Ember hummed to herself as she stood in the bus' kitchen, making breakfast for everyone. They were almost near the next city on the tour and she wanted to make sure everyone had energy to explore.
"Ember! Is breakfast ready yet?" called out the ghostling from where she was playing with her plushies.
"In a bit, Mini-Pop," replied the rock diva with a slight laugh. "You just need to be patient."
"I've said this before, Danielle doesn't have patience," added Danny as he ruffled the pouting child's hair.
With another laugh, Ember continued cooking breakfast. As she cooked though, her mind started to wander to this and that. She felt at peace. So into her thoughts she jumped slightly when she felt a familiar set of arms wrap around her waist.
"Hey," murmured the voice of her Baby-Pop into her ear.
A grin made an appearance on her face. "Hey yourself."
"Any chance you'll tell us where we're heading to next?" Danny asked, placing light kisses along Ember's neck and getting a soft coo in return
"And you say Mini-Pop needs to learn patience," replied the fiery girl with a slight giggle. "You'll find out after breakfast, Baby-Pop~"
"Yeah, yeah," he said before giving her one last kiss and then heading off to set the table.
Breakfast was soon done cooking and everyone started eating. Luckily for Danny and Ember, Danielle seemed to control herself this time and didn't just inhale her food.
"Hey Danny? Do you think we'll be able to enjoy our vacation this time without having to fight any dipsticks?" asked Danielle, using her new favorite word.
"Knowing our luck, probably not," replied the older Halfa. "But whoever we have to deal with, we'll deal with. Simple as that."
"If they're smart they'll stay as far away from us as possible," stated Ember with a frown. "It's sad how our time in Vancouver was the only time we didn't have to fight anyone."
Danny just gave off a shrug. "Eh, I'm used to all this. You on the other hand are still new to the hero business, so you're still adjusting."
A huff escaped Ember as she gave Danny and his teasing grin a narrowed look. "I'll have you know that I can handle being a hero like you, Baby-Pop. You've seen it for yourself over the course of this vacation. Plus, don't forget that you and I are on even footing in a fight!"
"I know, Ember," he replied with a chuckle. "That's one of the reasons why we work great as a team, remember?"
"Damn right we are!" stated Ember with a grin before she started her meal.
The ghostly trio continued to converse as the bus approached its destination.
-:-
The scent of the ocean was the first thing the ghostly trio noticed as they exited the bus. Once off the bus, the ghostling was able to get a better look at where they would be staying for the time being.
"There's so much water here!" exclaimed Danielle.
"Well Singapore is technically an island, so that would explain that, Danielle," replied Danny with a laugh.
Singapore, the Little Red Dot, a sovereign island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia that was the next stop on Ember's World Tour.
"Yeah and I'm going to rock the house!" declared Ember as she took in the city.
"I'm guessing that house would be the Esplanade?" questioned Danny, grinning as Ember's eyes lit up at him guessing right. "If we're heading there for the concert, the other landmarks we can visit are the National Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the Sri Mariamman Temple, and of course the Merlion."
"Merlion? What's that?" asked the little one, tilting her head in confusion.
"It's pretty much the most iconic of Singapore's landmarks, making it similar to the likes of the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower," explained the older Halfa.
"But before all that," started Ember, catching the Phantom Duo's attention. "We're going to check in at the Raffles Hotel where we'll be staying. So let's head out!"
Shaking his head in amusement, Danny and his little clone followed after the fiery diva. Unbeknownst to them though, something was bubbling in the nearby river.
-:-
The group soon made it to the Raffles Hotel where they were able to get a very nice room for their stay. Unfortunately for Danielle, she noticed something that filled her with dread.
"Why?" groaned out the little one.
"Why what, Mini-Pop?" questioned Ember with a teasing smirk.
This earned her a pouty glare from the ghostling. "You picked this place on purpose because of all the shopping you can do!"
"Nah, the shopping arcade here is a bonus," replied the rock diva, waving off Danielle's concerns. "Besides, look at all the restaurants this place has as well!"
Indeed, the Raffles Hotel housed forty specialty boutiques for Ember to explore and shop to her core's content. And upon seeing all of the restaurants, Danielle drooled slightly at the thought of all the food she could eat.
"Of course we'll get food later when we come back from sightseeing," stated Danny, breaking the little one out of her trance. "But I think there's something you can have now."
Looking over to where Danny was pointing, Danielle found a gift shop, but what really caught her attention was the plushy fruit bat that was wearing a Serong Kebaya. Needless to say, Danielle wanted it.
With bat plushy purchased and in hand, the ghostly trio headed back out into the city to get started on their exploration.
-:-
"Those statues up there aren't going to fall on us, are they?"
Danny placed a comforting hand on the little one's head. "Pretty sure they're anchored in place, Danielle. Considering how long the Sri Mariamman Temple has been around, there hadn't been any reports of the statues falling on anyone."
The ghostly trio was currently standing before the ancient Hindu temple, looking at the roof that was decorated with hundreds statues.
"So who exactly is Mariamman?" asked Ember as they entered the temple. "I'm guessing that's who this temple is for, right?"
"Yup. Mariamman is the Hindu goddess of rain and is also seen as a healer," explained Danny. "Of course Mariamman, while the main deity here, isn't the only one worshipped here. There are shrines for Rama, Murugan, Duruga, Ganesh, and Shiva.
