A.N. Lately I seem to have been suffering from idleitis (that means I'm a lazy ass if you didn't know) but I am on my week off from College so I have an excuse to be lazy, and it has taken me longer than usual to get this written down. Unfortunately it's not just the writing one has to think as well and in that respect I'm even lazier. And once again I have been having annoying technical difficulties with the site…but enough excuses, that ain't why you're here.
Only 2 reviews for my last chapter…it's a good thing I don't hold these things to ransom…but I'm a big girl now, I can handle it! So thanks again to those of you who DO review and read my work…you guys are the best! And now here it is; the next chapter of my magnum opus!
Disclaimer: Me is no owning Danny Phantom no matter how much me is wishing it was mine ; )
What Unusual halflives we lead
Chapter 13: The Past is Present
Sam and Tucker lowered their weapons as they peered into the chaos that had once been the Fenton household. They had been expecting some kind of rabid monster to come jumping out at them from the building but the disarray that they found was more than enough to stun the two teenage ghost hunters into complete and utter silence.
Sam took the first tentative steps into the room and kept her weapon pointing into the darkness; there were small bursts of light streaming in from the spaces between the closed curtains and the still open back door, but it was enough to survey the devastating sight. It looked just like something out of a horror film…the torn and broken furniture, the clawed at walls and now, the two helpless kids that go into a house and never come out again because they've stupidly gotten themselves killed. Oh, what a cheery thought! (*1)
With her heavy combat boots the Goth girl kicked aside chunks of rubble and as they landed across from her with loud 'crashing' sounds that echoed in the proverbial darkness. Tucker jumped and spun his Fenton Foamer around wildly and stuttered in fear. "…C…come out here…I'm…I'm armed and…d…deadly…" the techno-geek stammered.
"Tucker it's just me…now stop playing around," Sam moaned in exasperation and turned back to face her friend. Tucker only sighed quietly in relief and walked beside her as they slowly picked their way through the battered remains. "You think you could hack into that footage from the Ops-Centre?" she asked as they made their way through the kitchen and into the sitting room.
"…Yeah…m…maybe…" he replied, and blinked in confusion, "Sam…is that blood?" Tucker pointed over to a pile of rubble and debris coated in red blood and green ectoplasm….they knew of only three people who had blood like that.
"Yeah, looks like it" Sam answered grimly after she had examined the strange substance. She spun around slowly still anticipating an attack as she felt eyes watching them – perhaps it was just an overactive imagination. Whatever it was it didn't take an idiot to see that something really bad had happened here and the thought made Sam shiver with fear and worry. "We gotta get to the Ops- Centre," she whispered and they once more began to make their way through the cumbersome mess of the house.
After carefully climbing that stairs to the top floor they were forced to manually ascend the staircase to the Ops-Centre after the innovative shoot had failed them. Everything electrical was down; the lights and the kitchen appliances were all non-operational; "Stupid no-Tech house," Tucker had moaned, but Sam had taken it a little more seriously.
The Ops-Centre was as dark as the rest of the house but fortunately it had an independent power supply which Tucker was able to rewire and fix fairly easily. He now sat in front of the huge screens…which of course had the obligatory Fenton Logo on them…as he began typing on the dusty keyboard.
"I think I got it," Tucker exclaimed with surprise, "Guess whatever didn't want me hackin' into it didn't think we'd come here and check it ourselves," he said triumphantly.
In silence they watched the screens; they watched as an unexpected earthquake shook the whole house and the three Fenton's were tossed mercilessly around the rooms. They watched as Jack and Maddie Fenton were quick to recover and the brightly suited adults ran through the house carrying anti-ghost weapons.
As they ran past the screens Sam and Tucker watched as Jazz made the call they had received and then the electricity shorted out, sending the screens into darkness. The footage was cut off and the screens played only irritating grey and black static.
"What happened?" Sam asked anxiously and Tucker turned back to the keyboard.
