Pride and Asma : Now what ?

A/N: really hope you'd appreciate this reply/furthering up the plot a bit :) I love Pride so much, He belongs to my friend and Asma belongs to me :)

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Pride came back to their hideout with supplies for the human to have so she would endure the cold nights and the warm days. He brought her food, her canvas, her paints and everything she might possibly need to keep her mind busy. He knew he wouldn't be back after a while but he was certain she was safe here since nobody knew about this place. He did put in place a couple of spells, making sure that her heat signature wouldn't be located by her siblings by leaving a bit of his essence around her « camp ». He didn't say goodbye to her when he vanished, only informed her that he would be back and she would have to wait. Which she would do since she didn't have any other option. Truth be told, he had to retreat to the underworld because he spent enough time on Earth for his taste and he had to think a plan through.

As he came home, he was welcomed by Lust, the only sibling he never had to fight against. She had her arms crossed and pursed lips, making it hard for him to ignore that she was upset at him. A slight shrug went down his spine as he tried to walk past her but she didn't let him. Instead, she outstretched her arm to prevent him from walking further. Irritated, his eyes flashed a brief bright blue but she held her own against him and quickly said.

« Don't think that nobody knows what's going on. You left your duties to spend some time on Earth with some human. What's wrong with you, Pride? »

« Nothing is wrong with me Luxuria. I had an important business on Earth so I took care of it. »

« A human? » She scoffed at him. « I am not blind. There is more to the story than it. You don't like humans, you don't save humans and yet you saved her. If the others learn... »

But he grabbed her neck and pushed her against the nearest wall. She wouldn't tell the other siblings what she saw today. Pride didn't want to go through the same arguments over and over again with them. He knew they didn't like Elpis from the very first day he started to see her, but he never listened to them and instead followed his heart. Elpis was his everything and he realized it now more than he did before since his memories of her return. Her absence left a void in his soul, a void that his daily duties wouldn't be able to fill. Luxuria's eyes flashed a bright pink and she lifted her upper lip.

« Release me Superbia! »

« You won't tell our siblings about her, otherwise, I would see no other option but to punish you in due form. » He said, releasing the pressure around her neck. Lust coughed and rubbed her sore throat before she narrowed her eyes and stared at him, still upset he went to that extreme, over a « simple human ».

« I won't if you fill me in. I understand she's not simply human and I have this feeling I know who she is. I've known her in the past but my memories are a blur. »

« I don't want to share anything with you. » Pride said coldly, shifting a bit his tie before he glanced at her again with his still gleaming eyes. She grunted and crossed her arms over her chest.

« You better share it with me Pride. It won't take long before I regained my memories, and not too long before the others do. I'm on your side this time and I want to help. You went to great lengths to protect this meatsuit and I am pretty sure that you have a good reason to do so. »

She was sincere for once. She truly wanted to help her sibling protect this unknown soul from a threat she could only understand as being the primeval gods, their mortal enemies. It wasn't so much to please her brother, but it actually was to trap the primeval gods and carry their father's plan out. They would die. All of them! And if this soul trapped within a human body would be the bait, then so she should be. Pride knew his sister wasn't kind at heart but he could use the help to protect and watch after the meatsuit.

« Come to my private quarters then and I shall explain everything to you. » Luxuria grinned and ran her hand through her blonde mane. At last, he would concede her something. She knew that he was rather the private type of person but the situation was way beyond the two of them so he figured out that he had no other choice but to fill her in.

Meanwhile, Asma was trying to make a home out of the luxurious forest he dumped her in. It was a rather isolated spot he chose, one that was surrounded by water and no way for her to cross. She didn't know what the lake hid in its depth, maybe fishes she never saw? Maybe sharks? Maybe something else altogether. Nervous but determined to make the best out of her situation, the painter started to do what she did best. She painted. At first, it was the animals she spotted her. A bird here, a snake there, a fish that jumped off of the water to catch a fly. She was mesmerized by the wealth of the fauna and flora and even more baffled to notice no animals could cross the protective spell cast by the SIN.

Ah ! A SIN. One of the originals. It still was a lot to take in and Asma wished it all was a dream but it wasn't. She did have recurring dreams of this... entity. She sketched him over and over again on her sketchbook until that day when he appeared to her and started to talk to her. He unfolded quite the story to her, claiming that she was some reincarnation of a primeval goddess. Elpis.. daughter of Gaea, Elder goddess of Hope and light. A part of her knew he was saying the truth! She noticed it when they were attacked by these mercenaries. If it wasn't for that one who called him a SIN and called her their sister, she would have been convinced when she noticed he deflected all the bullets and broke the necks of her attackers without touching them...or when he teleported them in this island. He told her the truth. He was Pride, the deadliest SIN of them all and she was a reincarnation. It made her twitch and she broke her brush.

