xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Former Phantom Lord Guildhall, 9:40 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Swallowing spit as his beastly allies stood behind him, Bernard nervously approached the closed doors of the front gate to the guildhall that used to belong to the now disbanded Phantom Lord wizard guild. Putting his hands on the large door to the guild, Bernard mentally prepared himself before he went inside.
"Whoa whoa!" Corvus exclaimed as he flew up to Bernard to stop him before he pushed the door open. "Wait a second!" The crow bellowed.
"Yeah, I would like to take a minute here too..." Bernard said as he quickly turned around and faced the creatures.
"Should we really be putting ourselves at this much risk?" Baurs asked with a tone of concern as Bernard looked at Vulp and noticed the Celestial Spirit looked at him with the same level of caution.
"Well... We have fought a lot of stuff before and we have had success so far..." Bernard said as he rubbed the back of his neck with nervousness.
"Yeah but do you know how to handle a ghost of all things?" Corvus asked as Bernard bit his lip.
"I'm a circus manager, not a shaman or an exorcist..." Bernard said with a nervous expression.
"Then why the hell are we trying to clean up an old castle of a stupid ghost then!?" Corvus shouted.
"Because Camilla promised me the money from this job and... Something else..." Bernard said as he turned back towards the door and put his hands back up on it to open it up.
"And that "something" would be?" Baurs said as Vulp raised an eye in interest.
"...It's... Something private." Bernard said with a bothered expression.
'"Private?"... Ooohhhh, I get it, hehehe." Corvus said until he started chuckling with a lewd expression forming.
"What?" Baurs said as she looked at Corvus.
"Looks like we are working overtime so Bernard can have his "first."' Corvus said with a smirk as Baurs and Vulp looked at Bernard with surprise.
"What the- No! That isn't it!" Bernard screamed as he looked at the monsters as he blushed.
"Hahaha! Look at him! You're totally getting some "good times" if you pull this off!" Corvus joked as he and the spirits smirked at Bernards embarrassment.
"No! Me and Camilla aren't doing that kind of thing if we pull this off! It's just... Complicated, alright?!" Bernard defiantly proclaimed before turning back to push open the door.
"Alright, alright calm down, hehehe. But one thing though? What's the plan here?" Corvus said as Bernard sighed.
"Basically, we gotta look around for a sign of something that could be haunted or attracting poltergeists so my guess is that we are probably looking for... A dead body." Bernard said as he bit his lip in agitation as the creatures looked at him with disturbed expressions.
"...Great... We have gone from fighting giant monsters and saving babies to corpse disposal..." Corvus said with a tone of bother.
"Certainly a step down." Baurs said as Vulp nodded in response.
"Okay, let's get a move on this…" Bernard said as he shook his head.
Pushing the large doors open to the old castle, the doors swung open slowly and creaked loudly as the group looked inside as the sunlight from outside crept into the abandoned halls. Peering within the large place, they saw myriads of cobwebs, dust and busted tables all over the place but what caught the attention of the group that made them feel uncomfortable was the noticeably large amount of clothes scattered about. Stone pillars of gray cobblestone and walls of bricks formed the foundation and tattered banners that sported the old Phantom Lord logos were strung around the walls off the windows.
"The hell is with all the clothes?" Corvus said as the quartet walked inside and begun to search the foyer of the castle.
As Bernard looked around, he looked at the various clothes that consisted of different types of gray jackets with black fur around the collars, sleeveless black shirts, tan pants and various purple knit caps with rabbit ear-like protrusions sticking out. Having an epiphany, Bernard looked around left and right before reaching into some of the pants in an effort to look for something.
"Highly doubt you are going to find money in there." Baurs said casually as she appeared behind Bernard, startling him.
"Wha?! Uh, Baurs! Uhhh… No, I wasn't looking for money! I was looking for- Uhhhh… Size tags..." Bernard stuttered.
'"Size tags?"' Baurs questioned.
"I... Was checking to see if these would fit me! See?!" Bernard said as he took off his beanie and grabbed one of the knit caps off the ground and placed it on his head. "Ho-how do I look?" He said with an embarrassed tone as Corvus and Vulp passed by him.
