Inverse System

"Hahaha, interesting. So he's not afflicted? Just as I expected," Rein laughed as the old man noticed them approaching.

"Who are you kids? Don't tell me you're with that gang! Or worse, the ghost!" The old man panicked frantically as he pointed the sharp end of the hoe towards the group.

"Calm down old man. We're Rangers. We just need to ask you a couple questions about this ghost," Rein put out his arms in front of his body in a defensive motion.

"Oh, okay. Ask away!" Old man Gorg enthusiastically exclaimed, the group growing confused as to why everyone was so gullible in this town.

"So it's true that you were watering these plants when you first saw the ghost, right?" Rein interviewed.

"That's right. Saw that son of a bitch snatch one of my old buddies up just over there. Couldn't forget it even if I tried," the old man claimed.

"You say you saw the ghost, but did the ghost see you?"

"You bet your ass it did! It came flyin' straight at me! If it didn't get scared of my pure muscles, I woulda been dead meat!" The old man claimed while flexing his scrawny arms.

"So it saw you, but vanished before it got to you? Alright, thanks for the information. One last thing before we leave, do you have a Spring?" Rein asked as he was about to leave.

"Nope. These plants are the products of pure labor!"

They finished up their conversation with the old man, courteously bowing down to him as they left back to the city.

It was now 7 PM and the sun was beginning to set over the vast, visible horizon, filling the yellow prairies with a more rich color.

"We're running out of daylight for today. Let's start preparing for our nighttime investigation," Rein proposed, the rest of the group nodding in affirmation as they stood in a circle to discuss their next steps.

"Alright, so how are we gonna catch this ghost?" Xenia posed, to which Rein raised an eyebrow.

"Catch the ghost? Hahaha, no. The ghost is gonna catch us," he claimed, widening the eyes of the rest of the group in surprise.

"What?! Are you insane? *ahem*, I mean, why would we do that?" Sho rebelled, his face turning red in embarrassment, trying to hide his fear.

"I'm sane. This is the best way to find the ghost, and I think I can exploit its weakness," Rein informed as Clyde nodded in agreement.

"But why? If we're just gonna let it capture us, then what was the point of the investigation we just did?" Chloe asked in confusion.

"Think about it. What did we learn from this investigation? We learned that the ghost will always capture witnesses, no matter what, correct?" Clyde recounted, to which the group nodded.

"Yeah, because those kids from the first incident all got taken away at the same time. And the chief said that nobody's seen it… but wait, what about that old man?" Xenia thought out loud.

"Exactly. That was a big anomaly in this case. The chief kept saying that the ghost took anyone it saw, yet there's one person that managed to escape. Why do you suppose that is?" Rein asked, wanting to induce thought into the group.

"I'm not sure… but it must have something to do with the 'thing' you were saying was afflicting people. You said the old man didn't have it, so maybe that's why he was able to escape?" Sho surmised, Rein and Clyde nodding as they heard his hypothesis.

"Yeah, I think so too. So why does the man not have anything afflicting him? Why do we not have anything afflicting us? Why does the chief and her niece not have anything afflicting them? They all have one thing in common."

"The one thing they all have in common… is it that they all don't live in the village? I think the chief's house might be just outside the border," Chloe concluded, Rein patting her on the head as a reward.

"You got it. So those people can't be hunted by the ghost. Now the next question that we need to answer is, how does one get afflicted? To test that, I need one person other than Core and Xenia to volunteer," Rein announced as Chloe embarrassingly pushed his hand off of her head.

"Why are Core and I excluded?" Xenia posed.

"Because if Core is captured, he'll have no way to fight back, and if you're caught, you have the ring on you, so the ghost might not even be able to capture you. It's too dangerous to find out what would happen, so you're out of the picture. Besides, there's no way you'd willingly volunteer to be captured by the ghost anyways," Rein explained, his reasoning slightly angering her, but she couldn't refute anything he said.

"I'll volunteer. I think I may know the trigger to get afflicted as well," Clyde raised his hand, Chloe and Sho heaving a sigh of relief simultaneously.

