Author's Note
I. Have. Finished. The. First. Part! WOOT! At 59,003 words it is the longest story I have ever written. I hope you enjoy this end to Danny Fenton, and this beginning to Danny Phantom. I feel rather pleased with it myself. I'm going to take a short break in between this and the sequel, so don't be alarmed if you don't get an update quickly. I have finals and need to plot the next stage in the story. I can also post some deleted scenes from this arc if you would like me to.
The next part is: Dust to Dust
Reviews will inspire me to get the next part out faster, so it is in your best interest to review. :)
Chapter Thirteen
The Portal
Houses are not haunted. We are haunted, and regardless of the architecture with which we surround ourselves, our ghosts stay with us until we ourselves are ghosts.
DEAN KOONTZ, Velocity
His life did not flash before his eyes.
He was almost disappointed, the absence making him feel cheated. Didn't everyone say that it was supposed to happen? He had expected to see everything he felt proud of, everything that he wished he could have done better, and regret for the things he did not do. But there was nothing, not even a tunnel of darkness with a light at the end.
There was nothing, but blinding pain and penetrating light. His vision was filled with the brightest color of white that he had ever seen, a pristine unblemished white. Something so beautiful should not have been accompanied with so much pain. It was within him. Rocking his very core. Every limb was on fire, every muscle, every bone. His nerves shrieked and shook, his cells danced across fire, his DNA writhed and shivered. He knew he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life, but the sound was far away. The horrible agonizing wail was all around him, outside of him, as though he were hearing someone else. And that's certainly what it felt like. That sound, it couldn't belong to him and yet he knew it did.
There was only one thought that he could form, only one that he could focus on amid everything else.
This was the end of the line.
Ashes to Ashes
Danny didn't know how he'd done it, but somehow he had managed to convince his parents into allowing him to stay home under the pretense that he would be willing to help his father finish making the Fenton Portal. Of course that wasn't to say that he wouldn't help – he really did want to see that thing completed – but he also knew it was one of the few things that would get his parents to say yes to his request. In that respect, he supposed he had been killing two birds with one stone. Though, in the end, he had merely watched his dad install a few sheets of metal before he was sent away so that his father could focus.
But how his father could focus, Danny had no idea given the absolute pandemonium that was surrounding the town. When he returned to school that following Wednesday, there was no hint of the normalcy that had once possessed its halls. Construction workers were constantly interrupting class as they installed a new alarm system – which functioned quite similarly to that of a fire alarm except there were no sprinklers. His mother hadn't perfected the ghost detection device yet, simply because she said the current design was now useless due to the curse that placed upon the land. There was ectoplasmic residue everywhere now, and her device went haywire the instant it was turned on. So, instead, there were going to be little "ghost alarms" throughout the school and one merely had to pull the lever. Danny assumed that then his parents would be notified, since they were the current force when it came to fighting against ghosts.
And, for once, Danny was receiving a bit of positive attention. No longer was his family the crackpots of the city. Now, they were the only thing keeping the town on its feet, becoming a beacon of hope of sorts. It was almost cool; to be stopped politely as he walked down the hall and asked a few questions about ghosts and the like. Sam and Tucker were sharing the spotlight with him as well, probably because everyone knew that they were his best friends. Even Dash had taken a break from his usual bullying.
The first week came to a close, and then the next week started. Everything started calming down as the preparations were finished. Danny yawned and turned to stare out the window, unable to follow Webb's lecture that served as an introduction to basic laboratory science. She had been gone for two days after the initial restart of school and he was glad to see that she was looking a little better. Terrified, but better. Then again, everyone was a little terrified. They were all waiting, Danny included, for the first real ghost sighting. Or at least, the first malevolent sighting. The first sighting of a ghost had been in the box store on Main Street, but the owner hadn't seemed troubled by it. If anything, he was rather pleased that he kept getting more boxes.
"Hey, are you planning on working on the portal with your dad again today?"
Danny turned to Tucker, nodding. "Or at least try to." He smiled. His dad thought it was great that he was interested in the contraption, but seemed a little too anxious to actually let him work on it.
"He's still only letting you watch?"
"Yeah. He is really trying to get it right. You know that they haven't ever actually built a working one, and they've had the idea since their college days."
Sam turned toward the two of them now, obviously having overheard him. She blinked, biting her lip. "I wonder—" she trailed off.
"What?"
