‘ who did this? ’ (ghostinblue)
𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒
feel free to change any pronouns or subjects (or reverse). tw for blood, death and physical violence mention.
It was cold.
So very very cold.
And he felt so…heavy.
Arthur couldn’t remember what happened prior to waking up, last he remembered is that they split up to explore the cave; Vivi and M̛y̗̺s̗t̬̗̜͢ͅe̹̳͘r̶̳̳͚y͏̜ went toward a path that sloped down. He followed Lewis up the other path, the whole ambience of the cave made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up, even more so as he watched L̢̜ew͚̣͖̳̮̩̻i̛̼͙͓̠͉s͎̫̰̞̩̳͙͝ ̬͈c͓a̼̲̖̺̳͓u̙̫͖̲̠̪͡t̗̗̣̮͉͕i͕͉o̺̫͙̗̺u͔̬s͈l̳̻̘̺̜y̛ ̵͍̥̘ma̫̤͓͚̞͉͞k͏̜͙̹̯̩e̫͚̻̞̮̲͇͝ ̰͖̕h̝͉̳͖i̡͎s͓̱͓̺̖ ̹͈͉̻̼w̪̗̦̖̣̜͢a̝̪̥͇̲̯y̺͎̱̻̠͚̣͠ ̦͠f̮͍̹̞͇̬o͔͙̫̻r̳̞ͅw͏͖̙ͅa̤̻̗̝r͎̼̳̝d̢̬ ̘̞̩̭͙̱t̵̥o̙̩̲ ̫̹͙̘͓̫̹t̹͜h̠͍̯̪ḙ ̴̭̹̻e̶̦ͅd̺͇̟͈̘̺g̵ͅe҉̼ ̯̝͕̦̖̫̬o̳̲f̳̣̤͜ ̥̘̦t̵̟̮̠̫̯̲h̴̯e̛ ̴̘̻c͚̳͍͇l̼͖̻̦ͅi͏͖̼̩f̬͙f̟̲̬̻͓ ̸͔͚̤̼͍l̟͍͕̲̘̠̳o̗̺̱̻o̤̦̲̳̲k̨͓̤̯͇̩̰͓i͙͕̜͚͉̙n̞̩̖͘g͡ ̢̭̗̬̪͇͓d̷͙̗o҉̪w͏̥̹̜n͍͔̹͚͔ͅ, h̳̥̝͉͚͓̝̻͠e̵̢̳͉͈̦͓͍̞͙ͅ ̛͙̫̯̦͖̫̤ẉ̰̪a̫͈̞̖̪̦̫̻s̷͕̠̠̠͜ ̨͙͔̘͖̯̘̖͘s̛̲̞̙͔o̮͇̦̯̘ ̹̼̖̜̬d̸̛͍̹̗̣͓̲̫ͅe̸͕̖̕f̺̟̘͕̠e̢͕͈͞n̡̹̘͝s͖̤̺̹e̜̟͓̠̥͕̼̩l̷̛̗͔͉͎ͅe͡҉̗̠̣̜͉̦͠ͅs͓̲̥̮̦̲ș̗͇̫,͚̼͘͢͞ ͚̹̝̜̭͉ş̷̶̮͙ó̵̥͉̲̫̪̰̩ͅ ̥̳̰̼̮̮͈͝r̺̤͢i̥̖p̨͍̗͘e̞̝̻͚͟ ̶̩͙͚̣̭͟f̵͉o̵̢͈̰̬̦r̦̗̦̺̲̱̫̭̝̀ ̸̬͔͘t̬̹̙̱̬̳̰̠h͙̣̝̙ͅe̯̝̝̦
