Chapter 2: The boy from beyond
Xiaomei certainly didn't see that coming. Danny was full of surprises. Despite that, she didn't stop him and allowed him to tell his story.
According to Danny, he had come from a human civilization that lived and thrived deep within the spirit world. The people of this civilisation called Amity lived alongside many of the spirits and under the protection of a particular spirit called Clockwork. Xiaomei vaguely recalled reading that name in a scroll several months ago.
Until recently, the civilisation had been peaceful but a civil war had broken out which had caused the death of Danny's father and some of his friends. After the war had ended, Danny decided to travel away from the city of Amity and try to find other human civilisations. That was what had led him here, to the physical world.
Xiaomei couldn't say she believed his story, not yet. There were many stories of people who travelled from the Physical World to the Spirit World. Whether through meditation and astral projection or actually entering the spirit world, there were many in the long history who claimed to do that. One such example was the false avatar Yun from the Era of Avatar Kyoshi. He was said to have travelled to the Spirit World and back. If the stories about the first Avatar were true then people had been going between worlds for a long time. Xiaomei had been serving under General Iroh when he ventured into the Spirit World. However never once had she heard of someone coming from the Spirit World. The idea that there might even be a human civilisation there seemed even more farfetched. However, Xiaomei wasn't going to discount the possibility. If what Danny was saying was true, then this news would be incredible and Danny could provide so much more insight into the world of the spirits than what was already known.
"That is certainly quite the story," Xiaomei said after Danny had finished.
"Told you, you wouldn't believe it," Danny commented with a shrug.
As far as Danny was concerned, it made sense that she didn't believe it, as it was entirely made up. The parts about the war were real, as well as Amity's connection to ghosts. Although the war itself was not civil. Amity Park only allied with ghosts recently after many had been displaced by Dan Pariah. Even he would find the story hard to believe, and he was the one who told it.
"It's not that I don't believe you. As a sage myself, I have trained extensively to gain as large an understanding of the Spirit World as I can. And I have met people, as few as they are, who have travelled to the spirit world. They all said that the Spirit World was unlike anything in our world, so the idea of a lost civilization of humans living among the spirits in a world so vastly different than our own sounds impossible." Xiaomei spoke.
She went silent after that, seemingly in thought over this new information and how she would proceed. Danny simply sat back and let her collect her thoughts.
"Please wait here. I am going to speak with the other Fire Sages. I am sure they will want to hear your story as well." Xiaomei said as she stood up. "Until I return please feel free to relax in this room."
"Sure, no problem," Danny said before Xiaomei left him alone.
Without much to do, Danny decided to go through the bag that Clockwork had left him and it was now his turn to be surprised. The bag contained a lot more than a bag this size should. The first thing Danny saw at the top was one of Clockwork's medallions and a note attached to it. Not at all what he expected.
"Danny, I trust that you have arrived safely without any issues. I apologise for knocking you out, it was necessary to set you on a good path, but from here my involvement will be limited. The Observants are already displeased that I have interfered as much as I have. So from here, the life you live will be yours to attain, through your actions. That doesn't mean I can't provide a small amount of aid. The contents of this bag will help give you a little bit of home and maybe a little support. You have been given a chance very few others get, a chance to live again after death, enjoy my young ward.
Clockwork.
P.S. As a ghost who is the master of time, you never know where or when my symbol might have appeared."
Danny couldn't help but grin at the old-time ghost's letter. After reading the letter, he proceeded to go through the rest of the bag. To his surprise, it included cookbooks and schematics. Some time ago, as an attempt at saving him and Jazz from their mother's cooking Danny had taken up a cooking hobby. Sometime before his dad's death, Danny had started helping him with his inventions, so Danny knew he would be able to make use of both the cookbooks and the blueprints. Something else that was in the bag was a Fenton Thermos. Danny couldn't help but be concerned as to why he would need one of those. According to his research ghosts and spirits were both made of ectoplasm, just different versions. Ghosts had a raw and unrefined version of ectoplasm, more volatile and unpredictable and more versatile. They had what was referred to as Atomic Ectoplasm, or Green Ectoplasm. Spirits on the other hand had a calmer and more refined ectoplasm. Their ectoplasm was less likely to generate massive amounts of energy and explode when using said energy, instead, they manipulated energy. Spirits had what was referred to as Stable Ectoplasm or Grey Ectoplasm. So if he needed to, he could capture a spirit in the Fenton Thermos.
