Smoothly curved bridge of nose, deep-set eyes, everything else. It’s Joanna. That’s Joanna’s face on that mask.
Oh, so Yamask masks aren’t generically shaped in this setting but look like whoever’s soul they’re based around… maybe, can’t tell for sure if that’s the implication or not.
Why? How? Of all possible faces, why hers? She wasn’t anyone special, was she? She was just a regular college student. Kind of an introvert, even. Why would she… matter?
Because the fundamental premise of this story is her giving you problems, Red? :V
Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m hallucinating. Or dreaming. Maybe I fell asleep on that bench. Maybe I never got up in the morning to begin with. This feels real, but inside a dream, you can never really tell…
Narrator: “He was not hallucinating.”
The mask is moving. Stay focused. It’s heading for the bushes, curious about the rustle. Its way of moving is strange - gracefully yet uncannily, it bobs slightly as it hovers onward. It moves like a ghost...
Actually, wait, ghost mon being related to this would make a lot of sense. They like to make all sorts of strange and unsettling things happen. This could be one of them - an illusory prank by some gastly or something. But how would that ghost know about Joanna? Her significance to me? Has it read my mind?
Wait, Gastly can
do that in this setting? .-.
My heart freezes. Oh Gods, have I already been caught?
Obviously not, since there’s over a dozen chapters after this point. o<o
“Hello?”
Both the ghost and I flinch at the voice. The ghost hides behind a tree of its own. I guess it knows no more than I do.
“Hello?” the voice calls again. A child’s voice. It’s coming from somewhere beyond the trees.
Red: “And of course I need to deal with more annoying little twerps right now.”
Rustling steps follow. At least the speaker’s something organic, then.
“There’s no need to hide,” the child calls. Something appears between the trees in the distance, something brown, pale, pink. Oh, a young girl with earthy clothes and pink hair. As far as I can tell from this far away with all these branches in the way.
She begins to approach us directly. “I know you’re there behind that tree. Just come on out, I wanna help.”
Ah yes, only good things can come from this encounter, I’m sure.
Shit. How does she know? No, wait, she might mean the mask. I have no idea what kind of help she would have to give me, so...
The mask shifts within its hiding spot, unsure whether to reveal itself. Go ahead, please. One of us has to, and it’s not going to be me.
I mean, it
could be Red, but I’m pretty sure that would be the last thing that that little girl ever saw, so…
After a few seconds, the mask finally gathers its courage and floats into the open. Once the girl spots it, she stops and smiles.
“Hi,” she says. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”
The mask shyly nods.
“Oh, you can turn yourself visible if you want," the girl says, then pauses. "Do you know how to do that?"
The mask shakes its head.
So Yamask!Joanna is cognizant of human language. I wonder if that’s a general thing among Pokémon in HH’s setting, or if it’s a quirk specific to souls that have reincarnated into ghostmons.
"Oh, well, it's like… you imagine your body turning to stone," she says. "That's how the others say how it works, anyway."
… Wait, how does this girl
know that? .-.
The mask freezes. Moments later, something dark forms above it. The air becomes murky and opaque, like thick smoke. It forms into an odd shape - like a head with two arms and a tail gripping the mask. Two eyes like large, maroon plates open at its sides. They leak a substance of the same red hue. As it emerges, it looks like blood… but once it drips away, it evaporates into nothing halfway through its fall to the ground.
I might not know all that much about ghosts, but I'm certain when I say that's one right there.
Oh well
that’s a creepy visual. See, I
knew I was onto something for making a point to do this review while it was still Halloween.
Well, that’s not good. Whatever this thing is, I can tell it’s not a good idea to let it parade that mask around. Joanna needs to fade away just like all my previous victims - the fewer questions people ask, the safer I am. But a ghost… how am I supposed to get rid of a ghost?
Wait, does Joanna still know how to
write in her present condition? Since if so, what keeps her from patiently writing out “I was murdered by this creepy stalker in his basement, he lives on Koratta Row” for someone to read?
The girl chuckles. "This is so cool. I've never met a yamask before."
Yamask. Is that what that thing is? I better remember that, then.
I take it that Red kinda just tuned out all the Pokémon that couldn’t be encountered easily in Kanto given that he has zero knowledge of what a Yamask is. Though I wonder how hard species separation is from region to region in this setting. For instance, would an average Unovan be this similarly out of the loop about what Gastly are?
The girl steps towards the yamask, but it jerks back, becoming a bit translucent.
"No, no, it's okay," says the girl. "I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to. Anything I tried would go right through."
Ah yes, incorporeality. Time to figure out how the rules of that works in this setting.
