Free Web NovelChapter 12: Ghost Children
Percy turned and began floating through the air to leave the research lab, and Viva hesitated for a moment before she followed behind him. Once they were out of the research lab, Percy turned and flew up, and Viva saw him vanish through the ceiling wall with a shocked look on her face. Viva commanded her body to move up as well, and she was stunned when she also began to float in the air and her body easily phased through the ceiling. The next time she opened her eyes, she was inside the library, but everything looked completely different from how it had been earlier!
Rather than just the students who were looking for books, there were hundreds of ghosts moving around the upper floors of the library. The ghosts were laughing as they chased each other and phasing through the shelves or looking through books and spinning around playfully as they read them. Most of the ghosts were children wearing the Academy uniform, but there were a few adults there as well! The moment Percy appeared, all the ghosts in the room exclaimed in joy!
"MR. PERCIVAL!"
The children flew towards Percy happily, and Percy smiled as he caught some of them and spun them around before asking them how they were doing!
"We missed you, Mr. Percy!"
"Did you bring any more sweets!?"
"Carry me too! Carry me too!"
It felt like Percy was a benefactor who came to visit an orphanage, and Viva could see that all the children here absolutely adored him! Some of the older ghosts in the library came forward to greet Percy as well, and Percy asked them how things were going.
"You’ve allowed us to take refuge in your library. How can we complain?"
One of the oldest ghosts spoke with a smile as she floated forward. It was a beautiful middle-aged woman with a motherly vibe around her, and she looked at Percy with an appreciative gaze that showed just how grateful she was. Viva watched all this from behind Percy, and she wondered how long the ghosts had been living in the library. A lot of the ghosts here were young teens and children who were wearing the academy uniform, and that could only mean that they were students who died here.
"Hey, baby. Are you back already? How’d the investigation go?"
Viva turned around as she heard a familiar voice, and she saw Rita standing on one of the balconies and smiling up at Percy. Since Rita was a Vampire, she stood on the border between life and death, and that made it possible for her to see things that regular mortals couldn’t, and she could easily see Percy and Viva floating with the other children. But to everyone else, it would look like Rita was talking to the empty air.
"Hey, Rita. I just got back a few minutes ago. I’ll be done soon."
Rita smiled beautifully, and she told Percy not to take too long.
"Dinner should be ready soon. I made your favourite." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Rita waved and left after saying this, and Percy smiled back at her before he turned to the children and ruffled the hair of a few of them. The children laughed playfully at his action, and Percy told them to give him a moment with the older ghosts. Once the children were gone, Percy turned to the middle-aged woman and spoke up.
"The girl who died recently. Do you know where she is?"
The older ghost smiled sadly, and she looked up at one of the higher floors.
"She is still grieving her own death, so she refuses to come down. Murder victims are always the hardest to console. Maybe you can talk to her and make her feel better."
Percy let out a calm breath, and he thanked the woman before he began to float up to the higher floors. Viva followed behind Percy as he made his way past more than fifty floors, and he landed on the fifty-third floor. Up here, the light was very dim, and there was an eerie vibe that surrounded the entire library, almost like Viva had entered some sort of haunted house. Viva looked at the books on the shelves beside her, and she felt a sense of dread when she saw that many of them had been bound with small black chains that sealed them shut. One of the books seemed to stand out to her more than the others. It was a plain book with a black cover, and Viva felt herself being pulled towards the book by a strange force. Viva reached out to touch the book, but Percy’s voice broke her out of her trance.
"That book consumes magic essence. Touch it, and you’ll never use magic again."
Viva froze, and her eyes seemed to clear up as the image of the plain book in front of her changed to a dangerous-looking book with multiple rows of teeth around the cover. There were thick black chains holding the book shut, and Viva realized that the book had used illusion magic on her! She almost touched one of the sealed books!
Viva took multiple steps back and turned to look at Percy. Percy wasn’t even paying any attention to her since he was still walking, but his words echoed in her head on repeat, and she felt a shiver go through her body from fear as she ran to catch up with Percy! The upper floor of the library was restricted to most mages because this was where most of the forbidden or dark books were kept. Even as they walked, Viva could feel a malicious aura flowing off the books, and Viva knew that if any of the books here were found in the possession of a mage, then everyone would immediately brand that mage as someone practicing the dark arts.
But Percy didn’t see things in the same way. As far as Percy was concerned, books were books, and as a place of learning, the library had an obligation to store every type of book regardless of how ’evil’ or ’dark’ people believed it was! Percy obviously wouldn’t allow certain people to read these books, but if someone ever needed one of them for a reasonable cause, then Percy would definitely let them look through it.
Viva and Percy walked past the sealed books for a few more seconds before Percy finally stopped beside the staircase that would lead up to the higher floor. Sitting on the floor with her hands wrapped around her knees and her face pressed into her lap was the little girl who had died. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
"Wuwuwu~ Hic! Hic~"
The little girl was crying, and Viva could tell that she had been crying for a while now. Percy moved towards the little girl, and he crouched beside her gently.
"Hello."
The girl recoiled once she heard Percy’s voice, and she looked up at him and Viva in fear! But Percy simply smiled at her and spoke in a kind voice.
"You don’t need to be afraid. I won’t hurt you. My name’s Percival, and this is Viva. What’s your name?"
The girl eyed them for a few seconds as she tried to figure out if they were trustworthy or not, and after a few seconds, she seemed to finally decide that they weren’t dangerous, and she moved to sit down again. The girl spoke in a soft voice that cracked slightly from the constant crying.
"V-Vanessa. M-My name is Vanessa. I died yesterday."
Percy smiled sadly and nodded.
"I know."
Vanessa’s eyes grew wet once again, and she hugged her knees as she felt like crying all over again.
