The Epitaph of Dusk and Dawn

Part One: The Sun Comes Out At Midnight

Les étincelles tombent avec les congés écarlates qui ont dérivé en aval. Le rougeoiement meurt dans le ciel.

~*~

Checkmate fiction. Memories are precious, invaluable tokens that soothe as well as destroy. After Danny contracts pneumonia at Vlad's house, that becomes more evident then ever as the child slowly begins to lose his fight, much to the billionaire's distress. Memory is what's slowly killing Danny on the inside, and the older hybrid must make a choice-give the one he can't let go his freedom, watch the younger die-or help Danny help himself-and fast!

Sorry it's been taking so long....I'm still working with different writing styles, and this one was certainly out-of-the-box for me. Plot included. And a great deal of my material had been deleted, so I'm still sobbing about that one....

Aggghh. Anyhoo, this one shot has to become a two-shot, folks. It's just far too much for me to squeeze into one chapter comfortably. So forgive me if this tale seems somewhat off....D:

I seriously want to work on Gryphon's Keep again-but I have been enjoying this tale.....in a matter of speaking. Losing all of my material.....D:.......it's extremely aggravating, and it's hard not to reflect that frustration with this plot.

The Epitaph of Dusk and Dawn….wow…..*muses...* I really kinda like this title…..

*Clears throat. Chuckles. Uh…….ah. Everybody's here.*

Bonjour, Aloha, Salutations, Hola, and Konnichiwa, folks! We have here the winner of my poll in King, Queen, and Masters. However, I have decided to try for the challenge of creating….

…..all four oneshots.

Why?

Because I'm a bigger fruit loop then Vlad, THAT'S why.

Lol! And one of my reviewers bribed me with cookies and a Vlad plushie! A VLAD PLUSHIE! What was I supposed to do in such an onslaught? ^^ And Jaylein-Skyler asked if I might give it a shot, too….in my copious amounts of free time.

*Grumble, grumble. Copious free time indeed….I beg your pardon. ^^ JK.*

Still, since TEODAD won this poll-fair and square-it does goes first. Next, I'll try Temper. It's A Dog's Life is going to be a bit tricky, since I have to find every single chapter TJ was in and monitor it…..

O.O And, Frozen April Moon is actually kinda short, so that'll probably come along in good time. I'm also working on Gryphon's Keep-which basically involves Danny's kidnapping….and, a new chapture of Kingdom Come is coming up fairly soon.

But I also have to update Love thy Godfather, Motherly Affection, When Kitchens Collide, Shooting Fallen Stars, Letters Unsent, Legacy of a Nightmare: Ryou's Tale, The Broken Doll, and....

...........ah.................and, well..........^^

*Vlad inches away, looking disturbed. ^^ I have fun with what I do, but these multiple chaptered stories are probably going to be the death of me, chaps.*

……I juggle. Once again, I have a lot of projects….and, I switch from fiction to fiction. Sue me. ^^ It's just a bit more fun that way! :D

This is a bit of rush-I have to have all of my projects completed in the span of six months. Easier said than done, but I can only be on Fanfiction maybe once or twice in awhile once Summer vacation ends (Which it has an extraordinarily bad habit of doing.)

But I love a small challenge-as long as I can work at my own pace. Que sera sera!

Everyone, be well. This segment is a little angsty….but give Danny a hug, won't you? *Hands out Danny Phantom plushies to all-huggles Vlad plushie I received as payment.*

By the anyhoo, if anyone's interested in knowing the score, this tale received one review more-which basically won this story the title of going first.

And, well...since some of my other reviewers forgot to read more after the credit page, Frozen April Moon, It's A Dog's Life, and Temper each got

one vote.

Ah, dear....well, what will be, will be.

This particular story is dedicated to:

Sparteen (Thanks for the cookies-*Munches yummy pastries* ^^ and for the plushie. By the way, Gir is awesomesauce.)

And Jaylein-Skyler-I adore your intake on things. Very intrepid and quite interesting! Take care, Nikki.

pearl84-Do I HAVE to say why? ^^ Doomo arigatou gozaimasu. IADL will probably only take a few days. ^^ I'm hopin' to begin work on MLKJ day.

(~*~)

Okay, everyone. I think you know by now that I do NOT own Danny Phantom. I am not Butch Elmer Hartman in disguise, folks. I don't think he'd pose as a fanfiction writer in high school.

