Mist of Doom

16. The Ghost and the Dragon

Jyuji would never damage his guitar so badly; at most, the grumpy undead would just slam it lightly to tell Billy to get serious. Draco must've been hijacking Jyuji.

Moonlight poured through the crevice in the distance and illuminated the dark empty room Billy was in. Levitating a few inches above the cement floor, the semi-transparent ghost pushed the snapped fingerboard against the cracked body of his guitar.

"Please, Blue Lightning," he pleaded, "I must convince Jyuji and Mika to stop fighting before it's too late."

After a few more "please" and "I beg you," the fingerboard finally glued itself to the body of the instrument and adjusted its position to strain the strings. A large fissure marred the site of adherence.

Sometimes Billy wondered what Blue Lightning was made of; hardwood couldn't possibly regenerate, produce lightning bolts, and let his soul bind to it. Then, Blue Lightning could sometimes respond to his pleas - whether the spoken or unspoken ones - as though it had a mind of its own. Too bad Blue Lightning could never speak; else it'd make a good friend, something Billy needed right now.

"Can you regenerate faster?"

The cracks wouldn't disappear.

"Please?"

No response.

With a long face, the sluggish Billy flew towards the opening and out of the building. He wondered what would happen if his guitar broke beyond repair. Would he end up in Heaven, or remain stuck in this world as an ordinary ghost - the kind of ghost that existed so far away from the physical realm that nobody could see it?

Having new friends is great, but it's hard to say goodbye to my old friends.

Twinkling stars littered the dark blue sky. Billy glided across the rows of abandoned housing estates and along the desolate main street, his eyes scanning for any signs of Jyuji and Mika. The fallen street sign and the overturned motorbike down there seemed familiar.

A large crater lay further ahead, surrounded by partially-collapsed buildings. Patches of dried blood stained the nearby concrete. Spotting a pistol and a tusk beside the crater, Billy closed in. Then he cupped a hand over his mouth, his eyes widening.

The black pistol with a red cross along the rectangular barrel belonged to Mika, while the thick blue tusk belonged to Jyuji.

"No!" he screamed. Whoever had turned him into a ghost was a monster; in this state, he could never cry no matter how much he wanted to. "Jyuji... Mika... Brandon... What happened? Where are you?"

The wind howled, blowing dust against and through Billy's semi-transparent body. He went limp, and his cracked guitar fell to the ground. "I shouldn't have hidden in the building. I should've joined the fray although my guitar was broken and another blow would destroy it." He took a deep breath. "Sometimes, I'm just so selfish."

"Yes, you're more selfish than I can imagine, specter boy. Anyway, everybody is safe and sound."

Recognizing the hoarse voice and the "specter boy" nickname, Billy looked up. Jyuji the sapphire dragon slowly descended with his leathery wings spread, at which Billy smiled.

"Jyuji!" Billy grabbed his guitar and shot up into the air. "You're the good ol' Jyuji I know, right?"

"What if I'm not?" The scowling Jyuji glided past Billy and towards the crater's edge. "Knowing a lot about my personal info, Draco may just impersonate me." Jyuji picked up the gun. "You're too careless for your own good."

"But I don't have the heart to launch some lightning bolts at you, Jyuji. Not even when Draco...uh, hijacked you?"

"So, you know about it."

I knew it! Billy grinned. "Why don't I? You're my best friend."

"Pfft, you may be clever, but you're soft as hell." Jyuji flew back up. Now hovering face-to-face with Billy, he grumbled, "I don't like having a marshmallow as my best friend."

"Then why are you here?" Billy chuckled. "Can't just be passing by right?"

"Of course I'm just passing by!"

Billy pointed at the gun in Jyuji's hand. "That's Mika's pistol by the way."

"Tsk!" Jyuji growled. "Okay, I'm here for the pistol and nothing else! Grave's little brat needs it!"

"You know, you're actually a nice guy. If you hadn't cared about anyone at all, you wouldn't have said that."

Jyuji snarled, baring his jagged fangs. "You know what annoys me more than a chatty ghost?" He inhaled before yelling, "A sickeningly nice ghost who calls me a nice guy!" Small puffs of smoke burst out of his ears and nostrils.

"Being nice feels good. Also, I'm sure that you prefer a nice person over a jerk."

Jyuji's glowing eyes widened. Then with a sad face, he flew over Billy. "Let's go to Metaslica Faculty of Science now. Others are waiting for us."

Billy nodded and followed Jyuji. Gliding beside him, Billy observed the dragon's face and gasped. For once in his lifetime, Billy finally saw Jyuji tearing up a bit.

"Did I strike a chord, Jyuji?"

Billy expected Jyuji to snap at him, but instead, the dragon replied, "You got me good, RB. That was why I loved my mother more than my father."

Billy stroked his chin and nodded. "Your mother must've been a very kind lady."

"When my father left me and my mother, I didn't cry too much. My father taking away my twin brother wasn't that painful either. But when my mother passed away..." Jyuji paused. "I actually cried for weeks despite being about twenty already. She was so kind that it stung so much when she died."

Billy wanted to ask why Jyuji's father left with his twin brother, but he resisted the curiosity. Poor guy wouldn't like him poking his nose into such a personal matter, especially when he was this sad.

"Now, you understand why I don't wanna be nice to anyone, especially you?"

"You don't want everybody else to be sad when you're gone. But Jyuji, people get sad when they lose somebody dear because they love them."

"True, but you can't cry at all. You'll suffer a lot." Jyuji shrugged. "On top of that, being nice won't always solve everything."

"It's like you're so sure that you'll die soon," Billy grumbled. "Why so pessimistic, bro? You have me. Then as you've said, Mika and Brandon- I mean, Grave are alive. We're all here to protect you."

"Oh? What will you do when Draco overtakes me? Kill it?" Jyuji looked away and spat a tiny fireball. "You can't kill Draco without killing me."

"There's no need to kill Draco. Preventing Draco from hijacking you is good enough."

"Do you know how, smartass?"

"Um..." Billy scratched his head. "Keep you away from the mist?"

"That's not enough."

"C'mon, Jyuji. We'll figure it out someday."

"Someday, eh?" Jyuji scoffed. "Well, how about keeping your mouth shut and flying faster? We gotta reach Metaslica Faculty of Science ASAP."

Billy nodded and silently thanked his creator for keeping his ability to smile broadly. His good ol' Jyuji was back, but nothing delighted him more than learning what Jyuji actually was behind that unpleasant mask: a kind-hearted fellow.