Broken-Deadbeat Relatives

The moon was full, the cloud dark and ominous, the air was frigid and the trees swayed side to side with loud groans. The wind howled with a frightful sound that could freeze your blood. But the sight that REALLY would frighten was the Rook-Tennyson family, lounging about in their dark and gloomy graveyard out back of their creepy, old, haunted mansion.

The entire family, living AND Dead, were all gathered in the cemetery.

Reclining on a blanket in the center was Ben and Rook; Rook laid on his back to rest his head on his husband/Heart's Flames thigh, while Ben sat upright. Ben then reached over to a silver platter, filled with night-crawlers, bugs, reptiles and other critters, fried in Amber-Ogia sauce.

He plucked one of the critters, a beetle, and dropped it into Rook's open, waiting mouth. Rook crunched on it happily, while Ben took in the surroundings with a happy sigh.

"This is a lovely spot," Ben sighs as he strokes Rook's tri-hawk. "So unspoiled."

"We really should picnic here more often, Beloved." Rook hums after swallowing the beetle. Behind him and Ben, Ester and Argit were playing a game of bat-mitten, with a grenade as a birdie.

Ester was a Krahoo Princess who befriended Ben and Rook, and Argit was her husband and consort. They lived with the Rook-Tennysons, helping out with the kids and paying rent. (Thou only Ester really did that, as Argit mostly dug graves for the family.)

"The night air is so cold, chilling and abysmal." Ester takes a deep breathe, smacking the grenade at her husband, where it promptly exploded in his face.

~Boom!~

"A-koff!!" Argit dusts at himself, clothes burnt, all black with soot and nose smashed flash to his face, as he smiles at Ester.

"Yes, it's a sweet spot, babe." Argit agrees.

Their children were playing in the cemetery as well, Ren, Bailey and Ergho were dressed in long dark, trench coats. Ren and Ergho were looking over spell book they got from the library of Vanessa, Ren and Bailey's Godmother.

"It's nice to hang out with the extended family, Eh, Albedo?" Ben calls out cheerfully to his Glavan turned human, counterpart. Albedo was reclining his head against a headstone, as he sat in the misting, open grave, holding up a reflector.

"You are blocking my moonlight, Bailey Rook Tennyson." Albedo scolds the revonnghander hybrid gently. "I was not born with this deathly pallor."

"Sorry, Albedo." Bailey apologized, as Ren shut the book he and Ergho were looking into, and nudged his Twin on the shoulder.

"Come on, Bay, I found the perfect grave," Ren said as he, Bailey and Ergho made their way past Ben and Rook.

"Where are you three going?" Ben inquires as the Teens passed by.

"To Raise the Dead." Ren replies sinisterly.

"Take your jackets off, or you won't catch a chill," Ben gently reprimands the kids, who promptly take off their jackets as asked. "That's better."

"Ma'jun, how is that 'Slither Surprise' coming along?" Rook called out as he nuzzled his head against Ben's thigh to stare at the full moon.

Said woman was stirring a large wooden spoon into a cauldron, that glowed green within as Khyber stood by with a large morning-star *Aka a spiked-ball on a stick* as she stirred it, she stopped. She began to struggle with the spoon, as something roared and hissed from within the cauldron. Khyber immediately started to slam the morning-star into the cauldron, as claws and a tail flailed out as he hit it, until green blood covered the spiked ball.

"Ufff!" Vanessa grunts, as she pulls out the spoon with the end bitten clean off.

"Dinner's almost ready!" She calls out cheerfully.


While the adults where enjoying themselves, Ren, Ergho and bailey were standing over a grave, thou Ergho reclined on his side by the grave. It's headstone feature the etching of a blond man, with a dazzling smile and a halo of light around his head.

It read, "Here lies Michael Morningstar, his shining light was put out when it radiated brightest."

