A couple years ago I started a Halloween fic that was never finished. This year I wanted to correct that with improved storyline and overall writing. I hope you enjoy this short story counting down the days to Halloween!
And as always feedback is appreciated, corrections to verbiage, opinions on style, all that. My grasp on the rules of grammar is surprisingly poor, ask my incredible beta Twilight Scribe. Any mistakes found likely slipped through the barrage of corrections Scribe had to make and are in no way reflective of anyone's proofreading ability other than my own.
With that, let the second-take for Everdark begin!
Long red hair trailed to the ground behind the park bench as the upturned head above it grimaced at the lack of sun rays coming through the overcast sky. A loud, pointed yawn directed at the younger friend sitting on the ground beside him got no reaction. Opening one eye he checked his companion before speaking.
"Y'know Lloyd, when you described this 'holiday' I thought it'd be something a little less... Depressing."
"Sorry Luin isn't Altamira..." Lloyd responded quietly, lifting a small flat rock with a chunk of mortar stuck along the side. It used to be part of someone's home. "Guess it's gonna take a little longer than we thought to get the town back on its feet."
"Show some respect Zelos, this town has seen a lot of hardship." a young boy chimed in from behind the bench, coming around and pushing the older man's outstretched arms from off the side. He kicked Zelos' foot to close his splayed legs and suddenly the bench could easily seat three more people. He sat down beside him while Lloyd took the other side much to the annoyance of the occupant.
"It's alright Genis, I did make out the holiday to seem much bigger than it is right now..." Lloyd watched a caravan in the distance make its way across the bridge to the city carrying building supplies. "But I think the people are more concerned with rebuilding their town than celebrating holidays."
"There, see? It's Lloyd's fault." Zelos said quickly before reaching an arm up to gesture lazily towards themselves as the other part of their group entered the park. It wasn't necessary as they were the only people in sight, but the other group noticed and continued heading in their direction. Speaking louder as they approached he commented "My only demand is that we sleep inside. Sheena told me that she's sore, her hair has knots, and it's going to rain tonight."
"No, I'm pretty sure that was you telling me that earlier today." The young woman responded rolling her eyes. "And demand denied, unless you want to huddle in the inn with every other refugee this town is hosting. Raine did what she could for the people we ran into but that place is part hospital, part homeless shelter. They only had one regular room available."
Raine looked solemnly down at them holding her staff. "As undesirable as some would find it on a Sylvarant holiday, it may be in our interest to simply make camp outdoors again."
"Can't miss what we've never experienced." the large man spoke stoically behind her. "Though I would have liked to have seen the gem of Sylvarant at its prime, I won't judge by what I've seen today." He Lloyd and Genis a lopsided smile.
"Thanks Regal. You should come back next year. Hopefully the people will be in a position to afford festivities by that time." Genis said, blushing slightly as he added, "You should come too Presea."
The small girl nodded mutely before looking around.
Lloyd noticed it too and leaned to the side to check behind Regal. "Wasn't Colette with you guys?"
The second group looked behind them then to each other.
"She was with us just a second–!" Raine started before hearing conversation behind them up the path from where they came. Colette's girlish giggle sounded down the stone walkway and Raine and Regal moved to find the source.
"Bring me back a clean inn!" Zelos called after them putting his head back against the stone bench.
Regal rounded the bend first to see Colette talking to a very tall, very skinny stranger.
"Good afternoon." Regal announced his formidable presence taking a place beside Colette. Though the man was a full head taller than Regal he met his gaze evenly.
"Colette, is everything alright?" Raine asked quietly as Regal greeted the man.
"M-hm! This is my new friend. He overheard us talking to the innkeeper and mentioned he had a place to stay tonight." Colette answered cheerfully. Raine considered her, then the man over Regal's broad shoulder. The girl could stumble into very lucky circumstances, but her judge of character was as terrible as ever. Raine wouldn't be comfortable in the same city as this man, let alone a house.
"That's very kind of you to offer but we're with a larger group, and we prefer stay together." Regal nodded cordially.
