Author's Note:I had the hardest time writing this chapter... uh... hope you enjoy. I was cheered on by your comments while I struggled through writing this.

Sam had been ecstatic to help Danny pick out a wardrobe with an 80's grunge theme for the impromptu wedding. She seemed to enjoy dressing up her friends, like the time she had convinced Tucker to go goth. Danny had spent hours fussed over before Sam was sure she was happy, she had even gotten his ghostly hair to behave somewhat. That is if spiking his hair up and making it into something of a mohawk counted as making it behave. He wasn't even sure if a mohawk was considered 80's grunge, but he didn't know much about fashion and so had left his transformation to Sam.

Sam applied a little eyeliner and eyeshadow to his eyes, giving his eyes something of a haphazard smoky look, but he'd drawn the line when she tried to get him to wear lipstick. She'd given him a list of clothing items to mimic and he'd spent a few moments in concentration, reshaping his suit to match the look. He now sported a tight black long sleeve, a cut off jean jacket, and black cargo pants tucked into white combat boots along with a few chains and chokers to add visual interest. The jean jacket was more of a washed out gray white than it was blue or black. It seemed no matter what he tried he couldn't get away from his black and white color scheme.

Having deemed him acceptable, Sam snapped a picture before Danny sighed and hugged her in thanks. He slipped out of her room and headed toward the abandoned bar on the edge of town. It was an old biker bar and he figured that it had been in use when Kitty and Johnny had been alive. He wondered if it was some place special to them from when they'd been human. He knew better than to ask, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious. He landed outside, glancing at Johnny's familiar motorcycle parked just outside the door. Skulker's high tech bike was parked outside too, he figured that the ghost zone's greatest hunter was trying to flex on Johnny and the thought made him laugh before he headed inside.

"You made it baby pop!" Ember said as she waved from her seat over at the bar. "Can you open the portal so we can finally get our bartender in here!?"

"Where do you want me to open it?" Danny asked with a roll of his eyes. "Not here like where here to put it… but where do I need it to open in the realms?" He clarified. Ember smiled.

"Skulker's place is where everyone is gathering." She shrugged. "Open it there, plus we wanted to make things a little easier for you this time, figured a place you were familiar with would work best."

"Right… easier this time." Danny chuckled and walked to the wall to the right of the bar that had plenty of blank space to work with. He closed his eyes and focused on his connection to the realms, finding the specific energy signature that he'd felt at Skulker's island. He reached out a hand and gathered that energy, that pull, and opened a tear in reality, he worked the edges and pulled it open further until it formed in a rectangle like a proper doorway.

"Nice job baby king." Ember said as she ruffled his hair. Danny waved her off, hoping she hadn't messed up his hair too much, Sam had worked hard on it.

"Not sure if I can maintain it for the whole night… you've got an hour at most to get everyone through… half an hour possibly." He said with a shrug. Ember smiled and shrugged.

"Good enough mini god." She shrugged and stuck her head through, shouting something to the realms while Danny went to sit at the bar next to Johnny.

"You actually doing it this time?" Danny teased with a smile.

"You know Kitty's the only girl for me, just need to put a ring on it and make it official." He shrugged.

"Thought you already had a ring." Danny said as she gently nudged Johnny. Johnny laughed and smiled.

"Promise ring, not a wedding ring. Figured we'd just get it over with, no grand plans this time, nothing to panic about at the last minute, just some friends, some booze, and good times with my girl." He looked up as the bartender slid behind the bar, pulling a small cart of various ghost booze. "Pour me a shot barkeep! It's my wedding night." Johnny beamed. Danny laughed as the ghost turned and grabbed a couple shot glasses from the cart, pulling out a random bottle and pouring two shots before sliding them across the bar to Johnny and Danny.

"Cheers mate!" Johnny smiled before slamming the glass. Danny slammed his own, wincing a little at the chemical acidic taste before shaking his head.

"Congrats Johnny. Really hope you make it past the finish line this time." Danny teased.

"I plan on finishing in all kinds of ways." Johnny said, wiggling his eyebrows. Danny laughed and gently punched his shoulder before they ordered another round of shots.

They spent a while joking, laughing, and talking about everything and nothing. Danny was pleased that he'd managed to make friends with his former enemies. It helped that he'd become the King, but it was also nice that they had a good rapport, and that Danny had learned more about being a ghost.

