Chapter 2 – Juggling

Started: September 16, 2012

Ended: November 16, 2012

'10:52…10:52 and fifteen seconds…10:52 and eighteen seconds…' Waiting for the last six minutes of history to end was almost physically painful for Danny. His legs bounced incessantly, his pencil wouldn't stop tapping the desk, and he had absolutely no idea what the teacher was talking about as he almost glared at the clock. Today was going to be his first day at Anima Vesna and he couldn't be late. Having looked over everything but his class schedule as he did his best to catch up for the week he missed, Danny planned on doing that during lunch and then memorizing it as quickly as he could. He already had his core development, host physiology, and Ghost Zone history textbooks in his backpack as well as some new notebooks and writing utensils (thanks to Sam and her bottomless fountain of toothpick money), so he could just grab his backpack and leave after the first fifteen minutes of pottery.

Eventually the bell did ring, and Danny tore out of the classroom as fast as he could, glad he didn't have to sit through another minute of history. Cutting several people in the lunch line as stealthily as he could, Danny glanced around nervously. What would it be like? Going to school with other people that had powers? With ghosts? It was almost surreal, he couldn't believe such an opportunity had presented itself before him.

Hurriedly thanking the lunch lady for his slop, he ran to the doors leading outside, having told Sam and Tuck to wait for him there. Seeing Sam, he paused. Tucker had a study period before lunch, so he was never late to any meeting the three planned for that time period. Opening his mouth to ask when he neared Sam, he paused to look where she was pointing in disbelief. In a little alcove on the opposite side of the lunchroom was Tucker talking to a girl. Tucker was talking to a girl. And she wasn't slapping him or walking away. It was odd to say the least. Seeing a frown cross the boy's face as the girl leaned in to tell him something, Sam and Danny shared a glance. What was going on? Surprise appeared on Tucker's face and he took a step away from the girl, his face returning to normal after a moment, then the two nodded to each other and the mystery girl scurried off. Sam and Danny tried in vain to see a glimpse of her face, but she had already disappeared into the halls. From what they had been able to see, she had been average looking and rather nerdy. Curiouser and curiouser.

By the time Tucker had made his way across the room, the other two were smirking. Finally Sam spoke up,

"Was that Andy?" An unidentifiable look appeared on Tucker's face and he cocked his head to the side a bit,

"What?" Sam pulled him towards the exit,

"You know, that girl you asked to the dance?" She prodded. Tucker's face cleared and a bright smile appeared on his face,

"Oh yeah!"

"Well," Sam asked as they made their way to the tree they always sat at, "What did she say?"

"Mhmm," Danny added, "You looked awfully surprised."

"She said yes!" Tucker said after a moment of thought, "Well, she said maybe cause the guys she asked hadn't replied, so...yeah. I expected a no to be honest." Nodding in satisfaction Sam sat down, taking Danny's tray as she did so.

"Hey!" He said, indignant at having his lunch taken, "I was planning on eating that you know!"

"Not until you go get your schedule and we look over it." She replied sweetly, nudging the tray towards Tucker, "Now hurry before Tucker ends up eating it instead." Rolling his eyes as he smiled at her antics, Danny took off for the hallway jogging, knowing he needed to get in and out before Dash and Co. spotted him alone.

Looking over the schedule the yeti's had given him, Danny blanched. Hurrying back to Sam and Tucker, he shoved the faintly glowing paper in Sam's face,

"Sam!" He yelled almost hysterically, "Look at this! I can't go to school with them!" Pulling the schedule off her face, Sam gave Danny a look,

"Calm down, I bet it's not-"

"No!" Danny interrupted, "Look!" Rolling her eyes Sam finally read the letter and quieted, a frown crossing her face the further she read.

"Ember? Poindexter? Klemper?" She looked up, "Are you sure this is right? They can't possibly attend this school."

"Klemper?" Tucker repeated, snatching the paper for himself, "And who's Pansy?" Looking farther down the list, his eyebrows rose, "Dude, you have a class with Aragon!" He exclaimed before Danny grabbed it again,

"Aragon?" He groaned, "I'm gonna die! Again!" Tucker grinned at him,

"Hey, if you do die again can I have your comic collection?" Sam reached over and smacked him on the shoulder,

"Oh shut up." She turned to Danny, "Hey, it'll be okay. When I was reading that boo-"

"I don't really have time for that book now Sam," He waved the sheet of paper in front of himself, "I need to worry about this!" Glaring at him, Sam continued,

"As I was saying, while I was reading that huge ghost book I found out what that pendant was for. It-" Danny interrupted again,

"Sam! Ember and Aragon are gonna re-kill me! I have more important things to-"

"Shut up!" Sam finally yelled, looking ready to strangle him, steam practically coming from her ears,

"Like I said," She growled, daring Danny to open his mouth, "I found out about that pendant. It affects a ghost's core and cuts them off from a large part of their power. So we'd just have to dress you up or something and since you wouldn't be able to use your normal powers they wouldn't be able to sense or recognize you. Unless you do something extremely stupid." She added as an afterthought. Meanwhile, Tucker re-stole the schedule. Danny calmed a bit,

"You think so?" He said, "I mean, I'd really like to stay alive. Er, half alive." She smiled,

"Yeah, we'd like that too." A small moment of silence passed between the two before Tucker yelled,

"Dude!" He grabbed Danny's face, turning it to face himself, "You have a class with Dani! Dani!" He shook the boy in front of him, "Do you know what this means?" When Danny mutely shook his head no Tucker grinned maniacally, "We get to actually meet her! Face to face!"

Shrugging off his friend's hands, Danny quirked an eyebrow,

"And how exactly are you going to do that hmm? Skip class and head out to the Ghost Zone by yourself?" Seeing his friend's enthusiasm quickly disappearing, Danny hurriedly added, "But I'll try to get her to visit or something." Wanting Sam and Tuck to actually meet Dani, who was actually a pretty big part of his life even though she'd been missing for a long while, was one of the main reasons for this, especially since the three had never officially met.

"Okay," Sam said, "Go get the Argentum partitus." At the odd looks from the boys she rolled her eyes and continued, "The pendant thingy. It does have a name, actually it's part of Ghost Zone mythology." She huffed a bit, "If you had actually read the book you might know." Danny nodded slowly as he backed away,

"Yeah, got it, I'll be right back with the party thingy." Flicking piece of her lettuce at him Sam mock glared at him,

"It's partitus, stupid. Now get out of here."

