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It had been three days since splashing Reborn with water.

And a certain brunette merteen that had been carefully laying low, for fear of the scary black metal thing the mean human seem to be holding all the time, was getting annoyed. Who knew humans kept grudges so stubbornly? Not to mention so protective of the cloth covering their bodies. Really. Tsuna's material decorations like the strings of pearls and the see-through sparkly seaweed that he had wrapped around his waist got wet all the time. He didn't see him getting mad. Weird humans.

Anyway three days was the limit of his patience and his curiosity which, was almost as insatiable as his appetite, was growling for information. Self-preservation could wait. The half human still barely knew anything nor learned anything during his time in their presence and that was very unacceptable. He had observed their behaviors and habits obviously but without the proper context they were meaningless actions to the brunette. Also, his intuition assured him that the human with funny spiral sideburns wasn't as angered as he had thought originally. Of course that still didn't make Reborn any less dangerous.

Tsuna wondered if there was a name for people who enjoyed other's suffering.

Deciding to risk it the merteen began kicking up his beautiful shimmering sunset colored tail toward the giant floating wooden house. However, maybe hust to be safe he should check out the area furthest from the raven haired human with the temper. Yes that seemed like a very good, very non-suicidal idea.

Swimming to the shadier part of the floating wooden thing his observant gaze caught sight of the human almost completely covered with cloth made of indigo. He was sitting on another wooden object counting his green paper and metal circles that surrounded him. What also caught the brunette's attention was the other shiny objects around him, they were quite familiar to the merteen as he'd seen them consistently underwater- presumably dropped due to unfortunate accidents during the more chaotic times above water. Yet in a way they were completely foreign to him since he had no clue what they were for.

Pulling himself up onto the deck Tsuna couldn't help but wince at the loud splashy, squelching noises he made getting out of water. How embarrassing. Mermaids- especially open water species like him, specialized and prided themselves as silent, fast hunters. Too be so... Loud, was not exactly impressive in his eyes.

Of course the indigo human, Mammon, as he was pretty sure his name was, looked up from his counting immediately. And while he couldn't see it, Tsuna could feel the other's rather intent gaze on him. It was like when he looked at a school of fish in order to determine the quality of it for eating. The brunette found he didn't like the feeling of being under such a gaze that much. He was the hunter, not the other way round.

In spite of the uncomfortable feeling, the brunette brushed it off as another one of those human quirks and taking a mental note to figure it out later.

With the most cheeriest, non-threatening smile he had, he gave a shy wave.

"Um.. Hi?"

"As I'm not getting paid for this conversation this better be quick." The merteen frowned slightly at that. He wasn't the most informed of human behavior but even he at least knew that was rude. Don't they usually respond with a greeting of sorts back? Also there was that strange word that was unfamiliar to the brunette.

"What is this 'paid'? Why can you not speak to me without this 'paid'?" He questioned curiously. Thinking about it, their last short encounter proved that Mammon held many confusing words he hadn't ever hear of much less know of. It was very exciting to learn these new additions to his language of humankind.

The greatest Illusionist, and arguably most greedy, in the world again couldn't help but short circuit temporarily in shock. It still just hadn't clicked that someone didn't know and appreciate the value of money. 'But the boy wasn't human, wasn't just someone.' A part of his brain helpfully supplied. 'Not a human, not a boy, but a monster... Just like you.'

Mammon flinched subtly at the last thought as memories of the past came back like a flurry of leaves in the wind that refuse to scatter too far. His talents weren't always appreciated after all, he hadn't been always appreciated either. You couldn't trust anyone Mammon had learnt. At least money you could depend on. It won't accept you nor betray. With it you are valued and it would never leave you if you won't let it. Money created happiness or at least a sense of satisfaction. The illusionist had realised that cold, harsh snippet of the truth during his experiences in life. The hard way.

"This-" A hand peeking out of the cloth gestured to the hoard of items and such. "Is worth almost everything to me. It gives me happiness, stability and a sense of purpose. What they are worth is many things- food, comfort, power and even lives." Caramel brown eyes stared at the pile. All he saw was paper stacks and metal shiny objects, nothing more nor less. Yet they were worth a life? Worth power? How strange indeed.

"So if I did this 'paid' thing with your shiny objects, metal circles and green paper what would I get?"

The human smirked. "If you paid me with enough treasure, coins and notes then I would do virtually anything."

"Hee~eh?"

