#i don't have access to a pc right now so i tried finger painting on my phone

[mossyllogical]

get parried nerd

[etlunainmorte]

✒ P.S. I Love You ✒

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VII

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"If there are any spirits here, say HHHOOOEEE!" Nico wailed as she tried once more to communicate with the Lancaster mansion ghost. She was holding up the voice recorder she invented just for V's paranormal mission in great hopes of picking up any sounds from beyond the grave.

"As if they will answer to that!" Griffon, who was perched on top of one of the Grecian statues, mocked. "Are ya even sure that will work?"

"Yes, I' am!" Nico shrieked at the Demonic bird, almost making him fall off the statue in surprise. "Any questions, little chicken?"

"SQUAWK!"

"If you are to do that, then you might as well do it on the second floor." V suggested as he leaned on his cane, observing her actions from a safe distance. "Maybe you'll be able to,... record something."

Just a few moments ago, his familiars showed him a single photograph they found stuck in the stool facing the grand piano. It looked like a stolen photograph of (Y/N) concealing her smile behind her fan as she offered her hand to a dark - haired gentleman whose face V could not see. And when he flipped it,...

"Do you think I should go up there, though?" Nico asked V, rubbing her arms up and down as she suddenly felt goosebumps on her skin. "The ghost might kill me up there!"

"Well, ye wanna hear ghosts on that thing, yeah? Then, go to the source and get yerself killed!" And Griffon was right.

"Say that again and I'LL COOK YOU IN A STEEL POT!"

"SQUAWK!"

V made his way through all the wires cluttered on the floor and handed Nico the photograph the familiars found. Nico stopped plucking Griffon's feathers, let him go, and pushed the rim of her glasses up her nose bridge. She, then, took the photograph and studied it, herself.

"This looked, like, super old." The tattooed woman muttered as she took a good long look at the photograph.

"Turn it." The poet told her. And as she did so, she finally saw the messages written at the back of it.

May 11, 1898

The Angels bow down to your grace and beauty, my Evening Star.

And I will forever be your humble servant.

~ V ~

"V?!" Nico practically shrieked in shock. "Is that - " she flipped the photograph once more and pointed at the man bowing down to the lady. "Is V that man or - ?"

To this question, the poet only gave her the journal. She took this and opened it. "But, there's nothing written in it, is there - ?"

The woman's eyes widened. For she could clearly see, as bright as daylight, the words that just manifested on the first page of the journal as soon as V received the old photograph from Shadow and Griffon.

At first, there was only her name and the date she wrote it. But, now,...

May 1, 1898

I could not believe what father said earlier this day:

He invited Victor Blake to our annual summer gathering! THE VICTOR BLAKE! My favorite writer, and also the best poet who ever existed in this world!

My heart...

I just could not stop the rapid beating of my own heart! I feel so excited! I wanted so much to meet him in person! For I thought for such a long time that I could only see him in my dreams, and hear his voice in my head. Now, I finally have the chance to actually talk to him!

My chest feels so painful right now, but with a happy kind of pain! ( Is there even a kind of happy pain? ) What should I wear for the month - long gathering? Would pastel suit me more, or dark palettes? What would I tell him when I finally get the chance to talk with him? I cannot just stutter in front of him! ( Which I do a lot when I'm nervous. ) What would he tell me? Would he quote some poetry for me?

I'm over thinking, I know! But, I'm just so, so excited! I could not contain it! I wanted to scream my excitement at the top of my lungs!

This is the happiest day of my life!

P.S.

I hope Victor Blake turn out to be the same man in my dreams. For if he does, then I could finally die with a large and silly smile on my face

Someone's coming!

"Victor Blake?! So that's the V who wrote on that photograph, I assume?" Nico mused out loud as she closed the journal and gave it back to V.

"Must be."

"Wait, wait, wait a second here!" The woman grabbed fistfuls of her hair as realization came down on her. And some more questions. "Did those words just pop out on that journal like a pimple or somethin'?! Because if it did, that's totally crazy!"

V didn't answer her question. Instead, he related to her every single thing that happened to him on the second floor last night, of the locked rooms on the right, of that ghost bride, of being locked in (Y/N)'s room, and of him actually seeing her in person.

"... and it only led me to believe that this lady," V pointed at the photograph on Nico's hands."... and (Y/N) are the same person. And that she, indeed, was able to meet Victor Blake that 11th of May."

