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A longer, angsty one shot not taking place in the Danny Phantom universe! Glad to see my scope of fics for this fandom is gradually widening. Enjoy!
Father looked at Danny with displeasure as he stood against the stone wall. Marks of chalk dotted the wall in a vertical line, measuring Danny’s height. He was getting taller. Growing. Aging. “Looks like you age at a normal human pace,” Vlad Plasmius said, standing up, scowling. Six year old Danny twisted his lips.
“My mother was a human,” he mumbled.
“I know that. But this means you’ll grow old and die eventually.”
“Oh.”
“You can't ever leave the castle grounds,” Vlad said firmly. “Half breeds are not welcome in this world, and ghosts are already the enemy of humanity.” Danny frowned, and started to protest, until his father’s eyes glowed neon pink in warning. Danny huffed and crossed his arms. Vlad turned and walked away, tossing the chalk into its wooden container on the oak table.
Danny looked down at his pale hands. So, he got saddled with the one bad aspect of humanity that he could see. Age and death. Why couldn't he have any of the cool stuff? Like body heat, or eating, or breathing? It was all so interesting. Danny walked to the window, and looked at his reflection.
Stark white hair, pale skin, slightly pointed ears and sharp teeth. Neon green eyes and a faint glow surrounding his whole body. Obviously a ghost, though less ghostly looking than most of the servants. He poked at the small crown he was forced to wear at all times. His father couldn't bear the thought of someone not knowing Danny was the ghost prince.
He was never set to inherit the crown, given his father was immortal. Even at his age, he knew he was an accessory. His father didn't love him and never had. Danny sighed, and walked through the wall and into the vast garden. Lifting off the grassy ground, he floated over to the pond, staring down at his reflection, silent so the ducks swimming below didn't sense him. He didn't breathe, and his clothes didn't rustle.
This was dumb. He was an abomination and couldn't ever leave the suffocating castle grounds because he was part human. Well, nobody could tell he was part human, right? He looked pretty ghostly! Though, compared to the other ghosts he knew and knew of, Danny was plain looking. He scowled, wishing he could pass as fully human so he could explore the world. His father was never going to die, and was very powerful, so Danny might never escape his grasp. He wanted to. It was suffocating, this castle, no matter how huge and cold and empty and obnoxious it was, Danny wasn't a son, but a pet.
I wish I was a human.
Suddenly, rings of glowing white appeared around Danny’s stomach, and he was instantly under the laws of gravity. The ducks dodged just in time before he crashed into the pond. He spat out disgusting, tepid pond water and surfaced, taking in a deep breath-
What.
He did it again. He was breathing. Danny pressed fleshy pink fingers into his skin. He had a solid structure underneath. Bones, muscles. Feeling his teeth and ears, they were normal, human shaped. But did that mean he lost all of his ghost powers? No, he didn't. Thinking about wanting to be invisible, he watched his skin turn translucent, and there was no longer any reflection in the slightly rippling water.
Danny jumped out of the water and sprinted into the castle, amazed by how solid he felt. He went to his room and rid himself of his day clothes, ripping apart his wardrobe to find the most boring thing he could manage. Something that wouldn't show him as of royal birth. He ended up with cotton pants and a red sleep shirt. He wrapped a leather belt around his waist to make the clothes look less like pajamas and more cheap.
Strapping on walking boots and a hood to keep over his head, Danny finally tossed his silver and diamond crown under the bed, shoving a pillow on top. Danny then phased through the wall, and fled the grounds, invisible and intangible. The best thing about being able to become invisible, it was perfectly normal for Danny to be “absent” for days at a time. Ghosts didn't eat regularly, and until now, Danny had never become a human.
Could he eat food now? He couldn't wait!
He made sure to not use his ghost powers once he was out of sight of any castle guards, and struggled through the overgrown forest plants. He even cut his hand on a sharp bush, and looked at the red blood that dripped down his wrist. It wasn't green. Tentatively, he licked it. It tasted like copper coins. It was gross.
Danny wasn't quite sure if he would still heal at a rapid pace, so he kept his opposite thumb pressed down on the small cut, and was more careful going forward. He walked for what felt like forever before his ears picked up the sounds of other people. Not-ghosts. Were they humans? He really couldn't tell.
Excited but also extremely nervous, he peeked around a thick tree and into the clearing. It was a village, and Danny noticed a muted dome over its sky, darkening the sunlight. It wasn't night time, but there were no shadows being cast.
“Hey! What do you think you're doing here?” a girl’s voice shouted, causing Danny to jump and his new heartbeat to skip. Cool! He could still feel his core, but he also had a heartbeat. This was amazing! He whipped around to see a girl his age, all in black. Clearly not a human. Vampire, it seemed. “Where’d you come from?”
“Um,” was all Danny could come up with. The vampire girl walked closer, purple eyes narrowing. She sniffed Danny, and scowled, brows furrowing. Danny stayed still, feeling awkward and heavy.
“You… smell weird. What kind of a human are you?”
“Not the tasty kind,” Danny said, remembering that, as a human, he was the prey of vampires. The girl barked out a laugh.
