Chapter 27: Sorrow in Passing
Danielle's eyes slowly flickered open as she woke up with a huge headache. Her eyes looked around, but her brain could barely register what she was really seeing before she closed her eyes again, moaning from the pain in her head as well as throughout the rest of her body. It took a while to remember how she had ended up in such an agonizing state. Her mind replayed certain memories of the passed week for a while until it got to the part where the Guys in White had poisoned Danny.
Suddenly, the clone's eyes shot open again, and she was brought back to the reality of the current situation. That's right. Danny was fading fast as she was trying to get him to the Realm of the Far Frozen as quickly as possible. Completely exhausting herself in doing so. And she thought he had gone unconscious by the time they had crash-landed.
"Danny." She exclaimed, bolting upright as her previous fears were fast returning. But she sat up too quickly and an even bigger headache suddenly came up from the back of her neck. She moaned painfully, massaging the back of her head where the soreness was mainly coming from.
"Please, you must rest." Said a raspy and unfamiliar voice from her right. When the female clone looked in that direction, there was a very large and rather fearsome looking beast about the size Wulf was. Only this one had sleek white fur, stood on two legs at all times and he had a long horny tail. He wore tan, tribal looking clothes and boots that looked like they could have been made from the skins of another kind of furry animal. (This felt a little ironic to Danielle) He had horns on his head that seemed to be made completely of solid ice and he held a sort of clipboard in his giant clawed hands.
After taking in the sight of this abominable snow ghost, Danielle now looked around with her mind in much more awareness. The room she was in almost looked like a cave with its raged stone walls and dome-shape appearance. Icicles hung from the ceiling and the floor seemed to be covered in a thick blanket of ice. She had been laid on a large and flat stone that served as a sort of bed.
Even though Danielle knew it couldn't be any sort of experimental lab, the machines and computer screens lining the walls everywhere were reminding her very much of the labs she had had horrifying experiences in. She was stating to get the same feeling as she did whenever she had to go down in the lab at Fenton Works.
"There's no need to be afraid." Said another voice that boomed deeply from across the room. Another one of those white furred creatures was also in the room. Only this one looked more elderly and his tribal outfit looked more magnificent with his blue cape and gold trinkets that decorated his appearance a bit more. What fascinated Danielle the most about this ghost was the fact that his entire left arm was made of the same kind of ice as his horns. You could actually see the bony skeleton right through the transparent and glasslike substance. "I know our general appearance may be a bit intimidating, but I assure you, you are among friends." He additionally said.
"Oh no, don't worry about that. It's not you." Danielle said shaking her head. Frostbite must have seen how she was looking scared and thought it must have been of him. Though she wished she could have had a warning that Frostbite looked like a dangerous monster, in meeting Wulf, she had already learned that appearances could be deceiving.
What the teenage hybrid said seemed to please the beast and he smiled warmly, despite the huge fangs that stuck out of his mouth. He approached slowly and, to Danielle's astonishment, he bent down to the floor on one knee, bowing in a respectful manner before her. "I am Frostbite. Leader of the Realm of the Far Frozen. It's an honor to make your acquaintance, young Phantom."
"W-what?" Danielle looked at her hand, thinking she might be in her ghost form for these creatures to know that she was a Phantom, but as she thought she did, she had her human appearance.
Frostbite rose to his feet and he looked at the other snow creature for a second. Both seemed uncertain and confused, as if afraid they might have offended her.
"Are you not related to the great Danny Phantom, dear one? Savior of the Ghost Zone as well as, by now, his own world?" Frostbite asked, turning back to her.
Danielle stared at him for a confused second of her own before responding hesitantly. "Well…yeah, he's my cousin…sort of." She said this last part quietly to herself. "But…how did you…?" Her sentence trailed off as a thought occurred to her. "Oh wait. Did he tell you?" The teenage hybrid asked, thinking that Danny must have told them all about her by now.
Frostbite shook his head. "The only thing he has been able to tell us since you arrived here is how he was poisoned. With Blood Blossom, of all things."
