#ectober2020

What concerned her more was the mental changes. The increased confidence and boldness was one thing, not strange in the slightest for a teen nearing adulthood. But it was more than that. He had this wise air about him. Not smart, but wise. Something she once felt off of her grandmother. To get that from her son was strange and wrong. Not bad, just wrong. And that air about him felt powerful too, and commanding. It was as if an army commander had just walked into the room half the time. And the way he would look at people, soft and protective. Like he really was a soldier coming upon a group of sweet innocent children. Even relaxing or lounging around, it still seemed like power thrummed under his skin. And talking to him often made her feel like he knew things she didn’t and that he knew that she didn’t know what he did. But it wasn’t pompous. It was more like an adult protecting the innocent mind of a child. In Jack’s case, she could understand a little. Jack could be a little naive and oblivious. But her? Danny shouldn’t be able to make her feel that way so easily, and clearly unintentionally.

It was strange. It was off. And it didn’t make sense. Sometimes he didn’t even seem to resemble the boy he used to be.

As for why she thought ghosts might have something to do with why? Well looking at him at the supper table... It’s late October. The sun is setting. And the lights were broken this morning. Leaving the fading dark orange sunlight as the only thing lighting up the mess of noddles, her son, and her. Jack off fixing the lighting situation and Jazz off at Havard. And in this dark light, she notices that ring of his, the one he’s worn like it’s attached to him for the past year, is glowing. It’s green and it’s glowing. It’s faint, but it’s there. So that’s why she thinks he’s gotten involved with something ghostly; and that it’s changed him. Because that ring is absolutely ghostly in origin.

The first thought that enters her head as she pauses, spoon halfway to her open mouth, is: could that be possessing him? Or allowing a ghost to? The second is: did he steal that from some ghost? Those thoughts should be in the opposite order, but they’re not. Because something’s off with Danny.

Her eyes move from the ring to Danny, finishing the motions of putting the noodles in her mouth while he moves his left hand under the table. Obviously he noticed she noticed. Obviously he knew something was up with the ring and was hiding it. Obviously he didn’t want her commenting on it or being suspicious of it. Was that something to be concerned over? Or suspicious of? Did that mean there was, in fact, something nefarious surrounding the ring or why he wears it? She’s unsure, and other than moving his hand out of her line of sight, he doesn’t outwardly acknowledge her suspicions. He successfully made the motion look nonchalant. Normal. But she can’t let that make her feel better or trick her into thinking he didn’t actually notice her pause. Because she knows how good of a liar he is. How skilled of an actor he was. Could that be the doing of the ring? But that wouldn’t quite make sense, he’s been changing, changed, for a while. It’s just become more pronounced as of late.

She needs to think.

But in all honestly? Thinking hasn’t been doing her much good. All she’s done with Danny is think. Think on his changes. On if the ghost problem affected him. On if he really could ever become a hunter, take over FentonWorks. On a lot of things. And it had gotten her nowhere with him. It was like no matter how much she stared at the puzzle, she couldn’t put it together. Like too many pieces were missing or damaged to make any sense of the whole. And how is she supposed to figure out what those missing pieces were if she couldn’t even understand the whole? She couldn’t. So maybe she should try something different. Though Jack was always the more vocal and bold one, she could do that too. And sure, she could ask Jack to talk to him, but he didn’t put enough thought into things. Didn’t notice the finer details. And with Danny, those finer details were everything.

Like how he was eating just slightly faster. Clearly wanting out of this situation before she decided to speak up or maybe noticed something else. Saw a different glimpse of the mystery that was her son. If he even was her son.

She tries not to follow him with her eyes suspiciously as he gets up to put away his dishes. Choosing to speak up just before he actually crosses the threshold to the living-room, “your ring is glowing”. No beating around the bush, give him as little to work with as possible. And if he keeps walking now it would not only be very rude but also effectively an act of running away. No way would his pride allow for that. Whether that pride was from plain old confidence or ghostly in nature.

As she hoped and planned he pauses, stilling for a second before turning his head back to her; body only turned slightly to her, hiding his entire left side from her view. “Oh?”. Guess he was giving her as little to work with as possible too.

Maddie nods softly, better to not seem on the offensive, “yes it is. No the question is, why?”.

He’s silent for a bit before, “no reason, Halloween knick-knacks like copying ghosts. Especially around here”, shrugging, “glow-sticks are pretty popular after all”.

Maddie can’t help sighing at that. She could throw in the towel and just leave it at that. Just accept the blatant lie. Stay ignorant. The look Danny’s giving her is obviously encouraging her to do just that. It’s the kind of look given to children when they ask where babies come from when they’re honestly still too young. But with more... pity. Just the thing is, if she doesn’t ask now. Doesn’t grab the small thread that’s unraveled from his tightly woven cover before he snips it off. Then she’ll never know. And not just about the ring specifically, but Danny as a whole.

If she ignores this now, she’ll have to write him off as a lost cause. And based on that look on his face and the fact that he’s still standing there, waiting on her. Tells her that he knows that too. So to her that leaves her with no choice. He’s her son, or maybe was, and she won’t leave him behind. If this is some ghost possessing him or polluting him, then she’ll save him. And if it’s not, then she’ll go from there. “Danny, please. I know that’s a lie”.

Danny blinks at her, and he looks like he can’t decide between a smile and a frown. He catches her completely off guard though, “yeah. Yeah it was”, and chuckles. Lifting up his left hand and looking down at the glowing ring before looking back to her, “I’m surprised it took you so long to notice”, chuckling some more.

If it wasn’t for the clear humour behind his words she’d almost feel offended. Her, a ghost hunter, not noticing something ghostly. That was absolutely embarrassing. But Danny didn’t make it feel like she should be embarrassed about it. She’s oddly thankful over that. “If I scanned that, would it have an ecto-field”, there’s no point framing that as a question. The answer was obvious to both of them honestly.

Danny looks around, rubs his neck, and gives an oddly charming lopsided grin. Chuckling, “heh. Caught me?”.

Maddie blinks at that. Just like that? That... that didn’t even make sense. It usually took teeth-pulling to get Danny to be fully honest. And a ghost wouldn’t give up that easily; especially not around a ghost hunter. Getting up, “just like that? I mean, you know I’m not going to be happy you’ve got something ghostly on you. Ghostly of unknown origin at that”.

Danny shrugs, “no point really”, lifting up his left hand again and thumbing the ring to spin it around his finger. It was plain unnatural how smoothly and easily it spins around. Like it was slick and flawlessly fitted. “It’s kinda noticeable, and like you said, you are ghost hunters. I don’t think I genuinely could convince you it wasn’t ghostly”.

Maddie furrows her eyebrows at that, “picking your battles. Is that all it is”.

“Yes and no. Part of me was wondering if you ever would notice. And if you’d even be bothered to ask”.

Maddie can’t help but flinch at that. She knows she hasn’t been the most attentive mother. She knows that. She also knows she hasn’t given Danny all the support and help he probably needed when he was younger. Jazz thrived so much on her own, preferred that. In some ways she had just thought Danny would be the same. And sure, in some ways it does look like he’s thrived; is actively thriving. But he clearly wants her, needs her, in way Jazz never did and never would. But he’s always been so hard to read, to know. You could always tell what Jazz was thinking, how she felt; and if it wasn’t obvious then you bet she would make it obvious. While everything with Danny was just out of arms reach. Danny didn’t put the first foot forward with them the way Jazz did. Danny didn’t pounce on openings to make his thoughts and feelings known the way Jazz did. She needed to chase after him; but he always seemed to pull away more or throw up a wall. Maybe she just hadn’t tried hard enough? Or maybe he had just grown up. Maddie puts away her dishes, turning away from him, “sorry. I just never know what to do with you”, looking back to him, “you're just so...”.

