interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK IX: LIKE A GHOST

Who: Everyone!
What: The ghosts are back, and they've brought you some FEELS.
When: April 18th-21st.
Where: Predominantly outside of the label HQ walls. Occasionally inside, too.
Warnings: The usual.

“'Cause the world might do me in.
It's alright 'cause I'm with friends.
Guess I'm giving up again...
It doesn't matter.”

☆LIKE A GHOST

The spirits that have walked the halls of the label towers for months now have returned once again - and while the last time they appeared they were pleading for your help, this time they are here to offer their aid in return. All four ghosts will be trying to find all musicians and rescuers aligned to their spiritual emotion in order to bestow some sweet spectral gifts open them. Some of you may have met them already, some of you may have not. While in the past their identities were a mystery, in their last encounter with the labels it was shown that they are in fact the spirits of the late Crescendolls, a former Virgo band that claims to have been murdered by Lesedi Santiago.

Though most will still be unaware of this, they may have a chance to ask questions today. These are the four naked alien spirits who will be visiting, and the emotion they align to:

► Duty: Brave, dedicated, and willful, Arpegius is the lead guitarist and the sort of guy who will fight you or for you for all the right reasons. He's street smart enough to know how to choose his battles.

► Passion: Young, boisterous, and a little bit crass, Baryl is the drummer of the band and as compassionate as he is rowdy when he slows down enough to be.

► Hope: Inspired, intelligent, and chill, Octave is the keyboardist and lead singer. He's the most mature of the group and was also the oldest - before they all died, anyway. Still, he manages to be proactive about his ghostly status.

► Love: Quiet, mysterious, and surprisingly capable of being a badass, Stella is the basist of the group. From the outside she may appear to be almost stereotypically demure, but there is an emotional strength inside that not many get to see.

☆THE GIFTS

They will not be able to spend much time with each person, nor will they be inclined to go near the HQs if they can avoid it. But they will be able to communicate with each person briefly if they share an alignment, in order to give them one of the following gift, of which every character in the game may pick one.

► Knowledge: You can ask your ghost a question about the in-game situation (they don't know anything about your home life so don't ask them about that) and they'll answer with any information they've gathered as an invisible ghost witness or go seek it out for you.

► Strength: The ghost will leave part of their power with you, in the form of a burst of spiritual strength you can access at a moment of your choice. Generally speaking this will manifest in a manner similar to an "adrenaline rush" or "last effort" energy boost where your character's physical strength or abilities increase 50% - 100% for a short period of time. The more powerful the boost the shorter time it will last. It works even better if, at the moment of its triggering, you are deeply in tune with the emotion you and the ghost represents.

► Healing: Your ghost will attempt to heal you physically or emotionally - this isn't the best for severe physical wounds, but it is very good for unlocking mental blocks or helping you get past trauma in order to pursue the greater good. This can be used for a large memory regain or to sooth any kind of mental trauma that is holding your character back. Effectiveness varies from person to person, but the treatment will be focused around enhancing the emotional alignment shared between the ghost and you. EDIT: Healing can be given to someone else immediately, but can't be stored like Strength and Protection can, unless you work out something specific with your ghost.

► Protection: Much like the strength boon, this is a power left with you by the ghost that can be triggered at a future moment. Instead of enhancing your abilities however, it will act as a physical or mental defense against one potentially deadly assault. This gift can also be transferred to another person at the recipient's request.

The ghosts will be you their magic ghost dust, promise that they will be watching and protecting you where they can, and then be on their way. However, those who helped rescue them during the In Reaching Out plot will get something a little bit extra. (IE, those who participated in the Ghost Quest plot.) They'll both get their immediate pick of one of the above boons as well as:

► Spirit Summon: Your aligned spirit will give each Ghost Quest participant the ability to summon them for direct aid on one occasion, in the form of a small ectoplasmic token. Their arrival can be used for anything they are capable of pulling off with their ghost magics that they don't find morally objectionable. Basically, a ghost will appear and help you out when you need it. Choose wisely.

Along with all these gifts, each ghost will be bolstering the emotional aspect you share. Love alignment people will feel strengthened by the power of their love, Hopes will feel increasingly hopeful and capable, and etc. This is not something that will make them behave destructively - it is a positive blessing speaking to the strongest sides of their patron emotion.

Keep in mind that these spirits do have wills of their own, and being rude or dismissive towards them will result in them passing you by. Boons will only go towards those that seem like they will be using them for good intent.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: During and after this event, musicians will be able to regain memories of their capture as well the occasional flash of their initial programming!

