ivy was given the mood octopus by an atiny at a fan sign. the upset side is grey and the happy side is pink, and oh my gosh was she excited to get it. the say she got it so many videos of her reaction went viral. and ever since she got it, her members, and even staff members, regret letting her keep it at times…
victim 1 - yeosang:
ivy was already in a pretty upset mood. she was just tired and grumpy from their schedules, and people just kept bugging her for stuff. she was tired of it. so when yeosang was teasing her… it didn’t necessarily workout for him…
“uh oh” seonghwa chuckled when he and yeosang walked in the living room and saw ivy on the couch with her mood octopus flipped to the grey side. the oldest member pat yeosangs shoulder before walking into the kitchen.
“jisoo-ah” yeosang called out her legal name with a slight chuckle. but she was not budging. she kept looking straight at the tv with her arms crossed and her octopus beside her. “okay…” he sighed before walking out of the dorm
ivy was confused but just stayed in her spot watching her show. it was only 10 minutes by the time yeosang returned with a 7/11 bag in his hand. the younger tilted her head when he set the bag down beside her. she looked in it, smiling when she saw the bagged pickles and monster can.
she grabbed her octopus, flipping her to the pink and happy side before hugging the older. “thank god”
victim 2 - hongjoong:
with the leader constantly being in the studio, ivy can hardly find time to actually talk to him anymore. and one day, it really got on her nerves…
for the first time in forever, hongjoong was actually
home, during the day. ivy would be excited if she didn’t beg him for a month to hang out with her outside of work. and now he received the frowning octopus when he went to her room to talk.
he knocked and walked in as the girl quickly flipped her stuff toy and displayed it on her bed as her sheets covered her face. he expected this, and even came prepared.
“are these harry styles tickets?!”
mission accomplished.
victim 3 - atiny:
she brought this thing to a fansign… but fans loved it actually. until it was used on them when they cheered for the wrong person at the wrong time…
ivy was acting cute from her seat while waiting for a fan to be seated in front of her. some fans in the crowd gave her attention that she wanted until mingi began copying her and somehow earning bigger and better reactions.
in reality, ivy knows she isn’t as popular as her other members in korea, and of course that hurt, but she doesn’t blame anyone for it. but she still likes to tease her fans.
she looked at mingi, then the crowd and pouted before flipping her octopus to the grey side. atinys let out apologies and coos to the youngest
“yah! why don’t you pay more attention to ivy?” mingi teased the fans while pointing to the stuffed toy. “go again ivy”
ivy does what is told, doing cute poses and faces as the fans make a lot of noise of it. she smiles and flips her toy back to the pink.
“good choice” hongjoong teased
victim 4 - wooyoung:
wooyoung is a tease, but sometimes his comments can be a little too much for ivy…
“c’mon ji, i didn’t mean it like that” the older pouted as he followed the youngest member to her bedroom. he was stopped from following her any further when she slammed the door in his face.
“you pick on her too much sometimes, woo” san noted.
“i don’t mean to!” the younger began knocking on her door until he noticed that she didn’t even lock it. which was her plan, she wanted him to see the frowning octopus. “livvy…” he pouts again “i’m sorry”
“no you’re not” she mumbled, hiding in her covers. “you know that hurts my feelings” she’s fine with his teasing jokes, but sometimes he crosses the line. and he knows this, he just never realizes it until it’s too late.
“how can i make it up to you?” he asked, rubbing her head that was covered by her quilt. she just shrugged with no answer. he sighs and looks at the stuff animal again “wanna go to the aquarium?” he smiled as he watched her flip the toy to happy again before she jumps out of the bed.
JANG YOO-JIN (Hangul: 장유진; born November 15, 2000), better known by her stage name BIA (Hangul: 비아), is a fictional Korean-British singer, rapper, and songwriter. She made her debut in October 2018 as a member of the co-ed group ATEEZ under KQ Entertainment as a lead rapper, lead dancer, and vocalist.
