CHAPTER XXV
The Sin of Indolence
"I can't believe a world like this actually exists parallel to our own," Fiona said as she and Ilia continued to lead Team APEX and her younger brother through this grayed out, dull facsimile of Kuo Kuana's District 1. "You explained that this is the First Layer of the Labyrinth, correct? The one that's basically an exact mirror of the real world, just with no people and more gloomy looking."
"Yes," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "However, some of the other facts might not apply to this instance entirely."
"What do you mean?" Ilia said. "You're saying that this Labyrinth might be different from all the others?"
"That's what we were trying to get at before, while we were still in the real world. If we truly are dealing with a city-wide Fourth-Layer Labyrinth, this is gonna be nothing like we've encountered before. But what bothers me is the fact that we're still in what is ostensibly the First Layer."
Echo rejoined the group after scouting ahead. She walked up to Athena, shaking her head.
"Not even one distortion, huh?" Athena said.
"There's something weird about this place, though," Echo said. "That buzzing sensation my Semblance has been giving off hasn't gone away. Xanthus, is anything off to you?"
"I haven't had much experience with these powers in the Labyrinth," he said. "Unfortunately, Yuan would be the better person to ask about that. But I do think that there's something definitely strange going on here. There's an underlying noise I can't quite put my finger on, like we're constantly being watched."
Perseus made a clicking noise with his mouth before drawing his sword. Athena gave her team hand signals, commanding them into formation. Echo immediately went to a higher altitude to provide support from above while Perseus advanced with Athena, shields forward, weapons ready to strike.
"You three, stay with me," Xanthus said, both of his swords in either hand.
Fiona gave him a nod as she, Ilia, and Hanuman tightened their ranks.
Athena peeked around the corner as she and Perseus neared their target. She glanced up at Echo, who gave her hand signals communicating that she could see something up ahead, but that she had no clear line of sight. Athena nodded in acknowledgement before proceeding with Perseus right beside her, the rest of the team within reach behind.
They found themselves at the edge of a throng of people, none of whom seemed to notice any of them. Upon closer inspection, they weren't quite people. Their faces were fixed into expressionless shadows of the real thing. Their skin, hair, and eyes were also as gray and dull as the environment, which matched the lifeless choice of color for their clothing.
"What the heck is this?" Perseus said.
"I thought the First Layer was supposed to be empty," Fiona said.
"It has been 100% of the time until now," Athena said. "Don't let your guard down, though. No idea if these guys actually can't see us or they're pretending."
"No, I think they're ignoring us on purpose," Perseus said as a man in a business suit brushed past him without a word. "Excuse you!"
"Is yelling a good idea?" Hanuman said.
"They can't even freakin' hear us!"
"Perseus, shut the hell up," Athena said, her guard still raised.
Echo dropped back down to street level. "There's something weird going on at city hall," she said. "That's if I'm not wrong about what building it is."
"Is it the big dome-shaped building with pillars holding up the roof?" Ilia said. "It should have the kingdom's crest right on the front of it."
"Yeah, that's the one."
"That's not city hall. That's Parliament."
"What exactly did you see?" Athena asked Echo.
"I can't be totally sure," she began, "but it looks like...I dunno. You know how things look in the desert? All hazy and stuff?"
"Like a mirage?" Perseus said.
"Yeah, that. It kinda flickered for a second, like a mirage."
"Whatever it is, there's something going on there," Xanthus said.
Athena turned to him. The last time she saw him this serious was when he had first transformed into a Wraith-Knight, back when he nearly killed Cinder Fall while defending Penny from her attack. The laser focus in his face now almost made her shudder.
Whatever these Wraith-Knight things were, they might not be all the good everyone thought they might be. Penny sure hadn't put her complete faith in them just yet. The old generation's experience with these beings must have been quite the ordeal if Penny refused to let her guard down around them.
Athena kept her distance as Xanthus led the way with Ilia and Fiona guiding them. Hanuman and Perseus stuck to the center of the pack while Echo and her partner hung out in the rear.
"Did you see his face just now, too?" Echo asked Athena quietly.
Athena nodded. "They've changed, haven't they?"
"Yuan and Xanthus?"
"Yeah."
"Ever since their Wraith-Knights awakened, they've been like totally different people." She paused. "No, actually, I think that maybe the Wraith-Knights awakened in response to changes in them."
Athena glanced over at her.
"You remember what triggered Yuan's awakening, don't you?"
"Yeah, that asshole Adam."
