"dad. i don't think he's a vampire." nova started slowly, looking between both. "zombie, smile."
        no fangs.
        he grinned cheerfully without question. "does no fangs mean i get a big warm welcome and i can stop smiling?" 
        "vampires are mean and ruthless━━" elysia started.
        "he's green and clueless." nova eyed him up and down.
          "thank you, yes." zed looked at both of them, genuinely hurt but also because they had both been thinking the same thing. "wait, that's mean, okay━━"
        now realizing zed the zombie guy wasn't as dangerous as elysia deemed him to be, she flashed her usual smile at him, shoulders slumping comfortably. "you know what ━━ sorry for what i said about the hair, you're actually rocking it." 
        zed looked to the group, confused. "i can not tell if she's still being mean right now." 
        ray laughed. "no, she's just like that, she compliments everyone. me on the other hand .  .  . i'll say somethin━━"
        "hey! this new guy is my bestie, the hell are you doing, ray!" she scoffed jokingly, taking zed's arm and intertwining it with hers. "we got a recruit with green hair, the vampires are gonna go running when they first see us." 
         nova laughed. "we do need another recruit .  .  . dad, what do you think?"
        elysia lunged forward. "you know what i think!" 
         "elysia, enough," her father said irritatingly before rubbing his chin, taking in the zombies features and physique. "he looks like he has a strong back that could harvest a lot of fruit." 
        zed nodded. "i will literally harvest your entire orchard if it means i won't get air-fried." 
        "i knew i liked you!" elysia punches him in the arm. before zed can fight that she was quite literally about to take the poor guy out in seconds with her magical powers when he first arrived, elysia dragged him behind nova and her father as their group continued marching down the beach. 
        "don't be too nice to him, elles." nova scoffed.
        zed gave the oldest sister a pleading look. "please don't burn me."
        minimal clouds overtook the sky as the waves crashed softly against the shore. elysia turned her gaze to the water sparkling in the sunlight. she and nova often swam there when they were young ━━ when they had less responsibilities. they would play mermaids of the sun, where elysia was the sun queen and nova, her sidekick, was━━
        the moon. 
        nova had been having visions since those days ━━ sometimes in the middle of the day or when they went to sleep. she wasn't scared of the dark when the lights flicked off and elysia caught her staring at the moon too many times to count ━━ the moon that was permanently on shadyside, the evil rock that hid the sun from their side.
        yes, elysia had a lot against a floating rock.
         they passed through the cave, the dimmer lights making them shiver before commander bright opened their gate to reveal the old orchard from above. it carried for miles and was astonishing, elysia could feel peace at her fingertips. soon, they would stop living in fear when they got their hands on the bloodfruit!