About Her /// Facts About Her /// Her Habits /// Her Likes & Dislikes /// Her Background /// Her Fashion /// Her Aesthetic /// Her Room /// Her Playlist /// Her Phone /// Her Bag /// Her Hair colours ///
•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•
꒰ !Relationships! ꒱
With TXT /// With Other Artist /// With Her Family /// Her Non-Idol Friends /// Her Dating History /// Her Celebrity Crushes /// Idols Crushing On Her ///
Her First Impression Of TXT /// TXT First Impression Of Yeona ///
Her Friends Talking About Her /// Other Idols Talking About Her ///
Her profile ⌇ Her Fashion ⌇ Her Aesthetic ⌇ Her Playlist ⌇ Her Phone ⌇
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
『 RELATIONSHIPS 』
With Enhypen ⌇ With other artist ⌇
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
『 INCORRECT QUOTES 』
Trust me 𖧧 Wasting our lives 𖧧 Only one of me 𖧧 Metal reusable straw 𖧧 Package deal 𖧧 Crushing anxiety 𖧧 Bad hair day 𖧧 Cornflakes 𖧧 Put a bandage on it 𖧧 In need of an adult 𖧧 Attempt at flirting 𖧧 Too late 𖧧 Cats on social media 𖧧 Fetal position 𖧧
Bon Voyage Season 3 Episode 2 (BTS x 8th Member Imagine)
PAIRING: BTS x 8th Member (female)
GENRE: Minimal fluff, good old humour
WORDS: 2k (whoahh)
Summary: Join BTS as they begin the third season of 'Bon Voyage.' In Episode 2, the gang (gucci gang- ayyy) participate in some challenged to win some food.
A/N: please message me or reply to this about what adventures you want to see in BV 3 Xx ALSO ALSO Enjoy the reference to another kpop group (won’t give away any spoilers). But this is the perfect opportunity to ask yall to send me some (group which shall not be mentioned ) requests. ALSO WHO GUESSED THE SONG!
Part 1
As soon as Y/N stepped off the plane, she felt the bright sun hit her eyes. She was quite literally blinded. And she was wearing sunglasses.
Her right hand gripped tightly to the railing of the stairs, whilst her left hand was holding the handle of her suitcase.
"Let me take that for you, my lady" Y/N giggled, as Hoseok grabbed her suitcase from her. Always a true gentleman.
She stepped down the wobbly stairs, taking in her surrounding. To be honest, it was nothing special, just a bunch of boring buildings with a backdrop of blue sky. It didn't scream Australia. Then again, she knew that she was being too quick to judge. She walked across the tarmac, followed closely by her boys- all tired from the flight.
Soon they reached one of the private rooms, where they would find out more about their Australian journey. Whilst the crew were setting up the mic's, the Bangtan boy's and girl sat lazily on the single sofa in the room. Kookie was lying on Suga's shoulder, whilst V was sitting on Jimin's lap. Poor J-Hope hadn't even made it to the couch and was laying on the ground. At least it was carpeted
Once everything was set up, and J-Hope was still on the ground, a member of the producing team gave out a bunch off papers.
"We're not rejumbling words again" Namjoon scoffs in annoyance.
"No we're not going to torture you like that again" Relieved, Namjoon relaxes back on the couch.
"Instead, here are a bunch off quick mini games you will be playing to win over the food you will be eating when you spend the next day here in Sydney."
Everyone, including J-Hope, perks up. Food was their weakness.
"Each of you will choose a piece of paper, which has a mini game written on it. If you beat a member of staff, then you will get the food in a portion size of 9."
"Leader goes first," Y/N shouts, clearly wanting to eat, whilst not wanting to get yelled at first for loosing.
Namjoon walks towards the camera, and picks out the green piece of paper.
"Why you take my favourite colour," J-Hope exclaims.
"You should've gone first then" Namjoon sasses back.
He then opens the paper, and in black sharpie it reads 'Don't answer the question.' Classic.
"You will be playing for meat pies, an Australian Delicacy."
Y/N sighs. This game wasn't Namjoon hyungs strong point. She loved him to death. But she could kiss her chances of eating a pie filled with curry goodbye. Nevertheless, she screams out a "GO NAMJOON HYUNG" at the top off her lungs. She was his biggest supporter.
"What is a capital of Australia"
"The sun is very bright. I am going to melt"
"He wouldn't know the answer to that anyway."
Namjoon turned around a pretended to throw his cap at Jimin, the latter flitching, bracing himself for impact.
"What are you going to eat?"
"Y/N was snoring on the plane."
"HEYYYYYY"
"Where are you?"
"QANTAS is Australia's national airline."
"AHHHHHHH" J-Hope shouts, "HE ANSWERED THE QUESTION."
"No I didn't."
"The answer was Australia, and you mentioned their airline."
"I was just reading whatever was on the plane outside."
"Hobi Hyung, why are you arguing, don't you want food. Or are you trying to starve us to death."
The production team say the words we hear nearly every episode, "we will discuss." That was their way of saying 'you should loose, but you were close to winning. We feel bad and are going to give you the prize.'
Sure enough, they placed 2 four packs of meat pies in Namjoons hands.
"I'll go next." Jimin walks to the camera, picking out the piece of paper which read 'Paper, Scissors, Rock."
This time, the camera man versus him.
Round 1: Jimin-rock, Camera Man- paper
Round 2: Jimin-paper, Camera Man- Scissors.
