Shadow Ghost the Night Child
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, just my OCs.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Normal POV
Ghost Master, Shadow Ghost and their Familiars were already in the cave in the mission room where Red Tornado and Batman were waiting for them.
"Batman?" Laila asked confused as she sensed him. Her Familiar then talked to her in his bat language. "Red Tornado?"
The two mentioned Leaguers then looked at the young girl and saw the bandages that now adorned around her eyes.
"I suspect that this Witch Doctor has treated her." Batman observed as he and Tornado came closer to her.
"What was the Witch Doctor's analysis?" Red Tornado asked Ghost Master.
"He said that with the treatment that he gave Laila, she shall be able to see once again, it might take for a while though. He estimated five days to two weeks." Ghost Master informed.
"What treatment?" The cape crusader asked and from there Ghost Master explained what the Doctor had told him what to do for the young female's treatment.
"How do you know that this will work?" Red Tornado asked. Ghost Master and Psyche looked at him almost as he said something offensive. "I mean, I have never heard of a person cured from such a state of blindness so easily and effectively with what I suppose are herbs in the jar he gave you."
"The Witch Doctor can be very greedy, but one thing that he knows is not to lie to us, especially me. He knows what I am capable of when I am beyond furious." Ghost Master said coolly. "Red Tornado, I know you have been acquainted with people with magic and this jar-" He then showed the unknown liquid fill jar to him and Batman. "-has no ordinary ingredients. It has mixture of plants, animal parts and magic."
"What kind of magic does he practice?" Batman asked.
"His magic is different than what you know." Laila said from her place next to Ghost Master.
"How different?" Red Tornado asked.
"He does what you may know as voodoo, true voodoo, but he also does some different magic that only people trained professionally should do." Laila answered and she hugged herself.
"What do you mean?" Batman asked now curious.
"He collects objects that have a person's essence, mainly rocks or more specific quartz. Quartz is the most preferable object." Laila said absently.
"How does that involved with his magic?" Red Tornado asked.
"He has the ability to transfer the essence and/or emotion that object holds to other people and he can control when it can be manifest."
"For example…" Psyche said from her place on her master's shoulders. "An object, let's said a doll, had an emotional tie to the owner, for example that emotion could be sadness. The Doctor can use that sadness that is inside that doll and transfer it to whatever person he desires. With the sadness now in that being the Doctor can control when that person can feel sad. He can make the person sad at the worst of moments which can lead that person's life in ruins."
"Basically what he does is almost like a punishment to the victim." Batman concluded.
"It can be considered that way." Laila said. "That can also be revenge. The Doctor can transfer the 'control' to his clients and the clients can reveal that they are the ones who are doing the manipulation. That client can do extortion to his victim or it could help the client or the person the emotion is being manipulated on."
"How can that help?" Batman asked with narrowed eyes.
"He can do all emotions, including the positive ones such as love and happiness. The client can asked that the Doctor have some object that has only happy essence and let it be transferred to the person that client asks for. The person the client has asked could be a person who is has depression and now that the Doctor could transfer that happiness to them, that person's depression can be cured." Laila said in a wise tone.
"Can he transfer emotions to the people just by thinking about them?" Batman interrogated.
"No, he first must need a present picture, a personal belonging and hair sample for his magic to work." Ghost Master answered.
Batman nodded in response and he then moved his cape so it can reveal the object that he was hiding under them. It was a folding white cane with a red tip- the symbol for blind people. He holds Laila's hand and gives it to her.
"What is this?" Laila asked. Her Familiar then talked to her. "Is this a folding cane?" She asked.
"Yes. Now with you currently blind, I thought that you would want to still be independent. With this I hope that you can still be to some extent." Batman answered.
"Thank you, Batman. That is very thoughtful of you." Laila said in a grateful tone. "It will be much easier now when I go to school tomorrow."
"I don't think it is wise that you go to school tomorrow." Red Tornado said.
"Why not? My hands and ears still work as well as my legs." Laila replied.
"I think it is best that you stay in the cave until your blindness has cured." Batman said as he walked away.
"But it won't happen till a while. I can't miss that much of school. I am struggling with some classes because of my last absences and I don't want that to continue." Laila said.
"Batman, what if you can make an excuse for the school that Laila can be absent for two days? That will be enough time for her to get use to white cane and be able to use it properly and go to school for the rest of that week." Ghost Master suggested.
"Very well, though I am warning you that Laila's schedule might change." Batman relented. "However if I see that you, Laila-" He said as he faced the girl and she could only face his direction sensing his stare on her. "-haven't yet learned how to use it, then you won't be able to go. Understand?" Batman said his ever serious voice.
"Of course, Batman. You don't need to worry about me. I can adapt quickly." Laila replied as she reassures him sensing his unease for her. "If you don't mind, we need to retire to bed." Laila announced for her and Rontu as she unfolded her white cane and started using it, a bit clumsy at first but then better each second later. The raven then told her master through their mind link that she will be with her for the next following days. Ghost Master approved of her decision and Psyche went flying towards the blind girl.
