Chapter Text
Aphmau and Dante narrowly reach the abandoned castle just in time to escape the werewolves pursuing them. The heavy wooden doors did not break under the angry werewolves' fists. It wasn't long before the werewolves gave up on breaking down the door, but they still refused to turn tail back home. Instead, they waited silently outside the castle, hoping their prey inside would think it was safe and leave.
"Dante, are you okay?" Aphmau asks after they both dismounted their horses and had a moment to catch their breath.
"I am fine, but are you okay?" Dante asks nervously. It was his first time guarding someone, and a lord no less; he couldn't fail on his first job.
"Yes, I am." She softly smiles at him, attempting to calm his nerves.
"Good, I am glad, but…" He takes a deep breath as he looks around the cobweb-filled castle. "This castle—it was not here when Donna and I fled."
She raises her brow. "Are you sure? Maybe you missed it while you were running."
"Impossible. I am very aware of my surroundings, as every guard should be. Something this big… I would have been sure to notice it. I never would have forgotten passing it when we fled in this direction. Never." His tone was serious as he stared deeply into her eyes, hoping she would believe him.
"Strange. At least the doors seem solid enough to stop the werewolves from coming in," She says, finding the light in the darkness.
"While that is a good thing, this place is quite large. It may look abandoned, but we cannot guarantee that until we check all the rooms." He gestures to the large interior in front of them.
"You think someone could be staying here?" She says, slightly amused, looking at the clearly abandoned and cobweb-covered castle.
"It is unlikely, but I still would like to check for our safety. This place is abandoned, so it could be haunted." He says sternly.
She chuckles. "Haunted? Are you afraid of seeing a ghost?" She didn't believe in ghost stories, unlike many of the people in her world. She assumed they were only stories to tell around a campfire to keep people entertained, not reality.
"No. A ghost would be safer than the werewolves we just encountered. If you decide you are scared, please let me know. You are the first lord I have had the chance to protect, and I want to make sure I do this right." He straightens, trying to appear manly and strong, to be a pillar she can comfortably lean on for support if she needs it.
"Relax, you are doing fine. Be yourself; there is no need to be nervous around me." She rolls her wrist, brushing off his worries.
"Thank you for saying that, but I do not intend to relax until I guarantee we are somewhere safe. I ask that you follow closely behind me as we explore the rooms and look for another way out.
"The werewolves may have stopped pounding on the door, but they are likely still on the other side waiting for us to exit. I would ask you to stay here, but I would rather not leave you alone. While I'm scanning the castle, we will not know if something will come from a direction that has not been explored yet. Your safety is my top priority." He stands proudly, hands on the hilts of his katanas.
She smiles at him softly, trying to get him not to be so stiff around her. "You don't have to worry so much; we can split up, and I will look at one side of the castle while you check the other. I am used to doing things by myself."
"Please, for your safety, I cannot allow that. Please stay by my side at least until I have confirmed we are safe here." His grip tightened on his hilt.
"Alright, since this is your first time serving as a guard, I will allow it. I am putting my trust in you." She smiles at him, softly nodding as she gives in to his pleading demand.
"Thank you. Let us check the lower level before we scout upstairs." He says as he begins to slowly walk from room to room, checking each open room. Many doors refused to open, so they left those rooms alone and moved on.
Aphmau would look through some of the books as Dante checked nearby. She read letter after letter about some boy who was entrusted to the care of the owner of the castle. It slowly became clearer that something went wrong as the boy's parents threatened to send the guards after the owner of the castle.
She hears a loud thud, causing her to quickly turn around, seeing Dante no longer right behind her. She quickly dropped the letter and cautiously looked around for him. She found him in a nearby room, lying flat across the floor, unmoving but softly groaning.
She quickly rushed forward towards him, gripping his shoulders, checking on him. He softly moaned, "Gene," as a single tear ran down his cheek. She didn't notice as she walked in, but she was in some sort of playroom. The floor was covered in various toys, and a dark, ghastly figure was floating behind her.
Once she realized he wouldn't wake up, she turned around to look for the cause, only to see the ghastly figure floating a few feet behind her. She gasped, backing up quickly, almost tripping over Dante's body, before she stood protectively in front of him.
"W-Who or what are you? And what did you do to Dante?" She shouts, stuttering, revealing her nerves.
The ghost giggles. "Did you know people's greatest fears and desires are often mixed? They tend to work together hand in hand. I wonder what yours are!" He says while waving his hand, causing a red mist to float towards her, causing a vision to flash before her eyes.
