DarkFoxKit: *Looks at the calendar* Only one day to go, and I'm free. These treatments have been long, but at least, hopefully, this means I'm cured.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I hope so as well, it's been a bit chaotic with your treatment schedule. After treatment is done, you should take some time to relax and enjoy yourself. Perhaps I can arrange a spa day for you?
DarkFoxKit: But I've never been to a spa.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Smiles* Then it'll be a fun and unique experience for you. There will be massages, sitting in a sauna, wraps, baths of different kinds, and more.
Andy: Sounds pretty boring to me. Why do you need so many baths when a shower could just accomplish whatever?
DarkFoxKit: He's… never been to a spa either, though he thinks they're a waste of time, at least for him. Also, Andy, why the snark?
Andy: I'm tied to your mood. Despite it being the last day, you still feel pretty moody about the fact you have to go there at 5:30 in the morning again.
DarkFoxKit: *Looks at the camera and blushes* Noooo, Andy and I aren't tied emotionally, he was just making that up.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Mhmmm… sure you aren't. And there are a variety of different types of relaxing baths, some which can help your fur, some that can help cleanse your body of toxins, and some which just rejuvenate the whole body. You wouldn't just be taking a regular bath.
DarkFoxKit: *Smirks* Maybe you could schedule both me and Andy for a spa day, I'm sure he could use some relaxation of his own~
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Raises an eyeridge but nods a little* Yeah, okay. I'll see what I can do. Perhaps I can find a spa that has options for half-ghosts.
Andy: Excuse me! I didn't ask for a spa day! And I'm not half ghost while on here, remember?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I wouldn't be so sure about that, there have been some changes~ And you don't need to ask for a spa day, if you're emotionally and mentally tied to Fox, then you need to have a nice relaxing day as well.
DarkFoxKit: We're not emotionally and mentally tied!
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Pats Fox's head* Whatever you say, Fox~
Chapter 99: A Time of Respite
"Come on, Andy, we're almost there," Juliette said to me in a supporting tone as she literally supported most of my weight.
We were walking down the sidewalk, following Rose, and because I was so tired, I was leaning on Juliette. While I tried insisting on walking on my own, Juliette made it clear that she had no plans of letting me walk by myself.
"Just stay awake a bit longer," Juliette added.
"I'm fine…" I frowned, not liking that I was being treated like I would pass out at any moment. Guess it didn't help when that other me said I would pass out… "Juliette, how are you holding up?"
"I'm doing fairly good," Juliette answered. "However, I could use a small rest and some nourishment."
Sometimes I can't help but be a little envious of how ghosts don't need rest as much as humans do… I inwardly grumbled.
Rose stopped in front of a familiar place that Juliette and I had visited in this world before. We looked up in surprise, it was the opera house.
"This is your home?" Juliette inquired.
Rose gave a nod. "This is it. When I first moved here, I found this place abandoned. With some help, we got a hold of the deed and made it into a home. I did make it a point to keep a bunch of the features of the old building intact, but some big changes have been made. For instance, the dressing rooms are now bedrooms, the control room above the stage is also a bedroom, specifically my bedroom. We changed what used to be some kind of lounge area into a nice living room, and did a few other smaller changes."
"Wow… you were able to renovate this opera house?" I asked, surprised.
Juliette and Scarlet were able to make some changes to make the opera house back home in order to make it more comfortable, but they didn't renovate the entire place.
"To an extent, yes," Rose answered. "Now how about we head inside? You two can rest in the living room on the couch or recliners. I'll order some food to be delivered. Is there any food you two want?"
"At this rate, I'll just eat whatever edible food you bring me," I answered tiredly, and my stomach felt like it wanted to eat itself at this point. One powerful alternating reality gem isn't exactly nutritious for one's belly.
"So pizza?" Rose chuckled.
I paused for a moment. "If possible, I'd like pepperoni for my topping."
"You want any sides or desserts? And what about stuffed crust?" Rose inquired.
I only shrugged, I just wanted the pizza, if Rose wanted to add anything, that would be up to her. I also wanted to just sit down for a moment.
Rose guided us through the house, taking us to the living room she talked about. Juliette helped move me to the nearest couch before she sat me down. It definitely was more like a home than an abandoned house left forgotten on the streets of Amity Park. As I sat on the couch, I suddenly realized that I didn't want to move again for the rest of my life. Okay, maybe that was overexaggerating it.
"I'll get us two pizzas then," Rose stated. "Two extra larges, one with half pepperoni and half meat lovers. Then I'll also get a half vegetarian and half plain cheese. Both will be stuffed crust. I'll also get us some drinks, bread sticks, and desserts."
Juliette giggled a little. "That almost sounds like you're spoiling us a bit. Though we do hope we're not causing too much of an inconvenience for you."
"Don't worry one bit." Rose smiled. "You two seem like you need a bit of spoiling. And you aren't inconveniencing me at all. I'll work on getting you two some clean clothes and after we eat, I'll show you where you can both shower."
"Thanks for much for this, really. Even though you didn't have to do all this for us, we really appreciate it," Juliette said in a grateful tone.
"Yes, we do really appreciate it. It wouldn't be fun to have to try to live off the streets," I agreed. Though I guess due to the fact she's friends with another me here, it would be understandable why she would want to help us.
"You both are very welcome," Rose responded. "I'll get you two some water to drink while I order everything."
Rose headed out of the living room.
When Juliette and I were alone, I looked at Juliette. "Have your ghost powers come back at all? Do you still feel weird where the Gem of Form is?"
Juliette gave a small nod. "I do still feel the strangeness from the Gem of Form. And no, my ghost powers haven't returned. It hasn't been that long though."
I sighed. "Okay. Let's hope it's temporary then. I guess trying to use these gems while they're… well, inside us, would have some kind of side effect on us."
Juliette nodded in agreement. "Though that might not be it, considering I didn't have my ghost powers during the fall."
"I assumed that Freakshow temporarily blocked our powers while we were falling since I couldn't use my ghost powers either," I pointed out.
"Well, hopefully it is only temporary and not for as long as we're in this world," Juliette replied.
"Yeah… So this world… it's quite a strange, unfamiliar yet familiar world at the same time," I remarked, wanting to make some small talk, otherwise I felt like I would actually pass out. "I mean animal people are something I usually only see on TV or as ghosts."
"There are supposedly infinite worlds filled with infinite possibilities according to some," Juliette commented before she gave me a look. "Andy, you're tired. How about you get some rest and I'll wake you when the food gets here?"
I frowned a little. "You think… Rose wouldn't mind if I fell asleep on her couch?"
"She brought us here so we would have somewhere to rest and recuperate," Juliette pointed out.
"Right…" I yawned. "Kay… wake me when food is here…"
I laid down on the couch, and was out like a light seconds after.
"Andy… bro…"
I blinked open my eyes when I heard a very familiar voice. It was a voice I had heard not long ago, yet missed so very much. I saw I was in the living room of Fenton Works, and I saw Danny standing over me. Remembering Freakshow's rules, however, I let out a gasp and scrambled on the couch I was on when I realized that I just doomed us by letting Danny see me.
"Andy! Relax! Calm down, it's okay, you're just dreaming. I'm not… uh… I'm not the Danny you have to worry about seeing you to get a game over," Danny quickly assured me.
I blinked, taking in the words he told me. "Oh… I guess that explains why I'm in Fenton Works and not back at the opera house…"
"Yep." Danny smiled at me. "So you can come up from behind the couch."
I cautiously looked at Danny however. "You're not… a trap or anything, are you? Do you actually know me and not another me or something?"
"I'm not a trap and I actually know you, bro," Danny promised.
I then suddenly ran over to Danny and grabbed him in a hug. I hadn't realized how much I had missed Danny, my Danny, until now. I didn't care if he was just a dream, he was here, I could hug him, and I decided to do just that. "I… I missed you bro…"
"I missed you as well," Danny agreed, returning the hug. "But I'm technically always with you."
