Mechanical ghosts

Monster High AU

“Well, actually, it is. Worse for you, I mean,” Arthur said with a shrug, stepping past Lewis and into the hall. “You laigh, but there a have been a couple studies done. I could shoe them to you when we get back.” He wandered down the hall, curiosity getting the better of him as he peered into rooms as they walked past.

His smile drooped as Lewis mentioned the selkies, arching an eyebrow at the taller teen. “I know I was being a bit morbid, but damn, Lewis,” he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder, “you positive you aren’t taking me out to the middle of nowhere to kill me?” His laugh was nervous, though he still had a hint of a smile on his face as they walked out onto the courtyard.

“Well…” Lewis had a hint of a smile on his face as he pretended to muse out loud. “We haven’t sacrificed a mortal to the gods yet this year.”

He reached out and gently bopped the blond in the back of the head. “Will you stop asking if I’m going to kill you? If I haven’t done it yet, I’m not going to.” Although it was said good-naturedly, Lewis had meant it. The joke had gotten old. And it only hinted at layer of distrust between the two species.

They exited the building to see many more students leaving. Some flying but others simply walking into the woods with their bags.

Arthur snorted at Lewis mentioning of a sacrifice, having done plenty enough research about dragons to know cultures once sacrificed people to them, but never sacrificed anyone themselves. He rolled his eyes and yelped when Lewis cuffed him in the back of the head, reaching get back to rub at his hair with a short laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it,” he chuckled, finding it a little surreal to watch students just walking into the woods with their bags. He shook off the feeling and pulled the straps of his bag over his shoulders. “We flying?” He asked, not particularly excited for another flight on the dragons back, especially not one much longer than previous, but he’d deal with it.

“Well we kind of have to fly, unless you want to walk for the next five hours?” Lewis answered. “Flying would cut it down to under two.”

Placing his bags down, the dragon waited for other students to clear out of the way before transforming. The injuries to his tail were almost healed. There must have been something in that ointment to accelerate tissue growth. However, some spots were still devoid of scales and it was a wonder if they’d ever grow back.

So it was understandable when Lewis laid down and didn’t offer up his tail to be used stepped upon. “C’mon, you know what to do by now…”

"Not particularly," Arthur admitted, setting his bag with Lewis' and pulling a hair tie along with gloves from his pockets. He'd modified them by dotting hot glue over the palms, which allowed them to grip to Lewis' hair better, and keep his hands from going numb with cold. Which now he was extremely grateful for, if they were going to be flying for two hours. He put on the gloves after securing his hair into a short pony tail at the base of his neck, glad he'd put the items into his pockets after their first flight.

He watched Lewis transform, noting in relief the progress in healing he'd already made. He tipped his head back to stick his tongue out at Lewis at his the dragons apparent impatience before moving to his side. He used the dragon's front leg to boost himself up, tangling his hands in Lewis' mane and swinging his leg over his back, nudging himself up as close as possible to the dragons neck to ensure the he was the most secure he could be.

"All set," he said once he was situated, still more than a little nervous to fly with Lewis, especially this long, but knowing he'd at least be safer than before.

((My muse just grabbed your muse’s hand, started running, and said “It’s not safe for us here. We need to go, now.” Put your muse’s reaction in my ask box.)) "Who the fuck are you?!"

“My name is Arthur, but that’s not really relevant right now,” Arthur huffed, dragging Alice along behind him, “we need to get out of here before they catch up to us! What are you even doing here?! A dark forest at night is not the best time nor place for a leisurely stroll!”

If the room hadn’t been so dark, the unease on Arthurs face would have been easy to spot from a mile away. He followed he other two into the main chamber, pulling his shirt back up over his nose, his eyes watering at the smell.

He made a gagging sound as he approached the alter, though he did not falter as he dumped salt and gasoline over the body that was strapped to the table. He doubted he could puke again, even if he wanted to, anyway.

Once he was satisfied that the body would burn sufficiently, he stepped back, regretfully pulled his shirt from his nose, the book from his pocket, and began to read a scripture in rusty Latin. Once he was finished, he snapped the book shut, making himself jump at the sound, before letting out a breath and taking matches from his pocket. “Say your last good byes,” he said simply, sticking a match and tossing it onto the body.

