The Lady In Black

"This place wasn't really what I was expecting when you told us we were staying at an inn…"

Mun complained as we reached the inn.

It wasn't much of an inn, it was more of a barn. There were multiple rooms, but the floor was made of dirt and the beds were made from hay. The only light available was the main hall's lantern.

"Well, Teril ain't much to be sure, but it's home. Well, I leave these youngin's in your care now, Reece."

The old man nodded to the innkeeper before leaving the inn. The man named Reece greeted Tal and Mun. "Now, the dinner has already been served so I can give y'all a discount of five copper a night per room. Will that be satisfactory?"

Tal seemed reluctant at first, but then ended up handing the man five copper anyways.

"At least we'll have a ceiling over our heads. By the way, do you know anywhere we can take a bath?"

Tal was reminded of his stench when the innkeeper covered his nose with his fingers.

"Yes, sir. We have a bathhouse not too far from the inn. I can show you the way."

"I'm surprised they're still open at this hour."

"Oh, they never close shop."

"Hm? Then when do they clean the bathhouse?"

"Huh, now that you've mentioned it, I don't think I've ever seen them clean the bathhouse."

"I shouldn't have even asked."

"Tal, I think I'd rather just stay in the room," Mun added.

"It can't be helped, we're literally covered in poop. Any water that can wash this down should be good enough. And you're coming too!"

Mun was already on the bed as Tal began pulling her. "Nooo—! You can't make me—!"

"You stink! We both stink—!"

While Tal and Mun were fighting one another, I decided to go look for Din. I was furious when the two of them forgot all about Din, but after thinking about it, they only knew him for less than a day so I forgave them.

"Din! Where are you?! If you can hear my voice, say something!"

I would normally feel too guilty to be yelling in the middle of the night, but since no one could hear or see me, I decided to risk it.

—Even after walking through the forest for a while now, I still couldn't find Din. Although I knew no one could see or hear me, I still felt afraid to be in the forest.

I carefully moved through the forest. I noticed that I could phase through objects, but the complete darkness I saw when going through objects was too scary so I decided against doing that. Floating around was pretty convenient though since I didn't feel tired from moving around so much.

"Din! Are you—!?"

At the sight of wolves, I clasped my mouth with both my hands. It was only after a few seconds that I realized that even the animals couldn't hear me.

The pack of wolves were sleeping in a group. There were about eight of them. Even while asleep, the wolves looked menacing so I instinctively snuck around.

I looked around and felt relief when I didn't notice any blood or body parts around. Immediately after confirming that Din was probably alive elsewhere, I left the camp of wolves. I wasn't even sure those were the same wolves we had ran into earlier, but I just had to believe Din was safe somewhere.

While searching for him, horrible thoughts wandered through my head. Things like what would I do if I'm unable to find Din. If Din is the only one that can see me, then that would mean I might as well not exist if he isn't around.

Even if it was selfish to think about that without even knowing whether Din was safe or not, I just couldn't help myself.

It all seemed unreal to me. All that had happened tonight from turning into a Spirit to dying and then living as a ghost. I was just happy that someone like Din could still see me. I'll just have to make sure to find him and then leave all this worrying behind me.

Before I began calling his name out again, I saw him.

"Din!"

I rushed towards him, but then stopped when I noticed he was with another person.

She was an older lady with long black hair. Her red eyes were beautiful, immediately drawing my attention to them. She was wearing a black cloak over a black dress. She had a mature figure and a mischievous smile that would draw any person to her.

Din was standing in front of her, mesmerized by her looks.

"It's been so long. I'm glad I can see you again, Din."

The black haired lady said as she touched his face. "You may not know it now, but I've been searching for you for a long time. I can't remember how long now, but it has felt like an eternity."

"Who… are you?"

Din managed to ask a question. His stature had still yet to change.

The lady smiled. "You'll find out soon enough, Din."

After she removed her hands from his face, Din took a step back and demanded, "Answer me! Who are you and how do you know my name?"

Din showed her that he was serious by taking a fighting stance.

"You're very eager to fight, aren't you?"

Almost seeming to enjoy teasing Din, the lady licked her lips and then rested her hand on her hip.

"Telling you my name, that's something I can't do." She giggled. "You'll have to excuse me for that. But what I can tell you is why I'm here. You're aware that Spirits are real by now, I assume?"

Din nodded slowly.

"Well, you can think of me as a guardian for Spirits. There've been many that've awakened within the capital and I'm moving there now to find them."

"And how do you know about Spirits?"

To my surprise, Din asked her a question rather than taking all she said to face value. Closing her eyes, the lady giggled. Then, as she opened them, two pairs of black eyes replaced her previous red eyes.

"Does this answer your question?"

"But how? I thought…"

"Now, I feel like I've given away enough. I must proceed onward. But before that…"

She walked towards Din and then held his face once more.

"For now, this'll have to do until we meet again."

To my surprise, she leaned in to kiss Din. She was about 5 years older than him, but still seemed to feel no guilt in stealing a boy's first kiss.

It was more irritating the fact that Din didn't retaliate at all. Even after her long kiss, he only stood there, motionless.

"Farewell, Din."

Before the lady turned around, she looked me straight into my eyes. Her eyes had reverted into the ruby red. She smiled. And in the blink of an eye, she vanished.

"What just…"

Even Din seemed baffled as to what had occurred just now.

I moved beside Din, who appeared to be staring blankly at the last spot the lady had been.

"Hello… is anybody in there? Are you still here with us, Din?"

Din frantically moved away from me.

"L-L-Lorelei?! W-When did you get here?"

"Just a second ago."

"That woman just now… any idea who that might've been?"

I could only shake my head.

"Oh yeah, do you know where the two siblings are? I tried looking for everyone, but I ran into that woman instead. It was kind of scary being near her, but I just couldn't bring myself to run away."

"You've always been like that. Even when you were in front of a snake, you just stood in front of it. Do you remember that? Katherine had to come and pull you away."

Din began to sulk. "No need to bring up a memory like that from so long ago. I was scared back then, but this time, it was more like I didn't feel any danger from her."

"She wasn't carrying any weapons so I would assume she wouldn't be a danger to you."

"That's not what I meant!"

He turned towards where I came from.

"Anyways, I'm hungry! So did you manage to find the other two?"

"Yeah, they're in the village not too far from here. It's a place called Teril. The place where we'll be staying is kind of beat down so don't expect much."

"Teril… that actually means we're close to my uncle."

"Hm?"

"My uncle moved to a village called Sebraten, which is pretty close to Teril from what I remember. Okay, first thing in the morning, we'll head out to Sebraten and talk with my uncle. I'm sure he'll know more about Spirits and…"

Din paused.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

After seeming like he convinced himself of something just now, he turned to me with a bright smile. "I'm sure he knows how we can get your body back too! He's a genius after all!"

Hearing Din say that confidently made me happy, but I knew he was only putting a positive expression so I wouldn't feel down. That's just one of the reasons why I love Din Morrison.