AN: This took way longer then it should have. This is why I don't make deadlines because I have no idea if I'll be able to reach it. Anyway, enjoy.

Coming out of the dream was weird. For a moment it felt like I had gone unconscious, but I think that was just the shift in perspective screwing with me. Though I was a little unhappy that I was now stuck in spirit form again. I had enjoyed the short moment I could feel my own body again.

Though now that the emotional high of finally having somebody to talk with had simmered down, I started to regret what I just did. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try to make the kid aware of me. If he didn't pass me off as a dream, he might just try to talk to his mom about me.

And if that mom of his decides to bring in an exorcist… well, I'm not even sure if I can be exorcised. I'm not interested in finding out either. For all, I know the exorcism would just send me back into the void.

And I REFUSE to go back to that hellhole again. In fact, I'd rather be sent to hell than go back into the void again.

My thoughts were interrupted when I finally felt Luka stirring from his sleep.

'This should be interesting… I wonder what will happen now? I hope he doesn't panic. That'd be bad.'

My vision which was slowly unblurring gained clear focus. I was once again staring up at a ceiling. Luka had opened his eyes which allowed me to see as well.

It was weird honestly. Everything that Luka saw, touched, tasted… I could feel every bit of it. Sharing isn't unwelcomed considering I once thought I would never feel anything again, but it still felt weird.

Hmm...

Luka hasn't moved out his bed yet. I wonder why? Maybe he wasn't feeling too well? Or maybe he was thinking about that dream I had shown up at last night.

"I wonder what I dreamed about last night? Oh well, can't be that important if I don't remember it."

Oh...

I'm not going to lie that was actually hurtful. I'd like to think that I wasn't that easy to forget about. Though it wasn't really his fault since not everyone can recall their dreams. So I shouldn't really take it personally.

Besides, I probably dodged a bullet. My reckless action might have caused both of us a lot of trouble. I'd better just stay quiet and observe what's going on. There's still not much I know about the circumstances surrounding me and Luka.

I still am honestly clueless about exactly how I got here.

Well, I guess there isn't really much else to do but wait for something interesting to pop up.

As it turns out something interesting did happen, but Luka wasn't here to see it. Which also extends to me, unfortunately. It was also something I had forgotten about since I was too caught up with talking with the kid.

The Baptism. I wouldn't exactly say I wouldn't have been against Luka sneaking out and trying to peek into it. It'd have been a nice source of information that wouldn't require me to expose myself. I had a funny feeling that's what he was aiming for.

Too bad he didn't exactly have the attention span to remember what he wanted to do. Kids aren't exactly known for their incredible memory abilities. Especially when they have other things to distract them from thinking about it.

It was hilarious to see him realize he missed his chance to see somebody become a "hero". I couldn't see it, but I could feel him pouting. That was enough to bring some mirth to me.

It was nice to have some entertainment to pass the time. Even if it was at the expense of some unfortunate soul.

I'm kind of an asshole, aren't I?

My mirth was cut short when Luka and his mom, Lucasta, were walking to the butcher's shop to get some cuts. It wasn't the walk itself that bothered me. It was the burning glares that were greeting them that was annoying me.

I've already known that they aren't well liked because of their foreigners to the village, and I can understand being slightly suspicious of strangers, but this is utterly ridiculous.

Then again, prejudice is rarely logical. And it's in human nature to block out anything that challenges their beliefs, unfortunately. There isn't much I can do about it anyway.

I'm not exactly in the condition to do much considering I'm a spirit right now.

"Don't pay it any mind, Luka... Just keep looking forward." Lucasta whispered to her son. Ah, the old 'Ignore the problem and it'll go away.' solution.

A personal favorite of mine. I liked using that tactic in high school and middle school to ignore the bullies. Though it doesn't work most of the time.

As it turns out, that just encourages bullies to continue doing what they're doing. Opportunistic predators find any sign of weakness particularly appetizing.

These people glaring at them though aren't schoolyard punks bullying a weak isolated child though. These are full grown adults and given the time period I'm in... I wouldn't be surprised if they were itching for an excuse to start a witch-hunt.

Okay, I'd better stop my train of thought there. My mood's starting to darken again. Unhappy thoughts begone!

...

Didn't work.

Anyway, it wasn't long before they made it to the butcher's shop. As they walked in, I was greeted with the sight of a grizzled old man. Guy had a full grey beard and everything. Not going to lie, was kinda jealous of the glorious beard.

Wish I had lived long enough to grow mine out...

The guy was nice enough. He was gruff, but at least he treated us cordially and didn't treat us like we had the plague.

Wait, did I just say us?

I really need to get out of here. That's some dangerous thinking I'm doing right now. This is Luka's body, not mine. I just happened to be freeloading on it right now. I'm starting to worry that I'm going loony.

The butcher made some small talk with Lucasta. Luka meanwhile was looking around the shop. He didn't feel like he was comfortable being around here and was trying to distract himself.

It's weird how I can tell what he's feeling.

Is this some kind of empathy link feedback I'm getting? I'm not sure how well I like this...

It didn't take long before business had concluded. Interestingly enough Lucasta handed over some coins to him. Luka wasn't close enough to see what was on them, but I could tell that they seemed to be some type of gold coin.

I highly doubt it's 100% pure gold. I could be wrong about that, given my knowledge of how gold was used back in the olden days is poor.

