10 The Seven Heavenly Virtues

A month had gone by since the incident with the murders. The ultimate instigator was still unknown, but the related parties were already given the necessary punishments.

Officer Helen had been suspended from duty, due to being manipulated herself the sentence had been quite mild. But has been assigned to one of the barren lands. There, work mostly included heavy work. For her to be assigned in such difficult conditions, it was all because of working against the Teras Academy.

Even the royals have no pardon for it. The Teras academy had been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Its foundation was as deep as mother earth, so any offense of harm to it could cause massive chaos all around the world.

The supernaturals getting harmed the most since most of the higher powers were from the academy.

Only the seven sins loathed the place, every other creature referred to the academy akin to a holy place. Despite the seven's less than kind thoughts, the academy of Teras was a place of great history, power, and connection.

Hence anything against the academy was something the kingdom would take seriously, which meant heavy punishments for culprits.

This shows with the executions ordered for the rest of the parties involved. While Helen Willams was let off lightly the three punk kids were ordered for execution. Then the warlock kid was kicked out of school, never to enter again, which meant massive outcasting in the world of the supernatural.

While all this happened the master behind the incidents remained anonymous. His identity, still shrouded in darkness.

But all of this was not in the sins concern.

After being wrongfully accused of crimes they've not committed the sins finally let go of their act of goodness.

Earlier they abided by the rules, acting like any other students, obedient just like the Great God of Life wished for. But now after knowing nothing was going to change despite them behaving they'd shed the layers of goodwill and lived as they wanted.

While not breaking the main rules of, 'no crimes' and 'no use of highly offensive powers' the sins did as they wished.

The only relief was that nobody was physically harmed.

Just that everybody in school was a little more horny, hungry, greedy, sleepy, jealous, and prideful than usual. The conflicting emotions and thoughts taking a toll on everyone.

The only ones unaffected were the heavenly virtues, who had finally had enough of the chaos around the academy.

Teras was the home they loved and once again the seven terrors were causing trouble. And unlike last time they cannot be driven away, since the god of Life was involved no matter what they needed to reside in the academy for a year. So it was up to them to keep the seven in check.

~~<<>>~~

Lucien for the hundredth time sighed pinching the middle of the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he spotted the familiar black-haired head swayed in his direction. The girl's green eyes sparkling at the sight of him, her steps quickening as she arrived beside him.

Since they'd started to indulge themselves the virtues had decided to stick to their sides and being Celene, the virtue of Liberality had become the bane of his existence since.

"Do you have no place or anyone else to stalk?" Greed questioned his violet looking down at her.

But Celene's only reply was to beam at him, her white teeth sparkling as she smiled.

"Of course not. The others are not as pleasing as you are." The genuine note in her voice made him flush with pleasure on the inside. Greedily absorbing the greed she had for his company. Albeit it was minuscule, the power absorbed from a virtue was heady and toxic and Lucien craved it. Yet maintained a facade of annoyance on the outside as he glared at her but otherwise did not obstruct her from following him around.

And from behind him, Liberality smiled smugly knowing well enough to placate his greedy ways, yet the adoration in her eyes could not be masked.

Amara who had been watching them from afar smiled amused as the emotions of lust drew towards her. The owners' none other than the obvious Celene and the idiot Nicholos who was in a world of denial.

"You need to stop doing that. Can you not see what is happening to the others around you?" A rude voice sounded beside her ear, yet she could not suppress the delighted shudder that went through her. Despite the rudeness the underlying huskiness in his voice not lost on her.

Looking around she found the students around her in a hazy daze their eyes clouded in Lust as they eyes one another, most of their eyes automatically drawn to her body as they yearned for her touch.

Ahhh... now she understood where the anger was coming from. Amara thought inwardly, almost giddy as she turned to face him, her eyes connecting with his startling silver, always not failing to ensnare her in.

But she held in her desires. She would not take the first step, not when it came to him.

"Do I look like I care?" Amara asked back casually as she moved her hair to the side revealing her enchanting neckline which involuntarily took Jasper's attention.

But he was Chastity, such minuscule moments of seduction was not enough to sway him.

Jasper took in a breath to calm his anger, not all that surprised at her apathetic answer, yet all those perverted gazes of males on her body made his blood boil yet his nature did not allow him to take any action.

He was not that invested, not yet.

Soon Jasper let out a few of his powers successfully saving the lust-affected students making Amara pout but he had his head turned away, refusing to acknowledge her displeasure.

