STELLA RECOGNISES HIM, THOUGH THE OTHERS IN THE ROOM DON'T.

How could she not?

Her eyebrows furrow at his familiar appearance, and a large part of her isn't even sure of what she's feeling right now- as a pair of crimson eyes peer into hers, almost like he was waiting for her acknowledgment.

What was the feeling bubbling up inside her?

A combination of shock? Disbelief?

Anger?

Her grip on the hilt of her dagger tightens, almost to a painful degree as she lifts it- the sharp pointed tip in the direction of the intruder who had made his presence known.

And when she speaks, the dull thrum of energy that ripples across the room from her body doesn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Lucien," she says quietly, her voice quivering, "Why are your eyes red?"

The angel in front of her simply raises an eyebrow, almost mockingly.

It was common knowledge, that when an angel descended, their eyes morphed into something they loved the most about the planet.

For a few moments, Stella can't seem to figure out where she's seen the distinct shade of crimson that swirl in his eyes. Gleaming, but dark, and red, and unforgiving, like-

"Blood," she says, almost to herself, her grip on her dagger tightening till her knuckles turned white, "Lucien, why are your eyes the color of blood?"

"Stella," his voice is the familiar condescending drawl that she had always known- always thought she had known, "I believe the answer to that question is obvious. Now, step away from the humans."

"You know him?" she can hear Axel murmur from behind her, and even without looking, she can tell that they're all extra cautious even though their weapons aren't drawn.

"I do," Stella says quietly, her eyes never wavering from Lucien's, "At least I thought I did."

Lucien rolls his eyes with a sigh as if she was the one causing an inconvenience.

"Are you going to answer the question, or not?" Stella says, taking a step closer to him, with her weapon still drawn. "Why are your eyes red?"

"I am the angel of wars, Stella," he drawls out waving a hand in the air, "What did you think I would love the most about the earth?"

"Spilling blood?" Stella grits out quietly, "That's what you love? What kind of sadistic blasphemy is that?"

Lucien's eyes narrow in on hers, almost threateningly.

"Do not question me," he says darkly, "I have my reasons."

"Reasons?" she scoffs, narrowing her eyes back at him, "What reasons can possibly justify that?"

"Reasons that are valid enough," he mutters, disdainfully, "Angels simply sit back and watch as humans let darkness infiltrate this planet while," he scoffs gesturing to the people behind her, "humans like these, think they're some sort of heroes- swooping in, and locking away criminals. They don't need to do their job for us when they've got so much darkness in themselves."

"Are you even hearing yourself?" Stella whispers, peering up at him in disbelief, "They're ridding the planet of darkness, can't you see that?"

"Out of nearly eight billion people on their planet," Lucien says impassively after a beat, "A few thousand souls are pure light. The rest have all got darkness in them- a bit ironic that they're trying to act like they're the better than some others, is it not?"

He eyes the tip of her dagger that was pointed in his direction, before giving her a look- his eyes softening and the frown lines disappearing.

"I warned you against this descent, did I not?" he says, in a manner that was supposed to be gentle, "You should have listened to me when I told you to stay."

"You didn't warn me," Stella hisses lowly, "You told me you had a bad feeling-"

"-A bad feeling that I might have to fight you, yes," he interrupts breezily before she can finish, "I knew you would not understand my side, and I knew that you would make this a lot harder to get over with."

What he says next, however, confirms her worst suspicion.

"That human," he nods in the direction of Axel, "was supposed to be long dead, along with several others in this unit. The human under my instruction, however, seems to have successfully avoided any suspicion so far, hmm?"

Oh no.

"The other human under my brief instruction," Lucien's face scrunches in distaste as he continues, "the one who was assumed to be the intruder wound up dead- his bullet wasted on another. Pitiful."

And Stella can only stare at the angel in front of her, the one she had once considered her best friend, in disbelief.

It all starts to come back to her. The bits and pieces and strings of everything – and this time, it makes a lot more sense.

With the assistance of an angel, a human could turn invisible if they wanted to.

The traitor had remained undetected this whole time, because of the assistance of an angel. More specifically, Lucien.

And Lucien... she remembers how he had been furious when he had found out that Axel had lived. She remembers how he had been insistent on her not descending, and he had been even angrier, according to Rain, when he found out she had revealed herself to Axel.

But he hadn't descended. He had refused to, in fact.

Under the pretense of not wanting to be among humans, when really-

-he was trying to conceal the truth. The red eyes.

She had been naïve enough to think that everything he was doing, was because he was concerned for the way things would span out for her, but she had been so, so wrong.

Axel... he hadn't been disoriented for no reason, the day he was shot.

Lucien was messing with his head- just the way he was probably messing with hers all this time- making her miss out on the most obvious clues; the distinct treachery that lingered around him like dark wisps.

