Ghost of a Chance

Forgotten Children (Part 6)

"—That's one method, understand?" dream Naru asked.

"... Yeah," Mai said.

"At the time you need to wake up, you have to remember your own body, and then you will return properly," he said.

"Okay, I understand," she said. "—But how should I persuade them?"

"You should inspire them to increase their light."

"Their light?"

"Yeah. I don't understand it very well myself, so I think of it in terms of heaven and hell. That's the best way to explain it, I think. A person has a body and spirit to be able to exist. Furthermore, I think a spirit must have two things in order to exist as well. That is a soul and self. That self is like a transparent film. The soul looks like water in that its shape won't settle or become fixed. The self completely encloses the soul, giving it shape and allowing it to perform actions since the self is a transparent membrane, the appearance or color of the soul 'water' inside can be seen through it. There must be the self and the soul together to produce the appearance and the form of a spirit, I think. Even further, the soul is also like water in that as water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, the soul is also made of particles of feeling. Among those particles, there are two types—plus and minus. Plus particles radiate light, while minus particles absorb it. The feeling of plus particles is light and minus is dark. With any action done by the soul, those two particles are always made. They are radiated to the outside through the film of the self. The plus particles are lightweight and rapidly rise, while the minus are heavy and therefore sink. And then, similar particles will attract each other, collect and occupy a large space that is—"

"Heaven and hell... or something like that," Mai said.

"Exactly," dream Naru said. "When a person dies they lose their body and become only a spirit. At that time, if their soul has too many minus particles, their spirit will be very heavy and they will end up sinking. While those rapidly sink down, the feeling of the plus is the opposite and they try to rise. They end up repelling each other out of the spirit. And then because of that, the spirit becomes heavier and sinks faster as the plus particles are forced out—before long, they end up containing only minus particles."

"... And that's an evil spirit?" Mai asked.

"—Yeah. They are everyone who didn't want to die. Therefore, when they did die, they couldn't accept that reality. They were scared, and they were saddened, and now they are also lonely and bitter. Wanting to remain in existence a little longer in this world, they can't be satisfied. But this world is already no longer theirs. The only thing that could gratify them would be to reclaim this world as their own."

"... That's so sad..." Mai said. 'They are here, Kirishima-sensei and the children too. The minus feeling is too large, and they are sinking...'

"In order to save them, it is necessary for the light—and for that, they must be inspired to raise their plus feeling. If we do that, they will become lighter and be able to rise up. The more plus feeling they take in the more they will rise, and they will become peaceful."

"But... How do I do it?"

"The most important thing to begin with, you have to personally become a thing of light. The plus feeling is a warm and gentle emotion. Compassion is necessary, but you should not pity them. You should have the gentle feeling of pure water and address them like your own companions. If you do this and also have your own plus particles, they will begin to emit them as well."