Captain Lewyin leaned back in his chair with sunglasses outside of his massive backyard in a private estate, clad in a light white shirt and blue shorts.
Then he removed his glasses and grimaced, "how dare you sneak up on the undefeated captain of Celestia!" He roared, turning back, his mana flaring in huge bursts.
Shinto came out from behind a trimmed bush with roses.
"Watch your tone, I'm the stronger between the two of us," he remarked.
"Cousins," Lewyin said and rolled his eyes and grabbed the milkshake next to him on a small table.
"The undefeated, unopposed, unstoppable Captain of Celestia—" Lewyin turned around to meet Shinto's eye.
"When you want something, you praise. What now?"
Shinto raised up his hands in surrender, "I came to give, not take." Lewyin squinted at him.
Shinto put his hand in his pocket, "by now, you should know that someone can actually use the powers of the Abyss." Lewyin nodded affirmatively at his cousin's words.
"Tell me something new, I'm bored!" Lewyin said, turning to Shinto.
"I fought him, you haven't," he said, bringing down his hood, and he had oxblood-colored hair like Lewyin, but Lewyin had green eyes unlike Shinto.
"You're kidding." Lewyin said, waving off Shinto's words.
Shinto glared at him, then smirked, "don't think you're the only busy one. I could have been Captain for another country I have citizenship in, but I declined. Such still happened for another country, so don't think you're the only one seeing opportunities." Shinto said, taking Lewyin's drink and gulping it down.
Lewyin cleared his throat, "I was just testing you. I am aware someone can actually use the power of the Abyss."
Shinto's eyebrows were raised, "I don't think it's the Abyss's power. It shouldn't be possible for anyone to use the power of something that's neither real nor nonexistent."
Lewyin folded his arms and leaned forward, "it's the General of Celestia that told me that it's possible. And right now, we don't know what to do about this person."
Shinto leaned back and closed his eyes and let the rays of the sun relax his skin.
"How can a force as powerful as Celestia not know what to do?" Shinto said slowly, his eyes still closed.
Lewyin hissed, "it's called bureaucracy, you dumb! Of course, the simplest thing would have been getting rid of him, but we can't just do that if he'll be useful to us."
Shinto sat up cackling, "you speak way cause you haven't fought a monster," he opened his eyes wide and stared at Lewyin, "he will obviously never fight for or with you. Rather, he'd have all of Celestia be his wraith army."
Lewyin rolled his eyes and filled his glass with more milkshake from a jug, but Shinto swiped it.
"See how I took this so quickly? Slowly, and the ghost will haunt your country sooner or later." Shinto said, then gulped the drink.
Lewyin rubbed his temple, "oh Shinto, faster than the wind, what do you say we do?" He scoffed.
"Have the government make policy that'll stop him from coming here, your Captain, so you've got influence. This ghost we're talking about can't use mana, and if no mana users enter your country, that minimizes the chances of him infiltrating," Shinto replied.
Lewyin thought about the matter for some time in silence, "I'll think about that."
Shinto stood up and stretched his arms, "see? I was always the brain, and I'm not a Captain. But I don't need to be one to have influence," Shinto said, cackling, and left.
Lewyin squinted at him leaving because deep down, he knew Shinto was right.
Shinto was faster, stronger than him, but he didn't need to be Captain, and yet other countries continued to ask that he be their Captain, and with so much influence, he can even decline and still see opportunities.
Lewyin gritted his teeth and folded his arms, and an idea that was sparked in his mind made him gasp.
He pulled out his phone and dialed the president of Celestia.
The president picked up and ashened when Lewyin was glaring at him.
"I called and you didn't immediately pick. What's the meaning of that?" Lewyin asked, making the president fidget.
He was a man in his forties with red eyes and eye sacks, his strength of youth long gone.
"My apologies, I was in another meeting," he said.
Lewyin nodded, "that's not an issue. I just need you to be ready when I have someone urgent to tell you—like now."
Celestia's president furrowed his brows, "what might that be?"
Lewyin smiled.
---
The taxi stopped at the small apartment Ariel, Josh, and Weber lived in.
Weber got out and opened the door for Ariel, and he stretched out his hand and she came out.
"What's with you today?" Ariel asked.
Weber shrugged with a smirk, "I remember me from the past doing that a lot, so I thought I'd make it like old times," he said, going upstairs, Ariel next to him.
When they unlocked the front door, they entered and didn't see Josh's shoes on the floor, which always showed he was home.
"That's odd..." Weber said, looking around for his shoes, then shrugged, "maybe today is different." He said and jumped on the couch.
Then he looked at a corner where Josh always stayed with books, but the books weren't there.
"Still think he's home?" Ariel teased.
Weber stood up and walked around yelling Josh's name, but he wasn't home, then he came back to the living room with his hands on his waist and smacked his lips.
"I don't think he's here. Gabrielle, show yourself," he said and she appeared with a scowl on her face, her arms folded.
"Any idea where Josh is?" he asked, but Gabrielle rolled her eyes.
"Why are you asking me this as if I don't follow you around? Meaning the last time you saw him was the last time I saw him. Now, don't bother until there's blood to spill!" She yelled and vanished.
Weber rolled his eyes and mimicked her words, "don't bother me till there's blood to spill."
Ariel chuckled, "some friend you have there."
Weber sighed and called Josh, and he didn't pick up.
"Weber frowned, "don't tell me someone like Shinto took him..."
Ariel looked around and spread her mana in all directions; nothing appeared.
"What are you doing?" Weber asked.
"I'm trying to see if he came back, but he hasn't," Ariel remarked.
Tracking Josh would have been easier if he had mana essence, but since he didn't, she had to track his life force itself, which required even more of her mana.
Ariel's legs buckled, and she fell to the floor.
Weber rushed to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder, "don't push yourself."
Ariel nodded and slowly walked to a chair and sat down.
Weber's hair and eyes turned white, and Ariel whipped her head to him.
"Don't use the Abyss to find Josh! You might lose your mind!" She said, rising to her feet, but the fatigue weighed her down and Weber caught her.
"I owe him and you so much," he said, laying her on the chair, and he turned intangible, "so let me return the favor how I can," he said and went into the ground.
Ariel tried catching him, but she was too slow.
Weber made his way to the rooftop of the apartment and looked down on the city.
"This will be too much for me to do alone," he said, jumping from one rooftop to the next.
Looking around, he saw a wraith in a jacket and hood.
And this one had just as much sorrow as Gabrielle.
And the stronger the sorrow, the more powerful the spectre.