Ravensdagger_Cinnamon_Bun

Chapter Four Hundred and Eight — Ghost Stories

Chapter Four Hundred and Eight — Ghost Stories I was careful not to let my Cleaning magic touch the notebook. I wasn’t sure if it would interact with the little ghostly lines scratched across parts of the list, and it would be rude to erase the ghost’s work.Or, instead of calling it the ghost’s notebook, maybe I should have called it Lavinia’s; that seemed to be the name of the person who owned it, and who I suspected quite strongly was the ghost.I glanced around the nook I was in, then nodded my head. “Alright. Can I show this to someone? Or someones? I think they’d like to know what you’re up to, and maybe... well, maybe we can work things out in a nice, friendly way.”A book slid forwards on one of the shelves, just enough that I noticed it without the book clattering to the floor, which was probably for the best, since it seemed a little old. The Gratitude of Ser Hawke, read the title, which I decided to translate into a simple thank-you from the ghost.It was a surprisingly nice ghost, all said.Really, what had it done that was so bad? Sure, it made a bit of a mess, but someone being a bit of a mess wasn’t a reason to say that they didn’t deserve some friends too.With the notebook in hand, I started to navigate out of the corner I was in, only I think I took a wrong turn at some point. The building was, I suspected, a bit bigger on the inside than it was on the outside, because I ended up walking much deeper into the stacks than I should have been able to. I even had to use Proportion Distortion once to squeeze through a corridor that narrowed and narrowed down until it was too small for a human-sized person to walk through.The books in that smaller section were all sized for mousefolk, which was an interesting discovery. Of course they’d write books that small for themselves. It probably saved a lot on paper and ink costs.Eventually, I had to ask Lavinia for help, and the ghost helpfully pointed me along the right passages, through a rotating wall, and down a spiral staircase that brought me back to the mezzanine where my friends were.Amaryllis and Caprica were deep in the ghostly literature section, and as I approached, they both looked up from the book they were studying. “I found the ghost,” I announced.“Oh, good, you killed it,” Amaryllis said with a nod.“Um... not exactly,” I said.She sighed. “Did you befriend the ghost we were supposed to kill, Broccoli?”I grinned, unrepentant, and raised the notebook. “I got this from them.”Amaryllis and Caprica took the notebook and started to go through it carefully. “This isn’t so old,” Caprica said.“What do you mean?” I asked.“The notebook. The paper’s not yellowed, the ink hasn’t faded. Look, this book here." She tapped an entry on the first page of Lavinia's notebook, written in mortal ink. "This one came out while I was still in school. I remember seeing it new. It’s a Sylph book, maybe five or six years old. By the time the book made it to Inkwren... call it four years ago?”“Oh! So the person that wrote the notebook only died a few years ago, then,” I said with a nod. That was a good deduction on Caprica’s part.“This just looks like a list of books someone wanted to read,” Amaryllis said. “Why would the ghost give you this?”“I think it’s maybe why they’re a ghost in the first place,” I said.Amaryllis’ brows drew together, and she let go of the notebook to reach for one of the tomes they’d been pouring over before. “We did discover that there are several types of ghosts. Or at least, experts in that field decided to classify different ghosts into different categories.”“Alright,” I said. “And what do you think Lavinia is?”“We thought that they were a poltergeist originally. Now, keep in mind that the person who wrote this clearly used artificial categories for the different types of spirits right next to actual World-given categories.”I blinked. “What’s the difference?” I asked.Amaryllis hummed. “Easy to forget that you’re not from around here, sometimes,” she said. “Alright, think about it like this. Let’s say you suddenly decided that you want to take up blacksmithing as a career, or just as a hobby.”“Uh, alright,” I said. I could imagine that, at least as a hypothetical.“Would that make you a blacksmith?” she asked.