An owl hooted ominously from one of the many dead trees that formed a graveyard forest, surrounding a cobblestone path that a lone blonde made her way down. Holding a piece of paper tightly in her hands, she looked at it intently, running a finger slowly over the contents. The map had led her here, and she looked up to find a large, darkened mansion looming just ahead, a rusted, wrought-iron gate keeping her from immediate entrance. Scratching her head, she sighed at the sight. "I didn't even enter this dumb contest..."

It had come in the mail only a few days prior: a message with bold lettering and bolder proclamations. "Congratulations! You have won first prize in our contest! Enclosed is a map to your newww mansion!" Funny thing was, Eli had never even entered such a contest. If she had, surely she would have remembered such an event. This didn't stop Arisa from getting overly excited though. Eli loved her sister to death, but sometimes she could be a bit too naive.

Arisa had wanted to see their new mansion so badly, she photocopied the map and ran right off to check it out. Three days had passed now, and she still hadn't returned. Worry and concern was what spurred Eli on towards the mansion, hoping that her sister was alright. The best case scenario was that she would go in, find her sister, and never speak of this stupid place ever again. Things usually never turned out the way one hoped, though.

Reaching the gate, Eli gave it a gentle push, watching as it easily swung open for her. Eyebrows furrowing with further worry, she continued up the path, finding that the door was slightly ajar. Clearly someone, more than likely Arisa, had been here already. With great trepidation, she walked into the mansion.

The moment she entered, darkness engulfed her vision. She dropped the map in surprise - not that it was very useful anymore - and started to shake with fear. It certainly didn't help that the sound of the door loudly slamming shut behind her echoed in her ears. Whipping around, Eli grabbed the handle and tugged on it, but the door refused to budge. This was beginning to freak her out. Had Arisa really come in here?

"A-Arisa?" She called out into the black, but there was no response. Taking a few hesitant steps forward, her eyes slowly began to adjust to the gloom. It appeared that she had walked into a foyer, two staircases leading to a second floor. Above her was a large chandelier, likely impressive-looking if she could actually see anything. Before she could take another step, a voice sounded out near her.

"S-Somebody help me." Alarmed, Eli jumped back, looking everywhere for where the voice came from. Eventually her gaze settled on a body huddled near the staircase. Hope flared in her chest as she allowed herself to believe that maybe it was Arisa, though the voice didn't exactly sound like her.

"Arisa?" Slowly she began to make her way towards the huddled form, but when the person lifted their head, Eli could already tell that it wasn't her sister. In the darkness, she could see their eyes widening, and a cold chill ran down her back as she heard their frightened scream.

"W-Watch out!" A creaking sound came from overhead, and Eli had just enough time to look up and notice that the chandelier was falling down right on top of her. A silent scream fell from her lips as she ran forward and jumped, just barely avoiding becoming a Russian pancake on the foyer floor. Panting, her heart racing a mile a minute, she looked up at the girl who in all likelihood had saved her life, seeing their lilac eyes shining with relief.

"Th-Thank goodness! I thought for sure you were a goner!"

"Well, I wasn't exactly planning on dying tonight." Standing up, Eli shook off the initial shock before realizing that she was talking to someone. Someone who could help her! "H-Hey! Have you seen someone else come through this place? She's shorter than me, but with the same hair. Probably full of energy."

"O-Oh, I did." The hope wasn't extinguished yet. Eagerly she awaited with bated breath, desperately waiting for further confirmation. "She came running in, and she didn't even listen to me when I told her it wasn't safe. After she went upstairs, I didn't see her again. I-It was like she didn't even see me." The girl pouted, and Eli felt sort of bad for her. It wasn't fun being ignored.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to ignore you. Arisa can get... overeager sometimes, and it clouds her better judgment. She's a really sweet girl, I promise." Running a hand through her hair, Eli looked upstairs, letting out a quiet sigh. "I'd better get going then. Thanks for your help, ah..."

"Hanayo." Nodding in understanding, Eli began to run a tad recklessly up the stairs, taking them two at a time in her haste to reach Arisa. As she reached the top, she noticed that the chandelier was back in its original place, as if it hadn't fallen at all. That definitely was not normal. When she tried to open the double doors that surely led deeper into the mansion, they wouldn't budge. Someone had locked them. A soft, teasing laughter reached her ears, and quickly she ran to the railing, looking back down over the foyer. A large, golden key was lying on the floor, and the laughter was gone.

That... wasn't there when she had walked in originally. There was no way she could've missed it in the dark, considering how brightly it was shining. An ominous feeling overtook her, but she found herself walking back down the stairs and towards the key, picking it up and looking it over. It appeared to be an ordinary key: just very shiny. She glanced over towards Hanayo, who could only give her a nervous look. Well, there was one place she needed to go, and one key in her hands...

Back up the stairs she went. She hadn't expected to get a workout in while searching for Arisa, but now she had the key, and she had made it to the door. Putting the key in the lock, she twisted it, then turned the doorknob. It gave way, and she pushed open the door to reveal a very elegant room. At least, it may have once been elegant, but now it seemed abandoned. Cloth covered all of the furniture, and a thick coating of dust on everything threatened her sinuses with a violent sneeze.

