The Three Dark Angels

Azreal opened the single wooden door, and stepped inside. As Azreal anticipated, it was a run down joint that was barely staying afloat. The amount of space wasn't much bigger than the apartment, if all of the walls and doors to the rooms were removed. There was only room for a bar and set of stools, which only came to nine, and two wooden round tables each with four wooden chairs. The place itself wasn't very lighted, and only a handful of candles were scattered about, providing the minimum amount of light required to see the bar, tables, and the other patrons.

Currently, there was only six other people here, and all of them were at the bar. They were older and seemingly 'dirty' men who seemed to have not faired so well in life, based on their looks. And one, a bald fat man about Azreal's height, was sitting by himself at the left end of the bar, while the rest were piled together close to the other end of the bar.

Azreal choose to sit in the empty space between the fat man and the group of other men, and nearly everyone turned to him as he sat down. The bartender, also an older man with grey hair and heavy wrinkles, made his way over to Azreal.

"How old are you, son?" The man asked.

"Fifteen." Azreal answered, really wanting to say 'none of your fucking business'.

"Fifteen!?" One of the group of men shouted from within his circle. "Kids these days, so irresponsible. Well, if they want to be foolish and start drinking at such an age, let em! They'll only have themselves to blame in the end!"

"Enough George! Don't make me send you home early, again!" The bartender snapped at the man called George before turning back to Azreal.

"What'll it be son?"

"Hmm...well, let's see." Azreal said as he pulled out his money. He saw that he had more on hand than he thought, and decided to go big. In fact, he decided to just go for broke.

"Shot of Heaven's Rain."

The bartender blinked. "Are you serious? I don't think you're old enough to handle that yet." He said as the fat man at the far end of the bar began to laugh.

"You got some balls kid. If you manage to down that shot and not spew it back out within one drink, I'll pay you back for both the shot and whatever drink you're getting."

"Don't encourage him Henry! Don't you have any idea how much of a headache it would be if he died from an overdose! I would never hear the end of it from his parents!" Although it wouldn't hurt the business that much, such an event would draw in miles of headaches. In the Magi world, the rule on this was quite simple, the kid was old enough to ask, and had the money to pay for it, so he could get it. The fact that he was here asking for it in the first place with no supervision is the fault of the parents and the kid himself, and that's it. If one could not properly care for their children, then they suffer the consequences, that was the rule of the Magi world.

Azreal shrugged at all of this. "Don't worry. One, I don't have parents, and two, I accept the challenge. It's not like this is my first time drinking."

"In that case, go ahead, give the little rat his shot and help us clean up the world." George remarked.

"You ever had a shot of Heaven's Rain?" The bartender asked Azreal, who decided to ignore George completely, who was now being hushed by his drinking companions.

Azreal shook his head, ignoring George as well. "No, but today is a special occasion, and I've decided that Heaven's Rain is the perfect fit for the occasion."

"Must be some occasion." The bartender muttered as he got the shot ready. At this point, everyone in the establishment was carefully watching Azreal. He was, after all, about to take a shot of the strongest liquor in perhaps the entire world, and when Heaven's Rain hits, it hits even harder than a ton of bricks.

All eyes followed the filled shot glass as it was place before Azreal, and the waiting began.

Azreal eyed the liquid carefully. It was clear, almost as crystal clear as water, but Azreal knew it was anything but. Then, all at once, he suppressed any thoughts he had, picked up the glass and downed it all at once.

Azreal had never drank anything so powerful before in his life. True, he drank on various occasions like tonight, but out of everything he had ever tasted, Heaven's Rain by far was the most destructive as it went down.

It had just about burned almost as soon as it hit his lips and tongue, and burned even more as Azreal swallowed it, his entire body twitching at the strength as the shot went down.

"R-Rhoda please." Azreal croaked, struggling a little to keep himself from exploding. He had never expected Heaven's Rain to be that strong! Yeah, he knew it was strong, but this was unreal!

Henry began laughing again. "You alright down there kid?"

Azreal quickly took the Rhoda offered to him and downed a good quarter of it like it was water, just to get rid of the burning sensation from the Heaven's Rain. He shivered once again as the two drinks collided as the Rhoda went down.

"Y-yeah, and can you please stop calling me 'kid'? The name's Azreal."

