Summary: "If someone listened to the Ghost Zone that day, they would know something great was about to happen. The realm practically sang it’s joy to all who would listen."
Or, Dan gets redeemed through parenthood or something.
Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. 5 Pt.6
Read it on AO3!
The Ghost Zone, by its nature, was not a quiet place. Even if one managed to find a spot without an island, door, or creature of some shape or size, there was a constant hum in the very air. Some ghosts, the oldest, most ancient ones, called it the voice of the realm. It was said that, if you listened close enough, you could hear the Ghost Zone speaking to you, telling you of things to come or things that have been, of the secrets only something like the realm itself could know.
If someone listened to the Ghost Zone that day, they would know something great was about to happen. The realm practically sang it’s joy to all who would listen.
In a far off corner of the realm, far from other islands, stood a lone clocktower, and in that tower was a ghost who heard the realm’s song. He hummed to himself, reaching out with a gloved hand to adjust the screen in front of him. The picture within changed, flickering with static from a scene of a city landscape to another empty corner of the realm, nothing in sight but the swirls of green, flowing faster than what was usually observed. A smirk played on his blue lips.
“There we are.” he said to himself, settling in to observe the occurrence. It was only right that someone would play witness.
“Don’t tell me you’ve finally gone senile, old man. There’s nothing there.” Rumbled a voice from behind the ghost, a large, intimidating figure that leaned against a wall with crossed arms, crimson eyes glowering at the elderly ghost.
Except he changed, form morphing and shifting until he resembled a young child.
“Not for long.” Was his simple replay.
They waited and time passed. Then, suddenly, there was what could be described as a spark that blossomed out to a magnificent display of light and color. Bright colors of all hues swirled around each other, combining and splitting and forming shapes and fading out, a complicated dance that couldn’t be replicated again through all of existence. The colors doubled back on themselves, combining together to a sphere, condensing and shrinking. Bursts of color and heat thrashed out from the sphere, licking at its surroundings before being drawn back. Finally, there was a flash of light, pure and blinding.
“Nice light show.” Snickered the large figure. “Was there a point to that?”
“Of course. Nothing happens without reason.” He shifted form again, this time taking on the form of a young adult. “Look closely.”
Sure enough, in the middle of where the lights had been, so small in comparison one could hardly see it, was a little ball of light, swirling with shades of blue. As the two ghosts watched, the ball moved, trailing streams of purple behind it. It circled about a few times, and if one listened close enough they could hear a humming, like the Ghost Zone but separate, a smaller, higher pitched sound. After it’s circle, it dashed off.
The ghost standing in front smiled fondly at the now empty screen, shifting once more to his elderly form.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: Danny learns a little more about being a ghost.
Word Count: 2,804
This is part of series that I started back in April during Phic Phight! Basically, it's a Reign Storm AU where Danny has been ghost adopted by Pariah Dark when he fails to defeat him in the big battle!
You can find the series here on my AO3!
Or on Tumblr
Part 1 - Fool's Errand
Part 2 - The Baldr to My Odin
And you can read this entry down below the cut!
Danny glared at the ceiling. He was getting tired of passing out.
Then he lost his composure in a fit of giggles once he noticed the pun.
He rolled over in his bed and pulled the covers up over himself as he went. Sure, he was laying down fully clothed but the blanket was really soft and he liked to be comfortable.
"Speaking of comfort," he muttered to himself as he phased his shoes off and tossed them onto the floor. "Much better."
He figured he should get up and do something, but it's not like he had anywhere to go.
He was free to just relax.
So of course, that's when his stomach growled.
With a sigh, he tossed the blanket off and sat up. He swung his legs over the side and idly kicked as he thought.
He had no idea where the kitchen was. Or really anything besides the front hall, the spot where he got his swordplay lesson, and the room he was currently in.
He hadn't exactly gotten the grand tour yet. On account of all the passing out.
He hopped off the bed with a shrug, "No time like the present."
He looked down at his shoes as he tried to decide between putting them back on after just taking them off, or just walking around in his socks.
He just took them off.
Besides the stone floors were in that just-right temperature of, not actually cold, but cool enough to be refreshing.
He figured his best bet to find food would be to go to the main hall and start poking around in the other hallways he had yet to walk down.
It didn’t take long for Danny to reach the front doors but with all the branching hallways looking almost identical he wasn’t sure which one to start with. Each unlit stone hall stretched into inky darkness and oppressive silence.
Simply put, none of them look particularly inviting or gave any hint as to where they led to.
“Man this place needs like, one of those mall directories or something.”
“Are you lost, your highness?” a voice asked just as his ghost sense went off.
Danny spun around, definitely not in fear, to face whoever it was that thought sneaking up behind him was a good idea.
“Oh it’s just you”, he sighed as he tried to relax.
“Were you expecting someone else?” the Fright Knight asked with a curious tilt of his head.
“It’s more like I wasn’t expecting anyone. You just surprised me is all,” he muttered crossing his arms in annoyance.
Annoyance at himself. He got spooked by a ghost. In the ghost zone. While he, himself, was a ghost.
It was just super embarrassing and he didn’t want to talk or even think about it.
“It wasn’t my intent to,” he paused for a moment as he selected the correct word, “startle you so much.”
“Well then why did you sneak up behind me?”
“Habit I suppose.”
Danny was about to ask why that was a habit but then he remembered who he was talking to.
The Fright Knight.
It was literally in his name.
So instead he asked a more pressing question, “Do you know where the kitchen is?”
“Are you hungry?”
Danny just nodded.
“Ah I see, I’ll get your father.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Danny sputtered as he jogged to catch up to the Fright Knights fast floating pace. “Just point me in the right direction. I’m old enough to make a sandwich for myself.”
“No, the Prince need not do such lowly tasks.”
“It’s a sandwich!”
“That’s not the point. I need to get the King.”
“Why?” Danny whined.
“Because he needs to summon the royal chef.”
“Why can’t you do it?”
That caused the Fright Knight to freeze in his tracts. He turned around slowly and landed on the ground so he was closer to Danny’s eye level before he finally spoke. “I may be the highest-ranking knight, but that is not a task I am allowed to do.”
“Why?”
“Do you,” The Fright Knight paused mid-sentence to take an agitated-sounding breath, “Do you not know how kingdoms work?”
“No.” Danny replied honestly, “I’m American.”
The Fright Knight was quiet for a moment then just nodded and said, “yes you are.”
“Is that bad?”
“No,” the knight said as he started floating down the hall again, “I just need to remind myself not to assume you have knowledge that you do not have.”
“Well, you know what they say about assuming?” Danny joked as he caught up to the knight.
“What do they say?” he asked in all seriousness.
“Have you not heard that one?”
“No.”
So much for that joke.
“Are you not going to tell me the saying?”
“It’s just a dumb pun. Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” Danny dismissed as he quickened his pace enough to end up ahead of the Fright Knight.
“Very well,” the knight replied casually.
How was he supposed to explain that joke to an adult without spelling it out and swearing?
You’re not supposed to just swear casually in front of adults. Even if it is part of a common saying/joke.
“Phantom?”
Danny stood and turned around to find that the knight had stopped several paces behind him.
“Where are you going?”
“I thought we were going to find my dad?”
“We are.” the Fright Knight gestured with his thumb to the door beside him, “he’s in here.”
“Oh.”
Danny couldn’t help but think sarcastically; gosh, this day just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?
The Knight opened the door for him once they had been granted permission from within.
“I didn’t expect you to be awake so soon.”
“Yeah, I was hungry.”
Pariah looked from Danny to the Fright Knight who was still waiting by the door. “Why did you bring him here? This is almost the furthest from the kitchen you could be while still being inside the Keep.”
Danny turned back to glare at the Fright Knight. Normally he wouldn’t be so annoyed but he was hungry.
“I, well you see, you’re supposed to, uh,” the knight stammered.
“Out with it already,” the king ordered with such authority that Danny forgot to be annoyed.
“You haven’t summoned the royal chef yet. Not since you were awakened.”
“Oh.” Pariah relaxed into his chair, “Can’t you do it?”
