Allen was absent minded the next day, the same conversation he had with Helena ran in his head all day long. He didn't really understood what came over him, or why he decided it was a good idea to use a spell with unknown effects on a friend. Yes, even if he spend just a few days with Helena, Allen already considered her a friend, after all, he bonded better with William, Armand, Sophia and Elsie in just one or two days, which they seemed to last for a few weeks, yet now that he was already getting used to the routine, the days passed by faster.
"Allen! Are you okay mate?" William asked after they left their class.
"Wha? Oh, yes, I was just thinking about… you know, the death day party Sir Nicholas is holding today." He answered.
"Oh, right! Its today, isn't it? Did you find a spell yet?"
Allen shook his head. "No, but I'll use a cloth over my nose and be done with it. And if it doesn't work, welp, too bad I guess."
William shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then, it's your nose, not mine."
"Sure is, thank you for worrying."
"No problem mate." William answered in a proud tone, puffing his chest out.
"So, are you coming first with us to the banquet, then towards the dungeons?" Armand asked.
"Yeah, I don't want to spent the night hungry."
"Hmm, makes sense, yes."
Afterwards, the day went by really fast, reaching lunchtime, then dinner. Allen talked for a bit with his friends, at the same time he was amazed by the decorations, the movies didn't do it justice. Flying bats, giant pumpkins, and even some suits of armor were enchanted to move at different intervals when someone walked through, yet, all he could think was that this was Halloween, not Samhain.
It is okay for muggle children, since they are used to this kind of eccentricity, but what about the kids who celebrate Samhain instead? Do they just need to stick it up?
"Hey, you okay?" Armand asked.
"Uh? Oh, yeah, just-"
"Thinking. I know, but don't pay too much attention to it, if the Headmaster wants to celebrate like this, then its fine. It's not like the thirty-first of October is the only day for Samhain."
Allen let out a chuckle. "You are right. Maybe you can show me how it is supposed to be celebrated once we come back to the common room?"
"Sure thing."
"So today is Halloween, and tomorrow Samhain in our books? I can work with that." Said William while serving himself some food on his plate.
Both of them laughed. "Right, who says we can't celebrate both?"
After eating dinner, Allen picked up a bunch of candy and stored them in his pockets while he ate others, then he looked at his clock, it was nearing the eight o'clock mark, he stood up and said goodbye to his friends as he jogged towards the dungeons.
-------------------------------------------------
When he finally reached the dungeons, he saw Helena floating in the entrance. "Hello Helena, sorry for taking a while."
"Hmm, its okay, it's just about time anyway." She nodded her head.
"Okay, give me just a moment." Allen activated his magic, blocking his sense of smell.
"Alright, I'm ready." He said putting an arm forward so she could grab it with hers.
"What did you do?" Helena asked.
"What else. I blocked my sense of smell before we go in." Allen made a disgusted face, thinking about all the rotten food together in one small dungeon.
Helena let out a soft laugh before grabbing his arm, even if he is still small, she could float down just fine to get to an average height where it wouldn't be uncomfortable.
"Do you think you can keep both spells? The one blocking your sense of smell and the one who lets you come in contact with ghosts?" She suddenly asked.
"Yeah, and besides we are not gonna be here for long, I have a curfew you know, I just need to scare a bunch of headless ghosts and be done with it." Allen showed her a smug smile and she responded in kind.
They walked towards the dungeon where Sir Nicholas' death day would be celebrated. Sir Nicholas came out to greet them. "Ah, Allen, Helena, glad to see you both, come in."
He rushed them in, ignoring completely the fact that she was holding Allen by the arm and not only faking it.
After they entered, Sir Nicholas floated down a bit, whispering something in Allen's ear. "Allen, do you see those headless ghosts by the appetizer table?"
He looked towards something to seemed to look like a viscous but also solid plate of god knows what. The only reason he knew those were appetizers was because the ghost continuously detached their heads from their bodies.
"Right, yeah, I see it." He answered.
"Well then, if they try to make fun of my status as 'nearly headless' I hope you can help me out there." Sir Nicholas winked one of his spectral eyes.
"By the way, do you mind if I present you to a few of our fellow ghosts?"
"Sure thing, lead the way." Allen nodded his head.
From there, Sir Nicholas presented Allen to all of his ghost friends, most of them flinched when they saw his green eyes, but since the light which scared them wasn't there, they were able to lead an amicable conversation.
"So, if yo don't mind Mr Lionheart, could you tell us how you died?" A fat ghost with a shaved head said from the side.
"Most of us are quite curious you see. You are alive, but also dead, so its a bit shocking to see the two of you."
"Oh, yes, I agree, I sometimes confuse them and I don't know where to look." Said a female ghost, slim as a toothpick.
At the mention of that, Allen snapped his head, looking towards the female ghost. "Wha- What do you mean by the two of us?"
"Hmm? You can't see it? Sometimes when you are walking around-"
The female ghost got interrupted by Helena, who grabbed Allen by his arm and pulled him to the side. "I think my partner is feeling a bit sick, he might have died, but his body is still that of a human, so I hope you can excuse us."
