《Duality Dissonance》Chapter 3.3 Distractions

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They continue down the street as Pride descends and lands among them at an intersection. Pride starts talking to the group but Gluttony becomes distracted as he focuses on the ground. He is used to seeing cavities and various empty spaces around them as they travel but he isn’t comfortable finding one under their feet. “Ugh, guys,” he interjects. The others stop talking and look over to see the concerned expression on his face. “I’m not sure what this is but there’s an enormous chasm underneath us.”

“Probably just an old sewer system,” Pride says.

“No,” Gluttony replies, shaking his head. “I’ve seen those drains along the way. This is something way—way different.” He points at the intersecting street that they just arrived at. “It runs along this street. It’s too deep for me to see the bottom and I can’t see either end.”

Pride looks in each direction. “Well, back to your left is some kind of spring and back that other way—that just dead-ends at a river. I don’t think an underground chasm is going to be relevant. Let’s head down and see what’s going on with this spring. I didn’t see the Yoi but it’s bound to be there somewhere.”

The party follows Pride and soon arrives at a large opening among the commercial buildings. Gluttony continued to be unnerved as they walk the length of the open space below them. He bumps into the back of Greed as the rest of them stop. “Oh, sorry,” he manages, before walking over to a nearby sidewalk.

“Are you alright,” EV asks him.

“O-of course,” he says, forcing a smile. “One of you smells bad, is all. So I needed to get to some fresh air.” He turns his head away but still notices EV looking over at him. It’s always difficult having wings and also a fear of heights. He tries to focus on the opening ahead of them now that he is no longer standing over the chasm.

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The space ahead of them is a spring of sorts. There is undoubtedly water feeding into it some place but it is flowing in a closed loop. There is some sort of protrusion out towards its center and the water passes around it.

“What is this,” Greed asks.

“I honestly don’t know,” Pride says. “All the springs I’ve encountered, all flow away from the Yoi. I’ve never heard of one flowing in a circle like this.”

“Maybe it’s grown into a nearby building and the spring only surfaces out here?”

“We’ll just have to search the area. If we try to guess it into existence, we’ll be out here all night.”

“The chasm extends under the water,” Gluttony interjects. The others look over to him and he just nods. “For as far out as I can see, there’s just nothing under the water.”

“You think it could be below the spring somewhere,” Greed asks.

“We’re still just guessing,” Pride says. “I’m not here to speculate. I’m here to kill the Yoi. Let’s just get in there and figure it out from there.” Pride turns back to the group to meet everyone’s gaze. “This is something new so we can’t know what we’ll find out there. That platform in the center is obviously not large enough to hold everyone. If you can’t make it out there, just wait here. Take cover in a nearby building if you encounter any trouble, though I doubt it will come to that. Remember, don’t worry about fighting the guardian. Just flee if you get it’s attention.”

Pride ascends into the air with Greed and Lust following right after. EV begins to jog after them but Gluttony steps forward and takes hold of his wing. Gluttony hangs his head as EV turns back to see what is the matter. “Please, don’t leave me,” Gluttony asks, earnestly. EV turns to look back out across the water, the currents churning as they pass around the enclosed waterway. He sees the other three land out towards the center and nods before turning back to Gluttony.

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“What seems to be the problem,” Sloth asks.

“He can’t fly,” EV responds.

“Oh—well that sucks. What about swimming?”

Gluttony points something of a glare at Sloth. “Yes, I can swim but -that’s- not swimmable.” Gluttony gestures back at the rapids passing next to them. Sloth looks over and seems to consider giving it a try. He then looks along the surface as white capping waves break as they collide with single rock protrusions along the waterway.

Sloth nods sagely. “Good call.” Sloth looks out to see the other three at the center and looking back at them. “Hey!” He waves a single arm over his head as if to get their attention. He then points his thumb down to himself, gestures to the ground, and then points at EV and Gluttony.

“What are you doing,” EV finally asks.

“I’m just letting them know that I’m staying here and that I’ll keep an eye on you two.”

“I seriously doubt they got that from you waving your arms like a crazy person. I’m also sure they would feel better about -us- watching -you-.”

“Why aren’t you going with them,” Gluttony asks.

“What? And let you two do all the slacking? Ha! Not on my watch.”

Gluttony smiles then. “Thank you,” he says, bowing his head.

Sloth waves his hand. “Eh, let’s just have a look around. Maybe they’ll keep that monster away from us.”

“Oooh,” EV says. “You’re ju—

“Hey— is that a sporting goods?” Sloth starts to cross the street before EV can continue. “I always wanted to see one of those.”

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