This ended up being 29 PAGES ON WORD! And thus, this chapter has been split up into two parts for the sake of scrolling XD
Mantha was suddenly aware of her surroundings. As she last recalled, she went to bed.
She was not in her bed.
She was laying on a wooden floor with one of her blankets wrapped haphazardly around her. She snapped up so fast she swore her head almost came flying off. She scanned the room; she was in the hidden attic, the monster catcher on her far left. A few feet from her was Ra, who was sitting up groggily, looking just as confused.
At a table sat Sibella, monitoring a laptop. There was a cord attaching the laptop and the monster catcher. Inside the monster catcher were dozens of toy capsules, appearing to be students and teachers.
The zombie finally noticed the blond girl standing above her and Ra. She wore a red and black ninja esc costume.
"Wait, Wendy? What the hell is going on?! Why are we in the hidden attic? How do you even know this is here?!" Mantha snapped.
Wendy threw pants and jackets at both Mantha and Ra.
"I recommend putting those on. Casper's missing." The witch stated with a serious look.
The zombie got to her feet and quickly tugged the jeans over her pj shorts.
"Start talking." She glared.
Mantha liked Wendy, they got along pretty well, but the zombie didn't have patience for confusion, nor missing friends.
Suddenly Sibella chimed in.
"Do you want any coffee or tea?" she asked politely, gesturing to a table with a coffee/tea machine
"What?" Mantha snapped with a confused expression.
"Cause you're gonna need to be fully awake to hear what I got to tell you." Wendy added.
Mantha and Ra sipped on their hot drinks as they listened to the witch explain the situation.
"So, we're supposed to believe that our sweet, confrontation hating, kind hearted, friend, fought Kibosh?" the zombie raised a brow, unconvinced.
"Annd whilst the school was sleeping, I had the monster catcher contain everyone for safety." Sibella added.
"Riiight." Mantha squinted her eyes at Sibella and Wendy suspiciously.
"Are you sure it was Casper and not someone pretending to be Casper?" Ra asked, tilting his head.
"I know it seems weird, but he's got a bit more fire than you think he does. But now he's been taken hostage…" the witch added.
Mantha didn't take that well.
"Hostage? BY WHO? How the crap did you lose him? Did you just decide he could handle Kibosh by himself?!" she snapped angrily.
Ra grabbed his friends shoulder and gave it a calming squeeze.
"Mantha! Take a breath." He instructed, making a breathing gesture with his hand.
"Right, right, sorry. I just- what can we do to help get him back?" Mantha asked with a focused look.
Wendy took a deep breath as well before explaining.
"The creature that took him told me to bring him the Kleptor, and the white black pearl. I have both, but…What if I give him the Kleptor? He could unleash untold havoc! He could be far worse than Kibosh ever was!" she fretted, knotting a hand through her hair.
"Well maybe you should have thought about that before you took down the king!" the zombie snapped.
"Would you prefer him to keep lying and abusing his citizens?" the witch snapped back.
"I don't even know if he ever did do that. You're just telling me he did!"
Ra stepped in between the two, stretching out his arms to keep the two girls back from each other.
"Girls, we don't got time for this, Cap the convo for later." He stated before turning to the witch. "Wendy, who and what was the creature that took out friend?"
"It was some sort of, skeleton, ram thing. I think it was a netherbeast." She responded distraught.
Mantha and Ra exchanged a wide eyed look.
"That sounds like Casper's grandfather." The mummy examined.
"WHAT?" Wendy screeched.
"Or at least, he told us he was Casper's grandfather…" the zombie stated suspiciously, looking off to the side.
Just then, a purple glow came from the far end of the room. They all turned to face it.
Out of the frosty swirling portal a face poked through.
The face of a skeletal ram.
Wendy pulled out her wand and took a defensive stance, pointing it at the creature.
"Where's Casper!" she demanded.
"I have him, and you may see him, provided you have the objects I asked for…" the ram stated calmly, but with a slight eeriness to his tone.
She scowled.