The illusionist was a little taken aback by the shining pure eyes of awe and understanding. Usually his views on money were met with condescending pity or disgust. Not this. The creature was truly, honestly enthralled by the concept. "Would you even teach me some human things?"

Mammon snorted, affronted at such an obviously stupid question. "Obviously. However for such a menial thing you have to pay me quite a bit."

The merteen thought for a bit before nodding in childish excitement. It was almost endearing enough for the illusionist to pay the boy for such a sight. Almost.

"Wait a few minutes!" The creature called as he pushed himself back into the sea, flashing sunset orange scales the last thing he saw before the teen disappeared into the ocean's depths.

The illusionist didn't know why but he waited. He waited. He didn't even go back to counting his money. Just waited, sitting on the edge of the ship watching the waves and the sky, waiting. Maybe he was simply very curious or maybe -even if it's only a small teensy part of him- maybe he wanted to trust the strange innocent creature, trust without the safety net of money, to invest his last bit of hope on the mermaid. Maybe it was a bit of both.

Mammon only had to wait four minutes before the teen resurfaced, his hair weighted down slightly from the water and his exposed shoulders glistening with the sea. The illusionist couldn't help but avert his eyes slightly from the admittedly tantalizing sight especially coupled with the radiance of the brunette's victorious grin. If he had a device that could instantly paint that image he could sell millions, the indigo clad being thought absentmindedly.

Maybe he'll get Verde to invent one. Hopefully for a good price.

"Mammon! Mammon! I got your 'paid' things!" The brunette chirped cheerily, his hand outstretched as he waved holding something sparkling in the sunlight. The illusionist couldn't help but wipe a little bit of drool on the corner of his mouth at that. Quickly composing himself he merely patiently responded back. "It's called payment but yes... you did... good."

Tsuna who was in the process of pulling himself up on deck just grinned with such childish pride that the hooded male unknowingly quirked his own lips in his own small smile. Really, even Mammon had to admit that this creature was quite... exquisite. The thought was hurriedly pushed back in favor of once again drooling over the treasures the mermaid had brought to him.

There were a few pieces of useless trash that the teen collected, plastic, pebbles, pieces of glass, some dead coral. Mammon mentally noted in his mind to teach the boy the difference between treasure and trash. It'll be a very important investme- *ahem*- lesson for the boy to learn.

However the loot wasn't completely useless. Far from it actually. Pearl necklaces, a small golden statute of some sort of deity, a jeweled hairbrush and an assortment of glittering gems of amazing clarity were found in the mix. It wasn't high in quantity but quality wise- let's just say even Mammon's best items in his own loot paled ever so slightly in comparison.

"I did... Good?" The teen's voice was nervous and a little hesitant. If he was a normal person the illusionist would have cooed at the voice alone. Instead he merely nodded and unknowing why his hand automatically reached out to ruffle the wet, silky soft hair of the other. "You did good." He answered back quietly with a nod.

The smile Tsuna gave was priceless.

"Hey Mammo- oh what's going on here?"

The strange pair were sitting face to face, Mammon was the one who glanced up to the Chinese martial artist. Surrounding them was various treasures and valuable items that normally the hooded male would never let see the light of day let alone to another person- half fish or otherwise. There was even a rather large wad of green notes in the brunette's hand.

"There is no need for me to discuss my current actions." Mammon answered shortly while the merteen at the same time turned to the man and happily chirped, "Mammon-san is teaching me human things!"

Fon had to hide a chuckle behind his long sleeves as the greedy illusionist shot the cheery brunette a glare. However the chuckle died down when the creature did a double take at him before paling rapidly like he was the most disturbing thing the mermaid ever saw. And while he wasn't vain, Fon was aware that he had very attractive looks that could easily stand side by side with his more popular comrades. So seeing that expression of almost horrified curiosity threw him off a little bit more than he'd like to admit.

"Is... There something wrong little one?" The kind martial artist asked worriedly, bending down so he was eye level with the two. To his surprise, the half human seemed to flinch, trying his best to subtly shy away from him. The teen looked confused, a little frightened even. The illusionist sitting across from the brunette raised a brow toward the Chinese. Now that never happened. Not to him at least.

"Seems like Tsuna is afraid of you." Mammon observed in a mix of bemusement and wonder. Fon was possibly the least intimidating person, not to mention one of the best when handling children, on the ship. Not many would run away from him. In fact the illusionist had actually seen enemies run to him, in preference to fighting someone truly terrifying like Reborn or himself.

