A Manager From Heaven (girlxgirlxgirl)

39. Four's a party

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A part of her knew that when the moment would come, she would be caught off guard. She would never be able to anticipate it. Tangie just wasn't expecting to feel so... angel-like, when caught. She was expecting to feel fear and sorrow, fearing that she had gotten attached. Instead, Hecate revealing her as an angel makes her snap back into reality.

Or perhaps, back into delusion.

"Took you long enough." Tangie breathes out, surprising even herself with the mean tone of her voice. She rips herself free from the demon's touch, and the pain stops instantly. She doesn't turn around, facing the kitchen while tilting her head to the side, stretching her pained neck. "Sometimes I even thought you might never figure it out. I thought I was going to have to live as a human forever."

Hecate is no longer a safe presence behind her. She is a looming shadow that might kill her in an instant. Tangie could die now or in a few minutes, and there is nothing she can do about it. For now, though, Hecate stands still. Not fighting, not moving, not doing anything. Just... she's just there. And Tangie is also there, tense but- calmer than she thought she'd be. She worried, for a while, that she'd be all hysterical in the face of death. Thankfully, she isn't.

Hecate is silent for a long while. It's not an accepting, calming kind of silence. It's a 'I'm deciding what to do next', kind of silence, and that 'next' means 'what kind of death'.

"How old are you?"

A smile pulls at Tangie's lips. That's right, her lie must've stuck to the demon's mind. Whether she's angry or confused is unclear, but what is clear is that Tangie has deceived her, and she wants to know the truth now. She turns around, coming face to face with Hecate for the first time as an angel. She tilts her head to the side, just a little bit.

"22."

Hecate's face is cold, and her eyes are a deep black. She is no longer hiding her demonic traits. Her fangs are clearer than ever, her irises flash with red, the scars of her past are suddenly clear on her body. She's wearing a black hoodie and wide black pants, so it's hard to see much of her skin. But her neck and her face are full of old bruises and scars, faded by time but forever present when she's not hiding them.

"Don't play around."

And her voice is cold, no longer teasing or kind, but also no longer looking down or belittling. Tangie is quick to understand that she'll probably never get to hear Hecate's voice again, in the lighter way it used to be. She'll hear this until she dies. This angry voice hidden by a cold, monotonous tone, brought by the feeling of being deceived and betrayed. Hecate's visible bruises and scars, fangs and eyes, is a show of power. Tangie has to match it.

"220." She answers, this time truthfully. Right after, she drops all forcefields keeping her true appearance out of view. Her halo returns, an invisible light that makes her look more radiant, more mighty than her surroundings. Her sword appears by her side, except now it's useless. Her scars and bruises return, scattered around her body. They are way more visible than Hecate's, since she's wearing a white t-shirt. This is her show of power, no matter how powerless she is now.

And the golden rings in her irises return, her true tell of power. It makes Hecate's eyes widen ever so slightly, in a way that makes Tangie's chest swell with pride. That's right, she managed to reach golden might at such a young age, right before her death. This is why she's not feeling too bad about dying, either. She's already reached as high as she has wanted to reach, and her scars are a tell of how hard she's worked for the power.