girls of effulgence | bts

twenty-four

It was a cold, dark and eerie place. At first thought, Pride wasn't even sure he wanted to go into the place, but it had to be done. It was war.

The idea came to him while he was sitting and thinking about Humility. How would be able to protect his little fluff ball from the gods who wanted to play jump rope with their intestines?

Pride thought of bringing his Skin Eater out and into public, but he quickly remembered that the creature would burn as soon as it touched light. He really didn't want to hurt his precious skin-eating pet, but he'd rather that then Humility. But he still wasn't going to do it, he wasn't going to put his one friend in danger, so he quickly thought of the second best option to do, when his blood ran cold as ice just thinking about it.

Envy was right - Pride did have a Skin Eater, but that didn't mean that Fleshy was the only pet he had that lurked in the depths of his home. Pride knew that the other sins were terrified of Fleshy because he looked scary and his rumors were hair-raising. But his second pet on the other hand...

It was a horrid thing that made even Pride quiver in his leather boots. The first day he had gotten it, Pride not only knew he was an idol but felt like one as well. It started out as a harmless thing, Pride sometimes brought it out where he would admire its beauty and his own. But it got worse - much worse. It started to shake and growl, and grow so large Pride had to move it to the basement, hoping that it would forget what the sun looked like, and what love felt like.

It never did.

It haunted his dreams as Pride tossed and turned in his bed, secretly afraid that one day, it would escape the clutches of the eternal abyss of the basement, and come for its first master, hungry for the flesh in Pride that it could tear out like strips and feel the squish of the tendons, and blood dripping onto his bed, his screams already gone because they had not started, and none of the other sins would even notice because they would be dead too, just by looking at it.

Pride decided that it was the best option to use against the gods if he was so afraid of it, they would be too.

"Wrath, you're behind me aren't you?" Pride muttered, staring at the door to the basement where his beast lay. He tried to seem tough, but he could feel his voice quivering with each syllable he spoke. As he spoke, he could see his breath if he went cross-eyed enough. It was cold enough so it could live, but live uncomfortably, and so it couldn't overheat and crack, possibly injuring the creature.

A heavy clunk of boots signified that Wrath was present, but by the uncertainty in his steps, had the same uneasy feeling as his other fellow sin. "Right here," Wrath muttered with an annoyed tone, glaring at the back of Pride's head. "Why'd you wake me up at 4 a.m. again?" The sin snarled and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and watched Pride swivel over to look at him. Naturally, he raised his eyebrows like he was unimpressed, and made a face like he had eaten something disgusting.

"You look awful," Pride said bluntly, now checking his fingernails. "If you were going to wake up, you might as well have tried to look somewhat decent. At least Sloth looks presentable when he wakes up from his day-long naps." He simply shrugged, like he thought it was true, making Wrath feel like a piece of trash.

The Angry Sin tried to brush that little statement off, but he could feel his chest burning with anger and agitation. With each rise and fall, Wrath could feel his face turning redder and redder while Pride still looked like he expected something.

"Calm down, will you?" Pride snapped, noticing that Wrath had ripped part of his shirt, "if you're this angry, you'll annoy the beast."

Wrath wanted to start laughing. How could someone be so arrogant and insulting, and then act as if he wasn't supposed to be affected like he was just some toy? Wrath knew he shouldn't let his anger out, as much as he would have loved to smash Pride into the wall (again), he knew that this was important to Pride and he had best better behave himself. Also, he didn't like the idea of Pride being scared of something. He wasn't scared of anything except for a hangnail, a bad hairdo, and acne, so unless there was a giant pimple monster waiting inside, Wrath really wasn't sure what to expect. So this one time, he decided to keep cool for Pride, and for the monster.

"Alright, fine. I'm okay now." Wrath dusted off his pants and stepped next to Pride and stared at the door with him. An awkward silence filled the room is louder than the sins. Both sins were thinking about the door but in many different variations. Since Wrath had no idea why he was here, he wasn't that afraid, but he could feel the fear tingle up his spine because Pride was afraid. And Pride was never afraid.

Pride was looking at the door because he was wondering how a slab of wood could separate him from a beast so perfectly. That shouldn't have been legal, only wood as protection. Pride then remembered the creature didn't have arms, so he relaxed a bit. At least he wouldn't have to die in the hands of it because it didn't even have any.

"Let's just go," Pride muttered and opened the door to the basement, trying to not let his fears take over himself. As soon as the wood was moved, Pride and Wrath were blasted with cold air and darkness. Pride began to shiver as he walked into the dark hallway, and switched on a flashlight he was so happy he brought with him.

"You didn't answer my question," Wrath reminded Pride as he walked in close behind him, also shivering. "Why is it just me here?"

"Because you're Wrath, and I need your Wrath-y abilities." Pride simply stated and kept walking, now watching his breath right in front of him. He wished he hadn't made the room so cold.

Wrath didn't really know what to say. Pride usually had a complicated or snarky result, but right now he was being unusually normal. He supposed the cold air froze his attitude for now, so he better enjoy it while it lasted.

The two kept walking for what seemed like ages, or fifteen minutes. As they walked, Wrath's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he saw deep scratches on the wall, etched in stone. Well, that's not creepy at all, he thought to himself, getting more worried than he already was about what Pride was taking him to.

Finally, Pride stopped and took an intake of breath so loud that Wrath thought he suddenly had a breathing problem.

"Not. One. More. Step." Pride said ascetic, his eyes shut and full of concentration. His breath was ragged and torn. "Just don't look up Wrath. Let it realize we're here."

So Wrath did the obvious thing and looked up.

He really wished he shouldn't have.