blastiafreak | [video]

You shouldn't doubt me, anyway.

[It's just a bit of a grumble. She glances at a broken light fixture while the phantom hand moves to take Tyr's, stroking almost sensually down his arm.]

I don't. Anyone could lose track of their way here, though.

[ ...You're so weird, Rita. The touch makes him shiver, but he won't refuse to take the hand. ]

Can you see okay?

[ Because there's no other reason to grope his arm otherwise. And that broken light makes him realise how dark it is. ]

Maybe if they had a bad sense...

Huh? I can- [She turns to look at him now, gets one glance of him holding hands with a translucent arm, and yells in shock.] W-what the hell are you--what is that?!

[ Any other part of their conversation is forgotten when she suddenly yells. ]

What is— [ He looks over his shoulder to her- or he assumed it would be her. He cries in surprise and lets go of the hand, backing away to the other wall. ]

[Everything else, totally forgotten. Rita backs away too, eyes fixed on the--the whatever-it-is (not ghost) as the transparent female figure leans out of the picture.]\

D-didn't you even notice?

I thought it was you!

[ It looks like a ghost to Tyr! Its eyes are blank like a statue's, and Tyr tries not to look into them. He really thought that was Rita?!

He looks away from it and over to Rita, grabbing her hand. ]

Come on, let's get going!

Idiot!

[She's too not-scared to continue, You thought that thing was me?!, and is more than happy to get going. She starts shoving him in the direction they were originally going.]

Let's move!

[ Everything feels the same when you're not thinking. He won't even object to being called an idiot, though, even if she calls him one again. He starts running towards the end of the hall, to the first door he sees. ]

Okay!

[ Behind them, there's the sound of bellowing. It's loud and hollow and, honestly, he just wants to get away from it. How could he think that was Rita!? ]

[And Tyr can't really be blamed for it; she's just horrified at this thing.

She grits her teeth at that horrible sound as she runs with him. Is it going to chase them?] Hurry up!

[There's more than one doorway, and although the first door isn't exactly secure on its hinges, it's unlocked.]

[ In that way ghosts do, maybe, by coming out of the picture and then disappearing, but it hasn't reappeared. ]

I am!

[ Tyr doesn't care if the door is secure as long as it doesn't fall on them and the floor beyond it doesn't fall in on them. He flings that door open without caring if it comes out of its frame - or he thinks that he wouldn't care, anyway. When it actually creaks and nearly comes off its hinges, he freezes and hurriedly takes a step back and tries to keep it from falling off. ]

[That concern is exactly what keeps her from feeling relieved when she glances back and doesn't see anything. Then, impatient, she shoves her way in front of Tyr.]

What are you doing? [With a swift gesture from her whip, her blastia unleashes enough mana to blow the door right off and into the room. She sure doesn't care about destroying the place...] Now come on!

[ He bites his lips, but...if Rita is okay with doing this, Tyr's okay, too.

The door is knocked into the middle of the walkway, which looked like an old drawing room. It's about as bad as the hallway they're in, though. The chairs have torn seats and the table is toppled over with broken and missing legs, and there's a mildewy smell that probably has something to do with the peeling wallpaper and stained walls. Even the pictures didn't stay on the walls and they lay face-down and broken on the floor. Rita doesn't need to destroy this room herself!

Without a word to her, he rushes into the new room. Like any drawing room, it has another door on the other end - this one completely shut. ]

[Huff, it's less satisfying to trash a room that's already falling apart. Rita dashes after him towards the other door, broken glass cracking under their feet, and she spots some pale, translucent figures rising from the fallen frames...] No--hurry up!

[ Tyr looks over to her, somewhat confused, but those figures... Maybe they'll chase after them instead of the one that touched him before.

But it won't matter if they do, will it? Tyr shakes his head. ]

They're not real! We don't need to run like this.

[ He trails beside her at the same pace, though, towards the door. ]

You think they're just imaginary or something?!

[Didn't one grab Tyr's hand earlier? If he felt that, she's positive they're not just illusions, and she's quick to fling the next door open.]

Ghosts usually are!

[ Ignoring the fact that if he could feel one caressing him, he could just as easily feel one strangling him.