"I do…But, I'll only hand them over once I see Casper's safe." She stated sternly.
"Very well, if those are your terms." He agreed.
Sibella spoke up, placing a hand on her partners shoulder.
"Wendy, please make sure you know what you're doing. That's a very powerful gem, and we don't know what the pearl does. He could end up being something far worse than Kibosh…" She had a concerned look in her eye. "And I can't…I can't sense his emotion; I don't know what he really wants." She added, side eyeing him with a worried frown.
"I've got to save my friend, he helped all of us. We all owe him it to try." Wendy replied. determinedly.
Sibella nodded.
Mantha placed a hand on the witch's shoulder, who turned to look at her.
"If you're going, so are me and Ra." The zombie turned her attention to Ram. "Those are our terms." She glared.
The creature's ears tilted back in a way that made him seem reluctant.
"…Very well then. Wendy, Ra, Mantha, you have permission to visit your friend." He out stretched a black clawed hand and made a 'come hither' motion. "Follow." He stated simply before disappearing into the frosty void.
"Will Sibella be ok by herself?" Ra asked.
"Yeah, besides, she's not by herself. Jake and Hotstuff are on the roof, and a few other anti-ghoul volunteers are walking around the rest of the school." Wendy responded.
The three turned towards the portal, and one by one stepped inside.
The portal opened up in front of Krumpus's house, the field of lavender creating a lovely scent in the air. Wendy looked around in confusion.
"This is definitely the netherrelm." Mabon mentally told the witch.
"Do you know this netherbeast?" she asked him.
"Yes, that's Krumpus." He replied simply.
"The Krampus? The one from Nordic mythology? The Christmas demon!?" Wendy mentally examined.
"That's the one."
"Oh great…" she rolled her eyes with an annoyed exhale.
"He's not known for causing trouble, it's unusual for him to take a captive…" Mabon mused, more so to himself.
Mantha, Wendy, and Ra noticed an odd couple standing in front of the house. One was a tall man with blue skin and white hair. He wore a black suit. The woman next to him was pink with darker pink hair, and she wore a pink gown. They seemed stressed.
Krumpus turned and looked down at the red witch.
"Miss Wendy, I know you wish to hold onto the Kleptor, but I must insist you hand me the black white pearl." He asked.
"Not until I see Casper!" she snapped, grabbing her bag protectively.
"I assure you he's inside, resting. Please," he gestured slightly to the couple. "They've waited 200 years to see their daughter again, don't make them wait another minuet."
His kind and gentle tone took Wendy aback, along with his words. With a slight bit of hesitancy, she reached into her bag and pulled out the large pearl. Half of it was white, half of it was black, split right down the middle. She held out her hand, and the ram carefully took the pearl from her, his hand dwarfing hers.
He placed the pearl on the ground, and then brought his staff down upon it, shattering it. Out of the pearl came a bright grey mist, it swirled and flew a few feet away, then started spinning and spinning around itself. The grey started to separate into black and white, and started to take the shape of a woman. They in a burst of light, it formed a young woman. Her left half was snow white, her right half was black as a shadow. Her eyes snapped open. Her left one was blue, her right one was orange. She looked around confused and panicked, a scythe appearing her hands, which she wielded in a defensive matter.
"You are safe." Krumpus said simply, pointing to the blue and pink couple that stood behind her. The young woman looked behind her and dropped the scythe to the ground, tears coming to her eyes.
"Mom, dad?!" She cried, turning to run towards them.
The couple ran towards her and met her half way. The family hugged each other tightly and cried whilst muttering about how much they missed each other.
Krumpus smiled warmly, meanwhile the three teens stood there, confused out of their minds.
"Uh, what's going on?" Wendy whispered at the netherbeast.
"Didn't you ever wonder about where the Kleptor came from? Or why the gods never attempted to attack Kibosh, a ghost who was unnervingly powerful?" the ram mused.
"Well, now that you mention it…" the witch settled her weight on one leg and thought about it. It was odd that a god or netherbeast never got involved. Sure, they didn't interact with mortals that often, but they'd still get territorial about a ghost managing to single handedly take over an entire state. Especially considering Kibosh's narcissism, he's had to have compared himself to a god at some point.
