Prologue Chapter 2

            The Cardamon, standing seven feet tall at least with eyes that seemed to glimmer like diamonds in the night had just a hint of blue and a slight shimmer to their edges. He was dressed in a fine leather vest and overcoat that would mark him as being from Zerror. Though she could be wrong as the style was out for over a hundred years, but it was one that she remembered from a trip back then. His face was tight and chiseled with perfect cheekbones and a jaw that seemed thick and hard. The pants he wore were not of leather but some sort of cotton like material that was woven and torn in places. Their blue tint was deep in the fibers but was wearing from prolonged use. Marie thought that his shirt was made of leather, but at closer inspection it was made of skin, mortal skin. 

“Yuck!” Marie exclaimed as she put up her daggers and brought out her pencil to begin drawing him. She figured that if she was going to die, she was going to enjoy her last few moments.. “Is that shirt actually made of mortal flesh?” 

“What’s the difference?” He asked as he stepped closer to her. He smelled of death and some type of power that she couldn’t put her finger on and parts of his body were blotted out due to the deep shadows that seemed to flow around him. She wondered if he had the same abilities as Death Stalker, just on a lesser scale. She knew that Death Stalker could kill Cardamon’s as she had seen it with her own eyes, but she wasn’t certain how old this one was or how powerful. She only wished that she knew where Death Stalker was and if he was here to help or hinder. Her every instinct was to run, but she knew that would do no good as Cardamon could move nearly at the speed of light when they focused on movements. At night they were just shy of invincible.. “Are you going to run?” 

“No, I am going to draw you, if you’ll stay still. Are you going to stay still?” She asked as she pulled out a drawing pad and started sketching, as if she didn’t care that one of the most powerful, most evil creatures on the probe was standing directly in front of her, and moving closer. She started with his head and sketched out the rest of the body rather quickly in guesteres the way she had learned. It took only seconds to have his outline, but something about it bothered her. Something was strange about his shoulders. It was as if they were wider than they should have been, and a little taller as well. 

“Interesting.” He almost giggled as he stopped in place. She hoped that she would be able to finish the drawing and maybe Teacher would come across it in her travels at some point. If she lived through tonight, then she would be able to take it to her in person, but something told her that fighting a Cardamon was going to be her last fight.

She was done with the outline of the sketch and just started doing the face when She realized the issue with the drawing. It wasn’t that his shoulders were too large or that they were too tall. There was someone standing directly behind him. Someone that was massive in stature but that didn’t have a physical body direct enough for her to realize that he was there. She looked up from the drawing and into the eyes of the Cardamon who was enjoying the moment of oddity watching her draw. She looked passed him and at the shoulders as she saw two glowing orbs just above the Cardomon’s head. She began drawing more hurriedly.

“So, I do hope that you get a good likeness. I will ship it to your next of kin and they can hunt me down.” He quipped as he started to step forward and reached out his hand to take hers.

“Tell Vincent I said hello.” Death Stalker stated flatly as something shoved through the chest of the Cardamon with such force that it exploded outward toward Marie. She leaned back quickly and batted at a couple of things that shot through the air at her, but didn’t stop drawing. She was now committed and she had to finish before they left. 

“What the…” The Cardamon’s face grew angry as he tried to wriggle around and see who had penetrated his entire upper cavity, but he stopped short as a strange purple light shot through the blade and into his body. He screamed and thrashed, but couldn’t get off or away from whatever the object was. She watched in horror as the blade of pure darkness seemed to catch fire with purple magic and consume the Cardamon. His entire body was enveloped and he screamed so loud that she thought her ears would pop. She was trying to cover them, but didn’t want to miss the angle of the blade that she was drawing. It was important to her to get the blade just right so that she would be able to look back on it later. The angle and the blade would make the picture now.

“Are you crazy?” Jofus asked as he dragged her through the air in the direction of their destination. She was still scribbling as she flew like some type of cape being dragged by a harsh wind only to snapp when she reached the end of her tether. She could feel Jofus’ annoyance with her, but she couldn’t help but finish the drawing. She could also feel his fear. “Remind me if we live through this, to kill you.”