"Oh you misunderstand," the stranger said with a wide smile that stretched across his entire lean face, "You are all welcome, of course. These are difficult times for everyone, I merely wish to aid those I can. There's a road south of the city, follow it through the forest and after some time you'll reach the mansion. It's just one path, you can't lose it. Please, just consider it an open invitation." With that he bowed deeply and strode away silent as the wind.
Regal watched after him eyes narrowed before accompanying Raine and Colette back to the others. Before he could stop her Colette was already telling them about the large mansion they could be staying at tonight. Regal shot a glance towards Raine who returned an apologetic expression.
As they walked south along the forested path in the cloudy afternoon the younger members of the group were all talking excitedly despite Regal's and Raine's warnings. Neither of the adults trusted the stranger but simply refusing to come along and leaving the naïve ones to go ahead wasn't an option either.
"Did he say if they had hot water?" Zelos asked longingly, closing his eyes as they walked and running imaginary water through his hair.
"Yep, and really really big beds." Colette answered, walking with a hop to her step as if already picturing herself jumping on them.
Zelos sidled up to Sheena with a nudging elbow, "Eh? Ehhh?"
"Not even a little bit." She responded, almost making him trip as she fell away from his last elbow and circled around to Genis' other side. "Still, I've never stayed in a mansion before. Do they have big group bedrooms? I'm not so sure about splitting up."
"We'd be one door apart from each other, that isn't close enough?" Genis asked glancing behind him for his older sibling's opinion. "Sis?"
Raine turned from Regal. "We'll see the room layout when we get there. Worse to worst we'll be sharing beds tonight." Zelos opened his mouth happily before she cut him off, "You can sleep alone or with the boys Zelos."
"Fine, maybe I will sleep alone..." He responded nose in the air imitating her cold demeanor. He fell back and leaned towards her loudly whispering, "But knock three times if you want to change that." before hurrying forward out of her staff's reach.
"Lloyd, you're being unusually quiet." Presea noted looking up to him as they walked ahead of the group.
"Hm? Oh it's nothing." He said, smiling as he shook his head. "This forest was just reminds me of an old story from when I was a kid... A scary 'legend' adults told us around the village this time of year to keep us from misbehaving. This holiday involves a lot of mischief and they wanted to keep us from making too big of a mess. It worked... Most of the time."
"Only most?" Presea asked cocking her head.
"Lloyd you're not telling her that kid story are you?" Genis asked from behind them.
"Just knock five–"
"No."
"Four–"
"No, Zelos."
"Fine fine, just knock once. After all, you're my number one gir–"
Sheena rolled her eyes dodging under Zelos' outstretched arm and quickened her step to catch up to Lloyd and Genis. "What are you guys swapping the scary stories already? Save it for the campfire!"
"It's not a scary story..." Colette muttered from Lloyd's other side, looking down as they walked. "It's a real story."
Everyone had gone silent now as their feet patted the overgrown gravel-path, all ears on Lloyd who cleared his throat and frowned ahead, wondering where to start.
"Growing up we had a friend in Iselia. Matthew. He didn't have any parents, didn't like chores or homework, and we got in all sorts of trouble together." Lloyd began, small smile forming at the edges of his mouth.
"He got Lloyd in more trouble than Lloyd could ever do alone, to give it some perspective." Genis added.
Lloyd ignored him. "One year around this time, the village was getting ready for the holiday. He cooked up this scheme that would have turned the entire village upside down for weeks. If we'd been caught we'd probably be banished, but to look back on it would have kept us laughing for hours. Or we imagined all that anyway. We never got that far..."
"C'mon Lloyd what's the hold up?"
"I'm... almost... done!" Lloyd grunted giving the rope one final tug with his small arms. High above him hung a massive closed net holding every feather they'd saved for the last four months suspended between two trees at the edge of the forest at the top of the hill. Satisfied with the height Lloyd tied the end around a nearby sapling, making sure it wouldn't budge. Beside the sapling a torch stood in the ground, stolen from the village gates to act as their makeshift signal later on. In the near distance people could be seen milling about the town square in Iselia,setting up tables and moving food and decorations about.
