"You've noticed it, haven't you Mads?" Jack broached the topic one morning after Danny left for school. "That he's..."

"Not human anymore," she whispered. "He's something else."

"Our son… is he still Danny? He—he acts like Danny."

"I want to believe it's still him, but he's so different now. You know he sneaks out, right?" Her eyes welled with tears. "My baby… I don't know who he is anymore, Jack!"

He shook his head. "Neither do I. I think he's trying to act like nothing's changed, but it's clear that something has. I just… we need to talk to him about this. About what he is now."

"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking? That he's a—a—"

"Vampire. He has to be. I've never seen anything else like it."

She nodded. "It would explain the coldness, the dark clothes, and the late-night outings. And his fangs, those damn fangs. I can't really see what else it would be!"

"Exactly. Today, after he comes home from school we'll confront him about it. I can't keep pretending anymore."

"Neither can I, Jack. Neither can I."

Typically, when he returned home from school, his parents were in the lab or out ghost hunting. So, Danny usually flew straight right up to his bedroom. By the time his parents finished their afternoon activities, they assumed he was already in his room, so there wasn't any reason to pretend to use the door. He figured that today was the same as any other day, so he phased right into his room and started on his homework.

As luck had it, today was not like every other day.

He pulled his desk chair across the floor and dropped his backpack onto the carpet. He was about to sit down when Mom's voice carried upstairs.

"Danny! Is that you?"

Shit.

She wasn't supposed to be out of the lab yet. He'd messed up; he shouldn't have started taking things for granted.

Hopefully, she hadn't realized that he hadn't come in through the front door. Otherwise, he'd have to pretend he scaled his window and that wouldn't be easy to explain. Oh yeah Mom, just figured I'd climb two stories in broad daylight because it seemed fun! Like that'll go over well.

"Uh, yeah! Just doing my homework!"

His heart pounded in his chest. Please… leave it at that.

Unfortunately, Mom had other plans.

"Could you come down here? Your Dad and I want to talk with you."

The hairs on his neck stood on end. A talk was never good. It was probably about his grades again. He'd failed two tests in the past week and completely bombed an essay worth twenty percent of his grade.

"Alright!" he called. "Just a minute!"

He pushed his chair back in and hesitantly descended the stairs. Both of his parents were waiting for him on the couch, glancing between him and the floor. Okay… that was weird. If his parents were nervous too this may not be the sort of conversation he'd anticipated. Maybe they had realized he hadn't used the front door.

"Take a seat, Danno."

He sat in the loveseat across from the couch.

"We need to talk about something and I don't really know how to say it. Mads?"

Danny gulped. That really didn't sound good.

"We need to talk about how you've changed. We know Danny, and it's okay. We just… need to talk about it. No holding back, no secrets."

It took a good ten seconds before her words made sense.

They… knew?

This couldn't be happening. They couldn't know! They'd—they'd reject him for sure! But somehow they did know and Mom had said it was 'okay'. Alright, so that meant they didn't want to experiment on him or kick him out (unless it was a trick!), so… they were open-minded. But why? He was a ghost! The thing they hated most in the world!

Maybe they didn't know all of it. Maybe they only knew part of it… could that be it? Maybe they knew that he had powers or that he was half-ghost. Or… maybe he'd slipped up completely; maybe they knew he was Phantom.

All that mattered is that he messed up somewhere. He just didn't know where or when. And now he was facing the consequences. Now his parents knew and everything was going to change. He wasn't ready for this. (But would he ever be?)

"What do you mean?" he tried playing dumb. It was a futile attempt—the look on his face had already given him away.

"You're… not human anymore. We don't know how, but we get it. You're still trying to be yourself despite your nature," Dad said.

Mom nodded. "We just want to understand this and how we can help you. We want to embrace this as a family and move on."

Danny's eyes widened. "You're okay with this? With… how I am?"

This was all too… perfect. He figured that he would have to plead for acceptance, that they'd shoot first and ask questions later. But they were content with their son's inhumanity and maybe that didn't mean they knew everything, but Danny was far too relieved to jeopardize their acceptance to qualify exactly what they knew.

"It doesn't hurt me that you've changed, it hurts me that you've hidden this whole other side from us," Mom explained. "I'm mad, but I can move on."

"We'd never hate you over something you can't control."

