"Woah," Gadalik commented, admiring the silver blade his father withdrew as it glinted in the ceiling light of the living room.

"It's so shiny!" Glacia chimed. "Is it enchanted?"

"Sure is. I thought, since he has the knife that Gretel gave him for his eighteenth birthday, then I could keep this sword, and maybe then I could help our son out on ghost business," Gale explained.

"I could really use the help," Gadalik conceded. "I mean…you've already helped with ghost business before."

"I have?" The dark-skinned man pushed the front of his flowy blue-violet mohawk up out of his face, allowing the two piercings on his left eyebrow to shine in the light.

"Yeah. What you told me about getting over my crush on Gretel…it was the same advice Andrew needed to move on from the situation he was in with his parents. And it helped me, too. I…I'm over Gretel. She's my best friend, but she'll never be more than that, and…it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt myself pining over someone who doesn't like me back."

"Well look at you, finally moving on!" Glacia congratulated her son. "I'm happy for you!"

Gadalik laughed. "Thanks?"

"Even so," Gale replied, "aside from talking, I was useless against Harry last time. I figured, with this, I can actually fight back and protect you."

"Sounds good," his son agreed. "You can come with me next time, then."

As if on cue, there was banging on the front door.

Gadalik moved to answer it, but his mother stopped him. "Whoever knocks that hard must be trouble," she warned him.

"Or in trouble," the spook pointed out.

"I got it," Gale said, opening the door with one hand, the other cautiously resting on the hilt of his sword.

A girl of maybe sixteen years old stood behind it, her short black hair dampened with sweat as though she had travelled far to be here. Her violet eyes widened with surprise to see who answered. "You're not Gadalik!" she exclaimed. "Who are you? His father?"

"That's right. My name's Gale. And who might you be? A friend of his?"

"I know that voice!" Glacia recognized, barging past her boyfriend to confront her. "You're that brat from the lake!"

Gadalik restrained the light-purple-haired woman. "Don't forget: she helped save my life after I drowned," he defended her.

"Yeah, but–"

He shook his head at his mother, letting her go, then approached the girl. "Mira, what brings you here?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but I got us a job!" Mira answered.

"Really? That's great! I knew you could do it!"

"It pays really well, too," she added with a smug grin.

Gadalik frowned. "Mira, just what are we getting into here?"

"N-nothing too bad! There's this old haunted shop, and the ghost is pretty strong from what I've heard, but I mean…the pay is great! And I actually got a job for once; how can we refuse?"

"How strong…?"

"Huh?"

"The ghost… The pay wouldn't be that good if it was your usual specter. We can't do anything out of our league."

"Pfft. We can take 'em!"

"Now wait just a minute," Glacia butted in. "You may have saved Gadalik before, but I will not let you throw my son's life into danger!"

"I'll keep them safe," Gale offered.

"You can't be serious," his girlfriend groaned. "You don't know what she put us through. She pretty much bullied Gadalik the entire time we were at the lake. And…she called me old!"

Mira couldn't suppress a bout of laughter. "You're still upset by that? I'll have you know Gadalik and I are on good terms. We even went on a successful job just recently."

Glacia gaped at the blue-eyed spook. "She's the companion you mentioned?!"

Gadalik shrank. "This is why I didn't tell you her name…"

"Everybody calm down. If she's one who helped save Gadalik's life, I think we owe her a bit of trust, don't you?" Gale intervened. "Besides: if I come with them I'll make sure she doesn't bully him."

Glacia scowled and sat on the couch. "Fine. There's no stopping you, is there? Go ahead, then, but count me out! See for yourself how bratty she is. You boys only learn the hard way, I guess."

Gale shook his head dismissively. "So you'll have me?" he asked the teens.

Mira looked between them. "Uh, would we have to split the pay three ways then…?"

He laughed. "Don't worry about that; I'm fairly well-off."

"That's great! Then the more the merrier."

Gale peered outside around her. "Is that your horse out there?"

She followed his gaze to the silver stallion behind her. "Yep! His name's River. I have my supplies in his saddlebags. I recognize Punsiv, too–Gadalik rode him on our last job. So that mare must be yours?"

"Sure is. Her name's Aristella."

"What a pretty name! Does Glacia have a horse too?"

"Punsiv is both of ours," Gadalik answered. "How about we take the carriage, and have Aristella and River pull it? That way my mom still has Punsiv if she wants to go somewhere while we're gone."

"Alright, then it's settled! Let's head out!"

