WoM- For those of you who read chapter two already, Skip ahead. I edited chapter one, spitting it in half since everyone complained it was too long. Sorry for any confusion!
"Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up."
-James Baldwin
Chapter 3; Siren
Dash shivered as he stood and shuffled to his window, grumbling slightly at being awakened by the cold. It was weird that it was so chilly in June… Still, he closed his window and turned to get back into bed.
And froze, suddenly very awake.
On his bed sat a creature that could only be a goddess. Her hair was a dark violet color, and her skin as pale as could be and shimmering like it'd been dusted with glitter. She wore a flimsy half top and a seductive skirt with thin shoes, and she had gold anklets and bracelets that clang together musically.
Her lips were deep red, and seemed to beg to be kissed, and everything about her body seemed delicate and feminine. But her eyes were what glued Dash to his spot. They were an exotic burning red, lined with blue eyeliner, and they seemed to trap Dash with little effort.
"Who are you?" Dash whispered, wondering if this creature was a dream come true. The woman only smiled. Then, she opened her mouth, but instead of speaking, she started to sing.
"Th'gin eh't ni em dia ot; tsac erutuf sih daeha n'wap eh't; th'gim latrommi ru'oy d'nel; tsap sega fo enots der doolb…"
"Hey Sam!" Sam stopped dead, stunned that Paulina actually had the nerve to approach her acting all friendly, "I heard what happened last night at your house. Was Danny Phantom really there!"
"Who wants to know? Sam asked coolly.
"Me, silly," Paulina responded with a laugh. "I want to ask him to the Premiere of Global Wars XII. Papa got special tickets just for the two of us…"
"If I run into him, I'll be sure to tell him," Sam said dryly, walking away.
"Were you and Paulina just talking!" Tucker asked when she joined him and Danny, staring in shock.
"Yep," Sam said.
"What was she saying?" Danny asked as he reached through his locker door and withdrew his English book.
"Nothing important," Sam answered. Technically, she was talking to Danny Fenton, so she was under no obligation to tell him anything. "Did you get away from Valerie okay?"
"Yeah. I got back in before my parents got home. Luckily Jazz was already in her room, so she didn't ask any questions. How's your mom?"
"Still a little shaken. The entire fifth floor was totaled, So I'm staying in a guestroom on the third floor for now. Those things are back in the Ghost Zone, right?"
"Yeah. Sorry about all the damage," Danny said guiltily.
"No big. Dad's already paid for people to come in and fix it. It should be remodeled by the end of the week. And I'm finally getting an elevator, too," Sam said, sounding much happier at the last piece of information.
"Oh, the powers of money…" Tucker sighed wistfully. Sam shot him the evil eye she'd perfected from years of arguing with her mother about her choice of clothes.
"You do remember your solemn oath to never mention my family's 'financial problem' in school, don't you Tucker?" Sam said through clenched teeth.
"Financial problem?" Valerie said from behind her, raising an eyebrow. "Hey, Danny,"
"Oh, hey Val," Danny said, grinning slightly at the girl, "You and Neris make it back okay last night?" Valerie flinched slightly.
"Yeah, about her…"
"Danny!"
"Kya!" Neris seemed to pop out of nowhere and scared 10 years of Valerie's life expectancy.
"There you are, I've been looking for you… I heard Samantha was attacked, is she alright?"
"You can ask her yourself," Danny said, motioning towards his Gothic friend, who stood a little ways off with Tucker, eyeing the pretty girl suspiciously. Valerie felt a little surge of triumphant to see a look of shock pass through Neris' eyes momentarily at the sight of Sam unharmed.
"Oh, I figured there was a chance you were injured…" Neris said, sounding completely friendly.
"Luckily the only damage was to my house," Sam said in an almost smug voice, "A ghost hunter and the ghost-boy saved me,"
"Glad to hear it," Neris said with a too-happy smile, obviously fake. She wasn't even bothering trying to hide it…
"We'd better get to class," Danny said, looking at the clock, "Last thing I need is another detention with Lancer,"
"I hear ya," Valerie said with a knowing smile. "Last time he had me and Danny licking envelopes for the School Pep Rally,"
"We must've licked a thousand envelopes a piece," Danny said, wrinkling his nose. "My tongue was numb for hours afterwards, and I could taste the glue for weeks," Valerie laughed.
"Tell me about it… It was okay, though. Danny and I passed time comparing movie interests and telling stories about our families," Neris glared darkly at Valerie as she and Danny laughed, and even Sam looked a little irritable.
"Oof!" Danny grunted as he accidentally knocked into someone. He backed up and started to apologize when he caught sight of who he knocked into. "D-Dash!"
