scary monsters ~endless halloween night~ 3-1 "you can always rely on me"

[mandytl]

 

 

Location: The Other Dimension - Forbidden Laboratory

Silver: We wrested open that door in the lab, and then…

Location: The Other Dimension - Yugen Canyon

Silver: Stepped straight from that building and into the mountains?!

The lab disappeared right as we shut it.

Jamil: Anything goes in the Ghost Realm, I guess. All these jump-scares are making me feel dumber by the minute.

Silver: We’d better proceed with caution from here on out. Let’s start by examining the area.

Jamil: I’m not sure whether it's a corridor or a wall, but there’s an unusually long structure passing into the mists and beyond.

An all too eccentric-looking building for someone from the Scalding Sands like myself, really.

Silver: I see a waterfall further back. Maybe we’re in a canyon.

Which means our fluid intake won’t be an issue. If we’re stuck here for more than a month we’ll be fine.

Jamil: Would you seriously knock that off? I am NOT spending a whole month here!

Silver: Knock what off? Did I say something odd?

I had more than ample reason to believe our mission would be long-term.

Jamil: To the point of dehydration, though? You’re letting your imagination run wild like it did back at that tank.

Silver: I do have above-average know-how when it comes to wilderness survival in the hills. You can always rely on me.

Jamil: I am, it’s just… small talk with you tends to go off the deep end.

Silver: There’s the water below. Let’s descend and check if it’s fit to drink.

Pans away.

Jamil: Those flowers blooming just above the surface… aren’t they—

Silver: Lotuses. I saw them on a postcard my old man sent me once.

He even claimed they can be seen in the Far East where water is plentiful.

Jamil: Your father’s quite the globetrotter: first the Ghost Realm, now the Eastern world.

Silver: You could say that. He likes to travel, and enlightens me often with his stories from overseas.

Jamil: Hah. That’s pretty considerate of him. I’d like to wander that way too, someday.

Silver: You would? Then let me indulge you with one of old man’s treasured tales!

Look. Do you see those lotus leaves floating on the water’s surface?

Jamil: I do. They’re especially gorgeous when bathed in this moonlight.

Silver: Apparently in the Far East, you’ll be recognized as a formidable warrior once you can run along them and across the water.

Jamil: There’s no way that’s real!

For starters, it’s not even possible. He’s obviously lying through his teeth!

Silver: Lying? But he showed me how it’s done himself.

Jamil: That father of yours is something else entirely…

Silver: I’ve still a long way to go in mastering it myself.

… Speaking of stories, the paper lanterns overhead look familiar. 

I was also told of a hero there who famously slid down a rope of lanterns to protect their king. 

Jamil: Hero?

Silver: Yes. The tale of their great, magicless exploit was a major influence on me as a kid.

Long ago, there… —Hm? Did you hear that?

???: Eee hee hee hee!

Jamil: Those voices are… —quick, hide!

Ghost A: We found ourselves sooo many mirror shards!

Ghost B: Splitting up into large groups to search was the right idea!

Ghost C: Our Esteemed Host will be so pleased when we give them this horde!

Silver: Ghosts, holding their precious shards like icons.

Jamil: Searching implies they never had them in the first place, huh. Peculiar.

Silver: Guess they had a hard time finding them. Maybe it’s a key element to attending the party.

We had better find our own shards in the canyon, then.

Jamil: Instead of that, we could just…

Silver: What’re you…?!

Jamil: Hey, ghosts!

Ghost A: A-A human in the flesh when we’re trying to deliver these posthaste?!

Ghost B: We’ll teach you what it means to dread ghosts!

Jamil: Heh… Do your worst.