Gale took the reins while Mira directed him. It only took a couple of hours to arrive at their destination: a fairly run-down city.

"I brought a map with us," she said, unfolding it and pointing. "There's an inn we can stay at around the corner here."

They brought the carriage to a stop outside of it; the large building looked old, but seemed well-kept. The inside had navy-blue carpeting with a star pattern on it, and the walls were decorated by still life paintings of flowers, animals, and sceneries. There was a cafe in the lobby, the smell from which would have made Gadalik hungry if he hadn't eaten his father's famous omelets that morning.

"It looks expensive," the older spook remarked.

"It is expensive," Gale confirmed, looking over a pamphlet from a stand by the receptionist's counter.

"Wouldn't this negate the pay we'll be getting?" his son asked Mira.

"Not if we all chip in," she answered. "I have a good allowance."

"Even still, it looks like we can only afford one room," Gale informed them. "Are you sure you're comfortable with this, Mira? I mean, we're practically strangers to you."

"Of course I'm fine with it! Anything to save money. This is the only inn in this section of the city; I wouldn't be comfortable in a dump of a place in a cheaper area. It's safer here. Come on."

They all split the cost and unpacked their belongings in the room, which was fairly large with two beds and a couch, the latter of which Gale said he'd sleep on.

"First, let's check out the old shop where the ghost is. Our client should be meeting us there soon. Time's a wastin'!"

Gadalik went to the bathroom and changed into his light green shirt and pants, tying his darker green robe over them. The spook's attire was enchanted to add a layer of protection against magic and otherworldly foes.

Mira was waiting by the exit when he came out.

They pulled over outside of the emptied building that had notices warning of its closure. Immediately a sense of unease overcame Gadalik: a sure sign that a ghost was near. He glanced at his companion to find Mira clutching the golden pendant around her neck through her shirt. He used his spook's staff as a walking stick, feeling more secure with it in his grasp.

"My, is this the trio of spooks I hired?" said a woman in a three-piece suit of a white shirt under a black overcoat and long skirt.

"Trio?" Mira echoed, confused. "You mean 'duo'? There's only two of us."

She looked them over, her gaze resting on Gale.

"Or are we at the wrong place? You're Luise, right?"

"Yes–and you're at the right place. I mistook you for someone else. You must be Mira and…Godolik? Sounds foreign. How do you say your name again?"

"Gad-uh-lick. I'm half Karpritian…on my mom's side." He placed a hand on his chest where the marking of his seal would appear during any use of natural magic, still somewhat conflicted on what he'd learned about his compatibility with it.

"Hm. Well then, Gadalik, and Mira. Who's this?"

"I'm Gadalik's father. While I'm here to help, you don't need to worry about paying me," Gale said.

"Very good. Now, this spirit is a powerful one, so I hope you've prepared to face it. I'm sure you can sense it inside despite it being broad daylight out."

"What's its story? Do you know who it was before it died?" the older spook asked.

"No. I recently bought this abandoned shop without getting all of the details from the previous owner. A total oversight on my part. He has been ignoring my attempts to contact him since. He must have known the shop was haunted, is why."

"I see…"

"Aside from the ghost, the shop is completely empty of shelves and counters, so if anywhere should be fought a ghost, this must be ideal."

"Thank you. We'll take it from here."

"I'll meet you here at the same time tomorrow to check your progress, alright?"

"Sure thing." They watched Luise leave, then faced the building. "Mira, you and my dad wait here as my backup, alright? I'm going in." The presence of the ghost became overwhelming the closer he got to the shop. Gadalik stopped his hands from shaking by tightening his grip on his weapon, holding it at the ready.

Stolen story; please report.

He reached for the door handle, hesitating with his hand on it. Then the spook quickly turned and pushed it open.

Instantly they were greeted by a throaty roar that, for a heartbeat, the force of which kept them in place. The source was a big rhino-like monstrous spirit with large lions' paws.

Then the spook cast his shield spell tag on his staff, and, protected by the bubble around him and adding a disfigurement tag, charged straight at it with a battle cry.

The ghost lifted its gigantic paw and batted at the shield, much like a cat would a ball of yarn. Gadalik planted his feet on the ground to let his shield take the brunt of the impact and dispel as he prepared to strike the ghost with the tag when it ricocheted off the shield.

Except it didn't; the spirit's paw kept going to knock the spook head-first into the ground, where it sequentially pinned him.

He had a flashback to being crushed against the basement wall of a beach resort. Instead of feeling fear, however, guilt overcame him. His only option was to fight back, but he didn't want to lose control like that ever again–even if it meant he'd die here.

