Bertholdt Müller's Story

Bertholdt sits in his director's chair shrouded in shadow. The actors—they don't look at him until permitted. That was one of his conditions. His actors, thinking it was just one if his eccentricities, really had no clue exactly [i]why.[/] Should someone have seen him at the moment, as his actors react to a horrific humanoid monster with thick, black liquid leaking out of its mouth with reasonable fear and horror, they would have viewed the yellow sparks flying from his head. Of course, each person in the building was being manipulated by his ability.

"Aaand, cut!"

The actors break their eyes away from the gruesome monster before them and their gazes shift to the shadows, where the director steps out with an elegant gait and a smile on his face. The monster had disappeared, and the actors, having been used to it, now dismiss it as holograms that don't show up on camera despite being turned away every time they asked the director. The actors—the newer ones recovering from the fright, the older ones riveted with every word Bertholdt says—turn their attention to the white-haired man.

His hair is pulled up into a high ponytail, and while his figure looks vaguely feminine, his height and features make it clear he is not. He watches as the actors give him their undivided attention, and he smiles.

"That's good, that's good. Everything we got is good for now. Why don't you all take a lunch, and we'll get back to filming afterwards?"

With that, Bertholdt watches his actors and camera men walk off, and he breathes out a sigh. His laugh is quiet and under his breath, and he almost doesn't notice when the raven perches itself on his head. He widens his eyes and looks up at it, his hands held up towards to it, his fingers bent. He blinks up at it a few times, looking almost childish. "Ah, ah! Is this for me, little bird? Fine, fine. Give it here."

When he takes the note, he reads it over with quick, green eyes. His face stays animated, changing expressions as he reads.

Dear Mr. Müller,

Due to recent events regarding the daughter of Greed, Vanessa, it has come to my attention that the human race is becoming more and more aware of your less than mortal existence. As you can already gather this is not a very good thing. You and the other sins were sent to earth to taint it and if you're discovered you will be destroyed or worse, put on display like zoo animals. I highly suggest all of you return to where you started and discus this matter further as well as figure out the best coarse action to take in these trying times. A notice as been sent to the others as well.

Do not disappoint me.
Do not become a mistake.
Signed,
Your Father

For a moment after reading, he simply stares. He erupts into laughter afterwards, mostly at the mention of the word 'Father,' and he trots off to excuse himself and the rest of his actors for the day. He has business of his own to take care of now.

Valko grumbled nearly the whole journey, starting from the time they left the brothel. There was no part of this situation that he liked, and even worse, there was nothing he could do about it. Unless they wanted to take weeks to reach their home then flying was the only option, and he hated flying. Then there was the cold. He had been born in this region, by which he was tossed out into the snow after his creation by his father, and he had left as soon as he could manage it. The accusations of his being a demon and begin chased out by holymen had helped as well, of course. But now he was back, and worse, that bastard Quincy would be there.

Since they had met, neither man had liked the other. Each of them tried again and again to get the other caught or killed when they were younger, then they tried to use their powers on one another. The joke was on Quincy, though, because Valko never ate anything he didn't prepare for himself.

The snow crunched and the cold winds sang through the trees. Valko had no idea what season it was, there was always snow, a perpetual winter no matter what the calendar might say. Over his normal attire, Aj-Sha had persuaded him to wear an old long coat, made of leather and lined with the fur of a grey wolf. If not for her insistence he wouldn't have worn a coat at all. The cold wouldn't kill him, thanks to his power he ran to hot for that.

To Valko, the barrier was, at first, completely invisible, but the closer he got he saw it as something like a mirror, reflecting the mortal world back, warning humans to stay away. A green light shimmered before him on the surface, and it rippled as Aj-Sha stepped through to the other side. Cursing, Valko followed soon after.

The surge of power that hit him was like being struck by lighting; it hurt, it burned, and it pissed him off. His human appearance was burned away by the energy, and at once it was like his arms were engulfed in dark green flames. Rattling off a string of curses in a language long forgotten, Valko walks off to the side, where a plain looking black slab of stone stands. Scratches and cracks pit the surface, and when he slams first his left, then his right fist into the stone, two more cracks appear. If this stone were from the mortal realm, it would be dust, but as it was Valko took the brunt of the damage. But it helped calm him down.

