Fear of Ghosts - Part 6 Fear of Ghosts
Chapter 6

It was Amelia who woke first. Her eyes fluttered open, thus breaking the spell that sleep had cast onto the princess. As Amelia received feeling in her arms and legs, the spell was further disintegrated. It didn't take long for her to sit up. And in doing so, the spell of sleep was eradicated completely.

She yawned, stretched, and allowed her eyes to receive the images before her.

However she was slightly at ill-ease.

Her sleep had been penetrated by a peculiar noise. A noise her ears had managed to pick up. A noise that triggered the princess' sense of scepticism.

In the darkness, she blinked. That noise......

No. It's impossible. She couldn't have heard something like that out there!

There was no way that such a sound could come from an abandoned village such as this!

There was no way....

Wait a minute.

There it was again!

This can't be real.....

No wait, there it is a third time!

How can it be....?

It didn't take long for the silence to be rocked again by this noise.

It was the ringing of a single bell. A solitary bell that sounded rather distant. Yet while the bell sounded incredibly distant, it seemed like it's message was coming from the depths of this wretched village......

Amelia blinked. What the hell was going on here? How could there be a bell ringing in this village?! This was impossible! This village was (quite literally) a ghost town! A bell couldn't ring by itself! There couldn't be someone ringing a bell here!

Could there?

Suddenly Amelia was struck by another revelation.

What bell?

Amelia, based on her recollections of the village, couldn't recall a huge bell tower in the village! It couldn't be! The entire village, as Amelia pictured it, was nothing more then ruins upon ruins! There weren't much in the way of buildings still standing in this village, let alone a bell tower!

Something was dreadfully wrong here. And something within the princess compelled her to investigate. It was an impulse. An impulse which made her forget her fear of ghosts. An impulse that made her forget all about Zel and his recent change in attitude. An impulse that made her forget the darkness that was providing the minimal lighting within the wretched village. An impulse that made her forget about her previous goal of getting out of the village.

Driven on from this impulse, Amelia got to her feet and headed off into the darkness, in the direction of the bell ringing.

All thoughts of Zel were forgotten completely - Amelia left the chimera right where he was, sleeping blissfully unaware. Acting upon a strong impulse all that mattered was locating the sound of the noise.

Amelia made her way through the darkened house, her eyes squinting at the minimal light.

Strange she thought. Why is it still night time? It should be morning....

Right?

Then she stopped.

How long had she been asleep? The events of the night had so far been enough to occupy some hours. Events that indeed shocked her to the core. Hence the prospect of sleep came as a sweet release. A sweet release which she certainly embraced.

Thus she must've, at least, been asleep for hours surely!

Had she?

Come on, it seemed like hours since she fell asleep in the company of the chimera. So it should be morning now! There should be morning light streaming in. Streaming in to banish the horrible black oblivion of the night.

Right?

Now that she thought about it, ever since she set foot in this damned village she's lost all concept of time. Running into one nightmare after another, certainly creates havoc on one's physique and mind. For all she knew, it could've been more then several hours since she left the world of normality that was Saillune.

But wait - How long it had been had she departed the realms of sanity and the security of her father's palace? Hours? An entire evening? An entire night?

An entire day?

Was this village existing as a separate entity from the rest of the world?

Amelia shook her head. No. That couldn't happen. That type of thing only existed in stories - the type of stories that were used to frighten children.

No, this village can't be existing as a separate entity! That wasn't possible!

Satisfied with this conclusion, Amelia continued on her way. It didn't take her long to reach the door of the house.

That wasn't possible.

Amelia's conclusion still reverberated within her mind, as she gently pushed the door open and stepped out into the street.

That wasn't possible.

The princess made her way onto the broken cobblestones that made up the ruined streets of the village, heading in the direction of the bell.

And still her conclusion haunted her.

That wasn't possible.

Amelia felt a cold chill run down her spine. But she continued her walking.

That wasn't possible.

The princess's expression grew with apprehension. Her walking pace grew with speed.

That wasn't possible!

It didn't take long for Amelia's pace to increase even further.

That wasn't possible!!!

An increased pace that soon evolved into a full-blown run.

On wings of denial Amelia ran. Ran blindly through the never-ending night. Ran blindly through the ruins. Ran blindly in a futile attempt to leave this accursed village. Ran blindly as tears welled up in her eyes.

THAT WASN'T POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!

Amelia ran on, charging toward an empty destination, all concepts of locating the source of the bell ringing now all forgotten. And any other concepts of helping the doomed ghosts in the village also fell through.

All she wanted was to leave this forsaken village.....


Meanwhile, some distance away, Zelgadis was breaking from his sleep. His eyelids fluttering, breaking the sleep that riddled his eyes. His fingers began moving, ready to anticipate the activities of the day ahead.....

