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Post by The Sidhe on Oct 7, 2014 14:04:23 GMT -5
Skeletons on Parade
It’s Halloween, and the ghosts about town are out in force. Now some of them hang around regardless, after all they have things to do and people to haunt. But those silly spirits are hitting the town on Death City’s most beloved holiday. Some are tragically young, some are thankfully old. Some died of illness, some by accident, some by missions, some by Witches. Or maybe they were lucky enough to live a long, happy life and died of natural causes. Some have family, some have friends, others have been dead too long to be remembered by any who still live. How does your character react to this? Do they hide in their rooms all day in spite of ghosts being able to slip right past walls? Are they indifferent to their presence? Annoyed perhaps by their chatter? Do they perhaps recognize a ghost from the family photo album as an ancestor, or were they closer in generation and age? Did they know them once, and would they be happy to see them again if they did? And oh, but the ghosts aren't just floating around Death City. They're hitting up the whole wide world. It’s all up to you.
The usual rules apply. You must reach a word count of 1,000 for your entry to be counted, and you can post it as a reply right here in this thread. You can post with however many of your characters you want. At the end of the month, we’ll look it over and dispense points. The points earned for participating in the monthly event alone is 90 by default. If you really blow us away with your entry, we’ll award you 100.
I apologize for the delay. The deadline of the October monthly event is November 1st
Good luck and happy writing, my dearies!
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Post by Cyrille Lécuyer on Oct 7, 2014 19:45:32 GMT -5
Ah, yes. Halloween.
That time of year Cyrille made sure to lock the front door. Not because he was scared of ghosts or other supernatural entities, but because he preferred to not be bothered by little children knocking on it asking for sweets. This year was no exception. Of course, Cyrille wasn’t sure if any of the Shibusen students would participate in that kind of thing. But he’d rather be safe than sorry.
People might have thought it sad for Cyrille to have remained within his small room on the holiday. Not that he really cared what others thought of him. Cyrille was enjoying the quiet, actually. There were events happening in Death City, so a lot of the more social students had gone there.
Cyrille lied on his bed. He hadn’t anything else to do, save for reading a book or two. He didn’t feel like doing that right now, though. The silence was nice and invited sleep. Often it was loud in the dorms, even during the nights. Cyrille didn’t care about the loud noises, but he could also enjoy the silence. Blissful silence. The boy begun to doze off, but a loud noise brought him back to his senses.
A scream, to be specific.
Shooting up into a sitting position, Cyrille looked over to the door. The yell had come from the hallway. Perhaps they had just been scared by someone in a creepy mask or something. Maybe. Either way, Cyrille just knew the idea of someone being in trouble would drive him mad until he actually confirmed them to be alright.
So, the boy stood. He walked to the door, unlocked it, then slowly opened it. Stepping outside, Cyrille saw no one around. Ah, right. Surely the owner of the scream had run off. But, what had scared them then? Perhaps it had chased after them. Cyrille would investigate for a bit. So, he begun to walk down the hall in the direction he believed the scream to had come from.
Cyrille didn’t get very far, though. He suddenly froze. Cyrille wasn’t even sure why he had froze. It just felt like every muscle in his body had tensed up to the point where he couldn’t move them. That wasn’t good.
A cold sweat dripped down Cyrille’s forehead as he tried to make heads or tails of what the hell was happening. He shifted his eyes around, that being the only bit of him that could move. Then, Cyrille heard something behind him.
Giggling from a young girl.
As if things couldn’t get any creepier. Cyrille wanted to get away as fast as possible. He was terrified. But, no. Being frozen and all that would prove difficult. Suddenly, Cyrille felt his hand twitch. Then his other hand. They both moved in front of him as if he was holding a sword. What on earth was happening?
Cyrille felt his body released a second later. With an audible gasp, he spun around to see if he could lay eyes on the girl who he assumed to have just held him hostage for a few moments. Her voice had sounded familiar.
Alas, no one was there. But that only put Cyrille even more on edge. This must have just been a prank. Yes, this had to be a prank! Some cruel sap knew of Cyrille’s gynophobia and wanted to mess with him. Was it that pink haired bloke Cyrille had met in the dojo earlier? Erm, or not. This might have been a bit too crafty for him to think up. Cyrille simply stared into the empty hallway to see if anything was amiss. Nothing was. Then Cyrille felt something, but it wasn’t the tenseness he had felt earlier.
An embrace. Once again, it came from behind so Cyrille couldn’t tell what the hell it was exactly. He froze for a moment or two in complete terror, but eventually worked up the nerve to grit his teeth and pry the embracer away.