“So, you're from the Kingdom of Um, then. Is it populated with weird smelling humans?” Danny nodded. He had no good answer, and wasn't going to tell her the truth. Especially since he wasn't quite sure how to turn back into a ghost if things were to go poorly. He hoped he could turn back. If not, he was doomed. His father would kill him for this if he could never pass as a ghost again. “Whatever, don't tell me, I don't care. What are you doing here, though?”
“I was exploring,” Danny answered honestly.
“Alone?” He nodded. “You're stupid. What’s your name?”
Thankfully he was given a human sounding first name, Danny answered, “Danny.”
"I'm Sam Manson.”
“Nice to meet you. What’s that? Where’d the sun go?” he asked curiously, pointing at the dome over their entire village.
“That’s our sun shield. We still have daylight but without the harmful rays of the sun. Venturing out of it will give us radiation burns. They’re not fun,” Sam answered, hands on her hips. “You're a stupid human, coming to a vampire village.”
Danny stuck his tongue out at her. “I told you I was exploring. I didn't know this place was here.”
“Well, you're lucky you crossed us and not the ghost kingdom. If you went there, you’d be dead for sure.” Danny hid a frown, and just dipped his head low. “Unless it’s a blood moon, most vampires have good control of their thirst. Not that your blood smells good.”
Danny released his hand and found the little cut had already healed. Definitely a ghost trait. He really was a mix. An abomination.
He didn't care. It was cool. He would learn everything there was to know about his unique form. “Are ghosts bad?” he wondered, really not knowing what the outside perspective was. To him, ghosts were the normal. The baseline creature he knew of. But Sam nodded. “How come?”
“They can overshadow anyone and ruin their lives. Our clan leader was overshadowed by a ghost once and he murdered his entire family. Because he wouldn't make an alliance with King Plasmius.” Danny sucked in his lips. His father really was a jerk. Danny definitely couldn't let him know of his escapades that he was already planning.
“Oh,” was his only answer.
Sam took his response as fear for his own safety. “Don't worry. Humans are practically useless, there’s no reason a ghost would overshadow you.” Danny just nodded, rubbing at the smear of blood on his hand. “Well, you can come into the village if you want. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
He couldn't help his curiosity. He stepped foot into the dome, and felt the air chill just barely. There was no alarm that went off that a ghost had entered, so Danny relaxed his shoulders a bit. He didn't feel any fear for the vampires, just fear of being feared by them, outed as a ghost.
“Do you want to meet my best friend, Danny?” Sam asked.
“Okay.” Sam led him to a stone and wooden house, the floor made of beautiful tile and fur pelts. It was cozy. Sam led Danny to another vampire, who was dark skinned and shorter than Sam. They were all about the same age, appearance wise. Danny aged like a human, but he didn't know how vampires aged. He’d check that out in the library when he returned home. “Hi, I’m Danny, a human boy.”
Sam’s friend snorted, and held out his hand. "I'm Tucker, a vampire boy. Brave human coming here.”
“I think he’s just stupid. He says he was exploring and didn't know the village was here. Won't tell me where he came from, though.” Danny crossed his arms, planning on keeping his origin from the Kingdom of Um. They couldn't get him to spill, and he could easily lose track of them to head home if they planned to follow him under their sun shield. “Hey, does he smell funny to you?” Sam asked her best friend.
Tucker frowned at her, putting down his book. “It’s impolite to sniff strangers.”
“He was an intruder at that point! Danny, you don't mind if he smells you, right?”
“I guess not?” Danny asked. He wasn't used to even having a scent, so he was interested in what they said about his new smell. Tucker huffed, but leaned over and sniffed Danny. He pulled away, looking thoughtful.
“Yeah, he smells kinda funny. Not like any of the donors.”
“Donors?” Danny asked curiously. Sam and Tucker nodded, and explained that they employed a lot of humans to act as blood banks. They kept them taken good care of in exchange for being willing food sources. “Huh. What’s it feel like to have blood sucked? Is it painful?”
“Not if you do it right,” Sam said tersely. “Besides, for some people it feels nice. For the human. We’re very careful.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Tucker raised his eyebrows in question. “What?”
“You're not scared of us?”
Danny blinked, baffled by the question. “Why would I b- oooohhh. Right, I’m a human.” He wasn't quite used to being considered anything but a ghost.
“Told you he’s stupid,” Sam muttered, earning a nod of acknowledgement from Tucker. Danny just laughed, because, yeah, he sounded like an utter moron. And he couldn't admit he was new to being human without them knowing he was something else. He didn't want anyone to know he was a ghost - part ghost - if they thought so poorly of them as a species.
No, here, Danny was human and that was it. Just a weird smelling human.
Hours passed, and Danny was fed some human food. The experience was incredible. It tasted so full and unique. Nothing like ectoplasm. “Never had good food before, kid?” one of the human donors laughed. They seemed pretty comfortable here. The vampires must treat them well, then.
Danny shook his head. The humans then decided to let him taste everything they had available. Danny was hooked instantly. He loved food. And it became a theory that he was neglected by his family, which wasn't untrue. Tucker’s mom and dad offered for Danny to come over and play whenever he wanted to. Sam’s parents were less friendly, but that was fine.
