Hello everyone! Thank you for reading! I did post chapter 41 yesterday, although it didn't move up the queue, so if you missed it, and are still hung on chapter 40's cliffhanger, check it out.
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Chapter 42: Pen to the Paper
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"Actually," said Jazz, "there's one thing that I'd like to add."
Danny looked at his sister in surprise. He'd expected his parents to quibble, not his sister. Had he screwed up? Did he make a mistake somewhere in here, or push for too much from his parents?
"I think that we need a nonaggression pact in all of this."
"What?" said Jack.
"That's a good idea, Jazz," said Maddie. "As this stands," she continued, "this doesn't actually say that you people can't attack us, is there?"
"I suppose it doesn't," said Fractal. "That was an oversight on my part. My only request would be to make it mutual."
"Time limit!" shouted Jack, suddenly. "That story Dan-o told us. It sounds like a time limit would be good. I don't want to be stuck not attacking a ghost!"
"We can have the nonaggression pact end upon fulfillment of the one of the other terms, namely, you getting home."
The final agreement looked something like this:
'Madeline and Jack Fenton agree to destroy all blueprints related to the Fenton Mortifier, and any other weapons or documents used to construct weapons that may be used to violate the Three Taboos. Further, they agree not to create any more such weapons or documents. In exchange, Phantom, in the person of his shadows, will lead Madeline Fenton, Jack Fenton, Mr Lancer, Michael Snow, Lester Spengler, Nathan Spengler, Richard Marsh, Dashiel Baxter, Paulina Sanchez, Star Thunder, Mia Battaglia, Sarah McAllister, Tiffanie Jones, Dale Gordon, Kwan Ishiyama, Valerie Gray, Hannah Weston, Jasmine Fenton, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and Danny Fenton, to the lair's door, and shall allow them to pass through unopposed.
'Phantom further agrees to do everything in his power to get the above listed persons home safely, unless it poses an existential threat to him, to others, if it is against his obsession, or if it puts him at odds with those entities charged with enforcing the Taboos.
'Finally, Madeline and Jack Fenton, and Phantom and his shadows agree to refrain from attacking one another until such a time as the other terms of this agreement are fulfilled.'
With extreme reluctance, Jack and Maddie signed the document, sipping the sugary Stygian waters. Fractal was a good deal more eager. Danny added his name more sedately.
This was a relief. Really. Until they got home... Danny blinked at the contract, and saw something that his parents had, apparently, missed. Until his parents destroyed their weapons, they couldn't hurt him. Finally, he was as safe from them as they were from him. The corners of his mouth curled up.
Fractal smiled and rolled up the contract, tapping it happily against the table, and tucking it back into his sleeve.
"So," said Fractal, still smiling. "We, we've done that now. Y-you should all take the rest of the day to rest up, because there will be a lot of climbing tomorrow. Would you like us to send someone to cook for you, or-?"
"We can handle ourselves," said Maddie.
"Oh. O-okay, then." Fractal, having completed the task of getting Jack and Maddie to take a Stygian oath, was rapidly becoming nervous. "Do, do you," he included the class with his gaze, "have any questions? I've- That's part of what I'm here for. To help you. With questions, and... stuff."
"I have a question," said Paulina. She pushed past Tucker and Sam, and perched on the table in front of Fractal.
Fractal went delicately green, his ears flicking back, angling imperceptibly downward. "Yes?" he said, timidly, sinking down in his chair.
"Why aren't there any doors? It's totally a drag, like, there's no privacy."
Fractal froze, his eyes briefly going bright, laser-light green. Danny felt his heart plummet, and his mouth go dry with dread, and the atmosphere crackled with tension. Then the feeling vanished, and Fractal smiled.
"There are actually a couple of reasons for that," said Fractal, voice carefully cheerful. "One has to do with the way a lair functions. In a lot of ghost languages, the word for lair is 'room' or 'enclosure.' Lairs are internally continuous, connected spaces. With sufficient power, you can put in doors, you can do a lot of things with sufficient power, some people will even externalize their lairs. But it's much easier this way."
"Uh," said Ricky, "what's the other reason?"
"None of your business," said Fractal, cheerfulness becoming slightly forced. "Any other questions?"
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The cabins were nice and cozy. The tropical theme was continued, and there were carvings on the walls similar to what had been in the rotunda, back on the hill. There was a bedroom in each, with four twin beds, a little sitting room, and little bathroom. Two of them also had medium-sized kitchens.
Danny made the decision to let someone else cook, and parked himself in the shower. He was seriously overheating. The green discoloration in his scars was spreading, too. A thin tendril had nearly reached up his scar to his shoulder, and another was making good progress to his hip. The bathroom's mirror showed a similar discoloration on his back. It was very distressing, not knowing what was going on with his body... But that wasn't exactly uncommon for Danny, and he had gotten over the initial shock that had sent him into a panic.
So he sat himself under the waterfall that served as the bathroom's shower. The water was pleasingly cool, though not as cold as the pools outside.
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were hanging out outside, in the shared bedroom. They had insisted that he take the first shower. They were going to regret that. Or maybe not. Jazz knew how long he could take in a shower.
He started to go over everything that had happened in his mind, giving himself time to actually think and process everything that had happened over the last couple of days.
This whole situation was a massive mess. But it had gotten better. Going back over the contract, Danny realized that Fractal had managed to get rid of the 'soon as possible' part by bringing it up first and then dismissing it. That was clever. Danny shuddered to imagine what might have happened if a clause like that had gotten in there. An image of him leading, or trying to lead, the class across the Burning Lands danced across his mind's eye. Ancients, that would be nightmarish.
Actually, not counting whatever was going on with his body, Danny realized that he was as safe as he had been since becoming half-ghost. That was a nice feeling. Being safe. Sometimes he forgot how much he missed it.
