Origins

Wind shifts and causes a cold chill, seeming eerie to most living creatures aside from one. Twenty-four year old Willoughby North, the hybrid shapeshifter that walks between the realms of the live and the dead, accessing the spirit world by unlocking the gravestone of a spirit not yet at peace with a special key.

Tonight, he can be seen walking along to a very unrestful grave to help yet another tormented soul find their eternity by traveling back in time with them to fix aspects of their life before death so they would have no regrets. His flannel shirt sways with the breeze as he takes a deep breath and pulls a key from his pocket, trying to gather any courage he can muster as he readies his mind to assist this particularly uneasy soul. A wave of fear washes over him and he hesitates, he's never had to assist a spirit quite this agitated before, and this will also be his first experience and encounter with a Manticore. He knows the reputation that manticores have of being proud, fearless, and aggressive; they are a species well known for having absolutely no regrets when it came time for them to leave the land of the living. This manticore, one known only by the letter 'X,' had just recently become deceased, and Willoughby knew there would have to be some very major regrets for this particular soul to have such an immense amount of unrest.

Willoughby steadies himself and places the key inside the lock, turning it slowly, closing his eyes and holding his breath during the transition between realms. When he opens his eyes again, he's standing in front of a light pink manticore with ice blue eyes. A slight, startled sound escapes from him, not having expected X to be a female manticore. He waves meekly, not wanting to speak just yet as she seemingly grows more agitated at his appearance before her and starts pacing.

"Well, this is just great, I die with a dozen and a half regrets and I end up with a meager little hybrid that's supposed to help me right my wrongs and change things so I can move on with no regrets? What a joke!" X growls, pacing more and making Willoughby grow increasingly nervous.

"Miss X, I can assure you, I'm well versed in helping those who have regrets in their afterlife find peace. Please, just give me a chance and I'll prove it to you. I promise you that much." Willoughby explains, his voice quivering slightly.

The manticore sighs and gives a small nod, "Alright, fine. But we're going to have to go back a while to start righting my wrongs." Her eyes fill with tears slightly and Willoughby offers his hand out to her, smiling softly when she takes it and feeling the slightest bounce of relief as he leads her back in time, through her memories to the first of her regrets.

…

Hours pass before Willoughby and X return, her life now resolved so she can move on without heartache, he gives her a hug and wishes her well in her final afterlife before he heads to her gravestone once more and unlocks it, transitioning himself back to the land of the living while she passes on with comforting ease.

Another success for him to inform his friends about, another success to prevent unrestful spirits from wreaking havoc upon the world.