Demons and Ghosts, Hell's King and King of the Dead

Meeting Jazz and Temptaints

Jazz grew increasingly worried.

Her parents had locked themselves in the lab more and more lately, desperate to rid the town of Phantom's influence somehow.

Danny had grown even more tired, spending his nights throwing reoccurring ghosts back into the Ghost Zone until six in the morning, only able to obtain two, maybe three hours of sleep if he was lucky, but this was normal, sadly, ever since he'd been turned half ghost.

Her brother had also been stressing over his potential ally recently, putting even more responsibility on him, along with the duties of Ghost King on his shoulders.

Jazz wasn't as bad, considering her only problems were college exams, but even that put stress on her. This made her feel weak, since Danny went through way more than her, and she was (silently) complaining about a few measly tests.

The worry of her brother was doubled by the concern of her parents, since the only thing they were at risk of was starvation and dehydration, probably insomnia.

Danny was worse, at the risk of death all the time, practically challenging it face to face every hour of the day, topped with his sleeping schedule issues, duties as a King, and practically a catalyst for the whole world.

She was also concerned for her brother's safety, even more so now that a person that could be an ally could also be an enemy.

Of course, being lost in thought during a morning jog was probably not a good idea. Unfortunately, she only figured this out once she slammed straight into someone.

"Agh!" Jazz yelped.

"Shit!" A male voice cursed.

Jazz, thankfully, didn't go tumbling to the ground, being caught by the male she'd slammed into.

"I'm so sorry!" The male apologized, helping to steady her before letting her go.

Jazz sucked in a breath and let out a laugh of relief. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who got lost in thought and wasn't paying attention."

Jazz got a good look at the person in front of her. He looked sixteen at the least, with a blue hoodie and dark jeans, along with a casual pair of black combat boots. He was pale, but not an unhealthy tone with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, excluding Danny. His eyes were a darker shade, almost seeming to glow, if it was possible. His somewhat-awkward smile showed rows of white teeth, and unnaturally sharp canines. She also noticed that his ears were pointed like an elf's. His hair was black with what looked to be a tint of blue so noticeable, yet not, that it had to be natural.

"I've never seen you around before." Jazz realized.

"Oh, I just moved here a few months ago. I haven't been out of the house much and unless you go to Eclipse, I'm not surprised you don't recognize me." The boy laughed.

"Well, I'm Jazz Fenton," Jazz greeted, sticking out her hand.

"Rin Okumura," he replied, shaking her hand with a surprised expression. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Danny Fenton, would you?"

"Yes, I'm his older sister. What of it?" Jazz narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that Danny had bullies at school and wondered if he was one of them.

Rin seemed to understand this, and chuckled, giving her a reassuring smile. "I met Danny, Sam, and Tucker just after I moved. I'd like to consider us friends, acquaintances at most."

Jazz opened her mouth to respond, remembering that Danny had brought Rin up before when he'd explained to her what happened in school, but Rin cut her off.

"Look, I've got to get going, but you've got one hell of a little brother. He's dealing with a lot, and he's probably the most determined person I've met in a while, and that's saying something. I'm not sure if you know it or not, but he's someone to be proud of. Tell him I wish him luck, as well as you."

Rin didn't give her time to respond, quickly walking away, but not before brushing her side as a small burning sensation lit up on her arm.

Jazz didn't notice the sensation as her mind buzzed. 'Does Rin know Danny's secret?!'

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"Danny!" Jazz called, racing up the stairs and almost plowing down her little brother's door.

"Woah! Jazz, calm down! What's the matter?" Danny yelped, waving his arms.

Sam and Tucker sat beside him, puzzled expressions on their faces.

"I ran into your friend this morning, Rin. Yeah, well he kind of said something along the lines that hinted at your secret." Jazz gulped.

"What?!" Sam and Tucker yelled.

"Guys, calm down! I know!" Danny said.

"You know? Did you tell him?" Sam gasped.

"No! Yesterday, he mentioned it, but he never really said anything about me being half ghost or Phantom. Just that I had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders and that I don't have the normal teen problems. I've been wanting to talk to you guys about it, actually," Danny explained.

"Jazz, you're bleeding!" Tucker blurted.

They all looked down at Jazz's arm and noticed that, yes, she was bleeding. It was a small cut, only about an inch long, thin with a trickle of blood going down her arm.

"You know, my arm did kind of burn when Rin walked past me. I guess I wasn't really paying attention." Jazz hummed, grabbing a Kleenex from Danny's nightstand and wiping her arm.

"It started to burn when Rin walked past you?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, he brushed past me and..." Jazz trailed off. "You don't think Rin cut me, do you?"

"Well, what else could it be?" Sam asked.

"He probably didn't mean to. I mean, what reason would Rin have to cut me? It's not like this is going to kill me, and if he wanted to actually harm me, I'm pretty sure I'd be bleeding a lot more." Jazz defended the boy.

"Jazz has got a point, Sam," Tucker said, "Rin hasn't done anything to earn our distrust, and he's a good person. Why would Rin cut Jazz on purpose?"

"I guess you're right." Sam sighed.

"Don't worry about it." Danny shrugged. "We're all on edge. It's okay for you to be cautious."

__________________________

Rin had given Jazz a temptaint. One down, three more to go.

Rin had a hunch Jazz knew about Danny, but even if she didn't, she'd be able to protect herself better if she was able to see the demons. Danny wouldn't want his sister to get hurt.

Now that he'd given her a temptaint, he needed to hurry and give the trio one. If he waited too long, Jazz would mention to the trio the demons she was seeing, and it would cause problems if they thought Jazz was insane, or if they believed her and started to panic because there was a potential enemy they couldn't see.

Rin really wished he hadn't skipped that opportunity to scratch Danny.

Chapter Twenty-One complete! Bye my doggies!