Here she was once again, just as that shop assistant had told her to do when the possession of the object had successfully taken place. She still didn't know how it happened, as for it to have occurred, she had to have believed in it. And she didn't believe in ghosts, right?

Fine tendrils of sparkling silver hair danced mockingly in the breeze directly in Zanen's direct line of vision. The little girl slowly turned around, her bright green eyes coming into contact with the teenager's own light brown ones, with an ambiguous expression written upon her pale face. A single white wisp of vapor curled around the girl's hair, still contorted in the disconcerting shape of a ghost. If ghosts did not exist, how could one explain something such as this?

"Ni bu shi yi ge gui, dui ma?"� Zanen murmured absentmindedly to the sprite, who was now solemnly observing the store that lay in front of them. The little silver-haired girl had been unconsciously floating towards it, as if she were drawn to the future that the sprawling interiors held, but at the sound of her guardian's voice, she halted.

"B' udui!"� the sprite uttered in a harmonious voice, accompanied but a slight shake of the head.

It was times like these when Zanen felt as though she could almost comprehend the little wonder inside the urn. "B' udui?" she echoed questioningly, for the sprite seemed to respond better to Chinese than to English.

The little girl nodded. "B' udui," she confirmed, "wosh igui."� Then, she pointed in an almost impatient manner to the shop, "Xia' ng qu!"

"You'e right, we shouldn't delay any longer now, should we?"� the teenager sighed not for the first time wishing she could somehow grasp what the sprite was trying to convey. She hesitantly entered the store, securely gripping the urn with two hands to ensure that she wouldn't drop it again in the cluttered aisles, almost afraid of what it held in store for her.

Taking a deep breath, Zanen let two loud words leave her mouth, "I'm back!"�

"Who's back?" Replied the dark skinned girl that was sitting in front of the counter, yawning out of boredom. She didn't bother to move when Zanen came in, and only tossed a lazy smile to the other girl. Rie did not remember Zanen clearly, but she knew, from her words, that the girl was not a first-timer, and that there would be only one purpose for her to come here: to seek help. And what more can she offer?

"How can I help ya?" Rie asked as Zanen walked closer to the counter.

Zanen let a small smile slide onto her face in return to the other’s lazy one as she replied to Rie’s question, “Err…well, I am. I took the urn, remember?� The teenager held out the artifact for the shop assistant to see.

The sprite curiously drifted closer to observe Rie, uttering something that sounded like, “Nih’ ao.�

Watching the little girl with an inquisitive manner, Zanen sighed as she realized that she wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted Rie to help with.

“Truth be told, I’m not quite sure how you can help me,� the girl admitted, her lips twitching in a wry grin, “but perhaps…you can tell me where this little, erm, girl comes from? And actually, it’d be nice if I could understand her. Sometimes, I feel like I an almost comprehend what she’s trying to say, but usually, it just sounds like well…gibberish.�

The sprite seemed to grimace, the ghostly wisp of white vapor rearing as if objecting to its words being called gibberish.

“Can you understand her?� added Zanen as an afterthought, cautiously watching the single, agitated wisp in fear that vast multitudes of it would come spewing out of the urn like it had done whenever she shouted at it.

Rie looked at the sprite, or rather, looked past her as if she didn't exist. Her expression remained neutral, as she was neither stunned or confused by what Zanen was saying. She had been watching the store for quite a while. She had seen plenty of people with Zanen's reaction. Nothing out of ordinary.

"Nope." Rie waved her hand and flicked her hair in the other. "Not a single word of it. Can't help ya there." Finally finding the grip to get up from her comfortable chair, Rie stood up and walked to Zanen. "BUT! Someone would be able to. I think she's taking a nap right now. Want me to wake her up?"

To Zanen, it appeared as though Rie was staring into thin air, her eyes not focused on the sprite, but rather, in the general direction of where the sprite was.

The sprite gave a surprised cry as the assistant waved a hand around, coming into dangerous proximity with the little girl. Slightly glaring, she quickly made a hasty retreat away from the person who was trying to whack her. Or maybe, she was just being careless? “Xia Oxin!� the sprite said disapprovingly, her emerald eyes suspiciously eying Rie.

Seeing the whole thing, Zanen jerked her hands slightly back, the urn going with them. “Whoops, be careful! You almost hit her, and who knows what that could happen,� the teenager warned giving a grim smile. “I think she may have a tendency to throw tantrums.�

Rie stood up immediately, the sprite drifted as far as she could from her, still warily eying those dangerous hands. She give a subdued sigh as she realized that some invisible source was keeping her from going any further. “Xi’ ang quna lia!� she declared in a clear voice, pointing to the deep interior of the shop. It felt safer there for some reason…

Zanen bit her lip, weighing her options. On one hand it would be a relief for some immediate assistance with the little girl, but on the other hand, it wasn’t very nice to wake someone up from their nap…

“I—uh…� the teenager uttered indecisively, “well…if she’s unavailable at the moment, perhaps I should come back another day? I wouldn’t want to disturb her…�

Rie shrugged. "Whatever you want to do, I'm not gonna---"

The girl's words were cut off by a small cough at the back, then a yawn. Rie didn't need to turn back to see that Kirin had already gotten out of the backroom, even though she was still in a slumber and quite exhausted. She sighed and shrugged again.