"YOU SUCK HYUNG"
"Don't make me swear on camera!"
Round 3: Jimin-rock, Camera Man- paper
Y/N giggled, they weren't going to be getting- wait what was Jimin Hyung playing for.
"What food aren't we getting."
"Ahh, we should have told you. That was for Caromello Koala's."
"I'm sorry what."
"Koa- Aren't they animals."
"Why are they dipped in Caramel?"
"They looked so cuddly. Who would want to eat them."
Jungkook just stared at the crew with a blank expression on his face, trying to comprehend people eating those sweet creatures.
"They're chocolates" said a member of the crew, trying to hold back his laughter at the group thinking that the Australians would do such a thing. Then again, they'd be shocked to find out what the next person would be playing for.
"Who's next" Suga asked, in his usual monotone voice. He was the only one who had kept his composure through the whole Koala ordeal. Jin still looked concerned at the false though of Australian's eating caramel with Koala's whilst V was still using hand actions to describe how fluffy they were.
"I'll go" Y/N exclaims, standing up to pick the blue sheet of paper. She opens it facing the camera. 'Guess the Song.' She hadn't played this game before, but she understood the gist.
"Pretty self explanatory, Y/n we will play you 2 seconds of a song. If you correctly guess it you get the food."
"And what found would that be" she asks whilst batting her eyelashes.
"It's a surprise."
"As long as it's not strawberry filled Kangaroo I'll be happy" Jin exclaims from the background. The staff chuckle amongst themselves.
Y/N furrows her eyebrows as she waits for one of their songs to play from the iPhone of one of the producers. She remembers decorating that iPhone case when they were in Hawaii filming season 2, and was happy to see that her case was still there. She has found a bunch of flower stickers, and stuck it around the plain aqua case, topping it off with an official BTS sticker. Truthfully, it looked as if a 4 year old had done it, but she was so happy that the staff member still had it. It really showed how they had all become a family.
A beat suddenly plays for 3 seconds, and as quickly as she heard it, it disappeared. It was familiar, but not familiar enough. She could barely even remember the words for the next line. So much for planning to sing the song till she got to the chorus.
"Can I listen to it again please," she asks, giving her signature pout.
Of course, they would let her listen again- and they did.
Yet once again, she couldn't make out the song. It wasn't a single. They hadn't performed it recently, she didn't even know if they had ever performed it.
"saramdeureun naege malhae geu jeongdoye gobineun jinaganeun sonagirago (사람들은 내게 말해 그 정도의 고비는 지나가는 소나기라고)."
She really had no clue. Y/N turned around, hoping her boys would give her a helping hand, but they looked as dumbfounded as her. Useless.
She analyzed the lyrics. They were dark. Something Suga would write? Agust D would perform? Was it a diss track? Had they wrote another one without her. She was meant to be on 'Cypher V.' They had promised her she could. And it wasn't an empty promise like they gave V Hyung.
She turned back to face the camera, before quickly apologizing to her boys.
"Uhhhh." Sigh. "Is it… To be honest I can't even remember the next few lines. Um…. To be honest, it didn't even sound like us. Like, I'm assuming Suga Hyung rapped it because it's fast, but it doesn't sound like him. It can't be him. And it's not the other two, meaning I'm the only member of the rap line left. And it sounds like a guy. UNLESS you played with the pitch so it wouldn’t be obvious. If that’s so we have to give you all more credit.
The boys chuckle behind her. Y/N always started to ramble when she was nervous, or in this case overthinking.
"JUST SAY SOMETHING" Jungkook yelled, tired of waiting for the maknae.
"Uhhh. Did we even sing this?"
The staff smile. "No you didn't. Stray Kids did."
Before Y/N had time to beat herself up for not knowing the lyrics to one of her favorite groups (who would roast her for not knowing their song when the video dropped), J-Hope leaps off the sofa, knocking over Namjoon in the process. "RIGGED! HOW WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO GUESS THAT. HOW CAN WE GET FOOD. DO YOU WANT US TO SUFFER. DO YOU WANT US TO DIE HERE. BEFORE THE INSECTS KILL US."
Y/N fell to the ground laughing at her hyungs over reaction.
The staff quickly try to defend their actions. "No no. We thought it'd be funny. You all should know what so-"
"Don't give me any excuses. I, dance leader, believe this is bullying. I want the food." He looks around, signaling for the rest of the members to help him. "We want the food. Please."
"Of course. Of course. We aren't that mean. You're still going to get kangaroo. It's currently thawing in your hotel."
"I'm sorry what?"
"Kangaroo?"
"STRAWBERRY FILLED KANGAROO. I GUESSED IT!"
