18. The Haunted Mansion

Apparently, there was another person stuck in a mansion. A little ghost girl caused a bunch of ghost-related shenanigans, according to Frey, and now they had to go to a mansion to save whoever "Dolly" was. Arganan wondered if this "Dolly" was another person who was currently a monster, just like Amber and Dylas were before meeting them.

"I was thinking of bringing Arthur and Vishnal along." Frey managed. "Both of them know magic, after all. I think it could be helpful."

"Given that you're talking to a weird ghost girl," Arganan managed, sighing as he processed the ridiculousness of the whole situation, "It makes sense you'd want those two on your side."

"And you can come along, too." Frey finished, before quickly adding, "Only if you want to. I don't know if you'd be comfortable using your powers. But I was thinking about the whole battle in Yokmir Forest, with how you defended me and Forte, and some defense would be nice."

"Whether he goes with you, Princess," Vishnal blurted, "I'll do all I can to make sure you're safe!"

Arganan didn't know how Vishnal worked in combat. Sure, he was a butler and therefore served Frey, but did this also extend to her physical defense? How the hell did butlers function here, anyway?

"Is this something we need to attend to, rightaway?" Arganan asked. He thought back to what Jones said.

No one is making you use them for combat…and if you don't want to use them for those purposes, that's fine.

"Well," Frey shrugged, "I was going to prepare a bit, first. After all, I've never been to Obsidian Mansion before." She paused, then stated, "How about we all meet at the Airship Port at 12:00? If you want to come with us, Arganan, just meet us then. Okay?"

He found himself nodding in agreement. "Okay."

What do I do?

"Whoa. Wait, she actually asked you to go with her?"

"I think it's because of my power." Arganan looked down at the cross-shaped mark on his right hand, then up at Illuminata. After the whole meeting with Frey, Arthur and Vishnal, he figured he had to consult Illuminata about all this, explaining to her what happened.

"And you also think Arthur is up to no good?"

"Something like that. It just seems odd that he'd willingly give up his position as Prince so easily, in the first place. Sure, maybe he genuinely dislikes the royal life. I can understand why." Calista hated it, too, back when I was Count and she had her own role to play. "But I think there's more to him than just him abandoning the Prince role for the sake of looking further into Selphia's tourism and so on."

"Huh." Illuminata put a few bags of Greenifier on the shelf, still talking as she worked. Arganan, meanwhile, continued sweeping the floor. "Well, I guess that does sound kinda fishy, now that you bring it up. But you have the choice to go with Frey or not, right? You could always say no."

"True. I could just stay back. And I trust Vishnal will protect Frey, too." Despite Vishnal's clumsiness and inability to cook, he was very devoted to his duty. In a way, the man reminded Arganan of Therius; devoted to their duties, no matter what happened. "

"Are you worried she'll get hurt by Arthur?"

"Something like that." He recalled Dagran. Dagran, a man who Arganan thought he could trust in the war against the Gurak. Dagran was the one that led the mercenaries that Zael was part of. He was charismatic, and clearly a leader.

Arganan had never suspected that Dagran would betray him by acting as an agent for the Gurak, too. That was one of the first things he heard, after waking up in the hospital wing from the whole incident with the Outsider. What if Arthur was like him? Getting close to Frey…only to stab her in the back later?

"I think I should go with her, then. To…just in case." Arganan managed. "But I also know Frey would be worried if I got hurt again."

"Hence your hesitation. And it does make sense." Illuminata frowned. "You did take a beating from the last time. But during that time," She shrugged, "You didn't even know you had those powers. And now you do. Maybe this will be different."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! Besides, it's not an impromptu, middle-of-the-night thing. You've got time to prepare."

"I just discovered my floating-things power yesterday."

"Exactly!" She snapped her fingers. "So now you have an opportunity to practice!"

Cue Arganan raising a brow. "Practice?"

"For self-defense!" Illuminata quickly cut in, offering him a grin. "Or, if you find a way to lift multiple things at once, it would really come in handy at the shop to reshelve things…"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I suppose you have a point. I'll go."

"Good. Take that charm with you, too!"

