#ok THIS is the longest chapter
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Harvest
My piece for ecto-implosion 2024!
I was partnered up with @tsubaki94 who did three whole lovely artworks, so go check them out here! (x)
(The AO3 Link (X) : broken up into smaller chapters rather than this one big guy)
25,252 words
Danny rubbed his foot around in the dirt, watching the small dust cloud billow up and hang there.
âWell come on, Iâll show you where youâre staying for the next few months.â Alicia turned around and started walking off.
âWait!â Danny bent to pick up his bags and rushed to catch up to his aunt, âI thought that you lived in the cabin?â He looked over at the cabin he spotted through the trees.
Alicia glanced back at Danny. She sighed, âI do. You donât.â
Danny frowned. âI wonât? Then where will I be staying?â
Side stepping a bush, Alicia grumbled, âyouâll see.â
They moved through the brush, dodging branches and stepping around roots and detritus on the ground. It was hot and humid and Danny was starting to feel sticky, carrying his bags with him through it all. The birds around them quieted as they approached and then started up again once they left. A gentle slope turned into a steeper incline and Danny quietly wondered how much longer they were going to take. He really hoped Alicia wasnât just taking him in a circle in some sadistic test to see how long heâd last before complaining. Or murder him. It wasnât likely, but Danny didnât know his grumpy aunt well enough to rule it out either. Probably not though. Maybe.Â
As they made their way up, Danny smelled a change in the air. He arched his neck around Alicia to try to see what the cause was, but quickly moved his head back and away from a sudden branch flying in his face. Just as Danny was weighing the benefits of asking for a break, the ground leveled out, and Danny got his first glimpse of the farm.
Golden strands of wheat waved in the slight breeze, stretching farther than Danny thought heâd see. In the distance, taller stalks formed a different swath. Alicia stepped out of the trees and onto a path that edged the fields. Following Alicia, Danny realized the smell had gotten stronger. âHuh,â Danny thought. He leaned over, closer to the stalks. Yep, the fields were definitely the source of the smell. Turning back to Alicia, he looked down the path and stepped next to his aunt to walk side by side. They seemed to be close to the edge and Danny could see a couple of structures in the distance.
âThese are the wheat fields,â Alicia said. âMy farm grows two kinds, spring and winter wheat. This here is the spring wheat; itâll be part of what youâll be helping to take care of on the farm.â
âOh. What else will I be doing?â
Alicia looked down at him, âWeâll see.â
Danny winced and looked ahead again. âAm I staying in one of those cabins ahead of us?â
Alicia huffed, âSure will. Iâve got a farmhand that helps out - sometimes stays in one of the cabins, sometimes travels back and forth from here to town. Youâll be meeting him later.â
âI didnât realize there would be anyone else here.â
âWell sure, ya think I can take care of a farm like this all by myself? Itâs a lot of work. Course, if one of my hands didnât leave me in the middle of the season, I wouldnât have let Maddie send you here at all.â Alicia looked down at him, âMy farmâs no place to goof around. We all have jobs around here and we all have to do them.â She leveled a sharp look at Danny, âUnderstand? Just because youâre my sisterâs kid doesnât mean you arenât responsible for pulling your own weight.â
Danny looked away, âYeah. I get it. Donât worry, Mom already told me.â More like lectured me to behave, Danny thought.
Alicia huffed.  âWell, just keep that in mind.â They walked the rest of the way down the path in silence.
As they neared the first cabin they could hear a bark, âThatâs Skip. He usually follows me around or hangs around the animals. Good for keeping most unwelcome visitors away.â
Danny looked out and around excitedly, âyou have a dog?â
Climbing up the cabin steps to pull open the door, Alicia said âyeah, but heâs a working dog, so donât go bothering him.â
Once Danny stepped in, Alicia followed, closing the door behind him. Sunlight streamed in through high set windows, illuminating the space. At one end there was a bed on a simple frame, a dresser next to it, and enough space for a chair and small table.
âThis is where youâll be staying. Got the place to yourself, though there isnât much to begin with. The toilet is the outhouse in between these two cabins, unless you really want to head down to bother me for mine.â
Danny gulped, feeling a little intimated. Â âGot it â outhouse.â
âYeah well, Iâll leave you to get settled in here and then Iâll come grab you for dinner. Most meals will be down in my cabin, since it has the kitchen. That said, you can bring food up here, but I donât recommend it. Racoons and the like will try to break in if they smell it up here.â
Danny nodded, looking around. âAnything else?â
âYouâd be best to wear boots if youâve got them starting tomorrow, but for now? Make sure the cabin door latches correctly when you leave or itâll swing open. Thatâs a great way to invite little rodents to make their home in here or to take a shit on the floor at the least.â Alicia looked over the cabin once, âFer now, settle in and Iâll come get you when itâs time.â Alicia opened the cabin door and left Danny alone with his thoughts.Â
Stepping over to the bed, he set his suitcases down and sat between them. The bed let out a soft wheeze, but otherwise stayed firm. It was more of a cot than a proper mattress, but that didnât faze Danny. He was looking to get shipped back to Amity Park as soon as he could anyway. Dust motes danced around him. The cabin was quite small. But at least Danny didnât see any spiderwebs or droppings. âSmall merciesâ Danny thought. Pulling out the older PDA gifted to him by Tucker, Danny tried to see if he could pick up a signal to send back to his friends. Waving his arm in the air didnât do much.  No signal. Sighing, Danny put the PDA down behind the suitcases and leaned back on his hands.Â
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he could smell the dust in the air, hear the rustling of leaves on the trees, and the faint sounds of animals. He didnât know why his parents thought he needed to get away from Amity Park for the second half of the summer, but Danny was annoyed. He spent the first half of the summer trapped in summer school, and no sooner did he have the freedom to spend time with Tucker and Sam, than his parents and Jazz decided to send him off. Between more ghosts showing up and causing problems, and his parents paying more attention to him now that Jazz was off at college, Danny had felt like he hadnât had a moment to himself during the school year. Any extra time he used to have was taken up by his parents dragging him into the GAV to hunt down ghosts and talk about what he planned to do after high school. Danny had been looking forward to vegging out on the couch and running around the mall with Sam and Tucker instead of what?  Shoveling dirt? Or watering plants? Or whatever. Danny wasnât sure what would be expected from him this summer, but his mom made it clear that he was supposed to help his aunt with minimal complaint. Danny let his arms give out so he could fall back onto the bed.Â
He didnât know what to expect here, but he knew that back in Amity the ghosts would be having a great time wreaking havoc with one less capable ghost hunter there to kick them back into the Ghost Zone. At least Valerie had enough of a truce with Phantom now to be convinced to empty the ghosts back into the portal instead of handing them over to be subjected to the latest experiment his parents cooked up. Danny closed his eyes. Even thinking about what he would be returning to at the end of summer back in Amity Park was enough to exhaust him and before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.
A short rap on the door woke Danny up, and he got up, threw a glance at his still unopened suitcases, and walked to the cabin door, pulling it open. âOh,â Danny said. It wasnât Alicia at the door like he was expecting.
âHey, you must Aliciaâs nephew?â the mystery man asked.
âUuuh yeah,â Danny rubbed the back of his neck trying to work out the crick that he put there by falling asleep cockeyed on the bed. âAnd you are- ?â
The man laughed, âAaah, figures that Alicia wouldnât have told ya. Iâm here to take you to dinner, Iâll tell ya about myself on the way.â
Danny eyed the man, dressed in a button down shirt, blue jeans, boots, and a hat - he certainly looked like he worked on a farm. Stepping out of the cabin, and making sure that the latch took, Danny walked after the guy as he led Danny to a dirt path off to the side of the cabins. âIâm Will, no it ainât short for nuthin. Down this path,â he gestured, âtakes you straight to tha bossâ place â and coincidentally dinner.â Will let out a barking laugh and continued. âIâve been working here for a few years now. Actually, for most of my life. Worked here during the summers in between school for Tish and Dick back when they ran the place. Later, when I realized city life didnât agree with me, I came back and started working here full-time. Alicia took over when they passed and sheâs a bit gruff, but just as smart as her ma in running the place.â
âOh, last time I was here, Alicia mentioned the women in the family being smart,â Danny said offhandedly as he looked around the woods.
Will hummed, âdarn right they are, never met a smarter bunch. The town was real glad when Alicia moved back, and I think theyâre still a bit sad her sister â yer ma â never came back.â Danny could feel Willâs gaze on him, âwhen were ya here last, by the way?â
âUh,â Danny said, looking over at Will, âuuh mustâve been a year and half ago? Roughly? It was only a short trip. My mom came down for Aunt Aliciaâs divorce party and my sister and I dropped in to make sure my dad had my momâs anniversary present. Thatâs a bit of a long story, but we were only here for a day.â
âAaah,â said Will, âmakes sense. I usually take a trip to the next town over to see my brotherâs kids around that time. Wouldnât have seen ya and Alicia ainât a big blabber if itâs not about the farm.â
Danny didnât have much to say to that, so he looked ahead to the path, which had started curving away. Coming around the bend, Danny could see Aliciaâs cabin through the trees and realized that Alicia could have chosen to take this path up when Danny was carrying his suitcases. His mood soured as they kept walking. Getting to the end of the path, and out of the trees, Danny noticed a small building behind the cabin. Maybe he could ask Alicia what it was for?Â
Will walked up to the cabin door and knocked, before opening and sticking his head in, âHeya Boss, got the kid. Anythinâ ya need help with?â
âYou two better wash your hands âfore ya even think about touching food.â Without turning around, she kept stirring the pot on the stove.
âYes maâam,â Will said, before turning around to Danny behind him, âFollow me.â And he walked into the cabin, heading around a wall to another door inside.
Danny glanced around the cabin as he stepped in. Nothing much had changed since the last time he was here. He heard water running and looked back around to Will, who was washing his hands in the small bathroom sink. Waiting for his turn, he looked around. There was a picture or two on a table along with a radio, a small couch and chair, and a little fireplace. But no TV. Danny frowned, resigning himself to a very boring summer.
âAlrighty,â Will said, hanging up the towel, âyour turn kid,â and he walked off around the corner to the kitchen.
Danny stepped in, noting the indoor toilet and shower that wasnât in his cabin, and washed his hands. By the time he got back out, Alicia and Will were outside setting down the final dishes on the wooden picnic table.
âAh there you are Danny, weâve got everything out here, come join us,â Alicia called him over.
Jumping down the stairs, Danny walked over to the table and took a seat next to Will. Alicia may be his aunt, but he felt more comfortable with Will from the short walk over than he did with her. A stack of bowls, a pot, and some bread on a plate got his attention.
Watching Alicia and Will grab bowls and dish out stew, Danny grabbed the last bowl and did so himself once the ladle was free. Grabbing a piece of bread, he started dunking it in. Watching Alicia and Will eat, he took a bite. Danny made a surprised noise.
Alicia looked over to him, âSurprised?â
Danny nodded and swallowed his bite, âa lot better than I was expecting.â
Alicia laughed, âIâll take it that my sister still ainât much of a cook if you think that.â
Danny sheepishly laughed, âMomâs cooking is alright.â How could Danny explain that most of the stuff in their fridge sat next to ectoplasm and that no matter how well the containers were sealed, most of the time, the food tasted slightly off from spending time in there? He elected to stay silent.
Alicia hummed in response as she ate another bite of stew. The rest of dinner passed quietly, and soon the sounds of bowls being scrapped clean echoed in the little clearing.Â
Alicia leaned back, waiting for Danny to finish.  Will took out a little pipe, tapping down the tobacco and lighting it. Danny wrinkled his nose at the smell as he finished his bowl and straightened. âThat was really good Aunt Alicia,â Danny said.
Alicia grinned, sharp and wide, âglad you thought so. Will, you can head back up, Danny here is going to help me with the dishes tonight.â
âAre ya sure?â Will asked.
âYea, weâve got some things to talk about anyway,â Alicia narrowed her eyes at her nephew.Â
Danny felt a chill run down his spine, unrelated to the waning light.
âAlright,â Will said, standing, âI guess Iâll be going then. Night Alicia, night Danny.â
âNight Will,â Alicia said.
âGoodnight Will,â Danny called out as Will walked back to the path they came down.
âWell,â Alicia started, âGrab the dishes and follow me in.â She stood up and grabbed the pot, heading back to her cabin.
Danny stood up, piled the bowls and spoons together in a neat pile, and walked in after Alicia.
âThere ainât no dishwasher in this old cabin, so weâll be doing everything by hand.â Alicia plugged half the sink and started the tap. âIâll let you rinse and dry the dishes.â Danny set the bowls off to the side of the sink and walked around her.Â
After filling up the sink sides, Alicia took the pan and started soaping it up. âSo, Danny,â Alicia started. âUm, well, Maddie,â she cleared her throat. âYer ma seemed worried about you. Anything I should know about? Since youâll be working on my farm and all.â
Danny shoulders inched towards his ears. âNo, nothing. I didnât need to get out of Amity.â He scowled at the pot Alicia was cleaning.Â
âHmmm,â Alicia replied, methodically working around the inside. âI never knew my sister to be a worrier, but I wonât pry. So long as you donât bring any strangers or trouble around itâs not really my business.â
Dannyâs shoulders relaxed some as he took the pot from Alicia and rinsed it off before setting it in the dish rack to start drip drying. The rest of the dishes passed quickly in the silence and as Danny was drying the last bowl, Alicia walked off around the corner.
Danny closed the last cupboard as Alicia came back around with a large fabric bag. âI donât want to keep you up for much longer, but weâve got some housekeeping to deal with first.â She held out the bag towards Danny. He took it. âFirst off, my cabin has the only shower. The only rules are to not use it when Iâm sleeping and to clean up after yourself. I mean pick up your towels and hang them to dry over your cabin porch railing. Iâve got a standing unit in the back.â At Dannyâs scrunched eyebrows, she sighed. âA washing machine,â she strode to the cabin door. Heading down the steps, she called back, âYou saw the structure behind the cabin?â
âUuuh, yeah,â Danny said, walking behind her.
âWell, the machineâs in there. We donât got a dryer, instead,â Alicia pointed up at a line stretching from her cabin to a tree. âThereâs a bag inside with clothespins. Youâll hang up your clothes after the washer gets done. I recommend getting up in the mornings and starting them so that they have the whole day to dry on the line. But thatâs just me.â Turning back around she said, âwell, I think thatâs most everything. Iâve got a bell Iâll ring to let yâall know when foodâs ready. I expect you to finish whatever youâre up to and to get down here when you hear that bell. Either youâre on time or you donât eat. Thereâs too much to do around here to wait around.â She looked down at him as the sun finished setting, the orange glow around them the last remnant of the day. Her face softened some, âbefore I send you back to get some sleep, any questions?â
Danny shook his head, âNaw, laundry out back, shower inside, donât bother you with either. I think Iâve got it all.â
âGood.â Alicia and Danny stood there for a moment. âWell,â Alicia cleared her throat, âIâll uh, see you tomorrow mornin then. Night kid,â and turned to walk back to her cabin.Â
Danny stood there for a moment before sighing and making his way back to the path.
_______
Danny woke up to knocking on the door and sunlight on his face.
Knock knock knock echoed through the cabin and Danny squished his eyelids together even tighter. Â âCome on, get up boy, you donât have time to lay around.â
Danny turned his head into his pillow and groaned. He spent long enough last night putting away his clothes and getting used to the small cabin that he fell asleep at a time that, had he been back in Amity, would have been early and yet here was late, based on how groggy he felt. Unrested.
Knock knock bang, âdonât think I wonât come in there kid,â Alicia warned.
Danny let out another groan before turning his head and calling out, âAlright, Iâll be out in a minute.â
Something that sounded like âtoo longâ came from the door before footsteps started walking down the cabin steps. Quickly getting ready â jeans, shirt, and unfortunately, FentonWorks patented hazmat boots, Danny pushed open the door, hopping a little to finish getting the second boot on. He jumped down the stairs, making his way to Aunt Alicia, who was leaning against a tree.
âWell, 56 seconds ainât bad kid, but come on. Youâre following me around for the day.â She pushed off and started walking, âI assume you donât have any experience working a farm?â
Danny shook his head, âno maâam.â
Alicia snorted, ânone of that maâam business, call me Alice.â
âI thought your name was Alicia though?â
Opening a little gate, Alicia whistled and then beckoned Danny through before latching it, âSure is, but yer ma and me had our Grandma Alicia, so family started calling me by Alice.â Walking off to a small building further back, she continued, âBut enough of that, weâve got a long day. You can ask if you have questions, but do your best to pay attention.â With that, she opened the door to a cacophony of clucking that quickly died down. Danny stepped in after her, and as his eyes adjusted he saw the inside of a coop. Two rows of chicken nests on either wall, with hens either standing around Alicia or sitting. Once they spied Danny hiding behind her though, they started squawking again and rushed forward, wings flapping and feathers fluffed. Danny started backing away before a hand pushed on his back and a bucket was shoved into his chest. Quickly grabbing it, Danny looked down at a bunch of seed and â
âOW!â Danny yelped as he started hopping from one foot to another, hens trying to peck away at the new intruder.
âWalk out, theyâre just not used to you is all,â and Alicia shooed him out of the coop.
âFuckâ Danny frowned, not quite running away from the coop and wishing he couldâve used his intangibility to get away from the chickens. Alicia laughed at him as the hens kept pace around Dannyâs ankles, lunging forward to peck at him. âHow do I get them to stop?â Danny yelled.
âJump the fence!â
Danny ran back to the gate and hopped over it with a little help from his ghost side to land a few steps away from the chickens.
Bwaack Squak Sqwauk!!
Danny looked up at Alicia who offered an unapologetic, âSorry. I forgot.â
Squinting at the slightly amused look on his auntâs face, Danny scowled, âDid you do that on purpose?â
âNo idea what ya mean kid. Anyway, for now you can toss some feed in, but otherwise wait out there. Iâll explain what I did when I get back out to you.â Alicia grabbed a basket hanging outside the coop door and walked back inside.
Danny glared down at the chickens who were still protesting his presence. âWhat.â
âSquuuuawk!â was the response back.
Danny sighed and looked down at the bucket in his hands. It had some seeds and other things mixed in. Looking back up at the chickens staring at him, Danny slowly raised a hand, âIâm going to throw some seeds in. Please donât scream at me for it,â and he reached a hand in. No sooner did Danny close his hand around some feed, then one of the hens decided to start flapping its wings again to cause a fuss. Danny jumped and glared at the chicken. Out of spite, Danny reached back in and with a handful of feed, overhand chucked it into the coop yard. Sticking his tongue out at the chickens that refused to let him out of their sight, Danny took another step back. He couldnât wait till his parentsâ summer banishment was over and he could go back to Amity Park.
Alicia stepped out of the coop with the basket and walked over to a trough sitting in the yard. After looking down, she gave a quick nod, and then started heading to the gate. Where the chickens were still standing. Glaring at Danny.
