Story:A Prayer for Sin/Chapter 1

When the library had long receded behind a curtain of thunderheads, Sloth thought it safe to break the silence. “I bet you would have been super popular in there, Enbii. You’re just as short as that Vainia lady, you two would hit it off like nothing. Just as angry, too!”

The jest was ostensibly true, but unwise.

“I was only forced to talk to those people because of your miserable history as an emissary, you incompetent loon.” The glare from his companion was somehow more violent than usual. “The way that oily ‘doctor’ looked at me… the way they all looked at me…!”

Her words hissed across the ashen landscape like drops of venom, dissolving into the nascent rain. Sloth gave her a respectable berth and let her lead. He wasn’t sure where they were going, as usual.

“Don’t you uh, like that, though? People fawning over you?”

“What!!? Drivel…” Envy was now so far ahead that Sloth couldn’t see her face. “The robot would have given us away, idiot! One more comment about ‘mineral composition’ or ‘deconstruction’... you better have gotten some good intel while they were gawking!”

Sloth had to run now to keep up with her storming pace. He had never warmed to the concept. ‘’How does she move so fast in those fancy shoes?’’

“Yeah, you distracted ‘em pretty well. Was able to poke around the facility a bit without being noticed. Well, except for a random jar of green stuff I set off.”

The rain had begun in earnest, joining gray earth to gray sky. ‘’Good thing her hair is so flashy, or I wouldn’t be able to see her.’’

Envy’s magenta bob spun around in an irritated pause, allowing him to catch up. “Well? What did you find? Their weaknesses, their flaws? Can we infiltrate them easily? Is this another fool’s errand? Do I have to squeeze the information out of you?” The crushing motion she performed with both hands was extremely convincing.

“Whoa, slow down.” Sloth rubbed the back of his head and attempted to translate what he had seen through veils of smoke into words. “There were a lot more people inside, so I couldn’t poke around that well. There are rooms full of bubbling flasks and stuff…” He frowned. “...But also ones packed with weapons.” One room in particular had featured a stockpile of explosives and several large pieces of artillery. He hadn’t lingered long; the place had sent a chill down his spine. “It didn’t feel right.”

To his surprise, Envy appeared to agree with him. “That ridiculous robot was full of gaudy weaponry, the ‘doctor’ was definitely hiding something under that cloak, and that supposed Queen… well, she was quite sensible. But yes, it appears our loving mother sent us into a building full of deranged scientists who violently outnumbered us.” Her lips, too perfectly pink to be human, curled in an expression of absolute disgust. “This would be sad if it wasn’t so typical.” With a huff and exaggerated about-face, she resumed stomping off away from the Library.

“Look at it this way, sis,” Sloth tried, thankful she had turned her scorn to someone that wasn’t him. “We both got out okay,dug up enough dirt to know that we’re definitely not going back, so mission success, yeah? Now we can hang loose for a while.”

The look on her face was full of what could have been pity. “You do know that we’re going to rendezvous with Greed at the Salt Flats, yes? Hopefully he’s had more success with his lead than we have. Please feel free to tell him and Mother all about our success and ‘hanging loose’.”