“That’s rude. Oh, can you remember if that blade was completely black with sheen or if it was just glossy?” She asked as she tried to remember that last part of the saber that tore through the Cardamon’s chest. She looked back, but she couldn’t see anything. It was as if a void had settled over the entire area and even her vision wouldn’t cut through its fog. “Darn it. I so wish Teacher were here, she would remember.”

“Would you please get a grip, this isn’t easy.” Jofus stated as he continued moving in a rush. 

Marie put away her pad and stowed her pencil then climbed on the back of Jofus without using her claws, which was much harder than she had thought. She was hoping that Mr. D wouldn’t follow them after finishing with the Cardamon. Not that she had anything against him, but he kinda creeped her out. Not to mention he would be all amped up after killing the other guy and Death Stalker amped up wasn’t a good party guest.

“We have nearly twenty minutes to go. Are we going to make it in time?” Marie asked as she pulled hard on the tunic to keep in place.

“We will make it. We only have to…” Jofus began and then slowed to a stop. “I hope they are not friends with the Cardamon.” 

“Who are you talking about? And why are we stopping? Do you need to rest already? I thought that horse men were able to run for miles and miles.” She asked as she lept to the ground and walked around him. She then realized why he had stopped.

They were only a few feet from the path and there were three Vampires and one chained Werewolf waiting on them. They had been standing as still as possible in the darkness for them to come running by.

“Hey, I bet this is the trap that Mr. D warned us about.” Marie pointed out.

“Very astute.” Jofus stated as he gave her an annoyed look. They were both speaking out loud at this point as it made no since to be quiet any longer. 

“We want the package.” They were armed with swords and daggers and the Werewolf had some type of armor on, but Marie had never seen it before.

“Oh, here.” Marie said and handed them something wrapped in a leather material.

“What?” Jofus looked at her.

“Hey, after killing the Cardamon and having to traverse Mt. Spidrix for two days, I am no longer enjoying this trip. I thought we would meet things to actually fight that would put up some sort of resistance but nothing has made me even sweat so far. Why would we defend this stupid package if the only things that defend it are weak and boring.” She stated and could feel Jofus’ confusion. “Let’s just give it to them and go back home. At least there I can find a good fight with someone that can actually present a challenge.”

“Are you trying to say that we are weak?” The head Vampire asked as he lay his hand on the blade of his sword.

“Weak? No, I am saying that weak beings could destroy you. I am saying that a squirrel could probably take you on. I am saying that I just want to finish this stupid mission and go back home. They didn’t pay me enough to be bored.” She all but giggled the last part as she slowly woke her cape into defense. She would be able to snatch the daggers rather quickly and use the distraction to grab for Jimmy, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to defend Jofus and the package at the same time, while defending herself as well. She hoped her ruse would be enough to slow them down. “Now move along boys so that I don’t have to school you.”

“There is no way a Cardamon fell to a cat.” The second Vampire stated and Marie’s blood began to boil as her ears lay flat. She didn’t mind being cat-like, even loved some of the traits, but she wasn’t going to be called a cat by anyone. Cats were furry and fun to be around, but they were disloyal and often licked themselves. She wasn’t disloyal and showers were her best friend.

“Well, no, actually Teacher is my best friend, but that’s beside the point.” She said allowed, not realizing that the Vampires were not in on her inner monologue. Jofus seemed to keep up though. “And don’t call me a cat. You are jerks and now you have brought forth the fury of a Melaney.” 

“A Melaney!” They both began to laugh as the head one stepped back from her. He was nearly on the ground in tears from the idea that Marie, this little beastly cat-like being could be a Melaney. It was insulting. “You are nothing more than a cat that has overgrown her body.”

“That’s rude. And I would be careful. She is a Melaney, and the Cardamon that was behind us is dead.” Jofus stated. 

