17 Water

One night while training, Chelsea and Danny sparred hand-to-hand in ghost form. Even though he went easy on her, she got knocked on her butt… into the pond.

“That’s fifteen zilch to me,” Danny said, holding out a hand to help her up. “C’mon, Chelsea, you gotta get better at this!”

“I know, I know,” Chelsea said, reaching for him. Or, at least, she tried to. Her hand squelched as it came out of the water, like moving through mud. She looked at her hand and stifled a scream.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked.

“My hand!” Chelsea looked down at herself. “My body! What’s going on?” Glowing green liquid oozed away from her body and into the water.

Danny grabbed Chelsea’s arm and yanked her out of the water. The green ooze dangled around her, and she felt weak.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Looks like you’re destabilizing,” Danny said, confused. “I guess ghosts are water soluble? I had no idea.”

“Destabilizing?” Chelsea asked, shaking. “What does that mean? And what do you mean you had no idea?”

“I’ve never been wet as a ghost before,” Danny explained. “You’re going to be alright. Your form is already fixing itself.”

He was right. The goo was disappearing, and Chelsea felt better physically. Mentally, she was still shocked.

“What is destabilization?” she asked shakily.

“It’s when a ghost loses their form,” Danny said, “like you just did. Lucky for you, getting out of the water seemed to fix the problem.”

“What could have happened?”

Danny shrugged. He didn’t seem nearly as concerned as she was. He said, “You would turn into a puddle of goo, I guess. I’m sure you would have pulled yourself together eventually.”

Chelsea’s mouth dropped, and she scurried away from the pond.