“I... guess?”She nodded. “It would, insofar as you do the task and know what you’re doing. But you wouldn’t have a Blacksmithing, or a Blacksmithing-adjacent class. You won’t have skills to help you with your work. If Awen picked up the same hobby, she would probably be better because she has supporting skills, but neither of you would hold a candle to someone with an actual Blacksmithing class. So, in that case, we can broadly categorise people into three spaces. People who do something without assistance, people who do something and have skills that assist them, and people who do it and have a supporting class.”I got it so far. “But what’s that got to do with, you know, the ghost?”“Right,” she said. “Well, ghost hunters and people who study that kind of spirit have categories that they put ghosts and spirits into. Ancestor spirits, benign ghosts, poltergeists, malevolent spirits, and things like wraiths.”“Alright,” I said. “And not all of those categories are... World-defined, right? So the ghosts might not all have classes, or something?”Amaryllis smiled. “Your occasional intelligence is what makes your friendship so tolerable, Broccoli,” she said.“Thank you?”“Essentially, Caprica and I thought that the ghost was a poltergeist. Those are ghostly spirits whose passing is marked by anger and resentment. They’re usually fairly violent. In fact, most ghosts are, though they’re usually so weak that they’re a non-threat. Poltergeists, however, can catapult objects around and cause actual harm.”Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.“You didn’t think that the ghost was a wraith or anything worse?” I asked.Caprica shook her head as she finished looking at the notebook. “No. A wraith would be a lot more violent, and aggressively so. Pecorina would have had a lot more trouble on her hands if that was the case, and would likely have called on the city guard or their equivalent already.”“But Lavinia isn’t like that. They seem... actually, kind of nice, once I started talking to them.”“They were able to talk?” Amaryllis asked.“Uh, not quite. They threw books at me, but the titles told a story.”Amaryllis stared. “Are you certain? Maybe they threw one of those books hard enough that you started imagining things?” I pouted at her, and she grinned. “Fine, fine. So they can kind of communicate. That’ll make it easier to lure them into a trap.”“No,” I said. “It’ll make it easier to befriend them.”“Really?” she asked, clearly a bit exasperated.“Why not? I think they’re a ghost because they want to finish their reading list, right?”“That’s plausible,” Caprica said as she closed the notebook up and gave it back. “How ghosts are made is a subject of some debate, but generally, they appear when someone has a lot of regrets, or something they really wanted to accomplish.”“I, for example,” Amaryllis began. “Might become a ghost determined to haunt you lunatics.”“I’ll learn how to make the best ghostly tea,” I promised. It was a bit more morbid than our usual jokes, but it was still a little funny. “But... yeah, maybe instead of hurting the ghost, we can help them move on?”Amaryllis rubbed the side of a talon against her chin. “Sounds like more work than just exorcising them,” she said.Caprica shrugged. “It’ll depend on Pecorina at the end of the day. This is her bookshop, so she ought to be the one to decide.”That was true. Maybe we could relocate the ghost to another library if Pecorina didn’t want them, that would also technically fulfil the bookshop owner’s request, but if the ghost mostly wanted to stay here, then... yeah, talking to Pecorina was the right choice.“Alright,” I said as I stretched my back out with a nice pop. “Let’s head over to wherever Pecorina is, and tell her about our plan.”My friends followed me as we navigated through the easier sections of the bookstore. The bits closer to the front and more out in the open all seemed nice and straightforward. It was only when I looked down into the deeper end of the stacks that my eyes got strained and it started to feel like I was staring into the abyss.We found Pecorina on the first floor, cashing someone out at the register, but that didn’t take too long and she floated over to us, a smile on her whiskered face. “So, how goes the ghost hunt?”I was a little hesitant, but I shoved that aside. “We think we’ve found a better solution,” I said.One of Pecorina’s eyebrows shot up. “A better solution? The task might be difficult to carry out, but I don’t think it’s difficult to comprehend. Unless you’re giving up and just want to pay for the book outright?”I shook my head. “No, no, it’s just that I think I know why Lavinia is haunting your shop.”Pecorina’s breath caught. “Lavinia?” she asked.