Chapter 2- Where in the...world?

Danny woke up on a large cot, in a room filled with shelf upon shelf of leather bound books and scrolls. There was a large fire filling the room with warmth and the smell of shouldering herbs, and when he looked around he could see a few large backed chairs and a wooden desk covered in quills and papers.

He tried to sit up only to realize he felt like he had just finished a marathon across Europe and fought with Pariah dark for a second time, his head was still spinning. The door opened as he tried again. A large hand eased him back onto the cot gently.

"Don't try to move so much, you're still weak from the portal's effects." An aged voice full of concern reached the boy's ears. He stared up into the dark eyes of an old man with blue skin and darker colored robes; the beard was so thick you couldn't see his mouth move when he spoke.

Kind of looks like merlin from those Camelot stories, Danny thought with dull interest, he began to fight to get his head to stop spinning, "Wha-where am I? who are you?"

The old blue man smiled bringing a chair forward with a wave of his hand and sitting next to the boy, "My name is Najerin, this is my home on Lake Ken-I-Po, and you've been asleep for nearly an entire day. Fourteen and a half hours if you wish to be accurate."

Danny blinked, registering information, "Lake …Ken-what? Wait, you said fourteen hours? Oh no, my parents are gonna freak."

Najerin held up his hand as the boy tried to get up again, "I'm sure such problems are being taken care of as we speak. You need not worry about anything at the moment save your health, child."

Danny moaned getting another look at the creature, He's no ghost; my powers would've detected that if he was, but he's obviously not human either. So what the heck is he? "What do you want with me?"

Najerin raised his brow at such a question, "There is nothing I could possibly want of you. Accept perhaps for you to explain why you came here."

Danny thought back, his mind still muddled from that freaky portal, that's right, in the ghost zone, Walker and his goons were after a girl, "I followed a girl through a portal, after that everything's a blur."

Najerin nodded, putting his hands together like a detective thinking over information, "that sounds about right, accept why you were in a world full of spirits and yet you're a human."

Danny's eyes must've betrayed panic at this, he said nothing as Najerin held up his hand again for quiet, "You don't have to explain why you were in such a place, nor do you have to explain why you followed Ren though a portal to the overworld.

"Before you ask, yes it's not earth, your home. You're in a world called Perim, a place basically split into four territories, the current one you are in is called the overworld, where my tribe of the same name reside. The person who brought you here is called Ren the traveler, a creature who can pass through multiple worlds and dimensions, though that's nearly all I really know for certain about her."

Danny sat up slowly, his head still spinning, "So that girl…in the mask."

Najerin nodded, "…was Ren, and when you followed her here you passed through a space between everything and nothing. According to her this has negative effects on one's stamina if they have never done so before."

The blue creature got up and pulled down three cups from the mantle while pulling a strange looking coffee pot from the fire. He poured it equally and passed it over to the boy with some kind of levitation. Danny felt soothed by the aromatic smell of the semi clear brew, he watched the blue…wizard, he decided…take a draught before having a small sip himself. It tasted a little like a mild fruit tea, Earthy even. His head started to clear almost immediately. He glanced around at the small library.

"So where's the girl, err, Ren I mean?"

Najerin glanced out the window, "She went to take care of a few things, you're in my care until she gets back. No need to worry, young…"

"…Danny. My name's Danny." The boy said taking another sip.

Najerin nodded, "Daniel is it?"

Danny shook his head with a frown, "just Danny. I don't answer to my full name."

Najerin gave a smile, "Few humans do, at least to my knowledge."

A smoke of blue escaped the boy's mouth, he shivered as a rush of cold ran down his spine; something was coming, something ghostly. Danny gave a worried glance to Najerin, he sat without any hint that he knew about it. And Danny wasn't sure how a guy like him who was obviously not a ghost would react to someone who was. He tried to get up, to move, it was instinct.

Najerin saw the boy shiver and try to stand up, he walked over placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "you're still weak, you need to rest."

"Listen to him McRuby," a voice said from outside, Danny turned to see the masked girl, seeming to stand in the air outside; she opened the window and stepped inside. Taking off her mask as she did so, "It's not like you've ever gone through a gate like that before."