This statement suddenly started turning wheels in the ghost girl's memory and she swung her feet off the side of the flat boulder she was on, "Where is he? Is he okay?" She asked quickly, and half fearing what the answer might be.
Frostbite held up his clawed hands reassuringly. "It's all right, cousin of the Great One. He's in a separate room being cared for as we speak. You yourself have only been unconscious for less than half an hour."
Danielle relaxed in hearing this. So Danny was still alive after all. Then again, she could feel that he was. Though she was still unsure why she was able to just know.
At that moment she noticed how cold it actually was in the cave-like room and started rubbing her arms, trying to warm herself. She tried to Go Ghost, but she was still feeling too exhausted to do so. If she could, she would be able to withstand the temperature better.
Frostbite and his furry companion noticed her shivering and the one holding the clipboard went over to a storage cabinet to retrieve a blanket. Then he went back over to Danielle with it and draped it around her shoulders. "Oh, thanks." She said with a grateful nod and wrapped the blanket more tightly around her. She pulled her feet back onto the boulder she was sitting on and backed up against the stone wall behind her, tucking her legs under the blanket as well to keep warm. "But…if Danny didn't tell you about me, how did you know I was a Phantom?" She asked when she felt comfortable enough. "I thought I wasn't even in my ghost mode when you found us."
To her surprise, Frostbite threw his head back with a laugh of amusement. "Anyone who is observant enough doesn't have to see you in your ghost form to know that you already have something very much in common with Danny Phantom." He explained. "There's something in your eyes that reflects his very spirit. The minute I saw you, I just knew."
The tan clothed beast nodded to this. "Several of us also noticed this about you. It's obvious you have his courage."
Danielle just scoffed doubtfully in what was just said. Her? With Danny's courage? She found that quite unlikely. Frostbite clarified when he saw her objecting look. "Why else would you have used up all of your energy to get him here so quickly?" He said.
Danielle looked down at her shoes, which were peaking out from under the blanket she was wrapped in, and pondered on this for a moment. Nothing else was said on this subject, but she felt a bit amazed that they were holding her name in just as much reverence as Danny, even though she didn't feel like they had witnessed anything to earn her such a reputation.
"Can I see him?" She asked after this moment of silence.
"Not just yet, dear one. You need to rest first." The beast with the clipboard said. "You must have had quite a nasty fall in coming here. And judging by the current state Danny is in, I'd say that you've gone through quite a bit before that. In addition, wandering about just after wearing yourself out like that could make your own condition even worse."
Frostbite nodded in agreement. But then he bowed, saying, "However, once you are feeling well enough, I will take you to see him myself, if that is what you wish."
"But when he got poisoned, he only had three hours." Danielle said quickly, in a worried way. "And I don't know how long it's been since we…"
The first beast raised his huge hand, interrupting her. "We've been able to give him a medication that will delay the progress of the poison until we can come up with an antidote. The poison was perhaps half way through with him already when you reached our realm, but we've managed to multiply that time tenfold. He now still has a full day left. Giving us more time to find an antidote and giving you the time you need to rest from your hard day. And I dare say it was."
This news did make Danielle feel a bit better. She could feel that the poison was still working at Danny, but he wasn't in as much pain as she knew he was in when she was blacking out in the snow. But she still felt that at least seeing Danny would help double that reassurance. Then again, these two specters were probably right. What else could she do to help right now anyway? She was aching all over and she still couldn't Go Ghost from the lack of energy she had used up to power her Plasma Rocket. In fact that was probably the longest and hardest distance she had ever traveled with it. She finally started to notice how tired she still was when her eyelids started to become heavy. The worn out clone nodded to Frostbite to show her agreement to what he and his physician friend were telling her and laid back down on the boulder, still curled up in the blanket.
