Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note (9/28/2017): Um so, I know Luna is a totally unoriginal name for this ghost girl but I couldn't come up with anything else! Just putting that out there! Oh and I almost forgot to mention this but I started a tumblr account just for this story. There I've been posting random Danny Phantom quotes and theories and also some art and other things relating to either the show or this fanfiction. Just look up "the soul's pulse" and you should find a tumblr with a drawing of Owen with Blood Blossom thorns around him and it talks about "what it's like to be Vlad Master's son" and stuff. I'd love to see more people stop by so be sure to check it out!


~Chapter 28~

Master Or Slave?


Owen's heart was thrumming painfully against his rib cage as he continued to run through the dense forest, trying desperately to follow the path his inherited memories led him down. All while struggling not to let his consciousness get swept away by those same memories or get caught off guard by Azrael's influence at the same time. It was disorientating to have whatever was in front of him occasionally flash between the past and present versions of this forest. This problem had gotten Owen turned around more than a few times, wasting precious time and making him even more lost then he was before...

Azrael would eventually return to the weeping willow to find him gone and start invading his mind again, Owen was sure of it. And there was already enough confusion going on in his mind already! Not only that but the cold air soon began to sting the inside of his lungs and exposed skin so Owen had no choice but to risk a short break to catch his breath, using it to try and warm his numb fingers too while leaning against a large boulder.

He almost wished he still had Azrael's cloak with him to keep warm since his hoodie offered little in the way of warmth. Not to mention Owen was only wearing a tank top beneath it. After the whole explosive blue-fire incident when Owen first used his new power, despite the weather steadily growing colder, for awhile he started to overheat much more easily and took to wearing just a tank top and shorts to bed. Or sometimes even sleeping shirtless with the window open to cool off. But for whatever reason, right now Owen just couldn't seem to keep warm. Almost as if his body temperature was suddenly regulating normally again. Talk about bad timing, because right now being able to self-generate heat would have been extremely useful...

At first Owen thought seriously about using his powers to ignite a small fire somewhere but quickly abandoned the idea for several reasons. For one thing, the smoke would make him easy to spot from the air since Azrael would be flying during his search. But honestly, Owen wasn't sure if he could control his powers to that extent right now anyway. It had taken everything Owen learned from Vlad to only burn away that stupid cloak instead of letting it go out of control when the familiar impulse to let his power flare out in all directions hit him. Just like that time in the forest behind the hospital.

Owen still didn't fully understand the extent of his powers or his unique connection to Azrael to know whether or not he could sense him using his powers either. That is, if Azrael hadn't already sensed Owen use it before when he escaped. And that was all the more reason not to risk using them in spite of the bitter cold. His legs were trembling violently from a combination of the cold and overexertion but he had no choice but to keep going. With a bit of difficulty Owen pulled himself up off the boulder he'd been leaning on for support and pressed on, pushing himself beyond his limits as he tried to venture as far as his meager strength would let him.


Vlad wasted no time once he regained consciousness to transform and take off in the direction Azrael had most assuredly taken Owen in. Appearances be damned! The only thing Vlad could think about was getting Owen back. He'd come up with some excuse later for his absence or just overshadow the right people as per usual to get things exactly as he wanted them in the public eye. Although right now that was the last thing on his mind.

How could he have been so careless?! Why didn't Vlad think to activate the ghost shield he had built and installed into the lining of his limousine to prevent incidents just like this one? Vlad was appalled by his own negligence of course, but the thing that angered him the most was the nerve of that ghost Azrael to steal Owen from right under his nose and dare mock him!

"You're a fool to have made an enemy out of me, Azrael," Vlad snarled, barely able to contain the seething rage building inside of him. "I don't care what insight you could have offered me, you're going to pay for this!"

