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

Note: Since the last chapter was so short, I made this one a little longer to make up the difference. The previous story had a lot of angst and this one will have some too here and there when the situation calls for it, but for the most part I'd like to focus more on Owen's personal growth as he begins to gain the confidence he'll need to fight as hard as he can to protect his friends and family. It's the same for Eris despite her situation being a little more complicated than that. Her real parents basically left her with the council and two other members stepped in to act as her new parents/mentors but its hard to say yet if they actually got along or not since she always made excuses to keep Owen away from their house.

Eris's biological parents don't want anything to do with her and Owen's parents were killed five years ago, but now we've learned that his mother had been keeping secrets from him and her husband to keep them safe which unfortunately backfired. So basically each of them has their part to play, including a certain someone from Vlad's past who might be making a surprise appearance at some point in the future. Dun Dun DUNN!

Chapter 3: The Reason We Fight

Vlad's POV

Knocking on the door despite knowing Owen was already well aware of my presence, I entered as soon as he gave me permission to and that's when I saw just how intently he was staring at the pages of his family Grimoire. It was the same deeply contemplative look he'd worn while reading a book purely for recreational purposes the day we met. But at the same time there was an almost frantic glint shining in his eyes that caught me by surprise. It was a look I knew all too well, the look of someone desperate for answers who clearly wasn't getting them fast enough.

Recognizing it for what it was, I decided to stop delaying the inevitable and help him work through these difficult emotions rather than continue putting it off any longer because that evidently wasn't an option anymore. Owen seemed so disturbed by what we learned today he couldn't think about anything else apart from what he should do next to help defeat the council. Hopefully, if Owen is willing to listen to what I have to say I may be able to offer a solution or two that will satisfy him.

"If you're not too engrossed in your studies would you mind coming down to the lab with me, Owen? There's another belated birthday gift I nearly forgot to give you in there that I'm sure you'll find quite useful, assuming of course you still remember the promise I made to you." I smiled, certain he'd catch the hint right away.

Having successfully caught his attention at last Owen tilted his head in my direction and asked curiously. "No way, did you actually go through with it...?"

"With what my boy?" I replied innocently.

Closing the book Owen sat up to look me straight in the eye and answered knowingly. "I overheard you talking to Eris about a 'battle suit' you had made for me to match yours and at first I thought you two were only joking about it. But I'm telling you this right now, if it has a cape then that's going to be a hard no for me. I'm really not interested in becoming a carbon copy of the famous 'Wisconsin ghost.' Danny already accused me of being a clone once and once is enough."

Placing a hand over my heart, feigning indigence, I pouted. "Owen, I'm surprised at you! Surely you know I have more sense than that? As amusing as I find that idea lets face it, you probably could not pull off a cape anyways even on the best of days."

"Gee, thanks." Owen laughed before giving me a pointed look and adding. "Ok but seriously, no capes alright?"

Nodding I transformed and patiently waited for him to do the same. Recently I've been working on helping Owen grow accustomed to shifting into this new form which we have officially dubbed his Necromancer form by the way. And although he isn't exactly half-ghost, we do share a lot of similarities as far as the basic functionality of our powers goes so I'm hoping practicing like this has made switching between one form to the other easier for him. Of course, Owen and I still have a long way to go before we learn everything there is to know about this strange, ancient, long forgotten power he wields.

Essentially, when Owen transforms it is as if he has completely overshadowed his own body. Biologically speaking though, at least from what I can surmise given how little information we have about Necromancers, he remains completely human otherwise. Whereas hybrids like myself have their human and ghostly traits intertwined together at all times. For example, Owen's blood doesn't carry a single trace of ectoplasmic power until he transforms in which case his blood undergoes an instant metamorphosis where it becomes something akin to it which we've likewise decided to call 'necroenergy'. The only thing that doesn't change whenever Owen is in either of his forms is ironically the very same thing that has kept him from being overshadowed by ANY ghost, including yours truly. In other words, its the genetic makeup he has shared with Blood Blossoms since the day he was born.

At any rate, lets return to the main topic shall we? One thing we've learned about Necromancers is that this particular type of energy, necroenergy, appears to primarily manifest itself in the form of blue flames to burn away dark or negative ghost energy, purifying it, and whenever Owen is in his new form that same power courses throughout his body directly from his core just like normal ecto-energy does for ghosts. However, like I mentioned earlier when we introduced to a drop of unfiltered ectoplasm to a sample of his blood we quickly discovered he can still naturally remove such impurities and even convert the newly refined ecto-energy into more necroenergy which was very fascinating to watch. Then again, when you consider the fact that Necromancers are typically born with the innate ability to repel hostile spirits, greatly boost the ghost powers of their otherworldly allies, and in rare cases even heal them it all starts to make perfect sense.

