Absent Aspirations

The hideout was more silent than usual. The Sins were used to hearing the constant banter that occurred between Pride and Envy. But the Sin of Envy existed no more.

Vidia was dead.

Venus on the other hand had been sitting in his room all week, alone and unheard. It'd been like this since he'd finally awoken from his delusion in Deception, just a week after the Metatron Tournament had ended. The pure trauma that'd developed in his mental purgatory had broken him to a point beyond repair.

Hearing about Midas' fate didn't help either.

"Midas never made it to the final circle…" Gian-Luca sighed. "It was only us four remaining. Everyone else had died off…"

Upon hearing this at the time, Venus could only respond with a jaw that dropped and eyes that grew wide. Maybe he'd had his heated moments with the guy every now and then, but Midas was more than a rival to him.

Venus saw him as a friend.

"Midas is dead…?" He felt his heart ache unexpectedly. Even during the time Venus was possessed by his separate pride-embodying persona, he looked up to the Sin of Greed, without much acknowledgement of course. Even with the horrendous fog of pride in his way, Venus somehow saw Midas with clear vision.

"I need your strength to help me out, because without it I don't think I've got a chance here." Midas' words echoed in a memory of a moment they had together.

"You need my help…?"

"Of course I need your help. You're Venus! The strongest subject in this entire facility! Now throw away that pitiable attitude and come back to your prideful senses! If that's what's gonna help us win, then I want it."

Venus saw the connection manifest between them in that moment. Even if Venus wasn't in his own right mind, even if he was drunk on the pride he'd used so excessively to cover his guilt, none of it was enough to halt the feeling of appreciation he'd felt for Midas in that moment. To him, it felt like Midas could see the real Venus inside of him, through all the hardened layers of pride that surrounded his heart.

"Midas is gone…" Veronica whimpered silently. The words brought Venus back to reality, away from the rejuvenating memories. It grounded him in place so aggressively that he couldn't even move. The moment overloaded him with rejection. He couldn't bear the thought of Midas, the Sin of Greed, and the essential glue that held all the Sins together, to be gone without a trace left in this cruel world.

"NO—!!!" Venus bursted with emotion. His ability suddenly went haywire, and the all the air molecules in the room produced a heavy gust that would violently blow the rest of the Sins out of his room.

"—Agh!!"

"Ouh—!!!"

"Ahh!!!"

Gian-Luca, Ian, and Veronica were all sent flying out into the hall, followed by an aggressive door slam by Venus from behind. That was the last time they'd seen him, and it'd been a week since then.

"You think he's okay?" Veronica asked.

"He should be. I saw a case of water and a few boxes of snacks in his room before he kicked us out. He should be surviving just fine," Gian-Luca replied.

"Still," Ian spoke in. "Can't help but be bothered by how unfamiliar he acted. That isn't the Venus I know."

The other two sighed in agreement. "Well, this may not be the Venus we know, but this is the real Venus we never knew. I guess knowing your irregularity could change you quite a bit… I'll accept him for who he is."

Gian-Luca agreed with Veronica. "I accept him too. Even if he isn't who he was before, he's still a Sin just like us."

"But is he really?" Ian's response was unexpected. "The Sin of Pride is the ruthless egoistic maniac who overthrew his power capabilities just to show off how much stronger he was than everyone else."

"That was Venus' facade, Ian. Don't you understand what went on in his mind internally for a personality like that to develop? Didn't you listen to the story he presented us? He was traumatized. That wasn't the real him."

"But does it excuse all the lives he's already taken?"

Veronica fell silent, so Ian continued. "That's besides the point. All I'm trying to say is that without that peculiar personality of his, his power must lack tremendously. I mean think about it, if he's traumatized about remembering the first murder he'd ever committed, how's he going to continue taking the lives necessary to redeem the goal of the Sins?"