"I just wish you were actually, physically with me. Seeing these other versions of you just made me miss you all the more, bro," I said softly, still hugging him. "Last time I heard from you was at the Gothapalooza in the Nevada Desert… where you and everyone else were taken by the Guys in White… Juliette and I are hoping to save you all by winning this game and using the Reality Gauntlet to get you all out. But I don't know… I don't know if we'll be able to win this game. There had been so many close calls… it's only a matter of time before our luck runs out."
"That may not be the case, bro," Danny responded. "After all, Freakshow has been the one pushing his luck. Suddenly changing the rules of different worlds and making it so you nearly died. Also, you and Juliette are the heroes of this situation, bro. It's rare for the heroes to run out of luck."
I almost wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. This dream version of Danny sounded so much like the real Danny, it made me miss him even more.
"If only it was that simple…" I sighed before I released the hug, looking at Danny.
I didn't like not being able to get close to Danny, I didn't like having to run away from him, or dread confronting him like he was my enemy, I didn't like having to think of him as someone I wasn't allowed to speak to or touch. He was my twin brother, I shouldn't have to feel that way with him. Yet in this game, I was forced to, time and time again. I hated this game. I hated how long this game had gone, and how little I got to actually be with my friends and family for this supposed vacation of ours.
"I just… I want to see you and everyone else again without feeling the need to run and hide myself…" I frowned, even though I knew he wasn't actually Danny, it felt therapeutic to be telling this to a version of Danny at all. "And to not feel like a stranger to my own family."
Danny patted my back and gave me a smile. "I understand, bro. You… may not realize it, but I was there, watching as you and Juliette were forced to play this game. I could feel everything you were feeling, bro. And there has been times, several times, where I wish I could've let you know I was there and give you a comforting hug."
It was nice to hear that from Danny, even if he was just a dream. Then I had to ask him a question that had been bugging me since the first world, even if he was just a dream. I had to hear it from his mouth, his voice.
"Do you think… you might've been better off without a twin brother?" I questioned softly.
"What? No! Why would you even ask that?" Danny frowned, looking a little upset I would even ask such a thing.
"Sorry… it was just something that bothered me a little in the first world, the world where I was never born," I answered. "You seemed to have gotten a lot of things accomplished in that world."
"Bro, you have to remember that world was set sometime in the future," Danny reminded. "And if I remembered right, that me got seriously injured and had to go to Clockwork to heal. If you had been there, that likely wouldn't have happened, because I would've had someone who was my equal to watch my back."
I gave a little smile, feeling like some weight was lifted off my back. "Thank you, Danny, I needed to hear that… even if this is just a dream."
"Though right now, someone else needs to have their back watched," Danny remarked. "Specifically Juliette. She is focusing on trying to complete this as quickly as possible, but that may actually jeopardize the mission and make you lose. You need to get her to calm down. Freakshow said you had to catch him before he escaped, but he never gave you a timeframe of how long he would be in this last world before leaving."
"It is true we should try to find Freakshow as quickly as possible, but it is also true that being hasty would put us at risk. With these rules… of not letting our friends and family see us, including you, we're going to have a tough time trying to find Freakshow and staying hidden at the same time. We also don't know how well trained the Danny here is with sensing invisible ghosts," I noted. "I will see what I can do to try to calm Juliette down before she does something hasty that would put our game in jeopardy. And hopefully, we will never have to play this kind of game again."
Danny nodded in agreement. "When we see each other again in our world, I want to welcome you with open arms. Jazz would probably say that you might have a slight knee jerk reaction to seeing us after having to hide yourself from us during this horrible game, kind of like how you reacted when you saw me."
I chuckled sheepishly. "Uh… yeah, sorry about that. But it shouldn't take too long for me to relax around you and the rest of our family after a while. Of course… this is assuming that everything would turn out the way we want them to. I don't know what the Guys in White are doing to Danny right now… but heaven help them if they mess him up for their own sick, twisted amusement and research."
Danny gave a nod. "I'm sure the Guys in White will get what's coming to them."
Then I noticed Danny's body was starting to fade. "Danny? What's happening to you?"
"Looks like the dream is ending," Danny guessed.
I frowned, feeling a heavy pressure in my chest as my brother was slowly disappearing again. I grabbed him in a hug, still able to do that even as he was fading. "Don't go… I don't want you to leave me again…"
I felt Danny wrapping his arms around me, and rubbed my back in comfort. "Don't worry, Andy… I know we'll see each other again soon. Just don't give up, okay? Keep going until you catch Freakshow and win this game. Can you promise me that?"
I nodded my head. "Yes, I promise I won't give up until the end."
"And I promise I won't give up either," Danny said in a tone of determination. "We will see each other again, in our world."
With that said, Danny disappeared. I wrapped my arms around me, no longer feeling Danny there. It felt like I was suddenly empty again. The room around me blurred until I closed my eyes.
"Andy… Andy, the food is here."
I groaned a little, not really wanting to get up, but I did smell the heavenly scent of pizza, that was enough to get me up. I sat up on the couch, groggily rubbing my eyes. I looked at the coffee table in front of me, where I saw an open pizza box that had a large pizza that was half pepperoni and half full of an assortment of meat. There were also other boxes, one had breadsticks, another cinnamon sticks, and another pizza box on the other side of the coffee table.
"You have a nice nap?" Rose asked from one of the nearby chairs, holding a slice of pizza in her hand.
I let out a yawn. "I guess." It was nice to be able to talk to my Danny again, even if he was just a figment of my mind within a dream… I hope the real Danny is doing okay…
I reached out and took a slice of pizza. As soon as I bit into it, it wasn't long before that slice of pizza was gone. However, I stopped when I got to the crust and bit into cheese.
"Would you like to dip that or-" Rose started to offer before I gobbled down the cheese stuffed crust.
I heard Rose whistling. "Somebody was definitely hungry."
I blushed. "It felt like I haven't eaten in days."
I was already eating my second slice of pizza. The pizza tasted like the best pizza in the world, though I could be exaggerating due to being really hungry.
"There is dipping sauce for the crust if you want," Rose offered to me while Juliette was eating some slices from the half vegetarian pizza. She slid a few small cups filled with different sauces for dipping.
I could hear Rose and Juliette talking about some interesting things about this world while I was eating. I was trying to restrain myself from eating like a ravenous dog, and I definitely wasn't in the mood to talk while my mouth was too busy chewing my food, so listening would have to do for now.
"So what could you tell us about this world?" Juliette asked Rose. "It appears to be quite different from the world we came from. There are no anthropomorphic animal people, nor are there half human and half animal people as well. Only some ghosts are anthropomorphic, and those are incredibly rare. Have there always been animal people here? Or did something happen that caused them to appear here?"
"Let's see…" Rose mumbled. "The basics of this world is that there are anthros and chienthropes as well as humans. There is a variety of magic in the world, as well as the rare magical species. There are also feral magic creatures, gods and goddesses, and a bunch of other stuff. Uhhh… the planet has longer days, with each month having 40 days. And the planet is bigger than it was years ago, but most people don't know much of the latter half. Something happened with a powerful artifact that affected the whole world 3 years ago. I know for reasons I'd rather not go into. Before the world was changed, there were only humans and feral animals on this planet."
"Okay, so something happened to this world. 3 years ago, you say?" Juliette gave a thoughtful look. "Does that mean this world is also in the future to where we came from?"
Rose gave it some thought herself before she looked at me. "Likely future, since Andy looks to be younger than the Andy I know. How old are you, Andy?"
I looked at Rose, my mouth was sort of full.
Juliette giggled. "He's currently 15 years old."
Rose gave a small nod. "The Andy I know is older than that."
"Do you think that there's a chance it could also happen in our world then?" Juliette asked in a bit of concern.
"Maybe?" Rose shrugged. "I think what was used was a powerful reality altering artifact that may have been ghostly in origin? I'm not exactly sure."
I frowned a little. Powerful reality altering artifact? … Doesn't that sound an awful lot like the Reality Gauntlet?
I could tell Juliette was likely thinking the same thing I was with how her face scrunched up a little.
"You don't know exactly how it happened?" Juliette questioned.
