I would like to thank everyone who has been reading my works from the early days to the recent arrivals.
MSI
"What do you mean you've seen Kashi since we have? Who are you?" Reiko asked, breaking the silence.
"I followed them to Alabama. I stayed with them for a while before I came back."
"Hold on, you're that girl that got a job from me doing odd jobs around Edith's apartments. The one Edith wrote a letter of recommendation for," Banyan interjected.
Brenda nodded.
"She also had a letter of recommendation from you to get a job working for Carl Martin at the diner. Willow can fake your handwriting pretty well. She had another in your hand for helping the crews clean up the ruins of Mr. Goya's hotel," Bree said.
"She did what?" Banyan asked, her face growing dark.
"Hell, three jobs when do you sleep?" Sakura joked, trying to turn the conversation before Banyan got off on a tangent.
"She doesn't," Bree replied.
"What?" Sakura asked, visibly puzzled.
"Do you eat?" Natalia asked, offering the pack of cookies.
"I could choke that down but it won't have a flavor or give me energy."
"Well, you're not a vampire. I've seen you out during the day," Banyan said.
"Oh God. Oh my God, I know who you are!" Sayuri exclaimed, eyes widening.
"Yeah, we met at the Sweet Rest Inn during Calibration. I haven't had the chance to thank you for all your hard work that night. You were really kind and I appreciate all your effort," Brenda said with a sad smile.
"But I didn't. I mean- You died!"
"Yes. Yes, I did. But that isn't your fault you tried really hard to save me and I wanted to thank you for trying so hard. I didn't think I'd get the chance to do so. It's not an easy conversation to have."
"Hold up! She's dead?" Reiko asked.
"I'm a Revenant one of the Risen; a ghost in possession of her mortal body."
"Kashi called those nemissaries," Reiko argued.
"No, I think that only applies to servants of the void. Even if it doesn't, I prefer Risen."
"So, if not cookies, what do you eat?" Natalia wondered.
"Flesh and blood. The fresher the better. I can also survive on magical sources of energy. I've been eating the raw meat Carl tosses out. It's not very fresh but I get by."
Sakura hopped up and walked into the kitchen while the conversation continued.
"How are you- Why did you return?" Sayuri asked.
"I remember fading from the world, everything was getting dim and I wanted to tell you I was okay. More than that I wanted to tell the girl beside you not to cry, not to blame herself. Then as I was pulled down into the dark I heard her voice singing. I wandered through the darkness floating like a leaf in a storm; the Maelstrom of the underworld that pulls at all souls. It scours the underworld seeking to divert ghosts from Lethe into Oblivion. Or so I have been told. I couldn't get lost, however, I had a beacon. A song that was my guide. It was music that the storm couldn't drown out along with the memory of those sad green eyes. Then, like a swimmer who had dove too deep, I surfaced back into my body and into the world. I felt the pull still calling me to the east. South and to the east. Just as it guided me through the Maelstrom so it guided me again. So, I followed it. Little did I know what awaited me."
Washington County, Alabama
Kashi had not had a good couple of weeks in Alabama. His head knew breaking up with Sayuri was the right thing to do. He was going to have to cut almost all contact with anyone that was not supernatural. His life had become a farcical mimicry of a superhero movie. His grandfather would never rest until he controlled the world and either brought him to heel or killed him.
The fate Jay Odele had said he was originally destined for scared him worse than death. It was not that he was originally going to be co-opted by the underworld to be his sister's undead protector, it was that he was supposed to leave Sayuri a widow with a fatherless child he would never see before he died.
That was the sort of thing that had happened to his father, Jin. Kashi would be damned if he was going to leave a heartbroken Sayuri to try to raise a child destined to become an asshole like his old man.
His grim mood had been noticed when he took Willow to see her teacher, a punk asshole named Mike. When Willow tried to explain the cause of his funk, Mike had rattled off some bull about all love being an illusion and claimed Sayuri was likely already boffing someone else.