The clan leader insisted Danny return to his home before it got dark and he couldn't find his way back. He did as he was told, and once he was significantly away from the village, attempted to become a ghost again. That white ring of light appeared, and when Danny looked down, his skin was sickly pale again. His bangs were white once more.
He returned home, his absence unnoticed, and made a long trip to the library to study everything he needed to know about masquerading as a human. And about vampires, just to prepare himself to have friends.
-x-
“You should take us to your village,” Sam said, sitting in the tree branch above where Danny was perched. “At this point it feels like you just appear out of nowhere every time you visit.”
Danny shook his head, popping a grape in his mouth. “Nope. I’d be less interesting if you knew my origin story. Can't ruin the only cool thing about myself.” His ghost powers, even in human form, he didn't consider cool. His best friends trash talked ghosts, specifically Vlad’s ghost citizens, enough over the years that Danny knew it wasn't safe to come clean.
Besides, he preferred to keep his ghost life and human life as separate as possible. He didn't want them to mix in any way. He continued to age, which continued to displease his father, which continued to keep them having little interaction in general. Danny had plenty of time to trapeze off into the forest to his vampire friends’ homes.
“C’mon, pleeeaaassee,” Tucker said.
“Nope,” Danny repeated stubbornly.
“Damn it. Every time we try to follow you we lose you, too. Makes no sense. I don't get it,” Tucker grumbled. “Are you secretly a witch?”
“I already told you I’m not telling you my origin story. You’ll have to use your imagination.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Sam snapped. Danny just gave a shrug, earning glares of defeat and resignation. “Whatever. Mom and dad said I need to start drinking donor blood now. From the source. I'm nervous.” Tucker looked sympathetic, but Danny couldn't relate to why she’d be nervous. The vampires were all very kind and caring to their donors.
The humans lived higher quality lives than the poorest vampires in the village. So, Danny, probably ignorantly, asked, “Why are you nervous?”
Sam clenched her hands into fists and hunched her shoulders. “What if I hurt them? I wouldn't mean to.”
Before Danny could think of the cons of such an offer, he said, “You could practice on me first.” Sam and Tucker gaped at him. “C’mon, you’ve seen how fast I heal from scratches. Two little fang marks’ll be nothing compared to that time I got bitten by that gigantic snake.”
“Your self preservation instincts never fail to disappoint me,” Tucker commented. Danny ignored the insult.
“I trust you guys. Besides, maybe it’ll be easier to learn control if it's someone you care about. It’ll be easier to stop. If you don't want to, that’s fine, too, though.” He let them sit and think about it for a while. It wasn't an outright no so far.
After an hour of quiet star gazing, listening to the forest around them, Sam decided. “Okay. I can try. But Tucker, you're on back-up to stop me if something goes wrong.” She sounded nervous, but also like she was trying very hard not to be excited. They jumped down from the tree and sat on the floor.
Undaunted, Danny rolled up his shirt sleeve up to his armpit. He’d looked at his human blood compared to real human blood, and it was almost indistinguishable. He didn't even know if Sam - or Tucker - would be able to taste any difference.
“Okay, tell me if it hurts too bad. We’re only supposed to drink for ten seconds. So - so, I’m gonna do that.”
“Sounds good,” Danny said, completely unconcerned. He’d been mauled by a bear on his way back home once before. He’d lost an arm and a leg, but transforming back into ghost form had completely healed him. It would be fine. Sam took a deep breath, and sunk her teeth into Danny’s arm. It didn't hurt at all, he didn't even flinch.
Tucker watched Danny, and Danny watched Sam. After the allotted ten seconds, she pulled away. Danny pressed his fingers to the two holes in his forearm, and asked, “Well, how was it?”
“You taste weird,” Sam finally said.
“Bad?” Danny asked with a frown. The tension broke and Sam laughed.
“Not bad. You taste overly sweet, though. I’ve never tasted human blood like that before. Did it hurt? Were you okay?”
“Yeah, it was fine. It didn't hurt at all. I also didn't get that good feeling you said donors sometimes get.”
“I was told that happens to adults only. Something about human puberty,” Tucker said. Danny just nodded, and pulling his fingers away, they saw the small wounds were already gone. “Damn… you’d make a good blood bank.” Sam shoved his arm furiously, scolding him.
“I mean, I really don't mind,” Danny interrupted her tirade about human-vampire ethics. “If we’re out and you're thirsty, it’s fine with me. The amount of food you guys have given me over the years, I kinda owe you,” he added cheekily. Sam groaned, moaning something about weird humans while Tucker laughed.
-x-
“It appears your core finally presented its type once reaching human puberty,” Vlad said, Danny laying flat on a table with his chest opened. In ghost form, it was painless but gave his father and Danny’s doctor a good look at his core. Danny kept his human half very cagey with any other ghosts. It was his secret alone. One that his friends’ village’s safety depended on.
“What is it?” he asked. Vlad looked annoyed with his voice cracked. It was a very human trait to have. Danny didn't know what else he expected, though. Danny was aging, no matter what his dad wanted. It was his fault for impregnating a human anyways, who had died in childbirth.
