"I can," she confirmed, looking slightly unsettled.
"...Are we all just going to ignore that voice?" Télos asked.
Beside him, Aquarius pulled his hood down a little more and gave a hesitant nod.
Télos glanced back around the mostly empty store. It felt wrong to be ignoring it, but none of them seemed to have any idea where it had even come from - or what had happened to it. How were they supposed to do something about it when they didn't even know who was talking?
Robin looked around.
"...I'm leaning towards a yes on the ignoring the voice," she said. "We don't even know where it came from. But it did sound like you might not have even died - but that's Almost territory, and you're not even Almosts..."
Bo nodded slowly and glanced back at Bobby. He gave Bobby a small smile when he noticed that Bobby was holding onto his shirt.
"Well, the only way we'll get any answers about stuff is if we find our bodies it sounds like. At least, that's the only lead we've got," Bo said to Robin, before looking back at Bobby again.
"Would you like to hold my hand instead while we follow Robin?" he asked, offering an open palm.
They passed by the shops that had their mannequin bodies. They passed by shops they hadn't seen before. They all crowded into an elevator to get down to the first floor - Aquarius instinctively scooting closer to his brother, and trying not to feel guilty when he saw how Bobby was clinging to Bo - and walked past more unfamiliar shops. Everything was dark and closed up.
Robin didn't seem to mind. Télos, on the other hand, looked like he was expecting a ghost to jump out of any too-dark corner. Aquarius tried to comfort his brother with a pat on the back, but it only quelled his fear for a few moments after he moved his hand back to his side.
They finally reached the exit.
The mall emptied out into a unsurprisingly empty parking lot. A little bit beyond it, there was a stretch of field and a scattering of trees. Just a little farther, set back in what appeared to be woodland to the front of the building, was a complex that almost looked like Hero's - but lacked all of the warmth Aquarius had come to associate with it.
"Your bodies are in there," Robin said, pointing a finger up. She frowned. "I haven't seen a place like that before, though. I noticed it on my way in to the mall, but..."
She tilted her head to the side.
"...Whatever it is," she said, "it must be important. There's guards stationed out in front of it and patrolling around it."
She got a look on her face that Aquarius wasn't quite sure he liked as she rested her hand underneath her chin.
"I wonder what I could take from there..." she mused.
Bo looked over at the building, still holding Bobby's hand. He squinted, trying to get a better look at it.
"Real question: if we're ghosts right now, would they even be able to stop us? Or see us?" Bo asked, looking to Robin. "Could we just walk right in? Or do you think they might be like you, or some ghost-buster types?"
Robin gave Bo a grin that Aquarius really didn't like.
"They wouldn't be," she said. "That's the magic of being a ghost - no one can ever see when you're coming or going. We should be able to sneak in there without a single problem at all."
"...But what if they can see ghosts?" Télos hesitantly asked. "People can see ghosts in ghost stories."
Robin dismissed the question with a wave of her hand, her eyes scanning the building before them. She was studying it - all of its entrances, exits, and the guards patrolling out in front of it. "Those are a different type of ghost than we are right now - only people who can always see ghosts can see us right now. And I don't think any of the people patrolling can. Their souls don't have the right mark."
Bobby nodded, though his gaze was still firmly on their destination. He could get in there without being seen, even if he wasn't a ghost. If he was alone, anyway.
It would be a lot harder to sneak someone like Bo in with him.
"I don't think it'll be a problem," she said, "but I guess we can take things carefully. It'll be a little harder to get in - the guards seem to have a pretty tight system."
"...We could always fight them if we have to," Télos helpfully suggested. "As a last resort."
"Maybe," Robin said, "but it's not really easy to whack someone with a weapon when you're a ghost - you'll find out what I mean if you try it."
She stuffed her hands in her pockets and started walking towards the building.
"Well, off we go!" she said.
Aquarius and Télos followed her, even though Aquarius couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong.
Bo nodded slightly followed, leading Bobby beside him. Robin seemed to have a lot of confidence, but Bo wasn't sure if he should trust it.
He wanted to believe the best about her - he really did - but something just didn't sit right. It wasn't the first time he'd been plucked out of his body, but it was the first time he didn't really know where it was, and what was being done to it. He was sure the others felt the same, among everything else. There were so many things that could go wrong. He didn't know if they were in a world like his, or a different one.
But Robin was the only one who knew how to lead them to their bodies... so he'd follow her lead. For now.
Bobby nodded along to Robin's words. "Okay," he said quietly.
He didn't think his plan was better, really, he just thought that getting in without having to even think about hurting anyone was a much better idea. People got mad when their friends or co-workers got hurt, and people were a lot scarier when they were mad.
The walk across the parking lot was uneventful. The walk across the field that led to the building was uneventful, too. They didn't even run into any trouble crossing the field. Robin did try her best to avoid the people present when leading; for the most part, she succeeded. The few people that saw the group didn't seem to even realize they were there.
Then they reached the building.
"We'll find a side entrance," Robin suggested. "We could probably get away with walking right in the front door - that's what I would have done. But I guess if we're playing it careful, another entrance is probably a better idea."
Télos agreed, even though he remained silent as she scanned the wall of the building. She eventually found an entrance a few feet away - a window that, when opened, they could all slip through.
"Now," she mused, "how to get it open..."
Télos took a step forward.
"I think I can help with that," he said, making his sword appear in his hand. He slipped the very tip of the sword underneath the window and added some pressure. A second later, the window swung out and up.
The sword disappeared.
"There," he said, grinning, "one entrance into a questionable looking building."
"Thanks," Robin said, grinning as well. A second later, she had slipped through the window and was in the hallway. Télos quickly followed with Aquarius close behind. When Télos finally straightened, he found himself looking at a hallway that could have been in Hero's base - pristine walls, no decorations, and an almost clinical cleanliness. It was eerie seeing how much it looked alike.
Bo felt more nervous than the situation warranted, but he didn’t show it. If something happened, he knew he’d jump in front of Bobby and the others in a heartbeat, but he didn’t know how things were going to play out.
He was relieved when they made it past the guards without issue, hut he was still thinking about the mystery voice. Someone out there knew they were there, and someone out there could hear and probably see them, too. If the disembodied voice heard them then surely it was watching, too right?
He didn’t know how all that magic or technology stuff worked. Either one, he didn’t full understand.
He just was hoping they’d make it through this one.
He followed behind the others, bringing up the rear while Robin lead in front. Bobby was in front of him, comically small in comparison.
It was really good no one had seen them as ghosts. Otherwise, they’d be spotted immediately.
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