"The festival's going to start in a few hours and we don't even have the oil ready yet!" the older boy chided angrily, giving Lloyd a hand with the rope. "How's this gonna be remembered as the bestest prank ever if we don't do it?"
"Good point." Lloyd nodded seriously, wiping the sweat off his hands. "What next?"
His friend didn't answer. Lloyd looked over from where he gathered up their extra rope to see him standing, facing away towards the darkening forest. Knowing the first rule of hunting was to never spook the target Lloyd quietly stepped toward his friend.
"What is it?" he whispered.
No answer.
"Matt... What is it?" Upon hearing his name his friend jerked, seeing Lloyd beside him.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"That."Matthew said louder, "That right there!" He pointed in the direction the sound was apparently coming from.
"What's it sound like?" Lloyd asked quietly still, thinking it must be much softer than he was listening for.
"It's a voice dummy!" Matthew said sounding annoyed and wiping his nose. "It's calling us, you don't hear it?"
Lloyd stared at him, unsure who between them was losing it. "What's it saying?"
Matthew listened again. "Come to me."
Lloyd waited a moment. "That's it?"
"I think we should go to it." Matt said seriously, a trail of blood trickling from his nose before he quickly wiped it away.
"I think that's a stupid idea." Lloyd responded clipping the older boy's ear. "The prank? Who's going to pull it off if we're off lost in the woods chasing imaginary friends?"
"I'm not imagining it!" Matt exclaimed angrily rubbing his head, glaring between Lloyd and the forest.
"Whatever. C'mon we need to get the roof's oiled up, it should be dark enough now that no one will see us." Lloyd said getting a fresh grip on the rope. "Matt, come on!"
Matt took a step towards him still staring into the trees before turning and following him back to the village. "It's too bad your friend Genis couldn't help us. His magic would be useful."
"Yeah, maybe he could make a spell that just shoots oil everywhere. That'd be neat. I shoulda asked him..." Lloyd muttered in disappointment at having not thought of it sooner.
They spent the next hour subtly boosting each other onto houses with buckets of oil, making designs or just outright covering the roofs with the stuff. Night had fallen now and a call went out that the festival was starting.
The two descended from the mayor's roof where they'd simply dumped the remainder of the oil. Lloyd nodded, knowing his role but suddenly felt very unsure about Matthew's. "Matt, are you sure–"
"Lloyd don't, we spent a year making this plan."
"I can be the one who cuts the–"
"Just do your job, I'll do mine, and we'll meet back up in the square. First one to get a dance with Colette doesn't have to do Raine's homework for a week." Matthew grinned boyishly at Lloyd before dipping around the building without another word.
Lloyd was fairly certain neither of them had permission to excuse the other from Raine's homework assignments, but he ran to the back of town where he'd collected four pigs from the forest the week prior. They were numbered 1, 2, 3 and 5. Matt's idea, to make the joke last longer.
Looking up at the hillside in the distance he waited for the signal. He could hear laughter and music from the square and he very much wished to join in, but not before the torch was... Ah.
Smiling he cut the pigs free, giving each a pat on the side to get them going. One looked at him. Another rolled onto its side and began snoring. Well hopefully they'd move a little further apart by the time people starting finding them in the morning or the joke would be short lived.
Lloyd scanned the sky as he approached the party, expecting to see feathers drifting down on them at any time, but nothing came. He didn't think it'd take that long, the wind was right, the feathers were the right type... Maybe there was a snag with the net. Frowning at the potential hiccup he nearly bumped into Colette.
"Heya Lloyd! What're you looking at?" She asked curiously looking up at the sky as well.
"Wha? Oh nothing! Just it's a pretty night, is all." Lloyd nodded convincingly, blushing as she stared at him.
"Oh. Well come over here, I'm showing Genis how to dance!" Colette giggled, leading Lloyd by the hand through the crowd.
Throughout the night Lloyd scanned the crowd for Matthew, but that grinning face never appeared. Nor did he find a single feather on the way back to Genis' house where he'd be spending the night.
