Zada

Chirp.

I'd rather not open my eyes. Why do I have to wake up?

Chirp.

The realization that living creatures don't surround the house of Death sure snaps me out of it.

Chirp. Chirp.

I open my tired eyes and see a white ceiling. Not my white ceiling, though. There's a hole in the corner of it, which makes me realize that I'm not at home. Looking around, I see mostly green; the walls are made up of glass, I think, or maybe plastic. I don't know. Beautiful plants grow up the sides and around. A sliding glass door is to my right, leading onto a wooden balcony, looking over... I can't see it from here. I sit up, only to be pulled back down by Death. I roll my eyes, but when I look at him...

His bright orange eyes look like they have rotted into a pumpkin in November, but honestly now they're even more breathtaking. His skin is now white, but he's still as muscular as one can be. His black hair is cut much, much shorter, with a little fringe to the left. His smile is the same, I note, as he sets his hand to the side of my face. "Bilauta." He chuckles teasingly.

I smile for one instant, before reality kicks me in the face. "Ash." Death jumps up and looks around the room. I take his moment of confusion to examine his chest. In the moment, he kind of reminds me of a gothic Chris Hemsworth.

I am successful in my attempt to switch to my Angel form. My stomach is as thin as if I didn't have a child in the first place, and maybe I didn't. That flat stomach feels like a brick to the face. She must have not made it... Death realizes and wraps his arms around me as I switch back to my human. I do the same and start to shake. "I went through all of that for nothing?"

"No. You didn't."

I look up and meet his eyes. "When your wife had... did she..."

"That doesn't matter now."

"I know, I just want to—" The Nephilim slaughter. He must've had to kill them. "Nothing. Nevermind, I'm just gonna..." The melancholy of losing Ash sets in again, and the smile fades. "I'm going to look outside. Stay here."

"Gladly." ...This is the first time he's acted lazy. I guess he really is becoming human.

It takes a few tugs to get the rusty sliding glass door open. It snaps open, and I walk out, planning to leave it open, but when I see that it is below freezing outside, I close it. Beyond the balcony is a beautiful mountain view. The house is about an acer away from a cliff, dropping off into whatever the hell it drops off to. Snow is dusted across the property but dead grass is still visible. There is a staircase to the side, so I walk down. The snow is numbing, but it's better since I have socks on.

I see a small figure at the edge of the cliff. Out of curiosity I walk closer, until I see that it's a little boy with short black hair, wearing a shirt much too massive for him, pants that fit, and small snow boots. Why is there a little boy here? And, at that, where the hell are we?

I don't get very close because his legs are dangling off the side, and I don't want to scare him. "Hey," I whisper. "Little boy. Are you okay?"

He turns around, and I realize 'he' is not a 'he.' The way her face is immediately reminds me of mine, and she has sunset orange eyes. Looking to be five or six, she keeps her steady, innocent glare. "Mum."

She's got my accent a little. Immediately I start laughing so hard I cry, and then cry of joy. "A-Ash?"

She looks down at her feet, cupping her hands together and saying nothing but nodding solemnly. I kneel down so she's at my level, but don't do anything. Who knew I'd be socially awkward around my own kid? Ash steps forward and wraps her arms around my stomach, burying her face in my hair. I hug her back tightly, picking her up and away from the cliff.

"Zada?" I hear Death from the balcony. Ash gasps, and in an instant, she's out of my arms. In a panic I look around, but don't see her anywhere.

"A-A-"There's a soft purr from below me. Now understanding, I slowly look down and see a small black Tiger curled up at my feet, about ten times smaller than my Tiger. I start giggling at the realization. "HAHA! Death, get down here!" I kneel down and pick her up, burying my red face in her fur.

"What? Are you alri—" He sees Ash in my arms. "I... she... is..."

"Yeah."

"How..."

"Who cares how?" I close my eyes and let the tears spill down my cheeks, kneeling down and setting her down. "Switch back, love."

Reluctantly, she does so, and instead of saying anything to Death she hides behind me. "I suppose, ehm, she's a bit shy." Ash looks up and they make eye contact. My Horseman (Or human now, I suppose) smiles slightly and kneels down, holding out a hand. "You know of me, yes?"

She nods and says almost ineligible, "Slightly."

"Do you know who I am to you?"

"I'm not stupid."

