Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One late fall evening, Danny was flying around Bar Harbor, Maine, hoping to relax. His parents had decided to take the family to a ghost hunting convention the day after Danny and his mom had returned from their unplanned trip to Colorado. Danny was about to call it a night and head back to the hotel when he heard a scream. He zoomed towards the sound, hoping it was something that he could take care of quickly.

At the source of the call for help, Danny found two young kids, a girl and a boy, cornered by what looked like a large cat. However, it had a snake’s tail and acid was dripping from its fangs. Danny zapped it with an ecto-blast, drawing its attention.

“Leave those kids alone!” Danny called out. The cat-snake hissed at him, spat acid in his direction, and turned its attention back towards the two kids.

“Please, help us, mister!” the boy whimpered. He couldn’t have been more than ten years old.

Danny never could ignore a plea for help, so he placed himself between the kids and the cat-snake. Danny fired another ecto-blast at the cat-snake, trying to get it to leave. The creature, seeing that Danny was between it and its next meal, snarled at the offending half-ghost, and spat a large glob of acid at them. Danny threw up an ecto-shield and told the kids to run while he dealt with the cat-snake.

“Where?” the girl asked.

It was only then that Danny realized they were in a dead-end alley. Thinking quickly, Danny told them to grab onto him, stretching a hand behind him. Thankfully, neither child argued with him and grabbed his hand. Danny counted aloud from three to give the kids a warning, then he dropped the shield and took off into the sky, away from the monster.

The girl screamed and the boy whooped with excitement as Danny flew towards a park. Danny landed near a playset and told the two kids that they were safe for now.

“H-h-how did you do that?” the girl asked, holding the boy tightly.

“I’m a ghost.” Danny said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The girl paled but the boy just started jumping, asking Danny how many hit points he had and what his attack power was. This confused Danny to no end and the girl exasperatedly told the boy off, “Nico, please leave him alone.” Nico turned towards her, probably to argue back, but he was interrupted by a yowl. Turning around, Danny saw the cat-snake thing stalking towards them.

“Nico!” the girl called, motioning for her brother. Nico ran to her as Danny charged the cat-snake.

The cat-snake met Danny mid-air, claws out and ready to attack; Danny’s fists were ecto-charged and ready to send this creature back into the Ghost Zone. The cat-snake scratched at Danny, forcing him to dodge. He fired an ecto-ray at the creature, but it barely grazed its flank as it jumped to the side. The cat-snake snarled at Danny and spat more acid in his direction. Danny went intangible, but the acid still hurt as it passed through him.

Great, that still hurts no matter what I do, Danny thought as he shot another ecto-ray at the creature.

Danny and the cat-snake circled each other; the cat-snake snarled and Danny was panting. How strong is this thing? Danny had fought many ghosts in the past few months, ever since he got his powers over the summer; some were humanoid and others were animalistic. Danny wasn’t sure if this creature even counted as a ghost, it didn’t have the characteristic glow of ectoplasm. Danny quickly came up with a plan and put it in action as he was facing the kids. He turned back to the cat-snake and feigned an attack.

The creature pounced and Danny went intangible, forcing the creature to turn and face him again. Before it could pounce again, Danny hit it with a dual ecto-ray at full blast. The cat-snake screeched as it disintegrated into golden dust.

“What just happened?” the girl asked as she came out of hiding. Nico stood close behind her.

“I don’t know,” Danny answered, looking down at his hands.

“Is it gone for good?” Nico asked.

“I sure hope so.” Danny turned to face them.

The girl sighed in relief while Nico ran up and hugged him. “Thank you, Mr…”

“Phantom. Danny Phantom.” Danny smiled as Nico ran over to the playset and sat on a swing. He turned back to the girl. “And you’re welcome, …”

“Bianca, and this is my little brother Nico.” She gestured to Nico, who was having the time of his life asking Danny various questions about his stats.

Danny asked Bianca if she and Nico had a place to go, and Bianca said that they did, but she did not seem very happy about it. Bianca called to her brother, saying it was time to go back; Nico reluctantly got off the swing set. Danny asked Bianca if they needed a lift; she looked at Nico, who was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and agreed.

“So, where’s this school of yours?” Danny asked Bianca, who was riding piggyback while Danny carried Nico in his arms.

“Right there, in the forest.” Bianca pointed to the right.

Danny followed her finger, and found the school. It was a dark and dreary building that looked similar to a prison. Is this a military school or something? Danny thought as he landed behind a tree. Bianca hopped off Danny’s back as he put Nico down on the ground.

“Thank you for the ride, Mr. Phantom.” Bianca said, taking Nico’s hand.

“Will we see you again?” Nico asked.

“I don’t know, Nico. Maybe someday.” Danny said, lifting his feet off the ground. “Well, I need to get going. Goodbye, Bianca and Nico!”

“Goodbye, Danny Phantom!” they chorused as Danny flew back to the hotel his family was staying at.

Chapter Text

Danny emptied the Fenton Thermos into the Ghost Portal for the third time that night. In the space of that evening, the Box Ghost had escaped three times, Skulker twice, and who knows how many of the smaller ghosts. He rubbed his eyes wearily, hoping to at least get some sleep before school tomorrow. As he turned to fly back to his room, a deep voice called his name: “Daniel.”

“What?” Danny turned to face the portal, hoping that he was hearing things. Unfortunately, he was not.

What appeared to be a tall angel with ebony-tinted wings and a black floor-length robe stood on the other side of the open portal. The ‘angel’ had dark skin, long dark hair, and his feathers shimmered with hues of blue, black, and purple. His golden eyes regarded Danny with intrigue. Danny rubbed his own eyes to make sure he was not hallucinating, or dreaming.

“You are very much awake and lucid, Daniel.” The 'angel' stepped through the portal and into the lab, where he towered over the counters and machinery. As he entered the room, a strange feeling washed over Danny; there was a faint tugging at his ghost core, like a fish hook trying to drag him towards the unknown being. Danny shook his head, fighting to clear the feeling.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Ecto-energy started building up in Danny’s hands as he fell into a defensive stance.

The angel raised his hand in a placating manner, and the pulling feeling somewhat diminished. “I mean you no harm, Daniel. I am Thanatos.”

“Wait a minute. Like, the purple dude?” Danny lowered his hands slightly, perplexed.

“No,” Thanatos deadpanned. “I am the Greek god of death.”

“Wow, great, that’s comforting.” Danny scowled and brought his fists back up, the ecto-energy around them glowing a bright toxic green. “Are you here to finish what the portal started?”

“No, Daniel, I am not.”

Now Danny was confused. He lowered his hands. “Then… why are you here?”

“I need your help, Daniel. The spirits of the dead are growing restless and I can no longer handle them all on my own.”

Danny was even more confused now. “Why do you need my help? What can I do? And aren’t you supposed to be a myth, like the other Greek legends?”

Thanatos patiently explained that the Greek myths were very much real; Danny’s jaw fell open at the revelation. Danny asked how it was possible for the Greek myths to still be around and not be seen. Thanatos explained that, through use of a special magic called the Mist, the monsters and many other beings were hidden from most mortal eyes. He told Danny about half-bloods, children with a Greek deity for a parent. Thanatos mentioned a place called Camp Half-Blood, a refuge for those same children to learn how to survive and fight the monsters that hunted them because of their godly genes.

“So, how do I fit into all of this?” Danny asked, still trying to process everything. “How am I supposed to help?”

“You have fought the spirits of what you call the Ghost Zone for many months. I have come to ask for your help in dealing with the ones that have escaped from that realm.”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘escaped’? Who else has gotten out?” Danny felt dread seep into every part of his being. He began to pace frantically across the floor, thoughts about how the ghosts could have escaped without him noticing buzzing frantically around his head. “How did this happen? How could I have not noticed? Did I notice without noticing?”

Thanatos watched Danny pace with confusion. “As the King of the Ghost Zone, I thought you knew.”

Danny froze. “What did you just call me?”

“The King of the Ghost Zone?” Thanatos repeated. “Are you telling me you did not know this?”

“NO!?!" Danny’s voice cracked. “What do you mean I’m the King of the Ghost Zone?!”

“When you defeated Pariah Dark, you became the new King of the Ghost Zone.” Thanatos’ expression turned slightly puzzled. “I find it rather incredible that you defeated the former king two months ago, and you did not know that, by Ghost Zone Law, you succeeded him.”

“Look,” Danny said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’ve been a little busy, okay? There’s always ghosts wreaking havoc all over Amity Park and I’m pretty overwhelmed, like, all of the time. Sorry, but I don’t think I can help you, I just-”

Danny froze and stared at the ceiling as footsteps creaked overhead; somebody was awake. He turned to Thanatos, who just stared at him with the same unreadable expression.

“I’ll just… be right back,” he said quietly. “Don’t… do anything, okay?”

Danny could’ve sworn that he saw a smirk on Thanatos’ face as he turned invisible and flew up through the ceiling to the main floor of the house. He glanced around and grimaced as he saw his dad, Jack, standing in his pajamas in front of the open fridge and chugging out of the milk carton.

“Eck, guess I’m not having cereal tomorrow,” He muttered before flying back downstairs, still invisible.

Thanatos was right where Danny had left him, and his eyes landed on Danny as soon as he phased through the wall. Danny frowned, puzzled.

Wait, can he see me even though I’m invisible? He thought. To test his theory, Danny drifted across the room, and watched as Thanatos’ gaze followed him. Danny then silently glided up to Thanatos and stopped just a few feet in front of him. He waved his hand animatedly in the god’s face and Thanatos sighed softly.

“Yes, I can still see you, Daniel,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Whoa, how can you—wait, no,” Danny shook his head to clear his thoughts as he turned visible again. “Not important right now. My dad’s upstairs and you’ve gotta go, because there is no way I can explain this to him.”

“But there is still very much to discuss, young one,” Thanatos tilted his head. “I have not even told you of-”

“I don’t care!” Danny shouted desperately. “Please, you need to go-”

Danny instinctively turned invisible again as the door to the basement banged open and Jack thudded down the stairs into the lab, an ecto-gun held tightly in his hands.

“WHO’S THERE?” Jack shouted ferociously. He squinted into the darkness of the room. “I know you’re in here, ghostie.”

Danny looked over at Thanatos and gasped, then clamped his hands over his mouth as Jack whipped around to face his direction. Thanatos was still there, clearly visible from the glow of the portal, staring at Jack silently. Danny wildly waved his arms at Thanatos, trying to signal that Jack would see him. Thanatos glanced at Danny from the corner of his eye but made no effort to hide himself as Jack moved slowly towards them.

Oh no, oh crap, Danny thought. My dad is gonna see Thanatos and think he’s a ghost and then he’s gonna shoot him, a GREEK GOD, and then Thanatos will KILL him—

Danny was shocked to see his dad frown, turn around, and stomp back up the stairs. He waited till the basement door slammed shut before he turned visible again and gaped at Thanatos in awe.

“How did you…?” Danny whispered.

“Do you remember the Mist that I mentioned earlier?” Thanatos replied. “You just saw it in action.”

“That is so cool,” Danny sighed. “I wish I could do that, it would make my life a lot easier.”

“Perhaps, in time,” Thanatos said. He turned back towards the portal. “Now, would you like to accompany me to the Underworld? We can converse more without the chance of your father interrupting us.”

Danny didn’t respond. Instead, he put his hands to his temples and crouched down low to the floor in an attempt to ground himself. He was absolutely overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last… hour? Few hours? He didn’t even know what time it was, but he was sure that he was not going to get the sleep that he needed before his math test tomorrow.

“I… umm… lemme just-” Danny stuttered. “I honestly… I-I just need some sleep, lemme get back to you on that?”

“Hmm, I have never met a ghost that needed sleep,” Thanatos commented.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure you’ve never met a ghost that had a math test in a few hours, but isn’t this just a day full of new experiences?” Danny quipped.

Thanatos chuckled in response. “Very well, then, Daniel. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

And with that, Thanatos walked back through the green mist of the ghost portal, and the doors slid shut behind him.

Chapter Text

“Dude, with the way your life is playing out, you could be the main character in a TV show or something.” Tucker said in-between handfuls of chips.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Danny groaned, facedown in his pillow. It was after school the following day and he, Tucker, and Sam currently occupied Danny’s bedroom. Danny was sprawled out on his bed and Sam sat on his desk while Tucker sat in the desk chair.

“Well, I just cannot believe that you met Thanatos!” Sam gushed. “This is just, like, the awesomest thing to have ever happened in your entire half-life!”

“Hey!” Danny lifted his head to scowl at her. “I can be the judge of that for myself, thanks!”

“I mean, she’s kinda right, though,” Tucker remarked. “Not everyone gets to meet an immortal being who needs their help.”

Danny didn’t respond. Instead, he looked out the window at the sun, which had begun to set. Crap, Danny thought, sitting up. It’s time to meet Thanatos. “Okay, guys, you gotta go,” he said. “It’s time.”

“Have you decided what you’re gonna do?” Sam asked. “Are you gonna help him?”

“I mean, I guess I can give it a try.” Danny conceded. “Maybe I can learn a few things from him. It’s been pretty hard having to learn everything on my own, and he probably knows a ton about ghosts and stuff.”

And with that, Danny rolled off of the bed and gestured to the door. Tucker got up and fist bumped Danny. “Good luck, man.” He smiled.

“Thanks,” Danny sighed.

Sam gave him a quick hug. “Good luck! Tell me everything when you get back, okay?” She grinned eagerly.

“Yeah, I will. Thanks, Sam.” Danny smiled, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Tucker walked by them, coughing in a way that suspiciously sounded like “Lovebirds.” Sam slugged him in the arm when she caught up with him. Danny sighed and shook his head; would his friends ever change? As Sam and Tucker left, Danny walked down to the living room, where his mom was working on another ghost hunting weapon.

“Hey, Mom. I’ve got a lot of homework due Monday, so I’ll be busy for the rest of the night.” Danny said; Maddie said that was fine and that she would check on him in a little bit.

Danny returned to his room, and moved things around on his desk to make it seem like he had done some homework. Then he arranged his bed to make it look like he was sleeping underneath the covers. With his room ready, Danny transformed and phased down to the lab. Thankfully, Jack was not in there, but Thanatos was. Instead of the long robe from the previous night, he now wore a knee length, one-shouldered, coal-colored chiton (that’s what Sam said the robe was called) with a golden rope cinched around the waist, and bright red leather sandals.

“Umm, hey,” Danny waved awkwardly. He felt the faint tugging at his ghost core again, but it was easier to ignore this time.

“How did your math test go?” Thanatos asked.

“Wow, uhh, I… I mean, as good as it could have, I guess…?” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “I wasn’t expecting you to ask that, thought you were gonna be all ominous and stuff.”

Thanatos raised an eyebrow. “You said you had a math test today. Now, I am curious as to why a ghost would need to take a math test?”

“Well, I’m not completely a ghost-” Danny paused as he noticed the faint smirk on Thanatos’ face. “Ohh, you’re joking, aren’t you?”

“Mayhaps.” Thanatos’ face was difficult to read, but Danny got the sense that he was amused. Thanatos gestured to the open portal doors. “Shall we go to the Underworld?”

“I mean, sure, I guess.” Danny landed in front of the portal. “After you.”

Danny followed Thanatos through the portal. Thanatos used his wings to fly through the Ghost Zone, which Danny found kind of weird since he was a Greek god; couldn’t he just float around or even teleport them there? They were traveling for a while before Danny noticed that none of his enemies had even attempted to attack him. Danny asked Thanatos about this.

“Most beings, both living and deceased, will not approach me if they can help it.” Thanatos flew around a door to a ghost’s lair while Danny phased through it.

Danny stared at Thanatos’ red sandals and couldn’t stop himself. “Nice shoes, by the way. Why are they bright red? Don’t they kinda clash with the whole gloomy thing you’ve got going on?”

Thanatos turned to Danny and raised an eyebrow. “Are you seriously giving me fashion advice?”

Danny looked down at his own admittedly garish outfit, and conceded the point. From there they continued to their destination in silence. Danny had just begun to wonder how far away the Underworld was when they came to what appeared to be a rough stone wall. Thanatos summoned a scythe and slashed through the ragged rock. Danny watched in amazement as a portal formed in the wall. Through the green haze of the portal, Danny saw what looked like an enormous underground cavern. The scythe melted into shadows as Thanatos turned back to Danny.

“Follow and stay close to me,” Thanatos said before flying through.

Danny hesitated a moment before following. He was hit by the frigid drop in temperature as he flew through the portal and he shivered involuntarily; it was even colder than the Ghost Zone. The portal opened onto a dark, rocky ledge. To the right of them was a tunnel burrowed into the cavern wall. To the left lay an enormous chasm. A feeling of dread seemed to waft up from the unknown depths like a foul and pungent scent, and Danny felt fear crawl up his spine as he stared into the void; whatever was down there, he did not want to meet it. Danny lingered for only a moment before hurrying into the tunnel after Thanatos. The feeling of dread lessened its hold on Danny the further he got from the pit, and the tunnel widened until it eventually opened onto a spacious field of black grass. Poplar trees were scattered throughout the field, along with a few blue humanoid wisps that were wandering aimlessly. There was no sky, only dark stalactites and dense mist high above.

Thanatos landed in the grass a few yards from the tunnel entrance, and when Danny landed next to him he was surprised to see that the color seemed to have drained from Thanatos’ entire being. His wings were grayscale, his golden belt was now silver, and his once dazzling red sandals were the color of slate rock. Danny quickly looked down at his own hands, before internally facepalming as he remembered that his own outfit was already black and white. He looked back up at Thanatos, who was now watching him with his still golden eyes.

“What…” Danny’s voice came out in a dry rasp, and he cleared his throat. “What was that? What was in that hole?”

Thanatos was silent for a moment before he answered. “That pit was Tartarus. It is the deepest part of the Underworld, and only the most evil of creatures exist there.” He placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Are you alright, Daniel?”

“Yeah, I’m…” Danny shivered again. “I’m good.”

Thanatos nodded before stepping away and looking out across the vast field at the indistinct blue shapes in the distance. “Alright, we have much to cover tonight. First and foremost,” He turned back to Danny. “We must go and speak with my master, Lord Hades. He has undoubtedly sensed your presence, and I would prefer to explain this to him before he takes a more… drastic action.”

“Drastic action?” Danny grimaced. “I… really don't like the sound of that.”

“I would imagine not.” Thanatos agreed. He spread his wings and pushed off from the ground, launching high into the air as he set off across the plain.

Danny was quick to follow, and he frowned as he flew alongside Thanatos. “So, if you’re the god of death, then what’s Hades the god of?” He questioned.

“Hades is the god of the Underworld.” Thanatos replied. The color slowly returned to his outfit as they distanced themselves from the tunnel. “He rules over the realm and keeps order, while I watch over the souls and spirits and make sure that they go where they are supposed to, when they are supposed to.” He glanced over at Danny meaningfully. “You caused quite a stir down here last year.”

“Last year…?” Danny trailed off as he realized what Thanatos was hinting at; the portal accident. He felt his gut twist. Had he just walked into a trap? He wasn’t meant to exist, was Hades going to fix that and kill him the rest of the way? Maybe he planned to experiment on Danny, or keep him in a cage where all the other gods could see what a freak he was. Danny was quiet as the field sloped up as it passed far below them, and he watched as the few straggling blue wisps grew into a large, rippling crowd. In the distance, he could now see a dark castle rising out of the gloom. “So, did he send you to come get me?” Danny asked quietly. “Cause I’m a freak of nature that shouldn’t exist?”

“No,” Thanatos assured him. “I came to you of my own accord. Daniel, I swear to you, on the River Styx, that no harm shall come to you in this realm, so long as you stay close to me and do not act foolishly.”

A foreboding rumble shook the cavern ceiling above them, and Danny was almost worried that it might cave in. He looked over at Thanatos to ask him what had caused it, but Thanatos was gliding down towards the ground; Danny hurried to follow him. As Danny clued into his surroundings, he noticed what looked like a large turnstile of sorts maybe a mile away from him. On the far side of the large barrier was a black sand beach that ran along a dark, polluted river; on the other side of the river was a dark shroud of mist that covered the land like a blanket. Danny also saw what looked like thousands of people milling about in a large crowd on the beach.

As the crowd approached the turnstile, it funneled into several lines that slowly weaved through the entry stalls until they came through on the other side, where the people either went to a large black-tented pavilion or into the field where they faded into the blue wisps that Danny had seen since they entered the Underworld. The dark palace that Danny had seen earlier loomed ahead to their right. He and Thanatos were only a few yards above the crowd in the field when Danny’s ghost sense began to go off like crazy.

“No way,” Danny said as bluish-white vapor poured out of his mouth. “These are all ghosts?”

“Spirits, yes,” Thanatos watched Danny with a sort of puzzled expression. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just my ghost sense,” Danny hiccuped as another cloud of fog wafted out of his mouth. “I’ve never been around this many ghosts before, though.”

Thanatos and Danny landed in front of a two-story tall set of bronze gates that were nestled in a thick obsidian wall which wrapped around the palace. The gates were open wide, and they led into a large courtyard. Danny shuddered when he realized what was pressed into the bronze; the gates were adorned with scenes of death; wars, bombings, natural disasters… Danny decided to turn his attention to what was inside the gates instead.

The inner courtyard was stunning; it was a garden of luminescent flora. Nestled in-between the rare and likely lethal plants were mounds of precious jewels; rubies, sapphires, and diamonds twinkled like stars in the dark soil. In the center of the garden was a small orchard of pomegranate trees. Crystal walkways separated the trees, and multi-colored mushrooms sprouted up amongst the trees’ roots. A bronze fountain stood in the center of the orchard, and a short, dark-haired figure stood in front of the fountain, his back facing the newcomers.

Thanatos knelt when he reached the individual. Danny quickly knelt next to him, not wanting to potentially disrespect someone that he shouldn’t. “Master Nico,” Thanatos said. “It is good to see you.”

When the figure turned, Danny couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped him. He knew this person. The person seemed to recognize Danny as well.

“Phantom? What are you doing here?” Said Nico, someone Danny had not expected to see again.

“Nico?” Danny stood up, shocked. “What are you doing here?”

Chapter Text

Nico shrugged awkwardly in response to Danny’s question. “It’s… a long story.” His dark brown eyes seemed to bore into Danny’s bright green ones. “Now, how about you answer my question?”

Danny glanced over at Thanatos. He had risen and was now watching the interaction with a once again unreadable expression. Danny turned back to Nico. “I mean… it’s also a long story. Uhh, Thanatos, here,” Danny faltered, unsure if it was rude of him to not add Lord in front of the god’s name. However, Thanatos took over speaking before Danny could mess up more.

“I have brought Daniel here to meet your father,” he explained. “I plan to take him on as my apprentice.”

Danny stared at the god in surprise; Nico had a similar look on his own face. Wait, apprentice?! What does that mean? Will I need to leave Amity Park? What about the Ghost Zone? Danny’s thoughts were running wild. Danny’s mouth must have fallen open on its own because Thanatos told him to close it. He did.

“Come, Lord Hades is expecting us,” Thanatos bowed to Nico. “It was good seeing you, Master Nico.” He started walking towards the palace entrance.

“We’ll catch up later, okay, Nico?” Danny said.

“Yeah, whatever.” Nico turned back to the fountain.

Danny hurried after Thanatos, who was waiting for him at the entrance. They walked into a large entry hall with glittering obsidian walls and a polished bronze floor.

“You have met Master Nico before.” It was not a question.

Danny nodded, looking at the glittering black stone and statues and everything else, except Thanatos. “Yeah, I met him and his sister in November. What did you mean, back there? You plan to make me your apprentice?” Danny asked.

“Exactly what I said.” Thanatos answered.

“And what does that mean? Being your apprentice? Will it help me with the whole ‘King of the Ghost Zone’ thing?” Danny hoped Thanatos was not like Vlad; Vlad had been trying to get Danny to be his apprentice ever since they met at the college reunion in October, but he wasn’t nearly as nice as the god of death had been so far.

“It means that I will teach you to do what I do, if you wish. And yes, I believe that being my apprentice will help teach you what you may need to rule the Ghost Zone.”

“What do you do? Besides reaping the souls of the dead.” Danny was curious. Reaping the souls of the dead would be cool, but what would that mean for the Ghost Zone ghosts?

“I make sure the dead stay where they belong in the Underworld, I keep the monsters of Tartarus at bay, and I protect the Doors of Me.” Thanatos explained.

Danny chuckled. “The Doors of what?”

“You would know them as the Doors of Death, if you studied Greek mythology.” Thanatos stopped in front of an ornate set of doors. “Now, you are about to meet the Lord of the Underworld.” Thanatos gestured at the doors in front of them; they had more pictures like those on the bronze gates out front. “Please, remember your manners, Daniel.” Thanatos warned before opening the doors.

The throne room was massive. There were skeletons wearing different military outfits from different time periods lining the walls. The throne itself seemed to be made of human skulls, making the god on the throne—Danny assumed that it was Hades—seem even more threatening. An overwhelming aura of power and death radiated from the god, and Danny felt the strong urge to hide under a rock and stay there for eternity. But instead he followed Thanatos as he approached the throne. The closer Danny got to Hades, the more static seemed to fill his mind, making it hard to focus on anything except the god on the throne. It was like he was a puppet, being dragged towards the throne by some unknown power.

Thanatos knelt in front of Hades. Danny followed his lead and kept his eyes on the ground, unsure of what else to do.

Thanatos greeted Hades. “Master.” He stood, but Danny remained kneeling.

“Thanatos,” Hades drawled. “What, pray tell, is this… abomination?”

Danny flinched and glanced at Thanatos, who seemed to be staring icily at the Lord of the Underworld. “This is Daniel Fenton-”

“Uh, Phantom.” Danny mumbled under his breath. Both of the gods stared at him; Danny flushed when he realized they heard him. Looking at Thanatos, Danny could almost hear him say, “Remember your manners, Daniel,” again. Crap. Danny opened his mouth to apologize, but Thanatos continued.

“As I was saying, this is Daniel Fenton-Phantom, King of the Ghost Zone, the half-ghost that has been defending his hometown of Amity Park, Minnesota, for the past four months from the beings that come from the Lost Region of Tartarus.”

“A half-ghost king, how horrid.” Hades sneered. “And why have you brought it into my domain?”

“I wish to take Daniel on as my apprentice.” Thanatos proclaimed.

Hades frowned, and a curious glint filled his eyes. “Why does Death need an apprentice?”

“Things are changing, Lord Hades.” Thanatos said. “Something catastrophic is coming. The spirits of both humans and monsters are becoming unruly, and we will need all of the help we can get. I know you can feel the elder beings stirring.”

Hades stroked his chin, appearing to be deep in thought; Danny worried that he was deciding how to kill him the rest of the way. He glanced up at Thanatos, who motioned for Danny to rise. Hades’ attention turned to Danny as he stood, and his disgusted gaze seemed to turn more thoughtful.

“Do you remember what you did last November?” Hades asked, staring intensely at Danny.

Danny did not expect this question, but answered anyway. “You mean like, my family’s trip to Maine? Yeah, I remember it.”

“Why did you defeat that chimera? You could have left those two children to defend themselves. There was no reason for you to intervene.” Hades had an expression that Danny couldn’t place.

“You mean the cat-snake thing?” Danny asked.

Hades rolled his eyes. “Yes, the cat-snake thing. Why did you fight it? You could have been seriously injured, trying to defend those children.”

Danny carefully planned his next words before speaking. “They were in danger, and I had the ability to help them. That’s what I do, I protect people.”

Hades nodded, a glimmer of something in his eye. “Very well, then.” He stood up from his throne and walked closer, shrinking down to a more human size (What just happened? Danny thought.) “Daniel, Thanatos. Face each other and hold out your right hands. And take off your glove, Daniel.”

Thanatos held out his hand like he was going to shake someone’s hand. Danny pulled off his glove and moved his own hand to take Thanatos’, but a slight shake of the god’s head warned Danny not to; so, Danny held his hand next to Thanatos’, an inch or so of space between their palms. Hades placed his hands over their own.

“Thanatos, God of Death, do you accept Daniel Fenton-Phantom, King of The Ghost Zone, as your apprentice?” Hades asked.

“Yes.” Thanatos answered. A glowing, silvery-white cord materialized and wrapped around his forearm.

“As his mentor, you will guide and teach him to assist you in your duties. He will aid you in the collection of souls and your other duties, as well as in the defense of this realm. Will you accept this responsibility?” Hades asked next.

“I will.” Thanatos affirmed.

Hades then turned to Danny. “Daniel Fenton-Phantom, King of the Ghost Zone, do you accept Thanatos, God of Death, as your mentor?”

Danny remembered the conversation they had outside the throne room. “Yes.” Another cord materialized, this time twining around Danny’s arm.

“As his apprentice, you will follow his guidance and instruction. You will aid him in the collection of souls and his other duties, as well as in the defense of this realm. Will you accept this responsibility?”

“I will.” Danny answered.

“Now clasp hands.” Hades instructed.

They did and watched as the silver cords wrapped around each other’s hands and up their arms. Danny’s arm felt like it was burning, but with none of the pain. The cords stayed for a moment before melting into their skin.

Hades lowered his hands. “You are now bound as mentor and apprentice.”

Chapter Text

“So, what happens now?” Danny asked, looking at the glowing silver mark on his forearm. It looked like a word in Ancient Greek written vertically on his arm; unfortunately, Danny did not know Ancient Greek. Danny went to pull his glove back on, but paused as blue-white vapor suddenly poured out of Danny’s mouth. My ghost sense? Why now? Why not during the weird ceremony? Or when I walked into the room? Danny complained internally.

“What was that, Fenton-Phantom?” Hades asked.

“It’s my, umm, ghost sense, uh, Lord Hades,” Danny explained nervously. “It allows me to detect when other ghosts are nearby.”

“Hmm,” Hades looked unimpressed. He turned to Thanatos. “You know that you will be busy with everything you do, when will you have time to train your new apprentice?”

“I have a plan. There is no need to worry, Lord Hades.” Thanatos said confidently.

Hades turned back to his throne, waving his hand dismissively. “As long as I do not need to deal with him, do whatever you need to, Thanatos.”

Thanatos nodded and began walking to the door; Danny followed, not risking a final look back at the Lord of the Underworld. The door opened on its own for Thanatos and Danny, and closed behind them. Thanatos started towards the entrance of the palace when a voice called out to him.

“Thanatos! What brings you here?”

Thanatos and Danny turned around to see a beautiful woman in a pale green and gray dress standing by the doors they had just exited. She had dark blonde hair, shimmery gold eyes like the sun shining through the clouds, and a tan like she spent all her days in sunny pastures. As the lady neared, Danny noticed that the gray of her dress was really more of an iridescent silver that shifted into different flower prints and patterns.

“Lady Persephone,” Thanatos greeted. “I am here on some official business.”

“And does this ‘business’ have anything to do with this lovely young man?” Persephone turned to Danny, an expectant smile on her face.

“Yes,” Thanatos answered. “Daniel is now my apprentice.” He held up his arm to show Persephone a mark Danny had not noticed until now. It was silver like his own, but the characters were different.

“Fántasma,” Persephone read. She turned to Danny, smiling. “That is an interesting name.”

“It’s, uh, actually Phantom, uh, Lady Persephone.” Danny corrected, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Danny felt Thanatos staring at him again, but Persephone laughed.

“I know it is, Danny. You caused quite the commotion last year.” Persephone said. “I must be off now, but I expect to see you again soon, Fántasma.”

She entered the throne room, leaving Danny and his new mentor in the entrance hall. “She’s nice,” Danny commented.

“Indeed, she is.” Thanatos agreed, walking towards the door. “Just make sure not to get on her bad side.”

“Why? What happens then?” Danny walked beside him.

Thanatos glanced at Danny. “Do you know the story of Sisyphus?”

Danny shook his head. “No?”

“Read it, and you will find your answer.” Thanatos said brusquely; he seemed annoyed about the topic, so Danny let it drop for now.

They reached the garden and found Nico sitting on a bench underneath a pomegranate tree. Danny walked over to him while Thanatos waited back on the path. Nico looked up when Danny sat down next to him.

“How did your meeting with Hades go?” Nico asked. His gaze landed on Danny’s arm, and he frowned. “Why does your arm say ‘Thánatos’?”

“It does?” Danny looked down at his arm. He had forgotten to put his glove back on, and the silvery letters of his mark were glowing brightly against his tan skin. “I can’t read it, so I’ll take your word for it.”

Nico looked at him, perplexed. “You can’t read it? Aren’t you a half-blood?”

“Well, I’m a half-gh-,” Danny caught himself; he probably shouldn’t be telling his secret to people he barely knew. He decided to try and change the subject, instead. “So, uh, how’s your sister? Bianca, right?”

Nico looked away, and Danny felt anger radiating off him. “She’s dead.”

Danny felt his heart sink. “I’m… sorry to hear that, Nico.” He placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder, but Nico shrugged it off. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Nico stood. “Unless you know how to raise the dead, don’t bother.” He said coldly before storming off.

Danny watched Nico leave, feeling horrible for upsetting him. He dropped his head into his hands, and remained silent as Thanatos sat down quietly next to him. They sat in silence for several moments before Danny spoke.

“I’m really screwing up today, aren’t I?” He mumbled. “I keep talking when I shouldn’t, and I feel so stupid, but… I didn’t know about Bianca…”

“No one can blame you for being overwhelmed, tonight has been a lot to take in.” Thanatos said comfortingly.

“Yeah, okay, but that doesn’t excuse me being a blunt idiot to Nico. I didn’t…” Danny trailed off.

“And you’re not at fault for not knowing about her death. How do you know Master Nico?” Thanatos asked.

“I met him last fall, in Maine,” Danny sighed. “He and Bianca were being attacked by a stupid cat thing, and I saved ‘em.”

“And have you seen them since?” Thanatos questioned.

“No,” Danny replied. “Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever see either of them again.”

“Then how could you have known that Bianca died?” Thanatos said.

Danny sighed again. “… you’re right…” He glanced at his mark again. “Will this be visible in my human form?”

“I believe so, as it marks you as my apprentice.”

“Great, dunno how I’m gonna explain this to my parents…” Danny said jokingly as he finally pulled his glove back on. He looked back to Thanatos. “So, like, does me being your apprentice give me any special powers?”

Thanatos thought for a moment. “It should grant you strength, and allow you to use powers that only Underworld deities and their children are able to use. You could also use your mark to summon me, or let me know you want to talk.” He stood. “Come now, there is still much to see.”

Thanatos took Danny on a tour of the Underworld, starting with the Fields of Punishment; there were people being chased by large black dogs, running through cacti patches with no clothes on, and other horrible tortures. Danny and Thanatos flew over a large hill where a man was pushing a boulder up the slope, which Danny found to be a rather strange punishment. He turned to ask Thanatos why the man was doing that, but Thanatos sped up and Danny had to hurry after him. While over the Fields, Danny met the three Furies; Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. They couldn’t talk long, something Danny was grateful for; they had claws that looked like they could tear him apart.

Next, Danny saw Elysium. Thanatos told him that was where the heroic and virtuous went when they died; Danny noticed a rather wistful expression on Thanatos’ face, but he felt he shouldn’t say anything. They didn’t enter, but they did fly over the small valley. Elysium looked like those island vacation homes rich people go to. In the center of the valley was a large lake, with three islands in its center. Danny asked about them; Thanatos said that the Isles of the Blest were for those who had chosen rebirth three times and had achieved Elysium three times.

They flew over a large tent next. Thanatos said it was where the souls went to be judged and see if they were worthy of Elysium, Asphodel, or Punishment. The line leading into the tent came from the turnstile he saw earlier. On the other side of the turnstile, Danny saw a humongous dog with three heads.

“Oh my gosh, is that Cerberus?” Danny asked excitedly, pointing to the dog in the distance.

Thanatos looked to where Danny was pointing. “Yes, it is. Would you like to say hello?”

“Yeah!” Danny knew he sounded like a kid on Christmas, but he didn’t care. He wanted to see the big dog!

Thanatos and Danny flew over the turnstile, which looked even more crowded up close. Cerberus stood over the fastest moving line, which walked in-between his legs. They flew around the big dog, getting the attention of one of his heads. It followed them as they came into view of the other two heads. Thanatos approached the middle head, Danny waited a little further away.

“Hey, Cerberus,” Thanatos greeted, petting the middle head. “Have any more half-bloods come through recently?” Cerberus growled in answer, watching Danny with two of his heads; Thanatos noticed. “This is just Daniel, my apprentice.”

Thanatos motioned for Danny to come closer. Danny approached cautiously, being careful to avoid Thanatos’ beating wings; he may like dogs, but he knew better than to intrude in on a dog’s personal space. He learned that rule the hard way when he was about five. Danny held out a hand, letting Cerberus sniff it carefully, waiting for all three heads to take turns. Cerberus seemed uncertain, like he couldn’t decide if he should eat Danny or not. That lasted for only a few seconds before Cerberus barked happily and all three heads started licking Danny.

Danny laughed. He thought that, after Cujo, he knew how to handle big dog kisses; boy, was he wrong! After Cerberus finally stopped licking Danny, he was covered in dog slobber.

“Eww, this is worse than Cujo!” Danny playfully glared at the dog, who barked joyfully in response. Danny sighed happily and pet the middle head.

Thanatos chuckled. “It seems you have made a friend, Daniel.”

“Yeah, kinda noticed.” Danny giggled.

“Unfortunately, you and Cerberus will have to play again at a later time. We need to get going.” Thanatos said, then bid Cerberus farewell. Danny pet the massive dog goodbye, and he and Thanatos left.

Thanatos flew over the river, which he told Danny was the River Styx. There were no spirits on the other side of the water, which Danny found rather odd. Thanatos glanced at Danny and chuckled at how silly and disheveled he looked coated with dog slobber. Danny looked down at himself, and went intangible in an attempt to get rid of the drool; most of the slobber slid right off, but some of it stubbornly stayed put.

“I’m gonna have to take a shower when I get home,” Danny groaned as he shook his hands in an attempt to get the slobber off his gloves. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“I am taking you back home now, Daniel,” Thanatos answered. “You have learned much today, and will need your rest.”

“So, why are we not going back through the Ghost Zone?” Danny asked.

“It is too close to Tartarus. If we attempt to go back through the way we came, it is very possible that you would be pulled into Tartarus itself.” Thanatos explained. “We will instead use the Doors of Me.”

Danny was about to ask what they looked like when Thanatos landed in front of a set of black and silver doors (Seriously? How did I miss that?). The doors opened without Thanatos pressing anything, and Thanatos stepped inside what looked like an elevator car. Danny followed, wondering how he did not see the massive doors sooner. He expected it to be cramped inside the elevator car with Thanatos’ wings, but he had no problem fitting in the compartment. The doors closed behind Danny as soon as he was inside.

Chapter Text

“So, how do the Doors of ‘You’ work, anyway?” Danny asked as the elevator moved upwards.

“The Doors are my personal gateway in and out of the Underworld. Both sides of the Doors move after each use, making it near impossible for anyone to find them,” Thanatos explained. “Only I know where both sides of the Doors are located at any time.”

“Will I be able to find the Doors, since I’m your apprentice now?” Danny looked at his mark again. It had faded and was no longer showing through his glove.

“In time,” Thanatos replied.

“Have you ever had an apprentice before me?” Danny was curious.

Thanatos took a moment to answer. “One.” His voice was barely audible.

Danny opened his mouth, but Thanatos cut him off gently before he could ask more. “I do not wish to speak of it, Daniel.”

Danny got the sense that he had upset Thanatos. Why do I keep messing up today? Danny asked himself. Today had just been one screw-up after another. He tried awkwardly to change the subject. “So, why are we in an elevator, anyway? Isn’t this kinda… modern for Ancient Greek stuff?”

“Olympus and its associations follow Western civilization. The interior of the Doors changes whenever the center of Western Civilization changes in order to fit the local culture, and even then it changes with the times,” Thanatos explained. “It wasn’t even an elevator until the 1880s.”

Danny nodded. He and Thanatos stood quietly as the elevator moved. After a couple of minutes, Danny cleared his throat. “Maybe you should add some elevator music, you know? Just to, like, lighten the mood.”

A hint of a smile graced Thanatos’ lips. “I will think about it.”

The Doors opened with a ding. Outside the Doors was a forest that Danny recognized. He flew out of the elevator and up above the trees, and saw a large lake in the distance. “Hey, we’re near Lake Eerie. Cool!”

They flew away from the lake, towards Amity Park. Danny flew in loops and zig-zags, enjoying the open air, while Thanatos flew in a straight line. There were no clouds and a slight breeze; a perfect night for stargazing, or a relaxing flight. Danny watched as Thanatos flapped his wings.

“Why do you flap your wings to fly? Do you actually need them? Can’t you fly using the Mist thing?” Danny asked, flying in a lounged back position.

“I do not think you know how the Mist works, Daniel.” Thanatos stated.

“Correct-a-mundo, my good sir.” Danny replied, flying in lazy circles.

Thanatos shook his head in amusement. “It is good that we start your training tomorrow.”

Danny faltered. “Wait, what? So soon?”

Thanatos nodded. “As I said in the throne room, many ancient beings have been stirring as of late, which is making my job more difficult. Your training needs to begin soon so that you may be able to defend yourself and aid me in the coming war.”

Danny had not considered that since he was now the official apprentice of Thanatos, he would have to take part in something as serious or big as a war. Would he have to fight other cat-snake chimeras again, as well as other Greek monsters? Would he help Thanatos collect the souls of the dead? Or would he have to do something else to help out?

Thanatos seemed to read Danny’s mind. “There is no need to worry about the future, Daniel.”

“But…” Danny began.

Thanatos raised a hand. “Your time to help is not yet, young one. Please do not stress about what your role will be.”

Well, how do I not stress over a war that I will be in? Danny thought. In the distance, he could see the Ops Center on top of FentonWorks.

“So what time will training start tomorrow?” Danny asked when they landed on the Ops Center.

“I will contact you sometime after sundown.” Thanatos answered. “It will give you some time to explain things to your friends.”

“Wait, you know about Sam and Tucker?” Danny worried that he had gotten his friends in trouble.

“I have kept an eye on you since your accident, Daniel.” Thanatos replied.

“How’d you know about that? Do you have a list of people that are supposed to die or something?” Danny asked, somewhat jokingly.

“Yes, actually, I do have a list. And I had to check it twice because of you.” Thanatos winked. “Now, I believe you still need to clean Cerberus’ slobber off.”

Danny ran a hand through his hair, feeling the stiffness caused by the dried slobber. He sighed and bid Thanatos good night. Before Thanatos left, he warned Danny not to speak the names of any of the gods and monsters, as that might attract their attention. After watching Thanatos fly away, Danny phased down into his bedroom.

His desk light was still on and his bed was the way he had left it. He turned the light off as he transformed back into his human form. His alarm clock display read 7:30 P.M.; three hours had passed since he left with Thanatos to visit the Underworld.

Danny grabbed a set of clean clothes from his dresser. He opened his door to go down the hall to the bathroom and take a shower, but he ran into Jazz right outside his room.

“Danny, you’re here!” Jazz said, surprised.

“Yeah, of course I’m here. Where else would I be?” Danny asked, holding the door open with his right hand.

“It’s just that you’ve been so quiet that I thought you had left.” Jazz’s gaze shifted to his arm and her eyes narrowed. “What is that?!”

“What?” Danny followed her gaze. To his right arm. The Greek inscription was black against his pale skin. Crap. “This… is not what it looks like, Jazz.”

“Really? Because it looks like you went out and got a tattoo in the past three hours.” Jazz’s hands were on her hips, and a disapproving frown was on her lips.

“It’s not a tattoo, Jazz! It’s just… a permanent marker drawing that I drew 'cuz… I was… bored.” Danny defended lamely, hoping that she would buy it.

Jazz looked into his eyes, trying to stare him down. Danny stood his ground, and after a moment, Jazz backed off, announcing that she was going to bed.

Danny sighed, relieved that he had redirected her attention for now. As he walked to the bathroom, Danny wondered what he could do to hide his mark from prying eyes. I could wear long sleeves, but what would I do in summer? How would I hide it then? Danny asked himself.

In the bathroom, Danny saw an elastic bandage in the first aid kit above the toilet. I could wrap my arm with one of those. He decided, and then stepped into the shower to wash off the dried dog saliva.

Chapter Text

Danny called Sam and Tucker after waking up around noon. Both of them wanted to hear about Danny’s night in the Underworld, so the trio decided to meet up at the park that afternoon. When Danny left his house, the January day was bright and chilly. When he got to the park, he saw both Sam and Tucker sitting on a picnic blanket under a tree a ways away from the walking paths that twisted through the dead grass.

“Hey, Danny.” Sam waved him over.

“Hey, guys.” Danny sat down on the edge of the blanket. Sam must have packed the basket because there were a variety of fruits and vegetables that Sam had likely grown herself.

“So, how was your trip?” Sam asked, munching on a large green apple. “Meet anyone interesting?”

“Yeah, did you see Ha-” Tucker began, but Danny slapped his hand over Tucker’s mouth.

“Don’t say his name.” Danny warned, eyes briefly glowing.

“Whoa, Danny, chill.” Sam held her hands up. “What’s your deal?”

Danny quickly removed his hand, feeling slightly ashamed. “Sorry, guys.”

“Sensitive subject?” Tucker guessed, glaring sulkily at the picnic basket—Sam definitely packed it, then.

“No, no, it’s not that,” Danny answered, rubbing his eyes. “I was told not to say the names of any Greek Myth people.”

“Why not?” Sam questioned.

“It could get their attention in a bad way.” Danny answered, grabbing an apple from Sam’s picnic basket and taking a bite.

“What’s wrong with your arm?” Tucker asked Danny, pointing at said appendage.

Danny looked down at his right arm, which was now wrapped in an elastic bandage; he had pulled on a hoodie before leaving his house, but the bandage was now peeking out from under the cuff. Danny had wrapped his arm that morning to avoid any questions from his parents. Jazz had raised an eyebrow at him at breakfast, but hadn’t questioned it. “Well,” Danny began. “I should probably tell you what all happened, first.”

Sam and Tucker were enthralled as Danny told them about his adventure in the Underworld. He told them about Cerberus and the Fields of Asphodel. Sam nearly squealed in delight when Danny told her about Persephone’s garden. However, when he got to the ceremony, Danny faltered; he had a feeling that he shouldn’t give out the fact that he was Death’s Apprentice so openly. Instead, he told them that Thanatos wanted to train him to use his ghostly powers so that Danny could better handle the Ghost Zone spirits. He also didn’t mention Nico because he still felt pretty awful about upsetting him.

“Okay, dude, that’s awesome and all,” Tucker said. “But what does that have to do with your arm?”

“There’s… a mark that… let’s me know when they need my help with something.” Danny hated lying to his friends, but he felt it was necessary for a reason he could not explain.

Danny could tell his friends knew he was lying, but they didn’t question him. Sam wanted to see his mark, and Danny decided that it was probably okay to show his friends. It wasn’t like they knew Greek, and even then it just said ‘Thanatos.’

After his friends had studied the mark, Tucker decided that it looked awesome. Sam agreed, but then asked Danny how he planned to hide it; he said he’d just use elastic bandages for the time being.

“So what’s the plan, then?” Sam asked, absently bringing a hand to her temple as if she had a headache. “You know, like, with the ‘death god’ and all. When’s he gonna train you?”

“Actually, Thanatos said that he’d contact me sometime after sundown.” Danny said as he rewrapped his arm and pulled on his hoodie.

“You mean, like, the sunset that is currently happening right now?” Sam pointed at the sinking sun, eyebrows raised at Danny.

“OH MY GOSH, I GOTTA GO. SEE YOU GUYS LATER.” Danny then leapt up, transformed and flew away from the park and back towards his house.

While in the air, Danny’s mark started tingling with pins and needles. What the heck? Danny thought. Maybe it’s letting me know Thanatos needs me? Danny flew intangibly through his bedroom wall and landed on the bed. Not knowing what to do, he waited awkwardly and watched as the sun set through the window. Wait a minute, he thought. How is Thanatos going to contact me?

As if answering his question, a rainbow shimmered into view at the foot of his bed. The tingling disappeared as Thanatos’ face appeared in the middle of the rainbow.

“Whoa! That’s so cool,” Danny awed. “What is it?” He reached out a hand to touch the rainbow.

“Don’t touch the Iris-message, Daniel.” Thanatos said quickly.

Danny yanked his hand back. “Why not?” He asked curiously. “What’s an Iris-message? And why was my mark tingling?”

“Interrupting the image is how you break the connection.” Thanatos answered. “And Iris-messages are a way for gods and demigods to communicate with one another. As for the mark, the sensation you felt is how you and I will be able to let us know that the other is trying to communicate.”

“Neato. So, can I use the Iris-message thing, too?” Danny asked.

“I believe that you would be able to, as long as you have the proper payment and a rainbow with Mist available to communicate.”

“Awesome!” Danny gushed. “You’ve gotta show me how to do that sometime!”

Thanatos smiled at Danny’s amazement. “Perhaps another time, Daniel. For now, it is time for your training to commence.”

“Sweet!” Danny said. “So, uhh… where are we gonna train?”

“I have a place set up for us in the Underworld.” Thanatos answered.

Danny asked how he was going to get down there; Thanatos said that he would come and collect him. Thanatos then swiped his hand through the rainbow and his image dissipated. Danny did not have long to wonder how Thanatos would get to him, when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Danny, still in ghost form, jumped to the ceiling, startled, when he realized Thanatos was in his room. Danny bewilderedly asked the god how he did that.

“That is not important right now, Daniel.” Thanatos’ wings were folded tightly against his back, so as not to take up space in the relatively small room. “We need to start your training.”

“Okay, just gimme a sec.” Danny transformed back into human form and quickly ran out into the hallway and down the stairs.

Danny found his mom and dad working on something in the kitchen. Jack wanted to show Danny what they were working on, but Danny declined and told his parents that he would be studying in his room for the rest of the night. Maddie asked if Danny wanted her to check on him in a little bit.

“Nah, I’ll be fine, just got lots to study for my test on Monday.” Danny replied.

“I thought you just had homework due on Monday.” His mom looked up at him, confused.

“Oh, uhh, yeah, that too. I’m super busy, so don’t disturb me.” He then ran back up the stairs and into his room, where Thanatos was still waiting.

“Ok, I’m ready.” Danny transformed again. “So, how are we getting to the Underworld?”

“We will be shadow-traveling.” Thanatos placed his hand firmly on Danny’s shoulder. “I will need to hold onto you so that you do not get lost.”

“How would I get lost?” Danny wondered aloud.

“I do not exactly know, but I do not wish to find out.” Thanatos answered.

“This sounds… very much not safe.” Danny’s voice was steadier than he felt.

“You will be fine, Daniel.” Thanatos said before they melted into the shadows.

Danny’s eyes watered, and it felt like his skin was peeling off his bones; wind roared past him like he was going through a dark tunnel at high speeds. How fast are we even going? Danny wondered. Thankfully the sensation did not last long, though Danny’s eyes were still watering once they arrived in the Underworld.

“That… was different,” Danny said as he looked around. They were in a part of the Underworld that Danny hadn’t seen before, in the center of what appeared to be a large, empty stone arena.

“Indeed it was.” Thanatos agreed. He took a few steps away from Danny and shook out his wings, the feathers ruffling as he stretched his arms above his head.

“So what will we be doing? Are you going to test me to see what I can do?” Danny asked.

“First, we will spar.” Thanatos suddenly lunged at Danny.

“Whoa! What?” Danny yelped as he jumped to the side.

“I need to see what you know and how strong you are, and the only way for me to do that is to spar with you.” Thanatos said as he turned and lunged at Danny again.

“Okay, then.” Danny jumped back. “Come and get me, old man!”

Danny took off flying, hoping to build up some distance between the two of them, but Thanatos made that difficult. He was right on Danny’s tail, trying to grab him. Danny fired a few ecto-rays in Thanatos’ direction, trying to shake him. None of the rays hit their target.

Danny tried going invisible in an attempt to get away, but had forgotten that Thanatos could still see him. This is getting annoying, Danny thought as Thanatos gained on him. Danny turned so that he was flying backwards and fired more ecto-blasts at Thanatos, none of which landed as Thanatos dodged. Maybe this will work. Danny went intangible and flew into the ground. He traveled through the ground to where he thought he was behind Thanatos and flew out to see that the god stood right in front of him with his back facing Danny. Yes! Now I can get a shot in! Danny cheered. His idea had worked; he had gotten Thanatos off his back and now had the advantage.

Danny went to punch Thanatos, but the god whirled around (nearly whacking Danny with his wings) and caught his fist. Thanatos tried punching Danny, but Danny caught his fist in return. They were locked in a struggle. Danny’s boots dug into the ground as Thanatos pushed against his hands to try and knock him off balance. Danny pulled at his ghost core, drawing more power from it in an attempt to push Thanatos back. He could feel his chest growing icy cold, and he suddenly felt a sharp pain as though something had snapped inside his core. The mark on his arm started burning like it was on fire.

Instantly, Danny was engulfed in a burst of green flames. They burned at his skin like acid, and he felt like he was dying in the portal all over again, only this time fire was added to the mix. He screamed in pain as the flames licked at him, burning his gloves off. Danny felt his Lichtenberg scar flare like lightning across his skin again. Through the tears in his eyes, Danny could see Thanatos’ face. His lips moved as if he were speaking, but Danny could not hear him. The green flames had died down and now burned the ground around his feet. Danny hadn’t noticed that Thanatos had backed away from him, but he flinched as he felt the god’s hands grab at his arms.

“Voithíste me parakaló… (‘Help me, please…’)" Danny whimpered weakly before collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Chapter Text

Thanatos POV:

Thanatos stumbled back and watched in horror as his apprentice was engulfed in a ball of green flames. Daniel screamed in pain as the fire burned at his skin. Thanatos was frozen on the spot, feeling as if he couldn’t breathe. This was only supposed to be a simple sparring session. Daniel was not supposed to get hurt. I cannot lose another apprentice.

After a few seconds, the green fire died down until it was a flickering flame around Daniel’s feet, leaving Daniel in a strange outfit; he wore a black tunic with a green and silver embroidered hem. Under the tunic Daniel wore a pair of black knee-length leggings, and below that a pair of neon green leather sandals that laced up his calves. A Lichtenberg scar burned white along his left arm, branching across his chest and up his neck. A black laurel wreath sat atop Daniel’s snow white hair. Red blood and green ectoplasm dripped from his nose and mouth and down the front of his tunic. Daniel’s eyes glowed solid green and were full of fear and pain as tears streamed down his face.

“Daniel,” Thanatos stepped forward and raised his hands in a placating manner. “You need to calm down. Please.” He grabbed Daniel’s arms in an effort to calm him, and Daniel looked up at Thanatos, his watery green orbs not quite seeing him.

:Help me, please…: Daniel whimpered. Then his eyes fluttered shut and he fell limply to the ground at Thanatos’ feet.

“Daniel?” Thanatos knelt next to Daniel’s limp form, the green fire flickering and dying out around them. “Daniel, please, wake up.” Please do not die. Not like Dianthe.

Thanatos gingerly lifted his apprentice up into his arms, and shadow-traveled back to Daniel’s room. Artemis had pulled the moon into the sky while they had been gone. Soft moonlight shone through the window as Thanatos gently placed Daniel on his bed. Thanatos was pulling the blanket over Daniel when the bedroom door creaked open. Daniel’s sister, Jasmine, stood in the doorway; she inhaled sharply, her eyes wide as she took in the scene before her.

“Please, do not shout.” Thanatos pleaded, one hand raised to placate Jasmine. She stared quietly at him for a moment before she released her breath.

“W-who are you? What have you done to Danny?” Jasmine stammered; she had every right to be afraid of him—most mortals were—but Thanatos knew she was more afraid for Daniel than she was for herself.

“I have done nothing to your brother, Jasmine.” Thanatos turned to face her. She took a step back as she shrunk away from him. “He and I were sparring when… something happened.”

“W-why were you two sparring?” She asked.

“I have taken him on as my apprentice. His training began tonight, but I did not expect him to…” Thanatos trailed off, looking at Daniel.

Jasmine looked at her brother, then back at the god. “Are you Thanatos?”

Thanatos stared at her, shocked; how did she know of him? “Yes, I am. How…?”

“I saw your name written on Danny’s arm last night. I looked it up.” Jasmine glanced at her brother again. “Will he be alright?”

“I do not know,” Thanatos answered. “But I cannot stay and watch over him. Will you…?”

“I can watch him.” Jasmine entered the room, closing the door behind her. She pulled the desk chair to the end of the bed. “Go take care of whatever you need to.”

Thanatos nodded his thanks to her and melted into the shadows, leaving his apprentice in the care of his older sister.

Thanatos shadow-traveled into Persephone’s garden, under the pomegranate trees. He sat down heavily on a bench, head in his hands. I cannot lose another, not again. I’m not ready to go through that pain again. Memories of Dianthe’s death resurfaced, unbidden: Thanatos’ mark disappearing as Dianthe’s life force faded… Dianthe taking her last breath… a village dying as Thanatos took her to the Underworld…

A hand rested lightly on his shoulder, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts.

“What happened?” It was Persephone, and the usual airy tone was gone from her voice.

“I don’t know. Daniel and I were just sparring when green fire suddenly erupted around him, hurting him, and I couldn’t do anything except watch. His… screaming… it-” Thanatos’ voice cracked, and he looked away from Persephone as emotions welled up inside of him, threatening to overflow.

“Here,” Persephone held out a goblet of nectar. Thanatos made no move to take it from her. “Thanatos, please. You’re injured. Look at your hands.”

Thanatos did, and was surprised to see that angry blisters covered his palms; how had he not noticed his hands were burned? Still, he did not take the goblet. How can I worry about myself while Daniel is lying in bed, injured, almost dead?

“Thanatos,” Hades’ voice called. Thanatos turned to see Hades walk briskly up to him and Persephone. “Why do I feel your apprentice trying to join our realm again?”

“What?” Thanatos looked down at his mark; it had started to fade and disintegrate off his arm. “No, no, no. Not again.” Why didn’t I notice? He looked up at Hades desperately. “Hades, what do I do?”

“How should I know? Neither of us are life gods!” Hades sputtered.

Persephone cleared her throat. “Luckily for you two, I am a life goddess.” She held the goblet out again. “Take this to Danny. It should help him.”

Thanatos took the goblet this time. “But won’t it burn him up? He’s not a demigod.”

“No, but he is a descendant of a powerful demigod, so he should be fine.” Hades answered. “Now go.”

Thanatos was confused by what Hades had said, but he had more pressing matters on hand as he nodded and shadow-traveled back to Daniel, goblet in hand.

Jasmine jumped in surprise when Thanatos appeared at her brother’s bedside. Daniel had changed back to his human form, laurel wreath still in place on his now jet black hair. His Lichtenberg scar was pink against his pale skin, which looked even paler than normal as he lay motionless.

“I don’t know what’s going on with him.” Jasmine sounded like she had been crying. “He looks like… like he’s fading away.”

Thanatos looked at Daniel again. Jasmine was right; Daniel’s life force was slowly fading before his eyes. Thanatos placed the nectar-filled goblet on the desk near Jasmine and quickly stepped away; with how out of control his emotions were at that moment, he didn’t want to risk his power hurting Jasmine. “Give him some of that, only a little for now.”

Jasmine stood and grabbed the goblet of nectar. “What is it?”

“It is called nectar, and it should help Daniel heal.” Thanatos explained as Jasmine propped Daniel’s head up and poured a little of the golden liquid into his mouth. Almost immediately, Daniel’s life force stopped fading and his color improved a little. Jasmine sighed in relief.

“Will Danny be okay now?” Jasmine asked as she placed the goblet on the nightstand and sat on the edge of Daniel’s bed.

Thanatos opened his mouth to answer, but paused as the smell of springtime flowers filled the air. “He will be fine now, Jazz.” Persephone said softly from behind Thanatos.

“Wha-who are you?” Jasmine asked, standing up.

“I am Persephone.” The goddess smiled kindly.

“Why are you here? I-is he going to die?!” Jasmine put her hands to her temples and started hyperventilating; she was working herself up.

Persephone strode forward and enveloped Jasmine in a hug. Jasmine cried into Persephone’s shoulder, her uncertainty about her brother’s survival overwhelming her.

Thanatos stood quietly by Daniel’s bed, watching over his apprentice. He reached for Daniel’s hand, but froze as he remembered Dianthe once again. I do not wish to be the cause of Daniel’s untimely death.

Persephone spoke softly to Jasmine, who was wiping the tears from her eyes.

“So why have you come here, Lady Persephone?” Thanatos asked.

:I have come to make sure you do not do anything rash.: Persephone said in Ancient Greek, still smiling at Jasmine.

:I would not have done anything rash.: Thanatos muttered.

:You did when Dianthe died.: Persephone’s voice was full of compassion, but Thanatos scowled; he did not want another reminder of his previous apprentice. :Danny will not die, not today.:

:How do you know that?: Thanatos asked, sadness creeping its way into his voice.

:Look at his life force.: Thanatos did. Daniel was growing stronger, slowly but surely. Persephone switched back to English. “Now we should leave, and let Jazz take care of her brother.”

Although he did not wish to leave Daniel, Thanatos agreed. They bid Jasmine a good night, and shadow-traveled back to the Underworld.

Chapter Text

A cavern ceiling passed high above Danny. He was being carried by someone much bigger than him. He heard crying. Who was crying?

Danny woke up in a strange and gloomy place; it looked like a dark cave. Water dripped from stalactites and onto the rocky ground, forming puddles. Danny was surprised to find that he was not in pain; in fact, he did not feel much of anything as he stood there in the shadows. Danny looked around the cave and saw three old women, staring into the largest puddle in the center of the room. He wasn’t sure why he was seeing this, and he turned when he heard footsteps behind him; it was Thanatos, but he looked different than Danny remembered. His chiton was disheveled and his feathers were dull, as if the color had been drained from them, leaving them almost completely black. There were tear tracks running down the god’s face; he looked grief-stricken.

“Sisters,” Thanatos’ voice cracked as if he had been crying. “You wished to see me?”

The old women looked up at him. Together, they spoke with one voice:

Death shall take a second apprentice

Made between the worlds of the Lost and the Living

Born of pain and sacrifice

He shall save all worlds and bring peace to Death

“No, I do not want another apprentice.” Thanatos’ eyes flashed with anger, and something else that Danny could not place. Thanatos stormed out of the cave, and the scene changed.

Danny was now in Persephone’s garden. Thanatos and Persephone stood underneath a pomegranate tree; Thanatos’ hands looked burned and his feathers were dark, only a few shades lighter than the previous dream. The two of them were conversing in a different language, but Danny somehow knew what they were saying.

:Danny will be fine, Thanatos.: Persephone gave a comforting smile. :You know he will.:

:I know, but I am still worried.: Thanatos’ wings fluttered nervously. :He nearly died. I nearly lost him, just like I lost Dianthe, and…:

Who’s Dianthe? Danny wondered as the scene changed again.

Danny now stood in the throne room of Hades’ Palace. Hades sat on his throne and Nico stood in front of him.

“Please, tell me what happened to Phantom.” Nico asked.

“I said that is none of your business, Nico.” Hades sounded like he and Nico had been having the conversation for a while.

“Please, Father. I need to know he’s safe.” Nico’s voice cracked.

Hades sighed. “He is safe enough. Now, leave me.”

Nico bowed and left the throne room. When the door closed, Danny was shrouded in darkness.

.

.

Pain. That was all Danny felt when he woke up. That and his bed below him. He opened his eyes but quickly shut them again as bright sunlight from his bedroom window shone in his face. He heard movement and flinched as he felt a hand grab his own.

“Daniel,” he heard Thanatos say, relief evident in his voice. “How are you feeling?”

Danny slowly opened his eyes again. The sunlight from his window was now blocked by Thanatos standing over him. The god looked exhausted, but his golden eyes were filled with hope.

“Ni…” Danny coughed. His throat felt like sandpaper. “Nico… is… Hades’ kid?”

Thanatos just stared at Danny. When he finally spoke, the disbelief was clear in his voice. “… Daniel. You almost died, and that is the first thing that you have to say?”

Danny didn’t respond, and instead looked around his room; it still looked the way it had when he left with Thanatos, except for a golden goblet on his nightstand and a chair next to his bed. Based on the sunlight, Danny guessed that some time had passed since their sparring session. “How long was I out?”

Before Thanatos could answer, Danny’s bedroom door swung open and Jazz walked into the room. She was carrying a couple of books, which she dropped when she saw Danny was awake.

“Danny!” Jazz rushed to him and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. “I was so worried about you! So were Sam and Tucker…”

“Jazz… can’t… breathe…” Danny wheezed.

Jazz released him, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s just that… you’ve been unconscious for almost two days.”

“WHAT?!” Danny sat up, pain shooting through his chest. “I’ve been asleep for two days?!”

“Jasmine, may I please speak with Daniel alone?” Thanatos asked.

“Sure, I need to call Sam and Tucker anyways.” Jazz picked up her books and left the room.

“Your sister has been worried about you.” Thanatos sat down on the chair. It creaked under his weight.

Danny glanced over at his mentor. “What happened? I only remember bits and pieces.”

“I don’t understand what happened, myself.” Thanatos answered. “It has never happened… before.”

Danny rubbed at his temples and heard a strange rustling as he did so. He frowned and asked Thanatos what was making that sound. Thanatos told him that, after the fire had died down, Danny’s outfit had changed and a black laurel wreath had appeared on his head. Danny looked at his reflection in the mirror over his dresser. There was a black leaf crown nestled in his hair. Danny was worried that he was now stuck with the wreath in his human form, but Thanatos touched one of the green ribbons that was attached to it and it vanished. Danny got the feeling that it would still be there in his ghost form, though. Then Danny realized something.

“Wait, you and Jazz were in the room together. Were you doing the Mist thing on her?” Danny hoped he could still keep his ghostly identity a secret from his sister.

Thanatos raised an eyebrow. “Daniel, she knows.”

“Oh, crap,” Danny dropped his face into his hands. “… how much does she know?”

“Everything. Samantha and Tucker are also aware that you are my apprentice.” Thanatos spent the next few minutes telling Danny what had happened after he fainted.

Sam and Tucker had shown up yesterday morning after Danny had not called them to let them know how his training session went. Jazz had tried to get them to leave, but they were persistent in wanting to see Danny. Eventually, Jazz had relented and brought them to Danny’s room. Thanatos had been watching over Danny when they entered. After almost getting hit with a combat boot (courtesy of Sam), Thanatos had explained to them what had happened the previous night. Danny’s friends had then spent the rest of the day watching over Danny before heading home.

As he thought about how to handle his friends now knowing his latest secret, Danny remembered the weird dream he had. “Hey, Thanatos? I have a question.”

“Is it about Nico being a child of Hades?” Thanatos asked with a slight smile.

“No, it’s not that.” How to put this into words… “I had this kinda… dream… vision… thing. About you.”

“Oh?” Thanatos leaned forward.

Danny described his dream as best he could; Thanatos listened with an increasingly somber expression. As Danny went on, he noticed that Thanatos seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable, his wings ruffling and changing shades to reflect his unease. When Danny recited the prophecy, Thanatos grew… well, deathly still. As soon as Danny mentioned the name Dianthe, Thanatos quickly stood and said that he had to go. He promised to return later, picked up the goblet, and melted into the shadows before Danny could say anything else. Why am I so good at upsetting people? Danny thought bitterly.

“So, how long have you known?” Danny asked Jazz. The two of them sat alone in Danny’s room, waiting for Sam and Tucker to arrive.

“About you being half-ghost? Since the Spectra thing.” Jazz fidgeted with her sleeve. “How long have you been an apprentice to Thanatos?”

“Since Friday night, I think.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “Time’s a bit muddled for me right now.”

They sat in silence, uncertain of what to talk about; Danny still felt like he’d been run over by a flaming steamroller. After a few moments, Jazz spoke up.

“You almost died. The rest of the way, I mean.” Jazz’s voice shook.

“What… what do you mean?” Danny asked.

“Your life force was literally fading.” Jazz hugged herself, as if she was remembering something horrible. “You would have been a goner if Thanatos hadn’t brought the nectar.” Tears started welling up in her eyes.

Danny gently took her hand. “Jazz, I’m fine now.”

Jazz nodded and hugged Danny again, though not as tightly as before. The doorbell rang. Jazz stood and went downstairs. Danny already knew who was at the door before he heard the sound of their feet pounding up the stairs. Sam and Tucker burst into the room; Tucker stood back as Sam ran forward and gave Danny a tight hug.

“Dude, don’t scare us like that again!” Tucker griped as he plopped down on the chair to Danny’s right.

“Yeah, we had enough of that when you half-died.” Sam sat on the left side of the bed. She frowned as she noticed Danny’s discolored complexion. “Your scar. How is it back?” She gently held Danny’s hand, looking at the Lichtenberg scar that was pink against his skin.

“I don’t know.” Sam’s hand was warm and comforting against Danny’s own, so he continued to hold it.

“And where’d the nifty leaf crown go? You had it yesterday.” Tucker was trying, and failing, to hide his smirk.

“It’s still there, I think, just in my ghost form. And it’s called a laurel wreath.” Danny ran his fingers through his hair where the wreath had been.

“Who cares what it’s called?” Sam waved her free hand dismissively, before pointing it sharply at Danny. “Daniel James Fenton, if you ever do that again, I will personally hunt your ectoplasmic butt down, kick it back to Amity Park, and kill you again myself. Ya got it?” Sam’s violet eyes bored into Danny’s blue.

Danny gulped nervously. “Yes, ma’am.”

Once they had all settled down, Danny and his friends talked for several hours. They chatted about lighthearted things such as school, the Ghost Zone, and ghost attacks. Tucker laughed about how he and Sam had been faking ghost attacks to keep Danny’s parents busy so that they wouldn’t grow suspicious of their son’s absence. With the scare that had happened earlier, the trio were content to ignore the elephant in the room: Danny was Death’s Apprentice.

Once the three of them ran out of inane things to talk about, they faded into an uneasy silence. Nobody quite knew how to start the more pressing conversation. Danny wanted to talk about it, but couldn’t find the words. After some deliberation, he spoke.

“So…” Danny began. “Guess you guys know. About the…”

“Apprenticeship?” Tucker supplied. “Yeah. We know.”

“Why couldn’t you just tell us?” Sam asked, the hurt clear in her voice.

“I don’t know why I couldn’t tell you!” Danny said defensively. “I just… felt like I shouldn’t.”

“Well, we know now,” Tucker remarked. “So you don’t gotta worry about having to deal with it all on your own. We’re here for you, man.”

“Yeah, we’re here for you, Danny.” Sam agreed, squeezing Danny’s hand reassuringly.

Danny smiled gratefully at his friends. “Thanks, guys.”

Chapter Text

While Danny was resting for a few days after the weird fire incident, Thanatos had instructed him to start learning Ancient Greek. Sam helped him as much as she could, but she had trouble focusing when she read the Greek characters, and was also busy helping Tucker keep the ghosts at bay while Phantom was out of commission. Danny managed to learn the Greek alphabet in that time, but not how the words and grammar were put together.

When Danny had the energy to go back into his ghost form he found that his suit was back to normal, except for the black and green laurel wreath that now sat atop his head. Danny still had no idea how or why it had shown up in the first place, but it wasn’t bugging him so he didn’t mind.

After Danny had fully recovered a week after the incident, Thanatos took him back to their training arena in the Underworld. They stopped by Hades’ Palace first. Persephone was in her garden when they landed; Nico was nowhere to be seen. Persephone hugged Danny, saying that she was glad he was alright. She made Danny promise not to spontaneously combust again; her intensity reminded Danny of Sam. Persephone then began to speak with Thanatos in what Danny now recognized as Ancient Greek.

While the two of them were conversing, Hades came out to the garden and pulled Danny off to the side. Danny was worried that he had somehow angered Hades, but he was surprised when Hades looked at him with concern.

“I hear you tried joining our realm again, Daniel.” Hades spoke quietly.

“I didn’t mean to, I just…” Danny began, only to be cut off by Hades raising his hand.

“I know, but don’t try again anytime soon.” Hades looked over at his wife and Thanatos talking. “I can’t have one of my descendants die before his time.”

“Wait, what?” But Hades walked off, leaving Danny alone and confused. Danny looked at Thanatos in bewilderment, but Thanatos just waved Danny over to where he stood. Persephone had disappeared while Danny had been occupied with Hades. “Did you hear what Hades said?”

“What did he say?” Thanatos asked.

“He said that I’m one of his descendants!” Danny put his hands to his temples. “What does that mean?”

“Hmm,” Thanatos put a hand to his chin as if he was pondering Danny’s question, but he had a playful glint in his eye. “I think… it means that you are one of his descendants.”

Danny just stared at Thanatos. “… That’s no help at all, dude. Thanks a lot.”

Thanatos chuckled. “You being a descendant of Hades would mean that one of your grandparents was a child of Hades.”

“WHAT?” Danny gaped. “But, bu-”

However, Thanatos was already flying away towards the training arena, and Danny had to hurry after him.

Danny trained with Thanatos on and off over the next two months. Mainly, they worked on Danny’s power control and endurance; Thanatos also taught him some more about how the Underworld functioned. Some days, Thanatos was especially busy with his job, so Danny stayed home and worked on learning Ancient Greek.

As time passed, Danny began to think about what had happened at their first training session. What did happen? He wondered. Thanatos had not brought it up since Danny had recovered, and Danny had found the pain a bit too fresh to bring up just yet. However, Danny was now curious; what had caused that explosion, and could he do it again, but not as violently? Danny decided to bring up his thoughts on the event at his next training session, the Saturday before his spring break.

Danny stared off into space as he and Thanatos took a break from their latest sparring session. He wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject; however, Thanatos spoke first.

“Is something on your mind, Daniel?” Thanatos prompted.

Danny jumped, startled out of his train of thought. He looked at Thanatos, but then looked away. “Well…” He began. “I kinda wanted to talk about something…”

Thanatos nodded knowingly. “You want to discuss what happened at our first training session.”

Danny stared at him in surprise. “How did you…?”

“I would like to know what happened as well.”

Danny frowned, disappointed. “Oh… I thought you knew…? Like, I thought it was your power that caused whatever that was.”

Thanatos shook his head. “It was your own power that caused it.”

“My power?” Danny scoffed. “No way, I’m not that powerful.”

“My dear apprentice, you are indeed that powerful. Or have you forgotten that you are the King of the Ghost Zone?” Thanatos stood and shook out his wings, the blues and purples shimmering vibrantly.

“I haven’t forgotten that, I just… haven’t had any time to do anything with it.” Danny stood as well. “I also haven’t had a chance to talk to Sam, Tucker, or Jazz about it.”

Thanatos motioned for Danny to join him. “You will need to do that, but only when you feel that the time is right.”

“When will that be?” Danny asked, standing across from his mentor.

“That, I have no idea. Now,” Thanatos spread his hands in front of him. “I want you to remember how you felt at the time of that first transformation; call on that same power from before, but not as much as last time. I will be here should anything go wrong.”

Danny was understandably nervous. The last time he did this was an accident that had left him unconscious for two days. However, Danny had come to trust Thanatos over the past couple of months, so he saw no reason for Thanatos to lie to him now. Danny closed his eyes, finding it easier to focus on the power he now knew was there, deep within his ghost core. Danny felt the icy cold again, but not the pain. It’s working, Danny thought as he felt the warmth of the fire envelop him, and then leave as quickly as it had appeared.

Danny opened his eyes and looked down at his clothes. They had changed from his usual black and white jumpsuit to a black tunic with a green-and-white embroidered hem and black knee-length leggings. :Awesome,: Danny said, before promptly passing out.

Danny sighed. He ran his hands through the long, rainbow-colored grass, gazing over the clear, rippling lake as he did so. The weather was perfect; it always was. He was happy.

He heard a familiar voice behind him. Turning around, he saw his mother. She called to him again. :Athos!:

“-anny?” a soft female voice asked, worried.

