Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note (9/28/2020): Sorry in advance but I got a bit carried away with this chapter so it's longer than I planned it to be. Also, not having wifi has been driving me bonkers since there's so much I needed to get done so thank goodness it's finally back up! That and I'm very excited to introduce you guys to a new character! One of two actually that I plan to add to this story! I won't spoil who the first one is, however, once you find out their name feel free to check out their artwork over on my Deviantart page under the name"SecretSigil!"


Chapter 29: Seriously? We're Going Ghost Hunting?

(Chapter inspired by Save Me by Bruno Martini)


Vlad's POV

"Wait, so you're telling me this little glowy thing is what I freaked out about?" Daniel blinked, gently tapping the glass of ghost-proof container I trapped our 'intruder' in...

Knowing better than to dismiss Daniel's concerns about sensing a ghost so easily, I brought him with me to check the security system for anything odd once his shoulder was taken care of. I wanted to see if it detected something but deemed the ghost signature too weak to pose a threat. And with all the added precautions I've implemented, I highly doubted Daniel reacted in such an explosive way this morning because of the Dairy King since he's just as familiar with his ghost signature by now as my own.

Therefore, it had to be the ghost signature of someone he isn't familiar with.

But regardless of whether or not there was actually a ghost loose on my property, considering what happened when Daniel first came to me when Dan was able to fool my old security system since he had the same ghost signature as Daniel and myself, I silently berated myself for forgetting to make absolutely sure this time that we'll be alerted to the presence of ANY ghost in the immediate area no matter its power level. That said I suppose I have Daniel to thank for letting me know there was an intruder to begin with. Although in all honesty, I'm sure the only reason Daniel sensed such a frail ghost so strongly is because he is currently hyper-aware of his ghost sense due to the fact that we've been stuck in Amity Park and the poor boy is reflexively still on extra high alert due to his long-standing negative association with almost everything in that abysmal little town...

With that in mind, it's no wonder Daniel suddenly felt the habitual need to run off to go play hero again just as he did before against his better judgment even though I've been doing my best to remind him that he does not have to do anything of the sort now that he's living with me. And I'm sure that deep down he does know that. But as Daniel himself pointed out earlier, it turns out that he is still a bit disoriented in the mornings since this is only his second day of consciousness after recovering from a week-long coma. I had a feeling he would be but I never quite finished my medical examination yesterday after Daniel's last...emotional episode.

Speaking of which, after briefly examining him again I explained to Daniel on the way to my office that it seemed highly unlikely that his cold-core was to blame for his ghost sense going off prematurely for the aforementioned reasons. Thanks to Frostbite we've already learned that whenever Daniel's ice core has too much unused cold-infused energy stored inside it his entire body tends to radiate an icy aura to alleviate some of the pressure on his core. And in extreme cases his every breath would come out as a fine mist much like his ghost sense.

I've seen it before, back when Daniel was recovering from a panic attack after a close call with Dan who was mentally tormenting my little badger while trying to coax him into entering one of my two ghost portals while I was making arrangements to leave Amity Park the first time when he originally went 'missing' according to his parents. That's how I know the difference between an authentic reaction to sensing a ghost nearby and his ghost core containing too much cold energy; meaning his ghost sense going off this time was in fact an accurate response to detecting a ghost on the property. Because if it was just his core acting up, as I said his every breath would have also been cold and he would be shivering all over his body...

Once I finished explaining all that to him to prove that I was taking his concerns seriously and that I believed him, despite reprimanding him earlier I noted how Daniel looked relieved yet oddly serious about getting to the bottom of this matter. Then again, I suppose he felt ashamed for 'freaking me out' so in order to distract him and prevent Daniel from wallowing in such feelings I struck up a casual conversation earlier while scanning the security cameras all over the castle grounds for the ghost who was foolish enough to trespass on my property because I promised him that they would be swiftly dealt with and he had nothing to worry about.