Before too long Xiaomei returned. According to her, the other sages had wanted to meet Danny and hear his story. Danny figured that would be the case and so he grabbed Clockwork's medallion and followed Xiaomei. Clockwork had hinted that it might help the people here believe his story so it made sense to carry it.
When the two arrived at the room full of sages, Danny wasn't all that surprised to find that most of them were old men, well into their 60s. There were a few who were younger, but based on how they were dressed they didn't seem particularly high-ranked. There were a few female sages as well, but not as many as the male sages. There was also no one here who was in their twenties. Danny felt the harsh stares of these old men and women.
There was one additional person who didn't look like a sage. If the gold in his outfit was any indication, he was probably someone really important. Maybe someone who answered to the Fire Lord and not the spirits? Danny wasn't sure.
Upon arriving Danny had been asked by the old man who looked the most important, probably the High Sage, how he had ended up in the tower and Danny repeated the same story he told Xiaomei earlier. And as expected there was the same level of surprise around the room that Xiaomei had. Danny immediately heard whispers from some of the sages. Some believed the story and were talking about his sudden arrival at the hands of a spirit. Others didn't seem convinced. Danny noticed that a few of the sages, Xiaomei included, were looking through scrolls. They had started the moment he had mentioned Clockwork's name.
"Do you have any proof to confirm these claims? Your story is hard to believe otherwise," The High Sage asked.
"I have some proof," Danny said with a shrug before he held up the medallion that he had. "This medallion was given to me by Clockwork before I left my home."
Danny handed the medallion to the High Sage and watched as it was passed around the room. There were many gasps as the time lord's trinket passed around the room. The sages were checking their scrolls to make sure, and lo and behold the symbol on the medallion matched what had been in their thousand-year-old scrolls. It seemed that wasn't enough for everyone though.
"Although this is an incredible relic, certainly of spiritual origin," Another sage began, the Grand Sage this time, "we require more proof. Although unlikely, it is still possible that you could have procured this in another nation."
The Grand Sage didn't seem certain of his words, so it was clear to Danny that the old man was on the fence. Turns out having an artefact that only a spirit, that hadn't been seen in over thousands of years, could have wasn't enough for these old goats. That was fine, Danny had one last trick up his sleeve. In the early part of the war, Danny willingly gave up his secret identity to get the people of Amity Park to help rally behind him. It was actually liberating to be able to be both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom publicly, so he was more than willing to share his other half here.
Danny's eyes flashed green before he jumped into the air. All eyes were on him especially after he didn't land back on the ground. Before any could react, white rings appeared at his waist and split. Now not all of the sages had the same Energy Reading ability that Xiaomei had, and those that did certainly didn't have the skill at the same proficiency as she did. Despite all that, they could all feel the energy coming off the boy as he transformed.
Xiaomei couldn't help but freeze at the sight of the human boy turning himself into a spirit. As the rings passed over his body, his very appearance changed. His salt and pepper hair settled on one colour, snow white, and his blue eyes became toxic green. He wore easily the strangest outfit she had ever seen, which was black and white. There was a subtle glow around him which illuminated the space around him.
Even after his transformation ended, Danny didn't return to the ground, instead, he wore a grin on his face. It wasn't malicious by any means. The boy just looked happy.
"There aren't a lot of us, but I am one of the people who, while living in the Spirit World, gained a spirit form." His voice had an unnatural echo to it. The echo itself wasn't overpowering, just an addition to his voice.
