***

  “I can explain!” Are the first words out of my mouth.

  Maria stood over me, wearing a ‘are you kidding me’ face. “The nun Tangerine, really?”

  I am of course still in Sister Sophia's bed, and this girl had hold of me like I'm the only energy drink at the LAN party.

  “Look I know this looks bad, but really, it's not what you think.” Sophia shifts as I talked, snuggling in closer. Burying her face in my neck. Which, holy shit. But also, not the time! The girl is completely dead to the world. How much sleep was she missing?

  Maria just motioned with her hand, signalling for me to continue.

  “Look, so, I was doing dream training with Gestalt.”

  “Excuse me, what now?”

  “Dream training. We started it after the train assassination attempt. They have been running me through a whole bunch of gun fighting scenarios in my sleep.” I explained.

  “This is something that Gestalt can do?! Wait, don't answer that, I will be having words with Gestalt later.”

  Yay, deflect blame! Also, ‘sorry buddies.’

  [Do not worry Tangerine. We expected this would come up eventually.]

  Maria caught my attention again. “Hey, stop spacing out while talking to Gestalt. Please explain how ‘dream training’ ended up with you in the nuns bed?”

  Said nun in question started murmuring into my neck, which was both cute and tickled like hell. How is she not awake yet, neither Maria nor I were being quiet. Lillian is awake, I can see her smirk from here.

  “So I was doing dream training with Gestalt, but the dream just ended, and not in a normal way. It just cut to black, and Gestalt couldn't respond anymore. So I forced myself awake. I tried waking you, but I couldn't get a response from you, or Lillian. Sister Sophia was awake but she was being pinned down by this four armed ghost thing with only a mouth for a face. I tried shooting it, but the bullet went straight through. I tried grabbing it but I couldn't get a hold of the thing. I noticed that it seemed to be sucking mana from Sophia's core, so I figured why not give it what it wanted. So I dumped all the mana I could cycle right into its head. Which made it blow up. It did try to come back but I just kept dumping mana into the thing until it gave up. Then Sister Sophia grabbed me, pulled me into bed and wouldn't let go. She fell asleep. Gestalt did then wake up in a panic but I let them know that things were handled. It was just a dumb ghost thing. I was going to try to sneak out of her bed after a bit. But she had a very tight hold on me, and I was really tired and just cycled a ton of mana so I just kinda fell asleep. Yeah, that was everything.” I said, nodding my head. Nailed it.

  “So the reason you are in bed with a nun, is because of ghosts?”

  I mean when you put it like that it does sound bullshit. “Four armed ghosts!” I don't think that helped. “Gestalt will back me up, and there is a bullet hole in the wall. I shot a gun in this room and you didn't wake up!”

  Thinking about that, I wonder where that bullet went. Yikes, hopefully I didn't hurt anyone…

  Maria went silent for a bit, I assume confirming things with Gestalt.

  It was at this moment where Sophia groggily came too, and went from holding me like a limpet to violently kicking me out of the bed.

  “Oww what the fuck sister!” I yell when my butt rudely bumps the hard wood floor.

  “Language.” Said Maria, now inspecting the bullet hole.

  Lillian was dying of laughter. “Tangerine, what? How… How does this keep happening to you?”

  “What do you mean, how does this keep happening to me? The first time it was your fault!”

  Maria ignored us and addressed Sophia. “Did Tangerine help you with the curse you have been suffering from?”

  Sister Sophia just nodded her head. Though I do catch a faint blush across her cheeks. Oh, so I guess it wasn't spooky hotel ghosts fucking with us?

  “Interesting. We will have to investigate further.” Maria said. "Well then girls, this seems to be all settled for the time being. Everyone get ready, it's time for breakfast."

  So we did so, with all the fuss that three girls and one bathroom can make. Well it was just Lillian and me fighting really. Sister Sophia barely said a word. But she did look a little more rested. Maybe even a twinge of happiness. We did our best to freshen up Lillian clothes. She had lost most of hers during the train fight, and she refused to continue wearing what she had brought back from Arthurian. So she had been living in the clothes she was wearing when we had started this whole journey, and they were getting a little ripe.

  Breakfast was some sort of turnip soup with grainy brown bread. Possible the worst meal I've had since I left earth. The soup somehow managed to be chewy. I still ate that shit, since all that mana cycling had made me a hungry girl.

  After breakfast, I managed to remember that I needed to bring Emily back a gift. I haggled with the knock off Igor that was manning reception and bought, with Maria's money, a teapot that was guaranteed to be haunted. Emily was going to love this shit. Its lid would randomly rotate and every so often it would pour blood.

  We leave the spooky hotel and walk the short distance to the spooky train station. It takes a bit before the train arrives so Lillian and I fuck around by cycling and dumping mana. It's good practice. The fact we were trying to make it feel like a bass line was beside the point. Maria did eventually tell us to knock it off.

  Boarding the train, I noticed that unlike last time there are a lot more guards around. Looks like Maria got a message back home about the train attack. We got our own personal carriage for this return trip, up near the front of the train. There are guards on both ends, near the doors, interrogating anyone trying to enter.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Outside of feeling like I'm travelling with the president, this was actually pretty boring. Lils' matches my ADHD energy, which means she is going equally as spare as I am.

  Sister Sophia just sat there. Her face is a mask of stone. "So" I ask her. "What was with the whole ghost thing?"

  "I am cursed." Is all she said in response. She looked out the window, clearly signalling that she didn't want to continue the conversation.

  But here's the thing. Both Lillian and I are bored. So… sucks to be her. "Cursed with ghosts huh?" Lillian said. "How did that happen?"