Danny quirks an eyebrow, and finishes her thoughts for her, “strange?”.

Maddie sighs, a bit relived to hear him acknowledge that himself, and nods. Sitting back at the table, “yeah”, looking to his hand and the ring, “that ring. Can you take it off? Can I see it?”.

“That depends”, Danny actually smirks a little, “will you try to destroy it?”.

Maddie can’t help chuckling at that a little, that was blunt but he did have a point. She will absolutely admit to being a bit... rash when it comes to ghostly anything. But she knows Danny doesn’t like it when they get on about the evils of ghosts. And more than once that feeling of him knowing something has nagged at her during those rants. Jazz too, but Jazz always had an air of knowledge around her. And here and now, she’s positive that Danny will refuse outright if she even seems like she’ll damage this ring thing. So she shakes her head, “no”, thinking on it a little, “you’ve been wearing that for a while now. Constantly. Obviously there’s a reason or it’s important”, sighing, “I though it might be a gift from Valerie or even Vlad”. Danny becoming friendly with Vlad still threw her through a loop. Especially since it happened out of nowhere. And his girlfriend could honestly be downright intimidating. She could see either of them giving him a ring with a skull on it, even if the skull looked sad for some reason.

Danny laughs a bit loudly at that, “Vlad would let Jack punch him in the face before giving me this”. Maddie’s not sure what to make of that. “But in that case, then okay”, and walks over to the table, twisting the ring off and eyeing it for a bit before setting it down on the table; it making a loud click like it weighed a lot more than it seemed.

Maddie eyes it, making no move to grab it, “so Vlad knows what this is”, Danny was obviously implying as much. But honestly? Right now she’s just glad he can take the thing off. That means it’s not possessing him. Doesn’t eliminate influencing him though. And if this was something that belonged to a ghost overshadowing him then there’s no way It would hand it over to a ghost hunter. None.

Danny nods, “he never did lose interest in ghosts. He’s more into the mythology and history though, than biology and weaponry. More anthropologist than hunter”. Maddie looks up to him as he sits down across from her. Him nodding his head at the ring still sitting on the table, “that’s very old. In a way”, smirking and eyeing her a bit, “it’s not going to bite you know”.

Maddie gives him a look clearly saying with ghost things anything could possibly bite or harm. But she does pick it up, thumbing it and bringing it close to her face to inspect; though being a bit cautious about it, “if you say so”. Danny chuckles at that, “I do”. Which fine, does make her laugh a little.

Flipping the ring around, it really did just seem like a glowing ring. That’s it. Nothing seemed special about it. Of course she knew better. Ghostly things, and ghosts in general, could often be unassuming. So that didn’t really mean much. “What is it exactly?”.

Danny deadpans, “a ring”, making Maddie give him a ‘you know what I mean’ look, which he chuckles over, “you might understand a bit better if you scan it”, tilting his head, “slightly surprised you haven’t already done that”.

Maddie sighs, “I didn’t want to push it”.

“That’s fair”. Regardless, she does pull out one of her smaller scanners -not like something of this size would need anything more- and promptly scans the ring. Immediately stilling and just staring at the screen.

This thing... she could literally see waves of ectoplasmic energy being sucked into it. And the things glow was actually the reverse of normal. Instead of bleeding out ecto-energy it was creating a small field that pulled in ecto-energy. What in the world? What was this thing?

Pulling out a small vial of ectoplasm she had left in her pocket and holding it near the ring; never noticing the slight look of concentration on Danny’s face. Instead watching as all the ecto-energy is just... sapped out of the sample. What? Was this something that could literally remove ecto-energy from anything? What about a full-blown ghost? Or- blinking, or what about decontaminate someone. Danny had been badly contaminated ever since his accident and nothing seemed to permanently decontaminate him. Somehow the ectoplasmic energy would just restock itself. Could it be? Could he have found something that could constantly and consistently decontaminate him? And Vlad, he likely was ecto-contaminated in a similar fashion. His ecto-acne did return that one time after all. So that would explain him likely wanting this thing. Looking back to him, “have you been using this to control your contamination?”. If so, then this was something she should really be encouraging him to wear.

Danny blinks at her and looks slightly like he doesn’t understand how she came to that conclusion for a couple seconds. Which tells her she’s missed something here. He gives her a quizzical look, “mom... when was the last time you scanned me”, and seems almost worried for her. Like he found it concerning that she hadn’t been doing that frequently.

Maddie blinks and glances to the scanner then back to him, “you never seemed to like that, so we just... stopped”.

“Oh”. He sounds a bit apologetic.

Maddie nods, looks to the scanner, and bites her lip slightly. Looking back to him and holding it up a little, “can I?”. He nods and she nearly drops the scanner when she scans him. His contamination was worse. So much worse. He was practically bleeding ecto-energy. She can’t find anything to say and just watches him as he moves his hand over the ring. Her eyes widening at seeing energy move from the ring to his hand. Like it was feeding him. This wasn’t reducing or control his contamination, it was making it worse! And Danny knew. What the Hell?

She can’t help snatching the ring away from him, looking to him with worry, “why?”, there was so many questions in that one ‘why’. Why was this expelling ectoplasm into him. Why was he wearing this if he knew. Why was it even doing that. Why was it absorbing ectoplasm from everything but him. Why would he even want something like this. And better yet, glancing back down at the ring through the scanner and seeing that it is not feeding ectoplasm into her, why the heck was it only expelling ectoplasm into him specifically.

Looking back to Danny, who’s giving her a clear ‘you said you wouldn’t damage it’ look as he speaks, “I have my reasons”. Making it clear he wasn’t going to tell her unless she gave it back and trusted him. Which yes, was more difficult than it had any right to be.

She gives him back the ring.

She’s surprised though when he just leaves it on the table in front of him. She clues in though, that this is him saying the conversation isn’t over. That he’s open to explaining. Trust for trust. Danny nods, “thanks”. Maddie nodding back awkwardly, she honestly did not want to give it back. That thing shouldn’t be anywhere near him. But checking the scanner, it wasn’t feeding into him; obviously it wasn’t quite close enough. So clearly he was aware of her discomfort.

Maddie swallows, looking back to him, “so...”. Her question was still the same and she didn’t even know where to start on elaborating. He had a ring that sucked ecto-energy out of things and fed it into him, and wanted it. Could be like an addiction or something?

Danny nods and leans back in his chair, “alright. This ring, it’s part of a set. I have the other part, obviously”, nodding his head at the scanner, “that’s why it only does that to me. Not you”. Maddie looks at his other fingers, which he clearly notices, “the other part’s not a ring”.

Maddie nods and bites her lip slightly, “so, this... effect would happen to anyone if they had both parts. But that- why? Why would you want that?”.

Danny wiggles his hand in the air, “that would depend. Most would be destroyed if they did”. Maddie chokes at that. This thing could destroy someone??? What is her son thinking???? She doesn’t even have to ask though, Danny poking the ring and wiggling it back and forth on the table, “the set was modified specifically for me, so I’m fine. Don’t worry”.

Maddie barely feels relieved by that. Because honestly? That just raised even more questions. “Why? How even?”.

“That’s complicated”.

Maddie instantly recognises that as another ‘will she push or just accept it’. “Then explain it. I want to know, Danny. I want to know you”, sighing, “and I don’t. Haven’t for a while”. And Danny doesn’t even beat around the bush when he replies, “yeah”. Which hurts to hear. Sure she knew, but still.

Danny eyes the ring for a bit before nodding, looking up to her, “it makes more sense if you know the story of this thing. And before you worry too much, while the ring takes in energy, the other piece expels it”.

Maddie leans back at that, likely noticeably relieved, “that... I’m glad to hear it. Even if that doesn’t seem to make sense. What’s even the point of pulling in energy just to expel it?”, that made zero sense. None. But at least that meant it wasn’t actually making him worse.

