Petibone (Fantasmical 2024)

4. Rag doll_ Darkfantasyreads

Prompt: You are tasked to find the only person who can defeat the malevolent spirits tormenting your realm and end the gruesome war. What happens when you find out they are a temperamental toddler?

**

Strange things have been happening in the empire lately because ghosts have appeared. It was as if they had been unleashed from somewhere, and everyone began to watch impatiently to see when something would be done to send them back to their proper place.

When the wizard summoned me, I already suspected that I would be the one to deliver a message to some hero or savior they could find. Or to multiple ones simultaneously, and then we'd wait to see which one would be faster or more successful.

I've often thought that the wizard's missions are the strangest because he always sends me to impossible places, and I don't always understand the messages. I've often told him not to send me to the past, especially not to the future, yet I always agree to the task when he explains it. Because my curiosity is always greater than my common sense, the wizard knows this about me and exploits this weakness. There's a contradiction here because I love challenges and testing myself, but I immediately vow never to do it again when I'm there. I'd rather walk to the ends of the earth on an utterly boring mission than deal with the wizard's hocus-pocus. But then I find myself here again, with the wizard repeating the message for the second time. No matter how many times I tell him I've got it.

Now he's furrowing his brow and worrying. "Are you sure you've got it? Make sure you deliver it word for word! This isn't just any legendary hero; he can only banish the malevolent spirits and end the war ravaging the empire."

He can see that if he says one more word about whether I've memorized it, I'll recite it. So he continues, "Alright, I know you're my best messenger! Forgive me, I'm just worried because if Nib doesn't help, all our hope is lost..."

"I understand. You don't need to worry. I've memorized your message, and everything will be fine," I replied. I was about to leave when the wizard pressed a rag doll into my hand, pulling it out of his pocket. I didn't know what to make of it.

"It might come in handy," he said urgently, so I impatiently shoved it into my backpack and headed out.

Did I mention that I didn't like the wizard's quarters? They were filled with stuffed animals, and I couldn't stand the glassy eyes of the dead creatures.

Thinking about it, I realized the place I was headed wasn't one of my favorite places either. This legendary hero, on whom our salvation depended, didn't live far from us, but still, the place gave me the creeps. I had never been there before; I had only heard all sorts of things about it.

In the past, if someone was to be executed for severe crimes, they were taken to this place, known as the Plateau of the Condemned, or was it the Plateau of Screams? On this plateau stood a castle-like building, which was said to be inhabited by evil spirits. Where else would a hero capable of dealing with ghosts live if not in a haunted castle?

I had no problem with spirits as long as they weren't malevolent. I wore an amulet around my neck that supposedly protected me from evil spirits, and now I made sure it was visible over my clothes. I did everything to defend myself because I knew the explosive device in my backpack was useless against spirits. But honestly, I wasn't terrified of them because I had never personally encountered a real malevolent spirit. It was just the stories that were terrifying, about how they scared the life out of gentle souls, sneaked up behind you, and whispered things in your ear that drove you mad, or simply emerged from the darkest places, terrifying you with their horrible appearance. No wonder the empire declared war against them, with little success, as swords were of no use against them.