Roving the Cemetery (Full)

It was another night for meandering about the city throughout the skies until Zarakc spotted an area that drew piqued his curiosity. Tonight, he was flying above the cemetery and grew interested in what all the small monuments down below him were for. Flying above in his hawk form, he scanned the area, checking for anyone who might be in the area at this late hour of the night. Thankfully, he saw no one, so he descending, landing in a tree towards the edge of the cemetery. He shifted to his regular form, dropping down from a branch, landing softly on the grass with minimal sound.

Zarakc slowly walked between some of the rows of graves, looking at them and the various symbols that were transcribed on them. He peered around, taking in the sights of the various monuments that laid about the land. There certainly seemed to be a large quantity of them, with a fair amount of them looking similar to each other, but in various places there were much larger monuments constructed for whatever reason.

~What a curious place. I wonder if there is any purpose behind it, or merely just done for the sake of it.~ Zarakc pondered to himself as he continued to slowly step about the area.

"You don't know what this place is, do you?" Jemmy asked. She had teleported right behind him, so he might be scared by her sudden appearance, especially since nobody else was around.

Jemmy appeared to be a ten year old girl. She had yellow hair that framed her innocent blue eyes. She wore a cute blue dress and was holding a red balloon. Nothing could better give the impression of innocence, Jemmy thought. A false impression. She was shivering, but it wasn't because it was cold outside.

The shapeshifter was interesting to Jemmy. He could turn into a bird. She wondered what else he could do. "Why don't I explain it to you then?" Jemmy smiled at Zarakc with dirty, black teeth. "These stones talk about people who have died. They also mark the location where the dead people are buried."

Jemmy touched a gravestone, and it lit up with magical energy. A moment later, a skeletal hand came out of the ground. Within a few seconds, a skeleton, still wearing its Sunday best suit, crawled entirely out of the dirt. The undead man looked at Zarakc with its eyeless sockets and started walking towards the shapeshifter.

"Uh oh. It looks like he doesn't like you."

The transition from dead quiet of the night to a random voice chiming out certainly startled Zarakc, his muscles tensing up a little as he closed his eyes for a moment and turned around. He looked over Jemmy as she stood in front of him, it certainly seeming an odd sight; this place did not feel like an area in which a younger person would frequent.

"Yes, I do not know what this place is. Might you?" Zarakc replied as he watched the young girl, his voice coming out as neutral. This all just seemed a little odd, this girl seeming to appear from nowhere, who was inexplicably shivering at the moment, an interesting disposition. As Jemmy smiled at him, he clearly took notice to her dirty, black teeth, his eyes narrowing gently as he grew a little suspicious to her being here suddenly.

Zarakc was about to comment on her explanation, but there was the more pressing matter of the gravestone now glowing from something that Jemmy was doing. He glanced back between the gravestone and the child, his eyes displaying a mix of curiosity and caution, not exactly sure what the child was trying to do. That was, until the skeletal hand suddenly pierced the ground, followed by the rest of the skeleton.

"What did you even-" Zarakc started for a moment, his voice sounding combination of disturbed and shocked as he backed away from the skeleton, keeping a safe distance between him and the risen remains of a person. He was certainly ready to defend himself if need be, taking in a breath to steady himself and draw in some power as he quickly glanced at Jemmy to see what see was doing for a small moment before he looked back at the skeleton walking towards him.

The skeleton kept walking slowly towards Zarakc, intent on killing the shapeshifter if it got the chance. Jemmy hummed a melody as she watched. She also skipped around the graveyard, touching tombstones left and right. Each one she touched began to glow. Soon, a small army of undead graveyard residents were slowly chasing after Zarakc. And they were all angry.

"What did I do? I'm just answering your question. These dead people really don't seem to like you. You should get more practice making friends. Not having enough friends can be a fatal mistake."

The first skeleton, the man in the suit, ripped its own left arm off and threw it at Zarakc.

Zarakc continued to yield ground to the approaching suited skeleton, glancing back behind him to ensure a clear path and back towards Jemmy a few time to keep tabs on his surroundings. She was bringing up even more skeletons now, he wondered if she was actually a child, but quickly dismissed the thought since there was most certainly more pressing matters at hand. This was proving to be an interesting night.

"I did not ask for such an answer. That was someth-" Zarakc replied before being cut off by the need to duck below the arm that was thrown at him from the initial skeleton, not something he would have expected, even if he currently had undead coming after him. He looked at the swarm of skeletons and the one-armed suited 'leader' as jumped back from them, landing on his feet and stood with his left foot in front. Taking in a deep breath as the skeletons made their way towards him, a breeze could be felt moving towards Zarakc as he gathered his energy.