The next morning, rather than waking up Genis, Lloyd went out for a walk. It was early and most of the adults were still sleeping in from the late night. A layer of fog had settled in as Lloyd made his way up the path out of the edge of town, past where pigs 3 and 5 were sleeping side by side. Matt had never shown up last night, there was no sense in dragging him all the way back up here, he just wanted to see for himself what went wrong. Was the knife not big enough? Did the net break after they'd left?
Frowning at the moist dirt path before him he distinctly made out his and Matt's footprints going to and from the site yesterday, and there was where Matt hiked back up alone but...
Lloyd drew closer to where he knew the torch and sapling were, squinting to see the shapes in the fog. He came up to the torch, black from having burned all night. Moving to the left he nearly tripped over the rope partially hidden in the fog around his short leg. Running a hand along the length of it he felt condensation but no frays or attempts at cutting. The furrow in his brow deepened as he followed it up, making out the net intact above him.
A twig snapped making him spin, scanning the gray forest. Fog tendriled around tree trunks and low hanging branches making the entire forest seem to be slowly breathing. He drew his carving knife and held it up menacingly, secretly panicked. Each roil in the mist would turn a harmless shape into something terrifying for a briefest of seconds before it resumed its aimless drifting, leaving the mind wondering if it had seen anything after all.
For what had to have been a full minute he stood there in the forest's unnatural silence, not even morning birds making calls, until he regained feeling in his legs. He took one step back keeping his eyes on the forest for any signs of pursuit and tore back to the village with as much speed as his legs would grant him.
As Lloyd ended his story silence not unlike what he'd just finished describing settled over the party as they walked. "That night was the last time I saw him."
Sheena was the first to speak after a long pause. "That's awful Lloyd... No one tried looking for him?"
"The entire village did for three days. Each morning we'd set out and each evening we'd come back without a trace. After a while we just... Stopped looking." Colette trailed away.
Genis looked determinedly forward. "I'm not convinced he isn't just living happily abroad somewhere. We've seen no proof that hasn't happened."
"We've seen no proof it has." Raine said quietly behind them. Only Regal heard her.
Zelos drew near Sheena again, talking out of the side of his mouth so that only she could hear him. "This is one of those moments where I don't talk and let everyone think about sad things–?"
"Yes." She answered curtly.
Straightening and making several strides away from her and Raine he announced loudly, "Lloyd your holidays are terrible."
"Zelos!" Sheena exclaimed, stooping to pick up a small rock.
"No I mean it, hear me out!" He chuckled lightheartedly, bending his knees in anticipation to dodge. As she held the rock on standby he continued, keeping a wary eye on her hand. "Remember me telling you about our holidays? They celebrate things! Yours are about missing people and things in the past that make you remember bad times. I said it earlier but it's true, it's depressing. Everyone," he took two bounds to the opposite side of the path, "who wants to celebrate this holiday with me can walk on my side. Everyone who wants to be depressed can stay all mopey over there." He waved a dismissive hand in Lloyd's direction.
"Zelos you seriously think anyone's gonna–" Genis started but stopped himself as Lloyd walked over to Zelos' side.
Lloyd cast a look back at the others and cleared his throat. "Zelos is right. This is supposed to be a holiday. We've been through enough hard times trying to save the worlds. We deserve a break too." He grinned at them before Zelos threw an arm around his neck.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Zelos agreed gesturing to the others. "C'mon guys, it's happier on this side of the road!"
"That's really dumb, Zelos." Genis scowled as he continued walking.
"Ignore him, he's stuck in his sad ways. Too many poor decisions in life." Zelos said mournfully. "Sheena, baby? Colette, hunny?"
"Zelos, we're ten feet from you going the same direction, we don't need to walk on that side of the road." Sheena answered, holding Colette's wrist to stop her midstep from walking towards Zelos' direction.
"But it's happier over here. Plus, we got Lloyd."
Colette leaned in with a serious expression to Sheena. "They have Lloyd."
"There's no 'they,' it's just Zelos, and Lloyd's right there!" Genis explained irritably. "Zelos, stop being stupid."
