WoM- Whoo hoo! Chapter eight! I'm gonna start to wrap things up here with a plot twist I doubt many of you were expecting. If you were, I'm gonna feel like a total airhead right now, so please don't tell me it was obvious. I like my ego just how it is…
"While there's life, there's hope."
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
Sisters
"DANNY!" Sam struggled as hard as she could, barely feeling the blade cutting dangerously at her throat. She was blinded by a bright flash of red light for a minute, then the light faded.
At first, it'd appeared nothing had changed. But just as Sam's heart began to rise it plummeted painfully to her shoes as she saw Danny's eyes.
They were glowing a pure red, no iris, no pupil, nothing but glowing red lights narrowed in a cruel fashion, with an evil looking smile playing at his lips.
"Feel better, Sweetheart?" Siren cooed.
"Much, Mistress," Danny answered in a voice that was different then his normal tone. It carried a little of the same thing he'd had under Freakshow's spell, but overlapping that was an even deeper and far more demonic voice.
"What did you do to him?" Sam demanded.
"It's a rather complicated spell," Siren told her casually, "I doubt you're little human brain can ever grasp the beauty of its obscurity, but in a nutshell, I've wiped his mind clear of anything but me. I'm all he sees now, all he knows, all he cares about…"
"Let him go!" Valerie demanded, surprising Sam.
"So sorry, but I'm afraid I can't," Siren cooed, cuddling close to Danny, "This spell cannot be broken. It taxes the caster as long as the subject is alive, yes, but come midnight under the full moon tonight, I'm afraid that won't be much of an issue anymore."
Before either girls could say anything else, a violet burst of energy hit Siren, who was caught off guard. It didn't do much damage considering that Danny turned them both intangible and got them out of range from another blast, but it was more then Valerie or Sam could do at the moment.
"I think you've forgotten something, Siren," A familiar voice said smoothly as Neris stepped out of the shadows, glaring at Siren in pure hate. Siren smirked back.
"No, not forgotten," she corrected, "Just not important enough to remember in the first place." Neris scowled.
"You're broken the laws of our people," She snapped.
"I'm a visionary who dares to go where you cowards do not," Siren hissed.
"You were willing to use your powers to kill an innocent for your own desires,"
"You're just too weak to realize that death is the only answer to life. Everything must die, and I'm saving your so-called innocent from the Hell the life he's chosen will get him. It's better for him in the long run. Better for everyone."
"And you know what you're doing is wrong," Neris concluded, "That's why you're making excuses for yourself. I'm here to stop you, Siren." Siren laughed.
"Little sister, did you know that you are bugged?" She asked coyly as she traced designs on Danny's shoulder, smirking when Neris stiffened. "I heard what that snob Circe told you. I heard what you told the halfa. You've overstepped enough boundaries to get yourself not only stripped of your powers for a decade at the very least, but outcast as well." Siren cocked her head at Neris, her smirk widening into a knowing grin, "Why?"
"Because sometimes breaking the rules is necessary to enforce greater ones," Neris said, her face kept carefully clear of emotion. Siren laughed loudly, the sound echoing through the abandoned building, disturbing the decades of dust that's built up.
"Poor, poor little fool," She said in feigned sympathy. "Just admit it already why don't you, You fell in love. You broke your promise, just like everyone knew you would…"
"Shut up, Siren!" Neris snapped. "I did NOT fall in love! I know better than that!"
"Then prove it," Siren smirked, "If you help me, we'll both become immune to the Laws. One life sacrificed, two saved. Seems like a pretty good deal doesn't it, little sister?" Neris didn't answer. Her face was slipping slightly, she was getting nervous.
"That isn't our way, Siren," He said instead, "We Seductresses are creatures of love and life. We do not kill,"
"To kill something, it must first be alive." Siren reminded Neris.
"He exists!" Neris shouted, "All that exists has life, you know that is how we are taught!"
"That doesn't make it right!" Siren yelled back. "Why should we follow musty old rules if all they do is keep us down?"
"Because," Neris said coldly, "Not following them will turn us into the monsters we have been accused of being."
"I would rather be that and know my true potential," Siren said coldly, "then be something that's weak, and afraid of something that could be great."
