The Throne I Left

He felt Sloth’s eyes on his back as he turned to take in the sight before him. At the top of the mountain, Johan could see the whole city beneath them. A big street stretched long and wide, tall buildings on either side, and more streets and buildings stretching outwards until they stopped at the base of the mountains surrounding most of the city. Not far below them Johan could see the big bridge connecting the mortal realm to Heaven, and around the city he could see a vast, green meadow with woods and water stretching on as far as the eye could see.

To the far left were woods and the ocean, to the right were tall pillary mountains, and right in the middle was the palace. Standing high above the city, the main street lead straight to it and created a breathtaking view.

Or, well. It used to.

The huge willow tree stood in front of it. Almost perfectly centered in what used to be the city square. It towered over the city and Johan could see roots stretching far along the ground, weaving in and out of it.

Johan sucked in a breath.

“Come.” Sloth said, breaking Johan out of his thoughts.

Johan reluctantly followed him, leaving the view behind as Sloth led the way down to the city.

It felt weird to be back.

Johan noticed with bitter fascination that nothing seemed to be the same. Despite the darkness of the night he could clearly see the difference. Restaurants were closed for good, stores stood vacant and the apartment buildings seemed ready to fall down.

Colder than it used to be too. Like the life was gone from the city.

It was stupid but somehow he had assumed everything would be the same, despite everything that happened. This was such a big change in only a few years.

Johan’s gaze lingered on what used to be a cafe and he felt his heart ache. He had used to go there with his dad. Now it stood empty, dust covering every surface inside.

Something more had to have happened after Johan left.

He shook his head. It wasn’t important. He was there for one reason and one reason only. He had to remember that. Things weren’t the same as they were four years ago, and it didn’t matter. They made their choice. Johan wasn’t welcome here, and that was that.

He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling nervous. Few people were walking through the street, yet Johan pulled his hood further down over his face.

It was quiet as they walked, until they reached a certain point and Johan started hearing muted music, soon followed by voices, yelling and laughing. There seemed to be more open places here. Maybe it was just the outer edge of the city that was closed down? It seemed like it.

The music got louder as they walked and more people were starting to appear in the streets now. They were few and far between and none paid them any attention as they hurried off. Soon Johan noticed a bright pink light and followed it to see a familiar pink neon sign.

He stopped. For a second he was somewhere else, watching through someone else’s clouded eyes.

That’s where the music was coming from. Here it was loud enough that he could feel the bass through the ground. The bright pink sign lit up the area around it and a door swung open to show a crowd of people dancing.

Bitterness and anger filled him as he looked inside. Of all the places to stay open…

He gritted his teeth. Oh, what he would do to go inside and beat-

"Don’t even think about it." Sloth drawled. Johan snapped back to reality and sent him an ugly glare but Sloth just gave him an unimpressed look and continued to walk.

Johan clenched his fists and followed.

They resumed walking in silence, the music faded in the distance and fewer people were walking in the street.

A laugh rang through the air.

Johan froze mid-step.

That voice. He recognized that voice. With shaky movements he looked to see a beautiful, tall woman in a deep blue, floor-length dress walking towards them. She was speaking to a man beside her and luckily didn’t seem to have noticed them yet.

Without a second thought he bolted.

The feeling of a hand grabbing for his cloak only fueled his adrenaline and before he knew it he was deep in the darkness of an alley, crouching behind a dumpster.

Sloth was staring after him in shock, a hand frozen where it reached out towards him. Johan violently shook his head.

“Oskar!” The voice called out and Sloth seemed to realize what was going on. His arm fell and he quickly turned away from Johan.

Johan’s heart hammered in his chest. What was she doing here?! This was it. All Sloth had to do was look at him and it would be over. No saving anyone. Envy was going to kill him.

He pushed away the sharp pain in his chest.

“Out for a morning walk, I see. I did not expect to see you out so early. I hear you’re usually still asleep at this time.” The click of her heels came to a stop.

Early?! Johan glanced at the sky. It was still the middle of the night!

