TRACK 31

It's another time, it's another day

Numbers they are new, but it's all the same

Running from yourself, it will never change

If you try you could die

(Give us a little love- Fallulah)

********

His breath was shaky as he flattened one more time against the rock, his gaze running above him as he tried to look at the swarm that was loudly flying around.

His heart was beating fast and loud in a mixture of strain and -almost overwhelming- anxiety, but it slowed down a little as the creatures disappeared just around the corner, leaving only the silence as his company.

He barely breathed for a while, then he sighed, stayed still for another small moment, and moved once again, walking fast and quiet.

He got to the corner, too. Took yet another big breath and let his head peak a little, staring at everything he could look at.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. There was little to no difference to what he had already passed through. And -not considering the red flying insects that were speeding away in the distance, looking just as bloodthirsty and chaotic as the last time he had seen them- there were no dangers in sight.

He had a new entrance that was quite near to him, too. It must have been seven feet away, ish -Douxie had been inside several of the dens, up to now. Most of them had been very damp and dark spaces, some bigger, some smaller. They had been occupied by dead animals' bodies or by nothing at all- but... even before there was some kind of small empty, murram road that moved horizontally, though, which took all his attention. Had he not given any to it, he wouldn't have noticed it since it was so small and hidden that at moments it seemed to be engulfed by the rock itself. And it kept going toward the center of the territory that was traced by the limestones.

'Toward the biggest limestone, maybe?' Douxie's mind whispered, almost as if his thoughts were scared to be heard. 'Unless it doesn't suddenly change direction or stop at a dead end, that could be a big possibility.'

He frowned, wrinkling his nose and staring at his surroundings a bit more, silently calculating.

'Before or later, I have to find a good way in, anyway...'

He ended up quickly entering the entrance near him first, finding it just as dark and empty as some of the others had been. There was only a weird bucket in it, covered in dust and cobwebs. No water in it. And even if there had been, it would have been dirty as hell. Undrinkable. Probably deadly.

Then, after staring more to see if there were more possible decent roads around him -there weren't. There was a hole, yes, but it was nothing more than that- he infiltrated in the narrow street.

He walked in it just as quietly as he had before, if not even more since the destroyed igneous rocks of which it was made were less mushy than the earthy ground before.

He kept speeding through it, alert and apprehensive, his hands placed on the rock's surface around him from time to time to find support when the ground raised or lowered too much, making it very risky to walk upon.

At times he even had to return to flatten himself against the limestones only to be able to overcome a section of the road that was so small that he barely passed through it, the armor not helping at all in the whole process.

The one he found himself facing after ages of walking and slightly turning did it especially. It gave him a slight feeling of suffocation when it happened, his eyes closing shortly to reject the sensation as goosebumps ran down his entire body, wrecking his frame with small shivers.

'Maybe I should get back...' he thought, almost wheezing and staring above. 'Maybe it will get even smaller and I'll get trapped in it if I keep going...'

The image of the largest, most external road crossed his mind, having him breathe in and breathe out.

He almost moved to get back, but before even trying he stopped himself, seeing how the rock around him, if he moved forward instead, would have joined and closed up above his head, making it look like a small but long dome. It worsened the way the whole place felt cramped, yes, but it made him fully invisible to the creatures, too. He could be protected better from them.

'I will probably regret this...' he couldn't help but think as he restarted walking.

And so Douxie proceeded, almost totally avoiding pauses, not wanting to let his mind wander too much. Not wanting to think about how small it was getting. Not wanting to think about how thirsty he kept being. Nor about the fact that he was probably wasting his time only to find another empty space full of skeletons.

He just kept going, carefully selecting where to go next when the road branched out. It was hard to do so when every single one of them seemed just as closed off as the others. He simply tried to keep a horizontal direction through it all, though, since it felt like the right choice.

He moved forward. Speeded up when the direction made it easy to pass.

He lost count of every change of direction he took until he reached for the umpteenth time the splitting of the road, but... In a different manner, which made him halt and blister in place.

