Nigel Priest

Gossip was always the fastest information carrier in any city or town. Even in Banyan city gossip traveled fast, especially with the flowers helping. Usually rumors got heavily garbled as they traveled, but once in a while they kept it straight. Nearly a week after the incident, people were still buzzing about how Nigel's team had defeated a massive Goultagaul with only the assistance of Ruby's sister, Mercy. However, as they all quickly discovered as they grew up, politics always take you by surprise.

Ruby glared hatefully at her crystal panel, her news window on screen. The article was about the Goultagaul incident, but not as Ruby remembered it. She, Nigel, and Maxum had been completely written out of it. Only Mercy kept her name on the article.

Pushing her way through the doors onto the rookie floor, she spotted Nigel and Maxum talking at their desks. She took a deep breath and held it as she crossed the floor. Reaching her desk she let it go, grabbing the boys' attention.

"Uh oh," Nigel said, recognizing Ruby's bad mood looming.

"Have you two seen this?" She demanded, showing them the article.

Maxum gave her a funny look, like she'd asked a ridiculous question. Dr. Bluster had ranted about it all morning.

"Yeeeees," he said uncertainly.

"I take it you’re upset," Nigel said, looking completely relaxed as he sat in his chair, trying not to chuckle at her over reaction.

"They wrote us out of it," she fumed, unaware of Maxum taking her crystal panel so she wouldn't smash it in her temper. "We took out that monster, all by ourselves, and they don't even hint at it. They just say 'The Surveyors defeated a rampant Goultagaul'. It's ridiculous!"

"It's politics," Nigel said with a shrug. "We're underage, so to publish our names means our parents have to sign release forms, the Surveyors have to file an incident report with the safety chief, and a formal admission that we were placed in danger to the police, child welfare, and Council of Speakers. It's just easier to keep it in house."

"Fine," Ruby huffed, dropping into her chair.

"Cheer up," Maxum said. "This time next year we'll be legal age."

Nigel added: "And then when a horrible monster nearly maims and kills us we'll get full credit."

She gave them a playful scowl and would have struck with a scathing remark, but then...

"Morning, kids," came the strong voice of Capt. Trait. "How are you handling not be famous?"

"Hahaha," Ruby said sarcastically. "Very funny, Captain."

"Couldn't help it," Trait said, smirking. "Anyway, I've got an assignment for you three."

“Nothing dangerous, I hope,” Nigel joked, accepting the old fashioned digipad.

“Hopefully not,” the Camelon conceded. “An evaluation of a building one of the councils is renovating for new offices.”

“Fun,” Ruby said with an astounding lack of enthusiasm. “Who doesn’t love a good evaluation?”

“I thought you hated evaluations,” Maxum said confused.

She frowned at him.

“Oh,” he said. “You’re being sarcastic.”

Trait looked to Nigel as if to ask if they were really like this. He shrugged, smiling. They were, and he liked it.

Ruby was a very sassy, fun fleet fairy that had a seriously mean temper. Maxum was an unusual and curious android who often missed subtly. And Nigel was their very human, very patient, and pretty cool leader who probably tolerated their oddness just a little too much. They had their strengths and weaknesses and worked very well together; friends as much as they were a team.

 “Ok,” Nigel declared, getting to his feet. “Let’s get going.”

The building was an old-style four-story concrete box that was probably washed white when it was build, about a hundred years ago during the diesel age. Now it was mostly green from moss and tilting to one side more than it should have, which wasn’t too surprising considering it was on the more southern side of the south east business district tucked pretty deep in the tree near a tight cluster of trunks. It was just on the edge of an abandoned ring making it pretty undesirable despite being only two streets from the main business road. This meant really cheap rent for the city. Still…

“Who’d want to work here?” Ruby asked, unimpressed with the moss and mold. “It’s so dark and dank.”

“The…” Nigel consulted the digipad and grimaced. “flight council.”

Ruby buzzed, wings a blur as she fumed. All winged and flying races in the city hated the mere idea of the Flight council. Flying was the ultimate freedom, the purest joy, so to have a council dedicated to regulating and controlling it made them sick. Of course, it didn’t help that a few years back the council tried to put through a bill to have all flyers equipped with tracking spells and establish flying lanes to better control air space. After it failed the chairmen at the time wisely choose to resign and quickly left the city before anything unfortunate happened.

“It’s perfect,” Ruby sniffed with a curt nod.

“Ok,” Nigel said, choosing to ignore the outburst. “The report says the construction crew has been plagued by weird incidents: windows banging, doors locked that shouldn’t be, cold spots, unwelcoming presence, eerie noises, moving shadows, disappearing wall writing, falling objects, transparent figures, electric shorts, disappearing/reappearing tools, strange behavior from animals and anima crewmen, feeling touched when alone, bazaar smells, fainting Espers and—finishing off Embero’s comprehensive list of haunting signs—floating objects.”

“No unexplained deaths,” Maxum pointed out.

“That’s a pleasant thought,” Ruby said, suddenly unnerved.

“Let’s try to avoid that one,” Nigel said with his most encouraging smile. She managed a nervous one in reply.

A basic warning circle had been scrawled on the ground, just enough to discourage wildlife and children, but easily ignored. A group of construction workers shifted awkwardly just outside the circle, looking at the three teens uncertainly. A tall brown Naga slithered forward, most of his body covered in scales so he was getting on in years; most likely the foremen.

“You the Sssssurveyorsss?” He asked, his voice deep with a strong lisp. Forked tongues: great for scaring people, bad for a social life.

“Yes, sir. Nigel Priest at your service,” He said with a bright smile, bowing his head. Reptiles didn’t really like physical contact with other species; tended to awaken hunting instincts, which never ended well.

“This is my team,” He continued, indicating his friends, “Ruby Shunts-“

“Hello.”

“-and Maxum.”

“Greetings.”

“Hagi Ssslithen,” The naga frowned, clearly worried. “You ssseem…”

“Young?” Nigel provided, earning a reluctant nod. “You don’t need to worry, Mr. Slithen. We’re just here to run a simple evaluation to see what is going on.”

He looked confused. “It’ssss a haunting. Locked doorssss, writing, thingsss falling, thosssse are all ghossst thingsss, right?”

“Yes,” Maxum confirmed.

“But poltergeist don’t usually have such a wide range of skills,” Nigel said. “So there’s a strong possibility it actually isn’t a ghost.”

“Could be protestors,” Ruby said, pointing at the Ground the Flight Council banner strung across the top floor.

Slithen chuckled. “Fair enough. How long will thisssss take?”