A punch to the gut had shut him up. He might have done more if the mage's bodyguard, a werewolf named Axe, had not stopped him. They came to an agreement that Kashi got one free blow for each separate instance of Mike badmouthing Kashi's beloved.
Willow had quickly settled into a rhythm of hard work and arguing against Nana enrolling her in school. Kashi had been on Nana's side until Willow pointed out that going to school was too dangerous. One of her previous classmates had been eaten by the dead searching L.A. to find the recently Awakened mage. It was a reason that Kashi had trouble arguing against.
Nana Johnson, dismayed at watching Kashi mope around, arranged for him to help Accel Johnson. Accel was the son of Edith's deceased husband's brother. He had met one of Edith's more distant relations during the holidays at Avery and Edith's house. They had later married and Accel had moved out here to start a landscaping business.
The damage inflicted during Calibration had been severe, even out in rural Alabama. There was so much to be done that Accel was struggling to keep up. So, Edith had 'volunteered' the depressed Kashi to help. Hard manual labor had been keeping him too exhausted to brood over everything that had happened to him. Slowly, his subconscious had been working through his problems. While not back to his old self, a bit of the old Kashi was peeking through.
Work had run late and he had been surprised when Mike offered to meet Kashi in town so he could pick up his sister rather than having to drive over to Baldwin County where Mike lived to get her.
Kashi entered the diner; the meeting place Mike had arranged. It was dim inside and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light. Soon enough he spotted the asshole he was looking for. Heading to the back, Kashi slid into the booth next to Axe. He wasn't sitting near Mike even if there was more room.
"Sup Mutt, where is the squirt?" he asked the brown-haired werewolf.
Instead of Axe, Mike spoke. "She's two doors back at the library, she's safe enough."
Kashi nodded in acknowledgment but didn't talk to the asshole mage he turned to the approaching waitress.
"Hey, yeah, I'll have sweet tea and the meat and three. Give me a chicken breast, pinto beans, turnip greens, and okra stewed, not fried."
"Cornbread or roll, honey?"
"Cornbread. Mexican style if you have any left. Actually, you know what? Double that." The waitress nodded, assuming Kashi was ordering for Mike or Axe as well instead of his own enormous appetite and sauntered off before Kashi turned back to Axe. He was studiously ignoring Mike. "You should come work with me. Accel needs the men. Be good for you to get out. Hell, I know you can run a lawn mower. He's paying more for guys who can be trusted to run the equipment."
The werewolf's odd blue eyes darted about a bit then he shrugged. "I might think about it."
"Just ask him your question," Mike groused between sips of coffee.
"So, I don't drive but I can ride a motorcycle. The squirt said you were good at working on motorcycles. Do you think you can help me get mine working? If you can, I'll run your sister back and forth for you."
Kashi thought about the question while the waitress returned with his plates. He tore into the food with his usual gusto before answering.
"Yeah, man, but you'll need to set up some lights so I can work. I'll be helping Accel 'til twilight. You'll have to get any parts you need yourself."
Axe nodded.
"Let him out before you continue your orgy of excess. We have to get to the grocery store. You know since someone tossed out everything in our fridge," Mike said with disdain
"Nothing in that fridge was food. It was an insult to the natural order. You could have substituted the pizza slices for obsidian spearheads," Kashi said with a full mouth as he shoved food into his maw. He moved to let the werewolf slip out while still eating. "Besides this is just a snack. I don't want to ruin the dinner Nana is cooking."
Mike rolled his eyes as the pair left. Kashi kept an eye on the mage to be sure he paid. Having seen the odd power of Arcane Fate erase the crooked punk from ordinary people's memories, he didn't trust him not to just dine and dash. Something that as the son of a former waitress, Kashi had strong opinions about.
Finishing up his pre-dinner meal Kashi paid and made his way to the library. Willow was never hard to find. His sister's unusual shade of red hair stood out. He was surprised to see her sitting next to another girl at one of the reading tables.