It was divided in two -luckily not five, as it happened in some cases- both of them being bigger than the road he had walked upon up to that moment, and they were still covered by the rock ceiling. Both sides were. But just for a little time. Then they were uncovered again.

The two paths moved horizontally, one towards the West, one towards the East, making some kind of massive V.

'That must have been the main road... Maybe I followed the right path,' he thought, staring at the first one and gulping down a little.

He kept observing, kept gazing until his eyes fell on the ground -not any more a murram one, but again an earthy one, just as soft and mushy as it had been before his sudden change of direction- instead of simply looking at the rock above.

He felt his heartbeat flutter as a shiver ran down his spine, all the while he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He could see that on the floor there were several wheel marks. Of the heavy transport type, but not too much. A small wagon, maybe.

'The Keeper of Balance definitely has been here.' As he thought this, hope shimmered inside him like a warm flame, making him hold his breath a little and gulp down some more. His throat was so parched that it hurt.

He quickly took the road to the East. His pace was quicker again and his heart had returned to speed up, bouncing in his chest so loudly that he wouldn't have been surprised if it was audible to his surroundings, too.

He stopped his walk once more by instinct when the insects' buzzing reached his ears, having him go utterly still against the wall, his jaw clenching strongly. Many seconds passed, incredibly slow, an imaginary clock ticking inside his head.

He restarted when the noise was gone like a cloud of smoke, relief adding itself to the chaotic mixture of emotions that was sailing inside him with quite the intensity.

'If they had gone down, I definitely wouldn't have had a place to hide anymore.' He mused, pursing his lips, his footsteps being fast and light again, almost following his heartbeat's rhythm.

Hisirdoux proceeded more and more, gazing at every little inch of that ground, following the marks until the road became even bigger, with a few bumps tracing the soil, as if something had been planted there. Moving a foot on one of them, he uncovered a metal rod peeking up.

After he did, he raised his head and finally saw the bigger cathedral-looking shelter that was in the distance, which made him feel several emotions at the same time, having him watch it with wonder, being almost dazed by it.

Compared to all the others he had already entered, it was huge. It was so big that it had the dimensions of a proper building -And he was almost one hundred percent sure that it was one. It was too fuzzing polished to not be one. The others had been, too, but not to that point- and, yes, it had been obvious even from afar, but being so near to it just left him gawking at the immensity of it.

He looked around himself several times, concentrating especially on the sky -No insects there. Thank the Gods, not even a trace of the bloody demon-like swarm- then he started running. He did so with even more hope being added to him. With every meter he covered, the emotion blazed more strongly, more intensely, hitting him everywhere until it enveloped him fully.

'Please be here. Please be here. Please be here. We need your help, please...'

Douxie reached the den as fast as he could, his heart hammering in his chest. And once he was right there, one foot away from the line that divided outside and inside, he pretty much sprinted in even faster.

After doing so, an extreme amount of shock left him gob-smacked and paralyzed on the spot like a statue, gaping and gasping a little, staring at every single thing his eyes fell on.

********

"Who in the Gods protected this stupid phone?!" Hikari screamed at the top of her lungs, her hands in the air as she looked at the new several viruses -many. Almost ten- that was suddenly infecting her computer with a horrified expression.

"I have no idea..." Naoya replied, smiling with something almost proud and starry-eyed. So starry-eyed that he was weird to look at. Weirder than usual, and that said a lot knowing him. "...But they are really good. Wow."

"Don't be so happy about it!" She snapped, fiercely glaring at him, her irritation rising tenfold as her antivirus found another one of them adding itself to the list and he had the nerves to loudly chuckle. "It's not funny! It's ruining the entire system! The antivirus is barely able to respond to it! If my computer dies, it's your fault."

"...Sorry, Hikari-chan."

She glared even more at his attempt to mollify her with his very, very soft tone and the guilty shy look that suddenly he was showing.

'Dear Ebisu, Dear Izanaki, I'm sorry, he probably will be the end of me before I'll be able to renew my offers to you both...'

"If it does die, I'll buy you a new one." Naoya intervened almost timidly, his gaze shining a little more.

