Chapter 20 - Raphael

The funding from the Ability Authority arrived far sooner than Flo had expected.

Thanks to Caecilius helping push the proposal through the proper channels, the Ghost Detector network team was given enough resources to expand across the entirety of Cirnia. Mr.Hugo handled the official paperwork, Flo handled the research and Trista handled the one crucial part that nobody else could: placing hundreds of tiny detection nodes around a sprawling city without attracting attention.

It turned out Trista was exceptionally good at blending into the background. She could walk through a crowded street, quietly place a node beneath a railing or behind an old sign and slip away without anyone ever knowing she had been there.

"I think I'm starting to understand why you were so excited about joining the team," Flo told her one evening as they packed equipment.

Trista blinked in confusion. "Why?"

"Because you're basically a stealth operative."

Trista looked utterly horrified. "No! I'm just quiet!"

"And that's perfect!"

Mr.Hugo, standing nearby with a clipboard, let out a tired sigh. "Please stop encouraging her."

Trista offered a nervous little smile, adjusting her bag.

The network grew steadily over the next few weeks. One node became fifty, fifty became a hundred and soon there were even more. Each new node expanded the invisible detection grid across another district of Cirnia, feeding real-time information back into the Observatory's central console.

Still, answers didn't come overnight. The team had to wait. Every Ghost Detector ping was recorded, every location was logged and every trajectory was estimated based on the precise sequence of node activations. Flo spent endless hours developing mathematical models to calculate possible movement paths from incomplete data. Some paths were short, some stretched across entire districts, some overlapped and others appeared completely unrelated. The sheer volume of information quickly became overwhelming but slowly, painstakingly, patterns began to emerge. It wasn't enough to solve the entire mystery just yet but it strongly suggested that the Lost Beings were not simply appearing at random.

A month passed in this way. Amelia remained buried in her Defence Squad training, occasionally dropping by the Observatory exhausted, covered in dirt and complaining about the brutal selection trials. Mr.Hugo always cooked food for her after Flo tried and burned hers while cooking. Sometimes Amelia stayed for an hour before rushing back to the practice grounds and sometimes she simply ate whatever Flo placed in front of her and immediately fell asleep in the nearest chair.

Caecilius was equally busy with his duties at the Ability Authority. He occasionally dropped in with updates regarding the city's official investigation into the magical disturbances, sometimes staying for tea before returning to work.

One evening, he arrived just as Trista was preparing another batch of Ghost Detector nodes.

"You've been busy," he remarked quietly.

Flo looked up from her mountain of calculations. "We're getting closer."

"To what?"

Flo paused, knowing she couldn't explain the full truth just yet. Instead, she pointed dramatically towards the enormous, line-covered map hanging behind her.

"That."

Caecilius looked at the chaotic web of drawn lines for a long moment before turning back to her.

"I see."

Flo smiled brightly. "Do you?"

"No."

Flo burst out laughing.

Neither Amelia nor Caecilius knew the full extent of what Flo and her squad had uncovered but Caecilius, knowing even lesser, still quietly helped wherever he could.

Then, one late evening, the Observatory's main console finally produced something different.

Flo stared at the glowing screen, Mr.Hugo leaning over her shoulder while Trista hovered on the other side of the desk. The digital map of Cirnia was covered in hundreds of faint lines representing possible Lost Being trajectories. Most of them scattered aimlessly in different directions but there was one specific area where multiple lines seemed to converge: a small section on the far eastern edge of the city.

Flo zoomed in. The district was almost entirely isolated from the rest of Cirnia. It consisted of decaying residential buildings, abandoned warehouses and a handful of extremely cheap apartment blocks packed into a neglected corner of the city, far from the bustling commercial centres and rarely visited after dark.

Trista frowned, looking at the cluster. "Why would so many trajectories lead there?"

Flo leaned closer to the monitor. "I don't know..."

Mr.Hugo adjusted his spectacles. "How many?"

"At least twelve confirmed trajectories," Flo said, rechecking the raw data. "More if we include the incomplete ones."

Trista looked at the map, her voice low. "So we go there?"

Flo nodded firmly. "We go there."

That night, the three of them left the Observatory. The city was eerily quiet, the streets growing emptier and the streetlights becoming sparser the farther they travelled from the centre. Flo walked alongside Trista and Mr.Hugo, with Cocol floating peacefully behind her on his DayShine leash.

They had been walking for several minutes through the dark district when Flo suddenly stopped.

Mr.Hugo looked back over his shoulder. "Flo?"

She didn't answer. She was staring straight at Cocol.

He wasn't moving. His translucent body hung suspended in the air, his arms dangling loosely by his sides as the faint golden glow beneath his spectral skin flickered erratically.

Flo's expression shifted. "Cocol?"

She took a slow step towards him. The DayShine leash in her hand trembled, just slightly. Flo paused.

Mr.Hugo glanced down the dark street ahead. "Flo, come on. We need to keep moving."

"Something's wrong," she whispered, staying rooted to the spot.

Trista turned around. "What is it?"

"Cocol isn't moving."

