melodiesoflife | A HOST of GHOSTS!

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A HOST of GHOSTS!

Who: Anyone who volunteered to help clean up the old Occult Shop & Open!
What: Something spoopy is afoot, and it’s making remodeling difficult! Help!
Where: Occult Shop - slash - Host Club under construction
When: Backdated to Dec. 26-30

It had seemed so lucky that Cid had approved the host club (slash night club) so quickly, and luckier still that there was already a good building for it available. Reno had been pleasantly surprised and (for once) ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work, with a little help from his friends. The fact that they were transforming the old Occult Shop hadn’t meant anything at the time.

Apparently, it meant a great deal to the ghosts and spirits that had taken up residence there. Reno now understood why it had been so easy to acquire the place -- it needed to be cleared out, and not just of cobwebs and old potions. And Cid hadn’t wanted to do it himself. Great.

Renovating was hard enough without it being spooky.

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The main area of the occult store is still full of aisles and shelves, merchandise abandoned. Plenty of books fill the displays, as well as apparatuses for the creation of spells and concoctions at home. Several raw ingredients are scattered, some on the floor. There's a few bottles filled with unknown liquids and powders, some spilled or broken.

There is a heavy layer of dust on everything.

It looks a mess.

[Sparks has arrived with his Ghostbuster Job equipped, and is slowly walking around the place with his PKE Meter out and reading the area. He does his best to not slip and fall on a discarded vial.]

I mean... Weren't their less gross stores available for purchase for whatever is goin' in here?

Damn, Reno, I knew you said this was a fixer-upper but...

[]Saori said as she gave the place a look around. As one of the financial investors of Reno's host club and a fellow Assassin, she just had to help.

Honestly if these ghosts were like the ones back in her world, a ghost eviction would normally be a cake walk. She wish she could say the same for this place. No wonder it hadn't been cleaned out until now. The goddess walks ahead and goes for a shelf.]

Cover me while I start clearing some of this out. I doubt there's anything worth salvaging...

[Reno sighed.]

I know. It wouldn't be so bad if the place wasn't obviously haunted or something. Now the moogles an' construction staff refuse t' come in until the Heroes deal with it. An' I couldn't do it all myself...

[He actually really appreciated that people like Sparks would even show up.]

Thanks, guys.

[The vial Sparks steps over is labeled (in appropriately spooky font) "WOLFSBANE!" There are two other tubes of it in front of Saori. There's some small print on the back.]

[Mary frowns as she looks around, seeming a bit uncomfortable with the weight of the Proton Pack. She respects what it can do but she still remembers the most recent Halloween incident. Mostly she's here to make sure her friends don't get possessed this time. Her nostrils flare as she picks up the scents in the room.]

Reminds me a bit of some of the herbs Ah Tabai would burn. I think he had some friends on the mainland who had an interest in this sort of thing.

[Watching Saori step off she quickly moves to follow her.]

[Sparks really wonders about some of the places he ends up in life. Busting actual ghosts to make way for some sort of cafe is one of those times.]

C'mon, it's just some ghosts. Are they really that ba--

[Looks like they're soon going to find out. Sparks's PKE meter begins to beep and whirl more rapidly.]

Anytime, Reno. We'll get this place clean in no time. Also, everyone helping today gets a round of drinks on the house at the Saloon.

[She quickly examines bottles, making sure none of them have cracks. Now she just hoped nothing in these bottle will result in a nasty reaction. Saori stops to turn around as soon as Spark's PKE meter goes off.]

You just had to ask that question.

[She jumps away from the shelf to be closer to the group with her sword ready. Without a second thought, she cast Protect on the others.]

[Mary raises the particle thrower in preparation but she looks around worriedly at their surroundings. Using this thing in such tight quarters may not be the best of ideas. Especially since they're here to fix this place up, not tear it apart.]

Where is it? Is it hostile?

