The Three Dark Angels

During his mental debate, Aegis had placed the eggs in the cooking container, dwelled on what was going on even further, and as he took the eggs out to scramble them, he heard Angelus emerge from the bathroom.

"Why the fuck does the world get up so early anyway? Can't we all agree to just have later mornings in exchange for later nights?"

"Yes, the entire world should change just to accommodate you. Go sit down, breakfast is just about ready." Aegis called out as he scrambled the eggs.

"Yes, mother dearest." Angelus mocked as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"At least it smells good." Angelus commented about breakfast as Aegis set it down on the table.

"Can't you go an entire day without giving me any sort of trouble or lip? At least speak in a more respectful manner."

"I'll do it as soon as you earn it." Angelus said as he began to eat, with Aegis sitting and joining him.

"Cooking breakfast for you doesn't mean anything to you?"

"Nope. That's just you being my bitch. I can make my own breakfast."

Aegis cracked a smile. "Yes, burnt eggs would have been a perfect breakfast."

"Fuck you Aegis."

"Don't blame me. It's not my fault that you have no control over your own power, or that you have less than zero talent in cooking."

"Yeah, well, fuck you anyway."

"You're maturity never ceases to amaze me."

"Speaking of maturity, do you have any idea what Azreal is up to? I bumped into him last night at some three in the morning or something, and it looked like he just got in, and with one of his whores to top it off."

Aegis stopped eating and shook his head somewhat sadly. "No. I saw him come in last night, and thought I heard you bump into him, but I wasn't sure. I was pretending to be asleep on the couch, since I noticed that he was still gone when I came back at one last night."

Now it was Angelus' turn to shake his head. "You fucking guys and your late nights. What, are the two of you too fucking cool to hang around me anymore?" Angelus asked, and Aegis traced a sense of bitterness in his voice.

Aegis shook his head. "Not in my case, no. As I've told you before, I'd rather not burden you with my troubles, and what I'm involved in is something you don't want to be a part of. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to take my word on it."

"Whatever." Angelus spat.

"As for Azreal, however, of that I am concerned. If I'm correct, I think that one, his drinking is starting to fly out of control, and two, he is picking up other habits. And soon, maybe further down the line as in a few months to a year, those will start to build up to an uncontrollable level."

Angelus shrugged. "Azreal's a big boy, he can handle it."

"That's the problem. I don't think he is handling it, and that may be one of the reasons why he hasn't told us anything. Of course, this is all speculation, but-"

"What the fuck is 'speculation'?"

"It's another word for a guess."

"Then why didn't just you say that? Why speak in your fancy language that you do?"

"It's the same language you speak. The only difference is that I know more about it than you."

"Whatever."

"Regardless, I know this is not your best area, but, can you keep an eye on Azreal and find out what he's really up to? Don't ask him directly, for he'll probably just lie to you or dodge the question. But, try to get him to spill it himself if you can. I hope this is simply a false alarm and not the sign of bigger problems. But, that can just as easily be the truth as well. The truth is is that we don't know, and I'd like to find out." Aegis explained as he rose to put his dishes away to be cleaned later in the night.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Angelus responded nonchalantly.

"I'm being serious Angelus. Azreal may need our help."

"Look, I get it, Azreal needs a babysitter. Quit your bitching."

Aegis glared at Angelus. "What's troubling you? You seem to have something on your mind."

"No, nothing's going on. Just quit your bitching and get going already. It's way too early for me to even be up anyways, and listening to you doesn't make it any easier." What the fuck would it matter anyway? Neither Aegis nor Azreal tell him shit nowadays. Instead, it's all about their night lives which they do by themselves, excluding Angelus completely, which has been going on for a number of months now. Fuck them both.

Aegis' eyes narrowed on Angelus, wishing he could read what was on Angelus' mind. There was something there, but Aegis couldn't pinpoint it. "Just make sure you get to work on time, and talk to Azreal if you can." Aegis said as he walked to the front door.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just go away already." Angelus said with a wave of his hand as Aegis headed out the door.

Fuck them both. But for the time being, it was simply more convenient to stay in place. Thankfully, that didn't matter too much. They don't talk to him anymore, and in exchange, he doesn't say shit to either of them.

