17 Spinning in Circles

-J-

I slammed the book shut and rubbed my eyes harshly trying to tame the pain of straining them for too long.

When it came to psychology, there was no simple fixes. There was no magic pill that would make you all better. There was no words that would take away the pain and trauma of the past. No, Psychology was a long and delicate process, handled with a firm stride and a soft hand. Guiding other people to revelations about themselves and helping them accept and come to peace with whatever they found along the way.

But usually there was SOMETHING that would help at least take the edge off. Something to block delusions, some round about way to lead to revelations, something to make people comfortable enough to talk to you.

Not this time. This time I was on my own with the most important patient in the world. My baby brother. And all of my studying, all my knowledge, all of my skills weren't enough to save him.

"Jasmin" called a kind voice from nearby.

I looked up at Compass. Her curly cue crazy red and orange hair was erratic. Her skin was as dark as a night sky, her eyes shone like stars twinkling in the darkness.

The Ancient sent me a small understanding smile. "I know you are worried about your brother, and that is okay, but try to stay focused. We can't help him properly until we figure out what Danny is the Keeper of."

"But how will that help Danny with his delusions? How will that bring him back?" I asked a little louder and more wobbly then I would have liked. But I was lost, and worried and there was no one to turn to. Maybe Vlad was right. Maybe we were finally in too deep.

Compass smiled with the same patient smile that she had used when Danny was looping. "Danny will one day be a Keeper, an Ancient, a Master of Physics, and Officer of the Natural Laws. And Keepers have a physical and psychological connection to what they are keeping. That manifests differently in each of us. But we all can feel our territory, in some way. Some see it, taste it, or sense it. But our territory is an extension of ourselves. As Danny's soul expands through Soul Change the connection to his territory strengthens. It's kind of like going your entire life never being able to feel, or move your arms and then one day you are suddenly able to."

"Okay, yes." I said still somewhat frustrated. "But so how do we stop the delusions?"

Compass sighed possibly even a bit annoyed. "You can't Jazz. No one can. We aren't curing Danny of an illness. If we want to bring your brother back, then we need to teach him how to live with his new territory. Once that happens he can learn how to control and manage everything that comes with it. And to do that we need to figure out what his domain is."

"How are we supposed to figure that out?" I asked not feeling much better.

Compass stood and began pacing around the room but instead of turning around and passing the same line, the ground along with the room grew, shrank and morphed under her so she never ran out of room, allowing her to do crazy laps. II had seen her do so before, lots of times. In fact she did it so often I wasn't even frazzled by it. While the Ancient had infinite patience for people and things, one thing she could not stand was staying still for a long period of time. She always had to move.

"So far the only symptom of Danny receiving his powers are these 'delusions', the things he confuses for memories, so for now that is our only clue to his territory and what he is the Keeper of." The space between me and the woman shrunk the enter room morphing to her will, all without Compass having to move. She was suddenly right beside me placing her hand over mine and squeezing it comfortably. "We will get your brother back to his right mind Jasmin, don't worry."

I smiled weakly still feeling so helpless. "Were things this hard for you when you came into your powers?"

Her eyes dimmed as she looked back on the years "Yes, but not in the way it is for Danny."

"How was it hard for you?"

Compass paused. "My territory came much more gradually and thus I had time to adjust to the changes." Compass turned, eyes becoming even more distant. As if she had somehow managed to increase the space between here eyes and her body without actually doing so. "but full control didn't happen as soon as I would have liked."

"Why what happened?"

"One of the physical ties I have to space is the need to travel through it. When the urges first came to me I had no control, no way to cope. I simply had to keep moving and if I didn't the repercussions were horrible. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason why I moved around or for how long I stayed in any one place. By the time I mastered my powers, and could managed my urges, everyone I had known before I became an Ancient had passed away."

The air became somber I could almost feel her hidden power in the air, cold, ancient and forever. "With no ties to my home, nothing to hold me back, I continued to travel everywhere, darting between planets, civilizations, stars, asteroids everything."

"I'm sorry for your loss." I murmured quietly.

The Ancient gave a nod. The air somber for several minutes before Compass shook off the atmosphere and turned to look at me. "I am not just the Keeper of Outer Space Jasmin but Space itself. The Space between everything from the skin cells in the body to stars in the sky. As Keeper of Space I must traverse all of my territory. Covering every distance."

"Do you-?" I fidgeted. "Do you think Danny will go through something like that?"