Incense? Yeah, I think they used ta' have some kinda special stuff here for different effects or whatever, but I couldn't actually find any sti --

[As the PKE started to beep wildly, the lights in the store began to rapidly flicker. An insectoid chittering sound, almost like an unnatural laugh echoed through the building as all the windows suddenly shot open and an intense wind swirled through the air. The tubes of Wolfsbane flopped across the floor, the glassware shivered and clanked.]

Whoa!

[Reno tensed, on guard, trying to catch sight of something as the lights continued to flash. The PKE reading would show a definite presence, but it was continually moving.]

[Sparks's free hand slowly moved towards the handle of his particle thrower.]

Alright, we didn't come here for yer little show here. Why not come out 'n say hi?

[As he spoke, Sparks kept an eye on his meter and followed the source.]

[Mary tightens her grip on her own particle thrower but her frown deepens. This doesn't seem like any of the ghosts she's encountered with the others in the past, but she wasn't on that one haunted house trip either.

If this ghost is small we may have trouble fighting it in here...

[Lydia had kept herself near the back of the group, and was switched back to her Necromancer job, as it allowed her access to both the maxed Vampire and Ghostbuster jobs. Keeping her eyes open, and ears peeled, it's not until Mary's comment that she decides to venture herself a bit more.]

If we need to, we can chase it--I can get into small places too.

[As Saori tried to look for anymore clues in locating their surprise guest, she glanced back at the cabinet. Reno did mention some incense making materials. She went back to the shelf, quickly going through the bottles.]

But first we need to get it out.

[Ah, there it is. She pulled out two glass bottles and opened them. One filled with white cubes and the other with some dried wood. Saori crammed one of the cubes into the other, and pulled a match out from her clothes, lighting it. She dropped the lit match into the bottle and slid it across the floor. The smell of camphor and sandalwood rose into the air with smoke trailing behind only to gather around Saori's hand.]

C'mon now, don't keep us waiting.

Mmmmm!

[The wind calmed and the shutters stilled. A child's voice hummed appreciatively as the incense wafted through the air.]

But I want to play! No cheating -- you have to find me!

[Another breeze swept through, papers shuffling across the floor as shadows flitted about. A young girl's laugh echoed and the spectral sound of distantly running shoes.]

Find me, find me!

[Mary's eyes go a bit wide at the voice. A child? There's nothing to be done about it now but there's a stirring of anger in her on what could have happened to the young thing to lead her to being like this now.

She puts her particle thrower away, there's no way she's going to be using it at this point. She opts instead for the Dark Light and begins to cast it about, chasing after the last bits of movement.]

Come on out. We don't want to hurt you.

[Sparks does not put his particle thrower away. There's no way he trusts a ghost.]

Since you can, like, probably fade in and out of view, I think this contest is a little rigged.

There is a small bathroom in the back of the store. The mirror is dirty, the light is burned out.

It needs to be expanded, but whenever anyone speaks about it or tries to take measurements....

[Well, someone needs to clean it and start fixing it up, and it might as well be Johnny. He's got cleaning supplies and a tool kit with him, and doesn't look too thrilled about doing this. But, it's for Reno, so he's here.

He looks it over, thinking for a moment.]

This ain't gonna work for a cafe's bathroom. We need to make it bigger, or maybe make room for a second one.

[It's a bad idea to bring food into a dirty room, but there is little that can convince Duster to not carry a few wedges of cheese with him. Food is a great emergency replacement for medicine. And, you know, it's lunch. He can't leave it behind and let it be stolen by ghosts.

The only actual anti-ghost supplies he brought were sprigs of mint, which he hasn't explained to anyone else. Trust him, Duster's dealt with ghosts before. The scent wafts through the room when he enters.]

We'd need to add, maybe, two or three more? But it also has to been divided into men's and women's bathrooms...we might have to build an extension to the building.

As soon as they mentioned making changes to the building, the sink turned on full blast by itself and a fountain spewed up from the toilet. It was raining, men.

Waugh!