"No, not just that. Yeah, he was part of it, but his entire hometown was destroyed. Heck, if my village got wiped out, I'd lose my mind, too. But that's the thing, though. He didn't lose his mind. I don't know if that's related to the Wraith-Knight or not, but Xanthus went through something similar, didn't he? It wasn't a whole town for him, though. It was Penny."
"Right, cuz he's in love with her."
"It's more than that, I think. It's not just romance. There's a really profound bond between them, you know? Kinda like what's there between you and me." She instantly reddened as soon as she finished her sentence. When she said nothing else, Athena turned to her.
"You still get all shy about stuff like that, huh?" she chuckled.
"Can I help it?" Echo nearly shouted. "Ugh! You made me yell!"
Athena couldn't help but snicker before returning to her previous demeanor. "Seriously, though. What if these Wraith-Knights aren't all we're hoping they are?"
Echo looked straight ahead at Xanthus, whose black clothing was a result of crossing over into this world. She didn't want to believe that her friends might be turning to some kind of dark side, but at the same time, she could scarcely ignore the terrible sensation from her Semblance every time they transformed in this world.
"There's something you're not telling me," Athena said.
Echo held her breath. Athena held out a hand to slow down their pace. Once Athena was sure they were outside of earshot, she looked over at her partner.
"Talk to me."
"I, uh," Echo stammered, "you're right. There's something I haven't told anybody. I didn't think anything of it at first since it was pretty obvious, at least from my perspective, that there was nothing bad actually happening, but..."
"Your Semblance."
Echo looked at her.
"So, I'm right."
"No, no, it's not...no. It's gotta be just because of the fact that it's a foreign being in our world. My Semblance points to danger. It doesn't differentiate between evil intent and an uncontrollable thing like a falling tree."
"That doesn't change the fact that your Semblance points to the Wraith-Knight as a danger."
"Well, it's a being of powerful magic."
"Did it ever point to Lilly as dangerous?"
She didn't answer.
"So, it's not the magic. It's the being itself."
Echo looked at the ground. It was true that her Semblance was quite reliable in that regard—perfectly reliable, in fact. So far, she had never gotten any false positives or false negatives. If there was a danger somewhere close by, she'd know about it. And more recently, any threats to people she shares a close bond with would light up her Semblance like a beacon. That was the strange thing about the sensation she was getting from Xanthus right now. It was as though the danger was coming from him and directed at him all at once.
"There it is," Ilia said.
The group stood at the bottom of the large stairway that led up to the elevated platform upon which Menagerie's Parliament stood. Nothing about the building seemed out of the ordinary, other than the grayed-out hue resulting from the Labyrinth's effects. There were a number of people milling about, almost drone-like in their behavior.
"You know what," Fiona began, "you guys said that the Labyrinth is a pretty good reflection of what's going on in the real world, right?"
"More or less," Athena said.
"You thinkin' the same thing, sis?" Hanuman said.
"Yup," Fiona said. "There's no doubt about it. This is a hyper-exaggeration of the real thing in the real world."
"People in the city really are this robotic?" Perseus said, eyeing a group of Faunus he'd never seen before.
"Not to this extent," Ilia said, "but yes, this is almost a parody of the city itself."
"That makes sense," Xanthus said, grabbing the group's attention. "From what Ariadne and Dr. Hillphire have gathered so far, the Labyrinth tends to be a reflection of the real world with every façade scraped away. This is the truth in its purest form, unfiltered and unabridged."
Athena spent some time watching the intensity on her teammate's face before speaking. "You're good, though, right?"
He didn't answer, not right away. There was something about this structure that made his skin want to crawl off.
"Xanthus?" Perseus said.
He glanced at him, looking around at his team. "I'm fine. Like I said before, I'm not accustomed to this. But..." He turned back to the structure. "There's something in there. Something unbelievably powerful. Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to run in the opposite direction."
"Honestly, I think he's right," Echo said. "You guys know how I describe my danger Semblance, right? Well, this is the loudest it's ever been. It's not the sharp kind of alert that I get when a threat is literally just about to strike, but it's like a pressure is weighing all over my body."
"It sounds similar to the heightened instincts of a Faunus," Ilia said. "Fiona, Hanuman, how are you two feeling?"
"Sick," Fiona said.
"Huh?" Hanuman said. "I don't feel anything."
"Lucky you. Not all Faunus are sensitive to this kind of thing, but some of us are."