"Do you think they can actually do it?" She glanced quickly up at Webb, but the teacher seemed oblivious to their little side-discussion. "I mean, what if the reason that they haven't been able to build one before is because it's actually impossible?"
Danny frowned, but he couldn't immediately shoot down her worry, for it was perfectly plausible. "Well," he said after a moment, "If doesn't work here, I don't think it'll work anywhere."
Sam nodded, and he saw a flicker of worry in her eyes. "So… what happens if it doesn't work? I know that they want to use it to send the ghosts they catch back to the Ghost Zone. So, what happens when they can't?"
To his surprise, Tucker spoke up before he could answer. "I guess we'll have to learn how to exorcise them back then."
Sam and Danny stared at him for a moment before breaking into chuckles that were quickly smothered when Webb looked curiously toward them. "I'm not becoming a priest," Danny choked out and Sam's face became very red as she tried not to laugh. Tucker grinned.
"Nor I," he said with a sigh, glancing back toward the board for a moment. "But do you have to be one do perform exorcisms?"
Danny shrugged. "I have no idea. But hopefully it won't come to that."
Their conversation was forced to end then as Webb instructed them all to come to the front of the classroom and get a tub containing common lab items and make a list of each one, their proper name and use. It was very easy. Danny had grown up around most of the equipment, watched his parents use each one.
"So what's the difference between a flask and a beaker?" Tucker asked as they started packing up with the bell. "I mean they're both pretty much the same thing, right?"
"For flasks you mix stuff in them, whereas in a beaker you heat it." Danny grinned and followed them out the doors of the school. The days seemed to go by a lot faster now, probably because there were so many things on his mind that the class just seemed to fly by. He wasn't complaining, in fact, he felt that he'd never had it so good.
And then something collided with the side of his head, knocking him to his knees. Blinking stars out of his eyes, a hand rising automatically to massage the spot, he tried to find the offender. He didn't have to look for long.
"Oops, sorry Fen-toad. Must've slipped my hand."
Danny had to bite his tongue in order to stop himself from retorting. Well, this was a sure sign that everything was starting to revert back to normal. Or, rather, aspects of normalcy were worming their way back into their world. He supposed that was good, people were accepting and coming to terms with the change. Didn't mean he had to like this little aspect.
Danny glanced down angrily at the football that had been pegged toward him before striding away in a hurry down the street, Sam and Tucker hurrying to catch up with him. He grumbled a few obscenities under his breath, peeved that he hadn't expected that. Of course, Dash wouldn't let something as small as ghosts stop him from his vendetta against all those weaker and smarter than him.
"You okay, dude?" Tucker asked warily from behind him.
"Peachy," Danny said, but the anger was leaving him. He wouldn't let Dash occupy his thoughts more than he had to. The jerk didn't need any more attention than he already had. And he had more important matters on his mind. "Dad said the portal should be finished by this evening," he said as a way of changing the subject.
"What?" Sam said, shock coloring her voice. "Why didn't you say so sooner?"
"I forgot."
"You forgot?" Sam repeated incredulously. "Are you kidding me? That portal has been on your mind for weeks now."
"All right, geeze, I didn't think you guys were so eager." Danny fidgeted. "I thought you were getting a little annoyed with my obsession with it."
"Well, you have been ditching us in favor to watch your dad work on it."
"Thanks Tuck." Danny scratched the back of his neck. "And, I'm not so sure my parents will let you guys watch them turn it on."
Tucker and Sam stared at him. "Why not?" Sam questioned, her brow furrowing. "Are they worried that something will go wrong?"
"Well, it's like you said before, nothing like this has ever succeeded before." Danny swallowed. "I think they're just being cautious."
"Well, in any case, I want to be there." Sam folded her arms resolutely, making it clear that this wasn't negotiable. Tucker glanced at her before nodding in agreement.
"We're just as interested. Seriously." He lightly bumped Danny's shoulder with his fist.
"There's something else too," Danny began slowly, biting his lip.
"What?"
"If it does work, I think there's also the possibility of something coming through and attacking us. If that happens—"
"Danny," Sam interrupted. "I'll sign a waver okay? I'm going to be there."
Danny stared at her for a moment. They had reached the front of his house through the course of their conversation, the three of them pausing on the sidewalk. He knew it would only work if his parents literally couldn't say no. Meaning, Sam and Tucker were just going to show up the event as though they had been invited. Danny sighed before nodding. "All right."
"Good, now I gotta go home before my parents think I've been ghost-napped or something."
"They're still being overprotective?" Danny asked with a smile.