"I see you're just as reckless as every, Val." Said a rumbling voice from across the way.

Turning, Valko can see Quincy, his stomach open and grinning at him, licking it's lips. He often wondered if the oaf had a second brain to control that thing.

"And you're still shamelessly plugging your shit microwave food." Valko says, wrath, his namesake, flooding into his voice. "They tried to make me eat one of those lard and chicken bone stomach aches on the flight over here!"

Vanessa pulled her white fur coat tighter as she trudged through the heavy snow in thick hiking boots. Snow belted down around her melting on her skin as it landed wetting her blond hair causing strands to cling to her cheeks. She had taken a helicopter to a nearby town in Russia. From there she had rented a red Ferrari and driven as far as the roads were able to the place where they all began. At the foot of the mountain, she had met up with her fellow sins. It had been a very long time since she had seen any of them. It was a sobering reunion.

Together they followed an all too familiar path through the thick fog of snow against a grey sky. She had never truly wanted to return to this place. It was bleak and reminded her too much of their past, of the harsh truths they had learned about mortals when discovering themselves. It had been an incredibly difficult time of their lives as they grew, learning to control their powers, and themselves.

Soon they reached the barrier that lead to their home in those dark times. It shimmered against the light that struck it colours flickered through along the edges. Thier colours, their powers. Vannessa stood back as Aj-Sha took the first step through the barrier. As she moved her full body through Aj-Sha disappeared behind the barrier. Vanessa knew she would now be in her true form. A curse of the barrier.

Valko was the next to take the plunge. Quincy following eager not to be left behind by his rival. Vanessa rolled her eyes at them. Since their existence sparked life they had been at each other's throats. It irritated her but she had grown accepting of it after all these years. She no longer tried to talk them out of their ways as she once did in the past.

With a heavy sigh Vanessa loosened her grip on her fur coat.

"Let's get this over with then" she grumbled.

Without hesitation, she stepped through the portal in one quick motion preferring to take the blunt of the power surge rather than inching her way through. As she stepped through to the other side her arms flexed beside her as instant pain surged through her body. It felt as though needles were prickled against her skin in every nook and crany of her body. She winced her expression showing her pain as power coarsed through her body. Brown mist began to flow from her feet flowing smoothly from the ground wrapping itself around her legs traveling towards her torso, arms and finally head. "Fucking Hell" she cursed as her head became engulfed.

As quickly as it had started the pain began to dissipate the brown mist falling back to the ground. As the mist left her body her once human features were replaced with those of her true form. Her skin pale she looked towards Aj-Sha, Valko and Quincy with cold blue eyes her head now crowned with two large golden jagged horns which splintered. They curled towards her shoulders as overlapping horn straightened above her head. The skin of her arms was pure white before melting into a darkened black at her wrists her hand the colour of coal. Opening her ruby red lips she spoke with a velvet voice. "Let's be glad we don't 'have' to do this every day" Vannessa replied to Aj-Sha's comment.

"I must agree with Valko Quincy, I am sick of only having your 'meals' as an option when I travel. Vannessa raised her eyebrows at him before dropping her shoulders and relaxing into her true form after a long absence. "Though I have to commend your achievement to infect the world with your gluttony"

Stepping forward into the cave out of the glare of the barrier Vanessa turned to face the sins placed her hands on her hips holding her head with air of superiority. "Well, shall we return to our beginnings" she indicated towards the darkness of the cave and the home that it lead too.

Marjeta found the flight to be nearly unbearable, crammed into her two first class seats. No amount of leg room, champagne, or in flight amenities could make up for the fact that she was stuck travelling with common humans and not on her own private jet. It wasn't as if her late husband couldn't afford such a thing. He preferred to spend his money on yachts, cars, and jewelry for her. He himself didn't care for flight, and had never invested in so much as a small helicopter.

As it was, her mood was already rather sour upon arriving. Of all places for their sanctuary to be, it had to be somewhere in the middle of nowhere on this godforsaken ice box called Russia. She tugged her fur coat tighter around her as she trudged out of the town and up the mountain towards their unseen refuge (if one dared call it such). It was at least 2 hours before she could finally make out the otherwise invisible barrier that surrounded the place, the colors shimmering and moving like the walls of a bubble. Her own color stood out the most, the orange a far cry from the human assumptions. People used the phrase 'green with envy', and yet her power was a burning orange. She never did understand how such a saying came about.