"Something akin to it yes." She said placing a hand around my shoulder. "but every Keeper, their territory, powers and how it all manifests is unique."

I must have jumped three feet when a ringtone from a cell phone interrupted our conversation. I instantly recognised it as the tone I set for Sam went off and I instinctively reached for it. The space between Compass and I stretched until she and everything around me was several yards away. Part of me ideally came to the realization that she was behind the size difference between the outside and inside of Clockworks tower.

"Hey what's up?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Do you think we should tell Valerie?" Sam asked immediately. I froze for a minute adjusting to the change of topic.

"Why do you ask?" Most days Sam was more protective of Danny's secret then he was. What could have happened to change her tune?

"The town thinks Red Huntress is behind Phantom's disappearance." She said.

I blinked in surprise. Then I face palmed. Of course they would come to that conclusion. "I'm guessing Valerie isn't taking the criticism well."

"She is about to explode." Sam said. "…and she said something last night. Sure Danny went through the town hating him but he at least had us to back him up. Not just on the battlefield but at school too. We kept him going when he had doubts. When the town turned against him. All she has is an air brained, on again, off again friend and a father who is trying everything under the sun to get her to stop hunting."

I hummed. "and she has a temper to rival Danny's to boot."

"Yeah."

"Well your right. She does need a support system and you and Tucker would be the best choice. The question is, will you support her the same way you supported Danny?" I asked. "Danny was your friend before he was Phantom. Valerie was the enemy for a long time. Are you and Tucker willing to look past that and be friends with her? That is what she needs right now. Friends."

Sam was quiet for a time. "I don't know. She hunted Danny for a long time and before that she was a shallow witch that bullied us at school… I guess I don't know her well enough to really know."

I hummed. "Danny trusts her right? I mean they've been working together for awhile now and he gave her a thermos."

"Yeah… but even if we decide to be her friend, or at least tell her who we are, should we tell her about Danny?" I bit my lip as Sam continued. "I mean it is a big deal and she keeps asking were Phantom is and what is happening. And if we tell her that it is me and Tucker, she is going to realize Danny Fenton isn't with us and she will know that isn't a coincidence. But it isn't our secret to tell."

"You're forgetting that Danny gave you emergency permission." I reminded. "Danny gave all of us permission to tell whoever we thought we needed to in the case of an emergency."

"That was in case he died and ever told his parents or something."

"This is 'or something' Sam." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Sam… Vlad's here."

"What!"

"It's okay. We have him trapped, for now. But this is too much. Mom and Dad are coming home in four days. The school is going to start getting suspicious sometime within the next week. Nothing can hold Plasmius for long. The town is rising against Valerie and I am willing to bet the number of ghost causing trouble back home has skyrocketed since word spread that Phantom isn't around."

Sam's silence was all the affirmation I needed as I continued my rant. "This whole thing is about to blow and when that happens we are going to need all the help we can get especially Valerie. I say this is a big enough emergency enough to tell her."

Sam once again remained silent. "The decision is yours either way. You don't have to tell her everything all at once, if you don't feel comfortable. Danny gave us emergency permissions because he trusts us to not tell anyone until we absolutely have to. Trust your instinct Sam."

"…Thanks Jazz." Sam said softly.

I smiled. "Anytime little sister." The silence extended a tad too long. "Is there something else you want to talk about?"

"Yeah." She said hesitantly, tone reluctent. "We gave Valerie a Specter Deflector awhile back and she's been wearing it 24/7 and is starting to notice changes."

"Changes?" I asked confused. Sam's behavior was worrisome. "Like the belt is affecting her or something?"

"No, like she is the only one who isn't affected, like the world is changing around her."

Something sour settled in the back of my throat. "Is that possible?"

"We've come across things kind of like this before but-this is different. It so random and its often small and insignificant things. What is even worse is that the only people who even know the changes are the ones that are protected from ghostly influence. It's like everyone else changes with it. Even Tucker and I didn't realize what was going on until Valerie said anything."

"Well that's terrifying." I said bluntly Sam making a murmur of agreement as I thought. "Do you have any idea who is behind it?"

Sam's slightly longer hesitation was as good as a yes. "We know it's ghost based because Fenton tec is blocking it but besides that, we have no idea what it is."

"But you have a hunch." I prodded.

Sam sighed. "It's probably just a coincidence."

"Sam I would believe you found a unicorn before I believe something was a coincidence."

