#ghost of cassiopeia

[spacewonder19]

Ghosts of star Gamma Cas ©

[the-wolf-and-moon]

IC 63, Ghost of Cassiopeia

[cosmonautroger]

The Ghost Of Cassiopeia

[the-maddest-robot]

Picture of IC59 and IC63. This is a pair of nebula located near the star γ Cassiopeia, the big star at the bottom, which is responsible for making the nebula glow. Both nebula are composed of ionise hydrogen responsible for the red colour (especially on IC63) and colder dust/gas responsible for the blue colour (most visible on IC59). γ Cassiopeia can make taking photos of those nebula difficult due to the halos it produces, I did my best to limit its impact during processing, but there is still a faint blue halo around it. IC63 is also known as the Ghost of Cassiopeia due to its shape, it was discovered in 1893 by the German astronomer Max Wolf.

Image taken using a CarbonStar 150/600 newtonian telescope with a 0.95 coma corrector, ZWO ASI294 monochrome camera. 12x300s image for each filter (LRGBHa), total imaging time 5h, stacking and processing done in PixInsight. Details of both objects: IC63

IC59

[cephalopistol]

csp experimenting

[thermodynamic-comedian]

the locked tomb is literally the most haunted narrative i have ever witnessed. you cannot point at any single character, and say "this is their story", because everyone else is touching and has touched the story in some way. every character has their fingerprints all over the story. everybody's a ghost and they're all haunting these books.

that's because you're not reading one story. you're reading an entire universe of stories, some of which have already played out, some of which are actively playing out somewhere where you can't see them. you can smell and taste and sense these stories all over the one you're actually being told.

everytime a character dies or fails to die or dies in all ways except physical, they start haunting the narrative too. the original lyctors have been haunting the narrative since gideon the ninth, wake and alecto were both quite literally haunting harrow the ninth, both of the first two books are haunting nona the ninth. i can only assume alecto the ninth is going to be the book where we confront the ghosts.

and it's not just the narrative being haunted. individual characters are haunted by other characters. griddlehark are haunting each others' narratives. same with the tridentarii. john's somehow haunted by himself, which is impressive, and kind of overkill, considering all the other characters he's also haunted by, including the earth herself.

there are so many possible interpretations as to whose story the locked tomb is, and all of them are equally correct, because the story itself doesn't seem to know, and i mean that in the best way possible. i mean that in the way that this could be the story of two kids who grew up together. this could be the story of what happened to those two kids, or of what happened long before either of them were born. this could be a story, where everyone's story is actually about someone else.

everybody can have their own opinions. personally, i like the idea that the thing haunting this story the most is what we see in the john chapters of nona the ninth: two beings stuck in an endless loop of making and remaking each other. and they're in love. and they will be and already have been the death of each other. that feels very on brand for this series.

[elfboyeros]

Snooze

Read about the nerds and other nerds

“Amora, how are you feeling?�� Cobalt asked, softly from his on the floor at the end of Amora’s bed.

“Cobalt, shut up,” Amora mumbled, “you’re too loud.”

“Really you bastard?” Loki sighed, tightening her hold on Amora’s waist, “You do realize you are the reason this shit happened, leave her alone.”

They lay up in her bed, Loki’s arms around Amora’s middle and Amora‘s face hidden in Loki’s chest attempting to block out even light and sound, “Do you need anything, love, water, a snack?”

“I just wanna sleep,” Amora muttered.

“Okay, love, I’ll keep quiet,” Loki replied.

“You don’t have to stay…”

“No, I’m staying,” Loki added. “It’s a holiday, anyway, so I would be staying in bed anyway, and here I get to lay here with you.”

Amora giggled lightly, “I could leave if you want me to.”

Amora wrapped her arms around Loki’s middle, “I’ll take that as a no,” Loki cooed.

“You’re the only person I want around me, right now,” Amora muttered as Loki brushed her pink strands out of her face, “I don’t think I could deal with this alone. I would probably just lose it.”

Loki hummed, “Good thing I’m here then, mhm?” Amora nodded, snuggling into Loki’s chest, “I wonder what everyone else is doing today…”

Amora let out a little laugh, “What?” Loki asked.

“It’s not like you to think about other people,” Amora remarked.

Loki scoffed smiling, brushing her fingers through Amroa’s golden locks, “Maybe I’m changing.”

“Please don’t change.”

“Even for the better?”

