Hello, and happy Friday! Earlier this week, I posted an extra chapter, so if you haven't see that yet, you'll want to go back. :)

(Also, everyone using my update schedule to keep the weeks straight, are you alright?)

Jeptwin: Yep! Danny's death scars are lichtenberg scars. He's got a lightning pattern.

Shoguncaw: Thank you for the internet hug, I send one back ~~~

Dp-Marvel94: There are going to be a lot of 'pick on Dan' moments in upcoming chapters. He deserves them, though. :D

Anne Camp: Yep, I'm good. I just had a large desire for comments.

AzureSkye23: I switched tenses? Nooooo- Anyway, the only evil plot going on here is mine (this is untrue)! Thank you for reading!

Shadow Kat-Lyn: Dan isn't 100% redeemed, but he's trying. :)

aquestionablepresence: Yeah, I needed him to be redeemable, at least in my own head, and 'killed everyone except for the 200k or so in Amity Park' just wasn't redeemable to me. So I had to switch it. Thank you for reading!

Justice of the Martyred: I can't do emotionally moving on demand, so I thought this was the next best thing- And possibly more realistic considering how stressed Danny is about this whole thing... XD I'm glad you liked it!

Chaoticquill: Thank you for reading!

neokid93: Hey, y'all should know about me and cliffhangers at this point. At least it wasn't as bad as the Valerie gun cliffie. Right? :3

Shining Moon in Shadow: It's been about that long. I think I posted the first chapter at the end of May 2018?

mae343: Hey, I think I've seen you on AO3! Maybe. Possibly. Thank you for the serotonin!

Wonky Wendy: Oh, no. I sent you on a bit of a rollercoaster, huh? Sorry about that.

Distant Radiance: Thank you for reading! You'll have to read more to find out. :)

Cyan Quartz: Yeah, I've been teasing this for a while, haven't I? I just hope it lives up to expectations.

Z: It'll be a bit before they formally meet Dan, but, yes. That will be interesting, won't it?

Guest: Mwahahahahaha I always yeet my climbing buddies off cliffs (followed shortly thereafter by myself).

Guest: Thank you for the compliments~! :)

17: Thank you for reading! (Don't worry, he's the hero. He's fine~)

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Chapter 212: One Eye Opens

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Issitoq is a patient ghost. At least, he used to be, when he had power and foresight to anchor that patience. Now he is… less so. But he can wait. He will wait. He must wait.

The dregs of his political power can take him into the monster's den, can put him in sword-reach of his target, but it cannot do it quickly. He despises bargaining like this, but it's all he has left.

"You can do it?" asked the ghost, urgently, her blind eyes bright against her pallid skin. "If I can bring you into Libra during the trial, you can do it?" Her four hands were pressed together, as if she were praying. "You can find them?"

"Yes, yes," he lied, dismissively. "Of course, I can." And perhaps, at the height of his power, mere weeks ago, he could have found Pherusa's sisters, or at least their fates. Now, though… His sight had grown clouded. "But only after the trial."

Pherusa Iustitia turned down her lips, obviously thinking. For a moment, Issitoq thought she might refuse. He couldn't afford that.

"Come, now," he said, "I am as dedicated to justice as your grandmother and great-grandmother, as anyone in your family." This, he thought, was the truest thing he had said to her. "I merely wish to observe the trial more directly, and the Lady Themis is too busy to hear my petition to be returned to the hall."

"Alright," said Pherusa.

Issitoq lets his eye crinkle in an approximation of a smile and touched Calesvol where it hung by his side. The sword shivered angrily under his touch.

Without the Nemean Hide, stealth would have to be his main weapon, but between that and the sword…

He would remove the abomination.

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A courtroom and a witness stand. A young man, a boy, apparently human. It looks like a set from a procedural, large enough for an audience, but cozy and wooden. Not like the chamber for the initial committee.

One of the bailiffs twitches and raises a sword that had not been seen before. They dart forward, even as their disguise burns away. The sword goes through the boy's chest before anyone can do anything.

The boy smiles.

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A flicker in the darkness. Red eyes. Sickly white skin. Watching. Everyone watching, and he's tricked them again.

The woman with the tattoos…

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He thinks they're there, but he can't see them. They can't touch him. This is part of…

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They're sitting for the painters. There are many. Often, artistic skill comes with artistic passion, and passion turns to Obsession easily enough.

Danny shifts his weight, slightly. There's not a lot of it, even when he's human, and the artists had insisted on immortalizing both his halves in paint but staying still for so long makes him fidgety.

He can see his siblings are also feeling some strain. Except for Dan. But, then, Dan isn't human, so he hardly…

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"Daniel."

Danny blinked hard. "Wow," he said, vaguely aware that he was sitting on the floor, near a wall. "I don't think I've ever done that without a concussion before."

"Done what?" asked Tucker. "Zone out and freak us out?"

