Things were seeming to move forward at a strange pace, one that was more fitting to the recent events than the chaos of life normally allowed. It was usual that the lessons life taught must be lived through, and only learned upon one looking back without the weight of their own opinions. However, with the proximity of it all and with Jake's help, the lessons were being learned in a surprisingly quick fashion. It allowed for him to take from these events tiny nuances of life that he had otherwise grown numb to, or perhaps was never aware of at all. It was through these random encounters with spirits that Finn was starting to understand more about himself, about the things that had happened, and about how he would have to move forward. He was lucky in that he didn't have to make this trek alone. He had his brother at his side, Jake, as well as the members of Blue Pegasus who would be willing to be there for him, Alisa and Snowflake. With Seira as well, Finn truly did have himself a solid list of people of whom he could go to in times of trouble, or if he needed help sorting through his mind.

This was not one of the things in life that could be done with outside aid though. The truth had been apparent to Jake, who had told Finn that he would only give insight if sought. He knew that the others cared about him to the point of wanting to help no matter what as well, but to go to them for this would be to get another individual's perspective on life. Such a thing would not be negative by any means, but it was not what he was looking for. What he needed was to better understand himself, and to better understand the type of person he wanted to be moving forward. The shortcomings he saw in himself, and the strengths he was proud of, needed to be fully understood if he wished to have any control over them.

Better, he thought, to stay the path of self discovery. He'd welcome the thoughts and ideas of others once he was fully secure in his own beliefs and necessities. One thing had become abundantly clear to him during this short time since the passing of his friend. He could no longer afford to be willfully ignorant, nor could he shy away from the hard truths of life. He had to accept what was in front of him in its entirety, and only then could he choose how to progress. Would he remain the same person at the other end? Of course. No matter what, he was who he was. Finn Mertins. Whether that meant he would deal with situations the same, or if he would have a similar outlook on life, only time could tell. It would be up to him alone. But at the end of the day, he would still be who he was.

WC: 503

In this journey, he was welcoming of the spirits who grabbed at the attention of the living. They all had their own stories and their own pasts. They all had reasons for what they did in their lives, and these reasons persisted to a degree after their death. The one similarity between all of them was the discontent with how things turned out, the want for change now that their lives had come to an end. Whether that change was through revenge, or fixing the wrongs of betrayal, they had something motivating them. Finn had thought that these individuals were being allowed another chance at righting these things due to who they were when they were alive. Despite anything else, the woman who was betrayed by her lover was an arguably good woman. The two children who had been killed without crime, both undeniably good people. And yet the spirit who approached him this time did not seem to be of the same caliber of those whom he had already come across. This spirit, named Myers, was as far from good as Finn could possibly imagine. The soul of the man began explaining who he was in life, as the others had, but his story was much harder to pity.

Myers was a prolific killer, having taken the lives of many of innocents. If those two children could see Finn speaking to this man now, they'd feel betrayed. What he did was no different than what their mother did. And yet here he was, asking Finn to help him cover up more of his crimes. Finn was at a loss for why he would ever consider doing such a thing. This man was a murderer, without reason. "Have you never killed?" The question hit hard with Finn. He had. Many times. Not just beasts, but humans as well. It was different though.

Right?

The man continued on to explain that he didn't care whether or not these murders were tied to him, nor whether or not they were simply buried away forever. He was dead. Whatever stains or additions to his ledger no longer effected him in the slightest, so it was not out of greed that he acted. Why then? What made Myers wish to have these bodies taken and burned, without anyone able to see it? He explained that while he didn't care how it effected him, he couldn't stand letting these crimes bother his mother any more. The bodies were hidden in the house in which his mother lived, and if they were to be discovered he feared that she would be blamed for them. She was innocent, he said, and had not aided in the crimes nor in covering them up. He couldn't stand the idea of her being punished for the crimes of her son, and he wished only to protect her from that possibility. He was without a doubt an evil man, and yet that was clearly and act of good. It seemed things weren't always straight forward.

WC: 1007

Finn made his way to the house, following the spirit as it led him through the dark and desolate streets. Myers seemed to enjoy looking around, looking around at all those who were currently out and about. Under his breath, if he even had breath, he mumbled things that escaped Finn's notice, but Jake picked up easily. Explanations of why people would not fit his style, or of who would need to be tailed. Even after he had been executed, the murder seemed to enjoy the idea that he could still kill. He couldn't, of course, but it was obvious that he wished it were so.

As they came upon the house, Finn inquired where he'd find the bodies. Myers explained to him that the bodies would be found in the basement, in a back room that was padlocked. His mother would have had no way to get into it, and he himself had already checked on it to ensure that it had been undisturbed. It was confusing as to how the room had been undetected, but Myers specified that he had made preparations to the room himself to ensure that the smell would never permeate through the house.

As they all entered the house and proceeded to sneak down to the basement, the spirit phased through the wall and back out. The bodies were apparently all still there. He told them to take them out of the basement, through the back door, and to to the nearby fire pit. Using his sword, Finn broke open the padlock and took all the bodies outside. From there, Jake would enhance his entire body using an S rank spell, making himself large enough to carry the weight without much issue. As they carried the bodies to the fire pit, they all got stacked onto the wood that was already there. Lighting it on fire, Finn decided to douse what was there with flammable liquid in a near by bottle. As the fire grew, the spirit sighed with relief.

He felt no regret, but obviously was happy that his mother was now safe. Finn asked him if he knew the names of the victims. The spirit nodded, reciting the name of every single person who was now in the fire. Finn asked him if he knew where they lived. Eyeing the adventurer with a faux curiosity, he gave him the addresses of each.

Thanking him and slowly fading out of existence, Finn went into his backpack and took out five pieces of paper, writing notes that explained their family was killed by Myers and that the bodies had been burned in the fire pit. Then, for the rest of the night, Finn delivered the letters. He killed, as did Myers. The difference was the driving purpose. Myers did it because he enjoyed the act of taking life, of the power it made him think he had. Myers was weak, and this made him feel strong. Finn did it because he had goals and ambitions, a driving force that kept him moving forward. To achieve this goal, he'd be willing to take care of those in his way. This included using deadly force. It was the same act, but the reasons were different. To Finn, that was enough.

WC: 1550
EXIT