"...You better," she murmured, leveling him with a look. Then she huffed, raising her voice exponentially, to the point that she was nearly screaming, fighting against her laptop. "I hope that the person responsible for this gets the cold of their life. Damn them. Such a pain in the ass."

********

Many, many miles away, a very tense, but very determined Zoe sneezed out of nowhere, making the people around her -just as tense- jump a little in the air.

"Bless you," Vanessa said, quickly getting closer to her and giving her a tissue, grabbing it from her overcoat, in which she was strongly sweating, making her rosy skin become reddish all over the place. "Here."

Ashildr accepted it almost without even blinking, frowning just a little. "Thanks."

"Are you...?" the second witch asked her, her voice small, the question remaining suspended in the air.

"Yes." Zoe simply said, with the same tone as the other. "You aren't obligated, though."

"Well..." Vanessa fixed her glasses with two fingers, a big smile slowly taking place in her features as she returned to stare in front of her. "I was getting bored anyway."

********

It took a while, but after that time, Nari's legs -both of them at once, as if they had some kind of coordination- suddenly went entirely numb, not being able to work anymore.

Blinkous was barely able to catch her before she fell face down on the floor.

She could see him talk to her, but couldn't understand a thing of what he was saying.

She could hear him. Every word reached her ears clear and loud enough for her to get them, but her brain didn't catch them. Didn't feel even the slightest sense of them. They were disjointed words for her. Disjointed sounds, as if he was talking in a whole other language that she had never heard before... or as if he was saying utter nonsense.

The demigoddess could only stare as he looked away from her, moving his head left and right, asserted something else just as impossible to understand and made her move to get seated.

She was propped against something that was just as cold as she felt everywhere, a cold that was starting to feel normal.

And the Troll kept talking. He kept glancing at her. He kept gazing at what they had around and returned to her with something on his face that was even more impossible to understand for her... She didn't care much, though.

Nari saw him move a little behind, looking attentively to where he was going. She saw him make gestures with his hands. She saw him disappear from her eyesight for an imprecise time and then appear again.

He got near her another time. Grabbed her arms. Put them around his shoulder and made her get up.

Her legs weren't moving and they failed to hold her weight in that exact moment which he did so, but he surrounded her with two of his arms -both the left ones- keeping her still.

He talked again. She kept not understanding a single lick of it. She probably should have, if he insisted so much on talking to her, but her entire essence was refusing to and was shutting down even more.

Everything felt meaningless and far, far away from her. Disconnected and empty in a way that she had never felt.

Even breathing felt like that, the action being restricted and quite slow.

Every single movement of hers was forced by the Troll himself. If it hadn't been for him, she would have left herself on the floor, doing nothing else but gazing into the void or sleeping.

She almost could have done it right there, but with the way she was moved... she couldn't truly let her consciousness fade.

In little to no time -or that was what it seemed to her, but that, too, didn't matter. Such a trivial matter to think about- they stopped. Paused for a moment. Restarted the walking process. Repeat.

One of the stops had her peering at the Troll, who made more unreadable expressions and murmured something that somehow felt less irrelevant than most of the other things. She glanced at him more and more as his mouth moved, almost without even needing to blink. But nothing. Still no hint of understanding.

And the feeling of disconnection could only rise more after yet another walk, stop, rest loop. It made her just look into nothing, not focusing, not even trying to anymore. She just stopped, barely inhaling and exhaling a bit of air. She could have stopped that, too, if it hadn't felt too natural, too instinctive to block.

The cold was so much a part of her at that point that it wasn't there at all any longer. It was just normal. It lived on and in her, within all the plants that stood still and that were closed on themselves.

And there was more sound from her companion. More of his hands on her arm. More forced movements that she did without a care in the world. More of the walk-stop-rest loop that she didn't feel the need to be a part of, but that was pretty much imposed on her.

Sound. Hands. Movement. Loop. Sound. Hands. Movement. Loop.

Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat again, with something similar to huffing and puffing that accompanied it. Another less irrelevant thing that was whispered and that it wasn't understandable to her.