Danny groaned and opened his eyes. He had changed back to his human form while he was unconscious. Persephone was leaning over him, and she looked concerned. Thanatos knelt on Danny’s other side. Danny sat up slowly, supported by the worried goddess. “What happened? Did I do it?”

“Yes, you did.” Thanatos sounded proud. “Much more controlled than before.”

“Yes, but you still passed out. You promised not to spontaneously combust again, Daniel.” Persephone scolded.

“Sorry…” Danny felt bad. Then he frowned, confused. “Wait, why are you here? Isn’t it springtime?”

“Yes it is, but I worry about you, Danny.” Persephone stood, brushing her light brown hair back. “I must return to the surface now. I trust you two will be more careful in the future.” Persephone fixed the two of them with a stern stare before she melted into the shadows, going back to her mother, Demeter.

Thanatos offered Danny a hand to help him up, which he gladly accepted. Danny rubbed at his temple, feeling a slight headache.

“Are you feeling alright?” Thanatos asked him.

“Huh?” Danny blinked up at the god. “I…” He… felt like he had forgotten something. “… never mind.” Danny then looked at Thanatos hopefully. “What happened while I was out?” He asked. “Were you able to figure out what’s going on with my powers that causes me to transform like that?”

Thanatos regarded Danny with an intrigued look. “No, I have not figured out what is happening with your powers. However, écheis kánai eksáskisi ta elliniká sou? (‘Have you been practicing your Greek?’)”

Danny stared blankly at Thanatos. “Uhh… what?”

“Hmm,” Thanatos hummed. “Very interesting, indeed.”

“What are you talking about?” Danny was getting annoyed; what was going on?

“Both of the times that you transformed, Daniel,” Thanatos' voice held a hint of astonishment. “You spoke in Greek.”

“Whoa, what? No way!” Danny’s eyes widened in shock. “How is that even possible? I hardly know English half the time!”

“I do not know, Daniel. As for your new outfit,” Thanatos still looked interested, but now he also sounded slightly puzzled. “It appeared rather… Spartan.”

Chapter Text

“Finally, it’s spring break!” Tucker cheered as he walked out of the school building alongside Danny and Sam. “What are y’all’s plans for the week?”

Danny, Sam, and Tucker eagerly talked about their spring break plans. It was the Thursday before break, and they planned on hanging out all of next week, watching movies and playing video games. Danny hadn’t heard from Thanatos since the previous week, so he assumed that the training schedule wasn’t going to be any different.

If only he knew.

Danny waved goodbye to his friends before heading inside his house. “Mom, Dad, I’m home!” Danny shrugged off his backpack as he walked into the living room. “Is it okay if Sam and Tuck-”

Danny froze dead in his tracks. His parents, Jack and Maddie, sat on the living room couch. Jazz sat next to them—though she appeared calm and relaxed, Danny saw the disconcerted look in her eyes. A tray of cookies and drinks sat on the coffee table. All of that wasn’t what made him pause, however. What did was the fact that the wingback chair to the left of the couch was occupied by Thanatos.

Thanatos’ outfit was strikingly different from his usual attire. He wore a three piece dress suit with black pants and jacket and a golden vest; his wings were nowhere in sight. His white dress shirt was complemented by a vibrant red tie with a faint butterfly pattern, and a red poppy flower was pinned to his lapel. Thanatos’ long curly hair was pulled back in a neat bun, and a few more poppies were tucked behind his ears. His open-toed sandals were replaced with poppy red leather dress shoes. Thanatos’ solid gold eyes watched Danny intently as he stood in the entryway.

“Tha-” Danny began, but Thanatos gave him a look warning him not to say anything.

“Danny,” His mom stood up and gestured to Thanatos. “This is Mr. Mors. From…”

“Camp Delphi.” Thanatos supplied.

“And why is Mister… Mors here?” Danny asked, his vision drifting over to the frustratingly confusing god.

“Why, Daniel, is it?” Thanatos stood and held out his hand to Danny. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I… uhh…” Danny stared at Thanatos. What are you doing…? He thought as he took Thanatos’ hand. “Nice to meet you too…?”

Thanatos stepped back and gestured for Danny to sit down. “I’m Mr. Mors, a youth counselor at Camp Delphi in Long Island. It’s a camp for troubled teens such as yourself, to teach you responsibility and useful life skills.”

“Wow, thanks,” Danny scowled, plopping himself down next to Jazz. “Troubled teen, huh?”

“It’s nothing personal, Daniel. Your teachers have expressed… concern about your chronic tardiness as of late, as well as the rapid decline of your grades.” Thanatos sat back down in the chair. “They reached out to the camp director and asked if there was anything that we could do to help you be the great student you once were.”

“They did?” Danny asked, surprised, but quickly catching onto what Thanatos was doing. “I mean- yeah, they did, I’m the worst student.”

“Now, wait just a minute, my son is not the worst student!” Jack said defensively. He stood up and shook his fist at Thanatos. “He’s a bright and capable young lad, the school system is rigged!”

“Jack, dear, please sit down.” Maddie grabbed Jack’s arm and yanked him back down onto the couch.

“I have no doubt about that, Mr. Fenton.” Thanatos agreed. “And I am sure that young Daniel here would be an even greater student with the help that he would receive at our camp. I would like to give Daniel a week-long trial period at Camp Delphi to see how we do things and if he would like to stay with us for the summer.”

“I think that this sounds like a great idea!” Jazz piped up. “It would be a wonderful opportunity for Danny.”

Maddie put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t know…” She turned to her son. “What do you think, Danny?”

Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for his decision.

Wait, is this Camp Delphi a cover for Camp Half-Blood? Danny looked to Thanatos, who just stared back at him silently. “Uhh… if it will help me with school stuff, then sure.” Danny agreed.

“I still think it’s dumb,” Jack grumbled. “I could teach Danny just fine.”

Maddie didn’t say anything; she still seemed to be deep in thought.

If my parents say no, then I can’t go. What would happen if I wasn’t allowed to go? Danny stood up. “I’ll just… be right back.” He said, then ran out of the room.

Inside the kitchen, Danny went ghost and invisibly flew back into the living room. Thanatos regarded him quizzically, but in lieu of an answer Danny flew into his dad and overshadowed him. Jack’s eyes flashed bright green as Danny took control.

“I’ve completely changed my mind, this camp is a great idea!” Danny said through Jack.

Thanatos raised an eyebrow in question.

Danny then flew out of his dad’s body and back into the kitchen, where he transformed back. He grabbed a soda from the fridge and walked back into the living room. “So, what’d I miss?”

“Your father and I have agreed to let you go to this… Camp Delphi for spring break.” Maddie said, looking a little dazed. “Mr. Mors will pick you up tomorrow morning around six.”

“Yes, that’s… that’s a great idea.” Jack shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

“Splendid,” Thanatos stood up and shook Maddie’s, Jack’s, and Jazz’s hands. When he got to Danny, he winked. “I will see you tomorrow, Daniel.”

“Yeah, uhh, see ya…” Danny trailed off as he watched Thanatos walk out the front door.

“Wait, so he showed up at your house and convinced your parents to let you go to some camp all the way in New York?” Sam asked through the Fenton Phones.

“Yeah, he did.” Danny replied as he flew over Amity Park on his nightly patrol.

“And is Camp Delphi the same camp he told you about earlier?” Tucker questioned.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the same one.” Danny answered. Then he remembered that his friends still didn’t know about his ‘ghostly king’ status. “Hey, guys? There’s something I-”

Suddenly, a bright pink ecto-ray hit Danny in the stomach, sending him reeling through the air. “What are you and your friends talking about, little badger?”

“None of your business, Plasmius,” Danny countered. He charged an ecto-ray and fired it at Vlad, who deflected it easily. “I’m just trying to have a peaceful night before going on a trip.”

“Ooh, where to?” Vlad asked as he shot back at Danny, who dodged. “Can I go?”

“Sorry, no fruitloops allowed.” Danny shot another ecto-ray and spun around to fly off, but whammed into Vlad, who grabbed his arm. Great, he duplicated himself. Danny yanked his arm away from Vlad and scowled at him. “What do you want?!”

“Why, I was just wondering about your latest fashion choice,” Vlad snagged one of the green ribbons hanging from Danny’s laurel wreath. “Wearing flower crowns now, are you, Daniel?”

“Hey, leave me alone!” Danny swatted Vlad’s hand away. “It’s a laurel wreath, thank you very much.”

“Where’d you get it?” Vlad threw a punch. “Did your little girlfriend make it for you?”

“Hey!” Danny yelled indignantly as he dodged. “She’s not my girlf-”

He was cut off as Vlad was slammed by a giant blast of green ecto-energy. Danny looked down to see Maddie holding a large ecto-gun that was aimed directly at him.

“Get down here and eat Fenton plasma-gun, you ectoplasmic projection of post-human consciousness!” Maddie shouted up at him.

“Yeah, uhh, no thank you!” Danny called back. He hurriedly went invisible and took off. “See ya!” Vlad had disappeared, so Danny could only hope that he had left Amity Park for the time being.

Chapter Text

Danny got up before the sun rose, in part thanks to the Box Ghost, but also because of his nerves. After he had called Sam and Tucker and told them about his change of plans (they agreed to cover his ghostly duties for the week), and then been attacked by Vlad, his anxiety about the coming week had kept him up the rest of the night. Thanatos hadn’t mentioned anything about Danny attending Camp Half-Blood during their training sessions. Unless he did and I just wasn’t paying attention. Danny thought as he ruffled his hair in frustration.

Danny packed a duffel bag with clothes and basic necessities for a week. He wasn’t sure what to expect at the camp, so he packed light; some clothes, toiletries, and his Ancient Greek textbook that Sam had given him. He also packed a Fenton Thermos; after all, you never know when you might run into a ghost causing trouble. Danny considered going for a quick flight to calm his nerves, but decided against it. He needed to be at home and ready to go in case Thanatos showed up early. After pulling on a hoodie, Danny shouldered his bag and walked out of his room, running into Jazz as he entered the hallway.

“Will you be okay watching the town while I’m gone?” Danny was worried that his friends and sister would not be able to get along while he was away.

“Don’t worry, Danny. We’ll be fine.” Jazz beamed. “Besides, this will give me time to work on my witty quips.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Or your aim.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad of a shot!” Jazz defended, folding her arms.

Danny remembered the first time Jazz ‘helped’ him and his friends; he had ended up in the thermos three different times in the same night. Danny sighed. “Just let Sam or Tucker use the thermos, please?”

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Alright, Danny.” Then she smiled and gave him a hug. “Be safe, okay, little brother?”

“Yeah, okay.” Danny hugged her back. “Love ya, Jazz.” He then headed downstairs.

Danny set his duffel bag down next to the front door before going into the kitchen. He should probably eat some breakfast, but he didn’t think he could keep anything down; his stomach was in knots. Danny didn’t know, like, anything about Camp Half-Blood or demigods or anything like that. He just knew that it would be a whole lot more people that he would have to hide his secret from, who would probably think he was a freak and wouldn’t accept him, and would attack him the first chance they got.

Danny sat down at the table and thumped his head against its surface.

Maddie came into the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas. “Are you nervous about going to camp, honey?” She placed a hand on his back.

“What gave you that idea?” Danny mumbled into the table.

Maddie rubbed in a small circle on Danny’s back, comforting him like she did when he was younger. “Well, you’re sitting in the kitchen with your head on the table and no food, your bag is by the front door, and it’s almost six. Also, I’m your mother. I know when you’re nervous about something.”

“Wait, it’s almost six?!” Danny sprang up from his seat at the table. “I’ve gotta go!”

He moved to leave the kitchen, but was stopped by his mother's hand resting gently on his shoulder.

“Sweetie, are you okay?” She asked, eyes filled with motherly worry. “You don’t have to go to this camp if you don’t want to. We could work something out with a tutor, or…”

“No, Mom, that’s not it,” Danny sighed. “I want to go, I’m just… really scared of messing up and… and people not liking me. And like, not being good enough to… I just don’t want to let anyone down.”

Maddie regarded Danny with confusion. “I mean, it’s just a school summer camp of sorts, isn’t it? I doubt you’d be letting anybody down, sweetie.”

“Oh, uhh, yeah,” Danny stammered. “That’s- yeah, sorry, I-”

Maddie pulled her son into a hug. “You’ll do fine, Danny. Don’t worry.”

Danny sighed and hugged her back. “Thanks, Mom.”

Danny felt his mark begin to prickle a few seconds before the doorbell rang.

Maddie released Danny. “That must be Mr. Mors.” She and Danny walked into the living room, where Danny picked up his duffel and slung it over his shoulder. She waved to him as he opened the front door; Thanatos stood patiently at the foot of the stairs, wearing the same suit from yesterday. “Have fun, honey! Make sure to use sunscreen! And bug spray! Oh, and did you pack enough underwear? We don’t want a repeat of-”

“Okay, bye Mom!” Danny hurriedly pulled the door shut, his face red with embarrassment.

He bolted down the stairs and stopped just past Thanatos. Danny turned back to his mentor, about to ask how they were going to get to camp, but was confused to see that the god was glaring at the roof of the neighboring building. “Whatcha looking at?”

Thanatos glanced at Danny from the corner of his eye. “You seem to have a stalker, Daniel.”

“A what now?” Danny looked up and down the street, but did not see anything or anyone out of the usual. Are they invisible…? “What do they look like?”

“He ran off when he noticed I could see him, but he had blue skin, red eyes, and a rather ridiculous gray outfit.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Oh, that’s Vlad the cheesehead. He’s been trying to kill my dad, marry my mom, and make me his ‘son’ ever since I met him at my parents’ college reunion almost half a year ago.”

Thanatos frowned. “Do you want me to deal with him?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can deal with him later.” Danny replied. He adjusted his duffel bag on his shoulder. “So, how are we getting to camp? Are we gonna fly?”

“Yes, but not in the way that you’re thinking.” Thanatos placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder and they melted into the shadows.

.

Danny had grown used to shadow-travel over the past few months, even though he hadn’t learned how to do it by himself yet. When they appeared in the Minnesota airport, Danny needed no time to recover.

It looked just like any other airport terminal, with restaurants and shops and waiting areas and crowds of people moving about. Nobody seemed to notice that they had just appeared in the middle of the crowd, probably due to the Mist.

“Wait, we’re taking a plane?” Danny asked, confused. “Can’t we just fly or shadow-travel over there?”

“It would be too far for you to fly, Daniel.” Thanatos replied. He started off through the terminal, and Danny followed. “And shadow-traveling would also drain much of your energy, which you will need for the coming week.”

“But isn’t the Underworld, like, way further away than Long Island?” Danny argued. “I always feel fine when we go there.”

“You are half-ghost, Daniel. As such, you are strongly connected to the Underworld, so it is not difficult for you to travel there. However, shadow-traveling in the Overworld is far more taxing on mortals such as yourself.” Thanatos looked around at the nearby restaurants. “Are you hungry?”

“What?” Danny looked up at Thanatos. “I mean… kinda, I dunno. I’m just really nervous and tired. I mean, are you hungry? Do gods need to eat?”

Thanatos smiled amusedly at Danny. “Not mortal food, and not as often as mortals. However, I like to ‘live it up’ once in a while.”

Danny groaned. “Please, don’t do that. I get enough of that from Mr. Lancer.”

Thanatos chuckled. “Regardless, you need to consume something.” He pointed to a certain green and white coffee shop. “I would recommend consuming something with a high caffeine-content.”

They joined the line for Starbucks. Danny yawned while Thanatos read the menu. The line inched forward slowly. Danny was beginning to wonder if they would even make it to the front of the line before their flight when a huge, muscular guy with short black hair and wraparound sunglasses shoved Thanatos from the side, bumping into Danny in the process.

“Move it, dweeb.” The guy jeered.

Danny clenched his fists as he felt anger flood his veins. He was ready to fight this guy, but Thanatos calmly turned to face the newcomer.

“Make me, gérontas.” Thanatos retorted, a smirk on his face. “What are you doing here, Ares?”

“Heard you got yourself a new apprentice, so I decided to check out the fresh meat.” Ares regarded Danny with a cruel glare. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Oh, yeah?” Danny glared back. “I’ve taken down guys bigger than you, easy.”

Ares looked surprised for a second before he laughed, draping an arm across Thanatos’ shoulder. “Maybe I stand corrected! You picked a good one, ptóma.”

Thanatos shrugged Ares’ arm off. “Thank you, but I do not need your approval.”

They had reached the front of the line, and it was their turn to order. Ares ordered a short black coffee, Danny ordered a caramel hot chocolate, and Thanatos ordered a venti unicorn frappuccino. The poor barista looked like she was going to have a panic attack; Danny wondered if she was able to see through the Mist.

While they waited for their drinks, Danny watched Ares out of the corner of his eye. He felt rather wary of the god. Sam had helped Danny learn about the main Greek gods since he began his apprenticeship, so he knew who Ares was. Danny thought about the anger that he had felt when the god first showed up, and it kinda freaked him out. I’ve never gotten angry like that before… Is that a power of Ares?

Ares groaned loudly. “Geez, kid, your emotions are annoying. Whaddya want?”

Danny was taken aback. Can he read my thoughts?

“Lemme guess, you’re wondering if I can read your thoughts?” Ares asked. “Nah, but I’ve been around long enough that I can tell when someone doesn’t like me very much.”

“It’s not that I don’t like you,” Danny frowned. “I just… don’t like the whole angry vibe that I get from just being around you. Also,” He gestured to Thanatos, who had been watching their interaction quietly. “How do you two know each other?”

“What, me and old ptóma here?” Ares punched Thanatos’ shoulder playfully. “We’ve been best buds for millenia. War and Death, what better pair could there be?”

“What does that word mean?” Danny asked.

“‘Ptóma’?” Thanatos said. “It means ‘corpse’. It’s an… endearing nickname, if you will.”

Before Danny could ask any more questions, the barista from earlier came up to them with their drinks. She shook as she handed the drinks to Danny, and bowed to Thanatos and Ares before hurrying away.

“Hey!” Ares called after the barista. She froze and turned to face the god, the fear obvious in her eyes. Ares pointed to Danny. “You gonna bow to him, too? Show some respect!”

“Wait, no, that’s really not necessary-” Danny began, but the barista turned to him and bowed several times.

“I-I’m very s-sorry, so sorry, please don’t kill me!” And with that, the barista ran back into the Starbucks kiosk and ducked behind the counter.

Ares chortled with laughter as he took his coffee from Danny. “Bwah hah hah! I love mortals, they’re so afraid of everything! It never gets old. However,” He glanced at one of the clocks on the wall. “I’ll have to catch up with you later, Thanatos. Places to be, people to slaughter, you know how it is.” Ares turned to Danny. “I expect big things from you, squirt. See ya.” He saluted lazily before turning around and disappearing into the crowd of people.

Danny sighed in relief once Ares was out of sight.

“Don’t mind him, Daniel.” Thanatos sipped his frappuccino. “Ares is like that with just about everyone.”

“What, rude and a jerk?” Danny took a drink of his hot chocolate.

Thanatos nodded. “Most would describe him that way, yes.”

.

Danny and Thanatos walked through the terminal, passing many shops and travelers. A few people stopped and did a double take as Danny and Thanatos walked by. Danny wondered if they could see through the Mist, or if they were just looking at Thanatos’ gold vest and red shoes.

“Why do you wear red shoes, Thanatos?” Danny asked.

“Why does anyone wear shoes, Daniel?” Thanatos countered, sipping his frappuccino.

“I mean, is there a specific reason for why you wear them?” Thanatos shook his head, and Danny frowned. “Isn’t it, like, against societal norms to wear bright colors with a fancy business suit? It’s unprofessional.” Danny said with a shrug.

“I am older than society, young one.” Thanatos continued drinking his unicorn frappuccino.

.

Danny and Thanatos found their gate. Danny asked Thanatos about tickets; the god told him that everything was already taken care of. Danny decided not to worry about it and sat down in one of the airport chairs overlooking the tarmac, putting his duffel underneath his chair.

“When’s our flight, anyway?” Danny watched an airplane taxi down the runway, preparing for takeoff.

“It should be the next flight.” Thanatos finished his drink and threw the cup into a nearby garbage bin.

“So soon?” Danny looked at a nearby clock. It read 6:45 A.M.

“The benefits of being able to manipulate the Mist.” Thanatos took the seat next to Danny.

“Don’t we need to go through airport security first? Will the TSA stop us from boarding?” Danny’s hot chocolate cup was empty, but he still held onto it, enjoying the warmth.

“No, the Mist will prevent those types of complications so long as no one else interferes with it,” Thanatos explained.

Danny wanted to ask another question, but the sugar high from the hot chocolate was already wearing down. He closed his eyes and leaned back. There was still about twenty minutes before their flight…

.

Danny could have sworn his eyes were closed for only a few seconds, but it must have been several minutes, because when Thanatos tapped his shoulder, their flight was being called.

Danny stood, stretched, and grabbed his bag. The first boarding group was called, and Danny and Thanatos joined the line where people were having their tickets checked before boarding. When they got to the front, the gate attendant smiled and asked for their tickets; Thanatos smiled pleasantly in return, produced two airline tickets from his coat pocket, and handed them to the gate attendant. The attendant scanned the tickets, handed them back, and wished them a good flight.

Once they were on the plane, Danny was surprised to see that their tickets were in first class. “Wow, you really do like ‘living it up’, don’t ya?” Danny remarked as he took the window seat.

Thanatos put Danny’s bag in the overhead compartment and sat down next to him. “I chose these seats so that I would not be sitting close to mortals who may be more affected by my presence.” Thanatos adjusted his jacket. “A five hour plane trip would not be the best place to have an overwhelming sense of existential dread from the god of death being your seat companion.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Danny peered out the window at the workers running luggage carts across the tarmac. The plane would probably be leaving soon. “So like, what can you do with the Mist? My parents were acting kinda weird when you came by the other day, did you use the Mist then?”

“Yes,” Thanatos answered. “I’ve been meaning to bring that up. When you possessed your father-”

“Ooh, yikes, I don’t like how that sounds,” Danny cringed. “I prefer to call it ‘overshadowing’. Sounds less freaky that way.”

“Very well, then.” Thanatos acquiesced. “When you overshadowed your father, I do not believe that it was the best course of action to take. I could have handled your parents on my own just using the Mist.”

“Yeah, sorry…” Danny looked away sheepishly. “I’m not really used to having help with situations like that. I didn’t really think… I guess it makes sense, you’re an immortal god with thousands of years of experience…”

Thanatos smiled kindly at Danny. “It is alright, Daniel. Thank you for trying to help, it was very kind of you.”

“Yeah…” Danny changed the subject. “That barista earlier. Nobody seemed to notice us just… appearing in the middle of the airport, which was because of the Mist, right? But she seemed like she knew who you and Ares were. She was pretty freaked out.”

“The barista was a demigod.” Thanatos replied. “Which means she is able to see through the Mist more clearly than most other mortals.”

“Cool!” Danny commented. “Who’s her godly parent? Wait, is that rude to ask?”

“I do not know. Most demigods do not know who their godly parent is, so it can be a sensitive subject for some.” Thanatos replied.

Danny nodded in understanding. The last of the passengers had boarded the plane while the two of them had been talking, and the plane now rumbled as it began to pick up speed on the runway. Danny’s eyelids grew heavy as he watched the plane take off through the window, and by the time the plane had broken through the clouds, Danny had fallen asleep on Thanatos’ shoulder.

.

“Daniel?” Danny blearily opened his eyes. Thanatos was standing in the aisle, Danny’s bag slung over his shoulder. “It’s time to get off the plane.”

Danny rubbed his eyes and stood up. “How long was I out?”

“Since the plane took off.” Thanatos replied. He raised an eyebrow, a little smirk on his lips. “You talk in your sleep, did you know that?”

Danny’s face burned with embarrassment as he walked down the aisle. “Oh gosh, do I even wanna know what I said?”

“You said something about you and Samantha-” Thanatos began before Danny interrupted him.

“Nope, nope, nope!” Danny hurried off the plane. “Nope, no thank you, just forget whatever I said, please.” Danny was certain his face was as red as Thanatos' shoes by the time he made it to the beginning of the jet-walk.

Danny heard Thanatos chuckling behind him as he exited the jet-way into the JFK airport. Once inside, Danny asked how they were going to get to camp as they walked briskly through the crowds of travelers.

“We are close enough to fly,” Thanatos answered. “Are you feeling up to it, Daniel?”

Danny stretched. “Yeah, that nap did me some good.”

Thanatos pushed open an exit door near the food court and they stepped into the sunlight.

Danny looked around. He could see the skyscrapers of New York City in the distance. “So, where’s the camp, anyways?”

Thanatos pointed to the east. “It’s at the very tip of Long Island. It should only take us about thirty minutes to get there.”

Danny walked over to a covered area that had no windows. He looked around to make sure there were no people around. Seeing that he was alone, he threw his arms up and shouted, “I’m going ghost!” as he transformed.

However, in his tired state of mind, Danny had forgotten that Thanatos was right behind him. That is, until he heard a loud, unrestrained snort followed by laughter from the god. Danny wanted to melt into the ground and disappear as he slowly turned around to see Thanatos with a hand over his mouth and an amused glint in his eyes, chuckling heartily at Danny’s catchphrase. Danny’s face burned a bright green and he dropped his head into his hands; this day couldn’t get any worse, could it?

“Please, kill me now…” Danny muttered as Thanatos’ laughter died down.

“Are you sure?” Thanatos asked mischievously.

“What?” Danny looked up at him in confusion before the words processed. “Wait, no- oh my gosh, is this because of the frappuccino? Can gods get a sugar rush?”

Thanatos chuckled again as his jacket shifted and morphed into his wings. “My, my, this has been a most entertaining day.”

“Yeah, at my expense!” Danny groaned exasperatedly. He took his duffel from Thanatos and slung it over his head. “Let’s just go before I can embarrass myself more…”

.

As Danny and Thanatos got closer to their destination, Danny’s rising anxiety about going to camp began to get the better of him. He fell behind Thanatos and slowed to a stop, hundreds of feet above the trees. Danny hugged himself tightly and looked back the way they had come. Maybe I should just turn around, go back to Amity Park. I… I was handling the ghosts just fine before, I’ll just…

“Daniel?” Thanatos had turned around and was looking at Danny with a worried expression. “What’s wrong?”

Danny wouldn’t meet Thanatos’ eyes. “I… I don’t think that this is a good idea. I’m… not a half-blood, and I don’t know anything about any of this! I’ll just be a freak, an outsider; there’ll just be even more people that I have to keep my ghost half a secret from. And if they find out, they could attack me. You never even told me that I’d be going here! Why… why can’t you just keep teaching me by yourself?”

“Daniel,” Thanatos flew closer and reached a hand out to Danny, but the halfa darted away from him. “You are not a freak. Not to your friends, nor your sister. Not to me.”

“You’re just saying that 'cuz you’re my mentor.” Danny muttered, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Yes, but I am also saying it because it is true.” Thanatos moved into Danny’s line of sight, but Danny turned away. “You are a very special child.”

“But why are you sending me to a camp for half-bloods, when I’m not even a half-blood? Why can’t you just train me yourself?!” Tears started rolling down Danny’s cheeks.

“You are a grandchild of a half-blood; one of Hades’ own mortal children. You will fit in with the other members of the camp.” Thanatos grabbed Danny by the arms, holding him gently but firmly in place. “And I cannot always be there to teach you. My job keeps me very busy. I would have told you that you would be going to camp after it was all sorted out, but this visit was a rather last minute decision and there simply wasn’t time. I have spoken with Chiron and he has agreed to train you this week, as well as over the summer.” Thanatos pulled Danny into a hug. “I will still be here for you, should you need anything while you are at camp.”

Danny was still for a few moments as Thanatos held him tight. Finally, he hugged him back, feeling the beat of Thanatos’ wings against the air. “… thank you.”

.

Danny and Thanatos landed at the base of a hill that had a tall pine tree at its top. Danny saw what appeared to be a pile of copper coils wrapped around the tree’s base. Thanatos’ wings transformed back into his jacket while Danny ducked behind a tree and changed back into his human form. Danny adjusted his duffel bag on his shoulder as they started up the hill.

A middle-aged man in a wheelchair came over the hillcrest just as they reached the base of the tree. As they approached him, Danny did a double take at the coils. Wait, is that a dragon?

“Greetings, Lord Thanatos.” The man welcomed when they were close.

Chapter Text

Danny was surprised by the man’s appearance. When he had imagined the ‘hero training camp’, Danny had imagined something like a military boot camp. The man in front of him, however, looked more like a college professor, or a librarian.

The man had thinning, shoulder-length brown hair and a well-kept beard, and he wore a tweed vest over a buttoned shirt with rolled up sleeves. He sat in a wheelchair, and his legs were covered by a well-worn quilt. He had a serious look in his eyes, but when he looked at Danny he smiled kindly. “Hello, young one. You must be Lord Thanatos’ new apprentice.”

“Umm, hi,” Danny waved shyly, keeping one eye on the sleeping dragon. “I’m Danny. Danny Fenton.”

“Chiron, I would prefer it if you did not say my name. As I have mentioned before, I find it likely that most of the campers would not treat Daniel with much kindness if they knew of his… connection to the Underworld.” Thanatos advised.

“Of course,” Chiron said. “What would you like me to call you?”

“Oh, he’s been going by ‘Mr. Mors’.” Danny supplied, smirking. “He likes to ‘live it up’ every once in a while.”

Thanatos swatted Danny’s shoulder lightly. “Oh hush, you.”

Danny laughed.

Chiron nodded in confused amusement. “Now, if you two would follow me to the Big House?” Chiron turned his wheelchair around and moved down the other side of the hill.

Danny looked out over the valley as they walked to the big blue farmhouse. He was getting whiplash trying to look at everything at once; far to the right there were twelve cabins next to a lake, as well as what looked like an outdoor theater, and a rock wall that spewed lava. Kids of all ages in bright orange shirts were running between the cabins and the other buildings around the camp. Those must be the campers. Danny thought.

Once they reached the porch, Chiron wheeled himself up the wheelchair ramp. Thanatos held open the front door for Chiron.

“Thank you, Mr. Mors.” Chiron said with a smirk.

Danny got the feeling that Thanatos had rolled his eyes, but it was hard to tell with his eyes being a solid gold color.

Chiron turned around and beckoned for Danny to come indoors. Danny looked over his shoulder at the campers going about their daily business before entering the Big House, Thanatos closing the door behind them.

.

The room they had walked into looked like a large parlor. There was a fireplace and a couple of sofas, and in the corner was a round wooden table with soda cans and playing cards scattered across the surface.

“Well, well,” a new voice drawled. “What do we have here?”

In a doorway on the far side of the room stood a man Danny was certain was no stranger to wine. The man had a chubby face with ruddy cheeks and nose, and a faint fruity smell hung in the air around him. Danny was sure that on a good day, the man was the life of the party; however, in that moment he was very unpleasant to be around. The air around him felt threatening, and his scrutinizing gaze made Danny extremely uncomfortable.

“Mr. D, this is Danny.” Chiron gestured to the fidgeting teen. “The one we discussed earlier this week, remember?”

“Oh,” Mr. D’s expression turned rather stormy. “I thought he wasn’t showing up until summer.”

“That is what I had originally discussed with Chiron, but with how things are progressing, I have become rather busy as of late and am no longer able to teach Daniel as often as he needs.” Thanatos explained. “I thought it would be best if he was more fully introduced to our world sooner rather than later.”

“Why is that your decision to make, anyway?” Mr. D asked, a purple light sparking in his eyes.

Thanatos opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Chiron. “Danny, why don’t you go wait outside for a little while? It would appear that Mr. D and Mr. Mors have some things to discuss with one another.”

Danny looked between Thanatos and Mr. D—who Danny figured was probably a Greek god—and decided he did not want to be there when the sparks flew. Thanatos nodded his head in agreement with Chiron’s suggestion.

“Okay… I’ll wait on the porch.” Danny adjusted his duffel and walked back out the door.

.

Danny sat down on the steps leading up to the Big House and pulled out his Ancient Greek textbook. He had planned on studying during the plane trip, but had ended up taking a nap instead. Better late than never, I suppose.

As Danny was reviewing the Ancient Greek alphabet again, he heard a voice yell out angrily: “Percy!”

Danny’s head snapped up and he made eye contact with a furious looking blonde-haired girl who was stomping angrily towards him.

“Are you serious?” She threw her hands up in the air. “You’re not supposed to be here for another couple of months! What did you do this time?”

“Uhh, I’m not-” Danny began, but once the girl was just a few feet from him she stopped abruptly.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I thought you were someone else.” The girl’s face burned bright red with embarrassment.

“It’s fine,” Danny replied. “Uhh, I-I’m Danny. Who’re you?”

The girl studied him for a moment before reaching out her hand with a smile. “I’m Annabeth. Annabeth Chase.” Danny took her hand and shook it. Her eyes landed on Danny’s book and she frowned, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “Why are you reading that? Demigods can already read Ancient Greek.”

“Huh? Oh!” Danny slammed the book shut and hid it behind his back. “Uhh, just for fun, you know? Need to… practice… my reading, I…”

Annabeth’s eyes lit up as she plopped herself down next to Danny. “Would you like some help?”

Danny was surprised; that had gone better than he had expected. “Umm, yeah, that would be really great.”

Before Annabeth could say anything else, loud, angry voices could be heard from inside the Big House. Annabeth asked Danny what was going on, but he didn’t answer as his anxiety skyrocketed and he began to freak out.

Crap, I shouldn’t be here, Danny thought worriedly, tugging at his hoodie sleeve. Now Thanatos and Mr. D are fighting. I shouldn’t-

“You know what? Never mind.” Annabeth thought for a moment. “You’re new here. Have you had a tour of the camp yet?”

“No, I haven’t.” Danny was grateful for any excuse to get away from the angry gods.

Annabeth nodded. “Just a sec.” She ran up the stairs and pushed open the front door just a tad. “Chiron?” The voices quieted. “I’m taking Danny on a tourokaybye!” Annabeth hurried back down the stairs, her eyes wide and a nervous look on her face. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

Danny grabbed his duffel bag and ran across the grass after Annabeth. They ran north past the strawberry fields and slowed to a walk once they reached the volleyball courts. There were some campers and a few satyrs playing a match. Danny was a bit surprised at the sight of their goat legs, but he had seen far stranger things in the Ghost Zone.

Annabeth turned to Danny and clapped her hands together. “So!” She began. “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! A safe haven for demigods from the dangers of the ancient world. Here, we meet fellow children of the gods and learn how to protect ourselves from monsters and other threats that come after us because of our godly genes.” She looked at Danny with an asking gaze. “Do you have any idea who your godly parent might be?”

Danny blinked in surprise and slight alarm; he hadn’t thought up a cover story. “Uhh, nope. Not a clue.”

Annabeth frowned. “Well, was it your mom or dad that raised you? How did you find out about camp? Did a satyr bring you?”

“Uhh… it was both of my parents that raised me…” Danny said stupidly.

Annabeth’s frown deepened. “Do you mean, like… a stepparent?”

“Yes, that’s what I meant!” Danny said quickly, grateful for the excuse.

“Well… which parent is your stepparent?”

“… both. I’m adopted.” What the heck am I saying? Danny thought. Someone kill me now… but not actually, thank you.

Annabeth stared at Danny as if he had grown a second head (which he had before, but she didn’t need to know that.) “That… must be difficult for you.”

“Yeah, uhh…” Danny sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, cursing his own stupidity. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long day. I didn’t even know I was coming here until last night.”

Annabeth’s gaze turned sympathetic. “I understand. This has all been pretty overwhelming, hasn’t it?”

Danny nodded miserably.

The two of them were silent for several moments before Annabeth continued. “Today’s Friday, so we have capture the flag after dinner. You can join us if you want to, or take the evening to get your bearings since it’s your first day here.” She smiled. “Let’s continue the tour, okay?”

She continued walking, and Danny followed.

.

The two of them walked past the amphitheater. Annabeth explained that was where they gathered for meetings, performances, classes, and the nightly bonfire and sing-a-long.

Past the amphitheater was the forge, where kids were hammering away at metal and making all sorts of different things (Danny was certain he saw some campers forging actual swords.) Annabeth mentioned that the Hephaestus campers spent most of their time there. Next to the forge was the armory, with enough weapons and armor to supply a small army.

In the area behind the armory was an array of twelve cabins in a U-shape. They all varied widely in appearance; one was blood-red with barbed wire, another had a grass roof, and another looked like a giant Barbie dollhouse. There was a commons area about the size of a soccer field in the center of the U. The areas between the cabins were decorated with flower beds, Greek statues, fountains, and a couple of basketball hoops. In the center of the field was a large hearth with a warm fire; a little girl crouched by the glowing coals.

“These are the cabins,” Annabeth gestured to the clearing. “Each one represents one of the twelve Olympian Gods.” She led Danny around the buildings. She told him that the campers stayed in the cabin that was their parent’s. She also explained that even though Artemis and Hera didn’t have any mortal children, they still had honorary cabins.

“If you don’t know who your godly parent is, you stay in the Hermes cabin.” Annabeth pointed to the cabin they had stopped in front of; it was the largest cabin of the group, with worn brown paint chipping off of the wooden exterior. A gold caduceus hung crooked above the door along with a large brass number eleven.

“If you don’t know your ‘godly parent’, why do you stay in that cabin?” Danny asked. He got the feeling that Mr. D would not want him staying with the other campers.

“Hermes is the patron god of travelers.” Annabeth replied. “All new campers stay in the Hermes cabin until they are claimed. Though, some are never claimed.”

Danny looked around at all of the people walking by, and he noticed something strange. “Are there any adult demigods here?”

“Nope. Most of us either die before adulthood or leave camp to live somewhat normal lives.” Annabeth explained.

Danny was about to comment on how depressing that was, but then he realized something else. “Wait a minute, where’s Hades’ cabin?”

Annabeth frowned. “… what do you mean?”

“Hades is one of the big gods, isn’t he?” Danny asked. “Shouldn’t he have a cabin?”

“Well… Hades doesn’t have any kids.” Annabeth replied slowly, watching Danny carefully as if she was waiting to see how he would respond.

“Yeah, he does.” Danny said without thinking.

Annabeth whirled on him; she grabbed Danny’s arm and pulled him away from the cabins, to the hearth in the center of the field. The little girl was gone, and nobody else was nearby.

“How do you know that?” She whispered seriously. “Have you ever met a child of Hades?”

Danny was confused by Annabeth’s reaction. Should I tell her about Nico…? With how quickly her cheerful demeanor had changed, Danny decided that he shouldn’t. “… no, I… I’m mistaken, sorry.” Danny mumbled, looking away from Annabeth.

She eyed him cautiously for a moment before she changed the subject. “Over there is the canoe lake.” She pointed northeast. “Past that is the rock climbing wall. To the left is the dining pavilion. I hope you’ll join us for dinner?”

“Yeah, I hope so…” Danny muttered.

Annabeth looked apologetic. “Hey, let’s keep going, okay? There’s still some pretty cool stuff to see.” She smiled as they started off southwest towards the forest. “These are the woods where we play capture the flag. Don’t go in them alone, at least until you’ve had some training; they’re stocked full with a bunch of deadly monsters.”

“Cool!” Danny listened intently as they got closer to the woods. He could hear many creatures roaming around in the darkness of the trees. Maybe I can explore them later.

Annabeth looked over at him. “How old are you, anyway? You look about thirteen.”

“Hey, I’m fourteen, almost fifteen, thank you very much.” Danny corrected indignantly.

.

For the next part of the tour, they stopped at what looked like a stable block. Some of the horses looked normal, but inside a few of the stalls were ones with wings. “Wait, are those pegasuses? Awesome!”

“Pegasi,” Annabeth corrected. “Do you wanna meet them?”

“Yes!” Danny said excitedly. He dropped his duffel bag near the entrance and walked into the stables, but the second he crossed the threshold the horse closest to him, a black pegasus, reared back and shrieked in terror. Danny could see the whites of its eyes, and he jumped back as the rest of the horses joined in the racket, neighing and shrieking and kicking their stall doors.

“Whoa!” Annabeth raised her hands and approached the black pegasus carefully. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

The pegasus quieted slightly, and stamped its hooves anxiously as it snorted at her. As the other equines quieted down, Annabeth held out a hand for it to sniff. The pegasus knickered at her as she calmly pet its nose.

“What’s gotten into you guys?” Annabeth murmured. She looked back at Danny, who looked as spooked as the horses. “I don’t know what’s going on with them, but do you still want to try and say hi?”

“Maybe…” Danny took a cautious step forward. The pegasus stilled. He took another step towards Annabeth and the pegasus snorted nervously, but otherwise remained motionless. Danny slowly moved forward until he was next to Annabeth. The pegasus hadn’t moved.

“It’s okay, Blackjack, it’s okay.” Annabeth shushed the horse. She turned to Danny. “Go ahead, Danny, he won’t hurt you.”

Danny apprehensively reached his hand towards the black pegasus’ neck. Okay, this will be fine. I’m not the cause of these horses freaking out… am I?

Right as Danny’s fingers met the pegasus’ black mane, its eyes widened in fear and it rammed its head forward into Danny’s chest. Or rather it tried to hit Danny’s chest. Danny instinctively dropped to the ground and rolled backwards, away from Blackjack.

Annabeth tried to calm Blackjack again, but he was too freaked out to listen. He neighed harshly at Danny, as if telling him to get out. Danny obliged and walked quickly out of the stables.

Danny strode briskly towards the Big House; he no longer cared if Thanatos and Mr. D were still fighting, Danny wanted to leave the camp ASAP. He wasn’t supposed to be here, he had made Annabeth suspicious, the horses were terrified of him-

“Danny!” Danny stopped and turned around to see Annabeth running after him, his forgotten duffel slung over her shoulder. “Danny, wait!” When she got to him, she took a moment to catch her breath. “I’m sorry about Blackjack. He’s usually nicer to people.”

Danny nodded, but said nothing.

“Are you okay, Danny?” Annabeth asked softly.

Danny looked at the Big House. “… I don’t belong here.”

“Don’t be silly, of course you do,” Annabeth said. “Not everyone can roll backwards out of danger like that.”

I do more than that on a daily basis. Danny thought bitterly. He didn’t respond to Annabeth, and instead began to fidget with his hoodie sleeve again.

Annabeth looked between Danny and the stables, confusion written all over her face. “I’m sorry about the horses,” She said again. “I don’t know what was going on with them. And, I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable, that wasn’t my intention. I imagine that it’s probably been a rather overwhelming day for you, is there anything I can do to help? Would you like to finish the tour?”

“No, it’s fine,” Danny replied. “I-” He faltered as he felt his mark begin to tingle and burn lightly; Thanatos was trying to contact him. “I just want to go back to the Big House.”

“Are you sure?” Annabeth asked, worry evident on her face.

“Yeah, I… there’s someone I need to talk to.” Danny replied.

Annabeth nodded and handed him his duffel, then began the trek back to the Big House with him. As they neared it, they could see that all of the plant life within twenty feet of the building had shriveled and died. Chiron stood on the wraparound porch at the back of the house waiting for them; yes, stood. Danny was shocked to see that Chiron’s lower half was that of a white horse. He smiled at Danny once they reached the porch, but Danny could tell that he was anything but happy.

“I trust you two had a nice tour?” Chiron asked.

Danny just nodded.

Chiron looked out at the dead foliage and grimaced. “Oh dear, I do not believe the nymphs will be very happy about this.” Danny opened his mouth to ask where Thanatos was, but Chiron interrupted him. “He is waiting for you by the pine tree out front.”

Danny didn’t respond; he just gripped his duffel and ran around the side of the house. When he rounded the corner he could see Thanatos standing near the large pine tree with the dragon curled around its trunk, his back to the farmhouse and his wings folded against his back. Danny’s pace picked up as he sprinted towards him.

Thanatos turned to face Danny as he passed the strawberry fields in front of the house, and Danny skidded to a stop once he was a few feet away from the god. Thanatos looked out over the valley with a sullen expression. Danny noticed that the god’s blue and purple feathers were much darker than usual, looking more like a raven’s feathers.

“Thanatos?” Danny asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

Thanatos’ gaze landed on Danny. “Hello, Daniel. How was your tour?”

“It was… fine. At least until we got to the stables.” Danny muttered.

“The horses and pegasi were afraid of you?” Thanatos guessed. He did not sound surprised. “As I have said before, most beings are afraid of death. As such, they are afraid of anything that smells of the dead.”

“And since I’m already half-dead, they’re definitely afraid of me.” Danny said bitterly.

Thanatos nodded in understanding. “I am afraid that is true, my young apprentice.”

“Is it still a good idea for me to be here?” Danny asked. I feel out of place. He added silently.

Thanatos nodded again. “Yes, it is best for you to remain here, at least for the week.”

“But, what if I don’t fit in? What if no one-” Danny was interrupted by Thanatos placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Daniel, please do not fret.” Thanatos said encouragingly. ”You will make friends at this camp, but you may also make enemies. It is up to you how many of each you make.”

Danny knew Thanatos was trying to comfort him, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

“Before my… discussion with Mr. D,” Thanatos continued. “Chiron and I meant to tell you what to tell other campers should they ask about your parentage.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that…” Danny recounted his conversation with Annabeth.

Thanatos spoke once Danny was finished. “That is… one way to answer that question. I am sure it will be fine. But now, I must take my leave.”

“Wait, you’re leaving? What am I supposed to do?” Danny felt his heart beat faster. He dropped his duffel bag on the ground at his feet.

Thanatos smiled comfortingly. “You will be alright, Daniel. I believe in you.”

“Will you be able to visit?” Danny asked.

“Only if you want me to-” Thanatos began.

“Well, of course I want you to!” Danny interrupted.

Thanatos smiled warmly and explained to Danny how he could use his mark to notify Thanatos that he wanted to speak with him, and how to summon him. Thanatos turned to leave, but before he could do so Danny rushed forward and wrapped his arms around his mentor’s waist. Thanatos froze, and for a moment Danny was worried that he had upset him again, but then Thanatos returned the embrace. “Good luck, agapité mou paidí. (‘my dear child.’)"

Chapter Text

After Thanatos left, Danny trudged back to the Big House, gripping his duffel tightly in his hand. Chiron and Annabeth were waiting for him on the front porch. Annabeth held Danny’s textbook in her hands; he must’ve forgotten it on the porch earlier.

Danny stopped at the base of the stairs, a moody gloom filling the air around him. “So, what’s next?” He muttered.

Chiron regarded Danny with kind eyes. “Well, normally you would go to the Hermes’ cabin, but Mr. D has only agreed to let you stay for the week if you stay in the Big House where he can… keep an eye on you.”

“Great.” Danny grumbled. “So he can murder me in my sleep or something…”

Chiron didn’t say anything to refute Danny’s comment. “It’s activity time right now, so all of the campers are doing activities such as arts and crafts, archery, and canoeing.” Chiron turned to Annabeth. “Annabeth, could you take Danny with you to your next class, if he so wishes?”

“Actually, can you just show me where I’ll be staying?” Danny interrupted, jostling his duffel. “This is kinda getting in the way.”

“Of course.” Chiron looked at Annabeth again. “Could you show Danny to one of the guest rooms on the fourth floor? I would do so myself, but…” He gestured to his lower body.

“Oh, yeah! You’re a…” Danny trailed off; his brain was not functioning at the moment.

“A centaur, yes.” Chiron smiled jokingly. “Most newcomers are quicker on the uptake.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty stupid, I know…” Danny mumbled under his breath.

Chiron frowned, but Annabeth spoke up before he could respond. “Let’s go upstairs, okay? Then we could go grab some food from the gift shop if you want.”

“I’m not hungry.” Danny replied, but he gestured for her to lead the way inside.

.

They headed into the Big House. Mr. D was nowhere to be seen, for which Danny was grateful. Annabeth led Danny up the stairs.

The second floor looked very different from the first; there were several guest rooms stocked with what looked like medical supplies. Annabeth explained that they used the second floor as an overflow infirmary of sorts for injured campers. The third floor had more guest rooms and a common area with a large table covered in clutter; Annabeth told him that the floor was being used mostly for storage.

Finally, they reached the fourth floor. It was like the third, with a small common area and several bedrooms. It was very dusty, like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. There was a green trapdoor—likely an attic entrance—on the ceiling right above where the stairs ended. When they got close to it, Danny involuntarily shivered as cold tingled at the back of his throat; whatever was up there sort of felt like a ghost, but… not quite.

“We’re not going up there, are we?” Danny asked apprehensively.

“No one goes up there unless they’re going on a quest.” Annabeth replied.

“A quest?”

Annabeth ignored Danny’s question as she glanced over at him. “You look pretty worn out.”

“You can say that again.” Danny said tiredly as he looked around at the bedrooms. “So why am I staying all the way up here?”

“I don’t honestly know,” Annabeth began. “It doesn’t seem like such a good idea to have a new camper so close to the… attic.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “Why not? What’s up there?”

Annabeth looked away as if she were hiding something. “Uhh, you can… ask Chiron later.” She handed Danny his textbook. “I’ve gotta get to class, though. See you at dinner?”

“Yeah, see you.” Danny muttered as Annabeth left him alone on the fourth floor landing of the absolutely massive farmhouse.

Danny looked around at the various closed doors. He chose the door to his right and opened it. Inside was a bed with faded blue covers, a nightstand, a desk, and a stand-alone wardrobe. In front of the desk was a dusty window overlooking the strawberry fields behind the farmhouse.

Well, I guess I’ll take this room. Danny decided. He tossed his duffel bag and book at the foot of the bed, pulled off his hoodie (his arm was wrapped in an elastic bandage that covered his mark) and flopped down onto the mattress. The second he hit the covers, the stresses of the day seemed to fall on him all at once, quickly draining what energy he had. Maybe… I’ll just take a quick nap…

.

Danny awoke to late-afternoon sunlight streaming in through the window. He hadn’t had any dreams; he guessed he was just too worn out from the events of earlier. He sat up and stretched. Danny didn’t know what to do next. He didn’t know what time it was, but nobody had come and gotten him for dinner, so it was probably still somewhat early in the evening.

He looked out the window; past the strawberry fields, he could see what looked like an archery range, and past that was the southern half of the woods. His curiosity began to eat at him. I can take a short flight over there, can’t I? Just for a little bit; nobody will even know that I’m gone.

Danny stood up from the bed and transformed into his alter ego. He went invisible and glanced back at the bedroom door. Just a quick flight. Danny phased through the window and flew away from the Big House. No one will know.

Danny soared over the strawberry fields and watched as campers went about their business; some were picking strawberries, others were practicing archery, and he could even see a few people sparring in what looked sort of like a small colosseum. Danny came to a stop once he passed the tree line and became visible again. He looked around at the woods, feeling more at ease now that he was flying without a destination in mind.

Danny roamed the woods, staying high enough above the ground that the various monsters he saw left him alone. He didn’t know how to feel about Camp Half-Blood; he was sure that it was a great place for demigods to be safe and learn to protect themselves, but… he wasn’t a demigod. He wasn’t fully human, either. He was just a freak. Mr. D didn’t want him here, and he could tell that Chiron was hiding how he felt as well. Annabeth had tried to be nice to him, but Danny had been an idiot and he was sure that he had made her uncomfortable; she probably didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Danny didn’t know why he was feeling so worried, he was just… really afraid of screwing up. Of not being good enough or strong enough to help anybody, and afraid of letting people down. When he had just been on his own in Amity Park, his workload had been busy, but manageable. This, however… Danny didn’t know if he could keep this up.

Danny was pulled out of his pondering by a shout. He instinctively went invisible and flew back to the edge of the woods to see what was going on. The sun had sunk a little more in the sky; how long had he been in the woods? He could see groups of campers walking around as if they were looking for something. A person in the group closest to him yelled out clearly-

Oh, great.

They were looking for him.

Danny flew down and hid behind a tree. Waiting until the coast was clear enough, Danny transformed back to his human form. The light from his transformation drew the attention of the closest camper: Annabeth.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Annabeth pointed a glowing bronze dagger in Danny’s direction.

Danny stepped out from behind the tree with his hands up. “Umm, hi?” He grinned nervously.

“Danny?! What are you doing out here?” Annabeth demanded, lowering her dagger.

“… exploring?” Danny shrugged.

“In the woods?!” Annabeth said in disbelief.

“I mean, it wasn’t that bad…” Danny shrugged. “I’ve faced way worse back home.”

Annabeth shook her head. She called out to the other campers. “I found him! Go tell Chiron to call off the search!”

Oh, crap… What did I do now? Danny’s face burned with embarrassment for the umpteenth time that day.

Annabeth sheathed her dagger and threw her hands up in exasperation. “Danny, you can’t just… you need to tell somebody when you go somewhere before just wandering off! Di immortales, what were you thinking?”

“I just wanted to get some air, I didn’t think…” Danny trailed off. Of course I didn’t think, when do I ever do that? He groaned internally.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to scold him some more, but just then Chiron came cantering up to them.

“Danny! Thank goodness, I was worried that Mr. D had gone back on his promise and done something… regrettable.” Chiron glanced at a group of campers that was heading north. “Well, we’re all going to be a bit late to dinner, but that’s alright. There’ll still be plenty of time for capture the flag before lights out.” Chiron turned to Danny. “Danny, will you walk with me to the dining pavilion?”

Even though it had been phrased as a question, Danny was pretty sure he didn’t have a choice. Chiron waved at Annabeth to go on ahead, and he started a slow walk back up the hill. Danny trailed along beside him, his head down.

“That was rather impressive, Danny.” Chiron commented. “Would you like to tell me how you left the Big House without anybody noticing?”

“I… went through the window.” Danny replied. It wasn’t a lie, but…

“Ah, yes,” Chiron nodded. “The fourth floor window, which was still locked from the inside.” He eyed Danny curiously. “Would that be a trick your mentor taught you?”

“Well, not exactly…” Danny looked away and rubbed the back of his neck.

They walked in silence for a while before Chiron spoke up again. “I wasn’t very open to the idea of allowing you to attend this camp, but your mentor mentioned that you are not just a regular mortal; you have some… powers, in a sense, that you could use some help mastering.”

Danny’s eyes widened, but Chiron raised a hand to calm him as he continued. “He did not tell me exactly what they are or how you came to have these abilities. He said that was for you to share, if you wished to do so. However, I am the immortal teacher of many heroes; I have seen some very strange things in my time, and I can certainly keep a secret. I only wish to help you, Danny.”

Danny thought for a moment before quietly responding. “You probably haven’t seen anything quite as strange as me…”

Chiron smirked. “Try me.”

Danny was still unsure; there was something about the kind centaur that Danny felt he could trust, but he was still understandably wary. “When… when I’m ready, I’ll tell you, okay?”

Chiron nodded. “Alright.”

.

The dining hall was a large open-air pavilion made of white marble. There were only about thirty or so campers sitting scattered amongst the twelve tables; four of the tables were empty. In the center of the tables was a large bronze brazier with a roaring fire.

Danny noticed a long dark line in the marble floor, like a sealed crack. What happened here? He wondered briefly.

Mr. D sat at another table at the far end of the pavilion, glaring at Danny; two campers that looked like they could be twins sat beside him. Chiron led Danny over to where Mr. D sat, at what Danny assumed was the head table. Mr. D sighed as he stood up to address the campers.

“Well, well. It would seem that our wayward newcomer has been found.” Mr. D did not seem that happy that Danny had been found. “Thank you all for your help, I suppose.”

Mr. D sat back down, and Chiron placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder, smiling encouragingly at him before turning to the audience. “As I’m sure you all know by now, this is Danny Fenton. He’ll be staying with us for the week, and hopefully for the summer.”

Mr. D scoffed, but Chiron ignored him. “I expect you all to give him a warm welcome.”

The campers began to mutter amongst themselves. Danny caught snippets of what they were saying: “He looks kinda like Percy, just… shorter.”, “How’d he go into the woods on his first day and not die?”, “Who do you think his godly parent is?”.

Danny stood there awkwardly; where was he supposed to sit? However, Chiron guided him to a seat at the head table, near the end of the table. Danny got the feeling that Chiron was trying to keep him as far away from Mr. D as possible.

A camper stood up from one of the tables. “Chiron, I thought new campers joined the Hermes cabin?”

The other campers mumbled their agreement.

Chiron raised a hand for silence. “I am aware of the… unusual situation, but Mr. D has said that Danny must stay in the Big House and be at the head table, at least for the first night.”

Many of the campers began to talk amongst themselves, though they quieted when Chiron stamped his hoof against the marble floor.

“Everyone can rest assured that this is for the best.” Chiron picked up his goblet and raised it high. “To the gods!” He shouted; the campers followed suit.

Girls with pointed ears walked into the pavilion and went around the tables, carrying heaping platters of fruits and cheese and other foods. One of the girls offered a platter of barbecue to Danny with a kind smile. He smiled back and took a few pieces before she hurried away to serve the others at the table.

Chiron leaned over and pointed to the empty goblet next to Danny’s plate. “Tell the goblet what you would like to drink.”

Danny raised an eyebrow in question, but he decided to try it. “Umm, chocolate milk?” The goblet filled with the desired drink. Danny grinned. “Neat.”

Danny went to take a bite of his meal, but noticed the campers were getting up from their tables and scraping a portion of their food into the large bronze brazier. Danny wasn’t sure what he should do, but one of the campers—a girl about his age with long brown hair and hazel eyes—gestured for him to stand up and join her.

Danny looked at Chiron, who nodded encouragingly. Uncertain, Danny grabbed his plate and walked over to the girl.

She smiled kindly. “Most new campers don’t know that we give the gods a portion of our food at meal times.”

“Why? What’s the point?” Danny asked.

“It shows respect and gratitude to the gods, even if we don’t know who our godly parent is.” She seemed a little wistful as she spoke.

Danny remembered the conversation he had with Annabeth earlier that day. “Are you one of those unclaimed kids that stays in cabin eleven?”

“Yes, I am.” The girl stepped forward as the line moved. “I’m Aurora.”

“I’m Danny, but you probably already knew that, didn’t you?” Danny’s ears burned as Aurora giggled.

By then the two of them had reached the brazier. Aurora scraped some of the food off her plate and into the fire. “To my mother.” She said. She turned back to Danny and smiled. “I’ll see ya later, Danny.” And with that, she walked away.

Danny was next. He stared into the flames. Who should I say? I don’t have a godly parent… Then, Danny had an idea. He scraped a piece of barbecue into the fire. “Thanatos.” He whispered quietly.

As the smoke wafted up, Danny was surprised to find that it smelled of poppies and campfire smoke, of wildflowers baking in the summer heat and of forest soil after a rainstorm, and the fruity scent of… a venti unicorn frappuccino? Danny shook his head in tired amusement before heading back to the head table, ready to be done with the day.

Chapter Text

Once everyone had finished their meals, the girls (Chiron told Danny that they were nymphs) cleared away the dishes. All of the campers stood and cheered as several of them ran into the pavilion carrying two long silk banners; one was red and had a boar's head painted on it, and the other was silver with an owl. The teams were announced and everyone moved to rally around the team leaders.

Chiron told Danny that he could participate in the activity if he so wished; Danny decided that he would join in. Chiron brought the campers’ attention back to the front table, where he announced the rules of capture the flag. Danny felt concern grow in his gut as Chiron went over the rules.

“Remember, no killing or maiming is allowed. Now,” Chiron spread out his arms and the tables were suddenly covered with weapons and armor. “Prepare yourselves!”

“Uhh, should I be worried about that?” Danny asked Chiron as everyone suited up.

“About the ‘no killing or maiming’ rule? Not really.” Chiron answered. “Nobody has died from capture the flag for several years now.”

“Oh, fun. Neato.” Danny watched as the campers grabbed their gear and split off into two teams, one wearing red-plumed helmets and the other blue. “So, which team do I go with?”

“You’ll be with the Hermes cabin.” Chiron pointed to the red team. “Aurora,” He called out. “Could you come here, please?”

Aurora walked over to the head table. “Yes, Chiron?”

Chiron clapped a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Danny will be joining your cabin for the game.”

“Cool. Come on, Danny.” Aurora grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him towards the red team’s tables. There, she handed him a leather breastplate and a red-plumed helmet. “These should fit you.” She then gestured to the weapons left on the table. “Take your pick.”

Danny looked at the weapons laid out before him; there were swords, shields, bows and arrows, spears, and daggers. After some consideration, he decided on a dagger. He hadn’t fought with any of these weapons before (well, he had used a sword a few times, but he certainly hadn’t been trained), but he planned to mostly use his ghost powers during the fight and figured that a dagger would do good in a pinch.

A tall buff girl with a spear stepped onto a table near the front of the pavilion. “Red team!” She shouted. “Forward!”

The red team cheered as they ran for the northern half of the woods. Danny followed close behind.

.

They stopped once they reached a clearing with a large pile of boulders. The buff girl scaled the rocks, planted their flag at the top, and began to point at people and give orders. “Ares cabin, two of you guard the flag, the rest get the blue team’s flag! Hephaestus kids, set the traps! They’ve got Apollo, so plan accordingly! Aphrodite cabin, dunno and don’t care, just stay out of the way! Hermes cabin, offensive. Don’t try and get the flag, y’all will just screw it up. Just keep the blue team busy and away from our flag. Distract them,” The girl smiled wickedly. “And maim them if need be.”

“Wait, so what do we do?” Danny asked Aurora as the campers around them ran to their positions.

“Distract the blue team, keep them away from the flag!” Aurora replied as she nocked an arrow in her bow.

“That’s it? I thought we were supposed to, ya know, capture the flag.” Danny shrugged.

“I mean, yeah, but Clarisse doesn’t like it when people divert from her plans.” Aurora grimaced. “The last kid who did and made her lose got a broken nose from the swirly she gave him.”

“Yeesh, she sounds like someone I know.” Danny muttered, thinking of Dash.

Aurora opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by what sounded like a horn going off and people yelling and charging towards their location. She ran behind the cover of a tree to her right and readied her bow. She looked back at Danny. “Stay behind me, Danny!”

Danny didn’t listen. He sprinted past Aurora and into the woods, towards the sound of fighting. As he neared the creek, he saw campers engaged in combat with one another. A blue team camper whacked one of Danny’s teammates in the helmet with their bow, knocking them into the cold water. The archer made eye contact with Danny and quickly notched an arrow, aiming for his chest.

Danny dove to the side to avoid the arrow that came whizzing towards him, landing in a bush. Danny took the opportunity to go invisible, just as the camper who shot at him walked around the bush. Danny then went intangible and rolled through the branches to the other side.

It was pandemonium at the creek. Red team members were scattered along the creek, barely holding the blue team back. As Danny watched, some blue team members launched arrows that, upon hitting their target, spewed a foul smelling gas that rivaled Tucker’s failed body spray. Taking advantage of his invisibility, Danny ran among the blue team, tripping and pushing them to give his teammates a chance to push the blue team back across the creek.

Seeing that the red team had things under control for the time being, Danny decided to continue pushing through the blue team’s territory to see if he could find the flag.

.

As he moved through the forest, Danny ran into several groups of blue team members. Some were making poison ivy grow in a pit, and others were waiting in the shadows with large nets. Danny took care of the nets by intangibly undoing the knots on the edges so that they would fall apart once they were thrown.

Nearby, Danny could hear fighting. Following the sounds, Danny entered a clearing where he found the blue team’s flag, with members from the two teams fighting for it. The gray flag was planted in the knothole of a large dead tree, where it could be clearly seen as it fluttered in the wind. It was about twelve feet off the ground. The two blue team members who had been guarding the flag were locked in combat with Clarisse and two other red team members.

Which means that the flag is open for the taking. Danny realized.

Danny thought about flying up to grab the flag, but he couldn’t fly for very long in human form, and with the sun setting, the light from his full transformation would definitely catch the other campers’ attention. He looked at the tree trunk, sizing it up. I could probably climb that. Danny thought confidently.

He slunk past the fighting and scurried up the tree trunk, pulling himself up on a low-hanging branch. Glancing back at the campers one last time to make sure no one was watching, Danny grabbed the flag and turned it invisible. He tried to slide gracefully back down the tree trunk, but lost his balance and fell to the ground below with a loud THUMP, regaining visibility in the process.

One of the blue team guards turned around and made eye contact with Danny where he lay sprawled out in the dirt. Their eyes widened in shock.

Before the guard could react, Danny scrambled up and booked it through the group of fighters, running for the creek. He could hear the campers behind him recover from their shock and run after him, some yelling “New kid’s got the flag!” and others calling for the red team to fend off the blue team.

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw nets flying towards him. He grinned as the ropes unraveled, causing the nets to fall apart in mid-air. Danny heard arrows whistling towards him, and dodged behind some trees. He could see the creek now, as well as a lot of the campers; the red team was holding the blue team back and cheering Danny on as he ran. Almost there! He thought excitedly.

However, ten feet from the water, one of the blue team members broke free and sprinted towards him. They swung their sword and Danny, not having enough time to dodge, instinctively went intangible. The blade tingled painfully as it passed through him, but Danny didn’t have any time to think about it as he splashed across the creek to the other side. The gray flag turned red and the horn sounded again, signaling the end of the game.

The red team broke into loud cheers and crowded around Danny, patting him on the back and congratulating him. However, their celebration was cut short by Annabeth yelling Danny’s name, and she sounded very, very angry. Danny turned to see Annabeth stomping towards him (again), her face as red as the plume on Danny’s helmet. A baseball cap was held tightly in her hand.

“How did you do that?!” She demanded.

Danny felt his heart falter. Did she see me go intangible?

“How did you get to the flag without anybody noticing you?” She clarified. Danny breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t seemed to notice, but Annabeth continued. “And how did you-”

Annabeth was cut off by a shove from Clarisse, who somehow looked happy and angry at the same time. “Who cares, dweeb? My team won!” Her gaze looked almost fiery as it fell on Danny and she snatched the flag from him. “If we had lost, punk, you’d be dead.”

Danny didn’t comment on the irony of her statement.

Annabeth looked ready to fight Clarisse, but Chiron walked up to the three of them, his hands held up in a calming gesture. “Well done, everyone.” He proclaimed. “That was the fastest game of capture the flag I’ve seen since the game against the Hunters this past winter. As such, there are surprisingly few injuries, so let’s all head to the amphitheater for bonfire and s’mores.”

.

As Chiron led the way to the amphitheater, Danny found himself flanked by Aurora and the person who had shot at him earlier during the game; she introduced herself as Sunny.

“Hey, Danny.” Aurora greeted. “Great job on getting the flag. How’d you get it so quick?”

“I have my ways.” Danny answered evasively.

“And how did you get away from me so easily?” Sunny asked. “I checked the bush where you fell and you weren’t there. I was hoping to hit you with my bow.” She sounded almost sad.

Aurora rolled her eyes. “Sunny, we’ve talked about this. You’re not supposed to whack people with bows.”

Sunny pointed her bow at Aurora. “It’s literally designed for that, Aura.”

“Yeah, ‘cuz Chiron got sick of you breaking all the other ones!”

Danny left the quarreling duo and joined Annabeth, who had been walking behind him a ways. She glared at him, and Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. What can I say without making her more mad at me? Danny picked at the edge of the elastic bandage that covered his mark.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him, her glare fading. “What happened to your arm?”

“Hmm?” Danny looked down at his arm. “Oh, I… injured it before coming here.”

“Is it bad? Do you need to go to the infirmary?” Annabeth questioned.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Danny said quickly. “It’s just a scratch.”

Annabeth didn’t look like she believed him, but she let it go. “Sorry about shouting at you earlier.” Annabeth fidgeted with the baseball cap in her hands. “I… just got kinda carried away.” She held out her hand to Danny. “Good game.”

Danny shook her hand. “Yeah, good game.”

.

After the bonfire, everyone shuffled off to their cabins. Danny said goodbye to Annabeth, Aurora, and Sunny before following Chiron back to the Big House.

“Congratulations on your win at capture the flag today.” Chiron complimented, his gaze thoughtful. “That was very impressive for your first day at camp. How did you get past all of the blue team’s defenses?”

“Oh, just… y’know… the same way I snuck out of the Big House earlier.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

Chiron raised his eyebrows questioningly, but nodded anyway. “Someday you may need to teach the other campers how to break through enemy defenses like you did during the game.”

Danny chuckled wryly. “Maybe not exactly how I did.”

Chiron smiled. “Maybe not.”

.

Annabeth POV:

As the moon moved across the night sky, Annabeth lay wide awake in her bed. It had been a rather eventful day at Camp Half-Blood. A new camper had arrived, and brought with him a rather hectic afternoon at camp, along with many questions.

Annabeth thought back to what she had heard earlier that afternoon:

.

Annabeth reached out and pushed open the front door to the Big House. She could hear angry voices coming from the living room. As she listened in, she recognized one of the voices as Mr. D, and he sounded angry.

“I’m surprised that :cursed child: was even able to cross the barrier into camp.” She heard him snipe.

The temperature in the house suddenly dropped and a dark and dreadful feeling flooded the air. A deep voice that Annabeth didn’t recognize growled out: :Silence, you drunkard! :

“Chiron?” She called out. The voices grew silent. Oh crap, I should not be here. She realized. “I’m taking Danny on a tourokaybye!”

.

Annabeth frowned as she thought about Mr. D’s comment. What did he mean by ‘cursed child’? Was he talking about Danny? Is that why he wants to keep Danny in the Big House?

She had noticed that there was something about Danny that was rather… off. Annabeth wasn’t sure how to describe it, but there was an air around Danny that just slightly unnerved her and put her on edge. Annabeth briefly wondered if she was just imagining things, but then she remembered how the horses and pegasi had freaked out when Danny entered the stables earlier.

Annabeth shuddered as she recalled what she’d seen when she’d found him in the woods earlier that day; in the shadows of the trees, Danny’s eyes had reflected like a cat’s. Human eyes did not reflect like that.

And speaking of the woods, Annabeth had no idea what had happened during capture the flag that evening. After Danny had gotten ahold of her team’s flag, Annabeth had waited invisibly by the creek to grab him before he crossed over. When her teammate had lunged for him with their sword, she’d thought that was that. But… the sword had passed through him. Annabeth had been so stunned by what she’d seen that she didn’t react until it was too late, and Danny had won the game.

.

There was definitely something unusual about Danny. His arrival at camp had been different from most campers; someone had come to the camp with him, and someone powerful at that. When Annabeth had opened the front door to the Big House, she had felt a cold and ominous air coming from inside. And when she and Danny had returned to the farmhouse after their tour, all the foliage around the house had been dead, as if the life had been drained from it.

What caused that? She wondered. And who was the person Danny needed to talk to after the tour? Annabeth could tell that the presence she had felt was a godly aura. However, the only time she had felt an aura like that had been… when she, Percy, and Grover had met Hades in the Underworld a few summers earlier. No way… Annabeth felt a pang of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Is Danny a child of Hades?

Chapter Text

After the bonfire that night, Danny returned to his room on the fourth floor (he didn’t see Mr. D again that night, for which he was grateful.) His adrenaline from the game that evening faded, and he quickly fell asleep.

That night, Danny had a rather awful night’s sleep; he was plagued by one nightmare after another. In one, he was trapped in the stables with the horses; they were going crazy, foaming at the mouth, trying to trample him flat. In another, Danny was being torn apart by leopards as Mr. D watched, his eyes glowing with purple flames.

.

Danny was awoken the next morning by a knock at his bedroom door. He groaned as he rolled out of bed and rubbed at his eyes. Danny ruffled his hair in an attempt to make it look presentable before opening the door.

Annabeth stood on the other side, looking a little too cheery for so early in the morning (well, early for Danny, anyway.)

She smiled. “Morning, Danny, how’d you sleep?”

“Ehh, not great…” Danny yawned. “Lots of nightmares.”

Annabeth frowned sympathetically. “I understand. Just one of the joys of being a half-blood, right?”

“Uhh, yeah…” Danny said awkwardly. “Totally.”

Annabeth nodded. “Well, it’s time for breakfast. Chiron sent me to come get you, cause, you know, he can’t really climb the stairs… And he said he needs to meet with both of us after the meal.”

“Oh, uhh,” Danny looked down at his pajamas. “Yeah, I’ll see you at the pavilion.”

Annabeth nodded again, and headed back downstairs.

Danny hurried to get dressed. Once he was done, he made sure his bandage was wrapped securely around his arm, and left his room.

.

When Danny entered the parlor, he saw Mr. D sitting at the round table in the corner, shuffling cards. Mr. D didn’t look up when Danny entered the room, and Danny hoped that he would be able to slip by without the god noticing him.

He had no such luck.

“Good morning.” Mr. D drawled, just as Danny tried to sneak past him. His eyes didn’t leave the deck in his hands.

Danny flinched. “Uhh, h-hi.” He turned to face Mr. D nervously.

“Heard you won the game last night.” Mr. D glanced at Danny slyly. “Not bad, for a cheater.”

Danny’s face burned. “I didn’t cheat!” He said defensively.

“Oh, really?” Mr. D dealt the cards out onto the table in hands. “How many other campers do you know of that can turn invisible without the aid of a magical item?”

Danny blanched. “How did you…?”

Mr. D’s full attention was on Danny now, and his gaze burned with an inkling of the purple flames Danny had seen in his nightmare. “Do you know what nymphs are, Mr. Fenton?” Danny began to ask how that was relevant, but Mr. D continued. “Nymphs are nature spirits. As such, they live in nature—clouds, rivers, lakes, trees.”

Danny was certain Mr. D could see his veins with how pale he turned.

Mr. D smirked at him. “Would you like to explain how you were able to turn invisible?”

Danny opened his mouth, ready to retort; however, before he could do or say anything stupid, Chiron entered the room.

“Good morning, Danny.” The centaur greeted with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Uhh,” Danny glanced back at Mr. D, who had returned his attention to his cards. “Yeah, sure. Am I late for breakfast?”

“No, I actually forgot something in my office. You should go on ahead.” Chiron left the room, heading for the back of the house.

Danny left the Big House before Mr. D had a chance to continue his interrogation.

.

Danny walked past the volleyball courts and towards the cabins. Danny could see lines of campers walking up the hill towards the pavilion, and he hurried to catch up. However, he slowed as he neared the hearth in the center of the cabin area.

The girl that Danny had seen by the hearth yesterday was tending to the coals again. Why isn’t she going to the pavilion with one of the cabins?

Danny walked up to her. “Umm, hey, are you doing okay?” He asked. “Everyone’s heading to breakfast, and I noticed that you weren’t, so…”

Danny trailed off as the girl turned to face him. She wore a simple brown dress, had soft brown hair, and looked to be about nine years old. That was normal. What surprised him was that her eyes glowed an orangey-red, like the flames in the hearth.

She smiled kindly at Danny. “Ahh, hello, young apprentice.”

Danny stumbled back quickly. He glanced around them to see if anyone had heard her, but all of the campers had gone to the pavilion by then, so they were alone. He turned back to the girl. “H-how…?”

The girl giggled at his reaction. “I haven’t met an apprentice of a god in a long time, but I know one when I see one.”

“So, you’re… not a camper?” Danny asked slowly.

“No, I am not.” She answered, her eyes glowing a little brighter. “I am Hestia, goddess of the hearth.”

Danny gaped at her; just that January, he hadn’t known that the Greek gods even existed. Now, he’d met three within the past two days (He didn’t know who Mr. D was, but he was pretty sure he was a god.)

Danny’s surprise faded and he raised an eyebrow inquisitively. “You, uhh, look pretty young for an ancient immortal being and all.”

Hestia giggled again. “Most gods can choose what age they appear to be. This form is the one I am most comfortable with.” She turned her attention to Danny’s bandaged arm. “May I see your mark?”

Danny hesitated; he knew he probably shouldn’t be showing his mark to just anybody, but Hestia had a nice, calming aura around her. He felt like he could just sit down beside her and forget his worries for a while.

Hesitantly, Danny unraveled the bandage and held out his arm. Hestia’s eyes widened slightly as she read the name.

“My, my…” Hestia looked up at Danny; her gaze was still inviting, but… worried? “It has been a long time, indeed.”

Danny pulled his arm back and rewrapped it. He began to ask her what she meant, but just then Chiron called for him. Danny turned to see Chiron standing at the base of the hill leading up to the pavilion.

“Will you be joining us, Danny?” Chiron called out.

