Disclaimer: I own nothing. The only thing that I can currently attribute to my name is school loans. After 6 years in the pharmacy program, I graduated with a doctorate. I am currently fearful for my life.

Eidolon
23. Heralding

His initial assumption was right. Maddie was extremely angry with him after she had gotten word of his group of admirers about a week after the incident. To be honest, Danny wasn't sure what had taken so long as the teens involved were really vocal about it (they had created something along the lines of a fan club). But, instead of the punishment he was expecting, Maddie grew concerned when he explained that he had to save his class from another three ghost attacks that week. Although he would never admit it out loud, he was really thankful for the Fenton Thermos.

"I would rather you stay in your human form if you need to fight," Maddie told him once he had elaborated on what had happened. At the present moment, she was too focused on some of the instruments in front of her to look back at her son. Every week, she forced the boy to get his vitals and a few other labs checked. Although he wasn't overly pleased about it, she had insisted that the checkups occur in the basement laboratory she set up shortly after moving in. "It's not safe for you to keep transforming."

"Sure, I can do that whenever the ghosts stop appearing," he told her with noticeable sarcasm. "How else am I going to be able to keep everyone safe?"

"It's simple. Starting tomorrow, you'll be permitted to carry some of the smaller Fenton weapons with you. Your principal was very understanding and quickly made the necessary arrangements."

Danny couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You want me to carry weapons that are just as dangerous to me as to the ghosts…? Does that make sense to you? 'Cause, it feels like I'm missing something…. I'm already somewhat of a weapon of my own. Can't we just leave it at that?"

The small smile that had appeared on Maddie's face disappeared with his statements. They had discovered the hard way that ghost hybrids weren't spared of pain or damage from normal ectoplasmic weaponry. Danny was still nursing a recent burn from being in the wrong place at the wrong time while his mother was testing one of her new inventions. Injuries from those weapons tended to heal more slowly due to the weapon's interference with his abilities.

"I'd still rather you use some sort of weapon instead of risking exposure every time you transform," she stated after a few moments of silence with a quieter voice. Danny knew what caused the change in her demeanor – she still couldn't stand it when he mentioned that he wasn't truly human with such ease. "If you're that worried, you could always pretend to use a blaster or one of those Fenton Wrist Rays while firing an ectoblast of your own. I'd still try to avoid it if possible."

"I'll think about it," he replied dryly. His mother gave him a look but didn't say more.

Neither of them said anything else for a while an awkward pause fell between them. After allowing it to last as long as he could stand, Danny spoke up again. "So, am I allowed to go?"

Maddie raised an eyebrow as she glanced back at him. "Not quite. You know we still have to finish this week's tests."

"Why? Nothing's changed." Weren't these tests only done to check if he was feeling okay? Maddie had given him the impression that she was doing this because his "condition," as she liked to call it, might make it hard to tell if he was getting sick.

"Danny, I'm not just checking on your health," she told him as she turned around completely so that she could look directly into his eyes. "These tests are helping me get an idea of how your body functions."

"Okay, and that doesn't sound creepy to you because…?"

The woman huffed and rolled her eyes – something she occasionally did when she became frustrated that they weren't on the same page. "Danny, you're a ghost/human hybrid… "

"Thanks for pointing that out. It's not like the occasional glowing and falling through objects weren't a giveaway."

"That's enough of that attitude, young man," she warned him with narrowed eyes. After allowing a moment to pass to see if her warning would be heeded, she continued. "I still have yet to determine if you are still completely alive or if you're somehow stuck in between life and death. So far, my tests have shown me that your body still seems to be behaving similarly to that of a normal teenager…"

"And…?"

"It's hard to say if that will continue. Vlad stimulated your powers in a rather forceful way so it is possible that your body still hasn't completely adjusted to the changes. We need to continue this monitoring to see exactly what will happen."

A feeling of dread started worming its way into his core. His mouth felt dry as he voiced his next question, "What exactly are you trying to say?" The way his mother stared at him made him uncertain if he wanted to hear the answer.