When the blind girl and the two flying animals were out of reach Ghost Master then faced Batman. "I know that you have been trying to investigate on the Witch Doctor before I arrived back here." Ghost Master said seriously. "You know you could have asked me." He then said in a lighter tone, which was almost mockingly.
"There are many Witch Doctor's, but now that I have heard about his 'power' there is none that fit in the category in which I have in my files." Batman stated as he narrowed his eyes at Ghost Master.
"The Witch Doctor has no place in the internet in where you find some of your information. He is more of a tale for people. The locals know of him, but they like to stay away from him. Not many people believe in his works, and frankly I believe it is best that the public believes it so.
"You see, Batman, I suggest that you should stop on investigating him. The Witch Doctor will only lead to more unanswered questions and less trouble for your life. And if anything does really bother you about him, you can ask me. I have no problem in answering a question as long as I can answer it.
"I will be here early tomorrow, to put on Laila's medicine. Good night." With that Ghost Master Shadow Traveled out of Mount Justice to his cave in Mexico.
The next morning after the resident aliens went to school in silence, Laila woke up with three animals accompanying her to the kitchen. Last night she was practicing in memorizing her bedroom by heart and to literally have to find her things blindfolded without a sweat.
For breakfast, she served herself cereal. She levitated the objects by the descriptions that Psyche told her vocally so that Laila would have no problem in visioning in her mind where the objects were located.
Just after finished her breakfast and giving food to her current companions, Ghost Master appeared.
"Laila, go take a shower, but make should that you don't open your eyes." He ordered. The young girl only nodded and using her white cane she went back to her room and followed his orders.
When she finished showering, dressing, and combing her hair which was in a high ponytail, she let Ghost Master in her room.
He did what the Witch Doctor had done for the treatment. "I will come back later. An hour or more after sunset." He said after adjusting the bandages in her head.
"Very well. I will be waiting for you in the living room." Laila responded and with that Ghost Master Shadow Traveled out of her room.
Laila once again stood up and used her white cane guiding her out and into the hallway to the kitchen/living room with the bat, raven and mutated wolf following behind.
Red Tornado came out of his room and was watching the young girl practicing using the new device that Batman had gifted her last night.
"Laila."
"Yes, Red Tornado?" Laila asked as she stopped in her tracks and face where she heard his robotic voice sounded from.
"I have researched information on the proper ways to use a folding white cane and I was wondering if you would allow me to show you?" The android asks and he walked closer to her and stops a few feet away from her.
"I would be very happy if you taught me and it would be very useful for me. Thank you." Laila responded with a small smile. Throughout the day the red android taught what he knew to the young apprentice, with the occasional breaks.
They did not notice when the alien residents came back from school, until Conner briefly told Laila that her homework is in her living room without looking at her, not that she could see that, but more like sense.
That was the last of their session and Laila went back to the living room where her homework was in the coffee table in front of the couch.
Psyche had to read her what the papers said, but she could not read an equation that in her algebra homework was full of. Laila decided that it would be best to start the ones that Psyche could read and Laila would try to write the answers into a different sheet of paper. Psyche would alert her when her writing was going out of the lines.
Throughout this progress Rontu had snuggled to Wolf's side and both were taking a nap on the other side of the couch.
After that, they had trouble with the math homework but it was solved when Red Tornado offered to help.
When she was finished with her homework she once again started to practice and by sunset she had learn how to properly use the white cane to its full uses.
The young girl went back to the living room and sat on the couch and got the book To Kill a Mockingbird and asked Psyche to read it out loud for her to hear so that she wasn't also behind in her reading for that class. The raven agreed and started reading.
A half-hour later, Ghost Master appeared and once again did the treatment and left.
Laila bored out of her mind started walked around the cave with the three animals and now Sphere following her to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. An hour later she sensed the Batman in the cave and walked towards his direction.
He was in the mission room and he had a device in his hands.
"Batman? I thought you were coming back tomorrow night." Laila stated as she appeared in the room and stopped in front of him.
"I brought you something that might also help. This-" Batman said as he gave a Walkman cassette tape recorder with earphones and cassette installed. "-is a Walkman. When you go back to school on Wednesday, you can record your lessons and rewind them and write down notes on a paper so you can review it later once you get back your vision." Batman explained.
"That is useful." Laila said as she gently explored the device with her hands carefully. "Thank you, Batman. Once I am cured I shall return the cane and the Walkman to you."
"You don't need to. You can keep them. This is a gift and you can choose to do whatever you want with them."
"…Thank you. This is all I can say for now. You have been very generous to me. Why?" Laila asked innocently.
