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

Note: And here it is, the moment we've all been waiting for! Well, I hope you've been hoping for this anyway and that's finally getting a bit more info about the council since they're going to be the main antagonists in the sequel leading up to the confrontation with Lilith soon after. Hopefully I didn't give too much away but yeah, we're getting close now to finally setting the stage for the sequel and wrapping things up. Owen was able to finally put some old ghosts to rest both figuratively and literally in some ways, but there is more for him to discover about his past and the destiny Death laid out for him. Still, whatever happens next Owen has Vlad's love and support as well as new friends like Danny, Sam, and Tucker who'll do their best to be there to back him up no matter what comes their way!

Chapter 38: Butterfly Effect

Owen's POV

Abruptly ending the call with Danny, Vlad turned to me with a fiery determination in his eyes and said. "Owen, I know this isn't what you want to hear but nevertheless if we are to succeed in thwarting their plans we must act accordingly. Regardless of whether or not they already know the full extent of your powers yet I don't want you to use them for anything but self-defense, understand? We mustn't fall for any more of the council's tricks since they clearly have plenty of ways of telling exactly where or when you use them."

I opened my mouth to argue with him but Vlad held up his hand, shook his head, then continued with a dastardly smirk. "But don't worry my boy, you'll still be able to help all of us by putting on a good show and letting them think they've gained the upper hand because obviously we don't want to give them any reason to believe we're onto them. That way we can keep the council's attention on us long enough for Daniel to bring back some tangible evidence we can use against them to blast a few large holes in this ridiculous narrative of theirs."

"That shouldn't be too hard since I'm freaking pissed right now." I snarled, fuming at the injustice of it all. "It doesn't matter what the police have been told I know the director is innocent! You've seen it too right? You've seen how much he cares about everyone at Mistveil, even weirdos like me. Plus the whole reason he converted that center for troubled teens into a group home is because that's what his late wife wanted. She couldn't have kids of her own so they just sort of became the resident surrogate grandparents in the neighborhood or so I've been told. There's no way he'd go around randomly kidnapping kids like this."

Resisting the urge to punch an actual hole in the wall I dropped into the nearest chair and sighed heavily. As much as I hated sitting on the sidelines while everyone else did the heavy lifting I knew Vlad was right. The best way for me to help them was keeping up the act long enough for Danny and the others to collect the info we'll need to launch our first counterattack against the council...

So with that I picked myself back up again then made the hard decision to do as I was told and leave the rest in their capable hands. Of course I could tell right away he was just as angry as I was, but Vlad was a lot better at hiding it than I was. Or maybe he was just fed up with the council's interference in our lives and wanted nothing more than to make them regret underestimating him. The most I could do was put on a brave face, hoping Danny, Sam, and Tucker would find something we could use against them quickly because I didn't want to go back into the system again even if it was only temporary.

Then there's Eris. I'm worried about her because as far as the rest of the world is concerned she's still a missing person. But at the same time we know her parents are still alive and if they're as close to the council as she claims it might be too dangerous for Eris to come out of hiding just to testify against her 'real' kidnapper, Kurst. And even if she did that might not be enough to clear the director's name. Either way we need to find out what really happened to the other missing kids, preferably before anyone else ends up disappearing.

Myself included.

Once we stepped back into the limelight Vlad refused to take his eyes off me even for a second. Not that I can blame him. And from what I can tell none of the other guests had a clue that one of the group homes he pledged to donate to was under investigation or it was specifically the one I'm from. They were all just curious what it's really like living inside a castle so for the most part I told them the truth, that almost every room was filled with this or that and its easy to get lost if you don't know what to look for.

I did have to lie about the sort of 'fun activities' we did together while I was visiting Vlad's mansion since I couldn't exactly tell them I've been learning how to control the ancient power of necromancy, fighting evil spirits, wraiths, and spent the majority of my time combing through a genuine spell book Vlad just so happened to buy a few years before we met that historically belongs to my ancestors. Thankfully I had plenty of practice from before making it seem like I'm a perfectly normal teenage boy who got to enjoy a once in a million chance to enjoy the finer things in life for the past two weeks. The only thing that wasn't hard for me to express is how grateful I am to Vlad for the opportunity to get to know him better.

