“You’re finally awake.”

“Hmmmn…” The beautiful freckled girl opened her tired green eyes and pushed her long blonde hair out of her face, “What the hell?”

“It’s been a long time, Kiddo. Did ya miss me?”

“You’re… Huh? I’m… Oh, yeah, I died. Heh~!”

Peridot sat up from the unfamiliar bed and looked over at the tall, handsome, blonde-haired and green-eyed man. She rubbed her stiff neck and looked down at her almost flat chest in confusion. She pulled open the neck of her baggy green t-shirt and muttered, “What the…”

Of course, she also saw the tattoo on her inner thigh that was revealed because of her super short black shorts, ‘Spectral Miner Thief VI’. She opened her mouth a few times, but didn’t say anything in the end.

“Don’t be too upset, Little Dot. Everybody dies eventually… I’m just sad you died so young.”

The skinny girl got up off the bed and conjured up some long pants to cover her long legs, “We’re dead… So now what, Dad?”

“What else? We gotta work our asses off, just like when we were alive. Come on, Dotty. Let’s get to work.”

“Work doing what?” Peridot watched as a dark hooded cloak appeared over her father’s body, along with a black mask that covered his face. He walked over to a small door and crouched down, waving his hand at his sluggish daughter.

“Come on… What else? We’re Thieves, Dotty. Even if we die, we’ll always be Thieves.”

“Okay… As ‘Thieves’, what the hell do we need to steal in the freaking afterlife?”

She also conjured up a similar cloak to her father and put on a black mask to hide her face. Instead of boots, she wore what were essentially just leather individual-toe socks, along with gloves on her pale hands.

“Maybe you’ve gotten too comfortable in Verde, Dot. You’ve forgotten what it was like in the big city.”

“The big city? Woah!” Peridot was shocked when he opened the door. Outside was a massive cavern so wide that she couldn’t see the edges! There were thousands of huge ‘skyscrapers’ which reached from the ground all the way to the ceiling, covered with brightly lit windows, glowing green stones and ghosts. Millions upon millions of spectral figures were floating or flying around through the ‘sky’, some wandered aimlessly, some wailed helplessly and many were even attacking each other randomly.

“Welcome to Green Heart City, Dotty! Welcome to Hell! Hahaha~!”

“Moss-er, Dad! Wait!” Peridot watched him jump backwards and disappear into the dark abyss down below! Turning off the light, she locked and closed the door… But then she saw some random green ghost woman pass straight through the wall and enter their home.

“What the hell?! Why can’t I do that?!”

“Because you’re still thinking like a human, Kiddo.” Moss appeared in front of her face and grabbed her by the wrist, tossing her off into the abyss!

“Shit! Shit! Damn it! Aaah~!” As she screamed, a bunch of glowing green and blue cats suddenly appeared!

“Meow~!”

“Mew?”

“Rawr~!”

“Ow! Damn it! Get off me!” She threw away the hungry tiger cubs and finally smacked into the stone floor, exploding into a cloud of green dust! But a few seconds later, she reformed into a shadowy figure again, breathing heavily and holding her chest.

“Shit… I hate heights!”

“Don’t be such a baby. You used to love free climbing when you were a little kid.”

“There’s a difference between climbing and falling!” Peridot retorted angrily and looked around at the surroundings. There were ghostly carriages being pulled along the road, a teenage boy was walking his dog while jogging past them, a young couple were making out against the glowing green glass of a hair salon nearby, there were also plenty of restaurants, furniture shops, theaters… It was like a real human city!

“Why does it seem so… Normal down here?”

“Normal? Oh, you’re wondering why these people aren’t floating around in the sky like those lunatics and monsters?” Moss snickered and pointed towards a giant ghost baby that was chasing down a bunch of tiny adult wraiths. There were also some flying deer being hunted by wolves.

“Well? Are you gonna say it?”

“Ah, sorry, I got lost for a moment. Hahaha~!” His green eyes started glowing brightly again behind the mask, “If you’re wondering why they can float and pass through walls, it’s because they’re just ghosts. Spirits… Spectral beings of one kind or another.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Of course! Hahaha~! But…” He bent down and picked up an empty glass bottle off the ground, “This… This is ‘real’. Somebody probably conjured it up, but it’s a real, heavy object. The stronger the spirit, the more they can carry, or they might have some little tricks… But usually, they can’t fly if they’re weighed down… Some folks say it keeps them grounded. Hahaha~!”

“Dad…” Peridot rolled her eyes and sighed, “It makes sense why I fell then. I conjured a bunch of ‘real’ clothes, not fake spectral ones.”

“Remember, Dotty…” Moss held her shoulders suddenly and stared into her glowing eyes, “Remember who you are… Never forget. Once you forget… Well, I’ll probably be ‘gone’ before then, hahah~!”

“Yeah… Yep, I’m Peridot. Definitely Peridot, your daughter, hahaha~!”

“Exactly! Now come on! Let’s go meet up with the rest of the Verde Gang!”

“Hey! Thief!” A high-pitched voice came from the distance, followed by a loud whistle, “Stop! You’re under arrest!”

“Shit! The Cops!”

“Cops? Wait, that’s…” Peridot looked over and saw a few familiar faces down the street. But then she was pulled along like a ragdoll by her anxious father, “Hey, don’t drag me!”

“Then run faster! I don’t wanna get locked up again!”

“Dad! Fly! Just fly away!”

“Oh yeah! Hahaha~! Umm, wait, they’re not chasing us anymore.” Moss looked around and realized he had already run through a dozen alleys.

“Dad…” Peridot was going to say something, but then just sighed and looked around curiously at the strange red lights everywhere, “So… Where are we now?”

“Ah, this? This is the Red Light District… Or at least one of them. This is the Eastern Red Light District. Wanna go rob some hookers?”

Author’s Note: Happy Cinco de Mayo?