It kept going on and on like that... Until it did not anymore, as they just went still where they were, wherever they were for whatever unknown reason that she suddenly wasn't able to remember anymore, even though a little part of her -the smallest one that somehow remained, even if extremely hidden, that tried to jump in and slap the apathy out of her- told her that she should have been aware of it. That it was important.

Because of the rest of her, though, she still didn't care. At all. She ignored that little voice, finding her just as meaningless. Just another addiction to the loop of moving in the void.

She didn't care even when rocks of various sizes started to fall on them both -having the Troll moving her away from harm so fast that one moment before she was somewhere and the one moment later she was several feet away from it- with the rocky wall above them that was shaking and cracking, making noises that were becoming louder and louder as the seconds went on.

********

Douxie, for many seconds, couldn't decide where exactly to move towards to.

At his left, several shiny machines were posed in a long single line that skirted near to a canal, connected to it with big metal bridges.

The canal itself traced most of the floor that was adjacent to the left wall. When it ended, it didn't truly finish. It threw itself into a big tube that snaked through the rock, rising above and splitting into six more -just as big- tubes, which went to enter a different metal station each, all of which were above him.

They were reachable through a single set of stairs and a door that was at the center of it all, right in front of the Wizard. They would have first brought him to the entrance of a smaller central station, which mostly looked like an empty square platform, while the others had something even though he couldn't see what at the moment.

All the seven areas were connected thanks to large wire mesh bridges -Practically forming a bigger square- and they were surrounded by thick nets made out of steel. Some chains dangled from them, glittering a little of a silver sheen because of the lights of the lanterns that were just a little higher.

Against the northern wall, there were ten golems, all of them perfectly visible as the smallest one was pretty much nine feet tall.

Three of them were made out of sculpted clay that had an utterly different shape: the first was spiky, the second was round and sturdy and the third was very robotic, with all the gears sculpted as well. One was made out of iron, looking as if it was surrounded by reptile scales. Two were made out of ice, normal and black. Then two more with crystals, so many and so colored that it made a literal halo of shades. One with weapons and the last one was made out of glass, making it look just as spiky as the first clay one was.

Because of the distance -seriously, that place was that big!- and because of how the first two of the list were near to each other, it took a while for Douxie to notice a small, stone-closed door between them.

At his right -covering every single free space possible on the wall under the wire mesh bridge and at least four meters of space around it- there were so many tables with scrolls on them. So many items that, just looking at them, made him feel extremely enraptured as they screamed magic out loud. There were so many fuzzing containers and vials full of multicolored liquids and ingredients. And even more, books were stacked upon a long shelf that ran from the extreme South to the extreme North, slightly above the tables.

Seeing something that looked like an Arcanist Circle, he moved towards them, his hands almost itching in the desire to grab and study everything he could, even though right there, right now, he couldn't see nor hear their Mana. Couldn't detect if there was something cursed or malevolent. Maybe they weren't, but he couldn't be sure about that and he didn't need to return a five-year-old or become blind out of nowhere.

So, yes, he simply stared. And avoided raising objects, no matter how much he wanted to feel them, but... he still tried to identify them while walking forward.

He saw a mirror shield and a pair of thermal gloves -they were sick! So fuzzing neat!- a white magical robe with old Chinese on it, a crystallized red sword, and then a... merfolk blade?... He was almost sure that it was a merfolk blade, yeah.

He got near to the scrolls, too, finding them left on the floor, some of which were ruined, and -no matter how much he had told himself to not touch a single thing- he couldn't stop himself from picking them up instinctively.

Three of them opened on touch, making a mess. The papers seemed to roll around each other, having him chuckle a little. He quickly put the ones that were luckily still closed on the steely surface, then, after he did, his eyes fell on the paper of the first scripture that was visible.

He found a never-ending set of instructions, luckily written in Latin and not in Chinese this time, to create a magical dao. A blade called Shuāng rèn, with several sketches just near it that were absolutely gorgeous.

