Barbados

“Hello?” Answered a familiar voice.

“Marius? It’s me, Barbados. I need your help.”

“I- - “

“No time. Meet me at the Lucky Leprechaun Bar and Grill.” Click.

Marius Realm sat down at a table in the Lucky Leprechaun Bar and Grill, waiting for his contact to arrive. An old friend of his was supposed to show up and explain to him why he was calling this meeting. As he waited, he mused over the sign that hung in the window of the restaurant.

Leaning against the name of the establishment was a drunken leprechaun in a green top hat and breeches. The pleasant smile spread across the features face was unnatural to Marius. Humans had an almost comical misconception about the Lowerworld’s best lawyers. As a Lowerworlder himself, Marius could attest that it was rare to even see a leprechaun in anything except a suit and tie.

Marius smiled as he thought over all the misconception of the human race. The myths about vampires sucking blood from humans, of shapeshifters stealing the soul of any shape they take, of werewolves only shifting at the full moon, he laughed quietly to himself, humans. The door opened and Marius looked up to see his informant, Barbados. The host led him over and leered at them. Barbados waved him away.

Marius inhaled softly, it had been almost four years since he’d seen Barbados in person. Nothing had changed, not his blond hair pulled back in a short, tight ponytail, not his twinkling blue eyes or the laugh lines around his eyes. Correction, one thing had changed, there were worry lines between his brows. Something Barbados previously never allowed himself to do (worry that is).

Compared to him, Marius was entirely different. His once short hair was now almost shoulder length, the curls delicately accentuated. He looked almost dead on his feet, like being in this humanized area made him tired. His worry lines had faded somewhat. The most constant thing about him was the intensity of his blue eyes.

Shaking off the thought process, he stood, meeting Barbados in front of the table to shake his hand. Barbados offered him a tight lipped smile, one he returned equally as unenthusiastically. They sat down together.

“You called?” Marius said, looking simply at the demon; he detested small talk, getting to business.

“Yeah, thought you might want the news that your old buddy Labolas is up to no good.” A hiss escaped Marius as he clenched his teeth to keep from cursing loudly.

He glared at the demon that had taken the guise of a longhaired, young mobster. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“’Fraid not boss.” He took a sip of his water. “Labolas is back and as evil as ever.”

Before they could discuss it further, uproar from outside the bar alerted them to a problem. Without saying a word, they stood together and went outside.

Two women were fighting outside, one was short and dark-haired, she was trying to push off a tall blonde woman who had her pinned against the ground, bared canines dangerously close to the shorter woman’s exposed neck. The mortals and their unobservant eyes never caught the occasional flash of bones that could be seen behind the blonde female’s skin.

“A skeleton, probably tailed you here most likely sent by Labolas.” Marius hissed. He pushed his way through the crowd, furious at himself for allowing the meeting to go on in such a public place, where any number of Earthlings could be harmed. But he was more so furious with Barbados for calling the meeting.

The skeleton turned towards the commotion from the crowd and as she turned Marius realized he recognized her. “Claudia, long time no see.” He made a tsking sound, as if she was a small child that had been caught doing something wrong.

“Realm.” She hissed back, stepping away from the short woman, who up close seemed to be a lot younger than Marius initially realized.

“Why don’t you let her alone and tell me what you wanted to tell me.” Her eyes narrowed as flesh started to melt away from the bone, showing Claudia’s true form. Without any sort of warning, she lunged at him, trying to grab his long curls he hadn’t had last time they fought.

Even if Marius was rusty, he wasn’t rusty enough to forget about his training. Quicker than the eye could quite follow, Marius drew his sword from the holster at his hip and swung it in an upward arc towards the unprotected underside of her ribcage, catching her in between the ribs. Caught off balance by the right-handed swing, she flew several feet. Claudia hit the wall of a building and an audible crack echoed off the alleyway.

Claudia lay on the ground, her spine crushed. Marius cursed, under his breath, Crushed spines mean nothing to Monsters like her. He strode towards her and drove his sword downwards in between her ribs, right where her heart should be. There was a quiet hiss and she dissolved into nothingness. Marius sheathed his sword, turning to face the crowd and see who had seen what and if the girl was okay.

As Marius turned to face the mostly dispersed crowd, his sleeve rode up slightly, showing the black angel wings tattooed on the inside of his left wrist. He reached out immediately to pull it back down, you never knew who might be watching.

“A Nightangel.” The short girl from earlier murmured; and Marius knew all of a sudden, that everything was about to get a lot more complicated.