Ethereal

21

Danny studied his surroundings as he flew, his unorganized mind filled to the brim with thoughts and questions. One thought nudged out at him, and he flew back to his family's RV and grabbed a Fenton Thermos out from under the seat. As quickly as possible, he flew to the stream. The meadow was in sight in less than a minute, and he watched his friends from above for half a second before swooping down and laying his feet against the soft ground.

Dipper flinched at his arrival, the sudden sight of a new person scaring him. He shook off this feeling and lunged for the journal, grabbing it out of Danny's hands and flipping through it in earnest. Everyone gathered around to watch, Wendy and Stan occasionally eyeing the ghost while Jazz walked over to take a spot by her younger brother.

"Can I talk to you?" Danny inquired quietly, turning his head to face his sister. He saw Stan narrow his eyes and inwardly flinched. The man was surprisingly scary, and it was extremely uncharacteristic of him. For a second, the teen considered the thought that Stan had taken a dip in the stream.

"Sure," Jazz shrugged, though her voice was tinged with worry. They walked slowly towards the edge of the meadow, occasionally throwing glances back at the group.

Once far away enough away, Danny glanced around and sighed loudly. He blinked slowly, gathering his wits as he slouched in front of his big sister.

"So they know?"

"What?" Jazz made wild gesture, an obvious sign that she was lying. "What would make you think that?"

"I got the journal." Danny crossed his arms. "It was flipped to the halfa section."

"Wow, how exciting! There must be more halfas out there!"

"Jazz ..."

"I didn't tell them," Jazz admitted. Her own shoulders slumped forward as she looked at her brother in defeat. "Pacifica and Wendy got to the Shack before I did."

"And you just explained everything?"

"Of course not!" Jazz looked betrayed. "I would never do that to you. I told them that you would explain it and then that merpsycho showed up--"

"Serafina," Danny offered.

"What?"

"Her name is Serafina. She was working with some triangle dude until the two of us totally went rogue on him."

"You changed?"

"I'm fine, Jazz."

"Yeah, but ... You turned?"

"It wasn't me. It was like something was controlling me, and I was forced to watch. Look, I'll explain it to you later. We have bigger problems at the moment."

"I consider your mental health to be a very big issue, Danny."

"Hey, Dipper! You find anything in that journal?" The teen winked at his sister before hurriedly flying away.

"Don't you dare ignore me, Danny!" Jazz shouted after him, jogging to keep up. Ugh, she thought warily. Little brothers.

"Right here," Dipper gestured to a page, his heart pounding. "I think this is it. But I don't have my black light."

"Oh. Well, maybe this will help ..." He leaned forward and his hand lit up in an ectoplasmic glow, throwing the journal into green shadows. Purple writing appeared on the page, and everyone leaned forward in awe.

"Woah," Dipper muttered, glancing at Danny before focusing his attention back on the page. Was this really the teen he had become friends with? Yeesh, he thought in disbelief. And I think my life is hard. At least I'm not a ghost living in a house with ghost-hunting parents.