Lucy appears with a frown, "Before anyone asks, yes, Primos made a chubby, darker skinned copy of me. I sent her a Cease and Desist from Existence letter."

Meanwhile, Lotlot Ramirez opened up an envelope addressed to her. Inside the envelope was a demonic hand that grabbed her and sucked her into the envelope before it spontaneously combusted.

And nothing of value was lost.

A World of Darkness

A few days after the Nergal incident, the McBrides had come home and spent the next week settling back into the neighborhood. Lincoln and Clyde reunited during that time and went out to have fun with the rest of their friend group to celebrate where they found out Ronnie Anne also inexplicably moved back to Royal Woods. The school year had ended, and a few days into summer break Lincoln, Lucy, and Grim were invited over to the McBride's home for an unforgettable luncheon.

Of course, this was a cover for the six of them to discuss the events of the Dr. Lopez situation without anyone listening in. Vampire or otherwise. The six of them took a seat around the McBrides' dinner table, Harold and Howard serving mouth-watering hamburgers.

"I think we should start by getting the obvious out of the way." Harold began, "Howard and I are Hunters, Clyde here is a Vampire, and the two of you have Grim as a companion."

"Actually, he's more my companion." Lucy corrected.

"Eh, the two of us have been through a lot the past two years. I think Grim and I are sort of friends now?" Lincoln asked.

"Sure, mon. Let's go with that." Grim remarked.

"Two years? Has it really been that long?" Clyde asked.

Grim shrugged, "It has felt that long at least, time is a jerk."

For those not keeping score at home, story wise it's been about a year since Grim has been with the Louds.

Howard held out his hand in greeting, "We've certainly seen you a lot, Mr. Reaper, but I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Howard McBride, and this is my husband, Harold."

Grim shook Howard's, and then Harold's, "Charmed, I have to ask though, which one of you took the other's name?"

"Funny enough, we both had the same last name when we met. It was yet another thing we had in common." Harold explained.

"Anyway, with the obvious out of the way, we all want to thank the three of you for saving Clyde from Dr. Lopez. We are eternally grateful." Howard told them.

"Hey, Clyde is my best friend! Once I figured out something was wrong, I had to go look for him!" Lincoln told them.

Clyde smiled, "Thanks buddy."

"There's still a lot you need to explain." Grim told them, "How in the world do two Hunters not notice their family therapist was a vampire?"

"And why are you even hunting vampires when Clyde is one?" Lucy asked.

Harold and Howard gave each other a look. Howard nodded, and Harold cleared his throat, "Well, it's a bit of a long story, but I'll try to be as concise as possible…"

…

It was nearly sixteen years ago. Howard and I had been together for a few years and had gotten married out of State. Long story for another time.

We had traveled all over the United States for our honeymoon, mainly the lesser-known places. In one such place in Arizona, we encountered…monsters. Either wendigos or chupacabras, I can't recall which, there was an argument over it. Most of it is a blur, but Howard and I managed to survive long enough for Hunters to arrive.

That was our indoctrination into the White Wolf Lodge, that's what they call the Hunter's guild in North America. Apparently, it's based on a legend in Central Europe, but that's not important right now. They offer membership to anyone who's able to survive encounters with monsters be it vampire or werewolf or well anything dangerous lurking in the darkness.

Howard and I ended up joining them and made our way back to Michigan to get set up. They have a base in the Upper Peninsula, with a training ground among other things. We stayed with them for a few years, going across the country for hunts.

One day, the Guildmaster sent us to Detroit, some scouts saying a group of powerful vampires were gathering there for one reason or another, and this was a good opportunity to slay a lot of them at once. Howard and I traveled there with a group, and we raided a nightclub full of zombies. From what we gathered, we weren't subtle enough in our approach and the vampires we were hunting gave us the slip and left us a trap.

…

"For the record, those were probably ghouls." Grim interrupted.