"Gadalik, run!" Gale demanded as he slashed clean through the ghost's wrist with his silver sword, causing its disembodied hand to become intangible until it began to reform.

The spook hesitated to process what just happened, coming back to reality, then scrambled to his feet and let Gale pull him toward the exit.

"What was that?" Mira scolded the other spook when they reunited outside. "Are you that willing to die?"

Gadalik looked away.

"Hey, now. It's normal to freeze when you're scared," Gale defended his son, "and who wouldn't be scared in that situation?"

The female spook huffed. "That wasn't fear. That was acceptance of his fate."

"She's right, Dad," Gadalik admitted. He placed a hand over his scarred rib. "You saw what I did at the beach resort… I still regret annihilating that spirit. That isn't who I want to be; I couldn't risk it by fighting back."

Mira crossed her arms. "What is it with you and annihilating spirits? You're a spook! It's part of the job!"

"Not when it isn't warranted," he defended himself. "Denying a spirit their right to an afterlife…is a fate worse than death itself. It means the end of their existence. You shouldn't be so eager to…to…" The sentence trailed off and he began to fall over.

Gale immediately caught him. "Gadalik! What's the matter?"

"He–he's bleeding!" Mira noticed.

The older teen's striped green hair had a patch of crimson forming at the back of his head. His father inspected the injury. "Don't worry; it isn't too serious. He'll be fine after a bit of rest. Come on–let's go back to the inn."

Gadalik awoke on the plush mattress with a wrap around his head, and an ache where it covered the back of it. He sat up.

"Hey, bud," Gale greeted him. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," he answered, "but it's tolerable. I don't think I'm concussed."

"No, me neither."

"Where's Mira?"

"She went outside to practice throwing her sickle. I've been keeping an eye on her from the window."

"I see…" Gadalik glanced out the window, watching as she expertly spun and tossed the weapon, pulling it back to catch it. He couldn't help but admire how fluid her motions were.

"So…about back then… Were you really willing to die…?"

Gadalik opened his mouth to answer, then shut it and averted his eyes. "I don't want to die…but back on our vacation at the beach resort, I was overcome by a rage I've never felt before or since. I didn't just fight back against the ghost–I beat it into annihilation, and…and then some."

"Can I ask what triggered it…?"

"It isn't so much about what I've done than it is about the reason I did it. Of course one reason is that I didn't want to die. But then…" He choked. "I…I blamed the ghost for my birth-parents' deaths. Not just that one, but all consumed ghosts. I dehumanized them into monsters to justify taking out my grief on them."

"Gadalik…"

"It's… It's the worst thing I've ever done. When this spirit had me pinned, I couldn't help but remember what I did, and… I'm sorry. Dad, I…I'm really sorry. But there's nothing I can do to make up for it. There's no way I can apologize to a spirit that no longer exists… The closest I've come to that was apologizing to it in my nightmares to gain some sort of closure, but that doesn't excuse what I did."

"You've had nightmares about it?"

Gadalik nodded ever so slightly. "Multiple times. You don't know how much I regret it. The thought of reacting that way again is…unbearable."

"I understand your hesitation… And I know how you feel. A while back I told you that I've killed before in my career as a bounty hunter. Sometimes it was accidental…other times I feel it was justified," he said. "But I admit that once or twice I've done it strictly because my emotions got the better of me. After the fact I can't help but think I could have done things differently. But the fact is we can't change what happened. All we can do is try to prevent it from happening again."

Gadalik nodded; it was comforting to hear he wasn't alone, despite how bad the situations were for both of them.

"But preventing it from happening doesn't mean accepting your death. You've punished yourself enough for it. I can't stress how important it is to fight back when necessary."

"But what if I…?"

Gale shook his head. "Remembering what you did and regretting it is proof that you aren't going to do it again."

The teen narrowed his eyes, taking this in.

"You deserve to live, Gadalik. Fight back, if only to defend yourself."

The spook gave a hum of agreement.

Just then Mira burst through the door. "I'm all fired up," she declared. "You're awake too, now, so let's go back to the spirit and win this!"

"Hold on," Gadalik stopped her. "Last time it broke my shield without being hindered by it at all. We need to come up with a plan…"

The girl put her weapon back on her hip, hidden by her red-violet cloak. "Alright. You're good enough to fight again, though, right?"

He exchanged a glance with his father, then nodded.

