Seven Sins

Confrontation

Alex dives to the ground as the stranger attacks. Another holder. It must be.
Silence leaps at the intruder, her chestnut hair flowing as she pounces onto his back. But with a single shrug he - for the figure is well built, and has a masculine voice - dislodges her, and then kicks her across the room.
Alex somehow stands again, unsteady. Normally he'd be fighting Anger for control, but with Silence having sealed it away, he couldn't access it. Probably for the better. It wouldn't distinguish between Silence and the other spirit anyway.
Silence shivers, and her eyes glow gold. The mute girl stands up, and then speaks in a voice not her own; one that echoes, in a rough tone.
"Who are you?" It asks. Greed. Silence's spirit.
The intruder turns around. They wear a mask, and bright colours, and from the shape of their body are clearly in a better shape than their homeless opponents.
"I would have thought that my reputation would have proceeded me."
"Pride."
"Hole in one, Greed. That is a nice host you have," Pride replies. "Will it look as good when I'm finished with it though?"
Pride forms two swords of burning light, and leaps. Greed raises a hand, and they bounce off an invisible obstacle.
"You and your barriers! You should try being proud to die by my hand!"
Alex knows that he can't get close to the combat. The two spirits could rip him apart, intentionally or not. But he can't leave Silence - or Greed, as she is now - to die here. He grabs a can; one of the few foodstuffs they have left; and throws is at Pride. It connects with his head.
Pride turns. "Now there's someone with ego!"
But his taunt turns to ash in his mouth, as Greed uses its power to pull the ceiling down on top of it.
As the dust settles, Silence comes running back to Alex, her eyes blue again. She can't tell him anything, but her face conveys every message she needs to.
Run.
Alex grabs her arm as she passes. "Wait. I can hide us from view."
Silence shakes her head, but he ignores her, focusing like he did when he hid the camp from the rangers.
Pride explodes from the rubble, injured but not extensively so. "You have powers to be proud of, Greed!"
He grabs a wooden crate and throws it towards the two. Silence grabs Alex and dives.
"Why didn't it work?" He asks between coughs.
Silence shakes her head, and then slaps his gently. Alex takes a second to understand it, but then realises why he can't access his power.
His abilities come from Anger. And if he can't connect with Anger, then he can't draw from them either.
Silence makes a cutting motion with her hand, but Alex refuses.
"No. I don't want that thing back in my head. We can win without it! Just do that thing where you cut a connection with a holder and their spirit!"
Silence shakes her head once more.
"Why not?"
She puts a hand on his arm. Physical contact.
Alex stops for a moment. "Fine," He says. "We run."
"Bit late," Pride replies. It grabs Alex by the back of the neck, throwing him like a sack of potatoes. Silence runs, up the stairs and onto the first floor of the barren storage building.
"And you. You look like someone Anger would choose."
Alex flinches, and Pride laughs. "That's something to be proud of! You should be happy! And of course I'm the best for working it out so quickly. Now, will you grace me with your skills, Anger, like Greed did before you?"
It grabs him by the neck, lifting him up and slamming him down onto his back. "Well?"
Pride suddenly turns its head, and listens. "Oh. I see. Anger isn't available right now. Fine then. When I kill Greed, that'll probably bring it back. But there's no fun, nothing big, about killing a normal human. I'll be right back."
Pride kicks Alex aside, and strides after Silence.

Why are we running?
Because it's safest away from it.
Is that what you want?
I don't want anything.
Silly child, Greed says, you wanted everything. A home. A father. To be happy. A pony. For that other girl to like you. For them to stop, to die. You wanted to die too. All you ever do it want.
"I don't want that," Silence replies, in her head as she wages mental war with the spirit grasping onto her conscious.
Not now. But you used too. And you still want more now.
Get out.
No. Pride is coming. I want control so we can kill it.
I don't want to kill. I don't want to give you control.
That's not always up to you.
I wish it were.
Of course you do. You want everything. Including to believe that you don't.
"Am I interrupting something?" Pride says, throwing away the worn canvas cover that Silence hides under. She would scream but her vocal cords don't work. They never have.
Pride picks her up by the neck, choking her.
"Here's the deal. I'm killing two spirits today, another step to my legend. I want you to release Anger from that boy downstairs, so that I can kill it. Then you will put Greed in charge, and I will kill it also."
Let me at him. He doesn't know what I'm capable of. I want to hurt him.
Silence shakes her head.
Pride sighs. "Disappointing."
He drops Silence, and drives a foot into her gut.
"Now, here's what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to hurt you. Humiliate you. And when you can't give me any more, I'll slit your throat and let you watch the blood pour out. Now, let Anger out."
Silence coughs once, and draws on Greed's power to scratch some letters on the floor. Pride bends down to read them aloud.
"As...you...wish..."
There's a snarl. Pride whirls around, and the full force of Anger crashes into him. He topples, the spirit of wrath still on him, slashing away with claws like iron.
"Now this! This is a fight!" He calls, and then blasts Anger away, standing and brushing himself off.

Alex hadn't wanted to give control to Anger. He wanted to run. But he also wanted to help.
And suddenly, the divide had been broken. Anger had been upon his sanity in an instant.
You let her shut me out! I'll kill her!
Surprised and overpowered, Alex gave up control immediately. He couldn't keep a hold of it, as Anger flew up the stairs and slammed into Pride.
Now they were fighting. He hates this.
Pride draws its two swords, but Anger is already leaping, and it slashes straight towards Pride's body. It blocks with both swords, but Anger cleaves through both of them. Red smoke pours from its eyes, it's veins, it's skin, leaving trails of blood coloured steam behind its every move.
"Pride!" Anger snarls.
Pride smirks. "There you are. I'm amazed you made it this far."
Anger rips at him, but hits an invisible wall. A barrier. It hates barriers.
Anger angles it's claws and strikes, punching through the magical defence, and ripping a hole in it large enough to climb through, before slamming into another barrier.
"I can do this all day," Pride jests.
Anger growls. "So can I."
It rips into the next barrier, slamming into the one behind it, but accelerating, faster and faster, until Pride realises that it s tearing down barriers faster than the can form. Anger's arms are a blur, it's claws slicing through the air feverishly as it inches closer to its target.
But it doesn't get the chance. Silence leaps up behind Pride, slaps her hands to either side of its head, and yells, "SEAL!"
Pride drops. Anger halts, and turns to Silence, rage coursing through it's veins and hate in its eyes. "Round two," it snarls, but Silence dives in and grabs it by the head to. "SEAL!"
Alex drops to the ground, panting.
For a second, there is anything quiet.
"Why?" Alex asks.
Silence remains tapped into Greed's power. "I had to."
"You let it out!"
"We had no choice."
Pride's holder moans. The two of them look at him.
"Let's see who's under that mask," Alex states. As he pulls it from their face, he continues, "it's probably not someone we know-"
Silence pulls closer to the dazed figure. Alex remains quiet. The features look familiar, and then he gets it.
"Tom?"
The man shakes his head once, and peers at the figures standing over him.
"Alex?" He asks.