[Isalynne]

It was curious, Isaac considered, that he had ever come across the pendant hanging around his neck in the first place.

Aunt Sherry was a good woman at heart. Beneath her bitterness and penchant for scamming and unstoppable alcoholism, there was a softer side, one that always had displayed itself for her nephew. He had no shortage of fond memories of her, showing off her tarot cards and her crystal ball with him perched on her knee as a child, running his fingers over the silken fabric of her swishing skirts. There was nowhere quite like her parlour. The smell of incense hung heavy, clung to every surface and object - light only trickled in through gaps in the heavy drapes or danced at the tip of lit candles. Once upon a time, he may have considered it magical.

Isaac had grown up quickly. Dealt with things that he didn't believe were possible. Through that, he was quick to discover that Aunt Sherry was not all that she seemed.

The supposed divination and contacting of spirits to comfort mourning families was a smokescreen. All a trick, enabled by simple research and slight of hand. A smoke machine, a hidden knocker, a remotely activated fan to blow that chilly breeze at the right second. Never had she seen or spoken to a ghost, and neither did she believe it was even possible. The day he had been told this, she had laughed and shaken her head, her enormous dangling earrings clinking together with an equally raucous sound.

"If I can make money off of people who are stupid enough to believe fairytales, then so be it."

They're not fairytales, he longed to yell after her. He wished he could make her see what he could - wished he could tell her about the spirit of his grandmother, her mother, leering over her shoulder and staring with fury and disdain. Ached to convey how tangible that disappointment was... and yet, he knew there was nothing that could make her believe. No remedy to her assumptions. The only person he hoped would have understood was perhaps the least likely to hear him out.

As he tugged his shirt off, the cool lapis bumped against his collarbone, and he caught a glimpse of the carving in the mirror. A lion, he believed - the craftsmanship was excellent, the visage truly awe inspiring. If he tried hard enough, he thought he might hear it roar. Aunt Sherry had been displaying it in her hallway, another anonymous trinket supposed to help her appear more authentic.

"Paid a fortune for it, but as you might expect, it does nothing," She had proclaimed. "Take it if you want it. Sell it. Get yourself something nice with the money."

Isaac hadn't been able to bring himself to rid himself of it. Like a good luck charm, he had carried it everywhere since he had acquired it. Its presence consoled him in a way he couldn't quite describe. Reflecting upon it had him frozen in front of the open shower door, raising a hand to feel the weight of the stone in his palm. It was a comfort.

Even a comfort couldn't stop the familiar tingling sparks shooting down his spine, however.

Something was coming. For god's sake, why did it have to be when he wanted ten minutes to himself for a god damn shower? Isaac's chest grew tighter and tighter as the sensations strengthened, drawing his energy from him in steady pulls. The figure materialising in front of him had a grin before it had a face.

"Mind if I take you for a ride? Aaawesome," Its voice was grainy, grating in a way that made him shudder. His teeth ground together. "Hey, pretty necklace. I might keep it."

Fuck, this stuff sucked.

[crow]

Lan woke slowly, as if from a deep sleep. At first, he was barely aware of it--- little flashes at the edge of consciousness, voices and the faint thrum of life. But as the days went by, things came into focus, and he began to become aware of a single, consistent presence. That much, at least, was a blessing. He used that presence as an anchor, from which he could orient himself.

It had been a long time since anyone had worn the pendant long enough for him to be roused from his slumber. That much became clear almost immediately. There were so many unfamiliar things that it took him some time to realize that his new bearer, such as it was, was actually quite the mundane individual. Days passed without anything worthy of note happening around them. At first it was a blessing, but as time went on and Lan felt more confident in his assessment, he grew bored. Gone were the days of pitched battle--- or even of highway robberies and clandestine escapes from perilous circumstances, he supposed.

It was a good thing. Of course it was a good thing. But gods, it was so boring.

It was complacency, more than anything else, that prevented him from spotting the real danger when it appeared. That, and he just hadn't expected another spirit. Of course, the thing crawling up the pendant wearer's spine was nothing so distinguished as himself, but nevertheless, it was a spirit.

Right. Lan roused himself, shaking off decades if not centuries of leftover lethargy, before manifesting out of the pendant, arms crossed and scowling. "What do you think you're doing?" he said to the invader. Not that he actually cared to hear the answer, of course. "You're not welcome here, so you'd better get lost."

[Isalynne]

Isaac was almost a hundred percent certain that he was hallucinating. The side effects of attempted possession tended to do that - dizziness, lethargy, chances of seeing figures bursting out of pendants. He groaned, reaching behind himself to lean on the sink for extra support. What the hell was happening? One creepy ghoul trying to harass him was more than adequate, he had no desire to wrestle with another one--

It didn't sound like the new arrival wanted to harm him, however.

"What.. the hell--?" His words were slurred, and he was quickly silenced with a grunt of pain as his unwanted house guest drew closer, reaching out a ghastly arm to touch his chest.

"Hey, shut up, I'm talkin' to the genie here," The spirit was still grinning, gesturing to Lan with its free hand. "What do you want, huh? Think I'm gonna be scared by you? Not likely."

Christ, it was an epidemic. They'd be crawling out of the walls next, telling him he had seven days to live. If Isaac didn't have to deal with a splitting headache and general weakness of limb, he would have been a bit more enthusiastic about resisting, but he was pretty damn exhausted already. All he'd wanted was a warm shower.

"Get outta here," He managed to slur, though it took much effort. "Get.. out!"

[crow]

Lan arched a brow as the ghost brushed off the boy. "Are you now?" he said. "That didn't sound like what you were doing a moment ago." As for the ghost's assertion that it wasn't scared of him... Lan grinned. "I can fix that. Just give me a minute to warm up---"

But whatever he was about to do, he was brought up short by the boy. His new owner, loath as he was to acknowledge it.

He could feel the unpleasantness of a command tugging at him. His expression soured.

"Yeah," he said to the other ghost, "you heard him. Piss off." But the significance of the sensation wasn't lost upon him either. Somehow, he'd been lumped in with that guy as another rogue ghost.

Didn't people these days know a guardian when they saw one?

[Isalynne]

Isaac clutched onto the bathroom sink for dear life, sick with pain and fear and confusion. He was struggling to grasp the threads of the conversation between the spirits, but was able to determine that his most recent uninvited guest was defending him. Why? What the fuck was happening anymore?

"What are you, some kinda goody two-shoes? Yikes," The ghoul hissed between its teeth, a derisive and condescending sound. "Or do you just wanna have this guy to yourself?"

Being touched by it was sapping Isaac of his strength, and trying to swat it away was fruitless, for obvious reasons.

"G-get off me.." His voice was barely a wheeze.

"No can do, pretty. You hang in there while I deal with this guy."

It was undoubtedly a terrible idea for the ghost to swing for Lan, but it was beyond caring, and was likely dumb enough to have given it a try even if it was aware of what he was.

[crow]

Lan sneered, unimpressed with the other spirit. "I'm not some ill-bred rogue of a ghoul like you. My ancestors were scholars in the east centuries before yours were even beginning to lift themselves from the station of dirt farmers." As for wanting the boy to himself, Lan wasn't even going to deign that with a reply. A guardian like him needed no vessel, and anyway, if he was looking for one, a scrawny half-grown one like this was hardly an appealing prospect.

His look of contempt gave way when the ghost swung for him though. He didn't even bother to dodge out of the way, instead choosing to catch the fist in the open palm of his hand. He let it stay there a moment in his crushing grip, grinning wolfishly.

"You're going to have to try a little better than that," said Lan. Then he dropped low and swept out with a kick.