Chap 4: About Spirits...

Chap 4:

"Now that you're one of us, it's time for you to learn more about spirits!" Said Xander in an ecstatic voice.

"This guy can be so creepy at times, but when he's not, he acts childish... Now that I think about it, does this guy ever stop smiling?" I thought to myself.

Xander starts to show his way of explaining spirits through presenting writings on a chalkboard and showing drawings of them and how they get killed.

Now that I think about it, he's a pretty good artist.

As I sit here, in the 'base', my mind tries its best to comprehend what he's been teaching me.

but in all honesty, I'm still pretty shocked that I agreed to being a funeral director.

I sighed, seeing there's nothing I can really do. "Geez, just simply tell her. You don't have to make an entire presentation." Gray said.

Xander replied, "But I like doing things this way!" Gray sighs and decides to explain it to me, "you see... Spirits are soulless forms of the dead. The reason they roam our world is either because their wills weren't fulfilled or they seek vengeance upon someone."

"They start small at first, but if they keep being left unattended, they start to grow bigger and become more aggressive and eventually start to attack and possess people." Gray said, as he crosses his arms and looks at me and Xander.

"Sigh... you told her first.. can I at least say the next part?" Xander said, though I couldn't really tell if he was really disappointed or not.

Gray looks at Xander one last time and looks to me and says, "Fine."

"Yay! Ok, so I think it's obvious how they gain more power, right? Righttt??" Says Xander until Gray shuts him up and says, "Ok, are you gonna tell her or just try toying with her mind even more?"

"Geez, I will, I will. Sooo..... basically, they just gain more power through desires and negative emotions through humans. The more they feed off of those emotions and selfish desires, the more it will start to accumulate more power to the point that they have more power to change their forms. And eventually have the power to possess living beings." He said. This time, he just tells it to me instead of using the chalkboard.

I think.. this is him being serious for once?..

"Though not only does their strength increase, but so does their mind. Their intelligence will keep growing and start to develop rational thoughts and eventually remember who they once were in the living world." Although his face didn't really seem to look like it, I could tell he was serious this time.

"And that's why we're here!" Xander said.

"He's back to being ecstatic again... and with such serious words, he was saying." I thought to myself.

"Our job is not only about planning departures for the dead, but also for eradicating these awful spirits." Xander said.

I still really can't understand why this guy feels so happy when talking about stuff like this.

"Of course, they can't just be killed through normal weapons. Instead, we use special types of weapons that were 'blessed' by our ancestors."

'Blessed'? What did he mean by that?

"We use these weapons to eradicate them. Purging their souls and never being able to set foot here again." He said.

Gray sits down on the couch next to me and says, "Don't forget to tell her about that other thing."

"Oh, right! You see, when their powers increase, they eventually have the choice of whether or not they choose to be seen by humans. Of course, 'we' are out of that question because we can still see them regardless of whether they choose not to."

He said.

You know, not everyone can become a funeral director. Only those with special 'compositions' can become one, and when I mean by special composition, I mean having the ability to see the spirits."

I sigh and say, "And I have that ability..."

"The ability is genetic, and it is inherited through our ancestors." He said. Now that I think about it, my grandpa could.... see spirits this whole time?

"Oh, before I forget, I should tell you about that other thi-" before Xander could finish, Raven comes bursting into the room.

She looks all sweaty and is trying to catch her breath. "T-There's.... s-something.... I need... to tell y-you...!"

Before Raven could say anything else, Freya came into the room as well.

"It's ok, Raven, I can handle it from here." Said Freya.

"There's been word about a certain 'haunted house' that's been gaining attraction lately." said Freya.

Freya fiddles around a strand of her hair and says, "how they've been gaining attraction? Well... it's said that this haunted house has quite a track record of missing people."

"Missing people?" I thought to myself.

I look at Xander and see that he's also pondering this situation.

"There have been many reports claiming of people going missing without a trace, and those that have said to have seen something unusual have suddenly received memory loss." Said Freya.

Freya looks at Xander and says, "When I first heard of this, I decided to send Raven there to investigate. Although it's not officially from your orders, 'Mr. Leading Director' I still managed to find sufficient evidence to know that it's exactly a spirit controlling the house."

"The house is basically a mansion in which the person that used to live there had passed away a long time ago. You see, the inside structure of the home is not entirely accurate. Every time people go there, they claim to see something new every day." She said.

Gray asks Freya, "And what exactly is the 'something new' their talking about?"

Freya stops fiddling with her hair and answers Gray's question, "Well, they always claim to say that the furniture has moved to a different place or... the inside of the entire house changes completely overnight."

"I see... then there's no doubt on what's behind those disappearances." Xander said as he began to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" I said, as he was about to turn the handle on the door.

"To.. confront this spirit, Isn't it obvious?" He said as he looked at me with that creepy yet warm smile.

"There should be no reason to waste any time, no?" He said.

Well, I did agree with what he said, but....

"Does this mean I'm coming too..?" I said in a hesitant voice.

Xander raises both his hands and ecstaticly says, "Of course, you are!"

"Of course I am..." I thought to myself.

"I know since you're new here, I think it would be better for the whole gang to go. Gray, can you go get Collin?" Said Xander, but when he says that, Collin suddenly appears from behind the couch and says, "I'm.. here..."

I leaped up from the couch, thinking that the thing that answered was some sort of zombie.

"I've... been here this whole time.." Said Collin.

"Sorry..." I apologized to him and later realized that I practically embarrassed myself in front of everyone.

"Welp, at least the whole team is here. We should all get ready now, everyone. Just bring whatever you need." Said Xander.

Xander looks at me and says, "As for you, Amelia, you just stay here for a while as the rest prepare. There's something I need to grab just for you." He said and put on a soft smile for me.

"Just for me?.." I thought to myself.

Later, the rest of the team waited outside.

And Xander calls me into his office.

"Ah, you're here!" said Xander as he opened up something wrapped in cloth.

The thing wrapped in cloth is revealed to be an umbrella. "An.. umbrella? Why?" I said curiously.

"It's for you." Said Xander as he hands the umbrella to me.

The umbrella had such beautiful craftsmanship and had a beautiful design on the top. When I saw it, I couldn't help but think if I had seen the design before.

The design and craftsmanship seemed almost familiar, but I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

"But.. what should I use it for?" I asked.

Xander replied, "It's your weapon." He said with a big, soft smile on his face.

"What..!? B-but.. it's an umbrella!.." I couldn't hold my concerns against it. After all, it's an umbrella!

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure out how to use it." Said Xander, calmly.

"I- I don't even know how to fight yet!.."

But Xander just shrugs it off, saying, "I'm sure you can figure it out sooner or later. After all, you're one of us now."

I sigh and say, "Alright.." but Xander pulls me close to him and onto his shoulder and says, "Don't be so dejected, you have to feel alive even at the most difficult of times!" He said ecstaticly.

I got flustered by his sudden actions and pulled him away from me, and he said, "Sorry about that, welp, we shouldn't waste anymore time now. The others are still waiting for us. We shouldn't make them wait any longer."

Despite being flustered, I pull myself together and head out with him.

Though, I was still panicking inside when I walked with him. He's just so.. weird....

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