Gian-Luca gave him a look of distaste. "Are you seriously still thinking about that? The 'goal' of the Sins? What goal is left if we've already lost two of our own kind!?!" He slammed his hand against the wall. It was the first time the two had ever seen Gian-Luca in such an agitated state. "Midas was our leader, but he was also the driving fuel to our team. Our morale rested on his shoulders, and that's because he gave us purpose. Without him, what goal is there left to achieve?"

"The goal to overtake this nation. Wasn't that the original plan—?"

"In a society that's turned to this?!!" Gian-Luca shot back. "Midas wanted us to overtake a nation that looked down on us for our differences. That was because we were irregularities. Look at what's become of the people now, EVERYONE is an irregularity. We are no longer outcasts of society. What is there to fight for anymore if we can now blend in with the rest? What is the point anymore? It would all be useless bloodshed!"

For a moment, Ian felt himself agree. He was about to respond with an accepting nod before his eyesight's color was abruptly washed with a greyscale tone.

The world froze before his eyes.

"˙ʎɹɐssǝɔǝu sᴉ pǝɥspoolq ǝɥ┴"

It was that voice again. The frightening, enigmatic slur of unintelligible words that whispered in and out of his ears.

"˙ǝlɐɔs ǝɥʇ uo noʎ ʍolǝq llɐɟ ʇɐɥʇ ǝsoɥʇ ɹǝʌo ǝɔuɐuᴉɯop ʇɹǝssɐ oʇ sᴉ ɹǝʍoԀ ˙ʇoɹ oʇ plǝɥɥʇᴉʍ ǝq ʇou plnoɥs ʇɐɥʇ ʇuǝlɐʇ ǝnbᴉun ɐ ǝʌɐɥ no⅄"

The walls and the ceiling above began to leak an obscure blood red.

"˙ʎɐs I sɐ op llᴉʍ noʎ 'plᴉɥɔ ʎɯ s∀"

The hair's on the back of Ian's neck stood up with fear.

"̶̨̧͍̙̰̠̲̠̯̭̦̖̗͈̞̼̬̖̩̬̟̠̼͘˙̵̛̙̼̙͓̬̝̃∀̴̡̢̢̧͙̬͙̝͔̺̻̳̯͍̪͕̲̖͙͓̪̫̩̹̹̗̮͍̿̈́͋̐̊́̄͋͆͑͋͂͌̑̔̀̎́͛̾̐̉͑́͌̈͘̕͘̚͜͝N̶̼͉͇̳͈̣̲̣͓̪̳̙͔̞̒̆̈́̓͗̕͜͝͝͠O̶̧̨̦̼͈͇͈͔̯̰̮̜̯͇̖̱̪̼̮̜̫̙̘̮͕̲̺̍͛̑̇̀̍̉̈̉̓̾́̇̔́͑̔̃̊̀̒̕̕̕̕͘͝͝W̷̪̾͑̽́́̈͑̇̂̆̊̒̍́̏͗̕ ̶̧̡̭͖͙͍̰̳͖̫̣̘̪̬͕̳̟̦̭̭̞̼̼͍̗̣̰͉̩̼̗̺̼̤̰̣͉͇͖͔͖̹͎͍̯̉̂͌̾͊̀̒̊̚͜͜ͅͅ⅄̵̢̨̢̧̡̨̛̥͉̣̻̪͍͙̤̠̟̻͇̰͔̗̳̼̻̲̗͚̝̦͇̩̰̟̣̲̤̯̉̽̉͆̔͌̇͆̀̽́̀̉̅̋̈́̈́̌̃̋̿̋͋͗͘̚͜͜͝Ǝ̴̡̨̛̝͎͙̖͔͍̙̹̰͖̦̗̘͍̗͓̦̣̝̹͖͓͓͍̆̂̆͗̅̈́͗̈̃̐̒̌̀̃̎͛̿̆̔̀͂̅̔̆̈́̈̒͘̚̚͘͘͝͝͝͝͝q̶̢̢̛̼̺̪̤̻̟͕̭̺͕͉̦̩̩̼̫̲͙̝̠̠̘̠̲̭͙̗͈̙̝̠̹͇̥͖̖̻̝̭͈̦̱͍̙̞͔̬̈́̓̏̿͑̐͑̍͗̈͂̄̈́̈́̉̀́̊̅̈̕̚͜͝O"

Ian suddenly came back to his senses, and the color washed back over his world.