“1 to 4 hours,” Maxum answered.

“Once we’ve established the source of these incidents the corps will send out someone to deal with it,” Ruby said.

“In ten to twenty bussssinesssss dayssss,” Slithen said wryly.

Nigel smiled; dead on. “We’ll get started right away,” he promised, heading toward the warning line. “Please keep your men out until we’re done.”

“Will do,” the naga said, waving them good luck before returning to his workers.

The trio approached the unassuming building, watching it grow menacing. A cold knot of unease settled in the pit of Nigel’s stomach as he crossed the line. He spotted a dark figure in an upper window staring at them. In a flash it vanished and the unnatural feelings lessened, but didn’t leave. He looked back at Maxum’s surprised expression and Ruby’s nervous frown. Androids weren’t susceptible to psychic emotions, but fairies were very sensitive to them.

“This doesn’t seem like a good idea anymore,” Ruby said, wings tight to her body.

“Too late,” Maxum said, completely unhelpful.

“You ran a news search on this address and site already, right?” Nigel asked his friend.

Maxum nodded. “No strange deaths or previous anomaly,” he confirmed. “Prior to building the site was evaluated, found clean, but salted for extra caution.”

“Why would it need to be salted?” Ruby asked. “I thought they only did that for cemeteries, mortuaries, and hospitals to keep out ghosts. Wasn’t this just an accounting office?”

“Yes,” he said. He paused, eyes glassing over as he searched his files. “It was registered as the south east office of Ziget & Parkson’s accounting firm, but there were rumors of strange noise and unexplained shipments. I found a personal report of a surveyor investigating the rumors.”

“But it didn’t bear fruit,” Ruby guessed.

“Unclear. Most of the report is missing.”

“They found something,” Nigel sighed, worried. “But it was swept under the rug. Great. Maxum, send Captain Trait an up-date and a request to find the rest of the report; maybe it’s somewhere in the hard-copy files. Ruby, we’ll do a perimeter scan, all spectrums. Let’s get as much information as we can.”

Pulling their glass panels, the agents quickly circled the building, getting lots of data. The first thing Nigel noticed was that the walls had ecto-insulation, muffling his readings. He could still detect a respectable Ectoplasm reading, which did not improve his mood. He met Ruby at the front door and compared scans.

“This place is very haunted,” Nigel joked, earning a scowl from the fairy.

“I do not want to go in there,” She said as Nigel waved Maxum over.

“Don’t worry,” Nigel assured her, “We won’t. There has to be something big in there to give these kinds of readings. Captain Trait will order us to pull back and contact Ghost Control.”

Maxum reached them. “Captain Trait has ordered us-“

The front doors blew open, a torturous howl ripping the air. Maxum was lifted off the ground, pin wheeling his arms for balance, and was jerked toward the open doorway. Ruby and Nigel lunged for him, grabbing hold of his oversized coat. But whatever had grabbed him was too strong and yanked them in too.

They soared through the doors, barely avoiding the reception desk as they crashed down the hall. Ruby rolled to her feet and took off, wings a blur as she went for the doors. They banged shut just before she reached them. She slammed into them full force and bounced off; but she got right back on her feet. Grabbing the knob she twisted, yanked, and pulled at it with all her strength, wings beating furiously, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Nonononono,” she shouted, freaking out. “This is not happening! Open up!”

Ruby kept shouting at the doors as the boys got to their feet.

“Well that was unexpected,” Nigel said, brushing thick black dust off himself.

“Captain Trait ordered us not to enter the building under any circumstance,” Maxum said, finishing what he’d started to say.

Ruby zipped back to them, hovering over Maxum, their noses an inch apart. “That’s real helpful now!” She shouted.

“Calm down,” Nigel said, grabbing Ruby’s wrist and pulling her into a hug. “Calm down.”

As any friend of a fairy knows the surest way to calm one down is to hug them. Fairies are affectionate creatures and adore any kind of affection, but especially hugs and such. Nigel knew this quite well and was pleased when Ruby’s wings stopped buzzing and her breathing evened out.

“How you feeling?” He asked, patting her back.

“Embarrassed,” Ruby mumbled, stepping away. “But calm. Sorry for snapping at you, Maxum.”

“It’s fine,” He said, digging into one of his pockets and pulling out two medallions.

“Heart charms,” Ruby said, quickly accepting one and putting it around her neck. She instantly calmed down. “Thanks.”

“Do you always carry these around?” Nigel asked, taking the other.

“Yes,” Maxum answered, in the way he answered all questions that seemed silly to him; in his flat monotone.

“Well, if everyone’s calm,” Nigel declared, patting the medallion. “I think it’s time we start looking for a way out. Maxum, do you have the blueprints for the building? How many exits do we have?”

“Five,” Maxum replied, “The Front doors, back door, two side doors, and an escape door through the basement.”

“Basement?” Ruby asked, “Why would an office building have a basement? And why would it need an escape door?”

“I say,” Nigel said. “We try our hardest not to find out.” They both nodded vigorously.

It was still under debate, but the majority of the supernatural research community agreed that electrical shorts are mandatory in all level-3 and above hauntings. Even if you see a poltergeist, feel its presence, and find every other sign of a haunting, if the electricity is working then it’s not a real ghost. Unfortunately, Nigel and his team’s building had a very real ghost so the light switches didn’t work and the lights flickered randomly, causing an unsettling feeling that had nothing to do with ghosts. A feeling that grew worse when they found the back and eastward side door ecto-locked.

“Now what?” Ruby gulped after they found the last door sealed.

“Out a window,” he said, going over to the largest one in the room.

“The windows are solid instillation,” Maxum said.

“All of them?” Ruby asked, confused.

“According to the Blueprints,” he confirmed.

“Who does that?” Ruby asked, appalled.

“Someone who doesn’t want to let something in,” Nigel said, examining the glass. “Or out.”

“I’m trying not to freak out here, thank you,” the fairy snapped, her wings tight.

“Imagine if you didn’t have the charm,” their leader joked, trying to lift the mood; it didn’t work. “Maxum, check the glass,” he went on, stepping back. “I think we should try breaking the window, but something seems off.”

Maxum nodded and touched his hand to one of the other windows. He started listing off the components: “silicon, hell sand, pixie dust, holy silver, holly tree sap, spider silk, several elder and Cobiet charms, and moon salt sealant.”

“Eternal glass,” Nigel mumbled, shocked. “This stuff is indestructible. Ghosts can’t pass through it and not even a raging Goltagaul can scratch it!”

