Darksiders: Light In Darkness (Fourth Book)

Chapter 18: A New Perspective

He dreamt of her; he dreamt of her sweet smile that seemed to brighten the darkest of days. He dreamt of her soothing voice that could calm the mightiest of ocean riptides. They were together, hand in loving hand, she was pulling him behind her, occasionally turning back to flash him a sweet, toothy grin. He couldn't hear what she was saying, he could only just see the excitement in her beautiful oceanic blue eyes. He could taste the salt in the air; they were near an ocean, a beach.
   They came up to the smooth sands of the beach and she let go of his hand, letting his arm fall limply to his side. She walked backward and motioned for him to follow, rose pink lips glittering in the setting sun's orange rays. He followed her blindly, he couldn't bring himself to care about anything in this world but her. She was laughing, he couldn't hear it but he could bet on his life it was sweeter than any music he ever heard. She took another step towards him and gently laid her soft lips against his own.
    When she pulled away, she flashed him a playful smirk and took off running down the beach line, white and blue dress fluttering gently in the soft ocean breeze. Her blonde hair floated behind her like a cape, curls of sunshine twisting in the warm sun. He found himself running after the beautiful angelic being, gaining speed as her pace grew faster. She turned back to laugh as he couldn't run fast enough to catch her, white teeth sparkling brightly.
    Soon the two came up to a wooden cottage just a few feet away from the coastline. She stopped and turned to him, blonde curls curving and contorting around her angular face.
"Close your eyes." She mouthed to him, gesturing with her hands.
       For a brief moment, he saw only darkness, something far too familiar to him. It reminded him of how alone he was, how this was all a dream, how this was all a facade....
   When he felt a small hand tug at his hand, he opened his eyes and looked down. A pair of topaz eyes stared up at him with a toothy grin. In his little girl's hands were a bouquet of poorly picked flowers, the roots still clung to the end of the stem with a few clumps of dirt. In the distance, she was smiling at him, something he craved for countless of years.
"Damiana?" He mumbled down to the girl, who laughed soundlessly and nodded.
     She held the bouquet up at him and her smile grew wider. Her long black hair was pulled into two pigtails and on her forehead was the symbol he always wore on the face of his mask. It was shaped beautifully and elegantly with limitless precision, it was the mark of his kin. Taking the blue and white flowers in one hand, he took the small girl up into his arms and found himself smiling when she embraced him tightly around the neck. She walked up to him and with a look of forlorn, uttered the words;
"If only..." Muriel took Strife's hand into hers and smiled sadly.
   She laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes....
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     Strife twisted in his sleep and slowly began to wake up, yellow eyes slowly starting to open up.
"Damiana...?" He sat up and looked around the room.
    An empty room greeted him. Not the limitless beach that seemed endless and happy, not the wooden cottage with crystal clear windows, and certainly not his...family.
"Dami...?" He muttered, unsteadily getting to his feet as he looked around.
Then it finally dawned on him...
"God damn it!"
     Still woozy from the drug Damiana snuck into him, Strife tried to make sense of his contorted surroundings. He can feel the walls closing around him, for the first time he felt genuine fear.
    Stumbling out the room and into the hallway, Strife held his head as the furniture around him seemed to double.
"No." He growled to himself, half falling, half walking down the stairs.
"No, I can't lose her too..." He pushed open the front door and struggled to walk across the field to the stable house.
"I can't lose my little girl too...I can't lose the both of them in the same lifetime." He tried to pull himself into the saddle.
    Discord gave its rider a concerned look and tried to pull away; it didn't cwant it's friend to be in this much pain and still try to fight.
  "I can't lose her, God damn you!" Strife yelled at the saddened stallion, who looked away and started to walk off.
"No! Come back! I can't lose my baby girl...you can't let me lose her...." He slurred, stumbling to his knees.
Then darkness...
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Dantè followed his mother and brother with a nervous look plastered on his relatively smug face. The attack on Heaven was close, he could sense it, for about 2 days his father Lucifer locked himself away in his chambers, not showing his face once.
That worried Dantè...
"Why are you skipping around behind us, my son?" Lilith said over her shoulder, tilting her head to the side.
"No reason, Mother. I'm just...excited." He said plainly, taking a shaky intake of breath.
His twin brother Demetrix shook his head and continued walking, muttering under his breath as he did so. The two were at odds of sorts; Demetrix believed, or rather he knew, Dantè's loyalties didn't stand with Hell any longer.
"Good. Your Father sent message that he had particularly exciting news today." Lilith said in a cheerily voice.
Dantè lowered his head, much like a dog does when its being scolded, and followed the two to his Father's door. Hesitantly, Lilith knocked on the steel surface, hand visibly shaking in hidden fear. Who wouldn't fear Him, thought Dantè; he was wildly unpredictable and had spontaneous bouts of violent anger.
Two behaviors that just didn't mix well...
"Come in." Came a curt reply a few short moments of silence later.
