Ghosts.
Just the word tickled Matilda Caskett's fancy. It was either because her father liked telling her stories of them, or he encouraged her belief. Regardless, at the ripe age of eight, Matilda Caskett had her heart set on meeting a ghost some day.
Of course, ghosts just don't appear to you overnight. Well, they could, just not for Matilda.
Eight year old Matilda was an absolute disgrace in the ghost hunting ambition. All she ever did was talk about finding ghosts, or imagine that a ghost was next to her. No, it was Matilda Caskett at eight years and nine months who decided to find a library to gather information on the poltergeists. Finding the library had been a hard one- she and her father had only arrived on the island some days prior. Despite Barrel Caskett being a retired Digger, the two of them traveled around quite a bit. Matilda didn't mind it all too much, but if she couldn't find a library soon, she was going to go insane!
Matilda couldn't remember were her father had went, but he had told her to stay in town. He would have preferred that she stay on their airship, but Matilda didn't like being treated like a kid. She needed to know where everything was on this island, right down to the smallest weed peeking its way through the sidewalk. Being stuck in the tiny airship was not how she was going to do that. It was a good thing that they had landed so close to town center- she wouldn't have to walk as far.
For the most part, this island was rather sleepy. Right outside the town gates was a small store, Matilda entered with a small shrug, figuring it was a better place than any to ask about a library. Inside the store were some counters holding candy and quick foodstuffs, along with maps for any travelers. Matilda took a quick peek through some of them, but none had any information on the town itself, just the surrounding area and its ruins. Letting out a small, impatient huff, Matilda walked over to the cashier.
"Well, hello there kiddo." the cashier greeted the child with a smile. "What can I help you with today?"
Matilda, who was not quite tall enough to completely see over the high counter, propped herself up by the elbows and stood on her tiptoes to look at the cashier properly.
"Do you know where the library is?" Matilda asked with a single blink.
"Of course." the cashier nodded. "When you leave the store, go straight. It's on the other side of the bank, you can't miss it- the sign is in big red letters and reads 'The Great Library of Alexandria Island.'"
"Thank you." the child nodded as she started to head in that direction.
It annoyed her that the counter to see the librarian was even taller than the one at the store. Matilda's feet were just barely dangling above the floor as she used her elbows to prop herself help.
"Can you tell me where the books about ghost are?" the girl asked. "The nonfiction ones, not the kiddie ones."
The librarian seemed to take a moment to realize the child was there before giving her a curious look.
"Not the kiddie ones?" the librarian repeated with a small raise of their eyebrow. "Then I guess you want the ones in section with the subject code 103-104-111-115-116."
"Thank you." Matilda replied before working herself back down off the counter- nearly falling over in the process. The librarian watched the girl in wonder as she wandered alone through the shelves. She found the right number with incredible ease and started to browse until something caught her eye.
That was when a small glimmer of something captured Matilda's attention. It had lasted for a moment, but her attention was drawn to a book that looked a bit smaller than the rest. Curious now, Matilda tried to reach for the book and found that she was too short. After quickly finding a stool nearby, the girl used it to get the book down; the cover was nothing too fancy, and it read 'Ghosts: Remnants of New-Old Technology or Figments of Our Imagination?.' It looked very promising to the girl so she took it over to a seating area and started to pour over the contents.
'A forward by the author: Ghosts have been a staple in common folklore for eons. Many of these occurrences could be chalked up to false imagery and hyper paranoia. By personal experience, I have come to realize that one particular occurrence of these accounts may have older connotations. What I mean is that what we consider 'ghosts' are actually remnants of an older technology still light years ahead of today: a technology they called Cyber Elves.'
"Cyber Elves..." Matilda mumbled under her breath. The term was… not familiar. But there was just something about it that kept her interested. She continued to read on, finding herself slightly annoyed that this book was more of a biography of the writer than anything factual before coming across the section on interacting with these creatures.
'Cyber Elves, when in contact with another being, can cause a static-like reaction at the place of contact. Should the Cyber Elf make a connection with one's brain, then it will numb the processors to a 'high' of sorts that proves to be very calming. Very few people were able to remember this occurrence, however, after this particular contact.'