Gradually, his powers of visual reception arrived, from the grip of slumber. Objects began forming within his newly acquired vision - Even if it was still night time......

Still?

Zel's brain, hadn't quite reached a point of complete working order at this early hour. Yet he could sense the absence of natural light. But what did it matter? His demon sight could still identify the objects that greeted his field of vision.

Even in this early hour, Zel managed a small smile. Looks like having one's body's made up of 1/3 demon and 1/3 stone golem does have it's advantages....

Ah yes, he should be seeing Amelia's dozing form any moment now....

But, instead of seeing the cream shape that made up Amelia and her clothes on her back, Zel saw a blank space.

Huh?

Perplexed, Zel reached out a hand. But instead of coming into contact with Amelia's soft flesh, the chimera only touched the soft gravel that made up the floor of this decrepit house. Where was once a Saillune princess was now well and truly an empty space.

This was enough to trigger Zel's brain into full action. Now radiating with a sense of alarm, Zel leapt to his feet, all sense of sleep now disintegrating away to make way for a sense of action. Amelia had disappeared. But where? Why? Why on earth would she disappear like that? Where would she go without notification? There couldn't be anywhere she could go in this village.....

Could there?

Although Zel was indeed confused, by the princess' sudden disappearance, he quickly scanned the area. The minimal light that flooded from the outside world and into the house proved no problem for Zelgadis' demon sight. With such utilisation of this power, along with his skills as a tracker, it didn't take long for Zelgadis to pick up where Amelia had been. A footprint here, a dislocation of gravel there and her still-fresh scent.....

Having discovered Amelia's traces, the chimera took off after her. What could she be possibly up to? He doesn't want her getting in danger.....

Well not now anyway....

Right now, his first priority is to get her back to Saillune.

....And out of his hair.....

It didn't take long for Zelgadis to discover the open door. The door that opened up towards the outside world.

The outside world that was the wretched village.

Quick as a flash, Zel headed out of the house and into the village. He paused, his eyes darting left and right, looking for any clue, any trace, any sign of his lost friend.

It was at that point that he realised that something was incredibly out of place.

It was still night time in this village!

The chimera paused as the oddity of the situation burned it's way into his soul. This was incredibly peculiar. How would the night arrive so quickly.....?

Did he sleep right through the day? He was certain the dawn had arrived just as he fell asleep.....

Or was there another sinister reason behind this....?

It seemed like this night was never ending.....

Zel blinked at this startling thought. Could it be? How long had this night been going on for? Hours, it seems....

Could this night be choking the village for all it's worth? Yes this damned village was cursed with a population of ghosts, but was that it? Was this village also cursed with an eternal night? What the hell was going on in this wretched village.....?

Zel's brain whirred, trying to recall everything he knew about sorcery, in it's many guises, in an attempt to find an answer. There must be a logical answer behind this! There has to be at least a sensible explanation......

Suddenly Zel hit on something! He had read somewhere, in a book or something, about the proposal of certain portions of land existing as separate entities, sealed off from the rest of the world. This allowed the portion to exist as a separate entity, completely functioning on it's own, oblivious from the rest of the world. Of course, such a feat could only be accomplished with the use of magic most powerful. Yet the effects were certainly devastating - Being situated in a separate world certainly created conflict with the real world. Time is disrupted beyond belief, communication is practically impossible and the eventual connection of the two worlds created the most unbelievable area of conflict.

There was a grain of truth behind that idea. Why, the new world that Valgarv and Filia live in was cut off from the rest of the world by a sealed barrier of magic - that was until Lina destroyed Hellmaster Fibrizzo and, as a consequence, brought the barrier down. And the conflict that resulted when Zel went with Lina, was astonishing to say the least.

Then the chimera was struck by another thought.

A curse of ghosts and a curse of eternal night. Was it any way possible that these two oddities were connected....?

It seems obvious that something extraordinary happened to this village. Something that, while have being wonderful beyond human comprehension, also cast a spell of doom upon the entire village and it's inhabitants.

This would certainly add to this probability of being in a separate world....

There is truly some evil force at work. An evil force behind this accursed village.

But one thing's for sure. He was trapped in a nightmare. A nightmare that wouldn't end or lessen it's evil grip on him.

It was there and then that Zel was reminded by what Amelia last said to him. She was trying to persuade him into abiding with the ghosts' demands for help.

Well he certainly had an excuse now....

Zel sighed and headed off in the direction of Amelia's scent, his eyes and ears still retaining their vigilance.

He could only guess as to why and where the princess headed off to.

It's as silent as a tomb here......


Elsewhere, Amelia had fallen. She fell to her knees, her legs refusing to run any more. She bowed her head in fear. But to what use? No matter how much running she does, no matter how much she flees, no matter how much she is controlled by her fear of ghosts, it seems nothing she can do would break her from this nightmare.....

