Ghost Stories: Children

Once upon a time, there was a merchant who was a very good man. One day, he fell in love with the mayor's daughter in a town he was visiting for business. 
For her sake, he decided to give up his profitable but nomadic profession.
After marrying the love of his life, he started a new life in their new home. He helped everyone, far and wide, settling disputes and rescuing cats that had climbed too high up trees. His kindness won him the favour of the townspeople and his father-in-law.
Then, one sad day, his father-in-law was killed in an accident, and his spirit began to haunt the town hall.
The former merchant did everything he could to summon a Soul Guide to the town.
He succeeded, and the guide helped his father-in-law reach Weles.
His wife and the townspeople were all grateful to him, as was his father-in-law’s spirit.
He was elected as a new mayor.
His happiness knew no bounds. He made sure that everyone in the town was as happy as he was. He continued to settle disputes and rescue cats.
One day, he and his wife were blessed with two children.
Watching his children, an older sister and younger brother, growing up as they played happily together, he vowed never to let even the slightest sorrow touch them.

Every day was beautiful when he looked at his family's smiling faces.

Until an accident took his beloved children away.

The first place Leontina and Mozuta reached after leaving the village was a town where the mayor had lost two of his children a long time ago.
He told them his story as he was weeping.
During a freezing winter night, his children had come into the room with the fireplace. They closed the windows tightly and fell asleep. After a while, a servant noticed the smell of smoke and went into the room. The fire had already engulfed the room with both children inside.

From that moment on, both children visited that room every night, unable to go to Weles. Their father wanted to help them, but there was nothing he could do. The children weren't doing anything wrong when they appeared at night, so the soul guides weren't prioritizing his pleas to save his children.

Thus, he decided to put his hope in an unknown duo that appeared out of nowhere and claimed to be a Soul Guide and her apprentice.

They found his place by asking around about any ghosts in the area. It wasn’t that difficult. Most people knew the story of their kindhearted mayor, and they were able to lead the visitors to him.
Leontina took the case, fully confident that child ghosts wouldn’t cause any problems. It would also be a good opportunity for Mozuta to learn about other types of lingering ghost. Not all of them were evil.

When the mayor met them, he was happy but he wasn’t left of any uncertainty and asked them if he could be present during the trial.
“Please, I just want to see them happily go to Weles,” he pleaded.
Leontina gave Mozuta a look and nodded her head in agreement.

“You can come to the process,” the boy answered in her place.

As night fell, all three of them went into the room. The sun disappeared behind the horizon, making way for the moon. At that moment, Leontina took off her cloak with its huge hood and threw the mask into Mozuta’s arms.
“I would be glad if you could take care of them,” she said, glancing at him with her beautiful golden eyes. Her black hair swayed gorgeously behind her.
The mayor was speechless. He pointed towards her, shocked.
“Yes, it’s that girl. She’s hiding to avoid being attacked. You know, a face like that is hard to forget.” Mozuta offered the first excuse that came into his mind. He had to because the change in Soul Guide's personality was a secret.
“Oh, right,” the mayor grunted. “I remember when a soul guide came when I was younger. They also acted completely differently when they sent the ghost away than when I met them. They said it was because they didn’t want the Selew dwellers to attack them. I see, she really is a soul guide.” He came to his own conclusions. Mozuta thanked the previous soul guide for coming up with such a great excuse.
“I understand the need to hide, but she should at least let the sun touch her skin. She looks so pale that I worry she could faint at any moment,” the mayor said, sounding rather concerned.
“Haha. Right? I tell her the same thing.”

At that moment, Mozuta thanked himself for getting gloves for Leontina to hide her joints. He had altered her clothes to ensure that nobody would notice her turning into a doll the moment night fell.

As Leontina recited the chant, a silver scale appeared in her hands.
“Ghosts that linger in this place, please, come to me for a fair judgment,” she said.

They didn’t have to wait long. Both children emerged from the white mist.

“State your names,” she ordered.
“I'm Jan,” answered the smaller ghost, who was a boy.
“I'm Joanna,” said the girl ghost, the older sister.
“Jan! Joanna!” their father wailed from behind Leontina.
“Papa!” the two children floated happily around him. “Who are they?” they glanced at the two guests who had visited the Mayor's Manor.
“I am a Soul Guide, Leontina. This is my apprentice, Mozuta. We are here to help you reach Weles, dear children,” Leontina replied, giving a bow and placing her hand on her chest.
“Really? A real Soul Guide?” they asked, joy glistening in their eyes.
“Yes, really,” she assured them. “Let me start your process.”
She lifted the scales.

“A touch of Weles’s air grant me permission to weigh you against those spirits, so you can judge whether they should be allowed into your peaceful heavens.”

