Clockwork: Of course.
SS: Yeah, you already knew that.
Clockwork: I know everything.
SS: One of these days I'm going to steal your time portal. That way I could find out the rest of this story, and who dlsky was talking about.
Clockwork: If you knew the rest of this story, you wouldn't write it down so you could find out.
SS: umm… on with the story! 'while I heal/kill Clockwork.'
---
Slowly the podium swung back and forth. Tick, tock. With every swing a moment past yet he was never any closer to figuring out the vast puzzle that his life seemed to have fallen into.
Life and death rises and falls with every beat of the phoenix's wing.
Vlad still refused to tell him anything, or at least explain himself. Instead he shoved Danny into this room and told him, "I am going to fix this. Stay here until I'm done. Leave and I won't be able to cover our tail, your mother is close enough to the truth as it is."
Now Danny's only company was the grandfather's clock who carefully counted the seconds. It reminded him of the time master himself. Maybe he had the answers. Plasmus most certainly won't give him any.
He rolled over and the polonium seemed to defy gravity, swing upside down.
---
Vlad did not want to make that phone call. Once he did, he'd be sucked into the lies once again. The phone did not move as he stared at it, willing the deed to just be done.
"The phone won't pick it's self up." Green eyes replaced the phone and red hair pointed to the ground.
"You call then." Blue turned red.
"Naw, you can do that. I did my part remember?"
Vlad flew over the city the stricken child still in his arms. From time to time, the boy moaned and twitched. Vlad knew that the spell that echoed across time to do this to him was very strong.
As much as he seemed to, Vlad didn't know everything about what was happening, but Skulker did. Vlad knew it was only a matter of beating the information out of him. Of course the elf would probably be stubborn about it.
Ember called weakly behind him, asking him to slow down. He did, not wanting to lose an employee. He lost far too many as it was, mostly due to a certain obnoxious obsessive hunter.
The mansion seemed to appear before him, and it was about time. Another wave of power blasted out from the boy's body before Vlad landed. A ghost servant came out and offered to carry his charge, but Vlad only gesture with his head over to Ember. He was perfectly capable of carrying the boy himself and her guitar was broken, weakening her.
Swiftly he walked down to his not so secret lab, ignoring the walls. Skulker was already setting up grinning manically.
Vlad shook his head as he placed the prince on the table. "Skulker, no you may not cut him open, no, you may not have his pelt."
The red head tried to speak but Vlad cut him off already knowing what he was going to say, "No Skulker, you may not keep him for a pet. Maddie would have my head."
"Do you think that if I give it to her…" he grinned, winking one of his forest green eyes.
"No, she wouldn't go for it. Shut up, and stop trying. Now how do I fix it?"
Silence…
"Skulker!"
"What? You told me to shut up." The elf's smile widened, some how, some way. Vlad still didn't know how he could do that, and not split his face open. Probably magic.
"You have till six to fix this, I have to have him home by then. I do assume you can fix it by then."
The smile dropped into a scowl. "What do I look like, God?"
"No, you're too ugly."
The elf scoffed at that. He knew that he was by no means ugly. Women had thrown themselves into his arms, and he could please them in ways they never though possible. However, he didn't want the boy to die, he was far too much fun to mess with, besides he came as a package deal with Vlad.
He walked out of the room to get supplies. He remembered the spell, mostly because he knew it would come back and bite the boy in the butt later. It wouldn't be hard to fix, just a good dose silver and lavender, and an hour work in magic along with the counter spell and lots of selling spells. Nope not hard when you were as cool as Skulker, the worlds greatest hunter, collector of unusual things. Of course it would only fix the immediate problems, not the more permanent ones, but nothing short of a soul healer could fix that.
"Good. Now be a good little dragon and call your mate. If you beg, she might forgive you." the elf patted his head from behind, and pulled back quickly. Proper as Vlad was, he still bit when provoked.
"I will when I am damn ready to."
"The longer you put it off, the longer she'll worry and the louder she'll get."
"I know that!" Vlad sent a blast at the nuisance who left, presumably to bug one of the servants.
Vlad took a deep breath and picked up the phone.
---
Maddie blasted another one of the ghost stragglers back to the ghost zone. There was the wreckage of a fight, but the major ones were gone, and no Danny.
Just ectobeasts. She had only seen the back of the ghost who took her baby: although she wasn't sure that it was a ghost. It taken Jack and her a few hours to track these down, yet she felt that the kidnapper was long gone by now.
Silently she cursed herself. She should have stayed with him. Even in her own home, she couldn't protect her boy.
It wasn't all her fault she knew, Vlad was keeping her, everyone, in the dark. When she spoke to him next, she was going to chew him out like he had never been chewed out before. That wall between them was going down and he would tell her exactly what he had done this time.
Rich off his ass wouldn't cut it, couldn't, cut it. Too much damage happened when he was around.
Just as she rounded the corner finding the last of her prey, her phone rung in Star Wars music. Vlad.
Danny had gotten her the phone after the little mountains incident. At the time she though it was silly, but now she was thankful. Danny had also set her ring tones for her. Why he gave Vlad Star Wars music was beyond her. At the moment though, it was very fitting.
During her moment of distraction the ectopuss got away. Cursing she picked up the phone.
"Did you find him?"
"Calm down Maddie, deep breath." Vlad's voice attempted to sooth.
"Calm down? Calm down! My baby is missing, and there have been ghost attacks, and attacks from things that aren't ghosts, and somehow this is all your fault!" she finished panting the entire street suddenly quiet.
"Maddie, I have him. He is safe and wee enough to throw insults at me."
"Has he been hut? Let me talk to him! Now!" Her fist hit the brick wall of a building, leaving a dent.
"He is asleep at the moment, with all of the excitement he just crashed. I checked him over and there are no injuries beyond a few bruises, probably from fighting back. Daniel gave one of my employs a good one to the face for jarring that arm. He is a fighter, just like you."
"Vlad, I'm coming to get him."
"No! I mean, I will drop him off when he wakes up."
That old suspicion rose up again. Where exactly was Vlad staying? Why didn't he want her at his place? "Vlad, tell me why him. Does he have something they want?"
"Maddie, it is a matter of black mail."
"No it's not! Who are they and why my boy?"
"Maddie…"
"Don't Maddie me! They aren't ghosts and they aren't human so it's not linage. What did you do to piss them off?
A pregnant pause, and then a long sigh. 'Finally, he's going to give me some real information.'
"They are the Twilight Order."
"What!" The Twilight Order was not what she was expecting to hear. It was the most dangerous group in the world. They consisted of the living dead: zombies, vampires, and the like. The Shadow Ages were said to be started by them before written history.
Never had she worried about them before. She had always assumed that a group that big should have, would have been, "Vlad, you knew?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"If I told you that…"
"I'm already involved, and worst, so is Danny!"
"He's the one they have been waiting for."
The phoenix sung her sorrow, as she burst in to flames;
And in those flames were forged the rings of life and death.
Gently she rested her head as her ashes were scattered across time and dimension.
"Not him. He's my baby, he's too young."
"I'm afraid so."