The Mostro Lounge Library

At Night Raven College, ceremonies were always a tedious affair. A boring, simple assembly made to be as dramatic as possible. With the entrance ceremony, one could understand the robes and makeup and theatrics, but for simple announcements and awards? Ridiculous.

Finn had no intention of attending this week's "ceremony." He already knew it would just waste his time. There were excited murmurings of Diasomnia's housewarden earning some kind of reward for some kind of record breaking feat, but Finn could not care less. He had better things to do. More important things to do.

Finn had reluctantly donned the ceremonial robes to blend in with his dorm mates. Azul was so very strict with attendance and rarely gave Finn an out. So Finn played the obedient student before diverting from the path to the mirror chamber. Though now he was beginning to regret this choice of action.

He trudged in the direction of the library, pulling down his robes and unbuttoning the collar of the robes. Even with the coolness of the night, he felt constricted and uncomfortable. Must these be so tight and cover so much skin?

He entered the library as silently as he could. No doubt the librarian had noticed his presence anyways, but they wouldn't care as long as he didn't distupt their queit. Besides, they were used to his presence by now, even during times he wasn't supposed to be there.

While walking amongst the dimly lit shelves, Finn undid the belt of his outer robe, pulled it off, and folded it over his arm. He let out a soft sigh. That's better. Now he can get on with his plans for the night.

The library was a comforting place. Dark and quiet, marked by the scent of old books and lit candles.

Finn folded his outer robes over the chair in his usual spot right at the back in a dark corner. Then, he began to make the familar journey to a particular section of the library.

All around him, shelves were stuffed to the brim with knowledge. Aisle upon aisle of of books towered above him, ready to satisfy any student's needs, no matter the topic.

The section of interest to Finn tonight was laughably small in comparison.

Finn sighed tiredly and looked the lone bookshelf before him up and down. Within this small selection of books was every bit of information about ghosts and similar phenomena the school could get a hold of of, which was admittedly much more than many other libraries could, but still...

Finn shook off his disappointment and returned his focus to his work. There was so much he intended to do, and he couldn't get it done standing here wishing for more books.

Finn stepped onto the ladder and scanned the shelves carefully. Many of the titles were very familar to him, and his prying eyes were no doubt familiar to them after the many hours he spent rigorously scouring their pages. But these weren't what he was looking for. This time he needed something he hadn't quite had the confidence to touch until- Ah, that one, there.

Finn hooked his pointer finger on the weathered spine of a red leather bound book with simple gold letters spelling out "A Begginer's Guide to Exorcisms" and pulled it off the shelf.

After some consideration he grabbed a few other books, ones he had already read. That was fine, they would still be helpful. He would gladly read through every single book on this shelf hundreds of times if they would help him achieve his goal.

Finn brought his stack of books over to his desk and then unhooked his pen from his robes. With a simple wave, he summoned forth a large book. It was a simple notebook with black cover left completely blank. It was weathered from use and several loose pages stuck out from the side. Sticky tabs jutted out from the top.

Finn flipped through it, past pages upon pages of notes and sketches and diagrams, until he found the page he was looking for. The section on child ghosts. It was filled with notes, but compared to the other sections? There was little information. They were not as common as adult spirits, they were more likely to be passive and simply lost or restless. Sending them on their way isn't too difficult in most cases.

In the middle of the page there was a single sentence that had been underlined and encircled. "What do they want?"

Finn had written many possible answers, but still had no clue which one was true. It was something bad, he knew that much. So many years had been spent tormenting him, though they hadn't caused physical harm yet. If he took too long to do something, he might be-

Finn didn't finish the thought and instead gazed at another sentence that had been underlined and circled. "How to get rid of them?"

Often, young children ghosts simply needed help to cross over or to rest. The latter one could be achieved by guiding the spirit to their body or fulfilling some kind of desire they had when they were living. Closure. Happiness. Satisfaction. Those seemed to help.

Finn turned his pen in his ends and angled the magestone towards himself. He stared down at the many faint reflections of himself in the gem, focusing on the tiny, distinct shapes hovering by his head, watching him work.

Finn dropped the pen and sighed. These ghosts had no bodies to be guided to. These ghosts had no desires in the living world. No, they could barely form thoughts when they were alive. They couldn't talk, so they couldn't tell Finn what they wanted. They didn't do anything of note, besides staring at him, giving him awful visions, and spooking people around him, so that didn't help him understand them any better. The fact that infant ghosts were almost unheard of frequently lead him to dead ends in his research.

He tried to tell them to go away. He even asked them what they wanted, despite the uselessness of such a thing. But all they do is float there and stare.

That left the option of forcing them to leave.

It sounded like the simplest, most obvious solution, but the possible risk of forcefully banishing the spirits attached to him far outweighed the benefit. Even if that weren't his situation, forcing supernatural beings to do something they don't want to... it's not the safest.

But it wouldn't hurt to look into it anyways, just in case there was a more forceful way to free himself from these little spirits without causing damage. Along with that, he would carry on with his regular research.

It was settled, then. Time to begin.