"Right, the trigger to getting the affliction should have something to do with the ghosts hunts, and the radius of the village. Meaning that to get the ghost to hunt you, you have to be in the village when the ghost appears," Rein theorized.

"Then I'll stand in the village while you guys stand outside. Once it appears, it will probably be safe for you guys to come in, since you don't get the mark unless you're in the village when the hunt begins. I'll distract it while you guys investigate the ghosts' appearance and properties. After that, I'll purposely let the ghost capture me to see where it would take me. Does that sound good?" Clyde proposed, gaining Reins nod of approval.

"Wait, I don't like it… we don't know what happens when the ghost actually captures you…" Xenia pointed out.

"Yes, that is what I am going to find out," Clyde reiterated.

"That's the problem… What if something happens to you? What if it hurts you… or worse, what if it…" She didn't finish her sentence, fearing that she would speak it into existence as she swallowed a ball of spit that had formed in her throat.

"Hmph, I won't die," Clyde assured.

"What? How do you know?" She worryingly asked, putting her hand on his chest. 

"He won't. Don't worry, Clyde's not gonna die," Core finally spoke out with utmost confidence, no doubt mixed into his voice.

"Well there you go. You've got Core's guarantee," Clyde laughed as he walked into the village, the sun finally finishing its descent into the horizon.

"If Core's wrong about this, I'll kill you Clyde! Then I'll kill him!" She yelled out, making Core laugh in a nervous sweat.

"But if Core's wrong, then Clyde would already be… and Core's immortal… ah whatever, I'm just not gonna question it," Rein thought as he slouched down with a blank expression on his face.

As total darkness blanketed the village, the loud crickets could be heard ringing throughout the starry night. Clyde stood a few feet in front of the group, who all stood behind him just outside the border of the village.

They patiently waited for the ghost to appear, Rein keeping third eye active the entire time, so that he could notify Clyde whenever he became afflicted.

They waited, and waited, and waited quietly, until about 1 hour had passed.

"I'm beginning to think that this ghost doesn't exist," Sho claimed as he stood up from his seat on the floor.

"Just a little longer. I'm certain it will appear soon," Clyde assured as Sho yawned in boredom.

"Yeah, sure thing. I never believed in ghosts anyway. I'm not scared either, see?" Sho took a step into the village and stood beside Clyde.

"Are you sure you want to do this? If it appears, you will also be marked," Clyde warned.

"Yeah, it's not gonna appear. And even if it does, it won't be able to catch me," Sho boasted as he stood there fearlessly.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. I heard some ghosts can teleport as much as they want within their domain. If it has its sights set on you, you won't escape," Rein informed, which sent a chill down Sho's spine.

"You know, on second thought, maybe I should wait outside," he said as he turned around, seeing Rein's expression change suddenly, his eyes widening in a shocked motion, his mouth opening as if he was about to say something, however Clyde and Sho heard nothing.

"H-huh? What's wrong? Why are you flapping your gums without saying anything? Come on, you're freaking me out here," he uttered as he tried waking back towards Rein, then bumping into an ominous invisible barrier.

"Huh? What the hell is this? No way? Did it..?" A million thoughts ran through Sho's head as he looked back into the village, darting his eyes around as he searched for something.

Clyde was still standing firm, unaware of what was happening, waiting for the warning from Rein, sternly staring into the center of the village. Sho's horrified eyes, along with his heavy breath continued darting around the village, eventually his breath halting as his eyes also stopped on a large, shadowy figure.

"Holy shit… Clyde! Look out! It's after you!" Sho yelled in a panic as the shadow pounced in Clyde's direction, Sho jumping in and moving him out of the way before the shadow could capture him.

"What?! But Rein didn't say anything… how did you know that it appeared?" Clyde asked as he tilted his head back in Reins direction, seeing him, Chloe, and Xenia flapping their mouths as they punched an invisible barrier.

"The ghost isolated us in the town! We can't hear them, and they can't hear us! Neither can we cross the barrier!" Sho frantically explained as he and Clyde ran away.

"No way… it also isolates..? But that's impossible… then *her* story wouldn't make any sense…"