"Such as myself and Fiona," Ilia said. "That said, Xanthus, Echo, since you two are the experts on this kind of thing, what do you say? Should we press forward, or should we back out for now?"
Xanthus's gaze intensified as he continued to watch the building. He turned to Athena. "We are currently in crisis mode, are we not?"
"I'd say so," she said. "We've never seen a fucking city-wide Labyrinth before. If this is the core of this Labyrinth, I think we need to do something about it before any more harm is done." She turned to the entire group. "We don't normally do this kind of thing, but let's put it up to a vote. Anyone not in favor of continuing this mission, raise your hand."
Echo and Fiona were the only two objectors.
"Like I said, I feel sick," Fiona said.
"And it's like this place is actively rejecting our presence," Echo said. "I've never felt this kind of weight before."
"My Faunus instinct is also warning me to stay away," Ilia began, "but as leader of the White Fang, it is my duty to protect my people. Blake Belladonna may be the head of state, but the White Fang is entrusted with national defense."
"I think it's settled," Xanthus said, stepping forward.
"Hey," Athena said, cutting him off.
"What is it?"
"You don't see it yourself, but I do."
She pulled out her scroll, turned on the camera, and switched it to self-portrait before turning it to her teammate to use as a makeshift mirror. Xanthus stared in shock at the color of his eyes. From what they knew about the Wraith-Knights, the golden halo of light would emerge outward from the pupils in bursts of energy, signifying the use of high-level magic. But it would only happen periodically and in short durations.
"How long have I been like this?" he said.
"Since we got to this building," Echo said, still wary of the danger sense she was getting from him.
"Xanthus, I'm leaving the decision to you," Athena said. "I know we just voted to go in, but everything hinges on you. And yeah, you're still new to this whole Wraith-Knight thing, but from what we've seen with Yuan, I think it operates on an instinctual level somewhat. So, what's your gut telling you? Should we go in or back out?"
He continued staring at the building. His fight or flight mechanisms were on fire now, but the first of the two was beginning to win out. If there weren't innocent lives at stake, the choice to preserve himself would be easy, but that wasn't what they taught him at Beacon Academy and it certainly wasn't what Team APEX was about.
"There are people counting on us, right?" he said, addressing his teammates, who nodded. "Then, the choice is obvious." He turned to Ilia. "You can count on us. We'll do everything we can to help your countrymen."
"Thank you," she said. "Fiona, Han, stay close to the group, okay?"
"Don't gotta tell me twice," Hanuman said.
The group of seven marched up the stairs, maintaining a tight formation with Xanthus and Athena at the very front.
"What kind of magic can you use?" Athena said to her teammate.
"I'm not certain if it's coincidental or not," Xanthus began, holding up both of his hands, "but they match my actual Semblance."
Athena looked at the two runes manifesting on the backs of his hands. On his left was a Fire Rune. On the right, a Water Rune. "Is that what you hit Cinder with when you first awakened to the power?"
"I have to assume as much."
"Yeah, cuz that was a ton of firepower you threw at her. Your ice magic straight up put out her fire magic and then when you countered with your own fire magic, I was pretty sure you were gonna burn her out of existence."
"I wish we had someone to train us with the use of this magic."
"Lilly sure could do it, I think," Echo said before turning to Perseus.
"Huh?" he said.
"You were with her all last summer, right? How good was she with her magical power?"
He shrugged. "As far as I could tell, she employed her magic mostly by instinct. I'm guessing she's a lot better by now, though." He winced as the Rune of Atonement on his left hand began to stir. Xanthus noticed the Primal Rune's activity, but he said nothing, keeping his promise to his friend.
"You okay?" Athena said.
"Yeah," he said, loosening his shoulder. "Just a little sore for some reason."
"Want a granola bar?" Echo said, holding one out.
"Sure, why not?"
The inside of the Parliament building looked no different from its external appearance, but it seemed even more depressing than anywhere else. Almost no color existed in this place, even sucking the very life out of the team's own colors.
"We're all wearing gray," Hanuman said, eyeing everyone's clothing. "Is this bad?"
"Does anybody feel funny?" Athena said.
"Funny, how?" Fiona said.
"Nobody's feeling all lethargic like all these people wandering around us?"
"Not yet, anyway," Ilia said. "Is something like that normal?"
"If you don't have a reality anchor, yeah," Perseus said. "That's why we each carry them. Without them around, the ambient reality would already begin to encroach on your own reality the moment you step into the Labyrinth. Those with inherent magical power don't get affected, though, like Lilly or the Maidens or Wraith-Knights."