Harold shrugged, "Ghouls, zombies, does it really matter? They were undead monsters summoned by the vampires."

Grim sighed, "I guess it doesn't matter, carry on."

…

Anyway, after dispatching the zombies, Howard and I searched the entire place for any traces of the vampires, or where they went. Then we came across something…weird. We found an ornate, well-lit room that was more like a nursery. In the center was a cradle and inside was well…a baby vampire.

We had fought and slain vampires before, but a vampire baby was something we had never seen nor heard of before. From what we knew, it was impossible. Howard and I turned away from the baby and tried coming up with options. We ultimately decided it was still a vampire, and we needed to slay it.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, we turned back to the baby…and it was being held by an elderly woman who wasn't there before. She was dressed in all black, aside from a necklace of pearls, and her face was obscured by a hood. She gently held the baby in her arms.

"You would slay a child?" she asked.

Howard drew his blade, "Is that one of the vampires?"

The elderly woman calmly approached, placed a hand on Howard's sword, and…slowly cut her finger with it just enough to draw blood. She lowered her hand to the baby who ended up suckling on her bleeding finger.

"Does that answer your question?" she asked.

Howard backed up a bit and lowered his sword.

I then asked, "Who are you?"

"My name isn't important. I am a fortune teller… and you two, Howard and Harold, have come across something spectacular."

"How do you know our names?" Howard asked.

"Again, not important. What is important is the wellbeing of this newborn… vampire children are very rare, and if left alone could be swept up in things they cannot control…"

…

"...I think you can put the pieces together from there. Howard and I ended up adopting the newborn, named him Clyde, and well, told the White Wolf Lodge about him." Harold finished up.

Howard nodded, "That fortune teller lady seemed to know the Guildmaster, and convinced him to let us go through with it. From there they got Clyde a birth certificate among other things."

"Wait, you two stole a baby?" Lincoln asked.

Before either man could answer, Clyde spoke up, "That's what I asked, and while that could be argued, the fact is that I was left all alone in a dangerous environment and left at the mercy of whoever came across me. Thankfully, things turned out good and I was able to live a healthy, normal life…well, until recently."

Howard hugged Clyde, "Yes, and we were going to tell Clyde when he was old enough…but things have gotten complicated."

"About that, you still haven't said why you never noticed Dr. Lopez was a vampire." Grim pointed out.

Harold cleared his throat again, "Yes…that was embarrassing to find out…the truth is Dr. Lopez was introduced to us by another member of the White Wolf Lodge. Said member turned out to have been working for the vampires."

"She has been dealt with." Howard then said.

"Ah, so that's what that death was about." Grim remarked.

Lucy finally spoke up, "...did that fortune teller look like me?"

Harold rubbed his chin, "I didn't get a good look at her, and well, she was an older woman. Much older than you, Lucy."

"Grim, do you think it was…her?" Lucy asked.

Grim rubbed his jaw, "Honestly, it sounds like something she would do."

"Wait, do you two know her?" Harold asked.

"It may have been Harriet Loud, Lucy's great-grandmother. The two look exactly alike." Grim told him.

"Oh, she took after her you mean?" Howard asked.

Grim shook his head, "No. They look EXACTLY alike. Here, I've got a photograph."

Grim reached into his robe and pulled out an old instant photo print and showed it to the McBrides.

Harold's jaw dropped.

"My eyes! I've gone blind!" Clyde cried out.

"Oh my God!" Howard cried out as he covered Clyde's eyes.

Grim quickly put that photograph back, "Whoops! Wrong one…here, this one is more decent."

Grim showed the McBrides another photograph of Harriet. Howard kept Clyde's eyes covered while Harold took a closer look, "Okay, well, now that the shock has worn off...this was her.

Howard uncovered Clyde's eyes and took the photograph, "Yeah…she seemed older than she was in this but the way she's standing, that skin, that pose, it's her."

"And she looks exactly like Lucy! How is that possible?" Clyde asked.

