Present day: Cecilia enters the conference room, and there, Chris, Triple-A, and the rest of the senior staff wait for her. "Sorry, I'm late, it's difficult to run with these wooden clogs," she explained
"Miss Bermudez, please sit down," Triple-A offered. Cecilia did as suggested and took the only vacant seat besides the captain. "Now that we are all here, we can begin," he nods to his secretary, who peered out of the door and signals someone to enter.
The ghost of a young man entered and sat beside Triple-A. "This is Isagani Lopez…and I want you all to listen to his story."
All eyes shifted towards the ghost. "Hello," He courteously bowed. "Please call me Gani. I had a best friend named Ricardo, who committed suicide after he had his heart broken because he had an unrequited love for my wife, and after he died, as a ghost, he murdered me. Now I think she is his next target for revenge."
Chris looked at the ceiling and scoffed, "What is this? Another special case?" he hit his forehead with his open palm lightly several times. "Who do you think we are? The Ghostbusters? My crew is not a special afterlife elimination service; we are the ferrymen of the spirits of the dead!" slamming his fist on the table.
"You're right, you are not a ghost-collecting crew or something, but your duties are not merely ferrying souls to Kaginhawaan. As heralds of death, you are also tasked with making sure human lives are safe from vengeful spirits and ghosts!" Triple-A calmly explained. "We are not allowed to interfere with the lives of men, but when the supernatural starts to invade the lives of humans, that is when we interfere."
Chris stood up. "Chief Bustamante, you work with Pink! I'm going back to the bridge."
"Chris, please sit down," Triple-A told the captain, but he was just ignored. "Captain Crisanto Flores…I said Sit DOWN!" the always calm Archangel had his voice booming within the room. Everyone covered their ears from the auditory assault, but only the captain seemed unaffected.
The captain looked over his shoulder. "Make me!" he exclaimed, exiting the room, leaving awe and disbelief in their faces at how defiant he was.
Chief Murillo was about to stand up, but somebody beat her to it. "Mister Triple-A? Please allow me to get him back," Cecilia's voice echoed. The Archangel nodded, and she shuffled out of the room to run after the captain.
Cecilia ran through the halls of the massive ship. She finally caught up to the captain as he was about to open the door to his quarters. "Captain! Holdup"
Chris ignored her and went inside his quarters. The doors were closing, so Cecilia quickly took out her wooden clog and threw it, aiming for the closing door and the door frame, but she missed. Instead, she hits Chris on the head, making him stumble back. "Yikes! Bull's-eye?" she squealed.
Cecilia squeaked as she covered her mouth when she saw what she did. She ran into the quarters to tend to the captain. "Captain, are you okay?" At first, she did not notice anything as she tended to Chris, but when the captain stirred and her mind felt the relief, she started to hear a cacophony of terrifying cries.
She lifted her head and, to her horror, saw that the room was actually an endless swirling abyss, lined with countless rampaging and wailing portraits of all the previous captains of the Twilight. The people in the portrait were thrashing about, as if trying to escape their gilded frames that acted as their eternal prisons.
The eerie and haunting sounds brought a sense of dread to her mind; it filled her heart with sorrow and hopelessness. She huddled on the floor, crying. It was like there was nothing but grief and misery in that area. Her heart raced in her chest, her skin felt prickly, and her hair stood on end. She felt a gnawing cold, clawing through her spine and entire body.
Just when she felt trapped, she felt two gentle yet strong hands on her shoulders in that moment of helplessness. "Sing," Chris's voice sounded like a melody, and his eyes that stared at her felt like a soothing balm that calmed her chaotic heart. Chris covered her ears, their eyes still glued to each other, and she began to sing.
Her angelic voice filled the eerie room, drowning out the haunting cries from the portraits. The once-thrashing former captains soon started to calm down, and they assumed a more relaxed and natural pose. Their eyes were closed as if savoring the melody of Cecilia's voice. Slowly, Chris released his hold on her ears, but she shook her head and grabbed the captain's hands, pressing them tightly to cover her sense of sound.
Chris understood the girl's fear and trepidations, and gently he helped her to her feet while urging her to continue singing. He guided her towards and out of the door. Once outside, he quickly closed the doors and gently released his hold on her face. "Pink, pink, it's okay now, you can stop singing." He informed her, letting her know that they were outside his quarters.
When Cecilia felt the warm rays of the sun and the gnawing cold leave her body, she slowly opened her eyes and saw the captain's comforting presence. As if on impulse, she rushed towards Chris and wrapped her arms around him. The captain was in utter shock as he looked down at his chest, nestled on it was her relieved visage. "That place made me feel helpless and utterly sad, thank you for getting me out of there!" she said, her words felt like a warm breeze in an otherwise freezing night. He tried to ignore it, but her warmth made his heart beat faster, and he felt vulnerable.
"What's going on? What happened?" A woman's voice shot out, cutting through the whimsy of the moment. The two turned to the source of the voice, and to their surprise, Triple-A and all the chiefs were standing a few feet from them. The two saw Chief Murillo's reaction, and they all swore they saw smoke coming from her flaring nostrils. The captain and the human pushed each other away and almost immediately turned their backs on one another.
"She…she accidentally…entered the quarters," Chris stuttered, desperately explaining the awkward moment.
"Yeah! That's right, you guys heard the captain," Cecilia nervously chuckles, backing up the ridiculous explanation.
"Aren't we supposed to be in a meeting?" Chris then points at the ghost of Gani, "I don't think I heard your story yet, let's all go back to the conference room and listen to your problem."