Fenton and Phantom took turns, recounting what happened after they ran off through the portal. Phantom's brief journey through the Ghost Zone, or Infinite Realms, while he followed his line to his human self; the floating islands and doors, the physics defying river, the school of blob ghosts, the forest of ghostly trees.

Mom's hand rested on her chin thoughtfully. "I saw the islands and those doors but… a whole forest? That's incredible." She still sounded awed and Dad looked even more excited.

Ghost Danny cut the man off before the conversation derailed. "So I eventually ended up in front of this floating building and it looked just like Casper High, except in black and white. And I could feel that I was getting closer to Fenton so…." He continued explaining how he pushed open the door and entered the seemingly empty school, only to be attacked by a bunch of teens from the fifties, Sidney's shadows. "Sidney said they're part of the lair, kinda like an alarm system. I'd just barraged in uninvited so they weren't happy."

"They didn't hurt you though, did they?" Dad asked, now looking worried.

"No." Phantom shook his head. "Sidney called them off once he realized I was lost and hadn't meant to basically break into his house." From there, both Dannys explained more about what a lair was and how someone was always supposed to ask permission to enter. "But yeah, Sidney was really apologetic. Especially 'cause he thought I was a new ghost which...I guess is actually true. He introduced himself and I told him who I was."

"But not about the half human thing." Fenton added.

"Right." The ghost continued. "He asked me why I'd come there and I said it looked like my school. And Sidney was surprised and a little excited to meet someone who'd gone to Casper like him."

"Wait." Jazz interrupted, frowning. "So you're saying, this Sidney went to Casper High in the fifties, before he died?"

Fenton and Phantom nodded.

"What did he look like?" Mom asked softly.

"Like a kid about my age. But dressed like an old school nerd. Thick glasses, a bowler haircut, a bow tie. And...he was in black and white, like an old movie." The ghost tapped his chin, thinking. "But he told me the black and white look was on purpose. An aesthetic choice" Phantom explained, making air quotes. "He showed me what he really looked like and he actually had light green skin and these glowing silver eyes."

The woman nodded, a sad expression covering her face. "And he died when he was your age. Do you know how?"

Fenton frowned. "How he died?"

"I didn't ask." Phantom continued, looking down. "I didn't even have to suggest it to know that that wasn't something I should ask about."

"Oh." Understanding passed over Mom's face. "Of course. I can...I can understand that."

"What happened next?" Dad asked, more subdued. "After you told him you went to Casper?"

"That's when he offered to let me rest for a bit and to get me some food." Ghost Danny blushed sheepishly. "He was...uh...very insistent when I said I didn't know that ghosts eat."

Phantom told the rest of the family about the cafeteria and the food his host had offered, how he'd been wary at first but had tried it after the other ghost's patient encouragement. "And I could actually taste everything!" The ghost boy beamed. "And it was so good! So Sideny said that basically the lair takes ectoplasm floating around, and makes it into food that the ghost living there can eat. And there's ghost plants too that grow fruit that ghosts can eat. Sidney had some growing in the lair but I didn't actually see them."

"So…" At this point, Mom put down her taco. "Ghosts eat ectoplasm-based food. You ate ectoplasm." Her eyes flickered to Phantom and the ghost boy tensed; part of him expected to see judgement, fear, or discomfort on her face but… "That makes a lot of sense." There was only, slightly awed understanding.

"It does!" Dad pointed with new excitement. "Everything in the Zone is supposed to be made of ectoplasm in different forms. And ghosts have to get energy somehow so… they've got a whole food chain going on."

"That means… ghosts need to consume ectoplasm to continue functioning." And...Mom paled. "And...you hadn't had any since the accident."

There was the worry. Phantom bit his lip. "No, I hadn't 'cause I didn't realize that I needed any. Sidney was pretty confused and worried about that too, actually."

"So… you've been going hungry for…. A month and a half." Jazz cut in. She covered her mouth, eyes wide.

"Yes." The ghost looked down.

