Chapter 10
Nocturne stood still by the doorway to the room. "Only 50 percent to wake up again? Is that all the chance we managed to give him?"
Clockwork kept fussing with the child's hair for a moment before giving an answer. "Yes. It is what we have manage to give him for the time frame where it's possible for him to wake up again."
"Time frame. You mean to tell me there is a time limit as well?" Nocturne sounded a bit angered at this, but mostly it was worry in his voice.
"Daniel have between five to seven days from now, where he may wake up with that chance. And no, the chance will not decrees from that point forward."
Nocturne frowned in annoyance of having his question answered before he even asked it. But that frown disappeared as he understood a little more about what he had just been told. "If the 50 percent chance won't decrees it would just be about waiting it out, there wouldn't be a time frame for it. Clockwork, what will happen if he don't wake up inside those days, what are the other percents going to?"
Clockwork was finally done with putting, now his child, to bed but he didn't move far away from him. Instead he stood there beside it as he kept his attention on the small halfa. "Daniel has 50 percent chance of waking up in five to seven day. He also have a 50 percents chance, that inside those same five to seven days, to completely disintegrate and simply fall apart."
That statement had the star covered ghost moving towards the child on the bed. Wanting to do something, anything, that could help in anyway or form to wake him up. But he was stopped by his old acquaintance, who moved his clock-staff in the way, easily moving his attention back on to the time master. "That isn't something I would call a '50 percents chance' Clockwork. I would call that a hopeful wish on a shooting star. How can that be a 'half chance'?"
"It is a 'half chance' by how through half of the possible timelines from here he wakes up, and in the other half of them he dies. That is something I can not change."
"Then why wasn't you involved earlier? When something this serious comes around, even you who wants to stay secluded usually sends out some cryptic message to the one it needs to go to stop things like this to happen. And you even know this child personally."
"Because I didn't figure it out before this time in this timeline." Clockwork was pressing together his jaws in an rare shown of emotion, frustration.
The time master started to move out of the room at that point and after some hesitation the other ghost followed after him, but only after he had stroked the unconscious child's head to make certain there would be no nightmares even in a sleep deep as a coma. He followed the time master all the way to what could be seen as his 'working area'. A really big room filled with various clocks that was used to care and tends to all time.
For many the constant ticking inside his tower is bad enough but in that room it could for quite a few be seen as maddening. But for Nocturne it meant nothing really, maybe a little appreciated due to how it can help with putting some people to sleep. He looked over to Clockwork, who had stayed in front off a clock that started to show the living world. The time ghost started to shift ages again as he observed the ghost child from a time when he still seemed healthy.
"I can see all time and all possibles for it. But I can't see something that never get shown to begin with. As said earlier so was my assumption about Daniel the same as everyones else, or close to it. Because that assumption was a natural one to make and also foolish of me to follow."
The show in the clock shifted to a new scene where the ghost boy was fighting. "At first glance when looking through my clocks about the ghost boy, what is seen is a child learning and growing as he does things he decided to do. I saw that, too, in nearly all timelines and together with it there was mistreatment that reoccurred in some of them. But rarely as strong as in the timeline we now went down in." On an other clock nearby a scene of Daniel began to play. It showed a moment of when he was forced to listen to his sister and friends, as the lectured him for not fighting as they told him to. And on a clock beside it, it was shown when his parents lectured him for the lie his sister had told them. "It is because the occurrence was so rare that I didn't find out before now why there where timelines where Daniel died without a clear reason behind it."
"Wait, that child have died before?"
"Yes." And in answer a lot of the clocks in the room started to show variated scenes. None of them when the child had been fighting and neither when he played around, but instead it showed Danny as he lay still and cold on either his bed, on a floor or even in an alley.
Nocturne went close up to one of them, showing Danny laying on the floor beside his bed. The lack of breathing showing that the child was dead. The dream ghost didn't touch the clock, well aware that you shouldn't touch any tool that belonged to the time ghost. Still the dream ghost frowned. "That isn't from disintegration of his core is it? A ghost's body dissolves in to nothing when that happens."
"A ghost's body does that yes but Daniel is a halfa."
