34.

Silence engulfed the whole spacious room for what felt like eternity as we so quietly stared at each other, my mind still revolving around those specific moments just a few hours ago back in the backyard.

His bright blue eyes held my own for a few moments longer, not even bothering to hide the hurt and despair pulsing so vividly inside of them as he almost pleadingly uttered,

“You know you don’t have to do this.
We can always leave this place and-”

“And what?” I suddenly found myself asking out loud,
“Go back to that wretched place we used to call a home? To that monster who calls herself a mother?” I watched him cast his gaze somewhere to the carpeted floor, quickly rising up from my seat as I could practically feel his anger and frustration only growing, lowering on my knees right in front of his sitting form as I quietly said,

“I’m sorry, Rem, but I can’t do this. Not anymore...”

I took a moment to swallow the growing boulder threatening to crush the inside of my throat, tightly grabbing his incredibly warm hands as I hoarsely whispered,

“I’m tired, Rem.

I’m tired of constantly hoping for some miracle to happen, when I know it never will.

I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep doing this to you. To everyone...”

His bright blue gaze remained downcast after my words, visibly struggling to reign himself in as he remained completely quiet, the only reaction I could get from him consisting in a slight tightening of his grip around my hands.

“Can’t you see? I’m setting you free. I’m setting you all free...” He audibly scoffed at the sound of my words, from the look on his face and the way his thin lips slightly parted clearly intending to say something when a knock on the door suddenly interrupted our current conversation.

Giving him one last glance I mumbled a “come in” for the intruder, soon enough noticing Archangel Michael’s child hesitantly step inside.

“Hi...” She weakly mumbled as she slowly approached, eyes downcast as her hands nervously fiddled with the sleeves of her soft pink large hoodie.

“Oh...hey...”

I only managed to get up from my kneeling position before my brother stood up as well, curiously enough without even uttering a single word as he fastly made his way straight towards the door, loudly slamming it behind him.

Noticing how she visibly winced at the sound of that I remained quiet for a few moments, unsure of what to do or say before eventually curiosity got the best of me and with a hesitant approach I timidly asked,

“Umm...Can...Can you tell me what happened?”

I watched how she stiffly stood there for a few moments, only now noticing the visible redness and swell underneath her eyes as she reluctantly rose her sight to meet my own.
Her entire appearance seemed so dull and lifeless -unlike her usual self- as my gaze roamed all over her features, noticing the pallor in her cheeks and the way her forest green eyes seemed to have lost their natural gleam.

I did this...

I just keep infecting everyone...

Those specific words kept echoing inside my mind, almost unaware of her slow approach until I heard her reluctantly begin to speak,

“I don’t even know...All I remember is that we were just sitting around, waiting for you to recover from...whatever that was when your eyes suddenly started to glow again and before I could even realize what was happening I was already dry-humping your brother like a freaking horny dog, almost begging for him to bang my brains out,” She muttered that last sentence with a small grimace etched on her childish features, my forehead creasing into a frown as well as she lastly said,

“And...well you know what happened after...”

I only gave her a slow nod as I clearly didn’t want to hear any more of that, soon enough the both of us succumbing into a deep silence as I eventually moved to sit in my previous spot right in front of the nicely-carved vanity table whilst she followed, grabbing a hairbrush before she so gently started to trace it through my loose curls.

We both let ourselves enjoy our clearly much-needed moment of tranquility as she soon started to braid my hair while I just sat there, enjoying the feeling of her fingers gingerly trace through my locks, for once choosing to ignore anything else.

I peered at her through the mirror, watching how she absently gazed at her handiwork, seemingly so lost in her own thoughts as she eventually stepped back, only now noticing she had actually pulled her sleeves up to her elbows as her gaze trailed to the inside of her left wrist, making me wonder exactly what was she so intensely staring at until I finally saw it.

A foreign angry red symbol stood so visibly etched in her flawless skin almost like a violent burn mark, glowing ever so faintly as she gingerly traced her fingers over it.

“Wow...What’s-”

“Azrael’s grace,” She quietly answered my unfinished question as she took a seat on the bed right where my brother had previously sat, leaving me staring at her with a visibly puzzled expression before I finally opened my mouth.

“What? But h-how-”

“Well, the truth is I still don’t even know for sure why or how but all I can tell you is that after we had our...first night together, I kinda woke up stuck with this and a weird sensation flowing through my body,” She quickly explained, once again leaving me completely stunned and utterly lost for words, dumbly staring at her slightly saddened expression until my gaze unintentionally landed on her other wrist, quickly noticing another weird symbol, only this one laid so faintly against her skin, almost unnoticeable.

Briefly remembering how she had shoved that exact same wrist right in Raphael’s face just a few hours ago I almost felt too afraid to ask, mentally praying to the gods that it wouldn’t be what I was currently thinking it was before I finally let that dreaded question slip.

“W-what about that other one?”

With an increasing heartbeat and slightly trembling hands I watched her suddenly lower her gaze, nervously biting her lip as with a so quiet tone she reluctantly answered,

“That’s...That’s Raph’s...”

I only blinked a few times in response, too shocked to even form a coherent sentence or even properly think for that matter, my reaction apparently being completely misleading for her as she suddenly said,

“Okay, I can see you’re very confused right now so I’m gonna explain this whole “situation” to you...”

Noticing that I haven’t even made an attempt to speak or even move -since I was practically unable to even breathe anymore- she only continued,

“Ookaaay, first things first,”

“In case you were wondering, the reason why Azrael isn’t a fallen is that he’s...Well let’s just say he’s not your “regular” Archangel like the others, since he’s one of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and all that shit...

And since his grace is practically bound to my soul...Uh...let’s just say that as long as I’m alive, he’s...He will still be his...usual self...”

Even though that last sentence left me feeling somewhat confused -mostly by the way she so evasively explained it- I however chose to mainly focus on that other one, clearly more interested to find out exactly how that happened.

“W-what about...” I dryly swallowed, leaving that sentence hanging in the air as my gaze suggestively trailed to the faded symbol, watching her shift her gaze between my curious stare and the said symbol.

“Well, my father once explained to me that while my soul has practically merged with Azrael’s grace, Raphael’s is rather just a guest in my body,”

“When it brought me back to life it had actually fulfilled its purpose...Now is just...laying dormant within me...”

What?

“...Except that one time when it actually started to-”

“Wait, it...brought y-you back to life?” I sputtered, simply unable to get that one sentence out of my mind, my own eyes starting to fill with unshed tears as I watched how that green in her eyes became so glassy and thickly filled with guilt, her voice now audibly trembling as she quietly said,

“Yes.”

“Raphael is a fallen because of me.”

“He gave his grace away so that I could live..."