"Wow… you guys—" he choked. "You guys actually get it."

"Well, we don't get everything," Dad admitted. "We've figured out that you're… y'know… but we don't understand anything other than that."

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty complicated," he laughed. "It's not every day you find out your son's half-dead."

His parents' expressions fell. Suddenly, he was paranoid about what he'd said wrong.

Mom wrapped her hand around her wrist and squeezed.

"So… so you've died?" she whispered. "Oh, Danny…"

"Uh, yeah." He brushed the back of his neck. "Only half, though. My heart still beats, I need air, and I still need to eat human food."

"But that's not all you need?" Dad caught on.

"Well, yeah… I need to feed my other half. Which is gross and it sucks."

His parents shared a significant glance.

"Danny," Dad said carefully, "we get that it's a personal topic, but we need to know. Have you… ever killed anyone?"

Where the fuck did that come from? Murder? He knew his parents thought Phantom was a criminal, but surely they thought he was better than that!

"Wh—no! Why?"

"It's just—how-do-you-eat?" Mom blurted. "You mentioned feeding your 'other half'."

Did they think feeding his ghost half meant killing people? Huh? Well, in a way… okay, he did have to kill some ghosts from time to time. But never people!

Ancients.

"I uh. I have to drink ectoplasm." His face suddenly felt hot. "I guess sometimes I do hurt ghosts, even though I really hate doing it. Usually nothing sentient, just blob ghosts."

Dad's jaw dropped. "Vampires can drink ectoplasm? Wow! Who woulda thought?"

"Whew! That changes everything. Thank God."

"Hold up," Danny cut in. "Vampires? Vampires aren't real." (At least he thought they weren't…?)

Mom frowned. "But you're a vampire?"

Danny did a double-take.

His parents—ghost hunting parents—believed that he, a ghost, was a vampire. No way. No fucking way. It was so ridiculous that he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry.

Somehow they'd misinterpreted ghostliness for vampirism and were actually ready to accept him even if he drank people's blood! Holy shit. It all made sense now.

He wondered how they managed it. What did they supposedly see that made them jump to the 'Danny's a vampire, not a ghost' conclusion? It was probably the fangs. He retracted them at school, but they got sore being crammed up in his gums all the time, so he let them out at home sometimes. He must've gotten caught with them at some point.

Maybe it wasn't so ridiculous, but it was still hilarious. If everything went over well, he wouldn't let them live it down.

"Mom, Dad," he laughed. "I'm a ghost. Not a vampire."

They both looked like they'd been slapped.

"Oh," Dad whispered.

"I mean, I'm only half-ghost. I guess?"

"How?" Mom asked. "We were so sure that you were—and you can't be—but how?"

"Two years ago, I turned the ghost portal on from the inside and almost died. It fused just enough ectoplasm with my DNA to change me, to save me from fully dying. Ever since I've been half-ghost."

"But what exactly does that mean? How can you be half alive and dead?"

He shrugged. "It's beyond me. I need ectoplasm and food to live, my temperature's really low and my heart beats a bit slow. I have ghost powers and can transform into a ghostly form. Which I guess we need to talk about that too."

His parents were probably going to be upset about Phantom, but if they could accept him when they thought he was a bloodsucking monster they could likely accept anything.

"You're losing us, kid," Dad said.

"And somehow vampires made more sense?" he raised a brow.

"Well, you got me there."

"What do you mean 'ghost form'?" Mom drew out. "Does that mean you can change your appearance?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But it's probably better if you see it," Danny decided. "You're not gonna like it though. My ghost form looks like any regular ghost. Which is why this is so complicated; you guys have seen my ghost form before."

"We have?"

"You don't mean… you change into a ghost and haunt the town! That's where you go at night?"

He laughed nervously. "Guilty. It's not what you think, though. Even when I change… please keep an open mind."

His words did little to console them. If it were possible, they looked even more startled than before.

"Danny—"

Before they could protest, he drew his core out to the surface and let the transformation rings wrap around his waist. He kept his eyes down, looking anywhere but at his parents. To his dismay, he heard their sharp gasps as the rings panned out to reveal Phantom—glossy black spandex, billowing white hair, toxic green eyes, and piercing white fangs. After several seconds, Danny bit back his fear and met his parents' gazes.