“And it’s super expensive,” Ruby added, shaking her head, “Mercy had to save her first three years of pay from the guild—which you know is pretty good—and take out a huge loan just to get two panels for safety in the lab. Are all these windows Eternal glass?”

Maxum checked the rest of the windows in the room and the next. They were all Eternal glass.

“How much money did these guys have?” Ruby asked, amazed.

“More importantly,” Nigel asked. “What were they doing that needed this much glass?”

Ruby shivered. “I don’t want to know.”

Maxum tilted his head, as if listening to a whisper. “The other team has arrived,” he announced. “They want to know where we are. How should I answer?”

Nigel sighed, suddenly very tired. It was going to be a mess when everyone learned they were in the building. Yet another simple assignment gone horribly wrong, at least nothing supernatural had happened yet.

“Truthfully,” Nigel replied. “Let’s head to the front doors so they won’t have to search.”

The other two nodded and started back the way they’d come. As they walked down the hall the lights flickered more rapidly and an unwelcome presence settled on the human and fairy, almost drowning out their charms. Suddenly the lights went out, the hall going completely black and Nigel felt Ruby grab his arm. The lights snapped back on and Ruby screamed.

Strange characters had been scrawled across the wall in a dripping red substance that looked disturbingly like blood. A wail echoed through the halls again, their breath fogged in front of their faces, and the smell of oil and blood filled the air. Just as Ruby stopped screaming three shadows moved across the writing before the hall went black again and Ruby screamed.

The lights faded back on the poor teens.

“That was…eventful,” Maxum said, blinking in surprise.

“Who thought the thing?” Ruby demanded, on the verge of tears. “Who thought at least we haven’t seen a ghost? Who did it?”

“S-sorry,” Nigel reluctantly answered, rubbing his ear to restore hearing.

“Why?” She asked. “Why would you do that? You know that’s just asking for trouble.”

“Calm down, Ruby,” He insisted, trying to hug her.

“You better hug me,” she mumbled, pulling him close. “I knew this whole thing was a bad idea. I hate Evaluations!”

“There were three shadows,” Maxum observed, his eyes glazed over as he examined the data; it’d all happened too fast for him to process all the details right then.

“So three Poltergeist,” Nigel observed, pulling away from the fairy but keeping a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

“And a Spector,” Ruby added, feeling much calmer now but still appreciating Nigel’s presence. “That writing was Elder. Only Specters use Elder. I think we’re in a lot of trouble, guys.”

“Ok,” Nigel said, pulling out his crystal pad, “Time to call for help.”

“I…did,” Maxum said confused. The Surveyor team was already outside and had just informed him they had two wizards working on the door.

“I mean unconventional help,” Nigel explained, navigating to his scrying screen.

Nigel had five people on his quick scry selection: His mom, Ruby, Maxum, Captain Trait, and Mercy. Out of the five he considered Mercy his most necessary quick scry. If things went bad Mercy was the one who could bail them out no matter what.

The spell was quickly accepted and the face of Vanessa Shunts filled the screen; Ruby and Mercy’s mother. Her green eyes, second set of aquatic wings, and maternal bearing were really the only things that kept her from looking like Ruby’s older sister. She was also one of the most ridiculously fun, caring people Nigel had ever known.

“Hi, Nigel,” Vanessa said with a bright smile, “Mercy just got up. She stayed up late last night waiting for Azar to scry her.” She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes, I know it was stupid,” Mercy’s voice called, “and who asked you to answer anyway?” The image shook and Mercy’s disheveled countenance appeared. Usualy impeccable red hair a mess, dark circles under her eyes, and glasses just barely clinging to the end of her nose. “Morning,” she yawned, pushing her glasses into place, “What’s up?”

Nigel took a breath for nerves and said in a rush: “We’re stuck in a very haunted building with at least three poltergeist and a specter.”

“WHAT!?” Mercy choked, dropping her breakfast. “Are you out of your minds?!?!”

“What’s wrong?” Vanessa asked off screen.

“They’re in a haunted building with multiple ghosts!”

“Ruby!” She shouted, practically knocking her daughter aside to look at the screen. “Is my baby ok?”

“I’m fine, mom,” Ruby said, leaning into view. “We have Heart Charms.” She held it up for her mother to see.

“See? She’s fine,” Mercy snapped off screen/ “Now give me back my panel so I can help them.”

Vanessa disappeared and Mercy was back. “What do you need?” she asked, the scenery behind her flashing by as she hurried down to her lab.

“Anything,” Nigel admitted. He quickly described everything they’d learned and seen in hopes it might help.

“Eternal glass,” Mercy mumbled, rubbing her arm nervously. “Shipments, multiple ghosts. Not good.”

“Not good?” Nigel repeated. “What do you know, Mercy?”

The fairy hesitated, looking very worried.

“Captain Trait just called,” Maxum announced. “The original file is gone. He checked the agent’s service time and says he served during the War Shadow.”

“Did you hear that, Mercy?” Nigel asked, feeling the air grow cold.

“Yeah,” she sighed, all her books closed. “It was what I was afraid of. Ok, listen close cause I won’t be able to repeat myself. You guys are in real trouble. The War Shadow was a very scary time with lots of secrets. The countries of Paradio, Mescara, and Valedri were all at war and were demanding their allies give aid. Everyone was scared it would turn into a world war. At the same time the dessert went quiet, getting ready to create the Gorgons. Between that and the constant fear of enemy spies everyone was jumping at their own shadows.”

“Hostile shadows are a serious threat in some parts of the world,” Maxum noted.

“Ever since the War Shadow,” Mercy agreed. “There were hundreds of off-book and black-list operations going on at that time, the majority some pretty sketchy experiments. Some of that stuff got out, but most was destroyed or destroyed the scientists. What I think you guys have found is one of the classified labs, one looking into a way to use ghosts as weapons.”

“Perfect,” Ruby chuckled humorlessly, holding herself.

“Ghosts are highly unpredictable,” Maxum pointed out.

“Which is why most of those experiments ended badly,” Mercy admitted. “What I think could have happened was that one of the experiments went wrong and they had to abandon the lab. Because no one wanted to risk writing them all out when the threat of world war ended and the other labs were shut down this one was forgotten.”

“So,” Nigel said, officially unnerved. “Whatever chased the scientists out…is still here.”

“Nigel,” Ruby said, grabbing his arm. “I think I need another hug.”

Maxum cocked his head to listen again. “The other team is about to dispel the ecto-lock and breach the doors.”

“No!” Mercy called, alarmed. “If the lab wasn’t properly shut down the security system might still be active! If they try to force their way in it’ll kill them!”