"You look like a big dork." Corvus said casually as Vulp and Baurs looked at Bernard as he took off the hat and put his beanie back on his head.
"Yeaahhh that wasn't one of my better moments..." Bernard thought as he scratched his forehead. "Let-lets just get back to work." He said as the group continued investigating. Corvus looked up towards the pillars to the room as Vulp sniffed around under the tables and Bernard and Baurs looked around together by the staircase to the upper floor.
"This place is a mess." Corvus said as he picked up a coat off the ground with his wings and looked over towards the others.
"What else is obvious?" Bernard said sarcastically as he looked around on the ground as Vulp proceeded to walk over to him as he sniffed the staircase. "...Let me guess, up there?" He said as he rolled his eyes upward as Corvus and Baurs approached.
"It would appear we need to go up there." Baurs said casually as Bernard and Corvus shook their heads in dismay.
'"Great..."' Bernard and Corvus said as they looked upwards.
"Vulp... You wanna go up first?" Bernard said with a trouble expression as Vulp shook his head to signify a negative response. "Yeah, I kinda figured he wouldn't want to go..." He thought as he looked at Baurs and Corvus. "You guys?" Bernard asked.
"...I would but uhhh… My wings hurt and I wouldn't want to waddle up there slowly and all, you know?" Corvus said as he feigned his wings not being able to be raised over his head.
"Oh ha ha..." Bernard said with a twitch in his eye before he turned to look at Baurs.
"If I may speak freely, I do not wish to go first." Baurs said as she looked at Bernard as the Celestial Spirits looked at him as well, hoping he would go up first.
"Fine, I'll go up the stairs." Bernard said as he put his hands on his face to steel his resolve.
Taking off his beanie and scratching his head to prepare himself before putting it back on, Bernard took a step forward and placed his foot on the first step of the stairs. As he went on the step, a light breeze went through the air that sent a chill up Bernards backside, prompting him to look back towards the Celestial Spirits and Earth Elemental.
"...You guys feel that?" Bernard said with a serious look in his eyes.
"No?" Corvus replied as Baurs and Vulp shook their heads.
"It felt like something was breathing on me or coming up to me or something..." Bernard said as he rubbed his left shoulder with his right hand in a distressed manner as Baurs raised her head up as she noticed something.
"Mr. Bernard! Look!" Baurs said as Bernard, Corvus and Vulp looked up towards the top of the stairwell as the group noticed something was beginning to manifest out of thin air.
Forming at the top of the stairwell was a figure made of black smoke. The black smoke formed together into a dark living shadow with a purple cloak of energy over its body and outstretched from the cloak was a pair of purple claws. Underneath the cloaks hood was a pair of circular glowing red eyes as it shifted its gaze towards the group of Bernard and the beasts.
"...Baurs… Do "Shadow Elementals" or "Darkness Elementals?" exist?" Bernard said as he stared with a fearful expression at the shadowy creature floating above them on the stairwell.
"Potentially... But I don't think that is one." Baurs said as they all continued to stare at the shadowy figure.
"...Not what I wanted to hear- Whoa!" Bernard said until he noticed the shadowy figure raised its claws and swooped down towards the group.
Dispersing to dodge the attack, Bernard and the creatures scattered in different directions. Twisting back to see, Bernard looked up and saw the black smoke monster had twisted back around and proceeded to lunge back towards him. Flying by, the ghostly creature had proceeded to pass through his body as if Bernard was a wall and the shadow phased through it.
"Ahhh!" Bernard screamed after the shadow figure phased through his chest, crouching to his knees as he clutched at the area around his chest and heart Lacrima.
"Kid!?" Corvus exclaimed in concern before turning his attention to the shadow, sparking up his red and white lightning. "Take this!" He shouted as he fired a bolt of electricity towards the direction of the shadow monster as it dodged the lightning and proceeded to float away towards the upstairs area. "Damn it! The ghost is getting away!" Corvus said as he proceeded to chase after it with Baurs quickly running on all fours up the stairs to assist.
Continuing to clutch his chest, Bernard was still kneeling down as he started to sweat and breath heavily. Concerned for his health, Vulp approached to check on him.
