To Sin Is Divine

The fires of Velharem had cooled.

Smoke still lingered in the air, clinging to rooftops and alleyways, but the sound of crying had given way to quiet rebuilding.

The city wasn't healed. Not yet.

But it had survived.

So had they.

Kael sat alone in the cathedral's broken tower, his back against a half-shattered stained glass window. Through it, fragments of colored light painted his cloak — pieces of angels long erased from scripture.

He watched the people moving below. Farmers sweeping glass from streets. Children hanging makeshift banners of the old virtues. A woman painting over a Church sigil with whitewash and tears.

"For every virtue… there is a sin that knows you better than you know yourself."

Lucien's words echoed louder in the silence.

Zayne

In a corner of the ruined infirmary, Zayne knelt beside a sick child, hand glowing with soft light.

She coughed weakly, but she smiled when he placed a coin in her hand — not for healing. Just to make her feel rich.

When the light faded, he leaned against the wall, sweat dripping from his brow.

Ten approached quietly, arms crossed.

"You healed thirty people today."

Zayne nodded. "Thirty-four."

Ten didn't speak for a long time.

Then: "You ever think you're giving too much?"

Zayne's smile faltered.

"I can't help it," he said. "I see pain and… I want to be the reason it stops."

Ten nodded slowly. "Just don't die trying to fix everyone else."

Zayne looked down at his hands — still glowing faintly.

"Wouldn't be the worst way to go."

Ren

Ren sat alone on the cathedral steps, flipping a coin between his fingers.

Across the square, people laughed. Hope returned.

He didn't join them.

Serah walked up and sat beside him.

"Not used to quiet?"

He shrugged. "Not used to keeping anything this long."

She tilted her head.

He smirked. "The coin. My life. The people I try to protect. They usually vanish before I get attached."

Serah said nothing for a moment.

Then she offered him her sword.

He blinked.

"What's this?"

"I know it's not your style," she said. "But if you ever feel like you don't deserve to stay—hold onto this instead of a reason to run."

Ren took it, slowly.

It was heavier than he expected.

"…This means you trust me."

She nodded. "More than you trust yourself."

Ten

Kael found Ten sharpening a blade that didn't need sharpening.

He didn't look up.

"I know what you're going to ask," Ten said.

"Then answer it."

Ten stopped.

"I don't know if I'll hold together when we face my Mirror," he admitted. "What if it wants to sleep? What if it begs?"

Kael sat across from him.

"You're not just the product of what was done to you," he said. "You're the choice to keep going."

Ten looked down at his hands.

"I don't know if I'm afraid of resting… or if I'm afraid I won't get back up."

Kael reached over and touched his shoulder.

"Then we'll stand for you."

Serah

Later that night, Kael found Serah outside the city wall, watching the stars.

The wind caught her cloak just enough to remind him she was still armor beneath softness.

He joined her without speaking.

"You think we're doing the right thing?" she asked quietly.

Kael looked at her.

"You doubt it?"

"Not the goal," she said. "Just the path."

Kael nodded. "I think about it every day."

She turned toward him.

"If I lose myself… if the Mirror shows me something I can't fight—"

"I'll bring you back," Kael said without hesitation.

Her eyes shimmered.

"…Promise?"

He looked into them — steady, sure, broken, whole.

"I already made that vow. You just didn't hear it."

Elyan

At dawn, Elyan meditated in the chapel ruins, a circle of prayer stones around him.

Kael approached.

"You saw this coming, didn't you?" Kael asked.

Elyan smiled faintly. "Lucien's too prideful to let us rise without a mirrored fall."

Kael sighed. "I want to believe we're strong enough."

"You are."

Kael looked surprised.

"You didn't hesitate."

"I don't need to," Elyan said. "You've already done what no army has — made strangers into a family."

Kael sat beside him.

Elyan continued.

"The Mirror versions won't just test your power. They'll test your convictions."

"And if we break?"

"Then we learn."

Closing Scene

That evening, the seven gathered on the balcony overlooking the rebuilt square.

People lit candles for loved ones.

Some sang. Some wept. Some just watched.

Kael looked at his team — all marked, all ready, all afraid in their own way.

He raised a cup of water — simple, clean.

"Tomorrow," he said, "they'll come for us. Our shadows. Our sin-made reflections."

No one interrupted.

Kael continued.

"They'll know what we fear. What we regret. Who we used to be."

He turned.

"But they'll never know what we've become."

He raised the cup.

"To the seven who chose virtue."

The team lifted theirs.

"To the seven who carry it."

They drank together.

No armor. No powers.

Just people.