Without looking at him I told Daniel calmly during our search, "Daniel, I really must apologize for not noticing you had changed into your ghost form sooner and letting you get hurt on my watch. But all things considered, it's actually a good sign that you have enough energy to maintain a more or less stable ghost form, especially given how low your ecto-energy reserves currently are."

"No, you don't have to apologize because it's not your fault Vlad. I'm the one who was acting like an idiot and totally forgot about your warning from yesterday," Daniel groaned, glaring pointedly down at his hands and clenching his fists. "Now I can see why you want to put me on antidepressants. I'm such a mental case that I'm surprised you haven't put me in a straight jacket and locked me up in one of those padded rooms..."

"Hardly," I teased with a light chuckle, ruffling his hair gently, "After all, I'm the resident 'evil genius' here so if anyone qualifies as legally insane I should think I'm the only one who does. Wouldn't you agree my boy?"

After a few moments of silence, Daniel just smiled weakly at my joke, appreciating the kind gesture, and nodded before his expression became solemn again. Catching the hint I decided to switch topics again but still went out of my way to add sternly, "Also you're not an idiot, little badger. And from now on you are forbidden from degrading yourself in such a way because I know for a fact that you are a very intelligent young man. One thing I've learned about you since the moment we met is that you are a very quick learner and you can adapt to almost any situation with little to no effort because you know how to think on your feet and it comes naturally to you.

"As for the rest, I'll have you know I've recently been going through your school records and saw that your grade point average from before the accident with your parents portal hovered around a solid B or a B- in most of your courses. For someone your age that is fairly impressive, especially given the distractions most teenagers deal with in that stage of their young lives. And sadly I'm sure I can imagine the added pressure you got from your parents for not getting straight A's as a 'Fenton always should' what with their unrealistic expectations which is frankly quite ridiculous.

"After all they barely gave you any good reason or motivation to personally strive for any sort of excellence apart from trying to avoid harsh punishment for anything less than perfection. But I can assure you that I on the other hand am quite eager to see you thrive in a much more encouraging, not to mention safer, environment where you can focus on your studies and actually be rewarded for your efforts for once. I already know how capable you are, now all that's left is for you to apply yourself at your own pace and you'll be fine..."

Trailing off when we both heard an unusual sound coming from one of the unused rooms at the same time on one of the camera feeds along seeing with a faint teal green glow coming from under the door, we watched for a moment longer until we suddenly heard Maddie as well responding to the sound. Concerned for her safety I told Daniel to wait where he was before teleporting to the lab after I transformed into my ghost half to grab something to contain the intruder in. I didn't have a copy of the 'Fenton Thermos' handy, but given how weak the ghost signature was I was certain I could capture it easily with a small bubble-shaped shield before putting it in this container.

Essentially my plan after suppressing my ghost signature was to sneak up on my foe and catch them by surprise so when I teleported directly into the room in question however and quickly turned invisible as well I was shocked to find that Maddie was...playing with what appeared to be a small teal-green flame roughly the size of a baseball with solid glowing white eyes. It was bobbing playfully around her head as Maddie gently swatted at it only for the ghostly flame to float out of reach, clearly enjoying their little game. Because of this, it seemed relatively harmless at first, but years of experience has taught me never to be deceived by weak and 'cute' appearances of any ghost because there's always the chance it's nothing but a clever ruse.

Besides which this small creature seemed more advanced than your run-of-the-mill blob ghost, which share a lot of cat-like behavioral traits as well. But as far as I'm aware those only appear in the Ghost Zone since that's the only place where there's enough raw ambient energy for such lesser ghosts to randomly form in the first place. And it takes more energy to manifest as a ghostly flame than a mere mass of sentient ecto-energy. Either way, most blob ghosts or lesser ghosts like them only have basic ghost powers while this one seemed to have another power I wasn't expecting...

The reason I say this lesser ghost seemed more advanced is because I could sense it radiating some sort of natural sedative aura around itself to make itself seem harmless and non-threatening so that even Maddie wasn't afraid of it in the least. However, I knew that feeling could very well be a trick so I resisted that oddly pleasant feeling that at least to me felt like when you first slip into a warm bath and the tension slowly begins to ebb away from your body. It's almost a shame I had to resist that feeling because I could use the chance to unwind just as much as Daniel right about now.

