Username: /nyx.
Clan: Lé'echékyo
Quest Number: 3
Response:
Energie sees ghosts every day. Her eyes pulse magenta, purple and red; every day since Amber died, she's seen the ghosts.
She's seen the ghosts, she's seen the ghosts. How can she not believe when they're always there, always watching from the corner of her eyes?
How can she stand to lie to the kits, lie like the others do when she knows that they're there? (Ghosts don't like it when mortals lie. Most of them died because of untruths, after all.)
The Lé'eckékyo, in their world, ghosts are real. More than real, almost tangible, yet distinctly fake. Like the taste of an old childhood memory, like soft laughter in the night. Like flowers, like dreams, like nightmares disguised as dreams.
Rio, whose name is really Scepter, sees ghosts too. He and Reign, whose name is really Sovereign, see the ghost of Onyx nearly every day. Every night, that is, in their nest before they sleep (but what does it matter? Lé'eckékyo is timeless. They all live in the void known as the Underground).
On sleepless nights, Rio speaks to Onyx. He whispers truths, whispers secrets, whispers lies he wishes to believe. Onyx shows signs of sentience, of listening, but he never responds.
They're cruel, these ghosts. Ghosts are memories half-formed, desperate chains wrapping around souls. They're mere shells of life enshrouded in death. Their bodies are dead, their souls are expired, yet they (painfully, excruciatingly) exist. They're like rotten prey-things, but not even the crows are willing to pick them off.
Ghosts are never good. They only come into existence when their deaths are unjust, but they, unlike the beliefs of many, don't do anything about it (though not for lack of trying). Most ghosts are distorted, sentimental figures. Even if they want, say, revenge, they have no way of getting it. Ghosts don't walk, ghosts don't talk; they have no say over their own being, with their agonizing presence fully dictated by an invisible, higher power. Ghosts merely exist, frozen in time and space, their soul fragments in harrowing pain until they finally fade away.
As unfortunate as it is, most members of the Lé'eckékyo see ghosts. Knowing that a close friend, a family member, or even that an enemy is wasting away after death mentally, and sometimes even physically, hurts. The knowledge attacks the majikal core; for a summoner or incanter, the pain is threefold.
Why else would one with a broken reil they subject themselves to torture, to those infamous suicide missions? Because a torturous life still beats a dishonorable death. If rykers die honestly in combat, they will not turn themselves into ghosts; however, if they slowly dull from the suffering, then they, even deceased, will continue to suffer.
It's about worth, about honor, about utilizing oneself. Ghosts are a painful concept, but dying in general is a painful process. For a proper member of the Lé'eckékyo, dying will always be a painful process; those at peace in death obviously died too late.
To reiterate: the Lé'eckékyo, in their world, ghosts exist.
(only in our world)
aaaa[our world is hell]
They exist in a plane, untouchable by time and space, in excruciating pain [(flickering in and out like a hologram)]; prohibited from peace due to a dishonorable death, usually one (un)intentional.
Those of the Lé'eckékyo, they (we) believe in ghosts.
(How could we not?)
They hear ghosts, they feel ghosts; moreover, they fear ghosts.
(We do not. We do not! We fear nothing. We fear [not the ghosts, maybe the ghosts, turning into ghosts; the pain, our soul; shameless, unbearable]—)
[...they (shhh] fear the EterNal suffering that DisHonorable death would entail)
Word Count: 606 words