Closing the basement door, Tails and the girls decided to investigate the second drawing room, nearby and see if there was anything else they could find in the mansion. They knew they hadn't asked Fixer about Sonic and Knuckles, but nonetheless, they were doing fine in their exploration.
Walking down the hallway, the group turned right and entered what looked like a gallery, full of paintings and curtains on every side. The whole place seemed decorated, they heard scratching and dripping sounds from close by, taking notice to a paintbrush coming out of a paint can.
Getting a closer look, the trio saw that somebody was actually painting something on a paint board with great skill. The painting in progress looked like a countryside with grassy hills, sunflowers and a huge house on one of the hills, tall and pretty.
Amy recalled that she could paint too, she'd painted over a hundred paintings since she was a little girl and done paintings of many things. She could recall the time she painted a forest with a monkey and a badger in it, probably thinking of herself with Sticks.
Sticks was good at painting, even though she only did jujitsu realism, which allowed herself to express the depths of her soul. Amy hadn't seen much of Sticks' paintings, but she'd seen a few and thought her BFF was very talented at what she did.
They walked closer to the painting to examine it and the other paintings that lay on the floor nearby, showing various things from birds in the sky and a house on fire. A specter sitting on the small stool chair appeared, a female specter, tall and pretty, wearing a white dress.
Tails and the girls watched as she finished her painting before she looked it over, examining her artistic craft. Then she put the painting aside, noticing the heroes and turned to see them. The ghostly artists was a fox, brown with blue eyes and looking very gorgeous and young.
"Oh." The ghost said, waving hi to her new visitors, "Welcome, guests. Have you come to see me paint? Its been a long time since I was visited by somebody who showed interest in my paintings, I've been painting for a while and I haven't come up with the ultimate painting.
"What painting are you trying to do but haven't come up with yet?" Sticks asked.
"What's your name, Miss Ghost Artist?" Amy added.
The artist bowed her head, "My name is Louisiana the Fox, I am a talented artist and I've done countless paintings throughout my life. Most of them involve the countryside or the beach or famous people, but I don't feel satisfied. As I stated, I've yet to make the ultimate painting."
"And what's that?" Tails asked.
Ghoulsalina giggled, "A painting dedicated to me, I hold myself in great respect and I love myself for everything I've accomplished. But I have had artist's block and wish I could do the painting dedicated to my legacy, I will rest in peace when the painting is finally done."
"I can help you make it." Amy volunteered, "I'm great at paintings myself, we can work on it together. Maybe we can be friends, do you like making friends, have you made any? I understand that you feel you're unable to rest in peace without making a big accomplishment."
The ghost fox looked very happy, "You'll do the painting with me, oh thank you so much. I wanted to do a painting of myself for ages, but I was unsure about it. I've had my insecurities, most of my art being the expression of my insecurities and now how I can't sleep in peace."
Amy pulled up a chair, sat near the painting board next to the ghostly artist and picked up a paint brush before putting a towel apron over herself to make sure she did not get any paint on her while doing the task at hand. "Well, what are we waiting for?" She asked, "Lets paint!"
The pink hedgehog looked at Ghoulsalina for a bit of inspiration before starting the painting, actually doing the outline and a nice background involving grass, the sun and a house. The fox ghost did most of the work, painting the sun yellow and putting in a blue sky.
Sticks and Tails watched on as the girls worked, Amy painted the dress of the fox girl while the ghost painted the tail and the head. They worked for a while, figuring it all out until, finally, the painting was done. One look at it and the girls high fived, deciding it was perfect.
"My glorious painting has been done!" Ghoulsalina cried happily, "Now I can rest in peace. But first, how about we play the piano to rejoice. I am great at piano playing too, doing the piano has been a hobby of mine along with art since I was a little girl growing up in the mountains."
Amy noticed a large piano nearby and agreed to do that too, she expressed that she'd taken piano classes ages ago and had a lot of practice despite not playing the piano in ages. Lights seemed to turn on automatically and dim a bit as Amy and Ghoulsalina sat at the piano, ready to do music.
Like with the painting, Sticks and Tails ended up being an audience to watch what was going on. Amy flexed her fingers and then began to play her side of the key board while the ghostly fox girl did her own side, both girls playing an incredible tune on the piano, making a sweet, sweet tune.
The two of them breathed in some fresh air to help them think, even as they came up with a name for the song. Both settled on Ballade of Ghosts and Paint, as suggested by Amy, which nobody seemed to mind. The hedgehog took the high notes and the fox took the low notes.
As the song progressed, the lyrics told a story, the story of how a young girl was good at painting but had insecurities which led to her having a bad case of artistic block which stayed with her in death until she overcame them with help from a friend who helped make the best painting ever.
Listening to Ballade of Ghosts and Paint as it was brought to life for the first time, the song was gorgeous and well thought out as it went along. Amy and Ghoulsalina finished the tune and hugged each other happily, high fiving as Tails and Sticks whooped in unison.
"I feel myself at peace at last." Ghoulsalina said, she seemed to be fading away, "Thank you my friends, may we meet again one day, until then, it was nice meeting you all."
"Bye, Louisiana." Amy waved happily, "It was fun painting with you and doing that awesome piano song with you. Take care of yourself and what's left of your family."
As the trio waved good bye, the ghostly fox faded from sight, vanishing into the afterlife with no need to suck her into the Ghost Vacuums just like with the other ghosts...