409Please respect copyright.PENANAJCo44Szs5r
409Please respect copyright.PENANAMJ33AfqRFt
"Mummy, look!" 409Please respect copyright.PENANAu3CZyjmkFd
Tap, tap. 409Please respect copyright.PENANA4KKOfyMqCY
"Mummy I will make you proud!" 409Please respect copyright.PENANA6M3TB4FV8p
Tap, tap.409Please respect copyright.PENANABO9FXd3ynG
"Mummy, save me."409Please respect copyright.PENANAaw7d9Vn7cn
Tap, tap.409Please respect copyright.PENANAREutbyAEIg
"Alright you better shut409Please respect copyright.PENANAgQY7zi6Xy0
it with the falling tapping!" David shouted as he opened his eyes and 409Please respect copyright.PENANA1UDvJmepKv
got up. Waking from his dream, for what else could it have been? 409Please respect copyright.PENANAuNwi0NU42v
David was about to 409Please respect copyright.PENANAo8dsdA7bO8
complain more but then he remembered what happened, how he fell from the409Please respect copyright.PENANAmRuvOfZv4h
ship, to his apparent death. But right now he was in the middle a city 409Please respect copyright.PENANAiq4v5wWqsW
or at least a shallow imitation of one. With the buildings and the 409Please respect copyright.PENANAF1cBtCsARt
people just being shadowy reflections of the real world, but still 409Please respect copyright.PENANAQfVWdz4yJx
eerily lifelike.409Please respect copyright.PENANA0vLcwTiPao
Then it clicked, the 409Please respect copyright.PENANA0g6RCJx5Tg
ramshackle buildings, the crooked streets, dark alleyways guarded only 409Please respect copyright.PENANA6hGOwxkfC6
by footpads and thieves. Shadowy humans begging and fighting. Stumbling 409Please respect copyright.PENANAcwgnjQkfDy
around drunk. David was back in the Havenport slums, his home. A home he409Please respect copyright.PENANAYFBg5uX0WY
left around 20 years ago when he boarded his first ship. Why was he 409Please respect copyright.PENANAaV653ZKwna
back? Was he dead after all? 409Please respect copyright.PENANAPI6dyyuMG0
All of those thoughts, 409Please respect copyright.PENANA9K4IWjIy9k
and more, were racing through Davids mind. As he was trying to gather 409Please respect copyright.PENANAFplGfMdJnj
his wits, he heard laughter from...not behind exactly but everywhere.409Please respect copyright.PENANAVf7dZfGcUZ
"Ah! Perfect you finally awoke!" David tried turning towards the voice but couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from.409Please respect copyright.PENANAcZ81P9jUbM
"Ah, apologies. The ether world makes everything quite fuzzy." 409Please respect copyright.PENANA9IWAVfs3aE
David fell backwards out of fear as a figure appeared out of thin air in front of him. "Spirit! G..ghost! Demon!"409Please respect copyright.PENANA6x6z86Xdr2
"There, there. Get it 409Please respect copyright.PENANAeu7A3edDJX
all out." The being said in an amused voice. Was it even amused? David, 409Please respect copyright.PENANAnwDkqlof3P
again, could not pinpoint the exact tone of voice. It sounded as if it 409Please respect copyright.PENANAmHVNKekzi7
was echoing both in his mind and in this city. Hitting the walls making 409Please respect copyright.PENANANjSCNodAwN
the voice both louder and yet quieter. The voice had both male and 409Please respect copyright.PENANAv4dTrARASK
female aspects to it as some parts sounded quite high pitched while 409Please respect copyright.PENANAEVoGe0rYmi
others sounded low pitched. Both happy and sad, amused and disappointed.409Please respect copyright.PENANANdcqVhDqOZ
It was quite disconcerting. 409Please respect copyright.PENANAH39r4V3Ejc
"All done now?" The 409Please respect copyright.PENANA9FUgO8TRXH
apparition asked, smiling. Or was it smiling? As David got back up he 409Please respect copyright.PENANApkZyuFd408
got a better look at his new friend. Or at least at the parts that he 409Please respect copyright.PENANAcz5nZUafHx
could see. Its face was covered in... something that looked like mist. 409Please respect copyright.PENANAISwFDXQad2
