“A ghost from a student forty-seven years ago.” Electa said shaking her head. She was now alone with Phil Doyle having dismissed Archer after hearing his report.

  “The school has been around for a long time. It’s not unexpected for something like this to occur.” Phil said trying to ease her tension.

  “Yes, but this happened on the first day of the school year. Unbelievable.” She muttered.

  “Archer should get the job done soon enough.”

  “Have you met Archer before this mission?” Electa said looking at Phil curiously.

  “No, I met him on the first day of school just like you.”

  “Then why do you seem to trust him so much?”

  “As someone who has worked with WDO agents before I can guarantee you that they get the job done. He will impress you.” Phil said.

  “I hope he does.” Electa said leaning back in her seat.

  ***

  Archer after grabbing a quick breakfast sandwich from the cafeteria made his way to class. Entering the classroom he was surprised to find that most of his classmates were already there. As he bit into his croissant he thought it was strange as class didn’t start for another ten minutes.

  While polishing off his sandwich he read what was written up on the chalkboard, there was to be a registered hero to come and visit them this morning. Confused Bryson looked at the Trinity Academy student app and saw that he missed a notification that a registered hero would visit the class today. That explains it. He thought as he took another bite.

  As he chewed, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around he saw Luna walking into class, in her ears were a pair of earbuds. She had a much happier expression on her face as she saw Archer.

  “Oh hey!” She said brightly, taking one of the earbuds out.

  “Hello there. What are you listening to?” Archer greeted her with a smile as he took another bite of his sandwich.

  “Oh it’s your playlist. It’s really nice.” She said happily.

  “Good to hear.” Archer said observing that her pale complexion had subsided a bit. Still it’s only a temporary solution. I’ll need to cure the disease soon. How will I do this tactfully though?

  “Yeah, uh, I want say-” Luna paused as she noticed Archer looking behind her with a raised eyebrow. Turning around herself, she saw the most peculiar-looking man… posing before her.

  “Huh?” Luna audibly exclaimed.

  “Oh don’t mind me! I’m just enjoying your youthful energy!” The man dressed in a strange combination of bright blue and green said. He had what looked to be a white motorcycle helmet on with a bright pink half-visor and random red stripes across the helmet. On his back was a gaudy-looking red cape with what looked to be flames painted on it.

  “Oh... you’re Fiery Falcon. The C-rank superhero.” Luna said in realization.

  “Indeed I am! So glad to meet you!” He said cheerfully as he gave a small flourish, “It is so glad to see some budding young kids trying to become heroes, even if you are F rank. Do not worry, while it is unlikely for you to graduate as a hero there are plenty of other opportunities you can pursue to support us! Especially someone with a face as beautiful as you.” He said with a wink.

  “Um… thank you.” Luna said looking confused.

  “Now what is this beauty’s name?” He asked as he stretched out a hand towards her.

  “Luna?” Luna said still not sure how to process this interaction as they heard voices near the classroom.

  “You know Anna, I’m surprised how much you’ve been talking about Julia to the other girls in our class.” One voice said.

  “Yeah, you even let the F-ranks in on the gossip.” The other one chuckled.

  “That’s because she deserves it, everyone needs to know how two-faced that girl is.” Annaxia’s voice said.

  “Oh what a beautiful name for a beautiful girl!” He said just as Annaxia Tori entered the classroom with her friends.

  “Oh, who are these cuties right here?” Fiery Falcon said turning around seeing them enter.

  “Uh, hi.” Annaxia said looking annoyed having to deal with this so early in the morning.

  Archer leaned over to look at Fiery Falcon as he began to prattle with his introduction. Archer found this man weird and pretty annoying. Not just with how he was acting, but also how he interrupted his conversation with Luna.

  Archer wanted to ask some questions about that brooch. While he did know that it was possessed by a vengeful ghost who had boy troubles, hence the cheating with the rich sons, he still didn’t know who it was exactly.

  The archives of the school were annoyingly unkempt and it was hard to find information on students who dropped out of the hero program, disappeared, or even died several decades ago. Still Archer had narrowed it down to a few people, but more information would allow him to pinpoint it down to one. But instead of getting clues, he had to stand and watch this airheaded idiot in their thirties flirt with a load of high schoolers.

  “Class is about to begin.” Blackowl rumbled out suddenly appearing at the doorway. Everyone looked over to him startled at his sudden appearance and his death glare.

  “Oh, hello professor Blackowl.” Fiery Falcon said with a happy smile.

  “Take a seat students.” He ordered, “Mister Falcon, please wait for the bell and I will introduce you.”

  “Of course, go on. I will regale you with my deeds in a couple of minutes.” Fiery Falcon said.