âUuuh,â Danny said, âDo you have a plan on getting close enough to take this bucket back?â
âSure do,â Alicia said, coming up to the gate, âstep closer and hand it over.â
Eyes never leaving the chickens, Danny inched his way closer to Alicia and when he was close enough, thrust out the bucket towards her. âDo they hate everyone?â He asked.
Alicia took the bucket, âNope. Not me,â and laughing, walked back to the coop.
âGreat, real reassuring,â Danny grumbled to her back.
Once Alicia finished up inside the coop, and with a basket of eggs in hand, she walked back out of the enclosure to Danny. âNoticed how I whistled before?â Danny nodded. âI was warning the chickens that I was coming in. Itâs how I let them know itâs me and not a stranger.â She grinned. âNot that it helped you any.â
Danny looking away, glaring.
Alicia paused for a moment, âWell, no matter.â She started walking to another log structure. âI want you to figure out what signal youâre gonna give the chickens and start visiting them in the mornings. Just so they get used to you. We donât want to upset them too much, so they need to start recognizing you.â Walking up to the much larger barn, she opened the doors. Danny was hit with the smell of animals and he scrunched up his nose, coughing.Â
Alice looked back at him and laughed, âWell, youâll get used to the smell soon enough.  Anyway, this is where weâve got the rest of the animals. Some pigs, cows, sheep - used to have a horse, but once we switched to using the tractor and truck full time, and old age killed her off, it didnât make sense to get another.  But that was a number of years ago at this point. I think ya mom and me were still kids then.â
Dannyâs eyes finished adjusting to the inside and he saw the animals in their stalls. The cows looked over at him, but it was one brave pig that snuffled up to Danny. âOh,â Danny said, crouching down. âCute.â Reaching out a hand, Danny tried to pet the pig, which quickly moved away and waddled back to its stall area.
Danny caught Aliciaâs smile as he stood back up. âPatâs rather friendly, but I wouldnât recommend getting too attached.â She gestured over to the far wall, âI usually open up the barn during the day, let the animals wander around. Before that though,â she bent down to grab a stool. âThereâs some tasks to get done.âÂ
Alicia made her way to one of the cows and picked up a stool and a steel bucket hanging up on the post. She turned back around to Danny, âYer gonna learn how to milk the cows here. We usually fill up the pail and then transfer them to bottles. We get too much milk to use ourselves, so neighbors will come and pick up some bottles from time to time.â She set the stool down with the pail on top, then moved to the larger cow. Going around to the back of the stall, she unlooped a short rope and tied it around the cowâs neck. âThis old gal here is Gully.â Alice jerked her chin to other stall, âand our younger one is Lass.â Alicia walked back out of the stall to move the stool and bucket closer.
âWhatâs the rope for Aunt Alice?â Danny asked.
âOh,â Alice said, setting down the stool and pail at Gullyâs side. Sitting down, she said, âjust to keep her in place. Gully doesnât move as much as Lass will, but sheâs used to the rope. Either way, it lets her know itâs her turn. Here,â Alice beckoned Danny over. "Now hereâs how you milk a cow.â
After the early morning of getting food to the animals, collecting the eggs, and milking the cows, Alice led Danny back down to her cabin. Going inside for a minute, Alice came out with a cup of water for Danny. âIâm gonna check on the oatmeal and cook up a few eggs for us. I want you to walk around the woods down here while I finish up breakfast.â
âAlright,â Danny said. âAnd uuuh, Iâll hear the bell when itâs time to come back?â
Alice chuckled, âHa - yeah, youâll hear it. Remember â donât dawdle when you hear it, come straight back.â
Danny downed the cup of water in one go and nodded, setting down the now empty glass on the table. âWill do.â Danny started walking off and he heard the creak of the cabin door. Just as he was about to exit the clearing, Alicia yelled back, âAnd donât step on my rhubarb!â
Danny walked around a bush, ducking underneath a tree limb, âOk!â and almost ran into a large leafed plant. He tilted his head. Squinted.Â
âI donât actually know what rhubarb looks like,â he thought. Danny shrugged and moved around it anyway. Walking further into the woods he felt the temperature drop some as shade took over. Standing still, Danny realized how quiet it was. No cars, no honking, no rushing of traffic in the distance. Instead, there was the rustle of leaves and the occasional bird call. He breathed in and out. Quiet, and it smelled like the earth. He looked around. A chipmunk scampered up a far off tree. Danny started picking his way through the bushes, tree roots, and other obstacles as he walked further in.
Danny looked back, and not seeing anyone, did his best to walk in a circle with Aliciaâs cabin in the center. He almost tripped a few times, before remembering that he could use his intangibility to easily get through the plants without crushing any. âProblem solved. I canât step on anything if I do this.â Without having to pick his way in between and around foliage, Dannyâs pace picked up as he walked the area. Coming up to what he assumed was near the back side of the cabin, Danny heard a sharp piercing bell echo around. Danny jumped. It was much louder than he thought it would be, especially through the trees. He started walking back, and spied Will coming in and out of view. Danny had gone farther than he thought and hurried up.  Just before he popped out of the trees, he dropped his intangibility and walked out behind Will onto the dirt path. âHey Will!â Danny greeted.
Will whipped his head around, âOh! Geee-zuuus kid. Whereâd you come from?â
Danny came up alongside Will, âthe woods. Alice showed me around the animals this morning, then had me walk around for a bit.â
Will nodded. âMakes sense. You see her rhubarb patch?â
Danny grimaced, âUuuh maybe?â
âYou donât know what they look like, do ya?â
Danny shook his head, âNot really.â After a moment of hesitation, Danny asked, âwhat do they look like?â
âOh well, youâll know it when you see it. Got these big leafs on them. Actually, sheâs started a new patch of them in her actual garden. Not hard to spot, thereâs about 6 of them? Started a year or two back to grow them in a different spot. Real finicky things, they donât like it down here, but I suppose Alicia likes âem well enough that she takes the time to baby the things. Me personally, I donât like âem all that much, wouldnât bother putting in thaâ much effort.â Popping out of the trees, Will waved over to Alicia, getting her attention to let them know they had arrived.
Alicia looked over, âGood â kid came back with ya. Iâll finish hanging this line and then Iâll get food out.â She turned back to the laundry.
Will nodded, âunderstood maâam.â He looked over and down at Danny, âWe best wash our hands and start setting out dishes then.â
Getting the table set up with a small plate, bowl, and spoon for each of them, Danny grabbed the pot of oatmeal, while Will grabbed the scrambled eggs. They got them set down in time for Alicia to round the corner from the back. âAah, thank you kindly boys. Wasnât expecting ya both to set up, but Iâm grateful.â Sitting down, she started dishing out a ladle of oatmeal for everyone and Will pushed off some eggs on each plate. Danny waited a moment for Will and Alicia to settle down and then started eating.
After breakfast, Alice once again shooed Will off to work and had Danny help her wash and put away the dishes. Putting the towel back on the oven handle, Alice turned to her nephew. âWell. Weâve got a long day ahead of us.â She glanced around. âYa bring a water bottle with ya or anything?â
Danny furrowed his eyebrows, âUh no.â He flushed, âI forgot to grab one when packing.â
Alicia huffed, bending down to open a lower cabinet, and rummaged around before pulling out a spare canteen. Standing up, she unscrewed the lid and looked down into it with one eye closed. âDonât think thereâs dust or nothing in there. Should work fine for ya.â She passed it off to Danny and started walking out the door. âGet it filled and Iâll see ya outside. If you need to pee, nowâs the time to do it.â She walked out and left Danny in the cabin. Looking around, he didnât see anywhere other than the sink to fill up the water. Shrugging, he got it filled up from the sink, then quickly went to the bathroom. Looping the water bottle strap around himself, he left the cabin. Making sure to latch it closed, he walked towards Alicia who had put on a wide brimmed hat and they started up the slope together.
âSoooo,â Danny said. âWhatâre we doing today?â
Alicia chuckled, âyouâll see. I always found it easier myself to see what someone was talking about than to just listen to someone blabber on.â
They headed back up to the animals. Walking towards the barn, Danny squinted his eyes at the change in light as they reentered. He put a hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle a cough. Alice looked over at him, eyes crinkling. âFirst order of business, mucking out the stalls. Iâll do the first one, then youâll take over, so make sure youâre watching closely.â Danny wrinkled his nose as he took his hand away and watched Alicia roll up a wheel barrow from the side. She picked up a pitchfork, and as she speared the poop, started talking.
âYouâre probably familiar with the poop part of this. You want to get out all the large patties, and then go back and clean up the pissed sections.â Alicia grunted as she lifted a large chunk into the wheelbarrow. âIt ainât tricky, but sometimes the animals like to cover the patches, so you gotta make sure that you get all the spots. We want them to have clean stalls when we bring them back in this evening. Specially the cows, donât want them to get infections or nothing.â Alicia looked over at Danny who was looking up into the loft.
âHey!â she called, and Danny dropped his head down to look at her. âYou got that?â
âYes, Aunt Alice,â Danny rubbed the back of his neck.Â
Alicia narrowed her eyes at him, then continued mucking out the stall. When she finished, she handed the necessary tools over. âYour turn kid.â
Danny flushed as he grabbed at the pitchfork, âUh yes.â He looked around before facing his aunt. âWhat am I doing?â
Alicia stared him down. âThe next stall, boy. Get to it.â
Danny gulped and walked to the stall next to the one Alice finished. âSo I just-â and he mimed stabbing a poop patty.
Alicia raised an eyebrow and stared Danny down.
Turning back around, he prodded the pile. Standing there a moment, he shifted his stance and jerked the tines into the pile. He wiggled it in a little further. Glancing over at the wheelbarrow, he started to crouch a little, bracing against his leg, and tried to leverage the pile up. The pitchfork shook a little and Danny shifted a foot back to steady himself. He shuffled around and clumsily wiggleded the poop off and into the wheelbarrow. He looked up at Alicia. Alicia looked back into the stall then back at Danny. Figuring that was as good of a âgo aheadâ as he was going to get, he turned back into the stall and continued. Alicia came to stand by the stall entrance and give the occasional tip as Danny rooted around looking around for spots to clean up. Danny groaned as he finished the last spot. Rubbing his arm, he turned toward Alicia.
As he opened his mouth, Alicia cut him off, âOn to the next.â
Danny shut his mouth, glowering a little, and stepped over to the next stall in line. By the time he finished with that one, Alicia had come back with additional stall bedding, spreading it out and filling in the bare spots. Danny leaned against the stall divider and opened up his bottle, taking a gulp of water. It dribbled down his chin and he wiped it off. He hung his arms over the divider as he watched Alicia. Her movements were smooth and practiced, and she was methodical, poking around and moving material, building it up in spots and thinning it out in others. Alicia stepped back, shovel planted by her side. She glanced over at Danny, not surprised to see him watching.Â
âAny questions?â
Danny shook his head.
âNo? Well, Iâll leave you to the rest then,â and grinned at him, before leaning the shovel to the side and walking out of the barn.
Danny sighed and dropped his head for a moment. It wasnât hard to get the gist of what he had to do, but all of them? It felt like he spent an hour just cleaning out the two he did already. Not looking forward to the rest of the day, Danny pushed off the wall to continue.
At some point, Danny noticed something watching him from the barn door. His shoulders tensed as he turned around. The shape was grounded, solid in a way that most ghosts couldnât replicate, and Danny felt his shoulders relax some. Squinting against the bright light pouring in, he made out a fuzziness to whatever it was.  As his eyes adjusted enough to see more, Danny smiled. It was a large dog, light in color except for the face and ears where the fur darkened. Just as he was about to take a step to walk over, a low bark echoed throughout the barn. Danny stopped. The dog stood up but otherwise didnât move, keeping eyes on him.Â
âHey,â Danny said. âAunt Alice said your name was Skip?â
The dog lowered its head down, staring down Danny.
Hearing footsteps coming from outside, Danny looked up. Alice came to the entrance by Skipâs side. âSit,â she said. Turning to Danny, âcan you turn away from Skip a little?âÂ
Crouching down, she talked to Skip for a moment, before standing up and walking towards Danny. âAlright, this is Danny.â Coming to a stop near Danny, she clapped a hand on his shoulder. âHeâs going to be staying with us a while Skip.â
Skip stood up, turned away, and walked off. Alice faced Danny. âWell, that was Skip. He isnât the most friendly to strangers, but heâll get used to you being around eventually. Not that he hangs around us all that often. Skip spends a lot of time with the chickens, sometimes the cows or pigs depending. And you,â Alicia shook a finger at him, âwill be out with the crops. Shouldnât run into any problems with Skip, just donât startle him.â
Dannyâs face fell, âGot it.âÂ
Alice looked around. âSo, you about finished in here?â
Danny ducked his head, âeeh about that.â
Alicia sighed, âOk. Well, once you get done with this, come find me. Iâll be around, but if you canât find me, just give a shout.â She walked back out of the barn.
Danny sighed, hopes of having a dog crushed once again, and got back to work.
_____
Putting the tools back where Alicia grabbed them from, Danny walked out of the barn. Stepping out of the shade, his hand flew up to shade his eyes from the sudden sun. Glancing around, he didnât see Alicia. The woods on one side, chicken area in front, barn behind, and fields on his left. Dannyâs arms were aching, and he turned toward the woods.Â
Walking through them for a while, Danny found a downed tree and sat down on it. Head turned up to the dappled sunlight, arms stretched back, legs thrown out in front of him, he breathed deeply. He slowly built up energy in his chest, before directing the collected ectoplasm out from his fingers, through the log, and into the surrounding area. Nothing ectoplasmic echoed back through the connection and Danny slowed pulled it back, collecting and dispersing it back into himself. Once confirming there were no ghosts out there, he fully settled his weight down onto his hands.Â
He ignored the guilt building a home in his stomach and stayed for a few minutes, letting the sun soak into his being. Danny was starting to get warm, bordering on hot - a foreign feeling ever since his ice core fully formed. His eyelids fluttered closed and a soft breeze blew through, taking the edge of the heat off. Danny could feel his heart slowing, mind growing fuzzy, and then he toppled back off the log. His back hit the ground and the air escaped his lungs. Wheezing softly, he stayed there for a moment.  Gathering breath back in his lungs, he tried to roll himself over. Picking himself up, Danny did his best to brush the dirt and leaves off his backside. Turning his attention back where he came from, he stomped his way to the farm.
Coming back up to the path around the farm, Danny spied Alicia coming up to the barn. He started jogging faster before deciding to turn invisible and fly into the barn. Setting down in a shaded corner, Danny turned visible and walked to the open doors. Looking around behind him, he double checked that everything looked alright and walked out.Â
Alicia was almost to the barn doors, looking back at the chickens, when Danny popped out. âHey!â Danny called. Alicia turned around to look at Danny before sending one last glance back. Waiting for Alicia to get to the barn, Danny rocked back and forth on his heels. His arms didnât ache as much as when he first finished, but he could still feel the shaky weakness in them. Danny flashed a smile at her as she got to him.
âSo, how are you feeling? Up to walking through the fields with me?â
Danny grimaced before he could stop himself.Â
Alicia looked at him, âIâll take that as a yes.â She started walking away.
âUh.â Danny started. Alicia stopped. âI â uh â what do I do with the, uuh, poop. In the wheelbarrow?â
Alicia sighed before changing directions, walking back up and into the barn. âIâll show ya. Youâre gonna dump it in a pile out back. We let it sit and age a while before using it. Not the most glamorous, but it does the job.âÂ
Danny followed her in and took up the handles on the wheelbarrow. Alicia led him out back, through the gated fence, and to a pile of poop. Danny wrinkled his nose. It didnât smell as bad as he thought, but it wasnât pleasant either. He watched Alicia pick up a shovel that was leaning against a tree nearby, and she scooped the poop out of the small wheelbarrow and onto the pile. In a minute she was done and set the shovel back down.
âAs I said, not hard. Get that wheelbarrow back where I grabbed it from this morning and catch up to me. Weâve got a lot to do today.â
Danny hurried to comply and jogged to get back to Alicia who was halfway to the fields.
âSooo,â Danny stretched out the syllable, âwhatâre we doing anyways? Like the plants are all planted and stuff, right?â
Alicia scoffed at him and continued walking out to the fields. Coming up to a large field of corn, she sharply turned left and kept walking alongside it.
Danny hopped a little on one leg to change direction and catch up. After a few minutes of following Alicia and looking around the area â primarily at the woods in the distance, watching a bird fly up and overhead, and trying to find some shapes in the clouds â Danny sighed. He looked over at Alicia. Tried to find another bird to watch. Looked back down. Then further down at his feet. Kicked a stray rock, causing a small dust cloud to rise up. Alicia huffed. Danny paused for a moment. Started swinging his arms back and forth. Stopped. Started humming. Stopped. Shifted his weight on every step so he bobbed and swayed along more than walked. Stopped that. Looked back up at the clouds. He could feel the sun warming the back of his neck as they went.
Alicia glanced over at him, causing Dannyâs extraneous movements to still. His shoulders lifted and he ducked his head down. After another moment Alicia put her hands in her pockets. Sighed. âIf Will wasnât using the tractor to go around the farm today I wouldâve taken you around in it.â She leaned over to examine some of the corn stalks they passed by. Straightening back up Alicia said to Danny, âThereâs still a lot to do on the farm. We may not be primarily livestock, but crops also require a fair bit of work. We have to make sure theyâre getting enough water, fertilize from time to time, spray for bugs and other diseases, weeding of course, making sure we donât see signs of problems on the plants themselves, taking care of tractor maintenance â among other daily tasks. Youâll be out in the fields mostly. Iâll show you what needs done these first few days and then youâll be sent off to do those tasks. Donât worry, Iâll let you know what to focus on, but,â Alicia shrugged, âa lot of it comes down to watching and learning the first few days.â
âOh.â Danny said. âUh, so what kinds of plants do you grow here?â He scratched his warm neck.
Alice lifted up her hat before setting it back down, âWell, weâre a bit unusual â mostly growing feed for the livestock farms around here. Remember when you and Jazz jumped into town last year from Air Grits?â
Danny nodded, âYeah, that was weird; drove in this time though.â
Alice lifted her eyebrows for a moment, âYep. Bit of a hassle to drive into town though?â
Danny looked away, âUuuh yea, the roads were kind of bumpy?â
Letting out a loud barking laugh, Alice said, âThatâs one way to put it. The road up here has a lot of sections through the woods too. People here donât drive from town to town all that often. Makes us pretty secluded, and since there's not a lot of traffic it doesnât make much sense to put money aside to pave a more direct route in. Easier to just jump in from a plane for the most part. Unless you live close that is.â
âI guess. But what does that have to do with your farm?â Danny wrinkled his noise as a breeze briefly brought the smell of manure his way.
âMmm,â Alicia started. âWell, animals need a lot of food, and the harder it is to get it brought in, the more expensive it is. Growing up, your ma and me saw how the farmers struggled with the prices. When I grew up, I decided to shift the family farm to silage to help with the demand.   You wonât see a lot of farms like mine, most of the food is grown outside of our region here or in other states entirely.â She paused. âItâs also a hell of a lot more trouble to get it to all work out if Iâm honest. Thereâs a reason crops arenât grown in these parts.â
Danny nodded, looking back at the trees they passed by.