"Well… when Valerie first told us what she was seeing it reminded me a lot of when Danny first told us about his dreams and stuff. Little insignificant changes that he sometimes didn't even notice until later."

"There is no way Valerie is going through Soul Change so… what if…" Sam took a breath. "It's almost like... Instead of Danny switching and everything else staying the same, the world is switching with him. but that's impossible right?" Sam asked voice nervous and hopeful. She wanted someone to tell her she was wrong. But as she spoke some instinct-driven emotional mix of dread and realization cascaded over me like molasses.

"It… makes sense." I said reluctantly. "When ghosts become emotionally attached to something, places included, they often form spiritual and sometimes even physical bonds with them. We all know how sentimental Danny is with Amity Park. It… would make sense that the town would be somewhat affected by his current state."

My mind turned. "But while Danny is attached to the humans of Amity he shouldn't be able to change them too. From my understanding those kinds of bonds don't work on centennial beings only on inanimate objects."

"So it can't be Danny?" Sam asked hopefully.

My eyes fell on my research. "… Before Danny went mad did he tell you anything about getting a new power?"

Sam's breath hitched I stayed silent allowing her to speak at her own pace. "Mr. Lancer had gotten suspicious and was trying to talk us into telling him what was happening with Danny." she explained in a rushed and hushed voice. "As we were leaving he mentioned he got an email saying he was given a raise. Danny said he had been thinking about Mr. Lancer deserving a raise almost minutes before."

It was getting harder to breath. "Anything else?"

"…I would have sworn a sucker appeared in Danny's mouth. One second it wasn't there the next it was. I was standing right next to him, I didn't see him unwrap it or anything. Jazz what's going on?"

My eyes stayed on my research unseeing. "Danny's powers are coming in." I answered best I could. "Clockwork warned us when we dropped Danny off here how an Ancient coming into their powers can mess with the universe, especially when they are as delusional as Danny is right now."

"But- if this is Danny then… how do we stop it?"

My eyes fluttered up to Compass remembering what she said minutes ago. The Ancient was putting an active effort to appear to not be listening but I knew she was. "The only way to fix this is to help Danny get through this as fast as possible, until then… you, Tucker and Valerie will just have to do damage control."

"How do we do damage control when the entire world is changing and no one even know notices?"

"I don't know Sam." I said confused. "Just, keep an eye on it for now. Just because people aren't running around in panic doesn't mean there isn't danger. Do what you can. If it gets worse call me."

"Ahh, I feel so helpless!" Sam exchanged.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly. "Believe me Sam I know."

"…How is Danny doing? Are you any closer to curing him?"

"I am able to snap Danny out of his delusions more times then not now. We are actually working on a new journal, and I'm helping Compass try to figure out what exactly is happening to him."

"That's great!"

"Yeah." I said glumbly.

"Then why are you unhappy?" Sam prodded.

"I'm just frustrated. We are so close to getting Danny back and yet he is just out of reach."

"Having Vald there isn't much help either."

"No, it's not." I said with a sigh thinking of my predicament. Suddenly my mind shifted to what Sam had said moments before, sparking a thought. "Well I gotta get back to my research. Anything else you wanted to say?"

"No I think that's it. I've got school soon, I just really needed to talk to you."

I smiled. "Anytime Sam, stay safe okay? And keep me updated on Valerie and the switching, will you?"

"You bet." Sam said sounding much more lively.

As soon as I hung up I turned to Compass. "What if the hallucinations are real?"

The Ancient looked up from her papers.

And I continued "If these hallucinations have something to do with the power Danny is getting could the hallucinations be real?"

"I considered that." Said Compass pulling out some notes. "I went searching for some of the things he described but nothing truly fit. For awhile I thought he might be having visions of previous lives making him the Keeper of Reincarnation or something similar but too many of his memories involve people living in his current life."

My mind turned to Clockwork. "What about eliminated timelines. That would explain why his power is messing with Clockwork's sight."

Compass paused thinking hard for a minute. "I don't think that is it." She said slowly. "It is a close prescription but not completely. Alternate timelines would not cause Danny to drastically change personality like he has been doing."

"Personalities can change over time."

"Keywords being 'over time'. Some of Danny's personalities have the maturities of adults but I'm certain over half of them are his current age. Alternate timelines are all the same people, with the same personality going through different situations. Danny's entire personality changes with these memories not just the little details of his life."

