Hunt of the Seven Sins

Part 1: Chapter 2

"Push him in!" said a girl cheering next to the pool. "Just do it already!"

"Quit doing that, he said you should stop!" yelled a boy with black hair, dashing to move the other child just before he was shoved into the pool. The black-haired boy slipped and watched the bright blue sky for a moment as he felt the membrane of the liquid break, surrounding him in a shocking cold sensation before his body finally adjusted. His dad would probably hate him for getting wet, but at least that other kid didn't get his expensive clothes damaged, right?

"Pull him out!" said a voice above the water.

He gasped for air as he rose and as his eyes adjusted to the light, his hair sopping wet. He looked around for a moment, taking in his surroundings. He was in a decently sized room with a low ceiling, decorated with red wooden pillars and light fabric that covered the walls. He looked down at the pool he had just emerged from, which was made from stone and took up most of the space in the area.

"Hey!" said the man who had called out a moment before. "I'm Naruki! Naruki Arvingale." He had long blonde hair that had obviously been dyed from a natural black, and he was wearing a Hawaiian flower jacket that had been unbuttoned to reveal a plain white shirt underneath. His face was friendly and pleasant, but his eyes seemed to belong to a different man– a man not accustomed to living anywhere but a padded cell. "Over to your left is Mèng," he said, pointing past the pool towards a woman who had her black hair tied back in a bow. She wore a still expression as she held up a hand in greeting.

Naruki trotted over to the pool and leaned over, wagging a finger. "Can you take a look at your necklace for me?"

The man in the pool looked down and noticed a small wooden object held onto his neck by a beaded necklace. He removed it to read what was scratched onto its surface.

"Lucius Ausrine," he said.

Naruki returned to a standing position and put his curled fingers underneath his chin. "Interesting last name... you heard that one before?"

Mèng shook her head. She was silent, but certainly not timid, and she held a cold, still expression. Something seemed inexplicably off about her.
"Ausrine..." Naruki shrugged, grabbed Lucius' arm, and tugged him out of the water. "Come on, I'll show you around."

They walked for a moment along the intricate wooden floor, but before they could leave, Lucius stopped, his face pale as he stuttered out a question.

"Where- where am I?"

Naruki turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I'm kinda new to the whole introduction thing, so it might be better if you raise that question to the Grandmaster over in the north wing." He looked as if he was about to say something, but he stopped himself and hesitated. "We should probably head to the west wing first, though," he made a motion in the air with his hand and the gate in front of him slid open, revealing another gate directly behind it. "You probably aren't used to the weather around here."

As the second gate was open, Lucius felt a freezing wind pierce his body and force a shiver. The world outside was white and the sky was gray, and great mountains in the distance scattered snow through the wind that rested over oriental buildings. It was almost like an isolated village in the mountains, yet it seemed too well-built to not be some sort of sacred ground. Lucius found it unsettling, but somehow cozy, in the way that an empty gas station in a snowstorm would be.

"Welcome to one of the most isolated places on planet Earth," said Naruki, leaning over and smiling. "This is where you'll be staying from now on!"