Another one had come. She turned her head at the familiar sound of the old iron door creaking as it was pushed open. Its rust covered hinges squeaked as its bronze surface shifted away from its white peeling wooden frame. Her gaze staring into the lightless hallway behind the doorway wondering who it was this time. What odd fellow would come to this solitary roof in the middle of nowhere? What weirdo would climb seven flights of stairs to reach the top of an unused office building that was supposed to be haunted yet boasted age and deterioration as its most striking features?

She picked up the wilting bouquets that the wind had blown haphazardly around her feet and placed them gingerly by the side. Dusting off her skirt, she pushed to her feet and walked from the barren outer limits of the rooftop, skipping leisurely across the cracked stone flooring hoping to sneak a glimpse of her visitor. She peered with a tilt of her head at the widening crack of the doorway and found a lone girl holding a small bouquet.

The girl wore her black hair straight and long. Her eyes were an unusual colour, a piercing yellow that seemed to border on gold. Her skin was a pale soft white. Her features were sharp, yet round enough to appear youthful. Late teens to mid twenties were her best guess. The girl was dressed in a black wool sweater, its lines curving downwards towards her plaid brown skirt. Her feet clad in black stockings and navy-blue converses. The visitor held up a thin hand at the pacing winds that billowed her hair, her expression which possessed at first a shade of curiosity was beginning shift into a visage of annoyance as her hair was whipped about and pulled into disarray, the visitor throwing up a hand to try and smooth it out with a low sigh and a voice that she probably hadn't intended for anyone to hear.

"I should have tied it up..."

The visitor's complaining expression vanished the second their eyes met as if finally noticing the other presence.

It was the girl who had been here all along that gave her name first. Offering her hand to the visitor she greeted her with a happy looking smile.

"Lily"

"...That's rare."

And the visitor replied with something strange, an utterance spoken under her breath that seemed accidental, something more like an audible thought than something meant to be voiced.

"...I'm Eri. It's nice to meet you, Lily."

"Rare...? Well, I guess first off, would you like some help with those before the winds completely ruin them Eri?"

Lily made her offer as she pointed a finger to the meagre bouquet Eri held in her left hand. A single white flower wrapped tenderly in cloth. Despite not having been here for very long, its fragile form had already been sufficiently abused by the rooftop winds. Both ruffled and disheveled, the delicate white petals seemed just about to fall from their receptacle. The flower had been cared for all its life and was clearly not bred to survive in any condition harsher than a well-maintained garden. Or at the very least it couldn't do so whilst retaining its sweet innocent appearance.

"If you just leave it like that it'll get torn apart by the winds."

"...could you?"

"I wouldn't offer if I couldn't."

Lily replied with a smile gently taking the bouquet from Eri's hands.

"There's a little spot by the lip of the roof that's a good bit taller than the rest, it's in line with the bulkhead so it has some protection from the wind... but flowers don't usually last long up here either way."

As Lily turned to head to the back of the bulkhead, Eri paused for a second before following her, and as she did her gaze couldn't help but fall upon the single safe spot Lily told her of. Blinking softly, she realised even without any help she probably would have gravitated towards placing her flowers there. After all that's where all the rest lay. Upon the barren cracked roof of cut stone, it lay there as the single feature that differentiated this building from its concrete twins that populated the long banal street.

A field of bouquets, dozens upon dozens of flowers, white and red carnations, fresh roses and lilies, their scent carried by the wind to waft over the vapid rooftop and bring it colour. There by the flowers lay four photographs, girls that looked likely no older seventeen. Lined up one by one, with picture perfect expressions as if each image was carefully chosen to represent a moment of happiness in their lives. They were laid there, upon the bed of fresh flowers alongside childhood toys and favourite things in both remembrance and reverence. Needless to say, the small corner of beauty in the otherwise entirely dull grey building was a memorial. An offering to the dead.

Lily walked towards the arrangement of flowers with slow steady steps. Her gaze focused upon the trembling leaves and shivering flower petals ripped from their stems and carried by the winds, some landing in dizzying dances by her feet whilst others, pulled from the cusp of the roof, fell, fading from view onto the dreary black world of concrete below. She stared out and over the edge of the roof her gaze upon the building's entrance, the remains of a sign barring entry thrown far and off from where it was originally placed. Smiling softly, the girl finally turned her attention to the photographs.

She held the bouquet of a single flower delicately in her left hand and looked fondly upon the faces of the four girls that lay at rest. Turning the flower towards photographs as if to let them see that they weren't yet forgotten she asked her visitor.

"Who are these for?"

"...It's not for any of them."

There was a small pause in the visitor's voice as those words left her lips, her gaze burning into Lily's back, her hands upon her hips as she spoke. Eri's tone was soft yet strong. Her yellow eyes were cold but not indifferent, there was a sense of caution in her voice yet also a distinctive confidence.

