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The world tilts sideways and my phone clatters to the tile. A sharp breath escapes my mouth, but it’s cut short by dizziness and confusion. My vision doubles, shit, even triples. There’s ahigh-pitched ring in my ears as I stumble forward, trying to catch myself, but my knees buckle and I hit the pavement with a loud thud.

I pant, looking around, nauseous from the blow to the head when I see a shadow moving toward me. I shut my eyes and open them, trying to focus them to see clearly, but I can’t… I just know it’s…someone.

No… something.

My lips part to call out, to scream, to say his name,Frank, but the words won’t come. When whatever it is comes up on me, fear grips me and I can’t keep my eyes open a second longer as the last thing I see is the shadow on the floor rushing in.

And then everything goes black.

51

free at last

Frank

“Now pay attention,” Rixia speaks, chalk in one hand, flames curling from her wrist as she writes ancient glyphs in the air. “Because I’m only saying this once, since I doubt any of you will listen even if I said it twice, and I don’t care if you are royalty, feral, or clinically unteachable.”

She turns, sharp-eyed to the seven of us, and we just blink. Her stare tells us she doesn’t give a damn if we are kings, we will listen.She’s the only one who’s had balls enough to look us in the eye without fear…respect.

“Lord Lust, I heard you recently attempted and succeeded in ripping a fissure between realms last week. Congratulations. While the rip was weak, it was a start. I think the next time you come to hell, you should practice more. In fact, try while in the human realm, as well. It’s harder due to the lack of miasma, but in a pinch, it could help,” she suggests. I nod once, shaking myleg, ready to leave.We return today, and I’m ready to fucking go.

“Apparently,” she continues, pacing the scorched floor of the lecture hall. “This is the youngest any of your incarnations have manifested this level of raw power. Which means that, not very shockingly at all, you’re all unstable as hell.

Your bodies are not prepared to bottle in that much energy. Not yet at least. The seals in you have not been broken, an—” Pierce raises his hand, and I roll my eyes because of fucking course he does.

He’s got to be the only one of us who’s enjoying this shit…

“Yes, Lord Pride?”

“What do you mean by the seals, exactly?”

“Why I’m glad you asked.” She waves her hand and conjures a pulsing diagram of a demon body cracking at its seams.

“To put it simply, the past versions of yourselves haven’t fully synchronized with your current forms. Until that happens, you will leak power, destroy environments, and risk total rupture. To prevent that, you need to break the seal and to break the seals, at least based on the information from the alternate version of yourselves, you will all go through a trail based on your sin…” she pauses.

“In the meantime, this is everything we know of the seven kings, and what I would like you all to be mindful of…” She then snaps and sheets of parchment go flying to us, and I read them over.

Lust – Red Chakra (Inverted Root: “The Hunger”)

Corrupted Aspect:Obsession instead of grounding

Powers:Aura of attraction, sensory overload, pheromone control, emotional manipulation through touch

Weakness:Disconnected from stability, constantly chasing new highs or intimacy, never satisfied

Visual Cue:Eyes flare when triggered, aroused or enraged. Air around them pulses like a heartbeat

Wrath – Orange Chakra (Inverted Sacral: “The Flame”)

Corrupted Aspect:Rage instead of passion

Powers:Kinetic explosions, combustive touch, emotional contagion (can infect others with rage)

Weakness:Volatility: power surges with emotion, hard to contain

Visual Cue:Orange smoke trailing from fists, red glow from skin

Greed – Yellow Chakra (Inverted Solar Plexus: “The Hollow”)