So, where is Gwen Tennyson? After all, how can the story continue without its villain? But is she really the villain in all of this, or is she just a pawn? Time for you to find out…
Chapter 8 - The Secret Ally's Offer
Assembled at the Tennyson household, as they ate and drank the snacks Sandra had set out for them, all the members of the search parties decided to compile into a digital map of Bellwood the areas they had looked through together to determine if there were any places left in town they had not yet checked. Julie immediately provided the details of her and Ship's scouring of the forests. Manny supplied his search of the train yards. Helen, her speedy but thorough journey through empty schools and other public buildings. Alan, his airborne sweep of building roofs that could not be seen easily from ground level. Max, his touring of all known teen hangouts available at night. Kevin and Kai, their run through the streets. Frank and Natalie, their visits and phone calls to all of Gwen's friends.
It seemed as though the whole of Bellwood had been searched, leading to alternate ideas being suggested from around the room. Carl put up the notion that Gwen could be hiding underground. Julie pointed out that Gwen may be merely taking someone's guise in order to avoid detection. Kevin agreed with Julie, recalling with a shiver how Gwen had taken on her appearance when she took him prisoner. Kai amended Julie's point, stating that Gwen could be taking on any of theirs and was actually in the room with them. After using his magic to scan everyone, Hex claimed that theory to be disproven. Manny objected the claim, arguing that since Hex and Gwen both use magic, Gwen could be using his form as a disguise and noone would know the difference. Hope coughed, gaining his attention, and raised an eyebrow. Manny blinked a few times, before finally taking the hint that she would. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's actions, Helen surveyed the map and began to point out sections that had not been covered by the search parties, explaining that they would have been difficult for any one of them to look through without being sighted by a security force or them having to break something just to get in. Max jotted down each location in memory; the factory district, emergency services buildings, military installations, science and technology development companies, banks and government-run buildings.
In the midst of this, Ben voiced an idea that made everyone stop and think. Gwen knew all about Plumber procedures and protocols; she had endeavoured to ready any informative material regarding the organisation after the night Magister Gilhil officially inducted her, Ben and Kevin into the service. She would know that any search party looking for her would investigate the entirety of Bellwood first before devoting the resources required to expand the search outside of the town. She might not be in Bellwood anymore.
Ben's idea got to Max. All the elderly Plumber's instincts were telling him the opposite, that Gwen was remaining close by in order to keep watch on Ben, which meant she'd never go far from Bellwood. But Ben's point, he found, was a good one; all the search had been co-ordinated within the town limits. For all he knew, Gwen was hiding just outside those limits, out of their current range. Max grimaced, making a special addition to his mental list to send Alan and Helen to search a thirty-mile radius outside of town.
He then gave everyone the command to get some sleep until daybreak, when the search for Gwen would be resumed.
:*:
As luck or maybe the fact he knew Gwen so well would have it, Ben's guess was right on the money but he was not the only one to come close to Gwen's hiding place. Julie and Ship, through their check of the forests, had very nearly crossed their quarry's path and would have had Gwen not seen them first.
On an outcrop of rocks, eight hundred metres beyond the town line, the young sorceress was sitting, crosslegged, deep in meditation, pondering on her next course of action, when she sensed two beings about to exit through the forest edge. Seeing with her physical eyes that it was Julie and Ship, Gwen summoned up a bubble of mana energy around her and turned it and her invisible to shield her from view. She kept a steady eye on the two as they traversed along the boundary, knowing that they were obviously seeking to recapture her, and readied herself for a possible fight in case her spell was not enough to fool Ship's sensors.
It was soon clear that the spell was indeed enough, as Ship continued on past the outcrop without looking once in Gwen's direction, leading Julie onward. Gwen breathed again when they were out of sight but she elected to keep the shield up. She had no idea how far a distance Ship could scan for lifeforms.
Gwen thought about all that she had to put up with. First, Ben had to go be an idiot and fall for Charmcaster's manipulations. Then Carl and Sandra went along with the relationship, foolishly believing that Charmcaster's show of emotions for Ben was for real, all for the sake of Ben's happiness rather than thinking about his safety. And then following that, Kevin, Julie and Kai betraying her and undermining her plans to reveal Charmcaster's deceit and save Ben, her being captured and restrained, her own parents failing to defend her, and Grandpa Max threatening to turn her into the Plumbers.
All of which had forced her to come to this; her running from her family, friends and allies to keep herself free so she could defeat Charmcaster and whatever it was she was plotting. But Gwen knew she could not hide in this way forever. Maintaining a mana shield for a prolonged period of time called for a very strong tolling on her magic, magic she wanted to keep at a high level in preparation for any defence she would make to resist her hunters, and for any actions she would take for Ben to finally accept reality.
Another complication she faced by remaining in hiding was how short a time she had left to act. The Plumbers, she reasoned, would have scoured through most, if not all of Bellwood by now, if Julie and Ship's appearance was any indication. To her, that meant the Plumbers would begin to search outside of the town, forcing her to retreat farther away until the inevitable point that they catch up with her.
Or, she thought darkly, Grandpa Max would enlist Grandma Verdona's aid in tracking her down, in which case all bets would be off as she needed all of her magic to combat someone as adept in the art as her grandmother was. Which, of course, would leave her open to attack from anyone else.
Gwen shook her head furiously, wondering in frustration why her life was changing so bitterly when she noticed something different in her surroundings. Julie and Ship had moved on; the two were out of sight, their life signatures dimming in resonance the further they walked away from the outcrop. But, to Gwen's unease, there was a third being nearby, coming toward her from behind. It was a life signature she was familiar with, but one that made her uncomfortable with how strange it always felt to her. Like it was sharp, lifeless, and cold. Yet, despite these misgivings, Gwen knew she could trust the being.
