Hi there. Posting this. I'm still a bit ill, but I'm feeling better. I hope that this lives up to your expectations.
Reviews are always appreciated!
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Chapter 77: End of Meeting
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Meg was too nervous to touch down, but she did pause outside the meeting room doors.
It had been surprisingly easy to get into the Panopticon, the Observants' fortress, sanctuary, and office building. She, like her sisters, like Adrestia, had a reputation. A terrifying reputation. She might have been a bit... wild, in her youth. She didn't exactly regret it, actually, she wouldn't have changed anything even if she could have, but she didn't always like it when people shied away from her like that. Even when it was useful. Which it was now.
She breathed in deeply, a habit picked up from some of her Dead friends, and looked down at herself. She wasn't entirely presentable. Her normal clothes were great for everyday, casual use, and for her job, but for interrupting a High Council meeting? Yeah, no. Not if she wanted to live through this.
She closed her eyes, and focused on altering her form. Her braid twisted into a bun on the nape of her neck. Her clothes became a blouse and skirt. She kept her scourge, of course, curled on her hip. She debated for a while on the wings, before deciding that they were a bit too much, and would probably get in the way in the room.
She knocked on the door, half-cringing. The almost inaudible murmur of voices stopped. The door was thrown open a minute later by the practically gleeful pair of Clockwork and Pandora. It looked like she had just interrupted a screaming match. The flickering Crown of Fire drew her attention for a moment, but, in the grand scheme of things, it was unimportant.
"Who are you?" shouted Issitoq. "How dare you interrupt a meeting of the High Council?" Towards the end of the sentence his voice pitched up into a scream.
"Um-"
"Don't you yell at my granddaughter's best friend, you bloated eyeball!" Themis yelled back, shaking her fist at the other ghost.
"Better a bloated eyeball than a blind bat!"
The ravens objected strenuously to the implied slur against bats, no offense meant to Lady Themis. Bats were part of their constituency. And not blind, as it so happened.
Themis ignored Issitoq. "How are your sisters doing, dear?"
"They're okay. I mean... They are doing alright. Um-"
"Answer my question!" thundered Issitoq.
"You had better have a good reason for being here, girl," growled Undergrowth. Other High Council members chimed in, their voices growing progressively louder.
"Let her speak," said Nephthys. "You will never learn her purpose otherwise." The Ancient Master of Death was practically draped over the back of her chair, staring at the ceiling, her veil clutched in one hand.
This set off another round of abuse, this time directed at Nephthys. If Meg hadn't known that this was how High Council meetings always went, she would have been terrified. As it was...
Meg froze as attention turned to her. The speech she had planned to make flew out of her head entirely. "I- um. We- The Core was attacked. By humans. The Guys- The Group for Interdimensional Warfare."
"What?" breathed a Court Magician.
"The GIW attacked the Core. They were stopped, by a ghost named Daniel Phantom." Issitoq gagged.
"Oh. Of course," said Clockwork, almost sighing the words. Then, worried, "Is he-?"
"Silence, slave!" snapped Issitoq. Meg nearly choked. Even for the foremost Judge, and de facto regent of the Infinite Realms, that was too far. But the leader of the Observants continued, "The only care I have for your abomination of a pet is that it is destroyed before it does any more damage. Clearly, it caused this disa-" Issitoq was cut off by a low, deep growl.
The Tiger, in all its electric-blue and lightning-white glory, stood, stalking towards the unfortunate eyeball. "You will speak to the Ancient with respect," said the Tiger in a deep, rumbling voice.
Pandora spoke, then, "No matter if you are his benefactor, no matter if you hold his indentures, he is not your slave."
There was a murmur of agreement. Even some of Issitoq's allies thought that he had gone too far with his insults.
Issitoq responded with a defensive hiss of disgust and disdain, and communicated the bare minimum of apology by nodding his head. "The fact stands," he said, "that his pe-" the Tiger growled again. "That Phantom would be entirely unsuitable as King."
With that, Meg finally recalled the real reason she had come. She cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?" she said, when that didn't obtain a response. She was again rewarded with the disconcerting attentions of the High Council. "The Core appeared to us, using Phantom as their mouthpiece. They named themselves Ereshkigal, gave Phantom's sister and two friends their blessing, and charged my sisters and I with telling you that if they don't get Phantom, that the upheaval and ruin of Pariah Dark's time will seem like nothing.""I didn't know that Sumer was back in style," mused one of the Court Magicians.
"I don't think it is," said Meg. "I think that-"
"How do you know that it wasn't just Phantom, playing the game that its master taught it?" asked Issitoq.
"I swear that what I have said here is true," said Meg. "If you know my name, then you know how I feel about breaking oaths. Besides, it was pretty obvious. You wouldn't be questioning it if you saw it, sir."
"And what is your name?" asked a Raven.
"Megaera," she said, "scourge of the unfaithful, destroyer of warlocks."
"Why aren't your sisters here with you?" asked Themis.
"Oh! Alex, that's Alecto, she went with Adrestia, to bring Phantom to Duat Hospital. Tess was helping his human fraidmates find the way. Phantom, he was- He was hurt. Badly. We- I think that he was injured before he fought with the GIW."
Clockwork made a surprised noise (the human equivalent would be a gasp, but the ghostly version was more of a squeak), and immediately opened a portal, vanishing through it before Issitoq could say anything.
