Cuckoos and Chalk Marks

"Oh, he's used to it," I said, dismissing the concern. "I usually possess him, anyways. At this point he probably expects it."

"Does he get any say in the matter? Any consent?"

"No," I replied, smirking.

Even during the first few accidental possessions, Nathaniel had always been good at fighting back against my control. At this point, it was more like we were sharing his body. Which was a pain, but he had to be used to it. It wasn't like I was the first person who he shared bodies with.

I glanced behind me at Sorenson.

"If it makes it any better," I said, "I also regularly possess our other friend, too. She's just not as fun to possess."

"That is quite immoral of you," Sorenson sniffed. "I can't abide that sort ot thing." He could understand a patron possessing a warlock, but it sounded like there was no pact between Skull and his 'friends.'

"Whoever said I was moral to begin with?" I pointed out. I stretched and rested my hands behind my head. "I grew up a street urchin and came back a vengeful ghost. My morals are in short supply."

The vengeful ghost bit was admittedly an exaggeration; I came back a very confused ghost instead. The Problem hadn't been a problem back then, and I certainly hadn't expected to still be present after my death.

"Even so, you ought to ask," he retorted. "I usually ask before I float somebody around."

I shrugged. I knew he was right. There was a time, once, where I would have actually cared. But that time was a long time ago, and I took more joy in possessing people without warning. The first few times I had possessed Nathaniel and Asmira had been by accident, anyways. We just had fallen into a rhythm, and the possessions I did now were still mostly accidentally.

“It’s different,” I said. “They expect it.”

Sorenson shook his head. "Ghosts. See, this is why I don't get mixed up in necromancy if I can help it. Too messy, too many factors!"

"Oh, it's not a ghost thing," I said. "Most ghosts aren't sentient enough to even get out a full sentence."

"Then I've got double the fun and you've got double the agency, eh? What made you special?"

Spoiler

I don't know how I totally missed your last reply here, but I'm finally able to reply now!

I came to a stop. My mind flickered back to the first room—if the mirror hallway could have even been called that—that we had entered. I had told Sorenson that the mirror had made me a ghost, but that wasn't the entire story. Ghosts were a thing after The Problem started. What had happened to me was different.

"There was a mirror," I said. I kept my gaze on the hallway ahead of us now and willed myself to keep walking. "The one that made me a ghost. It did more than just keep my soul present after I died. Ghosts are made because of rifts between life and death. The mirror amplified that. I didn't realize how much it had changed me until I died and found myself haunting my own skull."

(No worries!)

"That's a jolly way to wake up," he mused. "Can't say I envy you that. Where's your skull now? In there?" He pointed to Skull's head. "Rather odd that you're named Skull, too."

At that, I smirked.

"The last I checked," I replied, "my skull was in possession of a teenage ghost hunter. This one-"

I tapped my forehead.

"-is a completely different one. I'm not sure how it works, but I got another body after I came back to life. As for my name..."

I lowered my hand, smirk still dancing on my lips.

"It wasn't always Skull. Skull's short for the skull in the jar—or the skull, if you're one of the aforementioned teenage ghost hunters and wanted to shout about what I was doing from halfway across the house."

"And what, pray tell, is your real name? Or is that a sensitive magical subject?" He cracked a smile despite himself.

"It might be," I said, smirk still dancing on my lips—even though I didn't entirely feel it now. It wasn't like I had forgotten who I had once been. I could never. But the person I was different now, and my old name no longer fit.

Spoiler

Fun fact: Jonathan Stroud never shared Skull's name in the books, as far as I know, so Skull really doesn't have a name besides being Skull. I've tried coming up with them before, but nothing ever fit.

I did read one fun fic where he was a Jim, though.