“An ice core,” Danny’s doctor answered. “Your father’s core is plasma. Ice cores are powerful but volatile. You’ll need strict training.”
“Okay…”
Once the device was turned off, Danny’s chest returned to its solid state, hiding and encasing his core in ectoplasm. He quickly realized he wouldn't be able to be around his best friends for a while when his breath kept fogging up, and his skin was like ice. But he couldn't just disappear on them or they’d panic.
Danny, shivering, wrote out a letter on the plainest parchment he could find.
Sam, Tucker, I can't visit for a while. I'm safe, I’ll come back when I can. - Danny
He folded it up, and tied it to a rock which he drew a smiling face on. Then, once he was close enough that he knew they couldn't smell him but the rock would land, he chucked it. He then booked it home, shivering and ice crystals blooming from anything he touched. It was just as bad in human form, as well.
Danny sat with his dumb crown on, waiting for his ghost teacher to come. He so badly wanted hot chocolate, but there was no human food in the castle. He could only dream. Eventually, the yeti teacher arrived. His name was Frostbite, and when he saw Danny, waiting alone in his assigned chair, shivering with the room frozen around him, he profusely apologized for taking too long.
It was surprising, because his tone spoke of sympathy and not fear for angering the ghost prince. It was nice. Danny wasn't used to people caring about him as a ghost. “It’s-s-s-s okay. Let’s-s-s just st-start, now,” he replied. Frostbite nodded, not looking relieved, but still guilty.
The two of them went into the garden. The castle was not equipped to deal with ice ghosts, and Danny was distraught when all of the plants died around him. “Master Danny, your emotions only make it worse. You can make it a project to replant the flowers. It’ll be nice to see them grow again, right?” Frostbite talked him down, and as Danny’s upset calmed, the ice dissipated into vapor. “Good work! I've never seen an ice core this powerful.”
He couldn't help but frown at the comment. “Will I be able to control it soon?”
“Soon? I’m not sure. But you will with suitable training. You will be able to do a lot with a strong ice core.”
“Great,” he grumbled. Then, his face set. The more effort he put into training, the faster he could see his friends again. So, for the entire day, he trained with Frostbite. It was difficult, and Danny felt genuine pain in his arms by the end of the day. He was cradling them to his chest as the yeti left for his sleeping quarters.
“Master Danny?” Crap, he noticed. “What is it? You shouldn't be feeling pain,” Frostbite said, looking disturbed, but also guilty that he might have somehow caused this. Danny sighed.
“I have human DNA. My human side can feel pain, I guess,” he said, shrugging in defeat.
“I wish I had been told so I could keep an eye out for something like this. I apologize.”
Danny blinked at him in shock. “I-it’s okay. Um, you didn't know. It doesn't… disgust you?”
“Not at all. It’s quite strange, but halfas have existed before, throughout history.” Danny was stunned. Why hadn't his father ever told him that? Clearly they weren't normal, but he wasn't the only one in his kind to have ever existed.
He nodded stiffly. “Right… thanks. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, offering the yeti ghost his first real smile. Frostbite returned it, and Danny went to his quarters. He sat on his balcony, wrapped in blankets, staring at the night sky. He had mapped all of the constellations once, and painted them on the high ceiling of his room. It was a kept secret that Danny slept intermittently, since it wasn't a normal ghost behavior.
He was about to go to bed, utterly exhausted, when he caught movement from the garden below his room. He froze as two nimble bodies forced their way through the wilted shrubbery. “You couldn't just trust my letter!” he hissed in panicked fury. Danny turned invisible and dove off his balcony and landed in front of them.
He was not going to reveal his secret here of all places. They both felt the cold spot appear, and Danny became visible a few feet away. They jumped back, and Tucker fearfully brandished a weapon dipped in something that made Danny coil away. “You can't be here,” he said unsteadily about whatever weapon they’d brought. “Why are you even here? Are you just stupid?”
“Release Danny,” Sam snarled, unheeded by the crown on Danny’s head. He was touched at the same time he was terrified.
“What are you talking about? If my father catches you, you and your whole village are dead,” he hissed, so badly wanting to just fly them away but afraid of both freezing them and getting touched by the anti-ghost measure they’d prepared.
“You kidnapped our human friend, Danny!” Tucker insisted. “He didn't come to hang out and we got a letter ‘from him’ that reeked of ectoplasm.”
Unable to help it, Danny slapped his hand to his face. Of course they smelled ghost on the paper! He was a moron.
“Then you admit to it!” Sam raged.
“No! No, um, but I do know your friend. Look, even if he was here, breaking him out is suicide for everyone involved. I’ll, uh, make sure you see him tomorrow. But I doubt he’d want you dead for him when he didn't even ask you for help.” Maybe that was a tad too blunt, because it pissed off his friend, who swiped the weapon at Danny.
He flew out of range just in time. “Hey, watch it! Go away before you end up fuckin’ dead! You’ll see your friend tomorrow!”
They could hear guards coming, and Sam and Tucker had about five seconds before a ghost other than Danny arrived and fucked them sideways. But then, they were gone. Danny fled up back to his balcony.