"Shut up Jin Hyung."
"You better be joking."
"Who eats Kangaroo."
"Don't they box people."
Yoongi was the only one who wasn't loosing his shit. As expected. Instead he was typing away on his phone, before responding to the rest of the group. "Apparently, people eat Kangaroos here. It's quite common."
"Only in Australia would they eat Kangaroo instead of Chicken."
Soon the game was over, after all the members had their turn.
V had to eat a tablespoon of vegemite, and when he successfully did it on his fourth try, he was awarded with- you guessed it- more Vegemite.
Jungkook had to name three phrases in Australian slang. Luckily him reading the tourist guide on the plane had come handy. "G'Day Mate" "Shrimp on the barbie" and "servo" were said in a really bad strong broad Aussie accent. And due to his efforts, he was awarded with Lamingtons.
Suga had to successfully promote their new single, and make 2 people purchase the album. He refused to do so, meaning that the group missed the opportunity of getting some Australian chips.
Jin had to give a rendition of the Australian anthem, after listening to it for 5 minutes. He stood up proudly on the table, after asking permission from the airport staff, and belted it out- very incorrectly. But his gallant effort allowed him to get some sausage rolls.
Last up was J-Hope, who was already rolling his sleeves up in anticipation. He was presented with an oval shaped ball. If he kicked it, somewhat straight, they would give him salad. Nothing distinctly Australian about it, but they would need some veggies too\ wash down the sugary and meaty food.
He positioned himself. Not knowing how to hold it. Some Australian passerbyers laughed at his positioning. Therefore he changed the position, so it was perpendicular to his body. RM stood infront of him, attempting to catch it- that is, if it went to him.
Hobi kicked it. Straight into Namjoons face. Nevertheless they were eating veggies tonight.
The squad screamed in happiness, whilst Namjoon rolled over the floor in pain. They had won the majority of their food, were going to eat kangaroo and have a massive sugar rush. They were going to be fed well tonight.
"Time to eat! Let's go to the hotel" Jimin exclaimed, speaking to cover the sound of his stomach rumbling.
"How do you think you're getting there?" the staff asked, causing the 8 very tired members of one of the biggest groups in the world to sigh very loudly and roll their eyes.
By the time they would get to their hotel, it would be closer to breakfast than dinner.
Sydney was in the back of the van. She preferred it back there since she could move around more. Plus it felt weird staring out the window since losing her eye. She guessed it was the loss of depth perception. She was still learning how to gauge distance.
“So, that was kind of lame. Why did they think that guy was a ghost anyway?” asked Sydney as she tried to contact juggle some balls they had and dropped them all over the place. “He didn’t even put a lot of effort into his costume.”
“They were really superstitious,” said Arthur. “Only a few steps from being a cult when you think about it. They decide that anything strange has to have a supernatural or spiritual cause. Don’t even think there’s a scientific explanation because why couldn’t it be something that proves they’re right.”
“Arthur, you’re starting to ramble,” interrupted Vivi.
Arthur blushed. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. They were a bit…extreme,” admitted Vivi. “I can see why it would upset you.”
Mystery decided this was a good reason to lay his head on Arthur’s lap. Sydney then flung her arms around him. “Yeah! I thought they were creepy too!”
“Sydney! I’m driving!”
“Pretty sure they thought I was an idiot,” continued Sydney. “I mean that tone they used with me was just insulting! Just because I’m missing an eye doesn’t mean I’m an idiot! Lots of people are missing parts and are smart! I’m not a pirate!” Sydney paused. “Actually, there were some pretty intelligent pirates. I don’t know where I was going with that. I seem to come back to pirates a lot lately. I know why I do, but it’s getting kind of old. I need to find something else to obsess with when I get riled up.”
“You could go back to talking about comics,” suggested Vivi.
Sydney sighed. “Yeah, I miss that…Why do I have so much trouble bringing comics up nowadays? It used to be second nature, but now I have to focus to talk about them. Even though I still love comics. It doesn’t make sense. Is this part of growing up? Part of recovering from a traumatic event? Both? It feels like something’s wrong. But isn’t that normal now?” Sydney rested her forehead on the back of Arthur’s head, not noticing how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. “Do you ever feel like that?”
“Yes,” said Arthur. He’d felt like it since he woke up in a hospital missing an arm, missing a friend, missing memories, missing so much… “I don’t think it’s gonna go away.” Mystery let out a whine and licked one of Sydney’s hands.
Vivi looked between the two as the mood quickly started to darken. God, she just wanted her two friends to be happy like they used to be. She needed to find a way to change the subject and make them smile. “Why don’t we pick up a couple of pizzas or something and then watch a couple of hours of Star Trek or Star Wars or Captain America?”