"And none of us noticed. We didn't realize that you were slowly starving..." Phantom flinched at the word even as the woman's voice shook. "because your father and I don't know basic facts about ghosts."

Dad's eyes widened. "Son…" He looked just as upset as Mom and Jazz. "I am so sorry."

Phantom looked between the three, feeling a lump in his throat. He didn't like this, seeing them so upset even if it was understandable.

"Hey, it's okay." Fenton intercedeed when his ghost didn't reply immediately. "We all know about this now, right?"

"Yeah. And I got a full meal today and already feel so much better." Phantom smiled sheepishly. "I probably look better too." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sidney said that I did at least."

At that, Mom looked up, brow wrinkling in thought. Dad also looked up. "You don't look any different to me?"

The woman's eyes widened. "Yes, he does. That's what I was noticing."

"What?" Jazz questioned.

"Your aura, it's brighter." Mom addressed Phantom.

Dad's eyes narrowed, searching. "I don't see what you're talking about."

Jazz's mouth fell slightly open. "That...I think I see it too."

Meanwhile, Dad still looked confused. Fenton stared at his other self, trying to see the change. And Phantom studied his hands, brow furrowed.

Eventually, his sister sighed exaggeratedly and stood. She turned off the lights and….

"Oh." Dad said at the same time as both Dannys.

The man squinted. "Your glow's brighter." He beamed.

"Yeah." Fenton's eyes widened. "And…" He reached out with one hand and poked the ghost's check.

"Hey!" Phantom protested.

"You're….blue?... green?."

Ghost Danny blinked. "What?"

"Your skin tone, it's… this blue-green color. Here." The human grabbed one of Phantom's gloves and pulled it off. "See." He held his own hand out to compare.

Phantom stared down, his eyes widening. "What the heck." He breathed. True to what his other half said, his hand was an extremely pale blue-green color. He flexed his fingers, looking on in awe.

His parents leaned forward, inspecting. "He's right." Dad stated.

Mom frowned, looking worried. "Is that normal?" The ghost turned, giving her a skeptical look. "I mean… is that healthy, normal for you? Should we be concerned about the sudden change in skin tone?"

Phantom's expression softened, understanding. She wasn't trying to be judgmental; she was worried about his health. "I don't think so." The corner of his mouth turned up. "Sidney did say earlier that I looked really pale, like sickly pale for a ghost so… I think I'm supposed to have a little color?"

"But…" Jazz leaned forward, also inspecting. "I've never seen you look like this before."

Fenton frowned, looking troubled. "Yeah and I don't remember looking like that either but...I can't really remember what we looked like right after the accident and that month after… we didn't spend a lot of time in ghost form and we...uh...wouldn't have noticed a change like this. So...maybe this is what my ghost half's supposed to look like when I'm well fed."

Phantom nodded. "Yeah."

Across from him, Mom's worried frown eased as she leaned back, settling onto her chair again. "Alright. Good, as long as you're healthy." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We need to find a way to ensure you have access to this ectofood though. I don't want you going hungry again."

"Me neither." The ghost agreed.

"Well… we can get ectoplasm straight from the portal." Dad mused. "Do you think you can drink it if we concentrate it?"

Phantom wrinkled his nose, remembering the gelatinous green slime he'd seen in his parents' lab. He glanced at Fenton who was wearing an identical expression. Then he sighed. "Maybe? It didn't look that appealing though."

Mom nodded, understanding. "That might not be in a form you can digest. Maybe we can try integrating ectoplasm with real world food."

The ghost boy tilted his head, considering. "Maybe…" He shrugged. "It'd be worth a try I guess."

"We can get our hands on some of those ghost plants and figure out how to grow 'em in the lab." Dad suggested. "Either way, we'll make sure you're taken care of."

The words weren't unexpected but comforting all the same. "Yeah." The corner of Phantom's lip turned up. "So, where were we?"