âTo answer your original question, we got a field we plant cover crops in. Depending on what weâve got, Iâll send the cows and pigs out there during the days. You wonât spend a lot of time there. Then weâve got this corn that weâre passing. Unlike the corn we eat, this gets left to dry out after it gets done growing.â
Danny looked over the field, eyebrows pinched together. âCorn?â
âYessir, this is a corn field weâre walking by. I guess for a city boy like you, itâll be easier to tell in a few weeks. These here are still growing their ears. Weâve got some fields we planted earlier â they got their ears and silk already. Youâll see them tomorrow probably.â
âWhy?â Danny interjected, âWhy did you plant them like that?â
âWell,â Alice starts, âOh, weâre coming up to the wheat here,â and pointed forward to the next field. âWe stagger our fields like that, so we stagger what time theyâre ready to harvest. It doesnât make sense to flood the ranchers around here with a bunch of feed all at once, or to hafta store a bunch of it. Arkansas up here in the north is a little interesting. I started doing that a couple years back, and itâs been alright. More work on my and Willâs end, but,â Alice shrugged.
Danny looked up at her, then tried standing on his tip toes as he walked. He couldnât see past the tops of the corn stalks and stumbled over an uneven patch on the ground. Righting himself, he glanced back up at his aunt. âSo youâve got corn and wheat, anything else?â
Alice looked down at him briefly, âSometimes weâll do soybeans, sometimes sorghum. Depends. Nothing youâll have to worry about either way. I think weâll keep ya working on the wheat and corn this summer.â Alicia looked at him from the corner of her eye. âSpeaking of, you drive yet?â
Danny choked on some spit, âSorry?â He cleared his throat, âIâm still a few months shy of being able to get my permit. Eeeer,â Danny looked up her, âWhy?â
âAaah,â Alice said. More to herself than Danny, she muttered, âNo matter, Iâll have to teach ya regardless.â She looked off in the distance before turning back to Danny. âToday, weâre going to go around the farm. Iâll show ya where are the different sections are and how theyâre organized.â
Danny squirmed, âYou donât have to do that Aunt Alicia, I could walk around by myself. Â I donât want to take you away from your work.â
Alicia narrowed her eyes at him. âYou wonât be. Iâve got stuff to do out in the fields anyway.â
Deflating a little under her gaze he nodded, âOkay.â
Walking out to edge of the farm, Alicia took Danny through a section of wheat, pointing out things to watch out for, checking moisture levels, and more. Danny did his best to pay attention, but kept getting distracted by the wind brushing through the wheat. The plants would bend and rub against one another, creating a raspy sound, like someone walking around. After a sudden gust that caused Danny to jump, Alicia looked up at him. She waited for Danny to settle again, then went back to what she was doing. He could feel his shoulders tense and looked around the tops of the wheat to make sure that there really wasnât anyone around. Danny moved to crouch down next to his aunt. He started to lean off to one side, unbalanced on the ground, and it was only when he put out a hand to brace himself did Danny notice that his hands were balled into fists. He slowly unclenched his left hand, the tension dissipating as he flexed it. Turning back to Alicia, he noticed she had turned to look at him. Danny looked back at her. She raised an eyebrow.
At Dannyâs clueless face, she rolled her eyes. âLook over at the roots by you â do you see anything out of the ordinary?âÂ
Danny ears flushed pink as he turned his head to look around him.Â
The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly, with Alice pulling snack bars from her overall pockets as a short break while they walked through more sections. As they exited a corn field, Danny heard a rumbling in the distance. After a minute or two of walking down the wider path, Alicia angled her head back, listening to something. âSeems Will is driving the tractor back. If he crosses near us, and has the cart hitched up, we can get a ride back.â
Danny desperately hoped that he would see Will. He might have the occasional ghost fight and Sam as a friend, but he wasnât fit. After a day walking around, crouching and standing, his legs were tired, feet aching, and even his arms felt heavy. Danny couldnât wait to get back to his cabin and fall face first onto his bed asleep. His stomach grumbled out. Actually, dinner first, then sleep. Hearing a change in the tractor rumble, Danny looked behind him and saw the tractor turn down their row. Danny waved at Will, and Alicia turned around. Ushering Danny to the side of the path, they let Will come to a stop, before closing the distance.
Grinning over at them, Will opened the door and told Danny, âYou look dead on ya feet, kid. Ready to get back?â
âYes please,â Danny begged.
âAlright, then climb in.â Will closed the door.
Danny gave a little wave and followed Alicia to the back, climbing up into the cart hitched up.
As Will got closer to the upper cabins, he let Alicia and Danny off before he went off to park the tractor and finish up some tasks.
âWell,â Alicia said, stretching out her back, âIâve got some stuff to get in order before dinner. If you want to call home, Iâve got a landline down in my house. Thereâs not enough time to take a nap or anything, not that Iâd recommend it anyway. Or you could always take another look in the barn, see if thereâs anything to muck out before the animals bed down for the night.
âOk,â Danny said. Alicia quickly turned and made her way down to the lower area. Danny stood there for a minute, looking off into the woods, before making his way behind his cabin to the freestanding outhouse.
After, he ambled to his cabin. Throwing open the door, he walked over to his bed. He flopped down on top of it, a leg and arm hanging over the edge. Danny wasnât sure how much time he actually had before dinner, but he just wanted to be horizontal for a while. His body settled down, weighing into the mattress as he tried to stop thinking. After a while, his face got tired of being smashed into the sheets and Danny turned his head to the side, examining the little cabin. The sunlight coming in through the windows was yellow orange and muted. He watched the dust motes dance down the shaft of light before they disappeared into the shadows by his face. Feeling his body relax further, his turned his attention to his wide open door. The sounds of the woods filtered in, quiet, through it. He heard a deep bark come from Skip from somewhere. The sounds of a fly buzzing around his doorframe before flying off. Birds called back and forth. Danny sighed and felt his eyelids slide shut. He couldnât wait to start counting down the days until he returned to Amity Park.
When Danny could feel his heart slowing down, he quickly opened his eyes and pushed himself up. The sudden shift started his heart beating rapidly. Despite wanting to sleep so badly after this day, Danny did not want to miss dinner and he had a sinking feeling that his aunt would not be happy if he didnât show up. Not knowing how much time passed, he got up and left his cabin, making sure the latch clicked shut before he walked down to Aliciaâs cabin. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, he made his way down the slope. He didnât call last night, despite promising his family he would. Danny was relatively assured that his mom wouldâve called Alice anyway. More than that, Danny wanted to check in with Sam and Tucker. As enthusiastic as his parents could be about chasing down ghosts, they were hardly reliable when it came to dealing with the ghosts in town.
He heard a steady clacking as he approached Aliceâs door, and opening it, he found her in the kitchen cutting up ingredients.Â
Danny looked around, then cleared his throat. After a moment, Alice turned around to face Danny. âWhatâs up?â
âUuh, Iâd like to use the phone. If thereâs still time before dinner?â
Alice gave one short nod then gestured, curving her hand around to point. âPhone is on the other side of this wall, itâs a mounted one. You can pull up a chair if you want. I reckon you have enough time for a call.â
âOr two, if youâve got a special someone,â she tacked on, laughing when Danny spluttered half formed words at her. âAah just kidding kid,â Alice said as she turned back around.
Danny let out a wheezy, âthanks,â before walking to the other side of the wall. He found the aged yellow phone on the other side easily enough. Pausing in front of it, he took a deep breath, before lifting up his hand to the receiver. His hand rested there for a moment before he tightened his fingers and pulled the phone off, dialing the FentonWorks business number with his other hand. Bringing the phone up to his ear, he shifted his weight, an arm coming around to wrap around himself.Â
Briing brriiiing.
ïżœïżœ.
Briing Brriiing.
âŠ.
Bri â âHello?â A female voice answered. âYouâve reached the FentonWorks business. If itâs about ghosts or specters, weâre here to help. What can we do for you today?â
Danny let out a breath at his momâs practiced spiel. âHey, Mom.â
A gasp crackled through the landline, âOh Danny!â she said in surprise. âOh, honey, why didnât you call the house number?â
Danny looked up at a corner of the cabin. âThey all end up at the same place though?â
âHoney, but itâs different phones that ring â you know that. And Iâm not sure your father deleted off old voicemails from this number, so if we werenât here to catch your phone call you wouldnât have been able to leave a message!â
âThatâs what I was hoping for,â Danny mumbled under his breath.
âWhat was that? Danny, you have to ââ
âIS THAT OUR DANNY BOY?! HOW IS HE? ENJOYING LIFE WITH YOUR OLD BAT OF AN SISTER?â Jackâs booming voice cut through, clear enough to understand even as it crackled the closer he got to the phone.
Danny heard a rustling and a light smack on the other side. âJack darling, my sister is not an old bat,â she admonished. âBut yes, itâs Danny.â A pause. âDanny can you hold on a moment?  Iâm going to put you on speaker.â
Dannyâs hand crept up to the coiled cord connecting the phone to the base.
A couple of clicks, then â âOh Danny, can you hear us?â
And a competing âStill there Danny?â coming through at the same time.
Danny winced as the phone screeched. âYeah,â his fingers twisted around the cord, âIâm still here.â
âOh wonderful,â his mom said, âhow are you settling in?â
âMeet any farm animals yet?â his dad asked. A breath, then an excited âMeet any country ghosts?â
Danny sighed, his fingers twisting up more in the cord. âIâm doing fine. Aunt Alice explained where everything is, and I pretty much fell asleep after moving my clothes out of the suitcase. Sorry I didnât end up calling you last night.â
âThatâs fine sweetie, your aunt gave us a short call last night to let us know you made it there alright.â
Danny hummed, hunch confirmed. Hearing his dad take a breath in, Danny quickly tacked on, âand I havenât seen any ghosts, Dad. Met some cows, pigs, chickens, and the farm dog though.â
âAnd how is Skip doing?â Maddie asked.
Dannyâs face scrunched up, âFine? I guess? He didnât like that I showed up today, just kind of stared at me for a bit before walking off.â
Maddie laughed. âThat sounds like him. Heâs nice enough when he warms up to you. But no, he isnât too fond of strangers. Just give it time Danny.â
Danny huffed.
âYes, yes, but I think heâll be back before then Maddie,â Jack replied.
âOh, youâre absolutely right dear. How are ââ Danny heard distant footsteps.
âIs that Danny?â his sisterâs voice called out in the distance, a whisper coming through the phone.
âYES, COME HERE JAZZ, SAY HI!â his dad yelled.
Danny untwisted his fingers from the cord before starting to wrap them up again. âHi Jazz,â he said.
âOooh! Hi Danny! How are you doing!?â
âAlright,â he said. âAunt Alice was finishing dinner. I just wanted to check in with you guys before then.â
âOk Danny. Well, thank you for that. We donât want to keep you too long then.â Jazzâs voice turned sharp, âDo we?â
âNo! No, we donât Jazzy pants! Donât forget to call later! We miss you Danny boy! Donât work yourself too hard, but make sure you listen to your ba-â Jack cleared his throat, âyour aunt.â
âI suppose we should let you go then Danny. Thank you for calling us. As nice as it was to know you were there safe, itâs even better hearing your voice. We miss you sweetie, love you!â Maddie said.
A twin chorus of âLove youâs sounded off after her.
âLove you guys,â Danny said. He clicked the phone back on. Sighing, he pulled it back off after a minute. Dialing a different number, he waited for the signal to connect. Danny started counting, but before he could reach five, he heard it connect.
âSam?â Danny said.
A gasp, âDanny? Oh, I didnât know youâd be able to call so soon!â
Danny smiled. He heard a small voice come through, âIs that Danny?â After a moment, a much louder, âHey dude! How are you? Is it smelly there? Did you get a signal with my Charlotte?â
âHey Tucker, Sam. Uuh, no Tucker, your PDA didnât connect to anything. Other than that, itâs fine. I was outside, like, all day today. My legs feely like jelly,â he grouched.
Sam clicked her tongue, âThis is why you, and Tucker, should join me when I exercise!â
âYou can NOT convince me to join your exercise regime,â Tucker said.
âOne day,â Sam vowed, âone day youâll join me, Tucker Foley.â
Danny laughed. âAlright, Iâm glad I reached both of you. Iâve got some questions about our,â Danny paused for a moment, âcity guests?â
âGuests?â Tucker said. âWhat do you â oof.â
âGhosts, Tucker, keep up,â Sam hissed.
âGot it, there was no need to elbow me though.â
Danny could imagine Tucker melodramatically massaging his side as Sam rolled her eyes at him. âSo?â he prompted. âAnything to worry about?â
Tucker sighed, âdude itâs been dead around here, Poindexter was walking around campus yesterday, the Box Ghost was seen flying around the warehouses, and then today Vaaaal â the Red Huntress was chasing Skulker.â
âSkulker?â Danny snapped.
âYeah, no need to get your pants twisted Danny,â Sam said, âit was Skulker out of his suit of all things. No clue why he was wandering around like that.â
âIt was weird seeing his naked, blobby ass Danny!â
âEeeew, Tucker!â
âWhat?â
âGross! Anyway, Danny, despite having so many sightings the past few days, there havenât been many problems. Even your parents have kept the GAV destruction to a minimum. Your dad only dented a stop sign pole and your mom only scorched some leaves while blasting at the Box Ghost.â
âHuh,â Danny said, âthatâs good. I guess?â
âRelax, dude, if any problems pop up, Sam and me have got this. Along with Valerie.  We wonât let anything too bad happen. And hey! If all else fails, then your parents are always around.â
Danny snorted, âthanks, I feel so much better now.â
Sam sighed, âseriously though Danny, take it easy. You are nowhere near Amity right now, so itâs no use worrying about it. We have it covered and before you know it, youâll be back.â
âYeah, alright,â Danny said, fingers twisting in the cord again. âOkay. Thatâs â thanks for letting me know.â
âAre you okay?â Tucker asked.
Danny sighed into the receiver. âYeah.â Silence stretched out between the two sides of the call. Danny heard Alicia shuffle out of the cabin and down the steps.
âYeah, Iâm alright,â Danny said. âIâm just.  UUuugh.  I donât understand why my parents thought I needed to get away from Amity Park. And my sister didnât help, butting in with all these psychology studies about stressed teenagers, and environments, and whatnot. Can you believe that fink convinced my parents to send me away for basically my entire break!?! I already missed half of summer being in school, and now Iâm out in the middle of nowhere? Itâs stupid. I donât even know why they thought the ghosts attacks were putting me on edge in the first place! I donât even stick around for the ghost fights as Fenton because Iâm so busy running off to fight them myself,â Danny hissed. He heard a stair creak. He sighed, letting the tension bleed out of him. âAnyway, how are you guys? Enjoying your summer?â
Sam and Tucker started talking about how excited they were for a new movie that was coming out next week and Danny smiled softly, listening to their back and forth. Hearing someone clear their throat behind him, he turned around, and lowered the phone away from his ear.
âDinnerâs gonna be done soon kiddo,â Alice said.
âThanks,â Danny mouthed.
Finding a short break in the conversation, Danny interrupted whatever retort was coming next, âHey, guys. Iâm glad I could catch both of you, but I got to go. Iâll talk to you both later?â He untangled his fingers from the cord.
âOh,â Sam said, âYes, of course. Bye Danny!â
âBye! Talk to you later!â Tucker said.
âBye.â Danny clicked the phone back in place.
Collecting himself, Danny breathed out, plastered a neutral expression onto his face, and turned around to walk outside for dinner.
_______
Danny was in his bed. He was exhausted. His arms ached, his feet were sore, and his eyes were tired.Â
He rolled over. It was dark, likely the middle of the night, and he was groggy, limbs still heavy and heart slow from sleep. So why was he awake? He heard a far off call coming from the direction of the woods. âProbably a wolfâ, he thought. Closing his eyes, Danny settled back down. Or tried to. His skin itched and Danny twisted around to rest on his other side. Scrunched together his eyelids. Moved his feet around. Sighed, then pushed himself up. Slipping on his boots, he opened up the cabin door and stepped outside.Â
Looking around, Danny didnât see anything concerning. He stepped down and walked around the cabin, looking at the sky and the darkness in between the trees.   Danny walked back in the cabin, pulling the door till he heard the latch click, then walked to his bed. Sitting down he took a deep breath, held it, and his eyes glowed green in the dark as he released the breath. Ecto pooled beneath his feet and he pushed it through the ground. He stretched out his consciousness with the ecto, making sure that there was nothing unexpected in the area. The only thing he sensed was a small pool of ectoplasm in the ground, far enough down that it was probably undisturbed by anyone for hundreds of years. Breathing in, he called his ecto back.  Breathed in, then out. Followed the path of his breath through his body as it traveled. In through the nose, down to his lungs, inflating, then back up and out. Once he felt sufficiently centered in his body again, Danny kicked off his boots and laid back down. Sleep claimed him quickly once more.
Sun hitting Dannyâs face woke him up. Throwing an arm over his eyes, Danny groaned. He still felt sore from the day before, tired from the ghosts fights prior to coming to his auntâs, and annoyed from being sent in the first place. In short, Danny was grumpy. The sharp rap on his door a couple minutes later did not help.
âUp and at âem Danny.â
âIâm up!â he called back.
Hearing footsteps recede, Danny groaned. Loudly. Maybe he could convince his parents to pick him up? Call this summer trip short? Danny started plotting ways to get back home, with his parentsâ permission, as he followed Alicia back to the chickens, then off to the barn.
Neither spoke to one another, Danny doing his best to help Alice. Before long, she had him mucking out the stalls again as she walked off to attend to other chores. As Alice said, it wasnât tricky and the repetition had Danny zoning out, daydreaming about being back in Amity.Â
A short step back, and Danny tripped over a trough. Hitting the ground hard, he felt something squish against his backside. Danny sighed. He closed his eyes, gathered some motivation, then swung his legs over the trough and fully onto the ground. Standing up, he twisted around to see the cow pie he landed in. Wrinkling his nose, Danny pushed intangibility through his body to get the crap to drop off his butt and walked out of the way before releasing it. He stood there, feeling the warmth of the sun heating up the open doorway, and looked at the two stalls left to do. Danny was just about to turn around and walk off for a little break, when his momâs chiding voice echoed through his head. Turning back around, he went to finish the job before the food bell rang out.
Later that day, the walkie that Alice had given Danny earlier that day crackled to life. âDANNY! Get the first aid kit from the barn and get out to the field Will was working in. Now.â
Click.
Danny, who had been lounging by the storage barn, darted inside to grab the kit that hung up there, and ran back out. He activated his flight so he lifted just above the ground, and flew most of the distance to the field. When he was close, he dropped back down and ran the rest of the way.
âMmmm fine,â Will slurred out.
âWill Archibald Jacobson donât you dare,â Danny heard Alice hiss out.
