Hello again every peoples! Glad you could join me again! Surprised I'm updating again so soon? Me too! But that's not important, what is important is that I still have muffins! Also surprising. Enjoy! And remember, blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne, and blueberry muffins for the volcano god. Oh, and praise the Sun.


Grace woke up some time later, though she had no idea how long she had been out. She wished that everything that had happened to her had been a dream but knew that it wasn't. She also knew that she should open her eyes to see where she was but really didn't want to. There were too many questions she needed answers to for her to stay lying there as she was. Why was she so hot? Was she in a bed? How did she get here? Where was "here"? She still had clothes on, right?

Finally, she did open her eyes and sit up, immediately getting an answer to most of her questions. She was hot because she was covered in fur blankets and there was a fire burning in a fireplace almost directly across the room from her. She was, in fact, in a bed. She still didn't know where exactly she was or how she got there but guessed she had that man War to blame. Last but not least, she did still have her clothes on. It wasn't that she thought War was that kind of guy but she didn't really know him either.

Pushing the covers mostly off and instantly feeling cooler, Grace observed the new room she currently found herself in. She seemed to be in a fairly large room with gray stone walls, a stained glass window that looked like it would open on the wall to her left, and a wooden door the wall to her right. The only furniture in the room was her bed which sat only about two feet from the window with the headrest pushed up against the wall, the fireplace with a stone mantle cattycorner and to the right of her bed, a small bedside table also to the right of her bed near the headboard, and a bearskin rug in the middle of the room and facing the door. All in all, it looked like a room in one of the castles she'd seen in movies and TV shows.

Grace knew she should get up and try to figure out exactly where she was but she didn't feel like it. She knew she should still be crying over James but she didn't feel like that either. The tears just wouldn't come. She barely felt like breathing. The only thing she did feel like doing was sitting there and staring at the fire and even that was kind of iffy. She briefly wondered how much it would hurt if she stuck her hand into the flames.

The door opened then, stopping her dangerous train of thought, and in strolled Strife holding a plate with what looked like a sandwich on it.

"Good, you're awake." He said, setting the plate on the bedside table.

Grace didn't say anything and just stared at her hands atop the covers.

The dead look in the human's eyes bothered Strife and he couldn't stand the silence. "It's really bare in here, huh? War plans on moving some furniture in as soon as Fury gets back with some of your stuff. That's our sister, by the way."

"Why did he bring me here?" Grace finally spoke up, her voice small and with a slight tremble to it.

"He doesn't want to fuck you, if that's what you're worried about." The Horseman scoffed.

Grace just gave a barely perceptible nod.

"He's not that kind of guy. He just thought it would be a shame to let you die."

The human nodded again, the movement still barely noticeable, "Where are we?'

"War's home on… I forget the name of this world. Either way, we're not on Earth anymore."

That got Grace's attention and she finally looked up at the Horseman, though her eyes still had about as much life in them as a piece of stone, "Not on Earth?"

"I forget sometimes that you humans don't know about other worlds." Strife sighed. "Anyway, there are countless other worlds out there besides Earth."

"Oh."

"I'm, uh, gonna go now. You should probably eat something but don't worry, War didn't make it."

Grace knew he probably meant it as a joke but couldn't bring herself to even fake a laugh.

Awkwardly, Strife turned to leave but looked at the human gain when he thought of something else, "You're not gonna try and kill yourself again, are you?"

Grace didn't respond for a moment and just stared at the fire before shaking her head.

Strife had his doubts but still left. Not like he could just watch her 24/7. He wasn't her keeper. The human was War's responsibility now.

Grace glanced at the food he had brought but mostly ignored it. She didn't feel like eating. So instead she just laid back down facing the window. She hadn't noticed it earlier but the stained glass window was in the shape of a large red bird. It kind of reminded her of a phoenix. With that in mind, it didn't take long for her to fall back asleep.

Strife made his way back to the sitting room where War and Death were waiting. He flopped down into an armchair, throwing his legs over the side of the chair.

"How was she?" War asked as soon as his brother got comfy.

"Awake and responsive." Strife answered. "Depressed, had eyes like a dead fish, stared at the fire for a worrying amount of time. Told her you probably weren't going to fuck her."

War was about to announce his disapproval but Strife continued on.

"It's going to take her a while to recover from what Death did."

Speaking of whom, Death looked up from the book he was reading to glare at his brother, "I did what we were sent to Earth to do."

"Yeah, but you killed her lover right in front of her then left her alive to suffer and probably be ripped apart by demons. Even I have to admit that's cruel."

Death didn't say anything and just went back to his book.

Things continued like that for the next month. Fury would come back from time to time with things from the human's home such as clothes, books, figurines, and various other odds and ends. Though some of the things they would find thrown out the window or into the hallway and they even found the remains of some in the fireplace. They guessed those reminded her too much of her lover. Though they all noticed she still wore, what the humans called, an engagement ring.

