Chapter 104: THE DARKNESS (2)
"You are not as you were, Arella, daughter of Camael." The reflection grinned. "You feel it too, do you not?"
Arella’s hands clenched into fists, "You are lying." Arella hissed, but even as she said those words, she could still feel the unnatural energy coursing through her, clawing at her insides. What she felt could not be holy power. It was something else.
And worst of all, she did not hate it. Dare she even say, it felt good.
She shoved the thought away, disgusted with herself, "I am an angel," she spat, standing up straighter.
The reflection smiled, wider, "An angel you say?"
The words sent a chill down her spine and Arella clenched her fist, "I do not care for this game. There is an attack on my palace. On the home that the demon king has provided. The place that I am coming to terms is my new home."
"I am not anything other than what I have always known myself to be."
"You lie to yourself," The reflection interrupted, stepping close enough that their faces were only inches apart. The dark voids that were its eyes bore into her, "you lie despite knowing how you feel."
Arella swallowed hard, refusing to flinch.
The closer the reflection got, the stronger the scent they carried was. It was an earthy scent, one that reminded Arella of her garden back in the human realm. The loamy fragrance of soil after a storm, tinged with the bite of crushed leaves. It smelled of life, of roots reaching deep and branches stretching toward the sky. There was something grounding about it, something real, yet it did nothing to steady the storm that was brewing inside her.
The reflection’s lips curled, "Or perhaps, am I something that you are pretending does not exist. Something you have forgotten."