A Christmas Tale

Tet's Story 2: Mrs Understanding

The ghost sits with his small feline friend, thoughts echoing through his mind that tries to persuade him to take the maid's body once again. The Cat rolls his eyes, "You should! After all this time, why don't you take a little of it back? You died before your time so you've lost more than they ever will." The ghost sighs "Leave, I need time to think on what I've done." He raises his hand to his face once more, flexing each of his fingers before his eyes like he had done with the maid. The cat rolls his eye, leaving the ghost to himself for a moment as he thinks. A noise alarms from nearby, causing the ghost to stand and stare in that direction. "Cat, if that is you!?" He begins as a white glow spawns from the bush, another spirit placing his hand before him in an offer of greeting "Hello, how are you on this fine morning?" It speaks calmly, seeming to act like they've talked a thousand times. "Are you another spirit that was caught in this building?" The ghost begins but the spirit shakes his head calmly, "No, I am merely here to retrieve you and bring you up to the afterlife along with any other dead entities." The ghost looks surprised "Why has it taken so long?" The spirit reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a document of which he promptly shakes his head away. "To be brutally honest, you fell under our radar and we only found you because of some spiritual activity." The ghost pauses "Maybe the cat did something right for once." The spirit sighs and places a hand on the ghost's shoulder "You can't come with me until you get consent for that..." "What!?" The ghost cuts him off but the spirit continues regardless "...You possessed someone without consent, therefore, you are no pure of heart until you have corrected what you have wronged."

..."Hey, that isn't a part of the stor..." Tet begins as a marshmallow flies into her mouth, stopping her midsentence as she scowls are Cb as he preps another. "Fine..." She speaks before swallowing and moving to a different part of the story...

The maid's eyes spring open, her memories lapsing from the moment that she touched the cat. Her eyes slowly creep open, her mind still struck by the welcoming embrace that she was about to greet her new feline friend. Her hand is outstretched as her tired daze wears off, leaving her to grab at nothingness as her thoughts return as well. "What happened to me?" She calls softly as she sits up, placing the back of her hand to her forehead. "I must have a bad fever of some kind..." She places one leg on the floor, finding her feet to still be in her shoes as she tugs the covers off of the bed. She stares down at herself, her dress is still fully buckled, leaving everything from her socks to her headpiece all still placed delicately on her body. She jumps out of bed, her knees feeling weak as if she was no longer used to them as she catches herself on her bedside table. She stops for a moment, pulling herself up as her body stabilises again. A headache ensues as she walks to the door, pushing it open lazily before making her way to the kitchen.

..."I'm so sorry!" Luke says out of nowhere towards Kie who just smiles at him "It's fine, it was Ol's idea." "Hey!" He yells from across the flames as Tet coughs "The ghost isn't here at the moment." she scowls, looking up from her script as the two quieten down...

She places her palm on the dining room's handle, slowly walking through to the kitchen as she begins to cook. Her movements are sloppy and the woman from before springs up from her chair "Are you ok?" She calls over as the maid looks up, a little confused at first before losing her footing for a moment as she slips forward, again catching herself on the counter as the woman rushes over. "I guess you really are ill..." The woman remarks, placing the maid's arm over her shoulder as they turn off the oven. "you better get some rest" The woman commands as they approach the door but the maid stops them before shaking her head "I'm fine. I can't leave you to do all of this, I'm the only servant in the house at the moment. The woman looks at her with concerned eyes as she moves back into the room, opening the door to the garden "Then at least get some fresh air, I'm sure I can survive ten minutes." "But..." the maid tries to protest but it was too late, she has been shoved outside and the door has slammed behind her, leaving only glass between them. The maid accepts defeat and wanders into the shrubbery as the woman goes to sit down in her seat again, sipping some tea as she waits. She turns away, slowly unfolding a piece of paper onto the table as the Maid leaves her sight. The note contains what must be several hundred red lines, each connecting two points together as if it were showing the most complicated of cases. She takes out a crimson red pen before drawing another line between the maid's portrait and a blacked out circular object before humming to herself and folding it back up. "That's some strange fever she has, though unimportant now, I bet that it's not without reason..."