She stayed in bed as much as physically possible and only left her room when necessary to use the bathroom across the hall or occasionally bathe. Personal hygiene wasn't high on her priority list but she did make sure she didn't smell. Worst were her eating habits. Grace refused to eat anything for the first week and the Horsemen found her passed out on the floor from hunger. Once she woke up, War and Strife had to nearly force food down her throat. Of course Grace tried to put up a fight but was too weak to do much. Since then, she made sure to eat just enough to keep that from happening again, even if she had to force herself, which she had to do a lot of the time.

Each of the Horsemen would visit her occasionally. All except Death. The one time they forced him to go, Grace screamed obscenities and threw her bedside table, and the food that was on it, at him. He left immediately after that and hadn't been back since, which was okay with Grace. After the eldest Horseman's departure, War found her passed out on the floor again due to expending energy she just didn't have. They all agreed then that maybe Death shouldn't go near her. On the upside, Grace stayed true to her word and didn't intentionally try to kill herself again.

Truthfully, none of the Horsemen could tell why they cared so much for the human. Frankly, she was much more trouble than she was worth and it would have been much easier to just kill her. Yet, they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

It had been a little over two months since the human had started living with War when he got a call from the Charred Council for another mission, his first since the Endwar began.

He knocked on the door to Grace's room before letting himself in. If he waitied until she answered, he'd be standing in the hall all day. He saw Grace on her bed as usual but laying on her stomach with her head near the foot of the bed and staring out the open window.

"The Council has summoned me for a mission." War told her, knowing she was awake.

Grace nodded. It was just a small action but she had definitely responded.

"I don't know when I will be back but there is a golem in the kitchen that will bring you food."

Another tiny nod.

"If you need anything, the golem will contact Strife for you and it will also make sure you're eating something."

Yet another nod then a barely audible "be safe".

War let himself smile as he left. Though he knew Grace was an adult by human standards – he believed nineteen was considered an adult age – he had come to see her as almost a daughter to him. Certainly not how he expected it to turn out when he took her in but he wasn't disappointed by it. Though, he doubted she saw him as any sort of father figure. Oddly enough, Strife turned out to be the reliable uncle. War actually smiled at the thought.

Even after War was gone, Grace continued laying in her bed until the stone golem brought her food and set it on her new bedside table – the old one being destroyed when she threw it at Death – before leaving again. She finally got up when the smell of stew made her stomach rumble painfully.

When was the last time I ate? Two days ago? I should probably eat… Should probably take a shower too.

Getting up, Grace ate her meal slowly, having learned early what eating fast on an empty stomach did to her. As usual, the food was good, which was surprising considering it was made by a rock monster. After she was done, she set her empty dishes back on the table, grabbed a clean set of clothes, and headed to the bathroom. She never really thought about it before, but her bathroom was surprising modern for such an old looking castle. After her shower, she brushed her hair and her teeth and got ready for bed. She was pretty sure it was bedtime. It was getting dark outside when she left to take a shower anyway. But just because she was depressed didn't mean she couldn't take care of herself… occasionally. Though it seemed impossible to get up most days as long as she forced herself occasionally, she was okay. Half-assed was better than nothing.

When she got back to her room, she noticed that it had been cleaned. She had no idea who or what could have done it so quickly or so well. Her bed had been made, dishes taken back to the kitchen, stuffed animals stacked back into the corner, clothes picked up off the floor, books she had tried to read but couldn't finish put back on the shelves, and ash cleaned out of the fireplace. She knew she should be doing all of that herself but just couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't get out of bed most days, much less clean.

Speaking of beds, Grace just fell down onto hers, intent on going back to sleep but found that she was having a harder time than usual. She had an idea why.

It's because War isn't here.

Although it wasn't as if she saw him all the time, this was the first time she had been left alone in the castle. Now that he was gone, she could almost feel something missing.

Eventually she managed to push that feeling aside and fall asleep. She didn't stay asleep for long though. As she had many times before, Grace woke herself up crying. It wasn't that she had a bad dream, in fact it was a great dream. They always were. The dreams were just too saddening for her to stand staying asleep. She dreamt of James, of the times they spent together. The worst one was of when he proposed. She had woken up nearly screaming from that one.

Usually when she woke up like this, War would come into her room, set beside her on the bed, and tell her stories of his conquests and monsters and such until she fell back asleep. Sometimes she would even feel his fingers running through her hair. It was an unexpectedly gentle action for such a big man. Everything he did was odd to her considering the stories he told her and the tough guy he seemed to be. But she knew why he did things like that. She saw the look in his eyes when he looked at her and knew how he felt about her. She was okay with it. Not like anyone else was jumping at the chance to take the role of her father. Though the last guy to try had done a piss poor job of it so War couldn't be worse than him.

But War still hadn't come back yet. Grace could feel the emptiness of the castle almost like a weight was hanging over her. As much as she tried, she couldn't fall back asleep but she couldn't tell if it was because of the emptiness or is she had come to depend on the Horseman that much. Grace had an idea of what to do though.

