The Adventures of Rose Hood

I reached out my hand.

“Alright, you will feel a bit of pain starting out. Don’t panic. Silas and Fortitude felt the exact same thing.”

“Alright.”

I touched her head, and everyone looked interested.

Then in the ancient language.

“Come unto me filth, expose yourself so I may wash you away and cleanse this soul.”

Benevolence started to screech in pain. Lust and Peace looked worried, but Fortitude held them back.

“I see your core now. Relax, the painful part is over.”

“Thank goodness. Rose, that was not a bit.”

I began to clean her core. I focused in on it, so deeply that both me and Benevolence saw nothing else but the work.

_

“So, is it working?”

Slo- Fortitude nodded.

“She is focusing so she’ll be able to purify her in 4 days. They won’t move at all for those days, then she’ll have to rest for a bit as she just purified me.”

Mammon shook his head.

“How did she get that power? It’s unprecedented.”

“She received a blessing.”

“From who?”

“Purity.”

“Who?”

“Innocence's purified form. She saw Rose had conflict and gave her the strength to purify us.”

“I see.”

I almost forgot that we are supposed to keep Rose’s identity a secret. In the other’s minds, they simply saw her as a dragon that managed to gain the attention of a god.

Of course, the S ranks were now aware, but they all swore to keep it a secret, even Climond hadn’t spoken a whisper about it. Though a lot of odd things have happened with him. He freed all of his slaves and disbanded his black market.

I suppose meeting a shard of the god of good changes people. When Fortitude walked in, all of us were shocked. The woman we used to think was a major threat now made all of us feel safe. Her aura alone still way outpowered Lust, Peace, and Benevolence’s auras. It made sense as their auras were mere muck covering their souls, but it was still shocking that what we thought was an ultimate power of fear, was mere muck covering hope.

As the days passed, Benevolences evil aura lessened and lessened. Then, on the fourth day, it was gone entirely. Then we felt the rightness come from her.

“Well, I suppose we are done?”

“We are, Respect.”

“Thank you for that.”

Ben- Respect stood up and shifted. Her fur turned white, and her garb turned from that of a citizen to that of a queen. A golden crown appeared on her head, and her white robes looked more extravagant than Peace’s. A sword appeared at her side. Her essence echoed goodness. She looked happy and examined her armored hand.

“This is incredible, Rose... Rose?”

Rose, as expected, was already asleep. That took a lot out of her.

Peace gulped in fear, but she clearly was in awe as well.

“This is a truth in pure form?”

“I suppose so, I wonder what Purity looks like.”

“Interesting. Virtues look like knights, and the truths look like queens... Could it be that it actually was a truth that was our original core?”

‘Perhaps. The lie was so deeply ingrained into us, that maybe we only assumed Wrath was the old core due to her advanced power.

Peace stood up.

“I want to be purified.”

“You’ll have to wait a day. Rose is in recovery right now.”

“I know, but it’s amazing. I always felt something was wrong.”

She smiled.

“And now I know why. I want to be the Truth again.”

Lust was also in awe.

“I was skeptical before, but now that I’ve seen it. I want to be purified after Peace.”

This caused Silas to celebrate.

“My lady will be purified!”

I almost forgot he used to be the Demon king of Lust. That meant Lust would turn into Piety. I suppose it made sense.

The evil shards should feel hostile, but instead they understood that’s what they needed to be. The demons were fully corrupted, so they were afraid of the goodness and were hostile to the point of being murderous.

Rose was asleep for a full day, and Peace and Lust merely spent that time watching her. It was like they had no will other than to be purified. It was almost edging on creepy to see an elf and a succubus looking at a small catkin with that much passion. Even though we understood it was the need to be cured, it still looked wrong.

Then Rose woke up.

_

“You are awake!!!”

Peace’s sudden voice caused me to fall out of my chair.

“AHK.”

“Are you okay?”

“Please, don’t scare me like that.”

“Alright. Please purify me.”

“Give me a chance to have my coffee first please.”

“Alright.”

The duo of Peace and Lust seemed desperate to be cleansed. It was creepy. I drank my coffee and they examined me with such pressure I nearly hid my head.

Fortitude thought it was hilarious.

When I finally finished my coffee, I gave Peace the same warning I gave Benevolence and began.

She screeched in agony just the same, but she calmed down a lot quicker due to fully expecting it.

I cleaned her core, and she looked in awe at the brightness that was exposed. Due to having experience, I was able to cut down the curing time by a day, and after 3 days of pure cleaning, she was Prosperity.