Turning around, Cyrille’s expression was that of pure rage. He was scared, but since he couldn’t get away the situation was making him angry. That angry expression didn’t stay put for too long though. It soon changed to surprise, then to confusion, then to complete terror. He wanted to run away, but his legs had locked in place. And he felt like he was going to be sick to boot. Only one word escaped him.
”O-Ophie...?”
A question. Cyrille had asked her name like it was a question. He wasn’t quite sure what to do. His sister... was standing in front of him. No, that couldn’t be correct. It just couldn’t. She was dead. He had watched her die...
Wait. No. Cyrille had not watched his sister died. He had passed out then was later told she had died of blood loss. So... that was a lie? Why would he have been lied to? Cyrille now looked concerned. He begun to step forward, speaking again. In French, as both him and his sister spoke that better than English. <”Why are you so pale?”> He was going to step forward further to make sure she was alright. But... the girl raised a hand to tell him to stop. Which of course Cyrille did.
Ophelie stared blankly at Cyrille. All her colours seemed muted, her skin almost white. The pink in her hair had long gone now, having faded out. It was just a mess of white now. She even wore a white dress. The only colour was her eyes. Pink, like always. But they looked dull. Ah... why was that?
Cyrille opened his mouth to ask the girl even more questions. He needed to know why it was he had been lied to before he allowed himself to be overjoyed at the prospect of his sister being alive. Even if she looked sickly. However, Ophelie glared at him and he shut it.
Why was Ophelie so adamant about not answering any questions? Furthermore, why did she not talk at all? Cyrille’s mind was just a mess of questions for her at this point. And did none of them have answers? Did Ophelie not answer because she was simply a hallucination? Yes, that was likely. Cyrille had driven himself to insanity. Or this was a dream. Either or, it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
”Cy.”
Cyrille had turned his head away for a moment. He was trying to clear it. Ophelie spoke in a calm voice. A caring voice. Cyrille had heard that before. It was the same tone she used whenever he had stressed himself out over their parents snapping at each other. He was stressed now, so perhaps she was trying to calm him. But, when Cyrille turned back his head Ophelie’s expression did not match her voice. She still looked angry. He was taken aback by this.
It made sense for his sister to be angry, he supposed. He was the reason she was dead after all! If he had a handle on what had happened when they had...
Cyrille’s train of thought was stopped by something grabbing him. Or perhaps grabbing was not the correct word. More holding. He had slowly begun to shift his eyes further and further away as he thought, not being able to deal with the glaring of his sister. But, she had forced him to look at her by moving his head. <”Look at me.”>
A command. Cyrille didn’t dare take his eyes away now, even when Ophelie moved her hands away and took a step or two back. Even when she continued to look angry at him. Gods, he was going to faint if this kept up. Cyrille was so overwhelmed right now that he felt light headed. He had felt like this many times. He hated the feeling.
When Ophelie was certain Cyrille would make no attempts to look away again, she spoke. <”Do you know what it feels like to die, Cy? It’s so very cold. You held me, right? I could not feel your warmth. It was just all cold.”>
Ophelie’s words did not make that much sense. Not to Cyrille, at least. He got what she was saying, sure, but why was she saying it? Cyrille knew. Oh gods, it’d be a crime if he did not know how horrible his sister’s fate had been. He could only imagine, but still. Besides, he had felt a similar coldness. When his shoulder had been impaled everything had felt cold.
<”Alas, that was of my own doing.”> She continued. Ophelie spoke in a manner Cyrille had never heard her talk before. She spoke properly, as if trying to prove that she had superior intellect over him or something. But why on earth... <”Yes, it was all my fault. That’s not why I came to see you, though.”>
That lie was not something Cyrille could let his sister say. He suddenly opened his mouth, and was yelling at her. He didn’t mean to yell, but he just kinda did. Cyrille felt faint. And he also felt close to tears. He was so very confused with this whole thing. <”No! Don’t say that! It was my fault, not y-”>
Cyrille was silenced by a hand being pressed against his mouth. It was Ophelie’s. She had swiftly stepped forward and was visibly angry while quieting him. Despite the obviously angry expression, her voice remained soft and caring. <”Cy, please don’t be mad at my brother.”> She spoke. <”I think me being mad at him will be more than enough to teach him his lesson.”>
Well, that had taken a sudden turn. Ophelie had just said she wasn’t mad at him. Well, not explicitly said it but inferred it. She could not possibly be mad at him for something she admitted to being her own fault, even if it wasn’t. So, what on earth could she be mad about?
