Fate To Fake: Loved by the Fallen; Fated to Kill the Divine

Have you… ever felt a sense of dread?

Have you… ever felt a danger that you know is coming and yet, you cannot… absolutely avoid it?

Like a ticking bomb… even a ticking bomb you could avoid if you defused it, but this danger… it was worse, far worse than anything you could imagine in this world.

One wrong word, one wrong move… one wrong smell… and you're dead as fuck.

Stared at by a monster you could not, no matter how hard you tried, overcome... that was the greatest fear in your life.

That's what Azrael and Leo were feeling in that very moment, the pressure like invisible chains squeezing their hearts.

Step… Step…

The steps echoed at the entrance of Leo's house. Azrael and Leo had just stepped inside, but their movements froze instantly. There... stood the monster.

She stood with a thick, long wooden sword gripped tightly in her hand, almost as if it were an executioner's blade. Her glasses fogged up, concealing her eyes... eyes that might as well have been portals into some bottomless abyss.

Her face was carved in cold indifference, as if she had seen the worst of humanity and decided it was all beneath her. With every measured step, she drew closer to the two who had enjoyed last night's freedom without so much as a whisper to her.

Azrael's instincts flared; she grabbed Leo's hand, her fingers trembling as if she were about to be dragged into some nightmare. The moment their hands touched, the air seemed to freeze even more.

Leo's pulse hammered against his skin. He tried to swallow, sweat trickling down his temples. He knew nothing truly criminal had happened last night, but in this moment it felt like the scene of a guilty man caught red-handed... caught in the act of affairs or something.

She circled them both, slow, deliberate, her presence suffocating, almost predatory. Like a beast prowling around prey, waiting for a mistake.

Ophis peeked out from the shadowed corner of the room.

Leo's and Azrael's eyes, for a moment, widened... hope? But in an instant, she withdrew, vanishing as silently as she'd appeared.

No one wanted to get pulled into this confrontation. Ophis, of all people, knew just how many nightmares the monster had endured, how many conclusions she'd spun in her mind throughout the night.

In truth, the monster barely slept. She couldn't let herself rest, not while food was left in the lion's den.

Would she risk it?

Leo, desperate to break the silence before it shattered him, stepped forward and forced his voice out. "Raphael, I know I didn't contact you yesterday—"

Thud.

The heavy wooden sword struck the doorframe, sealing their only escape.

Making both the flinch and turn even more deadly silent.

A voice, colder than the grave, seeped from the monster.

"Oh? So you did know you were supposed to contact me, huh?" Raphael's words slithered through the air.

She shifted the sword from one hand to the other, never letting it leave their sight.

Leo's mouth felt dry as desert sand. He managed to croak, "I… I'm sorry."

Raphael's expression flickered, her lips twisting. "Sorry? Is that all? That's rich, coming from someone who thought they could just slip by and hide their little secrets from me."

Honestly, was this really Raphael? Or had something even more dangerous taken her place?

It looked like an entirely new person… a presence that nobody in their right mind wanted to deal with.

Leo understood that any words leaving his mouth would definitely backfire on him.... It was smarter, maybe even safer, to just shut up.

Noticing that Leo had gone silent, Raphael nodded to herself—almost satisfied, as if this was exactly the reaction she wanted to see. Then, with a calculated slowness, she began to circle them both again, as she started to recount everything,

"School finished at four o'clock. Am I right?"

Step.

She didn't even wait for their answer... she just kept going, another step, another question.

"She picked you up at 4:10. Am I right?"

Step.

"Considering the time between her house and school… you should have reached around 5:10. Am I right?"

Step.

"The rain started at 6:30. Am I right?"

Step.

"The calls stopped reaching others around 6:45. Am I right?"

Step!

She finally stopped, blocking their way forward. She looked at both of them, sweat gleaming on their faces like cold bullets sliding down glass.

"So tell me… why haven't you informed me during these two hours and thirty-five minutes?" Her expression was stone... one wrong answer and it felt like she might slice their heads clean off their necks.

Leo and Azrael glanced at each other, silently screaming in their minds as they talked with only their eyes.

'You tell her!'

'No, you should tell her!'

'I can't come up with any excuse against that logic!'

'Then how the hell am I supposed to answer her?!'

'Because you're older one?'

Azrael's eyes twitched furiously, ready to murder him with just a look. Suddenly, the wooden sword sliced down between their locked gazes, making them flinch and jerk their heads to the source.

"I am here," Raphael said, her voice ice-cold and murderous. "Answer me. Why haven't you informed me during this… two hours and thirty-five minutes?"

Azrael swallowed hard. As the older one, the responsibility to answer landed on her. She forced her lips into a smirk, summoning what little courage she had left. "Well—"

Thud!

The wooden sword almost pierced Azrael's neck, its tip barely grazing the soft skin on the side of her throat. Raphael's icy voice slipped in, dangerously quiet,

"I didn't ask you now, did I?"

Azrael nodded in terror, head bobbing like a frantic woodpecker.

Raphael's cold gaze shifted to Leo. He flinched, swallowing, trying to find the words that wouldn't end in disaster.