[Duster's arms fly up to protect this head from the toilet water - at least he hopes it's only water. He should have brought an umbrella.]

The ghosts are already here?! But I can't even see them!

Oh, come the fuck on--

[Johnny backpedaled out of the room, scowling. He did have Ghostbuster as a Job on hand, but he never really used it much since last year.]

Look, ghosts - [He's not even sure they can hear him, but he's not afraid to try] - Changes ain't a bad thing, okay? The building will still be here, it's just gonna be different. There's nothin' wrong with that!

The mirror clacked open and shut. If it weren't so clearly a mirror, it would almost appear as if it were mocking Johnny's appeal -- as much as a mirror was able.

The toilet water burbled over the seat, sloshing across the floor. As the men retreated, the sink still attempted (and failed) to squirt them with a tiny stream.

[It's just water. The sink is fine, Duster tells himself. Still, he inches closer to Johnny, reaching into his back for the mint herbs.]

Can't you see them with your job? Aim for the toilet! [He's certain this is the kind of ghost that wants a fight. There's nothing to fear as long as he has mint.]

[Johnny scrambles through his pack of tools and digs out his PKE goggles and other Ghostbuster supplies. He pops the googles on before powering up his particle thrower. He slides the trap over to Duster.]

Hold on to that. Throw it when I say so.

[First, he had to see what he was dealing with through the goggles.]

[Through the goggles, Johnny can see a swirling storm in the bathroom mirror, rough and angry, before it turns into the image of a face. It is the face of the sourest, grumpiest old man Johnny has ever seen.]

This is my room!

[There Duster is, holding onto something strange and watching Johnny talk to a mirror.

Duster should do something.

...He digs out wrapped Chocobar from his pocket and contemplates eating it right then and there.]

Afraid you're gonna have to share it. Someone bought this building, so it ain't yours anymore.

[It's possible that Johnny isn't a very good diplomat. He won't be daunted by crabby old man ghost.]

People aren't gonna want someone watchin' 'em while they're in the bathroom, so I'm gonna have to ask you to move along.

[...Gross. Duster puts the Chocobar back into his pocket.]

That's kind of a creepy thing to do. Please don't do that.

Perhaps the most important place for the Assassins' use, the basement has further shelves and cabinets, as well as a large work table. The shelving was supposedly for backstock and storage, but there's little of it there. The cabinets and filing intended for monitoring paperwork, profits, and recipes are half empty. Scattered papers litter the floor.

The table holds several bowls, mortars and pestiles, and a strange set up of tubes and glass that would apparently be some kind of distillery at a guess.

[…what K'pandolu's getting out of this is Reno has an affinity for alchemists, for one reason or another. ~~It probably doesn't hold up to closer scrutiny, but hey.~~

She goes to start picking up the papers to start with, though, glancing through to see what they are.]

Really… whoever was here before didn't care much for picking up after themselves, did they?

[or are there filing-hating ghosts done here?]

[Even if there weren't ghosts, Mary would still be here, and this part of the project is why. While they look about to find any dangers and to clean up she's making notes of the room and how to best set it up. More than enough room for a planning table, a counter, bookshelves. But how to best hide it? The presence of the basement won't be secret but it would be nice for the Bureau office itself to be.]

Mmm, seems not. Or else something got them out of here in a hurry.

[As K'pandolu reaches for a piece of paper, it blows just out of reach. It's subtle, at first, as if it could have been a small breeze created by even the step of her shoe or the brush of her clothes. But as K'pandolu and Mary try again and again to pick anything up, it becomes obvious that there is something unnatural -- supernatural -- at work, keeping the mess as is.]

[Mary curses as she tries to give chase after the papers, but she can only be fooled so far. She may not have Assassin on hand to help her find her tormenter but she quickly remembers that she has the Dark Light at her disposal.]

Alright let's see what's here.

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A HOST of GHOSTS!

Main Floor

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I am soooooooooo late (Sorry guys)

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Bathroom

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Basement

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