After I returned to Daniel's side and ran a full diagnostic on the small 'living flame,' once I silently read the results which confirmed my suspicions I turned to Daniel and explained, "Now I understand why the system didn't register this particular ghost signature. I never programmed it to recognize the difference between duplicates and lesser summoned ghosts because it seemed virtually impossible to run into such a creature all the way out here. No wonder it seems to have an extra power to calm anyone around it to protect itself..."

Adding a holographic image next to it of a normal blob ghost to compare the two I continued with a smug glint in my eyes because I was being given my first opportunity to teach Daniel something new, "At first glance, one would assume this is just a variance of those blob ghosts you sometimes come across in the Ghost Zone. But that is not the case. Unlike duplicates which are merely an extension of yourself, summons are capable of some level of free will though they will still act in accordance with what their creator wishes, maintain a telepathic link, and can travel a much greater distance. That said it's a rare skill to be able to create these and normally only powerful ghosts or those somehow 'naturally born' with such an ability can achieve such a thing."

Resting his head on his arms and curiously watching the small flame with newfound appreciation as it leaned close against the glass of the container, purring which I found interesting, I was surprised when I saw Daniel smile at it and said, "You know, after seeing it up close this ghost isn't scary at all. It's actually kinda cute so I don't know why I freaked out so much."

Frowning despite his reaction when I realized he wasn't aware of the tranquilizing effect this ghost's aura had on anything exposed to it I pulled the container away from him which made both the wisp and Daniel whine in protest. Looking Daniel in the eye I told him in all seriousness, "Don't let its innocent appearance fool you, there's still the matter of finding out who summoned this small flame and why it came here specifically. Ghosts do not just 'come here' on a whim since it is known far and wide that this is the territory of Vlad Plasmius. And if someone is trying to worm their way in here to harm you then I will make them sorely regret that decision."

Standing up, Daniel rolled his eyes and argued, "Come on Vlad you can't be serious. Aren't you the one who finally convinced ME that not every ghost out in the world outside of Amity Park is hostile? That's why I don't think the ghost who made this fireball thing meant any harm, whoever they are. Plus there's always the chance that there ARE ghosts around who don't actually know anything about you that could have passed through here by mistake.

"Besides, did you see how Maddie-the-cat was playing with it? I've never seen her so happy around a ghost before and it was freaking adorable! I mean you and I both know how skittish she is! She's even nervous around the Dairy King and we're used to him. So yeah, I agree that we should find out who this little guy belongs to, but will you promise me you won't hurt them unless THEY attack us first? The last thing I want to do is make more enemies now that we've finally gotten away from all that!"

Not in the mood to argue with Daniel about his naive sense of morality and about not being cautious enough, I sighed and agreed not to do anything rash before I handed him back the container which he held protectively in his arms. And likewise, the wisp inside retreated closer to him and eyed me fearfully even though all I did was capture it when in all honesty I could have easily destroyed it on the spot instead. So perhaps it could still sense my previous intentions for it because I was angry that a ghost had indirectly put Daniel in danger on my watch.

For his sake and my own, I don't want anyone making the foolish assumption that I've gone soft which would encourage more ghosts to test their luck breaking in, but at the same time, I don't want to upset Daniel needlessly as I have in the past by being too overprotective and aggressive towards a perceived threat before finding out what their true motives are. So fine, I'll amuse him this time since Daniel did have a valid reason behind his reckless actions this morning since there WAS a ghost that slipped into my home virtually undetected which may or may not belong to a potential enemy...

I can only hope this isn't going to become a regular issue.


