Hello there! This chapter is a bit short, comparatively. It also introduces an OC. I've always felt a little sketchy about making OCs so I hope that this one isn't too intrusive or out of place. There probably will be more in the future, so feedback would be appreciated.

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There was a bit of weirdness involving the last update. I accidentally posted chapter 22 instead of chapter 21, and eventually wound up putting both of them up. So check out chapter 21 and chapter 22 if you haven't already!

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One last thing! I have acquired that mysterious thing known as eMplOyMEnt. (Cue dramatic music). You might ask, what does that mean for this story? Well, until mid-August, not much. Updates will slow down a little. There will likely be more day gaps as August approaches, and chapters might be shorter. If I haven't finished this story by the time the school year starts (I'm a teacher), however, updates will become much more sporadic. I'm writing this without any real plan in mind, so I have no idea how long it will wind up being. To be honest with you, I started this as a kind of experiment to see if I could do NaNoWriMo in terms volume alone (so far, the answer looks like, yes, by the skin of my teeth), a way to procrastinate editing and formatting my 200,000 word original fiction piece (hey, as long as I'm writing,right?), and an exercise to make sure that I write every day.

Thank you all for sticking with me thus far! Your support has really helped my confidence when it comes to my writing! I hope that you will continue to read my work in the future.

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Apologies for the long author's note.

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Chapter 23: Astraea

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"What about Phantom?" echoed Maddie, nonplussed. Then, more sternly, "What about Phantom?"

"Well, like, where is he?" said Ricky. "Because he was posse- overshadowing Danny before, that shadow thing wasn't him, supposedly, and both Danny and Phantom said that Danny was weird to overshadow, so he should still be stuck in Danny, but apparently not? Then, if anyone is going to talk about whether or not you did something that was against 'ghost law' it's going to be Phantom, isn't it?"

"Not a chance," said Jazz, when Danny didn't answer.

"Why not?" asked Ricky, his eyebrows turning down.

"He just wouldn't," said Jazz, her eyes on Danny.

"But-"

"Just drop it, Ricky," said Tucker. "She's appointed herself Phantom's psychologist. She's not going to tell you anything."

"That still leaves the issue of where he is," said Ricky, frustrated.

"He's here," said Danny.

Everyone blinked at Danny. "I know my eyesight isn't great," said Mia, "but I don't see him."

"No," said Danny, his voice wavering. "He's- He's here," he said, rubbing his chest. "He's, um, still in me. But," he said quickly, catching his mother's look of worry and anger, "he's been basically catatonic since you used that," he made a circular gesture in the air between them, "thing out there. I kind of... mentally poked him, but he's not reacting."

"I... see. I see." Maddie sighed heavily. "That's good. Good."

"Um. No. No it isn't. Even if you're going to disregard everything we've just said about Phantom not being a bad guy, what do you think will happen to a lair whose ghost fades? I'm asking, because I genuinely don't know."

Maddie blinked, opened her mouth, shut it, and then went very pale.

Jack, on the other hand... "Well, Dann-o, that's a very interesting question," he boomed. Danny wondered if Jack was in denial about the whole situation. "I suspect that without the guidance of the ghost's ectosignature the lair would destabilize and fall apart. Possibly within minutes!" He nodded. His smile lingered on his face for a few moments. "Wait..."

"Yeah," said Danny, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"What are we doing standing around and talking then?!" cried Rebecca. Others chimed in in agreement.

Danny groaned.

"Hey!" said Sam, sharply. "Danny wanted to move on, you're the ones who wanted to play twenty questions!"

"That's right!" said Mikey. "You said that you had a plan! What was it?"

Well. At least they were back on track, now. Still, Danny couldn't help but feel like he had missed something, though. That he had said too much, or too little, or just the wrong thing. Someone was going to pull on the thread sooner or later, and all his carefully constructed lies would unravel. Along with whatever remained of his life.

(There was a sharpness in Mr Lancer's eyes.)

"Yes," said Danny, softly, standing. "That's right." He held out his hands and whistled up to the wisps. Those that had drifted down while he was being sick gathered closer, several of those who had remained above descended. "These guys aren't from here originally," explained Danny. "So they must know where the exit is."

