A/N: Oppsie guys! I made a boo boo. I kept using the term "fermented grape juice" in the last chapter, when what I meant was "unfermented grape juice." Sorry everyone!

Her cloak wasn't fresh. At all. But she still slipped it on as the clock struck 11:30 p.m. I hope he doesn't notice.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Grendel asked. She sat on the bed next to a sleeping Vivi. Angela was stuffing her bag with salts and the unfermented grape juice. And some chalk; she didn't like using blood, as she felt it insulted the dead and made the whole ritual more barbaric.

"I'm positive. I'm not a little girl anymore Grendel. I can handle this." She threw the bag over her shoulder and made for the door. "But you can wish me luck."

"Good luck, of course."

"Hello?" The graveyard was appropriately covered in a grey mist. It seemed abandoned. According to the clock tower on the church steeple it was five till midnight. Fashionably late?

"Not really," she wheeled around on the balls of her feet to see the wizard sitting casually by the stone stairs, legs and arms crossed.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long...it doesn't take long to walk here from my home..." He stood to meet her where she stood in the middle of the cemetery. "How is the potion coming along?"

Her shoulders slumped. "It's only been a day. But I have a plan to get the perfect butter: the upcoming Animal Festival sells them, I think..."

"I wouldn't know...I've never been..."

"Why?"

"No animal."

"I don't think they'd turn you away because you don't have a pet."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." he turned and faced a headstone. "This is it..."

She read the inscription: Animal Grave. She nodded, and began to take out her supplies. "If you're nervous about going to the festival alone, you could come along with me and Grendel."

"You're...entering Grendel?"

The thought hadn't crossed her mine. "No, she usually follows me around is all. I told her she didn't need to come tonight. I think she trusts you, but knows I'm still a little iffy about necromancy. I guess I have all the textbook information down pat, but I usually get anxious when it's time to actually perform. She soothes me."

"Then why didn't you bring her along this time?"

"Because she may not always be around. I have to learn to do this without her." She finished drawing out the correct diagram and symbols with the chalk, and the salts and grape juice sat next to the wizard's feet. She stood opposite the grave stone, and gazed up at the moon. That was when the wizard pitched in by reciting some ancient hymns in a language unknown to Angela; it was different from what she heard him chanting when the bridge collapsed. This time it was a very pleasant sound, one that could lull someone to sleep as Angela began to yawn. She shook her head to clear her mind, and when the wizard stopped she began.

Her eyes closed, arms outstretched in front of her, began her own ritualistic mantra. The diagram's drawn lines began to glow, and a strong gale wind forced its way from that glow towards the sky. Her cloak flopped from the wreckage while the wizard felt the need to shield his eyes from the brilliant light as it grew more luminous. After a few more moments that same light began to dull and fade, and while there was little more than a gentle glow a set of bovine horns poked through the earth, never once disturbing the ground. What followed were some floppy ears, a pink snout, four sets of hooves, and a long tail. What stood in the circle was a cow, one in nearly mint condition. Nearly.

Its eyes were missing, replaced only by black holes. This was normal, as when a necromancer summons someone or something from the dead bodily, its soul is gone. Even without a soul a person can still lend the necromancer any information that would be known by the deceased, and perhaps more. The bull's tail flipped left and right as it began poking the grass with his nose.

"Impressive..." mumbled the wizard as he circle the animal, examining it from every angle.

"Animals are my specialty."

"Only animals? ...no humans?"

"No, no humans. Yet." It felt good to exercise her magical muscles after so long of not doing so. But it left her feeling exhausted.

The wizard picked up on this, and handed her the salt. "You did this without the juice..."

Her eyes shot to the glass jug to confirm. How is that possible?

"You are gaining experience with your necromancy. Even seasoned necromancers still need to do or consume something to represent the dead every once in a while...you didn't."

She tossed the salt onto the dead cow as it consumed the animal in a big plume. Before long, the salt cleared on the breeze of the wind, and it was as if there never was anything there. She used her booted foot to brush away the chalk on the grass. "Grendel will be pleased."

"I know she will..."

They walked back to town together. "So, how much did you learn from Grendel when you first met her?"

"A lot...she explained everything...about the Harvest King...about you and your plans..."

"All in a glance." Grendel never ceased to amaze Angela. She knew her for her entire life, but still that pesky feline still had plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

"She's very talented..."

"I know! Once when I was little, there was this fair in our village, and she was a fortune teller. And she was good! She read everyone's fortune-well over two hundred people-that night for free."

"As a cat?"

"No, she wasn't a cat then. It's a long story."

"I'm sure..." They arrived at the corner of his house, but he continued to walk down the street. "I want...to walk you home..."

"Oh," she doubted the crime rate was high on this island, considering everyone knew one another, but she went along with it. He looked young, but she knew he was like her: young body, long life. He probably grew up during a time when men walked ladies home, no matter the time or distance. It was refreshing. Everyone seemed so independent of one another on this island, almost all of the values that were popular when she was a child were almost extinguished. She caught up with him. "So how long have you lived on this island?"

He sniffed. "A long, long time..."

"That's a little vague."

"I've been here...I suppose over one-hundred and fifty years."

"Shmowzow!"

"You seem surprised...you're only half my age...about..."

"I know, but sometimes it's still scary when you hear it out loud."

"Yes...I suppose so." They made it to her door step, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the curtains shift. Grendel.

"Thank you for walking me home."

"You're welcome. We should do this again soon..."

"You mean hang out?"

"'Hang out'?"

"Like we did tonight."

Somehow the thought of resurrecting a cow from the dead did not seem to fit into the "hanging out" category. He shrugged. "Whatever..."

"Okay then. I'll stop by your place in a few days." She needed the time to recuperate. She wished him a good night before disappearing into the house.