#but no mortal was made to see Danny’s true form without help

[ledhardhonluelenath]

TMA/Sandman

Some thoughts on the Endless, the Fears, and how certain not-quite-mortals might fair in the Eyepocolypse.  

When compared to the Endless, the Fears had not been around very long.  Oh, they thought themselves ancient (as much as any of them were capable of thinking), and to mortal minds they were.  They had been around since before the dawn of humanity, after all.  Around long enough for their age to make them arrogant, make them think themselves equals to the Endless, or perhaps greater than them. 

The Endless, however, were far older than that.  The children of Time and Night found these entities to be nuisances at best.  At worst, they were upstarts encroaching on their territory.  The age and power of the Endless meant the fact they had yet to get rid of the Fears all the more infuriating. Especially seeing as certain ones did overlap and interfere with their domains.

The End was the least annoying, if you asked Death.  Sure, it and its Avatars claimed credit for her work, but she wasn't doing it for credit.  It made her job a little harder, but people feared her Gift even without the help of an eldritch fear entity.  Its efforts didn't really matter, when it came down to it. She won small victories over the End every day; it couldn't stop her from showing up to take even the ones it had the strongest claims on to the Sunless Lands, and she had long been an expert on soothing people's fears and bringing them comfort.

(Even those trapped in the book once held by Mary Keay would someday go with her.  She was there when Jonathan Sims burned Gerard Keay's page, and though he had been suspicious he had gone with her gladly once she assured him that he was finally free and could find rest.)

(Dream did not share his sister’s opinion on the End.  It was constantly encroaching on the Dreaming, something he could not tolerate. Yet no matter how many times he banished it, the End always found a new dreamer to sink its hooks into.

It was the second most annoying Fear, in Dream's opinion.)

Despair could almost appreciate the Lonely.  Loneliness often lead to her realm, and the Lonely hovered at its borders.  But very few of its victims found their way to her.  Oh, they despaired, but like all the other entities the Lonely held tight to those in its grasp and did not give them up easily.  It also would not allow mirrors, further limiting her access.  Desire found the Lonely amusing.  People who are lonely often ache with desire for another's company, after all.  

Desire was also fascinated with the Web.  True manipulation requires knowing and being able to twist someone's desires.  And if the convoluted plans that the entity was known for gave Desire ideas for their own plans, well.  It made their games more interesting. 

("He wants subtle?  He'll get subtle." Desire growled as their carriage pulled away from Dream's retreating form, the King of Pain licking their shoes, contrite.  And they sought out the nearest spider, watching the tireless work put into a plan that spanned years…)

It was impossible for an outside observer to determine what Delirium thought of the Spiral.  She felt at home in the hallways of the Distortion (had held the hand of that little piece of Michael as he wept and raged against his fate), and perhaps she liked the entity it represented.  But there was no joy in its madness (and the little part of her that remembered being Delight wept with Michael), so perhaps she didn't. 

(Delirium was there in the Unknowing, dancing with clowns and acrobats and Archival Assistants.  She was by Tim Stoker's side when he pressed the detonator, and stayed with him until her older sister came to collect him.  She watched his anger melt into acceptance, tears welling in his eyes when Death told him, "Danny's waiting for you.")

If one could find the Prodigal, where his siblings couldn't, he would refuse to acknowledge the Desolation.  It was simply further proof that he wasn't needed.

Destiny had no opinion on the Fears.  All was as written in his book, and not even the Dread Powers could escape that.

The most irksome of the Fears, in Dream's opinion, was the Eye.  It had recently risen to this position, having taken advantage of Dream's imprisonment to seize a portion of the Dreaming.  It completely cut that portion off from the rest, and Dream felt it like a missing limb once he was freed.  After retrieving his tools and dealing with the overdue Dream Vortex, he tried many times to breach the walls the Eye had put up.  That he was unsuccessful enraged him.  The Eye abducted dreamers from the true Dreaming, making them relive their entity-induced trauma in nightmares not of Dream's making, with no purpose other than to feed.  Worse, it forced its Archivist to watch, continuously damaging his psyche.

(The man who appeared in Jon's dreams while he slept in Upton House had no true eyes, and it was a comforting thing.  He doubted the Eye could spy on him through twin stars set into empty, shadowed sockets.  The man spoke of things he didn't understand, of a place that Jon used to go to regularly but didn't anymore, and how he would be welcome again now that the Eye's influence was blocked.  He told Jon he would have good dreams, that it was all he could do since he and most of his siblings were blocked from their duties.  None of it made sense to Jon–and it should have been infuriating, having one more thing not fully explained, yet another cosmic entity taking liberties while telling him almost nothing, but it somehow wasn't, and maybe it was because his head was quieter than it had been in a long time, or some quality in the low, even voice that made him trust that for once, this powerful being truly meant him no harm.  Especially since he did have good dreams; he dreamed of Martin and the cabin and good cows.  And for a few days, that was enough to put the hunger out of his mind.)

(It wasn't only Avatars or those touched and changed by the Fears who walked freely in the hellscape of Jonah Magnus' triumph.  Rose Walker, former Vortex and Child of the Endless, found herself responsible for both her brother Jed and little Daniel Hall.  They searched for any sign of Lyta or Carl or Hal to no avail. They grew desperate enough for Rose to try calling for Dream, which she never thought she'd willingly do.

Though Dream could not reach them, they found a man similarly unaffected by the supernatural forces that had twisted the world.  He had warm eyes and a warm smile and his arms settled around Daniel with the care and experience of someone who had been a father before, though it had been a long time.  He told them to call him Hob.  Daniel and Jed took an immediate liking to him, and though Rose was more wary, she couldn't deny it was better to have him around.  They ran into a woman named Johanna Constantine, but she declined to travel with them.  Rose and Jed were disappointed, since a bigger group was presumably safer, but Hob didn't mind; her uncanny resemblance to her ancestor put him on edge.

When they stopped to rest, Rose and Jed huddled together while Hob gently rocked Daniel.  He filled the hours with stories, about a man who declared he would not die, and the Stranger (Hob's Stranger, not the entity that fed off of people's fear of strangers and uncanny valleys) who met with him every century in order to see how long he would hold that conviction.

After the Fears were banished, screaming, from the world, Dream found them, the immortal and the Children of the Endless and the child conceived in the Dreaming still together.  Hob had thrown himself over the other three, so certain in his immortality that he didn't hesitate to use his body to shield his more vulnerable companions.

There were reunions both enthusiastic and hesitant, along with a chorus of "Wait, you know him!?" that lead to hysterical, relieved laughter from the adult humans, while Dream and Jed watched in confusion and Daniel babbled as babies do.  Rose found her fear of Dream lessened after realizing he was the person in Hob's stories.  Dream found that he felt even more amazed by his oldest friend, who had kept his niece and nephew and the child who may yet be important to the Dreaming safe.  Hob found out exactly how grateful Dream was for that, and barely had enough time to pass off Daniel to Rose before he started to express his gratitude.)

(As the knife sank into him, Jon held tightly to his dreams from Upton House, and to Martin.  He held on to hope, for freedom…and for Someplace Else.)

[alwaysmychoices]

Is This Goodbye?

 Synopsis: Charlie and Ethan are running out of time, and if they don’t hurry, this toxin will take everything from them. But with so little time left, is it more important to keep barriers or to finally say how they feel?

this is the final part of the chapter 11 rewrite but is not the end of the series.

Chapter 17 of the “with and without” series

Previous Series: “a weekend with dr. ramsey”

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x MC (Charlotte “Charlie” Greene)

Words: 7.2k

Rating: T (language)

The second Charlie saw Ethan approach her hospital room, she knew he had bad news.

She had seen him give bad news hundreds of times. Every time, he had the same expression, though the degree varied. He walked with determination, yet there was a silent reluctance in each step, like he would be happy to walk just a touch slower. The skin between his eyebrows crinkled together, and his lips formed a hard line. And his eyes…

They were particularly sad today.

In the short time before Ethan reached the glass, Charlie panicked.

She imagined a million scenarios, each worse than the last. She grieved each of them for her friends, her family, and herself. Even Ethan, too.

But once he reached her, she was relieved to see him. Happy, even. Especially because this could be the last time that she would face him like this, before this toxin had taken everything from her.

She paid a great deal of attention to him. He didn’t look like the same man who had kissed her goodbye this morning, and it was so hard to reconcile the two conflicting versions of Ethan. The one from last night had this radiance about him – like, for the first time in a very long time, the world was beautiful and full of possibilities. That man was happy. He made an extra cup of coffee in the morning and sacrificed his morning rituals just to stay in bed with her a little longer.

This man…

He wasn’t happy.

He was devastated.

His life had shattered. His world was chaos. And faced with the most important case of his career, he was failing.

And he was failing the woman he loved…

Looking at him, it was hard to imagine that the Ethan from this morning could ever come back. He was this now – and maybe even forever.

Ethan didn’t know how to begin. He imagined that there were eloquent, efficient words that could professionally and carefully inform her of the team’s new breakthrough. If he had an eternity, he wouldn’t have found them, though. The truth was that he didn’t want to begin. He didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want it to be true.

Charlie took a moment to weakly approach the glass, and when he remained silent, she offered a kind of sympathetic smile.

“Would it help if I guessed the bad news?” Charlie offered.

“Who said it was bad news?” Ethan asked reflexively.

He didn’t like the knowing smile she offered or how effortlessly she had read him.

He didn’t like that he wouldn’t be able to keep secrets from her in the coming hours. She deserved the luxury of compassionate lies and well-meaning falsehoods. She deserved to be spared, if just from the psychological toll.

“We’ve discovered the type of toxin,” Ethan finally elaborated, watching her intently. He told himself he was looking for new symptoms, but he wasn’t. He was studying her reaction and hoping that she could take it.

Ethan didn’t know Charlie’s limits like he knew his own, not really. She toed the line last year with the combined trauma of Mrs. Martinez, the ethics hearing, Naveen’s illness, and Landry’s betrayal. She got herself off that ledge somehow, though a few cracks remained. But this? Could she take this?

But truthfully, as her doctor, it didn’t matter if she could take it. She would have to.

“You have?” Charlie asked apprehensively. She was looking for the trick, for the subtle clue that would put everything together. Because, at first blush, this was good news, wasn’t it? They were one step closer to treatment if they identified the toxin. They might even have time to save Raf.

What was she missing?

How could this discovery earn Ethan’s somber expression?

Ethan took a deep breath and gave her one last moment of innocent hopefulness before he told her.

“It’s a maitotoxin,” Ethan explained, “One I’ve never seen before. And it’s still present and active on Danny’s body postmortem, including the surface of his skin, which means it’s still dangerous.”

It took Charlie about fifteen seconds to understand why Ethan had hesitated for so long.

There was no cure.

Charlie felt like the wind was knocked out of her, and she stumbled back, almost as if she were fighting this new information. She knew it was true. She had no doubts, yet… she couldn’t accept it.

So, she had to say it.

She had to announce it to herself and to the world. She had to make it real.

“I’m going to die,” she said it softly, so softly that Ethan almost didn’t hear through the glass.

But he did. She kind of wished he hadn’t.

Charlie belatedly realized that Ethan was talking.

No, he was talking to her.

He was saying something about how this wasn’t the time to give up because they were actively working on an antidote, but his words were so distant—nearly white noise.

All she could think was that she was going to die.

She would never keep her promise to Raf. She would never make it out of this room. She would never tell Kyra all the scandalous and sordid details of her private life. She would never sit on Ethan’s kitchen barstool and watch him make coffee in the morning. She wouldn’t even find out if they messed this up again or if, magically, it all fell into place.

All of her dreams and plans meant nothing now.

They would just be the private thoughts of a dead girl.

She could have wallowed in that for the rest of her life – it’s not like she had a lot of time left, anyway.

But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

And once she escaped those horrible thoughts, something worse occurred to her.

Charlie knew that Ethan Ramsey would never forgive himself for this. When she died, she would live on through his self-torment. He would twist and turn her memory until it became his personal hell. He would convince himself that he deserved it, and armed with his stubbornness and a conviction of his inherent badness, nothing could stop him.

She couldn’t fathom the thought.

Yet it felt so real, so decided, that she couldn’t stop thinking it.

It was there. It was true. It was practically inevitable.

And she felt some sense of responsibility in all of it. Like maybe it was her fault. Like she had sealed his fate with her own impulsive need to save others. Like she had betrayed him without even knowing it.

She couldn’t look at him when he was like this, eyes so wide and sad as he pled for her to maintain hope and ignore her own mortality. And she certainly couldn’t listen to him.

His voice didn’t even sound the same. It was too desperate for her agreement. Too grave. Too anxious. He needed her to live the same lie. It grated on her ears.

“Stop talking,” Charlie demanded breathlessly. She sounded like she had run a marathon just to command him. In her mind, she had raced miles and miles just to hold on to the world. But for Ethan, who watched her sway slightly with dizziness, her breathlessness was just another reminder of the horrible truth he couldn’t yet acknowledge.  

He didn’t dare speak. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

There was a pause.

Charlie realized she didn’t actually want to talk.

She didn’t want to do any of this.

She wanted to crawl back into bed. She wanted to fall asleep. She wanted to wake up tomorrow morning.

“Ethan,” Charlie began, her voice shaking. She silently started to count, promising that she would say it again once she reached three. She didn’t actually do it until she got to five, “I’m going to die.”

“Charlotte, don’t say that,” Ethan’s response was quick and desperate, so much so that the words blended together a little bit.

