War
My name is Lucas VanLiere and until high school, I thought that would be my name forever.
Mind you, Lucas is still the name on my St. George Academy student card. But now, my new name is War. The shard I got granted me the title of the second horseman of the Apocalypse. It was a title passed down from one worthy candidate to the next - at least until my older sister died and gave it to me. It was a dumb move, but she was always the reckless one in the family.
A year after her passing, I moved to a boarding house in Guernica City. That summer, I underwent a complete transformation. Gone was Lucas, the skinny nerd kid who could barely do three pull-ups and enter War, the tall enigmatic head of the student council. It was more than a little satisfying. I blame Joshua for teaching me how to be a smooth operator. If only the kids in my old school could see me now.
Though I doubt I’d be able to hang out with my old friends like we used to. It’s not that I didn’t want to spend all my days playing in the arcade and hanging out. Mostly I still feel like a normal kid, you know? But I guess normal kids don’t fight monsters in the dark and sit on standby in case Heaven decides to end the world.
It’s also hard to shirk your duties when you have thousands of years of accumulated experience and a line of inheritors staring at you. Each of the previous “War” is in my head somewhere. Always judging, and they know that the current War is good for absolutely nothing.
It was another gray cloudy day at Guernica City. I looked over at Famine. The older boy had taken me under his wings so to speak. He was a little higher up than me. Famine or Sachiel, as he liked to be called, was teaching me how to fly. Famine flapped his angel wings and soared closer to me.
“Alright, you were right. This is the coolest thing ever,” I said, looking down at how small everything looked from up here.
“You know, you can fly even faster,” he said. “You’re still hesitating.”
I guess Famine could sense how scared I was.
“No offense dude, but on the ground at least Death could heal me up if I get injured. Here, if I fall - I go splat and die instantly.” I suddenly had a vision of me dropping like a stone on the hard ground, followed by Conquest and Death scooping up my remains nonchalantly.
“You feel the past War's right? Let them do the flying for you,” Famine advised. “Relax and let your shard take control.”
“Alright, but you better be ready to catch me,” I said nervously.
Famine chuckled and flew underneath me as if assuring me he would. Famine was a really cool guy. He was quieter than Joshua, and not as omnicompetent as Death, but he was genuine. He was also the first friend I made since coming here.
I took a deep breath and calmed down. My angel wings twitched and I felt the vibrations in the air.
A strong gust struck me and I wobbled in mid-air.
I fought the urge to panic and flap wildly.
“Calm down. Focus your attention inward,” Famine’s gentle voice guided.
I took another breath and let my shoulders drop. Instantly I felt more stable. My wings just moved on their own. Famine was right. The shard knew how to fly.
I shot him a look of gratitude.
"I think I got it."
Two years later
Three platforms above them, Death had taken down the mad mage responsible for creating this twisted place. With his untimely passing, the mage's lair had started collapsing on them.
The mage's possessed minions rush towards us. The dolls' shrieks as I dive and slash through them with my fiery sword. "That's fifteen for me!" Conquest yells from above. She's perched on one of the impossible staircases that defy gravity, angled sharply to the side. I watch as she fires three quick arrows each one finding its mark in the beady button eyes of the advancing dolls.
"I'm at seventeen, don't get ahead of yourself!" This bizarre place is maddening enough without her lording her kill count over me. She'll never shut up if I lose here.
The landscape around us didn't make any sense, like the distorted dreamscape of a lunatic. Staircases jut out at crazy angles, some upside down, others twisting back on themselves in endless loops. Doorways and arches hover freely with no supports, leading to more warped passages and rooms. Fighting here is disorienting, but the possessed dolls just kept coming.
Another wave of them clambers over the platforms, descending upon me with chilling giggles. I ignite my sword's flame and unleash a fiery shockwave. The dolls ignite like tinder, melting button eyes and charred stitches an unsettling sight.
"Twenty five!" I call out. Just ahead, an arched doorway hovers at a 45 degree angle, no walls supporting it. I step through onto what feels like solid floor, gravity shifting around me.
Which way was up? My mind goes blank for a full second until I reorient.
Beyond is an octagonal room lined with dark wooden doors. Conquest drops down beside me, landing gracefully.
"Thirty-two, more incoming!" She nocks three arrows and takes down the shambling dolls pouring out of the doors. I rush to intercept the rest, my sword carving through their numbers in a whirlwind of steel and embers.
"There it is!" I find an old wooden cabinet by the right wall, inside I pull out a small chest and tuck it under my coat.
"Got the treasure! Let's get out of here!"
"Did you see where Death went?" Conquest asks, picking doll stuffing from her windswept silver hair.
I shake my head. "How bout' we try that way!" I point towards a doorway hovering thirty feet off the ground.
"Death's already on the other side" I shouted over the dolls' infernal giggling. My blade cleaved through two more, igniting their cotton-stuffed bodies.
"What about the Crown!?" Conquest called back. "Intel said it was next to the chest!"
I risked a glance around at the recursion of staircases and gravity-defying architecture folding in on itself. Doorways opened onto sheer drops, windows looked out on other parts of the same room.
"I know that! I'm telling you the Crown's not here!" I yelled back, certain of it. "We need to hurry and get out!"
I unfurled my wings and take flight, rising above the dolls to get a better view. The landscape warped and shifted around us, the angles growing more twisted. But I spotted it - the faint glow of the portal we had entered through. "That way!"
Conquest loosed another arrow before leaping off the edge of the staircase. She plummeted downwards, cloak billowing. I folded my wings and dove after her, the dolls swarming through the air in pursuit. I reached out and grabbed her hand, beating my wings fiercely to pull us into an upwards glide.