<”My own brother would not attend his sister’s funeral. Hm...”>
Ophelie spoke, then look thoughtful for a moment or two. Ah, there it was. She was mad about that. That little detail Cyrille lamented almost as much as he did letting her die in the first place. He went pale. Wide eyed. Ah, right. He had not gone to his sister’s funeral. He couldn’t bear it. He didn’t want to see all the pained faces that were pained because of his error. He couldn’t. It would have teared his apart. He had felt horrible, making that decision, but nonetheless it was the decision he made. She was mad at him for that. Ah. Cyrille’s heart felt as though it was being torn in two.
<”Yes, I’m quite mad at you about that.”> Ophelie’s voice slowly escalated from that lovely caring tone to an enraged tone. Terrifying, but Cyrille could not run. He was frozen. <”Why would you do that? I just don’t get it. Did me dying to save your skin really mean so little? So little you couldn’t even be bothered to say goodbye?”>
She stopped speaking. Soon all was quiet in the hall. There was no one around except for the twins. Suddenly, the glare turned to a warm smile. It was forced there, not genuine in the slightest. <”That’s all I wanted to say. I take my leave. I’ll be watching you, of course.”>
Then she vanished. As she did, Cyrille’s legs suddenly gave way and he slumped over, falling to his knees. His whole body felt numb. He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. How could he have been such an idiot? Cyrille slumped down further and brought his face into his hands.
She would be watching, would she? Cyrille had no idea whether that should terrify him or make him feel happy. Relieved, even. He couldn’t think right now. His mind was just a mess now. Perhaps he should just go to sleep...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2014 16:57:43 GMT -5
He. Was. Late.
Aiden had been really busy with his new job, and didn’t get home until late at night. Sometimes she got to see him at breakfast, but he always looked so sleepy she would rather he just sleep in. But he always complained about never being able to see her anymore, so finally he found a day where he could get off work early and come meet her in town. He promised to buy her cupcakes and go shopping. Hannah had been thrilled, and spent what felt like centuries this morning helping Noelle get ready. Noelle herself did not see why things had to be any different. But after a few bows were added and the surprise of a cute new dress had been pulled out of the closet, she found herself getting excited about the day ahead of her.
Except, Aiden was forty-nine minutes late. And twenty seconds, but who was counting?
Her legs kicked angrily at the table’s support, and she puffed her cheeks out in an attempt to distract herself form the irritating liquid forming in her eyes. Stupid, unreliable big brother…she should have known better than to get all excited.
She was about to just get up and storm back home when a soft voice crept up from behind her.
“Excuse me…”
That definitely wasn’t Aiden. Aiden was a screamer. A run-up-and-tackle-you kind of person. Not to mention this voice was definitely female. But when one is expecting someone, they still get a little worked up whenever anyone talks to them. So she turned around to face the person speaking to her, with a silly hope for news on her brother.
…only, she wasn’t entirely sure that this person was a person at all. She was a young lady, looking to be in her early twenties. But her colors were muted, even those of her clothes, and if the sunlight hit her at the right angle she was almost translucent. More like a ghost, really.
The Ghost Lady looked a little surprised when she finally saw Noelle’s face, but her expression softened into a sweet looking smile. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry…from behind, you looked like…” she trailed off, before giving a polite nod of her head. “Hi, sweetie…are you waiting for someone?”
Noelle wondered if her disappointment had been so obvious. She trained her face into a smile to match the lady’s, though it wasn’t as sweet. It was a little bitter, actually. And there was a pinch of annoyance. “Yeah, my older brother…” she trailed off, looking at the empty seat across the tiny table. “But I don’t think he’s coming…”
The older woman ‘s eyes crinkled in an understanding and sympathetic way. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. Shall we wait together?” Without waiting much longer, she seemed to float over to the empty chair and took her seat, though Noelle couldn’t explain how that worked at all. She was pretty sure the lady was just floating above the seat, but it was rude to lean over and look.
“But aren’t you waiting for someone, too?” Or, rather, it seemed more like she was looking for someone. This lady was a ghost, so maybe there was some unfinished business she needed to handle?
The ghost looked a little sad, but she didn’t let her smile fade. “You could say that…but I don’t think I’ll find him. I’m a long way from where I need to be…”
Noelle could understand that. She was a long way from home, too. But, at the same time, she felt like this was where she needed to be—much on the contrary from this woman’s feelings. “Sorry you can’t find him…who is he?” she asked. She couldn’t help, or anything, but she was still a little curious.
The woman lit up again, looking so pleased that Noelle had asked. “My son!” she declared proudly. “He’s probably a little younger than you are…and he probably wouldn’t be wandering around. He’s a big brother now, so he’s probably with the baby.”
Noelle leaned in a little, taking an interest in the conversation. “You had a baby? Congratulations!”
The specter giggled, her pale face practically glowing as she nodded. “Yes, a little girl. I’m so happy, I’ve always wanted a girl.”