When snow began falling from the dark clouds overhead, the delicate white flakes melted mere inches from Vlad's skin because his ghost powers were radiating so much heat from his core. Unlike Danny's ice core Vlad's was raw energy in and of it self. Like electricity, or fire. Though he wasn't sure which one it was for sure and neither did he really care after all these years. As long as Vlad could control it and it gave him power, he could care less what element his ghost core was. Though, maybe he should have…

Little did he know that Owen's flame was more then just his powers manifested in that way, it was also a reflection of the essence of his very soul. In other words, his core. And if Vlad's core was fire just like Owen's human equivalent of one then their powers were actually compatible. Together, they could theoretically combine their powers and with the proper rites form a spiritual connection just as strong if not more so then Azrael's.

And that's exactly what Azrael was aiming to do with Owen. He wanted desperately to deepen the bond between them as 'master' and 'servant.' And because of their unusual relationship as the ghost of a necromancer and a living one...Azrael was even more obsessed with Owen. As a ghost he was naturally drawn to him. Especially since one of the previous owners of Owen's soul played a pivotal role in Azrael's life as well as his eventual death. And the two of them already shared a special bond from that.

Owen sensed that he wouldn't be able to make that sort of spiritual connection with Vlad, even just to use his powers to heal him. Not until something changed. And it wasn't until recently that Owen felt that maybe it was. Now it might actually be possible because Vlad was actively trying to change for the better by setting aside some of his old grudges to help Owen out of this mess.

Honestly, the only reason Azrael still had any sort of spiritual connection with Owen was because of what happened in one of his past lives on that fateful day when the memory-sharing ritual they tried to perform went array. This ritual bound Azrael's soul to his. Resulting in their bond lasting beyond death, regardless of the darkness steadily consuming his heart over all these years. Years of ceaselessly watching and waiting for that person's soul to reappear.

If only Azrael knew how misguided he was to think he could rekindle the same bond with a boy who saw him as a stranger and worse, was now deathly afraid of him. If only he'd realized sooner just how far he'd strayed from the role he was meant to play in Owen's life. The role of a guardian and a mentor. This was his duty. A duty that went beyond just serving the owner of his old friend's soul. A duty that like his original promise, was long forgotten...


Back in the Ghost Zone, Luna watched as a look of realization dawned on the ghost boy's face when he heard that she was the one who led him here. After that she debated on whether or not to show herself. It wasn't that she was afraid of him or anything, but rather she was awestricken by his unusual presence. One that was neither of the living nor dead, it was actually a perfect blend of the two. So he really was living a half-life just as she'd heard from all the rumors. Besides, Luna was feeling a bit shy because he was awfully cute in person...

If Luna was still alive she could totally see herself dating someone like Danny Phantom. She had a feeling that her knowledge about casting spells and ancient ghost lore would prove useful to him. Perhaps it still might.

It was a shame she died at such a young age. There were times when Luna missed her mundane human life and the rest of her family and seeing the ghost boy's sister fussing over him reminded her of that. Although the only two people in her family that were still alive now were her little sister and her dad. Her mother was gone too, but she lived a long life before becoming an earthbound ghost for awhile to finish some unfinished business with the Ravenwood's. Then she finally passed onto the true afterlife and Luna never saw her spirit again. Unlike her mother, while Luna knew she still had something holding her back she still didn't know what it was. When she died, Luna didn't have anyone left to guide her so she went to the Ghost Zone and went searching for the ghosts her mother often spoke to. The White Witches of the Silverstone coven.

A car crash is what ended her life; a particularly abrupt and violent one at that which ironically was caused when her car drove over a patch of black ice while she was on her way home from school one day with her dad. Since she only had her learners-permit at that point and not a full license he was teaching her about the dangers she needed to be aware of during extremely snowy weather when there were often really icy roads. Thankfully her dad survived the car crash which helped lessen the regret she felt over what happened because she didn't see the black ice in time and panicked. That and she never would have forgiven herself if she left her little sister all alone in the world without a mom or a dad.

