A/N: Hello everyone! So, I know I promised an upload spree, but as it turns out re-writing what you have already written by hand on the computer is extremely tiring and also quite boring. However, as it turns out, these originally hand-written chapters all seem to turn out a bit longer than my regular chapters - probably due to my lack of a word counter when writing by hand.
Also, I know that this is going to seem selfish and stuff, but if you like this story enough to read it, could you maybe spare a minute or two to review it? I know you exist - the statistics tell me as much - but it just doesn't feel like you have any readers at all unless they make themselves known. I haven't gotten a review since chapter 2, and this lack of appreciation is really killing my motivation.
That said, here's the story! Enjoy!
Chapter 7
Danny's POV
"Wait, what?" asked Danny in surprise, "You're a Halfa? How? I thought that was only possible if you had an accident with a Ghost Portal?"
Hel, Goddess of Death and apparently former Halfa, smiled.
"And what's to say I didn't? While your manufactured portals truly are a thing of the new age, natural portals have occurred since the dawn of time. One of them simply happened to open around me," answered Hel, "While I'm pretty sure I'm the only one to come back as a full ghosts, there have been many of us across history. Why do you think the ghosts already had a name for us?"
That did make sense. Danny had always wondered where that name had come from.
"Okay," said Danny, "Is that why you look like you do? You know, the split in two thing?"
"You don't say," said Hel sarcastically, "In all seriousness though, I'm fairly sure my origins are the reason I am as powerful as I am. Back when I was alive – or half-alive at least – I had an ice core like you, and when I died and came back as a full ghost I got another core, a control core. I am – as far as I know – the only ghost in the Zone with two cores, and that's got to count for something. However, for reasons I'd rather not talk about, my powers are highly underdeveloped. Many strong ghosts, including the other Asgardians and that Ghost King guy, can easily overpower me. Were I at my full strength, I would be able to take on any ghost in a fair fight – with exception for Clockwork, of course, I know he doesn't like that title but the guy is practically God – and win. Of course, I wouldn't do that. I'm not a big fan of fighting"
By now, Hel's hand had dropped back to her side and she had stepped back from Danny. For a moment, she was absolutely still – as if she weren't actually there – and then she suddenly started to panic.
"I have to go," said the Goddess, "My father has found me and he is not happy. He's found a mindstone. I am truly sorry, Danny, I wish I could help you more but there is no time. Go, prepare for battle, and for the love of everything, DON'T tell your friends about this. They won't trust you anymore"
Without further explanation, the Goddess dissolved into the same blue light Danny had seen at the battle with Jormungandr. For a moment, he was alone on the blue hill.
And then Danny woke up.
The next day at school was normal – almost too normal. No ghost attacks, no surprise tests, nothing unusual whatsoever. Except for the fact that 'Helen' was still missing, but Danny knew the reason for that.
One day like this wasn't that big of a deal. In fact, Danny was glad that the universe finally seemed to be giving him a break. When the days went on like this for two weeks, however, Danny started to suspect something was wrong.
And of course, 'Helen' was still missing.
"It feels weird," Sam had said one day when they were sat down in the cafeteria, "Like the calm before the storm or something"
Danny couldn't agree more.
Sam's POV
The next day, all hell broke loose.
The trio was sat in Tucker's room discussing the recent events – or lack of events, to be more precise, when a dark shape flew past the window.
"What was that?" asked Tucker, and went to look out the window. His friends quickly followed him. They were used to ghosts popping up here and there all the time, and this weird calm had actually gotten them bored.
However, when they looked out the window everything seemed normal, so they went to sit down again, and resume their discussion.
That's when The Flash came.
No, not the superhero. A great flash of blue light erupted from the sky and filled the room. Except, unlike most flashes of light, this one didn't fade away. It just got stronger.
"What's going on?" shrieked Sam and put her arms up in an attempt to cover her eyes. It didn't work, but it had been worth a try.
"I don't know," shouted Danny's voice from the left of her.
Sam felt a hand grab her arm, and suddenly she felt very light. The world seemed to disappear around her – she guessed Danny was phasing them through something.
"You can open your eyes now," came Danny's voice a few seconds later, and Sam felt her sudden weightlessness disappear. It took a while for her sight to return, but eventually Danny's worried face came into view. The three were stood in Tucker's basement, and while it was a lot brighter than basements usually were, it wasn't enough to burn her eyes like it had upstairs. The unnatural blue light was seeping in through the door, but thankfully it was only enough to light up the room.