Fuck them both.



Later that morning, long after both Aegis and Angelus had departed, Azreal finally aroused from his very deep and intoxicated sleep. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard something in the background as he kept his eyes closed, feeling the sun's partial fury as he felt the light glaring on his eyelids. If he opened them, it would be all over.

Instead, Azreal turned over away from the light, then noticed that something seemed to be missing. Also, the noise he was hearing continued to persist, and finally, Azreal opened his eyes and rose his head to the noise, and blinked at realizing what he had forgotten.

It was Emerald, currently standing at the end of the bed in all her naked glory, until she slid her underwear back on, then proceeded to find her pants.

"Morning." Azreal said to her as his mind focused on the important question. Why was she getting dressed?

Azreal's voice visibly startled Emerald, who gave him a quick glance before sliding her pants on. "Good morning. Or rather, good afternoon, it's close to noon."

"Umm...are you going out for breakfast or something?" Azreal asked, hoping that would be her answer as it dawned on him at the same time that that was not going to be her answer.

Emerald shook her head. "No, I've gotta get out of here. I slept in way too late and I overdid it last night."

No, no, no! Azreal's mind screamed. Not again! Please not again! "But...Emerald...why are you just taking off like this?"

Emerald turned to Azreal, cutting him off with the sad expression on her face. "Azreal..." Emerald trailed off, before realizing that she at least had to put her shirt back on since his eyes kept falling to her breasts which were currently on display for him.

"Hold on, I'm sorry." Emerald said quickly as she found her shirt and threw it on. There would be time to find her bra in a little bit.

Emerald then turned to face Azreal. "Azreal...I'm being serious when I say this. You're a sweet and good guy. I mean that, you didn't have to be as nice to me as you were, and thanks to that, it led to a wonderful time last night. For once, it was more than just a quick fuck, and you had the energy to keep up with me. But...I wasn't...I'm sorry, but I'm just not ready for that. I-I thought we were on the same page, and that you weren't looking for anything either."

"I wasn't at first. But when we started getting together, you did say that I was different, that this was different-"

"I'm sorry Azreal. I didn't mean to lead you like that. I'm sorry, I thought that..." Emerald shook her head as she went looking for her bra. "Please don't make this worse. I want last night to be a happy memory...not...not something like this. I really did have fun, and I really did have a good time with you. But, I'm just not ready to settle down like that, and it's my fault for not making that clear beforehand. Even if we tried, I would only drag you down because I know I'm not ready. Please try to understand." She said as she found her bra, stuffed it into her pants, and turned to Azreal as she finished, tears now in her eyes.

In response, Azreal looked away. "Yeah, sure, I understand." Azreal said, and for the first time since Emerald met him, his voice was distant, lifeless. It was almost unnatural to hear, and unnerving at the same time.

"Azreal-" Emerald tried one more time.

"Just leave." Azreal responded, cutting her off before she could even try.

Emerald's head and eyes fell as she accepted that this was how such a wonderful night would end. And the truth was that she did like Azreal, he is a good and honest guy. And somehow, somehow she had accidentally crushed him.

Emerald desperately fought her urge to break down and cry as she turned to the door, and walked out of Azreal's life, literally and figuratively closing the door between the two.

However, Emerald was not the only one fighting back tears. After Emerald closed the door, Azreal laid back down on the bed, determined not to cry again over something like this after what had happened between him and Danica. For months he had quietly cried in his bed, knowing it was her fault yet still blaming himself for what happened. And now...it happened again.

Azreal squinted his eyes, pressing them as hard as he could together, trying to stop the flow. In the end however, it would not be denied, and the flow began just as it did before. For thirty minutes to an hour, he cried into his pillow, until sleep finally overcame him. When he arose again a few hours later, he just simply went through the motions of the day, not even daring to leaving the house, and having every intention of avoiding Angelus and Azreal.



When Angelus came home from work at around five, he wasn't surprised to find the house quiet and empty, figuring that Azreal was long gone on whatever escapade that it is he was on, and since Aegis hadn't come home yet, Angelus was only too glad to have the house to himself.

