The Secondary Saga

[Gildarts]

The ghost hovered and swooped amongst the group. Pickpocketing, prodding, and toying with the others before finally falling before the woman with the readied gun. A playful smile perched on the child’s face, as though she were coyly amused by the mortal’s weapon.

“Ah, fearless Christa. Greetings.” The apparition’s head cocked to the side, “I see you made it out of the swamp in one piece?”

BANG!

The startling sound of a gunshot tore through the air as the bullet slipped through the formless ghost’s head. Another.

BANG.

“Don’t you know that won’t work on me this time? I am a ghost after all.” The words were delivered with a sneer.

“Tch.” Was all Christa could muster and with narrowed eyes, the woman seemed to move her position to protect Klaud. “Get behind me, Klaud.”

“How quaint.” A cast glance to the pregnant mother, “After all, you’re only human.”

“Who are you?” Klaud asked the ghost, who seemed pleased at the tantalizing group, done simply by her mysterious presence. This was power. And the ghost hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff yet. It would come, and it now made the suspenseful anticipation so much more satisfying. “And what do you want with us?”

“Why don’t you ask your fearless leader?” The child’s head turned back to Christa, and tilted, “Ah yes, you know who I am now. You’ve figured out that much, I wonder just what gave it away... Was it the hair? The birthday dress? Or the endless blood?” Suddenly rivers of crimson flooded from the place where the bullet had passed through in the ghost’s forehead. Painting a scene of horror for anyone who wasn’t used to the gore being shed in such a pronounced way.

Christa froze, her gun in her grip loosened as her body became frigid as ice, her expression wavered into one that only contained horror.

“Ah yes, now I’m sure you remember. I paint a nice picture, don’t I?” The child taunted. It was almost inhumanely cruel, for the terror in Christa’s eyes would have only been identified by one who had lost a child.

“Who is she, Christa?” Klaud demanded, but with a simple step forward, the general was struck by the out-of-place trepidation on their leader’s face.

“Why’d she bring us all together?” Someone else asked, referring to the temple, their quest, and the irreconcilable the deaths that the group had endured were because of this one apparition. How many would be alive had they never gathered here?

“She won’t tell you.” The Ghost Girl responded with a raised eyebrow, “You aren’t important enough to her.” A pause, “You see, I’m the one she wants.”

“You’re not her.” Christa growled through a freshly engraved frown. Clayton’s expression flickered from his place in the audience, he had put two and two together.

“Aren’t I?”

“You CAN’T be.” Christa’s tone broke, the darkness of the forest only made the group’s senses more potent and aware to the very apparent agony their companion was feeling.

“Quit the games.” Klaud commanded to the ghost, seeing how Christa was in a... state. “Tell us why you are here, why you gathered us all together.”

“Toys shouldn’t speak unless they are spoken to.” The ghost’s fury was unleashed as suddenly Klaud was thrown into the air and rammed into Clayton, before they both crashed into a tree, with Clayton breaking the impact for the general.

“No! Stop it!” The leader pleaded as the Ghost Girl raised another hand, this time, toward Abner and Isaac.

“Go ahead, Christa. Tell the others what happens when a Secondary is “recreated.” Or shall I?” The Ghost’s gaze swooped over the group, as though she enjoyed being the focal point of their attention. Lyra had raised her bow and it’s point wielded with a mystical blue color as though the elven girl was going to cast a spell that would harm the ghost. Others had prepared for a battle, yet the troubling question remained, how can you damage something intangible?

“Or perhaps you are afraid to tell them what you did to me?” Skeptical expressions scattered amongst the group. “I’ll tell you a secret.” The ghost vanished and reappeared adjacent to Klaud, who was holding an aching arm. “Christa has known who I was all along.” The child’s next words were spoken with irrefutable consequence. “And she was the one who made me like this.”

The daunting truth silenced the group. No crickets dared to chirp in the darkest part of the forest.

Christa released her grip on the gun in her hand, and her expression broke into one of uncontainable pain.

“I think I’ll tell them now.” The ghost smirked as her ruffled hair tossed back in the direction of Christa, as if only so the woman could see the blood that drooled on the child’s otherwise perfect features. “Story time everyone.” The entire group was suddenly pressed into the ground, forced to listen by gravity, as an extreme measure was taken by the child who ensured that her fans remained aware of the pain that now inflamed their muscles and grated against their bones.

“You’re all here because you want to meet Omni, ask him to grant your wish, or maybe, you’re just sick and want this all on camera.” The ghost winked to Top-Man, but in this comment revealed that the being was nearly all-knowing, or had been traveling with them all along from the invisible veil of the astral plane.