“Uhh, yeah, I was just talking to-” Danny turned back to Hestia, but she had disappeared. He frowned; where’d she go?

However, the thought of food overpowered his curiosity, and he ran to catch up with Chiron at the pavilion.

.

Mr. D was already seated at the head table; Danny made sure to sit as far away as he could from the god. Once the food was passed out and everyone had scraped a portion into the brazier, Danny remembered his meeting with the young-looking goddess by the fire.

He turned to Chiron. “Hey, I met someone strange by the campfire.”

“Oh? Who was it?” Chiron inquired.

“She said her name was Hestia.” Danny replied.

Chiron pressed his lips together, a faintly worried expression on his face. “Ah, I see. What did you two talk about?”

“She knew that I’m an…” Danny lowered his voice. “apprentice, and she asked to see my mark.” Chiron paled slightly, but Danny didn’t notice as he continued. “She seemed kinda weirded out after that, and when you came up she left.” At that point, Danny noticed Chiron’s distress. “Is everything okay?”

Chiron sighed. “Hopefully. I will look into it later.”

Danny worried that he had messed up by showing Hestia his mark; should he not have? Was something bad going to happen to him? As his stress began to grow, he tried to reassure himself that it would be fine. What’s done is done, I can’t do anything about it now. He took a bite of his breakfast.

The twins that sat at the head table with Mr. D struck up a conversation with Danny, introducing themselves as Castor and Pollux. Over the course of breakfast, Danny and the twins talked. Danny learned that they were the children of the camp director, Dionysus.

Danny nearly choked on his drink. The wine guy is the director of camp?! Danny would have said this aloud, but thought better of it as the subject of his thought was literally at the other side of the table, and Danny was already on his bad side. He instead chose to talk with the twins and finish his breakfast, only sparing a glance at the wine god that was glaring at him.

.

After the nymphs had cleared away the breakfast dishes, campers began to wander off in groups, heading to their morning activities. Annabeth met Danny and Chiron at the head table, and the three of them left for the combat arena.

When they arrived, Danny saw that the inside of the combat arena was enormous. The ground was a mix of coarse red dirt and rough stone. Weapon racks lined the walls, along with practice dummies and armor stands. There was no one else in the arena.

Chiron stood in front of the two campers. “Alright, Danny. Today, we’re going to test how well you can hold your own in combat. Annabeth will be sparring you, as you’ll probably find it more comfortable to fight someone closer to your size.”

Danny scoffed internally at that. Please, I fight ghosts way bigger than me, like, all the time.

Chiron gestured to the weapon racks. “Grab some armor and find a weapon you are comfortable with.”

Danny frowned. “Uhh, is it alright if I just go hand-to-hand? That’s what I’m used to.”

Chiron looked rather confused. “Well, that’s not… particularly useful against most monsters, but everyone has to start somewhere, I suppose. If Annabeth is alright with that…” He turned to her, brow raised in question.

Annabeth shrugged.

“Very well, then.” Chiron acquiesced. “I suppose you don’t need armor after all.”

Annabeth took off her dagger and sheath, set them off to the side, and walked to the middle of the arena. Danny faced her and put up his fists, falling into a fighting stance; she did the same. Chiron stood a few yards away.

“Remember,” He said. “No killing or maiming. Fight fair, and if I say stop, you stop. Understood?”

Danny and Annabeth nodded.

Chiron nodded in return. “Very well. Begin!”

Danny immediately stepped forward and aimed a kick at Annabeth’s stomach. She grabbed his ankle and twisted it in an attempt to throw him off balance. Danny kicked free and used his momentum to power his next strike with his fist. Annabeth crouched to avoid it. She attempted to sweep Danny’s legs out from underneath him, but Danny somersaulted over her head and landed behind her.

Danny turned just in time to block Annabeth’s foot as she tried to kick him from her crouched position. He sprung backwards to avoid her attack. Annabeth got to her feet and they started circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Seeing an opening, Danny leapt forward to punch Annabeth, but she caught his arm. She stepped forward and attempted to judo flip him over her shoulder, but Danny intangibly stuck his foot in the ground to keep himself in place. The force Annabeth put into trying to flip Danny knocked her off balance, allowing Danny a chance to free his arm.

While Annabeth was unbalanced, Danny struck her in the side. Though winded, Annabeth managed to recover enough to throw her full weight into Danny and tackle him to the ground. They wrestled on the ground, both trying to gain the upper hand, until Chiron called an end to the fight.

Danny and Annabeth took a moment to catch their breaths. Annabeth stood and held out a hand to help Danny up, which he gladly accepted.

“Very well done, both of you.” Chiron congratulated as he trotted forward. “Danny, have you by any chance been trained in martial arts?”

“A bit. My mom taught me some moves for self-defense.” Danny noticed that Annabeth hadn’t let go of his hand yet. “Uh… can I have my hand back?” He said jokingly as he turned to face her.

Annabeth stood frozen, staring at his arm—his right arm.

Crap.

Danny hadn’t noticed, but while they had been sparring, his bandage had come loose and fallen off.

“What in the name of the gods is this?!” Annabeth shouted, twisting Danny’s arm to show him the mark. “Why does it say ‘Death’?!”

Danny didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t tell her that he was Thanatos’ apprentice, but what could he say that she would believe? Luckily, he was spared from answering by Chiron, who separated the two of them.

“Annabeth, I am certain Danny has his reasons for hiding that from others.” Chiron said in a calming voice.

It had no effect on Annabeth.

“Well, I’d like to hear them.” Annabeth folded her arms and glared daggers at Danny. “Why even have it? Why would anyone have the name of the god of death tattooed on their arm? Why keep it hidden? What are-”

“Look, I don’t have to explain myself to anyone, least of all you.” Danny snapped, interrupting her tirade. Before she could say anything else, he turned and stormed out of the arena.

Danny heard Chiron and Annabeth calling after him, but ignored them in favor of running into the forest. He needed to be alone for a while. His only coherent thought upon reaching the tree line was to go somewhere safe, like Persephone’s garden, or…

As soon as that thought crossed Danny’s mind, he found himself slipping into darkness.

.

Danny felt wind whipping by him, like it was trying to pull him apart. He realized that he was in the same darkness that he went through whenever he shadow-traveled with Thanatos. As Danny’s thoughts began to wander, he felt the wind increase, prickling like thousands of needles against his skin. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew that if he stayed there any longer, he would become part of the shadows themselves and never return. Danny put all of his power and focus into thinking of Persephone’s garden, and took a step forward.

.

Danny stumbled out of the shadow of a pomegranate tree in Persephone’s garden. He fell to his knees, exhausted. Who knew shadow-travel on your own could be so draining?

Through the ringing in his ears, Danny heard someone calling out to him. Looking up, Danny saw Nico standing over him, pointing a black sword at his chest.

“Who are you? How did you get here?” Nico demanded.

Why… why is Nico being so aggressive? Danny wondered as he faded from consciousness.

Chapter Text

Danny woke up on a stone bench, facing the cavern ceiling of the Underworld. He turned his head and saw Nico standing near the fountain, talking to Hades. They were locked in a hushed conversation, and Danny could see that Hades looked rather annoyed, while Nico looked rather upset himself.

Danny felt like his limbs were made of lead, and his head began spinning like a top as soon as he tried to sit up. He groaned miserably, which caught the attention of the two by the fountain.

“You should not be trying to sit up, Daniel.” Hades cautioned as he strode over to him. Nico followed close behind, a bewildered look on his face as he watched the interaction between his father and Danny. “How did you end up in my realm without your mentor?”

Danny’s mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls. “I… uhh…” He put his hands to his temples and laid back down. “I dunno…”

“I think you may have shadow-traveled.” Nico supplied.

Hades sighed. “I will go contact Thanatos, tell him that you are here. Nico,” Hades frowned at his son. “Don’t be rude.”

Hades pulled a pure black iPad from thin air as he walked away. Danny heard the Skype ringtone just as Hades walked into the entrance hall. On a normal day, Danny might’ve been amused by that. At the moment, however, he was just trying not to throw up.

Once his nausea settled, Danny looked over at Nico. The demigod was standing nearby with a hand on his sword hilt and an unnerved look in his eyes as he watched Danny.

“What are you?” Nico asked, sounding rather disturbed.

Danny rolled his eyes. “I thought your dad told you not to be rude.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “Answer my question.”

Danny scowled at that. “You know what?” He sat up, feeling slightly less awful than when he first woke up. “No. I’m not gonna answer your question. I’m not gonna answer anyone’s questions! I’m getting really tired of people asking me about things I don’t wanna talk about!” His voice echoed loudly through the silent courtyard.

Nico looked surprised at Danny’s outburst, and then he glanced away, his expression slightly apologetic. “I…” He looked down at the ground. “Sorry, I’m just… confused.”

Danny chuckled tiredly at that. “Me too, buddy, but what are you confused about?”

Nico stared at Danny like he was a car accident on the side of the freeway; stomach churning, but it was impossible to look away. “How… how are you dead and alive? Why do I see Phantom when I look at you?”

Danny glanced up at him, perplexed. “What do you mean, you ‘see’ Phantom?”

Nico grew frustrated. “I mean, I see you,” He gestured to Danny. “black-haired, blue-eyed you, sitting right there. But I also see Phantom sitting there, like a… weird overlay or something.”

Danny guessed it made sense that Nico, as a son of Hades, would be able to see ghosts and stuff. He wondered if it would be a good idea to tell Nico about his secret, but… he didn’t really have a choice, since he couldn’t think of any lie that Nico would believe.

Besides, although Danny had only met Nico a couple of times, he felt like he could trust him. There was an air about Nico that made him seem much older and wiser than he appeared. Danny felt the same pull around Nico that he did whenever he was around Hades, but to a lesser extent; it was less mind numbing, and more… comforting, maybe?

Danny scooted over on the bench and motioned for Nico to join him. Nico raised an eyebrow in question, but sat next to him anyway.

“I dunno where to start, honestly, it’s…” Danny gave Nico a tired smile. “It’s a pretty weird story. My parents are obsessed with anything and everything to do with ghosts; they like to think of themselves as ‘professional ghost extraordinaires’. They’ve studied the paranormal for years, and built all sorts of equipment for hunting and studying ghosts. They’ve even got this whole science-y lab in our basement. One day, I decided to mess around down there and… had an accident.”

“But… you’re dead.” Nico said, putting emphasis on the last word.

“Yeah,” Danny sighed. “I know.”

“What happened that caused you to become… this?” Nico gestured vaguely at Danny.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I survived, let alone became this.” Danny shrugged. “But, I’m glad I became Phantom. I’m happy that I’m able to protect those I care for.”

Nico looked thoughtful, but before he could say anything else, Hades reentered the garden. Nico stood to greet his father, but Hades ignored him.

The god looked tired, and he put his hand to his temple as if trying to ward off a migraine. “Thanatos isn’t answering my calls, so he must be occupied at the moment. Daniel, could you use your mark to summon him?”

“Oh…” Danny thought back to what Thanatos had taught him about his mark the previous day before the god had left. “Uhh, I mean, I kinda remember the, uhh, tracing thing,” Danny waved his arm vaguely. “But I… don’t remember the words.”

Hades sighed tiredly. “You trace your mark while you say, ‘éla se ména,’ and then his name.”

“Oh, uhh, okay.” Danny nodded. He held out his arm, mark up, and traced over the black letters with his finger. As he traced them, he said clearly, “Éla se ména, Thanatos. (‘Come to me, Thanatos.’)"

Danny’s mark glowed a bright white, and he could feel what little energy he had left being sapped from his body. After a few seconds, his mark faded back to black, and Thanatos appeared in front of him in a cloud of dark mist.

The god wore a knee-length black chiton with an embroidered gold hem and coppery-red laced sandals, with a long red and gold cloak that sat between his wings. Thanatos immediately knelt in front of Danny and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Daniel, are you alright?”

Danny tried to nod, but he slumped forward instead as his exhaustion overwhelmed him.

Thanatos caught Danny before he could fall and held him up, his golden eyes regarding Danny with concern. “Hades, what happened?” Thanatos asked the other god, but Danny didn’t catch Hades’ response as he lost consciousness. Again.

.

Thanatos POV:

Thanatos caught Daniel as he slumped forward. He looked into the child’s eyes to try and catch his attention, but Daniel’s eyes slid shut and his head fell forward limply. “Hades, what happened?” Thanatos asked.

“I don’t know, honestly. Daniel shadow-traveled here, though I’m not sure why.” Hades answered, shrugging carelessly.

“He shadow-traveled?” Thanatos repeated in disbelief. “By himself?”

Hades folded his arms. “I suppose so. Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

“Because,” Thanatos placed Daniel’s arms around his neck and lifted him up from the bench, cradling the back of Daniel’s head as he stood and turned to face Hades. “The King of the Gods decided that he urgently needed to speak to me about my new apprentice.” Thanatos’ gaze hardened slightly. “Did you tell him about Daniel?”

“Excuse me?” Hades glared back at him. “I haven’t spoken to that big oaf since the winter solstice! Why in Tartarus would I tell him about anything, let alone about your apprentice?”

“How else could he have learned about him?” However, as soon as Thanatos said that, he remembered that Daniel had met Dionysus at Camp Half-Blood. He had also met Ares, and although Thanatos and the war god were good friends, Ares may have mentioned Daniel to his father. Persephone may have even mentioned him to her mother, Demeter, who would’ve spread the news to everyone on Olympus within the hour. “Do you think Persephone might have told her mother?”

The air around Hades turned frigid. “Perhaps, but have you thought that maybe Daniel said something himself?”

“… That could have happened.” Thanatos conceded. He would have said more, but Daniel shifted in his sleep, reminding Thanatos that he was still holding him. “I should probably get him back to camp.”

Hades agreed and turned to leave, but paused as he looked around, confused, and asked where his son had gone. At some point in their conversation, Nico had wandered off without either god noticing. Hades groaned tiredly and bid Thanatos farewell before heading back into his palace.

Thanatos considered shadow-traveling back to Camp Half-Blood, but decided against it. Daniel did not look to be in good health from his solo trip earlier, and Thanatos did not want to risk his apprentice fully melting into the shadows. So, he decided to use the Doors and hoped he could get them to open close to the camp.

After making sure he had a good hold on Daniel, Thanatos’ outfit shifted back to his usual chiton and sandals as he spread his wings and took off for the Underworld side of the Doors.

.

As Thanatos flew to the Doors, Daniel started to mumble in his sleep. At first it was just random, nonsensical words and phrases: “fudge,” “beware,” “goin’ ghost,” (Thanatos smiled at that one.) But then, Daniel started fidgeting and mumbling: “no, please,” “stay away from them,” :why are you doing this?:

Thanatos looked down at his young apprentice in concern. Did he just speak in Greek? He wondered as he landed in front of the Doors. “Daniel, everything is alright.” Thanatos said comfortingly. “You are safe.”

:Safe?: Daniel repeated as Thanatos stepped into the elevator. “Safe… good.”

Thanatos listened closely to hear if Daniel spoke any more Greek, but his apprentice had quieted, his mutterings fading away to silence.

.

As the elevator reached the end of its journey, Daniel began to shift and stir; he appeared to be in better health than when Thanatos had first seen him that day. Thanatos stepped out of the elevator and into the bright sunlight and carefully placed his apprentice on his own two feet, holding him upright as he regained full consciousness. “Are you awake now, Daniel?”

Daniel rubbed his eyes as Thanatos let go of his shoulders. “Mmm, yeah.” He looked around at the trees surrounding them. “Are we… still in the Underworld?”

“No. We are somewhere in Pennsylvania.” Thanatos answered somewhat bitterly; in his current state—due to his earlier meeting with Zeus himself—he hadn’t been able to get them as close to Camp Half-Blood as he had hoped. He returned his attention to his apprentice. “Why were you in the Underworld in the first place?"

“Uhh, I think… I shadow-traveled there?” Daniel answered, clearly trying to avoid the real issue.

“… Yes, I realize that, but why did you shadow-travel there?” Thanatos clarified.

“I didn’t mean to!” Daniel hugged himself as he looked away. “I wasn’t thinking, I just… needed to get away from camp for a bit.”

Thanatos grew concerned. “Why did you need to get away from camp? Did something happen?” He noticed Daniel’s bare arm and frowned. “What happened to your bandage?”

Daniel did not answer immediately. When he did, he was quiet. “I messed up. Someone saw my mark. Actually… two someones.”

Thanatos took a deep breath and slowly released it; he should’ve known that would happen sooner or later. “Okay, who saw?” He asked calmly.

“Well, uhh, I met a girl-or, a goddess-today. She said her name was Hestia.” Thanatos stilled, but Daniel didn’t appear to notice as he continued. “She somehow knew that I was an apprentice, and she asked to see it.”

“And you showed her?” Thanatos’ voice held a hint of frustration.

Daniel flushed with embarrassment. “I mean, she seemed really nice, and I felt like I could trust her…”

“Well, yes.” Thanatos agreed. “Hestia is quite a kind goddess. However, do you know who her youngest brother is?”

Daniel thought for a moment, and Thanatos watched as he connected the dots. Daniel paled before he answered quietly. “… Z-the sky dude?”

“Yes, the ‘sky dude’. I had to talk to the ‘sky dude’ because of you,” The frustration in Thanatos’ voice was clear by that point. “And get him to agree not to do anything to you until the winter solstice.”

Daniel shuffled his feet, his eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, Thanatos.”

Thanatos pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “It will be okay, Daniel. You did not know any better.”

Daniel didn’t respond, his gaze still fixed on the ground.

Thanatos spoke more gently. “I am sorry for raising my voice at you. I know that I didn’t really explain why you should hide your mark; that’s on me. But people knowing that you are my apprentice could be very dangerous for you.”

Daniel looked up at him questioningly.

Thanatos explained. “Mortals are often foolish, Daniel. They yearn for power over anything they think they can control. Some are even foolish enough to strive for power and control over the primordial forces of the universe, such as the movement of time, or who lives and who dies, and they will do whatever they can to get that control.” He caught Daniel’s gaze, hoping that his apprentice understood the seriousness of his words. “Do you understand?”

Daniel looked a bit shaken by Thanatos’ warning, and he returned his gaze to his feet. “… Annabeth was the other person who saw.” He mumbled. “We were sparring and my bandage came off.”

Thanatos was a little less upset with that bit of news. “At least that time was accidental. I am sure you can work that out with her when you see her again. Now, how did you shadow-travel by yourself? I never showed you how, and doing so on your own, without any instruction, was very dangerous.”

Daniel ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know how… I wasn’t thinking. I just… reacted.” He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. “I’m so tired…”

“Yes, that is what happens when you shadow-travel by yourself for the first time.” Thanatos deadpanned. Though he was still annoyed, his tone softened a bit. “Are you alright to travel?”

As an answer, Daniel’s transformation rings appeared around his waist and moved away from each other, changing him into his alter ego: Phantom. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Chapter Text

The flight back to Camp Half-Blood was a quiet one; Danny was not in the mood to talk, and Thanatos didn’t seem like he really wanted to either. A couple of hours into their trip, Danny began to slow down. He was still tired from shadow-traveling, and flying at around 70 mph for two hours straight was not helping his energy levels.

Thanatos slowed down so that he was flying next to Danny; the halfa hadn’t even noticed that the god had passed him.

“There’s still about an hour left until we reach Camp Half-Blood,” Thanatos informed him. “Do you need to rest?”

“No, I’m fine.” Danny replied, stifling a yawn.

Danny could tell that Thanatos didn’t believe him. “Then why did you yawn just now?”

“‘Cuz I do that sometimes.” Danny grumbled. “Doesn’t mean I’m tired.”

“Uh-huh. And you are slowing down because…?” Thanatos trailed off, an eyebrow raised in question.

Danny hadn’t even realized he had slowed down to the point that the cars below them were moving faster. “Maybe… I am a little tired.” He admitted, coming to a stop in the air.

“More than a little I think, Daniel.” Thanatos said, glancing over at him. “You’ve expended a lot of energy today.”

Danny nodded, thinking of all that had happened in the past few hours: Mr. D had confronted him before breakfast, then Danny had shown Hestia his mark, and then Annabeth had seen it during their duel. And then he had ended up in the Underworld, all on his own. How has it only been about six hours since I woke up this morning? Danny wondered tiredly. He felt his energy levels waver, and he fell a few feet in the air before he caught himself.

Thanatos looked at him worriedly. “You need to rest before we continue to camp.” He grabbed Danny’s arm and led him towards the ground below.

“No, I don’t need rest.” Danny tried pulling his arm free, but Thanatos’ grip was firm.

“Yes, you do, Daniel.” Thanatos stated as they landed near a gas station; the parking lot was empty, but the lights were on inside the building. “I can’t have you falling out of the sky due to exhaustion.”

Danny grumbled in protest but transformed back to his human form. Thanatos’ chiton shifted into the same suit he wore yesterday, and his wings morphed into his jacket, but his hair remained loose around his shoulders.

Danny raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that suit a bit much for going into a gas station?”

Thanatos shrugged. “I like to dress nice.”

Danny rolled his eyes tiredly at his mentor’s response, and together the two of them walked across the parking lot and into the gas station. The only person in the store was a cashier. He looked to be in his early 20s, and was leaning against the front counter as he played on his phone. He didn’t even look up as the god of death casually strolled over to the hot-and-ready food displays at the back of the building.

Danny dragged his feet as he followed after Thanatos; he really wanted the day to be done and over with.

Thanatos gestured to the food under the heat lamps. “Take your pick,” he said. “I suggest something high in calories.”

Danny's eyes scanned over the food; hot dogs, churros, pizza slices. “I’m pretty sure everything in this store is high in calories.” He commented sarcastically.

“Then your choice should not be difficult.” Thanatos agreed.

Danny grumpily decided on a slice of pepperoni pizza, and groaned in annoyance as Thanatos nodded him towards the drinks section. As Danny walked towards the drink dispensers, his ghost sense went off. He paused, and turned back to Thanatos, who was looking up at the ceiling as if he were watching something.

His eyes met Danny’s. “It seems that you have a visitor, Daniel.”

Danny nodded in agreement, placing his food on a nearby counter.

“Would you like any assistance?” Thanatos offered.

“Nah, I’ve got this.” Danny assured him, before ducking into the public restroom to transform back into Phantom. He dragged a hand down his face as he growled in annoyance; now he had to deal with ghosts on top of everything else that day. Danny flew up through the ceiling to find whoever set off his ghost sense.

.

Danny landed on the roof of the gas station. As soon as he was tangible, something small and green ran into him with a loud bark. Danny grabbed the small creature as he stumbled back into someone large and furry. Looking down, Danny saw that it was Cujo, his little ghost dog friend. The ghost pup barked happily.

“Pardonu, Danny. (‘Sorry, Danny.’)" Came an apologetic voice from behind him.

Danny looked up and saw the familiar face of his large ghost dog friend, Wulf. “Wulf? What are you and Cujo doin’ here?”

“Mi volis viziti kaj ne povis trovi vin, mi amiko. (‘I wanted to visit and couldn't find you, my friend.’)" Wulf answered.

Cujo barked again.

“Kaj Cujo volis ludi. (‘And Cujo wanted to play.’)" Wulf added.

“And I wasn’t there, so you guys came to find me.” Danny guessed.

Wulf nodded as Cujo licked Danny’s face.

“Okay, okay! Down, boy!” Danny laughed as he placed Cujo down on the roof.

“Kial vi estas for de Amity Park? (‘Why are you away from Amity Park?’)" Wulf asked.

Danny rubbed his eyes, another wave of tiredness washing over him. “It’s a long story, Wulf. One I don’t have time for right now.” And I should be getting back to Thanatos, anyways. “Look, could you guys just wait out here for a little bit? I’ll be out in a couple of minutes, and I promise I’ll talk then.”

“Mi promesas, Danny. (‘I promise, Danny.’)" Wulf nodded as Cujo barked in agreement.

“Great, see ya in a bit.”

.

Danny phased back into the restroom and transformed back to human form. He took a moment to gather himself before rejoining Thanatos. Being a half-ghost hero was exhausting sometimes…

Danny found the god leaning against the counter next to the pizza slice. Thanatos looked over as Danny walked closer. “Are you alright, Daniel?” He sounded concerned.

“Yeah, ‘m fine.” Danny mumbled as he grabbed the largest drink cup and began filling it with Mountain Dew, no ice. He definitely needed some caffeine. He glanced over at Thanatos as the cup filled with soda. “You said I had a visitor, which means you knew it was someone from the Ghost Zone, right? How did you know that it was a… ‘Ghost Zone ghost’?”

“They have a different aura than most spirits, likely due to their time in the Lost Region. Because of this, they are more difficult for me to sense and track down.” Thanatos watched as Danny fitted the lid onto the cup. “Are you sure you are alright? That is a lot of caffeine in one drink.”

“Says the one who downed a venti unicorn frappuccino.” Danny retorted as they walked back to the cash register at the front of the gas station.

“Yes,” Thanatos agreed. “But I am an immortal being. You, however, are a fourteen year old human.”

“Being immortal didn’t stop that sugar rush you had yesterday.” Danny pointed out with a smile.

Thanatos just shook his head in amusement and let the subject drop as Danny placed his food and drink on the counter. The cashier barely looked up as he rang up the pizza and drink. Thanatos paid with a black credit card; Danny had no idea where it came from, but decided not to question it. He just grabbed his food and drink, and walked out the door with Thanatos.

.

Danny and Thanatos walked across the parking lot to a rest area with a group of picnic tables; Danny took the occasional sip of his Mountain Dew as they walked.

Thanatos glanced over his shoulder. “Do you know the two ghosts that are following us, Daniel?” He asked carefully.

“What?” Danny turned around, but saw nothing—though, he had a pretty good idea who was there. Oh yeah, I did tell them to wait outside… “Wulf, Cujo, it’s fine. You can show yourselves.”

Wulf and Cujo became visible; Cujo was in his big angry dog form, and Wulf had his claws out. Both were snarling. Thanatos just raised an eyebrow and unfurled his wings, looking rather unimpressed as Wulf growled at him.

“Kien vi iras kun Danny? (‘Where are you going with Danny?’)” Wulf demanded.

“Guys, chill, please.” Danny stood between Thanatos and the ghosts. “This is Thanatos. He’s not going to hurt any of us.” Danny looked back to Thanatos for confirmation.

The god shrugged. At Danny’s scowl, he nodded.

Wulf eyed Thanatos for a moment longer before retracting his claws. Cujo shrunk back down into his puppy form, which Thanatos watched with interest. The god crouched down and held out his hand towards the small green dog. Wulf growled quietly, but Danny nudged him to be quiet. Cujo sniffed cautiously at Thanatos’ hand.

After a few moments of intense sniffing, Cujo’s tail began to wag excitedly and he barked playfully at Thanatos. The god pet Cujo’s head gently, and smiled as the dog licked his hand.

“Why, hello, little one. What happened to you?” Thanatos asked softly.

Cujo yipped in response. Thanatos nodded as if he understood the little green dog. Danny sat down at a picnic table and took a long sip from his drink.

Wulf hadn’t moved, but he seemed a little less on edge as he watched Thanatos and Cujo interact. “Ŝajnas, ke Cujo ŝatas vin. (‘It seems Cujo likes you.’)" He said to the god.

Thanatos looked rather perplexed as he turned his attention to Wulf. “This is… most unusual, but I do not understand what you are saying… Wulf, was it?”

“He speaks Esperanto.” Danny supplied between bites of his pizza. “It’s, like, a nerd language. He just said that it seems like Cujo likes you.”

Thanatos nodded in understanding. “I’d imagine so. Though Cujo here is quite different from how he once was, he probably still recognizes the scent of our mother.”

Danny choked on his drink. He coughed violently as Thanatos picked Cujo up and held him in his arms like a baby.

Wulf patted Danny on the back. “Ĉu vi fartas bone, Danny? (‘Are you alright, Danny?’)”

“I’m sorry, what?” Danny wheezed, his eyes watering. “What do you mean, ‘our mother’?”

“Cujo is a hellhound. Or rather, was, before… something happened to him in the Lost Region that changed him.” Thanatos explained as he rubbed Cujo’s belly.

“Wait, Cujo was a what?” Danny groaned. He tried to process that information, before giving up and rubbing his temples. Everything’s getting so confusing now…

“A hellhound.” Thanatos stated patiently. “And, as a hellhound, he and I share a mother.” He idly played with Cujo as the ghost dog playfully attacked his fingers.

“Wait a minute, but he was a guard dog! A living guard dog.” Danny thought back to when he had first met Cujo. He rested his head on his hands, staring at the table dazedly. “Besides… Cujo is a dog, and you’re… not. How can you two share a mom?”

“Well, I am not quite sure, but I have a theory about the Lost Region.” Thanatos explained. “I think it changes the beings that reside in it over time. Spirits can form from nothing or merge together. Perhaps the ghost of a guard dog merged with a lost hellhound, and Cujo here was born.” He tickled Cujo’s belly, and smiled as the dog barked happily. “As for your question, my father is not Cerberus…” Thanatos began to say, before Danny spun around and interrupted again.

“I’m sorry, WHAT? Cerberus is the father of the hellhounds and your mom is the mother of the hellhounds? HOW?” What is wrong with the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses? Danny wondered bewilderedly.

Thanatos shrugged. “I do not pry into my mother’s private life.”

Danny stared at Thanatos’ frustratingly neutral expression before turning back to his food. “I can’t deal with this right now. Let me eat my pizza in peace, please.”

“As you wish.” Thanatos replied.

.

Danny began to feel his energy return as he rested and ate his food. He asked Wulf how he was doing, and how things were in the Ghost Zone. Wulf told him that he was still on the run from Walker (Danny thought Walker would have given up by now; guess not.) As for the Ghost Zone, something was agitating the inhabitants of the Zone. Wulf either didn’t know or wouldn’t say; Danny decided that he would have to check it out when he got back to Amity Park.

“Kiel vi renkontis tiun ulon, Danny? (‘How did you meet that guy, Danny?’)” Wulf asked as he watched the god of death play with his apparent half-brother.

“It’s a… weird story.” Danny answered with a shrug. “I can tell you about it when I get back to Amity Park.”

Wulf nodded towards Thanatos. “Kaj ĉu vi certas, ke li fartas bone? Mi ne fidas lin. (‘And you are sure he’s alright? I don’t trust him.’)"

Danny nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure, Wulf. Though, why don’t you trust Thanatos?” He asked. “He’s a nice guy.”

“Estas… io pri li. Io danĝera. (‘There’s… something about him. Something dangerous.’)" Wulf answered after a moment’s thought.

Danny felt something akin to dread begin to gnaw at the back of his mind. What does Wulf mean, ‘dangerous’?

Danny was pulled from his thoughts when Wulf muttered under his breath, his attention back to Thanatos and Cujo. Danny wasn’t sure that he had heard Wulf right as he processed what the ghost had said:

“The Observants ne ĝojos pri ĉi tio… (‘The Observants are not going to be happy about this…’)"

.

After half an hour or so, Danny felt rested enough to continue their journey. He bid farewell to Wulf and Cujo, the latter of which seemed sad to leave Thanatos. The ghosts left through one of Wulf’s portals, and Danny and Thanatos took to the skies.

The sky was light blue, with a few clouds on the horizon. The air was chilly and refreshing. After about five minutes, Danny flew ahead of Thanatos and did some loop-de-loops.

“You seem to be feeling better.” Thanatos commented amusedly.

“Yep!” Danny called back. He turned to Thanatos as he thought of something. “Hey, now that I think about it, is Cerberus your stepdad?”

Thanatos stared at Danny like he was an idiot. “… Daniel, why?”

Danny laughed as he grinned from ear to ear. “What? What’d I say?” He asked mischievously.

Thanatos shook his head with a smile. “See if I ever let you have caffeine again.”

“Yeah, you definitely should not have let me drink that much.” Danny agreed. He flew back to Thanatos so that he was right next to him. “Hey, how much further is it to camp?”

“About fifty miles.” Thanatos answered. “Why?”

“Do you wanna race?” Danny asked excitedly.

“I am not sure that is a good idea,” Thanatos argued. “It would not be beneficial for you to get worn out again.”

“Nah, I’m good now! Besides, wouldn’t it be ‘beneficial’ for us to make up lost time? We could do that if we raced!” Danny looked at Thanatos with his very best attempt at puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

Thanatos responded to Danny’s pleading look with a rather confused expression, before eventually conceding. “… Very well. I suppose we can race a little bit-”

Before Thanatos could say anything else, Danny sped off ahead of him. “First one to Camp Half-Blood wins!”

.

Wind whipped through Danny’s hair as he soared high over the winding roads and beaches of the east coast. Fifty miles? I can do that easily. He thought. Though, I wonder how fast Thanatos can fly-

Danny’s thoughts were interrupted as Thanatos zipped past him, his vibrant blue feathers grazing the top of Danny’s hair.

Thanatos turned back to Danny, a playful glint in his eyes. “I thought you wanted to race?” He smirked.

Before Danny could respond, Thanatos took off ahead of him.

Danny grinned. “I am racing!” He sped up so that he was next to Thanatos. “See you at the finish line!” He put on another burst of speed and passed the god. The ground blurred beneath him, and Danny’s eyes watered from the wind as he flew. He could see the end of Long Island now, and knew that Camp Half-Blood was nearby.

Danny glanced back and was surprised to see that Thanatos was right on his tail. Danny tried to speed up, but he was already flying as fast as he could go. Thanatos drew closer; Danny could see the hill in the distance now, the gold fleece sparkling in the sunlight.

Just a little further… Danny thought.

He and Thanatos were now neck and neck, and Thanatos pulled ahead of Danny right as they passed the camp boundary. Danny tried to quickly stop, but alas, that was not how physics worked. He tumbled head over heels through the air towards the southern woods, before crashing through the tree branches and landing on the ground of the forest.

Danny wheezed, the impact having knocked the air out of him. He blinked away the spots in his vision as he transformed back to his human form.

Thanatos landed gracefully next to Danny and leaned over him, his golden eyes filled with a mix of concern and amusement. “That was quite the landing, Daniel. Are you alright?”

“Yep!” Danny winced as he sat up, his head spinning. “Just… just gimme a minute.”

Thanatos held out a hand and pulled Danny to his feet. “Not bad, my young apprentice. Not many people are able to keep up with me; the last time I had a race that close was with Hermes. Though,” Thanatos winked at Danny, his smirk mischievous. “I still won.”

“What?!” Danny scoffed as he brushed the dirt off his clothes. “No way! I totally beat you!”

“We both know that isn’t true, Daniel.”

“Okay… it was a tie.” Danny grumbled.

Thanatos looked like he was going to argue, but the sound of horse hooves filled the air. He and Danny both turned to see Chiron cantering up to them. The centaur had an anxious expression as he approached, but it changed to one of relief when he saw Danny.

“Glad to see you have returned safely, Danny.” Chiron said, attempting to appear calm; Danny could see otherwise in his eyes. “You gave us quite the scare this morning.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down at the ground. “Yeah, sorry about that, Chiron.” I didn’t mean to make him worry so much… Danny felt a hand rest on his shoulder; he didn’t need to look up to know it was Thanatos.

Chiron sighed. “Where did you go? I was unaware that you could shadow-travel.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know I could, either.” Danny stifled a yawn. “It’s been a long day.” He looked at Chiron worriedly. “Uhh, also, about Annabeth…”

Chiron nodded in understanding. “I spoke with her after you left. She’s very sorry for scaring you off.”

Danny nodded. “And my mark? Did she say anything about it?”

“Well, she did ask me if I knew anything about it. I told her it was just a tattoo that you are rather sensitive about.” Chiron dragged a hand down his face, looking rather tired. “I doubt she believed me, though.”

Danny nodded again; he knew that he should be more worried about Annabeth finding out what his mark meant, especially after what Thanatos had told him earlier, but he just wanted to sleep for the next ten, maybe twelve hours.

Thanatos must have read his mind, since he suggested that Danny needed rest after the day he had. Chiron agreed, motioning for Danny to head to the Big House.

Danny looked up at Thanatos, wanting to stay; he didn’t really know why, but… he felt safe around the god of death. Wasn’t that weird?

Thanatos ruffled Danny’s hair and gently pushed him towards the farmhouse. “Get some rest, pouláki mou. (‘my little bird.’)"

Chapter Text

Danny trudged out of the woods and towards the Big House. From the position of the sun in the sky, he guessed that it was mid-afternoon. There were a few campers milling about; some of them were saddling up horses at the stables, and as he passed by the archery range Danny saw Sunny and Aurora practicing with their bows. There was no sign of Annabeth, for which Danny was honestly grateful; he needed a long nap before dealing with anything else.

So, of course, when Danny opened the front door to the Big House, he was greeted by Mr. D. The god was sitting at the round table again, but there were no cards this time. Instead, he held an open can of Diet Coke in his hands. He watched Danny as he entered the parlor.

“Ah, a pity.” Mr. D drawled. “I was hoping you wouldn’t come back.”

Danny groaned; Of course he’s here. “Me too, pal.” He glared at the god. “But here we are.”

Mr. D’s stare turned icy. “I suggest you watch your tone, young man.”

Yeah, Danny definitely wasn’t dealing with this. Since Mr. D already knew that Danny could turn invisible, Danny decided that it wouldn’t be a problem if he used that to his advantage now; so, he went invisible.

Mr. D’s eyes widened; Danny would even say that he looked freaked out. The god stood up, his Diet Coke forgotten on the table. He looked around the room from where he stood, searching for Danny. Finally, his eyes settled on the ceiling and his hands balled into fists. “Kataraméno paidí (‘cursed child’), come back here this instant!”

Danny rolled his eyes. I haven’t even moved, stupid. He took a step towards the stairs, trying to sneak silently past Mr. D, but the floor betrayed him and creaked under his foot.

Mr. D’s gaze snapped towards Danny, his eyes glowing a furious purple. Grape vines sprouted from the floorboards and slithered across the floor, as if they were searching for something to strangle. Danny stepped back nervously. Mr. D’s face was a deep shade of purple, similar to a grape.

“Turn visible right now,” Mr. D hissed. “Or so help me-”

The front door suddenly swung open and Chiron walked inside. His expression was rather calm, but it quickly turned to a look of alarm. “Mr. D, what are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m just having a polite conversation with Mr. Fenton, the little-”

“Dionysus, please.” Chiron interrupted sternly. “You made a promise. An oath.” Chiron glanced around the room as if he was searching for someone. “Danny, if you’re still here, please go to bed.”

Danny scowled. That's what he had been trying to do, but someone had prevented him from doing so. He stepped cautiously over the grape vines, growing more and more annoyed with each creak and groan of the squeaky old floorboards. Frustrated, Danny went ghost—still invisible, though the flash of light from his transformation gave away his location—and flew out of the room.

Mr. D’s angry voice echoed after him as he flew up the stairs: “Chiron, I’ve had it. He is not staying here…”

.

Danny could no longer hear Mr. D's voice by the time he reached the fourth floor. Landing in front of his bedroom door, Danny transformed back to his human form. He reached for the doorknob, but paused when he noticed a piece of paper with his name on it taped to the door. He pulled it down, unfolded it, and saw that it was a handwritten note.

.

Dear Danny,

I am very sorry for how I behaved earlier. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I didn’t mean to make you feel unsafe, or like you needed to run away. I know that I’ve been acting kind of strange, like when we were talking by the cabins yesterday, and at capture the flag last night, as well as at our sparring session this morning—I guess I should’ve asked you about your tattoo calmly instead of freaking out like that. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to, but I was hoping we could talk and I could at least explain my actions.

I hope you come back, and I hope that you can forgive me. If you want to, please meet me by the canoe lake before breakfast tomorrow.

—Annabeth

.

Danny sighed; he really didn’t know what to do about Annabeth, and he felt anxiety gnaw at him as he remembered Thanatos’ warning yet again. Did Annabeth know what his mark meant? Did she know anything about apprentices? Would she try and get him to use his powers against his will? No… He argued with himself. I may not know her well, but I can tell she’s not like that…

He sighed again and thumped his head against the door. He just… he just needed sleep before doing or thinking about anything else. Danny entered his room and kicked the door shut behind him, before flopping onto the bed and promptly falling asleep.

.

When Danny awoke, he heard birds chirping outside his window. The clock on the wall read 6 A.M. His sleep had been restful, but boring; no dreams, only the darkness behind his eyelids. He did feel way better than yesterday, though.

Danny groaned as he rolled out of bed and reached into his duffel bag. He couldn’t sleep any longer, so he decided that he would call his friends and family and tell them about his camp experience thus far (well, he would tell his friends. As for his family… he’d come up with something.)

When he couldn’t find his phone, Danny pulled the bag up onto the bed to look inside. Digging through the bag yielded no new results. He turned the bag upside down, dumping the contents onto the bed. Sorting through the mess did no good, either; same with rummaging around the empty interior.

Finding nothing, Danny looked through his clothes and toiletries again, hoping his phone just got caught on a shirt or something. “Aw, come on…” He grumbled. “Where’d it go?” He searched through his hoodie pockets, again finding nothing. Did I even pack the dumb thing?

Danny thought back to when he was packing his duffel two days ago. He remembered plugging his phone in to charge overnight, and he remembered unplugging it when he woke Friday morning, but… he did not remember grabbing it before leaving with Thanatos. “Crap.”

Danny sighed in resignation and shoved his belongings back into his duffel bag, before getting ready for the day. He knew his parents would be upset at him for leaving his phone at home, but there was nothing he could do about it now. After pulling on a clean t-shirt and jeans and making sure the elastic bandage was wrapped securely around his arm, Danny headed downstairs.

.

As Danny reached the first floor, he was relieved to find that Mr. D was nowhere in sight; he really didn’t want to deal with the god after yesterday. He paused at the base of the stairs, listening for any signs of life.

The lights were off in most of the house. Down the hallway, Danny could see light and hear opera music coming from an open door; he guessed that Chiron was awake and doing office work, or something boring like that. Danny decided to head outside before anything happened, like Mr. D showing up again.

The sun was rising over the crest of the hill as Danny stepped out onto the porch, its rays glittering off the scales of the dragon wrapped around the base of the large pine tree. There were no other campers outside, and the silence was almost eerie; luckily, Danny was used to eerie, and he decided to enjoy the peace and quiet with a nice walk.

He strolled lazily through the strawberry fields, enjoying the coolness of the dawn before the sun warmed the valley. He wondered what his schedule for camp was today. He didn’t really have an idea, since he… hadn’t really stuck around the day before.

Now that I think about it, I should probably go talk to Annabeth… He thought. I wonder if she’s even awake yet. Danny reached into the pocket of his jeans, feeling the note Annabeth had left him. He hadn’t even really noticed that he had folded it up and put it in his pocket; maybe that was his mind’s way of telling him to go talk with her. I may as well try and sort this out… He decided. It’s not like I can make things any worse.

And with that, Danny headed off towards the canoe lake.

.

As Danny neared the lake, he saw Annabeth sitting on the end of the dock, looking out over the still water. She looked up when he stopped next to her, and he saw that her eyes were bloodshot, as if she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night.

“Hey,” Danny greeted awkwardly.

“Hi.” Annabeth replied as she looked back across the lake. Danny sat down next to her, and she spoke again after a moment. “I’m really sorry about how I acted yesterday. And… the day before.”

Danny nodded. “I… I dunno if I’d say, ‘it’s okay,’ but I get why you responded like that.” He held his bandaged arm out in front of him. “I guess this is pretty weird.”

Annabeth looked at the bandage warily. “Why do you even have that? I mean, you don’t have to tell me,” She added hurriedly. “But…”

“It’s… not something I can really talk about.” Danny mumbled. “A-and it’s not that I don’t want to, but…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to say something herself, but she didn’t, so they continued to look out over the water in awkward silence.

Danny broke the silence after a few minutes. “So, uhh… you said that you wanted to talk?”

Annabeth nodded and looked down at her hands as she began to fidget. “Yeah. I… I wanted to try and explain why I’ve been acting strange. There… used to be this kid at camp. You remind me a lot of him. He… he didn’t feel welcome at camp, and he left.” She had a faraway look in her eyes, as if she were remembering something.

“We looked for him for weeks, but… we never found him. I guess it’s just that… you remind me so much of him, that I don’t…” She trailed off. “I’m afraid of scaring you off, too.” She turned towards Danny. “Camp is supposed to be a safe haven for kids like us. No one should feel unwelcome here.”

Danny took a moment to process her words. It was obvious that she regretted something about the kid she spoke about. I wonder who the kid was. Danny thought. What happened that made him feel like he had to leave? Where is he now?

Maybe… Another thought came to his mind. Maybe there was nowhere for him to stay. Danny thought back to the other day, when he had noticed the lack of a certain cabin. “Then why isn’t there a Hades cabin?” He asked.

Annabeth turned to him, surprise clear on her face.

“Earlier, when I said I’d never met a child of Hades…” Should I really tell her about this? “… I lied.” He admitted. He didn’t really know how to explain anymore without telling her about Nico…

“You shouldn’t tell others about that.” Annabeth said quietly. “That’s why I… acted strange when you mentioned Hades having children the other day. Do you know about the Pact of the Big Three?”

Danny blinked. No, he did not know about that. “No? What’s that?”

Annabeth nodded, as if she had expected that answer. “The Pact was a promise made by the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—where they promised to never have any more mortal children.”

“Why’d they do that?” Danny asked.

“Children of the gods are powerful.” Annabeth explained. “Children of the Big Three? Even more so. Back during World War 2, their children were on opposing sides, and the effects were devastating. They made the pact afterwards, so that something like that wouldn’t happen again.”

“Okay…” Danny nodded; that made sense. But it still didn’t answer his first question. “Why doesn’t Hades have a cabin?”

“Because he doesn't have a throne on Olympus.” Annabeth answered. “Each cabin corresponds with a throne on Olympus. That’s why Hera and Artemis have cabins, even though they don’t have mortal children. Hades is only welcome there at the winter solstice.”

The winter solstice? Where have I… Danny froze as he remembered exactly where he had heard of that before; it was when Thanatos had told him about Zeus: “And get him to agree not to do anything to you until the winter solstice.”

What would Zeus have done to Danny if Thanatos hadn’t intervened? What would he still do to him at the solstice?

Danny decided that he didn’t want to think about that at the moment. “So, how do things work around here?” He asked, quickly changing the subject. “I mean, there’s a lot of kids here, but I’m guessing they didn’t all come just for spring break like I did.”

“Camp Half-Blood is year round for quite a few of the people here.” Annabeth explained. If she noticed the abrupt subject change, she didn’t comment on it. “Demigods of major gods and goddesses attract more monsters, so they usually stay at camp where it’s safe.”

Danny nodded. “So, what about you? I mean, are you a year round camper?”

“No.” Annabeth replied. “I mean, I used to be, but I decided to try living with my dad for the school year. I’m just here for… a project I’m working on with Clarisse.”

“What kind of project?” Danny asked.

“I… can’t talk about it.”

Danny eyed Annabeth; that… sounded suspicious. Not that he was one to talk. Danny decided to change the subject again. “So, who’s your godly parent?” He faltered. “I mean, not to be rude. Is that rude to ask?”

Annabeth smiled at Danny. “It’s fine. I’m a daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom. My cabin is number six, the gray one over there.” She pointed towards the cabins.

“Wow, that’s…” Danny ran a hand through his hair as he tried to process what Annabeth had said. “That’s just… so crazy to think about. I mean, like, I’ve known about all this for months now, but… it’s still so unbelievable.”

Annabeth frowned. “Known about camp? Or all the ‘Greek legends being real’?”

“Uhhh…” I mean, both, but she’d be more suspicious if I knew about the camp and didn’t show up sooner. Danny thought. “The Greek stuff.”

“How were you able to survive out there for so long?” Annabeth asked, sounding surprised. “The monsters should have sensed you and hunted you down long ago.”

“I guess monsters don’t like Amity Park.” Danny mused.

Annabeth did a double take. “Wait. Amity Park, Minnesota? As in, the most haunted place in America?”

“Uhh… yeah?” Danny didn’t see what Annabeth was getting at.

“No wonder no satyrs came for you!” Annabeth said in amazement. “The scent of the Underworld likely covered your scent and scared off any satyrs or monsters within a hundred mile radius!”

“Huh,” Danny put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense.”

“What’s it like living there?” Annabeth asked excitedly. “I couldn’t imagine living around so many ghosts. Speaking of, have you ever met that one ghost kid?”

Danny paled. This was not a turn that he wanted the conversation to take. “Uhh, you’ve… heard about him?”

“Yeah, I read about him while researching for one of my projects. He seems… strange.” Annabeth looked thoughtful. “I mean, from what I know of ghosts, they’re not usually seen as friendly. I’ve only met one, myself, and he was… not very nice. But that ghost guy—what’s his name, anyway?”

“Uhh, Phantom.” Danny said hesitantly. “Just Phantom. Not Inviso-Bill.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at that, but continued. “Anyway, he’s… weird. I didn’t read much, but what I did was pretty divided. It either said he was a hero, or a public nuisance. Personally, I just found it strange that a ghost would be protecting a town where most of the inhabitants fear him.”

Danny’s gaze turned distant as he looked out over the water. “Yeah, but… maybe he really cares about the people around him, and wants to keep them safe.”

Annabeth looked at Danny with an odd expression. “You say that like you know him personally.”

Danny glanced back at her from the corner of his eye. “… I like to think I do.”

Annabeth regarded him curiously for a moment longer, before changing the subject. “Tell me about life in Amity Park.”

Danny was happy to tell Annabeth about that. He told her about his friends and the fun things they did together (excluding the ghost hunting.) Annabeth laughed when Danny mentioned Tucker’s failed attempt at creating his own body spray, and smiled when he said that Sam was an avid animal rights activist; she said that her friend, Grover, would probably get along well with Sam. Annabeth listened attentively as Danny told her about the constant ghost attacks, and how Phantom always saved the day. She was especially surprised when she heard some of the things that ghosts had done to the residents of Danny’s hometown, such as being pulled into the Ghost Zone that one time with Pariah Dark.

“Sounds like Amity Park is an interesting place to live.” Annabeth said once Danny was finished speaking.

“Yeah, it is.” Danny said with a smile. “So, what’s your life like?”

Annabeth tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve told you about my friends,” Danny turned towards her, resting an elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand. “Tell me about yours.”

Annabeth looked up at the sky as she thought for a moment. “Well, I’ve made many friends since I arrived at camp years ago. Some have left, others… died.”

Danny noticed her pause. “What about the ones who are still here?” He asked quietly.

Annabeth smiled fondly as she listed several people; campers, satyrs, and a tree nymph. “Oh, and then there’s Percy. He’s at school right now.”

Danny thought back to when he first arrived at camp. “Is he the one that you mistook me for?”

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah. From a distance, you two look very similar. Though, he has sea-green eyes and is a bit taller than you. And he’s pretty tan.”

Danny saw the faint blush that dusted Annabeth’s cheeks as she spoke about Percy. “Do you have a crush on him?” He asked with a smirk.

“What? No!” Annabeth said quickly, her face quickly turning red.

Danny gasped playfully. “You do!”

Annabeth’s blush deepened. “Do not!” Before Danny could tease her anymore, Annabeth placed her hand firmly on his shoulder. “I will shove you into this lake if you say another word.”

Danny raised his hands in surrender, a grin on his face. “Okay, okay. My lips are sealed.”

“Good!”

.

Without either of them realizing, a good amount of time had passed as they talked. The sun had risen in the sky, and campers were now up and about, cleaning their cabins and getting ready for the day.

Annabeth stood up and dusted herself off. “Thanks for meeting with me, Danny. It was nice talking to you. I’ve gotta go help my cabin with morning duties, but I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, later.” Danny waved as Annabeth walked back to the cabins. He turned back to the lake and smiled to himself; it had been a bit of a rough start to his stay, but maybe camp wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Chapter Text

Starting the next day, Danny was thrown into the hustle and bustle of life at Camp Half-Blood. He was glad for the distraction from the events of his first full day at camp. He hadn’t contacted Thanatos since his solo trip to the Underworld; Danny didn’t want to cause the god any more trouble than he already had. So, he was grateful that his schedule kept him busy.

Camp quickly began to feel like a second home. He even got used to the strange feeling in the attic. It reminded him of the Ghost Zone, in an especially eerie sort of way. He had even gone in once, just to see what was up there.

.

As soon as Danny crossed the threshold, he immediately got the feeling that he was not welcome. Usually, Danny didn't listen to such promptings, but he listened to this one. There was something about the attic that set his core on edge.

Danny left before anything could happen.

.

As the week progressed, Danny was thrown into a fun new routine. There were all sorts of classes offered at the camp, and Danny got to try lots of different things. Everyday in the mornings at about 9 AM, either Annabeth or Chiron taught him Ancient Greek, and half an hour before lunch they taught him Greek Mythology.

One day, while Annabeth was teaching him Greek Mythology, a thought crossed Danny’s mind. “Hey, Annabeth, I’ve got a question.”

She looked at him, curious. “Yeah?”

“What does it mean to promise something on the River Styx?” He remembered back when he had first met Thanatos, the god had made a promise to him on the River Styx. Danny hadn’t really thought anything of it at the time, but now…

Annabeth’s eyes widened. “You shouldn’t promise anything on the River Styx, Danny.” She said gravely. “Not unless it’s something that is very important to you. As in, willing-to-risk-your-life-for-it important.”

Danny felt a hint of dread begin to grow in his stomach. “… why’s that?”

“A promise made on the River Styx is binding.” Annabeth explained. “If it’s broken, there are serious repercussions for all parties involved.”

Danny gulped nervously. “Like… what? Death?”

“Worse than death.” Annabeth stressed.

Danny nodded and looked down at his hands. Thanatos had made a promise to Danny on the River Styx. Why would he do that? Was he really willing to face punishment if it was broken? Would Danny face consequences as well?

Danny decided not to dwell on it, at least for the time being.

.

On Monday, after his Ancient Greek lessons, Danny worked with Aurora on fighting with a sword and other bladed weapons. Danny quickly learned that he was not meant to wield a sword, so they mainly worked with daggers. After his weapons lesson came his private combat lesson with Chiron, since he couldn’t take pegasus-riding lessons (on the bright side, Danny didn’t have to clean the stables.)

“Where’s Mr. D?” Danny asked as he and Chiron entered the arena.

“Mr. D has been called to Olympus on official business.” Chiron explained. “He will be gone for the foreseeable future.”

“Oh, cool.” Danny was absolutely okay with not seeing the wine dude for the rest of spring break, and he didn’t think about it again as the lesson began.

During their first private combat lesson, Danny showed Chiron two of his powers: intangibility and invisibility (he wasn’t very comfortable with showing off his ecto-rays and other powers just yet.) Chiron seemed slightly disturbed by Danny’s abilities, but he took the news in stride, and helped Danny to incorporate those skills into their training.

.

After lunch, there was a tracking class. It was mostly for tracking animals and monsters, but Danny figured it could also be useful for ghost hunting. After that was cabin clean-up, but since Danny was not officially in the Hermes cabin (or any cabin, for that matter), he didn’t have to help with it. So, he had more free time than the other campers.

During his free time, Danny would go into the woods and explore (invisibly. He didn’t need the nymphs telling Mr. D anything else.) He also hung out with Annabeth when she had free time. They talked more about Amity Park and life at camp, but they also did other activities. They did some more sparring, and they also spent some time in the rec room (with a bit of help from his telekinesis, Danny was a master at ping pong, much to Annabeth’s chagrin.)

.

On Tuesday, Danny had archery with Sunny, javelin throwing with one of the Ares’ campers, and something the water nymphs taught called Ride the Rapids. On Wednesday, Danny helped Annabeth check inventory at the camp store (How did I not know this was here before?) and picked strawberries with some of the Demeter kids before lunch.

After lunch, Danny found himself in the camp forge, learning the basics of blacksmithing. It was fun, but Danny was glad to get out of the workshop later that day to go chop wood for that night’s campfire; it was far too hot in the forge for his liking.

.

After dinner each day was a campwide activity: on Monday, it was volleyball; Tuesday, it was unarmed combat; and Wednesday was Archery Knockout. Danny did not participate in any of the events. Even though Danny and Annabeth were on good terms (he would even say they were friends), he didn’t want to make her any more suspicious of him if he accidentally used his powers during one of the events again.

At the campfire after Archery Knockout, Annabeth asked him why he hadn't participated in any of the activities. Danny told her that he wasn't very good at volleyball and that he had pretty poor aim (okay, that one was a bold-faced lie; his aim was as good as his mom's.)

“Then why didn't you enter the unarmed combat tournament?” Annabeth countered.

Danny shrugged with a smirk. “Didn't want to embarrass anyone.”

Annabeth shook her head with a grin. “Careful. I might just tell Clarisse you said that.”

“Please don't.”

.

If Danny was being honest, he kind of enjoyed the break from his ghostly hero duties. So, of course, something had to happen while he was at camp.

On Thursday afternoon, Danny had wrestling class with Clarisse and her cabin. He was surprisingly good at the class, though that was likely because he had plenty of experience with hand-to-hand combat from ghost fighting. Clarisse was demonstrating a chokehold on one of her siblings when they suddenly heard a loud conch horn echo across the valley.

Clarisse’s expression turned serious and she stood to address the class. “Alright, training’s over!” She shouted. “Camp is under attack, go to our cabin and await orders!” She then turned to Danny. “You, stay here and stay outta the way.”

Danny was surprised to see everyone hurry out of the arena and towards the cabins. They act like the camp being attacked is a normal thing. Though, I wonder what’s out there? Danny had seen some strange monsters during his trips into the forest, such as giant ants and another cat-snake chimera (Danny made sure to stay far away from it.) His curiosity got the better of him, and he hurried outside to see what was happening.

Campers were running around frantically; some were suiting up at the armory, while others were sharpening swords at the forge. As he wondered what to do, Danny noticed a group of campers forming on the beach; some stood at the ready with weapons while others aimed readied bows at something floating above the water. He ran towards the group to see what was going on.

As soon as Danny’s feet hit the sand, his ghost sense went off. Oh, great.

“Ghost child! Come out and face me!” Skulker floated above the water. He fired a few ecto-blasts towards the group, but they seemed to bounce off of the air; was there some invisible force-field or something?

Danny would have to look into that later. At the moment, though, he needed to deal with the annoying hunter ghost (really, the correct term would be ‘ghost hunter,’ but that quickly got confusing with his parents’ line of work, so he referred to Skulker as ‘the hunter ghost.’)

About twenty feet from the group was a dock, with a canoe rack loaded with boats.

I can transform over there. Danny thought. He slipped away from the group and ran down to the dock. After ducking behind the rack and making sure he was alone, he transformed and went invisible. As a last minute thought, Danny flew to the Big House to grab his thermos before flying back to the group.

Skulker was still yelling and firing at the invisible force field. A few more campers had gathered as well, all armed and ready to fight.

Danny flew straight at the ghost, ramming into him. He grabbed Skulker and pulled him down into the ocean before he could react.

When they were about fifty feet from the shore and deep underwater, Skulker kicked Danny in the chest, knocking him back. “Ghost child! How nice of you to finally show up.” Skulker sneered.

Danny was not in the mood for this. “How did you find me, Skulker?” He snapped angrily.

“You are my prey, ghost child. I will always find you, and I will never stop hunting you until your pelt is at the foot of my bed!” Skulker extended his arm and fired a glowing white capture net at Danny.

“Yikes, dude.” Danny cringed as he dodged out of the way. “You need a new hobby.”

“And it seems that you have found one.” Skulker fired at Danny again. “Why are you so far from Amity Park?”

“I could ask you the same question!” Danny fired a few ecto-blasts at Skulker, who dodged most of them and growled in frustration at the ones he didn’t.

“Plasmius paid me handsomely to find where you ran off to, ghost child.” Skulker fired off a few ecto-blasts in Danny’s direction as he spoke. “Of course, I don’t need to be paid to hunt you down. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.”

“Like I said, find a new hobby!” Danny fired a double-handed ecto-blast that sent Skulker reeling backwards. He unclipped the Fenton Thermos from his belt. “And tell Plasmius to leave me alone when you see him in, oh, about a week!”

“What? NOOO!” Skulker wailed as he was sucked into the thermos. “IT’S SO CRAMPED IN HERE!”

Danny capped the thermos with a sigh. At least I thought to bring this. He then went invisible and returned to camp.

.

Upon returning to the beach, Danny saw that the group of maybe fifteen campers had positioned themselves in a loose phalanx formation, weapons bristling over their shields. Chiron was pacing behind the campers with his bow in his hands, tail flicking back and forth. Annabeth walked with him, and she was talking to him about something.

Crap, they’re gonna be on high alert for who knows how long because of Skulker. I-I’ve gotta do something. Danny needed to let the campers know the danger had passed, so he thought for a moment before coming up with what was, admittedly, a pretty stupid idea.

Danny moved to where Skulker’s shots had hit the invisible force-field and became visible.

The campers shouted in alarm and pointed their weapons at him; a few even shot arrows in his direction, but he easily dodged.

“Wait, I’m not the one that attacked you!” Danny hurriedly called out, holding his hands up in surrender.

Chiron ordered the campers to stand by and moved in front of the formation. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” He demanded.

“I’m Phantom, and I was just passing by when I saw Skulker attacking you guys and decided to help.” Danny answered, noticing how Annabeth’s eyes lit up when he said his name.

“How do we know you didn’t order that thing to attack us?” Clarisse called out, pushing her way to the front of the formation.

Danny glared at her, offended that she would suggest such a thing. “I didn’t tell him to attack anyone! Skulker just tries to hunt me down so he can mount my ‘pelt’ on his wall,” He paused. “Or was it to make it into a rug?”

Several of the campers looked disgusted. Even Chiron looked disturbed. “Well, thank you for the help, Phantom.” The centaur acknowledged cautiously.

“You’re welcome.” Danny bowed nervously. “Now, I’d, uhh, better get going!” With that, Danny went invisible and flew back to the Big House, ignoring Chiron calling after him.

.

Danny fell to his knees as soon as his feet touched the floor of his room, breathing heavily. What the heck was I thinking? He thought as he transformed back to human form. They’re gonna find out, I shouldn’t have done that… Danny’s heart hammered in his chest as he pulled himself into a seated position and leaned against the bed, trying to control his breathing. Danny brought his knees to his chest and rested his head against them in an attempt to ground himself.

In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. Danny silently repeated a breathing exercise Jazz had taught him years ago for when his anxiety flared up.

After several minutes, Danny had managed to calm down and steady his breathing. He stood up just as someone knocked on his door. Taking one more deep breath, Danny opened the door to find Annabeth still in her armor. She pulled him into a hug before Danny could say anything.

“Whoa, Annabeth. You okay?” Danny asked, awkwardly hugging her back.

“You disappeared when that ghost showed up. No one knew where you went and I thought that…” Annabeth trailed off.

“Hey, I’m fine.” Danny said, pulling out of Annabeth’s hug to look her in the eye.

“Then why did you disappear?” Annabeth questioned.

Danny chuckled mirthlessly. “I’ve seen what Skulker is willing to do to get to his prey.”

Annabeth frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I live in Amity Park, remember?” Danny reminded her. “Skulker chasing Phantom is a common occurrence. I told you about him on Sunday.”

Annabeth nodded, but she still looked confused. “Why were both of them even here? They’ve never been recorded leaving Amity Park before.”

“Not true. Phantom’s been seen in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Maine.” Danny corrected, remembering his run-ins with Vlad and when he saved Nico and Bianca back in November. “And Skulker's also been seen in Wisconsin.”

“But why would they be here? On the shore of Camp Half-Blood?” She countered. “And why did Skulker mention a ‘ghost child’?”

Crap. Annabeth, why do you have to be so dang smart? Danny thought in frustration. “I… dunno, Annabeth. I can’t read ghosts’ minds.”

“Hmm.” Annabeth thought for a moment. “Was Skulker talking to you? ‘Cuz he only said it when you showed up.”

… Well, then.

Skulker is so gonna pay for this later. “Uhh, maybe? I mean, my parents are ghost hunters, so, uhh, ghosts tend to come after me and my sister a lot.” Danny said, rather lamely.

“I… guess that makes sense.” Annabeth said slowly. “You should probably go and see Chiron before he sends another search party for you.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I probably should.”

Annabeth smiled good-naturedly before heading back downstairs.

What am I even going to say to Chiron? Danny fretted, ruffling his hair in frustration. He paced around his room, trying to decide what to do. He could tell Chiron that he was Phantom, but that would open a whole other can of worms that Danny was not currently willing to deal with; would Chiron think that Danny was a monster or something? Would he make him leave the camp, or would he… would he just kill him? With how everyone had reacted to Phantom… Danny wasn’t sure if telling Chiron was the best idea.

He could also just tell Chiron nothing, but Danny had a feeling that that wouldn’t work, either. Just about everyone heard Skulker say ‘ghost child’, and it was likely that more than a few people knew that the ghost was referring to Danny after he had stepped onto the beach.

After several minutes of contemplation, Danny came to a decision: partial truths. He would tell Chiron the bare minimum. He really didn’t want to give the centaur any indication that he was Phantom or that he knew more than he was letting on, but he still needed to let him know that the camp was safe.

.

After taking a moment to mentally prepare himself, Danny walked down to the first floor. There he found Chiron, in his wheelchair, staring into the lit fireplace.

“Uh, hey, Chiron.” Danny greeted as he entered the parlor.

“Hello, Danny. I was wondering where you had gone.” Chiron turned to face him, a welcoming yet thoughtful look on his face. “Annabeth tells me that you have seen our… ‘visitors’ before in your hometown.”

Danny rubbed his neck. “Yeah, sorry about disappearing. I’ve, uhh, learned that whenever one of Phantom’s enemies shows up, it’s best to get out of the way.”

Chiron raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And why is that?”

“Well, when one of his enemies shows up, he’s often not far behind, and there’s usually a lot of mess and destruction afterwards.” Danny explained.

“I see.” Chiron nodded in understanding. “Luckily, despite that creature’s intentions, there was no damage done here today.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s up with that?” Danny questioned. “Is there, like, a magic force-field or something around the camp?”

Chiron smiled in amusement. “Why, yes, I suppose that’s one way to put it. There is a magical barrier around the valley that protects us from outside forces.” Chiron’s smile faded as he changed the subject. “Danny, do you have any idea why those two showed up at this camp in the first place?”

Danny looked away guiltily. It’s my fault… my being here put the camp in danger. “Nope… no idea.”

Chiron watched him carefully. “What do you know about these ‘ghosts’?”

“Well, my parents are ghost hunters,” Danny answered more easily. “So I guess I know more than most people. These specific ghosts come from a place called the Ghost Zone. Tha- I mean, my mentor said that it used to be part of the Underworld.”

“Hmm,” Chiron leaned back in his wheelchair. “Well, those two were certainly not like any ghosts I’ve ever encountered. They seemed to have corporeal bodies, unlike most shades. And the mechanical one…”

“Skulker.” Danny supplied.

Chiron raised an eyebrow. “Skulker?”

Danny nodded. “That’s what he calls himself.”

Chiron looked unimpressed, but he continued. “Alright, then. ‘Skulker’ was able to physically attack the barrier, which makes me think he isn’t so much a ghost, as he is a monster. That in and of itself wouldn’t normally be too much of a problem, since monsters often try to enter the camp. What’s concerning is that he seems to be sentient. He was able to communicate with us, and where most monsters would be scared off, he chose to continue his assault. At least until the other one showed up.”

“Yeah, but it’s fine now, isn’t it?” Danny tried to assure him. “I-Phantom took care of Skulker, so the camp’s safe.”

Chiron didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know…” He trailed off as he watched the smoke crawl its way up into the chimney, before turning his attention back to Danny. “Speaking of your mentor, I think you should mention this to him.” Chiron said seriously. “Although Phantom helped us today, I don’t trust him. Ghosts never have good intentions, and spirits running loose in the mortal realm is dangerous. That’s why your mentor captures them and takes them back to the Underworld where they belong.”

Danny tried not to wince at the centaur’s words; he knew that Chiron didn’t know he was Phantom, but… it still hurt. “Yeah,” Danny mumbled. “I’ll talk to him tonight.”

Chapter Text

At dinner that night, before everyone had sacrificed a portion of their food to the gods, Chiron made an announcement: “Starting tonight, there will be increased border patrols.”

Campers began to complain almost immediately, but Chiron was quick to explain. “It will only be for a few days, as a precaution in case there are any more incidents like the one that took place earlier today. See Clarisse after dinner for more information on patrol schedules.”

Several campers continued to grumble after Chiron’s announcement, but dinner continued on as normal. After he sacrificed a portion of his food, Danny just sat down and stared at his plate; he had lost his appetite.

.

After dinner, Danny returned to his room and stayed there until lights out. His stomach was in knots as the sun sank below the horizon. What would he tell Thanatos? Hey, so one of my enemies attacked the camp, and I had to go fight him and now the whole camp has seen Phantom! Also, I told Annabeth about the ghosts in Amity Park before the attack, and I’m pretty sure that she’s already piecing together the clues and she’ll figure out my secret identity by the end of the week! Yeah, Danny was not looking forward to the upcoming conversation.

.

Once the sun had disappeared and the last light had gone out in the cabin area, Danny transformed and left his room. He flew across the now quiet camp and back to the beach where the ghost attack had happened earlier. The night sky was clear, and without the light pollution it was full of stars.

Danny paused, taking a moment to enjoy the vast, star-filled sky spread out above him, twinkling like diamonds and glitter on a dark sea. A small smile graced his lips; he could stay there all night, just gazing up at the stars…

But that wasn’t what he’d come out here for.

As Danny hovered about forty feet above the sand, he took a deep breath and held out his right arm. Well, I may as well get this over with.

Danny tugged his glove off so that he could see his mark—it was glowing a faint silvery-white against his tan skin. He traced the letters of his mark and whispered: “Éla se ména, Thánatos. (‘Come to me, Thanatos.’)”

His mark prickled and glowed brightly for a few seconds before the sensation and light faded. Danny pulled his glove back on, feeling far less drained than the first time he had tried that, back in Persephone’s garden.

A few seconds later, the air in front of Danny blackened and condensed into a dark cloud. A pair of dark wings sprouted from the mist, and Thanatos emerged from the shadows in front of him.

Almost instantly, Thanatos dropped about ten feet in the air. He quickly flapped his wings and climbed back up to where Danny was floating.

The god looked surprised. “This… is not the ground.”

Danny gasped and clamped his hands over his mouth. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I didn’t think-”

Thanatos waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. This isn't the first time this has happened.”

Danny gaped at his mentor for a second, a surprised laugh slipping out when he spoke. “I’m sorry, what?”

Thanatos didn’t answer, and instead changed the subject. “How has your stay at camp been so far?”

“Oh…” Danny’s mood darkened as he remembered why he had contacted Thanatos in the first place. “Well, it was going good until today…”

.

Thanatos listened quietly as Danny recounted how Skulker had shown up at camp, and how Danny had to go ghost to deal with him. Danny also told Thanatos about his plan to try and convince the campers that the danger had passed, and how it had prompted Chiron to order increased patrols around camp. When he got to his conversation with Chiron (skipping over his anxiety attack), Danny expressed his worries that Chiron and Annabeth would figure out his secret identity.

“I see…” Thanatos said quietly as he pondered that information. “Forgive me, but I don’t really understand the importance behind a ‘secret identity’. Why not just tell people who you are?”

“Uhh, have you met my parents? The ‘world’s greatest ghost hunters’?” Danny wrapped his arms around himself protectively. “Not to mention the Guys in White, and the Red Huntress, and all those other ghost hunters and freaky scientists that would love to just tear me apart.”

Thanatos still looked confused, but his gaze turned slightly sympathetic. “I cannot really empathize with you, but I suppose I can understand your fear.”

“Yeah.” Danny muttered quietly. He turned away from the god as he remembered what Chiron had said earlier. “Chiron told me to contact you and tell you about Phantom and Skulker being here. He said that ghosts are bad news and it’s your job to get rid of them.”

“You know he did not mean to hurt you, Daniel. He wouldn’t have said that if he knew you were Phantom.” Thanatos reasoned kindly.

“What did he mean, it’s your job?” Danny asked. “I remember you mentioning that you ‘keep the dead where they belong’ or something like that. What does that mean?”

“Although I do my best to ensure that spirits do not escape the Underworld, some still manage to do so.” Thanatos explained. “When they do that, it’s then my job to go to the mortal world, capture them, and bring them back.”

“Is that… what happened to me?” Danny wondered aloud, and when he continued his voice was shaky. “Like, did I… did I die in the portal accident, but my soul didn’t go to the Underworld or something?”

“On the day of your accident, your name did appear on my list.” Thanatos admitted. Danny flinched at the confirmation, but the god continued. “I came to collect you. But, when I reached for your soul, it… changed.”

“Changed how? Why didn’t you just collect my soul anyway?” Danny asked, feeling despondent. “I was meant to die, wasn’t I?”

“Actually, I’m not sure that you were.” Thanatos pulled a black iPad from thin air. He tapped a few things on the screen, before turning it towards Danny. On the screen was a list of names in alphabetical order, all written in black. “See here?” Thanatos pointed at one name that was different from the others: it was grayed out.

Danny felt his stomach drop as he read the name: Daniel James Fenton.

“Your name never left the list,” Thanatos revealed. “It just faded.”

Danny quickly backed away from the tablet and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to remain calm, his breathing quickly getting out of control. What? Was I supposed to… Why am I still here? My… “My name- my name is literally still on your list!”

.

Thanatos POV:

Daniel looked at Thanatos, distress clear in his eyes. Thanatos felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach as Daniel’s eyes turned solid green and began to glow brightly.

“Daniel-” Thanatos began.

:Am I supposed to be dead?: Daniel interrupted him.

Thanatos frowned at that. He’s speaking Greek again… “Dan-”

:Answer me!: Daniel’s voice echoed loudly over the silent valley.

From Daniel’s behavior, Thanatos knew that if he tried to grab his apprentice and calm him down, the halfa would likely have an adverse reaction. Instead, he held up his hands and spoke tentatively in Greek. :I am going to explain myself, but first I need you to calm down, alright?:

This was apparently the wrong thing to say. Daniel’s aura brightened as he vehemently shook his head and backed away. Thanatos was unsure of what to do; he didn’t know how to help his apprentice. Though, Daniel seemed to know what he was doing as he closed his eyes and began to whisper quietly to himself. :In, two, three, four… Out, two, three, four…:

He repeated this several more times, his ghostly aura dimming, until finally: “In, two, three, four… Out, two, three, four…” When Daniel opened his eyes, they were no longer solid green. He took another deep breath. “Alright, I… I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” Thanatos asked gently.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.” Daniel breathed a shaky sigh. When he focused back on Thanatos, his eyes were watery. “Why… why is my name still… on the list?”

Thanatos slowly released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He didn’t really want to talk about this, but he also didn’t want Daniel to become upset and break down again. “Do you remember that vision you had after our first training session?”

Daniel thought for a moment. “Yeah, the one with you and the three old ladies?”

Thanatos nodded. “My sisters, the Fates. Many, many years ago, they gave me a prophecy.”

“I kinda remember that.” Daniel rubbed his eyes. “Something about a second apprentice, right?”

Thanatos nodded again. “‘Death shall take on a second apprentice, made between the worlds of the Lost and the Living’.” He quoted. “Sound like someone you know?”

Daniel looked thoughtful. After a moment, his eyes widened, and he looked up at Thanatos in surprise. “… is it talking about me?”

“Yes,” Thanatos said with a slight smile. “It is indeed talking about you, my young apprentice.”

Daniel ruffled his hair. “Okay, that’s crazy. Why- wait, how many years ago?”

Thanatos smiled in amusement. “Thousands of years ago, Daniel.”

Thanatos didn’t think that Daniel’s eyes could get any wider.

“What?” Daniel slapped his face as if to wake himself up. “Okay, anyway, back to what I was saying. An apprentice made between the worlds of the Lost and the Living? Yeah, okay, that’s definitely me, but why did you take me on as an apprentice? Why does Death even need an apprentice?”

“Well, you brought up the ghosts of Amity Park earlier. As you know, the Ghost Zone that is tied to Amity Park is also known as the Lost Region of Tartarus. It was sundered from the pit long ago, and remained lost for millennia. In fact, it was not rediscovered until the day that I went to collect you.”