“I like you the way you are,” Amora admitted.

Loki’s face instantly became hot before she buried her bright red face in Amora’s hair, “…Noted…”

On Hall Magnus currant colored sneakered stomped across the hardwood floor, marching to her room, Cassiopeia wasn’t angry per se she was just upset.

“It’s always Calliope missing practice,” she scoffed to herself before entering their shared room, “Calliope! What the hell!”

The blonde girl in a cyan sweater dress jumped as she sat with her double bass, “Why were you not at practice!?” Cassiopeia complained dropping her duffle bag full of her cheer stuff forcefully on to the floor.

“I didn’t feel good,” Calliope answered cowardly.

“But you feel well enough to play your bass?”

Calliope let out an anxious squeak as Cassiopeia sat down at the end of her bed, “Cal, be honest with me,” the blonde cheerleader in red workout clothes said softly, “do you like being on the cheer team?”

There were a few moments of silence as the twins stared at one another, “No,” Calliope sheepishly responded, “I hate it, actually… I’ve hated it the whole time.”

“Seriously?! Calliope, why didn’t you tell me?!”

Calliope put her hands up in defense of herself, “Cas, talking to you is hard, especially when you’re mad, which is like all the time. I feel like I can’t talk to you about how I feel most of the time. Plus, you love cheer, you love the cheer team, I didn’t want to tell you I hated it and not only make you mad but I didn’t want to destroy your vision of the cheer team since you created it with Ms. Thornton.”

“Calliope—”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s our last year and I should tough it out, but I can’t do it anymore,” Calliope added, “I wanna hang with my friends, play my double bass, and not have to worry about if the other girls on the team are going to make fun of the way my body looks when we are changing.”

“I’m sorry,” Cassiopeia sighed, dejectedly, “I thought you wanted to cheer.”

“I mean when you came to me first and went on and on about it,” Calliope let out a little laugh, “It sounded amazing, but now it’s not fun anymore.”

“I’ll tell Euphrasie, and we can gather all your cheer stuff, you don’t have to do it anymore,” Cassiopeia replied, getting up and stretching.

“You're not mad?” Calliope asked.

“I’m not happy about it,” Cassiopeia said truthfully, “But I’m not going to force you to continue to be a cheerleader if you don’t want to.”

Calliope smiled at her sister before Cassiopeia added, “I mean it's better for you to quit now instead of not coming to practice for the rest of the year.”

Calliope laughed awkwardly as Cassiopeia headed for the door, “Where are you going?” Calliope asked.

“I think… I’ll go for a run or something, maybe I’ll go shopping,” Cassiopeia answered before leaving their room, taking Calliope’s cheer bag with her.

Leaving Hall Magnus and the dorms, spotting Euphrasie with their sports bag on their shoulder, practice clothes clinging to their bodies, and speaking to one of their tennis teammates in the academy courtyard.

“Hey, Euphrasie!” Cassiopeia called, grabbing their attention.

“I’ll meet you there, Auretta,” Euphrasie muttered before turning to Cassiopeia looking at the blonde cheerleader with a large smile, “Hi Cassiopeia, what do you need?”

“Calliope has finally quit the cheer team.”

“Oh, dang,” Euphrasie sighed, “It’s for the best though, she hasn’t been enjoying it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Cassiopeia remarked rolling her eyes, “Anyway, can you drop off Calliope’s cheer bag to Ms. Thornton?”

“I can, but I have tennis practice, so I’ll do it later,” Euphrasie answered, their hand out to receive the duffle bag on Cassiopeia's shoulders.

Cassiopeia sighed, “Is Ms. Thornton still on campus?”

Euphrasie shrugged, “I think so, I don’t kn—” they answered before Cassiopeia began to run off, “Hey where are you going?!”

“To see if Ms. Thornton is here!” Cassiopeia called back, “HAVE FUN AT TENNIS PRACTICE! TELL AURETTA I LIKED HER SNEAKERS!”

Cassiopeia raced herself up to Lilybeth’s classroom, finding her there at her desk going through some papers. At the same time, Mrs. Danielson stood in front of a desk, oddly enough smiling,  while having an “intense” conversation with a man, covered in tattoos, that Cassiopeia didn’t recognize sitting on top of the desk.

“Ms. Thornton…”

“Cassiopeia,” Lilybeth remarked, looking up at her classroom door, “What do you need?”

“Hello, Ms. Ivory,” Helvetica remarked.