Danny chuckles, “and that’s even more complicated. The backstory really will help”. Maddie sighs and nods, Danny was clearly directing this conversation. Which on one hand made her happy because he was trusting her; but that also meant he would only tell her what he wanted to, nothing more. Not like she could make him tell her more though.

Danny smirks slightly, “there were three before me. I honestly don’t know the name of the first. Or much about her for that matter. But the second was a guy named Laufiel who thought he was blessed by the gods and had some seriously speciesist opinions. Thought ghosts were some kind of ultimate beings. He also killed the first owner”. Maddie can’t help but shake her head and scoff a little at that, though she could see how someone could think ghosts were god-like; especially if this-these things were really incredibly old. “The third owner killed Laufiel and also had some weird opinions on ghosts. More like a hunter I guess. Thought ghosts needed to be contained, controlled, or obliterated. Also thought humans were inferior though. He thought he literally was a god. Ridiculous, I know”.

Maddie has to cut in, “so all these ‘previous owners’ had opinions on humans and ghosts, and clearly acted on them? And... killed the previous owner?”, that last bit carries an implication that she hopes he doesn’t miss. Because this trend... it implied Danny had killed someone. Danny gives her a look that makes her think she missed something again.

Danny purses his lips and hums, “hmmm. Okay. I guess that wasn’t all that helpful. Though it does have to do with them acting on their opinions”, rubbing his neck and seeming slightly embarrassed, “and the ‘killing the previous owner’ thing”. Which makes her gulp, he thankfully explains himself though, “it’ll be better if I explain who the previous owner was, and -to you at least- what he was”. Maddie’s eyebrows raise, was Danny implying that this previous owner was a ghost. Because yes, that did change things. Killing a ghost and killing a person weren’t the same thing. Though Danny was also obviously pointing out that it wasn’t all that different to him.

Danny shocks her out of her thoughts as he speaks up again, “he was Pariah. Yes, as in the ghost that transported Amity into the Ghost Zone a couple years back”, rubbing his neck again, “I might have... kinda... wound up ramming a sword through his Core”.

Maddie... Maddie has a lot of questions about that. How did that even happen? When was he even in a position to do that? Why’d he do that? She does feel a bit proud that he destroyed a ghost, but he clearly wouldn’t appreciate that pride. Which just makes her mentally emphasis the ‘why the heck would he do that’ question. And Pariah... that ghost was the most powerful they’ve ever seen. She knows Danny can be reckless but that was pushing it. “You know how powerful that ghost was, Danny? Why did you? How were you even? Is that why Vlad found you all beat up?”. She barely resists giving him a full scolding.

Danny rubs his neck some more and looking around, “yeah it was reckless and stupid. I know”, sighing and looking back to her, “but, he was effectively comatose when I did that. Down for the count. And if I didn’t, someone else would have”, fiddling with the ring again, “these two things, that have this kind of... aspect let’s say, that can tell if the wearer is ‘no longer worthy’ and needs to be passed on. Which happens if whoever loses to many battles or damages the Zone a ton. Pariah, he was sealed away by a bunch of pissed off ghosts a long time ago, and then when he was let loose Phantom went and beat him up. And so Pariah lost too much. So the ring and whatnot needed to be passed along”.

Maddie shakes her head a little, that practically explained nothing, “but that doesn’t explain why you did that? So what if someone else would have done that and got this ring? Why did you have to do that? Want to do that?”.

Danny sighs, “I have my reasons. A lot of them actually. There really wasn’t any one reason why I did it. Someone else possibly being able to do it was definitely a deciding factor for why I did it when I did. I personally would have preferred to wait ‘till I had graduated”, shrugging, “but I don’t mind. And the reduction in ghost attacks, and them not really attacking people is because of this”.

Maddie looks to the vial, which still was lacking any kind of glow. Could he? Could he destroy a ghost with just a touch? That... that would definitely encourage ghosts to be more restrained. She knows Danny’s a protective person. He is absolutely the type of person that would go to an abnormal extreme if it would protect a lot of people. But... protecting the town, humanity, from ghosts was a hunters job. Her and Jack’s job. And he was still young, and this sounded like something that was an ‘until death’ kind of thing. That.., that absolutely makes her feel guilty, “Danny, protecting the town isn’t your job”, she ignores the slight tense she almost misses, clearly saying that he did think it was his job, “why couldn't we have done this? Me or Jack?”.

Danny actually looks at her like she’s nuts. “Mom, that- you-“, shaking his head, “not just anyone can just take these things. There are prerequisites. And you two do not meet them”.

Maddie frowns, okay that makes sense but... “what... what are they? What could you have that we don’t?”. He was a minor for peat’s sake! And they were hunters.

Danny purses his lips, crosses his arms, and taps at his chin. Muttering, “how to explain this...”, and opens and closes his mouth a few times. Then sighing after a bit and meeting her eyes, “you’re going to hate Vlad for this”. Which immediately gives her an unpleasant ominous feeling. “Remember how I mentioned Vlad would never give these to me? Yeah he let Pariah out after finding the key to his keep. Vlad is at fault for that entire situation. And he did it to get these items and used Valerie as bait. Vlad didn’t ‘find me beat up’ he threw me at Pariah and watched me get beat up”, grumbling seemingly to himself, “if it wouldn’t have upset you, he might have left me to die”.

Maddie stares at him, feeling more than a little furious. “I’m going to kill that man”. Danny actually rolls his eyes, “you and half the Ghost Zone. Don’t bother”, shrugging, “besides, he’s better now. Still vaguely evil, but not actively maliciously evil. It’s something”.

Maddie blinks at him, “why the Zone are you even friendly to that scumbag. And I’m still going to kill him”, sighing and putting her head in her hands for a second before looking back to him, “but this still, still, doesn’t explain things. Vlad’s douchebaggery aside”.

Danny gives her another slightly pitying look, “our relationship is stupid complicated. I’m not sure I could even explain the mess between us. But ignoring him and his past villainy, because of that situation it was either me or him”, shaking his head with a slight chuckle, “and Vlad does stupid crazy things if you give him even a slight amount of power. The whole mayor thing is a stellar example”. Maddie cringes at that. That had been pretty bad. It did also effectively make his point though. And she knows Danny can be spiteful, even impulsive, when it came to Vlad. So that did explain things a little. Barely. But a little.

Danny pokes the ring, regaining her attention fully, “so there’s the backstory, and my part in it I guess. As for the rest of the background, it explains things more. Better”.

Maddie straightens up and gives him a strong nod. This is already a lot honestly. But, thinking on it, it was almost nothing too. All he had really explained was how he got this thing, or pair of things really. Heck, she doesn’t even know what the other thing was.

Danny rubs his neck and nods himself, “okay. So the pair, they’re artifacts of sovereignty. Yeah, you heard that right”, tapping the ring.

Maddie blinks, what? Is he using that word right? “What... what do you mean. ‘Sovereignty’, as in kings and queens and royalty, ‘sovereignty’. Are you trying to say you’re royalty now?”. What? No seriously, what?

Danny actually winces at that, “well... yeah. That’s what I’m doing”, Maddie just blinks at him which he obviously takes as a hint to keep going, “the items, their names and appearances change from owner to owner somewhat. But...”, he holds up the ring in front of his face, “the rings default name is The Ring Of Rulers”.

Maddie blinks at him more, mouth a bit dry. Swallowing and trying to put the sovereignty thing on the mental back-burner, “and the... other item?”.

Danny is clearly studying her, “I don’t really think you’re ready for that. I’m glad I can keep that one invisible”.

“...And you can’t do that with the ring”. Did Danny even realise he basically just said he had a ghost power!? Or maybe it only applied to these items. Shaking her head a little, “I want to know”.

