It goes without saying that most people generally enjoy the companionship of others, but at the same time they usually prefer to choose those others at the same time. Youmu felt herself repeating stuff like that, all preparing for a speech that she should've made before she actually left.* She wasn't willing in just about any definition of the word,* but she certainly was subservient. Always so subservient.* Once again, Youmu had the creeping desire to try and abandon her duties permanently,* but like every time beforehand it wouldn't come to fruition. Though, if she left Hakugyokurou, she wouldn't have to deal with Yuyuko's* unending* incessant * nagging!* * *
Lucky for her sanity, it seemed this party wasn't too far off from the Netherworld. Just a couple minutes of leisurely walking, and the endless rolling flower fields of the afterlife gave way to her destination. At that moment, Youmu assumed it was some kind of warping shenanigans courtesy of Yuyuko's best friend that lead her to there so quickly, but she didn't dwell on it. Yukari owed her boss so many favors that she would consent to use her reality-bending abilities for the most mundane activities possible.
The mansion was big, western-styled, and impressive enough, but it wasn't in any presentable shape. Those scattered autumn leaves left in the yard were simply not acceptable, and the hedges could use some fine trim work. Youmu wondered if she was just going to be tricked into cleaning all of this up, but maybe that would be preferable to the party business.
She rapped the ornate knocker, and was surprised when the door gave way. She peeked her head inside the doorjam, and looked around. Nobody. Still inside, she called into the echoing foyer, saying "Hello? I was told there was going to be a party here?"
Web Spidus
In the meantime, a Yuki-Onna was sitting in the back of a tour bus, all by her lonesome self. The area surrounding the spirit was covered in plenty of frost than the rest of the bus somehow. The other passengers didn't want to get frozen over by this spell, so they just kept their distance. Most of them coldly stared at her, so the snow spirit attempted to cover her face with her huge scarf. If she can't see them, they certainly can't see her, right?
The tour bus stopped in the front of the mansion. A cute red-haired demon girl announced, "Next stop! K.B Mansion! If this is your stop, please exit in an orderly fashion!"
After hearing that announcement, the snow spirit smiled and slowly headed out of the bus, still with the scarf over her mouth. Out of courtesy, Yuki-Onna left a small tip to the driver before exiting the bus. When Yuki-Onna left the bus, the bus sped off into the night. Dang! That's quick!
As Yuki-Onna quietly walked up to the mansion, she pondered why she was picked over Specter or Mary. The master of the Ghostrick Mansion chose Yuki-Onna instead of Mary or Specter for a good reason. Mary can't move around in her mirror until it's night time. Mary's a bigger wallflower than Yuki-Onna for this very reason.
Specter wasn't chosen because the headmaster felt that pranking other people will get tiresome even though he encourages the practice at the Ghostrick mansion. He also feels that other people won't get the jokes the other Ghostrick do.
When Yuki-Onna arrived at the doorstop, she looked at the K.B. mansion in awe. It looked just as majestic as the Ghostrick Mansion! It even had that impressive-looking belfry. Yuki-Onna was caught up in staring at the mansion, she didn't even notice the others arriving at the mansion.
edited 25th Apr '16 4:07:04 PM by josh6243
throwback
Napstablook was already regretting their decision.
Why'd they decide to pay a visit, anyways? They were happy with their life, they guessed. There was, you know...snails. Ghost sandwiches. A music-sharing forum—yeah, that was nice. And if all else failed, they could always float off to those mostly-abandoned Ruins for some peace and quiet.
And yet, here Napstablook was, staring at the side of a large empty house. Some part of them must have wanted to come, they supposed. Maybe they really were lonely and bored in their old life in the Underground, and getting a change of scenery was just what they needed.
Making up their mind, Napstablook floated through the side of the house. It was refreshingly empty and quiet. With a small sigh, the ghost monster lay down in the middle of the nice, soft carpet and made themself at home. They started to drift off, pleased with this cool new mansion.
That was, until somebody rapped on the door and opened it a crack.
Napstablook immediately played asleep, lying on the ground and trying to pretend nobody was there so that they wouldn't be bothered.
Currently writing something. Currently procrastinating.
Outside Mansion
As with the other partygoers, it had only taken Kyra a short walk to go from the Afterlife to wherever this mansion was located.
As she headed up the dirt path to it, she wondered if it had been so wise to accept this invitation. After all, whoever wrote it probably wasn't a spirit themselves, and this new location didn't feel like the Afterlife at all. How did it even get to her? Who was this "K.B." person? Did she even count as a ghost, considering she wasn't from the living world? So many questions, and she couldn't think of an answer to any of them.