Daniel’s expression darkened momentarily, and Thanatos paused before continuing. “I have since tried to capture beings from that region and bring them back to the Underworld, but I do not have the same powers over them that I do over most spirits.”

.

Danny POV:

Danny remembered the day earlier that year when he first met Thanatos, and the faint pulling on his core that he had felt when the god first entered the room. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t felt that sensation in a very long time.

“When I first met you, there was a strange tugging on my ghost core, like I was being drawn towards you. But, it’s not there anymore.” Danny observed as he absently brought a hand to his chest, where he could feel the thrum of his ghost core.

Thanatos nodded. “That is part of my power over the spirits of the dead. I imagine that, once you became my apprentice, it no longer had an effect on you.”

Danny supposed that made sense, but he still couldn’t shake the sense of unease that had settled over him when he saw his name on Thanatos’ list. Something had happened the day of the portal accident that had prevented Danny from fully dying.

Maybe it was the ectoplasm…? Danny wondered, but… he felt like that was incorrect.

“Why did this ‘Skulker’ even show up in the first place?” Thanatos asked, changing the subject yet again.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, guess I forgot to mention that Vlad paid him to find me.” Danny remarked with a tired shrug.

In the dim light of his ghost form, Danny saw Thanatos’ feathers darken slightly.

“Oh, really?” Thanatos scowled. “Perhaps I should have a ‘talk’ with Vlad?”

“No, no. I’ll take care of him myself after camp.” Danny was already going to have a ‘talk’ of his own with Vlad when he got back, and he really didn’t need Thanatos potentially killing the annoying halfa.

“Very well, then.” Thanatos relented, but he didn’t sound happy about it. “And what will you do with Skulker?”

Danny began to explain that he planned to leave the hunter ghost in the thermos until he got back, but when he remembered Skulker’s reaction he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. It felt good to laugh after the heaviness of the past several minutes, even if he sounded slightly manic.

Thanatos smiled at Danny’s laughter, but his eyes still held a hint of worry and something else that Danny couldn’t place—like he was holding back from saying something. Danny didn’t really want to dwell on that at the moment, though.

As Danny’s laughter faded, Thanatos spoke again. “You can tell Chiron that I will take care of the spirits. He doesn’t need to know that you are Phantom right now.”

“Thanks,” Danny said, feeling relieved. “Sorry for calling you out here, I know you’re really busy with your job and stuff.”

“I do not mind, Daniel.” Thanatos said with a kind smile. “You are my apprentice, after all. I will be there if you need me.”

Chapter Text

Unknown POV:

Somewhere in the green expanse known to its inhabitants as the Infinite Realms was a place where the rules of time were subject to the whims of its resident ghost. The only building in the area was a foreboding clock tower on a small island, surrounded by floating clockwork gears.

Within the main room of the keep were monitors that allowed one to look into the tangled web known as Time—to view moments days in the past, or even thousands of years in the future. To view moments destined to happen, or ones that never would.

At this particular moment, the screens displayed Danny Phantom in his various fights. Three ghosts, two with eyeballs for heads and one in a purple cloak, floated in front of one of the larger monitors, arguing with one another.

“Clockwork, please reconsider,” one of the eyeballs pleaded.

“No, I will not.” The purple-cloaked ghost, Clockwork, answered forcibly.

“But this is a potential future!” The other eyeball argued.

“It was. It no longer is,” Clockwork countered. “Not since Lord Death stepped in.” Not that you Observants seem to care.

“But it could have happened!” The first eyeball glided forward. “Which means that something of equal devastation could still happen!”

“And not to mention what she has brought to our attention-” The second began.

Clockwork held up a hand to silence the Observant. “She gets no say in what I should or should not do.”

“Yes, she does!” The first snapped. “She has control over all ghosts!”

“For the time being, yes, but her hold over these Realms will not last.” Clockwork reminded them. “The rightful king will one day reign, and her power over the denizens of the Realms will greatly diminish.”

“Diminish?” The first Observant sounded appalled. “Lady Melinoe will be the Zone’s ruler forever if we have any say in the matter.”

You shouldn’t have any say in the matter. Clockwork thought with frustration. However, he only glared at the two ghosts as he spoke. “How could she be ruler? You say Daniel is unfit because he is not a full ghost, yet neither is she. By your own standards, she is just as unfit.”

“But she’s a goddess,” the second one defended. “And she has saved us from several attacks.”

“And Daniel has saved the entirety of the Realms from Pariah Dark.” Clockwork countered, his patience waning.

“That was but a simple fluke.” The first Observant said dismissively. “He had the help of his human parents, as well as several of his rivals. He didn’t even defeat Pariah Dark with his own power!”

“They simply held off Pariah's forces long enough for Daniel to fight the old king,” Clockwork corrected. “And there is nothing in the rules that states that one cannot use their available resources to increase their chance of success.”

“That abomination didn’t even seal the sarcophagus! The other one did,” one Observant sneered. “Are you saying that Plasmius has a right to the throne as well?”

“Now you’re just arguing semantics.” Clockwork pointed out. “Vladimir does not have a claim to the throne, as he did not defeat the old king in single combat. Daniel did. You two are dragging this on needlessly. Now,” he gestured to the door with his staff. “If you would please leave? I have business to attend to.”

The two Observants did not look pleased. “If you will not do something about it, then we will,” one threatened. The second one nodded vehemently.

Clockwork glared coldly at them. “No, you will not. You know your oath—to watch, and never act.” Not that that stops you from getting others to do your dirty work. “However, if it will get you Observants to leave matters be, then I will show you that there is nothing to worry about.”

.

Danny POV:

The rest of Danny’s stay at Camp Half-Blood was rather uneventful. When it came time for capture the flag on Friday, Aurora and Sunny tried to convince him to play, but Danny had refused. I don’t want anyone else to be suspicious of me. Especially after Thanatos’ warning.

His new friends had been disappointed, but understanding, and hadn’t pressed him for details.

After the game (the Athena team won this time), Danny learned that Annabeth and Clarisse were leaving on an assignment. Danny had asked where they were going, but Annabeth had told him it was “classified information” and changed the subject by asking if he was gonna be okay at camp while she was gone.

“Well, I’m actually heading back home on Monday.” He had replied. At Annabeth’s questioning look, he shrugged awkwardly. “I… decided to go back home, see how it goes, ya know?”

Annabeth had looked uncertain, but she smiled and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll see you later, then. Don’t die before summer, okay?” She said jokingly.

“Ya know, you really shouldn’t say stuff like that to people.” Danny had replied with an amused smile. If only she knew…

Annabeth had merely laughed. “See ya.” She then joined Clarisse, and together they left the camp.

.

Monday rolled around bright and clear—the perfect weather for flying. Danny had risen with the sunrise. He gathered his scattered clothes from around the room, and stuffed them into his duffel bag. After making sure everything was packed, Danny made his way outside.

He found Chiron on the front porch, talking to some nymphs; the nature spirits disappeared as soon as they saw Danny. Chiron looked a bit puzzled by their reactions, but then he smiled pleasantly and asked Danny if he was going to return for the summer.

Danny grinned and said that he would. His mark prickled then, and Danny bid Chiron farewell before making his way to the camp entrance. Danny met Thanatos by the pine tree at the top of the hill, and they set off for the airport.

.

Once they arrived, they ran into no issues passing through the airport and getting on the plane (though Danny did not let Thanatos get another venti unicorn frappuccino; the god seemed a bit sad about that.)

On the plane ride back, Thanatos had Danny try and carry a conversation in Greek. Danny was hesitant at first, but Thanatos said that one of the best ways to learn a new language was to practice it. After a week of language lessons at camp, Danny could read the Greek alphabet now, and he understood a few basic words and phrases, but not much more than that.

As Danny practiced speaking with Thanatos, he stumbled a lot over the words, but Thanatos was patient with him and gently corrected Danny whenever he had trouble with pronunciation and grammar. Thanatos was able to instruct Danny a lot more on the rules of the language than Annabeth had been able to (likely because it was Thanatos' native language) and by the time their plane landed, Danny was speaking somewhat more confidently.

.

As the plane landed in Minnesota, Danny looked out the window, watching as the ground got closer. Danny enjoyed flying using his own powers, but there was just… something different about flying in an airplane. It wasn’t bad.

But seeing Vlad floating over the tarmac certainly was.

Vlad was in the half invisible stage that only other ghosts (and half-ghosts) could see. Thanatos probably could see Vlad as well, now that Danny thought about it. Either way, Danny needed to deal with the annoying older halfa. Vlad appeared to be checking the surrounding planes, as if he were looking for someone—likely Danny. Luckily, Vlad wasn’t looking in his direction, but that could change at any moment.

Danny pulled away from the window, pressing himself against the seat; Thanatos raised an eyebrow in question, but didn’t say anything.

Hopefully Vlad won’t notice me. Danny thought, keeping an eye on the halfa outside the window in case Vlad decided to check out their plane.

As soon as the plane came to a stop and the door was open, Danny reached through the bottom of the overhead bin and grabbed his duffel, not even waiting for Thanatos as he hurried out the door. His feet thudded on the jet walk as he ran; Vlad, thankfully, had been looking at another plane when Danny made his escape into the airport.

I need to find a place to transform so I can- Danny’s thoughts, as well as his feet, came to a screeching halt once he entered the main building.

Thanatos was already there, casually leaning against a wall.

“What? How did…?” Danny stumbled over his words. “I-I left you on the plane…”

“Yes, you did,” Thanatos deadpanned. “Rather rude, by the way. Why did you leave so abruptly?”

“Uh…” Danny glanced over his shoulder and out the window; Plasmius was nowhere to be seen. “Vlad was outside…”

“I know,” Thanatos said. “I already took care of it.”

Danny frowned, suddenly worried about what the god might’ve done. “… what did you do?”

“I did not kill him, if that’s what you are worried about.” Thanatos waved his hand dismissively. “Are you ready to return home?”

Danny looked over his shoulder again, just to make sure Vlad wasn’t going to ambush him. At the lack of any surprise attacks, Danny nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

Thanatos placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder, and, together they shadow-traveled back to Amity Park. Though Danny had (accidentally) shadow-traveled on his own over spring break, he didn’t have enough control to safely travel by himself yet. Thanatos had promised that he would teach him how to shadow-travel properly sometime in the near future.

.

.

The duo appeared in the shadows of the alley next to Danny’s house. They walked around the corner and up the sidewalk a bit until they reached the front steps of Fentonworks; Danny was still looking around to make sure Vlad wasn’t going to show up. Thanatos had apparently scared him off for the time being, but Danny wasn’t taking any chances.

When they got to his house, Danny stopped and stared at the front door; it felt… unreal to be back somewhere that was at least somewhat normal after spending a week at a camp that sounded like something straight out of a fairy tale, or a kids’ book.

“So, I guess I’ll see you next week?” Danny asked, turning to face Thanatos.

Thanatos nodded in agreement. “Of course.”

“Alright.” Danny looked back towards the door. “See ya later, then.”

“Until next week, Daniel.” Thanatos said, before disappearing in a dark cloud of mist.

Danny shook his head amusedly as he made his way up the front stairs; Thanatos could be so dramatic sometimes. After casting another look around for Vlad, Danny pushed open the front door. May as well enjoy the peace and quiet while I can.

Instead of peace and quiet, Danny was greeted by his parents and sister standing in the living room. All three of them looked extremely angry.

“Daniel James Fenton, why did you leave your phone at home?”

Crap.

.

Clockwork POV:

Clockwork was watching one of his time monitors when he was visited by the Observants. Again. Honestly, didn’t they have anything better to do than bothering him? Like sucking up to that upstart goddess?

“Clockwork!” One of them called out; it was a pair of Observants, as usual. “Why have you not destroyed the abomination yet?”

“It's been a week!” The other yelled angrily.

“I am working on it,” Clockwork answered smoothly, gesturing towards the screen he was looking at.

The Observants joined him in watching as Daniel fought a spirit. This ghost—the daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady—wasn’t one from Daniel’s timeline. Not this Daniel’s, anyway. The spectre he was currently fighting (at least, currently for him) was from the future. Not this Daniel’s future, either, though the Observants seemed to believe otherwise.

Clockwork sighed quietly in frustration. Why did he even bother with the Observants? The Ghost Zone had been so much more peaceful before they arrived.

The Observants were a peculiar group; in their mortal lives—several millennia ago, during the time of Ancient Greece—they had been judges of those who would soon die. They would choose where each person was destined to go; Elysium, the Fields of Asphodel, or the Fields of Punishment. The problem with them (as was the problem with many mortals) was that they were easy to bribe. When Hades had taken charge of the Underworld, he had removed them from their positions and replaced them with the spirits of the dead, as they could not be so easily swayed.

When those old mortal judges had passed away and made their way to the Underworld, they had been enraged to find that they faced judgment themselves, and that they were not given back their old jobs. Angered by the “injustice,” many of those old judges had become lost and sooner or later, by one way or another, found themselves in the Ghost Zone. Their spirit forms had been changed by the Zone’s essence and ectoplasm, but the strongest parts of their past selves had remained: their judgmental ways, and their yearning for control and power.

And thus, the Observant Council had been formed.

Over time, the Observant Council had taken up the mantle of watching over the timelines, past and future. They had taken oaths to only watch and never interfere with events, but that didn’t stop them from convincing other ghosts to change the timeline in their favor.

Clockwork returned his attention to the screen in front of him. During the battle, Daniel had destroyed his town’s Nasty Burger. The explosion he had set off had knocked Clockwork’s time medallion off of the ghost that Daniel had been fighting, thus sending her safely back to her timeline. As for Daniel, he had just noticed the papers stuck to his back, and was now staring at the document with a rather stunned expression.

Ahh, there we are, Clockwork thought. Let’s see just how much Lord Death has changed Daniel’s future. “Watch this,” he told the Observants. “He’ll make the right choice.”

Clockwork was only mildly surprised when Daniel did not make the right choice (not that any choice was right, for that matter, but Daniel’s wasn’t the one that would be considered right by most.) He wasn’t particularly worried, though; Clockwork had been watching Daniel’s timelines for centuries now, and he knew that there was no chance this one would take the turn that the Observants feared.

However, the Observants seemed to think otherwise. The screen paused as one of the green ghosts turned to Clockwork angrily. “We have seen all that we need to! He is not fit to be king!”

“We must convene with the Observant High Council at once.” The other announced, and the first nodded in agreement.

And with that, the Observants left Clockwork’s Tower.

Clockwork continued watching the monitor with a smirk. He knew more or less how this tale would play out in the end, and it would not be in the Observants’ favor, nor Melinoe’s.

The scenes on the screen in front of Clockwork changed so quickly that anyone trying to watch them without his powers would have become dizzy, and maybe even a bit mad. Clockwork only watched lazily as the events, both past and yet to occur, flashed before his eyes. He narrowed his vision, so that only the ones that could still happen were shown:

Daniel and his friends finding their way into the alternate future… Daniel, bound and alone, drifting through an endless green wasteland… Daniel, back in his own time, fighting his alternate self…

These scenes and others like them flickered through the view screen, showing all of the possible paths and outcomes for the near future.

Clockwork sighed; if one knew him well enough, they would’ve recognized it as a sigh of relief. Before Thanatos had taken Daniel on as his apprentice, the scenes had been rather different:

The first apprentice, her new form torn to shreds of charred gold by her own child… Heroes from many pantheons—a son of the sea, two magicians, a valkyrie and her einherjar, and more—all struck down by the same growing evil… A remorseful father, resigned and forlorn as he was dragged down, down, down…

Clockwork blinked the images away. There was no use dwelling on what could have been, and would no longer be. Though, new possibilities were yet to come, and by some standards they could be considered worse than what would originally have been…

“No,” Clockwork scolded himself; he would not think of that right now. He raised his hand, and the flickering images stopped, the screen freezing on a picture of a winged statue carved from solid black rock. Audio crackled from the monitor, and Clockwork smiled softly as he heard a father begin to sing a lullaby.

.

Danny POV:

Danny sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the CAT answer booklet that sat on his desk. Yesterday, he had been thrilled to find the answers stuck to his back. Now I don’t have to worry about studying! He had thought.

But now that he was home and staring at the test answers, Danny was having second thoughts.

On the one hand, if Danny used the test answers, he wouldn’t have to worry about passing the test. With the persistent ghost fights, his weekly training sessions with Thanatos, and the fact that he spent all of last week at Camp Half-Blood, Danny had not had enough time to study. It was very tempting to cheat on the CAT. Almost overwhelmingly so.

But on the other hand, Danny knew he would be disappointing his friends and family if he cheated. And, if he was being honest, Danny would be disappointed in himself as well.

Danny groaned in frustration and flopped backwards on his bed. Why does my life have to be so complicated? He asked himself. He stared helplessly at the ceiling, internally debating with himself.

It would be so easy, One part of him whispered. No one would know.

I would know, The other part responded. So would Sam and Tucker. Jazz would find out. And so would my parents…

There wasn't time to study, The first part argued. And now it's too late.

It's never too late to study. If I fail, that’s on me.

I won’t fail if I study the answers, The first part suggested.

NO.

Danny shook his head, clearing his quarreling thoughts from his mind. He needed a second opinion. He considered IMing Annabeth, but he didn’t know where she was so that wouldn’t work. And as a child of Athena, Danny figured that Annabeth would be pretty biased when it came to cheating on tests. And his friends had already voiced their displeasure…

So that left one other person Danny knew of that could hopefully help him.

Danny sat up and brought his right arm in front of him. “Míla mazí mou, Thánatos. (‘Speak with me, Thanatos.’)” Danny whispered while tracing the theta (Θ) of his mark.

A few moments later, a rainbow shimmered to life in front of Danny, and Thanatos’ image appeared in the midst of it. Danny could see that Thanatos was in a cave of sorts, but it was too dark for Danny to see much of anything else, except for the faint flickering of light on the rocks behind the god.

“Hello, Daniel.” Thanatos greeted, his eyes glowing dimly in the gloom. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Danny glanced at the CAT test answers. “I… just need some advice.”

“Advice on what?” Thanatos questioned, looking a bit confused. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

“Uhh, are you okay?” Danny asked, worried that he had accidentally woken up Thanatos. Do gods even get tired? Or need sleep?

Thanatos nodded and bit back a yawn. “I am alright. Now, what do you need advice on?”

“Just… advice, I guess.” Danny shrugged. “I don't know…”

“If it’s about you and Samantha, I won’t be of much help there,” Thanatos said awkwardly. “I’m… not the best with relationship advice.”

“What?” Danny looked at the god, confused. Then the implication of what Thanatos was saying wormed its way into Danny's mind, and Danny found himself doing his best impersonation of a tomato. “No, no! Th-this is about something else.”

“Oh, okay,” Thanatos smiled, amused but also relieved. “What sort of advice did you need?”

Danny cleared his throat, looking away as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, it's kind of a long story…”

“Maybe you could summarize?” Thanatos suggested.

“I could try…” Danny wasn’t sure where to start, so he began with his fight with Box Lunch (eww!).

.

“And then the medallion thing fell off of Box Lunch—still eww-”

“Be nice, Daniel,” Thanatos chided.

“Sorry,” Danny mumbled. “Anyway, it fell off while we were fighting, and then she disappeared sometime during the explosion!”

“Well, I don’t know much about ‘medallion things’, but I do have a question for you.” Thanatos looked puzzled. “Why do you keep saying ‘eww’ when you are referring to this ghost?”

Danny frowned thoughtfully as he looked away. “Honestly, I think it’s ‘cuz she’s a combination of the crusty old Lunch Lady and the perpetually awkward Box Ghost,” he answered with a shrug. “But, it’s also just… really weird that ghosts are even able to have kids. Like, how does that even work? They’re dead, you know? How…?” He trailed off.

“Is it really so strange that a being of death can have a child?” Thanatos questioned, propping his head up with his hand as he bit back another yawn.

Danny paused, thinking about what Thanatos said. “… I mean, yeah? That… doesn’t really make sense.”

Thanatos pursed his lips, and there was something about his expression that Danny couldn’t place. “Well, I’d say plenty of ancient births didn’t ‘make sense’. The goddess Aphrodite was born of seafoam. Pegasus and Chrysaor were born from the stump of Medusa’s neck when Perseus cut off her head. The Furies were born of the blood of Ouranos, a myrrh tree gave birth to Adonis-”

“Okay, okay. I get it,” Danny acquiesced, interrupting Thanatos’ spiel. “Maybe it isn’t so weird that ghosts can have kids.”

Thanatos blinked, looking almost dazed; he looked as if he had forgotten what they were talking about. “… yes, that’s… What does your fight with Box Lunch have to do with the advice you needed?” Thanatos asked—the change in subject was obvious.

Danny, feeling rather confused by Thanatos’ uncharacteristic behavior, didn’t comment on it. “Uh, well, after the fight, the CAT test answers somehow got stuck to my back, and now I…” Danny glanced over at his alarm clock, his stomach dropping as he saw that it read 7:55 A.M. “Crap, I’m gonna be late! I’ll talk to you later!”

Danny swiped his hand through the Iris Message, breaking the connection before Thanatos could respond. He leapt up from the bed, grabbing his backpack as he transformed and flew out the window.

I’ll guess I'll return the answers while I’m at school.

.

.

Danny and his friends yelled in alarm as they flew through the swirling green portal after Skulktech. They hit the ground roughly on the other side, and the claw-thing that held Danny finally snapped open. Danny was quick to take in their surroundings.

The room they had landed in was dark and spacious, its cold brick floors and walls decorated with gears and machinery. The bricks themselves appeared to be a mixture of old and new, and seemed to shift between crumbling ruins and pristine stonework. The gears were the same, rotating between rusted and shined as they spun.

Runes, hieroglyphs, and other ancient symbols decorated the bricks and gears. Danny recognized a few of the symbols as Ancient Greek; after all, he did have some of those same symbols on his arm, and he’d been studying them for the past week. But there was something… different about these symbols. Power and… something else radiated, flowed, pulsed around them. There was a faint… sound, on the very edges of his hearing. If Danny closed his eyes and focused, he could hear humming, whispering, chanting. He did not understand the words, but he felt their power all the same.

It was nearly overwhelming for Danny’s ghost core, which felt like it was doing cartwheels in his chest, as if to warn him—to tell him he shouldn’t be there.

Danny shakily got to his feet, Sam and Tucker doing the same. Now that he was on his feet, Danny could see several floating monitors around the… room he and his friends were in.

“Where are we?” Tucker questioned, his voice echoing eerily through the hall.

“I… don’t know,” Danny mumbled. He wandered over to the large window, his gaze searching the surrounding green landscape. “We’re in the Ghost Zone, I think. But… no part that I’ve ever seen. The real question is, how did we get here?”

“It happened after his medallion fell off.” Sam pointed over to where Skulktech lay motionless on the floor.

The future ghost had attacked Danny while he and his friends had been in his room, talking about the medallion and the CAT test answers (which, in his stressed state of mind, he had forgotten to return). Danny had only been able to fight off Skulktech with the help of Tucker, who had hacked into the exo-suit and sent the merged ghost flying away.

Danny had given chase and was nearly defeated, until his friends arrived and saved him again by disabling Skulktech’s suit, effectively leaving the ghost catatonic. Then a medallion had fallen off of Skulktech—much like how one had with Box Lunch—and next thing they knew, Danny and his friends were dragged into this weird part of the Ghost Zone.

Tucker snapped his fingers, as if he’d just had an idea. “Then I think I know how to get us back!”

He ran over to a hook board that Danny hadn’t noticed earlier, with several more of those gear-shaped medallions hanging from it. Tucker grabbed one and put it on, before turning back to his friends.

“Ta-dah!” He announced triumphantly, as if he had done something particularly impressive.

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Tucker lowered his arms sheepishly after a few seconds. “Nothing, huh?”

“No,” Sam smirked. “But nice bling.” She walked over to a nearby monitor that swirled with green mist, and began to inspect it.

Danny walked over to Tucker and picked up the medallion around his neck, studying it carefully. His core was definitely on edge—something was there, in the tower with them. Something powerful.

Something ancient.

“I don’t like this,” Danny muttered.

Sam spoke up then, her voice echoing as she called over to him. “You’re going to like this even less.”

Tucker and Danny looked over at Sam. She was still in front of the large monitor, but its display had changed. Instead of swirling green mist, there was now a frozen image of a ghost with pale blue skin, flaming white hair, and glowing red eyes.

A chill ran down Danny’s spine. Who… who was that?

The image began to move once Danny and Tucker joined Sam in front of the screen. The ghost was firing ecto-blasts, and Danny watched in horror as they hit buildings and vehicles and people. Buildings crumbled, chunks of cement and bricks crashing down onto the wrecked street below, onto people trying to escape-

The image cut back to the ghost, and that same chill ran through Danny again, making his hair stand on end. He stared at the ghost; had he seen him somewhere before? Was that why…?

No, that wasn’t it. Danny realized now that the ghost’s outfit was reminiscent of his own. Some words at the bottom of the screen caught his eye. It read, in little green letters:

FUTURE: 10 YEARS.

Wait a minute… A cold, dreadful feeling settled in Danny’s stomach. Is that… me?

“I think we’re seeing your future,” Sam said in a biting tone, not noticing the way Danny paled as she affirmed his fears. “And honestly, you’re kind of a jerk.”

Danny didn’t respond as the video continued.

The scene changed once more. The ghost was now floating at the base of a hill with a large pine tree at the top, grinning as an army marched towards him. Danny’s stomach churned when he saw orange shirts sticking out of the edges of the armor and a familiar centaur behind the main body of the army. Jars filled with green liquid flew towards the ghost as the army advanced, setting the hill aflame, but unfortunately leaving the ghost unharmed.

The ghost inhaled deeply, and held his breath. He waited until the army got a little closer before unleashing a horrible sound. It was so loud that the image became fuzzy, as if the monitor were vibrating. Green ecto-energy tore up the hillside, plowing through the ranks and scattering everyone like leaves in a windstorm.

The army, the children, were obliterated, along with the camp they had called home.

Danny couldn’t look away. How could he, after watching…

No, don’t think about that. Think about something else. Like that admittedly cool power. Even if it was used to…

“Ok, you’re really a jerk,” Sam said, the biting tone still in her voice.

Danny shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. His heart and core raced in tandem, making his chest feel like a bass drum. That couldn’t be… It’s not…

Sam looked at him, concern etched on her face. “Danny?” The angry tone had left her voice, and she reached out and rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Danny wanted to scoff and say that of course he wasn’t okay, they had just watched Camp Half-Blood get destroyed by… his future self.

By him.

Bile rose in his throat at the thought. Danny brought a hand up and rested it on top of Sam’s, his gaze never leaving the screen. The ghost stood amongst the ruins of the Big House, and he began to laugh-

The screen froze and faded to green as Tucker awkwardly cleared his throat, startling Danny and Sam. “We need to figure out what exactly is going on,” he said quietly. Tucker pulled out his PDA and turned towards Skulktech. “Let’s see if this future boy knows anything about…”

Tucker trailed off as a blue glow appeared around the ghost. They watched as Skulktech was lifted into the air and flew into the monitor that had previously held the ruins of Camp Half-Blood on its screen.

Tucker looked at Sam and Danny, his eyes wide with alarm. “I didn’t do that!”

“I did.”

The trio looked up to see a new being descend from the darkness of the ceiling. Danny’s hair stood on end again, and his core thrummed so loud his teeth almost chattered. This ghost was the source of the strange power coursing through the clock tower. Danny quickly realized that this tower was the ghost’s lair. And they had not been invited in.

Uh oh.

The newcomer looked amused as he came to a stop, still floating high above the trio. He had the appearance of a young adult, but Danny knew that appearances could be deceiving. Especially when it came to ghosts.

The ghost was blue-skinned and had solid red eyes that glowed ominously from the shadows of his purple hood. Despite the shadows, Danny could see a jagged scar running down the left side of the ghost’s face. A clock face was set deep in his chest, its pendulum swinging back and forth. His long, serpentine tail curled restlessly as he regarded the three teens, a far too knowing look in his eyes as he held a staff in his hands. It was as if the ghost could see right into their souls—as if he knew every little detail about them, every secret, every-

Those red eyes locked onto Danny, and the being grinned.

“It’s good to see you again, old friend.” Somehow, Danny knew the ghost was speaking to him. “It’s been a long time.”

Chapter Text

‘Old friend’? Danny eyed the newcomer warily. I’m sure I’ve never met this guy before.

The ghost’s grin gained a sphinxlike quality. “Oh, we haven’t met yet, have we? At least, not from your point of view.”

Sam marched forward, placing herself between Danny and the ghost. “What did you do with Skulktech?” She demanded.

The ghost waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, I just sent him back to his time. Or, rather,” the ghost’s appearance changed, growing old in the blink of an eye; near-skeletal hands gripped the staff, and a long, grandfatherly beard hung from his chin. He looked like an old wizard, especially with the same scar still on his face. “Forward to his own time. Time does not flow linearly for me.” The ghost changed again; this time, he looked like a child, and the staff shrunk in size. The ghost scoffed. “But why should I bother explaining? You’re fourteen.”

Was that an insult?

No. It is the truth, and you know it.

That felt like an insult.

Danny clenched his hands as annoyance began to simmer beneath his skin. “Who are you? Where are we?”

The ghost changed back to an adult and idly turned a dial on his staff. “When you’ve been around as long as I have, you go by many names. You should know all about that, right?” The ghost gave Danny a sidelong glance, and his unblinking gaze grated on Danny’s nerves. “Or should I say, you will know.” The ghost shrugged nonchalantly. “But, in answer to your first question, you may call me Clockwork, Master of Time.”

Danny stepped protectively in front of Sam. “‘Master of Time’?” Danny scoffed mockingly. “That’s a bit pretentious, isn’t it?”

He could feel his friends’ eyes boring into the back of his head, and he could practically hear them saying, ‘Danny, please don’t do something stupid. Please don’t pick a fight with this guy.’

Clockwork’s expression was mildly amused as he changed once more into an old man. “I suppose it is.”

“Okay, so if you’re the ‘Master of Time’,” Danny did air quotes with the title. “I’m guessing that you know why Skulktech showed up in my time. Right?” Danny was having difficulty trying to keep his emotions in check as his annoyance bubbled into anger.

“Oh, that was me,” Clockwork answered lightly, now in child form. “I was charged with destroying you, so that,” he gestured to the monitor they had been looking at. “Never happens.”

On the display, the image changed again, now showing the ghost—Future Danny—fighting against Annabeth and a guy that looked sort of like Danny, but with tanner skin and green eyes. The scene changed, and the ghost was now facing off against a girl in a green headscarf, a blonde guy with a glowing sword, and a person in a garish pink and green outfit. The scene changed once more. Now the ghost was fighting against a girl with caramel hair and a guy with dark brown hair, both of whom were dressed in simple white clothes.

In every scene, the ghost was clearly winning.

The scene started to change once again, but Danny couldn’t handle any more of… the future. His future.

“That’s not me! It can’t be! I would never do that to anyone!” Danny’s voice rose with each word, until he was shouting at the end. “Why do I have to pay for something that somebody else did?!”

Clockwork tilted his head, regarding Danny with a rather curious expression. Danny doubted it to be the case, but the ghost even appeared slightly apologetic.

Danny would have apologized for raising his voice, but he’d had a crappy day so far, and this ghost was the cause of it. He was late for school, he’d completely forgotten to return the test answers, and he had gotten beaten to kingdom come by a ghost from an apocalyptic future that Danny did not want to be a part of. And it was all this ghost’s fault.

“I’m goin’ ghost!”

.

.

Danny and his friends fell out of the portal. Danny managed to slow his fall and float a few inches above the ground, while Sam and Tucker tumbled to the earth below.

“Ouch…” Tucker whined as he sat up and glared at Danny. “What, you couldn’t catch us?”

“Sorry, I was a little busy trying to avoid getting us all murdered.” Danny argued back; admittedly, it had been rather stupid of him to pick a fight with a ghost who could literally control time, but… “Besides, you’ve got all those cushy plants to break your fall.”

Tucker frowned as he looked down. The asphalt where he and Sam had landed was cracked and worn, and thick green plants—vines, ferns, trees, etc—had broken through the rock. He stood and helped Sam up, glancing around uneasily as they took in the scene around them.

Tucker’s eyes widened in shock. “This is ten years in the future? It looks more like fifty! I’m not taking the CAT if this is all I’ve got to look forward to.”

Danny looked at the landscape surrounding them, and he had to agree. The buildings were in absolute ruins, with vines and other leafed plants climbing up their sides. The apartments, stores, and offices looked like something out of The Little Shop of Horrors. Some of the buildings were completely covered in vegetation, to the point that Danny couldn’t even tell what they had once been.

As for the plants, Danny realized upon closer inspection that they weren’t quite… normal. The greenery was thick and overgrown—far more than seemed natural. Danny didn’t recognize most of the plants—some looked like giant ferns, and others looked like they belonged underwater. Some of the plants were so bizarre, Danny was almost certain that they had existed during the time of the dinosaurs.

“Yeah, I’m a fan of nature and all, but this is a bit much. Even for me,” Sam admitted, kicking at a leafy vine the width of a tree trunk; it didn’t budge. “How did this all happen?”

“I don’t know,” Danny mumbled as he flew forward a few feet. “But based on what we saw back in Clockwork’s Tower… I have a really bad feeling I’m the one responsible.”

Suddenly, a hint of danger tingled at the back of Danny’s mind. A fern in front of him rustled, and before he could move, a pink net shot out and wrapped around him. He tried to phase through the webbing, and a sharp jolt of electricity shot through him in response. He cried out as he fell to the ground, and the one who had trapped him emerged from their hiding place in the undergrowth.

It was a woman in a strikingly familiar red and black jumpsuit. Though, the woman herself looked quite different from when Danny had last seen her. Her long curly hair had been buzzed short, and what was visible of her skin was marred with nicks and scars. She looked older—not just physically, but mentally. Emotionally. Hatred burned in her eyes like embers in a fire.

“Valerie?” Danny gawked in disbelief.

The huntress didn’t answer as she readjusted the bazooka on her shoulder, taking aim at the trapped halfa.

“Wait, you gotta listen to me!” Danny struggled against the net.

“You can’t fool me this time, Phantom.” The coldness in Valerie’s voice shocked Danny. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.” The bazooka whirred to life as Valerie glared hatefully at Danny. “Goodbye and good—”

The huntress was cut off as Sam and Tucker jumped between her and Danny, shielding him from her line of fire.

“Valerie, no!” Tucker exclaimed.

“Don’t shoot!” Sam pleaded.

Valerie stumbled back as if she’d been shocked. The bazooka was, thankfully, no longer aimed at Danny or his friends. Valerie paled as her gaze flicked between the living teens, and she looked as if she’d seen a ghost (No, bad Danny. This is not the time for jokes.)

“Sam?” She gasped, her voice raspy and full of disbelief. “Tucker? No, this has to be a trick! You died!”

Danny’s core stopped. Sam and Tucker died…? What…? Who…?

“‘Died’? As in ‘died’ died?” Tucker dropped his arms and looked at Sam, his expression horrified as he took a step back. “If that’s our future, I’m definitely not taking the CAT!”

“The CAT?” Valerie looked dazed. “That’s… that’s the last time I saw you guys alive. The explosion at the Nasty Burger… you and Lancer, and Jazz, and… and…” Her eyes widened in realization.

Valerie pointed her weapon at Danny again, the pink glow of its charge reflecting off the pavement. She looked furious. “And it was all your fault!”

Without warning, a wave of ecto-energy shot between the young teens and the older woman, sending Valerie flying backwards with a scream. Danny and his friends looked towards the source and Danny suddenly found that he couldn’t breathe.

There, floating several feet above them, was the ghost they had seen on the monitors in Clockwork’s Tower.

It was him.

The ghost glared at Valerie. “Actually, that was me.” His voice was lower than Danny’s, more grating. Danny shivered when the ghost turned his cold gaze to him with a malicious smile. “And you, eventually.”

The ghost, Future Danny—no… Dan (Danny refused to let this become his future)—landed in front of Danny and his friends.

“Sam and Tucker,” he drawled, his gaze flicking between the two humans. “It’s been a while. Ten years, to be exact.”

Dan raised his hand, ecto-energy glowing in his palm, and waved it in front of him, casting an ecto-stasis field over Sam and Tucker. They remained frozen in place as Dan sauntered forward with a smirk.

“So, to what do I owe this blast from the past?” Dan smirked, but it turned into a scowl when he saw the time medallion around Sam’s neck. “Clockwork, meddling again.” Dan’s gaze landed on Danny then, and his scowl deepened as he took in Danny’s appearance—specifically, the laurel wreath. “And why are you—”

Dan was interrupted by a pink ecto-blast that sent him flying backwards into an old building covered in a thick layer of ivy. Danny looked over and saw Valerie struggling to her feet, a wrist blaster on her left arm and two grenades in her right hand.

Dan emerged from the plants, looking slightly dazed, but his expression quickly morphed into one of anger as he snarled and flew towards Valerie. She flung her grenades one after the other at the fast approaching ghost. Dan turned himself into a weird green mist right as the grenades met his skin, causing them to pass harmlessly through him.

Unfazed, Valerie brought up her wrist ray and began firing at Dan. Dan split into two—one duplicate continued on Dan’s path towards the Red Huntress, while the other flew around to flank her. Valerie could only focus on one duplicate at a time.

With her attention focused on the duplicate that was trying to sneak behind her, the one charging towards her reached out and grabbed her wrists.

The two ghosts remerged, and Dan lifted Valerie into the air by her arm. His fist connected with her gut, and Danny heard a painful crack as the air was knocked from Valerie’s lungs and she was sent flying once more. Valerie landed roughly on what was left of the pavement a good fifteen feet away. Dan landed at her feet, looming menacingly over her.

“Where’s your usual fight, Valerie?” Dan asked mockingly. “I’ve let you live this long because I enjoyed our little squabbles.” Dan leaned down, grabbed Valerie by the throat, and lifted her into the air once more. He looked rather unimpressed as she clawed at his hand and began to squirm and kick. “But if you’re not going to fight anymore, I guess I’ll just have to kill you.”

NO! Danny struggled desperately against the net that held him captive. I have to… have to save her.

Danny watched helplessly as Valerie scratched weakly at the hand around her throat. Her eyes bugged out as her face turned red, and her mouth opened in a desperate gasp for air. Dan’s gaze was cold as he tightened his grip.

If only I could break these stupid ropes! Danny pulled at the netting, growling in frustration as it zapped his fingers. But then an idea came to him. What if he used his other transformation?

Danny remembered the weird transformation he had done three months ago; he also remembered that he had passed out each time he tried to use said transformation. As long as it could help Valerie, then I’m willing to try anything.

Danny closed his eyes and focused on the icy cold of his core. He hesitantly pulled at some of the power, and dug a little deeper until… there. He felt the faint burning of that roaring green fire. Just a little bit…

Danny felt the warmth of the transformation begin to envelop him and focused on expelling it out around him, destroying the net he was trapped in. Then he imagined that the flames were gone, and when he opened his eyes, they were. He was also wearing the tunic and sandals again, but he had far more important things to focus on at the moment.

Danny looked up to see Valerie hanging limply from Dan’s grasp, her hands dangling lifelessly at her sides. A blue mist hung in the air around her head, the last of it wafting from her mouth. Dan looked at her in vague disgust before he tossed her aside like a piece of garbage.

Danny reacted quickly and sped forward to catch her. He managed to grab her just before she hit the ground, and flew off before Dan could grab either of them.

I need to get her somewhere safe. Danny thought as he glanced down at Valerie. Somewhere-

Wait.

Something was wrong.

Danny abruptly came to a stop, only twenty feet or so from Dan. He floated down to the ground as dread settled over him. No, she can’t be…

He laid Valerie down on the ground as gently as he could and took her wrist, pressing his fingers to her pulse point.

He felt nothing.

Frustrated, Danny pulled off her glove and tried again.

… Nothing.

His gaze went to her chest, and he watched anxiously, hoping, praying that…

Nothing.

She wasn’t breathing. She had no pulse. Her skin… her skin was already far too cold.

Valerie was dead.

And he hadn’t done anything to stop it.

Dan cackled behind him. “There was nothing you could have done,” he called out, as if he had read Danny’s mind. “Not once I had my hand around her throat.”

Danny didn’t turn around—not yet, at least. He gently folded Valerie’s arms across her stomach, and closed her eyes. Now, she at least appeared to be sleeping.

:Thank you for your help, my friend,: Danny whispered.

Danny felt like there was something more he could have done for her—something he should have done—but there wasn’t enough time for him to think about it. Not right now. Danny felt something brush against his arm; it felt like a cool breeze.

But… there wasn’t any wind.

Danny ignored it as he got to his feet. He turned to face his evil older self, and dread dropped like a rock in his stomach at what he saw.

Sam and Tucker were suspended a few feet off of the ground, still frozen in green ecto-energy. Dan paced in front of them, like a lion around its prey. His mouth moved as if he were talking to them, but Danny was too far away to hear him.

Danny’s vision wavered for a split second—his strength was fading. He couldn’t stay in this form for very long. He shook his head to clear his vision, before he brought his hands up and shot a dual ecto-blast at Dan.

The beam was bigger than Danny had anticipated. It forced him back a few steps from the sheer force behind it, but Danny didn’t have time to think about that as his ecto-blast flew towards Dan.

Dan seemed to sense the impending attack and turned around, firing one of his own ecto-blasts just as Danny’s hit him square in the chest, knocking Dan to the ground and freeing Sam and Tucker. Dan’s ecto-blast hit Danny in the gut, knocking him flat on his back and forcing the air from his lungs.

Sucking in a breath, Danny sat up and looked at his friends. They hadn’t moved away from Dan yet, clearly in shock. They needed to move before Dan got back on his feet.

:Sam! Tucker!: Danny shouted.

His friends’ gazes snapped to him.

:Run!:

Tucker just stared at Danny, as if he didn’t understand him. Sam, on the other hand, jumped to her feet, grabbed Tucker’s arm, and ran away, dragging Tucker behind her. Tucker, thankfully, was quick to get his feet under him and run after her.

Danny caught a glance of where his friends were running to, and froze. He recognized that building, no matter how it looked now, all derelict and covered in wild plants. How could he not? He grew up within its walls.

Sam and Tucker were running towards what was left of FentonWorks.

Dan got to his feet with a pained grimace, but he shook it off as he realized that they were trying to escape.

“Run? Where are they going to go?” Dan grinned evilly at Danny, before he turned around.

Danny watched in horror as Dan inhaled and released the power he had used to annihilate Camp Half-Blood and its residents.

Sam and Tucker froze in their tracks, covering their ears in an ineffectual attempt to block out that horrible sound.

Nonono I have to save them. I have to stop him. Danny flew at Dan with blinding speed, ramming into the older ghost. Dan’s wail was cut short, but not soon enough to stop the dilapidated building from crumbling and falling towards Sam and Tucker.

Danny tried to fly to his friends and rescue them—he had to save them, he had to—but Dan caught him by the ankle. Danny could only watch as what was left of the Ops Center fell on top of Sam and Tucker.

NO!!!

Danny cried out in pain as electricity suddenly coursed through his body. His transformation shorted out, leaving him exhausted and human. Dan cackled as he swung Danny around and threw him into the pile of rubble that had buried his friends.

Danny landed heavily on the pavement. None of the plants had broken his fall—it was almost as if they had a mind of their own and had moved out of the way.

Groaning, Danny propped himself up on his elbows and turned his gaze up towards the wreckage. He nearly cried out in relief when he saw two medallions laying among the debris.

They’re alive! Danny thought with relief as he pushed himself to his knees. “They took off their medallions and went back to our time.” Danny reached up to his medallion. “Which means I can…”

Dan’s hand shot out and grabbed Danny’s wrist. Danny was roughly pulled to his feet, and brought face to face with his evil older self. Dan looked infuriated, and his eyes reminded Danny of two red supergiants, ready to collide with one another.

“Means what? That you can go back home and act like this never happened?” Dan snarled, his free hand glowing green. “I don’t think so. You’re not going anywhere. Not if I have anything to say about it. Oh, wait.”

He bared his fangs in an awful grin that sent chills down Danny’s spine. “I do have a say, and you will never leave. Especially,” he ripped the medallion from around Danny’s neck. His eyes glowed with a malevolent light. “If you can’t remove your time medallion.”

Dan turned the medallion intangible and plunged it into Danny’s chest.

Danny screamed, his voice echoing through the decimated remains of Amity Park. Every square inch of his chest was filled with a searing pain as the medallion touched his core. It felt like dry ice was filling his lungs, and it burned. It burned, it burned, it burns-

Dan pulled his hand out of Danny’s chest, but the pain didn’t cease. The medallion continued to shift, its teeth scraping and gouging against Danny’s core as it settled into place. The medallion struck the bottom of Danny’s sternum, and his vision went white, his ears ringing so loudly he thought he might go deaf. He knew that he was still screaming, but it sounded echoey and far away, as if it were somebody else. He couldn’t feel anything except pain, so much pain…

And then he blacked out.

.

Danny stood by the lake again. He could see the three islands clearly in the distance; he hated those islands. Those islands, where he could not go. Where his mother would be going, and leaving him behind. He turned to his mother, whose hands he held tightly in his own.

:Why?: He asked, although he already knew her answer. :Why must you go?:

His mother smiled at him sadly. He was not used to her new form; she still had blue eyes (just like his own), but her once black hair now glistened like snow, and she glowed with a heavenly sort of light. All that remained of her old form was her priestess’ laurels—silvery white leaves, tied together with light blue ribbons—which Danny now wore atop his own head. She had traded them for a flower crown that Danny had made for her. Poppies, lilies, anemones, chrysanthemums, and dianthus now adorned her hair.

Once, Danny and his mother had looked almost the same; Danny didn’t really have any physical traits from his father, except for the faintest hint of gold in his irises.

:Because I am needed, Athos,: his mother explained patiently. :My father has bestowed this role upon me, to guide and welcome those who have done good. Who have given their lives for a greater cause, given their life for another, or lived a virtuous life.:

:But—: Danny’s throat constricted as tears filled his eyes. :But that is not fair! It is not good or virtuous of you to leave me, and go where I cannot follow! I never lived a full life!:

His mother brought her hands to his cheeks, where she wiped away the stray tears that had begun to fall. :Athos, my son, have faith,: she said softly. :Have faith in yourself. You can live a full life. You have that choice.:

Danny felt his stomach churn at what she was suggesting. :But…: He looked away from her and to the east, where he knew there flowed a river of white that, if he chose its path, would erase all that he had ever known. :But what if I am not good? What if I do not do right, and I cannot return home to you?:

His mother pulled him close and placed a kiss on top of his head. :I have faith in you, Athanasios. You will return to me, one way or another.:

.

Something was wrong. When Danny inhaled and exhaled, he felt something wrong—like some object was rubbing uncomfortably against his core. Slowly, his other senses came back to him. He could feel rough pavement against his cheek, and the familiar chill of ectoplasm coiled tightly around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides. Danny winced at the bright sunlight as he opened his eyes, and he slowly sat up.

Everything hurt, but that was kinda normal for him by this point. His vision spun, and Danny closed his eyes as he tried not to throw up. His head hurt, as if someone had cracked it against a brick wall.

How long had he been out? Had he been dreaming? What had he dreamt about…?

The more Danny tried to remember it, the faster the memory left him, until he wasn’t sure he’d dreamt anything at all.

Feeling more stable, Danny opened his eyes again. His vision had cleared, and he now noticed a large statue in front of him. It was old and weathered, covered in thick greenery. But, as Danny watched, the plants slithered away, revealing the stone monument underneath. Danny shuddered—it was like… the plants were sentient. Like they were moving themselves.

However, he quickly lost interest in that once he realized what the monument was. It was a memorial for his family and friends, with the inscription, “Gone But Not Forgotten” etched across its base.

Danny felt his heartbeat pick up, and tears began to prick at the corners of his eyes. What happened to them? What got them in the end?

Danny managed to roll onto his knees despite his torso and arms being wrapped tightly together in glowing green ropes, and he winced as the bindings rubbed against cuts and bruises on his arms. He looked around, taking in his surroundings.

He was in a spacious clearing with the ruins of a large building next to him. Huge plants—flowering trees and overgrown bushes—sat along the edges of the clearing, their leaves swaying in a nonexistent wind.

Why am I here? Danny asked himself, before turning his focus back to the ruined building.

Underneath the dirt and grime, Danny could make out what were once white walls and doors. Glass littered the ground around the building. From the stinging pain in Danny’s cheek, he guessed that he might’ve gotten some of the finer glass dust in his cuts. Ouch.

Something white and red in the corner of Danny’s vision caught his eye. It was a sign.

A sign that Danny knew very, very well.

“The Nasty Burger?” Danny’s throat felt like sandpaper. “What happened?”

“Oh, nothing much.” A cold voice spoke. Dread filled the pit of Danny’s stomach at the sound.

Danny looked back up at the standing remains of the Nasty Burger just in time to see Dan round the corner. He appeared nonchalant, but Danny’s core sensed the dangerous vibes Dan was giving off.

“Just one huge fireball of combustible condiments that changed my whole future.”

“W-what?” Danny looked back at the ruined restaurant. This time he could see burn marks and stains beneath the soot and dirt. N-no, that c-can’t be… “T-that can’t…”

“Can’t what?” Dan leaned against the wall, his arms folded over his chest.

“T-that can’t—” Danny swallowed past the lump that was forming in his throat. “They can’t be dead. That can’t be… how they died.”

“How childish can you be? No one chooses how they die.” Dan chuckled mirthlessly. “Some die in fiery explosions, others get shot in the head, and others… never even get a chance to live…” Dan trailed off, scowling into the distance as if he were lost in thought.

Danny felt like a vise had clamped around his chest, making it hard to breathe. M-mom and Dad… gone in an… explosion? Danny blinked away the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. What about Sam and Tucker a-and Jazz? Did they… were they there when…?

Dan looked back towards Danny, glowering. “Giatí eísai tóso diaforetikós? (‘Why are you so different?’)”

“I-I don’t know w-what you’re saying,” Danny said shakily. He had understood a couple of the words, but…

“Interesting,” Dan quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t know Greek in your human form.”

“Well, I know a few words,” Danny corrected. “But what do you mean ‘in my human form’? It’s not like I know it better in my ghost form, or… any other form.”

Dan stared at him, dumbfounded. “Oh, really? Because I’m pretty sure that I heard you speaking Greek when you did that weird transformation earlier.” He gave Danny a strange look, one that Danny couldn’t quite place. “Decided to take inspiration from the old look, did you?”

Danny could not be more confused. “What?” What did Dan mean by ‘old look’? Was… he talking about Danny’s… other transformation? “What are you talking about?”

Dan stared at him through narrowed eyes for a moment, before a Cheshire grin spread across his face. “You don’t know yet, do you?”

“Know what?” Danny asked, growing rather frustrated. What did Dan know about Danny that Danny didn’t?

“You don’t know the single most important thing about yourself.” Dan sneered before turning towards the plants. “You hear that, Mitéra Gi? (‘Mother Earth?’) He doesn’t know!”

The plants swayed, and the rustling sound made Danny strongly suspect that the foliage was laughing at him.

“What’s with the weird plants? Why do they move on their own?” Danny asked, trying to focus on something else for a time. He… didn’t want to dwell on what had happened to his friends and family in this timeline.

“Oh, these little things?” Dan gestured towards the plants. “These are just a little something from my… benefactor.”

“Benefactor?” Who would possibly support this nutcase? “Why would anyone support all this chaos? W-who would…?”

Dan bared his fangs in a grin that sent shivers down Danny’s spine. “Someone who wants all of humanity and their gods destroyed.”

Danny’s core froze. Someone wanted all humans and gods destroyed? Who would want something like that? Why would anyone want that?

Danny hadn’t noticed before, but there was a strange golden coloring to Dan’s gloves. It completely coated the tips of his clawed fingers, and continued down his forearms. Danny didn’t know what it was, but… an uneasy feeling filled his gut as he looked at it.

Dan noticed Danny’s stare. “You looking at this?” He raised his hand as if he were showing off a ring, and the golden stains glittered in the sunlight. “Yeah, ichor is pretty messy. Doesn’t like to wash out.” Dan grinned sharkishly. “Not that I mind, though. It’s kinda like a trophy.”

“Ichor?” Danny repeated slowly. He’d heard that somewhere… “Wait, like, god blood? You killed a god?”

Dan’s grin turned maniacal. “Oh, only the ones that got in my way,” he gloated, but then his expression faltered slightly, as if he were remembering something upsetting. “Well, them and a couple of others.”

“W-wait, but…” Dan’s revelation just didn’t make sense in Danny’s mind. “Y-you can’t kill a god. They’re immortal.”

Dan barked a short laugh. “Immortal, my ass! All I had to do was hunt down a stupid sea cow, and next thing I knew they were just as killable as any old human.”

“Wait, hold up.” Danny grunted as he stood up; his knees were killing him. “I am so lost right now. A sea cow? What even…?”

Dan scoffed amusedly. “I know, right? Who even thought of using the Ophiotaurus for that?”

“The what?” Danny said bewilderedly. “Okay, now you’re just making up words.”

Dan’s amused smirk faded as he stared at Danny in disbelief. “You don’t know what the Ophiotaurus is?” At Danny’s shrug, Dan scoffed again, more scornfully. “What is he even teaching you with that worthless apprenticeship?”

Something about the way Dan said that caught Danny’s attention. Wait, is this version of me not an apprentice? Danny wondered. Did Thanatos end the apprenticeship with him? W-will he end mine as well? What did I do to…?

Before Danny could ask anything about Dan’s apprenticeship—how it had ended, or if he’d even had one—Dan let out a long-suffering sigh, like a teacher trying to explain something to an especially slow student. “The Ophiotaurus is a sea monster. When a demigod kills it and burns its entrails, they gain the power to kill gods. And that’s what I did.”

Wait a minute…

WHAT?!

“B-bu-wait, I’m not a demigod!” Danny stammered. His brain was… having trouble processing Dan’s statement, to say the least. “You’re me, a-and I’m not a demigod! I-I’m mortal. I’m just a legacy o-of Hades, not…” Danny shook his head. “No, you’re lying.”

But why would he lie about that?

Dan grinned venomously, his fangs bared like a snake’s. “What would I have to gain from lying to myself?”

Danny was lost. Demigod? There was literally no way Danny was a demigod. What was Dan talking about? He didn’t… What had happened to cause this future? Why would his future possibly end up like this? H-he didn’t want to kill people. Why did… why did Dan cause all of this destruction? Why did he…?

“What about Thanatos?” Danny asked quietly.

Dan flinched, his gaze snapping to Danny’s own. “What?” He growled out.

Another chill ran down Danny’s spine as Dan’s flames flared up like a fire with fresh kindling. “Th-Thanatos…?” Danny repeated. “W-what does he think about—”

“I heard you the first time,” Danny scrambled away as Dan stalked towards him. Dan’s eyes glowed like coals in a furnace, his expression full of unbridled rage as he snarled at Danny. “And I don’t give a damn what he thinks.”

Dan lunged forward and grabbed Danny by the neck, lifting the smaller halfa from the ground and bringing him face to face. His furious gaze bore into Danny’s rather alarmed expression.

“You know what? I just don’t get it,” Dan muttered. “Why did he choose you? What’s so special,” his grip on Danny’s throat tightened, forcing a small, pained gasp out of him. “About you?”

Danny couldn’t respond, even if he wanted to. Stars danced across his vision as Dan’s grip tightened, completely cutting off Danny’s airflow. Why was Dan so upset? What did Danny say to piss him off? Was Dan just going to kill him, just like he did to Valerie—

Dan’s grip loosened, and he threw Danny roughly to the pavement. He regarded Danny with a cold glare as the younger halfa coughed harshly, trying to catch his breath.

“I don’t know why he chose you,” Dan sneered. “But it doesn’t matter. You’ll still become me, whether you want to or not.”

Dan waved his hand, and a swirling green portal opened behind Danny. The younger halfa glared at Dan as the elder drew closer to him.

“You’re not me,” Danny spat at him. “I could never become someone like you!”

“No,” Dan remarked coldly. “You couldn’t.” And, much to Danny’s horror, Dan changed. A blue-white ring formed around his waist, and it split in half before traveling over Dan’s form. When it faded, he looked…

He looked just like Danny.

“But I can make you.” Dan finished, and he even sounded like Danny, he—

Before Danny could say or do anything, Dan grabbed him by the ropes. He walked forward, stopping just feet from the portal, and threw Danny into the swirling green depths.

Chapter Text

This is a bit of an unfortunate announcement (DO NOT WORRY. THIS STORY IS NOT CANCELLED.), but we are on hiatus again. We were hoping to get the next few chapters out before school started up again, but sadly that is not what happened. We also made some pretty big story changes that ended up making us need to rewrite the upcoming chapters, and now that Amalgamorph is back to school our update schedule is gonna seriously slow down. It'll likely be at least another month before we get to posting again, but when we finally do we will be back to posting weekly (for the next five chapters, anyway.)

(We will not be posting any one-shots or offshoots during this hiatus.)

Sorry for the wait, we hope to be back soon!

Chapter Text

Dan POV:

As the portal closed, Dan took in his appearance. Black hair, pale skin, baggy clothes, scuffed sneakers. Everything was exactly as he remembered.

But not how his younger self appeared now.

Dan glared down at his bare right arm. He knew that apprentice marks could not be mimicked, having learned so back when he tried to impersonate Artemis’ apprentice. Still, Dan had hoped that since he and his younger self were the same person, he would be able to mimic his apprentice mark.

But that was not the case.

He bit back a growl as he changed his appearance yet again, adding an elastic bandage wrapped tightly around his forearm. It would have to do for now. He would figure something out later.

“What do you plan to do now?” Gaea asked from behind him, her voice soft like moss on a stone.

Dan scowled. “What I plan on doing is none of your business.”

Gaea tutted disapprovingly. “Now, now. There is no need to get cross with me, :little death:.”

Dan whirled on the protogenos, his lip curling with rage as he hissed at her. “Do not call me—”

He froze.

Gaea stood before him. Really, it was only a projection of her. She wasn’t fully awake—not yet. But… she hadn’t taken on her usual glamour. Instead of dark soil churning and shifting to form her robes, little shards of shattered glass from the broken windows rippled over her, crystallizing into a long, pale blue chiton and shawl. Coal black hair tumbled over her shoulders, and silvery-white leaves sprouted in a semicircle around the back of her head. Her gaze was half-lidded as she watched him, and Dan was grateful that her eyes were still inhumanly green, rather than icy blue.

The impersonation wasn’t perfect, but it still looked achingly similar to…

“I told you to never take that form again,” Dan growled as he turned away.

“Oh, am I bringing up old memories?” Gaea’s tone indicated that she was teasing him, but Dan was not in the mood. “Perhaps you would be more comfortable with a more recent one?”

Dan heard the sound of shifting dirt, but he didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to turn around to know what she looked like now. White hair, white dress, a flower crown adorning her head…

Dan shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He couldn’t afford to think about the past right now. Not after…

“What are you going to do?” Gaea asked again.

Dan’s eyes flared red. “I’m going to ensure my future.”

He held up one of the medallions that had been left behind by his old friends, and a blue energy surrounded Dan as he was pulled from his present and transported back to his past.

.

.

Dan appeared in the alleyway next to the Nasty Burger, ten years in his past. He carelessly tossed the medallion to the side as he inspected the building. The roof had been partially blown off and the wall facing Dan was almost completely destroyed. He was surprised to see the restaurant in such a state. It… hadn’t been like this back when…

.

The news had called it a freak accident. There had been a malfunction in the heating element of the sauce vats, which had caused the containers to heat far past the safe temperature zone and essentially become ticking time bombs. That anyone had been around when the restaurant had exploded had merely been an unfortunate turn of events. A tragedy.

His friends, Sam and Tucker, had been there to support him. To defend him and his actions—his absences, his poor grades, etc.—from the judgment of his parents and teacher. Jazz, the nosy, meddling sibling that she was, had surprisingly been on Dan’s side. She had protested as well, claiming that Dan was “stressed” and didn’t “know the consequences” of what he was doing.

Dan had rolled his eyes at that. How bad could the consequences be? More detention? He never went anyway. More homework? He never did it anyway.

If he had known that the consequences would be the deaths of his loved ones… Well, he might’ve done something different then.

There had been no time for Dan to react. There had been no warning. The second the building had exploded, Dan had instinctively gone intangible, and before he could even fully react—could even think—they were gone.

Dead.

He hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye.

.

Had that explosion already occurred?

No, that couldn’t be the case. Samantha and Tucker had been with his past self just a few hours earlier. They weren’t dead. Yet. Dan’s plan would soon change that.

But then… what had caused this destruction?

Dan peeked through the gaping hole in the brick wall of the building. The dining area looked to be beyond repair, and what he could see of the back of the restaurant indicated that the kitchen was also in shambles.

The sauce vats stood untouched against the back wall. Dan noticed that the red-hot heating element from an overturned grill was leaning dangerously close to one of the said vats, and he could see from where he stood that the sauce temperature gauge was slowly but surely creeping upwards.

So… that meant this would play out more or less the same, right? Sure, the building was a bit more banged up than before, but the explosion of the two containers had been the catalyst that shaped Dan into who he was now.

He remembered the accident as clear as day. The following days, weeks, where he had wandered alone… and when his human half had finally rejected him as well, something inside of Dan had snapped. He had felt… numb, at first. But other emotions had quickly taken its place. He had felt sad. He had felt angry.

He had felt betrayed.

And he had been quick to take his revenge. And then…

.

Dan remembered when he had first met the earth goddess. After the betrayal of his human half… he had felt lost. He hadn’t really had a plan after getting his revenge on his human half—former human half, now. And as soon as his mortal side had died, memories had flooded his mind. Memories of long, long ago—a different time. A different life.

Dan hadn’t known what to do with the newfound information—with his restored memories, he had just felt more lost than ever. Honestly, his best idea had been to go back to the Ghost Zone. Go far, far away, where no one would bother him. Where he could think and mope and sulk in peace.

But then…

She had appeared.

Gaea didn’t say anything—she only held her arms out to him, a pitying smile on her restful face. That had been the first time she had mimicked his mother’s form (he wouldn’t see her usual, black-robed form until later.)

An intense feeling of sorrow—of regret—flooded Dan’s core. Before he realized what he was doing, Dan wrapped his arms around Gaea and began to cry. He cried, and cried, and cried. He wept tears of fear and sorrow; of anger and betrayal. The goddess wrapped her arms around him in return, quietly humming a soft tune as she held him.

Logically, Dan knew that this woman was not his mother, but… he was so desperate for something familiar—something comforting—that he did not care.

When Dan’s tears finally came to an end, the goddess spoke softly to him.

“You have lost much, little one.” Her voice was like leaves rustling in the breeze. “You have faced far too much sorrow in your lives.”

Dan stilled as a few straggling tears dripped down his cheeks. How… how did she know about that? How did she know about—

“I can help you,” Gaea promised. “All the pain you’ve felt… I can help it all go away.” She pulled away from the hug then, using her hand to guide Dan’s gaze up to her face. Her eyes were closed, but he could see the faintest bit of green light shining from under her eyelids as she smiled almost sweetly. “I just need you to do a few things for me in return…”

.

“Danny!”

Dan dazedly turned towards the mouth of the alley. He barely had time to register Samantha and Tucker calling out to him before Samantha enveloped him in her arms.

“You made it back!” Samantha gushed as she squeezed him tightly.

“Geez, Sam, let the guy breathe,” Tucker teased. Dan could practically hear the teen’s eye roll, even if he couldn’t see it.

Samantha quickly pulled away, a faint blush dusting her cheeks, and cleared her throat. Tucker laughed and muttered something under his breath that earned him a punch in the arm from Samantha. Dan watched their interaction with mild amusement; he… sometimes missed these moments.

Only when he was at his weakest, of course.

“So, did you beat that evil, jerky, pus-pack alternative version of yourself?” Tucker punched the air enthusiastically.

Pus-pack? Why you… Dan barely held back a growl. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he smirked at the two humans. He had a part to play, after all.

“Oh, I defeated my other self quite easily,” Dan declared smugly. “And that was quick thinking on your parts, removing those medallions when you did.”

“That was all Sam, dude,” Tucker announced, looping an arm around the goth’s shoulders. “She’s a quick thinker.”

“I already told you, Tuck.” Samantha shrugged off Tucker’s arm. “Steampunk’s not really my thing.”

“Well, anyways,” Tucker jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing back at the wrecked restaurant. “We should try and do what we can to stop the Nasty Burger from blowing up.”

“I’ve already taken care of it,” Dan replied smoothly, the lie rolling easily off of his tongue.

Tucker raised an eyebrow, as if he didn’t quite believe Dan, but before the teen could say anything Samantha cut him off with an impressed whistle.

“Way to go, Danny. Look at you, actually thinking ahead for once!” She gave him a playful shove. “I guess Tha… I mean, your mentor is actually teaching you some useful stuff, huh?”

Dan’s eyes flashed red with rage at the mention of… Thanatos. His father.

His “friends” were really trying his patience, weren’t they? But he couldn’t afford to lose his patience with them just yet; he needed them later on.

“Why don’t we go back to my place and hang out?” Samantha suggested with a gesture towards the front of the alleyway.

Before Dan could say anything—could even make an forced attempt at appearing eager—Tucker whooped.

“Heck yeah!” He slung his arm around Dan’s shoulder and practically dragged him out of the alleyway. “I’m always down to play video games! How ‘bout you, Danny?”

“Uhh… yes,” Dan agreed as enthusiastically as he could (which wasn’t very much at all. He had other things to be doing than wasting his time with these two.) “I’m down to… ‘hang out’.”

Samantha scoffed. “Geez, you sound like Mr. Lancer. But enough chit-chat.” Her attitude became serious as she glanced over at him. “What was that… weird transformation you did back there? In the future?”

Dan faltered. He had almost forgotten about that; he had pushed it to the back of his mind as he focused on not appearing suspicious. Samantha and Tucker hadn’t seen that transformation before? Why hadn’t his younger self shown it to them? Where had it even come from? Dan didn’t have that form—not anymore, and he hadn’t seen those laurels since…

Well, Dan would just have to ask his past self about that later, after his work here was done. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere anytime soon.

“Oh, that? That was just… something new I’ve been practicing in my… free time.” That lie didn’t come out quite as smoothly as the last.

“You mean, like… your training sessions?” Tucker questioned. “You don’t really have free time nowadays, especially since Than—”

Samantha elbowed Tucker hard in the side, eliciting a cry of pain from the bespectacled teenager. Dan bit back a groan as he rolled his eyes. This version of his past was growing more insufferable with every passing moment. Thanatos this and Thanatos that…

He couldn’t wait to raze it all to the ground.

“Let’s not talk about that right now, Tuck, okay?” Samantha gave Tucker an almost threatening smile, before glancing back at Dan. “Let’s just focus on having a good time.”

“Yeah, totally.” Dan stretched out his arms and laced his fingers behind his head, giving a lazy shrug as he sauntered down the sidewalk alongside Samantha and Tucker. “This is our chance to hang out before the test tomorrow. Let’s not worry about school or training or anything else right now. Besides, who’s gonna win at, uhh… Doomed?” That was a game they used to play together, right?

Satisfaction filled Dan’s core as his old friends cheered in agreement. They didn’t suspect anything. As long as he played along until everything was in place, it would all go according to plan.

And he would have his way soon enough.

.

Clockwork POV:

Clockwork didn’t bother to look up as the Observants returned once more. He twisted the crown of his staff, hoping in vain that the Observants would see that he was busy and let him work in peace.

Of course, he already knew that wasn’t going to be the case.

“Have you completed the task?” The first Observant’s voice was crass and demanding.

“Everything’s fine,” Clockwork replied crossly, careful to not answer their question. He pressed a button on the console in front of him, revealing a time point in Amity Park—specifically, this Daniel’s timeline (it got a bit confusing trying to distinguish one Daniel from another, at least when trying to explain it to another person. Clockwork certainly wasn’t confused.)

The small group of ghosts watched the large monitor as Daniel—a Daniel, anyway—was joined by two of his human friends.

“See? Here’s your king, back in his own time.” Clockwork didn’t bother hiding his smirk as the two Observants bristled at the reminder that Daniel was technically the ruler of the Ghost Zone, despite not having been officially crowned yet. “Safe, sound, and clearly not evil. Now,” Clockwork turned towards the Observants, the annoyance on his face clear as day. “Care to observe the door?”

The Observants glared at the time ghost, anger and frustration practically radiating off of them in palpable waves. Clockwork just glared coolly right back at them; they got the message and left without another word.

Once they were gone, Clockwork pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Those bullheaded Observants really tested his patience. And that was quite the accomplishment, considering who Clockwork was.

Or rather, who Clockwork was a part of.

He sighed as he shed his spirit form for his true one; he really had been busy before the Observants appeared. He knew that Daniel’s current timeline was already different from his old future. It was highly unlikely that he would join Gaea’s forces, especially once he learned about her role in his family’s death in the old timeline. However, Clockwork also knew that highly unlikely did not mean impossible, and a certain protogenos was going to try and make sure that old future still happened.

And that was something that Clockwork could not allow. After all, much greater things were in store for Daniel within his future.

Clockwork sighed yet again. As much as he didn’t want to go, there was only one place he could possibly hope to find the one he was looking for.

.

.

With a blink of his eyes, Clockwork was back within the mists of Chaos. He hadn’t been here in quite a long time. How many millennia, now? It didn’t matter. He didn’t plan to stay for very long.

Hints of his elder form found him in the infinite darkness, and welcomed him home. He could feel himself growing stronger as he delved deeper into the mists, searching for…

There.

She was more awake in this place. Not fully, but enough that Clockwork would be able to speak with her.

An earthly aura—one of must and petrichor—surrounded Clockwork as he neared its center. He could practically smell verdant forests and fertile soil all around him, although he knew that was not the case. Nothing could exist within Chaos.

Nothing except for those that had first sprouted from Its mists, and those that had already been around when It first came into existence.

“Chronos?” A tired voice rose from the depths. “What brings you here?”

“I am here to speak with you, Gaea,” Clockwork answered. “And to warn you against the current path that you are taking.”

The aura around him grew stronger, and Clockwork could tell that the earth goddess was offended. “What I do is none of your business.”

“When others plan on messing with the flow of time, it is most certainly my business,” Clockwork countered. “And that is exactly what you are trying to do.”

Gaea scoffed. “And how would you know if I was trying anything? You have been divided for so long that I am surprised you are even aware of anything around you.”

“I am aware of more than you realize, Gaea,” Clockwork responded coolly. “Otherwise, I would not be here, now would I?”

Gaea’s aura shifted like the rolling tides but otherwise she did nothing.

Clockwork rolled his eyes at the much younger—in comparison to him, at least—protogenos’ antics. “Remember that I am much older than you, Gaea. There is little that other beings can hide from me.”

“Say your piece, and be done with it,” Gaea ground out. “Unlike you, I have plans I wish to accomplish within this century.”

“You cannot persuade him to join your side,” Clockwork said—he knew that Gaea already knew who he was referring to. “He will not believe any lie you may tell him.”

“And why is that?” Gaea asked tiredly; she was growing tired of his persistence.

“Because he will learn,” Clockwork answered simply. “Before you set your plans in action, he will learn what you plan to do. He has already seen what you have done to him in ten years’ time. He will soon know the truth of what happened to his loved ones. Of what you did to them.”

“And how would he know such a thing? I have yet to do anything to him or his loved ones. Unless,” Gaea’s tone turned accusatory. “You have said something to him, Chronos.”

“I have said nothing to him about the matter,” Clockwork assured her. “And I will not unless he asks me. However, as of now he is in an alternate future where he has met a version of himself that formed under your influence.”

Gaea’s aura stilled like the surface of a pond—she was taken aback. “He’s where?”

“Exactly where I said,” Clockwork answered as more parts of his elder form swirled around him, clinging to him like a second skin. “He is currently in a timeline where you successfully turned him to your side after killing his mortal family and friends.”

The darkness around Clockwork suddenly seemed to burst with life. He could hear plants rustling with glee, and he could envisions mountains in all their majesty, standing tall and prideful amongst their surroundings.

“So I will succeed, then.” Gaea preened, sounding rather pleased with herself. “I will soon return to my rightful home.”

“Not quite,” Clockwork interjected.

Gaea’s presence immediately grew still, like a forest with a dangerous predator on the prowl. “What do you mean?” She asked carefully, her tone and aura warning Clockwork to choose his next words wisely.

“You know that this is not the way you will be awoken,” Clockwork reminded her. “The Prophecy of Seven already tells of—”

“And what does it matter if I arise a little sooner than planned?” Gaea countered, exasperation radiating from her like ocean waves in a storm. “Have I not waited long enough? If Death’s child is able to give me the freedom that I seek now, then why shouldn’t I seize that opportunity? You told me it has already worked—”

“In a timeline that will soon no longer exist.” Clockwork cut her off. “I should know, as I will make sure of it. And I will continue to frustrate your efforts for as long as you persist down a path that is not meant to be yours.”

He could feel Gaea’s anger bristling like thorns. She was clearly irritated by his interference in her plans. But Clockwork didn’t care. He didn’t need Gaea to understand the repercussions her plan would have on time itself, but he did need for her to leave it alone. Time wasn’t hers to mess with.

Clockwork shifted as yet more of his elder form merged with him. Visions of what has been, what was happening, and what could be appeared more easily before him, almost dizzying in their multitude. He blinked them away as Gaea spoke.

“Why do you insist upon trying to dissuade me from my plan?” Gaea growled. “Nothing you say or do will change my mind.”

“You know who Death’s child will become,” Clockwork continued, unfazed. “If you were to interfere with that, you would doom everyone, including yourself, to destruction. And I swear on Chaos Itself that I will not allow you to do that.”

Gaea remained quiet, but Clockwork could tell that her resolve was wavering as she took his words into consideration. After all, a threat made by Chronos himself was not one to be taken lightly.

“Besides, what difference is a few more years in the span of eternity?” Clockwork reasoned. “Why, I dare say that’s not long at all.”

.

Danny POV:

Danny’s head pounded as he struggled against the ropes. He grit his teeth as the ectoplasmic cords cut through his sleeves and dug into his skin, ignoring the wet feeling of blood spreading down his arms. Thoughts buzzed around his head like a hive of angry hornets.

Alone again. Must protect. Demigod? Mom! Dad! Must help! Jazz! Can’t be alone. Can’t be a demigod. Sam! Tucker! Only mortal parents… Legacy? Must stop him! Must… stop me—

Danny gasped for air as hot tears rolled down his cheeks and unbidden images filled his mind, overpowering his rampant thoughts. Visions of what Dan would do to everyone Danny cared about if Danny wasn’t able to stop him…

Nothing recognizable was left. Nothing even remotely human—only charred bits of singed flesh and blackened bone, falling to the earth like pieces of hail. His family and friends were gone, as if they’d never even existed—no, no, that wasn’t right.

He could see his parents. His father, bare-chested and chained. Lash marks covered his entire upper body. There was so much blood, and from how the light reflected off of it he couldn’t tell whether it was red or gold. His mother’s charred remains lay on the earth before him, and he couldn’t remember if her hair had been red or black—

Danny cried out in pain. It felt like his head was going to split open. What was happening to him? What—

“Well, well, well.” A gravelly voice growled, sending a chill down Danny’s spine. “After all you’ve done, you decided to show your face here again?”

Danny whipped his head around searching for the source of the voice, and froze when he saw who was surrounding him.

He recognized Skulktech almost immediately, along with the Box Ghost, Ember, Johnny, and Kitty. But they all looked quite a bit different from how Danny remembered them. They looked haggard, run down… angry.

At him.

Danny stared at them in shock. “What happened to you guys?” He could guess the answer—knew the answer, deep in his core—but… he didn’t want to say it out loud.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ember rasped, affirming exactly what he had feared. “You did.”

“You and the Earth Mother, Gaea,” Skulktech sneered.