"N-No." He blurted on impulse, as if something other than his own willpower spoke for him. "I— You— There is still a goal!"

Gian-Luca shot forth a stern voice. "What's the goal then!?"

Ian's voided mind was filled-in spontaneously. "Dominate the masses. Instigate the fear all over again. Ever since the rise of factions people may have forgotten the true threat that we pose. We need to remind them who we are."

"How are we supposed to do that? We've been stripped of two members, and our most destructive source of power is a completely different person now. Plus, all those factions are numbered with hundreds."

Ian scoffed at him. "Seriously Luca? Since when did numbers ever matter? Each one of us can represent a hundred people alone. You're beginning to underestimate the power of the Sins—"

"No, you're overestimating the power of the Sins without a leader. We have no proper direction without Midas' guidance."

"Tsk!" Ian took a step towards Gian-Luca. "Then appoint me the new leader. I'll give us direction if that's what you want!"

Veronica's jaw dropped. "Stop… You can't just do that… Not after Midas had just died!"

Ian's arm moved on its own. Fueled by momentary anger, his hand swiped in her direction and slapped her across the face. "SHUT UP!!!" He raised his hand once more and aimed it at the two of them. Gian-Luca realized what was about to happen. "Don't you dare Ian… You can't break the Pact, just stop."

"Midas was the one who wrote the Pact. If he's gone, then isn't the Pact gone too?"

A latent smile grew on Ian's face.

"Obey—"

PHWOOM—!

A wave of energy suddenly burst in Ian's direction, interrupting his speech, which was lead by the hand shot forth from Gian-Luca. A field of nausea washed over him. Ian's hand shook and dropped back to its side. He grabbed his drowsy head and looked around in confusion for a second. He could only see Veronica on the ground, and beside her, Gian-Luca with his arm raised against him.

"What just happened…? Luca, did you just wipe my memories…?"

"I had to." Gian-Luca's stance was defensive. "Someone had to break the Pact. I was not about to let you put us under your control."

Ian nodded with understanding. "I see how it is… If only the rest of you had not been lead to become so broken by the loss of our leader, maybe this wouldn't be happening and we could have continued to thrive as the infamous Sins."

"What's your point?" Gian-Luca kept his hand up, in the case Ian tried to pull anything again.

"I'm done with you guys. It seems that what's left of the Sins right now no longer contribute to a bigger picture, or a future aspiration."

Gian-Luca could only scoff in disbelief at the remark.

"By these means, I choose to disband from the Sins. I will no longer walk the same path as the rest of you. If you three cannot pick yourselves up the floor, nor appoint me as leader, there is certainly and absolutely no future for this pack of delinquints!" Ian turned around and stormed out of the room. Heavy stomping could be heard up some stairs, followed by some aggressive climbing up a ladder. A latch was opened, and soon after was slammed shut.

Ian had officially departed the hideout.

On the ground, Veronica sobbed tremendously. Gian-Luca came to her need. "Hey, are you okay?"

She could only whimper in response. "Ian…"

"Don't worry about him, it's okay… He was about to do something really bad there. It's better that he's gone now."

Veronica began to cry even more.

"It's okay, it's okay…" Gian-Luca bent down and patted her back softly. "We'll be fine on our own."

"Why would he do that though…? Why?"

Gian-Luca didn't know how to respond. "I—I don't know. He seemed different since the end of the tournament. Something changed in him. I didn't realize how much of a handful he could be without being under some sort of authority…"

Veronica's eyes watered. "Midas…"

"Yeah, Midas really was the glue to our team… Without him, there's no order among us as Sins…"

The hideout that night was more silent than usual, with one more Sin parting from the group forever.