"You have no idea," Sam said darkly. "I might need to sneak out for this thing. Oh well, see you."
"See you."
"Don't forget to text us," Tucker shouted over his shoulder, making Danny laugh.
"I won't."
Ashes to Ashes
Danny yawned and leaned back in his chair, having finally finished – or more accurately, given up – his math homework. The only blessing was that there was substantially less of it, so his torture was relatively short. It still took him a lot longer than what it should have, a fact that frustrated him greatly. He was almost annoyed that he hadn't inherited his parent's mathematical ability. He stretched, and then began stuffing his books back into his bag. He always saved math for last, simply because it was his least favorite, but at least now he had the rest of the night.
He glanced at the clock. It was nearly five. He wondered briefly whether or not he should go down to the lab and check how the portal was coming, but before he could actually decide, a wave of cold washed over him.
He knew that feeling.
Instantly, he froze, his heart thudding in his chest. There was something here, and there was no telling what it was. He willed himself to calm down, to walk slowly over to his bedside table and pick up the ecto-gun that rested upon it. That gun hadn't left his side since his mother had given it too him. He had barely taken a step toward it, when the sound of laughter reached him and he relaxed – though just barely.
"I was wondering if I'd ever hear from you again," he said lightly, though he didn't stop his movement toward the gun.
"Planning to shoot me?" Her voice came from behind him, pleasantly amused.
"Doesn't hurt to be cautious," he countered, though he stopped his attempt at retrieving the weapon. He knew that she could've gotten to it before him, attacked him the instant she had seen where he was headed. That had to count for something, didn't it?
"Indeed. I would've come sooner, but your mother's device…"
Danny nodded, though he wasn't even sure she could see it. His mother had said that it no longer worked do too all the interference it was receiving from the curse. But still, it had been at least a few weeks. "No need to explain." Honestly, there wasn't. It hadn't been as though he had been expecting her – even if he had been hoping she'd turn up.
"You might want to leave before she sees—" Danny's words immediately cut off, for he had turned around not so see just plain air but a woman.
She reminded him of something out of those historical films, set in the late nineteen hundreds. She wore a vintage dress, a black one complete with silvery blue lace trimmings and the fluff at the back. But although the colors were still as vibrant as the day they had been sown, the cloth showed evidence of time. The ends were frayed and falling apart, the cloth ripped and added onto, holes in her white-laced sleeves. She was very pale, her skin seeming to hold an almost blue tint. Her black hair had been pulled back into a very messy up-do, her curls falling messily over her shoulders, dark eyes intertwined with brilliant crimson and dark burgundy.
She looked highly amused by his silence, her pale lips curved up into a smile. "Oh, I have no doubt that she could see me, but she'd have to walk through the door first." She paused a moment, as though listening. "Nope, she's still in the lab. Lucky me, don't you think?"
"You—" Danny spluttered. She seemed to be a similar age to his sister, if not a year older.
"Don't be daft," she interrupted. "Otherwise I'll go right back to being invisible. And before you ask, no I didn't suddenly become able to let you see me. I find it more amusing to be unseen, although…" she closed her eyes for a moment her hands coming to rest parallel to his floor. "I gotta say, doesn't take as much effort. None, almost."
Danny swallowed, trying to come to his senses. "So, what? Did you die in the late 1800's or something?" She laughed at that, and Danny cast a panicked look toward the door, hoping no one heard her bell-like giggles.
"I was born in the late 1800's, or something like that." She grinned broadly. "I'm a gást – I'm sure you read about them in that book. I was born of ectoplasm."
"Really?"
"Oh don't look all surprised. We're pretty common. I wasn't even organized from raw ectoplasm – I actually have parents." She sighed, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I should probably add that to the book, speaking of which."
"Wait," Danny's head was reeling. He couldn't believe he was actually having a conversation with a ghost for one thing. A corporeal being that was floating a few inches off the ground – and she was, he could see her bare feet. "You wrote the book?"
"Part of it," she said slowly, as though she'd rather not get into it. "But that's beside the point. How have you been doing?"
"What, is this a social call?"
"Does my appearance always require an atmosphere of ominousness?" She smirked.
"I suppose not," Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair, trying to gather his thoughts. "But I can't see any other reason why you'd willingly go into a ghost-hunter's residence. I mean it's like walking into the lion's den, isn't it?"
