A story done by guestsurprise and myself! Enjoy!
Rachel and Sasha had just arrived at the Tickle Castle. They were going to have a sleepover for the night. As Vivo teleported them, they saw Jocu giving Jovi a noogie and Jest was simply shaking his head.
"They're here," Jovi grinned.
"Come here you two!" Jocu smiled, now bounding over. The girls dropped their items and pounced on their red friend. It was always a cute sight to see when they greeted each other. The girls usually glomped him and he allowed them to knock him over in playful love and cuddles.
"My my, what a reunion," Jape said, now watching his own reflection in a mirror.
"Humans are known to be sentimental creatures," Jest replied, now looking at a book. The girls smirked and then pounced on the eldest brother! His eyes widened as he felt them begin hugging and kissing him.
"C'mon Jest…loosen up," Sasha smiled, nuzzling into his navy, blue fur.
"Yeah, we're happy to see you too!" Rachel giggled, now gently kissing his cheek. For a split second, a light shade of pink appeared on his face. He then returned their nuzzles and helped them to stand.
"You all are definitely determined young humans," Jest said, now arching an eyebrow in amusement.
"And proud of it!" Rachel smiled.
"Now come on! Everyone come and have a seat! It's time to tell you all a ghost story! It's about two beings that roam our precious valley!" Vivo said in a spooky voice.
"I-I don't know about this," Sasha said nervously.
"Don't worry about it. It won't be that scary. And if you're scared, you know I'll be here to protect you," Blithe smirked, now nudging Sasha.
"Now then…let's begin," Jocu said, now letting out a deep growl. The girls immediately hugged each other in fright as he sat up and began creeping on all fours.
"Let me tell you all the tale about two monsters that used to roam the castle and the valley. They were the best of friends. One of them was the captain of my Father's army. His name was Gallo. He was one of the most courageous of beings." Jocu said.
"He was the bravest captain our family ever knew." Vivo added.
"But then…the great war happened. As you all know, our species don't necessarily die. The royal family cannot die. However, those that are not of royal blood can be destroyed in a way." Jocu said. "Gallo sacrificed himself to protect us and even though the Nitian's destroyed his body, his spirit is trapped within these walls."
The girls began to whimper in fear, but Jape gently touched their heads. "Gallo is not dangerous. He is simply watching over everyone."
"B-B-But he's a g-g-g-g-ghost!" Sasha said, quivering.
"But don't be so afraid. Remember when Empress Risa's spirit was trapped in the headdress?" Vivo said.
"Yes," Sasha answered.
"Well…Gallo's spirit is trapped as well, but none of us know where the device is that keeps his spirit captive." Jocu said.
"And if we found it?" Rachel asked.
"He would be free just like we freed Empress Risa with that tickle ritual. But for now…his spirit roams this area," Jocu smirked.
"A-A-A-A-A-And who's the second one?" Sasha said, now hiding more under her blanket.
"We don't know what happened to him. He was called Ecstacio. He was our uncle. But after the great war, he disappeared. He was tall, pure white and very serious. He was also one of the best when it came to taming the dragons. In fact, he was one of the best when it came to taming golden dragons." Jest said.
"So his spirit just may be rooooaming the valleys TOO!" Jocu roared out the last word and both girls hid under the blankets in a yelp and making the brothers laugh heartily. Even Jest was chuckling.
"Aww, come on. You guys are perfectly safe here," Jocu chuckled, now sticking himself partially under the blanket.
"We're not coming out!" Sasha said.
"Oh yes you are! Scruffy come under here!" Jocu called, now going completely under the blanket and tickling them and Scruffy ran under there too!
"EEEEEEE! Help!" Sasha laughed out, now trying to get out of the blanket. But the moment she crawled out, Vivo was there to get her and Scruffy joined in.
"Sasha! Hold on, I'll…GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Rachel laughed, now feeling Jocu wrap his arms around her and tickle her waist.
"Oh you're not going anywhere," Jocu teased, now tickling Rachel as Vivo and Scruffy got Sasha. Within a few moments, they let the girls go.
"You guys ok?" Jocu smirked.
"We always are when we're with you," Rachel smiled.
