This took forever to write! I was hoping to finish before the show's third anniversary but that didn't happen. Side note, I got a Scratch plush with a Molly coming in a few months!
Here it is, the conclusion to the Chairman Ollie arc! I planned this a few months before I even started the fic, and I had posted art for an important scene back in February alongside an early outline. The main reason it took me so long to even get started on building up to this fic is that this chapter shares some major tropes with another fanfic of mine and I wanted to figure out a good way to write them differently.
The following morning, Molly, Scratch and Libby were up bright and early to get a jump on their dire task: find out what's going on with Ollie and fix it. Libby had brought over as many books on specters and paranormal issues as she could carry. The girls focused on searching for answers while the ghost stayed by Molly's side for comfort and reassurance, like he'd been doing since they got home yesterday.
"Ugh, this one's a dud too!" Libby was frustrated, but avoided taking it out on the book and set it down carefully. She'd combed through every inch of her pop-up book last night with no luck. It was all she could do while at home with her mom.
"I'm not even sure what I should be looking for," Molly admitted. "How do you search for 'why does my boyfriend keep forgetting stuff including his girlfriend'?!" Her voice went a bit higher with her emotions, prompting another pat on the back from her roommate.
"Hey, hey-we're gonna fix him, okay?" Scratch had felt powerless last night. While Libby hit the books, he kept Molly company. She didn't bring up what had happened to her family, but she was terrible at pretending she wasn't hurting. He'd slept in a cobweb hammock above her bed to be closer in case she needed him during the night. Fortunately, she slept through the night but only because her best friend was there to be her shoulder to cry on and tire herself out.
Molly wrapped her arms around her marshmallow-like best friend/adopted ghost sibling. "I know." She exhaled.
Scratch wasn't done yet. "By this time tomorrow we'll have Ollie back to his old self. Annoyingly chipper and making oogly eyes at you." An odd noise perked his non-visible ears. "Hey, does anyone hear a 'baba da bap'?"
The sound was coming from the shelf above Molly's bed, and upon reaching inside Molly found the source to be a glittery, gold-banded wrist communicator. "Oh yeah, June made these for the Ghost Friends."
"That was the time with the river-rafting ghost, right?" Scratch scratched his head.
"No, it was when we went to the hexed chateau." Libby reminded him of the previous misadventure.
"Right, when we brought Sharkie… why don't we ever use those things?" The ghost had an excuse for not using the gadget, he had misplaced his after the first use. Sharkie might have eaten it, he wouldn't put it past the ghost shark.
The beeping tone rang again, Molly answered the call. "What's the sitch?"
June's face appeared on-screen, she looked worried. "Did you see Ollie's wraith return to his body yesterday?!"
"Y-yeah! Right after school… but-wait, why are you asking?"
"Ollie's wraith never came home yesterday!"
The air in the room froze with dread. Libby grabbed the bracelet from Molly while the girl was processing this new information. "We're coming over. There's a lot we need to talk about."
Taking back her bracelet and seeing June had ended the transmission, Molly desperately turned her attention to the blue ghost. "Scratch-"
"Way ahead of you!" He opened a portal, anticipating what she would ask. "I'll check the Ghost World, you two go to his house."
The girls were already climbing down the ladder. "Thanks Scratch!" Molly closed the entrance to her room and hurried down. Besides Libby, her brother was also waiting for her down below. "Great, you're here too! We got a crisis on our hands!" Molly dragged them both down the stairs with her and went straight to the Chen household.
OXOXOXOX
If Ollie was doing anything in the Ghost World, it would be chairman work. Scratch portaled to the Dark Dais where the Ghost Council was working on something. "Scratch?" Alister lifted his reading glasses. "If you're here to drop off that shark of yours on us again-"
"I'm looking for Ollie!" Scratch got to the point, he didn't have time to discuss sharksitting habits.
The barristers changed their tune from annoyance at the previous chairman, to pride of their current one. "Oh, Oliver is busy with the soul audit." Lucretia answered.
"If only you could be as diligent as he is." Bart pointedly looked at his former boss. "He's been working nonstop since he got here yesterday."
"Such a fine boy!" Grimbella praised.
"HE'S WHAT?!" Scratch was not admiring the kid's work ethic like the others, he was alarmed by it. "I've got some words for you morons later, right now I need to get to Ollie."
Scratch's seriousness caught them all off guard. Lucretia opened a portal at his request. "He's in the old Chairman's chamber. It was the only place big enough to hold all those fil-"
"Yeah, great. Don't wanna hear it." It wasn't possible for Scratch to care less about what they were saying. He floated on through the vortex and floated into a ceiling-high stack of paperwork. "Ugh. Think I got a papercut in my eyeball." Knocking over the tower of files, Scratch was treated to the view of dozens of identical stacks and a figure in a black robe working at a desk in the middle of it all.
The Chairman finished looking over the file of a light blue ghost, then sorted it into the 'disposal' void because the soul in question was not actually dead. "There you are!" He looked up at the light blue ghost approaching him. As Scratch got closer, he noticed a change. Usually the wraith's face was visible when the hood was up on his head. Right now, the only thing visible in the face hole was glowing orange ectoplasm. Like how the old Chairman looked.
"Scratch, I am busy." The Chairman barely acknowledged him, immediately grabbing another file to get started on. His voice sounded oddly flat.
The older ghost slammed his hands against the desk. "What the heck are you still doing here?!"
"... My job." He moved to stamp the file, and was intercepted by his predecessor, who yanked the stamp away and knocked the contents of his desk onto the floor.
"You know what I mean! First you get obsessed with this soul business, and now I find out you've been cooped up in this musty old cave since yesterday!?" Strangely, the kid didn't react to his outburst other than simply retrieving the objects thrown about, and using his powers to fix the stack of paperwork Scratch had knocked over when he came in. Was he even listening?! "HEY! I'm talking to you!" He grabbed the Chairman by the sleeve, seeing that he was about to grab his stamp and file again. "Look at me when I'm berating you! Do you remember what I said when you were first starting out?" No answer, the wraith only stared. "I told you that you have an eternity to fix the Ghost World and that you can't miss out on your actual life. You listened to me then, why the backtracking on your character development?"
