All over the world, in small villages, big communities the sins and the virtues battled, self-control absent as they searched for the superior kind.

Gluttony struck only to be opposed by the powers of Abstinence, Lust, and Chastity trying their best to influence each other.

And the quietest of all the sins Envy spread his powers, his opponent too hesitant in opposing him. Kindness was torn, while he wanted to help the humans he had no intention of hurting Damien.

But the immoral thoughts of the sins were far more serious for him to not stand against them. Kindness wanted to help but the situation presenting was grave.

He had known how protective the sins were of each other. Though considered family even the virtues were not allowed to infiltrate their unique bonds of kinship.

And now, since Pride was insulted and Kieren spouted words he, himself did not really mean, their family had divided, the sins hell-bent on battling with them.

Shaking his head in sorrow he spread his powers, hoping to be of any help, not knowing it was just the beginning of everything.

~>~

Finally, the virtues of Diligence and Patience were in an even worse situation. Because the younger of the twin sins of Sloth had gone berserk. Her energy and power, vindictive, and malevolent, unlike anything they'd ever seen before.

And her brother Aaro stood beside her loyally. Aaro did not want to fight any battle or think of anything so energy-consuming for the matter, but Lilith seemed to be affected by something.

The silver-haired girl, although standing next to seemed to be worlds away, her eyes shining a vibrant orange before fading into a very light blue.

The Sin of Sloth taking control.

Unintentionally Aaro too joined together with her, their unity of power surpassing the influence of any other, almost making the powerful Diligence feel lagged and murky.

Sloth, did not act or like to act, but once provoked would be the evilest of all, for the diminishment of the world would be imminent if all beings slumbered and slugged all day long.

With all of the thirteen extreme powers of Earth erupting the mortal beings residing were eternally affected. And perhaps the earth itself would start decaying as the influence of the sins and the virtues try to tear it apart.

But balance would not stand to such a thing. The moment the world had been created it had gained its own, not even the beings of higher realms could influence it.

And the Apocalypse, being the guardian of balance would always strive to keep order. And if things escalate beyond saving the world she guarded so would be obliterated, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse devouring everything away in a fit of Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.

It was the oldest of the Prophecies, the three goddesses of Fate playing witness.

Hence suddenly an unknown source of energy encased the entirety of the mortal world. The powers of the seven sins were stifled within its grasp and the virtues stopping in their tracks as they felt the might of the strength surrounding them.

"It is her," Kieren whispered, remembering the parchments of information he'd read regarding the Apocalypse and her four horsemen.

One by one the seven of the six sins fell down unconscious and the virtues could feel their powers being blocked, feeling as if they too were mere mortals.

"The Seven Virtues and the Six Sins, breaking the balance will bring upon judgment even upon you. This first crime, for the sake of ignorance, consider yourselves forgiven, but another act of such evil will drown you upon far worse violent turbulence." The voice with the might of her powers spread, fading away into the distance leaving behind a deathly silenced earth.

The aftereffect of her presence was insignificant to the mortals, who all had only felt the uncomfortable energy around them. But to the sins and the virtues, it was staggering.

The knowledge that a being far powerful was watching them and that not even the gods would interfere made them fearful.

The virtues and the sins drew back from their disagreements, but the broken bonds were not mended back, for once the true thoughts were revealed it was rather uncomfortable.

And while the virtues wished for reconcilement the sins had no such thoughts, their little interlude showed that when push came to show, unless it was absolutely necessary, the virtues had no hold over the powers of the sins.

The aftermath of their battles was stark evidence.

For humankind, it had been only a hundred years since they've been created and their thought processes were very much simple. All they knew was to survive.

Eat, reproduce, and sleep. And as the years passed, they being intelligent species gained the knowledge of shelter and family. Yet still, these were rather vague notions.

But due to the sudden eruption of the six sins, the humans had changed.

From young to the adult, now their thoughts did not just consist of their fundamental needs, no they've been enveloped by the evil of the sins.

Pride, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, and Sloth. The humans were no longer content.

The effects of the battles lasted for years, slowly humans started fighting for territory, salivating for more, lusting for what is not theirs.

Pride became an embedded quality, arrogance making the humans think them the superior of all mortal species. The majority started envying and vying for what others had. They started to year more than what they needed, greed spread to their cores.

Carnal desires wakening in them. Both consensual and non-consensual coitus taking place, men turning into barbarians as they preyed upon women searching for ways to calm down the hot desires running through them.

Women responded enthusiastically, chastity and virtue were thrown to a side as they indulged in carnal activities.

The influence of sins on humans, with the changes happening to their natures as they evolved, the high emotions drove them to take part in the vilest of crimes.

Stealing due to greed and envy, harming due to envy, coveting what others had, leaders being born, and slaughter taking place for the smallest of offenses.