The conversation continued, Phantom and Fenton again taking turns to explain what happened with Sidney and what they'd learned from the other ghost. Not for the first time, the human Danny was very grateful that memories of things that had solely happened to his other half managed to passively pass into his portion of their mind. This would have been much harder if Phantom had to tell him what happened as well. But luckily, that wasn't the case.

"So after I finished eating, I told Sideny I needed to go home to the...well, I called it the human world. But Sidney said it was the Material Realm or the Living Realm. And...he was really shocked that I'd been here the whole time since I...uh… became a ghost a month and a half ago." Phantom's words slowed to a stop in his hesitance.

For just a moment, Fenton saw sadness flicker over both parents' faces. And unfortunately, after Phantom's conversation with Sidney about their accident and the talk they'd just had with Mom and Dad, the boy understood the reaction a little better. 'Became a ghost' was just a kinder way to say 'died.'

But the conversation didn't derail, despite the change in tone.

"Really? Why was he shocked?" Jazz asked.

Fenton swallowed. "Well… ghosts apparently don't just form in the Material Realms. Portals are super rare so getting from here to the Infinite Realms is hard, if you're a ghost caught on the wrong side. Plus...there's the whole slowly starving thing."

The corner of Mom's lip tugged down. "That would make sense." Then she sighed, seemingly pushing the emotion away. "So what happened next? You mentioned getting back through another portal."

"Right." Phantom nodded. "Sidney showed me his portal. It was like...this mirror inside this old rusty locker. It led to a locker that looked pretty much the same in the real Casper High."

Dad's eyes lit up. "So that's how you got back to the school."

"But…" Mom's brow furrowed in question. "If there's a portal at Casper… how have we never seen it… or ghosts coming through that portal?" She tapped her chin. "We had heard stories about the school being haunted. Multiple accounts in Amity Park are why we moved and decided to build the portal here in the first place. But… we never found anything more than above average EMF readings when we got permission to investigate."

Fenton nodded and hummed in acknowledgement. He remembered when he'd been in elementary school and they'd first moved here. Mom and Dad had gone on multiple ghost hunts to investigate alleged hauntings in the area. They'd been so excited when they'd gotten permission to search the school… and he and Jazz had been embarrassed, mortified that their parents were so fervent about something that clearly didn't exist. The human boy glanced at his ghost half. Oh the irony.

Said ghost continued. "Yeah. I remember that. I guess the reason you didn't find anything is, the portal's only open for a few minutes once a month, at about 3 am on the Full Moon."

"The Witching Hour." Mom's eyes widened, awed. "So there is something to that."

Phantom nodded. "Yeah. Actually, I hadn't mentioned it before but… my powers are stronger then. And...the portal's louder."

Both parents and their sister blinked, suddenly taken aback. "The portal's…. louder?" Jazz asked, mystified.

"Yeah. It's…" Ghost Danny blushed. "Shoot. I hadn't mentioned that either. So uh… the portal…"

Phantom's mouth opened and closed a few times. Seeing that he wasn't going to finish, Fenton continued for him. "I guess you guys can't hear the song."

Dad's eyes widened in shock. "Song?"

"What are you talking about?" His mother blinked, her mouth falling open slightly.

Briefly, the human Danny's stomach flopped, uncomfortable with the shocked reactions. Of all the surprising things he's told them tonight, this is what is tripping them up? Well...the only thing to do was explain then. Both Dannys glanced at each other.

Then Phantom sighed. "There's like...this call. The portal...or the Infinite Realms I guess, calling out to me. It sounds like….layers of whispers, people singing. It's…" The corner of his lip turned up. "It's really beautiful, actually. Welcoming. And…" He covered his core with one hand. "I'm pretty sure it's like...a feeding call?"

Fenton sided-eyed him, wrinkling his nose. "Uh… maybe don't call it that."

Phantom rolled his eyes. "Or...it's like my instincts recognizing the portal and being like, go eat, stupid."

Both adults stared for a long moment, processing. Then Dad's eyes lit up, excited. "It's like smelling cookies baking and following the scent to find 'em."

