B-J Maleficent: Family Bonding and Secrets

B-J and Esra stood a bit behind their father and gazed curiously at the girl beyond. They didn't know what he was going to do to this girl, but B-J turned away. She had seen enough bloodshed. And enough zombies. She didn't want to see anything more. Her brother was looking on excited. He had his long hair tied back off his face for once, and it made him look a little less crazy. He literally skipped up beside Serpine and looked down at Sapphire, grinning like an idiot. B-J glanced over for a few seconds, wishing they wouldn't do anything.

At first, Esra Sunshine wasn't going to do anything. He wanted to kick the girl, he wanted to hurt her, but he was worried that Serpine would shout at him. He didn't want to get in trouble. Instead, he crouched down beside Serpine, still grinning. "Aren't zombies fun, girl? Aren't they just? What about the pain? Is it agony?" He frowned as his father shushed him. Serpine hauled Sapphire up, tugging on the injured shoulder in an attempt to keep her from attacking.
"Esra, this is how you subdue someone of use without killing them."
"That's boring. They all end up dead anyway."
"They don't have to." B-J mumbled. The others turned to her.

-----

Gale and Austin never got along. As a rule, Gale never trusted necromancers, but he would still flirt with the girl ones. Austin hated the cocky elemental. He hated him because Gale Blaze never saw girls as people, he just saw them as things to use for his own entertainment. Austin had to grow up with his sisters' rules and to him, Gale was an animal. That was why he hated waiting by the sanctuary with him. He didn't want to know who had contacted him or why if it meant waiting by Gale and hearing him talk about his latest adventures with women. Both thought the other was disgusting.

Finally, Gale shut up about women and began to whisper to a dun horse he had ridden over on. Austin sighed, basking in the relative quiet. He didn't notice the women approaching, but Gale certainly did. Once they were within earshot, he turned on his supposed charms. "Well, I certainly didn't know the angels were coming down...or have I gone up to Heaven?" Two of the girls ignored him, but the blonde in the fur coat smiled at him.
"I have a boyfriend."
Recognising the voice, Austin looked up. "Lilia? You've done torturing the poor guy, then?"
The blonde in the fur coat, Lilia, shrugged. "It got boring. I'm letting him get closer."
Gale glared. Lilia was probably the prettiest of the three, followed by the blonde in necromancer robes and then the brunette with one ruined ear causing her glasses to slip every now and then. He knew the brunette. She was a child of the spider and he didn't trust her one bit. She had fought alongside Mevolent in the war as well, which didn't help. Arachne Basilisk regarded him with an icy look. The third girl, the tall necromancer, was looking at Austin. Great. The pretty ones preferred idiots and ugly people struggling to grow beards.

Austin turned his narrow eyes to the third girl. "Cadence. I was unaware you were back in the country."
"Everywhere else is equally as dull." She spoke with an English accent.
"What's this about?"
Arachne answered. "I've heard Mevolent's back. He trusted me unwaveringly and I was hoping for some help with a few...errands...Lilia and Cadence recommended you two. Miss White is too well-known to Mevolent and will not be joining us...but you two? Like Cadence, the war was before your time, so I could use your help with something."
"What 'something'?" Gale hissed venomously.

That was how Gale Blaze ended up in Mevolent's castle pretending to be okay with total strangers leading his horse, Moses, off to a stable and waiting for Arachne to give to order to get themselves killed.