How Feelings Change

Chapter 28: The Clock Tower

Disclaimer: I don't own it!

I have been itching to write this chapter since I wrote chapter 18 'Artemis's Story'. But honestly I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out until I actually wrote it. I was really having mixed feelings about how to make it turn out after I heard some of you guys opinions on Gwen and Artemis. But as I wrote this, everything seemed to fall into its proper place.

Now on with the story!

ZZZ

Sam had always considered Danny's over protectiveness, a slightly annoying, but otherwise completely acceptable quality stemmed from his need to protect people. He was a hero after all. It was his job to protect people. But there were sometimes that his abundance of protectiveness was just too much.

It had been nearly two weeks since they had returned to Spirit Haven, and she was about ready to pull her hair out in frustration. Danny seemed to believe that there was danger lurking everywhere just waiting to jump out of its hiding spot and get her. Danny refused to let her cook (Though that was probably for the best considering Sam's complete lack of culinary skills), he would do all the house work before she had a chance to so much as locate their vacuum, he walked her to class everyday carrying her bag the entire way, and he even managed to be there when she got out of class so he could walk her home. It had been cute for the first day and a half, but now it was beyond infuriating.

She had tried to explain to him rationally that she was healthy and that the baby was fine, that he didn't need to worry because if she ever needed help she'd ask him. And on top of all that Meia had warned all the ghosts and spirits in the town to leave them alone. She may be the spirit of motherhood, but that didn't make her any less intimidating.

But Danny was stubbornly insistent on continuing to be his overprotective self.

Sighing, she slipped out of bed as silently as she could manage, and crept across the room stepping around cans of paint that she had bought all those months ago for the wall mural that she had yet to start or even get an idea for; pulling some pants and a hoodie out of the dresser before quickly stripping of her nightgown and putting them on. Leaving the room she slunk down the steps, careful to avoid the squeaky step at the bottom. Her boots were sitting at the base of the steps and she tugged them on, lacing them tightly, before heading for the back door. She grabbed the small backpack that had left there earlier and her heavy winter coat, before opening the door as silently as she could. A small white blur shot past her feet and onto the back porch and she smiled. She had filled Artemis in on her plan earlier, giving him the option of tagging along.

She knew that he didn't like her plan or the destination of their little excursion, but he was not about to let her wonder around Spirit Haven, in early winter, at 2 in the morning all by herself. He was just as overprotective as Danny, yet unlike Danny, he seemed to realize that there was no stopping her when she set her mind on something. They reached the campus quickly enough, and Artemis transformed into his lion form as they approached their final destination.

The Caldwell Clock Tower, was the oldest structure on campus and stood an impressive 100 feet, but that was about all that was impressive about it. Several of the numbers had fallen off the clock's face, as well as the slender filigreed second hand that still stuck out of the ground at its base like a spear. The once beautiful marble exterior was worn, and rough, and most of the ceramic roofing tiles lay shattered to pieces around the tower's base.

It was a sad sight.

Sam had seen old paintings of the tower in some of the buildings, when it was still new and beautiful, but after nearly 150 years of standing on the campus it looked more like the tomb that Sam knew it to be, than the symbol of human ingenuity that it had been when it was built.

Taking a step closer, Sam stopped short as the baby moved around agitatedly. "It's okay," she murmured, placing a hand over her stomach, "We won't be here very long."

"The child has more sense than you do," Artemis chided, his voice sounding very despondent at he settled onto his haunches, shaking his massive head and mane, "No one has been able to retrieve the pendant before, what makes you think that you can now? And besides, it is safe where it is. If no one can get to it, than no one will be able to complete the emerald."

"Who says that one day someone won't retrieve it?" she asked as she walked around the base of the tower until she spotted the two heavy wooden doors on the north facing side.

"You won't get in, the doors are locked and have been for almost 100 years," Artemis nearly growled as he moved to stand next to her, "And I refuse to phase you in."

"You don't have to," she told him, her eyes remaining on the door before her, "I've spent the last week figuring out how to get in."

Artemis huffed loudly, and watched at the girl moved to the door. Taking a deep breath, Sam placed a hand over her stomach and concentrated. Soon a tingle started behind her belly button, spreading quickly throughout the rest of her body, and with a single step forward, she went right through the door. Her eyes fluttered open and the tingling stopped, she could here Artemis's muffled exclamation through the door, and smiled slightly as the big cat phased through it next to her.

