Corpse Groom

Chapter 8 - Going Up Top

It took a bit of searching. He combed through shelves, drawers filled with nothing but crows, throwing books over his shoulders with not much thought given on where they might land. But eventually, he found the book he was looking for.

"There's the one." He mused as he blew the dust off the cover before heading back up his pedestal. He brought with him a bunch of ingredients, that he laid out before turning to the proper page. "I have it. A Ukrainian haunting spell. Just the thing for these quick trips."

"So glad you thought of this." Emilien cheerfully whispered to (Y/N).

However, her expression was the complete opposite. She glanced over at Emilien while he was distracted by what Elder Gutknecht was cooking up for their trip, like he was making some kind of potion.

Her heart was bleeding with guilt and she was no longer sure if this was truly what she wanted. He was too good for her and, as she looked back towards Elder Gutknecht, who now placed a crow feather in his deep red potion, she could only slightly nod, not even sure if she agreed.

The potion let out a slight puff of red smoke and, when it did, the skeleton nodded in approval as he held the concoction over the couple's heads. They braced themselves for when he would pour it over them but, surprisingly, it never came.

He instead downed the liquid, with it literally going through him. He let out a small burp before asking, "Now, then. Where were we?"

The couple glanced at one another, quite confused by the turn of events before Emilien politely reminded, "The Ukrainian haunting spell?"

"Ah..."

He grabbed a crow and squeezed an egg out of it before letting it fly off. He took the egg in hand then gazed down at the couple.

"Here we have it. Ready?"

Emilien excitedly nodded, almost unable to contain himself. (Y/N), however, could barely give out a nod.

"Just remember, when you want to come back, say 'Hopscotch'."

"Hopscotch?" Emilien giggled.

"That's it." The Elder confirmed as he cracked the egg and allowed a soft yellow smoke to wash over them.

...

When the couple opened their eyes, they found themselves standing in the woods where they had met. The night was still going strong and (Y/N) could hardly believe that it had only been a few short hours since she her first encounter with Emilien. It almost felt like a lifetime and, slowly, that whole ordeal wasn't seeming so bad anymore.

But it was Emilien's voice that snapped her from her thoughts, as he solemnly confessed, "I spent so long in the darkness, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the moonlight is."

He chuckled as a butterfly fluttered past them and even (Y/N) couldn't help but smile at it. Then, without any reason given, Emilien began to dance around her, practically floating as he swayed between trees and twirled around their trunks.

(Y/N) watched on with encouraging eyes, enjoying how he danced without care. She even found a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but they were quick to fall. Was what she was doing the right decision? Was it really all that bad if she actually felt...

She didn't dare finish her thought, too afraid with what it might reveal.

Her hand was seized, and she chuckled as Emilien brought her into the dance. It wasn't anything proper or guided like how she had been taught. Instead, it mainly involved the two of them twirling around as they held onto each other's hands. She chuckled at the silly dancing they were doing and was surprised with how much fun she was having, enjoying their dance more than anything else in that moment.