After a few minutes the screens flickered reluctantly to life again and it looked like each room was empty. Each one had been slashed and destroyed as they had seen it and they watched in horror as Jack, Maddie and Jazz now lay unconscious in the lab with a battered looking human Danny in Vlad Plasmius' arms. In shock and confusion they stared as the fuzzy and unclear footage showed the older hybrid cautiously eying a huge black shadow…and then he, and the Fenton's suddenly disappeared.
That was when the screens blanked out again and Tucker furiously typed once more on the keyboard…but the teens were out of luck. When they were finally working again the footage showed that the house was empty and as damaged as it was when the teenagers had entered it only minutes ago.
"What the HELL was that?" the now angry and confused goth girl screamed as she waved her hands in the air.
"I don't know…it won't show any more…" Tucker sighed and leaned back in the chair. "What was Plasmius doin' here?" he wondered.
"How the hell should I know?" Sam shouted and paced the length of the room; it seemed to be a bad habit she was getting into.
"…Kinda looked like he saved 'em…" Tuck glanced over at his pacing friend, "But how'd he know?"
"He still probably spies on Danny…you know how nuts the guy is," she replied and waved a hand to signify the mootness of the point. "Did you see Danny…he really looked…"
"…Dead?" Tucker suggested, confirming that he had the same fears after seeing the footage. The techno-geek now felt real concern for his best friend…if something was able to reduce Danny Phantom to that…a battered, bleeding and torn up Danny Fenton…then it was not good news for them…or for Danny.
"We better get outta here…that thing might come back," Sam sighed and looked around; she had no idea what that black shadow had been but she didn't intend to wait around and find out. "We need to find them," she added as the two of them climbed back down after shutting down the power.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Tucker whispered, "Vlad took 'em and…oh…duh!" he face-palmed. "Vlad's?" Tucker confidently smiled.
"Vlad's," Sam repeated with a determined gleam in her eyes.
"Are we there now?" Danny sighed and repeated the much-used question. He was sat in the back of the Spectre Speeder while Vlad sat up front and navigated through the Ghost Zone. Just looking at it still creeped Danny out but he found that concentrating on irritating the hell outta Vlad helped take his mind of things. Maybe Vlad understood this…maybe he didn't but either way he had stopped answering Danny's questions a long time ago.
Vlad had advised Danny to sit in the back and to stare at the Zone as little as possible…and he was surprised once more when the boy listened to him. Perhaps this whole thing had affected Danny more than he had first thought. He knew that physically it had done the young hybrid some damage…but Vlad was unsure of Danny's emotions, it was never a subject he had ever understood with much certainty.
The first thing he had done after the fight with the strange bird and Danny's sudden ability to listen to him, was to check the boys wound. Vlad had, to Danny's discomfort and disappointment felt compelled to give a small jolt to the ugly black crystallite after he noticed the boys failed efforts to hide his fatigue. Vlad of course had been able to conceal his concern far more successfully…his father had always said he should have been an actor. If nothing else Vlad knew he could lie and cheat his way out of anything…it was something that many people would be ashamed of, but not him. And he was astonished to see that Daniel's own 'deceitful abilities' had improved as well, after all he could lie to the whole of Amity Park for years and get away with it with a smile.
And though the people of Amity were not the sharpest tools in the shed, it was a start…it was something he could build on. But was that really what he wanted…to mould Daniel into an obedient little 'minion' to do his bidding?
No…that was no longer what Vlad wanted; when they had first met the thought had done more than cross his mind. It had been his goal for months and had even driven him to attempt to clone Daniel…resulting in months of failed work, effort and wasted money. But now he realised that it had been a stupid idea from the start, he didn't want a carbon copy by his side…he wanted the real Daniel to look at him as a father.
But now, after 2 years of being nothing but hated rivals had begun to take a repetitive, monotonous loop that bored him now more than anything else. Oh, the fights with Daniel would never get old, and always the boy managed to surprise him by improving and developing his powers. But the predictability…the certainty that Daniel would constantly try to 'do the right thing,' irked him.
Was this sudden change in attitudes the result of an untimely midlife crisis? Or had he begun to see the pros and cons of his own actions and was not liking the outcome? What had he gotten out of it? He was the successful mayor of a backwater city and in possession of a colossal financial empire that was the envy of any business tycoon, with enough money to convince even the President of the United States to dance naked on the Whitehouse's' steps …but he still did not have Daniel as a son.