“I haven’t slept.” Oskar corrected, glaring daggers at her.

“Oh.” She didn’t sound very concerned about it. “Did something happen?”

“Why? Am I not allowed to take a walk?”

“Of course you are.” She said, but even Johan crouched behind the dumpster could see the tightness in her smile. “You are one of the elementals, you can do whatever you want.”

Johan frowned. What did Sloth being an elemental have to do with him taking a walk at night?

Sloth gave her a dark grin and leaned closer. “Not so happy about that, Envy?”

Johan was surprised. Weren’t they somewhat friends? Why were they so hostile?

For a long moment Envy didn’t move. “I have nothing against you, Oskar. You know that.”

Sloth didn’t answer, just straightened up. Well, as much as he normally was. “Are you done?”

“Are you asking for my permission to leave?” Envy gave him a smile. “You usually just walk away, did someone manage to teach you manners since the last time we met?” As she spoke, her voice got lower, but just barely. A more sinister tone came forth. Subtle, but Johan had heard it too many times to miss.

She glanced over the alley and Johan froze. There was no way she could see him, it was way too dark. But for a second he could swear she met his eyes.

“Well, it is getting late. Goodbye, Oskar.” She disappeared down the street.

Johan let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding and carefully watched as Sloth followed her with his eyes, far outside of Johan’s view before giving Johan a simple nod.

Johan was buzzing under his skin when he got up, his feet were somewhat asleep, but that wasn’t what he cared about.

“She looked at me.”

Sloth shook his head and started walking. “She didn’t notice anything.”

Johan frowned. It was true that she only glanced in his direction, but he was sure her dark blue eyes met his.

Johan's lips pinched unhappily. Whatever, he wasn’t going to push it. Who knew what Sloth was thinking.

They were starting to get into the older part of the city. It seemed like the closer they got to the tree, the more buildings were vacant. There were no glowing signs anymore, and here buildings had random plants climbing up them, covering most of the doors and windows, though other than that the area looked completely untouched, nothing was dirty or broken. Just…abandoned.

Being alone Sloth seemed different now. There was no faint music in the distance, or any other sound for that matter. Only the sounds of their breathing and their footsteps.

It was awkward. They had never actually talked much before. They used to be in somewhat the same social circles, however Johan had never thought about getting closer to him. Sloth was very apathetic and straight-up lazy. Usually following behind two energetic girls, and usually seeming either angry or bored.

One time Johan joined in on an important meeting and Sloth was there as the very important ruler of the oceans…and was sleeping with his head on the table.

Looking at the guy walking beside him, he didn’t seem that lazy. It was Sloth that was walking quickly and setting their tempo. Though he did have longer legs than Johan so maybe it was just a normal speed for him.

Johan looked around, he remembered what it used to look like. It used to be the market, booths lined the streets until midday, not unlike Solstad, and selected merchants from the mortal world would bring in different food and wares to sell.

Most deities would stay in Heaven after they got powers and immortality, feeling too good to go back. But Johan saw how they flocked around the merchant to fight for who got to buy what. At least humans had the decency to wait in line.

They passed into another street and here the buildings were completely covered in the plants, only being known as buildings from the unnatural square shapes of the walls and the empty holes where windows used to be.

"The plants have been taking over little by little since then." Sloth told, unbothered as he stepped over the tall grass growing through gaps in the stonepath. "You might guess why."

"Note."

Sloth nodded. "That’s right." He dragged out, kicking one especially long stem out of his way. "They even grow in the winter. Annoying." He made a dismissive sound.

Johan felt his eyebrows draw close as he looked around again. Note did this. It was typical. Note had managed to unlock his powers only seconds before his death. At least they terrorized his killers for years after. A small consolation.

They were getting close to the city square now. Johan felt his heart beat harder with anticipation. The big tree had long since disappeared behind the tall buildings around them, but soon he would see it. He felt for the handle of the shovel. The heavy work was remaining.

They took the last steps around the last corner and entered the street.

Johan lifted his head to the tree towering over them.