Seeing this Amara smiled ruefully, her black eyes holding a tinge of sadness at his cold stature but soon reverted back to her charming self and walked away the man obviously following her behind, too scared to let her alone. Fearing what it could possibly do to the students.

But still, this brought a smile to her face. No matter what he was still following her after all.

Leaning on one of the balconies enshrouded in shadows Envy let his power roll out of him as he experienced his own sin. While the two couples below him had their own problems to solve, he could not help but envy the intimacy they shared.

It was not because of them specifically but he always found it hard to invest in any relationship.

Damien's heart pinched thinking that maybe his existence would probably be just like this, envying what others had. Because nobody stayed or was able to stomach his particular sin. Envy always led to exhaustion and that was not something anyone liked to put up with.

"Are you alright?" Ronard who had been accompanying him till now asked kindly, his brown furrowed worriedly as he watched Damien sink into his thoughts.

Ronard with his kind nature always found it hard to watch Envy struggle with his sin. Though he knew Damien loved his powers, the obvious loneliness sometimes he emanated made Kindness want to hug him but knowing how that would be viewed he kept his distance.

Even now Damien just shook his head maintaining his silence yet the green emotion bubbled up in hordes among the students as Damien inhaled, the only pleasure he absolutely enjoyed in his life.

Witnessing this Ronard's lips thinned, his violet flashing in frustration. He was always like that, refusing help, resorting to silence only showing his true emotions in front of his family sometimes that to extremely rare.

But despite all this Kindness stayed by his side, defusing any lasting effects the powers of envy could produce and Damien did not loath his company, but was rather grateful.

If only the virtue of Kindness knew that.

~~<<>>~~

"Enough of your eating! I sometimes wonder how you even are not some fatty by now." Abstinence fussed around Col her hands taking away the delicacies in front of his in a flash.

"No!" He cried out in alarm scrambling to take them back only met empty air as Elysetta worked fast in cleaning away the table.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?! You've been running around me for weeks ruining my meals. Do you not have any compassion for the hungry?!" The dramatic tears Gluttony summoned did not have any effect on Ellysetta. She merely looked at him with a raised eyebrow as if daring him to continue.

"I would have been compassionate if it had been a man who had not chowed down the whole mass of food prepared for the canteen and then drank twenty mega bottles of juice just minutes ago." The content of the sentence would have made any other look down in shame but Col just looked at with a gaze filled with delight.

"I am still hungry alright. And the taste of the food was too delicious for me to let go."

"How benevolent of you, now because of it the kitchen staff has to work again!" Abstinence this time growled her pretty blue eyes holding anger which did nothing to deter Col's hunt for more food.

"Whatever." Gluttony grumbled then looked in shock as Ellysetta dragged him away by his hand a determined look on her face.

"I will stop interrupting your meals if you do something for me." She mumbled still dragging him along.

Shifting his eyes toward her suspiciously Col hesitated before asking, "What?" His voice, full of doubt.

"Do you agree or not?" Was the impatient reply he got. Another bloody question.

"Fine." He mumbled, only to regret ever agreeing to something like that in his life.

The bossy woman had obviously dragged him to a library, an ancient-dust-filled library with its books thrown all over on the floor. She wanted him to clean the entire freaking place.

So his first words were very obvious.

"Absolutely no!" Col exclaimed looking at the suggester incredulously who only shrugged.

"Eating or not eating, choose please."

Once again the answer was obvious. It was eating obviously. So for the day, the academy kitchens were allowed to sigh in relief and the students were released from excessive hunger.

It was only for a day though. But for Ellysetta it was reprieve enough.

While Col suffered torment on his end, Nicholos watched in glee as a group of professors squabbled.

Their old pride getting the best of them and the instigator and benefitor of it all stood aside his hands in his pockets as he watched on absorbing the sin he so craved.

"I can feel your discomfort from here, and how much you want to defuse the situation. But knowing I would take obvious offense you are holding back. Oh, how strenuous to your precious morals." Pride mocked his natural arrogance coming to shine as Kieren shifted uncomfortably.

It was true they'd agreed upon watching over the sins, but unlike the rest of his family, he loathed having to do it. For the prideful bastard in front of him was the absolute worst.

He would take every opportunity he could to make him repulsed, uncomfortable and angry, all the while enjoying everything with a sick satisfaction.