He darted around a row to see Will by the woodchipper, Alice holding his arm above his head. âWhat happened?â Danny yelled, dashing the last few yards to them.
Willâs arm was wrapped in his overshirt, blood soaking into the fabric. He had blood on his tank shirt and his pants. Blood dripped down to his neck. His face had an out of focus expression.
Danny set down the first aid kit.
Flipping it open, Alice responded, âdarn idiot got distracted and forgot about the woodchipper next to him.â
âHey!â Will protested. âKid, donât listen to her, I was⊠safe, promâse! Jusâ goâ startled by this green thing â glowing like the sun â ân tripped ân fell is all.â
âDanny, press here,â Alice instructed, ignoring Willâs slurred explanation.
Danny helped Alice wrap up Willâs arm tight. Hauling him to his feet, Alice turned around. âDanny, Iâm going to take him into town. Iâm not sure how deep that cut went, but,â she trailed off, looking at the dopey look on Willâs face.
âGot it, what do you want me to do?â
Hoisting a shoulder over her own, Alice grunted, âhelp me get him there.â
Danny darted under Willâs other side to support him, and they started to walk him back. Will protested the whole way, claiming that he was fit as a fiddle and definitely didnât need to walk into town and that they should check out âthe weird creature in the woods, big, green, and glowing, canât miss itâ. Danny extended some of his flight powers to Will, lightening the load on him and Alice.  They walked Will past Aliceâs cabin, through a short stretch of woods, and into town. Will finally quieted down, grumbling instead of loudly complaining, and they made it into the small clinic.
âPatty!â Alice called out.Â
A middle aged woman came out from the back door, âwhatâs â oh, get him into the back room.â She propped the door open, and let them pass her, pointing them to one of the two examination rooms. Shooing Alice and Danny back out once they set him down, Patty got to work.
Walking back out to waiting room, Danny felt sick to his stomach. He was supposed to have gone to help Will out that afternoon, but decided to take his time and took a break near the chickens instead. âIs he going to be ok, Aunt Alice?â
âProbably,â Alice said, but the furrows between her eyebrows told a different story. âWell, nothing much to do in the meantime. You been through town yet?â
Danny blinked at the sudden shift, âuh, no, not yet.â
âThen Iâll show you around real quick while weâre here, make the most of this.â
Alice took Danny around, which consisted of walking him up and down Mainline and Riverway, the two major streets of the small town. There were only a handful of shops, the clinic, and a gas station.
âThatâs it?â Danny asked as they walked back to the clinic.
âYep,â Alice popped the p.
âItâsâŠ. tiny.â
Sighing, Alice said, âwell yea, most folks around here stay on the farms. You have a few homes down here near town, but most people prefer to move down to the bigger town about 50 miles from here.â
Stepping into the clinic, Danny now noticed the chime that signaled their entrance. They settled down in two of the three seats in the front area.
A few minutes later, Patty walked back out. âWell, Will should be fine. Itâll take a while for his arm to heal up, but heâs still got movement and feeling, so I donât think heâs got any nerve damage.â She smiled at them. âLucky, though, that he didnât lose too much blood. I got him a snack and had him lay down in the meantime. Whatâd he even do? He had fat hanging out of the wound and everything.â
âFool got distracted and the wood chipper was nearby,â Alice grumbled.
âHe tripped into it,â Danny added.
âHmm, well alright. You guys gonna take him back up to the farm?â Patty asked.
Alice uncrossed her arms, placing her hands on her knees. âSuppose so. His familyâs too far away to call to get him today. Iâll see if theyâll come pick him up tomorrow.â She sighed, running a hand through her mullet. âTomorrowâs Saturday, so they probably will.â
âDefinitely lucked out then,â Patty said. She walked back to check on Will.
Waiting for the âall clearâ to take Will back up, Danny stewed in his thoughts. He hadnât exactly done anything outright wrong, but Danny knew that if he had taken his job more seriously, he wouldâve been with Will and maybe he wouldnât have gotten hurt or as badly or â
âStop thinkinâ so loud.â
Danny jumped. The swirl of his thoughts coming to a halt.
âIâm sorry,â Danny whispered.
âWhat for?â
âI ââ Danny paused. âI ââ
âDanny,â Alice cut in. âIt ainât your fault.â
âBut ââ
âNope. Whatever ya think ya did or didnât do, itâs not your fault.â Alice side eyed his hunched, guilty looking form. âStuff like this happens â whether or not anyone else is around. So donât worry too much.â
Danny dropped his head down.
The silence stretched between them. Alice looked out the window, and Danny made a promise to himself to take this summer more seriously.
__________
The next morning, Danny waved Will and his family off as they left down the back road. Heâd be gone for the next couple of weeks to keep him away from the temptation of working. Knowing theyâd have to pick up the slack, Danny and Alice hurried back to work.
_________
A week later, Danny was settling into a routine, getting comfortable around the farm. He was getting quicker at mucking out the stalls, and as such, he had some time to do some laundry. Taking the path down to Aliceâs cabin, he passed under one of the open cabin windows.
â-addie.â
Danny stopped. Was Alicia talking to his mom?
âDanny?â Alicia asked.
Oh, they were talking about him. He stood there, holding his bag of laundry, curious about what his aunt would say.
âNo, heâs doing good work around the farm.â
Danny shuffled a foot around, making circles in the dirt as he listened in.
âYeah Madds, I can see why youâre so fond of him.â Alicia laughed in response to something Maddie said. âThat he is, you raised a good boy.â
Dannyâs eyes widened. Bugs buzzed around in the grass around him.
âMmmm. If he didnât have school to get back to, I wouldnât mind keeping him around,â Danny overheard. Eyes widening, he decided to quickly walk off to the laundry.Â
He hadnât realized that his aunt liked him that much. Even more surprising that sheâd want to keep him on. Danny remembered the start of summer school when his teacher all but groaned at him walking in. Danny had just failed the second half of their class not 2 weeks before. Due to the sudden ghost appearances, Danny hadnât been the most reliable in the last few years. But for someone to recognize his work? And be satisfied with it? Danny felt a warm feeling start in his chest. Maybe it wouldnât be so bad to stay for the rest of the summer.
______
A couple weeks passed from that phone conversation, with Will coming back and slowly starting to pick up more work again.
Danny had, for the first time since he arrived on the farm, a short work day. By the time lunch came around, Danny had finished his list of chores. After getting the confirmation from Alice, he had the whole afternoon to himself. Â
He walked around the farm, ending up at one of the wheat fields. Will and Alice were focused on the corn fields for the day and wouldnât be out this way until later. Standing there amidst the softly swaying strands, Danny watched the sky. The breeze in the air that moved the wheat also pushed the clouds around high above. He decided to take a seat between the golden rows, laying on his back, arm flung behind his head. Staring up at the clouds, he watched them flow across the sky, shifting forms as they traveled. The sun-warmed dirt below him felt like a warm blanket on his back. This close to the ground, it smelled sweet, a little moist and earthy. Danny pulled his cap lower over his face as the warmth settled into his bones. Soon enough, he was lulled off to sleep.
By the time he woke up, the sun had dipped lower in the sky. Sitting up, Danny didnât hear anyone around and got up. As he walked out of the field, Danny raised his eyes, jumping a little at Skip sitting down and watching him from a distance. Danny paused midstep. When Skip didnât make a move, Danny finished walking out of the wheat and onto the dirt path. They stared at one another for a moment. Out of view, one of the pigs grunted. Skip blinked, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, before he got up to walk to the pig. Danny watched his tail wag as he left. He chuckled softly as he headed off to Aliceâs cabin.Â
After dinner, he stuck around, playing a card game with Alice, Will, and Jasper. Every so often one of the townspeople stopped by to get Aliceâs opinion about something or another and stayed for a meal. When Jasper lost the third game in a row, he called it quits and headed out for the night. Will, Alicia, and Danny played a few more rounds themselves, Will and Danny winning a round each, with the rest of the wins going to Alice. By the time they said their goodnights, the moon was rising. The sky had darkened considerably and the stars were twinkling to life above them.Â
âOh.â Danny breathed, stopping on the cabin porch.
Will looked back, âDanny?â
âThe sky. I ââ he paused. âIâve been falling asleep so quickly I havenât had time to really see it.â
âOh, that all? Itâs pretty neat I guessâŠÂ Well, Iâll head up then, see ya later Danny.â
Eyes never leaving the sky, âNight Will. See ya tomorrow.â He walked down to sit at the table.
The door creaked open, âOh. Danny? Is that you still down here?â
Danny, from the picnic table, confirmed, âYeah.â
âHuh, I thought you and Will left a while ago.â
âHmmhmm. Will did, headed up already.â
âOoook. Well, you need anything?â
âNope.â
âAlright,â Alice stepped down, walking up to the table. Â âWell, itâs getting late. Â Now, Iâm not your mom, but maybe consider heading up yourself soon.â
âOk. Yeah, youâre right.â
ââŠÂ Ya really like those stars huh?â
Danny finally looked down, âYeah.â He grinned, âyou canât see the stars like this in Amity. I mean, you can, itâs not the worst, but itâs just so clear out here!â
Alice chucked, âSure is. Sometimes I forget how nice it is.â
âIf I lived out here, I would never take it for granted. I bet itâs so easy to track the constellations and star movements,â Dannyâs eyes lit up with the possibilities.
âDonât know much about the stars myself but,â she shrugged, âI guess it wouldnât be hard to, no.â
Taking one last look up at the stars, Danny got up, said goodnight to his aunt, and headed up to get ready for bed.
_______
âAnd Danny? Come into my cabin for a moment, your job today is going to be a little different.â
Will frowned, âAaah man, Danny gets to do that?â
âDo what?â Danny asked.
Alicia grinned. âBlackberry picking.â
âYeah, and itâs the best job of the summer,â Will grumbled. âYou better enjoy it kid.â He stood up. âWell, Iâll see you two later,â and he walked up the slope to get back to work.
âBye,â Danny called. Turning to Alicia, âSo what does berry picking mean Iâm doing, exactly?â He looked around, âI havenât noticed any berries around here.â
Alice laughed, âno you wonât. Come inside, I have to show you where youâre going.â
Danny furrowed his eyebrows but followed her into the cabin where some maps of the farm and surrounding area and a large basket sat on the table.
Alice picked up the first map, took a look, then rifled through the pile to find one that had a large circle on it. âAh, here it is,â she placed it on top of the pile and pointed to the circled area. âThis is where youâre headed today.â
Danny leaned in to look over the map. âThat looks like itâs in the woods?â
âYep,â Alicia said, âyouâre going to be taking a little walk today. Iâve got your lunch packed up, all you have to do is fill your canteen, and then head out for the day.â
Danny frowned. âAnd how am I supposed to find them?â
Alice rolled her eyes, âThey arenât hard to spot. Here,â she pointed to a different area of the map, âwe are. Youâre going to head this direction,â she moved her finger up, around a small lake, and to the circle. âItâs pretty easy walking. The pond will keep you on track, though itâs more like a glorified puddle, but whatever. Youâll hear the stream feeding into it, so if you do get lost, just hush up and listen. Youâll pick the berries, put them in this basket, and when itâs full, youâll head back. I scoped out the area last year and this was a fairly big thicket, so even if the animals have gotten to it there should still be plenty left for you.â She looked up at Danny. âGot it?â
Danny worried his lip. âI guess?â He hadnât really explored the surrounding area, but figured if he needed to, he could just fly up and look for the way back easily enough.
âGood. Well, get your basket and water and get going. Iâve got work to get to. See you for dinner kid,â and Alicia walked out the door.
Danny took another look at the map, doing his best to memorize the path. He sighed, picking up the basket, stopping by his cabin quickly to grab his water bottle, and started off to the trees.Â
Walking into the woods, Danny noticed a strap on the basket and quickly put it over his shoulder. The basket bobbed against his butt as he walked, but it was better than having to carry it the whole way. As Danny got further in, the undergrowth increased. Danny activated his intangibility and walked right through. The sun was bouncing through the leaves, casting spots of shadow and light. He heard the birds sitting overhead in the treetops and a beetle buzzed past Dannyâs ear. He made his way to the small lake.
As he got closer, he heard a soft bubbling sound that soon turned into a whoosh. Then the smell of the dirt changed â rich and a little heavy on the tongue. Danny walked through a bush and saw the puddle. If he wasnât intangible, he wouldâve gotten his boots wet.Â
Huh, Danny thought. It really is small.
The pond was only a couple of yards across and looked shallow.
Danny looked to his left and saw the stream that fed into it. Looking around the edge, he couldnât find where the pond emptied. Danny stayed there for moment, comparing what he was seeing to his memory of the map. Once he felt confident in his orientation, he floated up and drifted across the pond. Setting himself down on the other side, he double checked his intangibility was still activated and started walking again. True to Aliceâs word, the walk itself was easy, and Danny took the opportunity to look around at the woods. He spotted a deer in the distance at one point, and what looked like owl nests in some of the branches.Â
As he walked through a particularly dense area of bushes, he noticed some mist by a tree some distance away. Danny squinted at it. It was too warm in the day for there to be mist and, he looked around, it didnât look like there was any water for it to come from either. As he started to walk to it, Danny realized that he hadnât heard any birds in a while. Getting closer, he saw some wispy tendrils float out from the densest part of the mist. He tilted his head. Let some ectoplasm leak into his eyes. The mist suddenly contracted and came together to form a vague squirrel shape. Danny stopped. Followed the smallest tendril down to the earth. A squirrel, blood leaking out from a wound on its leg, was connected to it. Danny looked back up. The ghost followed the motion and looked at Danny. Danny looked back. Blinked. And stepped forward, holding out a hand. The squirrel ghost drifted forward and right before it made contact with Danny, turned to look back at its mortal body.Â
Danny held his breath as he watched one of the ears tufts twitch. The squirrel turned back around and jumped forward to touch Dannyâs palm. As it nestled into his hand, its soft, transparent body started to disperse again. Danny reached for his core and pushed the ectoplasm circulating in his body to his hand. His palm started glowing green before some ectoplasm coated his palm. The squirrel started condensing again, pulsing as it made contact. The ectoplasm flowed off Danny to mix in with the translucent body. The ectoplasm swirled around like bubbles in soda before losing shape and being absorbed. The squirrelâs ghost glowed bright and Danny looked away, closing his eyes.Â
When he no longer saw the light through his eyelids, Danny cracked open one eye, and confirming the bright light was gone, fully opened both eyes. What was once a misty looking squirrel ghost was now a small green blob. As it rotated around, eyes came into view, and opening up, looked at Danny, letting out a small chirrup in greeting. Danny smiled a little. It was cute, if a bit sad knowing where this little blob came from. Danny looked back at the corpse. Then up to the blob. The wispy tendril no longer connecting the two. Danny let his hand drop and the blob stayed floating. Floated closer to Dannyâs face. He could feel his eyes flash green. The blob ghost let out another little chirp and flew around Danny head before settling down on his shoulder, nuzzling up into his chin. Danny laughed at the ticklish sensation and then turned around to continue to the blackberry bushes.
As Danny got to the blackberries, he reached up a hand to the blob ghost. Gently scooping it into his hand, Danny lifted it up and onto the top of one of the bushes. Looking around and not seeing any animals, Danny focused on the bushes. There were a lot of them, and it seemed like the bushes had plenty of berries. Danny could make out at least 5 bushes growing into each other, and possibly more around some trees. He knelt down and picked a blackberry, tossing it into his mouth. As the berry burst open, juices sprayed Dannyâs mouth, and he stifled a cough. He ate it quickly and indulged in a quick cough. Even though it was smaller than the ones they bought from the store, it was noticeably sweeter. Danny smiled and swung his basket off his shoulder. He started carefully plucking berries off, and every time he accidentally squished one, he popped it in his mouth instead of the basket.
At some point the little blob ghost woke up and started darting between the leaves of the berry bushes, occasionally trying to eat one. Danny laughed at its antics, making a little ball of ectoplasm form, and tossed it for the blob to chase.Â
By the time the sun started its afternoon descent, Danny had his basket filled and a happy blob ghost nestled on top of the berries. Over the course of the afternoon, its green color had started disappearing and now it was more wisp than blob again. Danny frowned briefly and started off to the farm.
As Danny got near to the edge of the woods, the little ghost had lost all its color and was now back to a translucent wisp. Before he could give it more ecto, he heard a shout and ran out of the trees. Aunt Alice had dropped a screwdriver on the ground and when she stood back up from grabbing it, she spotted Danny. She waved, walking over to him.
âHey Danny, how was ââ the little ghost darted out from behind Dannyâs back, coming to face to face with Alicia. She frowned. âhow was the trip?â
He pulled the basket forward, âgood, there were plenty of blackberries.â
âAaah good. Any trouble finding them?â She eyed the ghost out of the corner of her eye.
âNope,â Danny paused, and taking a chance, said, âI found this little guy on the way though.â
âOh?â Alice raised an eyebrow.
âYeah.â Danny rubbed the back of his neck. âYou can see it, right?â
Aliceâs frown lightened. âYes.â Sounding choked up, she cleared her throat. âYes, I can. I didnât realize - well, nevermind.â She looked at the ghost, nuzzling into Dannyâs hair, mussing it up. âI donât know why itâs acting so friendly, but you best not encourage it. The less attention you give it, the sooner itâll pass on.â
Dannyâs ears flushed red, âpass on?â he asked.
âChiiiirup?â said the wispy ghost.
Alice leveled a glare at it. âAbsolutely not.â
Dannyâs mouth fell open. âWait.  What? Can you understand it?â
âSure can. Ever since I was little,â Alice answered.
âDoes Mom know you can see them? And understand them?â
Alice squinted at him, âSure does, was the first person I told as a kid. Real supportive of it all.â
Danny stood there for a moment. âMom knows? And she didnât have you help her with the â the ghost stuff?â
âNope. I was the reason she got into ghosts in the first place, but,â Alice shrugged. âI didnât want anything to do with them. After I got back from the big city, I just wanted to live a quiet life and Maddie respected that.â
âOh.â Danny looked between the ghost now on his arm and Alice. âReally?â
âYep.â
The ghost floated between the two, circling Alice once before resting back on Danny.
âWell, looks like we should go deal with those blackberries.â
As Danny and Alice finished sorting the blackberries into different containers, Will walked up to them. âHey! Oh, Dannyâs back already?â
Alicia snorted at him, âDonât act surprised.â
Will held up his hands, âAaah you got me. I saw you two meet up earlier.â He quickly reached down to pop one in his mouth.
Alicia smacked his shoulder. The ghost flew up and chittered angrily in his face.
Will smiled, showing off his berry splattered teeth, completely unrepentant. Chuckling, he walked off.
