Hello, hello. Just a warning, but we're going to be getting to stuff that I wrote while sick. I haven't spotted any blatant typos, but, well, I'm still sick, and it's my writing. I miss stuff. If you ever see anything weird, please tell me so that I can fix it right away! Thank you!

~Protip- If you enjoy the Danny and Clockwork fluff, there's more where that came from in my other stories.- Blatant self promotion over. Thank you.~

Tenuem: Thank you for your review! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story and the 'pun'-tential of the title, and that my OCs aren't too intrusive. The reason Nocturne is being nice, is because I always found his invasion to be suspiciously illogical, and headcanoned it as being a test of Danny, in preparation for what's going on now. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear in previous chapters. Sometimes I forget stuff. Hopefully all of your other story questions will be answered in future chapters. I don't really have a place to send artwork to, but if you post it somewhere and send a link, I'll definitely take a look, because you taking the time to make art of my stuff is super flattering.

kimcat: I feel bad, but I still haven't gotten to the actual trial... And I'm ten chapters ahead... A lot of what's coming next is fluff... I hope that you're okay with that... Too many ellipses...

coolangel4869: I'm glad you like this! Especially that you think that it's coherent. I'm not always a very coherent person. (Your English is very good! I wouldn't have picked up that it was your second language, except that you told me.)

maythestarsgiveyouhope: Thank you for your well-wishes. Don't worry about the writing, though, this is my happy fun place hobby. I can write while I'm sick. The only issue is that when I'm sick I go very s l o w.

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Chapter 78: Sugar Dreams

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It took time- Hah!- but soon all of Daniel's surface wounds were sealed, and many of his bruises had faded. Then the doctors took Daniel, put him on a stretcher, and wheeled him to an empty, well-appointed room. They very carefully placed him into the room's bed, and covered him with a blanket.

Jazz sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Clockwork. The two of them had only met a handful of times, and she looked nervous.

Sam and Tucker were shown in a moment later. Sam was pale, and in a wheelchair, a bandage wrapped around her arm. She had apparently given quite a bit of blood to Daniel. Charming young lady.

Clockwork's vision was still blocked. His desire to murder Issitoq was increasing by the minute. By the second. He dreaded having to explain his question to these children. He had to know what had happened. He needed more than Megaera's story. He needed to know why Daniel's core was so badly damaged. Ereshkigal could be rough, but they would not have caused so much damage to someone they liked.

He sighed. This was one situation that more time wouldn't help.

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Once the children had stopped staring at him, they had given him a very thorough explanation. Pandora had arrived before the end of the tale, bearing Nocturne's gift, and the children had had to start over again, to fill in the other Ancient.

Clockwork was, well, horrified, by the end of it. Anyone would be, upon finding that their child had been through such an ordeal. Pandora was openly furious. The Ancient Master of Hope had never been good at hiding her emotions. Perhaps she would join Clockwork in destroying the Observants. Now was not an appropriate time to ask such a question, however. Justice, and revenge, would have to wait.

Pandora leaned back, sighing. "What a disaster," she said, putting a hand over her eyes "and not one of us Ancients there to stop it."

"It isn't your fault," said Samantha. Over time, all of the children had become quite comfortable with Pandora. Her realm, Elysium, was the one the group visited most often, although Daniel visited Clockwork more. "The Guys in White are the bad guys here."

"Perhaps," said Pandora. "But as Ancients, taking care of such problems is our duty."

"You don't talk much about that," said Jasmine. "Being an Ancient, I mean."

"Yeah," said Tucker, wedged into a corner, looking like he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't in a hospital. "I always thought that it was just, you know, sort of a title? Because you beat Pariah Dark?"

"Alas, no," said Pandora, laughing. "No. There are very few empty titles here in the Infinite Realms. No, there are several duties and privileges attached to the role of Ancient. We are among the most powerful of ghosts in the Realms, chosen by previous Kings. Among other things, we protect the Realms, and especially the Core, from threats that cannot be otherwise turned aside, we advise, protect, and monitor the King, and, when a King falls or fades, we choose the next one."

"So... Wait. What about Pariah?" asked Samantha. Clever girl. "Did you choose him?"

"Unfortunately, yes," said Clockwork. "I did. He was not always an evil man, nor was becoming such his only future."

"I did not," said Pandora, crossing both pairs of arms. "But he defeated me, so my disagreement was moot. He was powerful. It took all seven of us, even Fright Knight, Undergrowth, and Vortex, to defeat him in the end." She sighed again, her fiery hair flickering as she removed her helm and ran her her hand through it. "You know, Inanna was a real person."

"Really?" asked Jasmine.

"Yes. She lived in a time when the borders between the Realms and the material plane were very thin. Thinner than they are now. She was what you might call a sorceress. I was very young, back then. Doubtless you could tell the tale better, Clockwork."

Ah. No, best not. He did know more about that particular incident than most, but some of the details were not ones that he wished to share at this juncture, and he didn't want to lie to Daniel's friends. "You tell it, Pandora. You have already started."

"She was a powerful woman," said Pandora, "and an ambitious one. She knew of ghosts. She was the great-granddaughter of a fairly powerful ghost named Enki. She knew of of the Ghost Zone, and of the Core- Ereshkigal, as they identified themselves to you. She knew of the powers available to ghosts, and specifically the king of ghosts, and wanted them for herself, without dying. You begin to see the problem?"

