Envy had told Pride the room number as they walked away. When they turned the dark corner Envy stopped. Her body violently shook as she held back a sob. “I can’t do this.” She rushed her hand up and with a flash of magic from a sigil. Time slowed to a stop.
Pride gave a level sigh. She turned around. Her eyes held a coldness in them that shot through Envy. “You absolutely can.”
“Then I won’t!” She stomped her foot on the ground. Her cheeks turning red. Pride saw her as nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum. She clicked her tongue as she walked over to Envy. Grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her. When Envy wouldn’t let herself be moved Pride growled and let her go. Pride leaned forward and glared into Envy.
“He has just agreed to be your lover, no?” Envy nodded. “How cruel of you.” Envy's face fell even further. Though Envy was only slightly shorter than Pride she felt incredibly small. “You’ve agreed to join this mission of mine. You know what happens when you leave your lovers alone for too long. Poor fool…”
“I- You told me to get in contact with him!” Envy cried out.
“That I did. I just didn’t expect you to behave like this. It should be below you. You’ve been in Hell for over a thousand years. Far longer than the lifespan of any of your people. You received a gift from Lucifer.” Pride ground her teeth. Envy saw a light in Pride’s usual cold gaze. It was the light of burning anger but a light regardless. A realization began to creep up on Envy. “And you wish to throw this gift away! To deny the nature you’ve had for centuries. Just that little thing to make you a demon and you can’t do that to them. They already will live much shorter lives because of you. We don’t even need to harm him. I will do whatever is necessary. You can come and help. Or you can wait outside. He’ll already realize that this all has happened after meeting you. Won’t make any difference what you do.” Envy looked down to the ground.
That light she saw flicker in Pride’s eyes before. It was one she was all too familiar with. She breathed in. She shook her head before looking back to Pride’s cruel eyes. Envy despised this. She tried to figure out how to respond. She remembered how Lust told her to deal with Pride. She could still hear Lust’s words echo in her ear.
“Let me be the one to give you the most important advice you will ever get as a prince.” Lust had let herself into Envy’s new office. Carrying a box which had contained wine and an expensive-looking glass set. She had leaned back into a chair and opened a bottle. Helping herself to it. Envy had no idea what to do. Lust eyed her with interest between her dark locks. Her current body’s green eyes appear to be joyful. However, Envy couldn’t ignore a darkness hiding within. Like a house cat playing with a mouse.
“I’m sure you’ve met Pride.” Envy nodded. “What did you think of her?” Envy had no idea what to do. Lust smirked at her silence. “C’mon you can tell me.”
Envy resolved herself to finally speak. “I was told that it was… not the best idea to be honest here.”
Lust laughed. She shook her head. Her long black hair moving elegantly along her frame. “Good girl.” Lust lost the amusement she had. “Pride is well… prideful. Real shock I’m sure.” She snickered. “Everyone is a fool compared to her. Well except for Lucifer.” She stuck out her tongue. “You will never impress her nor will she be satisfied with you. You can do your best every day but the slightest of missteps will make her utterly and completely change her opinion of you. She’ll do this...” Lust waved her hand in the air. “Mental gymnastics to make you an idiot in her mind.” Lust motioned Envy over who awkwardly sat down at the table. “Best thing you can do is run your circle perfectly but be a slacker when it comes to jobs from Pride.”
“What why would I do-”
Lust cut her off. “I know that might seem scary. Possibly pissing off a demon. Especially since this is new to you.” Lust gave a weak sigh. “The rest of us are fairly normal. We hang out and have fun. Pride doesn’t. Wouldn’t be surprised if she was cursed to die if she left Lucifer alone for a day. There is no being on her good side. She doesn’t do beings that aren’t named Lucifer. No matter what you do she will not care. So as long as you please us and Lucifer you’ll be fine. Better actually if you don’t mess around with her. That time you can spend on literally anything else and it will be better spent. There is no winning an argument with her. Her brain can’t process being wrong or disobeying even the smallest of commands. Kinda pathetic!” Lust chuckled dryly.
Envy had no idea what to say. She picked one of many questions that raced around her head. “Then what do I do when I need to be around her.”
“Act as stupid, petty, and flippant as you can! Take me for example. I have Pride convinced I couldn’t do basic maths and go a day without sleeping with someone. She hasn’t asked me to do something that wasn’t ordered by Lucifer in decades. I’m a last resort. Same with most of the other sins.” She poured Envy a glass. Handing it over to her. Envy hesitantly began to drink. “I heard Lucifer made you a demon and in return, you must suck the life out of humans for power.” Envy weakly nodded. Her stomach grew sick remembering the terms of her deal. She forced herself to down more wine to cover it up. “Double down on this. Make it seem like you are either on Earth or always thinking about humans.” She paused and clapped her hands. Her face gleaming with a realization.“In fact, I got a better idea! All you have to do is drain more humans. Make her think you require more than you actually do. Your need was given to you by Lucifer. Her not letting you do that would mean that she was not allowing you to use Lucifer’s gift. Therefore she has to let you do it all you want. She won’t be happy of course but she never is.” Envy’s body surged with a cold sweat. She did her best to mask the horror she was feeling while Lust’s face gleamed with joy. Envy felt horrid at the idea of causing more humans possible suffering to get out of work.
