"My cute babies, my sweet little ducklings, our simply my annoying little fucktards, have I not said time and time again, don't practice your fucking magic near the house, now look what you have done, Denzel you almost burn down the house again for the eighth ¡fucking! time this month, honestly who do you think has to pay for this shit?!"
Mother Deliah said with a heated voice full of anger, her shotgun on the ready, just hearing it tapping on the floor was enough to send even the most fearless person on their knees praying to whatever god exists to save them from this situation.
To us, since we were little, the shotgun has always been akin to a belt, while kids of today's generation were getting lashes, we were making potions via Alchemy to re-attach, or reconstruct our severed hands and legs back together; unless your Alexander of course who is just built differently, but the point still stands.
This woman we call mother is dangerous, despite being the weakest of our small family of four, she is the craziest of us all.
Even now her gaze was upon us, as her blood-filled eye soaks us with her calm wrath.
It was suiting, loving, yet scary, as all three of us knelt before her, our heads aim at the ground, with our hands oddly folded behind our backs, as we lift our asses to the sky, it look like an odd push-up position.
It's kind of odd, seeing almost all of us are grown-ass men trembling before a woman in her fifties.
However, my brothers have always been the type to answer back, Denzel being the most hot-blooded of the three of us.
His tongue was always fast, as such, he was always the first to answer, whenever mother released her raging rants and nagging upon us.
"Woman what's the problem I was just having some fun."
"Boy you better be quiet, or else I will blow your head off."
Upon hearing this, all three of us flinch in fear, as goosebumps creep up our backs, tickling our spines, Denzel Being the one to grow pale as mother's wrath was always a sight to behold, just as it is a force to be reckoned with
Normally a shotgun isn't enough to take down Denzel, but in the hands of that beloved scum we call mother, we are left to wonder what atrociousness she can make of it, so with fear in his eyes he apologizes.
"S...sorry, M-M-Motha!"
He instantly proclaims with sincerity, to which she replied while lighting her usual cigar to ease her stress.
"You better be."
Thankfully though mother was never one to stay angry at us, even when we were kids, not for long that is, she has better shit to think about these days, her true nature was that of a docile scum after all.
Well, it can't be helped, either way, our relationship with Mother is rather unique, to say the least, to put it into simple perspective, our mother isn't our mother, we are all orphans she pick up at different points in her life, hell all four of us are in a business relationship, our family is more of a group of criminals struggling to survive the cruelness of the world.
Myself included, you see we three brothers are all gifted, and so is mother, to normal people we are referred to as [Witch or Warlocks], people capable of using mysterious abilities labeled as magic, honestly no one knows how magic came to be, or why it exists, even science and Alchemy couldn't explain the phenomenon known as the Gifted.
The reason why it's called magic is that it's miraculous, and something unexplainable.
And our Mother Delilah Prelati is one of those witches, she is a Biotype user, meaning her power stems from one of her body parts, and her magic lies in her eyes, of course, we brothers call this power the "Scums Eyes" to mock her in harmless fun, meanwhile mother call this power, "The Mystic Eyes of Choices"
Seeing her magic allows her to see three choices for any scenario, each one leading to the best alternative, you know like those Otome games, well yeah mother power is like that.
The thing is, her eyes lead her to take the most realistic approach to any situation as long as it is for survival and success, a power fitting for a docile scum like her.
You see she is what I would call a gold digger back in my original world, the type of woman that willingly opens her legs to the richest guys available and plays submissive till their pockets run dry, seeing that her dream is to live a lavish life by any means necessary, did I mention her hobbies consist of conning, robbing, kidnapping, and thoughtfully plan third-degree murder.
Yes, that is our mother in a nutshell, she is a crazy, manipulative, and money-driven psychopath, but she is our psychopath nonetheless.
However in this small and humble family of three mentally ill people, she isn't the only crazy person around, no we are family labeled as the perfect family on the outside within this small and humble village east of Mythrolonica Empire.
But in actuality, we have con so many people, to the point, there are places in this world we can never step foot back again, and for that reason, we are constantly on the move.
However, my other two brothers, are also scum in their own right, Denzel Prelati aka the dragon, is blessed with powerful fire magic, he is a condition-type user, and as long as he has enough coal to eat and act as fuel, he is capable of combusting his entire body however he pleases, without being affected by the flare that is.