"A fair point." She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. She paused then, her head whipping around to look out the window. "As it is, it seems I must adjourn our little discussion. Strictly speaking, I'm disinclined to associate with you— uh," she frowned, "I mean, I'm not supposed to talk to you."
Danny blinked. "Why not?"
She shrugged in response. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you. It is possible."
"What is?"
"The door to my realm. I mean, I took a peak at your parent's calculations. They have it right so it should work. But…"
"But?" Danny pressed, his heart hammering with excitement now. It would work!
"Try not to leave it open, the door I mean. As soon as it turns on, lock it." Her expression turned for the serious. "The curse still prevents a select few from entering this dimension, but that door allows all to go through – weak or strong. They shouldn't realize it's there at first, but it could turn chaotic when they do. At least, unless your parents are as good of ghost hunters as they say they are. Then they'll think twice about jumping through."
"Okay…" Danny was rather surprised. "Why are you telling me this though? I mean, wouldn't you want ghosts to take over this town or something?"
She raised one black brow, her red eyes somewhat unnerving as they surveyed him. "No. I don't want that," she finally said. "That wouldn't be good for me, just as it would be catastrophic for you."
Danny didn't quite understand her reasoning with that, but knew she wasn't going to elaborate. She was glancing out the window again, a flicker of annoyance crossing her features. Whatever signal or message she saw wanted her to leave sooner rather than later. She sighed, turned back to him and curtseyed. "Till we meet again, though I imagine I'll be receiving a temporary reassignment after this little adventure." And she vanished from his sight. He stood there, staring at the spot that she had been for several minutes afterward, even after the chill that had settled in his room had vanished.
Their conversation, though brief, had left him with several things to think about. For one thing, who exactly was she? She never gave her name and turned up at the randomness of times. And now what was this talk of how she wasn't allowed to see him, strictly speaking? It was almost as if she had orders from someone else… but who exactly was a puzzle to him – after all, he couldn't think of any reason someone would be ordering a ghost unless it was another ghost. He shivered, thinking of Azazel. He would do it too, have fun interfering with his life like this.
He supposed that was what demons were meant to do, cause chaos and make men miserable.
But he hadn't expected her to look so… human. True, the bluish skin and the red eyes threw him off, but she felt human if that made sense. She reminded him a lot of his sister, what with the way she kept warning him and giving him advice. At least she wasn't obnoxious about it like Jazz was. Jazz. Danny was halfway to the door before he'd fully formed the thought. He knew he couldn't talk to his parents about this, his mother would freak out, and his father would go on stake out and try to vaporize her with his latest toy. True, his mother believed that some ghosts were little more than bothersome and not deadly, but he had seen how edgy she had been the last time she'd known she was here. Shoot first ask questions later, or never depending on the shot. And Jazz…
Danny paused, hovering in the hallway in front of his elder sister's room. She could with him objectively about this matter; at least, he thought she could. She had been a little off ever since that conversation they'd had, that night after the town meeting. But he figured that was just her way of dealing with everything. He took a breath, and was about to knock on her door when an excited shout made him jump nearly a foot in the air. Then he heard his name being called.
"Danny!"
As he dashed down the stairs, through the living room and kitchen and down another flight of stairs, his hand went into his pocket for his phone. He was just pulling it out when he came into the lab, his father practically beaming as he gazed at the finished portal before him. The metal was sleek, fitting into the hole of the wall. A large amount of cables were on the floor around it, and Danny was relived to see that his father had in fact added a blast door mechanism. It went back about four feet on the inside, the metal within an unfamiliar blue color. His mother looked equally thrilled. She gave her husband a kiss before rushing over the computer.
It's done, Danny texted to his friends.
"Let's turn it on!"
"What?" Danny's stomach squirmed. His friends wanted to be here for this! "Now?"
His father nodded and moved for a few cables on the floor, checking everything was connected. Danny swallowed and opened his phone again. Get over here now! They've decided to turn it on.
"Jack, give me a moment to finish checking the configurations."
His father paused, holding up two cables. That last two cables, a wide grin on his face. Danny could practically see that he was itching to just connect them, but he seemed so determined to get this right that he was exerting more self-control than Danny had ever seen. Danny wrung his thumbs, hoping his friends had got the message. His parents had finished it a little sooner than he had anticipated and he had assumed that they would want to do a few more calculations before just switching it on like this!
"Okay, ready!" his mother called breathlessly, and she pulled the hood of her suit up, her glasses down.
"Wait!" Danny said, but it was too late.
"Banzai!"