The twins were performing some dark ceremony, Bailey stood over the headstone with a lit black candle in her hand, as her brother read from a large spell-book with a blood red coloring. He was reading a spell in the book, which they'd gotten from Vanessa's library, her being a immensely powerful sorceress and were going to resurrect a family member. The mystic runes that made the spell in the book, glowed deep purple, as Ren read them out loud.

~Inoctrae, Tempory, Indoma-stasai, Dolaarus-Doopla, Amiyasu, Amiyasu, Amijiisu!~

Ren finished the spell, his voice echoing as he shuts the book tight, Bailey and Ergho stare down at the grave with him. But nothing happens, no rumbling of earth, or dead raising from the ground.

"This is never gonna work...." Ergho sighs in boredom.

"Ergho, can't you ever look on the darkside of...."

Bailey begins to scold him, when suddenly she is interrupted by a silver-gloved hand bursting out of the ground, it grabs Ergho's face tightly.

"REN!! BAILEY!!" Ergho screams is muffled by the hand, which begins to glow a black aura, that soon envelops his body and sucks out his mana.

Ren watches with a blank expression, not moving to help as Bailey cackles in glee.


"Here's to Death." Ben holds up a glass up Amber-Ogia juice to Rook, who laces his arm around Ben's, so the two are facing each other's glass.

"May nothing come between us, Beloved." Rook toasts to Ben, as they clink their glasses.

"Ahem."

The two froze as they were about to drink from each others glass, and looked up in alarm to see someone they'd not seen in over 25 years.

Michael MorningStar, aka Darkstar Masters. A previous adopted son of Vanessa, who fell in with a dark magical coven, sucking the lifeforce out of girls to increase his good looks and magical powers. Once Darkstar was very handsome: short blond hair, pink flawless skin, blue eyes and a slim muscular body. But after he met ben and the gang his looks went down hill: his body lost most of his muscles, his skin became Grey and wrinkled, the top of his head lost a lot of hair with was left of it white like a old man's hair and his face is SO ugly and wrinkled not even his adopted mother would love him. He grinned down at the happy couple.

"Hi, Cousin." Darkstar turns his bulging eyes to Ben. "Benjamin. My Jewel. My Love. I've been dying to see you again...."

Darkstar gets in between the two, taking the stunned Ben's hand, and kissing the back of it lovingly.


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The entire family was indeed shocked, Vanessa more due to believing her adopted son was dead and gone, and after getting him a silver visor helmet to cover up his.. "Good Looks." They all gathered into the main sitting parlor, with its strange and bizarre occupants, and the items littering and decorating the room.

Vanessa, Argit and Khyber sat on one side of the room with V, seated in a chair and Argit on one made of human bones, while Khyber stood behind Vanessa. Laying at their feet was a drained Ergho, who Vanessa poured mana back into as Ren watched from beside Argit with concern. Then, Ren would turn his eyes to frown at Darkstar, who was getting VERY close to a uncomfortable Ben on the couch. Though Darkstar leaned back a little, when Rook made his way into the room with a tray of drinks, blood red and steaming.

"Michael MorningStar, as you live in breathe." Rook chuckles at the joke, though Darkstar turns to look at him with a disdainful glance. "It is good to have you back, Cousin."

"It's good to be back, Cousin." He turns his helmeted face to Ben, who blushes as he knows Darkstar is giving him a passionate look from under the helmet.

"The children have resurrected one of the Family's finest." Rook beams happily.

"Loathsome, sadistic, duplicitous, insidious!!" Vanessa says, full well knowing her son better than anyone.

"Yep. Sounds like a real ladies man." Argit chuckles.

"Actually, he had his sights only on ONE person back in the day," Rook admits.

"Who?" Ren asks inquisitively.

"That would be your lovely father." Darkstar chuckles, gesturing to Ben who gives Darkstar a thankful smile, but edges away a little.

"We were quite the item." Darkstar purrs.

"Oh, you were never 'an item', Michael." Vanessa scolds, helping a now revived Ergho to his feet and handing him to his father.

