Chapter The Reduction of Information Caused by Hair

The group stared at the glassy words, astounded. Something like this was only told in legends, passed down from ghost hunter to ghost hunter, read about only in books.

It was then, Serena realized, this case was truly special - in every sense of the word.

They stayed in stasis for a few seconds, before Mariam came forward. She stepped forward, crouching before the sight of the glass letters, and pulled out the now-infamous notebook.

Only the scratching of the pencil filled the room, as Mariam filed her findings. Then, once she was done, faced her teammates.

"Are you ready to explore more?" She said, pocketing the notebook. Her still breathless teammates stood in stasis as they stared at Mariam. Then, Xavier found his voice.

"W-We could head over to S-Class where Serena encountered that ghost?" He asked. He joined Mariam near the shards, careful to not step on any. "I guess we could. Or we could wander around aimlessly," She suggested. They turned to the still silent Serena, staring at the glassy letters with glassy eyes.

The two shared a look and cautiously walked over, comfortingly placing their hands on her shoulders. She was shocked back to reality. She gasped back her breath, hunching back from the revelation. Serena latched onto their hands, grip like pure steel. Her gasps increased the concern of her two teammates who tried to get through to the ravenette.

"Serena? Serena?! Are you ok?" Mariam shouted, her eyebrows knitted in a definition of concern. Xavier was quiet but shared Mariam's mood perfectly. The subject of their concern paid no heed and continued her grip of steel.

She focused her breathing and after a while, calmed down. Serena was alerted to her surroundings as she released her grip. The ravenette searched the area with blank eyes as if she was just waking up from a dream. She couldn't support herself and still needed help.

"W-what just happened? Mariam... X-Xavier?" Serena said, her voice breathless from loss of strength. Her two teammates grabbed her flabby arms and draped them over both of their shoulders.

"Are you ok?" Xavier said firmly. She found his face, drawn by the noise, and looked up with undermining eyes. He fell unnerved by the way she gripped her gaze with such unfamiliarity as if he was a stranger. "I- Yes, I think so? I'm sorry if I'm scaring you," She said, dropping her gaze down to the floor. Her teammates lowered her down to rest, all sitting in a semi-circle.

It was Mariam who asked the first question. "Do you know what happened?" She said, choosing a hushed tone. It took a few seconds for Serena to process the question before finding an answer herself.

"I don't think the ghosts were done talking," She said. Her voice was still shaky but Xavier and Mariam could hear the firm and honest belief behind it. "I think they weren't trying to hurt me - or, at least, that's what I think. I couldn't tell if it's Gray and Lucy... or something else entirely. But something tried to possess me, honest to kami truth," She said, finally finding the strength to look at them.

They remained silent as the Spirit Seekers debated the reasons. Then, Mariam spoke. "I think I'm going with your first thought: It's probably only Gray and Lucy. We would feel if something else came up, especially if it was the entities from the basement," She said, nodding. "I agree with Mariam. And I'm sure they didn't want to hurt you; they're pleasant ghosts! Besides, they're our friends," Xavier smiled. Serena nodded, a small smile forming at the ends of her mouth. She relaxed.

"Yeah,... you're right. I guess we could move on now." With help from her friends, she rose from the floor and dusted herself off. But Mariam voiced her protest. "Are you sure you're able to?" Serena waved her off with the remaining smile.

"I'm good, I promise." She confirmed her statement with a firm smile, reaching far out. Mariam breathed a sigh and escorted the other two out of the room. Before they left, they waved goodbye.

There was a large knock towards where the glass shards were set up, followed by a softer one in the outer corner. The Spirit Seekers nodded, leaving the two by themselves.

Serena closed the door behind her, crumpling against with relief. "Phew, alright," She then brightened, meeting the eyes of her teammates, "Let's go, shall we?"

She took the lead of the group, Xavier and Mariam following closely behind to watch her. They were only a few inches away.

They let their instincts take over and wander around the guild. Before they came across something.

At Xavier's feet, lay a petite blue strand of what it seemed - or, what he hoped to be - hair. It was about adjacent to the entrance of the infirmary - exactly where he heard the girl's voice shout at him across the door.

"Hey, Mar! Serena! Can you come here?"

The girls came quickly towards their teammate, and after making sure he was ok, noticed the small blue hair strand lying at his feet.

"What's this?" Mariam stooped down to the hair, her eyes squinting in deep thought. Her reduction elicited a gasp and unpocketed the notebook, excitedly scribbling down a little note. Then, picked back up the hair.

"You know who this is?!" Both Xavier and Serena shook their heads hesitantly. Mariam didn't seem to mind their ignorance of the situation and continued. "If we're going of off Serena's pretty soundproof theory," Serena blushed with gratitude, "then this hair must belong to Miss Wendy Marvell. She had blue hair! And no one else on Team Salamander had blue hair, so it has to be her," She said, cupping the strand safely in her hands.

Serena, who had recovered from the blush, stepped up to examine the little lock pursed her lips in confusion. "Ok... but how would a ghost drop it?" She said, finding Mariam's eyes. But Mariam seemed more than happy to share a piece of knowledge with Serena and slipped into a little smirk, her hands firmly placed on her hips.

"Well, you see, ghosts can drop little personal items - such as lockets, purses, pictures, or even hair. A ghost investigator by the name of Heather Gray had found random clumps of pink hair in an area of the forest she was investigating near the Jeweled Court Hotel, where the famous murder of Mr. Eren Howl took place - who, as you can guess, had pink hair. Later on, she also found his old notebook and chain in the parking lot of it," She finished.

Serena made an impressed sound low in her throat, nodding as she came closer to the strand in Mariam's hands. "So, you've found this where?" The strawberry blonde said to the man behind them. He perked up from being noticed.

"I found this near the infirmary, where I encountered a ghost yesterday. I only heard a girl's voice, that's it, but I'm sure it was something," He explained. Mariam nodded. "Ok, so then our options for the room are Salamander, Titania, and Wendy. However, this hair had belonged to Wendy so, perhaps, it's Wendy. That's our best bet here," She said.

Mariam placed the small hair in her friend's hands and pulled out the notebook again. After a few seconds of writing, she pocketed it again.

"You ready to start a seance?"

The other two nodded.

"Let's go."

Here we go! I'm so excited for the next chapter!! Let's hope it was as good as last. Hmh.

Anyway, Wendy! One of my favorite mages on Team Natsu and the kindest one, as well. Ialways saw her magic as one of the most unique, as all of the dragon slayers! So, it's time for her to shine (ish)

Anyway, see you all next chapter! Stay healthy, safe, and have a good day/night! Bye~!