The 7 Deadly Sins

Chapter XVI

SAM

Music: Good Egg Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy

One second, we were in the same room as Wrath. The next, we're in a forest. How that happens, I have no idea.

"Oh great. What are we doing now?" Shanna groaned. I saw a piece of paper and a bird on the ground. I stomped my foot to make the bird fly away and picked up the paper. The side I was currently looking at was blank, so I flipped it over.

"In the middle of nowhere," I read.

"Near a waterfall," Sean read.

"At the top of a waterfall," Shanna read.

"Where a building once was," Elle read.

"And at the top of the tallest tree," Heath read. "The hell is this?"

"Well, I dunno," I shrugged. I ripped the paper into five pieces, each one having a clue on it, and gave one each to Heath, Elle, Sean, and Shanna. "Let's split up, and look for the one we read. I got the middle of nowhere."

"Got it," they said, and then they ran off. I looked at my clue. "In the middle of nowhere... that seriously could be anywhere," I muttered.

With that, I began searching far and wide, finding something that would resemble "nowhere." I found a wide opening of nothing but grass, and sure enough, there was a paper right in the middle of it.

"Easy," I muttered as I picked up the paper and read it. "Rock of Doom Fact #1: It looks like a normal rock. It feels like a normal rock. But it isn't one."

"Huh," I said to myself. I pocketed the note and ran off to find anyone else.

ELLE

I had "Where a building once was". The only problem was that we were in a forest, and I doubt there'd be any buildings nearby, much less the remains of one.

Eventually, I did come across a wide patch of dirt. Some dude just so happened to be riding on a segway for no reason at all. I yelled to him, "What's this?"

The dude looked my way, and replied, "Oh. Some old guy's house was here, but he missed eight payments and got kicked out. Then it got taken down by bears." He rode away, and I ran into the dirt, and began groping around. Finally, I spotted a piece of white next to a single strand of grass that had been growing. The paper was face-up on the ground, so I didn't even have to pick it up to read it.

"Rock of Doom Fact #2: There are positives to the Rock of Doom's power, but also negatives if possessed in the wrong hands."

"Well then," I mumbled, grabbing the paper and holding on to it as I embarked.

SEAN

Near a waterfall.

That was my only hint as to what was even going on. There were several things that complicated this task even more. One was that I didn't even know what I was looking for and why. The other was finding a waterfall. All around me was pretty much nothing but trees, and they obstructed the view of pretty much anything within a five-mile radius. And finally, even if there was a waterfall here, there could be more than one. After all, the paper said "a waterfall", not "the waterfall".

After about five minutes of searching, I did eventually come across a waterfall. Shanna got "At the top of a waterfall", so I assumed what I was looking for was at the base of the waterfall. Thus, I scanned the entire perimeter of the bottom section of water, until I eventually came across something.

A white rabbit, next to a small piece of paper.

I walked closer to the paper, and the rabbit hopped away. I picked up the paper and read, "Rock of Doom Fact #3: The powers of this fantastic piece of nature only work in the hands of an alchemist. No other being can use one."

I decided to keep the note, just in case. Right then, I noticed Shanna climbing up to the top of the waterfall I was at. Once she reached the top, I followed.

SHANNA

Since this was the only waterfall in the area (from what I could tell), I figured there must be something at the top of it. Climbing up it wasn't terribly difficult. While it wasn't as easy for me to do it as it would be for Heath (he can just leap the entire height), my strength definitely made the task a lot less daunting than it could've been.

After I reached the top, I searched for what was up here that was interesting. The only thing I could find was a wet piece of paper sitting on top of a rock. I was about to read it when someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around, startled.

It was just Sean.

"SEAN! You scared me!" I yelled.

"Sorry," he said.

Sighing, I picked up the paper, careful not to rip it. It read, "Rock of Doom Fact #4: The Seven Deadly Sins- Envy, Sloth, Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, and Lust- are majorly affected by the Rock's power. If the evil alchemist were to combine his power with the Rock, all of the Sins would receive that increase in power."

"No wonder Wrath wanted Luke to get that first," I said. "If Envy gets it first, we're all done for."

Sean didn't answer. I looked at him, and saw that his eyes were wide open. I followed his gaze to a poster on a nearby tree.

It was a "Missing" poster for all seven of us. I guess Elle was documented separately.

"We've got to tell the others," Sean said, and I nodded. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Heath jumping up to the top of a really high tree, and Sam and Elle running to join him. Sean and I ran towards them, the notes we found in our hands.

HEATH

What a spectacular view.

Of course, in a forest with lots of trees, finding the tallest one was a little difficult. But not for me. I simply floated above all of the trees and eventually found one that stuck out a little higher than the rest. I levitated there and found a note.

"Rock of Doom Fact #5: The only way to stop the creator of the Sins, Father, is to use the Rock of Doom against him," it said. That clearly meant Luke has to have the Rock of Doom, since Wrath said it only worked in the hands of an alchemist.

Then I heard Sam's voice yell, "HI THERE, HEATH!" It startled me so badly I fell out of the tree, but thanks to my agility, I was able to land gracefully.

"I expect nothing less from you, Sam," I sighed as I regained my composure.

"So what do these facts mean, and why did we have to find them?" Shanna asked, looking like a combination of exhausted and "I don't care". I shrugged and answered, "I dunno."

Music: Butsutekkai from Ikaruga

Then Elle began coughing, completely out of nowhere. At first, I thought it was out of allergies, but then she took her hand away, and we all gasped.

On her hand was blood.

Then Elle's eyes began to droop, and she sank slowly to the ground. "I'm feeling kinda dizzy..." she moaned, curling up into a ball.

"Elle, stay with us," Sam urged. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No..." she answered. Her eyes shut, and just like that, she was out. I immediately got down on the ground and checked her pulse.

"Her pulse is fine... I can't seem to tell what the problem is," I said, scratching my head in confusion.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Shanna exclaimed. "Just leave Elle like this? She could be dying! Or really sick!"

"Shanna, the only thing we can do right now is wait," I told her. "She's still breathing. It might just be the heat that caused her to pass out." It was pretty hot outside right now, considering it was July.

"Then how did she cough up blood?" Sean asked, giving me a look that said, "Got an answer for this one?"

"Sean, I don't know. None of us do, and I don't think we'll be finding the answer anytime soon." I then turned to Sam. "You. Stay with her. Sean, Shanna, and I will look for help."

"Got it." Sam sat down by Elle's unmoving body, and the twins and I left to find someone who could possibly help.