Denzel is the oldest of us three brothers September 5th he will be 26, he is a tall and muscular man, and his body is very muscular seeing he has never missed a day of training, he was 6"7 in height, and he always wears simple grey sleeves shirt, and matching pants and shoes.
His skin is light brown, but his body is riddled with scars all over, he has short black hair, but beautiful orange eyes that shine like a heated furnace, all in all, however, his looks were rather wild and rugged.
Although the thing with Denzel is the fact that his personality is just like fire, unpredictable and destructive, the guy is a serious nihilist amongst our ranks.
He doesn't care about other people's wishes and opinions, he doesn't care about religion, he doesn't care about anything, the only thing he cares about is burning things to the ground, as violence is his only religion, he lives to see this world burns after all, to him violence speaks louder than words.
As for his crimes, well it's nothing small I could tell you that if anything; if he is ever caught I would be shocked if he gets anything less than the death sentence.
The guy is on the run for killing several nobles' families, burning down eight orphanages while drunk, and seamlessly burning down the main cathedral of the Astral God in Lorenzo.
And then there is Alexander Prelati, aka the zombie, his magic is immortal-magic or so he calls it, and unlike Mother and Denzel he is a unique magic user, to be unique means to be one of a kind, so every time he dies, he claims to meet the Devil, and the devil tells him he is not on the list, and as a result of not being on the list he is forcefully resurrected.
Now Alexander Prelati is the second oldest of us three he is 23 and his birthday is February 29th, the guy was born on a leap year, he is not tall like Denzel, but he is taller than me that's for sure, he is a very handsome man, with long blond hair that reaches his back, snow white and tender skin, and balanced muscular body.
His eyes are beautiful emerald green, and he always wears an expensive and classy monocle, that gives him a gentlemanly appearance, he is considered the playboy of the group.
But his flaw is the fact that he is a morbid genius, just as he is an idiot, the guy uses his power of denying death to escape debt time and time again.
In this world, to borrow huge loans, one must make an oath of death using the Astral Gods' name as a witness if you are unable to pay back the money in the agreed time frame. Well let's just say your life is forfeited, yeah it's a very inhumane method, even now this guy is one of the most wanted con artists across the lands, for being a unique anomaly, that can give the finger to the Astral God system.
But you would think the guy would invest, but that is not and case at all, because all he used the money for is to buy luxurious clothes or spend it on the local prostitutes in the area.
Now moving to the most important of us all me, myself, and I.
Aka the Phantom, unlike my brothers and adopted mother I'm perfectly fine, meanwhile, my only flaw is being the victim of an unfortunate accident that led me here, to begin with, although mother has many uses for me since my power is rather unique as well, first let me introduce myself.
Hello everybody, my name is Sherlock Prelati, I am seventeen years old, and will be eighteen years old this coming October 31st, 732, as you may have figured out already; I am not of this world, to be honest, I originally came from Earth.
However, my soul took over this body a couple of years back, Sherlock Prelati has a rather spooky feel to him, unlike his brothers, he is not tall, if anything is a mere 5" 2 in height, has skin as a pale as a vampire as if he lacks blood, to begin with, he had a lean build, but his most notable feature is his straight long dark purple hair, and eyes that swirl like a dead and vicious abyss.
This is the man known as Sherlock Prelati and the man whose destiny I took as my own.
You see it all started when I was dropping my sister at school like I always do, seeing my wife drop our son to the kinder garden since it's near her bakery.
Of course that day, I had to hurry, so right after I drop my sister at school I headed to work immediately; seeing that in my past life, I was an undertaker, and my crew and I were preparing for the funeral service scheduled for 10:00 a.m that morning. So of course, we had to prepare for the service four hours before the scheduled start time, but I was two hours behind.
Seeing we need to dress the body, prepare the casket, set up the church, and so on, and so on, however, life always works in mysterious ways.
Because that morning I didn't make it to my crew who was waiting at the end of Pont Alexandr III, which was the agreed location, where Martha, Izziah, and Christian, along with myself agreed to meet to prepare for the service, as we where going to split the remaining work.
The thing is however is the fact that when I was crossing Pont Alexandr III, I was caught up in a massive and mysterious explosion, to be honest, my memories are hazy, all I know is that died, and now that I think about it thoroughly my friends must have died in that explosion as well.
Up till now, I have no idea what might have caused the explosion, maybe it was a terrorist attack or a gas leak, although the former seems way more likely than the latter.
