What is time?
Black Cat, if you're reading this I want to respond to your questions on some of my oneshots but I can't remember your actual username.
Cyan Quartz: Thanks! I've just absorbed stuff over time... and I have a few camellias at home. Yes, some of the cults are very ouroborous-like. They haven't straight up made too many ghosts, but the potential is there.
Asilla: I just like to see them being soft. They deserve it.
Jeptwin: The government may not be entirely aware of what's going on with the GIW... they're technically contractors... But, yes, you'll see some of those themes in coming chapters.
lenasmith106: :) the cults here are more of a cameo than anything else. I might give them more screen time later? Anyway, Danny will not be sacrificed in the foreseeable future.
Anne Camp: Here y'all are, predicting the future...
vampireharry the 2: Thanks! It's good to see you're still enjoying the story. :)
17: Good to hear from you, as always! :) I hope everything is going okay for you. Thank you for your comments on my Phic Phight oneshots.
KarlTheWizard98: Thank you! This isn't really meant to be that deep, but I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I just like phics where humans and ghosts get along!
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Chapter 192: Olives
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"Your daughter, Jasmine, wants to meet with you," said Wolfsbane.
"Jazz?" said Maddie, suddenly paying attention again. "She's here? When did she get here?"
"Ah, several hours ago, I believe, along with a number of the other human children. I do have to recommend against seeing her."
"What? Why?" asked Jack. "That doesn't make sense!"
Wolfsbane raised his hand. "Her meeting with you may damage the value of her testimony. As you are presently certain she will testify in your favor, that is the very last thing we want to do."
"Why would meeting with her damage her testimony?" asked Maddie.
Wolfsbane made a face, his beard bristling. "There are certain people who would use the visit as evidence that you had somehow convinced her to alter her testimony."
"What, like we coerced her or something?" asked Maddie, incensed. What kind of parents did they think they were?
Oh. Right. That's what this was all about.
Jazz was so close, but so far. Maddie wanted to see her, desperately.
"Jack," she said.
"We want to see her," said Jack. Maddie nodded.
"As long as you're aware of the consequences," said Wolfsbane. "Azalea will arrange it with Jasmine's advocates."
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The waiting room in the Panopticon was getting full. The Observants were being overrun by advocates and terminally annoyed plaintiffs.
"Okay," said Ellie. "We've been here for a while, right? So, where's the head eyeball?"
"An excellent question," said Pandora.
"Do you think one of his servants warned him away?" asked Dora, eying the secretary, who was half-deflated against a wall.
"Possibly," said Pandora. "It is more likely he saw it, although with how focused he has been on Daniel, it's a wonder he can see anything."
"Well, it isn't like all the boats and stuff are invisible," said Ellie. "I guess so many people at this place might make him suspicious."
"I was referring to his precognitive abilities, but, yes. A more mundane explanation may be the better one." Pandora stood. "I've had enough of this."
"Ooh, are we going to break some things?" asked Ellie, also floating off the bench, charging ectoblasts.
"Why, yes, I think we are," said Pandora.
"Oh, no," said the secretary, rushing forward. "Please, honored guests, don't- don't do anything rash." The ghost waved her hands frantically. "I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."
"It really isn't," said Dora, her eyes went yellow as her fingers sharpened into claws.
The advocates packed into the room began to growl and hiss.
"This is against protocol!" exclaimed one of them.
"This whole thing is against protocol!"
"Interference in a Libran trial!"
"Attempted murder of a child!"
"We demand to see Issitoq!"
"I'm filing a complaint!"
"We're all filing complaints!"
"Oh, dear," said the secretary, flapping uselessly.
"I'm bringing a motion! In the Feather court!"
"I'm bringing a motion right here."
"Rahh!"
"Yahh!"
They might be advocates. People of the law. Bureaucrats. They were still ghosts. Ghosts who had their Obsessions and afterlives' work threatened and spit upon by the Observants in general, and Issitoq in particular. Ghosts who had been blocked from what they wanted, from their self-assigned tasks by the Observants and their failure to perform their ancient duties.
In other words, they were currently a mob of furious superpowered individuals.