It starts with her standing in the upper level of the guard station near Garroth. He kneels on one knee and takes his helmet off in front of her, taking her hand and kissing it softly. His eyes never leave hers as he does. Laurence soon appeared next to him, doing the same thing. Then Dante appeared beside them, repeating the same actions.
"My lord, won't you—" They say together before the vision twists, switching to her walking out onto the balcony, looking outside the guard station, watching as the village she loves burns to the ground. As she turned back around, her guards were lying on the floor in a bloody mess, slain, dead.
She gasps as she blinks, her eyes opening and revealing the truth. "AH! What did you just show me?" She can barely stand as her head is pounding and she feels weak. Her heart was racing, and tears pricked her eyes as she looked up at the dark, ghastly figure before her.
"Gosh, how predictable! You desire the affection of those who serve you, yet fear losing them. Now, his fear was much more enjoyable! Do you want to see? Hehe!" He giggles.
"No, I—" It was too late to protest; with another wave of his hand, another vision flashed before her eyes.
It started sweetly, with a young Dante following a guard, giggling as he tried to copy his walk with a wooden sword in hand. Dante proudly wanted to be a knight just like his older brother. Then the scene shifted to a darker moment, where she saw the guard in dripping red armor towering over Dante.
"I'm going to leave you to rot. No one here will remember you. Not even our mother or father. So now you’ll wander this world alone. Someone needs to remember." He says before it switches to an image of him opening a Nether portal, escaping to the Nether.
She gasps and blinks as the vision disappears. This time, she can't stay standing as she falls to her knees. "W-What was that? Why would you show me that? I don't understand!" She looked up at the dark, ghastly figure, eyes wide, terrified, and confused.
He giggles. "He's a fun one to mess with! He has so much pain, hehe… Oh, what is that, I sense? Is that two more toys to play with? They are entering my castle now, and oh? They know you, Aphmau!
"Now they have strong feelings! Why don't I show you how quickly I can switch their mood when I show them both their fears? Now, enjoy the show!" Before she can protest, he waves his hand, and her vision goes dark.
When she opens her eyes again, she is found floating above the main entrance, above Garroth and Laurence, who had just entered the castle. She sees Dante also trapped, hanging above them, still mumbling to himself as he is trapped in a revolving dream and nightmare.
She calls out to her guards below, but they don't react. Somehow, they can't hear her. It made her question if this was real or just another one of the ghosts' twisted dreams.
They couldn't hear her, but she could hear them. She listened to them call for her, questioning if she truly fled into the castle. They only just began their search when a fake Dante and Aphmau walked down the stairs in front of them.
"W-What? Who the hell is that? That's not me; that's not Dante!" Aphmau mutters to herself, eyes wide as her hands push against the invisible barrier keeping her trapped, as she leans against it for a better view.
"My lord, what are you doing with him?" Garroth questions as he stares at the fake Dante and Aphmau holding hands.
"Hey, bud! Don't you dare touch her!" Laurence yells as he sees the fake Dante slowly pulls the fake Aphmau in close by her waist.
"No, Laurence… I do not think she is—" Garroth tries to speak, but Laurence's yelling cuts him off.
"You'd better let her go before I get really pissed!" Laurence shouts. His hand tightly grips the hilt of his sword as he fights the urge to slice him in half.
"She is… holding him back…" Garroth whispers as he sees the fake Aphmau wrap her arms around the fake Dante's neck.
"Don't you dare lean in to kiss her! So help me, you inch one inch closer and I'll—" Laurence shouts in anger when he sees their lips touch, then rushes forward, pulling out his sword and swinging it at the fake Dante.
As his sword made contact with the fake Dante, the real Aphmau and Dante fell from their position above the door, landing on the dusty carpet below. The illusion disappears; all that was left was a crying ghost child weeping under a fuming Laurence and heartbroken Garroth.
Dante groans as he attempts to awaken, his eyes blinking rapidly as he finally manages to fight the illusion keeping him asleep. Aphmau rushes forward, trying to stop Laurence from doing anything else rash.
"They turned into this ghost, kid, thing," Laurence says, confused as he hears Aphmau rushing up the stairs behind them, turning to look at her, "Wait, Lord Aphmau! You are safe! My goodness, what is going on here?"
"My lord, who is this ghost child? Where were you? And did you really kiss that man?" Garroth asks this while pointing his sword at Dante, who is just starting to stand with his hand on his head for support, unaware of what had occurred during his sleep.
"No, I didn't. I don't understand what is going on either." Aphmau says as she steps forward towards the ghost child.
The ghost cries. "I want my Mommy! Mommy, this man hurt me!" He cries louder, wiping his eyes of his ghostly tears.
