Hey guys! Finally, chapter 6 is here! I'am very sorry for the wait, midterm kidnapped me and wouldn't let me go. So, a very very very special thank to CMJFMF for getting all of my dumb mistakes out of there. It wouldn't be half as nice without you! And also, I wanted to say a big big thank to everyone who commented. At the beginning, I tried to answer them all, but I got swallowed whole by university. But I'll try answering as much as I can for this chapter.
So, before we start, there was a comment about Ghost Writer talking in rhymes. Well, I went back to the episode, and actually, before he traps Danny in his poem, he talks normally. -Giggle nervously- So, since no one is getting trapped in a novel in this chapter, I just saved myself from one hell of a grammatical nightmare (I don't hate poetry, but it's already hard in your native language, so imagine in another one) So, I hope you enjoy :)
''Well, I never thought that I would say that, but let's go see the Ghost Writer. I think he's the most likely to be able to help.'' Danny said. Tucker nodded '' Yeah, Sam, good thinking there''. Sam smiled ''Seriously guys, what would you do without me?''. The boys giggled a little. The tension that had built up all day long slowly melted down. '' So, we'll go see the writer tomorrow directly after school? We could get some Nasty Burger and eat it on the way''. Tucker nodded happily, reassured that he wasn't going to miss dinner tomorrow. '' I'll tell my parents that we have a group work to do for school and that I'll stay at your house all evening''.
''Good. We'll take the Specter Speeder and we should be back after a few hours''. The three teens nodded simultaneously. Tucker, knowing that they shouldn't linger on the subject, asked ''Well, now that that's settled, who's up for a game of Doom?''
The day after that was kinda hectic. Danny was with either Sam or Tucker in each of his classes, but passing his work to them before handing it to the teacher revealed to be harder than they thought. Danny's problem was not getting better, so his friends had a hard time guessing what he wrote in ghost language, and rewriting it with the best imitation of Danny's handwriting they could produce took time. But luckily, they were able to always get it done in time. When the school bell finally rang, the trio took off to the Nasty Burger. On the way, they chatted about their upcoming trip.
''Good thing you made up with the Ghost Writer last Christmas, huh, Danny?'' said Tucker, his eyes fixed on his PDA. '' Yeah... When I think about it, I was a real jerk. Okay, I destroyed his poem by accident, but when he told me that it was a Christmas poem, I went all ''Well good thing I blasted it'' on him. I think that Santa fight really got to my head that year. But hey, he gave me a lesson, I apologized, and now we're all good.'' Sam nodded, but then scrunched up her nose '' That's nice and all, but wait... Wasn't the Ghost Writer taken in jail by Walker for breaking the Christmas truce? And don't tell me you went to see him in jail, Walker is still after your ass, isn't he?''
Danny shrugged ''You know that there's, like one prisoner uprising a week in that prison, right? Writer is not a fighter, and he still was out within a month. When I heard he was out, I went to his lair to say sorry''. At that point, the three teens had reached the Nasty Burger. They ordered their favorite meals, and headed toward Fenton Works.
Maddie and Jack were at a ghost hunting convention in another city, and Jazz was supposed to be doing a group project for school at her friend's. Still, when they entered the house, Danny made sure the coast was clear, by asking loudly '' Anybody homeeee?''. Since they got no answer, team Phantom (minus Jazz) got down the lab stairs. Then, each teen went a different direction. Sam went to get the Specter Speeder up and running, Danny to get what they would need ( Fenton phones, ectoblasters and such) and Tucker already started working on deleting all data about the speeder activating or the portal opening.
When they were finally ready, Sam moved the speeder in front of the opened portal, and opened the door. Smiling smugly, she said '' Your car is here my good sirs''. The boys, smiling, scrambled inside. Then, without waiting any longer, they launched themselves into the ghost zone.
The journey through the zone was pretty uneventful, for once. They only encountered minor, harmless spirits, who just ignored them. They drove in turn to be able to eat their dinner. After almost an hour, they finally got to the Ghost Writer's lair, and landed just in front of the entry stairs. The three of them got out, climbed the stairway and stopped in front of the door. Danny knocked, and then they waited for a few seconds before they heard someone coming. The door then opened, revealing a surprised Ghost Writer.
''What are you doing here, Phantom?'' The words were not pronounced in Danny's ennemy's habitual angry way, but more as a truly curious question.'' Oh, and I see that your friends are with you... Hum, Sam and Tucker, was it not?''. The two teenagers nodded. Sam, wanting to be polite, answered ''Nice to meet you sir.''. The Ghost Writer nodded, but then turned his interrogative stare back towards Danny. ''Well, I've got some kind of ghostly writing problem, and since you're a writer and a ghost... We thought maybe you could help?''
The writer raised an eyebrow '' I can't promise you anything, but I'll hear you out. Well, do come in''. He stepped to the side, letting the three teens enter his lair, closing the door behind them. The trio stared at the huge library that was the Ghost Writer's lair. The room was circular, and every single part of the walls was covered by bookshelves that were packed to the brim. The only place where there wasn't any book was the door that they came in through, and another on the opposite side of the room. The only furniture was the round floating keyboard on the middle of the room. This one was a totally normal keyboard (well, as normal as a ghostly keyboard can get). It was the one that the writer used to write his normal novels.