  ***

  The next few hours were all about Fiery Falcon telling stories of being a hero and his experiences. Which on the bright side meant no schoolwork, on the downside Fiery Falcon talked for several hours.

  At least Archer could use this time on something more productive. Sleep. He practiced enough to be able to fall asleep when sitting upright and waking up without an alarm clock, as long as he was aware enough. Eventually Archer woke himself up just before the lunch bell rang and the other students began to either leave or stay to ask Fiery Falcon a few more questions.

  Archer quickly decided that doing the former was the better choice. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he headed straight to the library. Checking his phone he saw that Electa had updated his permissions to be able to check out books traditionally restricted to low-ranked first years.

  “Hello there.” Archer said saying to the acting librarian. It was a fellow student of his, though from the look of the rank of her uniform, she was a C-rank who was a year older than him. She had ginger hair that flowed down to her neck and a hairband keeping it in place.

  “Hmm? How can I help you?” She said looking up from her book.

  Peeking down Archer noticed that she had a large history textbook in her hands. But hidden behind the textbook was what looked to be some sort of fiction novel. At his angle he couldn’t discern any words but it seemed that she was hiding what she was reading.

  “Hello, my name is Archer Griffen, pleased to meet you. Professor Doyle has asked for me to retrieve these books from the library.” He said as he showed her his phone with the messages.

  “Huh, um. Okay.” She said reading the messages and checking the computer for files on the books requested, “Yes all books are here. You may go and retrieve them. Remember you are not allowed to take any photos of these books nor are you allowed to damage them. A fine and a reprimand will be placed on you if it happens.”

  “Of course, thank you kindly.” Archer said with a bright smile as he left the girl to her reading and went to grab his books.

  Walking through the library gave Archer a moment to think. He still wasn’t certain if the possession was the only thing that the ghost could do, plus now that it's having issues taking Luna’s body it might try other methods. If only he could pin down whose ghost this was Archer could predict what happens next.

  Taking the books he needed from their shelves Archer gave them a quick glance over. Exactly what was needed. He’ll fix this thing tomorrow. Satisfied he put them in his backpack and said goodbye to the girl at the desk, who promptly ignored him, and headed off to lunch.

  He sort of wished he hadn’t as he accidentally walked into an argument between Julia and Annaxia. They were alone, which was a relief. Archer wasn’t sure what more rumours would be related to the current situation. Hiding himself around a corner he poked his head to watch the scene before him unfold.

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  “I have no idea what you're talking about. You really shouldn’t be going around bullying others Julia.” Annaxia said with a condescending smile.

  “Stop playing stupid. You’ve always been a petty bitch but this is a new low.” Julia said looking ready to kill the other A-rank.

  “Me? I’m not the one who’s lost her arranged husband to some pathetic loser.” Annaxia cackled as she glared back with equal hate.

  “What have you been saying behind my back?”

  “Nothing that isn’t believable. I mean, how else would these salacious rumours spread?”

  “So you’ve been spreading them?”

  “Me? I would never!” Annaxia said feigning shock, “Why would I do something like that?”

  “You know why.” Julia said taking a step closer to her, “Because you’re still petty enough to be angry for me calling you out years ago.”

  “You ruined my life in middle school.” Annaxia spat.

  “You did that yourself. If you just kept your fragile ego in check and didn’t hurt those kids then maybe you could’ve avoided all of it. You’re pathetic.”

  “You should’ve kept your nose out of my business!” Annaxia snapped eyes brimming with anger, “Now I’ll make sure you know just how hard it is being seen as the pathetic bitch.”

  “You’re not going to do shit.” Julia growled.

  “We’ll see about that.” Annaxia said turning around and leaving Julia alone to seethe.

  Once alone Julia gave a tired sigh as she rubbed her forehead, “How has this all happened?” She said sounding fed up with everything.

  “Huh.” Archer said aloud and Julia immediately turned towards him.

  “Oh. Hey.” Archer said with a small wave as he internally cursed himself for not leaving sooner.

  “How much did you hear?” Julia asked looking horrified that someone had overheard her earlier conversation.

  “Just that you two hate each other.”

  “Don’t, please don’t tell anyone.”

  “No problem.” Archer said with a small smile, “I don’t even know what was happening.”

  “I doubt that somehow.” Julia said folding her arms.

  “Hey, it’s lunch right? The bell rang a few minutes ago.” Archer then checked the time on his phone, “Nearly twenty minutes, good thing lunch is ninety minutes long huh?” Archer said cheerfully.

  “Right.” Julia said still looking at him suspiciously.

  “Why aren’t you at lunch already?” Archer asked innocently.