His room froze over from his terror of them getting caught by Vlad. He'd tear them to shreds and their entire village. Danny… was selfish. He’d endangered everyone he cared about for years.
When morning came, Danny made sure Frostbite was still asleep before leaving the castle. He turned into human form earlier than usual, shivering as he struggled through the forest outside of the castle grounds. He was so cold and his fear and anxiety was not helping him regulate it.
“Sam! Tucker!” Danny called once he was far enough from the kingdom and close enough to their meeting spot that he’d be heard. They were there instantly, along with a bucket of something that reeked. “What the fuck?!”
“Danny!” they both shouted in relief.
“Did… you dump this bucket of crap on me?” Danny asked, baffled.
“If you were overshadowed, that would have killed the ghost.” He blanched. Then… he was covered in toxic liquid that would kill him were he to change forms. Wonderful.
“Why would I be overshadowed?” Danny asked, fighting so hard not to shiver or erupt in ice crystals. For now, they thought he wasn't a ghost.
“Your note stunk of ghost and when we went to bust you out last night, a ghost kid told us he knew you. What’s up with that?”
“I, uh, don't know, but can we try and get this shit off of me? Also, you guys are fucking stupid. You should just let me die if something like that happened. You know how horrible I’d feel if everyone died cause you tried to stage a rescue?” he snapped. Sam and Tucker glared at him even suggesting they leave him to die.
Sam grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the village so he could bathe off what literally would murder him. “How do you know that the ghost kid was bad?” Danny couldn't help but ask once he was in the shower. He scrubbed the sticky liquid off, and Tucker handed him new clothes.
“He’s a ghost.”
“Isn't that bigoted? I mean, what if I came here and was terrified of all of you because you're vampires?” Danny said hesitantly.
“Ghosts literally don't have souls,” Sam answered stubbornly. Danny felt his heart break, and the water stopped splattering on the stone floor and started to tinkle as they turned to ice. Danny needed to get away. He was going to blow everything. His whole second, free life. Even if he didn't stay friends with Sam and Tucker, he still wanted to be able to live as a human.
He walked past them, startling his best friends of seven years with the fact he wouldn't even look at them. “Whoa, Danny, what’s wrong?” Sam asked. Danny started to shiver. He was losing it. But he was scared to turn into a ghost and die instantly. No, he wanted help from Frostbite, who also knew a lot about medicine. “Danny?”
“Piss o-o-off,” Danny chattered. Sam flinched back. “D-Don’t worry ab-b-bout seeing me again since I ap-p-parently don't even have a soul,” he gritted out, sounding absolutely ridiculous.
Tucker grabbed his arm, and said, “Danny, what’s going on with you? Were you overshadowed after all?! Let us help you!”
“You can't help me!” he shouted, able to get the whole sentence out in one go. “I don't have a soul, ac-cording to you!”
“But you're not a ghost,” Sam said, though she sounded uncertain.
“No, I’m j-j-just half-f ghost,” he snarked. “I wonder if-f-f-f whatever shit you threw o-on me will kill me the minute I t-turn back.” It was a low blow that immediately had panic lancing across Sam’s features. They were making a scene, and Danny snapped his mouth shut before turning and running out of their territory. They chased after him, but he turned himself invisible and intangible, which erased his scent.
“Danny!” they shouted, searching for him frantically.
“Come back!” Tucker pleaded. Danny turned and flew back to the castle.
He needed to be quarantined, and flew outside Frostbite’s window. Vlad was away today, but that didn't mean he wouldn't get back in time to see the whole mess. Danny knocked on his window, as the yeti was still sleeping. Well, he threw ice chunks at it.
He was crouched in human form, a shield of invisibility arced over his head so anyone from above didn't see Danny in his human body. “F-F-Frostbite!” he shouted. The window finally opened. “I need help! I got doused in ghost poison. I - I washed off but I don't know what will happen if I turn back into m-m-my ghost body.”
“Go to the garden, Master Danny. And do not transform,” Frostbite said seriously. Danny nodded and did as he was told, crouched underneath a bush, wishing his hair was at least closer to white. Black was way too stark and obvious.
Frostbite arrived in a leather suit held together by fibers of ice. “What were you doused in?” he asked.
“They said it was ghost poison and w-w-would kill a ghost instantly. It was th-thick and black like o-oil. It smells like rotten t-t-tree sap. I washed it o-out of my hair and changed cl-othes.”
Frostbite had him remove all of his clothing, which was a bit embarrassing since he had all human anatomy in this form, but he did as he was told. Then, he was encased in terrible, burning ice. He could see Frostbite through the ice, smiling at him reassuringly, but it didn't help much. The ice sunk into his pores, skin wrinkles, and hair follicles.
Then, it all turned into vapor. Some of the vapor was black. He’d gotten rid of whatever traces had been left. Frostbite buried the clothes he’d arrived in, and said, “Let us go to the infirmary so you can shift back and we can take care of you, whatever may happen.”
Not wanting to walk all the way there naked, Danny turned invisible and accompanied the yeti, shivering and leaving icy footprints behind. Danny was grateful he didn't ask what had happened. At least, not yet. Not while he was crying.
