The unvoluntary sleep lasted for unknown amount of time. And when Danny woke up, he didn't get up immediately. With his eyes still closed, the teen shifted on his bed. Danny felt something tickling the edge of his nose, it was probably just a hay which came from inside of the mattress. The teen moved his hand and moved away the source of his discomfort. The hay was quite soft. Danny then shivered, it was quite cold. He moved the hand to pull the covers, but found none at first. The teen continued to shift, trying to find that damn piece of clothing. Danny felt something crumbling beneath him, something nasty and sticky.

Finally the teen opened his eyes slightly, and they snapped widely open. He jumped in surprise and yelped. He wasn't on his bed, he lied on the dirty ground. It was a wide forest opening, lush and green, surrounded by numerous trees. The place seemed peaceful, the birds' steady chirping was only interrupted by a small river, which was flowing nearby. And 'something nasty and sticky' was actually a black wet dirt.

How did he...Then Danny remembered what happened: his plan, the cult and the enormous pain. Wait, there was something about the vessel of the Devil himself. He didn't feel much different. Trying to recall the events in details, Danny rubbed the back of his neck in confusion.

Then Danny briefly looked at his palm and saw a white leather glove on it, just like on another hand. The teen shook his head, when he realized that his clothes were different than before. He examined them in details. They felt so soft, it was probably a silk. His white tunic was replaced by tight, thin, long sleeved black robe. One of its halves was atop of another, kinda like when you wrap yourself in a towel. There was a white trim on the edges of the robe. The robes were held close to his body by a white leather belt, his supposedly silk pants were black. His priced boots were replaced by another pair. The boots were made of leather, very smooth leather, dyed in white and had a two centimeter tall sole.

All in all, even if Danny thought that the clothes looked awesome, he was wary about how he had gotten them. Recalling that there was a river nearby, he had a chance to wash himself. Danny approached it slowly, closing his eyes and splashing some water on his face. The teen rubbed it and wiped away the dirt. As the muddy dense water fell back in the river, Danny opened his eyes. He blinked at the image on the water. There was a teen with a close resemblance to him in terms of face features, but the skin was more tanned. His hair were astonishingly white, making the snow look dim in comparison. The eyes were green, not the same color as the grass around him. No, they held the brightest shade, like the deathly color from yesterday.

Weird. Wait a second, that was HIS reflection. Danny screamed in horror and backed off from the river.

"What's going on?!" He whispered and covered his mouth. There was a strange echo in his voice.

Taking a shaky breath, Danny bit his lower lip and yelped in pain.

A small droplet of blood fell from his lip, but to his ever growing horror, it was green and dense, like the liquid from Freakshow's vial. When the teen's tongue touched his canines, he almost cut it. Danny looked at his reflection again and opened his mouth. There were two sharp fangs. Danny gasped and for some reason started to run his hands around his body to check if something had changed. He didn't know what he had expected, since he had already seen his reflection, horns, or maybe a black arrowed tail, but he didn't find either. Well, that was reassuring, and he didn't hear any voices in his head. Still...

Danny was panicking now. How could he come home now, and how was he going to explain that it was still him, when even his skin color had changed? There were so many questions and he didn't have a single answer. Suddenly something happened. His hand disappeared. Literally, one second it was there, and then it was gone. He looked at the palm with wide eyes, but before he could even yell again, it reappeared. Danny took another breath.

"What am I?" He asked himself, before an ice blue mist escaped his mouth.

"I believe I have an answer for your question."

Danny spun around with supernatural speed. He saw a strange person standing there. It was obviously an old man, with hunched back, long gray beard. The man had a long black staff, ending with a strange circle device. He wore long purple robes, which hid almost everything, including his chest and legs. His hood looked like one of the archers, hiding his entire face. The man was leaning on his staff for support.

"Who are you?" The teen asked warily.

"No need to fear me, child. I was the one who brought you here."

"Uhm, thanks?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you know what..."