Danny looks at the ring and shakes his head, looking back to her, “no I can’t. It’s because it sucks in instead of expels. Which I know hasn’t been explained yet”.

Maddie gives him a hard look, he was avoiding the question. Which means she would probably never know if she doesn’t push it, “no you haven’t, but I still want to know what the thing that expels is and everything. And the royalty thing”. Royalty over what? Where? How? Did just having these things make him royalty somehow? Biting her lip, “is that why you said you’d rather wait till after Highschool? Has this given you some kind of responsibility?”. What has Danny gotten himself into? What’s this ghostly thing done to him?

Danny sighs and seems to sag slightly against the chair, she can tell he’s clearly debating something. Him sighing again, “do you think you could wait a little? Explaining the expel/pull thing will kinda explain that, the royalty thing. But, yeah, that’s why I wanted to wait. Things can be a lot”, shrugging, “but I’m used to it at this point”.

Maddie has to force herself not to wince at that. No one wants to hear their kid say they’re used to things being difficult. Nodding while looking at the table instead, “okay. But I still want to know”.

“Fair”. Danny fiddles with the ring some before pointing to the scanner, “okay so, hear me out here”. Which only makes that nagging ominous feeling return full force for Maddie. “These items are obviously ghostly, right? And everything ghostly is connected to the Zone in some way, correct? Well, these two items are much more connected”, pointing to the vial, “you saw what happened there, when the ring was close. Now imagine what would happen in the Zone. Where not being close to ectoplasm is functionally impossible”.

Maddie furrows her eyebrows a bit, “well then it would just suck it all...”, eyes widening a bit, “in. It would suck everything in”. Oh god. Shaking her head, “but... but you’re here, not there?”.

Danny blinks at her, “um. Mom? Here and the Zone overlap, remember? Me being here doesn’t stop me, or the ring really, from pulling in energy from there. Like I said, more connected. Being here just slows it down”, pointing at the vial again, “normally sapping from that would have taken way longer, but I was making the ring focus on it so you would notice”, rubbing his neck, “since that helped my explanation”.

Maddie blinks, glancing at the ring quickly, “you can do that? Change it’s... effect?”, swallowing, “and, so you just perpetually absorb from the Zone? I- I don’t know what to say or ask about that”, shaking her head, “why?”.

Danny chuckles awkwardly, “I can alter the effect yeah, I can’t stop it though. And yeah, that’s what I do. Or the ring really. And the other piece sheds or expels all that energy back out to the Zone. So it doesn’t stay in me, it just moves through me. Kind of”, rubbing his neck and looking around a little before continuing, “-kind of like a filtrator. The ring pulls everything in, my body siphons out the bad and impurities, and the other piece feeds the cleaned ecto-energy back into the Zone. But also like a heart. Because you know that ‘contamination’ I have? Yeah that mixes in with the stuff I expel out, which makes the ecto-energy stronger”, he then starts gesturing with his hands a little, still not meeting her eyes, “which effectively sustains the Zone and the Zone takes the extra to repair or grow itself”.

Maddie has to cut in at that, “wait wait, so you are actively helping the Zone. Making it stronger. And, and what happens to the ‘bad’ your body’s taking? Is the Zone just using you to fed itself? I still- this doesn’t make sense and this sounds actively bad. And you can’t get out of this without someone killing you. This just makes me want to take that away from you. But I don’t know if that would even do anything”, she clamps her mouth shut to avoid rambling and possibly offending him. Sighing after a beat instead and hopes Danny speaks up before she winds up putting her foot in her mouth.

Danny quirks an eyebrow and actually chuckles slightly, at least she hadn’t offended him. “I’m sort of part of the Zone circulatory and respiratory system yeah. Which a body can’t exactly survive without”. Maddie can’t say she’s exactly bothered by that. She doesn’t want the Zone to ‘flourish’. Why would she! That would just make ghosts stronger. Why was- how was Danny okay with this? Obviously he can tell she’s not impressed. Him narrowing his eyes, “mom, have you ever thought about what the Zone is? Not in the literal ‘home of the ectoplasmic manifestations’, but in the ‘what is the Zone’s relation to Earth’ way”.

Maddie just purses her lips, the Zone was just an alternate dimension that Earth happened to be close to. Sure that dimension was part of the afterlife obviously, but that didn’t really mean anything. But clearly Danny was heavily implying it did mean something. Danny sighs and doesn’t give her a chance to say anything, him shaking his head seeming almost disappointed; which does sting a little. “It’s not some detached plane. It’s intrinsically interconnected”, motioning with his hands, “if you take a coin and flip it in the air, sometimes you’ll get heads and sometimes tails. But regardless of what side you see or what side you’re on, both are still there. And if you, say, try to blow up or dissolve or cut off one side you’ll wreck the whole coin. You can’t have one without the other. If one sides damaged, the whole thing is. If one side has a giant hole, then so does the other. The Zone isn’t just connected to earth either, but the whole universe. Mom, if the Zone goes, everything goes. And the Zone goes if there isn’t someone doing what I am”, tapping the ring again, “I’m a rechargeable battery for the Zone that’s perpetually being recharged, yes. But that isn’t a bad thing. It’s emphatically not”.

Maddie blinks a bit owlishly. That can’t be- but that’s not- how? Is he? How is he even? Maddie can’t help sputtering a bit, “b-but how, how, are you- how can you even be? Sure? H-how are you sure?”.

Danny’s stare is honestly a bit unnerving, “I can feel it just as I can my own body. The Zone is as much a part of my body as I am part of Its metaphorical body. It is effectively an extended part of myself. Every bit of ectoplasm, of ecto-energy, every ghost even; is technically part of me. And-”, Danny pauses before suddenly looking a bit calmer, “I’m overwhelming you, aren’t I?”, looking to the side, “and I didn’t even respond to what I do with the bad I siphon out, did I?”.

Maddie shakes her head a bit stiffly, “no.... but I honestly, forgot. And yeah, this is, a lot”. Danny winces at that before looking back to her.

The two sit in silence for a bit, Maddie’s not really sure where this conversation has gone or what of any of her questions has actually been answered at this point. But she can tell by the way he’s just staring off into space, though it doesn’t look unseeing, that he’s giving her time and that he probably won’t speak back up till she does. She can appreciate that. And he’s probably off... feeling this Zone? How does that even work or make sense?

That’s another thing about Danny, he’s gotten really good at being confusing.

Okay, take stalk of what she knows and the answers she’s gotten here. Danny has a ring that is indeed ghostly, that has to do with ruling/royalty and three other people -at least one being a ghost- had before him; oh and there’s some other item that is paired with it. He destroyed the previous owner, Pariah, but it was all because Vlad is an even worse person than she thought. Which she is now again a bit mad over. What else? Right, the whole ecto-energy of the Zone being filtered through his body thus cleansing it and strengthening the Zone. And the whole spiel he just went on that had something to do with the Zone being part of his body? Which didn’t make sense. And an analogy about coins that somehow means that destroying the Zone just destroys everything. Which, that makes some sense. It was obvious to even a fool the two places were connected, it wouldn’t take much of a leap to suggest that disconnecting them would be catastrophic. And didn’t he say that ghosts were part of him or something? What?

Maddie blinks and bites her cheek, she’s not going to guess how long it’s been now, “okay, so I think I get most of what you’ve said. Hopefully. And I could see how destroying the Zone wouldn’t be exactly good. But the.... you can feel it thing. I don’t- that doesn’t make sense. And how can it be part of your body?”, gesturing to him, “your body’s right here. You’re a solid being. A person”.

Danny looks to her and hums, “well let’s see”, tapping his chin before stilling for a second, then pointing a finger at the scanner, “if you look at me through that I might be able to make it make more sense”. Maddie nods, pulling it back up and looking at him through it. He really looked no different than anyone else who happened to have enough ecto on/in them to shed off energy. Danny hums, “I guess you need something to compare to, to realise what your looking at isn’t normal”. Maddie’s almost offended by that.