Watching over the manipulative man always gave him a headache at the end of the day but Kieren could only grit his teeth enduring as he made the residents inside the academy as comfortable as possible. Stealthily of course.

Nicholos enjoyed the red-haired, black-eyed man's squirming turning a blind eye to the anger displayed in his eyes.

He did as he wished and even his family succumbed to his will.

Nobody would stand in the way of his pride.

~~<<>>~~

Nero and Lukas ran past an entire section of classrooms with sluggish, sleepy people. A little hope lighting in their hearts at the display.

"Are you sure they are around here? We have been at this for hours, I cannot keep this up!" Nero huffed feeling out of breath, having run around the school for the whole morning.

Unlike the rest of the sins, the twin Sloths were very crafty with their hiding. Hence the goose chase both Lukas and Nero had to endure finding the two of them.

Passing through the building the two of them entered the gardens once again. This one was situated in the backyard of the academy.

Here the trees filled with flowers abundant and currently under one of those trees laid a beautiful silver-haired girl... sleeping.

"Oh my god! She sleeping!" Nero despaired his hands clutching his blonde hair, black eyes scrunching up as if to cry. All this as if he'd witnessed the end of the world.

While he cried on the inside Lukas was not any better. For on one of the sturdy branches of the same tree was another sleeping persona, this one a silver-haired male.

"It is not only her, it is the both of them," Lukas murmured solemnly careful to not let his voice disturb the two. For, disturbing the Sloth in their sleep was the vilest crime anyone could do to them.

The twins were very hard to control when they are sleep deprived and they were very much a problem while they are sleeping, especially one so peaceful like this.

In such a state their powers ran high involuntarily, now the reason for the excessive behavior of the building of students was apparent.

It was because of these two who were sleeping so innocently.

Smiling bitterly at each other the two virtues sat down on the ground their heads dropping down in defeat and exhaustion.

Now the only choice they had was to wait, wait till the two woke up.

One might wonder what was so peculiar about sleeping, but it was peculiar when it came to the twin sins.

Usually, when they napped, their minds still worked only at the confines of their rooms would they take proper sleep, for if not their powers would leak out and them fueling them more in their sleep.

The only thing allowing them to sleep without care right now was their apathetic nature towards mortals. If it had been any other they would've gone insane long ago due to the burden of guilt and morality.

For even their sleep brought chaos upon the world.

~~<<>>~~<<>>~~<<>>~~

Weeks passed so, having no improvement in the situation. It had been almost three months since the sins arrived at the academy and almost two months since the incident. And everything was absolutely terrible.

Celene watched the student body of the academy Teras move about worriedly. The usually energetic people were now moving around sluggishly, haggard looks on their faces.

Some bloated, some extremely thin, and each and everyone sported dark circles under their eyes.

Even the professors save for a few of the extremely powerful had been affected and the seven sins did not care a bit of it. They continuously increased their powers absorbing the sins surrounding them and with the original sources present the sins ran rampant, all benefits attained by the seven of the six sins.

After having been slighted slightly they had gone back to their arrogant prideful ways and she knew it was their way of taking revenge in a low-key manner.

But this was her home, she could not just let them reign free. Even the headmaster had been placated by them. The greedy old man willing to do anything to keep them here.

"They are toying with them." A voice spoke from beside her. The man's brown hair fell into his blue eyes which looked on worriedly.

"Yes, are we just going to watch?" Celene questioned him softly her voice holding anger.

"My concern is the same, but you know how impossible is for them to be controlled. No matter what happens they seem to have some sort of plan. As long as Nicholos and Lilith put their heads together overpowering them is absolutely impossibly. But..." Jasper trailed off as if having an idea but then soon shook his head as if he'd thought something absurd.

"What?" Celene still asked but Jasper seemed hesitant to answer.

"If you'd got any ideas tell me. You know that we cannot let them go on like this. Some might even gain damages to their life forces if this carried on!" She exclaimed frustrated with her friend.

"It is just that, what if we approach the gods?" Even saying the words Jasper felt it was absurd for him to utter them but Celene's eyes lit up as if heard marvelous news.

"Of course! How could I have forgotten! The Great God Zohar, yes! He is the only one who could help." She mumbled already planning for a correct course of action but Jasper did not agree.

"Have you gone insane? It is Lord Zohar we are talking about. After all this time do you think he would involve himself for such petty matter?" He did not think so. The gods were very prideful creatures with their own view of the world. Even their guardian goddess Electra was extremely aloof with her involvement in the mortal world.