"So, like Freakshow?" asked Samantha.

"Something like that," agreed Pandora. "Her only motivation was power, she did not particularly care where that power came from. She also did not entirely understand how the Realms functioned, much like the Guys in White. She thought that she could fall upon it in a time of weakness, and conquer it, just as with a human kingdom.

"It was a difficult time here in the Realms. We were entering an interregnum. Our most recent king, Gugalana, had just passed on. It is rare, but it happens. Inanna found a natural portal, again, these were not as rare in those times, and rode through with her army.

"Her army did not fair well in the Realms. They mutinied within days. Inanna on the other hand... I suppose that it would be fair to say that she thrived here. She knew all of the then-modern methods of controlling, manipulating, and harming ghosts. She pioneered many of them. In some ways, Jasmine, she was not unlike your parents. When she chose to make war on the Realms, she carried with herself seven great weapons. She reached the area that we call the Periphery, the edge of the Core. There she was delayed by a ghost that came to be called Neti."

"Came to be called?" asked Jasmine.

Pandora smiled. "Not much was ever known about him. The word Neti meant gatekeeper, which was how he identified himself. Neti destroyed her weapons one by one, until she only had her her innate abilities. By that point, the seven Ancients of that time were able to come together, and defeat her. She was punished for her arrogance. Severely. However, Enki petitioned for mercy, for her release, and he was on the short list of those who could be the next king, so she was released. But... not before she was changed."

"Changed how?" asked Tucker. It appeared as if he had been recording the story on his hand-held computer.

"According to the most popular rumors of the times, she was made liminal and taken to the River Styx. However, others said that an exchange was required of her. That the agreement was that her husband had to take the punishment in her place." Pandora raised her hands in a gesture of either confusion or abnegation. "I never knew. As I said, I was young then."

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Pandora had given Danny Nocturne's dream as soon as she had arrived, placing it on his forehead, and watching it sink in, before joining Clockwork, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker in conversation.

The little dream star sunk down, down, down, into Danny's dreams, illuminating them, pulling Danny out of the confusing, drugged, painful miasma that he had been in until that point. It pulled him down, deeper, father away from the surface of his mind, farther away from the pain. He let it. He followed it, his natural curiosity taking over.

The star described a twisting, rainbow path, flying faster than Danny could. As it passed through the murk, it made the darkness darker, and the lights brighter, turning the dreamscape into a starscape.

Danny was immediately distracted. He chased the little lights that chimed and rang, giggled and whispered at him like will-o-the-wisps, cuddling up against him and giving him little kisses. Danny was charmed. He could taste sugar when they hit the high notes. They were bright and beautiful. They led him onward, onward, onward, the glittering trails of light they left behind them braiding together in a complex pattern that made Danny dizzy and excited.

He was happy happy happy and he didn't know why. Didn't care to examine why. It felt like all his family was gathered around him, or most of it, and that was always a good feeling. He liked it. He couldn't see them, but he knew that they must be nearby. Which was nice. But where..?

The false stars cuddled up against him like puppies. So nice. Then they flitted away again, Danny chasing them at high speed. He tagged one of them, and they chased him for a while. But they were faster than he was, and he half-wanted to be caught, so that they would snuggle with him again. He liked that. They were so soft and warm.

He followed them again. They led him to the first star, which was much bigger, much brighter, and hung, scintillating, in open space. The little lights flew into the larger star. Danny tilted his head, examining the star. "Pretty," murmured Danny, and he touched it.

It pulsed under his hand. It was cold, and friendly. He cuddled up against it, and fell into it, like it was a door, or a portal of some kind, and came out in a very different, much greener, starscape. He could see canvas-covered beings flying back and forth, and a kind of nebula-looking thing in the middle-distance. Ever curious, he flew towards it. This looked familiar. Were those Nocturne's sleepwalkers?

Reclining on the nebula, his starry body merging with the surroundings, was Nocturne. Danny was still a little wary of Nocturne, even though he knew that his attack on Amity had just been a test. Danny paused.

"Mister Nocturne?" he said, hesitant. He was never sure how to address the Ancients. Calling them that... It seemed rude, like he was calling them old, or something, and calling them 'master' felt wrong, too. 'Lord' would be correct, but usually felt too out of place.

"Hello, Daniel," said Nocturne, sleepily. "Are you enjoying your dream?"

"Y-Yes, sir," said Danny. "This is a dream?"

Nocturne leaned down. He was in his 'giant' form. Danny dropped a little, reflexively. The larger ghost traced a line down Danny's cheek. "Come now, we both know that you already knew that. Don't worry. I just want to make sure that you have all the rest you need. If I was doing anything else... Well, Clockwork would be very cross with me, wouldn't he?"

"I guess so," said Danny.

"What would you like to dream about, little one?"

Danny thought about it for a moment. "Clear skies," he said. "Floating. Bells. An adventure, maybe? But not a dangerous one. Sam and Tucker. And maybe Jazz? And Ellie? I know it's just a dream, but..."

"We all want to keep our loved ones close," said Nocturne, nodding. "An evening of adventure, I think, would suit you well. A childhood memory, but, altered, given a hint of the fantastic. A sea voyage." His sharp fingers ran down the back of Danny's neck. Danny bit his lips, and tried not to fidget. "Here," said Nocturne, finally, offering Danny a star.

Danny took the tiny light in both hands, then raised it to his lips and swallowed it whole.

He hoped that this would be a good dream.