She had deep black hair that came down in loose curls to her mid-back and a round face that was a touch more on the cute than the pretty side. Her eyes were very dark brown with some impressive lashes. Her skin tone made Kashi think of a girl he had dated for a bit whose parents were from Bulgaria.
He thought she was perhaps a year or two younger than himself. It was hard to say. She was just a couple of inches over five feet and the small size could be making her look younger. Still, he thought it odd to find her in deep conversation with a thirteen-year-old.
"Sup! '' Kashi announced as he dramatically plopped down in a chair next to his little sister.
"Jesus! Kashi, make some noise when you move!" Willow exclaimed.
"Keep it down squirt this is a library," Kashi replied with a smile.
"You must be Kashi. Miss Willow here was telling me about you. I'm Brenda Lee."
"Oh well don't believe everything she tells you my sister is very opinionated," Kashi replied as he sat down.
"Brenda also used to live in California, Kashi. She's from Inyo. She used to be a gymnast."
"Oh, what made you move to Alabama? Can't be much of a gymnastics program out here."
"I got on a bus I thought was going to Alabama Hills. I must have read the schedule wrong."
Kashi blinked for a few seconds in surprise then gave her a smile. "Alright, you had me for a minute."
"I lived with my grandmother. She got dementia. I couldn't care for her so DHR put her in a nursing home. They took her house to cover the bills. I've been on the road a lot looking for work leads on places to stay. I just sort of washed up here. Like driftwood on the beach."
"Oh wow," Kashi said while looking at Willow.
"Don't worry, the church down on the corner said I could sleep in their storm shelter tonight."
"The Holy Rollers?" Kashi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The Full Gospel Pentecostal Assembly of the Holy Oneness," Willow corrected.
"They'll give you a place to stay and then try to berate you about your life for two hours. It's a bit further but go to the Methodist church. Tell Brother Don Dinkle Kashi sent you. They also provide breakfast. Reverend Dinkle keeps the sermon to fifteen minutes; it's mostly uplifting stuff about being thankful and paying it forward to others. There will be a few others there even if they have homes, some of the local parishioners will be there for breakfast and fellowship or to box up meals for the sick and elderly," Kashi explained.
"Oh well, thanks. Maybe I could help them. I don't have much else to do with my time."
"If you're looking for work, the guy I'm working for needs help. I could pick you up after breakfast. He pays by the job and currently is desperate enough that he'll pay you now and worry about the paperwork later. So long as you put in a good day he'll keep letting you come back."
"Oh wow, yes definitely!"
"Come on Willow, I have to get you back up to Nana's"
"Sure. See you later Brenda stay safe okay."
The odd girl gave them a sad smile and a little wave as they left. Willow didn't enjoy the high hop she had to do to get into the pickup Kashi was borrowing from the Freemans but at least it had a cab. Clinging to Kashi on his bike would have been a much worse scenario even if he'd brought it with him.
"You learn anything useful from the loser?" Kashi asked
"Actually, I did. I now know enough about the Prime sphere I can pull some energy from the nexus Mike's house is built on. I still can't transmute matter which is what Mike most wants me to achieve. I did make a little progress in moving and transforming existing energy. He said that's the first step in tossing lighting and fire, which he still thinks is silly but as you asked for it he's still working on it."
"If you're going to be a wizard, own it. I doubt the world's going to keep punishing people for conjuring fire and shit. I mean the Dragon-Blooded do that all the time. And I want you to be able to protect yourself. I'd like to see some punks pick on you when you can set their asses on fire."
"The thing that worries me is I think Mike is learning my magic faster than I am learning his. He knew a lot about the magic the Euthanatos wizards used to do and the static necromancy the underworld cultists and vampires know. I show him a few things I have and he figures out a bunch more stuff I don't even know about Death magic."
