I think... I might go back and name all these chapters.
Although I'm horrible with names. As showcased by the name of this fic itself.
But speaking of names! ! ! The name your halberd poll thing is still going on and we've only got three suggestions as of now. I do like all three tho, to be honest. But! ! ! Y'all should vote and whatnot. Thank you in advance.
I think this is the first chapter with absolutely no violence. It's mostly just plot / dialog. It would've been waaaay too long had a I included Ulthane and the pigeons though. Something to look forward to!
"I trust she suffered?" Samael says right off the bat, not even bothering with a greeting. He's a demon, what did you expect?
You resist the urge to roll your eyes, and instead curl farther into yourself. War hardly seems to notice. Shadow, of course, is too busy complaining, "Not nearly enough."
War thankfully uses the hand not keeping you in his grip to gift Sameal with that disgusting heart. If this is only the first of the Chosen, you can't imagine what kind of aura Samael will have when he's fully charged.
You don't really want to imagine it, either.
"The second Chosen, The Griever, moves in the tunnels beneath this place. But first, there is an... Obstacle that must be removed. Ulthane. One of the Old Ones." Sameal leans closer, his eyes narrowing when he takes in your appearance.
War's face hardens in return. "You did not mention this before."
"Changing the deal already, Samael?" Shadow asks accusingly.
Samael does not take kindly to that, it seems. "Be silent, filth. My business is with the Horseman."
You lift your head up just to see the demon backhand it, finding yourself oddly satisfied. You make no noise, but you're certain War can feel you tremble in effort not to laugh. "It doesn't matter anyway. Ulthane is pretty much harmless after you get in his good graces." You say, ignoring the way your voice creaks. You've gotta rest before even thinking about the next chosen.
Samael turns his attention back to you with a growl, agreeing, "Ulthane is no ally of the Destroyer. But you won't find the Griever without confronting the Black Hammer, and that will possess a strength you don't have... Yet."
You make a motion for War to set you down at that, momentarily distracting him from wishing ill will upon Samael. He goes back to scowling as soon as you're on stable ground.
Samael yanks Shadow off the ground with bright red magic, making it yelp in pain. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Samael!?" It demands.
"Tell him, Watcher. How you stifle the Horseman's true power in order to keep him on the Council's leash." Samael growls, decisively dropping it. You almost feel bad for the poor thing. "War, destroy this parasite."
"You so much as blink at me and the Council will end you! Both of you! I'm protected!" It threatens, pointing wildly.
Okay, yeah, you don't feel too bad anymore.
"Not in here." Samael points out, turning to War. "You are War. Rider of the Red Horse! Not some puppet on this pathetic creatures strings!"
"War, I will make you suffer!" Shadow continues to make void threats. You're sort of surprised it doesn't include you in said threats, to be honest. You are a pretty easy target though.
You carefully make your way over to Shadow as Samael continues his pep talk about anger, remaining a few feet away and simply waiting.
War does not disappoint. You have to look away even though you know he's simply injuring Shadow. Not killing it, thankfully. War stomps away (what a drama queen) while you hold out your hand for the Watcher. "Come on. Get up." You prompt, keeping your face neutral. Admittedly, Samael's laughter makes that pretty hard to do.
It hesitates for a few long moments before allowing you to help it up and hissing, "What was that!?"
"The Horseman may be broken but there is still power within him. For a moment, I saw one who would stand alone against the Destroyer's army." Samael seems pretty content with this line, but you stop him before he sinks back into his prison.
It's now or never, you figure. "Hey! Do you know about the Hellguard?" You ask.
He pauses, tilting his head curiously. "What of it?"
You glance back to War and smile encouragingly, "You should talk to Vulgrim! I can meet you back at that house I rested in, yeah?"
His eyes narrow. "I suppose. Do not take keep me waiting."
You turn back to Samael with a grin, "Sorry. I don't want the Watcher eavesdropping."
"You believe that sending your protecter away is a good idea then, human?" He leans closer, very obviously trying to intimidate you. As if you haven't just vaporized Tiamat's hand or something.
Please. "So, I've got two questions! One of which I also plan on asking Death, but I don't want him to worry and potentially fuck up the timeline." You say.
Samael raises his eyebrows (well, if they can even be called eyebrows), "Go on."
"First, and this one I'm not especially worried about but it would be nice to avoid, is there any way aside from murdering one another, to... Get rid of the Death Oath?" You ask, grimacing as you picture War's death.
