“On The Broken Bridge.”

We walk the cobblestone path, twisting and turning each step heavier than the next.

We all walk in silence. The land of Sloth's palace is barren and gray, as if all life’s been drained out of, i’m not the only one who noticed it.

“This sure is a harsh view..”

Emrys says with a grimace.

“Wasn’t always, my grandfather used to say once upon a time this was the central kingdom of Acedia. Bustling with life and beauty.”

Maelis says softly, a wistful glint in their eyes.

“So then you’re from Acedia?”

Wilkin asks, chiming in.

“That’s right.”

Maelis says with a guarded nod.

“Each of us is from Luxuria.”

He says pointing to the rest of his crew.

“But our hometowns were vastly different. As I’m sure you all know, the closer your town is to the palace of the ruling royalty the stronger their Ardor is over it.”

“I’ve heard that whole towns have cleared out and gone empty just to get further away from the palaces.”

I add with furrowed brows. My hometown was never that close, and Avaritia’s Ardor still affected it heavily.

“The effects the Demon Royals have on our world are truly wicked.”

Emrys says with furrowed brows.

“That’s why we need to rid the world of them.”

Jorvain says sternly.

“Ah, you sound like my old man.”

Leopold says with a sigh.

“Always banging on about banishing the sins back to hell.”

“You disagree?”

Dain growls.

“W-woah, relax big guy, of course not, I’m just not sure it’s realistic.”

They say with a shrug, raising their hands in defense.

“If it could be done, wouldn’t it have been centuries ago? When one sin is slain, another one is being resurrected by the Servus of the sins. More people die along the journey than they do from fighting the Royals. So maybe they aren’t meant to be slain.”

“Well, that sounds just like something the Servus would say.”

Jorvain says with furrowed brows.

“You kidding me? I’m not one of those lunatics, but maybe their nonsense has got some truth to it.”

They say with a shrug.

“If you really think that, then you shouldn’t be on this journey.”

Dain growls.

“Hey now fellas, there’s no need for conflict, we’re comrades!”

Wilkin says with a sheepish smile, trying to de-escalate the situation.

“Like hell we are.”

Dain says, sounding pretty pissed off.

“Jeez, you’ve got quite the temper huh?”

Anastasia says with furrowed brows.

“Maybe your friend just has quite a few screws loose.”

He retorts.

“Come on, Ana, not you too, don’t pick a fight!”

Wilkin whines.

“I don’t blame you, even I think Leo sounds like an idiot when he gets like that but we all have different outlooks, that’s still my friend you’re talking about.”

She says calmly.

“Sorry…you’re right I have a temper.”

Dain mutters, looking away.

“No worries, cheer up, we’ll need all the high spirits we can get.”

She says through a yawn.

“You look handsome without that helmet how’d you get those scars?”

She asks with a smirk, which makes Dain blush all over.

“It's a long story.”

Dain says quietly.

Maelis lets out an exaggerated gasp.

“He never blushed when I said that!”

They say bitterly.

I pat them on the back.

***

Carrying on without rest, we reached a broken bridge that once stretched across the vast body of water that lay before us. The gap’s so wide, it’d be impossible to cross even with rope. The water sits just an inch beneath the broken bridge's remaining structure.

“The water must’ve risen from rain”.

Emrys says with furrowed brows.

“How on earth are we going to cross to the other side?”

Maelis asks.

“Good question…”

Jorvain says looking puzzled.

“I could make some water-walking potions?”

A low deep voice says under their breath. It takes me a while to realize it came from Silas, who hasn’t spoken since we agreed to reach Sloth together.

“Great idea Silas!”

Wilkin exclaims.

“In theory, but enough for a whole party could take days.”

Maelis says gesturing with their staff.

“With one person making them, but seeing as we have another summoner, if we camp here for the night we could have it ready by sunrise.”

Silas whispers, gesturing towards Maelis, the second summoner is questions.

“Can we really afford to take a day? We have to slay Sloth, the longer we’re under the influence of his Ardor the weaker ours will get and we risk someone else slaying him first, you all may not care but we need those cores.”

Emrys says sternly, crossing her arms.

“Couldn’t we swim over? The waters rose so high we could reach the other side and get back onto the structure.”

Jorvain suggests, looking back at the other side of the bridge.

“Our armor and equipment are too heavy, and the waters too deep, we’re already going to have to leave our wagon and carry over what we can, the wagon would weigh Agnes down if we try to take both.”

I say, thinking aloud.

“Those are…good points, plus Dain is afraid of the water.”

Maelis says, glancing back at Dain who stands far from the water, his eyes distant and downcast.

“Ugh, fine, but let’s be up by sunrise!”

Emrys says, annoyed but compliant.

With that, we all scramble round to set up camp. Wilkin and Jorvain bicker while separating rations for dinner, Dain and Anastasia unpack wood from our wagon and start a fire, while Leopold and Emrys set up camp.

Maelis and Silas lay out all the ingredients and herbs we have left, discussing their recipe.

“Dried water lily!” Maelis shouts to me, I turn to the wagon looking through our bundled-up goods, searching for the required ingredient.

“Water Lilies!”

I shout tossing the lilies to them.

“Ugh, we need slime cores!”

Silas whines, and that’s probably the loudest he’s spoken.

Slime cores? A sudden memory comes to mind—

“The cores we collected from the hill!”

I exclaim, rummaging through the unopened bundles.