The part I hated the most about pretending I'll be going right back into the foster care system is that it brought back a lot of painful memories for me. Memories of getting so close to finally being part of a family again only to have it ripped away from me at the last second. And Vlad must have felt the same way I did when that social worker told him we'll have to say our goodbyes after the charity event is over but we're not about to let this nightmare become a reality. Not after making it this far together.

Anyways, after a while I decided to leave the rest of the talking to Vlad and wandered over to the snack table which the catering company had just finished restocking to tide people over until tonight's closing banquet. I wasn't exactly hungry per-say, mostly thirsty after talking so much so I helped myself to some sparkling cherry limeade while making sure to stay within Vlad's supernaturally strong eyesight. There were a lot of people around, but at least I could tune out most of their emotions if someone got too close to me unlike before where it'd hit me hard like a sudden wave of nausea if they were especially negative.

Pretty much everyone seemed to be in a good mood apart from a few cranky kids here and there who wanted either to go back to play a few more games or gorge themselves on snacks which their parents said no to because it'd spoil the banquet. Can't argue with them there since I got to try a few of the dishes they're serving tonight and can safely say they were incredible. That's Vlad for you though, always going above and beyond to prove his superiority when it comes to taste...

Speaking of taste I wound up walking around to the other side of the table to grab something to nibble on after all because the bacon-wrapped mac-n-cheese bites smelled too good to resist fresh out of the oven. I was about to take a bite out of one when I saw someone waving at me out of the corner of my eye and turned around. It was Danny, Sam, and Tucker and it looked like he had something in his hand that I couldn't quite make out from where I was standing.

They already knew I could see them regardless of whether or not Danny made them invisible so Sam pointed behind me at Vlad before gesturing for us to come closer and giving me a thumbs up. Judging from the impish smile on her face I assumed that meant the stealth mission we sent them on had been successful. I would have nodded back in response, but since that might have looked weird I hastily finished the rest of my drink, stuffed the snack I grabbed earlier in my mouth, and made my way back over to Vlad.

He must have sensed Danny's presence nearby too so Vlad politely excused himself as soon as we locked eyes before anyone else could drag him into another long-winded conversation about who knows what. Afterwards we headed straight down the hallway, followed the others into an empty room and locked the door behind us just in case. After a minute or two Danny dropped their invisibility, floated back to the ground, and transformed back to his usual self.

"My, don't you three look awfully pleased with yourselves? I trust that means you've found something we can use?" Vlad asked, giving Danny in particular an expectant look.

"Oh yeah. We found out a lot more than I thought we would after a certain someone lent us a paw." Danny winked in response and nudged Tucker with his elbow. "Go ahead and give it to him. I'm sure Vlad'll be able to make more sense of that legal stuff than we can. Well, you and me anyway since Sam was able to figure out the meaning behind some of it."

Smoothing out the slightly crumpled papers in his hand Tucker handed them over to Vlad and explained. "Believe it or not we found these stuffed into a garbage can with Eris's help. Well, a shadow cat version of her anyway. Guess they figured with all the foot traffic going on around here no one would think twice about a couple pieces of scrap paper or at least something that looks like nothing but trash at first glance."

Blinking in surprise I asked. "Hold on, Eris was here? But I thought-" Shaking my head though I laughed, adding. "What am I saying? Of course she was. When Eris sets her sights on a goal there's no talking her out of it. I just hope whatever secret witchy technique she used this time didn't wear her out too much."

Hands placed firmly on her hips Sam snickered. "Guess that's something the two of us have in common besides both having black hair and loving all things dark and Gothic. But yeah, unfortunately Eris had to leave when another one of those council dorks got a little too close for comfort. She did leave a message for you though. I believe her exact words were 'I'd better not catch you moping around next time I see you Owen or else you'll never hear the end of it. This isn't the end of the world so don't be so melodramatic.'"

"Ha, that sounds about right." I smiled weakly, knowing this kind of message was all part of Eris's unique way of cheering me up.

Glancing over Vlad's shoulder I read what was on the first page and it seemed to be part of a registry listing all of the foster kids currently living in Mistveil. My name was probably written down somewhere in there too along with everyone who had been in the middle of the adoption process before the director was accused of kidnapping. I could recognize most of the names and faces on the list, but still, something didn't feel right. Why would someone throw this away in such a public place...? Wouldn't that count as incriminating evidence?

