A Man and his Ghouls

Up in Flames

It was a nice, sunny Saturday afternoon at the Copia mansion, and The Cardinal was in the middle of the pool lounging on a massive, inflatable flamingo, dressed in nothing but a pair of designer sunglasses and flowery, multi-coloured swim trunks, his freckled, slightly chubby torso on full display; a rarity for the awkward man.

He smiled, gently petting the Ghoul beside him. Rain had been having a rather hard time as of late, so he chose to be by his Masters' side all of today. Copia and the Ghoul watched curiously as the others played and hung out in the pool around them, splashing the vampire and his pet every once in a while.

The Ghouls were wearing black swim trunks adorned with silver grucifixes as the Ghoulettes wore bikinis in a similar design, their charcoal-coloured bodies glistening in the hot Summer sun from a mix of water and sweat.

Cardi studied the playful Ghouls one-by-one, admiring his pets. Fire and Mountain played around in the bean-shaped pool, splashing one another, laughing as they talked.

At the very end of the pool, just a little further back from Phoenix and Earth, a buff Aether, nicknamed 'Basilisk' for his intimidating stature, was sat on the edge with his legs in the water as he chatted with a floating Multi Ghoul, also known as 'Swiss Army Ghoul', who was paddling gently in place, tail swishing back and forth as it made cute little ripples.

The Ghoulettes were chasing one another in Copia's rose garden, running around with large water guns as they giggled, hiding behind the many flowered topiaries as each tried to escape the steady streams of water coming from the other.

The Cardinal sighed, closing his eyes. He was so very happy that his family had convinced him to clean up the pool. He really needed this; they all did. There were some drawbacks to the decision though, one being felt by the old man at that very moment in the form of subtle back pain.

Ever since Papa III's ghostly antics scared away all scheduled services Copia had attempted to hire, he had to either do most tasks himself or with help from the Ghouls, — which was an odd experience, to say the least.

Life was much easier when they lived with the Clergy, but The Cardinal still cherished the alone time his mansion home provided.

His daydreaming was quickly interrupted by a loud, echoing 'splash' followed by a scream and some soft, muffled crying.

"HEY!" A gruff female voice echoed through the garden, "you didn't need to fuckin' do that!" As Cardi looked up, he could see that the angry woman was who the group called 'Tall Ghoulette', and the crying figure was Small Ghoulette, sitting at the edge of the pool, covering her face with her clawed hands.

At this point both The Cardinal and Rain had jumped off the pool toy and swam over to see what was going on, staring at the chaos unfolding in front of them. "Uh, should we intervene, Master?" Aether asked, looking down at Cardi from his place atop the pool's edge. Multi, who was now lounging arms crossed on the side of the pool, simply tilted his head, curious as well.

"I am not really sure, Aeth." Copia started, looking up at the Ghoul, "I wouldn't want to upset them by butting in, so I believe it might be best to watch from a distance." Copia finished, locking his gaze upon the fighting Ghouls, hoping he wouldn't soon regret his decision.

"I uh... didn't mean for that to happen." Fire said sheepishly as he hid behind Earth, scared of the growling Ghoulette pacing angrily in front of the two.

"...I think it would be best if I go check on her first," Phoenix's living shield spoke as he moved towards the smaller Ghoulette, leaving him alone with the angry woman.

As Mountain walked up to Small Ghoulette she quickly jumped back in the water before looking back at him with a pointed finger. "I don't want to talk to you, bully!" Her high-pitched voice squeaked out, frowning before crossing her arms in disappointment, tail quickly splashing the water behind her as she fumed.