Despite all that, she didn't see much of a reason to not accept it. Sure, she was mostly content with waiting out the rest of eternity in the Afterlife. However, chances were the other people who showed up probably weren't. They could have used someone to help them through that. Besides, it sounded like fun. Parties generally were. So here she was.
When she got there, there were already two other people present. Both were girls who looked around her own apparent age. It looked to be a great start. She could only hope the rest of their time here was just as pleasant.
"So, you're here for the party, I take it?" she asked of them.
She herself looked to be around her midteens in age, with pale skin, pale blue eyes, and blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders. She was of average height and build of a girl her age, and was dressed in a pale blue dress that looked decidedly old-fashioned.
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The only one there to greet her was a phantom...that looked to be taking a nap. In the middle of the floor. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to comprehend the concept of a party. Phantoms were usually terrible at doing anything like humans, let alone understanding them, so she gave it the benefit of a doubt. And ignored it. Chances are it just wanted to not be seen in the first place. She let it continue to act like a white rug while she noticed two others walk up behind her. Both of them seemed a little more sociable than the first one.
"Yes, I was invited..." And she didn't want to sound rude by adding and forced to come to that, so she just said "...but it doesn't seem like there's much anyone here yet. Did we get here early?"
Web Spidus
Suddenly, a pale-skinned girl with pale eyes stared at Yuki-Onna and asked her if she's here for the party. Yuki-Onna snapped out of her stupor and noticed the two girls. Yuki-Onna quickly covered her mouth with her scarf and tried glancing away from the pale girl. Was she the master of this mysterious mansion?
"Y-yeah... Did, um, you send that l-letter of invitation?"
As she asked that, Yuki-Onna tried backing away from the group of "people" that formed. You know what they say, three people is a crowd, right?
edited 26th Apr '16 11:51:30 PM by josh6243
If Yuki-Onna is able to touch other ghosts, she may notice bumping into Stanley Boone, who just kind of appeared there. He didn't mean to appear directly behind her, it's just that he chose to *poof* to the mansion and he just so happened to *poof* right there. He doesn't even look like a ghost. Just a kid in a bedsheet with eyes cut out. Then he talked.
"Hi, I'm guessing all of you are here for the party too? If so, it's nice to meet you all! I'm Stanley!"
Outside Mansion -> Entry Hall
"We must have arrived early. I think? Question mark?" Kyra replied with a frown, before looking around. "I mean, the place's nice, but it doesn't look like our host prepared for guests at all. It doesn't even look like anyone's in there." She shrugged. "Either that, or the others who got invitations thought it looked spotty and decided not to come."
She then turned her attention to the girl who asked her if she was the host. "Er, no. I got an invitation just like you did. If this mansion was mine, I actually would have put some effort into making it look nice."
At that point, another ghost popped in literally out of nowhere. This one, who introduced himself as Stanley, asked the same question she just did.
"That's right," she said to him, "There's not many people here yet, though." Then she turned to the group generally and smiled. "My name's Kyra, by the way. Nice to meet you all! I hope? Question mark?"
At that, she then pushed the door open and walked into the entry hall. The first thing she noticed, before anything else, was the ghost who happened to be lying on the floor. They looked kind of like Stanley, just without arms. Maybe they were another spirit, just like herself?
Her first instinct was to march over to the ghost and kneel on the floor next to him with a concerned look on her face. "Hey, are you okay?"
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throwback
Uh oh. Someone was talking to them.
Napstablook stared straight up at the ceiling. Don't move. Play it cool.
It was sort of neat to see all these weird sorts of monsters, though. Napstablook vaguely wondered if they were all ghosts too, but some of them sure didn't look like it. In fact, that one leaning over them looked sort of like a human. Nah, that was basically impossible. Right?
In response to the strange ghost monster thing, Napstablook started to snore. "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." they said. "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......."
- This monster is saying 'z' out loud repeatedly, pretending to sleep. Move it with force? (y/n)
Web Spidus
When Yuki-Onna was backing away from the crowd of people, she accidentally bumped into some kid in a bed sheet. When they made contact with each other, the kid in a bedsheet may feel much colder than usual. It was like being stuffed into a freezer.
The kid in the bed sheet asked if they were here for the party, and introduced himself as Stanley. "Yeah... It's, um, nice to m-meet you, Stanley. I'm, um, Marcia Shyneet, but e-everybody calls me Yuki-Onna."
The pale girl said she wasn't the master of the K.B. mansion. If it were her mansion, she'd take the time to make it look much nicer than this place. Come to think about it, the Ghostrick mansion needed a little sprucing up. Maybe more visitors would come and visit if that were to happen. It's a shame that they'll be prank victims. Kyra also mentioned that she got an invitation like the others here. The girl even noted that there wasn't many people here yet and introduced herself as Kyra.