“That’s what I said!” Danny exclaimed and found his annoyance eating at him again.
“I can only call for him after he’s been officially summoned.”
Pariah sighed as he opened a drawer muttering to himself all the while, “I have to do everything around here.”
“I thought kings were supposed to be able to order other people around to do things for them?” Danny asked as he watched his dad dig around in the wooden drawer full of ancient-looking scrolls.
“That is the goal, yes. Unfortunately, the Keep is rather empty these days.”
“Where did everyone go?”
“Who knows, I was busy being sealed away against my will in an eternal slumber and he was stuck in a pumpkin.”
Before Danny could even think of a reply to that, Pariah found the scroll he was looking for.
He unfurled the page and said something in a language that Danny didn’t know before the paper burst into flames and crumbled into ashes.
“Why does that paper smell like chicken after it spontaneously combusted?”
Pariah laughed good-naturedly and ruffled Danny’s hair, “that means that he’s back and ready to cook.”
“Cool. How long until it’s ready?”
“Why don’t we find out?” he asked in return before picking Danny up and teleporting into the dining hall.
It took Danny a couple of seconds to get his bearings and blink the stars out of his vision.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Have you never done that before?”
Danny leaned into his dad’s shoulder as he tried to ride out the wave of dizziness, “Nope. Maybe doing that on an empty stomach wasn’t the best idea.”
“Hold on.” Pariah placed his hand on Danny’s head and held it there for a moment, “Is that better?”
A wave of relief washed over Danny and the dizziness stopped. He opened his eyes and smiled. “Yeah actually. What did you do?”
“I gave you a little of my energy to help rebalance your core.”
“Core?”
“Yes,” Pariah set Danny down and used his powers to pull out chairs for the pair, “every ghost has a core. All of our power and purpose stems from it.”
“Should I have known that already?” he had a sinking feeling that ghost cores were just a thing every ghost knew about.
“Did you know you had a brain when you were born? Or a heart?”
“No?”
“Then why would you know about cores?”
“I don’t know.”
“I won’t fault you for not knowing things. I encourage you to ask whatever questions you have. Besides, I’m your parent. I’m the one that’s supposed to teach you these things.”
That certainly was a relief.
The Royal Chef finally made his appearance by entering the room with the deepest bow Danny had ever seen. So deep, in fact, the ghost hadn’t even seen Danny yet.
“My deepest apologies for the wait you majesty. The kitchen was in such a disaster I couldn’t even think about meal prep, let alone cook for you until it was in order again.”
“Will the kitchen be ready soon?”
“Nearly ready, sire,” The chef finally stood at his full height, “I could start a small first course or, oh my!” the chef interrupted himself as he finally noticed Danny.
Danny wasn’t sure what to do so he offered a small wave.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you had company!”
“Not company, dear chef. I would like to introduce you to my son.”
The chef looked even more alarmed by that news as he looked Danny over.
“I adopted him recently.”
“Oh! ” the chef looked visibly relieved, “I was worried I missed something important.” The chef clapped once and nodded, “I have just the thing!”
“Not to blow the wind out of your sails, but could you keep this meal simple. We can have a feast later.”
The chef’s shoulders sagged and even his hat deflated slightly as he was denied.
“It’s just my son is rather hungry and you did just say the kitchen wasn’t quite ready. No need to overwork yourself on the first day back is all.”
“Is this your first meal together?”
“Who else would I have cook for me and my family?”
“Perfect!” his hat popped back up to its original puffy state, “I have just the three-course meal for the occasion!” the Chef said happily before literally disappearing back into the kitchen.
“I said simple!” Pariah called after the chef before slumping into his chair. “Ah, I guess three courses is simple for him.”
“What’s the most courses he’s made at once?”
“If I remember correctly, it was thirteen.”
“Thirteen! How did you not explode from all that food?”
“The dishes get smaller as the course number increases.” Pariah quickly explained.
“That makes more sense.”
“I’m sure he’ll make something at least that extravagant for your coronation. Maybe even more so. He hasn’t been able to cook for a while now.”
As the pair chatted while they waited for their food, he couldn’t help but notice the glint bouncing off the ring of rage and the never-ending flicker of the flames around the crown.
He also noticed he wasn’t wearing the armor anymore. He remembered passing out in it, but it was gone now. That life-leeching buzz was gone, but he wasn’t sure if it was for good.
“For someone who couldn’t seem to stop talking about how hungry they were, you sure are taking your time with eating that salad.”
“Oh sorry,” he apologized. Then he hesitated because there was more than one fork to choose from.
Why was there more than one fork?
“Outside one first,” Pariah explained simply, then showed off the fork he was holding.
Danny picked the small fork and realized he didn’t have an appetite anymore.
What if he did have to wear that armor again?
“Is something the matter?”
“I’m just thinking.”
“About what?”
Danny set his fork down with a sigh, “I’m not wearing the armor anymore.”
“No, I took that off.”
“Am I going to have to put it back on?”
“What?!” Pariah dropped his fork in surprise, “No!”
“No?”
“Of course, not! Whatever made you think that you would?”
“I just, um,” well if it wasn’t obvious he was going to sound so stupid. “I thought I had to have something that matched you. You know, like your ring and crown.”
“Phantom, we have all the time in the Infinite Realms to find you your own token of power. I would never make you wear something that hurts you.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Now eat up, there’s something I want to teach you once your fed.”
Danny nodded and finally took the first bite.
It was delicious.
================================================
After they were both fully satisfied by the cook’s excellent food, Pariah led the way back to the study that they had met in before their meal.
Only this time they walked.
Once inside they each took a seat. Pariah took the large chair he had before while Danny settled himself on the chair’s matching ottoman that was tucked in amongst piles of old books.
“Would you mind switching into your ghost form?”
He hopped up off his seat, “Going Ghost,” he said before unleashing his transformation. “Now what?”
“Have you ever changed your appearance?”
“Of my ghost form? You can just do that?!” then he thought about that for about three more seconds and realized that of course that was possible.
Vlad.
That jerk probably wasn’t dressed up like a knock-off Dracula when he got blasted in college. Obviously, he changed up his look.
“I’m an idiot.” Danny muttered to himself, “How’d I miss that.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t do that.”
Danny looked up and then immediately away again when he saw the disappointment on his face.
“There’s no need to beat yourself up.”
“But it’s so obvious when you point it out. I don’t know why I never even thought to try?”
“It is a rather difficult thing to master.”
“Yeah?” So that meant Vlad really was stronger than him.
“Especially with how young you are.”
“Would it be easier if I was older?”
“Just easier with practice.”
“Are we going to practice?”
“Yes.” Pariah leaned forward to place his forearms against his legs, “Now what’s something you’d like to wear. Something simple that you can picture in your mind’s eye with ease.”
Danny thought for a moment as to what he could wear. Something simple, but also something cool.
Then it hit him. He knew exactly what he wanted.
“Oh! I got it!”
“Perfect. Don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.”
Danny snapped his mouth shut because he was just about to say it.
Pariah just smiled knowingly, “Now close your eyes and picture it.”
Danny did as he was told.
“What color would you like it to be?”
Danny figured it should probably match his black and white get-up. Maybe just white. It would make sense.
“What does it sound like when you move?”
He thought back to the old superhero movies he watched as a kid. It would probably sound like that in real life too.
“How does it lay on you? Can you feel the weight of it?”
Danny pictured it on himself. Draped over his shoulders, not heavy, but obviously there.
“Do you have the picture? Is it clear in your mind?”
Danny nodded. It was really clear.
“Now pull a little more energy from your core and make it real.”
He squeezed his eyes shut even harder as he focused. He had to focus.
Had to keep picturing it.
He felt something tug at him from behind and he snapped his eyes open.
“Oh no I lost it!”
“Are you sure?”
Pariah was smiling. He was really smiling.
But why?
Danny shifted in his seat and then he felt it.
Something on his shoulder moved.
He turned and the rustle of fabric followed his movement.
Just like he imagined it would.
There it was.
He did it. He really did it!
He had a cape! Just like he always wanted!