"I wasn't there to see it and almost all the people in the world had their memories altered to believe the world has always been this way," Rose answered.
I swallowed my food, and seeing I had already eaten half of the large pizza. I was feeling good enough to actually speak now without needing to stuff my mouth with food. "So since you know a 'me' in this world, I'm guessing you also know the other people we might know? Like Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton, Samantha Manson, and Tucker Foley?"
"Does your Sam let you call her Samantha?" Rose raised a brow with a small chuckle. "My Sam would likely get mad if I called her by her name."
"Not really, I guess Sam is the same here then. Is she goth here too? Is she also all for animal rights and a vegan?" I asked.
"Yes to all of those," Rose confirmed.
"Does that mean everyone else is pretty much the same?" Juliette asked. "Danny being a nice, high school boy with a heart of gold, Tucker being the technology whiz, Jazz being the good intention sister who studies psychology?"
"Again, yes to all," Rose responded.
"At least we're not in opposite land," I remarked as I picked up a breadstick and dipped it into a marinara sauce. "But it's going to be… difficult to have to hide from them…"
Juliette nodded before she looked at Rose. "Before we ask anymore questions, we must know what you know first. What do you know about Danny Fenton in this world? And I guess Andy too."
"A good bit." Rose smiled. "You're gonna have to ask more specific questions if you want to find out."
"Do you know about Danny's… job to the city?" Juliette cautiously asked.
"Ahhh, perhaps I do," Rose replied before she tilted her head. Then after a few moments she nodded. "Yes, I know about Danny being a halfa, as well as my Andy."
"Okay, that's a relief then, so we don't have to hide anything when we ask you about them," Juliette said in relief. "How… well trained are they in tracking invisible ghosts? I don't mean just the basic invisibility, I mean when a ghost is able to suppress their ghostly aura while also being invisible enough that even other ghosts would have a hard time seeing."
I knew why Juliette was asking that question. It was so we could gauge how much of a risk it would be for us to get close to them while being in stealth mode.
"I don't think they've ever had to track ghosts using high level invisibility," Rose replied in an unsure tone. "I only know so much about their pasts. And Danny is the one who has done most of the ghost fighting for… certain reasons."
That made me wonder more about this 'me's' past. If I heard them right, the other Andy had fallen into the Void and was recently taken out of it. I would like to know more, but I doubt Rose would want to tell me, especially since it didn't relate to us beating this game. I am very curious about it though.
"So there's still a bit of a risk, since we don't know enough on what kind of training Danny and Andy had here…" Juliette frowned.
"It is still a risk, but chances are they haven't learned how to track down highly invisible ghosts," I spoke up.
"What makes you so sure about that?" Juliette questioned.
"Well, from what I could gather, the other Andy here was trapped somewhere for a long time. The only reason Danny and I had some training with tracking high invisible ghosts was because of the lessons you gave us, and the only reason you were able to give us those lessons in the first place is because I was the one who found you and brought you out of the Ghost Zone to hide from hunters," I pointed out. "Since it was just Danny here for a while, then, chances are, he never actually found you, so he never received the tracking training. It's like in the first world we were in where I didn't exist. Of course, this is all just speculation on my part. For all I know, this Danny had that kind of training with a different ghost in the Ghost Zone or something."
"Why do you two need to know this anyways? Are you planning to go near them?" Rose asked.
"We don't want to if we don't have to… considering that if we do, we have a high chance of losing the game." Juliette explained with a small frown. "But there's also a good chance Freakshow might try to hide amongst them in school, or at a Nasty Burger, or somewhere else they frequent, just so we can't get close to him without risking a game over."
"It would also be nice to know if we could get past Fenton Works without getting caught in case we need to go to the Ghost Zone," I added.
"I mean I can probably get you into the Ghost Zone," Rose offered. "I just need to get Andy and Danny to get Jazz and their parents out of the house. Danny and Jazz both gave me the codes to disable the security systems and all that."
Seems like some things never change. I sighed to myself.
"Thank you for that," Juliette replied in a grateful tone. "But we're going to try to look for Freakshow here first. The Ghost Zone is the last place we'll look since I know Freakshow has to be near the area to keep the game fair."
"The only problem is we don't really know where to start. And Freakshow can move around, so he'll be able to move from one hiding place to another pretty easily," I remarked. "He's not a ghost, so we can't exactly track him either. And even if he was, I'm sure he'd find a way to keep himself off of the radar with his Gem of Fantasy somehow."
"Gem of Fantasy?" Rose asked.
"Oh right, I guess we didn't explain," Juliette realized. "Freakshow has a powerful artifact with him. The artifact is said to be able to alter reality to how the user wishes, though it needs four gems in order to work. One gem is supposed to power up the other three gems and work simultaneously. The other three gems have their own specific power to alter reality. The Gem of Life, the Gem of Form, and the Gem of Fantasy. The Gem of Life can bring things to life, though I'm sure it has other uses as well. The Gem of Form can transform something into something else. The Gem of Fantasy can make one's dreams and imagination a reality. Freakshow has the Gem of Fantasy, he was able to use it to start this Shadow Game. The other two gems are safe from him, but he wants to get them from us as we know where they are."
Rose raised a brow at that. "Where does that powerful artifact come from?"
"We're not sure, we think it's a ghostly artifact though, given how much power it has," I replied.
"Oh, before I forget… the artifact is called the Reality Gauntlet," Juliette added.
"Oh? If it's possibly a ghostly artifact, then why not try to track the energy of the gauntlet?" Rose suggested. "It might take some time to pick up on the energy of it, but once you found it, you could just track Freakshow that way."
I raised an eyebrow, before looking at Juliette. "I've never tried to sense a ghostly artifact before. Though I do remember sensing the Gem of Life before when it brought that plane to life."
"It's… possible that we could pick up on it, but like Rose said, it would take us time to pick up on it," Juliette commented.
I nodded. "So perhaps the best thing to do is to try to scout out the city in hopes of picking something up that isn't a ghost or a halfa… or a Wisp if those guys are living here too."
"I'm guessing you'll be doing all that while in 'stealth mode'?" Juliette asked.
Since I always thought it was a mouthful to call it 'high invisible levels', I usually just referred it to as 'stealth mode'.
"There are lots of Wisps living around the city," Rose informed. "But if you're hiding yourself, they shouldn't bother you."
"Let's just hope Danny won't pick up on me as well," I sighed as I finished eating my pizza.
"We now have somewhat of a plan to track down Freakshow," Juliette remarked, looking a little more hopeful than she had in awhile. "So for now, let's take care of our needs before we go looking for him again."
"Good idea. I could definitely use a shower," I chuckled.
"I've readied the two guest rooms for you," Rose informed. "Juliette will be in the pink room and Andy in the blue room. To get to them, go out of the living room into the hall, turn right and they'll be down the way on your right side."
Juliette and I nodded.
"Thank you so much again for this, Rose." Juliette bowed.
"Yeah, we owe you big time for this," I agreed.
"No problem." Rose smiled. "Though you should fill up before you shower. I can tell you're both still hungry, so go ahead and keep eating."
I had never thought I would feel so good having a big meal like this. I began to eat the breadsticks since I had finished my pizza earlier. Juliette didn't need to eat as much as I did, but she seemed to be enjoying herself with her own food.
I was standing outside the room Juliette was staying in. Both of us had already showered and gotten ready for bed, but I found myself unable to sleep. There was a lot on my mind and I was hoping to talk to my friend about it, especially as some of it directly involved her.
I hoped I wasn't disturbing Juliette from her resting though. I hesitated a little, but I eventually knocked on her bedroom door. "Juliette…? It's me, Andy… um… do you have some time to… uh… talk?"
"Come on in, Andy!" Juliette's voice called out to me.
I opened the door and walked inside. I saw that Juliette appeared to be sitting in midair, which surprised me since I had never seen anyone, ghost or otherwise, actually sitting in midair before. Though I did remember that nightmare of Danny laying in midair before. I shook that thought out quickly.