"Well," drawled Nephthys. "I think that's that for this farce of a meeting. Smith, I will contact you once the Council of Ancients has finished its deliberations, which I suspect will not take terribly long." She freed herself from the chair, and walked out.
Pandora nodded, sharply, in approval. "I also wish to see my great-nephew, so if you all will excuse me."
"Ah, wait a moment, Pandora," said Nocturne. "Here," he said, holding out a fist, fingers down. Pandora held out one of her hands, and Nocturne deposited a tiny star into it. "A sweet dream, for the child."
"Thank you, Nocturne. I am sure that he will appreciate it." Pandora left. Nocturne sat back down, curled up in his chair, and fell asleep again. Then, very slowly, he faded out, disappearing to who-knows-where in his own quiet way.
Fright Knight left next, his muttering about the Panopticon's stables interspersed with comments about the Observants' habit of overreaching their authority, and how he longed for a good old benevolent dictatorship. Then the Tiger left, the Ravens still using him as a perch. Smith made his exit, quiet and unobtrusive as ever. Themis and Ma'at smiled nastily at the chief Observant, and made their way to the door. Themis grabbed Meg's elbow on the way out, and steered her to the door, leaving Issitoq alone with his puppets, the two criminal Ancients, and the fading Crown of Fire.
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Clockwork appeared in the lobby of the Duat Hospital, his sight still obscured by the Observants. They would pay for this game they were playing with his child's life. Someday... Someday he would end Issitoq. It might not be by his own hands, but it would be by his will, one way, or another. He would tear the Panopticon apart, until not one stone laid upon another. He would destroy the Observants, ruin them so thoroughly that ten-thousand years hence their fate would still be whispered of, still be feared.
But for now... The fact remained that Daniel was his child. He could find Daniel without his temporal powers, just as Daniel could often find him. But there was an even easier way.
He descended on the receptionist's desk.
"Where is Daniel Phantom?"
"Theater 43. I'll call," said the woman immediately, pointing towards a hallway, and picking up the phone. Clockwork flew down it, literally and figuratively. He could help Daniel better than any doctor here, although they were all very good, and Clockwork would certainly thank them for any work they had. He knew how Daniel's body worked, and there was a reason that people said that time healed all wounds.
The first of the double doors swung open as Clockwork approached, propped open by a nurse. "Lord Clockwork," he said, by way of greeting.
Clockwork opened the next set of doors himself. He briefly registered the presence of the doctors, nurses, and Daniel's human sister, but his attention was drawn to the boy on the table. "Oh, Daniel," he said.
"Lord Clockwork," said Dr Hope. "We've been working on Daniel's more superficial wounds, however, we haven't been able to touch the more serious issues. His core has been seriously damaged, several organs are bruised or otherwise damaged, he is suffering from exhaustion, he has a minor concussion, there are several toxins in his bloodstream, and his temperature and heart rate are fluctuating severely. If not for his unique status, he would have faded."
"I see," said Clockwork. "Excuse me." He stepped past the doctors to stand next to Daniel. He lowered his hand to Daniel's chest. He could feel the child struggling to breathe, feel his core trying to repair itself, stuttering and wavering. "Oh, my poor sweet child," he murmured. "You've been so abused." Even Clockwork could not hope to repair Daniel's core when his body was in this condition. Well, in truth, Clockwork could not repair a ghost's core with his usual methods. Especially not Daniel's. Accelerating his core's time... Daniel would experience every minute of it. No. That would not be kind. Not kind at all.
He would have to repair Daniel's core in a more traditional way, and for that... For that, he would need help. Dr Hope would be a great help on that front. Or, he would have been, if Daniel had known him.
The best human equivalent to the core was the brain. However, not only was the core a thinking organ, it was an intimate one, and a powerful one. A ghost reduced to their core could still feel, was still aware of their surroundings, at least in part. Many ghosts could also still do a lot of damage, even reduced to that most vulnerable state. Clockwork had no doubt that Daniel fell into that category. If anyone that Daniel did not absolutely trust touched his core, he would react badly, and that would only hurt him further.
However, Clockwork could begin fixing his other wounds. There were dozens of them, although none of them were as dangerous, or as injurious to his health in the long term, as the core injury.
"You have been flushing his system, correct? Exchanging his blood for new?"
"Yes, of course," said Dr Hope.
"Good," said Clockwork. His hand moved towards one of the wounds. He moved his hand to one of the more serious wounds. "What toxins?"
Dr Hope recited a list. Most of them would have been meaningless to humans, and even to most ghosts. The terms were archaic. Dr Hope was an old, old ghost. Clockwork was older.
"Good," said Clockwork again, this time more softly. As unpleasant as those were, and as sick as they would make Daniel feel, they would not cause complications with Clockwork's method of wound healing. "I'm sorry, Daniel, this will hurt, but it will make you feel better."
Daniel gasped as Clockwork started, and Jazz hissed as his hand tightened tightened around hers. Oh, it would be so much easier if Clockwork could simply erase the wounds, replacing the injured areas with the same area from an earlier time, but without full access to his temporal powers, that wasn't an option. He didn't know where, precisely, Daniel had been for the last several hours, and reaching back farther than that wasn't possible at the moment. Localized acceleration was the only good choice, although it would put more strain on his body and core.
Clockwork moved to another wound, and the doctors started to cut free the stitches. Daniel whimpered, but otherwise didn't move. "There we are," said Clockwork. "Here we are. You'll feel better, soon. This will scar, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to bear more."
