Chapter Text
Once upon a time, peace reigned in a small rural town in southern Bavaria. One day, all that changed. A dark shadow cast over the land, thrusting the town into an eternal night. At this time, a young married couple mysteriously vanished. They were called Walter and Corry. After two years, Walter suddenly returned, but never spoke to anyone about his mysterious disappearance. He wouldn't speak to anyone about where he had been, or what he had done, no matter how much they asked. As for Corry, she never returned. People began to wonder if Walter had done something to Corry, but he denied it. Walter then began odd studies. No only really found out what had happened to the two of them, and it remained a mystery.
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Many years had passed since that day. It was now 2013, and the Eurovison entrants were in a hotel in Malmö, preparing for what would be the biggest night of their lives. The whole of Europe had watched as the two semi finals passed them by. It would soon be the Eurovision grand final.
Stoyan was busy putting Bulgarian flags up all over the Bulgarian hotel room. He went to the door to put up another flag, but as he did so, the lamp behind him switched itself on, flooding the room with light. Well, not exactly flooding. The Swedish hotel only used energy saving lightbulbs.
Thinking this was strange, Stoyan put down his flag and went and switched the lamp off, but it soon switched itself back on. Confused, the Bulgarian pulled the plug out of the lamp, but still it was switched on. It then began to levitate, slowly at first, then began to fly properly.
"The hell?" he yelled as the lamp flew around the room.
"Looks like you have the power," came the reply from the object, "You must be stopped..."
"What power? What the flamin' hell are you talking about! Stop this right now!" Stoyan yelled as he kept on dodging the lamp. The lamp charged at him once again.
The Bulgarian dived out of the way, and the lamp smashed into the wall and broke into pieces. This was most definitely strange, even in a country like Sweden where strange and magical things happened all the time. The room shook and it seemed the whole building was now glowing. He ran out of the room and into the long corridor. Walking into another room, he found Loreen, the Swedish winner from the year before, was jumping around as another moving lamp charged at her.
"Gah!" yelled Loreen, "The lamp is alive! Stoyan! Do something!"
"Ahahahaha, just who I was looking for," the lamp laughed.
"Not so fast, lamp!" Stoyan yelled, "Try picking on someone your own size!"
o
"Very well," the lamp said, as it retreated from Loreen, and engaged Stoyan in battle, "I will."
But Stoyan had learned something from his previous fight with a lamp, and this time defeated the lamp easily. The lamp rolled on the floor.
"Oh Stoyan! Thank you!" Loreen smiled.
"You should get out of here," Stoyan said, "It seems this whole building is falling apart! Go, quickly, I will find out what is going on here."
And with that Stoyan ran into another room and found Lena Meyer-Landrut in a room
"Oh! Hey!" Lena said, standing on the bed, "Can you help me?! This doll's went totally crazy! It's come alive!"
"Sure thing," Stoyan said, as the doll confronted him, "It seems they are only after me anyway, ain't that right, you stupid doll."
"Who are you calling stupid?!" the doll said.
"You!"
"Why you little-" the doll flew at Stoyan.
"Bulgarian Slicer!" Stoyan yelled, as he hit the doll and it fell to the ground.
"Have you really gotta announce all your attacks like a Digimon?" Lena laughed.
"'A 'thank you' would have done nicely."
"Oh!" the German blushed, "I am truly sorry Stoyan, I meant, thank you!"
"That's better," Stoyan replied, kicking the doll away from them, "And you're welcome, anytime."
The building stopped shaking as the doll stopped moving. All of the lamp shades that had flew from their tables crashed to the ground as Stoyan, Lena and Loreen stood in the corridor and looked around at the smashed lamps that covered the floor.
"I guess it's stopped for now," Lena said. She was holding the doll.
"So the building will be safe after all," Loreen said.
"Hopefully," Stoyan replied,
"That was scary," Lena said, "Here Stoyan, look inside this doll, there's something strange inside it."
Lena handed Stoyan the doll, and he opened it up. Inside, there was an old music box. He wound it up. It began to play 'Refrain' the first song that had ever won the Eurovision Song Contest. They all remembered it.
"'I'm going to see if there's anything else wrong with this place," Stoyan said finally, "Hopefully there isn't."
"Good luck!" Lena said, "We'd come with you but... you know..."
"Yeah, we probably wouldn't be any use anyway," Loreen said.
"So predictable," Stoyan grinned, and with that he left the two singers standing there in the corridor. On arriving downstairs, he found Cezar, the Romanian entrant, surrounded by smashed lamps that were all around him.
"Oh hey!" Cezar said, "Stoyan! Are you alright!? Did you see the monster objects?"