Once we made it down to the lab, since Owen had correctly guessed what my gift was I couldn't keep the amused tone out of my voice when I told him the very battle suit he had mocked mere moments ago was already waiting for him in the changing room. Then I asked Owen to let me know if it fit him alright before we continued our journey towards the training room. He nodded and left without a word, clearly unsure whether to feel happy about this or embarrassed.

In the meantime, while eagerly awaiting his return out in the hallway I kept myself occupied by mentally going over the checklist of new abilities we had yet to test him for. As of now, Owen appears to possess a lot of -if not most of- the same basic ghost powers one might expect ranging from flight, superhuman strength, health regeneration, and endurance to classic intangibility. But he cannot use invisibility for some reason which I find very odd considering he can do nearly everything else a ghost can...

Although it's entirely possible Owen just hasn't tapped into this specific power yet, if I had to hazard a guess for its absence, perhaps this is merely one of the many trade offs to being a Necromancer who naturally has the power to sense the intentions of those around them. In other words it doesn't matter if a ghost has duplicated themselves, become invisible, or is overshadowing someone when they meet him, none of them can escape his soul piercing gaze. And given the dangers Wraiths pose to both humans and ghosts alike, I can see why this power takes a much higher priority than the others. As for the rest, I firmly believe that the only reason Owen even has a separate form like this is because he is no ordinary Necromancer. He is a Revenant, also known as a Living Ghost who sixteen years ago was reincarnated as the wonderfully innovative young man in the next room.

Ironically Kurst wasn't wrong when he told me the reason he arranged our eventual meeting is that I am the best equipped to help Owen grow accustomed to his true nature as a Necromancer. I'm glad we're learning about these powers together because thanks to the fact I already have over twenty years worth of experience under my belt dealing with ghosts and having ghost powers myself it hasn't been all too difficult for us to find ways to relate to each other. As for the rest, well, I'm sure in due time Owen will get used to this lavish lifestyle where anything is possible as long as I'm here to provide it for him.

A few minutes later Owen finally reemerged to show me the end result of his unexpected wardrobe change. And yes, before you ask I did purposefully stick to the black and white theme but the rest had a far more updated aesthetic than I'm sure Owen was expecting. The base of the suit consisted of a sleeveless white turtleneck with a black collar, waistline, and trim that lined both his sides. To complete the look, Owen was given a pair of tall black boots and fingerless sleeves to cover his arms since he still felt uncomfortable seeing the entirety of his own bone structure beneath the translucent glowing blue skin that ran from his fingertips nearly up to the crown of his shoulders.

Now I know what you're thinking. This sounds like more of a fashion statement than actual protective gear and normally you would be right except for one very important detail. We discovered through the mishap with Owen's would-be kidnappers that whenever a part of his body is at serious risk of injury so long as he braces himself in time it becomes reinforced by the same crystallized necroenergy his arms transmute into. That means he has almost the same level of supernatural endurance as Daniel and I do that protects us from harm that would almost certainly be lethal to the average human. So keeping that in mind I thought we could afford to prioritize Owen's outward visage at least a little considering the outfit itself is also made of a special reinforced yet flexible mesh of my own creation.

Stretching his arms and experimenting with a few more twists of the body Owen looked over at me with a hint of awkward satisfaction and admitted. "You win, this outfit does look pretty cool. It's surprisingly comfortable and easy to move around in too."

"And I'm sure you've already noticed the distinct lack of a cape." I teased, lightly poking him in the chest. "There's no insignia on it either since I'm not about to let you follow in Daniel's footsteps and start playing hero."

Brushing me off Owen added. "Don't jinx it Vlad because I'm probably going to end up doing that soon anyway. Mind you I don't think I'll be fighting that many ghosts, not unless you count the few working for the council."

"I suppose that's true." I smiled, ruffling his hair which was surprisingly still mainly white even in this form while the black portion had faded into a lovely shade of cerulean blue. Moving onto the matter at hand though I instructed. "Now that we know it fits I would like for you to change back to your human form while wearing it so we can see if it will remain on you the same way it does for Daniel and I. I don't see why it wouldn't but better safe than sorry. And don't worry, I have a few spare copies of this stored away for later should we ever need to replace it."

A moment later Owen did just that and much to my relief the transition between forms was seamless. Now he wouldn't have to change into these clothes every single time we came here for training unless they needed to be washed or repaired. So from there we conducted a few more tests and had Owen go through his paces to help us gauge his progress so far. I wanted to be sure he was ready before deciding whether or not it was time to move him up to the next level. Well, that and I had still yet to decide how we were going to include Daniel in this process since I did promise to train him too as part of our agreement to a truce...

Although at this point I'd argue we've managed to forge a real alliance.