Danny's POV

I know Vlad's not always the nicest guy, but I didn't like seeing him act like a 'villain' again over such a small ghost flame. It wasn't doing anything harmful to me or anyone else and besides, I actually kinda liked it. I've played with ghost blobs before when I could convince them I wasn't a threat while in the Ghost Zone so honestly, that's part of why I felt so protective of this wisp thing. At the same time though I know Vlad's just worried about me, especially after what happened this morning so I couldn't be too hard on him.

My shoulder still hurt whenever I moved too much but considering how high up I was if I didn't have the extra ghostly endurance I could have easily broken my arm and cracked a couple of ribs or even my skull. Either way, we're lucky I didn't fly up to the very top of the castle because it could have been much worse. I was surprised when Vlad told me to transform and that we were going to go out 'ghost hunting' because even if summoned ghosts can travel further than duplicates since they can do almost everything a normal ghost can to maintain themselves, the original creator had to still be in the general area.

In a way I was secretly grateful Vlad wasn't going to run off on his own to 'deal with the problem' and I think part of the reason Vlad wanted me to go with him is because he wanted to show me he's going keep his word about not demolishing this mysterious ghost on the spot so I wouldn't keep imagining the worst-case scenario while waiting on my own. Then again, Vlad probably just wants to keep a close eye on me in case I feel woozy again or I start having another unexpected ghostly complication with my health. Speaking of which, since I already released my pent up cold energy Vlad lent me some of his ecto-energy to help tide me over while making it perfectly clear that I'm not allowed to do any fighting if it came down to that once we tracked down the wisp's owner. Vlad also told me that I have to land immediately if I feel like I can't maintain my ghost form since we couldn't risk draining my ecto-energy reserves even further right now since I'm not self-generating it very fast yet.

I could tell Vlad was seriously considering using the wisp as bait at one point while we were out searching to lure its master out to us but thankfully he decided against it and told me we might as well my hyper-sensitive ghost sense to our advantage sniff them out so to speak. To lighten the mood a bit I joked about how Vlad basically suggested using me as some kind of a ghostly bloodhound which I thought was pretty funny actually. But after Vlad gave me one of those harsh 'just do as your told' looks I quickly realized he wasn't really in the mood for jokes so I fell silent and did what he asked, expanding my ghost sense like he taught me to.

Normally I would have suggested scouting ahead or splitting up to cover more ground until I remembered Vlad's condition about staying close to him at all times and not doing anything rash. And honestly, I have some mixed feelings about that because while I know Vlad only wants to keep me safe I also hate feeling like he doesn't trust me after what happened this morning. I know it's a childish fear, thinking Vlad doesn't trust me when it took me this long to even trust HIM but seriously, it's not like I did it on purpose or anything! It was literally just a knee-jerk reaction I haven't had in a while and I already knew I overreacted and owned up to it, so why is he acting like this...?

As if sensing my rising anxiety I felt this wave of comforting energy wash over me and curiously looked down at the ghost-proof container in my hands where the wisp was and saw it was looking at me with those same large worried glowing eyes as before. It was kinda weird seeing a random ghost worry about me, but like I told Vlad before he's the one who showed me that there are ghosts hanging around on this side of the world who have always been here and not all of them are 'dead set' on causing trouble or hurting people. So my gut was telling me whoever made this little flame is one of the good ones, just like Vlad's fashion designer friend Evelina Petrov.

I was just about to ask Vlad something when my ghost sense went off and at the same time, the wisp bounced excitedly in its container and cooed in the same direction I was sensing the other ghost. Vlad noticed my reaction and immediately started flying in that direction before I could stop him. I had to speed up to catch him until Vlad abruptly held out an arm to stop me from going any further.

"Geez Vlad, whatever happened to sticking together you fruitl-" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw that Vlad wearing a blank but fully alert expression on his face and quickly realized he had already locked onto their ghost signature too.

Curious, I leaned over to look over his shoulder until I saw them too flying just ahead of us, although whoever it was they were kinda hard to make out since this ghost looked like they were a very pale green color like a classic one you might see in the movies. As soon as they spotted us too the ghost flew over and once they were close enough, stopping just a few feet in front of us all I could think was 'wow' because it turns out it was the ghost of a really cute girl...