LINE BREAK

Turning the small silver circle in his hands as he walked back over to Sam and Tucker, Danny thought about what Sam had said about it. So it cut a ghost off from its core? He peered at it closely, bringing it up to his eye and looking through the hole in the center. It looked completely ordinary apart from the glowing. Oh well, Sam would no doubt be able to figure it out. Tossing it towards her as he neared since he knew she would catch it, he plopped down on the grass and plucked the only vaguely edible looking thing off of Tucker's tray. Ducking the halfhearted and badly aimed swipe at his head from Tuck, Danny looked at Sam, who had pulled out the old book he'd given her.

"So how do we turn this thing on?" She looked up and shot him an exasperated look,

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Patience, learn it." Bored, he leaned over and began reading the book over her shoulder, only to have her twitch away a moment later.

"What are you doing?" She said, clutching the book to her chest, "I can't stand it when people read over my shoulder!" Smirking, Danny leaned in even closer,

"You mean like this?" Hearing Tucker clear his throat the two suddenly realized how close their faces were and quickly pulled away blushing and looking in opposite directions. "So," He began, rubbing his neck awkwardly, "Um, find anything yet?" Her cheeks still red, Sam shook her head.

"I remember where the section is though, so it shouldn't take too long to find." She said, her voice as casual as she could make it. Tucker rolled his eyes. 'Honestly!' He thought, 'You'd think they at least have a clue by now!'

After a few minutes of silence Tucker groaned and flopped onto his back, staring at his watch dejectedly. They only had six minutes left of lunch and he'd barely been able to eat any of the slop the lunch lady had given him. The last half of the day was gonna be horrible. Finally, Sam held up her book and let out a short 'Aha!' of triumph,

"Got it!" Grabbing the pendant out of Danny's hand, she flipped it over and stared at the smooth back of it. Having found something she held it in front of Danny, "See? It even came with its own instructions. Can you read it?" Giving Sam a look, Danny sarcastically replied,

"Why yes, I can totally read the tiny letters dangling an inch from my face. Oh look, it says, 'Back up'." A snort from Tuckers direction earned him a spoonful of mush on his beret and he turned around, grumbling about girls not being able to take a joke.

"It says, 'Findito potential, reformandam in unum' stupid. Now put it on." Grabbing the jewelry being tossed in his direction, Danny gave her a look.

"What? So just say 'Findito refor-'" Sam cut him off,

"No, it's 'Findito potential', not 'Findito reformandam'." Rolling his eyes, Danny replied,

"Oh I'm sorry for saying the weird phrase in a dead language on the back of something my parents found wrong. 'Findito potential'. See? It's-Ahhhh!" Falling to the ground Danny began to spasm, clenching his fists and writhing on the ground while screaming soundlessly. Panicked, Sam and Tucker quickly glanced around before dragging him from the tree to a more concealed area behind the school.

"Sam!" Tucker yelled, his voice filled with fear, "Sam what's going on?!" Frenzied, tear-filled eyes met his own and her choked,

"I don't know!" Only seemed to reinforce the helplessness he was feeling. The rings of Danny's transformation flickered into visibility and the duo were glad for the fact that they had removed him from the curious eyes of the student population. Slowly separating, the glowing blue circles slowly darkened as they made their way across Danny's writhing body until they were nearly black. As they reached his feet and head they flared a bright, explosive yellow before suddenly retracting and leaving Danny unconscious and smoking.

Temporarily dazzled by Danny's light show, Sam and Tucker only rubbed their eyes and tried to squint through the spots in their vision until a pained groan from Danny made them find their way to him.

"Danny?" Sam whispered frantically, "Danny are you okay?" Flashbacks from the portal incident filled her mind and her only thought was, 'No, oh God no this can't be happening again. Please don't let this be happening again…' Slowly rolling over onto his stomach, Danny raised himself on shaking arms with the support of his friends and gave out a harsh laugh,

"Geez Sam," He said, his voice rough and scratchy, "Give a guy a warning before you spring something like that on him." Sam, trying to contain her sobs only nodded and squeezed his arm tighter as tears made their way down her face. Tucker's soft,

"You okay dude? That looked pretty bad." Made Danny groan again and run a hand across his face.

"Yeah, that was not fun. But I've been through worse." Finally opening his eyes and looking up at his oldest childhood friend, his grin turned to a concerned frown as he registered the look on said friend's face. "What? What's going on Tuck?" He turned to look at Sam and her own gasp only made him feel more panicked, "Sam? Guys what's happening?" Sitting up he began looking for something reflective, fearing the worst.

"Danny, your eyes!" Sam whispered before grabbing his face and holding him still as she peered into them, "They're turning purple!"

"Sam, look! His hair!" Tucker said, pointing at his friend's head his face full of surprise, "It's starting to turn orange!"

"What do you mean it's turning orange?" Danny yelled, pulling away from Sam and clutching at his hair, "It can't be orange!"

"Except that it is Danny!" Sam said, "And if I wasn't so scared right now I'd be laughing! You look like your mom!" Comprehension dawned across her face, "Tucker, wouldn't you say he looks like his mom?" Shaking himself out of his stupor, Tucker nodded.

"Well yeah, but why?" Sam looked at Danny sharply,

"Danny, where's the pendant?"

"Really Sam?" Tucker snapped, "Danny almost dies, again, and all you care about is that stupid piece of jewelry? I hope it gets lost!"

"No you don't!" She replied with just as much vehemence, "Because if it is Danny's stuck like this!" Tucker and Danny stilled,

"Wait, what?" Danny said, looking at her with alarm, "You mean I'm stuck like this if we can't find that dumb party thing?"

"Oh for the last time it's partitus! Argentum partitus! It means 'silver divide', and when you said findito potential you gave it the order to split your power, which it did! Meaning it also partially split your DNA and apparently left you with your mom's characteristics instead of your dad's! If we can find it we can get the reverse order and make you normal again!" She paused, looking closer at him, "And quickly too, your face is starting to look more like your mom's already." Danny grabbed his face,

"My face? Am I going to turn into a girl?" He cried out, terrified of the prospect.

"Oh don't act like it's some horrible thing. And of course not, even an artifact that powerful can't change a person's essence and body that completely. You're just not gonna look related to your dad much is all, just like Jazz." Tucker laughed,

"Dude, you look so dumb. You're like a male clone of your mom!" He snickered again, "You're like Dani! Hey, you two can bond over this!" Sam and Danny continued in their search for the small silver object but Danny took the time to send Tucker a dirty look and telling him to help. "Oh alright, but it's probably by the tree since that's when you went all twitchy. Let's go look, we're late to class anyways and no one can recognize Danny now." Agreeing with the logic the trio made their way to the tree where their stuff was and began looking through the grass there.

"Hey," Sam said to Danny, "You should have a way to keep this on you all the time so you can change back when you need to instead of having to come to one of us."

"Yeah," He agreed, "Here, I found it. Got any ideas?"

"Tucker, check your pockets for any string or something so we can tie it around Danny's neck. While the two went through their belongings Danny stated at the tiny object in his hands, wondering how it could cause so much pain. Another inscription on the back made him look closer, but remembering the recent trauma he had gone through he wisely didn't speak it out loud.

"What does the other half of the writing on this say?" He asked Sam, making her look up,

"'Remake into one' It'll return you to normal." She bit her lip, "But I don't know if it'll hurt or not so you better not try it now. It's pronounced 'reformandam in unum' if you were wondering. We can't find anything, so when you get to your house remember to string it onto something and then put it on okay? The last thing we need is for you to lose it." Nodding, Danny transformed and began rising in the air until he saw Sam cover her face and fail to conceal a snort,

"What?" He looked at Tucker who was also laughing, crossing his arms as he did so, "Come on guys, tell me." Taking a quick picture with his phone, Tucker tossed it into the air. Landing hard, Danny stared at the photograph incredulously. That could not be him. With blue hair, yellow eyes, a black shirt with green designs on it, orange pants, and green on black shoes he looked like a kindergartener's drawing. It was horrible. He facepalmed before grabbing his bag and floating into the air again, "Sam, this is your fault." He finally said, sticking out his tongue and throwing the phone back to Tucker, "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" The two yelled before Tucker added, "And I hope everyone there is colorblind!"

LINE BREAK

Transforming in an alleyway near his house, Danny ran the rest of the way home. His heart was pounding at a million miles an hour and his hands were shaking, at least at Casper he'd known who he was going to be going to school with having been around them since they were toddlers, but Anima Vesna? That was a whole different story. Rubbing the small pendant in his hand again, he wondered how such a small things could make such a huge change.

Looking like a mini male version of his mother on top of the fact that he was supposed to be in school made Danny sneak in even quieter than usual, and hearing his parents banging around downstairs he made his way up the stairs to his parents' room as quickly as possible. The last thing he needed now was to be caught. Stealing some string from his dad's needlepoint kit, he looped it through the hole in the pendant and tied it around his neck, making sure that it was long enough to be hidden underneath his shirt. Satisfied that it was hidden well enough, he ran to his room and took out his thermos, knowing that there was a stray ectopus or two in it since he'd been too lazy to empty it the night before.

Opening his window he pointed the thermos at the street outside and pushed the release button, watching as the two weak ghosts floated around for a second trying to regain their bearings. Not thirty seconds after they were freed all the ghost alarms in the house went off, alerting his parents to their existence. After a brief period of yelling and stomping around he saw his parents running down the street armed to the teeth and in pursuit of the two disoriented ectopuses.

Since his parents were gone and Jazz was in class, Danny trotted down the stairs without even a semblance of stealth, making as much noise as he pleased, secure in the fact that everyone would be gone for at least another half hour. When he reached the Ghost Portal he checked his backpack and necklace one more time before transforming. Seeing a full reflection of himself in some of the many reflective surfaces in the lab, he grimaced again. Really? Blue hair? Ugh.

Flying quietly though the Ghost Zone, Danny began to feel uncomfortable. A sharp tugging was becoming apparent in his chest, becoming more painful as time went on. Trying to shrug it off and continue, he gritted his teeth and kept going until it became so bad he ended up crashing into one of the floating asteroids in his path.

He clutched at his chest panting, trying to massage away the fading pain. Why had that happened? His core felt like it was having a meltdown, but he'd been going the same speed he'd always gone. Sam's words came back to him, "when you said findito potential you gave it the order to split your power, which it did!" Filling in the blanks he realized he'd pushed his temporarily unbalanced core too hard and too fast. With only half the power he usually had the speed at which he'd been going strained it past its limits. Lovely. Taking a deep breath and standing up, Danny put all of his spilled school supplies back into his bag and stood up, swaying for a moment before he took off at a much slower pace.

The school was just as beautiful as before, the glowing, multicolored veins of light spreading through the creamy white stone like tiny rivers. Floating through the currently open glass doors his eyes widened at the students before him. There weren't as many as there were at Casper, not by a long shot, but the diversity caught his eyes and made them widen. Ghosts mingled freely with humans (well, halfa's really but that was beside the point) peacefully and with friendliness at that. Even his enemies, ghosts who he always thought hated almost everyone and everything.

Realizing he was just standing in the doorway and staring, he snapped out of his reverie and walked forward as calmly as he could, unable to stop the involuntary way his body tensed when he neared his adversaries. To his left he saw Ember leaning against a wall casually and smiling as she talked to a girl with long brown hair, smiling! And she wasn't even doing anything evil! Keeping his head down and trying to hurry through the main hall, he ended up bumping into someone, causing them both to tumble to the ground. Blushing and apologizing profusely, he quickly stood up and held a hand out to the tall brunette boy he had knocked down,

"It's fine man," The boy said, smiling as he held out his hand as well, "Name's James. James Kobold. Nice to meet you." A bit surprised at James' nice demeanor he stuttered for a moment,

"Oh, um, hi James." James laughed,

"Got a name?" Danny smacked himself in the face,

"Right." He said, looking around a bit, "My name's, um, Oliver." Mentally yelling at himself about the stupid name he gave a strained smile. "Yeah, Oliver." Shrugging off the odd look the boy gave him he continued, "So James, today's my first day and I need to get to the office, could you show me where it is?"

"Sure, it's right over here." James said amiably, "So why're you starting late?" Danny cursed himself for not having thought of a backstory.

"Well, um, I'm kind of new to this and didn't know about the school until recently." James looked at him, his interest peaked,

"New huh? Explains the clothes." Danny sent him a look,

"What? You don't like the kindergarten disaster look?" Barking out a laugh James clapped the smaller boy on the back,

"You're funny Oliver. I think we'll get along great. Here's the office, did you need your schedule or something?" Danny shook his head, pulling it out of his bag, and holding it out to the taller boy,

"Nah, already got it. Have to sign in with the principal or something." James took the paper and scanned it, smiling as he handed it back.

"Hey! We have Core Development and Power Training together. Want me to wait out here and show you where the classes are?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll be out in a minute." Danny said gratefully before ducking into the office. Sitting in the middle of the room at a marble desk doing paperwork was a small Indian woman, the nameplate in front of her reading 'Principal Van Heel'. Clearing his throat nervously he shuffled up to the woman,

"Um, Mrs. Van Heel? I'm Danny Fenton, Frostbite-"

"Yes, I know who you are Mr. Fenton." She stated coolly, finally looking up from her paperwork, "And it's Ms." She held up her hand, pointing at the empty ring finger. "Is there anything you need?"

