Chapter 3
Hello, yes this is Sorenalice. Do you remember that time that I actually went out and typed up the last two chapters because copy past wasn't working properly and my hands fell off? Because I sure do. This is the first chapter of me actually writing. Hope you enjoy and thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, faves and follows, and sorry about the small wait.
Danny blinked at her "Know what?"
She slowly nodded "Angels?" she offered.
"You mean like, the ones on top of the Christmas tree?"
She stared flatly at the boy, who only shrugged. "No, I mean actual angels."
"Those are a thing? They exist?"
"Theoretically, yes."
"Theoretically?" the boy's eyebrows were high up on his head, his forehead slightly wrinkled.
"An ancient book refers to them very specifically, and there's been other studies. But no one's seen an angel in nearly a century."
"What is an angel, exactly?"
"Hold on." Maddie bustled over to another end of the lab, sifting through some papers and books until she found the right one.
An old tome, pages worn and yellowed with time, bound in a thick, hard leather cover, the colors fading into brown and black. She carefully hefted it into her arms and carried it back to the examination table, her footsteps echoing against the metal floor of the lab. She was hesitantly biting her lip and sighed.
She stopped beside Phantom, her arms still wrapped around the book. She licked her lips and began.
"So, basically, the idea in this book is that there are three different things that could have happened after you died. Moving on, becoming a ghost, and another thing. You obviously didn't move on, but that doesn't mean you became a ghost."
Danny stared up at her, his eyebrows furrowed in a look of confusion.
"What do you mean? Angels?" Danny scoffed.
Maddie slowly nodded. She glanced down at the book and huffed.
"This book says that angels are souls who didn't move on, like ghosts, but instead of having a selfish obsession, it's selfless, like protection or charity or something. Serving people. They live in the human plane so they can protect people better, and they guard the people in their territories most of all. For the first two years they're just like any ghost. They have all of the basic ghost powers, but then, after two years, they develop the ghostly wail and an elemental ability. Their bodies get denser and they lose the ability to fly like ghosts do," Maddie smiled comfortingly at Phantom's panicked face and continued, " they grow wings and get a few new abilities. Physically, the angel's hair is usually black or white, their skin is more human than a ghost's, stuff like that. Angels look more human-like to protect them from demons and to blend in with the humans. Sound familiar?"
Phantom's normally tanned complexion was ashen. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated.
"I-is that why I'm so different? From the other ghosts?"
"Yes, young angels have a defense mechanism that makes them look more human-like so they're less likely to be hunted in the human world. That's also why you have an ectosignature, your body makes it, to keep you safe and- look, I'm sorry. About everything, it wasn't-"
"It's fine, but what's gonna happen to me?"
"When is your deathday? Because the book says that most of the changes start after then."
Danny froze, that had already passed. "Tomorrow. If it's still the 21st."
Maddie nodded and checked her watch "It's midnight of the 21st."
Danny looked down. Would it hurt? How could he learn how to fly with wings? He didn't know anyone with wings except Dora sometimes, but she was busy with bringing her Kingdom up to speed. Maddie's voice brought Danny out of his thoughts.
"You're welcome to stay here when it starts, or just, in general, I can help you."
"Stay here, with you and your family?"
"Yeah, I mean, if you don't want to do this alone."
"Thank you, Mo-Maddie." She smiled.
"You're gonna have to start getting my name right one of these days."
"Sorry, you just remind me of someone." Maddie fell silent, unsure of how to continue the conversation.
"So… got anything to eat? I'm starved." Maddie started at the sudden proclamation and nodded hesitantly.
"You eat?"
"Yeah. I suppose that's explained now too." he said with a wry grin. Maddie smiled and nodded.
"You just stay down here, I'll bring it down for you. Do you want anything in particular?"
Phantom thought for a moment before he responded, "If you have pizza, I like cheese. And if you have pop, that'd be great."
"I meant healthy food. You're recovering, you need nutrition." Phantom pouted and huffed.
"Pizza is a vegetable, according to the government."
"Yeah, but not in this house."
"You're going to ignore a law? Wow, let me go call the cops." He chuckled at her.
"If you don't tell me what kind of healthy food you want, I'm going to make you brussel sprouts and expect you to eat them." Phantom's face wrinkled up into a grimace.
"Fine, fine. I like pasta. Is that healthy enough for you? All kinds of pasta. Noodles are the best."
"Alright, I'll be back down soon. Feel free to look in the book, just be careful. It's older than the both of us." And with that, she walked up the steps, leaving Danny alone in the lab.
He sighed, an angel, that's… different. She said that angels had a more human appearance, minus the wings, so they could blend in more. Which would explain why his skin ghost-angel- form's skin color is almost more tan than his human form's, and the way he didn't get fangs or blue skin like Vlad had. He was a halfa still, but half an angel instead of ghost.
He hunched over himself, resting his chest against his thighs and huffing, avoiding straining or touching his injuries.
'Why is it always me? Why do I have to be so weird?' he thought. First a half-ghost and now this? At least as a half ghost he would've had another one like him. He may have hated Vlad, but at least someone out there knew. But now, he realized, he never even had that. He and Vlad, no matter how similar, were still vastly different. Vlad was a demon, and he was an angel.
And apparently, he was the last angel left. Nobody to teach him or relate to him. He was truly alone in this one. Sure, he had people there with him, he would call Sam and Tucker to tell them later, but he had nobody who had gone through it, or even someone who had seen it before. What if something went wrong? What if he got sick and they didn't have the medicine because it was some weird angel sickness, or whatever?
He sat up straight,blowing out a heavy breath and looking towards the ceiling.
Sometimes he felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and this was one of those moments. His shoulders sagged and his muscles worked themselves into knots. His eyes wandered over to the book, lying so temptingly on the table across from him. Maddie did say he could look at it.
He reached over and snatched the book, grimacing as the movement tugged at his chest. He set the book down next to him on the table he was sitting on, flipping it open.
His eyes scanned over the ancient pages, widening with each new piece of information.
'This certainly explains a lot.'