Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note (02/04/2018): Thank you for your review "frozenightmare!" I'm glad you like this whole good vs evil side of Vlad thing going on. Also, do you guys like the middle name I gave Vlad? I thought it'd be fun to add one since we all know that when a parent says your full name you know you're in some SERIOUS trouble! And since I like symbolic names, "Abram" means "exalted father" or "high father" in Hebrew which I thought was appropriate because of the whole father and son theme of the story.

~Chapter 19~

Light Our Way In Darkness

(Chapter inspired by Who Are You by SVRCINA)

"We all have our demons. When we finally learn to let them go, we get to live and be free." ~ Jodie Sweetin

Even though Vlad's college self looked as such, he was actually a mixture of all the 'good' things about the half-ghost standing before them that was given form thanks to Owen's spell. The phantom didn't even fully realize it himself, but HE was the light Vlad would need to join forces with to defeat this lesser-wraith. Although in truth, perhaps this shadow was more like a spell as well. Only a dark one. A spell that was designed to either latch onto Owen and force his body into submission through a shared pain to bring him to Lilith, or use Vlad's pain the same way as blackmail against the child by threatening to end the human side of the man's life...

But there was something else too. His words, Owen had this nagging feeling there was a double meaning to them. Specifically the part about the 'most evil ghost' because from the sound of it he wasn't referring to Vlad. When this other version of Vlad helped him up the stairs, asking if he was alright and supporting his shoulders Owen could feel it. Although they weren't physically there Owen felt as if there was another Vlad reaching out to them through his good side from somewhere far away beyond space and time. Owen didn't understand what this feeling was but as long as this one helped his Vlad realize what he needed to do Owen didn't really care.

This was all for his sake. And while it would help Owen too to get rid of this malice once and for all so he would finally feel at home here with Vlad, for once Owen wanted to help Vlad in some deep and lasting way. He was just some fifteen year of teenager without a penny to his name -if you didn't count his inheritance of the Ravenheart estate and all the relics hidden there- so to the richest man on earth there was nothing of material Owen could possibly give him to express how much he cared and wanted nothing more then to stand beside him from now on...

After recovering enough to speak even though his voice sounded weak and cracked a few times, Owen looked at his Vlad that was still seething with anger then said, "Vlad. Just...would you calm down and think for a second...?" He coughed again, earning a slight flinch as Vlad's guilt kicked in for letting him get hurt in the first place by his shadow. But before Vlad could interrupt him, Owen swallowed painfully and rasped, "Wraiths aren't hurt by any normal light -not usually anyway- so that shadow is just that; A shadow. Turning on all of the lights will only make it keep retreating from shadow to shadow until it can reform itself and attack us again. We have to corner it. But I...I can't help you this time Vlad. I knew that the moment I cast this spell. I really want to but this is something you need to do before we lose our chance to get rid of it while it's absorbed all of the miasma in the castle and has it condensed in one place and I can't keep this other side of you together anymore to help you do it. Since you're the one who has been producing the miasma it was feeding off of, your anger is only going to make it stronger now that it's connected to you. So Vlad, you have to fight without the same rage you've used up until now. Trust in what is, not what was in your heart. Please-!"

Before he could finish his thoughts Owen's voice cracked and much to his dismay his throat closed up on him just enough to make it impossible to speak. He tried to force the words out again but it hurt too much and brought tears to his eyes, tears of pain and frustration...

There was so much more Owen wanted to tell him! To explain! But his stupid body wasn't cooperating! His brows knit in anger until finally, to his relief Vlad finally listened to reason and decided that acting the part of a worried father came before any further actions to rid themselves of this damnable shadow self.

Regarding his college self indifferently, who nodded and stepped back to let the real one look Owen over, Vlad told Owen to remove his hand to inspect the damage to his throat. Since the boy was still in his necromancer form Vlad had to push down his collar as gently as he could not to irritate the wound yet when he saw the damage his own shadow had done, his temper flared once more.

