“Michiko,” she spoke softly, turning around to see whether or not the purple creature was following behind, “hurry, or else you will get lost.” Seira heard the soft sound of tiny paws pitter pattering across the dirt and leaves being pressed to one another. Espeon jumped over a small rock and hurried to her master’s side. It wasn’t unusual for the feline to get lost in her tracks — she was curious about the woodlands and the forests, places she had never visited. Seira was happy to find her companion feeling comfortable amidst nature, but she did not want her to get left behind and she worried that she might lose sight of her. Seira and Michiko had been together for a few months now and it was nice — the animal was timid, gentle-hearted and quite loyal. She followed Seira everywhere and the woman couldn’t help but adore the little thing; she wanted her around and for as long as Espeon was willing to follow, the two of them would be a team.

Seira had traveled to Worth Woodsea a few days ago. She had spent time in Oak Town before she came to this place, and after going through a number of missions and doing certain jobs for certain people, the vampire felt tired and exhausted. It was nothing physically, she was healthy and doing well, but going through quest after quest each day could be dry, even when the task in itself was interesting. In spite of all that, Oak Town was an interesting place and Seira very much enjoyed it there. Compared to the other cities she’d visited in Fiore, however, the vampire realized that the good things usually happened in the south, whereas the north was not very eventful. More often than not, she was all by herself and it was only because of Michiko’s presence, that Seira wasn’t feeling all too lonely — it was an improvement, indeed.

In a pub in Oak Town Seira had heard rumors about something ‘strange’ going on in Worth Woodsea, and that during this time of the year the borders of the Netherworld, the Abyss and Earthland overlapped — whatever that was supposed to mean — and allowed for spirits to pass through. Normally, Seira would have never believed such a thing, but ever since she’d become a vampire herself, she was more tolerant and open-minded. She had visited a carnival earlier, a place filled with ghosts, spirits and (weirdly enough) skeletons! They invited Seira to play a number of games, and even though she lost a few times, she also won here and there and was rewarded with so called “Pumpkin Pops”. The sorceress had no idea what to do with those, but she had five at the moment and she was certainly going to keep them until she found a way to make use of them. If everything else failed, she could still always gift them to Finn as a souvenir — perhaps he would like a present from her travels?

It was night time already, but Seira was still wandering through the woods. She could see perfectly in the dark — as a vampire it was only natural for her to be up at night — and even though she wasn’t actively hunting, she tried her hardest to stay quiet. There were strange things going on still, and she was curious to find out more about the situation. Seira had never believed in the supernatural to begin with, but then again: this was a world of magic, anything and everything was possible. She was silently making her way through the forests, constantly listening to the sounds surrounding her and using her eyes to scan the area — but there was nothing. Seira wandered around for a while, but the scene never changed. She thought about getting some sleep before the morning hours came, but stopped in her tracks when she suddenly heard cries for help in the far distance.

Seira perked up and placed her hand upon a nearby try, signalizing Espeon with the other to stand still. It was only the faintest of sounds, but it eventually came closer. Seira bared her fangs — they were the quickest weapon she had, in case she needed one — and slowly started moving towards the voice. After a while, she could see a tall, slender figure in the distance. Seira’s eyes were excellent, and she was able to spot the person before she was discovered. It was a woman, dressed in torn clothes with long, blonde hair. She seemed wounded and distraught, stressed out and desperate to find someone to help her. She kept calling for names, but there was no one else around. Seira decided to approach her carefully and eventually made her distance known by stepping out of the dark. The woman stood on a clearing and the moonlight would illuminate Seira’s features.

“I need help,” the woman begged and turned towards the vampire, “please, I need to find my children and my husband!” She hesitated and a frown crossed her face. “You are a ghost,” Seira whispered in awe and tilted her head to the side, “you are dead. You are only here because of the borders of our worlds overlapping and—” she’d never directly spoken to one of them and was quite surprised to see a ghost like that. “I know, but I don’t care. I really need to find my family. We got lost in this forest a few years ago, we never made it back out,” her voice broke and Seira sighed quietly. “If you are here, they should be too. Wait here, I will see if I can find them for you.” She didn’t want to hear the woman’s cries any longer and was glad to see that her words actually silenced her. She nodded, stepped back and waited for Seira to leave. The vampire had no clue what exactly she was looking for, but a husband and two lost children was all the info she needed. Together with Espeon, she left to search for them.

Seira wondered just how many ghosts were roaming around Earthland within these moments. She’d never thought that a strange event like this could occur, but many things had changed ever since she became a vampire, and Seira learned a lot about the world she lived in. Somehow her life had steadily improved (even though that was mostly due to her meeting Finn) and she was grateful for this opportunity, even though not many people would probably believe her if she told them about it. Seira wandered around the forest, making sure not to move too far away from the forest clearing, while she searched for the rest of the missing family. Espeon followed close behind and occasionally mewed at her master. Half an hour passed without much happening, but Seira finally could hear the voice of a man calling out something in the far distance. She could hardly hear him, but it got better the closer she was to him and eventually she spotted who was — without a doubt — the lost husband.

“Your wife is looking for you, please follow me,” Seira said softly to him and pointed him towards the right direction. He seemed just as desperate as she was and followed the vampire without protesting. The husband was far less talkative, but spoke with concern about his children. “I need to find my two daughters,” he repeated over and over again, “they are somewhere out there and I can’t find them. They are all alone!” Seira ignored him for the time being, knowing that it would do him no good if she spoke now, and lead him back to the forest clearing where his wife was (thankfully) still waiting. She seemed overjoyed to see her husband watching them reunite was heart-wrenching. Seeing them like that only made her miss Finn even more. “I will search for your daughters now, please wait here until I bring them to you.” The vampire left the clearing one more time and began looking for the children.

The two daughters took longer to find, but they were easier to spot. They were together and their cries and sobs were quite noisy. Both of them had golden locks, just like their mother, and they seemed happy and relieved to find someone who had been looking for them. Seira couldn’t help but wonder about how these people had died here — and how long they had been trying to find each other — but decided to be polite and not ask. Instead, she brought the two daughters back to their parents, where they would happily reunite as a family. They seemed grateful, and the spirits were finally at ease. “Thank you,” the mother spoke to Seira and the vampire nodded towards her. “Thank you for bringing us back together.” The husband, who was hugging both of his children, turned towards her as well. “It’s been a long time, but because of you we no longer have to search for each other.” One of the daughters (the older one, from what Seira could tell) then approached the vampire and handed her three Pumpkin Pops. She didn’t say or explain anything; she returned to her parents shortly after and the family disappeared into the night without another word, leaving a confused Seira behind.

“More Pumpkin Pops? Really?”