Both of us start laughing. I think to tell her that sarcasm shouldn't be used at such a young age but I know it's useless. She has Death as a father.

Ash walks out from behind me and into Death's arms. He pulls her as close as he possibly can, before falling back into the snow. I laugh and cry simultaneously, collapsing next to them. Death chuckles at me and uses one arm to pull me to his chest as well. We sit like this for a long moment, before Ash switches to her Tiger and wrenches herself out of his arms. I stand up as she runs up the stairs and through the door Death left open. I start to follow but my Horseman wraps his arms around me. I note that he's so much shorter, I'd bet six one. I like it. He's closer to my five eight self.

Slightly reluctant to say it aloud, I say. "Love you, you little sarcastic bastard."

He chuckles and buries his face in my hair.

"PEACH!"Veil yells from the balcony. I gasp, let go of Death, and look toward her. "Come here!" I start walking toward the house. I start walking toward the house, and Death follows close behind. Veil hugs me tightly. I return it, unfathomably shaken. "I didn't know you were here, I-" she cuts herself off.

"Where is everyone else?"

"They're all downstairs. Come down in a few minutes."

Just like that she lets me go and runs back in. I follow and see Ash's tail just barely sticking out from underneath the bed. I start crying a little; a pang of happiness flows through me. I manage to compose myself enough to start talking quietly.

"This is a safe home. At least I think it is. I mean-"

The Tiger tail disappears and her human form emerges again. She crawls out from underneath and sits on the floor with her legs tucked to her chest. She shakes her head.

"Did you hear that girl who just walked in?"

Ash nods.

"I give you my word that you can trust her. In all honesty I was thinking about naming you after her." With a playful smile, I lean closer to her and whisper, "Don't tell her." She smiles just a little but doesn't even hint that she'll speak. That's okay, because I used to hate talking too. "You feel most comfortable in your Tiger, I presume?" She nods again. "How about Death and I take you downstairs in your Tiger. I'll be sure not to let them crowd around you."

A thoughtful look etches itself across her completely unscathed porcelain face, and then she nods in reluctant agreement. I smile as she switches, stretches herself out a bit, and curls up in my arms. I wipe my face and take a few deep breaths to calm myself, before standing up. Death is right behind me.

"I take it we are going to converse with the others?" He asks, running the back of his hand down the side of Ash's face. She buries her face in his hand.

I chuckle slightly. "You'll be doing the talking."

I walk out the door to the left and see a long staircase leading to a tile floor. Using one hand to carry Ash and the other to grab the white carpeted banister, I glide down the stairs with ease, and immediately hear everyone talking. Daire and Raven screaming about something without much relevance as usual, and Veil and Strife intervening with wry sarcasm.

The room I find myself in is so homey that I choke up immediately and I don't know why. The entire room is mostly wood or painted to look like wood. There is another sliding glass door to the right, and the porch is a darker brown than the one upstairs. The kitchen is in front of me, made up of dark brown cabinets and countertops. Though it's small, there is a bar with five tall black chairs pulled up to the opposite side, where Azzazel, Sage, and Fury sit. To the right of that there is a three person couch and two chairs, along with a drawer and a lamp sitting on the top. War and Raven sit in one chair, while the other is empty. A window makes up most of the wall farthest away from me, with a door next to that.

Strife's eyes are now a lemony color, not the shimmering gold I've seen in the past. He's wearing a tight black shirt and dark brown pants. War is basically the same, though instead of the ice white locked in his eyes, they're now a humanoid blue, and his hair is still bleach white. Fury is wearing a long sleeved black shirt, black leggings, and black heels. Her hair is falling just past her shoulders in dark brown, as opposed to purple.

"Hey, Peach!" Raven comes up to me, and Daire follows. As soon as I make eye contact, I lose it again. "What's wrong? And why do you have a cat?"

I bring my hand to my mouth and let the tears spill over my fingers. "Oh… Oh my god…" Daire starts giggling.

"Nice going, Death." Strife walks over and claps a hand on her shoulder. "You've got quite a feline for a daughter."

Everyone looks to me and smile in realization, then walk toward me. "No. Don't…" I get lost in my words. Ash digs her claws into my arms and growls.

"She does not want to be crowded. Leave her."

"The girl or—?" Death cuts his brother off.

