Of Ghosts and Demons

Chapter 1: Visitors from below

A.N. My followers who have been with me for a while and read some of my stories may know that I have a soft spot for this one anime. Thus, I decided to touch upon it, even if lightly.

A prolonged sound of finishing a drink through the straw. This was one of the few sounds heard across the alleyway at about nine pm. The decreased number of cars passing at such late hour, coupled with the distance from the big roads, let the grimy place rest in nightly silence, disrupted only by a single young man, who had opted for a dinner outside. Not being much of a cook and caring too little to ask anyone, it was only logical that the person looking so out of place would eat at a familiar place. After all, McDonalds was McDonalds even here, albeit the language difference was a true pain, even with a special gift the boy possessed.

Dropping the carton cup in the nearest bin, the teen wiped his hands and took a good look around. It probably wasn't a very good place to be in, and those weren't the street gangs that he was worried about. Already he could see small black creatures inhabiting the place where simple green mildew would be the least of worries. Was the teen concerned about the fact that he was not looking at the typical dwellers of Trashland? Not really, no, they were harmless, and them scurrying off at his mere look was a sign that he was not the one who should be. But still, the scenery was not pleasant, it was the one that was to be changed as soon as possible.

Yet, it's not like he chose to pursue these valleys of unsanitary garbage. The paths most repulsive always were the safest, after all. Safest from attention, from extra company, from threats coming one's way. The list of things that could harm the teen was surprisingly short, and two of the three people there were not around, and thus he wasn't supposed to be worried. Or so it would seem at the first glance. Things were a tad bit more complicated than that, really. It was HIM that could be seen as a threat in need of annihilation, once he was discovered.

So, as the teen goes to his home, a little bit of history is in order. What makes Daniel Phantom a person who is a subject to many controversies? For starters, the name spoke for itself, for it was a handpicked one. Quite on the point, yet better than the nickname 'InvisoBill' as certain dully-minded reporters labeled him, much to the boy's dismay. Luckily, people out of town dismissed the notion completely, thinking that it was another crazy story from another crazy town. Daniel could guess that he should thank the people. Thanks to this dismissive response he was able to remain under the radar for long enough to become stronger. So much that he shall not fear anything.

He was...unique, even for a ghost type. To delve into how the universe worked, there were two worlds, two reverse sides of the same coin. One would think that somewhere in there would be Heaven, a place of divine order, as there was Gehenna — an iteration of Hell which, for some reason, was not named by its most common term. But there was no indication of the former's existence, there were no angels who stepped in. There was the Good Book, reciting which could grant you protection from many visitors who usually lived downstairs. Daniel knew it by heart, so he would know when a pesky nuisance would attempt to banish him. Not that there were many useful verses. Yet, despite the Bible, God was yet to make his entrance. Not that he would. It was a rather pessimistic thought. The world doesn't stop however, with or without the oldest being in existence and nonexistence.

But enough digressing. The story began when the hero was fourteen. His parents were...eccentric in many regards, bordering on outright heresy, they were exorcists. The irony of the case was that they managed to accomplish what only one demon could do. They opened a gateway between Assiah, the world of humans, and Gehenna. A stable two-way entrance that required blood of a single average demon to keep going for a week. Why would humans try it? A mad scientist would have responded 'For Science!' and they were, in a way. To learn more about an enemy, one had to look inside its house. The point is, there was no way of knowing where it led. It turned out to be the realm where spirit type demons dwelled. Daniel was the one who, while being alone, accidentally activated the gateway while being inside of it.