With 7 Akatsuki standing in front of them, they were at a loss.
All 7 of them looked the same but the air around them were different. Like their personalities changed.
All of them were talking with each other and then they turned to the girls.
"Sorry for confusing you. Let's clear our the situation." One of him said.
"He went to Pluto's place to talk with him. But that bastard Pluto, attacked him and split his mental consciousness." Another of him said.
So basically he was split. And Pluto did that.
"So his mental consciousness or psyche was split?" Selene tried to understand the situation.
"Well that's the gist of it." One of him said.
But all 7 seven of him were exactly the same. So it was confusing for the girls.
"So in that case who are you supposed to be?" Mizuki asked.
"Well I am Superbia." The one standing in right said.
They made a line and stood from right to left.
Superbia was the one in the most right.
And all of them introduced themselves.
From Superbia, there stood Invidia and then Avaritia then Gula and then Ira then Acedia and on the most left stood Luxuria.
"So his psyche was broken down to the sins." Selene said like she finally understood it.
"Sins? What are those?" Aisha asked.
The concept of sins didn't exist in that world.
So they have no knowledge of that.
"Humans are made of seven deadly sins. Those sins are: pride, envy, greed, gluttony, wrath, sloth and lust. These sins make up a human but it depends on the person as to how much." Selene gave her a general explanation.
But it was a completely new concept. So it was a tad bit confusing for Aisha and co to understand.
"Mizuki and Momoko, you should have some knowledge about that?" Selene asked.
"Yes. I have read about those." Mizuki said.
"I have too. Akatsuki was interested in those so I read about those in the library." Momoko said while blushing.
"Hoho. How admirable. To think you did even that." Selene mischievously smiled and teased her.
"Stop it." Momoko made a stern face and stopped her.
"So Akatsuki has split into 7 parts." Aisha asked tilting her head.
"Well that's the gist of it." Selene agreed.
"But why are you here?" Selene asked them.
"It's for discussing the matter about him." Superbia said.
"Him? Are you guys not him?" Mizuki asked.
"We are a part but he has different personalities. Due to spending so much time alone he developed split personality disorder. He has more than one personality." Superbia sighed.
"So he did something like that. No wonder he managed to keep himself hidden." Selene said while admiring.
But it was a terrible matter.
"Back to the topic. We have a request." On behalf of the 7 of them Superbia said.
All of them had a serious face. They really wanted them to listen to their request.
The girls looked at each other and nodded.
"Ok. We are listening." Selene said on behalf of them.
"I want you to become his shackles." Superbia said.
"Shackles?" Selene asked.
It was an odd request. Moreover she didn't understand as to what they meant by shackles.
"Precisely. Bind him. He needs to be bound or he'll become incoherent." Superbia made it clear.
"So you want us to bind him." Selene said.
Though this was not something normal, it exceeded their expectations.
For them to become his shackles.
"Say, you said that the sins depends on the person." Mizuki asked.
"Yes." Selene said.
"Then what is he made of?" She again asked.
"That I do not know." Selene said with a puzzled face.
"I'll tell you." Superbia interjected.
"He is not made up of any sins. We each share the same amount. But if I have to say, it'll be wrath and pride." Superbia said.
He was the one answering all the questions while the others were standing.
"I can see all of you standing. But why is the one on the left cowering like he'll die." Momoko asked.
"That Luxuria. He is just like that because of Akatsuki's main personality." This time Acedia answered in their stead.
"Luxuria means lust, right?" Momoko asked with an intrigued face.
"Yes. That is correct. We represent those sins or the demons that makes a man. But in his case, he was a combination of all of them equally. No one is superior or inferior to one another."
"Then why does he seem different?" Selene asked.
"That'll be his trauma from the past." Superbia hung his head down and said.
"Trauma?" Aisha said.
"Yes. Selene do you know what happened to him after you made him an immortal?" Superbia asked.
"He dove in this hole and holed up here." She said.
"No. After 20 years, he went out for the first time. But he faced a terrible situation and thus Luxuria became like that." Superbia said.
"What happened?" Selene asked worriedly.
"He went into the forest. And got kidnapped. Now tell me who'd do that?" Superbia asked her.
Selene thought for a while and racked her brain. Then suddenly opened her eyes like she got the answer.
However her face was pale and she didn't reply.