He had spent a long time not really knowing how ghosts worked, why they fought so much, and why everyone seemed to be after him. Granted, his hero complex had gotten in the way many times, making him jump to conclusions and attack at the first sign of trouble. Perhaps if he had talked to more of them when they first met instead of fighting first, things would have been simpler in the past. Then again, not everything could be solved with talking, and even ghosts that he had become friends with would still occasionally show up to fight him. It was more of a social thing now than before. Or perhaps it had always been a social thing and he'd never realized it. Being half human did make everything feel more high stakes after all, full ghosts didn't have that same mortality hanging over their heads.

Danny was feeling pleasantly buzzed and he floated his way over to some of the others as more guests started to arrive.

"Hey… wasn't expecting to see you here Dora." he smiled as he embraced the other ghost in a quick hug. It was very strange to see her out of her medieval garb, but Kitty or Ember must have helped her pick a new outfit.

"Ah, Phantom, it's a pleasure to see you." Dora smiled, returning the hug as she looked down at her outfit. "I feel quite unusual in this state of dress." she whispered to him.

"I'm not sure how to feel about it either, but hey, if they actually tie the knot this time, it'll be worth it." He smiled. Dora laughed at that and smiled at Danny.

"It is quite unusual to see you in something other than your armor." She said as she looked Danny over.

"It's weird to be out of my usual suit and still be a ghost." Danny said with a shrug, he paused as his connection to the portal flickered, his power failing, partially because he'd gotten a bit drunk.

"One moment Dora." He said as he went to the portal, focusing and re-stabilizing it before glancing at Ember who was nearby.

"It's getting ready to collapse. You should make sure everyone has gotten through." he warned. "You have five minutes at most."

Ember nodded and dove through, ushering the last few ghosts out and then giving Danny a thumbs up to let him know that they were clear. Danny nodded gratefully in her direction, pleased by how quickly she had handled the situation. He took a moment to center himself then let the power fade, the doorway flickered and then blinked out of existence like an old television turning off.

"Not bad baby-pop." Ember teased and gently punched Danny in the shoulder.

"I live to please… or… die to please." He shrugged. Ember laughed and tugged him towards the bar.

"Another round for the hero of the hour." Ember called as she drug Danny to the bar. Danny laughed and let himself be dragged before a familiar pull on his core caused him to swivel around just in time to catch an armful of excited ghost girl.

"Damn it… I thought I had you this time." Danielle smiled as she looked up at him, her green eyes glowing with mischief.

"You're my kin, I'll always know when you're near, but… admittedly you did get closer this time before I discovered you." He said with a smile as he ruffled her hair. "How are you doing kiddo?" He smiled.

"I'm 18 now Danny, stop treating me like a child." She made a face at him.

"Technically you're eight." Danny said, sticking his tongue out at her. "Still using El or have you changed your nom de guerre again?"

"Still El. For now… maybe I'll try something exciting next, like Chaos." She laughed.

"Sam may sue you for copyright infringement if you try to take that name." He teased and sat back at the bar, a ghostly cocktail being pushed towards him by Ember. El raised a hand and ordered one too. Danny raised an eyebrow but said nothing about her drinking.

"What? Not going to lecture me about the detriments of underaged drinking?" She teased.

"I'm your cousin-brother-person not your father. Plus I'm hardly the poster child for a non reckless youth." Danny shrugged.

"Fair enough bruv." She said with a mock cockney accent and Danny laughed again before sipping his drink. A second drink joined his and El scooped it up and sipped it.

"If Pandora were here though she'd be disappointed, she's all but adopted you after all. Then again, Pandora doesn't even think I should be drinking until I'm at least two hundred years old, most of the ghosts drinking here aren't even two hundred years old." Danny swirled the ecto-cocktail around before taking a sip.

"Pandora is so traditional in some things… but also, I'm pretty sure she had a wild youth and a wild life, she'sGreek after all, weren't they all about debauchery." El pouted as she drank her own ecto-cocktail.

"That's a gross overgeneralization I think." Danny shrugged, "Maybe it's just a thing that happens when you get older, you think it's your duty to keep anyone younger than you from drinking and what not."

"You better not get like that." El said, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the thought of Danny getting overbearing and overprotective.

"Hmmm… I don't know… you are only eight after all." He said, El playfully shoved him and Danny laughed smiling as he looked at his younger clone. He was so happy and content right now, though that could be the ecto-hol, but he didn't want this moment to end…

.