"Sorry if I disturbed you. I couldn't really sleep… and… there has been something I've been meaning to talk to you about since we started this game," I remarked quietly to the goat ghost girl.
"It's fine," Juliette assured. "I've been working on rekindling my energy, hence why I am floating here. So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"After everything we've been through in this game, it was easy to forget the reason why we're doing this game in the first place," I sighed. "But now that I've had some time to think, I remembered why we were doing this. You… wanted to see your parents, didn't you?"
Juliette's levitation faltered for a moment before she stabilized herself. "Yes… I do. I know it is a low chance and he may have simply been playing me… But if there is a chance I could find them… If there is an opportunity that I could see them again, I don't want to let it pass. I want to know definitively what has happened to them. Whether they're in the Ghost Zone or if they did move on to the afterlife… I just want to know that they're okay."
I nodded. I understood that feeling, now more than ever with my family being in danger, and not knowing if I would see them again. "But… what if Freakshow was lying? What would you do then?"
"Then he would pay," Juliette said in a surprisingly cold, bloodthirsty tone. "Not only would he be breaking the terms of the game, he would also be making an enemy of someone who will be fully recovered by the time we battle again. The main reason I had so much trouble before is because I was still recovering from when we fled those Guys in White."
Despite Juliette not being a fighter, I couldn't deny that she had some really strong fire magic. She even gave Lydia and Freakshow a run for their money. I would feel sorry for Freakshow if he was lying to her about her parents.
"Not to mention that the fire of anger burns much hotter than a standard flame," Juliette added.
"Just try not to do anything rash. As tempting as it would be, we shouldn't kill Freakshow, or give him a permanent scar," I sighed.
"He wants to be a ghost so badly, he might as well be one," Juliette muttered.
I frowned, but Juliette didn't say anything else about it. I decided to change the subject. "So how do you feel right now after having used the Gem of Form earlier?"
"I feel fine," Juliette replied. "Are you expecting some kind of drastic change in how I am feeling?"
I shook my head. "I meant ghost powers wise. Can you use any of your ghost powers yet?
Juliette pointed down at the ground and then her legs. "I am levitating. And I'm slowly regaining my energy, like I told you."
I sighed. "I guess I should've asked how much of your powers you got back. I know you have levitation at least."
"I am not entirely sure. I don't want to test any of my powers just yet," Juliette answered. "If I use my powers, even for a moment, I'll expend some of the energy that I'm only slowly getting back."
I nodded, though I wondered if using these gems messed up our powers at all. I didn't have plans on actually using the Gem of Life, but it did worry me what the Gem of Form might have done to Juliette's core.
"Don't worry too much, I'll be fine, alright?" Juliette assured me.
"Oh… I guess it was that obvious that I was worried, huh?" I sheepishly chuckled.
"Yes." Juliette nodded. "It was pretty much written all over your face."
I sighed before thinking. "Do you think the Gem of Life could actually bring ghosts back to life? I remember you being worried about it bringing you back to life."
"Maybe? Or it could make new ghosts by bringing back the souls of those who never passed on properly," Juliette theorized. "There are some people who are so heartbroken or mentally shattered when they die that they don't really go anywhere. The shards of their soul stay wherever they died and some theorize, and have even tested, that one could collect the shards and use some kind of power to stitch the soul back together."
"Seems complicated," I grumbled. "I guess it doesn't matter anyways since I'm not planning on using the Gem of Life, and I'm getting rid of it as soon as we get the Reality Gauntlet."
Juliette shrugged a little. "That's your own decision. I just hope I will be able to rid myself of the Gem of Form without there being any ill effect on myself."
"Why would there be ill effects on you if you got rid of it? Is it because of the bond?" I asked in concern.
"Because I don't know if it has bonded to me or not," Juliette answered. "Removing it could destabilize my core if the gem is already fully bonded to me."
"Fully bonded? I thought you said we could get rid of the bond once we get the Reality Gauntlet." I frowned.
Juliette hesitated. "I should probably be honest and say that I don't actually know all that much… I have a theory that the Reality Gauntlet could undo the bond… though it might only work for one of us. For all we know, the Reality Gauntlet has some kind of 'can only do one thing before it needs to recharge for a decade' mechanic. And… if that turns out to be the case, I would prefer we used the Reality Gauntlet to help your family."
I felt troubled by that.
"And…" Juliette frowned a little. "I suppose putting these gems into our bodies may have some kind of side effects on us."
"Okay, let's change the subject before I decide to tear the gem out of my stomach," I grumbled.
"You were the one who came in here to talk," Juliette pointed out with a very soft chuckle.
I rolled my eyes. "Speaking of which, I also wanted to ask… what were your parents like?"
"They were…" Juliette smiled a little. "They were kind and loving, the best kind of parents one could hope for. They would treat any that came to them for help as if they were family. They would do whatever they could to help the kingdom, even if it meant we would have to make sacrifices in the castle for a time. Once there was a famine in the closest village. So instead of letting them suffer and die, Mother and Father gave them a majority of what we had in our food stores. I remember eating some simple foods for a time, like soup and bread, but I knew it was for the best so I did not complain."
"They really sounded like the kind of rulers people would want and need." I smiled myself. "It would be nice if I could meet them one day."
"I'm sure they would love to meet you and your family if given the chance," Juliette responded before sighing a little. "However… I worry that they have possibly changed over the centuries since we were all alive… If we do see them… will they still be the same parents I know and loved? Would… would they even still love me…? After all, I am no longer the daughter they knew. To them, I could be some hideous monster that consumed their daughter's body and mind and claims to be their daughter…"
I frowned, realizing Juliette seemed to be experiencing a similar fear Danny and I had with our parents. "Well… I can't say for sure what they would think… but if it helps… at least Scarlet knew it was still you."
Juliette was quiet at that. I found myself sitting on the bed Juliette wasn't using, feeling a bit too tired to stay standing.
"I'm sorry… if I insulted you, I didn't mean to," I apologized when Juliette didn't say anything.
"It's not that you insulted me…" Juliette quietly informed. "It's just… while Scarlet knew it was me… she did admit to me that she was unsure at first. I gave off the same energy she had familiarized herself with… but my appearance was so drastically different that, for a little bit, she didn't actually believe I was the same princess she knew…"
"But you did prove to her you were who you said you were. And if someone like Scarlet could be convinced, then I'm sure your parents will be able to recognize their own daughter," I replied.
"She admitted to me in confidence that she was unsure I was myself for a few weeks after our reunion. She told me that she had kept me under close watch to see if I acted in any ways that I normally wouldn't have," Juliette softly added. "If my parents saw me… and if their personalities are not the same… they might turn away and leave, not wanting to lay eyes on the monster that had replaced their daughter…"
I frowned, but shook my head. "You don't know that for sure, Juliette. We won't know until we actually see them."
"You're right," Juliette acknowledged. "We don't know anything for sure. Perhaps the parents I knew are the same loving parents I hope to reunite with. But at the same time, the odds of that are actually statistically low. If they have been in the Ghost Zone this entire time, then they may have had to change how they do things just to survive. And… if they went on to heaven… then they probably have a daughter there… one who was cured of her illness. The chance of them being the exact same people after 1,400 years… it's extremely low."
"Maybe they're not the same people you knew 1,400 years ago," I said as I laid down on the bed without meaning to. "But that doesn't mean they've lost their kindness. I don't know what you were like 1,400 years ago, but as far as I'm concerned, you're a very kind person despite being hunted down over the centuries. Yeah, maybe you do have some cynicism and bloodlust, but your core kindness is still there, your humanity is still there from what I can see."
Juliette frowned before she unfolded her legs and touched back down. "Have I really changed that much over 1,400 years…? I promised myself I would never be cruel… yet you are correct in that there is a lust for blood within me… Maybe…"
I yawned a bit, but I looked at her as much as I could from my position. "What?"
Juliette shook her head. "Sleep well, Andy."
"Not sleepy, I'm still talking to you," I grumbled.
"You've laid down in bed and seem to be quickly losing the energy to stay awake," Juliette pointed out.