As she flings it open, something falls to the floor like a sack if stones. It's a hunched figure - humanoid, though the way its body is bent and its legs are twisted behind it, it's obviously not a person - and it's obviously not dead, either, as its hand reach out to grab Rita's ankles. Like a greeting, it lets out a high-pitched screech like a bird would make. ]

[Any reply she might've made is completely forgotten when that thing grabs at her. She shrieks right back at it--why is everything grabbing her feet?!--and hurriedly backs up, lashing out at it with her whip.] G-get out of here, you!

[In the meantime, one of the ghosts moves for Tyr and reaches out to touch him with its ice-cold fingers.]

Wha-

[ Tyr's about to start kicking at...that thing with her, when he feels those icy fingers on his skin. He gasps and spins around to look at the ghost, taking a defensive stance even though he's unarmed now. He'll wait for it to attack him. ...Not that it can, right?

Her whip hits the creature with a hollow snap, but the figure doesn't give up on her after it's finally found her again! It laughs at her, though its head is bowed, and grabs for her legs again, nails drawn in case it needs to use them to grip onto her. ]

N-no way... [With a growing feeling of horror, she realizes it's the thing that crawled out of the portrait earlier, and remembers that her magic couldn't kill it. She tries backing away again to get some space to cast a spell, anyway. Even if they can disable it long enough to get away...

The ghost pauses while one of its partners approaches too, and then another...There's at least three or four of them now, and they all fix their hollow, dead eyes on Tyr and reach out to him.]

[ Tyr clenches his fist tight, fingertips digging into his palms. As much as he wants to help Rita, Tyr feels like this is his own battle to fight now. The way Rita sounds now, though...No, she can definitely handle herself. His eyes look from figure to figure, trying to see if there's some sort of weak point, but...they're ghosts! What does he do with them?! (Other than back away some more so they don't touch him.) If he had his staff, he thinks, he could swing at all of them at once... He finally just swings a punch at the first one's head to see if that does anything. ]

Get away from me!

[ The figure scratches at her and tries to hold onto her boots like it's trying to use them to pick itself up. Its bones crack as it slowly drags itself closer as she backs away. It makes a whiny, groaning sound like it's pleading with her. ]

[She only dimly hears Tyr's voice, aware that the other ghosts are still there but too focused on the hideous thing grabbing at her to tear her eyes away from it.] Let go of me!

[When Tyr punches the ghost, his fist passes through it, though the phantom does recoil--not without Tyr's hand going ice-cold from the contact, though. As it recovers, the others crowd closer, all reaching.

Trying to pull back, Rita bumps into Tyr and shivers. They're trapped by these...things. She can't stand doing nothing and letting them do whatever they want, so she starts casting and shouts at Tyr.] Stay still! I'm getting rid of these things!

All, all right!

[ He can't stop himself from stuttering, and he stays still just as Rita says. He grips his hands, surprised at how cold his hand could get even with his glove on, but doesn't take his eyes off the ghosts. He can't even tell if that hit actually did anything... If he knew what Rita had planned, he might join in casting, but he wasn't going to risk messing up her spell by trying to help her.

They keep coming closer to them, though. The ghosts reaching out to touch them, the...thing clawing its way closer to Rita again. But they're cornered now, so it'll have her eventually! ]

Don't move! Just stay here!

[She repeats it with a shrill, nervous voice, pressing against Tyr's back as the things all come close...Not that she's trying to stay close to him for any reason other than to keep him safe from her spell, of course-!

She casts as quickly as she can while the ghosts come closer and reach for Tyr's chest, and then Rita's casting her Tidal Wave spell. She can control it just enough so that Tyr won't get swept away as long as they stay together like this, so she unleashes the water on the room and the monsters around them.]

[ He nods; there's no point telling her he won't go anywhere when he presses himself closer to her to try to avoid being touched. He almost holds his breath as she casts - maybe because he's afraid of what the ghosts could do if they touched him more - and doesn't breathe easy again until her spell washes over the room.

He braces himself, staying back-to-back with her, and manages to not move while the ghosts and the portrait monster are washed away and tossed against the walls with the furniture. In the back of his mind, he thinks it's a good thing he chose to not help her, but more immediately- ]

—Now let's go!

[ He turns back around to face her and takes hold of her arm. They have some time now while the monsters recover, so they shouldn't waste it! ]

[Rita feels a small amount of satisfaction at watching her spell toss the creatures around. Only a small amount, though, because she doesn't think it'll stop them, and she can't stop thinking about what those things will do if they catch up...]

Just hurry up! [She immediately starts running after him. Can they even find Tyr's staff like this?]

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