Charlie’s vision was hazy from the tears building in her eyes. Even then, she could see how intensely he needed her to pretend none of this was happening. She hated herself for not letting him have that.

She hated herself for being sick, for dying, for walking in this goddamn room and ruining everything. She hated herself for needing more, for loving him so much that she had to hurt him. She hated this illness. She hated Travis. She hated Senator Farrugia. She hated Raf for taking the brunt of the toxin and for leaving her here alone.

She hated everyone but Ethan.

But she really hated what she said next.

“I have to say it,” Charlie asserted, “Because it’s true.”

“Charlie, you can’t give up,” Ethan’s voice cracked, and he moved as close as he could through the glass. He was looking at her intently, searching for something familiar to latch on to in her green eyes. All he found was resolute determination.

It crushed him.

“I’m not giving up, Ethan,” Charlie told him. What little control she had over her body seemed to disappear. She was shaking. Breathing was harder. Tears prickled at her eyes. Everything hurt. “But we have to face this. You have to face this.”

“Am I not facing this?” Ethan retorted incredulously, looking like he had been insulted, “Am I not here, Charlie?”

Charlie shook her head vigorously, “No, you’re not facing this. You still think I will walk out of here unscathed, Ethan, and I won’t. Not even I can work my way out of this. I know that. I need you to know it, too.”

“Why?” Ethan snapped, “Why do you need that?”

Ethan seethed.

How could she ask this of him?

How could she give up when he needed her? When he was doing everything he could, how could she not just hold on? Why did she need him to face the one thing that would break him?

“Because I care about you, Ethan, and I need to know you’ll be okay.”

Ethan scoffed.

“I promised Naveen I would be there for you if he died,” Charlie explained forcefully. The way she spoke demanded his attention, and he begrudgingly gave it. “I need that same assurance, Ethan. I need to know that, when I’m gone, you will be okay. That you’re not going to waste years blaming and hating yourself for something that was never even your fault. I got myself in this mess. Blame me,” Charlie’s voice had changed subtly as she spoke, but it was clear now.

She was just as desperate as he was.

He felt it in her stare. He heard it in her voice. It surrounded her.

And it killed him.

When Ethan didn’t speak, she begged, “Please. I won’t let you use my memory to torture yourself.”

Ethan still didn’t say anything.

He didn’t need to. The look on his face told her that he could never agree.

It hit Charlie like a blow, and she stumbled back just a bit. She looked betrayed, even disappointed in him. Ethan felt the urge to avert his eyes in guilt.

“Do you promise?” Charlie was very close to a new emotion – one that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She heard it in her tone, though. It wasn’t quite angry, not fully disappointed. But it was certainly commanding.

Ethan had to answer her. He knew he did.

But he didn’t.

He was so mad that she forced him to sit in this, that she broke down his carefully constructed barriers. He couldn’t save her if he felt the full weight of what was happening. His grief, his adoration, his fury – it would bury him.

He told himself that he was doing what was best for her.

But there was a small voice in the back of his head that said he was just running away.

“I can’t do this, Greene. I can’t have this conversation,” Ethan announced, evading eye contact. He was too ashamed to look at her, “I’ve been here too long. I need to get back to the team.”

Then he left – so abruptly and dramatically that Charlie couldn’t even get a word before he was too far away to hear her.

Charlie watched him in disbelief.

He… left?

She was dying, and he fucking left?

Charlie didn’t know what she was feeling, but it was something close to anger, fear, and sadness.

She couldn’t believe he would allow his stubbornness to deprive them of what little time they had together. It was one thing for her to not let him hide from the truth, but was it the same for him to run away? Could he do that?

Was there a right way to do any of this?

If there was, Charlie was convinced he certainly hadn’t done it.

She fumed. How could he leave when they were already running out of time?

Quietly, she remembered the spring when she sneaked out of his apartment in the early hours just to avoid saying goodbye. Was he doing the same thing?

Charlie thought of the note she wrote the night she left. She had written, “I love you,” and then crumbled the note up and taken it with her instead of letting him read it.

Once again, when this could be goodbye, she hadn’t told him.

She might never.

Charlie paced as she tried to clear her mind. She stumbled every other step, feeling increasingly dizzy, but she kept trying. If she kept moving, she wouldn’t have to face the silence again.

She had to keep going because, if she didn’t, she would hear Danny’s final, ragged breaths. She would see Raf’s exhausted, pale face as he mumbled his last words. She would hear her own screams…

And now, she would also see Ethan storming away from her in her final hours.

It was too much.

Charlie felt lucky when she heard someone approach the glass. It meant she would have a distraction.

But when she realized that the noisy steps came from her all her best friends coming to check on her, her feeling of good luck wavered.

They all looked so…

Sad. Aware of the threat. And politely trying not to talk about it.

Sienna’s face was red with tears, and something stabbed at Charlie’s heart as she realized that her friend had lost the man she adored and would likely lose even more friends by the end of the night.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Charlie wasn’t suffering in isolation. Everyone she loved was also suffering, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“I saw Dr. Ramsey storming down the hall. Is everything okay?” Bryce asked as soon as he was in Charlie’s earshot, obviously apprehensive and drained from the traumatic afternoon. Charlie had never seen him not smile when he approached. It broke her heart that he only frowned.

No, Charlie thought, Ethan can’t handle his girlfriend’s mortality, so he’s acting like a dick.

But she didn’t say it. She didn’t want her last memories with her friends to be tainted with calling Ethan a dick or complaining about how ridiculous he was.

Instead, Charlie shrugged, “I don’t know, but they’re making progress. They’ve figured out the toxin, so that’s good news.”

“Really? That’s amazing! What is it?” Sienna’s face perked up with hope for the first time since the whole ordeal began.

Charlie hesitated and reluctantly admitted, “Maitotoxin.”

“Oh,” Sienna exclaimed with surprise, and it only took a moment for her face to fall with recognition, “Oh…”

An awkward silence fell between the friends, and Charlie’s eyes fell to the floor. She didn’t like the way they looked at her now, like they were memorizing her so they could remember once she was gone. Elijah’s face was soft with sympathy, a stark contrast to Jackie’s distraught and angry frown. Bryce was trying so hard to be positive that it seemed to break him.

And Sienna…

Charlie knew that, if she looked at Sienna right now, she wouldn’t be able to stop from crying, so she selfishly looked away.

But she couldn’t maintain it. She had to look. She had to connect.

She had to let them know how much she loved and appreciated them, even if they weren’t ready to acknowledge these as their final hours.

“I love you guys,” Charlie sniffed, wiping at her eyes before anyone could see her cry, “I’m so happy I met all of you.”

“We love you, too,” Elijah’s voice hitched, and Bryce put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

“It’s really good that they’ve identified the toxin, Charlie,” Jackie spoke up, nodding firmly, “We’re one step closer.”

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed weakly, “One step closer.”

“You’re going to be okay,” Bryce added, trying to keep everyone optimistic, but not even his bravado couldn’t save the day.

Charlie nodded, “You’re right.”

Everyone tried to stay positive, including Charlie, and she hid her growing tears with awkward sniffles and wiping her eyes. They pretended not to notice and ignored the increasing pain in their hearts.

“How’s Kyra?” Charlie asked.

“She’s good… She made it out of surgery, and she’s recovering,” Bryce clumsily added, “We haven’t… we haven’t told her about this yet. We didn’t want to stress her, but…”

He trailed off before he could say that they would bring her to say goodbye if it became obvious that Charlie wouldn’t survive the hour.

It stung. It was just another reminder that she was actually going to die.

Charlie nodded her approval and expressed relief that Kyra was okay, and she didn’t make Bryce explain. She didn’t need him to tell her. His obvious discomfort and nervousness expressed everything she needed to know. As long as she could say goodbye to Kyra before the end, she was happy to let her stay blissfully ignorant.

She wished she could give all her friends that gift.

As they continued to talk, Charlie found the effort to stay strong for them exhausting. A dark, quiet thought whispered that at least her impending doom meant she could rest after taking blow after blow.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the diagnostics team coming down the hall, and she released a tiny sigh of acceptance.

She knew they didn’t have good news. There was no good news to be had. Whatever it was would be traumatic at worst and depressing at best.

Charlie was so tired.

She longed for her bed so much that she was fine with the fact that she would likely never get out of it. She was ready to let go. She was ready to give in, if everyone would just stand back and let her.

But they wouldn’t.

Charlie’s friends moved to allow June, Baz, and Ethan to face Charlie through the glass. Ethan was staring at her with eyes that begged her to look at him. She didn’t. She was too close to crying already. Instead, she looked at June.

“How are you doing, Charlie?” June asked, and once again, Charlie was comforted by her no-nonsense approach. It was nice to not be causing someone pain for once today.

“Okay,” Charlie shrugged, “No significant changes.”

June nodded considerately, “You know it’s Maitotoxin?”

“Yes.”

“And you know what that means?”

“Yes.”

June looked away just for a second – a second to brace herself. When she looked back, she was stern again.

“I brought some files if you would like to look through it.”

“I don’t want to,” Charlie rejected the offer, “But thank you.”

June nodded understandingly and handed the folder to Baz, who wiped a tear from underneath his glasses, “We’re working on it, Charlie.”

“I know, and thank you,” Charlie acknowledged.

She couldn’t help herself.

She had to look at Ethan.

Her muscles burned with the effort of looking away. She couldn’t fight it. She had to see him.

And she did.

And it…

It broke her and healed her at the same time.

Her Ethan.

She could see him now – the Ethan she loved, not just Dr. Ramsey. He was so sad… So devastated. And so eager for her to glance in his direction.

She loved him. She loved him so much.

In that moment, he felt like the only thing worth looking at. Her heart swelled so much that it felt like it might just burst. She couldn’t imagine staring at anything else.

“This isn’t the time to give up, Charlotte,” Ethan asserted, but it was a plea, really.

He hoped his voice still mattered to her. He hoped he still mattered to her after how he treated her.

“But,” Charlie spoke softly to the group, though she only looked at Ethan, “There isn’t an antidote.”

“Yet,” Ethan emphasized, “We’re going to work around the clock to synthesize one.”

“And you won’t be alone.”

Everyone’s head jerked in the direction of the familiar voice.

For a moment, Charlie wondered if she should add delusions to her growing list of symptoms. She looked at her friends’ expressions for confirmation that they saw it, too, and to her surprise, they did.  

But… how?

Aurora approached quickly, flanked with a team of doctors on either side. Just a step ahead of her was Tobias, and it was only then that Charlie recognized that he was the one who spoke.

And just like that, everything was different. Hope rushed down the empty corridor to the sound of a dozen footsteps.

Everyone gaped as the doctors approached. Everyone from Edenbrook was too shocked to say a word, so it was Aurora who spoke next.

“The best doctors and resources Mass Kenmore can offer at your disposal,” Aurora affirmed, and the doctors behind her nodded their agreement.

Charlie was stunned to silence.

“Tobias?” Ethan’s lips were parted in a silent gasp. He couldn’t believe it, and right then, he decided he didn’t care about anything in their past anymore.

Tobias was here now, and if he could save Charlie, Ethan would forgive and forget anything.

The only thing that mattered was Charlie.

“This is bigger than any rivalry. Greene’s not dying on our watch,” Tobias looked at Ethan like he understood.

Normally, this would have terrified Ethan. He would have wondered how Tobias knew about their relationship and if he would dare use it against the two of them in the name of their ongoing competition.  He would have feared for Charlie’s career. And he would have hated Tobias for pointing it out.

But Ethan felt none of that.

Instead, he said, “Thank you, Tobias.”

This startled Tobias, but after a beat, he accepted the thanks.

“Yes… Thank you. Both of you,” Charlie echoed, looking between Aurora and Tobias with shocked gratitude, “Aurora… I don’t even know how to express… I …” Charlie stumbled through her words, struggling to express her love for her friend and her gratitude and her relief to even know her.

“Then don’t,” Aurora cut her off, “Thank me by hanging in there, okay?”

Charlie nodded weakly, “I’ll try.”

“We've set up basecamp in the laboratory. We can take you there now,” June offered.

“Anyone else who wants to join us is welcome,” Baz added.

“Count us in. Chemistry was always my strongest subject in college,” Elijah said, earning a nod of approval from Baz.

Sienna pushed her way to the glass, her teary eyes fierce and piercing as they found Charlie, “Don’t you dare die. No comas, either. Just… hold the line, you hear me?” Sienna demanded.

“I hear you,” Charlie confirmed as strongly as she could.

Aurora pulled Sienna from the window and gently lead her away. The others said their goodbyes and hurried after June and Baz to the lab.

Only Ethan stayed behind.

Charlie stared at him in surprise.

“What are you doing?”

“I realized you might need me here more than you need me with them,” Ethan confessed, taking another step towards the glass – towards Charlie.

He didn’t quite know where to start. He was ashamed of his behavior – of his rude cowardice. He was haunted by that last look she’d given before he left, like she knew he would let her down.

And he didn’t want to be that man.

He wasn’t that man.

He might not be able to save her, but that wasn’t what she needed from him. He knew that now.

“I’m so sorry, Charlie,” Ethan said it all at once, like a deep sigh he needed to release. And he did. He had to apologize. He needed her to not hate him.

“For what?” Charlie asked apprehensively. She realized that she was holding her breath as she waited. She wanted to forgive him so very, very badly that she was terrified he wouldn’t say the right words, that this would somehow be ruined.