“Hi,” Cassiopeia muttered giving the Literature teacher a shy wave, “Ms. Thorton here is Calliope’s cheer bag.”

“Oh?” Lilybeth questioned as Cassiopeia and over the duffle bag, “Did she quit?”

“Yeah,” Cassiopeia sighed, pouting.

“Oh, chickadee, it will be fine,” Lilybeth commented. “You still have all the others; it won’t affect anything. Don’t look so down.”

“I just… feel horrible, I forced Calliope to do something she never wanted to do for so long, and she couldn’t talk to me, and I feel like Calliope hates like ever—”

Lilybeth placed a hand on Cassiopeia's shoulder, sympathetically saying, “Cassiopeia, chickie, Calliope doesn’t hate you. She probably just wanted to see you happy because Cheer made you happy. Calliope is your sister, and she loves you. I doubt she could ever hate you.”

0Cassiopeia smiled slightly, “Thank you, Ms. Thornton.”

“Bethie, you coming?” That unfamiliar man called, leading Helvetica out of Lilybeth's classroom.

“Yeah, Ambrose,” Lilybeth remarked, grabbing her purse, “You okay Cassiopeia?”

Cassiopeia nodded following Lilybeth out of her classroom, “Have a nice rest of your day off, Cassie,” Lilybeth commented, following after her two friends leaving the young cheerleader still dejected in the hallway.

As she headed for the schoolhouse’s door, the romantic pings of her cell phone pulled her attention. Message notifications littered the notification bar on her lock screen, all from Roux.

Roux ⚽: I’m almost done at my mom’s

If you’re not busy maybe we could meet at Vixen’s and spend the afternoon in town

Make a little date out of it

Cassiopeia thought for a moment before responding: Sure.

Taking a ride into town, stopping in the little café that was a staple in Solostica. With its large modern windows and light sage building at the corner of a small intersection. Cream walls cover the interior, with a classic coffee shop vibe with an added botanical touch given the many potted plants all over the place and a large bush of different flowers over the bar. Cassiopeia plopped herself next to a table in a far corner of the shop next to a window, beginning to people-watch rather than get in the sizable line at the busy bar.

Odysseus and Lance sat at a nearby table across from Cassiopeia. It was obvious they had been there for a while. From what little Cassiopeia knew about the two boys they often played Dungeons and Dragons with their friends at the Vixen Café, maybe that’s what they were talking about on their little coffee date.

She spotted Iphigenie at the bar, in her work apron with her hair pulled back as she placed pastries in the dessert case. Iphigenie’s hair was tied up as neatly as it could be given its thickness and curls, so beautiful and graceful as she worked in the chaos of being a barista.

Cassiopeia shook her head choosing to look out the window for what felt like hours rather than stare at Iphigenie anymore. Instead of storming out of her dorm room, she should have grabbed her journal or even her purse, instead of only having her phone to play with, the people around her to observe, and a window to look out of.

“Here you go.”

Cassiopeia jumped at the sound of Iphigenie’s voice next to her, snapping her out of her daydreaming as she stared out the window. A drink now sat on her table, leaving her to look up at the ginger girl confused.

“I didn’t—”

“Odysseus paid for it,” Iphigenie commented, pointing back at the boy in the mask who gave the blonde cheerleader a wave, before turning back to Lance engaging in conversation with him, “It's a Mango frappe, you’ve ordered it before.”

“Thanks,” Cassiopeia muttered, her cheeks flushed.

“Enjoy,” Iphigenie remarked before beginning to walk away.

“Iphigenie!” Cassiopeia called, making the barista pause and turning back, “Can we talk for a quick second?”

Iphigenie shrugged, “I’ve already clocked out, why not,” she mentioned before sitting across from Cassiopeia, “What are we talking about?”

“Do you remember when we were kids?”

Iphigenie cracked a slight smile before nodding, “You, Calliope, and I would play all the time. Dad said we were the 3 musketeers.”

“Do you ever miss that time?”

“Being a kid and not having problems, yeah. That time of my life no,” Iphigenie answered, watching Cassiopeia frown at her response, “Cassiopeia, my parents going through a divorce.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Cassiopeia sighed.

“Why are you apologizing?” Iphigenie asked, letting out a little laugh and making Cassiopeia become hot.

“Do you remember why we stopped being friends?” the blonde girl innocently asked.

