Running had never been an option for Apathia.

As a matter of fact, the very concept of running away was something which never even crossed her mind.

This was not limited to Apathia alone. All the slaves in the city of Merphol knew well that there was no place for a runaway slave.

There was an unspoken policy which all citizens agreed upon.

Runaway slaves were not to be fed or housed, and they were to be returned to their owners with all haste.

Any attempt to house a runaway slave was equivalent to stealing someone else's property.

Therefore, the very idea of running was not something which a slave ever would even think of.

Yet right now, in this moment, as Apathia spoke these words, she cared not about whether there was anywhere for her to go.

"Leave..... me..... alone."

Speaking these rebellious words, she rejected everything she had been taught throughout the years of her life.

The fact that she was a slave- below those who owned her, and destined to spend her life in their service.

The fact that she had no rights, and that her body was not even hers to own.

The fact that she was not even allowed to desire anything for herself, for she was property of another- and property cannot own property.

She rejected all of this.

For there was one thing right now, in this moment, as she lay on that stairway with a bloodied face and cuts all over her body, that she desired.

To be left alone.

For everyone around her to stop pestering her.

For those surrounding her to quit relying on her for everything, only to call her lazy when she didn't fulfill their every expectation.

She was beyond fed up.

She was prepared to face death if it meant to be freed from this hell where she could never sleep.

"This is.... unbelievable."

The father put his hand on his forehead, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Everything..... has gone wrong because of you. It truly was a mistake that you were ever born."

Grabbing the girl by her hair, the others stood out of the way as the father brought Apathia into the house.

"I'll never rely on you for anything ever again. You are beyond lazy. You are completely useless."

Apathia was brought through the house and into the backyard, dragged by her head.

She didn't even have the strength to scream or cry out in the pain, yet it was so great that she hoped she would just fall dead on the spot.

"I'll show you, girl. You've never understood your place, and now you've hurt every member of my family."

Dragged through the dirt and then thrown into the shack, Apathia was now covered in grime as she layed limp in the corner.

"We've treated you so well all this time.... despite the fact that you're nothing more than a slave. And this is how you pay us back?"

The man grabbed a metal whip which was covered in barbs, hung up in the shack on a hook.

"I never intended to use this one on you. I used it once before on your father when he asked for your brother to be spared of factory work, and I had hoped I would never use it again. Yet.... you have crossed too many lines. Turn your back to me or I will mess up your face even more than it already is."

The man was beyond furious, yet he spoke calmly.

Apathia looked at him with fear and anger, turning around as tears streamed down her face.

"Ugh.... why.... can't you just leave me alone?"

"Leave you alone?"

The man whipped the back of Apathia with full force, plunging many of the barbs through her dress and into her back.

"You're a slave. The fact that you're even asking to be left alone shows that you no longer understand your own rights."

And with this, he ripped the whip out.

Chunks of cloth, scales, and flesh were ripped out of the back of Apathia in a rain of blood.

"Agh!!!!!"

Apathia screamed in torment, yet the punishment didn't cease at that.

"Rethink your life, you piece of trash!!!! You've done us so much harm, and you still want to sit there doing nothing as we suffer due to your inactivity!?!"

The man began to whip Apathia furiously, continuing to rip out chunks of her flesh and tearing up the back of her dress with it.

"Agh!!!!"

"Your screams don't even compare to the pain my beautiful daughter, my diligent son, and my loving wife have gone through!!"

"My..... urgh!!! Screams..... Agh!!!! Don't..... Ah!! Even.... ugh..... compare?"

As she was whipped, Apathia slowly fell to the ground, powerless to even hold her weakened body up.

"I... sniffle... hurgh... blergh!!!!!"

She began to throw up from the pain, blood mixed in with her puke.

"Don't..... want to hear that..... from you....."

Falling to the ground with dead eyes, Apathia flickered between a state of consciousness as the man continued to whip her.

Her screams died down and her body became numb.

"Because you four..... are all so much lazier than I am....."

----

Apathia woke up in the middle of the streets.

Her eyes were blackened. Bruises covered every part of her body. Her back had been torn up and bloodied beyond repair. There was not a single place on her body that didn't hurt.

