Chris: Well, another day, another chapter for my Halloween fic! Aren't you guys happy?! Ahem…Anyway, reader reviews and…Yep. That's it. There's one announcement, but that's at the end. Thank you for your time.
lugiamania: Thanks a lot. Yep, Hector's really good with a canteen full of Elixir.
The Winged Wolf: You know…I think I'm going to stop offering phone numbers now…Apparently, if they're real ones, they call somewhere else…Anyway…Yeah, thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like my fic.
Charlie: Yeah…Patric had better not ditch. Eh, oh well….And yeah, it's a half-assed ending on purpose, you know. I couldn't finish the whole story in like a week. Well, okay, I could, if I didn't need sleep.
The Karlminion: Actually…I don't know if it gave a Swedish number. It'd be cool though.
Lord Cynic: Yep, Star Wars is cool. I just hope the Star Wars III will be good. It better.
Zero84: Yep, Legault is Kakashi from Naruto. That's about the best idea I could come up with for him.
Miharu-san: Bwa. That's the ending for the reflections contest, not for the story. Bwa again. Anyway…Yeah, that's about it.
K-Girl: Of course you can be a monster. You can torment the evil people until they try to kill the good people again. Hmm…Yeah, you're just going to be a fangirl that torments everyone in the evil group. How about that?
flamefirefox: Glad you like it. And yeah, FE has been slowing a little…Not a lot, though, but a little.
Ice born warrior: Yep. I chose a random dance. And…You really don't like Eliwood, do you?
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During the journey of Hector and Raven and their respective groups, Eliwood and Co. were examining the back of the castle for clues. Eliwood stroked his chin thoughtfully and faced his comrades. "I've got it! Let's split up and look for more clues!"
Lucius sighed and stared at Eliwood. "We already split up…"
"Yeah, but we should split up more! Then we'll have more groups to search! Now…All we need is a faithful Great Dane."
"What? You want to make this into a remake of Scooby Doo?" Nils looked up from his pit trap to look skeptically at Eliwood.
"Yeah! It'd be like the Ghost at Briny Bay!"
"What the hell is that?!" Nils stood up, moved a little, and promptly fell into his own pit trap. "At least I know it works….Can anyone get me out?"
Nino hopped over and stretched her arm out to Nils. Nils grasped it and Nino helped haul him up. Nils grinned slightly. "Thanks Nino. Phew…Making a pitfall is tougher than I thought…" He brushed off the dirt and grime and stood up. Eliwood was still fanatical about making everything seem like Scooby Doo, even going as far as to try to shave Lucius's hair. Lucius was trying to avoid Eliwood and Renault and Jaffar were discussing the best ways to take cover in an attack. Wil was readying his bow, even though there wasn't an enemy in sight. Nils noticed that the bow was pointed at Rath's feet, and Wil was grinning. Rath was just looking nervous, especially since Wil was pointing a bow at him and Rebecca was alternating between hugging him and socking Wil.
Suddenly, the sky darkened and everyone heard a scream of terror. Everyone was shaking, except for Jaffar and Renault because…Well, that's them. The horrible scam echoed again and again, and this time, it sounded as if the person doing the creaming was coming closer and closer.
"W-What is that?!" Nino stood next to Nils, shaking a little and fingering her spell book.
"Heh! Don't worry about it!" Nils grinned and took out his flute, moving his hands over the delicate workmanship. Eliwood was stuttering, his teeth chattering in his head.
"I-I don't know what it is…But that conveniently placed puddle over there is rippling!" Eliwood shuddered as the puddle water rippled once again. The ground gave a fierce shudder and some of them were knocked off balance. Wil leaped forward and stopped Rebecca from falling while Nils grasped Nino's arm to make sure she wouldn't fall either.
The scream echoed again, and the ground gave another heavy rumble. The water in the puddle sloshed rapidly and some of it splattered on Renault's and Jaffar's cloaks. By now, almost everyone was scared out of their wits. Well, except Renault and Jaffar…again. They were just angry that there was water on their cloaks.
"N-Nils! I-I'm scared!" Nino continued to hold Nils's arm, shaking fiercely as she heard another scream. Nils was shaking himself, but he told himself to be brave so Nino wouldn't be as scared.
At the next scream, however, they noticed another voice in the background. It was female, loud, and extremely high-pitched. The members of Eliwood's group all looked at each other. They had just come to a conclusion when they spotted Erk running at high speeds towards them.
"Oh, Hey Erk. What's wrong?" Lucius raised his hand in greeting as Erk fled past him. Erk turned his head slightly as he continued running.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! SHE'S COMING!" With his warning given, Erk continued to dash off, heading for another part of the castle grounds, the forest. Everyone looked at his retreating figure when they heard the faint voice of the second figure. The voice screamed again, and its scream chilled thief blood.
"Oh my god! It's Serra! She's going to ask me for money!" Eliwood gripped his head and moaned.
"She's going to ask us to talk more and be friends with her!" Renault and Jaffar looked at each other, horrified.
"Argh! She's going to make us teach her how to use a bow!" Rebecca, Rath, and Wil tried to hide in some bushes nearby.
"She's going to tell me how she wants money and vassals! Not fair!" Nino moaned and held onto Nils tighter.
"She's going to try to trick me into being her vassal! I don't want to play music for her!" Nils sighed and patted Nino on the shoulder.
"She's going to ask me to be her boyfriend! NO!" Lucius screamed and after he was done, he noticed that everyone was staring at him. "What? It's true. I don't know how it happened…But it did. It's scary."
Everyone bowed their heads in solemn reverence to Lucius, who they all thought had it worst if Serra had ever caught them. Another yell from Serra brought them all back from their senses. Eliwood quickly took charge.
