Darksiders: Among the Shadows (Book 2)

Truth

Damiana sighed deeply and twirled the jem of her amulet, putting her hand behind her head. As she stared up at the ceiling of her room, Damiana heard a soft knock on the glass of her window. She glanced over at the rectangular window and smiled when a pair of golden eyes greeted her.
"Hey," Zareal waved, easing into Damiana's room as she opened the window.
"Hello, I thought you were never to come back, Fallen One."
"I can change my mind, can't I?" Zareal smiled devilishly.
Damiana made a forced laugh, feeling as if shards of glass ripped through her chest.
"What's wrong?" Zareal sat roughly next to Damiana on her bed, russleing the neat surface of the sheets and covers.
"Aside from the fact that the only person who even remotely loved me is dead?"
"Well, the horsemen...love you, I guess? Don't really know if they're capable of expressing any type of expression."
"They express...just not to outsiders, but they emote when the time calls for it."
Zareal nodded and took Damiana's hand into his, turning her arm to reveal her mark.
"You know...I was raised into thinking this sign was the end of all things." Zareal sighed, tracing the glimmering three 6s with his finger.
"But now I see its the beginning of everything." He said quietly, looking up at Damiana.
"Zareal, you never told me...why were you casted out of Heaven?"
"I....am very stupid. My father was one of the Chiefs of Powers, the Second Sphere of Heaven. I was to be the next Chief and I blew it at a Gethering."
"What happened?"
"I shared my views as to why I believe our Creator had abandoned us."
Damiana looked up at Zareal and raised an eyebrow.
"An angel...being an atheist?"
"Atheist? Fine, whatever, I just don't think a Creator who cares or is even real will sit aside and let all of this terrible stuff happen." Zareal shrugged.
"Maybe he wants to see what will happen to us, or she..." Damiana leaned against Zareal's chest and listened to his heart.
"Wow, a sadistic Creator, even better." Zareal chuckled, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
"Lucifer is going to take down the Creator, he used her blood....We need to warn Heaven, he's going after the Archangels!" Damiana sat up and went to go run off to tell her brothers.
"What makes you think they'll believe you?" Zareal asked, grabbing her arm.
"We can try, Lucifer can't construct that blade!" Damiana huffed, more to herself more than anything.
"And you're the AntiChrist, why would they believe you?"
"The word of the Council and their-"
"Archangel that fell. Case in point, they won't believe you and will only go to War with Hell agian, further allowing Lucifer to get the Archangels...why does he need them?"
"Well, my mother said he needed to forge the blade in their blood...."
"The Blade of Destruction..." Zareal said quietly, standing up with Damiana.
"That is...correct, how did you-"
"Lucifer is going to awaken the blade of Destruction?!" Zareal grabbed Damiana by her shoulders.
"Yeah...sounds pretty bad...right?"
"Bad? More like catastrophic! That blade was used in the battle between him and Heaven! He decimated our legions without even trying."
"Oh...so that is bad."
Zareal rolled his eyes and shook Damiana.
"Are you kidding me?! Dami, the only blade that can compare to that is the Blade of Creation."
"The hell is that?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"You knew the blade enough to bring it up!"
Zareal rolled his eyes once again and walked away, straying by her mirror.
"Hm...I do know that it was used by the 'Creator' to battle against Lucifer's corrupted blade...It was made of both Good and Evil essence...After casting Satan down to Earth, the blade was destroyed due to the Creator's despair over his fallen star..." Zareal sighed, thinking deeply to himself.
"But that's a legend." He finished, looking back at Damiana.
Damiana sighed deeply and crossed her arms.
"Soooo, I'm going to go on a wild goose chase?!"
"Yep."
"Wow, another adventure, yay for me....I'll consult the Council of this."
"Good." Zareal turned and stood close to Damiana.
He lowered his head and gently pressed his lips against Damiana's, lifting her chin with a shaky hand. When Damiana didn't react, Zareal opened his eyes and looked down at the sullen Damiana.
"Wow, you don't care?" Zareal asked, hurt evident in his voice.
"Everyone who's close to me ends up dying."
"I can't die." Zareal laughed darkly, biting Damiana's bottom lip.
Damiana rolled her eyes and intertwined her arms around Zareal's neck. Zareal smiled and snaked his arms around Damiana's waist, tilting his head to the side.
"Um..." a low voice said, obviously feeling awkward.
Damiana sighed and broke away from Zareal and looked down at the sullen Hellhound, Shadow.
