Peridot looked at the golden coin in her hand. There was a skeleton head on one side and a mountain on the other. There were also words, ‘Greenheart City Gold Dollar’, ‘Greenstone Mountain Legal Tender’, ‘Property of Greenstone Mountain’, ‘Minted in 4187’. 

“Forty-One-Eighty-Seven?”

“That’s the Greenstone Mountain calendar. That coin is almost six thousand years old.”

“Six thousand years?!” She looked over at her father and then back at the coin again, “How is it still so intact? How is that even possible?”

“Why not? It’s made of solid gold! A lot of these houses are thousands of years old! Hahaha~! Even if ghosts stay here for a while, they usually wander off, get eaten or dissipate over time… In the end, more and more things pile up. If it wasn’t for Thieves like us, most of these ancient relics might be destroyed or lost forever!”

“That does kinda make sense.” Peridot nodded and looked around the large apartment. There were beds made of stone, some simple stone chests, everything was made of rock or stone…

“This place reminds me of Jade.”

“Jade? Sounds like a girl… I thought you liked that boy Ollie?”

“Uh, it’s complicated.” She snickered and put the mask back on her face, then she took it off again and asked, “Why do we even need to dress up like this anyway? There’s nobody here and whenever the cops see us, they immediately recognize us as thieves or suspicious assholes.”

“We’re Thieves, Little Dot. Even if we die, we’ll always be Thieves…” Moss stared at the wall for a full five minutes after that.

“Dad… Dad! Are you okay?!”

“Huh? Oh! Oh yeah, Dot, keep in mind that you can only hold so much weight. Gold, real gold, is really heavy. The most common currencies now days are Spectral Coins. They look about the same, but you won’t find any that are older than a few hundred years. You can definitely tell, ‘cause they’re weightless. They’ll even fly away if you’re not careful.”

“That seems kinda impractical.”

“Hahaha~! But since they’re spectral and weightless, you can take ‘em right through the walls or fly into the sky. For ghosts, they’re very ‘practical’!”

There were a lot of nooks and crannies to check. It took an hour to find dozens of actual ancient gold coins, thousands of 50 to 100 year old spectral coins and lots of ancient jewelry. A lot of the jewelry was made of gold, platinum and precious gemstones. Ultimately though, it’s not like this was a particularly rich neighborhood. It was practically the slums, if slums actually existed in Green Heart City.

“I’m… Hungry.” Peridot got rid of her mask and frowned, “Why am I hungry? Do ghosts need to eat?”

“You don’t ‘need’ to do anything.” Moss also took off his mask and revealed his smirking face, “One time I forgot to breathe for a whole month! It wasn’t until I woke up that I realized I passed out!”

She was dumbfounded, “Ghosts can pass out? And sleep?! Are we really ‘dead’ then?”

“Otherwise?” He spread his hands and smiled wryly, “Dotty, we’re just spirits in the end. We can’t ‘grow’ anymore. We’re just slowly slipping away… Trapped here in this prison called Greenstone Mountain.”

“What happens if we leave?” Peridot frowned, “Can’t we go up to the surface? Or at least up to the mines? I’ve seen… Oliver has seen his parents, friends, lots of random people wandering around up there.”

“Ollie saw what he wanted to see.” Moss shook his head and sighed, sitting down on the edge of the stone bed nearby. Looking up at his relatively tall daughter who had a heavy black bag on her shoulder. “You’re really strong. What Rank are you?”

She frowned under the mask, “Didn’t you see it on my thigh earlier?”

“Uh…” He shrugged, “How long ago was that?”

“Dad… Are you ‘dying’?” Peri sighed, “Those spirits at the surface… They can barely think, remember or function anymore. They’re more like… Echoes of the past. Right? Just like those crazy ghosts in the ‘sky’.”

“Maybe. People need a strong obsession to focus on. Something to make them remember. Keep them ‘alive’. Awake…” Moss took off his right glove and showed the palm of his hand, “Do you see it? I’ve been dead for… I don’t remember how long. But I’m still the same. A Rank 1 Spectre.”

“I’m Rank 6… A Spectral Miner Thief.” She shrugged her shoulders, “What? I was a Thief, then I stole Ollie’s ‘Miner’ Word to save his life. The Spectral part must’ve been added after I died. I didn’t know you could have three Words at the same time though.”

“It’s rare.” He replied casually and then widened his glowing green eyes in shock, “Wait, Thieves can steal Words?! What kinda bullshit is that?!”

“Don’t look at me. I didn’t know it was possible either…” Peridot snickered and conjured a mining pick in her right hand, “It just makes me wonder… I always thought that being a ‘Miner’ was a dead end. Now I’m starting to realize that maybe my imagination was just too ‘realistic’… If I can steal Words as a Thief, then what kinda crazy shit can I ‘Mine’?”

“Cool… Cool…” Her father nodded and then shrugged, “So let’s go fence this shit before I forget where to go again! Hahaha~!”

“Sure, whatever.” Peridot got rid of the ‘Thief’ outfit and switched into a more generic Miner attire. A gas mask covered her pretty freckled face, a metal helmet on her head, green long-sleeved shirt with gray overalls and black suspenders. Plus the simple steel toe brown boots. “Let’s go.”

Moss looked at her in confusion for a moment, “Wait, who the hell are you?!”

“Dad. Stop. It’s not funny.” She rolled her eyes and didn’t fall for his nonsense.

“Hahaha~!” He grinned under the mask, “I almost got ya though! Hahaha~! Alright, come on!”

Peridot followed her father out the window, which was just an open hole in the stone wall at this point. They were only about ten storeys up, which was enough to kill a normal human, but didn’t bother the two Spectres at all. Even if Moss’ legs turned into a puff of dusty green smoke, they quickly reformed and he was able to walk again. On the other hand, Peridot was totally fine. Even able to land lightly while carrying a bunch of gold coins and wearing ‘real’ clothing.

“I think it’s on Calin Street… Or maybe Odonna Street? Maybe it’s Jacob Avenue?”

“Dad…” After wandering around for twenty minutes through the seemingly endless city, Peridot pointed to a random storefront: “Why don’t we just sell it at that pawn shop over there?”

“Huh? Oh wait… Is that… Uh, Jimmy’s Pawnshop sounds familiar.” After looking around the crowded street and seeing a few traffic cops dealing with an overturned spectral carriage down the road, he quickly darted across the street and entered inside the shop. On the other hand, Peridot just rolled her eyes and walked over leisurely.

“Welcome~! Welcome~! What can I do for you today, Moss?” As soon as they walked inside, a gorgeous young woman greeted them. She had glowing green lipstick, bright red hair, dark-brown skin, radiant blue eyes and wore a revealing green dress. Not to mention all the Greenstone Crystal jewelry she wore all over her hands, wrists, neck and ears.

“You’re… You really are Aunt Verda? I thought I recognized you from across the street…”

When Peridot took off her mask and let it dissipate, Verda screamed and hugged the ‘short’ girl tightly against her slightly transparent chest, “Aaah~! Little Peri~! I missed you so much~! Hahaha~!”