"But this is an important conversation. As-" I unintentionally yawned. "As Jazz would say, it wouldn't be good for your psyche if we left it as that."
"I've been able to cope with my psyche for 1,400 years, I think I can make it at least a few more nights," Juliette countered.
"I can stay awake for an hour or two," I stubbornly replied.
"Andy, your core is exhausted, you're about to crash after that extra energy boost ran its course. You barely have enough energy to even lift your head up right now," Juliette observed.
As much as I hated to admit it, Juliette was right. Unless Wisps decided to give me some extra energy, I was completely drained. But I didn't like the idea of leaving this conversation unfinished just because I was tired. I felt something warm in my stomach. I froze, realizing that it was likely the Gem of Life, and I might have given a subconscious command to give me some of its energy to help me stay awake. I shut my eyes to make it stop, which it thankfully did.
"Okay… I guess you have a point…" I relented.
"Sleep well, Andy," Juliette stated as she began to head for the door of the bedroom.
"Wait… where are you going?" I asked.
"Well you're sleeping in the bed I was going to be sleeping in," Juliette noted. "So I was going to go to the room you were meant to stay in and use that bed."
"Oh… sorry…" I closed my eyes. "I... could… go to… my room…"
I think Juliette said something, but I couldn't hear whatever it was, I was conked out. I barely saw Juliette walking out, and closing the door behind her, through the narrow slit of vision that my sight had become. Moments later, all I saw was darkness before I fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up to Rose cheerfully calling me for breakfast. It felt surreal, waking up in a completely different place, and remembering what happened before. I then remembered I was in the room Juliette was supposed to sleep in, and blushed. "Oh my gosh… could I be anymore of a dork?"
On the plus side, at least I didn't feel like I was about to crash at any second anymore. The sleep did me some good. I got out of bed and had to head to the room I was supposed to be sleeping in since my bathroom and clothes were in there. When I opened the door, I didn't see Juliette. It was likely she had gotten up before me and was waiting in the living room.
It was nice to just get ready for the day, as if it was just an ordinary day in Amity Park. Though a part of me felt guilty since I was doing all this ordinary stuff while my brother could be on a dissecting table in the GiW's headquarters right now.
When I finished brushing my teeth, and cleaning myself up, I went to the wardrobe. The clothes I came in with were dirty and torn up, so I hoped that whatever clothes Rose had here would be able to fit me. I was surprised to see a lot of the clothes were… the ones I originally wore. The black T-shirt with the blue triangle, and the red baggy pants. They were a little bit big on me though, which proved the Andy here was a little older, and taller, than me. Still, they fit on comfortably enough, and if I was going to be sneaking around, looking for Freakshow, I would likely be in my ghost form.
I finally walked into the kitchen, where I saw Rose and Juliette chatting away like old friends. I was impressed with how quickly Juliette got along with Rose.
"So you said you go to school but have been given permission to take off because you claimed you had relatives in town that you needed to look after?" Juliette raised a brow.
"Yeah, pretty much. Probably helps that I'm the president of the student council as well," The fox girl answered with a chuckle.
"Hey, good morning you two," I greeted.
"Morning, Andy," Juliette greeted back.
"Did you sleep well?" Rose inquired.
"Yeah, I think so," I answered sheepishly. "Err… sorry about sleeping in your bedroom last night, Juliette."
"It's fine," Juliette assured before chuckling. "Seems you fell asleep pretty quick when you were in a pink girly room~"
I blushed at that. "H-hey! The color of the room didn't matter! I was just exhausted!"
"Uh huh, sure~" Juliette smirked. "I'm sure you didn't once think about trying out one of the dresses or outfits in the closet~"
"Juliette! Please!" I huffed.
"Whatever you say." Juliette smiled before she lowered her tone. "Princess Andrea~"
I playfully pushed Juliette a little.
"Alright you two, you better have some breakfast before you head out in your 'stealth mode' and start searching for Freakshow," Rose spoke up before she leaned over and whispered to Juliette about something.
Juliette put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my. I was merely joking with him, Rose. I was not insinuating any such things."
Rose was just laughing, and I suddenly realized I did not want to be a part of this conversation.
After having a good breakfast, and wow I couldn't believe how long it had been since I had a proper breakfast, Juliette and I were now looking around Amity Park. We were currently wearing hoodies. I was wearing a dark red hoodie as opposed to my usual dark blue one, since I felt I would be too recognizable in that one. Juliette was wearing a pink hoodie with a unicorn on the back.
We still didn't know where to look for Freakshow. If our theory was right, he would likely be hiding among the very people that would cause us a game over if they see us. Which meant we were currently on our way to Casper High.
"Maybe we should wait until school is out before we try looking for Freakshow among them?" I suggested.
"Why wait until school is out?" Juliette inquired. "It isn't like a… I believe they're called truancy officers? The ones that make sure all students go to school."
I gave a nod to respond to Juliette.
"Well it isn't like one of those will come after us. The you of this world is likely already there and most instantly conclude that I am an adult due to my mature presence," Juliette pointedly responded.
"It's just school is a very narrow place, not a lot of room to hide if it comes down to it," I answered. "And some teachers may try to take us, or at the very least, me to class, not knowing that 'I'm' already in class."
"Ahhh, that is a fair enough point," Juliette acknowledged. "What would we do in the meantime while waiting? If you are worried about us being caught, then we shouldn't stay too close to the school."
"Hmm…" I looked around for a moment. "Maybe we could just explore around town. Maybe we'll get lucky and find Freakshow somewhere else."
"I do not think we would be so lucky as to have that happen to us," Juliette replied. "If that were to happen, it would likely be Freakshow messing with us and giving us false hope."
"Hey, a little bit of optimism will go a long way," I remarked as we started to walk.
We decided to explore around the central park of Amity Park. When we got there, I chuckled a little. I saw that there were two different signs, one that was, funnily enough, called 'Amity Park'. It was a redundant or confusing name for a park to say the least. The other had the name Central Park which looked much newer. There seemed to be paint on the older sign, likely trying to cover up the old name, but it looked like someone kept scraping away the paint, likely to keep the redundant joke alive.
Juliette looked more relaxed here. I figured she would like to come here to unwind a bit, especially after Freakshow all but dumped us into this world like a couple of falling meteors. I looked around, seeing a few small kids playing around, though I would think most kids were in school or preschool right now. It made the park quiet and tranquil. I could see some animals running around, like squirrels, and birds flying on the trees. Feeling the pleasant breeze, I could deduce it was either spring or early summer right now in this world. It was possible it was early fall as well, cool enough to not be hot, but not to the point where the leaves were turning red.
Juliette looked down a little and began thinking to herself a little.
I looked over at Juliette. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"I've been thinking about the Gem of Form," Juliette answered.
"What about it?" I asked. It's what saved our life when we were falling, though it apparently cost Juliette most of her ghost powers.
Juliette chuckled a little. "Everything. 'What it is doing to me?', 'What it is capable of?', 'Should I use it more?', 'What would happen if I used it more?', 'What has it already done to me?', and so on."
I sighed. "Yeah, that's… a lot to think about. I haven't really thought too much about the Gem of Life, mostly because I'm worried about what it could do as well, and I rather not start spiraling down my thoughts about it when I can't do much about it right now."
"I've already started using the Gem of Form though," Juliette pointed out. "So I've been thinking about… how it might already be past the point of reversal and how I might as well use it more. After all, with the Gem of Form I could change us to look like different people. That way we would be able to go around much more easily. It would even allow us to potentially circumvent the 'not being identified or helped' rule."
"Oh… yeah, that would be very helpful," I agreed, then frowned. "But… do you know how to use it? And even besides that, aren't you worried it might permanently take away your ghost powers or do something else?"
"I have an inkling on how to use it," Juliette replied. "It seems to work off my imagination. As for it permanently taking away my ghost powers, I'm not exactly worried about that. I can feel them very slowly coming back to me. In a way, my powers were… reset? I think that would be an apt way of putting it. My powers are slowly coming back but something happened that caused them to stop working temporarily, though it wasn't the use of the Gem of Form. Remember, I wasn't able to use my powers in the fall. If I had my ghost powers while falling, I would've been able to fly us to safety instead of having to rely on the Gem of Form."