But that brought about a few more questions, questions Noelle wasn’t sure if she should ask or not. She didn’t know much about this world, having been relatively ignorant before. But did ghosts live normally like humans did? That didn’t seem logical at all. She was almost one-hundred percent positive that ghosts couldn’t have babies. Meaning, two kids lost their mom really recently. Noelle frowned at that, and the woman seemed to pick up on what she was thinking. She nodded again, this time she radiated a melancholic atmosphere.
“I wanted to apologize…he must feel so lonely right now.” She turned her head to look off to the side, at something Noelle couldn’t even imagine, eyes lined with saline. “To the baby, too…I can’t imagine what she’ll go through.”
Noelle felt something stir within her, and she bit her lip momentarily to try and keep back an outburst of tears. She took a deep breath, forced a smile, and then opened her mouth. “She’s going to be okay,” she assured the lady, which caused her to bring her attention back. The woman’s eyes were wide, and for a moment Noelle swore she saw a glimpse of green. Pretty green eyes.
The pig-tailed head lowered, looking a little unsure of herself, but she continued on nonetheless. “My mom…my mother’s gone too…but even though things might be hard for a while, and she’ll miss you a lot…but she’ll be okay. Your son, too.” It took a long time for Aiden to be okay, but she truly believed that he was fine now. And hopefully this woman’s son wouldn’t end up the same as Aiden.
The ghost looked a little upset by that information, then slowly she became relieved. “I’m glad…I wish you could meet her someday. You’d be a good big sister, you know?” And then she giggled at Noelle’s flustered response of mostly sputtering. She crinkled her eyes again, a warm expression, and titled her head to the side. “What’s your name, by the way?”
Noelle had completely forgotten that she hadn’t introduced herself. That wasn’t polite at all. She jolted a little in shock of having forgotten the societal norm, before reaching up and fiddling with her bangs. “I’m sorry, my name’s Noelle!”
“Noelle…”
The woman contemplated the name for a bit, looking a little puzzled and even a little sad. But then she smiled again, nodding in approval. “What a pretty name. Does anyone call you Ellie?”
The little girl shook her head. “Not really…but sometimes my brother calls me Ella.”
A deep breath was taken by the ghost, though Noelle felt that it was only out of habit and not because she needed to breathe. She squared her shoulders as well, as though preparing herself for a hit. “And your brother…he takes good care of you, right?”
That was a weird question, but Noelle kind of understood the reasoning behind it. She wanted to make sure her baby would be taken care of. So she nodded, beaming. “Yeah…he’s a bit of a dork, but he works really hard to take care of me. I’m happy I have him.” Not that she’d ever tell him that. It was more fun, the way things were now. Maybe a little more fun if he showed up to their dates.
The woman looked relieved, and placed a hand over her heart. “And your father…?” She shook her head, and quickly added on a broken sounded “Never mind.” Which was good, because Noelle really didn’t want to talk about her dad. It wouldn’t encourage this lady at all.
Once again, she changed expressions. But this time, she had a determined look glittering in her eyes. She reached out across the table, and though they couldn’t really touch she hovered her hands over Noelle’s. “Let me just say…” she paused, looking a little conflicted for a moment before snapping back into her determination, “on behalf of your mother, that I love you very much. And that I’m proud of you, Noelle.”
And Noelle didn’t know why, but a tear finally slipped past one of her wide eyes and rolled down her cheek. She reached up and placed a hand against her face, wondering why she felt so moved. “Then…on behalf of your daughter, I want to say that I love you too. So, so much.”
The lady bit her lip, tears threatening to spill from what Noelle could now see clearly to be very faint green eyes. She nodded and removed her hands, before standing up once more. “Thank you, Noelle…” She smiled brightly. “You’ve helped me so much. But I have to go now…” She looked a little reluctant to leave, but she also looked like she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. “I wish you the most happiness in the world. Goodbye, Noelle.”
“Ella!”
Noelle’s attention was ripped away from the disappearing woman, and she didn’t get a chance to return the farewell as Aiden ran up to her. He came to a stop next to her chair, panting and heaving with an excuse on his lips.“I-” he cut himself off, green eyes landing on the last remnants of the woman. She gave a little smile, and a wave, before she was gone, and Aiden just stood there with his jaw hanging open.
The younger sister kept quiet as her brother stood in rapture, wondering if she should explain what happened. He probably wouldn’t believe her, though. He was probably doubting his own eyes right this very moment.
Finally the boy seemed to break, reaching up and rubbing his eyes on his sleeve—something he did to hide tears, though it rarely happened seriously and Noelle wondered if maybe he was just trying to refocus his vision. She even thought she heard him mumble something, but he shook his head and put on a smile again. He must have come to the conclusion that he had been seeing things. He reached out to pat her head, but she swiftly dodged his hand. Such interactions were normal, and he didn’t even look hurt by it anymore. He just sat down and folded his arms on the table.