"How did you learn to tap into the baby's powers like that?" his eyes were wide as he looked up at her, the dank stairway around them illuminated a haunting blue by his ghostly aura. "I didn't believe that it was possible!"

"Well, after that whole incident with me accidentally ruining the Fenton's table, I realized that the baby's powers were linked to my emotions somewhat," she explained as she cautiously began to head down the stairs. "I've spent the last week trying to figure out how to tap into them again, but instead of a ghost ray, I wanted to use the power of intangibility."

"That's amazing," Artemis answered breathily, clearly awed by the connection between mother and child, "Meia will want to know about this."

"Just let me fill Danny in on it before you tell her," Sam answered in a whisper, though she was unsure as to why she suddenly felt the need to speak softly, "I don't want him thinking that he's the last to know, its bad enough that I have to keep half the stuff that you, the spirits, and even his grandmother tell me a secret."

"You have my word," Artemis answered.

A few more minutes passed, as the pair slowly made their way down the steps finally reaching a doorway, with a door laying snapped off its hinges in a room bathed completely in an eerie green glow.

"You don't have to come in if you don't want to," Sam told Artemis seeing the expression that he now wore on his broad feline face.

"I have to," he answered, his voice sounding weaker than she could ever remember hearing it, "I have spent the last 100 years to afraid to visit her tomb, and now that I'm actually here, I have to see her."

Sam nodded and entered the room, Artemis close behind. Sam blinked at the scene in front of her, her mind trying vainly to process what she was seeing. It was anything but what she had expected. She had figured that she would find a skeleton, the remnants of clothing hanging over bare bone, as the pendant pulsed bright green sustaining the shield surrounding it. But instead she saw the body of a young redheaded, who looked to have died only minutes before their arrival, the blood on her neck from where she had been slashed with a dagger was even still wet.

Sam's entire body began to quake as she looked at the girl's pale face, the green glow from the pendant giving her porcelain complexion an ethereal quality that Sam found frightening to say the least, and she was faintly aware of Artemis releasing a painful howl from beside her.

This was not what she expected to find at all.

Shaking herself to snap the haze that had settled upon her, she took a tentative step forward. She had seen first hand just how powerful the shields created by the pendant could be, as she tried vainly to ignore the shifting feeling of ashes under her boot clad feet. Ashes that had been attempted tomb robbers at one point or another, and judging by the sheer quantity of the remnant dust she knew this not to be the tomb of a solitary human girl, but in fact it was also the tomb of dozens of spirits and ghosts who had sought the pendant for their own purposes.

"I don't know what to do," Sam admitted to Artemis who was now mewling pathetically, these much quieter than that first heart wrenching howl.

Artemis looked up at her slowly, his blue eyes cloudy as he began to speak, "The day it happened, I beat on that shield for hours trying to get to her, and it never destroyed me. But all these tomb robbers who were simply here for the pendant were destroyed by it." he paused, his entire body seeming to grow weaker with each word he spoke, "If you approach the shield without your sole objective being the pendant then you might be able to break through. But I don't think that this is worth risking your life, or the life of your child."

Sam looked at Artemis, and then back at the shield. Protecting her child meant more to her than anything, but so long as this pendant was out here, there was a chance that Plasmius could get it. And that was more dangerous to her baby than anything else. Taking another step forward, she placed her hand on the shield, expecting the worst, but her hand passed right through as though nothing were separating her from the redhead laying against the wall. Small hairline cracks began to form on the shield, extending out from where her arm was through the shield to her wrist. Sam inhaled sharply, as she watched the shield break apart, the pieces crashing to the ground like broken glass, only to evaporate into a green mist and then dissipate all together.

Amethyst eyes drifted slowly to the figure against the wall, she had no idea what to expect now after the series of bizarre events that had thus far made up her night. The last bit of a glow faded from the pendant around the figures neck, as the body began to disintegrate.

One hundred years of decomposition happening in the blink of an eye.