"Fair enough. I'm Henry, and the pleasure is mine, apparently. Looking pretty good so far, but, we'll see when the Heaven's Rain really hits. So, what's the occasion?"

"None of your business." Azreal responded.

"Hmm, something personal eh? That's fine, we all have our reasons. Hey, at least you're celebrating, and not drinking out of a sense of depression. Depressed drinkers are some of the worst to be around."

"You got something to say Henry!?" One of the members of the crowd, one who had not spoken yet, had shouted to Henry, taking that last statement as an insult to himself, since he was exactly as Henry described, one who drinks out of depression.

"Oxford! Don't make me send you home early too. Henry wasn't directing that at you." The bartender yelled at the man as he went over to join them.

At this point, interest in Azreal had died at the moment, since he seemingly was handling his shot of Heaven's Rain well. Azreal, on a whim, decided to join Henry, and moved down to him. He, at least, seemed more pleasant than the other assholes that were present.

"So, what kind of experience you have in drinking?" Henry asked.

"Well, I first tried it when I was...I dunno, like twelve or something? In those days we were living in the streets, and we stole from places to survive. One day, I decided to steal from a liquor store to see what the fuss was all about, since a lot of the homeless were always wishing for alcohol. It was a bottle of Freud's."

Henry nodded at the name. "Good stuff. Smooth too, I bet it went down easy."

"Yeah it did, and that was the problem."

Henry began laughing. "You must have thought you could handle it huh?"

Azreal began laughing too. "Aegis, thankfully, was paying attention and kept me from drinking myself to death. I had downed a quarter of the bottle within minutes. Anyway, once that hit, it hit hard. I blacked out part way through, but I was told that for some reason, I was determined to run around the streets butt ass naked so that cows from the sky could take me to Nirvana. Thank the Creators both Angelus and Aegis kept me from doing so. Or at least, they told me they did."

"Sounds like these guys are good friends of yours." Henry said in between laughs.

Azreal's face fell at that, which Henry immediately noticed, cutting his laughs short. "So...you're not here to celebrate..."

"I am, and I am not. Look, I just...I got really involved with this girl, Danica, and I think she's the one. But Aegis and Angelus say that I shouldn't go further with her, they think I'm being stupid about it or something-"

Henry began laughing. "You're way too young to be talking about 'the one'. You're what, fifteen? Take my word for it, don't get too invested."

Azreal's eyes twitched, frustrated that he was hearing this advice from some random person he had never met.

"Let me tell you a story before you get all angry about me crushing your hopes and dreams. I was a little like you once, a 'loving' man. And, like you, I experienced the joy of 'young love' at sixteen, determined to spend the rest of my life with the girl I loved. We were having problems long before I married her, and like an idiot at the time, I thought marriage was going to fix our problems. It didn't, and us having a kid didn't fix our problems either. We were just never meant to work out. We part ways after a horrific five year marriage, with her cheating on me and me cheating on her the last year."

"What makes the story even worse was that wasn't the end of my problems, but only the beginning. Once the split happen, that was it for me. My life fell to pieces, the bitch took everything I had, and now, I just drink because I don't have anything else left. But hey, what are you gonna do? Life sucks."

'That won't happen to me.' Azreal thought to himself after hearing that story. 'I'll make sure that it works. I'll make sure that Danica and I never grow apart.'

Henry sighed upon seeing the determination in Azreal's eyes. "But, you're probably not going to listen to me, and I've had enough of talking about this crap. How's that shot doing? Try to stand, see if it hit yet."

Now that it was mentioned, Azreal noticed that a haze was settling in, and decided to try to stand as Henry suggested. It was a near disaster, as Azreal's feet failed to work probably and felt wobbly and weak as he tried to stand on them. He did manage to save himself from falling to the floor by catching himself on the bar. But then the rest of the alcohol hit his system all at once, and his world began to spin, causing him to lose his grip on the bar and he fell to the floor completely, knocking over the stool that he had been sitting on.

Henry began laughing in response. "That's Heaven's Rain for you! Swept the legs right out from under you!"

Azreal slowly regained himself, and had a somewhat difficult time as he reset the stool to where it was and took his seat, all while Henry was laughing.