When she saw Frostbite walk away with another smile, she fell asleep quite quickly, despite her longing to see how Danny was doing. Her dreams were once again apprehensive ones, filled with visions of Danny losing his life and Vlad coming after her again now that the one she was cloned from was no longer there to protect her. But her sleep, despite it only being for a few hours was nevertheless, perhaps the best she had been able to have all week. She was hardly allowed to rest while the Guys in White were holding her captive and the use of her Plasma Rocket was always enough to take it out of her.
She only woke up from the nightmare she was having and by that time, she did at least feel much better. Her muscles still hurt, and she didn't want to try to Go Ghost just yet, but her headache was gone and she felt like she could withstand the nippy temperature better anyway. Even without the blanket.
She couldn't really go back to sleep anymore after that, so within the next minute, Frostbite was personally carrying her down a frozen hallway, in his warm and furry white hands to see Danny, just as he had promised. He ducked into an opening that was closed off with a tattered cloth that served as a curtain.
It led to another cave-like room with medical screens and machines lining the walls, only this one was smaller than the first. In the center of this room, in front of a tank full of some kind of bubbling liquid was a large smooth, rectangular stone, similar to the one Danielle had woken up on, where Danny was laid on his back. He seemed to be wired to some mechanical devices that helped to show his heartbeat and other vital signs on a screen. Another of the Far Frozen villagers was busy at the controls of a machine that must have had some sort of medical purpose for Danny.
As soon as Frostbite had entered the area, carrying the little teenage girl, Danny turned his head and smiled at his little cousin in greeting. He looked quite weary, but Danielle was so relieved to see that he was still conscious after the fall they had both taken.
Frostbite set the young girl down by Danny's bedside as the other Far Frozen citizen assisted him in sitting up so she could give him a hug. She noticed, though that his return of it wasn't as strong as it once was. He was still growing weaker despite his extended time.
After seeing the two cousins exchange their greetings, Frostbite stepped forward. "A bit of the poison has now been isolated in your blood sample, Great One." He said to Danny as he was gently laid back down. "From it, we will be able to synthesize an antidote that will completely neutralize it from your body."
"Thanks." Danny said. Though, he suddenly winced and his hand shot to his side where his wound was now bandaged but still causing him constant pain. Danielle gave him a miserable look of pity as she saw him do this. She could almost feel what agony he was going through.
Danny sighed and looked back up to his abominable snow beast friend. "Why is it that every time I come here, it's always in a crash-landing and in need of your help?"
Frostbite chuckled pleasantly. "Your custom procedures?" He said playfully "Either way, it's always a pleasure to have you with us, no matter in what way you…how shall I say it? Drop in." Both he and Danny laughed at the joke.
Danielle was partially surprised how Danny could still have his sense of humor even while suffering from an anti-ghost remedy internally.
The young ghost hero looked at his younger cousin for a second as she sat down in a wooden chair next to him that she guessed must have been set out for her. Then Danny turned his attention back to Frostbite. "Hey, could I have a minute here with my cousin?" He asked tiredly.
"But of course, Great One." Frostbite responded, bowing himself out of the room. The physician also left as Danny looked back at Danielle, putting his hand on hers, where she had set it up on the stone he was resting on.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her with a smile.
Danielle pulled her hand away as if offended. "What are you asking me for? You're the one who's on the death bed."
Danny stared at her from her sudden change in behavior. "I'm still alive, aren't I?" He pointed out.
"Yeah, but for how much longer?"
Danny paused and only responded by looking in the direction of the screen on the wall. There was a digital timer in the corner of the monitor counting down from approximately eighteen hours.
"It's a lot longer than the three hours The Guys in White gave me." Danny said, looking on the bright side.
Danielle sighed heavily, looking down at the floor. "Danny, why did you have to come after me?" She quietly asked.
Danny looked back at his clone, disbelieving at what he had just heard her say. "What?"
"I turned myself over to The Guys in White so they wouldn't hurt you."
