Serpentine Apotheosis

I gazed solemnly at the dust-covered statue of the nameless deity in the temple.

I had already made up my mind.

"I will ascend."

Golden light shone, but the statue remained unmoved.

Suddenly, the deity within burst laughing.

"Now that your divine power has awakened," declared a powerful, ethereal voice, "you will return with me to the Empyrean."

I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes in deep prayer.

"I, Sinead Bell, your most faithful devotee, beg your permission to do one last thing before my return."

-

After leaving the temple, my phone rang. Jonathan's name popped up.

"Honey, where are you?"

His gentle tone made my heart ache. Truly, one's gentleness was the most lethal of weapons.

For now, I had to wait until all my snake scales fell off. Only then would I gain the power to deal with him. Otherwise, he might just rip my heart out right then and there.

At the moment, I had to act like nothing was wrong.

"Did you forget? Tonight's our bachelor and bachelorette party! Huh? Why are you so quiet? Want me to come pick you up?" he said.

"It's fine, I'm on my way now," I said, forcing myself to sound casual.

"Oh, okay. See you soon."

I hung up, caught a cab, and headed to the party venue. Pushing open the door into the private room, I saw Jonathan and his friend Sam Sunderland sitting in the middle.

Sam was joking around, surrounded by gorgeous young women. When he saw me, he said, "Hey, the pretty one's finally here!"

A new hostess in a spaghetti strap dress looked up.

"Ahhh!"

As soon as she saw me, she spun around and hid behind Sam, terrified.

"Holy… What the hell is that?!"

A descendant of Echidna, I was born with snake-like skin. As such, my face was covered with hard scales. Because of that, people's first reaction to me was always fear and disgust. No one dared get close, and they acted as if I would infect them with a skin disease.

Jonathan was the only exception.

I looked at him, who was playing with his prayer beads. His eyes were closed as he rested and meditated. The open cuffs of his white shirt emitted a faint sandalwood scent.

Sam calmed the young woman down with a grin. "Don't be scared. Blame it on Jonathan's weird taste."

When she saw everyone laughing, her voice went all soft again. "Come on, she looks terrifying. I'm really scared!"

The busty young woman next to Sam chimed in, "How can you say that? Miss Sinead's face has more makeup than a wall! She's already trying so hard to cover up her face."

Another young woman said, "Yeah, it's not her fault she's ugly. Still, coming out looking like this is just wrong…"

Sam grinned. "She's definitely ugly enough to be a living legend! Honestly, if you give her a squeeze, it's not so bad. Jonathan, just don't turn the lights on tonight."

I scoffed quietly in my mind.

In my previous life, I was so ashamed of my face that whenever I got humiliated in public, all I felt was guilt for embarrassing Jonathan.

Once, I even apologized to him with red-rimmed eyes.