Danny P.O.V.
It's been a month and 3 days since I became Clockwork's apprentice. Not too much has happened, other than advancements in my training and education. My telekinesis is going well; I can now life objects about as heavy as a car. I know everything I need to know about telepathy, but I don't have anyone to practice with, and I can now freeze time. As for education, I'm now about as smart as an 11th grader. That's one upside of being dead; no hero duties.
I just finished another book Clockwork gave me, and was headed to his library to put it back. I did so, and went to the viewing room to see what I would do next. I arrived in the viewing room to see Clockwork fixing a broken cogwheel. When he was done, he floated down to meet me.
"I assume you've finished the book?" he asked. I nodded in response. He pulled a small note from his pocket and gave it to me.
"This is a list of books I would like you to retrieve from the Ghost Writer's Library. Worry not, they are for my use, not yours." I took the list and nodded.
"Anything else?" I asked. He shook his head.
"No, but you may want to ask Ghost Writer for any books you might want to read. He has a copy of every book ever written." I nodded and left for Ghost Writer's library.
The library wasn't too far from the tower, 13 minutes of flying at least. I landed and knocked on the entrance door. It opened and I entered. I walked for a minute and was greeted by the sight of Ghost Writer typing on his keyboard. I cleared my throat to alert him to my presence.
"Hello there, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"Hello, I am Timeforge, Clockwork's apprentice." I replied, earning a surprised look from the author.
"I was told to retrieve these books from you for my master." I continued and handed him the note. He took it and read it, having gotten over his surprise. He nodded and snapped his fingers. 4 large books appeared on his desk.
"These are the books Clockwork requested." He said.
"Thank you Ghost Writer." I responded.
"Before I go, do you have any books on flute playing?" I asked. He smiled and nodded. He snapped his fingers again, and 3 smaller, yet still large, books appeared.
"These books have everything any musician would need to know about the flute." He said.
"Thank you Ghost Writer." I said with a smile and took the books.
As I exited the building, I bumped into someone, and dropped all the books I was holding. I looked at who I had bumped into, it was Ember. Her make-up was smeared, as if she had been crying.
"I apologise Ms McLain, I should have watched where I was going." I said as I offered her my hand. She took it and I helped her up.
"It's alright." She spoke in a depressed tone.
"Are you OK?" I asked. She looked at me with a sad face.
"My boyfriend cheated on me… So no, not really." She murmured. I looked at her with a sympathetic smile and put my hand on her shoulder.
"The mere fact that he was able to cheat, is enough to show that Skulker is a worthless jackass. Don't get too worked up over it, you'll find the right ghost some day." I comforted. She smiled at me and wiped her tears away.
"Thanks, that helps." She responded.
"Anytime Ember. My name is Timeforge, by the way. I'm Clockwork's apprentice." I explained as I picked the books up.
"The stopwatch has an apprentice? Since when?" she asked.
"About 7 months ago. I didn't leave the tower often because I like to keep to myself." I answered. She nodded in understanding and then saw the books I was holding.
"You play the flute?" she asked.
"No, the flute I have with me is just my weapon that can shrink into a flute for portability. I thought I may as well learn how, since I can play the thing when it's a flute." I explained. She smiled.
"Well, if you get good enough, maybe we can play together sometime?" she asked me in a friendly tone.
"I don't see why not." I responded with a smile.
"I have to go now; I need to get these books to my master. It was nice meeting you." I told her.
"Likewise, but before you go, how did you know my name?" she asked.
"I'm the Time Master's apprentice, I know a lot." I responded. She seemed to pick up on the joke, and laughed.
"See ya Timeforge. Come see me when you get good enough with the flute." She said and started to fly away.
"I will." I replied.
"And don't forget to not worry about Skulker. He's an ass, and doesn't deserve to be with a girl like you." I told her. She giggled.
"Thank you Timeforge, that helps a lot." She said and flew off. I did the same, thinking about what just happened; I just befriended one of my enemies.
After I arrived back at the tower, I gave Clockwork the books he wanted and went to my room to start learning how to play my flute. It was surprisingly easy, though that may be because of my ghost intellect; part of Clockwork's time powers that give me the ability to learn new skills very quickly. It wasn't just easy, but a lot of fun too. I can see why Ember loves her guitar. Maybe I'll learn other instruments too.
When I was done with my flute, I went over to my desk and opened the laptop Clockwork gave me. He said it would help in future missions and projects. He assigned me a project 2 weeks ago, to write a biography of my former self, Danny Phantom. It was hard, not because I can't write, I can write very well, but because I have to go through all my memories of my old life. I'm only about 20% of the way in by now. I've written about how I got my powers, my first encounter with Skulker, The Lunch Lady, Ember, Plasmius, etc. I find myself wondering if I should put my experience with Dan in the book. I decide to write the book in first person, as it's a book about my life as a Halfling, I thought I should say things like 'I said to Sam' and whatnot.