"Dani, I was not going to just sit at home, knowing that they were hurting you." Danny said. Danielle just folded her arms with a huff, leaning back in the wooden chair she was sitting on. Danny let out a sigh. "Dani, listen. You and I have some kind of link. We can feel each other's pain. I could tell whenever The Guys in White were putting you through something terrible. Sometimes I could even hear you screaming in my head. It was like reliving that time in Vlad's lab all over again. They probably would have eventually killed you."
"So what? Maybe it would have been better like that." Danielle responded angrily, and yet tensing up from the sadness she was feeling on the inside. "No one would have missed me anyway." Especially Sam. She thought this last part to herself
"Don't you dare start on that again. You know it's not true." Danny said. Almost wanting to get up from the medical bed and face Danielle properly. But in his current condition, he knew that that was impossible. "Besides, if I wasn't there to talk you out of it, you would have killed the Guys in White."
Danielle exhaled and shot a look at her cousin, and almost shouted. "I only threw that fit because you got poisoned, Danny." She argued, trying to choke back her tears she was beginning to feel were coming on. "And before that…I attacked you. Just so you would let me leave Amity Park."
Danny looked at his worried cousin with remorse as she looked at her hands that had nearly caused the murder of two people at once. "Danny, what's happening to me?" She asked sadly. "What if next time I actually do kill someone? What if that someone might be you?
At that exact moment, a calm voice came from somewhere else in the room. "There's no need to worry about that anymore, Danielle, because there won't be a next time." Danielle spun around, surprised to see a pale blue ghost with a purple cloak and a strange staff floating above the floor in the room.
"Clockwork." Danny said, in a friendly greeting tone. Danielle assumed that he must have known this ghost on good terms because of this.
But in going back to the topic they were just on, she said in an ignorant but still worried tone to the purple-cloaked ghost, "And how would you know if there won't be a next time?"
Danielle was confused when Danny scoffed at her comment that she thought was quite reasonable. "Didn't you notice how he just called you by name, Dani? He's the Master of Time: The ghost that helped me to see the light in my own dark days. There's little he doesn't know about."
"Including the fact that your cousin coming to your rescue was for the better." Clockwork put in, as he glided towards the two Phantoms and to Danielle's bewilderment, suddenly changing into the appearance of a lanky long-bearded old man.
"How could it have been for the better if Danny coming and getting poisoned set me off?" Danielle asked, ignoring Clockwork's sudden change in his appearance and just looking down at her shoes in solemn.
"You were refusing to tell The Guys in White how you got your powers in fear that if you told them anything, they would find out that you were actually a clone and would think you useless to experiment on and start going after Danny again. Therefore if you didn't die under questioning of your own powers, they would have instead started asking you about where his new house was." Both Phantoms listened intently as Clockwork explained this. Danielle's eyes widened and she bit her lower lip in a bit of frightened thought. "You would never betray Danny by giving away his hiding place, so they would have then tried to lure him out by holding you up for ransom. And that, child, in addition to their constant persistence to get the knowledge they wanted about Danny, is what would have fuelled your anger."
Danielle stared at the old sage for a moment in learning this. "So…" Danielle finally said, glancing between Danny and Clockwork (who now changed into his infant form). "I would have gone on that rampage anyway…and…and murdered them?"
"Yes. Only Danny wouldn't have been there to stop you." Clockwork said. Danielle propped her elbows on her knees and hid her face in her hands as The Master of Time continued. "Had you proceeded with the kill, you would have eventually reached a point where you would have been able to replace even Vlad Plasmius himself as Danny's archenemy."
Danielle put her feet up on the chair she was sitting on and wrapped her arms around her knees, trying not to envision herself as this evil being Clockwork spoke of. Vlad had always been haunting her dreams, but she had never even thought that she would somehow, in a way become him.
Clockwork bent down, changing into his present-day form, looking into her face, and putting a gloved hand on her shoulder before saying with a smile, "but you didn't go through with the murder." Danielle looked back at Clockwork with a searching expression as he went on. "You may have been very close to doing it, but you made the right choice in the end. And I can assure you right now that after making that decision, you will never get that close again."
