Haunted 1With a slight push, the door opened with a loud creeeeeek Jac had made her way inside the abandoned house, as she searched around she took great care to not make a single peep. A flick of her flashlight revealed sheets of cobwebs and dust that blanketed the rooms, a scene that made her scrunch her brow. Beyond that were furniture that felt like relics of days gone by. Not that this was of any importance to her. "C'mon!" Jac spoke in a harsh whisper. "We get the next clue, then we can get outta here. Stat!" "A-xhoo" Lagging far behind her was Aiden, whose sinuses had flared up through the roof. "I don't like this place. It gives me the creeps..." "Well, the sooner we can find that paper, the sooner we can get going!" "Aren't we kinda like, trespassing? Someone might still own this joint..." Jac was mostly wrapped up in her search, the words of her friend bouncing off of her. She was more determined than ever to beat this game they've gotten swept up in.. in her mind, there was no time to get concerned over something silly like this place being supposedly haunted. Unfortunately for the shrunken Wile, Aiden wasn't able to do anything but focus on the eeriness of the house as a whole. When he wasn't clattering his teeth and firmly rooted in wherever he chose to just... stand on, he was sneezing up a storm from all the dust that Jac had kicked up. "What are you doing? Help me out! Look around in any of the other rooms!" "Uh, yeah! I'm on it!" Aiden was actually grateful to have gotten away from that dust cloud. The nearest entrance carried him to a large living room with shelving that was stacked to the brim with old books. On the furthest corner, there was a grand piano that appeared to be playing on its own. Wait... That was probably a prank the guys who set up the scavenger hunt made. 'It's a joke. No doubt about that one. Yep.' Just then, Aiden spotted something sticking out from the top of the piano- a small white sheet of paper. The Wile was just about to lift the lid when he heard a voice reverberating from behind him. It felt like it was breathing down his neck. "I wouldn't do that if I were you~!" Aiden dropped the piano lid and squealed at the top of his lungs. The older gentleman from behind covered his ears. "What in tar nation's!!! Get a hold of yourself, young man!!" Aiden spun around and came face to face with the fellow who came up from behind, a time worn man who greeted him by tipping his black cowboy hat. The latter took a moment to recover his piercing eardrums before speaking. "Mornin' to ya, laddy." He spoke in a ruffled yet strong voice, "I wasn't expecting any guests this fine hour." Aiden let out a long breath, holding his hand to his chest to calm his thumping heart. "Oh thank goodness. I had no idea anyone lived here." "Who? Me? Naw.. I wouldn't dream of it. I just own this plot of land here and I come over to check in on it every now and again." "Uh! I'm sorry for barging in like this-" "No need for that now. I could use some company. Gets kinda lonely for me when I'm here." At that moment the room was lit with a bright orange glow that shone from the large windows that took up half of the room. The sunrise looked marvelous from this view; Aiden couldn't help but stare at it in wonder for a bit. "It sure is pretty from up these hills" the older man said. "I had no idea we were in this house for so long..." "Don't worry about it. You're welcome to stay as long as you like." Aiden was scanning the yard outside when he spotted a small skinny tree from a distance. The bark appeared to have been charred from a fire, and not a single leaf adorned its branches. Aiden's eyes narrowed to a pencil slit, and he started to shiver at the tip of his shoulders. The landowner took notice of this. "While you're here, would you like for me to give you a rundown of the history of this place? I promise I won't take up too much of your time." That snapped Aiden back into focus. "Uhh.. sure? I don't see why not." The older gentleman gave out a long sigh through his nose before he proceeded. "Well this estate used to be owned by a very wealthy man. A cruel and wicked man who had used his money to carry out all sorts of fornication and what have you. Folks who worked for him would tell strange accounts of him harboring evil spirits... But I'm getting ahead of myself." He looked down at the piano, its tune continuing to play. "One day he brought home a woman who looked to be the prime of her youth. She was a sweetheart, her beauty was unmatched both in her appearance and her personality. He made her into the model wife- she cooked and cleaned and did everything for his needs. She loved him and he made himself to be the model man