Samael, for once, seems genuinely surprised. "Nex Sacramentum cannot be broken without dire consequences. Not even the Council would risk that... What have you gotten yourself into, human?"
"Not me. The Hellguard and their grudge against War for supposedly aiding the demons. I'll give you one guess which of them is just zealous enough to try and pick a fight with the youngest Horseman." You trace the designs in your halberd anxiously.
"Uriel." The demon snorts. "The best way to avoid either of them dying would be not allowing her to challenge him, you realize."
"Well, yeah, but-" You stop, "And how do you know it hasn't happened yet?"
He smirks. "You underestimate me."
You decide to let that one slide. "Second question, theoretically, when you're totally powered up, could you break this?" You make a motion towards your 'leash', careful not to state it explicitly. You're pretty sure it'd have a problem with 'can you break this damn chain'.
"And why would you want that?" He hmphs, moving closer to inspect it anyway.
You pause to think over your next words. How much do we actually want to tell him? "War... lives up to his name and I, for one, don't wanna be on the losing side. The Horseman are both my best bet to survive, and the ones I'd like to be with when this whole mess is done."
"Sentimental and reasonable." He chuckles. You're not quite sure if it's a compliment, but you'll take it as such anyway. "Unfortunately, I do not believe I could break this. It seems the Council knows where your loyalties lie."
You nod. "Of course they do. Could an angel?"
He shifts farther away. "Not any I know of. It seems to be similar to the seals that bind the Horseman. But weaker."
"Oh. Oh, I know exactly how to break those." You smile excitedly, biting down on your lip. "Awesome. Thanks, then!" You turn on your heel and head for your resting place.
That is, until Samael yanks you back. "You thought I would answer your questions for nothing?" He asks, more amused than annoyed.
"Well, I was hoping." You sigh, pointedly wriggling your shoulder. He just digs his claws in harder. You find that you only feel disgust when it Samael treating you this way. "What do you want answered in exchange?"
"What do you know of Hell?" He asks.
Oh shit. Okay, okay, gotta distract him. "Do you want to know about Hell, or do you want to know about Lilith?" You quickly ask. People's love lives are usually a pretty safe bet for distractions.
There's a pause and you wonder if he's going to murder you here and now. That would definitely suck.
He laughs, the throaty sound making you anything but comfortable. "Fine. What has Lilith been doing, according to your sight?"
"I'm not a Seer, I just... Whatever. Luci ain't happy with her, what with her plans falling apart at the seams. She's still trying to proposition big brother Death too, which could contribute to that." You state, trying your best to remember what you learned off the wiki. You really should've finished Darksiders 2.
"What plans?" Samael's eyes narrow.
You make a wide motion to the devastation surrounding his prison. "Hello? Last human alive? You think Abaddon just became the Destroyer? Please, Samael, we both know you're brighter than that." Casually complimenting him seems like a solid plan to not get killed. Especially when you're talking about his ex.
He releases your shoulder to move in front of you and force you to meet his gaze. "Most believe Abaddon was vanquished by Straga."
"Who do you think is the Destroyer then? You don't think he's too 'pure' like Uriel, right?" You huff incredulously. "Our great leader would never be seduced by Lilith! How dare you even suggest it! To be honest, I sorta feel bad. They've all placed him on this pedestal and it must be terrible to realize that's not how it actually works."
"Just wretched." Sameal agrees with a smirk. Oh, yeah. He doesn't really like angels.
"So... That enough to let me go take a nap or what?" You ask curiously, glancing at the road out.
"Is that all you know?" He responds, eyes narrowing.
"Pretty much. I think she steals something? I can't really remember the specifics. Death needs a... void walker, possibly? ...Phasewalker? That's what it is! Yeah. He needs that and Lilith is like, son. Which Death vehemently denies, of course."
"Of course." Samael parrots mockingly. "You may leave."
You quickly depart, moving as quickly as your damaged body will allow. "See ya!"
You try to cling onto sleep, extremely thankful you weren't thrown into a mess of nightmares this time around. Instead you feel warm and safe, and mildly irritated. You bury yourself farther into your blankets, only to hiss in pain. Oh, yeah, I'm injured. You remember a little too late.
"Awake?" War says suddenly.
"I miss the others." You murmur, pulling the blanket off your face.
"The others." He repeats.