Once inside, Danny took the plunge and transformed. With it, his human anatomy disappeared, and he shrieked in agony. It felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside. He thrashed and screamed until a large needle was stabbed into his chest, into his core.
Danny was unconscious as his ectoplasmic structure started to fall apart, green life force dripping down the table and splattering on the stone floor. Danny destabilized into a puddle of nothing around Frostbite’s giant, gloved hands.
-x-
“Danny,” a familiar, unwanted voice said. “Look at me.” He didn't want to, but knew what not looking would bring: drama. He opened his eyes, but found he only had one eye. And it was flat on a metal table, unconnected to anything. He had no mouth to scream with. “Good job, son. You’ve destabilized. For a normal ghost, that would be it. I'm going to coach you into reforming. Look to the side if you understand me.”
Danny worked incredibly hard to put aside his panic to live, and his only eyeball looked far to the left. Vlad smiled, and molecule by molecule, helped Danny put himself back together. It was terrifying, and whenever he became too panicked, he melted again. Once he was a solid blob of ectoplasm, it became easier to stay solid.
At that point, as a small blob of pale green with nothing but eyes, Vlad let him rest. He slept in his arms, and in the morning, was awoken to continue the process. Frostbite had a book of human anatomy and a photo of Danny in his hands as he helped Vlad recreate what Danny had been like before. And he didn't want to stare at a different face in the mirror. He focused, determined to become Danny again.
He wasn't even thinking about what might happen if he turned into a human, he was solely focused on his ghost form.
It took four full days to get there, but eventually, Danny Phantom laid, panting on the exam table, fully formed and physically stable. Vlad helped him dress as he sobbed. Frostbite spoke quietly to Vlad, promising to stay and help rehabilitate Danny and eventually work on his ice again, and then he left.
Danny didn't get what he needed, which was physical comfort and reassurance. To be told he was alright, he was safe, to be given sympathy for what he’d gone through. And he didn't expect it. This was his father. Not Tucker’s dad. Not the chief of the vampire clan. This was a man who would kill whoever Danny pointed the finger at.
“Who did this?” he demanded in a soft, dangerous voice. “How did this happen?”
The lie was already told before Danny decided to say it. “I w-went flying a-and heard howling and then everything hurt and I got Frostbite.” Vlad hissed, but Danny didn't see any trace of knowledge of deception. Meaning Frostbite had been vague about how things happened.
“Werewolves,” Vlad snarled. “I thought they were too primitive for this tactic.”
Sam and Tucker and their village would be safe. But Danny had sealed the fates of perfectly innocent werewolves. His tears of trauma mixed with tears of guilt. I'm sorry, he thought towards the soon-to-be-dead werewolves.
-x-
It hadn't been perfect. Danny was sitting in front of a mirror, bare in his ghost form, comparing his body now to any photos he had before. His hair was more silver than white, now. He was a bit taller, but skinnier. His nose wasn't as long, and his eyebrows were a bit thicker.
“Well… I can recognize myself. Better than a melted blob of goo,” he sighed, forcing himself to accept the differences.
His hands clenched into fists as he contemplated turning into his human body. Just to get it over with. He knew the process, now. He knew he could survive it. If he destabilized, he could do it himself, or wait for Frostbite to find him to help him out.
“Do it. Just try it,” he whispered to his wide eyed reflection in the mirror. But the fear of repeating the experience had his core gripped too tightly. Frost spiderwebbed across the mirror, and Danny took that as his cue to back off. “Doesn't matter anyways,” he scoffed bitterly. “I won't get close to people as a human just to learn they think I’m a soulless monster.”
Danny floated to his bed and laid down, bundling himself under his blankets as he shivered violently.
They killed him. They tried to kill him. Maybe they didn't know it would hurt Danny, but they’d hated ghosts enough to try and murder one. Why didn't they just talk to him first? Surely they would have been able to tell if it was him or someone else overshadowing him.
He wondered if they felt as betrayed as he did. He’d lied to them for years, even if most of his relationship with them was honest. Was him, just in his human body. Did it even matter? Danny was a liar, a fake, and soulless.
Stop thinking about it.
He slept.
-x-
A week later, and Danny was with Frostbite, training his ice, trying not to think of the werewolf genocide happening within the realm they lived in. Danny had caused a war because he couldn't just die right.
“Master Danny, would you like to stop practicing?” Frostbite asked gently as Danny stared into a jagged, ugly ice crystal he’d formed. It was uneven and unsightly. It felt like he was looking at his ghost self as how Sam and Tucker saw him.
“Do ghosts have souls?” Danny asked.
“Traditional ghosts are most commonly created by the formation of the dead. They often reform quite differently from their living selves. I would say their souls are changed, but not gone. Though, there is no true proof that souls exist. It’s possible ghosts are simply recycled life energy from the dead, reborn into something new. Why do you ask?”
“Promsie you won't tell anybody?”
“If that is not what you wish, I promise I won't.”