"I did indeed, I don't know what's wrong with this place!"
"There's something wrong here, something very wrong," Cezar said, "I would say that it's a poltergeist!"
"Uh... really? A poltergeist? And you know this how exactly?"
"It doesn't matter how! I just do. It's a long story, but back in Romania, poltergeists come and give life to objects, just to annoy people. Now, I don't exactly know how you solve this... but anyway, didn't your great-great-grandfather study PSI?"
"How do you-"
"Doesn't matter... anyway, he is pretty famous, not just in Bulgaria but all over Europe. There's a possibility that you also have the psychic powers that he has."
"Maybe..."
"You should treat this as an adventure! Explore the potential of your powers!"
"Uh..."
"You don't seem too thrilled Stoyan," Cezar said, "I'd do anything to have powers like you have!"
"PSI powers aren't to be taken lightly. I've gotta treat this with great care. Besides, we don't even know what powers I have yet... if any," Stoyan said. At that moment, Petra Mede walked over to them. She was the presenter of the contest but right now she was trying to keep things together. There wouldn't be much of a contest if the entrants were constantly being pestered and attacked by strange flying objects.
"Petra!" Stoyan grinned, "Petra! Have you heard the news about the ghost in the hotel?"
"Yup! Christer Björkman told me just before he left that there was something in the basement just for this occasion," Petra said, "But he's left the key to the basement somewhere and he doesn't remember where! Gah! Why did he have to leave at a time like this! He's supposed to be the organiser of the contest, but we've been left with monsters! The contest is ruined now! This was Sweden's moment to shine and now we won't have it!"
"Don't worry yourself Petra, I'll go find the basement key!"
"Oh, you will!" Petra said, "How kind of you! Almost makes me wish that you'd qualified from the semi-finals..."
"Almost?!"
"Ah. Sorry," Petra said, "Now remember Stoyan, the key is big and gold. It should have the letter B carved into it. Well, that's all I know about it."
"Alright, thanks Petra. I best be going."
"Alright then, and good luck!" Petra called after him.
Stoyan walked into another room of the building. Surely the key had to be somewhere nearby. Hannah Mancini was there.
"Hmmm...? Stoyan?" she said, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, hey Hannah," Stoyan said, "You haven't happened to see a key anywhere, have you?"
"Oh, no, I haven't, sorry. Have you seen the monster objects, though? They were really scary, and then all of a sudden they stopped moving! What on Earth is happening with this crazy place? The people running this contest really need to get their act together! I've never known Malmö to be the home of magical monsters before!"
"I'm going to solve this problem we have," Stoyan said, "I know how, I just need to go and find the key."
"Oh!" Hannah said, "So you're going to fix the problem we have!"
"Yup! Well, nice seeing you but I've gotta go. I'll talk to you again once I've gotten rid of the poltergeist."
"You are this contest's only hope now!" said Hannah, as the Bulgarian walked away, "Go for it!"
After searching all of the rooms in the hotel and finding nothing, Stoyan decided to go outside. Dustin the Turkey was sitting on the porch.
"Oh, hey there Dustin," Stoyan said.
"You can talk to animals?" the turkey grinned, "Well hey there! There's only a few people I've met who can do that! You've truly gotta gift! Here! I'll give ya this for takin' the time out to talk to me! Take it!"
The turkey pushed a shiny gold item towards Stoyan with his wings.
"It's the basement key!" Stoyan yelled, "Oh my! Thank you Dustin! I was looking all over for this!"
"You're welcome!" Dustin replied, "Gobble gobble!"
"Oh hey!" Loreen said as Stoyan came back into the hotel, "You're back! We were worried you left us for a moment there!"
"Huh? Me? Leave you guys? Not a chance!" Stoyan smiled, "I've got the basement key, look! Dustin the Turkey had it!"
"Oh, that's great news Stoyan!" Loreen said, "By the way, if you're going on an adventure and don't want to be carrying around any of that big pile of stuff I see you packed with you for the contest, you can leave some of it with me! I'll take good care of it."
"Oh, really? Why thanks, Loreen! Now, I really must get going, if you'll excuse me."
"Of course," Loreen said.
"When I come back all our problems will be solved," Stoyan said as he unlocked the door and went inside. The room was dark, and there was nothing but a bat and an old diary inside. Stoyan took the baseball bat and the diary. The diary was very old and dusty, and full of entries. Stoyan walked out of the basement.
"Hmm... there was just a diary and this baseball bat inside," Stoyan said.
"Stoyan, you have the power of PSI, inherited from Bulgaria, you should go and find out what's causing all of these strange happenings," Petra said.
