(recap)
“I will be with you Ducky. I will always be at your side.” He said, leaning back to look me in the eyes before kissing my forehead.
I smiled up at him, happy to have him in my life, “You ready to go back.” Ethan asked a small smile playing on his lips.
“If I have to.” I said on a sigh. I glanced back at where the man was, saddened that this was my life. I remembered the first time it happened I had been in shock and then snapped out of it screaming, crying over the monster I had become.
We shadow ran back to the manor, making sure to keep away from my old house. My family home I had grown up in was full of hateful messages, the windows all broken, and the valuables stolen. I remembered the first time seeing it that way and wondered what I have ever done to deserve such a thing. I remembered my heart breaking like I had lost another parent.
I pushed memory to the back and concentrated on what was now needed of me, of the enormous task that I had to do, which was get Conquest and War to help me clean up this mess.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2
“Violet, they’re all here. They’re in the War room. I have tried to prep them on our current situation.” Jonathan said as soon as he saw us at the door. It looked like he had been standing there for a while, just waiting for us to save him.
“Good. What was their response?” I asked hoping I wouldn’t have to go in there.
“They said that they won’t discuss grown up talk with an underling.” Jonathan said sounding pissed off.
“Sounds like something any of them would say.” I said in response. “Let’s get this thing over with.” I said drawing strength as I marched towards the War room, head held high and shoulders back. Showing more confidence than what I was feeling.
“They will help us Ducky. They have no choice, if they want to exist.” Ethan said trying to ease my mind.
That was another thing. Now that I was the Horsemen Death, I might not go to Heaven, heck not even to hell. I could end up as nothing, just disappearing, erased from existence, like I had never existed in the first place. Ethan and the other’s would go to heaven or hell, but I would just become nothing. No hope of seeing him when this was all over, no living happily ever after in the clouds, no nothing. I think that scared me more than anything else.
I said nothing trying not to think about the world ending and becoming nothing, Ethan didn’t know of my secret fear, and I wouldn’t burden him with the knowledge. We reached the door and I could hear voices from inside.
“Now Tommy, why would I help? I have never had this much fun since World War II. The destruction…the chaos. Just … divine. Look… I have goose flesh thinking of it.” I recognized the voice of War, reminiscing on one of the Worlds worst wars in history.
I opened the door and saw Tommy my eldest reaper and adviser standing in front of War, while War lounged on a single seated couch, legs lazily draped over an arm of the chair while he drank what looked like beer.
Conquest was sitting in the centre of the room at the table which also acted as a map of the world. She had her feet up on the table; it looked like she had kicked over a few reaper figurines, while she cleaned her nails using one of the Reaper figurines scythe.
“Finally Dudley-Do-Right shows up for this little pow wow session. What are we to discuss? Dresses, maybe matching shoes?” Conquest said.
“Oh, oh I know. World peace.” War said and the two of them cackled at that, while I scowled at the pair of them.
“No. I’ve called you two here to discuss your lack of aid when it comes to restoring the balance.” I said as I stood by the maps on the round table, near Conquest. The maps moved every now and then, as if it was a real life scaled model.
“We are doing our part.” War said with an expression I can only describe as disbelief.
“Really? By causing wars? How is that helping with the gate to the underworld being resealed?” I asked already getting annoyed with them.
“Like he said, we are doing our part. We are Conquest and War not Santa’s helpers. It’s what we were created to do. You are here to maintain the balance of life and death. Don’t blame us if you’re doing a shitty job.” Conquest said sipping of her red wine.
I glared at the pair of them; they didn’t care about the world, only themselves. I felt the wood under my hands give way, crumbling and disintegrating into dust.
I looked down and watched as the one side of the table gave way as it rotted. Crap I had forgotten my gloves; I took a deep breath to calm myself before I destroyed anything else.
“Connie, look you’re upsetting our hostess.” War tisked at Conquest.
“Look, I’m going to put this bluntly. I don’t know how to seal the doors so no matter how many of the demons, creatures, monsters or whatever crawls from that hole, we can’t stop them. Everyday more and more invade this plane and everyday more and more people die. The balance is shot and with no humans there is only a matter of time before we’d be gone too.” I said looking them both in the eyes.