*Casts a look around, looks shifty.*

Or WOULD he…?

Nope, he wouldn't. And I don't own Pearl's Checkmate, either. And that's actually very good indeed-because I have no idea how on Earth I could manage that depth of a tale for so very long. As always, we salute. ^^

(~*~)

Quote:

"MORNS like these we parted;

Noons like these she rose,

Fluttering first, then firmer,

To her fair repose.

Never did she lisp it,

And 'twas not for me;

She was mute from transport,

I, from agony!

Till the evening, nearing,

One the shutters drew--

Quick! a sharper rustling!

And this linnet flew!"

This tale does not begin with a ghostly hybrid-either Danny or Vlad, dear reader-and it will not begin with the Fentons-nor will it with Sam and Tucker.

Rather, we must backtrack ever so slightly, and start with two specters you might find slightly repetitive. But it is here with them we shall start, and- (If you haven't quite yet stuck your ears full of cotton to drive out the senseless babbling or quarreling you can come to expect with these two) with them, it shall end.

Martha and Patricia argue quite a bit.

That just might be pointing out the obvious, somewhat, but I suppose every story must have its beginnings, rational or not.

Now, where I was I…? Ah. Two maids in the service of Vladimir Masters. Cheery souls that they are, they DO consist with the gift of gab, and they use it quite often, much to a resigned Niane's endurance.

The simplest conversation can easily turn into a dispute, and carry on long into the hours of the day, even at work with daily duties and posts. Giving in to the other almost sort of an unspoken taboo between them, and so, more often good natured disputes then not- continue long into the day...and occasionally into the night.

But everyone is simply too busy or far too used to their arguing to pay much heed. The girls are intelligent enough to know when to keep their silence-most often demonstrated around their master, Vlad.

Danny used to be secondary in that regard, but the maids grew used to the child-and most of the time, don't even notice his passing them in the hallways while they continue to fuss about some argument long since passed, with the bewildered and bemused teen left to shake his head while the two women continued an age long disagreement on the better way to treat a cold-to the disagreement on whether or not the quiet or the cute prove to be the more dangerous.

Occasionally, however, they do agree. Working in such proximity with one another is no certainty that they are of the same opinion-but they do maintain friendly relations, bygones.

One thing they agree on is the pestilence of rodents. (Martha personally believes that roaches are worse-but please, don't bring it up in front of Patricia)-but the creatures are simply not to be found in debonair homes given daily immaculate care-and so that is a matter little discussed.

The second matter of which they agree upon involves Danny Phantom and Vlad Masters. No one knew why the two had dropped most of their hostilities towards one another-and, while it was really rather unnerving at first, seeing as the two normally got along in the cordial dignity of a rabid dog and cat- it did provide for a much friendlier atmosphere, and the master did seem to smile a bit more.

It was....pleasant. At least, most of the time.

Much to Niane's relief, even these two have no need to argue about a mutual preference.

Another thing they agree upon is one they generally refrain from speaking about at all. Well, until the girls start bickering about when, exactly, the events that will soon transpire below had occurred and why-but the one point that is rather avoided by bringing up such nonessential information is the.....dread their master felt over the incident.

And that dread was more then quite tangible. It was rather like the selfsame occasion when they'd first seen their master lose composure, just a few months ago.

It was as if the very world was going into conniptions, for a fabric of stable reality had finally been torn. Vlad Masters had been startled out of his debonair habit to begin acting so very....

....human.

There had been fear-true, fresh, fear-in that scream for Derek when the man had came home that day, tugging a bloody, fading child back home.

That scream had been alarming, and most unlike Vlad, much to the servants' disquiet. It was the main reason that they'd flooded to the boy's chambers in uncertain droves.

But once they saw Danny's broken body, it was more then...generally understood.

Vlad had not been the same as usual when the younger hybrid fell into unconsciousness, and, after skipping daily business as well as a meeting in the past two days, he'd certainly looked....older. More lined.

And concern knotted at his brow with anxiety.

While the servants did their best to cope with this development by remaining constant about their business as usual, a pallid uncertainty and gloom of the matter DID have a way of sweeping over the castle stones.

Another occasion that followed remained just as unpleasant-and Vlad refrains from recalling it too much. It's not as if he needs another check mark on the long list of shame that seems to be rapidly growing these days, but it remains, reader. It remains-pleasant or terrible as you might find it.