Sam, Valerie and Tucker immediately went on guard at the mention of the jock who bullied Danny on a daily basis. Danny himself flinched and shielded himself from a blow.
"Sorry," Dash muttered, continuing on as if nothing had happened. Danny and the others stared after him in shock.
"Did that just happen?" Tucker asked. "There's no way that just happened…"
"What's up with him?" Valerie frowned with a hand on her hip, eyeing Dash in an almost concerned way.
"Well, Yesterday after school I did ask him to leave you alone," Neris said, "I saw what he did to you in PE. He was so rude to you! Still, he promised to stop hurting you, Danny,"
"Thanks," Danny said, "Wow, I'm surprised anyone can get Dash Baxter to back off so quickly…"
"You and me both," Valerie said, glaring suspiciously at Neris.
"Hey, I still owe you a favor," Neris said, smiling brightly.
"Believe me, if you got Dash off my back, I'm the one who owes you," Danny said, Neris' smile turned a little darker.
"I just may take you up on that…"
Behind Danny, Valerie and Sam shared uneasy glances.
Danny sighed happily as he left Lancer's class. He'd gotten an A- on the homework he did last night, didn't get detention and best of all he no longer had to worry about running into Dash. This was probably with happiest he'd been since becoming a ghost.
"Hey, Danny, can I talk to you?" Neris asked, her hands clasped behind her cutely.
"Sure, Neris," Danny said, shrugging his bag up, "What's up?" Neris looked over his shoulder and suddenly dragged him down the hall. "H-hey! Neris!"
"Sorry, but Samantha was watching us," Neris said apologetically, "And none of your friends really seem to like me,"
"That's not true," Danny protested, "Tucker likes you,"
"Yeah, but Tucker likes me a little too much," Neris said, "And he's really not my type,"
"Good point," Danny said, amused.
"So I was wondering if you'd like to do something a little later. Just the two of us!"
"Sure," Danny said, unfazed. He'd hung out one on one with Valerie and Sam all the time, so why was Neris any different? "What do you have in mind?"
"I really wanted to check out the amusement park." Neris said, "But there's some stuff I need to take care of first. Would you mind meeting me there around 4?"
"Four it is," Danny said.
"Oh, and one last thing…" Neris said, "Can you not tell any of your friends about this? I don't want any more 'coincidences,'" Danny flinched and blushed.
"Yeah, good idea…" Neris giggled brightly, and threw her arms around Danny.
"Thanks Danny!" She sang, "You're the best!" Danny's eyes widened when he felt the strange chill go through him again, stronger this time and combined with a light heat in the middle of his stomach.
"Uh, It's really no big…" Danny said, pushing Neris away slightly, he felt a little uneasy and suspicious now. That was the second time he'd had that chill at Neris' touch. It wasn't his ghost sense, but something was definitely up. Sam's warning rang in the back of his head as he took in Neris' face, which looked momentarily disappointed and shocked before she broke into her usual bright smile.
"Well, I guess I'll see you there, Danny!" She said cheerfully before heading off to class.
"Yeah…" Danny said, frowning after her suspiciously.
Danny sighed in frustration as he threw some papers down. They were notes and statistics on different ghosts and their powers. After the incident with Pariah Dark, Danny had decided that he didn't want to be caught off guard by his lack of knowledge again, especially not with Plasmius still on the loose.
So he began researching all he could about ghost powers, their fatality rates, their affect on humans, the way a Specter's lifestyle and strengths in life affected what kinds of powers they had in the afterlife and most importantly, the ways to recognize certain powers on sight, and how to counter them.
Tucker and Sam added things as they found them on their own. He kept his research hidden, in case his mother or someone found it and got suspicious. Everything was kept safely in a hollow spot between his wall and Jazz's. He could reach it by phasing through the wall, but no one else would know it was there, save Sam and Tucker, who'd seen him hide it countless times.
So far, though, he found nothing on the weird chilly feeling he got from Neris. And he had nothing on any powerful ghosts that had attacked before with Neris' description. Still, she could've been new or something…
"That doesn't make sense, she was trying to do something to me!" Danny groaned. But his ghosts sense didn't even go off when she was around… Well, maybe he could find out more when he went to meet her today.
Suddenly he was grateful for his promise not to invite Tucker or Sam. Until he knew what Neris was after and what her powers did, he didn't want his two close friends anywhere near the mysterious girl…
Speaking of the meeting, Danny's eyes widened when he saw the clock turn 3:48. He was gonna be LATE! Cursing, he stood and threw his shoes on, more or less flying down the stairs with a hurried;
"ByeMombyeDadseeyaJasI'mofftomeetafriend!" before running out the door.