“It’s not that bad, stop being paranoid. It’s a bit of a buzz kill.” Conquest said, before draining the contents of her glass.
“There is no balance. The walls to the under realm are no more. I need to rebuild it or the world as we know it will be gone. So you two better help me or soon you will cease to exist.” I said feeling my power swirl around me. I knew what I must look like, the black smoke weaving around me, coming out of me, out of my mouth like I was poisonous gas, which if you thought about it…
I could feel something shifting in my back, like grinding bones… it hurt and it also helped to cool my temper.
They stared angrily at me, “You dare threaten us?” War said standing, his own red aura swirling around him, just as my black smoke did. Just his looked like flames licking his body.
“You don’t like that huh? Well tough, that’s the hard truth. We are failing and soon it would be the end of us. I may be new to this but I know a bad situation when I see one. To fix this it’s going to take all of us. I need to know how to seal the gates, then and only then will we be able to restore balance… maybe if it’s not too late.”
“Never speak to me like that again.” Conquest said, while her horsemen glow began to shine as well as Wars.
“Then help me. I’m desperate; I’ve been doing this for eleven months, while you two have been at this before life itself. I need your help, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking right now.”
“We…might know of a way.”
“Tell me.”
“The Fountain.” War said with a serious look on his face.
“The Fountain? What Fountain?”
“The Fountain in your front yard. Duh!”
“What about it?”
“You don’t know? Lover boy never told you?” Conquest said as she looked over at Ethan and when Ethan said nothing, Conquest started grinning from ear to ear. “Oh this is going to be good.” She said making herself more comfortable. “Hey, underling. Bring me popcorn with extra butter. Be quick.” She shouted at Jonathan, which he didn’t like at all. He stood there, looking like he was holding back a retort.
“Why are you still standing there? Is he special?” She asked me whispering behind her hand.
I sighed and turned to Jonathan who was fuming by now, “Just do as she says.” I said because I wanted this over. Turning to Ethan when Jonathan left I got back on topic.
“What didn’t you tell me about the Fountain?”
“I didn’t think it was important.”
“It is important.” War said from his corner, while Ethan glared at him.
“What is the fountain?” I asked hating where this was going.
“There is other ways. The fountain cannot be our only resource. It cannot be used by Death.” Ethan said to the two horsemen.
“Oh but my dear sweet boy, is that not how you and your … kin were created?”
“Yes.”
“Then the fountain was already being used by Death.”
“What the hell is the fountain? What is the big freaking deal with it?” I asked not believing that Ethan had kept something else from me, as if the last time wasn’t enough. Just a little over a year ago he had turned me into a Sominator, otherwise known as a Dreamer. Someone who has died and visited the River Styx, then came back to life. A dreamer was someone who could not only see the dead but could be harmed by them, not to mention they stand out to the dead like a freaking lighthouse in the dark.
“Violet can we discuss this… privately?” He asked turning to War and Conquest when he said the last part.
“Go ahead. We won’t interrupt.” War said.
“Yeah, just pretend that we’re not even here.” Conquest said grabbing a bottle of red wine and filling her glass.
“Ethan glared at them and pulled me towards the corner for a more private conversation.
“Start talking Ethan. I deserve to know, I need to know.” I said still hurt by the fact that Ethan never told me whatever it was he and the rest of my Reapers knew.
“It’s not that simple Vi.” Ethan said looking a little lost.
“Then break it down.” I whisper yelled.
“I don’t know how to say this-“
“Go on tell her.”
“Yeah tell her.”
Ethan glared at the Horsemen, before taking a deep breath and looking me straight in the eye.
“The Fountain outside is meant to be guarded by the Horsemen Death. It is the Fountain of Youth. It is also the birth place of all Reapers.”
“What? But D was the Horsemen of Death. How can he be the keeper of the fountain of youth?” Thinking that this scenario was a little weird, I mean it made no sense.
“Brilliant isn’t it? Who would look for the fountain of youth on Deaths door? The classic hidden in plain sight move gets them every time. Besides D asked to be the Keeper. It was part of the deal.” Conquest said seeming please with this.
