[Indigo]

He was late. But, he would have insisted to anyone who asked, it was absolutely not his fault. He could not be blamed for Glory's terrible decision to summon her river spirit in the middle of the kitchen while he was trying to have breakfast, nor for the amount of cleanup that was required after the spirit concluded its visit. Glory hadn't even helped with that, just darted out the door as soon as her meeting was done, leaving Rexus to deal with her mess and to open the bookstore alone this morning. He resolved to have a word with her, but knew he probably wouldn't get to it.

As he fumbled with the keys he was so focused on the timeliness issue that he almost missed the square of cardboard someone had attached to the door. Necromancer For Hire - Inquire Within. Possibly someone's idea of a joke; in general he tried not to associate those services with the bookstore, although Robina still insisted on dropping by regularly so it wasn't quite as much of a secret as he'd prefer. In any case, he'd have to worry about it later, because there were two people waiting outside for him to open and doubtless there would be quite a few more shortly. The sign could wait.

[Meesh]

Pascal and Sinopa

The two in question looked to be polar opposites of one another. While Pascal was grinning cheekily, about as delighted to be here as one might get, the more reserved Sinopa was shifting around uncomfortably, offering Rexus a placating grin as he opened the door almost as if she expected him to start yelling at her right then and there.

"Pleasure to meet ya, buddy!" That was Pascal, stepping forward as the obvious spokesperson of the two. He wasted no time in trying to push himself inwards, jabbering all the while. "Hope you don't mind the intrusion, my roomie here and I just happened upon that sign of yours! Actually a necromancer is just what we needed, we got into a bit of a tizzy you see-"

"Y-you might do well to be a little more polite Pascal." Sinopa scolded, dipping her head in quick apology to Rexus. She looked up to meet the necromancer's gaze then, a bit sheepish. "W-we made a bit of a mistake with this spellbook, you see, and-"

"Aw, don't try and get me off the hook" Pascal laughed, taking over once again. "I was messing around with this spellbook we found, trying to summon ghosts 'n all that. Was actually gonna prank this one here with a good scare." he grinned good naturedly at Sinopa. "Result is a ghost that neither of us can quite figure out how to get rid of. So, think you can lend a hand?"

(Let me know if the color's alright! Also if you want me to do more/less text! ^^;)

[Indigo]

Rexus took a moment to stare at the two of them, not quite believing what he was hearing. Summoning ghosts as a prank? Such blatant disregard for one's own safety was—well, it wasn't exactly foreign to him, but he was always deeply surprised to learn anyone could be even close to as reckless as his sister. And the talkative one didn't even sound particularly concerned about the whole thing. Astounding.

"I..." He shook his head. "I may be able to help you with your...problem, though it's not the kind of thing I usually do. I don't—you said something about a spellbook? Where did you get it?" That sentence came out with a little too much enthusiasm; well, truth be told he was more interested in books than magic, necromancy hobby notwithstanding. Hopefully they wouldn't notice. Belatedly, he added, "You should probably come inside. This isn't the sort of conversation I'd like to have in the middle of the sidewalk."

The store was an exceedingly tidy place, since he was the one running it most of the time, even rows of shelves with the beginning and end of each section carefully marked, nothing ever left out of place for long. The aisles were generally wide enough to allow even a large Paragon to move freely, although sometimes he did find things knocked on the floor by a careless tail; but that tended to happen no matter what he did. He went to the counter, under which he kept a handful of necromancy books for quick reference, because despite his efforts people did tend to come here about that and there were certain topics that came up again and again.

[Whatever text colors and post length work for you are fine with me! ]

[Meesh]

Sinopa followed meekly, tail drooped between her legs and head hanging low. There were bags under her eyes and she was stifling a yawn - clearly this ghost had been less than ideal for her health as of late. So it was with little complaint that the kuhna followed Rexus inside, leaning against the counter with a tired sigh.

Pascal, by contrast, was having the time of his life. The Batti was eagerly running between the shelves, a stack of books already being piled by SInopa. He paused in his gathering only when the Kuhna gave him a meaningful book, grinning shamelessly and trotting over to sit beside her. "Some street merchant was selling some cool books for cheap, I got this one on a whim." he shrugged, far more unconcerned than Sinopa as he delicatly reached into the pack tied around his middle and pulled out the tome in question.

The book was... the most fake looking thing in the world. The cover was shiny and glossy, with "How to summon ghost, goblins, and other spooky things!" written on the cover in comic sans a bold and messy font. The illustrations inside were large and cartoony and most of the spells inside looked like complete rubbish to a practiced eye. It was perhaps just bad luck that the dog-eared page Pascal had opened to and was now indicating to Rexus actually looked like it would work- especially given the pair's current predicament. The rest of the book (if flipped through) contained a similar mix of mish-mash with the occasional scattering of an actual workable spell. Though often the 'workable' spells amounted to mere party tricks, such as causing a ghost to glow softly, or summoning a harmless imp to dance for you.