Tsuna looked at Tails warily. It was different when there were many of the other humans with him but seeing this strange human by himself… The brunette's tail shifted nervously.

"Tsuna?" The teen turned to look at the cloaked human. "Is there something wrong with Fon?"

Rather timidly the brunette gestured what he hoped was a come closer signal for Mammon. It wasn't that he was scared per say... It was just... Tsuna muttered something when he deemed the human close enough.

"What? Kid you're going to have to pay me again if you're going to make me strain my ears here."

"I said…" The brunette took a deep breath, face heating up rather attractively. "His cloth makes me.. umm, what is the word.. uncomfortable."

The two humans stared at him incredulously. The merteen just fidgeted under the gaze. It was the martial artist that broke the silence.

"I guess I'll go change then..."

Fon came back a few minutes later with a darker red shirt and black pants instead of his usual fire red and white attire. Hopefully the strange behaviour from the mermaid would finally be over and done with now. After all while he didn't show it the man was just as curious as the rest of them on the creature and felt a strange magnetic attraction toward it. Seeing the brunette... reject him was not a pleasant feeling.

Tsuna was still there, giggling sweetly as Mammon said something that the martial artist couldn't catch. Fon felt his usual half-smile twitch downward for a moment. Shaking the strange feeling away the raven haired male knelt down in front of Tsuna, though when those caramel brown eyes looked at him it was hard to ignore that unusual bubbly warm sensation in his chest.

"Hey there Tsuna." Fon said softly, nervously. It was uncanny how thrown off his usual, steadfast pace the arcobaleno was. He didn't understand why this mattered so much to him but it did. The brunette's eyes scanned over the male, stopping at his shirt. Fon followed his gaze quizzically. "Ah, yeah it's a new shirt. Do you like it?"

The look in the merteen's eyes really said it all.

"I'm going to say no." The illusionist who had been watching the scene as he casually counted a stack of bills, replied with dry bemusement. Mammon was never Fon's biggest fan, in the cloaked male's opinion the smug Chinese who thought and he quotes 'that martial arts is obviously better than illusions', needed to be taken down a peg or ten.

Fon looked so lost, the smile no longer on his face. "Do you not like the shirt? Should I go change? I could borrow something from Reborn if you want."

The usually stoic, emotionless facade of the greedy illusionist nearly crumbled to reveal his vindictive pleasure at the sight of Fon looking so confused and uncertain. Bet no one had ever done that to him before. Fon may not realize it but Mammon knew the male had enough pride to rival Collonelo's, maybe even Reborn, however no one has ever called him out of it since that ego was never so openly expressed.

For someone to openly be unnerved by- not even fear or dislike, but a strange mixture of both- the Fastest Arcobaleno of all Arcobaleno was a rather big blow to the martial artist. As an illusionist Mammon specialized in the workings of the mind and to his glee realized this sudden, unexpected reaction to Fon would very likely result in the Chinese fighter trying hard to start pleasing the merteen in order to get Tsuna's approval. Just like a puppy. It was even funnier considering Fon seemed to be completely oblivious to all of this.

What was that color on the humans cloth? And why was it so... unnerving?

Fon had came back with merely a different shade of the cloth instead of a less disturbing color. Tsuna couldn't explain this sudden aversion but all he knew was looking at it made his instincts go into a frenzy. Like he couldn't fully register what he was seeing yet that seemed stupid since it was right before his eyes. The more human part of him, the one that clearly see this strange new color was fighting with his instincts that denied it even there, it wasnt nice. And Tsuna did not like it.

Which in turn meant that Tsuna did not like Fon.

Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Tsuna was aware he did not hold enough information to cast out an opinion on the long haired human. However it was true that the brunette found the male possibly the least likeable and therefore least trustworthy human on the ship. It wasn't just the strange color. Ok it played a major role but it was also that contrast. That serene smile and kind face coupled with that speed and strength... It definitely put the merteen on edge.

To be fair all the other humans were dangerous too. Or at least in Tsuna's standards of prey. While the merteen still barely scraped the surface of figuring out these amazingly mysterious two legged creatures he had always long ago realised they held much intelligence. And knowledge was their weapon. In terms of physical strength they were probably on par or below a simple shark's or octopus'. Their sight was near useless in daytime and their movements dulled in the vast blue water. But with intellect they had devised ways around their limitations.

