A Spirit Detective's Primer

I'm not sure to call what I do. Ghostbusting? Exorcism? Spirit detective work? Scooby Doo shenanigans? Being a magical hobo?

...Okay, let's try this again. My name's Cassie- Magical Phantom Investigator Cassandra when I'm transformed- and I'm a magical girl. And...I do exactly what it says on the tin. I have magic. I investigate phantoms- you know, 'ain't scared of no ghosts'- and my...my name's Cassandra. At least that's what Puuchu's little trip through my head made it. Sorry...still not quite over that.

Anyway. Ghostbusting. The first step's the easy one. Finding the problem. Usually, that means me and Olivia just wander around, all over the place until we find something interesting. Local newspapers are a good place to look, or the internet if I can get it. Disappearances. Vandalism. A crime scene, once or twice. The most reliable way though is the gut feeling I get when I get close enough. It's just this...nudge, or feeling. Telling me I should look into it...more of a homing beacon, really. I asked Olivia about it once, and it's apparently pretty common for us magical girls. You could almost say it's standard issue.

Step two's investigation. Looking into the details. So I find something, or ask around, or just follow that gut feeling...and see if it's something I can help with. If it's some dead guy keeping the hotel guests up, or the walls are bleeding, or someone got up and walked away halfway through their funeral? That's something I can definitely help with. So...I do. Sometimes that means doing a bit of research first. Looking up hauntings, asking around, or just doing a bit of shopping- or "shopping"- for banishing supplies. Mostly chalk, stakes, paper, but some other stuff too. Ghosts have all kinds of funny rules, at least some of the time. Other stuff might not, and it's really not fun when I mix the two up. Olivia can just fly off if it turns out Uncle Joe isn't back from the dead after all and it's actually a Hive Blot using him as a meatpuppet. I can't.

...No, I'd rather not talk about it. That...wasn't fun. At all. At least it wasn't fireproof. And Olivia did come back to help.

Anyway, if I'm lucky, it's something quick and easy. Zombies rising from the grave, some cat demon that hasn't had time to settle in yet, some ghost looking for attention that'll quiet down if someone just listens to their problems...That's the good kind of problem. The kind you can solve by ringing a bell a lot or asking nicely. You kind of have to be a people person sometimes if you're an exorcist. Sorry, got sidetracked there. If it's an easy problem, that's good.

Sometimes, though, it isn't. The ghost might not be confused, it might be angry. Or...evil. It might just want to hurt people for no good reason, or it might be a monster, escaped from the City. If that happens, and you can't deal with it? Run. You might not like doing it, but if it kills you too, that won't help anyone.

 Us Spirit girls, we're kinda squishy, you know? Okay, yeah, my dress can stop bullets, but they'll still sting-a lot- and there are things out there that can tear right through it if I let them. Olivia's claws, for starters...

Anyway, if you can't kill it, run. Or at least don't stand there and let it hit you. Keep moving unless you're doing something clever, and even then, watch your back. Which leads me to the next thing.

It's nice to have a friend. Not just because a lot of those monsters and monstergirls are tough- that helps. It's just...if you're on your own, there won't be anyone there to