melodiesofeternity | Spooky Scary Skeleton (And Other Friends) [Closed]

Most days, Frisk came home from school on a public airship. It was cheap, it was easy, and there was generally no fuss about it. But with Vaikuntha’s general spookiness level on the rise, bad weather and air monster attacks have also increased, and so the school airship line had gone on strike until everything calms down or they got paid enough to deal with that crap. At least Myste Aura wasn’t too far from the Center by boat.

However, today was a very special day. Or had been a very special day, in any case. Parent-teacher conferences had begun, and since Papyrus was the closest thing Frisk had to a “parent” on Vaikuntha, he was obligated to come. The meeting had gone… well, it could’ve been better. Perhaps as expected, Frisk had been involved in a higher-than-average number of mischievous escapades, and while they clearly had potential, Frisk just didn’t pay enough attention in class. As a consequence, their grades were just north of failing.

Oh, and apparently Frisk needs glasses really badly.

So now they’re avoiding Papyrus, awkwardly looking away from him whenever he approaches and being generally unresponsive. Frisk even used a smoke bomb a few times just to get out of conversations with him, although that may not be necessary anymore as the fog slowly thickens…

Edited 2018-10-09 16:26 (UTC)

It had started off as an easy way to score some spare gil. Find the monster, kill it, bring back proof to the terrified locals. Frisk had done it before several times, but considering the general spookiness of the month and the rising aggression of the monsters, they’d decided it was probably a good idea to call for backup.

And they also just wanted to hang out with Chara outside of getting their ass kicked by them in sparring matches. So they hit up their friend, offering some spooky fun.

So now the two of them are scouring the golden fields at twilight, enjoying the scenery. "...wow. Okay, I didn't expect a haunted field to be this pretty," Frisk says, voice hushed.

Edited 2018-10-09 17:01 (UTC)

As luck would have it, Frisk’s next big “case” (after two incidents, impromptu exorcisms was practically a hobby for them) was in Kuja’s area. It was a whole pitchforks-and-torches deal like in Sleepy Kupollow, with several terrified locals freaking out whenever they so much as saw the hideous monster lurking in the dark and chasing after it. But after that whole debacle with Chara, Frisk wasn’t so sure that taking out the thing was the best method of, well, taking it out.

Still, with monster activity on the rise and the job taking place at night, Frisk could use some backup. Just in case. And they couldn’t imagine Kuja appreciated all of the ruckus, so they figured that they might be able to rope him in to track down whatever this thing was and do something about it.

So Kuja gets a quick message from Frisk about having a way to calm the “neighborhood” down but that they could use some help in pulling it off. A few minutes later, there’s a sharp knock at Kuja’s door, followed by a familiar prepubescent voice on the other side chirping, “Hey! Ready to roll? Or… not, if you just want to catch some zs instead of going out hunting a maybe-ghost. Which is totally understandable, I guess.”

At first, Frisk was just going to ignore the weird moogles. They were probably part of some weird cult, not actual ghosts that needed their business taken care of or whatever. But then they showed up outside of school. And at the ninja guild. And in their bedroom in the middle of the night. That’s when Frisk finally gave in and got to fetch questin’. Whatever, most of the stuff was pretty trivial anyways.

Except… except for the last ingredient. “Scale of dragon.” Now that was going to be a major pain in the ass.

The thing was, dragons were rare enough and hard enough to kill that just buying a scale off the market was pretty unlikely, at least not without a couple weeks straight of grinding. Likewise, Frisk wasn’t dumb enough to try and attract one in the wild, no matter how many people they brought with them.

It had taken some doing, but Frisk eventually found a few days old quest on the board that nobody had been dumb enough to take. A dragon had been terrorizing some hamlet out in the middle of nowhere, a band of dragoons tried to take it down and seriously wounded it, but all of them died in the process. Now, there was a good chance that the thing was still hurt enough that Frisk and somebody else could finish it with a little effort. But only if that “someone else” was a serious badass.

So of course Frisk called up Baiken.

Now the two of them were a few hundred feet away from the yawning mouth of the thing’s cave lair, Frisk outlining the plan. “Now, the dragoons tore up its wings, so it’s lost a lot of its mobility,” they say, pointing at the bulletin on their slate. “It hasn’t had time to properly heal and they nearly got it, so if both of us go fast and hard, we’ll be able to take it out before it can kill us. The dragon can probably still deal a bunch of damage, though, so we need to stay on our toes. Once we get rid of it, you get 60% of the gil, and I get 40%. You ready?”

