The Seven Deadly Sins: Also known as the capital vices, the seven traits of Man, or cardinal sins. Mainly they are - Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth. Contrary to the seven heavenly virtues (see page 13), these sins are often thought to be excessive versions of Mans passions.

- Page 12 of Royal Archives. On Humans.

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- Gabriella -

Wow. Did I just make a proper conversation with a person? Maybe making friends isn't that hard.

I'm still reeling from the encounter with Res as I wandered around campus grounds. This place is seriously humonguous. Technically, my lessons won't start until tomorrow, so I have the entire day to get acquainted with the university campus. I hummed a random tune as I made my way towards the general direction of the middle of the campus grounds. Or I think that's the direction I'm going. I'm actually kinda lost.

The area I'm in has lots of cafes and eateries with students walking along corridors laughing and talking. They all look smart with books and notes in their arms. I took a turn to the left to avoid the crowded pathway and found myself in a narrow aisle that led to a bridge. It's quieter here and empty.

The bridge is covered with transparent glasses at the sides. There's a small illuminated LED screen at the end that pointed straight at the path ahead. "The Garden of Sins." I read.

I peered out the corridor and saw a narrow pathway surrounded by grass. I can't help it but my curiosity is piqued whenever I set my eyes on meadows, fields, water-bodies or Nature. I typed the words into my phone and hit search. "Named after the seven deadly sins, the central park in this prestigious University is called the Garden of Sins. It was built right after relocation and now stands to be as old as the university. A place where lessons are conducted, students hang out and secret meetings are held." My brows shot up.

"As one of the largest agricultural projects the government has invested in, PM Ytger and his entourage of ministers spent millions to develop tech bots that built cafes, study areas, and a library. All from an existing forest. Open to only a selected handful: exclusively for the students, professors and extending to governmental officials or important guests." Oh so the secretive part huh.

Intrigued, I made my way forward. What's so special about this park? Underground illegal gatherings? Very funny. Shaking my head at the lame joke I just made. The smell of fallen leaves and something earthly, electrified my olfactory neurons. I sighed. Now this is a welcomed smell.

The familiar pounding behind my head when I spent too long without being close to my little green companions disappeared. The lap of tiredness lifted from my shoulders. The effect this place has on me is stronger than the plants I kept at home, which means it is a place I will come to often. I stifled a smile as I recalled the names I've given to the ten plants I have at home.

The lack of friends did not for once dampen my imagination, nor did it deter my creativity. Some of the names go like The Small Morrigan, Tiny Asura, et cetera, you roughly know the theme. I named them thinking about how they slayed my bouts of fatigue in mind. A cooling breeze blew past and I closed my eyes, leaning into it to cool my sweat. Mm this is my favourite place already.

As the coolness of evaporation lingered on my skin, a strange sensation of someone watching settled over me. Without warning, pinpricks of sensation landed on my face and the feel of phantom fingers caressed my cheeks. "Finallyyy my child, welcome back..." A melodic voice said softly beside my ear.

I snapped my eyes wide open and looked around wildly. "Who's that?" I called. "That wasn't the least bit funny."

"That's the lamest prank alright. You heard me. So come out and face me you coward!" I stared at the empty pathway convinced that the person was hiding behind the bushes. I walked towards it and poked my head behind, it was empty. There was no one here except me. Okay weird.

Resuming my walk, I noticed that the pathway led me into a large open space and that's when I noticed where all the students went. The park wasn't empty, just that I hadn't reached the park, its central body.

Reading it on google and seeing it is very much different.

The Garden of Sins has five cafes that sit in transparent glass domes, each offering a perfect view of the greenery. The trees around the park offer an illusion of privacy. There are even fountains with sprouting water. Victorian benches littered the walkways almost filled with students sitting and chatting. Through the transparent glass domes, I can see students reading, eating or napping on tables. Transparency and glass; an open window baring Man's sins?

I studied the students wondering if somehow one of them had played the prank on me. Two girls in front of me are deep in their conversation as they walked along the pathway. A guy is sitting under a tree several meters away, reading a book. Maybe it wasn't a prank but a figment of my imagination.

The mention of a library through snippets of conversation caught my attention. Yep, exactly there's a library somewhere in this labyrinth of evergreen. This reminds me a little of mum's painting. Wait, was it inspired by her?

My ringtone started ringing and I answered it. Speaking of the devil.

"How's school?" Rebecca's familiar voice asked me. "Hey, mom, you didn't tell me they tried to re-create your paintings in reality!" I lowered my voice as I looked around. Thankfully, there isn't anyone here to witness my outburst.