But really, even if he had made every wrong move, she wasn’t prepared to let him ruin it. She would have forgiven him no matter what he said.

“For everything,” Ethan swallowed heavily, casting his eyes low with humiliation, “For storming off. For not listening to you. for hiding when I should have stood with you.”

He twisted his face, trying to hold back the floodgates of emotion as he added, “You’re asking for something that’s very hard to give, Charlotte.”

Charlie was crying.

She didn’t bother wiping away the tears as she sadly smiled, “I know.”

“But you deserve to ask,” Ethan made himself look at her, even though he wasn’t sure if he even deserved to, “Because you’re right, Charlie. You’re always right.”

Charlie laughed softly. That was the kind of thing she always wanted to hear. If he had told her any other time, she would have stored those words and brought them up time and time again. She wouldn’t get to now, though.

“I forgive you, Ethan,” Charlie quickly corrected, “Actually, no. I don’t. Because I don’t need to. I don’t care. You were a dick, but I… I don’t blame you. I’m just happy you’re here now.”

Ethan shook his head, knowing he didn’t deserve anything she said, “You’re too easy on me.”

“No,” Charlie tentatively held her hand to the glass, “I’m not.”

She offered a small, playful smile – the kind that always filled him with happiness, even now. She whispered, “I knew you were an asshole when I picked you, Ethan.”

He didn’t deserve Charlie.

But he placed his hand on the glass and smiled anyway.

He was supposed to leave now. They both knew it.

But he stood still.

He was devastated to look at her like this, alone and scared. He could see the exhaustion etched in her face, and he knew she hadn’t slept. He doubted she had sat for more than hour all together today. She was so stubborn… And so isolated…

“Can I stay?” Ethan asked impulsively.

Charlie jerked in surprise, instinctively taking a small step back. He missed her proximity immediately.

“Won’t the team miss you?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t care. I want to be here with you.”

Charlie hadn’t thought that there were right words to say. She thought that this situation was too shocking, too dramatic to have anything “right” about it. But she felt differently now. Because those were the right words to say.

She didn’t speak immediately. She didn’t know how to. She was too overcome with emotions she didn’t even recognize. It was harder to breathe. She felt like something was breaking inside of her – some resolve, some barrier. It flooded her until her limbs felt heavy and her mind exhausted.

She was falling apart. She felt it. Ethan saw it.

“Please,” Charlie begged him to come inside.

Ethan nodded emphatically, and he assured her it would be just one minute. As he rushed into his hazmat suit, he was tempted to be reckless with the remaining procedures. Time with Charlie was precious, and one minute felt like too long to wait.

It took about 65 seconds for Ethan to safely enter the hospital room.

Ethan only took one of the following seconds to complain about how slow he moved and how much faster he needed to go to get to her, but he was quickly distracted from those criticisms.

Because Charlie was there.

After hours of staying apart to maintain boundaries and leaving her to struggle on her own, Ethan could finally hold her.

Ethan wordlessly enveloped Charlie in his arms, and she fell deeply into his embrace until he was the only thing keeping her up. She shed the pretense of strength and stability. When Raf crashed and abandoned her in this room, she almost wallowed in the full effect of the night – the pain, the sorrow, the fear. But there was still a part of her that pushed Ethan away for his own good, sacrificing what she wanted for the greater effort. Now, even that was gone.

Charlie succumbed to the darkness.

And really, it was kind of a relief.

She sobbed into his chest, and Ethan held her as tight as he possibly could without breaking her. He wished he could give her all of his remaining strength. She needed it more than he did.

“It’s okay,” Ethan whispered, tracing a soothing pattern on her back, “I’m here.”

“I missed you so much,” Charlie managed breathlessly.

He squeezed her, but he wasn’t sure if he did it to reassure her or to prove to himself that she was really there.

Once her sobs grew softer, Ethan pulled away enough to wipe the tears off her red-stained cheeks. He hated the hazmat suit for keeping them apart. He wanted to feel her skin, her warmth.

“I wish you could touch me,” Charlie told him, a spare tear rolling down her cheek. He caught it with his thumb.

“So, do I,” Ethan affirmed with a sad smile.

She swayed softly in his arms. Her dizziness, coupled with her exhaustion, made it hard to stand. Her eyelids were heavy, and her eyes were bloodshot from hours of tears and not a minute of sleep. She demanded a lot from her body, and it was determined to get its revenge on her.

Though he knew she hadn’t, he asked, “Have you slept at all?”

Charlie shook her head, “I tried, but um…” Charlie had to stop and hold her breath for a minute, too choked up to continue. For anyone else, she would have left it at that, but for Ethan, she bore the pain and explained, “I tried after Raf crashed… And I… I was too afraid I wouldn’t wake up again, and I wasn’t ready.”

Oh.

Ethan swallowed heavily and nodded thoughtfully. He didn’t dare speak. He knew he would break if he did.

His beautiful, wonderful Charlie didn’t deserve this…

“How is Raf?” Charlie asked apprehensively. She doubted she would like his answer.

“He’s holding on,” Ethan told her, “He’s in a coma.”

Charlie knew that was the best she could ask for, so she accepted it quietly.

“Are you tired, Charlie?”

Charlie let out a deep breath as she admitted, “So, so tired.”

Not just physically, either. She was drained completely – emotionally and mentally. The only thing that kept her going was her determination, and even that wore thin.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Ethan suggested softly. When she hesitated, he added, “I’ll be here to make sure you wake up.”

Charlie knew he couldn’t really make a promise like that, but she believed it anyway. She needed it.

Charlie accepted his hand and allowed him to lead her to the bed. As she sank into the mattress, he carefully followed. His arms encircled her, and her head fell comfortably and familiarly to his shoulder.

If they pretended, it almost looked like a normal night in his apartment.

“I think your bed might be just a bit more comfortable,” Charlie whispered playfully, earning his chuckle.

She liked to watch him laugh, even through the bulky hazmat helmet. In fact, she liked almost everything about him.

“Can I tell you something I regret?” Charlie asked, much to Ethan’s surprise.

“Do you want to?”

“Yes.”

“Then, yes, you can,” Ethan affirmed, hiding his own anxiety.

Everything about this night felt final, like the last chapter of his favorite book. Every time they had a “last” anything, Ethan felt closer to the edge.

“If I could go back, I would pick you all the times I almost did.”

“I wouldn’t deserve it.”

“I don’t care,” Charlie shrugged. She was smiling, but it didn’t reach her sad eyes, “You don’t have to deserve me, Ethan. I wasted so much time thinking that, if I couldn’t have you, I had to stay away until I moved on. And I never moved on, not even for a minute.”

“You shouldn’t have had to,” Ethan felt like a fool for all his stubborn, ‘ethical’ arguments. He’d just been hiding, and because of it, they were deprived of so much. “I wish I could take it back, Charlie. I would take a million more months with you.”

This time, when Charlie smiled, he knew it was real.

And she knew she had to tell him. Anxiety built in her chest, and for a terrifying moment, she wondered if she as alone in loving him, if she had always been the foolish, love-struck girl. If he still didn’t need her like she needed him.

“Can I tell you another regret?”

Ethan nodded his consent.

“I should have… I should have told you I loved you the second I felt it.”

The world stopped. Time wasn’t counting down.

Now, it was Ethan’s turn to stop breathing.

“When was that?”

“The spring, the night I left you before you could leave me. I wrote it on a note that I was going to leave for you, but I took it with me instead. I thought it help me move on if I never told you,” Charlie admitted.

She was very aware that Ethan hadn’t said it back yet, and she watched his lips intently, waiting for three words to fall out of them.

But Ethan was distracted.

Because, if he had known, everything would have been different. If she had left that note, he wouldn’t have been able to stay away. He ran away and hid from her for his own safety, to keep him away from her. If he had known that she was suffering, too, he would have stayed.

He could have been happy with her all this time.

All it would have taken was for one of them to say that they loved each other.

“I knew then, too…” Ethan still seemed lost in his own head as he spoke, “I spent every night in the Amazon wondering if I would ever stop.”

“Did you?” Charlie was so afraid of his answer she almost hoped he wouldn’t say anything. That way, she ran no risk of being crushed.

“Never.”

He loves me.

Charlie shouldn’t have been shocked, but she was.

And she was so… so…

So in love with him. So overwhelmed.

Charlie began to cry, hiding her face in Ethan’s shoulder as she mourned. She cried because of how much she loved him. She cried because they had all this time and never told each other. She cried because she wouldn’t get to love him for decades. She cried because this was still the end.

Ethan held her tight and fought off his own ragged, dangerous breath. He didn’t know how to breathe anymore. He was so sad but so happy. So distraught and so relieved.

He should have told her before. In his apartment, on the balcony with a bottle of wine. When she was smiling at him. When her eyes reflected the glimmering cityscape and stars. When she was happy and safe.

“You know,” Ethan murmured, “My dad says I would be an idiot to ruin this because you’re the best thing to ever happen to me,” Ethan wasn’t quite sure why he told her this story, but he just knew he wanted to make her smile, “I told him that I already had once, and he said I was an idiot.”

Charlie laughed softly through her tears. She could imagine it, and she didn’t disagree with Alan.

“My mom found a picture of you on the internet after I moved here. She warned me not to get too close to you because you were too handsome and smart for your own good,” Charlotte murmured. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice, but he was relieved to have the distraction.

“You know, it was pretty strange you claimed to be such a ‘fan’ but had no idea what I looked like,” Ethan teased.

“I was a fan of your research. Was I supposed to keep a poster of your face on my wall?”

“I’m just saying that my picture was in the back of the book.”

“I was too busy reading it to check you out, Ethan.”

Charlie rolled her eyes, and Ethan smiled.

They didn’t say a lot after that, just a few murmured words and the occasional joke. Despite her best efforts to stay awake and enjoy her time with Ethan, Charlie fell asleep. She finally felt safe enough to sleep.

Even after he realized Charlie was asleep, Ethan held her. He wasn’t ready to let go.

He wanted to hold her through the night and keep her safe. He wanted to keep his promise and make sure she woke up in the morning.

But he needed to get back to the team and fight for her while they still had time left.

Ethan reluctantly untangled himself from Charlie, and before he left, he whispered gently that he loved her.

Ethan followed the decontamination procedures methodically. It gave him something else to think about, somewhere for his mind to hide. Once he was done, he slid back into his white coat and started walking down the hall to the lab.

But he didn’t make it there.

Every step, his feet felt like lead. His heart raced. His eyes watered. His breath was irregular.

He had to stop. He had to… crash.

He fell to the linoleum floor with a thud that echoed down the empty hall. He leaned his head back to the wall and begged his body to stop, to just let him focus. He searched for those barriers that kept him safe, but they were gone now.

He loved Charlie.

And she was going to die.

Ethan succumbed to the weight of it all as he sobbed into his hands. It took everything from him, so when the tears stopped flowing, he felt hollow and empty. He was alone. And he missed her.

As soon as he could fathom it, Ethan stood. He walked into the bathroom and splashed his tear-stained face with water. His reflection was so unfamiliar – so distraught and devoid of life – that he avoided looking at it at first. He forced himself to level his gaze with his reflection, and he commanded that he get his shit together and be a good doctor. It didn’t matter if he was sad. All that mattered was that Charlotte survived. He would give anything for her.

Using that as fuel, Ethan marched into the lab.

Everyone was surprised to see him, and they hardly kept it to himself. Even June gaped in alarm. No one expected him to leave Charlie’s side, and they worried what it meant that he had.

“How is Charlie?” Baz asked immediately.

“She’s resting. Heart rate still normal. No obvious deterioration,” Ethan ignored their astonished stares and walked to the half-empty pot of coffee in the corner of the make-shift lab. He poured himself a cup and winced at the taste, “Who made this?”

“I did,” Tobias confirmed.

“Makes sense,” Ethan muttered. If Tobias caught it, he let it slide.

He forced the rest of the cup down, reasoning that he needed the caffeine more than his taste buds needed satisfaction.

As soon as he finished his coffee, Ethan asked for an update and where he could help. Tobias told him about their progress and invited Ethan to work with him. Ethan obliged and fell into the project quickly.

The team benefited from his presence, even if they couldn’t believe he was there.

As they worked, Tobias finally said, “So, the resident, huh?”

Ethan shot him a warning look, “Shut up.”

“I’m not judging.”

“You are, and I don’t care. After we finish this antidote, you have all the time in the world to judge me. Save it for then.”

Tobias raised his hands in surrender and got back to work.

---

Charlie woke the next morning to a sharp, stabbing pain ripping through her stomach. She yelped in pain and instinctively doubled over, silently begging her body to just release whatever the fuck this was. She reached for Ethan beside her but found the bed empty.

As another wave of pain hit her, Charlie longed for Ethan’s reassuring presence but was quietly relieved that he didn’t have to see her bitter end. And anyway, he kept his promise. She woke up this morning.

“Charlotte!”

She recognized Ethan’s voice, but her vision was too blurry to recognize him on the other side of the glass. He was just an outline, but he was the tallest outline out of the group. So, Charlie reasoned it had to be him rushing through the decontamination tent to get to her. A handful of people followed.

Charlie dug her nails into her arm to distract from the pain, but she only ended up drawing blood.

Once it was finally over, she fell back into the bed feebly.

Ethan anxiously approached and demanded, “Are you okay?”

Charlie faintly nodded her head in response, and Ethan released a sigh of relief.