Watching him look at his hand for a second before shaking his head and sticking his hand under the table. Producing an actual glob of ectoplasm a second later. “Where did that come from”. No way that was just stuck under the table.

“No where particular”. Maddie squints at him and honestly can’t tell if he’s lying. Though he should know exactly where he got that, he grabbed it. He just points at it so she sighs a little bit directs the scanner to it. Managing to get Danny and the glob in frame and staring. It takes a few seconds to notice the difference. The energy shedding of Danny appeared solid rather than transparent. How hadn’t she noticed that? Muttering, “yours isn’t transparent”.

Danny nods, “exactly. But”, Maddie watches through the scanner as he moves his hand and actually plucks on one of the strands of ecto-energy, it bending with his finger like he was actually touching it. Which was utterly illogical. It was like how you couldn’t literally pluck a ray of sunlight. What he just did, was a literal impossibility. Whispering, “what?”. Which he apparently finds funny and promptly chuckles. Her watching a bit stunned as one of the strands moves and bends to spell ‘I can touch these as easily as hair. And move them as easily as fingers’. She was firmly gobsmacked. “That should be impossible”.

Danny chuckles some more, “you’d be surprised how often I hear that. Like I said all that energy is part of me as much as my fingers are. Though hair would be a slightly better comparison, except you don’t have feeling in your hair. This one-”, she watches him pluck a different strand of energy, it coils around his finger slightly, “-one of the branching off sections is connected to an area of the Zone where there’s a big battle of some kind. I can tell because of how they are moving through the ectoplasm, which is again connected to me. And through the ectoplasm in them, which is also connected to me. If I wanted, I could move that ectoplasm and make them unable to move in an instant”, he chuckles quietly, “but I’m not that mean. I’m kinda big on the bodily autonomy thing”. She’s pretty sure she hears him mutter, “that, and it’s pretty hard... and feels unnatural”.

All Maddie’s hearing is that her son can control ghosts and without even being near them. Immediately she wants to ask why he didn’t do that to all the ghosts that show in Amity, but considering the last bit he said; he’d be really against doing that. But... why? They’re ghosts and the Amity ones are attackers. Why wouldn’t he just stop them if he could? Blinking at him, “why?”.

He looks to her, “‘why’ what? Why I’m oddly impossible. Why siphoning the Zone makes all of it connect to me. Or-”, Danny then gets that hard dangerous look in his eyes, and just feels dangerous; but catching a glance of the scanner she finally knows how he does that, because all the strands and bits of ectoplasm coming off him are vibrating and even lashing. “-are you asking why I’m not ripping away any ghosts bodily autonomy”. Like usual when Danny does this, that entire sentence feels like a threat. She’s a bit grateful right now for having experienced this side of him before.

Maddie swallows, “stop that. And honestly? All of them”, feeling the need to explain herself when his eyes narrow, “it’s just, with all these ghosts that... attack Amity. Couldn’t you just... make them, leave”, swallowing a bit again, “or something”; because damnit, Danny’s intimidation tactics were really good at hitting that part of the brain that just screams at a person that whatever’s in front of or around them is absolutely dangerous. And while she’s proud of him getting bullies off his back, he shouldn’t be doing that to family and he knows that. Both her and Jazz have told him that multiple times, but sometimes it was genuinely an accident.

He stares at her a bit more, with her trying not to shrink in her seat, before looking away and huffing; the feeling alleviating almost instantly. And glancing at the screen, the ecto-energy was back to normal slow waving. Well, almost. For him to do that accidentally at all... it must just be like an instinctive natural response. Which supports Danny’s claim that all this was connected to him. Ectoplasm literally behaved ‘angrily’ if he was angry. That was... so strange but nearly undeniable proof in a way. Which means he absolutely knows what he’s talking about and isn’t just being fed baloney by some ghost. Danny runs a hand through his hair and mumbles a, “sorry”, before looking to her again, “and I guess you do have a point. Though like I said, ghosts are less aggressive towards humans now and that’s my fault. They aren’t generally stupid enough to cause serious genuine problems in the home of- my home”. Maddie absolutely picked up on him cutting himself off from saying something else. Did ghosts have a specific title for him? Though thinking of it, that’s probably rounded back to the ‘royalty’ thing. It was probably ‘king’, ‘prince’, ‘lord’, or something. What? Zone Lord? Dimensional Prince? Or- oh god.

Maddie looking to him a fair bit wide-eyed as he explains her previous sorta questions. “Which is actually partly just respect. Yes ghosts are capable of respect. But fine yeah, some it’s just because they know I can basically smite them”. That doesn’t make Maddie feel better about what she’s currently thinking. “I’m not going to straight-up control their bodies though mom, like I said that’s mean. That would be no better than controlling a human to me. Which, in the interest of honesty”, he points to her arm, looking almost sheepish. While her eyebrows raise as she watches her arm lift up and wave at her entirely out of her control. She can tell how though, she can feel the slight pressure the ecto-energy in the air is exerting on her arm to do this. So it was more like he was grabbing her with the invisible ecto-energy than actually controlling the limb. Danny continuing as her arm comes back entirely under her control, “so no, I’m not going to control ghosts”, shrugging, “I have my other reasons too. The Zone creates ghosts after all, which rather means I do. It’s not an active thing on my part but I can feel it. So in a way, ghosts are a bit like children”.

Maddie blinks, when thinking about Danny that made a weird level of sense. He did seem oddly defensive about ghosts, quick to explain away their actions or claim they weren’t bad. A parent would do that. But... Shaking her head and staring down at the ring, “I wish the Zone wouldn’t make more. No offence. And I don’t know why you’d be okay ‘making them’”, swallowing and meeting his eyes, “but it’s more than that isn’t it”.

“Ghosts aren’t evil. I’ve pointed that out many times”. He continues when she gives a disbelieving huff. “Amity Park just sees more of the rotten eggs. Well okay, I wouldn’t call the Box Ghost a rotten egg. He’d just... stupid and has delusions of grandeur. Maybe a masochistic streak”. That Maddie can agree with. “But they’re all ghosts created under Pariah’s reign. And he was obviously a really bad dude”, fiddling with the ring, “you haven’t met any of the new ghosts”.

Maddie opens and closes her mouth a few times, because he had a point. If he was part of the ectoplasm in these ghosts, it would be logical to assume he had a level of effect on them. Like a parent's genetics when they have a kid or something. So she decides to give him something of a leap of faith, “I guess I’ll try to withhold judgment on the... new ghosts”, thinking on the words he used, “the ones made under your reign”. She can see the moment he realises his wording gave away more than he meant to. Or at least implied something he was likely skirting around. Avoiding. Because well... “Danny, answer me honestly, are you considered their king. The King Of Ghosts or the Zone”. She doesn’t bother making it sound like an actual question. Because she knows both of them know it’s not a question. More a statement of fact. One that she needs to hear him confirm. And if he denies it... then how?

Danny folds his hands in front of his mouth and stares off into space, humming contemplatively. Which he often does when he was acknowledging that she said or asked something but wasn’t choosing to make his opinion known. Which makes her worry he’s going to clamp up. That he’s not going to answer. And now that she thinks about it, didn’t that Pariah ghost have a crown?

Danny nods after a while and gives the simple blunt answer of, “yeah”.

She looks down to the table, “okay”. And doesn’t know what else to say about that. Because, even if she wrote off the ‘my children’ feeling or Danny’s ever-present odd tolerance of ghosts, that has been around way longer than the ring. Then ghosts would still be his subjects. His ‘people’. And a king is supposed to support and protect his people, whether he likes all of them or not. Hell, he could hate them and that still wouldn’t change his role. Sure part of her feels glad or impressed maybe over that since ghosts at the very least reasonably shouldn’t go after their king. Swallowing and speaking at the table, “is it just a... title, or do you have responsibilities. Do you actually rule them”.