Arthur caught on to what she was trying to do and smiled. “That would be nice. It’s been a while since we hung out.” He frowned. “That’s my fault.” He’d been busy looking for Lewis. He was trying not to ignore his remaining friends, but it was hard when he wanted to find the other one and mentioning him did…something to them.
“What the heck are you working on anyway?” asked Sydney. “You’re not usually this secretive. You’re not trying to make a mechanical eye again, are you?”
“No!...Not usually anyway,” admitted Arthur.
“I can see where he’s coming from,” said Vivi. “I don’t think we can buy another eye if something else goes wrong. We need an alternative method.”
Sydney shuddered. “Okay, point taken. Being blind sucked. I don’t know how someone can live with that for a lifetime. Especially if you’re born like that! Can you imagine never knowing colors? And I bet light doesn’t make a lot of sense either. And you can’t play videogames!”
“Can’t work on cars or fabricate parts,” continued Arthur.
“Probably can’t paint either,” mused Vivi. “Unless the various colors smelled different from one another.”
Sydney wrinkled her nose. “Is-Is that a thing? And I don’t mean synesthesia! Can blind people have synesthesia? Or deaf people? Or anyone missing one sense?”
“What if sounds are linked to smell instead?” suggested Arthur.
“Can that happen?”
“Dunno. Maybe.”
“Pigments are just a type of chemical compound, so it would make sense for them to have a scent,” said Vivi, keeping the conversation from veering off in a completely different direction for once.
“Depends on the chemical. Some don’t have a scent, or at least the scent is too faint for humans to pick up on,” explained Arthur.
“I dunno, I swear I was smelling more right before you fixed my eye,” argued Sydney.
“It’s not quite the same thing. When you lose a sense you pay more attention to the ones that are left, like reassigning roles. We get the most information from sight, so when someone loses their sense of sight they pay a lot more attention to little things that they didn’t even realize they were ignoring. Also, I think there’s some neuroplasticity involved. Your brain isn’t using the part that used to be for putting together what your eyes saw, so it starts using it for other things over time.” Arthur was silent for a moment. “Um. But you, uh, would know better than me, given, you know. Sorry, I got a little too into the science papers I’ve been reading.”
Sydney smiled and shrugged. “It’s fine. I think it’s pretty interesting, even if I don’t understand all of it.” She tapped her eyepatch. “Does losing an eye affect how much of my brain it uses?”
“Just one? I’m not sure. You are seeing less…”
“Can you still smell and hear more than you’re used to?” asked Vivi.
Sydney shrugged. “Dunno. I don’t think so. Was kind of distracted at the time. Plus, everything looked different when I could see again.”
Vivi huffed. “It is just so unfair. How is it that my abilities still haven’t manifested but my half of the eye lets you see spirits?”
“It is really strange,” agreed Sydney.
“Maybe it’s because your abilities are already active,” suggested Arthur. “And you do have some control over ‘em.”
Vivi hummed in thought. “That might be it. There are still so many unknowns…”
“Hey, I don’t care how as long as no one else has to go blind,” said Sydney. “Besides, I’m sure something will wake you up eventually.”
“Yeah, but what if I’m like 40 when it finally happens?” complained Vivi. “Heck, if I have kids by then, they might have gotten their power before me…”
Arthur winced. “Do you want kids?”
Vivi nodded. “Of course! One, maybe two. I just have to find the right guy,” she said, giving Arthur a significant glance.
Arthur missed said glance entirely as he was distracted by thoughts of what could have been. Sydney was blind on that side. The only one to notice was Mystery, who huffed. Why did life have to be so difficult for these kids? The last time he’d had charges this prone to trouble…
It hadn’t ended well. Mystery would rather not dwell on the depressing memories.
Vivi realized her hint had gone over their heads yet again and decided to just move on. “Do you guys want kids?”
“I want one! So there can be a Sydney Scoville III!” proclaimed Sydney. “But just one. Don’t think I could handle more than that.”
Arthur was silent. Lewis wanted kids. He’d be an amazing father with how well he handled his sisters. “I dunno if I want children. I don’t want to pass on any of my issues.”
Vivi and Sydney both frowned at Arthur’s reasoning. “Most of your issues are due to your early upbringing,” pointed out Vivi. “You wouldn’t make those same choices and mistakes. That would prevent most of those issues from happening.”
“They could still pick up the behavior from me,” argued Arthur. “There’s only so much that I can change.”
“I don’t think you need to change,” said Sydney. “I mean, yeah, you’ve got anxiety issues, but lots of people do. You’re also smart and nice and help people and have cool hair and stro-”
“What if I attract something dangerous?” interrupted Arthur.