“Well I moved to Switzerland,” Iphigiene shrugged before thinking for a moment, “I thought you were mad that I moved, we just stopped talking, I took that as a sign that you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“No!” Cassiopeia chirped, “I-I-I just was a stupid kid! I would write you letters… I guess momma and papa never sent them, so when you stopped sending yours…”

“Classic,” Iphigiene chuckled. “When I came back last year I was shocked to see you and Roux together, I never thought you liked him.”

“I don’t think… I do,” Cassiopeia mumbled.

“Then why are you with him?”

Cassiopeia stared off into space for a moment. She’d been with Roux since starting at Hallows Academy after knowing him her entire childhood, but she never felt as if she loved him. As if it was an obligation to be his girlfriend after so long. She enjoyed his company and his kindness; however, days continued to pass, and Cassiopeia’s feelings for Roux hadn’t changed.

“Cas, you okay?”

“I need to break up with Roux,” she muttered.

Iphigenie blinked, “You came to that conclusion rather quickly.”

“I mean what am I supposed to do?” Cassiopeia remarked, “I don’t like him enough to be in a relationship with him, right?”

Iphigenie hummed in agreement, “Genie, would you want to go out sometime?” Cassiopeia asked with rosy cheeks. “Hang out like when we were kids,” she added.

“Hang out like we were kids? So play with dolls and annoy your older sister,” Iphigenie joked.

“I was thinking more like going to see a movie or just talking,” Cassiopeia giggled.

“Would be nice,” Iphigenie remarked.

“Iphigenie, I’m sorry I’m late!” Luther’s deep voice bellowed, “Loki wanted me to get some stuff for Amora—”

“Is she okay?” Iphigenie asked.

Luther shrugged, “Loki isn’t really saying.”

“Something is wrong with Amora?” Cassiopeia asked, rather compassionately.

“She fainted yesterday,” Iphigenie answered.

“I think she’s just dehydrated,” Luther muttered.

 Iphigenie got up, ready to leave with Luther, “We’ll stop by Loki’s room, then go to study hall, yeah?” he asked her.

“That’s fine with me.”

“Genie?”

“Yeah, Cas?” Iphigenie asked, looking at the cheerleader sincerely.

Cassiopeia paused with her cheeks all flushed, “Do you want to…” Cassiopeia trailed off

He could feel an energy between Iphigenie and Luther. It is so obvious just looking at Luther’s gaze, a guy who has always been known for a stern gaze behind a pair of circular glasses and fought with Roux on many occasions yet looks at Iphigenie, the most melancholic girl alive, with such soft eyes.

“… Never mind,” Cassiopeia awkwardly chuckled, “I hope we can be friends again.”

“Me too, Cas,” Iphigenie remarked with a smile, “I’ll see you later.”

“See ya,” Cassiopeia muttered, as Luther and Iphigenie headed for the door.

“Is it a good idea for you to become friends with Cassiopeia?” Luther asked opening the door to the café inadvertently letting Roux in.

“Oh come,” Iphigenie commented, “Cassiopeia is fine. She’s sweet.”

“Hey baby,” Roux cooed, kissing Cassiopeia’s cheek before sitting across from her, “I thought we could go to the shop on Elizabeth Street and—”

“Roux… We need to talk!”

“About what, baby?”

“I think…” Cassiopeia began rubbing her hands on top of her thighs, while also trying to make herself smaller. “I think we should break up.”

“What did I do wrong?” Roux asked.

She put her hands up, waving them in an X motion, “It’s not you!”

“Then why—”

“I don’t think I… love you.”

Roux blinked, before simply getting up and leaving. Cassiopeia was left wide-eyed and frozen before chasing after him, “Roux, stop!”

“3 YES, CASSIOPEIA! WE’VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 3 YEARS!” Roux yelled, continuing to walk away from her.

“I’M SORRY,” She shouted back at him.

He turned around swiftly looking at her dead on, a mix of rage and sadness in his eyes, “YOU LIED TO ME FOR 3 YEARS! CASSIOPEIA I’VE LOVED FOR AGES AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS SORRY?!”

“ROUX I NEVER—”

“WHAT?!” He screamed, “YOU NEVER LOVED ME?! THAT MUCH IS OBVIOUS! THE GOO-GOO EYES YOU MAKE AT IPHIGENIE ARE EVERY OBVIOUS, I’M SURPRISED YOU DON’T MAKE LUTHER JEALOUS!”

