Chapter 3 - Ghost in the Night

Two years had passed since we made that pact with one another on the merry-go-round. Together we watched the continued fall of the orphanage around us, and silently we prepared for our departure. We were both seven, among the oldest of all the orphans living there, and were the last in our age group. No one wanted us. We were now considered too old. Not that it was a hard rule for adoption, but seeking adopters always wanted someone younger, someone less troublesome. Someone who was not us. But that was fine. It suited us just fine. We were leaving here - together.

Matron was furious with us of course. We had botched each and everyone of the potential adopter meetings once we found out that they would only take one of us - not both. We even earned a new nickname - the "Dregs" since we were all that was left.

The two years since that night had passed by slowly, but not idly. True to his word, Natsu trained in secret to improve his teleporting quirk while I used mine to prepare us for the outside world. Every night I would gather supplies from Matron's goonies that had taken up residence inside the house. Things that they would never notice gone or would pass off that they misplaced somewhere. After all, their rooms were under constant lock and key. No child could get in undetected. Or could they?

A smirk spread across my face as the thought passed through my mind. I was currently hovering in the air above one of Matron's goons. A dude by the name of Demi. Big guy. Likes to eat. But also likes to make sure that some of us didn't get all of the food we needed.

Demi rolled over onto his stomach, a bit a drool spilling onto his pillow as he drew in a deep snort.

It was oh so tempting to get payback at him for halving our meager dinner portions, but I had to keep my eyes on the prize. The prize being his wallet.

I floated down to the desk littered with takeout boxes and half eaten chicken buckets. The smell was enough to make me both gag and drool. I was severely hungry, even in this form that I was in.

Quietly, I shuffled through the various drawers in the desk, searching for Demi's wallet or his cashbox. Either one would do. He kept moving them around on me from week to week so I was constantly forced to search through the mess to find the money. Finally, my hands hit the familiar leather of his wallet from under a stack of papers. I withdrew it and prized it open, fishing out less than 100 yen and carefully putting the wallet back where I found it. Now came the tedious part.

While I was in this form, I could come and go unseen as I pleased, but anything corporeal I had with me could not. And that included money. Thankfully, it had been some time since I had devised a way to sneak the money out from locked rooms. And it was as simple as slipping it under the door.

I sighed, passing the money under and floating through the solid door. I picked up the money again and continued to float down the hall and back up the stairs. I had to pass through several more doors, repeating the same process over and over again just to get the money to where I needed to go. I passed by the room where the girls were held separately from the boys - my old room, but no more. Ever since Matron had deemed the pair of us good-for-nothing children, she had relegated Natsu and I to the attic under lock and key to avoid influencing the rest of her flock.

I reached the familiar old door to the attic, eyeing the several padlocks that was meant to keep us locked inside.

"If only they knew..." I thought to myself.

I slipped the cash under the door and stepped through to the other side. Natsu was already there, lying on his side of the only cot that we both shared. Next to him lay my dormant body.

He sat up and turned towards the door, staring straight through me.

"Did you get it?" He asked into the seemingly empty darkness.

I closed my eyes, and shook myself, allowing my floating form to be visible once again.

"But of course." I grinned back, waving the stolen money in front of my face as proof.

"What about dinner?" His stomach gave a growl, reminding both of us just how hungry we were.

"No luck tonight. Matron has the fridge locked down and one of her goons is currently stuffing his face with pudding in the kitchen." I sighed, drifting over to one of the floorboards in the corner of the room and prying it off to place the money inside.

"Dammit!" Natsu cursed loudly, flopping back onto the cot with a huff.

I shot him a glare. "Language."

"Yes, Mother." He stuck out his tongue, folding his arms under his head as he stared up into the rafters of the attic. "Gah! I'm so hungry! I can feel my stomach eating itself alive."

I floated over next to him and sure enough his stomach chose that moment to give off a loud growl in protest.

"I'm hungry too, but dumping the Matron's wine reserves down the sink went a little too far." I gave off a sigh, cradling my head in my hand while floating cross-legged next to Natsu.

"Can you even feel hunger when you're like that?" Natsu gestured to all of me.

"I feel everything that my body feels, idiot." It was my turn to stick my tongue out at him.

"Right, sorry."

A silence passed between us which was only multiplied by the crushing darkness that was our prison. It was the middle of summer and the unbearable heat had settled in the attic, making us sweat since there was no semblance of AC to be had. Matron couldn't be bothered to install one - deeming it our punishment for being "bad children".

"We'll be able to leave soon." Natsu spoke up beside me, breaking the silence.

"Oh?"

"I was able to make the jump to the road and back this time." He reached out a hand above him, making a fist. "I'm not getting as tired as before." He continued, "And I'm able to take more with me. Soon I'll be able to take you with me."

I rested my eyes on his outstretched fist, hope swelling within me. Natsu had been practicing with a dummy of sorts in place of a person to carry with him on jumps. While he could jump between two points with no damage to himself, it wasn't always the case with whatever he was carrying as we found out. Plus, any additional weight he carried between jumps significantly shortened his stamina and range. He had been working hard on improving this part of his quirk for my sake.

While I could fly around the house, pass through solid objects, and walk unseen I had one major drawback. My body. I had to leave it behind each time I activated my quirk. I would fall into a comatose like sleep and my soul would leave my body. Natsu was the only one to know the full extent of my powers as the adults still thought my quirk was falling asleep on command. Which meant that my body was what was keeping us both here. In order to escape from this place, we would have to take my body with us and I was useless while inside my body. I was the literal weight that was preventing Natsu from leaving.

Once I had to tried to convince him to leave me behind, that I would find another way out on my own. His response was still etched in my mind.

"Not a chance in hell. We're leaving together or not at all."

A smile passed across my lips at the memory.

"Thought that would make you smile." Natsu spoke, stirring me out of my thoughts.

"Best present ever." I grinned back at him.

"Good. Now get back in your body. It's still creepy that you look like an adult in that form." He pointed a finger at my face.

I wrinkled my nose at him in a smirk. "Is that any way to talk to your elders?" I teased.

"Elder my ass." A yawn escaped his lips and he shifted on the futon, pushing the blankets off of him. "I'm older than you."

"Tsk." I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Natsu had developed a crude tongue over the past few years, picking up some more colorful terminology from Matron's lackies. Nonetheless it was getting late, and I was tired. Rising upwards, I passed over Natsu, causing him to shiver slightly at the sensation and settled into my sleeping body. When I opened my eyes, I was looking through my actual eyes once again.

Natsu shifted his body towards mine, a final yawn escaping from his lips. Tried as I might, I couldn't stifle the yawn that crept up on me. Yawns are contagious, you know.

"Goodnight, Natsu." I whispered, closing my eyes and sinking into the futon beneath us.

"Goodnight, Ghost."

So there you have it! We get a first look at Eve's quirk. I admit it's a bit over powered, but I plan on exploiting her weakness thoroughly in the future. Every good character has an Achilles heel, and for Eve it's her physical body at least for now.