“You knew her?” I asked.For some reason, it hadn’t crossed my mind that Pecorina might know the ghost.She waved my question away. “It’s the name of an old client, one I haven’t seen in a few years. I imagined she moved on, graduated from the Academy she attended, or dropped out. People come and go all the time.”I glanced at my friends, then took the notebook from Caprica. “I think this might have been hers,” I said. “It’s the ghosts. She led me to it.”Pecorina gestured and the notebook floated out of my grasp and opened up. The pages flipped aside, one by one as she scanned them all. “Oh, the poor dear,” she said. “But why is she haunting my stacks now?”“If that list is a list of the books she wanted to read, then it’s possible that the ghost just has unfinished business,” Amaryllis said.Caprica nodded and continued where she left off. "We propose to let her stay, help her finish reading the books she wanted, and in return, she might be willing to help around the store."Pecorina was silent for a moment before breaking into a slow smile. “A bookshop with a bookghost. Though, I suspect our little ghost lacks some of the talents I’d look for in a new employee. For one, I generally only hire people who are corporeal.”I held back a giggle at that. It was a bit strange. “Ah, but I think I could negotiate it so that Lavania will work for books.”“Books are hardly cheap, you know,” she said.“Well, she’d hardly need to keep them forever,” I said with a gesture to the notebook. “Just long enough to read, and then, well, then she might pass on.”“She might make for a good security measure as well,” Pecorina muttered.“Oh, and she helped guide me through the bookshelves. I got a little lost.”Pecorina nodded. “That’s quite common. I usually send pamphlets with maps after any wayward customers if they don't emerge after a while. Having a ghostly guide might be even better. Very well! Have you spoken to Lavinia about this?”“Sorta?” I said. “Um... come on, if we find her, we can explain things. I bet she wouldn’t mind.”“An introduction…” Pecorina mused. "It sounds fair. Should we gather some of her favourite titles for her? A kind of... housewarming gift?"“Library-warming, more like,” Caprica corrected with a chuckle, earning an eye roll from Amaryllis.“Yes, I think that would be lovely,” I agreed. “I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”

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Cinnamon Bun Volume Five is Out!

Kinda hyped! But yeah, Volume Five is finally out on Amazon and on Audible! Figured now was a good time to let everybun know!

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Chapter Four Hundred and Nine — The Phantom of the Bookshop

Chapter Four Hundred and Nine — The Phantom of the Bookshop Now that we more or less knew what we wanted to say to the ghost, we only had one finally, itty-bitty problem. And that was actually speaking to her. Levina tended to pop up and appear as she wanted.Still, I did have a small idea. “Do you have a reading room? Or somewhere quiet where we can set something up?” I asked Pecorina.The mouse tugged on her whiskers the way a man might tug on his moustache. “I have a few small reading nooks upstairs. This is a bookstore, not a library, but some people still choose to treat it as such.” She shook her head, but seemed mostly amused by it.I suspected that Pecorina didn’t really mind, not as long as nobody pushed it too far. She led us to one of the spiral staircases, where we found Calamity and Awen waiting with a small stack of books. They didn't look like they had anything to do with ghosts, not unless they were ghosts in a machine.“This store’s weird,” Calamity said. “It’s like a dungeon or something. You can keep walking in any direction until you ought to be on the other side of the street, or in one of the buildings nearby, but it’s all just more bookshop.”“Yes,” Pecorina said. “We have a very nice collection here.”“That’s not what I meant,” Calamity said. “This place is way bigger than it ought to be.”“And yet I still can’t find a place for some of the books I have,” Pecorina said before dismissing Calamity. I guess she didn’t want to answer his unasked ‘how?’ “So, Captain Bunch, you said you had an idea for attracting the ghost?”“Well, we have her notebook. So she’s probably going to want that back. Do you think you could find some of the unread books on her list real fast?”“I can, yes,” Pecorina said.“Perfect! So, we’ll have those for negotiation, and then we hope that she shows up for them, and that’s when we give her the offer,” I said with a nod. It was a simple plan, but I had high hopes for it!Pecorina seemed amused by the idea, but she didn’t say no to it. “Very well, can I see that notebook again for a moment?” After checking the list for just a few seconds, she nodded, then snapped her fingers, and a few books came floating up from the front of the store and hovered after her. “Lavina seems to have a taste for... romance.”