"Yeah… but…" I frowned in confusion. "The same thing happened to me, but… my powers seem to be working fine right now."
"Yes, but you have more ways to recover your powers," Juliette pointed out. "You are half human. There was also your hyperactivity."
I blushed as I was reminded of that. "O-oh, right."
"It might benefit us more to use these gems in the game. Freakshow never forbade us to use them," Juliette pointed out. "It might help make the game easier for us."
I frowned. "I don't know how to use mine, nor am I comfortable with using it… I mean what am I going to do? Bring this tree to life and have it hug us?"
"Well… why not have it…" Juliette gave a thoughtful look. "You could potentially create some of those paper airplanes that you and Danny showed me how to make. If you gave them life, they could fly around Amity Park and help us look for Freakshow. As for learning how to use it, perhaps meditate a little and focus on it. I did it a little and I understood that the Gem of Form uses both my imagination and willpower to alter a small bit of reality to suit the form I desire."
I sighed. Juliette made a good point, it would be a good idea to actually use these gems that we brought with us in this game. Freakshow didn't have to be the only one with a powerful gem that could alter reality in this game. Though I still didn't like the idea of using it.
"How do you plan on using the Gem of Form though?" I asked. "Are you going to try to use it now?"
Juliette shook her head. "I am not yet sure on how I want to use it. Yes, I could change our forms, but I would have to pick out something good and would have to imagine us with a good amount of detail. While the Gem of Form may fill in the rest, it still needs a somewhat detailed idea to use."
I nodded to Juliette. "If you need to think on it, go ahead. We've got time to kill."
"How about while I think about it, you try to learn more about the Gem of Life?" Juliette suggested.
I frowned a little. "I… guess I could…"
Juliette gestured for me to follow her. I walked with Juliette as she led us to one of the biggest trees in Central Park. She then sat down under the tree, putting her back against the trunk. "I find it's easier to meditate under a nice big tree like this one."
"Really? You connect with nature like Sam tries to do?" I chuckled a little as I sat down beside the goat girl.
"Nature is a source of power and calming energies," Juliette explained. "There was much more of it in my day, so it was much easier to reach out and feel those energies and powers. In fact, nature magic was one of the easiest to tap into with the sheer amount of energy coming from everywhere. Nature magic could be used in a variety of ways from helping to heal someone's wound to being able to make contact with wild animals. The strongest nature magic users could go to a meadow, plant some seeds, and actually make an entire forest grow in a single night."
I gave a small smile. Though we weren't learning nature magic, it was still something nice to listen about. "Well, I guess we'll see if this nature-meditation will do us any good then."
"I know it will help me, but in order for it to help you, you need to believe there is a chance it will help," Juliette said informatively. "If you completely doubt it will help then it will do you no good as you are closing your mind to the possibility."
"I know… you told me the same thing when you were teaching me basic fire magic," I chuckled. "I guess I'm just not usually one for meditation."
"Think of it this way, it could help you learn how the Gem of Life works. And if it doesn't, at least you will have had time to simply relax," Juliette commented with a small smile. "That way, no matter what happens, you're still getting something out of meditating."
I nodded. Juliette then closed her eyes and sat still, her legs crossed as she sat on the ground. I looked at her for a moment, surprised at how still she could become. It was almost eerie, and a good reminder that she wasn't exactly alive. In fact, if she was grey I might've mistaken her for a statue.
I took a deep breath myself before I closed my own eyes and hoped that I wouldn't accidentally doze off.
Something felt different and surreal. When I opened my eyes again, I was still in Central Park, but something was different. I looked around, this entire park was empty. There were no people, no animals, no cars on the streets even. The colors looked more vibrant than normal, though only seeming to be around the trees and grass and flowers and water.
"Hey, Juliette, where is every-" I began to ask, but when I looked beside me, there was no signs of Juliette. "Juliette?"
I stood up and began to look around in concern. "What's going on here…? Where did everybody go?"
"Calm down, young one. You are currently in a pocket of the Realm of Nature."
I jumped at the sudden voice, turning to look at who was talking. "Who's there?"
"I am that which you wish to understand, young one. However, you must come find me if you wish to speak with me. I am within the confines of this park."
I raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to find you?"
"Your legs work, don't they? While you move around here, your body in your world will remain stationary. So you don't have to worry about looking like you are wandering off."
I frowned, wondering if this meant my spirit was somehow transported to this pocket of the Realm of Nature as the voice called it. I checked my core for a moment, it was still there thankfully, but I got the feeling the voice wanted me to find them without using my ghost powers. I started to walk around.
I began to check in the holes of the trees, the bushes, in some hollow trees and logs, under the benches, even under some rocks. It was weird not seeing any living creatures, not even bugs in the dirt.
"You are looking too low."
So I was supposed to check higher. I frowned a little before I looked up at the trees, wondering if I had to climb those. It wasn't often I would climb trees, especially not since I got ghost powers, but I began climbing one of the bigger trees. I reached up to the branches to help pull myself up and began to look around as I climbed higher.
"You're getting warmer~"
I noticed something moving a little bit from one of the branches I was using to help me climb. I looked over, seeing something over there. It was likely the owner of the voice. I tested the tree branch a little to make sure it was thick enough to support my weight, though I guess I could just use my ghost powers to float over it if I needed to. I began to crawl on the tree branch, trying to get closer to the shape I was looking at. I moved some of the leaves out of my face, and saw something pink up ahead. I finally moved away most of the leaves, and was surprised to see Juliette.
Or what I thought was Juliette at first glance. Her fur was pink though, instead of white. She was wearing a red robe that had some different symbols on it in a lighter red and sometimes pink. Some of the symbols looked like leaves and others looked like cut gemstones.
"Hello there, young one. Glad that you finally found me."
I blinked a few times, feeling like I should know this person other than the fact they resembled Juliette for some reason. Then something occurred to me.
"Are you one of Juliette's relatives?" I asked.
"No, I am not." The strange pink goat girl answered.
"Then… who are you?" I inquired.
"I am the manifestation of the Gem of Life," The strange pink goat girl replied. "I chose a form that you would feel relaxed around in order to reduce the chances of a negative reaction. You wished to learn about me and the best way to do so is by speaking."
It took me a moment for my brain to catch up on what she was saying. Of course, despite her saying she wanted to reduce a chance of a negative reaction, I quickly paled when it sunk into my mind to who or what she was. "You're the Gem of Life?! You're sentient!?"
I knew the Gem of Life may have possibly had some sort of mind of its own, but the fact that I was talking to it like an actual person, the fact it could think, and likely, feel, suddenly made me want to rethink my entire life, and also puke my guts out.
"Relax, young one. I am sentient but only by design. After all, I have to be able to properly fulfill the requests of the one that wields me, and sometimes their requests are a bit… poorly phrased," The Gem of Life responded. "I only have a limited sentience, and I've never truly had a body. So you don't need to be concerned about having me trapped or that you're preventing me from living. In fact, what you are doing right now is keeping me safe. Something that no being has done for me before. Usually the one who wields me has me somewhere out in the open, somewhere that I can be attacked or stolen."
I sighed, trying to keep my nauseous feeling at bay. "I have… so many questions."
"Ask away," The Gem of Life responded.
"How are you sentient? Why haven't you said anything until now? How much do you know about what's going on? How did me putting blood on you affect you? How do you work? Aren't you grossed out by where I'm keeping you safe? Are the other Gems sentient too? Wouldn't you prefer to be with the other gems on the Reality Gauntlet? Do you have your own hopes and dreams? Do you have a name I could refer to you as other than Gem of Life?" I bombarded her with questions.