The yamask looks down at its mask and grips it harder with its shadowy hands. "Maaaa…" it wails quietly. The voice feels human, but isn't quite there… yet there’s a familiarity to it.
Oh Gods. Don’t tell me this ghost… is Joanna?
Narrator:
Red: “... Note to self, find some way to kill Yamask that’ll
keep them dead.”
"Well, I guess that part I could touch… but I won't. I promise not to." The girl slips her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and gives another encouraging smile.
This gives the yamask the courage to approach again. It weaves through some low-hanging branches, its mask catching on the needles a few times.
"So, what's your name?" asks the girl.
Red: “(... Oh you’re
kidding me. It can’t seriously also be capable of human speech, can it?)”
The ghost pauses in thought but doesn't respond. Can it even talk to begin with?
"...It's okay, not everyone has one."
Relief. It didn’t say it was Joanna. I don’t think it would have any reason to lie here, so this means it either isn’t Joanna… or doesn’t remember being Joanna. Both work for me, though I still need to make it disappear somehow. Its existence might lead to new evidence surfacing. Or it could start remembering its past life and tell all about it, all about the one that killed her…
Well, that is a convenient save for Red there. And solves the issue of written testimony.
Ah yes, so Red
is going to try and find a way to kill a Yamask for good.
The girl reignites her weakening smile. "My name's Michi. I'm friends with a lot of ghosts around these parts. They told me they'd seen someone new floating about, a yamask. That must be you."
Oh, so Michi can understand Pokémon. Or at least ghostmons. Duly noted.
Though as a small nitpick, but if you’re meaning to do a clipped version of “around”, it’s usually rendered as
‘round in English.
"Maa? Maa, maa..."
“Yeah, that must’ve been Gabby! She’s the one that told me about you. Sorry about her, she can be kind of prickly… but she’s a good girl once you get to know her.”
… This is going to turn out to be another one of Red’s victims, isn’t it?
Wait, those wails have meaning? And she can understand them? I guess this Michi isn't just any ordinary girl.
Well, I guess that confirms that we’re not in a LC-like setting where everyone and their mother can learn how to talk with just about any Pokémon with a bit of understudy.
“M-maa...” mumbles the ghost. [ ]
"Oh, no, you don't have to meet them all right away. Actually, they're used to leaving me alone with any new one for a while so I can make them feel more comfortable."
IMO, you’re missing some sort of reaction from Michi’s part, especially if Red’s meant to be watching this unfold and not just listening into them unseen.
Well, that’s good news for me, I guess. Fewer obstacles in my way to destroy this thing.
He’s going to spend the next twelve chapters trying and failing at doing this, isn’t he?
The girl’s eyes dart in my direction, freezing me mid-breath. Does she see me? Did she hear me? She's not a mind reader, is she?
I mean, with how seamlessly she’s been communicating with Joanna and considering how psychics
do tend to be fairly common NPC trainers around gravesite areas in the games…
She glances elsewhere, then returns her gaze to the mask. I let my breath escape my lungs. Guess she didn't notice me after all. At least I hope so. While there's nothing for me to physically fear from a child of… twelve years or so, a witness is a witness. It's always better to stay as low profile as one can. Who knows what crimes might end up being necessary.
Ah yes, so Red is
already mentally sharpening the knives to deal with Michi.
Wonderful.
"Say…" starts Michi, grasping her arms, "it's pretty cold and windy out here. There's an abandoned cabin nearby I like to hang out at. Do you wanna come?"
The ghost shyly nods - now with its true head instead of the mask.
"Alright, cool! This way."
This girl has no social life outside of her family and the ghostmons she talks to in the woods, doesn’t she? Since this is definitely different from what I remember most 12-year olds liking to do with their free time. ^^;
The two head back the way Michi came. As they get further, I begin to follow, careful not to rustle the vegetation too much. Soon, though, I reach the trail they're walking and thank my luck that it's a winding one. Were it a straight stretch, they'd spot me in an instant.
From the glimpses I see through the slivers between tree trunks and branches, I analyze the girl's appearance further. Hoodie, worn jeans, beanie, fingerless gloves. All shades of gray and brown, starkly contrasted by her chin-length pink hair and bright blue eyes. Her clothing seems shabby at first glance, but a longer look reveals it's still in good condition, only a bit dirty. Likely from all this forest trekking. So she's no princess, but she's no street rattata, either. Just a wild spirit. A bit like me?
>A bit like me?
I sure
hope not, Red. Though I’m now reminded of that one
Criminal Minds episode with the unsub that turned out to be a middle schooler.