"Um, well I need to sign in or something? Xue told me that when I came here I had to check in with you."

"Ah yes, I'd forgotten." Reaching into one of the drawers in her desk, she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Sign your name here. The teachers' own lists will be updated as soon as you do." Danny took the pen and bit his lip, shifting from foot to foot.

"Can I put down a different name or something?" Ms. Van Heel frowned, leaning forward and indicating for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her.

"And why would you want to do that Mr. Fenton?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck as he sat on a hard brown chair,

"Well you see, I live in Amity Park, where the ghost portal is, and so a lot of ghosts tend to go through there. A lot of students. And, well, they tend to destroy stuff, so I have to stop them. So if they knew I was going here they might all try to get me or Amity Park or something…" The principal nodded brusquely.

"I see. Is there any particular name you'd wish to put down?" Danny pulled a face,

"Well as of five minutes ago I'm Oliver, so I just need a last name." Raising an eyebrow, she nodded.

"Would Niven work?"

"Oliver Niven?" Danny nodded slowly, "Uh, yeah. That could work." He motioned to the paper, "So I just write that down?" Nodding, Ms. Van Heel nudged it towards him. Quickly writing the name down, he looked up to see her pointing towards the door,

"If that is all you may go now," A small smile tugged at her lips, "Mr. Niven." Hurrying out Danny almost crashed into James again.

"Sorry," He looked backwards at the closed door as they walked off, "Is it just me or is she-"

"Scary?" James offered, a large smile on his face, "Yeah, we all think that. She can be pretty scary, even when she's not in ghost mode." At Danny's questioning look he only shook his head and smiled, "You'll see eventually. It's always fun to see the newbies' faces when they find out for themselves." He stopped at a door, "And here's Core Development, careful, Mr. Wesley's a stickler when it comes to rules and stuff." Opening it, he motioned inside, "Welcome to your first day at Anima Vesna."

Leaving Danny stranded by the door, James walked over to a seat and sat down. After a moment of hesitation Danny followed, only to have a hand appear at his shoulder, holding him back.

"I take it you are Mr. Oliver Niven?" Came a masculine voice from behind him. Spinning around, Danny caught sight of his teacher. Short with dark blue eyes, black hair, and dark grey skin, the only thing intimidating about the man was his voice and his gaze. For a moment Danny just stared, 'Are all the adults here short?' was his first thought before he caught himself and shook the man's hand, spluttering out a yes. Feeling the eyes of the students as well as the teachers looking him up and down, he blushed. "You must be new." The man rumbled, and Danny felt that he didn't mean new to just the school. "I am Mr. Wesley." He motioned towards the class and went to stand behind his desk, "Tell the class about yourself Mr. Niven." Looking out at the mostly unfamiliar faces before him, Danny swallowed.

"Well, um, I'm Oliver. Oliver Niven." Looking back towards Mr. Wesley he saw the man's eyes locked onto him, preventing him from rushing through the door and escaping. "And, uh, I'm a new ghost." He motioned towards his clothes awkwardly, "In case the clothes didn't give it away already. I haven't found out how to change them." Quiet laughter made its way around the room before fading away. Floundering, Danny turned around again, begging to sit down with his eyes. Mr. Wesley sighed,

"And are you a full ghost or a halfa Mr. Niven?"

"Oh," Danny replied, realizing that that was supposed to be what he shared, "I'm a halfa." Changing back, he noticed that instead of being the normal light blue his rings were an odd greenish color. Finally the teacher nodded, picking up a list and looking over the classroom.

"Very well. You may sit by Pansy." A tiny brunette girl near the back raised her hand and Danny quickly made his way over to her, passing Ember and Sidney Poindexter as he did so. Goodness, this was so weird. "Please take out your textbooks and some paper, we are going to be studying the different charges found in the bodies of ghosts and halfas. Please turn to page 39." Opening his book and preparing a piece of paper to write with, Danny slumped a bit in relief. It wasn't too different from normal school after all. "Who understands the importance of the negative charge of the free-floating ectoplasm in the bodies of spectral entities?" Mr. Wesley asked, looking around the classroom as a few hands were raised, "Mr. Poindexter." He finally said, leaning against his desk as he awaited the answer. Sidney's nasally voice spoke out and Danny looked at him, wanting to know how his enemies acted when they weren't causing havoc in the human world.

"If the ectoplasm was positively charged it would be repelled by the similarly positive charge of the ghost or halfa's core, causing them to fall apart and killing the ghost while transforming the halfa into a human." Nodding, Mr. Wesley turned around to write on the smooth stone wall behind him with a finger. Much to Danny's surprise, words appeared wherever the teacher wrote; deducing that it was like a giant touchscreen embedded into the wall, Danny marveled at the cool gadgets ghosts had invented over the years.

Sitting on the opposite side of the room, James was staring at a wall, bored out of his mind. Noticing Oliver scribbling in his notebook diligently he smiled. Newbies, they always tried too hard. Wondering what his new friend was like, he closed his eyes and opened his mind, his breathing slowing as he sensed the room. The cores of the other ghosts and halfas appeared in his his mind, a multitude of glowing orbs in different colors. Pushing past the light blue spheres that were Pyry and Klemper as well as the purple, dark blue, and pink ones that were Ember, Mr. Wesley, and Pansy respectively, he finally reached Oliver's mottled dark blue one. While most cores were balls of solid colored light, Oliver's was dark blue with veins of silver and flecks of light blue, pink, red and orange. Having never seen a core as colorful as this, James reached out to sense the power level of it, but when he touched it an tried to slip in, the silver veins acted like a net, allowing him only to get a faint surface reading before stopping him. Feeling the slightly below average power of his fellow halfa, he retracted, figuring that since Oliver's core was new it was trying to stabilize into a single core type.

Concentrated on what Mr. Wesley was saying about why certain types of ectoplasm were charged a certain way, Danny almost missed the faint feeling of something brushing up against his core. Going from a faint breeze to an almost gripping sensation, it wasn't painful, but the oddness of it stuck out. What was going on? Pausing to look around he took in the other students, only four of which that he knew. Besides Ember, Poindexter, Klemper, and James, there were only two other students (which only served to reinforce the fact that it was a really small school), the girl named Pansy and a yeti boy who he didn't know. And out of all of them, only he, the yeti boy, and Poindexter were taking notes. Feeling like an actual nerd for once, Danny put down his pencil. Ember was staring blankly at the teacher, her eyes on him but her mind a million miles away and most likely on some music lyrics, Pansy was quietly doodling, and James was…what was James doing? It almost looked like he was sleeping as he sat in his seat, his breathing slow and his head slightly tilted down.

