Once upon a time, it had been a small duchy. Then the lord of the keep ordered himself a mail order bride, and from that point on, the town had gone to hell in a handbasket. All that was left was zombies and a half finished military complex, proof that an army of zombies is still just a lot of zombies even if your blushing bride does happen to be a vampire.

Anyhow, the duchess periodically tried to re-make her troops, keeping the supplies of zombies fresh. Somewhere along the line, Pharlen had drawn a safe space on top of one of the military buildings. Likely she had intended it as a training ground for her kids, but her kids were her kids, and therefore, the duchy became their playground.

A place to go to literally blow off steam. Preferably with grenades.

Desdenova liked Roni, she was a cool person. She'd been through a lot. Even so, the first time he really met her, she easily reached out to him with empathy. Not sympathy. Even though she had it hard, herself.

But everything was a roller coaster for her. Down at the bottom of a double helix loop, she was drooping and struggling to go on. Desdenova simply took her by the hand and introduced her to the not really healthy and yet satisfying method of dealing with mental issues with violence and bombs.

Desdenova didn't believe forgiveness would heal a soul, he didn't believe that turning the other cheek was grace, he didn't believe in turning anger aside. He believed in Justice, and Justice was not only blind, but She took an eye for an eye.

Now things were even harder. Her friend Sio, the most epic Dullahan ever, was in deep trouble. There was only a few ways for anyone to help, and for that to happen, a strange set of circumstances had to be met.

Desdenova was in the position to at least start one of those dominos toppling. He hung out a lot with his friends, but this time, he went looking for their dad.