Both Vampires stopped laughing rather quickly. It was seldom, if ever, that a Toolarian would tell a lie and they were so bad at it that everyone would tell they were lying. It just wasn’t in their DNA. For Jofus to back up her story was not only scary, it was down right dangerous.

“Really?” The first Vampire asked as he pulled his sword. “Then I get to fight a Melaney tonight. A cat Melaney at that. I hope she doesn’t scratch my eyes or cuddle my leg.” 

“You mock me?” Marie was trying to stay in character, but she was actually getting upset with these guys. She knew she didn’t want to fight them, but they were kinda asking for it.

“Of course he mocks you. You and your friends. The idea that you are a Melaney is less than stupid, it’s ridiculous. You would have been wiped out during the Melaney Wars, with all the rest of them. Not to mention, I didn’t think that cats had opposable thumbs. How do you even carry a weapon?” The second one mocked as he pulled his weapon as well. “Now, lets get down to business. We are going to kill the both of you and take that package. Then we are going to…”

“I gave you the package.” Marie pointed out.

“There is no way you gave us the package. We know that you wouldn’t do something like that. You are simply trying to trick us into leaving you alone to deliver it. We were sent by Vincent to ensure that the package got back to him. And we were told to kill anyone that had anything to do with it.” The second Vampire stated as he started toward Jofus. 

The air crackled with energy as Jofus’ body lit the night, destroying all of their night vision. He lifted off the ground nearly three feet and then absorbed some kind of green energy from around him as blue magic flowed into him. The rush was thick and fast as he pulsated with flowing power. The release came before the second Vampire could react and caught him dead in the chest. The Vampire’s body erupted into flames and within seconds reduced to nothing but dust. Then the body fell to the ground as they all watched it burn. The first Vampire turned and looked at Jofus as Jofus set his eyes on him. 

The Vampire shot so fast that his body was a blur, but not faster than Marie could move and she caught his blade only inches from Jofus with her own. As Jimmy wrang out and sparks flew, the gleaming light from the encounter blinded the Vampire momentarily and Jimmy shone brightly in the night. She pulled the blade back after the strike and parried another blow easily. He was blinded and simply swinging wildly. She would easily be able to defend these attacks. 

Three more glancing blows and then he tried to stab at her. His sight was coming back and she could tell that he was still blurred around the edges of his vision. She took advantage of that and kept darting into those areas. He would parry only barely each time with her getting closer and closer to a hit. What he didn’t know, was that Jimmy was a particular blade and with every strike against him, he would glow brighter and brighter. The light that was coming from Jimmy was nothing more than a nuisance at the moment, but would continue to get stronger with each strike. She was counting on that.

The clanking of metal on metal rang out as they danced and Marie found, after only a few attacks, that she could anticipate his movements even with the speed that he was putting behind each attack. If she weren’t as fast as she is, this would be a problem. However, she matched his speed with little effort. She could feel his frustration as he was used to matching against much slower victims and defeating them much faster. He also wasn’t used to fighting someone of her caliber in fighting. His was a fair hand with the blade but she was taught by the best and took three hours out of every day to keep her skills sharp. Only another Melaney could even hope to keep up with her skills when she brought them to the forefront. Now, she was using a fourth of her skills and actually enjoying the fight.

“What the hell are you?” The vampire asked as he thrust forward into another parry. 

“I told you I was a Melaney. You just didn’t believe me. You are very rude.” She countered as she countered and stabbed him deep in the left breast. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would slow him down a bit. “I am growing bored with this. Oooo, would you like to play cards. I have some with me. I really like poker. But I’m no longer allowed to play with real Brik. They say that I become too competitive. Don’t understand that, I didn’t kill anyone that day.”

She moved around the back of the Vampire before he could react and brought up her sword between his legs. She pressed Jimmy’s shinning blade against his left leg and pressed, hard. He tried to step left but she compensated with his motion, bringing the blade down into his skin. The scream startled her and she pressed even harder without meaning too. The leg lopped off as if it were straw being cut by scissors.

