Ghosts (Arno's Perspective)

(Back to Arno's Perspective)

I needed to figure out a way to see where I was going. I rummaged through my bag, which was mostly filled with Erika’s potatoes. There really wasn’t much in there that would be useful in this situation. I did still have my dagger though. I pulled it out and felt around on the ground until I found a decent sized rock. I then cut off a piece of my already tattered robes and balled it up.

I started striking the knife and stone together hoping to get a spark. I continued switching up techniques and spent over an hour trying to figure out how to get the fabric to light.

*fwoosh*

Finally I got the cloth to go up and I fashioned it on my staff like a torch. The flame offered a little bit of illumination in the dark, but it was at least something…

Suddenly, a cold aura began to fill the room and a breeze manifested out of thin air and put out the fire I had worked so hard to make. A green glow began to resonate. It started taking shape.

"Oh no I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to put out that flame that took you an hour to start." A voice sarcastically said.

The ghost’s name was Tost and he was this floor's unofficial boss. The Ghosts were here way before Lucian and his thralls. When they were alive, they were the ancient people who built and inhabited this labyrinth. Unlike us skeletons, the ghosts aren't thralls. They exist completely on their own without a host.

Unfortunately for me, the ghosts hate us skeletons. It wasn't always like that though, at one point, the ghosts actually agreed to work with us to guard the labyrinth. After a while though, they decided to form a union and they started making demands like limited work hours, time off, and even actual payment.

Obviously, Lucian couldn't meet any of these demands, especially the payment one, since we don't actually produce anything profitable. The Ghosts didn’t take this well and threatened to go on strike. Not wanting to deal with a group of unionized ghosts, Lucian and them made an agreement that they would just keep to the third floor for themselves, while we maintained the rest of the dungeon.

To this day they harbor quite a bit of animosity towards us skeletons. Most of them feel as though none of us have any right to be here since they were the ones who built this place and reigned over it for over a thousand years.

"I assume you're not here to point me to the exit." I sighed.

"You're a capable guy Arno. Just use your magic to light the corridor… Or did you forget how to use it?" Tost responded.

“Should it really matter? I thought we had an agreement that you would let us skeletons pass through here, so long as we didn’t meddle in your affairs.”

"What do you mean? You are perfectly free to pass through this floor as you please… It's not our fault you just so happened to pass through right as we decided we wanted to rearrange the floor's walls." Tost continued in a sarcastic manner.

"Ok then what about the girl, where is she?" I inquired.

"My brother, Gost felt bad for her and escorted her to the exit. I swear I think he’s starting to go soft on me."

I don’t know how Erika managed that one, but that was now one less thing I had to worry about now.

"Can I convince you to guide me out of here too then?" I said, despite already knowing the answer.

"Haha, Nope! We’re going to sit back and watch you struggle, Arno. Should give us a few hours of entertainment."

He began hysterically laughing, as he dematerialized.

I resumed trying to get my bearings. I felt around until I found the nearest wall of which I began to follow. For another hour I attempted to navigate the maze. During this time of course, the ghosts thought it would be funny to rearrange walls several more times just to mess with me.

I stopped for a moment. It was almost completely silent except for a soft muffled noise in the distance. It sounded like someone was talking. I just couldn't make out what they were saying. I decided to make my way towards the voice.

As I got closer, it began to grow louder and clearer. Eventually light could be seen at the end of the hall. I quickly moved toward it…

There in the room sat Erika at a table with a ghost. They were chatting about who knows what.

"If the Earth's round then, like why are maps fla-... Oh hey, Mr. Arno. You finally made it!" Erika said excitedly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." I said.

It took nearly twelve hours to find my way out.

"Oh it was no problem. I was just here hanging out with my new friend Gost. We were just chatting and he brought me some tea." She said.

There was a tea set on the table. I had no Idea why ghosts have a tea set in the first place, but I didn’t care enough to ask.

"It was nice chatting with you Erika. Feel free to come visit any time. You are always welcome here... Just her though, not you Arno." Gost said, muttering that last part under his breath.

"Bye Mr. Gost! It was nice meeting you. I'm sure I'll come back and visit one day."

"Let's get out of here." I murmured to Erika as we started walking towards the exit.

At least on the next two floors the skeletons are a bit friendlier... at least they typically are.