Mom had her hands clamped over her face and Dad's mouth was ajar. Sure, their reactions weren'tgood but they weren't bad either. Honestly, Mom and Dad were right where Danny expected them to be. He could work with this; he only had to persuade them that he was still their son.

"I know this isn't what you expected and you're probably pissed because I know you hate me, but before you finish judging me can I explain?"

"Ph—Phantom?" Dad stammered. "But Danny… and what?"

"Dad, I'm still Danny. This is just my ghost form. There is no 'Phantom', it's just a dumb name I made up for myself whenever I transform."

"No, no… you can't be Danny," Mom denied. "You're different. I've seen the two of you together! And—and Danny wouldn't do the things you've done!"

"To protect my identity, I've pulled a few tricks to make myself look like different people. And… I know that some of the things I've done look bad, but most of those were mistakes. I… mess up a lot. I'll explain them if you just listen to me."

"And how do we know this isn't a trick?" Jack accused.

"You're the ones that called me down to have a conversation about what's wrong with me. Do you really think I could've planned this?" he deadpanned.

"Fair."

"So you get it? That I'm still the same person even though I look like a ghost? That Phantom isn't some parasite possessing me? That being a half-ghost means I'm still half-alive and that all that really changes is my appearance?"

"I guess it does make some sense," Mom conceded. "Being half-ghost would explain the cold skin and the sneaking out... oh, and the fangs!"

Danny ran his tongue over his teeth. "I can't believe these made you think I was a vampire."

"Thinking about it now is kind of stupid," Dad chortled. "I can't believe I thought my son was a bloodsucker but he was actually just a spook!"

"I can't believe you guys were okay with me killing people. That's literally the opposite of my job."

"Your job?"

"Uh, yeah," Danny put a hand on his hip. "I'm a ghost hunter? That's what I've been doing and telling you guys for the past two years?"

Dad's eyes lit up. "You have?"

"Yeah, but all you see is the bad stuff! Like, I don't try to cause property damage, it just happens when I'm fighting ghosts! And I don't fight them for attention, I actually want less of it! As Phantom, I try to keep the town safe just like you guys."

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry we doubted you, Danno. We just thought you were like every other ghost… I never thought—"

"I know. You had no reason to believe that I was different."

"But we should have." Maddie declared. "You're our son! Why didn't we see that it was you?"

"Because I didn't want you to see. I was… afraid of you guys knowing because I thought if you knew, you'd hate me anyway. That you wouldn't care that I'm your son and that you'd…" he shook his head, "nevermind."

His parents' expressions softened.

"Oh, Danny…" Mom moved forward and brushed a strand of his white hair. "I'm so sorry I made you feel this way."

"It's fine," he dismissed. "I'm just being stupid."

"No, you're not," Jack cut in. "We said awful things about you. We said it to your face, we said it to the town, hell—we even put anti-Phantom warnings in pamphlets! Even though we didn't know, that doesn't excuse all the horrible things you must've felt. We gave you no reason to trust us and that's not stupid, that's being smart."

"But you're my parents… I should've had more faith. I should've… I—"

"This isn't on you, kiddo. It's on us. You don't deserve to carry this guilt, we do. I'm sorry that it's taken this long."

"We love you, Danny," Mom assured. "You're our son no matter what. Ghost, human, or vampire."

Sometimes, he would give one out of the blue. He'd tell a freshman that their cat was going to die, or what scores everyone would get on the next test. He'd slide up beside the jocks in the senior class, and warn them about a party going wrong. He'd sit down at lunch time and spoil an entire week's worth of TV shows for someone- because the power was going to go out at their house, and they'd miss them otherwise; and it would. These would rarely be about anything more than a month out.

But if Danny was caught in the right mood, he could be asked about things. Things that wouldn't happen for a long time, for months, or even years. College admissions, marriage, sports, events, politics, friendships, contests, romance, deaths. No one had tested a prophecy that went out more than a few months, but he was rarely wrong, and when he was wrong, he wasn't wrong by very much. One student was wait-listed for a college, instead of accepted outright. Another found proof their boyfriend was cheating before Danny had predicted. A third managed to avoid being injured in that basketball game.

More importantly, on those days, his advice was always spot-on.

Hannah Weston had been observing Danny Fenton for a while. Unlike her older cousin, she didn't think that Danny was Phantom, that was kind of crazy, but she did have a soft spot for conspiracy theories and occult rumors.