“I did it! I did it! I did it!” He was so excited he did a flip and a spin in the air just because he could.
He flew straight for his dad and went right for the hug. He couldn’t help it, he loved to hug when he was happy.
His dad held him close and said the best thing he’d ever heard.
Summary: What if when Danny first fought the Lunch Lady ghost she actually noticed how young he was. What if she didn't know he was more than just another ghost? What if when she commented on how underweight he was, she decided to help him?
You can read on AO3 or down below the cut
“Don't you see?” The lunch lady screamed as she holds Danny upsidedown by just his ankle, “This is why you need meat! You're skin and bones!” She holds him up higher and really looks at him before addressing him directly in her calmer tone, “When was the last time you ate anything?”
“Uh,” Danny started intelligently as he tried to ignore how odd it was that all the blood wasn’t rushing to his head, “This morning?”
It must be a ghost thing. If he could float then gravity wasn’t really affecting him the same.
“Yeah, I had cereal.” he nods, then adds to himself as an afterthought, “Didn’t finish it though.”
“What?! You didn’t! What about lunch then? It’s past noon!”
“Well this is my lunch hour,” he shrugged, “and I was about to eat, but uh,” he couldn’t help the wince as he finished, “then you showed up?”
She gasped and immediately let go of him.
He dropped about a foot before he flipped in the air and floated back upward right side up.
“Well, that simply will not do!” She looked over him with an expression that Danny wasn’t sure if it was pity or concern. He’d seen Jazz make that face at him a lot, that was for sure.
“Here, eat this!” she said as she shoved a piece of cake straight into his mouth.
With no other choice but to accept, he swallowed it. He wiped his lips for the remaining frosting with his thumb as the flavor of the cake made itself known. It was probably the best piece of cake he had ever had in his life. “Wow, that was delicious!”
He eagerly licked his fingers clean before looking back at her, “Do you have more?”
She smiled, “Certainly child. Right this way.” she held out her arm and gestured him to follow her.
They floated over to the back wall and she opened the door to the walk-in freezer. Only when she opened it, it wasn’t a freezer on the inside. It was the ghost zone.
He stopped in his tracks as he felt the chill from the freezer portal slowly edge its way towards him.
She turned back holding her hand out to him but stopped when she noticed his reaction, “What’s the matter, dear? Aren’t you coming?”
“I,” he hesitated slowly shaking his head, “I can’t go in there.”
She stared at him for a moment before a look of realization crossed her face, “Have you never crossed into the veil before?”
He assumed she meant the ghost zone so he shook his head no.
“Really? Odd, you feel just like it.”
He wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so he didn’t say anything.
She smiled again and floated closer to him, “You haven’t been a ghost for very long, have you?”
He didn’t see the point in lying, so he didn’t. “It’s only been a month.”
She was close enough to gently run the back of her finger down his cheek, “And yet you’re so fully-formed? Even without crossing? You must have a very strong will.”
He was so confused right now. Not even five minutes ago they were throwing punches and now she was comforting him? Were all ghosts this weird?
“Is your family still around?”
“Yeah.”
“Do they know you’re still here?”
“Of course they do! I live with them,” he answered totally perplexed as to what she was asking him. It seemed like there was some meaning that he just wasn’t understanding.
She gasped, “You’re haunting them?”
His hands sprung up on instinct and he waved them around trying to get rid of that line of thinking completely. “No, no, no! I can’t be haunting them! I’m not a ghost.”
She raised an eyebrow and floated back just a hair to completely get him in her view, “Hate to break it to you, Sugar, but,” she gestured to all of him or more importantly the fact that he was glowing and floating and looked exactly like a ghost right now.
He closed his eyes and sighed. “I mean I am right now, but not all the time!”
She pulled him into a hug, “It’s okay, Sweetheart. I know it’s confusing. Especially with how young you are.” she leaned back and examined his face with that same Jazz-face she had made earlier, “You had an accident? It happened fast, didn’t it?”
How did she know that?
“Where was your family?”
He looked down towards his boots and rubbed his arm, “Jazz was upstairs. In her room, I think?”
“And your parents?”
He tried to think back to that day. It was only a month ago, but some of the details were a little fuzzy.
Had his parents just gone upstairs or were they out that day? Hadn’t they just tried to turn it on? No, it was a few days after that, right? Had he been alone or were Sam and Tucker there?
His head started to hurt as he tried to remember. It was like someone had taken an egg beater to his brains and scrambled them.
The lunch lady ghost pulled him into her arms and rubbed his back soothingly, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up. I wasn’t sure how much you knew. Or how much you could handle.”
He pulled back, resting his hands on her broad shoulders, “Do you know?” he was so confused right now.
She smiled gently, “No honey, we only just met today.”
“Oh yeah,” he knew that.
He grimaced as the throbbing from his headache flared up. As if he was going to forget about that anytime soon. He rubbed his fist into his forehead trying to soothe the ache.
He thought he heard someone calling to him but he couldn’t focus.
“Why don’t we get you something to eat. That should make that nasty headache go away.” she patted him on the back and pushed him back down towards her shoulder.
The coolness of her body felt so nice that he closed his eyes and hummed in contentment.
“That’s right, just relax,” she whispered.
He could feel her move, the gentle sway as she floated was at just the right rhythm for him to let himself drift off to sleep.
He hadn’t even realized he was that tired until then.
Being a ghost was exhausting.
===============================================
Danny opened his eyes and was greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling. It was very high and the plain white paint was interrupted with large wooden cross beams.
He sat up immediately and floated a couple of inches off the bed. He looked down and found he was still in his ghost form.
He had never woken up that way before.
He looked back at the bed. It had a blue metal frame with one side that arched up along the wall, it reminded him of the bed he’d use whenever he’d visit his grandmother’s house. He had to think for a moment but then remembered what it was called, a daybed.
Why was he sleeping on a daybed?
“I’m supposed to be at school!”
He flew towards the door, but hesitated before he grasped the handle. He slowly reached out and tried to phase his hand through the door.
His hand just ran into the door as if he was solid. But he could feel that tingly feeling in his hand which meant he was using his power.
So why wasn’t it working?
He shrugged and went to open the door normally.
It opened.
He peered out and saw a short empty hall. The brickwork that was in the room he had woken up in, carried out into the hall as well.
There was a familiar scent wafting towards him and floated silently into the room at the end of the hall.
“Grilled Cheese?” he asked softly.
In front of a large flattop grill, like the kind in restaurants, was the Lunch Lady ghost and she was in fact, making a bunch of grilled cheese sandwiches. He looked around the room and found no one else there. Why was she making so many?
She turned to face him and smiled, “Well hello there Sweetpea. You feeling any better after your nap?”
“Uh, yeah?”
And he did. His headache had gone away. Although he was still really confused. Was this where she lived?
It looked like a studio loft apartment and an industrial kitchen had a baby. Weird, but it did fit her.
“Good to hear. You hungry? Lunch is just about ready.”
“Yeah okay.”
If he had slept wouldn’t it be time for dinner?
She put a couple of sandwiches on a plate for him, they were cut into triangles. “Milk?” she asked as she pushed the plate across the counter towards him.
He climbed up onto the barstool and just agreed to that too.
Why not? He couldn’t think of a reason not to. Besides he was hungry.
“Are you expecting anyone else?” he asked as he carefully picked up the hot triangle of cheesy goodness.
“No.” She set a large glass of milk down for him. Much larger than he would have poured for himself.
“Okay.”
This was so weird.
She didn’t think he was going to eat all of those, did she? There had to be at least ten sandwiches on the grill. She already gave him two to start with.
It felt like she was trying to fatten him up.
He really hoped this didn’t turn out to be some Hanzel and Gretel situation.
He took his bite and once again was overwhelmed by just how amazing her food was. It wasn’t just that it was perfectly grilled crispy bread, or that the cheese was just the right kind that it got stringy as he pulled it apart, it even had thin slices of lightly browned deli meats. The first one had ham but the next one was chicken.
Before he could even think to stop himself he had cleared his plate and downed half the milk.