"We work together this time," Gadalik instructed. "Our main goal will be to use disfigurement tags to hopefully get the spirit to reform into a human. Our shield spells are a last resort as it can easily break them. Close combat is going to be risky for me and Dad, so he'll be the distraction, leading it away instead of fighting. I have natural magic so if I enhance my shield enough, it should hold for a little while so I can still fight. But that means we'll be relying mostly on Mira and her ranged weapon."

"Count on it," Gale affirmed.

"My time has come to shine," Mira said proudly. "I won't disappoint!"

"Everybody ready?" Gadalik asked.

"I'm going in," the bounty hunter said, drawing his sword and doing just that. The others followed.

Mira attached a stun spell tag on her sickle and hurled it at the ghost's back as it focused on his father running past it.

Gadalik enhanced a shield tag with his own magic, the placed a disfigurement tag on his staff to stab the beast while it was stunned.

But the stun spell wore off after just two seconds, before he had the chance. The spirit rounded on him.

Gale shoved his son out of the line of attack with one hand and blocked it with his sword in his other. It roared with frustration and focused its attention on Gale instead.

"That's right. Come at me!" the bounty hunter challenged it, leading the spirit away from the teens.

Gadalik swallowed hard. So the stun tag didn't work, just like my shield before. But maybe if I can just enhance these tags enough…

"What are you doing?" Mira called to the other spook. "These tags are no good either! Let's retreat for now!"

"You get out of here; I'll finish this," Gadalik said, and charged at the spirit with his magically-enhanced disfigurement tag on his staff. I can do this! I have to! He leapt up and stabbed the spirit in the back.

As expected, its form dispersed into a cloud.

Gale kept his guard up as he retrieved his son's staff, moving to stand beside him, who tried talking to it. "We don't want to hurt you," Gadalik said. "Please calm down."

It began to reform just slightly smaller and with a duller horn on the tip of its nose. It glared at them for a moment, then suddenly lunged at him.

Mira drew her kusarigama and twirled it to aim before throwing it at the beastly spirit, another stun tag attached.

The sickle pierced into its form and the tag electrified it.

"You two get out of there," she called.

"We've made some progress," Gadalik argued. "I can help! Just let me use another disfigurement tag while he's stunned and–"

The ghost broke free of the stun spell all too soon and rounded on Mira this time.

No–the spell should have lasted longer than that! I can't let it hurt her! Gadalik cast a shield spell tag on his staff just in case, then ran after the monstrous spirit, the speared tip in front offensively with an enhanced disfigurement tag attached.

It was too fast for him. He had no choice but to throw his weapon at the beast, which landed at the last second; its form once again dispersed.

If the stun spell is any indication, we don't have much time…

Gale moved toward the cloud and retrieved his son's staff for him. That's when it began to reform.

"Look out!" the teen cried.

The bounty hunter turned just a second too late; the ghost rammed him harshly in the back, the impact knocking him across the shop, where he lied unmoving.

"Dad!" He didn't have time to check on him before the spirit roared and charged its horn directly at the spook. He instinctively enhanced the shield with his own magic to protect himself.

The ghost collided with the barrier. It held for a heartbeat, after which it shattered and the blunt side of the spirit's horn butted Gadalik straight in the gut.

He skidded back several feet, and doubled over in pain. The force had knocked the wind out of him; for several seconds he couldn't breathe.

The ghost prepared to finish him off. He finally drew in a breath but choked and coughed into his hand.

Mira raced to his defense, attaching another stun spell tag to her sickle which she'd reeled in and now cast at it once more.

While it was immobilized, the spell lasted for a shorter period of time than the last, just as the disfigurement tag had. In order to be regularly effective the tags needed to be enhanced, which Mira couldn't do.

She stopped between her companion and the spirit. "It's too strong; we have to retreat," she decided. When Gadalik didn't answer, she looked back at him.

The other spook was staring in shock at his hand which now had blood in its palm.

"Gadalik, run! Hurry!"

He tried to stand but the pain in his gut became agonizing when he straightened up; he fell forward again–arms wrapped tightly around his stomach–then puked, staining the ground in blood. His vision swam and he felt lightheaded.

The ghost regained composure. Mira panicked and used a shield spell tag on her sickle. The stun spell at least seemed to leave the spirit weaker than before; its next attack only cracked the barrier.

"This is it," Mira despaired. "You're hurt and my tags are useless… Gale is out of commission… We can't win, can we…?"

