Author Notes:
1)I don't own Danny Phantom
2) This story is not meant for kids (well, this IS a T rated story, so if you're a kid and still read this, well…I've warned you not to read).
3)Thank you, acosta perez jose ramiro, dannyfangirl, Invader Johnny and you Truephan for your reviews.
4)From now on: speeches: "English", "Esperanto" and "Wulf"
Karol woke up hours later. He was feeling much colder than the usual and still in pain due Prince Aragon's fire breath. But the pain wasn't that strong anymore. He looked at himself and saw his body covered in bandages and that he was laying over a frozen bed.
He tried to get up but his body answered making him yelp in pain. A few seconds later, Frostbite came in and greeted him with a cheerful smile: "Hello, lycanthrope. What brings you to the Land of the Far Frozen?"
Karol looked even more distressed and confused. 'Great…just GREAT! Not only he doesn't speak my language, but he's also another strange looking creature…' Thought Karol while he sat up on the edge of the ice bed.
The boy didn't reply, he just stared at the being in front of him trying to figure it out what was he.
Frostbite tried once again to talk to him: "Why the cold shoulder? Are going to stay quiet like this for how much time?"
Then another yeti-like being entered the room and talked to his leader: "Please, allow us to get rid of him. You know that werewolves are violent beings. They are just not sociable."
"If we do that we'll be nothing but barbarians. If I'm not able to reason with him, let's at least wait for him to heal properly before we take him out of our land." With that the Far Frozen guards nodded and left.
Karol didn't have the slightest idea of what they were talking about. One thing that caught the attention of the boy was that Frostbite's left arm was a nothing but bones covered by ice.
The boy decided that he didn't have much to lose anymore and gave it a shot: "Can ANY of you speak my language?"
That caught Frostbite off guard. The leader of the Far Frozen figured it out why the lycanthrope didn't talked before. He can only talk in Esperanto.
"Well, now I hope you can fully understand me. I'm Frostbite, leader of The Far frozen. Can you tell me who you are?"
The boy received a happy surprise when Frostbite talked to him in Esperanto. But that raised another question. "I'm Karol…Excuse me, but…how can you be the only one that speak my language around this…place"
Frostbite then explained to him: "You see, we live in a frozen desert. We just don't have much to do. I like to go once in a while into the human realm and study them a little bit. I have tons of handmade copies of books about many languages."
"Ok…Then can you tell me…why I'm in…hell?" The boy asked trembling a little bit. He wasn't sure if he wanted the answer for that question.
Frostbite then started: "Hell? What are you talking about? This is the Ghost Zone…Ohhh. I understand now. You have just died, right?"
Karol nodded in agreement.
The 'yeti' then continued: "You see, when a person dies, there's a chance that he or she will become a ghost. It all depends on the circumstances of death. Basically, dying feeling great anger, regret or any strong feeling that involve unfinished business on Earth, makes someone become a ghost. Besides we, mystical creatures, have a higher chance of becoming ghosts than humans."
Karol swallowed dry at those words. On his last moments he used what was last of his strength to try murder his former friend. "So…Will I stay like this for the rest of my life?" Asked the boy not really wanting to hear the answer.
Frostbite then answered: "No, of course not. Just because we're ghosts doesn't mean we're immortal. In fact we're still a little bit alive. Just a little."
"What?" now the boy was confused
The Far Frozen leader then pointed at the boy's chest and said: "Listen, what you're right now is your soul desperately trying to stay attached to the remains of your body. You'll still need to sleep, eat and drink water, but just a little bit per month. In fact, all you need is eat one ghost fruit and you'll be stuffed for weeks. And instead of blood, you now have ectoplasm running in your veins."
Karol stared at the icy floor and saw his reflection. His eyes were glowing green. He shut his eyes tightly trying to believe that he wasn't stuck in some other dimension. He wanted to believe that it was all a dream. Frostbite saddened a bit. He thought that the werewolf was about to lose his mind for good.
Then the young lycanthrope realized. He said mystical creatures. His father was one of them. The boy asked Frostbite if his father was around too because he was also a werewolf and he died just little before him.
Frostbite then said: "I said there's a chance. Besides, because you two were relatives, plus were next to each other and the moments of your death were near of one another, if he had become a ghost as well, you would be next to him. So, unless he ran with an astonishing speed before you appeared in the Ghost Zone, he probably went to judgment already."
"Judgment?" asked the boy raising his head to look at Frostbite's face.
The 'yeti' nodded and explained: "Yes. This is pretty much some kind of last chance for us. Anything you do here still counts. You can still be killed, you know. So, don't wander off the Ghost Zone aimlessly"
"But…At least my dad might be here! I must go find him!" Karol abruptly got up, but his wounds made him yelp and sit back at the bed.
"You shouldn't move. Rest a little bit more." Frostbite said as he laid his hand over the boy's chest to prevent him from getting up.
The boy then complained: "What? And what if you try kill me while I sleep?"