Without a second thought Vlad casually handed the small wrinkled pile of papers over to me after he finished flipping through them himself and committed everything to memory. But as soon as the registry was placed in my hands all of a sudden their voices faded out of focus as well as the rest of the room and I immediately knew what was happening. It meant I was being pulled into a vision whether I liked it or not because one of the people who had held these papers before any of us had left a strong imprint of their emotions attached to them, like a sort of psychic fingerprint. And all I could do, was patiently watch history repeat itself before my eyes.

The darkness eventually began to dissipate piece by piece in the form of black butterflies until a blue flame rippled across their delicate wings, turning them a familiar cerulean blue and illuminating the area around me. After they flew out of sight I found myself standing in the middle of a circular room with a ornate executive desk made of black lacquered oak with a stained glass window towering over it. And sitting at that desk was an imposing figure whose face was hidden beneath the cowl of a royal blue Gregorian styled cloak talking to another dressed in a similar one. Although theirs was noticeably worn down and made of a cheaper fabric.

The stranger at the desk handed the same pile of papers I held in my hands in reality to the person standing in front of them and said harshly. "Tell the others to ready themselves at once. I want these children brought before me and the rest of the council immediately for appraisal. Especially the Ravenwood boy now that he's back from his little 'field trip.'"

"Sir, are you sure about this? We were able to shift the blame this once to the old man, but if more children start to go missing-" the second figure argued feebly, earning a sharp glare from their superior that sent a shiver up my spine.

"We no longer have the luxury of idly watching them from afar in search of the smallest hint that they are gifted and not just attention seeking brats pretending to have any sort of real power." The figure behind the desk hissed menacingly. "But this time the signs are all there. It has been written in the stars that Death's Proxy has returned to us at long last and I think the others will agree that getting him back under our control is well worth the risk considering what else is to come in the near future. Now go. You have a job to do and I have an important ritual to prepare for."

Bowing their head low the council's henchman hurriedly scurried past me, or rather through me since this was only a memory and the rest of my vision was nothing but a dizzying mess of one memory bleeding into another in small fragments apart from that first portion which they only seemed to remember with such clarity out of fear. The fear of what would happen if they disobeyed or failed their mission. Personally I wanted to go straight back to the round room where the person in charge had been giving out orders, but I couldn't because I had to continue down memory lane with the one who had been given said orders in the first place since it was their past I was witnessing. Deep down this person felt horribly guilty about going to such extremes to bring back more potential recruits into their happy little cult, however, that clearly wasn't enough to change their mind.

From what I could tell there were at least seven people in total including the owner of this memory who were given a task and a disguise to wear to help them infiltrate the stadium. Meanwhile the leader of the group made sure to memorize the list their superior gave them before carelessly pitching it in the trashcan since they had been given a forged version of the Mistveil registry to switch out with the real one. Either that or they were secretly hoping someone would catch onto their plan and stop them before it's too late.

Once I reached that last trace of memory where the registry had been left abandoned in the garbage the vision pretty much stopped there. Then reality came rushing back into focus so fast it almost gave me whiplash. In fact, I wasn't sure I had completely snapped out of it until Danny asked with a concerned look on his face. "Owen? You ok there buddy? Your eyes went all glossy there for a second."

"I'm fine, I think. It's been a while since I've been sucked into a vision like that." I admitted, still a bit disoriented from the whole experience. Then I told them every I heard, saw, and felt and Vlad gave me strict orders to stay put just before he teleported away to do who knows what. We didn't have much to go on to besides what Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Eris found out or what little information I could make out from the unexpected vision but still, if nothing else I was glad not to be in this alone anymore.

It gave me confidence that someday I'll be able to tell them what the Shadow of Death revealed to me and that together we might be able to end this vicious cycle once and for all. Maybe then I'll finally be able to live my own life again free from one evil plot or another, free from the fear of losing the people I care about, and free to discover who I am for myself without anyone trying to do it for me. But most of all, I wanted to be free to truly start over with Vlad so we can both finally heal and find something better to live for that no one can ever take away from us...