The boy tilted his head. "What do you mean? This is where I belong. I'm the Chairman." The hands holding his sleeve let go, and he was free to resume his work.
This was not normal at all. Scratch could tell the kid was really out of it, but how out of it was he? "So… what would you describe our relationship as? Enemies to friends? Mentor and mentee? What pops up when you think of you and me?" Scratch prompted as a test.
A moment of contemplation, then the robed one gave an answer. "Former and current Chairmen."
"Woah, woah, wouldn't you say we're friends?" That wasn't good. The kid made no effort to rescind his answer, he went back to his job. "Do you even care about me?" The blue ghost sounded a bit hurt.
"All ghosts matter to me. It is my duty to govern and keep the peace for all the souls in the Ghost World." Nothing personal, no emotional weight to his words. He still spoke in that flat-tone that Scratch had started to hate more than any weird bonding moment they'd had. The Swoopy Hair he knew would always call him a friend. How had he become so detached overnight?
This was much worse than what Scratch could have imagined, this kid was spending too much time in the afterlife, he needed to get out and touch grass or get some sleep. "OK, enough is enough!" He lifted the Chairman up and brought him to the door, placing him down and nudging him towards the exit. "You've been here far too long. You need to go home, Ollie!"
"... Who's Ollie?"
If Scratch had a heart, it would have stopped.
OXOXOXOX
The remaining Ghost Friends arrived at the Chen household. Ruben led them inside while he rambled. "We had dinner with the Davenport's last night and didn't come home until late. We caught Ollie's body before he went to bed and assumed his soul had only recently stepped out and would be back shortly because he's done that before!" He led the kids to the garage, where June was fixated on her computer and his wife tended to their son's shell. "This morning when we saw June she said Ollie came home without his soul and hadn't seen him since dinner so she assumed that he had come back."
Molly's eyes landed on Shell Ollie, who was lying on the couch looking worse for wear. Esther moved aside, so the girl could kneel down and take his hand. The worried mother paced around and picked up where her husband left off. "We checked the old ecto-detector and found no traces of ectoplasmic activity in the household since the kids left for school! Ollie's soul never made it home and when we checked his body…" She didn't need to explain further. Even for a soulless husk, Shell Ollie was in bad shape. He was awake but breathing heavily, out of energy and unable to respond with even a bleak statement.
Clutching his hand tighter, Molly couldn't stand seeing even his empty body in pain. She shouldn't have deluded herself into thinking all of his behavior was normal, she should have listened to June and found a way to prevent this. "June, you were right yesterday. Something IS seriously wrong with Ollie. I didn't want to believe it, and I sure as corn never imagined he'd forget who I am-"
"Hold up-" June paused whatever she had been typing and swiveled her chair to face her friends. "Did you say Ollie forgot you?"
The sad enhappifier nodded. "He didn't remember me at all when we met after school."
June felt her stomach sink, her heart raced. "No- nonono!" Her hands typed faster than anyone could follow. Her parents and friends held their breath as they awaited the youngest girl to elaborate on her response. With one last click, June's data had been finalized… and the color drained from her face. "I-I was right! Oh, cob I was right!" She was horrified at being correct.
Darryl ran to his best friend and gently held her arm. "June?..." He feared what she had to say. They all did. Libby and her parents crowded around her computer, while Molly and her brother's shell stayed put.
With Darryl and Libby guiding her to take a deep breath, June calmed herself enough to explain her findings. "Since Ollie took me to the Ghost World, I've suspected there were unknown side effects to spending prolonged time as a wraith. I had a theory but no solid evidence to back it up… until Molly's recount of Ollie forgetting her. Unfortunately, I have now confirmed what I feared was the case: The longer a wraith is apart from their body, the more memories they lose until they've completely forgotten their human life."
Silence hung in the room, the ramifications of what was said sinking in. Ruben was the first to speak up, trying not to let his voice quiver. "Ollie wouldn't-he couldn't just forget everything!" He hugged his wife, who was just as horrified as he was and trying to remain calm.
Molly felt herself shaking. Holding onto Shell Ollie's hand was the one thing keeping her from completely flipping out. "We can fix it, right?! We can make him remember?!"
Libby was also shaken by the revelation, though something stood out. "How did his condition get so bad so quickly?" He had been frequenting the Ghost World much more in the last two weeks. Yesterday, however, the effects seemed to get worse after-Libby gasped. "The constant back and forth between human and ghost!-"
"-likely accelerated the memory loss exponentially." June finished Libby's train of thought, having already caught on to the same idea. "That is almost certainly what happened."
The youngest boy in the room saw a simple solution to all of this. "Couldn't we just nab him and shove him back into his body?" Darryl wondered why no one else had thought of that.
"It's not that simple." June debunked his plan, having already accounted for that possibility when she started her research. "Any reluctance to return to the body affects the connection between shell and wraith." She pulled up a chart on her computer. "According to the data, the will to live is needed for wraiths to properly rejoin their bodies, or else they get rejected."
Great, there was no easy way to restore Ollie. Ever the optimist, Molly hoped it could still be early enough to convince him to come back. "Scratch went to see Ollie in the Ghost World. I bet any second now he'll pop in and say the memory loss hasn't gotten too bad-"
A portal opened up and out came Scratch. "This is really bad! Ollie has totally forgotten who he is!" Way to kill the hope, Scratch.
Containing her panic, Molly reluctantly let go of Shell Ollie and stood up. "OK, OK-We need a plan and fast!" She tapped her finger to her forehead, able to feel all eyes on her as everyone looked to her for a solution. "Right, so… we need to get Ollie to remember who he is. We'll need to become wraiths to get into the Ghost World…" She tapped her balled hand against her palm. "Here's what we're going to do, the Ghost Friends will go over and get Ollie back while Mr. and Mrs. Chen watch our bodies-"
"We're coming too," Esther insisted. "Ollie is our son. There is no way we are going to sit down and wait." She felt Ruben squeeze her shoulder, being as resolved as she was to save their boy.