Her current theory? Danny was some kind of esper. Or a necromancer, in the original sense of the word. His whole family was weird. Mad scientists. Everyone knew they had a lab in their basement, and they had done something with the government, according to Amity Park's conspiracy message boards. They could have done... something. Something to make Jazz super smart, and to give Danny precognition.

And what was to say Danny didn't have precognition all the time? He certainly made himself scarce during ghost attacks. He always seemed to know when they were going to happen. His 'prophesy mode' always seemed to come on right after big ghost fights, too. Hannah's working theory was that his powers ran on ectoplasm (ectoenergy?), and the ectoplasm shed in big ghost fights overloaded him, and made him less careful about hiding his powers.

Of course, not everyone followed Hannah's logic, which is why she and some of the other 'socially neutral' girls were trying to corner Danny away from his ever-present protectors, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley.

It was so weird to think of herself as 'socially neutral.' Then again, considering all the ghosts, being a conspiracy theorist in Amity Park was almost respectable. Right along with the occult, and the tiny ghost-centric actual cult.

Which only made Danny's outcast status weirder. Whatever. No one said high school social dynamics had to be logical.

Their idea (not Hannah's) was that if Danny could already predict stuff well, then he could predict it even better with some actual fortune telling paraphernalia. It didn't make sense, as far as Hannah was concerned, but she was willing to humor her friends, and this was the only way she'd be able to ask him questions without Sam or Tucker shooing her off.

Not that she had anything really pressing to ask. She was just curious.

She peeked in the classroom window. Her friend Mia had found out that Danny and his two friends hung out in this classroom during lunch when Danny was in a prophetic mood. It was mostly used for storage, so the teachers didn't care, even though students technically weren't supposed to be in there.

The PA system coughed to life, summoning Sam and Tucker to the office, as planned. Sarah, her other friend, had been in charge of that. Now it was Hannah's turn. She knocked on the window, and waved at Danny.

Danny came over and opened it. "I can help you, Mia, and Sarah," he said, before Hannah could repeat her lines, "but it's too cold by the field."

"Uh," said Hannah.

"We could go stand by the stairs to the roof, since the upperclassmen who smoke there got busted." Danny smiled absently, his eyes glassy. "I hope they stop doing that now. Smoking isn't good."

Hannah thought about it for a second. "Sure, let me text Mia."

"Also, I don't know how tarot works."

"That's fine."

.

Sarah brought a magic 8 ball. Mia brought cards.

"I couldn't find a crystal ball," Sarah said, defensively, taking the toy out of her bag.

"It's fine." Hannah peered at Mia's cards. They were black and gold. "Those are pretty," she said.

"Thanks," said Mia. "My grandma got them for me for my birthday."

"So," said Sarah, slightly pink. She held up her magic 8 ball. "What should we do first?"

Surprising everyone, Danny reached for the magic 8 ball.

"Signs point to no," he said. He shook the ball.

Everyone leaned in to see the answer. The ball said, 'SIGNS POINT TO NO.'

After a few more minutes, it became obvious that Danny could accurately predict which answer the magic 8 ball would display every time. It became equally obvious that, as long as he had the ball, that was all he would do.

Hannah pulled the ball away. "Let's try the cards," she said. They were halfway through lunch, and as cool as the trick was, it got boring after a while.

"Oh," said Danny, face falling. "I don't know how tarot works, though."

"That's okay," said Mia, holding out the cards. "Just do what feels right."

"I'll try," said Danny, dubiously. He shuffled the cards. "I think Sam would like these," he said, running a finger over the gold foil back. "What is the question you want to ask?"

"You first," said Sarah to Mia. "They're your cards."

Mia licked her lips. "Tell me about what will happen if I become an exchange student." Mia had wanted to be an exchange student for a while. She was even taking Honors Spanish. Her parents, however, weren't enthusiastic about the idea.

Danny divided the cards into three piles.

He flipped over one card. It showed a pair of clasped hands, each wearing a bracelet. "It won't happen the way you expect it to," said Danny. He turned over the next card. It showed two flowers. "You'll go far away, but your plans won't help." He turned over the card on top of the last pile. It had a pair of skeletons on it. "You'll find something important, though."

"Er, you couldn't be maybe a little bit more... specific?" asked Mia.