"Genis, stop being cranky!" Zelos stuck his tongue out at him before spotting Presea talking to Raine a little ways back. "Hey li'l darling, what's wrong?"
Raine stood with her staff, ushering Presea forward as they caught up with the group. "Minor nosebleed. The change in elevation can cause it."
"Everything okay Presea?" Genis asked, voice full of concern as they rounded a large tree.
But before she could answer they realized they'd reached their destination. They stood at a clearing in the woods leading up to the largest mansion any of them had ever seen before. They couldn't see how far back it went, but the front was nearly the width of the Meltokio castle. The architecture was very old, with faded red paint visible between vine-choked walls, dirt caked along the masonry lining the rooftop, and ominously dark windows showing no signs of occupancy.
They all stood dumbstruck for a moment taking it in until thunder in the far distance made the forest tremble.
"There's someone in Sylvarant who's..." Zelos gulped, "Richer than me?"
The trees began to rustle as a light rain started falling around them. "Hardly what's important here, Zelos." Raine commented holding her bag above her head. "Let's try the front door."
They hurried across the grass, up the overgrown stone stairs and to the large wooden doors. Zelos knocked three times and stood close to Regal whose massive frame blocked some of the droplets that made it past the overhang.
"There's no way they heard that. The door must be a foot thick." Genis said, stepping forward and failing to reach the heavy brass knockers halfway up the door. "Use those."
"No." Zelos said simply, closing his eyes and turning away.
"Zelos–" Genis opened his mouth angrily.
"I refuse." The noble sniffed, hands on his hips. "No self respecting member of high society uses knockers."
"He doesn't have one." Sheena whispered winking at Lloyd as she pushed forward, grabbing the large handle and lifting. No sooner had the metal met plaque than the door creaked open.
A mousy haired girl poked her head around the door. Seeing them, her face broke into a warm smile. "Oh hello." She stood back and motioned them inside. "Come in come in, dreadful weather today." Behind her the entry hall was brightly lit, lamps high on the walls shining upon a magnificent crystal chandelier hanging over the center of the room. Two large, rounded staircases led to an upper level in the back of the room.
As they walked over the threshold they took in the girl wearing maid's attire who had greeted them. She bowed and smiled again taking them all in.
"Traveler?"
"Yes, we met the mansion's owner earlier today in town. He mentioned he had room in his house for guests?" Colette asked, scraping her shoes on the mat outside before entering.
"You met Mr. Ever?" The maid asked quickly, eyes darting to Colette. Her eyes never met theirs, instead fixating on other parts of their faces. "Did he say when he'd return?" She asked Colette's mouth.
"Um... No..." Colette tried dipping slightly to make their eyes meet but the maid's eyes adjusted accordingly. Giving up she continued, "Just that there may be some room available for our friends? We wouldn't mind paying you for the trouble." Colette said half apologetically, as if she was supposed to have asked Mr. Ever when he'd be coming home.
The maid's faltered smile returned to normal as she nodded. "Oh, he's probably still out hunting."
"Hunting?" Lloyd asked, looking to Regal and Raine who were watching the maid carefully. "Today was terrible weather for hunting. And on a holiday?"
"Some people have peculiar tastes." Regal stated, still watching the maid who had rested her eyes on his chin.
"He should be back any minute now. Shall I show you to your room?" The maid asked timidly eyes returning to Colette's mouth.
"Oh, yes please! Rooms, if there are others available." Colette bowed in relief before making to follow the maid down a side hallway off to their left.
"Men stay this way..."
The group followed suit, Regal and Raine exchanging a long glance before moving after them. The maid set a brisk pace and it took everything short of a jog to keep up with her.
"So, what kinda eccentric millionaire builds their legacy out in the boonies?" Zelos asked running a finger along a windowsill to check for dust. He sniffed when his glove came up clean.
"Mr. Ever is a generous man, but he prefers anonymity. And the lady of the house enjoys her privacy." The maid quickly added turning as she spoke, "Not to worry, she mostly keeps to herself upstairs. Just don't disturb their quarters."
