From an old and abandoned house, in the middle of the woods, a loud tapping could be heard. One tap after another, like somebody was hitting something. After several taps, a squish followed.
"Keep that up, and you won't have any fingers left to do to hold anything, let alone a hammer." an echoing voice spoke to whoever was causing the tapping.
The one causing the tapping, turned his head to whoever was looking. His brain, what little there was left of it, could still not comprehend how there could be someone there, and yet not be there. How the man with the echoing voice could look solid, and yet be seen through.
"Keep that up, and we still won't be able to use the stairs." a female voice sounded from downstairs.
The see-through man looked downstairs, where he saw the woman who spoke to him. To the casual observer, her asymmetrical body, her half-bloated face and exposed teeth, would give everyone the impression that she's a monster, but not to this man, who then hovered down the stairs: "If you want it to be done faster, why don't you help?"
"I cannot." the woman replied, holding up her one hand that was somehow larger than the other, which held a book entitled "Modern Mechanics", "If I want to understand technology as it exists today, I have to read up on it as much as possible."
"Excuse me, Bernard." the see-through man turned as he heard his name called, "Why is she reading about that matter? Don't you know anything about modern mechanics?"
"That's not my area of expertise, Daguerre." Bernard replied, "I'm a chemist, not a mechanic."
"But you're still a scientist." the one named Daguerre, who despite his Victorian dress-code looked relatively normal, retorted.
"Science is more than just one label for all the more complicated things." Bernard explained.
"So it would appear." a fourth voice sounded, followed shortly by its owner entering the circle the other three had formed, "People today have made gained knowledge we thought only the gods were allowed to know."
This surprised the woman: "Weren't you a god then? I mean, your name being Setuh..."
"And according to a famous story, you're the first woman ever, Eva." Setuh emphasized the name.
"Hey now, no need to make a fuss." a muffled voice sounded.
"Ivan? Where are you?" Bernard called.
"Over here." the voice sounded less muffled, and more clearly, so the four of them could more easily see where it came from, which was underneath the stairs. A short man, with only one functioning eye, a huge hump on his back (making him look shorter) and wearing rags for clothes.
"You have your way of disappearing." Eva remarked.
"I do?" Ivan seemed unaware of this, "I'm sorry about that."
"Speaking of disappearing, where's Lea?" Daguerre wondered.
"I'll go look for her." Bernard suggested.
As soon as he said it, he hovered his way through the walls.
"Is this what death is like?" Daguerre asked, "Not being restrained by walls? Or even the absence of stairs?"
"When you lived and died as many times as I have, you stop asking such questions." Setuh replied.

In a wide spacious room, somewhere at the back of the house, a woman, who looked to be in her twenties, had long black hair, pale skin, and deep red lips, lifted up a sword. Before her stood a wooden puppet. With a calculated move, she stroke it down with her sword. A spring at its bottom allowed it to stand erect again, as if nothing had happened to it. With it back up, she took another swing at it. And another. And another. She tried one more complicated move, but stopped dead, as soon as a familiar face entered her field of vision.
"Hey! Watch out!" Bernard cried.
She grinned: "You're a ghost. I can't hit you if I wanted to."
"True enough." Bernard agreed, "But Lea, what if I was still alive?"
Lea snorted: "What manner of a swords-woman would I be if I cut you when I did not intend to?"
Bernard needed some time to think that one through, before he spoke: "Anyway, the others were wondering where you are, so..."
"Now that you know, you can report back to them." Lea replied, coldly, "If you'll excuse me, I have missed over a century of practice."
Even though she could not actually touch him, the fact that she reached to push him away was reason enough for Bernard to step out of her way. But as she walked past him, he heard how her feet sounded with every step she took. He looked down, and saw the five-inch heels she wore, that clicked on the surface of the floor.
"Eh... shouldn't you be wearing more appropriate shoes for practice?" he asked.
Lea turned her head to look at him, letting those blood-red lips of hers form a bright smile. The same sort of smile an adult would give a child when it said something cute. Bernard squinted his eyes. What did he say that amused her so much?