Gehenna's Gate

Angel Eyes

"Wait- what?" Vena's features were set with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, eyes flicking back and forth between the two men, but neither spoke another word, simply staring at each other.

"Hold on, you two know eachother?" The girl took a step forward, trying to get between the two of them and hopefully snap them out of whatever trance they were now both in.

"I watched you die." Xiao's voice was sharp, taking a step toward Kazuha, prompting Vena to cut him off, resting a hand against his chest as she looked back at Kazuha.

"This whole time, you've been talking about Xiao?" Kazuha finally ripped his gaze away from Xiao to rest on Vena, his features not holding their usual gentleness, his tone much less soft than usual.

"I watched you bleed out in my arms. You're telling me you've been alive this entire time?" Xiao's tone raised, displaying clear anger and betrayal as he moved to take another step forward, only to be stopped again by Vena.

"Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Vena smiled, yet it was clearly stressed, her hand still applying pressure against Xiao's chest as she tried keeping distance between the two.

"Remember the story I told you about the one way to kill a fallen angel?" Xiao finally turned his attention to Vena, voice still sharp and cold even as he looked into her eyes.

The girl's face fell, confusion and disbelief taking over as her mouth fell open, drawing the line to the conclusion herself.

"You..." Vena's mouth was dry, eyes searching the deep crimson of Kazuha's for some other explanation.

"You're one of them..?" Her voice broke, a subtle feeling of betrayal simmering in the pit of her stomach as she forced her gaze to the floor, lips pressed together firmly.

"How was I supposed to tell you?" Kazuha took a step toward her, hand reaching out to touch her, only for her to flinch away and take a step back.

"I didn't want you being apart of this world, Vena. If I knew the guy you'd been telling me about was him, I would have told you to stay away."

"I'm already apart of this world, Kazuha." Vena's voice took on a sharp tone, walking forward to stand in front of him now with bitter smile on her face.

"That birth mark my father and I both share? Remember that? It means we're hybrids, half angel. I've been apart of this world since the day I was born, I just didn't know it yet. His murder could be linked to this world, and you bet your ass I'm staying apart of it until I find out for sure."

Anger wasn't an emotion Vena often felt, let alone actually displayed, and being the one it was directed at didn't feel good for Kazuha in the slightest.

"It isn't your job to protect me. All I ever asked was for you to not lie or keep secrets from me."

At that, the girl stormed out of the room and back into the hallway, boots clinking loudly against the hard wood floors as she made her way back toward the living room.

"Vena!"

Her name could be heard from behind her, yet she ignored it, absolutely hating the fire currently raging in her chest.

"Where's Rae?" Vena attempted to wipe all negative emotions from her face, coming back up to stand behind the couch where she'd previously left her best friend only to find the seat empty.