He rolled the parchment after being able to untangle it from the other two, closing it carefully and putting it in the same place as the previous five.

The second one was a bracelet to talk to the dead, which... was quite interesting.

But it was the third that was able to catch his entire attention, having him fix the former to be able to look better at it; some of his friends' faces jumping between his thoughts in a sudden flash.

He stared at it and read it more than once, visualizing mostly ingredients and quantities before telling himself to ask Dalai himself if he could have or directly make a copy of it -giving something back if needed. Whatever he wanted- delicately closing it and placing it on the table far away from the other seven scrolls, so that he could find it again easier. Just in case.

He looked at some of the vials, too -his gaze falling on a shiny gradient pink and on a root that looked almost made of light- but the stare he gave to them was much more fleeting, preferring to return to quicken his pace all over again.

Between the door and the metallic platforms suspended in the void, he decided to check the seven areas first, partly out of curiosity, partly because he had a small suspicion, which was born by the presence of the canal... Just to check. Very quickly. Then he would have gotten over the door and looked if maybe Dalai was there. And his hope was still very there.

He got up the stairs really fast, grabbed the handle of the door, and opened it, having it lament itself with a strident sound just because of the movement. It became even louder as he closed the gate behind him.

No one was up there, no matter the area he looked at, but yes, there were things on each of them. And each of them seemed to have a well.

He sprinted. Moved away from the first one, which was full of what seemed to be molten rock. Got to the second one, with something purple and shiny, like there were constellations in it. Reached the third one, too, which had a black substance in it. Ran towards the fourth, which was near to a large circular vent that was showing only more gray metal inside, but that seemed to be showing the outside, too... and he cheered internally at seeing something in it that looked too pretty to his eyes to exist.

Cold, beautiful, transparent water. Perfectly clean, to the point that looking at it made him even more thirsty.

In the well, there was a clean bucket, too. Perfectly maintained. Almost new.

The question was if it was drinkable or not.

Bringing it up quickly, he tried to sniff it and cringed, while something in his chest sank.

The smell wasn't normal. It stank. So, it wasn't potable.

There was a possibility that it was his nose; perhaps being surrounded by the smell of ashes and dead soil had filled his nostrils so much that he couldn't smell properly. But...

He wasn't certain about it, so he refrained from drinking it. Although he wanted to, he preferred to ensure its safety before trying it.

Dalai had been there. And maybe still was. He could have asked him.

If he went to check the last stations, maybe, it wouldn't have changed much, but... maybe there was an exit door behind the building? Maybe, if he had been there, he would have left if he stayed there too much.

...Maybe he already had left. And if he had... that still meant that he wasn't far.

But that depended if there was another exit, too. If there wasn't and he wasn't there, it only meant that he hadn't been there in the first place.

He kicked away his thoughts with a shake of his head, returning to the central square and then getting down the stairs. After that, he ran towards the Golems.

The door on the North wall was much more silent than the metallic one he had just closed for the second time. It opened without a noise and with a rapidity that almost made it slam against the wall.

He passed through it, finding pitch-black darkness as he carefully moved, his hands itching even more to make a light to see, not being able to, and so ending up thinning his gaze, waiting to adapt at least a little and maybe find something to have more visibility.

After a few instants, he was able to catch the shape of a lamp, but a shiver started to run down his spine, feeling suddenly very observed.

A single sound similar to a rustle had him hold his breath and move his gaze around the darkness, trying to catch any other shape. Maybe his shape, though -unless he had been sleeping like Master Merlin had- it was quite improbable.

When he saw two shiny red beacons, an unpleasant shiver wrecked his frame.

'Nope. Definitely not the Keeper.'

The red beacons blinked, being followed by a sound similar to a growl, and then to some kind of screech, having him flinch.

He hastily moved backward with several agitated steps, wanting to reach the exit and close the door before the unknown, menacing creature could get out of it as well.

As he tried to do so, the thing -whatever it was- was moving, too, of course. Much, much faster than he would have liked. Too fuzzing fast to let him have time to pursue his plan -to even properly grab the bloody handle, really- flying out of the dark room and throwing itself at him.