They rounded another corner and passed an open doorway where a kitchen full of staff were bustling about preparing food. It somehow made the house feel that much safer, knowing someone other than the socially awkward maid and elusive Mrs. Ever were the only people in the house.
"We'll be having dinner at sundown, courtesy of Mr. Ever." The maid addressed their lingering gazes as she continued around another corner.
"This place is starting to feel like a maze." Sheena half joked glancing out a window they passed to check how far away sundown was.
"Just keep turning right." Presea said flatly standing on her toes to peek out the window into the forest. She continued looking for a moment longer before following the rest of the group.
"Or just open a window and walk around the side of the house." Zelos grinned rapping his knuckles across a window pane. He took a step past the window before doing a double take, leaning backward to look out again.
"Not too much longer before dinner Zelos, c'mon we haven't even found your room yet." Sheena called behind her as the group rounded into another hall.
"Yeah! Right..." Zelos' smile faltered as he looked out the window one more time, scanning the forest. After another moment he followed Presea's bobbing pigtails around the corner.
"Here we are."
Colette looked past the door the maid held open. It was about the size of her old house, complete with a full sofa and coffee table. "Wow it's... Really big. Does Mr. Ever keep rooms like this just for guests?"
"My name's Tiff. Please let me or another servant know if you require provisions." She smiled again as if oblivious to Colette's question and looked to Sheena's nose. "Shall I show you to your room?"
"Uh, sure." Sheena said, looking between Colette's room and the door a few yards down the hall. "Is it this one right here?" The maid didn't answer but stopped at the door Sheena had been referring to. She opened the door to reveal a room identical to Colette's.
"Here we are." The maid bowed holding the door open. "My name's Tiff. Please let me or another servant know if you require provisions." Turning to Raine, "Shall I show you to your room?"
"I think we can take it from here, thank you very much for showing us around." Raine nodded before ushering Presea and following Sheena into Colette's room.
Zelos turned back to Tiff, "Hey wait where are the guys supposed to..." but the hem of the maid's dress could barely be seen whipping around the right corner at the end of the hall and she was gone. He stared after her a moment before looking at Lloyd who seemed nonplussed. "Great going Lloyd you scared her. Now where're we gonna stay?"
"I think it would be best if the girls stayed in one room and we stayed in the other." Regal spoke from over Lloyd's shoulder. "I don't like this place, but we won't cross the forest again before nightfall. The safest course of action is to stay together until we depart first thing in the morning."
Lloyd didn't have time to nod before Zelos snorted loudly. "Yeeeeah, right. Speak for yourself, Señor Chastity, but I need a room for myself tonight. I've been catching the looks the ladies have been giving me and they're just waiting to have me one on one. And no offense, but sharing isn't really my style." And with that he tossed his belt and scabbard to Genis before jogging after the maid. "Beautiful Maiden Tiff! Wait, I require provisions!"
"Idiot..." Genis muttered before moving back to "Sheena's" room to drop off their gear.
Lloyd was about to do the same when he noticed Regal hadn't moved, still watching after where Zelos had gone. "Everything alright Regal?"
"I am concerned for our Chosen's safety." Regal admitted, frowning at the end of the hall. "Something about this place is wrong. I can feel it."
Lloyd looked around as if checking the weather. "Well you know more about this stuff than I do. But Zelos has us to get him out of trouble, as usual. If he needs help he'll scream or something." He jerked his head towards the room, "Let's drop our stuff off."
When he came back out the room Regal still hadn't moved. He sighed. "Fine, I'll go get Zelos back, you stay with the girls."
"And Genis?" Genis asked coming out of the room behind him.
"Very well, I'll keep us together. Just remember your way back; Sheena wasn't wrong when she said this place was a maze..." Regal said putting a hand on Genis' back and leading him to the room.
"I have a natural sense of direction Regal, don't worry about us." Lloyd declared confidently walking in the direction Zelos had gone in. Regal looked on as Lloyd disappeared left at the end of the hall, a moment later reappearing again deliberately not looking in his direction as he crossed the intersection and disappeared once more.