No, nothing like me. She's helping someone, for one. Someone like me would never do that. The difference between us is the difference between a pichu and a houndoom.
… But aren’t Houndoom
pack creatures, Red? Not sure if that comparison is saying quite what you want it to there. ^^
Though I suppose it’s a handy insight as to how Red’s mind works in this story given that he’s attempting to self-identify with different creatures that he sees a bit of himself in, even if the read doesn’t necessarily hold up under scrutiny.
“So,” the girl begins after her long silence, “what brought you to these woods? Where did you come from?”
"Aa, maa. Mah, maah, maah…"
"Ah, I see."
inb4 Joanna’s memories aren’t as nuked as it first seemed.
What was it, what did she say? Dammit, why does this thing need to talk in wails only? I know some ghosts can speak human language just fine… but this must not be one of them.
That actually makes me wonder if Pokémon sapience in this setting is independent of their ability to speak in human tongue. Since it’s clearly the case for Joanna here.
I continue to follow the two on their trail. With the ghost's backstory apparently not having much to ask about it - good for me, I suppose - the girl chooses to share her own. I ready myself for mental notes in case anything relevant is revealed, but not much is. She's just some orphan from Viridian that likes to screw around in nature. Used to live closer to these woods but was moved due to her orphanage getting too full. No human friends, but many ghost ones thanks to her rare ability to communicate with them. A bit predictable, honestly. I could've deduced this myself.
No… you seemed to be putting a lot of this together right here and now, Red. Though I suppose that’d explain why Michi gives off vibes of not having much of a social life, and her thing for being around morbid entities related to death.
“Anyway," Michi continues, "I come back here a lot and stay at the cabin if the nights are warm enough. My friends would probably understand if I didn't come here anymore, but I couldn't leave them. They’re kinda like orphans in their own way… no parents, lonely and scared, people usually don't want much to do with them…”
I mean, I didn’t think of things like
that, but…
“M-ma…?”
“Oh, no, sorry, I mean… you're gonna be fine, that's what we're here for.”
“Ma…”
The two fall silent. It makes my steps seem louder again. I try my best to sync them up with the girl's, but it proves more difficult than expected due to her being a whole head shorter than me.
Yeah, Red’s totally going to get spotted before this chapter is over.
The branches seem sparser up ahead. Are we headed to a clearing?
"Okay, we're here," announces the girl. Oh, good.
I creep along the next stretch, keeping myself out of sight, and then stop. I can see the opening from here while the razz bushes still keep me hidden. A perfect spot for stalking.
Well
that’s creepy how Red is mentally noting “you know, this is great terrain for sneaking up on an ambush”, but I suppose it’s definitely putting those predator motifs he self-identifies with to good use.
Stalking a little girl. Doesn't sound very good when I put it like that, does it.
Gee,
ya think, Red?
Nevertheless, the girl and the ghost make their way through the opening to the cabin near its edge. It's clear the shack's been long abandoned by its legal owners - its red paint is peeling off, and splotches of mint green lichen cover some of the exposed planks. Dust and smudges coat the back window and surely any other windows as well. I'm rather surprised the glass is intact. If time doesn't get those, primeape-brained teens usually do.
I’m guessing the local ghostmon infestation helps a bit with keeping those primeape-brained teens at bay.
Michi leads the ghost into the cabin and closes the door. Keeping myself out of the window’s view, I sneak to the side of the building. This should be a safe enough spot to eavesdrop.
“Yeah, as I said, it’s not much,” says Michi, stretching. “Still, it’s cozy when you get used to it. Those blankets in the corner help.”
“...Mma?”
Actually, wait.
Is Red still watching these two through the window right now? If not, would he really be able to perceive that Michi is stretching?
If so, it might make sense to take a sentence or so to say that a bit more explicitly.
“I -- well, places. People throw old stuff out. Even though it’s good. Like this cabin. Whoever lived in it left it long ago, but I still think it’s neat.”
Resourceful, this girl. Clearly she’s more capable than most of her snot-nosed peers - and even a good amount of adults.
Ah yes, a sign that she would be a bit harder to knock off than one might think at first.
“This mirror, too”, she continues. “Just because it’s cracked doesn’t mean it’s worthless. You can still see yourself just fine.”
“Haah...”
“...Do you know her?”
I lean forward.
Wait, is the mirror thing meant to be overheard or is Red seeing this in part? It might make sense to reiterate if he’s hearing without seeing the two or if he’s catching any glimpses.
“...Maa.”
“Oh... well, maybe with time.”
Time… time is of the essence, then, if the ghost’s supposed to remember something Joanna-related.