"What was that?" asked Tucker for the second time this day.
"I don't know, answered Sam, "But I doubt it was anything good"
Tucker's POV
For a while the three sat in Tucker's basement, waiting for the light to fade. Absently, Tucker wondered if his parents were alright – after all they were up there in the blinding light.
In a corner of the room Danny – who was still in his ghost form and didn't look like he was about to change back any time soon – and Sam had huddled together. Had the situation been any different, Tucker would have asked them to get a room. Instead he just sighed and started playing some handheld game he had in his pocket.
About an hour later, Tucker heard noises coming from above. The Flash was still going, so he couldn't go up and check, but it sounded suspiciously like combat boots stomping on the floor of his living room. Danny instructed him and Sam to stay close, so that he could get them out if necessary.
The boots never went down to the basement, but Tucker could swear there were more footsteps leaving the house than the ones who had entered.
Eventually the light faded, leaving them in darkness. After a few moments stumbling in the dark, Tucker found the light switch. The light from the small ceiling lamp was nothing compared to the illumination of The Flash, but it was enough for them to see clearly.
"Stay here," said Danny and flew up towards the ceiling, "I'll check if the coast is clear"
And so the ghost boy went invisible, leaving Tucker and Sam alone in the basement.
"I hope he brings back some food," said Tucker and went back to his game.
Danny's POV
As it turned out, the coast was far from clear.
When Danny invisibly slipped through the roof of his friend's house, he was faced by a ginormous ghost army. He had only seen a gathering of ghosts that large once before in his life, and that was when he was leading them. To see this many ghosts in an army fighting against him was certainly an experience.
Unlike most ghost armies, this one didn't seem to have any kind of uniform. Instead it was assembled from seemingly random ghosts of different kinds. If he looked closely, Danny could recognize some of them. Skulker was there, and Technus was there, and even the Box Ghost was there, along with thousands upon thousands of ghosts Danny had never seen before.
The majority of the ghosts were flying away from Amity Park – probably on their way to attack other cities, Danny realized – but a handful of them were busy patrolling the streets and homes of the small town, occasionally carrying out a citizen or two and bringing them… somewhere. The people were clearly conscious – their eyes were open and they occasionally moved a bit – but they didn't show any resistance. A dazed look could be found in all of their eyes, almost as if they'd been hypnotized.
The way they stared straight into nothing, no free will present behind their eyes, all of it made Danny feel sick. But he had to know more. Reluctantly, he let his gaze follow one of the ghosts carrying a prisoner up into the sky.
And if the city was bad, the sky was a nightmare.
The normally blue sky had taken on an eerie purple glow, and all across it portals to the Ghost Zone had been torn open. Some were small, some were bigger, and straight over Danny's head was a huge rift, as wide as a park. Ghosts were zipping about in every direction, carrying around prisoners and weapons and other… things. Danny didn't know what half of them were, but none of them looked like anything he'd like to get near. In the middle of it all sat a woman atop an eight-legged horse. A very familiar woman.
"It can't be," mumbled Danny as he flew up to get a closer look. But the woman was none other than Hel, staff in hand and eyes glowing. There was no doubt as to the woman's identity.
"Go, my army of ghosts! Conquer this lowly realm!" commanded the Goddess, her voice sounding completely different from Danny's earlier encounters with her. And that's when he noticed it. The gem on her chest, which normally was a green pentagon, had been replaced by a red sphere. As Danny looked at the gem, a strange urge to command, control, conquer, rule filled the boy, and he quickly averted his eyes. Hel's words from his dream came to mind.
"My father has found me and he is not happy. He's found a mindstone,"
A mindstone. Danny had no idea what that was, but he could guess what it did. Hel was being controlled, and he was not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Feeling utterly defeated, Danny flew back to his friends.
A/N: Remember how I told you it was about to get a bit dark? Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. It's not really getting much darker than this, at least not for as far as I have written. While I do have the story planned out, I'm not sure exactly how the end will go about happening. Yet.
Asgardian words:
Midgard - The human world
Helheim - The ghostzone
Asgard - The part of the ghostzone where the asgardians live
Halfling - Halfa
Jotun - Ghost