A light breeze ran across the back of her neck, and quickly she whipped around to find... nothing. The door had closed, but no one was there. "H-Hello?" No one answered, and she wasn't sure anymore whether that was a good thing or not. "Arisa?" Biting her lip, Eli turned back around, and found herself face to face with a floating orange specter. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Owowow! Spirits above, you are loud!" The specter, to Eli's great surprise, recoiled with a whine, placing its hands over its incorporeal ears. "You're even louder than the other girl who came through here! In fact, she kinda looked like you." It moved closer to Eli, looking her up and down. "Oh! You two must be related! Wow, you look just like a model-"

"What have you done with my sister?!" Regaining her voice and confidence, Eli forced the spirit to recoil again, glaring at it. As a matter of fact, 'it' looked more and more like a human, but she wasn't able to focus properly to discern the truth. The truth didn't matter anyway: her sister did. "Where is she?!"

"Oh, she's in our secret lair! We wanted to play with her, but she wouldn't stop crying! So we had to put her in the Behavioral Frame Chamber. That's what Nico-senpai calls it." Eli's jaw dropped as she stared at the orange specter, her brain threatening to shut down right then and there. Not only was she having to come to grips with the fact that ghosts were real, but that they had kidnapped her sister just to play with her. This was going to be hard to top in terms of 'strangest days ever'.

"... You know what? This is all so very sudden. I've never even seen a ghost before today, and I really don't have time to work that through my mind right now. How about you just give me back my sister and we'll be on our way?"

"Orrr, I have a better idea!" The ghost floated closer, a grin forming on its face. "You come play with us! We'll have two playmates, and it'll be fun! You'll have to water the plants though. I'm tired of gardening."

"Heh, uh, how about we hold that thought?" Backing up towards the door, Eli grunted in slight surprise when her back hit solid wood. She didn't want to leave without her sister: she couldn't leave without her sister, but there was only so much she could do against the incorporeal. Speaking of them, the ghost began cackling as it came closer, leaving Eli with little room to maneuver. What now?

With a loud bang, the doors burst open, making Eli scream in an undignified manner as she was smacked square in the back, falling right on her face with a pained grunt. When she lifted up her head, she found a woman standing in view with vibrant red hair and what appeared to be a vacuum cleaner strapped to her back. This day was just determined to get weirder, wasn't it?

A loud whirring reached her ears as the vacuum came to life, the woman glaring determinedly at the ghost as she started to try and suck it up into the vacuum bag. The specter yelped in surprise as it fought back, and soon Eli was watching in utter bemusement as the woman was being half-dragged around the room, trying desperately to best her opponent.

Finally, the ghost was brought closer to its unfortunate end, with a small smirk playing on the woman's lips. Just as it neared the end though, it let out a cacophonous laugh and swiped out at the redhead, sending her sprawling to the ground. With the woman temporarily out of commission, the orange ghost turned towards Eli and, with a final wink, disappeared.

Dazed but a moment longer, Eli leapt to her feet and ran over to the redhead, grabbing onto her shoulder and helping her back onto her feet. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Swell." The woman rolled her eyes and started to look over the vacuum's nozzle, assumedly attempting to make sure nothing had been broken.

"Well, thank you. You saved my life." She was indeed grateful, but though she would love to spend time repaying that favor to her mysterious savior, she had other pressing concerns that needed to be addressed. There wasn't even an opportunity to ask what they were doing here. "I need to go save my sister though." She made to run towards the room's exit, but a hand on her shoulder made her stop.

"Are you crazy?! Did what just happen not mean anything to you?" The woman's expression showed great disbelief as she kept Eli from running off. "If you go running around here, you'll get yourself killed!"

"I have to save my sister!"

"Don't be stupid. If your sister already came through here, then she's already dead."

"She is not! Don't say that!" She grabbed the woman's hand to forcibly remove it, only letting go when she saw her wince in pain. "Sorry, just... She's not dead, okay? I know she isn't." Sighing, the redhead shook her head, as if trying to decide whether this was worth her time. Finally, she grabbed Eli's hand and started to pull her out of the room. "W-Wait! I said I'm not leaving without-"

"I heard you the first time!" She snapped irritably, pulling Eli past the doors. "If you're going to do something this stupid, then you'd at least better let someone smart equip you. We're going to my lab."

The lab wasn't all that far from the mansion. In fact, it seemed like it was built specifically because of its proximity to the building. With some hesitation, Eli followed the woman down into the depths of the Earth, where an impressive array of machinery lined the walls. "Can I at least get your name so I can stop calling you 'the woman' in my mind?"

"Maki." Pulling the vacuum off of her back, Maki took it over to a silver machine and laid it down to give it a better look-over.

"I'm Eli."

"I didn't ask." Frowning, Eli tried to brush off the rude treatment as she walked around the room, being careful not to touch anything lest it explode on her or something. Finally, she came upon what looked like an old handheld, strangely antiquated-looking compared to everything else in the room. "You're going to want to take that."

"Aaahhh!" Eli jumped at the sound, whipping around to find Maki staring at her with a small grin. "D-Don't do that!"

"Wow, you're going to get eaten alive in there." Maki sighed and picked up the device, forcing it into Eli's hand. "Like I was saying, if you're so insistent on trying to find your sister, you're going to want that."

"What is it?" She looked it over curiously, watching the screen come to life when she accidentally pressed one of its face buttons.

"It will allow you to tell when there's a spectral presence in the vicinity, allowing you to react accordingly. Plus, it's a communicator. You'll be able to speak with me while I'm down here, in case you need any assistance or want to admit that I was right all along." Maki made her way back to where she'd left the vacuum cleaner, with Eli in lukewarm pursuit. "And this is the Poltergust 3000."

"... The Poltergust 3000?"

"You know what? How about you come up with a better name?" Grumbling in annoyance, Maki shoved the vacuum - Eli wasn't going to call it the 'Polterguest 3000', christ - into Eli's arms, nearly knocking her over. "With this, you'll be able to suck up any ghosts you come across and lock them away."