We weaved through the recursive maze, walls and stairs folding onto themselves.
The portal was receding, or moving - it was hard to tell. I poured on the speed regardless, angling up a vertical wall towards that faint light. But the opening was starting to crumple, the edges going soft and black.
"Faster!" Conquest yelled.
With a final heroic effort, I hauled the two of us through the blackening portal. We tumbled into sudden darkness, collapsing in a heap on cold stone. I dismissed my wings and sword, surroundings swimming into focus. The portal had vanished. We seemed to be in a massive underground chamber.
"You two alive?" came Death's stern voice. I nodded, still catching my breath. Conquest panted next to me.
The space around us groaned and rumbled, dust raining down from above. Cracks spiderwebbed through the carved walls and arched ceilings.
"This place is falling apart too," Death observed flatly. "Let's move."
Conquest and I hurried after Death through the disintegrating catacombs. But a nagging thought lingered in my mind. Famine hadn't followed us through the portal. I had assumed it was because fighting wasn't his strong suit.
What if Famine hadn't entered for another reason? What if something happened to him before we even arrived?
I kept this grim suspicion to myself as we ascended the crumbling ruins. I could only hope I was just being paranoid. Surely Famine was still outside waiting for us, ready to provide wise counsel as always.
We emerged into open night air, the last of the catacombs sinking into rubble behind us. But I saw no sign of Famine.
"Where is he?" Conquest asked, voicing my own concern.
Death's expression was unreadable. "Something got him."
The boarding house I live in always had an ominous appearance, its Victorian architecture is a bit out of place amidst the modern buildings surrounding it. Perched on a hill at the end of a dead-end street, the three-story house cast gloomy shadows across overgrown grounds. Ivy crawled up cracked stone walls while gnarled trees clawed at boarded windows with twisted branches.
Inside, the interior matched the dreary exterior. Dim lamps barely illuminated the dusty wooden floors and peeling wallpaper of the narrow halls. Despite the bleak accommodations, the house always had an uncanny sense of quiet order, as if tended by an invisible caretaker. At the end of the third floor hall was Death's private chamber. None of the boarders dared venture near that remote corner of the house. Muted notes from an old violin would sometimes drift under the door late at night when the rest of the house slept.
I stand uneasily with Conquest and Pestilence outside the doorway to Famine's bedroom. My heart sinks as I look at my friend lying delirious inside. Conquest swears angrily under her breath, hands balling into fists. Her fury mirrors my own - Famine is family, and seeing him like this makes our blood boil.
I place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He's safe now," I tell her. She gives a terse nod in response.
Inside, Death and a pastor tend to Famine where he lies half-conscious and bound to the bed by leather straps. Bloodied bandages wrap his torso, his breathing ragged and weak. Dark veins spiderweb under his pale skin - a disturbing sight. The pastor, a healer trusted by Death, places a glowing hand upon Famine's forehead, channeling restorative energy into him.
"They can fix him, right? He'll make an epic comeback.. and have a glow-up! Just like in the manga," Pestilence asks hopefully. There's doubt in her voice beneath the forced optimism. Even though she wasn't really a horseman, I always enjoyed Ella's company. She had rushed over, hair unkept as soon as she heard that Famine was back.
I just shrug, guilt gnawing within me. This is my fault. It was my job to look after Famine in battle, but I failed him. That night in the mage's lair, I should have realized something was wrong when Famine didn't follow us. How long did he fight alone before they captured him?
The pastor finishes and gives terse instructions to Death before taking his leave. Death beckons us into the bedroom.
Conquest immediately goes to Famine's side, clasping his limp hand in both of hers. "You're going to get better, okay? We're all here for you," she says gently despite the anger simmering beneath.
Pestilence hovers nearby uncertainly. She places the books she was holding on a table. "I brought you some manga to read. Can you tell us what happened?" she asks. Famine's eyes flutter open, pupils dilated and struggling to focus. He thrashes weakly against his bonds, mumbling incoherently.
Conquest shoots Pestilence a protective glare. "Don't push him. Let him rest." Pestilence looks abashed.
I stand apart, silent. Seeing Famine like this, raving and tortured, tears at my conscience. I should have protected him. Some War I've proven to be.
Death places a hand on my shoulder, her piercing pale eyes boring into mel. "We'll find who did this," she assures me. "And why. They will suffer."
I give a solemn nod. I will find who hurt Famine, no matter what it takes. And there will be a reckoning.
Suddenly Famine goes still, his eyes focusing for the first time since being brought home. He glances around wildly before his gaze settles on me.
"The Crown..." he rasps. "It's in the dark."
Conquest looks around questioningly and Pestilence ceases her pacing. Death's eyes narrow, intent on Famine's every word.
"Deep in the heart of old Guernica," Famine continues, straining against his straps. "Past the gate between worlds. In the reflection of this city."
He collapses back, exhausted and shivering. We exchange uneasy looks. We all knew about the Undercity - a lightless underworld beneath Guernica, filled with infernal beasts and deadly traps. It is a place few dare to venture, let alone traverse fully.
I step close and open my mouth to ask more, but Death holds up a hand. Famine has slipped back into fitful delirium. "He needs rest." She turns to leave, beckoning us.
We file out, closing the door behind us. As soon as it shuts, Pestilence explodes with questions.
"The Crown's really down there? How could he know that?"
Death's expression betrays nothing. "I don't know. But if it is true, this changes our plans."
Conquest slams a fist into her palm. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's gear up and-"
"Patience," Death interjects. "Reclaiming the Crown will not be so simple. We must plan our next steps carefully."