“What’s going on?” Charlie murmured, struggling to keep her eyes open. She needed sleep. She needed relief.

“We did it, Charlie!” Charlie recognized the voice before she recognized Aurora’s form in the glass.

“What?” Charlie’s mouth felt dry, and the word came out cracked.

“We have an antidote, Charlie,” Ethan explained. While she tried to identify Aurora out of the crowd, he had made it to her bedside and was sitting in the chair beside her, holding out his hand for hers.

Charlie didn’t understand.

She had to be imagining this.

But people were talking. They explained the miracle of the formulation and how the antidote worked. She only picked up every other word, but she got the gist of it.

It was real.

They did it.

“Did you give it to Raf?” Charlie breathed as soon as it all clicked together, cutting off someone else. She looked to Ethan like he was the only one she trusted.

“We did,” Sienna confirmed, “We haven’t seen any change. It may have been too late…”

“But we haven’t seen a decline, and that has to mean something,” Elijah chimed in.

Charlie fell back into the bed just a little bit farther. She was relieved he was still alive, even if he might not be by the end of the day.

“Charlotte,” Ethan’s voice was tender, nearly begging as he asked, “Give me your arm.”

Charlie obliged, but her body was so weak that it shook when she held it out. Baz came to her side and steadied her as Ethan prepared the shot.

As Ethan smoothly slid the needle into her skin, he told her, “It’s going to be okay.”

And for the first time, Charlie believed him.

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[phantomphangphucker]

Ectober Week Glow Stick/REDRUM - Glow Snap

Danny’s been king for a while and that means helping ghosts out sometimes. And that helping has repeated required dealing with humans treating ghosts like crap. But farming ghosts for glow sticks is a new one.

Danny Phantom was beginning to get used to his role as High Ghost King, the balls, the parties, the formalities and respect. The fashion was more difficult to adjust to than everything else in all honestly. Frock coats and even dresses. At least usually all he had to wear was his cape, that was just part of him now though. Another thing he had to get used to were the royal attendances, where he effectively had to just sit at his throne and hear ghosts out. Only if he accepted their request for an attendance of course. He usually rejected the Observants and Vlad, generally on principal alone. Especially since it was nearly a guarantee they were just trying to annoy him. If the eyeballs really needed to see him then they could go through ClockWork and Vlad could literally just show up at his house.

Now if anyone else put in a request to have an attendance with him then he usually paid attention, since that was a rare thing. Most ghosts wouldn’t even dare due to the ‘behaviour’ of Pariah giving the entire throne, title, and crown a really nasty reputation. Most of the Zone simply assumed or worried that this Phantom fellow, who defeated Pariah, was just like him or worse. The ghosts that knew him didn't even bother going through official routes, they just showed up in Amity or invited him to their lair. So when he got a attendance request from a ghost he’d never heard of representing an entire species of ghost that he hadn’t yet met, he accepted without hesitation and felt rather worried. This Brextex likely only knew the High Ghost King as the guy who overpowered the evil tyrant Pariah and was thus taking a chance by willingly asking to be alone in the throne room and lair of the new King. It didn’t help that most of the rumours about him involved the fact that he beat up other ghosts and had made powerful allies. So either this ghost was desperate, out of options, or just recklessly curious. Just in case it was either of the first Danny had elected to stick with his true ghost form rather than ageing himself up to look more ‘adult’ and imposing (or in the Observants case, remind them of Dan). Sure his true form was more visually impressive than it was when he was fourteen, but his seventeen-year-old ass did not nearly have the muscle, size, or defined body structure his mid-twenties self would. He’s honestly wondering when the heck that growth spurt was going to hit him in genuine. But hey, at least his fangs had grown in and he’s pretty sure his ears are beginning to taper.

But anyway, accepting that attendance request is what finds him sitting at his throne, one leg over an armrest and drumming his fingers in boredom on the other armrest. He’s tempted to start pulling down his crown in front of his face only to let go and watch it spring back up, small amusements. The FrightKnight comes in just as Danny had decided to go ahead and do that.

Danny rights himself as his High Dread Knight speaks, “Brextex has arrived, your highness. Are you content to see him now?”. Danny just nods and absently waves for the guy to just go ahead and let the ghost in. He honestly would appreciate the FrightKnight relaxing more on all the formalities, not going to happen but still. His knight nods, letting the ghost in and going to stand outside the doors.

Danny will admit, this is one of the odder looking ghosts he’s seen. He looked kinda like someone who was nothing but skin and bones but the bones under the skin glowed. The skin didn’t though, and he just had glowing light in sunken eye sockets rather than physical eyes. The fact that he walked across the hall towards Danny rather than floated was pretty odd for a ghost too. Eh, maybe he just preferred walking on solid ground; Danny often did.

Brextex immediately kneels when he’s considered officially close enough, not coming any closer. Which was pretty typical for ghosts who had never met him. What does catch Danny’s attention is that he can hear the ghost's bones creaking and straining as if they were real solid bones that had seen plenty abuse. Danny’s joints and spine would creak like that sometimes. “Bless you for seeing me, High King Phantom. May you bless me speak?”.

“You may”. Danny makes a point to smile warmly when Brextex raises his head, which seems to startle the ghost for a second.

“I’ve come to request aid, your highness. My kind, linchens, we- we’ve been suffering for a long while”.

Danny squints a little and leans forward, “how so?”. He thought he had made it clear to the FrightKnight that he wanted to know about any groups, clans, kingdoms, or tribes that were genuinely struggling. Either he’ll have to have a talking with him about what qualifies as ‘struggling’ again, or he didn’t know himself. The Zone was large, so he couldn’t really fault him if that was the case. But the FrightKnight was old, reasonably he should know about all of the different groups. “The FrightKnight was supposed to inform me of any genuine suffering or issues”.

Brextex shifts slightly, maintaining the kneeling position though, “well sire, I don’t believe the... FrightKnight looks beyond the Infinite Realms. See, my kind haven’t been part of it for ages. We’re... located in the Mortal Realm”. Okay, that gets Danny’s attention real fast. He probably looks more than a little surprised, since ghosts weren’t generally capable of staying in the human world for very long. Obviously this kind of ghost, linchens, could. But then that’s kinda weird that he hasn’t run into one yet. Heck, showing in Amity would have been easier than finding a portal and coming to see him formally. It’s not like the hunters in Amity were much of a threat now after all the truces he’s formed. Dora could come without a human disguise and buy tea even. Maybe these ghosts simply didn’t know?

Danny nods, “feel free to explain the issue then, I’m often in the Mortal Realm so I can certainly help”.

Brextex just blinks at him for a bit before standing up quickly and motioning with his hands as he speaks. Clearly forgetting the ‘proper etiquette’ at the serious possibility of Danny not being an unhelpful asshole. “Pariah used to keep us as pets to break our bones for fun so when one of the old ones found a portal to the living world we all fled there. But the living were quick to capture us and decided they liked our bones to and somehow broke our connection to the Infinite Realms”. Danny doesn’t like where this is going and if the G.I.W. have anything to do with this he’s going to be having some words with their head boss... again. “Or that’s the story that’s been passed down. Ever since they’ve been keeping us and harvesting our bones until we fade from the-”, Brextex jerks a bit likely from Danny’s eyes flashing a little angrily. By the ghost swallows and continues “-from the draining. The others were able to get me out since my ecto-field’s weaker and young. We had heard about a new king and thought that- that you would maybe be different. We had to take the risk. We had to-”.

Danny holds up a hand to pause the ghost, because frankly he doesn’t even need to hear more to be willing to help. A group of humans actively murdering ghosts to collect their bones? Hell no. That is absolutely not something he’s going to let fly. But right now he needs to get across that his flash of anger wasn’t aimed at the ghost. Brextex does not need to start begging to him. Standing up, which Brextex looks a bit freaked by, “I’ll help. Absolutely I will”. Walking down the throne steps, Brextex remembering himself and kneeling again as Danny approaches. Danny making a point to reel in the anger, because he does not need to stress this ghost more, and patting Brextex on the head, “you're fine. Humans treating ghosts like monsters and whatnot is something that ticks me off and that I’ve gone well out of my way to deal with. And to hear some have been murdering ghosts, I don’t give a flaming crap why, that is unacceptable”, sighing, “now come on, get up. I should probably at least know why, or what you believe to be why, you and the rest of your kind are being treated worse than animals at an unethical and illegal slaughterhouse”.

Brextex stands up more than a little stiffly and eyes him warily, giving a strained, “bless you”, then clearing his throat, “well... our bone enamel glows really strongly if we snap or break a bone”, he digs in the small little beat up bag he’s got around his waist and pulls out a little bag. Handing it over to Danny though clearly avoiding actually touching the king. “They shave our bones down after harvesting so they’re opaque-”, pointing at the bag, “-and look like that. We’re not really sure why and we honestly don’t care“.

Danny nods and scowls, opening the bag and pulling out a bunch of freaking glow sticks. Danny blinks, honestly a bit too shocked to really feel much of anything, “glow sticks?”. Sure his parents had used to rave about a conspiracy theory that glow sticks were filled with ectoplasm and had thus banned them from the house. But them being actually right was utterly insane.

Brextex furrows his brows, skin pulling tight, “you’ve... seen these before? Why? What are they for? Their purpose? Are they needed? Do the living need to do this to us?”.

Danny shakes his head immediately, because holy shit no. “They’re used for cheap entertainment. Completely unnecessary entertainment”, then scowls deeply, even growling a little, “this is absurd and I’m not having it”. Looking to Brextex, who looks nervous, “where are the other linchens being kept? Because I’m about to have some very not nice words with whoever assholes thinks torturing and murdering anyone for freaking glow sticks is remotely okay”.

Brextex nods and grins a little, “I can take you”. While Danny lifts a hand to form a portal in the air, the ghost watching in a bit of amazement. Danny doesn’t need to tell the FrightKnight he’s heading out, the guy can sense it just fine.

-

They step out onto a rooftop in Amity, Danny sending away his crown and cape as he turns to look at Brextex who’s looking around, “this place... it is your lair too”, then adding on like he’ll get in trouble otherwise, “your highness”.

Danny waves him off, trying not to seem ticked off, “don’t bother with royal titles here. Humans don’t know and I'd mostly prefer to keep it that way”. The G.I.W. knew but that was purely so he could threaten them more effectively. “Yeah, welcome to Amity Park, the place I usually am. The one place the G.I.W. are banned from”.

“The... G.I.W.?”.

Danny shrugs almost aggressively, “group of anti-ghost terrorists. Almost blew up the Zone once. I’ve had words with them”, nodding curtly, “now, where to?”. Brextex stares at him for a bit before pointing off to the east, a bit of green light sting shooting off. Danny plucks it to see how far it goes. The area seemed just a bit outside of a populated area.

Danny nods, “alright, I’ve got it”, looking to the ghost, “do you want a place to rest? I live with ghost hunters but they’re cool with good ghosts that don’t run around attacking humans. They’re pretty knowledgeable too, so if you need anything they can help. My friends could keep you company too. I don’t want you coming off with me and straining or hurting yourself”.

Brextex stares a bit more before furrowing his brows, “you are... very different. Kind”. Danny smiles at that, “my friends say I’m a little too nice sometimes”, and quirks an eyebrow.

Brextex nods a little, “I’ll... take the offer then”.

So Danny teleports them down into an alley and changes back human. Though that makes Brextex jump back and look incredibly confused. Danny chuckles and rubs his neck, “ah guess you don’t know. I’m a halfa”.

“A... halfa?”.

Danny nods and starts walking, the ghost following behind, “yup, half a ghost, half a human. This is how I look as a human. The people I live with are my human parents”. Danny sends off a quick text for his friends to get their butts over to his house as he pushes in his home’s front door, “mom! Dad! I’ve got a friendly that needs a place to crash for a bit!”.

His mom sticks her head out of the kitchen, glances at the ghost and back to Danny, “well he’s an interesting one”. Danny doesn’t even let her finish that and points at her, “no labs”.

“Alright, no worries sweetie. He’ll be staying in your room?”. Danny just nods as he heads upstairs, his friends joining him and Brextex just as the two had gotten halfway up the stairs.

“Oh! New ghost huh dude?”.

Sam just smiles at the confused-looking ghost.

Danny nods at Tucker, “you guys hang with him while I go unleash ghostly wrath on some people”.

Tucker pats the ghost on the shoulder and the two walk into Danny’s room. Sam raising an eyebrow at Danny, “what is it this time?”.

Danny scowls, “glow sticks are ghost bones apparently”. She scowls immediately herself, “you have my full support”, and nods at him as he turns to leave. Danny promptly teleporting away as soon as he’s back outside.

-

Danny floats above the little factory-looking building, arms crossed and scowling. It’s not even a debate him taking his mid-twenties full ghost looking form, the fact that his royal cape had a flaming white collar and large green skulls pinning it shut with a shadowy chain only made him look slightly more threatening than Dan did with his simple tattered cape. His crown wrapped around the flaming hair pretty darn well too in a way that just emphasised the crown even more. But before he does anything drastic he’s going to check this place out invisibly.

And what he finds inside is frankly, disgusting. The first thing he comes across are these tools that looked like potato peelers and piles of what he’s sure are ‘bone peels’; which he scowled at, feeling his lips pull over his other fangs. The second looks to be a literal vat of ‘discarded’ glow sticks, ones that were misshapen, damaged and leaking; the fact that they were taking these ghosts body parts and just throwing them away very explicitly pisses him off. Who knows how many ghosts faded for these damn scraps. It wasn’t like fucking glow sticks were important or even necessary, to kill to make them was beyond wrong and idiotic. The room with just boxed up glow sticks doesn’t really bother him beyond just how much was here. How many ghosts had faded in this place? Was there a risk of extinction? If he were to ask the FrightKnight the guy would probably claim to have thought this species of ghost already had gone extinct.