“Ooooo, that wasn’t what I was trying to do. You simply moved wrong.” She yelled as she jumped back. Jimmy’s glow was half what it had been when she cut him. The blade lit the area still but was much dimmer than before. “Wait, what happened to Jimmy?” 

The Vampire turned to her on one leg and hoped once as she realized he was trying to speak but couldn’t. The remaining light that was pulled from Jimmy had been absorbed into the skin of the Vampire. It was coursing through his body now and was dealing damage with every second it flowed through his veins. He was just shy of screaming as his skin began to turn colors and crack in places, but no sound was coming out of his throat. 

“Yuck! You don’t look well. Not that you looked much better before, but you really don’t look well now. I think the light from Jimmy is in your body and that light is produced by UV radiation. Apparently that is not something that your Vampire body can take. Who knew!” She spoke to him as she stepped back from his position to ensure that he wouldn’t fall on her. His hopping looked funny and she nearly laughed, but she realized how morbid that would be and stifled it as best she could. “I knew your type didn’t like certain light but never seen one of you die in this way. It is revolting, but interesting. Hope you don’t feel much pain.” 

The Vampire’s skin cracked and then began turning to ash. He stopped, his face contorted in pain with a scream just under the surface but no sound left his throat. The Vampire then fell apart and his body crumpled to the ground becoming dust in a giant cloud of skin as the bones literally tore through the remaining skin and pulverized it into even more dust.

“Ooooo, that is gross.” She stepped back again but the cloud enveloped her for a few seconds before settling back to the ground. She was covered in Vampire skin and the idea of any of that getting into her eyes or mouth was just revolting. She held both tight and stayed very still to ensure not to rustle more of the Vampire dust into the air. A minute, maybe two passed and then she opened her eyes. Jofus was standing there, his eyes on something behind her and his body glowing with magic once again. “Did I forget something? Did you see that? I never knew that Vampires couldn’t take Jimmy’s light and I have fought many of them. Though I must admit I usually will use Greg rather than Jimmy since Greg’s abilities were more suited to fighting against Vampires, or so I thought. I just figured Jimmy’s light would blind the Vamp and give me an opening to get away. Never thought it would do this much damage. Not that it mattered, he wasn’t a Lord Vampire at all, like I had thought. He was….Oh, you’re looking at the Werewolf that is behind me, aren’t you? I forgot about him.”

“He isn’t moving.” Jofus agreed as he pulled her close and turned her around. “He is waiting on orders from the Vampires. If we leave him here, he will simply die of starvation. We need to send him somewhere to keep him out of trouble or we need to kill him here.”

“Don’t kill him. I will give him orders. I don’t like the way the Vampires treat these poor enslaved ones. They are little more than children waiting on their parents to show them pride. I pity them.” Marie stated as she turned to the Werewolf and looked it straight in the eyes. She knew that without a command they would do nothing but stand and wait. She was surprised  that the Vampires didn’t use him, but then she didn’t give them much of a chance. “Go to the nearest village and place yourself just outside until Gamora starts to rise. When you begin to change, start walking toward the village. Make certain that no one sees you and once you are fully changed back to human form, forget this night and forget those Vampires all together. Go off and live a happy night and enjoy what you can. Also, find a hobby  that you like and enjoy it with a spouse that you find. Someone that is loving and….”

“We have to go.” Jofus reminded her as he tugged on her cape. The cape wrapped around his arm for a second but then realized he wasn’t a threat and let him go.

“I know, I know. Anyway, find your way in life and enjoy it as much as you can. Have a great day.” 

“Can we go now?” Jofus was annoyed again.

“We’re going, we’re going.” Marie countered, a bit annoyed herself. She wanted to go further with the Werewolf and give him or her a better life, but there wasn’t enough time. She had to go and finish this mission as quickly as possible. “If we have the time, I want to come back here and find him or her.” 