Wait, at what point did Red connect that Joanna was attempting to recall memories about herself? Since I actually
didn’t pick up on that thus far. It might make sense to show the wheels spinning in Red’s head a bit more that leads him to this destination.
“Anyway, I’m gonna go gather some firewood. I’m gonna be back soon, just stay here. And make yourself at home.”
The front door creaks open. I crouch. Do I need to sneak past the back window? Will the ghost spot me if I try? Wait, wait, the girl is going the other way. Return to the side wall, calmly, calmly…
Michi’s footsteps head to the start of another path leaving the opening and fade there. Seconds later, I dare to peek around the corner. No sign of her. I can let myself think.
Now I’ve got the opening refrain from the Master Quest season’s theme song stuck in my head. I would guess Red likely does too at this moment. ^^;
Alright. What should I do next? I want to know more about this ghost and this yamask species, and the girl clearly knows things… but just waiting to pick up information from casual conversation feels rather slow. Not to mention I can only understand one side.
Red, have you ever considered that it’d likely be less damaging to write Joanna off, since encountering her again is likely a risk for stirring her memories in and of itself?
This girl, though, must have learned what she knows from somewhere else, and most likely that’s a source accessible to everyone. Books. Or the internet… but that’s something I decided to never bother with again after the disastrous consequences of last time. I grit my teeth. Why couldn’t that trauma have just eroded away with time? It’s been six years…
Okay, now I’m morbidly curious as to what on earth happened with Red and his stint on the internet.
The library it is, then. Not only will I learn more about this species, I’ll likely find out how to kill it, too - and that’s something I can’t expect the girl to explain.
… Wait, they
have books about ghost-killing available for mass circulation in this world? .-.
But… ugh, I still have these groceries to deal with, don’t I. I need to go home first. But then again, I’d have to go there anyway to get some supplies for keeping the girl out of my hair. Spores and duct tape come to mind. Yes, a visit home is imperative.
Ah yes, Red’s thought process is
going places already.
I sneak back the way I came and adopt a more casual gait as I reach the forest path. Skulking would only make me more suspicious. From now on, I’m just somebody out for a walk. Enjoying nature.
He’s humming Duran Duran to himself during all of this, isn’t he? :V
And why wouldn’t I? Now that I don’t have a target to tail, I can take in the little wonders in my surroundings. Tiny white buds line the edge of the path - rawstberry plants that have yet to properly bloom. Above them sway branches of shrubs and evergreen trees alike, casting shadows in chaotic patterns. Between them hang stray strings of spiderweb… okay, that's not so nice, not a fan of spiders… but dry leaves and needles crunch beneath my sneakers, their blanket broken up by the occasional root slithering across the path. Outside the path, I can spot mounds of moss on the forest floor. They look soft enough to lie down on. Ah, nature… I’m glad there’s at least something that can cheer me up on these gloomy days --
“Stop where you are.”
Well, it
was a nice walk through the woods right now.
...Hm.
It appears the girl has spotted me.
Ah yes, time to see just how sideways things go right about now.
I turn around. It’s Michi, alright. I guess she repaid my sneaking by walking silently herself.
Red: “(Guess she was more like me than I thought.)” >.<
“Who are you, and what do you want?” she demands with an icy stare.
“I’m just passing by,” I say and continue walking - but she follows me.
“No, you’re not,” she says. “You were following us.”
Red: “... (She
saw that?!
How?!)”
How did she know? Did I not hide myself well enough? No, play it cool. She might be bluffing.
Narrator: “She is not bluffing.”
I keep my expression neutral. “You must be mistaken.”
“Your aura didn’t lie.”
Oh. Well that would explain how she understands those ghostmons so well. So she’s basically Rui, but younger.
"Aura?" She has aura powers, too?
She nods. "I can sense them. And yours was behind us the whole time. I thought that maybe some ursa had a thorn stuck in its paw… but clearly you're not here to ask for help. So what is it that you want?"
Huh, so even
Michi picks up ‘predator’ vibes from Red. Though the choice of a Teddiursa/Ursaring is an interesting reflexive association.
I suppose her aura sense can't read minds if she has to ask. Hopefully that means I can still lie.
Sure hope that you’re a convincing liar there, Red. Since I’ll heavily take the over on Michi seeing through you if you’re not.
"Well, there was a yamask," I say. "You don't see those everyday. I was just curious."
"There's more to it than that. I can tell."
Yeah, I knew it.
I stop and narrow my eyes. She's persistent. "Shouldn't you be at school or something?"
"Shouldn't you?"
Ouch. She's got me there.