"Excuse me? Beautiful Maiden?" Zelos called out, finding himself at the end of yet another long hallway lit only by intermittent lamps along the wall. "Oh come on. This is stupid. And all these are supposed to be 'guest' rooms too?" He yelled. His voice echoed back to him before silence resumed its place over the deserted halls.
He sighed heavily and began trudging his feet along the hardwood floor, stopping occasionally to listen for voices or signs of life. Who designed this house? Zelos had lived among the elite of the flourishing world, even stayed within the castle on occasion, and nothing he'd seen before compared in the size of this house.
His ears picked up a sound. It was faint, but definitely there. A girlish giggle echoed down the hall, then the sound resumed. After a few moments he recognized it was very soft piano music.
Quietly so as not to disturb anyone, he made for the end of the hall which opened into a large baroque-style living room. Across the back a long staircase led to an upper story behind a closed door, the room itself was adorned with wood-framed furniture of intricate design facing a darkened fireplace that could easily fit three Regals sitting comfortably side-by-side, in the corner stood an antique piano against the wall. The room was silent, and unlike the rest of the house looked as if it hadn't been set foot in for years. Dust coated every horizontal surface, cobwebs decorated the corners of the walls and even the white wallpaper had aged to a dirty gray.
Something bumped his foot and he jumped away only to see it was a black ball. Looking around uncertainly he stooped, picking it up and examining it, and jumping a second later when he heard a voice.
"Oh you found it! Thank you so much!"
He looked up to see a young girl who couldn't have been over ten years old watching him, arms outstretched. She wore a plain white dress appropriate for a church day and was the palest girl he'd ever seen in his life. Her dark eyes took him in, arms dropping slightly. Zelos quickly knelt and rolled the ball back to her. Watching her face brighten up as she received it he noticed the light never quite reached her eyes. "Who am I to be the first person who doesn't give such a pretty girl anything she wants." He chuckled still watching her.
"Have you seen my daddy?" She inquired, walking over and looking up at him. "You're tall..."
He grinned reassuringly patting her head. "Don't worry darlin', your daddy's out hunting big scary monsters. He'll be back any minute now with a big... Minotaur head. You haven't by any chance seen one of the maids around have you?"
"He's prolly out hunting still..." She muttered looking down before brightening up again. "Do you want to play with me?"
"Y'know, that sounds like fun, but I really need to find someone who can show me my room. You might say it's an emergen– Oh h-hey wow you're strong." He stammered as her hand clasped over his wrist like a tiny vice and began pulling him toward the piano with a strength non-befitting her frail form. Even through the fabric of his long sleeves her hands felt like they'd been sitting in buckets of ice. He probably could have broken away, but for now all she wanted was a playmate. Not asking for an organ transplant or anything...
"But mommy says I don't have a good sing-voice." She admitted sadly, looking down after he took a seat at the piano.
"I'm sure that's not true at all. All girls have amazing voices..." He leaned back and winked, "But other girls can get jealous."
She giggled at him covering her mouth. "You're funny. Will you teach me that song you were humming?"
Zelos looked perplexed at her mouth slightly agape. Throwing a quick look around the room he made sure he wasn't missing anything and forced a lighthearted chuckle. "I'm not sure what you're referring to, Beautiful."
"Okay." She sat down beside him and pushed open the keyboard cover. Zelos turned away and coughed hard as a dust cloud lifted off the keys. The girl didn't seem bothered in the slightest, instead hovering her hands hesitantly over the keys and waiting for Zelos expectantly.
"Wha–!" Zelos coughed again, wiping his tearing eyes and settling his fingers over the ivory keys, "What song did you want to hear?" He got out in one breath before being forced to duck away and cough one last time to clear his lungs.
"Okay..." She repeated before her face set in a determined expression. "Like... this?" She asked, doing a short line.
"That was... Good." Zelos nodded encouragingly, wondering what the hell she was playing. It was pretty, sure. But it certainly wasn't any song he'd ever heard before.
"Can we play it at the same time? Daddy says that helps me learn better." She asked, returning her hands over the first keys again.