I suppose it depends on the way you look at things.

Either way you shall take it, you shall take it.

(And the long, rather tedious narration-ENDS.)

~*~

The sky was rapidly becoming soaked in an ocean of stars as night began its full terrible, beautiful, magnificent draping over the world with its

speckled tapestry.

A small breeze ruffled the pages of the book resting on Danny's balcony, flickering lightly with the gentle push until, its trembling cover at last fell shut, fresh green leaves trickling idly by in its wake.

Danny was never one to leave books outside. And he'd certainly hadn't intended to start-particularly tonight. But he withdrew after a headache had begun to gnaw at his subconscious, much to his agitation.

Tonight was...or, had been...a meteor shower. The brilliant bolts of light had ceased falling behind the horizon, and the excited Danny Fenton had already withdrawn-accidentally forgetting his small book of night sky patterns that Jazz had given him not too long ago outside.

But while he had, indeed, enjoyed watching them race down, once again, the boy had felt faintly sick, and reluctantly returned to his room, making the now all too routine route to the medicine cabinet for a pain killer before he went to bed.

For the past few weeks, Danny had been contracting regular headaches, much to his annoyance.

He'd scoffed at that. It was nothing of severe concern, but lately, the dull throb had become more acute to that of a sharp sting, and it was beginning to drive the confused younger hybrid crazy.

But though his newly acquired head and chest pain was coming at more and more frequent intervals, and Vlad was starting to cast him puzzled glances after the boy's fourth mention of a headache in a week, he had been sure it was really nothing. A good flight always did him wonders-and that was often all it really took to set his thoughts at ease.

As for the chest pain-well, probably from his light cough. He'd never spent an early springtime in Northern Wisconsin before, and his body probably didn't know how to handle it. Probably just the pollen in the air.

So thinking, Danny had sank into slumber, breathing slightly labored as he did so.

~*~

A Barn Owl hooted ever so slightly before aimlessly fluttering to its roost on a small tree in the ocean of forest, turning dark eyes to the castle

window, where the light had suddenly and unexpectedly flipped back on.

~*~

He only had a five second warning from his violently twisting stomach before the young hybrid clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

Danny staggered from his bed, now quite pale as he gagged once more. He set off towards the bathroom at a run, praying he wouldn't slip and...

...well, he wasn't going to think of that.

He was just in time.

The teen ejected the contents of his stomach, head spinning wildly, and chest cavity contorting in severe discomfort with every painful heave the younger hybrid's stomach was upchucking.

Chest rising and falling, wincing at the sharp sting at his throat and the pangs now emanating from his already achy chest, Danny shakingly withdrew, slowly wiping at his mouth.

Gaaaahhhh.

Danny panted slightly, exhaling heavily before his eyes snapped shut once again, and he leaned over to retch once more.

Gasping, gagging, and now wincing at the return of the hot, bitter sting of acid against his throat, the teen rubbed at his eyes, now feeling apprehensive at his uncertain stomach.

Danny groaned in defeat as he paused for a moment to ascertain he wasn't going to continue vomiting, and then stood to look at his reflection in the nearby bathroom mirror.

He winced.

His complexion was seriously pale...or more so then usual, and his eyes were reddish- as well as unfocused-hazy blue orbs below a now damp forehead.

Time to face facts.

He slowly sank to his knees once again, and rested his head against the cool marble of the sink, sighing after a moment or two had past.

Looks like the whole saying: "He who believes himself to be ill, WILL become ill" COULD be disproved. Despite days ready to go onto weeks of denying it....

He seriously had one heck of a bug. He knew now to accept that.

The young hybrid's stomach twisted once again, and he hurriedly ducked his head once again as the contents of breakfast, lunch, and dinner came back in full fury.

The apprehension of this fact sank into sheer resignation. After a moment or two, Danny wearily sank onto the cold tiles with a groan, shivering slightly.

It hurt to move.

With another wince, he vaguely remembered passing out in Amity Park just a few months ago. But the physicians claimed it had been fatigue, slight malnutrition, and exhaustion.

Was that what was happening now?

No. Danny doubted it. He blamed the season once again. Probably just a mild stomach virus.....and he doubted that it could be anything else....

His spectral energy was about as normal as it could be with daily training, so it wasn't another internal ectoplasm attack. Danny would know if it was, and he hadn't been throwing up at that point.