“Maxum!” Nigel barked.

The android cocked his head. “Captain Trait has told them to stand down, but he wants to know why.”

“You can tell him,” Mercy said. “But make sure he understands what I’ve told you is highly classified.”

Maxum nodded.

“Okay, Mercy,” Nigel said. “Now that you’ve scared us, how do we get out?”

“Please don’t say the basement escape door,” Ruby mumbled.

“They’d have sealed it behind them,” Mercy said, causing her sister to sigh in relief. “To make sure nothing got in or out. The security system on these labs was so thorough the military still uses it today, there’s no way to break it. You’ll have to find the controls and shut it down.”

“The controls are in the lab,” Nigel sighed. “Right?”

“Most likely,” Mercy agreed.

“Where the source of this haunting probably is.”

“Yes.”

“Mercy,” Ruby said.

“Yes?”

“I hate you right now.”

“It’s not my fault,” she protested.

“How do you propose getting past the ghosts?” Nigel asked.

“Placation? Did you get any sense of meaning from the word the Specter wrote?”

“No,” he admitted, surprised. He’d always been good at picking up the sense of meaning—the intention behind an Elder word—but he’d gotten nothing from the word. All he’d felt was fear.

“Then it’s probably a very complicated concept,” she said. “Specters tend to want something from the living so if you can give it to them then they may tolerate you.”

“Ok. I’ll have Maxum upload the image once he’s done briefing the captain.”

“I’m done,” the android announced.

“Can you send Mercy a capture of what the Specter wrote?” Nigel asked, tilting the screen toward his friend.

He nodded and placed his finger on the pad.

“Got it,” Mercy confirmed as the trio clustered together. “Well, this is unusual.”

“What?” They all asked. What could be unusual to a woman who studied failed demon possessions without batting an eye?

“It’s a plea for help,” She said.

“Why couldn’t I sense that?” Nigel asked, very confused.

“You probably did,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “But since you were scared you confused it with your own feelings. It happens. Sorry Ruby, you guys most definitely need to go into the basement.”

“Why?” Ruby sobbed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With weir lights floating over their shoulders, the trio followed the stairs down into the basement; very far down.

“How deep does this go?” Ruby asked, gripping her magic knife.

“20 feet before the first floor,” Maxum Answered. “And then there are three more floors.

“The first will be a decontamination area with offices and the emergency exit,” Mercy explained. “Next will be smaller labs for controlled testing and an in house archive and database. The last will be the main lab, high security, with the control console and full surveillance. That’s where you need to go.”

“Of course,” Ruby griped.

“How much of the system will be active?” Nigel asked, hand on his blaster.

“Probably not much?” Mercy said, consulting her desk screen. “I had captain Trait send me any records he could get and the power to the building has been minimal since it was abandoned.”

“Any sort of power drain should have got a red flag,” Nigel said with a frown.

“That’s what Trait said,” Mercy agreed. “He’s requested an inquiry into that and why the threat was downgraded. Everyone is up in arms that three minors were put in danger again.”

“I figured,” Nigel sighed.

“Door,” Ruby announced.

“Holly wood with silver plated hardware,” Maxum observed.

“Probably insulated too,” Mercy said. “Mortuary strength ghost protection. Specters and high level Poltergeist can get through, but nothing else.”

“Which means there’s probably more ghosts behind it,” Ruby said, wishing she could have her bow instead of just her knife.

“You’re going to need your hands free, Nigel,” Mercy said. “So I’ll switch over to Maxum.”

“Maxum?”  He asked, but she’d already ended the spell.

“Dr. Blunder and I collaborated on an upgrade for him,” Marcy’s voice said from Maxum’s head, his left eye glowing the same purple as her magic.

“I am now equipped with scrying capabilities,” He said, his mouth only moving when he spoke.

“This way I can keep an eye on you without one of you having to hold a panel,” Mercy went on.

“That’s kind of creepy,” Ruby admitted, “Wouldn’t a Pendant Eye or Telegrapher’s Spell work better?”

“They’re too easy to break or lose. This way I get all the information he does and give him direct access to my database and processing power.”

“Handy,” Nigel admitted, stowing his panel. “We ready to go in?”

Maxum and Ruby nodded.

Taking a breath for nerves, Nigel grabbed the door handle and turned. The door didn’t open.

“It’s locked,” he said, jiggling it to make sure.

“I hate this place,” Ruby groaned.

“Give me a second,” Nigel said.

He leveled his laser at the gap between the door and frame, he fired and flicked his wrist to slice the mechanism. The door was open.

The door banged open and an unholy wind blasted them all off their feet. Something grabbed Nigel and hauled him into the room. He was slammed into a wall; glass shattered and ripped his arms. A second later Ruby and Maxum joined him. Phantom figures flew around the room, a mad whirlwind that glared and cackled at the frightened teens.

When they tried to grab the trio Ruby flicked her knife, casting a barrier. The ghosts clawed and banged their transparent fists against it, but couldn’t reach them. With them held at bay Nigel took a look around the room. It was small—the decontamination room Mercy had mentioned—with a large shower head hanging from the ceiling, purifying stones set in a circle in the floor, and three glass walls, all broken.

Suddenly the ghosts dispersed and the air became deathly still. The lights dimmed to twilight and the air grew bitter cold. An icy fear crept at the corners of Nigel’s mind, trying to take hold, and the charm around his neck started to burn as it tried to keep the fear away. Something big was coming, dangerous, and it wasn’t happy.

A figure, darker then black, materialized, tall and imposing with searing white lights where the eyes could be and a pulsing red in the chest: A specter in corporeal form. Every kid learned about it in school—the second to last chapter on ghosts—and saw the illustrations, but in the last 8,000 years only three people had lived through an encounter. The rest were only found in pieces; there were always some parts missing.

The specter raised a hand, fingers disappearing and reappearing at random, reaching for Ruby. Nigel threw out his arm to protect her and got a nasty shock. The specter surged forward, breaking Ruby’s barrier, and grabbed him. It threw him through another glass wall into the abandoned office.

“Nigel!” Ruby shouted, shooting to her feet to follow.

The specter gestured at her and she was flung back into Maxum. The specter drifted after Nigel and the whirling ghosts returned, forcing Ruby to cast her barrier again. She and Maxum had no choice but to watch helplessly as the Specter grabbed Nigel by the throat and hoisted him off his feet.

Nigel kicked out at the pulsing chest, fingers scrambling at the ice cold hand. His skin burned at the frigid contact, his brain panicking as air failed to reach it. The specter was too close, it’s ghastly features revealed. An off-white, stained skull with rotting flesh and torn muscle clinging where it could, those blazing eyes threatening to burn Nigel’s.

