Grave Lord Cassius calmly moved a strand of hair from his face, his expression blank. His hair was a deep red color that went all the way down past his shoulders, the ends of which were cut straight across. On his head was a small circlet made of bone, like he had ripped it out of a skeleton. His skin was as pale as a snowbank, his eyes a pink color similar to lilies. He wore a simple black robe over his body with golden edges on the sleeves and tails, going down past his ankles as well.

"Hmm…so there goes Mir…" he muttered blankly, as if he was talking about spilling a beverage instead of the death of a subordinate.

Grave Lord Cassius: Cut Away To The Bone

"Ah, who cares?" snapped a voice to the side, one wielded by a broad man in the corner of the room. The man was clearly a warrior, his shoulders twice as broad as Cassius's, his entire upper torso bare save for two straps. The straps were originally connected to a large barrel of weapons, which were now lying on the floor to let the man lean on the wall. His grey hair was spiky and his skin was a beaten tan color, as if he lay in the sun for hours at a time. "Honestly, Mir was a punk anyway. We didn't need him."

Bastien De La Fontaine: Collect ALL the Things!

"There is no reason to be so casual about his death," muttered another man, one who was absolutely immense even compared to Bastien. He had armor similar to a samurai, but it was composed of asphalt instead of metal. He stood close to the ceiling of the room, his head tucked low under a huge scrap metal hat. "He gave his life fighting for us. We should honor that."

Peter Gorman: Urban Samurai

"Oh, but his death was so beautiful," commented a third man, casually twirling a chunk of his hair. The man was shorter than Cassius and held a significant aura of finesse, his entire body covered in elegant armor. His hair was a light purple color, similar to lavender, and he had enough of it to go close to his waist even in the front. His armor exposed his well-developed pectoral muscles and legs, the latter of which were greatly sexualized in his uniform. "In terms of dying, his was definitely high on my list. Of course, it could've been better, but you can only expect so much out of an ignorant one such as him."

Vincent Lebeau: Life is but a play…

"Hey Vincent, why don't you go be a gayass prissy boy somewhere else?" snapped a female to the side, the only female in the room. She was wearing a long fur jacket over her body with the flaps open, revealing her bare stomach and chest with only a few belts keeping it from being indecent. Her brown hair was tucked into a ponytail that went inside the jacket, her green eyes as piercing as sniper bullets. She pulled out the cigar she was smoking, gritting her teeth in the process. "Man, what the fuck, that leaves only 6 of us left, goddamn it. Last time I checked, less isn't more when it comes to fighting. So why are we sitting here and doing a fuckton of nothing?!"

Tamara Kuznetsov: One Real Alpha Bitch

"Oh come now Tamara, calm down a bit," pleaded a man to the side, his voice loose and relaxed. He was wearing a pinstripe tuxedo vaguely similar to a Ritalian mobster, a large fedora on his head as well. His hair was trimmed and black as pitch, his skin a deep brown color that resembled dirt. He was lying back on the wall in a casual stance, not at all stressed. "Seriously Tamara, it's all cool. We got this figured out."

Adamo Caro: Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee

"Oh really? Last time I checked, your dumb ass was busy smoking blunts in your limo and sleeping in a goddamn leopard skin bed like you're some kind of fucking pimp. You haven't done shit."

Cassius held up a hand, interrupt her conversation. "Tamara, do not worry. This was all planned in advance. I have stayed my hand for so long due to the uncertainties that lay before us. While Mir and Mortem were effective combatants, they were highly unstable compared to the rest of you. Their loyalty and usefulness was uncertain. Therefore, they were sacrificial lambs for our altar."

"Their contributions were necessary," murmured Peter, though his voice held undertones of disdain towards his leader's comments.

The Grave Lord nodded. "Yes. Now we can truly begin the plan. Bastien, Peter, I am relying on you for your contribution. Stick together. It is not a good idea for us to lose either of you, so being part of a team means the chances of your demise are lower."

Bastien grinned, almost arrogantly in nature. "Heh, there's no need for that. I'm far stronger than anyone on this planet. Just look at all the weapons I've collected so far." He tapped the barrel beside him with his foot, the huge stack of weapons barely moving at all from his hit.

"It is still a smart idea," commented Peter. "Together, we can stop anyone who comes after us."

"Yeah, that's true. You're a pretty tough guy Pete. Eh, I'll deal with it. Let's hope the guys we fight having cool weapons to use."

Cassius smirked, glancing at the rest of his company. "Now, I need the rest of you here alongside me. I fear that Arlon will try to stage something against our capital, and even I am not arrogant enough to wish to challenge him on any battlefield by myself."

"You can count on my sire," assured Tamara bowing lowly.

"I will gladly assist you anyway I can sire," stated Vincent giving a graceful bow, his arm tucked into his stomach with his other high in the air.

"A pleasure to help," said Adamo simply, bowing his head with an arm across his shoulder.

The Grave Lord nodded. "Good. Now, I shall retire to my chambers. I have many things to think about."

[Richard McGuinness] "Wait, when did Cassius become a Grave Lord? I thought he was just a simple Grave Knight before."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "He was just a Grave Knight. But he's gotten powerful enough to be classified as a Grave Lord. Plus, he has minions below him, of Grave Knight power, meaning he himself must be at the Grave Lord level. He is Arlon's enemy for a reason."

[Richard McGuinness] "Yeah, true dat. Hey, that guy with the Mob look, did you see something odd about him?"

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Huh…I thought only I saw it. Yeah, I did. I couldn't look him in the eyes at all. It was as if, you know, something was deflecting me or whatever. They looked like they absorbed all light around them, like black holes."

