Holy blight (draft 2)

Sleep

I feel sick now. it's not like the usual sick feeling... it's different. I don't think I really fear anything but, that subconscious metaphysical reaction to certain things... well, that... never goes away. You still feel your stomach churn when you hit the brakes and the car doesn't stop, or when you're on a plane and you feel turbulence. Every now and then your foot lands awkwardly on a patch of ice and even though you know it doesn't matter if you slam your head on the pavement and crack your skull wide open, you still feel that jolt—that sick feeling in your gut that once served as a precursor to emotions that you can't process anymore. That's what I feel, now.

It's nothing new, that feeling follows War wherever he goes. It's as if he takes in air and exhales clouds of adrenaline. He stares at me, smirking, his eyes glowing a vibrant red.

"So...", I say to him. "I didn't expect to see you here'

War's ever-present grin stretches into a toothy smile. "You know me, Pestilence, I am wherever there is conflict and...", he says before pausing to take a long inhale with his eyes closed. "This place wreaks of conflict."

"we—", Famine begins before being cut off by War raising a hand to signify a command for silence.

"Just a moment...", war says as his eyes pop open. "There's so much I need to unpack here. I need my concentration".

War continues to sniff the air as he strolls into the cave and Hyde, though intangible, steps out of the way to avoid him. War sees this and chuckles softly before going back to the bizarre ritual that has become a hallmark of his arrival. "You know, I cannot travel through the Middle East without taking a few detours.", he says. "After 60 years in that... place, with no one around to placate me I needed to go somewhere I knew I could recharge my batteries. I came out here thinking that I could throw some gas on the fire... Feel like me again." He shakes his head slowly and says, "I saw throats get slit. I saw bodies blown apart like dandelions in a windstorm... I saw pools of gore leaking out of armored cars in a syrupy mess that was hard to believe was ever human. So much hate, so much conviction, so much pain and still...", he stops once more to take a long breath. "The resentment coming out of this cave cuts through all of that like a knife."

He starts to nod in approval and clap as he says "Ain't no party like a horsemen party because a horseman party doesn't stop".

Hyde floats up next to me and says. "That dude is creepy, and I mean that in the most acute sense of the word. I'm more uncomfortable now than I was when you and Famine were literally eating each other inside of this murder cave."

"Hyde...", I say as I turn to him. "I know I say it to you a lot and by now the phrase has likely lost all meaning, but I need you to stop talking".

"I'm just saying, Pestilence...", he continues "If I had skin it would most definitely be crawling".

"Noted", I reply.

"That's funny", War says. "The ghost in purgatory worshipped me like God.

"Knowing you, I'm sure you never corrected them. I bet you played God for the whole stint", I say.

For a brief moment, War loses his composure. Lines form on the face as his grin contorts into a furious scowl. His hands shake and radiate with crimson energy and he starts to levitate a few feet off of the ground. his mouth opens and he starts to say something but stops before any words can escape. Famine whimpers, his ears droop and he lowers his head in fear. In an instant War's smile returns and his hands cease their violent glow and quake. He descends and says, "I corrected them pestilence. I'd rather they know I probably sent them to that place than think I was the one who left them there in the dark. Believe it or not, there isn't a lot of love for the man upstairs in the place he made the people he didn't want".