"No?"

"I told you it wouldn't work," said Hannah. She was just a little smug.

"Sam and Tucker are looking for me," said Danny. "You shouldn't be here when they come up. Here are your cards."

"Thanks," said Mia. She and Sarah went down the stairs. Hannah lingered.

"Are those two ever going to get together?" asked Hannah, hooking her thumb over her shoulder.

Danny blinked up at her. "Weren't you listening?"

"Hannah!" called Sarah. "Come on, we've got to go."

"Well, bye," said Hannah.

"Bye," said Danny, waving. He stood up and stretched. That wasn't too bad. At least they hadn't asked for lottery numbers.

For whatever reason the guy seems to intimidate Jamey the receptionist, watching as she’s clearly trying to get the guy away from her and is trying not to touch the guy. Which only seems to make priest dude suspicious, intentionally grabbing and holding onto her hand and looking like he’s searching her eyes. Danny floats down closer, invisible of course, at this, in case this guy is legit dangerous and tries to attack her or something.

Thankfully, he lets go and heads to his room with a smile. Jamey shaking herself off after a bit. Danny hangs around the lobby for a bit to make sure she’s fine and priest guy doesn’t come back.

Danny sniffs out the guys' room and promptly puts a SpookSpot, a camera that looks like a little black ghost sticker, to watch priest guys door. And heads back to proper patrolling and enjoying the late afternoon sky.

Two day’s later Danny’s pretty well forgotten about the guy. He just seems to be wandering the town, muttering to himself, and nodding at things. The only real beef Danny had with the guy was that he was creeping people out.

But apparently, the guy was just patient, or spent a lot of time plotting. As Danny comes upon him doing...something? to the Box Ghost of all ghosts. He was seemingly chanting and making erratic hand motions. While the Box Ghost just looks really confused. Eventually, the Box Ghost, seeing a lost cause, shouts, “BEWARE!!!”, and promptly flies off.

The priest looks pleased with himself for whatever reason.

The next day Danny groans at spotting the priest, with a visitors badge, wandering the halls of Casper high, hands clasped behind his back and occasionally nodding at things.

Tucker pokes Danny, “you know, your folks aren’t the weirdest people here anymore”.

Danny sighs, “yeah, guy’s super weird. I think he tried to exorcise Boxy. It was...really sad. Boxy took pity on him”.

Tucker snorts, “that is pretty sad”.

Danny’s ghost sense goes off just as they start heading to class. Danny sighs dramatically, “so much for first period”, Tucker pats him on the back as well slinks off. Never noticing the ever so slightly wide-eyed priest watching.

Danny gets up with a yawn in the morning, struggling into a sweater and ruffling up his hair before heading down for breakfast.

Danny looks around the table, slightly caught off guard. The priest guy, who Danny has figured out was named Jospeh which honestly was a stereotypical as Hell name, is just sitting at the table; letting Jack and Maddie talk ghost at him with a pleasant smile, though it felt rather fake.

Danny shrugs loosely, and goes to make his cereal, “mornin’”.

Maddie smiles, “morning sweetie. This fine man was curious about the ghosts in town, so Jack decided he could stay for tea”, looking to Jospeh, “you’re named Jospeh you said right?”.

“It is”.

Danny sits down with his bowl, nodding at the guy, “mine’s Danny. And if you wanna talk ghosts then yeah, this is the house to do it in”, Danny decides to fuck with the guy a little, “who knows, maybe my dad’ll pull out the portal photo album”.

Jack grins wide, “yes! We should!”, springing up and rushing off.

Jospeh squints ever so slightly at Danny and turns to face him more, “portal?”.

Danny leans back and puts his hands behind his head nonchalantly, “yup, ghosties come and go through it sometimes. Dad fishes trough it”, deciding to be the mild to colossal idiot that he is, “I've come and gone through it here and there”.

Maddie shakes her head, “I remember that time you stumbled out with a knife in your leg. Didn’t you trip in that time?”.

Danny chuckles, ignoring the priests staring, “yup. Dad left some stuff on the floor and you know how clumsy I am”. Maddie giggles at that before going back to drinking her coffee.

Jospeh stares at him a bit before Jack returns with the aforementioned photo album and Jospeh changes to staring at that.

