Death

I rush into the kitchen and everything is surprisingly calm. The glass windows are shattered, and broken glass is scattered on the floors and tables, but everything is calm. "Death?" I hear my brother, War, say. I turn around as he walks across the floor with a crunch with each step. "What has happened here?"

"Come I must assure everyone is here." War walks down the stairs, into the cellar. Glancing at the humans, I see Kyley, then Sage, Azzazel, Daire- and no one else.

"Where's Za-"

"Raven-?"

"Veil?!"
Strife stands behind us, and the words get scrambled together to the point where they don't make sense. Though I think nothing of it. I am worried for Zada. The Watchers, they must've taken the three to the Council…

"They never came down here." Daire explains. "We thought they were with you."

"No… they're not… Now the Council has them."

"Dammit…" War and Strife say in unison.

"You have to go find them." Kyle demands.

"Despite how much I'd like to… I cannot."

"What?"

"Death, we cannot sit here waiting for their return, in which will never come."

"Be reasonable, War. The Council knows they have the potential to escape-"

"We broke them out." Strife cuts me off.

"I know. The Council does not, though. This means their security will be much higher. If anything, they're expecting us."

"Then what else can-"

"We send Azrael. The Council trusts the angel, and I trust he can bring them back safe."

They all nod after thinking it through.

"I will go contact him. War, Strife, you stay here and make sure no Watchers come back. Oh, and by the way… neither of you make any physical contact with the humans… or each other. Yes, make sure you do not make physical contact with each other."

"W-"

"Just don't. You'll regret it." Before they can try and retaliate again, I'm out the door.

xxxxxxxx

Raven

"Where has she gone?!" The Watcher hisses at me quietly, banging its hands against the my cell door.

"I swear to you, I do not know." I say, doing my best to portray my confusion. Where did she go...?

It stops, pauses, and laughs, pulling another dagger out of its jacket-though this one is even more rusted and old. "It's a fortunate deal that I have extras, then. Zada, dear," It calls teasingly, "Come out, love, or your little Veil is first."

It stands right in the middle of the bars with its back against it. This is when I realize that she is still in the cell, just cast in shadows. *Go. Do it now, or you'll miss your chance!* I silently plea, though knowing that she will not hear me.

She acts as if she does, though.

Silently, she jumps into the light, wrapping one arm around the Watchers neck and the other clamping over its invisible mouth. She takes the dagger in her hand and runs it in a horizontal line across its face, then another to form the same X that is forever embedded into her small hand. After a sudden jolt of momentum in her forearm that snaps its neck, Zada jumps up and yanks down the two chains that were shackling her arms, looping them through the bars. Eventually, the creature is hanging by its neck a few feet into the air, sea blue blood dripping from the jagged X formed on its face.

Zada kneels down and slides the dagger through the bars and into the hall. As soon as she does, she switches to her Tiger and clamps down on the lock that is holding the gate together, violently shaking it until it pops open. She pushes it open, and within a few short minutes, breaks both the locks to mine and Veil's cells.

Upon switching into a human, she whispers, "Switch into your angel forms. Your wrists are smaller and will slide through."

I do as she says, and feel a wave of relief when it works. My wrists slip through the cuffs. Relieved as hell, I walk out of my cell at the same moment as Veil. We look at each other and laugh to relieve tension. Zada, though, is still pissed. She grips the dagger so tightly in her left hand, her knuckles turn white. In small letters, she carves these words, glowing blue, into the Watchers chest:

Try and find us now.

Zada drops the knife with a soft clatter. "Hoods." She says, flipping Veil's hood up, then mine, and finally her own. She looks the most terrifying out of all of us, for the hood is just covering her eyes and the gash against the right side of her face looks like a bloody tear.

"Now what?" Veil asks.

Zada looks around for a moment, then starts down the barely lit corridor. We follow uneasily, and stop with her completely when we hear the booming voice of the Council.

"What is your reasoning for standing before us, Azrael?"

"It is nothing of major importance. My only intention is teaching a small group of my scholars of the jail cells of the Charred Council. Education purposes only."

"Very well. We trust your intentions are only for education."

"Of course. Students, come."

Azrael, the character from the first Darksiders, walks toward the door separating the court and the prison. The angel makes eye contact with me. The cold white eyes remind me of War… and I can't look away….

"Raven. We have to run!"