"It's not great, Siren," Neris said in a soft, almost sympathetic tone, "It's stomping all over the laws of nature."
"And what's your little halfa friend here, hmm?" Siren countered, hugging Danny close, "You can't get more twisted then something that has no true place in this world-!"
"SHUT UP!" Sam yelled at once, "It's not like that, okay!" Siren narrowed her eyes at the teen, obviously annoyed.
"well, It seems I've overstayed my welcome," Siren sighed, faking a pout, "Ah well, It's for the best, I suppose. After all, Danny-dear and I have to get ready for our own party, don't we, Love?"
"Yes, Mistress," Danny said in the same voice as before. Siren grinned.
"Ta-ta, Little sis," She said cheerfully. Then, turning to her army, she added, "Kill them,"
"You said you wouldn't kill us!" Valerie exploded, glaring at Siren.
"I lied," she said simply, laughing as she and Danny faded away.
Wasting no time, Neris blasted the mind-controlled crony that was about to slice Sam's throat before twisting around and grabbing one of the decorative shields a nearby gargoyle held, throwing to at the men who were pinning Valerie down.
"Don't expect a thank you," Valerie snapped as soon as she'd gotten up, "As far as I'm concerned, this is all your fault!"
"Fine!" Neris snapped back. "I'll hold them off, you get Samantha!" Glaring at Neris one last time, Valerie begrudgingly went off to finish said task.
She ducked out of the way when the boy who'd been holding the blade against Sam's throat recovered from Neris' attack and went after her, swinging his blade wildly. A swift kick in the stomach had him on the ground, the blade falling from his hands. Taking advantage of that, Valerie kicked the weapon further away before putting a foot on the boy's chest and yanking off his mask.
And freezing.
"TUCKER?" She exploded, horrified.
If there was one good thing she had to say about Tucker and Sam, it was that they were loyal and true friends. That Siren was about to make one murder the other…
Tucker, still under the spell, took advantage of Valerie's surprise and threw the ghost hunter off of him, going for the fallen sword. Valerie hesitated for a moment longer before reluctantly shooting the boy with a harmless stun gun she used on human civilians.
"Sorry, Tucker," She said to the boy as he fell to the ground.
'If Tucker's here, Danny must be, too…' Valerie said to herself, scanning the sea of masked faces again, her mouth going dry. That though gave her enough incentive to start tugging urgently at Sam's chains, willing them to break.
"Where's the key?" She asked Sam over the noises of Neris' blasts.
"I don't know!" Sam shouted back. Then her eyes widened, "Behind you!"
Valerie dived out of the way just barely in time as one of the larger guys brought a mace down where her head was not moments earlier. Unable to stop its momentum, the boy accidentally cut right through Sam's chains, and she fell to the ground in a painful heap.
"That works…" Valerie murmured, diving forward and grabbing Sam's arm, pulling her towards Neris. "Come on, we've gotta go!"
"B-But Danny-!" Sam protested.
"We're gonna have to stop Siren before Danny and Tucker can be freed," Valerie snapped back, misinterpreting her complaint. "To do that, we gotta get out of here with our heads on!"
"Go on, I'll cover you!" Neris shouted towards them, blasting the boys that were closest to the girls. Valerie nodded at her and pushed the button for her jet sled, jumping on and pulling Sam after her.
"Hold on," She ordered before shooting forward. Sam just barely had time to catch herself before falling off at the speed Valerie had them going.
The Goth looked back to see Neris following them minus the jet sled. She wasn't going anywhere near as fast as they were, but that probably had more to do with the boys she was attempting to restrain from following them then anything else.
"Where are we going?" Sam yelled, tightening her grip on Valerie.
"Dunno!" Valerie called back, "We'll figure that out after we get away!"
Fifteen minutes later, The three girls set down in a clearing in Amity Park's Park. The mood was grim and tense. Despite having to rely on one another to get away from Siren and her cronies, it was obvious that none of them truly trusted one another. Especially Neris.
"Well, what now?" Valerie snapped, "You heard that witch, come midnight it's game over!"