Angelus sighed a happy sigh to himself as he dropped his backpack which had been carrying the leftovers of his lunch and water for the day, and practically plopped on the couch, throwing his arms and legs out as he did so.

As Angelus stretched his arms, yawning as he did so, he slowly found himself uncomfortable in his situation, because this was happening more and more often. Sure, Angelus did his own thing often, going out and exercising to make himself stronger, go out and have a few drinks if he was in the mood, but all too often now, he would return to a virtually empty home.

The empty quiet house was uncomfortable to Angelus, who was so used to Azreal and Aegis' presence that he had never tried to appreciate what things would be like without them until now.

Angelus looked at it on the bright side. He was learning what it was like to live by himself, and soon enough he could move out and get a new home all by himself. After all, someday, he'll become so powerful that no one in the world will ignore him. Instead, they would be all too willing to bow before his greatness, and he won't need friends who, in the end, will abandon him just like they would abandon any other weak-blood in the world.

People are all the same.

But, instead of dwelling, he should change and get started with his exercises. After all, he was pretty close to achieving the speed of Lightning Steps, though he didn't know for sure. (The official declaration of a Lightning Step is movement that moves faster than the normal eye can register, which Angelus can't test because if he did, the Conscripts or Dragoons would immediately roll him in and send him off across the desert, a place Angelus had no intention of going. His life is already shitty enough as it is, and it doesn't need to be made worse. Then again, that might be the perfect path for greatness...)

Angelus shook his head. No way. Angelus would rather be thrown in the deepest and darkest parts of the Abyss than go participate at whatever was going on out there. At least, not as a part of the Dragoons and Conscripts. But he, Angelus, playing by his own rules with his own power, he could go out there and make mincemeat of the Techs and their stupid weak machines. Angelus was a true Magi in that sense, he didn't need weapons made by other people to make him stronger. He was strong enough by himself.

He stood, stretching himself again as he did so. That's all he needed to do. He just needed to get stronger. He began walking towards his room, but something that seemed out of place stopped him in the hallway, and he wasn't quite sure what it was.

Then, it kind of hit him. Normally, when everyone left for the day and Angelus beat them back home, their doors are normally wide open.

So, why was Azreal's door closed?

Angelus stared at it for a few moments, then, out of curiosity, knocked.

"Hello?" Angelus called out. Why was he even doing this anyways? He had better things to do that to look out for friends that didn't give a shit about him anymore.

Angelus knocked on the door again. "Yo! Azreal! You in there?" Angelus called out to the closed door. And again, there was no response.

Angelus then reached for the door knob, slowly turning it and opening the door. A quick peek revealed that there was a slump form still laying in bed which had to be Azreal, and he also seemed to be by himself, with the whore long gone, as expected.

Angelus shook his head. "You lazy ass motherfucker." Angelus lightly sighed as he closed the door, and headed to his room.

Angelus would have been surprised to learn that Azreal was actually pretending to be asleep to avoid facing him for the moment. He just wanted to be alone. He did, however, catch Angelus' 'whispered' comment, and though Azreal wanted to thrust Angelus through the wall in rage, he kept himself in check and didn't move. Ignorant ass motherfucker and his ignorant comments can go straight into the fucking Abyss.

His anger at Angelus quickly passed as he realized that he didn't have much time before Aegis got home, and Aegis will surely drag him out of his room. And besides, he'd have to come out for dinner eventually anyway, and wanted to sleep out what little time he had left. After all, he was going to need all of the rest he could get if he was going out again tonight, and manage to stay awake long enough in the morning to come into work while looking 'sick' so that he could get tomorrow off as well.

But, he was quickly reminded of his anger at Angelus as he heard Angelus walk past his door a second time.

Fucking cocksucker.



Aegis came home to see that no one was anywhere to be found. Angelus should have gotten back home from work by now, and that was another thing Aegis was noticing lately. Although Angelus got home at a reasonable hour every night, Aegis found that Angelus also seemed to be going out more and more, doing whatever it was that he was doing, which might have something to do with that bitter tone that Aegis had heard from him this morning.