“Then I’ll just keep living nearby,” reasoned Sydney. She’d live with him if he asked. “I mean, I don’t see why I would leave Tempo.”
“Me either. Tempo is our home,” agreed Vivi. She placed a hand on Arthur’s flesh and blood hand. “We’re stuck with each other. For life.”
Arthur felt himself cheer up a bit at that. He gave Vivi a smile and tried to give Sydney one as best he could. Maybe he was being selfish, but he wanted to stay close to his friends.
And then the dashboard started to spark. Arthur’s eyes widened. “What?! No, no, no…” He stomped on the gas several times but failed to pick up speed.
Vivi frowned. “Is something wrong with the van?”
“There shouldn’t be! I just performed maintenance on it!”
Sydney raised an eyebrow. “Am I the only one who thinks the purple sparks were weird?”
Arthur blinked. “Purple?”
Sydney nodded. “Yeah, I was staring right at the dashboard.” The high beam light looked like a jellyfish. “Definitely purple.”
“That is not a thing that should happen!” shouted Arthur.
Vivi nodded. “Electricity’s supposed to just be white, which suggests this isn’t normal.” The van came to a stop right in front of…Vivi blinked several times. “A dancing mansion?”
Okay, it wasn’t actually dancing. However, it was sort of pulsing/bopping to a beat that one could fell in their bones. It was noticeably run down and purple and had eerie lights in the windows.
“There’s no way that’s not haunted,” deadpanned Sydney.
“Erm…” Arthur tried turning over the car again. “We don’t, have to investigate, do we?”
Vivi thought of what happened last time they’d jumped into an investigation without any preparation.
Blood. Hospitals. Loss. Guilt.
“If you can get the van started, we’re leaving,” said Vivi. “Sydney, you’re not wearing your suppressor?”
Sydney shook her head. “Still practicing controlling it on my own.”
“Good. Don’t reign it in.”
Mystery just stared at the mansion. He recognized its aura. He could barely believe it.
When did Lewis come back and what did he have planned?
Lewis was planning to exact his revenge. The plan had been simple: Create a mansion on a road that they often traveled along near Tempo (He couldn’t get into Tempo, but that could be because of some of the wards Vivi had tried setting up.), lure the Mystery Skulls (especially Arthur) into the mansion, separate them, bring Arthur to his location, kill Arthur, and reunite with the girls and Mystery, with possible minor changes as were needed. He was also open to making Arthur confess what happened to the girls (They must not have seen what happened to just go along with him.) before killing him.
The plan started to unravel as soon as the van came to a stop in front of his mansion. Part of that was because instead of rushing into the mansion on the heels of Vivi like he was expecting, they stayed in the van. And stayed. A lot longer than he recalled them ever doing so when he was alive.
Part of it was indirectly Sydney’s fault. He’d known that her aura was potent against malevolent spirits and the like, but he hadn’t really appreciated it until he felt it pressing down on him. From all the way outside. He found himself rubbing his temples. Ow. No wonder the nastier spirits went out of their way to avoid her. He was actually leaking some energy. He could last for some time as long as he was careful, but theoretically, they could just stay in the van until he was too drained to keep them here. If they tried that, he’d have to go out and confront them. Not something he wanted to do, but if it became necessary…
Lewis wondered why he was being affected in the first place. He wasn’t evil…Well, okay, he did want to kill Arthur. That was justified, but maybe it was gray enough for Sydney’s ability to categorize him as malevolent. If that was the case, then it would probably stop after he killed Arthur and no longer had any desire to hurt someone.
Lewis was dragged from his musings as several figures started exiting the van. Finally! Lewis quickly started setting up the finishing touches of his plan.
It was time to end this.
Arthur had to admit defeat. “I’ll need to look under the hood, and I don’t want to do that in front of a haunted mansion.” He sighed. “I don’t wanna go inside either.”
Sydney had been staring at the mansion the whole time. She could see the music. And anger. This eye was so weird. “I think you’d be okay. Pretty sure my aura will reach that far.”
Mystery could confirm that her aura did extend that far and would retain enough potency to be effective. Not that he could tell them, but it was certainly a weight off his shoulders.
Vivi started handing out various items for protection and fighting. “It’s a tough choice. Stay out here alone but relatively safe or go inside with us to stay close to Sydney and me.”
Arthur groaned. If he was less worried about the girls’ safety he would stay outside, but he couldn’t help but worry that if he let them go inside that he would never see them again. It had happened before. Even if he couldn’t do anything to protect them, he could draw fire away from them.
“I think I’ll go with you guys,” Arthur decided.
Sydney and Vivi studied him for a moment before Sydney suddenly bit her thumb and smeared some blood in the center of his forehead. “Just in case.”