"Aww, shh, calm down, little one." She crouches in front of him, gently attempting to pull him into a hug, only for her hands to go through him. So she sits in front of him, putting a kind smile on her face instead.
He sniffles. "Y-You… you are still trying to comfort me after everything I've done?" He looks at her, hopeful, hoping he wasn't wrong. Hoping he could get some of the love he craved so dearly.
"Yes, now, who are you?" She asks softly, not wanting to scare him, as she gets the answers they desperately needed from him.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you! I-I just wanted people to know how I feel every day. I have been all alone in this castle for…" He begins to cry more as he thinks of all the centuries he has been alone.
"Shh, it's okay. Please just tell me who you are." She looks at him softly.
He sniffles more as he tries to wipe his remaining tears away. "I-I'm Malachi. T-The ghost of this castle. I-I have been moving it for I don't know how long to try and find my parents, who sent me here to control my 'gift.'"
"Your gift?" She asks curiously, raising a brow.
"I don't really know what it is. I know I can see and show people their desires and fears. I've always been able to do it, even when I was alive. I could tell what was most important to people that way… But then I scared people too…
"My parents sent me to Mr. Thomas to try and help me control my gift since I would use it by accident at times. B-But then he got angry and accidentally pushed me off the balcony! W-When I woke up, I was like this, and I haven't been able to leave!" He starts to cry again, his hands uselessly attempting to wipe away the endlessly flowing tears.
Dante finally joins them, roughly pulling Aphmau back by her shoulder, pulling out his blades, and defensively standing in front of her. "Lady Aphmau, that child is a specter! Get away from him!"
Laurence steps between Aphmau and Dante, glaring at him. "She can do whatever she wants! Now, Garroth and I want to have a few words with you! Why did you have your lips on our lady?" He shouts.
Aphmau quickly pushes in front of Laurence, stopping him before he has a chance to swing his sword again. "We didn't! That was an illusion!"
"That wasn't us! That was the specter showing someone their greatest fear!" Dante shouts, backing up defensively in case he needed to fight.
"S-So that means you two did not…?" Garroth asks.
"No, we did not!" Aphmau shouts, causing her guards to finally calm down.
With everyone calm and the sun starting to set, they decide to set up camp for the night inside the castle. They go upstairs, lay their bedrolls down, and start a fire. Even though they set a fire inside the castle on a wooden floor, the magick of the castle protects it from burning down.
Once settled, she talks to each guard individually. Dante was glad her guards had come to help. It would make Logan's rescue easier. Garroth informs her that the tensions between Bright Port and Pikoro village were growing. Laurence gained information from Malachi, feeling close to him as they were both orphans. Once Aphmau told him she would adopt him as her son, he was thrilled to offer his help to raise him.
Once she finished conversing with her guards, she turned to Malachi, who was pretending to sleep. "Malachi?"
"Yes?" He asked as he pretended to stir, wiping his eyes as if he had just woken up from a long nap.
"You said you were all alone in this castle. How would you feel if I adopted you, took you home, and raised you as my son? You would be the big brother of the other boy I adopted; his name is Levin." She smiles down at him softly.
"R-Really? You would take me home with you? Y-You would let me live with you after everything I've done?" He sniffles.
"You have already been forgiven, Malachi. As long as you promise not to show anyone else their fears, I would be more than happy to take you home and call you my son." Her smile grows.
He shoots up, pretending to hug her, his arms floating around her sides. "Yes! I would love to! Thank you, M-Mommy." He says nervously, not used to calling her by her new title.
She giggles and pretends to hug him back. "You're welcome, Malachi."
"Mommy, can I give you a gift for helping me?" He looks at her hopefully.
"You don't have to give me anything. I didn't do this for a prize, but because I want to." She pretends to pat his head.
"But I can still give it to you, right?" He looks at her with puppy dog eyes.
"Of course you can." She smiled softly at him, unable to resist.
He giggles. "Well, my first gift is that you can have anything you want in my castle! I won't need any of it once I live with you."
"Thank you, Malachi. That is sweet of you to offer. I'll happily look around and take what I would like. But you say first gift? I thought you were only giving me one." She tilts her head, curious.
He cutely giggles. "Well, that one is just me offering what might be useful to you. My real gift is that I'll help make your greatest desire come true!"
Her eyes widened as she knew he was going to use his magick on her again. "Wait—" Before she could stop him from using his magick again, he swiftly floated up and kissed her forehead, a red mist surrounding her.
"Lord/Lady Aphmau!" A chorus of shouts comes from the three guards as her vision fades to black and she passes out.