"Now time to rest everyone," Jest said, now blowing out some nearby torches. Everyone then slowly began to nod to sleep.
A few hours later, Sasha stirred when she noticed that Scruffy had walked away. She wanted to know where he was going, especially since he liked being near everyone.
"S-Scruffy? Where are you?" Sasha said sleepily. She then nudged Rachel, who grunted and looked at her sister.
"Hmm?" Rachel groaned.
"Scruffy is gone," Sasha said.
"W-Where?" Rachel yawned sleepily.
"I don't know…let's go find him," Sasha said. Rachel sighed, not wanting to leave her warm blankets and the warmth Jocu gave since she was sleeping next to him.
However, she was afraid Sasha would get lost. She finally nodded and got up, careful not to wake up Jocu. But as the girls began to walk near the dungeon, they missed Jocu gently opening one eye and smirking. He knew they were in for an adventure.
The girls decided to check the Tickle Dungeon for Scruffy since that was where he always hangs out.
Scruffy loved the Tickle Dungeon, it was cozy and a perfect place to tickle torture victims.
As Rachel searched the dungeon, she heard Sasha giggling behind her. Sighing, she turned around and saw her sister being tickled by the living feathers that hung on the wall.
Two long feathers held up Sasha's arms while two other feathers tickled her armpits.
"Ahahahahahahahaha! Rachel! Help me!" Sasha begged.
Rachel quickly pulled Sasha away from the playful feathers before they could reach out and tickle her too.
"Thanks, Rach!" Sasha hugged her sister. "Once those feathers got me, I was trapped!"
"Why couldn't you just walk away?" asked Rachel.
Sasha shook her head. "Oh, no. Once I'm tickled, I'm completely helpless! Between ghosts and scary monsters, tickling is my weakness!"
"Then you better not run into the ghost of Gallo! He'll trap you and tickle your forever! Woooooooo!" Rachel said in a spooky voice.
Sasha squeaked and rubbed her goose-pimply arms. "Rachel! Don't scare me like that!"
"Relax, Sasha. I'm just kidding!" Rachel patted Sasha on the back. "Now, let's go find Scruffy."
The girls ventured down the dungeon stairs to the lower levels of the castle. They've never been down here before, but they knew Scruffy lives down there. Luckily, there weren't any living feathers to tickle Sasha.
"Scruffy! Where are you?" Rachel called out.
"Scruffy! Here, boy!" Sasha made sure she was yelling loud enough for the Tickle Beast to hear her.
Their calls just echoed in the dark. The girls felt very afraid, standing in the blackness of the eerie chamber way.
Sasha whimpered and hugged Rachel closely. "R-Rachel, I'm scared."
Rachel gulped. "I-It's okay. We'll just leave the way we came in."
As they walked, the girls stayed close together. But it was hard to find their way back up since it was so dark in the chamber.
Just then, a trap door opened below Rachel's feet. She screamed before plunging into the darkness!
"RACHEL!" Sasha screamed as the trap door closed.
Just then, a cold wind blew through the hallways. Sasha screamed by the sudden gust of ice cold air.
When a deep moaning sound reached their ears, the girl screamed at the top of their lungs.
Appearing before them was a strange blue mist that took the form of a four armed, two tailed creature, a creature that had long straight hair and yellow eyes. There was a scar over his left eye and scars on his muscular chest. He was light blue and transparent.
And he was floating in the air.
"Woooooo!" the ghost of Gallo wailed. "I am the ghoooost of-"
THUD
Sasha fainted.
Gallo blinked, not expecting that reaction.
Sasha was unconscious until she felt something cold brush against her face. She woke up and when her eyes adjusted, she screamed.
Floating in front of her was Gallo's ghost.
Sasha gasped sharply. "A-A g-g-g-gh-gho-gho-" she said between her chattering teeth before fainting again.
Gallo rolled his eyes. He passed his incorporeal hand through Sasha's face. His hand was ice cold like a icy damp rag.
Sasha woke up from the cold touch. "AAAAAAAAAAAH! A GHOST! A GHOOOOOST!" Sasha tried to get away, but she was strapped to a torture table. "SOMEBODY HEEEEELP!"
