Chapter Text
CHAPTER THREE
GHOST
JASON
Everyone in the world has ghosts. Mostly metaphorical ones. Things they did or didn't say or do that they regret. People who haunt them. But, for us... Those ghosts were literal. I knew that. But I guess I didn't know how literal.
It had been a few days since the incident at the restaurant, and I hadn't heard anything from Betty yet, so I decided to head back to see if her manager or co-workers had any updates. I was serious about helping Shelley in whatever way possible.
When I entered the restaurant, I nearly instantly spied Betty clearing off a table. She happened to look up and see me as soon as I saw her, and she dropped what she was doing and sped over.
"Jason! Hey, I didn't see your party on the reservation list today, what brings you in?"
"Oh, I'm not here to eat." I told her, "I hadn't heard from you, so I just wanted to see if anyone had any updates on Shelley." She smacked her forehead with her palm,
"Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry, I've just been so all over the place, I completely forgot. She's completely fine, she's at home on bedrest. Turns out it was some kind of weird reaction to her meds." She informed me, "The hospital looked into it, and apparently there was some kind of clerical error or something, and they missed one of her clearly stated allergies, and it turns out that her primary care physician, and therefore the hospital, were completely liable. They agreed to waive all bills and fees for her stay if I agreed not to press charges. I just... Can't believe we somehow got so lucky. I swear, it was like Divine Intervention, or something. She's on new meds now, and she seems to be doing a lot better."
"That's great to hear." I told her, feeling extremely relieved. "I'm glad everything worked out."
"I know you're not on the reservation list, but it's been a slow morning. If you want to stay and eat, I don't mind serving you." She offered,
"I appreciate that, but I've gotta get home." I declined politely, "But don't worry, we'll be back again next week. And the week after that. And the week after that." She laughed,
"Alright, well I'll see you guys next time, then. Tell your husband I said hi!"
"You know I will." I told her amiably, and then I made my way out.
She was right about it being a slow morning. Not only had the restaurant been practically empty, but the entire town seemed to be as well. There were hardly any cars out, and even less people. I walked across the parking lot to my car, and was about to get in, when I suddenly stopped short.
Across the street, I saw someone. Wearing a black exomis, covered in blood from head to toe, standing there, staring at me. I couldn't place it, but something about her was wrong.
We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and then I saw her eyes shift. Flicking quickly away from mine to something over my shoulder. I whipped my head around to see that there was nothing and no one there. I turned back to face her, and she was gone.
And then I realized what it was that was wrong about her. Other than, like, everything. The blood covering her wasn't bright Aqua blue, like it should have been- as if that would have been any more comforting. It was red.
ASTEROPI
I don't know what's wrong with me.
I went to complete the first part of my mission. I was going to kill the one who killed me. I was there. I was right across the road from him. And then... I failed.
I knew I could kill. Owl had taught me how. I had even gathered a couple of kills on my way there; to calm my nerves, to prove to myself I could do it. But, then...
I saw him. And he saw me. Looked right at me. It shouldn't have made a difference, but it did. I... When we saw each other. I felt something. Suddenly, my chest hurt.
And my heart. It gave one, single beat.
BLAKE
You belong with me...
I had heard that voice, that phrase, over and over in my mind for the past few days. I knew who it was, and what it meant, but I didn't want to accept it.
Emil had made his choice. My place was with Irwin.
You belong with me...
No... I... I can't.
There is nothing but pain for you there. Come here, where there will never be pain again.
But he needs me.
I need you.
Please. Don't make me make this choice.
Do you still love me?
... Yes... I do...
Then choose me, mi corazon. As I have always chosen you.
IRWIN
Blake had been acting strangely the past few days. When I asked them about it, they had said they weren't ready to talk about it, so I didn't press them. But, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, and it scared me.
I didn't want to leave for work that day. I wasn't sure why, but I had a gut feeling that I needed to stay. But neither of us could afford to miss a day, so I went. I felt awful and sick the entire time, and eventually my manager sent me home. I felt guilty, but I also felt a strange sense of relief. I practically raced home, not knowing why I felt so urgent, and flew through the door when I got there. And froze in my tracks.
Blake was sitting at the table, staring at nothing, eyes glowing orange, unmoving.
"Blake..." I faltered, "Blake, are you okay?" Their head turned abruptly, bright orange eyes fixated onto me. Emotionlessly, unblinkingly, they spoke.
"See you on the other side." And then they collapsed.
JASON
I wasn't sure what to make of what I'd seen. It was Kai, I knew that for sure, but was it real? That, I didn't know. I had more questions than answers. Why would she choose now to finally show up? Why did she just stare, and then disappear? Why was she wearing an exomis? Why do I suddenly remember the word 'exomis'? And why was she covered, head to toe, completely in red blood? Whose was it? And what did it mean?
I didn't tell any of the others about what I'd seen at first. I didn't know if it was even real; and, after what Betty had told me, I wasn't even sure if what Shelley had said was really a warning. If she was having a reaction to her meds, who's to say she wasn't just spouting some random, nonsensical, mumbo jumbo that just happened to sort of make sense to us?