"Jeez, where have you been?" Damiana hissed, angered that her friend wasn't present at all these past couple of days.
"Um....places, I was looking for something." Shadow said quietly, licking her paw absentmindedly.
Zareal raised an eyebrow at the faint blood that stained Shadow's muzzle.
"What happened to you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, who are you?" Shadow said quickly, ignoring the probing question.
"Zareal."
"Well, if you don't make yourself scarce, Zareal, I will-"
"What's up with the hostility, Shadow?" Damiana crossed her arms, taking a step towards Shadow.
"Its a fallen Angel and is wanted by the Council, Damiana, it isn't wise to associate yourself with it!" Shadow snapped.
When Damiana went to open her mouth to object, Zareal shook his head and walked back towards the window.
"I'll see you later, I guess, bye." Zareal waved.
As the angel flew off, Damiana shot Shadow a severe look.
"Come on,"
"Dami, you do realize that Death had called you, correct?" Shadow said, just before Damiana's name was called.
"How did you-this isn't over!" Damiana sped off towards the sound of one of the Horseman's voices.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
"Ah, Damiana." Death said quietly, watching Damiana scamper up to him.
"Hey..." she breathed, stopping a few feet away from Death.
Silence...
"I wanted to ask you...why are you so happy, in general?" He asked, looking Damiana over.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you happen to be the most talkative person I have ever encountered. Even with everything that happened to you, you keep smiling."
"I really intrest you, don't I?" Damiana smiled shyly.
"Well, my other mother, she always told me that if you smile, life becomes a little more bearable." She said quietly, leanimg against the tree.
"Bearable?"
Damiana sighed.
"Well, my mother was non existent at the time, human children weren't too nice, and...well...yeah, I had a lot of problems."
Silence...
"Smiling and making people laugh was the only thing that gave me real...feeling?" Damiana mumbled, thinking deeply.
"When you were on punishment, you mutilated yourself, caused yourself pain-"
"Being alone forced me to stay in my mind, deal with what's been brewing in here," Damiana tapped her temple and smiled softly.
"And that was too much, I started losing myself. So, I hurt myself to see if I could still feel," she said, taking a shaky step up to Death.
"You could've killed yourself." Death muttered quietly.
"I know." Damiana said.
"Why are you sad? I can tell, so don't lie."
"It isn't sadness."
"Then withdrawing yourself from others isn't depression? I don't think that's true." Damiana probed.
Death stayed silent and looked away from Damiana's piercing eyes.
"Is it about the Nephilim? Or...Misery?" Damiana asked.
Abruptly, Death turned and began walking back towards the house. Damiana frowned and took her blade from her left hip and jumped in front of Death as he passed her.
"I did not tell you my feelings just to have you walk away." Damiana smiled mischievously, holding the tip of the blade towards Death.
Death swiftly pulled out Harvester from its scabbard and deflected Damiana's blade, knocking the blade to the side. Damiana smiled and brought up her other blade, ready to begin. "You would feel a lot better if you told someone how you feel." Damiana said, jumping over onto the flat of Death's scythe as it came towards her head.
"You should really work on your form." Death grumbled, attempting to shake Damiana off.
Damiana sighed and jumped up from the flat blade, propelling herself upwards over Death's head. She swung the blade behind her at Death's neck and feinted to the side when Death delfected her blow.
"Please, Death, tell me of Misery or why you're so distant." Damiana pleaded when her weapon was knocked from her hands.
"Please, don't ask me again." Death hissed, walking away.
"Lilith said she was perfect and she was your twin, almost exactly identical. Is that why you wear a mask? So you don't have to see her face everytime you see your reflection?" Damiana called after Damiana.
"No, I don't want to see her murderer..."Death stopped and looked at Damiana, eyes showing his true sadness.
"It was my fault when she was struck down. She told me to plan ahead and not go in the battle without thinking." Death continued, walking up to Damiana, towering over the 5 foot tall Damiana.
"I never listened to her, and because of that, she died." Death grabbed Damiana by her shoulders, lifting her up a few inches from the ground.
"Promise me you'll be more careful, Damiana, I know I may seem like I'm bossing you arou-"
"Its fine, Death, I understand." Damiana said, confused at the sudden wave of emotion from the emotionless Death.
"Uh.." War said, tilting his head at Death and Damiana.
"What is it, War?" Death said, looking over at War.
"The Charred Council requests Damiana's presence....now."