There was a moment of thoughtful silence that passed where Danielle especially was beginning to get her reassurance back. She gave Clockwork a nod in understanding and he straightened up, looking like he was proud of another job well done. "Now. I'd best be going." He said to the two Phantom cousins.
Danny looked at the sage as if disappointed to hear this news. "You're not gonna stay?" He asked. "Not even…to tell me…if I'll make it through this?" He put a hand on his bandaged wound through which he had been poisoned.
Clockwork shook his head. "The Observants would have my head if they found out I was even here. Much less telling you how things would have happened in the future if certain alternate events had taken place. And they're already beyond the breaking point with me as it is." Danny scoffed and rolled his eyes in an, 'I'll bet' sort of way before Clockwork added with a wink, "Besides. The rest of your family has nearly arrived here. You will be seeing them very soon."
The Phantoms beamed, looking at each other after hearing this. But when they turned back to thank Clockwork, he had vanished.
Danielle felt as if a great burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She was fairly sure that if Clockwork hadn't told her the things he did, that experience with being so close to truly becoming Vlad's creation would have haunted her for the rest of her life. But in turning back to her slowly fading cousin, she looked at the wound he had, feeling lost inside. Clockwork may have made sure that things turned out for the better for Danielle, but what about Danny? What was going to happen to his future? Will he even have one at all?
A few minutes later, Frostbite pulled back the tattered cloth peaking inside the room. "Forgive my intrusion, Great One. But more visitors have arrived to see you." He said, with a bow. "Shall I admit them?"
"Please." Danny said, in his quieted and yet excited tone.
As soon as Frostbite had stepped aside from the entryway, Sam was the first one to come bolting in and run straight to her friend to give him a squeeze. Though he could barely return the hug this time from growing so weak and he cringed when Sam accidentally touched his severe injury.
"Sorry." Sam said, pulling away as if afraid she might hurt him even more. Tucker and Jazz came right after and then finally Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Danielle quietly backed away as Danny's loved ones gathered around him, expressing their thoughts of relief to see that he was still alive.
"When the three hours had passed, we were starting to worry." Mr. Fenton said as he and his wife approached their son.
Time passed on where stories were exchanged and the antidote's making was in progress. As the Fenton family got more acquainted with Frostbite and his people, a tour was given in their realm that included a peak inside the shrine that they had personally dedicated to Danny after the time he had defeated the Ghost King. Another section had been added for the time he had gathered all of the ghosts together to turn the world intangible to protect it from getting hit by the asteroid. Danielle thought it looked a lot like Wulf's memorial. Though it was much bigger and was the tribute of an entire civilization that admired Danny as a hero.
There were also times where Danielle was able to go and catch up on more sleep, but she and the others spent most of their time visiting with Danny as if it would be the last time they would ever be able to spend time together. Though during these gathered times, Danielle always got edgy in being in close proximity to Sam. She would usually separate herself from the whole group to sit in another corner of the room by herself as they continued to talk with the dying hero. She felt quite isolated and alone as she watched these scenes. Just like the way she was when his family had come to see him after escaping Freakshow's Circus Gothica train. All the time the hours passed, the depressed clone could feel Danny's pain as the Blood Blossoms continued to eat his life away.
As his countdown was approaching about four hours, the family was once again gathered all together by his bedside, though Danielle was in her usual corner of the room. The conversation they were having eventually led to where Danny beckoned Jazz to come closer to him. He was glancing in Danielle's direction as his sister did as he requested, so the clone got a bit suspicious that what he was about to say had something to do with her.
"What is it, little brother?" Jazz asked as she grasped his hand. He gripped it back firmly as if trying to strain against the torture going on inside him. By now, even though he could still speak, he could no longer keep his eyes open. When Danny asked her to, Jazz bent down over him and turned her head so he could whisper something in her ear that was audible to no one else. People tried to lean in to hear what Danny was saying, but to no avail. When he had finished, Jazz turned to look at Danielle for a second, with an unreadable expression.