After finishing a chapter about the time Kitty overshadowed Paulina, I sensed that it was 10pm. I decided to have a shower, and then go to sleep. As I lay down after putting my pants back on, my thoughts drifted to Ember, and an idea formed in my head.
"Maybe she'll let me practise my telepathy on her." I thought as I drifted into the darkness. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought up the dream I had as I slept.
~Danny's Dream~
I was standing in front of the lake at the Amity Park. Sam was standing in front of me, looking very angry. The images faded and I found myself surrounded by the jocks of Casper high. One of them lunged at me, and the images fade again. Next I'm in an unknown bed, sitting up, and look to my side. I see Ember sitting on the side of the bed, putting a shirt on. After another fade, I'm standing on an island in the Ghost Zone, with my parents aiming their guns at me. I hear a twig snap behind me, and turn around to see 3 white figures surrounding my human body. I hear a gun go off, and feel the pain of being shot in the heart again. I close my eyes, and hear a familiar maniacal laughter.
~Dream End~
At 5:54am, I woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily, despite my lack of needing to. I felt something hot behind my head, and felt with my hand. There was a source of heat, my hair, but it was usually cooler than this. I grabbed my hair band and tied my hair back, and went to the mirror. I looked into the mirror and found that my ponytail had a bigger flame than before, and the flame was now black, not red. Why the flame was there at all puzzled me. I have an ice core, not a fire core. Dan had flaming hair, but his core changed to fire when he merged with Plasmius. I made a mental note to ask Clockwork about it later, and climbed back into bed.
I found it difficult to sleep now. Clockwork explained, some time ago, that he more time I spend as a full ghost, the less sleep I'll need. Eventually, I won't need to sleep at all, unless I use a crap load of energy in a fight or something. Maybe my need for sleep requirements have gone down by now. With that thought in mind, I got dressed, minus my boots, and sat on my now made bed, and continued with the latest book Clockwork gave me. The way my studies work goes like this: First, Clockwork gives me 2 or 3 books to read, I take about a week and half to do so, we spend 2 days going over everything in the books together with tests and such, and then the cycle restarts. It was surprisingly efficient, for me anyway, and only because of my ghost intellect. I wonder what my grades would have been like if I hadn't been fighting ghosts?
After reading for 4 hours and 6 minutes, I got up and went to find Clockwork. He may or may not know what my dream meant, not to mention the now black fire on my ponytail. I walked into the viewing room and saw Clockwork talking to an observant. When he saw me, the observant left and Clockwork approached me.
"What was one-eye saying?" I asked. Clockwork smiled at my name for the observant.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." He replied.
"Have you finished with the books?" I shook my head.
"No, I wanted ask you something. Well, 2 somethings." I responded. He nodded.
"What do you need?" I explained my dream to him, and he looked deep in thought for a moment.
"It appears that your time powers are developing faster than I initially thought. That was not a dream; it was a vision, several visions throughout time, past and future, but not in any particular order. And some of them may not happen, as you can see the possible futures. I'll look into this later. What was the other thing you wanted to ask?" I pulled my hood down and showed him my new ponytail.
"Any thoughts as to what this means?" I asked him. He narrowed his eyes a little and inspected the flame.
"You have ice core, no?" he asked. I nodded in response.
"Are you certain?" I nodded again.
"Why?" I asked.
"I believe you may have a dark core. Ghosts with dark cores sometimes develop cryokinesis before umbrakinesis, albeit it's rather rare." He explained. My eyes widened.
"Really?" I asked. He nodded in response.
"Hold out your hand and look deep within yourself, try to find something other than ice." He instructed. I nodded and complied. I focussed on my core, trying to look deeper than the icy feeling I usually find. I felt something within me, something I had never felt before; an unusual form of energy. I pushed the energy into my hand, like I do with my ice energy and ecto-energy, and opened my eyes. My hand had what looked like black fire surrounding it. I just stared at it.
"Wow." I muttered in surprise.
"Try focussing on a shape for it, a simple dome." Clockwork instructed me. I nodded, and focussed. The black flames moved in an unusual pattern, and formed a dome hovering above my hand. I used my other hand to try and touch it, it was solid.
"Double wow." I muttered again.
"Indeed." Clockwork agreed.
"What else can I do with this?" I asked
"You can create solid objects of darkness, weapons and such, you can create mist of darkness, blend into the shadows, fire blasts of darkness, you'll have selective night vision, and other such abilities." He responded.
"OK, I am liking this more and more." I said with a smile. Clockwork chuckled at my childish ranting. He held out his hand and a new book appeared.
"This book has a lot of information about using umbrakinesis. It'll help you when we train with it." he said. I nodded eagerly and took the book.
"Thank you!" I half yelled and sped to my room, eager to learn about my new power.