The Lady in White

by CookiezMs

A short story. Taz heard a story about The White Lady. As years went by, he got sick of the myth. Alongside with his friend, they realised that certain day of The White Lady is near. Is she real? Or is it simply a murderer that created the myth?

NOTE:
-Author is terrible at grammar.
-It's short.
-It was randomly written
-It was based off the MapleStory rumour, "White Lady."

~~~PAST~~~
[8th of May]
"Son, stay away from the hunting ground in Perion's darkest location."
"Why father? Is there something wrong? I need to train…"
"You can train tomorrow. Stay in the house for today. Never go outside to the hunting ground…"
"Why father?"
"Because… eight people get murdered on this day after they stumble to the hunting ground."
"Why father? Who would do such crime? Shouldn't we have to bring justice on the murderer?"
"No… This murderer is impossible to bring justice to. I never saw it myself but the thought of this murderer gives me and your mother the creeps."
"Huh? How do we know if we never saw it ourselves?"
"Many years ago, the survivor of the 8th of May escaped from the murderer's wrath. This person was the 9th person so that's why this person wasn't killed but escaped from it. The survivor was traumatized and moved to Henesys. Many people thought the survivor was crazy because no matter how many times he tries to tell who the murder was, he had no proof. Some police force tried to find the murdere rbut there are no traces of it."
"Oh… I see. How did he describe the murderer of the 8th of May?"
"He said… he saw a lady in white… which is also called The White Lady..."
"That sounds silly father. I'm sure the police force will find the murderer. The White Lady sounds so weird! It's like one of those fairytale!"
~~~PRESENT~~~

[3rd of May]
It was a fine day in Perion. The sky was clear, the air was fresh and many young warriors continued to train well on boars and stumps under the supervision of Dances with Balrog, the instructor of warriors. Out of many students that the instructor had, Taz was the strongest student that Dances with Balrog ever had. Taz recently turned eighteen years old and received a blessing from the instructor.
"Taz, as you finally turned eighteen; I shall now give you my blessing." said Dances with Balrog as he placed his palm on Taz's head.
"Thank you, Master Dances with Balrog. I'll never let your pride and my pride down." said Taz.
After the blessing ritual, Dances with Balrog sighed. Taz heard his instructor sighing and couldn't help but ask a question.
"Is there something matter, Master Dances with Balrog?"
"It's nothing, young warrior." said Dances with Balrog quietly. "It's just that I remember giving my blessing to this young girl many years ago. She too, was one of my strongest student in Perion and was around your age. Few days after giving my blessing to her, she disappeared… But I'm sure she's still a fine warrior right now. She must be somewhere away from Perion and doing her task."
Taz sensed his instructor's feelings that he dearly missed his other student much, even though Taz doesn't know who she is.

Taz walked through Perion hunting ground. It was peaceful as usual. He decided to go hunt monsters for fun and headed deep into the Perion hunting ground...known as the darkest location of Perion.
Slash here and there. The monsters were extremely weak against him. Taz was amused and decided to collect one hundred wild boar's teeth to make something out of it for fun.
After slashing down more monsters, he climbed up the cliffs to find more boars that spawned in the area. He climbed up and discovered a person sitting on a rock.
It was a girl around his age.
She wasn't ugly nor pretty as well but a strong aura was coming from her. She sat there with her eyes closed, presumably enjoying the sunlight. She had fine short black hair and had a crescent pole arm that leaned against the tall rock.
She opened her eyes and was surprised at Taz's presence. Taz was startled by her as he thought he woke her up.
"Oh, sorry… Were you training and resting here ma'am?" said Taz.
The girl shook her head and smiled.
"Not at all. I came here to mess around." said the girl. "What are you doing in here in the deepest part of the hunting ground?"
"I came here just to collect wild boar's teeth for fun." replied Taz proudly.
"Really? I'm sure many people in Perion; especially Dances with Balrog said this place is dangerous… Something called the White Lady… " said the girl in a confused tone.
"Do you believe in that White Lady stuff? Then why are you here?" asked Taz with an amusement tone.
"Because I know it's fake." said the girl.
The two laughed and agreed that White Lady is all just a myth. The girl then gave a proper introduction to Taz. She said her name is Muriel.

[4th of May]
Taz came back to the place to gather wild boar's teeth again. Surprising, he saw Muriel slashing gracefully at the wild boars with her trusty pole arm.
"You're here again?" asked Taz.
"Is that the way you greet people?" Muriel laughed.
Few hours later, Taz decided to collect another hundreds of wild boar's teeth. With the help from Muriel, he collected many teeth.
"So, why are you even collecting these teeth? I mean, they don't worth anything." asked Muriel.
"I make things out of things like these. I make practice spears, accessories and many more." said Taz happily.
"I wish I could be creative like you." murmured Muriel.
"Hey, let me teach you. You can even make clothes with piece of leather."
"I AM SO NOT WEARING BOAR LEATHER CLOTHES!"

