a few moments a girl cme to the entrance of the room, she was young with past shoulder-length hair, red clothes, and a somewhat strangely-shaped sword, the girl that made the blood trail. She looked different now that the blood on her clothes and blade was gone, but she seemed to have been beaten and cut multiple times.

"Pleased to meet you, my name is Xue Langya." the girl introduced herself with a curtsy, "Sorry for earlier, but Pride ordered me as one final test for you all, and you've passed impressively, too impressively for that matter."

This is becoming a very strange day, Jacob thought. He removed and clothe from an inner pocket and started wiping the worst of the Treant's (Gluttony?) saliva from his bow. The thing was worn out enough without being partially digested. For some reason, I have bad luck when it comes to trees...

"We meet you when we were facing those trees," he said, pointing at Greed. "But what's this about Ms Langya being your successor? Are you retiring?" This led to him asking a who slew of questions, leaving Pride no time to answer even one.
"And what about your companions? Are they retiring too? Who are their successors? And, on a side note, I am certain that the Heavenly creatures are far more than a tad too powerful." He stopped when he realized his rudeness. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"None of us plan on leaving the group until we've completed what we've started. Little Langya here is only my replacement just in case I happen to leave this world due to some unfortunate turn of events." Pride answered, "And the Heavenly Creatures are stronger, but you should be able to beat them in due time, let's just hope that the time is before this world is gone."

"Um...what I mean by that Lust was that I thought you weren't here in the hideout at he moment." Greed explaned, "And didn't I tell you not to call us by our real names?"

Greed looked away from Lust, a faint blush and a scowl on her face. It was quite obvious that Greed did not get along well with Lust.

"Damn, I thought sending her on that errand would get rid of her for a longer time than this." Greed murmured then turned to Lust, "And would you refrain from touching me? Not that I don't like it, but I don't think Envy would approve of that."

And Greed pointed to where Envy is, sitting in a corner with her legs against her chest and her face covered in a shadow. Even though her face was dimmed by the shadow, her eyes seemed to be glowing as everyone can clearly see a glare toward Greed and Lust. Along with an unpleasant aura being emitted from the corner, Envy looked, somewhat frightening.

These people are beginning to seem rather... unique, Jacob thought to himself. After putting them through all this trouble to get here, Pride and his friends were treating them to a comedy routine. Jacob was really beginning to wonder about the sanity of these people. He didn't comment though, preferring to wait for them to finish while he contemplated what to do with the Treant-saliva stained rag he had resting by his toes.

Hikari stood there, unable to say something. Her right eye twitched as she watched the Seven Sinners act... different, to say the least. She wasn't the only one, though, because Jacob seemed to be thinking something while looking blankly at them. But several extracts of information had her attached to the conversation. Who were those "Heavenly Creatures" they were speaking of, and more importantly, what was this nonsense of the entire world as everyone knew it ending?

Wakuwo also remained silent, but examined each Sinner. They acted strange. They looked strange, especially that treant, who Wakuwo was especially wary of, and they told strange news. The world was going to end? Really and truly? The whole, huge world? How could someone with such a silly name just make the world gone? The group had unique names as well, half of which she didn't know the meaning of. She knew each person represented something, she just wasn't exactly sure what all of them were. What was "Lust" anyway? She'd have to ask one of the others about it, they knew lots more about the "outside world" than Wakuwo did. Although she had to admit, the lady's clothing looked really, really comfortable. Much more than Wakuwo's long, thin clothing. It wasn't very heavy, but Wakuwo sincerely believed that the less clothing you had on, the better. Clothes only slow you down because they're uncomfortable and stuffy and somtimes heavy. Winter was so horrible... having to wear heavy furs and sleep the day away... She would rejoice when the sun came out, the days when she would be able to wear her light, leafy clothing and wrestle with the bear cubs...
With a far-away look on her face, Wakuwo's thoughts about the group seemed to fade as her mind wandered onto another topic.

Wrath kept emotionless when Lust was just being, well, Lust. Although, Wrath didn't understand why Lust always does this when she already had Envy, does she hit on every good-looking guy or girl?

"Well, they did manage to subdue a few of my experiments with ease. They shall make wonderful specimen for my research." Wrath answered.

