20. Ghosts of Fogport Hospital, Part 2

Awaken Ghost: Fogshark

Spell Class: Ghost Whale Miracles (Advanced)

The caster calls upon a ghost of the Misty Sea: a disgusting shark capable of transforming into a cloud of mist. The ghostly Fogshark is able to deftly rip through foes with ease, but as a consequence of living in the darkness of the Misty Sea, is blind. Instead, the Fogshark must use its hearing to hunt, as well as its earsplitting screams for echolocation.

Fogsharks’ ability to transform into mist allows them to swim through the clouds above the Misty Sea, and then dive back into the water to devour their prey. Since the Fogsharks are blind, they have little use for beauty, and have evolved bodies that are warped and frightening to humans. While their ferocity is well-known, even they revere the Ghost Whales. Fish travelling with the undead Titans remain safe from Fogsharks - and even they will sometimes follow a Ghost Whale, to bask in their light. Even if they cannot see it.

Rosalyn stared at the phantom Fogshark, hovering in the mist with her rapier skewered through its gills. Its skin was gray and mottled, covered in bumps, scars, and deformities. Its warped, rubbery skin had nearly swollen over its own eyes - two blank, pale dots, which seemed to feel nothing. Its enormous maw hung agape, dripping saliva and a bit of Rosalyn’s blood onto the stone floor. Then, it let out another primal scream, and vanished into a cloud of white smoke.

“What the fuck?” Rosalyn whispered as she watched her glowing rapier clamor to the floor. Then, as she walked forward to grab it, the rotten shark emerged from the fog beside her, mouth wide again in preparation to swallow her whole. “AH!” she screamed as a jet of ink shot out from her feet, launching her out of the way as the shark’s jaws chomped down.

She could see some of her ink had landed in the beast’s eyes, right before it vanished into another puff of mist… but it didn’t seem to mind. That thing’s blind, isn’t it? Rosalyn thought as she slowly and carefully rose back to her feet. If Catherine were here she could deafen it… but I’m going to have to be quiet.

Rosalyn held her breath as the Fogshark reemerged just a few feet away, and began to slowly swim through the air. Its blank eyes were staring right at her as it inched by, listening for the slightest sound, but not seeing her right beside him. But right before the beast vanished again, Rosalyn heard a thunderous metal clanging from behind her - whipping her head back, she saw one of the hospital cots, being thrown around by an invisible force. SHIT!

Rosalyn turned back just in time to see the Fogshark’s bulbous neck crane towards the noise, and then open its jaws to unleash a deafening scream. It darted forward towards Rosalyn, snatching her up in its jaws again and dragging her screaming through the mist. “FUCK! LET GO!” she hollered as she pressed her hand to its side - suddenly, Blue Rings of Venom appeared all over its already malformed skin… but the poison seemed ineffective.

Shit… it’s already dead. Rosalyn grumbled as she felt her shell slowly begin to crack under the pressure of the Fogshark’s jaws. Then, a quill-shaped Fountain Arrow appeared in her hand, which she plunged into the shark’s eye. Gushing black ink and pale, ocular fluid all over her face, as the Fogshark let out another scream and vanished. She’s still watching me… Rosalyn cursed as she looked around through the mist, trying to catch a glimpse of any Eye Minnows floating around.

Then, a Cloud of Darkness washed over the basement hallway, drenching the already dark cellar in another coating of abyss. There. Maybe that should do it.

As quietly as she could, Rosalyn summoned her spectral, violet longbow in her hands, and drew back another quill-shaped arrow. Carefully gazing through her magickal darkness, Rosalyn waited for the Fogshark to reappear - and when it finally did, Rosalyn unleashed a volley of arrows into its gills. “GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” the ghost screamed as ink and ghostly ectoplasm dripped from its body, before it flickered like a dying lantern and vanished into nothingness.

Rosalyn retrieved her rapier from the floor as her magick shell finally disappeared. If she summons another one of those, I’m toast. she thought as she carefully limped deeper down the misty hallway. But after walking just a bit further, she saw a bend in the hallway that she didn’t remember from when she was being dragged through it by the Fogshark. Where am I now?

Then, Rosalyn’s ears caught a distant sound - another song, but not the melodic hymn from when she came down here. But the same disquieting chanting from the Depths of the Chapel. The Song of Astrayness. Frantically, Rosalyn ripped off two chewed-through pieces of her cloak and stuffed them into her ears - but even they didn’t seem to halt this dizzying, whoozy sensation that Rosalyn now felt in her gut.

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When she turned back around, somehow she was face-to-face not with the hallway she had just walked down, but another wooden door, standing like a portal to hell in the mist. “IS THAT YOU WANT ISSA?! DO YOU WANT ME TO PLAY YOUR GAMES?!” Rosalyn shouted. “WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO PROVE MYSELF TO YOU?! TO GET YOU TO HELP ME AND THIS CITY?!”