As long as he continued to uphold their temporary truce, that is.
For this was the being that had informed her Charmcaster was seeking a romantic relationship with Ben the day before Ben had even told he'd already been dating Charmcaster. Gwen had memorably laughed off the idea, finding it ridiculous that Ben would even fall for one word of the sorceress' lies, only for her to discover the informant had told her the truth.
All too vividly, she recalled the second time the informant approached her. She had been on her way to Kevin's garage after Ben had dropped the massive bombshell on her. Storming along the sidewalk, she heard the informant calling to her from a shadowed alleyway. Guessing he was there to cruelly rub the revelation in her face, she came to the opening of the alley to meet him.
What he said next surprised her.
He apologised for her emotional hurt.
Startled by the sincerity she found in his words, Gwen asked the being why he had imparted the information with her. His answer was, for reasons that were his own, a romantic relationship between Ben and Charmcaster, in any form, was something that gave him great concern. Gwen listened as he spoke more, accepting his suspicions that Charmcaster must have put a spell on Ben or was manipulating his feelings and she gradually took them as if they were her own. There had to be no other reason how something like this could have happened; despite her intense rivalry with the slightly older girl, Ben had always trusted Charmcaster far less than she had. So, if the being was right, then she had to save Ben, but for once she had no idea how.
The being offered her a suggestion. It was likely that Ben's parents did not know about Charmcaster's past and would react very strongly if informed about it. Gwen thought she had an edge there, but her mood was soured when she phoned Sandra and was asked by her aunt to leave Ben and Charmcaster alone. Undeterred by the failure, the being proposed something a bit more elaborate; Ben had to be reminded of real love, whether it was requited or otherwise. He advised Gwen to gather any girl Ben had shown an interest in or better yet shared a relationship with in the past, and get them on her side to break through whatever spell Charmcaster had on Ben by making advances toward him.
Gwen agreed, thinking it was a sound plan, which led her to asking Julie and Kai to help her with the scheme. But when it became clear that the two girls were not as aligned with her plans as she believed, she sought her informant out again. By coming to him this time, Gwen realised they were forming some sort of tenuous alliance. They discussed how to proceed. Finally, the being spoke of a scenario to Gwen where she placed a possession spell on Kai, since Julie had already firmly established she was willing to let the relationship go unhindered. Gwen balked at the idea, knowing how invasive that kind of magic was and refused to hear any more of it.
Instead of arguing with her, the being explained his reason for putting it forward. While Kai was not as convinced about Ben and Charmcaster as Julie was, the girl was obviously not going to put in every effort of throwing herself at Ben, which would render the plan completely meaningless. Gwen considered that, allowing doubt to seep into her judgement. The being claimed to understand why she'd dare not do it; if her allies caught her in the act, they'd never trust her again. Insisting to her however that there was no other way forward as he was out of ideas, he took his leave, departing wistfully with the remark that he and Gwen should then give up and just have to live with Ben and Charmcaster being together as a couple.
:*:
Gwen groaned under her breath as her ally edged closer to her location. She had let him get to her with that remark. It had bitten deep into her psyche, latching onto her mind and preying upon the imagined thought of her having to see Charmcaster win and do whatever she liked with Ben. Just thinking about it infuriated her; she had decided then to do as the informant proposed and crafted her plan to possess Kai and capture Kevin, Ship and Julie before they could prevent her from carrying it out. It had all seemed so logical; once she obtained the proof Charmcaster was manipulating Ben all along, her loved ones would have understood her actions were necessary. But then whatever had happened to temporarily disable her magic caused everything to go wrong, leading her to be captured and labelled as an enemy and a criminal by her friends and family, and to trust only her new ally.
Simmering in anger, Gwen dropped the shield, cancelling the spell. "I'm over here," she called.
The being made a noise, hissing raspily as it approached. Gwen turned and saw him silhouetted in the darkness. The upturned elongated skull that was the figure's head was the most pronounced part of his form, its piercing pink eyes gazing at her through the shadows cast between the rocks to see if she was indeed alone. Gwen sighed, rising to her feet.
"Come on out, Ghostfreak. We need to talk."
Sneering suspiciously at her with his black mouth, the grey-skinned former denizen of the Omnitrix moved from his hiding spot and hovered out into the clear gleam of the moonlight.
"You appear alone," he mused, "but from what I understand, you were taken into custody by the Plumbers. It wouldn't be paranoia for me to think you would sell me out just to keep yourself at liberty."
Gwen accepted the accusation, nodding. "I get that, I do. But that doesn't apply here. You're the only one I can trust now."
Ghostfreak blinked. "Even with our tentative alliance," he gestured to her. "I suggest you explain."
"What you heard was right. The Plumbers did take me prisoner, after I decided to go ahead with your idea," Gwen answered.
"You - - possessed Kai Green?"
"Yes."
"Manipulated her into approaching Ben?"
"Yes."
"And throwing herself to his affection?"
"Yes. I had her kiss him."
"And…nothing happened?" Ghostfreak asked.
"Something did, but not in the way you and I wanted. Ben tried to resist it and somehow that broke my hold on Kai, as well as Kevin, Julie, Ship and Mr Yamamoto. It also robbed me of my magic for a while."
Her words did not receive the effect she had intended on Ghostfreak. Instead of looking worried that Ben had been strong enough to break Gwen's magic, the alien sorceror's expression displayed interest in what he had been told.
"Kevin? Julie? Ship? Mr Yamamoto?" he enquired curiously.