Danny looked at the ghost, now flying over the piles of blackberries, and then up at Alice. âWill didnât react at all.â
Alice grunted, âHmm.â
âAre we the only ones who can see this little guy?â
âFar as I can tell, kid.â
âOh.â Danny looked off into the tree line. âAunt Alice, what did you mean when you said itâd pass on?âÂ
âWell, exactly what I said. Little bugger died, and whatever was left will pass on to whateverâs next. Why? Whatâd you think I meant?â
Danny shrugged. âI guess Iâm just not used to ghosts passing on? Most of the ones I meet stick around and cause trouble.â
âAh. Madds has mentioned something like that. Have they caused you any trouble?â Alice probed.
Danny grimaced. âI guess you could say that. A lot of ghosts cause trouble around the high school.â
Alice nodded, âI can see how thatâd be distracting.â Alice watched a bee buzz around the table. The wispy ghost chased after it.
âYeah, most of them like to cause problems on purpose, but sometimes thereâs the little blobs that hang around and theyâre kind of cute, like a stray cat. They do make it hard to concentrate if itâs dark though.â
âWhat do ya mean?â
Danny looked back at his aunt. âCause, they, you know, glow green?â
âGreen? Huh. None of the ghosts round here glow green. I guess Will did mention something similar. And I remember Maddie showing me a vial of glowing green stuff once. Made me feel kind of sick.â
âOh, that vial was probably ectoplasm,â Danny said.
âEc-toe-plasm?â Alice sounded out.
âYeah,â Danny said. âItâs the glowing green stuff that ghosts are made up of.â
âReally?â Alice sounded unimpressed.
âHmmhmm,â Danny hummed. âYou can kind of see their insides if they get hit with an ectoblast. Itâs all gooey looking, like a really thick liquid. Their bodies kind of flow back in to fill the hole.â
Alice shook her head. âI donât know about all that. All the ghosts Iâve seen are just misty lookinâ and real hard to see if the sun shines through them. Well, thatâs only if I catch them. As I said, they donât usually stick around too long.â
âInteresting.â
Alice shrugged, âI suppose. Madds had a theory that ghosts only form when the living arenât prepared to die or something.â She laughed. âNot that I think most things around here have unfinished business. Everyone has a time and place, you know? A rabbit lives its life knowing itâll be eaten and all that.â
âI guess.â Danny thought for a moment. âI think a lot of the ghosts I know didnât even think death was a possibility.â
The little ghost zipped under the table and around their feet.
âPerhaps.â
In the time it took for Alice and Danny to finish with the blackberries and prepare dinner, the ghost kept fading bit by bit. Once Danny rang the dinner bell, the little ghost was completely gone. Danny tried not to miss it, knowing it was better that the little guy passed on, rather than hang around the ecto deprived area.
____
After dishes, Alice sat Danny down. âHow you doing kid?â
âFine?â Danny said, voice lilting up like a question.
âYou sure? You looked rather, uh, sad about that little ghost disappearing on us.â
Danny shrugged, âhmm, I guess Iâm not used to it.â
âIt?â
âYeah, Iâm not used to things justâŠ. Ending. I guess.â
âOh, is that it?â
Danny looked off to the setting sun.
âYou know, I can sympathize. Used to be a time when I thought that I could fix anything.â
Danny looked back at her. âWhat do you mean?â
âWell, you know Iâm divorced right?â
âSure, Mom visited you on the anniversary for that party last year.â
âRight, well I know it was a big celebration, but when it first happened, I was lost. I mean, I knew that it was coming. He didnât like the farm, fell in love with someone who wanted the city life with him. A real yuppie. And yet, when I sat in the lawyerâs office, papers in front of me, there was this emptiness that seemed to take me over. We both wanted our relationship to end, happy for it even, but, that didnât make it easier to deal with. Waking up and knowing that there wasnât going to be someone by my side? That there was no fixing it, no going back?  Itâs hard to accept that some things just canât be changed. Donât like talking about that even now.â
Dannyâs mind flashed briefly to Dan. His shoulders raised. âI guess. How did you deal with it?â
Alice hummed. âThe divorce? Time, I suppose. I had the support of the community here. With death?â She shrugged. âI grew up. At some point you just realize that some things have to happen and you canât change it, so you have to accept it.â
Danny huffed out air. âYeah, alright.â The variation of the age old excuse of âwhen youâre olderâ rang hollow in him.
A hand landed on his shoulder. He turned back to his aunt. âDanny. I mean it. Some things just need the perspective that time brings. Iâm still not sure my sister has quite grasped that.â She smiled. âNo fault to her; understanding comes in itsâ own time. Worrying about it wonât help.â
Danny watched the last of the light chase the sun down with his aunt beside him, before standing and heading to his cabin to think.
An hour later, he stood up from his bed and walked down to his auntâs cabin. By now, the air was cool against his skin. The cicadas were out, filling the air with a loud buzz. Danny stopped halfway down the path, trying to collect himself. As he stared up at the trees, his eyes burned. Rubbing them harshly, he breathed in, the smell of dirt and the green leaves settling into his lungs. He stayed there for a moment, collecting the resolve that started to slip away. He let out some ectoplasm around his feet to light up his path and continued. Exiting the trees, Aliceâs cabin was lit up, warm light enveloping it like an aura.  Cozy. Welcoming. Danny dispelled the ectoplasm around his feet as he walked towards the cabin, each step feeling heavier than the last. His shoulders curled forward until he stopped at the stairs up to the porch. He heard Alice set something down inside and a creak of a door, then a click as the front doorknob rotated open. Danny stayed at the bottom of the stairs, feeling frozen, as the door hinges creaked. Aliceâs red hair came into view first, quickly followed by the rest of her. Catching sight of something, she raised her head to look at Danny.
âDanny, that you down there? Everything alright?â voice soft as she stared down at him.
Dannyâs body moved, skipping steps as he rushed up to Alice. Her body swayed backward as he barreled into her, and she wrapped her arms around him to steady them both.
âI died,â Danny said, voice muffled in her shirt.
Alice didnât say anything for a moment, squeezing Danny close. His body shook as he cried into her shirt. After Dannyâs shaking petered out, Alice stepped backwards, hand on Dannyâs back to nudge him inside.
âTake a seat on the couch, Danny. You want tea? Hot chocolate?â
Sniffling, he wiped a hand against his nose. âHot chocolate please.â He went to sit on the couch, grief and emptiness gnawing at his insides in equal measure.
The sound of boiling water soon filled the space. A clink of a mug. Powder being measured. The fridge door opening and closing. Alice walked over to the sofa, two mugs in hand. Danny unstacked two cup coasters from the pile in the middle of the coffee table, placing them down for Alice.
Danny picked up his hot chocolate and took a sip, holding the warm mug in his hands. Â Alice said, âNow, what was that about?â
The silence stretched between them as Danny stared at the wall, quiet. By the time Alice had finished most of her cup of tea, Danny finally opened his mouth.
âWhen I was fourteen, I died.â Silence followed Dannyâs statement, Aliceâs torso turned towards Danny, but nothing else to indicate she was listening.
Danny let out a shaky breath. âI didnât, come back. All the way.â
Alice took another sip of tea.
Danny set his mug down.  Folded his hands together and set them on his legs. âI know what it sounds like, but Iâm not crazy. Iâm alive, but Iâm also, somehow, a ghost? Not like the one we saw today, but the kind I talked about, the glowing ones. I think I turned the portal on when I went inside to look. Not that I remember a lot of that, except for the pain,â Danny laughed, the sound hollow. âI mean, it wasnât working before, and after that, it was that glowing green. Itâs kind of pretty, actually? Or maybe thatâs just what I think. It swirls around, the ectoplasm, like a really slow whirlpool, but itâs vertical like a door, not horizontal like a pool.  It makes it really easy for Mom and Dad to get more ectoplasm samples. Actually, I gave the ghost today ectoplasm and it kind of turned into what I call a blob ghost? By the time we made it back to the farm it was back to that wispy appearance, so, I mean, that was different. But it was interesting, made me think of the blob ghosts back home. You know, the ones that donât pass on? Thatâs the kind that Iâm like. A ghost. I mean, Iâm alive too, but Iâm also a ghost. I donât know if that means Iâm still dead or not? I donât think anyone really knows, but itâs kind of cool because Iâm like the town superhe-â
âDanny,â Alice cut in. Danny stopped.
Alice took a breath. âDanny, do your parents know?â
Dannyâs eyes widened. Â He shook his head.
âAre you going to tell them?â
Danny tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth, throat tightening as he thought about the answer. He settled for a small shrug.
âAlright. Well, I canât say this isnât a surprise, but I wonât make you tell your mom or nothing. Thank you for telling me.â
Danny stared at his mug, still half full. He picked it back up. As quiet settled around them, he felt his heart speed up. Alice set her mug down, now empty.
âBut, I donât think,â Alice started, slow, âthat it matters too much. From what Iâve gathered, dead, alive, or something else, youâre still you. The caring and hardworking young man that Maddie described is the same one that arrived on my farm. Sure, youâre not perfect, and the implications of it all is damn worrying, not knowing, but thatâs life.â Alice swung her knee up onto the couch to fully turn her body to face Danny, arm braced along the backrest. âFor what itâs worth, people love you because of who you are, not what you are. That includes your mom and dad. Heaven knows when Maddie decides to love someone, she does it with her whole heart, no matter the circumstances.â She tacked on a lighthearted, âand that includes your fool of a fatherâ.
Danny laughed, rubbing his eyes of residual tears. âThanks, Aunt Alice. Iâll keep that in mind.â
Danny finished off his hot chocolate, bidding his aunt a goodbye, and walking back up to his cabin, feeling lighter than he had in a while.
______
During that week, Danny started helping out even more on the farm, volunteering to lend an extra hand when needed or after his own tasks were finished. He was getting comfortable with the flow of the days â spending mornings and evenings with the animals, afternoons in the fields, and helping out with various chores. It was easy to fall into the rhythm and to trade playful quips with Will and Alice when they worked together.
Alice called Danny over one day.
âWhatâs up, Aunt Alice?â
âYou know anything about machines?â
âUuuh,â Dannyâs eyebrows shot up, âI guess? Iâm familiar with my parentsâ inventions.â
âHmmm. Why donât you come over here then and tell me what you think.â
Danny peered his head into the propped open tractor hood, looking at the mechanics. âIt looks like the belt, here,â Danny pointed, âis wearing out.â
Alice appraised him.
Danny shifted his weight. âUh, was that it?â he asked nervously, feeling like he was taking a surprise pop quiz.
âYea. Yea, it was kid. You familiar with engines?â
Danny made a face, âSure? Iâll help my dad out sometimes when thereâs a problem with the GAV.â
âThe GAV?â
âOh, itâs our family car. Or van, RV, thing? My parents souped it up, so a lot of service shops wonât even look at it. My dad keeps up with most of the maintenance on it and makes me help out.â
Alice nodded, âOk, makes sense I suppose. Well, if youâve got a familiarity with it all, why donât you help me replace it. Iâve got a spare belt down in my cabin. Iâll go grab it and you can get the tools we need. Just look in the toolboxes around here, find the one we need for the tractor.â
Danny nodded in agreement and Alice walked off to get the part.
Later that night at dinner, Alice remarked to Will that it might be time to let Danny drive the tractor.
âSure thing boss! Whoâs gonna teach him?â
âI will. Iâll start him off with parking it in the barn, so tomorrow just leave it out when youâre done and Iâll walk him through it.â
Will nodded and continued eating.
âIâm what?â Danny asked.
Alice raised an eyebrow.
Danny swallowed his bite of food. âCan I even do that? I donât have a learnerâs permit or anything.â
From beside him, Will answered, âDonât need one. Most kids âround here start driving tractors much younger than you are. Itâs not like youâre going to be driving down the road or anything in it.â
âOh. You donât need a license for it?â
âNo sirree, and it ainât that hard to do either.â
Alice piped up, âYou good with that?â
âOh. Yeah. I guess, I just wasnât expecting it.â
The rest of the night and next day passed calmly. Then came Dannyâs first lesson.
âWhen you go to park it, donât forget to let it out of gear and apply the parking brake. Thatâs about it. So, you good to go?â
âI think so, Aunt Alice.â
âAlright, well donât forget your ear protection, and Iâll let you get to it.â
Alice swung the door closed and stepped back from the tractor.
Danny put on the headset, and did one last review of everything, before he turned the tractor on. Looking behind him, clocking Alice still off to the side, he carefully backed up the tractor. Slowed down and came to a stop.  Danny turned forward again and started moving the tractor forward. Taking a circle around, he pulled up to the storage barn and eased the tractor in. Applying the brake and turning it off, he took off his ear protection and stepped out.
âNot bad kid, not bad. Now help me look everything over before we head back for dinner.â
Alice walked Danny through the daily checks and maintenance on the tractor, then showed him where they kept their log.
âWhat it comes down to, is if you notice a problem, either stop and fix it right away, or come get me or Will if you canât figure it out. Iâd rather you waste an hour doing that, then pushing through it and messing up the tractor on us.â
The bell rang out, clear and bright. Alice glanced out of the barn doors. âWell, guess itâs quitting time for ya. Letâs get this put back and get our asses down there.â Alice handed the binder back to Danny, who placed it back on the small table and hurried to close the doors and catch up with Alice.
Another week passed, with Danny learning how to operate the tractor, hitching up different attachments, and getting used to the daily checks.Â
âI think itâs time to start harvesting the far wheat fields tomorrow.â
âAlready?â Will asked.
âYeah, itâs ready to go.â
âHuh. Alright, if you say so boss.â
âWill I be helping with that?â Danny asked.
Alicia nodded, âyouâll be here through this first harvest, then youâll head back to Amity after that.â
âOh.â Danny forgot heâd be heading back soon. âRight.â
âSo soon?â Will asked.
âYeah, thatâs what I said. Madds reminded me that their school year starts earlier in the season.â Alice shook her head, âseems ridiculous, but thereâs nothing to be done for it.  The cities run on their own timeline.â
âWait, then when do schools around here start? And whereâs the school? I donât remember seeing one when you showed me around town,â Danny asked.
âOh, about a month later than yours I reckon. The school isnât on the main roads. Itâs back on one of the side roads, so the farm kids can get to it easier.â
âUsed to be in the town,â Will added. âWhen most of the town families moved out, the farm kids got together and convinced the adults to move it closer to them, oh, I reckon âbout 20 years ago?â
âCloser to 25 I think,â Alice corrected. âI remember the big commotion when I visited from college. Maddie, I think, organized it all.â
âSounds like Maddie,â Will agreed.
âMom did that?â Danny asked.
âSure enough. Everyone knows sheâs a force of nature when she puts her mind to something. She argued with near everyone about it.â
âDonât know why she fought so hard for it,â Will added. âHad to have been her senior year, didnât even make a difference for her, considering the changes took place after she headed off to college.â
âHuh.â
âShe never mentioned it to you?â
âNo, not really. But it explains where Jazz got her single-mindedness from. She turned our annual Spirit Rally into a whole week at Casper High during her freshman year.â Danny grimaced, âMy freshman year, I got put in a diaper and thrown on stage for it.â
Will laughed and Danny scowled at him. âSorry, but just a diaper?â
âAre you kidding?â Alice was flabbergasted.
âWish I was, it wasnât funny.â
âSorry, but you have to admit, thatâs just a little funny,â Will chuckled.
âIt really wasnât. Also, our counselor tried murdering Jazz.â
Will stopped laughing. âWhat.â
âYeah, she ended up getting, uh, jail, for it.â
Alice narrowed her eyes, âReally?â
âYep,â Danny said, âlast year wasnât so bad though. Hardly anyone called me a baby the whole week.â
âDamn.â
âWhat the hell is happening in those cities.â
The sudden somber shift made the conversation die down and dinner was finished quickly after.
The next morning, the bell rang out clear and sharp. Danny blinked his eyes open, noticing it was still dark out. Stumbling out of his cabin, he turned to Will, who was passing by. âWhyâre we up so early?â Danny yawned, pulling on a long sleeved shirt.
Will returned his yawn, jaw cracking in the early morning air. âOh, we do most of our harvesting in the morning or evening. Means real early mornings the next few days. Sânot so bad, once you get used to it.â
âMmm.â Danny responded, following Will downhill.
âHey Alice. You got the coffee brewing?â
âHey, boys. Sure do. Another couple minutes or so, then we can get started.â
After getting their coffee in thermoses, the group headed up to the fields. Danny was put on tractor duty.  Alice took over the truck with a wagon attached and Will was in charge of the forage harvester. With the exception of taking care of the animals, Danny and Alice traded back and forth on filling up their collection wagons and running them to the silo.
Soon enough, the harvest passed and it was time for Danny to return to Amity Park.
âYep, got it sis.â A pause. âUh huh.âÂ
âNo, no need, Iâll take him myself.â
âOf course I do.â
âNo, itâll be fine. A short trip up.â
âWill can do what needs to be done.â
âYes Iâm sure.â
âUh huh. See ya then.â
âTake care Maddie.â Alicia put down the phone and turned to Danny, seemingly unsurprised to see him leaning against the wall. âWell, Iâll be driving you back up to Amity in a few days.â
Danny nodded, not looking particularly taken back, despite the fact that his aunt hadnât gone up to Amity in the past 10 years or so.
The corners of Aliceâs mouth turned up, âalright then, make sure youâre ready. Itâll take a couple days, since you canât help with driving, but it should be a nice enough trip.â
âAnything to do before then?â
âNope, the only thing left to do is to check on the truck. As much of a help as youâve been with the tractor, Iâll be doing that. You just make sure you help out Will with any odd jobs before then.â Alice scratched the back of her neck. âUuh, ya excited to be heading back?â
Danny shrugged his shoulders. âI guess.â  He looked out the kitchen window, âIâll miss being here though. I know I caused some trouble when I first got here, but it grew on me.â Danny smiled softly.
âIt has a way of doing that,â Alice agreed. âWell, letâs get back to work then. It doesnât stop for rain nor shine.â
Danny finished loading up his bags in the short backseat and closed the back door. Hauling himself into the front passenger seat, he closed the front door.
âGot everything squared away?â
âYep. Double checked and everything.â Turning to grin at her, âbut if I forgot anything, that just means Iâll have to come back.â
Alice laughed and shifted the gear to start the truck rumbling down the path. Soon enough, bouncing along the road, a dust cloud behind them, the farm was swallowed up by trees.Â
The journey itself was uneventful. The mountains turning to valleys turning to farms turning to small cities and large ones, a one night stop at a motel, then back on the road, and finally Danny recognized the outskirts of Elmerton in the distance. He could feel the rumbling of something in his stomach, and it solidified into a nervous ball when they crossed the town limits.Â
Elmerton had enough tall buildings that Danny couldnât see over into Amity Park, but he could feel the flow of ambient ectoplasm moving about like chem trails, signifying the presence of a visiting ghost. Next to him, Alice clutched the steering wheel hard enough to turn her knuckles white. Coming to a red light, she glanced over at Danny and noticed his pinched eyebrows, eyes on her hands. She sighed softly, relaxing her hands and hitting the accelerator when the light turned. The sun filtered through the buildings, casting long lines of shadow that waved over the truck passing through. Danny turned to look out the window, head in hand, braced against the door. It was quiet, no ghostly interference on this side of town. Nevertheless, he could feel the ectoplasm that floated in Amityâs air reach out tendrils in Dannyâs direction. Welcoming him home, beckoning him closer, wanting to wrap him up in its embrace. He shuddered. After getting used to a non-ecto infused environment, the not quite alive reaction of the ectoplasm felt like a slimy slick hand on his shoulder, slipping off before trying to embrace him again. He didnât notice Alice next to him, her breathing becoming shallow and quick.