Ember let out a low whistle. "It always amazes me how other religions can have more than one god. Good thing my folks aren't around for this."
"What do you mean?" asked Danielle, curious.
"Let me put it this way, Mini-Pop. My folks were VERY closed minded when it came to other religions," replied Ember with a grimace. "I couldn't even have friends unless they were of the same religion as us."
"In other words, another example of ignorance," added Danny with a grimace of his own. He couldn't imagine not being able to be friends with Sam just because she had a different religion than him.
"Pretty much. Luckily, I don't have to deal with them ever again…probably one of the only good things to come out of being dead."
Danny wrapped an arm around Ember's shoulders and held her close, whispering comforting words to her. "It's okay, Ember. They can never hurt you again."
Holding back tears, Ember snuggled against her Baby-Pop. "You have no idea how lucky you are to have parents who actually care about you, Baby-Pop."
He wouldn't say it out loud, but he did know, especially after the time he time traveled and accidentally caused his parents to not get together. Even in a different timeline where they were Maddie Masters and Jack Plasmius, his parents still cared for him despite the fact that he didn't exist in that timeline.
"Come on, let's get out of here and go somewhere that won't bring up any bad memories," said Danny.
"Definitely," agreed Ember with a watery smile.
Before they could leave though, Danielle quickly hugged Ember, much to the older girl's surprise. Looking down in question, she got a response.
"You looked like you could use more hugs," stated the ghostling. "Hugs make everything better."
Hearing this, Ember couldn't help but let a few tears fall as she bent down to return the hug. "Thanks, Mini-Pop."
The small group then took their leave to the next stop.
-:-
The ghostling was hesitant to go to the next destination. Not because she had a bad feeling about it, but because she didn't think it would be exciting. Apparently Ember thought the same thing of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
"Wouldn't the Goth appreciate being here more than us, Baby-Pop? It is a garden, after all."
But Danny just gave off a shrug. "True, but I figured you'd like to try something new. Plus, they have a real rainforest that we can traverse through, as well as Palm Valley where people go to have picnics and enjoy outdoor concerts."
"Wait, they hold concerts here?" questioned Ember, now looking up at the entrance with wide eyes.
"Yeah, but they're more orchestral than rock."
"…I'm intrigued. Let's see what this place has to offer!"
They headed on inside and made their way to the main attraction first, the National Orchid Garden.
"Look at all of the flowers!" squeaked out Danielle, looking at all of the orchids in awe. "Just how many are there?"
"There are around one thousand species of orchids here, along with two thousand orchid hybrids," explained Danny.
"Two thousand?! Man that's a lot of flowers," said Ember, impressed.
Danny nodded at this. "Some of the hybrids were made for and named after very important people, like Queen Elizabeth II and Emperor Akihito, and are found in the VIP Orchid Garden. The rest of the hybrids can be found in the Misthouse."
"Still unbelievable that there would be that many different types of orchids," replied Ember with a shake of her head before turning to look at Danny. "So what else does this section of the gardens have to offer?"
"Well, there's the Coolhouse where you can see orchids that are normally found in tropical highlands."
"If it means we don't have to go to the actual highlands I'm all for it."
"Couldn't we just fly to the highlands instead of walk there?" asked Danielle as they went to visit the rest of the sections in the Orchid Garden.
"This will take less energy, Mini-Pop."
After checking out the rest of the Natural Orchid Garden, the ghostly trio headed to the nearby Ginger Garden. Once there, it was decided to get some lunch at the Halia Restaurant within the garden before they continued to see the rest of the garden.
"This place is cooler than I thought it would be," said Danielle as she watched the nearby waterfall while they ate.
"Glad you're enjoying it, Danielle," replied Danny with a chuckle.
"I honestly didn't think I'd enjoy myself here as well," added Ember. "And didn't you say they have an actual rainforest here, Baby-Pop?"
"Ooh! Does that mean we might get to see some monkeys?!" asked the ghostling in excitement.
The teens could only let out sighs at the little one's obsession with the primates.
Finishing their lunch, the three then headed off to finish off their tour of the gardens. As they were leaving, they missed the two pairs of glowing eyes coming from the waterfall.
-:-
Meanwhile, back in the city, deep within the Marina Bay, a figure was watching the scenes of the city through a window made of water.
"Aye, I've been asleep for so long that things have changed since my days and yet, things seem to remain the same. Good, very good. Just means that these landlubbers won't be able to stop me from taking their treasure."
The figure could only laugh as he thought of picking up where he left off centuries ago.
TO BE CONTINUED
-:-
It's been awhile, but we're finally at the next city. This one actually gave me some trouble, mainly because most of the well known landmarks of Singapore didn't open until AFTER 2007, the year this story is set in, so I had to do a lot more research than usual to find places our heroes could visit.
Not only that, but since all of the chapter titles in this fic are named after songs, I had a hard time finding one. Most of the songs about Singapore are national songs (basically their version of the Star Spangle Banner). Luckily I found an actual song, but took some liberty with it, combining it with the album the song is from.
"Singapore" (2:45) – Tom Waits
Anyway, I'll try to get the second part and the interlude out as soon as I can. Right now I'm under the weather with the flu and I mostly just want to sleep.