Still unwilling to dismiss the reality, Danny continued to ponder with a slight frown.

Was there anything else that could have caused this....?

Maybe he'd gotten food poisoning.

Danny managed a faint smile at the thought of George's indignant, incredulous, and outraged face if he could have heard him say that. He shook it off. George's cooking was immaculate, and Vlad seemed fine enough after eating the same food.

He stifled a small laugh, but winced, and ceased almost instantly as another, rather troubling though passed it's way into the younger hybrid's thoughts....

Speaking of Vlad....

The younger hybrid whimpered slightly, and pressed his burning face into his hands.

No. This wasn't like before. Just a bug. It wasn't even worth skipping training or...lessons over.

The thought made him smile, albeit a bit ruefully. But it was true-he'd handled far worse junk then this. And he certainly didn't need Vlad smirking over the fact that he, Danny Phantom-couldn't handle so much as a cough then a ghost-or worse, Vlad would simply make an enormous deal out of nothing.

Danny's eyes flickered, and lowered to his pale fists now clenched in his lap.

Sam-he flinched ever so slightly; Sam was a top priority on things he did his best not to think about during the day here.....

.....and failed miserably.

Still, he did allow himself to recall when Mr. and Mrs. Manson-after learning their daughter had contracted a small cold-had called in a team of ER units to observe her night and day.....ultimately driving the goth girl nuts.

He managed another slight chuckle-but there was no humor, this time. Glancing at his face in the mirror...and seeing it still contorted with sadness, he shook it off with a slight scowl, and switched to his previous thoughts.

It wasn't as if they were easy to ignore, considering they decided to drop him a friendly visit every time the boy continued another lovely bout of projectile vomiting.

But once his stomach, chest, and head cleared up a little, this would be easy enough to handle. As Danny worked on clearing his rapidly spinning head, he managed to garner some comfort from the fact. Obviously, as Maddie had told him the nights she'd spent with a flushed and miserable child gagging in the bathroom, one cool hand reassuringly tracing little circles on the back of his neck-this wouldn't last forever.

At the thought, his eyes stung slightly, and, now abashed, he swiped at them with one hand.

~*~

Still clutching his stomach, Danny uncertainly put a hand to his own face, pointless though he knew it was. His hand was the same temperature as the rest of his body, and most likely could not help him detect a severe difference.

Yep. He personally couldn't tell whether it felt overly warm or not.

It wasn't anything to stress out over. Just a bug. He'd had far worse in his erratic lifetime.

The thought was slightly encouraging, and, with it, Danny slowly stood up once again, ready to turn for the bedroom once again.

But then, almost immediately, fell to his knees once again to bend over, stomach still not quite done yet.

And began to violently gag once again.

~*~

When dawn had broken over the still gently swaying treetops the next morning, Danny had fallen asleep in the bathroom, head resting on a folded towel, hand on his stomach.

After his newly gained ability of teleportation, Danny had figured it would prove easy enough returning to the bathroom in case of further attacks.

But they'd become annoyingly frequent, so at last, the younger hybrid of Vlad's castle had given up, and settled down on the floor for the evening.

As he slept, brushing in and out of waking dreams, his palm remained near his ribcage, a slight frown on his features as he dozed.

His chest was still burning.

~*~

After brushing his teeth multiple times to eradicate the acid from his mouth, cleaning up slightly, and being satisfied enough with his appearance-still pale, but now not unduly so, and the boy had drifted downstairs, as was his wont.

To his relief, Vlad had given him a puzzled glance or two while he'd pretended to eat breakfast, but that seemed about all. Knowing Vlad, he'd put up some huge fuss or simply smirk at the teen for being unable to handle so much as a cold.

And so, Danny had left for lessons afterwards, and the man for a few scheduled phone calls.

But he'd cast a mystified, uncertain glance at the boy's retreating back as he did so.

(~*~)

Two days later, it was beginning to worry him immensely.

Danny rarely ate more then tidbits, and, it was only when he seemed to sense Vlad watching.

And the billionaire had, indeed, been doing so.

In middle of conversation, Daniel would "accidentally" forget to take a bite of whatnot before lowering his fork or spoon to vaguely mention some fact-trivial or not.

And, to his continued surprise, the boy's cough didn't seem to be getting much better, though the child claimed it was, really.