  “I was busy. With this.” She said indicating the earlier conversation.

  “Right. So why aren’t you with your friends?” Archer asked and noticed Julia’s pained expression.

  “I don’t want to cause them any more problems for the time being.” She said dejectedly as she had been trying to actively avoid getting her friends involved.

  “Isn’t it a bit tough being alone?” Archer asked looking concerned.

  “A little.” Julia said sadly, “But, I believe that whoever kept me safe in the dungeon will solve this issue with Luna. At least that’s what you said right?” She said looking up at Archer with eyes of hope.

  Archer froze in place for a moment, his eyes filled with panic for a brief moment as he realized everything Julia had to go through over the last three days. She had nearly died, had a plethora of questions that remained unanswered and now laid her hope on Archer.

  Right. That is my job. Selling hope and delivering it. Archer thought to himself. I am bad at my job. He realized as he took a second to think of his next step. He took a deep sigh and decided that he would follow down this path.

  “You know any good sandwich places?” He asked looking aloof.

  ***

  “Are you sure you don’t want anything?” Archer asked as he had his panini served to him.

  He and Julia were seated at a nice local café outside of Trinity Academy. While Archer had a hot toasted sandwich before him, Julia had a simple cappuccino in front of her.

  “I’m not really in the mood to eat.” Julia said as she ran her fingers around the rim of her cup.

  “I think you should get something at least.” Archer said as he took a bite of his sandwich, “Hot.” He mumbled out as he burned the tip of his tongue, “Thanks for paying again.”

  “No problem. The gemstone covered it.” Julia said looking at him curiously, “So why are we talking again? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to see me?”

  “Mainly because of guilt, also you’re extremely unlucky.” Archer admitted.

  “I do believe that.” Julia said with a dry laugh, “Why are you guilty?”

  “Mostly because I left you in the dark.”

  “So are you going to tell me your secrets?”

  “Some.” Archer said as he took a sip of his lemon soda, “So, let’s get the obvious one out of the way. I was the one that helped you on the fourth level.”

  “So you were gaslighting me.”

  “Did it work?” Archer asked looking hopeful.

  “Honestly, considering how weird it was, a bit. But why? And why tell me?”

  “Like I said guilt. Let’s just say that graduation is a bit of a secondary objective for me. I would prefer for you to keep everything we say under wraps.” Archer said causally.

  “I don’t think many people would believe me.” She mused.

  “Which reminds me that I don’t think it would be good if we’re seen having lunch. Do you want to talk somewhere else?” Archer asked looking around.

  “No, being seen with you is the least of my problems. I’m fine here, besides I want to know what’s going on with Luna.” Julia said adamantly.

  “You’re very concerned about someone who tried to kill you.” Archer said as he took a mouthful of sandwich.

  “You mentioned how she was possessed and I could see her fighting against herself when she… threw me.” Julia said making an unpleasant face recalling what happened.

  “Well it’s true.” Archer said as he nodded his head, “Though I don’t know the specific type of ghost, it is a vengeful spirit.”

  “A vengeful spirit? Are you sure?” Julia asked.

  “Yep, the way Luna’s been acting, where it was residing before possessing her and the motives all point to a vengeful spirit. Now any old cleric could solve this problem easily, but that would mean Luna and subsequently you would likely deal with a ton of fallout.”

  “Trinity Academy is known to not treat situations like these lightly.” Julia nodded.

  “Right. So, if I can take care of it then we’ll be good. Which is why I went to the library.” He said patting his backpack.

  “You got books that can help with an exorcism? How did you get permission?”

  “I’d rather keep it a secret for now.”

  “Will you tell me eventually?”

  “Only if something bad happens.”

  “Right.” Julia said as she clenched her mug, “But why are you feeling guilty for me? You didn’t do anything to cause the rumour, Annaxia did.” She said.

  “That’s the thing. I didn’t notice the connection between it all.” Archer said as he took a massive chunk of his sandwich.

  “What connection?”

  “It’s a vengeful spirit, currently stealing several people’s prearranged marriages, that much is obvious. So then why try and kill you?” Archer asked.

  “To get rid of me to have Codrol for herself?” Julia said realizing how weird it was. She hadn’t heard of Luna actively seeking out any of the other victims, just her.

  “But both your friends never got her ire directly have they? Nor any of the other girls?”

  “Not from what I heard, but they could be going after us one at a time?” Julia said looking troubled.

  “But why though? All the ghost needs are the guys it likes. Not you.” Archer pointed out.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well has anyone you know died because of you?”

  “Pretty sure not.”

  “Then there’s no direct hatred for you.”

  “It could be a bloodline thing.”