"As long as the gems' power isn't being overcome," Athena said. "We're a lot more cautious than normal because this is our first Labyrinth of this type."
"Got it," Fiona said as they continued moving further into the building, reaching the back of the lobby.
"Through this door should be the Parliament Chamber," Ilia said. "If we're gonna get any hints of what's going on in this world, it should be there."
"Let's go, then," Athena said, pushing the doors open.
"Whoa," Hanuman said. "What the heck is this?"
The group looked into a never-ending corridor that seemed to descend into the depths of the earth.
"I don't know if I feel so comfortable heading down there," Fiona said.
Athena turned to Echo and Xanthus.
"Yeah, my Semblance is going crazy right now," Echo said, glancing at Xanthus, who was staring intently at the darkness. "Hey, you okay?"
"The core of the Labyrinth is down there," he said.
"How do you know?" Perseus asked him.
"I don't know. I feel it."
"Okay," Athena said, drawing her spear and readying her shield. "Heads on swivels, everybody."
Team APEX's leader was at the very front with Ilia and Fiona flanking her. Perseus provided rear protection with Echo, Hanuman, and Xanthus between both extremes. They descended for what seemed like hours when they finally came to another set of doors identical to the ones they had just crossed through.
"I wanna say that the chambers are right through these doors," Ilia said, "but I don't wanna be a liar two times in a row."
Without a word, Athena pushed the doors open, keeping her shield up to protect her from whatever might be on the other side. In spite of the mundane scenery, she kept her guard up. The group entered after her, nervous about the all-too-normal happenings in the chamber. Menagerie's Parliament seemed to be in session, discussing national issues along with foreign concerns.
Echo glanced back momentarily, eyes widening in shock at the sight.
"What?" Perseus said before looking in the same direction. "Ey, what the hell?"
The rest of the group looked back as well. The long descending hallway was gone. Only the main lobby was there.
"Did we just imagine that corridor?" Fiona said.
"No," Athena said. "This is typical of a Labyrinth."
"The deepest layers are heavily distorted realities," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "And I know for certain now that we are in a Fourth Layer Labyrinth. Not because of that spatial anomaly just now, but because of this room."
"What are you seeing?" Ilia said.
"These people are not real."
Parliament was fully in session today, with every representative present, including Blake Belladonna, Ilia Amitola, and Sun Wukong.
"Hey, mom and dad are here," Hanuman said.
"No," Ilia said. "Those are not your parents."
"She's right," Fiona said. "Look, Ilia's there, too."
The group watched with their guard up as Parliament convened, discussing every major issue plaguing the country, but all of their resolutions fell on the side of non-intervention and passiveness. Only Blake, Ilia, and Sun fought against the apathy, but they were outnumbered and outvoted, despite holding the highest ranks available.
"Sadly, what you're watching is no distortion," Ilia said. "I remember this day. We held a session to discuss increasing belligerence from Atlas itself and the entire council voted nearly unanimously not to increase defense spending."
"I didn't hear about this," Fiona said.
"Your parents and I kept it mostly secret. We didn't know who we could trust, or if whatever this is affecting our nation could drive them toward violence, though from what we're seeing, probably not. Still, we wanted to keep things between people we could trust. So we put together a task force of those closest to us who didn't seem to be affected by this thing and did our best to mount a defense in the east."
"That's what mom and dad were doing," Hanuman said.
"Yes. They ordered me to stay here with you kids just in case something happened to them so our country wouldn't suffer a total decapitation strike."
"Wait, what exactly is happening in the east?" Fiona said.
Ilia turned to Team APEX, who were listening intently. "You guys may have already been briefed on this, but if not, here's the whole story. We've been in touch with Professor Ozpin and the rest of the Coalition. Ivory Schnee's report to Headmaster Lyon reached us and it coincided with the surveillance we've been maintaining within Atlas ranks. Of course, since the information blackout following Ivory and Leon's flight from Atlas, we haven't heard a thing from our agents."
"So Atlas really did launch an attack on your Dust mines," Athena said. "How the hell did they ship that many people here without anyone noticing, though?"
"That's anybody's guess. None of our scanners picked up airships of any kind. Subterranean intrusion is out of the question since the bedrock out east is harder than granite. And watercraft would be easily noticed. It's like they manifested an army out of nowhere and marched it to our mining towns out in the east."
"This sounds a little too much like magic," Perseus said.
