Edmond floats in the air before Tri as he stares simply dumbfounded at the ghost of the man calling himself Edmond. Edmond reaches his hand out towards Tri with a slight grin as Tri shakes his head furiously.
“Oh great, I’m insane, I’m seeing ghosts now!” Tri yells out panicking. “I have to lie down or something.”
Edmond shakes his head. No, you are not going mad, well possibly I cannot speak of your mental state. But I am indeed here and this world is indeed facing a crisis.
“Oh yeah prove you’re really here,” Tri says.
I cannot, unfortunately, interact with the physical plane much, it takes quite a bit of power for me to cause a tangible reaction. Edmond says.
Tri smirks. “So, you can’t prove you exist I knew it. This is all fake.”
If that’s all I can do to prove myself then I will, but I can only really affect one thing effectively.
“Alright do it.”
Just hold still.
“What?”
Edmond holds out his hand and calls forth a blade swinging the sword wildly towards Tri causing him to flinch. As Tri opens his eyes, he looks to the ground and sees four deep slash marks in the roof’s concrete causing him to shake wildly.
“What the? What was that?”
The only things I can affect in the physical plane at the moment are yourself and the area around you. Aside from that, I am completely ethereal.
“So, I’m not going crazy.”
Well, you might be, but that has nothing to do with me.
“Shut up!” Tri yells out. “Did I touch some cursed object, why am I being haunted by the ghost of some warrior?”
I’m a Phantom, not a ghost, I am someone not of this world. Besides you were the one who awakened me from my slumber.
“What?”
Edmond points to the watch attached to Tri’s arm, and the coin lodged within it. That coin is my tether to the physical plane. Someone forced a part of my spirit inside of it and now I am bound to it.
“So, if I get rid of this thing I’ll get rid of you?” Tri asks. “Great!”
Tri fumbles with the watch cautiously trying to remove the trapped coin and shaking it within the slot. “Why won’t this thing move?”
It’s stuck obviously. I tried ejecting myself from this device while you slept but it appears to be trapping me. Edmond says floating above Tri. As much as I am loathed to ask such a thing, we must work together to defend this world.
“Okay explain?” Tri asks cautiously.
Do you remember that monster that attacked last night?
Images of the previous night flash through Tri’s mind as he thinks to the crazed man transforming into a monster. “Yeah, I don’t want to do anything like that again.”
But we must.
“What?”
We must transform once again, only together do either of us stand a chance against the horde of Phantoms invading your world.
Tri stands in silence. “No.”
I see I sensed resistance from you. No matter, the very fact that we can transform together speaks of some form of compatibility between us. In time you will see how much we are needed.
Edmond fades away as Tri stares down at the coin embedded in the watch. “Just you watch, I’ll find some way to remove you and I won’t be playing hero anytime soon.”
Tri descends from the roof and walks through the school’s halls staring out of the window at his reflection watching for any signs of Edmond. As he notices Edmond’s reflection he rubs his eyes, and it disappears from view.
“What’re you doing?” Saffy asks walking up to him scowling. “Are you skipping class?”
“No.” Tri stares at her. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m not skipping, I'm just doing a favor for a teacher and now I’m heading back to class like a good student.” She says seriously as she diverts her gaze.
“Your skipping, aren’t you?”
“No.”
Tri sighs. “Hearing voices again?”
“Yeah, I heard something coming from the roof so I went to look for it.” She says embarrassed.
Tri’s eyes widen.
“It’s kind of strange, this voice ‘feels’ different from the other one.” She says. “Anyway, I have to be heading back to class.”
Tri lowers his head. “Alright get back to class and don’t tell anyone you’ve been hearing voices.”
“Of course, I don’t want people thinking I’m a crazy person,” Saffy says walking ahead. “Although isn’t that what a crazy person would say?” She says jokingly.
As Saffy walks off Tri clenches his fist and turns around. “Hey Edmond or whatever, show yourself right now.”
Alright. Edmond says appearing. Is this about the girl, the two of you appear to be close.
“She’s an old friend. Could she hear us? Can she hear you know?”
I don’t know there are certain people in this world who appear to have some level of affinity to us Phantoms. They can sense us hear our calls and respond in time, this type of person naturally attracts Phantoms towards them. Edmond explains.
Tri stands. “Wait, she’ll attract guys like you?”
Most likely more ethereal and almost primal Phantoms. They live off instinct looking drawn to random stimuli and then they’ll rampage.
Tri clenches his fist. “Fine then, I’ve decided.”
Oh? What may I ask have you decided?
“I’ll find the old man who gave this stupid thing to me and I’ll have you remove it, and then I’ll have him make some kind of repellent for your lot and all I have to do from there is wait this mess out,” Tri says with a smirk.
Well, that’s one way to do it. Edmond says.
“Don’t try to stop me, I’ll get this done and I’ll keep myself and Saffy safe,” Tri says determinedly.
Edmond smiles. Alright, I’ll let you go ahead with your plan if you are unwilling to fight then no need to drag you into things.
“Good, well we’ll go hunting tonight. Soon we’ll find that old man and get life back to normal for everyone.” Tri says seriously. “I won’t deal with this crap.”
Whatever you say, either way, we have no choice but to work together.
Tri rolls his eyes. “Don’t say anything about it, because it’ll be over soon.”