Seeing Mr. Wesley stop talking and quietly float over to James he grimaced, that did not look like it would end well.

"Mister Kobold," He began sharply, putting his hands on the desk. In an instant James was jumping upright, yellow sparks leaping from his seat. "Are you ready to start paying attention to the lesson or will I have to be more forceful and send you to Ms. Van Heel?" Swallowing, James hesitantly sat in his seat,

"No Mr. Wesley, I'm alright. Sorry for not paying attention." Satisfied the teacher stood up straight,

"Very well Mr. Kobold. See that you do."

Glad that he hadn't learned about how Mr. Wesley dealt with people sleeping in his class the hard way, he sat up a bit straighter and continued with his notes while Ember was similarly reprimanded, and although her hair flared in anger at being embarrassed she did nothing. It was so weird to see her not lashing out that Danny didn't realize that she noticed him staring until she sent him a rather harsh glare.

"What?" She whispered harshly, "You got a problem newbie?" Putting up his hands in a surrendering manner, Danny quickly backtracked,

"Uh, no. Nope, I'm good, just thinking. Er, about your hair." Her eyes narrowed,

"What about my hair?" She challenged.

"Um, it looks really cool. I've never seen fire hair before, it just looked cool and I zoned out, no problem over here." Giving him another look she sized him up,

"Yeah, well it's not too common. Just keep your eyes on the teacher and not me." Ember finally said before turning back around and facing the front of the class. Danny slumped in his chair, he and Ember had talked, well, sort of, and it hadn't ended in a fight. Unbelievable. Apparently miracles did happen.

LINE BREAK

After the bell rang James caught up to Danny, intent on taking him to their next class,

"Come on! Trust me, you don't wanna be late to Power Training, it's the funnest class here."

"I really doubt that 'funnest' is even a word," He said, shifting the books in his arms. James continued on as they made their way down a side hall,

"Well it should be. It would be an awesome word." Danny stopped,

"Hey James, is there anywhere I can put my stuff? I really don't wanna be carrying all of my books around all day." James brightened,

"Oh yeah! You haven't learned about the walls!" Running over to a cubby hole he motioned towards it, "Here, stick everything in it."

"Uh, what if someone tries to steal something?" Danny said, eyeing the cubby warily,

"Just do it!" James insisted, "You'll see!" Doing what the blue-eyed boy wanted, he quickly shoved everything in it,

"Okay, now what."

"Now," James said, "You do this." Throwing a small ectoblasts at the cubby next to his Danny watched in amazement as it seemed to flatten as if it had hit a barrier and then spread out before disappearing. "Go on," Encouraged James, "Try and get in." Sticking his hand into the previously glowing cubby he was surprised to meet resistance, and as his hand met the invisible wall it flared the same gray of James'ectoblast. "See, it's easy. Now you do it!" Gathering up a ball of ectoenergy in his hands, Danny looked at the contents of his cubby, hoping dearly that this would end well. Letting it loose he watched as it did the same as James', and as James was blocked he motioned for Danny to try. "Only the person who locked it can get in, but after it's empty the lock only lasts for about an hour, and teachers can always get in. Anyways, we gotta go!"

Dragging Danny off to the large gym that made up the center of the school, James chattered on excitedly until they made it through the doors. Standing still, he spread his arms,

"And this is the crowning glory of Anima Vesna," He turned to Danny conspiratorily, "At least according to the students. The teachers tend to battle over which class is more important, but we all know this is the best."

"Mr. Niven!" A feminine voiced barked from their left, and the surprise made Danny jump before he realized he was the one being talked to and tried to find who was talking to him. A short (great, another short teacher) woman was staring at him, hands hips and mouth in a thin line.

"Yeah, yeah that's me." Danny said, eyeing her odd clothing. She was wearing some ancient looking purple victorian dress, and the white collar and cuffs on it would have been more at home on an eighty year-old woman instead.

"Get in line." She said, pointing at the group on the other end of the gym in a vaguely line-like formation. When he didn't go right away, she grew a bit agitated, "What? Are you frozen? I said get in line!" Running over and slightly horrified at having found the dead version of a tiny Tetslaff, Danny checked out the group in front of him.

Recognizing only James, Isolde, and Dora, he eyed the other three. The short, long-haired girl he had seen talking with Ember in the hall, a short asian girl, and a tall girl with the oddest green hair he had ever seen; great, so he and James were the only guys in the class.

"Niven!" The oddly-dressed teacher yelled, holding up a clipboard, "Says here you're new! Get in a chamber!" Looking to James with a questioning look on his face for a moment before he stepped towards where the teacher was pointing at, he wondered what he'd gotten himself into. After seeing the huge glass and metal chambers she expected him to get into, he stopped. "Get in Niven!" The teacher yelled out, "We haven't got all day!" Danny spun around,

"Not 'til you tell me what they're gonna do to me!" With the pendant affecting his core he didn't want to take any chances, who knew what this thing could do? The teacher rolled her eyes,

"Shizuka, explain the chambers while I power one up."

"Yes Ms. Sutton," Came the quiet reply as the asian girl, Shizuka, made her way over to him. So the Tetslaff wannabe was called Ms. Sutton? Didn't sound very threatening. If he hadn't met her in person he would've thought she was a kindergarten teacher or something.

"Is Niven your first name?" The almost whispered question brought Danny out of his thoughts and he answered without thinking,

"No, my name's-" He paused, "My name's Oliver." Appearing not to notice his slight hesitation, she led him over to the slowly brightening chamber.

"The chamber will probe your core to see what type it is and determine what you will be learning. You're put inside and it will light up, a few minutes later the chamber will turn to whatever color corresponds with your core type and give a readout of your general strengths and weaknesses to see what needs the most work. It's complicated technology although it looks simple enough." Shizuka explained, brushing a lock of her oddly light hair behind an ear as she looked at him, her hazel eyes watching him with guarded curiosity. "Exactly how old are you anyways?" Danny opened his mouth but said nothing, cursing himself once again for not having thought of a thorough backstory,

"I, uh, I've only been a halfa for..." He thought back to when he had first been turned and tried to figure out how long it took him to control his powers at least enough not to turn invisible or intangible all the time. "Like a month and a half." She cocked her head to the side,

"And when did you learn about Anima Vesna?"

"Like a week or two ago, Frostbite's daughter told me about it." He replied, wondering why she was asking all these questions.

"Why were you speaking to Frostbite's daughter? She can be rather..." Pursing her lips, Shizuka looked behind her towards Isolde, who was berating the tall green-haired girl about something, "Abrasive."

"Oh, I wasn't talking to her, I was talking to her younger sister Adaeze." Danny said, "Isolde kind of left when I got there, something about me not being very great."

