Just inside the doorway, Gehenna could see Ida stooping down in front of the pale blonde from his view in the hall. Even knowing the truth, it was hard for the dreadhead to put two and two together, to comprehend what kind of monster really lurked inside the dim bedroom with the gentle senshi. She would never even see it coming.
One strong hand reached out and gripped the door by the handle, pulling it slowly toward him as the unassuming civilian woman moved her arm out for Ida's examination.
"Ida," she echoed softly, as if the name alone was calming some inner panic, lulling her to peace and staving off the worst of her frazzled nerves. She turned her pale arm palm-upward for Ida's consideration, but at first glance, there were no obvious signs of trauma. It looked whole and unharmed. Then, very slowly, the skin around her fingertips began to dissipate. That was the only word there was for it, as the skin itself peeled back bit-by-bit and morphed into a wispy, curling black smoke that twisted into the air between them until the tips of the long tendrils began to disappear. Long, broken lines were revealed, scarred flesh marking the arm extended toward the Eternal, just as it reached out to lodge cold, sharp fingers around Ida's throat.
"It's nice to meet you, Ida," the reveal had escalated as quickly as a fire consuming paper - once started, it could not be stopped. The hole in her chest was revealed above her peculiar uniform, and as her lips parted to speak again, the wisps of dark smoke framed her wicked smile. "I'm Ascendant General Alkaid."
Behind them, a door clicked shut. On the other side a strong, dark arm was pressed into the wood to keep it closed - but also to keep the brute upright. The door between them was as much to keep himself out as it was to keep Ida in. He could feel the nauseating, dark energy beginning to burst at the seams within the room and every part of his being was screaming at him. As bad as things were for him, for Isaiah, did he really have to choose sacrifice? His two dark eyes stared at the back of the door like he could see her through it, to the lamb he had thrown upon the altar. Then they fell to the floor as his teeth clenched and his stony expression finally gave way to the self loathing that had been bubbling up under the surface.
Inside of the door there was a wicked laugh, and pop, like something had been ripped out of the fabric of existence. The arm Gehenna had been using to hold the door shut was now holding him up as he leaned his weight into it. He realized he could no longer feel the dark, billowing energy of Alkaid inside of the room - nor the more focused, bright light that was Ida. It was done.
He'd actually betrayed her.
Both of his knees buckled and his shoulder hit the door, sliding down the length of it until he was a pool of armor and leather, collapsed and unmoving with his cheek pressed roughly into the cheap veneer. A cold, suffocating feeling began to swell in his chest as the reality of what he had just done sank in - it choked his lungs and constricted his air passage. Gehenna couldn't speak or move, he could do nothing but lean into the door and try to stop the soft chant of a single world in his mind.
Traitor,
traitor,
traitor...