"As you guessed. He was kidnapped by the Nymphs." Ira said it this time.
Selene was covering her face. Like she didn't want them to look at her.
"Hey, what is a nymph?" Mizuki asked.
Momoko was also curious.
Aisha and co were also looking expectantly.
"A nymph is a forest spirit. Generally women, they are entirely made up of women. Meaning they have no male in their population." Selene explained but her voice was shaking.
"They kidnap human males to reproduce. But due to their insatiable lust, the males end up dead while they suck them dry." This time she almost chocked on her own words.
This made the girls quiver.
"Something like that." Momoko had an unbelievable look. She had difficulty in believing that.
"Well it did happen but he fled from there. He was in their captivity for a week. But they couldn't do anything to him. So he managed to escape with his dignity in one piece."
Superbia told them. This gave them a sense of relief.
"But from then on, he became afraid of women. Not consciously but unconsciously."
"So this is what happened." Selene said.
"Yes. The reason why he never went out. But after so many years, he finally went outside. And the first ones to meet were women."
"That would be us." Leah said while Belle was nodding.
Those were the first ones two see him sleeping on grass in the plains.
"He became slightly agitated but seeing you girls weren't bad he decided to make contact with you." Superbia said.
Now everything is becoming more clear.
"What is this? Is he a stray cat or something?" Belle said.
"Yeah." Leah supported Belle.
"Don't blame me. It was just a chain of events." Superbia withdrew himself.
"But how did he escape from there? No man can escape from the nymphs." Selene had a doubt and asked.
"Someone helped. It was a young nymph girl. She was no more than 13 back then. She helped him and made a diversion to let him escape." Superbia said.
"How amusing. To think a nymph would let a man run away. And so far as to go and betray their own kind." Selene was surprised to know this.
How Momoko and Mizuki had really sour looks on their faces.
"How repulsive. Something like that exists." Momoko said. Her face was filled with disgust.
Mizuki had a similar expression.
"No need to worry. The current nymphs are different." Selene tried to calm them.
"We got derailed." For the first time Acedia spoke.
He was slouching on the couch but said impatiently.
"Ah! You are right." Superbia noticed it.
"About being the shackles." He continued.
"Who wants to be his shackles?" He asked.
The girls had some troubled faces.
"Telling us that. We don't even know what that means." Aisha said.
"Okay. Maybe calling it shackles would be bad." Superbia lamented.
"How about princess maiden? Do you understand what that means?" He said.
This time Aisha and co made a surprised face.
"But they serve only gods. The top authority who communicates with the god they serve."
"Yes. Technically he is a god too." Selene had a bitter expression as she said that.
"So what do we do?" Aisha asked.
This time they had determined faces.
"Nothing. Just make a contract with him and done. You will hold the ability to control him." Superbia said.
What he said was too good to be true.
"There's something that you aren't telling us." Aisha asked. Her face was serious.
"About that. When you become his follower, you will be given a portion of his power. And the gods will become your enemies."
Superbia said with a face like 'It's no big deal.'
"So that much." Aisha said.
She talked with Belle and Leah. And then said,"Ok."
With that it was done.
But Mizuki interjected.
"What about me?"
"Maybe not. You are not resident of this world and neither is Momoko. So you cannot." Superbia said.
This made them a little sad.
"Oi, Belle." Someone called Belle from behind her.
Belle and the others prompted to look who called her and only saw Akatsuki.
But all seven of him were standing in front of them.
So when did he go there was the question they wanted to ask.
"Give me that sword." He said.
Belle obediently handed him the sword and he chanted something.
"I have infused the protection of Chaos. Now you will be fine." He said.
Belle was baffled at the sight of that.
Superbia sighed and called out to the Akatsuki.
"Invidia. What are you doing?"
So this is invidia or envy.
"I just saved her. Be thankful." He snorted.
"Save….me?" Belle tilted her head and asked.
"Akatsuki said to show him the sword later right?" Superbia asked.
Belle remembered that he said something like that.
She nodded.
"It was for this. He wanted to enchant that sword with his protection."
"But why would I need a protection? Isn't it similar to divine protection?" She asked.
"No. It's higher. It is the Chaos protection or the creator's protection. The highest grade of protection." He said.
With this all of them were surprised and made a weird sound.