Gwen's eyes widened with horror. She had not meant to let that one slip. Slowly she tried to reply. "I, uh, I thought they would get in the way of the plan. I took them prisoner to prevent from happening."
Ghostfreak grinned eerily. "Now it becomes clear why they arrested you. You resorted to abduction and, because our plan failed, there can be no way of taking it back until we can free Ben."
"But what happened? There's only one thing that could have taken out my magic like that, but that's impossible," Gwen choked, struggling to convalesce the facts in front of him.
Ghostfreak softened the look on his face, turning his grin into a sympathetic smile. "Of course it's impossible. You know Ben better than anyone." He raised his claws up to his chin, curling them into a thinking posture. "It may be that Charmcaster was prepared for anything a skilled magic user such as yourself could do and placed traps to act against them to protect her spell."
Gwen gaped at Ghostfreak in disbelief. Why didn't she think of something like that? All the time since her capture, she had put her mind to the most basic but also impossible scenario and never once thought of another. Of course the backlash had to be a protective spell of Charmcaster's; there was no way Ben could really fall for her. How could she have, for one moment, doubted her suspicions and believed she had been wrong?
"You're right," she said. "But what can we do now? They won't let me anywhere near Ben. They'll arrest me on sight, or worse."
"Or worse," Ghostfreak agreed. He lowered his claws and he eyed Gwen with renewed interest. "You've held people prisoner and broke the Plumbers' Code. When I left you last, you weren't willing to go to such lengths. What changed?"
Gwen crossed her arms defensively and looked away from him. She had been about to lash out at him for his last words from their previous meeting and how they left a mark on her, but she held that response back on her tongue. Hitting Ghostfreak with a vicious tirade would just convince him to cut ties with her.
She instead answered, "I thought about taking your advice and just give up. But I realised I couldn't. I kept picturing Ben and Charmcaster together, and every time I did, it just felt wrong."
"Wrong? In what way?"
"Just - - just that," Gwen shrugged, failing to bring up a proper response. "It was wrong."
Unseen by her as she focused on her dilemma, Ghostfreak's eyes glinted malevolently at Gwen. Coldly analysing her feelings and sensing her sudden hesitant nature, he found there was something Gwen was keeping from him. He prodded on gently.
"Gwendolyn," he spoke her name softly. "You're sounding confused. Are you certain that there is not anything beneath how Ben being with Charmcaster makes you feel?"
"What difference would it mean if there is or isn't?" Gwen snapped at him.
"Every difference. If I am right to think there is something deeper than the relationship seeming wrong to you, then your denial of that may be holding you back from doing what you have to to save Ben."
Gwen glanced at him warily. Once again, his words rattled her. They were, on the surface, similar to what Grandpa Max had asked her before she escaped him, but there was also something in the way Ghostfreak said them that made her want to answer truthfully. She knew why; had she told Max about the mess of feelings she had been mixed in ever since Ben told her of his and Charmcaster's relationship, her grandfather would interpret it the wrong way and see fit to resolve her situation in a way that he thought was right. Ghostfreak on the other hand would not judge her in that manner, but this was a secret she had guarded closely for years, something she was not sure she was ready to divulge to someone who, until now, had purely been an enemy. She considered answering, deciding if she could confide in him without fear.
Nervousness climbing into her voice, Gwen said, "It's not something I can put into words."
Staring at her impassively, Ghostfreak regarded her statement. Then, after a few moments, he raised his claws. Gwen watched as mana sputtered from the sharpened tips until a small circlet of pale energy appeared. Ghostfreak turned his eyes to Gwen's. "Then don't," he said simply, flexing his claws forward. At his bidding, the circlet of energy glided over to Gwen, stopping a mere two inches away from her forehead. "Show me instead."
Gwen recognised from her spell books what he was doing. The circlet he created was an object that allowed a single person to show others what was on their mind without ever needing to speak. It was an ancient form of magic that was made expressly forbidden by the Anodite elders after the many occasions the spell was utilised to force innocent people into laying their emotions and secrets bare, often humiliating the victims in the process. It did not surprise Gwen that Ghostfreak knew of the spell.
What did was that he was observing the laws concerning it. The spell was forbidden from use, but it was not considered a crime if the person it was being used on granted the caster permission to do so. Ghostfreak was asking for her permission.
Gwen sighed. It was do or don't.
She pressed her forehead against the circlet.
Ghostfreak gazed inside the circlet as the empty space flushed with white and moving images started to appear. His curiosity rising, he spectated with rapt attention the first memory Gwen was displaying to him. There Gwen was, two years before the summer they first crossed paths. She was taking on a dare to swim across a river without adult supervision and had impressively made it halfway before she ran into trouble. The effort it took just to get her there had consumed all her physical energy and stamina, leaving her tired, exhausted and unable to move.
She started to sink. Panic set in. She screamed to her so-called friends back on the shore she needed their help. Frightened they would get into trouble for daring her, they ran away.
Unnoticed by any of them, a lone boy dove into the water, performing a freestyle built on raw strength and determination to get to Gwen. By the time the boy reached her, Gwen was flailing her arms and legs about, kicking at the surface in a terrified struggle to stay afloat. Leaning his arms underneath her, the boy rolled her around until she was on her back and he began to drag her back to the riverbank. Gwen relaxed, knowing at last someone had heard her cry for help and had come to the rescue.
Her rate of breathing had returned to normal when her saviour brought the both of them ashore. She moved to thank him but quickly found there were two problems with that. One was that the boy had slumped to the ground, catching his own breath now that he had gotten her to safety. The other problem was that Gwen had her eyes shut, no thanks to the water getting into them. She tried to force them open by blinking, a task that was difficult because her eyelids were too sore to feel like moving. On her ninth try, she nearly succeeded in opening them when a shock brought about by her rescuer speaking to her in a familiar voice finished the job.