Danny didn’t even have time to wonder what Skulktech was referring to as the others voiced their agreement. As they closed in on him, Danny quickly realized that they most definitely did not have good intentions.

“Guys, wait!” Danny squirmed as he tried to free himself from his bonds. “That wasn’t me! I-I don’t know what all happened to you, but I promise that it wasn’t—”

“Oh, puh-lease.” Johnny rolled his eyes. “Spare us the excuses. We’ve been waiting a long time for a chance to pay you back for all you’ve done to us.”

As his enemies’ powers flared, Danny wondered how he was going to make it out of this in one piece. He twisted and turned, trying to free his arms in an attempt to at least defend himself as his enemies prepared to attack. But the ropes held fast, holding him captive and defenseless as the ghosts’ combined fury began to rain down upon him.

Box Ghost threw little pink cubes of ectoplasm that exploded on impact, burning Danny’s skin like acid. Danny hardly had time to react before Skulktech struck next, firing an ecto-blast that hit Danny square in the chest and sent him reeling backwards into Ember.

Ember sneered as she strummed her beaten up guitar, unleashing a wave of purple ecto-energy that whammed into Danny and sent him flying backwards once again. Kitty simply flew forward as Danny floundered and struck him across the face with her purse, sending him sprawling.

Danny was struck by blow after blow of burning, blistering ecto-energy, completely unable to fight back or block any of it. “Stop!” He begged, pained tears rolling down his cheeks. “Th-that wasn’t—”

Johnny didn’t even give Danny a chance to speak, a vengeful smirk on his lips as he snapped his fingers. His Shadow leapt forward and swung at Danny, its clawed fist connecting with Danny’s cheek and sending the halfa flying backwards.

A throbbing pain rang through Danny’s head, which spun wildly as he struggled to focus on the unforgiving spirits in front of him. His core pounded frantically in his chest as they closed in on him once again, eager to continue their onslaught.

“Stop!” Danny shouted desperately. The thrum of his core grew so loud that he could barely hear his own voice as cold energy welled up deep within him. “Leave me alone!”

The ghosts ignored his pleas, and the energy in Danny’s core grew so cold that it burned as it built within his chest. It pushed uncomfortably against his lungs, as if trying to force its way out of him.

Box Ghost raised his hand, a dangerous pink ectoplasmic energy flaring to life in his palm as he prepared to strike Danny once again.

“I said leave… me… ALONE!!!” The cold suddenly burst from Danny’s chest, tearing itself out of his throat in an ungodly scream.

The sound coming from him was deafening, growing louder and louder as waves of green ecto-energy burst from Danny’s mouth. The force threw Danny’s enemies back, tearing at their forms like ocean waves crashing against a sand castle. Danny’s scream was unrelenting as it forced its way out of his lungs and past his lips, intent on destroying everything in its path. The cords that bound him were shredded by the sheer ecto-energy radiating from his core.

But then the energy in Danny’s chest fizzled out just as quickly as it had formed, leaving Danny’s throat raw and burning as he clamped his hands over his mouth and looked on in horror. What had he done?

His enemies were scattered about, unconscious and floating listlessly in the green void, their forms flickering like TV static and almost completely destabilizing around the edges.

“No…” Danny whispered, his voice scratchy and hoarse. H-he hadn’t meant to hurt them. He hadn’t meant to… do that. That power… the same force that Dan had used t-to kill so many people—

I-I didn’t mean to…

:I’m sorry,: Danny whispered again before he flew away, leaving his gravely injured enemies to drift through the endlessly shifting Ghost Zone.

.

.

As Danny was trying to find his way through the Ghost Zone (he wasn’t really sure where he was trying to go, he was just trying to find a way out of there), a faint sobbing caught his attention. The sound was so mournful that Danny wondered if it was just another ghost, but as he flew a little farther he noticed a few leaves floating through the green void of the Ghost Zone.

Leaves and flower petals drifted lazily in a nonexistent breeze, and Danny was immediately on edge. Was… Dan’s ‘benefactor’ here? That Mother Earth person that Dan had been talking to earlier? The same one Skulktech had mentioned? Danny wasn’t sure, but… he didn’t think the plants were coming from her. After all, why would she be in the Ghost Zone?

And if it wasn’t her…

Then who was it?

Against his better judgment, Danny followed the trail of plant life. Scattered petals became whole blooms, floating as if they were underwater. They led Danny to a lone floating outcrop of stone. It was covered in thick plant life, and a woman knelt on a small patch of grass in the midst of it all. She was dressed in shimmering green robes and a thick black cloak. Her dark hair was braided with dried grass and red poppies, and she was facing away from Danny as she wept.

“Uhh, hello?” Danny called out, hesitantly drifting closer. “Are… you okay?”

He stopped a few feet from the floating island. Thick and thorny dark purple vines circled the perimeter of the island, and vibrant red roses sprouted from their midsts. A faint red smoke wafted from the flowers, and the scent of it instantly burned Danny’s nose and brought tears to his eyes.

“Leave me, oh mindless spirit,” the woman moaned mournfully. “Leave me to my sorrows…”

“Hey!” Danny shouted defensively. “I’m not mindless, I was just wondering if you needed help. Though, with all those scary-looking plants you’ve got there, I’m… guessing you don’t want any.”

“Help?” The woman scoffed, before standing and turning to face him. “How could a ghost help me? And who—”

Whatever she was about to say died on her lips as soon as she saw Danny. Her face—which looked strikingly familiar to Danny, though he didn’t know why—changed between several emotions within mere seconds. From sadness, to shock, to hatred.

“YOU!” The woman screamed. “You killed my daughter, and now you’ve come for me!”

Danny quickly backed away, raising his hands in surrender. “W-wait, you’ve got the wrong guy!” He protested. “I haven’t killed anybody—”

“Lies!” The woman wailed. “I know you! I know what you’ve done! I would know your presence anywhere after what you did!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Danny insisted. What did she mean, “what you’ve done?” He hadn’t done anything, so why did she believe that he had?

Well… Danny hadn’t done anything. But Dan definitely had.

“Oh, quit playing innocent!” The woman snapped, her eyes seeming to glow with rage. The plants around her began to writhe like angry snakes. “All the pantheons know you, and the devastation you’ve caused! You killed Heracles, Ares, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Zagreus, Makaria, and my daughter!”

“I didn’t!” Danny shouted, growing frustrated with all the accusations. “That wasn’t me, I swear—”

“I WATCHED YOU KILL HER!!!” She screamed, harshly cutting Danny off. Her voice echoed through the void around them, cutting through the eerie silence. Danny’s ears were ringing as the woman continued to shout at him. “She told me to run, but I faltered! I looked back and w-watched as you…” Overcome with emotion, the woman fell to her knees with a heartbroken wail. “My dear Persephone…”

Persephone? Danny thought, recognition bringing the goddess’ face to his mind. That was why this woman looked so familiar, she was… “Demeter?”

“What?” She ground out. “Are you here to kill me, too?”

“No!” Danny snapped. “Stop it! I’m not—”

“Do it.”

Danny froze, his ectoplasm feeling like it had suddenly turned to ice in his veins. “… what?” He breathed in disbelief, his voice just above a whisper.

Demeter looked up at him, and Danny was taken aback by the anguish in her eyes. “Do it!” She begged. “Just kill me already!”

“I-I…” Danny backed away from the goddess. “I won’t—”

Demeter let out a loud, guttural shriek as the plant life around her erupted into a jungle of wriggling vines and flowers. The blood red roses tripled in size almost instantly, their stems turning into thick, thorned trunks that twisted and slithered towards Danny like octopus tentacles. Danny darted backwards, narrowly avoiding being snagged by the deadly-looking vines.

“KILL ME!” Demeter cried. “PLEASE! I can’t live without her…”

Danny couldn’t handle anymore of this. He turned tail and fled as fast as he could—faster than he had ever flown before—but it wasn’t quick enough to escape Demeter’s cries as she called after him, begging him to end her suffering.

Chapter Text

Dan POV:

Dan took a deep breath as he finally left Samantha’s house. Gods, that had been miserable. Sam and Tucker were far more irritating than he remembered. It had taken an amount of patience he didn’t know he possessed to grit his teeth and bare it—to smile and laugh at their stupid jokes and participate in their pointless games.

They had questioned him a few more times about his younger self’s strange transformation, and Dan had found it increasingly difficult to deflect their inquiries, since he knew no more about it than they did. He was fairly certain they were beginning to grow suspicious of him, but that didn’t matter. As long as they showed up at the Nasty Burger when it was time…

That reminded him; there was someone he needed to talk to.

Dan took a sharp turn as he walked down the street, slipping into one of the dark alleyways. He kept his pace as he strolled straight into the shadows at the end of the alleyway, and emerged in a thicket of trees. He had shadow-traveled deep into the woods surrounding Lake Eerie—he didn’t want to risk any interruptions.

A quick scan of the surrounding area revealed that there were no mortals in the vicinity, nor were there any monsters; Dan had likely scared them off with his aura. And that was just fine by him. He didn’t need an audience for what he was about to do.

Dan shed his human guise and took off flying over the surface of the lake, towards the rocky cliffs on the far shore. He came to a stop about twenty feet away, still hovering over the water as he raised his arms above his head and began to chant. It wasn’t English or Greek—it wasn’t any language spoken by mortals, for that matter. A human probably couldn’t even recreate the sounds. The nature around Dan—which was already unnaturally quiet—grew deathly silent, as if all the creatures around him somehow knew that the spoken language was one of ancient magic. One of danger.

And they knew to be afraid.

When Dan stopped chanting, nothing happened… at first. The wind had died and the leaves in the trees had grown still. There was no more rustling in the grass or forest undergrowth. Even the ripples on the water had dispersed, leaving the lake a perfect mirror.

Dan waited patiently. He hadn’t contacted Gaea in this way in quite some time, but he was confident that she would answer.

She was the one who had taught him the chant, after all.

A faint rumble—so quiet that Dan barely caught it—began to reverberate from the earth all around him. The air was suddenly filled with caws and loud twittering as swarms of birds took to the sky, flying far away from Dan and the lake as the rumble grew stronger. The cliffside began to shake right before Dan’s eyes, and he watched as the solid stone shifted as if it were made of melted butter, layers of rock and dirt pouring over themselves to form a face in the crag.

After a few moments, a feminine face formed from the minerals. Closed eyelids and relaxed lips were carved from the stone, looking almost human in appearance except for their texture and size; her nose alone was at least twice the size of Dan’s entire body. The earth goddess was deep in slumber, but Dan knew that he had her attention.

:Greetings, Mother Earth.: Dan bowed his head. :I am at your service.:

Gaea’s brow furrowed slightly, as if she were having a bad dream. Deep vibrations rose from the earth around Dan, and a lulling voice speaking slow words filled his mind; he had forgotten how drowsy Gaea had been when he had first met her. Her lips didn’t move as she spoke, but Dan knew it was Gaea speaking to him—he knew her voice.

“Oh… it’s you.”

Dan… hadn’t been expecting a response like that. He wasn’t sure what exactly he should have been expecting, but… he had thought that Gaea would be at least a little intrigued by someone summoning her using the long forgotten ancient tongue.

But she seemed more annoyed than anything else.

“Uhh… yeah, it’s… me.” Dan suddenly felt rather unsure of himself—a way he hadn’t felt in years—and he started to rub the back of his neck before quickly pulling his hand away. He didn’t do that anymore—he didn’t falter anymore. He instead cleared his throat. “I offer you my aid, Mother Earth. I will assist you in bringing down the gods and returning your children to their rightful thrones.”

He expected Gaea to be pleased. To praise him for his willingness to serve her. He thought she would at least smile.

Instead, she frowned, her face settling into an unimpressed scowl as she spoke. “Your aid is not needed.”

Dan really hadn’t been expecting that. “Excuse me?” He chuckled, but there was no humor to his tone. “I’m sorry, I… must have misheard you. I thought you said that you didn’t… need my help.”

“You heard me correctly,” Gaea confirmed curtly.

“But…” Dan was stunned. Gaea doesn’t need… me? He shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. No, that can’t be right. Gaea always said that… I was important to her. She promised that she would never leave me. Not like they did. So why now would she…? “The gods… a-and your children, the Titans and the Giants, they—you need my help to free them. You need my help to strike down the gods! To kill them!”

Gaea hummed pleasantly, but to Dan her voice was almost patronizing. “It is true that I need help, but let me put it this way instead. Your help is not wanted.”

“B-but, wait—you can’t—you can’t do that!” Dan argued, his tone full of disbelief. She needed him. She had told him so years ago, back when he had first met her. It was his duty to bring down the gods—it was his right. After what his… what they had done to him, he deserved to bring them to their knees. To hurt them—to hurt him—and cause even a fraction of the suffering they had caused Dan.

Just like he had before.

“Why?” Dan finally asked, his voice low and full of barely restrained rage. “You know that I am strong. I could—”

“I need not explain myself to you,” Gaea snapped, cutting him off. “But if you must know, it was your own actions that swayed my decision.”

“What?” Dan scoffed incredulously. “What have I done?”

“You know what you have done,” Gaea criticized, her tone accusatory as her face settled into a faint grimace. “You are not from this time. From this reality. And your meddling has interfered with my plans. Your younger self has seen what he becomes under my influence, and has decided that is not what he wants to be. That you are not who he wants to become.”

Anger boiled beneath Dan’s skin, threatening to burst out of him in an uncontrollable wave of rage and hurt and… sadness. But Dan was quick to force those feelings down; he needed to remain calm right now. He needed to remain in control. Dan took a second to steady his breathing. In, two, three, four…

“Gaea, please.” Bile rose in his throat at the utterance of that word—he never said ‘please.’ “I need to see my father—my parents brought down. I need to make them feel the hurt that they caused me. I need—”

“You do not need anything. Your anger blinds you and makes you a liability.” Gaea admonished. “You will not have your vengeance through me.”

Dan stared uncomprehendingly at the protogenos. She had said… no? She couldn’t say no, she had never told him no before.

Dan growled as he glared at her. This wasn’t fair. Didn’t Gaea understand the pain he’d been through? Did she not care that—

“Aww, what’s the matter, :little death:?” Gaea teased, cutting off Dan’s train of thought. “Are you upset?”

Dan had always hated that nickname, but now it was especially infuriating. She was mocking him. Treating him like a child. Flames burst to life in his palms and his eyes flashed red as he snarled at the goddess.

Gaea laughed. “What are you going to do now, :little death:? Are you going to fight me?” An earthquake shook the forest, causing trees to shudder and pebbles to clatter as the goddess chortled.

Dan clenched his fists and grit his teeth, biting back another growl. He was furious, but he wasn’t stupid. Threatening Gaea would be a death sentence, and it would do him no good. His gaze fell to the water below as Gaea’s laughter faded.

“Do not summon me again,” she warned, all the humor in her voice replaced by a cold seriousness. “I will not answer.”

The loud rumbling and grinding of rocks filled the air as the cliffside shifted and settled back into its original state. Within mere moments, it was as if Gaea were never there.

Dan’s shoulders shook as he grit his teeth, until the bitterly sweet taste of ectoplasm filled his mouth. His hands flew up to pull at his flaming hair as he let out a frustrated scream.

How could Gaea treat him like… like a child? After everything he had done for her—would do for her all over again, if she would let him—how could she just… leave him, just like everyone else in his lives? His mother, his father, his mortal parents, his sister, his friends…

Everyone.

Dan turned away from the cliff, balling his hands into fists as he screamed again, causing the lake below him to undulate and the trees to rustle from the strength of his voice. Green fire flared to life in his fists.

The trees swayed in the distance, the shaking of their leaves sounding like taunting snickers and giggles.

Gaea was laughing at him.

Dan snarled, green flames flaring to life in his fists. He threw a fireball at the forest, before his rage overtook him and he began to hurl fireball after fireball into the dense thicket of trees, instantly setting them aflame. How dare she mock him? How dare she treat him like a child?

Dan paused and took in the scene in front of him. Not a single section of the shore had been left unburnt, and the ghostly green fire was quickly spreading throughout the forest.

I am not a child. Dan glared at the blazing forest fire below him, rage filling every fiber of his being. I’ll show her that I don’t need her. I can do this all on my own.

He turned and glared at the cliff. Eerie green firelight danced across the rocky face, making it appear as though Gaea had returned. But Dan knew she hadn’t; he couldn’t feel her presence anymore. She had abandoned him.

Just like everyone else he had ever known.

Fueled by his anger at Gaea’s betrayal, Dan screamed at the cliffside, unleashing his Ghostly Wail. Huge chunks of rock broke free and crashed into the water below as massive cracks formed on the cliff’s surface. Clouds of dust billowed out from the rock face, settling onto the surface of the lake and the surrounding earth as the mountainside crumbled before Dan’s eyes.

After a few long seconds, Dan finally stopped wailing at the cliff. His vision was blurry from the dust in the air, and he blinked to clear it as he brought his hand up to wipe at his eyes. But as his fingers touched his face, Dan was surprised to find that his cheek was wet. With tears.

He was crying.

Dan growled and wiped furiously at his face. No. He was not crying. He did not cry. Crying was for weak people—weak people like pitiful mortals and spineless gods. And Dan was not weak.

Not anymore.

Dan was not in a good mood when he finally made it to FentonWorks. He phased through the window of his old bedroom, landing on the rug with a frustrated huff. Seeing that his bedroom door was wide open, he stormed over and slammed it shut hard enough to rattle the frame. He was sick and tired of dealing with people—mortal or otherwise—for the time being; he wanted some privacy while he got to work.

Dan knew that his past self likely wouldn’t be willing to assist him in his quest, but that was fine. Dan could handle it all on his own, and floating through the wasteland of the Ghost Zone would give his younger self plenty of time to come around to Dan’s way of thinking.

But Dan had to be careful until then. Since this was his past, the Ophiotaurus hadn’t been sacrificed just yet, which meant the gods were still unkillable for the time being. And he couldn’t risk running into his younger self’s mentor before he sacrificed the animal. The god would never be fooled by Dan’s disguise, and he would ruin all of the fun that Dan had planned.

Dan could think about all of that later. First, he needed to find the CAT booklet. This version of his past was a bit different than how he remembered it playing out, but he was sure the answer booklet had still been taken. After all, it was the turning point that had set his future in stone and made him into who he was now. Why else would Clockwork have interfered? Once his mortal family was out of the way, Dan would hunt down the Ophiotaurus. Gaea had led him to the creature previously, but Dan was sure that, given some time, he could find it on his own. He was nothing if not persistent.

And once that was done, Dan would take his revenge a second time. He had already ‘taken care of’ Thanatos once before, but that was only after killing a good portion of the chthonic pantheon (and some of the Olympians, as well). He hadn’t been able to kill Thanatos, obviously—you couldn’t kill Death, after all—but what he had done was good enough.

And he couldn’t wait to do it again.

But that would all need to wait for the time being. Dan still needed to find the booklet, which was most likely in his backpack.

Dan looked disdainfully around the room. Dirty clothes were peeking out of the closet, the bed was a mess, and the desk had literally been destroyed. Where was his backpack?

He started towards the closet, but just then the bedroom door opened. Jazz stood on the threshold, holding a backpack—his backpack—and a boomerang. She tossed the device into the air, and it immediately fell to the floor with a dull thud.

Dan raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. He ignored the faint stirring of melancholy in his core as he scowled at his older sister. “What do you want, Jazz? I’m busy.”

Confusion flickered across Jazz’s face as she glanced down at the boomerang before stepping into the room. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Dan crossed his arms. “About what?”

Jazz sighed and rummaged around in the backpack. Walking closer, she pulled out the CAT answers. “About these.”

Dan growled and snatched both the bag and the answer booklet out of Jazz’s hands. “What about ‘em?” Dan ground out, stuffing the booklet back into his backpack.

Jazz’s eyes widened, surprise written across her face. “Danny, what’s gotten into you? You’re not usually like this.”

“Like you would know,” Dan bit out.

Jazz’s surprised look became a frown as she folded her arms. “Seriously, what’s with you today? You’re acting odd.”

“… what?” Dan gave an awkward chuckle as he tried to calm himself. He was getting out of character, and Jazz was growing suspicious. “I’m acting like a teen, aren’t I? I… was just hanging out with Sam and Tuck. Playing games and… stuff.”

It was obvious that Jazz didn’t believe a word Dan had said as she looked at him dubiously. “Oh, really? Because I called Sam to see where you were, and she said that you left her place hours ago.”

Dan froze, before his scowl returned full force. What, his friends couldn’t be bothered to cover for him? Of course, it had been ten years since Dan last saw any of his old acquaintances—he didn’t remember how he used to interact with them. Maybe they had noticed something was off.

Whatever. He wouldn’t let them screw up his plans. They could believe whatever they wanted as long as they showed up at the Nasty Burger tomorrow.

“Danny,” Jazz sighed, drawing Dan from his thoughts. Her expression had changed yet again, from irritation to concern. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Dan’s core murmured nervously in his chest. “What… are you talking about?” What did she mean, ‘did something happen’? What would she know about anything that had been going on in his life back when… when this all happened the first time around? And she couldn’t be referring to his talk with Gaea. There was no way she could know about—

“Like, with Thanatos?” Jazz clarified. She didn’t notice the immediate change in Dan’s mood as she continued to talk. “Is it your training sessions? If you’re worried about your training interfering with the exam tomorrow, I’m sure Thanatos wouldn’t mind if you took the day off—”

“How do you know about all of this?”

Jazz paused, clearly surprised by Dan’s interruption. She gave him a puzzled look, but her eyes quickly widened in fear as Dan’s facade began to deteriorate. Green smoke rose from his clenched fists and his shoulders trembled as his glowing red eyes bore into Jazz’s shocked gaze. Jazz gasped in surprise and took a step back.

Dan opened his mouth to repeat himself, but faltered as his own shock briefly overtook his anger. Jazz knew. Jazz had known about his secret, all the way back when… And she knew about the Greek stuff as well? How…?

“Wait, you’re…” Jazz took another step back, her voice shaky as she finally realized that Dan was not the little brother that she knew. “You’re not Danny! That’s why the Boo-merang wasn’t homing in on your ecto-signature. You’re not Danny!”

“No,” Dan chuckled darkly as he changed his appearance, returning to his true form. “No, I am not. Not anymore.”

“W-where’s my brother, you monster?!” Jazz put on a brave face, but Dan knew she was afraid. He could practically taste it.

Dan shrugged carelessly. “Floating aimlessly somewhere in the Ghost Zone, ten years from now.” But as he said those words, a flicker of doubt began to nag at him from the back of his mind.

He had tried not to let it bother him, but why was this past so different from his own? It was his past, wasn’t it? But he had never been an apprentice. And he didn’t have his old form anymore—or his laurels, for that matter. His laurels had burnt up back when he killed his mother.

The second time.

Shut up.

And Dan hadn’t encountered any of the gods until after his mortal family had died. And with Gaea now refusing his help…

What does it matter if things happen a bit differently this time around? Dan thought decisively. I’m sure the aftermath will be the same.

Jazz moved, startling Dan from his thoughts as she made a run for the door. Dan moved with inhuman speed, grabbing Jazz by her hair and yanking her back into the room. Jazz opened her mouth to scream, but Dan was quick to clamp his hand over her mouth, his other hand coming up to wrap around her throat. Not enough to choke her—just enough to give a clear warning.

“What, were you going to call for help?” Dan scoffed, amused by the mortal’s feeble attempts. “There’s no point in trying. Once you all are gone and I hunt down the Ophiotaurus, no one will be able to stop me.”

Jazz squirmed in Dan’s grasp, and he rolled his eyes as he pulled his hand away from her mouth. They both knew that with his other hand still around her throat, it would be a very bad idea for her to try anything.

Jazz glared fiercely up at Dan. “My brother will come back,” she hissed. “He’ll beat you back into the hole you crawled out of.”

“How?” Dan smirked. “He’s not going anywhere with a time medallion lodged in his chest.”

Jazz’s bravado faltered, giving way to uncertainty as she scrambled for an answer. “T-the ghost portal!” She stammered. “He could—”

“Destroyed it years ago,” Dan cut her off smoothly. “There’s no way back here, unless he wants to waste his afterlife finding his way back through the Ghost Zone.”

Jazz seemed to be growing more desperate with every second. “S-someone could help him!”

Oh, she was just grasping at straws by this point.

“Who?” Dan cackled, amused by the poor girl’s antics. “I’ve killed everyone who stood in my way. The only one left is that idiot cheesehead, and when I find him…” Dan grinned wickedly as he dragged his finger across his throat.

Jazz paled at Dan’s insinuation. “Cheesehead?” She echoed. Dan could practically see the gears turning in her head as her expression turned to one of realization. “Vlad—”

“You know, I’ve grown rather tired of this conversation.” Dan’s grip on Jazz’s throat tightened, cutting off her airflow. “I’ve got things to do, you know. Old friends to see and kill.” Dan grinned as Jazz gasped for air, her hands scratching futilely at his forearm. “I’m sure you understand.”

Jazz (obviously) didn’t respond, her face turning from red to purple as she struggled. Dan wondered what he should do with her. He could just reap her soul, like he had done with Valerie. But…

Dan glowered as that stupid human feeling flickered in his core again. What did it matter if he killed her now, rather than later? Why didn’t he just get a head start?

… because he… didn’t feel like it. Besides, killing her now would definitely affect how tomorrow turned out. If Jack and Maddie found her corpse, then Dan cheating on the CAT would be the last thing on their minds. Killing her now would interfere with everyone showing up at the Nasty Burger tomorrow for their “grand finale.”

He would spare her for now.

Jazz finally stopped fighting, her body going limp as her eyes rolled back and her face went slack. She wasn’t dead—just unconscious.

Dan turned invisible as he phased through his bedroom door and into Jazz’s room. He dropped her lifeless form onto the bed and threw a blanket over her before turning to leave. Dan donned his disguise again as he reached the door and glanced back at his sister. He faltered for a moment, and then spoke, his voice just low enough that only he could hear.

“Goodbye.”

.

Jazz POV:

Jazz was running. Running as fast as her legs could carry her. Running away from the monster that had replaced her baby brother. Her foot caught on the earth below her, sending her tumbling to the ground. His bone chilling laughter echoed all around her, as claws dripping in blood came slashing down…

“NOOOOO!!!” Jazz bolted upright from her bed, cold sweat running down her back. She looked wildly around her room, confusion filling her mind once she realized that she was not about to be murdered. She let out a hiss of pain as she brought her hands to her throbbing temples. Her head felt like it was pulsing, each throb making her vision blur. She had a terrible migraine. What…

What had happened to her?

Jazz jumped as her door slammed open. She turned to see her father standing in the doorway, the Boo-merang held like a weapon in his hand.

“Is everything alright, Princess?” Jack asked, his gaze darting around the room, searching for any signs of danger.

“Uhh… I’m…” Jazz glanced down at herself, surprised to find that she was still in one piece. “I’m still alive?”

Jazz’s mother, Maddie, entered the room, somewhat violently shoving Jack out of the way as she came to the side of Jazz’s bed. “Well, of course you’re alive, sweetie!” Maddie chuckled lightly, as if she were amused by Jazz’s question. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

“I…” Jazz sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Had it all been a dream? “I thought that—”

Maddie gasped. Before Jazz could react, her mother leaned over and brushed Jazz’s hair away from her neck.

“Jazz?” Maddie’s voice was full of concern. “What happened?”

“Wha…?” What was her mom talking about? Nothing had happened… right? It had all been a dream, hadn’t it? Jazz glanced over at her bedroom mirror, and froze at the image that greeted her.

Her neck was covered in bruises. A clear hand mark wrapped around her throat, purple and yellow against her pale skin. A shiver ran down her spine as cold reality washed over her. It hadn’t been a dream. That ghost…

He was real.

Maddie stepped to the side as Jack came over, and a stormy look passed over Jack’s face when he saw the bruises. He knelt down next to Jazz and placed a hand over hers. “Jazzy, who did this to you? When I get my hands on them—”

“No, no!” Jazz said frantically, cutting him off. “I’m fine, I—” Her voice caught in her throat, and Jazz pulled her hand away from her dad as she was overcome by a coughing fit. Her voice was hoarse and sounded raw to her ears as it scratched against the sides of her windpipe. She brought her hands up to rub at her sore neck, and her dad gently patted her on the back until her coughing subsided.

“Jasmine.” Maddie folded her arms as she spoke sternly. “You are clearly not fine. I would appreciate the truth, young lady.”

Jazz looked away. What could she tell them? ‘Danny’s evil future self came back to our time and is planning to kill us all!’

Yeah, no. She would have to leave out a few details.

Jazz sighed tiredly. “I, uhh, was talking with Danny last night, and I was… getting ready for bed afterwards when… this ghost suddenly appeared and tried to strangle me! I managed to fight it off and, uhh, went to bed afterwards?”

She glanced nervously between her parents, hoping that they would believe her lie. Maddie looked a bit doubtful, but the mention of a malevolent ghost had certainly caught her attention. Jack looked downright furious, his fists clenched as he stood up and stormed out of the room.

“When I find that ghost, it’ll wish it was never born!” He declared, and then paused. “Or, uhh, whatever ghosts are.”

Maddie sighed at Jack’s antics, before giving Jazz a worried frown. “You seem to be alright… But do you want one of us to stay with you just in case?”

Jazz shook her head fervently, wincing at the pain that it brought. “No, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, sweetie. Make sure you take some pain relievers, alright?” Maddie placed a kiss on Jazz’s forehead before moving to leave the room. “Stay home today. Your dad and I will activate the ghost shield before we go and hunt down that ghost. We can’t leave any hostile spirits roaming the streets.” Maddie paused in the doorway, bringing her hand to her chin in thought. “Do you think we should go and pull your brother out of school?”

“No!” Jazz said quickly; she didn’t want that ghost to hurt her parents, too. Or worse… “H-he’s fine. Besides, he has the CAT today. You know, the test that decides his entire future?”

Maddie pursed her lips as she thought for a moment longer. “Well, alright. But you better text Danny and tell him to come straight home after school.”

Jazz nodded eagerly, ignoring the pain that it caused her, and waited until her mother had left the room to let out a sigh of despair. She couldn’t let her parents get hurt trying to fight Evil Danny (that was the name she had decided to call the ghost) on their own. She needed to figure out a plan first. But how could she possibly help? The ghost had rendered her unconscious in a mere minute. If only Danny were here…

But how could he possibly get back home? She didn’t know what Evil Danny had been referring to when he mentioned “time medallions,” but it sounded like her Danny was a bit stuck wherever he was ten years ahead of her. And with no known ghost portals to and from the future, there was practically no way for him to get back, unless there was someone there who could help him…

Jazz paused as a part of her conversation with Evil Danny came back to her: “The only one left is that idiot cheesehead…”

Maybe—just maybe—there was a way for Danny to get back home.

.

By the time Jazz had made it downstairs, her parents were long gone. So she got straight to work. Her first order of business was to call Sam and Tucker. She pulled out her phone and went to Sam’s contact, ignoring the slight shaking of her hands as she pressed the call button.

Sam picked up on the second ring, yet Jazz was quite surprised to hear Tucker’s voice instead on the other end.

“Tucker Foley’s Dating Service. How may I—”

Jazz heard a smack and a yelp before Sam’s voice came over the line. “Sorry ‘bout that, Jazz. Did you need something?”

“Oh, uhh, hi Sam. Are… you and Tucker alone?” Jazz asked hesitantly. Please don’t let Evil Danny be there, please don’t let—

“I mean, we’re in the school cafeteria, but there’s no one close by. We’re waiting for Danny.”

Jazz breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Put me on speaker. I need to talk to both of you.”

There was a brief moment of rustling and static from the other end, and then Sam spoke again. “‘Kay, you’re on speaker.”

Jazz took a deep breath before telling Sam and Tucker what she had discovered. “Danny’s not Danny. He’s been—”

“Replaced?” Sam guessed. “Yeah, we figured.”

Jazz’s thoughts came to a screeching halt. “How—?”

Tucker spoke next. “Danny’s our best friend. Of course we’d notice if he was acting weird—”

“Well, I noticed,” Sam interjected. “And had to keep this idiot from getting himself killed. Multiple times.”

“Hey, in my defense, those red eyes were kind of hard to notice,” Tucker defended.

“But the forced look on his face wasn’t,” Sam countered. “He clearly didn’t want to hang out with us. I wonder if he was trying to fit in?”

“Well, he failed at that,” Tucker remarked bluntly. “He absolutely sucked at Doomed. Danny’s been playing that game for ages! It was like watching a toddler try to play!”

“It was like watching someone do a bad impression of him,” Sam agreed. “And we have a pretty good idea of who it was.”

“Evil Future Danny?” Jazz guessed.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds.

“How did—?” Sam began.

Jazz cut her off. “It’s a long story. Look, just…” She winced, taking a moment to rub at her sore throat. “Don’t confront him. He’s dangerous.”

“So, uhh… what should we do if he were, say, walking directly towards us?” Tucker questioned nervously.

“Play along,” Jazz told them quickly. “Don’t let him know that you’re onto him. I’ve got a plan.”

Jazz then hung up, putting her phone back in her pocket as she hurried down the stairs to the lab. She had said she had a plan, and she did—it just wasn’t a very good one.

Jazz was relieved to find the Boo-merang sitting on the counter next to the ghost portal. Quite a few of her parents’ ghost-hunting weapons and gear were missing; Jazz guessed that they must’ve stocked up before heading out. She checked the cabinets and found an old research notebook and a pen. She ripped out an empty page and got to work.

Her handwriting was far less tidy than usual as she quickly scrawled a message to Danny. The note was short and concise, letting Danny know that his evil future self had taken his place, and if Danny could find Vlad’s portal—and by extension, Vlad—he might be able to find his way back home. Jazz would do her best to hold off Evil Danny until her Danny came back.

It wasn’t a very solid plan, but it was all she could think of.

She folded up the note and pulled off her headband, using it to tie the paper securely to the Boo-merang. Jazz then walked over to the open portal, stopping just feet away from the swirling green vortex. She looked down at the device in her hands, suddenly unsure if her idea would even work.

But what other choice did she have?

“I need you to find Danny,” Jazz whispered quietly to the Boo-merang, almost like a prayer. It wasn’t voice-activated, but telling it what to do sort of helped to reassure her. “Fourteen-year-old Danny. Ten years from now.”

The Boo-merang didn’t respond—obviously—but Jazz felt a bit less hopeless as she drew her arm back and threw the little gadget into the infinite green expanse of the Ghost Zone.

Chapter Text

Danny POV:

Danny didn’t exactly know where he was going. In his haste to get away from Demeter, he had gotten himself lost in the boundless wasteland of the Ghost Zone. Well, more lost than he had already been. He didn’t have the slightest idea where he was—if he was somewhere new, or if he was backtracking the way he had come. He was worried he was going to come across his enemies again. Not that they would be able to do much. Not after what I—

No, that wasn’t me, it wasn’t—

Danny tugged at his hair and let out a growl somewhere between pain and frustration as his head throbbed. He was struggling to process everything that had happened in just the past few… what, hours? He didn’t know how much time had passed since he had been thrown into the Ghost Zone, but it felt like it had been forever.

Thoughts tumbled around Danny’s mind like leaves in a windstorm. Everything that had happened to him since he entered this stupid future… Everyone he had met… No matter how hard he tried, Danny couldn’t push the distressing memories of Demeter from his mind. Her heart-wrenching sobs…

And it wasn’t just Demeter that he couldn’t get out of his head. Everyone he had met in this timeline so far—Valerie, and all of his ghostly enemies—they had all been irreparably hurt by—even killed by…

By him.

No! That’s not me! A part of Danny defended, echoing loudly throughout his mind.

But… what if it is? Another part lamented quietly. What if I can’t change anything? Is this meant to be my future? What if—

THWACK!

“Ow!” Danny reeled forward as something smacked him right upside the head. He glanced back to see what had struck him, and was quite surprised to see the Boo-merang—though it was far more battered and worn down than he remembered. It was dented and scuffed, and there was a torn piece of blue fabric tied tightly around its middle.

Danny grabbed the device before it could float away, hesitating as he recognized Jazz’s headband—that meant she was still alive, right? He untied the headband and caught the folded up piece of notebook paper that was uncovered as it floated up in front of him. Unfolding it revealed a short note written in Jazz’s hasty handwriting.

.

Danny,

Your evil self is here and I think he’s planning to kill us. Find Vlad. See if he can help you get back home. If he can’t, try and find your way back through the Ghost Zone. I’ll hold off Evil Danny until you return. Good luck.

—Jazz

.

Danny released a sigh he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Jazz’s note brought him a sense of relief that he hadn’t known he needed; his friends and family were still alive. There was still time to save them. There was still hope.

First, he needed to find Vlad. Jazz believed that the man was still alive, so it was up to Danny to somehow locate him. But then what? Even if he did find Vlad, who knew if the elder halfa would be of any use? Just because Vlad could help Danny didn’t mean that he would.

Danny shook his head before starting off again, flying through the Ghost Zone with renewed purpose. There was no way Jazz could fight Dan on her own, so he couldn’t waste time being pessimistic and thinking about the what-ifs. He needed to find Vlad’s portal, if it was even still in use.

.

.

Even though Danny hadn’t had any idea of where to start looking for Vlad’s portal, he found it rather quickly.

He had hesitantly started off in a random direction (it wasn’t like he could get any more lost) and he hadn’t been flying around for more than half an hour before he happened upon a massive, totally conspicuous, floating purple football.

No way… Danny thought to himself. It can’t be that easy.

It was indeed that easy. Danny pushed the football away to reveal a swirling green ghost portal.

“That’s Vlad for ya,” Danny muttered. “Subtle as a flying mallet.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Danny flew through the portal.

.

.

Danny wasn’t sure what he had been expecting to find on the other side of the portal, but it certainly hadn’t been a dark and musty cave. He landed on the floor of the cavern with a wince; his injuries from his fight with Dan and his other enemies were far from healed, and they were making sure to let him know.

Looking around, Danny saw an assortment of machines in various states of disrepair scattered around the spacious room. The edges and walls of the cave were adorned with old and worn Green Bay Packers paraphernalia. Fluorescent bulbs lit up the cavern, flickering ominously as they cast long, dark shadows over everything and added to the already dark and dreary atmosphere.

Danny’s eyes were drawn to the far end of the cave, where a wall of computer monitors stood, highlighting the room in a garish, sickly green glow that contrasted harshly against the dark shadows.

A swivel chair sat before the displays, its presence casting a large shadow across the floor, and although the chair was facing away from Danny, he could see that it was occupied from a gnarled hand tapping languidly against the armrest.

“Come to finally put an old man out of his misery?” A rough and grating voice called from the chair.

“Old man?” Danny repeated questioningly as he took a cautious step forward.

The chair spun around, and the man occupying it was every bit as weathered and disheveled as the room around him. Sunken blue eyes glared at Danny from a gaunt and sullen face. Long, greasy gray hair hung over the man’s shoulders and clung to his chin in the form of an unkempt beard. His clothes—a once formal black suit—were old, dusty, and torn. Had Danny not seen the man move, he could have easily mistaken him for a corpse.

But as the man lifted his head, there was no mistaking who he was.

“Vlad?” Danny gawked, his voice full of disbelief. “What happened to you?”

If Vlad was surprised by Danny’s presence, he didn’t show it other than through a raised brow. Vlad’s gaze was cold and cruel as he leaned back in his seat and glared at the younger halfa. “I could ask you the same thing, Daniel.”

Danny frowned, clenching his fists as he met Vlad’s gaze with his own scowl. It was just like Vlad to never give a straight answer.

“What happened?” He asked again, and although his voice conveyed a sense of irritation, he felt slightly fearful of Vlad’s answer. With what Demeter and all the ghosts had told him earlier—with what he had learned, and how they had all reacted to seeing him—he wouldn’t be surprised if…

“You happened, my dear boy,” Vlad answered simply, disdain clear in his voice as he lazily propped his head up with a withered hand.

Danny immediately shook his head in denial—he was getting frustrated with all of the accusations being cast upon him for things he had never even done. Would never do. He wasn’t like that… he wasn’t evil, he… he wasn’t.

“That wasn’t me,” Danny snarled back defensively. “I would never—”

“Never what, Daniel?” Vlad pushed himself up from his seat, his skeletal figure towering over Danny as he stalked forward and pointed a crooked finger at the younger halfa. “Never do evil? Never harm those you hold dear? Never kill?” Vlad jabbed his finger into Danny’s chest, leaning down until his and Danny’s faces were mere inches apart. He spoke with such venom in his voice, Danny could practically taste it in the air. “That is exactly what you did.”

Danny hurriedly backed away from Vlad, stumbling slightly as he did so. The angry and hateful tone in the older halfa’s words reminded him far too much of Dan. Anxiety churned in his gut at Vlad’s snappish response; the way things were going, it was unlikely that Vlad would be willing to help Danny in the slightest.

Vlad’s hostile gaze flickered for just a moment, showing a hint of surprise at Danny’s defensive reaction before settling into a more thoughtful expression. “No…” He mused, studying Danny with a contemplative look. “You haven’t done anything, have you? Not yet.”

Danny didn’t respond. Of course he hadn’t done any of the things that his future self had. He hadn’t killed anyone. He wouldn’t. He was nothing like Dan.

… right?

His core seemed to almost disagree as it shifted uncertainly, causing the medallion to rub against his core and sternum and make him hiss in pain.

Was he really nothing like his future self? Everyone he had met so far in this horrible future seemed convinced that he was Dan, and nothing he said managed to convince them otherwise.

Danny swallowed past the lump that had formed his throat. “Why… why is your version of me so…?” Danny gestured vaguely. “Evil? What happened to…?”

He trailed off as he thought back to when he had first met Dan, and their conversation in front of the Nasty Burger. And the memorial that had been erected for his family. Danny’s gut twisted itself into knots as he remembered that statue. Sam, Tucker, Jazz. Mom and Dad. Immortalized in stone and long, long gone.

Dead.

“What…” Danny cleared his throat. “What happened to… my family?”

Vlad didn’t answer for a moment, but then his stony expression softened ever so slightly and he sighed.

“They said it was an accident,” he began quietly. “The explosion… that killed them all.”

Those few words alone made Danny feel queasy—he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear any more, but Vlad continued anyway.

“After the deaths of your friends and family, I welcomed you into my home. You were lost without them. No hope, no purpose in life. All you wanted was someone who understood you. Someone who was there for you. Someone who cared.”

Vlad turned and ambled away from Danny, his gaze traveling over the gadgets and memorabilia that littered the counters and floor. “I thought that I could be that person for you. Someone you could relate to. But…” Vlad came to a stop by one of the dusty old computer terminals, where an old picture frame sat on top. He picked it up and studied it for a moment, his expression shifting to a tormented version of the Vlad that Danny knew.

“Something in you changed, Daniel.” Vlad revealed. “Soon after your arrival at my home, you began acting strangely. You began talking to yourself. Disgruntled mutterings at first, but soon you were having full on arguments with your ghost half.” Vlad turned back to Danny, agitation clear in his movements. “You blamed your ghost half for what had happened to your loved ones. For everything that had happened to you since your portal accident. And one day… you came to me with a request.” Vlad winced, as if the memory were painful to recall. “You wanted me to… separate your two halves.”

Danny stared at the older halfa incredulously. He… couldn’t believe that he would ever do something like that. His ghost half was a part of him, he would never… could never do that. Ever.

… Are you sure?

Wait. What? That… Danny hadn’t thought that.

They all leave me… they always leave…

What was going on? Danny wasn’t thinking those thoughts. It was like… someone else was speaking into his mind. With his voice.

His core was in turmoil; he could feel it in his chest, shifting and whispering uncertainly. He grit his teeth as the medallion shifted again, grating against his insides.

Vlad took a deep breath before continuing, clearly not noticing Danny’s inner turmoil. “You thought that removing your ghost half would help ease your sorrows. I honored your wishes and used my Ghost Gauntlets to fulfill your request.” Vlad shuddered then, as though remembering something terrible. “No one could have predicted what happened next.”

Danny briefly wondered if Vlad’s so-called Ghost Gauntlets were the same ones that his father had invented last year—well, over ten years ago, from where he currently was.

“Your ghostly half was enraged that you had him removed.” A haunted look crossed Vlad’s face as he spoke. “I watched as he tore your human half from the surgery table, shouting furiously in a language that I did not understand. And the next thing I knew, he had turned on me.” Vlad paused as he took a steadying breath, and Danny noticed a faint tremor in his hands. “Your ghost half donned the gauntlets I had used to remove him, and in turn used them to rip my being in twain.” Vlad eyed Danny warily. “Have you ever seen two ghosts of opposing cores merge, Daniel? It’s not a pretty sight.”

Danny tried not to cringe at the imagery that Vlad’s words conjured up. And it was disturbing, sure, but honestly he wasn’t that surprised that Dan was part Plasmius. Now that he thought about it, he could see it clearly in the ghost’s mannerisms.

But… that also begged the question…

“What…” The word left Danny’s mouth in a dry croak. “What happened to my human half?”

Vlad grimaced and turned away from Danny. “Once the merging was complete, the new being returned his attention to you—your now vulnerable, fully human half. And… well, let me just say, human flesh doesn’t stand a chance against claws and fangs.”

Disturbing and unwelcome imagery rose to the forefront of Danny’s mind: flesh torn from bone, muscles shredded into ribbons, eyes gouged from their sockets, bones ground into dust…

Danny clamped a hand over his mouth and looked away as bile crept its way up his throat. Why would his… why would Dan’s ghost half turn on him like that? Why would it have killed him?

Would Danny’s ghost half kill him, too?

No! I won’t!

… what? There… there was that voice again. Danny looked behind him, wondering if there was someone else in the room, but… no. It was just him and Vlad.

I didn’t mean to… The voice was mournful—even tearful. It… it was an accident…

Danny wondered if he was going crazy, like Dan apparently had after his family died. Did that mean that Danny was like him, after all? Was this just the beginning of his awful descent?

Vlad sighed, drawing Danny’s attention. The old man was leaning against the counter, still holding the picture frame in his hands. Vlad stared at the picture a moment longer before he spoke again.

“All these years have given me plenty of time to reflect. Time to look back on what a fool I’d been. Time to better myself, to learn new things…” Vlad placed the picture down and looked back at Danny with a new light in his eyes—one that made Danny very uncomfortable. “I learned the language your ghost half had been speaking—Ancient Greek. Specifically, a dialect unique to the region of Korfos during the beginnings of the Spartan Empire. Isn’t that strange Daniel? Do you know what he said?” Vlad gave Danny a smug look, one that seemed to say, “I know something you don’t know.”

Danny numbly shook his head. How could he possibly know what his ghost half had said? He hadn’t even been there. None of this had happened to him.

Yet… He thought bitterly.

“He was saying how you betrayed him,” Vlad revealed. “How everyone betrayed him. Left him all alone. Left him behind. Now, I don’t know why he said such things. Isn’t your ghost half supposed to be you?” Vlad’s voice took on an interrogative tone. “Your own life? Your own experiences? Yet yours spoke Greek as if it were a native. That doesn’t sound much like you, does it, Daniel?”

Something in the way that Vlad said Danny’s name sent a wave of revulsion down his spine. It… it sounded wrong. But that was his name, wasn’t it? If it wasn’t, then what was? His head was spinning, Vlad’s voice echoing around his mind. Others joined it, speaking English and Greek—voices he knew, voices he didn’t know, voices that sounded hauntingly familiar—

:SHUT UP!: Danny shouted. He stumbled and fell to his knees, cradling his head in his hands. His skull felt like it was going to split open, his heart hammering in time with his thundering core. The medallion knocked painfully against his sternum, instantly making him nauseous.

He sucked in a desperate gasp of air, forcing himself to breathe deeply and slowly in an attempt to calm his racing heart and core. He did not have the time to be having a mental breakdown, especially in front of Vlad.

He breathed out, slowly. Out, two, three, four… In… Out… In…

His pulses evened out little by little with each breath, until, finally, he no longer felt like his heart and core were going to burst out of his chest. His head was still spinning, and Danny took a few more steadying breaths before opening his eyes. His vision was blurry with tears, and he wiped them away as he shakily got to his feet.

Danny looked up at Vlad and scowled. The jerk had stood there with an uncaring expression as he watched Danny’s almost-meltdown.

“Oh, so you do know Greek?” Vlad sounded mildly intrigued.

Danny only shrugged in response, ignoring the slight tremor in his hands. Had he spoken in Greek just then? He hadn’t even noticed.

Vlad hummed, an unreadable look on his face—Danny would say he looked slightly shaken. Unnerved. “You’ve gotten better at those scary eyes of yours, Daniel,” he remarked, his lips set in a grim line. “Going all green like that.”

:What are you talking about?: Danny asked, his pulses picking up again.

Wordlessly, Vlad gestured to a dark monitor beside Danny. The halfa gave the old man a questioning look before moving closer to the monitor. When Danny saw his reflection, he froze.

His eyes were a solid, glowing green.

Danny stumbled backwards, his reflection doing the same. It—he looked terrified.

What in the world was going on? What was happening to him?

Vlad’s amused cackle rang through the air, knocking Danny out of whatever stupor he’d fallen into. Danny blinked, and his eyes were back to normal. Hesitantly, he blinked again, half expecting his eyes to change once more.

But they remained the same.

“You’re like a cat that’s never seen its reflection before!” Vlad laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

Danny glared at Vlad and folded his arms over his chest. He didn’t come here to be mocked—he came here for help getting home. Danny opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as Vlad continued.

“After you left me with your deceased human remains, you went on to destroy everything and everyone in your path. Those two demigod camps were among the first to be decimated. Then you attacked mortal cities all across the country. The nation was left a wasteland, and any who offered support were… given a clear message to stay away.”

“I… I wouldn’t…” Danny said weakly. He could barely get the words out.

“Oh, but you did,” Vlad insisted emphatically. “Whole cities just…” He swept his hand out in front of him. “Wiped from the earth. And it wasn’t just mortals that you killed.” He met Danny’s gaze, and the tension in the air became almost palpable. “You also murdered every god that got in your way.”

“No,” Danny whispered. He didn’t want to believe Vlad, but the solemn seriousness in the man’s voice made Danny unsure he could believe that the words were anything other than the truth. And besides… he had seen the ichor on Dan’s gloves for himself.

“Yes, Daniel,” Vlad affirmed. “Through permanent injury or fatal destruction, no god could stand in your way. Heracles was the first to fall, and was swiftly followed by Ares and Athena. The twins, Artemis and Apollo, were struck down soon after. And those are just the Olympians that I know of. There were so many more that fell to you. Even those of the chthonic pantheon. I’ve heard things, you know. From the ghosts. Hades, Persephone, their children…” Vlad chuckled mirthlessly. “Well, need I say more?”

Danny’s heart and core began racing again, and he could feel the medallion being jostled around. Demeter’s words came back to his mind—specifically, the names that the goddess had mentioned: Heracles, Ares, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Zagreus, Makaria, and Persephone… Danny didn’t even know who some of those people were. And then Vlad had mentioned even more: Hades? He—Dan had killed Hades? And Hades’ children, whoever those were… did that include Nico? Or had Nico been killed back when the camps had been…

He didn’t want to think about that.

“How…” Danny cleared his throat. “How do you know about any of this?”

Vlad smirked and walked back over to his chair. He grabbed something from the desk in front of it and walked back to Danny, carrying what appeared to be a silver laptop. He held it out in front of him, and Danny saw a glowing blue delta (∆) on its lid.

“I found this during one of my expeditions,” Vlad answered smugly as he tucked it under his arm. “This is the source of most of my knowledge of the mythological world. It has provided me with information that has been essential to navigating this… new world without my ghost powers.”

“Where did you find it?” Danny questioned.

“Well, after my being was so brutally cleaved in two, I did not have much to do with my time,” Vlad confessed. “So I turned my attention to research. I was no longer a ghost, but I did have the technology available to continue to explore the Ghost Zone. There’s quite a bit to be found, if you know where to look. Old scripts and texts and whatnot. And I found this,” Vlad gestured to the laptop under his arm. “In the remnants of an old workshop located deep within the Ghost Zone. It has many… interesting things on it. Blueprints, graphs, research studies and notes. And a journal.” Vlad carefully placed the laptop back down on the counter. “Apparently, the original owner of this laptop studied under one of the gods as an apprentice.”

Now that caught Danny’s attention. “An apprentice?” He repeated, his hand going to his right forearm.

Vlad noticed Danny’s movement, and his eyes narrowed. “Yes,” he said slowly. “An apprentice. What do you know about them, Daniel?”

“Oh, umm…” Danny scratched the back of his head as he tried to come up with a lie. He wasn’t supposed to let people know about his apprenticeship, after all. “I… read about them… somewhere?”

Vlad silently raised an eyebrow in obvious disbelief.

Danny looked away, and his gaze went to his arm. It wasn’t like this Vlad knowing about his apprenticeship would cause him any more trouble than he was already in. He was already stuck in a dystopian future with potentially no way back. What did he have to lose?

Danny pulled off his right glove and held out his arm, revealing his apprentice mark.

Vlad stared at Danny’s mark in shock. Danny did as well. To his surprise, his mark wasn’t its regular silver—it was now black, like it normally was in his human form.

What…? Danny furrowed his brow. That’s not right…

Danny was shaken out of his thoughts when Vlad lurched forward and grabbed his wrist, turning his arm upwards so that the mark was more clearly visible.

“An apprentice mark…?” There was a hushed fascination to Vlad’s voice as he studied the Greek letters. He then narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on Danny’s wrist. “Where did you get this?”

Danny phased his arm out of Vlad’s grasp and stepped back, glaring at the older man. “Back off,” he growled.

Vlad didn’t even react to Danny’s warning, his gaze still locked on Danny’s arm. “You never had that when I knew you,” Vlad whispered.

“That’s because I am not the Danny that you knew,” Danny reiterated as he pulled his glove back on. “I’m not your Danny.”

Vlad scoffed. “I can see that now,” he remarked dryly. “But what’s to say that you won’t turn out the same? Especially with that mentor of yours.” Vlad pointed at Danny’s mark, a foreboding tone clear in his voice. “That is a very dangerous mentor to have.”

Honestly, Danny didn’t know how to respond; he knew who Thanatos was and what he did, but… for some reason, nothing about the god scared him, or truly struck him as dangerous.

“Believe what you want,” Danny muttered. “But I still need your help.”

“Oh? You need my help?” Vlad snarked. “Is that why you disturbed my retirement?”

Danny glanced out of the corner of his eye at the dark and dreary cave around them, feeling rather unimpressed. This was retirement?

“And why should I help you?” Vlad drawled. “Especially after what you’ve done.”

“I haven’t—”

“Have done, will do…” Vlad shrugged carelessly. “It means nothing to me now. I have no reason to help you.”

“Because…” Danny paused for a moment, but then he knew what to say. “Because I can prevent this.”

That seemed to catch Vlad’s interest. “What?”

“I can prevent this whole future,” Danny insisted. “I’ll make sure that none of this will ever happen.”

“And how will you do that, Daniel?” Vlad demanded, gesturing exasperatedly to the room around them. “How can you possibly be sure that you can stop this?”

Danny paused. What could he say to convince Vlad that he wouldn’t become Dan? What could he do? What could he promise?

“I’ll make a Stygian oath,” Danny proposed.

Vlad blinked. “A what?”

“A Stygian oath,” Danny repeated. “It’s an—”

Vlad held up a hand to silence him. “I know what a Stygian oath is, Daniel. Why did you bring them up?”

In lieu of an answer, Danny simply said: “I swear on the River Styx that I will not become your Danny. I will not cause this future.”

The cave rumbled ominously in response, and Vlad eyed the ceiling warily, as if he were worried that the cave was going to collapse on top of them.

“There. Is that enough proof for you?” Danny asked him.

“All that proves is that you are a fool for making such a dangerous oath so carelessly.” Vlad shook his head and sighed tiredly before meeting Danny’s gaze. “What help of mine did you need?”

“Do you still have those Ghost Gauntlets?”

.

Danny waited nervously near the computer monitors, watching as Vlad searched the cave for the Ghost Gauntlets. He knew that this was likely the only way for him to get back home, but… a sense of unease had settled over him as he thought more and more about his plan to return to his timeline. His core in particular was especially opposed to the idea, feeling as if it was doing cartwheels in his chest as it flitted anxiously, bumping into the medallion over and over again.

Stop it, Danny thought to himself as he grimaced in pain. That hurts.

Please, Danny wasn’t even surprised by the voice this time, though he still wondered what it was. Perhaps his core was speaking to him? Was that a thing that cores did? Please don’t do this.

Danny really didn’t know how to feel about the disembodied voice in his head. Should he be concerned about it? Well, obviously he should, but… for some reason… he wasn’t. Not as much as he probably should be. Sure, it unnerved him, but… it didn’t really feel evil or wrong or… anything.

It just felt like a part of him.

Hey… Danny wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but he decided to try and console the strange voice. It’s… alright.

No… The voice sniffled. Please don’t, I’m scared—

There was a loud clatter as Vlad knocked over a stack of miscellaneous items on one of the counters. Danny’s core jolted in alarm, knocking against the medallion again and causing Danny to wince in pain. Though that reaction pretty much confirmed his theory that the voice was coming from his core.

Should he talk to someone about this? It wasn’t like he had anyone that he could talk to. He didn’t really have any ghost allies, and he certainly couldn’t talk to his parents…

“Ah, there we are.” Vlad straightened from where he had been crouched over, two large metal gloves now held in his grasp. “I knew I had them somewhere.”

Danny’s chest tightened at the sight of the gloves. They did look like the gloves that his dad had made a while back, but far more… pointy. And dangerous.

Danny’s core quivered in fear as Vlad slipped on the gauntlets, and the sensation made Danny nauseous. He instinctively stumbled back as Vlad came towards him, the dim lights of the cave reflecting harshly off of the long, needle-like claws.

Vlad stopped just inches from Danny, and he gave the young halfa a skeptical look. “Are you sure you even want my help? Your demeanor says otherwise.”

No, no, no—

“Yes.” Danny fought to keep the tremor out of his voice. “If you separate my two halves, then the medallion should come loose and I should be able to go back to my own time.”

“Should is such a strong word,” Vlad mused. “And where did you say this medallion was located?”

“Right here.” Danny pressed a hand against his sternum, wincing again as he felt the medallion dig into his core.

“That must be painful,” Vlad said, not an ounce of pity in his voice. “You’d best hold still. Speaking from personal experience, this is going to hurt.”

Before Danny could respond, the gauntlets came slashing down, and his vision went dark. The long blades sliced right between his two halves like a seam ripper, separating everything in their path. There was a clink as the gauntlets caught onto the medallion, but then there was something else—a tugging sensation, and suddenly Danny couldn’t breathe. The tugging continued, pulling a familiar coolness out from under his ribs. Danny cried out in pain as his core was taken away from him—was stolen, right from his chest, leaving a hollowness in its wake.

Danny’s scream was cut off as the gauntlets left him, the air leaving his lungs as well. His transformation fell away, leaving him human as his body collapsed onto the cold ground below him. His vision was still dark, and Danny realized that his eyelids had fallen shut. He struggled to open them, but found that he didn’t have the strength. His lungs were burning now—he couldn’t breathe, he—

Someone was crying. Danny could hear it, faint and echoey, yet seemingly just inches away. It sounded just like him. Who…?

His lungs felt like they were caving in on themselves, but Danny finally managed to open his eyes. He saw… himself, kneeling in front of him. Well, it was Phantom, but… something wasn’t quite right. The ghost’s form was flickering. The brief flashes showed pale skin and dark hair in place of Phantom’s tan and white, and a white chiton in place of his black jumpsuit.

Blue-gold eyes met Danny’s gaze, and Phantom—was it Phantom?—spoke.

:Please… don’t leave me, too…:

And then the specter was reaching forward, and the second his fingers touched Danny’s chest, Danny could breathe again. His strength returned as cool air filled his lungs, and Danny coughed violently as he struggled to catch his breath.

Danny almost cried in relief as he felt his core return to him, settling back into place just below his sternum, and he relished the absence of pain left in the medallion’s wake.

Speaking of the medallion…

His eyes were watering, and Danny blinked away the tears as he looked up again. To his surprise, Phantom and that… other spirit were gone. Vlad stood alone, the medallion hanging from the claws of his gauntlets. His expression… Danny couldn’t think of any way to describe it other than “freaked out.” All the color had drained from his face, and his sunken eyes had taken on a haunted look as he stared at Danny.

A shimmering blue light filled Danny’s vision, and he didn’t even have time to thank Vlad before he was pulled from the cave and brought back to an unfortunately familiar room.

“Hello again, Daniel,” Clockwork greeted.

Chapter Text

Danny POV:

“Hello again, Daniel,” Clockwork greeted.

Danny brought his hands to his face and let out a frustrated growl. He did not have time for this.

“Look, I’m sure what you have to say is very interesting,” Danny acknowledged, struggling to keep the irritation out of his voice as his ghostly transformation washed back over him. “But I’m in a bit of a rush right now. I need to get home before—”

“Time is frozen,” Clockwork explained coolly. “Here, as well as in your timeline. Nothing will happen until you return. So relax,” Clockwork waved his hand, and a plush armchair appeared behind Danny. “Forget your worries for a time.”

“I can’t,” Danny argued. “Please, I—”

“Really,” Clockwork’s tone left no room for argument. “I insist.”

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but Clockwork brought his hand to Danny’s chest and shoved him. Danny stumbled backwards and fell into the armchair, while Clockwork elegantly sat down on a chair across from him. With another wave of his hand, a coffee table appeared, upon which sat a teapot and two cups with saucers.

“Tea?” Clockwork offered as he poured himself a cup. “It’s an herbal blend. Good for healing and relieving stress.”

Danny stared at the ghost in disbelief. “Are you fricking serious?”

“Absolutely.” Clockwork filled the other cup and placed it in front of Danny. “This tea was common in Ancient Greece.”

“Wha…? No, that’s not—gah!” Danny threw his hands up in frustration and stood up. “I’m outta here. See ya—”

Danny took a step forward, but suddenly he was back in his seat.

What? I… didn’t sit down.

He looked up at Clockwork in bewilderment. The ghost merely sipped his drink, looking as if nothing had even happened. Danny waited a moment, but Clockwork said nothing, so he stood up again.

And was immediately back in his seat.

Clockwork spoke up then. “I quite literally have all the time in the world to wait for you to calm down and listen.”

Danny stared at him dumbfoundedly. “Wait. Are you… doing this?” Danny gestured to his armchair.

Clockwork gave a noncommittal shrug. “Am I?”

Danny glared at Clockwork as he stood up a third time, took a step towards the ghost…

And was once again back in his seat.

Danny snarled in exasperation. “Do you really think you can keep me here?”

Clockwork placed his cup back on its saucer. “Yes.” He replied flatly. “Rather easily, in fact.”

Danny folded his arms with an angry grumble and looked away. He bristled with barely restrained anger as Clockwork took another long sip of his tea before setting the cup and saucer back on the table and leaning back in his chair.

“So, Daniel,” Clockwork steepled his fingers, and his appearance made Danny feel like he was in some sort of counselor’s office. “How are you feeling? Worried? Stressed, perhaps?”

“Yes,” Danny hissed. “I am very worried that my family is going to be murdered by me!”

“Hmm.” Clockwork nodded sagely. “That is a reasonable worry to have, but fear not. Remember, time will remain frozen until you return. They will not die while you are here.”

Danny wanted to argue, but it wasn’t like there was much he could really do. His attempts to escape so far had been unsuccessful, and Clockwork didn’t seem intent on letting him leave anytime soon. So he reluctantly slouched back in his chair and glared at Clockwork.

Clockwork met Danny’s angry look with an annoyingly neutral expression. “I imagine that today has been a bit… confusing for you.”

That’s an understatement. Danny thought to himself, but he nodded silently.

“As Master of Time, I am not supposed to interfere with matters concerning the natural progression of the timelines,” Clockwork explained. “However, I do not believe it would do any harm if I were to let you rest here for a moment, and let you ask some questions.”

“I don’t have any questions,” Danny insisted. “I just need to—”

“Oh?” Clockwork cut him off, his voice light and conversational. “No questions? Well, may as well have some tea, then. It’s getting cold.”

Danny had half a mind to once again get up and try to leave, but he knew it was unlikely he’d be able to take more than a couple of steps before he ended up back in the armchair. He wasn’t a big fan of tea, but he picked up the cup and held it in his hands. It was pleasantly warm. He stared down into the amber-colored liquid, and his reflection stared back up at him.

His eyes looked… normal, but the memory of his reflection in Vlad’s computer monitor came to his mind and he grimaced.

“Actually, I may have… one question.”

Clockwork didn’t say anything—he just looked at Danny expectantly, waiting for the halfa to continue.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but faltered. He was going to sound like he was crazy. Heck, maybe he was.

After another moment of hesitation, Danny finally asked: “Is… my core having a voice… normal?”

His core squirmed uneasily in his chest at the words.

“For you, yes.” Clockwork answered. “It is normal.”

The confirmation didn’t bring Danny the relief that he thought it would. He placed a hand over his core, wincing as the action sent a dull ache through his chest where the medallion had once resided.

“So does that mean… my core is a separate being?” Danny questioned.

“No.” Came the short reply.

Danny looked up at the ghost, surprised. “But…”

Clockwork held up a hand, cutting Danny off. “Your core is you and you alone. In fact, it is your soul.”

Danny was somewhat taken aback by Clockwork’s answer. He had sort of always wondered what exactly a core was; his parents had plenty of theories, but none of them were particularly well-formed or thought out or confirmed by any sort of science. Before he had become a ghost, Danny hadn’t been sure he even believed in souls. He did now—he supposed he had to—but to actually have their existence confirmed was just… weird.

“So… my core, or soul, or whatever… is me?” Danny clarified.

Clockwork nodded.

“But… I didn’t think those thoughts,” Danny pointed out. “And the voice—”

“Is nothing to be worried about,” Clockwork finished. “Now, why did you ask about your core, Daniel?”

“… uhh, wait…” Danny said slowly. “But what about—”

“I will answer your questions in due time,” Clockwork assured him. “But for the moment, please answer mine.”

“Well… yeah,” Danny muttered begrudgingly after a long moment. “I’ve been… hearing a voice in my head. And Vlad—from the future—said that my… alternate self had started, like, going crazy and talking to himself before he… was… split in half. And I was worried that me hearing a voice meant that I was starting to become like my other self!” Danny’s voice rose as he struggled to voice the worries in his head.

Clockwork frowned thoughtfully. “Surely you have noticed some differences between you and your alternate self?”

Well, duh. Danny thought for a moment before answering; other than their rather obvious physical differences, what was different between them? “I mean, besides how different we look, I have never killed anyone.”

Danny’s core stirred and whispered uncertainly, as if it were disagreeing with him. Danny absently placed a hand over his chest again as he continued. “I would never kill anyone. And I’ve never even heard of the Oreo… orpheo-something, let alone seen or killed one.”

“Do you, perhaps, mean the Ophiotaurus?” Clockwork supplied.

“Yeah, that thing. I—I mean, my other self said that he killed it, and it gave him the power to… to kill gods.” Danny’s breath caught in his throat. “A-and he said that—that a demigod has to kill it to get that power, b-but I’m not a demigod, and—”

“Daniel,” Clockwork interrupted gently. “Breathe.”

The teacup fell from Danny’s grasp and shattered on the stone bricks as Danny closed his eyes and brought his hands to his temples, fighting to steady his rapid breathing. His core was whispering—whining almost anxiously as he took a deep breath and held it, before slowly letting it go.

No freaking out. Not right now.

… okay.

Danny took another deep breath, just to be sure he was calm, and opened his eyes. His gaze immediately landed on the broken teacup by his feet, and he winced.

“I’m… sorry about the mess,” Danny mumbled apologetically.

Clockwork held out his hand and twisted it, as if turning a doorknob. A blue light shimmered around the remnants of the teacup, and Danny watched in amazement as the pieces fitted themselves back together seamlessly. The teacup floated upwards and settled back on the table with a clink, as good as new and once again filled with steaming golden tea.

“No harm done,” Clockwork said easily. His expression was rather emotionless, but a hint of concern laced his voice as he asked, “How are you feeling, Daniel?”

Danny shrugged helplessly, his head propped up on his hands as he stared mopily at his feet. “Honestly… I’m very, very tired…”

“That is understandable. You have been through a lot recently.” There was a pause. “Daniel, may I ask you a question? In regards to what your alternate self said about the Ophiotaurus.”

“Sure,” Danny answered flatly, lifting his head to look at the ghost. “Knock yourself out.”

There was a twinkle in Clockwork’s eye and the faintest hint of a smile on his lips as he asked, “Did your alternate self ever say that the demigod had to be living?”

Danny thought for a moment, before slowly shaking his head. What was Clockwork getting at?

“Well then, perhaps a brief explanation of half-ghosts is in order.” Clockwork leaned forward in his chair.

“There are certain elements that are required for a half-ghost to come into existence. Not just any being could become such a perfectly balanced mix of life and death.” Clockwork explained. “For all the living matter within a body, there must be something… spectral, if you will, for the living matter to fuse with. For example, perhaps a portal to the Ghost Zone opened on a mortal and a lost core at the same time, and there was just the right amount of ectoplasmic energy to merge the two together into a new being. In exceptionally rare cases, perhaps the half-ghost was born naturally. Or perhaps,” there was a knowing glint to Clockwork’s eyes that unnerved Danny and sent a chill creeping down his spine and through his core. “A dying mortal had a portal form on top of them, and that mortal happened to have a past life that provided the perfect template for their current, living body to merge with the ecto-energy, creating a new being with perfect equilibrium. A being with memories both old and new, both lost and found, both forgotten… and remembered.”

Danny’s stomach flip-flopped as his core thrummed anxiously—or perhaps excitedly?—at Clockwork’s words. It was pretty obvious that the ghost was trying to hint at something, but… what? Was he hinting at how Danny had become a halfa? If so, which way had he…?

“Of course,” Clockwork continued, startling Danny out of his thoughts. “Half-ghosts of this sort are unique in the sense that they are sometimes able to remember their past lives. Oftentimes, a catalyst can help the half-ghost to remember their past. Sometimes that catalyst is something, or someone, important to them from their previous life.”

Danny had no idea what Clockwork was even talking about at this point, and he stared blankly at the ghost. The words made sense to him, but it was as if his brain was just refusing to process them at the moment. What did half-ghosts have to do with anything? Was Clockwork trying to tell Danny something about himself? About how he had become a halfa? Or what kind of halfa he was? Apparently there were different types of halfas? He was still struggling to process what had happened with his old enemies, and Demeter, and…

Danny dropped his hands from his face as he let out a tired sigh. “I’m sorry, but… I have no idea what you are trying to tell me right now. A lot has happened today and… my brain is fried.”

“That is quite alright, Daniel,” Clockwork assured him. “I did not expect you to understand it all just yet.”

“Then… why did you tell me all this now?” Danny asked bewilderedly.

“Because you will understand. In time.” Clockwork picked up the teapot and refilled his cup. “One day, you will look back on this conversation, and it will finally make sense to you.”

Danny just stared at the ghost yet again. Clockwork made no sense to him. It was like the ghost enjoyed speaking in riddles to confuse people. Danny’s gaze fell to the teacup in front of him, and he frowned. Clockwork had attacked him the first time they met (well, okay, Danny had started it), but now he was offering him tea? And chatting as if they were friends? Speaking of, Danny still had no idea what Clockwork had meant by “old friend.” One, he had never met this guy before. And two, Danny was pretty sure friends didn’t try to kill each other.

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you a question?” Danny piped up after a minute or two of silence.

“What is it, Daniel?” Clockwork replied as he placed his cup back on its saucer.

“Why did you attack me? Back when I first showed up here. I mean, I kinda started it,” Danny admitted as he glanced away awkwardly. “But you said that you were supposed to, like, destroy me or… something.”

“Because a group of ghosts called the Observants ordered me to,” Clockwork answered. “You’ll be dealing with them yourself in the future.”

“What? Why would a group of ghosts I’ve never even met order you to kill me?!” Danny shouted.

“To prevent you from becoming your alternate self,” Clockwork responded, his face settling into a faint scowl.

His answer was like a knife through Danny’s core. So… was that it, then? No matter what Danny thought or did, he was going to become… that?

Please… no… I don’t want to… his core mumbled tearfully. Danny didn’t blame it; he felt the same way.

“So I’m just going to become him no matter what I do,” Danny muttered, his throat tight as tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. “Are you going to… finish the job?” And if he was, should Danny just let him? He didn’t want to become that. He didn’t want to kill innocent people, he didn’t—

“No, I am not,” Clockwork said with a shake of his head, much to Danny’s surprise. “That would be counterintuitive to keeping the integrity of the timeline, after all.”

“ …what?” Danny sniffled as he swiped at his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean, Daniel, is that your alternate self, as he is now, was never meant to exist.” Clockwork revealed. “It was through the influences and beguilings of the goddess Gaea that your alternate self became who he is now.”

“Gae—” Danny started to repeat, but Clockwork quickly held his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence.

“I may say her name, but you cannot.” Clockwork warned. “Lest you draw unwanted attention.”

“Uhh… okay?” Danny said slowly, confused. “Why? Wait, is it ‘cause names draw attention or something?”

Clockwork nodded.

“Then… why can you say her name?” Danny countered.

“That,” Clockwork stressed. “Is a topic for another time.”

“Okay, then why did… she do that?” Danny asked instead. “Why did she… influence him? Me? … him?”

“Gaea sees mortals as mere pawns, and has no qualms with using them for her needs. Your alternate self’s life is not the only one she has disrupted. Unfortunately, I can’t really tell you much else,” Clockwork said regrettably.

“But… but you said that we have all the time in the world to talk,” Danny pointed out indignantly. “So talk!”

“I know what I said,” Clockwork stated calmly. “But there are matters that you are not yet privy to, that we cannot yet discuss.”

Danny scowled. “But—”

“The future,” Clockwork cut him off smoothly, and the warning tone of his voice sent a chill down Danny’s spine that made it clear there would be no more discussion on the matter. “Is not for you to know.”

The two ghosts sat there for a long moment, in almost deafening silence. Danny wasn’t really sure how to respond. Was Clockwork mad at him?

But that didn’t seem to be the case. Clockwork clapped his hands together, breaking the heavy silence as he gave Danny a friendly smile. “So, do you have any other questions?”

“That you can answer?” Danny snarked, albeit rather hesitantly, as he was somewhat put off by Clockwork’s sudden change in demeanor.

Clockwork gave a sympathetic shrug, but Danny could see the ghost of a smirk on his lips. “You won’t know unless you ask.”

Danny leaned back in his chair as he mulled over the information he’d received so far. The Ophiotaurus… Halfas… He didn’t have the mental energy to think about either of those right now. And then he had learned that there was a group called the Observants that wanted him dead. Neat.

“Can you tell me more about the Observants?” Danny asked hopefully.

“Not much,” Clockwork admitted. “Like I said, you’ll meet them soon enough.”

“Okay…” Danny hummed thoughtfully. “Why did you listen to them? When they told you to kill me. Why didn’t you just say no?”

“Because if I had refused, then they would’ve taken matters into their own hands,” Clockwork explained with a sigh of annoyance. “And your timeline would have been fractured from their meddling. Besides, I didn’t attack you like they wanted me to. Believe me,” Clockwork’s eyes flickered dangerously. “If I had truly wanted to get rid of you, you would never have even had a chance to react.”

Well then.

“Uhh… thank you…?” Danny said awkwardly, unsure of what he should say.

Clockwork looked a bit surprised by Danny’s response, but then he chuckled. “Of course.”

The room fell quiet for a brief moment as Danny thought of what else to ask. “Why are you doing this, anyway?” He gestured at the teapot and the teacups on the table. “Why are you helping me? I thought you said you weren’t supposed to interfere.”

“I’m not doing anything except making sure that everything plays out as it should,” Clockwork responded. “Besides, I am merely returning a favor.”

Danny stared at the ghost in confusion. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” he stated bluntly.

Clockwork chuckled again. “You will.”

Danny was still confused, and he opened his mouth to ask Clockwork what he meant, but the ghost suddenly froze. His brow furrowed, he frowned as he set down his teacup and pulled off his right glove, revealing…

“You have an apprentice?!” Danny shouted in disbelief.