"It'll probably be here soon."  Sinopa's voice was so soft that it could have easily been missed. "It usually follows me wherever I go, but it's a lot slower than we are so there's usually a few minute delay. Gives me a few seconds of quiet." Already, her eyes were fluttering open and shut, as if she had not hd a proper rest in a good while.

(Feel free to take control of the book, the ghost, anything! I'm mostly making this up as I go along )

[Indigo]

The spell in question wasn't one he recognized, which worried him a little. He hadn't studied as extensively as some, so perhaps it didn't indicate that the ghost was particularly dangerous, but it was always much easier for him to reverse a summoning he'd worked with before even if he hadn't been the one to cast it. What he did recognize seemed to indicate it was meant to target a particular spirit, though why he couldn't say.

He was muttering to himself, he realized. Well, maybe that was excusable in a necromancer.

"It follows you?" His ears flattened briefly. The shop wasn't particularly well-defended from ghosts coming in, since that wasn't his usual problem. One of these books must have something in them... "What exactly does this ghost do?" he said as he searched. "Is it merely annoying, or has it attacked you?" If it had he would expect them to seem more worried about it, but you never could tell.

Here it was, a handy selection of barriers, many of which were beyond his skill level so if this was a particularly vengeful spirit they might be in trouble. Probably best not to bring that up. It wouldn't help anyone. He flipped through in search of anything that looked like it matched what was written in the incredibly tacky spellbook, although if there was nothing he could manage with a description of the ghost.

[Meesh]

Sinopa seemed to shrink under the attention, though she did do her best to hold firm and answer all the questions. "Y-yes, it does follow...sorry. It mostly seems to be intent on making a ruckus, I suppose." she answered with a small shrug, glancing over her shoulder. "It makes noise a lot, whispers threats sometimes, but doesn't seem intent on doing much more than following me around."

Pascal interjected here with a quick affronted clearing of his throat. "Was only meant as a prank, I'd never do something that'd actually hurt Syn!" he huffed slightly at the very idea, fur floofing up lightly before settling down again as he draped a wing around Sinopa, as much as he was able. "She's a right good roome you kno-"

His words were interrupted by a light whooo coming from the door. Rather than anyone pushing the door open, the gincorporeal figure simply pushed through the door, ignoring it as if it were nothing. The figure was a ghostly grey mostly transparent Kuhna, faded gred and blue markings running in swirls around its fur, probably a rough echo of what it had looked like in the past.

It simply stared at them for a few minutes, gaze looking immesurably sad, before opening its mouth again and letting out another whooo, this one a little louder and more insistant.

"This is how it starts" Sinopa had slunk around to cower behind Pascal, ears flattened miserably. "It'll grow louder and angrier until it's screeching at us. It doesn't actually affect any physical objects from what I've seen?" her worried gaze turned to the necromancer. "Will that change?"

[Indigo]

The ghost's voice was already making Rexus twitchy, a strange undercurrent to the noise, a sound not quite heard. That was one of those things you never got used to no matter how much you worked with the dead. Probably. He didn't have an answer for the Kuhna's question, but rather than say so he closed the book with the barrier spells in it, picked it up in his teeth—one of these days he needed to get around to hiring someone with hands—stepped forward and shoved it toward the ghost.

The book passed through, at least as far as he pushed it. He wasn't about to stick his nose in there. The ghost howled again but it was hard to tell whether that was a response to the intrusion or if it was just proceeding according to plan. Either way, it didn't do anything else. He returned the book to its place, since it wouldn't be of much use now, and nodded. "It shouldn't become a physical danger. Technically it's possible, but the circumstances required don't strike me as very likely." If it could reach a point of enraged screeching and still be unable to affect objects, it was probably too weak to manifest physically for long enough to do anything much.

After a moment's thought, he gestured to the two of them to join him behind the desk, just in case. Just because something wasn't likely...well. He'd seen stranger.

"Now," he said, raising his voice slightly over the ghost's increasing volume. "I can get rid of this thing, but I'm going to need more information from you first. Does anyone besides you two seem to notice the ghost? Has its appearance changed at all since you first summoned it? How long does it usually take to catch up to you?" The first was really the most important, since it would help him figure out what exactly the ghost had latched onto, so he could cut that connection. His awareness of it didn't mean anything; plenty of ghosts were visible to necromancers that couldn't be seen or heard by anyone else.

[Meesh]

Sinopa wasted no time in hopping over the front counter with one graceful leap, landing silently on the other side and then crouching down behind the counter, tails wrapping tightly around her front paws. Her eyes were still wide from the necromancer's stunt with the book - she couldn't quite tell if it had done anything herself, but frankly she wasn't too eager to ask the ghost  or find out. Pascal took a few more moments of staring longingly at some of the books, but eventually he too hopped on top of the counter, then from there glided to land by Sinopa with a light thump, turning to gaze unflinchingly at the ghost. Probably because it wasn't actually him the ghost was paying attention to. Even now, the etherial being had its gaze focused on only the Kuhna.

