The Icon of Sloth (Demon Lords 2G)

As Mae ascended up the shaft, she would notice that the metal "ceiling" above her was actually a poorly maintained elevator platform. It swayed on the three cables that continued holding it up, creaking all the while. Rust completely coated its bottom, and cracks spiderwebbed across the hinges that kept it adhered towards the ceiling. Almost as if on cue, the platform let out a particularly loud groan as Mae approached. Was this one of Belphemon's machinations, or simply the ravages of time picking a hell of a time to expire?

Beneath this ceiling was another tunnel extending into the mountain. This one was lined by a series of wooden archways, most of which were broken somewhere around their middles. The floor was barely visible, covered by shards of rock, fallen support beams, and coal dust. A derailed mine cart hung over the edge of the tunnel, the wheels still spinning in place. No matter how long Mae watched the wheels, they wouldn't seem to slow down. A particularly large pile of rocks laid against the minecart, swelling every few minutes. It was almost as if it were breathing.

The mine stretched far into the distance, each foot of the tunnel covered in more rubble than the last.

Ironically enough for Holly, the left lever was the right choice. The other grate groaned in protest, but it was no match for Holly's strength. Slowly but surely it wound back up to the ceiling, the telltale KA-CHUNK! of its locking mechanism letting her know it was safe to let go. As she pulled more hot air rushed towards her, previously having been held back by the crude door. As the heat rushed in, the smoke thinned out. Whoever had last used these doors must have left it trapped inside, the smog too heavy and dense to roll out of the tunnel network.

Now that the smoke was thinned and the door was open, Holly would have a far easier time seeing the path ahead. The first thing she would notice was veins of lava that cut through the darkness. They ran across the walls, floor, and even ceiling of the tunnel, which was made up of increasingly black rock. At first the ground would feel as hard and stable as the crimson stone making up the rest of the cave, but the further Holly traveled the more the cave's composition would change towards one of volcanic glass. Lava danced beneath its semi-transparent surface, a bubble occasionally smacking against the obsidian and causing it to shudder. The immense heat would only increase the further Holly advanced, and the rough surface of the obsidian would start to become smooth and slippery. Perhaps her clone from the icy room would have a few words of advice for her.

Perhaps if Holly focused on keeping her balance, she wouldn't notice that the patterns in the obsidian started to look like eyes.

The Holly who dove into the water would find it unlike any water she had encountered before. Despite the rich minerals that filled volcanic hot springs, she would be able to keep her eyes open without it stinging them. Despite the water surrounding her, she would be able to open her mouth, breathe, and even talk without any obstruction. Even her skin and clothes would feel perfectly dry. Instead, the only thing Holly would feel was warmth and relief. It enveloped her like a weighted blanket, the soothing effect only intensifying as she dove beneath the hot spring.

The deeper Holly dove, the warmer she felt. The warmer she felt, the more numb her limbs would start to feel. And the more numb they started to feel, the harder they would be to move. Would Holly continue her dive? Or would she try to pull back while she still had a choice in the matter?

Holly's second clone would have no luck as she pushed and pulled against the door. Both did little more than make the door shudder, its hinges seemingly frozen solid. Even her knock seemed to have little impact, the lonely sound echoing through the icy tunnel. Nobody came to answer her; was this door simply abandoned?

The layer of frost atop the door shimmered, and after a brief flash the reflection of Mephistomon returned. This time, there was a bit more detail visible; this Mephistomon had a skeletal face, a massive parasol, and an elegant, feminine outfit. It also lacked a left arm, Holly's own arm lining up perfectly where the Mephistomon X's own missing one. Its face did not move, yet Holly would hear it answer in the voices of a gravelly demon, a young child, and a perfectly neutral sounding woman. "We all have something like me within us, child," it said. "I simply wear mine on my sleeve, for I know to hide it or to not has no meaning in the end.

What brings you so far? The blood of a warrior flows within you, yet your heart does not beat in kind."

