The Warmth of a Human Soul

Her hits struck leather, letting out a sound reminiscent of cracked bones before being overshadowed by another chain falling to the floor with a hard clatter. Erena watched as Nabi trained, her hits blurring through the air ferociously like an animal sinking its fangs into lifeless prey.

Despite the tension in the air, Nabi kept a complacent look on her face, opposed to the dark, lifeless scowl that usually rested upon it. With each strike, another sandbag fell to the earth with a hole resting within it.

Despite the showcase, Erena couldn't help but be disturbed, yet intrigued.

Time slowed the more she focused on her, watching her brutal blows evolve into something different. A dance to entice the senses before crushing them into grains like the sand pouring out into the ground.

The sand poured out like blood.

Nabi's gaze dulled at the sound other than the rhythmic sizzle of the symbols littering her skin; a contained clap from the one she was stuck with teaching because of the words from a young man with a fox-like grin.

"As master of this legion, it's customary to train your underlings to be of use to you. If you think she's useless to you and Guisei's cause, then simply mold her into something that isn't useless."

She couldn't help but picture Naisho's cheeky grin as he dismissed her away. In her mind, his face was what should have taken the beating that the sandbags endured. Her gaze violently slid across the floor, resting on the sight of Erena.

"What do you want?" Nabi asked calmly.

Erena froze, rather at Nabi's gaze than the words that left her mouth. It slithered from her eyes to her neck like a cold blade that dared to cut at a moment's notice. Her mind slowed as she let out an exhale.

"It looked amazing," Erena said.

Nabi gave no response, her mind throbbing after the recoil of using the Curse Series in such a way. Sweat rested on her moon-light skin, yet it felt as hot as blood even as she wiped what remained off of her with a towel.

A demon wearing human skin.

The thought lingered in Erena's mind as she watched wordlessly at the girl.

The Blood Princess of Satanael

A mere doll.

Erena blinked from the shock of Nabi's finger hitting her forehead with a loud slap, bringing her back to reality; Nabi's gaze dulled away from its crimson cold. She muttered under her breath, leaving the training room with a soft sigh.

"You're staring…. and it's weird."

---

Nabi ventured down a crimson staircase within a room of pure white, different from any walls within Curse Academy, at least in her mind. Was it the air, or rather the way her footsteps echoed when it hit the metallic steps, at least until she was reminded of the presence behind her and the echo her steps made.

Erena stumbled, grabbing hold of the crimson rails, watching Nabi trail closer away from her with each moment she stopped to catch her breath. The feeling was unbearable, not the silence, but instead, the distance.

Distance.

The word vibrated through her mind like the cold air separating them.

"Why exactly did you join us?" Nabi asked, letting her feet reach the ground as the white of the hall found itself replaced by an inky darkness lit by shadows, their eyes and voices the only thing allowing them to let each other know they were close.

"I had a debt to repay," Erena answered, her voice shooting through the hall like the dimming light of fire that surrounded them.

"To Guisei?"

"To myself⸻" Erena said, the words laid on her lips before rewriting the lie she told. "⸻ but also to Guisei."

Nabi's eyes shot back to see Erena, only to be met with the sight of her gaze focused on the ground below. The room seemed to grow hotter as if with each question the closer Nabi got to the answer she truly desired as they kept walking.

"Why to him?"

"He saved me."

"What makes you think you have to repay him for something humans do."

"Save people?"

"Kindness."

"Humans aren't kind."

"Guisei isn't either," Nabi said, stopping short from the one and only question Erena had for her.

"How do you know him, anyway?"

Nabi turned to her, noting the flaming glare of Erena's violet eyes as she stood firm against her this time despite the many others she could have, or rather should have, from Nabi's point of view.

"Its simple…Agents of the Deadly Sins are encouraged to work with each other to strengthen unity among the nations even in the shadows.. Me and him just clicked and never left each other's side from that point." Her voice changed from the cold, uncaring tone she held in the past, instead growing soft and warm the more she thought about it only to shift to the icy tone with her another question.

"Why are you training with me?"

Erena clenched her fist as her hair revealed the marking for Nabi to see for a moment.

"When I talked to Guisei—in Limbo, he mentioned you were stronger than him, or at least mentioned a girl who never failed to beat him in battle. While we were in Limbo, something—-happened."

Nabi watched closely, her crimson eyes matching the dimmed light of the flames illuminating their path as she saw Erena fiddle with the metallic symbol on the edge of her dress.

Apprehension.

"After that—-after what I saw, I need the strength to kill Guisei."

Wrath.

Her movements blurred through Erena's eyes as the small girl she spoke to stared into her eyes like a demon in the darkness. Nabi looked down at the girl. Her fist smoked as it passed Erena's head from the wall, leaving behind the shattered artwork of its impact.

"If you ever harm Guisei… I won't hesitate to kill you," Nabi muttered at the sight of Erena. Her eyes reflected a similar sight, an expression that she knew all too well. The cost of having power dictated by raw emotion.

Erena looked up at the girl with a look that could only be described as unending fear. An image of Guisei flickered in her mind from his eyes to the cursed state he held when he gave his cursed parting words to her.

"You fear us, because we have their power inside of us, and what's the inevitable."

"You'll become them, won't you?" Erena gasped up, holding back her fear and rage holding her voice within herself, daring to be drowned out by the noise of tears. Nabi didn't respond, only offering her a hand.

Erena felt Nabi's hand, the same one that wished so dearly to crush her skull like the wall that took the weight of her sins. It was warm and soft, like the voice she carried when speaking about her past with Guisei.

A human hand stretched out to help Erena out despite the resentment she could feel within Nabi.

"I can teach you what I know, in exchange that you won't tell him, not now at least."