It shouted at him in Elder, ropey black tongue bobbing grotesquely: They would help or die.

“W-we’re here,” Nigel choked, feeling the fear scrambling for purchase in his mind, “T-to heeelp.”

The specter didn’t understand.

Mercy’s voice broke through the din of ghostly wails and cackles. A string of foreign words that suited her much better than it did the Spector: They wanted to help.

It released Nigel, dropping him to the floor, and vanished. The lights flashed back to full strength and the ghosts vanished, the room suddenly still. Ruby and Maxum rolled to their feet and launched through the shattered wall to reach Nigel’s side. He lay on the floor greedily gulping air and holding his throat. Between his fingers they could see bruises already forming, blood dripping from his many cuts.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked, taking his hand.

“I will be,” he coughed, pushing himself up. “once we leave this horrible place.”

As if in response a will-o-wisp appeared over their heads, others forming a trail around a corner. It was obvious they were meant to lead the team somewhere, but, understandably, they hesitated. Will-o-wisps were, by far, the least harmful of all spirits—they didn’t even cause signs—but they had a nasty habit of leading people lost in fogs or swamps to their death; for fun.

“I hate this day,” Ruby declared, following Nigel where the wisp’s lead, Maxum right behind her.

“Agreed,” Nigel said, scratching at his bandages; the ones on his neck were the worst. Thankfully, the Spector had left him with just a cold burn instead of an Ecto-burn, meaning he’d live, but it still hurt to talk.

“We appear to be heading for the third level,” Maxum commented, the wisps disappearing behind a door marked Stairs.

“Where we wanted to go in the first place,” Ruby said. “Is that good or bad? I can’t tell.”

Nigel’s smile agreed.

“Why would it be bad?” Maxum asked.

“Because these want our help with something they can’t handle,” Nigel answered, some grit in his throat and a cough waiting for him to finish. “And if it’s in there then it’s also what chased the scientists away. Bad news all around.”

“Oh.”

“Be ready,” Mercy advised. “There’s no telling what this thing is or how it went wrong. You could be facing absolutely anything in there.”

“I really miss being able to turn you off,” Ruby griped.

“I just want you to be careful,” Mercy whined, sounding scared. “You guys have to come back in one piece, understand?”

“I love you too, sis.”

Nigel put his hand on the door knob, other hand griping his blaster. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Maxum said, his blaster armed and charged.

“No,” Ruby answered, raising her knife. “But do it anyway.”

Nigel nodded and opened the door, all three filing in.  The room was all concrete, circular, over 200ft in diameter, and dropped down into a large pit surrounded by a safety barrier, covered in scratch marks as wide as Ruby’s head and nearly as tall. Dusty old computers, messy regulation desks, and rusted tools lined the walkway along the wall. On the opposite side of the room from the Surveyors was a staircase that led to a door set in the wall, a dusty window beside it. But all these details took a back seat to the beast curled up at the center of the pit.

Slimy, green, translucent flesh covered with patches of stone-like scales, jagged ridges marking it’s spine and jaw. A thick tail curled around it’s body, it’s emaciated hind quarters feeding into a massive torso. Huge talons that were likely the cause of the massive claw marks around the room glinted darkly from it’s front legs, the back legs ending in angular hooves that could cause nearly as much damage. It’s face was heavily wrinkled, a frill around it’s neck and oversized fangs protruding from it’s elongated muzzle, dripping with glowing saliva as it’s blue tongue lolled on the ground; thank the Lord it was asleep. Just under the translucent skin they could see a heavily articulated metal skeleton supporting the body, cradling a ceramic skull covered in black markings with deep eye sockets and gruesome teeth pulled into a grisly grimace. Worst of all? The wisps lead straight to the beast’s head.

“No freaking way,” Ruby ground out. “I am not doing this.”

“What is it?” Nigel asked, keeping his voice hushed.

“I think it’s a Necromancer’s Doll,” Mercy said hesitantly. “I studied the two at the Betvest Museum and the markings are similar, but…”

“Necromancer’s dolls never exceed a ten inch diameter,” Maxum said, quoting from her database.

“That one’s the size of a beach ball,” Ruby marveled, disgusted. Necromancers had creeped her out since a friend dragged her to a horror flick in middle school.

“Where’d they find it?” Nigel wondered, never letting his eyes leave the monster in case it woke up.

“The dessert,” Mercy replied. “There’s a legend that says the last king of the black city was such a powerful Necromancer he could even control Spectors and in his search for power he commissioned a doll so big and powerful no one else could control it. It must have been found on an expedition. Those snobs who keep saying the city is a myth are wrong again.”

“Necromancer’s dolls are talismans that collect ectoplasm from ghosts,” Maxum related. “They use the ectoplasm to form hard bodies that can easily interact with the physical. Without a necromancer to control them a doll will run rampant until it is destroyed. Dolls also struggle to maintain a coherent form.”

“The skeleton must help it keep it’s form,” Mercy observed. “The doll must also be keeping the ghosts here. I’ve heard of dolls trapping ghosts to ensure they always have a supply of Ectoplasm. Nigel, I know I don’t need to say this but I’m going to anyway: Under no circumstances should you fight that thing. Normal Necromancer’s dolls are hard to destroy for professionals, this one might be impossible. You should get to the security consul, open the doors, and leave it to Ghost Control.”

“That’s the plan,” Nigel agreed.

“Good,” Mercy said. “I’ll contact Captain Trait so he knows what’s down there. Be careful.”

“You going to watch?” Ruby asked her sister.

“Nope.” Maxum’s strange purple eye returned to its normal blue.

Signaling the other two to follow behind him, Nigel tip-toed down the stairs to the walk way. Dodging corroded metal and precarious piles of paper, Nigel picked his way along the wall, careful not to disturb anything that could make a noise. He led them around the beast’s back side, hoping that if it started to wake it wouldn’t see them right away. Nigel hoped against hope that it would stay sleeping until they got out, but the theme of the day held true: From bad to worse.

Thump

Clang!

Clink clank clink clunk clank

Maxum had lost his footing and bumped into one of the desks, knocking off a lamp which fell on a pile of tools; it made a horrible racket. The trio froze, staring at the beast. It’s tail moved, it’s breathing changing as it woke up. The great head lifted off the floor and started to turn. Ruby quickly flicked her knife and cast an illusion, making them invisible.

