He had spent time cleaning in Nysa, but he was nowhere near completion. Mentally he had composed a list of items he wanted to bring with him for his next trip, and gradually had procured the items he had been looking for. He had set them in a box in the corner of his dorm room. There was an assortment of cleaners, some sandpaper, and a couple other odd ends. His roommate wasn't the sort to pry, but even then, his roommate hadn't been around recently to pry in the first place.
When Howl was finally ready to go, he phased into his uniform before grabbing the 16 cubed box and saying his pledge aloud. Within moments, he was in the strange office space. It was exactly the way he had left it the last time he had visited, which made sense since it was only his sanctuary. Rather than enjoy the scenery outside of the window, the lad set to busying himself with the various tasks he had planned for this round. He immediately set the cardboard box upon the main desk close to the clawed grooves before reaching in and pulling out a simple ivory and gold colored jewelry box.
"Now you have a safe place to stay..." he said in a gentle tone before picking up the odd golden ring that had been resting in one of the clawed grooves on the desk surface. With a subtle smile, he then reached into the box to pull out a cleaner solution and a rag. The bookshelves were the easiest place to start since he had already attended to them the most in his previous visit.
Cleaning, in itself, wasn't a science. It was quite a bit of work. He sprayed the cleaner into the rag, then wiped down the shelves, pulling the dust build up from years of neglect off of the wood structures. He had only managed to finish approximately half of the work with the bookshelves before he paused from his work. He made his way back to the desk and the box he had toted along, setting the rag and cleaner down briefly on the flat surface. He then pulled out a portable tea set and a lighter. In a practiced manner, he set everything up and began to start preparing tea.
While it steeped, he went back to work with the bookshelves until the tea was ready. The Page didn't get much done between starting the tea and finishing the tea, but every little bit of time spent on the task was a good use of his time. He was very prompt to return to the teapot once he knew his beverage was ready. He leaned over and blew out the flame before pouring himself a cup.
Unfortunately, it was still not time to drink. Even with the tea properly steeped, it was too hot for his tastes. It would probably have to sit for another half an hour before it would be suitable for him to drink.
He was about to turn back to his work when a voice managed to catch upon the shell of his ear.
"It is quite overgrown..."
Even though the Page knew he was the only one there, he did not jump out of his skin out of terror or surprise. He did pause in step for a moment, eyes widening ever so slightly before he swiveled upon the ball of his foot to look towards the source of such a strange observation.
Though the lad had been busying himself to avoid looking towards one of the larger windows that faced the watery surroundings, he soon enough was now facing it. There was a tall man standing there, seashells adorning his shoulders much like how they did upon the Page's uniform. Rather than a sash made of the see through fabric, he had a cape. His hair color was perhaps the most distinct trait the man had, which matched the color of the Page.
There was something off about this stranger in his presence. Giving a look up and down with teal eyes, the lad soon enough noted something quite off about this new man's presence.
At about knee height, the man seemed to grow more transparent, eventually making it so the man's feet were completely invisible.
There were many ways which the Page could have attempted to strike a conversation. Many of them would have been cliche or flat out ignorant. The baser instinct would have been to panic or shriek, such a baser instinct not being acknowledged by the seemingly younger of the now pair. The lad stepped carefully and lightly towards what he assumed to be a spirit, almost as if he was afraid to scare the man away.
Once he was beside him, the lad was able to see more than he could from the back. He wore a monocle that was accented in seashell. He wore a sash across his front which was adorned with medals also accented in seashells. He gazed forward with his humble brown eyes, holding a sort of noble appearance. There was no fear touching this stranger's features. He could not have been much older than his mid thirties.
In as polite a tone as he could muster up (though he could have sworn he felt his throat dry up rather suddenly), he prompted the spirit with an observation. "You seem familiar with this place."
The brown eyes which had been focused upon the coral garden of sorts outside the glass fell upon the shorter Page, acknowledging him with mere eye contact. There seemed to be a pause as the Page was inspected amidst the direct eye contact. Then the man spoke.