And now hearing the virtue of chastity's reasoning Celene visibly deflated. Her face once again losing the luster it gained from having learned the earlier good news.

"But still, we could try. Lord Zohar is known to always involve himself when it concerned the terror squad. Lady Electra may of some help." Still, she did not completely let go of hope and persisted in her reasoning.

"Maybe we could try." Another voice joined their conversation and Celene sighed in relief at having been agreed upon.

It was Nero who joined them.

"If it does not work there is only one other way, that is to fight and subdue and we all know how futile such actions would be, for everyone here would get impacted on a much larger scale."

They both had to agree with Nero, so it seemed they have to appeal to the gods. She just hoped Electra would agree to their request. For even though she held high affection towards the seven of them, when it came to the sins even they could not stop her from having a sour face.

The goddess as many others disliked the seven terrors' existence. If their beings did not affect the three realms' origins themselves, then maybe the seven of them would have been imprisoned or dealt with long ago.

~~<<>>~~

The three gathered the rest of the virtues as they stood in a circle their hands connected, ready to chant the spell summoning their goddess.

But as they waited Celene could not help but let her mind wander to the words Nero had earlier uttered.

Indeed how damaging it would have been. If the fourteen of them fought.

Then they'd all just faced the earlier hundred years of their lives, and the only thing impactful enough for them had been the brutality of their parents' deaths. During the early ages, there had been no humans.

Only the fourteen of them and their mortal parents.

But true to human nature the first of the humans to walk on the earth had started to grow weary of their own children. The extent of their powers, not something the older humans could understand.

As years passed the distance among them had grown larger, the conflicting powers and the personalities of the virtues and sins often clashing catalyzing the process.

Then came the second round of pregnancies.

After having the gift of fertility the birth of children obviously did not end with them. No, they'd gained a gallon of siblings too.

And obviously, they were normal humans unlike the lot of them who had peculiar, weird powers shackled to them. So the love, care they'd once received shifted. New ones gained them, as for the relationship between the fourteen of them.

They were forever alternated.

The virtues and sins were fundamentally different from each other. Innately their morals would never coincide so, opinions were exchanged and eventually, fights broke out.

It was about a hundred years into human life and by then the virtues and the sins could be only considered as teenagers for the difference in the way time mattered to them.

They were hotheaded with powers that seemed to increase just as the rate of humanity increased and one day the two groups' opinions and thoughts no longer synced.

So they fought, but the devastation that they brought along was not something they could've anticipated.

'Times always make them wonder is being virtuous any different than being a sinner.'

~~<<>>~~<<>>~~<<>>~~

"The virtues lot must be wracking their brains now," Col mumbled filling himself fully with the full course meal in front of him. The others only eating the small potions they'd originally served themselves from the table.

Lilith looked at his gluttonous appearance and merely shook her head already used his wanton appetite.

But she had to agree with him, now that they'd chosen to live as they did outside the academy, the habitants inside would naturally get affected by their magic now that they were not intentionally suppressing their powers.

Lilith could not comprehend how the virtues spent their lives here making the academy their home, for they too had to suppress their powers always in the presence of the mortals.

Living in such restrictions, however, do they fare?

"For the next course of actions, they would either consider subduing with violence or appealing to that one. But for obvious reasons..." Lilith trailed off her ruby eyes finding that of blue which had calculated the next chain of events the same as she had.

"...they would choose the latter." Nicholos finished.

Seeing them acting so the other rolled their eyes, the two loved to estimate matters, always calculating with their brains. Nicholos more so than Lilith and due to her innate sloth, she was much bearable in such matters than the prideful Nicholos.

"Don't do that. You always make me want to hide in whole with all those predictions and bullshit." Aaro whined next to his sister, sighing at the unfairness of it all.

"It doesn't matter anyway, you would use such a brain to find places to slack off and sleep anyway," Amara mumbled the jab landing right into Aaro's heart who had an expression of fake distress.

"Shut up, well at least I'm not stressing over an uptight idiot." He retaliated calmly earning a pout from Amara which soon turned to a beaming smile as Damien patted her head in comfort.

"But what Lilu and Nicho said has some merit. We would have to be prepared to face that one again." Lucien cautioned a grimace working its way to his face at the thought of the great god of life.

It was the only option for the seven virtues would not risk battling with them, not when their precious academy would suffer from it.

The first time was proof enough.

The first and the last fight the sins and the virtues had fought, a lesson forever marking their lives.