With the cuts of beef and chicken in her bag, Lucifina headed out of the store. With Luka, and by extension me, following closely behind.

As it turns out Luka didn't really have any chores to do today. Lucifina was busy with cooking, so Luka found himself with some free time to play around.

So he decided to go off a tiny bit out of town and play with a branch that was lying on the ground. He was treating it like a sword and was basically swinging it around, playing pretend hero. It reminded me a bit of me when I was little myself and imagined myself slaying evil monstrosities.

Good times.

The sound of the branch breaking in Luka's hand broke me out of my thoughts.

Oh yeah, broken off branches generally aren't that durable. Tends to be the case given that not only are they the dead decaying parts of a tree.

Luka sighed, clearly distraught at the loss of the branch.

"That's another branch gone... I really need to get something tougher."

Yes, yes you do.

Though I think a sword would be difficult to come by. If I recall they were pretty expensive and it was considered a sign of status to have one in the dark times. Considering Luka and his mother don't seem to be loaded considering they live in a modest house, I'll take a fair guess that they are not nobles.

As I speculated over the financial conditions of my host, I spotted something that caused my thoughts to halt. I also felt a pang of fear hit me.

"Heeey! Human! Let's play!" The tiny voice shouted at Luka. Through Luka's eyes, I could see what looked like a tiny flying girl flying in the air, hovering right in front of him. What also concerned me was that Luka didn't react at all. He didn't even seem like he could see her.

Actually, now that I think about it, wouldn't that be a fairy? What the hell is a fay doing here!?

'Oh shit! That's not good! The Fay are not nice at all! Those myths I've read told me that they often kidnapped children and casually murdered anyone who pissed them off! And Luka is standing right in front of one and doesn't seem like he can see her at all!?'

Wait a minute...

Maybe he can't even see her at all? I mean it's not like its impossible for them to have some type of invisibility spell. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

"Huh? What's the dark stuff coming out of you? Looks icky! Though I wonder what it feels like... I wanna touch it now!"

"Ah! No! Stay back you winged menace! I know what your kind like to do!" I screamed out, no longer bothering to contain myself with my thoughts. Luka jumped in fright at the sudden scream I emitted.

I wanted that fairy gone. I didn't care about concealing myself anymore. I just wanted her gone before she got any funny ideas.

On reflex, my hand shot out and swatted her. Or at least I felt like I was smacking her with my hand. Through Luka's eyes, all I saw was a tendril made of shadow shoot out of his body and whip the empty air. The tendril was pretty damn fast too. It was only visible for a split second before it vanished.

The fairy yelped as she was sent flying off into the field. A part of me almost felt bad until I remembered that I have no idea what 'playing' entailed.

Better safe than sorry.

"W-What was that?" Luka stuttered. Oh crap, now I scared him. What should I do? I was never good with kids back when I was alive, and I highly doubt that's improved since I became an otherworldly monster. Should I just say nothing and pretend I don't exist? I mean even if he told someone... scratch that, he's in a time where people believe in ghosts and goblins.

It'd be pretty easy for him to get someone to believe him.

"...Maybe that dream wasn't just a dream after all... J-Jacob was that you?"

Oh. I thought he forgot about the dream he had. Then again, maybe my screaming refreshed his memory. This is what I get for not thinking things through. You reap what you sow Jacob, you reap what you sow.

I might as well get this over with.

"Yes, that was me." I reluctantly acknowledged his question. "I was honestly considering just not saying anything after I noticed you forgot about me when you woke up..."

"Why not?"

"Well..." Shit! I really shouldn't have said anything back! Now I'm going to have come up with something quick! "...I didn't want those villagers to have more of a reason to hate you. They don't seem to be the understanding type from what I've seen so far." It wasn't a complete lie. I didn't want those villagers to find an excuse to go witch hunting.

Though it also helped that I had a sense of self-preservation. Half truths for the win!

...

I really shouldn't be celebrating that. The fact I had to not say the complete truth isn't good.

"They aren't that bad, the-" Luka stopped his response short. I felt his body stiffen and a strong feeling of angry coming from him. It must be tough trying to defend people who treated him and his mother like dirt. "they're just afraid."

'And very xenophobic. ' I didn't say that out loud to Luka. I was still trying to figure out why exactly they were detected by the locals. It could have been something as simple as paranoia against outsiders, but there was a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave me that was telling me something else was up.

The worst part was I still couldn't figure out exactly what it was. It's been eating at me since I've found myself stranded here. Every time I tried to recall, I felt something stir before fading.

It was extremely fucking frustrating to have the answer within reach, yet you can't exactly touch it just yet. Was this some sort of symptom of being inside of that void?

"J-Jacob? Are you all right? You went quiet for a minute there..." Luka thankfully broke me out of trail of thought. I can focus on that later. My first priority should be information gathering. That could kill two birds with one stone.

Not only would I be getting information about the world I'm at, but I might trigger some recollection. At this point, I'm certain that I'm in some kind of fantasy world, but being wrong isn't out of the question.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was just thinking about something. Though I should ask you not to talk to me when people are around. People will think you're crazy."

To my satisfaction, my response got a sputter out of him. It was always the simple things in life that were the most enjoyable. Well, I wasn't technically "alive" but technicalities won't bother me too much.

With that Luka went on his way back home. Oddly, he didn't bother asking me any questions on the way there, but I'm sure he's still digesting that fact he just talked to a dead man and said deadman is a freeloader.