"You okay, Gwen?"
With a bleary sight, Gwen glanced over at Ben. Her annoying, idiot, doofus of a cousin was her rescuer, she thought dumbly. Ben Tennyson, the family member who was the defined meaning of the word irritation, who often teased her and said such stupid things to boost his ego, was the one who saved her life. In a scant moment, her disbelief was pushed aside as she gave him a second, clearer look. Concern was shimmering in his eyes, concern for her wellbeing. He appeared troubled that he might not have made it in time and she was suffering from some effect the almost-drowning had on her.
Gwen blinked. He cared. Ben cared.
The memory changed. Gwen was in her bedroom, still eight years of age. Not long after the incident, Ghostfreak judged. He listened as the magic of the circlet gave him access to the younger Gwen's innermost thoughts about the rescue. She remained surprised that Ben had saved her. Ever since they were little, she thought he would have been glad to see the back of her. Instead though, he had jumped into the river, swam over to her, and pulled her back to shore, all without another thought. Neither did he lord it over her when he accompanied her home and explained everything to her astonished parents.
Gwen saw in him a maturity she believed Ben could never have. Had she been wrong? Was there really a caring human being under the personality that caused her so much embarrassment just by being in the company of it?
The following memory appeared to answer that.
At the first Tennyson family gathering to occur after Gwen's near-drowning at the river, Gwen approached Ben to thank him. Ben shrugged it off, pretending the whole thing never happened and behaved as he usually had before. The casualness of his response riled Gwen. Initially, her fury drove her to think by showing that he cared by saving her, he had humiliated himself in some way. But then, as the gathering carried on, she watched him as other members of the family talked to him about it. She was surprised again when she overheard him say he'd save her again in a heartbeat and that the rescue was not something for him to brag about.
It was after several of these moments that the truth hit Gwen. Ben wanted her to continue seeing him as her doofus cousin and not put him up on a pedestal as the hero who had saved her. Gwen eventually reconciled with that; if Ben wanted her to treat him as she had before, then she would. But there were two things that were going to change.
She was going to keep an eye on her cousin and hope that his newfound maturity remained and grew in secret until the day Ben accepted it as the aspect of his personality that defined him. The second and more personal change, which she realised only after Ben and his parents left the gathering for home and she watched him go left a constant ache in her heart, was that for some unexplainable reason, she wanted him to stay in her life, doofus or hero.
:*:
The rest of the memories Gwen showed to Ghostfreak transitioned between each other faster than the first three had. Ghostfreak understood why. They all occurred after Ben had first put on the Omnitrix, times in which he was either a denizen of that cursed watch or a physical enemy to the Tennysons, times that he thought he was aware of in every aspect imaginable.
And yet he was viewing them in a new and different light.
Gwen sporting a hidden smile as Ben adapted to being a hero.
The spark of her old feelings renewing when Ben refuted the belief that Rollington Academy would never accept Gwen as a student by telling her she was better than any of them, which she responded to with an open hug. Ben first behaved as he did at the family gathering two years prior, but as soon as Gwen was away from him, he smiled.
Gwen worrying about Ben after her cousin had run off with Kevin Levin, scaring her into thinking Ben could be on the verge of becoming a juvenile criminal.
The first time Vilgax appeared and abducted Ben. Gwen projected her fear as being frightened by the intense way her grandfather was acting, when it was really that she was living an overwhelming nightmare that she would never see Ben alive again.
A mish-mashed, haphazard collection of later confrontations with Vilgax, bringing that fear back every time.
Ben trapped in the Null Void with Vilgax and Kevin. Gwen went after him out of desperation, her mind being assailed by visions of her finding Ben dead at the hands of his two greatest nemeses.
Enoch and the Forever Knights capturing Ben and putting him in the dream machine. After saving him alongside Max, Gwen hid away her fury that Ben had been forced into such a device.
The Battle of Zenon. All the time she had been separated from Ben after one of the resident mutants swallowed her whole, Gwen was thinking Ben would just run around recklessly into every possible danger without her to hold him back. The last thing she expected, after being saved by Gluto and the two of them having fought their way back to the surface, was to see her cousin running toward her and embracing her. Gwen realised that his reaction was due to him believing he had lost her, a reversal of how she felt every time he went to combat an alien threat. Knowing that he was, for the first time in two years, shedding the façade that he didn't care about her, Gwen returned the affection.
:*:
Ghostfreak noticed from the Battle of Zenon onward, the bond between the two cousins had evolved. Their snippy remarks, insults and other forms of teasing were reduced greatly, only ever appearing as heartfelt, friendly barbs on or after the battlefield. Ben and Gwen hung out more, with Gwen learning to live with the parts of Ben's personality that she previously found disgusting to the point of unbearable. The two began to treat each other more like they were brother and sister.
Another memory that provided some interest to Ghostfreak came. A thirteen year old Gwen was hiding in her bedroom, suffering from being struck with a heavy revelation. The teenager was contemplating the depth of the relationship she shared with Ben, questioning why her eight year old self had been so strongly determined to develop it. There was the obvious fact that Ben saved her from drowning and that had changed how she saw him, but the thing that was leading her to analyse it carefully was that, even then as teenagers, she wanted Ben to be near her or within quick reach at all times. As if she couldn't go one day without seeing or calmly settling with the knowledge he was safe at home.
Like she couldn't live or function without having Ben as some sort of element of a daily routine.
Almost as if she - - -
Gwen's face fell. Was she - - - could she possibly be - - - in love with Ben?!