"It's a bit heavy..."

"You get used to it." As Eli began to look over her new equipment, Maki's voice took on a more serious tone. "The only chance you have of saving your sister is defeating the ghosts who hold her captive. They're not your run of the mill spirits, so you need to be careful."

"There are run of the mill ghosts?"

"I installed a map of the mansion into your Game Boy Horror-"

"Are you serious?"

"-But it doesn't have a way to tell you what you'll be walking into. I couldn't walk into every room to do a proper canvassing." Rolling her eyes at Maki's naming conventions, Eli's gaze then found itself on a pair of names engraved into the base of the vacuum: Nishikino M. and Sonoda U.

"Hey Maki, who are these two people?"

"Huh?" Maki followed Eli's line of sight, noticeably stiffening once she realized what exactly she was supposed to notice.

"Did they make this thing?"

"Yes." It was impossible not to notice how uncomfortable this line of questioning was making Maki, but rather than deter Eli, it only made her curious.

"Where are they?"

"They're gone." The air around them seemed a lot chillier as Maki pointedly turned away from Eli, walking towards a large computer in a far corner of the room. "If you're going to waste time, then do it outside. I've got better things to do."

"But..." As rude as she was, Maki was right. No matter how intriguing this little mystery was, Arisa took precedence. With one last glance at the redhead, Eli headed upstairs and out of the lab. The mansion - and her sister - awaited. She wouldn't leave until Arisa was safe in her arms.

The darkness unnerved her. As much as she tried to hide her childish fear, Eli couldn't help but visibly shake as the gloom of the mansion overtook her the moment she walked through the doors. It swirled around her, unyielding, pressing in on her until she wanted to cry out in terror. Only the shame of having Hanayo see her acting like a kid kept her from doing anything too embarrassing.

There was another set of double doors in the foyer that led deeper into the mansion, but they refused to give way. After avoiding the chandelier - she didn't trust it anymore - she found that the door was firmly locked, dangerous-looking vines criss-crossing across the framework. Unfortunately, no convenient key dropped around her, so she found herself sitting next to Hanayo, trying to figure out where to go on the map.

"Well, I definitely want to go through those doors..." She scrolled beyond the door, frustrated at the lack of information this map gave her. "... But I don't know why." There was no point in blaming Maki, though. Now that she knew this place was legitimately haunted, this was not a place that she had any interest exploring in her free time. The fact that Maki had gotten anything at all was admittedly impressive.

"Y-You'll want to go upstairs and to the left," Hanayo chimed in, catching Eli by surprised. The easily-frightened girl hadn't said a word since Eli had sat down, but any help was greatly appreciated. "Y-You're looking for the ones who kidnapped your sister, right?"

"Yeah. They're upstairs, then?"

"Not all of them, but one is. If you go upstairs and through the door on your left, then she'll be in the room farthest from you, on the left side." That was all she needed. With a courteous nod of thanks, Eli stood and ran up the steps, reaching the required door and cautiously turning the knob. It opened to reveal a long, dark hallway. Gulping nervously, she went in.

She reached the farthest door on her left easily, opening the door and peeking inside. It was dark, but there wasn't any sounds coming through, so she went inside. The first thing she noticed was the wallpaper: it was a light blue color with bread patterns all over it. A beanbag shaped like a bread roll lay across the room from an unmade bed, with a rocking horse and other children's toys littering the floor. It was a walking hazard, that was for sure.

"Oh hey, you came back!" Eli jumped in surprise, finding the bed now occupied by the orange ghost from before. Now, however, it looked even more like a human: like the 'she' Hanayo mentioned. She had a playful grin on her face and bright orange hair tied up into some sort of top ponytail. "I was afraid you had left forever."

"I'm not leaving until you return my sister." She grabbed tightly onto the vacuum and pointed it menacingly at the ghost, who caught Eli off guard by laughing. "H-Hey! What's so funny?"

"So you think you can catch me with that thing?" Pointing derisively at the vacuum, she didn't even try to hide her mocking expression. "That little toy is nothing compared to my awesome might!"

"Are all the ghosts as weird as you?"

"H-Hey! That's rude!" The ghost pouted, an amusing look in a situation less strange. "Alright blondie, you wanna play? Let's play!" Pulling a baguette from... somewhere - Eli couldn't really tell where - the ghost pointed it accusingly at her. She didn't realize what it was for... until everything started to get a lot bigger. She was shrinking!

"Let Honoka's Carnival of Terror and Assorted Pastries begin!" Cackling gleefully,the now much larger ghost floated around Eli in a circle before disappearing from view. Confused, Eli didn't hasve long to figure out what was going on before four toy soldiers marched into view, each holding a long gun in their hands. "Ready..." A voice boomed around the room, and the soldiers halted, staring blankly right at Eli. "Aim..." All four of them pointed their guns right at her.

"Fire!" Eli yelped and dodged out of the way as four pop corks came barreling her way. She watched helplessly as the soldiers, impassive as ever, began to reload. What was she supposed to do? A ringing sound from her belt grabbed her attention, and she realized that Maki's communication device was going off. With precious little time to spare, she pulled it up and saw Maki's face fill up the screen.

"Eli, suck up the soldiers and hit the ghost with them. You need to hit her with all four of them."

"Wh-What? Why would that work?"