And tucked in the back of the wagon, still wrapped in the fabric of Emrys's old nightgown, is a pile of now-dried slime cores.

My eyes light up.

“Got them!”

I shout, rushing back to them, holding the pile in my hands.

“Will this be enough?”

I ask with a smile.

“I-it’ll have to be, I’m surprised you all have these slime cores.”

He mutters.

“We’ve got Roba to thank for that.”

Maelis says with a warm smile.

“You’re gonna need to rehydrate those if we’re gonna use them, lucky for us we have a water source nearby. “

They add pointing over to the water beneath the bridge.

“Won’t they sink?”

I ask.

“Slime cores? Don’t be ridiculous, they’re just as buoyant as the slime itself, but it may take a bit, have one of your teammates help.”

Silas says, waving me off.

“Roba!”

I hear Jorvain shout from behind.

“Let me help!”

He says with a big grin, ignoring Wilkin’s barking behind him.

“Huh? Well, sure.”

I say with a small smile.

***

We sit side by side, reaching down to soak the slime cores.

He scoots over to me with a smile. I smile back, a warm feeling forming in my chest.

“How did you know I needn’t help?”

I ask with a raised brow.

“Huh, oh I didn’t, I just had to get away from Wilkin before I wiped that smirk off his face with force.”

He says with a chuckle, I sweat.

“Oh,”

I laugh

“Makes sense.”

“Yeah—but I also just wanted to be with you, talk to you.”

He says softly.

“Yeah?”

I say with a small smile.

“Yeah!”

He exclaims.

“Well..just know Silas said he and Maelis needed slime cores but he didn’t expect us to have any, but because of the ones we saved from the hill, we had some, and it made me really happy. Because back then I was convinced I was just being a bother, but it ended up mattering further down the line.”

I say softly, smiling at my reflection in the water.

He laughs, which makes me freeze, my brows furrowing

“Hm?”

I ask.

“Of course it ended up mattering Roba. I don’t think you realize how much you’ve actually done. Thinking back to the pub, I know you probably felt useless then too, but you kept Anika safe. Even when you messed up you weren’t useless. I never knew how skilled a fighter you were till that group attacked us, i’ll admit, I was impressed.” he says with a proud smile.

I feel a pang in my chest, a smile returning to my face.

“I think you’re right..i feel really silly for not realizing it sooner, even when you tried to help me see it.”

I say sheepishly.

“I told you from the beginning. You’d realize it in your own time, and look at you now.”

His smile widens

“I told you so—

I shoot forward, wrapping my arms around him.

“Thank you Jorvain. For listening to the sound of my heart, and hearing something worth listening to.” I say softly.

He hugs me back tightly.

“Don’t thank me for that.”

He says gently as I pull away to see the sweet smile on his face.

I smile back, turning to look up at the moon, shrouded by the clouds. And that lonely chaos in my heart’s gone now.

“Um, hey Roba, when everything’s said and done, you’re gonna stay right, with the rest of us?”

He asks with a nervous smile.

“We’ve still got five more sins left to slay after this don’t we? Course I’m gonna stay.”

I say with a grin.

“I mean, I guess I’d wonder if my father was okay..but he wouldn’t speak a word to me, even if I visited.”

“I see..”

He says quietly.

“Something the matter?”

I ask, setting the slime cores in my hands aside.

“No, just..uh, nothing.”

He says curtly, turning away, running his fingers through his hair nervously.

“That’s the face you make when you have something more to say that you can’t get out.”

I say with a laugh.

“W-What? How do you know?”

He says sounding baffled.

“Cause you made it the night we got into that fight.”

I say with a light-hearted sigh.

“Hah, you really are observant..”

He says with a soft chuckle. Turning to me, he looks over my face with a look that’s hard to read.

“I like to think that..if you’ve changed and moved forward from your past, there’s no need to hold it so tight to your chest, not if the present you is, so different…not if you’re trying to make the future different.” he croaks with a bittersweet smile.

“I’ve never talked about it but... I...I used to be someone different from the me everyone knows and loves now, and the person I was is someone you all wouldn’t love, quite the opposite..and I hate that person I was too. Every day I try to make up for the things I did when I was them, but sometimes I wonder if I have the right to call myself a hero..to be amongst all these wonderful human beings and want to be with them.” his eyes gloss as he looks up at the moon.

“I forgive you. I don’t need to know, so let’s let it go, I’ll hold your hand and look to the blue skies.” I say, placing my hand over his.

He whips his head in my direction, teardrops sitting on his lower eyelids, his lashes wet, his brows furrowed. His green eyes reflect the moonlight above.

“You remembered the words?”

He croaks.

I nod.

“And I mean it, I love who you are now and I forgive who you had to be to get here.”

I say with a soft smile.

His eyes go wide, tears running down his face. He scoots closer to me, leaning his head on my shoulder. I lean my head on his.

“Say that to me again someday soon, when it’s all over, and all the Sins are slain. I’ll be able to say the same without knowing I’m holding your heart captive, till then I’ve gotta let your soul sing its own song without glorifying me.” he whispers with his eyes shut.

I turn my head to look down at his face, and he looks back up at me. Despite the beating in my heart, and the furrow in my brows. I smile, a gentle understanding in the gaze we share.

“I’ll hold you to that, Jorv.”

I say softly, biting back tears.

“Then it’s a promise.”

He replies with a bittersweet laugh.