Chapter 2
Omen of Doom
Rated: T Probably lower but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Warning: none.
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters used nor do I have any rights to the book I read to get the inspiration for these stories. The book "Phantom Animals" was written by Daniel Cohen.
A/N: The characters in the ghost story told will not be formally named however the descriptions should (hopefully) seem familiar, that is intentional. As with all of my stories this has no Beta, so please forgive (and/or point out) the errors that I might avoid or fix them in the future. Now for the ghost stories to begin.
0.o
"I'll go first!" Lenalee exclaimed, almost bouncing as she spoke.
"This story happened long ago in at place called Bala Lake-"
"Where's Bala Lake?" Allen chimed in abruptly, interrupting Lenalee.
"It's in Wales," Lavi answered quickly as he felt the irritation at being interrupted expressed by Lenalee's hunched shoulders.
"As I was saying," Lenalee quickly resumed as she got back into her story mode. "At one time the lake didn't exist, it used to be a dry valley and this valley was the site of the castle of a cruel and oppressive earl. The earl had long been tormented by a ghostly voice telling him to stop his evil ways or 'Vengeance will come.' The prince treated the voice, as he treated most things, with contempt."
Here Lenalee paused looking around to confirm that she had everybody's utmost attention as well as to check that nobody was going to interrupt again.
"The earl had waited many years for the birth of a son and heir. And when his wife finally did have a baby boy, the earl ordered a great celebration to be had at his castle. There was to be a lavish feast, an unending flow of wine with music and dancing that was to go on all night. One of those invited, indeed ordered, to attend and perform at the celebration was an extremely talented Harper."
Lenalee paused again and looked at the others as Kanda let out a quiet but amused laugh and Allen let out a small squeak. Looking closely she noticed that Lavi was drawing his foot back from where it had hit Allen's leg. Allen's face carried a mildly embarrassed look as he mumbled an apology; Kanda's face still looked amused, while Lavi's face carried a mix of both expressions.
"You have another question, Allen?" Lenalee considering herself to be a smart woman quickly grasped the situation presented in front of her.
"Um…what's a harper?"
Again Lavi's immense knowledge came to the forefront as he answered for Lenalee.
"A Harper is a man who sings traditional songs and ballads and accompanies himself on the harp. There are still a few harpers in Wales today, but centuries ago the Harper was considered an essential part of every major celebration."
"Oh, okay." Allen quickly nodded his understanding and to signal Lenalee to continue her story.
"Now the Harper in this particular account was a tall dark-haired male and he was very well known, but at the time was also little ill. After several hours of playing and singing he was worn out and found a quiet corner in which to rest.
"As he sat there trying to recover his strength, he heard a voice whisper in his ear, 'Vengeance, vengeance!'
"When he turned to see who was talking to him, he was astonished to discover a small pale figure with white hair. The figure lingered near him then raised its face to reveal that it was a male with a look of sorrow and appeal in his eyes, and then he began to walk slowly toward the door. Somehow the Harper knew that he was being asked to follow and did so immediately, without even bothering to take his harp. The figure led the old man beyond the castle walls where every few moments he could hear the cry 'Vengeance, vengeance!'
"The moors were considered to be extremely dangerous, particularly at night when you couldn't see where you were going. Yet in some mysterious way the figure seemed to know that safest path and led him through without pause or hesitation. The Harper couldn't help but to notice that the farther they went the louder and more insistent the cries of 'Vengeance, vengeance!' became.
"Finally, when they reached the top of a hill overlooking the valley, the poor Harper was too exhausted to go on. So he stopped to rest and at this point the pale figure that he was following disappeared as did the cries of 'Vengeance, vengeance!' Blind to all but the moon and the dark of night, the Harper could only rely on his sense of hearing and what he heard was what sounded like the loud murmur of a rushing brook.
"The Harper suddenly realized he had done a foolish and dangerous thing. The earl would be furious when he found out the he had left the celebration without permission. Everyone feared the earl's anger. But there was nothing to be done about it. The man knew he would never be able to find his way back through the moors to the castle in the dark. He would have to await daylight, and the earl's rage.
"The exhausted Harper could only fall asleep. When he awoke the sun was already up and revealed an astonishing sight. The valley where the castle had once stood was now a lake. During the night it had been completely flooded. And there, floating on the surface of the lake was the old man's harp."
The almost quiet of the windy night briefly greeted Lenalee before Lavi broke out in applause for her. Kanda sat calmly while looking mildly impressed and Allen just sat in a stunned silence.
"That was great Lena!" Lavi proudly proclaimed.
"Thank you," Lenalee said with a bit of pride seeping through her voice.
"It will take a lot to top that!" Lavi assured her bringing a beaming smile to her face.
As it seemed that their sappy talk would continue Kanda was more than a little pleased when his groan brought them out of their mushy world.
"Well, it's now officially Halloween," Lavi spoke taking the hint that Kanda conveyed and moving the discussion along.
"And there's still no sign of anyone coming either," Lenalee complained with a frown now gracing her face as she stared at the dwindling fire.
"Do you think that we should just start walking and try to get back home?" Allen asked not really wanting to go walking at night through the woods but also not liking the way the fire looked as another strong gust threatened to extinguish it permanently.
"What would that accomplish?" Kanda grumbled, "We should just stay here. Anyone coming by would see the fire easier than they would see us. Just look around for more branches so we can keep this fire going."
"But we might get help sooner if we leave, besides at this rate the winds going to blow this fire out and won't allow us to start or keep another one going." Allen bravely pressed on.
"No, we should just stay here and wait for help to come and tend to this fire and not let it go out while we wait." Mind made up Kanda settled more firmly on the ground.
"There's more than just you here Kanda, we're in this together so we should vote on whether to stay or go."
"There's nothing to vote on. If you want to keep everyone together then we're staying here."
"Kanda, I can't help but notice that you're being exceedingly stubborn about the issue of staying here." Allen's mouth snapped shut as Lavi broke in.
"Hn, it's nothing. I simply don't want to go traipsing mindlessly through the freezing night, especially when we could achieve the same results by staying here." Kanda merely shrugged in feigned indifference.
"Hmm, if you say so," Lavi murmured clearly not believing him.
Before it became too uncomfortable the silence was broken by Lenalee, "So what are we going to do?"
"We are going to stay right here and wait for help to arrive," Kanda's voice clearly leaving no place for disagreement.
Tired of the arguments Lenalee decided to voice her next question to seem more like a compromise than a defeat, "Should we continue with the stories then?"
Nods abounded as Lavi and Allen grew tired of Kanda's stubbornness and tried not to notice his triumphant smirk.
"So who's going to go next?" Lenalee asked tiredly while silently hoping that someone found them before things got worse.
0.o
A/N: This story was based on the story "The White Bird of Doom". The changes of course begin with the pale figure (Allen) taking the place of the White Bird, the Harper (Kanda) carried no name but was actually an elderly man and the earl (Earl, duh) in the story was substituted for an evil prince who was also nameless.
I hope that the format I used when showing extended talk, during the ghost story, was done correctly. I have seen many other (and greatly varying) formats and as none looked quite right I am unclear as to which is correct. This is the format I will be using throughout if it is wrong please feel free to correct me (I may not change it immediately but I will try to do so in the future).