"I will." He wasn't sure how well that charm would work, but hey. Might as well take it with him.

After making preparations (though he did have to persuade Jones and Nancy to clear him to go to Obsidian Mansion with Frey, Vishnal and Arthur, insisiting that the three would keep him safe as much as he would try to keep them safe), Arganan met Frey, Vishnal and Arthur at the airship port.

The last time he was on one, it was to be sent to Selphia from Lazulis Island. And now, here he was, on an adventure to a place he didn't know. Funny, how he got to be the one going places while Calista was mainly stuck in Lazulis. He still couldn't help but find the irony in that, given how it was Calista who wanted to see the world more, back when he was Count.

Obsidian Mansion looked eerie, with rotted trees and withered leaves surrounding it. It was certainly grand, but the stormy weather didn't help make it look better. Clearly, there was some sort of decadence and glamour to it once, given its grand stature and all, but it was long gone.

Also, that strange little girl with lavender hair and a jester outfit on, standing right in front of the mansion, wasn't helping. Arganan assumed that this girl must be the one that Frey told him about, earlier.

"What took you so long?!" The girl exclaimed, a clear pout painted on her face. "We have to save Dolly! There's no time to waste!"

Frey couldn't help but offer the little girl a sheepish grin. "Err…" She then looked up at the dreary mansion in front of them. "Is Dolly…here?"

The little girl nodded, suddenly beaming. "Yes, that's right."

The Princess visibly paled, and swallowed. "I-it has...a certain ambiance, huh…"

"Come on!" The girl seemed completely not disturbed by the look of this mansion. "We're going in! Dolly, we'll be there soon!"

And with that, she zipped straight into the mansion with no one to stop her. Frey immediately dashed into he mansion, and Arganan quickly followed her (as well as Vishnal and Arthur, who were faster runners than him).

As the group entered the mansion, Arganan noticed the little girl standing there, pointing up ahead. "It's this way!"

"Wait!" Frey called.

The girl turned around to face her, blinking. "What is it?"

"Uh…" Frey scratched the back of her head. "Will you at least tell me your name?"

The girl simply smiled. "Why don't you introduce yourself before you ask a lady's name?"

"I…suppose that would be the polite thing to do. Sorry."

Arganan couldn't help but sigh. "She's the one that scared us first, though."

His argument was left ignored as Frey continued speaking. "My name is Frey."

The girl grinned. "I'm Pico. I appeared before you so I could help Dolly."

Pico? Strange name. "So, this Dolly you keep tal –"

"Enough with the introductions! There's no time to waste!" And with that, Pico zipped away.

Arganan heard Arthur chuckle. "And…off she goes."

Vishnal dashed ahead, towards the doors where Pico went through. As he tried the doorknobs, however, Arganan heard the ensuing creaking. "Huh? The door's locked? I wonder if Pico accidentally locked it…"

Arthur frowned, looking around as he joined him at the top of a staircase. "The eyes seem like they're staring straight at me…wait, there's something written here!" Arganan and Frey both caught up with them, just in time for Arthur to read aloud. "Marionetta, the one I loved…and the one I killed."

The former Count groaned, shook his head. "What sort of hellhouse did we get into?"

A little click resounded through the hall, and Frey whirled around, looking towards the entrance. "Was that the door?"

"What!?" Vishnal ran straight back down the stairs, before trying the entrance doors. "It's no good! They're not opening!"

Arthur raised a brow, looking around. "Maybe there's a key or a switch. Everyone, start looking!"

As much as Arganan wanted to take the lead, he also knew he was in the same group as 1. The Princess Frey herself, 2. The former Prince Arthur, and 3. Vishnal, Frey's loyal butler. He had no choice but to follow along.

Arganan decided to check downstairs again, finding a portrait with the words inscribed below the picture. He read the following: "I will love this house, and all the guests I invite. I will make portraits of them. They will be here forever."

This is definitely a hellhouse. We're screwed, aren't we?

He heard a yelp to his right, and saw Vishnal tangling with the spider webs. "This place must be abandoned for a long time…I've never seen a dustier place than this!"

