Grabbing a quick snack, Danny settled onto his bed to do homework, textbooks and paper spread around him.
"Alright. Math worksheet. Bio vocab. Spanish notes card." The half ghost mused to himself, pointing at each assignment. "And… I need to read a chapter for Lancer and take notes." He scowled at the thought before shaking his head. The boy put his hand together, forcing himself to focus. "The easy stuff first. Then math. And… ugh, English."
Biology was pretty good, definitely his favorite subject right now. Plus it was easy; with his Mom's interest in biology and medicine, he'd known most of this by the time he was in fifth grade. Spanish…. Making the notecards and going over them a few times wasn't hard. The words lodged in his head, making a surprising amount of sense… Maybe he did have a knack for this.
Math was… math. Boring, a little difficult but…
"What did Mr. Faluca say in class on Friday…. Oh, that's right. First, you're supposed to…"
The memory flickered through Danny's mind. His two halves on this same bed, talking through the math together. The suggestion to keep the talking-to-himself up once they were back to normal…
A shrug. "Well, if it works, it works."
And it seemed to. Danny talked himself through the math, finishing in fifteen minutes. And then the English… the half ghost read the chapter, half-muttering down at the page. He opened his reading journal, first jotting down a summary. And then looking for different literary devices: allusions, symbolism, foreshadowing.
"What's the point?" He scowled down at the page. "It doesn't make any sense. What's with the red…. Wait." He flipped back a few pages in the notebook. "That was mentioned in the first chapter… Yeah!" He pointed out the sentence he'd written. "That was foreshadowing, wasn't it? And now…" Connections sparked, almost faster than Danny's tongue could fly. "Loneliness seems to be important. That's a theme, right?" A flurry of words, of jolting down thoughts. "That sounds familiar…. I bet that's referencing something… Wait! I remember now! It's…."
Ten minutes passed, the page full of words. "Alright. That's done." He closed the book with a thud. "So we've done…."
The sound of footsteps approaching the slightly ajar door…
"Bio. Spanish. Math's done. And English. That was all, right" He nodded, counting on his fingers. "Right. And…" Danny glanced at the clock, eyes widening. "An hour and a half! We got that done in less than two hours!" A flicker of orange at the door…. "Good job, Danny!" The half ghost turned, eyes bright and one hand up for a high five….
Eyes falling on nothing, his expression fell, a complex feeling flickering in his core. "Oh."
"Are you okay?"
Danny jerked his head at the noise. There was his sister, standing in the doorway. "How long were you standing there?"
"Just a few seconds. Mom wanted your help with dinner." Her expression softened, concern in her eyes as she repeated. "Are you okay?"
The boy blushed. "Yeah, I… I'm okay. I just… forgot for a second there."
That worry just seemed to deepen. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Danny considered for just a moment. He could say no; he kinda wanted to…. Shaking his head, he dismissed the impulse, instead patting the bed beside him. "Yeah. I'll talk about it."
Jazz closed the door while the half ghost cleared the bed for her. The older sister sat. "What do you mean you forgot for a second there?"
"I guess…." The boy frowned, brow furrowed. "I kinda forgot I wasn't still split."
The girl blinked, concern flickering to confusion. "You forgot… that? How could you manage to forget something like that?"
"I was split for a month, Jazz. I guess…" He crossed his legs under him, sitting criss-cross on the bed. "By the end there, I think I… we were almost used to it. I mean, being split wasn't fun. It definitely wasn't good for me. But we… Fenton and Phantom were making do, I guess." A shrug. "And…" Danny bit his lip. "We talked to each other… er.. Ourself through the homework all the time. Sitting on the bed doing that just felt familiar."
"Danny…." That worry was back. "Should I be worried about the… pronoun swapping?"
The halfa could read between the lines of that question. "I'm only one person, Jazz. There's just one of me here, I promise." He sighed. "It's just…" He rubbed his head. "Actually figuring out how to talk about it out loud is hard."
Danny had thought about what he'd experienced while split, that first night after merging while floating in front of the portal. In his head, it made sense. He'd been split in half. He had two sets of memories for the past month, both of which were equally his, equally him. But actually verbalizing that…
"I think you should try." Jazz offered gently.
"You would." The boy rolled his eyes, a hint of a smile on his face.