“Not just that, that statue is freakishly scary do you think anyone who finds it would think, there lies my eternal youth with all those dead bodies carved into it and the red waters that carries the shade of blood?” War said getting back into it.
“How will the Fountain help me? Wait… did you just say that he asked to be the Keeper of the Fountain? Who in their right mind will give D something so valuable?”
“At a time when the world was young and thriving, along with it war and conflict. The human populist was growing, and with it the amount of dead. It was too much for D to control, or so he had claimed. He had implored the heavenly warriors for aid to help relieve his burden and help maintain the balance. The warriors had agreed, granting him the fountain of youth. They said that he should use it on those who has not yet chosen a path. It was to be their second chance as limbo was filled with displaced souls.
“They had given Death The Fountain of Youth, which derived its existence from one place, Eden. When Eden was destroyed, the gardens essence was scattered across the world. The components of the garden remains linked, it is how they maintain their existence and power. I like to think of them as the edges of a fraying top. If you can find the one, you’ll find the other.
The Heavenly warriors had commanded Death to guard the fountain and use it when a displaced soul was discovered. The soul would have life and would aid Death in maintaining the balance until their soul’s fate was revealed. So the Reaper’s Deal was born.” Tommy said in all seriousness.
“The Reaper’s deal. How do you know your soul’s fate?” I asked because there where reapers like Tommy that had been reapers for centuries.
“A great event would occur, and our actions would be judged. Our souls would go to our designated plane and we would be released from the deal.”
“You said Heavenly warriors? Do you mean Angels? They’re real?” I asked thinking if they were real, why hadn’t they helped us fight D and his army of demons.
“Yes angels. Gezz do you know nothing? It has been centuries since I had a conversation with one who knows as little as you.” War said clearly getting frustrated.
“I wouldn’t know this little if anyone bothered to tell me anything.” I yelled back.
“Well don’t look at us. They’re your servants.” Conquest said draining her glass.
I was starting to get fed up with the two of them and I had my answer to how to seal the gates. “You know what. Thanks you two the meetings adjourned. The problem is solved. I’ll figure out how to use the stupid fountain to fix the problem with the hell door.” I said all but pushing them out of the door, although the urge was there.
“You don’t want our help?” War asked like he was hurt or something. Man these two were psychotic.
“No. good-bye.” I said trying to get rid of them because my patience had just run out with the two of them.
“Too bad, you’re going to get our help, so we’re staying.” Conquest said remaining where she was.
I pinched the bridge of my nose praying for mercy from these two psycho’s before I lose it.
“Fine.” I said giving up because I didn’t want to waste any more energy on them. Turning to Tommy again to question him.
“So are angels real?”
“Yes, but they have not been seen in centuries.”
“So… do they still exist?”
“I believe they do.”
“Then why didn’t they help us when we fought D?”
“They are God’s warriors, not ours. They answer only to Him.”
“Then how are you so sure that they are still around?”
“Because I know of one.”
“You do?” Ethan asked shock written all over his face.
“Who?” I asked seeing this as my only way to fix the hole I was in.
“How do you know of this angel?” conquest asked, going very still as she waited for a reply.
“I have met him in what is now called New York back in the 1200’s when I was sent to reap a village.”
“How long has this angel been on Earth?” Conquest asked, so she too didn’t know about the angel.
“Is he a fallen?” War asked as well. So none of them knew… Was the Angel in hiding?
“He is simply known as the angel of Death.” Tommy said. There was shocked silence around the room.
“No… I’ve heard he was killed. How do I not know that he has survived?” Conquest said breaking the silence.
“He has his ways, as you well know.” Tommy replied dryly.
“Who is he? How can we find him?” I asked not really getting what the big deal was with this guy.
“His given name is Dante.”
“Okay… Dante who? Where can we find him?”
“Just Dante. He will find you.”
“You knew of an Angel on Earth and you had said nothing?” Conquest asked seeming a little angered by this.
“He did not wish his presence to be known.”
“How will he find me? He doesn’t even know that I’m looking for him. Do you have a means of contacting him?” I asked getting fed up with these riddles and secrets.
“He will know.”
“Where was the last place you had seen him?” Conquest asked looking like she was about to storm right over there and murder him.
“How could he have survived all this time without being detected? Unless he went back to Heaven and was only recently sent back here.” War mused out loud.