Though upon seeing the ashamed look on Owen's face Vlad quickly let it fade and focused his thoughts to deal with this professionally. Still, there were angry red marks and bruised skin in the outline of two hands around Owen's neck which was starting to swell, making it hard for Owen to talk anymore then he already had. This would need to be treated right away to avoid any permanent damage to his vocal cords and throat in general.

With a sigh, Vlad looked around the study which was now lit since the computer automatically deduced that the enhanced lighting was no longer needed when Vlad didn't respond. That was both good and bad news because now who knows how many rooms were still unlit, allowing the shadow to hide in his home to recover its strength. And since his duplicates hadn't returned it could only mean they hadn't found the shadow either.

"Don't try to talk anymore," Vlad ordered sternly, lifting the collar of his battle-suit so it fell back into place and covered the blaring wounds. "I'll recall my duplicates and send someone else to search the castle for this shadow while we treat this. Because as you said, it has already settled into a form and isn't likely to abandon it now if I'm so...tasty." He glowered at the idea of his power being used by anyone else, emotional or otherwise but he shook his head and then continued, "However, while I would advise against speaking, you owe me an explanation that's much better then the sad little one you tried to give me just now. We went over the spell you 'supposedly' used and it said nothing about splitting my essence into these two forms. So either you lied to me or-"

Owen shook his head, immediately regretting the sudden movement that hurt his neck and opened his mouth to speak only for his breath to hitch and prevent any sound at all from coming out. And this only deepened Vlad's frown. That's when the other Vlad who had remained silent until now decided to speak up.

"If I may, since I am also a result of this 'spell' perhaps I can deduce what his intentions were," glancing at Owen who gave him a small appreciative smile, the college Vlad -whose appearance had changed drastically since it had first appeared and now had a head of gentle white flames, normal ecto-acne-free human skin, and glowing arctic blue eyes that shone from within like a neon light and unlike the current Vlad actually still had pupils- stepped forward and crossed his arms, tapping his chin thoughtfully much like he used to back in the day. "From what I've gathered the boy was intent on gathering this miasma into himself so his internal necroenergy could purify it so as to avoid you having to fight an physical manifestation of it yourself, especially once he discovered what it really was. Yes, the miasma was a factor in all of this but in truth, it has no core. Indeed some memories are more powerful then others but they are not the source, they are merely fuel to something that was set loose with the intention of trapping the boy one way or another once he had awakened and could sense the miasma this strongly in the first place. Translation, this shadow being was also create by a spell. Or rather a curse. If I had to put a name to it then this is clearly the work of Shadowmancy since in many cultures the shadow is merely another extension of yourself, your soul, not unlike those duplicates you create. Do you see now?"

'Oh this is wonderful, now I'm taking advice from myself, but I can't deny his logic is sound,' Vlad thought with a bit of annoyance before accepting this explanation and pointing out. "So you're saying that despite how long this miasma has been produced by my darker emotions, it never fully reached the point of creating a fully fledged wraith?And this shadow is holding a piece of my soul hostage because it can't fully capture it? Yet the connection is strong enough to cause me pain?"

"Precisely!" the younger Vlad smirked. "And where there is darkness, so too must there be a light to counteract it. That is what I am. That is why Owen chose this method instead of the one he agreed to before despite not knowing then that there was indeed something else hiding beneath the dark haze, lying in wait to strike. You should be proud that Owen had the foresight to use this precaution seeing as his theory proved to be correct and there was more to this miasma then originally thought." His expression fell slightly though when he added, "Like any spell or energy use there is a price though. While your feelings can empower me as well, it is only Owen's spell that maintains my form while that shadow though it fears the light has its own energy source now that it's absorbed the miasma. Not to mention your negativity and pain empowers it as well. Owen has given you my light as a weapon, at the cost of weakening his own power to sustain it. I suggest you use it wisely and allow me to help you take down this shadow. Much like those Dungeon and Dragons games we used to play with Jack and Maddie, I will be your blade, but you must be the hand that wields it."

"Alright alright, I get the picture," Vlad said, waving his hand dismissively and changing back into his human form. "At any rate we need to take care of this injury. Come Owen, I'll take you to my private infirmary."