"I'm serious." The girl poked him. "On Saturday, you said you remembered everything. But it kind of felt like you'd been gone for a while. Do you think you can talk about that?"
"Yes." Danny said simply, letting the word hang in the air.
Jazz gave him a look that screamed, 'really?'
"Alright. Alright." He held up his hands, surrendering; he should stop being difficult on purpose. He sighed. "I do remember everything that happened from both perspectives. But still… it doesn't quite feel like I was there."
"Like they feel like someone else's memories?" His sister offered.
"No." The half ghost shook his head. "That's not it. It's…" He sucked in air through his teeth. "Phantom and Fenton were both me. And still are. Those are just names I gave to each of my forms. I am both of them but… I'm more than that too." Danny furrowed his brow. "When I was split, I…we… my two halves… they knew they were incomplete. Even if both of me, Fenton and Phantom, were sitting here, side by side," He motioned vaguely to the spot on the bed beside him. "completely on the same page, in sync, agreeing on everything…. There still was something missing. Fenton and Phantom together… that still… that still wasn't me. I'm… more than that." He rubbed his full chest. "So in a way… I wasn't really there then. Even though I was."
Jazz's face scrunched up, still focused in thought.
The boy deflated slightly, legs unfolding and pulling to his chest. "Sorry. I guess that still doesn't make any sense."
"No." The girl shook her head, a hand reaching out to rest over his. "You make sense… even if I don't understand. I don't think I ever really can. But I know how unhappy your two halves were to be split. Phantom you told me you feel incomplete, like you weren't a whole person." She squeezed his hand. "But you're back as one person now. And I know how happy you've been because of that. If you say you're finally back, that you feel like yourself again, then that's good enough for me."
The boy smiled softly. "Thanks Jazz." He turned his hand over, palm meeting hers. "You've really been the best sister. I…I can't even tell you how much you helped both of me when I was separated. I wouldn't have gotten here if it wasn't for you."
His big sister had done so much. She yelled at their parents for him, convincing them to rethink their ghost bias and actually see Phantom as part of their son. She talked to his ghost half and encouraged him to make things right with his human side. She was there after the ghost catcher blew up, when he'd finally broken down over Mom's avoidance of his ghost side. She checked on him after Mom apologized after their fight, reassuring him that he wasn't a bad son for not being ready to accept the woman's apology yet. (That apology…. something niggled in his mind). And after his halves had talked about the accident, mourning their own death, she'd comforted him. Jazz had been the first one Phanom had told about that first week, about him thinking he was an imposter.
So much had happened and Jazz had been there through it all.
The boy lowered his legs and spread his arms out, leaning forward for a hug. His sister accepted it. "Thank you Jazz." He repeated.
"You're welcome." The girl squeezed him tighter. "I love you little brother."
"I love you too." Danny returned.
The two stayed like that for a long moment, arms around each other. Then with a heavy breath, the half ghost lowered his arms, pulling away. "Alright. That's enough mushiness for today."
Jazz let him leave the hug, rolling her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with talking about your feelings."
"I never said there was." The halfa stuck out his tongue. "But I can still only take so much."
His sister stood up, shaking her head. "Come on then. We still need to see Mom about dinner."
"Coming. Coming." Danny rolled his eyes.
Jazz hurried to the door as the boy stood. Down the second floor hall and the stairs. The living room. The kitchen. Excited voices carried up from the basement.
The half ghost reached to open the door but… a hand rested on his shoulder. He turned to his sister, a brow raised.
"If you want to talk about it more, you can ask me. Anytime you need."
Danny's face softened, his reply not the excuse they would have been just a month ago, but completely real, trusting, authentic. "I know."
His sister's eyes shone with pride.
"You're saying, because the portal is on top of Danny's lair, it's in his territory." Mom asked. "So that makes it a privileged, permission-restricted area?"
"As in… other ghosts can't enter without Danno's okay." Dad said.
"Well, it's not that they can't…" Sidney pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Entering without permission is highly frowned upon. And doing so repeatedly will get you in trouble with Walker. Most of the time, the resident ghost beats up or scares off the intruder…"
Well… Danny had been planning to talk to Mom about dinner. But of course everyone got distracted. It's a wonder Jazz hadn't stomped down yet, wondering what was taking them so long.