"Yeah," Athena said. "Armies marching out into thin air? Where have we heard that before?"
"You mean every time our whole group marches out into the real world from Labyrinth rifts?" Echo said.
"You think they actually marched an army through the Labyrinth?" Ilia said. "But, given what you've said..."
"That's right," Xanthus said. "There's no way they could have transported that many people through the other world without some kind of protection against the adverse effects of simply being here. And I doubt the possibility of them having thousands of reality anchors to pass around. They must have some large-scale means of protecting a whole army."
"So mom and dad are fighting against an entire Atlas division?" Fiona said. "Why didn't you tell any of us this!"
"You have to understand, Fiona," Ilia began, "you and your siblings are next in line for the throne if anything happens to your mother. You in particular, given your aptitude for politics and civic duty."
"That's not the point!"
"Tell me. If you knew just what your parents were up to and the danger they put themselves in, what would you have done?"
She didn't answer.
"Yes, I know. I know what you would have done because it's what I would have done at that age. You're the kind of person who can't just sit around and do nothing. But you're simply too important to throw your life away like that."
"But you let my sisters go off just now! Ingrid, Francine, Justine, Nadine! I could be there with them fighting, too!"
"The only reason I did not stop them was because of the fact that Penny is with them and I know I can count on her to keep them safe. And having all of you in one spot is a terrible strategic move."
"Is that all that matters to you?"
"Fiona Belladonna!" Ilia's shout silenced her. "Someday you are going to have to understand your place in the world! Life isn't all about just following the heat of the moment or blindly giving into the most convincing argument! There's a bigger picture here and you are an integral part of that picture! It's time you started acting like it!"
Fiona balled her fists, looking at the ground.
"Hey," Ilia said, her tone much softer than it was a moment ago. "Fiona, I'm not trying to be a hard ass, okay?"
"No," Fiona sniffled. "You don't have to explain yourself. Like you said, I have an aptitude for civic duty. I know where I belong in life, what I have to do for the greater good. It's just...I hate feeling so...helpless. And after everything the humans have put us through, again they're—"
"Fiona, what have your mother and I told you about that?"
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know. I'm sorry. We must never attribute to an entire population the malice of a few. Otherwise, we'd be repeating the mistakes of the past."
"That's right. Menagerie today is a bastion of hope not just for Faunus, but for all humans who wish to live together peacefully."
"Not everybody thinks that way, though," Hanuman said. "I mean, you've heard what outsiders have said. It's true that all offspring of a regular human and a Faunus end up 100% Faunus, even if the kids are just genetic carriers and not showing Faunus traits. Even then, more often than not, the kids of a Faunus and a regular human end up phenotypically Faunus."
"Han..."
"No, sis. I might be the youngest out of all of us and I might act all carefree like dad does all the time, but I listen, you know. Not just to social media and stuff, but to the news, too. I mean, everybody posts nothing but that stuff nowadays anyway, so it's impossible to miss. But yeah, I get why some people are saying that the whole mixed marriage thing sounds like a Faunus takeover and a genocide of the regular human race."
"What?" Athena said.
"Yeah, what?" Echo said. "I'm on my scroll basically every day and I've never heard of this."
"It's because social media is largely excluded by region," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "The CCTS network here in Menagerie is still very new compared to the other kingdoms, and so there's still quite the gap between the two social systems. I'm guessing you guys don't get feeds from people in Atlas either, right?"
"That's right," Ilia said. "We have to conduct espionage to know what's going on that far north."
"But Mistral doesn't share with us either," Fiona said.
"Forget about that for now," Perseus said, his guard up as he faced the center of the assembly hall. "I think they've noticed us."
The whole group turned to the apparitions, which were all looking straight at them.
"I don't like the look of this," Athena said, Aegis and Pallas at the ready.
Echo already had an arrow nocked into her bowstring as well. She scanned the chamber, but there were no good vantage points for her to take. She returned her attention to the front when the entire assembly began to murmur, never taking their eyes off of the seven intruders.
"Hang on a minute," Ilia said, looking toward the front of the room. "Is that...no, it can't be."
"Are we looking at the same person?" Xanthus said. "That woman at the very front, the one to whom everyone seems to be turning?"
"The one with the rabbit ears?" Perseus said. "What about her?"
"That's Velvet Scarlatina," Fiona said, "the highest ranking cabinet member. She was one of mom's strongest allies in Parliament, but around five years ago, she started supporting more isolationist policies, but not of the aggressive variant like what Atlas has been doing. Every single policy she's proposed and voted for has been in favor of keeping to ourselves and not bolstering our defenses. It was a pretty stark personality shift from the way she used to be."
