Seven

Preface

Preface

Lust's POV

Countless millennia later, and we still can't get along. We're always fighting, mainly for power, or dominance over the others. None of us have ever been able to concede to any other, always needing to be the best, the strongest, the most popular among us. Personally, I find it incredibly amusing.

Who can say how it started precisely, or when? I heard a story once, that a god is born each time a human prays to them. Their image and persona equivalent to that of the human's mental picture of them. Perhaps it is the same with us. In the beginning, we didn't have bodies. We weren't even corporeal at first, we were a feeling, an idea, an ambition. Prisoners to our human hosts: unidentified, unknown, and mysterious. As time went on, we evolved. Oh how far we have come since those dark days.

Over time, we started to become more powerful, to come into our own. Along with our personalities, and corporeal forms, something else started to change within us. A power we didn't fully understand, our day had come. Now we could influence the humans, offer suggestions, and convince them to follow our examples. Gone were the days where we were subject to the whims of humans. No longer forced to lurk on the edges of humanity, waiting to be summoned by men and women in positions of power. Those select few capable of changing the course of history. It wasn't immediate of course, it all happened so painfully slow, over thousands and thousands of years!

But eventually, The puppets became the puppeteers. The oppressed, the oppressors. My brothers and I are the embodiment of the seven deadly sins. Once slaves to those who now call us Master. I digress, Humans were the only thing we ever had in common, it was our sole source of entertainment in the early years... wondering which of our ideals would be prominent in a specific human at a specific time. In that, I guess nothing has really changed. Now, we just have the ability to do something about it. That's how the games started. That's why we decided to take human form.

We've been playing our games since before the dawn of human civilization, the events we have manipulated have influenced your world in ways your brain is incapable of comprehending. At the end of each century, we recount the events of the last hundred years, and decide upon a victor. The winner, decides the theme of the games for the following century. Do we focus on a person, country, civilization, or race? What are the rules, and what happens if we break them? Over the course of the century that follows, we are unleashed upon the human race, and abiding by the parameters set before us, try to outsmart, and outperform our brothers.

For instance, I was quite popular during the Roman Era, though officially Greed was the victor for much of that. Sloth doesn't have the heart to contribute much, though he's fond of influencing the children of powerful men, as was evident around that time.

Greed was also the victor of the games that encompassed the 19th century, during the Industrial revolution, when he convinced the humans to change from hand crafted goods, to those that were manufactured in factories by the thousands. Allowing those few in control of the goods to accumulate ridiculous amounts of wealth!

In the early years of the 20th century, Envy took power in Europe, encouraging Militarism, Imperialism, Nationalism, and Isolationism. Turning neighbor against neighbor, convincing each that what they had was in danger of being taken... It created a mess that Wrath was able to take control of. The two of them remained in power for several decades, and very nearly caused the end of the human race. Once things simmered down. I teamed up with Sloth of all people. We took over, allowing the diminished human population a respite. To the hippies among you, recreational drugs, and loving each other became a norm, you're welcome.

I should note, Wrath is utterly brutal. He may be the youngest of us, but he is by far the most sinister. He's the baby and he loathes it, but he's cunning, and knows how to turn our victories, into his. He's smart and knows all of our weaknesses, then throws them into our face during battles.

We've had many variations of the Game, no two exactly alike. An example of a previous game is a gladiator style tournament that pitted us against one another. There was typically an arena and we picked from tons of different weapons. We would pair up, and fight each other one on one. The winners then pairing off once again until there was only one remaining. Our Victor.

The current game however, consists of us picking one person, and seducing them into committing our particular sin. Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Greed, and Pride.

I smirk, seduce, I rather enjoy that word.

My name is Lust. I'm not the oldest out of my brothers, but not the youngest either. We are able to modify our appearance from one lifetime to the next, and even have the ability to hide aspects of our appearance from the humans if we so choose. In this life, there are similarities between my brothers and I, but I wouldn't go so far as to say we look alike. If I had to say we did look alike which something I don't have the heart to right admit, but if I did I would say our bone structure. As for me, I'm 6'1", with long red hair, emerald green eyes, and a flawless face. I'm fond of body art and currently have tattoos under my eye as well as on my neck. Generally speaking, I do not allow humans to see my tattoos.

This game is one I am excited for, it's something new... and obviously, I am going to win.

You could say I'm cocky, but I prefer to think of it as confidence in myself.

This Game starts with her. There has never been a game where all seven of us are so completely invested before her.

It started when Greed picked her out of the crowd at a popular mall in Ohio. We have never before selected a girl. Maybe he thought it would be easy to influence her... An innocent girl, and we being sinful men eager to take advantage of her. Whatever the reason it definitely wasn't going to be easy.