She smiled and filled his plate again. “Don’t be shy now, have as much as you like.”
And he did.
After several minutes he finally pushed the plate away. If he even so much as thought about food, he’d explode.
He groaned and leaned back in the chair. It was so good, but his eyes must have been bigger than his stomach.
“Aw come here, you cute little bean,” she said as she floated around the counter and picked him up to place over her shoulder like he was a little kid.
“Hey!” he protested weakly while still feeling lethargic.
She ignored him and started to pat his back.
He hoped she wasn’t doing what he thought she was doing.
And did she get taller or something, because he didn’t think he was that much smaller than her.
Before he could fully process the situation he burped.
“Ah, that’s a good boy.”
Oh my god, she was doing that!?
He squirmed in her arms. He was not about to be treated like a baby. Absolutely not!
“Hey now, stop that.” she lightly scolded as if he wasn’t any threat to her at all.
Then again, he hadn’t been doing very well in their fight at the school.
“You,” he burped again, “stop it!”
He did not like this one bit. Even if burps made his tummy hurt less.
Wait, did he just think the word tummy?
He meant stomach. He was a big boy, he was supposed to use big boy words.
Wait, no!
“What are you doing to me?!” his voice came out a lot squeakier than he wanted. It was higher pitched than it was this morning too.
“I’m not doing anything,” and the look on her face showed she was telling the truth.
He looked down at his hands. They were so little now.
Somehow, he's gotten younger.
“Why am I little?” he said and his voice sounded even tinier.
She rested him against her hip, seeing as he was now about half his age, and smoothed back his hair, “that’s just what the veil does to some folks. It helps you learn about being a ghost I think. It’s easier to start from the beginning and all that.”
She walked away from the kitchen and back towards the room he had started in.
His room.
“Now I think after all that excitement, we best get you to bed.”
“But I’m not tired,” he said with a betraying yawn.
Or at least he hadn’t been a minute ago.
She tucked him in and kissed his forehead. “Sweet dreams, Cupcake.”
“Night night,” he mumbled already falling asleep.
===============================================
The next time he woke up he was much too small to get out of bed on his own. Or at least he didn’t want to risk it. The bed was very tall and he didn’t want to fall down.
“Ready for lunch?” she asked as she picked him up, “I made spaghetti.”
“Sketti!” he cheered and clapped. If her cheesy sandwiches were yummy he’d bet her noodles were just as good.
For just a moment as she set him in his high chair he thought it was a little odd that they were having lunch again.
Maybe it was always lunchtime here?
He forgot the thought the second she handed him his sippy cup. Apple juice was his favorite!
He was halfway through his second plate of spaghetti when he got bored and decided he’d rather play with the floppy noodles instead.
“Oh okay, I think it’s time for Nanna to just take that away now,” Nanna said as she did just that.
He pouted but then pulled his foot up through the hole in his chair just to see if he could.
He could! Fun!
The buckle was looser than it was before, despite his full tummy.
Nanna turned around and gasped, “Oh you’re getting sauce everywhere!” he floated up out of the chair as she approached, his legs disappeared into a tail as he moved.
He looked down at his new tail in awe.
Then immediately stuck the tip of it into his mouth just to see what it felt like.
He didn’t like it.
Nanna chuckled and plucked him out of the air like an apple from a tree. She cleaned up his face and hands. And feet! As soon as he figured out how to make them come back.
“Alright, beddy-bye time.”
He flinched. The last time he went sleep he got little. If he went sleep again would he keep getting tiny? What if he got so little Nanna couldn’t see him?
He burst into tears and started bawling.
“Oh? Oh no! What’s wrong?”
But he couldn’t answer her. He was much too upset. Also, what were words? He didn’t know how to.
She rocked him in her arms and did her best to soothe him.
He started to get sleepy from the motion but that just launched him right back into hysterics.
“Are you scared to go to sleep?”
He rubbed the tears and the sleep out of his eyes as best he could as he nodded.
“Oh pumpkin, you’ll be okay.”
He shook his head.
“No? Why not?”
He slowly clapped his hands together once, to show getting small. Then he said, “poof.”
She blinked a couple of times then nodded in understanding, “You’re not going to get any smaller. I think you’re done. Now we get to see you grow up again.”
His eyes went wide with surprise.
“Yeah, you’ll be big. And even better, we get to find out what you love the very most.”
He didn’t really understand that last part. What could he love more than Nanna? He hugged her so she would know.
===============================================
He was just staring out the window when she came in to check on him.
The window didn’t use to be there, but sometimes things like that happened. Nanna could change the size of the things in the kitchen to whatever she needed them to be. Whatever food she wanted to cook she always had the ingredients.
He hadn’t been able to change anything before, but he was older now.
“What’s out there?” he asked as he gazed at the swirling green void. There wasn’t much to see, but there had to be something else right?
“Come on, Sweetiepie, it’s time for lunch.”
He sighed and followed her out. “Can I go outside after lunch?” he asked as he sat at the counter. He was happy he was finally big enough to sit on the tall chairs. He liked being able to kick his legs while he sat.
“I don’t know, you’re still so young.”
“But Nanna! I’m seven now! Isn’t that big enough?”
“You were fourteen when I brought you home.”
He scrunched up his nose as he pouted. It’s not his fault being here turned him into a baby and he had to grow up again.
“No more pouting.” she chided as she pinched his chubby cheek affectionately.
He sighed and wondered if Boxy was going to come over again. The Box Ghost didn’t visit all the time, but he was fun to play with when he did. Maybe Boxy would let him go outside.
He just wanted to know what was out there.
===============================================
When he was eleven, Nanna tried to help him find what she called, his Spark. The thing that he loved the most.
He still wasn’t sure what that meant.
“What’s your Spark?” he asked while he was stirring the batter for the cookies.
“Why that would be lunch of course.” she ruffled his fluffy white hair, “And you’re a close second.”
“So other people aren’t Sparks?”
She sprinkled in the chocolate chips as he continued to stir, “I think they can be sometimes, but that’s pretty rare. Sparks form around ideas or things. I don’t think it’s very healthy to have one for another person.”
He just stared into the batter as the chips slowly sank into the thick creamy dough. Something about it looked familiar.
“How do I know what my Spark is?”
“It’s hard to say. It’s different for everybody. For me, I knew right away. I always had a passion for cooking, and lunch was always my favorite meal of the day.”
She pulled out the baking sheet, set it next to the bowl, and handed him a spoon to scoop out portions.
“Basically, there’s something for you out there that fills you with joy and wonder and purpose. Something so wonderful and amazing that you want to do it every day, or you want to always have it with you. Maybe even start a collection of the thing.”
“Like how Boxy is with boxes?”
“Exactly!” she smiled happy that he was starting to understand.
“But how will I know what I like if all I know is here?” he dropped his cookie dough ball onto the sheet and looked up to the kitchen window.
There was a window in every room now. Always ready for him to see into the void of green.
It was never enough.
“Do you think this has anything to do with the windows?”
Nanna stopped, looked up, and just stared at the nearest window. It almost seemed like she hadn’t noticed it before now.
She hummed thoughtfully, “You know, you might be on to something.”
He perked up, floating high enough to be eye level, his tail swishing in excitement, “You think so?!”
“Maybe we can go out for a picnic the next time Box Ghost stops by.”
He flipped in the air as he clapped.
He couldn’t wait.
===============================================
It took much longer than he would have liked for Boxy to finally show up again. He hoped it wasn’t on purpose.
Nanna packed the biggest basket for their picnic that he had ever seen and Boxy carried the checkered picnic blanket.
Nanna told him he had to stay close, but she didn’t make him hold her hand the whole time so that was nice.
He was twelve now so he was old enough to know how to stay close and not get distracted.
Even if there was just so much to look at. Mostly everything was green outside of Nanna’s house, but sometimes there were bands of darker or even light greens. Occasionally they would pass by purple doors.
Nanna made sure he knew what her door looked like before they headed out into the abyss.
“If you get lost you just head home okay. You just go inside and wait for me.”
