"Who?" I ask.

"Well. . .we don't call them by their real names. Their code names are. . .Angora, Silage and Asceptic."

I roll my eyes. "Why those code names, of all the code names in the world?"

Myria shrugs. "They were in our files. And they told us to only use those."

"Right," I say slowly. "So where are they?"

The first man looks down. "Yeah. . .about that. . .sorry can't tell."

"OH COME ON NORTON!" yells the woman, as loud as her ghostly voice allows. "She has a RIGHT to know!"

"YEAH, JENNIFER'S RIGHT," says Myria heatedly, "besides, it has to do with her mission! Now just TELL HER, Norton!"

I get the feeling that this has happened a bunch of times before. 

Norton huffs. "Oh fine. The thing is, we don't know yet. A certain Pariah called Darryl was supposed to be searching, if he hadn't come back from Project Commence so late."

"Not my fault Norton!"

"Whatever. Go start searching then."

Darryl, Myria, Romish, Jennifer, and the rest of the Pariahs all exchange frustrated glances and roll their eyes while Norton's focused on me.

"Oh sure, I'll just hang around the Lingerance while Darryl searches then," I say, shrugging, trying to ignore the others' massive eye-rolls.

"Actually, since Darryl, Romish and Jennifer are busy with their various Projects and since I don't have any at the moment, you can come with me, Ersline!" Myria enthuses. She sounds sincere, but I have a gut feeling that she's just attempting to bring me away from Norton.

I accept her offer, though.

************************

"Come on," Myria mutters, once we've gone through some trees, out of earshot of the others. "We've got to get to the Manistromy."

"What's the Manistromy?"

"A place," she says simply. "It's where everything happens. Come on. And we've got to get away from Norton."

"Ummm. . ."

"Oh of course you don't know, it goes farrrrrrr back. . .well, you see, there was this time when he went into Life- without a Project to complete, just so you know, and he got into this argument between a sprite and a troll. He thought the troll's arguments were better and more convincing, so he got mad at the sprite for contradicting him."

"But couldn't they see him?"

"Bruh- he was invisible, Pariahs are invisible when they go back to Life. Anyways, he made the sprite smell the troll's butt for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHATSOEVER, and he's not supposed to control things in Life unless for a Project."

"Okay. . ."

"It was considered a breach of rules, and he came back and said all sorts of rubbish in his own defense. We couldn't find any proof against him sadly, and he's been acting all poshy after that." We turn a corner, and I feel my breath being taken away again. "Here we are."

The Manistromy's a big hall, made out of trees, as though the trees had grown and shaped themselves into that shape. It sorta reminds me of the home, but way, way better. The door's made of polished oak from a Death-oak tree, and I see stylized branches on the sides that make it look like the Ancient Greek temple, the Parthenon. 

I float inside alongside Myria, and get hit hard on the ears by a wave of babbling and chatter. (Wait, do Pariahs even have ears? I think they do, apparently.) Even though I'm a Pariah, I feel out of place. Their eyes are normal. Mine aren't. They've been here for God knows how long. I've only just arrived. What'll they say, when they hear that I already have a Project, or whatever they are, when I just arrive? What? What? What?

I duck my head down and prevent looking at anybody.

"Do I call them by their code names, or just use names?" I whisper to Myria.

"Ummm. . ." she says, "you need to know yours, then."

"What is mine?"

"Eclipse Fatal. Sorry."

"Eclipse. . .Fatal. Right." I know for a fact, from my Tweltian lessons, that my name, Ersline, is Tweltian for 'eclipse'. Is it a coincidence, I wonder, that my name is actually my code name? And the other part of it, too. Fatal. There's something that rings a chill in me. The fatal eclipse. I'm the 'fatal' one. Or is that just stupid overthinking and overanalyzing my code name?

"And yours?" I ask.

Even though I'm certain that Pariahs can't blush, Myria does. "Moppet Flusher. Don't judge."

I giggle. "Right."

"So, yeah, I think we should be called by code names, just in case, and then- ARGHHH NORTON FOR THE LOVE OF THE LINGERANCE-"

"WHY DO YOU SAY 'LOVE OF THE LINGERANCE'? I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STUPID LINGERANCE, WHY CAN'T I JUST RETURN TO LIFE AND STAY THERE? WHY DO I HAVE TO STAY IN THIS GODFORSAKEN PLACE UNLESS THERE'S A 'PROJECT'?"

He says this in front of the entire Manistromy, and the looks on the other Pariahs faces could kill him, if he was in Life. I think I can see why. He's disrespecting the Lingerance, which, as Myria whispers to me, is already a great honour to be able to return to Life, and doing it out in the open as well. 

A boy with strands of ruffled ghost-hair and bright green eyes stands up. "Look here Norton, can't you be grateful even for once? When you don't have any missions all you do is complain complain complain complain-"

"SHUT UP," yells Norton as he charges at the boy, who he throws a chain of smoke around. The boy leaps aside almost lazily, does a backflip and literally seems to melt away as he touches down on his hands. A girl who was sitting next to him with the biggest blue eyes ever raises her eyebrows at him. 

"This is why your code name is Nuisance," she says.

I can see him spitting daggers at her, but for some reason, I'm rooted to the ground, too fascinated by drama happening to other people other than myself. Myria's hand is grabbing mine like she'll never let go, but I don't flinch. I just watch as he advances on the girl, who curls her lips up in a smile. "Play nice," she says unblinkingly.

Norton's shoulders sag and he hobbles away and out of the door, as best as a Pariah can hobble, when they normally glide.

Myria finally lets go of my hand and rushes over to the girl. "Sprinkle, why did you do that?"

"Moppet. . ." she says, sighing. "He should have crossed the Void a long time ago."

"Yeah, but. . ."

"I heard that!" yells Norton from outside. 

"Yeah, whatever," Myria yells back at him. 

"I'm not accepting that! I will not tolerate this!"

"Who cares! We could go report to Romish and you wouldn't care for all the world!"

"Because I wouldn't!"

"We know that!"

The green-eyed boy reappears like he's condensing into existence before slamming and locking the door shut. Norton's yells continue to permeate the thick oak anyways, though, and so I finally unroot myself to go yell at him through the door. "OY, NORTON, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"YEAH I DO," he shouts, and I flinch at the proximity and volume of his voice.

"WELL KEEP IT DOWN," I shout back, and channel some Eletrol that I seem to have kept with me. I hardly know Norton, but it's somehow satisfying to hear him yelping like a little doggy as ghostly hail pelts him.

(Yoiiii! Yes, this is one of the lighter chapters in MoD XD and for those who know what I'm talking about....NORTON HAS ARRIVED DUN DUN DUHHHHHH 0-0 XDXD comment and vote pretty please, I would love to see what you think! Soph-> out!)