The pale white eye rolled as Holly asked her question. "You're a bad liar, you know," it scoffed. "But most people are just gonna smile and nod anyway. Might I might as well do the same, huh? Not gonna make a difference either way." It turned away, revealing a chestnut brown head lined with red petals. The vines were quick to following, retracting one by one in a complicated, lock-like arrangement.

The door swung open, revealing a Petaldramon lying on its side. One might have expected this to be more of the same malaise that defined the sin of Sloth, but the pool of dried, purple liquid oozing out form Petaldramon's sign quickly dispelled that notion. Its breaths were small and still, as if it was trying its hardest to conserve what little energy it had remaining. Its stems and vines were starting to brown, its petals curled inwards, and most of its nut-like head had peeled away to reveal the white surface beneath. "Hope you like getting lost, kid. There's a lot more of that where this came from."

As the final Holly stopped, only blackness greeted her. The air whistling through the cavern faded to a dull white noise. The bite of the cold against her skin faded to dull numbness. The colorful spots that danced against her closed eyes faded to blackness. The smell of stale, cavernous air faded to nothing. Even the taste of her own breath started to pass from her mind. With her senses closed off, could Holly even be aware that she was alive?

And yet, still, nothing.

Finally, the Volcdramon looked over towards Carlos. It blinked sleepily, looked him up and down, then yawned. As it yawned, the whirlpool of lava started to churn all the faster. What was once gentle twirl whipped up into a storm, sending waves of lava crashing onto the rocks below. Some of the rocks held fast, but others started to bob up and down from the heavy motion of the waves. The rock next to Carlos was smashed so hard by a wave that it shattered into shards. The hands of Meramon and Volcdramon stretched up form the lava, so alarmed by the change in pace that they started blindly groping for anything around them.

Content with its yawn, the Voldramon retreated back beneath the waves. Only his glimmering chrome skull remained above the waves. He glared daggers back at Carlos, as if daring him to leave if he could.

"Sleep's a choice like any other, you know?"

Belphemon's voice rang out from the pile of rocks. If Mae examined them more closely, she'd notice that they were exactly what she figured they were. In fact, they were a Gotsumon, currently curled up in a rather ignoble looking fetal position. He held a pickaxe tightly, cuddled up to it as if it were a teddy bear. If for whatever reason Mae wanted it, she'd need to pry it out of his cold, probably-not-dead hands. "I mean. Not like I make anyone do anything. Do you really think I want to deal with that? I don't even like making choices in the first place," Belphemon explained. "Though I guess when you put it that way, sleep's the choice to not have to deal with any choices, huh.

Isn't it funny? Even doing nothing is doing something, when you think about it."

The first Holly clone would find herself sinking through the water helplessly. Fortunately, this wouldn't continue long enough for her to start drowning. Instead, she would find the soothing, body-numbing warmth suddenly yanked away from her, followed by the unmistakable sensation of falling. Holly had passed through the water entirely, and what seemed like a hot spring was now a solid glob of water hanging above her. Were Belphemon's powers of slothfulness so powerful that they made the water itself incapable of falling?

The bad news was that there didn't seem to be any ground beneath Holly. The good news was that this would give her a lot of time to gather her bearings. As she looked around the void, she would see nothing but the globe of water above and a speck of light far, far beneath her. It seemed almost angelic in shape, though it would be far too distant for Holly to make out the finer details of it. Would she continue to descend?

"Revenge," Mephistomon X repeated towards the second Holly clone. "An interesting concept. You seek revenge on one by attacking another. Kin, true, yet still not the one you seek. And if this does manage to deliver harm unto Daemon, what do believe you will accomplish? Will this mend your wounds? Will this improve your life?

Will this bring her back?"

As the second Holly clone was faced with matters of philosophy, the third Holly clone would call upon the original to tackle more practical problems. The Petaldramon looked up at her as she arrived, laughing weakly. "Looks like I'm seeing double now. Maybe Belphemon's gonna let me die after all," he rasped. The damage he had sustained was indeed quite sizable. Even with Holly's bindings and wraps, purple sap would continue to seep through. The wrappings would quickly become heavy and damp to the touch, although mercifully the sap hadn't finished leaking through in entirety.