He nodded as he memorized her door. It was purple, like all the others, but it didn’t have a handle. It was the kind that just swung open when you pushed it. Whether you were on the inside or the outside, it always swung outward. The bottom third of the door was metallic and shiny enough for him to see his own reflection. Above that was a little circular window, like a porthole on a ship.
He wasn’t sure why that made him smile.
Once she was confident that he could recognize the door they made their way out.
They flew for a while amongst the endless green sky until they came across a doorway. He hesitated for just a moment. The frame looked familiar. Very familiar.
“Are you sure it’s safe to go in there?” he asked as he hovered closer to Nanna.
“Of course, Dumpling. It’s the most stable gateway.”
He knew that.
“Did you want me, the Box Ghost, to go first and scare off any nasty humans?”
Danny nodded and took the wrapped-up picnic blanket from Boxy and hugged it to his chest.
Boxy came back after a few minutes, his head the only thing poking back on their side of the portal, “The Box Ghost has found no one!”
The trio flew out of the portal and straight up through the house until they were outside.
The air felt so different here and he didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed the difference sooner. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky above. It was pitch black and he could barely make out a few twinkling stars. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face when he saw the crescent moon above.
How could he not smile when it smiled at him first? He wasn’t sure if it was a waxing or waning crescent.
He paused and wondered if this was it. Was this his Spark?
He followed Nanna and Boxy to the park and they had a lovely time with food that was delicious, as always.
He couldn’t keep his eyes from drifting up to the sky whenever there was a lull in the conversation.
“What’s on your mind, Honey?” Nanna asked as she packed up the last of the, now empty, food containers.
“I found my Spark,” he said in barely a whisper, eyes still trained on the sky above.
===============================================
Now that he had found his Spark it felt like everything was moving so fast. His powers came to him more easily. The outfit that he always wore changed to better suit his Spark. He found new things that only he could do.
He loved every second of it.
Then before he knew it, he was fourteen again.
“I think you’re ready now,” Nanna said after a particularly quiet lunch.
“You think so?” he floated out of his seat and helped her with the dishes.
She set the plate down on the counter and took his gloved hand in hers, “Yes my little explorer. You were made to roam.”
He was beyond excited but he had spent so much time with Nanna that he knew he’d miss her, “How about I leave after lunch tomorrow?”
===============================================
He floated in the basement invisibly. He had meant to just pass through, but the room hadn’t been empty.
He just floated there and watched her work.
She was completely oblivious to his presence.
He hadn’t thought of her once while he’d been away.
He had to smother himself when he audibly gasped at the realization.
She flinched and looked around. She never looked to where he was floating.
He was about to just float back inside the portal, about to just call the whole thing off and go back to Nanna’s.
He was, but she shut the portal doors before he could slip back through.
She reached for her hood and slipped the red-tinted goggles over her eyes.
He flew away before she could do anything else.
He found himself in the park. The same one he had found his Spark in.
He looked up to the bright sunny sky. It wasn’t as lovely as the night sky, but it had its own charm.
He floated up and sat in the nearest tree as he tried to decide what to do from here.
Nanna said it wasn’t good to linger. She said not to haunt people. Not to cling to the living.
But that was his mom.
He looked down at his white gloves and wondered if he could still do it. He wouldn’t go back if he couldn’t.
===============================================
He could.
He wasn’t sure why though. This ability had nothing to do with his Spark. It made no sense
Unless he was right before and he wasn’t just a ghost? But wouldn’t Nanna know that?
He stood on the front steps of his childhood home and hesitated. His hand raised to knock on the door, but it was his house wasn’t it? Maybe he should just walk in?
But how long had he been gone?
He should have checked that first.
He dropped his hand and turned around trying to think of the best way to figure that out while also trying to remember what day it was when he left.
The door opened behind him and the person stopped mid-word to gasp, “Danny?”
He turned and felt like a deer in the headlights.
His sister.
God, he hadn’t thought about her either.
He was a terrible brother. A horrible son.
He should have never come here.
She hugged him and all his thoughts stopped.
“Danny, where have you been?” she pulled him tighter before pulling back to really look at him. Checking to see if he was hurt.
His eyes started to water, which was not something he wanted. He didn’t want to cry in front of his sister and he definitely didn’t want to do it on the front steps where anyone could walk by and see him.
“Oh, it’s okay! Come here,” she pulled him into the house and he didn’t resist.
He was too busy trying to keep all the liquid in his face to stay in its proper places.
They sat on the couch but she didn’t let him go. It was like she was afraid that he’d disappear if she wasn’t touching him.
That was a silly thing to think. He could disappear anytime he liked. Human contact had nothing to do with his ability to be perceived by the human eye.
Seeing his normally level-headed sister have such an irrational thought helped him calm down a bit.
“When Sam and Tucker told everyone that you’d been taken yesterday I never expected you to just appear on the doorstep.”
His mouth dropped open slightly but he couldn’t find his voice. Yesterday? He had an existential crisis, was taken in by a nice ghost grandma, figured out the point of his continued existence. Oh and had regressed into a baby and grown-up again, in only one day?!
“How?” the word was so soft Jazz didn’t even notice.
She just kept on talking, “I mean the weird story about a meat monster spiriting you away was definitely original, but obviously not believable. Well not believable to anyone but mom and dad of course.” she looked him over again with a more critical eye, “Where were you anyway? Did you try to run away again?”
He didn’t know how to answer her. He wasn’t sure if he should lie, tell the truth, maybe even just let her believe whatever it was that she wanted to believe.
He just hugged her again. His face burrowed into her shoulder all he could think to do was say he was sorry. So he did.
Over and over and over again.
Was he sorry for disappearing or for being a ghost? He didn’t know. Maybe it was both.
He didn’t know if it was just a coincidence or if he had been crying loud enough, but his parents were soon there too and everyone was hugging him tightly.
His breaths came in shuddering gasps and it took him several minutes before he could calm down again. Everything just felt so much. He felt so warm and alive.
He still didn’t know what to tell his family about why he disappeared. Or what he really was.
He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to tell them.
When they finally asked he said he didn’t know. He just acted like he didn’t remember anything at all.
He was saving the true story for his friends.
===============================================
He had to wait until the weekend because his parents refused to let him go to school until they figured out who had taken him.
But he couldn’t tell them now. They’d hurt Nanna.
They might hurt him too.
He remembers the stories his mom used to tell. The ones about changelings. How angry she would look just thinking about them.
He was just glad all the tests she tried didn’t tell her he was different. That as far as she was concerned he was human.
The tests only proved that he was the original.
I guess it was nice that she didn’t assume the worst.
He was sitting on his bed with his blankets purposely fluffed up around him. He needed to hide the fact that he wasn’t actually touching the bed, that he was floating a few inches above it.
He was always floating at Nanna’s and it just felt weird not to.
There was a tentative knock on his door and he flew over and silently landed before opening it.
His friends instantly tackled him with affection. The trio was on the ground in a tangle of limbs and apologies.
Once they finally stopped talking over each other and untangled themselves, Danny closed the door as they each took their favorite seats. Tucker in his computer chair and Sam on the windowsill.
Danny took his spot on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. It had been over a week and he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain what happened. He still had a hard time figuring out how he had spent so long away in such a small window of time.
“So do you really not remember or is that just what you’re telling your folks?” Sam asked as she kept her eyes trained on him. It was like she was looking for any hint at all for the truth.
“It’s hard to explain.” he started simply.
“Just start at the beginning. What happened after the lunch lady napped you?” Tucker prepped as he anxiously fidgeted in the desk chair enough to wobble it.
“I fell asleep? And when I woke up Nanna was making lunch.” he couldn’t help the fond smile, “She always makes the best lunches. She only makes lunch. It’s only ever lunch. Good though.”
“Nanna?” Tucker asked as he shared his confused look with Sam.
“Yeah. that’s just what I call her. I don’t think that’s her name.”
“Okay? But why call her that?”
“Because she’s my Nanna?” he tilted his head to the side and realized that this was already getting hard to explain and he hadn’t even gotten to the weird stuff yet.
“Like your grandma?” Tucker asked like he was grasping at straws.