"Don't bother screaming." Gallo said. "You're in the deepest level of the castle. And I have your sister locked away in a different chamber. Therefore, it'll be easy to interrogate you."
"I-Int-t-t-terrogate me?! W-What did I do?!"
Gallo narrowed her eyes. "You're intruding Tickle Castle. No human is allowed in this realm. So, I'm going to torture some answers out of you."
"NO! NO PLEASE! I'm a friend of Jocu and his brothers! They're like family to us! Please don't torture me or eat me or haunt me forever!" Sasha pleaded, shutting her eyes and looked away from the phantom.
Gallo saw how frightened Sasha was. It was true, genuine fear. A fear that was forbidden in the Tickle Realm. Perhaps this girl was telling the truth.
"You are deathly afraid of me, child. And fear is something a tickle monster cannot tolerate!"
"Huh?!"
"Fear is something a tickle monster must cure!" Gallo phased his ghostly hands into Sasha's stomach. Sasha uncorked a horrified cry until she felt something...tickling her.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT TICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sasha squealed. Gallo was tickling Sasha's most ticklish spot from the inside! It felt ten times worse than tickling it on the outside!
"Coochy, coochy, cooooo! Woooooo!" Gallo said playfully in his ghost voice. "Nothing worse than a tickling ghoooooost!"
"STAHAHAHAHAP IT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DON'T TICKLE ME THERE!" Sasha begged. She thrashed around to escape those dreaded hands, but she couldn't move at all thanks to her restraints.
"Ah, it seems I found your ticklish core." Gallo mused.
"MY WHAHAHAHAT?!" Sasha laughed until the ghostly monster stopped.
"Your ticklish core. It's the source of your purest, most playful laughter. Everyone has one because a ticklish core is the spot where people are most ticklish." Gallo wiggled his fingers. "And since I'm a ghost, I'm able to phase through you and tickle the very surface of your core!"
Gallo once again tickled Sasha's ticklish core. Laughter exploded out of her.
"AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE! NO MORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Then you won't be afraid of me?"
"YES! YES! I PROMISE!"
Gallo stopped before the girl was completely winded. He freed Sasha and gave her time to rest. "So, you're friends with the royal family?"
"Yeah, Jocu and the guys are like brothers to us. Rachel and I-" Sasha gasped. "Oh my gosh! RACHEL! What did you do to her?!"
"Calm down, little one. Follow me." Gallo pushed a loose brick in the wall and opened a secret room! Inside, Scruffy was playfully tickling Rachel with his six tails.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SCRUFFY! Quit it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Scruffy chuckled and gave Rachel a strong lick on the cheek.
"Rachel! You're okay!" Sasha hugged Rachel. "I thought Gallo got you!"
Rachel shook her head. "No, I was playing with Scruffy."
"Yes, I had Scruffy play with you while I got to know this lass since she was the most afraid." Gallo explained.
Rachel smiled. "Well, thank you for cheering up my sister." She marveled seeing Gallo's ghost. "It's amazing! I didn't think Tickle Monsters could become ghosts!"
"Of course we can! Sure, living things pass on, but their spirits never die." Gallo said. "And I gotta say, I haven't had so much fun in years! Humans in the Tickle Realm! It's fantastic! A ghost could get used to it!" He used his two tails to tickle the girls, making them giggle playfully.
Jocu and Vivo went downstairs to the living room. There, they found Rachel and Sasha curled up with Scruffy, sleeping soundly.
Gallo appeared before the two princes. "Glad I go to to meet the humans." he said. "So, you all trust them that much?"
"Sure do. They're like family." answered Jocu.
Gallo smiled. "That's what Sasha said. I'm glad things are changing for the better."
"Yeah, but next time, go easy on the haunting thing." Jocu said. "Too much fear is a no no here in the Tickle Realm."
"It's a huge no no." Gallo said in complete agreement. "I'll take it easy, but it'll be hard." He chuckled. "Guess I'm a bit of a poltergeist."
To guestsurprise: Hope you liked it, Amiga! Whenever you're ready to work on future stories, just let me know :)
