The Oracle

Chapter 29: Resignation

SORA

"Really, guys, I'm fine," I sigh as Evory forces me down onto the hospital bed and Reverence sits up in his own to scan me over with furrowed eyebrows.

"You are most certainly not fine," Merrick frowns from beside Evory, Darius, and Raciel.

Evory begins to wrap my ankle while Darius helps her clean my cuts and I sigh, not liking the feeling of being babied but appreciating their concern. Merrick brushes a few strands of hair out of my face and chews on his lower lip worriedly and Reverence smiles sadly at the sight.

"Could somebody at least tell me what just happened with Carmin?" I sigh. "I mean, his abilities..."

"Pride's main ability is that they're able to gain power when damage is dealt to them, but they also gain power when they deal damage successfully to others," Evory explains quietly.

"And Envy's main ability is that they're able to steal power, life, and energy from others," I say. "And Lust is able to see the desires of others and..."

"I'm able to see the desires of others and chain them to their desires, making them slaves to what they desire the most. If they struggle, they only create more chains," Merrick says. "The key is to set themselves free of desire, which is a hard thing to do when all you want is freedom for any list of reasons, especially in a fight."

"What about the others?" I ask as I glance around the room.

"Gluttony grows stronger as it gains more power, which increases as Gluttony's will to fight increases. In return, they're able to reflect the abilities of others back onto themselves and create illusions based on Gluttony's own will," Reverence explains.

"Charity is able to give some of their own life force to others to heal them," Evory smiles as she finishes up wrapping my ankle. "They also have a strong spiritual bond."

"Humility is able to disappear from sight and also turn others invisible for a period of time in order to gain stealth, using Humility's own soul to shield them. They also have high agility and accuracy and are able to shift their spirit around to appear in multiple places at once," Darius says.

"Sloth has mass amounts of power and energy, but the energy quickly burns out when used due to being so powerful," Raciel sighs. "Such a pain."

"A pain?" Merrick snorts. "What're you talking about? You've mastered savoring your energy and recharging it quickly."

"Everything's always a pain with him, Merrick. Don't bother," Evory hums as she walks over to one of her cabinets to search for salve.

"What about the rest?" I ask, not wanting to give Merrick or Raciel time to retort, although I doubt Raciel would waste the energy.

"Kindness is able to shoulder the demons and burdens of others, which includes taking damage inflicted on others onto themselves," Evory continues. "Meanwhile, Temperance is able to purify that which has lost its path to the temptation of evil. Their spirit is also rather kindred with the winds. And Greed is able to summon more power than the extraordinary amount they already have from their own souls, but this can grow rather dangerous depending on how much more power they wish to command."

"Diligence is able to increase the will to fight, the ability to think clearly while under pressure, and precision in those around them, including themselves," Merrick says. "Chastity is able to do a broad range of things due to their spell book, which includes purification. Their main ability, however, is to purge dark thoughts and desires. Patience is able to manipulate time and make others see reason. Lastly, Wrath is capable of destroying everything in its path. However, it is also capable of saving everything in its path. It's simply a matter of how it is used."