Zelos adjusted his posture, taking up the same keys two octaves higher. Fortunately for him, music was just one of his innumerable talents. She struck the first three keys which he repeated a split second behind. He was watching her hands carefully to predict which notes would be played before her fingers actually pressed the keys, yet it was clear she was leading them. And she still watched his hands as if unsure she was playing the right song.
"Does it have words?" She asked suddenly when they'd apparently repeated the handful of lines to the song several times.
"Why don't you think of some?" Zelos suggested smiling. "You kinda... Made the rest of the song anyway. Why not top it off with your angelic voice?"
"Drunken Whaler?" She crinkled her nose at him. He couldn't tell if she was offering or confirming. "That's a silly name for a song. But okay. You sing a line, then play the line and I'll sing along to it." She turned and got off the bench, standing beside the piano. She watched him eagerly, dark eyes not even reflecting the light coming in from the high windows over the fireplace.
He turned his hands over, noting the grey patches of dust that covered him from his hands to his vest, then turned his attention to the keyboard. It was obvious which keys had been pressed by the distinct lines of bone-white interrupting the gray-dust palette. Except two octaves deeper, which bore no marks whatsoever. His eyes rested on her spotless white dress again.
Zelos prided himself on being many things, and though he joked about it often, he knew he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. One thing he did take pride in however, was his ability to sense when things were very wrong, and this girl was wrong-incarnate. But right now all she wanted was a friend to teach her an imaginary song, and so long as he filled that role she was happy, which meant he got to keep his soul or whatever the alternative was. He wasn't much interested in finding out.
"I should really be getting back to my friends. How about after this song you can go back to playing and I'll just... Find my own way outta here. Alright?"
She had closed her eyes, starting to sway on the spot. She nodded, "Okay, I think I got it."
"Right..." Zelos settled his hands over the keyboard, throwing glances over his shoulder around the room. The girl had started humming the tune before whispering the first words. If the hairs on his neck stood any straighter they would be lifting the shirt off his back. Her "sing-voice" was indeed most unpleasant, though it was largely influenced by the setting. The choir-like haunting quality would fit well in a church, but alone in a room with her it sounded more ominous than a door creaking open on its own.
"What will we do with a drunken whaler? What will we do with a drunken whaler? What will we do with a drunken whaler, early in the morning..."
He lowered his pointer to the first key only to have it press itself beneath his finger. He stared at the keyboard as the second note played, then the third all without his assistance.
"Way hay, and up she rises. Way hay, and up she rises. Way hay, and up she rises, early in the morning..."
Zelos slowly let his hands fall to his sides, realizing it didn't matter if he reached for the keys or not and debated if this was his window of opportunity. Cautiously keeping his eyes on the girl he made his way to his feet, taking a moment to compose himself before making a slow step towards the hall he'd entered from as the girl continued singing.
"Shoot him through the heart with a loaded pistol..."
He almost missed the next step as the lyrics turned from child-like to something that could only be described as "creepy." Zelos chanced a glance in her direction to see her watching him as she repeated the verse. He gave his most charming smile under the circumstances and quickly made for the hall, noticing a mirror on the wall just before the corner and giving it one glimpse before passing.
In it he caught a reflection of himself as what he'd expected to see, dusted slightly sweating and very much out of his comfort zone, but also the room behind him. And the single most horrible thing he'd ever seen in his life watching him from beside the piano.
"Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver."
Even though he was a good distance away now he spun, throwing his back against the corner and almost falling into the hall.
"Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver. Slice his throat with a rusty cleaver, early in the morning..."
The "girl" continued watching him, contentedly swaying on her spot while her quiet whispering and the autonomous piano somehow filled the entire room.
"Way hay, and up she rises. Way hay, and up she rises."
Zelos had enough. Backing away a few more steps he didn't pretend to feign "cool" anymore as he turned and bolted, stopping after one stride and staring ahead then behind him into the room.
"Way hay, and up she rises..."
At the end of the hall the girl stood swaying, watching him with unblinking eyes.
"Early in the morning..."