Geno stared blankly at the slender figure in front of him, then gave an awkward little wave. "Hello?"
The figure didn't answer. Twiggy, on the other hand, had some very unpleasant memories stirred up by the sight and promptly ducked behind Geno. "Ghost! There's a ghost!"
Proof, if any were needed: no matter how rational and well-educated a grown woman may be, poke her soft spot and she shrinks into a frightened little girl. Nothing was left of the fire she'd shown earlier, arguing her case at Geno point by point.
"Don't be scared. I don't think this lady means us any harm."
Geno opened his Ether Sight and took a look. Sure enough, in Ether Sight the young woman's figure came through startlingly sharp — nothing like the translucent thing she appeared to be to the naked eye.
"So you don't know how to talk?"
The girl shook her head.
"Then... you just can't talk?"
The girl nodded.
That settled it for Geno. Strange as she was, and ghost though she might be, she clearly meant no harm — otherwise she wouldn't have been trailing along after them so patiently.
"So what is it you need from us?"
The girl nodded at that, then pointed past him at Twiggy. Silent, blank-faced, chalk-pale — the whole picture called up a few too many horror-movie associations.
"Uh, sorry. She's a little spooked right now. Whatever you want, tell me instead."
The girl looked faintly let down, but she didn't refuse. A small nod, and then she gestured for the two of them to follow in her footsteps.
Assuming she had feet.
"Do we... do we really have to follow her?"
Twiggy was still frightened. As the saying goes, the more devoutly a person believes in science, the more flatly they dismiss anything to do with ghosts and spirits — and when such a thing appears right in front of their eyes, the collapse of that first article of faith leaves a psychological wound that tips them straight into a stress response.
Twiggy was in exactly that state. The death grip she had on Geno's arm said as much.
"I don't think she's hostile. Besides, an unidentified person — ghost, rather — turning up inside Balaï Building? We ought to get to the bottom of that."
He had a point. The commission the two of them had accepted was to clear every anomaly out of the building.
And there was another reason. Geno was deeply curious about the manner in which this ghost girl existed at all.
She might even hold a clue as to how he'd ended up in this world.
So, after a good deal of coaxing, Geno talked Twiggy around, and the pair set off in the ghost girl's wake, working their way up through the building.
After another winding circuit of corridors, they arrived at... a restroom?
"Why does it have to be a restroom? I get the feeling this is about to dredge up some bad memories."
Back in the day, after all, the first real fight of Geno's life had happened in a bathroom.
And of all the doors in the building, the one the ghost girl drifted through was the ladies' room...
"Staaare (>_>)~"
"Don't look at me like that. It's not as if I want to go in. There's nobody in there anyway, so let's not fuss over the details."
Geno's explanation only made him look guiltier, and his feet never slowed for a second. It wasn't his first time, after all.
First time's strange, second time's routine.
But when he pushed the door open, what met him wasn't the murder-scene gore he'd half expected. It was a smashed-in wall and a floor strewn with broken masonry and chips of stone.
The ghost drifted over to the heap of rubble, pointed at it, then reached down to touch it herself. Watching her hand sink straight through, Geno understood.
"You're telling us there's something underneath?"
She nodded. With no body of her own, she couldn't lay a finger on anything real; her only option was to find someone else to do it for her. But this place sat inside a Hollow — who was ever going to come by?
So she had drifted, and drifted, until Geno and Twiggy finally walked in and made the wish possible.
Geno had no objection. Dig, then — he was curious about whatever lay buried down there himself.
A few casual sweeps of his hands cleared the top layer of wall fragments, and it didn't take long before he turned up something unusual.
"A box?"
Sitting there in front of him was a squat, square little box, palm-sized — small enough that it could barely hold a wristwatch.
The instant the ghost saw it, though, excitement lit her face, and she grabbed for it on reflex — only for her hand to pass right through, exactly as one would expect.
She froze for a beat, then visibly deflated.
Taking the hint, Geno opened the box himself. "Hm? This is..."
Of all things, there was a ring inside. And unless his eyes were deceiving him, what sat in the setting wasn't a gemstone at all. It was radiant ceramic.
"A radiant ceramic ring? Now that's unusual."
One look at the ring and Twiggy forgot to be afraid. Professional instinct took over; she pinched the ring between her fingers and began studying it.
"What? Is there something special about a radiant ceramic ring?"
Geno had no grounding in this sort of thing. He could recognize radiant ceramic well enough, but he couldn't see what made this piece remarkable.
"Radiant ceramic is normally used to make weapons and armor. This is the first time I've ever seen it worked into an ornament. And this ring looks like it's been given some kind of special treatment."
Twiggy was a professional, all right. Without a single instrument, on eyesight and experience alone, she'd picked out what made the ring extraordinary — and then she moved to put it away and carry it back to the lab for a proper examination.
But just before the ring made it into her pocket, a hand stopped her.
"Uh..."
That familiar clammy chill against her skin reminded Twiggy exactly who else was standing beside her, and her face went green on the spot.
"Just calm down. I think she only wants the ring in your hand."
Seeing how rigid Twiggy had gone, Geno gently pried her fingers apart, and the radiant ceramic ring came back into view for the two humans and one ghost.
The ghost girl let go of Twiggy at once and reached instead for the ring.
The instant her hand met it, white light burst across their vision, too bright to keep their eyes open. When sight returned, the ghost girl was gone, leaving only the ring in Twiggy's hand... on Twiggy's finger?
"Wait — why won't this thing come off?!"
Twiggy stared at the band clamped around the middle finger of her right hand and pulled at it, to absolutely no effect.
It was as though the ring had been cursed.
"Don't tell me the ghost is inside the ring now."
At those words, Twiggy's face went another shade whiter.
____
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🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: The Retired Void Hunter — posted on The_Mikudayo