’Who is Valentin Laurent?’

Such a corny existential question to ask himself, but a necessary one.

As for the answer:

’A lie fate wrote...’

’But a truth I decided to keep.’

He’d finally found the definition he’d been longing for. All thanks to Diligence. How generous of the Hero of Virtue!

Vale, sitting on his water-crested throne, smiled at the exasperated reflection.

"Now, fate’s slave, let’s continue our talk. I know we have all the time in the world. But come on, have some agency."

Diligence’s reflection shook its head.

"You really know how to get under people’s skin."

A shit-eating grin stretched across his face.

"I do in more ways than one."

The still water began to ripple slightly.

"Case in point."

After a brief reprieve, Diligence added:

"Well, are there any questions you have for me?"

"Why are you such a bitch?"

"Any savory questions you’d like to ask me?"

"When did the Scar actually form?"

Diligence went silent for a moment, then answered:

"Three hundred years ago."

Vale’s eyes narrowed as he cupped his hand around a frozen splash of water splitting through the air.

"Three hundred? Why’d you lie initially? Or why did you lie now?"

Diligence chuckled.

"Why? Do you really need me to spell out something so simple? It is so you can learn differing truths later, then come to doubt everything I’ve said and will say. You should understand that knowing the exact ’why’ is something never beholden to you, but hopefully you understand the baseline of my reasoning."

Vale shook his head.

"I already doubt it all, but I also believe it all."

"You’re really making this difficult. Let’s stop with the petulant theatrics and half-truths. If you intend to be difficult, then at least have the discipline to question me properly."

A self-absorbed look crept onto Vale’s face.

"Someone’s mad something slipped out of their control. Damned control freak. Just how reliant are you on seeing the future that the singular instance you can’t, you shut down so pitifully and get played by a lecherous cave-dweller?"

Diligence stayed silent for a moment, then said:

"Played? Do you think you actually accomplished something? Won even a minor victory over me? Over fate? Sorry to disappoint, Val... but you seem so certain that your defiance and lack thereof were not planned by me."

"Oh, Diligence... your personality is so strikingly clear that it’s revolting. You can lie to me about history, but you can’t lie to me about your pathetic self, evident in the fact that you’re calling me Val. Now, am I really the petulant one when you’re the one stooping to such a farcical attempt at provocation?"

Vale, mightily pleased with himself, stared down at the placid expression on the reflection’s face.

Diligence said:

"We’re getting nowhere doing this, Lust."

’Oh? Struck another nerve, have I?’

Diligence continued:

"Come on now, let us be civil."

"If you’re willing to be, then perhaps I’ll consider it as well."

Another hefty silence settled in the still air, letting the gurgling pink flames take over.

As Vale waited for a response, he looked off at the cackling fire, and on the edge saw an odd throne of thorns.

’What a precarious little chair you had, Ophelia.’

The one she’d sat in while Diligence whispered her insidious lies.

Eventually, it was Vale who broke the silence.

"Kindness, what are your plans with her? Kindness? If your motivation for her was to kill me, then is it my fate to die by her hand? Or is it her fate to pathetically fail?"

The reflection chuckled.

"Remember, I said I wouldn’t answer questions about my goals... but I’ll humor you just this once so we don’t go on another tirade. My goal lies in neither of your deaths, nor will Ophelia fail at her revenge... Do understand the necessary vagueness."

’Uh...’

Vale scratched his cheek.

If her revenge was on him, and he wasn’t going to die to her...

’How the hell is she supposed to get her revenge?’

Then again...

Diligence had painted Sloth as the main culprit.

’No way... is that it?’

Diligence wants Kindness to kill Sloth.

Even further...

’She did well to manufacture my hate for Sloth as well?’

Was that her goal?

Seeing as she was Sloth’s antithesis, that was almost a no-brainer; however, she’d also spoken as if somewhat reverent of Sloth before.

No...

She was reverent of the real Sloth. Not the Master of Vice, Sloth.

’Only time will reveal the true answer.’

Vale pressed his fist into his cheek.

"Is Sloth your enemy?"

Diligence’s reflection cocked its head to the side.

"Which one?"

"I believe you know what I meant."

"I’m sorry, but perhaps you don’t understand how vague such a question is. Were you referring to the Sloth of the past, present, or future, or the Master of Vice Sloth of the past, present, or future?"

Vale blankly stared at the water.

"Uh... You’ve lost me."

"I wasn’t even trying to be obscure... but there are two main Sloths, and each is split into three; and yes, each is alive. Alive in a sense... And also yes, the real Sloth, a portion of her, is here on Pandora."

Vale was bewildered. So much so that he didn’t even care to give Diligence a hard time.

"Well... then, what about the Sloth I meet in the Council of Vice... I guess... who are they, and are they your enemy?"

"Still, that question is vague, but I’ll attempt..." Diligence paused, then continued, "In that liminal space, two Sloths inhabit the same body. The Master of Vice Sloth of the Future and the Real Sloth of the Past. Of those two, the former is my enemy and the latter is my ally. They also see one another as an enemy."

Vale’s eyes widened.

"Uh... then, when I interact there, who am I t—?"

"I don’t know."

Vale slowly brought his hand to his forehead.

’This... this is so damn hard to understand!’

Diligence continued:

"The two vie for control over motor function. While you think she’s sleeping, there’s an active battle being fought in her mind. And when one wins full control, the other doesn’t even get to witness their actions."

As Vale attempted to understand, a terrifying question popped into his mind.

"Well... if I received a prophecy, which one gave it?"

"Neither do I know that. But I will tell you this... those two Sloths work toward a similar goal, though their ends differ greatly. The Master of Vice wants this world to exist as a frontier against the Scourge, fighting for as long as possible until its inevitable defeat. The Real Sloth, on the other hand, seeks to unite the world and create a centralized stronghold capable of holding out for decades, waiting for the fated hero to arrive. The flaw in that plan, at least in the Master of Vice’s eyes, is that the Corrupted would inevitably spread to other worlds. As for that hero... they are one I know nothing about, which likely means they won’t appear for more than fifty years."

Diligence paused for a moment, then added:

"Let me condense it like this... The Master of Vice Sloth wants Pandora to fight until its last breath. The Real Sloth wants the strongest of Pandora to stow themselves away and wait for a hero, which would mean letting the Corrupted spread to Terra, Earth, and... Axioneth, the parent world."