The waiting room didn't stand a chance. Decorations, furniture, and fixtures disappeared in a whirlwind of claws and teeth.
Pandora laughed, and raised a spear. "Downwards!" she cried over the tumult. "Inwards! Destroy their sources of power!"
There was a cheer. Pandora brought her spear down, and the floor beneath them gave way. Dora darted down, transforming as she dove into the bowels of the Panopticon, a flick of her sinuous tail further damaging the floor.
Ellie laughed and followed. Dora's knights formed a sort of honor guard. Pandora cackled behind her. Ellie could feel the wind from Pandora's box ruffling her hair.
Observants scattered from the path of destruction. Most of them were like the secretary, not fully transformed into eyeball monsters. Ellie wondered where the senior Observants had gone. Had they abandoned ship, leaving their subordinates holding the unfortunately large bag of incensed advocates?
Had they even been here to begin with?
At some point the senior Observants had to have been here, Ellie supposed, but she wasn't seeing any sign of them here now.
It made her mad, to think that they were going to get away with everything, that they were just going to run away and hide.
Ice snapped down the hallway, providing a counterpoint to the roar of Dora's flames. Behind her, some advocate was shouting, "I'll sue you all! Litigation for everyone!" The shout was followed by cackles.
The sounds were par for the course. Totally normal.
"Their prison is below here," said Pandora. "Careful."
Ellie pulled up. "Like, a legit prison, or like Walker's?"
"More 'legit' than Walker's," said Pandora. "With more powerful ghosts. Vortex and Undergrowth should be down there."
"Maybe we shouldn't skip that, then?" suggested Ellie. An explosion sounded up ahead. "Ah."
"I do not think that is possible," said Pandora. "Not when we are riding the leading wave of a riot. Besides, the Observants keep many of their artifacts down below. If we want to steal or break them, that's where we will have to go."
"Okay, cool," said Ellie. A touch of unease stole over her. "This is alright, right? We're not going to wind up on trial for this, are we?"
"No. We are not breaking a Taboo. For better or worse, the principle of 'might makes right' applies in this situation. As is the case for most of the Infinite Realms." Pandora sighed deeply.
"Sweet." Ellie still couldn't shake the feeling that they'd lost sight of their main goal.
Which, if she thought about it, they totally had. Crap.
"Do you think Danny might be in their prison?" she asked.
Pandora paused momentarily, one hand on the lid of her box. "Ah," she said, "yes, possibly." She sounded troubled.
"But you don't think so?"
"It does not feel right," said Pandora. "I doubt we will find him here. Keep an eye out for clues."
"Right," said Ellie, nodding.
"Good job, not being distracted."
"Yeah," said Ellie. "No problem. Now let's go kick some eye-but!"
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The Panopticon was not the only place the Observants met. No. There was a place even older, and more secret. A place that had no name. A cave set into the side of a great and glowing mountain.
Issitoq had not been here for years. Ages. He hated that circumstances had forced him and his senior staff to hide here, bereft of their artifacts and most of their powers. But he knew that Nephthys would not have let them go back to the Panopticon peacefully, and this was the only other place from which the Observants could fulfill their 'duties' to the 'king.'
A king that was hardly even a ghost. A stain on the Infinite Realms.
Issitoq seethed. It had come into its power, enough power to force the Observants all the way out here.
But there was a way out, a way to avoid the power of a king, and that was to work within the bounds of their obligation.
So here they were, pouring over court petitions so old they were written on papyrus and velum. Motions filed in the time of Pariah Dark, Loxias, and even Osiris. Papers that called for action against the King of All Ghosts, with little or no mention of who the King was. If the Observants found the right one, they could use it against that abomination. That larval monster. That thing.
Phantom.
Issitoq could not stand what they had been reduced to by it. By that thing that somehow wore a crown. Hiding in a cave. The indignity.
Mimir looked up from the files he had been given. "Strictly speaking," said the Observant, "we do not have to do this."
"Excuse me," said Issitoq, his single eyebrow furrowing, "but what do you mean by that?"
