Santa Prisca
July 1 11:49 UTC+2
Danny wasn't exactly sure where they were. One minute they were on a plane, the next he was escorted into some new facility that had sand and pieces of old ruins lying around, and it smelled like the ocean.
If he had to guess- knowing his luck? Some remote island, if the plants were any clue. But what did he know? He got a C minus in Geography before he left Casper High.
He sighed out loud as he decided to sit on the floor of his new cell/room, fatigue getting the better of him.
This one wasn't as well furnished as the other one, and by that, there was literally only one piece of furniture, a metal framed bed. It was basically a concrete room with two metal ghost-proof doors, one leading to a small bathroom, the other to the rest of the facility. Though the lack of cameras was a plus.
The teen rested his back against the wall opposite the door leading to the rest of the facility as he started to brainstorm a new escape plan.
'As much as I love the beach, being on an island in who knows where, is going to prove difficult to get off of. Sure I can fly pretty fast, but how long would I have to fly for? My health isn't exactly at its best and fighting our way out just to have to worry about not dropping Marduk or falling into the middle of the ocean isn't exactly the most ideal solution.'
A barely noticeable chill went down his spine.
He let out a more irritated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'This is so stupid, I should've just left when I got the chance. I could've just grabbed Marduk and made a run for it, but no, you just had to investigate further didn't you, Fenton? Now you're sick, tired, and stuck in a concrete cell with a cold draft probably on some remote-'
His thoughts came to a screeching halt and the ringing in his ears became much more prominent. The walls and doors were sealed tight. There were no windows or vents for a draft to come though. He doesn't get cold.
This time the chill that went down his spine made him gasp and his blood ran cold as his ghost sense manifested in front of him.
"Why now?" he muttered out loud as concern made its way onto his features.
Danny stood up slowly and watched the room closely as he looked for any signs of the ghost.
After a minute, he wondered if maybe he was just being paranoid until he heard a faint whispering.
His eyes narrowed as he trained his advanced hearing toward the whispers, attempting to make out what they were saying. The Halfa stood deadly still as he listened, but the only thing he was able to hone in on was that there was more than one ghost.
"Who are you?" Danny asked sternly.
The whispers faded for a moment, and the teen thought for a second he might've scared them off. But after a beat or two one of the whispers became more coherent.
"You do not belong here… Leave!"
Back when he first started in Amity Park, he would've considered that a threat and immediately would've gotten ready for a fight. But knowing what he did now, he picked up on a few things. One, they were keeping their distance, choosing to stay invisible. Which could mean they were more scared than upset. Two, there was no ghostly aura, meaning these were lower-level ghosts, or more accurately, spirits. Lastly, they didn't immediately know who he was, which meant these were probably location-based spirits that likely passed away in the area.
Danny's expression softened as he looked around the room. "I did not mean to disturb your space. I apologize, but I am being held here against my will and currently have no way of leaving."
The whispers conversed again, nothing coherent enough for the teen to make out, but the confusion and irritation were easily identifiable.
"Why?" asked the same spirit from before.
Danny sighed, mostly to himself, "I wish I knew… the men holding me captive may provide you with more answers than I can," he offered as he rubbed the back of his neck.
He could sense their irritation growing and frowned in thought as he debated on how to further de-escalate the situation.
"Would you guys mind telling me where we are? The men that are holding me captive didn't exactly share an itinerary," he asked sheepishly,
There was a brief pause as the spirits talked amongst each other. Their tones a mix of suspicion and confusion.
"You are where the Shrine of Atabey once was. Towards the center of the island, her beloved shrine still stands, though it has not been used in many a year. The invaders have torn down much and replaced much of the sacred ground with gray rock and metal beings," explained the spirit.
Danny frowned at the news but was quick to correct himself and smiled appreciatively. "I had a sneaking suspicion I was on an island. Thank you, and what may I call you?"
The whispering spirits' irritation lessened as their tones shifted to intrigue and excitement.
"We are but souls that have remained. What few of us are left do not remember such things."
