Envy did not simply move. She calculated.
Where Lust had charged in with raw desire, Envy's takeover was a silent, surgical coup. Within the confines of Will's psyche, she began her work, not with a roar, but with a whisper. Psychic tendrils, invisible to the outside world, reached out—making contacts, gathering intelligence, mapping the weaknesses of the Juvenile Detention Academy. Every piece of data was a brick in the foundation of her revenge. She plotted her moves carefully in my psyche environment. The others were busy in the psyche world. As usual after Lust stored her experiences. The Psyche Environment upgraded one more time. Luxurious and full of glitter
Meanwhile, in the physical world, Will's body began to change. A deep, resonant hum built within his chest, a power not his own awakening. Energy, sharp and purple-tinged, crackled around his fists. With a sound like tearing fabric, the air around him distorted, and he shot into the sky—a missile guided by a vengeful spirit. Sixty percent of his latent potential, unlocked and weaponized. His destination: the neon-drenched metropolis of Babi. A Neighboring City to Faeth.
---
In Babi, the air was thick with the smell of street food and ozone. Envy, wearing Will's face like a well-fitted mask, navigated the crowded streets with purpose. She sought an old, forgotten envoy, a relic from a past life. A tool, waiting to be used.
---
Hundreds of miles away, from Faeth City on the outskirts of Greho, in the stark, sterile auditorium of the JDA, Mistress Biondh stood before a new generation of cadets. Her voice, amplified and cool, cut through the nervous silence.
"The world has developed a new infection," she began, her eyes scanning the thirty-four young faces before her. "They are called Stray psyches[1]. They are not born of life, but of death. Specifically, the final, crystallized emotion of a human being at the moment of their demise."
A holographic image flickered to life above her, showing a twisted, shadowy figure made of grief and rage.
"If you are so unlucky to die out there," she continued, her gaze lingering on a group of cadets at the back, "especially you REGULARS, with no special ability… I urge you. Die happy. Die at peace. Because if you die in fear, in anger, in despair… that emotion takes on a life of its own. A hungry, destructive life. That would put us at a huge disadvantage."
The image shifted to show city blocks torn apart by invisible forces.
"These strays feed off those dark feelings to sustain their own half-existence, and they cause destruction everywhere. They are rampant now. And according to our historical research, a surge this common only occurs when a significant psychic event is imminent—often heralding the arrival of a major Psyche."
She clasped her hands behind her back.
"You will be split into right teams of four. Your mission: purge the city sectors assigned to you. Find these strays. And eliminate them, from the seven cities of Fate"
A team shall accompany me along with Ose and Folly. We will meet the Scourge
---
Inside Will's mind, Envy stood in the central chamber, her form a focused emerald light. She was reviewing her plans when the air grew heavy with the scent of metal and ambition.
Greed appeared beside her, his form shimmering with golden avarice.
"You're meeting an old friend, aren't you?" he smirked, his voice oily and knowing.
Envy didn't look at him, her attention on the psychic map of Babi unfolding before her. "He is not my friend. He is merely useful at this moment."
"It's a shame," Greed sighed, feigning sympathy. "Having to rely on an old enemy for help. It must taste so bitter."
Envy's form flickered with irritation. "This is not about friendship or enmity. It is about balance. I have a debt to repay." Her focus intensified as she felt Will's vessel touch down on the outskirts of Babi.
Greed's smirk widened. He drifted over to the statue where I am imprisoned, running a ghostly hand over its cold surface.
"Did you know," he said casually, "the Neutco can hear us?"
Envy finally turned, genuine surprise breaking her cold facade. "Impossible. According to all our research, a Neutco's consciousness only survives until the day of its cultivation. It's a vacant shell afterward."
"This boy is special," Greed replied, his eyes glinting. "His Neutco… it's still in there. It can hear every word we say."
"You know you're the only one who can hear me, don't you." I said
"Of course I know that. My child."
The voice was only heard by Greed, who chuckled. "It seems he's only 75% complete now. When our dear brother Sloth finally decides to properly transfer his essence and become a Will's psyche, perhaps 90% will remain. Then when he stores his experience as a Will's psyche. Hence the assignment will be completed.
"The lazy fool can't even be bothered to commit to a full takeover."
---
Back at the JDA, after dismissing the cadets, Biondh stood alone in her office. Her gaze fell on an old, sealed file on her desk. labeled: **Evert, W.**
She remembered the angry, broken boy who had been dragged into her academy three years ago, not as a cadet, but as a prisoner. A volatile, powerful mess of pain and rage.
She had seen something in him. A flicker of something that wasn't just anger. A potential for immense power, waiting for direction. Against the counsel of others, she had taken him under her wing.
Her memory then turned to his cellmate. A man who had arrived a month after Will's incarceration. A sketchy, mysterious figure named Pray. Dark-skinned, with long, thick dreadlocks woven with small, white cowrie shells that seemed to click together with a sound like bones chattering. He rarely spoke, but when he did, his words carried a weight, a knowingness that unsettled even her.
She had never learned what he was in for. He'd simply appeared one day, and the energy around Will had changed. It was as if Pray had become a strange, silent anchor for the turbulent boy.
Biondh closed the file. The past was bubbling to the surface. And the boy she had tried to mold was now a weapon aimed straight at her heart
[1] born out of humans death