"I know!" Neris sighed, "I just need to think of a plan…"
"We need to take her out!" Valerie corrected, "Don't you have any more or your little ghost friends to help us?"
"They won't last two seconds against Siren, and even shorter against Phantom," Neris said absently, dismissing that idea. "As long as Siren has him in that necklace, his powers are enhanced."
"Great!" Valerie snapped. Then, she voiced the question she'd been wondering for a while. "Why'd he do that, anyways? Give himself up to try and save us?"
"Because," Neris said as if Valerie was an idiot. "He didn't want to see you two die." Valerie's eyes narrowed at her tone, and she opened her mouth to retort.
"I have an idea," Sam cut her off suddenly, startling the other two girls. They exchanged glances.
"You have an idea?" Valerie repeated in surprise. Sam glared at her.
"What, just because I don't have an arsenal of weapons of some weird magic I can't come up with a good idea now and then?" She demanded.
"What's your idea?" Neris asked, cutting off Valerie's angry retort.
"What was your sister's name? Your older sister, I mean."
"Esmerelda," Neris answered in a tired tone.
"And she liked music?"
"Yes, it was what inspired Siren to make almost all of her spells music-based, just as Esma did."
"When did she die?" Sam continued.
"Is there any point to these questions?" Neris asked in irritation. Sam sighed.
"You know what, never mind, it doesn't matter if we know or not." And, with that, Sam started away.
"Hey where are you going?" Valerie asked suspiciously.
"The Fenton House," Sam answered. Valerie's eyes widened behind her mask.
"Are you crazy? We can't tell them their son's a mind controlled zombie of an evil magical creature that want to basically become a Goddess!"
"We don't have to," Sam sighed, "I'm just gonna borrow some of their experiments…"
Neris and Valerie exchanged looks and Neris shrugged, following Sam. Valerie sighed in irritation before following suit.
The Fenton house wasn't far, thankfully. And Sam was even more grateful when she saw the Fenton GAV was gone. That meant the couple was out somewhere, so there wouldn't be any awkward questions. Both Neris and Valerie stared as Sam produced a key that she put into the Fenton's lock.
"You have a key to their house?" Valerie demanded, her eyes narrowing slightly. Sam shrugged.
"I've known Mr. And Mrs. Fenton since I was in elementary school. Mrs. Fenton gave me and Tuck keys in the fifth grade when she got tired of us banging for someone to open the door at bizarre hours so we could talk to Danny." Once again Neris and Valerie exchanged looks, but Sam caught them this time and gave a smug smirk.
Opening the door, she strolled into the Fenton house as easily as if it were her own home. Heading for the kitchen, she stopped in surprise when she came face to face with Jazz.
"Sam?" Jazz said, bewildered. "What are you doing here? I though you were mom and dad back from the store…"
"Ah, hey Jazz!" Sam said, her voice higher then normal, "Any chance you can just forget you saw us?"
"Us?" Jazz looked past Sam, her eyes widening when she saw Neris and her jaw dropping when her gaze turned to Valerie.
"My friends and I are doing a little report on ghost hunting, so we just need to poke around in your parent's lab for a bit," Sam lied smoothly, "We won't touch any ongoing experiments, and we won't take anything with us, I swear." Jazz looked confused for a second before her eyes widened.
"OH!" She said, "Ah, yeah Sam! And I won't tell my parents you were here, either! Just make sure you're out of there before ten, that's when they're coming home. If your not, I'll only be able to stall them for about half an hour before Dad finds some reason to go barreling down there." And with that, Jazz went up to her room, leaving three surprised girls behind her.
"Is she usually that helpful?" Valerie asked Sam.
"Not even close." Sam murmured, "I wonder…" shaking her head, Sam fixed her face into a determined look, "Ah, whatever! Come on, we've got to get to the Fenton Portal!" Neris and Valerie faltered as Sam continued towards the lab.
"The Fenton Portal…?" Neris repeated, blinking.
"I can't believe the Fentons have had a portal into the Ghost Zone this whole time!" Valerie exclaimed, looking around her with wide eyes as she urged her jet sled forward. The alternate dimension hadn't gotten any less creepy from the last time she'd been there. "And they actually bring you with them?"
