Just a note-the story's only half over. So if anything tragic happens here, it's bound to be fixed…

Chapter 20: Helpful Information

Cecelia pressed the button on her suit, but nothing happened. Then she looked down and saw that was the part of her body she had landed on when she tripped. Cecelia was very afraid once the truth hit her. She tried clicking her feet together, but her surfboard didn't appear either. Why wasn't it working?

Cecelia began to panic. There was no way she could make it out in time but she had to try. She jumped down the stairs because they were faster than the elevator. (With Cecelia's ninja-like physical skills, she could get anywhere on foot faster than most people could).

Cecelia looked ahead. The door was still so far away. She heard a cackling, booming sound. Cecelia dare not look back to what it was. She already knew that it was fate catching up to her. It left her lying unconscious on the ground surrounded by the remains of the Government Guys in White lab.

By the time Danny, Valerie, Garth, Sam, Tucker and Danielle all got to the lab, it had already blown down. There were scattered little fires. Almost all walls had been taken down. Little remained. It was all black ash.

The group just looked at the place for a moment and didn't know how to react. It was Garth who found Cecelia. He felt her pulse and the results were not good. The rest of the group surrounded him as he held Cecelia in his arms like the sister she was to him.

Everybody began to cry, especially Valerie and Danny.

"She's my best friend." Valerie said softly.

"She inspired me." Sam said.

"She laughed with me." Tucker said.

"I really didn't know her too well, but I wish I had." Danielle said.

"She's the closest to family that I had." Garth said.

"I really cared about her. She really could have made a difference in the world. She already made a difference in our worlds." Danny said.

"Did this all really happen or is it one bad dream?" Valerie asked.

"Tucker, I told you something bad was going to happen." Sam said.

"This definitely falls under that category." Tucker admitted.

"What should we do with her?" Danielle asked.

"Her father will freak out. It'll be better if I bring her to him. Alone. He knows me better than he knows the rest of you." Garth said. "You should all go home and then I'll call each of you and tell you what happened." Garth's voice was breaking.

"I'm coming with you." Valerie decided sternly.

"Me too." Sam said.

"Yeah, I will too." Tucker agreed.

"Then I'm coming too." Danielle decided.

"I'll meet you there." Danny said sadly. He remembered something that happened in his not-to-distant past. "I'll be back." He told his friends and then he flew off at top speed.

Danny knew exactly where he was going. He had to get some answers.

Danny went straight to his parents' house and did not stop anywhere along the way. He was trebling with the thought of his friend being dead. He didn't even want to think of what would happen with her family or the funeral or what would happen at school. But his mind wandered there anyways. And it hurt.

It should have been him. Yes, he thought that for a brief moment. But then he remembered that he couldn't change what had just happened.

Danny flew through his parents' portal and he went immediately to Clockwork's realm. The large clock tower that served as Clockwork's home was seemingly empty and desolate. Danny always got the creeps from this place, especially when Clockwork wasn't around. "Clockwork? Where are you?" Danny called him. Danny's voice echoed throughout the large open building. Danny looked up the tower, but Clockwork was not there. "I need to talk to you right now! It's an emergency!"

"I'm right here. Calm down, ghost child." Clockwork appeared holding his Staff of Time.

Danny hadn't seen Clockwork since August when he had requested that the world forget his secret. But as always, Clockwork looked the same. "My friend Cecelia is dead. And she's only dead because of me! I've been wondering what would have happened to her if I hadn't made that request that you make everyone forget my secret."

"Well, she and her father stayed in Antarctica and you and Valerie would have never met her. While the rest of the world began to accept ghosts and half-ghosts in the society, Dr. Hazel still hated them and wanted to extract his revenge on them. He ended up going completely insane and had to be taken to a specialist on a different continent. Cecelia remained in Antarctica. And she was miserable down there on that thin little ice sheet that she called home. She hated it, but she could never bring herself to go to one of the other countries."

"But at least she was alive."

"If you could call that living. Anyways, what did you come here to ask me for?"

"I wanted to take back my wish."

"You can't do that." Clockwork sighed. "I hate to say this, but I warned you not to change things because I knew what was going to happen."