The pair glanced at one another at Rexus's increasing questions, and after a moment of silent deliberation between them, it was Sinopa who turned towards the necromancer, speaking softly under Pascal's wing draped over her back. "Only Pascal could see the ghost at first, at least until he pointed it out to me. Until then, I could hear it but not see it. As for everyone else, they don't seem to see nor hear the ghost until someone points it out to them." She seemed a little mystified by her own explanation, unexperienced as she was in the more magical arts.

Pascal took over then."And as for appearance, hasn't changed none from its summoning to its now far as I can tell" he squinted at the ghost. "Minus facial expressions, don't think that'd count. It starts off more melancholy, grows angrier as it yells louder." he thought a moment, before his ears perked up and the Batti's face brightened. "Though I suppose summoning it was a right adventure! Circle grew all smokey, smoke solidified then formed into the lovely Kuhna you see before you. As for follow speed." He glanced meaningfully at Sinopa.

Nodding - they had evidently done this several times before - Sinopa murmured a quick. "Excuse me" before leaping up and darting around and past the ghost and out the front door. It stood where it was for a few seconds before slowly shuffling around and ambling out the door as well, moving at a slow, shuffling pace. A few seconds later, Sinopa returned, panting, through the front door, quickly running around the counter again and crouching by Rexus and Pascal. "It always moves at about that same shuffling pace as far as we can tell." she explained. "Which means we can outpace it if we keep up a proper pace, but if we slow down or stop, it'll catch up eventually. It tends to stop at the edge of a door for a while, but it gets closer as it grows louder." at least being able to explain things seemed to do away with her stutter.

It wasn't more than a few seconds though before the ghost had pushed through the door again. whoooo

[Indigo]

Rexus nodded at their answers, more in acknowledgement than recognition. It wasn't a type of haunting he had encountered before, that was certain. "There's something...you say Pascal was the first one to see it, but it seems to be bent on following you. That is—" He cut himself off. It worried him, as he didn't know what it meant, but at this point that probably wasn't something he should say out loud. It wasn't going to help matters.

"Never mind. Whatever its original state, it's clear the ghost has attached itself to you, or possibly to something you're carrying. Do you have anything that might have drawn it?" Though without knowing who the ghost had been it would be hard to determine. "I might need to contain it while I set things up to, er, remove it, in case it figures out what I'm doing. It's very unlikely that it will become dangerous, as I said, but it's always better to be prepared. If it's attached to an object it will be easier to contain."

He stepped out from behind the counter again, passing the ghost to unlock the door to the back room, though he would most likely be doing the actual work out here. Most people found his necromancy setup a little alarming, never mind how much he explained that it wouldn't do anything at all to the living as long as proper procedures were followed. While he had the keys out he took a moment to go back to the front door and lock it again; this would be probably the worst possible time for a customer to show up.

[Meesh]

Sinopa didn't look any more comforted by the end of Rexus's explanation, but now that the necromancer looked like he was springing into action, she was heartened some. She glanced once at Pascal and the batti gave her a nod of reassurance. The two once again had one of those brief silent-conversations that were common in roomies or friends before Pascal spoke again.

"Well, I wouldn't be too surprised with how it all turned out." Pascal mused, eyes gleaming intelligently. "I summoned it, so it was visible to me, see? But Sinopa was the target intended, so it makes sense it focuses on her." he paused a moment, thinking back. "The book said a bit 'of her fur was required, so I added a little of that to the mix. But what can we do about that, shave off all her existing fur so it don't know it's her?" Sinopa gave a startled squeak at that, shaking her head roughly.

Though, she supposed if it was the only way to get rid of the ghost...

"Well, either way, I haven't picked up any posession as of late, so I'm not sure if it would be anything like that..." Sinopa's gaze followed Rexus around the shop as he moved to lock the door and get set up.

[Indigo]

He couldn't help but laugh. "Shaving her would solve the problem, but I don't think it will come to that, and it would likely take longer than what I was planning." Though he would keep it in mind, just in case something did go wrong. One couldn't always tell with ghosts.

"Could I see that spell again?" The ghost kept turning to look at him as he walked back and forth across the shop. Perhaps it was aware of his intentions, though he was still fairly convinced that it couldn't do anything about it. Somewhat convinced, anyway. Convinced enough.

He examined the spell. Generally one could disrupt a haunting by summoning a ghost into a different location and then dismissing it in the usual manner; its connection to its original target would be broken by the new summoning circle. The trouble came in replicating the spell. He couldn't summon this ghost in the normal way because he didn't know who it was, didn't have all the materials, and so on, which meant he had to redo the strange spell Pascal had originally used. Fortunately many of those materials were ones he possessed, and there were some substitutions he'd have to do but most of those were fairly standard, most of the trickiness would be in the steps. It would be fine. He was almost sure. "Well...we aren't going to have to shave you, but I will need some of your fur to do this right."

At least it was a blood-free spell for once. The alternative was usually not suitable for an audience.