“You are perfect.”

  “Thanks baby but I’m straight !”

  Julie ughed in her high pitched voice, but Cyrielle was serious.

  “I’m not even joking, how did you think about all of that ? You even printed a sign !”

  “You know at the supermarket where I work there is a corner to print photos and posters with images from your phone ? Well I did that during my break. I’m not a great artist like you but I copied signs I saw on the internet and it did the trick.”

  “Be my manager.”

  Cyrielle didn’t hesitate even one second. Upon hearing Julie’s answer she was even more sure. Her best friend was way too talented at that manager thing. She had seen the video of the rehearsal she took and it was truly a work of art. The beer bottles that were everywhere and gave the room a messy feel didn’t seem that way in the recording. They each reflected the sun as if they were spotlights shining on the band, and even though the concert was an hour long, she didn’t move her arms at all. The video was just perfect. And what about this morning ? It was Julie who prepared the different segments for the interior design recording, and she even prepared the sketchbook. All of that without even talking about the way she handled the people in the Irish pub and how she had a famous drag queen post a story about Cyrielle. She was born to do this. She needed to be a manager.

  Ready to argue until the end, Cyrielle opened her mouth, but…

  “Am I not already your manager ?”

  Cyrielle tilted her head in confusion.

  “Huh ?!”

  “I thought I made myself clear when I told you I would take care of everything. Or maybe I forgot ? In that case let me reaffirm it.”

  She approached her head from her friend’s, breaking into a big smile.

  “Please let me be your manager, Cyrielle Laporte.”

  And she opened the car door and got out before she could hear a reply.

  ‘Did she just… Am I… Is she…’

  Julie was now her manager. It was decided and acted.

  ‘Well, that’s what I wanted anyways. But oh my gosh, my best friend is so cool !’

  Cyrielle sprung out of the car with a big smile, but she immediately froze. Marius was in front of her. He was usually waiting for her inside, why was he here ? Then she noticed his hand. He held the suitcase that contained all of her worldly possessions.

  ‘Oh… So he is finally kicking me out, huh ?’

  It wasn’t really surprising. Having someone sleep on your couch for a day or two is one thing, but when days become months, anybody would need to have their intimity back. Cyrielle nodded her head. She understood.

  Marius was looking at her with a stern face but his eyes were filled with worry.

  “My mother is sick, I have to travel back…”

  “It’s ok Marius, thank you for everything.”

  She took out the 20€ from her pocket, all the tips she earned that day. She wanted to at least pay him back a bit for the food and the lodging, but he immediately refused.

  “Pay me back when you have a roof above your head. I need to go now.”

  Cyrielle just smiled and looked at him as he went back. It was expected. It was not surprising. But despite all of that, she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

  ‘No, I have such good skin now !’

  But it didn’t stop. She couldn’t see anything, the world was blurry. She vaguely felt someone sit her in the car and buckle her seatbelt but she couldn’t react. Why is life so unfair ? In 2019 she was one of the best booksellers in Bordeaux, she had a job she loved, enough money to be happy, she could have hobbies and be proud in front of her family, but now ? Being absolutely homeless with no hope nor dream. Whether she could eat or not was only based on someone’s kindness, not her own ability. She felt disgusting and useless. What use was this Path of Destiny, if she didn’t even have enough money to eat ?

  All the dark thoughts that had magically disappeared on monday evening now came back after less than a week.

  She had no idea how she ended up on Julie’s newly acquired couch, or how she was dressed in fresh pajamas with a bnket around her shoulders, but she was too tired to ask. She had cried so much that she felt completely drained of any energy. Even her emotions seemed to have dried up. She was just empty.

  In front of her she could see a worried Julie sneaking gnces at her while scribbling in a notebook. It was the one Cyrielle had drawn in a few days ago. She could see that specific page had been torn and taped to the cover like a treasured art piece. But it didn’t make her feel anything. She just continued to watch her friend with lifeless eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, a whistle was heard and Julie ran to the kitchen. She came back with a warm cup of tea that she handed to Cyrielle.

  After taking a sip of it, the hot water burned her tongue but it seemed to bring back color to her cheeks. She started to feel something again. It was pain and despair, but it was better and less scary than being empty.

  Seeing that, Julie breathed a sigh of relief and presented her notebook to Cyrielle.

  “We need a pn to make it work as soon as possible. For that, instead of focusing on only one thing, we’ll do everything at the same time. It will be very tiring for you but it’s the only way I see to get out of this deep hole you’re in.”

  The words were tough but right. Cyrielle slowly nodded. Her friend continued :

  “You have a foot in the drag scene, thanks to Madame Fabergé. We’ll try to thread on that path while continuing the concerts with ‘Heavy Protector’ to increase the awareness of the public to your vocal skills. Of course, we need to continue the upload of videos on your channel until you have the qualifications for monetization.”