The metal thing Reborn held seemed to be constructed to make up for lack of speed and tore easily through the wood. The brunette had seen the yellow haired male 'take care' of his own metal things as well, though those were much bigger in size. The female had her own collection of those things as well, thinking back. Verde didn't seem to hold any weapon other than the strange liquids he always plays with, sometimes though the merteen would see a flash of silver metal underneath that white long piece of cloth he uses.

These objects had been made to make up for this species lack of physical capabilities. Such fascinating creativity. It wasn't a wonder why Tsuna marvelled these strange beings who seemed to be able to make these magical items from… something. The whole process was something the tailed teen realised was just another mystery to him.

Mammon had no weapons he knew of but the man held a power, the brunette could sense this at least. If he had to guess it would be similar to a Siren's ability to trick men into the sea. The cloaked human did say he was an illusionist. Maybe illusions were like Mesmer or Charm?

But Fon seemed to use nothing, he held no weapons of any style or form. This probably meant the man relied completely on his body and physical capabilities to defend himself. Admittedly the male was far superior to his fellow humans in that aspect alone but the long haired male in Tsuna's opinion could be the most arrogant of them all. Sure the merteen had been taken by surprise by them before but in a true one on one confrontation even superior human strength would hold nothing on him.

The human called Skull was the same yet completely different. Skull didn't seem to hold any weapons either. However there was something just unappealing about this particular human's body. The brunette marvelled at far humans have evolved, how varied they were, this man decorated in strange metal with his lack of offensive power ironically out of everyone, he would probably survive the best overall. In Tsuna's opinion, the pierced human was the one who had the highest chance out of the group to survive him, not defeat him, but survive him.

But right now Tsuna wasn't here at this moment to contemplate the intriguing body of the indigo male or the outcomes of himself fighting the humans. He'll do that at a more suitable time.

Forcing himself back to reality the merteen saw Fon shifting slightly uncomfortably under the smaller man's gaze. The streak of wild instinct inside the brunette preened under the fact an obvious Alpha type like this individual looked so submissive because of him. It felt rather… good.

"Tsuna?" Mammon prompted.

The brunette blinked a few times before focusing back onto Fon. "Oh right. Uh, yes I would prefer if you changed the colour of the cloth covering your torso if you don't mind." He requested as politely as he could, though even he could hear the slight cold edge to his voice.

Fon must have heard it too because his smile looked a little more strained than before. "O-of course." And with that he swiftly left to change once again.

The illusionist couldn't help but let out a small vindictive chuckle. "Wow Tsuna, keep that up and he's going to be like a whipped dog around you." The merteen just tilted his head, confused.

"Oi Mammon-senpai! Fon-senpai! Everyone's wondering where you two- what the?."

"Hello Skull." Fon smiled as he looked up from his cards he was holding. Mammon nodded acknowledging before turning back to Tsuna and whispering the basic rules to the game. The mermaid barely noticed the new intrusion, too busy struggling with the concepts of this strange human activity.

There were many things the diver wanted to ask. Many questions came to the forefront of his mind. However the first thing that came out of his mouth was-

"You're wearing Reborn's shirt."

"I am."

"Why?"

Fon's smile widened. "Because Tsuna-kun prefers it this way."

Skull raised an eyebrow.

"You're also wearing his pants."

"Well I would look quite foolish if I wore my own pants with it." Fon countered. The pierced male's brow crinkled. The martial artist seemed to be.. different, not enough for an acquaintance or stranger to notice but enough. Yet it was such a subtle shift Skull couldn't really explain what this difference was.

Shrugging it off, the pierced male joined the strange group sitting on the ground, completely forgetting the original reason he even came to this part of the ship. "Sooo, watcha doing?"

"Blackjack." Tsuna chirped happily, his bare chest puffing out in pride that he remembered the strange name of the game. Skull made a few admiring ooh-ing noises that one would usually use when dealing with children or small animals, which seemed to appease the creature. The merteen giggled as he shuffled his body so there was room in the circle for the standing male, scales sparking like the water at sunset as his tail moved in lazy, content motions. "Want to join?"

Skull was momentarily stunned at the offer, no one ever asked him to join anything. Ever. Usually he forcibly had to wiggle himself in or whine and sulk till someone decided it was just easier to let him participate in whatever they were doing instead. Clearly from the looks on the other two's faces (though Fon's was much more polite and restrained) they thought so too. It was completely unprecedented.