Arganan moved to join Vishnal's side, hoping to help him, but he felt something drip onto his left shoulder. He paused, moving slightly to the left to try to get out of the way, and he put his right hand to his shoulder after taking off his glove. Against his better judgement, he looked at it, and then quickly brushed his hand against the side of his coat. That…was red.

Wait…red? He hoped it wasn't blood.

"Everyone?" Frey called, and he looked up to see her down by the stairs. "I found a faded diary! Maybe it'll give us some clues!"

The men all joined her, somewhat huddling around her as she read. Arganan had a very bad feeling that this was not going to end well, but he listened anyway.

"Ever since I started living here, I constantly feel like I'm being watched from somewhere…But supposedly, I'm the only person here." Frey flipped the page, continuing. "What's going on? Things I throw away keep coming back…Who's doing this? Why don't you show yourself?"

Another page. "I can't take it anymore. I decided to leave this mansion tomorrow.

Dear stranger. I guess today's the last day I'll be spending with you. Goodbye. Take care."

The next page had its writing in red ink. "No matter how hard I try to leave the mansion, I somehow always end up back here…Oh, you might be wondering about the colour change! My pen ran out of ink yesterday. But I can still write. There seems to be red ink dripping from my right hand now. But it hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I found it…I might finally be able to leave this place! I hid the silver key behind the painting. Finally…I can finally be free! Be…free…is what I…thought…"

"A key?" Arthur quickly ran upstairs, going towards the painting to the right of the door. He reached behind the painting, before taking out a key, clearly crimson in colour. "I found a red key!"

"What?" Frey looked up from the journal, frowning. "But the diary talked about a silver key, though…"

Arganan decided it was best not to tell Frey that the diary's writer was probably dead, and the key was probably covered in the writer's blood. "Try it on the entrance. Maybe we can get out."

"But what about Dolly?" Frey asked, looking towards him. "Pico said that we can save her."

"Maybe we should save ourselves, first." The former Count noted. "Last time I was with you, a butterfly monster almost killed us."

"We can at least try it on the entrance." Arthur noted. "If we need to retreat, it would be good to know we have a method of escape."

The Princess sighed. "Well…okay."

Arthur went to go try it on the entrance doors, but alas, they didn't work. "I don't think this is the door we're meant to use this for."

"Great." Arganan shook his head. What were they supposed to do? Continue into the mansion and find out more? Was this Pico's fault that they were stuck in here, or maybe this Dolly had some sort of superpower locking them in? He went back down the stairs again, taking a deep breath, before extending his right hand towards the entrance. Maybe it would blast the doors open, if he used his Outsider's power?

Nothing happened. He frowned. Come on, already. Work!

Nothing happened, despite his thoughts and wishes. A curse left his lips as he looked towards the others, all of them having concerned looks on their faces. "I can't use my Outsider's power. Apparently, unlocking doors is out of the question. Vishnal, Arthur, please tell me one of you know how to pick a lock."

"I'm sorry." Vishnal frowned, shaking his head. "It's not something I'm trained in, as a butler."

Arthur also shook his head. "I can't say I have experience, either. But if this key isn't meant for the entrance, then what is it for?"

Frey frowned, then looked towards the doors Pico went through. "Maybe…we have to go through there."

Arganan stared at her. "Deeper into the mansion? Do you have any idea what we're getting into?"

"There are four of us." Frey reminded him, her gaze snapping towards him. "I'm sure we can make it through. Right?"

Arganan looked towards Vishnal and Arthur. The younger two men shared nods of approval, and the former Count could only sigh. "As long as we get out of this alive, I trust your direction, Frey. Take the lead."

At least Frey knew both magic and swordfighting, he reasoned. He could provide minor healing magic. He thought about using the Outsider's power as well, but he decided to save it for emergency scenarios (like with the butterfly beast, for example). Vishnal was also handy in combat, and Arthur had magic on hand to assist. And Arganan knew he could make things float. Maybe he could just pick up inanimate objects and toss them at the ghosts as a distraction, if they ran into any.

They would be fine, he was sure. Right?

He just hoped things didn't go as badly as last time. Gripping the charm Illuminata gave him tightly in his hand, he followed the others through the door, going deeper into the mansion.