A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 2: Covering Each Other

Jamil begins to use his magic to attack the ghosts, causing them to get injured.

The well-dressed ghost yelps, "Zounds! Retreat, before they make us disappear for good!"

And then they suddenly retreat.

Silver comes out of the hiding place and asks in dismay, "What was that about, Jamil? Why did you suddenly attack the ghosts?"

"Oh, I thought they might know something about our peers. I may have gotten ahead of myself," Jamil answers.

"Well, I can see where you're coming from, but it's not good to attack others at random. There are bound to be some friendly ghosts around here," Silver says.

"I'm not sure about that. You saw the ghosts just now. They were going to take us to 'the boss' whether we like it or not," Jamil says.

"Hmm... you make a fair point," Silver replies.

Then says, "I suppose this 'boss' is the ghosts' leader."

Just then, Jamil notices something, "My, what do we have here?"

Jamil walks over and picks up a fragment piece of a mirror. In fact, he notices multiple of them.

"Oh DEAR, it appears they dropped ALL their mirror fragments," Jamil says.

"What? Again" Silver asks, a little surprised.

Then says, "It must be terribly disappointing to lose such valuable items. Maybe all of us can come to an understanding next time we meet. Let's hold onto the fragments in the meantime."

"Yes, I suppose we should," Jamil says, and picks up the remaining mirror fragments on the ground.

He then turns to Silver and says, "Before we move on, would you mind finishing up your story?"

"Oh, the one about the hero?" Silver asks.

"Yes. You can't just start a story like that and then leave me hanging," Jamil says.

Then says, "Besides, we'll be covering each other's backs for a while. I'd like to get to know you better, Silver. By all means, tell me about the hero who had such an influence on you."

"That makes sense. All right, then," Silver says.

And soon, Silver explains the story, "Long ago, an ailing man was conscripted to fight in a war. But his child went in his stead and became a great hero. The hero's kindness left such a strong impression on me that I tried to complete the same training regimen as in the story."

"Oh, yes... mhmm... I see..." Jamil replies, but seems rather troubled and has his eyes wondering.

Silver notices, "What's wrong? You keep looking around. Is something troubling you?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing, really," Jamil answers.

Then asks, "What kind of special training was it?"

"One of the exercises was to fire three arrows at once and hit three separate targets," Silver says.

"Yeah, three arrows, okay..." Jamil replies.

And becomes shocked, "Wait, all at once?! This hero must've had some serious upper arm strength."

"Absolutely. I have yet to reach that point," Silver says.

Then Silver continues, "The hero couldn't do it at first either, of course, but toughed it out through all kinds of rigorous exercises... Then, during a battle in the snowy mountains, the hero started an avalanche and single handedly defeated the enemy army. And legend has it, it was done with bare hands... no magic was involved."

Jamil is even more shocked, "No magic at all?!"

"Yes. The hero was nearly buried as well, but managed to navigate safely through the snow on horseback," Silver says.

Jamil has trouble believing it and says, "That sounds a bit farfetched. But then again, I guess all heroic tales get embellished over time."

"I worked hard in the Equestrian Club every day out of admiration for that story. I do many other forms of training to follow in that hero's footsteps as well. A guard of Mallus' must always build upon their strength. I'm sure as long as I keep at it, I'll pull off the triple-arrow shot one of these days," Silver explains.

"You seem plenty strong as it is," Jamil points out.

Then mutters to himself, "Maybe I could stand to train more myself..."

Suddenly, the ghosts from before have come back.

One of them says, "Found some!"

"Ah!" Jamil yelps.

Silver says, "Look, it's the ghosts from earlier."

The ghost guard sounds, "One, two, three... Yes! Now we have a respectable number of mirror fragments again."

The second ghost guard says, "We' might've lost the ones we gathered before, but surely the boss will be happy with these"

Suddenly, Jamil chuckles, "Heh heh heh..."

He then comes out of the hiding place again with a smirk on his face, "Excellent work, ghosts!"

The ghosts turn to see Jamil in shock.

The well-dressed ghost says in shock, "AHHH! It's the human from before!"

Silver walks out of the hiding place too and says, "You needn't be scared. As long as you don't attack us, we won't attack you. If you'd be willing to help us, we could return the mirror fragments you dropped-"

But Jamil interrupts him and says, "All right, ghosts. Fork over those new fragments!"

"What?! The ghost exclaim in shock.

Even Silver is shocked.

The well dressed ghost says, "We worked so hard to find these, and you're just going to steal them?! What knaves!"

Silver quickly says, "No, you got it all wrong! I was trying to-"

But the well dressed ghost says, "Save your excuses! Prepare to suffer!"