"It's 'Darkstar', Mother." Darkstar says forcefully.

"Please, that is only the name you took after you hooked up with that Coven." Vanessa scoffs, accepting a glass from Rook, who goes around letting the others, minus the kids, take a drink from the tray.

"And we were never...Together," Ben finally pipes up, after sipping from his glass. "My mother had arranged our marriage, I only knew you for a short while, and I knew Rook for a year, when he was..."

"Engaged to your Sister Jennifer, correct?" Darkstar points out, making Rook and Ben wince at the reminder of his sister.

"Well, at any rate we would've been husband and wife, if it hadn't been for Blonko," Darkstar shrugs as he pulls off his helmet to reveal his ghastly face again. "That. And my untimely death, of course."

"Is it why you look...." Argit gestures to his face with a grimace.

"Oh, no this was....a backfired spell." Darkstar explains

"How DID you die, Cousin Darkstar?" Ren pointedly asks.

Darkstar gives him a stare, before digging his fingers into the side of his neck, everyone stares in slight alarm and intrigue, as he wiggles his fingers into his neck, before pulling something out from the wound on the side of his neck.

"Chocked to Death on a toothpick." He explains holding up said toothpick for all to see, and then throws through the air, striking Argit in the forehead forcing it backwards. Yet, he remains standing and supporting his son, who's a little wobbly, and looks at Darkstar with a sneer as the toothpick is sported on his forehead.

"So, what are your plans now that your back from the Dead?" Ben asks to cut the tension.

"Oh, I don't know." Darkstar puts back on his helmet. "Travel a little, check up on the news, spend some time with my mother....KILL BLONKO AND MARRY YOU."

Everyone's eyes bulge, and mouths drop open, except for Rook who is standing near Ben and holding his hand. While the others stare in horror at Darkstar, worried as to what would happen next.

A lone wolf howled outside, before Ben and Rook burst into laughter along with Darkstar, Argit chuckles weakly, dragging his son out of the room to rest. While Vanessa's eyes narrow at her son, as Khyber briefly puts his hand onto his dagger; Ren watching with a blank expression from his spot.

"Oh, Cousin Darkstar. No wonder we called him the 'Gag-Myster.'" Rook chuckled, before looking away awkwardly. "Apart from that whole choking and toothpick incident."

Bailey then ran by through the room, causing Ben to call out to her with a frown, "Bailey!"

The human-revonnaghander hybrid froze in her tracks at the sound of her Papa's voice.

"What have I told you about running in the house?" Ben scolds, then turns and pulls a large pair of scissors out of the knitting basket near the couch and hands them to Bailey.

"Not without these." Bailey accepts them with a smile.

"Gee. Thanks, Papa." Bailey dashes off faster than ever with the scissors.

Ben looks around and sniffs the air a bit, "Is that rotting flesh I smell?"

Darkstar leans over and says in a flirting tone, "Well, I have been dead 25 years."

"Oh, not you." Ben smiles at him, and looks more sure of what he's smelling.

"There's no mistaking THAT Smell," Ben's face breaks into a wide grin. "Why Grandpa Max has whipped up a batch of his..."

"Hemlock Pot-Pie!" Grandpa Max calls out cheerfully as he walks into the room, holding a plate of a steaming, green substance.

"Come and get it!" Max calls out to the family.

"Yummy!" Vanessa cheers.

"Mmmm~" Ben hums as he hurries over to get a piece of the snack.

"So, Darkstar, what is it like to be dead?" Rook asks Darkstar, who follows behind him and speaks in a low tone.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." But he freezes when he see's Ren right there next to him, obviously he overheard Darkstar's muttering, but Darkstar acts casual about it.

"Little Renoir, and how are you?"

"Suspicious." Ren responds as his eyes narrow in distrust.

"Hehehe...Oh..." Darkstar turns and walks out of the room, Ren keeping his eyes on him for as long as he could. Ren was gonna have to keep an eye on his Cousin, for his father's sake.