The stranger continued watching the conflict, while EV and Gluttony hastily moved further away from the bull that seemed to be mentally cycling through what target to charge at first. The figure is shorter than Greed but his entire physique is made up of a dense muscle mass similar to Greed’s arms. He has shaggy brown hair and similar coloring in his feathers. Each of his wings are twice as large as his body and they are pulled back, seeming something like the aggressive arching of a cat’s back, a warning to stay away. His chest is a encased by a hardened leather top that is lined with fur atop the shoulders and across the collar. He is standing sideways, with a weapon drawn back. The weapon has a long staff, adorned with the head of a hammer—a great maul, that also has an accent on the backside of the hammerhead. A long slender blade arcs away, sticking into the air as the striking side of the hammer is facing the ground. From the side, the vicious weapon has a silhouette of something like a claw hammer.

EV’s not sure what to focus on. Both sides of the stranger’s weapon are terrifying but he is also bewildered by the way Greed is behaving. Pride and Greed finally resolve their conflict and climb back to their feet. Pride turns back to the stranger who seems to be struggling to comprehend what is going on.

“We don’t mean you any harm,” Pride says, approaching the stranger. “We rescued you fro—” The stranger takes an aggressive step towards Pride, who backs up and exposes his empty palms. “Easy, we’re just trying to help.”

Wrath is forcefully exhaling through his nose and EV gets the sense that he is literally about to charge like a bull. EV can see that Pride is still trying to show dominance and it’s not aligning with his words. “He’s right,” EV says, stepping forward with reluctance. His shoulders are droop and he opens his palms to show they are empty. Pride cuts his eyes over to EV but doesn’t say anything. “We’re only trying to help.” The stranger’s expression softens and the exhales don’t come out so forcefully. “We found you trapped. And we pulled you out. From there,” he points past the stranger who glances back to see the crater. The stranger’s eyes continue to scan at various things around the area as EV takes slow steps towards him. “How did you get down there?”

“See if you can get a name out of him,” Pride calls out.

EV nods. “Can you tell us your name?” The stranger looks to the side and seems to search for something. He finally jerks, looking back over his shoulder as if just startled. EV jumps with him and waits to see what is happening. The stranger finally looks back to him and shakes his head. “Can I look at your weapon?” He points back to the great maul. “I’m going to take out my knife so I can show you. Don’t be afraid. I’m just showing you, ok?” EV’s bracers pulse and his dagger forms in the flat of his hand. He turns it to show the side of the blade.

“Envy,” the stranger asks.

“That’s right,” EV says with a smile. “But I go by EV now. Will you let me take a look at yours?”

The stranger looks back at his own weapon, then back to EV. “Go ahead but lose the blade first.”

“Yeah, you got it.” EV lays his dagger on the asphalt and the stranger nods. The hammerhead lowers to the ground and the stranger continues to look at the others as EV hunches over to inspect the weapon.

EV doesn’t see a name, which is bothering, but the scarring on the weapon is even more troubling. The hammer and blade have a seam where they come together. The seam is inconsistent, spattered and even cracked in some places. On both sides of the seam is something that looks like it could be wording but it’s almost like writing on an old chalkboard that has been erased. It only hints that something might have been written there in the past.

Envy needs to be careful with Wrath, says the voice. If Wrath decides to attack, you will certainly die and that won’t be good for this one.

EV tenses as the voice speaks and Wrath becomes defensive once again. “What’s wrong,” Wrath asks.

“It’s nothing. I just got bothered by how banged up your weapon is. —Does Wrath sound like your name?” Wrath looks away again and seems to consider.

“I don’t know,” Wrath replies.

“What can you remember?”

“Laughing,” Wrath says, as he seems to consider. “No, more like a giggling—a girl was giggling—before.”

EV looks over to Pride and Greed. “Did any of you a girl down there?”

Pride shake his head and crosses his arms. “No. There was no one else down there. It was just him and the Yoi.”

“Maybe she would know him,” EV says, seeming to consider. Do you know what girl he’s talking about?

This one doesn’t know who Wrath is talking about. This one knows of no girl in this world.

EV finally shakes his head. “I doubt we would be able to track her down. You should come with us. Maybe you’ll remember more and we can help make sure you stay safe.”

“Hey,” Sloth calls out from down the street. He waves his hand over his head as if the others might have trouble seeing him walking down the middle of the empty street in the day time. “We found a place back this way.”

“It’s ok,” EV says as Wrath squints towards Sloth. “He’s with us. We’re about to head indoors because it will be getting dark soon.”

“Is there something wrong with being outside?”

“You— you don’t know dark phases?”

The stranger shakes his head. “Is that supposed to be important?”

“Yeah, believe me, you don’t want to be outside at night. Let’s just get indoors for now and I can catch you up on whatever you don’t know.” Wrath nods and the party sets out to follow Sloth’s direction. Wrath is the last to start following and EV periodically looks back to make sure he is still following. As Wrath sees everything for the first time, EV smiles warmly, remembering what that was like.

Wrath follows them to a hotel that had only been a few blocks away. Pride tells everyone to not go far and for EV to make sure he stays away from any of the exits. “We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time do we,” he asks, to which EV immediately shakes his head. Pride, Greed, Sloth and Lust take up positions around the lobby while the other three set off in various directions to explore.

Wrath ventures out opposite of the lobby, climbing a staircase that leads to an overhead balcony of the second floor. He follows the corridor, passing several conference rooms until the space opens into another lobby with a bar. The area is quite, dark, and most importantly, far away from everything else. He makes his way through the bar seating where stools tumble away and cocktail tables screech across tile flooring as his over-sized wings brush against the things. He spares a disinterested glance towards the noise but continues walking to the far side.

He turns and presses his back against the wall, then slides into a seated position on the floor. His knees are brought into his chest and he rests his elbows on top of them as he his wings wrap around to conceal him. He lets the pendant slip out of his grasp, allowing it to dangle in front of his face. He pushes his energy into it and it begins to glow. The glow is maintained within the enclosing wings and gives the impression of holding up a chem-light to fend off the darkness in a cave. He looks beyond the pendant and sees the subtle shifting of the feathers that make up the cave walls. The cave gives him a sense of something familiar and his eyes pass along the walls, expecting to see something but not sure what.

A girl’s giggling comes from somewhere in the cave but he isn’t alarmed, instead feeling more at ease. The giggles feel as though they should be there, his previous unease coming from their absence, instead of their presence. The location of the sound seems to vary but he doesn’t search for it, finally settling into the place where he was already sitting. It’s a calming sound and he allows it to wash over him as he continues looking at the pendant. Her voice starts to speak to him as he gazes at it and then her hand slides around from the backside of his arm. It wraps around his arm in a hug. “Come back to me,” she says softly, into his arm. He looks over to see the top of her head and closes his eyes, finally feeling all of the angst drain out of him. The two fall asleep in the cave and the chem-light eventually dies, returning them to darkness.