Tsuna looked up at the diver with inquisitive innocence, cocking his head at an angle, trying to understand this lack of reaction. "You don't want to join?" He asked slowly, cautiously, unsure if he had done something wrong or offending toward the human. "I mean, it is not, uh, you don't have to if it makes you feel bad?"

That seemed to break whatever daze the pierced male was in. Skull looked at the merteen with a mixture of awe and slight panic. It reminded the brunette of how he felt when he was about to catch and consume his first Great White shark. "No, no of course I don't feel bad!" He shouted rather unnecessarily in Tsuna's opinion. "The great Skull-sama would be delighted to join in your games!"

Tsuna smiled brightly at the acceptance to his offer and fidgeted to show his own delight. If he was underwater he would've flipped and twirled to show his gratitude, as his species usually used such actions and body language to aid in communication, though he had noticed hand gestures seemed to also be a big part of human speech as well. He hoped his fidgeting properly portrayed his happiness and not an act of aggression. Luckily the purple (but a different purple to Mammon obviously) haired human didn't really seem to care about the fidgeting and energetically sat down to play the strange games of the picture cards.

"Ace Jack!"

"It's Black Jack." Fon corrected good naturedly. The other two Arcobaleno however were not as content with the turn of events.

"Thank god we aren't betting any money." Mammon muttered, while the illusionist's eyes were shadowed by his hood it wasn't very hard to figure out the cloaked male was glaring at his hand of cards. Not to mention was completely ignoring the fact he had practically tried insisting on the exchange of money during the game for the last five rounds.

"How do you keep doing that?!" Skull whined, throwing his own set of cards on the floor dramatically. Tsuna giggled, enjoying the theatrics of this human.

"It is a very simple game." The brunette stated with surprisingly no condescension at all. "You just get two cards and choose to give up or try get a good-er number. I do not see how it would be hard."

Tsuna then clapped his hands with a large grin.

"Now. Let us try another of these card games! I hear there are ones called Poke-her and another known as.. the Going of the Fish?"

Skull mock groaned and Mammon's eyes rolled so hard they could tangibly feel it. Fon merely covered his mouth with his arm, hiding a chuckle. It was a strange thing if one thought about it, this lazy afternoon with the sun and clouds watching in the sky as three cursed human beings- a diver, a martial artist and an illusionist- all relaxing on the back of a boat whilst a mermaid completely decimates them in card games.

Definitely a strange thing. But in a good way.

They were just in the middle of a hair-raisingly suspenseful round of Go Fish when suddenly Tsuna felt an instinctive tug, an echoing pulse inside him. Surprised the brunette dropped his cards, scattering on the deck messily. The three arcobaleno looked up at the merteen who currently had a puzzled frown adorning his delicate features.

"Tsuna?"

Tsuna tried to give a reassuring smile but failed spectacularly. "I'm sorry, I am suddenly feeling… unwell." The merteen murmured, his hand absentmindedly rubbing his chest were the strange sensation was throbbing inside of him. It wasn't too hard to ignore but it was there, like waves of the ocean were beneath his skin, hitting the walls of his being in a slow rhythmic beat. He had never heard of anything like this ever. "I should be getting back to the water anyway." Tsuna nodded to himself, albeit a little reluctantly. "I'm starting to dry out again. Goodbye."

With that the brunette quickly turned to face the sea and determinedly push himself closer to the water, barely acknowledging the goodbyes following him as he did. He didn't even turn back when he heard the near silent footsteps, signalling the appearance of another of the fascinating human beings which in any other circumstances he would've at least glanced up to observe who they were but this wasn't any circumstance. This situation needed his full attention.

As Tsuna submerged himself into the cool salty embrace of the ocean the merteen still couldn't keep the furrowing of his brows from his face. The brunette let himself swim around the giant driftwood thing known as a 'ship' or 'boat' as he began to think furiously about this new feeling in his chest. Even when the sun began to leave and the moon rose Tsuna still couldn't identify this sensation from either knowledge of his people nor the books he'd read. But there was one thing he finally realised.

Something was coming. His intuition was practically buzzing with anxiety and nervousness and even confusion. He could't pinpoint the reason why, not even a vague notion. But whatever it was, it was big, it wasn't going to be ending any time soon once it starts and it'll be coming soon.