There was a brief silence. "To tell the truth... I rather not tell." Batman answered. The cape crusader really didn't have any clear idea why he decided to start giving gifts to the young girl. He felt a bit guilty about the incident since it was his idea of the psychic training exercise, but even more guilty when that cause of that made the youngest of the team become blind. It could also be the fact that Batman knew that Ghost Master wasn't exactly the richest man and giving Laila such items would be out of his reach, so he decided that he would be the one to give them to her since he is after all Bruce Wayne, a billionaire, and these items did not affect his economic status in the slightest.
Then of course was that reason. After all this years, Batman couldn't get over the fact that a much younger Laila had saved his life. He felt like he was in some invisible debt to her. Hardly anybody could say that they have saved Batman from Death's clutches. No one, that wasn't the Ghosts and their Familiars, knew of that incident. He would have thought that Ghost Master would bug him and tell him that his apprentice saved his life, but realized that he didn't and didn't bother mention that incident out loud to him or anyone else, like if it never happened. Batman had come to respect Ghost Master of his humbleness, but was annoyed at the tricks he would do to try to confuse him into thinking he was a different Leaguer. And he was more annoyed that Ghost Master was the only Leaguer that he could not locate his real headquarters in Mexico. Batman knew where every Leaguer lives, except for Ghost Master. That frustrated him to no end. Though he had to respect that Ghost Master figured out about the tracking device in his communicator and the tracker he put in his trench coat and the truth serum in his drink he gave to him in the Watchtower before Batman could get the information. Batman was impressed on that aspect on him, but still hated him for that since he couldn't use them against him successfully like the other Leaguers.
"I will be going. Thank you once again, Batman." Laila said softly and that brought him out of his thoughts.
"Very well, good night." Batman replied as he went back to the Zeta-tubes and transported back to the Batcave so he could start his night patrol on Gotham with Robin on his side.
The next day went out just like yesterday in Laila's opinion. Rontu, Psyche, Wolf and Sphere accompanying her throughout the cave while using the white cane with great expertise. When Ghost Master came in the morning, she showered and prepared herself and he put the treatment on her and left. More practice. She did her homework when Conner and M'gann came back from school. Psyche reading her the homework that was not math while Red Tornado did that for her when he came by. Psyche read out loud and Laila practiced using the Walkman and knowing where each button was without having to use vision just her sense of touch. Ghost Master appeared once again and he told her that he will come by earlier so that he can put the treatment before she goes to school. An hour later, Batman came and looked at Laila and saw that she can use her white cane expertly as well for the Walkman. Batman confirms that she can go to school, but she had to go to the office to pick up her modified schedule. She nodded silently and Batman left.
Throughout the day, Laila had felt a little empty and the sounds of her friends that lived in the cave were no longer heard. She couldn't feel that Kaldur was in the cave so she suspected that he went back to Atlantis from the day of the incident. She sensed M'gann come to the kitchen but she didn't hear her usual humming or sound coming out of the radio. The female Martian didn't even greet the blind girl or try to make her presence known. The young girl could still feel the guilt running through her aura when she senses the alien's eyes on her person.
But what hurt Laila most of all was that Conner, the person she had considered her brother, didn't talked to her at all since the incident, except for informing her of the home, but those words were empty and broken, he wasn't really talking to her. Actually, none of her teammates had talked to her. She had missed hearing his voice and when she sensed him coming to her, he stopped and then went away from her. She tried to ignore the small pain in her heart every time he did that in favor to the attention the three animals and one sphere-shape alien technology and occasional android that they gave her. She had to be happy with what she had and she was, but she wanted to be selfish and have Conner to at really talk to her. One sentence and she would be delighted and that all she would ask.
Meanwhile, different thoughts and emotions entered the clone's mind. He was still in a state of shock of what happened that weekend. He still could think and react but he felt numb on the inside. When Laila 'died', his world seemed to end. He had not felt such helplessness and despair all at once. When he woke and realized that it was all fake, his pain lessen, but soon returned. When Conner saw that Laila was blind, he just couldn't face her. He was worried and scared for her. The girl who he thought as his sister was now blind. He felt a deep heaviness in his chest every time he saw her with the bandages now covering her eyes, reminding him what they look like now. He felt pressure in his eyes when she saw her reach out for her papers and try to write on them and saw that she would get out of the line until Psyche had told her about it. He really wanted to help her, but he couldn't, fearing that he would break down in front of her. He didn't want Laila to hear him cry. He needed time to compose himself so that he could be strong enough for her so she can feel reassured by his presence, and not the way around. Conner thought that Laila needed a person who was calm and collected, and Conner thought that he wasn't that person.
How wrong was the half-Kryptonian. If he only knew how much the young apprentice need his company, without caring his state of emotion. Things could have gone better the next day in school.
AN: I feel very sad that there was no reviews from last update. :'(
I really expect some in this.
Remember that your reviews is what keeps me encouraged during my break.
-MSM
PS: I thank that one person who favorite this story. You know who you are.