[5th of May]
"Look! I made a practice spear!" shouted Muriel.
"Great job! I'm surprised you've learnt it in a single night." said Taz.
The two spent together laughing, slashing boars and making things.

[6th of May]
"This is for you, Taz." said Muriel.
Taz looked at her creation in her palm. It was a necklace. He admired the details that Muriel made. A sapphire necklace; Taz's favourite gem. He smiled at Muriel and thanked her.
Suddenly an old man appeared in the hunting ground. Taz got up and walked towards him. It was odd. Elderly people rarely come to the hunting ground.
"Sir, what are you doing here? Are you lost?" asked Taz.
The old man looked at Taz and frowned.
"I knew it… I knew it… No one listens to me and they all end up dying."
"Sir, what are you talking about?" Taz said questionably.
"Foolish child!" shouted the old man. Taz was confused by his sudden shouts.
"Get away from this area before she gets you!"
Muriel stood up and walked towards the old man. How dare he call Taz a foolish child!
"Sir, he's not a foolish child!" shouted Muriel.
The old man looked at Muriel. His eyes went widened and screamed hysterically. He ran away while screaming.
"BEWARE! BEWARE! THE WHITE LADY! 8th OF MAY! BEWARE!"

Taz raised his eyebrow and tried to understand what he just witnessed. He shrugged it off.
"White Lady? That myth is so old!" Taz snorted.
Muriel simply nodded.
"Yes but… who knows? I heard eight people are getting killed every year during 8th of May." said Muriel.
They both realised 8th of May is almost near. Suddenly, Taz actually wanted to find out the killer as he was getting sick of the same old myth. He offered Muriel to come to his house to discuss about finding the murderer and end the stupid myth yet Muriel simply denied.
"I live near here so… I have to look after my things. I live alone you see." said Muriel.
Taz smirked and understood Muriel.
"Oh okay, we'll discuss about finding the murderer tomorrow! We'll end this stupid White Lady myth, yeah?"

[7th of May]
Taz came back to the place to meet Muriel. Muriel wasn't in the hunting ground. He discovered a note that was stuck on the rock where Muriel sat.
'I got things to do today but please, don't come tomorrow. We might get killed.'
Taz frowned and continued reading.
'I'm sure the police force will figure out the killer this time. Just please… don't come tomorrow. I don't want to lose you. Your friend, Muriel….'
Taz sighed. He understood that Muriel is scared as well about the murderer. They both knew the White Lady is just a myth but the murderer… well, that's the different case.

[8th of May]
The sky was dark and the wind blew against Perion harshly. Inside a house, Taz listened to the wind while many questions ran through his head.
'I wonder how Muriel is going?' he wondered.
He growled and grabbed his sword as he couldn't take it anymore. He marched out of his house and fought against the wind. He stepped out of the town and walked towards the spot where Muriel was most of the time.
'Muriel could be in trouble. She said she lived near there...' he thought to himself. 'I must find her before the murderer gets her…'
As he arrived to the hunting ground, odd enough, there were no wild boars running around and mist was lingering in the area.
Taz inhaled the air and wondered.
"Mist huh… This area isn't even c-"
Taz instincts quickly told him to hide. He hid behind the rocks and saw a white female figure.
She looked like she was around Taz and Muriel's age. The wind blew against her long white hair and her extreme white pale skin. She was also wearing some strange clothes while holding her pole arm high in her strong palm.
Taz was breathless and thought to himself.
'Is that… the White Lady? But I thought it was a stupid myth!'
He also identified something that questioned him more to himself.
'Why does the pole arm looks like the one that Muriel wields? It's the crescent-shaped-like pole arm but just in different colours...' he thought to himself once again.