Cassiopeia kept her mouth shut before Roux laughed wickedly, “At first I thought it was just because you felt bad for her or something because she was weird and barely had any friends when she got back. Then I was every time you saw her! It’s so fucking obvious you have a fucking crush on her and I OVERLOOKED THAT BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!”

“Roux, I’m sorry!”

“That’s all your going to fucking say?!”

Cassiopeia nodded sheepishly before Roux clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth and headed for the train station. Stomping his way back to the dorms, Calliope and Solomon were sitting on the porch steps chatting.

“Get out of my way!” Roux snarled through gritted teeth.

“Yeah sure man,” Solomon muttered, wrapping a protective arm around Calliope’s shoulder to pull her closer to him out of Roux’s way.

“Are you okay, Roux?” Calliope innocently asked.

“Don’t fucking talk to me!”

Calliope hung her head a bit, “What the hell, Roux!” Solomon exclaimed, standing up as Roux reached the top of the stairs, “She was just asking if you were all right, no need to be a dick!”

“I don’t give a shit!” Roux spat descending the stairs again just to get in Solomon’s face, “Both her and Cassiopeia are ugly little leeches!”

“Motherfucker, Cassiopeia’s your girlfriend—”

“NOT ANYMORE! THAT DUMB BITCH BROKE—”

Before Roux could finish his sentence Solomon punched him square in the face, making the Football captain stumble back a bit, “I let you get away with a lot,” Solomon lamented with dark eyes, “But you’re just an asshole that expects things to go his way! Cassiopeia never fucking loved you she barely even liked you that was obvious to everyone with a brain! We were with you because you made being in a relationship with her seem like something she needed to do because you are the captain of the Football team and she’s a cheerleader! Completely overlooked two people that have any sort of feeling for you, you dickhead!”

Roux huffed, picking himself out of the dirt as Solomon helped Calliope up and off the stairs and went inside while the sun was setting. The Football player stared at the darkening clouds for a long time, while sitting on the sits of the dormitory porch truly wondering when he first became such an asshole.

Meanwhile, up on Hall Osmanthus Loki sat on her own bed waiting for Amora to get out of the bathroom, replying to the many messages from Lance, Luther, and Odysseus all asking how Amora was doing.

The American girl came out of the bathroom with a towel in hand. She slowly piddled her to her bed, “Cobalt,” Amora muttered to the ghostly man sitting at her desk chair, “I feel better than I did this morning.”

“Good to hear, Chickadee,” He commented. “Tomorrow with enough rest you’ll be right as rain.”

“Thank you for worrying,” Amora noted.

“Of course,” Cobalt said with a nod.

“My brothers are worried about you,” Loki chuckled, shaking her phone in her hand before tossing it on her bed.

Amora smiled, “Tell Luther I said thank you for all the goodies.”

“You should really be thinking of me, I asked him to go get the stuff,” Loki replied, making Amora giggle.

As everything settled for the night and everyone but the few night owls in Solostica were down for the night, a sickly-looking disheveled man covered in filth and grim, wearing clothes far too big for him, and chains wrapped around his ankles and wrist hobbled his way through the quiet streets, taking him a few hours to stumbled his way to Hallows Academy all but collapsing at the front door before screaming:

“GREYSON!”

[space-mission-alpha]

*Dreamy sigh...*

Isn't she beautiful..

[blackthorn-legion-irl]

STOP BEING SO FUCKING KIND TO ME I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE

I SENT A CORPSE TO A CHILD

...

You're too kind for your own good.

Fuck.

//Hello!! Rwat anon mod!! You're doing great lol no need to be nervous about interacting- if anything I was because I got accused of being- a not so great person yesterday and I was worried people were going to think that this character or that person was me ooc. Anyways, about rwat. They have severe intrusive thoughts constantly, and were in a manic state while sending threats and shit to paris which peaked with that package to sprite- but has now dipped down and they're more reasonable, though still unstable

i'll tell you one thing that i've never told anyone on here before. i know that this will make it publically known. but i think telling you will help.

i've done worse.

i don't know what - i've repressed most of that memory. but i was a stupid kid. i'm still a stupid adult sometimes. i probably snapped. my point is - if i can come back from that, so can you.

if you don't want to talk for now - or at all - i understand. i'll work on finding a good therapist near you who doesn't work with the cops - not sure if that's a worry you had, but easing it anyway. cops suck but if you'd like i will absolutely support you, okay? i can't go too extreme without drawing attention, but through... slight money laundering through my dude in johto i can make sure you have at least stable housing and supplies so you don't have to worry about those.

just remember. small steppy better than no steppy. and two steps forward one step back is still a net gain.