̥̰̹̫͓̺͝ͅp̟͉̘̰̣̩͓͘͞i̡̹͔̖̗̰̝̗̪c̵̷̛͕͚͚̯̗̹k̶̳̖̲͞͝í̤̬͔̗͈̕͜n̛̻̩̻̥͍̻͟g̰̰̟̮̥̯̕,͕ ͔̫͙̘̜͉ͅa̵̢͇̘̭l̸̜̻͡l̰̣̖̬̣̟̲̖̳͡ ̘̬͚͙͍̹̤͟͜h̵̤͓̭̭͓̥e̷̛͉̺̫͚͍͞ ̛̯͇̳̥͔̟́͟h͏̶̹͍̼̥̹̥a̡̱̮͟ḑ̶̢͖̻̮̹ ͏̠̤t̴̩̦̦͓̼̯͇͘o̷̬͢ ̢̦̮͚̺͜ͅw͖̝͝à̝̘̤̗͕̕ş̖̟͇͈̠̩̳́̀ ̹ s̯̯͈̣̺͍͇͔͔͖̘̏̊͋ͦ͌̑ͫ͆ͧͨ̾̂̾̃ͩ̅̾́̍͟t̡̡̰̰̱̬̫̙̹̜̗̭̩̱͈͇͚͙ͧ͛̉̌̆ͤͦ̽̅̎ͧ̑̑̏ͪ̑̾̊̚͟͞ͅe̴̢̛̱̦̹̺̰̠̻͒̈́̏ͩͥ͑ͥ̅̽͒̈̾̀͐ͪ̇ͦ̅̐p̨̺̼͖͓̻̼͔͗͋̏̓̋̐͒͐ͤ̌͒̿ͯ̑ͬ͡ ̷͖͇̣͇̗̎̑̌͗͝f̏̄̂̅ͣ̄̐̈̄̽ͮ̊̄̈͗͂̐ͧ͏̀͏̭̱̲͈͈̭̤̬̞o̢̢̹̫̰͉̟̱̘̳̰̯͉̠̞̞̱ͬͯͣ̒̽̿̒̓͑ͯ̍̕ͅr̛̿ͮ̐̐ͨͮ҉̻͙̘͇w̷̨̛ͯ̓̒̃̊͛̋̎ͫ͏҉͎̣͕̜̪͎̗̜̘̱̩̭͚̹̩͖͕ͅa̴̢̡̜̼̗̖ͤ̐͆ͥ͟ŗ̛̗̞̞͇̝̭̓̇̃̉̎͐ͥͬ̎ͤ͋̊̿ͤdͨ̆ͧ̃̅̃̂ͥ̎̍ͨͨ́͑͘͏͏̺͓̼̠͔̹ ̸ͦ͛̃ͣ̌͆ͤ̀ͫͯ̅̋̑̐̚̚͏̶̨̞͍̹̦͚̻̗̺͍͍̳͙͠a̧̨̺̗̣̬̞̮͔̥̥̔̿͒̊̔͂ͣ̀̚͢͡n̸̽̆̓̽ͦ̒͗̔ͤͫ̔͛̒͌ͪ͠͏͖̤̯̘̯̺͎̰̳͇̲̦͍̯͕̲͕͍ḓ̡̦̜̖͍̠͈̫̯̠̣̞̝̻̮͚̞̿̇͂̿ͯ͛̔́̽̈́̾͂͆ͮ̒̿̏̽́̚͢͡͠.̶̆̄̌̍͗ͧ͛̈́̂͋ͣͫ͑̏̀̚҉̰̣̣̥̹͇͔̝̰̱̙̹.̵͙̤͈͍̃̄́ͪ̒͒ͩͣ̾̋̊ͮͣ̎͑͞.ͫ̅͌͆ͦͪ̉ͪ̇͏̷̥̱̠̳̲̮͙̳̩̕͟.̸̢͎̻͍̱̥̇̈̂͗̄͘͞ ̵̸̣̖͙̖ͫ̔̒̌͂͗̎ͬ̐̄ͥ͒ͤ̚̚͟͝ͅ
….and that’s much as he remembered.
‘ who did this? ’
What?
Eyelids heavy, he opened his eyes to meet with….Vivi?
‘Who did this? Who did what?’
‘What did you mean?’
Is what he tried to say, but the words failed to leave his mouth, not even a croak would come out.
???
She looked so faint, ethereal even!….Must’ve been a trick of the light, something from the cave. He tried to push himself off the dirty cave ground, cold pebbles sticking fast to the supple flesh of his palm as he reached to rub his eyes. Only he couldn’t, only blink in confusion; when did Vivi get so big? Everything felt wrong w̑ͨ̐̐r̳̳͔̮ͯͧ̐̓ͪ̅͐ǫ̜͛n̺͇̗͙͙̳͌ͤͫ̏̈́̒ͩ̕g̳̩ ͖̩͙̿̀͆̅̌ w͉͖ͪͦͧ͗ͧ́̃ŕ̙͇̘̩̬̦̫̮̇ͥ͐̌̎o͎̲̤͓̰̤̣̖ͬͭ̽̕n̘̭͖̳͎̦̟̎ͪ̿̈̆͝g̛̜̠͉̩̥̮̻̙̾̽̽͐̎ͥͭ ͓͇̤̭̦̼̣͎͆̔́ .