He quickly yanked his shirt back over his nose once the body caught fire, and snagged the occult book from the alter as he walked back over to Alice. “Okay, let’s get out of t his creepy place.”

Isabella gave Arthur a you-are-such-a-dumbass-look. “That wasn’t my body. It’s stored in the body pile.” She pointed her thumb at a door next to her. “That was probably their recent kill.”

Arthur turned his head slowly, disbelief evident on his face. “…what?” He let out what sounded like a whine, wishing he could throw something at Isabella, but knowing full well it would just phase right through her. His shoulders drooped as he trudged over to the door the ghost pointed out, shooting her a glare.

“I hate you,” he muttered setting the book next to the door frame, before pushing the door open, and nearly bowling over at the stench of rotting flesh that accosted him. His free hand flew up to cover his nose and mouth, and even with his shirt over his face as well he could almost taste it.

Cursing in a vulgar, repetitive loop, Arthur hurried through the same motions he had just taken with the body on the table, the last of the salt he’d brought being dumped over the bodies, as well as the entire can of gasoline. He choked as he read the scripture again, stumbling over one or two words as his eyes blurred from tears as they watered violently.

Once all was said and done, he threw several matches onto the pile, and hurried out of the room, face green and tears streaming down his cheeks as he snatched up the occult book once more. “Please tell me that was it and there isn’t some other bodies hiding somewhere,” he all but pleaded.

Before Isabella could affirm, she let out a scream. White light began to erode across her form as all of her hatred and pain was violently ripped from her. A typhoon of wind roared into the room, and Isabella’s form faded away into a white orb. Alice breathed harder from her mouth, the energy overwhelming her. The orb ascended up, through the ceiling, past the trees, and into the sky.

The forest rumbled as the negative energy was cleansed.

#mysteryiouslyhopefulstranger

"Thank fuck," Arthur sighed, suddenly looking very tired, like he wanted to collapse where he stood. Instead, he grabbed the empty jerry can, tucked the occult book under his arm and began the trek back up the passage into the cottage.

"C'mon, there's no ventilation down here, and I doubt you wanna be breathing in this smoke," he said, "we should be perfectly safe on the way back to the van. I can give you a ride to where ever you were heading before this whole...ordeal."

Vivi: Plan F. We follow Plan F right now.

Arthur: Is that the one where we run away?

Vivi: Not at all. It's the one where we beat a dignified emergency retreat.

Lewis: You're thinking of Plan G, Artie. They're similar.

#mystery skulls

Monster High AU

“Well, actually, it is. Worse for you, I mean,” Arthur said with a shrug, stepping past Lewis and into the hall. “You laigh, but there a have been a couple studies done. I could shoe them to you when we get back.” He wandered down the hall, curiosity getting the better of him as he peered into rooms as they walked past.

His smile drooped as Lewis mentioned the selkies, arching an eyebrow at the taller teen. “I know I was being a bit morbid, but damn, Lewis,” he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder, “you positive you aren’t taking me out to the middle of nowhere to kill me?” His laugh was nervous, though he still had a hint of a smile on his face as they walked out onto the courtyard.

“Well…” Lewis had a hint of a smile on his face as he pretended to muse out loud. “We haven’t sacrificed a mortal to the gods yet this year.”

He reached out and gently bopped the blond in the back of the head. “Will you stop asking if I’m going to kill you? If I haven’t done it yet, I’m not going to.” Although it was said good-naturedly, Lewis had meant it. The joke had gotten old. And it only hinted at layer of distrust between the two species.

They exited the building to see many more students leaving. Some flying but others simply walking into the woods with their bags.

Arthur snorted at Lewis mentioning of a sacrifice, having done plenty enough research about dragons to know cultures once sacrificed people to them, but never sacrificed anyone themselves. He rolled his eyes and yelped when Lewis cuffed him in the back of the head, reaching get back to rub at his hair with a short laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it," he chuckled, finding it a little surreal to watch students just walking into the woods with their bags. He shook off the feeling and pulled the straps of his bag over his shoulders. "We flying?" He asked, not particularly excited for another flight on the dragons back, especially not one much longer than previous, but he'd deal with it.