''Follow me'' said the Ghost Writer as he started walking towards the door on the other side of the room. The teenagers obediently followed. On the other side of the door was a corridor with a few doors. The writer opened one of them, and they entered a study. It was nice and cozy, with a fireplace and a few armchairs. And of course, books covered every wall (Except around the fireplace, of course). The writer, with a wave of his hand, invited them to take seats, and did so himself. When everyone was comfortably sitting, the Ghost Writer finally asked '' So, ghost child, what was it you wanted to ask of me?''
Danny cleared his throat '' Well, you see, I've had this problem… Hum, how do I explain this… When I write, my words sometimes switch to a bunch of non-sense. Uh, not exactly, you see I'll always write the same jumbled letters for one word, so it's not really nonsense, but it's not English either. And since this never happened before I became half-ghost, we concluded that it was related, and…'' Danny then realized that he started rambling, as he often did when he became nervous. He slowly closed his mouth shut, letting the Ghost Writer assimilate all he had told him.
''Well, I'm not really sure I can help you, but just to be sure, why don't you show me? You said it happened when you write, right? I'll get you a pen and some paper.'' The Ghost Writer then took out to the corridor. Tucker then turned to Danny, who was fidgeting on his seat '' Well, I'm impressed he actually understood something from your light-speed speech'' A little smile crept up Danny's face, and his fidgeting decreased.
At that moment, the Ghost Writer came back from his little errand, and then passed Danny a small notebook and a blue pen. ''There you go'' Danny looked at him hesitantly while he sat back. '' What should I write?'' The writer shrugged '' whatever you want, but at least a few lines so that I have more to look at''. Danny nodded, and got to work. He wrote for a minute, and then, just to be sure that his paper had Ghost language on it, he turned it toward his friends, who nodded after just a few seconds looking at it. He then passed it towards the Ghost Writer. He only looked at it for a short moment, before he lifted his eyes to look at Danny.
''Well, I see nothing wrong with that, except that for some reason that I can't seem to get, you decided to write half of it in English and half of it in Lepfuqeqa.'' The three teen's eyebrows went comically high. ''In what?'' they all said simultaneously. The Ghost Writer looked back at them, looking as surprised as they were, if not more.
''You don't know Lepfuqeqa?'' As the three teens shook their head, the Ghost Writer started looking thoughtful. '' Well, that's weird, but hey, everything is weird about you halfas, so…'' and then he continued to mumble to himself for a few seconds.
Danny interrupted him politely '' Excuse me, but you seem to kind of know what is going on, could you explain please, because we're kind of lost around here'' The writer snapped out of his muttering, an bolted upright, looking at Danny professionally. '' Well, I don't completely understand the situation, but I can give you the beginning of an explanation. But before, are you sure you have absolutely no idea what is Lepfuqeqa, Phantom?'' Danny shook his head. '' Ok… Well, you see, Lepfuqeqa is the ghost language'' You could see a twinkle in Sam's eyes at that moment. '' It is a mean for ghost from all parts of the world to communicate. Even some ghost animals can use it. It is acquired by ghosts at the moment of death, which is why I'm shocked that you didn't know about it''
Sam, intrigued, asked '' So, when someone becomes a ghost he can instantly write in ghost language?'' The Ghost Writer nodded ''Yes, but Lepfuqeqa is not only a written language, it is a spoken one as well.'' Danny flinched out. Tucker then asked '' But if ghosts have their own language, why would they still use English? I mean we've only encountered one ghost who didn't speak English, and he wasn't speaking…'' Tucker made a tentative at the word the writer had used, but it just made him feel like he was choking on his own tongue ''Ah, you know, Ghost language.'' The Ghost Writer nodded '' Well, most ghosts prefer speaking their native language by habit. Also, it is kinda hard to communicate with humans when you get in the living world if they can't understand you. Lepfuqeqa is normally used if you're speaking to a ghost with a different native language or if you don't want humans to understand what is being said''
Danny, needing answers, then asked '' And how do you switch between Lepfuqeqa and English?'' Tucker and Sam noticed instantly that Danny had perfectly pronounced the Ghost Language name. But since now was not the time to make him anxious, they kept it to themselves. The Ghost Writer shrugged '' Well, we ghosts normally speak our native language, and we only need a little concentration to switch to Lepfuqeqa.''
Danny's expression looked hurt. '' So you can easily separate the two right from the beginning?''
The Ghost Writer looked at Danny's face '' Yes, but from your look, I guess you cannot.'' Danny sighed '' Is there a way to… turn it off?''
''Sadly, none that I haven't already talked about.'' The writer sincerely looked apologetic. Danny's friend clearly saw that Danny was trying really hard to keep himself together. He got up ''Thank you very much for your help. We won't bother you any longer.'' The Ghost Writer got up too '' It was my pleasure. If you ever need anything else, feel free to come by'' Tucker and Sam got up, following their friend. Just before they were out the door, Tucker suddenly turned around '' Excuse me, I'm wondering, is there some sort of English/Ghost Language dictionary that we can get somewhere?'' The Ghost Writer rubbed his chin with his hand before answering '' Well, none that I know of, but it would be an interesting project. I may start working on that on my free time. If you'd like, you can stop here next time you're in the zone, I'll keep in touch with you about my progress.'' Tucker smiled, then waved '' Sure, thanks for the help''.
The three teens then got inside the specter speeder, and headed home. The ride was very, very quiet.