“Yeah. I rule them. My word is effectively the highest level of law. The Kings Decrees. But again, I’m not a controlling person. And I don’t ask for much”, she can hear the shrugging in his voice, the forced nonchalance, “I stop wars sometimes. Resolve skirmishes. Hear requests or complaints. My birthday is a Zone wide holiday”. She’s not sure what to make of the weird emphasis on ‘birth’ there. “There’s balls and parties. I have knights and an... army”. She can feel that he hadn’t really wanted to keep talking but did probably because he feels she deserves to know at this point. She put her foot forward. She chased after him. She tried. Both to get to know him and to trust and believe him. Maybe that was all he needed to be open with them, open to a degree at least. And it had taken four years. No. Longer than that. Most of his life.

And how sad was that?

But... Armies and knights. Balls. This was a lot. And he didn’t just work like the Zone’s battery. Wasn’t just being used by it or part of it or however he felt about it. If anything, that was just an aspect of being their king. The real secret, the real revelation, the piece of the puzzle, here wasn’t the ring and what it does. Wasn’t him sucking in and expelling ectoplasm ‘like a filtrator’. It was what that ring represented. It was that her son was the ruler, the king, of the things she hunted and wanted to destroy and study. He fed them, nurtured them, supported them, socialised with them. And they respected and feared him. Maybe followed him. Her and her son's ideals and goals couldn’t be more opposing if they tried.

No wonder he never said anything. No wonder he had become so distant. Now wonder he would oppose or question their hunting and ethics. And no wonder he had the air of a commander and a sense of wisdom to him. He was a king for peat’s sake! That probably comes with the... position. A requirement or learned attribute. And he quite literally had power thrumming under his skin. His power was technically even in the air. It was an entire dimension and species. What is she supposed to do with this? Because this obviously isn’t something he can change. And it’s not even fair for her to even consider asking him for that. And to ask him to treat them like the monsters she considers them to be, would be plain wrong. In fact, wasn’t that what Danny said Pariah had done? And look how well that turned out.

But what did this mean for them? For them as a family? Because she was effectively a person belonging to an outside ‘kingdom’ and species. Who was an aggressor towards his ‘kingdom’. So where did that leave them? Or really, what’s more important to her? Her family or her career. Which was a stupid question with an obvious answer. But still, they were dangerous, they were monsters. Regardless of Danny being their king. Even if he didn’t agree on them being monsters. And maybe she actually genuinely can refrain from judging the ‘new ghosts’ or maybe Danny being ‘part of’ all the ghosts now would make them less dangerous. Maybe even give them a bit of humanity. Danny was human after all. So maybe.., maybe this was actually for the best. For both sides in the war on ghosts. She already knows what he’ll say if she’s brings that up though. He already thought ghosts were just like humans.

Maddie looks back to Danny, who’s just sitting there watching her quietly. Waiting for her to think and decide what to say. Obviously family mattered to him. He wouldn’t even be trying or doing this otherwise. But his ‘career’. He ultimately had to do it. He couldn’t drop it. Her and Jack arguably could. Danny couldn’t put them first. He had to put his ‘people’ first. That’s the job of a king. Even if it hurt or he hated it. Swallowing, “I’m sorry”.

Danny quirks an eyebrow and gives one of his charming lopsided smiles, “for what? You’ve got nothing to be sorry for”.

Maddie blinks at him, a bit dumbfounded, “we, me and your father,  are hunters, Danny. We’re attacking and studying what’s effectively your subjects. And that’s not even mentioning that we never noticed all this till now”.

Danny cuts in, keeping her from saying anything else, “I’m going to stop you there”, leaning forward across the table and patting her hands, “mom, that’s fine. I hid it. If you’d noticed right away that would have been embarrassing. Even more so if you figured everything I just told you out on your own. And as for the hunting”, sighing and giving her hand another pat, “you guys are only going after ghosts that come here and are practically always aggressors. Why would that be a problem? Why would you need to apologise for that?”, Danny leans back while Maddie just blinks and gapes at him, “when you go to another country, you have to follow their laws or the cops will chase you down. It’s no different. If a ghost comes here, they expect to be hunted. Heck, coming to the human world and attacking humans is against Zone law. The Box Ghost is pretty much the only ghost that doesn’t get chucked in jail very frequently. And that’s because he’s viewed as pathetically pathetic there as he is here. And-”, Danny runs a hand through his hair, “-one of my decrees actively allows and supports ghost hunters. So long as it’s after aggressors in the human world anyway”, obviously making a point to give her a serious look, “now if you went into the Zone and started attacking, yeah we’d have ourselves an issue”.

Maddie feels ridiculously touched. He made laws, or just one, that supported her career? “Sweetie I, that- thank you. Are you... sure? That what we do is okay? Okay with you?”.

Danny chuckles and nods, “it’s fine. I might not agree with your opinions, or what you claim as fact, and you know I have sabotaged things before, but it is objectively fine. And personally, of course I support you guys doing what you love”.

Maddie reaches over and grabs his hands, smiling at him, “that means a lot, sweetie. I imagine the G.I.W. are different?”, that was a government organisation after all. Not general hunters.

Danny scowls, and feels a bit intimidating again, “considering they attempted to blow up the Zone, no. And the Anti-ecto acts are a host of issues”, and grumbles off to the side incoherently. Maddie doesn’t doubt that if she checked the scanner that the ecto-energy in the air would be lashing around again. At least it wasn’t being directed at her, reducing the effect.

Maddie blinks at him, leaning back and shaking her head, “wait, would that? Be trying to destroy you?”.

Danny tilts his head and chuckles, “yes and no. The Zone’s part of me, yes, again it’s like an extension of me”, putting a hand to his chest, “my body is more my body than the Zone is”. Maddie nods, glad to hear that. Watching him pat at the blob of ectoplasm that she honestly completely forgot about in lue of Danny being a king amongst other things. Humming at it before looking to her, “and thinking of the ghosts I create, would you like to met a Whisp one?”.

Maddie blinks, what? Well... Whisp weren’t exactly dangerous and sometimes they cropped up naturally even in Amity. But where? Could he just locate one and pull It here? Or more so would he even be willing to do that with the whole bodily autonomy thing? “From where?”, shaking her head a little, “I mean yes, but wouldn’t you have to make one come here?”.

“Ah, hmmm no. I was just going to make one. It doesn’t take much and it happens on accident a lot actually”, and pats the blob of ectoplasm again. Maddie eyeing it, so he could just make a ghost out of chuck of ectoplasm? Just like that? Wait... squinting at him a little, “is that why our samples seem to disappear so often? It’s not Jack?”.

Danny looks a little sheepish and rubs his neck, “yeah, well for the most part at least. Dad does just misplace it sometimes. But it has to do with me always expelling ecto-energy. If enough of that gets absorbed by ectoplasm it can become sentient. Blobs and Whisps generally. SignalShines once. Proper ghosts are a totally different matter though”.

Maddie shakes her head, absolutely a bit stunned. It did make sense though, if he really expelled so much; which he clearly must if he’s ‘the Zone’s heart’ in a way. All of it had to pass through him. Which was still a bit much to know. “Okay. What are SignalShines though?”. Danny chuckles a bit and pats the blob of ectoplasm again, her watching it start misting and leaning a bit over as it, It, twitches and uncurls from the ball into a more proper Whisp shape. Just like that. Watching It promptly wind around his hand and arm. Him lifting that hand up and letting It start nipping at his hair.