"Are you really arguing with me right now?" The soldiers were preparing to fire again. Maybe it wasn't the best time to argue about how crazy this plan was. Quickly clipping the device back to her belt, Eli once again dodged the incoming shots, but this time she rolled towards the soldiers. She aimed the nozzle of the vacuum towards the closest one and flicked a switch, watching with wide eyes as it was easily sucked towards her, hitting the nozzle and blocking anything else from entering.

Suddenly, Honoka popped up in front of her, a disgruntled expression on her face. Without thinking, Eli flipped the switch again, and the toy soldier flew through the air, popping the ghost right in the nose. "Ow! What the hell?!" 'Unbelievable: it worked!'

She got another hit with a toy soldier before the remaining two vanished, and Eli found herself staring up into angry blue yes. "You play too rough!" The ghost shouted down accusingly at her.

"Then what the hell do you call what you're doing?!" Rather than respond, Honoka grinned and spread her arms wide. Two blue spheres appeared in her palms, which she allowed to roll off her hands and onto the ground below. They immediately started to bounce right for Eli. "How is this not rough?!"

"Eli, just do exactly what you did before." Maki's voice came through the device again, but Eli was a bit too preoccupied to speak face to face, relatively speaking.

"It is a bit easier said than done- oof!" A ball collided with her side, sending her flying off her feet before landing with a painful crash. She was unsteady getting back on her feet, and the spheres bounced ever-closer. With no other options, Eli trained the vacuum on the closest sphere and started sucking. Just like the toy soldier, it came over and blocked up the nozzle's opening, ready for projectile use.

Avoiding the remaining ball, she looked around until she caught Honoka scooping up the orb, then fired her new-found projectile. It caromed right off of the ghost's head, sending her right to the ground like a stone. "Now use the vacuum on her!" For once, Eli decided to not argue, instead doing just as she was told. A huge whirlwind whipped up between the connection, and Honoka began to be sucked towards the nozzle.

"H-Hey, knock it off!" Honoka attempted to flee from the vacuum's wrath, dragging Eli along with her. She tried to plant her feet into the ground and resist, which took all of her effort just to avoid being pulled off of her feet. With all of her might, she pulled back, and with a final shout - "What a cruel worlddd!" - Honoka was sucked into the vacuum. The ghost had been vanquished.

Eli collapsed onto the floor, panting as she stared up at the ceiling. Who knew ghostbusting would be such hard work. Soon, the ceiling seemed to be getting closer, and a look at her vacuum showed that it was bigger in her hands. Whatever Honoka had done to shrink her had now been reversed. It would've been lovely to relax, but there was still work to be done, so with a groan, Eli got up and found herself staring at a treasure chest.

"What in the world?" Now that had definitely not been there before. What was with objects appearing out of nowhere in this place? She went over to it and tried to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. How was she supposed to open it? In exhausted frustration, she shook the chest, and it popped open and spit a key in an arc above her, clattering to the ground.

Grabbing the key, Eli tucked it under her arm and made her way back to the foyer.

As soon as she made her way back into the foyer, the key began to react with the double doors that had previously been closed off to her. A pulsating, radiant energy seemed to come from them, and suddenly the vines were gone. Clearly it was time to go through those doors, but she didn't want to just run in there without any sort of plan, so once again she consulted the map.

With Hanayo's help, Eli figured out where to go next, and presently she found herself walking through a candlelit dining room, which was quite a relief. The darkness was really starting to freak her out. On a wooden table with a cloth covering it, there was a large turkey laid out with a little sticky note attached to it that said "Do not eat! - H". Past the kitchen that followed, Eli went outside and found herself in a quaint little backyard. A rather large plant was growing in a patch of dirt, and in a little wooden house was a very large cat.

Luckily it was sleeping, but she felt it was better to not wake the beast. Tiptoeing past the cat, she tried to see over the fence, but the moment she placed a hand on it, she heard an angry hiss. 'Uh oh.'

"Ah! Ow! Bad cat, bad cat! Oh Gods! Aaahhh!" The door slammed shut as Eli ran back into the kitchen, heart racing as she narrowly escaped becoming kitty chow. Her shirt had been scratched up, and there was a bit of blood on her arms and cheek, but it could've been a lot worse. Well, this way was out of the question, but it was also where she was supposed to go. She needed to see Hanayo again.

"Maybe you need to see Nozomi," Hanayo mused as they once again sat in the foyer. "She'd know how to get past the cat."

"Nozomi?"

"She's a mystic." Hanayo's expression turned reverent, eyes shining as she described this mysterious woman. "She can tell your future with her crystal ball. It's never wrong!"

"That sounds... Well... I guess I can't hold disbelief on anything now, considering the whole ghost thing." Eli sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Alright, I'll go see her. Where is she?" With Hanayo directing her, Eli went back through the double doors and down the hall, finding the door that she was told to go through and slowly opening it, tip-toeing inside.

Instead of candles, this room was lit up by four blazing torches, but somehow the light didn't seem to reach anywhere but the corners they stood in. The rest of the room was shrouded in darkness, sending shivers down Eli's spine. Gulping, she forced herself to press on, for Arisa's sake.

The mystic, this Nozomi, wasn't there though: no one was. There was a large chair situated in front of a smaller table, with the crystal ball Hanayo mentioned resting atop it. A canopy covered the whole thing, but there was no one sitting in the chair. Where was this woman?

Unsure of what to do, Eli leaned down and took a look at the crystal ball. It seemed to give off its own glow, clean and shiny despite the relative state of abandonment the rest of the mansion was in. In fact, it looked like someone had just been there to clean it. A small scrap of paper laid in front of it, only visible due to the light the ball was giving off: 'You must give light to receive light.' What the hell did that mean?