Just then, another chime from the bell rung out across the landscape....

The princess raised her head, her eyes blinking in astonishment. That bell....

It was still ringing.....?

.....Only time this time it sounded much more closer.

Man that bell is loud! Amelia thought. It's loud enough to shake these ruins to the ground. I wonder why Zel hasn't heard it yet.....?

With her curiosity about the bell, still standing strong, Amelia's eyes darted across the ruins, trying to locate the source of the noise. Come on, it should be around here.....

It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.

There, rising above the rest of ruined buildings stood a tower. A tower which towered over the village like an eyesore. A tower which reverberated with the ringing of the bell. A tower which looked like it wouldn't stay standing for much longer - particularly with the burden it was housing.

Amelia's expression turned quizzical, her eyebrow raised in a disturbed manner.

Strange she thought. If that tower was standing up like that, then why wouldn't she'd have seen it before.....?

But what does it matter? She has a sense of priority - she must break the break the curse that befell the village. It wasn't just her commitment as a Champion of Justice. It's just.....

....the longer she stays here, the worse!

And if this tower does provide something of an answer then who is she to refuse it?

Driven on a motivation on breaking out of this nightmare, Amelia advanced towards the bell tower. It might not be much of a lead but it's still the best one she has.

The princess pushed open the rotten door and gazed into the depths of the tower, her eyes blinking as her vision adjusted to the minimal light that resided within the tower. There wasn't much to look at, apart from a dirty floor, various pieces of rocks and wood and a staircase that led upwards and into the darkness that made up the inside of the tower's top - and presumably the bell itself.

Without a further ado, Amelia hurried up the ruined staircase, her feet evading the various cracks and signs of rot that riddled their way across each step, her ears ringing the each thunderous crack that emerged from the din that was the bell.

But strangely enough, as soon as she reached halfway up the stairs, the bell's ringing came to an abrupt halt. What was once a holocaust of noise was now a very sudden silence. It was enough to bring Amelia's legs to a stop.

The princess blinked in confused silence. Although her ears were grateful that the ringing had ceased, her brain was lost in a tsunami of questions.

Everything was so wrong here: First, the bell starts ringing in an abandoned village, then the tower appearing seemingly out of nowhere and now the bell, just like it arrived, abruptly falls silent!

It seems Amelia's goal of escaping this wretched village and this nightmare wouldn't be as easily achieved as she thought.....

Seeking answers, Amelia pressed on. She must know what's going on here! She must know!

And, in a manner of seconds, she'd arrived to her destination: the top of the tower.

And there was the bell. It was a gigantic copper structure, hanging from a sturdy beam. But what was unusual that the bell was covered entirely with dust, as well as several spots of rust and cobwebs! It looked like it hadn't been rung in years, let alone just now!

Needless to say Amelia was baffled to the extreme.

Gently, she reached up and brushed her hand through the bell's dust coat....

....And suddenly she felt a cold chill travel down her spine.

She could feel the presence of another...

Quickly she flicked her head around....

....and her blood turned cold.

There, emerging from the darkness and advancing towards the princess, came a familiar face. It was the ghost girl she met in the forest. It was the same ghost who told Amelia of the curse that befell the village.

But now the ghost strode with a more purposeful intent. She bore down on Amelia with a expression that was at once both determined and sinister.

Now, Amelia was freaked out more then ever!

"What.....what do you want?" Amelia demanded, her voice tinged with fear.

The ghost didn't answer. Nor did she halt her advance.

"Stay back!" Amelia screamed, her hands ready to cast a spell - even if her hands were too busy shaking in fear.

Still the ghost refused to reply. Instead she raised her hand, reaching for Amelia's forehead.

Amelia tried to push the ghost away but to no avail. Her hands went right through the ghost herself! She couldn't be stopped!

The ghost then touched Amelia's forehead with her finger.....

And suddenly Amelia was swept up as a huge impulse of power, a huge impulse of power that burned it's way from the ghost's finger to Amelia's brain. Instantaneously, Amelia was emersed in a power - a power so great that she couldn't have any chance of containing it. It was too much for her magic skills and her knowledge to handle.

Consequently, she could feel her vision cloud and her brain lose all sense of function....

The ghost said nothing. She could see Amelia being wrapped up in this peculiar power surge but the ghost didn't move. Nor did she even flinch from what she was doing. It wasn't the correct thing to do but ultimately, the ends always justify the means.

And as Amelia traversed deeper and deeper towards unconsciousness, she saw the ghost one last time - yet long enough to see her lips move.

I'm Sorry

Amelia couldn't even scream as sanity fled.


Chapter 7
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