It seemed she didn’t do a good job of covering this up. Lust clicked her tongue. “Empathy for humans will get you nowhere in Hell. If anything it’ll destroy you. Fast. I don’t know nor care about what you were before.” A softness entered Lust’s expression. Envy couldn’t tell if it was genuine. “Don’t destroy yourself over others. Be it Pride, a human, or some other demon.”
“O-Okay…”
“Trust me,” Lust sang. She seemed happy with Envy’s answer. Standing up and walking away. Her elegant voice rang out into the room as she left. “You’ll thank me someday!”
“Let’s go,” Her voice croaked out. She shot her eyes to the dingy wall to avoid Pride’s vicious smirk. They stood at the closed door. “I told him I was going out to make a call.”
Pride sighed as she opened the door. The two stepped in. The man who had just made a pact with her. The man who bound himself to her with his love until his death. Was staring at her in confusion. “Who… is this?”
“A friend,” Envy said. She stared out the dingy window to the parking lot. I feel wretched. She thought as she stared out. She could tell Pride was gazing at her. She nodded solemnly.
Pride stepped forward. She plastered a smile on her face. “Mr…”
“Charles Smith,” He replied. His attention stayed on Envy. She quickly looked to him before darting her eyes away. Pride could see the human become more and more anxious. Let’s get this over with.
“You work for Mr. Black. Do you not?” Charles’s face contorted in horror. He nodded before becoming frozen in fear. “We need to contact him.”
“You don’t just call-”
“You may not but I do. He may kill you for giving us his number. Don’t worry though. You’ll have it much worse if you don’t give it to me. Mr. Black’s not the kind to waste his time on people like you.” Pride stepped forward. The body the angel’s placed her in was only slightly shorter than him. However, she had to make do with what she was given. She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down. “Understand.” He desperately nodded. Pride let him go. He stumbled back before rushing to his phone. He thrust it to her with Conquest’s false information alongside his phone number. She grabbed the phone and began to walk out of the room. “I’ll be taking this. Give him enough money to replace it. I’ll give you two lovebirds some time along.” Pride closed the door behind her. Without a chance for a reply from either of them. She walked around the building and found a tree near the back of the area. She hit call.
It rang for a few seconds before picking up. “What do you want?” Pride could recognize that voice anywhere. Not because it was unique. It was a voice she had known for centuries upon centuries.
“It’s Pride.” He stayed silent. “What makes you think you can just not answer my calls. Or have you not been giving us up to date information. I don’t know which Lucifer would be angrier about. Would you like to find out?”
“No I would not,” He said with an even voice.
“Good. We need to talk, in person. Lucifer wishes me to discuss something big with you. The big thing. He’s too busy right now preparing to discuss it personally. You understand.” Conquest hummed. “I’ll text you a location once I get it. Can’t do it right now. You’ve put me behind schedule on my work.” Pride hung up. She walked back to the parking lot. Her eye twitched. “Damn it, Wrath.” The car was gone.
Envy found Pride minutes later fuming. Staring down at the place Rose’s car had been. She silently joined her. A noise startled them and they looked up. Rose pulled her car back into the space. She stuck her head out of the window. “We good?”
Pride gritted her teeth. “Yes, we were minutes ago.”
Rose scoffed and put her head back into the car. “Then get it.” She shouted. Pride and Envy climbed into the backseat.
“Where did you guys go?” Envy looked between them. Then to the straw in Wrath’s lips.
“What is that?” Pride glared at Wrath’s cup.
“Oh, it’s a smoothie,” Rose stated. She met Pride’s eyes. Her voice was genuine in her answer. However, there was a slight amusement in it.
“I know what a smoothie is!” Pride huffed.
“We can get you guys one if you want.” Rose took another drink from hers before driving away.
“No,” Pride said. “I don’t partake in human substance.”
Envy looked at Pride in shock. “You’ve always joined me during meals during work.”
“That’s different.”
“How so?” Envy leaned slightly forward. Her eyes searching Pride’s.
“I only ate with you to get you comfortable so I could get back to my actual work sooner. I haven’t actually ever enjoyed it.” Envy sighed and stared out the window.
“I could go for a smoothie,” Envy said with a cheerful tone. A smile spread across her lips. Rose threw a quick thumbs up before turning to go to the smoothie place. Pride glared at Envy. “You said I worked better comfortably. Didn’t you?” Envy had a coy smile on her face.
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