Finn's hand was steady as it moved like lightning across the blank pages of his book, adding new notes and sketching new diagrams. His jaw was set and his eyes were narrowed in firm concentration. He would not give up on his goal. Not ever.

Time passed. The position of the moon shifted, as did the angles of the moonbeams streaming through the windows. How long Finn had been there for, he didn't know. Time was unimportant right now. He just needed to find something to help him, the big "Aha!" moment that would leave him ghost free for the rest of his days.

Of course, that didn't happen. It never happened, and at this rate, probably never will.

Finn ran his fingers through his hair, brows furrowing in frustration. He could name and explain any type of spirit off by heart. Now, he knew what to draw and what to use for a banishment. Everything else had been useless. Perfect explanations for so many other ghosts and situations, but none for his own.

Was he cursed to be haunted like this for every waking moment of his life? That couldn't be. He refused to let it be something like that.

"No..." Finn breathed out the first word he has uttered in who knows how long. "No, this can't be the only-" Sparks of frustration at his lack of options ignited in him and he slammed his fist against the table, freezing when the sound echoed through the empty library.

When nothing happened, he allowed a shaky breath to leave his nose. He stared down at his work and the frustration was quickly replaced with burning anger.

His hands twitched with a sudden urge to throw his book across the room or tear the pages to shreds because they were about as useful in pieces as they were whole.

That's it. He would attempt a ritual for an exorcism right now and be done with it. If it kils him or fractures some important part of him or makes him rack up so much blot he chokes on it, at least the things terrorising his every waking moment would be gone.

Suddenly logic, sweet logic, brought this desire to a screeching halt. Messing around with spirits like that was deeply unsafe and incredibly stupid. And spirits like these? Finn wasn't about to piss off the things he could barely understand.

Finn closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to calm himself down. Patience and hard work was key here if he just-

"Human! What are you doing here?"

A familiar and very unwelcome voice pierced the silence and Finn found himself breathing in sharply and curling his hand into a fist again. Seems like his blow to the table attracted attention after all. What was he even doing here at this time of night?

"What are you doing here? The ceremony just eneded and I'm the first- did you skip? On today of all days, when my lord Malleus is receiving and award? UNACCEPTABLE!"

Finn narrowed his eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to bite back the many unpleasant things streaming through his mind. Sebek Zigvolt stood in front of his desk with his arms crossed and brows furrowed in immense displeasure. He was waiting impatiently for an answer, for some explanation for Finn's actions.

"This is a library, Mister Zigvolt." Finn said flatly, his voice like a gentle breeze against a raging storm. "Lower your voice."

For a moment, Sebek seemed startled by the reminder. His eyes widened and he cleared his throat before quickly regaining his composure.

"Well?" He demanded, quieter than before, but still irritatingly loud. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Finn didn't answer. He stared blankly at Sebek for a long while, leaving a heavy silence between them. Sebek wavered under his gaze. It was only for a brief moment, barely even a second, but Finn caught it. That flicker of unease. At least the ghosts were good for something.

"It is already unacceptable to ignore mandatory events at an institution as renowned as this," Sebek quickly continued. "But to disregard Lord Malleus' accomplishments with your lack of care? To show no shame? I should correct such ghoulish behaviour myself!"

It was at that moment that Finn decided his time at the library was over. Sebek was clearly not going to drop this, and seemed willing to fight over it. The research had gone almost nowhere, and he didn' have the energy to continue.. There was nothing left for him to do here right now. He tuned out Sebek's voice and started to gather up his things, gnawing on his lip in irritation.

"I have other priorities, Mister Zigvolt." Finn made the mistake of hissing out, barely loud enough for Sebek to hear.

"What could possibly-" Sebek cut himself off and reached forward to snatch up one of Finn's books. "Ghosts? You waste your time with things like this? Hah! Did you perhaps anger a spirit with your poor attitude?"

Finn paused for a moment, then lunged forward and ripped he book from Sebek's hands with surprising strength, pulling it to his chest. His eyes briefly narrowed into a glare, and then he turned around and disappeared into the maze of shelves before the other could say anything further.

'If only I could zip his mouth shut.' Finn thought to himself. 'Maybe then he'd learn to think before he speaks.'

He nearly shoved the books back onto the shelves in his frustration, but caught himself. He stopped to run his hand over his face and take another deep, calming breath, then placed them back carefully. He never actually took these books out. He didn't want them filed under his name. Not like that stopped the librarian from grinning and calling him "ghost child."

"What a waste." Finn growled to himself, trudging to the exit. He took the long route to the exit to avoid Sebek. If he had to deal with that first year any more he might just lose his temper entirely tonight.

When Finn stepped out of the library, he took a moment to lean against the wall and linger in the darkness of the empty hallway. A soft sigh filled with frustration and disappointment left his lips. So much time spent working, so little to show for it. He should've just looked at moths instead.

Next time, he would make sure his work was more fruitful. From the state of things, studying exorcisms will likely be his only recourse. A difficult task, but not impossible. Though he would need real ghosts to practice on eventually. Perhaps a special visit Ramshackle was in his future...

-End

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A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed even if it's not as good as I'd hoped it would be! I'm finally getting back into writing, though!