Danny chuckles and fills up a large thermos with coffee and promptly leaves. Only walking for a ways before slinking into an alley, turning invisible and intangible, then going back to the house.

Danny tilts his head Jospeh seemingly convincing his parents to go out hunting extra long and letting Jospeh help house sit so that he can ‘get a feel for ghosts’. His folks were way too easy to trick sometimes. If Danny’s stuck with this stuck up religious nut then he’s gonna mess around, moving closer to make creepy breathing sounds and blow air at the guy; who shivers from the cold temperature, before looking around for the source. Danny facepalms as Jospeh subtly throws salt out in one direction, clearly thinking there’s a ‘demon’ there. Danny absolutely was going to torment this poor prick. He was creeping all his humans out, would probably grow bold enough to interrupt fights, and he was a pompous twat. The last was honestly reason enough.

Danny comes home that night and as soon as he closes the door, Jospeh is staring at him. Danny waves at him, “sup priest boy”, pointing at the guy, “you know you’re creeping out pretty well the whole town? What’s your issue?”.

“Am I now”.

“Yup”.

Joshep squints but takes a sip of tea, “good. The Fenton parents seem to be the only not under demonic influence in this infested town”, Jospeh slowly walks closer to Danny, “but of course you already know that, don’t you demon”.

Danny makes a show of looking overly offended, “me? Some powerful being from another dimension? Why I never”.

“Hell is hardly another dimension, beast”.

Danny chuckles, “well look at you, able to come up with not one but two insulting names to spit like venom”.

Joseph walks closer and pushes a large silver cross into Danny’s chest, “that’s enough from you. Give it up and release the boy who’s body you’ve stolen and this town. You should have known your time was numbered as soon as you saw me”.

Danny rolls his eyes, utterly unaffected, “of a pompous twat who’s so greatly out of his depth? Hardly”

Joshep pushes the cross in hard and glares, “you're using protections, Foul thing. No matter, there’s seals everywhere, you’re trapped”.

Danny chuckles and makes it sound a bit threatening, “sure, whatever you say buddy”. Pushing past the guy to fetch himself some coffee. Pouring it but giving Joshep dramatic side-eye as the guy starts chanting at him.

“Princeps gloriosissime caelestis militiae, sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio et colluctatione, quae nobis adversus principes et potestates, adversus mundi rectores tenebrarum harum, contra spiritualia nequitiae, in caelestibus“. Danny watching as the guy flips a coin with a cross hollowed out of it and clutches at rosary beads. This guy really was going there wasn’t he? Danny chuckles and smirks, fine, Danny will give this weirdo a damn show.

Joseph continues his chant prayer, “Veni in auxilium hominum, quos Deus creavit inexterminabiles, et ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit, et a tyrannide diaboli emit pretio magno“.

He holds up and waves around the rosary, making sure the light glints off it. While Danny starts pretending to be in agony but like he’s trying not to show it. As Joshep continues, “Proeliare hodie cum beatorum Angelorum exercitu proelia Domini, sicut pugnasti contra ducem superbiae Luciferum, et angelos eius apostaticos: et non valuerunt, neque locus inventus est eorum amplius in coelo. Sed proiectus est draco ille magnus, serpens antiquus, qui vocatur diabolus et satanas, qui seducit universum orbem; et proiectus est in terram, et angeli eius cum illo missi sunt“.

Danny’s just letting out his fangs and ears at this point, curled up on the ground and pretending to be pissed off at the priest. Who only narrows his eyes with resolute determination, “En antiquus inimicus et homicida vehementer erectus est. Transfiguratus in angelum lucis, cum tota malignorum spirituum caterva late circuit et invadit terram, ut in ea deleat nomen Dei et Christi eius, animasque ad aeternae gloriae coronam destinatas furetur, mactet ac perdat in sempiternum interitum“.

Joshep splashes a container of holy water over Danny, who has to try really hard to not laugh and break character, “Virus nequitiae suae, tamquam flumen immundissimum, draco maleficus transfundit in homines depravatos mente et corruptos corde; spiritum mendacii, impietatis et blasphemiae; halitumque mortiferum luxuriae, vitiorum omnium et iniquitatum“.

Joshep starts aggressively pointing the cross at Danny, “Ecclesiam, Agni immaculati sponsam, faverrimi hostes repleverunt amaritudinibus, inebriarunt absinthio; ad omnia desiderabilia eius impias miserunt manus“.