Her eyes searched his face for a moment, making him uncomfortable. "As you know, a ghost is the collective energy of someone who died. Unless something happens to alter that energy, the created entity will remain the same as long as its energy doesn't dissipate. Humans are the opposite. They grow and change over time. Since you belong to both worlds, it's hard to say if you'll change like a human or remain as you are now."

Danny almost felt like he had been punched. He kept expecting her to say her words had been nothing more than a cruel joke, but it never came. Instead, she just gave him a pitying look and returned to her work.

While it had crossed his mind that there might be some minor changes involved with his life, it had never occurred to him that he might not be able to finish growing like a normal teenager. Did that mean he'd stay the same height? Or that his mentality would stay exactly the same? Uncertain of how to respond, he sat through the rest of the testing in a numb state as his mind continued to race.

If Maddie was concerned about his response, she didn't say anything. She did give his shoulder a slight squeeze before he had a chance to move to the stairs to go up into the kitchen. It didn't last long, but it was oddly comforting. She offered no explanation for the action, for which he was grateful. Their relationship was already awkward enough without someone rationalizing their actions.

Danny shook his head as he made his way into the kitchen and wandered to the counter so he could start preparing a sandwich. There were too many thoughts still swarming his mind. Only a handful of them made any sense while the others asked questions he had no idea how to answer. There were too many unknowns. How had he been able to ignore them for so long? Oh wait, he had been abducted by a crazy fruitloop. That's why.

He almost laughed at the absurdity of that thought. There were times when it seemed like his life was nothing more than an elaborate videogame. Too bad there wasn't some sort of manual that would help give him an edge.

He stopped moving for a moment as a thought struck him. Didn't Sam still have Vlad's book hidden somewhere in her room? Although he thought that most of the book was nonsense (it depicted him as being evil!), it still might have some clues. The person who wrote it seemed to have had some knowledge about what would happen to him. He'd ask her about it in the morning. Right now, there was some homework waiting for him, and he really didn't need to give Maddie another reason to be irritated with him.

…..

Danny had originally expected Sam to be rather irritated with him for suggesting they take a look at that book at school the next day. She really didn't like talking about the thing. Tucker had mentioned to him that it caused Sam to have nightmares, which Sam immediately and somewhat violently denied. However, she seemed to have a reluctant understanding of why he wanted to look at it.

"Maybe you can make more sense of it than we can," she told him after she agreed to locate it while they were finishing up their lunch hour.

He gave her a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"

"We can't read all of it. Some of the writing is illegible and other parts look like they were written in another language. I thought you knew that…"

"That's weird… To be honest, I never really got a good look at the thing before I managed to get it to you. Maddie wouldn't let me look at it… I guess it was a mother's concern or something like that."

"Dude, you really got to stop talking about her like that," Tucker told him after catching the bitter tone in Danny's voice. "I know you aren't seeing eye to eye, but she is your mother."

The hybrid glared at his friend for a moment. "Tuck, I know she is, but she certainly doesn't act like it. How would you like it if your mother thought you were going to turn evil and does lab experiments to figure out how to make you normal again? She refuses to acknowledge me as her son until I'm completely human. She has even instructed Jazz to avoid me. How do you expect me to handle that?"

"I had been wondering where she's been recently…" Sam trailed off. When Danny and Jazz first started school, the elder sibling would frequently sit with them during lunch. Even when she made her own friends, she had a habit of coming over and talking with them for a few minutes. More recently, Jazz hadn't been making an appearance. She had even stopped greeting them in the hallways, but her expression would always become saddened afterwards if she passed one of them. "You're telling me that your mom's even trying to pull Jazz away from you? But, why wouldn't she fight back?"

That was a good question. Although Jazz had been in captivity most of her life, she didn't let that stop her from living her life. After allowing herself a small grace period to get her used to interacting with people, she had decided she was going to use her experiences to help others who went through traumatic events. Danny was supportive of her goal as he was living proof of her skills. There would have been no way he would have been able to handle school without her support.

"Maddie was her whole world until now. Even though she thinks it's wrong, Jazz won't disobey her."

"What about Winston? Isn't he trying to help?"