But Daniel had always been a wretched liar, and now, the man was becoming suspicious at the younger hybrid's odd behavior.

According to George and Carl...who often knocked at the child's door....Daniel really WAS hacking quite a bit these days. It was always hastily stifled at the uncertain thud at the wood, but now, after hearing that awful claim Vlad really was becoming to hate these days-"I'm fine"-he was feeling more and more uneasy.

For although the child DID refrain from coughing unless absolutely necessary around the man, those bouts were long...as well as hard. Vlad was often left staring in bewildered ambiguity during these small explosions, occasionally forced to stop in whatever they were doing-were it training or something of that sort-to awkwardly tap the child's back, wondering out loud whether or not Daniel wanted a glass of water or a cough drop.

But, yet again, Daniel would desist. And, as another two days passed in this fashion, he felt his rapidly declining patience began to wane once more.

~*~

Soon enough, the waning sliver of patience he had left eclipsed.

It had been during one of Vlad and Danny's practice periods when the program had at last been paused, and initiated into a shutdown sequence.

After Vlad's voice command had rung out through the air, the now slightly bewildered billionaire had turned, brow slightly furrowed.

"Daniel...?"

Across the room where he had left him, the teen was still bent over slightly-and still coughing violently. Vlad raised an eyebrow, and, now feeling

slightly dumbfounded, drifted over to the younger hybrid, wondering if he ought to summon one of the maids nearby for a jug of water.

While Vlad glanced at the nearby loudspeaker, Danny-as if guessing the man's thoughts-began to shake a slightly trembling, illuminous silver

hand in the man's direction, still unable to speak properly.

Which was rather lucky. Vlad was so sick of hearing the boy's infernal insistence of well being that the man felt ready to scream.

.....as well as feel a slight sadness.

What was with the boy, as of late?

And, even now....

.....wouldn't he even trust the older hybrid to help him?

~*~*~

Again and again, he'd tried to check for a fever.

And...again and again, the child would edgily shift away, looking uneasy.

But Vlad Masters was now quite irritated, and not to be denied.

After seeing the boy off, as usual, the man had begun to make a detour for his lab, but he'd stopped in midpace, mentally groaning when he recalled that the bracelet was no longer bound around Daniel's wrist.

As well as no longer in this world, ever since those accursed brats stole into his home, and snatched it. His blood still boiled at the thought.

Well....Ms. Thomas could do without the child for a minute or so....

....or perhaps longer.

With a slight frown, Vlad made his way towards his lab once again, this time, towards the medicinal bassinet.

~*~

The clock was patiently ticking from the other side of the room, much as it had always done.

Ms. Thomas had cast the boy an uncertain glance when Danny's pencil thudded against the desk, and he'd clapped a hand over his mouth as yet another attack began to carve its way directly into his lungs.

Throat blistering, and, something thick trickling from his mouth to his fingertips, Danny began yet another cough, burning scorch that had been bubbling beneath the young hybrid's chest cavity coming ripely to a boil as he turned slightly in his seat, feeling nauseous.

Slightly startled, fifteen year old Danny Phantom-began to cough once again, the painful vibrations beginning to shake him ever so slightly as the specter drifted towards him, looking concerned.

"Ah....dear....are you....."

She trailed off as the small clock began to chime the hour, glanced at it, and then, turned back around.

The ghost's eyes widened.

It was quite unnecessary to go any further.

Seeing as Daniel Phantom's body was now little more then a small, curled up figure, motionless on the ground.

Like that of a broken puppet.

Whew....

Next chapter things....really heat up, if you know what I'm saying. Things are happening fairly quickly, but you're going to see WHY soon enough.

.....let's just say, Danny's not a novice when it comes to hide-and-seek.

Poor Danny.

Poor, poor, poor Danny.*Tears.*

Sorry it took so long......D: My computer chose to delete my material when it seemed to think I wasn't "logged on"....twice. And I felt like screaming each time.

Actually, I still do, so allot me a second or two......

*Screams into pillow.*

But I think this one-shot will have to become a two or three-shot. The real emotion comes next chapter....particularly with a surprise meeting and a startling discovery or two on Vlad's part.

Adieu, ma cheries. I very rarely have time for Fanfiction anymore. D: Darn school. Dar homework and studies. I hope to get this published soon....but I doubt that will be the case.

Dagnabit.