Alesha didn't know how long she'd been sitting in their...no...her lair in the ghost zone. She vaguely remembered even leaving the real world. Somehow she always ended up here, no matter how much she vowed to stay away, she ended up sitting here in the darkness on the smooth floor. None of the material covering the ground beneath ever responded to her anymore...too much sadness and anger, she knew. She didn't want to create, so she sat in the darkness of the chamber, just remembering.

At least she had the memories, she reminded herself..no matter how painful. Of course, there were some memories, she liked to avoid...like when they'd first woken up after their death that–

"No!" she said suddenly, but she couldn't stop this memory from returning, no matter how much she didn't want it to...

Flashback

She groaned as she regained consciousness, desperately trying to remember what had happened...but only darkness in her mind answered her inquires. Groaning, she opened her eyes, and had to do a double take. Then she screamed. The world around her swirled with black, purple and green in nauseating, unpredictable waves and swirls.

"Where am I?" She shrieked. She couldn't remember anything...but this didn't seem right...it didn't seem usual. Suddenly, she realized she couldn't remember who she was. No name, no personality, no memories...this thought scared her, and caused her to start shaking. The word Amnesia floated across her mind, and she tried to take a deep breath to calm her nerves...when she realized she'd been holding her breath for several seconds.

"What the..." She asked herself. Of course, was holding your breath so difficult? 'Not really,' she answered her own unspoken question, but this had turned her thoughts to her own well being. She looked down, and felt her stomach, chest and arms. She felt fine...but she didn't at the same time...and a voice seemed to whisper to her that something was horribly wrong.

Taking another deep breath, she looked down around her, and shrieked. Air swirled and flowed beneath her, as it did everywhere else around her...and that DEFINITELY didn't seem normal. Trying to calm her queasy stomach, she closed her eyes, hoping this was a dream...but when she opened them again, the scene remained.

"NO!" she screamed out loud, but her voice seemed different than it should be...more like a whisper and a wail at the same time. She put her hands on her throat...what the heck was going on?

Determined, she closed her eyes once again, and tried to remember something...anything...desperately. Darkness answered yet again, but she forced herself through it, like she swam through a veil of material, or a thick mist.

"YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!" She screamed at the blackness that seemed to laugh at her. "You will not!" she said again, trying to regain her composure.

Suddenly, a face passed before her eyes. Fear and concern, surrounded by a bright light...everything in slow motion. The face belonged to a woman...an older woman with laugh lines and a warm smile...and a firm hand. The face, even showing the characteristics that it did, calmed her down. Love and warmth connected to that face...and a name...Nora...mama. As she watched, the light overpowered the dark eyes and skin...

"No!" she screamed again and her eyes burst open, looking around desperately. That's when she noticed the figure floating next to her. She'd missed him somehow before, but he lay, floating gently, obviously unconscious. He looked familiar.

"Hello," she tried to get to the boy, and found herself floating forward. Could she control this? Shaking the thought from her head, she decided to focus on one thing at a time. "Hello?" she asked again, and poked the figure gently. He responded immediately with a groan, causing her to jump back. Then he'd looked up with glowing green eyes that had seemed so unfamiliar...and yet familiar at the same time.

"What the..." he said and shook his head. "Where am I?" He sat up, causing her to float back even more. "Who am I?" He looked over at her. "Who are you?" She could only shrug helplessly...but she knew that face...

"Brian..." she said simply. He stopped shaking and looked over at her.

"That is my name..." he said uncertainly, and then more confidently. "Yes...yes I am Brian!" He grinned over at her, beaming now that he had a name. "And you're Alesha!"

"Alesha..." The name seemed right, but wrong at the same time...but it was all she had to go on.

"I remember you!" he reached forward. "You took my toy!" She blinked at him. Nothing like that came through her mind...no memories or recognition. "And the light..." he continued, putting a hand on his head.

"I don't know what happened," Alesha shook her head, trying once again to clear it. A high laugh suddenly sounded behind her, and they turned around to see a formless mass of dark mist floating behind them.

It started to drift towards them. "New recruits are so funny!" the squeaky voice came from the black fog, and sent shivers up Alesha's spine. "They never know...what did they expect?" She giggled, her voice full of malice.

"Who are you?" Alesha asked softly, making sure she stayed between the mist and her brother...wait! He was her brother! She had a brother...a younger brother! The mist continued to laugh at her.

"You can call me mischief. Normally I don't mind telling lies, but the truth in this matter will gain a much better reaction."

"I don't know what you're–"

"Don't you get it!" the voice interrupted. "You're DEAD!" It giggled cruelly again. "You've passed on! You're spirits!"

"W-what do you mean?" she heard Brian ask, obviously in as much shock as he was. The fog only laughed and disappeared.

"Dead?" Alesha said slowly...the word seemed to melt her lips together. None of her body wanted to respond...or her spirit...for she knew the fog told the truth... "No..."

End Flashback

Alesha felt a hot tear land on her hand, but couldn't see for the darkness still surrounding her.

"Back again?" a voice behind her mocked. She'd long since learned not to respond to it.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" she asked wearily.

The voice laughed. "Leave you alone?" it asked. "That is far less spirited than your normal response. Are you well Alesha?"

"You know the answer to that question," she responded coldly.

"You had the chance to finish him off," the voice whispered harshly, suddenly close to her. "Why didn't you do what you were sent to do?"

"Because," she whispered back, her own voice just as harsh. "I want him to know when it happens." She turned around and glared up at the tanned figure. "I want him to feel it...I want him to be just as hurt as I have been when he dies!

At that moment, blue eyes popped open, and Daniel Fenton sat up in bed, gasping for breath.

CC12: Yes, it is just like the comic, becausethis is based on the comic Idrew. ;

DNoA: Someone else brought that one up. To tell the truth, it was one of the first Disney movies that came to my head when I was writing it...but it was alter pointed out to me that It works really well for the "spoiled" Father/Son moment too...

CtH: Well thank you, and happy birthday:hug:

qwest: Well...that was quite the review...wow. Thank you for going back to read Deception. :hug: I have a hard time doing that when I come into a series. As for my art pics, here's a description for what I do: I usually go to photoshop and have it scanned in so I can see all the details (doesn't have to look good). Then I create two or three new, blank layers. The first new layer is my color and shading layer, the second one is the outlining layer (third also outlining layer if there are different sized lines or what not). So, I outline it with several paths on my pen tool, and then stroke the paths (right click) with a #1 pencil. Then, on the second layer, I stroke all the paths with a #4 or#5 paintbrush (again, right click...or you can just click on the paintbrush tool).

I then color the bottom new layer, shade it (with more pen tool paths if necissary (sp?)) either four or five shades lighter, or two or three shades darker (that one's a style issue. You can adapt it to your own style). If an aura is required, I duplicate the outline layer, and paint-bucket the color I want it. Then I go to the filter on the menu, and styalize, and diffuse. An information block will come up. Make sure it's on Light only, and then diffuse it about seven or eight times (depending on the size of the pictrue...etc). Then I blur it until I get the right look for the aura.

After that, I use various tools for a desired effect in the background, and Voila. Hope that helps.