Manus POV
"Finally!!!" I groaned as I got off the train to-was it Dodge Junction or Apploosa? I can't remember. Whatever, I'm just glad my motion sickness started going down after a few seconds.
"We should find an inn first." Luna said as she followed shortly after.
"You know of any near the graveyard?" I asked her.
"One a few minutes from there if you're walking to it." She answered as she began to lead the way.
"How far is the graveyard from here and how far is it from the outskirts?" I followed behind her.
"Not very far if I remember correctly from my last stop here, should be a few blocks away."
I stayed a short distance behind her and checked behind us to see if I could find her escort. Three thestrals I think they're called were following us from afar. I got some strange looks from others along the way, ignoring them, I summoned a couple of Thunderbirds to soar over the area and find a good spot to watch over. After a few more minutes, we reached the hotel closest to the graveyard and I followed her inside.
"Good evening! How may I help you?" The lady behind the counter asked.
"I'd like a room for two please?" Luna requested.
"Two? She can't seriously trust me that much, can she?" I thought.
"Alright, I'll need the two of you to sign here." She marked where she needs our signatures. Luna signed 'Moonlight', then handed me the quill (where are the pens?) to sign mine. After climbing up two flights of stairs, we reached our room and awaited the guards she brought. While waiting, I closed my eyes and focused on my familiars, both of them found a few good spots to over see the graveyard, but I decided to pull them back until later since this is a night job.
"You mentioned Will-O'-The-Wisps back at the castle." Luna got my attention. "What are they exactly?"
"Best way to describe them is they're basically just living lights and gases in some cases. I know I mentioned the draining of life force, but they're normally harmless."
"Why would they be considered harmless if they're capable of killing in such a way?"
"Easy way to tell is their colors, all of them can drain your life force, but it's only the crimson ones that are aggressive. A green wisp is often a sign that the area is safe, a yellow one is a warning to avoid the next area, and blue ones are guardians. Different colors will have different meanings, if you do have wisps here, I doubt these ones are any threat unless attacked first. The only real problem is they often have a passive effect of varying strength on young minds that draw them to them." I explained.
"The guards should be here soon." She looked to the door. "How would you proceed?"
"The first thing that should be done is to have the graveyard closed off for a day or two. If it's a necromancer, a corpse should lead us to them if they're reanimating from afar. If it's a grave robber, they'll be subdued the second the shovel hits the ground. As for the wisps? Depending on their color, they can be left alone or relocated."
"That can be arranged shortly. If we are against a necromancer-"
"If it is one, I would highly recommend any light and fire spells or weapons if you have them, especially if he's delved deep enough to apply certain curses indirectly. If one of you gets cursed, I'll have to use the same magic you don't want me using to deal with it." I interrupted.
"What do you mean 'indirectly'?" She asked, concerned.
"Depending on the curse, physical contact is required. A curse of misfortune doesn't need it, but a curse of blood does for example. If they cursed a strand of their own hair and that hair touched someone else, the curse would still apply to them. Unless you're a light or dark mage, those can be tricky. It wouldn't surprise me if they did something similar with their reanimated dead and spread a curse of undeath." I clarified.
*knocking*
"That should be them now." Her horn lit up and opened the door, the three thestrals I saw earlier walked in, gender and height aside, they looked the same.
"We've still got a few hours until night, I'll let you explain the plan to them." I grabbed a towel out of the closet and stepped into the bathroom.
(Around 10 PM)
Three of my familiars are keeping watch over the entrances and the graves. The guards managed to convince the local law enforcement to close off the graveyard and they're watching the outskirts between the south and the west entrances. Nothing out of place has come into view yet, nothing approaching the graveyard, nothing but a few bugs moving in it.
"Was this the only town getting robbed like this?" I asked Luna as I changed my view to one of the other familiars.
"Yes, Apploosa doesn't have it's own graveyard, but they have seen the lights on the outskirts between the north and east sides." She answered.
"Anything from the guards yet?"
"Nothing yet." I cut the visual link for a moment to get a drink.
"Answer me this. If it is a necromancer, do you intend to arrest them, or kill them?" Will I need to get my hands dirty?
"If they resist, then their justice will be swift." Death it is then. I restored the link after getting some water. More time passed, I'd say about another twenty minutes before Luna heard something from the guards.
"They see the lights southwest of town!" She said, grabbing her claymore.
"Wait! Let's watch the graveyard for a few more minutes. Those lights aren't crimson, right?" I asked.
"No, they're a bright blue." She answered.
"if those are wisps, then they're hardly a threat to even children, tell them to keep watch." My gaze fell upon something moving under one of the tombstones. It was just a moth, a few minutes later, something moved under the stone again. The ground was shifting, a hand reached out a minute later.
"Anything on your end?" Luna asked.
"I have good news and bad news. The good news is I found what we're looking for, the bad news is it's not supposed to be moving on it's own." I answered.
"Not supposed to-..." She caught on to what I meant.
I really hope this asshole hasn't ascended yet.