Danny felt the cold in his body fade as she walked in. it was as if whatever he had sensed had vanished. The girl eagerly took the third cup and took a deep drink.

"AH, that's good stuff. You ok kid? You may be recovering from the gate but now you look like you've seen a ghost." She stared at him, ember eyes seemed as if looking straight through him.

Danny stuttered, "Uh, well…y-you…w-window, you were standing on…"

The girl gave a sudden laugh, "Oh I see, don't worry, that's the only ghostly thing about me. You see I can use shadows to 'fly' at night, and it was still dark enough to use them, so why not? In the day time I have to be closer to the ground, not to mention tactful. Cant have pillars of black in broad daylight all the time. gets you where your going but wears you out fast. meanwhile at night making tightropes to jump from is a breeze."

She flopped down on the desk taking another draft from her cup. Danny giving her a quizzical stare, she ignored him, instead turning to Najerin, "So did you get anything from him for me or did you just talk to him?"

Najerin took a sip from his own cup, sitting back in the chair once more, "I didn't find it necessary to extract information in such a manner. However I don't think young Danny will be able to lie to us either."

Danny's confusion grew, what did he mean by 'extract information' in what manner? And what kind of girl could control shadows? Then again he knew a ghost back home with a personal shadow that followed him around on his motorcycle. But it was obvious her shadow weren't alive, so how could she do it?

Ren, turned to look at him, "So kid do you know anybody with white hair and black wings? Female somebody?"

Danny shook his head, "not really, why?"

Ren sighed, rolling her eyes to the celling, she hoped herself up onto Najerin's desk swinging her legs over the edge, "And I didn't have any luck finding her. I just know she headed out west and she dropped from my radar somewhere over that scrubland area, Broken edge I think it's called now."

Najerin thought a moment, "If it helps, I have some friends in the Mipedian tribe, perhaps they would be willing to help."

Ren frowned as she considered this. Danny, feeling stronger, stood up and went to the window. His eyes widened at the sight, "This is a lake house."

Ren gave him a quick correction, then ignoring Danny's jaw drop, "Castle actually. And I don't think that's the best idea, bringing in the Calvary, I just need to adjust my tactics. But I would appreciate a heads up to those friends of yours, I don't need any mention about my concerns though and we don't need to attract to much attention from those Chaotic players you told me about."

The blue wizard nodded glancing at Danny, who was trying to see more of the castle through the window, "Will you be taking this one with you?"

Ren shook her head, "Sorry Kid, I gotta get to work finding Raven wings and a spot for opening another gateway without causing a rip while making sure the vortex didn't get to messed up or tear anything when they slipped through in the first place. I can't add babysitting to that list."

Danny whipped his head around at the mention of babysitting, "I can take care of myself."

Najerin adopted a look of concern, "I'm sure in your home you can, but this is Perim, a world you know nothing about. As such you would be in constant danger if you tried traveling on your own without any means of getting to safety."

Ren nodded, "Besides it's not like you can keep him here."

Najerin raised an eye brow at her, questioning her statement. She counted the reasons off on her fingers, "One) you're the most powerful muge in Perim now, I doubt you can babysit any more freely than I can. Two) he's a kid, curiosity is going to get the better of him sooner or later, and that often gets kids into trouble. Believe me I know."

She gave a sly smile at the last comment and continued, "And last of all) you can't keep him cooped up in a castle all day everyday till I get the darn gate open. It ties in with reason two; he'll find a way out if it means something better to do, and he'll be curious if there is any out there. So when you add all that up, of course I wasn't going to just dump him on you. I'm smarter than that."

Najerin conceded the point, "I'm a little glad of that actually. So what do you suggest?"

Ren shrugged, Danny frowned feeling somewhat left out. Of course he knew Najerin was right, he knew nothing about this place at all. And the more they kept mentioning things he didn't understand the more confused he was getting.

"It's been ages, literally, since I was last in your world. You'll have to think of something."

Najerin sighed, "Well, I suppose he could stay in Kiru city for a while. It has plenty for him to do without getting into too much trouble."