"I came here to visit Lily Erebius. I thought it was a little sad that there was only a memorial for the girls that came after her. So I brought a gift with me."

"..."

Eri stared at the girl that now knelt quietly before her. That small back in front of her seemed cold. The girl's short brown hair ignored the billowing breath of the summer gales and lay slightly curled and still upon her back. The black dress that covered her body was ruffled as if the wind had taken hold of it, yet it lay oddly still, moving only alongside Lily's footsteps. And Lily remained silent for a long second. Before the sound of her brown ankle boots clacking against the stone floor sounded softly as the girl got to her feet. Still with her back turned to Eri she spoke in a hushed tone.

"you're surprisingly calm. The others that recognized me all paled and ran."

"...This is my work after all. If I ran from every walking corpse I came across it wouldn't end in just a pay cut."

"What? Are you supposed to be some sort of exorcist?"

Eri replied to Lily's mocking tone with a small laugh.

"Not quite... that's a name more fit for the hunters... is what I'd usually say. But vengeful spirits are one of the few exceptions. We're supposed to help them pass on if we come across one."

"...am I supposed to take that as a threat?"

"Is that how it sounded to you? Well, I can see how you might take it that way... but don't bristle like that. Unless need be I don't plan on fighting you. It's best for you to pass on naturally. I didn't come here to kill you. I just came to talk."

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"Then you could be doing a much better job of it... not even weirdos you meet on dating sites offer flowers alongside a first conversation anymore."

Lily finally turned herself around as she spoke those words, her lips downturned and brows furrowed, her green eyes narrowed as she took 2 steps back from her visitor while Eri replied with a hand on her hip and a slight scoff of a smile.

"I thought it'd be much too sad to leave you as the only girl without a proper offering. Was it overly considerate of me? Well, forgive me for being cliché. Admittedly I didn't really put any thought into it. From your lack of flowers, I was confident you didn't really have any other option for a conversation partner. Even when you were alive you didn't have any friends right?"

"...Okay first off, rude. And second, did it never come to mind that I might just not like talking to people?"

"Not in the slightest. The sheer velocity you approached me with after I finally finished climbing that horrid flight of stairs would scare the crap out of anyone even if you weren't a ghost. You were definitely waiting behind that door hoping someone would pop out."

"I was not! Or actually in the first place this roof is just small! You make me sound like someone impatiently waiting for someone to text them. I was having a very decent time by myself, thank you very much."

"Now that's just impossible, whether you're a ghost, an angel, or the vampire queen of fate there's not a single entity in this world that would have a decent time in this place. I'm pretty sure your only joy left in life... death? Whatever, I'm pretty confident the only fun a person can have in this place is the odd occasion when someone somehow manages to work up the willpower to climb seven flights of stairs to visit other people's graves."

"I think it sounds like someone needs to be getting more exercise if you're complaining about just seven flights! I've seen grannies, grandpas, fathers carrying heavy bouquets, sisters and brothers carrying similarly heavy bouquets, and also mothers, climb those stairs multiple times!"

Eri sighed softly at Lily's response, scoffing with a faint smile replying in an exasperated tone of voice.

"Well, if you don't want the flowers feel free to toss them over the edge. But I hope you'll talk with me. I've said this before, but I'll say it again for one last time. I don't really feel like fighting you. It'd be much better if you could pass on naturally."

Eri lay her back upon the wall of the bulkhead as she spoke, her sweater chafing against the grimy brick surface as she plopped herself down with her legs lethargically outstretched. Lily stared at the girl with both suspicion and bewilderment yet nevertheless moved closer. Remaining a comfortable distance away, she took a seat as well, crossing her legs and glancing at Eri with side eyes. Toying with the flower's stem between her fingers, she asked, with a tone of curiosity.

"...You've said that a lot but what does that even mean? Are you saying you literally just came to tell me that you're supposed to kill me but you're not going to? Because I don't know if that's extremely arrogant, condescending, or lazy. Probably all of them. ...Not that I'm complaining I guess. I don't want to bother with people coming after me either."

"...Well... okay. Let me explain things a little bit more properly."

"...you should probably have started with that instead of calling me a loner."

Lily tilted her head sideways, her cheeks puffed and pouted looking away from Eri.

Eri smiled somewhat awkwardly at those words before replying with a complicated expression.

"I said I was sorry already didn't I? Let's focus on what's important here."

"...I don't think you did... But okay, sure. So, What are you actually doing here?"

"To play therapist."

Eri replied, her head leaned back turning to face Lily, with a small exhalation alongside a smile.

"...Don't look at me like that. If you wanted to remain like this you wouldn't be here at all. If you were ever actually happy you would have already passed on."

"...You need a licence to perform therapy you know."

Lily's voice was quiet as she spoke, not meeting Eri's gaze. The dark haired girl on the other hand replied with a simple smile resting her chin on her palm.

"Well, human law doesn't apply to ghosts. ...or me."