That is when it becomes more clear for Nocturne. "This is what you meant by 'it has to be shown'. You didn't know what killed him because you couldn't see it. I take it that all the scenes shown now are all there is that are about him dying of the same thing. They really are rare if you consider how many timelines there really could be. No wonder that you didn't have a lot to go on but there are still somethings that don't fit Clockwork. 'Why' is this scene so rare, if what killed him is something that can't change?"
Clockwork made the scenes of death go away as he let other scenes in time play out instead. "Because they aren't. The are only rare in their number of 'unclear reason' but in the others they are other factors that could be counted in as cause. There for giving a reason behind his death. The real reason isn't obvious if you never knew about it to begin with. And those timelines was, as said, rare so it didn't seem important for me to clear it up."
"… you are regretting it. That you didn't give more time to find out the reason. May I ask something, you do know now the reason so why don't you change so that we are at the beginning again? It's not like it will be all that many that is able to tell when time is being replayed."
"Because time is not something you simply change as you like. Even small changes can make time unstable and either change or ruin the future. I didn't find that fact out earlier and so I will not know earlier."
"And this concept is likely why only you should be let to watch over time. We others would mostly just mess it up."
Nocturne felt good when he finally managed to make the other one smirk at his comment. He was used with both the ego and smugness from Clockwork, not regret and grief. "I would love to hear the story of how come you know the boy and how he know you well enough to trust you as his family. But I need to go back to the others and report of the child's state, only one question before I leave. What was it that made it different this time? For I assume that something this time made it more clear what the error was."
"There was a difference in treatment on both mistreatment and care. There are other timelines where the mistreatment goes over to abuse like it did this time, but it don't usually stay on this level for such a long time. Instead it would evolve to even graver abuse that in itself could cause death. The amount of care was also low this time from all those that he had marked as family. Again, that is something that occurred other times too but it usually didn't decline so fast. That's why he in a lot of timelines survived past childhood before this killed him."
"So the abuse and neglect from those around him is was caused the symptoms to bloom out so aggressively, making it possible for us other ghosts to see them. Thank you for your help Clockwork, I will be leaving now."
Nocturne was nearly out of the room when the time ghost answered. "I also have to say thanks for helping saving him. Good luck." And with that they parted.
Nocturne returned in time to see Skulker being yelled at by Walker before the warden patted the hunter on his shoulder for a job well done. A little confused over their behavior Nocturne simply decided to let it be if it wasn't relevant. Coming closer Walker caught sight of him and immediately demanded a report. This made all the other ghosts in the area, which was maybe even more ghosts then before, to gather around the dream ghost.
The first to speck was Johnny. "How's the li'l kid? He should be alright now right." Getting all the others to mumble and whispers close to the same.
"Sadly the answer is no." Nocturne had known that they would be upset and wasn't disappointed when nearly all of them started to yell and scream at each others and to no one in particular. They didn't lower their voices until Walker ordered a demand for silence, closely followed with a demand of getting a report. Which the dream ghost provided them. Saying what he had been told by Danny's new 'family' but still not giving out who it was.
He was meet with exclaims of horror and anxiety. As well as some who openly blamed either themselves or all there is to put blame on. Various questions where also thrown around but not answered with how much noise there was. Finally one managed to boom out louder then the others, both making themselves heard and quietening all others. It was Frostbite from the Far Frozen.
"Calm down everyone. As mister dream holder said so where our efforts not in wain."
Kitty who stood beside Johnny got angry. "Danny is in a coma. How is that in any way positive you fur ball?"
"Yeah babe is right. The li'l kid is not awake anymore and that's bad."
"But the great one has been given a chance to wake up again. Which is more then he would have had otherwise."
Ember was the one upset now. "That is only what that nap blanket said that his 'acquaintance' claims. How the hell would he know something like that?"
This broke out in to a verbal fight among the ghosts and was near to develop in to a physical fight when Walker intervened.
"Either you will all shut up or it will be a prison cell for all off you."
And all knowing that Walker really would go through with such a threat, immediately shut up. Making it very quiet aside from some worried whispering and mumbling. The warden satisfied with the quiet turned back to Nocturne who had stood quiet through the whole deal.
