The Legendary Ghost Hunter

The little boy's body began turning into a silhouette of pure white light, and it grew. Grew and grew, until it towered over the entire forest like some kind of monster.

Silver fur covered every inch of its body, apart from its clawed black fingers and powerful hooves. On the top of its head, two large horns jutted out, curving inwards. His eyes shone a deadly yellow in the night, and its mouth held rows upon rows of sharp teeth, ready to tear apart anything it needed to.

"ROAAAAAAAR!"

Letting out a thunderous bellow that rivaled that of a dragon, the enormous monster once known as Giant smashed several trees away with its foot by stomping on it, and the rest of the group hurriedly ducked away.

Having cleared enough space so that he could actually move, Giant turned around, shaking the earth as he did so, and set his hand on the ground, palm-up.

"Let's go!" Zephyr called out, and the remaining four hurriedly rushed onto the hand, with Finn still carrying Iris. The white globs of goo on the trees—Specters—jumped down in an attempt to attach themselves to the Ghost Hunters, but they were too slow.

Once everyone was aboard, Giant scooped them up and placed them on his shoulder, where the four held on tightly to his fur. From up here, everyone could see the mountain in the distance, and also the top borders of the invisible portal gates.

"Go! Towards the mountain!" Zephyr ordered, and Giant immediately took off.

SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

With every step he took, dozens of trees fell. The very earth quaked as the humongous monster treaded across the land, but protecting nature was the least of the Hunters' worries right now. Hell, these weren't even real trees anyway—just paracausal illusions of them.

There was just one problem…

Giant skidded to a stop as it neared the invisible portal. Right beyond it, the peak of the mountain could be seen. But after glancing both ways, there was no option to go around this portal. If he attempted to go through by force, his body from neck-down would be transported, but his head would not. That would result in an agonizing death.

"GRR…" Giant made a low growl to show his discontent, and Zephyr narrowed his eyes.

"Tch… is there no way you can jump over this?"

Giant shook his monstrous head, signaling no. The portal's height was up to his neck—even if he did jump, with the weight of his body, his lower half would still be cut off. Death was still the only ending.

"W-What do we do…?!" Aluna asked in fright, voice shaking.

"Don't panic!" Athena yelled. "Leal's First Maxim—never waver, even in the face of certain death!"

But then-

"WEEWOOWEEWOOWEEWOOWEEWOO!"

A chorus of police siren noises blared out across the land, and from behind them, hundreds if not thousands of white goo globs were rushing towards them at full speed. Some rode the trees, some glided directly on the ground. They were closing in fast, and if they managed to attach to Giant, they were screwed.

Giant himself was immune to Specter mind control when in this form—also why he was resistant to Finn touching him, and the effects of Angelica's Wake—but the little bastard Specters could climb up his giant body and attach themselves to the Ghost Hunters in his palm. At this height, there was nowhere to run.

"O-Okay, uh, now's the time to panic!" Athena yelled, drawing her sword. "W-What do we do, Zephyr?!"

"…" Zephyr was silent, and gripped his greatsword tightly. He had an extremely conflicted expression as he looked towards Giant's beast-like face. He didn't speak a word—the eyes communicated enough.

Giant, understanding what he was saying, closed his eyes, smiled as best as he could in this form, and gave a firm nod. Seeing this, Zephyr gritted his teeth and averted his gaze, but didn't say anything further.

Athena, Finn, and Aluna were all still keeping an eye on the incoming wave of Specters. That's why they were so surprised… when they were suddenly launched into the air.

"Wha-!" Athena and Aluna's eyes both widened as Giant threw the four off of his palm, over the invisible portal. It was a gentle toss, but at this height, it would still kill them.

"Tch…!" Finn activated his wings and remained soaring in the air, still carrying Iris, but the other three weren't fortunate enough to have that.

Thankfully, they had something else.

"Heed my calling, O Great Winds of Tranquility! Bless our fall and curtain our landing—Gentle Sweep!"

Suddenly, a gust of wind rose around the three still-falling members of the group, and slowed them down. Athena and Aluna watched in wonder as their fall was slowed, and they gently drifted to the ground, protected by the winds, before softly landing at last.

"Woah…"

"Wow… that was nice. Thanks, Zephyr. I owe you one."

But Zephyr did not share their positive sentiment. Instead, he had a grief-stricken expression on his face as he looked up over the portal, where Giant's head still loomed.

"… Giant…" Athena and Aluna realized what had happened as well, and they too looked at their comrade with solemn expressions.

The massive beast-like head blinked, then smiled gently that should've been impossible for a monster like that. And yet… he did.

Finn slowly landed on the ground next to the three, and didn't speak a word. He didn't need to be able to see to realize what happened.

Giant… had sacrificed himself.

As the massive beast's body was swarmed by the shining white Specters like a bunch of parasites, he fell to the ground with a loud crash that shook the land, and the remaining Ghost Hunters could see him no more.

But Athena, Aluna, and Zephyr did not waver, even as tears sprang to their eyes. Instead, they continued staring at where Giant's head had been, over the invisible portal, and saluted.

Finn, naturally, didn't join in, but he could respect their method of remembering Giant's noble sacrifice. He knew what it felt like to lose someone close to you. He hadn't known Giant for all that long, so he didn't really care about the kid, but these three have most likely worked together with him as a team for years, along with Phoenix. And now… an original group of five has been reduced to a mere three.

"… Lest we forget," Zephyr whispered under his breath, and closed his eyes.

Athena and Aluna did the same, then echoed their leader's words.

"… Lest we forget."