..."What does that mean?" Mischief perks up from her character sheet. "I've not seen this piece of paper in her character before, where did she get it?" She faces Tet but her only response is the shaking of her head before the calm comment of "You'll find out, a story is not a commentator's sport"...

She places the paper into her pocket, getting up with her now empty mug as she moves to place it on the counter. She pours another cup for herself before picking it up and looking towards the roses in the garden. "I wonder if she'll be alright..." Meanwhile, the maid sits down on a bench by a small stream, sighing to herself as she wishes that she was more useful. The bushes before her rustle, a light figure emerging from the leaves as the maid justs for a moment. She looks onto him with confusion, she has never seen him before and yet he seems so familiar "Who are you?" The ghost looks over, a sense of regret creeping through his eyes as he speaks "I'm the one who placed your body in bed last night, are you still unwell?" The maid picks up on his tone, getting the feeling that he knows more than he lets on. "Yes, I'm fine!" His calm tone is replaced with slight annoyance as she feels belittled "How did you even enter? The mansion guards will have caught you before you entered. Or are they slacking off?" The ghost freezes, this was not the maid that he thought he met last night, her calm and kind speech seems to be riddled with a pain of insignificance flowing through her veins. The ghost sighs "I'm glad to see that you're ok and I hope that whatever's bothering you heals eventually." He bows and she turns away, immediately getting up and storming back to the building "You better leave before I call those lazy guards back here to escort you themselves." The ghost shakes his head "Why did you think that that would work? I can't be forgiven for what I've done." The spirit pats him on the back "It's a good start, give it time." The spirit speaks but the ghost brushes his hand off of him and walks away "I shall find my way eventually, no matter how long it takes..." The spirit smiles prematurely before the ghost can finish "...I shall do this alone, this method is too soft for this situation. Good day, return home and I shall follow soon." The sprit frowns and tries to grab the ghost but he fazes through him as he disappears into the wall, leaving the spirit alone by the bench.

..."Why would you just leave him!?" Kie tugs at Luke's arm. "I guess I just thought it would fit the character." He smiles and Kie looks mildly worried. Tet folds her arms and nods "He's right, leaving would definitely be what he'd do, he feels bad but still wants to leave quickly. He's torn between leaving quickly and repenting so he just needs time." Kie stops looking so worried "I guess you're right, now let's get back into this"...

The maid returns to the door, opening it as the adrenalin of anger fuels her limbs to get cooking. "You took longer than I thought, are you sure you're ok? You seemed off yesterday evening as well?" The maid raises her head from the cooking pot "Last night?" She raises an eyebrow as she remember's her assignment "I'm so sorry Mrs, I collapsed in the hall and failed to deliver my information. Would you like it now?" The woman pauses for a moment, picking up her paper again before drawing another line in as she smiles. "You never showed up? Are you sure? I'm almost positive that you arrived at my room and gave me some much-needed information." The maid continues to cook breakfast as she thinks back. "Not that I remember, I woke up in bed fully clothed." The woman smiles. "What do you know about the weapon or killer?" The maid takes a note from her pocket, raising it for the woman to see as it shows a detailed picture of a skinny man in a white tux with a smaller note with a blooded frying pan pinned to it. "Would you like to talk more about it?" The maid asks as she plates up and places the food before the woman who smiles "I decline, that's quite enough information for me before such wonderful food." The maid nods, holding the serving plater to her chest as she walks away. "Very well, I will tend to the washing up once you're done." She walks to the door, tilting her head slightly as if to ask to be dismissed as the woman nods once more "Please have some rest, I will give you a command later but I insist that you take time off until then." The maid wishes to argue but the woman's expression gives no room for conflict, forcing the maid to obey as she leaves for her room.

..."You're too kind Mischief?" Kie smiles over at her "I think she does deserve a rest after what she's been through" she continues but Mischief just smiles back awkwardly "It's not as selfless as you think, my character is a little logic driven behind her comforting words." Kie cocks her head in confusion before Tet intervenes. "Oi, no telling people character traits, it ruins the fun." They both sigh before speaking in unison "Fine..."