A Wild Ghost Chase

"So this is the place?" said the man in the cape. He looked disappointed and more than a little disbelieving, but took his seat anyway. The pretty fiend woman in front of him pushed a cup of tea in his direction eagerly as he sat.
"Uh-huh. That's right. It's been so sca~ry~ late~ly~."
"Forgive me if this seems-"
"Like, really cozy? I know right?" chirped the excited pyrow woman sitting across from the young man. "We get nice and comfy around here, you know?" She took a demure sip from her tea and then leaned across the table, bracing herself lightly with her painted fingertips. When it became clear that the man wasn't obliging her flirtations by openly ogling her alluring assets, she relented with a sigh and handed him a contract. "Listen here, cuz i'm not gonna explain it twice!" She flushed slightly, unused to her seductions failing her and not intending to be rude. After all, there was NO way SHE was going to go down there on her own again if she screwed up in hiring this guy. The mere thought made her flames flicker and her wings curl protectively about her sides. With a deep breath, she continued.

"Ok so, here's the deal. Don't spread this around but..." She looked around as if to make sure nobody was listening, a futile gesture in a bustling food court filled to bursting with humans and mamono in all directions. "There's like, totally a ghost in the basement!" The man stared at her blankly for a moment before pointing behind her. A couple of partially translucent women were coyly hovering upside down from the ceiling and talking to two human guys waiting in line for food. One of the two seemed completely at ease while the other was a bit more of a gawker about it. The caped man thought the nervous one was probably new to this town.
"Uh, yeah? Was she trespassing or something? I see two ghosts over there." The pyrow woman's already pinkish skin got a little redder as she slapped the table with an open palm, causing her long blonde hair to bounce enticingly.
"That's different! This is a ghost-ghost! Not a ghost girl!"
The man raised his hands in a gesture of conciliation, "Ok ok, my apologies. But why me? I'm glad to try to help but shouldn't you call someone more qualified?"

"We already tried!" Said the girl, deflating slightly. She laid her head on the table to sulk. "All the strong girls left forever ago or are too busy! Nobody goes into the dungeon anymore! Everyone else just wants to hang out in the food court and fu- uh, find someone to spend time with. And all the super strong awesome heroes who still have their divine blessing are like, total hater jerks!"
The caped man smiled somewhat crookedly. So he'd been selected due to being the ONLY option, not the best option. He did have to admit that this girl's logic was quite sound despite her eccentric personality. For whatever reason his blessing had not yet faded away despite his friendliness towards monster girls, a rarety in the current age. He had only been training as a hero for a few years and had never fought for his life before, but maybe his blessing would give him the edge he needed here to do some real good. He resolved to take this task seriously despite the unintentional injury to his pride. He truly believed that if he tried hard enough, someday he could make a difference for everybody; human or monster, divine or devil.

"I get it. I get it. Don't worry, alright? I pledge on my honor as a hero that i'll do my best to fix this for you." He reached out to shake her hand, seal the deal, and say something appropriately heroic, "Or my name isn't Tomo." The pyrow girl clasped his hand in her unnaturally warm grip and shook it eagerly.
"Oh my gosh! Tomo~ Tomo~ the big strong hero with the cute name s'gonna save me~" She snorted a little and covered her face as Tomo flushed red with embarrassment. The sooner he got to the bottom of this the better, before this woman drove him mad.


"Here's Miss Kiki's key ring! People keep hearing the ghost haunting on the 20th floor. Oh! And wear this badge so people will let you through. Kay? Kay. Bye!"
Without much ceremony the energetic pyrow slapped a red X patch on Tomo's chest and slammed the door to the dungeon shut, leaving the caped man standing at the top of a large staircase. Tomo shrugged, checked his bags, and began his descent. Apparently this place used to be some kind of actual dungeon, but over time morphed into more of a social center and theme park complete with shopping mall once human-monster relations improved in the area. The dungeon itself was maintained and humans were encouraged to challenge themselves to games of wits and combat against the girls here mostly for fun after that. As he walked it was readily apparent that the place was mostly abandoned or repurposed. Some human men had settled down here with their wives, relics of back when the dungeon was still actively used. The couples waved pleasantly at Tomo and raised their eyebrows as he approached, having not seen a challenger to these halls in years. He wasn't even approached personally until floor 12, when an arachne descended from the ceiling. She looked more surprised than anything, her sleepy eyes and rumpled clothing indicating she had been napping up in her webs. When she saw Tomo's badge she crossed her arms (and some of her legs) grumpily, but allowed him to pass.
As soon as Tomo stepped onto the 20th floor, things changed. The entire floor was abandoned beyond some possessions strewn about on the ground, dropped and forgotten who knows how long ago. No monsters and no humans were there at all. Nothing was. Only a bare, suspiciously narrow corridor leading to the 21st floor. Tomo listened but did not hear anything.

