Pleasure To Be The Menace! [4. LIFE GOES wrONg]

[Chapter 4]

Later at night

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

*Twisting and turning*

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

/Can't sleep ugh..../

The mansion is silent, soaked in darkness, the only light flickering from the stovetop.

Rae stands barefoot in the kitchen, hair messily tied, an untouched cup of tea in her hand.

She’s not sure why she made it. She’s not even sure she likes tea anymore. But the routine felt… human.

She stands there, letting the steam fog her vision. It’s the first peaceful moment she’s had in weeks.

No Celeste. No Elias' cold glares. No pretending to be a version of herself she doesn’t remember being.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

/I just wanted to rest.....Just one quiet night./

But the silence breaks — Not with a bang, but a whisper.

Unknown 1

*Voice from behind her*

Unknown 1

Found you brat

Before she can turn — A blade pierces between her ribs. Smooth. Sharp. Straight through.

Rae gasps, the teacup crashing from her hands.

Blood spills, hot and fast, painting the counter red.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

/Again? I’m dying again?/

The assassin doesn't say another word. No theatrics. Just withdrawal of the blade, and a vanishing silhouette into the shadows.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

/In my defense.... I was caught off guard/

Rae collapses, knees buckling, cheek hitting the cold tile. Her vision fades to the kitchen ceiling, swimming in blurred light.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

*smiles faintly*

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

…Guess this… wasn’t my story after all…

Then everything goes blank

It’s cold. But not painful.

Rae blinks into a void — pitch black and endless. But it’s not empty.

A slow clap echoes.

Lucifer/King of hell

Well, well. You really are a magnet for knives, aren’t you?

Lucifer/King of hell

Seriously? U didn't last a week?

Rae doesn’t flinch. Just sits up slowly, eyes dull.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

...You again

Lucifer steps from the darkness like he owns the space.

Wickedly beautiful. Dressed in velvet shadows and starlight.

Lucifer/King of hell

Missed me?

Lucifer/King of hell

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

Why r u so happy to see me?

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

Weren't u impatient to kick me out of hell

Lucifer/King of hell

You are a pain in my arse

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

-_-

Lucifer/King of hell

You died way quickly this life

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

Someone didn't like my tea I guess...

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

I was caught off guard okay?

Lucifer/King of hell

How poetic. The great Raevyn, once a menace to empires, bleeding out over chamomile.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

What do you want now? My soul? Or is this just your idea of entertainment? *bitter*

Lucifer sobers

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

You have no choice but to let me stay

Lucifer/King of hell

I’m offering you something better. A rerun

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

A f*ckings third life?

Lucifer/King of hell

*Smirks*

Lucifer/King of hell

A restart. Back in the same world, same story — but this time, you wake up at seven. That sweet spot where you're young enough to be underestimated and old enough to start carving your fate.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

What's the catch?

Lucifer/King of hell

None. You’ve already died twice. I’m curious to see what you'll become when given one more chance. When you know everything… and everyone still underestimates you.

Rae is quiet. Then she tilts her head.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

…You want a show.

Lucifer/King of hell

*Smiles*

Lucifer/King of hell

I want fire. And you, darling, were born to burn the script.

Lucifer/King of hell

Time to go back, Rae. You’ve got a legacy to rewrite.

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

I’m not the same girl anymore. *whispers*

Lucifer/King of hell

You never were *softly*

Lucifer/King of hell

Now scram!

The surface below her dissappeared

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

NOT AGAIN YOU BASTARD!!

Lucifer/King of hell

BYEEE

Raevyn Iblis Delacroix/Rhinedottir[FL]

F*CK YOU!!

[Meanwhile]

The mansion was too quiet. Even for her.

Celeste stepped through the door with the same expression she wore to board meetings, funerals, and war rooms—composed, impassive, cold.

She had come home early. A strange, hollow ache in her chest had made her cut the day short. An ache she couldn’t explain. One that tugged her back home.

She wasn’t used to instincts anymore. But something—something primal—had whispered: Go home. Now.

Her heels echoed on the polished floor. The chandeliers were lit. The staff were gone for the evening. Only the distant tick of a clock filled the space.

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

Raevyn

She unconsciously called, her voice low, half-expecting some smart remark from the stairs. “You left the lights on.”

No reply.

No footsteps. No door creaking open. No sarcastic voice yelling back.

She walked toward the kitchen, then paused.

The scent of chamomile still lingered in the air. The teacup sat untouched on the counter. Steam long gone.

Cold.

Her heart skipped.

And then she noticed— The faintest outline of something small… behind the counter.

Her breath hitched.

She moved slowly. Her hands were steady. Her mind refused to register what her body already knew.

And then she saw her.

Raevyn. Lying there. Eyes closed. Still. Unmoving.

Blood pooling around her

Her long lashes dusted pale cheeks. Her fingers curled softly against her chest, as if mid-thought.

She looked peaceful. Like she had fallen asleep mid-sentence

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

No.... **whispers softly*

Celeste dropped to her knees.

Her hands didn’t shake. They moved to touch Raevyn’s hair, to brush it gently away from her face.

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

Wake up baby...

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

You will catch cold if you lay there... **whispers gently**

She haven't realised that her tears had started to fall

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

She cradled her daughter’s lifeless body to her chest.

For years, Celeste had endured betrayal, exile, silence, and survival. But none of it had broken her.

This?

This did.

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

I've kept you away from me

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

Hidden from the world

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

To protect you from the harsh life I lived

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

But I couldn't save you in the end

She held Raevyn close, breathing in the last of her warmth.

The world had taken everything from her once

Her mother

Her father misunderstood her, disowning her

Puller far away from her little brothers that she raised

She was tired

Everything just went by, nothing stayed

She left the man she loved. She still loves

Life have taken everything away from her, she hold onto everything like a child clinging to their comfort doll

But it had given her Raevyn.

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]

And now it had taken her, too.

She sat there for hours. Saying nothing. Thinking of everything.

The girl who hated chamomile but drank it anyway. The one who sulked for hours but still left her jacket on Celeste’s chair when she thought she was cold. The one who never smiled much… but always stayed.

Gone

All her life of experiencing so many times of heartache

Hardships

Betrayals

But

No war prepared her for this

The empty void that Raevyn filled in when she was born

It didn't felt empty anymore

It felt hollow

And heavy

It was there, but it was suffocating

Celeste Nyx Delacroix[Mother]