The sound of Artemis collapsing to the ground behind her brought a choked sob to her throat. She had not known this girl, but Artemis had, and he had loved her with everything he had, and that was something that she could relate to. For a terrifying moment, she could almost imagine that it was Danny's body decaying before her and she nearly broke. Falling slowly to her knees, she leaned over the pile of dust that used to be the woman who Artemis loved. Tears streamed down her face, falling into the pile before her. She knew that if this had happened to Danny she would die, there were no two ways about it, and she could only imagine the pain that Artemis felt because he couldn't follow Gwen into the afterlife.

There was no way that the spirits would allow it.

She could feel the baby begin to move around again, and her silent tears began to escalate into full out sobs as her arms moved to embrace her midsection. She would do anything to protect the little one she was carrying, even if it meant her own life.

Tears continued to fall as Sam stayed in her position over the redhead's remains, but a sudden rush of cold air across her face made her pull back quickly.

From the ashes, a fine blue mist was beginning to rise, and Sam scrambled backwards into Artemis's prone form, completely forgetting the pendant still in the girl's remains. The mist slowly began to coalesce, forming a human-like figure, and gradually as it condensed more colors began to creep through the blue, staining parts and leaving others untouched. Cream and white spread across the figures body, giving color to flesh and clothes, smears of green on the face became eyes, a smug of pink forming lips, and suddenly strokes of bright red streamed from the figures head in waves becoming hair.

The figure extended a hand to Sam, clenched within its pale fingers was the pendant. Sam shakily accepted, still looking at the figure in awe. "Who are you?" she whispered despite the fact that she had a strong suspicion of the figures identity.

A smile spread across the figures lips, "When I was still alive, I was known as Gwen." Artemis's head shot up as he locked eyes with the figure, his lion mouth hanging open in shock. Gwen smiled warmly at him. "We will talk later my love," she addressed him, "But right now I must explain a few things." She paused, her gaze shifting to Sam, "Your emotions, your desire to protect you unborn child, and the sheer immensity of your determination gave me form once again," tears began to sting the corners of her eyes, "Because of you, I was given this form. Because of your passionate desire to protect those you love despite what may happen to you, I was able to become the embodiment of that emotion. Because of you, I am now the Spirit of Selfless Love, and for that I am forever in your debt."

"You don't owe me anything," Sam replied, as she put the second pendant around her neck, "I'm just glad that I could help you."

"I owe you more than you can ever imagine," Gwen smiled, "And I will repay that debt if it takes a thousand generations of your family line to do so."

"Thank you," Sam whispered.

"You are more than welcome," Gwen replied. She suddenly jerked her head to one side as if listening to something far off, but then turned back to Sam and Artemis, "I must leave you now, Meia is calling me, but I shall see you both later I guarantee it." And with that said, she dissolved back into a blue mist, and disappeared from sight.

Neither Sam nor Artemis spoke as they got to their feet and left the tower, Sam once again phasing through the door. Both were too much in shock to say much of anything, or to even realize that they were being watched.

The sudden discharge of an ectoblaster echoed off the buildings around them, as Artemis hit the ground unconscious, a smoking wound on his side. Sam spun around quickly and came face to face with Darius who was holding a fully charged ectoblaster pointed at her stomach.

He sneered maliciously at her, "That pendant may protect you from ghosts, but spirits are much more powerful, and immensely difficult to destroy." His sneer became a smirk, "And I specially calibrated this ectoblaster for the sole purpose of piercing that lovely little shield that the pendant can put up."

"You're lying," Sam choked her eyes wide with terror. She peered at Artemis out of the corner of her eye, and saw that he was still laying motionless where he fell.

"Maybe I am, but then again, maybe I'm not," he chuckled, then noticed her glancing at Artemis, "Oh, don't worry. The big dumb cat isn't dead yet."

"You bastard," Sam snarled at him.

"That's not the brightest thing to say to the person that holds your life in his hands," and then without a second thought, he pulled the trigger.

ZZZ

A/N: OMG! I so didn't intend this to be a cliffhanger because I probably am not going to be able to update for about two weeks because of a big Political Science paper that I have to write, but it all fit to perfect for me to change it up. So I'll try and get working on it as soon as I can, but that paper is 40 percent of my final grade so it regrettably has to be my top priority.

After this chapter there's only 8 left! It's kind of sad actually.

You guys are so awesome, and your reviews keep me writing.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss