Solo [High Spirits] A Shop Full of Ghosts

[Levi Remilian]

Levi Remilian 22nd of Fall, 513 AV NOTE: This thread is now null due to reworking of CS. Please ignore. If one simply scanned a crowd in their home city, chances are that they could very easily point out who is a native of the city and who is a visitor by observing what clothes they are wearing or how they are behaving. Undoubtedly, a certain pair of newcomers undoubtedly stood out in Riverfall. A human man with a long ponytail of black hair falling down his back from a otherwise neat and shorter head of hair in a white cloak and longsword sheathed on his waist walking nonchalantly and listening with a mildly humored smirk to his unusual companion. This companion was a ghost with the form of a young girl maybe 10 to 12 years of age, her translucent white hair swaying gently as she talked energetically to the young man. "That cottage back there was so nice!" Floating in front of Levi and facing him, thus floating backwards, Naya was simply estatic about the little cottage Levi had bought for the two of them to stay in, being excited also about just being in the city. "We can see the beach from there and oh its so much better than those boring buildings back home." The spiritist nodded casually in agreement, "It sure is." Indeed, Levi had been overwhelmed by the elaborate design and colors of Riverfall, though he kept his mouth from gaping in wonder unlike Naya. Riverfall really did put the plain black and white buildings of his home of Black Rock to utter shame. Sure, there was Dira's Spire there, but nothing of the likes of the architecture here. Walking down yet another flight of stone stairs, Levi took another look at the application in his hand that he had received from the Labor Aid Office. Apprentice spiritist needed at High Spirits... 'apprentice' spiritist In all honesty, what little pride and ego the young man had was offended by this, but Levi was expecting this almost. The spiritist did have confidence in his skills, but he still had a long ways to go before mastering his discipline. And speaking of masters of spiritism, what kind of a person was his employer? Was he or she a follower of Dira like his mother or was that not the case? The young spirtist only hoped that said spiritist was not of the cruel and exploiting variety that he has only heard stories of. If that was the case, only Dira knows what would happen. While Levi was silently mulling and worrying over this matter, Naya was still chatting on about where she wanted to go and becoming friends with an Akalak. "... do you think they would be scared if I sneaked... Levi? Are you listening?" The ghost girl against her hips and looked at Levi annoyedly. "Big brother, over here!" "Hmm? Yes?" Levi snapped out of his contemplating to see his adopted sister glaring at him impatiently. "Oh sorry Naya, I was just-" "Thinking about High Spirits again?" Naya interrupted with a surprisingly accurate guess. She breathed out a nonexistent breathe tiredly. "Oh brother, why do you have to worry so much about it?" The ghost beamed Levi a bright and encouraging smile. "I'm sure she will be just like you: quiet, calm, and serious, right?" Levi chuckled lightly, "She? What makes you think the spiritist is a woman?" The ghost girl innocently shrugged, "Just a feeling." The young spiritist smiled back at Naya; his sister was still so naive and innocent now as she was before, a welcome ray of warmth at times like this, as they walked on towards their destination of High Spirits spiritism shop. "I'm sure she will be Naya, but we'll see."

[Levi Remilian]

Levi Remilian 30 chimes later... "Umm, are we there yet?" Naya asked as she floated behind Levi. "Well, we are by the waterfront, and the paper did say the shop was around here... somewhere." Having come to a part of the city close to the water, the bay in view from where they were, Levi was checking out each shop in search of High Spirits. However, even with the aid of a map the search had been frustratingly fruitless so far. While the young man continued patiently his search, his ghostly companion was flitting off to whatever caught her attention due to boredom. The spiritist didn't really mind this; the hyperactive ghost girl couldn't help it he knew. But Levi didn't want her causing any problems. "Naya, please come back here." The young spiritist called out to the ghost girl, who was in the mean time both listening to a street musician play the flute and also frightening said musician; the poor woman had making a dubious amount of wrong notes since Naya showed up. Hearing Levi call for her, Naya gave the scared musician one last wave and blinked over to Levi's side. "That woman plays nicely, but she made an awful lot of mistakes." The ghost girl seemingly reported to Levi her critique of the musician's fluteplaying. "And I wonder why Naya," Levi retorted with a hint of chilly sarcasm, his gaze still on the shop signs. "Most people here have probably never seen a-" The spiritist stopped abruptly, "ghost..." He turned to face a small shop that had seen better days, and would have been a fair looking place. Being smaller than most of the shops around it, the building's faded green paint, dusty cracked windows, dull grimy wood, and barely legible letters saying "High Spirits" starkly stood out among its more tasteful looking fellow shops. Though that was not what made Levi stop so suddenly; no, he felt something, a cold chill running down his back; there was a definite presence of soulmist in the shop. Was it several or simply one? The spiritist could not tell easily, but he knew that this was the place he was looking for. Looking up at the shop's sign, Levi crossed his arms while Naya cocked her head curiosly at the shop. It wasn't the most inviting looking of places, and the young spiritist felt a tinge of disappointment looking over the shop's rundown appearance, but if this was where he was to work, so be it. "Here we are, High Spirits..." "Er... are you sure this is the... right place?" Naya looked questioningly at her older brother; after taking in the sights of Riverfall, this was almost a letdown. Levi nodded, hardly letting out his disappointment from behind his even-tempered expression, "Yes; you feel the presence in this place too don't you?" He proceeded toward the shop, cautiously stepping over the stairs sagging with rotten wood as Naya floated behind. Pushing open the shop's door, creaking loudly as it did, Levi stepped into the shop. The interior was much cleaner than what Levi expected from the exterior; cluttered but the stockroom was neat and ordered, with a plain table and set of chairs in the middle. But Levi's attention was drawn to something else, that something being of the ethereal type. Ghosts. A whole crowd of translucent grey and white forms were hovering about in the shop, some more distinct in form than others. The moment Levi and Naya had entered into the shop, the eyes of these spirits were spying on the pair as they murmured among themselves. For a few ticks as he closed the door behind him, Levi without a word checked every ghost out. Naya stayed behind him watching these ghosts, smiling amiably at them, strangely staying put. For several more ticks all that could be heard was the echoing murmurs of ghosts when a ghostly crone burst out from the still crowd, her tangled locks of stringy grey hair flying. "Oh what do we have here now? What is a child like you doing dead eh?" The old woman ghost grinned toothlessly at Naya as she bent to her height, practically ignoring the young man in front of her. "Where's mommy and daddy now? Kekeke..." A typical child would have bolted out of the shop already from fright. Yet Naya remained unperturbed and stayed behind Levi, albeit a little surprised by the ghost's sudden bursting out. "Now Marie, do not frighten the girl. She must have been quite scared by you just now." A darker looking spirit, of dark blue skin and muscular body, gently pulled the crone away from Naya. Presumably a former Akalak, this other ghost bowed his head to Naya and Levi. "I apologize for Marie; she has a tendency of doing that to visitors here." The Akalak ghost turned around and gave Marie one last severe glance as she floated away grumbling. "Apology accepted!" Naya brightly replied to the Akalak ghost, her initial silence melting away to her usual energy. "I didn't know Akalaks could be ghosts too!" The ghost girl excitedly commented to the Akalak ghost. Levi nodded to the ghost, his expression unchanging. "If Naya is alright, I am alright as well." The spiritist looked around the shop, so far seeing only the unliving inside. "Now; I want to see the owner please," Levi pulled out the application from his cloak, "I am here to take the apprentice spiritist position." Upon saying this the shop's soft murmuring burst into a higher volume, the Akalak ghost looked down at the young human man thoughfully. "I most definitely felt traces of soulmist on you, a sign of a spiritist." The ghost placed his right hand against his chin. "She would be most happy to know this." Hearing the Akalak ghost mention 'she', Naya grinned to Levi. "Told you she's a she." "Yes I am most definitely a she, young one." Levi turned to see a woman coming out from behind a curtain at the back of the store. Smiling in a welcoming manner to the pair, she slowly walked to the rooms centre past the ghosts and extended a hand towards the table to Levi, delicate opalescent scales spiraling up from her wrist. "Please, take a seat." "You're a Konti!" Naya's eyes figuratively shined at the sight of the scales, to which the Konti chuckled lightly to, "Yes, you are right in that too. You may call me Nessela. May I ask what your names are?" "I'm Naya Moren, and this is my brother Levi. Nice to meet you!" The ghost girl eagerly introduced herself and Levi. Levi took a seat at the table Nessela directed to, Nessela herself taking a seat too. The young spiritist bowed his head respectfully to the shop owner, "As Naya already said, I am Levi Remilian." Levi reintroduced himself, smiling politely at the master Spiritist. Now that he was here at High Spirits, here came the part of the actual application and getting employed, though the spiritist had another matter on his mind. Alright, let's see what kind of a person you are Nessela..."

[Levi Remilian]

Levi Remilian "I must thank you for accepting to become my apprentice Levi," Nessela smiled kindly at her soon-to-be apprentice before continuing on, "For quite some time I have been looking for an apprentice to continue my work here. You see..." Nessela gave a look of sadness and regret to the occupants of the shop, "My health has been ailing, and I feel that soon Dira will come and take me away to judgment before Lhex, and so I need someone to care for these spirits here when I am gone." Levi listened carefully, his collected and stoic expression slowly changing to a softer one as he listened to Nessela. Inwardly, he sighed a mental breath of relief; even from those questions Levi knew that his new master was one that was fair to the spirits he seeked to aid. "But first, I must ask you a few questions, if you do not mind answering." By now it was only Levi listening to Nessela as Naya had her attention on another matter: getting to know all of the other ghosts in the shop as she blinked enthusiastically from ghost to ghost, leaving some flabbergastered and confused. "I do not; I'll be glad to answer." Levi replied to Nessela. The master spiritist looked sternly at him for a moment. "Why did you become a spiritist, for what reason? And..." Here the Konti gazed intently at Levi, "Would it be better to put all your effort to bring peace to a violent soul, or simply destroy them?" Nessela folded her hands delicately on the old wood table, waiting for Levi to answer. The young spiritist waited only a few ticks before answering. "I am originally from Black Rock, as is Naya too." Levi took a quick glance back at Naya who was cheerily chatting with a seedy and scholarly looking ghost. "If you don't know, Black Rock is a safe haven for wandering souls, being the land under Dira's domain, and so since childhood I had been around the spirits of the dead almost constantly." He paused here a moment, taking a moment to collect his words right. "As a child I had little idea of the turmoil that these spirits had gone through; I simply saw them as companions. But that changed when my mother, who was a spiritist, began teaching the basics of spiritism to me. From there, my childlike friendliness with ghosts changed to something deeper. I began to see... the pain they had gone through, the weariness of their souls. I... wanted to help them." Nessela nodded quietly as she listened to Levi. "You want to help them you say? How so?" Levi looked around at all the spirits in the room, his gaze steady but gracing them was a hint of compassion. "I want to give them peace, to help resolve whatever is holding them back, and let their souls find rest. And Spiritism is the path that will give me the ability to do that. And that also answers your second question," Levi leaned forward, his hands fold together much like Nessela's, "I would never banish or dust a ghost, I swear to Dira on it." After hearing Levi's answers, Nessela sat back a little in her chair, a pleased smile on her face. "You are quite the kind-hearted man behind that icy and stoic ambience you give off." She stood from her chair and extended her right hand to Levi, "I see great potential in you Levi Remilian, and I do accept you as my apprentice." "And I gladly become your apprentice, Master Nessela." Levi took the Konti's hand, shaking it in agreement.