“AY GUEY!”

I looked up from the game of poker we were playing and looked around, “What the hell was that?”

A large crash came from the roof, and a random guy just landed on the poker table, destroying it.

“Ughhh....” The guy groaned.

I looked up to see he just busted through four floors. Jesus Christ that had to hurt. I looked down and asked, “You alright lad?”

“S-si... Oh sweet Jesus my back...” The guy pulled a large hilt from his back, “This didn’t help...” The guy looked pretty young, about nineteen or twenty, with a small patch of  black hair on his chin. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail and his eyes were yellow. He wore a blue long-coat with two coat tails. He had the sleeves rolled up and the beginnings of a tattoo could be seen. Under the blue coat, was a black jacket and he wore white jeans alongside blue boots.

I turned to Ardiente, “Hey, he speaks the same language as you, now you can stop using around me and talk to him instead.” Seriously that shit gets annoying. I looked back down at the guy and held a hand out, “Need help standing up?”

“Gracias.” He smiled and took my hand.

I pulled him up, then tightened my grip and pulled him an inch away from my face. “Now,” I gave him my biggest, fakest grin, “who are you and why the hell did you just break my fucking house?”

His face went blank, “Que?” He looked up and he started to sweat, “ Mierda...”

“Well?” I tightened my grip even more, “Are you going to answer? And in English, please.”

“Death did it.” He quickly said.

I dropped my grin and let go of his hand and facepalmed, “I guess that should’ve been obvious... But you still didn’t tell me who you are.”

His face flashed with realization and he grinned, “Me llamo Luis Vera. You?”

Fucking foreign languages I swear to God I’ll- I stuck my hand out to shake, “Sarah Akinson.”

“Nice to meet you señorita.” He smiled.

Alexandra spoke up from behind him, “You might want to stop speaking Spanish kid, she threatened to kill some of us for speaking other languages around her.”

Luis’s smile quickly dropped, “Then don’t listen.”

I looked around him and glared at Alexandra, “No, I just get frustrated when people say things to or around me and I can’t understand them. Call me paranoid if you want, but if I have no idea what they say, I have no idea if it’s something bad about me.” I then looked at Luis, “As long as you try and keep it down a bit, I won’t care too much. I just hate not understanding it.”

“Bien. So... I take it you’ll want me to fix the holes...” He nervously laughed.

I looked up through the holes again, and noticed they were rather large, “Hm... Yeah, but I think the rest of us could help you. That would be a lot to make one person do.”

“¿Lo dice en serio?” He looked surprised for some reason.

“... I’m pretty sure that means... I don’t know, but we’re helping if that’s what you’re asking. Why wouldn’t we?” I asked.

He shook his head, “It’s not that, It’s just surprising. Whenever I mess up something, I’m usually stuck with all of the work.”

I raised an eyebrow at him,“Well, it’s not really your fault though, Death did it.”

Luis smiled, “Gee, thanks.”

I clapped him on the shoulder, “Right, lets go then. Ardiente, Jav, Alexandra, you get the stuff from the storage room. Luis, let’s get up on the roof so we can get that done first, I heard it’s scheduled to rain today.” I then shouted up the stairs, “Sira! Fly up to the roof, we’re fixing the hole in it if you didn’t see.”

Luis nodded, “Alright then boss!” He jumped up the holes, using the edges as a step to continue jumping.

“Oi, wait for me dammit!” I jumped up and grabbed onto the ledge of the hole in the roof, then hoisted myself up, “Your eager, aren’t you?”

“Nah, it’s just nice to get some help for once.” He grinned.

“Huh, alright then.” I then shouted down the hole, “Hurry the hell up!” I heard wings flapping behind me, and I turned to see Sira landing on the roof, “Hey Sira, this is Luis, say hi.”

Sira stared at him for a second before bowing, “Hello, I am Sira Molante, a pleasure.”

Luis smiled, and repeated the gesture, “Nice to meet you too!”