"Come on, my friends! Together, nothing can stop us from achieving victory!" Eliwood lifted his sword out of his scabbard and pointed it into the sky. Everyone cheered at his heroic speech when they saw…
"Erky! Stop running!" Serra was right in front of them, coming closer and closer. Eliwood shuddered at her shrill voice and quickly put his sword back in its sheath.
"Everyone! Retreat! Everyone man for himself!" With that, Eliwood, Jaffar, and Renault headed back for the castle, hoping that she wouldn't follow them inside.
"Hey! That's sexist!" Rebecca grimaced and was about to go after Eliwood when Wil and Rath pulled her towards the forest where Erk had run. It wasn't the smartest of decisions, but nobody thinks straight when there is a mad girl running towards them. Lucius, Nino, and Nils, who were acting more rationally than the others, headed in a different direction, quickly hiding within some trees and watching carefully.
"Wait up, Erk! I want to talk to you!" Serra came rushing into the clearing where Eliwood's group once was and continued into the forest. Lucius, Nino, and Nils let out sighs of relief as they saw Serra pass by them. They leaped out of their hiding spaces and looked around. They were the only ones left here, except for a woman with long-blond hair that was standing to the side.
"Whoa…I didn't see her before. Did you, Nino?" Nils looked at the figure and then back at Nino.
"Nope…She looks like Lucius. Is she your mother, Lucius?" Nino looked quizzically at Lucius. The unknown woman and Lucius looked very familiar. But she had this feeling that she had seen her before, somewhere, in her childhood.
"Sorry…My mother was killed…Long ago." Lucius looked sadly at the ground. But he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe and smiled. "But I must live with that…You're right though, Nino…That lady certainly does look like my mother…" Lucius stepped closer to the apparition. "Who are you, madam?"
Nils sniffed a little when he heard Lucius say that his mother was dead. He wasn't fond of hearing about people dying, especially when one of his friends was the one talking about it. He placed his arm around Nino, who was sobbing. "…Lucius…"
The woman turned at Lucius's voice. She had long, blond hair that flowed all the way to her waist. She was wearing a long, white dress similar to Serra's and had a long, white glove that she wore on her right arm. Around her neck was a long, purple scarf that fluttered, even though there was no wind. She smiled at Lucius.
"A monk of Light…I am glad that you have kept to my ideals, Lucius." The woman smiled at Lucius and she placed one of her hands on Lucius's shoulder. "Your caring nature is what led you to find one of the ghosts…I am one of them."
"Wha-What did you say, Madam?! You're a ghost?! But how can you touch me?" Lucius was shocked at this turn of events. This woman, who looked so much like his mother, was actually a ghost. He knew it was stupid, but in a small part of his heart, he believed that the ghost truly was his mother.
"Oh…Lucius…I can touch you because of your faith. I have been watching you from the heavens, young Lucius…And I believe that you alone can carry the burden that I had to during my life in this world." The woman smiled and placed her hand on his head. "Please…Take this book…In it, you will find everything you need to know…I will inform the others that I have been found. I wish you luck in finding the rest of us." The woman turned away from Lucius after giving him a leather-bound book and faced Nino and Nils.
"Ah…Nino. Another practitioner of magic. You will be strong, stronger than you've ever dreamed possible, young child. But you can only succeed if you keep trying, do you understand?"
"O-Of course. I unsderstand!" Nino nodded and smiled as the ghost stroked her hair a little. Next, the woman turned to Nils.
"And here…I see what things you have to go through, young child, and I hope you and your sister both succeed in your ideas. Now…To all of you. I bid you farewell." The woman smiled at them all and vanished in a brilliant flash of light.
Nino and Nils looked at each other. "Who was that woman?"
"I think I can answer that…" Lucius stared at the cover of the book, his voice solemn. "It is my belief that the ghost we encountered was none other than St. Elimine herself."
"What?!" The two children let out the cry at the same time. "But...Impossible!"
"It's very possible…And I also believe that the 6 ghosts we are hunting are none other than the 6 of the 8 generals from the Scouring." Lucius ran his hand over the cover of the book, smiling. "Yes…I believe this is true…Well, my children…We have completed our task at hand. Do you wish to go inside and take a look at this book she has handed us?" Lucius smiled at the two children, who nodded vigorously.
"Of course!" Smiling, Nils and Nino grasped hold of Lucius's hands and were leading him back towards to castle. As they entered, they saw Chris writing something in his notebook and Athos and Bramimond were busy drinking soda. They sat down next to them and were immediately engrossed in the book that St. Elimine had given Lucius. Their concentration attracted Chris, who put down his pencil and leaned over to see what they were reading.
As for Erk and Serra, well, they were heading for the forest, where Lyn and her group were searching for a ghost as well. If Lucius's hunch was right and the ghosts were just 6 of the 8 Generals, who would Lyn and her group face in the darkness of the forest? Lyn and her group didn't know, but as they continued searching, someone chuckled and watched them, wondering if these people would be able to find him as well as that monk was able to find Lucius.
Back in the castle, Athos grumbled as he read the end of Chris's next chapter in the story he was writing. Athos let out a huge sigh. 'His writing is never going to get better….His endings always suck.' He placed the notebook back and continued watching and drinking, hoping that his dear friend would be able to rest, now that her legacy had been completed.
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Chris: Sorry for the shorter chapter, but, well...It's with individual groups now, because they're starting to find the ghost. And yes, I must agree. I change themes way too much. Well, that's what I do. I can't really combine humor, horror, and seriousness into one…So, they alternate quite a bit. Anyway…Announcement is this. If you think that my reader reviews are too bulky and get in the way of the real story, then just say so. Tell me if you want me to take them out forever, put them at the end, or any other suggestions. If I don't get enough or they aren't good enough, I'll just keep them there. Review if you wish, and suggestions would be appreciated.