for her, only for her to discover that he was still craving other women behind her back. Before long, she confronted him about it. And that's when he--" The man paused as he shook his head and pinched his eyes. Aiden watched this and drooped somewhat, he sensed where this was going. The landowner turned his head to the sullen tree before he finally spoke. "That tree right there? That was where the man did the unthinkable before turning the rifle on himself." The Wile widened his eyes when he heard that revelation, his stare never parting from the tree in question as the old man continued his tale. "That tree had lost all its luster and it hasn't grown any leaves since then. Rumors spread of the man having housed as many as 108 unclean spirits within him during his life.. who have now manifested this entire area, spreading their influence through the roots. But who can say if any of that holds any truth to it or not." The man then gave one more sigh. "Pardon me for taking up your time with this sad story." "Oh? Oh no. It was... eye opening. To say the least. It gives me more of a good reason to want to get out of here as soon as I can." "Do you believe in spirits?" "I... wish I didn't." The man had to laugh at that reaction. "Well, that's an honest answer! You seem to be mighty keen to them, that's for sure! All right then, that's fine by me if you want to get going. But before you do..." The man then picked up the piece of paper that had flung out of the piano before and handed it to the young Wile. "You'll be needing this, right?" Aiden had completely forgotten about what he had came for at that exact moment, but he was grateful to see the poorly handwritten sticky note when it was given. "Oh! Yeah. Thank you!" "I'd be careful with following the instructions for that if I were you." "Huh?" "Aiden!! What the hell!?" Aiden whipped around to see Jac covered in a fine coat of dust bunnies, and she looked kind of beat on top of that. "Wha? Wha happened?" He replied. "I heard you scream!" "I did?!" "Yeah! Like a little girl!" "Hey! And... uhhh.. I didn't just now? The last time was about... maybe, ten minutes ago?" "No it wasn't! You had just come in here like a minute ago and then you screamed enough to scare the ghosts away!" Aiden took notice of what she had said, and it had just occurred to him at that point that the room was dark in the dead of night. "W-wait.... what time is it?" "It's half past midnight!" Aiden's face colored white momentarily as he was trying to wrap his head around those words. He looked down on his right hand to make sure that he hadn't been hallucinating. Sure enough... "You found it! Thank you so much Aiden!" "Y-yeah." Jac pulled the paper from his hands and held the flashlight onto it. ‘Your next clue is in the graveyard next to Bartleby's tombstone’ Jac let out a very long groan. "I'm tired. We'll pick this up another time. Let's--" Aiden was ignoring much of what was being said, for he was transfixed to what he was seeing when he turned his head to the side where the old man had stood. Or rather, what he doesn't see. He retraced the man's steps in his mind multiple times and followed him as he made his way towards the windows and the side of the grand piano. Dust had covered much of the floor with a blanket of gray, disturbed by the shoe prints of the two visitors as they snooped around. However, no footprints were left where the man stood... "Aiden? Are you ok...?" Aiden remained silent. Jac took on a more comforting approach once she took this as an answer. "I'm sorry I brought you along into this. Let's go home okay?" "Y...yeah..." Jac then gave Aiden a pat on the back and helped him make their way out. As soon as they closed the front door behind them, the piano, which had continuously played its tune on a loop, had finally stopped.Where's the Magic?"How come you don't use magic anymore?" That question cut through the intense focus Richard had, his fingers slowed to a halt at last. His silver eyes peered to the side onto Jac, yet his face remained glued towards the screen. "Hmm... Does it look like I have any use for it right now?" Was his answer. Jac kicked her feet slightly as her thumbs moodily twitched in her pockets. "After work.. or on days off... You don't suppose you could..?" She trailed off before stopping then and there. Richard continued to tap away, expertly filling out a paragraph in mere seconds.. before he paused for a second time. He swiveled around to meet her eye to eye, his face nearly brushing against the miniature form situated on his bookshelf. "Was there... any particular reason why you're so interested all of a sudden?" Jac glanced at her feet and puckered her face. Her smile grew