Monster High AU

"Well, actually, it is. Worse for you, I mean," Arthur said with a shrug, stepping past Lewis and into the hall. "You laigh, but there a have been a couple studies done. I could shoe them to you when we get back." He wandered down the hall, curiosity getting the better of him as he peered into rooms as they walked past.

His smile drooped as Lewis mentioned the selkies, arching an eyebrow at the taller teen. "I know I was being a bit morbid, but damn, Lewis," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder, "you positive you aren't taking me out to the middle of nowhere to kill me?" His laugh was nervous, though he still had a hint of a smile on his face as they walked out onto the courtyard.

Monster High AU

“Oh,” Arthur drew the sound out for a moment, grinning a little at Lewis’ exasperated expression. “Of course. I stopped doing research on werewolves ages ago, by the way. The books I was currently reading were on charms, which is how I made the hex bags. But I returned all my books to the library, which was in the process of being packed, and all of the ingredients I had were used up in what I made. My moon charts were taken down and stored away, and everything else in my room was just gizmos and stuff, so I figured just leaving it was fine.”

He leaned back in the chair, arching an eyebrow and tilting his head in curiosity. “Hey, yeah. Now that I think about it, why are we going to your family’s summer home? Not that I don’t appreciate not having to worry about someone figuring out what I am, but, like…why aren’t you going home home?”

Lewis shrugged again. He had to choose his words carefully here so Arthur wouldn’t get suspicious. “I just thought it’d be more fun there. Why not make the best of this time off? Besides, our other home is in a crowded monster community, but our summer place is in the country. I’d be able to stay in my dragon form and stretch my wings a lot more there.”

Arthurs curious expression morphed into suspicion for a moment, before he shrugged and smiled. “I see. Well, it should be fun, I hope. I don’t know what I’ll do with myself without all my gadgets to tinker with, or any books to read, though. Are there walking trails around the place or anything like that? I wouldn’t mind passing the time that way,” he hummed non-committally, leaning back in the chair, hands folded in his lap. “Though, I am curious to see what kinda place dragons live. Is it all super huge and it’ll be like I’m living in a giants house for 2 weeks, or do you stay in your human form inside, so it’s all just regular?”

Lewis gave a lopsided grin, “Oh, it’s really big. Which is another reason to go there.” He turned onto his side, propping himself up and resting his fist on his cheek. “There’s lots of stuff to do. Hiking, rock climbing, swimming and fishing. There’s even a waterfall and hot springs nearby. All that good nature-y stuff.” Lewis was getting carried away, any more and he might spill the beans.

“Huh, cool,” he nodded, still smiling easily, completely unaware of whatever Lewis had up his sleeve, and just content in the knowledge that the dragon even wanted anything to do with him at all anymore. “Don’t know if fishing is really my thing, or if it’s even the season anymore, but I could give it a shot,” he offered, “it sounds like a really nice place. Can’t say I’ve done more then camping with my uncle for a couple nights in the summer, so that much fresh air might kill me, but we’ll see. You must have a lot of great memories there.”

“Fresh air has never killed anyone, Arthur.” Lewis rolled his eyes. “But if you were the first I guess you can at least be content to know you went down in history… For the most pathetic death.”

The dragon decided to gather his bags, getting up to collect the two duffel bags sitting in opposite sides of the room. One for clothes and the other for any monster products he had. “C’mon, let’s head out.”

"Scientifically speaking, it is possible," he said, standing as Lewis did, "I mean, there are theories about how our bodies actually just oxidize over time, and the very air we breath is what's killing us." He seemed rather nonchalant as he spoke, small grin on his face, "So, I think you mean, most badass death. Being slowly broken down on a particulate level, until death."

He grabbed his bag, following happily after Lewis. "Though I suppose getting eaten by something would look much better on my epitaph," he added.

((My muse just grabbed your muse’s hand, started running, and said “It’s not safe for us here. We need to go, now.” Put your muse’s reaction in my ask box.)) "Who the fuck are you?!"

“My name is Arthur, but that’s not really relevant right now,” Arthur huffed, dragging Alice along behind him, “we need to get out of here before they catch up to us! What are you even doing here?! A dark forest at night is not the best time nor place for a leisurely stroll!”

If the room hadn’t been so dark, the unease on Arthurs face would have been easy to spot from a mile away. He followed he other two into the main chamber, pulling his shirt back up over his nose, his eyes watering at the smell.