As the truck crossed over the interstate separating the two cities, Danny shuddered, feeling the sharp contrast of a decidedly unhaunted city to one that almost had more ghostly visitors than alive ones. He could feel the boundary like he was pulled through a film, the ectoplasmic residue clinging to his skin on the other side, settling back into his nose and lungs, coating the back of his throat and cooling his hands. It wasnât enough that someone like Valerie â fully human - would notice, but being so attuned to the presence of ectoplasm as a being shaped by it, Danny could feel it like a physical weight, bearing down heavier on him the closer they sped to FentonWorks. Aliceâs hands lightly shook as she clasped the stick to shift down.
Pulling up to the side of FentonWorks, Alice stopped the car. They both sat there for a moment, breathing in the quiet of the street, before a far-off blaster shot echoed in the distance. Danny turned to Alice, a wobbly smile on his face, âhome sweet home,â he said, punctuating it with a little laugh.Â
Alice looked past him to the door, then back to Danny. âI suppose so,â mouth set in a thin line.
Danny turned away, not wanting to parse what Alicia was feeling, and unclicked his seat belt.  He opened the door to slide out of the truck. Alice followed him out and walked around to knock on the front door. As her first rap against the door ended, weapons sprung out of the sides of the walls, focused down on her. Alice jumped back a little as a light popped out of the door, scanning Alice from head to toe. âFreaky,â she muttered darkly as something dinged and the door clicked open, the differential air pressure opening it further. Alice turned back around to Danny, âWhat was that?â
Danny shrugged, âIt seems Mom and Dad added some things while I was away.â
Alice gaped at Danny. âAdded some things? What was it like before?â
Popping open the back door to grab his bags Danny said over his shoulder, âOh, the weapons have been there since the first house defense upgrade, but the unlocking is new.â
Alice looked back to the door. âThatâs the new part?â She hesitantly reached a hand out and tapped the door hard enough to swing it open the rest of the way. She leaned forward a little. âUuuh,â she started, peering in. Clearing her throat, she spoke up, âAnyone home? Iâve got your boy back Maddie!â
Danny walked up beside her. âI wouldnât wait for an answer Aunt Alice. Itâs best to just walk in and take a seat.â Danny did so himself, setting his bags next to the stairs and walking back to the truck. Alice walked in, tentatively lowering herself down to the couch, and looked around wide eyed.
âJust what in the world has my sister been up to?â she said mostly to herself.
The slamming of a door and a loud beep sounded out as the truck was closed and locked. Danny walked in with Aliceâs bag and closed the door behind him. âSeen anyone yet?â he asked.
Alice swung her head around to stare at Danny, âNo, not yet.â She gestured around at the living room, a myriad of objects on the table, hung on the wall, or thrown onto a shelf. âDanny, what is all this?â
Danny barely glanced down before making his way to the kitchen, âprobably broken ghost inventions. I wouldnât touch any of them though, they can be a bit, well, temperamental.â
The sound of a cabinet door squeaking open, running water, and Danny came back with a water glass for himself and Alice. âHere ya go,â he said, holding one of them out.
Alice absently took the glass and sipped from it. Choking and spluttering, she set the glass down on the coffee table, slapping a hand against her leg. She collected herself, wheezing, and looked up as green light tinted her peripheral vision.
âOh Alice! And Danny!! I didnât hear you two come in,â Maddie said after exiting the downstairs lab. She quickly went over and swept Danny up into a big hug. âOh, I missed my sweet little baby boy.â Giving Danny one last squeeze, she stepped over to Alice to do the same.
A clang could be heard, echoing up the lab stairs and then some thumps as Jack made his way up. Danny set his glass down in anticipation.  No sooner did Jack realize Danny was home than he rushed over, knocking over a chair in the process, scooping Danny up into a bone crushing hug. âDANNY BOY!â was shouted right into his ear.
Danny did his best to move his wrists enough to pat his dad back. âHey Dad. Just got back.â He paused and with no indication that Jack was going to let go anytime soon, âCan you let me go now? Itâs hard to breathe.â
Jack, embarrassed, let him go, giving him a firm pat on the back, âSorry about that, I was just so excited to see you back home! JAAAAAZZIE-PANTS!â He called out.
Alice clasped a hand to her ear, scowling as Maddie looked on fondly. âOh honey, no need to yell like that.â She turned to face her sister. âItâs so good to see you here Alice. I donât remember the last time you visited and things have changed so much since then. Jazz was just toddling around and we still had the play pen set up for Danny.â Taking a seat, she pulled on Aliceâs sleeve, inviting her to sit next to her. âI missed you,â Maddie said.
Alice coughed and looked around the room, âI missed you too Maddie. If you ever want to visit the farm more often, you could.â
Maddie laughed and waved her hand around, âOh our work keeps us so busy nowadays. Speaking of, I hope you didnât run into any ghosts on your drive in?â Eyes twinkling, Maddie waited for the answer.
Alice frowned at her, âNo, we didnât,â and watched as her eyes dimmed a little.
âAah well, thatâs alright, Iâm glad you two made the trip up here safely. Speaking of, I was thinking we could all head out for dinner tonight? I know itâs not often youâre in the city, so it might be nice.â
Jack leaned down to Danny and whispered conspiratorially, âWe had an ecto sample explode in the fridge. All the food is completely inedible, but wouldnât you know it? The old chicken and hot dogs started a little kingdom in there. Fascinating stuff Danny. Really.â He looked over at him, âWould you like to meet them?â
Danny grimaced more than smiled, âUuuh no thanks Dad. I think I want to get started unpacking instead.â
Slapping a hand to his forehead, âThatâs right! I wonât keep you Danny. Go take your bags up to your room, weâll visit with your aunt down here.â
A boom echoed through the neighborhood and Maddie jumped, starting to reach a hand for her blaster before relaxing, continuing the conversation she was having with Alice. Danny stopped briefly to grab his bags and headed up the stairs towards his room. As he reached the top, Jazzâs door clicked open and she stepped out.Â
âDanny! Youâre back!â she said. Stepping forward, she wrapped Danny up in a hug, chin poking into his head as she said, âI missed you little brother.â
Danny awkwardly stood there holding his bags, âMissed you too Jazz.â He swayed a bag a little to knock into her leg.
âOh!â she said, releasing him, âSorry, Iâll let you get to your room.â Smiling at Danny for a moment, Jazz started down the stairs.Â
As Danny kicked his door open, he heard Jazz greet their aunt. Dropping his bags down in front of his dresser, he jumped up onto his bed. âUuuuuuuugh,â the groan rumbling throughout his chest. He breathed out, then rolled over onto his back, arms flung out and over the sides of his bed. Danny stared up at the glow in the dark stars, stuck on his ceiling years ago. He had barely been gone for a couple months, but already his room felt slightly foreign - like returning somewhere he didnât fit into anymore. It was like an old sweater you found again after a few years. Slipping it on and knowing every seam, texture, and fold as it settles around you, but no longer the same comforting weight â a little too thin, worn at the elbows and a hem starting to unstitch itself. Not as soft as you wanted to remember. Exactly the same, but time having polished away the fondness that once endeared it to you.
Danny rolled over onto his side, staring into his closet. The sliding door left cracked open from when Danny slammed it shut, the recoil pushing it back open before he left. He heard the cadence of a conversation float up the stairs and he closed his eyes.
Waking up to someone shaking his shoulder, he blinked awake. His room had darkened with the setting of the sun and Danny felt groggy. âMmMMMmm?â he hummed.
âDanny, weâre going to head out to the Nasty Burger for dinner. You gonna get up and come with?â
Danny bolted up, smacking his head into Jazzâs hand still hovering above him. âUp! Iâm up!â he said.
Jazz chuckled, âSee you downstairs,â and left his room.
Danny braced himself on his arms, letting the thrum of his heart settle back down from the adrenaline rush. After a moment he swung his legs down. A quick detour to the second floor bathroom later and Danny joined everyone else downstairs.Â
âAlright, now that weâve got everyone here â to the GAV!â Jack announced.
Danny sleepily followed Jazz out to the garage and clambered into his seat. Alice, who was following Danny, stopped at the open door. Looking around the retrofitted RV, she hummed and side-eyed Jack who had turned the key in the GAV, prompting the consol to light up in a variety of buttons and gauges. She stepped into the back and climbed into one of the open seats. Maddie closed the door behind Alice and got herself into the passenger seat. After clicking her seatbelt in and checking that the kids had as well, she pushed a button, the garage doors clanking open behind them. Jack flipped on the headlights and backed out of the garage.
âHold on,â Danny hissed up to Alice, who in turn, grabbed onto the hold bar at the top of the door.Â
Once Jack cleared the sidewalk and safely backed onto the street, he stepped on the gas and catapulted the GAV down the street, careening around corners, and speeding through yellow lights till they swayed to a halt in the Nasty Burger parking spot. Jazz sighed, Danny let out his breath, and Alice looked a little green. â Does your husband always drive like that Maddie?â
Maddie turned around, unclicking her seatbelt, âLike what, Alice?â
Alice eyed Jack nervously before looking back at her sister, âUuuuh. Nevermind Maddie. Letâs go,â and she opened up the sliding door to shakily step out.
The Fentons and Alice went into the Nasty Burger, quickly ordering food and sitting down at a booth. The chatter of the restaurant was pleasant, if a little overwhelming to Danny. He decided to listen to his familyâs conversation and looked out the window. As Alice asked after Jazzâs college adventures, Danny saw a bright blast light up the sky. He blinked and took a moment to process as a streak slithered through the air. A ghost! He turned around, nudged Jazz out of the booth, and slid out with a halfhearted excuse about the bathroom before making his exit. Hiding behind the dumpster, Danny transformed and flew off after the ghost that he could still see winding around the tops of buildings. The trusty Fenton thermos clattered against his leg as the wind whipped Dannyâs hair into his face. Coming up to a stop, he watched the ghost slow down over the park, then dive down. Danny pushed himself into action, darting into the tree tops to see where it went. He heard the whine of a blaster charge up below him and Danny looked down. Tucker stood there, a small blaster leveled at the backside of the ghost. Danny flew up towards the sky and starting arcing down the other side. Before he could do much, Sam ran out from the other side of the trees shooting at the ghost. A low hum joined the chorus of weapons and Danny turned invisible as the Red Huntress caught up to the ghost.Â
Danny drifted up higher, watching the teamwork between the three of them.  They quickly captured the ghost. He lazily drifted down to the trio.
âHuh, didnât know you guys would team up,â Danny said, turning visible.
Tucker flinched and the girls rolled their eyes.
âHey Danny,â Sam greeted.
Valerie retracted her helmet and stared at Phantom for a moment before, âHi, Danny.â
Dannyâs eyebrows flew up, pinched together.
Tucker laughed at his expression as it quickly morphed into a look of betrayal aimed at Sam and Tucker.
âSorry Danny,â Sam looked away. âVal kind of⊠figured it out?â
âSam!â Danny hissed, voice crackling like steam. âWhat does that mean?â His eyes darted back to Valerie, who just stood there, looking conflicted.
âExactly what I said Danny!â
Danny shifted so he could stand on the ground. âBut how?â He was starting to get angry at the lack of answers. It hadnât even been two months and without being around Valerie somehow pieced together his biggest secret?
Tuckerâs laughter died down.
âItâs â Danny please donât be mad,â Valerie spoke up. Her eyes darted around the clearing before landing back on Danny. âWhen Phantom disappeared after Fenton left it wasnât hard to figure out you two were connected somehow. And then Dani stopped by in town and-â
âDani came back?â Danny interrupted. He glowered at Sam and Tucker, eyes glowing brighter for a moment.
âIt wasnât a big deal!â Tucker tried to defend.
âYeah!â Sam chimed in. âShe was here for like, a day? Maybe? Hardly worth mentioning. She spent most of it playing pranks on Vlad.â
âAnd Valerie met up with her? But not me?â Danny voice raised in pitch, âI missed seeing my cousin and you didnât say a word?!? I thought I wouldnât have had to tell you two that Dani coming back would be something important to mention.â
Tuckerâs shoulders crept up to his ears.
Sam rolled her eyes. âReally, Danny, it is so not a big deal. We didnât even know for most of that day. She only came to see us towards the end of her stop.â
Dannyâs core felt a sting go through it.
âDid she know I was coming back?â
âYeah dude, we mentioned you were sent to your auntâs farm. She asked about you! Promise! Once she realized that, she told us sheâd try to stop by to see you. Seemed really excited to check out a farm.â
âAlthough,â Sam chimed in, âI donât think she realized youâd be back so soon? If you never saw her, she probably got distracted by something on her way.â Seeing Dannyâs sad expression, Sam said, âIâm sure sheâll be back to visit you, Danny. She did say sheâd stop by at least a few times a year to check in, right?â
Danny sighed. âYeah.  Iâm just bummed that I missed her. And with no way to get into contact with her,â he trailed off.
âActually,â Valerie started, âUhm, I gave her a little, well, kind of like a cell phone? It can make calls, but itâs also got a little button to send a distress signal to my suit if need be? And seeing as itâs never gone off, Daniâs okay. Ok, Danny?â
Danny looked down at the ground. âAlright. I guess thatâs better.â He looked preoccupied - lost in thought and still a little sullen.
Sam, Tucker, and Valerie exchanged glances with one another over Dannyâs bowed head.
Valerie gave a little cough. Seeing Danny head twitch at that, she said, âI saw Dani transform after one of her pranks. I was stopping by Vladâs office to see if I could find anything new.â Valerie paused. âShe looks a lot like you Danny. And once I saw that, and my suit recognized her like any other human, I approached her. She explained a lot to me and after getting lunch, I brought her around to Sam and Tucker.â
Danny looked up at his best friends. âReally? Valerie had to bring Dani to you guys?â
Sam nodded and watched Dannyâs expression lift at the confirmation.
âAnyway, Sam didnât tell me anything, but Tucker told me about the whole,â she waved her hands around, âCujo? The ghost dog thing.â She sighed. âIt wasnât easy to sort through it all, but I realized that I was being really unfair to you Danny. Iâm sorry for not hearing you out about it earlier.â
Danny shifted his weight from one foot to the other. âOh, well. Thatâs? Ok? I mean itâs not okay okay, but I understand. Why you acted like you did. Life dealt you a really bad hand with everything and you were dealing with a lot with your dad and his job and the A Listers and everything so â â a hand settled on his shoulder.
âDanny,â Valerie cut in. âYou donât to forgive me right away. Iâve had a few weeks to deal with this. I just wanted you to know that I know about your ⊠situation and that we â Red Huntress and Phantom â are cool now.â A bell tolled somewhere in the town. Valerie looked up at the street lamps turning on. âAnyway, Iâve got to get back, but it was nice to see you Danny.â She gave him a little smile, activated her hoverboard and helmet, and flew off.
Watching Valerie fly off, all three of them stood still for a moment.
âWell,â Danny started, âIâve got to get back.â
As he started moving to walk off, Sam grabbed his arm, âAre you mad at us?â
Danny turned around. âNo, Sam. Iâm not. I just â Iâve had a long day and I want to go eat dinner. Can we get talk about this tomorrow?â
âPromise? Iâve got a new game I can bring over to play,â Tucker offered.
Danny smiled at them, âThat sounds good. Iâll see you guys tomorrow.â
Danny started walking backwards and turned invisible from one step to the next. He flipped up into the air and flew off, back to the Nasty Burger. He transformed in a stall, washed his hands, and walked out to the booth. As everyone turned to look at him, Dannyâs neck flushed red. âHi.â
âYou doing alright Danny?â Jack asked.
âUuuh yeah, just,â Danny paused, âhad to take a dump?â He slid into the booth, Jazz pushing over his tray of food.
âIf you say so mâboy.â Jack shoved more fries into his mouth.
Jazz scolded her father for his manners and Maddie smiled fondly at her eldest.
Danny inhaled a third of his burger and as he took a sip of pop, looked over at his aunt. Alice had a smile on her face, but it was stretched a little thin, eyes crinkling right underneath them, a fist on the table and body turned, supported by the window and booth back. Danny went back to eating his burger. Aunt Alice had looked like she was in pain that she was trying to hide ever since they entered Amity Parkâs borders earlier. He hoped she would be fine considering Maddie had wrangled her into staying for a couple days. Danny ended up ordering another burger and Jazz decided to split a small shake with Maddie. Once they had finished eating, they climbed back into the GAV and headed home. Danny started feeling sleepy again, leaning his head on the cool window, watching the streetlights pass by. Jazz looked over at her brother, noticing how relaxed he looked. She missed him.
âYou know Danny,â she started, âyou look so much more relaxed than before.â
Danny glanced over at her. âIâm not giving you the satisfaction of saying you were right.â
Jazz smiled softly as Dannyâs head rolled back against the window. âI wouldnât expect anything else little brother,â she whispered.
___
Danny heard the clicks and whine of the Fenton door weapons activate and after a few seconds, the doorbell rang out. He left his room, heading down the stairs to hear his mom invite Sam and Tucker in.
âHey guys,â he called down the half flight of stairs. He waited for them to start walking up before he turned around and led them to his room.
Pushing open his door, he dropped onto his chair. Tucker grabbed a spot on his bed and Sam, after closing the door, took a spot at the foot of the bed.
âSo,â Sam started.
âSo,â Tucker added.
âSoooo,â Danny finished, âany thing else I should really know that you didnât bother to update me on?â
Tucker winced at Dannyâs tone.
âNope,â Sam popped the p. âVladâs still mayor,â she ticked up a finger. âNo new halfas that we know of, no new ghosts.â
âOh!â Tucker interjected. âDash had a wipe out on a skateboard.â He looked smug, âI caught it on video, wanna see?â
âYes!â Danny cheered, leaning forward to watch.
Sam scoffed at them, but she also leaned in.
After catching up on all the little things Danny missed over the summer â a new girl moved in next to Tucker, Samâs petitions and protests, teaming up with Valerie â Danny stood up and stretched. His spine let out a loud crack and Tucker gaped at him.