When the group of undead was a few arms' reach away from him, Zarakc threw his hands forward, palms flat and facing the horde with his fingers spread out. With that movement, his energy was unleashed, letting out a sudden gust of wind that slammed against the approaching undead. Hopefully, if that did not halt their progress, the distance between them would offer enough time for Zarakc to evade them still.

At just seven years old, Dea didn't find cemeteries haunting as most children her age did, be it day or night.  Cemeteries were the one place that guaranteed peace and sanctuary away from the chaos of the world, as well as finding absolute solitude when needing to collect ones thoughts.  She ventured into countless graveyards since being on her own.  Most times it was to hide from pursuers when having to snatch a meal, or when authorities realized Dea was a homeless child needing to be slapped back into the system.  It wasn't so hard to tell with her tattered garments and worn holes within her boots.  Her small hand now brushed aside her red hair from her eyes as she sighed with the knowing thought that she would soon need to “borrow” another set of clothes.

There were even times when she sought out comfort within these resting grounds by simply sitting before any random tombstone and confessing her fears or thoughts.  Knowing no one actually heard her, Dea still felt some odd comfort that she really wasn't alone.  The cold tombstones represented people, regardless that they passed away... people that may not have judged her, or tried to do her harm simply because she was “different”.


Such was a particular night as Dea sat huddled with her back resting against a towering angel, poised gracefully upon an ivory pedestal, embracing a bundle of stone roses within her weathered arms and her wings curved delicately about her body.  The name etched with intricate letters at the angel's bare feet read, “Our beloved Anna”, and by the dates below, the child had passed away just a few months after taking her first breath into this world.   A harsh reminder that death beheld no compassion at any age.   She could only hope that she would never find her parents within one of these places.  With her fingers gently clasped around her locket, Dea still clung to the hope that they were still alive somewhere, searching for her as she was them.


Her thoughts were interrupted by the murmuring of unexpected voices which brought her heart to a sickening pause.  Dea's first assumption was grave robbers as she shifted herself on her knees and cautiously rose up to peer around the stone legs of the angel.  Her amber hues widened when seeing the two figures below the moonlight, and although their features were mostly obscured by the shadows, Dea could still make out that one was of an adult size, while the other was surprisingly the size of a child a bit taller than herself.  Not the normal team of usual grave robbers, Dea thought as she began to crawl across the grass to get closer.  It was more out of curiosity than anything that led her to creep from stone to stone, keeping behind or below each marker while straining to catch their words.


Now just yards away, Dea dared to inch around the rectangular tombstone her body now crouched behind only to feel her heart now drop to her feet.  Seeing the dead now protruding from the ground sent a jolt of terror through her spine and her instincts screamed for her to run! Just run and get away!  But it was the odd actions of the young girl that caught Dea's attention and managed to tear her horror stricken gaze away from the walking dead.  Was she actually... skipping about??  The girl appear delighted in her steps while randomly touching the grave markers she passed by! And low and behold, whatever stones she passed by, what lied beneath was awakened and surfaced through the ground in anger!  The performance led Dea to shoot out of her hiding, running straight for the girl and screaming in panic. “STOP!!! What do you think you're doing??”  Dea came to a sudden halt just feet away from the girl while still pleading with her in desperation.    “These are PEOPLE!! They may be dead to you, but they are still loved by those who mourn them! Not to be used like puppets!”

Jemmy felt the wind shifting. Her eyes opened in excitement. Could this guy control the wind? That was amazing! She watched in fascination as Zarakc unleashed a powerful gust of wind, knocking all the skeletons on their backs. Their animation ceased and the undead became simply dead once again. Bones lay scattered across the graveyard. Jemmy started giggling. Someone was going to have to clean this up.

"Stop!"

Jemmy heard a voice call out in desperation. She turned to see a little girl running towards her. Jemmy shook with excitement. The girl was so cute. When Dea had finished her little speech, Jemmy ran up and hugged her.

"You're just too adorable. As you wish, I'll stop playing with the dead people, but only on one condition: I get to play with you instead." Jemmy released Dea from the hug and put both of her shivering hands on Dea's face, feeling the girl's skin. She moved her hands, feeling Dea's hair and her clothing. It was clear that Jemmy didn't want to play with Dea as a friend, but simply as a toy.

"Oh, and Mr. Wind Guy, you've made quite a mess. You better start putting all these dead people back in their coffins."

Zarakc let out a relieved breath when he saw the skeletons return to their regular, inanimate states. His eyes looked over the mass of bones, wanting to ensure all of them were now dormant, as they should be. It was odd to heard that 'child' giggling; she raises the dead and proceeds to skip and giggle. What an interesting person.