« Shit! I'm real.. I'm real... what does that even mean? I don't know.. should I talk to the deity inside of me? Would she reply? » She asked out loud before holding her chest where her heart was supposed to be and shut her eyes tight. « Hello? I don't know if you hear me but... but this is crazy okay? I had a perfectly normal life not so long ago. It was boring, it was exciting at times, but at least it was my life... it was my life. Now.. now it's spiraling out of control and I don't know what to do. I want my life back.... okay ?.. okay ??? » She shut her eyes tighter and started to sob. How could one get out of a situation like this one? How could she escape? She had no idea.

« That's all you have Superbia? She's stuck in that measuit and you don't even know how to get her out of it? » Exclaimed Lust in a grunt. She couldn't believe her ears, he just jumped into the hot water without checking out what he could do.

« Do you think I don't know? The moment I felt her psychic print, the moment I remembered everything that was stolen from me. I remembered her and I found her. In the minute her heartbeat reached out to me, I was near her meatsuit. » He wrinkled his nose. « Her seal is too strong Luxuria. She's been trying for millennia to break it, but it's extremely strong. »

« Do you have any idea of how to break it? » Asked his sibling as she leaned into his desk. Pride shook his head. « Great! »

« She told me once, that there was only a legendary weapon able to destroy the primeval gods or at least curse them. The day she disappeared, she had been stabbed with this weapon. She was cursed. I only started to realize that they want her dead so she could return to her circle of reincarnation. It can't happen. I had to have her safe. »

« She can't stay forever where you left her and you can't stay forever on Earth either. »

« I need you to keep digging. Find me an information about how I can break the curse. »

« You want me to dig? » Lust scoffed at him and crossed her arms over her chest. « Searching for an information like this would mean sending my demands to the elder realm. That means they would die. » She froze as he shot her a dark glare and rolled her pink eyes. « Fine! Fine ! I'll do some digging and find a way to save your /beloved/ from her curse. »

« What do you want in exchange? » He asked, never losing track. Lust never did things genuinely, she always bargained and always obtained what she truly wanted. She smirked at him and shrugged quietly.

« I want to find that legendary weapon and use it on the remnant primeval gods. In case you forgot, we have a purpose. We're supposed to bring Father his revenge on a silver plate and this is what I'm going to do. I will kill every single one of the primeval gods... » She paused as his eyes turned bright blue. « ...except for Elpis.. as long as she doesn't get in the way. »

« She won't. »

«How can you be so sure? She's one of them Superbia. She's ONE of them! And the daughter of the All-mother Gaea. She would want to avenge herself and if she does, I won't show any mercy. I will kill her too. »

« I won't let you, Luxuria. » Pride calmly said before he grabbed a piece of chess in his fingers and contemplated it and his options for a while. Lust stared at him with a determined gaze, her pink eyes gleaming brightly now that she spoke her mind. She meant every word she said and he knew that. Of course, what would be the point in rescuing his lover if it was to have her killed by his siblings ? He didn't have the choice here and needed her help more than he actually wanted to. She couldn't be trusted but since they had a common enemy, he would let it slide for the moment.

« So what do you say Superbia? » She asked, tapping her forefinger on her arm.

« I don't care what you do with that damn dagger, as long as it doesn't come near my beloved Elpis. Do as you please, but find me the way to break that seal. » Her smile grew large and she grinned.

« I'm on it. » She said before she vanished in a pink smoke.

Pride contemplated his options and the messy situation he was in. Elpis was still trapped in the human body she was forced to inhabit and he knew that whatever happened, he had to make sure this human was willing and healthy and kept leading a normal life before it became too problematic. He would have to return her to the civilization and her past life but that would make her an easy target for her siblings and for his. Lust was an ally he didn't trust, but he needed her help. He grabbed the Queen piece of his chess game and held it tight in his hand as he remembered the soft and glowing face of his beloved. Elpis brought him joy and a peace of mind. Had she been there, she would have always reassured him or at least trusted him enough to find a solution to their issue. He missed hearing her voice, feeling her warmth and comforting presence. Everything was at his fingertips but the hardest part of the journey began and he was painfully made aware of that.

Now, what Pride? Now what?

(TBC)