"Can you guarantee that this 'caretaker' knows what he is talking about?"
"Yes."
"Well then. Assuming that this ghost still wants to stay an unknown, I want you to go there at least three times a day to take a status cheek on the boy. That status cheek will then be reported to me, as well as to the public thereafter from my office. Even if the child shouldn't wake up before a weeks time I still want that status update."
Walker turned to the other ghosts now. "For all others there is a variety of tasks available for those that want to be involved in one way or the other. But remember that no one, no one will take actions without permission to do so from me. Is that clear?"
"Why shouldn't we be allowed to? It's not like we have different feelings this time towards the fools that hurt the ghost child. For once we all want to help him."
Walker simply hit Skulker over the head before answering. "It's just because of that there will be no unaccounted actions allowed. It have already been pronounced what core class Danny Phantom is, so I shouldn't need to remind anyone why harmful actions towards his former family is unacceptable."
"And why is that? As you said the are former family. It shouldn't matter now what we do to them and it is not like they don't deserve to feel what pain is."
"Because even if the moving of the child have been accepted, it still won't be a good thing if the first thing to happen when he wakes up is to hear how his former family is destroyed. He is a family class category, you stupid bucket for a ghost. And with the damage he have already taken to his core even a slight miss can at this stage very well cost him his existence. Or do you have an other take on that doctor?"
Doctor Ryan spoke up. "No as I said before to you warden so will my patient's core be in a sensitive state even with a new family. It will actually be even more sensitive for stress for a period of time because of the strain of claiming a new family, and more so for a new home as 'house'. So sadly we will not be able to take decisions that would harm the former family until mister Daniel is fully stable, and that will take time as he himself may seem stable fast enough the core will not heal as fast. Therefore, please do as warden says about confirming first if an idea is doable or not."
Skulker growled but backed down, appearing to understand to at least some degree why he have to behave. Walker thought still made certain it had gotten through to him. "So no more stunts like earlier. Disturbing the Fenton portal was a good idea in itself so I will praise you for that but doing so without telling me first was stupid."
Nocturne understood with that what it had been that the warden had been yelling at the other for earlier. Somewhat typical really that one of the ghost would go and do that, even more typical that it would end up being the ghostzone's infamous hunter, too. Still he felt the had steered a little off course.
"As funny as it may be to watch Skulker's intelligence being made fun of I would like to ask for a report on how things have moved here while I took Danny to his new home."
Walker being the effective warden he was began his report about their activities. The Fenton portal was sabotaged by Skulker, who had left a bomb on the controls that went off some time after all ghosts had gone back to the ghostzone. The 'Specter Speeder' was also down thanks to Johnny 13. That had been a out given order by Walker to be done. Guards had been positioned beside both the now broken portal as well as any active ones, they have also been allowed to borrow the Infi-map by Frostbite to know of any natural portals that would open and close.
It have also been ordered to give out any and all involved facts to the public ghosts to read. This had been done to make certain that all was aware of how Danny from now on was protected by ghost law, what happened to him, and to give out how the situation was developing.
"By the end of this day there shouldn't be a single ghost that is unaware that Danny is a family class, as well as knowing that those he have been associated with earlier are not to be allowed inside the ghostzone. Due to the crimes they have committed."
"That should be all I needed to know. I will be updating about Danny but I want equal update about anything that happens that connects back to him."
"Deal."
With that Nocturne was done, he asked to be sent a list about any task available to his home before he flew away. Walker was about to call out more orders but was interrupted by Skulker. The hunter wanted to show he had understood earlier corrections and warning, so he was now informing the warden that he would be on his way to inform the other halfa about it all.
"Why the hell would we get Plasmius involved for?"
"Because like it or not he is the only other halfa and that same fact also means that he is, at least partly, a ghost. And I do remember you saying that you want all ghost to be informed."
"Fine. Inform him, but I'm putting it up as your responsibility that he will not do anything stupid or risk taking in response to the information."
Agreeing with those terms Skulker gives his girlfriend a kiss and hug as he tells her he have a job to do, gaining him a hug back. Then he is on his way to Vlad Master's portal.