“I’m so sorry, Ells. I got super held up at work. Can you ever forgive me?”
“…maybe.” He laughed at that, before looking at her with an unusual, serious yet tender gleam in his eyes. “Hey…I love you, you know that?” he murmured, and she scowled. He was being really weird. He usually declared his love loudly, and garnered lots of attention.
“I know.”
He laughed again, before standing up. “Good. Now how about those cupcakes?”
She perked up immediately at that, and shot up from her seat. “I think you owe me two, since you were so late.”
“Of course. Anything you want.”
And as the two of them were leaving, he looked over his shoulder and stared at the spot where the ghost woman had disappeared. He gave a sad little smile and waved to it.
“Bye, Mom…”
“Aiden?”
He shook his head and jogged to catch up to his younger sister. “I’m coming!” he called, happily walking by her side once more.
They were silent for a while, knowing the path to the nearest bakery by heart. But after a while, he felt some movement beside him and was surprised to find that Noelle had reached up and grabbed on to his arm. She didn’t look at him at all, a little blush on her face as she held on to his sleeve.
“…Aiden?”
He stopped walking, causing her to pause as well. But he couldn’t get her to look at him, no matter what he did. Finally she told him what was bothering her, and before she even finished getting the words out he tackled her in a hug.
Which resulted in him getting shocked by her Soul Purge, and her stomping away from him. He wasted no time in pushing himself up from the ground, laughing and jokingly apologizing and promising to buy a dozen cupcakes to make her feel better. But her words were something he’d never, ever forget.
I really love you, too.
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Post by Elias Larenz on Oct 16, 2014 20:05:03 GMT -5
It was just an average, completely normal, nothing out of place what-so-ever day at Shibusen.
Or kinda, at least. To Elias it might of well have been. Halloween. The costumes were nice, but Elias did not wear one. Buying one would be an ordeal, and putting on clothes he wasn’t used to would be even more of an ordeal. Elias was perfectly fine simply seeing the costumes on other people.
However, even that was easier said than done. Because... Death City looked like a ghost town. There were no people on the streets, or at least the street that Elias currently traversed. Odd, generally the place was bustling with life. Maybe there was something going on elsewhere. Not that that mattered. It wasn’t too hot today, but Elias wouldn’t stay out for too long.
The quietness of the area was actually a little unsettling. Elias was used to silence, but he preferred the loudness of people to the quietness of solitude. That was something he could enjoy now, so might as well, right? Perhaps everyone was in the school right now. Elias would go there. Which meant he’d have to go in the exact opposite direction of the way he had currently been going.
As Elias turned around, he heard a voice from behind him. An odd sound. Was it giggling? A girl’s giggling no less.
Elias turned around to where he had been facing before. He could have sworn that he had been alone. But, if there was giggling someone else had to be here! Elias was surprised to see someone had indeed been behind him. He hadn’t seen this girl once in his entire life, though. Perhaps she did not attend Shibusen.
Oh, she was wearing a costume too. Elias couldn’t pick out exactly what it was supposed to be, but the girl was pale. She had white hair and a white dress as well. Maybe a ghost? Yes, a ghost! The dark rings around the eyes made Elias sure of this. It was a pretty good costume. If it wasn’t Halloween, Elias would have been sure she indeed was a ghost. But that was silly.
Elias was not the kind of person to succumb to superstitions. He did not believe in the existence of ghosts. Just because he did not have proper schooling did not mean that Elias was not educated at all. He was a pretty intelligent individual. That was always emphasized by the way that he spoke.
”Oh, your costume is lovely, dear.” He spoke with a warm, charming smile. ”Apologies that I didn’t note your presence sooner. If I did, I would have commented on it sooner.”
Unfortunately for Elias, his words were not met with the reaction he had hoped for. Perhaps not the reaction he had been expecting, persay, as the reaction he hoped for would have been a cheerful “thank you” without the girl being annoyed in someway. Elias never got why they all got so bothered when he complimented them. But the girl did not seem thankful for his compliment or annoyed by it. She looked... confused. Like Elias complimenting her was an extremely odd thing. Surely she had received compliments already? Was that not the point of dressing in costume?
The confused look on the girl’s face was somewhat mirrored by Elias. He still smiled - if somewhat nervously - but also looked to be a tad confused. He was about to ask her what the matter was, as well as ask if she had not received a plethora of compliments yet, but did not even get the chance to open his mouth. The ghost girl begun to walk towards him. Now Elias was really confused. What could it be that she wanted.