"But that's just unspoken societal rules keeping interlopers out." The woman's brow furrowed.
"You mentioned doors earlier, with phase-proof paint." The ghostly nerd pointed out. "Infinite Realms paint would probably do the trick; ghosts can only phase through things in the material realm." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You would need something to trade for it… Material Realm goods fetch a good price." He looked to Danny. "And you could try shaping the lair so it hides the portal at least partially."
The half ghost sat up more fully, attention drawn. "What do you mean, shape the lair?"
Sidney tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly like he couldn't believe the question. "You're already almost as strong as me and you're only two months old, buster. Of course you'll be able to manipulate its form once your lair settles."
"By-passing the two months old comment…" Danny blushed at the words. "Lairs can be changed like that? I thought… I don't know… they just came pre-made and stayed like that."
"Oh." Sidney nodded, apparently getting the misunderstanding. "It does take a considerable amount of time and effort but it can be done. I never bothered to do much with my own lair, besides make myself a bedroom. I'll show it to you next time you come over."
"So I can probably do something like that too…" Danny's eyes widened. "How do I even do that though? Is it just supposed to, what, come naturally? Or could you teach me?"
"I could help." Sidney nodded. "You would be able to make a bigger change sooner that way as well." He smiled slightly. "I've never been a part of making one but I know that's how some of the larger islands form: groups of ghosts working together to form free-floating rocks into a kind of communal lair. That's how the Acropolis and Far Frozen originated, according to the histories in the Library at least."
"What are the Acropolis and Far Frozen?" Danny asked.
That tail-spinned the conversation into another direction. Sometime later….
"...And that's why it's called the Carnivorous Cannon." Sidney finished.
Danny's stomach growled, earning an embarrassed chuckle from the boy. "Okay. We really need to go figure out dinner now."
"I should head back to my lair." The ghostly nerd gave a nod, floating back towards the portal.
"Yeah. Bye.. Oh!" The half ghost's eyes flickered to the jars still sitting on the tables. "Let's plant these before you go."
"Of course." Sidney nodded, eyes widening in remembrance. "They won't be happy if they have to stay in those jars much longer."
"I'll get the gardening tools!" Dad offered brightly, already digging through the closest. "Here we go!" He slung the bag onto the table, contents on display. Shears, trowels. A hand fork and weeder. Even gloves and a knee pad.
Danny blinked. "Why do you have these down here?" In the basement, far away from any dirt…
Mom gave a casual wave. "You know us, Danny. Always prepared."
The boy shook his head, chuckling. "Sure. I guess." He turned back to Sidney, reaching for one of the jars, but suddenly paused. "I should transform."
Danny summoned the ring, light flickering out once before passing over him. Now in ghost form, he floated off the ground. He took the tiger shrub cutting and with his ghostly friend, passed through the portal. Mom and Dad followed.
Sidney surveyed the dirt for a few seconds, drifting closer to the edge. "Right here is perfect." He knelt, placing his own jar down before patting the spot beside him meaningfully. "Let's do the tiger shrub first."
Danny lowered himself to the ground, handing over his own jar. "Here you go."
The nerd unscrewed the lid, placing it to the side. His head turned up, looking towards the half ghost's dad. "Mr. Fenton, can I have the garden trowel please?"
"Here you go, kiddo." The man handed it over.
The ghost accepted, using the tool to dig a small hole. "This is good soil." He hummed, pleased. "Loamy, not very compact." He ran his fingers through the upturned dirt. "A little dry but it's not too bad."
With that comment, Sidney gently lifted the plant cutting out of the jar. He placed the small portion of soil, thick with roots, into the hole, and with his hands brushed the dirt back into place around it. Again, Danny was reminded of Sam, of watching her care for her plants and helping her in her greenhouse.
The other ghost sat back slightly, studying the cutting. "See, easy." He turned to look at Danny. "Now you just need to water it."
"Oh." The half ghost turned his head up from the plant. A glance back at the portal. "I can go get some water from the house…"
Sidney shook his head. "It's a Realms plant. It needs water from here."
"But… where?" Danny looked around, wide-eyed. But there was no water here…
"Here is the first lesson on shaping your lair." The ghostly nerd reached out a hand, grabbing Danny's. "Place your hand over the soil like this, palm down."
The half ghost did so, questioning gaze flickering from the ground to his friend. "So… what do I do?"
