A scream echoed through the castle the next morning. It was so loud; it reached the airship waking Nefarious.

He was so startled he fell out of bed. Not bothering to put on his lab coat, he grabbed his tuning fork and bolted through the airship to where it docked with the castle. Using his tuning fork as a bar, he slid down the long rope and landed on the cold stone surface of the docking platform.

He smirked in content. I guess I still have it. He then focused his thoughts on the scream he had heard. He ran inside the castle, bolting down the long winding staircase into the corridors.

A scream like that could only have been Dr. Cortex. He thought, and then stopped to think twice. Then again, all three of them do have girly screams. He shrugged and continued down the long corridor. His footsteps almost did not echo, for he was running barefoot. He rounded a corner into a chamber. Standing there was Dr. Cortex… with the most unlikely person on earth. He stopped too abruptly, and tripped over his own feet. The next thing he knew, he was kissing the cold stone floor.

"Oh, good morning." Dr. Cortex greeted him casually with a smile. "Meet our Necromancer!" He gestured to the lady standing beside him. She looked at Nefarious practically mirroring his dumbfound expression. He stood up without taking his eyes off of her.

"Mariana?" He blurted out, almost yelling.

"Um… surprise?" Mariana was not quite sure of what to say to him. She gave him a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Dr. Cortex looked confused. "You two know each other?"

"Yes." The two said at the same time. They stared each other down.

"Good! You'll make a great team, then!" He ran over to a bookshelf and grabbed a large tan book with font unreadable to humans printed in gold across the cover. He handed it to Mariana. "Could you read that, dear?"

"Of course." She looked at the cover. "It says, 'Guide To The Undead Across Time'." She gave him a confused look. "What would this have to do with Dr. Tropy and I working well together?"

Dr. Cortex smiled again. "He," he gestured to Nefarious. "Is a master of time. You," he gestured to her. "Are a Necromancer."

Nefarious and Mariana locked eyes again. Then, the light bulb appeared over their heads, so to speak.

"Now," Dr. Cortex clapped his hands together. "I'll give you two some time to learn about each other's abilities. If you need anything, just call me!"

He was about to leave when Nefarious stopped him. "Just one thing," he held up his index finger. "What was that scream?"

Dr. Cortex laughed, a little embarrassed. "That…was I."

"Why?"

"Mariana decided to spook me." He looked over his shoulder. Mariana flashed him a broad grin. She had fangs. "Now, I must be going. You two have a nice chat." With that, he left them, shutting the door behind him.

Nefarious looked back to Mariana. She wasn't there. He then jumped as something tapped his shoulder from behind him. He turned around and found himself staring into her face. Her eyes had turned a deep crimson. Their ruby-like features mesmerized him.

"Don't look too long." She warned him and averted her gaze. "You would find the aftershock most unpleasant." She looked a little unsure about being alone with him now that he knew her secret. But what she did not know was, he would never judge her for being what she is.

"Were you alright last night?" Nefarious decided to change the subject.

Mariana nodded. "I was right on time. Thank you again." She looked back up to him and smiled.

"Don't mention it." Nefarious smiled back. He motioned over to a sofa. "Why not take a seat?"

"Okay…" Mariana paused and studied his appearance a little more. "Where's your shirt and shoes?"

"Oh!" Nefarious' face turned red again.

"Don't get me wrong, I was always with people who didn't wear… much." She said quickly. "Let's just sit down."

They walked over to the sofa and sat down. It was much more comfortable than any other sofa in the castle.

The two did not have much to say, yet, they probably just couldn't say what they wanted to.

Mariana looked again at the book that Dr. Cortex handed to her. She opened it to the first chapter and began reading aloud in the language it was written in. Nefarious had no idea what it was supposed to mean. It sounded like a mix of Latin, Mesopotamian and Arabian all at the same time, but it was nothing that anyone could ever make sense out of.

"What does it mean?" Nefarious asked out of curiosity.

"You don't want to know." Mariana replied. "It could make you sick."

"Oh." He heeded the warning and did not ask again. He sat there and allowed her voice to fill his head. What he once thought was not a language, but gibberish, now sounded rhythmical, like music. It had its own beat with a melody and a harmony. He realized that the harmony was coming from her.

"How do you do that?" He wondered. "No human can make more than one sound with their voice at once."

Mariana giggled. "I am no human, Dr. Tropy. And, what you are hearing is not only me, but all of the spirits of the Necromancers before me."

"Wow…" Nefarious was truly amazed. He had never even dreamed that Necromancers existed. And now, here is a real Necromancer sitting next to him, sharing her knowledge of magic and the supernatural world. He wanted to know more about her as a Necromancer… and as a woman.

"So… if you wouldn't mind," he began. "Would you tell me your age?"

"I don't mind, but don't fall out of your seat." She looked at him. "I will be six hundred and eight years old next month."

Nefarious was speechless. He never would have imagined someone so beautiful being over six hundred years old.

"Right?" Mariana said to practically nobody. "And you?"

"Twenty six…" He was a child compared to her. All of his knowledge, all of his life experience was probably only worth an ounce to someone like her.

"Not a bad age, mortal." She smiled at him playfully. "Young and handsome."

Nefarious blushed again. It was his turn, now. "For someone with so many years, you have not lost your beauty one bit."

She giggled again and sighed. "I died when I was twenty and entered my immortal life. That's how it goes with Necromancers."