Zarakc quickly shifted his gaze towards the source of the sudden scream, only to see another child. This did not seem like the place to draw in children, but yet there were two of them here. An undead-raising, skipping, giggling one, and now another in tattered clothes.

"If that qualifies as 'playing' for her," Zarakc began, referring to the skeletons that now littered the Cemetery, "I would not like to see what see means by 'playing' with another person." He finished, his voice cautious, unsure of what the first child would do when she meant 'play'.

"I was not the one to bring them out of their... coffins." Zarakc returned with a neutral sounding voice again. It sounded like he wasn't familiar with the last word, and had just used it since Jemmy had. His eyes glanced around the area for a moment, half-expecting someone else to stumble upon them or something out of the ordinary happening again.

Dea had fully expected the strange girl to be upset with her for either intruding, or sounding so scolding of her actions, but never anticipated her to become even more giddy while eagerly gathering Dea into her arms.  The shocking embrace instantly caused Dea's body to freeze up.  Not just because she was unaccustomed to physical contact, but her instincts were screaming again.  Something was obviously off with this girl and Dea was sure her own confusion and distrust was written all over her face by the time the girl's hands were pressing on her cheeks.  Her palms felt cold, and Dea seriously doubted it was from touching all of the tombstones during her previous merriment.

When the girl took a moment to address the young man within their company, Dea took several cautious steps back to put distance between them.  True to her word, the mysterious child left the dead to be still, but that didn't curb much of Dea's anger, although she wasn't about to show it.  If her powers could strike up the deceased, there was no telling what else may happen, and the chills coursing through Dea's veins had every nerve on edge as an awkward silence followed.

Her gaze shifted to the other stranger, but she found his reaction to be odd as well.  Skeletons just tore out of the ground and he appeared calm, yet perplexed, where anyone else would've tore out of the cemetery screaming in terror.  Still, Dea couldn't agree more with his words about “playing” when it came to this girl, and it was difficult to access the situation further when Dea still sensed that this encounter was far from over.  Fleeing was still the first thing she wanted to do, but what if that set the girl off into another skip-to-my-loo ”uprising” through the graveyard and into the streets?  

So while biting up her courage, Dea swayed a step casually around one of the nearby tombstones that came waist high and rested her forearms on top of the stones as if to appear relaxed.   Soooo.... I take it you two know each other?”  Dea hadn't seen the entire encounter to know the dead were called upon to attack the man, having been ducked and crouched in hiding while scurrying across the ground to get closer to the scene.  Even if she did, she wouldn't know if he could be trusted just yet either.  Having an extent of experience when facing potential danger, Dea played it calm in hopes to eventually slip away from both of them unnoticed.

Bloodmoon sighed as he made his way to the cemetery Hades had complained that a large group of the dead had risen and Artemis had sent him to go check in on the situation as he got closer he could fill the calling of the champions oath which made this part of his job even more. As he navigated his way through bloodmoon came to a strange sight. There was another teen along with two little girls and a litter of bones and remains of the dead. While his original job was done it seemed his oath kept him here staying out of sight Bloodmoon watched as he engaged his bow from his arm and knocked an arrow. One of the young girls seemed to rest her arms on one of the grave stones while asking if the two other people knew each other. Bloodmoon merely watched what was taking place and waited to see where this situation was going before he made himself know.

Jemmy gave Zarakc a sour look when he said he didn't want to see how she intended to play with the cute little girl. He also said that he hadn't been responsible for removing the bones from the coffins. Obviously, he didn't feel that it was his job to put them back.

Before Jemmy could reply, the cute red-headed girl asked if they knew each other. Jemmy looked at her. She was leaning on a tombstone. So cute! Jemmy wanted to just eat the cute little thing up, literally.

She spoke with an even, relaxed tone, even when her words suggested that she was feeling otherwise. "We just met, actually. Now he's not even kind enough to clean up this mess. How lazy. I was kind enough to explain to him what this place was, and he didn't even thank me for it. Now he's just going to leave these bones all over the place. It makes me so mad that I could just kill him."

Jemmy looked back at Zarakc. "In fact, maybe I will." She swung her head back to look at Dea again. "Or maybe you will. Since you're my new toy, I think its only fitting that you do whatever I want."

Jemmy picked up a rose that had been placed at a tombstone earlier that day. She smelled it. The rose glowed briefly, and then transformed itself into a pistol. Jemmy handed the gun to Dea. "Here you go. Kill him."