“Yeah!” Danny pointed excitedly at Tucker, glad to have a word for it. “She’s my ghost grandma!”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“She literally kidnapped you.”
“No, she didn’t kidnap me. She just took me home with her.”
“Did you want to go home with her?” Sam asked slowly like he was a toddler again.
He did a quick check and he was in fact still a teenager. “It was more like I was abruptly adopted.”
“Is that a thing?” Tucker asked with the most incredulous look.
“Yeah, it’s a ghost thing. Nanna says that older ghosts can adopt any child ghosts, or in my case, baby ghost, that they come across. Luckily, I’m a teenager now! Again?” he put a finger to his lips as he thought about whether or not it would be ‘again’ or not.
Tucker snickered, “Hold on, you’re a baby ghost?”
“Former baby. I’m done with that now.” he sighed and looked away as he mumbled to himself, “I’m so glad that’s over.”
“Excuse me, what?” Sam exclaimed wide-eyed.
He chuckled nervously, “Remember when I said it was hard to explain. That’s what I meant.”
“Wait, hold up.” Tucker stood up from his perched on the edge of his seat position and started to pace, “Are you saying that you were a literal ghost baby or???”
Danny winced and visibly leaned away from his friends, “yeah… it was super weird. Also,” his shoulders were nearly touching his ears with how much he was trying to edge away from the conversation, but knowing he just needed to tell them already, “I think I was gone longer than a day.”
“WHAT?!”
Oh boy, he had a lot of explaining to do.
===============================================
After a very long and snack-filled conversation later, it finally seemed like that they were all up to speed on what had happened to Danny.
“Man, I wish I could have seen you’re baby form.” Tucker chuckled as he set his chip bowl aside.
“Why? It was just me, but littler?” then he suddenly remembered that his ghost form had changed after he found his Spark. “Oh, that’s right! I got an upgrade! Wanna see?”
“Yeah, man!” Tucker said at the same time Sam said, “Of course!”
Danny smiled and transformed.
Both his friends just gasped as they looked at him.
And then they kept staring.
His smile faltered and he bit his lip.
Sam gasped again and shot up to point right at him, “Fangs!”
Well, that wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. Also, hold on?
He ran a curious tongue over his teeth and yeah she was right, his teeth were a bit sharper now. “That was probably from all the meat I ate.”
“Also you’re green,” Tucker added helpfully.
He floated over to his mirror and just stared at himself. Nanna didn’t have any mirrors and he never really thought to check.
His skin was green but much paler than Nanna’s was. He also had bright glowing freckles dusting across his nose and cheeks. It didn’t take much looking to see the constellations they could make. His hair was still white but now it moved like it was being blown in a soft breeze, or maybe it was more like he was underwater?
No! It moved like solar flares! Strands arcing and bending as if he was being affected by cosmic winds.
He smiled and saw his fangs. They weren’t too sharp or scary looking, thankfully. They looked more like slightly dramatic canines than true fangs. He’d seen a few actors with teeth like this so it wasn’t too inhuman.
But he was literally green and glowed so he wasn’t sure why he was worried about that.
Although he was surprised that no one had noticed that he was not as skinny as he was before. He’d gained, as Nanna would say, a healthy amount of weight. Then again, he did wear pretty baggy clothes. He supposed it would be easy enough to overlook that they weren’t exactly loose anymore. And his face still looked the same when he was human, he’d always had chubby cheeks.
Besides, that wasn’t even the best part. The best part was his outfit. Which his friends so rudely hadn’t mentioned yet.
The suit he wore wasn’t so clingy and form-fitting anymore. It was puffier and looked like the ones he’d seen in pictures. Except his was cooler because it had stars on it.
He was an astronaut. Just like he had always wanted to be.
Summary: It had been hours since Danny flew off to fight Pariah Dark and Vlad took it upon himself to see what was taking the boy so long.
You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut
Edit: I added a summary
Vlad had been flying for hours but he finally found what he had been searching for. There, sitting on the edge of one of the many floating isles, was his prize.
The boy below him perked up just as he had started his descent. Vlad did his best to quell the surge of jealousy of the boy’s near precognisant perception of other ghosts.
He landed with a grimace all the same.
“There you are, boy. Is there any reason you’ve made me search for you?”
“I didn’t make you do anything.” came his snarky reply.
Vlad crossed his arms and waited for the boy to get up.
He made no attempt to move.
“Do I seriously have to ask you to come with me?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to.” Daniel bit his lip and averted his gaze, “I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I mean I can’t! Just what that means, Can not. Unable. It isn’t happening!”
Vlad rolled his eyes, “There’s no need to get hysterical, Daniel.”
The boy huffed in annoyance, “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew what happened.”
“Then enlighten me.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment as he pondered his options. “You act like I’m just loitering or something. As if I wouldn’t leave on my own. Somehow the idea of me being stuck here hadn’t crossed your mind.” He chuckled to himself but his small grin was quickly replaced by solemn defeat.
"You know, the funny thing is, for so long I thought you knew everything there was to know about being a ghost. But all you know is how to use your powers in the human world. You don't know anything about the ghost world."
Vlad tried to refute that, but Daniel continued.
"You spent so much time trying to win me over, trying to get me to join you when there was a ghostly solution all along."
Vlad was confused, but also intrigued.
"The need for family doesn't go away when you become a ghost. The only problem is that ghosts can't have kids like humans, like the living can. They can adopt though."
"Adopt?"
"Yeah. I've been adopted."
Vlad was not at all thrilled to be given an explanation that only further confused him. He made sure to make it clear that he did not like what little he was told.
“Fine! You want the story? I’ll give you a story!” Daniel shouted in frustration as he got to his feet, “Once upon a time, there was a greedy blue vampire who thought taking things that weren’t his was a good idea.”
Vlad was irritated that he was now forced to listen to this fairy tale version of events, but he kept quiet. If this was the only way to get to the truth then he could handle these childish antics.
“Of course, it wasn’t, and he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Since he was a coward he ran away before anything could happen to him.”
“Hey!” Vlad was a lot of things, but he was not a coward. He just knew the wisdom of a strategic retreat. He made sure to say as much.
Daniel took a breath to regain what little composure he had before continuing, “Anyway, his problems followed him and the weight of the whole world fell to one boy. That boy took it upon himself to don a suit of armor that granted great power, but it was cursed. The wearer would have their life force slowly taken away the longer they wore it. The boy knew the risks but did it anyway. He donned the poisonous armor and went headfirst into the fray. He faced the enraged king alone. He wasn’t sure if he would be strong enough to win,” the boy’s voice hitched as he finished, “even with the armor.” He gently floated back down to the crag below them in silence. “His only hope was that even if he didn’t win, the king would lose first.”
The weight of his words finally settled and Vlad took the opportunity to land on the ground beside him. He hadn’t realized the boy came here thinking this was a suicide mission.
Which, on further reflection, was a logical conclusion to come to.
“I didn’t realize,” Vlad hesitated unsure how to articulate what he was feeling. “I didn’t think that this would happen.” he finished knowing it wasn’t enough.
“Because heaven forbid you have to deal with the consequence of your actions,” Daniel replied sarcastically.
Vlad couldn’t think of a retort and just let the words settle into his skin like a barb.
The pair was quiet for some time before Daniel spoke again, “It isn’t all bad I guess.”
“Oh?” He was curious about the boy’s view on the situation. Especially after how he recounted recent events.
“Well, he says that he won’t be running around trying to take over everything. Said he just wants to stabilize his area first and,” Daniel hesitated and looked away while rubbing the back of his neck, “and he says he wants to focus on me.” Daniel chuckled nervously, “Which is super weird right? Who would have guessed the best way to calm down a tyrannical ruler was to make him a dad.”
Vlad wasn’t sure anyone would have guessed that. Ever.
Now that he wasn’t stressed from his long flight, or agitated by Daniel’s behavior, he finally noticed that there were some subtle changes to the boy’s appearance.
He was still in his ghost form, which made sense given their current location, but it wasn’t exactly the same.
Daniel caught him staring and followed his gaze. “Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that.”