Gadalik refused to accept that. He grabbed hold of her weapon and channeled his own magic to repair the shield, which instantly cracked again after the ghost rammed against it a second time. The older spook kept a steady flow of magic into it, strengthening the barrier just enough to hold out for a while longer. It hurt to reach and he felt himself beginning to black out.

"If we die here, I just want you to know that I'm sorry for how I treated you and Glacia when we first met," Mira confessed. "I was jealous, but despite how bad I was to you, you never retaliated. You remained respectful to me through it all. I…"

The beast rammed into the shield a third time, and it was the last of his strength to keep the barrier from dispelling.

"I think I like you, Gadalik," she blurted out.

The older teen froze, staring at her in disbelief.

The shield shattered.

Gadalik tried his own stun tag but with how pained and exhausted he was, he couldn't enhance it, thus it had no effect on the beast, which was now moving in for the kill.

With a strenuous shout, Gale slashed the ghost in half from behind it.

"Dad!" Gadalik cried with relief to see him up.

"Your tags don't seem to work on it much," Gale panted, standing weakly in a wide stance both for balance and for better swordsmanship. "You and Mira run while you have the chance. I'll hold 'em off."

Gadalik tried to stand, but whined and coughed out blood, falling back to his knees. He could barely hold himself up.

The ghost reformed and snarled at the bounty hunter.

"Then forget about tags," Mira shouted, throwing her sickle at the spirit's back, which tore it as she withdrew.

"Stop!" Gadalik cried, once again having a flashback to the resort's ghost, more specifically the moment he had been beating on it. "Disfigurement… Use disfigurement tags…!"

Mira glanced his way, then attached said tag onto her sickle before she slashed at it.

Its form dispersed but without the enhancements it quickly reshaped, making no difference.

"It's pointless! C'mon, Gale, we don't have a choice but to annihilate it!" she decided.

"No!" the older spook cried, lunging toward his companion to stop her. That's when the pain caused him to collapse and the world faded out.

"...Bud, are you awake?" Gale asked.

Gadalik opened his striped blue eyes to find he was shirtless in a hospital bed, his lower torso wrapped. He tried to sit up but grimaced and coughed out specks of blood.

"Easy, now," his father soothed him. "Your intestine was ruptured. The doctor fixed you up, but don't overdo it."

The spook looked away for a moment, thinking. "The ghost…"

"Mira and I took care of it."

"Annihilation, huh…"

"That was our only option."

"And Mira?"

"She's sitting outside the room."

The spook got out of bed, wincing with a hand on his gut, then went for the door. Mira looked up at him, then blushed and looked away.

"I think I like you, Gadalik," her words suddenly resounded in his mind.

He shook his head. She couldn't have meant that…right? "Mira…" he began. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she said.

"When I annihilated my first spirit, it really weighed on me… I don't know how you feel about it."

"I told you, it's part of the job. Besides, you were dying; I couldn't just sit there and let it finish you off."

Gadalik was shocked by how nonchalant she was about the whole ordeal.

"Are you okay? That was a bad injury. And judging from that scar on your chest I doubt it was your first."

He swallowed uncomfortably. "That'll be a new scar, won't it?" he laughed, trying to make light of it. "I'll be alright. But, uh… There's something else I want to talk to you about."

She tensed.

"About what you said back there–"

"What I said? What did I say? I didn't say anything!" she cut him off.

He softened. So she doesn't want to talk about it… Even so, I feel like it should still be addressed. "I've told you before that it's hard for me to feel love toward someone…"

"Look: I thought we were goners, okay? I wasn't thinking straight! Just forget it!"

"I wasn't finished," he informed her. "I… I'm willing to give you a chance–if you really do like me."

Her eyes bore into his, questioning his honesty. "What…?"

"I can't say for sure that I'll fall for you…but I won't know if we don't spend any time together outside of work."

"W-what are you saying?"

"I'm asking…if you'd want to hang out sometime…?"

She stared him down, scared of getting her hopes up.

He shrank. "Sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I'm fine being alone, really. I just thought…"

"No–don't apologize! I…" Her cheeks turned rosy. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like to hang out sometime outside of work."

"Glacia's not gonna like that," Gale said as a matter of fact.

"You were listening?!" Gadalik felt his face flush with embarrassment.

"I overheard. There's a difference," he shrugged. "It's not really my business as long as you're safe and happy." He turned to Mira. "But if you do him dirty, I'll hunt you down."

She gulped. Gadalik had mentioned he was a bounty hunter, so it wasn't a threat to take lightly.

"Heh, I'm only kidding," Gale laughed. "…Partly, anyway."