"N-nice to, um, meet you, Kyra..."
Kyra opened the door and found a limbless version of Stanley pretending to be asleep. The ghost was even mumbling "ZZZZZZZ" under their breath. How silly! When you snore, it doesn't even sound like that. Yuki-Onna quietly chuckled at this situation.
edited 27th Apr '16 7:15:57 PM by josh6243
Entry Hall
Kyra raised an eyebrow upon hearing the ghost's fake snoring.
"If you're trying to pretend you're sleeping, you're not doing a very good job of it," she said, before standing back up, "But I can take a hint. Though if you didn't want to make friends, then why did you come? Unless you're K.B., in which case why did you decide to throw a party at all?"
She shook her head before turning back to the others. "So, how long do you think we should wait before taking a look around? The most polite thing to do is wait for our host to show up before running around the place willy nilly, but I don't think he's a very good host if he's not here to greet us immediately, or at least leaving some sort of indication about what he expects from us...."
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Youmu simply added "Youmu" to the list of names being given. It was a party, and no matter her reservations she could at least be polite about it.
The carpet-phantom decided to just start making random noises, and Kyra had the best idea. It obviously didn't want to be bothered, so not much point in bothering it. It could've chosen a less conspicuous spot to be bothered, though. On that last bit, Youmu added, "It's rude of them to not show any hospitality by greeting us, or even setting up." There are rules that need to be followed here. To break them is to revoke your right to party. "At this point I'm wondering if this is even the right house. I'd say that looking around is a good enough payment for that."
throwback
Looks like Napstablook had been found out. Oh no!
"oh no........" they said out loud. "im sorry......i guess.................i sort of wanted to make friends. but im just so used to being alone.................."
Always the sensitive one, Napstablook found themself starting to cry, which was pretty weird since they were still lying horizontally. The tears trickled sideways and pooled on the ground. Oops. With all those other people around, too. Well, it'd be fine as long as no one stepped on them—Napstablook's tears had acidic properties, an odd power befitting an odd little ghost like them.
More importantly, though, it had taken Napstablook all of two minutes to ruin their nice new mansion.
"oh no......i ruined the carpet....oh noooooooooooo"
Currently writing something. Currently procrastinating.
Entry Hall
Kyra nodded in response to Youmu. "Okay then. Let's see what we can see, yes?"
She then started looking around for whatever door caught her interest first. At that point, however, the ghost that seemingly wanted to be ignored spoke up. Then started to cry. Then complained that they were ruining the carpet.
She looked down at the ghost, then at the others, then back down at the ghost, looking rather flabbergasted the whole while. One part of her really felt bad for the ghost, another part of her knew that it was probably in a nature for a ghost to be melodramatic (something she, a spirit from the land of the dead who had gotten over moping a long time ago, had long forgotten), but yet another part of her thought this was a little silly.
"Um..." she started, "It's okay! It's okay. We're all here for each other...I'd hope? Question mark?"
She glanced again at the others while she said this, with a somewhat pleading expression on her face.
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Stanley enters the hall as well. "Wow! That ghost looks just like me!" Then the ghost barfed acid. "I... Can't do that though. That is a power specific to you!" After he noticed the poor thing crying, he suddenly felt bad. "Oh, don't worry! The lady's right, we're willing to help! You have very cool powers. I mean, spitting acid, that's pretty special! All I can do is tell how people are feeling. So even if a con is... Eh... Melting a carpet, you still got a lot of pros to it!"
Web Spidus
Kyra called out the bedsheet ghost for lying on the carpet of the mansion. She asked why the ghost would come to the mansion if they didn't want to make any friends. If the ghost was K.B, why would they throw a party in the first place.
Kyra also asked the group how long they should wait entering the mansion and looking around. Kyra suggested to wait for the eponymous K.B to show and even thought that K.B was a terrible host. In response, Youmu suggested to barge in since the host wasn't being courteous by inviting the group and then forgetting to show up at the party.
"Al-alright. Um, a look a-around is g-good to me..."
Yuki-Onna quietly entered the mansion and looked around.
Suddenly, the bedsheet ghost on the carpet apologized to Kyra and mentioned that they were used to being alone. The bedsheet ghost cried up a storm of tears. Normally, the tears would just stain the carpet, but that isn't happening at all. Instead, the carpet started to dissolve as a result of the bedsheet ghost's tears. The bedsheet ghost noticed and panicked.
Kyra tried to calm the bedsheet ghost down by stating that the group was there for the ghost. When Kyra looked in Yuki-Onna's direction, she just nodded.