I was about to shout down again, but a large toolbox and a few stacks of wooden planks shot up and smacked me in the face. “Fucking asshole, Jav!”

“Sorry!” He shouted up at me. A moment later, he, Alexandra, and Ardiente were floated up as well. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

        I rubbed my nose, then pinched it and pulled it back into place, “Yeah, bet you didn’t. Anyway, you guys might as well introduce yourselves before we get started, I almost forgot about that.”

        Ardiente walked up to Luis and held a hoof out, “Encantado de conocerte, mi nombre es Ardiente Fragua.” God dammit woman...

        Luis grinned and shook her hoof, “Igualmente senorita.”

        Ardiente nodded and stepped out of the way as Alexandra walked up, “Freut mich junge, mein name ist Alexandra Eisenberg.”

        “Igualmente.” He nodded.

        Jav shuffled his feet, “Well... This is rather awkward, I just realized...”

        Luis stared at him with narrowed eyes and a smile, “Care to tell me why a necromancer is here? Let alone a Valentine?”

        I shrugged, “I would guess it’s because he died and Death let him be a Wraith.”

        Luis shook his head, “I didn’t ask that. I know Death let him become a Wraith, so I guess he’s not all that bad if he allowed it. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be cautious around him.”

        Jav rolled his eyes, “Whatever, I would only be concerned if I actually planned anything bad that would set you off anyway. My name is James Valentine.”

        “I know what your name is. Your family is very infamous with the order.” Luis shrugged.

        Jav raised an eyebrow, “Infamous with the order? They’re dead, how does... Oh God don’t tell me you have people stalking my children and grandchildren now...”

        “We used to. We’ve seen that they live a relatively normal life, and backed off. However we did keep an eye on you, as to make sure you didn’t go off and go corpse hunting.” He explained.

        “Huh, I’m surprised you didn’t send anyone after me the night my wife died. I don’t think I’ve ever killed so many people.”

        Luis smiled, “We saw what they did. We backed off for that purpose only and allowed you a freebie... or two. Or three. Okay, a lot of freebies that night.”

        “Right, thanks for that then. I do not really brag that often, but don’t you think that, being werewolves, they would’ve known not to attack a member of the Valentine family? We were very infamous on their side too.”

        “I doubt that even ran through their minds. This probably did though, “Hey guys, you see that necromancer that is also a Valentine thus capable of killing every single one of us? Lets eat him and his wife.” That is only a guess though.” Luis laughed.

        Jav shrugged, “Wife and son, but you were close. They actually left me alone, strangely.”

        “You have Teach’s dad to thank for that.” Luis shrugged.

        “I don’t know who “Teach” is, or his father, but I guess I’m thankful.”

        Luis laughed, “Well, Teach is Dean! His dad, Anthony Marcelo, was the one who stopped the werewolves from continuously attacking your family with threat of “Turning each and every one of them into rugs for his living room floor and watching his own dog piss on it.””

        Jav looked at him in surprise, “Anthony Marcelo? I didn’t realize it was him who- Wait, Anthony is Dean’s father!? You mean to tell me that the man who killed my sister, then almost killed me, is the son of the man who saved my family almost forty years ago?”

        Luis flinched, “Well, It was a well known order and Teach isn’t exactly known for his great memory. That and his father didn’t tell him everything he did. But yeah, Anthony Marcelo is the father of Dean.”

        Jav scratched the side of his head in confusion, “Well I’ll be...”

        I threw my arms up and sighed as it started to rain heavily, “For fucks sake, now we can’t get any work done!”

        “He did it.” Luis and Jav pointed at each other.

        “I don’t fucking care who did it just... Hold on.” I picked up a large plank of wood, set it over the hole in the roof, then picked up a few nails from the box and tossed them to Jav. I then picked up two hammers and dropped them in between Jav and Luis, “You two both wasted our time, so you two both fix the hole.”

        “Lame...” Luis muttered but quickly picked up a hammer and got to work.

