Soaring, desolated, is a town thriving on being an economic powerhouse during the gas crisis of the 1980’s. A lone elegant man, wearing a precious suit of silk black lathered in the essence of gold dust scattered around his suit; is seated in the finest restaurant of a roaring town converging towards the future. Around him were others taking advantage of the finery, enjoying their wealth, being the contributors and examples of the future, everyone’s at peace. Sitting in an establishment alone in the meantime, sipping the finest glass of wine, the elegant gentleman seems to be eager to wait for whoever shall take the empty seat in front of him.

He had a smile on his face, letting out a distinct sigh, the well suited man brushes his hair of silk gold with his strong fingers of delicacy. Ah, this will be the day that I propose to my beloved, a woman of the utmost beauty, her treasury that’s her personality, is waiting to be bestowed by this ring I have in my pocket and tie our lives together to spend eternity.

Pulling out the said object out of his pocket to show one’s partner's devotion for unity and love, opening the small box of black, revealed a diamond of purity. Shining brightly into the restaurant's dim lights, he admired it but not because of its admirable view and worth, but it shows his gratitude to the woman he loves the most. Feeling even more bound of the wicked happiness ravaging inside him, a waiter comes up to his table, giving him news he long awaited.

“Sir, your reservation has arrived, and I must say, you are one lucky man.” The waiter then pours more wine into the man's cup, along with the empty one in front of him.

“Thank you my good sir,” said the gentleman, “here, have this.” He handed the waiter a one hundred dollar tip, bringing out meaningful joy out of the hard working waiter.

“Oh my goodness! Thank you my good sir! May you and your lovely guest have a wondrous night, excuse me.” The waiter leaves, and the man’s pours start leaking.

“Oh no… I-I can’t show my nervousness to her, otherwise when I propose it’ll ruin the moment.” Grabbing the cloth next to his plate, he gently dampers his face, erasing any signs of his nervousness.

He reorganises the cloth, making it seem as if he never touched it to hide any membrane of his brief embarrassment. Getting ready, making sure his elegant suit isn’t wrinkled, hairs on point, and more importantly, checking any signs of fear, he’s regained his confidence. Then, heels approached his direction, one belonging to the most beautiful, marvellous woman of the entire town. She had black hair reaching towards the pristine grounds of the restaurant, glistening skin as white as snow, a dress of pure black and red malevolence, and the most profound thing of her personified beauty was her crimson eyes of pure hypnotising rarity.

The defined beauty came around him, sitting gently, arousing his eyes on how she just seated herself. “Why hello there, my love. How are you on this fine evening bestowed upon us.”

The man became immediately hypnotised by her bewitching looks. Never has he seen her this gorgeous before though she’s already the definition of it, but in this instance, she’s become more than that word. Those pours he dried out moments ago to vaporise his nervousness came back to haunt him, and he quickly grabbed the cloth to dry them out. Seeing him react to his sweating brought out a lovely giggle through her luscious glistening lips of red. He replied to her giggle with a chuckle of relief.

The two lovely couples had the night of their young lives, having to eat the finest food, embracing each other's presence by talking of their pasts; when they first met, dates, journeys, and to their devoted present. Their admiration for one another had no bounds. Both shared laughter, staring into each other's eyes, feeling their hearts eager to linger their love to burst out their chests and cling. The two locked eyes, holding hands, sharing their memories by the palms of their hands; the man’s ready to express his full admiration for the most beautiful woman not only in the thriving town they’re in, but the whole world.

Massaging her fragile fingers with his strong ones, he swallows in preparation to give it his all. “My love… This night we shared just now, maybe the most admirable one I’ll print into my mind and will forever store it—until the day I die.”

Replying to his strong emotions, she smiles, holds onto his hands, and kisses them both. “You’re not the only one, my love, my world, and my desire to hopefully make my dream come true, someday.”

The elegant man couldn’t take it, the way she said those words about him, her tone of sexual arousement, he hops out of his seat, gets on a knee, and—

“My love… will you—?”

The entire restaurant saw his actions and became an audience, hearing those loud words of devotion he’s about to lay upon the woman he so dearly loves. He slowly reaches into his pocket, and retrieves the box that’ll wrap their lives together in permanent chains.

He elegantly opened the box, and with the love engraved inside of him came out, him saying to her. “Will you marry me!” The restaurant awes, applauds, stands and roots for the man's proposal of eternal life.

The woman’s eyes glisten, she trickles a gasp out of her glistened lips of red, and reaches for his hand. As her hand reached for the box, the man felt his heart ready to burst out of his chest, to his view, it seemed like she’s accepting his proposal.

His emotions were overjoyed, overflowing in so much happiness that they came out of his eyes, trickling down his face. “My love… Is this?!”

But, all of this temptation of tying the knot and to share one’s eternity and love until death do them part had been tarnished. She had gently closed the box, shutting the entire audience, bringing silence into the establishment, but still engraved on her face was that beautiful smile of hers. The man’s confused, he couldn’t comprehend why she just closed the box, to him it seemed as though she closed his heart, and was preparing to throw it away.

“My love… wh-why did you—?”