He made a gagging sound as he approached the alter, though he did not falter as he dumped salt and gasoline over the body that was strapped to the table. He doubted he could puke again, even if he wanted to, anyway.

Once he was satisfied that the body would burn sufficiently, he stepped back, regretfully pulled his shirt from his nose, the book from his pocket, and began to read a scripture in rusty Latin. Once he was finished, he snapped the book shut, making himself jump at the sound, before letting out a breath and taking matches from his pocket. “Say your last good byes,” he said simply, sticking a match and tossing it onto the body.

He quickly yanked his shirt back over his nose once the body caught fire, and snagged the occult book from the alter as he walked back over to Alice. “Okay, let’s get out of t his creepy place.”

Isabella gave Arthur a you-are-such-a-dumbass-look. “That wasn’t my body. It’s stored in the body pile.” She pointed her thumb at a door next to her. “That was probably their recent kill.”

#mysteriouslyhopefulstranger

Arthur turned his head slowly, disbelief evident on his face. "...what?" He let out what sounded like a whine, wishing he could throw something at Isabella, but knowing full well it would just phase right through her. His shoulders drooped as he trudged over to the door the ghost pointed out, shooting her a glare.

"I hate you," he muttered setting the book next to the door frame, before pushing the door open, and nearly bowling over at the stench of rotting flesh that accosted him. His free hand flew up to cover his nose and mouth, and even with his shirt over his face as well he could almost taste it.

Cursing in a vulgar, repetitive loop, Arthur hurried through the same motions he had just taken with the body on the table, the last of the salt he'd brought being dumped over the bodies, as well as the entire can of gasoline. He choked as he read the scripture again, stumbling over one or two words as his eyes blurred from tears as they watered violently.

Once all was said and done, he threw several matches onto the pile, and hurried out of the room, face green and tears streaming down his cheeks as he snatched up the occult book once more. "Please tell me that was it and there isn't some other bodies hiding somewhere," he all but pleaded.

Monster High AU

“Oh,” Arthur drew the sound out for a moment, grinning a little at Lewis’ exasperated expression. “Of course. I stopped doing research on werewolves ages ago, by the way. The books I was currently reading were on charms, which is how I made the hex bags. But I returned all my books to the library, which was in the process of being packed, and all of the ingredients I had were used up in what I made. My moon charts were taken down and stored away, and everything else in my room was just gizmos and stuff, so I figured just leaving it was fine.”

He leaned back in the chair, arching an eyebrow and tilting his head in curiosity. “Hey, yeah. Now that I think about it, why are we going to your family’s summer home? Not that I don’t appreciate not having to worry about someone figuring out what I am, but, like…why aren’t you going home home?”

Lewis shrugged again. He had to choose his words carefully here so Arthur wouldn’t get suspicious. “I just thought it’d be more fun there. Why not make the best of this time off? Besides, our other home is in a crowded monster community, but our summer place is in the country. I’d be able to stay in my dragon form and stretch my wings a lot more there.”

Arthurs curious expression morphed into suspicion for a moment, before he shrugged and smiled. “I see. Well, it should be fun, I hope. I don’t know what I’ll do with myself without all my gadgets to tinker with, or any books to read, though. Are there walking trails around the place or anything like that? I wouldn’t mind passing the time that way,” he hummed non-committally, leaning back in the chair, hands folded in his lap. “Though, I am curious to see what kinda place dragons live. Is it all super huge and it’ll be like I’m living in a giants house for 2 weeks, or do you stay in your human form inside, so it’s all just regular?”

Lewis gave a lopsided grin, “Oh, it’s really big. Which is another reason to go there.” He turned onto his side, propping himself up and resting his fist on his cheek. “There’s lots of stuff to do. Hiking, rock climbing, swimming and fishing. There’s even a waterfall and hot springs nearby. All that good nature-y stuff.” Lewis was getting carried away, any more and he might spill the beans.

"Huh, cool," he nodded, still smiling easily, completely unaware of whatever Lewis had up his sleeve, and just content in the knowledge that the dragon even wanted anything to do with him at all anymore. "Don't know if fishing is really my thing, or if it's even the season anymore, but I could give it a shot," he offered, "it sounds like a really nice place. Can't say I've done more then camping with my uncle for a couple nights in the summer, so that much fresh air might kill me, but we'll see. You must have a lot of great memories there."