Nothing he did worked. But here was an opportunity to change that, a chance to prove to Daniel that he did care for him and that, as the only other hybrid, Vlad was best suited to care for him. Their lives may be on the line, but there was nothing wrong with keeping a plan in mind should they come out on top.
Vlad glanced down at the small mirror which was now showing a dark highland range called the Moaning Mountains; he had been through them before and it was a favourite ghostly retreat of his. It was where he found the mines of curious stones and strong metals which were used in his lab. The strange purple-grey rock gave off echoing sighs and moans and smoke was puffed out of the ground which reminded Vlad of an active volcano he had visited on one of his 'round-the-world' trips he had made when he made his first money. Due to this strange volcanic appearance there were few ghosts that ever passed through the place and he loved the solitude he found there. It was a place to think and a place to learn.
Vlad steered the vehicle in the right direction and saw the ridges of the mountain range begin to emerge in the distance when the silence began to overwhelm him again. He wanted to know what had suddenly prompted Daniel to listen to him; he wanted to know why Daniel had not fought him after trapping him and preventing him from fighting. What was the reason for the boy's sudden compliancy? Vlad had no idea and he sighed quietly as he spared a glance in the rear view mirror at the boy in question.
Danny stared down at his shoes as the light reflected off the surface and made them practically sparkle with cleanliness; who needed shoes this shiny anyway? Over-educated crazy billionaires with too much time and money on their hands, that's who!
Danny sighed and turned to look at Vlad; the man was still sitting bolt-upright and was focused on the Ghost Zone. The young hybrid couldn't help but admire the man's resiliency; they must have been in here for hours and Vlad had hardly looked away from the creepy atmosphere for more than five seconds.
But it made Danny feel pathetic, he knew Vlad was stronger than him…but this was more proof that he would never be as good as Vlad. It was not an encouraging thought that his 'enemy' had so much more power than him…but at least in this crazy situation they were somehow on the same side…for now.
Danny couldn't do anything to help and he felt like he was just a dead weight to be carried around. He tried to stay out of Vlad's way and not piss him off too much and it appeared that that was all he could do.
He had been too rattled by the recent events; he was tired from months of insomnia and all but constant ghost fights, he was hungry from months of malnourishment, he had gotten his butt kicked by something that scared the living day-lights out of him, and now he was too scared to even look out the window. Granted his tiredness and hunger had been somewhat decreased…mainly thanks to Vlad…it was still strange that Vlad was helping him, but he wasn't going to risk losing the man's help when he so obviously needed it.
Speaking of help…Danny looked in the pockets of his new trousers but then remembered that these expensive looking clothes were not his, and that he did not, in fact have his phone. Straining his tired memory he tried to think where he had last seen it…he had used it at Vlad's…then…he had glanced at it before they left…on the bedside table at Vlad's house but he hadn't been paying attention…woops.
"Hey, can I borrow your phone?" Danny suddenly asked.
"It doesn't get a signal in the Ghost Zone, I'm afraid," Vlad replied, surprised that the boy didn't already know this.
"Oh, right…" Danny sighed; he had been hoping that Vlad would have some super-duper-all-purpose kind of cell phone, but obviously not. Whenever Danny came into the Ghost Zone his friends came too, or he was sneaking in to be alone for a while, so he had never had need of a phone while he was there. Maybe he should have brought some Fenton Phones…but that would only work if they were all in the Ghost Zone or if he was close to the portal and if his friends were wearing them on the outside too.
He was definitely going to be in deep, deep, deep shit when Sam and Tucker got a hold of him, and he was worried about his family. Were they alright? How was he supposed to find out if he couldn't even speak to anyone outside of the Zone? This just got better and better!
What was he supposed to do? Danny sighed as the whole situation once more increased his sense of fatigue and made him want to crawl into his bed and sleep for the next few months. But he couldn't, he needed to get to the bottom of this…with Vlad, he couldn't push the man away, he needed his help.