.

.

Danny woke up with a gasp, a feeling of warmth in his core was replaced by sorrow for the life he had lost. Even if he was going to fix things this go around… he still mourned for the life he'd had before the disaster that caused his regression in time.

He slipped from bed, going to stare into the portal once more, tears slowly flowing down his cheeks at the memories.

He remained that way until the rest of the house woke up, then he dried his eyes and took a breath before joining his family for breakfast. They didn't need to know about everything, they didn't need to know about the little things he missed about his future/past, they didn't need to know he was mourning the person he'd been and the people who may not come into existence.

With Vlad as an ally in this life, what would become of El, what would become of his stubborn and yet wonderful cousin-sister? He stared into his cereal, gently stirring it with his spoon as he considered his options. He could give Vlad permission to clone him, but what if El didn't come into being? What if it didn't work? What if she destabilized before she even had a chance to be saved? Was her creation also a fixed point in time? Why hadn't he asked Clockwork that before? Where had Clockwork gone to anyway? Things would be easier if he could just ask the ancient time ghost some questions.

Danny rubbed his temples with his free hand. It was going to be a long day today wasn't it?

He squared his shoulders and prepared to face the day.

Danny sat in the conference room across from the Axiom Labs officials, including the one who had fired Damon. He had a copy of Damon's contract with him, as well as the thermos with the ghost and the squeaky toy that they had found in the old dog kennel. Now it was just about negotiation. His mom sat to the side, having been brought in as the expert on ghosts, while Damon sat on his other side to plead his case. Danny was surprised he'd been allowed into this meeting at all, but he supposed being Vlad's Godson had some weight to it. He looked at the men across the table before speaking.

"Hi, I'm Danny Fenton and I'm the one who caught the ghost dog that cost Mr. Gray his job. I have the ghost dog in this ghost catching thermos in order to prove that Mr. Gray was not at fault due to intervention from the ghost dog. His contract clearly stated that the system was designed to stop human intruders which is why I've come here with him today along with my mom who is one of the leading experts on ghosts." Danny said with a smile, pushing down any nervousness he had at speaking to these men. He had to succeed, for Valerie's sake if nothing else.

"Why is a child in this meeting?" the man to the right of Damon's former boss asked. Danny took a breath, even when he was an adult people still looked down on him because he was young, it was only magnified now. His teenage hormones didn't help the feelings of indignation he had at being called a child.

"Respectfully sir, I am here because I have a special talent when it comes to ghosts, after all I'm the one who caught the ghost dog. I'm also the one who found the squeaky toy in the old dog kennel and deduced that it was what the dog was looking for. I understand my age makes you want to look down on me and my expertise. However, such rudeness is completely unwarranted." Danny said simply as he set the squeaky toy on the table in front of them.

"Danny Fenton has been of great help to me in moving, he's a responsible and rather mature young man." Damon said in his defense, while Maddie nodded in agreement. Danny hated that it was only due to the backing of the adults that he got even a modicum of respect, but that was to be expected. The adults on the other side of the table exchanged looks before Danny pulled up the presentation he'd prepared as well as his argument for unfair dismissal of Damon. He let his mom cover the slides about ghosts before Damon argued his own case of dismissal as well as a prepared statement about not wanting to involve lawyers if possible. Danny finished off the proposal by uncapping the thermos and letting out Cujo, who barked angrily at the management before Danny calmed him down, holding the puppy in his arms and handing over the squeaky toy. The dog barked happily, its tail waving as he played with the toy before slowly fading back to the ghost zone.

"As you can see the situation has been resolved, however, other ghosts will pose a problem in the future. I may be a child, but even I can tell it's not fair that Damon was fired for circumstances out of his control. But now if you negotiate the contract and add in stipulations for ghosts, my parents would be happy to provide equipment for Damon to adjust the security system in order to prevent other ghostly attacks in the future." Danny said with a smile. "Thank you for hearing us out."

The three men across the table discussed quietly among themselves before speaking to Damon.

"Well, Damon, you've put forth a convincing argument, as well as the evidence you've shown us today with regards to ghosts and other ecto-entities. We would be happy to reinstate your contract to avoid any further legal trouble as well as create a new contract with you and your cooperation with Fenton Works in order to ensure such a situation will not happen again." The main representative said. "If you wouldn't mind, we'd like to discuss it with Damon in person." He glanced at Danny.