The ghost girl was walking towards Elias to show him something. She could not talk. She hadn’t figured out how to do that with her new ghostly powers. She hadn’t been able to take form until today oddly enough. And she had been dead for a while now... The most she could do was make different sounds. Like giggling and coughing or stuff like that.
So instead she’d actually show the boy that she was an actual ghost by passing through him. Surely the boy wasn’t so daft that he wouldn’t understand what she was when the ghost put a hand on his shoulder and it passed through him.
Of course, he was.
Well, perhaps “daft” was not the best word to use to describe Elias with. Clueless was the better word. Elias didn’t turn his head to look at the ghost’s hand like she had hoped. He just assumed what she had done was simply put her hand on his shoulder. Not through. It was a common assumption for him. You know, not being able to feel and all. Elias just kinda blinked, looking even more confused now. ”Erm, are you alright, love?” He asked, trying to smile but instead just looking more confused and nervous.
The ghost was even more confused by this. ...Had the first person she tried to experiment on been a complete and utter idiot? The girl rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest. So very annoying, this guy was. Well his idiot-ness was probably the reason he was out and about anyway. The girl would try something a bit different. She took a few steps back, then stepped forward.
If Elias had nerves to feel with, he would have felt something pass through him. What he could do was see what the girl had done. She had moved forward, gotten incredibly close, then vanished. Elias’ eyes widened, and he spun around. Agh... what the hell was that?!
Well, if something like that was terrorizing everyone that would explain why Death City was like a ghost town right now. Erm, quite literally. This girl was a... ghost? That was a little hard to comprehend. Elias just kinda stared at her blankly trying to process everything. And while he did that the girl suddenly vanished, probably being bored of him now.
Elias had frozen up. Still wide eyed. Still confused. What had just happened, exactly? ...Had he just been flirting with a ghost? Ah. That would be an interesting story to tell the kids, he supposed. Besides, it had went better than how his conversations with most girls went...
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Post by Levi Kastein on Oct 25, 2014 1:59:45 GMT -5
If Death City was annoying on a regular day it was infinitely worse on Halloween. Those that lived in the city were busy celebrating the holiday which meant they were paying less attention to Levi. Along with the ungrateful people were hordes of ungrateful ghost who failed to recognize his status as king. With all the ghost that were loitering around the city at least a few should know about him but no, they were all painfully ignorant. Ideally he could just avoid them but they were all over the city and Levi wasn’t going to let some annoying dead people keep him from doing things.
As soon as he walked outside a ghost was already there to bother him. Once he was fully outside and the yelling had stopped Levi humored the spirit and let him speak. Now that he could understand what the ghost was saying he couldn’t help but grin at his frustration. The ghost was angry at him because he had sent a sword flying into his tombstone. Well that explained why he was so mad. Levi began to walk away after that to the added dismay of the spirit. Waving the ghost away without looking back Levi continued on through the city towards the forest.
”Sorry about that, I’d be pissed too if such a shitty sword ruined something of mine. I’m the wrong prince to be mad at though, my sword is wonderful.”
Done with that pain of an interaction Levi ignored any more words from the ghost and went on his way to the forest. Even if the city was full of wandering annoyances that didn’t mean he was going to let that stop him from training. It did mean he wasn’t going to train in the dojo though, the last thing he needed was to be bothered by ghost and people at the same time.
The sky reflected the holiday by being overcast and gray, completely hiding the sun from view. It was a shame really that the sun wasn’t out to make Levi look even more radiant. As unfortunate as it was he pressed on, walking past numerous students and ghost as they wandered about. Luckily it seemed that most of the ghost were around the city so the forest would hopefully be empty. Once the trees began to take the place of buildings the silence of the city was behind him and so were the entities in it.
Free of the distractions Levi found a decent area in the forest and pulled out his sword. Standing a few feet away he held the blade in his right hand and slashed at the tree. His blade remained a few feet away from the tree but he knew the strikes would have hit with Irene. As much of a pain as it was utilizing a bit of range would be useful in future missions. Since the weapon was still a singular thing it wasn’t as bad as using a true ranged weapon.
The training was going fine until he noticed a ghost approaching him out of the corner of his eye. At first he didn’t pay it much attention until it stopped moving and stared at him. The ghost was a boy who looked to be around fifteen in common clothing with nothing interesting about him, except for the missing fingers on his hands. Sighing Levi lowered his blade and looked at the ghost to see what he did. At first it simply stared at him before opening its mouth to speak in a familiar voice.
”I see you still have the most obnoxious sword to ever exist.”
”At least I can wield a sword still, though to be fair you weren’t much good at it with all your fingers.”
The anger was clearly readable off the ghost’s face, which only brought a smirk to Levi’s. For a moment there was silence as the ghost composed himself and returned his attention back to Levi.