((My muse just grabbed your muse’s hand, started running, and said “It’s not safe for us here. We need to go, now.” Put your muse’s reaction in my ask box.)) "Who the fuck are you?!"

“My name is Arthur, but that’s not really relevant right now,” Arthur huffed, dragging Alice along behind him, “we need to get out of here before they catch up to us! What are you even doing here?! A dark forest at night is not the best time nor place for a leisurely stroll!”

#mysteriouslyhopefulstranger

If the room hadn't been so dark, the unease on Arthurs face would have been easy to spot from a mile away. He followed he other two into the main chamber, pulling his shirt back up over his nose, his eyes watering at the smell.

He made a gagging sound as he approached the alter, though he did not falter as he dumped salt and gasoline over the body that was strapped to the table. He doubted he could puke again, even if he wanted to, anyway.

Once he was satisfied that the body would burn sufficiently, he stepped back, regretfully pulled his shirt from his nose, the book from his pocket, and began to read a scripture in rusty Latin. Once he was finished, he snapped the book shut, making himself jump at the sound, before letting out a breath and taking matches from his pocket. "Say your last good byes," he said simply, sticking a match and tossing it onto the body.

He quickly yanked his shirt back over his nose once the body caught fire, and snagged the occult book from the alter as he walked back over to Alice. "Okay, let's get out of t his creepy place."

Monster High AU

“Oh,” Arthur drew the sound out for a moment, grinning a little at Lewis’ exasperated expression. “Of course. I stopped doing research on werewolves ages ago, by the way. The books I was currently reading were on charms, which is how I made the hex bags. But I returned all my books to the library, which was in the process of being packed, and all of the ingredients I had were used up in what I made. My moon charts were taken down and stored away, and everything else in my room was just gizmos and stuff, so I figured just leaving it was fine.”

He leaned back in the chair, arching an eyebrow and tilting his head in curiosity. “Hey, yeah. Now that I think about it, why are we going to your family’s summer home? Not that I don’t appreciate not having to worry about someone figuring out what I am, but, like…why aren’t you going home home?”

Lewis shrugged again. He had to choose his words carefully here so Arthur wouldn’t get suspicious. “I just thought it’d be more fun there. Why not make the best of this time off? Besides, our other home is in a crowded monster community, but our summer place is in the country. I’d be able to stay in my dragon form and stretch my wings a lot more there.”

#((I think you did))#((but Arthur doesn't know any better lol))

Arthurs curious expression morphed into suspicion for a moment, before he shrugged and smiled. "I see. Well, it should be fun, I hope. I don't know what I'll do with myself without all my gadgets to tinker with, or any books to read, though. Are there walking trails around the place or anything like that? I wouldn't mind passing the time that way," he hummed non-committally, leaning back in the chair, hands folded in his lap. "Though, I am curious to see what kinda place dragons live. Is it all super huge and it'll be like I'm living in a giants house for 2 weeks, or do you stay in your human form inside, so it's all just regular?"

((My muse just grabbed your muse’s hand, started running, and said “It’s not safe for us here. We need to go, now.” Put your muse’s reaction in my ask box.)) "Who the fuck are you?!"

“My name is Arthur, but that’s not really relevant right now,” Arthur huffed, dragging Alice along behind him, “we need to get out of here before they catch up to us! What are you even doing here?! A dark forest at night is not the best time nor place for a leisurely stroll!”

“Oh, man,” Arthur muttered, swallowing down the urge to vomit once he csught sight of the mess the ghost had made of the cult members. He cringed away, shoving the books of psalms into a pocket in his vest, before grabbing the gasoline in one hand, and Alice’s hand in the other.

“Just keep your eyes closed,” he said, helping her out of the van and leading her back towards where the cult had set up shop. The scene would probably prove to be night,are fuel for a while for him, but he supposed that would simply add to the pile.

Once they were far enough away from the van, he let go of Alice’s hand, and promptly moved to puke in a bush. “I’m okay,” he wheezed, straightening up to wipe at his mouth, “Let’s keep going.”