Matilda gave a shiver after hearing this; almost like she knew what such static felt like. At the back of her mind, she thought she felt someone reading over her shoulder but when she looked around, no one had been there. Her confusion quickly led way to a sense of excitement before returning to her book with renewed interest.
Matilda's first experience to even getting close to a ghost was when she was 10.
There was just something about visiting that island that wouldn't let Matilda sleep that night. She swore she could hear people whispering to her in the dead of night, but Papa never said anything about them. When she had asked Papa about them, Barrel insisted that it was likely Matilda's imagination and that she was just unfamiliar with the island's little quirks. But she had heard something, and with the moon high above in the sky, Matilda left the airship and followed the voices.
The island was home to some rather thick trees, and it proved to only be a maze in way of Matilda's searching. Then she saw it; a small flicker through the trees beckoned to her. If it was anything else, Matilda would have ignored it, but this thing had an energy connected to it. A strong energy that seemed to fuel her curiosities.
Matilda dove deeper into the trees. The flicker of light continued to guide her. At some point, it started to fade.
"No, no! Come back!" Matilda called out to the air. "I won't hurt you, promise! Came back!"
As she tried to go further into the woods, she could just barely hear her father shout, "Matilda! Where are you?" causing her to flinch. Apparently, a little further ahead was the entrance to a ruin- it didn't take much for her to know the wisp had went inside, still calling out to her.
"Matilda!" the sounds of her father shouting again resonated through the forest. Letting out a mild whine, Matilda ran back toward the town and back to her father. As she came back to town, her father spotted her and instantly let out a sigh of relief.
"Where were you Tida? It's too late to be wandering around on your own." he told her. It was a kind inquisition, and a heavily worried one.
"I was ghost hunting Papa." came the answer, short and quite sour. "The wisp went to the ruins. I could have followed it, but I heard you calling me, and I didn't want you to worry."
Barrel frowned. "You're not allowed to enter any ruins by yourself anyway, Matilda."
"I know..."
Seeing his daughter look so down made Barrel sympathize with her, he soon found himself suggesting, "We can… investigate the ruins later, you and I, if you want."
"No Papa," Matilda sighed, "The wisp won't be there anymore if we go later. She only had a short amount of time to visit, and that time is gone."
"Oh… Well, in that case, I'm sorry you couldn't follow your wisp Tida. Maybe when you're older it'll come back?"
"Yeah… maybe..."
After that night, however, Barrel made sure to never return to Willis Island ever again. It didn't particularly matter at the time because on Matilda's 15th birthday, she finally got to meet a ghost face to face.
She had just been too antsy that day that Papa couldn't hold her down if he tried. The Calinca Continent was just so pretty this time of year- Matilda couldn't help but explore everything it had to offer. They wouldn't be able to make it to Yosyonke this year though; a smaller town closer to the continent's waterline was all they could reach before moving elsewhere. Matilda loved being here, just something about the place was filling her with enough energy and drive for two. Barrel nearly envied her.
If there was only one thing they both knew, it was that Matilda was not going to stay in the airship all day. No- she had planned a mini excursion for herself along the shoreline. While Barrel knew she would be safe, it didn't stop him from being the concerned and loving parent that he was.
"Tida." her father warned, just as she was about to leave. Matilda instantly turned around to look at her father.
"Yes Papa?"
"Just… come back before midnight. Alright?"
Matilda looked back at her father for a moment and wondered why he was so worried. Putting on a smile, Matilda went back over to her father and gave him a sweet kiss on the forehead.
"I'll be back before then Papa." she promised. "You know I get bored easily."
To this, her father allowed himself a small chuckle before she departed out the door and into the unknown.
At first, Matilda didn't have much of a plan on where she was going. A small flicker in the corner of her eye directed her toward the beach. This flicker continued to persist, guiding her alone the shore and to an old lighthouse. Noticing the flicker go inside the lighthouse, Matilda took no second thoughts in following it.