Danny nodded, and floated in a sitting position, letting his ugly ice lump turn into ghostly vapor. “My - my friends thought I was human. I was really convincing. Even tasted like human blood. They’re vampires. Anyways… I wrote them a dumb letter, telling them I wouldn't be able to come hang out like I had been for the last seven years because my ice issues would give everything away.” He scowled bitterly. “They easily smelled the ectoplasm of the paper. It all happened because I was a fucking idiot.” He let out a huff, and continued. “They came here to rescue me. I told them, in my ghost body, that I’d make sure their Danny met them the next morning.
“Sam had dipped a spear in that terrible poison, but I didn't know what it was at the time. They always said ghosts were evil and unfeeling. I didn't know they were prepared to do something so terrible…”
“Did your friends destabilize you?” Frostbite probed kindly.
He nodded, throat tight. “They thought that m- that human Danny might be overshadowed… they threw the poison on me before I could even say anything. It didn't hurt me in human form. I took a shower in their village, and - and asked why they hated ghostkind so much. Sam said ghosts don't have souls. I got upset, and left. I told them they wouldn't see me again, and why would they care when I don't have a soul. I also said I would find out if I died instantly once I turned back into a ghost. Then I left.”
Pulling his knees to his chest, he added, “I doomed a bunch of innocent werewolves because I couldn't let my friends die.” Hot tears built up in his eyes, and he rubbed them away on his pant legs.
"I'm very sorry that happened, Master Danny. Even if ghosts were all evil, to do such a thing, to murder someone in such a terrible way, is disheartening.”
“It hurt so bad. If I wasn't a freak I’d be dead for good.”
"I'm so terribly sorry.”
"I'm too scared to try and turn into human form. And then I wonder what the point even is. I can't get close to other people in human form while knowing they’d hate me as a ghost. But - but I loved being able to turn into a human. I could eat food, which is great! I could… do so much. And now, because of my ‘best friends’, I might never again. They might have actually killed a part of me.”
Frostbite stood up and moved to sit beside Danny, his fur brushing against Danny’s shoulder. “You're allowed to feel whatever you feel for such an ordeal.”
“If I’d told them earlier, maybe none of this would have happened,” Danny whispered through a sob. “There wouldn't be so much blood on my hands. I wouldn't have been tortured. I should have j-just told them. Maybe they would have loved me, too, even as a ghost.” He scrubbed at his eyes, digging fingernails painlessly over his skin. “Or maybe they would have only liked me b-because I'm part human. Maybe that would be th-the only part worth existing.”
Danny broke into sobs. Frostbite’s large, living hand rubbed down his back, and Danny turned, burying his face in his arm. They just sat in the quiet and let Danny grieve his closest, most treasured relationships.
-x-
Months had passed, and Danny was in control of his ice expertly. He started venturing out again, though never in human form. Not yet, maybe not ever. He didn't go in the same direction as the vampire village, and instead explored the nearby mountain range on foot. He stayed invisible at all times. Vlad’s army had destroyed the natural wells that produced the poison Sam and Tucker had weaponized, but that didn't mean there weren't still some out there. The ghost kingdom had a lot of new enemies, too. His father’s revenge made the world more dangerous for Danny, though he had no reason to think Vlad truly cared about his wellbeing.
The flashes of care, of being held in his father’s arms, were memories that Danny was convinced he’d made up. There was no time before that or after that he was ever given physical comfort from his father.
Danny had hit another growth spurt, and he was a good few centimeters taller than he had been just because his reformation wasn't fully accurate. He hadn't seen his friends in five months, and didn't expect to ever again. But, the itchy desire to know what they truly thought of him ate at him. Did they hate human Danny, too? Did they accept ghost Danny? Did they think everything they had together was a lie? Surely they knew Danny was still alive, because Vlad punished the werewolves and not vampires. So obviously Danny had lied about who was responsible.
All of his thoughts were put to rest when he returned home, and saw Sam and Tucker on the castle grounds. Vlad was traveling, but this was absurdly risky. Part of Danny wanted to leave them there, let them finally face the consequences of their actions. But the human in his core didn't want them to be hurt. He also didn't want to be hurt, though.
Danny landed silently, invisible and intangible, and just stared at them. Neither of them carried a weapon. They were lathered with sun cream, given it was broad daylight. Some people thought ghosts were weaker during the day, but it depended on the type of core. Danny, now that his core had manifested as ice, was stronger at night, and in the winter.
He didn't sense that horrific poison on them.
“What do you want?” he asked, causing them to jump. No sound or scent since Danny was intangible and untraceable.
“You're alive!” Tucker cried in heartbreaking relief.
“Barely,” Danny said bitterly. “What do you want?” he repeated.
“Can we see you?” Sam pleaded, looking around for the source of the voice. Being intangible while speaking made the sound come from all directions.
“I won't look how you want.”
“Please, we just want to see you,” Tucker insisted. Danny appeared, ten feet above and behind them. Danny had a feeling they were searching him for burns or something. But it was clear they noticed the subtle differences to what they’d seen of his ghost form the one time.
“The poison made me destabilize. I had to put myself back together. I came out… inaccurate,” he said, ashamed of failing in that way. But the flash of guilt and shame and self hatred that came across their expressions felt good. They didn't think he deserved what they’d done to him.