Grim took the photograph back, "Simple, she reincarnated as Lucy."

"Gasp." Said Lucy.

"Wait, what?" Lincoln asked.

"Reincarnated? That's real?" Harold asked.

Grim pointed a thumb at himself, "I am dealing with Souls all the time. Have any of you ever handled a Soul?"

"Uh...no?" Howard answered.

Clyde shook his head, "Nope."

Harold shrugged, "Not that I know of."

Grim nodded, "Exactly."

Lincoln spoked up, "But Grim, Great Grandma Harriet was still alive when Lucy was born!"

Grim nodded, "Yes...her body was alive, but her soul had already moved on."

"Uh…how does that work?" Clyde asked.

"This gets curiouser and curiouser…" Lucy remarked.

Grim rubbed his jaw, trying to find the right words, "Souls are complicated, especially in this case where reincarnation is involved. Harriet's Soul had left her body, but her Spirit remained, still clinging to her mortal form and making it move. That's how she managed to live a few more years after Lucy was born."

"Wait. Spirit?" Lucy asked.

"There's a difference between Souls and Spirits?" Harold asked.

Grim flicked his wrist and a blackboard with demon wings appeared, he started drawing two people on it, "To put it in simple mortal terms: the biggest difference between Souls and Spirits is the Soul is the very culmination of your being while the Spirit is more...let's say what makes you special."

Underneath one person was the word "Soul" and underneath the other was the word "Spirit". The Soul person was filled in with chalk.

"The Soul tends to have the same form no matter where it goes. Usually when a mortal dies the soul moves on to the next phase of their existence, but Lincoln and Lucy are a special case...they can't move on. Neither can the rest of their family." Grim lectured.

"And why is that?" Lucy asked.

"Please, save your questions for after the presentation." Grim told her.

Grim then drew lines from the limbs of the Spirit person to above them where he drew a marionette control rod.

"The Spirit is another case, all the things you ever do, all the ways you ever act, all that is controlled by the Spirit."

"Okay, so like in a game the Soul is the character you have, and the Spirit is the way you play as them?" Lincoln summed up.

Grim sighed, "No, it…" Grim then stopped and rubbed his jaw a bit, "...actually, that is a good way to describe it in layman terms."

"You said the Soul moves on, so does the Spirit remain?" Lucy asked.

Grim pointed at them, "You two have seen ghosts before. They're what remains of the Souls that have moved on, that's the human Spirit."

"I hate to interrupt, this is all very fascinating, but where are you going with this, Grim?" Howard asked.

Grim snapped his finger bones and the blackboard vanished, "Well, mainly to justify why all of Lincoln and Lucy's ancestors all look exactly like them, and to account for the existence of ghosts."

"I always thought it was one of those cartoon gags that's an excuse for a lack of creativity." Lincoln remarked.

"Or it was due to the same reason a lot of royalty look the same." Lucy added.

If you know, you know.

Grim shook his skull, "No, nothing gross like that. Your family is just cursed with Reincarnation, that's all."

"Is that really a curse?" Clyde asked.

Grim shrugged, "A wayward soul stuck on Earth that I have to constantly reap? I call that a curse."

"So, the reason why the last Duke of Loch Loud and I look the same is we have the same soul?" Lincoln asked.

"Same exact Soul, yes."

"Being cursed is great and all, but you still haven't told us how our souls were cursed to begin with." Lucy told Grim.

Grim sighed, "Well, that's due to the Immortal Dragon. One of your ancestors made the mistake of summoning it."

"A dragon?" Harold asked.

"You mean Lena? She's an immortal dragon?" Lincoln asked.

"Wait, that's real? Since when did you get a dragon?" Howard asked.

"She's from that mediocre movie you guys weren't in." Lucy answered.

"Less said about it, the better." Lincoln told them.

"Anyway, the important thing is that summoning Lena into the Earthly Realm had the side effect of making the Louds immortal as well, through reincarnation. It's a curse." Grim summarized.