"Sorry," said Danny. "I didn't mean to." He rubbed his eyes. "That was weird."

"What happened," asked Jazz.

"I think I just saw through time," said Danny.

Clockwork, who had been rubbing Danny's back, stopped for a moment. "We should, perhaps, find somewhere private to speak of this," he said.

"Yeah," said Danny. "And we need to find Dan."

"Why?" asked Ellie, crossing her arms.

"Um," said Danny, trying to recapture his vision. Parts of it seemed to be missing. He let Jazz and Clockwork haul him to his feet. "I think he'd be helpful."

Everyone looked at him strangely, except Clockwork.

"Let's just… go somewhere we can talk about this, okay?"

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"Well, we knew we'd probably have to deal with him again, didn't we?" asked Sam.

"I was sort of hoping we'd scared him off, actually," said Danny. He rubbed his temples. His still had a low-key headache from the vision. "But, yeah. I guess so. But, like, assuming I'm not just having a random hallucination… set of hallucinations…" He waved his hand, but then paused, looking to Clockwork. "I'm not just having random hallucinations, am I?"

Clockwork was silent for a long moment. "You have demonstrated some ability to see the future before," said Clockwork, "albeit only when you were in an altered state of consciousness. You have grown in power significantly these past weeks. An altered state may no longer be necessary." Uncertainty backed Clockwork's every word.

Danny sucked in his lower lip. "Clockwork," he said, "have you…" He didn't know how to phrase the question.

Clockwork ruffled his hair and gave him a small smile. "I'm afraid not," he said. "Nothing… concrete, in any case. Now, you said you had an idea?"

"Yeah," said Danny. "Sort of." He frowned. "It sort of relies on knowing when Issitoq is here, when he's going to attack, but the general idea is like this…"

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It was surprisingly easy to find Dan. Partly, this was because of Nephthys.

(Danny wasn't as surprised as he probably should have been when Nephthys claimed him as her own. Ghosts were like that, and it made sense, in a weird way. Nephthys was Master of Change, and the closest thing this universe had to a personification of death. Dan was someone who desperately wanted to change, who had changed a lot, multiple times, and someone skilled in dealing death. They fit.)

(Also, Danny thought, their sense of humor had certain similarities.)

Nephthys didn't exactly draw a crowd, change was dangerous, especially to those who fancied themselves unchanging, but she drew eyes. Whispers trailed in her wake like veils. Dan's presence only served to magnify the effect.

She saw them coming and smiled.

Danny considered Nephthys as sort of an aunt. She was one of his, and he loved her. That smile was still somewhat… disturbing. It was a public smile. Not her real smile.

Dan's scowl, on the other hand… Danny had felt that scowl as if it were his own, and he-

He still hadn't worked out just how he felt about Dan, to be honest, but that scowl? Not intimidating anymore.

"Can we talk?" asked Danny.

Dan's scowl became markedly more suspicious. Nephthys's smile grew broader.

"I didn't think you'd be able to find us so quickly," she said.

Danny looked around. "It was easy? You guys aren't really all that subtle, moving through a crowd."

Nephthys's smile grew broader. "Perhaps," she said. She waved a hand, and a portal opened beside her. "But I think we'll want to talk in private."

"Danny," whispered Sam as first Nephthys and then Dan went through the portal. "How did you know they were even here? Was it part of your vision?"

"I… don't think so?"

They passed through the portal and into a square stone room. An equally square pool sat in the center, filled with water plants. Windows let in streaming light.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Nephthys, settling to recline on an array of pillows.

"I know what I want to talk about," grumbled Dan, staring at the box in Clockwork's hands.

Ellie, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all bristled. Their hands twitched towards weapons. Ectoplasm green flickered in Ellie's palms, and a pale-yellow flame danced off the tip of one of Jazz's fingers. Plants in the pool leaned towards Sam. Ozone touched the air.

Danny beamed. Oh, when he finally had a chance to sit with his friends and talk about powers… this was going to be so fun. But that would have to be later.

"None of that, now," said Nephthys, clapping her hands. "This is my domain. No fighting, please."

"Right," said Ellie. She moved closer to Danny and Clockwork. And the box. "You didn't before. Right."

Ellie was still standoffish around Dan. The others were even more on edge. They didn't trust him. Neither did Danny, really, but…

"He's going to find out, eventually," said Danny. "We're too closely… related."

Ellie frowned.

"He knew about you," said Danny.

"Whatever's in there," said Dan, baring his teeth, "it's driving me crazy. Did you pick up another stupid artifact or something? It's pulling."

Danny slammed a hand over his mouth to keep from making a noise that Dan would absolutely take as an insult to his dignity. Danny wasn't sure what he thought of Dan, but he didn't want to fight him right now, especially not in Nephthys's lair.

Although, judging by Dan's general attitude towards Nephthys, he didn't want to upset her, either.

"You can feel them?" Danny asked, lowering his hand. He could, too, of course, but he had to concentrate to really process it.