Getting to the centre of the factory is when he finds the ghosts. There are at least twenty or so ghosts that looked similar to Brextex stuck inside plastic cases that were practically skin tight around them, with little hinges and doors that could be opened for access to their arms, legs, fingers, toes, and ribs. There was tubes hooked into the back of the cases that appeared to be feeding the ghosts ectoplasm, Danny can tell by smell there’s some kind of drug mixed in. He’d place money on it being a type of tranquilliser or complacency drug. Especially with one of these linchens ghosts having escaped recently. He can tell from looking at the ghosts faces that the drug(s) definitely weren’t any kind of pain medication.

Floating over to one of the cases and putting his large clawed hand on it, he can sense the ghost inside is a child ghost. Scowling, first thing first, he needs to get them out of here. At the very least there are no alarms set to the cases, even if there were cameras he quickly shorted out with a little ecto-electroshock, meaning he can immediately start disconnecting the drugs and start tearing open the cases; duplicating so he can catch/carry the ghosts when they effectively fall out, either too weak or too out of it to really be aware of him or what’s going on fully. One of the ghosts particularly worries him as she’s gooey to the touch; making damn sure to teleport her to his room immediately with a duplicate, the rest he gives a more thorough look over to before sending them off.

Glancing around the room and nodding to himself with a huff. All clear. Now to scare the crap out of some assholes. Letting himself return to visibility as he heads to walk out, slapping a hand on the wall to send ice out coating everything in the room. Try ever using any of that shit ever again.

It doesn’t take long for an invisible duplicate to find the boss over in the ‘office’ building section, which he smirks over as he kicks in the main doors and blasts blue ecto-flames around him; making damn sure his footprints scorch the ground. The receptionist and people hanging around in the lobby jump over the loud sound before standing up and freaking out. Danny comes to a stop and crosses his arms, forcing anyone with the guts to try and flee to have to squeeze past him. He has no clue how involved any of these people are so he’ll let them off with singed jackets, jolts of cold, and a healthy dose of fear. Most people chose to just huddle in corners and radiate fear.

Danny huffs after a bit and continues stalking towards the big bad bosses office, completely ignoring the secretary as he goes. Though he does grumble with a deep voice, “I suggest you get a better job. There won’t be much left of this company soon”. Let her take that threat however she wants to. He wasn’t about to burn the place down, but an ecto-blast or two should do the job.

Kicking in the bosses door hard enough to blow it clean off its hinges and into the far wall, it just skimming past the guys head. Said guy is too stunned to do more than jerk and stare at him, which Danny snarls at him for. But at least that makes it easy to grab the guy's face and slam his head into the back wall, hard enough to give him a nasty headache but not outright kill the guy. He’s not here to add on to the death-toll.

“Alright fuckface, you and I have a few issues to settle. And this is a non-negotiable communication offer. Specifically about your little ghost harvesting setup”. Dropping him and watching the guy groan before scooting away from him across the floor with his hands and feet. While Danny moves his hand to coat the open doorway with flames, blocking off the only real exit here. Flicking a wrist to make one of his thrones form, simpler than his official throne but still pretty stunning-looking; all in sharp angular black and white and peppered in ectoplasmic gemstones.

Danny sits down while staring the guy down, growling at him, “I suggest you take a seat”. The guy nods and scrambled up without hesitation, reclaiming his average black office chair. Danny snapping immediately, “name and position”.

The guy swallows, “Brillar Glühen. Head of the Kialuma Company”, Brillar clearly tries to force himself to relax into the back of his chair, “and you are?”.

Danny grins very meanly, making sure his fangs are very noticeable, “Phantom, High Ghost King and ruler of the afterlife”, then just to be mean, “some might prefer to call me Hades or perhaps Satan”. No one called him Satan, like, ever. But there were plenty who considered the Zone to be Hell, so he’s fairly sure he can claim the name just to scare some asshole.

Brillar is visibly shaken and swallows, “nice to... to meet you”. Which Danny huffs a mean laugh at, “no it’s really not”, Danny scowls and leans forward on the guy's desk, “look here fuck-stick, I don’t know how someone who’s clearly barely fucking thirty is running a company older than that, but not only do I not care but I also am not going to change my course of action because of that”, pointing a clawed finger in his face, he’ll give him points for not moving back even if the prick goes stiff as a board, “obviously you damn well know how your company goes about getting its end product, if you don’t then you’re an idiot that deserves to be yelled at anyway”. Brillar nods stiffly so Danny scowls at him before continuing, “tell me then, why the fuck do you think it’s okay to tear out a beings bones repeatedly till they effectively die just to sell as a party novelty item”, growling, “last I checked, even humans knew better than to commit needless murder”.

Brillar swallows, “the creatures are already dead-”. Danny snapping, “so’s your mother, your point?”, making the guy jump a little.

“They- they don’t feel pain and-and one moving on is a mercy”,

Danny rolls his eyes harshly, “let me guess, you got that load of horse crap from the previous boss or the G.I.W., well here’s a tip for you. That’s wrong. We feel pain as much as the living. And since you might as well be an informed asshole, ghosts can not ‘move on’ by being murdered. It happens naturally”, scowling, “so knowing that, you see why you and I might have a few issues”. Brillar gulps and nods slowly. Danny growls over the lack of an actual answer, so he stands, grabs the guy's collar, and smacks his face down onto the desk. Lighting a ball of ecto-fire in his hand and holding it in front of the guys face, growling, “so what are you going to do about our little issue?”.

Brillar sounds more than a little shaken, “f-find a different resource. And- and let the-the glowing creatures- uh, ah, ghosts go?”.

Danny bares his teeth in his face a bit, “don't say that like a question, mean it”, shoving his head against the desk a bit more before releasing him and sitting back down, “this is a company that sells a cheap novelty item, that’s it. You have no place torturing sentient beings. And bones? Seriously? Do you even think the living public would be okay with that? You disappoint me”, scowling, “at least if you were some kind of ecto-phobic bigot, your stupidity and cruelty would make an ounce of sense”, shrugging aggressively, “and I’d have an excuse to beat the shit out of you”.

Brillar sits back up slowly and stares at him, Danny flashes his eyes just to freak the guy out more. Brillar swallows, “I- please don’t”.

Danny sighs and rolls his eyes, “I won’t. You’re just an idiot fed some bullshit information and handed a company that was already spinning its wheels financially fine so you felt no need to change anything. Ethics, common sense, and basic decency be damned. Oh and if you think I can’t use human methods to sue you into oblivion or politically murder you, then you are gravely mistaken. So take fucking heed and watch your shit or I will be far far less nice if I have to show up here again”, snarling, “now good day and have fun fixing all the shit I destroyed in your factory”. Then making his throne and himself burst into flames before turning invisible. Let the prick think he ‘road the fires of Hell’ or something. He does have to restrain a laugh when he invisibly watches the guy right himself, pull out his phone while shaking so bad he can barely type, and says, “h-hey dad, uh, can you um, when does the church open?”.  

Danny smirks to himself and decides to speak as darkly as possible into the phone, “someone needs to repent and get off of Hell’s naughty list”. Making the guy shriek, launch himself across the room, and throw his phone into the air. Danny rolls his eyes and silently snorts as Brillar eyes his phone warily.

Danny flies out, gathers all the ‘discarded’ glow sticks/bones and the ‘bone peels’, then teleports home. He’s honestly not surprised to see his friends and all the ghosts in the yard rather than in the house. Brextex looking to be fretting over the other ghosts of his kind. All the ghosts jump and go bug-eyed when Danny suddenly appears. All the ghosts quickly and jerkily moving to huddle together when they actually get a good look at him; obviously frightened. Brextex looks less frightened but far more confused than the others.

Ticker comes over and smacks him on the bicep, “dude, maybe take your true form and cool your jets before you scare them even more”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “yeah yeah, but first”, snapping a clawed finger and making all the ghost parts he stole/reclaimed appear in his yard, “you know I have more energy at my fingertips like this”, then changing back to his true ghost form.

Walking over to the group of huddling ghosts, who shrink back from him some. The whole being feared thing may please his ghostly nature a lot but he still doesn’t particularly like being feared. Brextex is the only one who doesn’t actively noticeably shrink away or seem fearful. Danny waves and smiles friendly at them, “relax, please. One of my powers happens to be a pretty heavy dose of age slash form manipulation. That previous form happens to be good for scaring the crap out of assholes”, smirking, “I don’t think you have to worry about being bone harvested anymore and a few humans definitely need to change their pants”. Tucker snorts on the side, the ghosts just look slightly confused but do relax some. Danny looks around and spots the child ghost he was the most worried about, promptly moving to her and kneeling down. Grabbing her hands and checking her energy levels, “glad to see you’re looking a bit better”, frowning slightly, “you’re still lower than I’d like, you can take some from me if you like?”.

She shifts and fiddles with his fingers some, “really?”. He nods so she grabs him and gets rather clingy, Danny picking her up and standing; carrying her around as he moves to check on the others. Easily hearing Sam laugh a little and speak at some of the more surprised looking linchen ghosts, “told you he was a kind soul who’s stupid protective”. Catching a few ghosts looking at her and nodding jerkily, but the group of ghosts do start to seem less nervous and timid around him.

Once Danny’s satisfied with the state of everyone, eyeing the child ghost, “Alright, you’ve had enough. No getting greedy now”, she just hums innocently at him as he puts her down. Turning to face the group, “so I have a question for you all, Brextex said y’all have been disconnected from the Zone. So my question is if you want to stay here in the living realm or be reintroduced into the ghost realm”.

Danny watches as they all look to a linchen with stringy red hair and red ‘eyes’, he felt older than the others so Danny’s guessing he’s their leader, or as close to one as they have. He clears his throat and steps forward, “we don’t have... fond memories of this realm. While we believe our kind left the Infinite Realms for safety... I don’t believe we have to fear there anymore. You... are not Pariah. We’d like to go home... your highness”.

Danny nods curtly and smiles, “then that’s what we’ll do. Now it might take some time for you all to reconnect fully and properly. That’s just the nature of things I’m afraid. So I’ll have some knights keep guard over wherever you chose to set down your roots, that way the miasma and local flora and fauna won’t damage any of you. Alright?”. They all nod looking a bit stunned though. Danny gestures to the bone stuff he brought with him, “these are yours to do with as you wish, as far as I’m concerned they belong to you. If you remember your traditions for respecting the faded, then maybe these will help you do that”. They just nod, clearly only getting more stunned; which makes Danny chuckle a bit.

Sam and Tucker share a look and shake their heads, while Danny makes a portal and guides the ghosts through.

-

Danny speaks at the FirghtKnight while watching the linchens settle down from afar, “let me guess, you thought they were extinct?”.

The FrightKnight nods, “I rather assumed that when they disconnected from the Infinite Realms it was due to being whipped out. Ghosts being able to exist amongst the living indefinitely as you do is uncommon, my king”.

Danny snorts, “I’m uncommon, Frighty. There any other ghost species that fled to the human world and were never heard of again?”.

The FrightKnight seems to almost sigh, “‘fraid so sire. The fallen mad king chased many off”. Making Danny actually sigh, guess he now has a bunch of things to look into. Hopefully there wasn’t, like, horror movie companies using real ghosts as movie ghosts.

End.

[the-odinson]

Thor 🗲 Intro

“Fortunately, I am mighty...”

OOC PORTION —

NAME: Danny

PRONOUNS: he/him

AGE: 23

TIMEZONE: GMT +1

TRIGGERS: None

IC PORTION; BASICS —

CHARACTER NAME: Thor Odinson

FACECLAIM: Chris Hemsworth

AFFILIATIONS: The Avengers

AGE: 1500s/appears mid 30s

SPECIES: Alien (Asgardian)

IDENTITY: Public

DOES YOUR CHARACTER LIVE IN THE MOUSEHOLE? IF SO, WHAT ARE THEIR DUTIES? Yes, but he doesn’t particularly like it there. He doesn’t feel the effects of the cold, but Thor has never liked being confined so prefers to get outside as much as possible. Thor has decided to take on the role of a hunter/gatherer. The vast forests of Europe aren’t too dissimilar to the Asgardian wilderness and, while the beasts aren’t as ferocious as back home, what’s a king to do if not revel in the hunt? When needed he will also help with aid work: he can cover great distances with ease and carrying heavy loads is hardly a problem for him.

DESCRIBE SIX TRAITS (3 positive, 3 negative) YOUR CHARACTER HAS AND HOW THESE AFFECT THEM:

Dependable: A man of his word, Thor is trustworthy and reliable; an asset in any team and to anyone who has a favour to ask. Endearing: Those who truly get to know Thor speak of him with admiration; his warm smile and welcoming personality don’t come to all, but if he lets his guard down you’re guaranteed a friend with whom you feel truly comfortable. Benevolent: Thor (usually) means well and (usually) tries to be kind to anyone he encounters. His exterior may come across as brash but there’s no malice involved, often just a difference in culture and upbringing. Obstinate: While being headstrong may not always be a negative thing, Thor hates to admit he’s wrong and has a tendency to steamroll down a chosen path rarely reassessing whether the choices he made were the right ones or simply the first ones. Distrusting: Thor enjoys being social but mainly around those he’s close to. He can appear a little hostile to strangers: while he wants to believe in the good in people, he’s been around long enough and seen a lot of the universe to know of the potential darkness inside them too. Reckless: Thor often acts on impulse and charges into situations unprepared. This can lead to serious damage caused to both himself and those around him.

POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES: Super strength: Son of Odin and King of Asgard, Thor is physically the strongest of all Asgardians, with feats including being able to go one-on-one with the Hulk and other powerful entities. Flight: Thor’s magical axe Stormbreaker grants him the ability to fly. Electricity Manipulation: Thor is capable of generating electrical energy within his body and can expel it in the form of lightning bolts. Using Stormbreaker makes the energy generation and expulsion much more powerful and efficient. Weather Control: Similarly, either with or without Stormbreaker (although with Stormbreaker is easier), Thor can control the sky and create storms. Durability: His Asgardian physiology grants much more durability than a human one, able to shrug off energy blasts and recover from injury much quicker. Thor can also survive in space and alien atmospheres. Allspeak: Also called the All-Tongue, Asgardians speak a magic-based language, granting the ability to understand and be understood in all the languages of the Nine Realms. Bifrost: Stormbreaker also gifts Thor the power to summon the Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge connecting all realms, allowing intergalactic travel between worlds in a matter of moments.

WEAKNESSES: There aren’t many things on Earth that could pose a threat to Thor, so it’s hard to pinpoint any specific weaknesses. Perhaps for someone like Thor, the word god comes up so often that he sometimes forgets it’s not true: he is mortal and, while far more durable than a human, he can get injured and he can get killed, a fact that he often brushes to the side when charging into battle. However he has become far more self-aware after losing an eye (and almost his life) to Hela.

IC PORTION; DETAILS —

WHAT BROUGHT YOUR CHARACTER TO SOKOVIA?

Sokovia is where the majority of Thor’s allies are, and he needs their help. His world gone, his people stranded on the nearest hospitable realm in need of a home; Thor knew of a place where the Asgardians could blend in and live peaceful lives. The problem is, however, it seems Earth is not quite at peace right now. When he couldn’t track down the Avengers in New York, he followed the trail to Novi Grad. His priorities are conflicting: while he came back to Earth to ask the Avengers’ help in establishing a new Asgard on this planet, he feels he should stay to try and help his friends however he can in aiding the Nomad’s cause.

DID THEY SIGN THE ACCORDS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

No - the whole Accords situation is mostly unbeknownst to Thor due to being offworld at the time of signing. From what he can gather, it isn’t something that would appeal to him. He feels the affairs of humans are mostly petty ones and, despite his growing acclimatisation to Earth and its customs, he doesn’t understand why humans have to be so divided about, well, pretty much everything.

PROVIDE 3-5 HEADCANONS RELATED TO YOUR CHARACTER: 1. Although Thor is an alien, he has spent enough time on this planet (in both modern and ancient times) for the culture shock to lessen so that now Earth to Thor is more comparable to a human travelling to a different country - he acknowledges that the differences are neither better nor worse and he chooses to respect them. He knows he will make mistakes and appear strange, but sees that now as an opportunity for personal growth. 2. One thing he doubts he will ever understand however, is the human version of ‘entertainment’. Thor cannot stand movies. On Asgard, they would entertain themselves by slaying fearsome monsters or engaging in a friendly drunken brawl, the more broken furniture the better! But on Earth they amuse themselves by… sitting down and staring at a screen for hours on end. While both Asgard and Earth had/have magnificent technology, it’s clear they used it very differently.

3. Since returning to Earth, Thor has become intrigued in the Norse tales of himself and his people from over a thousand years ago and their alleged feats. He finds it highly amusing how inaccurate the stories are, but it has led to a fascination of human mythology and the various pantheons across history and the world. He wonders if he will ever meet any other of these so-called gods.

4. While a human brain only has capacity for almost a century’s worth of memories, an Asgardian brain is built for a few millennia’s worth. Therefore Thor has a much more acute long-term memory than his human companions, although occasionally his short-term memory leaves something to be desired, especially after several pints of mead.

WANTED CHARACTER CONNECTIONS: 

Loki: His brother and the person he loves (and hates) most in the cosmos. I know a thing or two about brotherly love (I’ve been experiencing it for 23 years) so would love to write for Thor with his undeniably most personal connection. Wonder Woman: Both ancient, both ‘gods’ and both so very far from home. Despite their different allegiances I think it would be great to have Thor bond with perhaps the one person around here who may truly understand him. Superman: If anything they both have fabulous red capes. They are quite similar power-wise, although I know Superman is stronger but Thor definitely wouldn’t want to admit that. It could lead to some healthy (or unhealthy?) competition between the two, especially seeing as Thor isn’t too fond of the Justice League. Captain America & Iron Man: The two splintered team leaders. Thor respects them both (Tony a little less, perhaps…) and, since he doesn’t really understand the extent of the accords, would like to hear their sides of the story and what has happened since the Ultron incident. Bruce Banner: Thor has fought with the Hulk a couple of times but feels this has brought the two closer, learning more about how Bruce ticks and now he feels there’s a protective bond between the pair. I think the interactions they have could bring out the comedic style of writing which I love!

POTENTIAL CHARACTER ARCS: In the previous paragraph I said I like writing comedic characters (of which Thor fits the bill) but I also want to explore the deeper aspects of his personality such as the emotional pain of losing his parents, his childhood friends and his home. This could manifest in him not wanting to form bonds with others in the Mousehole at first because he’s lost so many people: why would he want to get close with anyone else only to lose them again? Perhaps a dramatic fallout with someone from a different team could lead to serious consequences for him or the team as a whole.

The reason I chose for placing Thor in Sokovia is that he’s seeking a location for New Asgard: maybe with all its emigrating population and empty buildings Sokovia could be the perfect location… I’m not sure how it would work in the group, but maybe Thor could eventually bring the Asgardians here, both to settle and to help with the restoration of the country.

CHARACTER BIO —

You know the story. An Asgardian prince, lacking in humility and exiled to Earth in order to learn what it means to be worthy. A classic tale, but at its heart, a tale of loss, and a tale of what it means to truly be human: even if you’re not. Thor has lived for well over a millenia, but only in the last decade has his life really begun. From landing on Earth a long time after people stopped worshipping him, he slowly began to understand the importance of relationships; from forming close bonds with the Avengers (and wary acquaintances with the Justice League and X-Men), to experiencing true love for the very first time. All his life Thor had assumed that humans were lesser beings, so why then did he feel he was learning so much more from them than he had ever learned from his own kind? 

After experiencing the death of his mother, then later on his father and three close childhood friends, Thor was at breaking point when his home realm of Asgard was obliterated during Ragnarök by the fire demon Surtur. With the title of King thrust upon him, Thor decided his duty to his people had to consume him before his emotions did. Pursuing the quest of a new home, he led them to Nidavellir, the homeworld of the dwarfs; unsurpassable smiths and mechanics with the power to forge almost anything the mind can dream of, ruled over by their King, Eitri. Eons ago, Eitri had forged the legendary hammer Mjölnir (destroyed by Hela) at Odin’s request, now he oversaw the creation of the glorious axe Stormbreaker when asked by Thor, capable of summoning the rainbow bridge despite its apparent destruction on Asgard. Armed with his new tool and a promise to the Asgardians of a brighter future, Thor set out alone across the stars, heading to Midgard to find his old allies the Avengers. He’d helped the humans many times before, hopefully they’ll be able to help him and his race this time. 

It took Thor losing everything to appreciate what he has. As he enters the next phase of his life in Sokovia, without family or a home, he is truly the definition of a nomad.

[a-marlene-s]

Fanfic Accounts and Stories~

Fanfiction.net Account: https://www.fanfiction.net/~amarlenes or https://www.fanfiction.net/u/5329546/

Ao3 Account: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Marlene_S

WattPad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/A-Marlene-S

Diviantart Account: https://www.deviantart.com/a-marlene-s

My fanfics: (Fanfiction.net has it all in one place. The other places are.. well, not all of them are on there.)

Complete:

Title: Mending Fandom(s): Soul Eater Rating: T Genre: Hurt/Comfort Type: One-Shot Summary: This is the first angsty thing I have ever wrote. Maka dealing with the loss of a love one.

Title: My (so many greats) great-Shaman King Fandom(s): Shaman King Ships: Anna x Yoh Rating: T Genre: Humor Type: One-Shot Summary: What if Anna were to make sure a descendent of hers were to become Shaman King.

Title: Alchemy Fandom(s): Harry Potter & Fullmetal Alchemist Rating: T Genre: Hurmor/Drama Status: One-Shot Summary: The One-Shot that started the Alchemy Series. Edward Elric has had enough. There is no hope for teaching Alchemy in a place where magic overrules science in everyone’s mind and heart. No one has the heart to study Alchemy…or is there?

Title: Alchemy: Magic vs Science Fandom(s): Harry Potter & Fullmetal Alchemist Ship: Edward x Winry, Alphonse x Mei, Ling x Lan Fan Rating: T Genre: Humor/Friendship Type: Multi-Chapter/Complete Summary: Magic and Science, are they the same or are they completely different? It just takes one person to point out all up and downs. Along with breaking the stereotypes that come up with being a wizard, alchemist and most of all being human. Part One of the Alchemy Series.

Title: Alchemy: Tiny Steps Fandom(s): Harry Potter & Fullmetal Alchemist Ship: Edward x Winry, Alphonse x Mei, Ling x Lan Fan, Severus x Charity Rating: T Genre:Humor/Friendship Type: Multi-Chapter/Complete Summary: Part 2 of the Alchemy: Magic Vs Science. Politics. Either you love it, hate it or you live it. For Alchemy Teacher Edward Elric, he lives it, hates it and loves it when he gets the upper hand. Here is to another year of teaching Alchemy and dealing with conniving politicians and idiots in general.

Incomplete:

Title: A Long Search For Happiness Fandom(s): Yugioh 5D’s Ship: Yusei x Carly Rating: T Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort Summary: How could someone have everything yet feel as if they have nothing? Yusei has the dream job, a good home and yet friends nowhere to be seen. Carly lost her dream job, close to losing her home and surrounded by people who care for her. Could one and the other compensation for this?

Title: A Shadow’s Touch Fandom(s): Naruto Ships: Naruto x Hinata, Shikamaru x Temari Rating: T Genre: Family/Friendship Summary: What would have happened if a certain Uzumaki made friends with a certain Nara. Someone that had stuck by him, even when times got troublesome. This Nara showed everyone that he is not your typical Nara. Let's see how one Shikamaru Nara helps out his friend without completely breaking his non-troublesome persona.

Title: Alchemy: Little Brother’s Turn Fandom(s): Harry Potter & Fullmetal Alchemist Ships: Edward x Winry, Alphonse x Mei, Severus x Charity Rating: T Genre: Humor/Adventure Summary:  Part 3 of the Alchemy Series. Now it is Alphonse's turn to taking over his brother's position at Hogwarts. He quickly began to realize how much...stuff... Edward left behind to figure out on his own. Like, The Boy Who Lived, Sirius Black... and a Philosopher's Stone you say?

Title: Casper High Magic Fandom(s): Danny Phantom & Harry Potter Ships: Danny x Sam Rating: T Genre: Humor Summary:  What if Casper High teaches magic in secret? What if they were invited to the Tri-Wizard Tournament? What if they help or makes things worse in the British Wizarding World? What if...

Title: Corpse Groom Fandom(s): Cropse Bride Ships: Yet to be seen... Rating: T Genre: Romance Summary:  Like how the title states, it a swap from what it would be with several twists and turn. Emily is about to be married off to Lord Barkis Bitter in order to pay off her father's debt to the man. Not wanting to be put up with an arranged marriage Emily runs off and to only end up marrying someone from her past. Someone who's outlook looks rather grim.

Title: Floating White Lotus Fandom(s): Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: T Genre: Humor/Adventure Summary:  Water Floating White Lotus, a former fire nation ship that was converted into a traveling tea shop. The shop is led by the rumored the Dragon of the West, (No knows if this is true or not… yet) and his nephew who wishes to forget the ever lasting war. Well, until a certain someone decided he'd be the perfect fire bending instructor. Au inspired by @captainkirkk​

Title: He Just Ninja’ed us! Fandom(s): Naruto & Young Justice Rating: T Genre: Humor/Friendship Summary: Superboy wasn't the only one they saved form Cadmus that night...Robin, Kid Flash, and Kaldur found a rather Youthful...ninja tucked away in Cadmus. Far too youthful for their own taste.

Title: Kit or Fawn? Fandom(s): Naruto Rating: T Genre: Family/Humor Summary:  Shikamaru isn't the type to allow whispers or glares bother him, but it does become rather troublesome when it becomes known the reasons for it all. Should he let it get to him? Maybe? But that would be too troublesome. "How is it I repeatedly get defeated by a mortal in this pathetic game!" "You're just mad you got beat by a three-year-old, Troublesome Fox." Jinchuriki!Shikamaru.

Title: Koi-Koi Fandom(s): Naruto & My Hero Academia Ships: Shikamaru x Temari Rating: T Genre: Friendship Summary:  A cover-up, to cover-up the actual cover-up. Might as well make this a game on who can figure out everyone's secrets. Konoha experienced a heavy blow for the superhero community. So much so, that everyone that attended Konoha Shinobi Academy had to be transferred out to different schools until further notice. Now let's see if U.A. can play a game.