âGeez, are you okay? What were you even doing on that farm?â
âYeah Danny, you sounded like my Bubeleh and sheâs, like, 80.â
Danny laughed, sitting back down. âActually, I think that was because Iâve been sitting so much the past few days. I was pretty active before that.â He thought for a moment. âI might be able to beat Dash in a race now.â
Tucker snorted, âI donât know dude, he decided to start working on his legs this summer. Heâs no longer, like, a Dorito with sticks for legs.â
Sam definitely didnât giggle as she said, âBut sure, weâll take your word for it, Danny.â
Danny rolled his eyes as he sat back in the chair. âAlright, enough teasing me.â
âYeah, letâs talk about Sam ditching our elective class to take environmental sciences. Can you believe she disrupted our carefully crafted schedule that ensured we shared as many classes as possible just for? What was it? The earth? Can you believe Same is ditching us like this?â
âHuh,â Danny said, he turned to Sam, âwhatâs that class even about.â
Sam glared over at Tucker before looking at Danny, âIâm glad someone here is taking an interest in the important things in life.â Sam launched into an hour long explanation. After the first five minutes, Tucker had pulled out his PDA to play a game, mouthing along to parts of Samâs explanation from time to time. Danny got the basic idea shortly after that. He started to tune out, thinking about school. How in 2 short weeks, heâd be back in the classroom, probably juggling ghost attacks, Dash, the other A Listers, homework, and sitting in a cramped chair for hours on end. The sun coming through his window warmed Dannyâs side. He glanced outside at the street. A bird flew across, but otherwise it was buildings, sidewalk, and asphalt as far as he could see. No green at all. He wondered if Undergrowth would make another appearance, and if Danny could convince him to â
âDanny, are you even listening to me?â Samâs sharp voice called out.
Danny whipped his head away from the window, âUh, yeah, Sam, Iâm listening. You were saying something about,â he searched his short term memory, âthe climate?â
Sam huffed and crossed her arms, âSo, as I was saying â â
âAs she was saying,â Tucker interrupted.  âSheâs shamelessly ditching us, Danny. Can you believe it?â Tucker slid dramatically off the bed and grabbed Dannyâs jeans, âand Sam doesnât even care!â he cried.
âTucker, you know thatâs not it,â Sam reprimanded. âBesides, didnât you sign up for Advanced Algebra or Calculus or something? Youâre also ditching us.â
Turning around to face her, Tucker gasped. âHow. Dare. You. Itâs Finite/Brief Calculus and thatâs only because they refused to put me in the computer class again this year.â
Danny laughed, âThatâs because you hacked the schoolâs computers and played that banana song over the intercom for all of lunch.
âBecause peanut butter jelly time is a classic,â Tucker grumbled. He got up, sitting back on the bed. âAnyway, you should have your schedule by now too. Have you looked at it?â
Danny rubbed the back of his neck, âeh? I think my parents handed it to me this morning, but I didnât take a look.â
âOh, well then what are you waiting for? Letâs see it! I want to see how many classes we share this year!â Sam demanded.
Danny sat up in his chair and rolled over to his desk. Grabbing the school letter, he opened it, gave the schedule a once over, and then surrendered it to his friends. Sam grabbed the paper and her and Tucker leaned over it.
âIt looks like we share PE again Danny,â Tucker held up his hand for a high five as he continued looking at the schedule.
âWe all share chemistry this year, right before lunch,â Sam added.
âOh nice. And look â we end the day together in art too,â Tucker pointed with his other hand. Sam and Tucker looked over at Danny. âDude?â
Danny stared past them, eyes not focusing on anything. When Tucker waved his hand in front of his face, he jolted back to focus and gave a half hearted smile as he high fived Tuck. âYeah, thatâs great.â
Sam narrowed her eyes at Danny, âthat doesnât sound very enthusiastic. Are you not excited for this year Danny?â
A shrug was her answer. âI donât know.â
Tucker glanced over at Sam, âWhat do you mean? When you finished summer school, you seemed pretty thrilled to finalize your schedule request and send it in.â
Danny looked out the window, âYeah, I know. And I was.â
âWas?â Sam echoed.
âWell, this summer on the farm was a lot different. I liked it, being outside and stuff. Working on things, knowing that I was making a difference for people.â
âDanny,â Tucker started. âDo you not want to be in Amity anymore?â
Danny whipped his head to stare at Tucker, âOh course I want to be here! I missed you guys so much! And I missed a lot of other stuff too!â
âDanny.â Sam waited until he looked at her. âYou can have missed us, and not want be in Amity Park.â
Danny dropped his gaze to the carpet between their feet. âYeah, I know that. I do want to be here. I do!âÂ
He fell silent, struggling for a moment.
âI just â itâs so much, you know? The ghosts, and Dash, and school, and my parents, and all of it. Itâs so much, all the time, without a break. And I donât feel like I have a choice in any of it either. Obviously I canât skip school and I canât avoid Dash. We live in the same town after all, and thereâs only like, three places for teenagers to hang out. And then the ghosts on top of that! And the ghosts are here because of my parentâs portal, but Iâm the one that turned it on â I canât just ignore that the ghosts are causing problems even if I want to.  I donât feel like I have a choice but to take responsibility and step in. And I know you guys have been helping Val and stuff, but -â Danny shrugged his shoulders.Â
âI like being on the farm. Itâs quiet. And even when there are ghosts,â he noticed their faces, ââ and there are ghosts,â Danny confirmed, âtheyâre different! They donât cause trouble. Itâs like,â Danny waved his hand around, âeverythingâs so close to the cycle of living and dying and everything has itâs time from the plants to the animals and like â uuuuugh,â Danny threw his hands up. âI donât know how to explain it. Death is always a part of living and everyone out there is used to it being a part of life, so when it happens itâs less of a tragedy?â Danny looked away. âI guess,â he scratched his arm and fell quiet.Â
Sam and Tucker looked at Danny, waiting for him to clear up what he was trying to say. The wind pushed against his window, a slight whistle from uneven weathering strips cutting through the quiet of the room. Danny sighed and looked at the ground in front of his feet. âI feel like less of a freak for dying and coming back when Iâm out there.â
âOh Danny!â Sam moved forward.
Tucker let out a quiet âDannyâ.
Danny pushed away from them in his chair, rolling back some. Rubbing his arms he said âI mean, I know Iâm not a freak or anything, but itâs hard to forget that I died when Iâm in Amity, you know?  I canât escape reminders of it and that it makes me different from everyone else. When Iâm out there on the farm itâs just? I feel at rest.â He laughed, âthatâs stupid isnât it?â He ran a hand through his hair. Looking up at them, âA ghost who feels at rest. But DAMN! I do, getting to be part of life and death like that makes me feel normal â I feel like I belong out there.â
âDanny,â Tucker glanced over at Sam before turning back, âDanny, do you want to stay there?â
âTucker!â Sam admonished, âI donât think ââ
Danny laughed, âYeah, I think I might want toâŠ. Would you hate me if I left you guys again?â
Sam rushed forward to pull Danny into a hug. âOh Danny, I donât think we could ever hate you.â
Tucker joined in, âYeah, weâll just have to visit you.â
Dannyâs smile was smushed against both their shoulders.
âDo you think I could get internet out there?â
And all three of them laughed.
_________
âSo, thatâs what I want to do. If I can,â Danny said. He stared at the coffee table in front of him. His parents sat on the couch across from him.
âWell, Danny, I donât know if weâll be able to do that.â
âBut if thatâs what you want, weâll support you son!â
Danny looked up and gave him parents a smile, âThanks.â
_______
It turned out Alice was familiar with the work programs that the local school utilized for their students. It consisted of students taking the core classes, like math and science, in the mornings, and then working on the farm in the afternoons.
The trick was getting Casper High to agree. But between Alice and Maddie, there was no trouble convincing Principal Ishiyama and Mr. Lancer that Danny would be better off in the modified program. As long as he came back to take the state proficiency tests, he could even still earn credit for Casper Highâs records without having to transfer them back and forth.
Within a few days, Alice, and now Danny, climbed back into the truck, ready to head back down to Arkansas.
âBye!â Danny called, waving out of the window.
A chorus of byeâs and love youâs sent Danny off as they drove away.
Extra:
âCome on,â Danny laughed as he looked at his friends struggling up the side of the silo.
Tuckerâs hand slid off a rung and he yelped.
Looking up at Danny, Sam asked, âare you sure this is safe Danny?â
Laughing again, Danny started climbing again, âSure is. Besides, I can always catch you guys before you hit the ground.â
âWow, thatâs sooo reassuring,â Sam grumbled.
Reaching the top of the dome, Danny disappeared from both their sights. They heard some clangs before his head popped back over the edge, âcome on! Hurry!â He grinned at Tuckerâs frown as Sam reached him first. Danny disappeared again as he gave Sam room to clamor up. Soon enough, both their heads popped back over the side. Twin grins met Tucker as he finished climbing up. Hands thrust towards Tucker, he grabbed them and let himself be pulled up the rest of the way.
âOkay, weâre here. What are we supposed to be doing?â Tucker asked as they crawled their way to the middle of the silo.
Danny sat down, and pointing up said, âLook.â
âOooh,â Sam breathed.
âWow,â Tucker added.
The sky stretched up above them, shades of blue creating a fabric where streams of stars traveled across the expanse. Blushes of red and green broke up the inky darkness and stars twinkled back and forth. A light breeze caressed the trio and they laid back, enjoying the view.
#ectoimplosion2024#danny phantom#danny fenton#danny phantom alicia#danny phantom fic#the bee writes#it is very late so i'll look over things once i sleep... i'm hoping there's nothing weird happening with format#ok! it's now later. I've got the AO3 posted and linked#warnings: there is a farm accident and therefore brief mention of an injury. also a brief mention of animal death#ao3 separates out the âinjury chapterâ so if you want to skip that part and get a summary of what happens then you should head there#this is the longest thing i've ever written actually. and most of it was written in the last 2 weeks.#every time i join a phandom event something happens irl: a case study (in this case it was multiple things)
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ayoo guess who finally sat down and caught up with cultivate B)
is me. so you know what that means.
spoiler warning for cultivate ch 30-37
there was actually.... more things i wanted to draw but I already did so many I had to physically restrain myself hfsjkkdh anyway yes can you tell i love this fic very much
yet once again. cultivate by the wonderful @neonghostcat
#liushen#cultivate#cultivate: slow life on a monster infested mountain#mu qingfang#tagging him as well since theres lot of focus on him lol#and shen jiu as well u have to excuse me I love them they're meow meows#there was gonna be more sj content also but he ended up being cut in the end#wait- hdfdfhkj probably shouldnt talk about cutting something and SJ in the same sentence lmao jhfksdhfk ok bad joke sorry#anyway aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa absolutely deceased with all that has been revealed and covered in the past few chapter#actually dead wonderful powerful talented incredible showstopping never seen before#my most favourite part of cultive is its mysteries without a shadow of a doubt they're so intriguing and the reveal is ALWAYS sooo satisfyi#so the chain reaction of so many answers of the big ones tm? chefs kiss MWA#speaking of mysteries i never mentioned it before because I didn't know how to incorporate it without it being awkward but#for the longest time one particular piece of info has been rotting in my brain#and it was the off-hand comment on of the aqueduct by LQG#it is SO SILLY but THATS the one that has been just spinning in my brain FROM THEN ON ALL THE TIME it is indeed not the actually much coole#checkovs guns that have been setup nooo it was THIS hjkjsdfhksd I HAD TO KNOW where that was going AND NOW I KNOW I CAN REST EASY jsdhfkd#so yeah absolutely wonderful chapters indeed beautiful powerful#also some of you may noticed that time and time again I keep switching up the seniority between bai zhan and qian cao#and i have to formally apologize for that it is in fact not out of lack of attention to the text I'm just shdjkas#if im not mistaken qian caos position is not set in stone in canon so its free for grabs to put it in any of the free spots on the list#so i should respect neonghostcats (beloved i am so sorry) list in this case but i physically couldn't bring myself to write mqf as shidi#HSAJHS im sorry i am so biased and from doctors family i cannot put him in my head in peak seniority so low I'm sry i am legally not allowe#so lets just pretend i wrote it correctly ok sadhkas eyes closed xD#OOF th etags got long this time but im just SOOOO EXCITED WITH THIS FIC AND GOT FEELINGS OK BYE#anyway neonghostcat godspeed recovery buddy!!#also i hope using neonghostcat isnt like....calling u by your full name hdkfh but no idea to which parts i should shorten it either so hah
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before it felt like a sin, ch. 2
ch.1
pairing: Sebastian Sallow x f!MC
word count: 6900
summary: Eloise never wanted to be different.
And yet, her differences are what have defined her life up until this point: growing up as a squib in one of the most prominent wizarding families, being exiled to muggle society, and then attending Hogwarts at the age of sixteen.
She finds herself thrust into the life she should have been prepared for from birth but was denied. As she navigates this new life and her new precarious position in her family, she must come to terms with the fact that maybe what she dreamed of her whole life isn't turning out how she ever expected it would.
a/n: here's chapter 2!! I just wanted to add these amazing beautiful drawings I look back on allllllll the time, by @kay9leo đ„č𫶠I LOVE YOU SO MUCH !!!!! đđđđđđ
I also want to reiterate that this fic is REALLY CANON DIVERGENT!!!!! I will NOT be following the gameâs plot at all really with this (it really starts to diverge around chapter 6/7 maybe I donât remember), and I donât see Eloise as the gameâs MC either.
Things were definitely not going as plannedâŠnot that Eloise had really known what to expect. Almost from the moment the portkey had brought her to meet Professor Fig, it seemed like everything had gone from bad to worse.
And it had all started out so well. He had handed her the provisional wand, and upon contact the magic coursing through her had been exhilarating. Finally Eloise was able to experience what she had dreamed of for so long. All too soon, however, she was putting the wand to use in ways she hadnât imagined. Watching Mr. Ospric die had made her blood run cold but then she didnât have the luxury of processing the shock as so much was happening at once and there was a dragon and death and thenâŠanother portkey? Before she knew it, she was fighting some sort of sentient guardians in some mysterious Gringottâs vault and there was concrete proof of the goblin uprisingâŠit was simply too much to take in at once.
Now, she was standing in front of the ornate entrance to a room Professor Fig had called the âGreat Hallâ. He checked the pocketwatch inside his robes again, and muttered (more to himself than anything) âhopefully the sorting is still going onâŠâ and then in a louder voice as he glanced at Eloise - âcome along then, young Eloise!â
He peered more closely at her then, taking in her pale appearance and added in a kinder tone, âIâm sure youâre hungry. Weâll just head in and get you sorted into your house, and then an early night for the both of us. Donât worry about the things that were lost in the attack - Iâm sure one of your new housemates will share her things with you until they are replaced.â
With that, he pushed open the doors and ushered her in. In any normal circumstances, Eloise was sure that she would have been absolutely in awe of the breathtaking appearance that greeted her. It was simplyâŠfor lack of a better word, magical. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky above the castle, stars glimmering through the wispy purple clouds that covered the ceiling. There were thousands of candles floating in the air, illuminating the hall in a soft, golden light.
She couldnât focus on any of that.
As soon as Fig opened the double doors, the low chatter that filled the Great Hall slowly faded as everyone turned to look at who had entered. Eloise froze. Hundreds of faces all staring at her, filled with curiosity.
Judging her.
They must all know that she was a squib and didnât actually belong there.
No. She had proved her magical capabilities earlier that day, albeit in a different manner than she had expected. She deserved to be here just as much as they did.
The teacher at the far end of the hall was saying something and the students surrounding her had begun to whisper amongst themselves. There was so much buzzing in her ears that she didnât hear a word that was said. Then, a familiar voice - how in the world could it still be familiar after so much time? - broke through the fog and her head turned sharply to the side at the noise.
âEloise?â
Her gaze met familiar hazel eyes as Leo quickly stood up, taking a step towards her before he caught himself and stayed where he was. If the shock hadnât already been apparent enough in his voice, one look at his expression told Eloise everything. He hadnât had any idea that she had been accepted to Hogwarts. After she had been burned off of the family tree by her mother, it was like she didnât exist anymore. Of course he hadnât known that she would be there.
Leo had changed since Eloise last saw him. Of course he did, she thought to herself. It had been five years, after all. The same unruly black curls, same eyes. And yetâŠhe almost seemed a stranger to her. He was taller, face more angular and defined than it had been at thirteen. Voice deeper. But, the expression of vulnerability and guilt written all over his face was something she recognized well. It was the same expression that he had had the last time he saw her, the face she sometimes saw before falling asleep. Just as quickly as it flashed across his face however, it was gone, hidden behind a stony exterior. His expression hardened and he sat down just as quickly as he had stood up, quickly averting his eyes. The people around him were looking between them curiously, but before Eloise could even begin to process this new situation, she felt a gentle push on her shoulder.
Professor Fig had been talking to her. ââŠthe Sorting Hat. You need to go up and get sorted into your house.â
She looked up at him and realized that he was gesturing to the front of the Great Hall, vaguely recalling how Leo had described the sorting ceremony in his first letter home from Hogwarts. Everyone was still staring.
Well, let them, she thought. Eloise tossed her braid over her shoulder and lifted her head high, straightening her posture in the meantime. Did it matter if everyone was staring at her? She determined that if people were going to be whispering about her, speculating about her, she would give them something to talk about. About the girl who was admitted in her fifth-year at Hogwarts. The girl who surpassed them all.
Eloise shook off Professor Figâs hand and walked to the raised platform, where there was a stool and a professor waiting with an ancient wizarding hat in her hands. As Eloise sat down, a semicircle of professors behind her and the tables of students in front of her, the hat was placed on top of her head. It was so formless and well-worn that the faded fabric slid over her eyes and she was surrounded by darkness.
HmmâŠinteresting, a voice purred in her mind. Eloise jumped at the sound. Donât worry, dear. I wonât hurt you, although I suppose that not everyone would say that. My, my. You have had a rough go of things, havenât you?
Itâs not often I get to sort a new fifth-year student. She realized that it was the hat talking to her. Always much more interesting, you see. The first-years are always fun because I get to see their potential and who they will turn out to be, but even that can be fallible sometimes. People are shaped by their experiences.
An older student, though? Someone closer to the person they will be, with more experiences that have shaped them? Oh yes, these are the ones I like the most.
Wait, thought Eloise. Youâve sorted others like me before?
Oh yes. A pause. The voice purred in her ear. I can see the hunger for knowledge in you. ButâŠRavenclaw seems too simplistic. Behind the intelligence lies great ambition. A desire to prove yourself. Prove you belong. Yes, you may have had a rough life but you have managed to use whatâs around you to your advantage. So, you must be aâŠ
âSLYTHERIN!â
Eloise started at the sudden shout, realizing that it must have been out loud. As the hat was pulled off of her head, she could see the students at the table at the far end of the hall, the one Leo was at, break into furious whispers amongst each other. The teacher with her smiled kindly and pointed Eloise in their direction. âThatâs the Slytherin table, dear. Once you sit down, we can begin eating.â
Eloise got up numbly and slowly walked towards the table. The whispering got louder as she neared it, and the students kept shooting her glances. Most seemed simply curious about the new, older student who had just been sorted into Slytherin, but others looked at her with hostility. Two students moved aside and motioned to her.
âFigured you would rather sit with us than the first years.â
The girl who spoke gave her an appraising look, taking in her muggle clothing and mussed-up hair. Eloise sat down next to her, nervously smoothing her hands over her skirt. Now that the sorting was over and she was actually interacting with her future classmates, she felt exhausted and completely unable to keep up her facade of nonchalance.