"Exactly that," said Mimir. "We do not have to do this. We can simply outwait him. When the Realms begin to fall apart with his mismanagement, everyone will see that we were right, and our suggestions for a replacement will be taken more seriously." Mimir steepled his fingers. ""In the meantime, he cannot possibly be that bad. We have survived far worse, as an organization."
"No!" said Issitoq, slamming the table with both his palms. "No! We cannot accept this! We cannot accept that abomination on the throne, ruling over us!"
The other Observants looked up at him dully, flatly.
"Perhaps you cannot," said Mimir. "But I, personally, would find that path less objectionable than this one. We are hiding in a cave. I thought I left the seer's cave act behind when I was alive!"
Balam nodded in support of Mimir. "We have been defeated. It is time for us to accept our defeat gracefully and recoup our power. Perhaps in a hundred years or so we can attempt a coup, or a rebellion. The boy is sure to have acquired enough enemies by then, and it is well known he cannot hold a proper grudge."
"If it was a boy," growled Issitoq, "this would not be an issue! But it isn't a boy! It is an abomination that will destroy us all!"
The other Observants looked at each other uneasily.
"We are opposed to someone so unstable and untested rising to such a position of prominence, of course," said Balam, "but, really, Issitoq. I think you are overstating things. There have been liminals before. Many. They are not significantly more destructive than any other ghost."
"They are. Not. Ghosts!" roared Issitoq.
The other Observants looked away, unwilling to meet Issitoq's eye. Mimir did not back down.
"That hardly matters. I believe you have let your personal feelings get the best of you; your vision is clouded."
"It is clearer than yours!"
"Perhaps we should calm down," said Balam, voice significantly higher-pitched than normal. "Mimir, am I perhaps right in thinking, in saying that you desire a change in leadership?"
"That is ridiculous!" objected Issitoq. "I have led the Observants for centuries! I guided us to the height of our power!"
"Yes! And also, this nadir!" Mimir gestured at the surrounding cave. "You have been outsmarted at every turn by a child and a slave! You have seen us stripped of power. Your time is past."
The other Observants chittered like bats, claws skittering across the table as they turned to whisper to their fellows.
"Step down," said Mimir. "Save yourself the embarrassment of being forced out."
"Never," said Issitoq.
"Well, then," said Balam, falsely bright. "We will have to go through the articles, won't we?"
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Nettle fussed over her client.
"Are you quite certain you want to do this?" she asked.
"I'm sure," said Jazz. "What happened to your partner? Shouldn't she come, too."
"Oh, she went to the Panopticon with the others," said the advocate. "To represent your interests there."
"Okay, that's cool. Are you sure I have to wear all this?"
"Yes, yes," said Nettle. "Even on Earth, trials are full of posturing. It is important for you to look a certain way, so you can communicate what you want without having to say anything. It's not for your parents so much as for those people who will make note of you visiting your parents."
Jazz nodded. The thing was, she was worried about sending the wrong message to her parents, too. The suit she was wearing was awfully formal, and more than a little severe. She smoothed down the front and played with the chain fringe.
The suit was nice, but it was definitely in a ghost style, not a human one.
She adjusted the chain once more and patted her hair back, feeling the golden clips in her hair.
"Okay," she said, "I'm ready." She nodded to herself, mentally bracing for the imminent meeting. It felt like it had been forever since she had seen her parents and she hadn't parted with them on what she would call the best of terms.
(She missed them so much.)
She walked out into the hallway, Nettle walking alongside her. They weaved in and out of the traffic going up and down the hallway, which was largely made up of advocates for the other humans.
They passed into the even busier main building. Here, ghosts didn't bother gliding along the floor, but flew at any height convenient to them. Jazz spotted a few ghosts she knew, acquaintances of Danny's, but most were unknown to her.
The 'prison' wing was quieter. Fewer people had business here. A pair of medieval ghosts were having a whispered conversation in a corner. A janitor ghost was pushing a floating cart through the hall.
The soles of her shoes click-clacked on the floors. Nettle made no sound at all.
"This is the one," said Nettle, drifting to a stop in front of a door.
"It isn't guarded?" asked Jazz, surprised.
"There's no need. This is a ghost building. The doors only open for people who are authorized."