Nigel stood stock still, heart hammering in his chest. He felt that un-natural fear mixing with his real fear, a horrible cold numbing his hands and clawing at his bruises. He could still move, somehow, but he didn’t trust his reflexes to be of any help. He’d felt full ghost fear before as part of his surveyor training, but this was a thousand times worse. Nigel was sure that if he didn’t have the pendant protecting him the fear could kill him.

The beast’s dozy eyes—red embers glowing at the bottom of deep black sockets—swept over them without seeing. It turned, scanning the whole room before starting again. It examined every inch of the walkway, searching the desks, machines, and walls for what woke it. It lingered on the spot where Nigel and the others were and he suddenly remembered that some spirits could see through illusion.  His heart pounded so loud he wondered if the beast could hear it.

After a heart wrenching moment it finished it’s scrutiny of the room and curled back up. It took a few moments for it’s breathing to slow to the rhythm of sleep. Ruby let her spell go and stood trembling, on the brink of tears. Seeing her like that Nigel hurried over and held her close, to calm himself down as much as her. He could feel her heart fluttering faster than her wings could go, trembling from head to toe. Maxum placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder too, looking a little shaken as well.

With a squeeze Ruby signaled she was ready to end the hug. Nigel let go and stepped back, feeling calmer. Ruby smiled gratefully at the boys, giving them a nod she was ready to get going again despite her obvious nervousness. The unnatural fear was gone, but Ruby and Nigel’s nerves were so frayed any more surprises could drive them to tears.

Steeling himself, Nigel continued to lead them along the walkway, being even more careful and constantly checking on the beast. It shifted once, Ruby conjuring another illusion, but it didn’t wake and they kept moving. It took several minutes but they finally reached the stairs and carefully climbed up and—by the grace of the All-powerful, the door was open—went into the room, locking the door behind them.

Nigel collapsed on the nearest chair, Ruby crumbling to the floor in a fit of nervous giggles; even Maxum looked relieved.

“I have never been so scared in my life,” Ruby gasped. “That was awful.”

“It’s almost over,” Nigel said, swiveling to face the console.

He found the sleep button and woke the computer, it’s wires, gears, and disks picking up speed for the first time in ages. It was a very old model, but Nigel recognized enough to find the home screen. After that he handed off to Maxum as Ruby scryed Mercy on her panel to tell her they were safely through the room and shutting down the security system.

“Thank the maker,” Mercy sighed, collapsing against her desk. “I was so worried. Mom, aunt Terra, and Doc and Erica Bluster are waiting in the medical shelter.”

“Good,” Ruby said, “I need lots of hugs when I get out of here.”

“You’ll get them,” her sister chuckled. “Captain Trait’s unit, ghost control, and several sorcerers are waiting by all the entrances to storm in when everything opens. They say to wait where you are until they can get you.”

“That may take a while,” Nigel observed, looking out the window at the sleeping beast.

“They’ve all got sound dampening spells to help them keep quite.”

Ruby smacked her forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you’re terrible at sound spells,” Mercy answered.

Ruby attempted to blow a raspberry at her, but it was just pitiful. They all chuckled, Nigel trying to turn it into a cough when she glared at him.

“They want to keep the doll asleep as long as possible,” Mercy continued, still chuckling. “Contain it in the lab until it can be dealt with.”

“Which means the Flight Council doesn’t get new offices,” Ruby realized, perking up. “Best news I’ve had all day.”

“Not that it’s a high standard at this point,” Mercy observed.

Ruby managed a successful raspberry this time. “Aha,” she cheered triumphantly.

Nigel chuckled at the sisters. “I just can’t wait to be done with-“

Ka-clunk!

A loud metal sound echoed through the room, much too loud.

“What was that?” Nigel asked.

“I don’t know,” Ruby whispered, alarmed.

“The doll,” Mercy barked.

Nigel flattened himself against the wall and snuck a peek out the window. The beast was awake, scanning the room like it had before. The noise sounded again.

Ka-clunk!

It got to it’s feet.

Ka-Clunk!

“What’s happening?” Ruby asked, scared.

“I seem to have deactivated the ghost barrier as well as the security system,” Maxum said, concerned.

“The generators are turning off,” Mercy proclaimed. “That thing can get out!”

“Mercy, what do we do?” Nigel asked.

“Hide,” She said. “Warn Trait and everyone coming in. There’s nothing else you can do.”

“You sure?” He asked, watching the beast prowling the edge of the pit.

“What do you want?” She demanded, frustrated. “A miracle? Do you think I have a jar full of them just waiting for when you guys get in trouble?”

“You don’t?” Maxum asked.

Before Mercy could deny it the beast let out a bellow that shock the rafters and rattled the tables, filling the little room even through the door. Nigel and Ruby covered their ears as the roar carried on, bouncing in their brains. When it finally ended Nigel looked out the window to see glass barriers sliding down into the floor. It had probably been Eternal glass, keeping the beast contained.

“It’s getting out,” He warned, “It’s going to be able to get into the other labs.”

“And the main building,” Maxum said, “We left the door open.”

“Mercy?” Ruby said.

“Fine!” she declared, looking annoyed. “Keep it in the room, but don’t get killed.”

“That seems contradictory,” Maxum said, changing his arm to his largest blaster.

“Not funny,” Nigel said, pulling his own.

“To activate a Necromancer’s doll you need a Dead man’s staff and a black crystal thorn,” Mercy announced. “If you can find those we might, might, be able to forge a false connection strong enough to end the enchantment.”

Ruby kissed the screen. “Thank you, Mercy.”

“It’s not a sure thing,” the big sky fairy insisted.

“It’s good enough for me,” Nigel announced. “Ruby, find the staff and thorn, we’ll cover you.

“Got it,” she said, tucking the still active panel into her pouch.

“Maxum,” he continued. “Some of those glass barriers don’t seem to go down so we’ll use them for cover. Keep the doll focused on us and in the room.”

“Understood.”

“Are we ready?” Their leader asked, ready to unlock the door.

“No,” Mercy protested.

“Yes,” the other two affirmed.

“Then here we go!” Nigel unlocked and threw open the door, charging through.

Ruby took off, zipping around the room in her search as Nigel and Max started blasting the doll. As solid as the body seemed it wasn’t holding up to their onslaught, each blast vaporized a chunk of ectoplasm. The boys sprinted in opposite directions, one distracting the beast  while the other found new cover, always keeping it’s focus off Ruby.