But regardless of the circumstances, the past is the past, although I have one regret, and that's leaving those I love behind, my sister, my son, along with my wife, thankfully though I left behind quite a sum of inheritance money for my son, and my sister, in case things like these happen.
My sister, Vantis is a smart girl, after all, her dream is to be a Forensic pathologist, meanwhile my son Lionel on the other hand; well he is naught but a child, six years of age, so far his dream is to be a superhero how childish, then and again my wife Maria... Well, she is the wild type, full of energy, and can get along with other people.
She works at her family business which is a bakery, either way, I'm sure she will be fine, she is a strong woman after all, my death may hurt her, but only for the first, the same could be said for my sister, I could only hope that they don't hurt too much, we all come in this world to go.
Hopefully, my wife heal from her loss, I could only hope she remarried to a decent person, I would want her to move on and live a peaceful life after all.
And as for my son Lionel, well if I had to give you any last words, then I would say "Live strong, and be happy." then and again, this is coming from the rambling of a forty-eight-year-old man, in the body of seventeen years old boy, with a mental problem, before I took it over.
But as odd as this situation is, I can't do anything about it, I guess the Hindus were right you do reincarnate after death, well that's what happen to me, maybe others pass on to the afterlife, or maybe their souls fade away, then and again there is also the fact that I'm just a special case, I was never one to judge religion, but my circumstances are different seeing I reincarnate into the body of Sherlock Prelati.
One of the adaptive children of Deliah Prelati, originally Sherlock had an addiction to stealing things, and he was damn good at it, he does this as a hobby to survive the harsh slums of Kinli, located in the Kinli Republic, which was also the same place he met Deliah, Denzel, and Alexander.
And what made stealing easy for Sherlock was his unique magic he calls Phantoma magic, a type of magic that falls under the unique class, similar to his older brother Alexander.
With Phantom Magic, Sherlock could see the dead, and as result, he could talk to the earthbound spirits, he could take the form of those he killed using a skill name Phantom mask, and he could phase one or two of his limbs through solid objects through the use of his Phantom steal.
In the eyes of the public, the use of magic is called spells or witchcraft, sadly to say though; nothing here needs that fantasy energy called mana to execute spells we give bullshit names to, the limits of one power are bounded by limitations, conditions, and execution.
Mother "Scums Eyes" is limited by available choices presented to her, and the conclusion to the scenarios is not as she wishes, for example, if she is in a life or death situation, the eyes could tell her, to play dead with a 10% of survival, betray her comrade and make a run for it 60% chance of survival, or work together to fight the enemy off 35% chance of survival, the most optimal conclusion would be choice (B) as such it's limited to the most realistic option to get a desired conclusion.
Denzel's "Fire of the Dragon" is limited by a condition, as he needs to eat coal to keep his flames going it's the only way he will be able to execute any of his attacks.
Alexander's "To Be Continued" is limited to the fact that he has to die as a condition for using his resurrection, but the trade-off is the fact that his body reset back to its prime, even resetting sickness and injuries, Alexander can still age though his death just reset him back to his default age being twenty-three, to execute resurrection though he still has to die.
And finally, there is me, Sherlock Prelati, my ability is called "Lord of The Phantoms" however unlike others the limit of my powers is null, why well I have no conditions to use it, it's just activated when I want it to, I have full control over it, and the trade-off originally before my soul took over this body, was the fact that Sherlock would have horrible nightmares at night, or evil spirits would attempts to take over his body if his will was weak, and he would be driven insane due to multiple voices he hears all the time.
However, after possessing this vessel, even after seeing a ghost for the first time, I felt no fear, if anything I feel comfortable with them around me, most of the time, the undead spirits fear me, why well I can destroy their souls if their will is weaker than mine, as a result, they listen to me, I don't fear ghost because ghost fears me.
But yeah that's my life in a nutshell if I remember correctly, tomorrow November 18th will make eight years since my soul transmigrated over to this body.
"Hahaha... Time sure flies when you're having fun with the family."
I said out loud, still bowing before mother, to which, everybody stop to look at me, in shock.
The first to speak was mother Deliah who was strangling Denzel with her gorilla-like strength as she said.
"Would you look at that, young Sherlock can indeed smile, I thought seeing the dead always makes you emotionless."
