Chapter 278: Barriers (Communication and Otherwise)

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Maddie didn't know how it had happened, but she and Jack had been pulled from their research into aglaophotis into research into viable relatives of the plant. She supposed that hybridization might help her and Jack in their penance, but that was certainly a longshot, with their current understanding of ghostly botany.

Once again, she wondered if they had made the right choice, to go against the advice they had been given and wait to go and attempt to retrieve all their weapons and blueprints.

She wondered if she could stand to destroy them.

But, no, she knew why they had decided to do this. It was penance, too, but not the kind ordered by the ghost court. Although Maddie wasn't able to see Danny, and they could no longer so much as hear about him, she knew her son well enough to know he was involved in this, to know that he would be trying his hardest to free those ghosts. That he might even attempt to fight whatever being had put them under control, and Maddie didn't know how much his humanity could protect him against things that affected ghosts.

This was for Danny. She knew Jack felt the same way. They couldn't even talk about Danny to each other, but over twenty years of marriage weren't for nothing. Some things transcended words.

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Danny sighed in relief as Frostbite recited the ruling of the Regency Council. They would allow the GIW agents to be traded in exchange for passage.

They would not, however, allow Danny to go alone. They were convinced that he would get into trouble if he went alone. Therefore, Clockwork was coming with him.

(Danny wasn't sure if that wouldn't cause more trouble, rather than keep him out of it. His grandfather was a very troublesome ghost.)

Any fight with Freakshow was going to be a joke. They just had to find the man.

"I guess thinking back, the direction I was going in seemed sorta familiar?" said Johnny. "Like it might have been somewhere me'n Kitty might have gone on a ride. Speaking of, d'you know if she was looking for me?"

"She sure was," said Danny. After leaving Dustin, he'd managed to remember to send her a message that Johnny was as unalive as ever and hadn't even been beaten up too badly by Dan. "She's probably on her way back from looking for you now. She was really out for blood for a bit there."

"My blood or Freakshow's?"

"Yes," said Danny.

"King or not, you're still a little punk, aren't you?"

"Sure am. It isn't like my whole personality changed just because I put on a crown."

"You're also incredibly rich, now."

"Money might change some people, but usually people like that were just hiding that they were jerks beforehand. It's a stupid trope."

"Uh huh," said Johnny. "Well, good luck fighting an army by yourself."

"As I have been continuously reminded, I won't be by myself."

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Jazz was walking through the motions of a follow up with Dr. Iceclaw when Wulf walked through a portal. It was a bit embarrassing to be walked in on half naked, they really had to work on portal timing and placement, some ghosts seemed to have no shame, but what was in the letter was more important.

"Get me the phone," she said, "I need to call the president now."

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The shimmering dome of Amity Park's shield came into view long before the buildings of the city itself.

"Beautiful," said Freakshow. "Just beautiful. But then, you've already seen it up close and personal, haven't you? From inside, even."

Sam's fingers tightened on the car seat. She was almost to the point of daring Freakshow to set down the car, just so she could have an opportunity to stab that smug look off his face.

"And you two, you two were elected to represent it, yes? Yes? How wonderful for you." He cackled. "And how wonderful for me! Look at that fortress just teeming with potential minions and hostages! I can hardly believe that soon it will all be mine!"

Pamela squeezed Sam's hand, hard, anticipating Sam's retort. Amity Park wasn't Freakshow's, and it never would be. But it would be advantageous for them if he tried.

Assuming, of course, that he couldn't cause chaos and destruction by taking over the ghosts there. Oh, Sam stood by her conviction that Freakshow would never again possess Amity Park in a meaningful sense, but he could still do plenty of damage with his attempt.

"Don't make that face, dear Samantha, it isn't time for you to worry, yet." Freakshow giggled.

Sam was really getting tired of the sound of this clown's laughter.

"No, no, we have a little stop to make first. I have some shopping to do, some ingredients to pick up, before I'll be able to make that big, beautiful egg into a delicious omelet."

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The welcoming party for the prince was not as elaborate as the one for the diplomats, there was hardly time for the president to clean himself up and gather the most important congress members and cabinet members (and bite the bullet when it came to telling the decorators and interior designers to remove his wife's favorite decorations because he was starting to have trouble looking at those) but that was just as well, because the Prince of Ghosts and his grandfather did not enter Washington DC. No, the people that came through the portal that opened in DC at precisely the agreed-upon time were the GIW agents, each one bound neatly and stamped with a brand across their foreheads that declared their crimes, and their future punishment, to anyone who could read ghost.

No. The Prince of Ghosts came to Earth for a purpose, and that purpose was singular and, ultimately, violent.

This did not mean he couldn't get momentarily distracted by how Amity Park looked, now, weeks after he had last managed to visit. The shine in the air, the ectoplasm, the plants, the flowers, the vividity, the atmosphere of fantasy… There were so many people riding bicycles. There were so many ghosts and humans, and they were all together.

He felt tears prick at his eyes. If someone had asked him to describe his vision of an ideal Amity Park, it would be close to this. There would, possibly, be more telescopes involved. Perhaps a bit of steampunk, or far-future sci-fi vibes (more than the Amity Park Combined Radio and Media Technology Club, headed up by an extremely reluctant and very ghostly Mr. Falluca were currently giving off). But that was nitpicking.