Danny makes a show off grabbing the guys ankle and letting Joshep shake him off. Though taking amusement in the ever so slight startled waver in his voice, “Ubi sedes beatissimi Petri et Cathedra veritatis ad lucem gentium constituta est, ibi thronum posuerunt abominationis et impietatis suae; ut percusso Pastore, et gregem disperdere valeant“.

Danny starts abortedly duplicating, only letting the duplicate start forming or splitting for seconds before snapping them back. Joshep near bellowing now, “Adesto itaque, Dux invictissime, populo Dei contra irrumpentes spirituales nequitias, et fac victoriam“.

Danny once again has to resist laugh as the guy throws salt at him again, “Te custodem et patronum sancta veneratur Ecclesia; te gloriatur defensore adversus terrestrium et infernorum nefarias potestates; tibi tradidit Dominus animas redemptorum in superna felicitate locandas“.

Danny lets a duplicate form halfway but seemingly attempting to snap back ‘into’ Danny. Catching the slight smile on the priests face, “Deprecare Deum pacis, ut conterat satanam sub pedibus nostris, ne ultra valeat captivos tenere homines, et Ecclesiae nocere“.

Danny lets the duplicate fly out of him and slam into the back wall, letting his originally body collapse and pretend to be unconscious. While Joshep stalks after the duplicate, waving the cross and slashing holy water, “Offer nostras preces in conspectu Altissimi, ut cito anticipent nos misericordiae Domini, et apprehendas draconem, serpentem antiquum, qui est diabolus et satanas, ac ligatum mittas in abyssum, ut non seducat amplius gentes“.

Joshep grins wide at the duplicate, pushing the cross into his face, “I cast away any devout dismay, that child in these Christ blessed arms of mine shall never fall at the hands of hellish beasts”.

The duplicate chuckles into the cross, “he’s mine old man”.

Joshep grits his teeth, “you shall evade the one of holy youth, the blessed one of creators uncorrupted, malevolent apparition. Vade retro Satana”.

The duplicate smirks, “ah so foolish, you think you’re some great knowing thing. How much longer till your facade breaks down?”.

“Truth and God shall never waver Beast”.

Original Danny gets up and stretches. Walking over and tapping on Joshep’s shoulder, “if I may turn you away from this rather pathetic display. This child was never one to fall. And I’m only in my own hands”.

The duplicate sits up and pretty well pushes over Joshep. The duplicate roles his eyes, “dude come one. There ain’t no demons here. And do you really think shit like salt and water is going to work on a being bound to eternity?”. The duplicate simply dissipates in the air while Joshep stands up and whirls around to see Danny just standing there and picking at his nails.

Danny pats him on the shoulder, “that was fun, good acting lessons on my part. Anyway, you got that whole need to exorcise out of you system?”.

Joshep sputters, “w-what are you?”.

Danny, deciding to be a dick and really freak this guy out, let’s his transformation ring form around his forehead like a halo for a split second and makes his eyes glow icy blue.

Joshep goes slightly wide-eyed but composes himself quickly. It’s obvious he now thinks Danny’s an angel as he dips his head slightly, “Dânêl. Concede nos famulos tuos, tu pro nobis intercedere dignentur in solio mixtum commiscere divinae miserationis in praesentem necessitatem, quod tu vis quemadmodum nuntiare Mariae in mysterio incarnationis Christi, ut per tua suffragia et patrocinia sentiamus in caelis perpetuae capiamus beneficia eiusdem, et laudem Dei usque in aeternum cantabo in terra viventium“.

Danny holds his hands up and waves the guy off, “you’re freaking my humans out. Stop that. This place is in good hands”, smirking slightly, “as for the shit that just happened. I’m a trickster”.

Danny walks up and pats the guys shoulder with a chuckle, “there are so many things in this world that you’ll never understand. Do not fall to the faults of assuming you know what you do not. Nor that the truths you know are all there is to know. There are no demons here”.

Joshep looks into Danny’s eyes, seeing nothing but fierce protectiveness, twinkling of amusement, and soft kindness. “Then what be they, should you bless me with that knowledge? Could it be that this is why I am here?”.