Mr.Hugo surveyed the motionless ghost. "He could just be tired."

"No." Flo shook her head emphatically. "He never does this."

She crouched down and gently touched the golden leash. It fluctuated again, sending a tiny pulse of light travelling through the thread. Flo looked in the direction the tension was pulling, her heart beginning to race.

"Cocol is trying to lead me somewhere."

Mr.Hugo frowned. "We're already close to the target location."

"I know," Flo said, looking up at him. "But I think this is important."

Mr.Hugo hesitated. Standing in an isolated part of the city in the middle of the night meant they couldn't afford to draw unwanted attention.

"We'll continue ahead," he decided quietly. "Trista and I will check the marked area. You follow Cocol and catch up with us."

Flo nodded. "Okay."

Trista looked worried. "Be careful, Flo."

"I will." Flo offered a small smile.

She watched Mr.Hugo and Trista disappear down the main road before turning back to Cocol.

"Okay, buddy."

The leash flickered warmly and Flo followed.

Cocol slowly drifted down a narrow, shadowy side street, past a broken streetlamp, past an abandoned storefront and past a row of old buildings with peeling paint. Finally, he brought her to a halt in front of a shabby, run-down apartment building.

Flo looked up. The structure was cramped, neglected and poorly maintained. Several windows were covered with mismatched curtains and the entrance light had been broken for so long that weeds had grown around its base.

Cocol drifted straight through the front entrance.

Flo pushed through after him, the wooden staircase creaking loudly beneath her boots as she climbed.

Second floor. Third floor.

Cocol finally stopped outside a half-open door at the end of a dim hallway.

Flo's heart pounded against her ribs.

"Cocol?" He drifted inside. Flo gently pushed the door open and stepped into the room. It was dark and largely devoid of furniture, just a small table, a cheap sofa and a tiny kitchen unit. And there, lying cold on the floor near the far wall, was a man.

He looked completely still, his skin deathly pale and his body stiff, as though he hadn't moved in a very long time.

Flo looked at Cocol, then at the man lying on the floor.

Her breath hitched.

"Cocol..."

The Lost Being floated closer to the body.

"Is that you?" she whispered.

As Cocol hovered over the man, Flo carefully guided him forward with the DayShine leash. The golden-white glow around Cocol flared brightly and then his entire spectral body dissolved into pure light, sinking directly into the man's chest.

For several long seconds, nothing happened.

Then, the man's fingers twitched.

His eyes fluttered open, dark and dazed. He tried to move his arm, his face contorting in sudden, sharp discomfort.

"W..." he rasped, swallowing hard. "...water."

Flo immediately rushed into the tiny kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it from the tap and hurried back to his side.

"Here."

She carefully supported his head, helping him sip.

"Slowly. You haven't moved your body in a long time. It will take a moment to adjust."

The man swallowed a few grateful mouthfuls before his eyes slowly focused on her. Confusion filled them, followed quickly by sharp suspicion.

"Who are you?!"

Flo blinked. "I'm Flo."

"Why are you in my apartment?!"

"I..."

"Get out!"

His voice echoed harshly against the bare walls, making Flo flinch backwards.

"I'm not here to hurt you," she insisted.

"Then get out!"

He tried to push himself upright but his arms trembled so violently that he collapsed back onto the floorboards.

"Don't move too quickly!" Flo urged. "Your muscles haven't been used for a long time."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

His voice cracked painfully.

Flo immediately stepped back and held her hands up defensively.

"I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need your help!" he screamed again. "I don't need anyone!"

Flo's eyes instantly welled with tears.

"Get out! Just leave me alone!"

His voice grew louder, harsher and increasingly desperate.

"Everyone always wants to leave me alone anyway!"

Flo stood there, trembling.

She wasn't crying because he was shouting at her. She was crying because she could see how utterly terrified he was. There was a distinct difference between anger that came from hatred and anger that came from being hurt for so long that it became the only way to protect yourself. This didn't feel like hatred. It felt like pure fear and underneath that fear was something much heavier: unbearable pain.

The man suddenly stopped shouting.

His breathing became ragged and uneven as his hands trembled against the floorboards. His face crumpled and a loud, broken sob tore from his throat.

Flo wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and took one slow, tentative step towards him.

"Why are you crying?"

He looked up at her through blurred eyes, as if the question itself made no sense.

"Why are you crying?"

Flo sniffled softly.

"Because I hate seeing you so sad."

The man stared at her in total disbelief. For a moment, he seemed entirely unable to process what she had just said.

"Who even are you?"

"I told you. I'm Flo."

She hesitated before pointing gently towards him.

"And you are Cocol... well, you were Cocol. I don't know if that's actually your name."

The man looked away, his eyes settling on the bare floorboards.

For a long time, the room was filled only with his shaky breathing.

Flo didn't ask again. She simply sat down, knowing what it felt like when someone kept asking questions before you were ready to answer them.

So she waited.

Eventually, his voice came out barely above a whisper.

"Raphael."

Flo looked up.

"My name is Raphael."

Raphael lowered his head.

"Go ahead. Call me a loser, just like everyone else."