Sidney smiled encouragingly. "Things are malleable here, not like in the Material Realm. They're shaped by thoughts, feelings, intentions, as much or more than by the normal rules of cause and effect. And here, this place. This is your lair. Your home. It's an extension of you, a part of you. It reacts to your mind."
Danny's eyes widened. He saw where this was going…
His friend continued. "So tell it what you need. Focus on it. Picture it in your mind. And the lair will draw from the matter and energy around to make it."
Danny closed his eyes. "Alright. I need to water this plant so…. I need a watering can. With plenty of water…." He tried to picture it in his head. The shape of it, the weight, the texture….. There was a strange, fuzzy feeling at the edge of his perception.
Surprised, excited voices behind him. "Madds, look!" "Shh. Jack!"
He needed to focus. The square shape of the body. White plastic with some kind of floral design. A spout coming out. The water inside: liquid, not too cold or too warm.
The fuzzy feeling swirled, solidifying. There was something under his hand…
Danny's eyes popped open. "I did it." The words filled with awe. There, sitting in a slight depression in the ground, was a perfectly formed watering can. Tentatively, the boy reached out for the object, fingers wrapping around the handle. He lifted; it was heavy, solid, real. He tipped it, slack jawed as slightly green water gently poured out. "I can't believe I did that!"
"Nifty work, pal." Sidney congratulated.
Dad patted him on the shoulder. "Good job, son!"
The halfa beamed. "Thanks!"
The two ghosts returned to working on the plants. Danny carefully opened the second jar, holding some kind of viney plant; Spotted squa-pump-chini is what his friend had called it, right?
"Tiger Shrub needs lots of space." The ghostly nerd said. "Let's plant the squash a little farther away."
The halfa dug the hole, pulled out the plant, buried the roots, and watered it. Moving another few feet over, the process was repeated with the midnight arugula. All plants in the ground, the two ghosts stood, surveying their work.
"It looks great, sweetie." Mom approached, wrapping an arm around her son in a half hug.
Danny returned the gesture. "Yeah, it does." Smiling in satisfaction, his eyes flitted from plant to plant. Each so small and delicate now but…. He could picture it, over months of time. Plants growing and spreading, multiplying. His little island, no longer bare. "It's gonna look awesome once the lair's done. I'm thinking, a dome over the top, like a greenhouse." He motioned above him. "And see that staircase. The door to the actual house will be down there so everything's underground… kinda like a hobbit hole from Lord of the Rings. Super cozy." He started counting off on his fingers. "It'll have my bedroom. A kitchen, living room, game room. And guest bedrooms! One for Sidney, at least. And maybe I'll make some other ghost friends…" He pictured Dora, fleeing from her brother and needing a refuge. Maybe Johnny and Kitty would stop by; the biker dude seemed to like him at least. "It'll be a cool place to hang out."
Dad slapped him heartily on the back. "You'll have your own little place in no time!" His eyes flickered to the watering can. "And check that out." He stepped forward, eagerly lifting the object. "It feels just like a real watering can!"
Mom wrapped her hand around the spout, eyes widening. "It does. And you made this."
Danny blushed. "Not really. I mean, I just asked the lair to make it."
His parents' excitement failed to wane. "It's still incredible." The woman's eyes shining with pride. "You're going to do so many amazing things here, Danny."
The ghost boy's heart twisted, a burst of complex feelings but… "Really?" That was hope.
Mom nodded and Dad agreed. "I just know it."
They sounded so proud of him. And the words… that was an acknowledgement for what he had realized to be true. His core hummed, pleased and content. That this was his lair, his home as much as Fentonwork. And what's more…. He was a ghost, a resident of the Realms; this was his world too.
"Thanks Mom and Dad." Danny wedged himself between his parents, an arm around each. "Thanks for working so hard to understand. I love you guys. And…" He'd reminded himself of it earlier, the words heavy in his heart. Making the decision, his voice quieted, earnest eyes fixed on his Mom. "I accept your apology."
For just a moment, the woman startled, a flicker of hurt…
The boy blushed. "I wasn't sure if I actually said it before but…. I forgive you Mom. I want to put that fight, when I ran away, behind us. All of that, all of it…" He motioned vaguely, shaking his head. "It's in the past, where it's going to stay."
