Summary: Vlad is quite proud of his little apprentice.
Characters: Vlad and Danny
Prompt: Mentor
Day Twenty-Six
"Excellent job," Vlad said proudly as he dropped a hand onto the shoulder of the young boy. Other people might think the eerie glow of the boy's eyes was simply a reflection from the flames before them, but Vlad knew the glow of green pushing out the natural blue of the boy's eyes came from the power within him. He smiled warmly as he moved his hand to ruffle the boy's hair, careful though not to distract his attention too much. "Perhaps one day you'll be stronger than I am."
The boy turned his head and gaped up at him. "No way, Uncle Vlad! You're the strongest ever!"
Vlad chuckled lightly. He was, perhaps, the strongest right now, but he could see the power in the boy, and it grew every day. Without a doubt, one day the boy would surpass him, but that day was still in the distant future. For now, he had to focus on teaching the boy control and the proper use of their powers.
"I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?" Vlad turned his gaze to the circle of flames, burning as brightly as the boy's green eyes. "Do you remember what to do now?"
The boy's head bobbed in a quick nodded. Then his brow creased as he concentrated, and he bit into his lower lip. The flames grew brighter, almost becoming too wild, as the being trapped within them shrieked out in agony.
"Careful," Vlad cautioned with a gentle resting of his hand upon the boy's shoulder again. "It's okay to go slowly. It's more important to do it correctly rather than swiftly. It'll go faster in the years to come after you've had more experience."
The boy closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. The flames calmed and drew inward as the frightened being scrambled around its shrinking enclosure, searching for a break to allow it to escape. The boy held strong, keeping his control over his power despite his young age. The being screamed as the flames consumed it, the chilling shouts echoing in the night.
"You do not belong to this world," the boy murmured, reciting the words Vlad had told him many times before. "Your time here is done. It is time for you to seek peace in the next world." The flames flared brightly for a moment then immediately zapped out of existence with a small wisp of smoke curling in the air. Nothing remained to show anything abnormal had taken place in this spot. No one would ask questions. No one other than the two of them had even heard the being scream.
"Very good. You did quite well for your first outing," Vlad said as the boy relaxed, taking deep breaths after the effort.
"You would have exorcised the spirit in two seconds." The boy pouted, his lower lip jutting out slightly. The unnatural glow of his eyes had faded, returning them to their cheerful blue.
"I just have far more experience than you." Vlad ruffled the boy's hair again. "Now, Danny, I believe it is time for us to return home. You have school in the morning, and it has gotten quite late. Your parents wouldn't approve of you being out so late." He crouched down to allow the boy to climb onto his back. The exorcism of the spirit had taken its toll upon the boy, and Vlad doubted Danny would make it home without falling asleep.
"Tell me another story about Dad when you were in college!" Danny grinned as he wrapped his arms around Vlad's neck.
"You're not sick of those already?" Vlad laughed, holding under Danny's legs as he walked them back to the Fenton household.
"Never!" Danny laughed and squirmed somewhat before he settled again, resting his head against the man's shoulder.
"Well then, if you insist." Vlad considered for a moment. "How about the time Jack learned about me for the first time? I don't think I've told you about that yet."
"Yeah, I wanna hear that."
Vlad smiled, warmth filling his eyes at the excitement in the boy's voice. "Well, we had been dorm mates for almost a year already, and I thought for certain I was going to make it through my freshman year without anyone discovering the truth about me." He shook his head, realizing how naive that thinking was now. He would have done better to ignore his duties until he was no longer at risk of discovery, but years of training was engrained into him and he couldn't simply ignore the rogue spirits stirring up trouble in their world. "There was a nasty little spirit playing pranks on students at the college, so I decided to put an end to it. I finally managed to track it down after a few days and waited until nightfall to exorcise it. Well," he rolled his eyes at himself, "I was so focused on the spirit that I never even thought about the idea of Jack trailing after me. He got suspicious about all my nightly disappearances. He watched silently, which I'm sure you know is unbelievable for him, the whole time as I exorcised the spirit." He stopped talking when he heard a little snore near his ear. Danny had fallen asleep sometime while Vlad spoke. "I guess I can tell you that story again when you're not going to fall asleep on me." He smiled, feeling rather content with his life in that moment, as he walked up to the front door of the Fenton's home.
panfan87: Thanks! =) Kwan's always such a sweetie pie~ I can't imagine him not staying in touch with Valerie somehow. Haha, and Dan would know all the amazing sort of things Kwan can do. 8)
Kira Sema: Sibling bonding! It always annoyed me when Jazz got reduced to this, like, burden to them. Like in Secret Weapons how Jazz was portrayed as always messing up then in Girls Night out they didn't seem to want to have anything to do with Jazz and every time Jazz wanted to give her plan, Sam seemed to shut her down as if Jazz didn't know anything despite being a strong fighter and the child of two genius ghost hunters. =| Yeah, especially with the way Kwan tries so hard to be friends with Tucker and Sam in Lucky in Love. XD I can't imagine him throwing away any friendship he has with someone. He values them too much.
Invader Johnny: Poor Val really wants to help her friend. orz
midnight: I have so many feels for them~ orz Haha, I bet Val would love to do that. XD Or just kidnap Kwan. XD;;;;
HawkeyeLover: S'mores are always good. 8D *wants some* Val will always be there for you, Kwan!
Lexosaurus: Thanks! XD Yeah, making Danny the son of Hades seemed really fitting. 8D Maybe~ We'll have to see. It'll be interesting to see how the day goes for both Paulina and Sam while trying not to have anyone realize they've switched. XD;;
RedHeadsRock1010: Thanks! =D
The freedom girl: I would have loved to see more about the A Listers' lives outside of school. orz There's so much we never got to learn about all the characters! D8 It depends on the story for me. Sometimes there's abuse in one form or another going on, and sometimes they really do have a good, loving environment at home.