"The people of the realm of the Far Frozen are very protective of their young, especially their king, Frostbite. How exactly were you talking to her?" Danny pulled up short, not knowing how to reply without giving away his identity,

"Me and Frostbite are...friends." He said at last, shifting from foot to foot in slight agitation,

"How are you friends?" She pressed, her eyes narrowing, "The yeti's are rarely seen beyond their homes, and with it so difficult to enter few become friends with any of them, let alone their leader, especially in less than two months. Who did you say you were again?" His own eyes narrowed, Danny replied, his tone positively frigid.

"Oliver Niven. I don't believe you gave me your full name."

"Shizuka Hikari, pleased to make your aquaintance." She said, her own voice betraying nothing,

"Well Shizuka," He continued, "I do believe you're done explaining to me how this thing works. I'll be getting in now, you'd best return to the rest of the group before Ms. Sutton comments on your idleness." Making a noncommital noise, Shizuka leisurely made her way back to the group, returning to her previous position and watching him with her sharp gaze every once in a while. Turning back to the huge glass and metal contraption behind him, he took a breath and pulled open the door, stepping into it before it closed behind him, sealing him in.

A few seconds later the area seemed to light up even brighter than before, and the harshness of the white lights made him squint and wonder how this was going to work. No sooner had he thought that than what felt like a white hot poker forcefully shoved itself into his core, making him collapse against the back wall in surprise and agony. The pendant against his chest burned and took on an even brighter glow than before, turning a portion of the chamber the odd swampy green color of his transformation rings. What seemed like hours later, the chamber abruptly changed colors, turning a dark blue that was flecked with pink, red, light blue, and orange. After a moment or two the flecks of color faded away and left the chamber a solid dark blue.

Gasping from his position on the floor, Danny felt the painful stabbing feeling in his chest fade away, slowly rising and leaning heavily against one of the dark walls. With a hydrolic hissing sound the wall he was slumped against seemingly disappeared, causing him to tumble out of the chamber and land painfully on his side. Rolling over onto his back, he stared blankly at the ceiling for a long while, waiting for the lingering pain to ease so that he could regain his bearings.

A hand pressed itself against his neck to feel his erratic pulse and he closed his eyes, pushing away his feelings of temporary helplessness.

"He seems okay," Came a voice he recognized as James', "He must have hit his head or something when he fell out of the chamber."

"Wake him up and have him do a few laps around the gym just to be sure," Ms. Sutton's voice commanded, "The last thing I need is a student bashing his brains out in my class on his first day. Go on, wake him up somebody." A sigh was heard before Danny felt himself buried in a drift of snow. Now usually Danny's cold core kept him protected from all but the worst of cold, but with the pendant severing his link to most of his powers this all but disappeared. Bursting out of the top of the frozen pile of ice crystals, he stood shivering for a moment before jumping out and rubbing his hands together for warmth.

Sending a dirty look at the smirking Isolde, Danny stopped rubbing his hands in favor of his chest, trying to massage the last bit of soreness from it.

"Really Isolde? A simple 'Wake up' would have been fine." He snapped, his recent encounter making him a bit intolerable. Her smirk gained a lofty countenance as she replied, her voice filled with that self-important note that always seemed to follow her around.

"Ah, but this reaction was much more amusing. Really, you should make a fool of yourself more often, it suits you." Gritting his teeth, Danny turned away to deprive her of the knowledge of just how much she was getting under his skin. He got the feeling that this might be how Sam felt about Paulina.

"Enough." Ms. Sutton commanded, her voice barring any objections, "Four laps around the gym in your human forms if you have them stat. You too princess." Frowning at having her fun interrupted on top of being made do participate in an activity she didn't excel in, Isolde got into takeoff position, her knees bent and her face tilted slightly towards the ceiling.

Thinking that they were supposed to run the four laps, Danny immediately took off when Ms. Sutton blew her whistle, only to look up and realize his error, forcing him to make an awkward jump into the air to try and catch up. Remembering that morning, he slowed down to what seemed an acceptable speed, enjoying the flying as much as Isolde's stormy face about being bested by a "newbie" at something as simple as flying.

"What's the matter Isolde?" He yelled back at her, knowing he would regret it later but not caring, "Can't handle competition?"

"Coming from someone in the middle of the group it doesn't mean much!" She retorted hotly, doubling her efforts to catch up. She would not be beat by a snivelling newformed who barely knew his core from his foot and couldn't even exit a chamber without falling over and practically knocking himself out. Deciding that she would repay him for this humiliation later on in the day, she consoled herself with glaring at his laughing form. He might be a good flier, but with a body like that he was no match for her in hand to hand combat or weaponry. If only the teacher were absent, then she would teach the presumptious little whelp a lesson or two about respecting his betters. She was a princess, next in line for the throne, she shouldn't have to deal with insolent peasants.

Feeling someone grab his arm just as he was about to yell out another reply, Danny turned his head, seeing the tiny brunette from before he cocked his head to the side.

"Don't bait her." She said, "You're gonna pay for it later. She's practically a master in her core field and a wonderful swordswoman." Danny gave her a playful grin,

"Well okay then, thanks for caring about my continued existence." Nodding and giving her own small smile, she sped up, pulling ahead of him. Danny made a frustrated noise, with this stupid thing around he felt as slow as Frostbite. Sneaking a peak back at Isolde he smirked to himself, even if he was as slow as Frostbite he could still fly circles around her.

Touching down after finishing their laps, everyone waited for Ms. Sutton to give them instructions for what their next activiy.

"Okay!" She yelled, "All you halfa's better transform for the next activity, we're gonna be doing target practice." One by one, the other halfa's in the group transformed, leaving Danny (who had only seen Vlad transform) in awe with all the physical changed his fellow halfa's made.

The short hispanic girl who had warned him about Isolde grew fangs and black claws, her eyes turning completely black as her hair seemed to ignite, turning into a roaring red and orange flame that rivalled Ember's in its intensity and wildness. Shizuka hair turned a bright silvery gray as her eyes became a mismatched black and red. James' skin faded to blue and circuits seemed to grow on it while his eyed and hair turned a dark, steel gray. Danny felt sheepish about his own mismatched appearance while he was in ghost form, ans tried to make his transformation occur as swiftly as possible. Of course, the snort that Isolde didn't even try to hide when she saw him didn't help.

As the group stayed waiting for Ms. Sutton to tell them exactly what they were going to be shooting at, the Fright Knight suddenly appeared behind her. Startling everyone with his abrupt entrance. As Danny fell into a panicked fighting stance and charged his hands with ectoplasm he internally yelled at himself for forgetting the turn off phrase on the amulet. But as he did so the now flame-haired hispanic girl stepped forward, confusion filling her visage.