Ghosts and humans standing by each other, without an enemy driving them together, that was the real wonder, the true ideal.

He let himself smile, and forget, for a moment, why he had come.

But the moment passed. He turned his attention to the volunteers who had come to meet him. "Alright," he said, "this is what we're going to do."

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Danny and Clockwork flew to the Amity Park shield, watching the rainbow-green patterns, like oil on water, like nebulae, swirled on the surface of it, descending and ascending.

"It is a ghost shield," said Danny, as they grew closer. "Will we be able to go through properly?"

"It's your shield, Daniel," said Clockwork. "Your shield, to your city, and none of your friends have had any trouble getting through it."

Danny made a face. That was true enough, but the shield wasn't something he created or controlled consciously, and his subconscious, as he'd discovered in his lair, wasn't always helpful. Although, his lair wasn't just his lair, so maybe that had something to do with it. He could somehow wrap his head around Ellie being protective of him more easily than the idea of him being protective of himself.

That probably said something about him, although he wasn't sure what.

"If I hit this like a bird hitting a window, I'm going to blame you."

"Blame me, and not the one that built the window?"

Danny would have stuck out his tongue, but the last time he'd done that while flying on Earth, he knew that was just asking for a bug to fly into his mouth, so he didn't. Neither he nor Clockwork slowed as the shield grew closer. They'd spent what little time they could spare on Danny gaping at the changes in Amity Park.

Passing through the shield felt like going through a waterfall, but almost too easy.

No matter. They were on their way, now, to the Arkwright House.

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With the speed at which Danny and Clockwork were moving, it didn't take long to reach the building, at most of that was because they didn't quite know where it was. The rest was because someone hadn't gotten the memo to the military forces stationed outside the shield and they'd been shot at. It was nothing new for Danny, they'd had to take care of that.

But the house, if it could be called that, came into sight. It was huge. It had obviously once been a mansion, but it had grown far beyond its original skin, as if afflicted by the architectural equivalent of cancer.

It was huge and chaotic with swooping, pointed roofs and a paint job that made Danny's eyes unfocused. Big enough to be a small town. A very small town. A hundred people could live there, maybe. Well. Maybe not. If they squeezed in, they could.

Whatever. Estimating how many people could fit in a building was obviously not his strong point.

The building was within the evacuation zone around Amity Park, so it was, thankfully, quite empty. No cars lingered in the parking lot. No one stopped them as they settled in front of the doors.

"He's not here, then," said Danny. "Dan said he had a car he was flying in."

"Hm," said Clockwork. "He could have sent the car ahead or left it somewhere else."

"Is that something you've seen?"

Clockwork frowned. "It is a possibility," he said. "I am still having trouble placing the timeline we are currently in without external aid."

At this point, Danny suspected Clockwork would never fully regain certainty in what timeline he was in. Some part of him wondered if that would be better for Clockwork, let him relate to people more. On the other hand, it must feel rather restrictive to him. Limiting.

"Don't worry about that," said Clockwork. "Working for the Observants was much worse. I would sacrifice many more of my powers to achieve the freedom I now have."

"I'm not sure you can call it 'working' for them," said Danny.

"It was, one way or another," said Clockwork. "But I believe that before too long, my ability to time travel will restabilize, and the problem will be… lessened." He sighed. "It's a subject for another time, I think."

They turned back to the house.

"I… really don't want to go in. Huh. Its thing works."

"Hm," said Clockwork. "I find it does."

"We can't just stand here," said Danny, making no move to enter the honestly fairly disturbing building. He blinked hard and transformed. The building looked less intimidating now.

"Do you feel better?" asked Clockwork, solicitously.

"Yeah," said Danny. "Let's go."

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The hallways and rooms inside the building intersected weirdly. There were guideposts and signs posted, as well as rooms blocked off by velvet ropes, some of them blocked off with plexiglass, showcasing artifacts and wax figures.

This was definitely a tourist destination. A tourist trap, even.

Danny still didn't sense any ghosts here other than Danny and Clockwork.

Clockwork pulled Danny off to one side, down a hallway he'd been about to pass without a second glance. They walked into a room that was largely roped off but seemed to lack the abundance of items the other roped off rooms had. The ropes had been knocked over in some places.

Danny looked at them, head tilted, wondering if Freakshow had been here, and if so, why he had he knocked over the rope? Had there been something here he wanted?

He scanned the little placards that had been posted around the room, but they were unenlightening. Short descriptions, rarely more than three words. Chalice of Transference, Vase of Visions, Bitter Cup, Divining Bowl, Illusory Goblet… Some of the things seemed to be missing, but that didn't mean Freakshow had taken them.

"He…" Clockwork paused for a long moment, head tilted to one side, as if looking at something. Something that wasn't quite the room around them. He held out his hand in front of him and brought it slowly down on the table in front of him. "He has been here," he said, as if testing out the tense. "Yes. He has already been here, although I could not say how long ago." He blinked, eyes clearing, and looked down at the table. "Recently, by where the dust is lying."

Danny looked down at the dust. There might have been dust there, but it wasn't enough for Danny to make a conclusion about what had been sitting there. If anything. There wasn't a nearby tag.

"Well… He isn't here now."