"Feel what?" came the annoyed reply.

"He's an adult," said Clockwork.

"Oh," said Danny. "Yeah. I keep forgetting that."

Nephthys snickered. Dan looked over his shoulder at her, askance.

Danny bit his lip and decided to just go for it. "They're our siblings."

"What?"

"They're like Ellie. I don't know if he started that far back, but, I mean, you're Vlad, too. Considering everything, he must have started before, uh… Yeah."

Dan looked like someone had just phased an entire lemon into his mouth. Danny could feel his shock from across the room. Memories flicked across his mind's eye, and Ellie winced.

"And you want my help with…" Dan jabbed his finger at the box, uneasily.

"What? No. We want your help with something completely different. But it'll probably give you a pretty good chance to punch Issitoq in the face."

Dan folded his arms again. "Alright," he said. "Let's hear it."

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Sam and Tucker wanted to see their families. This was totally reasonable. Danny wanted to see his family, too, even if circumstances meant he couldn't see all of them.

This didn't keep him from pouting when they split up. Just a little.

Or from jumping when he realized Dan was following them.

He stared back at the taller ghost, who had been trying (and failing) to blend in with the crowd. Nephthys was there, too, farther down the hallway, looking amused.

"Should we, I don't know, tell him off or something?" asked Jazz.

"No," said Danny, after a minute. He grabbed Clockwork's elbow. "Come on. We were going to try to wake these guys up, right?" He tapped the corner of the box, twice, and then quickly withdrew his hands, hiding them behind his back.

"We'll need Nocturne for that," said Clockwork.

"Like, literally, or is that a joke?" asked Danny.

"Yes," said Clockwork. "He should be here. The others will be arriving soon as well. For the trials."

"The other Ancients?" asked Jazz.

"Hm, yes. We'll need them."

"For… for these guys?" asked Danny.

Clockwork blinked. "Ah, I believe I drifted, slightly. No. We won't be needing the other Ancients, though they may be helpful. I… do not know why I said that." He dragged one hand down his face. "What would be ideal, would be if we could bring them to your lair."

Danny made a face. "That's a long way away," he said. "I don't think Libra'd be happy about me leaving for that long."

"Couldn't you do a portal?" asked Ellie. "Like earlier, in Elysium?"

Danny held up a hand, trying to recapture the feeling. "Not yet," he said. "I think I need to practice it more. Or get really upset. Something like that."

"Dramatic," said Ellie.

"They're ghost powers, what do you expect?"

Jazz looked over her shoulder. "Couldn't we ask Lady Nephthys?"

"You could ask," said Clockwork, amused.

"I'm going to ask," said Jazz.

"Have fun," said Danny.

"Do you think she'll actually agree?" asked Ellie.

"Not unless she thinks it's an emergency," said Danny, watching Jazz make a wide arc around Dan, who scowled. "I think it's one of those weird Ancient code of conduct things. She can use her vast cosmic powers to save the multiverse or for cheap tricks, and nothing in-between."

"No," said Clockwork. "That's just Nephthys." He sighed. "There are reasons not to revive them before the trial is over, and reasons not to transport them to your lair without your presence."

"Like what?" asked Ellie, as Jazz came back.

"She said no," said Jazz. Danny patted her on the back.

"If they were to be revived before the trial, or during the trial, they would likely become subjects of discussion and debate," said Clockwork. "As for the other…" Clockwork made a face. "Your lair is very well organized, very sharply defined, however… lairs eat excess energy from their ghosts. Recycle, technically, but…" Clockwork shrugged. "Your siblings have similar ectosignatures to yours, and they don't have well-defined boundaries."

"Wait, wait," said Danny, "are you saying that if we sent these guys to our lair—"

"Unsupervised," specified Clockwork.

"—they might get absorbed?"

"It is unlikely. Especially given the intelligence of your shadows."

"I regret coming back," said Jazz.

"Why's 'supervised' so important?" asked Ellie.

"Because how they got there would look different to the lair, right?" asked Danny. "If they just show up, they might register as just an error by the lair. Weirdly concentrated ectoenergy or whatever. But if we brought them there, then the lair would know that they were different."

"Essentially, yes. But your shadows would probably prevent that."

Danny groaned. "Why can't things ever be easy? Why is everything always just set at 'maximum inconvenience' mode?"

"It is unlikely," said Clockwork again. "It almost never happens. And your lair is very well developed."

"Like absorbing a twin?" asked Jazz.

"That happens more often than people think."

"Well, we can't just carry them around in a box indefinitely," said Danny, gesturing wildly enough that a ghost in a curled wig traveling down the hall in the opposite direction had to swerve to get out of the way. "Not for the whole trial!"

They reached the rooms Danny had been given.

"I'm going to go ask our stalkers if they want to come in," said Danny.

"Are you sure?" asked Jazz.

Danny shrugged. "They followed us for a reason."