The teen nodded in understanding. "Well, I have to call you something. Would you be alright if I gave you a name?"
The whispers grew as excited tones mixed with hesitant ones.
"What would you call us, young one?" the same spirit asked.
Danny shrugged. "Not sure but I'm sure I can think of something if you'd allow me to."
The whispers debated amongst each other for a few beats, before the voice of the same spirit came forward again. "And what would you want in exchange for this?" he asked, suspicion clear in his tone.
He blinked before coughing to cover up a laugh. "Nothing, nothing at all. I just think it's rude to call all of you 'spirit'. Names would help me better understand who I'm talking to."
They exchanged words yet again, yet the atmosphere felt lighter than before.
"We have decided that we will accept your gift. Though I am the one who speaks for all, your gift of naming shall be greatly treasured."
Danny smiled brightly. "Cool. Then how does-" he gasped and hunched in on himself as he felt the sharp pain in his core again. He stumbled back and braced himself against the wall as he gritted his teeth.
"Back away!" He shouted with panicked green eyes.
The whispers grew fearful but headed his warning not but a second too late as a wave of ectoenergy and ice shot outwards with an explosive force. The wave of power shook the room, the ice climbing up the corners of the walls with a dangerous blue glow.
The Halfa shakily held himself against the wall as beads of sweat trailed down his face.
There were a few beats of silence before the spirit whispers were heard yet again.
"What are you, Naming One?" The main spirit asked unsurely.
Danny chuckled bitterly as he opened his eyes and they flashed green. "A very important prisoner."
CHINK! SCREE!
The sound of the door unlocking and opening startled the half-ghost and caused the whispers to fall silent.
"Danny?" a familiar baritone voice asked unsurely.
The half-ghost let out a small sigh of relief and he quickly straightened his posture to try to hide his fatigue.
"Hey Marduk, how was the flight?" the teen asked with a small smile.
Marduk looked around the room after his escorts shut the door behind him. "Not first-class, though I have no complaints." The man looked around the room again with a frown. "Were you speaking with someone?
Danny froze as he debated telling the man about the spirits. On one hand, he didn't exactly want to lie to his new friend. On the other hand, he also didn't want to look crazy in front of his new friend. But then again… his friend is an immortal who decided to befriend the living equivalent of Schrodinger's cat. Probably couldn't get weirder than that…
The teen waved it off as he gestured for the man to take a seat on the bed. "Just talking to some local spirits that decided to pay me a visit," he answered casually.
"Oh? What did they have to say?" He inquired as he sat on the edge of the bed.
'Wow, he didn't even question it…' The Halfa chuckled to himself. It's kind of refreshing having a friend who doesn't question everything and just rolls with it.
Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with a frown as he recalled his previous conversation. "Not much. It took them a minute to warm up to just try to threaten me, let alone have a conversation with me. The only thing I could get before you got here was that we're on an island with some ancient shrine that's pretty much been lost to time. What about you? Got any idea where we are?"
The man hummed in thought for a minute as he seemed to be studying the teen's face. "Based on the landmarks I recalled while we were still flying, I believe we are located somewhere in the Caribbean."
"At least you got window seats- Wait- the Caribbean?!" The teen put his hands on his hips as his eyebrow twitched. "A free trip to a Caribbean island and I can't even enjoy it," he grumbled.
Marduk chuckled to which Danny stopped his feigned irritation and chuckled as well.
After a beat or two the immortal looked over with a curious gaze. "You don't seem entirely off-put by this news. Are you making the most out of a bad situation perhaps?"
Danny shrugged. "Something like that. Got to keep up the morale somehow, and being a moody teen sometimes does the trick."
They both fell into a short silence before Marduk sighed. "While being on a tropical island does sound nice this time of year, I do think it's a shame I'll miss this year's fireworks show."
'Fireworks show? But where-'
The world stopped.
The alarms in the back of his mind started to ring loudly as realizations and puzzle pieces started to fall into place.
"What did you just say?"
