Darksiders: Light In Darkness (Fourth Book)

Chapter 7: In The Sea Of Forgotten

She hesitated at the door, loosely clenched fist hovering over the steel and wooden door in question. She could hear them, their panicked voices, some more scared than others.
Peeking through the window, Damiana could see the look of Ilyea, her half brother, Dante....
And the horsemen...
'They killed for power. They only care for themselves.' Damiana remembered Glory's angered voice echoed through her empty mind. 
   Shaking that thought free, Damiana brushed the dirt off from her damaged armor and went to knock on the door, finally gaining the courage to do so. But before her dried bloodied knuckles could rap against the smooth door surface, soft tugs on her tattered red cape interrupted her.
    When she looked down, a large black feline creature stared up at her with wide purple eyes.
"Uh-"
"Are you the one called Damiana?" It asked, possessing a silk smooth male voice.
"Um...yeah." Damiana raised an eyebrow in question.
"Oh good, I am Arcane, your valued shadow servant." The feline character took a step back and bowed his head low and solemnly.
"I do not require any assistance from the shadow realm."
"Oh?" Arcane looked up and gave Damiana what it seems like a genuine smirk.
"Oh indeed, now, I need to go do something-"
"But your mother contacted the Kingdom of Darkness! We received her message a few weeks ago and I needed to find our Queen." Arcane licked his paw and ran it over his ear, still not takin his eyes off of Damiana's.
"How-"
"How is none of your concern. But now that I have found you...I want you to have this....past Empresses have used this." Arcane brought up a smooth leather bag from what it seemed from no where and held it to Damiana.
   Damiana gazed down at the bag and gently took it from Arcane's jaws. With hesitation, she looked down at the bad and looked back up to say something.
But the odd animal left...
"Uh...okay...." She mumbled, looking back down at the satchel.
"Raviim? I haven't heard that name in...awhile." She heard Death from inside the house.
Getting back on track, Damiana looked back at the door and twisted the doorknob, cringing as the deadbolt made a loud clicking noise as it unlocked.
Taking a deep breath, she walked into the house, gently closing the door behind her.
Fury never liked when she left the door open...
'So you were dead for what, 3 days? No big deal.' She coached herself, walking down the dark hallway to where the horsemen's sitting room was.
'Not like you were dead for years.' She took a huge step through the threshold and into the bright room.
The first one to notice Damiana was War, whom looked over and widened his eyes in surprise.
"Uh..."
When her voice escaped her lips, everyone dropped what they were doing and looked towards her in unison. Ilyea, Dante, Fury, Strife, and Misery all locked eyes with her.
"What? Y'all acting like I'm dead-oh." Damiana chuckles nervously, wanting dearly to face palm herself for such a stupid statement.
Finally Death was the last to look up. His eyes, for days being only one shade of bored orange, glowed a bright with fire.
Damiana blinked and chuckled again, feeling a burning sensation rise from her chest to her cheeks.
"Damiana?" Death's hallowed voice broke the uneasy silence.
As if on cue, both Fury, Ilyea and Dantè fell to the ground in a lifeless heap, fainted in a deep slumber.
"Uhhh...hey War!" Damiana turned to her dumbfounded brother.
"H-hello Damiana." War smirked, looking back towards Death and Damiana.
"Oh, this is rich." Strife laughed sounding both a mixture of confusion and genuine pleasure.
Stepping over his fainted sibling, Strife gently punched Damiana on her armored shoulder as he past.
"Great to have you back." He said over his shoulder, still chuckling in disbelief.
Damiana watched him go over her shoulder and slowly turned back to Death and flashed him a sly smirk.
"Aye, how goes it?" Damiana said cheekily, taking a small step towards Death.
Death blinked and walked up to Damiana, tilting his head as he did so.
"Da-Damiana?" He muttered, gently cupping Damiana's face with his hands.
"Yeaah?" She said, red eyes glittering happily.
Death blinked again and held Damiana close to his chest, cradling her like a father to a child.
"You're alive..."
"I'm alive."
******************
Damiana pulled her armored breastplate from her tired body, relieving her tired muscles from the heavy armor. Bringing up a bowl of water, Damiana took a cloth, soaked it with cool water, and started grooming her face.
While she did so, Damiana's eyes strayed over to the satchel on her bed and lingered there for a few moments.
"Hm...my armor is pretty messed up...maybe a change in wardrobe wouldn't be too bad." She mumbled to herself.
Taking off all of her under garments, Damiana scrubbed her aching body until her skin turned from a dust gray complexion to her normal complexion.
Skipping over to the satchel, Damiana emptied the contents and gazed at the interesting selection of armor.
The breastplate and harness were a smooth black, even the light of the room couldn't reflect off the armor's surface. It was covered in belts and buckles and a single insignia on the front; a blood red waning crescent. The leggings were leather and steel and also had the insignia on the outside of the thigh.
Shrugging, Damiana slipped the simple armor over her slim shoulders and tightened the straps at her sides. The armor fit...nicely, actually, as if it was made just for her. It wasn't like her original armor, which made her look bigger than what she appeared, but instead conformed to her slim hourglass frame.
Picking up the silk black cloth, Damiana attached it to the latches at her hips, making an almost skirt like appearance.
"Dami?"
Damiana looked up at her door and sighed deeply.
"Yeah, Fury?"
"Um...we really need to speak to you downstairs-"
"Of course."
"...May I come in?"
"I'm half dressed."
"We're both females."
"Fury, for the love of God, please. I'll be down in a minute,"
   When Fury's heels didn't click away from the door, Damiana sighed and quickly tightened the golden plated shoulder guard to her shoulder.
"Alright, come in-" Damiana sighed again, opening her door for the female horseman to enter.
     Before Damiana could utter another word, Fury rushed to the girl and embraced her tightly, smiling widely to herself.
"You're...crushing me!" Damiana choked, struggling to breathe.
"I don't care! You're alive and now you're back!" Fury said happily, swaying Damiana back and forth.
   When Damiana started to struggle less and less from Fury's tight embrace, Fury chuckled and set Damiana down, wide smile still plaster on her face.
"Ow" Damiana smiled back, happy to see her sister again.
    Fury smirked and leaned down to gently kiss Damiana's forehead, ensnaring her in yet another loving embrace.
"The Kingdom of Darkness." Fury muttered, looking down at the red moon.
"Yeah, uh," Damiana smiled uneasily, tilting her head at the inquisitive Fury.
"I haven't been there in a long time...You're the new queen?!" Fury gasped, looking over at the silver headdress on Damiana's bed.
"Uh, I guess!" Damiana said quickly, wondering how much more Fury knew.
"Huh...come downstairs, we have much to discuss with you...oh I'm so happy you're alive!" Fury chittered, cupping Damiana's face and peppered many kisses on her forehead.
"Gah! Fury! I'm fine!" Damiana giggled.
"Good. You better stay that way forever and ever!" Fury smirked, turning to walk away.