'Emotionless is too much, this body is naturally just expressionless if anything I'm the most emotional person here, although they are times when I naturally smile without making it look weird, strained, and forced, although I also ways give you the wrong impression do I?'
I said to myself while rubbing my head in embarrassment, but I was soon snapped out of it when Denzel said.
"Ha. Now that you say mention it, little bro always has a dull expression on his face, smiling has always been a serious task for him, well Alexander and I were training him to better his "Lord of the Phantoms" so we can find a better way to use it when we go to rob banks, nobles, or even hiding bodies, the little guy power is useful, although the payoff is big."
Denzel said out loud for everyone to hear, to which Alexander follow up by saying.
"Yeah his ability is indeed powerful but not in the combat sense, he is more of a recon support class kind of guy, and his ability to sense and eliminate curses is indeed one of a kind, do you guys remember when Dunke Mentra place that gravity curse on Denzel balls."
"Oi. Shut the fuck up, you zombie, and you should be the last person talking about balls curse, how many times have you contradicted STDS because you can't keep your dick to yourself, yeah just last week you ask me to kill you because you caught her...
"Ok.. ¡ok ok ok!... Don't mention that in front of Sherlock, you walking furnace, not in front of our little brother what will he think of me, can't you see I'm trying to act cool."
"Can the two of you please shut the fuck up, on god almighty's name, I swear life would be a lot better if you guys were as quiet and obedient as Sherlock."
"Say the scu...
Bang!... However, before Alexander could finish speaking, his head was suddenly blown off by mother Deliah's double-barrel shotgun.
The loud sound echoed in the room as his brain was splattered all over the floor, his green eyes rolled over to my feet, and blood where splurting out of his neck.
Both blood and brain matter was plastered all over my face, while my suit and gloves were soaked and stein with his blood.
I look at this with an expressionless face, as I sighed while taking off my gloves, meanwhile Denzel had a disgusted look on his face, as he took out his handkerchief, and began wiping the blood off his face while saying.
"Gross, some of his brain matter got into my mouth."
Meanwhile, I look at mother Deliah, she was a very beautiful woman in her fifties, she had tender white skin, pink hair that reaches her back, and a busty if not plump build and her eyes were a beautiful red, scarlet to be precise, although she only had one visible seeing the left was shot out in her earlier year's, so a unique white rose eye patch was used to cover it up.
She was 5"3 in height, and she wore a simple but fancy-looking red chemise, covered by a black gown that reaches her ankle, on her head was a beautiful red hat adorned with white roses, meanwhile on her feet was a simple red shoe with black laces.
Although she looks more in her late thirties than fifty, that's just how we warlocks and witches are, we age slower than normal humans, and naturally, we have longer lifespans as well, the person to live the longest is none other than the legendary witch of Infinity Merlin.
Similar to Brother Alexander the witch of infinity is rumored to have lived for more than three thousand years because she is rumored to be immortal, she is also the strongest witch to exist, to the point she is revered as the daughter of the Astral God.
Naturally, a non-immortal witch or warlock can still live up to five hundred years easily.
Mother is the perfect example, she claims to be fifty, but both I, Alexander, and Denzel doubt it seeing, she knows people that are hundred years old, all of which call her the witch of Deceit, or the Witch of Clowns.
And every time mother shakes it off, she said something along the line of.
"Sorry, wrong person?"
"Ah hello, do I look like a mummy to you?"
"Am excuse me who the fuck are you again?"
Either way though I and my brother rather not pry into each past, each of us has our secrets after all, but by the end of the day, we are nothing but wondering criminals trying our best to live a happy life, and in this darkness, we found comfort and happiness with each company and twisted selves.
In my old world, I'm against murder, but in a world similar to that of the middle age cross with a steampunk dystopian, all is fair game, only nobles live a life full of luxury.
So these twisted people all of which are the lowest of scums are the only family I have, and as such, I will do anything to protect this morbid happiness, because it's the only thing I have left in this world, as such I would kill for them, I torture for them, I would destroy an entire kingdom for them.
But as I say this, a sound was heard, and when I look in front of me, brother Alexander, suddenly respawn in front of us, of course, his body is left behind, and still in front of us, but he had an annoyed expression on his face as he said.
"You crazy bitch, do you have no heart, I might be immortal but I still feel the pain you know."
"My hand slipped."
Mother Deliah retorted, feining innocents, to which Alexander shouted back.