He never knew his wife practiced witchcraft or was teaching it to their children. It was a secret that she never wanted to burden her husband with, but at the same time, it was vital that her daughters knew their heritage and kept their traditions alive. Because one day, she knew something that threatened both worlds would appear and threaten them all. Even so, Luna was still surprised to see her mother again after she died through a projection for the first time and was told about the coven ghosts who purposely stayed behind and would be able to guide her from then on. At least, until she died too in which case Luna was right to go search for them herself.

The moment Luna died and became a ghost her appearance changed drastically. It was terrifying, but thanks to the gentleness of the other witches, once she found them Luna no longer felt afraid. In fact, once she felt better about this whole thing and came to terms with the fact that she was dead, Luna did everything she could to make herself useful. In life she was never one to wallow in self pity and also didn't want to just sit around contemplating on whether or not she wanted to haunt people like every other ghost since she didn't know much about witchcraft other than the few potions and charms her mother used to make.

It's been many years since then and Luna ended up learning much more about magic thanks to her fellow witches. She even used to talk with her mother from time to time until she passed on to the true afterlife, content with how she'd lived her life. Luna could only wonder how she was doing now and if it was possible for ghosts like her to move on too.

Judging from how many other witches eventually disappeared after some moment of clarity and acceptance, Luna liked to think so. After all, the truth of it was that the Ghost Zone wasn't the true afterlife but rather an alternate dimension or go-between for those that still had earthly attachments. At least going off what the leader of the Coven explained to her once. So if there really was a true afterlife, she wondered if the ghost boy would end up there when he died one day or if he'd just become another resident of the Ghost Zone thanks to the traumatic accident that split his soul between earth and this world, making him half ghost without dying.

Taking a deep breath -which was more as a reflex then actually needing air anymore- Luna decided that to save time it'd be better if she went ahead and showed herself to him. She wanted to apologize for controlling Danny with magic anyway and for making a mess of things when it made him crash. Positioning herself between Frostbite and the cavern he was about to lead them into, she dropped her invisibility and floated down front of them, glancing nervously back at the ghost boy's sister and his two friends who stared at her in shock.

"It's ok Frostbite, you don't have to show them the map. I'm here," landing softly in the snow, Luna felt her cheeks turn blue with the ghostly equivalent of a blush and she suddenly burst out, "Danny Phantom! I'm sorry for casting that spell on you before. I didn't realize it would make you drive so recklessly to get here. But leading you to Frostbite was really important and…and-!"

"Luna! It's so good to see you again young lady," Frostbite beamed, gently supporting her shoulders in his large paws. "We were just talking about you."

Blushing a darker blue, she nodded, "I know. I've been here almost the whole time. I just needed to confirm that Danny Phantom made it here first."

Glancing back up at the stunned expression on Danny's face Luna swallowed hard -again by reflex- and was about to offer to lead him and the others to her Coven herself when one of her sisters came rushing towards them as if the devil were on her heels and face-planted into the snow at their feet. Well if she had any heels since she'd turned her legs into a ghostly tail to increase her speed. Sensing that something was amiss, Frostbite let go of Luna and helped the other spirit up along with Danny who supported her other arm.

Turning to Danny and ignoring everyone else, the other ghost witch suddenly exclaimed, "Thank goodness you're here Danny Phantom! There's no more time to waste! Owen Ravenwood in grave danger and you have to help him! Azrael has captured him and he is planning to deepen their connection by performing additional rites on him now that the child's spirit is weakened since the spiritual and physical changes for his coming of age have begun. He mistakenly believes that by doing so Owen will remain bound to him in this life and the next. But Azrael's heart has already been corrupted by his lust for power and obsession with the Ravenwood heir and even now fails to realize…he's turning into a demon! And if this ritual succeeds, Owen will be even more susceptible to becoming one himself! I beg of you, please return to earth and put a stop to Azrael's plans before it's too late!"