Ren smiled, "Kiru? I almost wondered if the place was still standing."

Danny waved his hands, "Hello? I'm still here you guys. And I have no idea what you're talking about, I mean, what's a Muge? Who are the Chaotic Players? And where's Kiru city?"

Ren smiled as she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, she slipped an amulet around his neck, "You'll find out, I have to go check on something, so why don't you hang onto this for me alright?"

Danny inspected the medallion; it seemed to be made of some kind of copper shaped like a star inside a wolf paw print. There were letters stitched into the blue ribbon threaded through the top, now around his neck. He tucked it into his shirt.

"Sure… I can do that."

Ren's eyes narrowed, "Don't ever take it off, if you lose it I'll make sure you regret every minute until the day you pay me back for it in full."

The girl's eyes seemed to grow larger as they held his gaze, her presence seemed to fill the room so she stood taller than should've been possible. Danny nodded with a gulp, "O-ok. Don't lose it then."

Ren stepped back breaking into a smile, "Good, well I'm off. I'll see you later Kid. So long Danny- boy."

Najerin shook his head as she left through the door and vanished from his detection, "I'll never get used to that."

Danny simply let out a sigh, sinking to the floor in relief.

****8****

at Broken edge, a Chaotic player was out on a scan quest, a tall blonde boy wearing an old aviator's jacket and headphones around his neck. He swept his scanner back and forth to locate any nearby creatures. So far nothing, like nobody was around. He sighed, "so much for looking into new scans. Maybe I'll have better luck at Skeleton springs."

{Boy…}

The player perked up, looking around, confused, "Uh hello?"

No answer, just wind through the trees. He shook his head thinking he might've been hearing things. He was about to punch in a location when he heard it again.

{So long…}

He chuckled nervously, "Ok who's doing that? Chance? Jack is that you?"

{It's been so long…} the voice sounded female. The player checked his creature locater, none around. So it had to be another player.

"Ok Cassie, I bet that's you. Come on out and quit it will you?" he tapped his foot, becoming angry, "You guys know I don't like these kinda things in Perim. Save it for the Halloween bash would you?"

{Can you hear it boy? The sound of breaking?}

The player flinched; the voice was right behind him sounding closer than before. He turned seeing nothing but the breeze through the trees, and his own breath. He shivered, when did it get so cold?

"Come on this isn't funny. Who's doing that? Cassie? Jackie are you helping her? Marcie?"

A wafting cold rushed over him like a veil being pulled over him, he turned to look seeing nothing.

{It's been so long…so long since we were together. Since that time…so long.}

The voice was a lot closer now, he turned to try and see who was there, his breath looking like thick smoke, his voice reflecting how angry and scared he was getting, "LOOK I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, JUST STOP IT ALREADY!"

Something cold grabbed his shoulder, like a hand, a clawed one. He turned to see who was there, slowly, seeing a white mass with an orange core standing behind him, two orange slits for eyes staring at him. The player felt all of the color drain from his face. The thing spoke in an echoing voice now so close it was like he heard it in his head.

{Breaking…we … replace… you hear it boy?}

The player screamed pressing a button on his scanner he vanished in a flash of coded blue and white. The thing stood there confused, she looked to the sky, {we replace…soon...}

****8****

Danny walked along the lake side waiting for Najerin; the blue creature had said the outdoors would do him some good before they left for Kiru city. The young teen didn't mind really, out here alone gave him a better chance to straighten out his thoughts.

First off: questions

1) How did he get here? a stranger in a white mask who could set off his ghost sense had somehow brought him here.

2) Could he call his parents and let them know he was ok? No, his cell was fully charged but getting no signals at all.

3) Was he safe in another world? he was going to spend some time figuring that one out. He still wasn't sure what kind of world this was.

4) Did they have ghosts here or were they part of someone's powers like Ren's…whatever it was? No idea.

5) Ren had said going through a portal to another world could have side effects like when he had passed out, was there any others? That's the other reason he was out here.

Being half ghost had enough problems, being in another world with no idea how anything worked here would be killer. He knew his ghost sense still worked so that had to mean he still had most of his powers. He decided to go through the list, discreetly.