“Who cares how he had survived. You know what this means if Angels are to come to Earth. You! get your Reaper to tell us where Dante is now.” Conquest said turning to me.
“I will not force my reapers to do anything they don’t want to do unless I really have to.”
“Well it’s a good thing you really have to do so now.”
“Tommy doesn’t know of his location otherwise he would have said so. Right Tommy?” I asked turning towards him. The room went quiet as we all waited for him to speak.
“I don’t know where he is now.” He said.
“See I told-“
“But you know where he was. Tell me Reaper, you know what this means for us Horsemen to have an Angel on Earth.”
“What does it mean?” I asked because shit just got real.
“It means that we will be called to do what we have been created to do.”
“You don’t mean-“ Ethan asked his eyes wide and scared. I think this was the first time I had seen him scared. No there was one other time, in the exact quickie mart I was at tonight, a little over a year ago.
“Yes Reaper, I do. The end of humanity nears and along with it ours.” Conquest said standing up, her radiant light shone around her and her voice seemed to vibrate as she spoke. She was scared… because she knew we didn’t have much time left.
“Okay, so there must be a way around this. If we fix this, then the angels wouldn’t have to come right? How do I use the fountain?” I asked looking for a way around the pending doom of us all.
“I cannot answer that. Only one who could answer that died in the River the day you were born anew.” Tommy said in his usual monotone voice, refering to the day D fell into the River Styx and was killed.
“Okay… thanks? Is there another way… Someone else that might know how to use it?”
“I do not know. D used it to create us from it, Death is not allowed to use the waters for anything other than to create Reapers. It is a direct violation of your role as guardian. The fountain was meant for Humans, but when they had disobeyed God, the garden was destroyed or scattered, and each of the pieces are guarded.” Tommy said seriously.
“Guarded? Guarded by whom?” I asked because if I can find the other pieces of the garden maybe I can fix the leak and mop up the mess. Easy-peezy.
“We don’t know the identities of the other guardians. They are kept a secret… well except for D because he liked to brag. Sooo… expect a few attacks on the fountain.” Conquest said like she was discussing the weather.
“Attacks? On the fountain? You don’t mean that people will actually come to the manor to steal it?” I asked wondering why no-one said anything about the freaking fountain.
“People will want to steal the waters darling… not the actual fountain.” Conquest said in a duh voice.
“Now the others… they will want to destroy it.”
“Others?” I asked getting a bad feeling about this.
“Demons.” Tommy said calmly.
“Why would demons want to destroy it?”
“To bring back their fallen. What was the angel of death doing when you had first come upon him?” Conquest asked Tommy, turning the conversation back to the angel Dante.
“I don’t know… I didn’t think to question him.” Tommy said in a board voice.
“You didn’t think… You weren’t the least bit curious as to why he was here? What business had brought him to earth?” Conquest questioned.
I thought about the fountain again. I remembered the first time I had seen it, the chills I had gotten. Did the fountain always look that way or did D carve them? Not once did it cross my mind that the fountain was actually the freaking Fountain of Youth… How did D use the fountain anyway? Is the waters naturally that colour? Did he make the lost souls drink from it?
“How did D turn you? How did the fountain play a part?”
“He would slice the fleshy part of our hand, we would then cup the water and drink it while our blood mixed with the water.” Tommy said.
“What would happen if I drank from the water?”
“I do not know. You are the Horsemen death, an immortal being. It could strengthen you-“
“Will it make me strong enough to close the gate?”
“It could also kill you Violet.” Ethan said, pulling me to the corner to talk once again privately. “You aren’t seriously considering doing this?”
“If I have to.” I said still angry with Ethan for again keeping a huge ass secret from me. I pulled my arm out of his grasp and went back to the conversation.
"Will it make me strong enough to close the gate?" I asked again. Determined to fix the gates of hell and close it once and for all.
“It might.” Tommy said a little hesitantly, “but Ethan is also right. The waters are for mortals… not immortals. There is no certainty that the waters would not just kill you.”
“There is a chance that it won’t… that’s all I need.” I said now seriously considering drinking from the fountain. My family and everyone in this room depended on me succeeding in changing our current situation.