"200 years ago, Kibosh planned out his conquest. In order to get the power he needed, he tricked that young woman, and sealed her away in a pearl. Then used her as leverage to get certain greek gods to make what he wanted; a gem to take the powers of others. So, Hades, Eris, Hecate, and Persephone created the Kleptor for him. A gem so powerful that it can take the power of even the gods." Krumpus explained.
"Who is she?" Wendy raised a brow, slightly gesturing to the black and white girl.
"Melone, goddess of ghosts." He stated simply.
"Oh sweet Osiris…There are gods here." Ra muttered to himself, wide eyed.
"As well as Goddess of madness, terror, and nightmares." Krumpus continued.
"Wait, if that's Melone, then those two are…Oh MY GOD!" Wendy hissed. She looked back at Ra and Mantha excitedly. "It's Persephone and Hades!" the witch panicked.
"Uhhh, who are they?" the mummy whispered, not wanting to risk the gods overhearing and feeling insulted.
"They're one of the most well-known love stories in all mythology!" the witch snapped back excitedly in a whisper.
Krumpus walked over to the crying family and explained a few things, their voices muffled by the wind. Then, he pointed over at Wendy, who immediately froze. Before she could process what was going on, she was hugged by Persephone and Hades.
The witch was fairly sure she was going to faint. Witches were known for worshipping gods, even the ones the rest of the world has forgotten about. For her, this was a bit like meeting a favorite celebrity…a celebrity that could kill her with a look, but a celebrity non the less. She wasn't a patron of these two specific gods, but this was still really freaking cool.
The two gods let go of her and stepped back, warm smiles on their faces.
"Thank you for bringing my daughter back." Persephone said with a thankful tone, tears in her eyes.
"You're welcome, I didn't really mean too, I didn't know Kibosh had her. But, I'm very glad she's freed. and really, it was my friend Casper who deserves most of the credit. He's the one who took out Kibosh." Wendy explained politely, containing her excitement.
"Oh? Could we see him?" The pink goddess asked, looking back at Krumpus.
"I'm afraid he's resting at the moment; he took a lot of damage today." The ram explained.
Ra and Mantha shared a concerned look.
"Oh, does he need healing?" the goddess asked with a worried frown.
"No, I've already got him mostly healed. His body is mostly just sore and tired now." Krumpus gave an assuring smile.
"Ah, well tell him we said thank you." She smiled warmly.
"Yes, thank you so much." Hades chimed in, a warm smile on his face as well.
Wendy smiled widely.
"We'll discuss more later, Krumpus. For now though, we're going home." Hades smiled, looking warmly between his wife and daughter.
Krumpus nodded.
And in a flash of light, the gods were gone.
"I, what, uh…I'll process later." Ra mumbled, quite overwhelmed.
"Ok, now that that's handled. Take us to Casper." Mantha spoke up, too determined to see her friend to think about the fact she just encountered gods.
"Of course, right this way." The grandfather ram nodded, leading the teens into his home.
Mantha, Ra, and Wendy quickly but quietly opened the door. It took a second to process the sight. The white, devil looking creature that the school had captured a few days ago, was in the bed at the far end of the room, sleeping. It's left horn was broken, and there were bandages across it's chest. Weirder than that, Thatch was sitting on the edge of the bed, a mug in hand. He had been watching a TV that sat on a dresser next to the door.
The vampire turned at the door opening and stared at the three with confusion.
The three stared back equally confused.
Just 4 confused people staring at each other, and one unconscious white deer monster in a bed.
Mantha shook herself out of her stupor and glared at Thatch, raising a finger accusingly.
"Why the hell are you here!?" She hissed in a whisper.
Thatch wasn't entirely sure how to answer this question, or rather, he was sure that he shouldn't answer it. These were Casper's friends; the ghost should be the one to tell them. and frankly right now wasn't a good time. Casper already got beat up, he didn't need to deal with having to tell her that he was now dating her worst enemy.