She was in an alleyway. Why she was here, she didn't know. Perhaps she had been kicked out, but there was a more likely answer.

"I've.... finally been thrown out as garbage, haven't I?"

As she opened her eyes, she realized that she was lying in a dumpster.

Surrounded by trash, Apathia frowned.

[What do you wish for?]

A voice resounded in Apathia's head, to which she grumbled, gurgling blood within her mouth as she spoke.

"I..... just want to sleep."

[Then come. You can rest all you want.]

It was then that Apathia felt her own wounds healing.

Her body was filled with energy and her injuries no longer hurt.

Her scales were healed and her own skin was restored to it's previous state. Her bruises disappeared, and the bloody taste in her mouth was no more.

"I.... have been healed?"

[You wouldn't be able to make it here in that state. Come. And I will let you sleep for as long as you wish.]

Apathia then realized that there was a location which appeared inside her own mind.

The location of a blue crystal.

"I..... have to go there, don't I?"

Sitting up, some garbage fell off the hair of the girl as she climbed out of the bin.

[Don't worry. This will be the last task you ever have to do.]

----

"Right here.... I guess?"

As if a pathway had been injected into her mind, Apathia knew exactly where she needed to go.

She did not know why she was heading to this location, but to her this did not matter.

She only felt one thing which drove her.

A desire to finally lay down and sleep.

At long, long last, her chance had come.

"I.... was perceived as dead. They didn't feel like dealing with the body, so they threw it out..... and now I'm finally..... free."

But she was not truly free.

If she went anywhere she would be reported and returned.

Why her wounds had healed, she did not know, but this was not her current concern.

"I..... will I have to go back?"

As she pulled aside a sewer grate, she lowered herself into the city pipe system, heading towards the location with worry filling her mind.

"No.... I don't want to go back..... never..... never..... never again."

The steps of the girl echoed through the empty sewer halls as she walked.

It was cold and damp, and the girl shivered as she walked, yet even so she continued forth.

"I'll never go back."

She traveled for hours. How long did she walk? Even she did not know.

Finally, she came across something.

A blue crystal, floating in the air as it spinned around in circular motion.

[You made it.]

"I..... made it."

[Rest.]

It was then that Apathia felt strength fill her body.

Her wounds had already been healed, yet this was different.

She felt power surge into her.

A physical and magical strength filled her body, and she felt the energy pulse through her veins.

And then, she was filled with knowledge.

Knowledge of an ability which she inherently held, as if she had always had this ability. She knew exactly how to use it, and the conditions of it's use.

It was then that she was teleported somewhere.

She was in a mansion.

At the front entrance, she was in a place which had not been entered for years. Even so, it looked brand new. There was no dust on any of the furniture, and everything around the girl was of high class.

The girl looked around a few times, confirming that there was nobody around her.

"Is there..... anyone here?"

[There is nobody. Nobody will bother you anymore.]

"I see."

And with this, the girl fell to the ground.

She fell asleep then and there, on the red carpet right before the door.

A single tear fell down the eye of the girl, dropping onto the lush carpet below her.

"I..... can finally..... relax."

And so, she slept.

She slept for days, weeks, and even months.

Time passed and the girl didn't wake up.

At long last, she had achieved her one and only desire in life.

To rest.

----

"You..... were a slave too?"

"I was."

"You..... were treated like shit too?"

"I was."

"You..... were driven to madness too?"

"I.... was."

Apathia didn't know how much time had passed since she fell asleep, yet she was awakened at the entrance of another dragonic demon who made an attempt to consume her.

Now, Apathia and Gormand sat next to one another, and the girl looked down with sadness.

"I..... see."

The two sat in awkward silence.

They were aware of who they were.

These two were Hosts of Sin.

"Do we..... have to lead this city now?", the lime haired girl asked with anxiety.

"Do you not want to?", the blue scaled dragonic demon replied.

"I....."

Falling backwards, Apathia stared at the ceiling, speaking in a sigh.

"Don't feel like it."

To this, Gormand let out a laugh.

"Don't feel like it, eh? Haha...."

Standing up, Gormand smiled.

"Then you don't have to do anything."

Looking up to him with lazy eyes, Apathia lifted her hand lightly.

"Really?"