“SignalShines can’t survive out of water. There’s not exactly ecto-water in the human world”, chuckling, “I forgot a thing of Gatorade under my bed for a while. It wasn’t Gatorade anymore after a month or so, I can tell you that. There was around forty odd SignalShines in there. They’re very tiny”, moving his hand over to her, the ghost very clearly not willing to let go of him. Was It still feeding off the energy he was shedding? She can’t help chuckling a little at his story though, that did sound like a very Danny thing to do.

Poking the Whisp, It poking her with Its tail tip right back. “You know, this doesn’t really say much”.

Danny shrugs, both of them watching It push his fingers around to wind through them some, “I know. Whisps are practically just vaguely sentient air after all. But well, I figured you’d appreciate some proof. And don’t worry about them biting, little guy won’t with me here”.

Maddie nods and mumbles, “yeah”, while watching Danny’s face a little. She can easily read the soft fondness there. She knew he was ghost tolerant, had known that pretty much since ghosts were proven to the whole town as being real. She just never realised that it went so far beyond just tolerance or ‘getting along’. It was probably different with fully sentient ghosts, what with their pseudo-consciousness and pseudo-personality after all. Not that Danny considered it to be ‘pseudo’ anything. Deciding to do something of a leap of faith and pet the thing with a finger a little. Danny obviously appreciated the effort and Whisps were practically harmless. The most they’d do is nibble on your clothes or fingers.

Though thinking of It being ‘obedient’ and Danny maybe, possibly, giving ghosts a level of humanity. How and why were ghosts even willing to tolerate him being their king? ‘Bowing down’ and being controlled, being sustained/fed, by a human. Ghosts clearly thought they were better or ‘above’ humanity. So why? “Hey Danny?”. He hums at her so she continues, “you’re human, so why are ghosts, this one, willing to be so... submissive to you”. Heck, even with pointing weapons at the things her and Jack have never gotten even a Whisp to be this submissive and cooperative. It hadn’t even attempted to nibble her or screech or anything. Watching It squirm Its way under Danny’s wrist and just stay there.

Danny deadpans, “king”, but immediately chuckles, obviously knowing that’s not what she meant really. “For Whisps like this it comes down to a simple matter of being able to sense all the energy running through me, and how, exactly, it’s running through me. Ghosts can sense my status. They just know. Whisps, and blobs really, will be like this to anyone strong enough in ecto-energy. You two don’t have any due to your suits protecting you, so there’s no reason to be submissive to you. And me, well, I could destroy a Whisp like this as easily as I can make one. And they can tell”, shrugging, “so in a way, it’s a survival instinct. All ghosts are that way. Get something strong enough around them and they’ll bend the knee... or run away. The more sentient though, the less you’ll be able to tell”.

Maddie nods, huffing a little, “pride”. Which Danny does nod over. “That still doesn’t answer my question though. Having the whole Zones worth of ecto-energy or not, you’re still human”. Immediately finding herself on the receiving end of that feeling that Danny knew stuff that she didn’t.

Danny shakes his head a little, “I had a feeling that would be a hangup you’d have. I’ll admit there’s plenty who don’t exactly like me. And there’s some that don’t like or respect me in the slightest. They’re still not dumb enough to go against me though or ignore me if I actually demanded something. Okay, and there’s the Box Ghost, who’s is, well, him. But for the most part, my humanness doesn’t matter. Most don’t care”, chuckling faintly, “I’ve ran into one or two that find it novel actually. Though there are also some who think I should be forced to become a ghost”.

Maddie has to cut in at that, “you’re not and don’t, right?”. She absolutely would not tolerate him being forced to die or some ghost even attempting to kill him. Period.

Danny immediately shakes his head, obviously well aware how much of an issue she’d have with that; the Whisp winding up his arm as he talks, “no. Don’t worry. A couple, ah, older ones tried to push for it but my head knight, called a Dread Knight by the way, didn’t take to kindly to that”, chuckling, “basically swore to obliterate them if they even attempted to attempt it. So no, no ghost’s trying to get me offed, mom. Also-”, smirking slightly, “-trying to is illegal under the Kings Decrees anyway”.

Maddie nods strongly, “good”, she guesses she shouldn’t be to surprised he went and made it illegal to kill him. She’d do that herself in a heartbeat. “And your... Knight’s that loyal to you? Or obedient?”.

Danny purses his lips slightly, “he’s loyal to the crown, not me. He’ll obey whoever’s the ruler with absolute loyalty. It’s his Obsession”. Hearing that did actually make her feel better. A ghost wouldn’t go against their own Obsession. Often even at the risk of destruction. So this ghost being ‘loyal’ and thus ‘protective’ of her son was effectively a guarantee.

Eyeing the Whisp as It seems to be attempting to curl up over his heart, “well I'm glad you’re protected then. I still don’t get how so many could not care that you’re human though”.

Danny sighs, “they just don’t. It’s really not that important to them. Strength matters far more, as well as capability and fearsomeness. And that I have proper claim of course”. Maddie blinks a bit disbelievingly at that. She’s not sure how Danny had any of those first three. Particularly before he got this title. How could a teenager without any experience or training be capable as a king? People raised their whole lives to be royals were frequently terrible at it. And human strength just didn’t compare to ghosts; raw human strength anyway. And fearsomeness? Maddie’s pretty sure the only thing ‘fearsome’ about him is the intimidation thing he can pull, which is thanks to this connection to the ecto-energy that he has.

“No offence sweetie, but I think you’re rather lacking in those departments. Especially compared to ghosts. Also”, looking at the Whisp still snuggling his chest, “what’s that doing?”.

Danny glances down and chuckles, “oh they’re just curious over the heartbeat. No surprise really”, looking back to her, “and mom, I’ve been involved in more than a fair few ghost fights. Even before the king situation, in fact, I get in less now. I’ve never truly lost. Ever. Amity’s kinda crazy like that”.

Maddie shakes her head, “I didn’t realise the school hotspot was that bad”.

Danny shrugs, “I just have bad luck half the time. Wind up with a haunted locker or accidentally dating a ghost without realising it. Her boyfriend was pretty pissed about that. Other situations. And-”, looking her in the eyes, “-you’ve never actually seen scary Danny before. Or really angry Danny for that matter. Mad? Sure. But completely pissed off? No”. That’s honestly enough to make Maddie decide that maybe she’d rather not see that at all.

But still... “I don’t know, Danny. Ghosts following and respecting a human still seems so wrong. Like it shouldn’t be possible”.

Danny just shrugs at her, “well it is what it is. You can take it or leave it really”. Which was a clear sign she wasn’t going to get anything more out of him on the subject. Watching him move to scoop the Whisp off his chest, “you should go now. You’re getting greedy”. So that was a ‘yes’ on It feeding off his shedded energy. Gaping slightly when a small portal just swirls into existence and he sticks his hand through; depositing the ghost directly into the Ghost Zone.

Speaking up as he pulls his -now empty- hand back out and the portal swirls away, “just how many things can you do???”, it was actually a bit unnerving. He had powers. Like a ghosts. Though with all the ecto-energy in him/running through him should she really be surprised.

“Its just manipulating my ectoplasm. Nothing more. Just like when I moved your arm or made the Whisp. All ectoplasm is part of me, so I can do with it what I want”, and shrugs like this is no big deal.

“Could you cover the town in little ghosts like that?”.

“I could yes, but it would be pretty tiring and pointless”.

“What about turn the sky green?”.

“I’ve done that on accident”.

“Telekinetically move things by wrapping ecto-energy around them?”.

“How do you think I clean the lab so fast”.

“Clean things by ecto-radiating the surface? Ectoplasm does destroy pretty well everything after all”.

“I’ve... never actually tried that, but probably”.

“Could you-”, Maddie bites her lip a little, “-transport the town into the Zone like Pariah did?”.

“Yeah. With a little bit of concentration at least. Not that I would”.

Maddie shakes her head a bit to herself. So much power, and all from a title. She decides to be honest, “I’m not sure how I feel about all that”.