"I get it." Danny rolled his eyes. "In other words, get out of here kid." Danny shrugged and stood. "I'm out of here." He said with a shrug before pocketing the thermos and heading toward the door. Maddie gave him a sympathetic look but was invited to stay to clarify details.

Danny walked out and smiled when he saw Valerie pacing by her father's car.

"Hey, Valerie." Danny smiled. She looked up and walked to him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"What happened? How did it go?" She demanded.

"They're negotiating now. It seems that your dad will get his job back though." Danny said with a smile. Valerie sagged with relief and finally offered him a kind smile.

"I'm impressed, Fenton." she said, nodding at him in a semblance of approval. Danny shrugged.

"Anyway, You'll probably know for sure in an hour or two… wanna head to the Nasty Burger and grab a bite to eat?" Danny offered.

"I'm grateful for you helping my dad and all, but that doesn't mean I want to go on a date with you." Valerie said, eyes narrowing, Danny rolled his own eyes in response.

"Gross. I don't want to date anyone right now Valerie. I was just asking as a friend." Danny said with a shrug. "If you don't want to go, I can go on my own." He said, turning to walk away.

"As a friend?" Valerie asked, Danny paused and looked back at her. "Are we friends now… Danny?"

"If you'd like to be." Danny said with a smile. "Or if you'd prefer, friendly acquaintances."

"I… I think we could start as friendly acquaintances." Valerie agreed with a small smile and a nod as she followed him.

Danny had been preoccupied with the whole Cujo thing and preventing Valerie from becoming a ghost hunter, he hadn't considered what to do with Ember. Truthfully he thought he had more time, and with both Jazz and Tucker wearing the Fenton Phones, neither went crazy over the rock star ghost as she started to rise to fame, therefore, it was something of an unpleasant surprise to walk into school and see Ember's face plastered across the school. He frowned, his brows furrowing as he realized he as out of time to keep Ember from coming into the living realm.

"Dammit." He cursed as he glanced around the halls.

"Wow." Tucker said as he came up beside him. "So… this is the ghost who mind controls people?" He said as he looked at a poster.

"Yup." Danny grumbled as he glanced over at Sam who was making a face.

"Ugh… it's so disgusting how mindless pre packaged corporate bubblegum gets pushed to the masses instead of letting real artists shine… not to mention she's an evil mind controlling spirit from another dimension." Sam tore down one of the posters and wadded it up, tossing it into a trash bin on the way out.

"Now the question is… do I go find her now… or wait till after school?" Danny frowned as he considered it. As much as he wanted to keep his attendance up as well as his grade point average, stopping Ember from gaining power through masses of chanting teenagers seemed more important.

"Do you even know where she is?" Tucker asked.

"No… If I remember right… she had a concert soon… maybe tonight… I think she ends up showing up at the school." He put a finger to his chin as he considered and tried to remember. "Or… maybe she starts stealing exercise equipment? No… wait… that was with Youngblood."

"Youngblood?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Kid ghosts… don't worry about it." He shook his head and looked around the halls, his brow furrowed still as he tried to think of the best way to address the situation. If she showed up at the school he would confront her, but… if he didn't know where she was before then there was no point wasting time looking for her. He would just have to search for her after school, provided that she didn't show up before then.

"Let's just head to class, I'll figure something out. You guys both have thermoses right?" He double checked.

"Yeah." Tucker patted his cargo shorts at the same time Sam said, "In my locker."

"Good… hopefully I can talk her down somehow… but if not I'll need one of you to come in with a thermos." He said as he glanced around the hall.

Tucker and Sam nodded dutifully and Danny was overcome with a feeling of warmth, he was grateful to have them by his side, especially through all his craziness. He smiled and wrapped an arm over their shoulders.

"I knew I could count on you guys. Thanks." He smiled. They playfully shoved him off before they headed into class and Danny frowned at the Cramtastic V in the classroom. They exchanged a look before they all filed to their seats and waited for the class to start.

Lancer entered the room and began to explain about how the Northwestern 9 testing was coming up and about the Cramtastic V that he would be implementing to give the students a edge for the testing the next day. Danny frowned at the screens, he didn't think that just a few hours of a Cramtastic session would somehow magically bring everyone's grades up, but in his first life Tucker had benefited greatly from the machine…. though the results wore off in only a couple days.