"What happened back then? Let me explain. This ritual was supposed to summon Pariah Dark."

"Who?"

"Humans know him as the Devil. And you were supposed to be his puppet," the man pointed his staff at the boy.

Danny looked ready to faint. He became pale and breathed heavily. Before he could ask the next question, the man continued.

"I haven't seen anyone like you before this, Daniel. You actually managed to keep a grasp of your life. That's why I decided to come in. I'm not usually allowed to interfere, but not when I am supposed to. If you stayed within the portal for a bit longer, it would have been the only successful ritual ever."

"But if you stopped it, why am I like this?" Danny grasped the edge of his neat robes.

"Well, I didn't stop it immediately. The process was halfway through. Pariah has no control over you, but you, on the other hand, hold half of his enormous power, becoming half 'demon', as you would say, even though you are wrong. Of course, Dark will be furious, but don't worry, he won't find you until you will be ready."

"Ready for what?" The teen asked, slowly.

"To face him, of course. He won't just leave you alone."

"Then let him take it back, I don't need this...Demon powers."

"I'm afraid you won't survive through another ceremony."

Danny looked on the ground and laughed hysterically, putting hands over his face. He was horrified too many times to be afraid now. "That's freaking insane! If yesterday I was told that I would have demonic power, I would have called an Inquisition."

"You wouldn't. You are not like that, Daniel."

The teen snorted. "Yeah? How would you know, Old Man? I see you for the first time!"

"I know everything, child. For instance, when you were five, you went to the pigs' farmhouse..."

"Alright, alright, I believe you! Just please don't say it aloud."

The man smirked. "Anyways, you have to learn how to wield this power, Daniel. How you use it is up to you. It can shape the world around, you can even conquer it if you wish. I, meanwhile, will be watching the transpiring parade. Oh, and by the way, you can change back to your human appearance."

The man turned to leave. "Wait! Who are you and how am I supposed to do that?" Danny asked.

"I'm known by many names, but you can call me Clockwork. Time out!"

He hit the ground with his staff and vanished. Danny blinked.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He mumbled, before looking at his hands.

It was just so surreal. How could he be a half demon or whatever the Old Man meant by saying that he was wrong? Well, his hand turned invisible, what supernatural creatures could do that? Only...ghosts. Without any other version, he decided to deal with being a ghost.

"Yep. Deal with my half death," Danny's lips formed a straight horizontal line.

His amount of shock was wasted long ago, he guessed. By simply existing Danny broke the simplest laws of life - when you are alive, you ain't dead, when you are a corpse, you can't walk around. And it wasn't something you can chat about with the local father. What was he supposed to say, and if the priest believed him, what could he advice? He had a half of the Devil inside him, for heavens' sake! How the God was supposed to feel about that? One thought stopped him abruptly.

How his parents were going to react? They were faithful like hell, pun not intended. If he told them, there was no telling how they would react. Danny needed to change into human, but how could he do that...The teen sat on the grass and took a deep breath. All his actions were led by assumptions. Danny guessed that he needed to want to change, he started thinking about something lively. As expected, nothing happened. It should have been something different. Danny opened his now neon green eyes and got up. He would think up something on his way, his family must had been worried, and Tucker as well.

First, Danny needed to get a view from above, since he didn't know where he was. There was one especially tall tree and the teen decided to climb up. It wasn't his first time, and the robe was very comfortable even for such a task. Danny got on one of the highest branches and looked around. He saw nothing at first, but then Danny noticed a very thin line of smoke on a distance. Maybe he should head there. Suddenly a big crow landed on a branch, which was on his eyelevel. Then the bird croaked loudly right into his ear. Danny yelped and fell off the branch. The teen screamed and closed his eyes.

Then he noticed that the wind was not blowing into his face anymore, and his fall was taking too long. Danny opened his eyes and they widened immediately.

"I...I'm flying?!" He exclaimed.

The teen was indeed levitating several meters above the ground. For the first time since the entire ordeal, he laughed, genuinely. That was damn awesome. If only he learned how to...