It was some kind of riddle. With how crazy this place was, should she have expected any less? Maybe it meant that she needed to shine some light into the room, but with what? She didn't have a flashlight with her- Wait... Her phone! Quickly digging into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and turned it on, shining its bright light on the table.

The crystal ball sparkled under the new light, growing brighter and brighter, and when Eli's phone went back to black, there was someone now sitting in the chair. A woman with purple twintails grinned at her, and despite having tried to come to grips with the repeated instances of ghosts in the mansion, Eli still jumped back in surprise.

"Ahh, you've solved my riddle!" Nozomi tittered in delight. Gazing into her crystal ball, she began to rub her hands over it, staring intensely. "So it seems we now have three living souls in our little mansion. How delightful!" Her eyes lifted up and locked with Eli's. "How may I be of service?"

"Uh, I... need to get past the cat in the backyard. It's savage as all hell." The cuts on her body told the tale. Nozomi tapped her chin in thought, consulting the crystal ball once more.

"Oh! I know! Just go back into the dining room and grab something meaty. That cat will eat anything you give it as long as it's meat-based." Well, it couldn't hurt. She was going to thank Nozomi and be on her way when the mystic stopped her. "I see you possess a communication device on your belt. May I see it?"

She couldn't think of a good reason to do that, but Nozomi had just helped her. Shrugging, she unclipped the device off her belt and handed it over to Nozomi, but the mystic shook her head and gestured towards the table, so Eli just laid it down. Hovering over it now, Nozomi moved her hands in a complicated motion above the device, making it glow with a dull blue before sitting back with a satisfied smile. "It is done."

"What's done?" Eli had no idea what had happened, but it certainly didn't look any different than before.

"You are now able to communicate with me through your device." Nozomi smiled, looking rather pleased with herself. "Be sure to give me a call if you're feeling lonely. I'm always at your service."

"I... will do that." It sounded almost flirtatious, but she wasn't going to deny the help, so she just took back the device and clipped it on her belt, nodding her thanks before heading for the door. Something stopped her though, a hand hovering over the handle. "You said that there were three living souls in this mansion, right?"

"That's right." If that was the case, then it meant there was one more person alive here besides her and Hanayo. She knew it: Arisa was still alive!

"Thank you!" Invigorated, she pulled open the door and ran down the hall, her previous caution gone as she hurried back to the kitchen. "Arisa, here I come!"

Back in the dining room, Eli decided to ignore the little note and grab the turkey off the table. Whoever this 'H' person was would just have to understand that she was in a desperate situation, and desperate times called for desperate measures. With the turkey in her hands, she made her way into the kitchen, then outside again.

The giant spectral cat was once again sleeping in its humble little abode. Quietly, Eli walked up to it until she was right next to its giant food bowl, which she placed the turkey in. After that, she went towards the fence and placed a hand on it. Right on cue, the cat woke up, but rather than going after Eli, it set its sights on the food.

It was ravenous, chowing down with voracious abandon. Now that its attentions were trained on something that wasn't her, Eli was able to climb over the fence safely, landing on her feet in a huge graveyard. Scores of tombstones littered the dark area, shaded by the occasional equally-dead tree. She didn't really want to stay long in an actual graveyard, so she hurried along until she reached what appeared to be the end.

Another wall blocked her path, but when she looked over it, she was shocked to find... nothing. It was just a black, empty expanse of nothingness. She must've been seeing things. The only other significant thing near her was a giant tombstance, a very wide slab of concrete that was even taller than her. Chiseled upon it were the words, 'Here lies Hoshizora Rin. She always scored. Like, so many times. She also loved cats. They're nyawesome.'

Well, what now? She knew that she was supposed to be here, but why? At her wit's end, she was saved by a familiar voice coming from her communication device. "You seem stuck."

"Nozomi?" Eli pulled up the device to look at Nozomi, who was giving her an 'I know something you don't' grin. "What am I supposed to do here? There's nowhere else to go."

"Why don't you try knocking on the tombstone?" 'Huh, oh yeah.' Why hadn't she thought of that? Right, because it was dumb. Who in their right mind would even consider doing that? She just had to keep her breathing under control and remind herself that this was for Arisa. Repeatedly telling herself that she was doing this only because everything else that had happened was no saner than this, she curled her hand into a fist and knocked three times on the tombstone.

At first, nothing happened, but when she was going to admonish Nozomi for making her do something stupid, a dark portal started to open up on the tombstone and swallowed her in. It was an instantaneous transportation, but that sliver of time gave Eli a feeling of cold nothingness. Then it was gone, though a chill still ran through her as she steadied herself and looked around.

The gravestones were gone. Now she stood in a barren, circular area, gated with twisted and wrought iron. A shadowy figure came from the ground, eyes glowing and freezing Eli in place. Her hands tightly gripped the vacuum as she watched the figure stand at the other side of the circle, just watching her. Then its pearly-white teeth gleamed through the dark in a chesire grin, and the shadows dispersed to reveal another human-looking spirit.

Like the previous spirit she had fought, this one had orange hair, though without the top ponytail. Her features were almost catlike as she stalked closer to Eli, seemingly sizing her up. "Ahh, you must be Big Blonde!"

"B-Big Blonde?"

"Yeah! Little Blonde didn't want to play nice, and she said that her big sis would come to rescue her. You must be her!" The spirit cackled gleefully, clapping her hands together. "Let's play, nya!" Well, there wasn't much choice anymore. Aiming her vacuum at the ginger spirit, Eli prepared herself for battle.