Wait, wait, wait. How old
is Red right now? Since I was under the impression that he was meant to be college-aged for this story.
She steps closer, still confident. "Just cut the shit and tell me what you're after."
Well
that’s unexpected coming from a 12-year old. Or I suppose not considering what I remember of some 12-year olds, but definitely a sign that Michi is a bit less innocent than initially presumed.
"Language," I mutter.
"You're not my mom."
"Yeah. I'm alive."
Her face flushes up. I smirk. Now we're even.
Wow, Red. Just wow.
"Fine," she grumbles, "be like that, then. But I better not see you around here anymore."
I snort. "Or what? What's a little girl gonna do to me?"
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out something plastic --
Click! A blade springs out. Thin, sharp. That would hurt. That would hurt to get stabbed with. She's going to stab me if I get any closer. No, I don't want to get stabbed –
Okay, yeah. Michi is
definitely a lot less innocent than she initially seems. Though I’m surprised that Red wasn’t carrying a knife of his own that he reflexively went for right now.
Wait. Wait. Something's off. She's just a kid. And that knife is pretty small. She probably wouldn't even dare to actually use it. Why did I get so startled?
...I get it. Aura. She must have tried to influence mine, pushing for a fight or flight response to make her little weapon seem more intimidating.
… She can
do that? .-.
Though I suppose that’s why Red didn’t go for his own weapon right then and there.
Well, unfortunately for her, my lord has shown me things much more terrifying, and I've returned to serve HIM each time. I'm not about to back away from a toddler wielding cutlery. Especially not when I have a blade of my own.
Well, she's in for a shock, then. Predator's pride burning in my chest, I reach for my…
Wait.
Oh, so Red
did have a weapon on him all this time.
Think about what you're doing. If you take out your knife, she'll see what you're capable of, physically and mentally. Faced with that danger, she might decide to gather some of her friends for security or even take the new ghost somewhere else. And then it'll be a lot harder, if not impossible, for you to get rid of the ghost.
You need to yield. You need to falter. You need to give her the illusion that you're just another mareep. Hide your fangs.
inb4 Michi can sense that Red is sizing her up right now and attempting to put up a front.
I douse my heart with freezing humility and step back. "Whatever," I mutter.
Just before I turn around, I can see triumph in her eyes. It's a triumph for me as well, even if this shame makes me shudder. But I'll get to show my true colors yet.
This paragraph IMO works a bit better cut up into pieces, though I’m honestly surprised that Red’s gambit pulled off. Makes me wonder if Michi
wasn’t the first Aura-sensitive that he’s run into.
I resume my journey back to the graveyard. A few seconds in, a glance over my shoulder confirms Michi has gone her own way as well.
Aura powers, huh. Those could be a problem… were I not a Helixian. I'm rather sure that the psychic nullification seal will make me invisible to that sense of hers, and if not, there'll be some other seal for it. Once I get home, I can read up on the specifics. May as well look for anything on ghosts, too, while I'm at it. I'll gladly make use of any knowledge HE gifts me. Or HIS texts, to be more exact. I shouldn't bother HIM in vain. And I don't want HIM to see me with that… task unfinished.
Boy, that Lord Helix has a convenient spell for just about everything, huh?
I'll just settle this on my own. After all, it's just one ghost. With good luck, it'll be dead by tonight, and that girl will have no memory of it.
<><><>
Soon enough, I return home. Having unpacked the groceries, I pay my hidden room a visit and check the Helixian texts - psychic nullification works against aura as far as I can understand the description, yes… but there are no instructions on dealing with ghosts that I could easily read with my level of linguistic knowledge. Maybe I could decipher the pages given a day or two, but it's more likely I'll get what I'm after faster and more accurately from the library.
There’s enough of a jump of time and place in this paragraph that I wonder if it’d have worked a bit better with a hard scene cut instead of continuing on without a break.
After carving the psychic nullifier into my wrist and patching up the wounds, I copy the memory-eraser's pattern to my notebook to make sure I don't get it wrong. Then I gather the supplies I think I'll need in my backpack… vial of spores, rag, duct tape, scissors, naturally the notebook… anything else?
I can tell that Red’s got some
scars on him once you roll up those sleeves of his.
I don't think there's anything else. I should be ready to go. I should hurry up, too - these things ended up taking longer than I initially expected. The clock of the kitchen’s microwave tells me it’s ten to three already.
Ten… to… three.
Shit.
Red: “... Wait a minute, why’s this a problem again?”
The front door opens, and in steps Abe.
“Red! Are you ready to go?”
Red: “... Right.
That’s why this is a problem.