The half fish, half human felt sick at the thought. This wasn't like his interest with the unknown and complexity of humans, this was something completely unimaginable, like a shadow in the deepest sea chasms. For some reason you knew it was there, but you just can't see how far that darkness of the shadow extends until it's too late and you're swallowed whole.

In an attempt to soothe himself, Tsuna began murmuring the all too familiar song that he and every other merperson had learnt and listened to since as long as anyone could remember,

Shades of green and aqua blue

The sea painted with a thousand hues

Beneath the thundering ocean waves

Out of the reach of mariners graves

A living testimony swims in majesty, once the rulers of the sea

Once the rulers of the sea

Reborn watched quietly as the shimmering tail, the colour of a thousand fiery sunsets all compacted and sparkling in each scale under the light of the sun, slipped from the boat and his vision. A small splash of water was the last thing to be seen from departure of the ever curious creature. The hitman stubbornly ignored an unexplainable pang of annoyance, a strange twisting in his throat at the thought of him just having missed Tsuna by a few seconds and focused on his three fellow cursed companions instead.

"What are you doing playing games? Lal says she can see land ahead, we should be arriving on shore in a day and a half at least."

Ignoring the cheers of the idiotic lackey, Reborn couldn't help but smirk at the palpable relief from his other arcobaleno. He too could not wait to finally be released, even if only for a short while, away from them all.

"Yes, freedom is coming."

There lies the hidden gems from beneath the ocean

With songs of praise and true devotion

To the God of creation and of the sea

To the God of creation and of the sea

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE LOST?!" A pale red haired man, with a tribal patterned tattoo on his face that looked like fire, screamed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" A blonde man with eyes orange, the color of the sky when the sun sets over the horizon, smiled sheepishly and not looking at all that sorry, much to the redhead's frustration. "It's just, while I was having my turn navigating I looked up at the sky and got lost in the stars and clouds and-"

The blonde's rambling was cut off by a groan from the tattooed male. Said male was rubbing his forehead in a failing attempt to soothe his oncoming headache. "This is exactly why you're a shitty captain and we should've learnt by now never to put you near the wheel what with your said excuse for an attention span."

Sunset eyes glittered cheekily as they met with annoyed ruby red ones, "But isn't just so exciting now that we have no real direction? Think of it as an adventure G!"

The man, G, muttered something about where he personally thought the blonde could stick his adventures up of and glared. "Captain, we can't keep going off from our mission. You know how important finding all the artefacts are and thanks to your father we finally have a vague hint to what one of them is! I don-"

"Shhhh! G can you feel that?" The redhead frowned harder at being interrupted by silently focused his senses out to the world. Unable to perceive anything notably different, G turned to his captain to complain. Any protests however were swiftly silenced as he'd caught sight of those orange-coloured eyes. Usually his captain's eyes would glitter and brighten with emotion like a flickering fire. Now they positively glowed like the setting sun. The owner of those eyes lifted his head to the sky, the sea breeze brushing golden gravity-defying locks of hair and he laughed.

"Can't you feel it? Adventure is coming."

A sea being robbed by cruel thieves

The song of the jewels drifts silently away

The hands of man have silenced their praise

As God looks down in his majesty

As tears trickle down on the silent sea...

As tears trickle down on the silent sea...

At the forefront of a large ship the colour of the ash and the shadows and the darkest of the night, a man looked up at the sky with a twisted, tired, wry smile on his aristocratic, though slightly reptilian features. Shoulder-length straight hair and cat like eyes the same colours as his vessel contrasted greatly with his pale skin that holds no right for maintaining it's whiteness what with the constant sun beating down on him. Approaching him is another, much taller man, cloaked in black and covered head to toe in bandages. Only a small part of his face, badly mangled, reveals a disturbing inverted eye which was currently watching his master who sighed longingly.

"Our wait is over. It is finally time."

The bandaged man stiffened at the proclamation. A fiery thrill running down his back and the deadened self inside his equally deadened husk of a body now aflame with life again.

"What should I tell the others Master?"

"Tell them.." The aristocratic man didn't turn to look back at his faithful right hand man, instead he looked down at the clear, colourless bauble hanging around his neck. Long fingers dancing with the accursed mockery of an artefact before harshly gripping the thing with enough force to bend iron. The clear pacifier darkening as flames the colour of the night temporarily engulfed it and Bermuda Von Veckenschtein grinned, warping his usual refined looks into a terrifyingly, wild hatred built only from centuries of being wronged.

"Tell them… Vengeance is coming."