Was dating even the right word for it? They hadn't been on a date yet, but they were going to. Casper owed him a milkshake after all…
"I'm here because I wanted to be." The vampire shrugged.
"The hell does that mean?" Mantha snapped.
"None of your business." Thatch snapped right back.
"Yes my business!" she snapped back.
Whilst Mantha and Thatch bickered, the gears started turning in both Ra and Wendy's heads. If Casper was here, and Thatch was also here….
Ra started slyly smiling to himself, he knew what was up.
At least vaguely anyways…he was pretty sure anyways…It was for romantic reasons, right? The vampire wasn't just here accidently, right? That'd be a really weird coincidence if so…
Wendy smiled warmly to herself. She'd have to tease Casper once he woke up.
And threaten Thatch later, preferably as soon as possible.
"Where the hell even is Casper?! His grandfather told us he was in here, but all I see is you, and that weird creature that attacked Alder's office!" Mantha whisper shouted.
"That is Casper!" Thatch snapped quietly, pointing behind him back at the bed.
The zombie took a step back and squinted at him like he was insane.
"You've lost your mind." She shook her head slightly.
"No he hasn't, that's him, I can confirm." Wendy stated, poking Mantha on the shoulder.
"Did the white color and same hair really not give it away?" The vampire crossed his arms, looking at the zombie with an annoyed brow raise.
"No! Because Casper's never turned into a devil creature before!" the zombie hissed.
"Uh, guys." Ra interjected, pointing at the bed.
Casper stirred, his ears tilted down and he slowly blinked his eyes open. It took a second for his vison to focus, and another second to process what he was looking at. In the doorway stood Ra, Mantha, Wendy, and Thatch, all staring at him.
His ears went back against his head and his face went blue with wide eyes. He felt incredibly ashamed. He didn't want Mantha and Ra to see him like this, or to know what he did…
They're gonna hate him…
He wanted to hide…
So he did.
By pulling his blanket over his head.
…His brain was still in a bit of a fog, ok?…
Mantha and Ra quickly walked over to the bed and stood next to their friend. Thatch and Wendy stayed back near the TV, both feeling the ghost didn't want to be crowded.
"Come on Casp, talk to us." The mummy coxed.
"What happened to you?" The zombie asked with a concerned expression.
Thatch chimed in from his spot near the door.
"The last time he was awake, he was deaf. His gramps say's it's temporary at least." He explained.
"So, he can't hear us?" Ra asked.
"What part of deaf, didn't you understand?" The vampire asked rudely, tilting his head.
"Don't be rude to him, you shouldn't even be here. Bullies don't visit their victims!" Mantha snapped.
"I wanted him here." Casper chimed in softly, before he could stop himself.
There was a pause as the others stared at him.
"Damn it…" he muttered.
"So, you got back you're hearing?" Thatch remarked gently.
"Yeah, but it's sensitive, so please talk quietly." The ghost responded, the blanket still over his head.
Suddenly, an oddly loud commercial played on the TV, and he made a weird movement under the blanket, like he was grabbing his ears. Thatch quickly turned the TV to mute.
After a second, Mantha and Ra went back to their questioning.
"Are you going to take that blanket off your head?" the zombie asked warmly, trying to calm Casper down.
"I didn't want you to see me like this…" he muttered.
"Why not? It's cool!" Ra beamed.
"But now you know what I did…" the ghost responded quietly, so much that Mantha and Ra almost didn't hear it.
There was a pause as Mantha and Ra took a second to process what he meant by that. Their eyes snapped open wide.
"Oh my god, you were the one who burnt down Alder and Dash's office!?" Ra exclaimed.
Wendy looked over at Thatch with a raised brow. The vampire shrugged and made a 'tell you later' kind of movement.
Wendy and Thatch met each other last year, so they were familiar with each other, at least vaguely. They had a surprisingly easy time talking to each other. They didn't necessarily get along, they just sort of, operated at a similar frequency. Vastly different outputs, but similar frequency.
But, moving on.