Libby knew they couldn't leave all their shells behind without supervision, and she was no stranger to watching over empty shells. "I'll stay and watch your bodies instead."
"I'm gonna sit this one out too." Darryl raised his hand. "I don't know Ollie as well as you do, I won't be much help getting his memories back." He knew where he was most useful, and it was taking care of the bodies of his sister, his best friend and her family.
No one argued over the trade-off. They all knew what they needed to do. Scratch opened a portal for the group. "Everyone going on the rescue mission hurry and get your butts into the portal."
Molly leaped through with zero hesitation, changing into her golden wraith form. June followed next, emerging as a red-colored wraith. That only left…
Ruben was frozen, staring at the swirling hole in reality and what it meant. How much of his life had he spent hating and wanting to eliminate ghosts? It had been only a few months that he had changed his stance and given ghosts a chance. He was still adjusting to having the one that scared him as a child as a friend. To reach his son, Ruben had to become what he had once hunted. He felt a hand take his own, Ruben and Esther silently turned to one another. She'd been the only person to take his traumatizing incident seriously. They became partners in ghost hunting and in life. They adjusted through this lifestyle change together, and together they would take this leap.
"For Ollie." Ruben readied himself.
"For Ollie." Esther did the same.
The Chen parents stepped into the portal and felt their souls split from their physical forms. Their eyes had been squeezed shut, opened to take in their new forms. Ruben was an indigo colored wraith, the same color as Jeff with a J. Esther was a blush-pink colored wraith, her glasses remained on her form like they did with her daughter.
"This is incredible!" Esther studied her wraith form. If her oldest child weren't in danger she'd love to test out her ghost abilities.
Ruben poked his ectoplasmic form, it really did feel like a marshmallow. He poked too hard and his hand went through his side and got stuck. When he tried to free his arm, he caught sight of his empty shell and flinched. "Incredible, and really weird."
Scratch grinned at the irony of the former ghost hunters being ghosts. "How the tables have turned."
The smallest, red wraith ushered everyone to the portal. "We need to get going!" They all followed June's lead and left through the portal.
It was down to Libby, Darryl, and five soulless husks. They all stood around awkwardly, till the turtleneck-clad girl realized something they had forgotten. "... We should call your parents and come up with a good reason to miss school today."
OXOXOXOX
The quintet arrived outside the entrance to the Chairman's Chamber. They weren't alone either, the Ghost Council were huddled before the large doors, having their own hushed conversation. Lucretia was the first to notice the presence of the newcomers and directed the rest of the concerned council over to speak with them. "Scratch, we need to talk about Oliver."
Alister was visibly worried over the young Chairman. "We came to check on his progress after you left, and something is very wrong. Oliver is acting differently. Do you have any idea why that might be?"
The light blue ghost felt his eye twitch, any restraint he'd been holding onto snapped. "Oh gee, I wonder? Could there have been a reason I had to see him so urgently?" His sarcasm was laced with sweetness as fake as artificial sweetener. "Maybe it's because he's lost his memory of everything that makes him human?!"
The barristers gasped, checking with the other wraiths whose sad faces confirmed that Scratch was telling the truth. "But-" Grimbella stammered. "But how could this have happened?!"
"I got a pretty good idea." Scratch was feeling peckish, he supposed he could chew out the council to curb his appetite. "You pompous old retainers encouraged him to keep working past his limits! He's been here since yesterday working nonstop, no breaks, no snacks, he just keeps going! That boy would willingly stay here and fix everything if you let him! And you did! He forgot who he is and you four forgot about human limitations! Ollie isn't a ghost like you, he is a living teenager. Trying to keep up with your work ethic pushed him too far!"
It wasn't just the council, even the wraiths who came with Scratch were stunned by his rant. As much as he denied it, he cared for the ex-ghost hunter. Some of that may have been subconscious views on work habits, but most of that was out of friendship for the boy.
Scratch's words had the intended effect on the Ghost Council. Each of them couldn't make eye contact with the rescue party and felt ashamed for the unintended consequences they allowed to happen. That young orange wraith is the best chairman they'd ever known, but also the only chairman that still had a human life to balance. What worked for them was not best for the boy. They could have encouraged him to pace himself and not keep him working past his scheduled hours. But they didn't.
The older ghosts floated aside and gestured to the chamber. "Please, help him." Bartholomew spoke softly. The wraiths were allowed into the chamber, with Scratch stopping at the back of the line. He knew his old coworkers never meant for this to happen, and the guilt they felt was enough punishment. And it's not like he didn't feel some responsibility for this too…
There were files piled up to the ceiling inside the chamber, it was impossible to move without bumping into a stack. The Chen's and Molly couldn't care less about the paperwork and shoved it aside until they spotted a dark figure among the light-colored files. "Ollie!" four voices overlapped.
The disturbance went unnoticed by the Chairman, who kept sorting the files unaware of the guests. It wasn't until they were floating right in front of him was he aware of their presence. "Ollie! Ollie, we're here!" The golden girl flew up close.
"... How may I help you?" He flatly asked.
Esther came up to his right. "Ollie, you may not remember us, but we're your family!"
"And your girlfriend!" Molly added.
The robed one didn't react, simply staring blankly in the direction of the pink wraith. Ruben joined his wife and each of them took one of the boy's hands in theirs. Esther took the lead, speaking in a gentle voice only a mother could have. "I'm your mother, and this is your father. We are your parents, Ollie Chen. Even if you can't recognize who we are, you're still our son."
The Chairman tilted his head slightly. "I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. I am the Chairman of the Ghost World." He removed his hands from theirs and grabbed another file to review and sort.