"Hmmm, can I really leave you guys by yourself?" Stoyan asked.
"Of course you can!" Cezar said, "We know how to handle one little poltergeist! Besides, it seems to have stopped for the time being, anyway."
"Yes yes," Petra said, "Cezar is right. Go on, have an adventure! Enjoy yourself!"
"Excellent, I'll do just that," Stoyan smiled, "Where is Elitsa, anyway? Do you know?"
"Oh," Petra said, "She left quite a while ago, way before all of these strange things started happening..."
"I see, well I'll go and find her then," Stoyan said as he walked out of the hotel.
"Leaving, I see," Dustin said as Stoyan went outside.
"Yup!" Stoyan said, "I've gotta go solve all these problems, because I have the PSI powers..."
"Lucky you," Dustin said, "Remember, always talk to any animals you meet along the way, we are always thrilled to have humans speak to us. And good luck on your journey!"
"Why thank you!" Stoyan smiled, and with that, he walked off along the grassy path, away from Malmö Hotel. He didn't exactly know where he was going, but he was sure it'd all make sense soon enough. Walking over a bridge across a lake, he soon came across another building. Carola was waiting outside. She was due to be performing in the Eurovision final tomorrow, but she seemed worried about something.
"Carola," Stoyan said, "Hey!"
"Oh oh oh!" said Carola, "Oh, what can I do! What should I do? Where can I go? Who can I see? My dear Emmelie is gone!"
Emmelie was the Danish entrant and overall favourite to win the contest.
"What?!" Stoyan said, "Emmelie is missing?!"
Stoyan felt bad at that, no one had noticed that Emmelie de Forest was missing from the hotel, but, then again, they had been pretty distracted by all the ghosts and monster objects attacking people.
"Yes," Carola replied sadly, "She was supposed to be meeting me but never turned up. I don't know where she's gotten to! If you're going to Malmö City Center, then please tell the Mayor!"
"Will do," Stoyan replied.
"Thank you! Say, did a poltergeist really attack the Eurovision hotel?"
"It did... but don't worry, I will get rid of the poltergeist and find Emmelie for you!"
"Thanks again, good luck!" Carola said, as the Bulgarian went on his way.
And so Stoyan continued on his journey, now with a goal. To help Carola find Emmelie de Forest.
'Welcome to Malmö!' a giant sign read.
There was a house with an open door. He knew it'd be rude to enter but decided on entering anyway.
"Hello?"
"Hee hee hee, I am the noisy mouse," said a mouse as Stoyan walked in, "Don't cha know it's rude to enter other people's houses?"
"S...sorry..."
"Ah, it's alright," the mouse squeaked, "I like the company. Besides, it's rare to find someone who can talk to animals these days."
Leaving the house, he saw a tall building in the distance. The Malmö City Hall. He entered to see a man sitting there reading a Swedish newspaper.
"Howdy!" said the man, "I'm Anton Ewald, I'm not the town mayor, but his assistant. Go to the other room to speak to the mayor."
And Stoyan did just that.
"Hello citizen," replied the mayor, "I am Mayor Yohio. I know you would like to help our town so... someone has strayed into the cemetery... and... I'm up for re-election soon! It'll look bad if I don't do something! Please, ya gotta help me!"
"What is it with everyone asking for my help today?" Stoyan asked.
"Pleaaaase," said Yohio, "Do this one thing for me."
"Sure sure, fine, I'll help you."
"So you will go there and save her?" Yohio was pleased, "Thank you, thank you! Once you return her to me, I'll surely be a hero! Yes, yes. Errr... I mean, you'll be a hero!"
"Whatever," Stoyan said, "I said I'll do it already."
"Yes yes, thank you! I will be re-elected as Mayor for Malmö for sure now!" Yohio said as Stoyan left the room.
Walking out of city hall, he saw the cemetery in the distance. However, on walking over to it, an incredibly annoying villager blocked his path.
"Be honest with me now, you're a zombie, aren't you?" the villager said.
"What?!" Stoyan yelled, "No! Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Come on, admit it, you are! Admit it!"
"Ok, fine," Stoyan said, rolling his eyes, "I'm a zombie. Rawr, I'll eat your braaaains!"
"Aaaaaah! There is no zombie cure!" the villager screamed, running away from Stoyan.
"I swear, this city gets more and more weird by the second," the Bulgarian muttered to himself. He'd seen the news reports on the recent zombie infestation that Sweden was getting and figured it must be making the villagers paranoid.
Just as Stoyan got to the bridge he heard a voice calling his from the distance.