Edited 2018-10-09 16:33 (UTC)

Kuja, it seems, is already getting ready, stepping out from behind the house with a dragon in tow. The hour is late, but sleepiness is easily cured with an infusion of white magic. "Very nearly. I must say, I'm becoming quite annoyed with all these moogles. One would think they should just stay dead, but apparently my life is not allowed to be simple."

He snaps his fingers, summoning the black rod to materialize in his hand, his evening outfit replaced in short order with something slightly more befitting the black mage image, a robe in deep midnight blue, open to the front as he usually seems to prefer with a hem embroidered in silver, the typical bolero eschewed in favor of a shawl of similar color. Let it never be said he doesn't dress to impress. "Ready now, I should think. Have you ever flown before? I expect it should be much faster."

Frisk cannot help but gawk in awe at Kuja's amazing fashion sense. They actually feel rather flattered that he coordinated his gear to fit the rods they gave him, but that might just be Kuja being Kuja. Frisk finally pulls themself together to smile at Kuja, eyebrow raised. "Nice outfit. Looks good with the rod." Likewise, Frisk has also dressed for the occasion, although in a far less ostentatious manner than Kuja. Their outfit is a pleasant blend of soft gold to match the wheat fields and dark undertones suitable for skulking around at night.

They do their best to contain themself when Kuja mentions flying. They succeed, at least partially. "I haven't, at least not on a dragon. I expect it's pretty different compared to airship flying." OKAY BUT SERIOUSLY NO LIE THAT DRAGON WAS EVEN COOLER UP CLOSE

"It is a bit different, yes. And thank you." He reaches up to stroke Opalescence behind the crest, stepping up to seat himself in front of the shoulders. "In front of me, if you will. You're smaller than I am, and it will be easier for you to navigate from the front, since I've no idea where this is."

Baiken was honestly at least a little flattered that she was starting to become her circle of friends' go-to call for situations like these. It made her feel a lot more like herself when she was being allowed to excel at the one and only thing she was actually good at; killing.

"So what do we do if it's not as banged up as they say it is?" Baiken mused, though hardly looking worried about the situation. In fact, now that she had her Demon Tools back, she relished the chance to get to use them on an actual challenge.

The conference was worrisome, but Papyrus was far from the type to look down upon a struggling student, especially one so dear to his heart. He'd tried so hard to cheer them up. To get them involved in some fun studies and experiments. To bring a smile to their face.

It didn't seem to be working, but he's nothing if not stubborn, so he dashes out, seeking out his friend. Trying to, well, maybe not corner them, but encourage them to stop being so gosh darn evasive.

His voice is impossible to miss.

"FRIIIIIISK!"

Frisk looks genuinely surprised at the suggestion, and offers a smile that looks a lot less like it's been practiced in return. "If you say so." With a bit of doing, they manage to climb up in front of Kuja. Once in front of him, they take out their slate, opening up the maps application. "Alright. So, I think the first place to check is this random, spooky burnt-out shack that showed up in the middle of a bunch of cornfields at the beginning of the month. Pretty obvious place for a maybe-ghost to be haunting, but the locals are too scared to check it out themselves. It's a few miles southwest."

"Well, we have two options." Frisk holds up their index finger, eyebrow raised in a manner that suggests something along the lines of what do you think, dumbass. "One, we stay, try to pry a scale off the thing, then run and lose out on the gil, probably dying like idiots in the process." They raise the second finger. "Two, we run immediately, and still probably die like idiots." They pull two swords chill with ice off their back, handing one to Baiken. "If things get dicey, I can always hock mine at it. It'll piss it off, but it should buy us enough time to get distance. And..." they hand two elixirs to Baiken. "Have these in case of emergency. I've got one too. You can keep 'em if you don't have to pop them in the fight. Consider it a bonus. I also brought some hi-potions and ethers if you need any."

Edited 2018-10-11 16:47 (UTC)

There's a faint rush, as the Silver Dragon takes to the skies, seemingly guided without effort, in that direction. It may be slightly difficult to keep in one place without a saddle, but the genome seems practiced at it.

"Too scared? Why? It's only a ghost, hardly anything worth worrying about, as the undead go."

Papyrus finally corners Frisk on the edge of the ship as the fog draws closer, growing more thick with every moment. The look on their face is somewhere between panicked and resigned. Logically, Frisk knew Papyrus would be accepting and understanding. But they still felt incredibly ashamed for "disappointing" him, as if that was possible.