Helena dragged Allen away, his face pale as a sheet of paper. After they moved away enough distance, he spoke. "Do I… Do I appear as a ghost to you?"
"She stayed silent for a while before speaking. "Yes and no."
"What do you mean?" A small tremble could be heard from his voice.
"It just… Sometimes your human body doesn't show, and instead I see a ghost. It happens a few times..."
Allen looked a bit concerned, but after activating his magic to calm himself down, his eyes shone with a dangerous tint of green.
He took in a big breath before releasing it. "I, I don't know whether to feel surprised or scared, but… at least its myself, meaning that…
You are seeing how I looked like before I died." Allen finished, trying to evade Helena's eyes.
"Can you see 'me' right now?" Asked Allen.
Helena shook her head left and right. "I can see a faint figure, but I also see the 'you' in front of me."
She tightened her arms around his. "I don't think you need to worry about that. A lot of ghost here do rituals to stay behind, its not only because they had unfinished business. But in your case, you didn't do anything of the sort, right?"
Allen shook his head. "No, I've never done something of the sort."
"Then you don't have to worry, its still you at the end of the day." She glanced to the sides, trying to see if anyone was paying attention to them.
"Besides, most of the ghost here couldn't accept the fact that they were dead for years, you know? But after they got over it, they started talking about it as if talking about the weather."
At the sound of that Allen let out a small laugh, and after a few moments, Sir Nicholas arrived, asking if everything was okay. Allen clarified things and told him everything was fine, he was just surprised about the other 'him' they sometimes see.
"Ah, those insensible brutes. I'm sorry, it's been a few hundred years since they died, so they tend to be tactless when it comes to newer people and their deaths."
"It's okay Sir Nicholas. Shall we go and talk with the 'headless hunt'? I kind of want to scare some ghosts." When he finished talking, his eyes lit up again, making Sir Nicholas flinch for a moment.
They walked over to a table were five or seven ghost were talking amicably, tossing their own heads around and passing through the rotten food to 'eat' it.
"That few?" Allen asked.
"Only they accepted my invitation. The organization is formed of at least a dozen ghosts." Said Sir Nicholas, feeling a bit dejected.
When they arrived at the table, Sir Nicholas cleared his throat before speaking. "Hello esteemed guest of the Headless Hunt. Are you enjoying my death day party?"
They stayed silent for a moment so Sir Nicholas continued talking.
"I wanted to present to you my good friend, Allen Lionheart, and of course, you know the Grey Lady as well."
Helena nodded her head. "A pleasure to meet you."
And Allen did the same. "A pleasure to meet you as well."
"Ah, the half-dead, finally decided to spend some time with us?" A burly ghost with a bald head said from the table where he was tasting some food.
Allen cleared his throat before speaking as well, thinking how they really were rude people. "Right, it just came to my attention after a couple of days that the ghost could tell that I died, so sorry for not spending time with my fellows." His eyes shone again, making the ghost flinch and non-existent sweat drop from his neck.
"But none of you invited me anywhere and always ran away whenever I looked in your direction, so I decided to not involve myself with it." Allen shrugged his shoulders.
"It was until Sir Nicholas invited me to his death day that he explained to me that all of you can see I already died."
Another ghost who was at the front interjected. "R- Right, a pleasure to meet you Mr Lionheart." He put his right hand forward, waiting for a handshake, as if mocking him.
When he saw that, a big smile appeared on Allen's face, he put forward his right hand as well and shook the ghost's hand up and down, leaving the ghost, his companions, and even Sir Nicholas flabbergasted. "Nice meeting you as well, Sir…?"
The ghost stuttered before answering. "Sir Richard, my friend."
Then Allen let go of his hand, the ghost let out a disappointed sound before clearing his throat. Afterwards all the other ghosts lined up in front of him just to shake his hand.
A few minutes passed and even Sir Nicholas lined up to shake his hand, seeing this, Allen just laughed and gave him a hug. "I hope you don't mind physical contact Sir Nicholas."
"Ha!, of course not friend, thank you."
The whole time Helena kept being by his side, hugging his arm.
"So, I've heard the Headless Hunt organization doesn't to let my friend in. May I know why?"
"Y-Yes!" Exclaimed one of the ghosts. "You see Mr Lionheart, all of our club activities include the use of a decapitated head, whether its Horseback Head-Juggling or Head polo. Sadly, Sir Nicholas would not be able to join in it.
So it is with a lot of regret that we need to reject his offer."
"Hmm." Allen looked at every one of the ghosts who belonged to the club, they wanted to feel the touch of a human again, that much he could tell, but were also scared because of his eyes. Probably in their minds he appeared to be as a weird existence who was part of the in-between.
"So he can join if he could detach his head from his neck?" Allen asked the ghost who told him the reason.
He was trying to evade his eyes, but even if he didn't look at him straight ahead, the sensation remained, just not as strong. "Yes, that's correct, but as you know Mr Lionheart, ghost cannot change from the moment of their death."
Allen wondered if it was really like that, he managed to come into contact with ghosts using his magic. What stopped him from separating a ghost head from a ghost body?