"Oof."

He fell on the ground. At least this time Danny wasn't that high, so everything he wounded was his pride. It seemed that he had to walk on his feet. Danny sighed and walked in direction of the smoke, hoping that it was coming from the town. On his way, Danny started thinking up a way to change back. How was this possible, he was basically trying to come back to life. Curious, the teen put a hand over his heart. It wasn't beating, just what he had to prove. Maybe there was some way to make him fully human, but he would have to be like that.

Danny wasn't sure about how to feel about that. On one hand, he now had the power, yet untamed, but to have a half of the Devil's might...His main concern, besides the religious population around, was the previous owner of this power. Clockwork said that Pariah would search for him, and a feeling of dread rose in his stomach. But the Old Man was right, everything Danny could do was to train. What other powers did he have, the teen questioned himself. Maybe something with fire? Or appearance changing?

The last thing got him back to the point where everything began. Danny stopped and decided to try to change back immediately. But then he heard a growl. Danny looked to its source and saw a wolf looking at him with its beady eyes, as the saliva dripped from its mouth. There were no predators in the forest, how did it get there? Danny prepared to fight the animal, hoping that his newfound power would aid him. On the contrary. A ring of moonlight appeared around his waist, split in two and traveled up and down. When they disappeared, Danny saw that he was wearing his own clothes and his skin color became paler as well.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

The wolf snarled and ran at him. Danny didn't have much time to react, he only swung his hand and closed his eyes. He waited, and waited, nothing came. Danny opened his eyes and saw that the wolf was now behind him. The predator jumped at him again, but jumped through him. Danny was confused, he tried to rub the back of his neck, but found himself unable to. The teen looked at his palm and it looked a bit transparent. Danny saw a tree nearby and he moved his hand slowly through it. So, he could become intangible even while being human. His body then became solid again. Very unconventional.

The wolf looked confused. He had stopped jumping at him, but it was still growling. Danny looked at the animal.

"Alright, doggie. Get lost and we won't have any troubles," he said menacingly. The teen was strangely confident in a situation like this.

The wolf was about to jump at him again, when an arrow whistled near them and pierced the predator's head. Brutal. Danny looked to the side and he wasn't quite happy. There was a buffed man about their age. He had short blond hair and blue eyes. The man was wearing an aketon - padded, quilted jacket, dyed in white and red, along with red hose on his legs. On his feet was a pair of high leather boots. He was sitting on a brown horse.

"Dash, what a surprise," Danny said cheerfully.

Baxter was actually not the one people joked around a lot. Noble by birth, the blonde was considered an untouchable. Of course, he would prefer solving the issues with his strength, but when the issue was big enough, he always ran to his Daddy and his offenders didn't stick around for long. Baxters were influential only on their territory, being middle rank barons they didn't even anticipate in the barons' council. They hadn't been de Montfort's allies or the king's, and hereby they didn't gain or lost anything. Still, Baron Baxter was away god knows where at the moment.

Dash smirked. "My, my, who do we have here?" He asked, lowering the bow. "I didn't know you are into hunting, Fentina."

Danny sighed. "I'm not, I just got lost."

"Should have known, wouldn't have been surprised," the noble approached him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have been here for a few days, Fentonail."

Oh, so he didn't know what happened to his house.

"Thanks for that, I guess," Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

The blonde snorted. "Don't let it get into your head, peasant. For the note, I did this only because its fur looked pretty."

He turned his back to the now ghost teen and suddenly gave his horse a light stab. The animal whined and swapped its legs, throwing the mud into Danny,

"I expected nothing more," the half ghost said through the gritted teeth.

Dash laughed and got down from the horse, preparing to take the animal's pelt. Danny's eyes changed their color to green in a split second as a low growl came out of his throat. The ghost teen was walking for about half an hour. The forest was much better during the day, he liked how the light played through the trees' leaves. When Danny exited the forest, he saw the familiar surroundings. He could even see his house on a distance. But, he was wary about coming there, Danny decided to go to Tucker first. Hopefully the poor fellow managed to get home.