:*:
The circlet took Gwen and Ghostfreak to the next set of memories. They were all short but informative. Gwen tried to stay away from Ben. When that didn't work out, she maintained some distance from him whenever they met; it was effective for a while, but it soon turned out not to be enough.
She thought about getting interested in other boys. In that, she made progress. Similar to her situation with Ben, Gwen recognised that she had another long-developed crush with someone else.
Her sessions with Kevin to heal his first mutation had led her to become close with him. Once she got to know him better, she found out about his life at home as a kid, why he had taken to the streets, and how all of that had brought him to believe that he would always be weak without power or strength. Underneath that rough exterior, there was a young man who just wanted to have a happy life. It took time for Gwen to see it, but in many ways, Kevin was a lot like Ben. He pretended not to have feelings, made himself look self-centred and egotistic, put up a façade of how much of a tough guy he was, always claimed he didn't need anyone's help, and just shrugged it off when his true self shined through.
Having a crush on Kevin alarmed Gwen at first. She wasn't so sure if Ben would understand her falling for his old nemesis, but she had to discover a more important thing before getting to that stage. She had to know if her feelings for Kevin were honestly genuine and had not formed because she was looking for a way out of her predicament. So she went to visit him in the Null Void. Kevin was surprised that she had come to see him, but showed he was glad she did. Intrigued by his reaction to her presence as she walked into the visitors' room, Gwen started from there.
Things finally worked themselves out. Gwen fell in love with Kevin. She put up the courage to tell Ben about her feelings for Kevin; Ben had been uneasy, accepting that Gwen had developed some kind of bond with Kevin through her sessions healing him but he remained sceptical about it being love.
His small acceptance was all Gwen needed. Through the few years up until close to the present day, she was able to bury her crush on Ben to within reasonable standards. She still cared about him deeply, wanting to protect him as he returned to being a hero when the Highbreed and the DNAliens first showed up. And when she and Kevin began their relationship, she became invested in seeing that Ben got a similar happiness in his life.
When she learned Ben had an interest in Julie, Gwen encouraged him to pursue it. Everything she had heard from friends about the girl made her sound like the potentially perfect partner for Ben; sweet, affectionate, open and supporting, but when push came to shove, stern, sharp and willing to stand her ground. Watching the two of them progress through their relationship, Gwen felt confident she could leave them alone and focus on her love life with Kevin without a worry.
Life went on almost as easy as she expected, with the times Ben was nearly lost to her as the single reminder of the feelings she once harboured. Then, as it was wont to do, fate threw a curveball and it all went wrong. Despite how close Ben and Julie had gotten, cracks started to show in their relationship. At first, those cracks were harmless, seemingly trivial, like the once-in-a-blue-moon occasion Gwen heard or saw her parents argue. Then it turned bad when the Flamekeepers' Circle came around and Julie began believing in the group's philosophy, setting her and Ben at odds. Although they reconciled after the Diagon incident, it got worse from there.
They argued more. Julie claimed Ben didn't make enough time for her, that he preferred going hero over their relationship. Ben countered, asking her if she would like it if someone died when he could have helped them. Gwen intervened at times to mend fences; sometimes, it worked out, others it didn't.
Then came the night when it looked like the relationship was finally going to improve after all the hardship, the one obstacle that had been there from the beginning, messed it up for good. Julie's father had always disapproved of Ben but kept it under wraps when he saw how much Ben meant to his daughter. Gwen however smelled trouble, knowing the closer Ben and Julie got, the more Mr Yamamoto's feelings would rise. Unfortunately, she was proven right. On the day Ben's life as the wielder of the Omnitrix became public knowledge, Mr Yamamoto swapped out keeping quiet for being openly disdainful of Ben, something he held steadfast to up until the night when Julie planned a dinner between Ben, her father and her. Mr Yamamoto once again, criticized Ben's life choices, personality and actions. Trying to get along with him the whole evening for Julie's sake, Ben felt he was pushed past the limit. He snapped at Mr Yamamoto, accusing him of being overly judgemental and that maybe he should ask him why he made those choices instead of following the false impression the media made of him. Julie screamed at Ben for yelling at her father.
Ben and Julie broke up for the final time, leading to Ben's heart being shattered and allowing for Charmcaster to move in on him.
Gwen growled furiously as she relived the day Ben confessed to her about his and Charmcaster's relationship. This, Ghostfreak paid the greatest attention to as it was this storm of emotions that drove her to accept an alliance with him. Her inner battle was translated all before him.
Charmcaster was dangerous.
She could hurt Ben.
Manipulate him into a life of evil with false promises that she would never break his heart.
Use him in her ongoing war with Adwaita.
Take him away from his family and friends.
Take him away from - - -
From - -
"From me," the real Gwen professed quietly.
Ghostfreak turned his eyes to the girl, regarding the tears slipping down from her eyes as ones born from a sad fear of loss. He held up his clawed hand and ordered the memories to stop. The circlet obeyed, fading gradually away and downsizing until it was a pinprick of energy and it winked out of existence. Gwen's head fell, hanging low above her shoulders. Her tears cascaded down to splash on the ground, turning spots of light brown stone dark. Ghostfreak closed his eyes in sympathy and took a sharp breath. Gwen looked up, awaiting his judgement.
"I understand your dilemma," the alien began, reopening his eyes to face her. "For much of your early life, you've treated Ben in the way the children of thousands of species do; you see them as an annoyance, everything they do that you term as stupid aggravates you, you think that you would prefer a lonely childhood. Trust me, Gwen, the children that love their siblings and cousins from the day the bond between them forms are the rarity."
"But," Gwen tried to interrupt.