Lancer started up the monitors and Danny tensed as Ember's voice came through the speakers. He'd forgotten that someone had snuck a video into the disc player, he wouldn't have put it past Ember to have even done it herself. It didn't take long before Lancer pulled out the disc and was glaring around the classroom.

When the music started again, this time from outside, Danny slipped out of the classroom while his classmates swarmed the windows.

With a simple thought, he transformed, flying through the walls and floating above the truck that arrived and parked, his ghost sense alerting him to Ember's presence nearby.

She appeared dramatically in a cloud of smoke and just as she began to sing and before the students could swarm out of the school, Danny attacked. He dove toward her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her across the street to a park before stopping.

"We need to talk." He said seriously, Ember glared at him, adjusting the strap of her guitar and snarling.

"Talk is cheap dipstick." She scoffed.

"So is your look." Danny quipped, summoning a shield to block the first volley of attacks from the guitar. He realized he should have taken that away from her first, but there was no time to lament his poor decisions as he immediately had to dodge another blast. He split himself in half and re-formed as the blast went through him and he charged up an ecto-blast of his own.

"Listen to me!" Danny growled while firing a warning shot past her ear.

"You're a lousy shot there baby-pop." Ember laughed and Danny had to dodge another wave of sound.

"Wasn't trying to hit you Ember. Just trying to get your attention." Danny rolled his eyes. "Amity Park is under my protection, you can't just waltz in here and start brainwashing people." He glared.

"And you're going to stop me kiddo?" Ember laughed as she strummed her guitar before sending another wave of weaponized sound toward him.

"If I have to." He said forming a shield and then dispelling it before attacking, locking hands with her and pushing her back.

"You? You're just a child." She laughed at him shaking her head, Danny's eyes glowed slightly brighter and he pushed her back further.

"Maybe, but this is my haunt! Besides, isn't it a bit cheap to use mind control to make people like your music?" Danny said with a shake of his head. "What? Worried you won't be popular if you don't brainwash them?" He quipped.

"Cheap? It's called getting an edge." She snapped and pushed him back a few feet. Danny used her momentum to flip her over his shoulder and pin her to the ground.

"Edge? The edgiest thing here is your eyeliner. Seems like a cop out to me, a bit pathetic really… clearly you don't appreciate music if you think mind control is the way to go." he taunted. Ember's eyes twitched.

"What would you know about music?" She hissed before managing to get her feet against his stomach and kick him off.

Danny hit a tree, groaning before another wave of sound slammed into him, knocking him against the wood and splintering it before he slid to the ground. She didn't give him time to recover before launching another attack, Danny barely dodged the fire as he rolled to the side.

"Mind control is so cheating." Danny said as he shot her square in the chest with a ghost ray. She was sent flying into a park bench and glared as she pushed herself up.

"So what? The means justify the ends so long as everyone remembers my name." She laughed wickedly.

"No one will remember your name." He said as he blasted her again. "Not when you're using mind control. It has a weird side effect like that."

"What!?" Ember gasped, barely dodging the ghost ray. Danny fired again and she jumped onto her guitar like a surfboard and began to fly toward him, pulling it out from under her feet at the last minute and swinging it like a bat, hitting Danny in the side. He let his form become more malleable as it split him in half and he reformed his torso before grabbing the guitar and wrestling it from her grip, throwing it to the side and out of range while they fought, kicking, snarling and throwing punches.

Danny had managed to beat her back against a tree and he glared down at her disapprovingly.

"I'd rather not finish this fight by sucking you into a ghost containment device. I don't care if you play your music. I don't care if you sing. I don't care as long as you aren't using mind control." He said. Ember growled, not happy at being beaten and sunk through the ground. Danny clenched his hands into fists and whipped around where Ember stood floating with her guitar once more.

"Round two it is." Danny snarled.

"Time to turn up the volume." Ember smiled with a laugh before she twisted the knob on her guitar and sent out a wave of mind controlling sound. Danny growled, diving for her, but the crowd from the school had caught up to them. Someone grabbed his arm, then his leg, and before he knew it he was under a pile of teenagers.

"Any last words dorkus?" Ember preened with the attention. "In that case I need to go put the finishing touches on tonight's performance." She laughed again and Danny felt his core vibrating with rage.