Alice cried quietly as Arthur lead her. She would do deep breathing, but the stench of copper and something else got in the way. She was stuck with her anxiety. Her steps were delicate, out of fear that she would step on a body or an organ.

When she felt Arthur let go of her hand, she took that as a cue to open her eyes and breathe. The stench was definately gone.

Then she heard retching. She turned her head to where Arthur was now. She cringed a little. His vomiting just assured her that what she saw was horrible enough for her to panic about. Nice.

Once he finished, Alice took deep breaths as she followed the path. She could sense Isabella going back and forth past them. Probably continuing to…dispose. Just keep breathing….

Eventually, she sensed Isabella just waiting up ahead, and the orange glow was getting closer once again.

The first body was no longer there. She must’ve taken care of that, too. Alice scooted past the bushes, and made another whimper. Isabella was standing near the fire that the cultists used to gather around. She had just finished tossing a severed arm into the flames. The bodies were still not fully burned away.

Arthur walked along next to Alice where he could on the path, and close behind her where he couldn’t. He felt shaky and slightly nauseous from vomitting, but he felt obligated to at least try to protect her where he could. He wasn’t exactly the most adept with the supernatural on his own, but he could manage. And with a murderous ghost around, well…

“Shit,” he suddenly said when they got near the fire, the smell of burnt flesh making his stomach roll again. He quickly turned and heaved, though somewhat happily he didn’t puke again. “God,” he hissed, pulling his shirt up to cover his nose, though it did little to filter the smell, “this is just…peachy.”

He sighed through his shirt and continued on, stepping through the barrier. “C'mon, then. The sooner we get this done and over with the sooner we can get out of this forsaken forest,” he said, pausing by the fire to empty one of the viles of salt from his pocket over it before continuing on.

Isabella guided Alice just outside the barrier. “Put your hands out in front of the barrier.” She instructed. With trembling hands, Alice did what she was told. There was a sudden heat surrounding her hands, mixed with adrenaline. She thought that it was the fire, until a red glow emitted from her hands and began to spread, forming a wall. She gasped.

“Now remember what I said: try to open it up like a curtain.” The wraith continued. Alice spread her hands away from each other repeatedly, but the aura just expanded wider. Feeling anxious about getting the ghost mad again, Alice tried to “dig” her nails into the aura.

She felt her nails hit through something. She pulled her hands apart. There was resistance, like two strong magnets that wouldn’t give away from each other. She tried to put more physical effort into it, but the resistance was still strong.

“You need to also mentally will it open.” Isabella advised. “Order it to open, picture it in your head.”

Ok, like a curtain, she thought putting a mental image in her head, like a stage. The resistance gave a little. MOVE!!

She hands shot apart even more. There was a gap in the wall. Isabella zipped right through. “You can let go, now.”

Alice dropped her hands and huffed. The red aura disappeared. She stepped over the barrier.

“Now, there’s a hut past the fire. That’s where my body is. Bastards didn’t even bother to bury it properly.”

Arthur stopped when he realized Alice wasn’t right behind him, turning in curiosity to see what was keeping her. Isabella was effectively not too much of a threat while they were wearing the charms from the van, but so far the forest had been full of unpleasant surprises, so he didn’t feel like chancing it.

He watched in bewilderment as Alice did something to the barrier to let Isabella through, arching a brow as the ghost flew near him. “That’s handy,” he commented idly, “Maybe there’s more books in the van that can tell us what exactly you just did.”

He offered Alice a short smile, before turning and continuing on towards the aforementioned hut, tilting his gaze towards Isabella. “Well, I mean, we’re just gonna set it on fire, so I don’t know how much better that is.”

“You have to bless it first!” The ghost sassed. She floated over to the door. “By the way, hold your breath once we get downstairs.” She opened the door.

The interior almost looked like an innocent little cottage. There were chairs, some books on the occult, a couple beds, some sleeping bags, and a large rug. Isabella pointed at the rug. “There’s a hatch under there.”

Alice, who looked a bit worn out, grabbed a corner of the rug and dragged it over diagonally. Sure enough, there was a trap door. She dropped to her knees to inspect the latch. “It’s locked.”

Isabella swiped the latch, slicing the lock off. “And now it’s not.”

Alice opened the door and Isabella stopped in first, her ephemeral form creating light to guide the way.