"Winston isn't her legal guardian. He really can't do much, but he's tried."

"Man, that's gotta be rough," Tucker sympathized while patting his shoulder. "Speaking of which, where has Winston been recently? I haven't seen him around."

The halfa gave his friend a blank look before realization set in. "Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you guys. Winston's currently at some sort of teacher's conference out of state. He's giving a speech there so he's been busy working on it. He should be back by the end of the week."

"So it's just you and the girls for a week? Ouch!"

"Tell me about it."

"You can always crash at my place for a bit," Sam told him rather nonchalantly, causing Danny to smile. After his rescue, Sam had been instrumental in helping him keep his sanity once he came home. Her large house acted as a safe haven from the real world for a little while. It also helped that Sam's parents… well, more like her grandmother… had taken a liking to him and was more than willing to misdirect his mother if she came looking for him. While the older woman didn't know his full story, she seemed to have grasped enough to understand that his friendship with her granddaughter was extremely important for his mental health.

"What about me?"

The goth chuckled. "Don't worry, you're allowed to come too. We haven't had a movie night for a while, so should we plan for this weekend?"

"Awesome!" both boys shouted. "Count us in!"

A nasty and accented laugh answered them. Turning, the three friends caught sight of the school's queen bee, Paulina, and her army of popular kids and jocks. "How sad. Are you that starved for attention that you need to bribe these two losers for it? Just think of what everyone else will think when they find out."

As the group laughed, Danny found himself balling his fists and readying himself for action. How dare they insult his friends! He was about to say something when Sam gently touched his shoulder. She gave him a look that clearly said 'let me handle it.' She also made a quick motion to let him know that his eyes were starting to glow. He and his friends had created several similar signs to help him fix the situation when one of his powers decided to act up. It had come in handy way more times than he could count, especially during his first month at school. He couldn't count the number of close calls.

"Thanks for the advice, but I think I'm good. At least I'm constant with who I hang out with. Word is that you're with a different boy every week, and I'd watch that if I were you. I've heard that's a good way to get sick," Sam told the Latina. While it was true she could have been more direct in how she insulted the girl, Sam liked to phrase things more subtly in public areas.

The result was almost instantaneous. Paulina snarled as the boys behind her cracked their knuckles menacingly. "You dare insult me? Be careful of who you mess with chicka. Just be glad we don't have time for you today." She turned with a dismissive flick of her hair and walked down the hall with her army.

"Uh, what just happened?" Tucker asked. The tone of his voice clearly stated he wasn't sure if he was actually safe yet or not. Once Danny's popularity had worn off, the jocks had decided to target the two boys almost daily. While Tucker had been dealing with the bullying for years, the addition of physical threats was definitely new.

"I think Sam chased Paulina off…?" the hybrid stated questionably as he looked at his female friend.

Sam grinned at the two boys as the first bell rang. "It's too crowded in the cafeteria for them to try anything, so I used it to my advantage."

"You know, you still need to teach me how to do that," Danny told her as they started to head to their lockers to get books for their next classes. "I'd hate to have that group catch me in the open while I'm in my ghost form. By the way, how did they become my biggest fans?"

"Danny, you can walk through walls…"

"I know, but they intimidate me…"

xxxxxx

Sam had remained fairly quiet while they talked on the way back to her house. Sure, she answered any questions sent her way and put in a thought here and there, but she was unable to bring her full attention to the conversation. She was far more worried about the book. When not in use, she hid it in one of the dark crevices in her room and tried not to think about it. The thing held power, and it frightened her. She couldn't figure out why she continued to let it stay in her house.

Once they entered the entry, the trio retrieved their customary snacks before they disappeared into Sam's room. After locking the door, she went to retrieve the book. Danny seemed surprised by the action, but she quickly explained it was because she didn't want her parents seeing it. There was no telling what they'd do if they saw that thing. They'd probably think she was studying witchcraft and ship her off to who knows where.

The three of them formed a triangle as they sat down around the book. Sam and Tucker watched as Danny carefully started turning the pages. "You weren't kidding…This thing is hard to read."

