Sin of the Saint

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WHAT REMAINS

Modesta seemed to finally breathe. Caritas looked at him and found the telling look of relief on his face. The concern that Modesta held for Pudoris during the match told Liv that perhaps Auden truly had harbored feelings for Imogen.

"That concludes our match...this victory belongs to the Saints," Temperantia said, then tapped his shield once to the ground before disappearing indefinitely into the mist.

"You'll be taken back when the veil sees fit," Modesta said to Caritas before turning and walking back through the veil's obscure foggy space. "You and Greed are usually the last ones to be taken back. Don't let Cupid get to you."

Caritas swallowed as her only friend dissolved into the fog. She turned her head back towards the rest of the dissipating group of Sins and Saints. Just who were all these students? And how could any of them be pushing for the apocalypse? In good conscience, that is.

Caritas stared at Pudoris, who wrapped up her chain whip before returning it to her belt. Pudoris kneeled down to the mist where she'd downed Libidine and put her hands in a prayer-like position. Caritas heard her mumbling as she, too, was consumed by the mist. Soon, the rest of the Sins and Saints had gone, and it was just Caritas staring across the way at a grinning Cupid.

"How can you be smiling? Your side lost," Caritas said to him in the rather loud silence.

"That loss was on Lust—she had a little too much of me to control her personal feelings—she got a little too greedy," he replied, shrugging. "Things tend to get messy for those who reveal their opponents' identities—it's an advantage yes, but it also carries its own dangers."

Caritas stared at him intently, confused. He seemed so nonchalant about his own side losing this match. "Aren't you upset?" She asked.

"There's no point—it's over. What's done is done," he said. "And I don't get upset—it's not in my best interest to."

Caritas arched an eyebrow, "You don't ever get upset because getting upset doesn't serve you in any way?"

"Precisely."

Caritas narrowed her eyes at him. "You're very strange."

He grinned again, but this time, it was more out of humor than malice. He chuckled once, "I suppose being a sin would make me a bit strange, just as your being a saint makes you a bit strange as well."

She didn't know Nathan well enough to deduce whether Cupid could be him or not. But if Liv ever had a chance at beating him as Caritas, she had to learn more about him. She knew the first step in truly knowing a person is knowing what is important to them...what their journey in life is.

She had to try to get something more out of him...

"I have to ask..." Caritas walked towards him, knowing that according to his word, he couldn't fight her, and Pudoris' incredible valor giving her a new air of confidence. She was nearly toe-to-toe with him when she asked the question on her mind, "Why are you doing this? If you're a human...why are you serving the horsemen in their endeavor to unleash the apocalypse?"

His sharp eyes softened as he glanced down at her almost lovingly. She didn't flinch as he wove his hand into hers and brought it to his own lips, which, surprisingly, felt warm against her knuckles.

"That's the question of the century now, isn't it?" he whispered, meeting her eyes again, but this time with a hint of pain.

"Well, do you have an answer?" she asked.

"I do. But I'm afraid I cannot say," he said.

"Why is that?"

"It may just weaken your motivation, and I love you best when you are fighting for what you believe in," he said. "So telling you my reasoning...it...wouldn't be in my best interest."