[Richard McGuinness] "Creepy shit."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "True dat man."

Bastien and Peter walked out of the meeting room quietly, both of them moving casually together through the halls. The castle they were inside was in the center of their capital, with both being Cassius's base of operations and the start of his new empire. They even had citizens there, many of them former citizens of Arlon who were persuaded by Cassius's wise words and solace.

"Heh, you were awfully talkative today Pete," stated the swordsman planting his hands behind his head, as if he was reclining backwards. "Normally you and Adamo don't say shit, but today you both spoke a lot. Any reason?"

"We lost two of our comrades," replied the giant quietly, his asphalt helmet low over his face. "That is a good enough reason for me to be talkative. The others do not seem to care that we lost them, but I will remember what they did for us. They at least deserve that."

Bastien grunted. "Heh, go right on ahead. War tends to have a lot of casualties. Not much we can do about it, but don't look at me. After all…"

He tapped the barrel strapped to his back. "I collect the weapons of my defeated foes. Basically, I'm remembering them by using their weapons. In essence, our ideologies are similar."

"Perhaps," murmured Peter. "Either way, we must work together to fulfill Cassius's orders."

"Aye."

They were interrupted by two figures approaching them, both of them relatively odd looking. The first one was a female far shorter than either of the Grave Knights, though compared to normal people she would be fairly average. On her hands were two pairs of black fingerless gloves with glowing blue pentagrams along the backs. Strapped to her waist was a large leather book, which appeared to be locked with a small strap along the side. Her skin was a light pale color with huge burn scars running down the left side of her face and neck, as if someone had poured boiling water on her. Despite this, she was still fairly pretty, her hair in a loose ponytail down her back and her eyes a sparkling green.

The other man didn't even look that human, being nearly as tall as Peter but with decidedly less humanoid aspects. His skin was leathery and stretched, several areas pressing hard against the bones under them, especially around the neck and arms. His arms were so long they extended past his knees, his fingers morphed into curved claws that were stained from blood. His hair was long since gone, replaced with large black spikes similar to a dinosaur, running from the top of his head all the way down to his buttocks. His mouth had been sewed shut except for a section in the front, a good chunk of it running all the way up to his ears but remaining restrained by metal stitches. His eyes were orange and seemed to breathe hunger, as if he wanted to swallow everything he saw up in his maw.

"Master," stated the woman crossing her arm over her shoulder, bowing her head to Bastien as well. "Good to finally see you again. Did the meeting go over well?"

Swarna Deshpande: Quick-draw

"Yeah, how was it?" inquired the monster absently, licking his parched lips as he talked. "Was there food?"

Gueule: Consume Death

Bastien grunted, shrugging as he walked. "Not bad. Kinda boring. We're going to be working with Pete here. Show him the same respect to me and shit."

Swarna blushed slightly and hit behind Bastien, glancing out from his large body shyly. "Uh…hi Mr. Gorman. It's…it's a pleasure."

"Hmm," murmured Peter quietly, not really wanting to talk to anyone he didn't have to. It wasn't a personal thing, he just didn't want to talk to her.

Gueule grinned and threw his long arm around the man, nearly being as tall as he was. "Sup dude? Know any good places to eat? I haven't had a bite of nothing in an hour, and I think I'm about to freaking die."

The giant slapped his arm off his body, not even breaking the rhythm of his steps in the process. "Do not touch me."

He walked off silently, leaving the rest of them behind without another word.

Bastien glared at his subordinate, his eyebrows furrowed. "Damn it don't you know Pete is the kind of guy who hates touchy-feely? He's one of those loner types."

Gueule shrugged, then grinned over at his fellow female Grave Knight. "Heh, I touched him. Bet you're jealous Swa."

Swarna blushed crimson, tightening her fists and stomping her feet into the ground. "S-s-shut up! He didn't ask you to touch him, so it doesn't count!"

"Aw, you really like Mr. Gorman don't ya? Admit it."

"I like him due to his aesthetically pleasing exterior," stated the female calmly, brushing a strand of hair off her face as she did so, similar to Vincent from before. "I find him to be a subject I would draw for hours at a time just so I could observe more of his beauty."

The monster nodded slowly. "Mmm-hmm, yeah, sure. You want his dick don't you?"

"Will you shut the hell up you goddamn perverted freak!?"

Bastien chuckled, leaning into her face as he did so. "Hey Swarna, what about me? I'm a handsome guy right?"

Swarna looked at him, her face brightening even further as she studied his bare chest. She began to speak in gibberish, moving her hands rapidly to compensate. "Uh…of course you are a very pleasing man to look at Master, not that I look at you, or…well I do, but…it's not like that! I just find you to be…"

"Aesthetically pleasing?" offered Gueule with a snicker. "Biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard out of your mouth. You're just a closet pervert Swa."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Pervert or Swa?"

"Both you ugly glutton!"

The monster smirked, placing a hand on his heart in faux-pain. "Ow, that hurt. Warn me when you're about to insult me, I nearly burst an artery."

"Maybe you'll finally die then," snapped the female. "It'd be a good thing, since we lost so much damn money because of your eating habits."

"Don't be unfair! But seriously, I really need something to eat right now!"

Bastien chuckled. "We'll get some food once we get home. I gotta talk with Pete. You two…uh…I don't know, talk or whatever."

He ran ahead to catch up with his partner, leaving the two Grave Servants alone. They glanced at each other, the monster grinning with his standard smile.

"Hey I got some Playgirls if you want them Swa," stated Gueule.

"Oh, you gone through them a couple times?" snapped Swarna annoyed.

He paused, a grimace crossing his face. "Huh, that was a nice comeback."

"Damn right it was."