It was hard to reconcile his ideas of Vlad the villain and Vlad the guy who had saved his life, it had all happened so quickly that the whole idea just seemed nuts. If it had happened slowly over time then maybe it would have been easier to process, but as it was it had happened and there was no going back; it didn't seem like an idea Clockwork would be keen on…and Clockwork had disappeared anyway so he couldn't even ask.
Part of him was confused and the other part was curiously happy, it was a strange combination. And he looked up to find Vlad staring back at him, the vehicle had slowed down and the older hybrid's face was unreadable.
Vlad couldn't help but notice the boy's inner dilemma; he had been tossing furtive glances back at the teen but now it was clear that Daniel was confused more than anything else. And if he was going to get anything done he needed the boy to know understand that…if only for now…that he was not in fact 'plotting' anything 'evil.'
"How about a truce, Daniel…a temporary truce?" Vlad suggested if only to appease the boy's warped sense of a hero-villain world. One day, he would show Daniel that the world was not black and white, there was no simple definition of right and wrong; there was obscure grey in-between and it was here, rather than simple 'good or bad' that most people tended to dwell. No-one was ever purely the 'hero' or the 'villain,' every person on the planet had the opportunity to do either good or bad deeds, if you wanted to dub them as such.
There was no doubt in Vlad's mind that to Daniel, he was the 'villain' who was confusing the 'hero' by saving his life and helping him. When in reality he was merely a man trying to survive, it didn't matter that the two of them saw the world and its people differently. The way in which Vlad saw the world had been moulded and dulled by his experiences, he no longer saw the world as a fairy tale or a world where justice was always true; the world was a place where only the fittest survived.
Personally, Vlad felt that he had done more than enough recently to prove to Daniel that this was not one of his 'tricks' and that he was indeed trying to keep the boy alive. But obviously Daniel needed a reason to explain his actions in view of his 'villain' category. "We work well together, Little Badger, when are you going to realise that?" Vlad smiled.
"Probably 'round the same time you realise that my mom isn't gonna leave my dad for you," Danny replied, but he quickly regretted it as he watched Vlad turn around with a disapproving look on his face. He couldn't help it; whenever Vlad started mocking him like that the word-vomit just came out like a survival instinct, and Vlad had done so much to help him lately as well…then he just had to go and act like a jerk again…bad Danny! "So…err…a truce, huh?" He said his voice louder than before hoping to cover up his nasty word vomit comment. "…then when all this is over we go back to kickin' each other's butts again?" Danny grinned back half-heartedly.
Vlad couldn't help but smile, "Right," he agreed, despite the temptation to say that it was him, rather than Daniel who did the 'butt kicking,' he needed to prove that he was not lying to the boy and riling him up would not achieve that.
"Good," Danny muttered with a slight nod, "So…what exactly are you planning?" Danny questioned emotionlessly as he leaned against the wall of the vehicle and rested his arms on his knees.
"Planning?" Vlad repeated innocently, hoping that this wouldn't be another one of the boy's habitual questionings of his motives.
"Yeah…y'know…what if these Ghosts or whatever don't wanna tell us anything…or…what if we get attacked again…or…" Danny muttered and looked over at the older hybrid.
Vlad was still surprised when he heard Daniel refer to them as working together, rather than question if he was 'plotting some scheme,' it was an odd change. "First of all, we are looking for the Ancients and they are Spirits not Ghosts, they'll take offense if you confuse the two to their face, I believe." Vlad began.
"What d'you mean you 'believe?'" Danny questioned.
"Let's not go there," Vlad frowned, "But if they fail to co-operate…"
"Oh no, I wanna hear this one, what happens if you call a Spirit a Ghost?" Danny asked eagerly as Vlad turned his back to him, this was clearly not going the way he wanted, but Danny couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with Vlad.
"Daniel, I really don't think this is…"
"Come on, it can't be that bad," Danny smiled.
"It's not important and it really doesn't matter, but once we find them I'll ask you to refrain from trying to find out. The last thing I need is for you to antagonise a colony of powerful Spirits that we are both relying on for valuable information," Vlad scowled down at him and Danny grimaced. Vlad chuckled at the childish look on Danny's face then sped up the Spectre Speeder as they now reached the foot of the mountains.