        “Alright, let’s get this over with.” Jav picked up the other hammer and started working as well.

        “Good.” I nodded, “Everyone else can go inside, I’m going to make sure they don’t bicker too much.” They all nodded and left, while I sat down in front of the hole, “So, Luis, how long have you even been a Wraith?”

        “About two years. I died by having a bad run in with a group of all female trolls during their time of the month. Not pretty...” Luis shuddered.

        “Huh,” I said, “I have no idea what trolls are, but I do know that that means you’ve been a Wraith for as long as Jav here. How is it you died Jav? I don’t think I actually heard.”

        He rolled his eyes, “A werewolf that, for some stupid reason, thought I was my older sister, the one Dean killed. He caught me in my sleep and killed me with... Something, I don’t even know what it was, but it hurt like all hell.”

        “Ah. Angel dust. Burns anything that uses unholy energy. Not a fun thing for necromancers.” Luis flinched, “But the question is, how the hell did a werewolf get a hold of any?” Luis looked thoughtful.

        Jav shrugged, “I don’t know, and I quite frankly don’t really care. I’ve enjoyed my time as a Wraith, much better than living alone with no visits from my children because they think my zombie fetish is “weird and creepy”. Ungrateful little snots...”

        Luis just stared at him as he put in the last nail, “Okay, say that line again. Zombie Fetish. Now, what’s wrong with that line?”

        “Oh shut up. It’s not as bad as you might think anyway, they were even fully willing to become one.”

        “No matter what you say, all I can picture is a hand shuffling around in a jar of mayonnaise making squishy noises.” Luis deadpanned.

        Jav gave him a deadpan look as well, “That’s just stupid. They looked human anyway, just pale, really cold, no bloodflow, and a few pieces of rotted flesh in some areas. Not that much different than I am, actually.”

        Luis shrugged, “Not like I can talk. I have a Nekomata fetish.”

        “... I don’t know what Nekomatas you are referring to, but the ones I met... Jesus Christ, beastiality much?”

        Luis coughed, “NO! What the fuck? No, I’m talking about the cat-girl ones!”

        Jav shuddered, “Oh thank God. I don’t really think I’ve met one like that, but I’m sure it’s better than what I’m picturing.”

        Luis sighed, and reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, “Here, this is what I meant.” He gave him the portrait that was in one of the folds.

        Jav looked at the picture and said, “Oh, well ,that’s not so bad then.”

        I leaned over to look at it as well, “That’s kinda hot actually.”

        Luis put it back in his wallet with a sigh, “Yeah, was going out with her for a while until I died. God, I hope she moved on...”

        “Yeah, sucks. Anyway, let’s head inside, I’m fucking soaked right now.” I stood up and motioned for them to follow, “This is gonna be annoying to dry off.”

“I know what to do, let’s get inside, otherwise this’ll be a waste.” Luis said.

“Alright then.” I grabbed the two and jumped off the roof, landing in front of the door. I set them down, opened the door, and we walked inside, “So what are you going to do?”

He then made a small fireball, “Should dry us off quickly.” He grinned.

I backed up and waved my hands, “Oh-hoho fuck no! Something else please, I’d rather not have any more mental breakdowns for at least another month.”

“Erm... okay?” The fire dissipated, changing into a ball of air, “Will this be alright?”

I nodded, “Yeah, yeah that should be good.”

“Alright then.” He then threw it at all of us, quickly drying our clothes, “There. It may be as effective as fire, but it does its job.”

I flinched, “Yes, well, better slightly damp than insane and possibly dead, right?”

Luis raised an eyebrow, “Right... Well, I know what I won’t use around you now.” He looked at Jav, “Anyway, want to continue the conversation elsewhere?”

Jav shrugged, “I guess.”

“So what are your abilities beyond Necromancy?”

Jav suddenly floated up off the ground and onto the ceiling, “Gravity control.”

Luis grinned, “Nice! I have some control over magic, but my real skill lies in this baby right here.” He shows the giant hilt to Jav.