He snapped out of his thoughts and saw a woman passing by. She seemed lost and probably was heading to Perion town. She saw the white female figure and walked up to her. While walking up to her, the woman was asking a question.
"Excuse me; do you know where the town is?"
The white figured turned around to look at the woman. Taz eyes widened as he saw her face.
That face on the White Lady had exact same eyes as Muriel except the colour was dull black eyes.
'MURIEL!?' shouted Taz in his thoughts.
The White Lady walked slowly up to the woman. Her cold expressionless face was shown and she whispered.
"Leave now… Go away…"
The woman shivered.
"Miss, what's wrong?" she frantically asked.
The White Lady held her pole arm up and swung it at the woman. The woman screamed but just in time, Taz blocked the White Lady's attack. Taz pushed the White Lady away from him and the woman.
"Get away from here, now! Follow the sign posts and you'll make it to the town!" shouted Taz.
The woman thanked him and ran off. The White Lady viciously attacked Taz but he managed to dodge all the attack.
"Die… Be gone…" the White Lady whispered.
The White Lady's attack style was same as Muriel. Even the voice sounded exactly like Muriel. The battle was long with clashing and slashing. At the same time, Taz sensed a familiar aura from her. Taz swung his sword towards the White Lady and his attacks were eventually blocked by her.

"Hah, so in the end, you were the annoying myth creature!" said Taz as he smirked...then frowned.
"You're strong...but I know who you are…" Taz voice died down a bit when he said a last sentence to the White Lady.
"You're… Muriel, am I correct?"
Taz used his skills and gave the most powerful attack to the White Lady, the power given by Dances with Balrog's blessing.
The White Lady fell and lost her grip on the pole arm. Taz quickly ran up and lunge his sword into her heart as a final blow. He pulled out his sword; feeling guilty and tried to treat the wound he made on the White Lady.
"Muriel." whispered Taz.
"Don't treat the wound you've made, Taz." said the White Lady calmly yet frowning.
"But..."
"I'm already a dead person."
"What? "
"I died long time ago, just after I received a gift from the instructor. I got cursed by a man in hood and became a monster… Yes… I died on the 8th of May. Right in this area after I began to set my journey where I wanted to go."
Taz's felt numb.
"I see…" he spoke quietly. He held the White Lady's extreme pale hand but the White Lady slapped his hand.
"Well, you found the murderer. Are you proud of yourself now?" asked the White Lady.
Taz didn't say a word. The White Lady stood up on her own and smiled.
"Be proud. Because of you, I can now no longer slaughter things and stay this place."
"Muriel, wait!"
The White Lady, or rather Muriel, vanished quickly as well as the mist and the dark sky disappeared all together. In her disappearance spot, she left something.

She left Dances with Balrog's blessing.

[9th of May]
Nobody was murdered from yesterday except the woman was awfully scared and told everything about this White Lady. She was finally relieved that Taz returned back to the town safely. People in the town asked him many questions. Did he meet the murderer? Did he actually meet the White Lady? Taz simply said no and said that the murderer of the 8th of May was over.
Taz privately talked to Dances with Balrog and gave the orb to him. The instructor was shock and ask if he met his old student. Taz simply said no again and stated that he just found the orb.
Afterwards, Taz packed his stuff and was ready to leave the town. He swore to get revenge on this 'man in hood' for killing Muriel in the first place and turning her into some monster that haunted everyone for many years. That was just cruel to a student with a good reputation.

He put the necklace that Muriel made for him around his neck and set off in a journey that was far away from Perion.
He held the sapphire necklace and strangely felt Muriel's presence.
"Muriel, lend me your powers." he whispered softly.

...

"Of course I will and where are you going?" said a voice.
Taz recognised the voice and hastily turned around. He rubbed his eyes and pinched his face.
"Muriel...?" Taz asked.
The girl had fine short hair, pair of aqua eyes and held a crescent pole arm. It was surprisingly Muriel indeed.
"Duh? Who else would it be?"
"Aren't you... dead?" asked the bewildment Taz. He pinched himself again.
"Yes, I am dead but I want to travel with you, even though no one can see me. Looks like you're the only person that can see me." said Murial as she grinned.
Taz stared at Muriel and pinched himself again. He made some silly expressions as well.
"Hey stop pinching yourself. You look really stupid." Muriel laughed.
"You're not going to turn into White Lady, right?" Taz asked again.
"Of course not. The curse is gone...well, sort of. It's all thanks to you." Muriel replied with a smile.

The duo laughed once again and set off the journey. They both swore to defeat this 'man in hood' together.

[Away from May]
Many people saw the valiant warrior fighting the monsters bravely... but at the same time, they thought he was crazy. They said amongst themselves that he is talking to himself. But really, that valiant warrior is talking to his friend, well... a ghost that is.
Some people even say that they could feel a strange aura coming from Taz; or even saying they're seeing a lady in white.
Even some bishop maplers say that they strangely see another person behind Taz, a girl around Taz age and standing like a proud warrior.
It turned out that everyone in the Maple world is fighting against the 'man in hood' and everyone believed that all the strong maplers, including Taz and his 'imaginary' friend will defeat it someday.

End