From Scratch

Chpapter 6: Settling in

Danny stood in front of a shabby-looking door. The feeling it radiated, or, rather, what something behind it did, got him at the tips of his toes. He held his hand on the handle, but was soon interrupted by a cough. Phantom looked back and saw Ram eyeing him with that same stone expression.

"I never saw someone so hesitant to go to toilet."

Danny sweat dropped. "What?"

"A toilet. You never encountered one?" Ram asked. "That would explain a lot."

"That's not..." Danny's eye ticked, "I just felt something behind this door."

He swung the wooden obstacle open, and what he saw was not a place to "ease the burden". It was, in fact, a library, a huge two-story space with a spiral stair in the centre of the spacious room. The second floor consisted of a large balcony which was filled to the brim with bookshelves. Phantom raised an eyebrow and looked at the maid, who, for once, widened her eyes just a bit.

"Huh. You found the library. I hope you don't upset Beatrice. Just pick any free bedroom when you are done. We don't need distractions."

Without any elaboration, the maid turned to leave. Danny had a striking impression that the maid was not sincere in her desire. But he quickly brushed this off, quickly mustering the courage to trespass in the room where this Beatrice person resided. There was a question of how a toilet turned out to be a library and how the maid, who was supposed to know ins and outs of the mansion, didn't know that the storage of so many books was located here. Phantom quickly put this issue at the back of his head, more concerned about a spirit that was currently sitting in front of him. In an armchair Danny saw a tiny girl that was around ten years old. She was probably the most adorable child Phantom had ever seen. The baby fat was still there, and her tiny face, even if wearing a scowl, made the teen smile slightly. Her blue eyes with irises in the shape of pink butterflies was certainly a unique feature. Her long creamy blonde hair were tied in drill-shaped twin tails, and on top of her tiny head was a petite crown. She was wearing a pink frilly dress with white trimmings, which exposed her striped leggings. And her pink shoes had butterfly straps on them.

"You are Beatrice, I take it."

The girl put the cup of tea back on the table. "And you are a brute breaking into the library, I suppose."

"Oh, don't be like that," Danny kept smiling, "I just opened a door that supposedly led to a toilet. Then again, my intention was to find a spirit sitting here."

"I am not here to indulge you, in fact."

Phantom sighed, putting hands in his pockets. He glanced at the covers of the books lining the shelves, but there were no letters to read. The glare of the tiny girl became harder, which didn't go unnoticed by the visitor. Apparently, he wasn't meant to read or see those. So, he demonstratively looked away and faced the spirit, who only now paid attention to the other part of his sentence.

"You know that I am a spirit."

Danny smirked, "Yep. I can sense them when they get close. If they don't have some artefacts to hide their nature, that is."

And as if on cue, a single gust of air escaped his mouth. "See? I told you when we first met, Puck, it is pointless to try and sneak up on me."

The tiny cat popped up in the air, grinning, "I get it, you are paranoid."

Phantom rolled his ice blue eyes and crossed his hands. What he did not expect was how Beatrice brightened up, showing that she was actually capable of smiling.

"Puckie!" She called him excitedly and clasped her hands.

"Hello, Betty!" Puck waved his paw and floated up to the girl, who immediately hugged him to her puffy cheek. Danny felt like he was an extra person here, but he made no effort to hide how funny the situation was to him.