"I will start with the easiest ones," The Gem of Life chuckled. "I haven't said anything because I cannot speak directly to you outside a world like this. You are currently the one who has to seek me out. I am not grossed out by where you are keeping me safe. The other Gems have a bit of sentience to themselves in order to properly interpret the orders they are given, but they are not as sentient as I am. I would not prefer to be on the Reality Gauntlet, no, as when it is used, it drains quite a bit of my energy. While some people believe it is the key to unlimited power, it can actually only be used a limited number of times before the gems go into a resting state. I don't have a name, but you are free to give me one if you would like. And I know some of what is going on. I know that you are currently in a challenge with the human known as Freakshow. He wishes to obtain myself and the Gem of Form. I know that you are currently on the final world and a lot is at stake."
The Gem of Life took a small breath. "As for the more complicated questions, I am sentient both because I was created to be able to properly interpret or decipher the request of my wielder. However, I am more sentient as I am filled with the energy of life, meaning in a sense I do have a life force. You putting your blood on me allowed me to bond to you and identify you as my current wielder. Others can steal me from you, but if I am in the hands of another and you shout an order to me, I will still fulfill your order over the one who stole me from you."
I took a deep breath and let it out. "Sorry, I guess the situation led us to doing desperate things. I guess you know that I was trying to learn how to use you in case I might need to. You've probably been stolen by other people over the years you've existed, people with greedy hearts, or hungry for power most likely. Using you for power though didn't even cross my mind. I've only used you out of necessity, and even then I was hesitant…"
"You don't need to apologize to me, Andy," The Gem of Life assured. "I have been stolen many a time over the eons I have existed, and yes I have dealt with people who were greedy or power hungry. However, you aren't one of them. And unlike the others, you are treating me better, keeping me safe and actually attempting to contact me. Only a few have contacted me before, and when they did they simply told me that I was their property and I was to serve them."
I winced at the idea of ever saying that to someone, especially someone I considered a friend. "Then… I take it you don't want Freakshow to win this game, right? If he does, he'll take you and the Gem of Form and put you on the Reality Gauntlet to use you for… I don't know, whatever the heck he wants."
"He wishes to rule all of reality," The Gem of Life informed. "He is sadly a more… common type of villain. While he has crazy ideas most of the time, when it comes to actually having power, he would default back to the basics. At least that is the read I got from him. And you are correct, I do not wish for him to win."
I had wondered about Freakshow's motivations and goals, especially after I read his journal before. But he is who he is now, he wasn't who he was back then. He was a madman who needed to be stopped, and he still is right now.
"There is a chance he might do more, but those chances are low. His desire more pertains to the power of the Reality Gauntlet than any of the individual powers of the Gems," The Gem of Life added.
"Juliette and I need the Reality Gauntlet to save our friends and family from a secret government facility…" I frowned, remembering the reason why we were doing this in the first place.
"Yes, I know that," The Gem of Life acknowledged.
"But after that…" I hesitated. "I don't know… it crossed my mind a few times it might've been better to destroy the Reality Gauntlet as well as the gems with it because it was too dangerous. But seeing that you're sentient… I don't think I could bring myself to do that. But we can't just let something like that… exist. Even if we kept it hidden or under guard, there's always going to be a chance some greedy or powerful villain will steal it again and we would be back at this point anyways."
"Perhaps that's not something to worry about right now. What you do after everything is said and then can be worried about when this is over," The Gem of Life stated.
"Right…" I sighed. "Then… if you wouldn't mind, please lend me your power to win this game, stop Freakshow, and save our friends and family."
"Like with the Gem of Form, your imagination and willpower play a big part in tapping into my powers," The Gem of Life stated. "However, there is one more key piece to using my powers, the more heart you put into the desire, the more willpower there is behind it, the stronger the end results will be. If you only desire something a little and don't put much into it, then you will only get so much out of it."
I listened intently before nodding. I wanted to be sure I knew how to use the power before actually using it. "Is it also possible to reverse your power? Like if I gave something life, could I take it back or something and make them inanimate again?"
"Yes, it is possible," The Gem of Life answered. "You could also use my powers in other ways. For instance, you could bring something to life and then use my powers to actually control that object. You could even transfer your consciousness to the object if you chose to do so. And transfer of consciousness would be something you could choose to end at any time, so you could do it for only a few seconds or you could do it for 100 years. You can also do the same with living beings, you can take away their life force to make yourself stronger."
I winced at that last one.
"Though I get the feeling you wouldn't do that even if your own life depended on it," The Gem of Life chuckled at my reaction. "You could give them extra life, or control someone to get them out of danger or something along those lines."
"It's definitely interesting. Very helpful for scouting without the risk of being seen as well, being able to cover more ground too," I noted.
"I'm sure you'll also find other uses when the situation will call for it." The Gem of Life gave a mysterious smile.
I blinked at that.
"For now, I'll let you figure it out on your own," The Gem of Life remarked. "I will do my best to help you win this game and save your loved ones."
I smiled a little. "Thanks… um… would you mind it if I called you Rhodonite?"
The Gem of Life raised a brow. "Interesting choice in a name. Rhodonite, typically a pink-red gemstone. That is a fitting name, considering I am a red gemstone out of this place and in here I am pink and red."
"Yeah, which was why I thought the name would fit you," I chuckled sheepishly.
"I do not mind at all," The Gem of Life answered. "I will make sure to answer to that, as well as my regular identifier. If you choose to do so, later I will be able to speak directly with you outside of a place like this. However it is something that you have to choose to make happen."
I blinked, surprised by that, but nodded. "Okay, I will keep that in mind, Rhodonite. Thanks again, for helping me."
"You do not need to thank me, but you are very welcome," Rhodonite replied.
I think I was back in my body, because everything was dark, but I could hear the sounds of animals and kids playing again. I started to open my eyes, and saw a blue little flame floating in front of me. I yelped in surprise, hitting the trunk behind me a bit. I hissed as I rubbed the back of my head.
"Are you alright?" Juliette softly asked as she opened her eyes.
I grumbled a little, seeing the blue floating flame backed away a little. I recognized it as a Wisp, but this one seemed different from the other Wisps. It was silent for one.
"Fine… just had a surprise when I opened my eyes," I sighed.
"Oh?" Juliette glanced my way. "I wonder what a single Wisp is doing here. Usually they don't stray far from their colonies."
The blue Wisp floated around us before it flew away somewhere.
"I guess it was just curious?" I shrugged.
"Perhaps," Juliette replied with a chuckle. "So, how did your meditation go?"
"Oh." I smiled a little. "It went surprisingly well… like really well. I was able to enter some kind of pocket dimension of this park, and spoke with the Gem of Life. Apparently they're sentient enough to be able to communicate, at least the Gem of Life was."
"How interesting…" Juliette acknowledged, tilting her head a bit in curiosity. "What did you speak about? And how did your conversation go?"
I told Juliette about Rhodonite, and what we talked about. More importantly, I had Rhodonite's cooperation if I needed her help.
"What about you and the Gem of Form?" I asked curiously.
"I didn't speak with it, or get pulled into a pocket dimension like you did," Juliette answered. "I was mainly focusing on relaxing."
"Oh? I'm surprised. I thought you wanted to figure out how to use the Gem of Form more while we were meditating," I remarked, tilting my head.
"I did, but I was unable to find out any more, so I then put my focus into relaxation," Juliette explained.
"So you decided to wait until I finished my own meditation?" I blinked.
Juliette nodded. "I have nothing else to do, and I wasn't planning on leaving you here on your own. And meditating helped me relax, which is something I haven't quite done since we started this game."
"Yeah… heh, you were quite tense since we arrived here," I chuckled. "Maybe now we can think more clearly. Perhaps I could take you up on your idea to try to send out scouts to try to find Freakshow, as well as keep the location of the other people important to our lives in check."
"Oh? So you have come to the decision to use the Gem of Life?" Juliette inquired.
"Yeah. After talking to Rhodonite, I figured it would be in our best interest to use whatever we have at our disposal to win this game," I answered. "Freakshow shouldn't be the only one to be able to use a reality bending gem for this game after all."
Juliette smiled a little and nodded. "So what do you plan on bringing to life to help in the search for Freakshow?"