The spirit disappeared, only to reappear with several off-color clones surrounding the area and closing in on Eli. She ran hurriedly to the other side of the arena, grabbing her communication device and hit the button to call Maki. "Maki, help! What do I do?!"

"Turn me around so I can see." Eli turned the device around and let Maki view what they were up against. "Alright, just do what you did last time. Suck up those strange-colored ghosts and fire them at the original." Okay, easy enough. Clipping the device back onto her belt, Eli trained the vacuum nozzle towards the nearest ghost clone and sucked it in. Though it fought, it eventually melted into some kind of shadowy bubble before sticking to the nozzle.

Dodging another one of the clones, Eli aimed and fired at the ginger spirit, capturing her within the shadowy goop. "Nya?!" Now was her chance. The other clones disappeared as Eli flipped the switched and started to suck the spirit into the vacuum. In turn, the spirit began clawing at the ground, refusing to go down quietly.

It took an impressive effort, but she was finally able to vanquish the spirit and capture it inside the confines of her vacuum. "This is nyat coooool-" Breathing heavily, Eli fell to her knees in exhaustion, and suddenly found herself in the graveyard again. Another treasure chest appeared before her, and performing the same action as last time gave her another key. After taking several moments to catch her breath, she made her way out of the graveyard and back to the foyer.

According to Hanayo, there was one more spirit left in order to save her sister. However, this would be her toughest fight yet, so she needed to be prepared. In the middle of their conversation, Nozomi popped up on the communication device and chimed in that there was something important in the music room. Apparently this important thing would help her in the final battle, so with Hanayo's guidance she made her way there.

In the room, many instruments stood silent, covered in ages of dust. Old music sheets laid on forgotten stands, the notes fading away over the passage of time. A strange-looking drum made a noise when Eli accidentally bumped into it, which put her on edge. She hadn't been told what she was looking for, forcing her to look at every decaying page for a clue.

After some time of fruitless searching, she reached a magnificent grand piano with no music sheets around it. A gilded painting hung above it, which Eli couldn't help but stop and admire for a moment. The painting was of a woman with midnight-blue hair, stoically watching over the room. Using her phone as a light, she was able to see a name written on the bottom of the frame: Sonoda Umi.

That name seemed familiar. Shrugging off her vacuum, she shined the light on its underside and looked at the two names etched into it again. There it was: Sonoda U. Could this be a portrait of the same person? When she looked up, the eyes of the painting were staring down at her. The vacuum fell out of her hands. "Aaah!"

"Hey, careful with my Poltergust." There was no annoyance in her voice though. Her eyes held a curious expression as they looked over Eli. "It's been quite awhile since I've seen another human."

"But... you're a talking painting."

"How many paintings have you seen talk?"

"Honestly, at this point I'm liable to believe anything." Things had gotten too crazy to find anything farfetched.

"Fair point." Umi sighed before straightening up. "Well, I'm still a human. I'm just trapped in this painting. Hmm... You could help me out."

"How?"

"My partner, Maki: she has a device that can turn ghosts into paintings. However, if we just reversed the process, the device can get me out of here."

"Wait, Maki was your partner?"

"She and I created the Poltergust together. You know, the thing you dropped." Right. Apologizing sheepishly, Eli picked the vacuum back up and looked at the names again: Nishikino M. So that was Maki, then? Why would she say that the vacuum's creators were gone then?

"But if the device turns ghosts into paintings, and you're a painting, doesn't that make you a ghost?"

"Heh, no, no. It turns out that there are some ghosts who happen to have an appreciation for fine art, and have the ability to put living beings into paintings." While this was certainly parts interesting and suspicious, time was still running out for her to save Arisa. She didn't even know how long she'd been awake at this point, but she just wanted to save her sister and escape in one piece.

"If I take you with me, will you help me find my sister?" Not that a person in a painting could help much, but if Umi was telling the truth, then she couldn't just leave the poor woman there.

"Deal." Well then, that was that. Shouldering the vacuum again, Eli took Umi's painting off the wall and, holding it in her arms, left the room.

"So, how did you get stuck in this painting anyway?" It was somewhat awkward carrying a huge painting in her arms while also lugging a vacuum on her back. It made navigating very difficult, and she was extra careful as she descended to the basement. Umi was helpful in keeping her from slamming into every wall.

"Maki and I are scientists and paranormal researchers. When this mansion suddenly sprung up out of nowhere, we went in to investigate. However, we were ambushed by the ghosts that reside inside these walls. I was able to help Maki escape, but I was captured and placed inside this painting." She sighed wistfully. "I don't even remember how long it's been. I miss Maki terribly."

Eli wondered if she should let the two of them talk to each other. After all, she had an easy way to communicate with Maki, but her hands were full at the moment. Once this was all done, she would be sure to truly reunite the two partners. At least, she'd do it for Umi's sake: she was still mixed on how she felt about Maki.

They went down a long, winding hallway until they reached one final door, four pink clovers nailed into the frame. Setting Umi down, Eli reached into her pocket and grabbed the key she'd obtained, sticking it into the keyhole and turning it. The locks turned and she was able to open the door, gaining herself passage inside.

The room they entered was opulent, every inch seemingly covered in pink gold. A few portraits and posters lined the walls, all young women that appeared to be idols of some kind. It was the painting on the opposite side of the room that most caught Eli's attention though. A young, blonde-haired girl was slamming her fists against the barrier, eyes wide as she silently screamed. Arisa.