His father connected the two cables. There was a bright spark of electricity within the circle, white streaks of lightening jumping from the top to the bottom before everything became still once more. Everything was quiet, not even the sound of humming machinery. Danny walked cautiously over to his parents, the shock of having the event being sprung on him like this being replaced by puzzlement. Miss Invisible – well, not so invisible now – had said it would work, so why wasn't it?
"Did the circuit breakers blow?" he asked.
His father – and he didn't miss the expression of huge disappointment on his face – grunted something unintelligible and dropped the cable to go and glance at the box that controlled the electricity in the whole house.
"It's working fine," he said gruffly.
"It's okay Jack," his mother said coming over to pat his arm. "We knew there was this possibility."
"What do you mean?" Danny said frowning. "It's going to work. It has to work."
"Danny, sweetie, sometimes it doesn't."
"No, you don't understand. It has to work." Was Miss Invisible wrong? She'd never been wrong before! "Maybe you just did something wrong, missed a cable." Why would she have come to him to say it would work, if it didn't?
"Danny," his mother said warningly and he fell silent. "We'll think of something else," she muttered to her husband softly before leading him up the stairs and out of the lab, leaving Danny to stand in the silence. He stared at the portal, at the defunct piece of hardware. His phone vibrated and he glanced at the message from Tucker.
On my way, can you stall them?
Too late for that, he thought bitterly. Couldn't. Doesn't matter anyway, it didn't work. He cast one last frustrated look toward the contraption before heading up the stairs.
Ashes to Ashes
Danny and Tucker were sitting in the living room, both staring at the floor with identical glum expressions. Sam had texted Danny a few minutes after his last message to Tucker relating that her parents had her on 'house arrest' because her mother thought she'd seen a wisp of white at the supermarket. Not that it mattered if she came anymore, since it hadn't worked. When Tucker had shown up at the door, Danny had wasted no time in telling him about the incident with Miss Invisible and other than being a little miffed that he hadn't at least gotten a picture of her to show him, he was equally confused and frustrated by her words. If was supposed to work, why hadn't it?
They had been sitting in silence for nearly fifteen minutes when his mother came down the stairs, closely followed by his father. They both seemed rather deflated, but Danny could see that his mother hadn't given up. "We'll be right back, okay?"
"'Kay," Danny grunted. His mother didn't often elaborate on where they would be going, merely that they would be back soon. He assumed they were going to fetch a piece of equipment or something else that didn't need explanation. The next project. He wondered why they didn't spend more time trying to fix the portal, but then again, they had been trying to get it to work for years now.
"Don't get into trouble. Try to stay out of the lab."
Danny grunted again and she smiled softly at the both of them before leading the way out. Not two minutes after she had left, Sam burst through the door looking flushed, a bag swinging from her side.
"Sam?" Danny said, standing up. "I thought you said your parents wouldn't let you out!"
"What?" She looked confused for a moment, and then she seemed to come to it. "Like they can keep me in. I told you I'd sneak out of my house to see this."
"Yeah, but Sam," Tucker said looking up at her now, his light green eyes sad. "It didn't work. We sent you the text."
"Well," she paused for a moment. "Can we at least see it? I mean, maybe your folks just forgot to plug in something."
"I don't know…" Danny said. His mother had just asked if they would stay out of the lab. There were a lot of other things in there, besides the portal. And some of it he knew his parents were a little worried about him being around without supervision. However, Sam apparently didn't care about this for she seized his hand and began leading the way down to the lab.
"C'mon," she said ignoring his protests. "Just a peak."
"Okay, okay. Fine." Danny glanced back at Tucker and after a moment his best friend got up and followed him down.
Sam didn't let go of his wrist the whole way down the stairs, making it a little awkward on the steps. He stumbled on the landing and finally she let go. "So that's it?" she breathed, pointing toward the metallic hole in the wall. Danny nodded.
"Yeah, it is."
"Whoa." She produced a camera from the bag and Danny glanced at it in curiosity. "When did you start wearing a purse?"
She pursed her lips and lifted the camera to take a picture of the laboratory. "I didn't want to be seen with a camera around my neck like a paparazzi." She walked forward, coming closer to the portal. "That's really cool."
"It'd be cooler if it worked."
"Do you have to wear something special when you go inside?"
Danny blinked, rather taken aback by the question. "Well, I'm not sure. My parents were in their hazmat suits when they were close to it, so maybe."
"Aren't they always in their suits?"
"I mean they had their goggles on too." Danny added and Tucker nodded thoughtfully.