David was unable to properly distinguish the features. Whether it was 409Please respect copyright.PENANAqs3l3ntGRT
smiling or crying David would never be able to tell.409Please respect copyright.PENANAnlAZHAkp46
Its clothes were quite 409Please respect copyright.PENANAC2G6TQRNn6
weird as well. Wearing a top hat which seemed both as tall as the person409Please respect copyright.PENANAg3OY7XQOJ7
wearing it and as short as Davids own pinky. Its body was covered in a 409Please respect copyright.PENANAesyx7L9DOj
dark shroud going from the shoulders to feet and every time it moved it 409Please respect copyright.PENANAYcKT4BkBgt
changed both color and shape.409Please respect copyright.PENANAgw0kRFBiv5
The figure tilted its 409Please respect copyright.PENANAL9SCj0B6XQ
head and moved his hands as the tapping noise continued. Concentrating 409Please respect copyright.PENANApj8toYjZgB
on the lower part of the body David could see a thin shape of an object 409Please respect copyright.PENANAiZAnZWKzTx
that looked like a stick. A cane? A walking stick? Who knew?409Please respect copyright.PENANARIBwvU75qJ
"The tapping, was that you?" David said as the tapping noise surrounded them again echoing as if they were in a cave.409Please respect copyright.PENANA4EDf05EuPB
"Indeed" 409Please respect copyright.PENANATDGlqAStjI
Tap, tap, tap.409Please respect copyright.PENANAgoftbk5VFM
David flinched at the 409Please respect copyright.PENANA9NM7CZ7C6L
sound. He wanted to shout at the ghost to stop the tapping. To answer 409Please respect copyright.PENANAVKLt4ablWS
where he was and what was happening. But there was a power dynamic here,409Please respect copyright.PENANAAdGoRZpMJb
as in everything else in life. During the years he learned that there 409Please respect copyright.PENANAZuLlyhrMPv
are three types of people: Leaders, followers and parasites (a handy 409Please respect copyright.PENANAE66PVatFpc
word he learned from a scholar, turned pirate, in his earlier forays 409Please respect copyright.PENANAocbdjgJuo6
into piracy)409Please respect copyright.PENANAY1f8jWqx7x
Leaders and followers 409Please respect copyright.PENANAtV0oaxTbCY
were self-explanatory. David, meanwhile, considered himself a parasite. 409Please respect copyright.PENANAC9yeEMKhkl
Parasites attached themselves to either a leader or a follower. Making 409Please respect copyright.PENANA81o8cUVVTp
them believe you were on their side, that you were one of them. And then409Please respect copyright.PENANAWVt0HygBbW
when that person gives you everything you need you leave and attach 409Please respect copyright.PENANAanSTep6QlQ
yourself to someone else.409Please respect copyright.PENANAB8PaffqqR6
This was not so 409Please respect copyright.PENANATjhtHHJBud
different, David was the parasite and the person in front of him was the409Please respect copyright.PENANAwvFZo5ujiK
leader. He was in charge of the situation so David had to attach 409Please respect copyright.PENANARwjmd4rSpg
himself to him or her. Had to make them believe he was on their side or 409Please respect copyright.PENANAkqL3lxNLRL
harmless or whatever the situation called for. After all no one is 409Please respect copyright.PENANAM4I6KfIGbp
immune to flattery, be it gods or ghosts.409Please respect copyright.PENANATVi6NNulbR
"I'm sure I'd have the pleasure of your acquaintance, if I knew your name?" He ventured slightly bobbing his head.409Please respect copyright.PENANAuoa7nJnkir
The figure gave a 409Please respect copyright.PENANASZWQ5m4oQa
chuckle, which sounded as if glass shattering. "Ah yes, you will suck up409Please respect copyright.PENANAkvUoY5Yz0b
to me trying to win me over and then hopefully gain an advantage. I've 409Please respect copyright.PENANAtu8h0mFpxe
been watching you, David Oxtorne, lying and never revealing your true 409Please respect copyright.PENANAGaRYeRqAQH
self. Being a friend to some, an arrogant bastard to others whatever 409Please respect copyright.PENANACqs5fXlou3