But, it couldn't have been a coincidence, right? Shelley gives us a warning that only Kai would give, and then a few days later I see Kai? It just... Ugh, I don't understand it. It was frustrating. But I also didn't wanna freak everybody out for no reason. I felt stuck.
I eventually decided I would wait. I would see if anything else weird happened, and then I would tell everyone else when I was actually sure something was possibly going on. No false alarms. No unnecessary panic. We've all been through enough, I'm not gonna drag any of us back into this shit without knowing for sure that something is wrong.
IRWIN
I think I'm at my breaking point.
I saw her. Kai. In real life. She was, like, ten feet away from me, wearing this weird, black toga-thingy, and she looked... Angry? Conflicted? Deranged? Some weird, fucked-up combination of the three?
All I know is she stared at me for a long time. It... It even seemed like she tried to take a step towards me, and then she seemed to shudder out of existence.
And I... I think I'm ready now. I think it's time.
ASTEROPI
It happened again. Fucking hell, I don't know what's wrong with me. I was finally given a mission, finally given a chance to show Ep that I'm worthy, and twice now I have failed. Twice now, I have been stopped by that strange thud in my chest. My only saving grace is that he did not necessarily give me a time limit for this, and he had explicitly stated that he didn't want to hear from me until it was done. So he need not know of my failures, and hopefully he never will.
I went to Aeolus for advice. And for answers. He was unhappy when I told him of my failures, but he was even more so when I brought up the boy who looked like him.
"Dammit." He hissed accusingly, "He wasn't even one of your targets, why were you even there?"
"That's not important, wh-"
"No, that is important!" He snapped, "Do you have any idea what he will do to you? Any idea what he'll do to me, if-" He cut himself off, "You shouldn't have been anywhere near there."
"You want to know why I was there? Fine. I was there because I know you've been lying to me, Pooh. You told me he wasn't real. You told me I didn't know what I was talking about."
"And did you ever stop to think that maybe I said that to protect you? To protect us?" He yelled, "Jesus, Tero, you can't even fucking look at me without seeing him. We can't have one conversation without you calling me his nickname. You're not supposed to know who he is, and who do you think Ep will blame if he finds out you do?!"
"Do you think I'm stupid? Dumb enough to spill to Ep about things that could get us killed? I know you all keep things from me, I don't understand why you think you can't trust me!"
We stared angrily in silence at each other for a moment, he seemed to want to argue more, but he didn't speak. After a moment, I did.
"I know about your secret friend." I told him, he seemed a little surprised at that,
"My... My what?"
"Your secret friend." I repeated, "Yours and Mercury's. I met him weeks ago. And I know all about his secret friends, too."
"Dolion's secret friends?"
"Yeah. I know more than you think I do. I am capable of knowing more. I deserve to be trusted."
We stared at each other angrily for another few moments.
Owl broke first. His scowl split into a grin, and he laughed,
"Okay, fine." He relented.
"Fine, what?" He gave an indulgent sigh,
"If you promise not to go near him again, and promise not to ask about him again until he Ascends, I'll help you."
JASON
I hated to admit it... In fact, I'd actively been hiding it... But, I'd been having weird dreams again. They... They had stopped until recently, so I guess I just assumed it was, I don't know, I guess just more repressed trauma? But then, so many weird things have happened these past couple of weeks. And then, last night, I had the dream again. For the first time in months.
I'm standing at the edge of a forest, at the bottom of a hill. It's nighttime, and it's storming. I look up and, framed by the full moon, I see my brother standing at the top. I call out to him, but he doesn't seem to hear me. Through the noise of the storm I swear I can hear singing, I try to convince myself it's just the wind, but it's far too haunting. Far too melodic.
I start to make my way up the hill, and as I get closer I can see that Irwin is focused on something at the bottom of the ravine, and is standing at the edge. The singing gets louder and more distinct, and I swear I can hear words.
"Ela mazí mou.
Ela mazí mou.
Aderfé, deíxe óti eímaste oikogéneia kai éla mazí mou.
Den mou eípes óti tha eísai pánta ekeí gia ména?
Éla loipón mazí mou.
Ela mazí mou."
As I close the distance between myself and my brother the sound becomes almost deafening. I see Irwin begin to take a step forward, off the edge. Panic overtakes me. I reach out, I grab the hood of his jacket.
And then I wake up. Every time. Sweating and feeling like I can still feel the wet cloth of his hood in my hand. Normally, I would have just rolled out of bed, sighing, drank a glass of water in the kitchen, and then gone back to bed. But, this time, when I sighed and got up, I didn't go to the kitchen. This time, I found myself staring down at the box on my nightstand. The one that held the HeartStone.
For a while, I had always kept it on me. I had even made it into a necklace and worn it all the time. But, after Syd and I were married, I had taken it off and put it away. I don't know... I guess I was trying to convince myself that all these hard times were finally over or something. And, yeah, I guess worse things have happened than exacerbated medical conditions and weird dreams; but I couldn't shake the feeling that worse things were coming, too.
I opened the box, and stared at the HeartStone. That all-too-familiar black stone rose, and the brown leather cord I had attached to it. After a moment, I sighed, reaching into the box, and putting the necklace back on for the first time in over two years.
"Yeah," I assured myself quietly, "Worse things have happened."