Outside, floating in her jet slide in mid air, Valerie chuckled as she watched him through her Specter Scope.
While normally she was against using all of her weapons to invade someone's privacy (She didn't think Mr. Masters would appreciate that,) when Sam told her about the chat Danny and Neris had after Lancer's class she decided to make an exception. Luckily, he was still home when she got there, studying notes for a test of something.
She wasn't intending on doing anything too extreme, just follow them and make sure Neris didn't use her powers on Danny, and interfere if she gave any hint of doing so. Danny wouldn't know it was her under the mask, so she could tell him everything. The only reason she didn't warn him right now was because she had no proof.
Danny would probably just think she was as crazy as his parents. So for now, Valerie merely glided silently above Danny, keeping a protective eye on the boy currently heading towards the amusement park.
'BOOM!' Valerie cursed as her ghost radars started going off. She glanced down at Danny, who'd stopped when the blast went off, alert and staring in the direction of the sound. Furious at the horrible timing, Valerie flew off to find the ghost.
Someone was going to pay…
Valerie frowned around the smoldering shores on the popular shopping plaza. So far, it looked as though a Jewelry and two Clothing Stores had been attacked, but there was no sign of the ghost that had done it.
"BEWARE! For I am the Box ghost! Master of everything cubical and cardboard!" Valerie made a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl.
"Not you!" She said, leveling an ecto-gun at him, "Oh you so chose a bad time to drag your lame ass out of the Ghost Zone and start with me!"
"Ah, but I am innocent of the vandalism to these non-box stores!" Box Ghost said dramatically Valerie rolled her eyes and began to charge her weapon, "It was no ghost who did this!"
"No ghost!" Valerie abruptly stopped, suddenly very interested in conversing with the pathetic blabbermouth. "Then what did this! Who's responsible!"
"Me,"
'BOOM!'
Valerie yelled as she hit the ground at a painful angle. She twisted around to find a strange girl floating just behind her jet slide. Her eyes were completely glowing red, along with one outstretched fist. She was paler than any ghost Valerie had fought, and long dark violet hair floated gracefully around her.
"I was wondering if you were going to bother to show up." She said in a musical voice as her eyes receded. "It's 'Hunter,' right?"
"Ya got that right," Valerie snapped, drawing another gun, "And ghost or not, you're goin' down!" The girl laughed coldly.
"Aw, how cute. The little ghost hunter thinks her toys can shut me down…" She nodded sharply, and Valerie suddenly found herself restrained by two hulking boys while a third, smaller one took all her weapons. All the boys wore black shirts, gloves, pants, and masks that hid their entire faces.
"L-Let me go!" Valerie yelled. The girl glided down in a painfully graceful way, and grabbed Valerie by the chin, making her look into her chilling crimson eyes.
"Listen and Listen good, Hunter," She said smoothly, "I've worked too hard and gave up too much to let someone like you waltz in and destroy my plans, so if you like being among the living I suggest you give up your little 'hobby,'"
"Go to Hell," Valerie hissed back. The girl laughed.
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" She asked in a pleasant tone, "I've already been there, sweetie… Several times, as a matter of fact." Valerie frowned.
What did she mean by that! The ghost hunter was about to demand an explanation when a blast of all too familiar green energy knocked the girl away, and off her feet. Valerie scowled.
"Looks like someone's been enjoying their five fingered discounts a little too much." Yep, that was the all too annoying Danny Phantom floating there, glaring down at the girl as she rose. Suddenly he seemed confused. "Hey, you're not a ghost!" he announced, confirming what the girl had said.
"Very good…" The girl cooed, "Danny Phantom? I've been waiting for you,"
"What!" The ghost boy and Valerie exclaimed at once.
"Who and what are you!" Valerie asked.
"And what do you want with me!" Phantom added. "You don't work with Plasmius or something, do you?" Valerie's eyebrows drew together behind her mask. Who was Plasmius? She never remembered fighting a ghost by that name…
"My name is Siren, and I don't work for the other Halfa,"
'Halfa! What the Hell are these two talking about! And what's a Halfa!' Valerie fumed at being forgotten so easily.
"That doesn't answer what you are and why you're here," Danny said coolly. Siren smiled mysteriously.
"Ah, but life's no fun with all the mysteries gone…" Tired of being ignored, Valerie began to struggle against the two holding her, drawing attention to herself. Siren sighed, "Impatient humans… Though I suppose I'd be the same, if I only had a little less than 100 year to live. This one seems to be particularly eager to die…"
"Leave her alone!" Phantom yelled, stiffening at attention in case Siren attacked the defenseless human. Siren laughed.