Ruby moved quickly, searching with her magic as well as her eyes. She hoped that something that created such a huge monster would have a strong enough charge for her to detect. On her second lap she felt something and landed. Hidden behind a cabinet she spotted a black glint and reached in. Her hands closed around something smooth and so impossibly cold it threatened to numb her to her bones, pulling it out she beheld a crooked shard of menacing dark crystal that tapered to a point and filled her palm. Ducking as Nigel hurdled over her, she started searching the mess around the cabinet, thinking the two objects would be together. She quickly found the staff hidden under a desk. It was a bleached valley dragon skull on the end of a wooden stave decorated with small bones and talismans bound with cord and dangling from the headpiece. It let off a dark aura that made Ruby ill and seemed to pulse like a heart in her grip.

Clunk!

Ruby turned to see one of the Doll’s back legs fall off, the joint of the skeleton blasted away. It’s plates and scales had been fractured, it’s flesh mostly charred or gone, piles of green ectoplasm littering the floor. It wasn’t as sturdy as it had looked. Glaring back at Maxum who had blasted the joint, it swung it’s tail and smashed it into the panel he was hiding behind, a web of cracks forming from the claw marks. Nigel jumped from his own cover to shot the animal, but he slipped on a tool and his blaster went flying from his hand. He scrambled to get the blaster back, but it was too late. The doll smashed the glass again and it shattered, sending Maxum flying in a shower of sharp glass, cutting at his cloths and synthetic skin.

“Maxum!” His friends called, terrified as the doll pounced.

He lifted his arm and blasted the creature’s side, skewing it’s pounce as he rolled away. He hurried to his feet and dashed to the stairs. He looked awful, his coat and pants in tatters and wiring and servos clear to see through the torn skin. The wounds appeared superficial, but his determined expression showed he wasn’t happy. An angry android is a scary thing.

The doll hobbled back to the pit, glaring at the android as he kept his blaster trained on another joint almost free of the charred false skin. It’s mouth pulled back in a sneer, it threw it’s head back and howled, shaking the room. Screams rent the air as ghosts were dragged through the open door, knocking Maxum to his knees as their transparent fingers tried to catch themselves on him and the banister. They were pulled into the beast’s open mouth, disappearing down it’s throat with shrieks of despair. With each ghost eaten the doll’s ectoplasmic skin repaired itself, filling in its form and recreating its hind leg. Not as elegant as the original, the new leg was bulbous, bulky, and slightly too short, but it would do what was needed.

“Ruby,” Nigel ordered. “Get that spell started.”

She nodded, pulling her crystal panel back out. Mercy was waiting.

“Chalk,” She barked.

“Got it this time,” Ruby said, pulling a brand new box from her pouch.

“Ten inch diameter circle with an Advian Critous therome on a 12 point variation.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As Mercy walked her through it Nigel and Max kept distracting the beast. They cut away at the disgusting doll, working to expose the skeleton. The beast hissed, growled, and roared at them, unable to reach them behind the eternal glass. They exposed a front leg and sheered it off, the metal contraption clanking noisily to the floor. Nigel hooted in triumph, the creature crumbling to the ground.

It roared, consuming more ghosts. It stood again, the new front leg a grotesque mockery of it’s companion. But the doll kept eating more ghosts. As the ghosts were pulled down it’s gullet, howling in terror, it’s body changed into an even more terrifying apparition. The ridges along it’s spine grew long and jagged, the stony scales multiplying to cover most of the monster’s body, it’s tail becoming long and ropey with vicious spikes tapered to razor edges.

Maxum blasted the creature, trying to expose the skeleton again, but couldn’t even crack the new scales. Nigel took aim and fired, trying to cut through the scales or find some flaw to exploit; no luck.

“Very bad,” Nigel mumbled, ducking behind the nearest glass.

The doll moved with surprising ease, twisting to whip its new tail at the leader. Eternal glass was the hardest substance in the world, and the doll’s claws had scratched it up. Nigel threw himself onto the floor, covering his head. The spikes sliced through the glass panel like it was butter, smashing into the wall and splintering the stone. Nigel rolled away onto his knees, spotting a gap in the armor of the tail. He aimed and fired, slicing the spiked end off.

The doll howled, the severed end thrashing in the wall. The rest of the tail whipped around and caught Nigel in the chest, sending him flying. He hit the ground hard and rolled nearly ten feet. He coughed, amazed there was no blood with how awful he felt. He opened his eyes to find he’d rolled into the center of the room. Genuine fear crept in on him as he searched the floor for cover, finding it empty but for the beast stalking him.

Maxum desperately tried to distract the doll by blasting it’s hide, but it gave him no attention. It kept stalking Nigel, it’s circle tightening in to close him off from help. Nigel slowly got to his feet, the creature still walking; it knew he couldn’t out run it. He thought fast, trying to come up with something.

As the doll padded behind him he caught Maxum’s eye and mouthed: “Smokescreen.”

Maxum nodded and changed ammo, sending a smoke bomb into the pit. The canister hissed and the air filled with smoke, obscuring Nigel from the doll’s sight. He took off, heading for the perimeter. The blue tongue darted from the smoke and caught Nigel by the ankle, yanking him off his feet. He looked up to find the monster bearing down on him, dripping fangs mere inches from his chest.

Rancid breath ghosted across his face and up his nose. Glowing green drool hung in long strands, threatening to fall on the teen. That drool was pure ectoplasm, and it could burn him down to the soul. It could kill him, if the beast didn’t end it quickly. There was no escaping this mess.

An odd red glow permeated the smoke just before banishing it. Ruby was glowing, glyphs scrawled across her skin and the whites of her eyes black. Her skin was white as a sheet, her wings a sickly black, and her legs trembling, standing only because she was clinging to the ghoulish staff. The thorn was sitting on the edge of her circle.

Nearly falling over, she threw out her arm and the thorn rocketed across the floor, plunging into the Doll’s flank. She shouted in Elder, words echoing like they were in a great chamber, each word punctuated by a desperate gasp for breathe, but the meaning was clear: Sleep.

The doll’s form began to decay, ectoplasm evaporating off the skeleton. The skeleton disconnected from the head, falling to the ground along with several hardened scales. The grotesque body trembled, the light in its eyes flickering and dyeing. The last of the ectoplasm fell from the head, exposing the ceramic features. All was silent, a ringing silence that seemed to build in intensity with each passing second. The oppressive feeling eating at the corners of Nigel’s mind began to fade, the air grew warmer, and an indecipherable feeling washed over him that the ghosts were free and many had moved on.

The feeling passed and the silence ended, white noise returning to the room. The building had been cleansed. It was just a series of floors filled with desks, chairs, and forty highly relieved surveyors and specialists. Also, a very heavy dark talisman floating over Nigel’s head.