brighter the more she mused, as her excitement bloomed out in the open with a giddy skip. "I miss the wind puffs you used to make!" "Wind... puffs?" Richard's voice remained flat in turn. "You know!" Jac rested her arms atop his nose. "Back when we were in high school, you used to show me all the neat little tricks you could pull off using wind magic." "Oh, yeah." "We used to gather these little weed flowers, and then you twittled your fingers around and then they sprung up in the air, almost like they're dancing with a woooooop! And then they come down with a whooosh!! Puffs everywhere!" "Mmmm-hm." Jac sighed, enthralled by such an enchanting memory. "Oh what I would give to see that again! It was.. well, magical!" "Uh huh." "You don't sound very enthusiastic right now." "I got files piling up, Jac." The Wile spoke with a huff. "This is nice and all but, I really do need to get back to work." Richard pulled back to a more comfortable position on his desk, as he glanced at the high stacks of paper on the side with a slight grimace. "Unless it could get any of my workload done, there's no real reason to do that stuff anymore. I have little energy as is and.. it's hard to expend more than I need to for that sort of thing." Jac sighed through her nose. She leaned back against the much-too-tall books, as she watched her friend steadily wind up like the cogs in a machine. The mere sight of this seemed pitiful to the woman. "Where's your sense of whimsy? C'mon! Don't you want to do it for just a few seconds? You know, for old times sake?" "Jac.." Richard was locked into his files at this point, typing a storm while he spoke. "I guess to you it seems like a big deal, but to us Wiles, what I did there was the wind equivalent of blowing bubbles. We're not kids anymore.." "You can clap your hands to make a gust of wind! That's a bit more prevalent!" Richard groaned. "I don't even see you do basic Wile giant stuff either. It seems... unnatural." Jac looked down again, the concern in her eyes were subtle, but spoke for themselves. Nothing was said between them for a few moments, as the human began to brood over thoughts that ultimately was not what she needed to linger on. 'The modern zeitgeist of the Beanstalk Society runs deep..' Eventually, Jac climbed down the built-in steps to reach the second story shelf. She rummaged through a sprout-sized dresser until she found what she was looking for: a clothed knapsack filled with "pixie" dust. She was running a bit low on it, crud sakes, so she had nothing to show for her efforts. "What are you doing?" Richard finally said. "Going through my things.." Jac replied in a sing song way. "Jac, you're not setting off any sparks in the house. That stuff is highly flammab--" "I know, I know! Yeesh. I ain't gonna say nothin' to set it off!" "Just checking!" Jac gave out a nonverbal hiss before returning to her usual self, her curiosity perked more than ever. "You were the one who taught me how to use this... with the magic energy you gave me through the Link. Does that mean.. you can do spark type powers too? I always thought you were an air elemental.." Richard then hunched closer to the screen, as if to say now was not the time to hear this. Jac placed the bag away before she began to gaze upon the dresser, and soon beyond, for a moment or two. "Why did you give me this to me? What was the purpose again?" Richard took a breath, yet her words were loud and clear despite it's soft utterance. "I thought maybe you could put it to good use. In case a hostile giant tried to attack you or something, then that would usually be enough to make them back off." "Well, if it's ok for me, to borrow your magic, then why should it be an issue when you use it?" "I hate to be cynical... but our size is a contributing factor." Richard steadily slowed his pacing, his fingers barely getting a word in, along with his mouth soon enough. "Just because I'm small it's deemed okay in society's eyes?" Jac exclaimed. "That doesn't make it right!" Richard remained silent. "And here we are just showcasing the double standards this place runs on! Nobody bats an eye when I use magic! Heck, when we first Linked, you gave me my silver eyes through magic!" "I, still feel bad about that.." "Nono, it's fine! I know it wasn't intentional, but, I like it! It's pretty!" Jac put on a wide grin that hopefully got the message across. The giant's eyes remained somber however, but at least he was looking directly at her direction again. Seeing his expression only fueled her frustrations. "It's just... for some reason nobody paid attention to it! Or, at least folks never directly acknowledged it to me. You guys get a lot of flack for something as trivial as