The first thing that Holly would notice was that it these wounds seemed fresh as the day they were given. At the same time, the debilitating condition Petaldramon was in seemed to be years of damage compounding on themselves. Further complicating matters was the fact that the depths of the mountain had been sealed away to keep Belphemon away, which was what had necessitated this mission in the first place. It would be nearly impossible to tell when these wounds had even been given. The only thing Holly would know for sure was that they looked serious, and yet Petaldramon was still alive before her.

"Hell'd you even get here, anyway?"

Gio's foe was every bit as lethargic as Holly's friend, and that would prove its undoing. By the time the Volcdramon had turned towards Gio, he had long darted away from the volcanic dragon's reach. It couldn't be a moment too soon, either. The Volcdramon let out a blast of smoke and flaming cinders in Gio's general direction, which would have badly burned any Digimon less quick on the draw. Instead, Gio would just feel a little bit of warmth on his coattails.

The platform Gio landed on would be a lot more stable than the rocks in the middle of the lava vortex. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any exits on the other side of it! The round stone platform was met by an equally round cavern wall, the smooth black stone forming an impenetrable layer. What looked to be Gargoylemon statues stood around the room, the four of them positioned equidistant from one another. Each faced a different direction, looking as if they were staring each other down. Cracks had spread across the head of the dragon facing east, the chest of the dragon facing north, the wings of the dragon facing south, and the legs of the dragon facing west.

Dio would not have such an easy time of reaching this platform. As he pulled himself out of the lava the Volcdramon turned to face him, his neck practically coiling around Dio's airspace. Once he had occupied Dio's space he opened his mouth wide, firing a similar cinder blast to the one he had launched at Gio. Even if Dio dodged the attack, the resulting blast would leave the air thick with stinging cinders and choking smoke.

Holly's last clone would find, as soon as she opened her mouth, that she couldn't hear a word she was saying. The doors to her senses had already been closed, and while she would be able to consciously think of speech it would be impossible to hear how it sounded afterwards. In fact, she wouldn't even be able to feel the undulation of her throat as the words came out. She had gazed into the abyss, the abyss had gazed back, and now it seemed hell-bent on winning this staring contest. Similarly, even as she thought of running, the feeling of cold stinging her limbs and the sound of footfalls against stone would be numb to her. Her eyes would continue to greet her with little more than inky blackness, and her forward movement would be equal parts uncertain and uninterrupted.

At least, of course, until she was suddenly interrupted. Touch came back first, a dull throb erupting across her body as she bumped into something. It didn't hurt all that much, yet apparently the impact would be enough to send her flying across the room. Smell and taste came as a pair, the faintest hint of stale air now teasing each sense. The occasional distant drip of cave water would be next, heralding the return of her hearing. Each of these returns was partial at best, yet surely but surely Holly's senses would be returning to their full strength. All that was left was Holly's sight.

As a massive spot faded through the blackness, so tall that it seemed to stretch upwards no matter how high she turned her head. It seemed sight was on its way back, too.

"Why what? Not like I'm doing anything," the Gotsumon said. As Mae advanced it less walked, more slid after her. It was as if each of the rocks making up its body were tumbling independently, allowing it to drift across the floor with ease. "You mean the whole sleep thing? Yeah, uh, sorry. Not in control of that, like, at all. Just kinda happens. It's a Sloth thing, y'know? But pretty sure trying to deal with me's just gonna make it worse.

Belphemon's voice started to echo in on itself. Was he trying to sound threatening? Probably not. In fact, as the piles of rubble started to stir around Mae, it was clear just what the source of Belphemon's many voices were. What was once one Gotsumon was now at least four of them, rolling after her like the world's slowest avalanche. "I mean, you're the ones who came in here to get hit by pure, concentrated me," they explained in perfect sync. "Kinda makes whatever happens your own fault. But, hey, not gonna judge. Just like I'm not gonna judge these guys. Those shiny rocks must've been really important to them."