"He's a more experienced mage, Willow. What did you think was going to happen? Sure you were the 'chosen one' but you were chosen to uncork a bottle and be the lynchpin in the magics the ghosts unleashed to restart the anti-Void magic of the underworld. Now that the bottle's open and the dam is busted anyone can get a drink of the water."
"Wow, you managed to keep two analogies on track at the same time Kashi."
"Yeah, pretty impressive huh? I think listening to Rev Dinkle is paying off. If I ever have to rally troops or something might save my neck."
"I doubt that." Willow broke out in a giggle. "I doubt that's something he'd thought of."
That night passed quietly for the household as they spent the evening with Edith first eating dinner and then doing a few things around the house that needed to be done. They then watched a movie on TV and went to bed.
The next morning Kashi dropped Willow off at Mike's place again and started his rounds. Accel had Kashi picking up the odd jobbers. Accel had his regular crew; they worked every day and drew checks from the company accounts.
When there was more work he'd add the second stringers to his regular crew. These were folks who couldn't be counted on to bring themselves to work. Most of them were good guys who had mental health issues that had made them unable to work a schedule and thus cost them their regular jobs. Deaths in the family, divorces, and substance abuse, these men were either trying to pull themselves up or treading water. Kashi would pick up the ones who were ready and hurry along the ones that were lagging.
Then there was the bottom of the barrel, the ones that had given up or turned mean. He didn't like them. Accel didn't like them, but the work needed doing. So, if they could get the job done and not disrupt the more productive teammates they got work.
Kashi pulled up at the job with a bed full of guys ready to jump out. Accel was talking in Spanish with the largely Hispanic regulars filling them in on which jobs they were going to do and getting their updates on the projects they were over.
"Good haul today!" Accel announced as Kashi walked over. Brenda had been waiting at the church and he'd let the petite woman ride in the cab with him. She walked up with Kashi.
"Met this one yesterday. I told her we'd give her a try," Kashi said.
Accel gave her a nod. "You're a bit small but that doesn't always mean much. Uncle Avery used to say it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. You do your best for me and I will see you get work."
"A little girl better not get the work I'm due," one of the worst of the third-stringers groused.
"Maybe you want to say that to Jeanie over there?" Accel said with a raised eyebrow
Jeanie was the only woman among the regulars. She was Accel's main carpenter. She was six feet tall and had thighs that could crush a watermelon. Her arms were only slightly less impressive. Kashi had seen her sink a sixteen-penny nail with two strikes.
He looked away as Accel continued. "No, I didn't think so. Most women can't keep up with work like that but most don't mean all. I care about the results. You get me the results you get paid and keep getting paid. If I have to waste time sending people behind you or catching up for you, you stop getting work. Now the foremen have their tasks and will make their picks. You head off with them. The rest will come with me. Kashi I got you a list of solo projects that need your kind of muscle, some pick-up and deliveries, and the vote yesterday was for some barbeque for lunch so you'll be picking that up and delivering to the sites as well. Let me know if you think you need another body for any of these tasks. Don't hurt yourself"
Kashi looked over the list. He'd been secretly using his powers to make short work of a few jobs but to do that he had to go alone. Most of it was the demolition of objects, old buildings, tree stumps, and large rocks that were in the way of operations. Sometimes he had to get a few guys and head back to finish the cleanup.
Kashi looked over the list and gave a nod. "I can have the heavy stuff done by lunch then pick up two to help me round the sites and clean them up."
"Good, good we're staying ahead on prep work. Boy, you've been a Godsend." Accel admitted.
Accel wasn't sure how Kashi got the things done that he did but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Nor was he willing to poke his nose where the Freeman family matriarch said he shouldn't.
Accel kept the worst of the crew where he could personally keep track of them. As an unknown Brenda also was pulled into the boss's own crew the rest headed out with the foremen to the other job sites.
