A poor girl stared at the ruins of her stupidly expensive lair. "What the..." Her face went blank as she watched countless years of work burn alongside it—one more home torn from her. She clawed at her hair, but the moment her eyes locked on the ruins, she stopped. Her vision cleared. She wanted an explanation.
Bill's face at that moment was hard to read, wearing a look she hadn't seen in years. After she locked eyes with him, he explained, looking pale and blurred.
"People become ghosts right before resurrection magic takes effect." The way he said it was prideful, like an artisan showing off his work. It would have been perfect, too, if it wasn't followed by: "It shouldn't take this long though." Okay, that new look on his face wasn't an old one—it was definitely that of a desperate man in denial.
"How... where were the..." Billy was staring. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and remembered something. He was confused until the horror of a certain realization washed over him. "Oh... oh shit."
She lunged at him. "I am going to kill you!"
She hadn't fully grasped the situation, but she understood enough to start blaming him.
As we watch a ghost cat try to strangle a ghost fox.
The gold color on the walls parted as it broke, revealing gray rock behind. It gave up pointlessly. Huh, it seems the gold was just paint. The fox's screams seemed to get stronger... now he was crying.
"I spent fucking years on this!" The choked wailing of the ghost fox was truly heartbreaking. Truly a heartbreaking moment.
"Just for you to ruin everything to do stupid paint instead of your job!" Her voice got louder.
A moment of silence, please.
Of course, it had to be interrupted by a bunch of rude, green-uniformed bastards. They were the ones who blew the place up, and they were investigating the remains right now. They'll get their screentime when they're interesting.
Okay, back to the cat and fox.
"Rose... help? Why?" Damn man, you're still being choked. I need something here.
And if you're wondering who the hell Rose is, it's early for that, right? Just know she's a very important person in demi-human history—their most powerful lord protector.
Finally, the ghost cat got tired. Who knew a ghost could do all that? Magic is really something.
"Done? Happy? I might have made a mistake, but..." Damn, a poor choice of words. Look, you're being raided, and the red carpet was practically laid for them. He was barely standing, poor guy.
As expected, it triggered Lucy. Well, this is getting repetitive. At least the investigators were actually doing something this time.
The rich-looking leader was sweating. It seems Billy wasn't the only mess-maker here. Anyway, the rude one seemed to have found something interesting. And a new expert had arrived.
The investigation continued as they gathered materials. Some inquisitors discovered the paint was actually gold. It wasn't put into evidence. They gathered a lot of items. The fox and cat were too unnerved to care about most of them—but there was a certain safe that Lucy didn't recognize. Bill, though, looked straight-up horrified. He screamed as he passed through the guy holding the safe. The poor inquisitor shivered, nearly dropping it. Bill screamed even harder.
They eventually moved to the basement—something very important, as most of the high-ranking people seemed to be going there.
Would you look at that? The Billy Restrictions Ritual. Well, it seems this is bad. This is really bad. That was until... you noticed...
Billy and Lucy stared at it, too. So did everyone. The ritual had a missing part.
"Hey Bill, my magic knowledge is lacking, but please, I'm begging you: tell me I'm not imagining this." The poor girl's expression looked broken.
The ritual was extremely detailed—the mark of true craftsmanship. The problem was the easiest part of the spell: the trigger and destination of the reveal wasn't there. It wasn't clear whether it had been blown away or never done to begin with.
The one thing that was clear: two opposite truths could be drawn from the scene.
Lucy, instead of getting angry, fell to her knees.
"Just how can you... Do you think it's funny? Yeah, that's it. You're nothing but a selfish idiot." She pushed forward, gripping him, shouting her lungs out.
"Billy, hey—calm down! We just moved, we just weren't ready. I am sorry, I really am—" He was trying to calm her down. He held her back, which pissed her off more.
"How many fucking times, Bill? How many times am I supposed to pay for your empty brain? Well, that's that—there's no fixing it." Her voice locked into a tone like poisoned sarcasm.
"But how—" He was still confused about everything, his grip tight to the point of bleeding—if there were a body for that.
"Does it matter?" It was weak. Very weak. Barely hearable.
"Come on, Lucy, you just accept it like that? Remember... that time?" It was hard to say. It was really a bad one—something he tried to forget, yet he forced himself to bring it up. He needed her. She couldn't give up. There must be something.
"That was decades ago. Huh, at least you understand how badly you fucked up if you had to bring that up." Her voice leaked poison as it dripped with sarcasm.
"You saved me. I had nothing." He said it with a heavy heart, but the smile was genuine. He really loved that part. He hated everything—but there was only light when it came to her.
"That was different, and bringing that up is low, even for you." There was nothing for it. Even an attempt to atone wouldn't work.
"I just—" He was struggling. He really was.
"Just what? Don't wanna feel guilty? Well, great—it changes nothing. We are dead, and we can't even come back as a fucking corpse!" She snapped at him with venom, barely any anger left.
"Hahaha, you really believe yourself! Yeah, I fucked up, but why are you even—yeah, it's because you said—why, I question—would want prey, do tell! And of course, just like the goddamn fucking mountain, I begged you to stop! We had everything!" He finally snapped. He prided himself on self-control, but even he had a breaking point.
"It wasn't 'we,' it was 'I.' But well, since you mentioned it—why did that go the way it did, huh Bill? Fucking tell me. You wanna leave so bad, why stick around?" It was weak. She was tired, and it was starting to show, but the venom was still there.
"Hey, crazy bitch, maybe you're right. Maybe I should have seen the red flag above your head when I met you in front of that burning mansion... Oh no, wait—I forgot wh—" Oh, that one was too far. It was too late as Bill froze, staring silently as she gave him a silent glare that could pierce stone, water swelling in her eyes. She was sniffling too. Bill took a breath.
He sat down and rubbed his arms. "I am sorry. I really am. I don't know how it ended like this, okay?"
Her expression softened as she went to sit beside him.
"Remember, right? Together. Smiling." Her voice was fragile and soft for the first time in a really long time.
"Till the end, no matter what." Bill smiled and sat beside her.
They always knew this is how it would end. They just wanted more time. There were so many things they couldn't do yet. Their story still shouldn't have ended.
They sat watching investigators smile as they reached the wrong conclusion, drawing a smile to their faces.