Clockwork didn’t answer, his attention fully focused on the silver letters on his right forearm. His frown deepened as he ran the fingers of his left hand over the characters, obscuring them and making it so that Danny couldn’t read what they said.

“My apologies, Daniel, but I'm afraid you must leave now,” Clockwork finally said. “Something has happened with my apprentice that requires my immediate attention.”

“But…” Danny began, but he trailed off as Clockwork gave him a look that made it clear he wasn’t joking around. “Uhh, okay…?”

Danny and Clockwork stood up, and Clockwork raised his hand. A woosh came from behind Danny, and when he turned around his armchair was gone, replaced by a large blue portal.

“That will take you back to your place,” Clockwork informed him. “And your time. Amity Park, 2008.”

Danny nodded again, only half paying attention as he was still trying to catch a glimpse of Clockwork’s forearm.

“Daniel.”

Danny froze before sheepishly meeting Clockwork’s gaze. The ghost gestured to the portal, his expression… his eyes were still worried, but as he gave Danny a small, encouraging smile, Danny would say that Clockwork almost looked amused.

“Get going.”

Danny nodded once more before turning back to the portal. It was time. He had to do this. He had to fight Dan. He didn’t feel like he could do this, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.

As Danny stepped into the portal, he glanced back over his shoulder, and this time Clockwork’s hand was moved, leaving his mark uncovered and legible against his blue skin.

Φάντασμα.

Phantom.

Before Danny could even begin to question that, Clockwork caught his gaze. The ghost’s expression was one that Danny couldn’t place, but he gave the halfa a small nod.

“Good luck.”

.

Jazz POV:

.

“Uggh… my head…” Jazz groaned as she opened her eyes. The room around her was fairly small and dark, but as her blurry vision cleared she saw buckets, spray bottles, a mop, and various other cleaning supplies. Her head throbbed as she got to her feet and tried the door. It was unlocked, and opened out into one of the Casper High school hallways.

Why had she been in the janitor’s closet? How had she gotten into the janitor’s closet? The last thing she remembered was standing outside the door to Mr. Lancer’s classroom, with the Fenton Peeler in her hand, and then…

Jazz looked frantically around the closet for the Fenton Peeler. “Please, oh please don’t be… aha!” She reached down and pulled out the Fenton Peeler from where it had fallen under the shelves.

With her weapon back in hand, Jazz rushed out the door, nearly crashing into the janitor as she did so. She started down the hall with a hasty shout of “sorry!” over her shoulder as she ran back towards Mr. Lancer’s classroom.

What time was it? Were the students still taking the test? She needed to stop Evil Danny before—

The door to the classroom swung open right as Jazz was reaching for the doorknob, and she narrowly avoided bumping into Mr. Lancer.

“Oh!” The teacher looked surprised by her arrival. “Hello, Jasmine. What are you doing here so late?”

“Late?” Jazz repeated, feeling disoriented. “W-what time is it?”

Mr. Lancer frowned as he glanced at his watch. “It’s just after 4:30. The test was over hours ago. You didn’t even have class today.”

“I…” Jazz brought a hand to her aching head. Had she passed out? What had happened to her? She remembered looking through the door window and making eye contact with Evil Danny as she reached for the doorknob… His eyes had flashed red, and then… she’d woken up in the janitor’s closet. He must’ve stopped her, somehow. “I was looking for Danny,” she finally answered.

“Ahh,” the disdain in Mr. Lancer’s voice was obvious. “Mr. Fenton. Well, I regret to inform you that he’s not here. He was the first student to turn in his test, and then he was out the door, off to gallivant about the streets like a hooligan.”

Jazz’s heart sank. She had missed her chance. Evil Danny could be anywhere by now, doing who knows what. Oh, gosh, had he gone after her parents? What if—

“In fact,” Mr. Lancer tapped a stack of papers in his hand, pulling Jazz from her thoughts. “I just need to drop these papers off at the front office and then I’ll be heading over to the Nasty Burger to meet with Daniel and your parents, to discuss… Daniel’s disappointing lack of academic integrity.”

Jazz remembered Mr. Lancer mentioning that when they spoke yesterday. She had hoped to talk to Danny about it all when he got home, but… her Danny hadn’t come home.

And she had to make sure that no one else ran into the other Danny.

Thinking quickly, Jazz ripped the papers from Mr. Lancer’s hand and sprinted down the hall before he even had a chance to react. She winced as he yelled after her, “War and Peace! Miss Fenton, what are you doing?!”

Jazz glanced over her shoulder and saw Mr. Lancer running after her—well… hurrying after her; she wasn’t quite sure it could be described as running.

She paused at the end of the hallway, unsure of what she should do next—she honestly hadn’t thought this far ahead. She looked wildly around her; there were lockers, trash cans, a drinking fountain, an open window…

“Miss Fenton!”

Out of time to think, Jazz threw the papers out the window, and they scattered like confetti on the school grounds as she sprinted through the foyer and out the front doors of the school. She hoped that that would delay Mr. Lancer and buy her at least a little time to get to the Nasty Burger before him, and stop Evil Danny before it was too late. She would deal with the earful from Mr. Lancer later.

Jazz pulled her keys from her pocket as she ran across the parking lot, unlocked her car, and hopped in. She pulled out her phone as she started her car, tossing the Fenton Peeler into the passenger’s seat as she called Sam.

Sam picked up on the first ring.

“Jazz, what happened?!” the goth shouted. “We saw you at the door, but then you disappeared!”

“Yeah, what was that about?! I thought you said you were going to take care of him!” Tucker added.

Jazz watched through her rearview mirror as Mr. Lancer exited the school and walked around to the courtyard, likely to go gather his papers. “I said that I had a plan,” she corrected.

“And what happened to that plan?” Sam asked, a little calmer.

“What do you think happened?” Jazz snapped.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Jazz sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry for snapping at you two. It’s been a pretty stressful day for me.”

“Yeah, it’s been the same for us, Jazz,” Tucker sympathized. “I mean, look at who we’ve been stuck with the past couple of days.”

“So, what’s your plan now?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” Jazz admitted. “But I think it would be better if we met up. Where are you guys?”

“Patrolling,” Tucker answered.

“Looking for Evil Danny,” Sam clarified.

“Where are you guys now?” Jazz put her car into gear and pulled out onto the street.

Jazz turned onto Main Street. She immediately saw Sam and Tucker waiting for her on the sidewalk, so she pulled up to the curb and waited for the two young teens to get in the car.

“Have you two seen Danny? Our Danny?” Jazz all but demanded once Sam and Tucker were both seated.

The teens only shook their heads.

“Do you have any idea where he could be?” Jazz asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.

Tucker shook his head again as Sam answered. “We haven’t seen him since we left the future.”

Jazz thought about her note, hoping against hope that it had somehow reached Danny. But even if it had, that didn’t mean that he had found a way back. Yet. “So… I guess we’re on our own for this.”

“Looks like it,” Tucker muttered dejectedly. “Besides, even if we somehow take down Evil Danny, what then? What if our Danny never comes back?”

Sam whirled on Tucker. “Do not say that. He will come back.”

“Hey, I never said he wouldn’t.” Tucker held up his hands placatingly. “I’m just saying what if—”

“Forget the what-ifs, Tuck!” Sam shouted with a glare.

Now Tucker was getting frustrated. “But what if—”

“What if you shut up?!” Sam interrupted.

“Enough!” Jazz shouted, her voice far too loud in the small, enclosed space. Silence reigned as Jazz took a deep breath before speaking again. “Look, it has been a long and stressful day for all of us, but that doesn’t mean we should be jumping down each other’s throats.”

Sam and Tucker sheepishly looked away from each other.

“Now.” Jazz settled back into her seat. “Does anyone have a plan for dealing with Evil Danny?”

It was just after 5 P.M. when Jazz, Sam, and Tucker arrived at the Nasty Burger. Sam and Tucker leapt out of the car before it even came to a stop, running towards the group standing in front of the restaurant. Jazz saw Mr. Lancer, her parents, and…

“Evil Danny,” she hissed under her breath.

Jazz turned off the car and opened the door, making sure to grab the Fenton Peeler before she got out and slammed the door shut. She activated the Fenton Peeler, and began to run as soon as its armor had finished forming around her. As she neared the group, she could hear Mr. Lancer shouting.

“South Beach Diet, people! What’s going on here?!”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on!” Jazz proclaimed, coming to a stop just feet from her parents and Evil Danny. Her parents turned to her with looks of shock, while Evil Danny looked angry.

“Jazz? What are you doing out of bed?” Maddie exclaimed.

Jazz didn’t answer her mother. Instead, she leveled the Fenton Peeler at Evil Danny’s chest, and pulled the trigger.

Evil Danny was barely even staggered by the energy blast, but the Peeler did its job. His face contorted in pain as his skin began to crack and flake, and it reminded Jazz of a snake shedding its dead skin, revealing the predator inside.

The adults in the group gasped in shock and horror as the ghost fell to its hands and knees, smoke rising from its skin as the charred remains of its disguise fell to the pavement. The two younger teens gave each other looks of grim determination as Jazz stepped forward and pointed accusingly at the specter.

“That’s not Danny!” Jazz announced triumphantly.

Jazz’s parents recovered from their shock quickly. They both pulled ecto-guns from their belts and immediately trained them on Evil Danny, who hadn’t yet made an attempt to stand up.

“Where is he?” Jack demanded angrily. “Where’s our son?!”

“What have you done with our boy?!” Maddie cried.

Evil Danny’s shoulders began to quiver, and Jazz smirked. Why had she even been worried? Her parents were two of the world’s greatest ghost hunters. With her parents standing over him, their weapons drawn, of course he would be shaking in his boots.

But then she heard it. A low, gravelly chuckle, and she realized…

No, he wasn’t shaking in fear.

He was laughing.

Evil Danny looked up at Maddie, his red eyes glowing bright and dangerous.

“I am your boy!” He hissed.

Before anyone could react, the ghost shot into the air, glaring cruelly down at them.

“What kind of parents are you, anyway?” He sneered. “The world’s leading ghost experts, and yet you couldn’t figure out your own son was half-ghost!”

Crap.

Jazz looked at her parents with wide eyes. They looked too stunned to speak. That was… an okay reaction. At least they didn’t seem upset. She and Danny would have to deal with the aftermath of that reveal later. After they—or she—took down Danny’s evil self.

“I mean, hellooo?” Evil Danny rolled his eyes. “Did you really never find it odd that all of your inventions always targeted, locked onto, or worked on me? Every. Single. One of them. Did you really never think about it? And then all the similarities… all the convenient excuses… I mean, it was so obvious, that it’s a small wonder I was even able to keep my secret identity, well,” Evil Danny chuckled. “A secret.”

“Liar!” Jack snapped, his hands and voice shaking with rage as he aimed his gun at the ghost. “Don’t move!”

“Actually,” Evil Danny countered, baring his fangs in a malevolent smile. “Nobody’s going anywhere. Not until it’s time for you to be blown everywhere.”

He raised his hand, and it flared to life with green ectoplasm. He flung his arm out in front of him, sending out a wave of ectoplasm that hit Mr. Lancer, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz’s parents, wrapping around them in thick strands that pinned their arms to their sides and sent the group flying backwards into one of the sauce vats, gluing them to its side. They began to scream and yell, but the ghost merely pointed at them, and globs of ectoplasm shot from his fingers, gagging and silencing them all almost instantly.

Evil Danny landed a few feet in front of Jazz, his back to her. Had he forgotten she was there? If so, then now was her chance to strike! Jazz pulled her arm back as she ran towards him. Aiming for the middle of his back, Jazz threw her fist forward with all of her might. And…

Her fist went straight through him.

Evil Danny cackled. Jazz felt bile rise in her throat as he turned his head completely around like an owl, and she winced at the sound of his bones cracking.

“Oh, Jazz,” Evil Danny tutted. “That was pathetic, even for you.”

The ghost turned to her, and Jazz didn’t even have time to run before her helmet was ripped off her head and her arms were pinned to her sides by the same ectoplasmic goo that bound everyone else. She screamed and quickly found herself gagged.

“Now, now, Jazz. There’s no need for that.” Evil Danny grabbed Jazz by the neck of her chestplate and slung her into the rubble of the Nasty Burger.

Jazz couldn’t even scream as she flew through the air, and she slammed into the sauce vat where the others were currently trapped. She blinked away the spots in her eyes, and began to struggle once she saw Evil Danny starting to walk towards them. But the ectoplasm around her torso held tight, and it had glued her to the searing hot metal of the sauce vat behind her. Tears filled Jazz’s eyes; this was it, wasn’t it? She had failed, and Danny wasn’t back, and now they were all going to be—

“Aww,” Evil Danny crooned, his tone mocking and cruel. “Don’t cry, everyone. You’re all giving your lives for a greater cause.”

Evil Danny turned away then and strode out into the middle of the empty street, where he raised his hands high and turned his face up towards the sky. “Do you hear me now, Gaea?!” He shouted, his voice booming through the abandoned clearing. “You said you’d never leave me! Not like my mother, not like my father… and you won’t.”

He turned back to them, a deranged look in his eyes. “I’ll burn these sacrifices for you, and then you’ll see. You’ll see that I don’t need them. You’ll see that I have what it takes. That I’m not weak. You’ll see that you need me! You’ll—”

Evil Danny’s crazed monologue was cut off by a black-and-white blur crashing into his side, sending him sprawling across the street.

Tears filled Jazz’s eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy as her little brother came to the rescue.

“Stay away from my family, maláka.” Danny—the real Danny—growled as he landed in front of the Nasty Burger.

Chapter Text

Danny turned towards the Nasty Burger, and he was relieved to see that everyone was still alive—they were strapped to a ticking time bomb, but they were still alive.

“Don’t worry,” Danny assured them, meeting the gazes of each of his family and friends. “I won’t turn into that. Ever. I promise.”

Then Danny noticed Mr. Lancer. Oh, yeah—he was here too, wasn’t he? Danny opened his mouth to say something to the teacher—perhaps a silly quip to try and lighten the mood—but he was cut off as a rope of ectoplasm suddenly wrapped around his waist, and he was yanked backwards into the sky.

To say that Dan looked furious would be an understatement. His hair was like a miniature inferno on top of his head, and the veins in his temples looked ready to burst. He grabbed the front of Danny’s suit and yanked the younger ghost forward so that they were face to face, his red eyes glowing furiously with barely restrained rage.

Danny glared right back. “What are you gonna do?” He taunted. “Waste me? What happens to you, then?”

Dan scoffed, his anger seeming to lessen just slightly as he rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid. I know I can’t kill you, but if a little maiming happens while we’re running out the clock…” Dan smirked maliciously. “Well, I’m not opposed to having a few scars.”

Danny didn’t get a chance to respond before Dan punched him and sent him flying backwards. His back slammed into a light pole with a resounding CLANG, and he crumpled onto the sidewalk.

Danny groaned as he sat up and gingerly touched the back of his head. He would definitely be feeling that one tomorrow.

But then another thought came to his mind, and he hurried to slip the backpack from his shoulders.

Danny had appeared in front of his house when he finally returned to his timeline, and he’d had the idea to grab a few of his parents’ inventions from the lab before he headed to the Nasty Burger. There hadn’t been much lying around (most of his parents’ weapons were missing, for some reason), but what he had found—the Ghost Gauntlets and the Specter Deflector—would be helpful enough. And he’d known that when it came time to fight Dan, he would need all the help he could get.

Yet with the hit his back had just taken, Danny hoped that none of the devices had been broken.

The Ghost Gauntlets had fallen out of his backpack on impact, but they looked fairly undamaged. Danny grabbed them and phased into the ground just as Dan came barreling towards him.

Underground, Danny flew forward as he pulled the Gauntlets on, and resurfaced about half a block behind Dan. The light pole where he had landed had been sliced in half and Dan was hovering over its remains, his back to Danny as he looked around. Seeing an opportunity, Danny darted towards his evil future self.

Dan started to turn around, and Danny just barely managed to clip the belt around the ghost’s waist before leaping away. The Gauntlets protected Danny from the shock of the Specter Deflector, but as for Dan… Well…

Dan let out a pained, furious scream as green electricity erupted across his skin. Danny had hoped that the Deflector would be enough to fully incapacitate Dan, but it didn’t seem to be doing much more than temporarily crippling him. Still, Danny took the chance and threw a punch.

Dan roared as, with great difficulty, he grabbed the belt around his waist and ripped it off. He threw the belt to the ground and looked up just as Danny’s gauntlet connected with his side, the force of the blow knocking Dan backwards. He only stumbled back a couple of steps, but as he regained his footing Danny dove in and landed another hit in his gut.

That was enough to bring Dan to his knees, his arm shielding his stomach as he grunted with pain. Danny pulled his right arm back as he stepped forward, aiming for Dan’s face as he struck again.

But this time, Dan retaliated. He caught Danny’s fist in his hand, and his eyes flickered with annoyance as he glared at the young halfa.

“That’s enough.” Dan growled.

Danny tried to pull his hand away, but Dan’s grip tightened, the metal of the glove beginning to cave under his fingertips. Danny pulled again, and finally managed to free his arm—a jolt of pain shooting through his wrist—just as the gauntlet crumpled in Dan’s hand.

Danny stumbled back, clenching his teeth as a hot, throbbing pain shot through his wrist and hand. Sparing a quick glance at his arm, he didn’t see anything obviously broken or out of place. Hopefully, it was only sprained.

The hairs on the back of Danny’s neck stood on end as a sense of danger tingled in the back of his mind, and he looked up just in time to narrowly dodge the swipe of Dan’s outstretched claws. Dan immediately turned on his heel and swiped at Danny again. Danny dodged once more, but this time Dan’s claws nicked his side, slicing right through the fabric of his suit and drawing a few drops of green blood.

Danny winced, and glared at Dan once he was safely out of reach. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna kill me!” Danny retorted as he stayed back and watched for an opening. “It sure seems like you’re trying to!”

Dan, who seemed to have quickly caught onto Danny’s strategy, merely smirked. “I’m not. I’m just making sure that things will turn out the way they’re supposed to.”

“Oh, so my family’s supposed to be dead?!” Danny snapped, his voice cracking.

“What can I say?” Dan shrugged carelessly. “Fate works in mysterious ways. And things will all go back to the way they should be once they—” Dan gestured towards the sauce vats. “—are gone.”

“But they’re your family, too!” Danny argued.

To Danny’s surprise, Dan flinched at those words. But then he growled, his eyes flashing red once more. “I don’t care. Once Gaea sees what I’m willing to sacrifice, she’ll take me back.”

Gaea. Danny remembered what Clockwork had told him about the goddess:

“Gaea sees mortals as mere pawns, and has no qualms with using them for her needs.”

“She doesn’t care about you!” Danny shouted. “She’s just using you as a means to an end.”

“Oh, and what do you know?” Dan snarled.

“Clearly more than you!” Danny retorted. “Anyone who tells you to commit mass murder isn’t a good person!”

“Good person?” Dan repeated incredulously. “You’re so childish! Good and bad are just worthless labels assigned to make people feel good about what they do. But if you wanna know who’s really not a good person,” Dan pointed at Danny’s right arm. “I’d take a good long look at your mark right there.”

“What?” Danny glanced briefly at his injured right arm, where his apprentice mark lay hidden under his glove. “What are you—”

Dan lunged at him, catching Danny off guard; he had used Danny’s own tactic against him and found an opening.

Danny barely managed to block Dan’s fist, wincing as the impact jostled his injured wrist. Danny found himself unable to do anything more than block and dodge as Dan pummeled away at him, denying him the opportunity to find his footing or gain the upper hand.

With the entirety of his focus on Dan, Danny couldn’t keep track of what was under his feet. Stepping back, Danny’s ankle caught on a piece of loose concrete and he stumbled and lost his balance. Dan saw an opening in Danny’s defense and grabbed him by his wounded wrist, lifting him off of his feet and into the air. Danny cried out in pain as he flailed and tried to break free. He swung at Dan with his left hand, which still had its gauntlet.

Unfortunately, Dan caught Danny’s punch and pulled the gauntlet from his hand, tossing it to the side with ease. Thankfully, Danny’s left hand was uninjured, but the halfa now found himself weaponless.

“Tch, did you really think those pathetic inventions could do anything to me?” Dan scoffed. “Those pitiful devices have no effect on me anymore.”

Danny would have believed him, if it wasn’t for the fact that—now that they were face to face—Danny could see that Dan did look a little worse for wear. The tips of his ears were slightly blackened with soot, and a faint charred smell seemed to be coming off of him. Even his breathing was slightly labored. Which meant that the Specter Deflector had worked, at least a little bit.

Danny spared a glance at the Nasty Burger. His family and friends were all still there, trapped. They looked afraid. For him. For themselves. Danny had to protect them.

Danny looked back at Dan, determination set on his face.

“I commend your tenacity, but it was all in vain,” Dan continued, his voice boastful. “I have killed gods! What could you possibly do to—”

Danny swung his leg up and kicked Dan right between the legs, catching Dan off guard. His grip loosened and Danny was able to break free and land on his feet.

Danny immediately kicked forward again, but Dan caught and twisted his ankle, knocking Danny off balance and throwing him face-first into the ground.

“Fightin’ dirty, huh?” Dan sounded almost proud. “Just like she taught us.”

She? Was Dan talking about Gaea? Danny had never even met the goddess, let alone learned anything from her. He pushed himself to his knees with a grunt of pain, careful to keep the weight off of his injured wrist as he got to his feet.

“Gaea’s never taught me anything,” Danny spat.

“That’s not who I’m talking about.” Dan’s condescending smirk grated on Danny’s nerves. “Mom made sure we knew how to defend ourselves by any means necessary.”

What?

Mom?

Sure, Danny had been taught some self defense by his mother, but not much. Most of his fighting skills had been learned through his many fights as Phantom. And… for some reason, Danny got the feeling that Dan wasn’t talking about Maddie.

Dan strolled towards Danny at a leisurely pace, as though he had all the time in the world. Danny fell into a defensive stance once more, his hands raised and glowing with green energy. Danny fired a blast at Dan, but he dodged easily, splitting himself into two duplicates.

One of them charged forward, and Danny struggled to keep his eye on both of them as he dodged and evaded the first one’s attacks. But as Danny fought to keep out of the first duplicate’s grasp, he lost track of the other, and was hit from behind by an ecto-ray.

He was knocked to the ground with a shout of pain, and the duplicate he’d been fighting sneered as it dug the heel of its boot into his back, pinning him down.

The second duplicate sauntered over and merged with the first, leaving Dan standing over Danny with an unimpressed expression. He tsked disappointedly. “Pathetic. But Gaea will teach you to do better.”

“I don’t want her teaching!” Danny yelled as he strained under Dan’s boot. “I don’t want anything to do with her!”

“Aww, but don’t you want to know about the voice in your head?” Dan goaded.

Danny froze. Dan knew? About the voice? Did he have it, too?

Dan continued confidently, knowing he had Danny’s attention. “It sounds just like you, doesn’t it? But you know those aren’t your thoughts.”

Danny felt like his core was going to burst out of his chest. “Wh-what are you talking about? What do you know?”

Dan grinned sharkishly as he lifted his foot off Danny’s back, before immediately kicking him in the side and knocking the air from his lungs. “You’ll learn. In time.”

Danny scowled as he got to his feet and backed away, his hand on his aching side. Dan was messing with him; he had to be. He was just trying to get under Danny’s skin.

And it was working.

“I don’t believe you,” Danny said, fighting to keep his voice steady. His core was writhing in his chest, reacting forcefully to Dan’s words.

Dan chuckled. “It doesn’t matter. When this is all over, Gaea will take you under her wing. You will remember everything. And I will have my revenge once more.”

“Well, tough luck, buddy!” Danny raised his fists. “‘Cause that ain’t happenin’!”

Dan rolled his eyes and snorted, before pushing off the ground and rushing towards Danny, fist raised. Danny launched forward as well and met Dan halfway, catching the incoming blow with his uninjured hand. Danny stupidly tried to throw a punch with his wounded hand, and cried out again as Dan caught it and twisted his wrist painfully. They pushed against each other, both trying to knock the other off-balance.

Danny slid back a bit. He dug his boots into the ground in an attempt to stop his backwards movement, and the whole scene brought him back to his first training session with Thanatos.

Which gave him an idea.

What if he did that transformation again?

No, that’s a terrible idea. Danny thought to himself as he quickly pushed the idea down. He couldn’t risk it. That form wiped him out quickly, and Dan had been able to knock him out of it easily in their previous fight, leaving Danny unconscious.

He would just have to do without.

Suddenly, Dan stopped pushing, and Danny stumbled forward. Dan grabbed Danny by the forearms and swung him around before throwing him down the street, away from the Nasty Burger.

Danny skidded across the ground for several feet before finally coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

“Pathetic.” Dan shook his head slowly in disgust. “Gaea will make you stronger. You only have to let these mortals die.”

“No.” Danny grunted, pushing himself up. His body ached all over, but he didn’t let that stop him from getting to his feet once more.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Dan questioned, annoyance clear in his tone as his scowl darkened.

“I said no,” Danny repeated, defiance written across his face. “I will not let my family die because of what you think should happen. And in case you’ve forgotten, they’re your family, too. You should be trying to save them, not kill them!”

“I don’t care about some mortals. They die so quickly anyway.” Dan waved his hand dismissively, but Danny could tell he was getting frustrated. “A few measly mortal lives are a small price to pay for the revenge I seek. The revenge that Gaea can give me. And once I prove myself once more—”

“Why are you so dead set on getting her approval?” Danny snapped, cutting him off. “What has she ever done for you?”

“She was the only one who cared after they were all gone!” Dan bellowed, his eyes sparking wildly like firecrackers. “Do you think Thanatos really cares about us? Then where was he after they died? After I was LEFT ALONE?!”

Danny… didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been expecting such an emotional outburst from Dan, and… what was he even talking about? He had met Thanatos? But… Thanatos hadn’t—

“I saw him, you know!” Dan shouted, cutting off Danny’s train of thought.

Danny stared at him, too stunned to respond.

“The day of the portal accident.” Dan’s voice was raw with barely contained emotion. He sounded… hurt. “I saw him standing there. And he took one disgusted look at me, and left. My own father didn’t even want me. He… he couldn’t be bothered.” Dan’s voice sounded brittle, like he was about to cry. He glared at Danny then, angry tears brimming in his eyes. “He did the same to her, and he’ll do the same to you.”

What?

His… my… father?

That… didn’t make sense. Thanatos wasn’t…

Danny’s core felt like it was trying to burst out of his chest. He thought back to what Clockwork had told him. About past lives.

No. Thanatos couldn’t be his dad, he just couldn’t. That didn’t make sense. Jack was his dad, and Maddie was his mom…

Right?

“Y-you’re lying!” Danny spluttered. His core shuddered in disagreement—whether it was disagreeing with him or Dan, he didn’t know. “Thanatos isn’t—”

Danny didn’t have time to dodge as Dan suddenly roared and lunged at him. Dan grabbed the front of Danny’s suit and wrenched the young halfa closer. The glow of Dan’s eyes reminded Danny of the photon sphere of a black hole: bright and past the point of no return.

And it was then Danny realized that Dan had changed his mind on not killing him.

Dan lifted Danny up into the air and slammed him into the ground with the force of a semi-truck. Danny couldn’t breathe as the air was forced from his lungs, his ears ringing as his head spun wildly. He couldn’t even brace himself as Dan slammed him into the earth again, and again, and again. Danny’s head cracked against the pavement, and bright, blinding spots filled his vision, along with the taste of ectoplasm filling his mouth; he’d bitten through his tongue.

Danny lost track of how many times he was slammed into the ground before Dan finally stopped, pulled him from the crater that had formed around him, and threw him aside.

Danny slid a few feet before stopping, and he just stared at the sky. Everything was blurring together. His head was pounding. His whole body ached. Just breathing hurt, and he was certain that at least a few of his ribs were broken.

Distantly, Danny heard Dan moving closer and tried to get up, but Dan was there before Danny could do anything more than prop himself up on his elbows. Dan kicked him back down. Danny gurgled in pain; he could feel the ectoplasm running down the back of his throat.

“You really are pathetic, you know that?” Dan growled, pinning Danny to the ground by his neck. “What is dear old Dad even teaching you? How to lay down and die?”

Danny blinked through the tears in his eyes and looked over at his family. He didn’t know what Dan meant by saying things would go back to normal once they were gone. What he meant by things being as they should. He didn’t know what Dan meant when he said Danny would remember everything, but if it involved losing his loved ones, Danny didn’t want to remember.

Danny’s gaze fell back to Dan, who was also looking over at the Nasty Burger.

Dan looked… contemplative. Danny briefly wondered if Dan was regretting his choices—whatever had led him to where he was now—but he quickly dismissed that thought.

When Dan finally turned back and met Danny’s eyes, Danny was surprised by the hurt that he saw.

“I just don’t get it.” Dan muttered. “Why did he choose you? What’s so special,” his grip on Danny’s throat tightened, forcing a pained gasp out of him. “About you?”

With the hand around his throat, Danny couldn’t get enough air to respond, but he doubted Dan was actually looking for an answer. Danny clawed weakly at Dan’s hand, but his grip didn’t loosen. In fact, Dan seemed to be taking great pleasure in watching Danny struggle.

“You know what?” Dan said, his voice suddenly and shockingly light and cheerful as he released his hold on Danny’s throat, allowing the halfa to finally suck in a gasp of air. “It doesn’t matter.”

He brought his hand down to Danny’s torso and rested it just below his ribcage. Danny could feel the razor sharp tips of Dan’s claws, even through the semi-thick fabric of his suit.

“I’ll just kill you.” Dan’s voice was maniacal in its singsong tone. His clawed fingers pressed painfully against Danny’s stomach. “Like I did ten years ago. I’ll gut you, rip out your lungs…”

Danny screamed in agony as Dan’s claws punctured his flesh, digging into the soft tissue of his abdomen, right below his sternum. He grabbed Dan’s hand and tried to pull it away from his torso, but Dan only dug his fingers in more, reigniting the pain of Danny’s broken ribs in the process. The burning pain seared black spots into Danny’s vision, but they did nothing to blur out the terrifying face hovering over him.

“I won’t let you live.” Dan’s voice rose with each word, his rage growing with every syllable he uttered. “I won’t let you have what I couldn’t. You don’t get to be happy. YOU don’t get to be accepted. YOU DON’T GET TO—”

Dan was cut off by Danny switching tactics; he stopped trying to pull Dan’s hand away and yanked his own hands back. Not expecting the change in pushback, Dan fell forward and caught himself with his free hand, his claws gouging deep into Danny’s stomach with the full weight of his body.

Danny screamed again, pained tears streaming down his face, but he still pulled his fist back and clocked Dan solidly in the jaw before the older of the two could recover. Dan was knocked back, hitting the asphalt hard a few yards away.

Danny gasped in sheer agony, gritting his teeth as white spots danced across his vision from the pain of the claws ripping out of his stomach. His core felt fluttery and faint; Dan’s claws had just barely missed piercing it. A wet feeling spread over Danny’s stomach as ectoplasm flowed freely from the puncture wounds.

However, Danny merely clenched his jaw, rolled onto his side, and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He couldn’t stay down. Dan… he still needed to beat Dan and save everyone before it was too late.

There was a wet splattering sound as the ectoplasm sloshed from Danny’s gut onto the pavement, and he froze, bile rising in his throat when he saw a concerning amount of dark red blood mixed with the green ooze.

He… had never bled both before. He had never had a wound this deep before.

Danny saw movement from the corner of his eye, and when he looked up he saw Dan cradling his jaw, loose gravel crunching below him as he struggled to his feet.

Danny needed to get up.

Dan turned towards him, the blinding red glow of his eyes burning afterimages into Danny’s vision.

Danny needed to get moving.

Dan started towards him, albeit slowly, his legs shaking slightly as he put one foot in front of the other.

Danny, get up.

Dan was getting closer. Only a car length or two away now.

Get up.

Danny didn’t feel like he could move. His limbs felt as if they were made of lead, and his stomach hurt so badly he doubted he would be able to remain standing. He could only watch with wide eyes as Dan’s pace picked up, and he stalked towards the young halfa.

A cold feeling sparked to life in the center of Danny’s chest, and quickly radiated through the rest of his body, all the way to his fingers and toes. His breath left him in a puff of cool mist, and he realized that the chill seemed to be coming from the very depths of his core.

WAKE UP!

Dan chuckled, green ecto-energy pulsing around his fist as he aimed for Danny’s head. The light grew brighter, more intense as an ecto-ray sparked to life in his hand…

And Danny grabbed Dan’s fist.

Dan’s look turned to one of surprise, and he pulled his hand back.

Or tried to, anyway. Danny didn’t let go.

“What?” Dan exclaimed, pulling away again but to no avail. “What are you doing?”

Danny didn’t answer him. Instead, he lifted his head and met Dan’s gaze with his own solid green eyes.

Before Dan could react, green flames burst forth and washed over Danny’s skin, once more leaving him in his black chiton and green sandals. Danny’s grip on Dan’s fist tightened, and he pulled the ghost forward as he stood up and stepped forward in one smooth movement, his other hand swinging into a sharp uppercut to Dan’s jaw.

Dan crashed into the ground once more, his eyes wide with shock as he scrambled to his feet and backed away.

“What is that form?” Dan questioned angrily. “How are you doing that?”

Danny didn’t answer him, and instead fell into a fighting stance.

Dan snarled and flew at Danny, his claws out. Danny sidestepped him easily and with expert precision, drove his elbow into the older ghost’s back and sent him crashing to the ground.

Dan growled as he got back to his feet. “What? Just ‘cause you’ve got some fancy new transformation, you think you can beat me?!”

Danny merely raised his hands and steadied his stance, ready for the next attack. Dan roared and launched himself at Danny again, his actions loose and uncontrolled like a wild animal.

Danny fell into an oddly familiar rhythm as he calmly—expertly—dodged and blocked all of Dan’s rage-filled attacks. It felt… familiar. Almost as though he had fought this way before.

Focus.

Right. He needed to focus.

Dan threw a punch, glowing bright with ecto-energy, at Danny’s head. Danny caught it easily and smirked.

:My turn.:

Danny drove his glowing fist solidly into Dan’s gut, and the strength from it launched Dan backwards. Dan crashed into the earth a few yards away, and it took him a moment to pick himself up. He was looking far worse for wear than he had at the beginning of the fight. His suit was dirty and torn, and his flames flickered uncertainly as he eyed Danny warily.

“Alright,” Dan wheezed. “So you’re a little tougher than I thought. But… how are you doing that? What is that?”

Hmm. Danny had never thought to name this transformation before. He had his human form, he had his ghost form…

He glanced down at his outfit, with its chiton and sandals. He also briefly noticed that his wounds were strangely gone—no scratches, no puncture marks, nothing. He didn’t know much about Ancient Greek stuff, but he thought back to what Thanatos had said about this transformation: “It appeared rather… Spartan.”

Danny returned his gaze to Dan and rested a hand confidently over his chest, right over his core. :This is my Spartan form.: His core seemed to purr in agreement as he spoke those words. :And it is a form that you will never have.:

“No, that isn’t possible.” Dan growled. “You are supposed to be me!”

:I will never be you.: Danny clenched his fist as he looked coldly at Dan. :I swear it by the gods, the Fates, and on my mother’s grave.:

Dan flinched at those words; he knew the significance of them. “You can’t promise that! You don’t have a choice. I won’t let you—”

Danny cut him off with a Ghostly Wail. It felt stronger than before, like he was screaming with the voices of ten men. The sound was deafening as it tore down the street and blasted Dan off his feet, shattering windows and uprooting street signs as it went.

Black spots began to dance at the edges of Danny’s vision, but he blinked them away; he needed to stay conscious just a little longer.

Dan crashed into the building at the end of the road, and the building collapsed on top of him. Danny’s throat was raw as his screaming pettered off, the last of his energy finally leaving him.

With no strength left, Danny fell to his knees as the cold left him and the green flames briefly appeared, burning away his Spartan form and leaving him human once more. He cried out as all of his pain came flooding back to him, and he brought a hand to his stomach, only to find that his shirt was soaked with blood and ectoplasm. The puncture wounds were back. And the broken ribs. And—

His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed movement in the rubble at the end of the road. A gloved hand burst through the debris, and Danny’s heart thudded against his ribcage as Dan clawed his way out of the wreckage of the building. He couldn’t call his Spartan form back. He couldn’t even summon his ghostly form. He couldn’t beat Dan—

Dan stood up from the rubble, took a step forward, and… much to Danny’s surprise (and immense relief) fell to the pavement. Dan’s flames had been mostly put out, and he seemed to be struggling for air. He made no move to rise again.

Acting quickly, Danny got to his knees and pulled out his thermos, barely managing to pull off its lid as he stumbled over to Dan. He pointed the device at the defeated ghost and pressed the button on its side. Dan stirred once he was enveloped in the radiant blue light of the thermos, but he only cackled mirthlessly as he was sucked in, making no move to escape the beam.

“You’re too late to save them!” Dan crowed. “You’ll be all alone! Just… like… me.”

His last words were a hiss that echoed in the sudden and eerie silence as Danny twisted the lid back onto the thermos.

Danny sighed and fell to his knees. It was finally over. He could—

A high-pitched whistling sound caught Danny’s attention. He whipped his head around, towards the sound, and his eyes widened in fear.

CRAP.

In the sudden and crashing loss of adrenaline once the fight had finally ended, Danny had briefly forgotten that his family was still stuck to the sauce vat. He scrambled to his feet—every fiber of his being aching and protesting as he did so—and ran as fast as he could towards the Nasty Burger.

As he neared, he called on his ghost half, expecting the transformation rings to wash over him like they always did.

But the transformation never came. A small flash of light flickered around his waist before simply disappearing, no ghostly self in sight.

Danny’s foot caught on the broken road and he crashed to the ground.

:NOOO!: Danny screamed, his voice echoing through the destroyed street.

But he could only watch as the Nasty Burger exploded, taking everything he loved with it.

He had failed. He had failed everyone. He was too late, just like Dan had said.

Danny forced his eyes shut and bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming. Screaming wouldn’t bring everyone back. Nothing would bring them back.

Danny pulled at his hair as his heart and core raced in tandem. Everyone was dead because of him. Everyone was dead and he hadn’t done enough to save them. It was all his fault.

I did it again, I killed her again… Mom, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—

“Daniel.”

Danny’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Clockwork?

“Daniel, open your eyes.”

Danny violently shook his head, his hands pulling tighter at his hair as he began to hyperventilate. He didn’t want to see the aftermath of the explosion. He didn’t want to see what… what was left of them. He didn’t, he didn’t—

Danny flinched away from the hand that touched his shoulder. He hesitantly cracked open his eyes a bit and, sure enough, Clockwork was floating in front of him, his hand still outstretched. Danny opened his eyes the rest of the way and stared at the time ghost. Why was he here?

Clockwork lowered his hand and nodded at something behind Danny, a slight smile on his face. Danny almost didn’t want to turn around (he didn’t want to be reminded of his failure), but Clockwork wasn’t cruel, was he? He wouldn’t want Danny to look and see if… if they had been killed, right?

Danny turned around.

And saw his family, friends, and teacher floating peacefully in the air, completely unharmed—they looked as though they were sleeping.

“Y-you saved them?” Danny asked quietly in disbelief, looking back at the ghost.

Clockwork nodded.

Danny turned back to his family. “I… I don’t…”

He didn’t understand. He had been too late. Why…?

All at once, the last of Danny’s energy and adrenaline finally left his system, leaving him feeling completely drained. Every bit of him ached or hurt in one way or another, but… not as badly as it all should have. Danny looked down at his stomach, bringing a hand to where Dan’s claws had stabbed him.

Nothing. His shirt was intact, and the skin underneath it looked perfectly fine. No puncture wounds. Not even a drop of blood. He checked his wrist—no swelling, no bruising. Even his ribs, although a little tender, were no longer broken.

Danny looked up at Clockwork. The ghost hadn’t said anything since Danny opened his eyes. Danny waited for him to say something now. To fill the weighing, almost unbearable silence.

But he didn’t. He just watched Danny, as if waiting for him to speak first.

So he did.

“I-I… He…” The words struggled to leave his mouth. “He said… D-Dad? I don’t…”

The corner of Clockwork’s mouth twitched, but his face was otherwise expressionless. “Don’t worry,” he said calmly as he reached for the button on top of his staff. “You won’t remember that.”

“Mr. Fenton?”

Chapter Text

“Mr. Fenton?”

Danny blinked. He was standing at the front of Mr. Lancer’s classroom, a stack of papers in his hands. The other students were looking at him curiously (except for Sam and Tucker—they looked more cautious, as if wondering if it was really him.)

Mr. Lancer gave him a look of disapproval. “Is there a problem?”

Danny looked down at what he was holding. It was the CAT answer booklet. How did he…?

He remembered fighting Dan. He remembered the explosion. He remembered Clockwork saving everyone. And…?

He looked back at his friends and gave them a small, reassuring smile before returning his attention to Mr. Lancer, who was still waiting for an answer.

“Um, actually, Mr. Lancer… there is.”

Danny groaned as he plopped himself down on the steps outside the front of the school. Mr. Lancer had been merciful enough to let him schedule a make-up test for next week, so… now what? He knew that he needed to talk to Sam and Tuck, but they were still taking their tests, so that was out of the question for the time being. Maybe he should go find Jazz and his parents. Make sure they were alright.

It seemed that his sister had a similar idea.

“Danny!”

He looked over his shoulder to see Jazz bursting through the front doors. She hurried down the stairs and sat down next to him, immediately pulling him into a hug.

“Danny, you’re okay!” Jazz gushed. “I was so worried.”

“Y-yeah, I… y-you’re…” Danny’s eyes stung as his voice caught in his throat. “Alive.”

Jazz pulled away, a relieved smile on her face. “Of course I’m alive! You did it! You made it back!” But then her expression turned inquisitive. “What happened to Evil Danny?”

“W-what?” Danny sputtered, caught off-guard by his sister’s question.

“Your evil future self,” Jazz clarified. “What happened to him?”

“Oh, I-I…” Danny remembered handing the thermos to Clockwork, who had promised to keep an eye on it. “I took care of him. Don’t worry.”

Jazz didn’t look very reassured. “Okay…? If you say so, but… like…” She gave him a look of concern. “Why was he evil in the first place?”

“I…” What could Danny even say? Well, our family died in a freak accident, and then a crazy goddess manipulated me and made me evil? And Thanatos…

Danny winced as the beginnings of a headache started to form in his temples. “I dunno,” he muttered.

He could tell that Jazz didn’t believe him, but as she opened her mouth to speak, a wisp of cool vapor left Danny’s mouth: his ghost sense.

“Sorry.” Danny stood and transformed. “Gotta go.”

“Danny, wait—”

But he was already gone, off to save the day once again.

Danny took a deep breath as he capped the Fenton Thermos. It hadn’t been too hard of a fight—more messy, than anything. There luckily wasn’t any serious damage to the area, but the giant blob ghost had left a foot or so of ectoplasm on the road and neighboring buildings. Danny wasn’t too worried, though—he was sure that the city waste management would take care of it.

As for Danny… he was feeling surprisingly okay. He thought so, at least. He hadn’t been hurt during the fight, and although a faint tremor had started in his hands once he defeated the ghost, he just decided to blame it on adrenaline.

Danny landed on the rooftop of a nearby apartment building, and was surprised when his knees almost gave out. Maybe… maybe he was a little more tired than he’d realized. But he couldn’t rest yet. He still had to check on his parents, and his friends, and…

And Thanatos.

Danny flinched. O-oh, yeah, he had almost forgotten about the whole… “other voice” thing. But it brought up a good point. He should probably talk to Thanatos, as well. Let him know what happened. He would do that first.

Danny pulled off his glove, and was surprised (though mostly relieved) to see that his mark had returned to its usual bright, glowing silver. He began to trace the first letter of his mark, but then he paused; did he really need to do this right now? Thanatos was a busy god. Danny could just wait until their next training session to talk.

Had… had Thanatos even noticed that Danny was gone?

Danny ruffled his hair in frustration. Why was he even agonizing over this? He held his arm out again, but before he could trace the letters, a cloud of darkness suddenly formed on the roof in front of him, and Thanatos appeared.

Danny quickly stepped back and looked down at his feet. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you—”

“Daniel,” Thanatos interrupted Danny, who flinched. “Where were you?”

“I-umm, I—” Danny felt tears begin to prick at his eyes, and he blinked furiously to clear them. Why am I crying? I shouldn’t be crying. There’s no reason to cry. “It’s, uhh…”

“Daniel,” Thanatos said again, speaking softly. Danny spared a glance up at him, and was surprised by the concerned look on the god’s face. “Are you alright?”

Danny nodded, but the sob that bubbled out of his mouth said otherwise.

Thanatos POV:

Thanatos woke up to a mess.

It all started the day before when Daniel had contacted Thanatos to ask him for advice with some matter, waking the god from his slumber in the process. Thanatos honestly didn’t even remember what Daniel had asked him about, as he had gone back to sleep soon after Daniel ended the call. With how busy he usually was, Thanatos only managed to sleep maybe once a month.

When he awoke again, Thanatos found that his workload had grown drastically. Somehow, in the short time he had been asleep, hundreds of spirits had escaped the Underworld and were roaming freely on the surface. Normally there were only a few escapees here and there, but with the sheer quantity that had escaped in such a short amount of time, Thanatos wondered if someone was playing a cruel prank on him by letting them all out.

Thanatos sighed wearily. This was going to be a long day, he could tell.

After spending several hours trying to round up all the spirits (more than a few were being quite uncooperative), Thanatos took a moment to check on Daniel. Normally, through their marks, he could get a sense of his apprentice’s general health and mood.

But… he didn’t feel anything.

Surprised, Thanatos looked down at his mark and found—much to his alarm—that it was black. It wasn’t gone, so Daniel wasn’t dead, but when Thanatos tried to search for his aura, it just… wasn’t there. What happened? And why hadn’t he noticed sooner?

Thanatos immediately went to Hades and explained that he needed to go and find out what had happened to his apprentice. However, Hades was less than sympathetic as he pointed out that since the mark was still there, that meant Daniel was still alive. And if Daniel was still alive, that meant Thanatos needed to focus on capturing the runaway spirits first. Thanatos scowled when he was dismissed to return to his duties, but he still obeyed.

Thanatos was in a foul mood as he returned the last of the rogue spirits back to the Underworld. Daniel was clearly in some sort of trouble, and Hades had told him to just ignore it and keep doing his job? Thanatos’ first apprentice in millennia, and Hades had told him to ignore the danger that Daniel could be in? Thanatos scowled. He had half a mind to…

His mark prickled against his skin, putting a halt to his darkening thoughts. Thanatos looked at his mark and found that it was silver once more. Relief washed over him as that could only mean one thing: Daniel was back. Thanatos immediately shadow-traveled to his apprentice, intent on asking him exactly what had happened, but that plan was pushed to the back of his mind as soon as he saw Daniel’s face.

He looked broken.

Daniel’s shoulders sagged as he backed away, and his downcast expression and hasty apology awoke an instinct that Thanatos hadn’t felt in a very long time: the parental need to comfort a child.

“Daniel, where were you?” Thanatos questioned. He had no idea how long Daniel had even been gone.

Daniel stammered as he struggled to respond, and the last of Thanatos’ foul mood quickly faded away as Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.

“Daniel,” Thanatos said gently, cutting off his apprentice’s rambling. Daniel looked up at Thanatos with his watery, solid green eyes, and the god’s worry only grew stronger. “Are you alright?”

Daniel’s gaze fell to the ground as he meekly nodded, but then a loud sob suddenly broke from his chest and he threw himself at Thanatos, wrapping his arms tightly around the god’s waist.

Thanatos was knocked back a couple of steps by the force, but he easily regained his footing and looked down at his apprentice in bewilderment. Daniel buried his face in Thanatos’ chiton, and his tears soaked into the dark fabric as he began to cry.

Ah. Well, then.

Unsure of what to do, Thanatos hesitantly returned the hug, patting Daniel gently on the back in an attempt to comfort him. He noted that Daniel was far colder than usual, even for his ghostly self. A coldness was emanating from his skin that chilled the very air around them, a harsh contrast to the warmth of the sunny spring day.

Daniel stopped crying for a brief moment as he sucked in a deep breath of air. Thanatos opened his mouth and began to speak, but he was cut off abruptly by a high, keening wail as Daniel began to bawl loudly.

Alarmed, Thanatos quickly wove the Mist around them so as not to draw the attention of potential passerby, before turning his attention back to the halfa in his arms. He ran a hand through Daniel’s hair to try and soothe him—noting with surprise the ice crystals that fluttered from the ghostly white locks like snowflakes as he did so—but the action had little effect.

Frost had begun to crystallize on Daniel’s face, and it crept its way down his neck and arms. The halfa didn’t even seem to notice as he continued to weep, clinging onto Thanatos like a lifeline.

Daniel wailed again—this time much, much louder—causing the building underneath them to shake. The temperature dropped drastically as a thin layer of ice instantly formed on the ground around their feet, growing in thickness as it began to spread across the rooftop.

Thanatos was strongly reminded of when his last apprentice had developed ice powers. Granted, Dianthe’s ice hadn’t been quite so strong in its beginning, but that hadn’t made it any less dangerous; someone had died when her powers first manifested.

Though, her powers had come from her father. Where did Daniel’s come from?

Considering Daniel’s current state, Thanatos didn’t think he’d be getting an answer anytime soon.

The ice on the rooftop had reached the roof’s ledges and begun to creep down the sides—soon the whole building would be encased in it. Daniel hiccuped as his crying briefly wavered, his arms tightening around Thanatos.

Thanatos did not know how to handle this. At all. He knew that he had to take Daniel elsewhere—somewhere where he wouldn’t cause destruction or harm—but where?

At a loss, Thanatos closed his eyes and reached out to his twin brother, Hypnos—as godly twins, they were able to communicate telepathically with one another. Brother, I need help.

A sleepy voice responded from the depths of his mind. Yeah, what’s up?

Thanatos moved his hand from Daniel’s hair to his back, and began to trace small circles in between his shoulders. Daniel was still bawling, his voice cracking and growing hoarse from the strain. Thanatos was not sure how to describe “what was up,” when he had little idea himself. I’m not sure. Daniel is… very upset right now. His powers seem to be acting up.

Daniel… oh, your apprentice? Acting up how? Came the sleepy response.

Well… Thanatos grimaced at the ice that had begun to crawl up his own arms. They’re just… getting a little out of hand. I’m a bit worried for the safety of any mortals in the immediate vicinity. Thanatos put his hands under Daniel’s arms and lifted him up, holding him close to his chest in a hug. He felt something wrap around his waist, and when he looked down he was quite surprised to see that Daniel’s legs had morphed into a serpentine tail that had wrapped tightly around Thanatos’ lower torso.

Yeah… that’s not great. Thanatos could hear the yawn, even if he couldn’t see it. How can I help?

I need to calm him down in a safer environment. Thanatos paused as Daniel coughed, a warbling cry leaving him as he continued to wail. The smooth layer of ice on the rooftop had begun to grow jagged and uneven as little spikes rose from its surface, quickly growing in size. This was getting dangerous.

You could bring him to our cave, Hypnos suggested. A good rest usually helps most children calm down.

Thanatos hadn’t thought to bring Daniel there. It would be a calm, quiet place to go. However… I don’t know… I’m not sure he’s ready to be meeting new people at the moment…

I can leave for a while, Hypnos groaned tiredly. But you owe me.

Thanatos gave an audible sigh of relief. Thank you, brother.

His decision made, Thanatos spread his wings and took off from the roof as gently as he could, still holding onto his apprentice. Luckily, Daniel’s tail did not impede Thanatos’ wings as he flew. Thanatos had briefly considered shadow-traveling to his home, but Daniel did not seem up to traveling by that method at the moment. If anything, it would likely make things worse for the child. So instead, Thanatos opted to use the Doors; thankfully, he was able to summon them close-by, to the western outskirts of the city.

Flying seemed to help Daniel calm down as his sobs quieted and he began to tearfully mumble. :I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry… I d-didn’t mean to…:

Thanatos listened as Daniel continued to apologize, but what for? What had happened to Daniel since they last spoke?

:Daniel, what’s wrong?: Thanatos asked softly.

In lieu of a response, Daniel loudly burst into tears again. Thanatos winced, his ear ringing from the volume of Daniel’s sudden outburst. It seemed that he would have to ask again later. Once Daniel had calmed down.

They had reached the outskirts of the city, and Thanatos landed in front of an old abandoned factory. The Doors were set in the west-facing wall of the decrepit building, and Thanatos strode towards them, flecks of ice from Daniel fluttering to the ground behind them as he went.

Daniel hiccuped, a low and pitiful whine escaping him. Thanatos hugged him a little tighter as he stepped into the elevator, and the Doors closed behind them. Daniel continued to weep into Thanatos’ shoulder as they descended into the Underworld. Thanatos combed his fingers through Daniel’s hair in a soothing manner, but he didn’t speak for fear of upsetting the halfa yet again.

The elevator ride was uncomfortably silent for the most part, except for the occasional whimper or sniffle. But a few minutes in, Daniel spoke up again. :I didn’t mean to…:

Thanatos waited, hesitant to say anything and cause Daniel to either go silent or start crying again.

:I didn’t mean t-to kill her…: Daniel whimpered miserably. :Please… please don’t leave me again…:

Thanatos could only stare down at Daniel in complete bewilderment. What? Kill who?

What happened to you, Daniel? Thanatos wondered helplessly as the Doors made their slow descent into the Underworld.

The Doors opened right in front of Thanatos’ destination, almost as if the Fates were taking pity on their brother. Thanatos readjusted his hold on Daniel—who was still crying—and stepped out of the elevator, onto the ground in front of his cave.

Poppies, chamomile, peace lilies, lavender, and several other types of sleep-inducing plants sprouted from the dark soil in front of his cave. Small white dianthus blossoms were sprinkled amongst the other flowers, and the plants all gave off a soft glow that lit Thanatos’ path as he walked through the flora, disturbing the butterflies that flitted between the soporific blossoms.

The natural entrance to the cave had tall white marble pillars that stood on both sides, with a plain marble roof overhead, creating a portico of sorts. Pale-petaled jasmine vines curled up the pillars and crept along the roof, while overgrown ghostly-white gardenia bushes flanked the entrance. The plants gave the area in front of the cave a lively look that could give Persephone’s garden a run for its money (not that Thanatos would ever tell her so.)

The milky-white water of the River Lethe burbled as it flowed from the cave entrance and out into the rest of the Underworld. The river was only about a foot wide at this section, which left ample room for people to walk by on either side.

A cool breeze welcomed Thanatos as he stepped inside his home. The entrance hall of his home was built to resemble a mausoleum. Cut perfectly square with pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling, evenly spaced along the walls. Sconces dotted each pillar, lighting the hall with their pale blue flames. Square alcoves adorned the spaces between the pillars, lined with elaborately painted lekythoi.

A couple of bridges on both ends of the room spanned the river, connecting the two sides of the entrance hall. On the far wall, opposite the cave entrance and behind the headwater of the Lethe, was a painted mural of Thanatos and Hypnos as children, with their mother, Nyx. His mother had had it painted when he and Hypnos first moved in. Personally, he didn’t care much for it.

On either side of the mural stood two doorways, which led off into the cave tunnels. Thanatos took the doorway on the left, wincing as Daniel’s sobs echoed through the cavernous empty space of the entrance hall.

Thanatos walked down a cave-like tunnel, with rough stone walls that glistened in the dim light. He passed by several rooms and smaller passageways as he went, until he finally stopped in front of a heavy, dark blue curtain. Since his arms were occupied at the moment, Thanatos used a wing to push the curtain aside, revealing the room behind it.

The room was large and circular, with a natural domed ceiling resting high above it. A large ebony platform, draped in soft linens and downy pillows, took up a good portion of the floor, while the rest was taken up by a staggering amount of various pillows, blankets, and cushions. This was one of Hypnos’ rooms. Not his bedroom (most beings couldn’t enter his personal chamber without instantly falling asleep), but a living room of sorts.

The pillows and blankets on the floor made it a bit difficult to maneuver through the room, but Thanatos thankfully had plenty of experience doing so, and made it over to the ebony platform with ease. Songbirds flitted to and fro between the stalactites high above his head, happily singing their songs. A few came down and chirped hello, but Thanatos waved them away; he didn’t need them disturbing Daniel when he was trying to get the child to rest.

Thanatos attempted to pry Daniel’s arms from around his neck so he could lie the child down on the platform, but to no avail; Daniel only held on tighter and nuzzled his face into Thanatos’ neck, still shaking with quiet sobs. Thanatos sighed in defeat, readjusted his hold on the halfa in his arms, and climbed onto the platform himself.

The birds chirped and whistled inquisitively at Thanatos as he moved over and sat down against the cave wall. Sensing that it was time to rest, the birds settled into their little alcoves and nests along the walls as Thanatos managed to move Daniel so that he was nestled against Thanatos’ right side, with the god’s wing curled protectively around him.

Daniel had calmed down considerably since entering the room, but he was still awake and sniffling quietly, as though he was refusing to sleep. Thanatos had hoped that Hypnos’ lingering magic in the air around them would be enough to lull Daniel to sleep, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Thanatos sighed again and glanced down at Daniel. The poor child was still weeping softly, his hands clinging to Thanatos’ chiton like his life depended on it. The god ran a hand through his apprentice’s hair, trying to provide what comfort he could. Thanatos needed to do something to calm the poor child down, but what could he do?

A distant memory floated to the forefront of Thanatos’ mind. One of him and Dianthe sitting in a field while she taught him a song. A lullaby, more specifically. Thanatos hummed thoughtfully. Perhaps… that could help.

Hesitantly, his voice low and melodious, Thanatos began to sing.

:Sleep, thou who takest children; Come, take mine too:

The songbirds recognized the tune and joined in, adding their own melodies and filling the room with soft, calming music.

:I bear it young, so young before you; Bring it to me, old:

Daniel’s tears finally started to subside. His tail unwound from around Thanatos’ waist and turned back into legs that he tucked up against himself.

:Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep; May my baby fall asleep:

Daniel’s breathing eased as he nestled closer to Thanatos, the tension and unnatural chill starting to at last leave his body.

:Come, Slumber take my baby; Gently lull it to its sleep:

A brief flash of light covered Daniel’s body, and once it faded Thanatos saw that Daniel had returned to his human form. The frost coating Daniel’s skin quickly melted away, and Thanatos gently moved his wing to cover Daniel a little more.

:Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep; May my baby fall asleep:

Thanatos repeated the chorus once more, faltering slightly as Daniel slumped against him. Thanatos caught him, and once he was sure that the halfa wouldn’t fall, he continued.

:Come, Slumber take my baby; Gently lull it to its sleep…:

Thanatos trailed off as he heard only soft breathing from under his feathers. At last, Daniel was asleep.

Danny POV:

Danny was alone. His mother… his mother had left him. The once beautiful rainbow grass of the valley now seemed off color. The once angelic chirping of songbirds now echoed loudly in his mind, irritating him; he wished they would shut up.

She had been gone for so long…

The first thing Danny noticed upon waking up was warmth; darkness and warmth, and a softness like a blanket drawn over him. The next thing he noticed was noise. Faint chirps and whistles filled the silence like a soft melody, their echoes only adding to their song. They were accompanied by a low, melodic humming.

Danny shifted and the humming stopped. He was surprised to find that the soft blanket was actually a large, feathery wing as it was gently lifted off of him, allowing his eyes to take in the dimly lit room.

The room was a large, rounded cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like icicles, and the flowstone pouring down the walls of the cave looked like frozen waterfalls. Along the walls, between the flowstone rivulets, were shelves that looked as though they had been carved into the dark stone. Most of them held lit candles, while a few were occupied by cute little sleeping songbirds.

The floor of the cave had stalagmites standing around its far edges, while the rest of the floor was flat and smooth and completely covered in blankets and pillows.

Still hearing bird chirps, Danny looked up and saw that the highest shelves were occupied by even more songbirds; warblers, larks, and thrushes flitted about, their tunes echoing and giving the cave an ethereal feeling.

Danny sat up with a groan and brought his hands to his temples; he had a terrible headache. “Ow…”

“Are you feeling better now?”

Danny blinked, and turned to his left to see Thanatos sitting cross-legged right next to him, his back against the wall of the cave. Thanatos shook out the wing that had been covering Danny and tucked it neatly behind him.

Danny looked around, confused. “… where are we?”

“My home,” Thanatos replied.

“Wait… you have a home?” Danny asked slowly.

Thanatos raised an eyebrow. “Well, where else would I live?”

Danny frowned as he thought for a moment. He supposed that did make sense… His brain still felt rather sluggish from waking up. He thought he had dreamt about something, but… he didn’t remember what. Rather belatedly, Danny noticed that he had been using Thanatos’ leg as a pillow.

“Wait.” Danny felt his face heat up. “Did I drool on you?”

Thanatos looked away awkwardly, as if pondering how to respond. “Well… I mean… sort of?”

Faint memories came to Danny’s mind then. Of crying. Full on, snot bubble, ugly crying. Danny groaned as he buried his face in his hands, his ears burning red with embarrassment. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, he nervously peeked at Thanatos through his fingers.

The god was watching Danny with a look of concern. He looked as if he wanted to speak, but he remained silent, just… watching. His blue and purple feathers were a bit darker than usual, looking rather dull in the shadows of the cave.

Danny lowered his hands. “Are… you okay?” He asked quietly.

Thanatos seemed taken aback by Danny’s inquiry. “I think I should be the one asking you that question, Daniel.”

Danny flinched, his gaze falling to his lap. Right, he… still had to tell Thanatos about… everything.

“… what happened?” Thanatos prompted quietly.

Danny remained silent for a long moment, before taking a deep breath and sighing. “I… don’t even know where to start,” he admitted sheepishly.

Thanatos just waited patiently for Danny to continue. Which meant Danny wasn’t getting out of this quite that easily.

Danny fidgeted with his hands a moment longer before sighing again. “I guess… I’ll start from the end of our Iris-message.”

Chapter Text

As Danny told Thanatos of his mythical-sounding journey into an apocalyptic future, the god was quiet and attentive, his focus entirely on the young halfa. Danny had doubts that the god would even believe him—after all, who would? The whole thing sounded insane. Like a dream. And a bad one at that.

He told Thanatos of what had happened after he ended their Iris Message; of meeting Skulktech, and ending up with Sam and Tucker in the lair of a strange ghost known as Clockwork. He told him about the visions he saw in Clockwork’s computer monitors—of a future Danny, an evil one, who had…

“Daniel,” Thanatos interrupted quietly. “Breathe.”

Danny hadn’t even noticed that he had begun to hyperventilate. He could hardly hear it over the sound of his own thoughts, swarming and buzzing around inside his head. I can’t tell him what I—what Dan did. That I—h-he k-killed people—

“Daniel.”

Danny flinched when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Thanatos pulled his hand back immediately, and the concerned look on his face only grew.

“S-sorry,” Danny stuttered. “It’s just… I…” He sighed heavily as he dropped his head into his hands; he could feel tears pricking at his eyes. “Gosh…”

“It’s alright,” Thanatos said assuringly. “You can tell me.”

Danny looked up at Thanatos warily. The god had no ill will in his expression or tone, but… Danny was sure that he’d react negatively once Danny told him the truth.

“I…” Danny’s throat felt dry. “My future self… killed people.”

To Danny’s surprise, Thanatos didn’t react like he had feared. In fact, he didn’t react much at all. The god’s eyes widened a fraction—in shock, perhaps—but other than that his expression was carefully neutral. Danny waited nervously for Thanatos to respond, but the god just gestured silently for him to continue.

So, after taking another breath, Danny did. He told Thanatos about how Clockwork had tried to kill him, and how Danny had escaped with his friends by leaping through a portal into a desolate world, dated only ten years in the future. There, they had met one of Danny’s old schoolmates, and witnessed her demise at the hands of… of Danny. The future Danny, anyway.

Thanatos looked… thoughtful. Puzzled. “What caused that future to be in such a state?”

“Well, it’s… kind of a long story.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at his feet. “I don’t really get it, but like… There was this… lady…” Danny remembered that both Thanatos and Clockwork had warned him against saying gods’ true names. “She could like, control plants and stuff. And she and, uhh… Dan were working together.”

“Dan?” Thanatos questioned.

“My evil, future, y’know…” Danny trailed off.

Thanatos nodded in understanding. “Was this woman a goddess?”

“… yeah,” Danny admitted.

“Was it Demeter?” Thanatos guessed.

Danny flinched, grimacing as that name brought back recent memories that he didn’t want to think about. “N-no, it was…” Danny groaned in frustration. “I can’t say the name, can I?”

“Their name would hold no power in my home,” Thanatos assured him. “Though it is good practice not to speak the names of the gods, you are safe to speak them here.”

Danny hesitated. “But Clockwork said…”

Thanatos tilted his head. “Didn’t this Clockwork try to kill you? Why do you care about what he said?”

“W-well, he was nice to me later.” Danny fidgeted under Thanatos’ pointed look. “Look, it’s a long story, okay? I’ll get to it, just…”

“Name?” Thanatos pressed.

“… Gaea.” Danny finally muttered, a chill running down his back as he uttered the name. Whether it was the goddess reacting to her name or just his dread, he didn’t know.

As for the name, Thanatos did react to that. He sat up straight, his feathers ruffling slightly as he gave Danny a look of disbelief.

“What? She’s… asleep. There’s no way…” Thanatos trailed off, a pensive look on his face.

Danny waited for Thanatos to continue, but after a moment of silence the god just waved his hand dismissively.

“I will look into it. Do not worry.”

Danny wanted to protest, but he just sighed before shrugging helplessly. There was still plenty he had yet to share. “Okay.”

So Danny returned to telling his tale. He explained how he had transformed into his Spartan form to fight his evil self (Thanatos chuckled at the name Danny had chosen for the transformation), and how Sam and Tucker had been able to return home to the present but he had been left behind, trapped in the future. How Danny had had a magic medallion forcefully embedded in his chest, and the conversation with Dan that had followed where Danny learned of his family’s death.

He didn’t bother bringing up what Dan had said about “old looks.” He still had no idea what the ghost had meant by that, but… he did mention…

“Dan… said that…”

Thanatos tilted his head curiously, waiting patiently for Danny to continue.

“He said that… I don’t know the most important thing about myself.” Danny fidgeted anxiously with his hands. “I don’t know what he was talking about, but… it’s been nagging at me.”

“What could he have meant by that?” Thanatos wondered quietly.

“I dunno, but… he said that…” Danny chuckled nervously. “He claimed that… I’m a demigod. But… I’m not, right?”

“No,” Thanatos answered confidently. “No, you are not.”

“Yeah, I… that’s what I thought,” Danny released a small breath. “But Dan claimed that he killed some… sea cow thing—the ophio…”

“The Ophiotaurus?” Thanatos guessed.

“Yes, that!” Danny said, exasperated. “He said he killed it and that it made him able to kill gods. But he also said that a demigod had to—”

“Sacrifice it and burn the entrails.” Thanatos finished. “But if he is you, then he shouldn’t have been able to do that.”

“Well, he did.” Danny replied defensively. “The ichor on his gloves was proof of that, and… Demeter…”

“Demeter?” Thanatos questioned.

“Yeah, I… I’ll get to that, too.” Danny promised. “In a minute. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this demigod-but-not stuff. I just… I don’t get it.”

Thanatos nodded in understanding, and silence fell over the two of them as they sat there in thought, both wondering what Dan could’ve meant by his enigmatic words.

Danny dropped his head into his hands with a groan. Ugh. Why did everything have to be so confusing? Why did people have to act so obscure and mysterious? Why couldn’t they just say what they meant?

Danny glanced back up at Thanatos. The god looked to be deep in thought. Rather than disturb him, Danny turned his attention to the many blankets and pillows around them. He grabbed a pillow with tasseled corners and began fiddling with the threads. It was surprisingly soft…

Danny startled when Thanatos sighed loudly, his expression perplexed as he shrugged helplessly. “I do not understand how Dan could have possibly been able to kill and sacrifice the Ophiotaurus, considering you are not a demigod. You are a legacy, though. Perhaps that is enough?” Thanatos immediately frowned. “No, that’s… unlikely. But then how…?”

“I-I swear that’s what happened,” Danny spoke quickly, worried that Thanatos was beginning to doubt him. “Dan said that, a-and then Demeter said the same thing!”

Thanatos held his hand up in a calming gesture. “Alright,” he said gently. “If you claim that is what happened, then I believe you.”

Danny sighed in relief. Thanatos believed him. Thanatos believed him and he was okay.

“You mentioned Demeter,” Thanatos reminded Danny, stirring him from his thoughts. “Why?”

Mostly okay.

“… I saw her. In the evil future,” Danny answered quietly. “She said some… stuff.”

“What did she say?” Thanatos inquired softly.

“She said…” Danny’s stomach churned as he struggled to push the words from his mouth. He didn’t want to say it. To admit what he had done—no, no, that wasn’t me. That won’t be me. “She said that I… killed Persephone. A-and others. I…”

A chill ran down Danny’s spine as the memories of his future enemies flooded back to him. He shuddered as he remembered the way he had left them floating there, injured and unmoving. And it wasn’t just them that had been hurt. Valerie… Vlad… the images of war and utter destruction Danny had seen back in Clockwork’s tower…

“I hurt so many people…” Danny’s voice cracked as a few stray tears trickled down his face. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, hiding his face from view. He didn’t want to see Thanatos’ expression. Didn’t want to see the disappointment, or disgust, or even anger that might be on his face. Who knew what the god might be thinking?

Feathers brushed against Danny’s left arm as Thanatos gently nudged him with his wing. Nervously, Danny snuck a glimpse at the god only to see that his look wasn’t one of anger, but of question. “Who were the others?”

Danny hesitated for a brief moment before muttering, “Hera… something.”

“Just Hera?” Thanatos suggested.

“No…” Danny shook his head. “There was another syllable.”

Thanatos thought for a moment. “Heracles?”

“Yeah, that.” Danny began picking at a stray hangnail, refusing to meet Thanatos’ gaze as he continued listing his other self’s godly kill count. “And then… Ares, Athena…”

Feathers grazed Danny’s arm again as Thanatos’ wings bristled, and Danny faltered, immediately shutting his mouth. Was Thanatos mad at him?

“Oh. Sorry,” Thanatos said absentmindedly, seemingly oblivious to Danny’s anxiety as he pulled his wing away and tucked it behind his back. “Continue.”

Although reluctant, Danny did as he was told. “A-Artemis and Apollo, and… a couple of others. I don’t remember their names.”

Thanatos nodded. “Anyone else?”

Danny was hesitant to continue. The others… he knew Thanatos would react to those. “Vlad told me… Hades, and… his kids…”

“Hades?”

The pure shock and disbelief in Thanatos’ normally impassive voice made Danny flinch away from the god. He nodded miserably, his arms tightening around his legs as he rested his forehead against his knees.

“… why?” Thanatos asked quietly.

“I-I don’t know,” Danny stammered, the corners of his eyes beginning to prickle as his throat grew tight. “I’m… s-sorry, I—”

“Daniel,” Thanatos interrupted gently. “There is no need to apologize. You haven’t done any of those things.”

“Yeah, but…” Danny trailed off as he shrugged dejectedly and finally lifted his head, pointedly avoiding Thanatos’ gaze as he wiped at his eyes. “I still… feel bad.”

Thanatos reached over and placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze as he spoke. “But you don’t have to. You are not at fault. You have not committed the wrongdoings of your alternate self.”

Danny was quiet for a moment as he thought of how to respond, before simply shrugging again. He sniffled and wiped at his eyes once more. “Sorry for crying so much,” he mumbled.

“Once again, you need not apologize,” Thanatos said as he withdrew his hand and leaned back. “I deal with crying people rather often.”

Danny paused, and turned to Thanatos with a puzzled look. “… what?”

Thanatos merely shrugged. “It comes with the job.”

Danny nodded slowly as his gaze fell away once more, and silence settled over the two of them as Danny turned his attention to the room around him. It looked somewhat familiar to him, and Danny idly realized that he had seen this room before—back in his Iris Message with Thanatos just the other day. Danny smirked mirthlessly, his expression devoid of any real humor; had it really only been, what, two days since that? This whole mess had started out with such a silly problem—the CAT answer booklet—and quickly spiraled from there, into something awful that Danny couldn’t have ever imagined would come from such an inane choice.

“You mentioned Vladimir earlier,” Thanatos pointed out. “What does he have to do with all of this?”

“Huh?” Danny blinked. “Oh, yeah…” He trailed off as he gathered his thoughts. “Vlad is kinda, like, the reason that Dan even exists in the first place, now that I think about it.”

“Oh, really?” Danny found the sudden change of tone in Thanatos’ voice to be rather alarming. “And why is that?”

Danny sighed, grabbing a blanket from the floor in front of him and wrapping it around his shoulders as he settled down for another long explanation. “In the future… Dan’s timeline… my friends and family…” He didn’t want to say it, he didn’t want to— “D-died. Vlad took Dan in, and… a lot of things happened. Dan asked Vlad to remove his ghost half, but… things took a bad turn. Dan’s ghost half ended up merging with Vlad’s, and then I guess that’s when Gaea showed up. That’s what Clockwork said, anyway. And… yeah.”

Danny fidgeted with his fingers as he waited for Thanatos’ response. The god was quiet for a moment, before he took a deep breath and sighed. “That’s… a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I know,” Danny grumbled. “While I was with future Vlad… a lot happened.”

And so Danny continued his tale. He told Thanatos about Vlad’s fall from grace, and how he had found the old mortal living in a dingy, dank cave (nowhere near as nice as Thanatos’. Danny made sure to let Thanatos know that.) He told of how Vlad had expanded on Clockwork’s earlier comments and gone into detail about Dan’s crimes. Although difficult, he told Thanatos about how his human half had died following Dan’s creation, which brought him to…

The voice.

He still wasn’t sure what to think of it. Was it just himself? His own thoughts?

Or was it something else? Someone else?

Now that he thought about it, Danny hadn’t actually heard the voice in a while now. Not since he had woken up. There wasn’t even an inkling of it left—no whispers, nothing. And although Danny thought he would be relieved by its absence, he was surprised to find instead that he felt a bit… sad. Lonely.

Empty.

Since the voice was no longer there, did Danny even need to mention it? Like he’d thought earlier, it… didn’t feel like a bad thing—just a part of him. And he didn’t need Thanatos thinking that he was going crazy. His whole story so far sounded crazy enough already.

If it became a problem, he would bring it up, but for now…

“I eventually got Vlad to agree to help me get back home,” Danny continued, but he was cut off by Thanatos.

“How did he do that?”

“Oh, uhh, he… removed the medallion,” Danny answered carefully. He didn’t really want to get into the details of how exactly the medallion had been removed. He figured that Thanatos wouldn’t be too happy to hear about Danny being sliced in two with the Ghost Gauntlets and almost blacking out on the floor of Vlad’s cave.

“Okay…” Thanatos raised an eyebrow. “And how did he do that? It was inside of you, wasn’t it?”

“I-I mean, yeah…” Danny mumbled. “But he, y’know, had some old ghost equipment that he was able to use to remove it. It’s fine.”

Thanatos didn’t look like he quite believed Danny, and his expression softened as he asked, “Are you alright?”

Danny looked away. “… I’m fine.”

“… Alright.” Thanatos didn’t sound convinced, but he didn’t press any further.

Danny nodded, pulling the blanket up to his chin. “After Vlad removed the medallion, I… saw something,” he trailed off.

Thanatos waited silently for Danny to continue.

“It was… another ghost,” Danny finally revealed. “That looked like… me.”

Thanatos frowned, a puzzled expression on his face.

“Except, he was wearing different clothes,” Danny continued, gesturing to Thanatos’ chiton. “Ancient clothes, like yours.”

“Grecian clothing?” Thanatos supplied.

“Yeah,” Danny nodded. “Kinda like your outfit, but with white and gold and blue.”