“You forgot?”
“I had a lot on my mind, alright? I was recently in a high-stakes battle for my life and then I wake up to find I’ve been ghost adopted! Sorry, my aesthetics weren’t higher on my list of things to be freaking out about!”
“I was merely asking,” Vlad commented with an insuppressible eye-roll.
“Whatever.” the teen waved him off, “I think it’s because I’m still wearing the armor.”
“You think you might be wearing the Ecto-Skeleton?”
“Well it’s not as bulky or obvious, but I still kind of feel that buzz like when I was wearing it. And you know,” He turned his hand around both to examine it and show it off, “my gloves are gauntlets now, so there’s that.”
The gloves did appear to be gauntlets. The fingers were covered in jointed plates instead of the previous fabric. His gloves weren’t the only thing that changed. His boots and belt, which before were just as white as his hair, were now more silver, they seemed to cast a slight metallic gleam from the light of their ghost forms. His boots were also sporting metallic shin guards with a neon green skull detailed onto the knee. The skull looked exactly like the one that adorned the ring of rage. It even had those menacing red eyes.
“I think I got the suit to match him.” he turned to look up at Vlad, “you know how he has the ring and the crown? I think I got the suit.”
“The suit became a ghostly artifact?” Vlad asked but maybe the boy was on to something. It could be possible for someone as powerful enough to call themselves ‘the king of all ghosts’ could make artifacts. Or perhaps it had to do with this adoption thing?
He still wasn’t entirely convinced if that was a thing. Because if it was, he surely would have found out about it before now.
“Should I give it a name?”
“What?”
“The suit? Should I give it a name? I mean, it only seems fair.”
“How about ‘the Armor of Light’?” a deep voice suggested from behind them.
The two turned in surprise but Daniel was the first to speak. “Oh! Hi dad!”
Then he muttered more to himself, “I didn’t know you could sneak up on me like that.”
Pariah towered over them and laughed. Thankfully it wasn’t a cruel laugh. It was actually amused. “Don’t worry my child, I believe that is only because we are so close. It would be like detecting yourself, would it not?”
Daniel thought about it for a moment, “I suppose so.” he looked back up to his towering counterpart, “Still weird though.”
Vlad found it odd how relaxed the boy was with the king he had just recently tried to beat into submission. Maybe the adoption thing was real?
He did just call him ‘dad’, didn’t he.
“Come, let us go back to the Keep. It’s getting late and young ones such as yourself shouldn’t be so far unguarded.”
Daniel floated upward and sat on the right-hand shoulder of the king as if that was the most natural place for him to be, “How can you even tell time here? There’s no sun or moon. Just green swirly void.”
Pariah shook his head clearly very amused with the boy’s antics, “I can teach you later.”
“Wait there is a way? Do watches work here?”
“Some do, but not always in the way you would think.”
Daniel did not hide his confusion at that statement and Vlad didn’t blame him. It was weirdly cryptic. Perhaps he was referring to some time-keeping ghost or something?
As much as Vlad found watching the two interact interesting he wasn’t exactly pleased about being completely ignored. So he cleared his throat hoping to get some actual information out of the king.
The king turned to face him, “You’re still here?”
Vlad tried very hard to not be offended by that, “I was just about to go, your majesty, but I had a quick question.”
Pariah crossed his arms as he waited for Vlad to continue.
“The boy claims you have adopted him? Is that true?”
“Are you implying he’s a liar?”
“I-uh, no!” Vlad stammered as he tried to think of what to say next, “It’s just he likes to play pranks. To jest. I meant no disrespect.”
Daniel laughed at that. “He’s not wrong. I do enjoy a good joke.” his expression turned serious again, “But I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
Pariah placed a hand up to comfort the boy. If the king wasn’t so large or if Daniel wasn’t so small, the gesture would have looked like a hand on the knee, as it was, Pariah’s hand covered all of the boy’s lower half.
“This gives me an idea.” the king spoke before picking Daniel up from his perch and whispering something into his ear.
The boy’s face went from curious, to interested, to downright devilish.
Whatever was being discussed probably wasn’t going to spell good news for Vlad. He started to slowly float backward away from the conspiring royals.
The thought stopped him in his tracks. Daniel was royalty now. Vlad gently landed on the edge of the island again.
If he played his cards right, maybe he could get what he was after. It would probably take much longer than he had originally anticipated, but Vlad knew how to be patient. He knew how to play the long game.
Pariah turned back to face Vlad, “Ah good you didn’t slip away after all. I have a proposition for you.”
“That’s very generous of you, sire,” Vlad said making sure to show that he could play nice.
“It is. Considering the damage you have caused, you’re getting off fairly easily.”
Vlad audibly gulped at the thinly veiled threat. “Thank you. I am honored to receive this offering.”
“So, do you accept?” he said and the look in his eye implied that rejection of the offer was not something Vlad would enjoy.
“Of course!”
The second he uttered those two words Vlad regretted every single choice in his miserable life that led to this moment.
Daniel was ecstatic with his response as he floated playfully while he clapped with glee.
That most certainly meant he had made an egregious error.
“For the man foolish enough to try and overthrow me, what better role than to entertain me and my son as the royal court jester.”
Summary: Pariah has recently acquired a son and wants to get to know him better.
This is a sequel to Fool's Errand!
You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut
Pariah leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom and watched him sleep. After all the things that had happened in his afterlife, he never expected to find himself in this situation.
Never in all his wildest dreams, and he had his fair share during his entombment in the sarcophagus, did he picture himself as a father.
His son sighed in his sleep and rolled into a new position. The boy’s mouth fell open and the small breath that escaped made his fringe billow slightly.
Pariah couldn’t help the fond smile that graced his features and crinkled the scar under his eye. There was so much he wanted to teach the boy, so much he wanted to see the boy do for the first time.
There were so many ‘first times’ he had already missed.
Adoption was both a blessing and a curse in that way. He wasn’t sure what the child had experienced already. He really didn’t know what things he didn’t know about.
Although that was in itself its own challenge. It could even be fun to discover these things.
Pariah was drawn from his musings as he felt something encroaching on his territory. The boy gasped in his sleep and woke instantly. He jumped up from the mound of overstuffed pillows and blankets and hovered above the bed, awake and alert.
“You sense that too?” he asked.
Phantom looked to him and nodded, “Please tell me you were expecting visitors?” he asked with worry tilting his brows together and mouth into a frown.
Pariah simply shakes his head, “Let’s go see who this intruder is then, shall we?”
The boy nods and floats along in Pariah’s wake.
Once they reached the entry hall they could hear some fool shouting at the closed doors. Their words are muffled by the thick wood and stone bricks but the intent is easily grasped.
“Doesn’t sound like a welcoming committee.” quips the boy, “I was kind of hoping it would be someone with presents.”
“Why would there be presents?”
“Well, I was recently adopted so that’s like a birthday, right? And I was crowned Prince, so maybe a party for that too?”
Pariah laughed good-naturedly, “I suppose a coronation ball could be arranged, but we should wait on that a little. I did raise a bit of hell when I woke up after all. Let them lick their wounds before telling them to celebrate our good fortune.”
“I guess that’s fair.” the boy relents.
“Good. Now, wait here while I greet our unwelcome guest.”
Pariah waits until Phantom has landed silently on the stone floor before finishing the journey to the door.
It opens with a thought and reveals a small band of animalistic warriors. Their bright white fur glistens just like the snow from the frozen wasteland that they call home.
They hesitate upon seeing him there.
Good.
He makes quick work of the small army but decides not to finish them off completely. That’s an awfully violent thing to do with his son watching.
It was also completely unnecessary. He merely needed to show them that he was still the king. He was still just as powerful as he had always been.
It would be easier to let them run away and spread the news than to let the rumor spread slowly if they didn’t return.
He waited until the last of the icy beasts had disappeared on the emerald horizon before he turned back to his keep.
“Were those yetis?”
“Yes? They are the denizens of a region called the Far Frozen. Old enemies of mine from before your time.”
The boy simply nodded before changing the subject. “I don’t see many ghosts use ice. Is that a common or uncommon thing?”
