Ethereal

22

Danny was completely and entirely blinded.

The entire scene was ethereal in its own personal way. The white light emanated from the river and washed over the seven of them, creating wind that brushed the treetops and made the long grass sway. Danny switched back involuntarily as he squatted to the ground and covered his eyes with his arms, squinting against it. The colors in the meadow were a vibrant contrast compared to the dreary gray sky, and as the white light diminished, thick fog replaced it.

"Jazz!" he shouted. She was his first concern, and, having no idea what had just happened, he was worried for her safety. Discombobulated, he grasped at the dirt and strained to see past the fog that blocked his vision.

"Danny!" she called back, and he heard the grass in front of him rustle softly. Standing, he walked towards it with slow, careful movements.

"Jazz, thank God, do you know where the rest--?"

The person in front of him was not Jazz. No, it was Mabel, her body curled in on itself, her brown hair falling over her pale face. He caught his breath and leaned down to examine the girl, who only groaned in response. That was when he noticed her bare feet, her knees curled into her hot pink sweater as she shivered and mumbled.

"Jazz!" He yelled, excitement tinging his voice. "It worked!"

"It did? Oomph!" Danny heard the grass being disrupted before his older sister's voice came from his left. "Oh, my God, it did!"

Picking up the unconscious girl, Danny rushed towards the sound of Jazz's voice in earnest. Laying before him was Dipper, his bangs pushed upwards to reveal a birthmark that Danny hadn't previously noticed. It looked like the little dipper, and he laughed as Jazz picked herself up and came towards him. She had tripped over Dipper's laying body.

"Is Dipper his actual name, or is it just a nickname?" Danny wondered allowed, glancing at Jazz. She laughed easily and pointed off into the diminishing fog.

"Go find Pacifica, Wendy, and Mr. Pines. They have to be around here somewhere."

Danny nodded and set Mabel down beside her brother before walking off, surveying the grass around him with patient eyes and baited breath. He found Pacifica first, her tattered purple dress and light blonde hair splayed around her small body. It was the first time Danny had actually seen her in human form, and he nodded appreciatively before picking her up and gently walking back over to Jazz, who was babysitting the unconscious twins.

"You could help me find everyone else, you know." Danny smirked, setting Pacifica gently next to Dipper's slumbering body. "How are we going to move them back to the shack? We can't just leave them out here and hope they wake up soon."

"That's the least of our problems," Jazz pointed out. "Serafina is still swimming in that lake, and who knows what she might be doing to your little mermen friends."

Danny's breath hitched. He had been so excited about regaining his powers, he had almost completely forgotten about the mermaid.

And the triangle.

"Bill," he whispered, looking up at Jazz.

"Who?"

Danny shook his head. "Never mind. Let's get these guys back to the Mystery Shack. We need all the players before we can make our move."

Jazz nodded slowly, and as Danny turned to retrieve Wendy, he found himself stumbling straight into Grunkle Stan's large figure. "Jeez, kid, you scared me," Stan stated in a gravelly voice, pushing past him to see the three preteens lying on the grassy ground.

"Have you seen Wendy?" Jazz inquired easily. Danny was still uneasy around the great uncle, and he found himself at a loss for words.

"No, I haven't. Are these kids okay?"

"They're fine," Jazz stated. "Just unconscious, is all. They should wake up fairly soon."

Stan kneeled down next to Dipper and placed two fingers on his neck before nodding his approval. Danny sank back into the diminishing fog and squinted, looking for any sign of smashed or disturbed grass. After a short while of searching, he found the journal, which he picked up and glanced at the front cover in dismay. Who had written the book? It was something Danny had never really considered, and now he was growing evermore curious as to who the author was. Maybe Dipper would have the slightest idea. He would ask after the preteen awoke, and, of course, after he felt like talking. He most definitely wasn't going to demand information from anyone, especially not from a twelve year old kid.

He heard a groan to his right, and his head snapped upwards. Walking towards the noise, he glanced down at Wendy's lying body and found her plaid shirt and jeans were entirely tattered. There was dried blood splattered on her arm and neck, and he wondered if it belonged to her. If she had gotten hurt, she had shown no signs of it. Danny only wished he had been able to prevent this entire mess from happening in the first place. However, he was the worst off. When the change first occurred, he hadn't even been able to finish his phone call with Tucker and Sam.

Tucker and Sam. His two friends had completely slipped his mind, and he suddenly realized just how worried the two probably were. He needed to call as soon as possible, if he could even get his hands on a new pair of Fenton Phones. At this time, he would settle for a house phone. The thought of them made him incredibly homesick, and he pushed away the thought and leaned forward to wrap his arms around Wendy's limp figure. It wasn't hard; she was a fairly skinny girl, and besides, years of training and picking people up and out of harm's way hadn't gone unnoticed.

Walking back over to the group, he glanced at Jazz and Stan before nodding towards the children.

"Jazz, can you hold Dipper? Stan can probably handle Mabel and Pacifica, they're both pretty small girls."

"You sure you got Wendy, kid?" Stan queried, leaning down to lift Mabel from the ground.

Danny smiled. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's just get them back to the shack and we can talk about everything that happened later. I need a good night's sleep in an actual bed."

Jazz nodded understandingly, and together they walked out of the forest and back to the Mystery Shack.

He never thought he'd say this, but Danny was glad to go back to his temporary home.

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