The man looked at him perplexed. "I said it is a shame I'll be missing the fireworks show this year."
Danny's core pulsed faintly and he took a step away from the man. "What's today's date?" he asked hesitantly.
"Why would-"
"Marduk please just answer the question. What is today?" He urged.
"It's July 1st," the man replied calmly.
The world seemed to fall away around him. His mind felt numb as the information was processed and suddenly everything started to make sense. The visions of the portal, the sickness, the power surges, the random chills-
"Danny, are you alright?"
For once he didn't bother to hide his true feelings as he looked over to the other man with dread. The room's temperature dropped drastically and the ice started to spread more across the walls.
"You need to leave. Now." The teen breathed.
"Why? Is something wrong?" Marduk asked as he got up and began to walk closer.
Danny's eyes widened as he quickly backed away, ice now beginning to form underneath him.
"Marduk leave, it's not safe for you here. Knock on the door and ask the guards to take you away," He urged as he eyed the slightly glowing ice.
The man's eyes narrowed, "No, not until you tell me what's going on."
"Marduk-"
"Danny, I'm your friend, I'm not going anywhere until I know you're going to be alright. Talk to me."
Danny looked between the door, Marduk, and the ice and let out a shaky breath. "If I tell you will you leave?"
The man furrowed his eyebrows and seemed to want to argue, but the fight in him seemed to disappear after seeing the look in the teen's eyes.
"Yes, I will. Now please, tell me what's wrong," he coaxed gently.
The teen looked towards the ground as the air suddenly felt 'tingly', only proving his point further.
"Some ghosts have what's called a Death Day. As you can probably guess, it's when they 'passed' and became a ghost. My death day just so happens to be coming up," he explained apprehensively.
Marduk hummed in thought. "What about this 'death day' would lead you to want me to leave so urgently?"
Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Any other death day wouldn't be an issue. It's this one in particular that could be dangerous for both me and anybody near me. Do you remember the crown and ring I wore at the festival?" The other nodded. "Those were the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage. Separately, they're useless to anyone, together, they increase the wearer's power tenfold."
"I see. That does explain why many ghosts held you in such high regard. I was told you defeated the previous king while he was in possession of those artifacts. If what you say is true, you must already be quite powerful. But why are you not in possession of them now? Wouldn't there be a risk of someone else using them?"
Danny shook his head, "After the Pariah incident, the Observants decided to tie the artifacts to my ecto signature, to ensure no one but the king could use them. They gave me the artifacts at the beginning of the festival so I would adjust to them."
"Adjust?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"Being what I am, we weren't sure how the artifacts would affect me. As I mentioned before, I have to take care of both my human half and ghost half. If my powers are increased-"
The man's expression darkened. "Then it would tip the balance. And your death day has something to do with this, I presume?"
He nodded and winced as he noticed the glowing blue ice again. "I'm still considered a young ghost in terms of growth. With each death day that has passed, I have gotten stronger; just as any other ghost would. But since I've officially been bestowed the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage, they've unintentionally sped up the process, or at least that was what was explained to me. I'm getting stronger by the day, my powers have been on the fritz, and new abilities are beginning to surface. I could be anywhere between ten to a hundred times stronger after my next death day."
The man raised an eyebrow, "You don't seem excited."
"Marduk, with that amount of power at once, I was warned that it could tear me apart from the inside out. I haven't mentioned it because we were being watched, but…" He froze as the ringing in his ears got louder again, his throat feeling dry all of a sudden. "Marduk, I feel sick. I've been feeling sick since the Light captured me and it's getting worse. My advanced healing isn't working like it should and I'm worried. I've never been sick for more than a day ever since I became half-ghost, and even then I never felt so weak. And now, they've brought us to this island and I still don't even know what for. I'm… worried Marduk."
There was a few moments of silence when the teen suddenly felt two warm arms wrap around him. He stilled out of habit, but after a beat, he let his body relax and he leaned into the hug.
"Are you worried they're going to hurt you?" Marduk asked after another minute had gone by.