"Stoyan! Waaaaait!" it was Carola.
"Oh, Carola!" Stoyan as as the Swede ran over to him, "Hey!"
"Did you find Emmelie yet?" Carola asked.
"No, but-"
"And I couldn't help but notice that you're walking into the cemetery! And I thought you were supposed to be sensible!!!"
"Yes but, Mayor Yohio said there is someone lost wandering around the cemetery," Stoyan explained, "I think it might be Emmelie..."
"No way! She's much too clever to even think of wandering around that dark and spooky place by herself! It must be someone else!"
"There's only one way to find out if it is or isn't her, and that's to go inside, which I will be doing, right now."
"Well, you can count me out, I ain't going in there. You're really brave Stoyan, ya know that?"
"Why thank you."
"Well, either very brave or incredibly stupid."
"Er, we didn't need that last part, thank you," Stoyan said, slightly annoyed, "Anyway, I'm off. You can stay here, I know you're cowardly or whatever."
"Cowardly?! I am not!"
"Come with me then and find Emmelie..."
"Oh er... well... oh dearie me, my kettle is boiling, I must be off!" And with that Carola ran off, leaving Stoyan standing by himself on the bridge that lead to the cemetery.
"Well," he said to himself, "He goes nothing."
It wasn't as scary as he had imagined it to be. Sure, it was dark and spooky and it had those scary looking trees with no leaves on, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Entering a building he found a person sitting inside."
"Oh, I want to stop the zombies' evil ways," they said, "But they won't listen or even talk to me. Now I can't leave this place."
"I can try," Stoyan said, "Leave it to me, I will stop the zombies."
"You will? Oh, thank you!"
Stoyan was pleased, at least this person didn't think he was a zombie. But when he left the building he realised he now had so many tasks to do, get rid of the poltergeist, find Elitsa, find Emmelie, and now rid Malmö of zombies. And he hadn't completed any of them. Not yet, anyway. He entered a small passageway that had been hidden behind some gravestones. It was pretty dark in here, and there were many caskets scattered all across the floor. Some of them contained zombies, so he was careful not to disturb those ones. There was also a casket with a piece of pink material sticking out of it. Opening the casket, a girl popped out.
"Emmelie!" Stoyan said.
"Oh hey Stoyan," Emmelie said, "Am I pleased to see you!!! I got lost! It was really scary!"
"I know, Carola sent me to come and find you."
"Oh, how brave you are to come and get me!!!"
"Er... yes... well, I guess you could say that..."
"So modest! You are brave! I hope we can meet again sometime after the contest!"
"Of course we can, silly! We'll have a big reunion party!"
"I'm so happy! To show my gratitude take my gift! This shiny badge comes all the way from my native Denmark! It's called the Franklin Badge! It will guard you against lightning attacks! Keep it!"
"Thank you ever so much!" Stoyan replied, "Well now, we should probably get going now."
"Yes! Let's go back to town!" Emmelie said, walking over to the door, before adding, "Stoyan, please go first, it's scary out there..."
"Alright, alright," Stoyan lead the way out of the cemetery and back into Malmö. They returned to city hall to find Anton and Mayor Yohio waiting there for them.
"Is she the lost girl, Emmelie?" Yohio asked.
"She is indeed," Stoyan said.
"Well, that's just great!" Yohio beamed, "I knew that you could fufil your civic duty!"
He and Anton clapped.
"Now then Emmelie," Yohio continued, "Don't forget, to tell everyone that the Mayor saved you!"
"Hey!" Stoyan said.
"Oh! Don't feel left out Stoyan," Yohio said, "Here, I will give you a prize of 100 euros."
"Ah, that's more like it," Stoyan said, "Why thank you."
"By the way hero," Yohio said, "Maybe you'd like to see what's up at Malmö Zoo? The animals have been acting strange lately. Yes? I'm sure you'll go, after all, you are the town hero."
"Uh, I guess I could-" Stoyan began.
"So you'll go!" Yohio interrupted, "That's great! Now make sure you get a key from my assistant, Anton."
"Well, I ain't cut out for adventures," Emmelie said, "So now it is time for me to say goodbye. Say, stop by Carola's house later, we'll both be waiting there to see you again."
"Sure thing!"
And so then Stoyan went to Anton.
"Ah, so you are the hero! Yes yes, indeed, Yohio has already told me all about you!" Anton said, handing Stoyan a key, "Well, here is the key to Malmö Zoo! Make sure you don't lose it now! It's very important!"
"Ok, I won't," Stoyan said, as he left city hall. Now he had yet another task to complete, see what was wrong at the zoo.