Both men and women acting in the name of Pride.

And finally Sloth. The earlier diligent species now having fits of laziness. The allure of sleep, neglect of duties, and the devastation of lives.

But the anger that seemed to stem through everyone was the most surprising of all, the agent that fuelled humans towards every other sin. Whit hot anger, patience for everything had dwindled, instead, they lashed out at things they did not prefer or like.

Corruption ran deep, forming the early evolvement of humans. It was both a blessing and a curse. For the species had learned, manipulation, competition, and a craving for something more.

This made them strive harder and improve but also made the morals blur, invoking a large number of crimes.

Virtues of humans still existed but the allure it gave was far from what sins provided.

And this just strived to increase the powers of sins. As years, centuries, millenniums passed, the power they gained did not reduce, instead, it increased vastly.

The more evolved humanity was, the more blurred their morals became.

'Darkness was a delicious allure, to even the lightest of creatures, the draw to feel the danger never-ending...'

~~>~~>~~>~~

From then on the two groups walked different paths. The seven virtues finally settling down in one place once the academy of Teras was introduced, some millenniums later.

And the seven of the sins became more mysterious and more brazen. Their qualms for limits drying thin, their world-changing till the innocent children they were at the beginning were nowhere to be found.

Centuries after the battle with the virtues the sins once again walked upon the place they fought. The mountains had not changed and the field of flowers still preserving, new life taking from day after day.

Once again as Lilith walked amongst the flowers of the vast field. The beauty of it still retaining despite how ugly the world had become. But as Lilith's eyes swept past them, she did not feel moved even a little.

The sweet fragrance they emitted, the colorful picture they portrayed or the butterflies that danced around, nothing held any interest to her anymore.

Not when she knew how ugly and grotesque the world could. Her being one of the influencers.

When she, herself was a symbol of evil, eventually the hope for beauty gets lost in the entirety of time.

Nature still remained fresh but she knew it would not last long. For like every other living thing, it would too get corrupt, so adoring it would leave nothing but sorrow for what it was once behind.

So was immortal life, a blessing, and a curse, an eternal lonely life just like their very existence.

~~>~~>~~>~~

Present Time.

As the memories flashed past her mind Lilith let out a soft empty smile, her lips clasping around the edge of the glass as she consumed the red wine within.

It did not matter what steps the virtues took, the end result would always be partial to the sins.

Sins of the world were vast, and the gods had no power over them.

They would do as they wished, getting kicked out of the academy was out of the question too, for they were the ones to propose it. Now stepping back would be disgraceful and the mighty beings of heavens were all about grace and reputation.

Everything worked beneficial to them. And besides, the torment would end soon enough, it was no fun having muddle-headed humans around. This was only punishment after all. Setting the glass down Lilith excused herself, too lazy to think anymore.

Her steps echoed on the marble floor as she walked to her room, all the while her heart aching for something unknown. For what, she was yet to know, but it hurt all the same. Hence the intense desire for slumber all day long.

Sloth having nothing to do with it.

~~>~~

In the end The goddess of Light, Electra had not answered their call. As if she was occupied with something important.

Dejected by the negative results the seven virtues stopped for the moment, all the while worrying for the future of the academy.

Even though they regularly spread their powers relieving the stress on the mortals somewhat they were still discontent.

"The seven has changed greatly." Kieren then muttered out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" Nero questioned looking at him curiously.

"Why do you think we are so flustered? If t had been earlier they would have been hotblooded and attacked in one go, bringing down calamitic chaos like the last time. But now they are very calm and much more secretive. Everything they do is a calculation. Do you not think it unbelievable that they just settled for slow indulgence after the insult academy presented them?" The words came out carefree, but the rest of them could hear the dread hidden inside his voice.

"They've learned to lie low and nobody knows to what extent their powers had grown," Celene explained her expression grave, suddenly realizing the sins were not doing anything at all.

It was all so strange.

"I'm sure they have already anticipated what we would do next and their lack of action means, even if we call upon the gods they would not care. They are not the same ones we know. The times have changed." Ellyseta sighed a hint of melancholy in her gaze.

"Now all we have to do is wait," Nero muttered shaking his head.

Complaining was of no use, the past could not be changed. It was only the present and the future that mattered.

And as they expected after a few more weeks of extreme behavior everyone started to recover slowly. The evil in the dissipating slowly. The original calm of the academy was restored and the sins, like in the beginning idled around, doing nothing much.

As days passed even the hostility from the students reduced as they realized, if the sins really wanted to do anything then there was really nothing mortal them could do.

But the momentary peace seemed like the calm before the storm. And it was about to erupt, the deadly sins at the center of it all.

'Conspiracies and Scheming, as common as the breathing air.'