She had this really serene expression on her face that I wasn't expecting either. Especially since Vlad's ghost signature was currently flaring up as a warning to her that he wasn't a ghost to be underestimated if she decided to attack either of us. His expression wasn't exactly welcoming either, but she seemed totally unphased, almost like she didn't know how dangerous Vlad could be. And when I looked at her more closely I noticed that there were two other matching ghostly flames floating alongside her that were watching us curiously, but unlike her, they didn't try to get any closer and shyly hid behind her back.

I was distracted for a second when the one I was carrying cooed almost pleadingly up at me since it was eager to rejoin its friends and kept nudging against the glass searching for a weak spot or something so it to phase through. As much as I wanted to let it go though, I decided to wait and see what happened next mostly because there was always a chance that Vlad was right about that uncanny calming power of theirs actually being part of a dangerous trick to weaken their enemies by making them too docile to put up a fight or something like that. I still felt bad for it because it seemed so sad, but since we didn't know anything about this ghost girl it couldn't hurt to be too careful.

As for the girl herself, she looked like she was around my age or at least a year or two older when she died. Her hair was cut really short too, like a pixie cut, and it was this really fair teal-blue-green color. Or maybe it was mint green? Honestly, I couldn't tell since her hair was glowing so brightly and kept floating lazily around her face so it was in constant motion that for all I could tell it was just a slightly tinted white color...

Her skin was also this smooth slightly mossy white-gray color and I noticed there was some kind of faded scar over her right eye, which were glowing this really stunning light jade-green color by the way, or maybe it was makeup like the markings on Ember's face. Heck even her lipstick was a soft shade of green to compliment the rest of her appearance. And lastly of course she was wearing a sleeveless teal turtleneck, black fingerless gloves, a pair of dark pine-green pants, and a set of dark charcoal gray boots.

I didn't realize I was gawking at her like an idiot until Vlad 'politely' cleared his throat loudly to grab my attention and started talking in that harsh no-nonsense business tone of his I'd recognize anywhere as he gestured at the container in my hands and asked her bluntly, "Judging from the two similar specters beside you, I take it this creature belongs to you?"

Nodding she leaned down with her hands on her thighs to look at it after I moved a bit closer to Vlad's side so she could see it more clearly, lightly scolding the wisp as if it was a misbehaved child and not a ghost, "Now Echo, what did I tell you about bothering others and letting yourself get distracted? See what happens when you're not careful?"

Drooping in its own cute way by making its flame dimmer the wisp cooed back weakly as if to say it was sorry and the girl straightened up again, addressing Vlad directly as she gave us a friendly smile and explained while gesturing to herself and then the other two wisps behind her, "My name is Whisper, and this is Mist and Dewdrop. Looks like you've already met Echo. She can be a bit of a trouble maker but she doesn't mean any harm. Whenever I visit somewhere new I always send them out to see if its safe or we sense someone who might need our help, so I-"

Vlad raised a skeptical eyebrow and scoffed sharply, "Don't play dumb with me, girl, you know perfectly well whose home this is since I am known far and wide across both worlds. I'm not buying this whole innocent, wandering, friendly-ghost act either. No ghost that values it's afterlife just wanders onto my property by 'mistake,' so give me one good reason why I should believe you don't have any ulterior motives for trespassing on my land."

Frowning a little Whisper put a hand on her hip and replied in an even but clearly offended tone, "I'm not playing dumb. I don't even know who you are since you haven't introduced yourself yet Mr. Tall-Dark-And-Rude."

I resisted the urge to snicker when I saw Vlad's lip twitch ever so slightly in annoyance then turned back to Whisper who was now sighing and added tiredly as if talking to us suddenly felt very mentally draining, "This is exactly why I usually avoid everyone who feels like they have that same chaotic energy as someone from the Ghost Zone. You Zoners are always so touchy and don't trust anyone. I've been there a few times but I hate it there since it's so hard to find friendly ghosts or anyone who needs or actually wants my help.