"...What are you anyways?"

Lily asked with rejuvenated force. Her voice regained its vigour and unnecessarily loud as if trying to compensate for her prior meekness, brows furrowed and body curled, her legs drawn in yet still she managed to work up a glare whilst posing her question.

"Are you human?"

"...I get that a lot. But no matter how many times I hear it I'm never really sure how to answer."

"I think it's a pretty straightforward question..."

"...well consider this. I was born of two human parents and remained in most part a normal human for the early years of my life. But halfway through I became capable of things that would make me distinctively not human. I mean, is there a human that can jump 5 stories and breath fire? Probably not, right? But biologically I'm supposed to be human. I have similar genetic code, and by various metrics I'm human. I mean... if I have a child with another human, that child would be able to have children of its own so categorically... I guess I am human. But...-"

"..."

Lily with her chin in her hands leaning her head upon the side of the building commented.

"You're the type to overthink things aren't you Eri?"

"You think so? I think this is pretty normal... I mean it's an important topic..."

"...I don't really think it's all that important."

"Clearly it is. I'm asked this question every single time I come across a human in these sorts of situations... so people find it important."

"I think you're just too self conscious... actually... More importantly, what are you? Like what's your job. I feel like I kinda just accepted you were some kind of specialist since I somehow turned into a ghost... but what do you do? Are you actually an exorcist?"

"I told you I wasn't right? ...What we call hunters are probably closer to the exorcists you'd picture. Hunters, as you can probably guess, hunt apparitions and the like. They're a human group that wants to wipe the world of them. They get on my nerves for a lot of reasons... but I guess they're what you'd consider proper "exorcists". I'm... well obviously not that. I'm a Balancer. We're a larger order and despite what you might think we don't oppose the hunters or really anyone. We're not against or on anyone's side. Our job is to well-."

"To keep balance?"

"Yes. Thank you Watson for your insightful contribution."

"..."

"...Sorry, I'm still a little hurt from being compared to a dating app. Anyways. Yes. You're right. Our job is to keep balance. To make sure neither humans nor the apparitions go too far. Hunters are fine on their own, there's no problem with a human organisation meant to protect humans and fight against apparitions, but if there's any sign at all that they intend to release knowledge of apparitions to the public or start a full-scale war, we'd crush them as soon as possible."

"...why...?"

"It's... complicated. But the short of it, is they'd get all of us killed. For all of humanity's strength, certain beings are... far beyond what they're capable of. Going back to a previous example, there's the vampire with command over fate. There's a limit to what we can do to a person that can literally control the future. And with how irrational people can be at times... a single person setting off a spark could cascade into everything crumbling apart. There's a delicate balance that has to be maintained... of course that's not limited to human actions. An apparition that eats or kills too many, or simply steps out of line of what they should be we also put down. We keep things in check to make sure no one goes against their nature or goes too far. We simply watch over, observe, and if needed step in. We're not to take sides in conflict unless one side intends to commit destruction or murder on a massive scale or have an impact great enough to tip the scales one way or another. That's my job."

"...and what would your purpose be when coming to meet with a ghost?"

"...my purpose in coming to meet with a vengeful spirit is in helping her pass on. ...Vengeful spirits spread their influence across wide stretches of land, and like it or not twist the hearts of those similar to them and have them follow in a similar fate. Those that end up falling victim to the spirit become a lesser spirit themselves, and wander the lands spreading that influence. This effect can cascade and spread like a plague and result in mass hysteria or... well. In your case it would be suicide."

"..."

"I did a bit of research into you before I came of course."

"...Creep. If you were human, I'd turn you into the police for stalking."

Eri, sighed a little at those words scoffing softly. She flicked her eyes to see Lily hugging her knees. The girl's emerald eyes shrouded in something, murky as they stared out unto the horizon and into the shimmering hue of the setting sun.

"So, what now then? What's your plan on helping me pass naturally? I'm not about to spill my life's story to some girl I just met I'll have you know."

"...that depends. Someone becomes a vengeful spirit because they always had an affinity for the supernatural... and in their last moments felt solely a single regret. Without memory or thought, the pureness of the emotion anchors them to their place of death. ...so usually they're uncontrolled entities bent on a single action. Most often revenge, which is why... it was rare for you to offer your name and help first thing after we met. This conversation and everything else. ...Is why I'd rather not be forceful with you. So I don't need your life's story. But what do you actually want, Lily?"

"...aren't you supposed to not be on anyone's side, miss Balancer?"

"...It's fine. I'm required to help you move on. As long as it's within reason I'll do what I can."

"...you did some research on me, didn't you miss Balancer?"

"...I did."

"...then you know what happened to me?"

"..."

"For someone like you it shouldn't be too hard to find out where a few ordinary students went after graduation right Miss Keeper of The World's Balance? It was just two or so years ago after all... if they all meet an end worse than mine... I'm sure I'll be able to pass on with a smile."