"Yes, I… I could have called you and informed you then and there. I know I should have… but I had my reasons for hiding it. Please… I… I—"

Sshhckk~

A rush of cold air brushed across his cheek. The sword hovered a bare inch from his face. Raphael's tone cut through him, "Tell me. Otherwise, you will see what real Aunt Raphael looks like."

"…" Leo froze, eyes wide. He nodded quickly, surrendering.

"Of course. Of course, since it's come to this—" He turned to Azrael with a bright, almost desperate smile. "We should just tell her, right?"

Azrael blinked, her thoughts scrambled.

What the hell was he talking about now? Guns?

Was he actually trying to drag her into another mess?

She opened her mouth to tell the truth, but Leo interrupted, "We… we're trying to throw a surprise party for you!" His face fell, suddenly crestfallen, as if the entire secret had been spoiled in a single stroke.

'What the fuck is he babbling about?' Azrael's confusion showed all over her face, but Leo squeezed her hand a little tighter, "Isn't that right, Azrael?"

"Uh? Y-Yeas… ahem—I mean, yes!" Azrael stammered, "We're trying to throw a surprise party for you… That's why we didn't inform you. Who would tell the guest of honour if it's supposed to be a surprise?"

Raphael frowned, lowering her sword a fraction, her eyes still dark with suspicion. "Party? Why?"

"Yeah, why?" Azrael echoed with tears in her eyes, but Leo jumped in,

"Come on, Azrael, don't hide it from her now." He fixed Raphael with the most innocent, wounded look he could muster. "It's for Raphael's birthday next week. You told me yourself, remember?"

'…' Azrael was nearly speechless.

Where was her innocent Leo—the one who always told the truth, never could lie to save his life?

"Azrael?" Leo's lips tightened in a silent plea: back me up, now, before Raphael gets suspicious.

"Y-yes. Yeah." Azrael nodded quickly, her old confidence creeping back into her voice.

"Of course, it's for your birthday. We've never celebrated before, and Leo wanted to give you a real party, so we kept it secret. But," she shook her head in exaggerated disappointment, "who would have thought the rain would come and trap us at my house… You know how things go."

Raphael's suspicion flickered as her dark aura finally began to fade, the sword lowering further. She frowned, voice softer, puzzled, "My birthday? But mine isn't this month."

Azrael flinched, blurting out, "What are you talking about? Didn't you mention, before we got caught by those monsters, that your birthday was coming next week?"

Raphael frowned deeper, her brows knitting together. "That was Leo's birthday, not mine."

Azrael's jaw dropped, eyes wide with shock. "Leo? Oh my god—But you said it was yours?"

Raphael's frown deepened, her grip tightening on the sword as she slowly raised it again—this time toward Azrael. Panic flickered across Azrael's face as she stammered,

"Come on, you're the one who mentioned it before we got captured… Maybe you forgot, you know, under all the shock and fear? Didn't we talk about birthdays before all that happened?"

That gave Raphael just enough pause to halt her sword mid-air. She hummed thoughtfully, brows knitted, as if replaying old memories and considering whether she really might have said something like that. Maybe, just maybe, Azrael had misunderstood. Her eyes slid over to Leo for confirmation.

Leo jumped in, his voice earnest. "She told me, so I just thought… why not throw a surprise party for my aunt? She's been doing her best for us all this time." His face softened, eyes almost pleading.

"I didn't realise I'd messed up. I just wanted to make Raphael happy for once… for everything she's done. I'm sorry."

The sincerity in his words seemed to work.

Raphael's whole expression calmed. Her grip loosened, the sword lowered, and she exhaled, a weary sigh escaping her lips. "So… you two went out together to plan a surprise, got caught by the rain, couldn't make it back, and decided to stay at her house for the night, right?"

Leo and Azrael nodded in perfect unison, relief almost visible in their posture.

Raphael stared at them both. For a brief moment, her gaze shifted down to their hands—still clinging tightly together without realising. The instant her eyes landed there, they both jerked their hands apart, startled and awkward.

Raphael sighed again, the monster in her retreating just a bit, but then she fixed Azrael with a pointed look. "But you never, ever celebrated my birthday before… Why all of a sudden?"

Leo's eyes widened at that.

Azrael flinched under the scrutiny. She hurried to answer, "It's Leo—he insisted, that's why!"

Raphael hummed, her suspicion softening a bit as she glanced at Leo, who nodded along as if he'd been planning it for weeks. Raphael shook her head, a small, almost fond exasperation in her voice.

"Well… I suppose you two are fine." Her tone shifted, worried now. "Did you eat anything yesterday?"

Leo managed a smile, nodding. "Yes, Azrael cooked for me."

"…Is that so?" For a heartbeat, Raphael's face darkened, shadows flickering in her eyes, but then she shook it off, waving her hand.

"All right, get ready for school," she ordered, motioning for Leo to move. He nodded with a relieved smile, already heading for the hallway, eager to escape her gaze.

But as he passed, Raphael's nose twitched. She froze, eyes narrowing, and suddenly she raised her sword, muttering in a deadly low voice, "Why do you smell like… this thing?" She pointed the sword at Azrael.