"Like fuck it did, both you and I know, you don't like to be called the S-word, but you took your anger out of me anyway, why don't you try dying once it's not a nice feeling."
Mother Deliah was getting annoyed with Alexander's remarks, as veins could be seen bulging from her head, as she reloads her double barrel shout gun again and said.
"So what of it, you have infinite lives anyway right, you are the perfect stress relief, and honestly out of everybody here you are the most enviable, you never have to worry about dying, you can reset your age, and best of all, you can borrow as much money as you want?"
"Pftt... Hahaha...
But as the two were arguing away as they always do, they soon stop when they heard my audible laughter, as I said.
"You two are the t-t-the. Hahaha... the best I swear, there is never a dull moment when I am with you guys hahaha...
Both mother and Alexander didn't know how to respond, but they both began to laugh as well.
"Hahaha... Kyahahah... I guess so little thief."
"Ahaha your right little bro."
Meanwhile, unknown to me, Denzel was looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face, leaning on the kitchen counter both hands crossed and left leg anchored up to it.
He shut his eyes and sighed removing himself from his slouching position as he heads for the door, taking a sack on his back, normally he only does this when he was going to rob someone, we all look at him as the first to speak was Alexander.
"Where are you going coal mine?"
"For a walk, you living pathogen."
And with those words said, he left the house, without saying anything else.
Right after, Mother Deliah said, while stretching her hand as she also pick up a sack, while reloading her other shotguns and two pistols.
"I'm also going for a walk, why don't you guys clean up the mess while I'm gone."
"Oi. Get back here you old hag, you kill me, so take responsibility and toss the body in the river or something, hey... HEYYYY... are you ignoring me?!"
But mother Deliah was already gone, and to brother Alexander's dismay, he slouches down in defeat and said while looking at me with a defeated expression while scratching his cheek with a single index finger.
"Well little bro it pains me to ask this of you, but would you be so kind as to help me get rid of my body?"
Of course, I got up from the ground and brushed the dirt off my pants, and said.
"Where to this time, up the mountains, deep in the forest, at the local cemetery, or by the river?"
Brother Alexander smiles happily while looking at me, as he also brushes the dirt off his clothes that respawns with him, and said.
"Let's take a trip deep in the woods, it's been a long time since we have a brother-to-brother moment, after all, you're always talking to your undead friends these days right?"
"So the long way then, very well, let me grab a pair of shovels from the back."
With those words said, I left to fetch a pair of shovels from the back.
However, when I left I didn't realize that all of this was an elaborate play by everybody, Alexander looked at me leaving to fetch a shovel, as the sun glisters on his monocle, holding his head, and looking down at a piece of paper that says.
[Greetings to all, with the death of the entire royal family, and his majesty the king Sir Uther Pendragon of Camelot, the Pendragon content is without a king, normally this would cause a major power struggle with other kingdoms to seize the land, but the witch of infinity Merlin has announced that the witch of prophecy Minerva has foretold that a new king worthy of taking the mantle has emerged, that very king will be the graduate of the new coming first years, that will attend the royal Academy of The Gifted, to all those far and wide, to the gifted children both of commer and Noble blood, for one time, and one time only the royal academy of the gifted shall welcome all, are you worthy of being King, come and test your luck, age does not matter, talent and power seize all]
"Tsk king my ass, however, if Sherlock can use his good-looking and doll-like appearance I'm sure he can woo, a cute girl or maybe multiple noble girls to be his wife."
"At least this way we can give him a better life, the boy is young and sweet, and yet out of all of us, he is the closes to insanity, seeing his powers are getting stronger, it's sad to see, seeing I once use a dream potion on him to see his dreams, and what I saw almost drive me insane."
"If I wasn't used to death I'm sure his subconscious mind would corrupt mines, nonetheless we all agree that we will aid Sherlock to a better life, oh my sweet little brother I wish I can do way more for you, and yet we are nothing but bad influence, either way, you show us the joy of what a family is."
"Thankfully though, lady Hale is paying me a hefty sum to service her tonight in her bed as well, we are almost there, we have almost reached our goal of ten thousand gold, just a little bit more, and we can start a new life, and enroll Sherlock in Academy, I'm afraid our karma will strike us back one day, but before that, I want to see that smile on your face truly stays."
Those were the last words of Alexander before I reemerge.
"I got the shovel brother."
"That's great, now help me lift my body into the cart then."