Azrael looks down, allowing me to spin around and run. A few minutes go by of silence, besides the sound of footsteps and our ragged breathing as we run. Suddenly Veil just stops, and from the corner of my looks as if she was catapulted backward. I spin around in a panic, while Zada turns around casually, as if nothing happened. Veil is being held up from the collar of her shirt by the angel.

"Let her go." Zada snaps confidently, though anger being no lesser than that.

"Death has sent me to come for you." Azrael says, gently setting Veil on her feet. She stumbles back towards us, rubbing her neck with an angry look. "I will send you home-"

"AZRAEL!"

"Hurry." He opens a bright white portal in the middle of the hallway, sparking with energy. The three scholars Azrael had brought with him walk through first- three beautiful angelic women with massive white wings, hair, and gowns. Veil goes next, then, I and finally a cold Zada and a calm Azrael.

Everything is white upon walking through. I can see nothing, and my ears ring uncontrollably. There is a massive crash that vibrates the ground. My knees give out, my head cracks against the floor, and everything swirls into darkness.

xxxxxxxx

Zada

I snap my eyes open. A small room awaits me. Azrael is standing over me and tending to the wound on my face. I flinch away as he pours a stinging liquid onto it. All I can see in my right eye is a liquidy green.

"Be calm, child. It is a health potion."

"Hurry up." I snap. "I have to check on Veil and Raven."

"Very well- they are fine. They are more worried about you, though."

"Joyous. Allow me to relieve their tension, then. Can I go now?"

"Yes."

I jump up and walk out the door. On the outside, I see a bridge-like hallway suspended over a chasm, the walls being made up of hundreds of shelves that house thousands of books. Angels are flying around, setting books in specific places and taking them out.

The amount of people makes me uncomfortable. Making a split decision, I turn around and return to Azrael. "Where are they?"

The angel chuckles, "The stairs at the end of the hall. You will find them down there."

"Thanks."

I walk out the door, flipping my hood up as I go. Hesitantly, I step onto the platform hallway. When it holds my weight, I continue on with a fast pace, gripping the beautifully carved railing tightly. Sure enough, on the other side, there is a spiral staircase leading both upstairs and downstairs. I start downward. By the time I reach the bottom, my head is spinning.

"Peach!" Veil yells. She and Raven hug me as tightly as they possibly can. I close my eyes and use my right arm to hug them both back. I did this. I saved us, and I didn't need any help, besides transportation.

I'm never letting someone else try and save me again. Not without a fight, anyway.

They both let me go, and Raven says, "How's your eye? it looks better."

"Uh, yeah. It's fine."

"I wonder how Death will react." Veil adds.

My breath hitches. I never thought about that… how would he react to the scar? Pros and cons run through my head to the point where I can't even predict what will happen.

"Peach? You okay?"

"I-I'm fine. Really I just… I don't know how he'll react."

"It'll be fine. He wasn't mad when you did it to yourself. Not a lot, anyway."

"I know… but this is the first one I've gotten from battle, trying to protect myself.I don't want him to be mad."

Veil sighs and wraps her arms around my shoulders letting her hair fall over her face. "He won't be mad. If anything, He'll be proud."

I smile, feeling a bit better about the situation. My heart sinks when I hear a conversation occurring a few feet away from me between two male angels.

"Are those the humans?"

"Yes. Azrael brought them back seconds before the portals collapsed. I heard him talking to someone yesterday, and he said the girl with her hood up broke all of them out of the cells in the Charred Council's prison."

"That's not possible!"

"Peach?" Veil asks. I look over to her and smile as she starts talking about something. I continue listening to the angels.

"-Council's prisons have bars made out of metal no where to be found on Earth, and is stronger than all Earth metals-"

"-combined. Yes, I know. I don't know how she did it. And that's the mystery."

I block out that conversation, only to pick up another one. "Zada. Zada Ashby, Veil Hero, Raven Star. When I went to the Council with Azrael, they told us all about the Horsemen's missions. They had to kidnap them off Earth." The female lowers her voice slightly. "I heard all of them had an affair with the Horsemen."

I stop and turn my attention to Veil. "Why are they all talking about us?" I murmur, hoping that no one will hear me.

"Because no human has broken out of the Charred Council's prisons." Azrael says quietly from behind me. The library falls uncomfortably silent.

"I learned from the best." I say, shyly pulling my sleeves over my hands.

"Is that so? Well then, the 'best' wants to speak with you. Come."