Disheartened, Esther and Ruben exchanged saddened glances. The indigo-colored father intertwined his hands with his wife, silently telling her not to give up yet. Ruben moved away from his wife and reached across the desk to hold his son's shoulders, though the boy did not look up and continued his work. "Oliver, you are such a great kid. You have endless empathy and courage. Watching you grow up has been one of the greatest joys in my life. You have no idea how proud you make us, how much you mean to us. That's why you need to come back to us. You can't stay here.
The robed one finally lifted his head, raising his parents' hopes. "No, this is where I must stay. It is my duty to serve the Ghost World. That is my purpose." And just like that, he crushed their budding expectations of getting through to him. Their pleas fell on deaf ears. The Chairman was hardly paying attention to their words. It didn't matter to him, he had a job to do. He placed the soul's file in the correct spot and went to grab another, taking notice that several piles had been knocked over by his guests.
Feeling helpless while their son floated past them, Ruben and Esther were at a loss. They shouldn't have expected this to be easy, they should have known it would take more than words to get their boy back. They should have known better, but it didn't make it hurt any less.
"Hey-" Their son's girlfriend approached them. "He's still in there." That's all the couple needed to feel reassured. Molly followed the Chairman to where he was cleaning up the scattered files. Restacking the papers with a wave of his hand, and removing the files that had gotten mixed up. He beckoned a few files to himself, and a golden wraith got in his way. "Is there any chance you could stop and take a quick break?"
"... No."
"Then at least hear me out? OK?" Molly felt the files pass around her and settle in the boy's grasp. He made no indication that he was listening, there was no way to find out except by talking to him some more. "I know you can't remember who you are, you've probably forgotten you're still a living human."
The Chairman turned to face her. "I am a ghost. I am not alive."
His emotionless voice hurt to hear. Molly couldn't even see his face. He felt farther away than ever, and he was only a couple of inches away. "Yes you are! Your soul is separated from your living body, you are a wraith, all of us are… except Scratch." Oh, Molly…
Flying in front of him again, Molly accidentally knocked the files away that he'd been carrying. The Chairman bent down to collect them off of the floor, Molly did the same and helped him clean up her mess while she pressed on. "You moved to Brighton last year, you and your family moved across the street from my house. The two of us clicked and we-we had so much in common! Then I found out your whole family hunted ghosts, and it made things more than a little difficult. But you changed. I mean just you being the ruler of ghosts is proof of that! We spent even more time together, and I got to know all of you, good and bad, you let me see every side of what makes you, you." The two collected all the files and stood (floated) back up. Molly handed him her half of the files, unsure if he was truly listening to what she was saying. "There's so much you have in your life, friends, family, your dreams and your future. You can't give all of that up for this."
Accepting the files handed to him, The Chairman added them to the stack he was holding. "Thank you." At the bare minimum he remembered his manners. "I am very busy right now. There is much I need to do to…" He blanked. What was the word he used? "To… 'Make you good?'"
"You mean 'engoodify'?" Molly sadly corrected him.
The Chairman thought that was a much better word. "Engoodify… what an interesting word."
"It's your word, Ollie!"
The boy tilted his head, the only real way that he'd been able to emote since they arrived. "I don't understand what 'Ollie' means?" Why did he feel as though he'd heard that word before? Perhaps he sorted a file of a ghost by that name? He couldn't be sure, all those ghosts and their data sort of blurred together. A lot of stuff blurred together… he needed-he needed to focus. Focus on his work. That made sense.
"Ollie is YOUR name!" Molly insisted. She watched her boyfriend move along and bring the files over to his desk, already distracted by the audit once more. He'd zoned out on work instead of listening to what she had to say. Molly drooped, he was right here! He was right in front of them and was too absorbed in his role to understand what they were telling him.
Upon seeing his best friend brushed aside by her amnesiac lover, Scratch reached over and wrapped his arm around the Chairman to keep him still. "Cob-darnnit kid! We're trying to help you!"
Scratch should have realized holding the most powerful being in the Ghost World wouldn't keep him for long. The Chairman stretched like a living shadow, removing himself from Scratch's grasp and springing himself into his desk chair. "Scratch, please let me return to the audit." He wasn't mad or annoyed, which made Scratch mad and annoyed.
Molly's eyes widened, catching onto something the robed boy said. "Wait, you know who Scratch is?!"
Four pairs of wraith eyes were on the blue one. Seems he hadn't mentioned everything from his first trip. "Don't get too excited. He knows me but only as the Chairman before him. None of our real friendship was retained."
"Hmm-" June was in a 'pondering' pose, obviously pondering. "It appears that without his memories, Ollie has no emotional attachments. He's forgotten his living life, but Ollie should still be able to recall memories from his time as a wraith." Most of her brother and Scratch's friendship happened in his human form. Those bonding moments were gone, yet he kept his superficial knowledge of the ghost. "In this emotionally numb state, he's latched onto what he can remember: His role as the Chairman and the duties he fulfills."
Her parents could tell when their girl had something in mind, she had her focused stare fixated on her subject. "June, honey-" Esther addressed the girl. "It's your turn to give it a shot."
June nodded, floating over to her brother. If he still remembered his time as a wraith, maybe a memory from the Ghost World would help him recognize her. "Sorry to interrupt." June tugged on the robe, getting him to turn to her. "Do you remember when you showed me around the Ghost World? We went to the Video Store, got horrible pretzels in the park, and you cornered a really mean librarian into letting me repair the computer system at the library. There was also an unusually large bouncy ball."
The Chairman needed a moment, trying to piece together what this young ghost was talking about. It was pretty fuzzy, but he did vaguely recall assisting a red ghost in a library. "I did deal with the librarian when she was giving a ghost a hard time… was that you?"
"Yes, that was me!" June should have seen the pattern by now and known not to get her hopes up. "You kept wandering off to help ghosts in need when it was your day off. I talked with you about overworking and how worried I was-and still am- about you pushing yourself past your limits." She always looked up to her brother, metaphorically and literally, he was taller than her, she felt so small grasping his robe, that empty hood of pure orange ectoplasm staring blankly down at her.