At any rate, while observing Owen during target practice, a pattern became clear to me, so I made sure to take a mental note of it for later. Like Daniel, he's a quick learner, so once the exercises became too predictable, I knew I'd have to start adding a randomized element to them. Of course, things would be a lot easier if Owen had some healthy competition to compete with, which at the moment is difficult to give him with Daniel living so far away from us. That is, it would have been if I hadn't secretly arranged for us to stay a little closer to the Fenton family in Amity Park for a while so Jack could provide some 'moral support' for his old college friend who is about to start a family of his own.

Owen's POV

Feeling a lot better after our improvised training session, I joined them for dinner because, obviously, by then I was freaking starving. Vlad's mood brightened when he saw me there too, which was a nice bonus. Eris, on the other hand, seemed a bit distracted, like she had something to say, but I didn't want to pressure her since we all had plenty of our own inner demons to face right now. God knows I hate it when people pester me about stuff I'm not ready to talk about yet. But I appreciate everything she's done for us and have faith we'll tell each other more about our problems eventually. Most of them anyway.

We had just finished getting each other caught up on what happened today while Vlad and I were at the police station when Eris stopped me after taking a deep breath and added. "I'm glad you two were able to get out of there without any major issues because things could have gone very differently if the council had time to send in members they have hidden in the police force. So let's make sure to keep that in mind for next time. Especially since it's only a matter of time before the seven members we've already met end up 'conveniently' transferred to another prison the council has better access to, just like Owen was sent to Mistveil. Which means we're dangerously close to losing our chance to get more information out of them."

"Right, you did warn us of that possibility." Vlad nodded, glancing over at her thoughtfully. "But I get the impression that there's something else you're trying to say, correct?"

"Yes, there is. I've been thinking about it all day, but I didn't want to say anything until I was absolutely sure this is the direction I want to go in." Eris answered, turning to face both of us and continuing. "Vlad, I can never thank you enough for being there for Owen when I couldn't be and for opening my eyes to how stupid I've been. You trusted me even though I used to work for the people who were after him for the same reasons Kurst was: to gain control over him and his gifts. I genuinely used to think the council wanted what's best for us, when really I was only being brainwashed into becoming another pawn in their game of power. So I think it's about time we bring the fight to their doorstep and take them down from the inside."

"Are you insane?!" I blurted out, rushing to my feet. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let you go back there! Especially not now that we know exactly what they're capable of."

"Language Owen." Vlad chided me mildly, calmly meeting her gaze while silently gesturing for me to sit back down with one hand. "He's right about one thing, however. Are you sure you're up to the task, my dear? There's always the chance they'll discover and expose you as a traitor long before you uncover anything significant about their plans."

Rounding on him next, after reluctantly taking my seat again, I groaned loudly. "Not you too."

"I'm just being realistic. And in all fairness I also happen to believe it would make things much easier if we have someone on the inside. I've been meaning to broach the topic again with both of you for much the same reason I'm sure Eris is choosing to bring it up now. The fact of the matter is, Owen, the situation has changed a great deal since the last time we spoke about this. The council is a lot more resourceful than I first gave them credit for which means it would do well for us to accept Eris's generous offer."

Glancing over her shoulder at me, Eris insisted with a confident smile. "This is something I have to do for myself too, not just you. I want answers just as badly as the rest of you, and now might be my only chance to worm my way back into their good graces long enough to give Vlad the opportunity to turn their whole operation inside out. Think about it. The council has no idea Kurst is the one who kidnapped me, so it's the perfect cover story to explain where I've been all this time without letting them know I've gone rogue.

"I'll just tell them he was some crazy spook who kept spouting lies about some big conspiracy theory surrounding the council and how it took ages for me to finally get away from him so I could report back in. I mean, they don't know any better or have a way to track him down in the spirit world where Kurst is being kept under lock and key inside a ghost-catching thermos, so they'll just have to take my word for it."

Slumped my shoulders in defeat since I couldn't really argue with her logic there I sighed heavily. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to talk you out of this?"

Looking at me smugly Eris announced. "Nope."

"I still don't like it, but fine. If that's your final decision, then I won't stop you." I replied, knowing better than to argue with her because once her mind's made up, that's that, and nothing can stop Eris from doing what she believes is right. That is a bad habit we definitely have in common.

I won't bore you with the details, but we spent the rest of dinner coming up with a way to safely catch the council's attention so they'll take her back to their headquarters. It took a lot of convincing for Eris to finally agree to keep a tracker on her just in case things go south, like they almost did for both of us back in Salem. I told her it would help me feel a lot better about the whole thing since I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of sending Eris back into the heart of the lion's den. But at the same time, I understand that we're all just trying to do our part to make things better. So who am I to tell her she can't take any risks when we're all fighting for our friends, family, and future?