“Romance is popular, I bet,” I said.“Yes, well, this particular sort is no less popular, but it’s nonetheless the sort that not everyone will be caught reading out in public. Though, I suppose there’s a market for it at Mitytea Academy.”“Oh, we’re not from the Academy,” I said.“Hmm, you’re not?” she asked. She didn’t sound surprised at all.“Nope. We just had to sneak in there for another task we had, so we got all dressed up for the occasion. Usually I wear a lot more armour.”“Mercenaries, then?” she asked.Amaryllis huffed, and I shook my head. “We’re Explorers!”She eyed us all interestingly, then shrugged and floated the notebook back over to me. "Very well. I'll collect some of the other titles on this list, then I suggest you set up in the reading room on the third floor. It's quiet and out of the way. I'll bring the books there shortly." The few she’d collected already were floated over to Caprica, who scooped them out of the air, then started to read the titles.Caprica’s cheeks warmed up, and Calamity glanced over them too, only to snort. “No wonder the ghost’s making itself scarce. So, what’s the plan right now?”I explained things to Calamity and Awen while we made our way up to the third floor reading room. It was a cozy space filled with soft armchairs and couches, the walls lined with shelves crammed with books. In the centre of the room was a large wooden table covered in soft lamplight.We arranged ourselves around the table and waited. I flipped through the pages of Lavinia’s notebook, hoping that I had been right about her. What if she was just another poltergeist, out to scare people for no reason? I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something different about Lavinia, though. She seemed more like a sad, lonely soul rather than a vengeful spirit.Out of curiosity, I picked up the stack of books from her list on the table and read through the titles. The Curious Cases of the Velvet Glove sounded like a mystery novel more than a romance, and The Sassy Sausages of Sir Sebastian felt like a comedy title. Was Unravelling the Undergarments of the Unicorn Queen a historical text?I opened one of them to start reading it, but Amaryllis carefully plucked it from my hands and set it back down. “Here, read one of Awen’s books instead,” she said as she reached for Awen’s pile. Then she froze as she picked up a book between a manual and a thick text that seemed to be about airship maintenance. That little book was called The Enticing Eggs of the East.Amaryllis looked at Awen, and Awen seemed laser-focused on the floor.“You know what, how about we just talk instead,” Amaryllis suggested.I wanted to talk about that book. Amaryllis seemed to recognize it. Was it about harpy? They came in eggs.After a while, Pecorina floated into the room, levitating a stack of books. She set them down on the table and gave us a small smile. "I found some of the books from Lavinia's list. Now what?"“Thank you!” I said. “I guess we lay them out and hope that she passes by.” I set the books, one by one, onto the table.It wasn’t long before I felt a cold breeze pass through the room, causing the pages of the books to rustle slightly. I looked around, feeling a chill run up my spine. I noticed my friends tensing up as well, and Calamity looked like he really wanted his bow just then.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.Had that worked? Just fetching the books she wanted? Or... maybe Lavinia was in the room already, waiting for us to find her books for her. If I could go intangible and had basically given someone a task, I’d be a little bit tempted to follow them too.Lavinia didn’t make us wait for long. A low moan filled the room, echoing in the quiet space and causing my hair to stand on end. The flame of the lamp flickered violently, casting dancing shadows against the books on the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a faintly glowing figure materialise next to the table.She did look a little feminine, though it was hard to tell.Some of the ghosts I’d seen looked very much like people, and others seemed more like wispy clouds of faintly-glowing magic. Lavinia was somewhere in the middle, not quite shapeless, but hard to define.