"What is this? Some kind of sick lesson you've been trying to teach me about altering the time stream?"

"No, no, no, Danny. Being the Master of Time, I knew full well what would happen in that reality you wished for and I knew your life would get worse before it gets better. I didn't think you'd be able to handle it. But you were so cheerful and you seemed to like having your secret back. That's the way it was always meant to be, anyways. Things that are meant to be will work themselves out no matter what time stream they're in."

"What about Cecelia? Please tell me you can save her!" Danny pleaded.

"Me? I don't have that kind of power. I couldn't bring a human or a ghost back from the infinite dead. See, ghosts aren't actually dead-dead, we're more of a species, but your friend really is completely dead."

"I know that! So what will become of all this? This is the worst day of my life! What do I do? I told Valerie my secret and she broke up with me. And then Cecelia died. Please unwind all of this and put us all back in the alternate reality time stream, or whatever you call it!"

"I'm sorry, Danny, but I couldn't do that if I wanted to. Once you made that wish, you permanently severed yourself from that time stream. And just as this time stream has developed on its own, so has that one." Clockwork showed Danny one of the many circular portals in the lair.

There appeared another time stream in the circle. It was like a viewing screen.

"And what happened in this reality?"

"Well, it wasn't very pleasant, but you weren't in any danger either. You got so bored with your life that you split yourself in half again so your ghost side could fight what little bad guys there were and your human half could have some fun."

"What happened to Garth, Sam, Tucker, and Danielle?"

"Well, you never met Garth. And Sam and your human side are still together, though you really don't get along too well. Tucker moved away because his dad got a promotion on the mayor job. And your ghost half is dating Paulina. Danielle, well, she kinda went back to Vlad."

"Vlad!" Danny exclaimed.

"Yes. She didn't believe you were doing a good enough job protecting the town and she went to fight him by herself. He ended up overshadowing her so he could walk among the humans again."

"That's right, Danielle never told the world her secret!"

"Still want to go back to this reality, Danny?"

"It's tempting…" Danny stared at the circular view screen. "Why do you keep it here anyways if it's not the real reality?"

"It's just as real as this reality. Some day in the future these two realities will merge back together and become the same again. Time will unfold in such ways as both realities continue that one day their events will be exactly the same. This one just branched off from it because you made that wish. Remember that portal you flew through to Amity Park just after I granted your request? That was the portal to the alternate reality I created for you. But now it's your home."

"I just want the pain to go away. I've learned my lesson about meddling with time, so can we please just end this nightmare?"

Clockwork looked at Danny with a serious face. "Danny, I know you don't understand this yet because you're only just beginning to get involved in the ghost world. So try to understand this. I'm the Master of Time. I know that I've told you this before. I know all the twists and turns that time will take along the way to get to its resolution. It's part of my job, which by the way, I've ad for hundreds of years before you were even born. And no, I'm not trying to teach you a lesson in the way you're thinking. In fact, you actually taught me a lesson. You proved to me that you're stronger than I thought you were. You were made to handle situations like today because you're going to grow up to be a great hero."

Danny had tears in his eyes. "But Cecelia died."

"I know she did, but it was all necessary in the great plan of time. Her death did not happen to be forgotten. Believe it or not, her death was meant to show you that anything is possible, because you will see her again."

Danny looked up at Clockwork. "How?"

"Hush. I'm not supposed to tell you any of that. But you must not give up hope. And you can't tell anyone. Remember what I said about things that were meant to be?"

"They have a way of working themselves out."

"Precisely. It's just like that one day long ago when your mother and father first got together."

Danny smiled slightly.

"So don't lose your hope, boy, because your life will get better. It's about to take a long ride of ups and downs. And I know that you always loved adventure."

"I do."

"That's why you didn't belong in the other time stream either. Back there, there were no ghosts to fight and your life became infinitely…boring."

"I think I sort of get it now."

"Good. Then you understand that your path of life has many tests and trials ahead?"

Danny nodded.

"Are you going to do something about it or are you just going to sit around and mope?"

"I'm going to fight the bad guys. And I'm going to win!"