Soon after this private message was given, Danielle suddenly felt a cold chill ran down her spine. She had noticed something inside her almost disappear.
Jazz had gasped at the same time in feeling Danny's hand suddenly go limp as she has holding it in hers. "Danny?" She said, with fear growing in her voice as she shook him a bit. "Danny?"
Danny didn't answer. He didn't move at all. He just lay there completely still and having a glint of a pain-filled expression still crossing his paling face.
Danielle got to her feet in a hurry as Jazz turned to her parents, looking very worried. Everyone else exchanged frightened looks as Frostbite moved over to the monitor where he started rapidly pressing buttons to analyze Danny's vital signs.
"What's happened?" Mrs. Fenton asked, glancing desperately between the village leader, Mr. Fenton and her now motionless son.
"He didn't just…" Tucker was starting to say.
"He's still alive." Frostbite quickly responded before Tucker finished. "But the Blood Blossoms have made him so weak, he's gone into a state of a coma."
Danielle bolted over to the screen to have a look herself. Danny's heart rate was still going, but it had become more faint since the first time she looked at the monitor. And the countdown was still ticking away Danny's life one second at a time with less than four hours to go. There were a few other sections of the screen indicating what else was happening to Danny internally, but she didn't understand what they meant. Everyone looked at Danny's seemingly already lifeless form, in more concern than ever, including Danielle. "But…he'll be okay…right?" She asked, looking up at Frostbite.
The blue-caped ghost was a bit hesitant before answering, which made everyone's anxiety grow even more. "Well…it's actually hard to say."
"Why?" Sam urged for him to continue, though she half didn't want him to in fear of what he might say next.
One of the other members of the frozen realm approached with this answer. "The antidote has proven much more difficult to make than we comprehended." He said with a somewhat guilty look on his face. "Very few of our people have ever crossed Blood Blossom and survived it. Though in Danny Phantom's case, it is not nearly as effective as it would be in its natural state. However, with it liquidized and actually lodging inside his form, it has been difficult to come up with a cure that would neutralize the poison but at the same time be sure that it won't cause any damage to him as well."
"So there's still a chance we could lose him?" Danielle asked, trying her best not to sound too scared.
The abominable snow doctor looked at his leader and they both looked sorrowful before Frostbite took his turn in breaking the bad news. "I know it will pain you all to hear this, but…unless we can come up with the antidote before his time runs out…that's the last time he will be waking up at all."
A cloud of sorrow hung over everyone in the room as Frostbite's message was absorbed. Danielle tried so hard to pretend that she didn't hear what was just said, if not at least have misunderstood it. But it was no use.
No one was finding anything else to say. Not even to somehow lighten up the tension in the room. Remaining silent, people started to file out, thinking it would just be best to let Frostbite and the doctors work.
Sam was the last one left in the room and just couldn't leave without first doing something she had hoped to be able to do while Danny was still conscious. She went back over to the place where he lay. She took a moment to stroke the top of his head, combing her fingers through his thick, snow-white hair with the hand that wore the class ring he had given her after he had saved Earth.
She carefully lifted Danny's head a bit with this same hand, taking his white-gloved hand in her other, lacing her fingers between his and holding their linked hands close to her. Then she bent down, and closed her eyes as she gave him a long and gentle kiss.
Sam didn't know this, but Frostbite saw this happen and smiled, turning away out of respect.
Sam let the kiss off slowly and touched foreheads with Danny as she set his hand back down and moved hers to touch his cheek. His skin had already grown so cold and his face was colorless. And to think that in a few hours, there may not be any chance that he would be able to return that kiss she had just given him. No chance that there would be warmth left in him at all.
After gently laying him back down, Sam silently walked out, looking back at Danny one last time before letting the curtain fall in front of the entryway behind her.
What did you think of the bit of romance I had between Sam and Danny? I felt I've been focused a bit too much on the Phantom's family relationship. But anyway, I just know you guys are hating me right now for leaving it at another cliffhanger. But it just seemed reasonable enough to end it at this point.