Ghostfreak waved his hand, indicating to her to let him go on. "But perceptions of another person can change with time, as yours did with Ben. When he saved you from the river, you grew attached to him, an attachment that, had you acted upon it, would have been deemed unhealthy by all around you."
Gwen winced. This was it. This was where she was going to be told that the crush she once had on Ben was wrong. Criminal, even. So what would her ally do once he voiced his opinion? Betray her to the Plumbers? Inform Grandpa Max, Ben, or worse Kevin of her secret? She would not let that happen. She'd attack Ghostfreak could do either, but where would that leave her? She'd lose the one person she could trust to keep her out of the Plumbers' custody.
Realising she was caught between two opposing faces, she concluded there was only one thing she could do: wait and fully hear what Ghostfreak had to say.
Ghostfreak continued, "For that is what you are afraid of. What your loved ones will think of you when they know you feel something they consider immoral. They will keep you and Ben apart, perhaps for good. So you keep it a secret."
Here it comes, Gwen thought, sensing he was about to deliver his verdict.
"When it is, in fact, completely normal."
Normal?!
Gwen blinked in confusion, exclaiming, "What? No it isn't."
"It is normal for the young age you were back then," Ghostfreak amended. "Children have little idea how expressive or varied love can be. What you thought was love then, I believe you'll find now is simply familial adoration. It is an easy mistake to make; for a child usually responds to those feelings in one of two ways. First, by teasing or bullying, or second, interpreting the feelings as a form of romantic love."
"But he's my cousin."
"The first crush of a child, depending on how young you are, is usually on a relative. One could fall under the impression they have feelings for parental figures, older siblings, cousins. Some may even think they've fallen for a friend of theirs or of their elder siblings, only to find in later years what they felt was admiration."
Ghostfreak leaned in closer to Gwen, his pink eyes boring into hers. "The question is, Gwen, are your feelings for Ben the same as they were when you were a child?"
Gwen had her answer immediately. Taking a step back from him, she shook her head in defiance of the question he imposed. "No," she said with finality. "I'm not in love with him, not anymore. Kevin's the one I want like that."
"I know," Ghostfreak nodded slowly. "I saw that in your memories. You recognised similarities to Ben in Kevin and gambled you could gain happiness from a relationship with him, a gamble that paid off and allowed your mind and heart to mature."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I don't care for Ben," Gwen reiterated. "He's not just my cousin. He's like a brother and he's my best friend. And I can't stand seeing him hurt or in danger."
"Because after the river, he's become such an integral part of your life, you just cannot imagine your life without him and that terrifies you."
Gwen stiffened. Her arms fell to her sides as she figured out what was going on. Ghostfreak understood. He had seen right into her heart and interpreted correctly her true reason for wanting to protect Ben from Charmcaster. She still loved Ben, not in the romantic way she once thought she had, but a love that was deep enough to selfishly want him to stay close to her. The crush of her eight year old self was just the foundation of a newer, better relationship that had grown over the years until she and Ben were the closest of friends and the perfect team. With Julie or Kai, Ben would be happy and safe and near her or within reach of her at all times where she could breathe in relief, knowing that he was okay.
But Charmcaster?
There was only danger there. Sure, there were times when her rival did look ready to turn over a new leaf, times that Gwen would gladly have helped, but this was Ben she was talking about. Her beloved cousin. One of the few people in her life she could never afford to lose. There was too much risk in letting Charmcaster continue her plans any longer. She would not allow Charmcaster to use Ben.
She stared Ghostfreak, fires of resolution burning steadily in her eyes. The alien grinned. "Good," he spoke. "You have acknowledged your feelings for what they are and accepted them."
"So now what? Do I admit them to everyone else as well?" Gwen asked.
"If you feel you need to. What matters is that you admitted it to yourself."
Gwen raised her eyebrows. "And what about you, Ghostfreak?"
"Me?"
"Yes. What are your real reasons for partnering with me in this venture? After all, I'm the one sacrificing everything to see this through and I've also confided to you my deepest secret, yet all you seem to do is give me ideas."
Ghostfreak glared at her in reply, his eyes narrowing to slits. His black lips curved to the shape of a frown, opening slightly again to issue a hiss between his disjointed teeth. For a time, Gwen thought he was not going to answer until he closed his eyes fully and bowed his head in consideration, readopting his thinking posture.
"Well, I suppose you've earned the right to know that at least," he said, lowering his arm and raising his head to face her again. "I did not lie to you when I said that a relationship between Ben and Charmcaster was causing me concern. You see, I've been keeping an eye on Charmcaster for some time. Ever since she took rule of Ledgerdomain back from Adwaita, she has been growing in power and gained respect and love from her people. I fear one day she may use all that to wage war and conquer other dimensions."
"Including yours?"
"Especially mine. Inside my castle is the richest hoard of magical artifacts in all the universe. It would make Hex's own collection look like a tiny Earth museum. If Charmcaster were to get her hands on it, no lifeform would be safe. She would have more power than the entire Anodite race combined."
"Really?" Gwen remarked sarcastically. "If you had that much power, then why haven't you used it?"
Ghostfreak scowled. "I'm more of a collector than a conqueror."
"Hm. Vilgax's people would say otherwise."
Fighting off an urge to grin at her audacity, Ghostfreak replied, "Touché. But when have I done anything like that since? It failed, and so I lost interest. The same thing happened with my trying to obtain the Omnitrix, though admittedly it took many times for me to draw that conclusion. I'm a realist, Gwendolyn, so all I want to do is protect what I have from a future threat."
Gwen inhaled sharply. "You're scared that if Ben and Charmcaster join forces, you won't stand a chance."