  Cyrielle listened quietly while sipping the tea. Seeing her friend do her best to help her was sending warm waves to her body.

  “After a few home decor videos, we should have enough justification to have you hired as a consultant either in people’s homes or for sets and stages. I don’t yet have contacts in this domain, but I can get them really quick !”

  She continued for almost an hour, expining all the different ideas she had and all the ways Cyrielle could use her abilities.

  ‘Hey, Path of Destiny, are you sure you didn’t send her to me ? Or maybe it’s Julie that gave me this system. Gosh, she really is the best.’

  It took almost two hours and a tea that was scorching hot, but finally Cyrielle could feel hope again. It wasn’t as intense as the first time, she wasn’t sure of herself. But for now she felt that she could try again.

  After spending hours discussing every single thing, Julie went to bed and Cyrielle yed down on the small couch. She had to bring her legs almost to her chest, but it was much better than when she had to sleep under the table. Covering her head with the bnket so that the light would not disturb her friend, Cyrielle put on small damaged earphones and started to look through MyTube. Truthfully, one didn’t work anymore but it was a habit to put both in her ears. She was trying to nourish the little hope that had just started to burn, like the fme of a candle that could be blown out by the wind at any time. For that purpose she went to the comment section of her videos. Some were negative and some had no retion to her at all, but she didn’t pay attention. She voluntarily read only the positive ones.

  -Is she a mermaid ? I feel pulled in

  -If you don’t know the story of this song, it’s about a woman who fell in love with a guy she only saw once so she becomes mad searching for…[Read More]

  -Mam I love you so much I watch your videos every morning !

  -You are so elegant, would you be my dy ? I could be your horseboy…

  -he has lost his mind mdrrrrr, but she’s cool af

  She felt healed a little bit, as if those people had put a band-aid on her bleeding heart. After taking a deep breath, she decided that she would never let those strangers down. They liked her and she liked their comments. It was a precious retionship to her. So she immediately wrote something in the search bar. It seemed strange, but it was all for those subscribers.

  ‘How to be elegant…’

  She spent her entire night watching videos about posture, etiquette, looks, makeup, and every possible thing that made someone elegant. She was surprised to see that she knew a lot of those things, it was stuff that her mother had taught her.

  ‘Elegance is not the opposite of poor, it's the opposite of vulgar… If you show chest, don't show legs and if you show legs, don’t show chest… Standing straight and not slouched down… I know all these things.’

  Without realizing it, she was already halfway there. It’s at this moment…

  [Congratutions, you have acquired the ability ‘Elegance’ without the help of Path of Destiny. Path of Destiny rewards you by offering a gift.]

  But before she could react, curiously another message popped up.

  [To help you on your future opportunity and to congratute you on your first independently acquired ability, Path of Destiny will upgrade ‘Elegance’ and gift you ‘Stage presence’]

  Her body was feeling hot but she didn’t have the time to react, the blue characters didn’t stop appearing.

  [‘Elegance’ and ‘Stage presence’ boost the innate capacity ‘Aura’]

  What was happening ? She didn’t know anymore and couldn’t think. The heat was that of a thousand fmes, as if her whole body was breaking and being reconstructed again and again. At this point, she really felt like she was dying. She wanted to scream for help and wake Julie up but time had stopped and she was alone in her agony.

  Then it stopped as suddenly as it came. Her breathing was ragged and she thanked the heavens she was under a bnket otherwise Julie would have definitely run to her. Trying to calm herself and checking numerous times if she was ok, Cyrielle finally rexed again. It was a pain she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy, but she had acquired what she wanted. Not for her, but for the people who liked her. She felt a little proud inside, she had done it all on her own. And maybe this system felt that she had almost given up so it had put a little more in that gift for her sake. She wasn’t sure it was right, but the thought made her happy so she stuck with it.

  Speaking of gifts, she had something to do. She once again turned the wheel, crossing mentally her fingers. The result appeared quickly.

  [Congratutions, you have earned the silver gift ‘Moderately better hair’. Would you like to proceed or spin again ?]

  ‘Moderately’ ? Was it better than ‘slightly’ ? So bronze was a slight change, silver a moderate change, and gold a big change. And rainbow seemed to enhance an ability. It left only the pearly prize unchecked. Assuring herself that she would find it out soon, she spun the wheel again. And one more time, as if on purpose…

  [Congratutions, you have earned the pearl gift ‘Mind and body linked’. Would you like to proceed or spin again ?]

  What was that supposed to mean ? Cyrielle had no idea. But surely it was better than slimmer toes. She accepted the gift and tried to move her hand.

  ‘...?’

  Something was strange.

  It was as if there was almost no dey between the thought and the movement. And she could move her body exactly how she wanted, with the speed and the strength she desired. It was hard to expin, but…

  ‘Won’t I draw better thanks to this ?’

  Obviously it was the first thing that came to her mind.