"H-holy shit, I was not expecting that. Geez." Azreal whined as he returned to his Rhoda.

"Impressive. Still drinking even after getting hit by that? Guess it's time I own up." Henry said as he reached into his pocket, and offered Azreal money for the two drinks he had.

"I wonder if, at long last, I have found someone who can potentially keep up with me. You have no idea how boring it is to drink alone because no one else can drink at your pace." Henry said with a smile as Azreal took the money.

"Maybe." Azreal said with a smile. "I've never drank with a real pro before, so I'm curious to know just how far along I am."

"Don't get too cocky Azreal. If you decide to go run in the streets naked again, don't expect me to stop you." Henry advised.

Azreal's smile didn't waver. "That was a long time ago, I am far more capable of handling my alcohol now, since I've been drinking for a few years." Azreal said as he finished his Rhoda.

"Okay, now that everything settled in, it's time for some better stuff. Rhodas are so fucking weak." Azreal said as he waved the bartender down, who came over.

"Wow, the Heaven's Rain hasn't knocked you out yet? Or made you completely silly?"

"Not yet, so I gotta get in the mood for a second one, and to do that, I need to step up my game a little. I'll have a Dragor and a splash of cranberry please."

Both the bartender and Henry raised their eyebrows at Azreal's request.

"You have good taste, but the question is, can you actually handle a glass of Dragor? Tell you what, you manage to finish that completely without puking, blacking out, or going stupid, and I'll pay for that one as well. On top of that, I'll have to admit that you're pretty good, and that despite your age, you drink pretty well."

"Like I said, I've been doing this for a while." Now Azreal was really starting to feel everything settled in, and his eyes were starting to get a little heavy as the world became a little blurry.

The bartender returned with Azreal's drink, and was off to join the group on the other end of the bar once Azreal paid for it.

"Looks like you're feeling good over there. To be honest, I miss the days of being a lightweight. Made drinking much easier."

"Hey! I'm not a lightweight!"

"For your age, no. But, you think you can handle five shots of Heaven's Rain? You manage that, then you'll be closer to my level."

"Fine, I'm up for that." Azreal declared, but Henry shook his head.

"Now I know you're not ready for that. If you could see your face right now, you would say that you couldn't handle much more either."

"So what? I'm ready to try it, five shots, let's go!" As the haze fully settled in on Azreal, his arm gestures started to become more erratic, and he was swerving slightly.

Henry shook his head yet again. "You do that, and I'm outta here. I have no intention of cleaning up that mess. In fact, you're starting to lose it right now."

"B-but-but...aww...it'll be no fun if you're not around." Azreal whined.

Henry laughed. "Don't worry Azreal, you did good. The fact that you held in your shot of Heaven's Rain speaks for itself. Just go back to your Dragor, and that'll probably be the end of your night."

"I lost my virginity today." Azreal blurted out, badly slurring as he did so.

Henry blinked. "Woah! Did not want to know about that, but congrats anyways."

"But, it's more than that, it's...she's..."

"Azreal, just forget about all of that. We already had this discussion tonight, and once is more than enough. I and your two friends already gave you our piece of mind, what you do with that advice is your business."

Azreal's eyes were wandering, lost in the haze and thoughts roaming in mind. Henry sighed at this.

"C'mon kid, you were doing so good. Don't go down this lane now."

But instead Azreal rested his arms on the bar, and rested his forehead on his arms.

"But I love her!" Azreal said as he began to fight both tears and sobs. Unfortunately, the alcohol in his system spurned Azreal's feelings in a way that he could not contain.

Henry sighed once again. "Guess you ain't finishing that Dragor. That's okay, I will." He said as he stood.

"You're lucky I like you. I don't like dealing with crybabies." Henry said as he tapped Azreal on the shoulder, who was completely lost in his sobbing.

"C'mon kid, time for you to go home."

"But...but...."

Henry spun Azreal around, and assisted in getting Azreal off of the barstool and on to his feet. Azreal's eyes were red as fresh tears streamed down his face.

"Go on Azreal, go home. Once your at this stage, there's no going back. You're better off going and sleeping this off. How does bed sound?" Henry said as he helped Azreal out the door.