"Something that could fly and wouldn't be very noticeable," I said thoughtfully. "Paper airplanes is a good suggestion, but I think people would notice if a paper airplane was out flying around town. They're not meant to fly for long periods of time, only glide through the air."
"Then what about balloons? Or small toys like plastic flies or those green plastic soldiers?" Juliette suggested.
"Hmm… those could work. Toys that could look like the real things, balloons, I could maybe even disguise an origami bird to make it look like a real bird from a distance by spray painting it black or red or something," I chuckled. "Problem is… we don't have any at our disposal. I guess we could go back to the opera house and see if Rose has anything we can use… or…"
I looked at Juliette. "Maybe you could use your Gem of Form?"
"I would still need something to use as a base," Juliette informed. "I cannot simply reach out and have something form from nothing. For origami birds, I will need paper. For those plastic toys, I will need some kind of plastic. The Gem of Form needs something to change the form of, something of substance. With the Reality Gauntlet, and all the Gems, I could pluck things out of thin air, but on its own its power is limited."
I just chuckled. "I wasn't going to have you transform something out of thin air, Juliette. But thanks for the information. That actually makes it easier. Those things you need are pretty common after all."
"Though there are other things I should mention. What I get as the end result, the quality of it, depends on what I put in. If I used… a very thin and weak paper to make the origami bird, its quality would be poor to moderate at best," Juliette explained. "If we want things that will last, we need at least decent quality materials."
"Hmm… well, I don't know what kind of papers Rose keeps at her house. But I know there are a lot of high quality materials at Casper High, they kind of have to be, especially to survive ghost attacks," I remarked, crossing my arms over my chest, thinking to myself.
"But the only way to get those materials would be to go there or have someone that goes there get them for us," Juliette said. "And I'm not sure if Rose is exactly up for taking school supplies."
"I'll go and get them. I have a pretty good idea where they keep the high quality papers assuming it's the same as our Casper High," I volunteered.
"If you plan on doing that, I should change your form," Juliette remarked.
I tilted my head. "What would you change me into?"
"Give me a little bit to think about it…" Juliette replied as she glanced around, seeing a raven fly by.
ChloeTheKitstune: DarkFoxKit: Uh… well the Void is more of a main focus in another Danny Phantom story we're doing, not here, so we won't be showing the Void much in WAP.
ukairoenyinnaya: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We have not given up on that story. We simply stopped updating it for the meantime as the very next chapter has spoilers that we wish to avoid sharing. We will be getting back to posting The Infinite Realms once we are past the spoiler section.
DarkFoxKit: By spoilers, we mean spoilers for this story. We don't want fans being spoiled before we even get to that plot point. That's why we had to stop updating The Infinite Realms for the time being. I know it's taking a long time, but we do need to get past a certain point in WAP first before we can update The Infinite Realms again. It doesn't mean we gave up on it, in fact, The Infinite Realms is perhaps our longest written story yet… and that's really saying something.
andrealimon2380: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': As I said with the previous reviewer, we took a break from updating The Infinite Realms as the next chapter unfortunately has spoilers and we wanted to avoid spoiling anything for We Are Phantoms. I am glad you at least knew we were talking about the other Juliette.
leslidannyphantom: DarkFoxKit: Looking back on the chapter, I realized we forgot to have Corrupted Andy actually transform. ^^' But he does basically look like Corrupted Danny. Also, hello again, it's been a while since I've heard from you, it's good to see you're back. I hope that you have fun with that comic as I already gave you permission via PM.
Kim Hng: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's always fun and adorable to write Andy and Hope together. And… we'll have to disappoint you in regards to Andy being asexual. He's a teen right now, so he's still figuring himself out. He might eventually discover he's asexual, but it's unlikely.
DarkFoxKit: Besides, even asexual people can still fall in love romantically. And yes, Andy did turn into a ghost dragon in the prequel; My Brother's a Ghost, so that's why Aragon said what he said about the dragon transformation thing. Though we don't know yet if we'll do anything with that plot point, we are considering it at least.
DP-Marvel94: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': They may be corrupted, but that doesn't inherently mean they're evil. I think there is a saying about how one might perceive someone as a villain, but in reality the 'villain' is the hero of their own story. Corrupted Danny and Corrupted Andy never planned on breaking their rules, and they didn't actually want Andy and Juliette to fail.
There isn't much to catch up on with The Infinite Realms as we have taken a break from posting it due to reasons listed in previous review responses.
DarkFoxKit: Corrupted Danny and Corrupted Andy truly believed they were helping their world by doing what they were doing. They didn't see themselves as 'corrupted', that's only in the perception of our Andy and Juliette.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': That is correct. This world is based on The Infinite Realms, which is another story we are currently taking a break from posting for reasons stated above. This is a world in which Andy wasn't rescued from the Void when he stopped Corrupted Danny. This is also a world slightly in the future, in which a number of events have already happened and caused the world to be altered.
RedHood001: DarkFoxKit: I really like that you are a fan of the Corrupted Twins, and analyzed what they were doing. It made me giddy to read your review, it really did. And you're not wrong either, the Corrupted Twins, while they were playing and acting kinda cruel, didn't really want our Andy and Juliette to fail. They still see themselves as heroes, and helping the world. They're just going about it with a more… extreme mindset, taking matters into their own hands. And they can get bored sometimes, so a different dimension Andy and Juliette being there was like a breath of fresh air to them. And I guess you could say they see it as playing with friends.
As for that ominous message Echo gave Andy, let's just say he may have seen a future that involves our Andy. But I won't say anything more. :3
Corrupted Danny was my favorite antagonist in the entire series, which is why I like to bring him back even if it's in different ways. And I thought it would be interesting to have a Corrupted Andy as well. This world allowed me to use them. And I'm glad that they're well-written antagonists. I was a bit worried people might get tired of me always hinting at or bringing back Corrupted Danny.
You're not wrong, the Andy of this world did come back from the Void, but being in the Void changed him quite a bit from our Andy. The Void can really screw a person up after all. This world is based on another Danny Phantom fanfiction we're doing called The Infinite Realms, but we stopped updating it due to the next chapter containing massive spoilers for this story, so we're waiting to get past that before we update The Infinite Realms anymore.
We hope you will continue to enjoy the story!
Raidentensho: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I… honestly have never seen, watched, read, or heard of Nomad of Nowhere, so I unfortunately don't know what you're talking about here. And right now Andy's powers with the Gem of Life are a bit more targeted.
ArashiNokitsune: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Hope you enjoyed our twist, it was definitely an enjoyable one to write. And yeah, Andy was not expecting to run into that twisted and evil version of himself.
DarkFoxKit: Hehe, I find it hilarious that Andy doesn't know his brother is watching through his eyes.
Mana16: DarkFoxKit: If we had Freakshow make a world like a circus, it would be too much like the show then. Besides, he's not making these worlds, he's just travelling to them. These worlds already exist. The world you're curious about, we're actually writing called The Infinite Realms. Though right now we stopped updating The Infinite Realms due to some spoilers it has for this story, so we're waiting to get past that point in this story before updating The Infinite Realms again, but people might think we gave up on it due to how long it's been since the last update. ^^'
Well, we're not going to focus much on magic right now. We might do more magic in the later half of season 3 and onwards, but for now, it was just something to help Andy with against the Corrupted Twins, and something more unique to Juliette and Scarlet. Though your idea for what Tucker and Sam's ghost elements could've been had they become half ghosts themselves is probably pretty spot on, and yes, I know you meant what their magic could be, not their ghost elements.
Guest 4: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Unfortunately the reviews aren't a place to share ideas for any of our stories. And we won't be responding to the ideas you shared here as it isn't the right place. If you want to share ideas, it's best if you create a fanfiction account and PM Fox. Alternatively you can PM me and ask me for the information to our Discords, which do have places to put ideas for our stories.
DarkFoxKit: Besides, it feels kinda insulting to see people talking about a completely different story in the reviews. Yes I know you did talk about this story too, but like Onyx said, this is something to PM us about or talk on Discord.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': These are the reviews. As in a place you can put in a review in response to the chapter you have read. If it's anything outside that, it's best to PM one of us.