After their parents died in a fire, the three Gouveia teenagers were sent to live with their enigmatic uncle in the northern city of Lichinga, to the east of Lake Nyasa. They began their life there as virtual slaves and rarely even had the opportunity to see their uncle. Nelson, Custodio and Helen were unaware that their uncle was a devotee of the demonic Black Skull and was attempting to find a way for the elder demon to cross over into the Earth dimension. After some time, Nelson was asked to perform assistant duties for his uncle which became more and more dangerous. At first Nelson was only allowed to clean up his uncle's experiments, but soon he had become the central component of them and his uncle attempted to have Nelson possessed by the Black Skull. Meanwhile, Helen and Custodio maintained the large house and grounds. Helen was also expected to work at a neghbours house, which had apparently been part of a deal struck between her uncle and this new man. Helen only ever called him 'Master' which was originally spoken as a servant to an employer, but rapidly became more of a student to a teacher. The Master required Helen to clean his house and prepare meals, but he also ordered her to undergo martial arts training. At first it was simply a matter of self defence training, but soon became more expert. The Master was aware of her uncle's activities and wanted to prepare her, at least, to avoid the grisly fate he expected for them. Meanwhile, Nelson was being drawn further into their uncle's plans.Custodio and Helen were Nelson's only confidantes and together they decided to run away. On the night of their plan, however, Nelson went missing and the two other siblings went to find him, somehow knowing that he would be found in their uncle's underground laboratory. When they arrived, Nelson was floating in the centre of the room, his eyes glowing red. There was no sign of their uncle.At his siblings' appearance, Nelson seemed disoriented and floated back to the ground, passing out as the spirit of the Black Skull left him. During his fitful sleep, Nelson dreamed that his uncle had been shunted into wherever the Black Skull was to be found and that Nelson, Custodio and Helen were now alone... again. When he awoke Custodio confirmed his uncle's absence. After finding her brother levitating, Helen rushed to see the Master but he was gone as well. There was no sign of a struggle. He had simply vanished.Rather than alert the authorities, the three teenagers decided to remain in Lichinga. No one ever visited and their uncle had already been considered a recluse. Nelson was drawn to his uncle's studies, but Helen warned against delving too far into them. Her warnings weren't heeded, of course, and Nelson soon found himself accidentally opening a doorway to a demonic realm. Three demons escaped and sought to take over the bodies of the Gouveias. They would have succeeded, too, if not for the timely intervention of Fata Morgana and her eclectic band of Protezoni.Fata Morgana took the teenagers to Europe and they spent some time in Venice learning about the Black Skull and the Protezoni's mission to oppose his return. Nelson and the others agreed to assist wherever they could and Fata Morgana accepted their offer and sent them home. She told them that one day in the future they would be needed, and that Nelson's sacrifice would be needed to stop the invasion.Once back in Mozambique, Nelson decided to become more active rather than waiting. He began investigating any kind of occult rumour around their town. The three were soon drawn into solving mysteries using their uncle's library and their own keen instincts. Helen reluctantly agreed to help, and her fighting prowess has come handy more than once.
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