”What kind of king mocks someone after killing them?”
”Considering you tried to kill me I’m not exactly sympathetic. Plus I didn’t kill you, which is unfortunate considering who you are. I mean were.”
”You are the reason for my death. I would have hoped to leave more of an impression than the one on your chest.”
”Sorry about that but you just suck as an assassin. And one kid who thinks they can use a sword doesn’t warrant remembering.”
”I could have done better. Really I should have followed better examples, like my father.”
Dealing with the ghost of a failed assassin was annoying but only a small bother for Levi. Still listening he had returned his attention to his training with the voice as an insect in the background. The kid had failed to do any real harm to him and was barely more than an annoyance while he was alive, as a ghost he brought nothing new. However at the mention of the kid’s father the calmness shattered, a second later Levi had stabbed his sword at the ghost and hit his mark. The reflective blade passed through the body of the spirit and implanted itself into the tree behind him. Clearly his anger amused the ghost if his face was anything to go off of.
”Your father was a coward who deserved a worse death than he got. I wish I had known you were his son so I could have killed you myself.”
Words were not yelled like Levi’s usual anger but spoken through grit teeth. Sunglasses resting on his head his eyes stared straight at the ghost who continued to grin at his rage.
”At least I can laugh at how both you and your father were failures. He failed to finish the job and you barely managed to cut me while I toyed with you. I did get sloppy and let you cut me true but if I had tried that would have been over in half the time. And if I had known who your father was you would have been the one with a new scar on his chest, but I would have finished the job. Oh well, it won’t happen again with what happened to the rest of your family.”
In an instant the expressions had completely swapped between the two. The ghost wore a look of anger and fear while Levi had the twisted grin.
”What…”
The boy’s words were cut short as Levi tore his sword across his chest. It probably did nothing besides cut through the side of a tree but it was enough to at least get the ghost away. With the ghost gone for the moment Levi returned his sword to its sheath but his body failed to relax. Gritting his teeth again he punched the tree and simply leaned on it for a few minutes.
Trying not to think he kept his attention on the tree and ignored anything else around him. Even trying to ignore it he noticed a new ghost show up just outside his vision. It didn’t do anything so he returned the gesture and the two stood in silence. Once he felt calm enough Levi sighed and took his fist off the tree, shaking away anything that may have been on it. Pulling his sunglasses down onto his face he turned unenthusiastically toward the ghost. To hopefully dissuade it more he kept his eyes closed to complete the not caring look.
”Look, I’m really not in the mood to deal with anymore ghost. So can you go haunt somebody else?”
”Don’t let what he said get to you too much. I know you are going to become a great king.”
The voice was feminine and carried a sense of familiarity even though Levi had no memory of a voice like it. Opening his eyes the ghost was a woman barely taller than he was with the usual ghost transparency and faded colors. Despite the colors being faded she wore a purple dress that looked like something he would have seen on one of the royals back home. Her hair fell below her shoulders and was a distinct green color. Her face seemed happy as his blue eyes met her own before she smiled at him, revealing pointed teeth. Before he knew how to react she began to fade away. Reaching out Levi was met with nothing but air as he stood alone in the forest.
Burying his hands in his pockets he headed back to the city. If anymore ghost tried to bother him he was going to learn if ghost could be hit with soul purge. Levi was completely done with the holiday.
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Post by Cendrine Calida on Oct 25, 2014 22:05:34 GMT -5
Oh yay! Today was Halloween, wasn’t it?
Cendrine loved Halloween. She could walk around town without getting odd looks. People would even compliment her outfit and call her adorable! Sometimes they even asked her if they could be shown a magic trick. Cendrine was well aware of the holiday approaching. The yards were littered with spooky fake witches and carved out pumpkins. And it was getting colder. It hadn’t snowed just yet, but that was probably because she had been traveling south as of late.
Right now, Cendrine found herself in some small town. She didn’t remember what it was called, but it had a nice park with benches that made for a nice place to sleep. Cendrine yawned softly to herself as she awoke from her slumber. Generally she’d prefer a bed, but no one had let her stay at their place. They had just told her Halloween had not happened yet.
Oh well. The bench was nice. ”Good morning...” Cendrine whispered to herself. She always said that when she woke, even if there was no one around but her. Cendrine slowly sat up, stretching her arms. She looked around sleepily, rubbing her eyes to try to wake herself up.
Only a few seconds later Cendrine was up on her feet with her usual limitless energy. Yes, today was going to be an exciting day! It had to be. Cendrine hadn’t celebrated many Halloweens. Annika had never told her of their existence, so Cendrine had only learned of them after Annika had taken an especially long nap. They were nice days. People gave Cendrine sweet things if she was in a town or something like she was today.