Ghost Danny blinked. Then… "Yeah...I guess that's pretty much it."

Mom's surprised expression melted away. "That makes so much sense. And this song is louder during the Witching Hour?" Fenton nodded and the woman continued. "And...I suppose, only ghosts can hear it, since you can and the rest of us can't."

Phantom gave a hum of affirmation but at the same time, his human counterpart shrugged. "Well, I can hear it and I'm technically the human half but…" He motioned to his ghost. "Same person so one half of a halfa."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of that word, halfa-"

"Wait." Jazz cut in. "You never explained… if Sideny's portal only opens at 3 am, one night a month, how did you get through it earlier?"

The ghost and human boy glanced at each other. "Well… Fenton was on the other side and…"

"It just kinda opened for us, like...we're one soul, on either side of the gate so… of course it opened for us." Fenton shrugged, trying to be casual in the explanation.

The other three family members nodded, seeing to accept the answer. But...Phantom glanced at his counterpart, a silent conversation between the two. The other two possible explanations- they were either far more powerful than they thought they were, powerful enough to open the portal. Or…. a being of two worlds and a bridge between the two…. The idea had only just crossed their mind but...it was big and intimidating and yet it felt monumentally important. Neither Danny was quite sure why but… they couldn't talk about that, not yet. Just like what Sidney had said about regretting not seeing his parents and about why Phantom should try to make up with Mom….this was deeply personal, too personal to share yet.

"Alright." Jazz motioned. "Now you can explain about halfas. You said that was the other ghost's word for someone like you?"

"Yeah. That's right so…" Fenton and Phantom explained how Sidney had followed Phantom out of the mirror and met Fenton. "He thought I was my own twin brother… again." The human boy put his head in his hands and let out an only semi-faux exacerbated sigh.

Beside him, the ghost blushed, even as he half-smiled. "I mean… it just didn't come up in the conversation so I didn't mention it."

Jazz snorted, shaking her head. Mom rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. And Dad gave a laugh.

"So anyway…" The Dannys explained what a halfa was, according to Sidney's explanation. They explained the legends and how someone allegedly became a halfa. And they told them about the Ghost Writer's library.

Jazz's eyes just about popped out of her skull. "Every book that's even been written?!"

"I figured you would react like that." Phantom laughed. "But yes. Every book."

The girl just gapped, still ecstatic. Meanwhile, both his parents looked eagerly excited.

"How does that even work?" Mom had a hand on her head. "Where do the books even come from? The implications… with the other things you've told us about social rules… there's legends, written history." She looked at Phantom, amazed. "Sweetie, this is incredible."

"Yes! And it's open to anyone who wants to learn." Fenton could virtually see the stars in his dad's eyes. "So there's peaceful interactions, written language. Danno, you mentioned a ghost king!"

Mom's eyes widened. "That's right! That's a system of government. Jack...there's cultures, maybe even whole civilizations on the other side of that portal, aren't there? And if there's exchange of new information...maybe active, not simply a reflection of extinct or living societies." The woman was awe-strucked, her mouth open and eyes blown wide as if everything she knew had once again been turned on its head. Even so, her excitement was infectious.

"Hold on a second." Jazz interrupted. "We don't actually know that yet, even if seeing ghosts as intelligent and dynamic is an improvement." She gave the adults a pointed look.

"You are right." Mom conceded, more subdued. "We are scientists. We gather and analyze the evidence."

Fenton bit his lip, giving her a wary look; the statement wasn't all that comforting. Phantom wore an identical expression.

Mom seemed to notice the expressions. She turned towards Phantom and reached out, gently squeezing his arm. "Sweetie… I know that us being scientists complicates things but you don't have to be afraid of anything we find changing how we feel about you." She smiled. "You're our son. And remember, there are questions science can't answer, moral, philosophical, and religious ones. It informs how we think and make decisions but… it's not everything."