"Honestly the only reason I haven't already moved on is because there are still plenty of people here in this world I can help in a way that no one else can just like I wish someone would have helped me when I was still alive. So when Echo called to me and said someone was in trouble I had to come. And when I suddenly couldn't feel her anymore I was worried something bad had happened..."

Eventually, her eyes trailed back down to the wisp I was still holding onto and that's when she asked Vlad again a bit more politely, "Listen, I'm really not here to cause you any trouble so may I please have my wisp back? I promise to avoid your home in the future if there's a problem. I only wanted to help because Echo said your son suddenly fell out of the air and hurt himself and she didn't know what to do and panicked. But by the time she gathered enough courage to try to approach him she got distracted when she came across a really pretty white cat that wasn't scared of her and they started playing."

My eyes immediately snapped over to Vlad who was staring at her with an equally shocked expression as soon as the word 'son' passed her lips. But when I saw the oddly smug grin that slowly spread across his face since he absolutely loved the idea of being my father, I didn't have to be telepathic to tell Vlad obviously had absolutely NO intention of correcting that random assumption she just made about us. Because apparently we feel 'the same' to her and her wisps so as far as she was concerned we might as well be related.

Either way, I could feel my cheeks burning with utter embarrassment and before I could stop myself, I sputtered loudly, "You've got it all wrong! He's-he's not my dad, well, not exactly-" I added sheepishly since I didn't want to make Vlad feel bad, "A-anyway! Um, so let me get this straight, you've really never heard of Vlad Plasmius OR Danny Phantom before? Like ever?"

Whisper shook her head and after seeing my practically mortified expression at being called Vlad's son by a ghost we just met she laughed quietly at my reaction and replied, "No, I think I'd remember a couple of ghosts with names like that. Besides, when I'm not out looking for people who need a helping hand, feel lost, or just need a comforting presence I usually keep to myself."

But after glancing at Vlad she admitted with a nervous chuckle, "I do have one small confession to make though. There actually IS another reason I wanted to come here. The truth is I wasn't expecting there to be a castle in the middle of nowhere like this so when we flew past it and my wisps pointed it out to me I got excited and wanted to find out more about it. That's why I sent Echo ahead of me to check it out."

Her eyes sparkling Whisper added a bit more enthusiastically, "I didn't know anyone was still living there, honest. But I really love finding lost or long forgotten antiques or relics and uncovering their hidden secrets because you wouldn't believe some of the stories they can tell just from the traces of old memories or feelings attached to those objects. Plus I just think castles are cool in general and I've always wanted to see a real one."

Blushing a little when she realized she got a bit carried away Whisper asked, "So will you let Echo go now? Since I doubt you want me exploring your castle I would at least like enjoy Echo's memories of it since she says it's a very interesting place."

"Why of course my dear," Vlad beamed, clearly still on cloud nine after Whisper accidentally assumed he's my father just because she doesn't seem to know the first thing about half-ghosts or about the two of us in general, "And I apologize for making you worry for your friend and making such rude assumptions about you earlier. It seems I misjudged you and your true intentions here with my 'son.'"

Putting an arm around my shoulder while holding himself up with pride, Vlad nodded down at me and continued with that same impossibly big smile plastered on his face, "It's alright Daniel, you can let her out now."

I couldn't believe Vlad was suddenly acting like I was the one who wanted to keep Whisper's pet wisp contained this whole time so I sent him a dirty look before rolling my eyes and deactivating the sealed lid. And as soon as I did the wisp, or I guess her name was Echo, flew out and happily whirled around my head a few times, nuzzling my cheek which only made me blush harder before flitting back over to Whisper and her friends.

Whisper looked relieved when her last wisp was finally free and Vlad, being Vlad, decided to ask her, "Now that we've sorted out that whole misunderstanding, I'm very curious about this unusual power you seem to possess to radiate a calming aura around yourself and your wisps. Quite curious indeed. And did I hear you mention something about being interested in finding 'lost relics' of a sort...?"