Jav raised an eyebrow, “What type of sword is that?”

“This, is a Zweihander-”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.”

“What was that?” Luis asked.

I shrugged, “I have no idea. Someone keeps doing things like that, and I can never find out who.”

“Okay... Anyway! The Zweihander, while not as big as a claymore, can still have just as much power and weight if made correctly. Since this isn’t exactly your normal blade, it’s extremely light to handle. Being a swordmaster from the order, I’ve learned how to swing this as quickly as a longsword! But with this, I can swing it with one hand!” Luis said with a grin.

Jav twirled his cane in his hand, “Interesting. I got a claymore myself, which I’m pretty good at using. Thanks to my gravity control, I can swing this thing as fast as I want.”

Luis grinned, “You and I have to spar some time, get a good taste at what we can do.”

“That would be fun, we should find time to do that.”

Luis nodded, “Alright! What about tomorrow? Hey Sarah, what did they say about the weather tomorrow?”

I shrugged, “I don’t have a clue. I would go into to town to find out, if I were you.”

Luis stared at me blankly, then out the window, then back to me, “I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself. I’m going upstairs.” I walked into the living room and grabbed Ardiente, then began to make my way to our room shouting, “If anyone needs me, we’ll be having sex!”

[Mary’s POV]

I stared up after Sarah with a deadpan look, “Did she really have to say that?”

The stranger looked at me, then up the stairs Sarah went, “Oh! Twins! Cool, I guess.” He said with surprise.

“Not if you found out how I was made.” I then asked, “Who are you anyway? I was asleep until about ten minutes ago.”

“I’m Luis Vera. Nice to meet you... uh, what’s your name?” Luis laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

“Mary Akinson. Nice to meet you as well.”

“Mary! Alright, nice to meet you Mary!” Luis said cheerfully.

“Right uh... I’ll be honest, I’m terrible with people. And conversations.” I said bluntly.

Luis nodded, “Alright. Not a problem, I tend to talk a lot anyway.” He chuckled.

I raised an eyebrow, “That’s... Sort of the problem I have with people, is if they talk too much. No offense to you, I just never talked to anyone in Purgatory.”

Luis looked surprised, “Oh! You’re the girl Death mentioned! Ah, I see. Sorry about how you ended up there.” He said sadly.

“Thanks. It’s fine though, I wish I could say. I still have nightmares that this is all just some dream or something, and I’ll wake up there again. Not exactly fun to go through.”

Luis sighed, “Kind of reverse for me, but I still enjoy being what I am now. I hope you get better over time.”

“So do I. Mostly because I think I’m starting to bother Sarah and Ardiente, because I keep sleeping with them every night and they can’t, well... You know.” I pointed upstairs, “That.”

 “Fuck each others brains out of their ears?” Luis said bluntly.

I glowed red, “Yeah, that.” I glowed even brighter, “I actually woke up one night with Ardiente sort of... Thinking I was Sarah. She refuses to talk about it.”

Luis snickered, “I can see the resemblance, that much is sure. Eh, don’t worry about it. I doubt you’re bothering them.”

I scratched the back of my head nervously, “They keep telling me that, but I keep thinking they're lying for my sake. It’s just something I can’t help but do though, but that doesn’t really matter right now.”

“Right, well, It was nice to meet you.” Luis smiled.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too. Anyway, I’m just gonna go talk to Alexandra, so... See you later I guess.” I turned around and walked back into the living room and sat on the couch.

Alexandra looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “What did you need to talk to me about?”

I shrugged and leaned into the couch, “Nothing, just needed an excuse to get away from having possibly another conversation about my sister’s sex life.”

“Ah, I see, that would be awkward.”

I nodded, “Yeah... Anyway, I’m just gonna take a nap, so wake me if anyone needs me.” I heard her agree just before I fell asleep.

Dear God I hope I don’t have another nightmare...

Next Chapter: Arc I-II, Intermission III: Castle ruins Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes