Fate's Pawn: Four Horsemen

Chapter Five: Reapers' Demands

Atropos stepped in front of both Holly and Eros and erected a simple barrier of wind that the scythes grazed off. "Why are you after Holly?" she demanded.

"I haven't done anything to you," Holly added. "There's no reason for you to hunt me like this! Leave me alone and let me go back to my normal everyday life."

The three hooded figures took a few steps back. The one in the middle swept back their hood and the woman revealed stared at them with her green gem-like eyes. "Do not misunderstand us, Holly Knight. We do not track you for some sick desire of our own. You have been marked."

"Marked?" Holly demanded. 

"For death."

"Why?" Holly demanded again.

"You are a being that is foretold to create great change. Death is the only answer." The woman pointed the tip of her scythe at Holly again. "You can come willingly, or we will defeat your guardians. They can not stop us."

"You underestimate us," Atropos clicked her tongue. The barrier vanished from her hands and she took a stance in front of Holly with her hands on her hips. "I am Atropos, I am sure beings like you know that name."

The woman paused and looked at her companions. "Atropos, the Fate?" she questioned.

One of the others threw their hood back now and the silver-haired man frowned. "If this is true, this will cause a lot of trouble." He was shorter than his companion and his shiny hair was twisted into a braid down his back that swayed with his every movement. "Why is a Fate here?"

Atropos smirked. "You're more worried about me than the fact that she's got a Sin as a companion? I could introduce you, it's Eros the Sin of Lust."

Eros smirked and the golden lights in his hands turned into twin flame swords. "And I will not allow you to take her."

Holly chuckled. "I'm still mad at you, Eros, but even I have to admit you look pretty cool right now."

The woman reaper frowned again Her soft brown hair made her face look so much softer than the hard glitter in her eyes would make you believe. "I don't care who you are. Even if it brings more trouble, Quix," she called over to her companion. "I just know what my orders are. She will sow chaos if we allow her freedom. It is far better that Death takes her."

"What if I were to tell you that someone stronger than your master is involved in this?" Eros asked softly as he pointed his swords at the reapers. "You wish to take her life, but you know nothing of her. She doesn't deserve what you plan for her. I demand you spend time with her and get to know her."

"What?" Atropos demanded as she whirled to confront the Sin. "Have you lost your mind?"

Holly too shook her head. "No way! They've been trying to kill me! Why would I let them near me during the time I run from them? That makes no sense, Eros!"

"It makes perfect sense to me, Holly. If they're around you, they'll get to know the true you, the soul that shines so bright, and that should never be extinguished. Not to mention, if they try to break any of the rules we set up, well let's just say I know a certain Prince that will pull their own souls out, and then destroy them in the most painful way possible."

The last reaper flung their hood off now. He had dark-blonde hair and soft blue eyes. He was frowning in thought at the three of them. "You want us to wait to take her? Why should we agree? It doesn't matter to us what kind of soul she possesses. We told you that this job is not up to us, but to our master."

A dark glare settled over Eros's face. "Do you mean to tell me that you don't care if those you take are pure or not?"

"Why should we?" The woman demanded as she flipped her hair with a hand. "We operate solely on our boss's orders. You want us to just abandon him? For what? You can't give us a single reason why we should let this girl go."

"Do you really want to make one of the Princes upset?" Eros challenged.

The reapers looked at each other now. "Do you think that's true?" The blonde whispered.

"Do you have any proof of this?"

Eros smirked. "He'll be here in a matter of days. You'll be able to talk to him yourself, and he's in love with that soul right there. Touch her, and you'll suffer."

Quix scratched his neck. "I'm not going to get involved in pissing off a Prince. I vote for waiting for a few days. We've been chasing her for six months now."

Holly's eyes widened. "Six months?" she whispered.

"Yeah, it's just been Ruby, Krim, and I. Ruby is our leader."

"Do you have to tell them so much?" Ruby snapped as she rubbed the space between her brows. 

Quix shrugged. "We are going to wait, right?"

Krim's lip curled in a sneer. "I really don't think we should let them get away with it. This could be a ploy for time."

Atropos smirked. "If it was a ploy for time, why would you be worried? You've been after her this long, what would a few days more really matter to you?"

"Because I hate to be taken advantage of," Krim growled between grit teeth. "I swear if this is just a ploy, if the guy doesn't show up in three days, I'll make sure that she'll suffer before Death, myself."

The woman held up a hand and the other two quieted. "I do feel this is a waste of time, but I'm going to allow it. Because when you're proven to be the liar I believe you are, you will cry for our mercy as she's torn apart, and there will be none."

Holly swallowed. She really didn't like the sound of any of this. "You'll stop chasing me?" she whispered. "Just let me go?"

"No," Quix answered. "We are going to be living in this building, here with you. You'll have a chance to show us this pure soul of yours, not that it matters. And you'll be saved if the Prince does show up. Though just his appearance won't be enough to save you."

"You'll be surprised," Eros remarked with a smile. "Now, why don't you all gather yourselves together, put aside your weapons, and introduce yourself to Holly here, properly."

"My name is Quix, I'm the second in command of this little group, and if any of you try to do anything to Ruby, I'll slice you in half."

The woman rolled her eyes. "My name is Ruby, this is my squad of grim reapers, and ignore Quix. He suffers from the belief that I will one day change my mind and agree to go out with him." She glanced over at him as her eyes narrowed. "I will not, I don't do relationships."

Eros wrapped Holly in a light embrace again from behind with his arms around her shoulders. "I know you don't like being touched too much, but could you endure it a moment?"

Holly sighed. "It's not the same with you, Eros. It's okay but just a few moments." It was best to give rules and structure early. Speaking of.

"Why are you glaring at me?"Krim demanded.

"You haven't introduced yourself yet." Holly pointed out.

"Yeah, so? Just because they did, doesn't mean I need to," he argued with a huff.

"This is Krim, he's got a lousy attitude, and it's going to be a pain in the ass stuck in a building with him," Quix introduced. "Don't waste too much time with him, or you'll regret it."

"What's wrong with you?" Krim demanded glaring at the other man. 

Quix shrugged. "You weren't doing it, so I did it for you. You're not exactly allowed to complain when you refused to answer a simple question."

Holly ignored the group as she continued to let Eros hold her. There was nothing obscene about the gesture, he was just holding her tight as if she was the most precious person in the world to him. She found it impossible to pull away from those feelings. Not after everything they'd been through.

"That means you can have a normal night, Holly," Atropos observed. "You can get actual rest at the right time."

"I'm not even tired right now," Holly complained. "If we were going to do this, I would have just stayed up during the day instead of resting."

Ruby chuckled. "We're supposed to be impressed by her whining?" she demanded.

"She's upset because her body has no sense of when night and day are anymore, and you do realize that you're to blame, right?" Eros demanded. His eyes were narrowed on the three. 

"If she would have given up right away, she wouldn't have had to worry about that," Krim argued.

Atropos raised an eyebrow. "If she would have just died for you?"

Quix frowned. "I think you lot are misunderstanding something here. What we're here to do. We're not here to kill her. We're here to bring her to Death."

Eros's eyes widened. No. That couldn't be what he was talking about. "When you say death with such emphasis, you're saying that as a person, aren't you?"

Ruby smiled. "That's it. We're here to take her to one of the Four Great Horsemen. The Horsemen of Death."