[darkmatter-nebula]

Make a Drabble of this but with Colli and all the pets and Palismen.

Good morning, my dear @joltthewolf! 👋😊

Thank you for the request!

Drabble: We Love Colli

It was a quiet afternoon on the Boiling Isles as a certain small starboy with otherworldly fluffy lavender hair and a heart of gold was ambushed by his pets and some Palismen. There even was a banner, with the words 'We Love Colli'.

Speaking of Colli, the kindhearted eternal little boy was cuddled by everyone. Colli visibly enjoyed the affection. It wasn't a secret that Colli was a huge cuddlebug, who had a lot of love to give. Flapjack nuzzled softly Colli's freckled cheek.

Colli had a bright smile on his adorable multi-colored face the whole time. "Awwwwww! I love you all too!" The immortal celestial boy said softly.

The End

[spacewonder19]

Gamma Cas & Ghost Nebula © Antoine Grelin

[quiltofstars]

The Ghost of Cassiopeia (IC 63) being lit up by the star Navi (γ Cassiopeiae) // Timothy Straub

The star Navi, γ Cassiopeiae, is named for the American astronaut Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom who flew in the Gemini 3 mission and died in the onboard fire of Apollo 1. The star's name is his middle name spelled backwards.

[shrunkupthejams]

Rea & Cassia

woe, rea and cassia snippets be upon ye (an elaboration on the rea thoughts and ideas that have been bouncing around my brain)

Cassia was the one ghost Rea wasn’t sure she could really see. Cassia was there, ever hovering behind her shoulder in the bathroom mirror, but what Rea wasn’t sure of was whether she was real, or a manifestation of her guilt. When Cassia spoke, Rea didn’t the sound in the same way she did the voices of other ghosts. Her dead friend’s mouth moved out of time with the sound, and her voice seemed to beam right into Rea’s head.  “You know what you did,” she said, as she always did. Rea felt no less miserable for how often she endured it. “You killed me,” Cassia said. 

*

The worst part was, Rea found a sick sort of comfort in Cassia’s presence. A sort of reassurance. If Cassia was dead, it had been real. Even if the guilt haunted her, at least she wasn’t alone. At least she had Cassia with her still, even in her death.  Sometimes Cassia would appear to her while she was bathing, and they would sit on opposite sides of the tub from each other, chest deep in water, like they never had before her death. It was almost comforting to know Cassia was watching over her know, even as a spectre of her own guilt. Even as a reminder of her most egregious crime.  Life was less lonely with Cassia there to watch over her, and time had allowed Rea to grow used to her presence.  Rea hadn’t noticed her at first, after the incident, when she was too sick on guilt and grief to levy herself out of bed. Rea wagered she had spent the better part of a month in her bed, lying in this illness until she couldn’t bring herself to feel anything. The world moved on, but she could not move with it.

*

The ghosts had never bothered Rea much. There had never been quite the volume of them around her as there were starting the month after Cassia died. When Rea was thrust back into the world, the spirits seemed to be pulled toward her like the rushing pop of air after a seal broke. 

[rin-may-1103]

Badger Day Au (part two)

Previous | Master Post | Next

"Fourteen?" Aquaman repeats, turning his chair to face Danny. "Fourteen what? Days, weeks, months?"

Flash hissed like he was in pain, "Please don't say it's been fourteen months!"

Danny trailed his eyes away from the ceiling, away from the bothersome crack, and toward the single window in the room. He could just barely make out the Cassiopeia constellation. Its distinct W shape winked and flickered, drawing up a memory from a few loops into this whole mess. Tucker had wanted to comfort him, seeing as Danny had just broken down crying over how frustrated he was with everything.

The Ghost of Cassiopeia. Also known as IC 63, about 550 light years away.

A giant cloud of dust and gas. A nebula. Its ethereal glow reminded people of spirits they would see in haunted houses or fields. So they called it the ghost of Cassiopeia.

But it wasn't a ghost, it's simply hydrogen that's been bombarded with ultraviolet radiation from the nearby star. A blue giant called Gamma Cassiopeiae. It's also known as the center of the constellation. The light from the blue giant makes the majority of the nebula glow a vivid red. The blue around the edges is just light reflected off the dust within.