Mozuta focused his vision and this time he could see something moving on the right scale much more clearly. From the left part of the scale chains emerged and enveloped two ghostly children. As they did not resist, the chains gently placed them on the plate of the scales.
“Let me weigh you,” the lady stated.
The plate with the children on it rose, and they both turned white. Leontina smiled at the sight.
“As I thought, you are both Light Spirits.”

“What does it mean?” the mayor asked Mozuta.
“It means that they didn’t commit any grave sins. Basically, they’re innocent,” the boy answered, recalling the knowledge he had received from Leontina during their travels.
“So they’ll reach Weles?” the mayor asked, beaming.
“Yes, but only after they have experienced life.” Mozuta’s eyes darkened.
“Huh? Experience life?” The mayor was confused.

Leontina’s eyes changed color, turning blue. They were glistening and fixed on the two child souls.
The top of the scale showed a number: one.
“According to the evidence provided in the form of your memories, the only thing keeping you away from Weles is your lack of any unpleasant experiences.”
“Huh?” the mayor gasped.
The children looked at her, their eyes wide open.
“Can you explain, lady?” asked the little girl.
Leontina smiled at them.
“Life shouldn’t only be full of roses. Thorns should be present too. Usually, there are more thorns than beautiful petals. In your case, though, there are only flowers,” she said, looking at the children with pity. “You don’t know what sadness or anger are.”
“We know about those! It’s when water falls down your cheeks!” the girl argued, proud of her knowledge.
“Has this water ever fallen down your cheeks?”
“No.”
“Have you ever felt the need to throw something?”
“No.”
“Then you don’t know what life is,” Leontina concluded. “How old were you when you left your bodies?” she asked.
“Six!” the girl answered.
“Four!” said the boy.
“Then you must have experienced some unpleasantness. Why didn’t you?” she wondered.
“I made sure they were happy!” The mayor's face showed anxiety as he moved closer and took hold of Leontina's shoulder. “Why can't you just send them to Weles already?”
“I can’t until they’ve experienced the hardship of life.”
“They don’t have to!” The mayor started to look angry. His cheeks were puffed out and his eyes were swollen. If they were innocent, why should his precious children have to go through some kind of a sentence? “Would you make newborn babies who died go through this madness too?!”

Leontina tilted her head and gave the mayor an empty look.

“Newborns are given grains of wheat or other crops to eat as an exception,” she answered coldly. The mayor couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Leontina continued her explanation. “They can’t even speak. Of course it would be hard for them to get through hardships! Unless their parents left them somewhere to die. Then they go straight to Weles.”

“This is crazy,” the mayor muttered. “Do my children have to experience something bad before they can leave this room?”

“Yes,” she said, shrugging off the mayor’s hand as she took a step forward. “They have to cry to reach Weles, because, except for the day they were born, they haven’t cried real tears of struggle once.”
“Of course they didn’t! I made sure they were happy! Both me and my dear wife!” The mayor knelt down, crying. Mozuta ran to him and helped him to his feet.
“You are a good father,” Leontina admitted. “But protecting your children from any evil is not the right way. If they were to grow up not knowing how to deal with adversity, what would they do? What would they do if they lost you? You should question your parenting skills.” Leontina was brutal in her choice of words. She did not spare the mayor who didn’t say anything in answer. His hands went numb. He gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to admit that he was wrong. All he wanted was for his children to be happy all the time.
“This is madness... Real madness!” the mayor repeated. “Don’t you think so too?!” he said, turning towards Mozuta, whose face was clouded with gloom. The boy looked away, trying to avoid the mayor’s teary eyes. Mozuta himself was conflicted about the whole thing.

When he learned about the divisions, he couldn’t believe his ears.

The Heavy Spirits – those who committed grave sins and were sent to Selew.

The Mid-level spirits were those who had committed sins but deeply regretted them. After serving their sentence, they could go to Weles. Most ghosts were of this type.

The Light Spirits were the ghosts of those who hadn’t experienced any hardships in life. In most cases, they were children. They were the rarest type.

He could understand the first two, but the third one was unclear to him.
Mozuta tightened his grip. If it were up to him, he would just let those children go.
But deep down, he understood the need to know pain.

But did it really have to apply to kids? He thought.

“Then it is time for your punishment,” said Leontina, raising the scales. The chains appeared once more, pulling both ghosts off the left scale. They then transformed into two cosy armchairs, onto which Jan and Joanna’s ghosts were gently lowered.
“It’s so fluffy!” Joanna joyfully exclaimed.
“Yes, it is! Father, you have to see it!” Jan tried to fly towards the mayor, but something stopped him. The child was bound to the transparent armchair by something invisible.
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave your seats until you’ve shed a few tears,” Leontina explained sternly.
“Will you really make them cry?” Mozuta asked in a somber, trembling voice.
“Yes, the role of the villainess has fallen to me today,” answered Leontina, her back still turned to Mozuta, as she shifted her focus to the two children trying to leave the armchairs.
“Please sit down nicely, children,” she began. “Do you know that man over there?” she asked, pointing at the mayor. She took a few steps to the side to ensure the children could see their parent clearly.
“Why are you asking? It’s our papa!” Joanna exclaimed.
“How does he look to you?”
The children focused their gaze. They looked at their father's red, swollen eyes, his sniffling nose and his trembling hands.