  She just sighed, instantly understanding we were going to be annoying until she answered. "I was born of sin. My very blood calls for demons and evil spirits.”

  Lillian and I just stare at her with some big expectant eyes. Yeah we are using social pressure to make the girl expand on her obviously tragic background. But as I said before we are bored.

  Sophia just rolled her eyes at the both of us, but continued. "I am an orphan, I was found outside the convent when I was a babe. Acts of misfortune have always happened around me. When my rift core developed these evil deeds only grew worse. Only through the light of our Lord am I able to control the taint my blood brings."

  “You didn't look very in control last night.” I ventured.

  “I kept the spirit focused on me. I fed it mana straight from my core, as I have done every night. Keeping the spirits sated stops them from hurting others.”

  “You looked like you were in pain.” I pushed.

  “My suffering is the price I have to pay for the sin of my blood… No one has ever seen the spirits before.”

  She hesitates. Lillian and I just give her space to continue. “...You are the first. Normally everybody just sleeps. No matter what happened…”

  “...No matter how much I screamed.” she said the last bit so quietly I barely heard her.

  “Well, I'm sure the Academy will be able to help you.” I said. “And until then I will just fry any demon or spirit that gives you a hard time.” I look at Maria for confirmation.

  Maria nodded her head. “Although a temporary solution. If Tangerine is willing to help while we find a permanent solution, I will not stand in her way.” She's being diplomatic again, I feel like there is more she isn't saying.

  Sophia shook her head at that. “No. This is my burden to bear. It is the curse of my blood, my responsibility.”

  “Who told you that?” Lillian stepped in. Smelling some Arthurian bullshit.

  “Sister Rosemary was the one to educate me concerning my curse. It is only by overcoming my sin can I be accepted into the light of our Lord.”

  “But Sister Rosemary sent you to the Academy, yes?” I jumped back in.

  “Yes. Both Lord Balin and Sister Rosemary believed it to be the best course of action. As the curse had grown worse over the last year.”

  That Balin guy again, really not liking how involved he is. “And sister Rosemary follows the will of the Lord of light, yes? So surely it is the will of your Lord for you to find me and work with me to overcome your suffering. The Lord can only guide you, you have to be the one to accept his wisdom.” Catholic Junior School coming in clutch!

  She ponders this for a while. (Where is an orb when you need one.)

  “I do see the merits of your argument. Maybe this is the action that the Lord wants me to take.” I can see relief war with guilt behind her eyes. The poor girl has been totally fucked over and then lead to believe it's her own fault.

  I take her hand in mine. “It’s okay. I got you now. You're not alone anymore.” I said with my best smile.

  ***

  The day passed, before bed Maria pulled me aside. Away from the other two.

  “I knew.” She said, “the moment we first spoke, I knew you were made for this job. Rift Officers have a lot of responsibilities. Not all of them are pleasant. But our primary goal is, and should always be, to help people.”

  She pulled me into a hug. “You did that today. You jumped in to help, without worry of the hardships it may cause you. We haven't known each other that long. But I couldn't help but feel pride. You are going to make a fine Rift Officer one day.”

  Some motherfucker starts cutting onions in the carriage. Fuck, my makeup is going to run.

  We get ready for bed. As we have the whole carriage to ourselves and the doors solidly guarded, Maria and Lillian took a cabin each for themselves.

  I bunked with Sophia. For curse reasons. There were two bunk beds, we both took both the bottom bunks, on each side of the cabin.

  It didn't take long after Sophia fell asleep for the first spirit to come. I felt myself start to drift, and Gestalt became unresponsive. I forced myself awake to find Sophia struggling with the ghost. This one looked like a caricature of a fat man. His rolls had rolls.

  I repeat what I did before. Stuck my hand in its body, and then cycled mana until ghost explosions.

  I smiled at Sophia and she thanked me, before heading back to my bed.

  I was able to raise Gestalt again, they are finding the loss of connection to my brain slug to be very uncomfortable.

  It felt like we had barely restarted dream training before the next ghost came. It was similar to the one last night, with a mouth face. I repeat the same actions, mana dump to fried ghost.

  Two more times this happened. As soon as we fell asleep another spirit would come.

  “Why do they keep coming?” I asked. “There was only one last night?”

  “There are normally few of them.” Sophia corrected me, her head in her hands. "I never really get much sleep. It's okay if you need to rest now. I can handle things from here. You have already been a great help.” She smiled a tired smile at me. Her pale blue eyes shine from beneath her long silver hair.

  Nah fuck that. I would stay up fighting ghosts for her all night. And not just because she's a pretty girl, I would do it for anyone. Because fuck ghosts, they are barely even real. How dare they fuck with us real corporeal beings. The dead should know their place.

  There is one difference between last night and tonight I realized. “Budge up.” I said, lifting the corner of her blanket.

  She just gave me a blank look.

  “Last night you hugged me all night.”

  She paused for a moment, and then shuffled over, to make room for me. It's a tight fit, but I managed to slip between the sheets.

  There is not a lot of room in these train beds, and Sophia ended up pressed pretty tightly against me. My horny brain is currently informing me that the girl has all sorts of curves going on. Those are normally hidden away, under her shapeless nuns clothing. I do my best to ignore horny brain. It is bad and I am only trying to help a scared and tired girl.

  “It's okay.” I said, facing her. I take her hand in mine. “Close your eyes. I got you.”

  She just nodded slowly. Her cute little button nose so close it almost brushed mine. She closed her eyes. Snuggled in close and was asleep in moments.

  I felt her breath on my skin. In the low light of the cabin at night, her sleeping face looked like an angel's.

  I drifted off not long after her. The rhythmic clack of train wheels lulling me to sleep.

  No spirit or ghost returned that night.

  ***