Out of the corner of his eyes Danny saw a huge greyish rock tower over the green of the atmosphere and he took a chance by turning his gaze towards it. With the swirling green no longer in his line of sight he was able to stand closer to the window and stare out at what he now saw was massive tors of rock with jagged ridges and images of shining diamonds. This wasn't something he had ever seen before…but the Ghost Zone was a whole other world, he'd never seen everything in his world either so there was bound to be things here that were new to him.
"It's called the Moaning Mountains," Vlad smiled as he watched Danny practically press his nose against the glass to get a better look.
Danny had to laugh at that; whoever came up with the strange names for places in the Ghost Zone seriously needed a dose of imagination. Here was a strangely beautiful mountain made of purple and grey rocks, that shone with eerie green light and looked like it had thousands of in-built diamonds on its surface, and what was it called; the Moaning Mountains, huh! He kept his eyes fixed on the mountains as Vlad steered round the jagged tors.
"Why don't you just go through it?" Danny asked as he followed thick puffs of smoke come from the mountain at random intervals with his eyes.
"We can't, it has strong metal ores in its surface…I used the same substance on my Ghost Portals, it's practically indestructible and nothing can pass through it."
"So I couldn't phase through it?" he looked back at Vlad and saw that he was deep in concentration as he swerved through the serrated edges that jumped up from the depths of the mountain.
"No," Vlad answered, "It's a strange combination; I've used it in several experiments, that sword is another one, it's really quite fascinating." Once more he was pleased that Daniel was curious about something that he could provide answers to, it showed that the boy was interested in his experiments and that one day he would be able to act as a tutor to Daniel.
"Then why not go round it?"
"It would take too long; I don't want to risk losing the directions from the mirror if I stray from its path, and I may find something that may help us that I wasn't looking for before now," the older hybrid explained with barely-contained interest.
"And what are you looking for?" the ghost boy asked with genuine interest.
"I'm not sure; I'll know it when I see it," Vlad sighed as though the answer were obvious.
"Not helpful, y'know," Danny frowned at the man.
"I wasn't aware that you were trying to be helpful," Vlad retorted and prompted Daniel into a less-damaging battle-of-wits which he hoped would help to distract the boy from his earlier fears; Vlad really didn't want to have to deal with that again.
"HEY!" Danny shouted, obviously insulted by what he saw as a low-blow from even Vlad, but he was shocked when he saw a strange look on Vlad's face. Was he…smiling? Danny's equally insulting retort was stopped dead in his tracks as he could only conclude that Vlad wanted to swap witty banter instead of ectoplasmic punches.
It was an unusual change, and he wasn't sure what had encouraged this kind of conversation, but it was better than being hit with ectoplasm. "I'm supposed to be helpful, dude; I'm the superhero," he replied, "You're the one who's always messin' things up for people," Danny smirked.
"Ah, touché," Vlad nodded, "however that shouldn't come as a surprise; after all is it my fault that people are slow to suspect that I am the 'villain,' you say I am? I am far more trusted as Mayor than you are as Danny Phantom, you wouldn't begrudge me a little fun in return for everything I do for the city, would you?"
"Duh! Of course I would, you weren't even voted, remember?" Danny shouted, still outraged that Vlad had been able to overshadow the whole town and made them vote for him! He would have needed…a load of clones to do that! Stupid Vlad and his stupid powers!
"I'm afraid on that one it's your word against mine, Little Badger," Vlad smirked, he was still proud of his achievements no matter how low he had to stoop for them. But he had to admit being the mayor wasn't the best thing he could have done, it had only been to spite the boy beside him and win their little 'prank' battle; it meant very little to him now. It was too much work with very little reward at the end, and that was not a job description that he had ever been fond of. With little over a year left in office he could soon pack up and leave; then he would be able to get back to crushing other business tycoons and expanding his already substantial empire.
Danny grumbled at Vlad's snappy retort and once more internally face-palmed that it had been his stupid jokes that had encouraged the man to be Mayor in the first place. The jokes had been funny, but Vlad being the Mayor really gave the guy some serious advantages in Amity Park that Danny didn't even want to think about.