"Oh, that's convenient. They're not worried I'll let them out? Help them escape?"
"I suppose not," said Nettle, shrugging. "There are safeguards against that, too. I don't know what they are. People don't escape much. Are you ready? You don't have to do this."
"I want to. They'll be waiting for me." She leaned down and put her hand on the handle. "Okay," she said. "I can do this."
She opened the door.
Her parents were sitting at a desk, and they half rose as she stood at the doorway, looking in. Jazz swallowed and stepped across the lintel. Nettle floated in behind her and shut the door with a quiet snick.
Her parents' advocates were sitting on the short ends of the table, explaining why Jack and Maddie hadn't charged her as soon as she'd opened the door.
She gave them a smile. "Hello," she said. "How are you doing?" She instantly regretted the question, because they obviously weren't doing well. They looked terrible. Her father in particular had lost a huge amount of weight. Both of them had dark circles hollowed out beneath their eyes.
"We're doing fine, sweetie," said Maddie, sinking back into her seat. "How are you?"
Jazz pulled out a chair on 'her' side of the table. Nettle took the remaining chair.
"I'm fine."
Maddie nodded. "Have you heard anything about your brother? The last we heard was that he'd been kidnapped."
"Yeah. That happened," said Jazz. "He's fine, now, though. He's staying with Clockwork."
"Clockwork," repeated Maddie.
"Danny mentioned him before," said Jack. "Wasn't he involved with the other judges?"
Maddie nodded. "The Observants? He's the time ghost, isn't he?"
"Yes, he's the time ghost," said Jazz. "He and Danny are… they're close."
"But," said Maddie, "he was involved in that thing, just a few days ago. That earthquake!"
"Technically not an earthquake," interjected the younger, blonde advocate. "It was a storm."
"But he was involved," said Maddie, agitated. "You said so," she continued, gesturing toward her two advocates.
"I don't really know anything about that," said Jazz, making a mental note to investigate the storm and how Clockwork could possibly be involved. "But Danny's with him now, and I really can't think of any safer place for him to be."
Maddie pursed her lips but nodded. "He's doing alright, then? With his health?"
Jazz hesitated. "Yeah. The kidnapping- I'm not going to lie. It caused some setbacks, because he wasn't completely well when it happened." She picked her words carefully. She didn't want to worry her parents unnecessarily, and she didn't want to think about how poorly Danny had been doing last time she had seen him.
It was also just a little frustrating that they were both so focused on Danny. Jazz had been through a lot, too. She'd like a little consideration. Was that too much to ask?
"Setbacks?"
"He's alright," said Jazz, soothingly. "He got a little beaten up, we all did, but he's fine." She rubbed the side of her nose. "Again, Clockwork's the best person for him to be with." Although she really would like to know how Danny had gotten to him from where he was supposed to be in Mattingly, if he had ever gotten to Mattingly, that wasn't important.
This wasn't what she wanted to talk to her parents about, anyway.
"You understand what's going on with the trial, right?" she asked.
"More or less," said Maddie, glancing at her two advocated. "We've had a good explanation."
"So, you really want a normal, American-style trial? There are other things you could do. There's not a fixed trial structure here."
"Things that give us a better chance, you mean," said Maddie, somewhat sardonically. "We know."
"You do?"
"We- Jack and I- We think that this is the best way to get a fair trial."
Jazz winced. She'd been worried about that. She wasn't at all sure if they wanted fair, let alone whether it was possible. Their opposition would certainly be working against any hint of fairness. Well, maybe not all their opposition, but enough.
"Anything you could say," said the older advocate, "has already been said. This is what they want, so this is what we are doing. Admittedly, there have been some bumps along the way. Jury selection has been a particularly contentious subject. You could help with that, however."
"Not now, Wolfsbane," said Nettle. "We arranged this as a strictly social meeting. We advocates are simply observing, as it were."
Wolfsbane raised his hands. "I was only responding to Jasmine's question."
"Hm," said Nettle, doubtfully.
"So," said Jack, with a shadow of his usual volume, "you must have had quite the adventure! Where have you been staying, what have you been doing?"
"Well…"