A swirl of disappointment overcame her, "So you can't read it either? What good is this thing if no one can decipher it?"

"That actually might be the point, Sam," Tucker told her. "Whoever wrote this might have wanted only a select few to know its secrets. Or it was written by a madman. I think I'm leaning more towards that latter."

A sigh of frustration turned their attention back to Danny. He was staring at a page that was more tattered than many of the others with a deep frown. "What's wrong?" she asked him hesitantly.

"This isn't what I was looking for, but it might just answer some of my other questions if I can get a better idea what it says."

"What were you looking for?" When Danny gave no answer, she and Tucker shared a look. When he asked if he could take a look at it earlier in the day, it was clear something was on his mind. He never elaborated on it which had only made her more concerned.

"I think I told you guys that the local ghosts think something big is coming," Without waiting for any sort of confirmation, he continued. "This page says something about a pariah returning and bringing destruction. I wonder if this is what the other ghosts are worried about…"

"What makes you think that?" Tucker asked skeptically.

The ghost boy frowned slightly as he thought about it. "I don't really know for sure. It might be more of a weird hunch than anything else."

Sam watched him curiously as his breath started to mist as he talked. This happened every once in a while. Sometimes it was something of a warning, letting him know that another ghost was in the area. But when that happened, the boy would usually go rigid as he prepared himself for whatever would happen next. This time, he didn't respond, which told her he probably didn't even realize it was happening.

She scooted ever so slightly to right to make it less likely that she would accidentally touch him. While his skin usually felt cool to the touch, he felt like a block of ice when his breath was visible. Danny never seemed to notice the change and didn't know what caused it. He just chalked it up to some weird ghost thing.

"Dude, are you okay?" Tucker asked the ghost boy suddenly making both him and Sam jump. "You're not feeling sick or anything?

Danny stared at him for a second before answering. "I feel fine… Why?"

"I've been able to see your breath for a good five minutes, and your lips are turning blue."

"Wait, what?" the hybrid asked in confused disbelief as he turned to her. Upon a closer inspection, his face seemed to be paling and a blue tinge was becoming noticeable on his lips and cheeks. With a nod from her, Danny excused himself and moved into the bathroom conjoining her room to check his appearance. Sam and Tucker immediately followed.

"Talk about looking like the dead…" Danny mumbled to himself as he checked his reflection. For some reason, he decided to reach out towards his reflection in the mirror. Sam knew he tended to respond like that whenever something odd happened to his appearance due to his powers. She assumed it was his way of making sure what he saw was truly there. However, unlike the previous times, when his fingers touched the reflective surface, a thin layer of frost started ghosting across its surface.

Startled, Danny pulled back and stared at his hand. "Okay… I don't think there's anything about this in the manual." The absurd statement combined with his expression sent Sam into a whirl of laughter.

Note: I'm used to a schooling system that has the day broken up into 8 periods, with each period/class being approximately 45 minutes with 3 minutes between classes. Those periods are ignoring homeroom which usually lasts about 20 minutes, starting from the national anthem and announcements. This is how my mind pictures his school.

And as another side note… Pariah means an exile or outsider. So don't get excited!

Anyways, I really didn't intend for it to take this long to release this chapter. Life has sucked for a bit, but it's getting better now. What I have learned since March:

I'm never working for my local anime convention again as long as a certain someone from out of state remains in charge of it. I won't go into details, but I haven't been that angry at someone for a long time. On the other hand, my panel that my friend and I ran and my cosplay were both successful.

There are very few jobs in my field that are currently hiring in my area. I have passed by Boards (victory dance), but I have a temporary job while everything gets finalized. In my field, you need both a degree and a license to be able to get a true job. I hope this happens soon… I really don't care for what I'm currently doing. I really don't like MTMs…

Erm… that's about it for now. With how up in the air the next few months will be, I am uncertain when I will next be able to release a chapter. I'll do my best, but please be patient with me. The real world is a scary place, and I'm uncertain if I will make it back alive.

And, last but not least, this chapter was beta'ed by the lovely shadowxdragon!