Any doubt that had existed in the room before had long since vanished. However, it had now been replaced by something else. On one end of the spectrum, there was an intense curiosity. Many of the sages had wanted to meet a spirit and had been scholars dedicated to learning everything they could about the spirits. On the other end of the spectrum was uncertainty. In the long years since Avatar Roku had vanished, many Sages had turned their back on the nature of the spirits and had sworn fealty to the Fire Lord. A boy who was half spirit who came from the spirit world? It wasn't impossible to imagine that this boy might be the Avatar reincarnated.
As Danny landed back on the ground and reverted to his human form, the man in the red and gold stepped forward. Looking at him, Danny was immediately reminded of Vlad and Spectra. The man had a very shrewd smile, one that spoke volumes of how much he wanted power to himself. Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Mr Danny Fenton, was it?" The man asked with a smile before he bowed. "It is an honour to meet a guest from the spirit world. I am Minister Zhang, a humble servant of the Fire Lord. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to ask you some questions."
Danny considered how to respond for a moment. Clockwork had left him here for a reason, knowing everything that could possibly happen from this moment forward. The way this Zhang guy was looking at him, it was as if Vlad were looking at Valerie. To the minister, Danny couldn't have been more than a piece on a board. The Halfa gave a friendly smile.
"Sure, what do you want to ask?"
"I was wondering, might you be the Avatar?"
The what? In Danny's research of this world, he had never heard of an Avatar. He knew what an avatar was, a digital figure representing someone in a video game, typically the main player character in a video game or a virtual character or display picture on forums and websites and other such things. He also knew that that avatar was originally something regarding other bodies or maybe reincarnation. That had been the original before video games appropriated it. Assuming this world didn't have video games, he assumed it was probably something like the original. It also sounded like an official title of some kind.
"What's the avatar?" Danny asked.
"You came from the Spirit World and you don't know what the Avatar is?" Minister Zhang asked.
"Never heard of them back home," Danny said with a shrug. "Must not have been relevant enough for the people and spirits of Amity to care."
"Interesting." Minister Zhang noted. "And what do you know about the physical world?"
"Not much honestly. I heard that some time ago humans were granted control over the four elements and that they lived here. Beyond that, I don't know anything." Danny said with another shrug. "We've been separated for so long, I'm surprised we even speak the same language."
Zhang nodded, seemingly happy with everything he had heard. He then turned towards the sages who had become quiet during the conversation.
"Please see to it that our young guest is treated with the utmost hospitality that you can muster. Ensure that he is comfortable. We have been given an incredible opportunity to learn about the spirit world from a resident. Please don't trouble him with endless questions. I will return soon with news from the Fire Lord." Minister Zhang didn't wait for a response.
He fled the room shortly after making his announcement, seemingly eager to share what he had learned. Danny let out a sigh after his departure.
"I never actually said anything about talking about the Spirit World." The teen muttered.
"If you wouldn't mind sharing. There is much we have yet to learn about the spirit world." Xiaomei asked.
Danny sighed again. He didn't know much about the spirit world, only what Clockwork had taught him. He did know a lot about ghosts, however, so hopefully there was enough crossover that he'd be able to wing it.
CyberActors15: Alright I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. A bit shorter than usual, but that's fine. No need to rush the story with Chapters that are 17 thousand pages long. As I mentioned last time, I was shifting around some of the characters' ages. To start in this particular story Danny was 13 turning 14 when he first got his powers and now he is 16. Additionally (despite the story starting 3 years in the past) most of the important Avatar Last Airbender characters have aged up but two-plus years. As Katara, Azula and Ty Lee would have normally been 11 years old at this point in the story they are now 13. Sokka and Suki are 14, Zuko is 15, etc. That will be important in the next chapter. Otherwise, that is all from me. The next chapter will release on the 5th of February 2024. If you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review also check out my Linktree for more of my story content If you didn't like it, feel free to leave a review and tell me why. Feedback is always appreciated, and Criticism only makes me a better writer. Until next time, peace!