The Curse of Taloncrest Manor

Chapter 21: Aftermath

On the Taloncrest Manor roof, Thomas Kikan witnessed the entire situation on the third floor balcony from Melody's scrying orb, which had fallen off the piano after its destruction. Seeing the unconscious ghost lying face-down on the stone pavement, the Conservatory piano in splinters, and Ricardo's group slowly advancing on her, he quickly came up with a plan. What he didn't notice was that, out of frame, Dischord was unable to act due to being restrained by Jane. 

"Master! I believe I've managed to locate Melody!" Thomas called as he ran over to his liege. But Bart initially rolled his eyes. "What? No....that's impossible. She's been long dead for---" "Look!" 

The butler held up his orb for his master to see, and Bart's eyes widened instantly. "But....." "There's more, my master....." Thomas said, panning over to Ricardo and his friends. "Those living humans whom you invited to our ascension.....they're approaching her quickly. She's helpless! We must do something!" 

Bart quickly became irate. "I do not know how Melody managed to end up stuck here for all these years, but that matter can be addressed later. For now, we should turn our attention to the audacity of these.....'guests'. I genuinely thought them to be friendly at first glance.....I welcomed them into my mansion, I offered them a front-row seat at our ceremony.....and then they have the gall to hurt one of my most talented servants?! Come, Thomas, my friend, we must go and deliver swift justice!" 

"Do not worry! I shall get us there in an instant! Hold the orb, master!" the butler replied. Once both of the men's hands were on it, the item began to glow. Within seconds, the two of them disappeared in a flash of light. 

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On the third floor balcony, Dischord managed to break free of Jane's grip. The rest of the crew immediately took defensive stances, but to their surprise, he did not go for his weapon and try to attack the group; instead, he quickly ran to Melody's side and tried to rouse her, to no avail. 

The force field Melody had created--which imprisoned Rose--had shattered, dropping her to the ground. Ricardo rushed over to try to help her, but she was unresponsive as well. 

Dischord lowered his head. ".....Do you even realize what you've done?" he asked. His tone wasn't even loud, hysterical, or aggressive; at this point, he just sounded sad. "What....will we do now? Her goal was to..... save us.....She knew we didn't deserve this life.....that it was wrong for us to remain here...." 

Jane stepped forward. "Dischord.....why didn't you go for any of my friends when you had the chance? Everyone had their guards down....." she asked him curiously. "You could've likely fulfilled her mission in her place." Dischord sighed. "What's the point? Even if I were the one to harvest the souls instead, our victory would be rather hollow without our Magistrix by our side."

"Hold on," Cooper said. "'Harvest the souls'? What do you mean by tha---" 

Suddenly, another ghost teleported in and quickly slashed Cooper in the back. 

"COOPER!" James cried as the figure sheathed its sword again. Elijah recognized the spirit almost instantly. "Bartholomew Taloncrest?!" 

"You will not be harming my pupil," the Taloncrest master said sternly. 

Cooper managed to recover from the blow and attempted to rush Bart again, but he dashed out of the way, ending up where Dischord and Melody were. 

Jane gasped. "Bart.....my love! It's really you!" Bart's eyes briefly glanced over at her, but quickly returned to the weakened Cooper. Regardless, she still tried to get his attention. "Why are you opposing us? Remember who you were!" 

"There is no use in calling," another voice said. Jane looked over to see Thomas Kikan casually leaning on the balcony railing. "If the master does not wish to acknowledge you, that is simply his choice." 

"Hey! What gives?!" James exclaimed. "Earlier, you helped us! Why'd you harm our friend?" "Why did YOU harm my servant?" Bart shot back, gesturing to the unresponsive Melody. "We didn't harm her.....she exhausted herself!" James protested. "And in our defense, she did try to kill us on several occasions....." Elijah added. "Lies! The Melody I know would never try to hurt anyone. She was one of the nicest people in the mansion! There were none more talented, and none kinder, either. I really had expected better of you....." Bart countered. 

"Master!" Thomas called. "I will aid Dischord in attending to Melody. I would suggest disposing of these interlopers before they can cause any more damage!" He turned to Jane. "You may as well give up. My liege no longer wishes to be around you. Your days with him are over." 

Bart unsheathed his sword once more and got into a fighting stance. 

"No.....I can't believe it....I won't believe it!" Jane wailed. She rushed over to Dischord's weapon and picked it up herself, getting in the way between Bart and Ricardo's group, ready to defend them. "Bart, please! Answer me!" 

But her cries did nothing. As Bart prepared to charge, Jane realized she didn't have a choice. She did not want to harm her husband, but at the same time she did not want anything else to happen to her newfound allies. 

Bart rushed forward, with Jane responding accordingly.

Almost instantly, their swords clashed.