“Had me feeling like a ghost,
And that's what I hate the most.
Guess I'm giving up again...
This time I might just disappear.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Forget hands. She flung her arms around her to pull him into a hug that, for all the strength she put into it, might do him some chiropractic good as well. "It was obvious to everyone else," she said, her voice muffled by his bod as she pressed against him.

There's more than enough power in her hug to crack his back, and Greg grunts a little. It feels good. Her holding him, that is. "Yeah, I bet."

His embrace in return isn't nearly so tight, as he uses it to feel her warmth and presence. He doesn't regret for a second taking the chance to make sure she's protected. "What about you?"

"Yes. I received your gift in turn." She leaned back to smile up at him, a gentle and warm smile like sunlight itself. "You should have kept it, but I know telling you that is useless."

He basks in that smile, and it gives him enough strength for a smile of his own. One hand strokes at her hair, brushing it away from her face. "If I said that to you, would you have listened for even a second?"

"Nothing I could have gotten would have been as precious to me as seeing your burdens eased." A selfish sentiment at the same time as it was an altruistic one. His pain had been scarring her in turn.

"Yeah, well. Knowing you're protected... eases some burdens too." The fear of her being used as some sort of bargaining chip because of him... it made him sick. Yet his paranoia had only caused her more stress. Greg shakes his head with a sigh. "I'm so sorry that I've made you worry."

"I worry because I care, so you should not apologize for that. Because I certainly won't stop caring." And now here he was, worrying, when for a while now she had been the strongest of all. "Besides, you give me strength."

As strong as she was, it didn't give Greg any right to worry her. But his apologizing around in circles wasn't what would fix that: only resolving to move forward again.

"I thought we agreed. You're the strength, I'm the magic." He'd often joked around with lines like that. He means it now. "...Blanche is going to try something soon. I'm sure of it." That cold fury after the fight with Sans meant the worst was yet to come. Greg looks Meril in the eyes. "We'll watch each other's backs. Right?"

"Ah, but Greg, you give me a reason to be strong." Not the only one, but so much of her current emotional stability came from his presence in her life. Countless things flickered in the back of her mind, memories she wasn't even supposed to have, and what might come in the future she could not say, but yet none of that could bother here, especially here in his arms.

"I do enjoy looking at your back," she teased. Because they both knew, without needing to say it, that they would support and protect the other with all they had.

Greg's smile turns just a bit wolfish, even as his cheeks tinge with pink. "I'll make it as good a show as I can." He is an entertainer, after all.

It feels good, to tease like that. The feeling of dread hanging over them is still there, but muted. They'd made promises to count on each other in the past, yet his faith had been faltering. This gift let her light reach him again.

"That is your nature, after all, isn't it?" She leaned into him, then, putting her hands on his chest and tipping her head to rest against him. "I liked that about you from the beginning, you know. Your enthusiasm and your integrity about it. Your love for music always shone through, and I couldn't help but admire it."

His smile fades away without her looking. They stand there in silence for a moment, him holding her close, thinking.

"I... I don't know... how much I enjoy it anymore." It hurts to admit, even to himself. "All the things I loved, they're all so tangled up in this dangerous magic stuff..." All the things but her. There's an incredible and frightening power to her as well, but it's something separate from Virgo entirely. She remains herself, the one he's come to love so dearly.

"I know." How could she blame him for feeling that way? Everything that was good and pure in his life had been marred and scarred by all the things that had happened to them. "And yet after everything that has happened, you are, you remain, good and kind and decent."

Is he? There's been good intentions all the way along, but... "You've got a better view of it than me." If he can't trust himself, he can definitely trust her.

And SHE had been there, all the way along. Her smile ought to leave no doubt in his heart towards what she believed. "I do, yes. You have hurt, but pain is its own form of blindness, and it draws your attention to itself over everything. But I know you, Greg. And I love you."

He smiles back, less bright but just as genuine. "Would you look at that. You're still taking more of that pain away, too." His arm over her back squeezes, ever so slightly. "Seriously, Mer. I'd ask which angel sent you my way, but..."

"Ha, Greg, you are getting exactly what you earned. Every bit of it." And then, abruptly, she couldn't stop laughing -- burying her face in his chest, and shaking in his arms. Not because anything was funny, but because he was smiling, his pain eased indeed, and she was happy.

☆TRACK IX: LIKE A GHOST

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