The wraith answered her in the worst possible way. "I'm fine."
June did not believe him. "No, you are most certainly not fine." She had to keep pressing him. "You've been separated from your physical form for an unprecedented amount of time. On top of working overnight without sleep or food, you've been neglecting your own needs to get this audit done! You must be exhausted. How can you help anyone if you aren't even taking care of your own well-being?"
After taking a few seconds of contemplation, The Chairman flatly provided what he perceived as a valid reason. "My own well-being does not matter. Everything I do is for the good of the Ghost World. As long as I am able to complete my duties, nothing that happens to me matters…" He drifted off again, returning to the file he'd been distracted from. He was a good Chairman, he would never take or harm his people like the one of older times had. He would give and help, he would never be selfish. Knowing that… that he did good was… all he needed… right?
The smallest wraith regrouped with her friends and her parents. They were all feeling down that nothing they'd said had stirred him even a little. June was really scared for her brother, he was so far gone at this point. "Talking to him isn't working." She leaned against her mom. "We need another way to reach him."
Ruben agreed with his daughter. "At this point, I'll try anything." Was the fear of being too late to save his boy gnawing on the father's heart? You betcha! He wished he could say he expected his son to react to him, but somewhere deep down he knew it would be either June or Molly who'd snap him out of this state. When both of them failed… no! He had to keep ignoring those pessimistic thoughts!
Scratch sat his tush down on a lower stack of files. "Whatever we do, it'd need to be something that goes straight to his heart. Cause that head of his isn't working." The stack of files beneath him wobbled and collapsed, the ghost popped off before he could go down with it. He shiftily looked back and forth. "Wasn't me."
The pink bespectacled wraith rubbed her daughter's arm while she tried to come up with any idea to get her son back. Like her husband, Esther was fighting back the intrusive thoughts of failure. "What if… we all worked to jog his memory? Perhaps a group intervention is what he needs?"
Molly clapped her hands. "Yes! We all pour everything we got into this! And nothing says 'group intervention' like a big spontaneous musical number!" It was the best (and so far only) option. If this doesn't work then most of them were sure nothing would.
A slower Broadway-style tune started. The Chairman was still seated at his desk reviewing another file and sorting it. He couldn't grab another file as Ruben knelt down by his side. "Can you remember what your life was like before~"
Molly floated over onto the opposite side of the Chairman. "The person that you are, you can't let it go~"
Esther joined her husband and brushed her hand on the ancient robe's sleeve. "You can't forget the home you've got waiting for you~"
Lastly, June leaned over the top of the desk chair to peer down at her brother. "Ollie please listen, I still need my big bro~"
The tune picked up speed. Scratch grabbed the chair and spun it around until the Chairman was facing his direction. "You're more than just the chairman, remember how we met~" The ghost held the last note as the background shifted to a theater, where the present and former chairmen were on stage.
"Once a ghost hunter with some oddly swoopy hair~" Scratch dumped one of the old Chen Chaser weapons in the boy's arms, then flipped his own cutie bit to mimic and/or mock his hair habit.
"Eager to hunt some haunts such as I~" The blue ghost bounced in place while he sang and gestured to himself. "Changed your tune, gave helping the dead a try~"
Scratch lassoed the boy with his arm and pulled him close enough to lean on his shoulder. "Flipped the script from how you were back there~" He held the last note as the song switched up into the chorus.
In the blink of an eye, the scene changed to a nondescript background. The Chairman was surrounded by the whole group singing around him. "Recall who you are~" The boy wandered away, trying to get back to his desk. The singing group blocked his path and pulled the Chairman back to them. "Don't drift off too far~"
June wrapped her arms around her brother's arm, singing a solo line. "Let it all come back to you, feelings you can't resist~"
Suddenly, the Chairman slipped out of June's grasp and fell through the floor. The whole group sang in unison again. "You give everyone all that you can~" Ruben and Esther reached out and caught their son, each holding an arm to carry him as Scratch and the girls joined them. "It's our turn to lift you up to stand~" They all huddled closer around the boy. "There's lots we like about you, how bout a list~"
The song changed to a faster bridge section. The Chairman was front and center while all but his parents took turns signing lines.
"You're the turnipball mvp~" June helped her big bro hold a googly-eyed paddle to strike an incoming turnip.
"Did fundraisers for charity~" Molly sat with her boyfriend atop a ridiculously large jar of money labeled 'Save the whales or something'.
"Won't eat anything that's meaty~" Scratch plugged his nose and held out a healthy salad, stretching his arm far away and dropping it into the kid's hand so he wouldn't have to be near what he perceived as an abomination to his taste palette. "Uck!" Scratch winced in disgust.
"Your garden has floral variety~" June knelt down with her brother beside his backyard garden, filled with various colorful flowers.
"You volunteer for the elderly~" Molly directed the Chairman to a senior center. Inside there were old people doing wheelchair races.
"Very kind, passionate and friendly~" Both June and Molly hugged the orange wraith affectionately.
"My friend here thinks you're dreamy~" Scratch flew above the three and smugly pointed to Molly.
The gold wraith blushed. "Not the time!"
Taking a brief instrumental segment, Ruben and Esther spoke off to the side. "What if this doesn't work?" The indigo wraith tightly held his wife's hands.
Esther looked into his eyes, holding back her own desperation. "It has to!"
One more chorus to go! "Recall the real you~" Everyone sang the rest of the song together. Shoving the boy in the robe in front of a mirror, a blurry image of his human self stared back at him. "To your soul be true~" The Chairman floated away, not caring about the unclear image in the mirror that faded when he turned away.
