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❝Why do I always end up destroying everything I've ever loved?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| The Death of a Bachelor || Panic! At the Disco ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| The Death of a Bachelor || Panic! At the Disco ||
"Echo, what are you doing?" Christopher asked as she pulled her coat on. "I'm going out. They said it wasn't enough, I need to gather more soul pieces." She stuffed her feet into her snowboots, there was a blizzard outside. "You have a meeting in ten minutes with Cress." Christopher said as he fastened his sword to his belt. "I know," Echjo replied, crossing her arms. He pulled on his coat, "Come on," Echo grinned, bouncing on her heels as she followed him outside. They braved the cold and managed to get to the car, checking the online mission boards. "There's a handful nearby, not high priority, but they'll do." He pulled the car into reverse, Echo turning on the seat warmers and strapping in. "THe more the merrier." Echo rubbed her hands together, she had forgotten her gloves.
No matter, she wouldn't need them. They were out all day, their synchro rate hovering in the mid nineties. The two of them had no need for training any longer, not after going on such a lengthy mission. When they returned, Cress was waiting for them in the lobby, her arms crossed. "Where have you been all day?" She asked, clearly annoyed that they had skipped on their meeting. "Gathering soul pieces, Flo needs more. We're running out of time," Echo replied, annoyed that Cress did not realize how urgent this task was. "I understand that Echo, but you need to be mindful of the fact that we had a time and you didn't honor it. Come on, I'm free now and you're fingers are nearly blue." Echo sighed, following Cress to the lift. "I'll take these to Malmortis," Christopher offered, taking the soul pieces.
Keron was brewing tea, she glowered as soon as she saw Echo enter. "What?" Echo nearly snapped, glaring at her. "Nothing," Keron mumbled, no doubt recalling the time Echo had kicked her arse. "Have a biscuit Echo," Cress said as she sunk into her seat behind the desk. She was still only acting director, but her office looked almost the same as Wei's. There were several clocks hanging on the wall, counting the hours in different times around the world. Echo gladly took a biscuit, as well as a cup of tea and sat in the seat opposite. "So, what's this all about?" Echo asked, dunking her biscuit in her tea and taking a bite. "Your recent aptitude exams." She slid them across the desk for Echo to see. "Echo, why do you act so dumb?" Cress inquired, Echo glowered at the papers.
"According to these tests, you've been holding out on everyone. You had a pattern, you purposely marked every tenth answer wrong, didn't you?" Cress asked as Echo quietly sipped her tea, not willing to answer. "Echo, you do realize just how important these tests are, don't you?" Every few years, all demons were required to take an aptitude exam. The questions grew more difficult as the exam went on, but Echo had found it rather easy. They changed the questions every few years, so there was no chance to learn what was on them. Reason being, if your partner were to die, they wanted to match you to someone with similar aptitude. "I'm not smart, alright? I can't think strategies. The only thing I'm good for is fighting," she took another biscuit. "That's all, alright? I've known for a long time. There's something wrong in my head, not all the cogs are in the right place or something."
"That's not true, how do you Brits put it? You're brilliant and you've been holding out on everyone." Echo shook her head, "I just read a lot."