"Y-yeah... S-soak, um, up those tears. E-everything's going to be al-alright."
Stanley even mentioned how crying acid seemed like a cool power. Although the carpet was ruined in the process, Stanley noted that the power had a lot of good uses.
edited 2nd May '16 1:10:56 AM by josh6243
throwback
Napstablook blinked, their vision a bit blurry from the tears, but feeling a bit better nonetheless. "thats...very nice of you all..." they said timidly. "i wasn't really expecting to meet nice new ghosts...but..."
They shook their head, valiantly attempting to dry up their tears as Yuki-Onna had suggested. "i guess i wont give you any more trouble then" Napstablook offered. They faded out of sight for a second before reappearing to the right of the door, upright at last. They weren't all that big of a ghost even at their full height. Napstablook looked around at the others—they seemed a bit embarrassed, but it was hard to tell. They were just a bedsheet, after all.
"oh...im napstablook"
Currently writing something. Currently procrastinating.
Entry Hall
Thankfully, it looked like the group's combined support was enough to get the ghost to stop crying. Stanley earned himself a weird look from Kyra when he talked about "spitting acid." If the ghost's display reminded her of anything, that definitely wasn't it.
"I'm Kyra, in case you didn't catch that earlier," Kyra said to the newly-christened Napstablook with a big smile on her face, "We were just about to go explore the rest of this mansion while waiting for our host to show up. You're welcome to come with us, if you want?"
At that point, she noticed what appeared to be a note of some kind pinned on the wall next to the door. She walked over it, finding that it was indeed a note. Written by their mysterious host, no less; the handwriting was the exact same as the one on their invitation. She read it aloud for everyone else.
"'Dear gracious guests,
If you are reading this, then you have found your way to my grand mansion. I thank you for taking me up on my offer, and I hope that your stay here is enjoyable. Feel free to make yourselves at home; I am not possessed of a mean spirit. All I ask is that you not make a mess of things; a residence such as this was quite expensive to maintain and decorate.
Refreshments are in the first room to the right. Take it easy on the boos.
-K.B.'"
Kyra frowned before turning back to the others. "Not only does our host not want to show up, he also loves his bad puns. It sounds like he's encouraging us to go off and explore, though." She shrugged. "So, does anyone have a preference for something to find? I'm up for anything, really."
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"Easy on the boos? Easy on the... Oh. Oh wow. That stinks really bad." Stanley then looks around, trying to think of a good answer to Kyra's question. "Well, he said first door to the right. So what if we did the first door to the left?" He says, floating over to the door in question. "Maybe our host is actually a Ghostbuster and his equipment is in this room! It's really unlikely, but it's possible!"
Web Spidus
The bedsheet ghost said it was kind of the group to give them encouragement. They weren’t expecting the group to be such nice ghosts, and they weren’t going to give the group much trouble. They faded out before reappearing upright. After nervously looking around the room, they introduced themselves as Napstablook. After giving Stanley an odd look, Kyra introduced herself to Napstablook.
Yuki-Onna silently wondered if she should lower her scarf with all of the friendly people around here. After giving it some thought, she did just that and gave everyone a kind, gentle smile. If the others looked at Yuki-Onna, they noticed she had a somewhat cute face.
“And I’m, um, Yuki-Onna,” said Yuki-Onna to Napstablook. “It’s n-nice to meet you, Nappy… Can I, um, call y-you that?”
Kyra mentioned that the group was about to explore the mansion and that Napstablook is free to join the group if they please. Kyra noticed a note on the wall and began reading it. It was from K.B. since the handwriting was similar to the handwriting Yuki-Onna had seen from the invitation to the Ghostrick group.
The note thanked the group for coming to this mansion and they were free to make themselves at home. The note also asked the group not to make the place a pigsty since K.B spent his time cleaning and furnishing the place, and he doesn’t want his hard work to go to waste. Refreshments are in the room to the right. The note also asked the group not to mess with the Boos. After finishing her reading, Kyra said that the group is definitely encouraged to explore the mansion and asked the group on what they would like to find first.
Stanley suggested the group to do the opposite of what the note suggested and floated over to the door to the left of the note. He theorized that K.B was a Ghostbuster, and that the room to the left contained his equipment. After hearing Stanley talk, Yuki-Onna began to wonder what a Ghostbuster does for a living. Do they kill ghosts as a job? Yuki-Onna shivered at that thought for a bit before speaking up.