Tucker had joked that Danny should try and see how far he could get before the loop restarted. See if he could even get past Jupiter. Danny had just snorted and brushed his suggestion off. What was the point when he should be spending his time trying to fix the loop?

About six years in, Danny had given up and tried.

Eight months he had spent flying. He got further and further out into the void, surrounded by darkness and the beautiful stars in the distance to guide him. He never managed to make it past Pluto before he was brought back.

"Years," Danny confessed, his eyes still trained on the faraway stars.

"YEARS!?!" Superman cried, standing up so fast his chair was sent flying into the wall. Danny glanced back up at the crack, watching as it grew just a little larger, plaster dust sprinkling down like freshly fallen snow.

Sighing, Danny sat up and stared at the group. How many times has he had this conversation? How many times was he going to explain what was happening? How many times was he going to wake up in his bed just to restart all over again?

"Years," Danny repeated, "Fourteen years. Like I said, I've tried everything."

They sat in silence for a moment, just digesting his situation. Batman was standing still, his fists clenched tightly. Superman looked faint like he would pass out. Flash looked devastated.

Wonder Woman leaned forward, her brows furled in confusion, "Were you cursed, young one?"

"No, I checked. You checked. Heck, even Zatanna and Constantine have checked. I'm not cursed." Danny grumbled, slumping down to rest his head on the table.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to just curl up and sleep for the next however long. Wanted to hug Jazz and cry about how unfair it all was. Wanted to curl into his mother's side and cling until she made it all better. Hide behind his father until he knew it was safe.

but he couldn't.

Something always happened when he tried. If he stayed home from the very beginning of the day, the league would call him over and over again, convinced he was needed for the case Batman had. They even sent Flash over a few times just to search the city to drag him to the meeting.

(He was happy they hadn't figured out his civilian identity yet, but man was it hard to watch as Flash stuck his face into every nook and cranny around town yelling his name. Danny's lost count of how many times the man got overshadowed.)

If he managed to convince them that he was in a loop, then they found it would be safer for him to stay up on the watchtower. where they could keep an eye on him while searching for a way to break it.

Or, if he managed to convince them he was sick or something and they left him alone, Vlad would start acting up. Jack would call him on the phone to cancel Maddie's meeting with him because Danny was 'sick'. If he convinces Maddie to go and stay home with his dad, then Jack somehow opens the portal long enough for one of his rogues to slip through.

It just never ends. Everything he's tried ends with him having to go ghost and fight. The calmest day he's managed to have ended with Box ghost blasting the portal doors open so he could give him a homemade lunch from his wife, which then led the ghost to find Jack's new weapon box and go ballistic because of his obsession.

after that, he gave up spending time with his parents and focused more on his friends and Jazz. This was equally disastrous.

so, his safest option was to go to the meeting and stay with the league.

Glancing up, Danny watched as the time slowly changed on the clock; six twenty-nine, tick, tick, tick, six thirty.

Sighing, Danny sat up and held his hand out, making eye contact with Batman. He might as well get the day going, no use in wallowing in self-pity. He's done that plenty already.

"I already figured out what the cult wanted to do, we just need to figure out where their next meeting is. I'll fill you guys in on the rest." Danny added, wiggling his fingers in the hope it would make Batman move faster.

Batman sighed and handed him the folder. Once Danny had the folder, Batman sat down to listen to his report intently.

Flipping the file open, Danny grabbed the first page and showed it to the group, ignoring how a copy showed up on the big screen behind Batman. (again, why use paper if he was just going to project it?)

"This is the result of the cult's last meeting, two weeks ago. as you can see, the ground has been scorched and the ritual circle permanently carved into the cement." Tossing the paper and ignoring it as Flash scrambled to catch it, Danny grabbed the next couple of pages.

Holding up the seventy missing person reports, Danny placed them on the table and separated them into four different piles. "After some digging, Batman was able to figure out the pattern between the missing people. This group," Danny pointed to the one on the left, "consists of organ donors who were anemic."

pointing to the pile on the right, Danny continued, "This group is made up of meta-humans who have powers related to the elements. they also all happen to have more than one piercing, though Batman didn't really figure out if that had an impact on whether they were chosen or not..."

Pointing to the northern pile, Danny separated the top seven pages. "while everyone in this pile has some relation to an ancient and powerful witch from the 1500s, these seven are the only ones who still share her 'family' name. I'm not sure exactly how this affects the cult's motives, Batman hadn't shared that with me in all the loops so far."