Kashi made his rounds calling up his increased strength and object-destroying charms; he blasted three stumps and a boulder to bits. He picked up supplies between stops and then started dropping them off along with the lunches.
When he made it back to Accel's worksite, he saw trouble. Some of the guys were speaking in Spanish about Brenda, which wasn't nice. He set the food down and walked up behind two of the guys who were leaning on shovels and talking. "Hey guys my pronunciation is shit but I know what you're saying."
"Hey man, it's not like she's going to know. It's just talk right?"
"I can't tell you what to do on your own time but we're on Accel's dime and he's not going to put up with that. Besides, while you might just be talking it might give some of these other dudes ideas."
"Alright man whatever we'll be good. Let's get a bite and get back to work."
Kashi ate a normal-sized lunch with Accel and the guys he always got snacks while driving so he'd need less of a fill-up during the break. Brenda took her sandwich and a bottle of water but went to walk around the site and look at things while she ate.
Accel sat down next to Kashi to dig into the food. "Your girl there is working out fine. She's much stronger than she looks and better yet she's got staying power. That's where most of the new blood falls short."
"Cool, I might take her with me then don't want her to burn out. You know, overdo it on day one and end up sore as shit."
Accel gave him a nod. "Good plan, son, just be back to take these guys home."
Kashi collected Brenda and a guy he'd worked with before named Glen then headed out. They collected scraps and cleaned up sites. Kashi got called to pick up a few more incidentals needed at one site or another by the time he returned to the main worksite the foremen were pulling in with the other crews the winter daylight was fading into a sunset that was almost done.
Accel gathered the crew around and started logging the time sheets for the regulars then cashing out the others. Kashi packed the truck making sure there was room for all the workers he'd be running home in the back. While he was loading up he saw a sudden movement and spun toward it.
One of the scummier guys, an old barfly veteran named Darrell, was charging Brenda. He had dried grass and dead pine needles all over his back. As Kashi raced towards them Brenda ducked his massive but slow and telegraphed blow. She countered with a knee into his stomach that hit so hard his lunch came up in an explosive fashion. Then as he fell she hit him with a follow-up open-handed blow to his back. That sent him to the ground right on top of his former lunch.
Harold, one of Darrell's two friends, swung a shovel towards Brenda's hip only to find she caught it with her left hand. It stopped dead as she gave him one of the only death glares Kashi had ever seen come close to his mom's.
Accel's bass rumble turned into a booming cry. "What the hell is going on over there!"
Frank, the one who was neither on the ground nor holding a shovel spoke up. "Darrell just offered the girl a place to stay. She got all pissy and pushed him down."
"He made it plain what sort of sleepover he was wanting when he cupped my ass," Brenda said, not shifting her glare from Harold. Darrell was still trying to get himself off the ground.
Accel motioned for one of his foremen before he continued. "Both of you drop that damn shovel. Angel, you pick it up and put it away! You three losers are done. This will be your last day's pay. I'm calling you a cab to take you home. Kashi won't be picking you up and don't bother getting a ride you're through here."
"You're going to toss us for that little bitch!" Darrell screamed, finally making it to his feet.
"No, I'm tossing you three for making hellacious trouble when you were already on thin ice. I don't tolerate fighting on my crew and everyone knows it. She's new so she'll get a warning that you three are well past. Your work is sloppy, your attitude stinks and you're always starting trouble and bringing down morale with your whining and bitchin'. Now get down to the road and stay there on the corner or I won't call a cab and you can walk," Accel sneered while peeling off the bills he owed them. When Darrell didn't take the offered money Acel tossed it at him.
"You alright? Kashi asked Brenda.
"Yeah, it was a weak swing."
"Well, you did good. Don't let these put you off working for Accel. Those guys were barely hanging on as it was. He wouldn't even have hired them but Frank was trying to make some money to catch up on his child support. The other two just sorta came with him," Kashi said. His tone was light, but something was bothering him. Something seemed off about her form. He'd seen other women fight and something about how Brenda moved seemed wrong but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
"I'm just glad to have some work. If you're willing to pick me up again, I'm more than willing to go."