Because of these three things now, one burning question had been eating at Aegis all day, and it was still going.

How did everything seemed to be falling apart so quickly? The misery was supposed to have been left behind in Pirus as they attempted to find better lives for themselves here in Templar. But, everything seemed to be falling apart instead.

Aegis himself has gotten a little out of touch with both Angelus and Azreal over the past few weeks now, and during that time, or perhaps even before then, Azreal had been spiraling out of control. And now, Angelus seemed to be upset over something he would probably never talk about, and Aegis had no clue what it might be having just learned about it this morning.

"Hello?" Aegis called out into the house, which did not respond. Well, this wasn't completely unusual. Sometimes Angelus would get home later than him, or get home earlier than him and go out to exercise and train himself. (Yes, at long last, Angelus finally found something he could focus on, as unbelievable as that might seem.)

But, Azreal should have had the day off, and he should be floating around the house still trying to recover from his late night escapades. (Not that Aegis had the right to really say anything, for Aegis himself was also going out on late night escapades as well.) But Azreal didn't seem to be home, and it's not like him to go wandering about outside at this time of day unless he was running errands, something Azreal usually put off until Aegis 'forced' Azreal into doing whatever it was that Azreal needed to do.

Aegis mentally sighed a heavy sigh to himself. Regardless of how all of this got started, he himself should probably get the most blame. He, the unspoken guardian of Angelus and Azreal, had allowed himself to get sidetracked on a ridiculous quest, neglecting those he was supposed to be caring for in the process. It was his fault for not looking out for his dependents, and now he might be losing both of them.

For now, he needed to change and get out of his work attire and consider what to have for dinner.

When he walked past Azreal's door, unlike Angelus, Aegis had noticed it immediately.

It was closed, and that was odd.

Aegis didn't even bother to knock, instead reaching for the doorknob and opening the door. Sure enough, there was a single set of lumps belonging to one person, Azreal. Aegis shook his head at the sight, now more concerned. Not even Azreal normally slept in this late in the day, being almost five in the afternoon.

Aegis walked over to Azreal's sleeping form and shook him.

"Azreal." Aegis called out as he shook Azreal. Azreal mumbled a little before moving slightly, still asleep.

"Azreal!" Aegis called out, shaking Azreal harder this time, enough that Azreal came out of his sleep.

"What's going on? We having an earthquake or something?" Azreal mumbled as he rose.

"No, you've slept in long enough, get up."

"What the fuck for? I'm not doing anything today." Azreal, still mumbling, replied with as he tried to lay back down.

"It's five o'clock Azreal. Get up. Now." Aegis answered, ripping Azreal's blankets away and tossing them aside.

"Dude, what the fuck? Who gives a fuck what time it is, I was enjoying my sleep." Azreal shot back, who had risen and was no longer mumbling, his agitation at Aegis now fully awakening him.

"What are you doing at night when you go out that makes you to need to sleep until five, or even longer had I not awaken you?"

"None of your fucking business." Azreal responded as he got out of bed to retrieve the blankets that Aegis had tossed aside, only to have Aegis step in his way.

"Answer the question Azreal." Aegis said in a low voice.

Azreal's eyes narrowed at Aegis in response. "You tell me your dirty secrets and I'll tell you mine." Azreal answered, and suddenly, as unbelievable as it was after all of his years in dealing with these two, Aegis found himself flustered.

"That's what I thought. Now get out of my way and let me get my shit. I'm fucking awake now thanks to you, dick, so can I at least pick my shit up off the floor?" Azreal asked, clear irritation in his voice.

Aegis very strongly wanted to stand his ground against Azreal, but that statement Azreal had thrown at him instead forced him to step aside as Azreal picked up his blankets and threw them on the bed.

"I'm making steak tonight. Care to give me a hand?" Aegis asked, the tension in the room still thick enough to be cut with a knife. Regardless, however, dinner is still important.

"Yeah, sure. Got nothing else to do since you just had to go and fucking wake me up like that, throwing my shit on the floor."

"That's enough Azreal."

"Oh no, everybody watch out, Aegis says that's enough. Guess I'll have to duck and cover now." Azreal mocked.