“I would say uncommon. Fire tends to be the most common elemental aspect.”
The pair walk back into the keep and Phantom continued his curious line of questioning. “What do you think I’ll be?”
Pariah paused in the hall and thought, “It’s hard to say,” he paused again and looked down at the boy, “You haven’t shown any inklings towards anything? Wait,” he looked the smaller ghost over, “When did you achieve ghosthood?”
“Uh, if you mean when did I become a ghost?” Pariah nodded and the boy continued, “I guess that was about a year ago, I think? Maybe a little less.”
Pariah just blinked as he tried to process the information. How could such a young ghostling be so strong? He couldn’t believe that something the equivalent of a baby had nearly bested him in a one-on-one battle?
And he’s so little.
Where does he even store all of this endless bountiful power?
And there’s no reason why he wouldn’t get more powerful as he ages.
“Uh, Dad? You okay?”
Pariah blinks and refocuses his attention on his overwhelmingly powerful child, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He takes a breath to recenter himself so he can stop worrying his son, “I just hadn’t realized you were so young.”
Again, the joys and surprises of adoption.
“Let’s get you back to bed.”
“Aw come on! I just had a nap. I’m not tired.” the boy pouts as he floats to sit cross-legged in the air.
That was unexpected. The boy had been so obedient earlier, what changed?
The battle.
Had he been that ready for a battle he now was wide awake? That must be it.
“Have you ever used a sword before?”
The boy crosses his arms so his elbow resting in his hand and a finger to his lip as he ponders, “Well I’ve held the Fright Knight’s sword a couple of times and there was this one time I used the neck of Ember’s guitar to fight Youngblood when he had a sword. Other than that, no.”
If anything was constant about this boy, it was how full of surprises he was.
“Well then let us see how much you have to learn.”
The boy floated upward and beamed, both literally and figuratively, with excitement.
How was it that this child was exactly what he had always wanted despite having never wanted one before he found him?
He was both powerful and graceful. The fluidity of his movements as he flew along besides Pariah as they walked to the training grounds made him wonder if maybe the boy was made for this. Was it his destiny to be a ghost? Born only to become something greater?
So rare and seemingly impossible. He was a perfect dichotomy.
Pariah grabbed two short swords, tossing one to the boy, “Let your training commence.”
===============================================
The pair dueled for several hours. Pariah made sure to hold back just enough to not overwhelm the child, but not too much so that he wouldn’t learn anything.
“I’m impressed with how well you are picking this up.” Pariah encouraged as he went in for a quick counter-strike on the boy’s unguarded left side.
“Really?” Phantom replied as he just barely dodged out of the way.
“I don’t give compliments just to stroke egos.”
“Isn’t that a waffle?” the boy says as he parries
He nearly misses the easy block in his confusion, “What?”
“Oh wait, I’m dumb.” The boy lowers his sword as he floats backward in thought, “I’m thinking of Eggo’s. Am I hungry?”
Pariah doesn't think he can continue this lesson if the boy is so distracted. Although it was very wise of him to float out of range while he lowered his guard. He sheaths his sword into the course dirt beneath him, “Are you hungry?”
“No?” He hums to himself in thought, “maybe if I think about it more.”
“Are you often unsure of your own needs?” he asks gently taking the sword away from his son and placed it near his own.
“Sometimes. I think I just get distracted by other things, you know? Like if I’m super focused on something I literally can’t think of anything else. Bodily functions included.”
“Ah, I see.” Hyperfocus was great for battle, but could easily be an Achilles heel if not monitored.
“Wait that actually made sense? I’ve tried telling other people that but they didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“I’ve felt the same way myself. A good way to keep that in check is to be around people you trust. That way if you work yourself too hard, they can pull you out of it.”
The boy smiled. He had the sweetest smile.
But then he wavered, his body sinking to the dirt below as he tried to steady himself.
“Whoa, I got kind of dizzy for a second there.” he blinked and shook his head as if that would make it go away. Instead, he stumbled forward into Pariah’s waiting arms.
Pariah brushed back the boy’s fringe and noticed he was much warmer than before. They might have been training for an extended period but he was sure he hadn’t worked the boy that hard.
“The suit.” the boy’s breath was shaky as he gripped onto his father for support. “I think it’s still on. I, it,” he stammered and his words started to slur together, “gotta get it,” he was panting now, as if the effort of standing was more strenuous than an uphill run, “get it off. Gonna,” he looked up and his eyes were full of fear, “please?”
Before he could finish the boy passed out. Pariah easily scooped him up and took him back inside.
He took the boy into his bedroom and gently lay him in the nest of blankets and pillows. He ghosted his hand down the boy’s arm. The energy of the armor buzzed and he could feel it as it tried to leech from him as well.
The boy was right, the armor was poison. Donning it was dangerous, but the thought of leaving him exposed seemed even more so.
Especially after they had already been attacked once before since he had been here.
There was only one ghost he could think of that would have the answers, but he wasn’t someone he was ready to see just yet.
Phantom whimpered in his sleep and Pariah sighed. He really hoped this wouldn’t backfire.
Pariah went to his study and picked up the broken pocket watch. He clicked the release on top to open the small timepiece. The glass was cracked and the time was stopped. Stopped at the moment he had been betrayed.
Pariah pushed down his resentment and wound the clock.
“I didn’t think I’d be receiving a call from you so soon,” a familiar voice spoke from the doorway.
“So soon?” Pariah turned to face his guest, “Was it truly inevitable that we would meet again?”
Clockwork smirked that knowing smirk of his, “Of course. Now, what’s the question you want me to answer today?”
“Don’t you already know?”
“Yes, but I do prefer to hear it from you.” he admitted then added, “In real-time.”
Pariah shook his head, “It’s easier to show you.” he led them to the boy’s room and waited.
“Do you really need my advice on this?” Clockwork asked. His tone wasn’t demeaning, just curious.
“I don’t know which would be better for him. I feel both options are equally terrible.”
Clockwork hummed to himself as he floated closer to the boy.
Pariah tried his hardest not to get defensive. He did his best to not attack someone he had just invited into his lair. It was difficult to just stand back and let someone as powerful as Clockwork be so close to his child.
Difficult, but not impossible.
“Remove the armor.” He turned to Pariah, “Unless of course, you wish to kill him outright?”
“If death is the result of inaction, that doesn't sound too terrible.”
“For you maybe, but he isn’t going to like it.”
“He’s already a ghost.”
“True. But he’s also a child, he’s still alive. The living aren’t all that excited about the concept of death.” Clockwork floated back over to Pariah, “besides he’s currently the most perfect anomaly. Would you really wish to destroy that?”
“I suppose that is true.” Pariah easily walked past the other ghost to his son’s bedside. Certainly, he was strong enough to keep the boy safe without needing to swaddle him in such dangerous protection.
He reached forward and through the armor. He pulled the boy up and out of the cursed metal and relaxed with the child.
Using his other hand he waved the offending armor aside with his ghostly energy and placed the boy back down to rest.
Once he was settled in, he transformed back into his human form.
This didn’t make Pariah feel any more at ease but he resisted putting the armor back on.
“Let the boy rest. He’ll be alright.” Clockwork consoled as he hovered dangerously close to Pariah himself. “You know, fatherhood looks good on you.”
Pariah turned to the purple-clad timekeeper, “And what exactly does that mean?”
“It means it’s been an awfully long time since we were alone and I think there’s a lot we need to catch up on.”
Pariah did not miss the coy implications of that statement. He was merely taken off guard by them.
“And what makes you think I forgive you?”
“Time heals all wounds.”
“Even the sting of betrayal?”
“Especially that.” Clockwork’s smile softened, “Now come, let’s give the boy some privacy while we get reacquainted.”
Surely a private conversation wouldn’t be too bad. He had missed the company of the other, but he didn’t think they would ever be as close as they once were.
Clockwork wasn’t one to move too quickly, there was no reason to worry about any trickery or line crossing.
They walked back to his study, it was Clockwork’s favorite room after all, and talked casually, like old friends.