"Is my successor a young lady?"
A hint of color managed to find its way to the lad's cheeks. However, his tone still managed to remain seemingly neutral, not betraying the momentary embarrassment he was feeling. "I assure you, Sir, that I am a gentleman."
"I cannot say that I understand why your hair is so long then, young Page. Young ladies grow their hair out to that length, not gentlemen." It was a rather blunt viewpoint, yet the spirit did not seem ashamed of spouting out what could have been seen as sexist.
"I would say that we should agree to disagree upon the subject of my hair length, sir..."
"Very well, young Page." The elder man nodded his head before gesturing with a movement of his head to the side towards the office space. "I must confess, it is nice to see my old outpost getting tidied up a bit." Since his feet weren't viewable, it almost seemed as if the spirit glided a bit towards the desk, glancing down to the teapot and cup. Casually he seemed to set his hand upon the surface of the desk. "I would have done it myself if I had been able." With his other hand, he swiped his hand at the teapot, which merely passed through the object without disturbing a thing.
The young lad watched in a keen manner, taking in all of the information the ghost had offered him in such a short amount of time. Once he seemed certain about his own conclusions, he stepped towards the desk at the opposite side of the spirit. "Would it be presumptuous of me to believe that you were the man who watched over this Wonder? The one who watched over Nysa."
A smile seemed to find its way to the man's lips. "You are an observant one, young Page. I was once the Knight of Nysa... however, I am no longer. You have taken on the responsibilities of this Wonder and the duties that come with it."
The lad reached out towards his cup of tea, bring it up to his lips, and rather than drink, he blew upon the surface lightly. It was still too warm. "As observant as I might be, I do not believe I will be able to observe what you would like me to call you now. Do you have a preference?"
The former knight turned, his cape giving a slight flourish with the motion. Much like how the Page had initially seen him, the man's brown eyes gazed to the mass of coral outside of the window. There was an odd silence, one that seemed to read of a sort of deep contemplating on the spirit's part. "If you would... please call me Ancestor... it is simple, respectful, and does not make me feel like an old man like other potential names you could use with me." Having decided upon the title for himself, he then returned the question. "Is there some particular name you would like me to call you by, young Page?"
Since his tea was still too warm, he set the cup down in one clean motion. "I am quite at ease with being called by my rank, Ancestor... but I would not mind you calling me by my birth name. Out of this uniform, I go by Howl."
"Howl? That is not a name, that is a verb."
"Mother is very fond of literature, and named me after a character in a fictional tale."
The ancestor's lips twisted slightly as he attempted to wrap his mind around the name. "Howl? Howl?" After repeating the name a few more times, the former knight then stated "I will be calling you by your rank, young Page."
Politely, the page nodded in reply, respecting his ancestor's decision. Since he was now at the desk once more, he couldn't help but catch a hint of ivory and gold from the corner of his eye. It was all the reminder he needed to ask the former knight about a finding from a previous visit. "Ancestor, would you tell me what this piece of jewelry is?" Carefully stepping around the spirit, he picked up the jewelry box and opened it up, carefully pulling out the golden ring.
The ghost looked upon the object with a hint of familiarity touching his features. "That would be the Signet that belongs to the protector of this wonder. It used to be mine, but seeing as you are the Page protecting this place now, it is now your property." Once more, the man made his way towards the window he had been gazing out of to start with. "It is a responsibility. I would suggest you wear it on you at all times, young Page..." With those words, the figure vanished from sight.
The new Nysa stood there for a moment, holding the signet ring in his hand, gazing to the spot where his ancestor had stood just brief moments before. He had half a mind to say aloud how arrogant his ancestor had seemed, but he also had a smarter half of a mind that knew it was in his best interest to not say such a thing in this place.
He was a ghost, after all. There was a chance that he was still able to hear and observe everything in the Wonder without having a physical form.
In a fluid motion, he put the ring over his gloved ring finger before settling in for his tea. After that odd conversation and the previous cleaning, he deserved a break.