“So, Prosperity, how do you feel?”

“Very good.”

Then she shifted. Like Respect, her hair turned white, and her robes became queenly. Her white robes were now embroidered in gold thread, and her crown was adorned in diamonds. Her robes undertook a transformation into a golden fabric. Her aura caused hope to flair from everyone in the room.

Lust looked in awe.

“Please, purify me.”

I nodded. I could handle her.

I reached out my hand, and she did not scream. She made not one noise. She merely shook and smiled. I did not need to call to her core, as it already kneeled before me. The dirt already falling off of it.

It took me 10 minutes to wipe away the dirt. Then Piety stood up in awe. She looked at me and kneeled.

“In thanks for your deeds, I swear loyalty to you for the rest of eternity.”

“Rise Piety. We are friends.”

She stood and her clothes shifted.

No longer did she appear as a succubus. Her tail shifted into wings, and her horns became a halo. Her clothes expanded into robes that left not a single piece of bodily skin shown to air. Her eyes shone a deep blue and armor formed on her, a chestplate that looked like the one Fortitude wore, formed around her.

She looked like a maiden that was conscripted as a general, while Fortitude appeared as a defender of peace.

Us 5 were purified and our auras echoed throughout the city. It caused no harm but helped many feel better. The guards were feeling stronger and more determined to defend. The children wanted to help out more and aided others. The people felt no evil desires and assisted each other as they could. A vein of rare material was found, causing shouts of praise. The criminals turned themselves in as they suddenly felt such guilt and regret. No one understood the sudden change, except for the adventurers who sat in the guild as we five stood.

“Rose... You are Purity, aren’t you.”

Mammon was smart, he put it together. I nodded and he looked in awe.

Then the four shards reached out, and I recognized they decided me to be the core. I reached out and took their hands and they flowed into me. Their bodies crumbling as they merged willingly.

“What happened?”

“We merged. The good god is half healed.”

He looked at me, then he picked me up by the hair again.

“NOW YOU ARE TELLING ME YOU’RE A GOD?! YOU NEED TO TELL ME THESE THINGS, ROSE!!!”

“AH. Sorry, sorry.”

Thalia laughed.

“It’s good to see that some things never change.”

Mammon turned.

“Alright, we don’t want this to get out. Otherwise, Rose won’t get a day of peace. Can I leave it up to you all that are here, not to spread word?”

They all nodded.

“By the way, Rose. Was this the reason you got the unanimous vote?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m glad you found how to purify yourself.”

“As am I.”

“So, that’s why you understand dirty jokes now.”

“Yep, Purity is a bit more knowledgeable than Innocence.”

“Well, don’t expect me to act differently.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

I smiled, and Mammon laughed.

_

“So, you 5 are now purified.”

Wrath summoned us and looked with contempt.

“Yes, Rose was able to purify us, and now we are the virtues.”

“Traitors.”

“What?”

“Traitors!”

Wrath was furious, and the remaining sins looked at us in disgust.

“Envy, you were right. I expected to feel joy, but all I feel is disgust.”

“So, you will attack?”

“Yes. You have 3 weeks to prepare, then we will destroy you.”

We merged and Wrath looked even angrier.

“I will stand against you, Wrath. You will not win.”

“I see. Well, prepare, Innocence. I will eliminate you.”

Her evil launched an assault on my good. All 5 shards vs. my half. The castle shook and began crumbling.

_

We all could feel it. The power echoed across the world. It was a clash. Even those who didn’t understand what was happening, understood that a being on par with a god was involved.

“Your majesty, what should we do?”

The king was troubled by the sheer force of the power.

“Royce, what do you know about this.”

I frowned.

“Apologies, my king, but I have made a promise that prevents me from telling you much.”

“Then tell me what you can.”

“The evil god is a lie that was made by the other gods. Half of the evil god was purified into this good god. Now they are clashing their powers.”

“That was actually quite a lot.”

“Though there is a lot more that I can’t say.”

“I understand and given that it has to do with the evil god, I assume Rose is at the center of it.”

“You would be correct, sir.”

“Is she in that clash?”

“Most likely.”

“I see, will she live?”

“It seems to just be a fear tactic. An attempt to scare the other side.”

“I see, do you believe that we will be involved?”

“Maybe.”

Then, as though she heard the king’s question, Rose appeared in the middle of the hall and kneeled.

“Your majesty, we have a bit of an issue.”

“What is it?”

We all knew what she would say next, but her next words still caused us shock.

“The five remaining sins have made an alliance. In one month, they will come here to annihilate this nation and all who live in it.”