The Adventures of Rose Hood

“We were never the evil god. It was a lie the rest of the gods made, so the world would never support us.”

“You expect us to believe that?”

Wrath was annoyed.

“Should I provide proof?”

“Please do, I am interested in this.”

I released my aura. The castle that was dead and ruined by Wrath’s evil aura started to bloom beautifully. Flowers, vines, and wildlife began to appear. The always cloudy sky began to clear and expose a vibrant sun. I hid my aura, and the others were in combat poses.

“Can you see the purity of my power? That is our true selves. I can fix us.”

“Innocence, this is insanity.”

“My name is not Innocence.”

“Then what is it.”

“I am the Core Truth, Purity.”

“Core Truth?”

“We are the good god. Not this amalgamation that the other gods imbued into this world. You want revenge. I do too, but if we fight as the evil god, then they win. Even if we destroy them and this world. They win if we fight like you are right now. Let me help.”

Peace and Benevolence seemed open to the idea.

“How long would it take?”

“It will take 4 days straight per shard. If I take regular breaks, it will take 10 days.

“I see, then let’s test this theory.”

“Peace?”

“Wrath, I understand your skepticism, but if we come back as these... Core Truths as well, then you will know that it is real.”

“But I get the feeling that I need to destroy her.”

“As do I.”

“Evil has the natural instinct to destroy good.”

Then Lust had a question.

“Inn- ah Purity, what happened to Zath.”

“I purified him. Now he is Silas, Archangel of Piety.”

“I see, I shall visit and verify it is still him. He is my servant after all.”

“Good idea.”

“And I can kill you if you try something.”

“I understand.”

Wrath shook her head in annoyance.

“You have one month. If you can’t give proof of your success in that time, I will wipe your little nation off the map. Even the entire guild wouldn’t be able to defend you.”

The other shards all nodded,

“By the way, Purity, why is Sloth sleeping.”

“She evolved me to an evil being. That’s how I was able to locate my core and purify it.”

“I see, so, without realizing it, she paved the way for this discovery.”

“Yes.”

“Why haven’t you purified her?”

“So, I wouldn’t hurt her by purifying her while asleep. If I accidentally cut into the core while cleaning it can cause a lot of pain, but if the person is asleep, I won’t have any indication that I accidentally cut into the core, so I could accidentally break it.”

“I see, so it’s so she will be safe.”

Wrath seemed thoughtful.

“One month. It will take a week for Peace and Benevolence to show up, so you have 3 weeks to purify them.”

“I understand.”

“And if I dislike what I see, I will wipe you off the map.”

“I understand.”

Lust spoke up.

“I will attend as witness to see that there is no foul play.”

We all nodded, and Wrath dismissed us.

I appeared back in the backroom and landed on Mammon.

“Oops, I’m sorry Mammon, are you okay?”

“Jeez, girly, don’t just disappear like that.”

“Sorry.”

“You made us panic.”

“I had to talk to someone. They will be here in one week.”

“I see, who is it?”

“That’s a secret.”

He sighed and shook his head.

“I understand nothing, but that you are an annoyance.”

_

I meditated in the forest every morning the whole week, the spring was now a grove, and the water was cleaner than anything else. Because of the meeting Sloth woke up sooner than she expected and was scared of me, until I explained. Since she woke up halfway through the week, I spent the last four days purifying her.

‘Well, it’s the day, Rose. Are you ready?’

“I am, Fortitude.”

‘I know that’s my name now, but that’s going to take getting used to.”’

“Agreed, I think you should be out when we meet up, so they can see what being purified looks like for a sin.”

‘Yes, I still am having trouble wrapping my head around it. The lie was ingrained deeper into me than you.’

“Yep, but they will arrive soon, so you should get out.”

Fortitude left my body, and we entered the guild. As she was a virtue, her aura was obvious. The guild members who were aware of her nature as a sin, were in awe of her new aura. Elren dropped his drink, causing it to shatter.

“Sloth?”

“No King Elren, my name is the Heavenly Virtue, Fortitude.”

Her bedclothes were replaced by full armor, she had a magic sword on her back, and she stood with a powerful pose, her mere presence caused flowers to bloom, and everything seemed right in the world.

Then the trio arrived.

“Sloth?”

Lust looked in awe at Fortitude.

“No, Lust, my name is now Fortitude. Rose managed to purify me. I was skeptical too, but now I can’t doubt it’s power.”

Then she looked at Silas.

“Zath?”

“Lady Lust, I was also purified, I am now Silas, the archangel of Piety.”

Mammon had his jaw dropped.

“Um, Rose, were these three the guests you mentioned?”

“Yes, wh-”

He grabbed me and picked me up by my head.

“I KNOW YOU SAID IT WAS A SECRET, BUT I NEED TO BE READY IF YOU ARE INVITING ******* SHARDS!!!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

He sighed and put me down.

“Though, you seem to be purifying them.”

“Yes, I met with them and told them of it, so they agreed to examine it.”

“And if you don’t purify them?”

“The shards will wipe this nation off of the map.”

The adventurers sighed loudly, and Mammon picked me up again.

“Rose, please stop getting this nation in position to be annihilated.”

Asura laughed.

“Eh, she’s acting like a proper S rank already.”

The shards turned to me.

“You’re an S rank?”

“Oh, did I not mention that?”

“No... no you didn’t.”

“Ah.”

Lust sat down.

“Alright, which one of you wants to be ‘purified’ first.”

“Could have gone without the sarcasm.”

“Shush Rose.”

I grimaced.

Benevolence raised her hand.

“Me! I’m interested.”

“Okay, come here.”

“So, what do I do, do I need to enter you?”

“No, I can do it while you are outside, in fact it’s easier that way.”

“Alright, Rose I’m ready.”

She smiled nervously.

“Purify me.”