“Some people, when they kill their sister in cold blood, can’t let it go, y’know? So, it isn’t unrealistic to think that as a Secondary, you would seek out a Prime to preform a little necromancy and bring the dead back to life. That’s one of Omnilium’s best uses, after-all. Anyway, when you hang about in the Nexus, you are sure to encounter some strange characters. A little research and you can provide just the right incentive to get a Prime to do you a favor.”

The Ghost Girl looked to Christa, the only one standing and not effected by the gravity, and sadly, the only one not squirming for escape against the residual weight that cracked into their backs and folded the trees of the forest down into the ground.

“However, it is without regard for what the deceased wanted, that those who selfishly seek to fulfill themselves don't account for the resting dead. Do you have any idea how much it hurts when your soul is torn from death and taken to a new place? I promise it hurt more than a thousand bullets you could have fired at me. You should have let me go, Christa. Because now, all your friends here are going to die because of you.” A smile greased the child’s lips. “Again.”

“I’m.. So sorry K-”

“Shush. Don’t spoil the best part, dearest Christa.” The leader stood alone and looked down at a warm sensation, only to see a flesh wound carved into her abdomen. The warrior fell to her knees as the surge of blood pooled in her arms.

“Stop it!” Klaud shouted, she too, realized who the child was, but did not blatantly state it. “Why would you do this to your own-”

“Silence! Know your place, woman.” Klaud’s mouth met the dirt, not painfully enough to steal the fighting determination from her eyes. It was surreal that a child would speak with such authoritative words and the puzzle pieces were coming together with every word the ghost spoke.

“Why would I do this to her? Even if I’m a ghost, why should I want revenge on someone who cared so much for me? Well, Christa didn’t have her priorities straight. I’m not sure she realizes it even now, the only reason she tried to resurrect me, was to right her own wrong and set her conscience free. Do you know what happens when a Prime lacks enough imagination to make a whole person?”

“No.. Stop it.” Blood gurgled in Christa’s mouth, the hot taste of iron stained her lips as the leader strained herself to speak. The effort showed in the life that drained from her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they die before you do.” The ghost’s attention turned to Klaud.

“Katia, don’t you dare.”

“Ah, so now you recognize me as your sister? Didn’t you just say there was no way I could ever be her? To clear up this confusion for you guys who are so close to being pushed into your own graves, let me tell you. I have the body of a child, the mind of an immortal, and I’m trapped here because when the Prime put me together, he put the pieces together wrong. They failed. Got only one essential part- one little piece. It’s amazing how a few lost memories can make your reanimated sister kill you again. And look at her, even now she can’t even face that I’m her own flesh and blood. But, the time for nostalgia is over, but don’t worry, I’ll be merciful when I crush your bones inside your bodies. Except for you, robot.”

Katia, Christa’s sister, otherwise known as the ghost girl, covered the earth around Top-Man in fire that crept closer to him by the minute.

“My sister would never kill these innocent people.” Christa’s speech slurred with the rivers of blood in her mouth.

“Hmm, well, how many of them are really innocent, Sis?”

“Katia, I’m sorry this happened to you, but I can’t let you kill them. And I’ll make it right, not for justice’s sake, not for me, but for you. So you can rest in peace, or choose to come back here and live a better life.”

“You say that, almost like you have a choice not to die right now.” The Ghost Girl’s expression seemed passively curious, “In some ways, it’s probably better that you die tonight. I’m putting you out of your misery. Isn’t that what you told me, when you shot me through the head a second time?”

“I didn’t-” Christa began, interrupted by the fury of an untamed spirit. Suddenly, the ghost’s shape turned into a woman that was a bit older than Christa, yet had similar features, still donned in the child’s mangled and bloodied white dress.

“I WAS YOUR SISTER! I HAD ALL THE MEMORIES SHE HAD AND MORE, PLACED INTO MY HEAD. I WAS BORN. I LIVED. IT WAS REAL. I’M YOUR SISTER! BUT YOU COULDN’T FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO SHOW ANY MERCY FOR SOMEONE THAT WASN’T EXACTLY HOW YOU REMEMBERED HER."

The shouting voice of a tormented ghost spread across the thundering forest before suddenly the earth stopped shaking and a steady resolve stilled in the vacant air. "So you shot me... Same spot as before. So predictable. How could you live with yourself? You killed your own sister- again."

"And now you’ll die because of it.”