"EnooooOOOOOOOGGGGGHHHH!" Danny yelled, the end tapering off into a wail, knocking Ember back with force, snapping the strings of her guitar. Ember swayed slowly, overwhelmed by the power of the wail and Danny strained his energy, dropping through the ground and floating above her.

"Surrender." He said as his hand flickered with power.

"I…. I surrender." She agreed and Danny sighed in relief. Without warning both of them dropped to the ground in exhaustion and laid there looking at the sky.

"You bluffed." Ember said with a small chuckle as she turned her head to look over at Danny.

"A bit." Danny said, streaks of black hair mixed in with the white of his ghost form. "Truce?" he asked.

"I… I can't compete with your raw power… your voice… wow." She mumbled. Danny laughed, but dissolved into coughs.

"It takes a lot out of me… and that was a short wail." he mumbled and then sighed. "I won't stop your concert, I won't interfere in your little fame crusade so long as you stop using mind control." He told her. Ember considered it for a long time as she stared up at the sky.

"What if… I'm not any good without it. What if… no one remembers me?" She asked.

"Your stuff isn't half bad, better than a lot of the other pop nonsense that plays on the radio. You got your foot in the door already. I may hate the means you used to get there, but you got this chance now. Prove yourself without mind control. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be your fans without it. I'll even come and bring my friends, you know, for moral support." He said with a small smile as he looked to the side to better examine her. She considered it for a long moment.

"And if I don't?" She asked.

"We'll have to go back to fighting… I'll put you in a soup thermos. You won't like it." Danny said with a frown. "You seem like a cool person… I'd hate to destroy any chance at a truce, especially when being trapped back in the zone will keep you from making more music."

Ember turned her green eyes onto Danny, studying him for a long moment.

"You're a weird kid." She said finally.

"Being half dead will do that to you." Danny laughed and sighed, he pushed himself up to sit and tilted his head as Ember followed suit.

"So… truce or… round three?" Danny asked, holding out his hand as he stood up.

"Truce." Ember agreed, taking his hand, he pulled her to her feet and smiled.

"̷̺̦͋̉͝W̴̡̺͒̚ͅi̷̙̮̟̪̓̄͠t̴̯̄ḩ̵̙̮̤̓̅͋ ̷̡̧̱͓̀̾̈́͘t̸̨͕͈̳̔h̸̘̳͗̌̆ě̴̗͖̎̽̇s̴̢̞͚̏̓͗̄ę̴̰̘̓ ̶̨͓̀͐͘ẅ̷͍͎̔ȍ̶̥̰̼̤r̶͓͂d̸͚̻̓͑s̶̟̖̊͗̃͛ ̶̢͙̻́̔Ị̷̹̎ ̵̡̮̉̿̕͜b̶̊͛͋̃ͅi̸̧͚̪͓͗̾̕n̶̲̤̠͆̑͘d̷͎̈ ̵̱̒t̶̪̲̰͊h̷͔̥̺̜̒̽͋e̶̥̣̗̬͌́͂ë̷̠̖͕̭́͋,̶̼̌̀̊ ̸̡͚̅̀̈̇ó̷̞͙̬ͅũ̸̦̈́̇ȑ̶͈̪͠ ̵̦͉̔ͅa̸͎̒̈g̵͉͛͐͘ͅr̵̭̝̲͋̀ḛ̴̂̆̚ͅè̵̘̯͔̼̈́m̸̨̎͜ḛ̵͈̰͌̎n̴͔͉͛͛̒̈́t̵̗͝͝ͅ ̴͓̿̓i̵͂̈́͛͜ś̷̡̯͔̌̚͠ ̸̨͔̤͐̓̉̿s̸̳̰̿̈́p̶̛͚͈̱̓o̸͖͕͍̒̂̉̃ͅk̸̘̟̻̺̾́̐e̷̫̹̱̓̈n̶̻̻̳̔͒.̵̛͔͒̚"̴̨̹͆ He said, the ghostly vow flowing from his lips. Ember shuddered and nodded.

"Fucking figures I get some sort of eldritch bastard. How old are you kid?" She frowned.

"Technically fourteen." Danny shrugged.

"What? Not how old you were when you - guuurk- " with the noise she drew her thumb across her throat in a line. "How long have you been a ghost?"

"Uh… a couple months… I think…" He frowned as he thought back. "Three months." He shrugged. Ember stared at him with wide eyes.

"Kid… What the fuck!"