The upside-down candles burned quietly beneath the ceiling.
They cast distorted, twisted shadows as black as dancing skeletons.
Several green shoots had sprouted from the withered bonsai.
Though it was unclear whether they echoed the changing season outside, where winter was giving way to spring.
The black cat sat in the middle of the oval conference table.
Its ears drooped, its tail curled around itself, and its eyes narrowed as it stared at the greenest new shoot in the bonsai. Listening to the stiff, bland conversations issuing from the alchemical voice transmitters around it, its mind wandered elsewhere.
This was the Seven Deadly Sins' secret meeting room.
It was also the Seven Deadly Sins' first full meeting of the year.
Compared with the previous meeting, this one had one major difference: every member of the Seven Deadly Sins had turned into an animal. Lucifer, the only devil who had not transformed during the last meeting, had become a foot-long Crimson Bat this time. A golden, horn-shaped voice transmitter hung around his neck, making his tiny black eyes seem even duller and colder.
When the black cat had first seen a room full of animals, it could not help wondering whether Seven Deadly Sins, a name that sounded inherently unreliable, ought to be changed to something safer, like "Transformation Spell Study Group" or "Transformation Seminar." Of course, that would make it sound rather less impressive, and the devils would probably not agree.
Who knew how long had passed before the discussion in the meeting room finally fell silent, just as the black cat was starting to doze off and nearly forgot where it was.
It lifted its eyelids and glanced around at the solemn little animals.
"Have you reached a conclusion?" The black cat stretched out its paws, raised its rump,