"...That thing passed through me... I feel so... Exhausted..." Bernard thought as he continued to struggle to breathe. Looking up towards the stairs and then back to Vulp, he pulled himself up from the ground and begun to dust himself off. "Come on, Vulp! We gotta go." He said as he and Vulp quickly rushed up the stairs.
Floating through a hallway upstairs, the shadowy figure attempted to escape as Corvus emerged from out of a corner and proceeded to rush quickly at the shadow figure with his body sparking up. Dashing at a break neck pace, the crow Celestial Spirit tackled himself into the shadow figure with the electrical energy zapping the black smoke creature until it dispersed in the air.
"Yeah! Gotcha, you stupid cloaked freak!" Corvus said with an angry smile as he gloated with Baurs, followed by Bernard and Vulp, approaching behind him. "I got the ghost guys!" The crow said as he turned around and looked at the others.
"You destroyed that thing?" Bernard said as he still held the area around his heart.
"One hit!" Corvus said with a cocky attitude as he flapped his wings in the air. "Guess the job is done?" The crow questioned.
"How sure are you that the thing you just killed was the ghost?" Bernard said with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm curious too. What was that?" Baurs asked.
"Well, I thought..." Corvus said with a hesitant tone.
"Hmmmm…" Bernard mumbled as he stood around with a face lost in thought as Vulp looked at him with concern.
"I know that look in his eyes..." Corvus said as flew down to the ground and looked up at Bernard.
"...After it went through me, I felt like I had lost something..." Bernard said as he scratched at his chest, specifically around his heart area.
"Is your Lacrima acting up?" Baurs asked out of concern.
"No, I am fine but... Hmmm..." Bernard said with a bothered expression before turning his gaze over to Corvus. "The thing was running away up the stairs... Which means it was heading somewhere..." He said as he walked passed the creatures as he started to open doors in the hallway.
"What we looking for?" Corvus said as he, Vulp and Baurs followed Bernard through the halls of the former Phantom Lord guild.
"There has to be a reason that shade thing was running away. It came out of nowhere the moment I stepped on the stairs and then just hightailed it to god knows where the moment it went through me." Bernard explained as he scanned room after room for possible evidence.
"Maybe it was frightened by the birds electrical powers?" Baurs explained as Corvus got annoyed.
"I'm not a bird! I'm a crow!" Corvus complained.
"Shut up!" Bernard shouted as he moved to another room. Opening another door, Bernards eyes widened as he found something they made him stop and look with surprise before shutting the door and beginning to cough into his hands. "Okay... That wasn't what I wanted to see..." He said between coughs.
"What? Why? What's in here?" Corvus said as he flew over to the closed door, opened it up with his talon and looked inside before doing exactly what Bernard did; closing it and coughing violently into his wings as he fell down to the ground.
"...Dead body?" Baurs said with curiosity as Vulp looked at the rock lizard with a surprised yet confused expression.
'"Dead body."' Bernard and Corvus said bluntly as they both looked back at door before Bernard put his hands on the door handle and then pushed it open as the group looked inside to the room.
Inside was a large bedroom with a cabinet filled with books, a table with a small chair next to a window that was covered by shades and, most notably, a bed that had a skeleton in it, under the sheets. Along the floor, there was a set of clothes on the ground; a blue cloak with an emblem of a bright teal cross and next to the cloak was an incredibly large green coat, a pair of sandals and a green fedora on the ground, covered in dust.
"Hey, kid." Corvus said with a smirk as he waddled over to the fedora. "Need a new hat?" The crow joked as he picked up the hat with his wing as Bernards eye twitched.
"That probably belonged to someone..." Bernard said with crossed arms as Corvus cringed at the realization he might have been holding a hat that might have been on a corpse at one point, dropping it back on the floor.
"Okay!... Never touching anything ever again..." Corvus said with a shiver as Vulp walked over and sniffed the bright teal cross on the blue cloak as Bernard spotted the fox doing that.
"What's up?" Bernard asked as he walked over and picked up the emblem off the floor. "...Well, looks like we found Jose Porlas room." He said as he looked over the emblem.
"What makes you say that?" Baurs asked as Bernard continued to examine the emblem.