Interrupting his pained voice with her relaxed soothing giggle, the woman rose to her feet, patted his head, and said words that tarnished his poor heart, so he could forever embrace this moment into his mind.

Those heart piercing words were. “Oh, sweetums, I’m sorry… but, I refuse.”

In a mind of hatred vengeance coated in the might of God; her words echoed into his chambered mind filled with these emotions of hate and anger. In his blacked out state, it was being interrupted by his name being called by a muffled voice, one in which he recognised all too well.

“Archard…” she said.

He squirms around in his nap, trying to brush off the voice calling out to him in this nightmare he’s experiencing, a moment in which he wishes never occurred.

“Ar-chy…” she said in a louder soothing tone.

Again, he clutches his head, the relaxing voice haunted his dreams, but managed to wrap their essence onto his eardrums.

“Archy…!”

Feeling angry, urging to get out of his slumber, he charges light into his dreams to bring the light of God to erase the tormenting voice of his dreadful past, but they kept calling him out, and finally—

“Archard!” William pokes his partner's face with his cane of pure gold elegance.

Rising up out of his temporary slumber, Archard let out a deep sigh, clutching his head. “Ah! Sir… my apologies, I-I was just taking a nap. I-I didn’t mean to oversleep.”

“Ahh don’t mind that, though you seemed absolutely trivialised in your slumber. For a second I thought you’ve succumbed to the hands of a demon and have revolted against me… Almost gave me the freight there, my dear friend, haha!”

Getting off the couch he slept on, Archard stood up, massaged his pulsed head and embraced the night. “Terribly sorry again, though I would say a demon still seeks to capture my heart, before they have, but never again, sir.”

Troubled by the way his partner's face looked, the tone in his voice sounded to be in pain. William approached his partner, laying a hand on his broad shoulder.

“My dearest friend, you’re still troubled by the past in which I’ve slept through apparently for an entire week?”

Agreeing to his master's words, Archard expressed it with a nod. “Yes… You might have some correlation to the aftermath, but the past that travels behind my shadow still lingers onto my tail to this day.”

“Hmm, I see, but what did happen during that whole week of utter destruction you’ve once described briefly but never touched upon?”

Hearing his master bring up words of the burden past made Archard clench his fists in subtle anger. “In that entire week, the person who almost brought forth the world's end by her eager manipulative Greed, lust, and devotion to achieve this dream of hers, resulted in devastation, heart break, and chaos…”

William’s intrigued, rather he feels left out because the poor sap was apparently asleep during the time of earth's near end. “Really? All of that happened in the span of a week? You’ve got to be joking?! How did I not awake out of my—Oh! That’s right, I remember exercising a certain individual and in doing so took up so much, rather, I used too much for so little to do the job I crashed didn’t I? Heh, but why didn’t anyone bother to awaken a bloke like me during such a crisis, huh?”

Hearing his master make fun of himself briefly wiped away the emotions of anger towards the individual he hates. “We tried sir, but in doing so resulted in one of us being thrashed around by your might, haha.”

“Then how in the bloody—I mean excuse my language, how was I? Able to function by being asleep for a whole week?”

Archard pats his beloved master’s shoulder. “You slept, walked sir, but more importantly it was rather frightening watching you handle yourself while the rest of us almost succumbed to our demise—except for, you know who?.”

William at first felt sorrow from Archard mentioning the individual William knew, but erased it and raised a brow of interest instead. “Really now? I do say, but alas the past is the past. Ahem, so Archard, who’s this being you so desperately hate, huh? You never quite told me, more so gave me hints, cheeky bastard… Oops, I have sinned!”

“Sir, it’s okay to curse every so often so don’t beat yourself around the bush.”

“Okay my dear friend, then finish on what you were saying or do hear me God I shall lay a mighty hand upon your face my friend.”

Archard let out a long breath, furrowing his brows, and said the very words he wished to never say to anyone else but in his dreams. “The engraver and holder of jealousy, bestower of selfish desired greed… The Sin—of Envy.”

William takes the time to bask in his dramatic reveal, but trickles out a chuckle between his lips. “Oh! Her? Don’t you mean Witch—of Envy! Nonsense, a being like her from how you’re describing sounds to be an absolute monster to being dramatically unveiled has me in disappointment.”

Archard blinks, comprehending his master’s reaction to his dramatic reveal. “But sir, you’ve never met her before… you’ve never felt her wretched bewitching loo—”

“Archard, of course I know of her existence, just like every bestower and engraver of Sin, I usually encounter them at some point. It so happens I did meet her, well not Her per say, rather the holder or different side of the engraver of Envy, though temporarily.”

“You have?! When!”

“Right when you showed your strength and damned our precious world with your righteous anger, remember?”

“Oh… yeah, my apologies again for that, but that doesn’t mean you actually met the engraver of Envy and why do you call her Witch of Envy?”

William walks over to what used to be Dr. Cato’s desk now belonged to him, and sits on his big chair of comfort and leather. “I think it sounds better and more dramatic! And I have a feeling I might encounter her actual side sooner than later. For now though, the past is the past my friend. At the moment, let us continue onward into this journey, because this is just the beginning… Of that Sinful boy named Jack Samr and his long awaited—rehabilitation.”