Just then, his duplicates returned and Vlad groaned a little after reabsorbing all of their memories at once from their search of the castle. As expected they saw nothing, but then again it was only through Owen's power that Vlad had seen the miasma the previous two times. If the shadow had indeed separated itself over a wide area there was no way they would be able to find it now, especially at night. But if it was wounded as well then with any luck there wouldn't be another attack tonight. Either way, it would seem that Owen was going to have to spend the night with him in the master bedroom AGAIN not unlike the other time they had an unexpected visitor. Still, what to do with this 'other Vlad' then?

Seeing the troubled expression flit across the older hybrid's face, the college Vlad who had slowly started taking on a more modern appearance sighed, "If you're concerned about me, don't be. I'm not exactly real so to speak. I am a part of you as well as a part of young Owen's spell so I need neither sleep nor sustenance apart from the positive energy that you and the boy provide. So I can either return to him for the time being or-"

"If you are asking to overshadow me I'd rather you didn't," the real Vlad scowled, still not entirely happy being around this unwelcome reminder of how differently his life could have turned out, not only mentally, but physically as well. Seeing this other self with his flaming hair, arctic blue eyes, and perfectly normal skin that only served to remind him of the horribly disfigured face that had long gazed back at him through the mirror each day until the idiot human doctors FINALLY figured out a way to treat his ecto-acne though to this day, Vlad was always concerned that it might flare up again and has since studied his half-ghost biology extensively, as well as Daniels when he began working on the boy's clone.

Speaking of which, now there was yet another regret he hadn't the slightest desire to face here to fuel this thrice damned guilt Vlad kept feeling. He thought this miasma business would be simple enough to finish in one night so he could continue working on a cure for the clone-child's instability. Well now they had to deal with this fine mess that would only serve to steal away his concentration yet again!

But then again, recently Vlad has been studying Owen's unique biology as a necromancer and since his energy stabilized her at least briefly, perhaps giving the young man some ghostly treatments might kill too birds with one stone. He actually smiled at the thought. Perhaps some good could come of this after all. Still, Vlad had a feeling he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight anyway so he might as well do something productive.

The next question was, which underling could Vlad trust to keep a look out for this shadow self without discovering the truth and using it against him? Honestly, only two came to mind, Skulker, and the Fright Knight. But who to choose...? On the one hand Skulker was a skilled hunter and was experienced in hunting all sorts of unique and bizarre ghosts, but could he hunt wraiths or shadow creatures? On the other, the Fright Knight was the spirit of Halloween and he could sense fear and negativity which served as an energy source for him. That made Vlad realized that perhaps he could classify the Fright Knight as a wraith-class ghost from now on since they shared some similar traits.

So yes, in the end Vlad decided he would be better off entrusting this task to the Fright Knight simply because he KNEW that ghost would never dream of betraying him since he played a key part in defeating his former master the Ghost King just as much if not more so then Daniel had been. That, and the Fright Knight had far more experience with the shadows of the heart then Skulker and quite honestly was much older then him. Just not to the point of classifying the ghostly knight as an Ancient-class ghost like Nocturne was...

All of that would have to wait when Vlad was reminded of the injured boy beside him who kept suppressing his coughs since they hurt so much. Putting aside his other thoughts for now the real Vlad grabbed the boys arm along with the arm of his other self and promptly teleported them to the infirmary, not wanting to waste any more time. The other Vlad was unaffected for the most part but flickered when Owen felt a wave of lightheadedness from lack of oxygen and sudden vertigo. Still, the cold sensation that came with the teleportation soothed his throat a little so Owen didn't mind I so much. But even so, he only really heard half of what both Vlad's said to each other since his thoughts were split between maintaining the spell keeping the other Vlad from fading away back to Vlad's subconscious, trying not to pass out, and his thoughts drifting to the pain in his neck as well as the fact that unlike the first time he met the real Vlad, this shadow one had ACTUALLY tried to kill him. If nothing else, Owen was relieved to know that his faith in Vlad was well founded. And the man had never been as evil as everyone believed, including Danny and a certain other ghost who unbeknownst to them all was sensing a change in himself...

A change he didn't like one bit.