"On the contrary," Ilia began, "she was actually quite timid back when she attended Beacon Academy with your mom. At least, from what she's told me. During and after the war, she changed, becoming much more assertive and confident in herself. What could have caused a shift back?"
"Trauma?" Perseus said.
"No," Xanthus said, taking a step forward. "Magic. More specifically, a Greater Daemon."
"Oh, you can see me?" said the apparition of Velvet Scarlatina.
"Of course I can. Your form cannot deceive the eyes of a Wraith-Knight."
"Yes, yes, I've been awaiting your arrival. Your friends in the east have already entered my domain. I was wondering when you would step in as well." She gesticulated with her hands. "Please, allow me to welcome all of you into my castle."
"Castle?" Echo said, glancing around and gasping. Sometime during the conversation just now, their entire environment had shifted. No longer were they in the Parliament building. Instead, they were surrounded by the stone walls of a medieval castle, though the inside of this chamber was still in the same arrangement as the assembly hall, only with different furniture to match the new setting.
"My name is Malphas," she continued. "I am the ruler of this castle."
"Malphas, huh?" Perseus said. "You related to a Moloch?"
She giggled. "My brother is looking forward to a rematch with you all, but right now, I am your host, not him. Oh, and I don't have any intention of devouring you the way he did. Unlike Moloch, I do not fall prey to the effects of Sin."
"Sin?" Echo said.
"I think she's referring to the thing that possessed Moloch during our fight," Athena said.
"On the contrary," Malphas continued, "it is we who possess each of the seven essences." She paused in thought. "Well, then again, given his situation, I suppose you're not actually wrong."
"You mean he's the only one having trouble with it?" Perseus said.
"You have to understand. The Sin of Devouring is quite the potent force. The others like to make fun of him every time it takes over, but I do feel for him. It must be quite irritating to have to deal with the most ravenous monster anyone has ever known."
"What is it you want?" Athena demanded.
"What I want?" Malphas repeated. "Hmm. No one's ever asked me that question before. Oh, except for Azazel. He's the only one who ever cared to know."
"What answer did you give him, then?" Perseus said.
"Well, I'll tell you what I told him. I have no desires. Perhaps it is why I am so compatible with the Sin of Indolence, which robs you of all your desires."
"So, then, why?" Athena said.
"Mostly because of Azazel. As I said, he cared enough to ask me my thoughts. Is that not enough for one's undying fidelity?"
"It does seem kinda shallow," Perseus said.
"No, I think I understand where she's coming from," Echo said.
Athena glanced at her partner.
"After all, I had a similar experience myself."
"You're talking about Lilly," Athena said.
Echo nodded. "She actually cared about me enough to sit with me and talk."
"Yes," Malphas said, closing her eyes in reminiscence. "For you, young lady, it's quite the powerful thing, but for one such as myself, who has lived countless millennia detached from everything and everyone, to have Azazel approach me and show me any kind of interest was sublime."
"And then you latched onto him like a friggin' leech," Athena said.
"No, not a leech. More like...a cancer, perhaps."
"Uh," Perseus began, "is that, uh, supposed to be a compliment?"
"I don't expect mere mortals to understand."
"I think I'm starting to piece it together," Ilia said. "What do you want with our country?"
"Hmm?"
"You said that you possess the 'Sin of Indolence'. I can only conclude that it's you who has been infecting the entire population of Menagerie with this apathy."
"You've got it all wrong," Malphas said. "I do not place these feelings in the hearts of mortals. I only search for what is already there. Your friend, the one who possesses this body in the real world, Velvet, right? She gained a sense of courage after the war, but her heart has always been timid by nature. She was one of my first, the quickest to succumb, in fact. And then many in your Parliament followed soon after, and then your entire city, and finally the entire country."
"You're the one corrupting our people?" Fiona yelled.
"I already told you. All I do is draw out what is already there."
"You three, stay close to me," Xanthus said to the three Faunus in the group. "She's about to do something. I can feel her magical power rising."
"You are sharp of wit, young man!" Malphas said as she began floating in the air. "I have not been able to greet you all with a proper welcome! As I said before, this is my castle, and I alone make the rules here! As such, you are all interfering with my work! Trennungsschmerz!"
Xanthus hurried to protect his charges as they were all engulfed in a black cloud.