He felt a chill go through his spine as images popped into his mind. "No… I'm worried I'm going to hurtthem."
Marduk broke the hug and turned to the teen with a raised eyebrow. "Are you referring to how you responded when you used your ice powers?"
Danny grimaced but remained silent, hoping his silence was answer enough.
There was a brief silence when Marduk shifted. "Thank you, Danny, for confiding in me. I suppose I can see your sense of urgency now. Do you have a plan in mind?"
The teen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "If you mean an escape plan, getting you out of here is my top priority. The problem is, I have no idea what the layout of this place is nor am I sure I can even get us off this island once we're out."
"I see… how long do we have until your Death Day?"
He frowned worriedly as he looked over to the man. "Two days."
The man looked thoughtful before looking towards the corner of the room. "Hmm… perhaps your new spirit friends may have an idea?"
Danny's eyes widened as he looked over toward the opposite wall of the bed. A smirk grew as he glanced between the door and Marduk.
'That's it!'
He nodded to himself before giving the other a look of determination. "Give me a day and be ready to leave, it's time to ditch these morons."
Mount Justice
July 1 08:42 EDT
"How's it going?"
Nightwing was rapidly typing on the main monitor as another dot appeared on the holographic map.
"Swimmingly," The young adult seethed. "As soon as I manage to locate one potential location, another pops up. It's like these guys are showing up out of nowhere!"
"Do you think they may be on to us?" Conner asked as he crossed his arms, scrutinizing the various dots on the screen.
"I wouldn't doubt it." They turned to see Wally enter the room in full uniform. "After the hostage situation was a bust, they're bound to know we're on their tail."
The clone let out a frustrated gruff. "Great."
"Has Tula had any luck at all?" Wally asked joining them by the monitors.
"She and Z are working together to try to locate all potential tribes or civilizations that may have used that particular statute. Having statutes in ceremonies and rituals was a common practice back in the day. So narrowing them down to this specific one is taking some time," Dick explained with a frustrated sigh.
CRASH!
The three heroes jumped and shared glances before they all made a run toward the Hangar.
They met with M'gann and Kaldur on their way there, who briefly explained they were the crashing sound as well.
As they got closer, Superboy could hear whispers and frustrated grumblings.
They almost flung the door off its hinges with how fast they entered the hangar. Only to freeze as they found a wolf-like creature hunched next to a familiar white-haired ghost with several different colored boxes lying around beneath them.
"Danielle?!"
"Hey guys!" She smiled sheepishly as she stood up.
"Saluton, amikoj," The werewolf-like ghost waved with a sharp smile.
"Wulf?!"
"Dani, What are you guys doing here?" Conner asked breaking the awkward silence, eyeing the boxes.
She blinked as she transformed into her human form. Her hair was tied back in a black ponytail, and a red beanie covered the rest of her head. She also wore a red hoodie and blue jeans with red sneakers. Her blue eyes shone brightly in the Cave's fluorescent lighting. "Oh, We're here to drop off a few gifts for Danny. Well Wulf is just dropping them off, I'm going to stick around and make sure cuz has some company."
"Gifts?" he heard Dick ask, not needing to turn to know he has raised an accusing eyebrow.
She rubbed the back of her neck, making a pang shoot through Superboy's chest as guilt poured into it. "Yeah, Danny's death day is coming up," she said putting her hand on her hip. "And since he had to spend a whole week in the ghost zone, some of the other ghosts and I thought it'd be best if Wulf and I dropped them off. Where is he anyway? Usually, his ghost sense would've let him know we were here by now."
The team looked at each other, guilt and apprehension clear on their faces.
"Guys? Where's Danny?" The she-ghost asked suspicion clear in her tone.
"Dani… you should probably sit down," he advised as he started to walk towards the door leading back into the main Cave.
They had managed to convince Wulf to stay by the portal with the gifts, Bio-Sphere and Wolf staying behind to keep him company.
After they had finished explaining what happened, Danielle sat still for a while, not breathing a word. The entire Team metaphorically held their breaths while in the kitchen/living area.