“That won’t be possible. You know it won’t be possible. We will leave directly from Bugsby and head for the ship. Now, lets get going as quickly as possible.” Jofus pulled on her once more and this time she followed. 

She looked back at the Werewolf and watched as it walked away. She watched as he or she moved across the path and toward the woods on the other side. It was cruel the way Vampires dealt with Werewolves, treating them as nothing more than tools that can be thrown away after use. It was only certain Werewolves because most would tear a Vampire apart with their bare hands, but those without the mental fortitude were taken like cattle. 

“Vampires suck.”

“Kinda part of their nature.” Jofus stated as they moved rather quickly through the woods. They were getting closer to the opening of Bugsby, at least where he stated it was, but she had never been there and ahead of them seemed to be nothing more than woods and a small clearing. There was a stream not far from their position that she could hear, but it was flowing naturally and wouldn’t be big enough to keep a small city with water. There should be a large body of water close by for a city of the size Grandma explained to be sustained. 

“Are we even getting close to this Bugsby place?” 

“We are almost on the grounds now. Another ten minutes and we will be within a stone’s throw of the main hall. We won’t be able to see it until we pass the main arches, but we are going in the right direction.” Jofus explained as he moved with the package and let go of Marie in the hopes that she would continue following at speed.

“I was wondering, what is this place like? I mean…” 

“I know what you mean, Marie. It is not our place to judge. The king wills it, the prophecy foresaw it and Grandma ordered it. Rather good or bad, the destiny of this package is in the waiting arms of Bugsby Hall.” Jofus countered before she could register a protest.

“But what if…”

“No.” 

“No, what?” 

“No, we are not going to discuss this.”

“Not going to discuss it, why?” Marie was perplexed and started to slow her pace.

“We have to get the package there before Moon-up. We only have about an hour left before that happens. We can not stand here and discuss such things.” Jofus kept at pace and was moving beyond Marie, but she knew he could not make the rest of the trip without her going since his magic was slowly waning and his night vision would soon wear off. If that happened he would be blind and wondering. Twenty minutes in the woods without vision could get a person lost for ever. Specially with the things that are lurking the these woods most of the time.

“We must ensure that the package is going to be well looked after when we drop it off. If not, then it is our obligation to ensure that it gets to a better place. Don’t you agree?” Marie protested. She sped up just a tad but not enough for Jofus’ taste.

“We drop off the package and we leave. We only finish our mission and that is all we do. That is our mission, that is our purpose and that is all there is to it.” Jofus rebutted and slowed his pace as well.

“We have a responsibility to do this right. Ooooo, what if we hang around and ensure that everything is just fine. You know, make certain that there isn’t anything going to happen that is bad or untoward. Good word, untoward. Teacher taught it to me. Oooo, I can draw the place while we are here and that way we can all see what an invisible city looks like. Besides, I have always wanted to visit Bugsby. The place that eight percent of Kings, Queens and the like are trained and turned into amazing people is a place that I want to visit. Grandma says that she helped put the school in place and it is partly her magic that keeps anyone from finding the school without invitation.” Marie was caught up in the idea of keeping the package safe, but she could see that Jofus had no intention of actually entering Bugsby. She had never been there and had heard many rumors of the place but wasn’t certain of its reputation. Grandma seemed reluctant to send the package there and she seemed reluctant to even talk of the place, but Marie knew that she wouldn’t do anything without a purpose. Next to Six Guns, Grandma was the smartest person Marie knew, directly anyway. “You think Six Guns would be at the bar this time of night? Oooo, maybe we could drop by after we are done here and see him. It’s been such a long time since I have talked with Grandpa. Also, we could show him the package and…”

“No.” Jofus’ thoughts were stern and his voice was sharp and to the point. There was no way he was going to go off point. “We are going to do exactly what we were supposed to. No questions asked and no more stalling. If Bugsby is a great place then the package is safe. If it is a horrible place, then we are going to regret it later, but we do not have the right to stop this. We do not have the right to keep the package from the place that everyone tells us to place it. We can not pull out of this at this time. More importantly, we can not go against Grandma’s direct order, unless you want to explain to her why we did.” 

