Author's Note: Much to the relief of my awesome beta reader (and equally awesome friend) snowcloud8, (and to the relief of those of you still waiting for another chapter) this story is not dead. I now have a plan for where I want it to go, but updates may take a while because I have half a dozen other stories I am also trying to finish and no pre-written chapters for this that I simply have to post. That being said, thank you to anyone still hanging around to see how this story ends! I really appreciate your patience!


Nocturne's realm was as flowery and unnatural looking as it had been last time he'd been free. Dan hovered over the wildflower field and considered blasting some of the foliage out of sheer spite. Ultimately, he decided against it. The last thing he wanted to do was alert anyone to his presence before he wanted them to know that he was there. Instead he flew low through the flowers, hoping that Nocturne didn't notice anything amiss. Some of his energy had been sapped from breaking out of a Fenton Thermos for the second time in his existence, and he didn't want to duke it out in the dream master's territory. Nocturne knew his domain inside and out, which meant that he would have the advantage, especially considering Dan's weakened state. That battle could wait until a day when Dan had all his powers back to full strength.

Hanna had said that she was going to talk to Nocturne before they'd fought and she'd managed to shut him up inside a Fenton Thermos. Dan doubted that he'd been locked away long enough for her to finish her discussion with the ancient ghost. Still, he found himself wondering whether or not she'd gotten her answers more quickly than he thought she would because Nocturne's domain was awfully quiet. Normally there were several sleepwalkers wandering about, keeping unwanted visitors out of Nocturne's so called field of dreams. It wasn't uncommon to run into the green minion ghosts in hordes the deeper one traveled into the field. Instead, Dan was seeing trees.

Dan hovered just outside the trees, frowning. He didn't remember there being a forest in Nocturne's domain. Instead he recalled rolling hills that flattened out into a grassy plain that had appeared to go on forever. If the lack of sleepwalkers wasn't an obvious sign that something was wrong, the startling appearance of a forest where there had once been grassy hills was practically screaming that Nocturne was worried about being attacked. Dan would be flattered if he thought that the defensive forest was because of him, but he doubted that Hanna had even told the ancient ghost that Dan was free. That meant these defenses were probably to keep out the ooze creatures that were destroyed so easily by water, though he wasn't certain how a bunch of trees were going to serve as any kind of a defense. Still, Nocturne's constructs tended to look deceptively harmless. His sleepwalkers were a prime example of that. They looked like they were nothing more than walking green pillows but they could easily overwhelm a ghost.

He floated forward, not entirely surprised when the trees suddenly sprouted thorns as long and as thick as his arm. Normally Dan wouldn't have worried about the thorns, floating by or through them, but this was Nocturne's domain and the ghost had spent centuries experimenting when he'd created his domain. Likely any defenses built into Nocturne's home would be potentially lethal for intruding enemies. Dan backed up a little and the thorns furthest away from him vanished. He scowled at the thorns and tried to figure out what his next step was. He could stick around and wait for Hanna to emerge from Nocturne's home, but that meant he'd have to continually circle the entirety of the forest and meadows. Hanna could easily slip out when he wasn't looking her direction and he'd be stuck wandering around the practically limitless ghost zone looking for her, which wasn't really how he wanted to spent the rest of his afterlife. That left him one option that might draw his intended prey to him. Dan closed his eyes, gathered his strength, and then let loose with his ghostly wail.

Trees shivered, dropping leaves and branches in the force of his attack. Flower petals fluttered through Nocturne's sky for a moment before drifting into bent over grass. For a moment, Dan thought that he might have actually cleared a path for him. He floated forward, only for thorns to appear by the dozen, just as thick as they had been before. Dan growled in frustration just as a figure with pale blue hair floated forward. "Well," Hanna Weiss said, looking not at all surprised to see him. "That didn't take long."

"I've broken out of one of those thermoses once before," Dan replied. "Doing it a second time was easy."

"Yes, and I'm sure that it had nothing to do with Clockwork's absence."

"Nothing at all," was Dan's dismissive response. "I could have escaped even with that fool trying his best to contain me." The statement was nothing more than arrogant bluster and, judging by Hanna's dismissive snort, she knew it.