Danny chuckles and walks to look out the window. Snickering at the seals, “in all the forms of existences there’s bound to be a few you’ve never seen, you could try to achieve it. Become one of the beings of the Infinite Realms. But most of them can never leave or it will be a long time. So I don’t really recommend”, turning to look at Joshep before Danny gestures out the window, “most of them were once living mortals. Some were not. Souls unable to move on granted powering and purpose. Some protect and guide, watching over mortals or time itself. Others try to keep order and punish those who miss-use their power. Others do what you see here in Amity. Scare. Goof around. There are very few who are what you may call evil”.

Joshep walks up next to Danny, and looks out, jerking as all the seals burn away win blue flames. Side-eyeing the chuckling Danny, “you are a well humoured one”.

Danny smirks, “very much so”, nodding his head at the window, “the ones who are dead’s. They all died in brutal fashion. So horrid that existence itself decided they deserved another chance to live free and strong. Make no mistake priest. I protect them as well”. Danny makes his eyes blue and the frost creep across the window to make his point clear.

Joshep nods and dips his head, “but of course. I did not expect my wrongs and I have much to ponder. To none will I bring hassle nor harm”.

Danny chuckles, “good. I will continue keeping an eye on you regardless”.

Joshep blinks but nods with a small smile. And while this was highly enlightening and a blessing, he had zero intentional of imposing on or hanging around an Angel. Angel’s often said ‘be not afraid’ for a reason, they were not truly pleasant creatures and this one had firmly pretended to be a demon and be in agony. So Joshep bows with clasped hands, “blessed you”, before heading out the door.

Danny chuckles, “oh I’m very blessed indeed”.  

They had to go on this school camping trip and Dash had thought, what better time to confess his feelings? He’d been trying to follow Kwan’s advice, had apologized to Danny a couple weeks ago. They weren’t friends or anything but they got along a little better now. 

But Dash had pulled Danny aside as everyone else was heading to their tents. He told Danny and as the other boy’s eyes widened and he shuffled on his feet, Dash’s heart fell. 

He hadn’t seemed to be disgusted by the idea but he began to spout off all these reasons why it wouldn’t work. It’s not the right time. He has too much going on. 

Dash had stared past Danny’s shoulder, horror filling his stomach. He knew and Danny didn’t feel the same way. What if he told someone? There was no doubt he’d tell his two best friends. What if they told someone else? What if word spread around so much it got back to his dad?

At that thought, Dash had taken off into the trees, the rain just starting. He ignored Danny’s yell. He just kept running through the darkness. 

Laying on the ground, he began to make his way to his hands and knees. Another sob wracked his body and he laid his forehead against the mud as he angrily hit the ground, heart shattered. 

“Dash!”

His head jolted up and whipped around as he heard the call of his name. Scrawny little Danny Fenton had followed him into the pitch black forest. 

Dash tried to quiet his sobs, hoping Danny wouldn’t hear him and would turn back. He didn’t know when he’d be able to face the other boy. 

“Dash! I know you’re out here! We need to get back to camp! It’s not safe!”

He scoffed. What did Fenton care if he was safe or not?

Footsteps sounded a ways to Dash’s left, leaves crunching as Danny drew closer. 

“Dash, where are-”

Lightning lit up the forest once again, Dash and Danny’s gazes met in the split second of light.

“Dash, stay there. I’m coming to get you.” Danny’s footsteps started moving confidently towards him in the dark. 

“No. Leave me alone.” Dash grumbled.

“Dash we’re in the middle of a thunderstorm. I’m not leaving you out-”

Another crack of lightning flashed in the air, followed by a horrible cracking sound. One of the trees behind Dash began to creak and he felt everything slow as it started falling. 

Just before the tree squashed him, Dash was barreled out of the way. He rolled and flipped over a few times before he stopped. Raising his head, he looked up to glance at where the tree was laying. Where he’d been a moment ago. 

A groan sounded to his right. Danny.

“What the hell, man?!” Dash shouted. “You could’ve been killed!”

Danny scoffed. “Well you would have been killed. You’re welcome.”

Silence fell between them, Dash’s hands shaking. Another sob forced its way from Dash’s throat and he heard Danny sigh before a hand was gently placed on his shoulder. 

“Let’s get back to camp.”

Dash heard Danny stand and a hand met his arm, helping to pull him up. Together, they trudged back to camp to be met with an upset Lancer.