When everyone was just staring at the group, Sloth laughed slightly, finding it amusing that everyone was left speechless seeing the group's strange personalities. Although most people would find the group strange, Sloth enjoyed watching the expressions of the people they meet.

"Though Lust, you should listen to Greed and pay a bit of attention to Envy. Look at her!" Sloth said, pointing to the corner where Envy was.

Envy was in the same position, except that her eyes had more of an envious look and her eyes just followed Lust, not letting her out of sight.

"Fuuuuuuu..."

Envy smirked and stood up, covering the small bruise she got from Lust's whip and stared into Lust's eyes. Her anger and jealously seemed to have just disappeared.

"Of course I know, but if you did punish me, you know that I'd like it..." Envy answered.

Jacob shuddered under the lady's stare. The look in her eye as she said punish was definitely not good. This situation was becoming very dangerous, and not in the usual way. To make it worse, he was the only male in the group, and Lust's attention didn't seem like a good thing. He unobtrusively hid a bit behind Kathyrine, counting on her aggression to protect him.

Pride nodded in responce, the couldn't do much seeing their strength. The best they could do at this point was to just scratch one of the Heavenly Creatures before being slaughtered. Pride though for a moment before speaking.

"Well, I suppose we'll have them do whatever they want for a while and send them a message when they're ready for their next task." Pride said, "Head for the closest town or city you can find and see what you can do there. Xue Langya will accompany you all, dismissed."

"Very well." Langya said with a curtsy and headed for the exit, "Well, what are you waiting for? I don't have all day."

Upon the arrival of a town a few miles from the forest, the group gathered together at a fountain as Langya gave out directions.

"Okay, I'll go and see if there are any requests we can take and all of you, do whtever you want, I don't care. We'll gather here in about an hour, that should give you plenty of time." Langya said and walked away.

Scroll 0, End...
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~Weapon Shop~

Oak Bow - A durable bow made of oak wood. [+3 ATK; Range: 4 cells] (150 Gold; Equippable by Jacob; Number in Stock: 0)

Serrated Dagger - A dagger with a serrated edge. [+3 ATK] (100 Gold; Equippable by Hikari; Number in Stock: 0)

Shiny Dual Blades - Twin blades that have been polished to have a bright shine. [+3 ATK; 2 hits] (150 Gold; Equippable by Kathyrine; Number in Stock: 0)--------------------------------------
~Armor Shop~

Red Mantle - A red mantle, it looks new. [+2 DEF; +1 SPR] (100 Gold; Equippable by Jacob; Number in Stock: 0)

Silver Armor - Made with real silver...paint! [+3 DEF] (100 Gold; Equippable by Hikari; Number in Stock: 0)

Cloth Robe - A dull cloth robe that was somewhat poorly sewn together. [+1 DEF; +2 SPR] (100 Gold; Equippable by Wakuwo; Number in Stock: 0)

Lightweight Garments - Clothing that are made to provide maximum mobility while still offering a bit of protection. [+2 DEF; +1 SPR] (100 Gold; Equippable by Kathyrine; Number in Stock: 0)

Oriental Garments - Traditional foreign clothing, slightly resembles a kimono. [+2 DEF; +1 SPR] (100 Gold; Equippable by Xue Langya; Number in Stock: 0)
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~Item Shop~

Potion – Heals 20 HP upon use (50 Gold; Number in Stock: 5)

Herb – Recovers 10 MP upon use (40 Gold; Number in Stock: 5)

Antidote – Cures Poison upon use (30 Gold; Number in Stock: 3)

Elixir – Cures any status effect upon use (70 Gold; Number in Stock: 3)

Yggdrasil Dew – Revives one fallen character with 20% (100 Gold; Number in Stock: 2)

Chest Key – Opens a Treasure Chest (30 Gold; Number in Stock: 7)
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~Quests~

Quest 1: Grave Call

Quest 2: Child's Play

Quest 3: Trail of the Champion - Part 1

Jacob wandered away form the the group when they arrived the town. He still shuddered inwardly as he remembered the look in lust's eyes as she held that whip. He idly entered the weapon shop and wound up in front of a lovely bow. He smiled slightly as he ran his hand over the polished grain of the face. Oak, he thought idly. He lifted it from the rack and tested the pull of the string. He nodded and took it to the counter and payed for it (150 gold), offering his older bow for sale, if they wanted it.