"Do you have one?" Sam shot.
"One what?"
"Hazmat suit."
"Uh… yeah." A little confused by the spout of random questions, Danny went into one of the tables that had drawers and pulled out the bottom on. He had only ever worn it once, while his parents had been doing an experiment with ectoplasm and he'd needed to ask his dad a question about math – they had refused to leave the lab during the process and demanded that he wear his suit. It wasn't incredibly embarrassing, like theirs – even if still had his dad's face on his chest. It was white, with black gloves, boots, and belt. There was a portion around his neck that was black as well. Sam smiled when she saw it.
"Come over here," and she pushed him in front of the portal. "I wanna picture."
"What?" Danny blinked. "Uh, fine."
"Smile!"
He was blinded for a moment as the flash shone in his eyes. "Okay, I showed you the portal. Can we get outta here now; my parent could be back any minute. Besides, it doesn't work anyway."
Sam didn't seem the least bit bothered by that statement. It was weird, the Goth girl being the cheerer then them. "C'mon Danny, you said in that text that Miss Invisible said it would work. Maybe they just missed something." Danny had never heard a sentence of maybe sound so sure in his life. He stared at her for a moment before smiling and looking back at the portal.
"You know what, your right. Who knows what kind of awesome super cool things exist on the other side of that portal." He glanced down at the suit and slipped it on, over his clothes. It was a little snug, but not obnoxiously so. He was about to walk inside to look at the cabling when Sam stopped him.
"Hang on." She grabbed the face of his dad and ripped it off his chest, like it was a magnet. "You can't go walking around with that on your chest," and she slapped something else that was black onto it instead.
"Um, what is that?"
"Just, trust me, okay?"
Danny surveyed her curiously for a moment before deciding to take her word for it. He wanted to know what it was, but figured he could look in the mirror later. He took a deep breath and stepped inside the portal, looking around at the cool blue lighting the lit it up. He realized that was what made the metal have that color. After checking the back for the cables – which to his dismay were all in order – he was about to walk out when he passed by a control panel. He paused, staring at it before pushing opening it.
You have got to be kidding me.
There was two buttons, one brilliant green, the other bright red. An 'ON' and 'OFF' switch. He almost burst out laughing. Of course, his father would plug everything in and then forget to press on. He had probably forgotten about it because he'd placed it on the inside instead of outside by the computer where it should have been. He smiled, and pressed the green button.
Immediately, he knew he had made a huge mistake. He hadn't quite thought about the fact that he was inside, that the thing that was going to turn on was right were he was standing. He hadn't realized that the energy was going to fill this spot, make it look like there was never a hole in the first place. As he was blinded by a vibrant green light, horrible shocking pain wracked through him. Every bone was on fire, his muscles were shrieking in agony. A ten thousand bolts of ectoplasmically charged electricity was coursing through his body. He was screaming, ripping his throat as his painful cries filled and reverberated around the metal-sheeted room. It felt as though the light was blasting through his body, that the wave-like particles were going straight through him, not caring as they collided with his atoms. His yells sounded afar off, as though they weren't coming from him.
And then his vision went stark white. The pain was still there, but it felt strange. It was almost as though he weren't experiencing it anymore, as though he was remembering the sensation through a dream. He closed his eyes, and then opened them, breathing slowly. The whiteness never left, the snowy light all-consuming.
He had died.
It was the first thought his pain filled brain could actually form. He had died in his attempt to turn on the portal. But why did it hurt so much still? Everything was aching, as though he had just run a marathon without being properly prepared. Maybe his parents would take solace in the fact that his death had not been in vain. He knew the portal was working, that it was on. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew it. His eyes shut; he could feel the tears forming. Now was when he really wished he had more confidence in an ethereal being.
"Fear not."
His eyes snapped open. He could see a figure in the distance. He couldn't make out anything more than that, the bright light still overpowering him.
"You have not done the work you were meant to. It is not your time yet."
Danny wanted to ask what the voice meant. He tried to open his mouth, but found it was already open, still screaming on the other side of the veil. He felt a hand on his shoulder, felt warmth and comfort flow through him. He had never felt such peace in his life, such happiness. It felt like a drop of gold had been poured into his heart, like he was shinning.
"You have been called to do a great and marvelous work among these people. You have been called as their protector." The words were starting to fade away, blackness prickling around the edges of his vision. "Daniel Fenton, fight against the adversary till the end of time."
And then his world went black.