Danny shrugs, “that’s fine. I surprise myself sometimes”.

Maddie furrows her brows a little, “but it doesn’t scare you? All of it? The... abilities. Or filtering the Zone. Or the king thing. Or having to deal with ghosts a lot”.

Danny shakes his head and smiles fondly almost instantly, “hardly. I’m content. I’m okay. Don’t worry”. She’s not sure if she should smile back or sigh. Sure he said he was happy, okay, and it looks like he means it. But at the same time, this wasn’t really okay. He could never hope to have a normal human life. Of course it was never going to be normal normal, he was a Fenton after all, but it was never going to be Fenton normal either. And even though he didn’t really touch on it, had downplayed it, he had responsibilities. Probably lots of them. He wasn’t even out of school yet. A summer job was one thing, but what he was doing might be better comparable to the president. Just for ghosts. Which were a different species than him and existed in a different dimension. She’s not even sure how he manages that. And he probably can’t really get any help with it either. She hadn’t known this kind of position even existed before today. And it would be risky at best for him to talk about details, combined with him being on the paranoid side; he wouldn’t seek people out for advice either. Or at least probably not. Could he even have a regular human job really? Heck, being a hunter was absolutely out the window. Maybe she could find some way for him to be in the family business, but it was obvious this king thing came first. And not just because it was ‘more important’.

Danny wanted this. On some level or another.

Which is where the positives come in. He was arguably a better person now, and stronger too. He could clearly stand on his own two legs and was at the point where he probably didn’t need her and Jack as a child would. Which yes, was something to be proud of. And what he’s achieved was arguably impressive, grand, unprecedented. Was, when it came down to it, good. Especially if this made ghosts less violent and dangerous. He himself was clearly proud. In the end, wasn’t that the point? What any parent should want for their child? For them to be proud, successful, and respected? He had all three. Just in an explicitly non-human way.

Looking at him, he was looking off to the side silently. She’d normally guess he was just giving her time to think, which he probably was, but maybe he was feeling? something somewhere. In the Zone or Amity, Amity was pretty horribly contaminated. She couldn’t even blame him for that, there was probably ghosts here as often as some more scarce places in the Zone. Him and his cycling the Zone’s ectoplasm thing almost definitely made it worse though. Maybe she should scan his bedroom sometime? Shaking her head, she definitely wasn’t doing that right now. But eyeing him, she honestly can’t really find anything else to say. Just relaxing and not thinking for a bit might be a good idea.

After a while she glances to the doorway, speaking a bit absently, “sure is taking Jack a while”.

Danny hums and nods, “he’s asleep actually”. Maddie sighs fondly at that, because of course he was. Shouldn’t have let him have that second helping of fudge peanut brittle. Danny looks to her, “so, we’re good?”. Oh god, she’s glad he’s the one to broach that topic again.

Maddie looks him over, eyeing the ring on the table, and nods at him. Fairly easily deciding at this point that it was fine. It was okay. And he was absolutely family. Not that that had ever been genuinely up for debate. “Yes sweetie, of course. I still honestly don’t understand this and I can’t say I really like it. But it’s you, this can’t really be changed and it’s not really right for me to even want you to change this. So yes, we’re good”.

Danny grins and nods, “good”, and moves to grab up the ring off the table. Maddie tries not to feel a little bothered and weird over him slipping it back over his finger. Especially seeing the muscles in his arm and face tense up. Does... does this hurt him?

Danny looking to her as she speaks, “Danny... does that hurt you?”.

Danny chuckles, and it sounds a bit stiff, “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t ask that already”, shaking his head with a slight smile, “mom, an entire dimension follows through my body, that’s unpleasant to adjust to. But I am adjusted, it’s just slightly unpleasant to reconnect properly“.

Maddie blinks, “wait, so you need your two items? Was taking that off bad for you?”. And how did she not think of that sooner? Cluing in that that only made sense. He used the items, as a pair, to filter ecto-energy. It was logical he might actually need both of them on him to do part of his job. But still, she’s pretty sure that was a pained tensing.

Danny wiggles his hand in the air, “‘bad’? No. Just not pleasant and they’re pretty much part of me. More so than other ectoplasmic objects”, Danny tilts his head and smiles at her, “and at this point I think it’s probably obvious the other item is a crown”. Maddie nods, yeah that felt honestly obvious now. Danny gestures to his head, “do you want to see it? Not much point in not showing you”, and chuckles.

Maddie glances at his head, she knows this is a distraction tactic. But she thinks she’s okay taking the bait. She couldn’t change this or do anything about it. And thinking of the footage of Pariah, “is it the flaming green thing Pariah had?”. Danny chuckles more at that and nods. So Maddie makes a point to ruffle his hair, realising she’s probably going through it. Intangible and invisible. That was probably for the best. He couldn’t very well walk around town with a bright green crown on his head. The ring was less... conspicuous.

“Yeah I want to see it”.

Danny smirks a little, a green glowing flaming crown appearing with a bit a fire show. Which Maddie has a feeling he did intentionally, so she rolls her eyes a little at him while eyeing the crown. It was much more in your face and even a bit intimidating compared to the ring. Even if it seemed rather plain and simple if you ignored the fact that it was floating, glowing, and on fire. Green fire. Though squinting a bit, it looked like there might be crystals? or frost? coating it. “Is it... safe to touch?”. Danny nods and leans his head down towards her. Her poking it tentatively and feeling more than a bit surprised that it was ridiculously cold. Frost it was. Which seems as illogical as cold fire. “It’s... cold”.

Danny chuckles and stands up right, and again with the charming smile, “yup. It’s default name is the Crown Of Kings, surprising I know, but under me it’s the Crown Of Cold Fire”. Maddie thinks that’s a little on the nose. Danny lifting up his ring hand, “and the ring’s the Ring Of Suffering”. She’s not sure what to think about that, it was fairly concerning actually; especially considering how literal the crowns name is. Danny runs a hand through his hair, passing under the crown easily, “don’t worry about the names. Anyway, can I go to bed now? It’s a bit past midnight”.

Maddie has to laugh at that a bit, not that she wasn’t tired too, “I don’t think you need my permission, sweetie. And I’ll probably have more questions in the morning, if you want to answer them anyway”.

Danny shrugs, “maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Do try to get some sleep though”. Maddie just nods at that as she watches him head up the stairs, the crown blinking out of visibility as he enters his room and taking away that bright waving glow of its that had been lighting up everywhere around him. It really did change the way he looked, it made him feel almost like he was out of reach. Like she couldn’t really exist in the same space as him. In the metaphorical sense anyway. Which she guesses, is true.

Her looking back to the kitchen, it’s going to take a while to really understand this. And maybe saying something was up with Danny had been an understatement. Her son was a king and effectively a dimension... sorta. He took being weird and unique to a whole different level. A path that she couldn’t follow him down or guide him with. At least his personality made much more sense now. Especially how he seemed as if above people and like people were children to him. Or ghosts more specifically. Because in a way, that actually was the case for him. Though she feels both less and more worried about him now, in more than a few ways. But worrying about him was pointless, and maybe, just maybe, unneeded. It was a bit hard not to though, she was a mother and all; and Danny had gotten himself mixed up in something equal parts important and dangerous. Though she’s really glad to have gotten some honesty from him. Gotten to know him more genuinely. He was clearly still himself, just a different him than the little space crazed little boy he used to be. Which was okay, kids grew up; it was a fact of life. Hers just grew up running full tilt in a direction that should have logically been utterly impossible. He faced life and made himself the king of death. Which... honestly was rather funny and ironic now that she thinks about it. And knowing Danny... he absolutely got a kick out of it. Which makes her smile a little before shaking her head and heading up to be herself.

One thing’s for sure though, she’s so going to have to have a talk with Danny about telling Jack all that at some point.