Someone else was standing in front of the painting, looking up and admiring it. Her short stature and raven twintails gave her the appearance of a child, but Eli knew that this had to be the final spirit. If she recalled her earlier conversations with Hanayo, this little spirit was Nico.

"I knew you would come here." The spirit turned around, an impish grin on her face. "You couldn't resist coming to rescue your sister, but you've fallen right into my trap. Hahaha, now you'll have to stay and play with us forever!" The room began to shift, nearly knocking Eli off of her feet. Everything began to spin, and when the world finally stood still she could see the sky.

It was pitch black, but she was outside: specifically, on the roof. Groaning, she shook off her hazy vision and found Nico standing in front of some kind of machine. It appeared to be a huge, robotic form of Nico herself, and the real Nico gave her a wink before floating into the robot, activating it. "Nico Nico Nii!"

She had no idea what to expect from this encounter. At least, not until the Nicobot bent down and started to breathe fire from its mouth. "Why?!" Eli screamed as she ran, ducking for cover behind a large pillar as the flames blazed right where she had stood. "Why does it breathe fire?!"

"It's for my fiery personality!" Nico's voice boomed across the roof, ending the previous blaze and allowing Eli to come out of hiding. What was she supposed to do, though? Her vacuum was no match for a towering hunk of metal. Then the Nicobot stuck out its arm and a huge spiky ball began to materialize in its palm. Oh, so that was how.

She didn't need Maki to explain how to do things now: just suck up the spiky spheres and shoot them back. Easy enough, and it was easy the first time. She expertly grabbed one with her vacuum and shot it at the robot, knocking its head clean off and revealing a dazed spirit underneath it.

Aiming the nozzle up at her, Eli flipped the switch and began pulling Nico towards her. The spirit raised all sorts of hell, and this time it wasn't an easy one and done. Nico was able to escape the vacuum's pull, snarling as she got back in the robot's cockpit, its decapitated head returning to its original spot. Uh oh.

The Nicobot started to breathe fire again, and Eli was just able to evade it again. Hiding behind the same pillar, her breath caught as she heard the telltale heavy footfalls of the robot heading right for her. There wasn't anywhere else to hide unless she jumped off the roof. Quickly she moved around to the next side of the pillar, but that left her dangerously close to the edge of the roof.

"In a tight spot?" Eli thought that her end had finally come, but when she looked towards the sound of the voice, it wasn't Nico, but Nozomi.

"Nozomi?! What are you doing here?"

"I thought you could use a hand." Grinning, Nozomi snapped her fingers and a blue coin appeared out of nowhere. "This'll do the trick."

"What is it?" Eli took it and looked it over, but it just looked like a blue coin with a raindrop on it.

"That is a water coin. Just put it in your vacuum and you'll be good to go!" Nozomi disappeared with a smile and a wink, leaving Eli to just trust her on her word. What other choice did she have, though? She shoved the coin inside the vacuum, then walked back out to face Nico.

Without waiting, Nico blew another breath of fire Eli's way, forcing her to hastily counteract. Quickly she aimed the nozzle at the oncoming blaze and fired. Instead of the normal air, which would've been most ineffective, a stream of water came out and hit the fire head on. The two elemental combatants waged war until the water gained the upper hand, pushing back until it slammed into the Nicobot.

The robot's head popped open again, revealing a confused Nico. "How did you... Nozomi!" While she was distracted, Eli flicked the switch again and began to pull Nico into the vacuum once more. She put one more fight, but the victory would go to Eli. "This isn't over! I'll be back in Dark Moooooon!" Finally Nico was vanquished, and the three spirits had been captured. Eli fell to her knees, each fight having taken more energy out of her than the last. It would be nice to just sit there and relax for a moment or two.

"Don't you have a sister to save?" Oh right. Eli looked up to find Nozomi floating above her, smiling and offering a hand. She graciously took it, only for her hand to go straight through it. "Hehehe, gotcha." Eli scowled and stood up under her own power, sticking her tongue out at Nozomi.

"Let's just go."

"Aye aye, captain!"

The two of them navigated back down to the foyer, where they gathered Hanayo and went back downstairs. Though Nozomi could've easily gone faster than the two of them, she was kind enough to float at their mortal pace. As they walked, a thought came to Eli.

"Nozomi, you said that there were three living beings in the mansion now, right?"

"Yup!"

"Then..." Eli started to count on her fingers. She was one, and based on the logic that her sister was still alive in that painting, she was two. That, however, meant that Umi was three. Then... "Hanayo? Are you..."

Hanayo smiled shyly. "Y-Yeah..." Well, apparently she had been wrong in her thinking. She gave Hanayo an apologetic glance before realizing that they had reached the pink-clovered door. Opening it, she rushed in, all the way to the back where Arisa's painting was still hanging from the wall. She pulled it off the wall and into her arms, wanting no further harm to come to her precious sister.

"I don't mean to intrude on the family reunion..." Eli looked around the painting to see Umi watching her, one eyebrow raised.

"Oops, sorry Umi." It was even more awkward to try and carry two paintings of still-living beings with her out of the mansion, but she was able to do it without dropping either of them. She bade goodbye to Nozomi and Hanayo and walked back to Maki's lab.

With her hands full, Eli was forced to kick at the door until Maki opened it, the redhead taking Arisa's painting out of her hands. As soon as she did though, her eye caught the other painting Eli was carrying. "U... Umi?!" She was so surprised, she accidentally dropped Arisa, the younger Ayase squeaking in shock.

"Arisa!" Eli shoved Umi's painting into Maki's hands, bending over to grab Arisa and get her off the floor. "Don't just drop my sister!"

