Death: How You Like That

It is when he smiles that I realize I have been deceived. When he catches the blade with such ease, I understand the identity of my deceiver. It all becomes clear, even before Michael growls his name.

Hêlêl ben Šāḥar.

The Shining One. Son of the Morning.

He who, in my previous life, was my father.

Lucifer.

I do not give in to my amazement, do not stand idly by while shock overwhelms my being. Only one such as Michael, or even greater, could deceive a Horseman. Lucifer loves to deceive; he is the only one who likely would, and did. He deceived us all, Hyun included.

Michael looks upon his fallen brother with eyes that would make even the Princes of Hell shake, and yet Lucifer is more at ease than all the time he has spent in our company; he leisurely spins the knife to grip the hilt. Conflict, the presence of his brother -- whatever it is about the situation brings more life into the eyes of the one oft called the “Prince of Darkness.”

He stands taller and the power that, before, had been but a dulled shimmer of the air around him, lending credence to his claim that Ramiel was his father -- no. I only see now that he never directly stated Ramiel as such in our conversation; it was but my own assumption based on what I had seen, and what was occurring, too, with Hyun. The Serpent, indeed. How easily that silver tongue wove together shallow pieces of truth to deceive, while still not yet speaking a direct lie.

Something shifts behind me, and I hear Famine whisper, “Not this time, darling.” She is patting the air above Hyun’s hair; the human has his hands upon his knees, face drawn pale. He looks as if he will be sick. How strange that only now does the full gravity of this situation crash upon him, bringing him near to his knees under the weight of its magnitude.

“I thought you’d be happier to see me,” Lucifer says, and I turn my attention away from Hyun.

“Your forked tongue will not save you here,” Michael growls, and in his hand blazes a light, bright and terrible. Said to have been forged by God for their general-son, Michael’s sword makes all before it tremble. Even we Horsemen are awed at the sight of it. The blade radiates something I cannot describe, but it brings a hollow feeling to my depths, and were Silver here, I could imagine him rearing in agitation.

“So, what, you’ll cut it off with your sword? If you haven’t noticed, there’s five of us and one of you. Even taking out the Horsemen,” Lucifer smiles dangerously, “you’ve never actually beaten me, brother.”

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Michael’s lips curl back in an equally unpleasant smile. “One of me? Oh, Lucifer, how much you have forgotten.”

I hear the trumpets. Clear as day, bright and growing louder. The floor of the sanctum shakes and for the first time, Lucifer looks confused, perhaps even nervous.

“You walked right into the lion’s jaws, Lucifer,” Michael spits his brother’s name with more venom than an asp. “Have you truly so forgotten?”

Lucifer looks around, brows furrowed, and I do the same. No angelic presence has entered other than Michael. I would have sensed it through the seals. Conquest, Famine -- all of us look back to the General, unknowing.

“You bastard,” Lucifer growls, and Michael’s smile widens. “How could you -- to your own battalion? Have you so forgotten--”

“Do not speak to me of forgetting, Morning Star. I forget nothing.”

“What’s going on?” Hyun asks, so small, so human. He sounds terrified, and as well he should be...but of what precisely, I cannot say.

A childish laugh, a flash of red, and War appears behind Michael. His mouth is stretched into a terrible grin, eyes blazing like fire. A pain lances through my chest at the sight of our youngest, now standing apart from us, against us.

“I am here! I am here!” he laughs. “And they awaken!”

Cracks resound now as thunderclaps with the trumpets and I see: the statues. The guardian angels -- not guardians, no longer.

“We should probably get out of here,” Hyun says.

“We cannot,” I say.

We are here. I am here, War is here. But Conquest and Famine...the metal crown shines; almost here. I push Hyun into Famine. “Ride!” is all I say, and Famine takes off, barely leaving before a mass of marble falls to the floor. It would have hit Hyun’s head, killing him instantly.

The stone guardians rise, they fall, they swarm to their commanding general. They flank Michael and I turn to Lucifer. The Devil has turned his back on his brother and is grinning at us wildly.

I am Death.

And I am afraid.

“Does Death choose a side?” The Prince of Darkness asks.

Did he know this entire time? Did he recognize me?

“I am a Horseman,” I answer, and my chest gives a strange, painful squeeze. “I have no side, no allegiance…”

“We go where we are,” Conquest takes a step forward, donning their crown. “Regardless of moral or ill. This is where we are.”

“For now,” War appears at Lucifer’s back, his sword burning the colour of fresh blood, and raises it high...