Jofus was very devoted to his religion and he believed that Grandma could commune directly with his Suprema. He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t exactly correct either. Marie knew of the existence of three Suprema, twelve Supre Malds, hundreds of Malds and thousands of Gods. All of which had powers that dwarfed mortal understanding. Jofus knew three of them and one was the Lord of Light which Jofus worshiped and Grandma secretly spoke with through an intermediary. Because she could commune with the higher beings, Jofus would follow virtually anything she said. Though Marie loved her, she knew that Grandma wasn’t always right and could be selfish at times. No were near as selfish as Grandpa, but selfish just the same. So Marie often found herself questioning motives and usually came out to the correct answer in the end. Jofus wasn’t going to question anything, but this time he was right. They had no right to go against all of the authorities that were saying to do this.

“Fine, but I still want to draw Bugsby.” 

“You can’t draw the invisible city. Bugsby is made to be invisible and intangible for a purpose. It keeps the training that they do secret and the enemies that they have from being able to reach any of the kids that are there.  Their discretion is what keeps those kids safe and what keeps others from trying to duplicate their teachings.” Jofus advised as they came to a small road.

There were no lights and nothing in the surrounding area, but the path opened up to a small clearing that surrounded the road. Beyond this opening was nothing but trees in all directions save for the road that led in both directions. Down the hill was a small city that seemed to have been abandoned from a long time back. Not that Marie could tell that from here, she had looked on the map to try and find Bugsby Hall and found only the abandoned city. She wanted to work her way down there, but Jofus would definitely complain. 

“So…where is this school? Or city? Or, wait is it a city school?” Marie asked as she looked around. They were at the coordinates Grandma had given but there was simply nothing there. Jofus was looking around as well as though he had no idea what was going on either. “Are we lost?”

“It is supposed to be here.” Jofus looked confused. “We need to wait and someone should be along.”

“But it is almost Moon-up? I thought we were supposed to be out of here before the light of Gamora settled on the land?” Marie was now confused as well. They had a particular place to be and a particular person to meet, but there was no one here.

“Are the two of you going to just stand there or talk to me?” A voice came from the forest just beyond the road. The two of them had been speaking through their link and thus it seemed as though they were simply looking at each other oddly. 

“Whose there?” Jofus asked and moved the package to his other hand, drawing his last amount of magic to make a single blast if needed, but Marie knew he was nearly out of magic and as long as he held the package, he couldn’t pull his mace to fight. 

“I am not here to fight either of you. I am in no way going to fight a Priest of the Lord of Light and a Melaney.” She said as she stepped out of the shadow just enough to reveal that she was very well endowed and had blondish hair. The rest of her body was shrouded in darkness save for a deep black tunic that was worn with age. “I am here to receive the package and that is all.” 

“Are the flowers of Zerror nice this year?” Jofus asked. It was a code that Grandma gave him to ask the person that is supposed to get the package. If she answered incorrectly, Marie was going to have to fight her way through this woman. If she answered correctly, then Marie was going to watch Jofus hand over the package and then they would leave. Leave the package to its fate. Leave that little girl to the whims of someone Marie didn’t know. She wasn’t sure she liked either option.

“The flowers of Zerror only grow in the winter of night.” The woman answered and Jofus visibly relaxed. The woman held out her hands to take the package.

Jofus stepped forward and started to hand over the package without another word. Marie still wasn’t sure, but she knew that she could not let this go on without doing something. She could not let that child go into such a place without some protection. She could not let a child be turned into an orphan without hope of something to look forward to.

“Wait.” Marie stated as she stepped forward and grabbed Jofus’ arm. “She can not go like this.”

“I am not here to argue or to discuss. I am only here to get the child and go. You are not to see me, and I am not to speak of personal things. The less we know of one another the better. Now, do I take the child or are you leaving here with it?” The woman asked. Marie noticed that her skin was beautiful and very well kept. It was smooth and nearly unblemished. This was a rather young woman.