Thanatos’ frown deepened, his expression pensive as he leaned back against the wall of the cave.

“What else happened?” Thanatos asked. “Did the spirit do anything?”

“Uhh, he said…”

Danny trailed off as he remembered the spirit kneeling in front of him, tears running down its face, its voice breaking as it reached for him and begged:

:Please… don’t leave me, too…:

“What did it say?” Thanatos questioned.

“… n-nothing,” Danny answered uneasily. “I mean, I… don’t know. It was in Greek, a-and, y’know, my Greek isn’t that good yet.”

Thanatos’ look made it obvious he didn’t believe him. Danny looked away shyly, hoping that Thanatos wouldn’t call out his claim. The halfa winced as he placed a hand over his core, right where the spirit’s hand had touched him. “And then he just… disappeared.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Danny could feel Thanatos watching him, as if willing him to tell the truth. To tell him what exactly he was hiding.

Well, Danny was allowed to have some secrets.

“Anyway, then I showed up in Clockwork’s Tower again.”

Thanatos’ shoulders fell, as he was clearly unhappy about the change in topic, but he allowed it. “Why did you return there?”

“Well…”

And so Danny continued his story once more. He explained how the time ghost had offered him tea, and been frustratingly calm and patient as he and Danny had a little chat. He mentioned that Clockwork had been willing to answer some questions, though Danny once again didn’t mention the voice. Instead, he vaguely explained that the topic of cores had been brought up, and thus was brought to Clockwork’s strange tangent on halfas.

“He basically said that for a halfa to exist, they need equal parts living and dead matter,” Danny explained. “He said there are multiple ways for a halfa to come into existence. I don’t remember much more than that, though. He mentioned something about, like… past lives and stuff.” Danny frowned as another one of Clockwork’s tangents came to mind. “Actually, he said something weird, too. Well, more weird than… y’know, all that other stuff.”

Thanatos nodded.

“When I told him what Dan said about me being a demigod, he asked…” Danny’s stomach felt like it was twisting itself into knots. “He asked, ‘Did your alternate self ever say that the demigod had to be living?’”

Thanatos looked taken aback before a thoughtful expression fell across his face. Danny fidgeted with the edges of his blanket as his own thoughts began to wander. Back in the future, at the decimated Nasty Burger, what had Dan meant? Did it have something to do with his Spartan form? Was that spirit a part of this as well? A part of him? Was that spirit a demigod and that was how Dan had been able to kill the Ophiotaurus? Did that mean…?

Danny jumped when Thanatos spoke again. “What if you had been a demigod?”

The halfa stared at his mentor, eyes wide. “… what?”

Thanatos hummed thoughtfully. “This is just a theory… but what if you were a demigod in a past life, and chose to be reborn?”

“… what? How would that work?” Danny asked.

Thanatos began to explain. “If a mortal soul is deemed worthy by the judges of the dead, they are sent to Elysium. You do remember Elysium, correct?”

Danny nodded.

“Good. The spirits in Elysium can, if they so choose, be reborn into a new life. But—and I mean, this whole idea is purely hypothetical,” Thanatos emphasized with a wave of his hand. “But say you had been a demigod, just in a past life. Perhaps… that is what your alternate self meant?”

Danny didn’t even know what to say in response. That was such a crazy idea, but… maybe Thanatos was right? He couldn’t think of what else Dan could’ve meant. But could he really be—

“No, no…” Thanatos frowned as he muttered to himself. “That doesn’t make much sense, either.”

“I mean…” Danny hummed as an idea came to his mind. “Could you tell?”

“Tell what?” Thanatos asked.

“If I’m a reincarnation.” Danny placed a hand over his chest, over his core. “Is that a thing you can do?”

“Well…” Thanatos glanced away from Danny uncomfortably. “I mean… yes, but for your sake I won’t.”

Danny frowned, feeling rather confused by that answer. “What do you mean?”

“As Death, I am able to see the memories of others.” Thanatos admitted as he turned back to Danny. “All death gods can. However, to do so I would have to collect your soul.”

… Oh. Danny paled as he realized what Thanatos meant. “You mean, like…?” Danny drew a finger across his neck.

Thanatos nodded. “I imagine that is not an outcome you are particularly eager for.”

“Definitely not,” Danny agreed. “Rain check on that, please and thank you.”

Thanatos smiled in amusement, and Danny couldn’t help his own little grin. However, it quickly faded as he thought of another question.

“Do you… remember me?”

Thanatos’ smile faded into a once again puzzled expression. “You confound me like no other, Daniel.” Thanatos shook his head tiredly. “What do you mean, do I remember you?”

“I mean, like…” Danny brought a hand to his chin as he thought of how to explain himself. “Do you ever forget a face?”

“Hmm… not really,” Thanatos said slowly. “It might take me a moment to remember someone, but being forgetful wouldn’t be very good in my line of work.”

Danny nodded. “Okay, so, do you remember me?”

At Thanatos’ lost stare, Danny elaborated. “If I am a reincarnation, then wouldn’t you remember seeing my face before? Like, when I died in my past life?”

Though still slightly perplexed, Thanatos nodded hesitantly. “That… sort of makes sense. Though there is no guarantee that I was the one who collected you.”

“Huh?”

Thanatos waved his hand dismissively. “It’s not important right now. But why is this idea so important to you?” He inquired. “Even if you had a past life, it shouldn’t affect you now, no matter what Dan may have said.”

Danny opened his mouth to answer, but faltered. Why was this so important to him? Thanatos was right; if he had lived a past life, then it shouldn’t affect his current one. But… the way his thoughts echoed sometimes just made him wonder… and the ghost he had seen back in Vlad’s cave, who had looked so much like him… “Just humor me, please?”

Thanatos sighed, but nodded. “Alright.”

Danny sat as still as a statue as Thanatos fixed him with a scrutinizing stare. The silence in the room grew heavy as Danny tried his hardest not to move.

… Wow. This was getting awkward. Danny began to fidget as Thanatos’ calculating gaze studied his face. He watched as the god’s brow furrowed, his eyes momentarily glowing brighter. Thanatos’ lips formed a thin line as his face fell into a focused expression, but other than that he just… stared.

After an uncomfortably long moment, Thanatos finally looked away. He leaned back as he blinked a few times, shaking out his wings behind him as he did so. Danny waited for the god to speak.

“Nope,” Thanatos announced at last. “I do not remember you. You seem… familiar to me, maybe, but…” Seemingly at a loss for words, Thanatos just shrugged. “Perhaps I have forgotten, after all? Another god could have collected you, or maybe you aren’t a reincarnation like we might have thought. Your alternate self could have meant something else. And who knows what this Clockwork was going on about? It’s nothing you should worry yourself over.”

Danny… didn’t really believe that. But if Thanatos didn’t remember him, then… what else was he supposed to do?

A small twinge of pain shot through Danny’s core—it almost felt like disappointment. Danny ruffled his hair as he looked away. It didn’t matter if he was a reincarnation or not. Like Thanatos said—even if he was, it shouldn’t affect his life now.

“Besides,” Thanatos continued. “In the case of reincarnation, most people go their entire lives never knowing that they had a past one. That is something that is only remembered once someone has passed on.”

Danny began to nod, but froze as something came to his mind. What did that mean for him? He was half-ghost.

Half dead.

But… he hadn’t had any “memories” of any “past lives” come back to him. Not that he remembered.

“Clockwork also told me a bit about Gaea,” Danny continued, back on topic. “He said that she has no problem using mortals for her plans, and that that’s why she messed with Dan—or, me—in that timeline.” Danny fidgeted with the blanket. “I’m… a bit worried she might try something else. Even though I didn’t become Dan this time around, what’s to stop that happening in the future?”

“You need not worry,” Thanatos assured him. “There is nothing that can be done about that right now.”

“But… I am worried,” Danny stressed. “She… she was the reason that I… turned evil in the future. I’m afraid that she’ll…”

Thanatos placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder as he gave the halfa a small, reassuring smile. “Do not worry,” he reiterated softly. “Should anything happen, I will protect you.”

Danny gave a small smile in return.

“What happened after your conversation with Clockwork?” Thanatos asked quietly.

Danny shrugged, his heart sinking as he reached the final part of his journey. “Well… then it was time to fight Dan. So I went back to my current time, and… yeah. We fought.”

Thanatos frowned, his hand falling back into his lap. “I feel that your fight would have been noticed, would it not? And I was watching for your return. Surely I would have happened upon it.”

“Well, not exactly…” Danny scratched the back of his neck. “Clockwork kinda rewound time at the end so that it never happened? I guess?”

Thanatos just stared.

“Yeaaahhh…” Danny smiled sheepishly. “It’s weird.”

Thanatos’ expression turned to one of concern. “How did the fight go?”

Danny’s smile fell almost instantly as a shiver went down his spine. “It… I dunno,” he mumbled. “It’s all kind of a blur now. I flew to the Nasty Burger, got the crap kicked out of me, and just barely managed to beat Dan. I sucked him into the Thermos, then turned to save my family, but…”

Danny’s eyes began to sting with tears once more, but he didn’t know why. His family was alive—they had survived. There was no need to cry. “I was too late,” he croaked. “The restaurant exploded, a-and I thought they had blown up, a-and—”

Danny took a deep breath and swallowed back the lump in his throat, blinking to clear the tears from his eyes before he spoke again. “But… Clockwork saved them.”

Thanatos tilted his head, surprised yet a bit confused. Considering Danny hadn’t been painting Clockwork in the best light so far, he could understand the god’s confusion.

Danny nodded. “He saved them, and healed me up after the fight. Which is good, considering…” Danny grimaced as his mind went back to his head being cracked against the pavement. As well as his broken ribs, and the puncture wounds… “Woof.”

Thanatos gave him a concerned look, but Danny just continued.

“Then I gave him the Thermos, and he turned back time to the CAT test. I gave Mr. Lancer the answer booklet, everything was resolved, and…” Danny smiled, but the gesture was weak and shaky. “And now it’s like none of it ever happened! So… it’s all good. I’m fine.”

Thanatos frowned softly. “… no,” he said quietly. “No, you are not.”

Danny flinched.

“Though those events may no longer be a part of history, they are still a part of you,” Thanatos insisted. “That all still happened to you.”

“But…” Danny hissed in frustration as he pulled at his hair. “I fixed it! Everything’s back to normal, so… so it shouldn’t be an issue anymore.”

“I understand that,” Thanatos said gently. “But that does not erase the trauma you have experienced.”

“Trauma?” Danny sputtered. “I-I’m not traumatized, Thanatos! I’m…”

He tried to say ‘fine’, but the word wouldn’t pass his lips. His eyes burned, and as he blinked they filled with tears. “I’m…”

For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, Danny began to cry. Thanatos wrapped his wing around Danny and gently pulled the teen into another hug, which Danny allowed. He leaned into Thanatos’ side as the tears continued to fall, and he allowed himself to… not quite let it all out (he had kind of had it with crying today), but he did allow himself a moment to just… be not okay.

“So… yeah,” Danny finally mumbled, pulling away from the hug once the tears had subsided. “I fought a ghost, then I went and contacted you. Luckily, my mark was back to normal by then.”

“Yes, my mark turned dark as well while you were gone,” Thanatos stated. “I was quite concerned.”

“What?” Danny gave Thanatos a confused frown. “My mark’s black, like, all the time when I’m human.”

Thanatos frowned. “Really?”

“Uhh, yeah?” Danny held out his right arm, his black mark clear as day against his pale skin. “See for yourself.”

Thanatos’ frown deepened, and he brushed his fingers delicately over the black letters. “That is… odd.” He drew his hand away and held out his own right arm, revealing the silver letters on his forearm. “For the chthonic pantheon, our apprenticeship marks are silver.”

“I mean, yeah, it’s silver when I’m ghost…” But then Danny paused. “Wait. For the chthonic pantheon?”

Thanatos nodded. “The colors of apprenticeship marks denote which sub-pantheon a person belongs to. Chthonics are silver, Olympians are gold, and those belonging to the sea are bronze.”

“Aaannd none of them are black,” Danny guessed.

“No,” Thanatos confirmed. “That means something is amiss.”

Danny silently pointed at his own mark.

“Yes, I know,” Thanatos sighed, resting his chin on his hand as he frowned thoughtfully. “Perhaps… it is because you are in the wrong form?”

“Huh?”

“You were in your ghost form when I took you on as an apprentice,” Thanatos explained. “So that is the being that I made a contract with. Not your mortal half. When a mark is black, it means that one or both sides of the apprenticeship are unavailable for one reason or another, excluding death. In that case, the mark would just fade away.”

“But… I’m still able to contact you when I’m human,” Danny pointed out.

“Well, your ghost half is still there,” Thanatos argued. “It’s just not the active side of you at the moment. At least, that is my theory. It’s not like I’ve had any other half-ghost apprentices, Daniel.”

“Yeah,” Danny chuckled. “I guess there’s not a lot of us out there, huh?” He frowned as he glanced down at his arm. “Have you really not noticed my mark being black sooner? We met, like, three months ago.”

“Well, I have seen it a couple of times in your human form,” Thanatos admitted. “But I figured that it had turned dark because you were unconscious as well at those points in time.”

“Oh…” Danny thought back to the two training sessions where he had gone Spartan. “Yeah…”

They fell into a somewhat more comfortable silence for a few moments before Thanatos spoke again. “Now that you’ve had some rest, are you feeling better?”

Danny thought for a moment before smiling, albeit tiredly. “Yeah. Thanks, Thanatos.”

Thanatos smiled in return. “Good.” He moved to the edge of the platform and stood up. “Come with me. There is something I would like to show you.”

Chapter Text

Danny followed Thanatos out of the room (not without tripping on a few blankets), and into a long, dimly lit underground tunnel. It led out into a huge room, with tall marbled walls and pillars, and a white river cutting through the middle of the floor.

Danny’s gaze lingered on the flowing water. He didn’t know why, but… he was having some serious déjà vu. As if… he had seen the river before.

“Where are we…?” Danny mumbled.

“Like I told you before, we are in my home,” Thanatos replied evenly. “This is the entry hall.”

Danny pointed at the burbling white river. “What’s that?”

“The River Lethe.” Thanatos answered. “Do not touch it.”

“Why?”

“Just a drop of its water will make you begin to forget who you are.” Thanatos explained. “Mortals, spirits, gods… no one is immune to its touch. Personally, I would say it’s the most dangerous of the five rivers of the Underworld.”

Perturbed, Danny took a step back from the water. “And you’ve just… got it in your house?”

“Indeed.”

Danny nodded along as if that made perfect sense. “Of course.” He looked back at Thanatos, who had pulled out his iPad. “So, what did you wanna show me?”

“Through our training sessions, I have concluded that you are a skilled fighter.” Thanatos tapped something on his iPad and began to scroll. “So I think that it is time to move on to the next part of your training.”

“Wait, right now?” Danny balked. “After… all that?”

Thanatos looked up at Danny, and the god’s expression was surprisingly cheerful. “Yes,” he said simply. “I think it will do you good.” He glanced at his tablet once more before putting it away and turning his attention to Danny. “You’ll probably want to ‘go ghost’ for this.”

Danny scowled and looked away, his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. “You shut up,” he grumbled as he transformed.

Thanatos merely smiled. “You’ll also want to be invisible.”

“Huh? Why? You can still see me,” Danny pointed out.

“Yes, but others cannot.”

Danny was confused, but he did as Thanatos said. The god held out his hand, and Danny took it, glancing at the cave around them once more before they melted into the shadows.

.

When they emerged from the darkness, Danny found himself in what looked like a hospital. They were in a long, dimly lit hallway, with muted blue walls and a wood-patterned linoleum floor. One side of the hallway was lined with closed doors, and on the other side was a wall of windows, through which Danny could see into what looked like a courtyard. It was night, and rays of moonlight poked through the blanket of clouds overhead.

A couple of people dressed in scrubs walked by Danny and Thanatos, talking quietly; neither noticed the two Underworld beings standing there. Danny looked up at Thanatos in question. The god looked back at him, but said nothing, and instead started silently down the hallway. Danny floated after him. No one paid them any mind as they traveled along, the air around them carrying an unnatural chill.

Thanatos stopped in front of a door just a few feet from the end of the hallway. The door was part way open, and Thanatos slipped inside like a passing breeze. Danny followed him, and once inside, he took in the room.

The walls and floor were the same as the ones in the hallway, and the room was barren except for a bed, a chair, a nightstand and drawers, and several medical-looking machines that filled the room with quiet whirrs and beeps. The bed was occupied by an old man, who appeared to be sleeping. He looked elderly, with his skin like tan, blotchy crepe paper, and his thinning hair white and wispy on top of his head. He looked peaceful as he slept.

Danny was so confused. Why were they here? He looked at Thanatos again, and this time the god spoke, albeit quietly.

“We are here to collect a soul.”

Danny blinked, taken aback. Why did Thanatos want to show him this?

Thanatos seemed to know what Danny was thinking. “This is part of being Death’s apprentice. Di—I mean… my first apprentice assisted me in this as well.”

Danny frowned, his stomach twisting nervously. He supposed it made sense that he would have to help with this part of Thanatos’ job; he wasn’t sure how he felt about it, though. Just ending someone’s life like that… did this count as murder?

Thanatos spoke again, interrupting Danny’s thoughts. “Death is not always a bad thing. Pain, illness, loneliness… these are hurts that death is often a comforting answer to.” He pulled out his iPad and showed the screen to Danny. On it was a list of names—similar to the one that Danny had seen back at Camp Half-Blood. Thanatos tapped on one of the names, and all the others disappeared, leaving that one name with a few words written below it: Thomas… 98 years old… Cardiovascular disease…

Danny looked up from the iPad and turned his attention to the old man. His chest rose and fell as he slept, undisturbed by his invisible visitors. How long had he been here? Was he in any pain? Did he… fear death?

Danny had grown up being taught that death was some big, scary unknown that most people feared. After his accident, Danny had learned that there was something on the other side waiting for some people (not everyone became a ghost, after all). And after the past three months of being Thanatos’ apprentice, he was beginning to learn that there was another place for everyone else after death.

Danny looked around the room again. Other than a photo on the nightstand, there were no personal items in the room. No flowers or cards, either. Does he not get any visitors? Danny silently floated across the room and picked up the picture frame.

The picture was of the old man, though a few years younger and in what appeared to be a military uniform. A woman of similar age was in the picture as well, holding the man’s hand. They were smiling at each other. Danny turned over the frame and read the scrawled words on the back: 75th anniversary.

Danny turned the picture frame back over and looked at it again. This must be his wife. He set the frame back down and looked at the old man—Thomas. Is he leaving anyone behind? Or is he all alone?

Danny felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and turned to see that Thanatos had joined him by the man’s bedside. He watched Danny patiently, as if waiting to see what he would do.

Danny looked back at Thomas. The man’s breath whistled quietly as he slept. He… Danny wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to speak to the old man.

He turned back to Thanatos. “Can I… can I talk to him first?” Danny whispered.

This time, Thanatos was the one who looked confused. But he tentatively nodded and stepped back.

Danny landed silently on the floor and turned visible. The gentle glow of his ghostly form cast a faint white light over his immediate surroundings, including the old man’s sleeping form. Danny wasn’t quite sure what to do next; would it be rude to wake him?

However, just then Thomas’ nose wrinkled in a faint grimace, and his eyes fluttered open. Danny’s glow must have woken him up.

Thomas blinked tiredly, his gaze traveling over to the source of the light. When it landed on Danny, his eyes widened, and Danny quickly held up his hands in a peaceful gesture.

“Sorry,” Danny said, his voice hushed. “I-I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Thomas watched Danny in wonder for a few seconds before speaking, his voice slow and mumbled. “Are… you an angel?”

Danny smiled shyly. “Oh, no. I’m just Danny.”

After a moment, the old man smiled in return. “Well, hello, ‘just Danny’. You can call me Tom.”

“Hi, Tom,” Danny greeted with a smile of his own. “I, umm… I just wanted to know how you’re doing.”

“Well…” Tom paused to clear his throat, his breath rattling faintly in his chest. “I’m doin’ just fine, I suppose. Got to have meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner, can’t complain.”

Danny chuckled lightly at the man’s simple contentment. But when he spoke again, his voice took on a more subdued tone. “Do… do you get many visitors?”

Tom’s smile fell. “… no. My wife, Meredith, died a few years ago. Neither of us had any siblings, and we didn’t have any kids of our own.” He turned to the picture on the nightstand, and his voice warbled slightly when he spoke again. “She was the only one who visited me.”

“Oh.” Danny shuffled his feet. “I’m sorry.”

Tom sighed, a smile gracing his lips once more. “Don’t be. We had a good, long life together.”

Danny smiled softly at that. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and glanced over to see that Thanatos had come to stand on the other side of the bed. The god gave Danny a look that he understood clearly: it’s time.

Tom followed Danny’s gaze. “… you got a friend with ya?”

Danny looked back at Tom in surprise, taken aback by his perceptiveness. He nodded after a moment, his eyes downcast.

To Danny’s surprise, the old man smiled again, a toothless grin. “Well, I suppose it’s about time!” His gaze traveled to where Thanatos stood, though Danny could tell from the way that his eyes seemed to pass right through the god that the man couldn’t see him. “I’ve been waitin’ for far too long.”

Tom’s smile was calm and at ease, but Danny noticed that the old man’s hands were shaking. As Thanatos began to reach forward, Danny reached down and took Tom’s hand in his own. He saw Thanatos pause in the corner of his eye, but didn’t pay any attention to him as Tom turned to Danny. He felt like he needed to say something; to give the man a final farewell.

Speaking with as much kindness as he could muster, Danny said softly to him: “It was nice meeting you, Tom. You… you’ll be okay.”

Tom smiled once more, and this time it reached his eyes. “Thank you, angel.”

The old man inhaled deeply, and as he exhaled a pale blue smoke left his mouth. Thanatos brought his hand up to the mist and guided it towards himself, curling it into a condensed blue orb that he held delicately in his hands. Danny stared wide-eyed as Thanatos worked; he… he had seen that blue mist before. Back in the future. When Valerie…

He felt like he was going to be sick. Had that been Valerie’s soul? That same blue mist had hung in the air around Valerie’s body, waiting to be collected. Valerie’s soul had just been floating there, and Danny hadn’t done anything to save it.

Danny jumped at the sound of the heart monitor flatlining, followed by a loud, beeping alarm. He went invisible just as two people in scrubs rushed into the room. Danny floated up and out of the way of the people as they went to work. Tom looked relaxed. Peaceful. If Danny hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought that the old man was just sleeping.

Danny turned his attention to Thanatos. The god’s face was relaxed, and he had a small smile on his lips. He looked… happy. Thanatos walked past the two workers and out the door, and Danny followed after him.

They turned the corner and came to a stop about halfway down the connecting hall, away from any people. Danny wasn’t really sure how to feel about what had just happened. Tears came to his eyes, and he sighed as he blinked them away. He felt sad, but like… a good sad? He wasn’t sure how to describe it.

Thanatos was still holding the blue orb—Tom’s soul—in his hands. When Danny looked up at the god questioningly, Thanatos held the orb out to him. “Here, hold out your hands.”

“What?” Danny quickly stepped back. “N-no, that’s fine. I don’t wanna drop it—o-or, him—”

“Danny,” Thanatos said softly. “It will be alright. Hold out your hands.”

Danny paused. Thanatos had never used his nickname before. The god had always been rather formal when addressing him. Though, after their talk in the cave, maybe Thanatos had finally decided to lighten up a bit?

Hesitantly, Danny held out his hands. Thanatos slowly and carefully placed the orb in Danny’s palms. It was cool to the touch, and weightless in his hands; Danny was worried that it would disperse if he so much as breathed.

He felt something akin to his ghost sense tingling in the back of his throat, and as he stared at the little glowing orb, Danny felt a strong feeling of protectiveness wash over him. He would do everything within his power to keep it—to keep Tom safe.

Danny gasped as memories—not his own—began to flash through his mind like a picture reel. A small brick house; long walks to school; playing hockey on a frozen lake; high school graduation; getting married; joining the army; his fellow soldiers dying right in front of him; returning home…

Are these Tom’s memories? Danny wondered.

But then the memories faded from his mind, just as quickly as they had appeared. Danny looked back up at Thanatos. The god was watching him silently.

“… Thanatos?” Danny asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Of course,” Thanatos replied easily. “Are you?”

“I’m… I’m doing okay.” Danny decided. “Why did you want to show me this?”

“Collecting souls has always brought me a sense of peace,” Thanatos explained. “With how distressed you were earlier, I thought that it might bring you a bit of that same relief.”

Danny nodded, and held the soul out to Thanatos, who took it back. “So what’s next?”

“I will take you to your home, and then I will guide Thomas to the Underworld.” Thanatos answered. “I will show you how to guide the souls at some point in the future, but for now you need rest.”

“What? No. I’m fine!” Danny argued. “I already slept!”

“Daniel.”

Danny whined in protest, but at Thanatos’ unsympathetic look he sighed in defeat.

“We are already in Minnesota,” Thanatos continued on as if nothing had happened. “So shadow-travel should not drain you too much.”

Although still upset, Danny nodded begrudgingly. “Yeah, and I guess I should talk to Sam and Tucker and Jazz about… everything…”

“A good idea, but do not push yourself. You have been through a lot today.” Thanatos smiled gently and held out his hand. “Now, shall we go?”

Thanatos POV:

In the farthest reaches of the Lost Region floated a lone clock tower. Clock gears turned freely in the empty space between the sparse floating islands that surrounded it. The sound of ticking clocks permeated the air. Thanatos landed at the base of the tower, folding his wings behind him as he started towards the entrance. The large double doors creaked open as he neared, as if he was expected.

The inside of the tower was dark and cluttered, full of turning gears and swinging pendulums. The incessant ticking was almost deafening. In the center of the room was a flat, circular object on a pedestal, similar to a looking glass. At the moment, the surface of the glass was clouded over by thick green mist. Thanatos’ gaze scanned the room, searching for the being that he was looking for.

“Why, hello, grandson.” A clear voice rang out from above. “What brings you here?”

Caught off guard, Thanatos looked up at the ceiling high above him. “Grandson?”

A purple-cloaked being descended from where he had been floating high above, tinkering with gears and such. As he neared Thanatos, his appearance flickered and shifted, from a blue-skinned specter with a long serpentine tail and purple clothes to a timeless, yet aged-looking man with long white hair, solid red eyes, and white robes.

Thanatos took a step back. “Chronos?”

Though Thanatos tried to hide his shock, the other god saw right through him and smirked. “Surprised?” He asked. “Of course you are. Thought I was dead, didn’t you?”

Thanatos frowned uncertainly. “… no. I would’ve felt your passing.”

Chronos raised his brow, unimpressed. “And you never thought to check on me? Shameful.”

Thanatos scowled. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Ah, yes.” Chronos lazily waved his hand. “This is about your new apprentice, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” Thanatos ground out. “He told me that you tried to kill him.”

Chronos scoffed. “Please, as if I’d waste time doing that. I do have a schedule to keep, you know. Besides,” Chronos strolled away from Thanatos and stopped in front of the looking glass. The image on its surface changed, the green mist clearing to reveal Daniel, who appeared to be passed out in his bed. “He’s a bright young man. In another time, I might have taken him on as an apprentice myself. Luckily, I found someone else to take that role.”

“Since when do you take on apprentices?” Thanatos questioned.

Chronos turned back to face him. “I could ask you the same thing. I thought you vowed never to take another after—”

“Stop.” Thanatos hissed in warning.

Chronos held his hands up in surrender. “Alright. I meant no harm. Although I already know why you’re here, I’ll let you speak first.”

Annoyed, Thanatos took a deep breath to calm himself and folded his arms. “Why does he call you Clockwork?”

At the mention of that name, Chronos’ form briefly flickered back to his more ghostly appearance. He glanced at Thanatos from the corner of his eye before turning back to the glass and beginning to scroll through different images on its surface, far too fast for Thanatos to see. “I thought I’d try something new. I’ve grown rather tired of being mistaken for Gaea’s son.”

On another day, Thanatos might’ve asked Chronos more about his reasoning. On this particular day, however, he had more pressing matters. His golden gaze turned steely, and his voice took on a sharp edge. “Daniel told me how you sent him through time to meet his future self.”

“Ah ah ah,” Chronos wagged his finger. “I didn’t send him anywhere. He chose to go through my time portal.”

Thanatos ignored Chronos’ comment and continued. “He also told me of how his future self went to the past and tried to murder his family.” He held out his right arm, his mark giving off a faint glow in the darkness of the tower. “I noticed that something was amiss, but by the time I was able to check on him, everything had been more or less resolved, and Daniel was traumatized.” Thanatos’ eyes narrowed in suspicion. “In the Underworld. You let those spirits loose, didn’t you?”

“Well, I couldn’t let you interfere and change the timeline any more than you already have.” Chronos argued, his voice flippant and mildly irritated. “But there is no need to fret. I had everything under control.”

Thanatos wasn’t happy with that response, but there was no point in arguing. Instead, he asked another question. “Daniel doesn’t know who you really are, does he?”

Chronos turned and smiled in response. “Does he know who you really are?” Thanatos opened his mouth to retort, but Chronos continued. “Why, now that I think about it, does he know who he really is?”

Thanatos paused at that, his expression turning to one of confusion.

Chronos regarded him with intrigue. “Oh, I’m too soon, aren’t I? You don’t know who he really is.”

Chapter Text

The Fates must have been smiling down on Danny for once (or at least not staring at him in disgust and disappointment) because he slept like the dead (ha!). When he finally woke up late the next morning, the sun had fully risen and was shining into his room. He blinked tiredly as he tried to form coherent thoughts.

Promptly giving up, Danny turned over and pulled his blanket up over his head, snuggling deeper into his bed. It was too early to be thinking, anyway.

There was a knock on his door.

Danny grumbled but stayed put. Maybe whoever it was would give up and let him sleep some more.

Another knock drove that thought out of his mind.

Guess not.

Danny swung his legs over the edge of his bed and phased out of his blanket. Rubbing his eyes, he trudged over to his door and opened it to find Jazz standing there with her fist raised to knock a third time. Before Jazz could react (and before Danny could really process what he was doing), Danny threw his arms around her.

“Woah! What’s this for?” Jazz asked, wrapping her arms around Danny in return.

“I’m just glad you’re okay…” Danny mumbled.

“I am too, little brother,” Jazz said. “What happened to you yesterday? You kinda disappeared after our talk.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that.” Danny pulled away from her and scratched the back of his neck. “There was a ghost, and then I was with Thanatos, and… yeah.”

“Why were you gone for so long?” Jazz asked. “Did something happen?”

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but the words died in his throat when he heard his friends’ voices echoing up from the living room. They were alive. They were okay!

All tiredness forgotten, Danny pushed by his sister and ran down the hall. From the top of the stairs, Danny saw Sam and Tucker sitting on the couch. He teared up at the sight of his friends and he bounded down the stairs, hopping over the banister halfway down. He tapped into his ghostly flight and flew at his friends. They didn’t have time to react before Danny threw his arms around them, upending the couch in the process, and the trio toppled to the floor in a pile of limbs.

“Oh my gosh, are you guys okay?” Jazz called down from the balcony.

“Yeah. We’re good,” Sam wheezed as the trio untangled themselves from each other.

“Speak for yourself,” Tucker grumbled as he got to his feet, and Danny helped Sam up. “I think he threw out my back!”

Once everyone was on their feet, Danny threw his arms around Sam and Tucker again, making sure not to knock them over this time. Relief filled his entire being, flooding him with peace and warmth. They were here. They were safe.

“Dude, what happened?” Tucker questioned as he returned the hug.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Sam added, also returning the embrace. “You disappeared after the test yesterday.”

Danny winced as memories of what had happened yesterday resurfaced. “Sorry,” he mumbled quietly.

Sam pulled away from the hug, quickly followed by Tucker and Danny. Then Sam punched Danny in the arm.

“Ow!” Danny yelped as he rubbed his arm and glared at the goth.

Sam glared right back, completely unfazed. “Don’t you ever disappear on us like that again, Daniel James Fenton. If Jazz hadn’t told us you were the real you, then I would’ve marched right over here and kicked your sorry butt!”

Danny ducked his head in shame. “Sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“You’d better not, or else I’ll hunt you down and give you a piece of my mind,” Sam huffed.

Danny chuckled at that. “I believe it.”

“Seriously though, dude. What happened to you yesterday?” Tucker asked.

Danny grimaced. “It’s… a long story.”

After righting the couch, Danny and his friends retreated back up to his room; Jazz joined them after making sure the Fenton parents weren’t home. Sam and Tucker sat on the bed, Jazz sat on the desk chair she had pulled over, and Danny stood facing them, mentally debating on how to start.

“So… what happened after Sam and I left?” Tucker prompted, finally breaking the growing silence.

Danny sighed. He had already been over this with Thanatos, so it should be a breeze telling Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. And he wouldn’t have to do as much explaining, either, since they had been a part of it, too.

“After you guys left, things kinda went downhill.”

“And you’re sure the thermos is safe with Clockwork?” Jazz asked, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. “How do you know he won’t just open it?”

Danny shrugged. “I mean, Dan wasn’t supposed to exist in the first place, so I doubt Clockwork would take him just to release him later.”

Jazz hummed, unconvinced.

“Look, it’ll be fine,” Danny assured her. “Don’t worry.”

Jazz sighed and leaned back in her chair. “If you say so.”

“So what did you do after the test?” Sam questioned.

“Yeah, we tried to find you but Jazz said you left to fight a ghost or something,” Tucker added.

Danny ruffled his hair. “I mean, yeah, there was a ghost, but I took care of it.”

Danny told them most of what had happened while he was with Thanatos (he left out all of the crying, though. He was kinda embarrassed about that). He skipped over the reincarnation part of their conversation. He… still didn’t know how to feel about the possibility of him being a reincarnation. Thanatos had said that it shouldn’t affect his life and even then, there was no guarantee that he even was a reincarnation. It was just best not to think about it for now.

When Danny finally got to the impromptu training session with Thanatos, he trailed off as he thought about Tom. Even though Danny knew Tom had gone peacefully, it still made him sad that such a nice person was no longer around. Danny would’ve liked to get to know him better.

“Danny, you okay?” Jazz asked.

Danny nodded and took a steadying breath. “Yeah, I’m good. So, Thanatos took me to this nursing home…”

“So you collect the souls of the dead now?” Tucker asked once Danny had finished his story. “That’s your job?”

Danny nodded. “I guess. It’s part of my apprentice duties, anyway.”

“You’re basically a psychopomp. That’s so cool!” Sam said excitedly.

Danny looked at her, confused. “A psycho-what now?”

“A psychopomp is someone who guides souls to the Underworld,” Sam explained. “The word is even Greek in origin.”

“Dang, Sam. How’d you know that?” Tucker asked her.

“I’m goth, Tucker. This kinda stuff is right up my alley,” Sam replied smugly.

Danny smiled softly, glad his friends and sister had taken this in stride. After all, what was one more weird power on top of all his other ones?

When he asked what had happened while he was trapped in the alternate future, Danny learned that Dan had tried taking his place. Sam had noticed something was off and kept him occupied for as long as she could, but she eventually had to let him leave so that she didn’t seem suspicious. Sam and Tucker had lost track of Dan for a few hours and hadn’t found out where Dan was until that morning when Jazz called them.

Jazz hadn’t known Dan had taken Danny’s place until after she tried confronting “Danny” about the CAT answers. Jazz showed Danny the dark bruises on her neck as she was finishing up that part of her story. Jazz continued her tale with her waking up the following morning from a nightmare.

Their parents had checked on her, and after making sure she was okay, Jack and Maddie had left to hunt down the ghost that had hurt her. According to Jazz, they were probably still out searching.

Jazz had then called Sam to warn them about “Evil Danny”, thrown the Boo-merang into the portal with a note for her Danny, and set off to do what she could to keep everyone safe until her Danny returned.

After everyone had swapped their tales of the past couple of days, Sam suggested that they should go over to her place to hang out and unwind. Danny and Tucker readily agreed and immediately started getting ready to go. Jazz declined the invitation, saying that she needed to study for her own upcoming exams.

As the trio of friends walked towards Sam’s house, Danny ran over their conversation in his head. He had told them about everything that had happened to him, and they had told him everything in turn.

So why did he feel like he had forgotten something?

Danny and his friends played games and ate pizza until the early evening. Hanging out with Sam and Tucker, getting his ghostly tail handed to him by Sam in Doomed, eating nigh-endless amounts of pizza. It was just the thing Danny needed after Dan, and Tom, and everything else.

He was so focused on his game that he barely noticed when his ghost sense went off. He did, however, notice the ghost that flew through the wall. The Box Ghost was unfortunately quite difficult to ignore.

“Beware!” The Box Ghost shouted. “I am the Box Ghost! And I am here to…”

“Strike us down with your corrugated wrath?” Sam guessed tiredly.

“Trap us in your bubble wrap of doom?” Danny snarked.

“Uhh… sell us stamps?” Tucker offered lamely.

Taken aback, the Box Ghost sniffled. “That’s kinda hurtful, guys.”

“Well, this is gonna hurt more.” Danny grinned, transforming and flying at the Box Ghost.

Five minutes later found Danny and his friends back at their games, and the Box Ghost contained safely inside the Fenton Thermos.

The next couple of days were pretty quiet. Well, as quiet as Amity Park could get. Danny had only had to deal with a couple of the weaker ghosts so far. He even had time to study for his makeup exam the upcoming Saturday. If only he could focus on it!

Wednesday night found Danny staring blankly at the practice sheet in front of him. He tried to not think about the last time he had stared at a similar piece of paper, just last week. At least this time he was studying in his room instead of at the kitchen table.

The prickling of his right forearm broke through his thoughts. Danny sighed, put down his pencil, and traced the theta (Θ) of his mark. Thanatos appeared from the shadows of his room shortly after.

“Danny,” Thanatos greeted kindly. “I was wondering if you had some time to train this evening.”

“Uhh…” Danny glanced back at his practice sheet. It was frying his brain, anyway. “Yeah, sure.” He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, his back popping as he did so. “Are we gonna collect more souls?”

Thanatos shook his head. “No. I am going to teach you something I should have taught you sooner.”

That piqued Danny’s interest. “Really? What’re you gonna teach me?”

“Shadow-traveling.”

They appeared in the shadows of Persephone’s garden. Danny stepped out onto the crystal walkway and looked around at the beautiful garden. He had only been there a handful of times before, so he still stared at it in awe.

“So, uhh, how long are we gonna train today?” Danny asked, turning towards his mentor. “Because I’ve still got school tomorrow.”

“This training session will be shorter than usual. Shadow-travel can be very draining for mortals,” Thanatos answered, joining Danny on the crystal path. “That, and too much use in a short period of time could cause your very being to come apart at the molecular scale.”

“… oh.” Danny squeaked.

“So we’ll only train for an hour or so,” Thanatos continued, oblivious to Danny’s sudden discomfort. “That is also why I chose to teach you here in the courtyard.”

“Because of all the shadows?” Danny asked as he looked around at the shadows cast by the pomegranate trees.

Thanatos nodded.

“How does shadow-travel work, anyways?” Danny asked. “I know it’s, like, a magic way to get from one place to another, but… how?”

“All shadows are connected, since all darkness comes from the same source: my father, Erebus.” Thanatos explained. “When we shadow-travel, we go through my father’s realm.”

Danny stared at him, perturbed.

Thanatos raised a brow. “What?”

“Your parents sound scary.”

The god thought for a moment, before merely shrugging. “If you say so.”

Danny let the subject drop. He didn’t need to be thinking about how Thanatos’ mom had kids with literal darkness. Heck, he still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Thanatos and Cujo apparently shared a mom. Danny shuddered at the thought.

“To start, you are going to shadow-travel from this tree…” Thanatos gestured to the tree on Danny’s left. “To that one.” He pointed to the tree on Danny’s right.

Danny looked at said trees. “That’s like… three feet,” he deadpanned. “I can walk over there.”

“But that’s not the point of this practice, is it?” Thanatos countered. “The goal is to shadow-travel over there. Besides, being able to see where you want to go will help you to visualize it within your mind.”

“Okay, but why such a short distance?” Danny asked. “I mean, I made it all the way here from camp on my first try.”

“And you were very lucky that time,” Thanatos emphasized. “Shadow-traveling without a clear destination in mind, or without proper instruction, is extremely dangerous and can be deadly.”

Danny paled as Thanatos’ words hit him. He remembered the feeling like thousands of needles pricking his skin. He remembered the insistent pull of the shadows. Just how close had he been to fully dying back then?

Danny looked away, trying to distract himself from his thoughts. He glanced up at the balcony that overlooked the courtyard and did a double take when he saw Persephone. This was the first time Danny had seen her since…

“You killed my daughter, and now you’ve come for me!”

“I WATCHED YOU KILL HER!!!”

“KILL ME! PLEASE! I can’t live without her…”

Persephone seemed to have noticed his staring, and she waved at him. Danny awkwardly waved back and quickly turned around. He was fine. Persephone was fine. Everything was fine. He wouldn’t become Dan just by seeing someone that Dan had…

Danny jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Danny?” Thanatos questioned. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” Danny nodded, even as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I’m fine.”

Thanatos gave him a look. Danny fidgeted and dropped his gaze as the silence between them dragged on.

“If you say so,” Thanatos finally replied. “Then we can continue with our lesson.” He removed his hand and took a step back. “You can begin when you are ready.”

Danny looked at the trees. “Okay, but how? I’ve only ever done it once before. And it was an accident.”

“It is quite simple, actually,” Thanatos assured him. “Just think about your destination. Picture it in your mind. Focus on details that you know about it, such as the texture of the bark or the smell of the fruit. Then step into the shadows with the intent to go there.” Thanatos demonstrated and almost instantly appeared out of the shadows of a nearby tree. “And you should appear at your destination.”

Danny nodded. That made a bit of sense actually. Though if developing his own powers had taught him anything, it would be anything but easy. He moved closer to the starting tree and glanced over at his destination tree, a few measly feet away. He could do this.

Danny took a deep breath and thought about the tree, just as Thanatos had instructed. It felt a bit silly, but after a moment’s hesitation he stepped into the first tree’s shadow. He half expected to just run face-first into the trunk, but instead the shadows enveloped him.

The world around him went pitch black as he fell forward, and it was like a windstorm had formed out of nowhere. The wind roared past Danny, pulling at his hair and clothes. A chill went down his spine, and he shook his head; he couldn’t lose focus now. The tree. What had the tree looked like? He could still see it in his mind’s eye, and he focused on the memory, took a deep breath, and walked forward.

Please work, please work, please work—

All of a sudden, the wind was gone. And so was the ground.

Danny opened his eyes just as he began to fall. Leaves and twigs scratched at him as he tumbled out of the tree’s branches. How had he ended up there?!

Thanatos rushed forward and caught Danny just before he hit the ground. He looked down at the halfa, eyes wide as he asked, “Are you okay?”

Danny blinked as he looked down at himself. Nothing was broken or hurting. Just a couple of scratches on his arms, and leaves sticking to his hair and clothes. “Yep! I’m good!”

Thanatos sighed in relief as he set Danny down on his feet. “And that is why we are starting with short distances.”

Danny’s second attempt at shadow-travel was less eventful, as he managed to emerge from the shadows onto solid ground with only a slight stumble. He turned to Thanatos with an eager grin. “I did it!”

Thanatos smiled softly. “Very good.”

And so the training session continued. Danny shadow-traveled from tree to tree, working his way across the courtyard, while Thanatos kept a close eye on him and offered instruction when it was needed.

Once Danny had made it to the last of the trees, he turned to Thanatos eagerly, feeling pretty good about himself. “What now?”

“How are you feeling?” Thanatos asked instead of answering.

“I’m good,” Danny replied as he shook out his hands. “Bit cold, though. I should’ve brought a jacket.”

“Are you feeling confident about this?” Thanatos questioned.

Danny grinned. “Yeah!”

Thanatos smiled. “Alright. Then we’ll increase the distance.” He looked around for a moment before he shadow-traveled to the front end of the courtyard. “Travel back to the first tree,” he called.

Danny nodded and steeled himself. He could do this. He could do this. He stepped back into the shadows, took a few steps, and emerged out of the shadows of the first tree. Danny stumbled a bit and fell to his knees. Oof. That had taken more energy out of him than he’d expected.

“Are you alright?” Thanatos asked, helping Danny back to his feet.

“Yep!” Danny grinned again.

Thanatos nodded. “Then let’s see if you can shadow-travel to the other side of the courtyard.”

Danny’s grin faltered. The courtyard was big. What if he messed up and got lost somewhere in the Underworld? He voiced his concern to Thanatos, who replied:

“Your soul is rather unique among those of the Underworld. I can find you no matter where you end up.”

Danny felt relieved by the assurance, and he smiled gratefully. Thanatos then shadow-traveled to the other side of the courtyard, appearing at the top of the palace steps, where he turned and waited for Danny to arrive.

Danny looked at where Thanatos had ended up, committing as much as he could to memory. He glanced up at Persephone on the balcony, and he wondered why she was down here in the springtime again. Danny shook his head. He needed to focus.

Taking a deep breath, Danny stepped into the tree’s shadow…

And out onto smooth tile.

That wasn’t right. The walkways were pebbled crystal, and the stairs leading up to the entrance hall were polished black marble with veins of gold running through them. Not tile. Danny opened his eyes, and saw Persephone right in front of him.

He had overshot and shadow-traveled onto the balcony. Whoops.

Persephone’s back was to Danny, and she hummed quietly to herself as a ghoulish-looking lady in an old-fashioned maid’s outfit poured her a cup of tea. Neither of them seemed to have noticed him yet.

“Uhh… hi?”

Persephone barely flinched as she looked over her shoulder, but the ghoul beside her jolted so violently the teapot fell from her hands, shattering on the floor below. Persephone turned her attention to the maid and glared coldly, snapping her fingers before pointing at the shattered mess. “Clean it,” she ordered sharply. “Now.”

The ghoul trembled as she knelt and hurriedly gathered the ceramic shards in her apron, before standing and scurrying away. Danny watched her go in stunned silence, surprised by Persephone’s unusually harsh tone.

Persephone turned back to him, and in the blink of an eye her coldness was gone, replaced by a bright, adoring smile as she waved at him. “Hello, Danny! What are you doing up here?”

“Uhh…” Danny blinked, struggling to recover from the whiplash of her sudden change in demeanor. “I was… training with Thanatos…?”

“Ooh, that sounds exciting.” Persephone gestured to the seat across from her, inviting him to join her.

Not wanting to disobey the Queen of the Underworld, Danny walked over and awkwardly sat down.

“What are you learning today?” She asked as she picked up her teacup.

Danny was a bit hesitant to just be sitting there with Persephone, after what he had learned back in Dan’s timeline. He took a deep breath to calm himself. She was alive, and didn’t know anything about that timeline. He wasn’t Dan. And he would never become him.

“Uhh, shadow-travel,” Danny answered. “I kinda… did it by accident last time, and he wants me to learn it properly.”

Persephone gave Danny a sympathetic frown. “I can relate. It took me ages to master shadow-traveling on my own.”

“Wait, really?” Danny was confused. “I thought all Underworld people just… knew how to do it.”

Persephone pursed her lips, her expression one that Danny couldn’t quite place as she set her cup back down. When she spoke, her voice was strangely subdued. “I wasn’t always a denizen of the Underworld, Danny.”

“… oh.” Danny looked down at the table as he remembered the story of just how Persephone came to be queen. “Sorry, I… forgot.”

A silence settled over the two of them, but it only lasted a second or two before Persephone cleared her throat. Danny looked up, and she smiled kindly at him as she set her cup down.

“It’s quite alright,” she assured him. She then gestured at the plate of pastries on the table between them. “You must be hungry from all your practice. Please, eat.”

Yeah… Danny was pretty sure he remembered something else about the myth of Persephone. Something about not eating Underworld food. “Ummm… I’m… good, thanks. Not hungry.”

Persephone nodded easily and took a sip of her tea. Danny twiddled his thumbs before hesitantly speaking up.

“So, uhh, why are you here? It’s spring, shouldn’t you be… up there?” He pointed overhead. “On the surface?”

“Oh.” Persephone lazily waved her hand. “I had an argument with my mother, and came down here to get some space. There’ll probably be a surprise snowstorm for some poor mortals on the surface, but it’s nothing.”

“Ah.” Danny squirmed in his seat, somewhat uncomfortable with Persephone’s flippant attitude about idly causing freak weather systems. “That’s, uhh…”

“Lady Persephone.”

Danny turned in his seat to see Thanatos standing right behind him. The god gave Danny a small nod before returning his gaze to the goddess.

“Thanatos!” Persephone chirped. “It’s so good to see you! Danny and I were just chatting. Catching up.”

“I see.” Thanatos hummed. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid you’ll have to finish catching up another time. Danny informed me earlier that he has school tomorrow.”

“Ah, of course.” Persephone made a shooing gesture with her hand. “Don’t let me stop you.” She smiled at Danny once more. “It was nice seeing you again.”

“Yeah, uhh… same,” Danny replied as he stood. “Thanks for the, uhh, talk and… stuff.”

Persephone waved them away, and they left. The moment they rounded the corner, Thanatos turned to Danny.

“You didn’t eat anything, did you?” He asked quickly.

Danny shook his head. “Nope. Thought I remembered something about… pomegranates?”

Thanatos nodded with a sigh of relief. “Consuming food from the Underworld binds one to the realm. Do not eat or drink anything while you are down here.”

Danny nodded. “Got it.”

“Other than that…” Thanatos smiled warmly at Danny. “You did well.”

“What?” Danny looked up at him in wide-eyed disbelief. “I wasn’t even close!”

“Yes, you were.” Thanatos corrected. “You just misjudged the elevation again. You will get better with time. However…” Thanatos patted Danny on the shoulder. “I think that’s enough for today. I will take you back—”

“Can I try?” Danny interrupted.

“… What?”

“Can I try shadow-traveling back?” Danny grinned eagerly up at Thanatos.

Thanatos frowned as he pulled his hand away. “I am not sure that’s a good idea, Danny.”

“Aww, come on! I can do it!” Danny assured him. “Please?”

“Daniel.”

“Pretty please?”

“What?” Thanatos’ frown deepened with confusion. “What does that even mean?”

“It’s like, please times two,” Danny explained quickly before giving Thanatos a pleading expression like that of a dog asking for food at the dinner table. “Pretty pretty please? I wanna try!”

Thanatos didn’t look convinced. “What if you get lost?”

“Then you can find me, right?” Danny argued. “You said you could earlier if I got lost.”

“Well, yes, but you could end up somewhere dangerous.” Thanatos pointed out. “And I don’t want you overdoing it.”

“But I feel fine!” Danny whined. “And if I end up somewhere dangerous, then I can handle myself. I’ll just shadow-travel away.”

Thanatos sighed tiredly. “Danny—”

“I’ll go to bed as soon as I get home.” Danny clapped his hands together. “Promise.”

Thanatos looked doubtful as he folded his arms and stared at Danny. The halfa stared back pleadingly, and after a long moment Thanatos groaned.

“Alright,” Thanatos relented. “I will be right behind you, should anything happen.”

Danny grinned and closed his eyes as he called a vision of his home to mind. Home. The old red brick house on the street corner. With the tacky neon sign and the precarious, ramshackle metal structure on top that his parents called the Ops Center. His room, with its walls covered in NASA memorabilia and faded stick-on stars.

Home. With his sister, and his dad, and his mom…

Let’s go home.

Danny’s core trilled in agreement, and as he stepped forward, the darkness swallowed him.

Wind roared in his ears as he walked through the chilly darkness. Amity Park was a ways from the Underworld, wasn’t it? It would probably be a bit of a walk in the shadows, then, but that was fine. He could do it.

Yet, far sooner than Danny was expecting, the shadows gave way to solid earth. He stumbled, confused, and opened his eyes, only to find that he was not home.

Or in Amity Park, for that matter.

Danny was still in the Underworld. He immediately recognized the atmosphere around him, and judging by the sparse, dry black grass underfoot, he was somewhere in the Fields of Asphodel. But as he turned around, he saw that he was standing before a set of tall golden gates.

The gates were easily thirty feet tall, and they were similar to the ones in front of Hades’ Palace. Except, instead of pictures of disaster and sorrow pressed into the metal, they were… happier. There were all sorts of people engraved on the doors. Victorious heroes in armor, parents protecting their children, and even some faces that Danny somewhat recognized from history. There was a hero holding the head of Medusa, and another fighting… the minotaur? And a third, with an arrow in his heel. Weren’t they all famous Greek guys or something?

Danny took a step back from the gates. They were set within tall walls of white marble that had a pearlescent sheen to them which glittered in the dim light. He had seen this place before, but… only from a distance.

He had meant to travel home. So why…

Why had he ended up in front of Elysium?

Danny’s core thrummed happily in his chest as he stared at the gates in confusion. He took another step back as he wondered what he should do. Should he head back to Hades’ Palace? Or should he try to travel to Amity Park again? The ringing in his ears and dizziness in his head suggested otherwise. Maybe he should walk back to the palace? Or wait for Thanatos to come find him?

His gaze fell on the gates again, and… a strange feeling washed over him. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, but it was like an ache in his chest. Not a painful one, no. It was more… yearning, if anything.

For some reason… Danny felt like he had been here before.

As if he were entranced, Danny slowly walked forward, reaching for the metal gates. His fingers brushed against the cool, smooth metal, and it sent a chill down his spine.

Why did this feel so… familiar?

“Danny?”

Danny jumped, yanking his hand away from the gates as he whirled around to face Thanatos. The god was frowning at him, his arms folded as he stared questioningly at the halfa. “What are you doing here?”

“I… I don’t know,” Danny answered honestly. “I… got lost?”

Thanatos sighed and brought a hand to his temple. “Well, there are far worse places you could have ended up.”

Danny nodded slowly as he turned back to the gates. Hesitantly, he reached for them again…

“You’re not allowed in there.” Thanatos stated, breaking Danny from his daze. “Only spirits worthy of Elysium may enter.”

“O-oh.” Danny pulled his hand away as he stepped back. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Thanatos placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder and turned the halfa to face him, his brow furrowed with concern. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” Danny looked down at himself, but he didn’t see any injuries.

“Your nose.” Thanatos pointed.

Danny brought his hand to his nose, and was surprised when he pulled it back and saw blood on his fingertips. When did that happen?

Thanatos patted his pockets and muttered under his breath. “I didn’t think to bring any ambrosia…”

Danny only nodded again as he glanced over his shoulder, looking at the gates once more. “I’m… fine.”

“I’m not quite sure I believe you, Daniel.” Thanatos replied flatly. “But that’s more than enough training for today. I will take you home, and you are to go straight to bed. Understood?”

“… yeah.”

Somewhere in Colorado:

“File 10406-VM.”

Chapter Text

Vlad POV:

“File 10406-VM.” A video file of Daniel and Valerie fighting one another appeared on the large holoscreen in front of him. “Stop.” The video paused on a closeup of Daniel flying with his tail. “Analysis.” Various readouts popped up around the frozen frame, which Vlad merely skimmed over before going to the next video.

“File 10406-VX.” An up-close shot of Daniel in combat. “Analysis.” More pop-ups appeared, containing graphs of data that Vlad had already spent hours looking over.

“File 1874-MI. Analysis. File 2416-SM. Stop. File 3299-IM. Stop. Analysis.”

The holoscreen now covered in various pictures, videos, and scientific data, Vlad leaned back against his worktable. He glanced lazily over the information—he’d seen it all far too many times for his liking—and drawled: “Conclusion?”

A green loading bar appeared in the center of the screen, and Vlad took the brief moment of downtime to let out a heavy sigh. He dragged his hand over his tired eyes as his mind wandered back to almost two weeks ago, when he had been searching for Daniel after the teen’s mysterious “trip.”

For the last couple of days, Vlad had spent his time staking out all the bus stations and airports within a 200-mile radius of Amity Park, searching for Daniel Fenton. The young halfa had mentioned an upcoming trip during their encounter a few days earlier, but Vlad hadn’t been able to get anything else out of him before he had disappeared.

The young halfa rarely left Amity Park for more than a day, but Daniel had been missing for an entire week. Obviously, Vlad was concerned—he considered Daniel as his own son, after all. Vlad had paid Skulker well to find Daniel and report back to him, but the ghost had never returned. Typical. One should never trust others to get the work done.

So that Monday, Vlad found himself at yet another airport, flitting invisibly between the different terminals and glancing through the airplanes as they landed. He had just been about to check the latest plane arrival when all of a sudden, the air around him turned frigid and he felt a hand grab his shoulder. An almost overwhelming sense of dread washed over Vlad as he turned around and came face-to-face with what could only be described as an angel of death.

Vlad tried to phase out of the being’s grasp, but found to his surprise (and dismay) that he could not. The other leaned in, their expression cold and displeased.

“You will leave Daniel alone, Vladimir Masters.” The angel’s golden eyes glowed with such an intensity that Vlad was certain it could see into his very soul. “Or there will be consequences.”

Vlad couldn’t speak—something about this entity made it difficult to do so. Their golden eyes bore into Vlad’s blood-red ones for several long, agonizing seconds before they released their grip on Vlad.

“Leave. Now.” They commanded.

Vlad didn’t need to be told twice. He disappeared in a cloud of magenta smoke, eager to get away from that airport as quickly as possible. And as soon as he got home, Vlad began his research on angels of death, and ancient beings that dwelled within the Ghost Zone.

His research had yielded very little information about the being Vlad had encountered beyond its title: Lord Death. It seemed the denizens of the Ghost Zone were afraid to say anything about the being, and as such frustratingly little had been written. What his research did reveal, however, was secrets—spells and wards and other things that one could use to hide themself from the Ancients of the Ghost Zone.

His musings were interrupted when the face of his Maddie program popped up on the screen. “I’m sorry, Sweetheart,” her robotic voice crooned. “Inconclusive data. Experiment cannot be completed without mid-morph sample.”

Vlad scowled. “The equipment I gave to Valerie to fight ghosts has been monitoring Daniel for months, yet I’m still missing the one piece I need!”

Well, it seemed he would just have to get the missing piece right from the source. And if that Ancient tried to interfere… Well, Vlad had found ways to deal with Ancients.

He snapped his fingers and four pods opened behind him. Without turning around, Vlad spoke to the failed clones. “You know what to do.”

“Yes, Father,” three voices intoned before their owners flew off.

Vlad smirked. Oh, how he loved to hear that word. Now, if he could only…

A boot scuffed against the floor.

Vlad fought the urge to sigh. He should have known that she was still there. Plastering on his kindest smile, Vlad turned around to see that, yes, Danielle had indeed stuck around. She had been his closest success, but she still wasn’t what Vlad wanted.

“Yes, Danielle? Did you need something?” He asked kindly.

Danielle shuffled her feet, gaze locked firmly on the floor. “Um… I… don’t…”

“Speak up. And stand up straight, dear,” Vlad scolded. “Proper ladies don’t mumble or slouch.”

“Sorry, Father,” Danielle said, immediately correcting her posture. “How’s this?”

“Much better, my dear,” Vlad commended. Danielle’s eyes lit up at the praise. “Now, what did you need?”

Danielle’s gaze dropped once again to the floor. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

Vlad smiled at her, though the look never reached his eyes. “Do not worry, my dear. I have just the mission for you.”

Danny POV:

Danny flopped onto his bed late that Saturday night with a loud groan as he returned to his human form. He had just gotten back from another training session with Thanatos (they had practiced shadow-travel again), and he was exhausted. Who knew being Death’s apprentice would be so much work? Danny hardly had time outside of school, hero work, and training to hang out with his friends. Heck, he barely had time to sleep! And his busy schedule was beginning to take a toll on his friendships. He felt bad constantly letting them down, but… he just didn’t have time…

What is an apprentice, anyway? Danny wondered to himself. Is it like an intern? Don’t interns get paid? He sighed as he silenced his phone and closed his eyes. Maybe he could ask Thanatos about that the next time he saw him…

Danny was eventually woken by the sunlight filtering in through his curtains. He grumbled as he rolled over and pulled the comforter over his eyes. It was too early for the sun to be up…

Wait.

Danny snatched his phone off the nightstand, and the first thing he saw was his missed alarm: mini-golf with Sam and Tuck—10:00 A.M.

Crap!

After passing his makeup CAT exam, he had made plans with his friends to go celebrate. And he was late. He cursed under his breath as he leapt out of bed—his friends were going to kill him. Well, Sam was, anyway.

Danny found his friends at the 18th hole of the golf course. Tucker was up to putt while Sam stood behind him, glaring. Danny hoped it wasn’t because of him. He watched invisibly from overhead, before a mischievous idea entered his mind and he decided to enact it.

“It’s the eighteenth hole, Sam,” Tucker said as he readied his stance. “I beat you here, I win.”

Sam scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

Taking a moment to steady his arms, Tucker took a deep breath and swung.

And his putter went right through the ball.

Tucker gasped, startled. “Wha?”

Sam caught on quickly, and she smirked. “That’s one.”

Annoyed, Tucker swung again. And… missed?

“And two.”

Tucker growled and swung again, and again, his frustration growing with each swing.

Sam only looked more and more pleased as she counted off his attempts. “Three. Four. And five.” She gave Tucker a frustratingly smug grin. “Ha!”

Tucker looked ready to throw his putter, and he grumbled angrily under his breath as he bent down to pick up the ball. Which passed right through his fingers.

Before Tucker could react, Danny popped up out of the ground like a meerkat. “Boo!”

“AHH!” Tucker yelped and recoiled in fear, before scowling as he finally realized who had been messing with him. “Danny, knock it off!”

Sam nodded in agreement as she folded her arms. “Yeah, you were supposed to be here an hour ago.” She then turned and smirked at Tucker. “By the way, that still counts.”

Danny winced and quickly dipped back into the ground, leaving the golf ball behind, and flew behind some conveniently placed rocks to transform.

“Sorry I was late,” Danny said as he stepped out, now human. He scrambled for an excuse that would get him back in his friends’ good graces. “But, uhh, you’ll be happy to know that the Ghost King… won’t… be…” He trailed off at the completely and utterly unimpressed looks on his friend’s faces. “… okay, I overslept,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Seriously?” Sam scoffed incredulously. “Danny, what’s gotten into you?”

“Yeah!” Tucker agreed. “Lately, you’ve been blowing us off all the time!”

“I’m sorry,” Danny stressed. “Really! I’m just so busy with school, and my apprenticeship, and fighting ghosts all the time that when I finally get some time to myself, I’m dead on my feet! Uhh, pun not intended.” He dragged his hand down his face and sighed. “I have a lot on my plate, okay?”

“You should’ve just talked to us,” Sam pointed out, disappointment written across her face. “We’re your friends. We would’ve let you sleep in.”

Tucker nodded. “And why don’t you, like, talk to your mentor? See if he’ll give you a day off to hang out with us once in a while.”

“I mean… I dunno…” Danny scuffed his foot against the turf. “I just… don’t wanna let anyone down.”

“Well, Danny, you’re kind of letting us down,” Sam pointed out quietly.

Danny’s gaze fell to his feet as his shoulders sank. He knew Sam didn’t intend to hurt him, but the words still stung. And he also knew that she was right. He didn’t know what to say, but as he opened his mouth to come up with something, his ghost sense went off.

Perfect timing, he thought sourly. “Sorry, guys.” He avoided their gazes as he turned away and transformed back to his ghost form. “Gotta go.”

“Yeah, I bet you do,” Sam muttered scornfully.

Danny winced at the hurt he could hear in her voice, but he didn’t stick around. Instead, he flew off in the direction of screaming citizens and destruction, hoping he could get this fight done and over with so he could get back to Sam and Tucker. He wanted to hang out with his friends—really, he did—but dealing with ghosts came first. They understood that, right?

Danny found the rogue ghost terrorizing mini-golfers at the lighthouse hole. The people were screaming bloody murder as they ran frantically from the… bedsheet ghost? Seriously? That was, like, the most cliché ghost stereotype ever. Were all the good ideas taken? Well, there is a Box Ghost…

Anyway, cliché or not, Danny still had a job to do.

The ghost looked up just as Danny crashed into it. It thrashed around in Danny’s grasp, but he managed to hold onto it long enough to slam it into the miniature lighthouse, breaking through the brick wall on impact. He had hoped to stun the specter, but it immediately grabbed Danny in turn and threw him back out of the hole in the wall and onto the ground below.

Danny glared up at the bedsheet ghost—he did not have time for this today, dang it—before launching himself back at the offending spirit. They exchanged blows, choosing to use fists over ecto-rays. Danny managed to land each hit with brutal efficiency (thank you, Ares cabin), and with a solid punch to the ghost’s jaw, he sent it flying back down to earth, where it crashed into the base of the miniature clock tower.

“Seriously?” Danny asked, chuckling as he landed in front of the defeated ghost. “A bedsheet? That’s the best you’ve got?” He grabbed the white blanket and pulled. “What have you got under there?”

But as the sheet fell away, Danny immediately regretted his decision.

Beneath the white cloth was the upper half of a charred humanoid skeleton. Below its ribcage, where it should have had legs, the spine trailed off into something like a tail. The ghost glared up at him with its blood-red eyes and snarled, revealing short, jagged teeth. It lunged at him, and Danny, still stunned, was easily knocked down and pinned to the ground.

“Chaaange baaack!” the ghost commanded in a warbling, haunting voice that sent chills down Danny’s spine.

As Danny had no idea what the ghost was talking about and had no desire to obey it, he chose to respond by kicking it firmly in the chest. The ghost was launched backwards and struck the ground a few yards away. Annoyed, Danny quickly got to his feet and immediately began charging up on ecto-blast in his palm.

The ghost writhed around like a fish out of water before its gaze landed on Danny, and it charged towards him with a guttural hiss. Danny raised his hand, and released the energy just before the ghost reached him.

A wide beam of ecto-energy erupted from Danny’s palm, completely engulfing the skeleton ghost. Danny was pushed back a couple of inches from the sheer force of his ecto-ray, and he wasn’t able to keep the blast up for more than a few seconds, but it was enough.

The light faded, and Danny saw that the ghost was no more; it had completely burned up in the blast. Not even its ashes remained. And that didn’t sit right with Danny. He had expected to find the ghost thoroughly beaten and ready for the thermos. He had never destroyed a ghost before. Unbidden, a memory came to his mind. A memory of the ghosts he had met back in the future—the ones he had left unconscious and barely in one piece—

Danny shook his head. Nope. He wasn’t going to think about that. He needed to finish up here.

But as Danny looked around the immediate area, he realized in growing horror that he had caused far more damage than he had intended. The mini-golf course’s clock tower was completely destroyed, and the windmill wasn’t in much better condition; it was barely still standing. The ground directly in front of Danny had been torn up like a tornado had come through, and its path extended far past where the ghost—and the clock tower—had once stood.

In short, the area had been utterly destroyed.

Danny grimaced. Maybe he should stay and fix it? No, no, he couldn’t fix it. He didn’t know how. And if he stayed, then it was likely that ghost hunters like Valerie would show up. Or worse, his parents. And he didn’t need them destroying the mini-golf course any further. Sam and Tucker would be fine. They were just bystanders, after all.

And so, Danny fled, leaving a huge mess in his wake.

As Danny was flying home, his phone rang. He pulled it out and answered, already having a good idea of who was on the other end.

“Danny!”

Yep. It was Sam.

“Hey, Sam,” Danny greeted timidly.

“Don’t you ‘Hey, Sam’ me, Fenton!” Sam shouted. “I will whoop your ectoplasmic butt, you hear me? Why did you leave?!”

“Yeah, dude, not cool,” Tucker piped up, also sounding rather upset.

“Look, guys, I’m sorry!” Danny said as Fenton Works came into view. “If I stuck around any longer, then my parents probably would’ve shown up looking for Phantom and made everything worse.”

“Well, ‘sorry’ doesn’t get us out of cleaning up this golf course,” Tucker griped.

“And ‘sorry’ doesn’t clean it, either.” Sam snapped as Danny phased into his room and detransformed.

Danny winced. He had assumed—hoped, really—that his friends wouldn’t get caught up in the aftermath of his fight, but that just seemed to be their combined luck, didn’t it? He would have to make it up to them later. Somehow. When he had the time.

He sighed, his gaze trailing over the contents of his room as he listened to his friends complain. It was just as messy as he had left it. His bed was made, though. Maybe his mom had come in and tidied up while he was gone.

“I know, I know,” Danny groaned as he turned to the window, glancing down at the empty street below. “And I really appreciate you guys. But—”

Wait a minute.

The hair on Danny’s neck stood on end as he turned back around, and saw… a person sitting on his bed. A girl. She was about his height, but he couldn’t tell much else. He could only see her baggy clothes and black hair from behind the magazine that she was reading. His magazine, he realized.

“Uhh…” Danny began hesitantly, feeling rather wary of the newcomer. At least he had remembered to put a bandage over his mark before leaving that morning. “Can I… help you?”

“YES!” Sam shouted over the phone.

“No, not you!” Danny snapped at her, faltering as he glanced at the intruder again. “Look, I’ve gotta go.”

“Of course you do,” Sam retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Danny hung up, shoving his phone back in his pocket as he walked over to the foot of his bed. The girl, seemingly riveted by the old edition of Spaceport Magazine, paid him no attention.

Annoyed, Danny waved his arms wildly, trying to get her attention. “HELLO?!”

The girl huffed under her breath, scowling as she set the magazine down beside her. “Not so loud,” she grumbled as she met Danny’s gaze.

And Danny froze.

The girl had long, straight, jet black hair pulled back in a low ponytail and covered by a red knit beanie. Her skin was pale, her eyes an icy blue, and… for some reason, Danny felt like he had met her before.

His heart ached in his chest, and the feeling was shared mutually by his core. It wasn’t a painful ache. If anything, it felt like… longing? Like he just wanted to walk up to her and give her a hug, and forget all his worries while she hugged him back, and brushed his hair, and asked him about his day.

Danny’s brain short-circuited as the pure absurdity of what he had just thought hit him. What?

The stranger’s scowl had faded, and she gave him an easygoing, reassuring smile. The strange ache in his chest only increased tenfold. She just looked so… familiar.

So he asked her: “Have we… met before?”

That seemed to catch her off guard, and her smile faded into a look of confusion. “What? No. I’m, uhh…” There was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes before her smile quickly returned. “I’m your cousin, Danielle! Your… third cousin once removed?”

Danny raised an eyebrow in unimpressed disbelief as he folded his arms. “Uh huh.”

“Yeah…” The girl chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I ran away from home.”

“Okay…” Danny said slowly, obviously not believing the girl’s claim. “And why did you come here? How do you even know who I am? Because I don’t know you.”

The stranger paled. “I-I just told you—”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re cousins,” Danny emphasized the word with finger quotes. “But I’ve never heard of you. So, tell me…” He placed his hands on his hips and scowled. “How exactly are we related?”

Danny could practically see the girl’s thoughts racing behind her eyes as she scrambled for an answer. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Yet no words came out. Danny tapped his foot, his already threadbare patience only growing more thin.

The girl closed her mouth before opening it once more, but the sound that left her… came from her stomach. Danny gave her a questioning look, and she smiled sheepishly. “Do you have any food?”

Danny groaned. Fine. He could wait to question her. “Come on. Let’s get you something to eat.”

Danielle eagerly hopped off the bed and followed him out of the room.

Danny caught a glimpse of his reflection in the hallway mirror as they walked past it, and as he looked more closely he paused. Seeing himself side by side with Danielle, he realized that the two of them looked similar. Really similar. Their hair, their eyes, their noses… even their heights and body types. If he didn’t know better, he could’ve easily mistaken the both of them for twins. Maybe that was why she looked so familiar to him?

His core buzzed sourly like a joybuzzer, as if in disagreement. But if that wasn’t it, then why…?

Danielle’s stomach growled again, and she whined impatiently. “I’m hungry. Food, please?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny grumbled. “Come on.”

Danny led Danielle downstairs and into the kitchen. Once there, he flipped on the lights and gestured to the room. “Help yourself, I guess.”

Danielle didn’t move from where she stood behind him, and when Danny turned to look at her he saw that she was fidgeting. Danny frowned at her, and Danielle gave him a nervous smile. “Uhh, sorry! I, uhh… what is there to eat?”

“I mean… we’ve got plenty of food in the fridge.” Danny walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open, glancing over the containers of leftovers and assorted cooking ingredients. “But, uhh… I’m not sure it’s safe for human consumption. I mean, I’m fine, but I’m pretty sure my body has adapted to the presence of ectoplasm in my food over the years.” He glanced over his shoulder at Danielle, who had wandered over to him and was now staring into the depths of the fridge like a child gazing through the window of a candy shop. “I don’t know if you should—”

Before Danny could finish speaking, Danielle ducked under his arm and practically dove head first into the open refrigerator. She snatched the closest thing to her—a Tupperware of leftover spaghetti from the night before—and ripped the lid off. She grabbed a fistful of cold, slimy, sauce-covered noodles and eagerly shoved them into her mouth.

“Woah!” Danny stepped back, eyes wide in alarm. “Dude, chill!”

Danielle looked up at him, her eyes looking like those of a confused puppy, and the spaghetti hanging from her lips making her look like a toddler at lunchtime. Danny grabbed her by the shoulders and directed her to the table. “At least sit down. I’ll grab you a fork. Sheesh.”

“A wha?” Danielle asked before promptly shoveling more noodles into her mouth, tomato sauce dripping onto the tile floor below.

Danny could barely hide his shiver of disgust. And Sam always says Tucker has no manners… “Just… sit down. Please.”

Danielle did as she was told, taking a seat at the table as she continued to eat. Danny shuddered once more before retrieving a fork from the silverware drawer. He walked back over to the table to see that most of the spaghetti in the container was already gone.

“Geez… you, uhh, must’ve been hungry,” Danny remarked as he set the fork down in front of Danielle.

Danielle only nodded eagerly in response since her mouth was full. Danny sat down across from her and watched her continue to shovel spaghetti into her mouth, completely ignoring the fork. Danny sighed but didn’t comment. He wasn’t one to judge someone else’s eating habits, especially when he considered who he was friends with.

“Got anything else to eat?” Danielle asked as she set down the now empty container.

Danny stared at the container in disbelief. It was licked clean! He looked up at the unfazed, petite girl in front of him and shook his head. “Uhh, sure?”

He got up from the table and walked back over to the fridge, opening it and considering what was left inside. Ecto-contaminated hotdogs, emergency ham, fudge, chicken casserole…

Danny grabbed the chicken casserole and turned back to Danielle. “Y’know, my dad likes to joke that the chicken casserole we have for dinner lays the eggs we had for breakfast!” Danny chuckled, before muttering under his breath, “I wish it was a joke.” He placed the container in front of Danielle and stepped back. “Bon appétit.”

Danny stared at Danielle in a mix between disbelief and horror as she leaned back in her chair and burped. She had eaten nearly everything in the fridge! It was honestly kind of impressive. And a bit scary. And I thought Tucker was a bottomless pit…

He glanced at the clock, quietly wondering when his parents would be home. They could help him figure out what to do with his newfound “cousin.”

As if right on cue, Danny heard the faint rumble of a car pulling into the driveway. Well, talk about convenient.

“Had enough to eat?” Danny asked.

Danielle smiled happily and nodded.

“Good.” Danny stood up and grabbed her wrist. “‘Cause it sounds like my parents just got home.”

“Hey!” Danielle squawked. “Let go!”

“C’mon,” Danny urged, pulling Danielle from her chair and starting towards the living room. “We can ask them about your parents, and—”

“I said let go!” Danielle shouted. She tore her wrist from Danny’s grasp and spun on her heel, sprinting back up the stairs to the second floor.

“Hey!” Danny shouted, following after her. “Get back here!”

But when he reached the foot of the stairs, he stopped. Danielle was nowhere in sight. There was no way she could’ve made it all the way up the stairs before he reached them, and he heard no noises coming from the second floor. He started up the steps, but hesitated as he heard the rattle of keys in the front door.

Where did she go?

Danny stepped back and peeked into the living room just as the front door opened, and his parents walked inside.