“W-well, maybe we s-should get, um, some refreshments. Maybe w-we can get a bite to eat and cool, um, o-ourselves off after that l-l-long journey?”
edited 3rd May '16 12:18:09 PM by josh6243
Youmu had pretty much managed to completely ignore the floorghost's mental breakdown and subsequent recovery, as she was too busy looking around the room. As a whole, the foyer was more well-maintained than the front lawn, but could use some work still. The half-ghost knew that this guy could probably use (and afford) some hired help. If she ever got to meet this mysterious K.B. she knew the names of a few out-of-work live-in youkai maids that were available. Though, considering he somehow knew her street address* she doubted this man really needed the contact info.
Speaking of, another cryptic note invited them to refreshments. There would be time to get drunk later tonight, because Youmu was an absolute lightweight and wouldn't be able to get any mystery solving done if she was passed out on the floor. The attached pun, considering she didn't actually read the note, just sounded like a wise suggestion instead of a lame joke.
The other, more sensible phantom suggested a quick scoping out of the lefthand door, and she agreed. The temptation to drink would be too strong, she wouldn't last a second in that refreshment hall. As she walked over and opened the door, she asked Stanley, "What's a ghostbuster?"
"Oh, just some guys who go around trapping ghosts in these little boxes, never to be seen again but fully conscious, forced to be trapped there forever! But I'm not too sure about that last part, I only watched that movie for so long before the owner of the house I was in started suspecting I was there. It's probably worse!" Stanley goes to open the door he's in front of, but changes his mind.
"Nah, I don't wanna get trapped. So what were you guys like before you died?" Stanley says, changing the subject completely.
Web Spidus
From what she heard from Stanley, these Ghostbusters don't just kill ghosts. They seal them away in these tiny little boxes. Okay, that is much worse than Yuki-Onna thought! At least with death, you get the pleasure of knowing that you lived a good life before you died. But with being sealed away, you must suffer in agony inside of a confined space!
Thankfully, Stanley offered a change in subject before things got too scary for Yuki-Onna. Just thinking about these Ghostbusters is going to give Yuki-Onna some frightening nightmares. Yuki-Onna gave same thought. The way she died was kind of embarrassing. Then again, Stanley is Yuki-Onna's friend even if they met a few minutes ago.
"Well, I t-tripped on a branch and f-fell into a r-ravine while, um, looking for rare i-ingredients for a potion...If you're w-wondering about that, I'm, um, an alchemist, and I m-make potions for a living. I also, um, restore rusty metals on the side, but t-that's about it."
edited 4th May '16 12:11:52 PM by josh6243
throwback
"nappy...." Napstablook repeated to themself, almost in wonderment. They had never been called that before. "um. no? i mean...you can if you want. but i prefer napstablook....or blooky...."
Well, maybe not Blooky. That name was...special.
They blinked in surprise as one of the more normal-ghost-y looking ghosts, Stanley, mentioned something about death. That was a bit concerning. They'd never met a dead ghost before. Napstablook hoped these people were okay.
Because the mysterious note had mentioned the room to the right, everyone had of course conjugated around the other one. Napstablook went to the right room anyways. They weren't hungry or curious, exactly, but they wanted to scope out the place for some better spots to lie on the floor in peace.
"well.....im going in"
A bit apprehensively, they turned intangible and floated into the refreshments room. Who needed doors, anyways?
Currently writing something. Currently procrastinating.
It was the dead of night. Amidst the sparse clouds in the sky was a bright full moon, casting its light down on a large, spooky forest below. In the middle of this forest, there sat a large, opulent mansion. It looked like it was first built sometime in the 19th century and, while obviously cared for, didn't appear to have anyone living it. This wasn't to say that it would remain completely unoccupied for a full night, but its inhabitants probably wouldn't be alive themselves.
This was the mansion of K.B. And K.B., whoever they were, had an unnatural fondness for ghosts. They had sent out invitations to all kinds of spectres all across reality, so desperate they were for some spooky companionship.
Any minute now, the spectres who had received their invitation would be arriving. From wherever they had haunted before, it would be only a few twists and turns before they found themselves walking the dirt path up to the mansion's large front door. If they knocked, no one would answer, but they would find the door unlocked and they could just walk in. Assuming, of course, they didn't just decide to phase through it as some ghosts were wont to do.
For what was supposed to be a party, it didn't look like K.B. had bothered to set things up for one. The entry hall did not have any special decorations set up, just painted in what was probably its normal shades of brown and black. Six black doors, three on each of the left and right walls, plus a massive spiral staircase in the back, was all that greeted them.
K.B. was nowhere to be seen. By the looks of things, the ghosts would have the mansion to themselves, and this mansion was just begging to be explored.
edited 24th Apr '16 9:18:37 PM by Yomegami
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