having metallic colored eyes." "Or for even breathing sometimes.." Richard began to slump a tad. Upon the human's realization that the mood had soured, she quickly ducked her head in a nonverbal apology. "It's fine.. We needed to vent at some point." "I didn't mean to... I just, don't enjoy seeing you so restricted all the time. It's doing a number to your health." "I know..." Richard squeezed the bridge of his nose before he leaned back on his recliner. "I know what you want me to do. Embrace the moments where I can." "Yeah! And fight the good fight!" "Where applicable." Richard then growled slightly before continuing. "It's never that simple Jac... but..." "But?" "I'll admit, wind magic isn't really something that I take that great of interest in to begin with. Beanstalk Society aside, I find it hard to have any practical use for it outside of the occasional self-defense. And you know how much I value getting some use out of things." "Yeahhh, I know.." "And yet..." "Hm?" "I... wasn't even aware that you liked it so much." "I don't just like it Rich, I loved seeing your magic make petals dance all around me. And to make the sparkly dew float gracefully towards the sky... It's, little moments like these that make life special to me. And.." Jac drew closer to that large face she was so accustomed to, resting a hand against a cheek before the rest of her followed suit. "I know it sounds like I'm only interested in the magic aspect of it, but truth is... I care because you are the one performing it. It's beautiful.. art that you've crafted with your own power. A part of you that should be treasured, and... not locked away entirely." Jac continued. "You care a lot about expending energy and all that, but I think it's good for a person who has magic in their blood to let it out every once in a while. Even if it's just for fun." Richard was careful with his breath, as he leaned in slightly to the tiny woman who nestled against him. His eyes rolled to the side as the bridge of his mouth perked up. Leading to a purr that was barely audible, yet was clear as the dawn for Jac. "Well..." The Wile whispered. "I guess I can't say no to that. Those words you spoke worked wonders." "Does that mean..?" "Yeah. Sorry I was a bit nippy earlier." "That's ok. I know where it's coming from." Jac then side-glanced to the paper tower. "Are you sure you don't want to wait? You said magic can wear you out." "Mmm-hm. Like you said, just a few seconds should be fine. Truth is... the fact that you genuinely cared about it beyond it being just a novelty.. moved me. A little." "Oh?" "If it was just me, for my sake I wouldn't bother. But... it goes beyond that now." Richard perked up as he finally looked directly at Jac's increasing smile. "If it really makes you that happy... then, well. What am I to deny you that right to see it? Cause to see you happy.. that's what I want most of all." "That's what I've been saying all along!" Jac folded her arms in an obviously fake pout. "Sorry, I was thinking about myself at the moment again." "You're fiiine. But, I'm just glad you came around. Because you certainly need to not bottle up so much!" "Y..Yeah.." "Well? What are we waiting for?" The gibbous moon glowed bright across the bed of stars- a perfect backdrop for the queerplatonic couple as they made their way towards the balcony. Jac jumped off of the giant's open palm before the latter began to clutch his fingers together. He uttered a soft incantation, short, brief and to the point. He then flipped his hand around and presented a finger tip to his friend. "Here." Jac felt it, a small yet very present force. She scooped up the invisible spell from Richard, and it was there where she could feel the telltale sign of the wind between her fingers, all bundled up in a compact form. "A wind puff..." Jac gasped in delight. "Richard... thank you so much." "No problem." The side of the Wile's face bore sweat, even such a minor spell did that much. "You were right, I am a bit out of shape." "I'll treasure it as long as I can.. to make up for it." "It won't be long before it wears out, but you can do whatever you want with it until then. Have fun!" As Richard returned to his quarters, no doubt to his remaining papers, Jac began to move the wind ball across her arms. She pulled it along, unwinding the wind like string to pick up every dandelion nearby before setting them up high to greet with the awaiting stars. Jac continued to dance like a ballerina on the porch, nothing else mattered in the entire world at this time. The perfect gift, one of enchantment, fueling her child-like wonder. Grateful to still have it after all these years, even for this brief, yet wondrous moment.person