“Lavinia,” I started, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. “We’ve got your books.”The ghostly figure paused, its glowing eyes focused on the books. A spectral hand reached out to touch one of them, passing through the pages. Then, slowly, the hand solidified enough to flip the book open.I noticed that my friends were staring intently at the ghost and... was Calamity hiding from it behind Caprica’s chair?"Lavinia," I said, breaking the silence. "These are the books you were looking for. Or, some of them, anyway. We thought you might like to have them. Also, we wanted to discuss something with you. Pecorina could use your help around the bookstore."The ghost was quiet, spectral eyes flicking back and forth between me and the books. Then, it shot off into the maze of shelves. It returned with a book clutched in its ghostly hand, titled The Assistant's Almanac..I blinked, then laughed. “I guess that's a yes, then. You'll assist Pecorina here with the bookstore operations, and in return, you get to read all the books you like, and people will stop trying to exorcize you. Does that sound good?”The ghost paused, then vanished once again. When she reappeared, she had another book. This one was called The Silent Agreement. It was an affirmative response, in its own ghostly way.Pecorina crossed her arms and looked quite imperious as she hovered at shoulder-height. "However, there are a few ground rules," she declared, then she started counting off on her paws. "First, no misplacing books in the wrong sections. Second, no frightening the customers. And third, I expect you to work with a certain decorum. Being dead is no excuse for being late to work, not even if you found something to read. Can we agree on that?" She hovered a bit higher, challenging the spectre.The ghost seemed cowed, floating down and into the floor a little. Then she disappeared, and I was worried that Pecorina had scared her off.She came back though, this time with another book that looked a bit old and tattered. The Good Girl’s Guide to Good Manners.Pecorina seemed satisfied with this response, a small smile creeping onto her face. Lavinia swooshed through the room, and the books she’d brought out to communicate with all flew back to their places on the shelves.Was she eager to get back to work? They hadn't actually worked out pay, or vacation, healthcare and benefits, and I was starting to think that maybe there wasn’t a union for working ghosts either.“You won’t work her too hard, right?” I asked Pecorina.Pecorina chuckled, a soft, warm sound. "I'm not a monster, Captain Bunch. A library is a sanctuary. Usually it’s for the living to see the words of the dead, but I suppose going at it in the other direction’s only fair. As long as Lavinia respects the rules, she can read all the books she wants in her downtime.""Then it's settled!" I exclaimed. I felt a small rush of relief.In front of us, Lavinia, still glowing with an ethereal light, seemed to nod her agreement, the books floating around her as though excited to be read. In that moment, I felt an odd sense of satisfaction. We’d accomplished something... well, not big here, but still something that felt important, even if it was just for someone who wasn’t around anymore.I wondered if Lavinia had ever thought that her love for books would lead to her afterlife's occupation. It seemed strange and yet, perfectly fitting for a ghost haunting a bookstore.Our steps were a little lighter as we wandered back to the second floor. The strange bookstore non-dungeon seemed to warp and shift around us, but somehow, it felt more welcoming than before. Maybe it was just knowing that there was one less sad ghost in the world.“Wait! Pecorina, we forgot to get that book,” I remembered.“No, Broccoli, you forgot the book,” Amaryllis said. “I remember it very well. As well as that promised discount....”Pecorina sniffed, but she still smiled as she led us through a labyrinth of shelves, finally unveiling the grand leather-bound volume of The Art of Being Majestic, the gold lettering of the title shimmering under the warm magelight.“A parting gift for your successful ghost hunting. And, of course, for the assistance you provided me today,” Pecorina said, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “Ten percent off.”“What!” Amaryllis squawked. “That’s it?”“Technically, the ghost is still here,” Pecorina said.Amaryllis looked a bit red at that. “How much is it, exactly?”“Hmm, Twenty-two gold pieces. Local Inkwren gold, but I can convert most currencies for you... for a price.”What if I told you we got a good word from Miss Cottage?" Amaryllis asked."Hm," Pecorina raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that chops off another percent."I settled down on my heels, because from the look on Amaryllis' face and the glint in Caprica’s eyes, we were going to be here for some time still.

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