"I-"

Frisk is saved by the bell. Literally. An ominous tolling rings across the sea as the once-choppy waters freeze over, stopping the boat in place. Half-rotted fish carcasses swim through the air, passing through Frisk's body and leaving behind and ectoplasmic chill. And the mists begin to draw together, forming a sea-tossed, broken moogle.

"Woah!" Frisk says as they ascend, but it's more out of instinct than anything else. The flight is surprisingly, even pleasantly smooth. Way more than Frisk had expected of a dragon, to be perfectly honest.

"It's probably the season, honestly. All of this weirder than average stuff happening and the regular monster attacks are freaking people out."

Kuja feels a not-insignificant amount of pride as Opalescence soars through the air. She has a lot of practice, of course, with a rider.
"Hm. I suppose. The increased monster aggression is somewhat worrisome, but you find all sorts of things. Samhain was a common holiday, on Gaia, with all sorts of superstitions surrounding it. Perhaps the monsters are merely more aggressive in the fall due to increased need for food as winter approaches?"

Frisk shrugs. While ghosts were a distinctly not-undead thing back home, and the spookiness in the Underground was generally far more on the spoopy side, they didn't want to fall into the trap of skepticism in a world like Vaikuntha. "Probably. I don't think we should totally discount the idea of something weirder going on, though. We're riding through the sky on a silver dragon towards a shack that suddenly appeared in the middle of nowhere to exorcise something that might be a ghost. Skepticism is healthy, but considering the world we're living in right now, we shouldn't totally ignore 'impossible' ideas."

Kuja nods. "It's not impossible, certainly. But people do have a tendency to over-react to things when- you said the shack suddenly appeared?" Hmm.

Opalescence angles towards the ground, as the location approaches, turning in an arc that swings around, circling gently towards the ground. "I hardly want to give in to hysteria, but you may have a point. Something is off..."

"A-greed." When Opalescence finally lands, Frisk hops off without hesitation. Would patting the snout of the dragon be a bad idea? Yeah, probably. Very much so. Looking at the ghost shack, Frisk rolls their shoulders. "...burning it down prooobably won't work and might make whatever might be in there ever angrier, so... I guess we should check it out inside?"

Kuja slides off onto the ground, taking a moment to adjust his hair and clothes, doubtless ruffled from the flight. "A fair guess. Though I think we ought not discount the burning entirely if things start to go wrong." He conjures a flame in one hand, for light, holding it aloft as he approaches the shack.

Frisk opens their mouth to agree, but before they can say anything, a loud, hellish screaming comes from inside the shack, something like a bunch of high and low pitches "NOs!" being exclaimed at once. They're frozen for a moment, and in that time a black shape flies out, through one of the shack's back walls and away from Kuja's fire.

"...I..." Frisk shakes their head. "Okay then. No fire or it runs, I guess. I'll run after it. Follow us on Opalescence, hopefully you can catch it if it's distracted with me."

"Oh, damn." The fire is extinguished promptly and he's running back to the dragon, leaping on and taking to the sky. "Nothing. Why can nothing ever just be simple- We were only trying to talk, you know! Get back here!"

While Kuja is mounting Opalescence, Frisk is taking off at a... okay, wow, it's frankly quite unlikely that it's even physically possible for somebody with such short legs to run that quickly, but here we are. It doesn't take that long for Frisk to catch up with the mysterious shape, running it around in tightly contained circles and giving Kuja an opening to swoop in.

Kuja takes the moment to dive, swooping in to land in front of the fleeing figure, no magic charged in his palms this time, but still clearly irritated. He's already slipping off, approaching with hands raised. "Please stop running- We certainly have no intention of opening hostilities unless they're opened in kind, but we need to talk to you." Honestly, some people.

"Pass," Baiken waved off the offered sword, but took the elixirs. "My steel will be enough. I haven't met a dragon I couldn't slay," said with a small, almost hungry chuckle.

"Let's move out."

The shape of the figure is quite difficult to make out in the dark, but what little Kuja and Frisk can see is... wrong, somehow. This isn't the uncanny valley, what they're dealing with is the Uncanny Mariana Trench. The effect is somewhat diminished by how the "ghost" is quite clearly quaking with fear. "Y-you swear it, kupo? You will bring no harm to me?" they stutter, accent surprisingly sophisticated. Frisk looks at Kuja from behind the creature, eyebrow arched.

Spooky Scary Skeleton (And Other Friends) [Closed]

RIME OF THE ANCIENT MOGINER (closed to Papyrus)

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY KUPOLLOW (closed to Chara)

FRANKENMOG (closed to Kuja)

DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL, AND KUPUBBLE (closed to Baiken)

Re: FRANKENMOG (closed to Kuja)

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