Page 87 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

Instead, he’s out here with me, chasing some supernatural ethos.

He shrugs. The movement makes his arms move, and his hand slides past mine. The smallest touch occurs as his knuckles brush across mine.

I bite my lip to stop a gasp from erupting into the night.

Mine appears unaffected as he continues on.

“I am not led by the same uncertainty they are.”

“I don’t understand.” I frown.

“Their fear of death revolves around the fact that it is the end—that everything they know and cherish will be taken from them.”

“That is the definition of death,” I agree.

He smiles.

“Sometimes, death is just the beginning, tiny darling.” He winks at me.

“No. Not really,” I tell him resolutely. “That is not how it works.”

He raises a languid brow at me.

“When mortals die, their soul is judged by a Death deity and depending on the merit accrued during a lifetime, they get assigned to different levels of the House of Psyche,” I start, not that I mean to lecture him—but I happen to excel at this subject. “Once given a designation, the souls drink from Letharion—the well of oblivion. Only after that they are let to their specific level in the House of Psyche. The virtuous souls who accumulated merit during their lifetimes are sent directly to the House of Moirai to get a new fate. The others have to work for their merit in order to ascend to the level that leads to the House of Moirai.

“Then, of course, you have the most sinful souls. They are sent to the lowest levels of the House of Moirai where they will endure gruesome punishments as payments for their sins. Once their debts are considered paid, they can move up the levels and earn merit toward an eventual reincarnation.” I pause to draw in a breath. “But you see, once a soul drinks from the Letharion, they become a blank canvas. While the soul goes on to live again at some point, it will not be as its previous self. From that regard, deathisthe end.”

“Is it?” he muses. “Even if they are blank canvasses, they are still the same essence, are they not?”

“They are but—” I frown. “Memories are at the basis of personhood. Without those, the soul becomes malleable to its environment. Take your soul, for example. Let’s say you died and went through Letharion and then you got assigned a new fate, but this time it’s in a completely different world, one that doesn’t remotely resemble Anthropa. You will not be you anymore. You will be a product of your environment.”

He regards me skeptically.

“You see, I only half agree with you on that. Yes, the environment likely plays a very big role in shaping someone’s personality. But what about inherent inclinations? A soulmusthave certain inclinations.”

“That is…” I blink. “I am not quite sure,” I admit, to my great chagrin. Not only do I not have an answer to his question, but I realize that I’ve never questioned the status quo of souls.

“Souls do have an inherent spiritual energy that remains the same regardless of the incarnation,” I add slowly.

“Then I don’t see why there wouldn’t beotherinherent things, too,” Mine points out.

I nod thoughtfully.

“You have given me much to think on,” I tell him honestly. “My education, just like that of every other deity, comes fromschooling and textbooks. No one but the Psyche deities are allowed to step inside the House of Psyche—and the souls, of course.”

“Why is no one allowed inside?” Mine asks.

“There is one thing deities cannot do, and that is to mess with a mortal’s soul or fate. The House of Psyche is a fortress in that regard, as is the House of Moirai. We may have a lot of abilities, but evenweare ruled by fate.”

“Abilities? I have yet to see any abilities from you.” Mine cracks a smile.

“I told you that I’m being punished for helpingyou!” I roll my eyes. “But I will prove to you I speak the truth.”

When we finally reach a more secluded area, I put my hand up to stop him.

Kai should help convince Mine I am telling the truth, but I also have an ulterior motive for resorting to this. If Kai didn’t believe me that there was a demon before, he can no longer deny it now. A greed demon, too. Not only will I get anI told you somoment, but I will also get the chance to question him regarding greed demons.

Kai is part of the same division as me, so I doubt he would know more about them. But he is much, much older than me, so perhaps he’s heard of similar cases in the past. In any case, I will have done my duty to announce the presence of a sin demon and ask for appropriate guidance. Whether Kai decides to let me handle the issue—with information on how to do so, of course—or he notifies the division responsible for hunting sin demons is a moot point.

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