"This is a seal that signifies a Wizard Saint." Bernard said as he showed the tag around to the creatures.
"...Then... That bag of bones over there might be the guy?" Corvus said as he and Vulp looked over towards the skeleton on the bed.
"...Nice to meet you... Mr. Porla…" Bernard said as he looked over at the skeleton, a bothered expression on his face.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Oak Town, 10:56 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Walking around the town, attempting to sightsee, was Camilla.
"Jeez... This town is boring..." Camilla said with a tired face as she casually walked around. "No wonder they have been trying to take down that old guildhall to improve this place, there's nothing to do around here!" She mentally complained.
Passing store after store and business after business, Camilla stopped on a corner and noticed a little shop that said "Magic Store" on the front banner.
"Local magic shop... Maybe I can find something interesting in here." Camilla said with a shrug as she entered the magic shop.
Looking around, there were shelves of magical items; small grimoires, magic wands, long staffs, enriched herbs, among other things. Scanning her eyes around the various wares in the store, Camilla felt uninterested at the items in front of her.
"Spell books for low quality spells, magic rings that do light tricks, wands for flower tricks. Nothing amazing." Camilla said to herself as she scratched her head.
"Pardon?" Said a new voice suddenly as Camilla got startled and turned around to notice a small man in a blue wizard hat and a red cloak with orange hair. "You said "nothing amazing" just now?" The man said.
"Uhhh, yeah, sorry. Store owner?" Camilla said in an apologetic tone.
"Yes, but don't apologize. Sadly, I haven't had many customers so my stock is a "mixed bag" right now. But I can tell just from looking at you that you are a wizard, correct?" The store owner asked.
"Yeah actually." Camilla replied.
"Might I interest you in a book for Coloring Magic?" The store owner said as he pulled out a grimoire from his cloak. "If you use this on your clothes-" He explained until Camilla spoke up.
"It will make them change colors. I know, I have one at home." Camilla said. "Saves me the trouble of needing to buy different tank tops. Hehehe." She thought with a chuckle in her head.
"Oh darn... Well then... What about this?" The store owner said as he put away the Coloring Magic grimoire and pulled out something that made Camilla raise an eyebrow; a red collar with a Lacrima hanging from it. "A "Obedience Collar?"'
"Excuse me?" Camilla said with surprise as she looked at the collar.
"It's a magical trinket that I keep in the back for only the people willing to buy it. Bit of a hard seller but since business is down, I figured I'd try to push it." The store owner explained. "If you put this around the neck of someone, it will cause whomever put it on them to be in complete control of the person when they give a command to 'em and only the person who put it on to be able to take it off." He said with a devilish grin.
"...Is... This something you can legally sell?" Camilla said with a suspicious look in her eyes.
"Ye-yes! It's completely legal! Hehehe." The store owner said sheepishly. "Okay, it's not. It used to belong a cult overseas but I got it on a bargain to sell!" The owner thought with nervous sweat dripping down his face.
"...Whomever wears it... Has to do what the other wants, no matter what..." Camilla said to herself as she held the collar in her hands before a thought passed through her head. "With this... There'd be no way he would leave..." She thought as a decision started to form within her conscience.
"I can sell it to you for a bargain price too!" The store owner said with a greedy smile forming on his face as he held out his hand for a handshake.
"...I don't know..." Camilla thought with a troubled expression as she continued to look at the Obedience Collar.
Dead bodies, kinky collars and ghostly figures, this is getting exciting!... Or weird. That too. Bernard has trekked around the inside of the Phantom Lord guildhall and after having an encounter with a shadowy apparition, him and his beastly allies have succeeded in finding a dead body that perhaps may have once been the former Wizard Saint and Phantom Lord guild master, Jose Porla. But what now that they have found the skeleton? And what of Camilla? Offered a magic collar of obedience, will she buy it? And will she put it on a certain someone? Who knows... Till next time... On Menagerie!
Author's Note: (Hey, it's another cutdown chapter! Fucking pandemic right now has been making my life harder and harder to get time to write this btw but hey, I am trying. Thanks for the reviews and don't be afraid to keep reviewing, I love seeing them, helps keep me motivated.)
