Happy Friday! Just one more week of school!
Anne Camp: Yeah, I mostly stick with Danny, because he's my favorite, but writing that bit was fun.
Potkanka: Yes, they were friends, and I did consider putting that in that conversation, but it didn't quite work. What happened to Valerie was much more recent and relevant to Paulina's situation than what happened between her and Danny. As for Danny and his secret, part of the reason he's still trying to keep it is habit. He's just been keeping it for so long it's become ingrained. As for other reasons, you'll have to wait and see. :)
Pi: Thank you for your kind words! Updates should continue to be regular, so you can keep on anticipating!
17: Yep! This was my first year, and right now I'm only part time. We'll see what happens next year if I manage to become full-time...
DarkFoxKit: I'm not sure if I said it explicitly myself. Most of the time, lairs develop along with the ghost. But the size, shape, complexity, detail, etc, depend on the ghost's power and imagination. Also, ghosts can do things like turning their lairs 'inside out' so that they're in the GZ proper, or combine them with other ghosts' lairs. Sometimes this even happens without the ghost knowing. Then, just because a ghost has a lair, that doesn't mean they know where it is, or that they live there. Finally, if a lair is destroyed (which can happen) and the ghost it belonged to is still around, they can make another one, but it's hard. For your other question, I am still accepting floor ideas! I plan on writing at least a few more floors before everyone gets out.
Garisfrey26: Sadly (gladly?), Mortified isn't done yet, and won't be for a while! There are at least three more plots that I have to squish in. Maybe four. Currently, I update once a week on Fridays. If you crave a finished story, I have writen one you might like, as well as a number of one-shots.
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137: Back to a Fantasy
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Tucker tested the bowstring, pulling it back carefully, arms held steady. While Pandora didn't want him, or Jazz and Sam, on deck or fighting, unarmed was a different matter.
"Yeah," said Tucker, "I can use this."
"I can only hope you won't need to," said Pandora, who was sporting several weapons herself.
"Well," said Sam, putting a knife in her boot, "if we do, we did train with these for a reason."
Tucker glanced back at the two girls. Jazz was sporting most of the Fenton tech they still had, and had also gotten a spear. No, not a spear, a halberd. Sam, meanwhile, was going with a crossbow and the 'huge amount of small weapons' route. The crossbow wasn't quite as useful as a bow like the one Tucker had, but a bow required a different skill set, and Tucker had been taking archery lessons for a while.
A long while.
How long?
(Tucker's brow furrowed, a memory of sandstone and sun beating down on him. Targets had been set up on the other side of the courtyard, and his father-)
He shook his head, coming back to reality. He had taken archery classes in middle school, and started to practice again when Sam was kidnapped by Aragon. It was a good idea, they'd learned, to have secondary weapons when possible. Sadly, bringing a bow and arrow to school, or even just carrying one around openly, was frowned upon by the establishment.
Sam looked over at his chuckle. "What?"
"Just thinking," said Tucker, "are you down with overthrowing the establishment later?"
"Pft. Sure. Just say when."
Pandora shook her head, a faint smile on her face. "Just remember, keep the door barred."
"Will do."
There was a knock on the door above. "Enter," said Pandora.
A ghost stuck their head in. "Lady Pandora," he said, "the Unstoppable Mailman is returning!"
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Danny eyed the stairs speculatively. He had gotten Paulina to go up them after much cajoling, and he wanted to go look for the rest of his classmates. Star and Kwan should be easy to find. However, between Paulina and Valerie, he'd had a lot taken out of him. He was tired. Because he was tired, he wanted to rest. The best place to rest was upstairs. Therefore, for the last several minutes he had been climbing a few steps, then turning around and going back down again when he changed his mind. He was now tired enough that he didn't want to climb the stairs again. Ever. Also, the twinge in his ankle was growing.
Giving in to reason, Danny sat down. Deciding reason was a wimp, he stood back up, and walked out to the beanbags, fully intending to search for Star and Kwan. However, he was distracted by a particularly inviting beanbag, and laid down on it. Cujo, being a dog, promptly laid down on Danny. That was it. It was over. Only a heartless monster could push a puppy off their lap.
Danny fell asleep.
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Annoyingly, Ellie hadn't found Dash, or Valerie. She'd been hoping to take care of them fast, so there was less of a chance of them encountering Danny. Every minute that went by without her seeing them saw her mood souring. There wasn't much she could do about it except keep looking.