He looked at them with longing, sadness, grief and love.

“Not good,” answered Jan.
“I don’t like his face now,” confessed Joanna. The two children, who had been smiling and beaming until now, suddenly stopped doing so.

“It’s your fault.”

Leontina looked at them with contempt.
The children lifted their gaze to meet hers, their eyes wide open.

“It’s your fault,” she repeated.

“It’s because you decided to sleep in that room. If you hadn’t, he could be hugging you now.”

The children studied her stern face. Despite being ghosts, they felt as though something was stuck in their throats.

“Joanna and Jan, the two of you could hug him now to make him smile. But you can’t do that now because your stupid ideas led to your deaths!”

Both children tightened their small fists and looked down in fear when they heard Leontina’s louder tone.

“Because of you, your father is crying! Because of you, your mother spends most of her time in her room! Because of you, everyone has to look at your ghosts and cry at the thought of what life would be like if you were still here!” she continued, reprimanding them.

“Do you really have to go this far?” Mozuta muttered and turned his gaze away. He refused to engage with this.

“Stop this!” the mayor pleaded, trying to run to his children, but he was stopped. Leontina grabbed his arm and threw him to the floor. He grunted as she held him down.

“They don’t have to listen to this! Please, stop!” he begged, his voice cracking with sadness.

The first tears began to flow down the children's cheeks.

“Leave Papa alone,” Joanna ordered in a cold tone.
“Are you okay, Papa?” asked little John.
The mayor looked up.

His two children were looking at him, crying.

They repeatedly called out, “Papa!”

“Why did you do this him!?”

“Papa is weak!”

“If you throw him on the floor like that, he will look even worse!”

Children screamed through tears.

They finally started crying.

“Let him go!” they pleaded.

Leontina, who had pinned the mayor down to the floor, released her grip and stood up. Her stern look gave way to a warm smile.
“It's heartening to witness the tears of sadness, because they're a sign that you care about your father. The apples truly do not fall far from the tree.” She helped the children’s father back to his feet and gently brushed the dust from his shoulders. “Now, if you could stand back,” she said, looking at Mozuta, who understood her signal and quickly took Mayor back near the doors. Leontina turned to the children and snapped her fingers. The sound echoed around the room, releasing Jan and Joanna from their chairs. The scales that Leontina had been holding disappeared.
“Since I am about to send you to Weles, it would be advisable to say your goodbyes,” she suggested. The children looked at her angrily, but nodded and flew to their father.

First, they tried to wipe away his tears.

Then they tried hugging him.

Nothing worked. No matter what they did, their hands went straight through him.

Both children's eyes started to waver and their cheeks became wet with tears once more.
“Sorry, Papa,” Joanna said, floating in front of her dear father. She hid her face in her hands. The younger John looked at his father, then his sister, and started bawling too.
“Sorry,” the little boy said.
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” the mayor sniffed, wiping away his tears. “I am a bad father... I should have told you that fire is dangerous... I... I’m such a bad parent.” He lowered his head and shut his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying even more.
“No, you’re not,” his children reassured him. Joanna took her brother’s hand, and they floated around the mayor. He lifted his head and gazed after them.
“Thank you for always making us smile,” the girl said in a quivering voice. “Sorry that we made you cry a lot. Sorry that we can’t make you laugh.”
“No,” the mayor shook his head. “I should be grateful.” He took a few short breaths and showed the widest grin he could muster. “Thank you for being small lights in my life, even if only for a short time.”

“It's time,” said Leontina.
The children flew to her and waved goodbye to their father.
The Soul Guide extended her hand above the floor, then touched her thumb to her index finger on her right hand. Something swirled around them. The dark room lightened up. Out of nowhere, a beautiful gate appeared before the two small ghosts, slowly opening its doors. It was not the intricate decorations that made it look so breathtaking, but the warmth that flowed out of it.
Joanna and Jan looked at the inside of the gate in awe.
“You can come in,” Leontina whispered to them.
The children nodded, and looked at their father one last time.
“See you, Papa!” exclaimed Jan. “But don’t come too quickly!”
“We'll be angry if you do!” added Joanna. “And don't become a ghost! Come and see us right away!”
“I promise!” the mayor replied.
The two children looked at each other, wiped their tears away, and walked through the gates arm in arm. The moment they had disappeared, the gate closed behind them.

