Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note: I kept going back and forth on whether or not to include Eris in this chapter but since I want her to play a bigger role in the sequel I figured I might as well since they're up against another one of the council's underhanded tricks. Although I might have the rest of their espionage mission happen off screen so I can focus on Owen and wrapping everything up in the next few chapters to start things off fresh in the next story. Vlad's going to be waging a full out war on the council legally too because he's not about to hand over Owen to anyone.

And what about Kurst? The ghost formerly known as Azrael? Will he be making a comeback in the next story for his redemption arc? Will we be meeting any brand new characters in the continuation? Guess we'll find out soon enough!

Chapter 37: When A Black Cat Crosses Your Path

Eris's POV

Even though I promised to keep a low profile I couldn't shake the feeling I'd regret it if I didn't keep tabs on Owen while he was off gallivanting around in a fancy suit about to become the adopted son of the richest man in the world. The council's bound to be up to no good given how dangerously close Owen is to slipping right through their fingers since they've been looking for someone gifted with the power of Necromancy for a very long time. And considering how closely they had ME watching Owen from the first day we met I had no doubt in my mind they had other people around who were told to do exactly the same thing.

Too bad I know exactly what to look for when it comes to other magic users spying on people. They have 'energy signatures' too just like ghosts do and with my gift to travel through and manipulate shadows it's pretty easy to sense traces of power inside them once you know what to look for. And after letting myself get kidnapped by Kurst way too easily back in Salem I wasn't about to do something as reckless as travel through the shadows in person to check on how everyone was doing. Instead I did the next best thing and created a shadow of myself who could do it for me...

Shadows are said to be reflections of the soul though so sometimes I'd get disoriented if I made my shadow move between them too quickly. That's why I had to be smart about it and look for my chance to switch to another one, taking their shape and mirroring their movements to conserve energy. But at least with so many people around there wasn't exactly a shortage of shadows to hop into.

The first thing I did before doing anything else when I created my shadow form was make a mental map of where Owen and the others were. That way if I noticed anyone suspicious getting close to them I could do something to throw them off their trail. With that said for the most part everything seemed perfectly normal for a while and I started getting bored, wondering if I was wrong about the council planning to make their next move today during this event...

To think they're the reason Owen's here with us at all in this day and age because they tricked Kurst into killing his best friend, someone he thought of as a brother. It doesn't make any sense to me. Or it didn't anyway until I realized the council must have been planning to raise his next reincarnation themselves, molding him into the perfect pawn, the perfect weapon to suit their needs since he has the soul of the first Necromancer in existence. But to what end? What's the point of resorting to murdering someone 400 years ago JUST for that...?

Is Owen really that valuable to them?

I guess this just goes to show I didn't know the council's intentions even half as well as I thought I did. Kurst was right on the money about that. They only care about what we can do for them and I'm just another expendable soldier in their far reaching war against...who knows what. Against Wraiths? Ancient ghosts they hold a grudge against for being unable to control? Who knows.

Anyways, just as I was about to call it quits and leave it to Vlad and Danny to keep Owen safe for me I finally found what I'd been looking for. There they are. I thought, closing the distance between my shadow self and the magical aura I had picked up on. And from the looks of it they were heading in Danny's direction which was bad news for both of us because unlike most people, they actually DO know a thing or two about ghosts since the council already has a few working for them.

Throwing caution to the wind I willed my shadow self to solidify into the form of a black cat since a smaller form would be a lot easier for me to maintain than a full sized apparition. Plus at first glance it would seem like a normal cat as long as nobody happened to notice it didn't have a shadow because it WAS the shadow.

Darting between the many legs of passerby, I raced towards Danny and his friends, hopping right onto Sam's shoulder which gave them all a good scare. But it was soon forgotten when I spoke to them telepathically and said. "Danny, it's me Eris. There's no time to explain but someone is coming this way who may be able to sense your ghost powers. You need to hide, quickly!"

"Eris? Is that really you? Whatever happened to laying low?" Danny asked under his breath since he didn't think to, well, reply mentally instead. Then again this whole humans-having-magic thing must still be really new to them compared to fighting ghosts who typically use ecto-energy.

Playfully pawing at his face from my perch on Sam's shoulder, I replied with a slightly amused tone. "Obviously. Do you know any other black cats made of literal shadows who can talk? But enough about that, we need to move. Now."

Thankfully the three of them didn't need much convincing beyond that when lo and behold a stranger broke through the rest of the crowd heading right for us. And even without my magical sixth sense it was painfully obvious he didn't belong here. Sure, Vlad hired bodyguards for the sake of keeping up appearances as a celebrity but this guy was wearing a standard security guard uniform instead of a black suit and tie like the rest of them.

Yeah, real smart move there not doing your homework buddy. I scoffed, almost embarrassed by how badly the guy stood out knowing I used to work for these losers.

Playing it cool, Sam lifted the shadow cat version of me off her shoulder and loudly asked. "You naughty kitty, did you sneak into my backpack again while I wasn't looking? Come on guys, we'd better get her out of here before we get in trouble."

"Y-yeah. Plus you know what they say about black cats and their bad luck!" Tucker laughed nervously, clearly out of his element.

Not that I can really blame him. In some cultures black cats are seen as omens of bad luck but there are far more out there that see these feline friends of ours as good luck instead. And I'm going to do my best to prove it by doing my part to help them avoid having Danny's secret exposed. Plus we'd need to work together to find out who that man is and why he was sent here to infiltrate the building.