Beginning to walk out of the park and to the town square, Cendrine felt a chill run down her back. That was funny. Normally things weren’t too cold until November hit, which was tomorrow not today. That was a weird chill in general, actually. It did not feel natural, but then Cendrine could not describe what it felt like if not natural. Oh well! After pausing for a moment, Cendrine continued to march on forward.
There were no people around. Or not yet, at least. It was a bit early. Or perhaps really early. The sun was only now rising up into the sky. Yep, no way people would be out at this hour! Cendrine had just been excited and therefore not slept for as long as she normally did. Oh well. She could just walk around until people were out and about. Yes, she could look at all the pretty decorations on everyone’s house! That’d be fun.
After about an hour of walking around and looking at decorations, Cendrine felt that odd chill again. This time, instead of just pausing, she spun around to try to figure out what it was that was making her so cold. But, there was nothing around. Cendrine let out a soft sigh, realizing it was probably just her mind messing with her and continued onwards.
...Only to feel the chill again!
Cendrine halted once more, and looked around to see if she had missed anything the last time she looked. She had spun in an entire circle one, twice, thrice, but still saw nothing. Cendrine brought a hand to her chin and thought for a second. All this thinking was starting to wear her out...
Letting out a frustrated sigh, the witch fell to the ground and crossed her arms over her chest. She waited until she felt the chill again, but never did. Instead, Cendrine heard an oh-so-familiar voice sound from behind her.
”Cendrine...”
The voice spoke in a tone that was how a lot of people spoke on Halloween. The vowels were held for longer than needed, making it sound spooky. Cendrine stood up and spun around to lay eyes on an old woman. She looked to be around sixty. Cendrine normally would not be able to tell age from just a glance at someone, but this particular someone was different. Cendrine knew them.
”Annika!” The young witch exclaimed happily. She began to run towards the woman with outstretched arms. ”I thought you were asleep!”
But the old woman stopped Cendrine from running up to her and presumably giving her a big hug by putting out a hand. Cendrine stopped and looked confused. Almost sad, but one could assume Cendrine just couldn’t make sad expressions given her constantly cheery demeanor. Or perhaps she also looked sad because her stepmother that she loved oh-so-much was now glaring at her.
Cendrine looked over Annika. She looked paler than Cendrine remembered. The red ooze stuff was still all around her neck. Oh, so she never got rid of it? Good! Annika must have enjoyed the red ooze as much as Cendrine did then! But, then, why was she glaring like she was angry? Cendrine couldn’t fathom a reason for that. How odd.
”Cendrine...” The voice spoke. ”Do you know what you have done?”
Now Cendrine was really confused. There was a lot of stuff she had done, but she didn’t know what Annika referred to specifically. ”Uhm... no?” Cendrine asked, trying to see if she could get her step mother to tell her more. Be more specific. Maybe the question was one of those silly questions she wasn’t actually supposed to answer.
There was a long silence as Annika stared with an annoyed expression. ”Idiot child.” She muttered. ”You led me to a horrible fate. And I will not excuse your actions as niavity.”
That was funny. Normally Annika was so nice. But, now she talked sternly. Cendrine took a step back, surprised. Horrible fate? What kind of horrible fate? And Cendrine didn’t even know what niavity meant. Hm. She’d have to turn this around somehow.
Oh! There was an idea! Cendrine clapped her hands together at the thought that would surely solve this whole mess. ”W-well... I know! Let me show you a magic trick!” Cendrine cheered.
Before Annika had the chance to protest, Cendrine quickly whispered her incantation. The first time she had, she turned a branch of a nearby tree into ashes. The second time she spoke it, she turned those ashes into a blade.
Annika’s eyes widened at the sight, as if recalling a horrible experience one would much rather forget. But that frightened expression went away when Cendrine tried to plunge the sword into her neck. It didn’t do a thing. Just kinda went through her. No red ooze. Disappointing.
”I see. You really don’t understand...” Annika said as Cendrine bounded backwards looking confused again. ”I will tell you. Your “magic tricks” cause all those you use them on to perish. Please stop this, Cendrine...”
And then, the ghost of Annika Calida vanished. Cendrine blinked to herself. ”Huh. That was... odd.” Cendrine spoke to herself, turning the sword back to ash then brushing her hands together to get rid of all the excess ashes. She didn’t know what “perish” meant. Annika had never told her. So, she’d just forget about that whole thing and go on with celebrating halloween! Perhaps she could get some candy...
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Post by The Sidhe on Nov 1, 2014 14:06:04 GMT -5
Time's up!
The October event for 2014 is officially over! We'll be doling out points shortly. Good work and thank you for your entries!
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