"Sorry, I was just... I didn't think I'd ever see you again." A look of fondness came over Maki's face, but her expression quickly became resolute as she turned to Eli. "Alright, let's take them to the Ghost Portrificationizer."

"Oh come on! Now you're just messing with me." Eli shook her head and followed Maki further into the lab, where she was greeted by the sight of a large machine. It looked part washing machine, part conveyor belt, and she had her doubts that this thing did anything but clean clothes.

"First, attach your Poltergust's nozzle to the slot here." Maki pointed to a narrow, vacuum nozzle-shaped slot attached to what looked like an old generator. "We should get those ghosts you sucked up turned into paintings before doing anything else." Eli stuck the nozzle into the slot, then felt a tug on the vacuum as the machine shook and made odd noises.

"It's supposed to do that," Maki reassured her as the entire contraption expanded and made strange banging sounds. Somehow Eli didn't believe this was a good sign. Still, soon enough she saw three blue wisps form in the washing machine part, spinning around faster and faster until it was all a single blur.

When it stopped, the wisps were spit out of a funnel at the top of the machine and onto the conveyor belt, where they began a painful-looking process down the belt. Flattened, the spirits were zapped and mashed until they disappeared under a steel presser. When they came out though, suddenly she was looking at intricately-developed paintings.

First came Honoka, then Rin, and finally Nico. Maki grabbed each painting in turn and laid them against the wall, looking them over critically. "Well, that's the end of those three. Thank goodness..." She then turned to Eli, gesturing to the painting in her hands. "Alright, now put Arisa into the portrait holder and I'll transform her back."

"That... doesn't really look safe." Eli wanted her sister back, but she wasn't sure that this was the sanest method of doing so. Then again, nothing about this night had been sane.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe." Not willing to wait while Eli deliberated, Maki set down Umi and grabbed Arisa from Eli's hands, setting her in the machine. "We tested it on portraits of mice."

Eli was aghast. "You tested this thing on animals?!"

"I'm kidding, jeez." Maki rolled her eyes and started the machine up again. "We've never tested it." Maki pressed a button and Arisa's painting went right back into the machine. The previous process started up again, but this time in reverse. The painting came back on the conveyor belt, being zapped and pummeled the entire way.

"Ah! Ow! Why!" Arisa's voice shouted out in pain from the machine, really being run through the ringer.

"Huh..." Maki mused, watching the process as it continued. "I guess it's a bit painful."

"You think?!" Eli hoped Arisa was okay, and that this process worked. Soon enough, Arisa disappeared in the washing machine-like contraption, and Eli leaned down to peer inside it. Was she okay? Suddenly, it opened up and Arisa tumbled out, knocking Eli over and sending them both down to the ground.

"Arisa!" Eli wrapped her sister in a tight hug, barely able to believe that the machine had worked. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"You saved me!" Arisa returned the hug eagerly, crying tears of joy on Eli's shoulder. "Thank you!" While the Ayase sisters held a tearful reunion, Maki placed Umi's portrait into the machine and watched it go through as well. Though it was clearly painful, Umi was more stoic than Arisa had been. When the process finished, the machine popped open and Umi was able to exit under her own power, standing up on unsteady legs.

"Maki, I'm-" Her words were cut off when Maki came over and interrupted her with a kiss. It was quick but full of emotion as the two embraced each other.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again." Maki whispered into Umi's ear, tightening her embrace around her partner. "I thought I had lost you forever."

"I thought I had lost you too." Umi couldn't help but smile, having been reunited with Maki once again. "Without Eli, I doubt I would have ever escaped that portrait prison." There was no way she could ever thank Eli enough for freeing her.

"I guess I should thank her then." They both chuckled quietly, neither one of them wanting to let go of the other. After all that time apart, they didn't want to risk the chance that they'd lose one another again. Still, eventually they would have to separate, if only to see Eli and Arisa off.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to leave." Eli beat the two of them to the punch, her and Arisa standing up together. Both of them were more than ready to return home, and Eli didn't want their parents to worry any more than they probably already were.

"Of course." Umi smiled at the two, taking Maki's hand in her own. "Thank you for rescuing me. I'm eternally grateful to you."

"Ahh, it's no problem." Eli blushed at Umi's words, smiling with embarrassed pride.

"And thank you for helping Eli rescue me!" This time Arisa spoke, directing her words to Maki, who followed Eli in the growth of crimson on her cheeks. She mumbled a low-register 'you're welcome', which Umi laughed at. That was the Maki she knew and loved.

They said their goodbyes, and soon enough Eli and Arisa were leaving the lab and its interestingly-named equipment behind. As they went back onto the path that would lead them home, Eli saw Nozomi and Hanayo on the front porch, waving at them. Smiling, she stopped to wave back and call out, "Thanks for your help, you two!"

"Glad to help!" Nozomi called back, a warm smile on her face. "Feel free to come back and visit! We'll clean the place up for ya!" She exchanged a glance with Hanayo before continuing: "And if you water the plants, we promise you great riches!" Eli could only roll her eyes at that. 'Uh huh, sure.'

She wouldn't mind coming back though. Despite all that she'd just gone through, it would be nice to see Nozomi again, and Hanayo. Umi too, and even Maki. Maybe by that point, the caustic redhead would've mellowed out. It just didn't seem likely.

With that, the two Ayase sisters gave their final goodbyes - for now - before heading back through the darkened forests, eager to return home. She wasn't sure how long they had been gone for, but that was a problem to solve later. Once they left the enclosure of dead trees, she could only smile when she saw the sun coming up over the horizon. They were finally going home.