Title: La Red Fandom(s): Miraculous Ladybug Ships: To be seen. Rating: T Genre: Drama/Salt Summary:  Marinette was not Lila's first, let alone last victim. Let's see how Marinette decides that she needs outside help to take down one Lila Rossi. Salt. WARNING: Lot's of salt coming from Lila, Alya, and Adrien.

Title: Legend of the Miraculous Seas Fandom(s): Miraculous Ladybug Ships: Nino x Marinette Rating: T Genre: Adventure/Drama Summary:  One moment you are laughing and giggling with your friends during a time of peace. What was once a peaceful country all thanks to the Book of Peace, now it appeared someone had taken the book and used it to their own devices, thus leaving a wave of chaos behind. When the book went missing and the person being blamed has a close connection to one legendary pirate.

Title: Past vs Future Fandom(s): Fullmetal Alchemist Ships: Edward x Winry, Alphonse x Mei Rating: T Genre: Supernatural Summary:  Winry Rockbell had inherited a home out in the country from her late grandmother. She moved into the home to get away from the city and all the problems that came along with it. Old problems only seemed to double as she moved into the old home.

Title: Phantom or Fairy Fandom(s): Fairy Tail Rating: T Genre: Friendship Summary:  Lucy ended up finding a couple off Phantoms when she ran away from home… maybe this could be her new start in life.

Title: Shikadai One-Shots Fandom(s): Naruto Ships: Shikamaru x Temari Rating: T Genre: Family Summary:  The Uzumaki family were not the only ones dealing with the affect of having one of their primary family member being gone for long periods of time. Shikadai never verbalized how disappointed he would get when his father would be nowhere to be seen due to his obligations of being the right-hand man of the Hokage. The reason? He knows what is needed to be done for the village.

Title: Shikamaru’s Adventure: Sinnoh Fandom(s): Naruto & Pokemon Rating: T Genre: Humor Summary:  After much debate, (and his mother nagging), Shikamaru Nara, the son of a famous frontier brain, starts his own journey. His main goal, challenge his father without it being such a huge drag.

Title: Shikamaru’s Fairy Tail Fandom(s): Naruto & Fairy Tail Rating: T Genre: Friendship Summary: Shikamaru just thought it was just any other day while babysitting three-year-old Mirai. Too bad for him, the past is coming back to bite him in the butt. An old form of unknown magic that may have helped him but it is far too much of a drag to figure out what got him and Mirai out of one problem into another one.

Title: Silent Moments of the Past Fandom(s): Naruto Rating: T Genre: Humor/Drama Summary:  We are back! Back to this hell hole, we call a Tea Party that is run by Death's himself. Several people woke up after meeting their end, they work up to be invited to a tea party and a chance to change their past for the better or for worse. (Grammar. It's an old fic that was over 70 chapters long. Give me a break.)

Title: Then, There, and Where? Fandom(s): Dragon Age Rating: T Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship Summary:  He messed up. Solas severely messed up. He and the world are suffering for his mess up. Despite how horrid the world became, there is still some hope left. Hopefully, they can fix his past mistakes. Or better yet... prevent it from ever happening. Time Travel Fic. Original Characters.

Title: Uncle ‘Itch Fandom(s): ROTBTD Ships: Many. Rating: T Genre: Humor/Friendship Summary: Pitch Black, The King of Nightmares, everyone's favorite enemy, friend, uncle, and confidante. Multi-Crossover. ROTBTD AU.

Title: I’m a Scholar, Not A Knight! Fandom: My Hero Academia Ships: Izuku x Ochaco, Katsuki x Eijiro, Shoto x Momo Rate: T Genre: Humor/Adventure/Fantasy Summary: Izuku knew he wanted to become more than a simple peasant. He plans on becoming a scholar. A simple scholar that is repeatedly being told otherwise. Somehow, he found himself in the company of a retired knight, a squire, a witch-in-training, a runaway prince, a barbarian king, a human/dragon hybrid and a frog shifter… All of whom start to assume he’s the Lost Hero of Legend. Yeah… there goes his goal of becoming a scholar. Fantasy Au.

Title: Unknown Realty Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug & DC & PJO & Greek Myths Ships: Jason x Marinette, Dick & Kori, Rate: T Genre: Hurt/Comfort Summary: Jason, or as many know him as… Hades.He lost his luster for the living and nonliving, just a constant repeat. That was until he met someone that tug on his heartstrings just the right way. He takes her. Without a second thought.

Title: Futuristic Miraculous Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug & Batman Beyond Ships: Terry x Marinette Rate: T Genre: Drama Summary: With her childhood friends close by, Marinette knew she could take on the world, even when dealing with a certain lair. It all first started with taking a job for being Jagged Stone’s personal designer and that resulted with her being in Neo-Gotham. All the while Terry is facing the fact he is the new Batman and dealing with all the past Robins wondering what Bruce was thinking in taking in a new kid into the cruel world that is of Superheroes.

I’ll post the AU’s I have written here on Tumblr on a seperate post.

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MLC: @northernbluetongue @its-stevonnie-bitch @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thequestionablyhuman   @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @mystery-5-5 @bamagirl513  @dawnwave16 @call-me-paxton @shizukiryuu @naclychilli @virgil-is-a-cutie @saltier-than-the-dead-sea @persephonebutkore @krispydefendorpolice

ML Alone: @northernbluetongue @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thequestionablyhuman   @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @mystery-5-5 @shizukiryuu @bloody-no-kissu @nobodyfamousposts @kelelamentia @shaismall @caffeinetheory @falling-electricxangel @miraculousl4dybug @dawnwave16 @a-kpoet @legendaryneckjudgestudent

ML/DC: @northernbluetongue @its-stevonnie-bitch @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thequestionablyhuman @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @bamagirl513 @mystery-5-5 @dawnwave16 @call-me-paxton @shizukiryuu @virgil-is-a-cutie @zalladane

Fairy Tail: @bamagirl513

Harry Potter: @dawnwave16

[blueoatmeal]

Day 1: Sandbox Characters

Obviously I went with Clockwork. Mostly a jumble of thoughts, headcanons, and quotes here

Clockwork

Not truly omniscient. Learns info like any other person, by seeing it. Just has a lot more time to spend watching, and the unique ability to see the past and future by travelling there

To any mortal being, he appears to know just about everything, but in truth there’s such a volume of information that’s constantly increasing that CW only knows a small fraction of what could be known at any given time

He’s very good at acting like he knows all, of course

He is in no way telepathic. Just good at reading people and predicting what they’ll do based on prior/future actions. Like a Batman Gambit. Not a foolproof method though

(Core theory) Has a time core. Unlike average ghosts who consciously tap into their specialized powers to use them (besides when Danny was repressing his ice powers bc he didn’t know about them), CW is constantly generating temporal energy

Just as Danny might freeze a wall he phases through when tapping into his core, CW affects things when phased through them too. He just. Can’t turn the effect off. Notably, he tends to age (or otherwise warp) whatever material or being he phases through. Sometimes quite drastically

As a result, he generally refrains from using intangibility and often uses teleportation in its place when he can, even though it takes more energy. That being said, he has made offensive use of intangibility

This also makes overshadowing a lot riskier

He is, for all intents and purposes, a ghost. He may not have always been a ghost, but he is now

His scar is hypertrophic (raised) except in AUs where it isn’t

He has the only time core in existence. He’s been targeted for it before; by time travelers, errant physicists, and aspiring rulers of the universe

The clock in his chest is fully functional; the hands move, the pendulum swings, and it even makes a ticking sound

He can make around 12 or 13 duplicates

He is very much an unreliable narrator. Take everything he says with a grain of salt

Clockwork’s tower always looks a lot smaller from the outside. It’s a phenomenon that doesn’t seem too unusual in the Ghost Zone, but is taken to the extreme in the clocktower. Unless a bunch of the doors in the halls lead to nothing, there’s more going on than anyone could guess from a casual look.

Quotes: (mostly from my phic WIPs)

Clockwork stared into the distance with an annoyed look on his face. “It is possible. I’m not the only entity who can manipulate time. Sometimes others try to help fix time, including those ruined timelines, and wind up making my job more difficult. Other times they’re a bit too effective.”

“Time is fluid,” Clockwork explained, “and I am a part of it. I do not exist outside of time. My actions can make a difference in time on the most basic level, like yours or anyone else’s. I can change events without causing temporal rifts.”

“It’s interesting to hear directly what people think about their own time.

Clockwork shook his head. “As convenient as it would be, I can’t speed up time for localized parts of my own body. It would throw everything out of whack. I can certainly freeze time, wait until I heal, then unfreeze it, but it’s indescribably boring.

“You don’t have a preset destiny. Just variable possibilities based on the actions and decisions of yourself and those around you. And, of course, genuine chance. Natural disasters, for example.

“You reduce individuals to statistics because you can’t properly comprehend numbers above a few hundred. You lose your perspective because your minds can’t handle the concept of trillions of unique people with different lives and goals of their own, each with a web of connections to others. You can only envision a few people at a time with that much detail. I don’t have those limits. Not on comprehension. Not on memory. I see the entirety of a person’s life, from birth to death and sometimes beyond, in multiple continuities, and I can never forget any of it.”

“I can tug at someone’s secrets every day for their entire life, but they can still choose to ignore me or refuse what I ask of them. I can’t just puppet people into doing what I want. There’s overshadowing, but it’s not a good long-term strategy. And it’s terribly unreliable. Most of what I do is good old-fashioned manipulation, with force applied as needed.”

“I must not act without thinking. Ever. Anything could happen. Worse, if my actions benefit myself at the expense of others, I lose my objectivity and all my decisions become compromised. It’s a conflict of interest. I can’t enter personal matters into the equation.”

“I understand the confusion, but this is not a torture chamber. It’s more of a garage, really.”

“It’s actually the seventh world-scale war, but it’s called the Fourth War because Captain Fourth is the one who fired the first shot.”

“With nearly every decision that’s made, by anyone, the timeline splits. Often more than just twice. I may have started with one timeline, but that didn’t last long.”

“Sometimes the chronology itself begins to lead towards the destruction of the timeline. Perhaps a reality-warping weapon is developed, or a massive drought begins that will end all life if it isn’t stopped. I either let the timeline die, or course-correct so that the timeline may go on longer.”

Clockwork raised his eyebrows. “I’m an excellent actor, Daniel.”

Clockwork gave him an odd look. “That’s only in this form. This isn’t my standard or default form or anything. All of my forms, no matter the appearance of age, are equally me. Besides, even my eldest appearance is hardly representative of my true age.”

“My body ages in a cycle, and my mind ages linearly.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I suppose I can’t quite perceive it as you do.”

“You know, I never quite understood that. I see how people can be inaccurate with their sense of time, but to report either a far shorter or far longer span than actually took place—Why? How does that happen? I could come up with an evolutionary reason but ultimately it just seems ridiculous to have a sense of time at all if half the time it’s wildly inaccurate.” 

[orange-you-say]

the chains of harrow quest was really, really bad imo

(spoilers for literally the entire quest under the cut)

the quest starts out really promising - an abandoned steel meridian vessel, the crew slaughtered and the red veil insignia scrawled on the wall in what looks like blood. something really really wrong is happening here, a feeling amplified by a sudden red veil ambush after the spending the whole mission in eerie silence. then, when rescuing palladino, rather than fight against clear and defined red veil agents, you’re pitted against a force composed of some sort of shadow figure that shuffles about with no label. you’re hard pressed to spot them before they’re in your face because the level is also ominously dark, allowing them to blend in with the shadows, usually only seeing their red health bar when targeting them

after you rescue palladino you next investigate an abandoned corpus vessel. it’s the same deal as before - pitch black, eerie silence, with strange shadows dancing along the walls, looking almost human. you think you know what to expect this time, especially as you’re crashing a red veil seance - they’re gonna try to fuck you up, and you’re gonna have to fuck them up first and steal their sacred relic so palladino can try to get through to their god-figure rell.

the neat thing is that that isn’t what happens. the veil agents are all already dead, with their sacred artifact sitting in the center of the room. you nab it and get ready to head out, but you’re stopped. something is talking to you. it’s not happy you took the sacred gizmo.

and that’s when rell appears and all hell breaks loose

the shadow figures are back, and the veil agents are reanimating, which on their own would be easy enough to deal with - their defensive stats aren’t particularly noteworthy, and they drop after a couple of hits. the problem is rell. rell is a particularly ill defined shadow man with glowing red eyes who stands out for two other reasons. the first is that he has little minions that will chase you down while he catches up. the second thing that sets him apart is that he doesn’t have a health bar. you can’t kill him, and the doors are all chained shut. so you’re stuck in a room with shadow monsters and zombie edgelords and what amounts to about eight different horror movie monsters in one really pissed off god-figure who’s immortal. it’s great, it’s different, it takes away your ability to cheese it with a silly high amount of damage. it removes the sensation of being overpowered from you, which warframe struggles with in a lot of areas. anyways you escape and get back to your ship after palladino warns you that you can’t kill him, and that marks about the point where the quest starts going downhill

the next three missions of the quest are the same mission spread across different tiles - go to a room, use a kinetic siphon trap that simaris sold to you assuming you’d use it to capture prospective sanctuary candidates, and shoot the physical manifestation of one of rell’s emotions until it’s weak enough for the trap to absorb a la danny phantom. it’s boring, it’s grindy, and it would be painfully dull if it weren’t for rell following you and trying to murder you the whole time. it’s a very nice touch, as are his remarks on each emotion as you trap them, but the justification for it - apparently doing this will help him regain his “true self”, as well as the fact that you must capture a total of nine emotions over three missions, make it tedious and irritating.