Arthur instinctively looked up with crossed eyes for a moment. “Uh. Okay. I guess that’ll work.”
“It should. There is power in blood,” said Vivi as she gave him some holy water and slipped a beaded necklace over his head and under his shirt. “We can try practicing making protective symbols with it too.”
Sydney chuckled. “Like an anime.” She nodded. “Anything that you think will help.”
Arthur fought down the urge to wipe at the blood on his forehead. “Can I just say that I don’t like having other people’s blood on me?” It brought back bad memories.
Sydney winced. “Oh. Sorry. Should’ve asked first, shouldn’t I?”
Arthur took a deep breath. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine. You said it might help so it’s something to try.” The blood itched on his forehead. “But I am totally scrubbing it off when we get out of here.”
Vivi nodded. “Sounds like a decent enough compromise.” She handed an ofuda to Sydney. Sydney smeared some more blood on the back of it. “I don’t want either of you getting hurt again. You’re just starting to get back to where you were before.”
That made both of them wince. The last few months of learning to live with new handicaps had been difficult and frustrating in several ways. They didn’t want a repeat with themselves or Vivi or Mystery.
All four of them silently vowed to protect the others.
The walk up to the mansion’s front door took just a few seconds. Vivi knocked on the doors (She was concerned that the inhabitants would be excited by Arthur knocking and see Sydney knocking as a declaration of war.), which creaked open ominously. The inched in, the doors slamming shut behind them.
The darkness didn’t last long enough for them to pull out flashlights. Several purple wisps of fire floated by and lit candles lined along the walls and set on a chandelier.
Vivi absently noted that the layout kind of reminded her of the Spencer mansion, except a lot more purple.
“Sydney, stop humming.”
“Oops. Didn’t notice-”
Several purple ghosts suddenly popped up. “Who-o-o-o-oa!”
Most of the group immediately tensed up. Vivi didn’t immediately though. “Cute!”
They really were adorable…until more popped up behind them. “This time I might just disa-Who-o-o-o-who-o-o-oa!” They suddenly got pointy toothed with claws. “Oh yeah!”
Nope. They took off running down the hallway through break in the ghosts.
“This time I might just disappear!”
A suit of armor suddenly lunged towards them and swung an ax. Sydney and Vivi dove under the ax. Arthur vaulted over it. Mystery barely dodged it, having to use his kitsune magic to retract his head into his body.
“Gah!”
“Mystery!”
“)%$*&$^#$(%^)*%(&%*&$&!”
Mystery popped his head back out before any uncomfortable questions could be asked.
“Who-o-o-o-who-o-o-oa…”
They abruptly realized that the paintings lining the hall were moving. They suddenly leapt out. “Oh yeah!”
The Mystery Skulls leapt into each other’s arms. Thankfully, the portrait spirits pulled back into the paintings. “Who-o-o-o-oa…” And then the lady painting reached out and pulled a rope next to her painting.
A trapdoor opened under them. They fell down screaming, and things became bizarre, even by their standards. They weren’t falling as quickly as they should be. It was more like they were floating. Not to mention there were several random items in the space with them. A few hours later, they would comment on how it was oddly reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.
They floated past several mirrors. Vivi was a bit confused by the fact that her reflection had completely purple eyes. From what Mystery could see in his cracked mirror they could see past glamours. Arthur was facing away from the mirrors so he didn’t see that they failed to reflect his prosthetic. Sydney did faintly notice this but was a bit distracted by how her reflection showed her right after her injury with her remaining eye leaking various colors from it.
Then Arthur’s fall suddenly sped up. Vivi and Sydney made to grab him, but just missed him. Then they noticed Sydney was falling even slower and tried to grab each other, but it was too late again.
Sydney let out an ‘oof’ and shot to her feet as she landed. “I’m armed!” she shouted, brandishing the ofuda. She turned around. There were a bunch of boxes, a dusty bed with no covers, and… a mannequin in a wedding dress and holding an ax? Sydney thought she was in the basement until she noticed some windows that she ran over to. She felt her brain short circuit. “How the *&^*) do you fall down into the attic?!”
Vivi and Mystery had landed in a kitchen where a pair of dagwood sandwiches were laid out on the center counter. The two stared at them for several moments but managed to pull themselves away. “Right. Separated…We should look for Arthur first. Sydney can take care of herself in this sort of situation.” Her stomach growled. Mystery’s growled even louder. “…I wonder if it would be safe to grab a few pieces.”
Arthur landed on his ass in what was probably the basement. He absentmindedly glanced upward in confusion (How did that work? Ghost logic was so weird.) before zeroing in on a large coffin with a skull and thorny vine design on the top of the lid. It was beating like the rest of the house.