********

Reuben read the messages for the twelfth time, then, in the spur of the moment, he deleted them all with a single click, removing them even from the data bin.

"Done." He asserted, trying to ignore -and failing to- the half-confused half judgy look that Casmir was making at him, leaving the phone on the table and momentarily closing his eyes... being able to only for a very short amount of time.

"Really?" The brown hare questioned in a bemused tone, making them open again, giving the attention she wanted -if he hadn't, she would have started to directly jump on his chest until he did. Who knew that Familiars could be so demanding?- seeing her nose twitch and one of her ears move just slightly.

He stayed silent for a few moments.

"Yeah. Simple, innit?" He said back at her, faking a smile that didn't reach his gaze, nor made him look happy. No, it looked like he had a grimace written on his face instead.

"Simple?" She asked, blinking. "Is it that simple to ignore a call for help?"

"When they don't really need you, yes."

"If they didn't need you..." she passed her paws on her muzzle a few times, then returned to look at him with a mixture of curiosity and something not entirely comprehensible to him yet. "Why would they have searched for you in the first place?"

"Stupidity."

"So, the shipmate that saved your life from the Leviathan is stupid?"

"Very. And he is incredibly good at ending up in problems. Straight up insane at times, I tell you."

"Then he does need you," she commented, sounding more convinced than before.

"Doesn't." He rebutted immediately.

"Do, too."

"No. He doesn't." He paused, seeing the hare leap from where she had been to just above the sofa armrest on which he was, in the part of it where the light streamed through the window. "I'm not powerful enough to be really needed. I would probably be a ball and chain to them."

"It's not true," his Familiar said. "I think that is what your negative thoughts say." She got even nearer, jumping again and getting just upon his left hip, obligating him to pet her.

Yes. She was very, very demanding. But he didn't dislike it. At all. He enjoyed her almost constant requests for his attention and affection.

"No, no, it is." Reuben sighed, scratching just above her head.

"Negative thoughts." She repeated again.

"Casmir." He flatly asserted, staring at her.

"Reuben." She replied, her voice extremely cheerful. "Maybe you're not that powerful yet, no. We're not that powerful yet. But we won't be that much of an issue. Trying to help is never an issue."

He remained silent for several moments. "...The orphanage needs us more, anyway. The twins would end up searching for drugs again and I don't want them to hallucinate and stab someone out of fear like last time."

To this, it was Casmir's turn to fall silent, deep thoughts running behind her dark brown eyes.

"Plus," he added, his voice rising again after a single cough. "I don't wanna get involved in that." He simply asserted, searching in the nearest cabinet for the container of the pills. "I don't want to fight. And I don't want to put you at risk, either."

"I doubt I would have many issues with whatever that is," she declared, a little offended.

"Probably, but I still don't want you to be at risk."

He hadn't just found a Familiar only to lose it in less than five months. He refused to.

The hare gave him a look, then she sighed. "You could at least tell him a no and not leave it unresponded?" She said. "And explain why you won't. I don't think he would get upset at you."

"It's not that I don't want him to be upset at me." He huffed and kept petting her but on her entire back.

"Then what is it?" Her nose twitched once more, interest written all over her muzzle.

"If I try to respond... And... And if I am able to say no, I would end up feeling guilty."

"And if I am able to say no... ?" Casmir repeated, quoting him and sounding quite amused.

"Yeah, well. There is a fifty percent probability that I would end up saying yes anyway, even with all my obligations towards the children. Towards you and towards..."

"Kate?" She sounded very happy. Almost giggly.

"Yeah." He blushed to the point that his tanned cheeks were as red as tomatoes.

Just the thought of her -soft blue eyes like the clearest sky, copper-like hair, the sweetest smile he had ever seen- made him blush even more, spreading the color to his neck. And then to smile a little, remembering how their first date had been. The beach, the dancing, the midnight swim, the kiss in front of her porch when he had accompanied her home... Everything had felt so, so perfect. Almost like a daydream to a hopeless romantic like him.