Frostbite tried not to take that as an offense and replied calmly: "If we wanted to kill you we would have already done that, don't you think?". Karol didn't reply. He knew that the leader of the Far Frozen was right.
With that Karol lied down on the bed and surprisingly feel asleep. He was still too tired. Frostbite smiled, put some clothes on a desk next to Karol's bed and left the room.
On the next day, Karol woke up feeling much better. Even his wounds were healed already. He got up and tried to leave the room, but two Far Frozen stopped him. He tried to talk to them, and for the boy's surprise they knew his language too. They told him to wait in his room and they were going to call Frostbite to talk to him.
They boy felt like he was a prisoner, but he obeyed. A few minutes later, Frostbite entered the room and greeted the boy with a cheerful smile.
'Why is he always so…happy? He's dead for crying out loud!' thought the boy before replying to the yeti-like being.
"I see you're much better now. Come with me. I'll give you a tour." Frostbite said with a smile.
The boy nodded and followed. Both walked around the Land of the Far Frozen. The boy found out that he was in the hospital of that island. The lycanthrope was amazed to see the culture of these beings. Frostbite told him how advanced their medicine had become. How they learned with human technology and created their own devices such was machines to clean the snow out of the entrances of the buildings. But they decided not to develop too much. If they did build advanced building such as skyscrapers, other ghosts could envy their advance and try attack them.
The werewolf saw some kids playing throwing snow balls at each other and smiled. He kinda wanted to play with them, but he had to stay focus on what frostbite was saying to him and try find out as much as possible about that place so he could go look for his father.
However Frostbite saw that and asked: "I hope you don't get offended, but exactly how old are you. It's really hard to tell how old is someone of your kind."
"I'm 11 years old…How about you?" The boy said in a low voice.
Frostbite saddened a little bit and stopped walking: "You died at such young age…I'm sorry. I'm 1785 years old. But I died when I was 45." Karol's jaw almost fell.
"How can you be THAT old?" The lycanthrope shouted surprised.
Frostbite chuckled and replied: "Well, most of us are that old. Besides the life spam of a ghost depends of their kind. Both mine and yours, naturally can live easily over 100 years. When we become ghosts it just sharply increases."
"That means that…if my family isn't here somewhere. I'll take over one thousand years to see them again?" the boy said with sadness overcoming him.
Frostbite could tell that by his expression. He wished he could tell him something to cheer him up, but he thought it was better for the boy to at least learn about his people history so he could understand better them if the boy were to live among them from now on: "Unfortunately, yes…You see, my kind lived happily in the North Pole. We always maintained the ice strong so it wouldn't break. One day, we spotted a few humans in a boat. They were almost dead. We saved them. We talked a lot for days. Then we asked them not reveal our identity to the rest of the world. The agreed and left. The problem is that they were sick. They did sneeze a few times, but we thought it was just because of the temperature. If we had known earlier, my kind could have survived. For some bizarre reason, human diseases were really dangerous to us. That's why, after our deaths, we searched for their medicines. We discovered many cures. But we wouldn't dare to take them to Earth. They would panic just at our sight. Besides, we use these medicines to heal any ghostly disease and the very few ill humans who accidentally enter into the Ghost zone. And about my arm, you might wonder, I lost it some time before I die. You see, we reflect the way were before we die."
"Wait? What? So There's a way the alive can get in this weird place? Is there a way out of here? I must go back to kill that little son of a…" The boy started to say with clenched fists.
"YOU MUST NOT!" Yelled Frostbite which caught the attention of a few Far Frozen. They rarely see their leader lose his patience.
Frostbite's expression softened as he explained: "I don't know what happened to you. But you must not go to the Earth again. We shouldn't meddle in the living affairs, besides go back just to murder? How can a 11 years old child have such thoughts?"
But Karol kept his angry rant: "That bastard was my best friend. I trusted him. And what does he do when he finds out I'm a werewolf? He shot me. He pointed a gun to me and KILLED ME, DAMMIT!"
Frostbite could understand his anger, but he wasn't willing to allow the boy commit such foolish mistake. "Why don't you tell me what happened to you. Let's talk about it. I might be able to help you to overcome these feelings. Otherwise, if you still want to make a rampage in the world of the living, unfortunately, I must put you in a cage until you cool down."
The boy didn't have a choice. There were just too many Far Frozen and the boy feared that they were even more powerful than he was. However he hoped that Frostbite after hearing what happened to him would allow him to leave to the Earth.
The leader of the Far Frozen heard shocked about what happened to the boy. He knew what humans were capable of, but it always sickened him that they could do that.
Frostbite, however, still didn't allow the boy to leave. He tried to teach the boy to let his anger go. But the boy was too impatient. Karol had to be watched 24 hours per day. Eventually the boy gave up on trying to flee. He did his best to try to accept that he was going to rot in the Land of the Far Frozen.
The years passed by, and Karol learned a lot about the Ghost Zone. He learned about the different areas that were controlled by different powerful ghosts. About the ghost king Pariah Dark who once ruled the Ghost Zone making them all his slaves.