"So, if this is (Y/N), then who is that woman in the portrait that Avery showed us?"

"They're the same person." V admitted with much bitterness in his voice. He just couldn't accept the fact that she changed drastically for an unknown reason.

"Damn!" Nico swore as she collapsed on a chair facing the monitor she set up earlier during the day. "Avery said (Y/N) died in 1899, right?"

"She did. Yes."

"Then," Nico went silent for a while, and when she finally gained the courage to speak out her mind, V could not help but agree to what theory she came up with. "... that tragic thing, whatever version that was, that led to her death happened a year later! The journal and that picture said 1898! And whatever tragic reason that was, it also led to that clear change she went through as a young adult! Either that, or the artist they commissioned just did a really bad painting of her."

"Seems like the former, as much as I want to deny that fact." V replied distastefully.

Nico's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the poet's clear discomfort with the topic. "Hey, ya looked bothered. Wanna spill the beans fer real? Ye looked like ye're hiding somethin' other than (Y/N)'s journal."

V chuckled as he sat on the chair next to her. "There are no beans to spill and no other secret to reveal, I assure you."

"And I assure ya that I can tell ye're lyin'!" Nico answered as she booted up the PC.

"I'm not. Well,..."

"Well?"

"The first time I met her, she looked radiant, and happy. She was clearly in love." V confessed, feeling a strange lump growing in his already dry throat. "And she was,... the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire existence. To see her like that - depressed, and sick,... and hopeless, it just," The poet paused as he let out a deep sigh that seemed to rattle his very core. "... it felt wrong. It felt sad. Whatever happened to her, she doesn't deserve it. That death of hers, I must know about it."

Nico hummed as V finished talking. "The most beautiful girl, eh?"

"Yes."

"Then!" Nico slammed her palms against the table and turned towards V, her face leaning uncomfortably close to his. "The reason you stayed up so late!"

"What?" V simply asked, getting more and more confused with the woman's odd behavior.

Nico smiled mischievously as she pointed a single, perfectly - polished nail at him. "Ya fantasized 'bout her!"

"I,... come again?"

"Admit it! Ya did the thing while thinkin' of her!" Nico teased even more.

"What thing?"

"Oh, come on, man! No need to be shy 'bout bein' horny for a young and beautiful gal! Just admit it!"

"Admit what?"

V truly has no idea what Nico was talking about, so Griffon flew down next to her and joined in the teasing. "My, my, V! Don't tell us ya don't know what jackin' off means!"

"Jacking,... off,..."

"Yeah, ya know!" Griffon teased even further as he cleared his throat. Making his voice sound small and ridiculous, he recited, "Ya look so good, (Y/N)! So beautiful! Hmm, hmm, hmm!"

"Such beautiful face! Such curvaceous body! I want you,... AH,... so much!" Nico joined in as she made lewd sounds and inappropriate gestures with her arms.

"Oh, my beautiful, sexy (Y/N)!" Griffon imitated Nico's moves and started caressing his own feathery body with his wings. "YE'RE M - M - MI - AAAHHH - NNNEEE!"

"AAAHHH! OOOHHH!"

"HHHRRRMMMHHH! OOOHHH, YYYEEESSS!"

All of a sudden, they heard a really huge explosion outside the house, and a few seconds later, Roman came crashing in the house.

"¡DIOS MIO!" Roman howled.

"Roman, sweetheart, what is it?! What happened?!" Avery called as she came running immediately from another room.

"THERE'S A HHHUUUGGGEEE ONE - EYED GOLEM IN THE GARDEN!" Roman screamed as he pointed at the said thing outside. "RUN! ESCAPE! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!"

"One - eyed,..." Nico muttered.

"... golem?" Griffon stuttered.

And to their complete and utter horror, they realized V's hair has turned white and his left hand was raised up, his fingers in a snapping gesture.

But, the most dangerous of all was the poet's eyes that changed from soft, emerald green to bloody, murderous red. And he was staring emotionlessly down at them,...

"Hehe, s - sorry here, Shakespeare. I mean, M - m - m - master!" Griffon cowardly apologized thirty minutes later when V's rage diminished and when Nightmare finally went back to where he came from.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're not in love with (Y/N)." Nico cautiously said as she opened some programs on her PC.

"I' am not." The poet answered, stressing out each word.