‘Vivi? What’s going on?’
ghostinblue:
Vivi gave a firm nod. “Agreed. It’d be nice if someone got out of it.” As awful as everything was right now, the least they could do was to try and check on their friends, and if they found them (If they were still alive), try and get them out of here. They would do the same for them, after all.
She shakily got to her feet and brushed off her skirt, forgetting for a moment that it wasn’t even needed with her being a ghost. The cave still felt as cold and dark and oppressive as it had to begin with, though this time she wasn’t alone. And at the very least it looked like her own ghostly form threw a small bit of light on their surroundings, so they weren’t stuck completely in the dark. Vivi closed her eyes, trying to see if she could find another aura. Soon she picked up a ping.
“I’m picking up something faint aura in that direction,” she said, pointing. “It might be worth checking out?” The aura felt vaguely familiar, but unlike with Arthur she couldn’t tell who it belonged to.
“I can carry you if you want, and we could start out somewhere else first if you’d prefer.”
“I don’t know how, but, I feel it it too? Someone’s over there…”
As much as it would be weird to have Vivi carry him, it’s not like hasn’t before whenever he’s been affected by the supernatural creatures they’ve investigated; he’s a freaking arm right now. But….
“Would you please? It’ll be much faster if you do, I think I’ll just slow us down if tried figuring out to move right now.”
‘sides, he’s pretty sure that he’s still in shock right now, this whole…thing, has simply been surreal and so much to handle at any given moment. No, right now he rather focus on seeing if anyone, anyone(!) was still alive and better off than them.
Arthur was still worried about Vivi’s icy powers affecting him, but it seemed like that she was able to control it to an extent(“Oh, gods, Vivi; how long have you been dead?”.) He had faith in her, as the leader of their group, and as her longtime friend. It was helpful that her ghostly form emitted some light as well, gone, was the menacing stark green glow from the cave; replaced with her soft blue ethereal glimmer.
With each step(?) taken, the pit in his stomach grew and grew(not that he had a stomach but the thought counted) as they got closer and closer to their presumed friend. He took a moment to look up a Vivi, wondering how she was feeling throughout all of this mess, she was the one even more out of the loop than he was with her memory stopping in the van ride over and starting after d̴y̧̬͓̘̥̖͕iͅn̜̩͙̟̮̕g̠̪̼̠͕ͅ ̛̰a̖͙̼͔̤͈l̫̘̲̣̬̗o̺̼͙̘̹n̤͚͓̗͝e̟̥̱̮̠̲… Arthur clenched his fist over his eye, his nails pressing against his meaty palm, Vivi shouldn’t have died, shouldn’t have died even alone.
The sickly green glow from before was gone, but the fog sure wasn’t, they didn’t even see his body til they were on it. Blood stained the white on them, horrifying to see on a figure they grew to see as wise and strong.
Strange to see a mythical kitsune without its tails.
Vivi gently picked Arthur up and settled him in her arms crossed in front of her, making sure he could still see and starting further into the cave. The aura she was following this time seemed weaker, almost flickering, and she hoped it wouldn’t go out before they got there.
(She tried not to think about what “going out” would mean.)
Things weren’t quite as slow as the last time, the air less oppressive as the green tinge faded and her own light reflecting off the fog while she moved. The fog was so dense however that Vivi didn’t even notice the body until her foot began to phase through it, and she jumped back with a yelp at the strange sensation, only taking in what she saw a moment later.
Mystery.
Injured. Bleeding. Attacked. Dead?
(No no no no - !)
Vivi quickly moved to set Arthur on the floor, almost making it before losing solidity a few inches above the ground and Arthur phasing through her hands. This time at least she managed to avoid making any ice but the temperature still dropped a few degrees as she began to shake. She had to stay calm, stay calm.
Unfortunately, taking deep breaths didn’t really work anymore with not having lungs.
Once was bad luck. Twice was a coincidence.
Three times was malice.
“Something bad is here,” Vivi said, voice trembling as she uselessly tried to pull in gasps of air, on the ground on her hands and knees. There was a chance Mystery might already be dead, but she was too scared to check. S-she couldn’t handle that right now, so Vivi focused her thoughts on the largest remaining goal.
“We...” she had to pause, ghostly tears prickling at her eyes, “We have to find Lewis - !”
Three of them were already dead or horribly injured, and the odds for finding Lewis and getting him out of here alive seemed more and more remote. But she had to find out.
She had to know.
