"Since you're here, I may as well ask you what you know about reviving unconscious ghosts," she said, tone calm as if she hadn't just dropped a metaphorical bombshell on top of him.

"Which ghost has your blundering knocked unconscious?" Dan taunted, buying himself some time. He didn't actually have much experience with unconscious ghosts. Mostly he killed them when they got in his way and kept his plan moving forward.

"He was this way when I got here," Hanna replied with a scowl, folding slim arms over her chest. The trees and bushes around her seemed to bristle defensively, as if backing up her claim. Dan scanned the plants and then realized abruptly that he knew exactly what ghost had been knocked unconscious. It didn't bode well for the rest of the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone if a ghost as ancient as Nocturne had been left insensible after the ooze monsters attacked him.

"Help me through his defenses and I'll see if I can help you," he told her, uncharacteristically serious, and after a moment of studying him, Hanna nodded.

"Alright. But if you try anything funny, I'll make you wish you'd stayed inside the thermos."

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Dan asked, skeptical.

"I don't know yet," Hanna admitted with a startlingly innocent smile. "But I'm creative, so I'll come up with something."


Frostbite hadn't been kidding when he'd told Danny that his parents were being held captive in the absolute center of the Ghost Zone. "It won't be easy to get there," Frostbite had warned. "The door itself is heavily guarded in order to prevent these creatures from escaping."

"It might not be so heavily guarded anymore," Ember had called from where she'd been watching the ooze monster like a hawk. "Not with these things spilling out all over the place like oil out of a leaky pipe."

"They may have found another way to escape," had come the chilly reply and Danny had actually flown over and clapped his hand over an irritated looking Ember's mouth so that she couldn't respond.

"Thank you for you help," he'd said, as cheerfully as he could manage, and Frostbite's countenance had softened as he'd turned his attention away from Ember.

"We really appreciate it," Dani had chimed in, smiling brightly at the ghost, and Frostbite had smiled.

"I am always glad to provide any help I can to you and your friends," Frostbite had informed Danny, his anger already vanishing.

They had departed from Far Frozen without much trouble, but now Danny found himself wishing that they had been held up just a little long so that Hanna would be able to join them. It would have been nice to have even a little more help considering what lay before them. The door that Frostbite had directed them to did appear to be in the exact center of the ever changing Ghost Zone. It was a heavy object that looked like it was made of solid steel, and the only way to see it was if you were hovering directly above it. Unlike the other doors in the Ghost Zone, which were easiest to see if you traveled towards them from in front or behind them, this one was only visible if you came at it from the area above it. It looked like it was located at the very bottom of the Ghost Zone, the only ending to the entire place that Danny had ever seen.

The steel door had been chained shut, but something had burst straight through the center of the door, tear chains like they were damp paper and leaving a gaping wound in the material of the door. There were two piles of ectoplasm next to the door, which seemed to be all that was left of the guards who'd kept curious visitors away, and traces of the same black ooze that the monsters who'd taken his parents were composed of. "Are we really going in there?" Dani asked, voice full of the same trepidation that Danny was feeling.

"Sure thing, babypop," Ember chirped, voice full of false cheer. "That is, unless you want to leave little Danny Fenton's parents at the mercy of those nasty ooze monsters."

"I didn't mean it like that," Dani retorted indignantly, scowling at the blue haired rockstar. "I just don't think that looks like a very fun place to spend your afternoon."

"You're definitely right about that," Ember babbled and Danny realized abruptly that she was looking a little pale. "I definitely would not want to waste one second of my fabulous afterlife down there."

"I'm not exactly looking forward to the trip either," Danny admitted. "But I have to go down there if I want to save my parents."

"So we're really doing this then," Dani said, voice small and wavering. She looked like she'd forgotten all about her earlier irritation. She floated closer to the ruined door, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. "We're really going down there."

"Yeah, we are," Danny said before glancing over at Ember. "Are you coming?"

Ember glanced between Danny and the door before letting out a resigned sigh. "Alright," she said, floating reluctantly downwards towards the door. "I'm in. Let's do this."