Firefly, Varien and Alicia were approaching a solitary cottage about ten miles from the urban area when they heard an explosion inside the building. Black smoke started leaking out from all the windows, the chimney, and even the door.
"Oh no! Not again!" Firefly muttered, and started running towards the cottage with Varien beside her. Alicia accelerated her floating speed to catch up with them.
"What's going on?" Alicia asked, a confused expression on her pale, smoky face.
"Jem." Firefly replied, and stormed in the door with Varien right behind her back. They coughed from the smoke that had filled the entire house, blinding them.
Alicia heard Firefly muttered something unintelligible and suddenly the smoke was gone and she could see again. She blinked a few times and finally realized that Firefly had invoked a Cleansing Spell to clear out the smoke.
"What is it this time?" Firefly demanded, annoyed. Then Alicia finally noticed the fourth person in the cottage for the first time. She wore a black shirt and a mini black skirt. On the little table beside her was a pointy black hat that was covered with dust and the aftermath of the explosion. From the way and color she dressed, Alicia guessed that she was a witch.
"I......I......tried to work a spell, and it backfired......" The witch whom Firefly had called her Jem replied, her face pink from embarrassment.
"You're the most pathetic witch in the realm!" Varien rolled his eyes skyward. "You can't even work a simple spell without causing unnecessary destruction and chaos!"
"I am not pathetic! You stupid blood-sucker!" Jem flared back at Varien. Alicia swore she saw fire burning in those dark, amber eyes of hers that showed a slight pink tint.
"Am too!"
"Am not!"
"Am too!"
"Am not!"
"Am too!"
"Am not!"
"ENOUGH!"
Firefly's voice echoed throughout the house and stopped the raging vampire and witch from tearing each other's throats. They both turned to look at Firefly, whose face held a certain authority that actually made the two listen.
"This is not the first time, Jem." Firefly said with controlled anger. "What spell did you backfire this time?"
"The cooking spell......" Jem lowered her head while speaking.
It was Firefly's turn to roll her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you NOT to cook? I told you I'll cook supper when I come back, why didn't you listen? You almost destroyed the house! What if the mortals out there noticed? We don't want any publicity!"
Jem lowered her head even more so that her chin almost touched her chest. "I......I'm sorry. I was thinking maybe you're tired after the assignment so maybe I can make some food for you to eat when you come back......"
"Yeah right!" Varien sneered. "As if any food cooked by you would be edible!"
"Varien!" Firefly shot the vampire a warning glance, then turned to an angry Jem, her voice somewhat softer this time. "It's okay, I appreciate your effort. But listen to this, Jem. NEVER, EVER, cook again, okay?"
Jem nodded like a child. "I promise. I'll never do it again!"
"You'd better not!" Varien muttered.
Firefly stepped on Varien's feet so hard he jumped three feet off the ground, yelping in pain. Then, ignoring the yelping vampire, she turned to Alicia.
"Alicia, welcome to The Temporary Home of the Immortals. This is my friend Jem the Witch. Jem, meet Alicia the Ghost. We've just met her during the assignment." Firefly introduced them.
"Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you, too!"
Varien had stopped yelping at this point, "Firefly, next time you wanna tell me something, don't step on me! It hurts!" He scoffed, still massaging his injuried foot.
"You deserve it, fang-face!" Jem took the chance to insult Varien again.
"Oh yeah? Guess who almost blew the house up and leave us homeless just a couple minutes ago? You moronic hag!" Varien's eyes flared up again.
"How dare you call me a hag!" Jem shot back with blazing anger. "You reckless monster! I'm gonna cut your tongue out and boil it in lizard juice!"
"SHUT UP! You two!" Firefly stopped them once again, getting increasingly annoyed by the minute. "Would you two ever stop fighting?"
"NEVER!" The two replied in unison, that glared at each other dangerously.
"Are those two always like that?" Alicia asked with interest. "They keep yelling at each other all the time?"
"Yeah, they can't stand each other's presence, I guess." Firefly sighed. "And it gets very annoying at times."
"They are such good friends." Alicia remarked, smiling cheerfully.
"Good friends? Us?" The two asked in unison again. Then, after glaring at each other maliciously for another while, Jem declared, "I'll be the end of the world before I befriend him!"
"I would befriend you with Armagedon over my shoulder!" Varien bellowed.
Firefly only sighed, while the ghost laughed at the vampire and the witch's response.
"Just curious." Alicia said, "Just how did you three end up together? A witch, a Light Warrior, and a vampire. That really makes interesting company."
"You can add a ghost to the group now!" Firefly grinned. "Well, I met Varien before I became a Light Warrior. So he naturally became my companion of the night after I took the Oath of Immortality. Jem was my best friend in my mortal years. She practices white magic and sorcery on her own, and was secretly a beginner witch. I didn't find out about that until I became immortal myself. Then she revealed her true identity to me and so we decided to side with each other in the endless battles against the evil forces in the realm." Firefly explained briefly.
"I see." Alicia nodded.
"Things would be so much easier if this idiotic crook-nose creature haven't interfered!" Varien rolled his eyes.
"My nose is not crooked!" Jem snapped. "It's just a false legend that witches' noses are crooked or that they are old and ugly. We look as normal as any other mortal in reality."
"Oh, don't worry, you're still new to witchcraft. A few years later you'll begin to fit the description of a crook-nose and an ugly old hag." Varien said sarcastically. The two began another staring contest. Firefly stopped them from getting into another fight by standing right between them, blocking their sight of each other.
"Well, we got to discuss our next assignment." Firefly said after the two raging creature calmed down enough to listen.
"What is there to discuss?" Varien shrugged. "We go there and kill them. That's all there is to discuss."
That made Firefly angry. She was a very organizational person, and she really hated actions without planning. She reasoned, "We have to find out what kind of creatures resides there. Then we'll have to plan how to eliminate them with the best possible method that will not arouse attention to the public. We'll also have to consider a safe retreat route just in case anything happens. I don't want another trapped-in episode with the zombies or whatever creatures that just happened today!"
Firefly had a point. So they began to discuss their next assignment. There had been reports of sorcery and evil at the abandoned Cathedreal at Sherbrook, a little town about fifty miles awqay from the City of Winnipeg. They discussed the possible creatures that could be roaming about the place, which include zombies, vampires, ghosts or spirits, goblins, demons and devils, and possibly a supervising warlock. The situation could be as bad as the haunted mansion on Fairhill, or even worse.
They talked until dawn. Then Varien had to return to his coffin for the daylight hours. Alicia went up to the cottage's little attic to rest as well. Firefly and Jem decided to take a nap and prepare for the upcoming night.
It was going to be another hard battle.

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