That done, he left the store, intending to rejoin his friends, but the red mantle displayed in the armour shop caught his attention, making him halt his progress. A wind cut through his own mantle, reminding him of its deplorable condition, so he stepped in an quickly bought it (100), selling his old one for whatever it was worth.

Hikari headed immediately to the Armor Shop. Her current clothing was making her feel a really uncomfortable sensation. There, her eyes glimmered with happiness as she saw a beautiful Silver Armor laying on a diagonal table specially for displaying merchandise. Of course, for the price, it was obviously silver paint, but it was something she had been waiting for long, dragging hours of endless walking. She bought it, and sold her old one, surprisingly. Hikari proceeded to go to the Weapon Shop. There, she bought a new dagger which was recently imported, a special serrated edge allowing the user to do swift and painful slashes... Much more useful than the rusty junk she was holding.

Buyings

Serrated Dagger --- 100 Gold
Silver Armor --- 100 Gold

Total: -200 Gold

Money Remaining: 540 Gold

Sellings

Rusty Dagger
Worn Armor

Wakuwo, mouth agape, walked silently behind her comrades. So this... was a city. She had heard about them, yes, but she didn't think they were this big and had this many people in them... There were large, strong houses made out of stone, children playing in the street, horses and many other things...

She was so busy marvelling at every little detail of the town that she hadn't even noticed when everyone dispersed, leaving the forest girl alone. She wandered around slowly, people noisily bumping into her and cursing at the "stupid little country girl". She didn't understand these words, but she frowned at them, assuming that they weren't very kind... She stopped in front of a shop that held comfortable looking clothes... Well comfortable as far as clothes went. Entering the shop, she learned from the merchant that the flat, golden rocks she had were actually used to get things in cities. Good thing she didn't throw them all away!

[ Wakuwo buys Cloth Robe. 100 gold is lost. ]

Purchasing a robe, she stood in the shop, lifting her shirt half-way until she was hastily steered into a changing room by the merchant. People in the outside world were strange. Why did you need to go inside little rooms to put on clothes? And why did people wear so much clothes? It didn't make any sense.
When she came out in her new clothing, she gave her old, thin ones to the dealer, who gave her more shiny rocks for them.

[ Wakuwo sells Thin Cloth. ]

Xue Langya quickly walked through the marketplace, finding a new set of clothes in a tailor shop. It was much better than her blood-stained clothing, there had been many cut marks too from when she was punished for having fallen so quickly against the group before. She bought the new clothes and changed, and walked toward the bulletin board after sellign her old clothes.

Xue Langya buys and equips Oriental Garments

Xue Langya sells Stained Garments

Langya didn't even bother with the armory, even if her sword was in bad condition she would not replace it. It was important to her, it reminded her that her parents chose her to pass on the family heritage rather than her sister Mei. She did manage to find a blacksmith which she threatened persuaded to slightly fortify her blade. After that she headed directly toward the bulletin board, seeing three quests that she thought the group may have the strength to take. Hopefully she didn't overestimate their strength.

Xue Langya takes Quests 1, 2, and 3

Xue Langya returned to the fountain immediatly after and waited impatiently for the others.

After wandering around for a while, a pretty, sparkling fountain caught Wakuwo's eye. She made her way to it, eyes wide with wonder. The way it moved the water and sparkled... There were even the golden rocks at the bottom of it! The girl gathered water into her cupped hands and washed her face, enjoying the cool water on her skin. Surely this must be the town's watering hole. Where else would you get drinkable water from? Looking up, Wakuwo noticed that the bloody girl was also near the fountain.
"Hello, Waku~." she said cheerfully, walking over towards Xue. "Blod pige, where now do we go?" she asked, tilting her head in question.

Cradling his new bow carefully, already applying his custom wood-polishing varnish to it, Jacob made his way back to the fountain. Wakuwo was already there and looked like she was about to shower in it. Someone really needed to teach her the more subtle niceties of civilized life.
He spotted the blood girl too, though she had abandoned the blood drenched clothes them her in for a cleaner oriental dress. She actually looked pretty cute in it too. Interesting. He nodded a greeting to her and sat cross-legged, his back against the fountain and saw to the care of his new bow to pass the time.