Wrapping one of the fur blankets around herself, Grace left her room. She had read somewhere that smells brought back memories so maybe it could bring the comfort she needed as well. With that in mind, she left her room.

The castle was actually smaller than she originally thought so she found the kitchen with relative ease. It wasn't that hard to find the golem standing in a corner, waiting for orders. She briefly thought about asking it to call for Strife but what could he do? She also thought about asking where the sitting room was since Strife said that's where they spent a lot of time but didn't think it would work as well. Instead, she asked where War's room was even though she thought it was a bit weird and rude that she was intruding into the room of a man she barely knew. All she needed was a smell though so maybe she would sneak in, grab an extra cloak of his or something then head back to her own room. No biggie.

The golem led Grace to War's room, which turned out to be only a few doors down from her own which would explain how he responded so quickly to her night crying. Once they arrived at their destination, the golem just left her and returned back to the kitchen and Grace entered the Horseman's room. It looked almost just like hers with a few differences. The first thing she noticed was the design on the window looked like a lion, there was a mixture of clothes, weapons, and pieces of armor nearly covering the floor, and even a few books laying here and there. It was obvious that whoever cleaned her room didn't touch War's.

Grace quickly found one of War's old cloaks that was little more than a rag. She took an experimental sniff, fully aware of how weird she was being, and it definitely smelled like War. Like blood and steel and chaos and… warmth. It would work perfectly and later she would find a chance to return it to his room. That was the plan anyway but as soon as the smell hit her, Grace became exhausted. It was almost like Strife had hit her with sleeping powder again and it was all she could do to make it to the bed.

It was almost dawn by the time War and Strife made it back to the castle. Strife had his own home he could go to but the human was at War's and he had his own room here. Once inside, Strife made his way to the sitting room since it was too early to go to bed and he was wide awake anyway. Meanwhile, War made his way to the human's room to check on her. It was the first time he had left her alone and he was worried.

He opened the door, knowing the human was probably still asleep, only to find her missing. War quickly checked over the whole room for her and even peeked in the bathroom but still couldn't find her. He ran to the sitting room, nearly breaking the door down in his haste to get it open and making Strife jump up out of his seat.

"Grace is missing." The red rider told his brother.

"What?!" Strife immediately ran out of the room to start searching the castle. "I told you we shouldn't have left her here alone."

It didn't take them long to search the whole castle but they didn't find the human.

"Where is she?" War asked no one in particular.

"How the Hell am I supposed to know?" Strife snapped. "I told you it was a bad idea to leave her here alone."

"She was not alone." War growled. "A golem was left here to feed and watch her."

Strife groaned in realization, "Why didn't we think of this sooner, just ask the golem where she went."

War nodded and together they found the golem in the kitchen already making breakfast for the human.

"Show us where the human went." War ordered the creature.

Having received new orders, the golem stopped what it was doing and led them out of the kitchen and down the halls until they reached the door to War's room. As it had done with Grace, once they reached their destination the creature turned and returned to its post.

"Wait a second, isn't this your room?" Strife asked his brother.

"Yes, it is." War answered, confused as to why the golem led them here.

"You didn't check it earlier?"

"Of course I did." The truth was that, not expecting Grace to be in there, all he did was glance inside then move on. Guess he would have to look harder this time.

"Geez War, it looks like a bomb went off in here." Strife complained as soon as they entered the room and he headed over to the bed. If the human was hiding from them, the bed was the most obvious choice. Plus, there was a mysterious lump on the bed that almost seemed to be moving slightly.

"War." The white rider whispered, calling his brother over from where he was searching an empty chest. As if she would be hiding in there.

Now War knew why he didn't see her earlier. Grace lay curled up on the bed, wrapped in a fur blanket nearly the same black color as her hair and she was clutching one of War's old cloaks.

"How cute." Strife scoffed but still kept his voice at a whisper. "I think she missed you."

War didn't say anything and just picked up the human to take her back to her own room. Of course he would let her keep the cloak. But he was pretty sure he knew what happened. Grace probably woke up crying again, couldn't get back to sleep, went to look for something to comfort her, found his room and his old cloak, then fell asleep on his bed. He thought it was sweet.

Strife gave an exasperated sigh, "Fine, I'll fuck off then. Gotta go help Death with something anyway." With that, he left to go see the pale rider.

Once Strife was gone, War carried the human back to her room. She was so small compared to the rest of them, he was almost afraid at times that he would break her on accident. But she was also quite… cute like this. With her size and her behavior, he sometimes forgot that she wasn't a child.

It didn't take him long to reach Grace's room, even with how slowly he was walking, and lay the human down on her bed. The sudden movement caused Grace to mumble something in her sleep and finally let go of his cloak with one hand to grab his own armored covered one. War tried to pull his hand away but every time he tried the human scrunched up her face in displeasure and held on tighter. The Horseman did the only thing he could at the moment and leaned Chaoseater against the wall before sitting down on the bed beside the human. Soon, he was asleep as well.


Don't get used to this updating speed.