Stopping for a moment before the barrier keeping humans blind and unawares of their home, Marjeta pursed her lips in distaste, not looking forward to the experience. Thinking it incredibly unfair for them to need to feel power in such a sudden rush, she stepped through the veil of energy. She nearly vocalized her discomfort, but kept composed even as a burning pain prickled along her entire body, coursing through like an electric shock. She didn't want to be seen as inferior to any of the others. All the sins were fairly cunning, and each was powerful. These were people who could rival her in power and beauty. She couldn't look weak and therefore unworthy of their attention.

Her human form gave way to reveal her truest nature- her appearance not unduly frightening to look at (unlike gluttony for example- that stomach really unnerved her), but it was bizarre all the same. Scales covered most of her skin, and her hair became accented with green. She secretly thought herself superior to the others, though she wished others could see it. After all, what really made people turn to sin in the first place? Sure, her fellow sins were the specific types of failings, but what was the ultimate reason people did things? They want something. Money, power, an enemy eliminated, favor, attention, respect, love, sex, drugs, food, drama, reactions. All these things and more were because they wanted what they wanted. No matter what feelings or desires people had, the motivation was wanting the world to be their way. Envy was the original sin, the one that prompted all the others. So therefore, she reasoned she must be superior.

Not that any of the others agreed, obviously.

Turning to face the others, she frowned at Vanessa's grumbling. Get it over with? What nerve! "You should talk. After all, you're the reason we're here in the first place." Marjeta snapped at the mistress of greed, walking past her with a huff before catching Valco and Quincy bickering. She regarded them with an arched brow, wondering if it was even possible for the two to be in the same space and NOT argue. She had no problem with either of the two males or their sins, but she couldn't bring herself to be completely comfortable around Quincy's stomach, the extra maw making her more that just a tad queasy. Shame, since he was otherwise likeable enough. She nodded in acknowledgement and greeting to both Valko and Quincy in turn, only to hear Estrelle complimenting her fellow sins. Marjeta continued to walk towards their 'home' as it was, hoping Estrelle would give her some praise as well.

As the sins began to make their way into their hideout as it were, Marjeta began to pout, feeling dismayed that she was not the focus of anyone's attention. No one was giving her any significant respect, and Estrelle was not praising her, though she praised the others.

Before she could sink further into her pity party, Aj-Sha's silky voice came in her direction, flirtatious and flattering words entering her ears. Marjeta smiled slightly as the temptress called her 'breath-taking', now suitably mollified for the time being. For one as lovely as lust to recognize her, it was good for her ego. Yes, she was breath-taking, wasn't she? That's right...

Even as they descended, Quincy and Valko continued to exchange verbal jabs, though surprisingly, wrath was maintaining his composure for the most part. At least for now in any case. What really caught envy's notice was how Valko bestowed attention on Aj-Sha. Sure, lust was a beautiful creature, but it wasn't fair! Marjeta had only recently had someone attending to her so carefully and readily, someone who even doted on her! But now she was alone again, and the gentlemanly display made her miss it anew. Why wasn't someone escorting her so gently?

Marjeta's brooding was cut short by the sight of the boat, only now pausing to take in her surroundings. Stopping to glance around her, she nearly shuddered at the cold, dark, and altogether uninviting atmosphere. And such a rickety boat! Who would want to step into such a thing?

Estrelle took initiative to step in first, and Marjeta glanced over sharply as pride challenged her fellow sins to follow her. Already not receiving attention from the woman, Marjeta was desperate to shove the mistake in her face. Taunting them and saying any who wouldn't was weak only sealed the deal, and despite her misgivings, envy followed before anyone else could seize the chance. She'd show Estrelle!

"I'm not afraid. Do scoot over so I have room." Marjeta announced, lifting her skirt just enough to spare it from getting wet, though it proved futile once inside the boat. Biting back a complaint, she sat down opposite the other woman, meeting pride's eyes.