"Yeah, about that, I don't feel too good about you going back to the church tonight, those three are going to be mad. They will get drunk to deal with it and then do something stupid. I know the sort. My dad's the sort," he said bitterly. "Why don't you come with me? Nana, that's Edith Johnson, has already told me to invite you to dinner. Why don't you sleep over to get some real rest, a long hot soak in a tub to deal with what I'll bet is going to be a hell of a bruise from where they shovel clipped ya and then you can ride with me to work tomorrow."
"I would love it if I could be all 'Oh I hate to impose,' but, honestly, I don't have it in me to be modest. I've done without long enough. I'm not going to be humble, just grateful. I'd love to have a real bath and an honest roof over my head."
Kashi gave the girl a nod and they got along their way.
The Freeman family had owned their little corner of Washington County since Reconstruction. With the help of the Freedmen's Bureau, the family had bought land and settled. Attempts to undo land grants to blacks had run afoul of the survivors of the white family which originally owned the land and were only survived by north Alabama republicans who had been opposed to the war. They recognized the Freeman claim for token payment and a promise to tend the old family cemetery in perpetuity. Despite the best efforts of those opposed to Black and Indian land ownership, The family had kept and never broken the chain of ownership forming a legal trust which owned the land to which each home paid a lease
The house Edith had moved into had once belonged to her mother and father. The years and renovations had changed it but it was still familiar to her. While she would miss the house she and Avery had lived in and loved each other in, she had decided she wanted to spend her remaining years here among her family. Once upon a time she had, with Avery's help, made the various tenants of her properties more than renters. They had been something approaching this: a large extended family.
Without Avery and without the energy of youth her efforts had been losing ground. Only Banyan and her children treated her like family. Seeing how much it was Banyan's efforts, not her own that so helped those she had wanted to shield, Edith had decided it was time to pass that torch on. She could fuss after her kin while accepting help from other older matrons of the family
While Brenda enjoyed the hot soak, Edith launched into action. First, she put Brenda's clothing including spares in the wash. By the time Brenda climbed out of the bath a stack of clothes was laid out for her. Looking, it was all in her size.
"I put out a call to the family most of us save and pass about hand-me-downs. Saves a lot of money when the children grow so fast. It just became a habit after that. Now you are welcome to all of that. What you can't cart around with you in your pack you can keep here. I'm going to set you up a shelf back there to keep a few things," Edith offered.
Kashi and Willow could tell Brenda had been caught off guard by Nana's need to mother someone. She had made a large hearty dinner. Even Kashi was sure he would be sluggish from it in the morning. She had made up a cot for the girl and put it in the room with Willow.
Edith had joyfully shared stories of her time in L.A. and incidents that happened here when she was a child. With high spirits, everyone had turned in for bed with the expectation of another early morning.
However, Kashi had not been at rest for long when he was awakened by an odd feeling. Normally sleeping like he was comatose Kashi knew something had to be badly amiss for him to have such a feeling of wrongness in his admittedly very full gut.
Moving as quietly as he could manage he made his way into the hall. There was noise coming from the bathroom. Moving more quickly Kashi opened the door to find Brenda vomiting into the toilet. He was on her in a flash.
"Hold still, I'm just going to pull your hair back and hold it."
Brenda tensed but didn't offer resistance to Kashi's aid. Once she evacuated what had to be the entirety of the meal they'd eaten, she pulled away to sit on the bathroom rug. Kashi sat on the edge of the bathtub.
"Damn, you look awful. You are way too sick to work today. You stay here and rest, Brenda," Kashi said in a reassuring tone while offering the young woman a wet cloth to clean her mouth. When she took the cloth Kashi moved his hand to put it on her forehead, a move that surprised the pale young woman.
