Warning: eating disorder, mentions of suicide.
"Deep stone bars, you're never getting out of here!" Nya stayed, glaring at Ghoul Tar. "Now tell us, what's in the Tomb that's so important?"
"What does Morro want?" Sensei Wu asked.
"Ghoul Tar never talk," the ghost replied, averting his gaze. "Oops, Ghoul Tar talked." He mentally beat himself. Another bad thing. Why does he always say the wrong things? Bansha, Soul Archer, and Wrayth always told him to be quiet, so he did most of the time. "Ghoul Tar won't talk from now on."
Ronin growled, as Ghoul Tar flinched. They're mad. They hate him. They're gonna, he pushed the thoughts aside. "Oh I'll get him talking."
"No Ronin, we must find another way to get answers out of him," Wu replied. Ghoul Tar thanked him silently to know he wasn't going to be tortured more than he was.
He watched them leave, sighing with relief. He wouldn't have to talk, or anything. He'd still be able to be useful.
They came back, and Ghoul Tar turned away. They weren't going to get to him.
"Still won't talk, eh?" Wu asked. Ghoul Tar didn't listen until he heard the words that stung.
"Puffy potstickers?" Misako asked.
Ghoul Tar turned. No, not those things. He opened his mouth to say the words he regretted. "Grant not hungry. Stop offering food!" He realized he slipped with the name. His eyes started to glaze as Misako, Ronin, and Wu looked surprised.
"Grant?" Wu asked carefully.
You worthless boy! Screeched The Preeminent in his head. I am done with you! You idiotic useless child!
"Sorry..." Ghoul Tar whispered, as he experienced more pain than he had ever felt. He crumbled to the floor, clutching his head as he felt his cover melting away, back to how he looked when he died. A twelve-year-old boy with blond hair and brown eyes, skinny as could be, you could even see his rib cage.
Grant remember some of the higher intelligence words the others used, and one that stuck out. He looked up at the humans, who had a shocked expression as his thin fingers gripped the cage. "I'm not eating your stupid food."
Misako seemed to be the first to recover. "I... I don't understand..."
Grant started to cry. Translucent green tears trailed down his face, thankfully providing no pain. "We're just children," he whispered, hugging himself. The words felt so different to him, but they were the right ones. "Just children that couldn't take the pain anymore. Wyatt choked himself with a chain. Seth pierced an arrow through his heart. Bailey broke a bottle with her voice and slit her wrists. Morro killed himself in the Caves, and..." he couldn't continue.
He stared at the plate of potstickers in front of him. "I'm not hungry," he murmured, tears falling freely. He remembered a word that Bansha, Bailey, once said. Grant looked up. "I'm anorexic."
Even Ronin seemed to soften up, as Misako hesitantly opened the cage with the keys. Grant only sat there. "I can't... go anywhere," he stated. "She got rid of me, I can't just walk around."
Nya's facial expression turned to pity. Grant looked away. He couldn't go anywhere. He was useless. He was still a ghost, having the water weakness and just worthless. He couldn't help.
"We're going to help you, okay?" Wu said. "You and your friends." Grant looked at the elder man with disbelief. Why would they help him? After everything he's done?
"Bailey, Seth, Wyatt? Who the heck are they?" Ronin asked.
Grant smiled. "She always made us remember our past names by keeping the first letter. Bailey is Bansha, Seth is Soul Archer, and Wyatt, Wrayth."
"Are all the ghosts children that... you know?" Misako asked hesitantly.
Grant shook his head. "They're adults. It's only us." He slowly trembled as he stood up, not having a tail anymore and smaller. He felt so weak and vulnerable.
The boy sat down in the chair, staring at the grains of wood in the table. He couldn't believe they were going to help him. Not only that, but help his friends too.
Nya picked up the tray of potstickers, holding it out to Grant. "It isn't gonna change how you look, Grant. Just take one."
The ghost looked at it carefully. "I'm not..." Nya inched it closer to him, daring him to finish his sentence. He slowly took one, nibbling it.
"Thanks."