Ghostly Memories

"It's very important that we determine what type of ghost you are referring to. There are several forms a ghost can take. Since I haven't heard fighting other than the training happening in the building, I take it the ghost was non-violent?" Bron asked.

"Definitely not. In fact, it appeared to be afraid of us. It took the form of a child and seemed sad and scared. It called for its parents and said its name was Jason." Tom replied.

"In that case, it sounds like you have a lost soul," Bron said, taking a long pull from his drink.

It was a little odd to see the elephant man drink, as he had to raise his trunk to reach his mouth with it.

"A lost soul?" Tom asked.

Setting down the tankard, Bron continued, "When a being dies in an extreme situation or under massive duress, their soul can cling to this world until they can find the peace they need to move on. It would seem as though this little Jason you found has something tying him to this plane. He won't be able to move on until he finds that peace."

"Well, that seems cliche," Tom said.

"How so?"

"It's like the plot for so many of the ghost stories that were written or produced here for the past hundred years,"

"Sorry to disappoint you then, but it's the way of things. You are likely that boy's last chance to find peace. If you can find a way to get through to him, that is."

"So, he isn't a danger to anyone here?"

"Not currently. But if he can't find peace, then his tormented soul will eventually corrupt and become a ghast. Those are a problem. Very angry and dangerous without the proper holy magic to dispatch them."

"And there's the shtick. Okay. we will have to work on this then. When I was able to communicate with him, he mentioned not having a memory of much. Is that common?"

"Sometimes. If they were under extreme duress, they could forget some of what happened. You'll need to help him remember no matter how painful it is so that you can help him find his peace."

"Not what I was hoping for, but I can't just leave him there. And I definitely can't let him become a danger to the residents of the guild. So, I'll do what must be done." Tom sighed heavily as he thought about what the boy must be going through.

"You have a good heart, Tom. Don't let this world or its evils change you." Bron smiled at him.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about the ghosts that might be helpful?"

"Nothing of exceptional import. Ghosts can manipulate objects as their power increases. They are like all creatures, weak when first formed but grow in power as time passes. Though they advance far faster than most creatures, who must grow to adulthood and adapt to become stronger. Work to gain its trust first. Then it will be easier to find out what haunts it."

After draining the last of his drink, Tom set the tankard back down. "Very well. I will do just that. Thanks, Bron, for the information. Hopefully, this will be over soon."

"If you need help, Summon Amath immediately. He will know what to do," Bron advised as Tom began to walk away.

"I'll do that," Tom said, waving over his shoulder to Bron.

"So, it's time to go ghost hunting?" Maria asked.

"Hunting is too strong a word. More like finding." Tom replied.

"Well, you're no fun,"

"And killing a scared child, even as a ghost, is fun?"

"It's better than letting it become a ghast. Those are nasty creatures."

"But right now, it's just a scared child. We should try to help first."

"Fine...just be ready to make the call if things go sideways. Otherwise, people could end up dead."

"Got any advice for me, Maria?"

"On what? Talking to a ghost? Not really. I've never talked to one. Remember, I'm only a couple of months old."

"Can't you look up some information on it in the System?"

"Sure, but the specifics won't be there. It'll be the same info Bron gave you. I can take a guess. Try candy; kids like candy, right?"

"And ghosts can eat candy?"

"Valid point. Maybe a white windowless van...I've heard kids will get into those."

"Seriously?"

"I'm just trying to show you how pointless your question is. I don't have any more information than you already have, and you are asking someone who hasn't been through the situation. You just need to work it out."

"Fine, fine. I'm just trying to take advantage of every possible information-gathering resource I have. He was on my floor last time. Maybe he will be there again tonight. I'm guessing ghosts aren't so active in the daytime."

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"Now that I can help with. Yes, ghosts are not fond of sunlight. They are weakened by it, so they will be most active at night."

"That does make sense. Let's see if any others are available to help. Many hands make light work and all that."

Leaving the cafeteria and heading to the security office, Tom asked TJ to call for his party. Derek was already present and greeted Tom when he arrived. A short time later, the others had made it to the security office as well.

"I don't mean to take you away from what you were doing before, but we have a small situation that I'd like your help with." Tom began.

"Situation? Is it dangerous?" Derek asked.

"Potentially, but not currently. There is a ghost in the guild building." Tom said.

"So, it's haunted?" James asked.