"She's not napping anymore, so I guess you can stay."

Covering her mouth so that the yawn was not explicit, Kirin approached to Zanen slowly, a little unsteady on her footing. Her hair was fully down without any decorations, and she wore a lose silk dress that looked more like a pajama than something to be wore in public. The girl rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry...I had to study for my exams last night and didn't sleep until this morning." She yawned again, this time covering her whole face to hide the blushing face at the same time. After it was done Kirin smiled a little at Zanen.

"Troubles with your sprite?"

“Alright then,� Zanen nodded slowly. “I’ll come back at a more convenient time. Let’s g—� The teenager stopped in mid-sentence as a quiet cough cut through the confines of the shop, immediately followed by a yawn. The source was a frail looking girl, who didn’t look much older than herself, yet according to Rie, this was Kirin, the owner the store.

The sprite tilted her head curiously, eying the approaching figure with interest. She smiled suddenly and let loose a stream of sounds that were too fast for Zanen’s ears to catch.

“Oh no, it’s no problem at all!� replied the teenager, who could sympathize way too much with Kirin’s explanation. “I wouldn’t call it…trouble with my sprite, but ahh…I was just wondering…well…where exactly she came from, and if it would be possible understand what she says.�

Kirin gave a meek smile at the sprite's outburst. She reached out with her hand, her fingers twirling playfully at the white wisps that permeated from the jar. She then turned to Zanen and blushed a little.

"It's h-hard to explain. Each artifact have their own stories, and yours..." She looked at the sprite, then back at Zanen, "your sprite had a sad past, I-I can't exactly say it here, perhaps she w-will be able to tell you later on."

She paused and sighed, as if talking was taking much energy out of her. "I c-could help you with the communication, if you want..."

"Kirin." The dark skinned girl suddenly said, her voice a little alerted. "You shouldn't push yourself. The last one had you drained and---"

Kirin shook her head and sighed again, "It-it's alright, I needed the training, anyways." The girl looked back at Zanen, "B-but like Rie said, I'm not in my best condition, so performing the spirit connection might be more risky. A-are you ready for that?"

The sprite giggled and lazily allowed herself to float closer to Kirin, showing off her pearly white teeth with a happy grin. More misty wisps left the jade urn, slowly drifting towards the girl, as if the sprite was trying to infuse some of her energy into her.

Zanen had been multitasking between listening carefully to Kirin’s words and keeping a curious eye on the sprite, but her full attention was given to Kirin as she was once again presented with a dilemma.

As it was, the sprite made the decision for her as the little girl drifted right up to Kirin and nodded enthusiastically, clapping her pale and slender hands to show her approval. “Hao!” she bubbled happily. “Hao, hao!”

The teenager stared at the sprite for a few seconds, before a rosy blush accentuated her cheeks. “Well ahh…she certainly doesn’t seem very sad, right now,” she admitted sheepishly, as the sprite smiled at Kirin expectantly. “I-I have no qualms with performing the…spirit connection, you said? Though if you don’t feel well, you really shouldn’t strain yourself!”

Kirin smiled gently, and reached out as to pat the sprite's head. She whispered something to the sprite as if to praise the little ghost girl and ensuring that she was okay. She then turned to Zanen, her cheek flushing a little like the other.

"Well, your sprite seems very eager to communicate with you, s-so I shall perform the task according to her w-wishes. She seems to like you a lot already, so hopefully it's not as difficult."

Rie sighed behind Kirin, and walked back to her corner. Before she did, however, the dark-skinned girl mumbled something about "don't ask me to carry you afterwards", to which Kirin merely smiled and nodded.

"For best results, I w-want you two to concentrate as well, f-focusing on how much you two wish to communicate with each other. This will make my power easier to break through the b-barrier." Kirin continued, then blushed even more. "S-sorry if this doesn't make any sense to you...I-I wish I could explain it b-better."

The little girl’s green eyes twinkled as she toned down her smile to match that of Kirin’s. A rapid succession of quiet words left her mouth as the sprite tentatively floated closer yet, her silver hair trailing idly behind her.

Zanen’s face still held a sheepish smile as Kirin turned to her, and one hand trailed uneasily through the length of her dark black tresses. As eager as she was to receive some aid in dealing with the energetic sprite, she didn’t feel particularly comfortable allowing Kirin to perform this…spirit connection. She seemed so frail and the last thing the teenager wanted to do was overexert the poor girl. Yet, she seemed set in her decision, and if she was willing to do this, then Zanen certainly wasn’t going to try and mess it up!

She gave a brief nod to Kirin, masking her anxiety behinda cheery smile. “It sounds really fascinating!” Zanen admitted. “You’re explaining it to me just fine. I’ll try my best!”

Focus on how much you two wish to communicate…

Concentrate. Zanen turned to focus all attention on the little floating girl, until everything except the sprite was a blur of colors that seemed to exist on another plane. She did want to be able to talk to her, she did. The teenager wished with her heart.

“Koh-moon-nee-kayt?” the sprite questioned, though she instinctively twirled through the air to meet her striking emerald irises with that of Zanen’s. “Koh-moon-nee-kayt,” the little girl nodded, the accented English word now an affirmation, rather than an inquiry.