"This better not be a wild goose chase." he muttered to himself as he set his pack on the floor, using it as a pillow. "A stake out it is then. For a ghost. In a shopping mall." he covered his eyes with his hand and sighed as his long watch began. Was this really the path of a hero?

A piercing, gut wrenching wail caused Tomo to surge out of the sleep he had fallen into. He drew his sword while still getting to his feet. In his hasty confusion he struck the wall with the blade as he drew it, causing sparks to fly where forged metal met aged stone. He hoisted his bag with his other hand and looked around with wild eyes. The lighting was dim and his mind was fogged with sleep. All of the ghost talk came back to him then. That voice was pained and desperate, truly a suffering soul. His heartbeat pulsed rapidly, was he really able to do this? He was just a novice hero with big ideas. Was his soul in danger? Did his blessing attract the ire of the poltergeist here somehow? His mind raced towards ever more fanciful dooms, so much so that he almost missed it when the voice called out again. This time, it was much different.

Tomo could hear the distinct sound of crying on the other side of the wall, muted and muffled though it was. The voice lost it's horrible quality and, to him, seemed like it was crying for help. Though it might just be a trick, it was enough to break him out of his stupor and rouse him to action. He began examining the wall around him, knocking and prodding each individual brick. When he came back to the same stone his blade had scored on accident, he noticed that it was sunken into the wall by about an inch. Curious, he pressed against the stone with his fist.
"Uh oh." Was all he could manage before the entire wall began shifting and rattling. A thick blanket of dust took flight into the air as a mechanism activated itself for the first time in years, making an angry noise as it diligently did it's duty. As a hidden passageway to depths unknown was revealed a blazing heat washed over Tomo with an intensity that blew back his hair and caused him to sweat. He was more confused than scared at this point as the dust cleared.

Sat atop an impressive stone throne sat the most imposing woman he had ever seen. She was slightly taller than him with long red hair tied back into a ponytail and had a two-handed sword of seemingly custom manufacture strapped to her back. Her thick red tail whipped back and forth in agitation as her scaly clawed hands tick-tacked on the stone arms of her throne. She wore barely any clothing -Tomo reasoned this was probably due to the immense heat in the room- and her physique was beautifully sculpted and muscular, but soft in the right places. The fearsome image was only somewhat nullified when he looked into her amber eyes. There were no such obvious signs of distress as tears. Those had in fact sizzled and evaporated once they hit her burning cheeks. But her eyes had that tell-tale redness to them, so he put two and two together. Even so, he was still a bit shocked. He had never seen a monster of her type before. Was she some kind of dragon? She had no wings, but the heat radiating from her certainly fit the bill.

"You don't look like... a ghost." was all Tomo could dumbly manage.
The girl gripped the arm of her throne with enough force to crack the carved stone. Her face bunched up into something that wasn't quite rage but clearly wasn't happy. She looked almost distressed.
"Stupid weakling! I told them to keep you away from my room!"
She drew her sword and advanced on him. Tomo drew his sword as well, his arm steady facing a real opponent and not a ghostly one. He would solve this with words.

"Listen, my name is Tomo. I think there is a misunder-"
Before he could finish speaking the fiery dragon or lizard woman launched herself at him with frightening speed and a frustrated growl. The flat of her wide blade came whistling towards his right and Tomo instinctively brought his own blade up to parry it. His sword snapped under the pressure and the woman's blade crashed into his shoulder, launching him several feet away and to the ground. Glowing amber eyes regarded him coldly as she stalked closer. This was it -thought Tomo- this was how i met my fate. His dreams flashed before his eyes but he was strangely at peace. He didn't want to die, surely, but he would at least go out like a hero. He drew his belt knife and stood on shaky legs to face the woman. His sword arm dangled uselessly at his side, it felt like the blow from the flat of her blade had dislocated his shoulder and heavily bruised his arm. As he focused all of his energy on somehow anticipating her next move, he didn't notice the slight flicker of flame at the tip of her tail, so quick did it wink into existence and then vanish again. She abruptly turned her back on him and stomped back to her throne, her voice taking on a new, haughty tone.
"Th-that was pathetic. Get out of my sight and don't go telling anyone i spared you!"
"Can i at least know your name?" As he waited for a response Tomo caught his breath. He was hurting bad and this woman was absurdly powerful. He decided not to push his luck as she sullenly looked away from him, her refusal to speak clear. Tomo gathered his broken sword and began to walk back into the corridor. He pressed on the secret brick. Her voice drifted out one last time before the wall sealed itself, the single word feeling like it was forced out of her with great effort.
"Anya."
He turned back to stare intently at the wall. Tomo listened for a while, but didn't hear anything. At least he had discovered the 'ghost' on the 20th floor, but something felt wrong. Why had she spared him? Why did she seem so dejected? What kind of monster was she?