"Sure do," Sam lied as she drove the Specter Speeder a little ahead of the other two girls who flew on either side of her, "Me Tucker and Danny come here with them whenever they conduct experiments. It's not as intimidating after the third or fourth time down here." Neris shot Sam a skeptical look but said nothing, and Valerie seemed to accept that.
With as obsessive as the Fentons were, it was understandable that she'd believe a lie like that. Of course, if she actually knew Mrs. Fenton as well as Sam did, she'd also know that Vlad would marry his Vultures before the maternal figure of the Fenton Family would let a child three feet into the Ghost Zone.
"We're almost there…" Sam called out, glancing down at the digital map of the Ghost Zone Tucker had installed into the Specter Speeder, working from what Danny had mapped out on foot.
"You still haven't told us exactly where we're going," Valerie complained. "And if I run into Skulker again-!"
"Here! The big black double doors on the right!" Sam called out excitedly to Neris. The girl hesitated for a moment before giving a resigned sigh and opening the doors. Sam shot in without waiting for the other two.
"Well?" Valerie asked impatiently as she looked around the big, empty hallway.
"Split up." Sam ordered, "If you find her, contact the others on the Fenton phones. Keep them on at all times, by the way. Don't want any accidents…"
"But you still haven't told us-!" Sam shot off again, pretending not to hear Valerie. She already had a lock on the ghost she was looking for, actually, but needed to talk to her alone before the others got there.
Navigating the Specter Speeder through the wide hallways, Sam soon found herself outside of the room the ghost she was looking for was in. She took a deep breath before she worked the claws on the Speeder to open the door, not looking forward to this little reunion.
As soon as the door was open enough for her to get in, Sam was inside. She ignored the soft music coming from the ghost who'd yet to acknowledge her presence, though Sam was sure she knew she was there.
"Hello, Ember."
Siren chuckled softly to herself as she watched the ghost across from her. To any other person, he appeared still and obedient. Only Siren, the one who cast the spell, could feel the intense war being fought beneath the surface of that calm exterior.
'Give it up, pet, you'll only make it more painful for yourself in the end,' She told him in an almost soothing voice.
'NO!' The response was instant, as violent as his physical protests, 'I won't! You swore! You said you wouldn't hurt them!'
'And you, love, are far too trusting if you take all your enemies words at face value.' Siren informed him, 'More then being a seductress, I am also a woman, and I have yet to meet a woman who wouldn't say or do anything to get what she wanted.'
'Sam wouldn't' Danny told her confidently, 'She's not that selfish. Not like you.' Siren's eyes narrowed at that.
'I doubt that,' She said shortly. Then, despite herself, she had to add, 'Why do you care so much for your friends, anyways? That hunter girl would kill you in a second if she knew what you were, and don't you think you're little Goth friend gets tired of spending so much time covering for you?''Because they're my friends,' Danny told her without hesitation, 'I don't need a reason to protect them, it's a given. Besides, Sam and Tucker both believe in me, and I can't let them down.'
'What makes you so sure?' Siren was more confused now, 'You don't have any mind reading abilities yet, why are you so confident in their faith in you?' Danny sighed.
'You know, I almost feel sorry for you,' He said suddenly. Siren's eyes narrowed.
'Sorry for me?' She repeated coldly, 'I am the most powerful-!'
'I know,' Danny interrupted. 'But the only time you have confidence in someone's feelings is when they're under your stupid spells, and even then it's forced. You've never had someone who likes you just because.' Siren swallowed before turning away.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' She said before pushing the link away.
She looked out the window at the moon, willing it into position faster. Anything that would get her away from that child-like conviction. Still, one thought repeated in the back of her mind, even though Danny no longer had a way to speak to her.
'You've never had anyone who likes you just because…'
WoM- Okay, I know the Ember thing was obvious after a while. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks to;
DJ Rodriguez
animekraze
Tetsukon
Rachel
captain deoxys
Rosadina formerly Tima
Questions;
Rosadina formerly Tima (Not really a question but whatever. I'm really flattered you liked my story so much, you put it in your C2! And two others, too! THANK YOU!)
Next update; December 7th
See you then!