"Yes. That is why I want this false romance to end," Ghostfreak nodded, quieting to a whisper. "And I believe I know what Charmcaster may be using to power her spell."
Gwen's eyes glowed with enthused interest as she blurted out, "What?"
"Charmcaster has a special totem. She carries it at all times."
"I think I know what you mean. She wears it around her neck. It looks like one of the Charms of Bezel."
"The Alpha Rune. The primary symbol of royalty in Ledgerdomain. Only the person on the throne may wield it. It is said to magnify the abilities of its master and exerts total control of the slave stone creatures. It could be how she holds Ben to her will."
"So what do we do? Destroy it?"
Ghostfreak chuckled. "No, that is hardly necessary. The Alpha Rune is not a loyal object. Once removed from its master's person and worn by another, all spells made by the former are negated."
"So all we need is to take it from her - - -
"And for me to master it and lock it away in my vaults."
Gwen's rising excitement lessened suddenly as a dark suspicion spurted within her. "Why you? What's to stop you from using it?"
"Unless I am born of Ledgerdomain, it will not answer to my commands. By the ancient law of the realm, only a denizen of Ledgerdomain can use the Alpha Rune and rule. It will be nothing but a trinket to me," Ghostfreak explained.
"But without it," Gwen thought aloud. "Charmcaster would be unable to govern her people. She'll lose everything. I'll get Ben back. And as long as you have the Alpha Rune, neither she or Adwaita will be a threat to anyone."
"Then you understand," Ghostfreak smiled. "That means we have time."
"Time? For what?"
"My spies tell me that Charmcaster arrived in Bellwood earlier this evening," Ghostfreak answered. "While you have been on the run from your friends, she has been at Ben's house. Visiting."
Rage took ahold of Gwen. She stepped away from Ghostfreak, making sure he was clear from any outward reaction her blazing fury was going to cause. Charmcaster was back. Back and getting her claws into Ben, ready to take him at a moment's notice. Ghostfreak looked on gleefully, his eyes soaking in the sight of Gwen's runaway emotions boiling over. He guessed what was going on in her head; her mind was being assaulted by images of whatever Charmcaster could be doing to Ben, stealing his senses and luring him in with her seductive wiles. He saw Gwen begin to think, to plan.
She had to stop Charmcaster now, but how would she be able to with a handful of Plumbers to bypass, one of which was her boyfriend. Her anger started to silence the more she focused on planning. Ghostfreak sensed her searching for options. Well, he had one for her. What was that Earth saying, strike while the iron was hot?
"You're thinking of ways to get to her, but you can't find a good idea, can you?"
Gwen directed her feverish, sweaty brow to him. Why not, she thought. She had taken his ideas before. "Why? Do you have something?"
"An offer," Ghostfreak replied simply. He hovered back a metre, widening the space between him and Gwen. Weaving his hand across his chest in a practiced motion, he called out the words to a spell as he twisted his claws up to the sky.
As if it had come from the heavens, a cylinder of opaque, glimmering mana energy slid down from the stars, barrelling quietly towards them until it came to land, gently, and occupied the empty space. Gwen gaped in awe, gazing up from where it stood on the ground all the way up into the air until it was stretched out of her sight. She had never seen anything like it before, not in any of her books, research or experience.
"What is this?" she asked Ghostfreak as she took in the wonder towering above them.
Ghostfreak answered, "This, Gwen, is the Halo of Eternal Promise. For aeons, magical beings have used the Halo to broker deals and alliances. With it, any promise that you make is spoken to and bound by all forms of magical law, for if you break that promise, the Halo will know and dissolve it." He turned his eyes completely on Gwen. "That is why I have called upon it. For what I ask of you, I know you'll need to trust me implicitly. It is my means of showing you you can give me that trust."
Gwen walked closer to the Halo, reluctance forming with every step as she recognised how serious Ghostfreak was being. She halted by her side of the cylinder, staring at him through the two layers of energy. "And what do you want to ask me?"
Ghostfreak extended one arm forward, slipping his claws in harmlessly through the mana as he opened his hand in invitation. His eyes still remaining on Gwen, he offered his deal. "Allow me passage into your body. Share it with me. Then together, with our combined powers, we can break past the cordon of Plumbers and be able to reach Charmcaster. And once our goal is accomplished, I shall voluntarily be separated from your body. These are my terms. What, if there are any, are yours?"
Gwen put thought to his words. Now she knew why he thought the Halo was necessary. Ghostfreak had inhabited her body before and, as she remembered, it was a cold and unpleasant feeling to have him inside her. Though of course, she recalled, those had been done by force. Here, he was asking for it and had left him no choice but to keep to the deal and leave her body afterwards.
Maybe, if he had her blessing this time, it wouldn't be that bad an experience. After all, he was showing from calling upon the Halo that he wanted to be trusted. They had similar goals. A similar target. He could have done this forcefully, but instead he gave her an opening to make her own terms for the deal or else walk away before agreeing.
And there was one condition she had in mind that was very, very important to her.
She inserted her hand into the Halo, locking her eyes with her ally. "I accept your offer, on the condition we will not physically harm my friends and my family."
Ghostfreak cocked his eyes, regarding her with a sad gaze of pity. "You know there is no way I can guarantee that. Once the Plumbers see us, they will attack and draw us into battle. Not harming them will be an impossibility."
Gwen cringed awfully. Ghostfreak was right. With her friends and family already against her and viewing her as a criminal, there was no telling if they would restrain themselves at all in attempting to take her and Ghostfreak down. And if she showed restraint where they had none - - -
"Fine," she replied. "Then my condition is we don't kill my friends and my family."
"Agreed," Ghostfreak acquiesced. "Now, to complete our deal, we shake hands."