The pyrow girl was nervously pacing in front of the dungeon door as her tail flicked in irritation. The hero had been gone for HOURS. Did the ghost eat him? Should she tell her boss? Which was worse, telling a tanuki you'd squandered her investment by getting the hero you recommended killed, or fighting off a poltergeist? She nervously played with her hair as she agonized about what to do. The doors opened as she fretted, and when she saw the battered state of the hero she let out a shocked scream. He was dazed and wobbling and covered in sweat. One hand clutched a broken sword while the other hung limply at his side, swaying as he walked. The pyrow girl immediately latched onto his good arm and dragged him off into the mall, tripping over herself and offering profuse apologies.


Tomo slept for two days before waking up and flexing his muscles. He was still quite sore, but surprisingly had no lasting damages or injuries. His nurse looked angry with him after he had roused from his magically-induced slumber, demanding to know everything that had happened. He divulged everything. Well, almost everything. He kept the location of the secret room to himself.
"That swordswoman you fought sounded very skilled." The voice of the weresheep nurse had a soft, soothing quality to it as she spoke. She was the one who had expertly healed his injuries, thankfully free of charge due to him being on contract at the time of his beating. Her flowing wooly locks bounced as she tapped her chin in thought. "You said she had no wings, but had an aura of heat around her? Red scales too? That is likely a Salamander if i had to guess."
Tomo sat up in bed. "So like a lizard girl, but extra hot?" He joked.
His nurse smiled beatifically, "Yes, quite like that. She probably didn't see your badge and thought you were there to experience the dungeon in the intended way. Salamanders do love a challenge you know!" The nurse flipped open a cabinet and pulled out a record, putting glasses on as she began to read. "But our records don't show anyone as impressive as her still remaining in the dungeon. By all accounts, you should be more than a match for any girls who still remain. Most of them just live down there because we don't charge rent to them." She gave Tomo a worried look. "Just be careful next time, okay?"


Despite the odd situation, Tomo did get paid rather generously. Much more than he was hired on for in fact. He suspected the compensation was so rich partially due to the fact that there was no ghost, and also as an apology for his broken sword and bruised body. Tomo had no idea it was because the mall had accidentally hired a novice level hero to take on a hugely powerful relic of the past that they had forgotten about in what was a near-suicide mission. He didn't care though. To him the work was unfinished. He trained harder than he ever had in his entire life, spending two months of pure hell out in the wilderness. He trained his muscles until he collapsed from exhaustion each day as he remembered the sullen, resigned sadness in the impressive woman's eyes. Imagining her left alone like that drove him to anger when he thought about quitting, and so he kept at it. He approached the dungeon again and made his way down to the secret passage. Nobody bothered him when they saw the determined look in his eyes, though a few of the old heroes and married girls were secretly cheering on whatever he was doing. He pressed the scored brick with his gloves and walked inside the hidden passage. The blast of heat didn't feel so oppressive this time.
"Tomo?!" said Anya from her throne, the look on her face one of incredulous surprise. "Did you not learn your place the last time?"
Tomo was secretly pleased that she had remembered his name. He did not expect that at all. "I don't give up quite so easily."
"Persistence means nothing!" The salamander yelled out as she leapt from her throne.


The pyrow girl sighed dreamily as Tomo -the hero with the cute name- once again walked into the mall and approached her. This dumb stupid idiot had been going into the dungeon once every few weeks for over a year now! All he did was get his butt kicked and pay the nurse to fix him up again, and he'd never tell her what happened! She fumed internally. It was funny at first, and she would tease him every time he came out battered and exhausted. But he was so cool now! He even had battle scars and his muscles were all big and-
"Hello? Earth to Tara. Can i please enter the dungeon?"
Tara flushed as her daydreaming was interrupted and took his ticket. He was the only one who entered the stupid dungeon now anyways.
"What do you even DO in there?" she moped sullenly.
"I'm trying to make someone smile."


Hours later, the doors opened again. Tara prepared to smugly taunt the weak hero for getting beat up again when she saw his torn clothing and bruised body. Her cheeky jibes died on her tongue as she saw the huge, stupid smile on Tomo's face. A beautiful lizard woman with red scales that matched her hair followed him out of the dungeon. Her body was as beat up as his was but she had a shy smile on her face, as if it had snuck up on her and she was still getting used to it. Her tail blazed with vivid orange flames that didn't seem to burn Tomo in the slightest.

Edit Report
Pub: 03 May 2025 01:53 UTC
Edit: 03 May 2025 06:14 UTC
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