While Iris approached the chest and the portal, Finn picked up one of the broken frozen fragments of the Emperor, and popped it into his mouth.
"W-What are you doing, boy?!" The sword demanded in shock, but Finn didn't reply. Instead, he merely swallowed the hard chunk of Specter corpse without any hesitation, and endured as a blazing feeling spread throughout his bloodstream.
"… Hm… this new power…" He murmured to himself, then walked over to Iris, who had just opened up the chest.
"Look, Ace… this is…" She trailed off as she realized Finn couldn't 'look', and so she explained it instead. "There's a bracelet in here. I'm not 100% certain, but I think what it does is…"
Iris slipped the bracelet on, then closed her eyes and called upon the power within the ornament. A swirling circle of energy appeared around her, but upon closer inspection, it was clear this wasn't simple energy at all. Instead, it was a swarm of nano-Specters, ready to be fired off at any given direction and track targets.
After several seconds, Iris opened her eyes and the nano-Specters faded away.
"… As expected, this is the ability the bracelet gives me… do you want it, Ace?"
Finn shook his head. "You can keep it. With your eyes, you can use these things better than I can. But that aside… take this."
Finn held out his sword towards Iris, causing her to tilt her head in confusion.
"Um… why?"
"… Cut me with it."
"W-Wha-?!"
"Trust me," Finn said.
"But…" Iris was still hesitant, but she also knew Finn wasn't about to change his mind once he had made a decision. He was just that stubborn of a man, and nothing Iris said would affect him.
"... Alright," she agreed after some long thought, and took the sword from Finn's hand. The demon inside the blade growled at being in the hands of someone new, but since Iris's armor also had traces of Voidheart energy within it, he didn't go wild.
"Now... try to cut me," Finn said calmly, to a point where Iris was wondering whether he was even listening to what was coming out of his mouth.
Taking a deep breath, Iris slowly lifted the sword into the air.
"... Here I go."
SHING!
The sword was brought down on Finn's head, cleaning splitting him in two... but not in the gory, bloody way one would expect. Instead, Finn's body distorted like a water ripple, and divided into two identical copies—just smaller.
"Wha..." Iris's eyes widened in surprise, and she nearly dropped the sword. The two Finns both tried moving their bodies and limbs around, and could do so just fine. After a few seconds, they merged back together as if nothing had happened, and Finn was whole once more.
"... Hm. It would seem my intelligence is lowered when I am divided," Finn murmured, analyzing on his own. "Moreover, I can't seem to be able to talk..."
"H-Hold on, Ace, wasn't that the Emperor's ability?! How did you... was there something else in the chest I missed? No way..."
Finn shook his head. "No. This is... just a special power of mine. After defeating powerful Ghosts, I can steal their abilities by consuming them, in a way."
"What...? You never told me about this..." Iris murmured in shock. "Wait, is that how you got those tentacles as well...?"
Finn nodded. "I never told you before because... well, back then, you didn't know about my Ghost side. Now, however, there's no point in hiding this anymore."
"I-I see... but still, that is quite the powerful ability to have... makes sense why you don't even care about this bracelet..."
"... Hm."
Finn didn't agree nor disagree with that fact, since there was one concern he had regarding this ability of his. He chose not to voice it aloud, though, and instead merely remain silent.
With the mission completed and the Emperor slain, the two prepared to exit the Temple via the portal beside the chest. Naturally, however, they did not forget about the man who had helped them earlier. But upon closer inspection...
"... He's dead," Iris said quietly, closing her eyes.
"..."
Finn didn't say anything, and instead simply picked up the man's body as if he had expected this to happen all along and headed for the portal. After all, the only reason he felt comfortable discussing the Ghost matters were because he had predicted this man would be dead. Earlier, when carrying him, he had already been just barely hanging onto life, and that attack just now to help them escape the house took everything he had left. He died saving Finn and Iris, and for that, he deserved a proper burial.
Finn and Iris soon exited the Paracausal Realm via the portal, and once back in the real world, decided to take the body to Evelyn's Heart. It was already midnight, but since Ghost Hunter organizations worked 24/7 to defend against Outbreaks occurring at any time, there would still be people inside.
Rather than go in and make things complex, however, Finn and Iris opted to simply leave the body by the front porch. That way, they wouldn't be questioned, and it would save time and trouble as well.
After laying the man's body down, Finn used his tentacles to etch out a message beside the corpse, since they were all out of writing utensils. The message was simple, brisk, just like his personality—but it conveyed what needed to be conveyed. And that was all that mattered.
"Found inside Temple. He saved us. Honor him well."
With that, Finn and Iris returned to the inn to stay the night. And the next morning, another adventure would come. Many Emperors in the other Districts still had not been wiped out, and many Districts have already been eradicated already. The GHO is doing their best to still keep things under wraps from the public, but that could only work for so long.
There was no shortage of evil in this world. There was no shortage of Ghosts that needed to be slayed.
And Ace and Ivy? Despite being Ghosts themselves, they hunted Ghosts. They may be hunted themselves by the same people supposed to be their allies, but even so, they fought. And they would continue to do so until one side was wiped out, or they themselves fell before then.
For so long as Ghosts existed, so would Ghost Hunters.
And Ace and Ivy had gone rogue.
Comments