The judging eyes of the angels makes me angry to the point where I glare at the ones who dare make eye contact with me. Eventually they all stop.

We return to the room I woke up in. Walking through the door, I see another white portal. Anxiety overpowers me until Azrael says, "The portals are shut down by the Council's hand, but visual imaging is still permitted."

"Zada? Veil? Raven?"

...Dammit.

"I'm here." I mutter, standing in front of the portal. I tilt my head away, though, so Death can't see my face.

"Zada? What is the matter? Show me your face."

My heart beats loudly in my ears in panic, but Raven intervenes for me, "Don't push her, Death."

He sighs, "Are you all well?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Veil answers. "We'd still be in the there if it weren't for Zada."

"Honestly. She took the dagger from her cell and slit the Watcher's neck."

"…Why was there a dagger in her cell?"

"Raven! Stop. Talking." I sigh, burying the bad side of my face in my hand.

"Zada… tell me if they hurt you…"

"I… I'll tell you later. When I see you. We're coming."

"What? No, Zada, I will come get you."

"and do what? You can't touch any of us... not at the moment. I presume War and Strife are the same. We'll come to you. How to we get there?"

"I want you to be safe…"

"You've trained me for a year. All three of my forms- I think we can handle it."

" , all you must do is, when you step out of the realm you are in, just continue on in that direction. You will reach the Tree of Life. There will be someone there waiting for you. Do you understand?"

I make eye contact with him through the corner of my eye. Death is standing in our room, his mask on and a concerned expression in his eyes. I want to turn the rest of the way. To show him the scar. But I can't…

"I understand." Veil and Raven start pulling me out the door. "I'll see you in a few days. I promise."

A faint "Be careful" escapes his lips just as we exit.

xxxxxxxx

"Take these," Azrael hands us each a medium sized white backpack. "They contain food, weapons, and other tools that might come in handy while travelling."

I sling the backpack over my shoulders. "Thank you," Raven says quietly, then catches up with us when she realizes Veil and I have already started walking. "So," She laughs, wrapping her left arm around my neck and her right around Veil's. "This should be fun."

"If by 'fun' you mean 'running for our lives' then yes." I mutter.

"That's exactly it, you sarcastic moron."

"Yeah. Lighten up, Peach. Is everything alright? As in… between you and Death and all?" She asks hesitantly, lowering the volume of her voice.

"I'm fine."

"Then why are you acting so… us-on-Earth?"

"I'm not." I chuckle. "I'm tired. Still a little anxious, and I'd just like to go home."

"Yeah… Do you want to try flying? It'd be good practice."

"Yes!" Raven blurts out.

I think about it for a moment. I've never been good at flying, but I've always enjoyed it. Plus, it would get us home faster. "Okay. Yes, I'll do it."

They both smile excitedly, switching into their angel forms. They tower over me, so I swich as well. As soon as I so, they both widen their eyes and hold their breath, but say nothing. "…what?"

"Ehm… I'm starting to think the Council's weapons are stronger than we had expected."

"What- no." I bring my hand to my face, feeling a massive divit underneath my eye.

"It looks fine."

"I don't care if it looks fine or not… just Death."

Veil sighs, "I'm going to prove to you everything is fine."

She and Raven catapult themselves into the air. Slightly panicking, I do the same, awkwardly flapping my wings until the wind catches them, and I glide. Wind rushes past my ears so quickly I can't hear a thing. To relieve the tension, I pull my hands around my ears and push on them. Death told me that, for all angels, it relieves the effects of being at such a high elevation.

I look down at the ground. The angels from here look like gnats. The gate separating civilization from densely wooded terrain flies behind us.

"Can you hear me?" Veil asks as loud as she can.

"We can hear you fine. Stop yelling."

In a playful manner, se retaliates, "Okay thanks!"

Raven laughs, holding her arms out the span of her wings.

An hour goes by uneventfully. I end up sticking my hands in my pockets and flying with my arms tucked up against my form as I watch over the skies. All I can think about is Death. All I want to think about is Death. It puts me in a peaceful place in my mind that I can find nowhere else.

Suddenly, my peace is interrupted by a sharp pain enveloping my left wing. Veil and Raven both holler in pain. I look back at my wings, to find both are engulfed in flames.

"Dammit."

"Zada!" Raven starts to fell. For her, the situation is much worse- both wings are up in flames.

"Both of you. Switch forms, and wait for me to tell you to switch back."