The ghost's anxious expression waned. "Alright. I hear you. Thanks Mom."

Fenton sighed, feeling some of his nervousness evaporate as well. He got it. He'd grown up with scientists. He'd watched science documentaries and set up simple experiments in the backyard as a kid. And heck, he wanted to be an astronaut. He had a decent understanding of how the scientific method worked and a healthy respect for the process. And his parents were scientists. They wouldn't be properly doing their jobs if they didn't unbiasedly collect data and change their hypotheses to fit that data. He couldn't fault them for being excited to learn more about ghosts but he could expect them to do it ethically and with respect. Meaning… he'd have to trust them to do that.

The corner of Fenton's lip turned up. "Yeah, we get it. Actually…" He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sidney offered to take me to the library some time, to see if I could learn more about halfas." Both parents' expressions soured with worry and he quickly clarified. "After we re-fuse. And you guys can meet Sidney first. And...I guess you can come too, if that's okay with him."

The adults both looked at each other in silent conversation. Then Mom turned back, face softening. "Alright. We'll talk to Sidney, get more information, and see what we think then." Both Dannys frowned, disappointed. "But…" the woman smiled softly. "A family trip into the… Infinite Realms sounds exciting."

Fenton gasped, eyes lighting up. "Really?! You mean…"

"If we can do it safely." Mom held up a hand. "But your dad and I did make the portal because we wanted to learn about the ghosts on the other side. We can't exactly do that if we never go through it."

Phantom brightened, literally. "Yes!" He pumped his fist in the air. "Thank you!" He effortlessly floated out of the chairs and zipped to the woman's side, giving her a side hug.

Across from the pair, Dad beamed. "Gotta get working on the Fenton Specter Speeder!"

Jazz raised a brow. "Fenton Specter Speeder?"

"It's the perfect name!" The man spread his arms. "If we're gonna explore the ooky, spooky Ghost Zone-"

"Infinite Realms." Phantom supplied helpfully.

"Infinite Realms, then our ship's gotta have the family name on it. And it's gotta be fast!" Dad's eyes were positively shining, only dimmed by the ghost at the table with literally glowing eyes.

Fenton chuckled at the enthusiasm while his other self beamed. Dad was already rambling about ideas for a craft worthy of this history making journey. And Mom was already joined in, jotting notes down on a napkin. For once, neither teen rolled their eyes or shifted uncomfortably at the display.

Instead, Jazz leaned towards her brother. "I'm glad that something good came out of this whole mess. I was really scared when Dad told me you'd run off through the portal."

"Yeah." Phantom blushed. "Sorry about worrying everyone but...I learned a lot."

Fenton smiled at their parents. "We all learned a lot."

"And thanks for telling us. I mean… a library with every single book!" Jazz's voice rang with excitement. "They might have books from the library of Alexandria! I want to see..."

His sister continued gushing, his parents planning and theorizing. And Fenton and Phantom watched, heart and core just as light. The two looked at each other, relieved this went so well. Then… the corner of the ghost's lip turned down.

We forgot about Plasmius. Phantom's echoing voice pointed out.

Fenton bit his lip. Then… We can tell them later. His eyes flickered over the rest of their family. They're so… happy.

The ghost's eyes widened slightly and he nodded, understanding. He opened his mouth to respond to what Jazz had just said. And Fenton pushed the previous thought down. Somewhere out there, in the Infinite Realms or on Earth, there was another halfa, someone like him. Someone to be watched out for, to be avoided. Someone that was dangerous. The human Danny's heart clinched but he pushed the feeling away. They could worry about that later. For now…

Fenton smiled, joining his parents' conversation. "Hey, can we make sure the Specter Speeder has cup holders?"

For now, things were good.

Note: And there's the chapter! Leave me your comments if you please. :) Also since I posted the last chapter, I wrote a horror story for Ectober. I also posted a bunch of ficlets from my Tumblr to my prompts collection on here and . Feel free to check those out too, if you're interested. Happy reading!