"Father?" The sound of crickets became almost tangible as every eye in the gym turned towards her, widening in surprise.

"What did you just say?" Danny yelled out, taking an involuntary step backwards, "He's your father?" Narrowing her eyes a bit as she took a step forward and jutted her chin in the air to meet his eyes, her hair flared.

"And if I did? Do you have a problem with that?" She turned back towards her father,

"Why are you here?" The Fright Knight's image flickered and disappeared, leaving a wide-eyed Ms. Sutton in his wake,

"Is it true Seraphina? Is he your father?"

"Yes," She replied, a frown creasing her forehead, "I was not aware that that was a problem."

"Not a problem?" Danny burst out, "He's the evil spirit of Halloween who tried to free Pariah!" Again, everyone's eyes moved, but this time it was to look at Danny.

"My father," Seraphina ground out, "Is a knight, and as one he must do his duty whether he wants to or not. He had a family to protect and couldn't risk getting on Pariah's bad side due to the repercussions it could have had on my mother and I. He is the embodiment of halloween, he is not evil." As her hair soared towards the ceiling and she glared at him with something akin to hatred, Danny felt the air shift around him and a wall grew into exisence between the them.

"Enough, you two." Ms. Sutton said, eyeing them as they turned to face her. She looked at Danny, "While what you said was true," Seraphina's outraged cry was silenced with a raised hand, "Partially, such hostile words, especially against the family of a fellow student, are unacceptable." Having sufficiently cowed them, the waved her hand and several ectopusses popped up before flying around the gym crazily. "Hit the ectopusses, whoever hits the most gets to choose one of the two activities for you all that I have planned for late. Go."

Sending him another glare Seraphina took of in a whirl of flames, sending vicious blasts of flame colored ectoblasts at the multitude of ectopusses. Shizuka and the green haired girl soon joined in while Isolde and James fired from the ground, their blasts either knocking the ectopusses out of the sky or freezing them solid and leaving them to drop and shatter. Not to be outdone at something he was good at, Danny jumped in the air as well, sending the off-colored green blasts he now possesed at the ectopusses and hitting one after another, not heeding the incredulous, and sometimes calculating, looks he was recieving from his classmates.

When all the ectopusses had been disposed of, everyone who had been flying landed and even the people on the ground found themselves panting with exertion. Checking off something on her clipboard, Ms. Sutton was quiet for a short period of time before she walked back over to her tired pupils,

"'Kay. Get up." She ordered, nudging a few with her black booted feet, "Oliver won, he gets to choose. And since neither of the activities are easy I suggest you get off your sorry butts and get moving before I manifest a Pariah Dark and have you fight him." Paling a bit, everyone rushed to stand, "Good." She turned to Danny, "Now pick: split battle or everyone for themselves to the end."

"Huh?" Danny's confused face made Ms. Sutton put her hands on her hips in exasperation and roll her eyes,

"Three on three battle to the the last man," She eyed the girls for a half a second, "Or woman, or everyone for themselves and whoever lasts longest wins."

"Oh..." After thinking for a moment Danny spoke up, "Do I get to choose teams?" She gave him an indulgent smile,

"No. Now pick fast before I let someone else do it." Knowing she's probably but him with both Isolde and Seraphina, Danny was quick to reply with,

"Everyone for themselves, king of the hill." Ms. Sutton scratched her chin,

"King of the hill huh? It's been a while since I've been in the human world and heard such things." A devilish smile crossed her face, "I simply must ]use that someday in my classes." When everyone turned and glared at Danny he gulped, "Everyone choose somewhere to be! Timer starts in fifteen seconds!" Panicking, everyone scrambled for a good position to be in when she blew her whistle.

The minute its shrill sound tore though the air, all hell broke loose. James send a grey blast at the green haired ghost girl who retaliated with a dark green one of her own while Seraphina and Isolde teamed up on Danny and send fiery and pale blue blasts respectively. Soaring as high as she could, Shizuka hid as best as she could against the smooth ceiling and began gathering a ball of crackling red energy in her hands.

Being double-teamed, Danny dodged as best as he could and returned fire when possible, causing the angry girls to cease fire for a brief period as they avoided his blasts. Leaving behind an alternately frozen and scorched path behind him, Danny flew as fast as his core allowed, which was still considerably closer than the quickly gaining Seraphina.

With Isolde sending wave after wave of cold energy from the ground and Seraphina sending searing blasts from behind, he was hard pressed to find an escape, but when he saw Shizuka getting ready to send an enormous red blast towards James he turned in as tight of an angle as he could manage and headed his friend's way. Smashing into James and sending them tumbling in time to dodge Shizuka's electrical blast and let it crash into Seraphina instead, which sent her skidding across the floor where Isolde quickly froze her solid in a giant block of faintly glowing ice.

"I thought you two were allies or something?" Danny yelled as he zoomed by, "You know, the enemy of my enemy and all."

"Opportunity knocked and I accepted the chance to rid myself of a foe that would have taxed my abilities!" She yelled back with a dark grin, "Just as I shall rid myself of you one day you insolent pest!" Danny laughed, sending another blast her way and making her jump to the side,

"Ooh, pest? I'm so hurt!" Roaring, Isolde flung her arms wide and loosed a volley of ice shards in his direction. Covering his face with his hands Danny turned around, knowing any shield he put up would fold under the pressure and only be a waste of precious energy. His anger at being unable to use his powers effectively became apparent when instead of simply turning intangible a small tornado manifested around him and sent the shards flying, only a few piercing the growing column of wind. Danny's awe quickly disappeared though when he felt a huge drain on his powers and fell to the ground. Almost unconscious, Danny lay on the ground unable to move as battles raged on above him.

The green haired girl finally ended her and James' struggle when she tricked him into nearing a wall and ensnared him in a tangle of glowing vines with snapping mouths, effectively keeping him down. As she turned her attention to waiting out the flashing red and blue lights that indicates Shizuka and Isolde's struggle she began sinking to the ground and faded into invisibility, effectively disappearing until the two had tired themselves out.

Feeling the creeping slither of ghostly plants covering his body, Danny saw her deep purple eyes over him and her whispered,

"I'm sorry, but you can't get back up." Before she returned to complete invisibility. Groaning silently Danny tried and failed to muster enough energy to fight the ensnaring vines she had left on him. Thankfully she had left his head free enough to turn over and see Shizuka flit through Isolde's denfenses and hug her, which only served to confuse Danny until she released what looked like an contained electrical explosion onto Isolde's tall, furry frame. Smoking, Isolde slumped over, having been knocked unconcious by the powerful attack. Standing over the body of her fallen adversary and wreathed in steam, Shizuka looked every bit the dangerous being she was, and as she let her guard down to survey everyone who had fallen, Danny saw triumph gleam in her eyes.