Surprisingly, they do not question and switch at the exact same moment, then drop like rocks. My stomach flies into my throat as I plummet towards the ground in my human form. In a panic that I'll forget to say it, I blurt out, "NOW!" much earlier than I could have with us still being safe. Too late to change it, I switch once more into the angel form. My wings are put out, thank goodness, but they're charred and smoking. My Pteronophobia is relieved when I see no feathers anywhere on them. Though being in this state, catching the wind is excruciatingly painful. We all awkwardly tumble into the ground.

Veil and Raven shift back to humans to relieve the pain within their extra limbs. I turn into my Tiger. They kneel down and dig through their backpacks in search for a weapon. I look around and watch angrily as two massive demons approach us- one with a bow in one hand and a handful of arrows in the other.

"Hello, girls." The one on the left sneers, seductively showing its teeth. I growl back, stepping in front of the two as they pull out weapons that are folded up to fit in the pack. "See, all we have to do now is take 'em back to Samael."

"Yep. Come on, guys, let's just go and meet our inevitable deaths."

"Your sarcasm is unneeded, Veil." Raven mutters.

"Sarcasm is always needed!"

"Are we going to argue about this now?"

"You're the one who intervened!"

I turn around and roar in their direction to shut them up. Sure enough, they stop. The demons laugh as I bend down and prepare myself to pounce. Before they can draw another breath, I'm pinning the demon with the arrows to the ground. It growls, dropping all but one arrow.

What happens next happens so quickly, I can hardly register it. A thump sounds above me, my side right underneath my ribs start to burn in one specific point, and then a heavy weight is dropped on my form. I can't breathe.

"Zada!"

As I strggle to move out from between the two demons, I roar in response. "Raven. You pull her out. I'll move the demon."

They count to three in unison, and then my form is jolted out to the side. All tension is relieved beside the one in my side. Looking down, I see the arrow embedded into my stomach. Veil walks over to that side of me. "Raven, go look around the area for anyone else. I'll give her a potion."

I hear her footsteps fade.

Veil repeats two consistent words, "I'm sorry" as she yanks the arrow out of my stomach. I let out a roar that could potentially be heard a mile away.

Death! I think frantically. Are you there?! Please... answer me… still, nothing. I sigh and forget about it for the moment, too tired and racked with pain to care.

"Hang on, Peach." Veil pulls off her backpack. After looking through frantically for a moment, she pulls out the familiar green potion, but in a different, more futuristic looking container that looks like it came from a sci-fi movie back on Earth. Veil unscrews the cap and pours a portion onto my wound- followed by a pain filled roar- and the rest in my mouth. The pain is relieved.

"The area is clear." Raven says as she kneels down on the other side of me. "is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. We have potions."

"Good."

I curl my form into a tight ball. Raven and Veil lie down, one on each side of me, as they declare that they're going to sleep. I won't. Not yet. I want to hear Death's voice. As I stare into the starless sky, at an abnormally orange full moon, I think, Death… if it were possible, I'd threaten to kill you when I get home for not listening. Hello?

Zada?

I let out a puff of air in amusement. Now you answer.

His voice, despite being a echo in both of our minds, sounds husky and dull. My apologies, Bilauta, I was getting some rest.

You should have waited for me. I tease.

Don't start with your drunken speech. How are you and the others?

I ultimately decide not to tell him that I've almost died already and reply, It's going fine. We just stopped for the night.

That is good. I recommend you rest.

I know… but I can't until I make sure of this… can I ask you a favor?

Death doesn't reply for a long moment, but then breaks the awkward silence with, Of course.

…when you see me… I feel a send of urgency in his mind, as if he were moving closer to me. I sigh, bury my face in my paws, and quickly finish, I look… different. So don't go all crazy. I mean, I don't think you would. But…

Why do you look different? What happened? Did someone hurt you?

Nevermind. I take back my previous statement.

Zada.

You'll find out soon. Just don't be angry… it's far dead, anyway.

Who-

Please.

…Alright. He reluctantly agrees.

Thank you.

I switch to my human form with the intention of getting up and walking off for a while to get my thoughts straight. Unfortunately, I can't. In her sleep, Veil throws an arm over my ribs. I sigh and roll onto my side, facing an unconscious Raven. Closing my eyes self consciously, I toss and turn for a few hours before drifting off into the depths of my mind.

A/N: Hellow :D I hope you like the chapter. Might be a while until my next update- I just finished this one XD