"Huh…I guess that makes sense." said Clyde, "But why was the dragon summoned in the first place?"

Grim looked up a bit wistfully.

…

Several centuries ago in Scotland, Grim gazed in horror as a dragon with eyes like molten lava glared down at him. Beneath the monstrous beast stood a tall, slender figure clad in an orange cloak, their long white hair flowing like silver silk. "Behold, Soul Reaver! I have summoned an immortal dragon from another realm! Not even you can vanquish it, for it shall be reborn from its ashes!"

With a deafening roar, the dragon descended, snatching Grim in its massive jaws. The reaper struggled, his voice a plea amidst the chaos. "Cease this madness! This cruelty knows no bounds!" he cried.

"Cruelty? CRUELTY? YOU SPEAK OF CRUELTY WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING IT AS I HAVE!" the white-haired figure thundered.

…

"I haven't the foggiest idea." Grim lied, "Humanity tends to do the darndest things."

"I have to agree with that." Said Harold.

"Me too." Said Howard.

"Ditto." Said Clyde.

"Mhm." Said Lincoln.

"I see…" Lucy looked at Grim suspiciously.

"You'll have to tell them sooner or later." Harriet whispered in Grim's skull.

"One day. Not today." Grim whispered back.

"So Grim…Clyde tells us Lincoln met you about a year ago, but when did Lucy meet you? And how well did you know Harriet?" Howard asked.

"Harriet and I had a…special relationship as you may have guessed. As for how I met Lucy-"

"I'll tell you." Lucy spoke up, "It's a day I'll never forget…"

…

It was six years ago. Our family had gone to the hospital to visit Great Grandma Harriet, though at one point we had gotten separated because the rest of our sisters were wreaking havoc. Lincoln and I were left alone in Great Grandma Harriet's room…

"Don't worry Lucy, the doctors are going to make Great Grandma Harriet all better!" Lincoln tried to assure me.

Great Grandma Harriet coughed, "Cough, cough…Lincoln sweetie, could you be a dear and fetch me some tea?"

"Um…" Lincoln kept looking between her and me.

"It's just down the hall, dear, I can watch Lucy for a few minutes."

"Oh, okay! Be right back, Lucy!" Lincoln said as he left the room.

Great Grandma Harriet beckoned me, "Come closer, Lucy."

I did so, Great Grandma Harriet looked so ill, so pale, yet oddly peaceful with a vacant smile.

"You aren't getting any better, aren't you Great Grandma?" I asked.

She nodded, "These imbeciles can lie to us and themselves all they want, but they aren't helping me any. Truth be told, there's nothing they can do."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm dying, Lucy. Rather, I've been dead for a while now, but a certain someone is too stubborn to admit it."

That's when I finally pointed at the stranger in the corner, "You mean that man in the robe?"

Great Grandma Harriet then looked over at him, "See Grim? She can see you. Come out."

That's when Grim emerged, he had been invisible in the shadows, looming over her. He had his arms folded across his chest, "What is your game, Harriet? Using your grandchild to guilt me?"

I wasn't sure what to say or do, I felt a cold yet assuring hand on my shoulder, "No need to be afraid, Lucy, Grim is a special friend of mine, and a close friend of our family."

"Your family is just a bunch of troublemakers I have the misfortune of dealing with."

"Are you the Grim Reaper?" I finally asked.

Grim nodded, "Very observant, child. Run along now, I have business with your-"

"Grim. You know fully well why I have Lucy here." Great Grandma Harriet told him.

"No, I don't."

"Grim, look, she has my eyes."

Suddenly, Great Grandma Harriet lifted up my bangs and Grim saw my eyes. He looked…sad, scared even I don't think I've ever seen him like that since.

"...well, I can't deny it. She has your soul…or well, your ancestor's soul now."

"You knew this entire time, Grim. You kept this old woman alive for four years longer than she needed to be. Have you really gotten so soft?"