His slightly jovial mood was shattered instantly when his thoughts were instantly turned to his family, who had been hospitalised because of him. It didn't matter what the circumstances were or even if he didn't yet know what they were; something had been after him and had gotten to his family first and no matter what it was, in his mind, it was still his fault. "Why d'you think it went after them and not me?" Danny asked, of course he didn't need to specify who to Vlad.
"I really don't know why it went after your family, Daniel but in all honesty I am more worried for us since it seems to have taken quite a liking to both of us," Vlad said rather harshly and effectively his tone put an end to the former good-humoured conversation, but he became increasingly irritated and confused by Daniel's lack of self-preservation when it came to things like this.
Vlad couldn't help but be reminded of his own encounter with the beast that had attacked the Fenton's, and he had been nothing less than completely stunned to find them alive.He hadn't held out much hope when he first left his mansion, but Daniel was stronger than them with his ghost powers and it was for him, rather than the older Fenton's that he had gone for. Even his darling Maddie he had expected to find dead despite her talents and intelligence she was no match for the monster that had almost cost him his life. Him…Vlad Masters!
He considered himself both powerful and intelligent but against the sheer force of this Calidae it had all counted for nothing. In those few, short minutes he had been reduced to a pitiful wreck, reliant on the efforts of his weak ghostly staff. How they had managed to be of any assistance at all was beyond him…the whole thing was completely ludicrous! He couldn't deny, it had left him shaken and vulnerable…but more unbelievable it had made him afraid.
Danny stared curiously at Vlad, he hadn't thought much about it before now but seeing, what looked like actual fear on the older hybrids face, made him think twice about everything he had ever thought to be true about Vlad. He had never seen Plasmius afraid before…ever…not once.
Sure, Danny guessed that Vlad would have been worried when his ecto-acne returned a while ago; but the man had been too busy manipulating his way to a cure that Danny hadn't spared much thought for sympathy. And when Vlad brought Pariah Dark to Amity Park, Danny supposed that Vlad would have been even a tiny bit worried that the Ghost King would force them all into slavery or something, but once more it had been something that Vlad had brought on himself. So Danny hadn't given much thought to Vlad's wellbeing then either; he had been too busy trying to keep himself and his friends alive and out of the Ghost Kings way than worry about Vlad.
But he had always thought that Vlad could look after himself, ever since Danny had met Vlad he had always been alone and had never had anyone's help. And he had to respect the man's independence and success…but he wouldn't want it; Danny figured he would be lonely in Vlad's position. Maybe that was the reason for his continued success, Vlad had nothing else to do, and he had no one else to rely on so he threw himself into his work. It would certainly explain why Danny did so badly in his work; he had so many people he was trying to look out for that he had little time to focus on his school work, and his actual jobs that he lost them with record speed.
He wondered what it would take to make Vlad afraid; how much scary shit would need to happen to make Vlad Plasmius quake in his overpriced, over-polished boots? It had Danny scared, make no mistake, but he had always assumed that the things that scared him would never scare Vlad.
And the fact that it did had him scared-shitless.
In a deep, dark corner of the Ghost Zone laid a huge floating island with towering spires and shining buildings of quiet power and silent majesty. Complicated silver structures of every shape, size and hue soared into the air where thousands of shining white and yellow stars culminated and eventually faded into nothingness in the green atmosphere. (*2)
The impressive clustered buildings created what was called the 'Municium' (*3)and theyreflected the light, casting enormous shadows on the ground below where dozens arched bridges of age-old stone and shining metallic edifices created a captivating contrast. Banners and flags of purple and gold portrayed a repeated image of an intricate skull and spiralling lines and patterns; the word; 'Veteres' appeared constantly in silver or gold letters.
Thousands of imperial-amethyst cloaked figures moved in the shadows of these structures, each one was cloaked in purple and their glowing skeletal hands hung lifelessly from the flowing sleeves. They gathered in an artificial court-yard and hovered at the base of an imperialistic building with towering Romanesque columns that shone with muted power.