At the age of 15, Karol was getting used to that place. Frostbite and the other welcome him like he were one of them and he was eternally thankful for that. But he wanted to somehow see his family again. He still didn't know if his father was a ghost or not.
Besides the boy still secretly wanted revenge against Zamenhof. Frostbite told him that revenge would poison his soul and them kill it, metaphorically speaking. But he still wanted it, but it wasn't the main purpose of his life anymore.
Karol was allowed to walk around on his own and he wasn't being watched anymore. During one of his morning walks around the Land of the Far Frozen he saw that the cave that it was always guarded by at least two of the yet-like beings had no guard in front of it.
The boy decided to take an innocent peek at it. It was the only place he wasn't allowed to go into it. He got in and the only thing he saw was a map on a stone pedestal. Moved by his curiosity he opened the map and when he did it, his hands felt like they were being burned and started to shined a strong green light that could be seen from outside the cave along with the boy's screams.
One of the guards who went out just to use the bathroom, for a few moments noticed that and ran to warn Frostbite. 'The only day I leave my duty for a few minutes, something like this happens. Frostbite won't be happy.' Thought the guard.
When Frostbite arrived he saw Karol on his knees holding the Infi-map. And his hands were still shining. Quickly Frostbite took the Infi-map away from his hands, closed it and put it back on the pedestal. Then he turned to see what happened to the boy. Frostbite was at the same time angry at the boy for going in a place he wasn't supposed to and worried because nothing like that had happened since he managed to take secretly take the Infi-map away from Pariah Dark.
Karol's claws suddenly grew much bigger than the normal and they turned green as well. When the boy got up his claws seemed to cut the air. Opening two small entrances to the woods near of Karol's village, but the boy didn't recognize it. After a few seconds it closed.
'What was that?'both thought at the same time.
Frostbite was really angered: "I told you countless times to NEVER enter this place! Why did you disobey me?"
"I just…wanted to know what this place. I didn't know that this would happen! Please, I'm sorry!" Karol apologized regretting to ever disobeying Fristbite.
Frostbite sighed, with his anger slowly fading. He believed the boy, because he never told him that the Infi-map was capable of taking him to anywhere in the Ghost Zone, Earth and even, occasionally, in time.
Frostbite saw that the small portal leaded to a place in Earth. And that was what confused him the most. The leader of the Far Frozen knew that it was usually at the age of 15 that the lycanthropes awakened their specialty, but what he didn't know was about Karol's mutation. The same mutation the forbid him to change back to his human form.
Even Karol was still clueless about what Alphonse had done to him.
The leader of the Far Frozen was at a huge dilemma. He could try explain the boy that somehow his absorbed and mutated some of the power of the Infi-map and now he was able to open the portals freely and not just guide him to a natural opening to the Earth or he could stay quiet about it, but that wouldn't stop the boy from discovering what just had happened.
Frostbite took Karol to his house and tried his best to explain what his new powers were. The boy was excited to wield such useful power. But Frostbite warned him that many ghosts could envy his power and try use him for their own evil deeds, so the boy shouldn't wander on the Earth and much less in the Ghost Zone.
Karol knew that Frostbite just wanted to keep him safe, but that was his best chance to at least look for his father.
"I promise I won't leave this place. You can relax." The boy lied. Frostbite hoped what the boy was saying was truth. If he tried to keep an eye on him, he could end up driving the boy to do something stupid because Karol would probably feel unreliable.
'Please, kiddo. Do the right thing and stay here. For your own sake.' Thought Frostbite as he saw Karol leaving the room.
The boy decided to just look for his father. He wanted to make sure he wasn't around somewhere. If he tried to do something to Zamenhof, Frostbite would probably find out and punish him for murder. He thought that if he just looked for his father at least the leader of the Far Frozen could forgive him. Besides the boy trained everyday in the arena with the others Far Frozen. He became a great fighter there.
A few days later, Frostbite looked everywhere for the lycanthrope, yet he couldn't find him anywhere. He asked many Far Frozen, but they didn't see the kid. The best clue he got about his whereabouts was that Karol went in and out of Frostbite's room. The leader of the Far Frozen entered his room and saw a note written on his ice made desk. He picked it up and read it:
"I really appreciate for everything you taught me and for taking care of me for all those years. But I still need to find myself and some answers about myself. That's why I left the Land of the Far Frozen. I'm sorry for going without saying goodbye. I had a feeling that you wouldn't allow me to go by myself. But don't worry. You've taught me well to survive in the Ghost Zone. Please forgive me.
Best whishes, Karol"
Frostbite slowly put the note back on his desk, closed his eyes and thought: 'I hope nothing bad happens to and please don't hesitate to come back, kid. This IS a dangerous place…'
End of chapter 28
Please review. I accept constructive criticize.
I'll be a little busy next weeks because of exams, so I'll probably stay about two of three weeks without updating. I'm sorry.