"Dani? Are you okay?" M'Gann gently spoke.
The girl looked up with fearful eyes. "We need to find him," she breathed shakily.
"We've been trying, but the Light is cunning," Kladur began. "So far we've managed-"
"No!" She shot out of her seat, her eyes burning a bright green. "You don't understand we need to find him now before something happens to him!"
"What do you think we've been doing for the past week? Sleeping?!" Wally shot back with an accusing glare.
"Well work faster!" she growled back.
Kaldur put up placating hands. "Danielle we understand that you are worried, but you need to remain calm-"
"Worried? I'm terrified! My cousin is a ticking nuclear bomb and you're acting like you lost your friggin cat!" she exclaimed.
Conner and the rest of the Team froze.
"Wait what? What are you talking about?" Conner asked cautiously.
"Uh Danny's Death Day? Duh!"
Connor and M'gann shared a look.
"You mean that he's sick? Frostbite told us that might happen but how does that make him a bomb?" M'gann asked softly.
"A ghost gets stronger after each death day, especially for younger ghosts."
"Your point?" Wally raised an eyebrow.
"He has the power to destroy a city block with his voice on a good day! What do you think he could do with ten times that amount of power?!" she retorted as she sent a glare to the speedster.
"Shit…" the latter breathed with wide eyes.
"We need to find Danny." she urged yet again, this time with desperation in her eyes.
"Danielle, how long do we have until Danny's Death Day?" Dick asked, trying to regain control over the situation.
"Two days."
He clicked his tongue. "Dammit, that's no time at all… Right, somebody call Z and let her know the situation. We need more info on that artifact. Kaldur get Tula on call. I'm going to call the league and let them know that we need their help ASAP. Danielle, go into Danny's room and see if there's anything in there that may help us find him. You know his tech better than anyone else."
Superboy made eye contact with the young ghost before nodding and the two clones took off towards Danny's room.
Dani flung the door open and froze. Conner frowned in worry before he froze as well. Sitting on the desk on the opposite side of the room, was the two most powerful artifacts known to them till this day. The Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage.
"Why…"
He looked down to he Dani's hand had balled up into fists and were shaking.
"Why would he leave them here?"
Conner grunted before gently pushing her further into the room. "I don't know, but we need to see if anything in here could help us."
The younger halfa took in a deep breath and gained a look of determination. "Alright, I'll take the left, you take the right."
Both clones sent each other encouraging and determined smiles as they set off to search the room.
Santa Prisca
July 2 00:38 UTC+2
"And he knew of this?"
Vandal folded his hands behind his back as he turned away from Queen Bee, looking over their newest conference room. "Correct. Supposedly his death day is tomorrow, though he was unaware of the current date."
"Does the ritual require him to be in good health?" He heard Ras Al Ghul ask behind him.
"Pfft. This isn't that kind of magic," Klarion the Witch boy's voice answered back. "It's complex sure, but as long as he can hear us it'll work."
"So can we proceed then?" Queen Bee inquired impatiently.
"If we have to then yeah. But it would be best to do it soon, technically if I lay a hand on him on his death day it's considered a war crime," the Lord of Chaos whined.
"A day of peace?" Al Ghul raised a knowing eyebrow.
"Something like that. Keeps everyone's hands off of them on their weakest day. 'Fair play' as those one-eyed idiots like to say," the boy grumbled.
"Weakest day?" Luthor interjected.
Klarion shrugged. "Supposedly spirits relive their death on the anniversary of their death. Not physically of course. It's all just in their heads."
"Hmm… and what can happen if you break this unspoken truce?" Savage inquired with a thoughtful look.
"Since he's an abomination, the Lords of Chaos don't really care if he falls under tradition or not. However, if the ghosties find out and go blagging, then we'd have to deal with Nabu and his Lords of Order."
Savage hummed in thought before coming to a decision. "Very well, let us proceed then. Finish the preparations, I'll bring Daniel."