Alarmed, Nigel threw his arms up just in time to catch the heavy object, the surface painfully cold. He tried to move to drop it, but his muscles were locked. The cold shot along his arms to his chest, then vanished, the doll turning warm in his hands. It was disconcerting, but he couldn’t understand why. Suddenly he heard a clatter and turned to see Ruby collapse to the ground.

Nigel dropped the doll, letting it roll across the floor, and dashed to the fairy. She’d fallen unconscious. He took her hand and patted her face, calling her name until she stirred. Her eyes fluttered opened and focused on him, a weak but smug little smile twisting her lips. Tenderly, he helped her to her feet just as Maxum approached. They took in each other’s scratches, bruises, torn cloths, and worn faces and laughed. They looked awful.

The surveyors poured into the room, quickly taking custody of the dormant doll and ushering the kids back to the surface. They were covered in blankets, congratulated and apologized to, and then ended up at the medical shelter in the care of their parents. In some ways, this was a mistake.

Dr. Bluster shouted at every person who came within shouting distance of him while Erica checked all Maxum’s wounds. Terra Priest sat her son down and forced him to drink four healing potions before a healer took the crate away from her and took over, making her sit by quietly while he treated Nigel’s wounds. As soon as Ruby left the building her mother rushed to embrace and never went out of hugging range as the medics checked what the spell had done to her. No permanent damage was found, but it created the ability for her to pursue Necromancy if she wished—she gagged at the suggestion—and every few minutes something in her hair started glowing; a trio of Willow-the-wisps had become attached to her and liked to nest in her hair. Creepy, but they were kind of cute so she could eventually get over.

When Mercy arrived—one of her security guards in toe—she hugged each of the kids, babbling incoherently about how happy she was they were all alive. She settled down by Ruby, refusing to let go of her little sister and threatening to cast a silencing hex on the next person who suggested it; Ruby had been the one complaining. She did finally let go when they rolled out the Necromancer’s doll.

“Captain,” she called, approaching the head of the Ghost Control unit handling the doll, “Is your team using the proper precautions?”

The Captain—a bog troll with brown/green fur—rolled his eyes. “Yes, ma’am,” he said in fake civility, “They are wearing protection.”

That got Nigel’s attention. Shrugging off the healer and blanket he approached the pair. “Why do they need protection?” He asked, a knot of nerves forming in his gut.

“When used for spells, Necromancer’s artifacts become saturated with ghost energy,” She answered, the captain looking annoyed by their presence. “It takes at least a year for them to cool, touching them without proper protection causes Ectoplasmic Poisoning; there’s no cure for it.”

Nigel paled. “Mercy,” he gulped. “I touched it. Right after Ruby put it to sleep I had it in both hands.”

Everyone froze, staring at him in alarm. Half the unit abandoned the doll and rushed to him, pulling out green and white devices, including the captain. They held the devices over him, casting a strange green light on him as Mercy pulled her crystal panel. His skin looked pale but worse was that neon green lines appeared on his skin that he recognized as his veins. Mercy mumbled spells as she navigated through her database and scans.

Ruby, Maxum, and the others from the shelter came over looking worried. Two agents stepped forward to keep them back, just in case.

“Explain exactly what happened,” one of the Ghost Control agents said.

“The doll had pinned me to the ground,” he obliged. “It was going to kill me, but Ruby got the spell working and put it to sleep.”

“Sleep?” another agent asked.

“It was the only command I could manage,” Ruby said with a shrug.

“It worked,” Nigel went on. “The doll fell apart and released all the ghosts, I felt the whole building cleanse. Then it started to fall so I caught it.”

“Your best reaction time on record,” Maxum added, having witnessed the feat.

“Good thing,” Nigel chuckled humorlessly. “It would have crushed my head. I tried to put it down, but all my muscles locked up and I couldn’t move. The doll was painfully cold and the cold moved down my arms and into my chest. I thought it was going to hit my heart, but before it did the feeling vanished and the doll didn’t feel cold anymore. That was when Ruby collapsed from the spell so I dropped the doll and went to her.”

Mercy and the agents went quite for a moment, consulting their scans.

 “Mercy?” Terra Priest asked, looking as scared as her son. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Surprisingly,” Mercy said, brow knit in confusion. “Yes. He’s fine.”

“Is that a joke?” The captain sputtered. “His veins are saturated with ectoplasm. He shouldn’t even be able to stand.”

“But he is standing,” Mercy countered. “And I can’t find any signs of ectoplasm poisoning, not even an ecto-burn. The ectoplasm is in perfect harmony with his system.”

“How is that possible?” Nigel asked, still nervous. “I thought Ectoplasm was toxic to the living.”

“Highly toxic,” Mercy said, smirking at her screen. “Which is what makes this so interesting. It has started integrating with all your cells.”

“Will it do anything?” Terra asked.

“It should kill him,” The captain complained, looking exasperated.

“But it won’t,” Mercy said before anyone could panic. “This much ectoplasm should have killed you on contact, but your cells are gladly accepting the energy. Humans without magical or esper powers can have certain abilities imprinted on them, but I’ve never heard of it being possible with ectoplasm. It’s most likely because of Ruby’s magic being part of the spell; we’ll need to do some tests to be sure. Fleet Fairies have a healing nature in their magic, to prevent injury from high speed flight, and her affiliation with fire gives it a cleansing element, which may have removed the lethal toxins. There are so many exciting possibilities with safe ectoplasm; the guild is going to flip.”

“That’s nice, Mercy,” Ruby said, annoyed with her sister. “But how about we go back to what it’s going to do to him.”

She smiled knowingly at her sister’s friend. “You, Nigel, are now a Ghost Speaker,” she announced proudly. “Ghosts will recognize you as being part of their kind, which should make them feel easier about approaching you and maybe even able to communicate with the silent ones. You may even develop ghost-like abilities.”

“Y-you can’t,” the troll blustered. “You can’t just name a brand new condition without consulting anyone.”

Mercy smirked and held out her hand. “Forgive me for not introducing myself. Councilor Mercy Shunts, Inventor’s guild, Board of Arcane, and Council of Speakers South district.”

“Oh,” the captain mumbled, bowing humbly along with several of his subordinates. “Then you probably can.”

“Thank you,” Mercy replied smugly.

“So,” Nigel said, having some trouble processing what was happening. “I’m part ghost now?”

“In a way,” Mercy agreed.

“This could complicate future missions,” Maxum said.

“But on the plus,” Rub pointed out. “You’re not dead.”

“Not dead is good,” Nigel agreed. “Not dead is very good.”

Adventure 2: Successful