And the memory of the unnaturally strong scent of betrayal in the air when she had found Axel, made her realize yet another terrible, terrible thing.

Axel wasn't the only one that had been betrayed by someone.

She had been betrayed too.

There was never a single traitor. 

There had always been two.

"You?" she whispers again, though everyone in the room hears it over the deafening silence, "You did this? The traitor in the unit has been answering to you?"

"When you put it like that," Lucien drawls, with another lazy, dismissive flick of his wrist, "...well, yes."

"Why?" she grits out, her eyebrows furrowing in distress, "Why would you do this? What is wrong with you, Lucien?"

"Absolutely nothing," he retorts sharply, "this is for the greater good of the planet. Humans have plundered it so much, that the earth weeps- but they pay no heed-"

"So wiping out an entire species is going to solve it?" she nearly yells, her hands shaking in anger, "You're so blinded by this-this plan of what you think is the greater good- but you're just going against everything we stand for - why can't you see that?"

"A blunder in my morals," he answers cooly, "for the sake of an entire planet, can be forgivable."

"Genocide," Stella mutters, her tone full of contempt and her face contorted into a sneer, "is never forgivable. Especially if you're choosing to start with those that are actually battling the darkness-"

"You see," he says, interrupting her once again, to her utmost annoyance, "the smartest way to end it, is by letting them fight amongst themselves. Introduce a traitor among them- and let the human bring down empires, all while lurking in shadows. Simple, quick, and effective."

"Unbelievable," she mutters, shaking her head at him, "Truly unbelievable-"

"Yes," he mutters with a shrug, his voice bored, and patronizing, "Now," he gestures sharply between her, and the people behind her,

"Step away from the mortals."

Stella stays silent, the weight of four human gazes on the back of her skull.

Exactly three seconds pass and the room falls into a tense silence as they wait for her answer.

And then, she straightens, wiping all traces of any expression on her face, a hard, determined glint in her eyes as she tilts her chin up defiantly.

"No."

For a second - nearly so quick that she missed it- Lucien's expression falters. It's gone before she can make much of it, and he tilts his head to one side, an almost amused expression on his face.

"No?" he repeats, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me," Stella says through gritted teeth, pulling out her second dagger from where she had kept it concealed- pointing both in his direction.

"Hmm," Lucien lets out a humored scoff, narrowing his eyes at her, "You are choosing mortals, over your own kind now, are you?"

"If you choose to kill humans for your own sick sense of amusement," she hisses lowly, as another burst of energy ripples across the room, "you are not my kind."

His expression doesn't waver. He still looks oddly amused- a self-satisfied, smug look on his face, almost as if he felt like she would agree with him at some point.

"I did not want to have to do this," he says slowly, his voice deceitfully soft- but still threatening as he reaches into his belt.

When he draws out a dagger, Stella draws in a sharp breath.

Not because of the dagger, but because of what it was coated in.

"What? You can-You can die?"

She only shrugs, with the same look in her eyes.

"Maybe a time will come, a time millennium from now when the signs of my aging begin to show- and that might be my time to leave. I'd want it to rain then."

She doesn't tell him about Aethra though.

He didn't need to know. It didn't matter.

If only she had told him, that day. If only she had known that it might matter.

Because Aethra was the one thing in the universe that could kill her, in minutes.

No cure, no antidote, no blessing, no spell- absolutely nothing could stop her death, should the Aethra enter her bloodstream.

And the blade of the bejeweled dagger in Lucien's hands was coated in it.

"Really?" she breathes, staring at him in disbelief, "You're threatening me? With my life?"

"In some ways," Lucien admits, nonchalantly as he tucks the dagger back in, "I know that I will not have to use it to convince you, but I can't have you coming in the way of my plans for the earth either, can I?"

Stella simply shakes her head at him.

"You are a disgrace to everything we stand for," she says softly, but firmly, "and you'll get punished for it."

A gun clicks in the room.

Everyone turns to the person whose gun is drawn, the barrel pointed straight in the direction of Lucien- and a single finger tensing around the trigger.

But Lucien doesn't flinch. He doesn't even blink.

Instead, he nods- almost in some sort of appreciative acknowledgment.

"You've done well," he says to the person, "Far better than what I expected, for a traitor. Now," he smiles darkly, his crimson eyes glimmering with malicious intent,

"You must finish the job."

Gale's face stays completely blank, his green eyes cold, and his grip on the gun in his hands unfalteringly firm.

He makes no move to react to what Lucien says. Only, his arm moves until the gun is pointed straight at Axel-

-and he pulls the trigger.

the final revelation of both traitors is out, did y'all see it coming? o.O

I'm actually not that pleased with how this chap turned out, lol, I think I want to rewrite it? but the cats outta the bag so idk lol