Until she cursed and spun around, having discovered that one person was missing from the unconscious or bound people, only to run face first into the swinging handle of a glowing wooden scythe. Wincing slightly at the bump she would soon be sporting, Danny watched as the girl who had trapped him finally became visible.

A slow clapping sounded out and everyone who was conscious turned to see Ms. Sutton, a smile on her face as she viewed the scene before her.

"Good job everyone," She looked at the winner, "Mary, could you go through and heal any minor injuries anyone suffered?" Nodding the girl bent down, placing a glowing green hand on Shizuka's forehead. As she moved from person to person, she released or revived them, quietly doing as Ms. Sutton ordered before going to stand by the stern teacher. While everyone slowly stretched and worked out the kinks in their limbs, Ms. Sutton walked around, critisizing everyone's tactics.

"James, you let the fight go on too long and tired yourself out, letting yourself be cornered and caught like one of Skulker's prizes."

"Isolde, you need to work on your long-distance defenses, Shizuka easily got through them and took you down before you could manage to put your hand to hand combat skills to the test. Your anger overruled your better judgement."

"As did yours Seraphina, in the field of battle you could have been ended, fallen to a squire's mistake. You let yourself be led into a trap as you blindly followed your target." Coloring, Seraphina nodded and looked down,

"Oliver, you overextended your core, drastically weakening yourself and letting yourself be wrapped up like a fly in a spider's web as you lay prone on the ground." Danny opened his mouth to protest but she interrupted him, "Of course, by the surprise on your face the ability is new. Since you have just arrived, I will assign you a mentor. Mr. Wesley shares your weather core, he will instruct you in the ways of the Weatherlord's." She turned to Shizuka,

"Shizuka, I'm sure you are aware of your mistake?" The glum reply confirmed the fact,

"I celebrated a premature victory which cost me the fight. I shouldn't have let my guard down until you declared me the winner." Ms. Sutton made an approving noise then turned to Mary,

"You did well, and have improved drastically from the first time we engaged in such an activity. Although you spend a bit too long luring James into your trap, you made good use of Oliver's vulnerable state and Shizuka and Isolde's battle in order to win." She let out a rare smile, "And your use of stealth to take out Shizuka was truly admirable." Blushing at the compliments Mary raised her head and smiled, overcoming the shy nature she always exuded. "But no matter who ended up winning you all did well," Ms. Sutton continued looking at her watch, "And I hope to see you in two days. Our time here is up."

Waiting by the door while everyone left the room, Danny searched for Seraphina, grabbing her arm as she walked by. When she saw who he was her eyes narrowed,

"What do you want?" She spat, anger lacing her tone. Danny held up hs hands in surrender,

"Hey, I'm sorry about what I said earlier." He admitted, knowing that if he tried to beat about the bush she would only get fed up with him, "I have some..." He paused, trying to find a way to phrase it so that it wouldn't be offensive to her, "History, but I should have found out why he did what he did before I made such accusations. They were out of line and you had every right to be angry with me, and for that I apologize." Standing nervously and shifting from foot to foot as she looked him up and down speculatively, Danny left like a little kid waiting to be punished by his mother. When she finally opened her mouth he bit his lip, hoping she wouldn't condemn him,

"You were out of line when you said what you did. But it was the product of great surprise and rash, unthinking behavior on your part." She crossed her arms and sighed in an annoyed fashion, "But you are young," She grinned ruefully at this and stuck out her hand, "As am I, and your tongue seems to be as uncontrollable as my temper. So yes, you are forgiven, and perhaps one day we shall become friends." Grinning gratefully Danny shook the proffered hand,

"Thanks, for a second there I thought you were gonna be mad at me forever." Laughing lightly she pulled away,

"Forever is a long time, especially for ghosts. Take care to remember that Oliver." Hesitating before walking through the door she added, "You may call me Sera if you wish, that is what my companions call me." Before leaving, her long hair swishing in her wake. As he made his own way through the door, he caught sight of Shizuka leaning against the doorframe,

"Yes?" He snapped, his feelings of elation at Seraphina, no, Sera's forgiveness evaporating, "What do you want?" Looking away from Sera's retreating back, Shizuka pulled away from her support,

"So you have, ah, history between yourself and the Fright Night?" She asked, eyeing him shrewdly, "So unusual for a halfa only a month and a half old. Especially when he was last sighted outside his realm three or four months ago." Smirking she took a step forward, "But with connections like Frostbite such a feat must be simple, huh?" She glanced back at the training room, "And such aim! I would have thought you a seasoned warrior had you not told me beforehand that you were barely a child when it came to ghostly powers." Shrugging, she took a disarming step backwards, "Oh well. You are quite the mystery Oliver Niven." As he took a step in the other direction, she reached out and snatched his arm, holding on with an iron grip, her eyes smoldering into his own, "And I do love mysteries." Releasing him to suddenly he stumbled, she whirled around and departed, leaving him confused and half afraid of the tiny asian warrioress.

LINE BREAK

Arriving back at his cubby, Danny looked around him, noting the empty halls. School was not out, so where was everyone? Grabbing his schedule off of his binder, he quickly skimmed through, noting that there was a break after his second class. Hmm. That explained why everyone was gone, but not where. Seeing a blond girl entering the other end of the hallway, he grabbed his things and ran over to her, intent on asking where everyone had left to. Noticing him coming in his mismatched ghost form, she crinkled her nose in distaste.

"Hey," He began, panting a bit after running down the corridor with an armload of books, "Do you know where everyone went? I'm new and-"

"Of course. I'm not stupid." She said haughtily, then waved her hand vaguely in the other direction, "They're all over there, most likely doing all sorts of irritating things." Looking him over she gave him a disparaging look, "No doubt you'll fit it nicely." Danny looked at her in shock, were all the girls here out to get him? First Isolde, then Shizuka, then Seraphina, and now this? Great. All the teachers were short and all the girls were mean. Thinking about Mary and her shyness as well as Pansy's indifference, Danny amended his last statement. All the teachers were short at most of the girls were mean. He was beginning to regret his decision to come to this school...

Sorry for the long wait guys, I've been super busy and all on top of having this huge list of things that needed to happen for this chapter (which I only got halfway through before I realized this was like 23 pages long and decided to divide it into two), which really helps when I'm writing but kills me because I can never stop. Anyways, review! It makes me happy and encourages me to write! (Well, doing this as my NaNoWriMo does too but whateves haha this makes me feel better)