“Heyo, Danny-o!” Jack called cheerfully, holding a large cardboard box in his arms. “Your mother and I were out getting some new lab equipment. Beakers and flasks and whatnot, since I… may have broken a few the other day.”

“Don’t worry, Jack. It happens to the best of us,” Maddie assured him as they made their way into the kitchen. Jack moved to set the box on the table, but both parents paused when they saw the mess of dirty dishes on its surface.

“Oh! Did you have friends over, Danny?” Maddie asked as she walked around Jack and began gathering up the empty food containers.

“Uh… yeah…” Danny said slowly, hurrying to help his mother put all the dishes in the kitchen sink. “Sorry, they just left, so… I didn’t have time to clean up.”

“That’s fine, dear.” Maddie smiled at her son, walking over to the fridge as Jack set the box down on the newly clean table. “I’m glad the leftovers didn’t go to waste, but let me just see what’s left for dinner—” She pulled open the fridge and froze. “… Danny, why is the refrigerator practically empty?”

Whoops… “Uhh, ghosts…?” Danny supplied weakly, giving his parents a nervous smile. He hadn’t expected Danielle to be so… hungry.

It was clear that his mother didn’t believe him. “Danny, I know you’re a growing boy, but could you really not have waited until dinner time—”

“THOSE DARN GHOST RACCOONS!” Jack bellowed, cutting her off. “BACK AT IT AGAIN!” He turned on his heel and stormed out of the kitchen, angrily ranting about how he was going to grab the Fenton Broom.

Maddie watched him go, before sighing tiredly and pulling out her phone. “Well, then… I guess I’ll order us a pizza for dinner, and go grocery shopping tomorrow.”

“Sounds great,” Danny gave her a thumbs-up. “I’ll, uhh, be up in my room.”

And with that, Danny turned and ran up the stairs. Had Danielle gone back to his room? There was no way down to the street from there, so it wasn’t like she could have just disappeared, right?

Yet as he reached his open bedroom door and walked inside, it seemed that disappearing was exactly what Danielle had done.

Danny groaned in frustration. Where did she go?

He sighed and transformed, planning to search for her from the skies. She couldn’t have gotten too far, right? But as he wondered that, another thought came to his mind: had she seen him transform earlier, when he came home from the golf course? There was no way she hadn’t; he had transformed right in front of her. But she hadn’t said anything, so maybe, somehow, she hadn’t?

Danny shook his head, deciding that that wasn’t important right now. He needed to find Danielle first, and then he could worry about the rest. And with that thought, he flew out the window.

Danny wasn’t outside for more than two seconds before his ghost sense went off. He didn’t even have time to wonder what had triggered it as a roar sounded above him. Before Danny could even look up, something struck in the back of the head, sending him crashing so hard into the ground below that he left a crater in the concrete.

Danny shook his head and blinked in an attempt to clear the spots from his vision, groaning in pain as he looked up at whatever had just attacked him. Floating just outside his bedroom window was a ghost that Danny could only describe as Frankenstein’s long-lost twin.

At easily three times his size, the specter had muscles that Dash could only dream of, but that was the only part of its appearance that could be considered even somewhat flattering. Its skin was blotchy and gray and covered in stitches, like a well-loved patchwork quilt. It wore nothing more than a pair of tattered black pants, and broken shackles around its wrists and neck. The ghost bared its fangs at Danny as it growled, and from the state of its teeth Danny wondered if it ate rocks for breakfast.

Danny pushed himself up from the crater and glared right back at it. “Alright, Frankenstein. Show me what you’ve got!” He darted upwards, throwing his fist at the monstrous ghost’s face, but to his surprise the hulking beast caught it with ease.

Frankenstein—Danny had decided to call the ghost Frankenstein—roared and threw Danny back down into the road. The halfa landed with a pained grunt and rolled a few feet before crashing into the side of a parked car. Frankenstein landed in front of Danny with an enraged bellow, its feet cracking the concrete below.

Danny stood and took a deep breath; he wasn’t going to beat this ghost with strength, so maybe he could stun it instead with his Ghostly Wail.

But Frankenstein lunged forward with surprising speed, and clamped its big, grimy hand over Danny’s mouth. It lifted Danny into the air and drew its other hand back in a fist, ready to pummel him into nothing more than a pile of ecto-jelly. Danny pulled at the fingers around his jaw, trying to pry them away, when all of a sudden he heard an all too familiar voice.

“Hey!”

A few yards down the street stood Danielle, her fists clenched by her sides as she shouted at the gray ghost. “Leave him alone!”

Danny managed to pull away the fingers over his lips, and he was quick to shout back at the girl. “Get out of here!” Was she crazy?

Danielle scoffed incredulously. “Forget it! I know who you are, and I came a long way to find you.” Danielle widened her stance and raised her fists as a ring of white light formed around her waist.

No frickin’ way…

Danny could only watch in complete and utter disbelief as the ring split in two and traveled over Danielle’s body, transforming her right before his eyes. In the blink of an eye, Danielle was wearing a black, full-body jumpsuit with a white collar, belt, gloves, and boots, just like Danny’s. She even had the same logo on her chest.

Danielle brought her hands together, and ecto-energy flickered to life between them. She aimed at the gray ghost, and a large green beam shot from her palms, hitting the creature square in the chest. It staggered back and fell into the dented car, releasing Danny, who landed on his feet and immediately turned to look at Danielle.

“W-what? How—” Danny was interrupted by Frankenstein, who gave an enraged roar.

The two halfas turned just as Frankenstein launched itself up into the sky, and Danny narrowly darted out of the way as it came back down, slamming its fist into the road hard enough to send out a small shockwave. Danny spared a quick look at Danielle, questions racing through his frazzled mind.

Danielle looked back at him, her face set in a determined scowl. “Do you wanna ask questions, or do you wanna kick some butt?”

Before Danny could answer, Frankenstein lunged at them, its nails lengthening into long, razor-tipped claws. Danny and Danielle both stepped back, bracing themselves. Together they raised their hands and charged up dual ecto-blasts, and in sync they both fired. Their combined ecto-rays struck Frankenstein and exploded on impact, creating a cloud of green smoke that smelled like burnt, rotten flesh.

The cloud faded quickly, revealing the Frankenstein ghost standing as if it were frozen in place, with a new, gaping hole in the center of its chest. And then the ghost melted right before their eyes, into a goopy green puddle on the asphalt. Just like with the bedsheet ghost, there was nothing left for the thermos.

“That’s… weird,” Danny muttered, and he turned to look at Danielle. “And you—” Danny paused. Danielle was pale and sweaty, and looked like she was going to be sick. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Huh?” Danielle blinked slowly as she registered the words. “O-oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

Danny didn’t believe her one bit. “If you say so… But it’s time to head back inside. I have lots of questions—”

Danielle swayed, and Danny barely managed to catch her as her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

“Hey!” He shook her, but she didn’t stir. Great. She was unconscious, and Danny had no idea what in the world was going on. But it wasn’t like he could ask her now. “… okay. Fine. We can talk tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

“Apparently, Mr. Golf Course Manager doesn’t believe in ghosts. Can’t you go over there after school today and just give him a little spook? Make him rethink his life choices?”

“No, Tucker,” Danny sighed. “I’m not going to do that.”

“Why not?” Tucker took an angry slurp from his milk carton. “You make a huge mess, you don’t help us clean it up, and now you can’t even be bothered to help us get revenge?”

“Knock it off, Tucker,” Sam scolded. “If Danny does anything to the manager guy, then you and I will probably be on the hook for it. Again.”

“Hey! How many times do I have to apologize?” Danny complained. “You already know why I couldn’t stay and help. Besides, have either of you been listening to what I’ve been saying?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tucker griped. “Some weird teen showed up at your house, ate all your food, and disappeared. How is that any different from our normal hangouts?”

“What’s different, Tucker, is that she’s a ghost!” Danny hissed. “Y’know, like a certain someone you know, sitting at this table? And she claims to be family, but I don’t know her! I have never even seen her before yesterday!”

Danny’s core grumbled in disagreement at those words. He frowned and took a bite of his lunch.

“Well, are you sure you aren’t just going crazy?” Tucker suggested unhelpfully. “Maybe the guilt of leaving your poor best friends to clean up your mistakes is weighing down on your conscience.”

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but Sam spoke up first, cutting him off. “Knock it off, Tucker. Danny may be a bit of a jerk, but I don’t think he’s that crazy.”

“Wow. Thanks, Sam,” Danny muttered dryly.

“Anytime,” she smirked. “Though I’ve gotta admit, the half-ghost part sounds… pretty out there.”

“Sam. You know of two half-ghosts already.” Danny deadpanned, gesturing to himself. “Is it really that unlikely a third could exist? Or more?”

“Yeah!” Tucker said around a bite of his burger. “Maybe it runs in Danny’s family?”

A heavy silence immediately fell over the trio as Sam and Danny both turned to stare at Tucker like he was an idiot. “Looks like somebody won’t be passing biology this year,” Sam drawled.

“What?” Tucker floundered, looking rather taken aback. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Sam rolled her eyes as she took a bite of her salad, ignoring Tucker’s growing indignation.

“Anyway, back to the important issue here,” Danny said, much to Tucker’s dismay. “I don’t know where she went! I put her in the guest room, and when I went to check on her later that night she was gone!”

As the saying went, speak of the devil and he shall appear (or she, in this case). Sam opened her mouth, but before she could say anything there was a sudden flash of light, and their lunch trays flew into the air. Danny instinctively went intangible as the food came raining down, but Sam and Tucker unfortunately didn’t have the same ability.

There, standing right through the middle of the table, was Danielle in her ghost form. She smiled eagerly and waved at him, and Danny ignored the weird happy feeling in his core as he glared at the ghost girl.

“So, this must be your long-lost cousin,” Sam said flatly, apple juice dripping from her hair.

Danny glanced around, making sure that Danielle hadn’t caught anyone’s attention. He did not need to deal with trying to explain the random Phantom look-alike currently standing in the lunchroom. Luckily, none of the other students were even looking his way (the perks of being a social outcast).

“Dude!” Danny hissed at Danielle. “No ghost powers!”

Danielle blinked, seemingly surprised by his words, but she nodded. She ducked under the table, and there was another brief flash of light. Danny stood up from the table and walked a few steps away, and Danielle crept out from under it and followed him, now human.

“What are you doing here?” Danny asked her. “And what were you thinking? You can’t just use your powers out in the open like that!”

“Aww…” Danielle pouted, scuffing the toe of her sneaker against the linoleum floor. “I was just having some fun.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be doing that at the expense of others,” Danny scolded, his ears burning slightly as he realized the hypocrisy of his own statement. “U-unless it’s Dash, or… whatever. What are you doing here?”

Danielle gave him a sheepish smile. “I just wanted to hang out, y’know? Thought maybe we could get to know each other better. Since we’re cousins and all.”

“Uh-huh.” Danny folded his arms and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Sure we are.”

Danielle’s smile became strained as she tried not to fidget under his gaze. Danny glanced back over at his friends, who were trying to clean off the result of Danielle’s prank. Sam sent a glare over at Danielle as she squeezed apple juice out of her hair. Tucker was too busy wiping off his glasses to send any glares, but he was definitely scowling. Which meant that Danny needed to smooth things over between Danielle and his friends.

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “C’mon. I was just talking to my friends about you.”

Danielle immediately brightened, and she was practically skipping as she followed Danny back to the table. Danny reclaimed his seat across from his friends, and Danielle sat down beside him.

“Hi!” Danielle beamed, waving eagerly at the two teens sitting across from her. “I’m Danielle!”

Sam and Tucker glanced back and forth at the two black-haired, blue-eyed teens. Tucker pointed at Danny. “Like…?”

Danny sighed tiredly. “Yep. Confusing, I know.”

“It’s so awesome to meet you guys!” Danielle gushed. “I’ve always wanted friends! We’re friends, right?”

Sam stared at the girl, all annoyance forgotten in place of bewilderment. “Uhh, I mean—”

“Awesome!” Danielle squealed. “We should hang out! Do you guys wanna hang out? Ooh, what should we do? We could go to the movies, or we could go eat food! I love food, do you love food?”

Tucker and Sam were at a loss for words, and they looked at Danny as if to ask him: Who is this girl???

“Slow down, Danielle.” Danny couldn’t keep himself from chuckling. “Give them a moment to speak!”

Danielle nodded fervently as she bounced in her seat, watching Sam and Tucker like they were puppies that she wanted to know if she was allowed to pet.

“So, uhh… Danielle,” Tucker began hesitantly. “Can I call you Dani?”

“No,” Danny said immediately. “Two Dannys? That’ll get way too confusing.”

“Do you have a nickname?” Sam asked Danielle. “So we can differentiate between the two of you a little more?”

“Uhh… no,” Danielle answered with a shrug. “My dad just calls me Danielle.”

“Well, why don’t you pick one?” Sam suggested. “Could be fun.”

Danielle tilted her head to the side, like a confused puppy.

“I mean, I personally don’t like my full name very much,” Sam admitted. “Samantha? Ick. Too formal for my taste. So I go by Sam.” She pointed at the two teen boys. “Daniel goes by Danny. And Tucker sometimes go by Tuck—”

“Yeah, but you can call me TF,” Tucker said smoothly, pointing to himself with his thumb. “All the ladies do.”

Danny kicked him in the shin. “Literally no one calls you that, Tuck.”

“Anyway,” Sam continued, ignoring the boys’ shenanigans. “There are plenty of nicknames for Danielle. There’s Dani, of course, but… that one’s kinda taken,” she pointed out, gesturing lazily to Danny. “But, uhh… there’s also Elle… and…”

Sam trailed off and looked at Danny and Tucker, as if asking them for ideas.

“Hmm… Ella?” Tucker proposed.

Danny thought for a moment, before smiling warmly at the other halfa. “Ellie.”

Danielle’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, and she smiled back. “Ellie! I like that!”

“Cool,” Sam smiled. “Ellie it is.”

Ellie’s smile was like a sunbeam on a rainy day, and Danny couldn’t help the smile that it brought to his own lips. “So, can we hang out?” Ellie asked eagerly. “Let’s go to the movies! I’ve never seen a movie before!”

“Slow down there, madam,” Tucker interrupted, hands up in a calming motion. “Unfortunately, we all still have school. It’s just our lunch break right now.”

“Aww…” Ellie’s smile melted into a sad pout. “So we can’t hang out, then?”

“Uhh, maybe later.” Sam assured the disappointed girl. “I was just wondering, Ellie. How are you and Danny related, exactly?”

Danny was thankful for the return in conversation to the far more important issue at hand. He needed answers, and he would rather get them now, before Ellie up and disappeared again.

“We’re third cousins, once removed,” Ellie answered matter-of-factly.

“Are you sure you guys aren’t more closely related?” Tucker asked. “You two look more like twins than cousins.”

Danny and Ellie looked at each other. Ellie started laughing. Danny did not.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course we’re cousins!” Ellie chortled. “What else could we be? Clones?”

Danny and his friends shared a confused look, and Ellie quickly stopped laughing when she realized that none of them were going to join her. She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Yes, we’re, uhh… just cousins.”

“And are you sure we’ve never met before?” Danny asked her. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew her from somewhere.

“Positive,” Ellie assured him with a nod. “We haven’t met before yesterday.”

“… okay,” Danny muttered, ignoring the sad, aching feeling in his core. Maybe she was lying? But it didn’t make any sense for her to lie, and besides… Danny had a feeling that she wasn’t. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by his ghost sense going off. A similar mist came out of Ellie’s mouth, and the two halfas shared a look—a ghost attack? Here? Now?

Before either of them could react, a small green ghost, no bigger than a mosquito, phased through the lunchroom ceiling. Danny sighed in relief. This would be one of his easiest fights yet! Maybe he wouldn’t even need to transform to catch it.

Unfortunately, Danny spoke—or thought—too soon. The little ghost began to zip around the lunchroom, upending tables and lunch trays and making a general ruckus. Students immediately started screaming and running for the exits. Amid the chaos, no one noticed as Danny and Ellie calmly stood up from their table.

Ellie gave Danny a confident smirk. “Shall we?”

“Wait, I-I still have questions—” Danny tried to argue, but Ellie cut him off.

“Let’s catch that thing first.” Ellie pointed at the ghost as it darted out of the lunchroom. “After that… you’ll learn everything.”

And with that, Ellie took off after the ghost. Danny quickly glanced back at his friends, hoping they could handle the mess that was left behind, before he hurried after Ellie.

Danny and Ellie chased the tiny green ghost all over the school campus. The little guy was fast. They had barely been able to keep up as it shot around the football field bleachers (Ellie had almost caught it then, but it had slipped past her at the last second), and they chased it off the school grounds and into Amity Park proper.

“Race ya!” Ellie goaded from her spot beside Danny.

Danny smirked at her. “Oh, you are on!”

Never one to back down from a challenge, Danny immediately poured on the speed, easily pulling in front of Ellie. He chased after the small green specter, which just barely managed to stay out of his reach. They flew around Amity Park’s streets, going up and over and through buildings as Danny tried in vain to catch the elusive ghost.

Before Danny knew it, they had made a loop around the somewhat small town. As Casper High came back into view, Danny checked behind him to see if Ellie was catching up; she wasn’t. In fact, she was nowhere in sight.

“Haha! I am totally win—oof!” Not looking where he was going, Danny turned back around just in time to smack face-first into something. He recoiled, his eyes watering as he gently held his nose. What had he run into?

Someone in front of him tsked, and Danny realized he had run into a person—a very annoying person, at that. “Oh, Daniel. Has no one ever taught you to look where you’re going?”

Danny blinked the tears from his eyes and saw that, sure enough, none other than Vlad Plasmius was floating in front of him. Great.

“What do you want now, Vlad?” Danny griped, and he smirked as he delivered what he thought was a rather snarky quip. “If you want my mom’s number, I’m not giving it to you. And just so you know, she’s not interested.”

Vlad scowled. “Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? I’m not in a joking mood today.”

Danny had no time to dodge the pink ecto-blast that Vlad shot his way, and he was sent flying backwards into the school parking lot. He landed with a grunt of pain, and got to his feet just in time to sidestep Vlad’s next attack.

Danny tried to get himself into a position to be on the offense (like he had been taught during his short week at camp), but the older halfa frustratingly remained a step ahead of him. It was clear that Vlad was pulling no punches today, and Danny scowled as he barely managed to block Vlad’s incoming fist. Wow. He wasn’t holding back, was he? Though, the idea that Vlad had been holding back every other time he and Danny fought before made Danny mad. Seriously?!

Distracted by his thoughts, Danny failed to block Vlad’s other fist, which landed a solid uppercut to his jaw that left Danny reeling. “Honestly, my boy, you’re not making this any easier,” Vlad said, like he was scolding a child.

“I never do,” Danny spat. “And you’re making my life miserable, as usual. Don’t you have better things to do with your time?”

“Of course I do.” Vlad took a step back and raised his hand, his palm lighting up with pink ectoplasmic energy. “So if you would just give up already, I would appreciate it.”

A magenta ecto-ray shot from Vlad’s hand, and Danny countered the attack with a two-handed ecto-blast of his own. The contrasting energies crashed into one another, and Danny’s arms burned with exertion as he fought to keep Vlad’s attack at bay; he didn’t have the strength to keep this up for long. He really needed to ask Thanatos for a break from training after this so he could at least catch up on sleep.

Danny heard someone behind him, and he risked a glance over his shoulder. Ellie. She was standing there, her fists clenched and glowing with ecto-energy.

“Help me!” Danny shouted at her. “Do something!”

Ellie hesitated, her expression one of conflict as she looked down at her glowing palms.

Vlad spoke up then, his voice clear and expectant as he simply said, “Oh, Danielle?”

Ellie faltered for only a second longer before steeling her expression into one of resolve. She raised her hands, and Danny cried out in pain as Ellie shot him square in the back.

Danny collapsed on the ground, his ghostly transformation falling away and leaving him human. His head spinning, Danny managed to look up and saw Vlad standing over him, with Ellie by his side. Vlad was grinning as evilly as ever, but Ellie… she looked conflicted.

“I-I don’t understand,” Danny muttered weakly.

Ellie looked up at Vlad, her expression that of a child desperate for their parent’s approval. “Did I do good, Dad?”

Darkness flooded Danny’s vision, and his last thought before losing consciousness was why. Why would Ellie betray him?

Why… Mom…?

Sam POV:

Sam growled as she kicked open the doors of the cafeteria and stomped outside, a bag of lunchroom garbage slung over her shoulder. “As soon as we get rid of this trash, I’m gonna find Danny and give him a piece of my—”

But she abruptly fell silent as a flicker of movement caught her eye. She turned to look at it and stopped dead in her tracks as she saw none other than Vlad Plasmius standing in the school parking lot, with Ellie by his side (which immediately raised red flags in Sam’s mind), and—

“Danny!” Sam dropped the trash bag and ran towards the trio of halfas, but she was already far too late. Vlad took off into the sky, with an unconscious Danny slung over his shoulder and Ellie following after him.

Tucker ran up behind her, his bag of trash also forgotten on the pavement as he looked at Sam with wide eyes. “What just happened?”

“Danny just got kidnapped!” Sam shouted, furious at her helplessness. “By Vlad and his so-called cousin!”

“Aww, man…” Tucker groaned. “I should’ve known she was evil when she ruined our lunch.”

“That’s what made you think she was evil?” Sam said incredulously. “Not the cloud of suspicion practically looming over her?”

Tucker shrugged. “Well, I mean—”

“Manson! Foley!”

The two teens whirled around to see Mr. Lancer standing in the doorway with a scowl on his face as he tapped his foot impatiently. “Why aren’t you two in the cafeteria? Cleaning?”

Lost for words, Sam glanced at Tucker for help. He gave her a pleading look as he whispered, “We have to help him!”

Sam groaned. Obviously they had to help Danny—he was their best friend, after all—but she knew they were going to be in a lot of trouble for doing so. “Well, we… were planning to ditch school and run off with Danny.” She told Mr. Lancer with a helpless shrug. And yes, she was getting Danny in trouble, too. Just for a bit of payback.

“Y-yeah!” Tucker nodded. “And there’s nothing you can do about it, uhh… old man…?”

Sam mentally facepalmed. Great. Now, instead of having detention for maybe a month for just skipping school, they’d have detention until graduation. Thanks, Tuck.

Mr. Lancer’s eyes went wide with disbelief and rage. “OLD MAN?!”

And with that, Sam and Tucker fled the high school grounds, sprinting across the parking lot with Mr. Lancer hobbling after them.

“Do… you… think… we lost him?” Tucker panted, out of breath as they came to a stop outside Sam’s house.

“Duh,” Sam replied as she unlocked the front door and ushered him inside. “Have you seen how out of shape he is?”

Sam led Tucker into her house and straight to the basement entrance. She pushed Tucker inside without a word, before closing the door and locking it behind them.

“Uhh, why are we here?” Tucker asked, following Sam as she made her way down the stairs.

“My parents let me use the basement as my personal library,” Sam answered, as if that was a completely normal thing for parents to do. “And we need some privacy for what we’re about to do.”

“And that is…?” Tucker questioned.

“Contact Danny’s mentor.”

“Wait, what?!” Tucker looked at Sam like she was crazy. “Why? And how?”

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Sam flipped a light switch on the side of the wall, turning on the overhead lights and revealing a small, dimly lit library. The shelves were crammed with books and jars and candles, and the desk against the far wall was covered in papers, pens, and pencils, amidst which sat an expensive-looking laptop.

Sam walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a dusty old tome, brushing off its cover before she began flipping through the pages. “After the whole ordeal with Evil Danny, I figured it would be a good idea for us to have our own way to contact Thanatos whenever Danny is unable to. So I started looking into witchcraft.” She shrugged, as if that was a completely normal thing to do.

“Hey! Don’t say his name!” Tucker hissed. “Danny said not to! And witchcraft? What—”

“Tucker, we’re trying to get his attention,” Sam reminded him. “I am going to say his name. Y’know what?” Sam set the book back down and looked up at the ceiling. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “HEY! THANATOS! WE’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU!!!”

Her voice echoed through the room, and Tucker looked nervously over his shoulder, half expecting said god to pop out of the shadows. But as the echo faded and silence returned, Thanatos did not appear.

“See? It didn’t even work,” Sam said with another nonchalant shrug, turning back to the book and resuming her search. “Now are you gonna help me or what?”

“Are we really going to do this?” Tucker squeaked. “We’re going to summon the literal god of death?”

“Yep.” Sam answered, popping the ‘p’. She stopped on a page and skimmed over it, before stepping away from the table. She walked over to another set of shelves and picked up a jar of black, ashy powder. “Yes,” she mumbled to herself. “And dried poppies…” She skimmed over the contents of the shelf, before grabbing another jar filled with red flower petals. She moved to leave but faltered, before grabbing a little bundle of what looked like dried sticks with little pale flowers. “Hmm… do you think Thanatos would be considered evil?”

“What? I-I dunno, why?” Tucker asked, bewildered.

“Because I think it might be a good idea to throw in some verbena officinalis,” Sam replied, waving the dried flowers in his direction. “To ward off any evil spirits we may attract while doing this. But if Thanatos falls into that group then it’ll ward him off as well.”

Sam hummed thoughtfully for a moment, while Tucker turned so pale he looked like he was about to faint.

“Nah,” Sam said decisively, tossing the bundle back on the shelf. “I think we’ll be fine.”

“Sam, I-I personally think that this is maybe, y’know, the worst idea ever,” Tucker said weakly.

“Nonsense, Tuck.” Sam walked to the center of the room and set the jars on the floor. “Now grab the chalk off my desk.”

Tucker trudged over to the desk and grabbed the little box of blackboard chalk, before he paused. “Wait, don’t these ritual things usually require, like, blood or an animal sacrifice or something?”

“Tucker, please. I’m vegan. Plants will work fine. Probably.”

Once Sam had finished drawing the “summoning circle,” she walked along its outer edges and placed the gathered ingredients. Dried poppy petals were scattered within the ten-foot wide circle, and Sam also poured the ashen powder in a thin line along the circle’s perimeter. She had filled the inside of the circle with chalk symbols from the book, along with Greek characters from her notes, spelling out Thanatos’ name and his most common epithets: Leukokhrotos, Acherontis, and Paian. The finishing touch had been placing lit candles equidistantly along the circle’s edge.

Now ready, Sam knelt down beside the circle, the desk behind her, and sat the tome down in front of her. Tucker stood nervously by the desk, biting his nails as he waited for Sam to begin the ritual. Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she held her hands out in front of her, palms down and hovering over the intricately drawn chalk lines.

“Thanatos,” Sam spoke clearly, her voice echoing through the underground room. “God of Death. Brother of Sleep and son of Night. I humbly request your presence in my hour of need.”

Sam paused and waited. Yet nothing happened. The room was the same, with the faint buzzing of the fluorescent lightbulbs above, and Tucker cowering by the desk. There was no sign of Thanatos.

So Sam continued. “Master of dead men. Messenger of fate and harbinger of death. I call on you now. I have spoken your name, and now I speak your epithets. Leukokhrotos, the white-skinned, for blood is the elixir of life and under your touch, it ceases to flow and the flesh grows pale. Acherontis, the woeful, for sorrow follows in your wake. And Paian, the healer, for death is the cure to all illness, including life.”

Taking a deep breath, Sam glanced at the notes she had written down in the margins of the pages. She hadn’t been able to pick up Greek as easily as Danny had, so she had written down phrases she may need if the time ever came that she had to summon Thanatos. Which it now had. A frisson of energy raced across her skin as warmth and power gathered within her. :By the power that I possess, I summon you.:

Sam paused, waiting once more. For a moment, nothing changed, but then the overhead light grew brighter for a split second before flickering out, leaving only the orangey glow from the weak, fluttering flames of the candles.

“Uhh, was that you or did the power just go out?” Tucker asked with a nervous chuckle. “It was just the power, right?”

Sam frowned. Honestly, she wasn’t sure. She had no idea if this whole crazy idea would even work. But considering she didn’t have the god of death’s phone number, this was the best she had. So she took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she pressed her fingers to the chalk outline in front of her.

She could feel the energy deep in her chest, and she focused on trying to push it out, down her arms and through her fingers, into the diagram in front of her. The energy obeyed, and she could feel as it thrummed through her veins. Tucker yelped behind her, and Sam opened her eyes to find that the chalk outline was now glowing white.

“How are you doing that?!” Tucker cried.

Sam didn’t know. She had read about magic and witchcraft—she had always found those subjects fascinating—but to actually be doing something like this? This had been more of a desperate, half-baked idea than anything. She had no idea how it was actually working.

But working it was, and Sam was going to use that to her advantage. :Thanatos,: she spoke aloud. :I call on you now. Appear before me.:

The candle flames began to flicker wildly, as if a strong wind were trying to smother them. That same force sent poppy flowers scattering across the floor while leaving the lines of ashen powder undisturbed, yet Sam and Tucker felt nothing—not even a hint of air moving past them.

Sam glanced back at Tucker, who was watching her with wide, fearful eyes. She saw movement behind him, and she realized that the shadows had begun to stretch and shift, looking as if they were inky black syrup dripping from the ceiling. They slid down the walls and along the floor, flowing in rivulets across the stone as they pooled in the middle of the chalk circle where a dark, shifting mass was forming.

A chill ran down Sam’s spine as a quiet whispering reached her ears. She couldn’t understand it, so she glanced back at Tucker again, but his lips weren’t moving. And neither were hers. The whispers sounded as if they were coming from right beside her, but when she turned there was no one there.

:Thanatos…: She began again, faltering as the indecipherable whispers grew louder, as if speaking to her. As if trying to warn her. :Come to me.:

The mass of darkness and shadow began to grow, spreading from the center of the circle and out into the room. It recoiled when it reached the ring of black powder, and a sinister, angry feeling washed over Sam, as if the darkness was demanding to be released. The whispering grew louder, more frantic, and the nonexistent wind grew stronger, scattering papers from the desk and dried plants from the shelves.

She could hear Tucker scrambling to his feet behind her, and she looked back and saw that black, inky tendrils of smoke had begun to reach out from the shadows on the walls. Her heart leapt into her throat as they reached towards Tucker, who scurried back until he bumped into Sam’s back.

“Sam!” He whimpered as he grabbed her shoulder. “Make it stop, please!”

Sam turned back to the circle, her hands shaking as she poured more energy into her efforts. :Thanatos! God of—:

The mass within the circle rose up, writhing like an angry beast, and the whispering suddenly became almost deafening. Like hundreds of voices, all trying to speak over her at once, sounding like a hurricane in her ears. The air around her turned frigid, and she suddenly felt a dark force in the room with them, like a demon breathing icicles down her neck.

Sam tried to reference her notes, but the page had blown away, and she couldn’t move her hands. She pulled, but it felt like they were glued to the floor—to the chalk circle. The circle’s glow grew brighter, and Sam tried to pull away, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t move—

~Thanatos!~ She cried over the roar of the wind. ~I summon you now! I need you now!~

Suddenly, from the shadows in the center of the ring rose Thanatos, and he did not look happy. He immediately went to the edge of the circle and smudged it with his sandal, breaking the chalk line. The whispers fell silent, and the lights flickered back on as the shadows fled, returning to their natural state. The chill left the room, and within mere seconds it was as if nothing had even happened.

Tucker yelped, while Sam breathed a shaky sigh of relief as she pulled her hands away at last. Her plan had worked. Now they could tell Thanatos about—

But she faltered as Thanatos’ form flickered. For a split second his chiton became long black hooded robes of smoke, and his glimmering wings turned oily and ragged, like a vulture’s. His hands looked skeletal and gray, and a feeling of pure fear ran down Sam’s spine. This… was not Thanatos. The aura was different. Different, yet… familiar, somehow, in a way that she didn’t understand.

But just as quickly, the being returned to the normal Thanatos that she knew. His clean, glossy feathers bristled as he turned on his heel to face Sam and Tucker, a frustrated scowl on his face.

“What were you thinking?” Thanatos hissed. “Do you two even know what you could have summoned?”

Tucker, still pale and shaky, shook his head and immediately pointed at Sam. “She did it!”

Thanatos’ gaze landed on Sam, and his scowl deepened. “Romaïkós,” he muttered under his breath. “And a witch to boot.”

Romaikos? Sam didn’t recognize the word, but before she could say anything Thanatos continued. “I do not recommend trying that ever again,” he said coldly.

“We didn’t have a choice!” Sam exclaimed defensively. “Danny’s in trouble!”

Thanatos’ scowl remained, but the look in his eyes shifted to one of concern. “What do you mean?”

“Vlad kidnapped him!” Tucker shouted, waving his hands frantically. “We saw him fly away with Danny and his cousin!”

Thanatos tilted his head, confused. “His cousin?”

“Well, I dunno if she’s actually Danny’s cousin, but—” Tucker began, but Sam cut him off.

“That’s not important right now, Tucker!” She turned back to Thanatos with a pleading look. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but we need your help finding him. Please. We’re really worried.”

Thanatos regarded her for a moment before holding his arm out in front of him. He had a silver mark like Danny’s, but the letters were different. Fántasma… Phantom? Sam wondered as she read the mark slowly, ignoring the sudden headache threatening to form behind her eyes. That must be referring to Danny…

Thanatos ran his fingers over the silver letters, and frowned. “I can’t sense him…” He muttered under his breath. Thanatos looked back up at Sam and Tucker, his expression carefully neutral. “Forgive me, but there is someone I must speak with.”

“Wait, wait!” Sam started, but Thanatos was already gone. “Dang it!”

“So, uhh, what do we do now?” Tucker asked her. “Because he wasn’t very helpful.”

Sam scowled as she dragged a hand down her face. No, Thanatos hadn’t been helpful at all. So it looked like they would have to rescue Danny on their own. “… wait a minute, Tuck. What about the Boo-merang?”

Chapter Text

Danny POV:

As Danny returned to consciousness, he groaned miserably. His head felt like a little elf was taking a sledgehammer to his skull. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was…

Ellie.

She… she had literally shot him in the back! Why that little… Danny blinked, hissing as pain shot through his eyes. When he got his hands on her—

But then he froze. Where… was he?

Immediately, he could see that he was trapped in the same black and green containment cube that Vlad had imprisoned him in the first time they met, in what he assumed was one of Vlad’s many secret labs (how many secret labs could one billionaire have?). To Danny’s right sat a large computer terminal, and on its screen were pictures and videos of him; fighting, flying, morphing… it looked somewhat like a video game character info screen. There were even simulated strands of his DNA.

Eww.

The next thing that Danny noticed was the fact that there were lit candles scattered all over the room. They smelled like stinky cheese and rotten eggs, and they made Danny’s eyes water. What was that all about? Had Vlad decided to do a bit of redecorating? Spice up his lab a little bit? Because it wasn’t working.

There was movement in the corner of his vision, and Danny craned his neck to see as Vlad emerged from the shadows, with a pleased grin on his face; he looked every bit like the cat that caught the canary.

“You’ve been spying on me?” Danny said immediately, disgusted. “Y’know, am I even really surprised? Of course a fruitloop like you would keep files on me.”

Vlad’s smile fell instantly, replaced by a look of indignant rage. “I am not! A! FRUIT! LOOP!” He snapped.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Danny retorted with a smirk. “What with this whole villainous lair setup you’ve got going on.”

Vlad growled, but then his anger seemed to fade as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly. “I am not a villain, either. All I am, Daniel, is a man… that wants to be loved.”

Vlad pressed a button on the wall beside him, and there was the sound of machinery moving behind him. He stepped to the side, revealing a tube-shaped containment pod, inside of which was…

Me?

No. A clone. A seemingly perfect, identical copy of none other than Danny Phantom was standing in the pod. Its eyes were closed as if it were asleep, and would wake at any moment.

A chill ran down Danny’s spine, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. This was beyond creepy.

“It has taken months,” Vlad rambled on. “But now, at last, the good clone is nearly ready to accept your DNA.”

The good clone? That meant… “Wait, Ellie’s a clone? Of me?”

“If by Ellie, you mean Danielle,” Vlad drawled disdainfully. “Then yes.”

“And the others…” Danny was connecting the dots now. “Frankenstein, and the bedsheet ghost! They were clones, too?”

“Yes,” Vlad confirmed. “Bad clones. Mistakes.” He snapped his fingers, and the miniscule specter Danny had been chasing around town suddenly darted into the room. It whizzed around Danny’s head like an annoying fly, before coming to a stop at Vlad’s side.

Suddenly, the tiny ghost grew in size, until it was Danny’s height. And now that Danny could see it in close, gruesome detail, he felt like he was going to be sick.

The ghost looked… well, the best way to describe its appearance was that it looked like it had spent a few minutes inside of a microwave. Its skin looked like melted cheese on a hot, greasy pizza, and bits of it fell away, slopping onto the floor where they bubbled away into nothing. The ghost bared its fangs at Danny and hissed, and its left eye suddenly fell out of its socket, landing on the floor with a wet splat before it disintegrated into goop.

Vlad continued monologuing as if nothing had happened. “And I would watch a hundred more failures dissolve into ectoplasm to get the perfect half-ghost son.”

“Oh, yeah,” Danny chuckled dryly, scowling at the other halfa. “Nothing loopy about that. Y’know, once I get outta here, maybe I can help you find a nice cat to care for, instead of growing humans in your secret lab!”

Vlad merely smirked at Danny’s taunting. “Are you under the impression that you’re getting out of this? I need a DNA sample of you mid-morph to complete my work. And then…” Vlad sneered as he snapped his fingers, and the goopy clone shrunk back down before darting towards Danny. “You will be obsolete.”

The miniature ghost struck Danny in the center of his forehead, and burrowed into his flesh like a tick. Pain immediately flooded Danny’s body, igniting every inch of his nerves like lights on a Christmas tree. It felt like every one of his muscles was seizing, and he struggled to fight against the ghost as it attempted to overshadow him.

“Get… out… of me!” Danny growled, his teeth grinding together as his eyes rolled back in his head. But then a spark of cold flickered to life in his chest, and Danny felt stronger. It was like his core was trying to burn away the invading spirit, and Danny worked with it, gathering every bit of strength to push the clone out. Out, out! Get out!

But then Vlad pushed a button on his computer console, and Danny screamed as electricity shot through his body. It arced along his spine and made him feel like he had been dipped in battery acid. The shock stopped after only a few seconds, and Danny’s head slumped forward as his vision went black, and he fell unconscious.

Sam POV:

Sam and Tucker stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the brick facade of FentonWorks. They needed to get inside, but 1) they didn’t have Danny with them as an excuse, and 2) school was still in session. A peek through the window revealed Jack and Maddie Fenton sitting in the living room, and the two teens knew that they would be questioned immediately on sight for their truancy.

“How are we going to get inside now?” Tucker lamented.

“Back door.” Sam answered simply. “Come on.”

She led Tucker around the street corner and to the backyard, where she proceeded to boost him over the fence before climbing over herself. Together, the two teens scurried across the backyard and came to a stop at the back door. Tucker peered through the kitchen window, before giving Sam a thumbs-up: the coast was clear.

Carefully, Sam slowly turned the doorknob. The latch released without a sound, but the hinges did squeak as she pushed the door open. Luckily, the sound was drowned out by Jack’s voice in the living room.

“Why, when I get ahold of those kids, they’re gonna get the scolding of a lifetime! They’ll be cleaning out beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks for weeks!”

Maddie sighed. “Let’s just hope that a summer at Camp Delphi will teach Danny to be a little more responsible with his learning.”

Sam tuned out the rest of the adults’ conversation as she closed the door behind Tucker. Moving as silently as they could, the two of them made their way across the kitchen and down into the basement. Once they had made it down the stairs, they abandoned any pretense of stealth in favor of quickly grabbing what they needed to rescue Danny.

Tucker hopped into the Specter Speeder and started its warm-up sequence, while Sam grabbed the Boo-merang from its spot on one of the counters. Spying the Specter Deflector, she decided to snag it as well; maybe it would come in handy later on. Sam really wanted to stay and grab just a couple more gadgets—they were going up against Vlad, after all—but they were already running on borrowed time. So with both devices shoved into her backpack, she ran back to the Specter Speeder and hopped in.

“Ready to go?” Tucker asked her.

“Sure,” Sam muttered testily. “Let’s go with that.”

Tucker wisely kept his mouth shut and returned his attention to the controls in front of him. Sam moved to close the door of the Specter Speeder, but she froze when the familiar, booming voice of Jack Fenton came from the top of the stairs.

“Sam! Tucker! Get out of there!”

Frick.

“Uhh, whaaat?” Sam called back, her heart pounding like a timpani as a nervous sweat trickled down her back. They were gonna be so dead when they got back. “I can’t hear you over the, uhh, roar of the rockets!”

Sam slammed the door shut and whirled around to face Tucker. “Could you activate the roar of the rockets, please?” She hissed.

“On it!” Tucker squeaked, his hands flitting over the controls.

Sam could feel the vehicle coming to life under her feet, and she took her spot in the passenger’s seat just as the gateway to the lab’s underground tunnel slid open, and the Specter Speeder shot forward like a bat out of Hell. They flew down the tunnel and surfaced outside, quickly taking to the skies and leaving the Fenton household far behind them.

The two teens and their stolen hovercraft came to a stop once they had cleared the tallest of the buildings in Amity Park, and Sam powered on the Boo-merang as Tucker opened the windshield of the Speeder.

“Okay.” Sam stood and looked down at the tracking device in her hands. “Find Danny.”

And with that command, Sam drew back her arm, and threw the Boo-merang as hard as she could out into the open air. The device took to the air like a bird, and it immediately zipped off towards the horizon, in search of Sam and Tucker’s ghostly best friend.

Sam sat down as the windshield slid shut. “Tucker, follow that stupidly named tracking device!”

Danny POV:

Danny awoke with another pounding headache. Whether it was the same one from before or something new, he didn’t know or particularly care. And as he blinked his eyes open, he saw that he was now inside one of the containment pods he had seen earlier. His wrists were cuffed to the sides of the pod, and a light tug revealed that the metal restraints weren’t going to break easily.

Scowling, Danny gritted his teeth, preparing to rip the handcuffs from the walls. But then he heard the clicking of a dial, and suddenly his world lit up in blinding, electrifying pain. Danny screamed as his muscles spasmed, and he could feel his body trying to transform against his will.

The cold in Danny’s core tried to protest, but it was quickly smothered by another presence. A presence that felt like an invader, that was trying to take over his body and make him bend to its will.

The clone. It was still inside of him.

White rings of light formed around Danny’s waist, but he bit down on his tongue hard enough to draw blood as he fought against the transformation. With a great deal of effort, the rings shrank, but they didn’t dissipate like he had hoped. It was clear that the clone was fighting against him, intent on obeying Vlad’s orders so the crazed fruitloop could get Danny’s mid-morph DNA sample, and then… what?

Make a new, more obedient Danny? And put the old one out of commission?

Yeah, fat chance, pal.

As Danny fought against the clone within his body, he could just barely hear voices outside his containment pod. It sounded like Vlad, and… his mom?

The shock of hearing his mother’s voice caught Danny off guard, and it gave the clone a chance to take over. The transformation rings crept over his skin again, before Danny managed to push them back down with a pained scream.

The sound of two more clicks reached Danny’s ears, and then the pain was suddenly amplified. He could hear the electricity buzzing in his skull, and feel it as it shot up his arms and down his spine, rooting him to the ground where he stood. It was like thousands of fire ants crawling under his skin, their touch like battery acid to his flesh.

But Danny wasn’t going to give in. He wasn’t going to let Vlad win. He couldn’t, because if he did, then Vlad would kill him. He didn’t want to die!

The cold in Danny’s core grew stronger, and the clone doubled its efforts. He could feel it inside of him, its essence trying to smother the cold in his core and force his ghostly transformation to take over. But he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to get out. He needed to get away.

Suddenly, a surge of cold erupted from Danny’s core, freezing the metal restraints holding him captive, and covering the window of the pod in frost. Through the pain coursing inside of him, Danny could just barely make out the voice of his mom again.

“Containment chamber beginning to overload.”

The clone in Danny’s body seemed to be frantically trying to change him, but Danny wasn’t going to let that happen. The white rings crept up and down his torso, and out of options, Danny dug into his core, searching for every last ounce of strength that he had. If he could just break these chains, and escape the pod, then he would be free. He just needed to push… a little harder…

All of a sudden, the electricity zapping through Danny’s body grew stronger—so strong that the pain it was causing was almost unbearable—and then a split second later, there was a deafening BOOM, followed by the shattering of glass, and the electricity was gone. A billowing, acrid smoke filled the air, and with his restraints now broken, Danny had to fight to keep from collapsing right then and there.

He couldn’t feel the clone in his body anymore. Whether that meant it had been pushed from him in the explosion, or it had disintegrated like the others he had fought before, he wasn’t sure. But far more importantly, he was free. Now, he just had to…

Mustering what strength he had left, Danny finally allowed his ghostly transformation to wash over him. Feeling strangely detached from his body, Danny floated up from the wreckage of the containment pod, and drifted forward into the smokey room. Vlad emerged from the smoke in front of him, looking completely shocked at the devastation Danny had caused to his lab, but Danny didn’t care. He just turned intangible and passed right through the elder halfa, ignoring the angry shouts that echoed after him as he glided up to the ceiling, and left the confines of the underground laboratory.

It took Danny a bit to find his way through the maze that was one of Vlad’s many mansions. He was so exhausted that he had to stop, falling to his knees as he reached what looked like a den of some sort. It was complete with a roaring fireplace, a lush armchair, and stuffed animal head trophies hanging from the walls.

So, they were in Vlad’s Colorado mansion, then. Danny remembered it from back when Vlad had stranded Danny and his mom out in the mountain wilderness, only to “rescue” them and make a move on his mom.

Danny weakly shook his head. Not important right now… need… to get away…

But how? He didn’t have the strength to fly away now. He couldn’t even stand. He was thousands of miles away from home, how could he possibly get back…?

Shadow-travel. That… that was an option. But he definitely didn’t have the energy for that. He didn’t want to risk trying to shadow-travel home, only to be ripped apart if he wasn’t strong enough to hold himself together…

Thanatos. He could shadow-travel to where Danny was, and take him back home. Yes, that… that would work…

Exhaustion weighed on Danny’s shoulders like a heavy stone as, with a trembling hand, he pulled off his right glove. His apprentice mark glowed brightly against his skin as he brought his fingers to the silvery letters…

But just as Danny’s fingertips brushed against his forearm, a blast of green ectoplasm shot up through the floor, striking him in the gut and sending him flying. Danny hit the wall on the far side of the room and fell to the ground, cracking his head against the stone floor.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Danny’s head spun, his eyes watering as he looked up and saw Ellie standing in front of him. The girl glared at Danny, but as she raised her hands he noticed that there were tears in her eyes. Before Danny could question her, she shot another ecto-blast his way, and Danny barely managed to throw up a weak ecto-shield that cracked immediately on impact.

A green cloud of smoke filled the air between the two halfas, and Ellie’s ecto-blast flickered out as Danny’s shield shattered and fell away. As the smoke cleared, Danny watched as Ellie growled and immediately began charging another blast between her palms.

“Stop fighting!” She shouted, and a smirk formed on her lips, but it was clearly forced; a weak attempt at looking confident. “I know you’re too weak to beat me,” Ellie goaded, but the words fell flat in the air between them.

Something… something was wrong. If Danny didn’t know better, he’d say that Ellie seemed scared.

Danny’s gaze fell to the floor, and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw that Ellie’s feet were beginning to melt into goop—just like the other clones had. “Ellie, stop!” He cried.

Ellie sneered; the expression looked rather out of place on her childish face. “Why? Are you scared?”

“No! But every time I’ve fought a clone, they’ve turned to goop.” Danny pointed a shaky hand at Ellie’s feet. “Like you are now.”

The cockiness fell away from Ellie’s face instantly, replaced by shock, and then fear as she looked down and saw the green ectoplasmic goop leaking from her legs and onto the stone floor. She shrieked as she stumbled back, the ectoplasmic charge flickering away in her hands as it was completely forgotten. After a few tense seconds, Ellie’s boots resolidified, and it was like nothing had even happened; she looked completely normal.

Ellie looked at Danny then, and the look on her face was that of a terrified child. Danny’s heart ached for her as he got to his feet with a grunt of pain. “Ellie, please,” Danny wheezed; he was pretty sure that his ribs had been bruised at minimum. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Then let my father have your morph DNA!” Ellie pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes. “So he can save me! I-I don’t…” Ellie sniffled, and Danny was sure that his heart was going to break in two as she tearfully whispered: “I don’t want to die.”

“Neither do I, Ellie,” Danny told her. “But if Vlad succeeds in getting what he needs from me, then I will die.”

Ellie frowned, seemingly confused by Danny’s words, and she shook her head. “No, he… my dad wouldn’t let that happen. He’s not that kind of guy.”

Clearly, Ellie didn’t know Vlad as well as Danny did. “Oh, yes, he is.” Danny argued. “And once he gets what he wants—the perfect half-ghost son—then he’ll forget all about you.”

That wasn’t the right thing to say. Ellie’s expression immediately soured, and her face flushed with anger. “You’re a liar!” She snapped.

“Oh, yeah? Then why is there another clone?” Danny countered. “The one in the containment pod. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

Ellie’s lack of an answer was confirmation enough.

“If you were what he really wanted, then why aren’t you the one in the pod?” Danny asked her, hoping she would realize that he was telling the truth. “Why aren’t you the one all prepped and ready to receive my DNA sample? Why are you the one doing Vlad’s dirty work?”

But despite Danny’s earnestness, Ellie wasn’t having it. She shook her head furiously as she covered her ears with her hands, and when Danny took a step forward Ellie screamed. Before Danny could react, Ellie threw up her hands and shot him in the chest with a two-handed ecto-blast that sent him crashing into the wall behind him.

The impact caused white spots to fill Danny’s vision, and his limbs to stop listening to him. Danny fell, unable to catch himself as he collapsed on the floor. He could feel himself fading from consciousness, and as his vision faded, he just barely caught a glimpse of Ellie kneeling down beside him.

“You’re a liar,” Ellie whispered, but Danny could still make out the tremor of fear in her voice. “And I’m going to prove it.”

Thanatos POV:

Clockwork didn’t even look up as Thanatos appeared in the center of his clock tower. “Doors exist for a reason, you know,” he said wryly to the death god. “You’re supposed to knock on them.”

“Can you find Danny?” Thanatos asked, completely ignoring the Primordial’s comment.

Clockwork raised an eyebrow at the question, his expression slightly insulted. “I can find anybody in any timeline. Why do you ask?”

“According to Danny’s friends, he has been kidnapped.” Thanatos ran his fingers over his mark again, his brow furrowing with concern as he felt nothing in response. “I would prefer to just find him myself, but… for a reason unbeknownst to me, I cannot sense him.”

“I see.” Clockwork glided over to one of the seeing glasses and placed his hand on its surface. “Then I will just…”

However, Clockwork trailed off. Thanatos looked up at him, concern growing in his chest. “What is the matter?”

Clockwork was quiet for a long moment, and when he spoke again he sounded rather confused. “I cannot sense him either.”

Thanatos felt his stomach drop. He walked over to Clockwork and glanced at the screen in front of them, which was swirling with green mist. “What do you mean? You are a—”

“Yes, I am a Primordial,” Clockwork cut him off, sounding more intrigued than frustrated by the problem. “But Clockwork is only a small part of my true form. An astral projection, if you will. I can only do so much in this state. And right now, someone is interfering with my search.”

“What? Who?” Thanatos asked.

Clockwork was quiet for a long moment, his expression screwed up into one of concentration. “A god…” He muttered, his frown deepening. “But as for whom, I am not sure.” He slid his hand across the glass, and images of Danny—at various points in time—began to scroll by quickly. “I can still see Daniel’s past. I will look at the last point in his timeline that I am able to see before my sight is blocked. Perhaps that will shed some light on this situation.”

Not a second later, the screen froze on an image of Danny in his ghost form, standing beside a girl with white hair and a jumpsuit just like Danny’s.

“Ah,” Clockwork hummed thoughtfully. “It’s time already, is it?”

Thanatos was becoming annoyed at the lack of answers. “What are you going on about now?”

Clockwork sighed and backed away from the seeing glass, his hand falling to his side as he gave Thanatos a sympathetic look. “Apologies, my grandson. But I cannot help you in this search.”

Feeling his heart rate suddenly spike, Thanatos closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. He then looked at Clockwork and managed to politely ask, through gritted teeth, “Why?”

“My hands are tied,” Clockwork said simply, but Thanatos could swear that there was a pleased tone to the god’s voice. “I am not to interfere.”

“Couldn’t your apprentice help?” Thanatos suggested, feeling desperate.

“No,” Clockwork replied firmly. “She—They cannot be involved. This moment… it is crucial to their timeline.” He gave Thanatos a small, frustrating smile. “But don’t worry. Everything will turn out as it is supposed to.”

Thanatos bit back a growl of frustration and turned away from the ghost. Why had he even bothered going to Clockwork in the first place? He had thought that maybe Clockwork would be kind enough to assist him in finding his apprentice, but no—all the ghost had done was try his best to get under Thanatos’ skin.

Thanatos would just have to find Danny on his own. And when he did, he was going to have a talk with Vladimir Masters.

Suddenly, to Thanatos’ surprise, a flicker of faint magic sparked to life along his right forearm. His apprenticeship mark.

Danny.

The sensation disappeared just as quickly, but it had been enough. Thanatos had been able to get an idea of where his apprentice was being held: Colorado, USA.

And that was a start. It didn’t matter who was trying to keep Danny away from him, be they god or mortal.

No one could hide from Death.

Danny POV:

Danny was getting sick of waking up with pounding headaches. Why couldn’t he wake up gently after being so violently knocked out? Twice, might he add! Here was a better question: why couldn’t people just not knock him out? He was sure he had some form of brain damage by this point. Being knocked out so often couldn’t possibly be healthy.

Through the pain, Danny managed to crack open an eye, and he was dismayed to see that he had been placed inside a brand-new containment pod. The one he had destroyed was off to the side, still billowing bluish-gray smoke. And in the pod directly across the room from him was the so-called “perfect clone.”

Great. Fantastic, even. Well, at least he knew where he was this time.

“Ah, you’re finally awake.”

Danny opened his other eye, and saw none other than Plasmius floating in front of his pod-shaped prison. The older halfa looked… perturbed. Annoyed, perhaps?

Good. Let him be annoyed. Danny thought. All he cared about was escaping, but first…

“Where… where’s Ellie?” Danny croaked. Would it be rude of him to ask for a glass of water?

“Whatever Danielle is doing is not important right now, Daniel.” Vlad answered dismissively. “What is important is you telling me where that tattoo came from.”

“Tattoo?” Danny repeated, confused. He didn’t have a… wait a minute.

Danny looked down, and saw that his elastic bandage was gone, leaving his right forearm bare and exposed. Vlad must have removed the bandage while he was unconscious.

Vlad scowled and rolled his eyes. “I’m not an idiot, Daniel. I know a tattoo when I see one.” He turned to one of his various computers and pressed a button, and on its screen appeared a picture of Danny’s forearm, with the black lettering of his mark on display in high definition for anyone to see.

Danny’s blood ran cold. Thanatos had warned him of the dangers if others were to ever learn that he was Death’s apprentice; they would want his powers for themselves, and they would do whatever they could to get it. And Vlad… definitely seemed like someone that would fit into that category.

Thankfully, it seemed that Vlad hadn’t figured it out just yet. And Danny hoped he would be able to throw him off the scent.

“It’s not a tattoo, fruitloop,” Danny scoffed with a dramatic roll of his eyes. “Or, uhh, not a permanent one, anyway. It’s just, y’know, one of those temporary tats you find in cereal boxes and stuff.”

It was clear that Vlad did not believe him. “Oh, really? And in what cereal box did you find that?” He asked incredulously with a wild gesture towards the computer display.

“What, you don’t know?” Danny retorted snarkily. “Being a fruitloop yourself, I thought you knew all about different types of cereal.”

It took a second for Danny’s comment to register in Vlad’s mind, and when it did the elder halfa’s face flushed green with indignation as he realized that Danny was intentionally messing with him. Danny smirked, and if he weren’t trapped in such a dangerous situation then he might’ve even laughed.

Vlad clenched his fists, and then he sighed tiredly. “Sometimes, I truly wonder how you have survived for so long with that smart mouth of yours, Daniel.” He muttered bitterly.

“I’m pretty sure it’s all thanks to my charming personality,” Danny responded cheekily.

Vlad growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am not having this ridiculous conversation right now, Daniel.”

“Seems to me like you are, actually,” Danny pointed out.

But Vlad didn’t rise to the bait that time. Shame. Danny still had more sass to dish out. Though really, he knew he should be more focused on escaping than antagonizing; he didn’t want to be here any longer than he needed to be.

But he hadn’t been able to contact Thanatos. He hadn’t been able to speak the summoning phrase—he had barely managed to brush his fingers against his mark before he was captured again.

Hopefully, somehow, Thanatos had still noticed Danny’s meager call for help. But in the meantime, Danny would have to try his best to escape on his own.

“Y’know, you really should let me go,” Danny said coolly as he glanced down at his restraints, looking disinterestedly at them as if they were irritating slap bracelets at best. “I’m sure that my friends are looking for me, and when they find out that you kidnapped me—”

Vlad cackled, sounding every bit like the two-bit villain he appeared to be. “Oh, please. I’m not afraid of a couple of teenagers.”

“W-well, I’ve got another friend!” Danny shot back. Thanatos was his friend, right? Acquaintance, at least? … boss, perhaps? Whatever, it wasn’t important right now. “And he’s, uhh… he’s pretty scary. And he’ll definitely be looking for me, so you better let me go before he gets here.”

Danny had known that it was a long shot that Vlad would cave to his vague threats, but he hadn’t expected the other halfa’s demeanor to immediately turn cold and serious.

“Oh, another friend, you say?” Danny could hear the venom and hatred in Vlad’s voice, and it made him wonder just what exactly had happened between Vlad and Thanatos at the airport just… what, eleven days ago? Seriously? It hadn’t even been two weeks from his return, and Vlad was already causing him problems? Come on!

Danny looked up at the sound of squeaking metal, and he watched as Vlad dug through a filing cabinet. The halfa pulled out a piece of paper covered in strange scribbles, along with a couple of those awful-smelling candles.

“Luckily for you,” Vlad called over his shoulder as he taped the paper to the nearby wall and sat the candles on top of one of his work desks, setting them alight with a snap of his fingers. “I’ve prepared for your new friend.”

Seemingly satisfied with whatever he had done, Vlad turned to face Danny with a triumphant smirk. “I know how to hide from the Ancients, Daniel. You learn a trick or two when delving into things that you shouldn’t be.”

“… what?” Danny said bewilderedly. “Ancients?”

Vlad gave Danny a rather unimpressed look, as if to ask: how stupid are you? “Well, duh. Obviously that’s what your new buddy is. I’ll admit he’s a little… different from most old ghosts I’ve met.” If Danny didn’t know better, then he would’ve sworn that he saw a shiver run down Vlad’s back. “But I have measures in place for protecting myself. After all, you don’t learn as much as I have by being nice and asking permission. Of course I’ve upset a few mighty spirits along the way,” Vlad emphasized with finger quotes. “But there’s nothing ghostly that a few stinky candles and ancient runes can’t keep at bay.”

Well, Danny was pretty sure that a few stinky candles were going to do absolutely nothing to stop an immortal god of death, but he certainly wasn’t about to tell Vlad that.

But before Danny could think of anything else to say, he noticed a flicker of movement behind Vlad, and he watched as Ellie phased through the back wall of the lab. Their eyes met, and Ellie quickly placed a finger to her lips in a silent command: don’t say anything.

Oh, Danny was going to say something. And certainly not something that Ellie wanted to hear.

Ellie was a good person; Danny could tell. She was just misguided, and she refused to believe that her “father” could possibly be as evil as Danny claimed him to be. Danny couldn’t blame her—he had seen time and time again that Vlad was an expert at manipulating others into trusting him. But Danny knew that Vlad didn’t care for Ellie in any way; it was obvious in the disdain that crossed Vlad’s face whenever Ellie was so much as mentioned. It was more than clear that Ellie was expendable, considering Vlad had sent her to do the dirty work of capturing Danny, instead of doing it himself.

Ellie was an unstable clone—she could have died obeying Vlad’s orders. But it was as clear as day that Vlad just didn’t care. And the clone in the pod across from Danny was the most damning evidence of all. If Vlad really cared for Ellie, then why wasn’t she the one waiting to receive Danny’s DNA sample? And why couldn’t she see it for herself? Why couldn’t she see that she was being used?

If Ellie couldn’t believe the truth from Danny’s mouth, then he was going to make sure that she heard it from Vlad’s.

“So, what’s the deal with Ellie?” Danny saw Ellie’s eyes widen in alarm at his question, but he pressed on anyway. “She’s different from the other clones I’ve fought.”

“What about her?” Vlad drawled with a roll of his eyes, clearly irritated by Danny’s inquiry. “All of my previous attempts at cloning you have yielded one mistake after another. She just happened to have fewer mistakes than the rest.”

“What mistakes?” Danny pushed back. “She seems just fine to me. Why did you even bother making another clone after her?” Ellie drifted closer, but Danny was careful not to look at her as he glared into Vlad’s red eyes. “Why isn’t she good enough for you?”

“Because she’s a brat!” Vlad finally snapped, his eyes flashing bright with anger, and his shouting echoed through the room around them as he went off on a tirade. “Biologically she’s like you in almost every way, but mentally and emotionally it’s like—like dealing with a toddler! Throwing tantrums, having meltdowns, just—being a dolt! A simpleton! With this next clone, I made sure to put a lot more effort into their brain power.”

Ouch.

Danny had a front row seat as he witnessed what he was pretty sure was Ellie’s heart breaking, and it hurt to watch. Tears welled in her eyes, and the tiniest hiccup broke from her mouth.

And it was deafening.

The anger fell from Vlad’s face instantly, replaced by shock, and he turned to see Ellie standing right behind him.

“Is that… what I am to you?” Ellie asked quietly, her voice just barely above a whisper as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. “An imperfection? A mistake?”

For what was likely the first time in Vlad’s life, the elder halfa seemed to be at a loss for words.

And Ellie wasn’t taking that silence for an answer. The tears continued to fall, and the hurt was still written as clear as day across her face, but the sadness in her eyes changed, morphing into anger. She grit her teeth as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, and her cheeks flushed green with fury as she glared hatefully at Vlad.

“D-Danielle,” the sorry excuse for a so-called father finally managed to stammer out. “How… how long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” Ellie growled. Her hands started to glow a dangerous green, and Danny frantically began to struggle against his restraints. No! Was she crazy? She couldn’t fight Vlad on her own!

Vlad seemed to have finally gotten over his shock, and he cleared his throat. “Alright, that’s enough.” He said coldly. “Danielle, listen to me—”

“No!” Ellie shouted. “I’ve listened to you enough!”

And with that, Ellie darted forward, running at Vlad with both fists glowing bright green with ecto-energy. Vlad seemed to be startled—if only for a split second—but then he widened his stance and raised a single hand, and Danny watched in horror as the older halfa’s fingers flared to life with blindingly pink ecto-fire. Was he going to kill her?

No! Danny couldn’t let that happen, but he couldn’t break free of these stupid chains—

Ellie screamed in rage as she leapt forward, and Danny felt like he was watching a devastating car accident in slow motion. Vlad aimed his ecto-blast right at Ellie’s chest, and fired. The beam of hot pink ecto-energy shot forward, and Danny cried out as he watched it make a beeline for Ellie’s core.

But the shot never landed. At the last second, Ellie ducked down and slid across the tile floor between Vlad’s feet, completely missing the attack that would have undoubtedly killed her. She slid to a stop at the foot of Danny’s containment pod, and got to her feet just as Vlad turned around to face her, his face one of complete surprise.

“How’s this for a mistake?!” Ellie shouted, and she slammed her fist into the release button on Danny’s pod.

“NOOO!” Vlad roared.

But he was too late. Danny’s restraints clicked open and fell from his wrists, and Danny punched through the glass door with an ecto-charged strike. It shattered on impact and fell away instantly, leaving nothing standing between Danny and his captor.

Danny leapt from the containment pod, only stumbling a bit when his feet hit the floor. He felt lightheaded as he turned to look at Ellie. She sniffled as she wiped the tears from her eyes, and Danny’s heart sank at the sight. “Are you… okay?”

He regretted the question as soon as the words left his mouth. Of course she wasn’t okay. But thankfully, Ellie didn’t smack him upside the head for asking something so stupid. Instead, she turned to him with a tired, yet confident smile and said: “Do you wanna ask questions? Or do you wanna kick some butt?”

Danny only had to think about it for a second before giving his clone a nod. After the day he’d had, kicking butt sounded pretty good right now. So Danny took a deep breath and allowed his ghostly form to wash over him as he and Ellie turned to face Vlad.

The oldest of the three halfas still seemed to be reeling from his shock, and Danny wasn’t going to give him the chance to recover. He looked at his clone, and they both gave each other a nod. Together, they raised their hands, and before Vlad had a chance to block or dodge the two Phantoms shot him in the chest.

The combined power of their ecto-rays sent Vlad flying backwards, and he slammed into the containment pod that held the other clone. Vlad slumped forward and faceplanted onto the concrete floor, and Danny wondered if that was it; had Vlad been knocked unconscious that easily?

But he didn’t get a chance to check. The loud creaking of metal echoed across the room, and the containment pod holding the perfect clone tipped forward. It seemed to fall in slow motion, until it landed on Vlad with a resounding CLANG, accompanied by the shattering of glass and the fizzling of electrical circuits shorting out.

Ouch. Vlad would sure be feeling that in the morning. Danny almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

Danny turned to congratulate Ellie, but faltered when he saw her face. Her mouth was set in a firm line, and her eyes looked… tired. Hurt. Distraught. When Danny rested his hand on her shoulder, he could feel the slight tremor that shook her frame, and he could only imagine what she was feeling in that moment. Betrayal, loss, fear for the future…

What would happen to Ellie now? Because there was no way Vlad would let her stay after this betrayal. Not that Ellie would possibly want to stay with him after what he had said.

Speaking of the devil, it seemed that Vlad wasn’t down for the count just yet.

The sound of creaking metal began again, and Danny watched in disbelief and Vlad pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. The destroyed pod fell to the side with a thunderous crash that shook the floor, and rolled onto its side, revealing what was left of the clone it had once held.

And it wasn’t a pretty sight. The air in the room seemed to be poisonous to the clone’s skin, judging by the way that its flesh was quickly bubbling away into slimy green goop. The clone reached for Vlad with a feeble hand, but there was nothing that could be done; its entire body disintegrated away into nothingness within mere seconds.

And that seemed to break something inside of Vlad. His solid, blood-red eyes were almost manic as a deep, guttural scream tore itself from his mouth. “NO! NO! NOOOOO!!!”

Danny didn’t know why Vlad was so upset. Sure, he had probably just seen months of his time and effort fall apart before his very eyes, but he wasn’t the one that had just watched an identical clone of himself melt like a popsicle in a microwave. Danny was sure that that scene was going to haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Vlad turned on the two teens then, and he looked every bit like a bloodthirsty tiger that had cornered its prey. He snarled as he got to his feet and stalked towards them, his cape billowing behind him and making his presence just that much more intimidating.

Ellie clenched her fists and brought them up in front of her, but the way that they shook didn’t go unnoticed by Danny. “I can do this,” she whispered, and Danny wasn’t sure if she was saying it to reassure him, or herself.

Danny stepped forward and put his arm out in front of Ellie protectively. “You don’t have to,” he told her. “Get behind me, and cover your ears.”

Danny opened his mouth and took a deep breath, and he could feel the bitter cold forming inside of his ribcage, swirling into an angry blizzard that was ready to be freed. Ready to bury the man that had caused so much pain. Not only to him, but to Ellie, and to the other clones as well. He could feel his core thrumming with anger—with power.

So Danny gathered all that power into the center of his chest, closed his eyes, and released his Ghostly Wail.

The sound was deafening in the enclosed, underground room. It reverberated off of the walls and came back, seemingly growing louder and louder as it threatened to destroy all that stood in its way.

And it was pushing Vlad away. Despite the man’s best efforts, he was knocked off his feet by the sheer strength of Danny’s ecto-charged voice, and sent careening into the brick wall behind him. Cords and various instruments were ripped from the walls, and Vlad’s multi-million dollar cloning lab was destroyed in mere seconds.

Good.

Danny could feel cool liquid trickling from his ears, and his throat burned as if he was breathing fire. All too quickly, the last of his energy faded away, and Danny fell to his knees as his ghostly form fell away and left him weak and human. His arms shook with effort, and he couldn’t hear anything through the deafening ringing in his ears. He felt ready to collapse.

But it was worth it. All the pain and suffering was worth it to take this place down, and make it so that Vlad couldn’t hurt him anymore, or Ellie, or any more clones that he had planned to make.

It was worth it.

Danny’s head spun as he looked up and saw Vlad lying in a crumpled mess against the far wall. The elder halfa had reverted to his human form, as well. And it didn’t look like he would be getting up anytime soon, which was a relief. Danny didn’t have the strength left for another fight.

Ellie wrapped an arm around Danny and helped him to his feet. He could see that her mouth was moving as if she was speaking, but he couldn’t hear anything. And as he finally managed to get his own feet under him, he noticed a thin trail of green ectoplasm leaking from her ear.

Was… was that because of him?

But before Danny could say anything, a rumble shook the entire room, and the ceiling suddenly caved in. Danny knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way of the falling debris (and the Specter Speeder? What?) and he was sure he was about to be crushed.

But… that didn’t happen. Instead, he felt someone’s arm wrap around his waist, and pull him out of the way of the Specter Speeder with surprising strength and speed. Danny watched in shock as the Specter Speeder crashed into the wall, right where he and Ellie had been.

There… there was no way Ellie had moved him. She didn’t have the power to do that. Certainly not after their fight. So who…?

Danny saw movement from the corner of his eye: Ellie. She looked like she was yelling at someone behind him, but Danny was more distracted by the sight of Tucker and Sam climbing out of the Specter Speeder. They… they had come to rescue him? What? And how?

Honestly, Danny didn’t care. He just knew with a surety that he had the best friends in the world—scratch that. The universe. And if he could stand in that moment, then he would’ve run over and tackled them in a bone-crushing hug.

The arm that had grabbed Danny sat him gently down on the floor, and it was then that Danny remembered there was a stranger standing behind him, who had dragged him out of the way of certain death. So Danny slowly turned his head, looking away from his friends (who had run over to check on Vlad, apparently), and back at Ellie. She was still shouting, but Danny couldn’t make out the words over the ringing in his ears. And the person she was yelling at… despite the blurriness of his vision, Danny could still tell who it was.

“Thanatos…?”

The god turned at the sound of Danny’s voice, and the glowing gold of his eyes left afterimages in Danny’s vision that made him feel like he was going to be sick. Yeah, okay, so he might have a concussion… but that was better than being crushed by a two-ton flying machine.

Ellie’s eyes bugged out as she gestured wildly towards the death god standing next to her, and Danny could finally make out what she was saying. “Woah, woah, wait a minute! You know this weirdo? Who the heck is he?!”

Danny flinched as her shouting sent a shot of pain through his head. “Yeah… but could you tone it down a bit? You’re too loud…”

Ellie looked at Danny incredulously. “Could I tone it down? You’re the one making people’s eardrums rupture! Now who is this guy?! And why is he here?!”

“Oh, uhh…” Danny glanced at Thanatos, who looked equally confused, but about Ellie. He was staring at the ghost girl with a perplexed expression—as if there was something about her that he couldn’t quite place. “Thanatos? Are you—”

But Danny was cut off by Sam and Tucker, who tackled him to the ground in a group hug. He didn’t even care that them doing so reignited the pain of his many injuries; he was just so glad that they were okay; that they had come to rescue him.

“Danny!” Sam exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as she pulled away from the hug. “You’re okay!”

“Well, somewhat okay,” Tucker commented dryly. “You don’t look too great, if I’m being honest.”

Tucker barely dodged a smack from Sam, and Danny chuckled. “What? Nah, I’m fine,” he said weakly. “Couldn’t be better. How did you guys find me, anyway?”

Tucker held up the Boo-merang with a proud smirk. “We followed this little guy across the country, and he led us right to you. It actually landed over there, with Mr. Moneybags.” Tucker jerked his thumb over his shoulder in a lazy gesture towards Vlad. “By the way, don’t worry about him causing us any trouble. I left him with the Specter Deflector as a parting gift.”

But Tucker’s triumph was disappointingly short-lived, as a pained groan echoed from the other side of the room. They all turned to look, and saw Vlad slowly pushing himself up from the rubble. Honestly, Danny was kind of impressed—the man was like a human cockroach.

Okay, that was a little rude. But Danny was allowed to be rude after the day he’d had.

Thanatos took a step forward, but Ellie was quicker. She stormed over to Vlad, her fists clenched by her sides, and delivered a swift, football-launching kick to his face before anyone else could react. There was a sickening crack when her boot met his nose, and he fell to the floor once more, definitely unconscious, and Danny was pretty sure he wouldn’t be getting up quite so quickly this time.

“Stay away from me, and my cousin,” Ellie growled.

… wow. Honestly, Ellie was kinda scary when she wanted to be.

A hand gently grabbed Danny’s shoulder, and he turned to see Thanatos kneeling next to him. The god was holding what looked like a slice of lemon bar, and he offered it to Danny. “Here. It is for your ears.”

Huh? What was wrong with his ears? Confused, Danny gingerly brought his hand to the side of his head, and when he pulled it away he saw that his fingertips were slick with a shiny red and green liquid.

Oh. That… that wasn’t good. Maybe using his Ghostly Wail in an enclosed underground area hadn’t been the best idea.

Danny took the proffered food from Thanatos and turned it over in his hand, wondering how exactly a sugary pastry would help his ruptured eardrums.

“It’s ambrosia,” Thanatos explained. “From Persephone. She told me to give it to you, since… well, you seem to get injured rather often.”

Well, Persephone certainly wasn’t wrong…

Hesitantly, Danny nibbled at the corner of the ambrosia bar. And to his surprise, he felt better almost instantly. The buzzing in his head cleared immediately, and his hearing returned to normal as all of his aches and pains quickly faded away.

Surprisingly, the ambrosia did not taste like lemons, like Danny had been expecting. Instead, it tasted like… oranges. Sweet oranges, and honey, with a hint of… cinnamon?

Strange, but the taste filled Danny with a warm, fuzzy, happy feeling. One that made him feel like a little kid again, before all the stress of school and fighting took over his life.

It reminded him of his mom.

Danny moved to take another bite, but Thanatos reached over and smoothly snatched the ambrosia away from him.

“That’s enough, Danny,” Thanatos said as he dropped the little bar into a small white satchel, which held a couple more slices of the godly food. “I don’t need you spontaneously combusting yet again.”

Thanatos handed the bag over to Danny, and gave the halfa a stern look. “This is for emergencies only,” he warned. “Use it sparingly, and do not give it to anyone else.”

Danny took the little cloth bag and stared at it, feeling rather confused (it seemed that ambrosia didn’t cure plain old stupid). “Uhh, okay… Thanks…?”

Thanatos nodded as he stood, and turned to leave. But he froze when he saw Ellie standing in his way. She was back to her human form, and scowling as she placed her hands on her hips and stared down the god of death.

“Okay, great. Danny’s fine,” she said. “And my psycho of a dad’s got a broken nose. Awesome. Now who are you?”

Thanatos seemed to be at a loss for words, but Ellie didn’t give him a chance to speak either way. “Why are you so spooky?” She continued, pointing a finger at Thanatos threateningly as she proceeded to straight up interrogate him. “Why are you wearing a dress? Why are your eyes weird? And why do you have giant pigeon wings?!”

“Hey!” Danny leapt to his feet and stepped in front of Thanatos, holding his hands out towards Ellie in a placating gesture. He knew that most ghosts seemed to become pretty spooked around Thanatos for some reason, but that didn’t mean she had to jump straight into insults. “Ellie, be nice. This is Thanatos, my mentor. Thanatos,” Danny began, turning to face said god. “This is Ellie, my…”