would get them to like or accept you." A pause and the figure looked to 409Please respect copyright.PENANAEGv0bdGfcq
the side. "I've no time for your games; otherwise I would've loved for 409Please respect copyright.PENANA0GDUDwZzpS
you to grovel and try to win favor. For now call me...Jester." Jester 409Please respect copyright.PENANAROqDZjiOju
laughed, as if saying a grand joke that David wasn't part of.409Please respect copyright.PENANAGNEZaMWbWS
David looked at him 409Please respect copyright.PENANAQrMeCeBYJa
puzzled adding his own awkward laugh to Jesters. This...Jester certainly409Please respect copyright.PENANAA8DmQbkYqi
liked to laugh a lot, although David was failing to find any funny 409Please respect copyright.PENANA6eUuZ9lkLI
jokes. "Nice to meet you Jester." David was about to say more but he was409Please respect copyright.PENANAtbic6N8BVz
interrupted by a raised hand.409Please respect copyright.PENANAFCIj6h41RU
"Yes, yes you're a slow 409Please respect copyright.PENANAk0M87mDmRC
learner aren't you? We will need to change that. You want to ask where 409Please respect copyright.PENANAMyZoYmUNxP
you are and whatnot. So let me answer that for you. You're in the ether 409Please respect copyright.PENANAvstASTiQA8
world. You're not dead because I saved you. Your body is laying asleep 409Please respect copyright.PENANAqIc3bOzePY
so you're here only in your consciousness. Not a lot of giftless can do 409Please respect copyright.PENANAKdQot11OOZ
that, you should feel dead honored"409Please respect copyright.PENANAVLCRrabd8K
David was having trouble409Please respect copyright.PENANAmTNhBhsN4D
following jester. But one thing he understood was that you didn't save 409Please respect copyright.PENANAd8pymJUgM3
someone's life unless you got something out of it."wha..."409Please respect copyright.PENANAuFu6xoFjDK
But David didn't get to 409Please respect copyright.PENANADEW8yAjBEt
finish as jester continued." Not done yet was I? Your next question is, 409Please respect copyright.PENANA9tE8aKL5Gv
probably: 'what do you want in return for saving my life?' Which 409Please respect copyright.PENANAlNrrRMmxvF
honestly David hurts, just hurts. Don't you think I'm a generous soul?"409Please respect copyright.PENANAtmZPk13XVn
A pause, David was 409Please respect copyright.PENANACzLBisWNNx
unsure what to do and begun to answer but the figure kept on talking." 409Please respect copyright.PENANAqIi4k2GSUb
Of course I'm not. Suffice to say I will need you to find something. 409Please respect copyright.PENANAViqIYWHc1e
Can't tell you what yet but others will be hunting for it too" 409Please respect copyright.PENANAVHDIfo0qKh
Jester made a clock 409Please respect copyright.PENANAmWMmJkfVTJ
appear in front and nodded...probably." Well that's all from me. We'll 409Please respect copyright.PENANAQwspYqWN6I
meet again once you've met the other chosen ones. I'll explain more 409Please respect copyright.PENANA5LMsO3ibuv
then, hopefully you'll be better company by then. Or else I've chosen 409Please respect copyright.PENANAjrKGndoyMq
quite wrong, quite wrong indeed."409Please respect copyright.PENANA7NFw4h1eAo
David was about to ask 409Please respect copyright.PENANAanQcO1msNh
more questions but then he heard a whisper. He looked at jester first 409Please respect copyright.PENANAUyabTNKcP5
but as far as David could tell it wasn't his doing, which didn't 409Please respect copyright.PENANAmVd7IwGavc
convince David at all.409Please respect copyright.PENANAQnHUCQamKq
"Hey I...body..." a voice echoed. Sounding human. 409Please respect copyright.PENANAXUS68OMVbM
And then his world shook, all the shadows dissipating, as if swept away by the wind.409Please respect copyright.PENANAQKlXVylkPR
"I am watching, my chosen. Make it interesting for me." Jesters voice resounded within Davids head as darkness fell again.
ns 172.70.178.200da2