No response. Just the same uncomfortable chanting, somewhere off in the distance. Then, when Rosalyn spun around to walk away from the door, she accidentally came face-to-face with it again. She wants me to go in here. Rosalyn thought as she put her hand on the doorknob. “Is this some kind of test, Issa?” she asked. “Are you seeing if I trust you? Are you seeing how bad I want this?”

No reply.

Rosalyn thought of Catherine. She imagined her body, crushed in the jaws of a Fogshark, or mutilated in the same way Deerin’s was. She shuddered when she recalled Catherine’s rage on the Southern Docks, her fury at Rosalyn… but she was still her friend. She remembered the way Catherine picked her up when she arrived in Fogport. The happiness in her voice, the way she carried herself. She didn’t deserve to die… yet. That’s what Rosalyn wanted to keep her from.

“You’re a Priestess… you want people to put their faith in you. Well if that’s what I have to do to get on your side, if I have to JOIN the Church myself, I’ll do it.” Rosalyn said as she twisted the knob, wincing while she slowly opened the door. Revealing only darkness within.

Stepping inside, glowing rapier poised ahead, Rosalyn saw that she was in some kind of old mortuary, lined with stone chambers likely filled with the dead. She shuddered as she looked back at the open entryway, imagining herself running back into the hallway. But this thought was dispelled very quickly - as the door slammed shut. “NO!” Rosalyn screamed as she ran back to the door, yanking fervently on the handle… but it wouldn’t budge. “ISSA!”

Then as Rosalyn looked back to the opposite end of the mausoleum, she saw a second door begin to glow a fluorescent green. But before she could even take her hands of the first doorknob, she heard the sound of water beginning to flow. Then, she felt something cold on her boots. Rosalyn looked down as her heart sank into her stomach - the crypt was slowly filling with water. “ISSA!” Rosalyn screamed again. “THIS IS ME PUTTING MY FAITH IN YOU, REMEMBER?!” she screamed.

But the water kept rising. And as she looked at it in the light of her rapier, she saw it had a distinctive silvery hue. Not like the dark seas of Blackwater’s Abyssal Ocean. As the water rose to her ankles, Rosalyn began to run down the mausoleum, passing crypt after crypt until she reached the middle, where she saw the source of the water: a small portal hovering just below the ceiling, spilling silvery fluid.

Oh my God… this isn’t just water, is it? Rosalyn thought as she looked closer at the portal. She could almost see faint, fuchsia light twinkle out through the water. It’s water from the Astral Ocean. I-If I breathe it in I’ll die in seconds… Rosalyn thought as she felt the water rise over the lip of her boots, flooding them. “She’s… she’s going to drown me in poison.”

Rosalyn waded to the far door as fast as her as sloshing boots could carry her, and she began to jiggle at the handle again. But this door too, was locked. “LET ME OUT OF HERE ISSA!” Rosalyn screamed as she banged on the wooden door. Then, with as much as strength as she could muster, she slammed her rapier into the door, trying to break through the wood. But the door held firm.

Rosalyn continued to slam against the door, even as the Astral Seawater reached her knees. She could still hear the awful chanting, not growing louder and louder. Is this even the right door? I guess it doesn’t matter, does it… Rosalyn thought as she imagined the interdimensional water flooding her lungs, destroying her soul with its alien properties. “ISSA! ISSA I’M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING! I-I’LL LEAVE NOW, OKAY?” Rosalyn cried out, tears starting to drip into the rising tide beneath her.

Then, beside her, a floating Lampfish appeared. Basking the rising water in a ghostly glow, Rosalyn looked on at the strange fish. “Are you… are you trying to help me now?” she whimpered.

Then the Lampfish exploded.

Rosalyn held up her arms as the sound of glass shattering reverberated through the crypt, spraying shards of glass shrapnel into Rosalyn’s cloak. “OW!” she screamed as blood began to drip down her forearms. The force of the explosion had nearly knocked her backwards into the poisonous liquid below, which had reached up to her waist. Rosalyn looked down at the pieces of glass implanted in her arms, and she began to cry even harder. “ISSA! ISSA LET ME GO!”

Still no reply.

Wading back to the door, Rosalyn returned to trying to break it down. I just need to make a hole big enough I can squeeze through… Rosalyn thought, choking back tears as she drove the tip of her sword over and over into a hole in the center of the doorway. A few more Lampfishes appeared while Rosalyn fought the door, their shattering nearly knocking her off balance each time.

“It’s still… too small…” Rosalyn grunted as the water reached her shoulders, and she had to crane her neck upwards to keep out of the silver sea. The hole in the door was barely thicker than her wrist. But as the water reached her chin, Rosalyn realized she had no choice. Immediately, her body began to soften, as she tried to squeeze herself through the splintery gap she had made.

But as she tried to squeeze through, the water fully submerged her. She held her breath as she tried to awkwardly wriggle through the gap, fighting for her life as she tried to jam her head through the gap. But the force of her effort was sapping her energy. She needed to breathe. Or she would die.

And then, Rosalyn gasped for air, and the poisonous water of the Astral Ocean filled her lungs.