The last of that icy hurt chipped away, something in his core finally sliding into place.
His mom wrapped both arms around him, the sensation so much fuller, so much greater than when it had been both his halves clinging to her in a hug. "Thank… thank you, Danny." A hint of a sniffle but he felt her muscles relax, could almost see the weight lifted off her shoulders. "Thank you."
They stayed like that for a long minute. Then…
Over his mom's shoulder, Danny caught a glimpse of black-and-white, awkward shuffling. Embarrassed, he pulled away.
Mom turned around, towards what he was looking at, brow furrowed in question.
"Oh. Uh… Sidney. I forgot you were still here." The half ghost rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's alright." His friend smiled understandingly. "You were having a moment."
There was a hint of sadness, of longing there. A second of wondering then… the memory. Sidney had said he wished he'd been able to talk to his parents, when Danny told him about the fight with his mom and making up.
Danny didn't comment, instead drifting forward, eyes full of compassion. "Well, thanks for waiting. And thanks for everything." He held up his fist for a fist pump.
The ghostly nerd quickly caught on this time, raising his fist. "You're welcome, pal. I'm happy to help. I will see you on Friday?"
The half ghost nodded. "I can come to your locker after school. We'll talk more about plans for the library. And how to change my lair."
"Ghost Zone Field trip!" Dad cheered, rejoining the conversation. He took his wife's hand, the two meeting eyes for just a second before continuing. "We need to design some kind of vehicle to navigate. A blimp? A jet? Oh! A submarine!"
"And communications equipment. Maybe some kind of bluetooth headset?" Mom offered, excitement rising.
"We can set up satellites to ping the signals off of. What if we set up a dish on the Zone side and connect it to a receiver in the lab through the portal?"
"They're going to be making blueprints the rest of the night." Danny stage-whispered to his friend.
"Of course we won't." Mom waved him off.
"Yeah! We need to get dinner!" Dad exclaimed. "And there's a new episode of Spector Hunters tonight."
"It's not Monday night if we don't get to insult… I mean critique, other… researchers."
The ghost boy rolled his eyes. "Only if I get to watch the new Supernatural too."
"That's just as bad." The woman complained, raising her hands.
"Come on. It's a good show. I mean… this season hasn't been that good but…"
Sidney chuckled at banter. "I'm going to go. See you on Friday, Danny."
"Bye, Sidney." Danny waved. "I'm invested. I have to see what happened. And last week…"
With that, the ghostly nerd flew away, leaving the family to debate (and insult each other) about their preferred shows.
"Okay, okay." A short trip through the portal found the three back in the lab. Danny summoned the rings, feet softly landing on the metal floor. "We'll watch both."
"You guys are supposed to tell me if you go somewhere."
The boy turned at Jazz's annoyed voice. "Oh. Sorry." He smiled sheepishly.
"I knew I should have gone down here with Danny instead of going to work on my thesis." She rolled her eyes. "It's almost eight."
The half ghost glanced at the wall clock. "We were talking for that long?" Then he asked. "What can we make fast, Mom?"
"We have cans of soup in the pantry and plenty of ingredients for sandwiches."
"Sounds good to me."
Soup and sandwiches were served around the table. Danny ate on the tiger fruits his friend had brought. Then the family gathered for evening tv.
Even with the blob ghost claiming one of the couch cushions, the scene was cozy, safe, familiar. Danny remembered: Phantom's feet draped over Fenton's lap, Fenton, half laying on Phantom. His core purred contentedly. Satisfied, intertwined, nestled in its place beside his heart. He was both. Both were him. But… he was also more. He was whole.
Drown in a contented kind of tiredness, Danny watched the credits roll.
His ghost sense went off, blue mist billowing past his lips. He sat up, suddenly more aware. All eyes fixed on him, eager and expectant for explanation.
"There's a ghost." The boy stood. "I should see what it is. It…" brows furrowed… "Feels familiar? Maybe like that ectopus I sent back through the portal."
A hint of worry, of doubt from his parents. But… "Make sure to take the thermos, sweetie."
"I'll be fast." Danny summoned the rings, his core buzzing pleasantly. And… "Yes!" The light spread smoothly, the ghostly chill expanding, blooming effortlessly. In his core, something had at last realigned….
Finally, on the first try, he transformed.