Twelve of these figures stood apart from the rest; their cloaks were tipped with elaborate gold and black in looping patterns, and they each carried a long staff with a golden sphere at the top that resembled the glowing stars in the sky. They floated at the top of the imperial structure and overlooked the crowd of Spirits below; their faces, like the others, were hidden by the thick cowls of their cloaks but their narrow red eyes shone out through the darkness.
The twelve Decuriones stood proud and tall casting long shadows on the gathering figures below. "We have little time to waste, my brothers," one of the Decuriones said with a deep masculine voice, "The hybrids search for us and time passes," the figure on the far left overlooked the island in a pensive manner.
"Our concern is not the hybrids, Desponius," another replied; this one had a composed higher pitched voice, "Calidae is loose and he is our responsibility."
"He has served his sentence; it should no longer be our duty to intervene," a third voice added with a hint of annoyance in its low, rough voice.
"Simacus speaks the truth. It was agreed; 10,000 years has been given, all is now as it should be," added a fourth with a voice of aloofness and coldness.
"What moral beings you are," Desponius replied with a low snigger, "Calidae is one of us…"
"Calidae was one of us," Simacus interrupted, "He is no longer our burden," the Spirit added.
"And the hybrids?" a new quiet voice questioned with an unthreatening tone as the others lapsed into silence.
"Quid esse erit," (*4) Saturnalicus smiled cruelly beneath his hood.
"And if they should discover us…what then?" Desponius enquired and turned his head slowly towards his fellow Spirit.
"Quid esse erit," he repeated, "But one wonders how the hybrids came to be in possession of the Scientia Collectivu or the Speculi-Charta,such an answer I am sure, would be of mutual benefit to us all, Desponius," Saturnalicus dangerously replied.
"Indeed, it would, Saturnalicus, if any such here possess that knowledge it should be shared among brothers," came the superior reply and all was then silent, "We have little time…" he repeated again with a sigh while watching the gathering crowd of cloaked Spirits below.
A.N. Ça y est; another chapter that I really like! Ah, what the hell of course I like them; I wrote 'em and if I hate it then that's bad news pour moi and pour vous! The main story is of course, still Vlad and Danny, but I think it's important for tension if nothing else; to know what is happening with Sam and Tuck and with the Ancients.
And I have given more of Vlad's insight into what kind of a future he wants for him and his 'son,' as I think this would come into question by Danny's recent actions and their situation. Once Vlad starts to realise that he and Danny can actually get along if they want to I think they could have a better relationship.
Now, I know I've said this before, but now I really mean it; I fully intend to do a long, detailed flashback of Vlad fighting the Calidae. It never seemed the right time to do it before now, but now I think now I can get away with it, we need to see what is making V-man act this way and I will get right on it, à la hâte!
(*1)I didn't really want to explain how messed up the house is again, 'cuz now we've read it from Danny's POV which was the most important I think, then Vlad's and it would just get repetitive if I explained it again. IT'S A MESS, DEAL WITH IT! LOL
(*2)I had real fun when I was writing this, like with Clockwork's 'Intemporel Face', the 'Dark-Zone' was an interesting challenge. I wanted to give the impression of both age and new; it is old because the Ancients are by definition 'old' and yet it needed to be new because they are kind of timeless. So now we see the home of the Decuriones (Latin for Senators) that I mentioned at the start of Chapter 11 (Sceptical Decisions and Foresight) didn't think I'd leave you hanging did ya?
I thought it was ironic that I call them Senators - which came from the Latin word senex for 'old men' so it litaerlly translates as the brotherhood of old men - since the Ancients are skeletons in cloaks! I suppose they have a kind of Roman hierarchy. What with all Latin and all!
(*3) Municium comes from the Latin word 'Municipium'which referred to a community incorporated into the Roman state. There was no real reason why I took out a few letters it just sounded better to me to call the cluster of buildings the Municium! And 'Veteres' is a Latin word for Ancients if you were wondering, in place of the Roman 'S.P.Q.R.'
(*4) 'Quid esse erit' basically translates as 'what will be will be.' Suddenly all this reminds me of the demon Mephistopheles from Marlowe's play; Dr Faustus. Awkward.