Danny felt weird while coming through the streets. Just yesterday he was a usual human, just like all of them, now he was something different, and that was unsettling. Now, every person around could do something nasty once they found out what had happened to him. The teen soon got to the house and entered it. The front entrance was a shopping place, and it wasn't Danny's destination. Tucker was not working at the stand at this time. He was usually at another kind of work.

"No, no, I told you, count seven times and then cut, you've lost an inch of precious cloth."

Danny peaked slightly in the room. Tucker was sitting near the working table, over the future cloth. Near him stood an old man, with an amount of wrinkles enough to carry milk jugs. He had gray eyes, which were unnaturally sharp for a man of his age, was bald, except for a few chunks of hair around his head. The man had a short beard, which was always clean, unlike his skin, which had several dark spots all around it. He wore rather rich looking red robes and sandals.

The man examined the extra piece. "I'll find where to use it, but you seem too distracted, Tucker. You weren't walkin' around the entire night, are you?"

"N-no, sir."

"You better not to lie to me, little raskal."

It wasn't an insult, that's how he called every lad. "You know that your punishment will be more severe if you lie to me. I have to go now, clean up the house by the time I return in the evening. And don't try to fix anything, you'll only make it worse."

Joshua went out of the room through another entrance, and Danny heard the door closing. Tucker sighed and leaned back in a chair with a crestfallen expression. Danny leaned against the wall and smirked.

"I thought you were good in math," he commented.

Tucker spun around. His eyes were ready to fall out of their orbits as the dark skinned teen jumped from his seat like if there was a pointed dagger beneath him.

"Danny!" He exclaimed and hugged his friend. "Oh God, I thought you are a goner!"

The raven haired teen chuckled slightly. "Well I'm still here. Sort of," he mumbled in the end.

"What do you..." Tucker suddenly pulled away. "Wait a moment," he made a few cautious steps back. "How do I know it's not Devil who pretends to be my friend?"

Danny looked around. "Is anyone in here besides us?"

"Uhm, no..."

The ghost teen went to the windows and closed the curtains, he walked to the doors and turned the keys in them. Tucker was growing tense, hoping that his assumptions were wrong. Danny started to listen for any activity.

"Alright, Tuck, I'm going to tell you what happened there. But first, you have to promise me that no word will leave this room."

"I...promise..." Tucker said uncertainly.

Danny sighed. "Well...I'm now half dead."

Tucker was silent, but then he burst out. "You are WHAT?!"

"Yeesh, quiet, Tucker. Let me show you something. If it works."

Danny closed his eyes and, once he concentrated, felt something extremely cold inside his chest. He suddenly got an idea that the cold was somehow related to his supernatural half. Danny tried to somehow grasp it, and the familiar white rings appeared. Tucker yelped and jumped aside, watching in shock how Danny's appearance changed.

"Huh, it was easier than I thought," now stark haired teen said with an echo in his voice.

"Wh-what happened to you?"

"That ritual didn't work fully and I kind of stole some of the Devil's power," Danny became invisible and then reappeared, much to his friend's horror, shock and awe. It was by accident, but it was an interesting show off.

"That's...strange..." Tucker managed to mutter.

"Seriously, is that all you can say? I'm a freaking demon, Tucker!"

"You do remember that I'm not a Christian?"

"Ah, yeah. Something about your African beliefs. And?"

"Well, we usually worship spirits, and you fit under the definition so far."

"You are not going to worship me, I hope?"

"Nope."

"Still, I have Devil's power inside, and he is really somewhere out there."

"Don't worry man, I'm not going to tell anyone. You know what, do you remember your plan in the forest?"

"Yes, we wanted to find a spirit..." Danny's eyes widened in realization.

"And one stands in front of me," Tucker smirked.

"You are a genius, Tuck."

"I know, man."