If Mae continued further still, she would see that the tunnel came to a sudden halt. Stone had collapsed into a nearly solid mass, only the spider-web of pressurized cracks criss-crossing it hinting that it hadn't always been a natural fixture. The minecart tracks continued, beneath the wall, undaunted, but whatever lied on the other side was a mystery.

Slowly but surely, a chill crept up Mae's spine.

The Holly clone by Mephistomon X was greeted with little more than a stony faced stare. "Interesting," they said, though their tone of voice did not waver. "You claim to be a clone of her, and yet you feel you do not understand her. Perhaps the one you hail from is the type to lie to herself. Perhaps she can only see where her true heart lies when seeing it from the outside. Do you truly act simply to enact her will? Or do you follow her will because you, too, agree deep down? And if you disagree with your very self . . . well, perhaps you should have a nice, long talk with yourself.

As for my arm? Such are the losses I pay for the role I play. I am as disposable a pawn as you are." Would Holly's clone take offense to this statement? She wouldn't know, as she was promptly disposed of so Holly could evolve. The clone unfurled into data before Mephistomon X's eyes.

Holly's other clones were quick to follow suit. The one by Petaldramon unfurled as Holly arrived, its duty as the ailing dragon's emergency contact having come to an end. The one falling through the abyss unfurled just as darkness gave way to light, the statue of a SlashAngemon teasing her vision before she vanished. Yet it may have been the final clone who was left with the most tantalizing glimpse of her future. The large, fuzzy spot in her vision took solid form: a large, fuzzy body, wrapped in a coat of chains and with an alarm clock draped around its neck.

The last thing Holly's clone would see before fading was Belphemon Sleep Mode's left eye easing open.

All of these sensory inputs and more would hit Holly, one after the other. However, she had no time to dwell on them. There was a job for her to do. The Petaldramon huffed as she stroked his head, but didn't fight it. Even exerting the energy to complain was beyond him at the moment. Instead he let his eyes ease shut as the healing magic washed over him. The orb swirled around his body, diffusing into data that seemed to curve towards all of his most wounded areas. He shivered a little at the direct touch, but kept still until the light faded away.

The wounds were still there, every bit as bloody as they had been before. Petaldramon huffed again, a bit of a guilty look in his eyes. "Did everything you could've, kid. Don't beat yourself up over it," he mumbled. Yet for all of his pessimism, a trained medic and expert carnivore like Holly would notice that the bleeding had indeed slowed. It was by an amount so minuscule most Digimon wouldn't even notice, but it was progress all the same.

How literal was Petaldramon when he said Belphemon wouldn't let him die? If Holly ruminated on the question for too long, she'd feel another chill creep down her spine.

The Volcdramon's attack was repelled with ease, and Gio's own attack had landed directly. The Volcdramon was promptly dunked beneath the lava, leaving Dio with a seemingly free path. However, the Volcdramon emerged from the lava mere seconds later. The ghostly arm was still clearly grappling him, but rather than holding onto the Volcdramon's outsides it was now embedded into his body. Had Volcdramon's magma-filled body just slipped through Gio's fingers? Regardless of the reason, it seemed grappling wouldn't work on this foe. It turned its attention to Gio, then turned its ponderous body around, aiming to smash him with a lazy thrash of its tail.

The bad news was that Carlos didn't see any hints on the floor. The worse news as that, as Carlos looked up, he would see that the Gargoylemon had shifted in their positions. The Gargoylemon with cracks on its face raised its hands up to its head, covering them in agony. The Gargoylemon with cracks on its back had sunk to its knees, propping itself up with a single hand. The Gargoylemon with cracks on its legs rose to its knees, as if trying to take flight. As for the Gargoylemon with the cracks on its chest?

It now looked to be lunging towards Carlos, a hand extended towards his neck. Good thing it wasn't moving any further!