Lilith sighed and pushed the heavy door open with ease. When the trio stepped into the grand room, they were greeted with a full clad armored Lucifer. He wore a wicked grin as his lover and two children gawked at the craftsmanship of the armor. It wasn't anything Hell could possibly conjure up, it looked as if even the Makers could make something so...
Perfect.
"The blade has revealed to me that it's time to lead our assault." Lucifer said, gently putting the blade back into its scabbard at his hip.
"Now?" Dantè muttered under his breath.
Lucifer stared at his son with cold red eyes, obviously thinking about certain events as his eyes started to dim with memory.
"Is there a problem, Dantè?" Lucifer muttered, taking a few steps closer to Dantè.
"Of course not!" He said with uncertainty, looking at his brother Demetrix from the side.
Lucifer looked over at Demetrix and when his son's gaze faltered, he began laughing under his breath.
"Ah. I assume you won't go and warn the Horsemen, now? If you do, my son," Lucifer pulled Dantè in by his horn.
"I won't hesitate in ripping these horns from your pathetic skull." He said into Dantè's ear.
"Um-"
"Rally your troops, my sons. We meet at the BlackGate in an hour." Lucifer waved the twins off.
Dantè sighed and trotted off after his brother, trying to conceal his look of silent dread. He had to tell Damiana...but she was no where to be found!
"He won't breathe a word to them-" Lilith began.
"I sure hope he doesn't."
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Damiana sighed and sank back into her throne, trying to even her breathing as Arcane laid his battle axe back down.
"Good, Empress. You have been getting better these past few days." He said, smiling widely.
"Jeez." She breathed, looking over at the setting sun.
"Jeez indeed. We covered a lot, Empress. I believe you should rest." Arcane nodded, turning to take his leave.
"Wait." Damiana raised a hand to stop the tall dark long from advancing any further.
     Arcane stopped and looked over his shoulder at Damiana, purple eyes glistening with hidden glee.
"How may I assist you, Empress Damiana?"
"I...Do you think I can even stand a chance against Lucifer?"
"The Dragon? In this form...most definitely." He nodded once, turning to leave again.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"...Are you sure you're sure?"
"Empress Damiana, are you having second thoughts?" Arcane tilted his head.
"Of course I am!"
Arcane sighed and took another step towards the obsidian throne with a small bow. Through his grey bangs, Arcane's purple eyes glinted brightly in amusement.
"My dear Anti-Christ, my only Queen, your misplaced fear amuses me. You are the lost race of Nephilim-"
"How did you know that?!" Damiana squeaked, shrinking deeper into her throne.
Her thoughts instantly drifted back to Strife; if this Darkling knew, the Council must know about that she told them.
"Um? Have you forgotten? We're the Shadow Kingdom, we can hear anything from the shadows." He winked at her playfully.
"Anyway, you're one of the feared horsemen. And now you've learned techniques in combat lost to all the other kingdoms. You'll do just fine, I assure you." He nodded, flashing Damiana a hopeful smile.
"What if I...lose?" She asked quietly, cheeks turning red in embarrassment.
"You won't. You're not going to stop until you do. Too many people depend on you for you to just give up." Arcane answered, smile starting to dim down.
"But-"
"Don't think about it. Just win, save everyone, and go back to your father...but still come back here once and awhile, please?" Arcane held out his hand.
Damiana stared at his hand and slowly slipped hers into his, feeling her blush starting to intensify. When Arcane smirked and gently pressed his lips against her knuckle, Damiana made a sound similar to giggling and laughing. Standing back up again, Arcane leaned over to her ear and muttered;
"Trust me, I know you won't lose...no matter what the outcome is you'll always win in my eyes."
Stepping back to take his leave, Arcane simpered at Damiana's reddened face and turned to take his leave. Just as soon as he took one step, an excited Serarine scurried into the room, small feet barely disturbing the silent atmosphere around them.
"Empress Dami! You need to see this!...You too, Arcane, Momma asked me to get you too." She stopped in front of the two.
"What happened? Enemy attack?!" Arcane took his battle axe and heaved it on his shoulder.
"No! The sky is crying blood! It's red!!" She pulled Damiana up from her throne and dragged her to the stone balcony.
     When the trio went outside, the sky was indeed raining blood. Below them many shadows retreated to their hiding places. Damiana looked back up at the sky and squinted through the red rain. The sky was a dark grey with streaks of Crimson lining the clouds.
"What's happening?"
"It's happening...?" Damiana said it awe.
"It's not what, it's who...This is the end." Arcane put a hand on Serarine's small shoulder.
"Huh?" Damiana raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"When the sky rains blood, the oceans will fill with blood." Arcane sighed and pulled Serarine to the side.
"Wh-"
"You need to go, right now!" Arcane hissed, looking over his shoulder at Damiana.
"Why, where do I have to go?!"
"To where all of this started. Do you not know your history?" Arcane stopped and turned his head towards her.
"Um-"
"Your horse, Glory, was there. She can show you the way. It's called the Armageddon Fields. Go. And hurry up while you're at it."