"Oh, that. Haha, maybe my painting was inspirational?" I can smell the lie in that. "Stop denying it. I bet that painting must have won at a prestigious art gallery or something. Possibly the Artisan's Grande even." I said making a wild guess. The silence over the phone line meant I hit a score.

"Wait, hold on. You WON the Artisan's Grande Competition? When? Why didn't you tell me?" (Thing is I didn't know that artwork was a replica of something she won in the competition, I just assumed it was one of her art projects.)

I can imagine my mom wincing over the phone.

"That's a long story, I'll tell you another day. Have you made any friends?" It's obvious she is trying to change the topic but I let it pass. I followed the signboards to the library as I answered. "Not really. But..." I paused thinking about what happened in the morning.

"But?" She prompted. "That means you've talked to someone at least. So who was it?"

"Just some guy. He was just helping me with a... machine. That's all. If you're counting the people I've talked with then make it two. I had a conversation that lasted 1 minute with a girl." I said, rolling my eyes. I know I didn't have many friends but to sink down to this? Am I that bad?

"I knew you could do it! See it wasn't that difficult right hun? Tell me more about the guy. How does he look?"

"Aha nice try, it was just a conversation and nothing. I think what you should be telling me more about is the new CEO. You should get a boyfriend if you don't want to marry!" I countered. Rebecca started giving excuses about how her CEO is a busy man with a schedule and other stuff. "Yeah right. I'm sure you got to see his face at least once. Anyways I'm heading to the library to take a look, talk to you later?" I said.

"Oh have fun Briel. I've got another meeting to go for now. Bye sweetheart." She said before hanging up. I halted in my tracks when the trail of arrows vanished. There right in front, carved out of glass and stone, the color of night sky, the library looms over me.

If I think that the most renowned park in Soren is grand, the Main Library of the University is magnificent. Gothic-style architecture, with large cavernous spaces and ebony gold-plated awnings. They truly know how to spend it big. Now, which is the sin? The library or the park? A small part of me wondered in amusement.

The familiar faint smell of books and comfortable silence fills the place as I walked through one of the beautiful awnings. What took my breath away was the rows and rows and rows of books filling the space from top to bottom. Oh Stars. This is heaven.

Books are my escape from reality, they open me to a new world of knowledge and adventure. Unable to resist the temptation of reading something, I trailed my fingers across the row of spines nearest to me. Joy blooms at the sensation of whispered promises and titles on my fingers.

That's when everything happened.

One second I was still standing in front of the bookshelves, my fingers on a book that had caught my eye. The next, my vision muted and the world tilted. Everything around me became silent. Even the faint rustling of pages from the tables nearby disappeared.

I looked down and noted with a sense of detachment that I'm still standing upright. But I can't seem to feel anything or hear anything. I turned my head towards the large window that is ahead of me, a few feet away. Where bright sunlight streamed into the library. All I could see now was a hazy light emanating from a dark blurred outline. I tried blinking rapidly in an attempt to get my vision back.

What's happening. Am I going blind? I panicked. Fear gripped me, hard and fast.

Then suddenly, all my senses are flooded with a cacophony of sensations. The shaft of sunlight from the window blinded my eyes. Too bright. I squinted and turned my head away only to see pockets of dust particles swirling and dancing in mid-air, like a game of tango. Wait a minute, something isn't quite right.

I focused on the leaves hanging from the awning and I could see rich green veins as clear as day, like a super zoomed image. I can see them branching into smaller and smaller branches as I slowly moved my eyes to the edge of the leaf. What the hell.

The smell of pine woods, earth and rain slammed my nose. I did a double-take.

"Tap tap taptap." Someone is tapping on something. Annoyed, I glared towards the incosiderate person because it was quite loud. My eyes travelled all the way towards the long tables where several students are reading and saw at a far corner, a guy is typing furiously away on his mobile phone. My jaw dropped. Wait... how's that even possible? I looked around. No maybe I heard wrongly. The tapping comes again and my eyes automatically locate its source as my irritation unfurls... and it was the same guy on his text message.

I backed against the bookshelf behind me, breathing in and out slowly. This is not happening. It's just a weird dream and you will wake up. Everything will be fine. I have no idea where my confidence came from.

It took me ten minutes to get out of the Garden of Sins. I'm walking around the school dazedly. Everything was back to normal. No more weird noises that come from 10 meters away, no more super-zoomed images and no weird sightings of blue skins. The bizarreness keeps replaying in my mind again and again.

What the hell was that?