"But, surely ya must be at least smitten by her! I mean, to think of a girl you haven't actually talked to or met like that?" The woman was right. Maybe he was infatuated with her, after all? But, then again, how could he not? How could anyone not? "Lucky for ya, though. Ye won't have to deal with her super creepy husband."

"Husband?" Griffon asked as he landed back at the Grecian statue.

"Yeah. Mr. Christopher Lancaster? Duh."

That Doctor. I almost forgot about him. V thought as he slightly glanced at the hallway where the intimidating Doctor's life - size portrait was located.

"There we go!" Nico happily announced as she finally gained access to the videos of the security cameras she set up on all corners of the entrance hallway. And as V and Griffon came closer to her to have a look, they saw themselves at that exact moment.

"Hey, that's us!" Griffon exclaimed, astounded upon seeing a live feed of himself. "Wait, why are there no sounds?"

"Duh. That's just a security cam. Call it a spy cam, if ya like." Nico answered. "Now, setting the date to yesterday!"

The woman typed some words and numbers on her keyboard, and a few seconds later, they saw V on the monitor as he was about to go up the stairs.

"That was last night." V confirmed as he saw himself call back the frightened Shadow.

"Now, let's see what else happened." Nico spoke as they all watched V ascend to the second floor.

And after staring at the screen for more than fifteen or so minutes, they realized that nothing was, indeed, happening.

"I should be back around ten or a few more minutes." V said, his confusion growing ever so strongly.

"And you came back down in the morning." Nico answered. "Let's set the time to about, hmm, seven - thirty, then." The woman did the same process, and when the video fast - forwarded to the time she set, they saw V finally going back down to the first floor and met with the frizzy - haired Nico. "See? Told ya ye're gone for a long time."

"But, that's impossible!" Griffon yelled, turning back to V. "Didn't ya say ye're only gone for a few minutes?”

"And now you believe me." The poet simply answered.

"Alright! Alright! So, the ghost could not only manipulate things, it could also stop or control time, or something like that." The tattooed woman happily declared. "How very fascinating that is!" And she was, once again, getting more and more excited.

"I need to go back up there." V told her. "But, I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. A few minutes may mean a few hours up there."

"Ye're right. Hmm,..." Nico mused as she tapped on her lips. After a few seconds, she stood up, went over to one of the speakers she set up yesterday, and opened it, letting Mister Sandman on again. "How 'bout this: V, you do yer thing and investigate the second floor, and I'll be pulling an all - nighter for ya down here to monitor yer movements. I'll even make sure ya don't get lost for too long."

"How do we do that?" The poet asked.

"Simple!" Nico answered as she gave V the radio she was holding on to yesterday. She, then, pressed something on the speaker, and when it finally went quiet, she pointed at the radio on his hand. "Can ya turn it on?"

V complied by turning the dial on the radio clockwise, and a few seconds later,...

"...then tell me that my lonesome nights are over! Sandman, I'm so alone. Don't have nobody to call my own - "

"That song runs for two minutes and thirty - six seconds." Nico said as V and Griffon listened to the music on her radio. "I'll sync that song there and play it for ya for every hour ye're up there. Kinda like an alarm clock. Ya can also turn the voice recorder on to record any sound. And lastly, if anything goes wrong, like anything at all, and ya can't call yer familiars," the woman came closer to V and pointed at the red button at the lower right corner of the radio. "... think of nothin' else and press that button. Do ya understand?"

"I do. Yes. Thank you." V answered as he nodded several times, actually grateful for his decision to let Nico tag along with him.

And when the woman was finally satisfied with his answer, she cracked a toothy smile and suddenly took Griffon off V's shoulders, hugging him and twirling him around like a stuffed animal.

"PUT ME DOWN, WOMAN!"

"Aren't we the best paranormal team around?" Nico happily asked. "Like, Red Grave's Finest Paranormal Team ever?"

"WHATEVER YA SAY! JUST PUT ME DOWN! I CAN'T BREATHE!"

"Sorry." Nico apologized as she let the bird go. "So, ready for another night?"

"Ready - " V was about to stand when he collapsed all of a sudden.

"Hey, V! You okay?" Griffon flew down and helped him to his feet by clutching onto his arm with his talons.

"Ya look like ye need some rest. Ya haven't actually slept!" Nico suggested as she came and helped him as well by grabbing his other arm.

V could not agree more. "A nap will do. Thanks."

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✒ @la-vita and @micaelagua . ✒

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