I bit my lip again. What other options were there. Keeper of reality didn't fit because danny wasn't getting visions of reality he was getting visions of fantasy. There were elements of reality in them but they weren't real. At least not in this world, but if what Sam said was true then it was becoming reality.

"What are you thinking?" Compass prodded pulling me from my thoughts to see her watching me closely.

"Sam says that Amity Park is changing almost like it is switching with Danny's personalities." Compass froze. "Compass."

"This is a big clue. We are obviously on the right track." The ancestral being said standing abruptly. "Keep trying to figure out what he is the Keeper of. I must alert the other Ancients."

"What? Why?"

She turned a serious expression on her face almost frightening me. "Danny is unconsciously affecting his territory. This will undoubtedly affect ours and all the natural world. It will take all of us working together to keep the universe from falling apart until he is well enough to control his power."

"But you can't leave!" I said moving to stand. Danny needed all of our help.

"And I'm not." Compass reassured looking more like herself. "I'm just sending a message to the others to spur them into action." With that the Ancient left stalking out of the room like a warrior going into battle.

Silence descended on the empty room. The tension in the air was mounting I could almost feel it dampening the air I breathed as if the entire universe, all dimensions were holding their breath. I unclenched my hands trying to remain calm turning back to focuse on the task at hand. While some part of me screamed that we were running out of time, panicking would get me nowhere and I was best suited helping by doing what I was doing now.

-D-

I lay on my back on the bed. Eyes closed as I let the memories cascade over me. One on top of the other on top of the other. How long had it been? Since I last saw the real Jazz, since I started my exercise? Since I 'moved' in with Clockwork? Minutes, hours, days; who really knew this was Clockworks tower after all.

"Hello son" called a familiar voice.

I opened my eyes and looked towards the door and the owner of the voice. I recognized him. Thousands of names came to me but the most common was-

"Vlad." I said with a flat voice. "Jazz didn't say you were here." I searched for Orbit's pull to ground me, but I couldn't find it, wich was strange. I could always feel its pull, even when I was trapped in memories.

"We wanted to surprise you." He said with a kind smile but a slight devious glint in his eye. I wasn't sure if that was a clue or if he always had that.

Jazz hadn't said anything about Vlad at all. I looked down at the journal/ scrapbook we were making. It lied on the floor on the other side of the room from where we were working with it earlier. I doubt I could reach it in time let alone read anything before he took action.. That is if he was my enemy. But even if he wasn't or I could get to it I was pretty sure we hadn't gotten to my relationship with Vlad yet so I had no idea how to react to him.

"Why?" I asked once again my voice and expression blank as I looked back up at the man. I didn't know whether to be happy or disgusted. Hateful or joyfull. I didn't know if Vlad was someone I trusted with my life or if he was someone I wouldn't trust with so much as a peace of thread.

"What kind of father would I be if I didn't come visit my child in his hour of need." He said stepping closer.

I didn't react. Just lied there staring at him blankly as thousands of memories danced behind my eyes.

Vlad seemed to slump slightly. "Do you really not remember Daniel.?" He said almost heartbroken as he took a seat at the foot of my bed. "I'm your father. You live in my mansion with your mother Maddie and your sister Jasmine. At the end of this year She is going to college for psychology. And you will be going into your junior year at Casper High. Your two best friends are Tucker and Sam." Vlad paused fixing me with a look imploring me to recall the world he had just painted. "Do you remember now Little Badger?"

I stared blankly. "Yes."

-)(-

-D- Danny Fenton Phantom point of view

-J- Jasmine Jazz Fenton point of view

-0-

Side note for anyone who cares;

Time travels differently in the clock tower. Clockwork is the Master of Time and everything else about his home is weird so that is too. So time me be traveling at a different speed depending on what room you are in.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

-0-

Soooo sorry it took me forever, hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for it. I was moving for those that are curious. But now I am moved in, and I have an entire room set aside solely for writing So hopefully that will help me keep to some kind of schedule.

-0-

Now if i can just figure out why the hell my computer keeps randomly restarting.

HONESTLY! There I am typing along and suddenly my computer screen goes blank before I can save my progress. No warning, some half a$$ed explanation about memory. Then I have to wait for it to boot up again and figure out how much was auto-saved and how much I have to rewrite. This is a brand new computer, what the F #k

Sorry I needed to get that out. It is more than discouraging.

-0-

I do not own 'Danny Phantom'