"If the presence of a ghost means haunted, then I guess, yes." Tom sighed heavily.

"So, who ya gonna call?" James added.

"Shut up. This is important. The ghost is a young boy who may have died tragically, and his spirit can't move on. I don't want to alert everyone else, but we need to find his spirit and try to make a connection. If we can find out what happened and help him, we should be able to send his spirit on." Tom explained.

"Other than all the metaphysical implications here of an afterlife, soul, spirits, and so on, what exactly do we do to make a connection with a ghost?" Kiera asked.

"I was able to speak with him last night before we ran into you, so we should be able to do the same again. We need to assure him that we don't mean him any harm and that we are only there to help him," Tom replied.

"And we don't just blast this ghost into the afterlife because...." Jay piped in.

"Because it's not a harmful spirit, and we don't do that," Tom replied.

"I mean, we did to those other ghostly creatures," Jay countered.

"Which were all evil spirits trying to harm us. Created out of rage and revenge. This is a boy, possibly a guild member, who is scared and in need of help." Tom spoke with a finality that left Jay silent.

"Suppose we do help him; do we really have time to be dedicating to this?" Michael asked. "I have a lot of training I could be doing."

"I know it's not ideal, but we are always here to help the guild. If we don't help him figure out what's going on, he could turn into a ghast, and then people would be in danger," Tom said.

"Fine, what's the plan here?" Derek asked.

"We won't know til we find him and can talk to him. So for now, we are on the lookout for the boy. Anyone sees him, let others know. Since I spoke with him once, I think it would be best if I try again." Tom said.

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Good. Ghosts should be more active at night, so let's see about getting some rest because I imagine we will be up late."

"Just as a worst-case scenario, what do we do if we're too late and he is a ghast?" Kiera asked as everyone was getting up to leave.

"Find a Cleric," Tom said. "I can summon Amath to help us if that happens. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Everyone left to rest up for the evening. Tom found Jerky in the lobby and told him about the plan as well. Jerky seemed eager to help and agreed to go back to rest with Tom once he had something to eat.

Later in the evening, as the sun began to set, the team met up at Tom's room.

"I want each person to take a different floor. Because this was where Jason was last seen, I'll stay here with Jerky. If you find him, send up a shout. Someone nearby should be able to hear and relay the message to the rest of us. Try not to scare or harm him. He's just a child who went through something so traumatic that his spirit couldn't move on. No reason to traumatize him further."

Once again, all in agreement, the team split up, each member staying on a different floor above or below where Tom's room was located. Patrolling the halls, Tom and Jerky kept watch as the time ticked away.

It wasn't until almost one in the morning when Tom caught sight of Jason floating through the halls. Jerky was almost a zombie until Tom shook him, the poor familiar complaining about wanting to just go to bed.

"Jason?" Tom called to the boy in what he hoped was a non-threatening tone.

The ghostly image of the boy turned to him, "No, I don't want to get hurt."

"We aren't here to hurt you, Jason. Something terrible happened to you, and we want to help. We know it wasn't your fault, and we just want to make sure you are okay." Tom replied.

"I'm fine. I just need to find my mom and dad," Jason replied and returned to looking back and forth as though he could see something that Tom couldn't.

"Are your mom and dad here on this floor?" Tom asked.

"I...I don't know. Everything is kinda fuzzy. But this feels familiar," Jason replied, still not looking at Tom.

"We want to help you find out what happened and see if we can get your memories back. We think we can help with that." Tom said to him.

"You can bring my memories back?" Jason finally turned to look at Tom at this question.

"We want to help. Will you let us?" Tom asked.

Jason paused for a long moment, seemingly thinking about what to do. Looking around the hallway again, he gave up and looked back at Tom.

"You aren't going to hurt me? Last time that one hurt me," Jason said, pointing to Jerky.

"I'm so sorry, Jason. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I don't like hurting anyone. I was just trying to help. You seemed so afraid, and I knew that Tom could help you. He's so good at helping people that I wanted desperately to show you that. I have seen it so many times. Tom has helped people over and over, sometimes at the cost of hurting himself. Would you please be willing to let him?" Jerky asked, looking very ashamed of his previous actions.

This seemed to get through to the boy. He genuinely looked as though he felt bad for Jerky. He finally looked at Tom and began to move closer. He stared him up and down as though he was checking out whether there was some kind of surprise he should be wary of before he finally looked Tom in the eyes.

"What do we need to do?"