“I only want to give the child something before we leave her here.” Marie countered. She took off a necklace that she was given before leaving Brindakrie. The necklace was an emblem of the Brindakrie crest on one side and the symbol of the Melaney crest on the other side. One side was smooth and the other jagged and sharp. It was large and made of Melaney metal, but coated to keep the radiation from emanating from the emblem. “I want her to have this. It is from her mother.”

“I can’t…” The woman started.

“I will not leave her as an orphan. I will not allow you to take her if you don’t take this as well.” Marie explained as she placed the necklace on the small head of the baby Jofus held. She looked at the beautiful baby and wanted to hold her and squeeze her and keep her forever. She felt as though she were being drawn to the child in some way. 

“Fine. I will take her now.” The woman agreed and took the baby. “You can leave now.”

Marie and Jofus turned and started walking toward the far bay of Colemania in the hopes of covering up the direction she had gone. Just in case they had been followed they didn’t want to go back the same way that they came. Marie was feeling sick from the decision but had no other choice. She felt as though the woman would take care of the child but she also didn’t trust the woman. It was a strange confusion.

“If I come back here and the child doesn’t have that pendant, I will show you what being a Melaney truly means.” Marie stated before getting out of ear shot. She wasn’t sure why she had said it or why she had suddenly felt the need to say it, but she simply had no other choice. It was just the way she was.

As she spoke, the woman stepped back a simple step with the girl in hand, and then she was gone. The air around them became thick and the night grew dark, far darker than it had been. She turned to look at Jofus and realized that it wasn’t just her, the night was getting thicker by the second. 

“It is time for you to leave.” Death Stalker stated as he took on a manifestation that they could look at and those eerie eyes began to glow once more. 

“We were just about to leave.” Jofus informed him and Marie was hoping that was all the dark being wanted to hear.

“Tell Siratis we are even on all but one score.” The deep voice boomed from Death Stalker as both Marie and Jofus jumped slightly. “The last one will be paid in time.”

“You owe Grandma?” Marie asked as she tried to see the true stature of his body, but it was nothing more than the outline and wispy darkness. “Oooo, do you know Grandpa as well?” 

“We are done. Go home.” Death Stalker stated and the night suddenly was as dark as it should be. He was ordering, not requesting.

“Well, that went well.” Marie stated but she had so many questions.

“We have to leave, lets move.” Jofus placed his hand on her shoulder and all but pushed her in the other direction. They moved for a few minutes without speaking but then she just had to ask questions.

“What does Death Stalker have to do with all of this? Where does the child fit in? Why is Bugsby in Death Stalker’s domain if this area is so often traveled? Can we go back and see the Werewolf and ensure that it is alright? Can we…?” 

“No.” Jofus all but shouted, sternly. “We have to go. If we don’t go now, we will have some major issues. Besides, Gamora will rise soon. We have to move.

“Fine, but I am getting answers later.” Marie countered and meant it.

She moved forward with Jofus and they made their way back to the boat they had rented in the Atapooligate town just in the bay. It took over two days to get to there and she was  getting tired of traveling in this manner, but she truly wanted to check in on the package. She truly wanted to see if the package was alright. She wanted to…She wanted to…

“Jofus, why were we here?” Marie asked as they stepped on the boat. She was just thinking of something very important a moment before, but she couldn’t think of what it had been. Something was making her memory foggy. Grandma had..had..

“We were here to…to…?” Jofus couldn’t remember either. They were both…

“So, you wanna go and get some ice cream?” Marie asked. She wasn’t sure what she had just been thinking of or why they were on the boat, but she was certain that ice cream would make it all better. 

“I…I don’t like ice cream, but we can get you some.” Jofus agreed and they took the boat right to get to the port of Zerror. There they went directly to the ice cream vendor and Marie enjoyed the day immensely. She wasn’t sure why they had taken the trip, but as she had thought, ice cream made it all better.