Aaaaaand again, I do not own Darksiders or the song Sound of Madness by Shinedown so bleh bleh bleh. Enjoy my friends! (^-^)
War
Going back a little in time for the beginning of this one.
War paced back and forth in the main hall of his home, armor clanking with every annoyed step. He hadn't been reprimanded by the Council for letting the demon Alina escape. Hell, they didn't even mention her. It was as if they were ignoring the fact that she was even there. Or perhaps… they didn't know. Impossible, thought War, the Council knows all. While he was not usually the curious type, War wanted answers. And he knew exactly where he could get them.
And we're back on Earth and in present time. Well, present time for this story anyway.
He found her sitting on the roof of another building, her bare feet dangling over the edge, and singing again. Then again, when wasn't she singing or listening to music? Luckily, her voice was drowned out by the vehicles below.
"Yeah, I get it, You're an outcast. Always under attack. Always coming in last, Bringing up the past. No one owes you anything. I think you need a shotgun blast, A kick in the ass, so paranoid… Watch your back!"
War gave up trying to figure out the meaning of these songs the first time he heard Alina sing one.
"Oh my, here we go… Another loose cannon gone bi-polar, Slipped down, couldn't get much lower. Quicksand's got no sense of humor. I'm still laughing like hell. You think that by crying to me, Looking so sorry that I'm gonna believe, You've been infected by a social disease. Well, then take your medicine."
He still wondered how something non-living such as quicksand could have a sense of humor in the first place.
"I created the Sound of Madness. Wrote the book on pain. Somehow I'm still here, To explain, That the darkest hour never comes in the night. You can sleep with a gun. When you gonna wake up and fight… for yourself?"
Off in the distance, War heard the howl of what sounded like a demon. He turned his head towards the sound, trying to decide if it was an immediate threat. Throwing the distant demon in the mental "take care of it later" box, he turned back to where Alina was sitting. Except she wasn't there anymore. Thinking she had gone after the demon, he started in that direction only to have the she demon drop down in front of him, her face just a few inches from his.
"Boo!" She said from where she hovered upside down above him, a huge grin on her face.
War's hand instantly went to Chaoseater's hilt.
She quickly flitted away from him and landed on top of one of the human machines they kept at the top of such buildings, "Whoa there big guy, calm down. It was only a joke."
Strangely relieved that she had not left, he replied, "You should not have snuck up on me like that."
She smirked down at him, "And you should not stalk people. It's considered very rude and creepy here in the human realm."
"I was not stalking you." He growled out. He would never admit that he had indeed been following her.
"Yeah, riiiiiight." Alina jumped off the human machine and stalked back to her place on the edge of the roof. Looking back at the Rider with a smile, she patted the place next to her, expecting him to sit with her.
Surprisingly, he did just that, his armor clinking as he swung his legs over the side.
They watched the city below them in silence. That is, until Alina decided to break it, "So, War, I assume you're not just here to watch the humans with me. Did you come to buy me a new pair of headphones? Well, you're too late, I already got a pair and they're even better than the last."
He didn't answer and instead waited for her babbling to stop as he watched the people below.
"Or perhaps you're here to put an end to me by order of the Charred Council?"
This got him to look at her though she still watched the city with a sad smile on her face. For the first time, War noticed that the blue ribbons in her hair had been replaced with sunflower yellow ones, and she now wore two short swords on her belt. War knew that behind her mask of childishness and sarcasm she was a warrior and, if the display between her and the imp was anything to go by, a ruthless one.
Alina turned to face him and caught him staring but he quickly looked away, "The Council does not know of my coming here."
"Izzat so… Then why are you here?"
"I wished to ask you something."
"Then ask away."
"Who are you?"
She looked up at him, trying to see his face beneath crimson hood, "I already told you, I'm Alina."
"That is not what I'm asking."
"Then what are you asking?"
War growled at the circles they were going in, "What I'm asking is: why hasn't the Council ordered me to kill you? I was ordered to eradicate every demon there and I failed by letting you escape."
"Ah, so you do want to kill me, I knew it. Well, you're not the only one so you'll have to get in line."
War wondered who could want her dead but instead said "Answer my question, demon."
"I have a name you know."
"Alina is not your true name."
She looked at him approvingly, "You're right, it's not."
"Then what is it?"
"Even I don't know that. So we're sticking to Alina until I get bored of it."
"Answer my question, Alina."
She smiled at him, stood, and began pacing along the edge of the building. War knew she was in no danger of falling but still he worried she would.
"You see, War, I am a clairvoyant. Meaning, I can see into the future. That's why the Council has not ordered my death."
"What do you mean?" he asked, watching her carefully.
"What I mean, is that us clairvoyants are few and far between and not all of us are as physically strong as yours truly. So we struck a deal with the Charred Council. We tell them of future events that could threaten the Balance and in turn, they provide us with protection. Of course, this all sounds good on paper but the Council can't really protect us at all so really we're just being forced to volunteer now."
"So you work for the Council."
"Eh, not really. I'm not one of the ones who sold myself out. I'm just saying 'we' here to include all clairvoyants. But anyway, I don't get in their way and even take care of a few balance disrupters myself, if I feel like it, so they leave me pretty much alone."
"You'd rather protect yourself than rely on the Council and their false promises."
"And Bingo was his name-o!"
"That does not explain why they choose to ignore you."
"I told you, clairvoyants are rare and they can't risk having me killed so they just don't pay any attention to me instead. Besides, some of us can see farther into the future than others. Like how I saw that battle months before it happened."
"What were you doing there? You did not join the horde in their fight against me."
War saw a blush crawling across her face as she turned away from him.
Alina cleared her throat, "As I said, I saw the battle months before it happened and I enjoy watching good fights… and fighters. Anyway, I thought I would pop in and enjoy the show. And I was until a certain someone thought it would be a good idea to cut the wires to my headphones." She said, glaring at him but he could tell that her heart wasn't entirely in it.
She turned her back to him and continued her pacing, muttering something to herself about giant oafs and what a pain it was to get a good pair.
War noticed that her wings had gone from their gentle fluttering to flitting fervently as she muttered angrily to herself. He thought this was strangely endearing and odd that he would notice such a thing.
"What did you mean by good fighters?" he asked her, only curious to see what her reaction would be.
She looked at him, the blush back on her face, "Nothing, I just thought that some of the demons would be able to put up a good fight but evidently, I was wrong."
War stood and walked to where she was standing at the corner of the building, carefully balancing on the ledge. He took her chin in his hand and turned her face up to look at him, "You're lying, aren't you?"
Alina's wings fluttered behind her but War was sure she wasn't angry, "I-I don't know what you're talking about." She pushed his hand away and looked back out over the city. She mumbled something about having to go do demon stuff then quickly flew off, leaving War to stare after her yet again.