"Ooh, protective, aren't you, Love?" She purred, "I can't see why, though. No matter how many times you save this girl, she'll always hate you for what you are. Humans are petty that way. Even those who love you now will grow to hate you eventually. Human emotions are so fickle."
As she Spoke, Siren circled Danny, her eyes on him at all times. Then, she flew down to her three masked thugs, hugging one affectionately, still not taking her eyes off the ghost.
"That's why they're so simple to manipulate. Especially for my kind, and for me more than any other. I've yet to meet a man who hasn't succumbed to my aura instantly. Until you," Pushing away from the boy, Siren flew back up to Danny, getting right into his face. "Tell me, Phantom, why does once like you, destined for such greatness, still dally among the most pathetic race among us?"
"They aren't pathetic!" Danny defended them, getting a little scared. He didn't know who this woman was, but at such a close proximity he could feel the effects she was talking about. He could almost hear a voice whispering in the back of his head, begging to kiss her…
"How charming," Siren said, "Yes, he was right, you'll definitely do nicely…" Before Danny could ask what she meant by that, he was hit with a fierce blast of energy, knocking him to the ground. "Unfortunately, it's still too soon. I just needed to check out if he was being honest. Now that I know he is, you can expect to see me in the near future. Siren and her minions began to disappear. "Until then, Danny-dear…" and just before she faded completely out, she blew a kiss at Danny.
"Well, that was ominous," Danny grumbled as Valerie dived for her weapons.
"Okay, ghost, what were you two talking about just then!" She demanded. "Who's Plasmius! And what the Hell's a Halfa!" Danny flinched.
"Love to stay and chat, but I've got places to go." He said hastily, "Let's save the fighting and threats for a more convenient time," Valerie's scowl went unseen by the half-ghost behind her mask.
"Fine," She said sullenly. "You're just lucky I'm busy too, Phantom, or I'd really give it to you!" Danny rolled his eyes but didn't respond, instead flying away back to where his scooter was.
'I'm SO unbelievably late!' he thought, cringing. He just hoped Neris wasn't mad…
Valerie sighed in relief when she got to the amusement park and found Neris sitting alone on a bench. Apparently she'd managed to beat Danny there after all. Sometimes her glider was a true blessing…
As Valerie sat there, she remembered what Neris had said, about not being a ghost but having powers. That had to mean she was that purple haired freak from earlier! She must've attacked Her and Phantom then snuck over here to meet Danny! It made perfect sense!
"Neris!" Valerie scowled slightly as Danny hurried over to meet the girl, just as she was about to burst out and confront her. "Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time…"
"Oh, that's alright, silly!" Neris said with a giggle, "You're not really that late… Come on, let's go! The man at the ticket booth was telling me all about all the fun rides here!" And, before Danny could say anything, Neris grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the amusement park. Sighing, Valerie pushed the button to go back to her normal attire and followed them at a distance.
"You want an all-day pass? The ticket guy asked gruffly.
"Yeah," Valerie said, giving him the money. "Hey, how long have you been standing here?"
"Since my lunch break at noon," The guy replied, giving her the ticket. "why?"
"That girl who just came through here with the red hair, she just got here, right?" Valerie knew that if she got this guy's word, there was no way Neris could lie her way out of suspicion.
"Are you kidding?" He snorted, "She's been here since 3:35! Dunno how the guy could leave a chick like that waiting…" Valerie barely hear him, too busy gaping in shock.
'What!'
josh111888- Thank you! And thanks for the tip, I'll try to cut back on the chapter lengths a little, but I can't really make any promises. If it makes you feel better, this chapter was two pages shorter! 'laughs guiltily'
- Thank you! And thanks for the tip, I'll try to cut back on the chapter lengths a little, but I can't really make any promises. If it makes you feel better, this chapter was two pages shorter!AnaKiN-PaDme 4eVa- 'Cringes' Man, you guys are really laying it on about the chapter lengths... Anyways, thank you for being so supportive! Third chapter should take too long, especially if I take everyone's advice and cut back the length a little.
KatrinaKaiba- Thanks! And yeah, but it's gonna be a rather strained truce, as you'll come to see...
DJ Rodriguez- 'laughing' Thanks! and yes, plenty of catfights to come. Some around Danny, but most when his back is turned. We girls are sneakier than that, after all... 'smirks evilly'
XxMidnightWolfxX- 'blushing happily' Thank you! I'm an absolute freak when it comes to getting the character's personality down. Ooc just annoys the Hell out of me. Aww, that's so sweet! Writing one of the few things I got going for me, it's nice to get so many compliments!
WoM- Well, that's it for today. Let's see some more reviews, people! I know you're out there, I got 88 hits! Come on and show a little support!