"The life you lived you mustn't forget~" His parents held out family scrapbooks to their boy, their smiles wavering. June and Scratch pleadingly guided the wraith to Molly, who presented a crudely drawn board of future possibilities. "There's still so much you haven't done yet~"
The Chairman is at a crossroads. One leads to the Dark Dais and the other leads to his house back in Brighton. "You're too dear for us to lose~" He begins wandering towards the Dais, only for Scratch to form into a wall and block off the path. "This can't be the road you choose~"
The Chairman's loved ones (minus Scratch who is still a wall) are on the opposite path, each reaching out a hand for the boy to grab. "Take our hands we know you want to~" Scratch reforms into his normal shape and urges his successor towards the others, who all continue reaching out to him. "Ollie you need to recall the real you~" The song closes, slowing down once the words are said.
The songburst was over, their positions had changed with the Chairman floating in front of his desk, while his expectant family and friends waited with bated breath for his response.
…
There was no response. The Chairman went back to his seat and continued on with the audit. He didn't react even a tiny bit, or even acknowledge that he'd heard them. He'd completely ignored their last effort like he wasn't even paying attention.
The crushing heartbreak fell unanimously on the group. It didn't work. They'd given everything into that musical number hoping to reach their boy, and he hadn't heard them.
A choked sob was all that could be heard in the otherwise quiet chamber. Four turned to the one in the back where the sob came from, June. The littlest red wraith couldn't help but break into tears, heaving and crying as her heart felt like it had been torn out. "June?" Her parents flew to her side, watching their daughter shudder with grief.
"He's really gone, isn't he?" June sorrowfully looked up at her parents. Her young heart was shattered by the belief her brother wasn't coming back. "Ollie's gone-" She choked on a sob, practically begging for someone to tell her otherwise.
Ruben and Esther were speechless. What could they say? What could they tell their little girl? The pink wraith felt tears falling down her own cheeks and scooped her youngest child up in her arms… to share the pain of losing her oldest child. "June, I-… Ollie is-" Esther couldn't hold it back any longer and let out a wail. Her boy wasn't coming back.
The indigo wraith wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter, unable to keep himself from breaking down too. There was nothing he could say. They'd really lost their son. That sweet, empathetic boy they'd raised for fourteen years was no more. And there was nothing they could do to bring him back.
Scratch lowered his head, looking away from the grieving family. He too, was mourning the kid's death of personality. Internally, he blamed himself for getting him into this mess in the first place. If he had been a better chairman, if he hadn't cursed those robes, they never would have picked his best friend's boyfriend. His dumb and reckless actions were the domino that started the chain of events leading to this. Leading to him losing a friend.
The only one not breaking down was Molly. She watched the Chen's hug in stunned silence, then looked at Scratch, who was drooping with sorrow. Finally, she turned her head backwards to look at her boyfriend, unaware of his family mourning him. Snapping her ghost head back into position, Molly clenched her fists at her side forcefully. "No…" The others looked over at the golden wraith. "No. I'm not going to give up on him." Her eyes burned with a determined resolve. She would keep believing even if it seemed all hope was lost.
"But, Moll-" Scratch started.
"Keep your 'but' to yourself Scratch!" Molly cut him off. "I am never going to stop trying to get him back! I don't care if it seems impossible, I know the real Ollie is still in there! The Ollie that I…" Her eyes widen, and her voice trails off. There was one thing she hadn't tried yet. One last chance only she could pull off.
Scratch and the Chen's watched the gears turn in Molly's mind. Pressing pause on their mourning to see what she would do. The girl floated over to the Chairman, coming up behind the desk and taking him out of his chair. "I need to keep working." He tried to go back, but Molly's firm grasp stopped him and turned his form towards her.
"Stop. Please just... stop." Molly's quiet urging succeeded in getting the Chairman to stay still. "I need you to look at me." He gave no response, but he stayed where he was.
Molly reached up and grasped the robe's hood, gently pulling it down so she could see his face. She held back a saddened gasp once she saw him. The solid orange glow they'd seen from under the hood was nowhere to be found, his ectoplasm had faded and dulled to the point it was almost grey. What also struck Molly was his eyes, how utterly exhausted and empty those eyes of his were. No, it wasn't just his eyes, the boy himself was empty and drained of all that he was. Everyone now understood the true extent of the damage done to him, since he's The Chairman he forced himself to keep going even when he was exhausted and far beyond his limits. That's the kind of soul he is, he'd give everything even when he himself had nothing left.
His girlfriend raised her hands and placed them on his cheeks. "Ollie... Ollie, look at me." Her soft voice and warm hands gently guided the boy to look her in the eyes.
That empty expression of his shifted ever so slightly when he met her gaze. Molly had a sad, wobbly smile and tears streaking down her golden face. She gazed at him with countless emotions running simultaneously, though none were more prevalent than her burning feelings for him. She could see it in the way he stared at her, he was lost. This boy was lost, but when he looked at this girl, he felt drawn to her. The fog in his head lifted just enough for him to give her his full attention. He wanted to listen to her, he wanted her close. Who was she?… Who was he?
"Ollie." She tearfully smiled. "You have to come back to us. There are so many people who care about you and can't stand to see you like this. Like me. You are one of the most important people in my life, and I can't lose you." Her heartfelt words struck a chord in his heart. But none more so than what Molly said next. "I love you Ollie…"
Molly cupped his face and pulled him into their first kiss. The moment their lips touched, her golden love-fueled joy energy sparked up and coursed through them both. His eyes widened and shined while the golden sparks formed a heart over their heads. The nearly grey wraith was brightening into his true orange hue, while a flood of memories came surging back to his mind at a breakneck pace. He remembered her. He remembered it all. The memories of his life and who he was were restored by the act of Molly's love. A love that he reciprocated with his whole heart.
Slowly pulling away, Molly opened her eyes to see Ollie with tears pooling in his own shimmering eyes. Staring at her lovingly like she was the most precious thing in his life. "… Molly." The way he said her name was filled with so much love, so much hope, so much certainty, in such a way that she knew his true self had been brought back from the brink.
Molly couldn't speak, she couldn't stop crying. But these were happy tears. No words would come out, all that came from her throat were short laughs. Ollie did the same, unable to articulate anything else, and his own tears refused to stop and streamed down his cheeks. They wrapped their arms around each other and pulled into a tight hug, holding each other for dear life while crying and laughing tears of joy. The couple never-EVER wanted to let go.