Nodding, Gormand smiled at her.

Bending down and touching her head, he ruffled her hair about, pushing it to the side and viewing her eyes fully for the first time.

"Re-"

About to answer, the two felt a jolt within them like a bolt of electricity.

Their minds were both overwhelmed with an immense agony and torment, and the two fell to the ground- panting and sweating.

"Huff... urgh.... ugh.... agh...."

The two held their chests, breathing hard as if they had just been shown a nightmare.

"What..... was that?"

Gormand held his mind with anguish, and Apathia did the same.

"Was that..... your past?", she asked quietly.

The two were trembling with fear, however this trembling soon ceased.

"I.... witnessed it.... everything about you."

Gormand was now trembling, and he didn't even notice that his eyes were now wettened with tears.

The same could be said for Apathia.

"You.... went through all that?", she asked.

"And you.... went through all that?"

The two were on the verge of busting out in tears as they were vividly made aware of the terrible past which each of them held within their memories.

----

On that day when Ashley read the memories of Lustia, there was something which she became readily aware of.

Each of the hosts of sin held not only their own memories, but the memories of all hosts which they had come into contact with.

When she read the mind of Lustia, the painful memories which entered Ashley were not just those of Lustia, but those of every last Host.

And it was for this reason, that even someone as demented as Ashley was tormented on that day.

----

"I..... come with me."

Gormand stood up, grabbing hold of Apathia.

Holding her in his arms, he slung her around his back like a sack.

"Hey.... where are you taking me?", she asked quietly.

"We're going to the home of your slavemasters."

"No.... I.... don't want to go there...."

Despite her attempt to refuse, Gormand cut Apathia off.

"We're going there."

With a fire in his eyes, Gormand grinned, flashing his pointed teeth.

"I said before, didn't I? I wanted to see if a woman tastes any different from a man."

----

"Don't worry about a thing. As a matter of fact, you don't even have to lift a finger. Just rest. You.... deserve it."

As Gormand marched through the streets of Merphol with Apathia on his shoulder, he grinned with excitement.

"You've realized it too, haven't you?"

The girl who was laid across his back barely even lifted her head, her face covered with her hair, but she moved just enough to let Gormand know that she understood.

"Mhm...."

"Then there isn't anything to think about. I've finally realized what it really means to be a Host of Sin. It means.... that we've suffered more than anyone else in this world. We've gone through so much suffering that we've been driven to sin beyond anything imaginable."

"Why.... do you care about what happened to me?"

Apathia voiced her question with concern as she was bobbled back and forth.

"Because we're the same. That's enough reason for me."

This statement was enough to make Apathia tremble.

Never.

Never before had anyone so much as even looked at her as a person, much less as someone they could care for.

Never before had anyone done anything for her sake.

And yet, here she was, in the hands of this man who had gone through similar suffering, being brought to take revenge on the ones who destroyed her.

It was more than the girl could handle.

Tears dripped from her eyes, falling to the ground behind him as he walked.

"Thank you...."

With this light whisper, the rest of the trip was made in silence.

Soon enough, Apathia watched as she came across the ever so familiar home.

Standing before it without a single bit of restraint, Gormand grabbed the door handle, turning it to enter.

"This is the place from your memories. I sure hope the food I eat tonight is better than what the woman of this house can cook."

----

Sitting around a table with a burnt meal in it's center was a family of four.

Each of the members of this family had grim looks on their faces.

The father, stressed beyond measure, had developed bags under his eyes. His hair was beginning to fall out, and he was visibly irritated.

As the four ate in silence, not a single word was spoken.

The mother looked at her own creation with humiliation, for she was unable to produce anything better.

Physically incapable of performing any laborious tasks, even cooking, she had spent her life relying on a slave to do all the labor around the house- which was now beyond a mess.

The shelves which had once been perfectly dusted were now covered in grime. Everything was beyond unorganized, all a result of the incompetence of this mother who relied so heavily on her slave.

The boy had been rejected and shamed by his own lover. Traumatized by the rejection, he had a twitch in his eyes which stared straight forward with a hint of insanity.

The girl had been humiliated before all, her complexion completely ruined. This girl refused to go out, unable to show her face before anyone as soon as the rumors had been spread.

