Chapter Text
The ghost watched from a window of his tower as a (familiar) van bearing his friend(s) peeled away, a sense of melancholy draping over him again. He'd been so lonely and then Lewis had come. Lewis, who didn't recognize him, but that was okay. He didn't really recognize himself anymore, either. And then Vivi and Mystery had been there. Vivi, who had betrayed him, killed him, but he felt no anger over it. Just deep sadness.
However, she'd wanted to take Lewis away and in his distress, he'd exploded. Of course, he knew Lewis would have to leave. There was nothing in his tower for a living person. Lewis couldn't sustain himself on food conjured by a ghost, after all... at least, he didn't think so. But still, he'd wanted his best friend to stay for even a little longer...
Looking down, he let his anchor, hidden by the wild electrical fire that covered his left shoulder, drop neatly into his hand. A star-shaped locket that had once been his favourite pin sat there, but he didn't open it. He didn't need to, given how often he spent staring at it. Seeing the picture was always distressing, anyway. Lewis, Vivi, Mystery, and a yellow blur that he knew was himself, but... No, there was no point.
A low, mournful keen filled the room, echoing out into the night even as the tower vanished as if it had never been.
Down the road, stuffed into their van, Lewis looked back. He felt like he should have known that ghost, but why? No one he knew had died, right?
...right?
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There was something... something that didn't seem... right... The star-shaped locket sitting on the ground, grey with its owner's lonely despair, sparked slightly but didn't otherwise react until something jabbed hard into it. Startled, the ghost within woke and burst out to see... a woman-shaped tree? He jerked back, only to realize that his anchor was in her hand instead of secure on his chest. A burst of sheer panic made him let out a high, electrical-sounding screech, fire and electricity bursting from him in reaction and utterly frying the tree woman's arm, part of her torso, and her head. He felt bad for it, even as he grabbed his anchor and backed away from her, whispering an apology. He hadn't meant to do that!
As if reacting to his whispered apology, the tree woman's ruined body seemed to restore itself and she pulled out a pair of huge sheers, pointing at him with them, like she intended to fight him or something. He recoiled, holding both hands in front of him. No way did he want to fight! Thankfully, she seemed distracted by the red and orange flower (a lotus?) growing out of her other hand. She blew it away, sending the petals scattering before disappearing into the ground. The ghost let out a sigh of relief, one hand to his chest as he sagged. That had been scary.
After taking a moment to compose himself, his eyes landed on three flowers sitting on the ground near where the tree woman had been. One was orange, yellow, and maroon, the next was several shades of blue with a pink center that reminded him of Vivi, and the final one was purple and reminded him of... "Lewis..." Almost reverently, he reached down and picked up the flower, cupping it delicately in both hands. In that moment, a flash of intuition hit him. The other flower had been red... like... Mystery? The colourful flowers that reminded him of himself and his friend(s)... the tree woman finding his anchor like she had while he was resting. He had a terrible, sinking feeling in his non-existent gut.
They were in danger.
He had to get to Lewis, no matter what. Following some instinct he didn't even recognize (seriously, fuck being a ghost and how weird it was. Vivi would probably find it fascinating if he could bring himself to trust her enough to talk to her), he opened his anchor (ignoring the picture inside) and scattered a few of the petals from the purple flower inside before snapping the locket closed. Instantly, it flared a bright gold, tinged with Lewis' trademark purple and the ghost knew where to go. It was uncanny and he hated himself a bit more... but there was no time for that. They were so far away already and he got the feeling that the tree woman could move a lot faster than he could. There had to be some way...
Without really thinking about it, he drifted forward in the direction the tree woman's flower told him he needed to go. It was too late by the time he realized a semi-truck was about to hit him and all he could do was pathetically try to guard himself as the truck hit him. It didn't hurt. Of course, it didn't. He was already dead. Electricity sparked at the dashboard and steering wheel and the trucker panicked, falling over himself to escape the truck. Moments later, the ghost reformed himself in the driver's seat. "...sorry, I need to borrow this..." he told the trucker, who was laying on the ground, staring up at him in shock. "...I'll... um... try to return it soon..." he added, then the door closed itself as electricity sparked over the rest of the truck, changing it into something he could easily control. Then he was speeding down the highway, going far too fast but not really clocking that in his absolute need to find Lewis and protect him (them. Vivi and Mystery, too).