Is he here to gather information? Or did the council have something much more sinister in mind...? Well we'd find out the answer to this question soon enough because I had a bad feeling there were a lot more where he came from on their way to join him...

Ducking around the first corner we came across, Sam, Tucker, and Danny glanced around real quickly while checking for cameras nearby before he used his powers to make us invisible. Unfortunately they learned the hard way you can't exactly turn a shadow invisible which made it look like there was a cat floating in midair so I wriggled free from Sam's grasp and silently began trotting off towards the stadium's parking garage. That seemed like the safest place to talk and slip away from that undercover member of the council who must have been an inexperienced newbie who had mistaken Danny's ghost powers for a sign of hidden magical potential buried deep inside him.

I couldn't tell if Danny and his friends were close by anymore so I had to trust they had kept following behind me. It wasn't until after we went around in circles a few times to lose the fake security guard for sure that I found a nice isolated area for us to talk and they finally became visible again.

And as soon as he confirmed that the coast was clear Danny told me the bad news that made my shadow's form waver and distort for a moment because I was so mad! Those jerks! I couldn't believe they had blamed an innocent old man of kidnapping just to buy them more time to get their grubby hands on Owen! As bad as they are the council has never resorted to kidnapping children before! Everyone I found for them who had a gift went willingly. At least, I thought they did but I guess I was wrong...

Then again I've been wrong about a lot of things.

"You don't think they're planning to abduct all the Mistveil kids before this charity event is over to make Vlad look bad, do you? With that fake security guard I mean." Tucker asked while thoughtfully tapping his chin. "No wait, if that were the case why would they straight up tell him Owen's being taken into protective custody afterwards? Did they only tell him that to stop Vlad from making Owen's adoption announcement public?"

"I think we all know from experience that Vlad's too powerful for anyone to go after directly so they went for the next best thing. Now it's up to us to look for evidence that this whole thing is a setup before they ship Owen and the others off to who knows where while finishing up their so-called 'police investigation.'" I said while my shadow form's tail began twitching restlessly. "In a worse case scenario they'll end up in another foster home that's directly under the council's control but if we're lucky they'll be taken to an emergency shelter instead. So let's make sure luck's on our side even if we have to help it along a little."

"Pfft, that's rich coming from someone running around as a black cat." Sam laughed quietly before becoming serious again. "Oh and by the way, thanks for the heads up earlier. I had no idea people with magical powers besides necromancers can sense ghosts too to some extent. I guess I still have a lot to learn about all this real life sorcery slash magic stuff."

Pacing around her ankles I looked up at Danny and insisted. "We'll have plenty of time to compare notes again later Sam, but right now we don't have much time. I'm just glad I listened to my gut and decided to risk poking my head in to check on you guys. Against my better judgment I just couldn't sit around and do nothing when Owen needs me. I may not be able to do much in this form but I'll help in any way I can, I owe it to him after playing such a big role in the council's scheming without realizing it."

Nodding Danny added. "Thanks Eris. I'm sure Owen'll appreciate it. I'd avoid talking to him right now though since he's not exactly taking the news very well..."

"Can you blame him? I'm sure you'd feel the same way if someone tried to take you away from your parents." I sighed, my heart going out to both of them. "Because the way I see it Vlad's already family, paperwork be damned."

"I hope you're right because I for one don't want to see Vlad go back to being a bad guy again to protect Owen like Kurst did because of this." Danny began, clenching his fists and looking down at my shadow form too. "Alright, since we're already here why don't we start by looking for clues in the social workers car? I bet Tucker can use his PDA to find out which one is theirs by their license plate registration number. And if we don't find anything useful in there then it's onto plan B. Aka secretly asking one of the other Mistveil kids if they know anything about what's going on with the director-"

Adjusting his glasses Tucker squared his shoulders and suddenly laughed, interrupting his best friend. "You know, you'd think I'd be used to all the mission impossible stuff we do by now but you sure love pushing my awesome hacking skills to the limit. Necromancers, secret societies, demons, witches, there's never a dull moment with you around Danny."

While Tucker was busy typing away now on his PDA, Sam turned to Danny then added confidently. "While you two are doing that Eris and I'll go find out where the other Mistveil kids are being kept since I'm sure they're still somewhere in the building, at least for now."

"I think so too. Just be careful not to get caught ok?" Danny said firmly and Sam just smiled at him, tapping on the bright green headphones in her ears which seemed to get the message across that she'd call if there was trouble.

Seeing them working together so easily and putting that much faith in each other made me a little jealous if I'm being honest. I used to trust the council would protect me and did everything they told me to to protect Owen only to find out later they were just using me to get closer to him. But someday if I can make up for all of the horrible things I've unknowingly been a part of, I'll be able to win back Owen's trust too.

Owen says he trusts me, and maybe he does, but at this point I don't trust myself much anymore to make the right decisions. All I can do is play it safe for now and leave the rest in far more capable hands than my own. So if I can't trust myself, I'll trust them instead. And of course I'll keep believing in Owen who's a better person than I'll ever be for worrying about others even though he's the one about to lose his chance at happiness all over again because of some other selfish prick.

Well not this time.

This time, Owen's not alone.

And neither am I.