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Technus flew through the green and purple mists of the Ghost Zone at breakneck speed. His eyes flickered from island to island, discarding each as it got close enough to see. He wasn't terribly familiar with this part of the Zone. He knew what he was looking for, but not exactly where it was.

More specifically, he knew who he was looking for.

He had done something terrible, and she was the only one who could offer him absolution. It didn't matter that he hadn't known, hadn't believed, he had still caused that terrible thing.

Technus' memories of his life were sporadic and vague, a result of the method of his death, and the disease that had ravaged him in his latter years, but he had been a father once. A grandfather. He remembered his daughter. Her eyes, as rich as honey, her hair, as golden as the dawn, whip smart, sharper than he was, at any rate, always a little bit of bite in her comments, but what was life without a bit of excitement? He remembered his sons. The older one was fierce. Combative. Technus had never really understood him, his interest in sports, in the physical, but he had tried. Had always tried. Would always try. The younger one had been more like him, but better with people. He'd become a doctor. A surgeon. Technus remembered his grandchildren. Each one sugar sweet and perfect.

He would never, ever have done anything to endanger them.

Technus had never thought of himself as a villain. He had never hated Phantom. To Technus, their battles had been a contest, a game of wits and skill. It had never occurred to him that, for Phantom, something more might be on the line.

But look! There! That island, with that building, with the stately white pillars, and the manicured lawns. That was what he needed. That was what he was looking for. He landed on a paved path, next to a fountain. The building was so tall from this angle, the steps that led up to it's doors, so steep, so formidable, so intimidating. This was only appropriate. Here, Technus was a petitioner, a penitent. It was only right that he should supplicate himself, lower himself to climb those steps, instead of floating, feather-light, over them like some innocent.

He ascended the steps, core heavy with dread. He passed the pillars and into the darker shadows of the porch, stopping before the tall, heavy, dark, wooden doors. Each door had a series of pictures carved into the surface. An arrest. A trial. A judgment. On the right-hand door, the final picture was of a release, the man going free. The last left-hand picture was of an execution.

Technus pushed the doors open, and strode in, his footsteps echoing in the high-ceilinged room. A young woman was sitting at a desk just in front of the doors, while the rest of the room stretched to the left and right, doors punched into the walls every few meters.

The woman looked up, smiling. Her eyes were glowing white except for black lines delineating her irises. She had four arms. Her hair was black, and tied back in a waves reminiscent of Greek statuary, with glowing, star-shaped hairpins. She wore a neat suit and skirt, and a pin shaped like a pair of scales on her lapel. Her skin was as white as marble, her teeth sharp and even. A nameplate on the desk declared her name, in a number of writing systems, to be Astraea Iustitia.

"Hello!" she said musically. "Welcome to the Hall of Justice! My name is Astraea. How can I help you today?"

"I am Technus, Master of Technology! Master of all things electronic and beeping! I..!" Technus faltered. "I am here to report a crime," he said, more quietly. "A violation of Taboo."

Astraea pulled a pad of paper closer to her, and picked up a pen with her other hand. "Please, continue, Mr Technus."

Technus did, giving the young woman every detail. Once he got to the part where he dove through the Fenton portal, leaving Amity and returning to the Ghost Zone to look for the Hall of Justice, he wrapped up with, "... and so I, Technus, Master of all electrical devices, have come to throw myself on the mercy of the courts!"

Astraea frowned. "I don't think that's necessary, sir," she said. "At least from your account, the," she consulted her notes, "Fentons are the ones to blame. Although you really shouldn't be harassing a child like that. How old is this Phantom, anyway?"

"Fourteen and two," said Technus, miserably.

"Alright," said Astraea, making a note. "I'm going to have to make some inquiries regarding this. In the meantime, I'm going to call someone to take you to one of our waiting rooms," she said pressing a button on the desk. "I'm going to ask you to stay until this matter is satisfactorily resolved. For your own sake, I hope that you do so. Adrestia can be rather overzealous when it comes to retrieving witnesses."