"Ollie!" A young female voice cried out.
A red blur threw herself into the hug, tearfully grinning as her brother recognized her. "June!"
"Ollie!" Another voice shouted.
The pink wraith joined the hug. Ollie hadn't seen her in this form before but instantly knew who she was. "Mom!"
"Ollie!" A male voice shouted this time.
The indigo wraith added himself to the group hug. Like his mother, Ollie would know that voice and shape anywhere. "Dad!" The last remaining ghost not included in the group hug floated over. "Scratch!"
"What'cha saying my name for? You didn't forget me." Regardless of that, Scratch did join the hug after a moment anyway. "Welcome back, Swoopy Hair."
Tears of sorrow had become tears of joy all around, though you wouldn't catch any coming from Scratch while people could see him. Ollie was huddled in the center of the hug, loving every moment of it. He was home.
"I hate to break this up-" June looked up at her brother, her face directly under his. "But you need to get back to your body."
The hug separated, and they all gave Ollie a little space. He wiped his wet eyes with his sleeve and cleared his throat. "Right. Yeah-" He was so tired, the soul audit had completely worn-... Ollie suddenly was aware of the hundreds of soul files still waiting to be filed. He winced at all the work that was still left to do. "Oh no, what are we going to do about the Soul Audit?"
"Leave the paperwork to us!"
The chamber doors swung open, the Ghost Council arrived heroically posing in the doorway… at least until a few files threatened to fly out, and they needed to close the door behind them and hurry inside. Most of the council immediately stepped in to finish the work, except for Lucretia, who floated over to Ollie and the others. "We can manage the soul audit. You must go now, Oliver."
At the urging of the old ghost, Ollie nodded and accepted their help. "Thank you." He removed his robe and folded it neatly, placing it on the desk. Turning back around, he found that Scratch had already opened a portal back to the living world. June had just gone through, and his mom pushed his dad in. Molly held out her hand to her boyfriend, he gladly took it in his and joined her and Scratch as they jumped through together.
Involuntarily squeezing his eyes shut as he came out on the other side, Ollie could hear voices as soon as he exited the portal.
"You're back!"
"Mission accomplished!"
Opening his eyes, Ollie found himself in his garage. Libby and Darryl were waiting for everyone with their shells scattered about. June and his parents immediately rejoined their bodies. His dad shivered at the sensation, while his mom stumbled a bit before regaining her footing. June wobbled and grabbed a table so she wouldn't tilt over in her chair. Blinking and recentering herself, she peered down at her phone and the mobile game that her shell had been so engrossed in. "Huh, Shell June got a new high score."
Molly let go of Ollie to do a backflip into her shell. The young teen gasped as her skin regained its proper coloring and she sat up. Shell Molly had been sitting beside Shell Ollie, probably since they'd left. Ollie floated in the air hesitantly, watching as Molly helped his shell up and walked him over to his soul. The two halves stared at each other, the bright orange soul taking a good look at himself before he became whole again. When he was ready, Ollie returned to his body and braced for the pain… but it didn't come. It wasn't painful to reenter his body this time. It felt different, unlike any other time before.
The reunion didn't simply feel different, it looked much different than everyone else's. Everyone stared in awe as Ollie lifted off the ground, the warm orange glow of his soul surrounded and flowed around him like a sunset colored aura. His eyes glowed yellow and a light breezy current swept his hair around. It was a magical sight to see. The phenomenon did not last long and the glowing faded and Ollie… immediately passed out from exhaustion and fell face-first into the floor.
Everyone winced, practically feeling that themselves. Darryl sighed and headed for the kitchen. "I'll get an ice pack."
OXOXOXOX
Ollie was out for almost the entire day, only waking up around sunset. Everyone was there to comfort him when he woke up, and inform him how this all happened when he asked. After an emotional breakdown and dinner, it was nighttime and Scratch had gone to retrieve the Ghost Council at Ollie's request.
Molly stood with her boyfriend in his backyard, holding his hand and making sure he was steady, helping to support him physically and emotionally. "Are you sure about this?"
Ollie, who was still reeling from all that happened, squeezed his girlfriend's hand a little tighter. "I'm sure." He meant it. His mind was made up, but it didn't make it any easier.
A portal materialized and out came Scratch. "Sorry for the wait. These guys had to 'find an appropriate place to pause'." He repeated what his former coworkers had said to him with airquotes.
The four members of the Ghost Council floated into the backyard and immediately went to check on the boy. "Oliver!" Sir Alister called out his name. They all hovered closely to make sure Ollie was doing alright.
To their relief, Ollie smiled at them. Bearing no ill-will to their accidental role in what happened. He seemed to be doing better at the moment, but he'd still be dealing with exhaustion and fatigue for a while. "Hi guys."
"Oh, Oliver-" Bartholomew sadly held his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We are incredibly sorry we let this happen."
Grimbella lowered her head. "We never meant to push you that far. You have our deepest and sincerest apologies."
"We haven't been alive for such a long time, we'd forgotten how your needs would be different from ours." Lucretia felt terrible for not noticing how overworked he'd gotten. They were supposed to look out for this boy, and they'd done the opposite.
Ollie accepted their apologies. "It's alright, I know you didn't mean any harm. If there's anyone who can understand and forgive people who make mistakes, it's me." His kind grin alleviated some of the guilt weighing on the ghost's hearts.
Alister cleared his throat. "We've all been very worried about you… and so has one other-"
"Huh?-" Ollie barely got the syllable out of his throat when a black blur flung itself against his chest, nuzzling him with sad affection. "Robesy?!" The Chairman Robes were once again sentient and acting on their own, like they were before he accepted his position. The robe seemed to be begging him for something…
"The robe began moving on its own a short while ago," Bart recalled. "It hasn't done this since you became the Chairman." Ollie had already figured out why this happened…
"And as our Chairman, we promise to be more sensitive to your needs going forward." Grimbella promised on behalf of all of them.