"Her name is Ash, you imbecile. and, if I am correct, she should have four forms."

Ash quickly starts to rip herself out of my arms. For a moment I do try and keep her but knowing it's no use, I gently set her down. As soon as I do she runs off into another section of the house. Kyley comes up and practically tackles me with a yell using the deeper side of her voice. I lighten up a bit and laugh when she says, "I've been waiting to do that for a week and a half! AAAH!"

I wrap my arms around her as well and return the embrace for a long moment, before teasingly saying, "I'm going to find Ash. You, all, need to simmer down and not put attention on her."

I hear Veil mumble as I walk after Ash, "Like mother like daughter." I ignore the comment and find her, as her Tiger, curled up behind a mahogany colored bookshelf and looking at me through slightly shameful eyes. I chuckle and set my hand on the top of her head, for she is close enough, and look down at my knees.

A hand rests itself firmly against the side of my neck; out of inevitable habit I cringe. Ash comes out from behind the bookshelf and walks past me, hesitantly out towards the loud aura of the others conversing. Death's hand snakes down from my shoulder to my wrist as he kneels down behind me. I expect for him to do something stupid and slightly provocative, however all he does is hand me a small sliver of parchment. Beautifully scripted ink is plastered against the page. It reads:

My sincerest apologies for the sudden aging of whomever the child belongs to; while draining the sudden age of you Horsemen a miniscule amount got away from me. She appears to be five years of age, and the equivalent knowledge that of one of the humans with you.

You are located in the Hindu Kush, a large mountain range in Pakistan. The home is secluded and I very much doubt you will encounter any humans. As for yourselves, Horseman, I rewrote your DNA patterns. The same face, though as human with the heart and face of one twenty years of age.

The Council believes you are dead. My advice would be not to raise suspicion, and I wish the best of luck to you all.

Azrael

I look behind me to see my Horseman or human, now, I suppose) looking to Ash in her normal form with almost relieved eyes. She is sitting cross-legged with her back against the wall, as her father quietly speaks with her. "You have my mind. Including memories, I presume."

Ash cringes a little. With a soft spoken voice she says, "I don't like thinking about it."

Death chuckles, "I don't either, believe me." and is quiet for a moment. He grabs onto her small hand and buries the side of his face in it. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"What a lovely family." Strife laughs from the opening of the hallway.

Death growls, "We haven't been conscious for an hour and you've already found alcoholic drinks?"

"No," He scowls back. "and what's that look for?"

I expect Death to say something, but apparently the comment was pointed toward Ash. She says quietly, "You're a bit of an ass."

Veil from the other room lets out a loud cackle. "Right on, little Peech."

Ultimately I decide that Ash's swearing is irrelevant, because she won't be around anyone besides us. Bad parenting, one might interpret, but in all honesty no one has had to deal with Strife besides us.

Ash walks out quietly as she speaks with the sarcastic bastard. With my head tilted down I struggle to stand, but manage to do so with the wall to lean on.

As I am about to go back to the room I awoke in to get my thoughts in order, Death grabs my arm and pulls me back, resting his lips on the corner of my mouth. "I'm going outside… to look around, t-to clear my head."

He nods, and lets me go. I do my best to exit the living room without drawing much attention, because I just need to be alone for a bit. When I reach the sliding glass door, I step out into the frigid air. With a shaky breath, I rest my forearms on the railing and set my chin against them.

It's funny now, really. One, two years ago, I was sitting in an old, bland classroom with only a life of going to school and working until I die. When my twelve year old love came and threw me across his back and carried me away. Now, after all the panic attacks and anxiety, the self harm and the almost fatal injuries, the life and the death, it all comes down to a simple and elegant conclusion:

Death is my Salvation.

A/N: OF COURSE SOME BLOODY INSPIRATIONAL SKILLET SONG COMES ON MY DAMN SPOTIFY AS I'M WRITING THIS. Not okay, fate.

Anyway, I thank you for sticking with these stories and reading annually, it really means a lot, especially as I try and limp towards the confidence I had before. I may or may not post another Darksiders story after this, mostly because my mind is still a bit wounded when it comes to Darksiders. Not to complain, but my mind will hardly let me read without trailing off let alone write. XD

The reboot edits will go up soon though, I'm on Chapter 14 in Savior at the moment.

I hope you liked the ending :)