There were a few concerning things, though (Other than the fear that Technus was on his way to world domination.). Like, why had he and Fractal reacted so poorly to the door comment? It wasn't because of power concerns, and he couldn't imagine reacting like that because he just didn't know how to put doors in. Maybe it was symbolic? He had a Ghost Zone title that had to do with doors, on account of the portal.
He absently rubbed his left palm. His scars were getting irritated. He wondered-
Oh. That's why the door thing bothered him. He didn't exactly have good experiences with them, did he? And he guarded borders, but there weren't any in here, so why have a door that would close? It'd just get opened anyway. Like the portal.
Danny imagined that anything even resembling a jab at his death would go over very poorly with him at present. Probably for the next several weeks as well.
That mystery being solved, Danny's mind drifted back to his parents. Maybe...
"Maybe you should tell them," said Echo.
Danny started, slipping, and almost knocking his head into the shower wall. Echo caught him before he could brain himself, though.
"How do you keep doing that?" demanded Danny, squirming away.
"Doing what?" asked Echo, all shades of innocence. Then, more seriously, "If you mean startling you, it's probably partially because I'm invisible to all your 'early-warning systems.' I don't register as a threat to your subconscious, because I'm part of it, but your conscious doesn't know what to do with me, so it freaks out. Like how Sam and Tucker can sneak up on you sometimes, but you know them consciously, unlike with me. And the reason I make you uncomfortable, is because you trust me too much for someone you don't really know, and that puts you on guard. You catch yourself relaxing, and you don't know why. Probably has something to do with human minds not being equipped to deal with personifications of their subconscious, too."
"Okay," said Danny, "that makes sense."
"It should. About ninety percent of that was going through your head anyway. You just weren't processing it properly."
He blinked. "Okay. Fine. So why did you feel the need to freak me out while I'm in the shower?"
"Because," said Echo, taking off his boots, "you're thinking about something important, but you're having trouble thinking things through right now. You aren't at your best. Not after everything that's been done to you. So, I'm here to help you talk it out."
"If talking to yourself fixed crazy, we wouldn't need mental hospitals."
"That might be true. But this isn't like you're talking to a voice in you're head. I am as real to you as I am to anyone else." Echo sat down on the edge of the tub, and swung his legs over so that his feet were in the inch-deep runoff from the waterfall-shower.
"I feel like there's something wrong with that argument. I don't know what yet but..." Danny trailed off. "Okay. So. You think that I should tell Mom and Dad?"
Echo shrugged. "If you're ever going to tell Madeline and Jack, now is the safest time and place to do it. You're safe here. This is your home. Your lair. You are in control."
"Am I?"
"Maybe not consciously, but yeah. And you've got the contract. They're bound by a Stygian Oath not to hurt you. So if they react badly, you're protected."
"Right, and then I can make plans on the way back to Amity."
"And then you know."
"What if they just fake acceptance?"
"I don't think they'll be able to do it for long, and once your powers are working again, you'll be able to tell."
"Oh. Right. Excess emotional energy. But... I don't have any proof."
Echo scoffed. "How's this?" His hair rippled, and went charcoal gray, almost black. It held that way for a few seconds, then turned white again. His eyes stayed toxic green throughout. "Not the best, I know, but..." Echo shrugged.
Danny nodded, but frowned, brushing wet hair out of his face. "You know, I thought you'd be the last one to be for this."
"What, because I don't like Madeline and Jack? Well, I don't. But it's only a matter of time before they use something that really hurts you. Permanently, that is. The stuff they used the other day, you know it could have been worse. They already have stuff that can cripple you. If you tell them here, or at least before you get back, you can control the fallout, be safe from their reactions. But you know as well as I that none of these are the real reason you don't want to tell them."
Danny nodded slowly, looking at his feet. He had curled into a comfortable little ball at the bottom of the waterfall. "Telling them will hurt them."
"Having them find out some other way will hurt them more," said Echo reasonably, "and you've noticed how strained all of your interactions are with them lately. It isn't healthy for you."
"If it goes badly, I'll be shut out of Amity Park. I won't be able to protect it anymore."
"Please. If Boxy can get through, you can. You're as tied to Amity as you are to this place. Which you should probably name, by the way."
"Is that a thing that people do?"
"You've noticed that Ghost Writer calls his lair Vidya. And Clockwork's tower is Long Now. Isn't it kind of hard to think about this as 'the lair' as if it were the only one?"
"Thought that names annoyed you," muttered Danny, all but inaudible. (He frowned internally. How did he get that impression? When?)
"Yeah. I guess I just didn't get them before," admitted Echo, shrugging. "But we're getting off topic."
"I'd screw up Jazz's life. They know she's been helping me. They were mad at us. If they found out more... I don't know. They'd never trust her again, at least."
"She could stay here, with us."
"She wants to go to college, become a psychologist."
"You've saw the way her eyes lit up when you described the University of Ys, Atlantis Academy of Arts, the Atlantaen Science Academy, Lyonesse University, the Palace College at Wyddno, Kitezh Institute of Applied Religion..."
"Why are you only naming stuff in the Drowned Quarter?"
"I don't know. There are a lot of colleges there though, aren't there?"
"I guess. Did I actually tell her about all of those?"
"Most of them, anyway. You told her about your visit to Ys, and mentioned the university there, and then she wanted to know if there were other colleges. You told her about a few in the Lands of Ice, too, and that one in Dis, I think."
"Oh. Right. I think I remember that conversation."
"Well, yeah. So, what do you think, will you tell them?"
"I don't know. I don't... I don't know. It's hard. This is just..." Danny trailed off.
"I know."
"I should let Jazz take her shower now."