"I just…didn't want it to end. You're special to me."

"That's the problem with good things, they all have to end."

Grim then took out his scythe, "I suppose you're right."

…

"...the last thing I remember was hearing Great Grandma Harriet flatlining. Grim had vanished, and Lincoln finally came back with the tea. It gets messy after that." Lucy finished.

Howard and Clyde were crying, wiping their tears with handkerchiefs.

"Did…did it really happen like that?" Harold asked.

"More or less." Grim told him.

"I still feel bad for leaving the two of you alone." Lincoln told Lucy.

Lucy patted his shoulder, "It's okay Lincoln."

Harold looked over at Howard and Clyde who were slowly calming down, "Well, I think we should wrap things up for today, unless there's something else you three wanted to bring up.

Lincoln felt his pendant, "Uh, also, since you all are willing to trust us with your family secrets, I think you all should know I have this." He pulled Bedlam Gold out from its hiding place and showed the McBrides who all leaned in for a closer look.

"Woah! Neat medallion, Lincoln!" said Clyde.

"Is that…is that real gold?" Harold asked.

Howard pulled out a jeweler's loupe, "Ooh, Lincoln, may I appraise it?"

"Uh, sure, but I can't take it off." Lincoln told him.

Howard then noticed the necklace part somehow being fused with Lincoln's skin, "Ah, it's a cursed object, that much is obvious…well, I can still try to get a good look…" the taller McBride leaned in more with the loupe, adjusting it as he did, "Hmm…ooh…wait…what? That can't be right!"

"What is it, Howie?" Harold asked.

Howard pulled back and put the loupe away, "Well…it's pure gold…and it's alive."

"What?"

"Huh, it's still alive?" Lincoln asked.

"Still?" Grim asked.

"Oh, it was a butterfly before it turned into…well, this." Lincoln explained.

"Oh. Huh, wonder why I didn't catch that…" Grim pondered.

"Lincoln, where did you get that thing?" Harold asked.

"Well…" Lincoln went on to give an abridged version of his interactions with the Chaos Gods, which resulted in him being gifted Bedlam Gold which he had only recently been able to wear and use, especially against Nergal.

The McBrides listened without speaking, and Clyde's eyes sparkled, "Wow! You met actual gods?"

"Clyde, I live with one, remember Eris?" Lincoln asked.

"Wait, you live with her now?"

Lincoln shrugged, "Well, sort of, she got split in two and one half was in jail for a while and the other went to Canada-'

"Okay, hold on, time out! Grim, can you confirm…any of this?" Howard asked.

Grim sighed, "Unfortunately, yes, Eris the goddess of Chaos and Discord - on Earth - lives in our house. Well, half of her does."

"So…gods do exist. Huh, honestly didn't see that one coming." Harold remarked.

"You're speaking to a literal talking skeleton who is also the Grim Reaper, and gods are what you don't believe in?" Grim asked.

Harold held up his hands, "It's not that I don't, I just thought it was more of a cosmic thing or something we couldn't understand."

Grim smirked, "Oh, humanity definitely cannot comprehend the full extent of it. Believe me, many have tried, and they all went mad. The closest anyone got was Lovecraft, and he foolishly tried to warn humanity of the dangers of such knowledge."

"I guess that only made more people curious." Said Lucy.

Clyde scratched his chin, "That reminds me, there has been a lot of supernatural stuff around town lately including me and Grim, wouldn't that draw in people curious about it all or people trying to cover it up? I mean, that's what happens in the movies."

Lincoln shrugged, "I mean, for all we know, they're probably here already and we never noticed.

…

Across the street from the McBride house were two eerily similar looking men in black suits, one using binoculars to watch the house and the other speaking into a headset radio, "This is Team E-F, reporting possible security breach."

There was chatter over the radio.

"Subject 'White Hare' just said something alarming, sending playback."

There was a moment of silence, then more chatter.

"Understood. Can't be too careful. Team E-F out."