Ollie bit his lip, looking troubled. "That's-that's what I needed to speak with you all about." He hugged his arms to his chest, struggling to look the Council straight on. "I've made a decision… I-I can't be the chairman anymore."
The four ghosts reacted in shock. Ollie did not expect anything different. "You're resigning?! But why?!" Lucretia gaped.
Sir Alister was quick to point fingers. "Was it because of something Bart did?"
"Seriously!?" The dark blue ghost snapped. "Why can't you take shots at Grimbella for once?!" The pink ghost narrowed her eyes at his suggestion.
"We do promise to assist you in a way that this won't ever happen again!" Lucretia nearly begged.
Ollie couldn't keep a smile, recalling all that he learned once he'd woken up. "It's not that simple… June explained it to me. The memory loss is a phenomenon that occurs when wraiths are away from their bodies for too long. There is no safe way for me to continue being the chairman while I'm still alive, the frequency of how much I'd need to be a wraith guarantees the memory loss will persist."
His sister had made it clear in no uncertain terms that this WILL happen again if he stays as the Chairman. It wasn't even just the memory loss he had to worry about, forcefully separating his body and soul had proven to be unhealthy for both halves. It was safe to become a wraith every once in a while for a few hours, but doing it multiple times a week worsened the effects. Between burning himself out and forgetting his life, it was no wonder the connection between his shell and wraith severed and left him in such a terrible state.
Ollie needed to set some boundaries so he could heal, giving up his job had to be done. Between giving up the robe or giving up his memories and loved ones, it was never a contest. It was an easy decision but the hardest choice. Ollie never wanted to disappoint anyone, and he would have to let down the entire Ghost World. He'd gotten so stressed out over believing he'd failed them all that he'd thrown up what little food had been in his system. Luckily, Scratch had gotten a trash bin before he hurled all over his bed.
"I'm sorry-I am so, SO sorry!" Ollie teared up, feeling his body start to shake, and his stomach tie itself into knots. Molly stepped back over to her boyfriend and wrapped an arm around his back, gently rubbing his shoulder and calming his rising panic. "I never wanted to disappoint everyone." His heavy breathing stabilized before it got to the point he wouldn't be able to speak.
"Oliver-" Sir Alister placed his hand on Ollie's free shoulder. He smiled sadly. "You could never disappoint us." The rest of the council floated beside him, sharing his sentiment and assuring Ollie that they were not upset at him.
Lucretia sighed. "We will all miss having you around. But we understand and respect your decision." This boy had been the correct choice for the role of ruling the Ghost World, but far too early. As much as they respected and cared for Ollie, they couldn't force him to sacrifice his life to keep order in the afterlife.
Alister felt he still had some wisdom to impart. "Everyone has one life, us ghosts have already lived ours, you need to live your own." Their young boss smiled gratefully, silently thanking them all for allowing him to do this.
The animated robe wrapped itself around Ollie's torso. If it could cry it would have. It didn't want Ollie to go, it loved Ollie! "Hey-" The teen petted the robe on its hood. "I promise this won't be forever. When I'm a real ghost, I'll return to my position as The Chairman." Ollie promised his robe, the council, and the Ghost World.
The four barristers were glad to hear their favorite Chairman would return one day. But until that time, they still needed a leader. "Someone will need to be your regent in the meanwhile." Lucretia brought up. "Do you or the robe have anyone in mind?" Behind her, Bartholomew crossed his fingers, hopefully.
Ollie hugged the robes nuzzling him, giving them a little more affection before he relinquished them. "Robesy, can you please find someone to hold down the fort for me?" Letting go of the teen boy, the robes nodded. They already had someone in mind to take over. Ollie watched the black robe lead the Council back into their world. He and Molly waved goodbye, though they knew they'd see them again soon.
Seeing as everything was resolved, Scratch floated back into the house. "I'm getting a soda."
The young couple were left by themselves in the backyard. They hadn't had any time by themselves since… well, what happened yesterday. While Molly couldn't have been happier to have her boyfriend back, she knew this incident would leave some emotional scars on him. "How are you feeling?" She quietly asked.
Ollie let out a heavy sigh. "I'm… I'm not fine." He admitted. "But I'll get better-" He turned to face his girlfriend, taking her hand in his. "-especially now that I know what's really important to me." Molly could hear the weight on his words, the subtle squeeze on her palm, and his blooming smile lit by the light of the moon and some porch lights.
"Molly…" Ollie looked her in the eyes, his cheeks flushed pink and his heart beat loudly in his chest. "I didn't get a chance to say this back in the Ghost World. But I… I love you too."
Those magic words left his mouth, setting both of their hearts aflutter. Molly beamed with that wonderful smile that soothed his nerves and brightened his world. A mutual happiness born of love made every hard moment leading up to this worth it. "Ollie!" Molly couldn't help but squeal his name.
Suddenly, Ollie looked away and the blush on his face deepened. A wobbly nervous smile accompanied his bashful demeanor. "So I-Since I didn't get to fully enjoy it under the circumstances I was hoping-um… do you think we could maybe kiss again?" He shyly requested.
Molly couldn't feel her smile threatening to break her jaw. "I'd love to!" She hardly gave her boy a moment to prepare before she leaped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ollie caught her in his arms and felt his lips crash into hers. He had to take a step back to steady himself, not just from the momentum of her jumping at him, but also so he wouldn't faint from the overwhelming love filling his heart. This was it. This was that beautiful, romantic kiss they'd been waiting for. Ollie reciprocated the love Molly had given him, and Molly's heart had never been so full of the love Ollie had given her.
The kiss parted, yet the couple were still on cloud nine. Molly and Ollie lovingly leaned their foreheads together, soaking in this beautiful-
"Again?!" Scratch came back through the door, holding a root beer and pretending to be offended at the display of affection. "I already had to watch you two lovebirds suck faces once today!"