"Sheesh, Calm down there! You look like you've seen a ghost" The Ghastly child stated, laughing at such a joke he made.
The Demon, meanwhile, was not having it. "NAH, YAH THINK!!?!?" He was vastly aware that such a figure wasn't affected by his magic, still seeing the child laugh to himself further and further, spinning himself around without a care in the world. It was driving the demon up a wall slowly. "L-listen...what exactly ARE you!?" Zazel would ask. The Ghost merely stopped laughing and took his own hand, inserting it into his own chest, showcasing its translucent nature. Zazel, dumbfounded, would plant his face upon his hand, groaning. "I mean moreso what were you when you were ALIVE!?" Zazel could've worded the question better, however he was trying to get over on the large prank the ghost did towards the demon. The ghost would sit himself down upon one of the vines that grew on the walls. He hummed to himself exactly what WAS he, signifying some slight difficulty with his memory.
"Good question, actually. I don't seem to remember much, only that this was my home, and that I woke up here. Though, if you want to call me something, I can take any name you wanna offer!" The boy was openly friendly towards the Demon, which still stunned him.
"You know what? Yeah, Fine. Sure. I'll just say your name is.....I dunno...Graves, I guess." The ghost simply laughed at Zazel's new name given to the resident, to which the demon would sigh and sit on the opposite end of the room, keeping an eye out for any tricks they're willing to throw. "So....If you know mostly about your home....what happened to it?" The demon would start as one of his many questions he has regarding this grove. With a witness, he could at least get some answers to what happened here. Graves would simply think once more, though this time in a shorter amount, leading Zazel to believe that this was something easier to recollect than his own personal memories.
"Well, nothing much. Things grow old and get weaker. It's kinda a no-brainer actually, what with the conditions of everything most of the time, especially at night! Oh! Oh! I didn't got your name by the way! You want me to give you one as well?" The Ghost asked, to which the demon would shake their head.
"I have a name, don't worry. Its Zazel. Zazel Cal'cul. Back to the question at hand, what do you mean by 'growing old'? This was functional back then??"
"Mhm! Mhm! Absolutely! You should've seen it too, all sorts of people bringing big logs and chopping them to make planks for the base! All sorts of furniture being carried around the swamps. I even remembered my old toys being placed in here, wasting my life away by playing with them. Ahhh...I miss those days." Graves would look upwards, seemingly staring into space as he reminisces of what he could recall in his life. Such staring creeped out the demon somewhat, as well as the thought of being cooped up in a single location.
"Riiiiiight. Listen, I'm not trying to make myself mean here, but you seemed to have done something that caused this to happen." The demon began to explain, as he showcased the papers which housed the missions in Oaking, one of which happened to be highlighted. Graves merely looked at the paper, unable to physically grasp it with his own hands, simply touching it. The Ghost became curious as he read the words, before having just as much a curious expression as the demonic individual. It was a detail that Zazel was able to notice and one that he is familiar with. It is the same expressions he always gives whenever he would see Harvard's cards: not out of admiration, but rather in learning how it came to be. The former of the reasoning, however, was starting to quickly grow onto the demon more than the latter. For now, he shakes off that thought and focuses on the task at hand.
"I did that...? I don't remember causing problems around the swamp."
"You sure? Like if any people visited or....?"
"No. Not at all. Nobody has ever paid visit in this place for such a long time." such a response given would make the demon be more keen. No problems? Not even an iota of one? That wasn't right. He looked back at the papers towards the experiences with certain individuals who ventured into the Mangrove Graves: how it was deemed as monstrous in nature, how it took lives in some cases, how it had chattering and clattering of raw metals as if there were animals in the vicinity, and even one report of the place holding a secret ritual amidst the branches of the Mangroves themselves. He may not have checked the last one while he was traversing the roots, but the ghost's claim proves that something was off here. They were nothing more than a bystander at large, just with a controversial background.
Zazel pushed onward however, mainly to let Graves possibly be given more information regarding the subject matter. "You have any idea who did this...?" The Demon asked, unsure of himself.
"Nope. Not a thing. I told you that the only things I remembered were from this very house and waking up here."
"Not even when you were alive? Maybe that can help you with understanding who asked for this!"
The Ghost grew silent. He closed his eyes and thinks once more, trying to recall such memories. "Actually..." Graves began, recollecting certain parts about it. "There IS something. There was a man here, black as night. I couldn't see their face or their body, only that they were going to my parents room. I'd try to follow him, but he was gone. Shortly after....I blacked out. I woke up to find this house being somewhat ruined, and.....well....the rest is history." Despite such a short story, Zazel's eyes grew wide with fear. While Graves may not have understood what happened, and even now raised an eyebrow towards the demon, Zazel was far more understanding at the situation..
Graves was murdered by an intruder. The controversies were all a lie.
Moreover....this murderer must be the person that is possibly responsible for these claims. It is a reach, without a doubt, but it is a possible lead that he could follow. The only problem was, nobody knows exactly how to find this bad guy and put him down for good. Graves looked onwards in seeing Zazel's pale expression, as well as seeing the demon's pacing in trying to understand all of this, wondering what to do to capture the crook. "And you said you've NEVER seen him, huh? That is VERY, VERY bad. I think I might know something about this, but I may need to go to Oaking for more information. Will you be able to hang tight in this place, Graves?"
Shocked, the Ghost would nod accordingly. "Ah....Sure! Though, what do you mean by-" His words were cut off with Zazel spawning a sigil and riding atop of it, soaring across the Groves to gather more information, as per his word.