finally, once rell’s emotions have been contained, you are asked to go to the red veil temple and straight up murder rell because apparently capturing his emotions did absolutely nothing to help him and now it’s his time to pass on, so off to destroy his vessel you go. this has the potential to have been a really touching moment in which we see rell’s humanity restored and free him from his prison after an epic showdown with who you’ve come to understand as “dark rell”. instead, you get a really obnoxious and painful sequence where you must fend off waves of veil agents between rounds of shattering the chains around rell’s vessel - as your operator. this could have been relatively simple and painless, albeit a little too easy, but instead you are forced to use the most fragile unit in your arsenal, and the enemies aren’t going easy on you. the veil agents will throw dagger users at you, and then bows that can take out a significant chunk of health (enough to kill me every time they hit me, but i never got hit by them at full health so idk how much damage they acutally do), followed by veil agents who are just straight up reskins of the shadow stalker with lowered stats. to top it off, “dark rell” or “the man in the wall” is floating around like an asshole and will pepper you with balls of fire periodically. it’s a really painful mission that perfectly captures how lacking in any ability at all the operator is - something that we’ve all been complaining about since the War Within dropped, so DE really has no excuse for how poorly thought out this was. the only positive side to this mission is that death didn’t set you back in the slightest - you respawn a few seconds later with the map exactly as you left it, right down to the number of hit points that asshole had left before he killed you, and keep going

level design notwithstanding, the lore to the quest also leaves a lot to be desired. over the course of the quest, we learn that rell was a tenno who was “different” (autistic), and for this, margulis cast him out. we already know margulis is a character of questionable morality from how she sealed our memories and abilities in the War Within, but this feels much more like a character being driven by the plot, rather than the other way around like it ought to be. margulis loved the tenno, and it seems odd that rell was the only tenno out of many who was “different”.

(and frankly, i find it incredibly frustrating that DE didn’t have the guts to outright say “margulis rejected rell because he was autistic” and instead left plenty of hints and implications that he was. it’s 2017, warframe is set even further in the future than that, we can say that characters are autistic without having a meltdown, and we are certainly above the idea that autism is grounds to reject someone is an acceptable plot device)

anyways margulis deciding rell wasn’t good enough for her apparently turned out to be a good thing, because he goes on to become an expert in void related knowledge which he shares with his disciples, who will eventually form the red veil. he also takes it upon himself to protect the system from what he calls the “man in the wall” - an entity hinted to be the “something out there, watching us” the tenno’s father talks about in TWW. because he knew he would eventually get old and die (which finally starts to answer my questions about tenno mortality - at the very least, people think the tenno are gonna age over time), he chose to permanently transfer his consciousness into the Harrow warframe

let’s back up a second here. rell wasn’t good enough for margulis. he wasn’t allowed to be put in cryosleep and dream with the other tenno. he never received a precursor to the warframe, and yet somehow he happens to have his own warframe? something doesn’t add up here, and it’s never going to be addressed.

after declaring that he must be chained up in the depths of the red veil temple for all eternity, he slowly starts to deteriorate into “good rell” and “bad rell”. “good rell” is who rell is - the clever, knowledgable, autistic child who was ostracized and made to be an outsider. “bad rell” is the man in the wall.

wait, what?

it turns out, while aboard the zariman, after his mother sends him away for his own safety as she succumbs to the madness all adults aboard the ship did, the other tenno still refused to acknowledge him and continued to exclude him. this resulted in him feeling incredible isolated and alone, which allowed the man in the wall to slip in and manipulate him. “bad rell” is nothing more than the man in the wall breaking free after rell’s mental state begins deteriorating. killing rell has apparently retrapped him - inside our own operator’s mind. (this last sentence is purely speculation on my part, given some of the weird things that happened after returning to the orbiter post quest)

this quest starts off strong gameplay wise, but deteriorates quickly in much the same way the Glast Gambit did, and has lore that’s more messy and contradictory than the current US administration on pretty much anything. it also raises a lot of questions for the few that are answered. what exactly is the man in the wall? where did it come from, and why is it so hostile? how did rell get a warframe, and why did his mind deteriorate, when Silvana, who didn’t even share the tenno’s powers, retain her mental stability, if not her ability to think quickly? why did rell’s emotions get free, and why didn’t capturing them do anything? for that matter, how did rell’s emotions attain physical manifestation and separation from their host? how does harrow actually play into all of this? is he really just a glorified set piece, or did his abilities in particular serve some purpose to rell?

honestly this quest was a mess and a disappointment all around

[phantomphangphucker]

Ectober Day 4: Illusions - A Fairy Tale Town

Danny always needed to become Phantom, for everyone’s sake. And the Observants knew this well, so they made sure he would be exactly what they needed and wanted.

The Observants remember the day clearly, the day a human child opened a portal into their realm. Subsequently dying instantly, yet only halfway. The very fabric of the Ghost Realm had shook with shock and the boys' screams had filled every inch of the Realm. The hole that was torn sucked in ectoplasm like a massive black hole, bombarding the boy with ectoplasmic energy. Creating the world's second halfa and the start of a heroes career, protecting his human town and the humans in it.

...Or that’s how the story goes, what everyone believes to be true. And that’s what they have to believe, for the town’s sake, for Phantom’s sake, for the Realms sake.

And most of the story is indeed true. They boy truly was a halfa, and a hero. But what the Observants covered up, made sure not even Phantom knew, was that the portal he created had pulled in so much ectoplasmic energy that it had enveloped and killed the entire town. In an instant pulling the whole place into the Ghost Realm. Every single human, animal, plant, and insect becoming ghosts due to the massive shock of pure ectoplasmic energy. It had thrown the geography of the Realm askew and created a massive new pocket in the Realm.

But they had seen this coming, knew it would happen. So they had prepared, made sure the area where the town would merge into their Realm, was closed off and empty. Dubbing it the Barren Lands, and warding other ghosts away from the place. When the town finally did appear, the portal the boy activated became the only access point between the Barren Lands and the rest of the Ghost Realm.

ClockWork had come to them then, knowing this was going to happen as well as they did. ClockWork had done their job, freezing the town in time. Ensuring not a single of Amity’s ghosts ever actually saw or realised they were ghosts. While the Observants did their duty. Casting glamours on everyone and everything, returning it to how it looked before death. Sealing away any powers, hiding the ecto-signatures, making their ectoplasm mimic human blood and organs, heartbeats, pulses, brainwaves. They did this for everything and everyone, except the young halfa. Who by his very impossible nature, would be too unstable to dare mess with. But it was far more than that.

The Observants knew, had seen, who he’d become. Phantom, the High King of ghosts. The most powerful, but irrevocably merciful, ghost to ever exist. The trials and errors he needed to experience. And the sad truth was, he couldn’t experience those without being a hero and protector to his ‘humans’.

Because in truth, there was nothing truly wrong with letting the entire town exist in its natural ghostly state. The Realm was more than used to adjusting to massive influxes and geography changes. Especially with the prep work having been done. But then Phantom wouldn’t grow to be who and what he needed to be. What they needed him to be. What both Realms needed him to be.

He wouldn’t have grown the be adored as a hero and protector. He wouldn’t have learned how to hide and lie. He wouldn’t have learned how to battle and provide first aid. He wouldn’t have been given all the hardships. He wouldn’t have learned to deal with hunters. He wouldn’t have had to fight battles alone or believe that everything relied on him. Because, in the end, everything did rely on him becoming Phantom. Not just another ghost. Without all the lessons he wouldn’t be Phantom. He’d just be Danny the halfa, as average as any full ghost outside of his biology. If the town’s folk knew they were ghosts, that the whole town was dead, and thusly knew Danny was a halfa. He would have been much more of an outcast and he never would have felt like a wolf surrounded by sheep.

So they built an illusion for him, his own private world in the form of a small town and it’s people. Procured something for him to protect, something to keep him tied to his humanity. A little habitat to hide away in, and to hide himself from. A stage for him to struggle on, with an audience intentionally made unable to help much. Because heroes are built-in storybooks, fabricated by writers always looking to the future for the best end result. And suffering heroes make for the strongest ones.

They made sure this illusion worked in all directions as well, not wanting to risk any ghosts finding the truth or knowing what they had done. As far as the rest of the Ghost Realm knew, Amity was a human town in the Mortal Realm filled with humans and their one halfa protector.

So the boy went about his half-life none the wiser. Learning, growing and being guided into who he would become. And they all made a decision, that the boy was to never ever know. That the blame of killing off the whole town instead of just himself would destroy him. Being indirectly responsible for just six deaths was enough to break him. So this being discovered could not be allowed.

That, however, had left them with a problem. The ghosts made ‘human’ would eventually have to ‘die’. Of course, if any of them ‘died’ non-natural deaths that would be bad for the development of the future High King. So they had allowed the ‘humans’ to retrain a ghosts heightened durability. Able to handle legs getting crushed in lockers without sustaining broken bones. Buildings coming down on them with nothing but scratches. Ensuring everyone would ‘die’ of old age or sickness. At which point an Observant would take the ghost to be relocated into the Ghost Realm proper. Never telling them of the fact that they had actually been dead for a while. Not only would telling them the truth risk the town and Phantom finding out. But informing someone they’ve been dead for a while and were forced not to know it, well that was a level of cruelty they’d rather not stoop to.

Of course, there were other issues, humans liked to travel and logically some of the ‘humans’ would move out of town. Which is why they made it so that any of the Amity ghosts would be subtly transported to the Mortal Realm if they went far enough out of Amity’s/the Barren Lands territory. They would inevitably mistake the need to return to the Ghost Realms ectoplasm rich environment for homesickness. Returning to Amity either periodically or permanently. By the same logic, humans could easily visit the town, never knowing they were actually in the Ghost Realm.

But one thing the Observants couldn’t truly do away with was that all ghosts had ghostly nature, it was unavoidable. Resulting in all of the Amity ‘humans’ being strange and intense to actual humans. The Amity people seemed to pass this off as the ‘charm of small-town people’ and ‘being so used to ghost attacks has made us too weird for the rest of the world to handle’. They never came off weird to each other, since ghost nature wasn’t strange to other ghosts. Also insuring that no one noticed any of Phantom’s ghostly behaviour. Sure that was also partly because the Observants had placed a glamour over their eyes, making them unable to make the visual connection between Phantom and Fenton and never noticing his transformations or power usage. Only those that Phantom himself deeply wished to know stood a chance of ever finding out, under normal rules of reality anyway. Of course, if Danny actually saw anyone seeing him transform then they would indeed see it, since logically they should. But overall, his secret was perfectly protected regardless of how obvious it generally was.

There had been some problems of course. Most notably because the town was very much Phantom’s lair, meaning he had a level of control over it that he simply would not have if Amity was still alive and not part of the Ghost Realm. But as expected, Phantom passed it off as one of the weird aspects of being a halfa. And since he knew he shouldn’t have much control over a human town, his body subconsciously suppressed altering the town or its inhabitants. Effectively reinforcing the illusion. Just one of the many aspects of Phantom that was just endlessly helpful.

There had been plenty of close calls, Pariah and Freakshow being the worst. But thankfully both had caused too much chaos for anyone to realise that some of the things that were happening, shouldn’t be. They knew that would be the case but they still worried, still fretted that their elaborate game, the story they had weaved for the young boy, would come apart at the seams. But these were also the most vital things he needed to experience. Needed to see acceptance from his family, needed to fight back against his own mind being controlled by outside forces, needed to earn the right to rule. So it had to happen and they had to watch, filled with trepidation all the while.

Eventually, they grew rather comfortable to leave the town and Phantom to his devices, feeling content and comfortable in the growing prince and his fairytale storybook lair. Where everyone and everything wore the mask of life, with only him being left untouched and true to what he really was.

ClockWork, meanwhile, waits for the day when Daniel’s power will inevitably surpass that of even the Observants as a collective whole. When their fabricated reality can’t touch him anymore. He’ll be strong enough to handle the blow by then and the truth is something he deserves. Now the Observants don’t know, of course not, they would try to stop it if they did. Since Daniel’s most likely future actively and explicitly involved him not finding out. But there were far more where he did find out and ClockWork had no issues manipulating and altering things here and there to ensure he would find out the truth. Just when he was ready.

Which is why ClockWork had let Daniel go back in time, to ‘fix’ Vlad’s ectoacne without any kind of real instructions. It had altered what the Observants could see of Daniel’s future and it secured his path. When they had found out how his future had changed, they had tried to force ClockWork’s hand. To not let Phantom go into the past, only for them the be shown that Daniel’s two friends would die subsequently. Which definitely could not be allowed to happen. Of course, ClockWork could have simply told Daniel to just observe not interfere. But there was no way ClockWork was going to let the Observants in on that information.

But for now, ClockWork will guide and teach Daniel. Prepare him for his future and provide the level of support and understanding only a near endlessly powerful Ancient ghost could provide. While Daniel went through the pages of his story, to rise at the end as not only a hero but a king of kings. Eventually shattering the illusions and stepping into reality in full, pulling Amity along with him. It’s ghosts granted their true forms and earned abilities, given their rightful place as the closest and direct subjects of the High King of Ghost.  

End.