Kashi snatched his hand back as if he'd been scalded. The two looked at each other with wide eyes for a moment before Kashi hopped up. He pointed at Brenda as he exited. "Stay here a minute."
He then briskly made his way down the hall to his sisters' room and flung the door open. Willow was sitting on the edge of her bed in a massively oversized T-shirt she'd taken to wearing as a nightgown. Her eyes were huge with surprise as she took in Kashi standing there. "Oh, hey! Umm…what's up?" she asked with a nervous lilt.
"Willow, I am struggling here to speak calmly and also to not wake up Nana. But I need you to tell me right now and I mean right the hell now why is there a dead girl in our bathroom?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Dead?"
"Don't you dare play dumb with me, Willow Yanagi Kimura! That girl is room temperature, she's as pale as a sheet of paper, and she just threw up food like a vampire does if it tries to eat. She was out in the sun, so maybe she's not a vampire but she's dead. You might be a newbie necromancer but I'm pretty sure you are bright enough to have picked up on that," Kashi said with a deep scowl.
"Brenda, show him," Willow said looking past her brother.
Kashi turned to look as Brenda, now standing behind him, lifted her shirt enough to reveal her bra between her breasts; a section of her sternum featured an ugly whorl of twisted scar tissue.
"She was the girl you told me about, the one you and Sayuri were working on when you had your freakout and all that magic that had been dammed up in L.A. was let loose to free the dead from Neverborn control," Kashi realized.
"I was called back. Called to protect Miss Willow. To help her grow strong so she can help the world against Oblivion," Brenda said, her eyes taking on a pleading desperation.
Kashi recognized the look and it wasn't something he liked seeing directed toward his sister. It was more than devotion or love. It was more than faith or worship. It was those things taken to a place beyond question or reason, Brenda Lee was filled with zeal. In none of the lives Kashi's exaltation had lived had it had much trust in zealots and it was screaming at him that this was very wrong.
"See, she's a friend," Willow offered
"This is not what I was talking about when I said you needed to make friends," Kashi shot back
"Well, It's better than some of the other options we heard the Underworld was going with for sending me a guardian," Willow pointed out.
"Not something I need to be reminded of Willow." Kashi rubbed his temple in the same way his mother did when she was furious with him. He didn't need the reminder that if he had not Exalted The underworld had planned to make him the undead champion to protect Willow. The fact that it had turned to Brenda was like a knife made of guilt straight to the gut.
"I am going to leave Accel a message. Neither of us is going to work tomorrow. We are all three going to Mike. He might be a complete asshole but he does know a lot about the Underworld. We will see what he can tell us about all this and what we can do."
MSI
"Oh God, any plan that relies on Mike is going to be a disaster," Terra groaned.
"Oh, it was. He said he could lay my spirit to rest and gave Kashi a list of ritual implements to get."
"Like what?" Bree asked in suspicion.
"Four ricks of hardwood, eight firestarter logs, six gallons of kerosene, twenty feet of half-inch type seventy logging chain with four chain-to-chain quick link connectors, a family pack of bun-length hot dogs and two large packs of marshmallows."
Bree's face darkened. "He wasn't…"
"Yeah, he was going to burn me to ash."
"And roast weenies over your remains!" Sayuri exclaimed in fury.
"He is literally the worst person I have ever met," Terra said sadly.
"Yeah I don't think Kashi or Willow are fans either," Brenda said before she popped another bite-sized bit of bloody beef into her mouth.
"So, you like that?" Reiko asked uneasily, indicating the plate of fresh hunks of raw stew meat.
"It's much better than anything I've eaten lately, thank you so much Sakura."
"Oh, you're welcome. I think now that you're telling it I heard some bits of this story before. I just didn't know enough to link it to you"
Lucy looked up from texting on her phone. She pushed herself up straighter to address the young Risen. "Tell you what, why don't you focus on eating? I believe someone is almost here who can continue this story with more detail.
"Oh?" She asked as the doors started to open.