She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye, a flash of red. Was that Valerie? She flew over to see, no, it was not Valerie. It was one of those curly-haired red-headed twins. Lester? Nathan? She couldn't remember which one was which. As she watched him, he ran into a beanbag, and phased through it.
That was going to make things difficult. If he turned this into a chase, she would have to catch him while she was in human form. Well, that wasn't strictly true. She could probably hold onto him in ghost form, she had decent control over her own ectoplasm now that she was stable, but if he was sufficiently determined and she was sufficiently distracted...
She would never hear the end of it if she dropped one of Danny's classmates, but dragging them to the stairs on foot sounded like, well, a drag. A real drag.
"A real drag," she said, out loud. She smirked. She just wouldn't fly very high, that's all.
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Vlad was in a state of panic. He couldn't find Daniel and Danielle! He couldn't find his children! One of them was seriously injured! Any parent would panic under those circumstances. True, strictly speaking, they weren't his children, not in a biological sense, but that didn't matter for ghosts. What mattered was love and care, which he had plenty of.
His children would see that soon. If only he could find them.
In his anxiety over the situation, he had separated himself from Daniel's classmates, and destroyed three- no, five- seven?- He looked back over his shoulder at the trail of stuffing, beans, and beads stretching out behind him. Several. He had destroyed several beanbags.
He had to calm down. Being this wound up was counterproductive. He didn't become one of the richest men in the world by being impulsive. It didn't work. Except for that one time... and that other time... and... Hm. He would have to revisit that thought later.
He closed his eyes and massaged his temples. To find Daniel and Danielle, he would have to think like them. Yes, excellent plan. He, a business man in his forties, was going to think like a pair of hormonal teenagers. Very good.
No, that wasn't the way to think of it at all. He, a powerful half-ghost, was going to think like two other powerful half-ghosts, one of whom he had raised personally. Yes. That was better.
Considering Daniel's injuries, Danielle was probably the one doing all the moving, anyway. So what would Danielle do? He pursed his lips. That would depend on where she was. He would have to start back at the beginning, where they had all split up. So. Which way was that again?
He spun slowly, disgusted with himself. He had no idea. His hands curled in on themselves, sharp nails leaving crescent moon cuts. He looked down, spreading his hands. Blood showed through the cuts, sparkling pink. He put his hands down forcefully, a growl forming in the back of his throat.
Vlad wasn't used to indecision. He always knew what he wanted, knew what to do, the best path to victory, the way to win the game. Like a game of chess, he always knew what moves to make.
He didn't like not knowing what to do. He didn't like not being in control. He played at one of his cuts. He switched to ghost form, covering his hands with gloves, and picked a direction to fly. It was random, but it was better than just standing there. It was better to be active. He might spot something he recognized.
Something he recognized, something he recognized... All he could see were those infuriating beanbags. He shot an ectoblast at one of them, and it exploded. They all looked the same. Everything looked the same. How could he find his children like this?
He scanned the ground as he flew, head turning back and forth, and back and forth, hoping to spot something or someone that would lead him to Daniel and Danielle. To his children.
Even if they weren't really his children. He just couldn't stop himself from thinking of them that way. They should have been his children. He had made Danielle, and he was the only adult half-ghost in existence. Full-ghosts and full-humans couldn't possibly give them the understanding, the care, that he could. It didn't make sense-
He saw Daniel, and he lost track of that train of thought. There he was, laying on one of those beanbags, that dog, Cujo, laying on him. Vlad flew to him immediately. He looked so sweet and peaceful sleeping there, his head tilted to one side, mouth open slightly, chest rising and falling, slowly, evenly.
The dog stirred. Looked up at Vlad. Grumbled slightly.
Vlad growled back. Before he knew it, he was in a growling contest with a dog. He, a powerful half-ghost billionaire, was having a growling contest with a dog. A ghost dog, sure, but it was an animal. Incidentally, the dog was winning. It was winning the staring contest, too.
Daniel stirred. "Cujo, what're you doing?" he asked. He blinked down at the dog, then turned to look at Vlad. His sleepy scowl deepened. "Oh," he said, without a trace of enthusiasm.
Vlad, no longer distracted by the dog, or Daniel's sleeping face, fell on him.