He mentally appointed himself to bring sunflowers and white chocolate at the second one, which Kate was planning herself, this time.

"Do you want me to send him a message in your place, then?" His Familiar asked, tilting her head.

"...You have paws." Reuben bluntly asserted, a perplexed expression writing itself on his face.

"Of course, I have paws." As if to show them off, she started to run them on her muzzle all over again. And not only showing off the pretty lean paws but her Soul Bond tattoo, too, at the same time. It was more adorable than it should have been. "So what? I'll make a registration. That way you won't feel guilty, nor change your mind in between."

"... Fine." He accepted, still sounding more than a little unsure, biting his own lower lip.

Casmir leaped on the table even before he could blink or start to slightly change his mind -like he had done for all the twelve times he had tried to give an answer to the texts, failing them all and feeling even worse because he really could not stick to a choice. His father would have said that he had no bollocks if he had been still alive to see him- and grabbed it by the cover with her mouth, quickly sprinting out of the room.

The entire final sequence was done so erratically and with such a dramatic quality that almost made him regret not being able to record it.

********

"That... seems like a phantom," Archibald said as they sat to rest after a long indefinite period of walking, needing to catch a breath. "A negative, vindictive one, nonetheless."

The Dragon was almost curled on himself, Jim, instead, was sitting cross-legged, tracing a circle in the ground repeatedly with his index finger.

"A negative one?" He asked, raising both his eyebrows.

"Well, yes. You said that you felt creeped out by its presence when it was around you." Archie replied, his tail moving a little. "Had it been a good one, you would have felt a sudden pleasurable warmth."

"It didn't hurt me, though." Jim frowned. "It changed my direction while walking, nothing more."

'The ghost maybe helped me,' Jim's mind whispered, but he didn't expose the thought out loud, because it sounded weird in his head only by thinking about it. But that was a single idea that had got bigger and bigger as they had walked. 'It has brought me in your direction.'

"And after I found you, it stopped appearing." Archie made a small nod with his head. "Yes, it hasn't been aggressive towards you. But that doesn't mean it's good. It only means that it's not you the one it has a problem with. The person, the animal, or whatever it kept enough of its hatred to stay in a phantom form and to stop him from moving on, well... They will be attacked by it in case they are found again."

Jim took the information in, blinking a bit and feeling suddenly winded.

"From what you say, it seems that there are more vindictive ghosts than good ones."

"Yes. Good ones usually find peace easier. So they are less attached to the material planet and move on quickly."

"...This kinda makes me think about Ghost Whisperer's show."

"Might be." Archibald sniffed "Never seen it before."

"I never seen much of it, either? Just a few episodes because of mom... The protagonist is a medium and interacts with them, has them get to the light." He paused. "If they don't get to the light, there is the risk they are gonna be taken from the darkness. Or something like that. Not sure."

"There is no such thing as darkness or whatever thing taking you away, technically. Just... If they are angry, they get progressively worse. They get harmful, hurting, possessing, or killing whoever upsets them. And to that, unless you can have them move on, you have to fight and destroy them."

Jim blinked at the last information, and then he nodded.

He remembered the whole story Douxie had told about the girl making vials explode out of jealousy.

"Why can I see it, though?" He ended up questioning. "The magic doesn't work, even though I am connected with the Spirit World a little, I should not be able to see it... it didn't even happen in normal situations in which other past Trollhunters weren't involved..."

'Or Claire in the Shadow Realm, but I am almost sure that that didn't count.'

"It's not a matter of you seeing, here." Archibald sniffed again. "It's a matter of the ghost itself, powerful enough to be seen and here before the barrier had been created."

He opened his mouth only for the words to die in his throat, leaving him gaping and wide-eyed for many, many seconds.

'So it's bad and actually strong?' He couldn't help but think, disbelief rising in him all over.

"Well... it's better to stop talking now. You need to rest." Archibald asserted. "Sleep a bit. We will restart the journey when you wake up."

He nodded again. And slowly lay down on his right side, letting his eyes close.

Little to no time later, he was asleep.