As a result of the state which each person had been reduced to, the father had failed at any attempts to negotiate or appease potential business partners. His own wealth was declining, his business failing.

These people did not realize it, but the slave who they berated as lazy and useless was the very glue which held this household together.

The second she was removed, the four had become a shell of what they once were.

They had taken advantage of their situation, assuming it to be 'expected' and 'obvious' for a slave to do their duties without question.

Despite holding Apathia to standards which were excessive even for two people, she had taken on the task without complaint, tirelessly working to ensure the success of these incompetent people.

Yet her own efforts went unnoticed until she was already gone.

"This..... is all her fault....."

"It's all the fault of that useless little girl...."

"Everything.... all our problems.... they're.... all because she went and died on us....."

"Do you hear me, slave? Are you lazing about in the afterlife while we suffer like this!?!?!"

The father spoke with madness, pulling at his own hair as he yelled to nobody.

His own family ignored his ramblings as if they were nothing unusual.

It was then that the door opened.

"Whew.... I sure am hungry. Ah, yeah she's been lazing around quite a bit. Let's see what we have to eat here."

Taking an open seat, a blue dragonic demon carrying a magenta one sat down without being invited, invoking looks of surprise on the faces of those around him.

"Who are you!?"

"Why did you just come into our home!?"

"Is that..... Apathia!?"

"Ah!! You've found our slave and come to return her!! She was still alive!?!?! The lazy little... hand her over!!"

The people of the family looked to Gormand with expectation, however he quickly leaned over to the burnt turkey in front of him, taking a whiff of it.

"Blergh. Disgusting. Not exactly something I could call food. Ah well. Why don't you rest right here while I eat."

Placing Apathia in a seat, she looked around to the people awkwardly as Gormand began to stuff the food in his mouth.

The father immediately perked up, straightening himself.

"Er.... help yourself, I suppose. After all, you've brought our slave back-"

"I didn't bring her back. I came here to eat."

"Eh?"

Shoving the entire turkey into his mouth, bones and all, the dragonic demon chewed the entire thing up with a large gulp.

"Water please. Man this is gross."

"Apathia, get some water for this man.", the wife ordered.

However, Gormand held his hand forward, stopping Apathia from moving.

"I wasn't asking for her to get me some. I said to get me some water."

"Eh? But she is our slave, therefore she should also serve our gue-"

"I'm no guest in this household. And she is no slave. Now get me some water."

With an evil glare, Gormand stared into the soul of the woman. She immediately stood up, heading to get the man some water.

"Oi.... how can you order my wife around like that?"

The father now was glaring at Gormand with irritation, however Gormand began to eat all the side dishes, ignoring the man.

"Oi. Quit eating so much. Answer my question."

"Food doesn't talk.", Gormand responded. "And I'm not about to answer the questions of my food."

Gormand continued to eat, causing the father to slam his fist on the table with irritation.

"What are you talking about!?!?"

"Shh. I'm.... trying to relax.", Apathia stated. "I can't sleep with all this noise."

"Why you little!!!"

The father was now beyond furious, however he was interrupted by the sound of the kitchen door opening.

The woman then stepped into the room with a glass of water on the tray, placing it before Gormand who had just finished eating everything on the table.

"Let me ask you one question. When this girl was serving you, was there ever a moment that anyone in this household went hungry?"

Silence overcame the group, and all four members of the family began to grit their teeth in frustration.

"What are you trying to say? That we relied on her for-"

The father begun to speak in response to the words of Gormand, however he stopped speaking as if his throat was caught on something.

In that next moment, a feeling of dread overcame every person present.

[Consume stability]

And then, they began to melt.

The four people before Gormand turned into a meaty paste, flowing about like a gel.

They no longer had the capability to speak or scream, yet their eyes which retained their form among the pools of paste looked around in terror.

"Apathia..... I know that you don't really want to do any work..... but..... just this once could-"

"Fine."

The girl stood up from her seat with a light smile, walking over to the kitchen.

"Just this once.... I'll cook something for you."

Turning around, she smiled ever so lightly, brushing aside her hair for Gormand to see her adorable face.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm just really hungry. Ah, make sure to cook them separately. I want to find out the differences between each of them, after all."