He started with transforming, he could use some of his ghost powers in human form easily enough, but he figured if he couldn't turn into Phantom then his ghost powers were probably on the fritz.

He reached for his cold core, the center where his ghost energy was held while he was human, and brought it up; the felt the familiar rush of comfortable cold run through his body as two moonlit rings appeared running up and down his body, altering his form. His clothes vanished, replaced with a black hazmat suit, with white gloves boots and collar, a white flaming letter D on his chest. His hair became snowy white and his eyes a toxic glowing green. When the changes were complete the silver rings vanished. Danny floated a little off the ground, smiling.

"Well this is a good sign." No sooner had he said that when the rings appeared again, this time they were green like his ectoplasm attacks, sweeping over him again without his influence.

Danny felt a jolt like electricity as his ghost form changed once more, falling to the ground in pain when it was over. He looked at himself eventually rushing to the lake for a look at his reflection.

Danny stared in disbelief at the white arm guards, the thick black headband on his brow, the black samurai pants and white trimmed shirt, the white socks in black tie on sandals and a green pouch tied to his waist with had a black letter D, even the medallion Ren had given him had changed, it now looked a little like a silver Olympic medal with his letter D carved into it, and it seemed to be stitched into his shirt collar like a large clasp. He was even more shocked to see his eyes, the color had solidified through the whole socket and his pupils had turned into slits like a dragon's, or a cat at night.

"What… just happened?" he said aloud, looking himself over with a spin, as he did so something fell out of his pocket, a piece of paper.

He picked it up and noticed a certain ghost's handwriting:

If you are reading this, your ghost form has successfully been altered,

I made these changes at the request of an old friend for your own good,

Do not worry; your powers are still the same at best,

When you come back to the Ghost Zone, see me about changing 'Phantom' back,

Until then, try to stay out of trouble and don't worry about your parents. It's been taken care of.

Clockwork

"So Clockwork knew I'd be heading for another world? I knew he watched over all of time back home but this…this is just weird." Danny sighed and looked himself over more calmly, "I look like a vampire ninja from one of Sam's movies."

At the thought of that, he ran a finger inside his mouth and carefully felt around, he sighed with relief when he found no fangs or altered teeth.

"Fangs like Vlad, now that's a scary thought."

He reached for the warmth inside his core, for his human half and brought it up, the silver rings appeared again sweeping over him in a rush of warmth, vanishing once the transformation was reversed. Danny looked himself over again, now human, blue jeans red jacket, black hair, blue eyes, tennis shoes. Just as before.

With a nod he sat down on the nearest dry patch of ground, "Well at least he didn't mess with my human half."

"Daniel."

The boy jumped to his feet so fast he nearly slipped in the grass, he turned to see a blue figure flying straight for him in a swirl of blue, Najerin landed beside him holding a small bag in one hand and looking around.

Danny gulped inwardly like he had done so often with his parents, how much had this guy seen? "So we were going now or…?"

"I thought I sensed the presence of another creature, one I didn't recognize. You didn't see anything did you?" the blue man asked.

Danny did a metal face slap, just like Danny could sense other ghosts of course this guy could sense other people. Why not? Outwardly he put on his best curious face and shook his head, looking around for good measure, "No, I didn't see anyone but me."

It wasn't a lie really, he was the only one there, and although his new ghost form was unfamiliar, it was still him, one and the same. Najerin raised a brow as if concerned, but didn't say anything further about it. instead he began floating in the air again.

"Well then, I'll have to look into it later," he waved his hand in a small circle, Danny was a little surprised when he began floating in the air right behind Najerin, "Let's get going, tell me if you start to feel dizzy, I hear some humans have a bad reaction to heights."

Danny smiled; like a half ghost who flew around all the time in high places could get air sick.

***8***

Hova: So Ren, would you like to say anything to our readers? ^ ^

Ren: (slips mask over her face) feel free to drop a review, I love the attention.

oh and I'm one of Hova's OC characters so I'm copyrighted to her. TT somehow that sounds wrong, and I thought the winged girl and were your only OCs for...

Hova: -_- don't worry about it.