“What - what does that mean? What did it do to you?” Tucker asked, hands clenched at his side.
“I melted into a puddle of ectoplasm. My father and my doctor coached me into giving myself a form again.” Sam gagged, but didn't vomit. Both of them started to cry. "I'm too scared to risk it happening again. Human Danny is gone.” He hardened his heart at their expressions of grief. Were they upset at what they’d done, or that human Danny was the one who died?
He was overcome with bitterness and hurt. “Do you still think I have no soul?” he asked waspishly. “Did I deserve to destabilize because I’m a ghost?”
“No, no, Danny, we’re so sorry!” Sam cried. Their flimsy cries bounced off of Danny’s stone heart like paper arrows. “You didn't deserve that-”
“Nobody deserved that! I'm only still here because I’m half human! You would have really killed me otherwise! There’s no afterlife for ghosts!” Sam silenced. “Why come back?! Why now? Because after all of the werewolf killing, you think you're safe from my father? Because I - I lied and got a bunch of innocent people killed?” he demanded, tears pouring down his face.
He landed softly on the grassy ground, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I - I do have a soul, I didn't deserve that. I'm - I'm as much a ghost as I am a human!”
He could hear them approaching him, but didn't want them to see how broken they’d left him. The nightly nightmares he had. Sam’s soft hands landed on his shoulders, and he was weak, because he let her and Tucker pull him into a group hug. All of them were crying. Danny in grief and hurt, and them in guilt and relief that he was alive.
He let them hold him, not realizing how badly he’d craved touch, even from the people that put him through hell on earth. He was so weak.
Danny pulled away first, but Tucker and Sam both grabbed ahold of one of his hands. He wondered if they hated how cold his skin was. How there were no defined bones in this form, the lack of pores and wrinkles in his skin. The absence of the blood he let them have over the years.
“Danny?” Sam asked cautiously. He finally looked up, green eyes and narrow pupils meeting hers. "I'm - I'm so sorry. You were right. I know it was too late by then to take back what we’d done, but… my views were bigoted. I'm sorry, for how much all the stuff I’d said over the years must have hurt you so badly.”
“Do you actually think we deserve to live or is it only because your Danny was actually a ghost?”
“Both… but mainly the last option,” she said, having the decency to sound ashamed. He appreciated her being honest, at least.
"I'm so sorry, too. And… It was my idea to get the poison. I'm sorry I put you through - through hell like that.” Danny also appreciated his honesty, though he was surprised it hadn't been Sam’s idea. “We, uh, came here to find out if you were alive, and if not, wanted to turn ourselves in.” He stiffened at the idea of them throwing away all of the suffering Danny had caused to protect them, but since he was alive, hopefully they no longer planned on doing so.
“You're not going to, now, though?” Danny asked, failing to stifle his fear.
“You're alive… so, no, we don't plan to,” Sam answered gently.
The silence hung awkwardly around them. They were still holding his hands, and he finally retracted them and stuck them under his armpits, though there was no warmth there in his ghost body. It was still his body, both forms were him, but he did miss certain aspects of his human body.
“Then… Now what?” Danny wondered.
“I don't know,” Tucker admitted. “If… you can ever forgive us, we miss you a lot, man. It’s not the same without you. Even if your human form isn't around anymore… you're still Danny on the inside.”
He didn't mean to, but the words slipped out. “I miss you, too,” he admitted quietly. “But nobody but you and my doctor have seen my human form. I can't hang out… hang out at your village like this. Vlad would be pissed, and the villagers would hate me.”
“We can hang out in the woods, right? The only real reason we ever went into the village was because you wanted to eat,” Tucker snorted, though it was still just a tiny bit forced.
“I don't have blood in this body.”
Sam huffed. “You were never a blood bank.”
“Just a nice snack,” Tucker grinned, some of the tension bleeding away the longer they spoke. Danny’s shoulders finally unhunched, and he let out a sigh as the terrible tension bled out of him. He didn't need to, but he was so used to it that he sat down heavily on the carved stone bench. “And maybe now you can stop bumbling around and setting off traps when we hike.”
Danny snorted. “I wasn't faking that. Humans are clumsy and loud.” He looked up, and offered them an olive branch. "I'm gonna beat you guys at hide and seek now, though.” Relief, bright and happy, came across their faces. “I will try to become friends again. I don't think things will be the same as they were for a bunch of reasons…”
“But that doesn't mean they can't be good, too,” Sam finished his sentiment. Danny nodded in agreement. “Maybe ditch the fancy crown when you come out with us.” Danny nodded, and flew up to his room, chucked the crown under his bed like he had for seven years, and pulled on a hood.
He rejoined his friends, and ventured out into the known forest, for the first time fully himself. And seeing the ease they had with him even in ghost form, Danny didn't think the loss of his human body was a dealbreaker. They could still be friends.
New, beautiful forests grew out of the ashes of the previous ones all the time.
A sequel is not planned right now but I'm not averse to it. Hope you enjoyed it! If anyone has any Everlasting Trio fic recs, please comment them!