Azreal sniffed the snot in his nose loudly. "It-it sounds good." Azreal responded in a shaky voice as he nodded as he and Henry stepped outside. Once outside, Henry allowed Azreal to stand completely on his own two feet. Though his legs were wobbly, Azreal was able to do so.

"You know the way home right?" Henry asked.

Azreal's hazy eyes attempted to orient his sense of direction as he scanned the blurry world around him. But, there were some images he thought he recognized.

"It's this way." Azreal said, to what Henry thought was a random direction. Henry would be surprised to learn that Azreal was actually pointing in the right direction.

Instead, Henry simply nodded. "Okay, safe trip. And, once you deal with your drama and want to get down to some real drinking, stop on by sometime. I visit this place somewhat frequently."

Azreal nodded as he sobbed. "That sounds cool. And thanks." Azreal said as he turned and began to hobble off in the direction where he had pointed. Though he couldn't walk a straight line to save his life, Azreal did manage to walk in a single general direction.

"Well, time for my free drink. Good thing he had good taste." Henry said as he stepped back into the bar.



Though he had cried for almost the entire walk, Azreal did manage to make it to the apartment complex that he lived in. The three flights of stairs were a long and painful trip for Azreal, especially considering that Azreal was hanging on the railing for dear life because for the life of him he just could not figure out why the steps were moving around so much.

When he finally finished climbing the steps, he was mumbling to himself, and attempted to open a locked door. A quick check on the apartment number caused Azreal to realize that he had picked the wrong one, and moved to the correct number.

This time, when he opened the door, he found it unlocked, and it opened easily.

Although most of the lights were put out by now, just enough were lit to allow minimum view of the apartment. Aegis was up as well, and had silently been reading the same book at the end of the couch next to a lit candle. He raised his head as he heard Azreal stumbled in, and Azreal glared at him with drunken eyes.

"Don't tell me you stayed up all fucking night just to yell at me." Azreal slurred badly at Aegis.

Aegis shook his head. "No. I'm here to make sure you got home."

"I don't need a fucking babysitter Aegis!" Azreal snapped.

"Keep your voice down, Angelus is sleeping."

"Fuck him!"

Aegis stood. "Azreal. Don't do this."

"I love her man! I love her with all of my heart!" Azreal began to sob again. This time, Azreal's sobbing sapped the strength in his legs, and Aegis barely caught him in time.

"Look, let's not talk about that right now. Did you drink any water at all tonight?" Aegis asked.

Azreal shook his head. "No." He moaned.

Aegis guided Azreal to the kitchen table where Aegis had prepared four glasses, just in case.

"Here, take a glass. Do you want to go lay down, or sit here?" Aegis offered, grabbing one of the glasses and handing it to Azreal, who sipped on it. This was followed by Azreal plopping himself on one of the chairs, and continued to cry. Aegis sat down at the table with him.

"I just-I thought today was going to be a perfect day, you know? And it was. Danica and me finally got together, and everything was fine. But then, first the bitching about the clothes, which was an accident, you know? I mean, I get it, I would be disgusted if I saw what you guys saw. But then, you said that it was a bad idea, and Angelus is against the whole thing. And now, Henry thinks it's a bad idea, and he said you guys were good friends. I don't want to fight with you guys, I love you guys, so why? Why are you against me and Danica so much?" Azreal slurred all at once.

"Azreal...look, what you're going through, it's something neither Angelus nor I have ever experienced, so it's true that we don't completely understand what it is that you feel. All Angelus, myself, and this Henry are trying to tell you is things that we've seen and witnessed. That even includes what you've seen. I'm sure you've seen your fair share of splits and break ups that others have gone through, or at least, heard about it from your coworkers?"

Azreal nodded.

"I'm only trying to help you prepare for the worst. No, I'm not against you and Danica. In fact, it would be best if you beat the odds and this thing you have with her works out. But in this world, the chances of that are slim at best, and I want you to be prepared just in case something happens, that's all."

Although Azreal was far off in some other land, Aegis' words did reach him a little.

"Yeah..." Azreal responded as he continued to drift in thought.

"Here, just finish the glass of water, and take another one with you to bed. Do you work tomorrow?"

Azreal shook his head.

"Good, then I don't have to wake you and you can sleep in. Go ahead and take your time, and try to keep your voice down. Angelus is asleep, and I'm going to bed. Goodnight Azreal."