  “Maybe, the ghost was at least thirty years ago.” Archer said pulling out his phone and showing her a picture of a brooch, “This is a brooch that Luna has been wearing since the start of the school year. It is a brooch that used to be given to students thirty years ago. Not anymore.” He said as he had more of his lunch, “Probably, to save on money or something.” He said between chews.

  “So that’s what’s cursed?”

  “Yep.”

  “Could you not just remove it?”

  “I can't just smash the thing, not when it’s latched itself onto Luna’s mind already. Well, you still can, it would cause a lot of brain damage though.” Archer answered.

  “Then could one of my parents be involved with this ghost? My dad was in the school around then.” Julia asked.

  “Unlikely. There is no real connection between Luna, you, the other four girls and five idiots to make that theory make sense.” Archer said shrugging.

  “What, you did some sort of background check on us?” Julia said narrowing her eyes at him.

  “Please don’t word it like that. I do realize how creepy it sounds. But listen okay? I’m a secret enigma, doing stuff in secret.” Archer begged before shaking his head, “That’s not right wording either.”

  “Okay, fine. So then what?” Julia said deciding to pursue that subject later.

  “The ghost is likely some girl who had boy problems.”

  “Boy problems?” Julia repeated.

  “As in maybe, she was a floozy or an incel. Either way, she died while at the academy and is now trying to live her dream of being with a bunch of dudes, rich ones at that. Still need to narrow down which one though.”

  “Did you just use the word floozy and incel in the same sentence? What decade are you from?” Julia said shaking her head almost more astounded by his last sentence than anything else he’s told her.

  “What can I say? I’m well-rounded.” Archer said with a grin.

  “Whatever.” Julia said rolling her eyes before pausing, “Okay. So wait. Why kill me? If what you say is true it would actively hunt me down.”

  “Exactly. But it is an angry ghost that I think wants to get laid, it’s not sound of mind. So it’s likely that somebody influenced her-”

  “Annaxia.” Julia finished.

  “Yes.” Archer said looking awkward as Julia’s expression changed to one of pure hate, “You know she might not have intentionally done this! Just tried to stoke the fire a little not realizing there would be consequences.” He quickly added.

  “I doubt that.” Julia saith through gritted teeth, “That bitch would really go that far?” She muttered to no one in particular.

  “Okay, what exactly happened between the two of you? Middle school rumors are sort of hard to gather info from. You two had some fight and something happened from that fallout?” Archer asked.

  “Do I really have to tell you?” Julia asked looking a bit troubled.

  “Oh now you're clamming up.”

  “It’s just a little embarrassing okay?” She said with a sigh, “Both of us knew each other back when we were little kids. Never really friends, but we didn’t hate each other. In middle school there was this boy we both liked.”

  “This all started because of boy troubles?” Archer said looking amused.

  “Shut up, it was stupid. Anyways she was always a bit of bitch and I sort of exposed that side of her to that guy and maybe everyone else in our year, in a very public display. She was in the wrong but it was really embarrassing for her.” She said looking regretful.

  “What exactly happened?”

  “Is that important?”

  “No, just unprofessional curiosity.” Archer admitted, “But was it bad enough for her to try and kill you?”

  “Maybe.” Julia said before pausing, “No, probably not this far. She likely just wanted to do something petty.”

  “Well to get rid of the ghost we don’t need to know exactly what Annaxia did, but it will help with improving your social life.” Archer said as he finished his sandwich.

  “You’re going to help me?” She asked in disbelief.

  “Why not? It’s tangentially related to the ghost. May as well deal with it as it comes up.” Archer said with a smile as he drained his glass.

  “So… what now?”

  “Well now we go back to our classes.” Archer said as he checked the time, “Then I get rid of the ghost, and you get your normal life back while dealing with whatever drama you have from the fallout and I’ll try to help. Then we never talk again.”

  “I feel offended that you want avoid me so badly. You know most other boys would kill to have lunch with me.” Julia noted.

  “Well we’re having lunch because you were nearly killed.” Archer joked, “Also I’m an F-rank that’s got a bit of a secret.” He said pointing at himself then he pointed back at her, “You are a popular A rank. If we have to talk to each other something weird has happened.”

  “Something weird has happened and I don’t really care about ranks. Don’t you want to make a few friends through your time at the academy?” Julia offered.

  “Maybe. But I doubt I can.” Archer said as he pulled out his wallet and put some money on the table, “Now let me get out of here before someone from school spots us. I hope we don’t see each other again.”

  “If you want a friend, then I’m always going to offer.” Julia called out to him. Archer looked back and simply smiled and nodded leaving her alone at the table. Taking a deep breath Julia did feel better now knowing that she wasn’t going insane and did hope to see Archer again.