Leontina released her holding the gate and it disappeared.

“The ghosts have been successfully sent away to Weles,” she said, raising the hem of her dress on both sides and kneeling gracefully. She then stood up and ran to Mozuta, taking a small purse from him. Then she approached the mayor.
“I would like to ask for payment for a job well done.”
Mozuta rolled his eyes while the mayor scowled at her.
“You want money after you said such hurtful things to my dear children?!” he shouted.
“I only stated the truth,” she said, touching her cheek with her right hand and wondering what could have made the man so angry. Then she had a realization. “Oh! I’m sorry for throwing you on the ground like that. It was poor etiquette, but it was the fastest way to ensure your beautiful children found eternal happiness.”
“I haven't met a Soul Guide since my younger days, but I don't remember them being this crazy!” the mayor screamed furiously. He took a small bag out of the breast pocket of his coat and threw it at the girl. It fell to the floor, clinking. “Here’s some money. Thank you for sending my children away safely.” He turned on his heel and stomped loudly towards the door, then turned towards them for a moment and snarled. “Hmph!” The mayor left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Mozuta flinched at the sound.
“To be honest,” said Mozuta. “I kind of understand him. I don’t get why the Light Spirits have to be sentenced.”

“Isn't he such a loving father?” asked Leontina, completely ignoring Mozuta's words.

“Huh?”
“He was smiling slightly when he left the room.” She came to the door and opened it. Further down the corridor, Leontina and Mozuta could see the mayor happily skipping along. “He didn’t like the method, but he’s happy his children are now safe in Weles. I suppose he’s going to tell his wife that it worked.” The Soul Guide smiled at the sight. Mozuta glanced up at her and gave a grin as well.

Leontina ran to the floor and lifted the bag that the mayor threw.

“Besides, look,” she said, giving the boy the bag. He opened it and looked inside, his eyes wide. It was full of gold coins. They would make life easier for quite a long time. Finding nice lodgings and paying for meals wouldn't be a problem for a while.
“This much?”
“I'm surprised too,” admitted Leontina. “I do ask for payment, but I never specify what it should be unless they ask me about it, of course. Money is best, but I don’t mind food or lodging for the night, or even a simple hug of gratitude. Different people pay in different ways.”
“Wouldn’t you go bankrupt with such a payment method?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I always make sure the wealthy pay me in money,” she smiled innocently. “I planned for the mayor to pay in this way, but he gave me more than I anticipated. It shows his gratitude very well.”
“Really?”
“Really. He’s truly happy that I saved his children.” she smiled to herself.
“Saved? From what?”
“Hmmm,” Leontina pondered, touching her cheek with the pointing finger of her right hand. “Would you rather eat an old potato, which you eat practically every day, or an exquisite meal that fills you up after one portion?”
“The latter sounds better.”

“Demons from Selew think so too,” she said in a cold tone.

Mozuta felt a shiver run down his spine.
Of course, he should have guessed that.
The Light Spirits are better than the Mid-level Spirits and there's no comparison between them and the Heavy Spirits.
From these things' point of view, the more innocent the soul, the tastier it would be.
“Of course, they work to catch as many souls as possible, so only the strongest demons look for those exquisite dishes,” she explained. “But let's stop here. This is not a pleasant topic. You would have to learn a bit about Selew and its dwellers, but it's better not to rush things.”

Leontina looked out of the window and noticed that the sky was becoming slightly lighter. She grabbed her mask from Mozuta’s hands. Before putting it on to hide her beautiful face, she said,
“Sorry for keeping you up all night. Let’s find somewhere we can rest easily, and then we can move on.” Leontina smiled gently. She felt bad about keeping him up for so long while she was fulfilling her job as a Soul Guide. In reality, he was only her apprentice in name, and as a normal human, he could use his powers only during The Forefather’s Eve. If he wanted to, of course. She didn’t want to force him to become a secondary Soul Guide.
She felt the warmth of the sun touch her shoulders. Her black hair was bathed in the first rays of the morning sun.
They shone beautifully, but paled in comparison to the gentle smile she showed Mozuta.
The boy felt bad that she had immediately hidden her face behind the mask and put on the cloak, covering her beautiful hair with the hood.

I suppose it would be hard to miss such beauty. It’s better if she stays hidden. He thought. Who knows if someone would try to attack them if they saw her?

Now, in front of him, there was no lady, but a slouching girl holding her hood with both hands. She could easily get lost in the crowd with that appearance.

“We're done here, so let’s go,” said Mozuta and the girl slowly walked after him.

They left the mayor’s mansion and found a nice inn where Mozuta could rest after not sleeping all night.

As Leontina could not sleep, or rather did not need to as a doll, she stayed in her room and only came out to get a new book to read from the shared space in the inn.