"That's the spirit! And just a warning before you go: don't let yourself get depressed because there's no getting out of it. I'm helping you because I know you can conquer it. you were always stronger and braver than your family or the people at your school allowed you to be. And don't give up, either. I know it takes a lot to really bring you down, so try to always remember the bright side of things. There always is one."

"What's the bright side of Cecelia's death?"

"She'll inspire a hope in you to believe that anything is possible. I'm pretty sure I already said something like that."

"And what about me and Valerie breaking up?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say you're completely over just yet. You might want to wait awhile and then give it another try. Give her a gift at Christmas. Give her what she really wants."

"You think that'll work?"

"Yes, I'm sure you'll make her very happy."

Danny turned to go back because he still had to meet up with his friends to tell Dr. Hazel the bad news.

"And Danny?"

"Yes?"

"What have you learned in all of this that I have told you?"

Danny raised his eyebrows not sure of what to say. "A lot of things. And I won't forget everything that just happened. I'll turn it around so it happens for the better. And I'll keep it in mind that anything is possible." Danny waved goodbye to Clockwork and then flew out of the ghost zone and over to the Hazel home.

The very next day, Danny and all of his friends attended the funeral for Cecelia. There was a lot of sadness surrounding the place. It was as if a dark cloud loomed overhead of the town ever since the moment Cecelia died.

Cecelia was to be buried in Greenier Cemetery, Dr. Hazel announced.

Danny could tell that Dr. Hazel was terribly burdened by his daughter's death and it had hurt him in more ways than he could relate. He had decided to quit his job for Government Guys in White. He'd be taking the money that they gave him—as well as the money they had already given him at the beginning—and he'd be putting it in the bank to earn interest until he could find a steady job. As of now, he just wreaked of alcohol and booze.

This situation was not something that the students at Casper High would take lightly. Eventually, the entire story leaked out. Everybody knew that Cecelia destroyed the building because she believed it was evil.

Cecelia was regarded as a hero by the entirety of the Casper High student body. Some people even went so far as to say Cecelia had met Danny Phantom himself, though they did not know whether or not it was true.

Throughout all of this, Tucker and Sam stood by Danny's side at school, at home, and wherever he needed them. Danielle was there for Danny at home too. Garth would see them whenever he came to the Fenton house for a team meeting. He'd also see them when they made plans to hang out at the Nasty Burger.

Every day that Danny saw Valerie in the hall, he was reminded of her reaction to his secret. But at the very least, she had kept it and she hadn't abused the knowledge.

Every time that she saw him, she thought to herself whether or not she made the right choice. More than anything, she felt so lonely now and wanted to be with him. In her sadder times, she wondered if he'd even get back with Sam. Valerie used to dislike Sam greatly, but only because she'd never given her a chance. Cecelia made Valerie realize that. Valerie wanted to make it right. There was this one day at school in French class that Valerie came and sat down next to Sam and they had a little talk.

Valerie was surprised at how positive she could be when making a humble apology. And Sam confessed her jealousy and apologized as well. Valerie hadn't accounted for that, but it was a pleasant surprise nevertheless.

Danny was coping with the loss of his friend better than he expected. He hadn't gotten depressed. He and Tucker still had their fun and they still were best friends. Whenever Danielle noticed that Danny or Tucker were feeling down, she suggested video games to get their mind off it.

One day, Danny and Valerie were late to school had no choice but to take the two empty seats at the back of the classroom. At first, they ignored each other, but then Danny looked at her and she looked back. She really looked hard at him and she could tell that he missed her and wanted to be with her again. But neither of them said it.

To fill up the awkwardness, Danny asked her for permission to guard Axiom labs. Valerie and Danny walked there together and they told Valerie's father the secret. Damon knew that Danny had always wanted to become an astronaut, and that it would be very expensive to get into the field. Damon offered Danny the job. And he decided to pay him.

Danny humbly explained that he wasn't asking for pay, especially since he knew their money situation. But Damon insisted and his excuse was that "If you keep the place free from robberies and other miscellaneous ghost attacks, I won't be spending money on repair, so I'll be able to give it to you."

Danny smiled gratefully and he and Mr. Gray shook hands. The deal was set. Afterwards, Danny almost wanted to quit his job at Nasty Burger, but then again he would like the extra pay.