Inside, the lighthouse showed signs of wear and tear, with no obvious light keeper at attendance. This place as an abandoned one- but Matilda could feel something comforting about this place.
"Matilda..."
The teen whipped her head around. Someone had called her name, but who?
"Matilda..."
The voice was coming from up the stairs. Considering for a moment whether she should go up them without someone spotting her, Matilda eventually just shrugged and started her way upwards. At the top floor someone was waiting for her, but it definitely was not the caretaker of the lighthouse. Instead, it was a young woman, roughly Matilda's age, that looked barely there. The woman had light green hair, red eyes that illustrated some sort of sadness, and wore a very short white dress adorned with a few blue accents. When she looked at Matilda, she tilted her head to the side slightly.
It was that moment that Matilda realized she was seeing a ghost face to face for the first time.
"Matilda Caskett..." the ghost hummed, still looking her over.
"You know who I am?!" came the marveled reply. The ghost gave an affirming nod.
"You… are one of us."
"So cool!" the girl gushed. But then she took a moment to consider how creepy the ghost's sentence had been. Then she asked, "What do you mean 'one of us'?"
"You have the blood… of the Founders. The Forgotten Ones… on Forbidden Island..."
"Forbidden Island..." Matilda repeated, trying to remember the name. It was really familiar, whatever that place was. Had her father mentioned it before?
"Matilda..." the ghost then contemplated, "You look like… the Master..."
"The who?" the girl inquired with a confused voice. "You mean my hair? Blonde's not that uncommon of a color, really. And green eyes kinda compliment them a lot, so I hear. So I get told that I look like a lot of people because of how blonde it is; like, literally everyone from my father to the female singer in that old band Rokkunroru!"
The ghost seemed to have ignored this and instead stepped closer to Matilda, slowly putting a hand on her shoulder. Instantly, Matilda jumped backward from a strange static where the ghost had touched her.
"H-how did you do that?" she stammered, inspecting her arm as if the ghost had injured her. It hadn't, but the static had felt so weird… Worse than goosebumps, even.
"It is… my nature now." apologized the ghost. "I did not mean… to scare you."
"You didn't scare me," Matilda insisted, "It was just… surprising. I didn't expect it."
The ghost gave Matilda an odd glance, as if it knew that she had been scared in some degree.
"Sit." the ghost then calmly instructed, gesturing to the ground. Matilda did as she was told and looked back up for further instruction. The ghost moved close to Matilda as it held out its hand to her- carefully, it placed its hand against her forehead with only two fingers touching. Matilda flinched at the sensation, but found that it was comforting in some way too. A part of Matilda's brain went numb while knowing that the ghost was probing at her memories and thoughts. There was something like this in a book she read years ago… but what what it again?
"Tida..." the ghost softly smiled. "Ashe... would have liked you… You both have… ambition. But you have better... eloquence. Thank goodness."
"You are special Matilda." the ghost then told her, removing her hand from Matilda's forehead. "Later, you will join us... on Forbidden Island. You will see, but will not feel. You will help us… and in return… we will help you."
"With what?"
"Finding… the Great Inheritance."
"The great… Wait, you mean the Mother Lode?!"
"Is that what they call it? Hmm..."
The ghost then turned her attention back to Matilda and gave a smile.
"Tida... my time is… coming to an end." it explained carefully. "I am glad that we... were able to meet. I wanted to see… whose traits you carried. I am… disappointed, but… not surprised. You did not descend… from the queen. No, you descend from… the hunter."
"Is it really that important?" the girl asked, now wondering who these people were and what they had to do with her.
"No… But my curiosities (much like yours) are hard to sate. And now… I know. Thank you Tida. We'll meet again… on Forbidden Island."
And with that, the ghost flickered out of sight. Her presence flickered away as well, leaving Matilda alone in the lighthouse.
"We'll meet again on Forbidden Island..." Matilda repeated, reveling in the sentence with an unknown glee. "Well then, I guess I gotta become a Digger to even reach that island mostly unscathed…! Ha!"
And that's exactly what she did.