Not good.
The coffin slowly opened, revealing a jawless skull floating above a large body in a nice suit.
Lewis narrowed his eye sockets as he floated out and slammed his feet in front of Arthur. He glared at his murderer, full of hate and anger.
Arthur stared in fear, unable to recognize his dead friend. All he saw was a scary, probably powerful, likely dangerous ghost that had separated him from his friends.
Lewis broke the silence by pointing a finger at Arthur. “Fuck, it’s you I hate the most.”
Arthur gulped and pointed at himself. “Buh-buh-Why?”
It was a reasonable question from Arthur’s point of view. Lewis…it did occur to him that he wasn’t as recognizable without his face. He lit the braziers and let his hair form. “Does this answer your question?!”
No, it didn’t, but Arthur decided he wasn’t going to explain that this was a case of mistaken identity to a ghost that probably wasn’t going to listen. He threw the vial of holy water, turned on his heel, and ran.
Lewis did recoil a bit at the holy water. He was a fire ghost. Water stung even if it wasn’t holy. Then he threw it off, decided this was proof of Arthur’s guilt, and gave chase.
Arthur was in good shape (He didn’t understand how he was still so healthy when he’d been hospitalized and locked in his workroom so much for the last few months.) and used to running from scary things. He glanced behind him and saw the ghost practically flying towards him. No more glancing back. He put on a burst of speed.
Oh, hey, Vivi and Mystery. “Angry ghost! Run!”
Vivi and Mystery looked away from the sandwiches they were still debating eating. They looked in the direction Arthur came from, threw the sandwiches at the angry ghost, and ran after Arthur. Lewis didn’t bother trying to avoid the sandwich contents and flew right through them.
“We need to find Sydney!” shouted Vivi.
“Where is she?!” shouted Arthur.
“I don’t know!”
Mystery could feel that Sydney had ended up in the attic and was managing to work her way down. He pulled ahead and ran up some stairs, Arthur and Vivi close behind him. They ran through a bunch of doors and rooms.
Sydney heard the racket and threw open the door of the room she’d wandered into. “Angry Elvis ghost!”
That threw Lewis for a loop. “Elvis? Are you kid-” He saw the eyepatch. “What happened to your-”
Sydney threw an ofuda at him. Lewis yelped and pulled it off. That hurt!
“You stay away from Arthur!” demanded Sydney.
That hurt almost as much as the ofuda. “You don’t get it. He-”
Vivi darted back and grabbed Sydney. “What’re you waiting for?!” She then dragged Sydney off.
Okay, Vivi and Sydney didn’t know about his murder. Somehow. Maybe it was post traumatic amnesia or something. Clearly, this needed to be remedied. Also, why was Sydney wearing an eyepatch? She wasn’t wearing an eyepatch for the heck of it. There’d been scars peeking out. He gave chase, now equally intent on telling Vivi and Sydney what happened along with killing Arthur.
He threw fire to keep Arthur from moving down a hallway. Arthur turned and stared at him fearfully. Lewis felt his desire for vengeance clawing up his heart.
And then Vivi and Sydney put themselves between them, Vivi with her arms outstretched as if to shield Arthur as much as possible, Sydney with her hands up as if she was prepared to fight him.
This was wrong. Vivi and Sydney were supposed to be on his side. He wasn’t the enemy! He just needed…Maybe…Yes. That would work. He willed his anchor towards them.
They just needed to see the proof of who he was, that they knew him.
The flames died down. Arthur was certain he knew the way to the front door from this spot. He grabbed Vivi and Sydney and booked it.
Vivi and Sydney glanced back once.
Mystery made sure to take up the rear.
Lewis stared in disbelief and heartbreak as his murderer and the love(s?) of his life and (more than) best friend.
And his anchor fell and broke.
And Lewis switched to frustration and anger and despair and why did this happen to him?! Why why why?!
He screamed, pouring his everything into it as his fire erupted around him.
The living Mystery Skulls barely made it through the doors in time to avoid being burned alive. Mystery might have had something to do with it. They rushed to the van. “Go go go!”
Arthur revved the van. It started. “I’m going!”
They peeled out of there.
None of them saw the figure watching them from one of the high windows. Lewis watched as the van drove away. He pressed down on his cracked anchor and looked at the picture inside.
It was from shortly after he and Vivi started dating. He had an arm around Vivi, who was hugging him. Sydney had an arm thrown over his shoulder while he used his free arm to support her. No Arthur. The three of them were smiling and happy and whole and alive.
They could never go back to that.
Lewis barely noticed the tear running down his face as he finally passed out and returned to his anchor, the house fading around him.