Prince of Gluttony: Born from Betrayal

Gluttony leaned back in his chair, dark eyes sliding toward the empty blackness beyond the table's faint glow. His thin frame looked small, but the weight in his voice carried across the space like a whisper just before a storm.

"They are here," he said.

Before Cain could speak, the boy opened his mouth.

It did not open like a child's mouth should. It stretched, soundless and wide, dark as the void itself. Four distinct shards of light burst forth, one after another, spinning through the air before slowing to a halt in the open space around the table.

They were shaped like people but not truly people. Genderless silhouettes, flickering things of living color with no faces, no features, nothing but outlines. Each one burned with its own hue, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

Crimson for Wrath. Rose for Lust .Emerald for Envy. Gold for Pride.

The lights hovered in place, faint glimmers spilling across the blackness, painting the table and chairs in shifting colors.

Gluttony's dark eyes tracked the four of them. His tongue clicked softly when nothing else followed.

"No Sloth," he murmured with faint irritation before turning toward Cain. "And Greed is whole. Your world's bearer shows no aggression toward you… yet."

Cain felt the cold in his stomach tighten. Yet. The word lingered longer than he liked.

The colored silhouettes did not move closer, but they turned toward Gluttony as though they could see him clearly despite having no eyes. Their presence made the void feel heavier, as if the space itself bent around them.

One voice spoke first, neither male nor female but ringing with sharp clarity. "Why summon us, Gluttony?"

Another followed, softer but edged with suspicion. "We are incomplete. Fragments. What could possibly require all of us now?"

The violet silhouette swayed faintly, its voice like silk pulled tight over steel. "Explain yourself."

Gluttony's small smile widened. His dark eyes glimmered like knives catching faint light. "Because my host consumed what was left of you."

That silenced them.

Even without faces, Cain felt their displeasure gather like thunderclouds. A ripple of color shivered through the silhouettes, gold and crimson and emerald flaring bright for a moment before dimming again.

"You fed him fragments," the crimson one said slowly. Wrath, Cain thought, though he could not be sure. The voice rumbled like distant fire beneath stone. "Pieces of us, taken before we could wake. No wonder you stir so strongly."

The emerald silhouette leaned forward slightly, its edges quivering. "And you call us here for what purpose? To tell us our strength bleeds away into your host's veins?"

Pride's golden light flared sharp at that, brighter than the others. "You would not call us simply to gloat. Speak, Gluttony. What is it you want?"

The boy tilted his head, and for the first time since Cain had seen him, his eyes changed. The darkness bent inward, the faint whites disappearing entirely until his pupils stretched into thin crescents of mirrored silver. They caught the faint light of the hovering silhouettes, reflecting them like curved blades.

"I want authority," Gluttony said softly.

Cain stared at him. "Authority?"

The child did not look at him. His words were for the others. "The fragments will not remain like this forever. We will find hosts. But my host will choose them. His subordinates. His allies. Those who follow him into the fire will carry us, not strangers who would waste our power."

Cain felt the shock hit him like a hammer to the chest. Choose? He was being asked to choose vessels for these things?

The golden silhouette's light pulsed faintly. Pride's voice came again, measured and deep. "You want your host to wield the right to pick bearers for us."

"Yes," Gluttony said. "When the time comes."

Cain found his voice at last. "And if I refuse?"

Gluttony's eyes flicked toward him with faint amusement, the mirrored crescents holding no warmth. "You will not."

Before Cain could speak again, Pride's golden form shifted, its faceless outline turning slightly. Cain realized with a start that it was looking directly at Gaius.

"And why," Pride said slowly, "is the Sage here?"

The words cut through the air like ice cracking.

Cain glanced at Gaius sharply. "The what?"

Gaius frowned, looking genuinely confused. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

The golden silhouette did not elaborate. Its light pulsed once, then stilled, as though the question itself had been nothing more than idle curiosity.

Cain looked back at Gluttony. "What does that mean? Sage?"

Gluttony only shrugged faintly, his smile never reaching his eyes. "It does not matter. To me, he is my host's mentor. Consuming him now would be a waste. At least… for now."

Cain felt something cold press against his spine at the way he said it. Even Gaius, usually untouchable behind his crooked smile, went still at those words.

The boy across from them spoke as though discussing the weather, but Cain heard something else beneath it. Layers. Plans stacked behind plans. A game only Gluttony seemed to understand.

The fragments said nothing, though their colored lights pulsed faintly at one another as if in silent conversation.

Cain's mind turned hard and fast. If these things gained hosts, would they follow him or only Gluttony's will? Would they turn on each other? What if the wrong person carried Wrath, or Lust, or Pride? He could already imagine the chaos, the blood, the betrayal waiting in the shadows of that choice.

But Gluttony had spoken with certainty, the kind that bent conversation like gravity. The others had not yet refused him.

Cain found himself wondering if he even had the power to refuse.

Pride's golden silhouette tilted faintly, as though weighing invisible scales. "And if we give this authority… what then?"

"Then," Gluttony said softly, "we grow whole again. With hosts worthy of us. With strength worthy of what we were."

Cain realized his hands were tight fists against the table. The thought of choosing these vessels, of carrying that responsibility, settled like lead in his chest.

The violet one, Lust perhaps, finally spoke again, its voice smooth as running water. "And if your host chooses poorly?"

Gluttony's smile sharpened. "Then the host bears the cost. Not us."

Cain felt the weight of those words sink deep. He did not like the way the fragments stilled at that, the way Pride's golden glow seemed to flare for a heartbeat before fading again.

At last Pride spoke once more. "We will consider it. But know this, Gluttony. If your host falters, if he squanders what remains of us, nothing will protect him. Not you. Not your schemes. Not the Sage at his side."

The child's mirrored eyes narrowed into silver crescents again. "Then let us find out together."

Cain felt the cold in the air deepen as though the void itself had leaned closer to listen. For the first time since stepping into this place, he understood that Gluttony's goals reached far beyond hunger or power.

And he was not sure he wanted to know where they ended.