"Not the most pleasant meeting either. The initial explanation would have sufficed, the demonstration you gave was quite unnecessary. I do not see why there would be thanks to be given to you. Once again, I was not the one to raise them and send them after a person. Without your action, there would be no mess." Zarakc replied, his voice sounding defensive about it, not getting any sarcasm if there was any to be had.

When Jemmy brought up the notion of being mad enough to kill him and further stated that she intended to, or at least, have the other girl do it, his eyes narrowed a little as he watched Jemmy. As she took a rose from one of the graves and proceeded to turn it into a pistol and hand it to the other girl with an order, Zarakc backed up behind a waist-high grave.

"You are one odd seeming person." Zarakc simply said what was on his mind about Jemmy. Her methods of thinking seemed to be rather off from what Zarakc would assume from people, but then again, he didn't have much experience with interacting with people thus far. This was his second or third interaction with some people, and it was most certainly interesting, and somewhat perplexing.

Zarakc assumed that Dea would refuse the command, though it just might so happen that Jemmy could control people in some manner, he was unaware of what else Jemmy was capable of. He was quite ready to get out of the area if needed, though he was certainly curious as to what else would happen.

The girl's tone may have dropped an octave and calmed somewhat, but her accusations against the young man still shocked Dea to the point of ridiculousness. Seriously?  She summons the dead as a joke and expects gratitude for it, as well as expecting her own mess to be cleaned up?  While biting her tongue from serving a backlash that was none of her business, Dea couldn't think of a single encounter as rude as this girl was.  But that was before the girl's following announcement was even more obnoxious, which left Dea just staring at the gun with a blank expression.  To actually see it turn from a rose into a deadly weapon was unbelievable! But to tell someone else to use it and kill another as simple as saying kill a fly was the last straw for Dea.


In her momentary shock, Dea looked to the other in their company to see he wisely moved behind a stone marker, and she couldn't agree more with his observation of this girl.  Hopefully he could see in Dea's eyes that she would never shoot him, but she had an awful gut feeling that the girl would do itself anyway if Dea refused.


With a slow intake of breath, Dea forced her outward appearance to reveal no more than a frightened child.  Her hand was trembling, but not out of fear as it seemed.  She was straining to keep her eyes averted so the smug girl wouldn't see Dea's planned retaliation.  As she reached for the gun, Dea's hand began to glow over the pistol as her fire magic ignited within her.  Although she couldn't set the gun on fire, being made of metal was enough to heat its scolding surface as hot as boiling water.  She continued increasing the heat and keeping the scorching temperature steady with careful concentration, waiting to see just how long this girl would hold onto it.


Her golden hues finally rose up and met the strange girl's gaze again with a friendly smile.   “I don't think that would be a very nice thing to do...”

bloodmoon growled in anger as he heard what the little girl had done she was going to make the other shoot the other teenager who had moved behind a stone marker. The other girl seemed to be in fear yet her hand began to glow though he didn't know what that meant. Bloodmoon moved over a little while it exposed his location it gave him a clear shot at jemmy. pulling the string of the bow back he aimed ready to fire he let his wolf cloak come to life ready for a fight that seemed to be restarting.

"Such a rude little boy," Jemmy said in response to Zarakc's continued refusal to clean up the mess of bones. He called her an odd person. Talk about an understatement.

The little girl was touching the gun, but hadn't taken it out of Jemmy's hand yet. Something strange happened. The gun kept getting hotter. Jemmy looked down at the gun, curious. It was now glowing orange with heat. She certainly hadn't done that. Of course, it didn't hurt Jemmy, even though the air now smelled like burned flesh. Jemmy looked up quickly at Dea, realizing that the heat was this strange little girl's doing.

Dea was smilling. She told Jemmy that shooting Zarakc wasn't a very nice thing to do.

There was a growl to the side. Out of the corner of her eye, Jemmy could see a man with a bow pointed at her.

"So, you're a metahuman," Jemmy said to Dea. "I hadn't realized that. That makes you a far more interesting toy." Jemmy's eyes started to glow a bright orange. Her mouth smiled far wider than a human's mouth should be able to open, revealing her blackened teeth. "But now you're disobeying me. Do you know what I do to toys that disobey me? I break them."

Jemmy pulled the gun back, but she didn't point it at Dea, nor at Zarakc. She pointed it at the side of her own head. "Mr Bow and Arrow Man, let me save you the trouble." Jemmy pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through her own brain. Amazingly, she stayed standing. A few seconds later, the wound had healed entirely.

"Now then, I have an ungrateful little boy, a broken toy, and a stranger who wants to kill me. Which one of you should I kill first?"