Danny glared at Batman in annoyance, he didn't care if there was a good reason or not. Without fail, in each loop that Danny's made it through where Batman makes the connection; he would refuse to tell Danny about it.

Rolling his eyes at Batman's unwavering apathy, Danny continued, "The last pile consists of people who have been dead at some point in their lives. whether it be just a few seconds or a few weeks."

passing the reports around, Danny pulled the next page from the file. "Flash and Constantine were able to connect the past locations of the cult gatherings. Constantine figured out there was a specific magic signature that he could follow, so he had Flash drag him around the world to map the locations."

tapping the table, Danny selected the world map. Glancing at the paper he had pulled out, Danny marked the places with a red dot. Then he marked the places Constantine found in blue. Looking up, Danny found the league staring at him.

"What?" Danny huffed, shoving the hologram away from him. Batman grabbed it and started to examine it.

"So, do we need Constantine for this?" Green Lantern asks, scratching his head.

Shrugging, Danny tossed the folder over to Wonder Woman. "You can call him if you want, but he won't get here until noon. He's in the house of mystery dealing with a pixie infestation."

"pixie infestation?" Superman asks, turning to look over to Zatanna. Zatanna reached into her jacket and handed him a pamphlet, not turning away from watching Danny with curious eyes.

"Anyway, like I was saying. the cult's been going around taking all these people and using them in their rituals."

"you said you knew what they were trying to do, what was it?" Batman asked with a noticeable frown.

Sighing, Danny pinched his nose. "they've been trying to summon Pariah Dark."

"The ghost king!?!?" Zatanna squawked, slamming her hands onto the table.

"yeah, that bastard," Danny grumbled, rubbing his face. The cult hadn't been successful for all fourteen years now, so Danny wasn't too worried about it. But still... If something, anything really, changed just the slightest; would they succeed? Would they drag Prariah out of his sarcophagus and let him lose on the living?

Danny's already had to face him once, he didn't know if he could do it again. The Fenton ecto-skeleton suit had been ruined last time, to the point dad hadn't even tried to fix it.

"Bastard?" Aquaman repeated, eyes narrowed, "You speak as if you've met him before."

"I have," Danny admitted, "and I will again if we don't do something about the cult." What if this is the loop the cult succeeded? what if it's the next one, or the one after that? could Danny even do anything to prevent it?

Zatara sat down with a heavy thump, her eyes widening in shock. Danny lifted his brow, wondering what was wrong with her. She hadn't acted like this any other time? what was different? had he said something he hadn't last time? hmm, something to think about later.

"back to the case," Danny shrugged, turning to gesture at the hologram of the world. "we were able to narrow down the cult's next location to about seven hundred places. I was able to check off about six hundred and thirty these last few loops. That leaves about seventy places they could be."

Danny used a yellow dot to select the seventy places he still needed to check.

"um," Flash started, nervously glancing between Danny and the globe. "you just highlighted the whole grand cannon and all of Alaska... and the Himalayas.... and the-"

"Yep," Danny cut in, "Like I said, I checked off all the others. These are the last seventy I still need to check. I haven't before because it's a lot of ground to cover. I was hoping I'd catch a break and find the cult before I had to check all those places, but nope. The fruitloops just had to make it difficult.

"oh," Flash winced, "do, do you want me to check them out?"

sighing, Danny leaned back in his chair, "I would love to have you check them out, but you need a magic user who knows what they're looking for to go with you. it's why we haven't found them yet, it's taking forever."

"Oh," was the only response he got.

"you know what we are looking for?" Zatara asks, finally getting over whatever had surprised her.

"yeah, it's hard to explain. I'll have to bring you or the others to a previous place and show you."

"hmm, alright. after the meeting, why don't you bring me so that at least one more person can help start looking, until, john is freed up at noon?" she suggests, tilting her head to the side.

"sounds good with me," Danny shrugged. it's not like it'll hurt to have her looking around, heck, they might even get lucky and she'll find them.

Next

[spacevoyagerx]

The Ghost Nebula

The Ghost Nebula, also known as LBN 762, is a dark nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia.

It is named for its ghostly appearance in images taken in infrared light, where it appears as a dark silhouette against the backdrop of brighter stars and gas.

Credits: NASA, ESA, and STScI; Acknowledgment: H. Arab (University of Strasbourg)