Gwen lowered her eyes from Ghostfreak to the hand she had in the Halo, noting the inch-wide gap between her fingers and his claws. With a single resolved breath, she closed that gap, thrusting her hand into Ghostfreak's waiting palm. The two clenched their grip around one another, moving their forearms up and down in the unmistakable gesture of a handshake.
A bolt of pink lightning burst from the top of the Halo high above them, zapping down the height of the cylinder to strike at their hands. Converting into a form of controlled electricity, the crackling energy coursed along up their arms and past their shoulders into their bodies. Gwen did not dare to blink; she was eager to watch the effects of the magic sealing the deal into a pact. Ghostfreak shared her interest, his pink eyes mesmerised by the gleam of the energy working beneath their skins.
The gleam diminished, vanishing as it absorbed itself into their being. The Halo signalled the solidifying of the pact, its sparkling surface ebbing away until its circular walls were dull in appearance, becoming a withering husk of the brilliant symbol of magic it had been standing as before, and faded finally into nothing. Ghostfreak withdrew his hand from Gwen's, moving back from her. She in turn saw what was coming, took a breath and prepared herself.
"Ready?" he asked her.
Gwen nodded.
Ghostfreak's shape blurred. He started the transition to change the state of his own body, phasing gradually from his dark grey flesh and lightweight bone to a gaseous form. Checking himself once it was over to be sure it had been successful, he indicated to Gwen it was time for the next step, warning her through his eyes there was no turning back. Gwen nodded to him again.
Ghostfreak lunged.
The invasive mental onslaught Gwen was expecting never came. The moment Ghostfreak was about to make contact with her body and enter it, she closed her eyes, steeling herself for the trauma. When the hint that the expectant pain was not happening occurred to her, she opened her eyes again, wondering if there was something stopping Ghostfreak. But as she looked around where she was standing, the sorceror was nowhere in sight, meaning he had to be inside her. Sure enough, as she took time to calm from her brief rush of panic, Gwen recognised Ghostfreak's presence emanating within her. She blinked in surprise. He was inside her, but there was nothing that she could sense was wrong with that. Maybe the fact she gave him her permission actually did count for the startlingly easy bodysharing. Or maybe it was the Halo; giving Ghostfreak entrance and access to her body was a part of their bargain.
She considered the latter a second time. That had to be it. Her refusing to share her body with Ghostfreak or putting up a mental resistance would have violated their deal. The Halo was obviously making sure Ghostfreak had a clean go of it; she could still act against him if she wanted to, otherwise the Halo wouldn't have the ability to dissolve a pact that was bound within it. And why would she want to? She needed the pact. To back out now would shatter whatever alliance her and Ghostfreak had, leaving her to tackle Charmcaster alone.
Lulled in by her personal conflict, Gwen was blind to the trap that she had fallen into. All it took for her to finally realise something was wrong was a solitary defensive twitch, a signal that told her a line that should never have been crossed was breached.
"Um, Ghostfreak?" she said aloud, thinking the alien could hear her and respond.
He could. Yes.
"You're - - - you're taking more than half of my body," Gwen trembled. "That's not sharing."
How much of your body I am able to inhabit was not discussed in our terms. Therefore, I can inhabit nearly all.
Gwen sensed the sneer coming from him. Horror dawned on her at last. She had read the signs wrong. "No! I trusted you!"
Then you should not have.
She wasted no time. Gwen hurried to raise her mental blocks to cut him off from any more. When they did not appear, she looked inside for why they failed to rise, gasping when she found the answer. Ghostfreak had inhabited them first, and now he was completing his takeover, crawling into her mind.
"Stop," she pleaded. "This isn't sharing. You're taking control of me!"
Oh, but it is sharing, Gwendolyn. I am just going to leave you a tiny piece of your subconscious, a piece where I am sure you will not be able to interfere.
Hot tears streamed down Gwen's face as her control was drained farther away from her. "Y-you can't do it without me.," she sobbed.
Silly girl! I am in control of the part of your mind that understands Anodite magic. All I required from you is your body and you have given it to me freely. Now, quiet, and I shall concentrate on fulfilling our goals.
"My friends and my family! You promised!"
I will keep my word. Your loved ones will not be slain this day, Ghostfreak drawled. But there is someone, whom you do not count as friend or family, that will die.
"What? Who?"
Oh my dear Gwen, I think you know.
Gwen gaped in disbelief. "You would kill Charmcaster to get the Alpha Rune?"
Ha. She no longer has it. Adwaita has won it and Ledgerdomain back from her. It is he who wants her dead and, in exchange for her death and access to all the items in my vaults, he will give me a position of power as his right hand. The sad thing there is, as ruthless as he can be, Adwaita will only be content in ruling Ledgerdomain, which is why when he secures dominion over it, I will take his body and the Alpha Rune.
Gwen felt nothing but fear overcoming her as Ghostfreak smirked in triumph. As he had told her he would, he exiled her into a small, closed-in, quiet part of her mind and locked her up in there.
Outwardly, the body of Gwen grinned deviously, the whites of her eyes turning into a cold black as her emerald irises quivered and changed to a laser pink. "So you see at last, Gwen," he said, using her mouth. "In your possessive desire to protect your cousin, you have granted me the most vital piece I needed in this long game to take the universe as mine!"
Trapped in the isolated cell that was a part of her own mind, forced to witness the horrendous amount of change Ghostfreak was commanding her body to adapt to, Gwen took the only avenue of responding that was left to her.
Screaming, where noone but Ghostfreak could hear her.
And so now you all know the story behind Gwen's downfall and what it has led her into. How will Ben, Kevin and the others find out? That answer will be known in the next chapter.