"The other Horsemen. And my family, I guess, but I've sorta gotten used to missing them." You begin to wake up a bit more, sighing, "I never thought I'd miss Strife's ridiculous fucking armor."
"Does he still refuse to dress casually?" War snorts.
You roll your eyes, nodding in agreement. "And he's really cuddly, so it's like constantly sticking me. Still love him though." It takes you a second you realize you're over-sharing. Probably shouldn't have mentioned that.
He pauses, but thankfully doesn't press it, "How long were you there?"
"A little less than six months. I... We still don't know how I ended up here, in this dimension. The Council apparently sensed or saw me or something, and decided that I had to be brought in. Strife stayed with me in the Horsemen Realm and Fury joined us a week or two later."
"The Council didn't order him to stay with you?" War questions, his eyes narrowing.
You shrug and return to preparing for the day ahead, "Not directly. I think he feels responsible for my well being because he was the one to find me. The Watcher's were technically my caretakers though. They seemed to enjoy rounding up all my supplies a little too much if you ask me."
War falls silent while you nibble on your breakfast and explain, "So next we've gotta take out the Griever and chat with the Blackhammer, right? You think I can convince him to make me a pair of gloves or something? That demonic growth is disgusting." You shudder at the thought.
He looks his own claws over as you speak and then corrects you, "Gauntlets."
You press your lips into a thin line. "You guys act so similar sometimes."
His gaze flickers back to you, one eyebrow raised.
"Fury does that same thing. That motion." You elaborate, mimicking his actions. "It's just... Really cute that you actually act like siblings."
He scoffs at the word 'cute', turning towards the door. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Can... Can we stay here a little longer? I know you're anxious to finish this and all but I'm... Tired." You ask hesitantly, looking anywhere but directly at War.
"You weren't too tired to speak with Samael." He prompts, giving you an unimpressed glare.
You're not awake enough to rustle up the appropriate anger. "I... I'm trying to help, okay? I would rather not watch you die, regardless of the whether or not you stay dead. If I could tell you, I would." You say, looking down at your lap. "And it's not as if I like talking to Samael. It's like a verbal game of chess with him. Say one thing wrong and he'll grill me."
"You've seen my death?" War asks.
More than once, actually. "You get stabbed. Right through the chest, like you did to Death." You press your hand to where the sword would be. "At least, that's what happens in canon. For all I know it could end up being me."
War snorts, apparently personally offended by that. "I would not allow that."
"Oh." Your lips curl into a soft smile. "Good. Now! Let's... Go get the Griever?"
"Death left a letter for you, actually." He says, moving to pluck your backpack off the ground. He pulls the paper out of a side pocket you never use, and you wonder when he put it in there.
He goes back to guarding the entrance while you read the latest letter, which is oddly short. He must be in the middle of something.
'You're an idiot, and I assure you, War already knows of your injuries. He's not that dense, child. Hopefully.
Vulgrim says War has already beaten Tiamat. Good job, I suppose. I just had a very interesting experience in the realm of the Dead. Would you believe I was unwelcome? Even Dust appears ill at ease here.
However they did have information on the Well of Souls, which I'm sure you're excited by. You will not be the last human for much longer if all goes well.'
"You know, for being a diehard pessimist, Death makes an effort to encourage me." You tell War, grabbing your journal.
"He views you as a younger sibling." War answers dryly.
You go stock still. "What?" Part of you is too startled by both War talking about feelings and the fact he just confirmed your favorite theory as far as Death is concerned. The other part is just super fricken stoked.
War raises his eyebrows. "What? You already know that."
"Well.. I hoped. It's just... Really nice to have you confirm it." You smile brilliantly.
You half expect Shadow to barge in and start ripping on you, but instead War smirks as if he knows more than he's letting on. Probably because he does. He turns away again while you begin writing your reply to Death.
'Well, that's reassuring.
And yes. We did indeed beat Tiamat and get this: I helped! Shadow was being a total pain in the ass, and somehow I knew how to use my anti-demon power. I'm still not sure how that worked, actually, but Tiamat lost a hand and War killed her not too long afterwards.
Speaking of which, why does War have a thing for ripping the enemies wings off? He seems to have a thing for that. It's sorta weird. Not as weird as him talking about feelings though.
He said that you think of me as a little sibling.
I don't know why, but that makes me really happy. I'm just... I don't know.
This is embarrassing.
You end it there, and debate for several moments whether or not you want to just tear off that last bit. Death knows you though, so you're sure it'll be fine.