âI was going to ask if you like quidditch butâŠjudging by your clothes -â
âGods, Imelda,â came a drawling voice to Eloiseâs left. âCanât you give the poor girl a break? Not even one second at our table and youâre already trying to recruit her for the team.â
The boy who spoke gave an amused look to Imelda before turning to Eloise. âYouâll want to watch out for that one - if she even gets a whiff of the fact you can fly a broom, sheâll be out to recruit -â
âItâs not my fault!â Imelda interrupted forcefully, smacking her hands on the table and leaning over Eloise to talk to him. âOur best players all graduated last year and I have it cut out for me -â
â- you to the Slytherin team,â the boy concluded, ignoring Imeldaâs heated protests. She sat back with a huff and crossed her arms. âJust ignore her. Itâs what weâve found works best. Iâm Sebastian Sallow and this is Ominis Gaunt. Two people you will actually want to spend time with.â
He stuck his tongue out at Imelda as he held his hand out to Eloise. The boy across from them snickered quietly to himself as he listened to Imelda splutter in denial. Eloise shook Sebastianâs hand hesitantly. âEloise. And actually,â she added, turning to Imelda, âI do know what quidditch is. Unfortunately, Iâve never ridden a broom though.â
That got Imelda going again, this time about how it was absolutely impossible that someone could know about the existence of quidditch without ever touching a broom. She seemed to be of the opinion that knowing of its existence meant an undying desire to learn how to play. âSo youâre not a mudblood, then? Oh, who am I kidding - of course youâre not. Weâre in Slytherin, after all. But howâŠâ
Fortunately, food started appearing on the table before Imelda could finish her thought. It was enough to move her attention from Eloise as she began to pile different foods on her plate. To be quite honest, Eloise was relieved. She wasnât sure how much she wanted to tell others about her circumstances, especially during this first night before she knew anyone. Would they think differently of her if they knew that she had been disowned from her family and presumed a squib?
Who was she kidding? Of course everyone would judge her for that. Besides, she knew she wanted to talk to Leo before revealing anything - maybe he could help her get a feel for how to approach the situation. If he wanted to even associate with her, that is. Once again, the thought passed through her mind that he could have changed through the years, just as she had. Their parents could be quite persuasive, and more often than not the two siblings had learned that it was easier to go along with them than against.
Leo had grown up with the adoration of their parents, showing magical prowess at the young age of three, when his favorite toys started following him around in a little parade. Eloise, on the other handâŠas the years passed and she still wasnât showing signs of anything at all, not even a measly show of a sneeze blowing her away, their parents started working to distance the siblings from each other. It hadnât been very effective and yetâŠwithout her presence, she could see him moving on in his life. Just as she had tried to do.
A sharp poke to her side. Eloise jumped and looked at Sebastian. âArenât you going to eat anything? You need to grab the good things before theyâre gone - itâs every man out for himself during the feasts.â
She looked around and, sure enough, the food on the plates was steadily going down. It all looked absolutely delicious - mountains of meat, bread, puddingsâŠher stomach growled loudly as she took it all in. Eloise hurriedly started putting the closest food to her on her plate, reaching over to give herself a heaping serving of mashed potatoes on the side. âThank you.â
âNo problem,â he replied after swallowing the food he was eating. âIâm sure youâve had a long day if you arrived that late to the sorting ceremony. As you walked up to the stool, Ominis and I had a bet about which house you would be sorted into. I told him, after my first glance at you, that I could tell youâd be one of us, but unfortunately, he - â
âHey! I can hear you,â Ominis said from across the table, leaning forward slightly. Eloise realized that he was blind - his eyes had no pupils at all. His gaze was unfocused but his head turned in her direction. He explained, âI could only sense your form as you walked down the Hall. And, for the record, before Sebastian can say otherwise, I said I could tell you would be a Slytherin. Will the blind jokes ever get old?â
âAs long as I have breath in my body - hey!â
Ominis had thrown a roll at Sebastianâs head which, surprisingly, hit its mark.
âI might not be able to see what just happened, but I know that Iâve just won,â Ominis said smugly, returning his attention to his plate.
Eloise just sat there, not really knowing how to react. This time, it was Imeldaâs turn to say, âjust ignore them. Luckily, we wonât need to see much more of them as the feastâs finishing up.â She wrinkled her nose in Sebastianâs direction, a gesture that was swiftly returned. Even though she had just met the three of them, Eloise couldnât help but feel happy just listening to their back-and-forth. She did feel a twinge ofâŠsomething, though, knowing that she could have been with them since their first year, if only her magic had shown itself sooner.
Mountains of dessert started to replace the remnants of the dinner: plum pudding, lemon tarts, cakesâŠit was more dessert in one place than Eloise had ever seen in her life. None of the students held back at all trying to get their favorites, especially if it was at the expense of another. The atmosphere was electric - everyone was excited to be back among their friends and catch up over everything that had happened the summer before, and Eloise was happy to just be among them.
She reached for a lemon tart, and when she looked up, she saw that Leo was staring at her intently. He looked away as soon as they made eye contact, but the moment didnât go past Imeldaâs notice.
âDo you know him?â she asked, nodding towards Leo. Eloise flushed and looked down at her plate, nodding reluctantly. She knew as soon as they went through role call the next day, everyone would know that she was a Babbit.
âYes, heâsâŠer -â
Eloise broke off, grabbing the nearest goblet of pumpkin juice and drinking the whole thing in one go. When she came up for air, Imelda was still looking at her expectantly. Eloise took a deep breath and tried continuing, but⊠âIâm not really sure,â is all that came out of her mouth.
Imelda furrowed her brow, clearly trying to figure out how that answer made sense and Eloise wasnât about to clarify for her. Although it wouldnât be long before it got out that they were siblings, she wasnât sure how much she wanted these new acquaintances to know about her at the moment. She had had enough pitying looks to last her a lifetime, and she just knew that once they found out she had been a squibâŠ
âHey Sebastian,â a pretty blonde girl said, leaning towards the group. She shot Eloise a curious glance but quickly looked back at her target. âWhereâs Anne? Is she still gone this year? What a pityâŠthe two of you areâŠwereâŠsewn together at the hip and I was looking forward to finally being the one who gets between the two of you this year.â At this, the girls surrounding her started tittering and she flipped her hair over her shoulder and pouted. âI thought there would be more of a challenge. But if youâre going to be the changed Sebastian again this yearâŠâ
âWhoâsâŠâ Eloise trailed off as she saw Sebastianâs expression. It had changed into something almost unrecognizable - at least, to someone who had only known him for all of forty-five minutes. He was looking at the girl with a mixture of barely-controlled fury andâŠsomething else that Eloise couldnât quite place. She shrank away from him as she took in his stricken expression.
âSheâs still sick,â he said shortly as he stood up. His hands bunched into tight fists and his body was shaking. Sebastian quickly turned and stormed down the hall. They all watched him go in silence; once he left, the blonde girl turned to Ominis.
âGods, whatâs his problem? So what if she misses a few days of school?â She looked around at everyone, pouting. âYou all know Iâm right. Last year he was a mess but he should be getting over it by now.â
âYou always speak before thinking, Victoria,â Ominis said tersely, getting up. âOne of these days, itâs going to get you in trouble. If you keep this up, when that happens nobody will be around to help you pick up the pieces.â With that, he strode away after Sebastian.
Eloise blinked and looked around. The rest of the students were starting to get up and slowly move towards their respective common rooms having finished their dessert, and the prefects were starting to herd the first-years along. Victoria laughed weakly and turned to her friends, effectively ignoring Eloise and Imelda as if they werenât there. âI think the summer holidays have made people extra sensitive this year. I honestly donât know what their problem is.â
âCome on, then,â said Imelda, shooting Victoria a dirty look. âLetâs head to the dorms.â
Eloise stood up and started following Imeldaâs lead. She was parting the students with ease as she walked through the crowd. Her strides were so long that Eloise had to half-jog to keep up with her. âOur common room is in the dungeons,â Imelda said, looking over her shoulder at Eloise. âThe other houses are creeped out by it, but they havenât actually seen it. Youâll see.â
Because of how quickly Imelda strode through the corridors and down the stairs, Eloise didnât have much time to take in the rest of the castle. She did however realize that they were winding through the corridors in such a way that she would be hopelessly lost if Imelda werenât with her. The two of them arrived at the Slytherin common room well before the other students due to Imeldaâs fast pace. As they entered the common room after saying the correct password - basilisk - Eloise couldnât help but look around in wonder. There was light piano music playing in the background - Chopin, Eloise thought she recognized it from her piano lessons at the muggle school. Even though the overall tones of the place were cool - blues and greens filtering through the tall glass windows and from the lamps, the checkered marble floors and columns giving off an air of cold elegance - the beautiful rugs and happily crackling fires made it all come together and seem oddly cozy. Various tables and desks were scattered around the space, and comfortable looking armchairs and couches crowded around low tables. Eloise could just picture it teeming with students studying after class or hanging out on the weekends. She knew that it was a place that could finally feel like home to her.
âI tried, Ominis,â came a hushed whisper from near the windows. Imelda and Eloise froze at the entrance to the common room and glanced at each other. âI just canât do it. I know what you and Anne told me butâŠâ
âSebastian. Anne doesnât want you to wallow and waste your time here worrying about her. I know that youâre worried for her. I mean, I am too. You know sheâs like a sister to me.â
âYou have no idea,â Sebastian interrupted fiercely. His back was hunched over and he was holding his face in his hands. âIt should have been me. I canât live with myself. With this guilt.â
âNo, you -â Ominis cut himself off as the sound of the other students filtering in started to fill the room. The boys abruptly sat up straighter, although they didnât look at each other. Oblivious to the tension between the two, a group of second-years sat on the sofa right next to them, as they excitedly caught up with each other.
âIâll show you our room,â Imelda said, turning to Eloise. âIt gets pretty crazy here the first night back from any holidays, with everyone catching up. I donât know about you, but I want to get some sleep! Quidditch tryouts are next week and I already know how exhausting it will be.â
Eloise really was exhausted, and nothing sounded better to her than finally going to sleep. The dorms seemed to be set up so that the stairs going up led to the girlsâ dormitories, and the ones going down to the boysâ. Imelda explained that it was due to the fact that boys werenât to be trusted, and the stairs would turn into a slide if any boy attempted to go up them. It wasnât something that Eloise had even considered, due to the fact that she had just come from an all-girls school, but she flushed at the implication.
As they reached the staircase, they almost crashed into Sebastian. Imelda had been marching towards the stairs with a single-minded determination and Sebastian had been heading towards his with just as much purpose.
Eloise bounced off of his shoulder. She grabbed her own, wincing slightly. He was more solid than he looked. He looked blankly at the two girls before shaking his head and realizing where they were. âGods, Iâm so sorry. Iâm just -â he gave his head another little shake and saw that Eloise was holding her shoulder. âAre you hurt?â
âItâs fine,â Eloise reassured him. She gave a small smile. âIâve had worse, itâs really nothing.â
âYeah, yeah,â interrupted Imelda. She shot Sebastian a concerned look. âGo to bed. Weâll see you tomorrow.â
Imelda shook her head sadly and the girls resumed their path. âPoor boy. He hasnât been the same since the summer after our third year. I mean, he was always kind of obsessive, but in a charming way. He was on the quidditch team with me, and always really determined to be the absolute best, always working hard to show all of the other students they donât even know half as much as he does. That sort of thing, you know? Itâs not like he was insufferable, his charm drew everyone to him.â
She held the door open and Eloise walked in. It was a cozy circular room, with five four-poster beds. A small fire in the middle of the room warmed the whole place up, and Eloise was relieved to see it. When Imelda had told her that their dormitory was in the dungeons, she had immediately pictured a dark, cold, slimy space. Only one of the beds didnât have trunks placed at its foot, and Eloise went straight to it. Her trunk had been lost in the dragon attack. She was relieved to see a nightgown laid on top of the bed and a pair of green slippers neatly lined up on the floor; she hadnât been sure what she would wear.
Imelda sat down heavily on the bed next to Eloiseâs and started unlacing her boots. She continued talking. âThen, in our fourth year, he comes to school after summer holidays. Alone. He hasnât been the same since. Nobodyâs quite sure whatâs going on with his sister, except that itâs bad. Sheâs not expected to live much longer.â
âOh my god,â breathed Eloise. âI canât even imagine.â
âMe neither.â Imelda shook her head. âHe got into trouble left and right last year, there were even rumors of a duelâŠI donât think there was a single week where he didnât have detention. I mean, I donât blame him, but - he was taken off the team! This year he better not, I canât afford to lose my best beater again.â
The girls continued chattering quietly to themselves about other topics as they got ready for the night. Slipping into their nightgowns, braiding each othersâ hair, and, finally, slipping under the freshly turned bed covers. Eloise turned towards Imelda and simply whispered, âthank you.â Although they had just met, Eloise felt certain in the knowledge that she had just made her first friend.
Imelda waved her off. âItâs nothing. Get some sleep, the first day of classes is always overwhelming. I canât even imagine starting as a fifth-year.â
With that, she rolled over and soon Eloise heard her breathing deepen as she fell asleep. She stared at the canopy covering her bed for what seemed like an eternity. The low murmurs of the other girls as they came in and got ready for bed slowly morphed into drowsy good-nights, until finally the room was silent except for the steady tick of a clock and their breathing.
As tired as she felt, Eloise couldnât stop the racing of her mind. It felt like the last few days had more action than the entirety of her life. Even though banished had, at the time, been incredibly momentous for her, it paled in comparison to finding out that she actually was a witch and had been admitted to Hogwarts. She had used magic for the first time today. The rush of power that ran through her body when she cast spells was unlike anything else she had ever experienced. It just felt right. Like some part of her that had been hidden away had finally made itself known and she felt whole for the first time. She wondered if everyone else felt that same rush, that same desire to know and master absolutely every aspect of magical knowledge. She had been given a gift that until now had felt like a pathetic little daydream and she wasnât about to waste it now that she had it.
The clock kept on ticking lazily and still Eloise was awake. She eventually got up and after shrugging on a robe and slipping on the green slippers, headed towards the common room. She and Imelda hadnât spent much time in it earlier, and she wanted to see it at least once without any people, maybe as a space just for herself.
As it was even later in the night - it must have been around three - the fire had been extinguished and the light filtering through the windows had turned an even deeper shade of emerald green. It covered the mahogany furniture with an eerie light, as if Eloise had stepped into some strange underworld instead of the empty Slytherin common room. She trailed her hand along the velvet back of a sofa, mesmerized by the stark contrast of the green highlights and black shadows as her hand moved. Lazily twirling a globe as she walked past, the room silent except for her muffled footsteps.
It was precisely the silence that absorbed her completely. Being alone had always been her favorite thing; there was just something so special about being the only person in a place, feeling as if you were the only holder of some great secret. Eloise made her way towards the tall glass windows as if in a dream, not really noticing anything of her surroundings and yet taking it all in. The feeling of being there.
When she heard the soft voice she nearly jumped out of her skin.
âYou couldnât sleep either?â
Eloise whirled towards the voice, feeling as if her heart was about to burst through her chest. The student - a male - was sitting by one of the windows. Since the only light source was the windows, his face was entirely shrouded in black. Eloise was suddenly very aware of how indecently she was dressed to be outside of her dormitory. The sudden change from complete, eerie tranquility was shattered and she wrapped her robe more tightly around her, keeping her arms hugged around her body.
âWho -â
The boy straightened up, tilting his head back toward the window and, with the aid of the green light, Eloise saw that it was Ominis.
âWhat are you doing down here, Ominis? You almost gave me a heart attack! Youâre sitting in the shadows and I thought I was alone.â
âI could ask the same of you,â he said simply, the hint of an amused smirk gracing his features. âAnd, might I add, I didnât mean to scare you on purpose. I thought you were purposely walking towards me. For all I know, it could be the break of dawn and Iâm basking in the early rays of the sun.â
Eloiseâs jaw dropped open in mortification. She had completely forgotten that he was blind. âHow did you know that I was walking towards you?â She clapped her hands over her mouth in horror, the words leaving before she could stop them. What was wrong with her? With her sudden movement, her robes had fallen open again, revealing her nightgown, but she was too distraught over possibly having offended Ominis than continuing to follow the rules of propriety. âOh Merlinâs beard, Iâm sorry. I didnât meanâŠâ
He just huffed quietly. They hadnât spoken much at dinner, and Eloise was positive that he was angry with her. Maybe he had only acknowledged her presence because his best friend had seen fit to talk with her. Growing up blind, it would make sense for him to be sensitive to any comments regarding itâŠher face was flushed with mortification and guilt, and she slowly started backing away. Eloise figured it was better to just end the whole encounter being ruder still by making a hasty retreat, than to put her foot in her mouth once again and risk offending him more.
âNo, wait,â Ominis said as soon as he realized she was walking away. His voice was choked with emotion and it seemed difficult for him to get the words out. Eloise froze and looked at him. His whole body was shaking, and she couldnât tell if he was angry orâŠ
Was he laughing?
âI might be blind, but Iâm not deaf. In this silence, I would have been able to notice if anyone had entered the room even if they were trying to be sneaky, which you certainly were not. Stay, if you want.â
Eloise hesitated, then took the seat across from Ominis in the window. She nervously smoothed her nightgown over her legs. âJust so you know, youâre completely in shadow. If you hadnât said anything, I probably would have walked right past you without realizing that you were here too.â
âIâll choose a better spot to sit next time then, when I canât fall asleep in the middle of the night,â he replied seriously. If not for the fact that he had just been teasing her, she would have thought that he was really taking what she said into consideration. âYou never answered my original question. You canât sleep?â
Eloise shook her head, then quickly added, âno. So much has happened these last few daysâŠmy brain always has a hard time turning off. Especially after a day like today.â
Ominis hummed in understanding, tilting his head towards her. The green light filtering through the water danced over his gaunt features, making his cheekbones and the dark circles under his eyes more prominent. His pupil-less eyes glowed eerily in the light. âI can only imagine. You arrived late to the sorting, and your aura was very unnerving as you stepped into the Great Hall. I immediately knew something was extraordinary about you.â
âMyâŠaura?â
âYes. I might not be able to see, but my wand does it for me. Itâs hard to explain butâŠI can sense the people around me. I canât make out features, but everyone has their own unique aura radiating from them. Yours isâŠdifferent.â
Different? It must have something to do with the fact she hadnât had any magical ability until recently. Maybe it was stunted orâŠmaybe her aura was different due to the stress of the day.
âI saw someone murdered in front of me today,â Eloise blurted out before she could stop herself. Ominis didnât look surprised by her sudden outburst, he merely remained still as he waited for Eloise to continue. âIt wasâŠshocking. A dragon came out of nowhere and just ripped our carriage in half, taking Mr. Osric with it. The worst part isâŠIâm-Iâm shocked because it happened. But Iâm not sad. I donât feel the horror I think I should be feeling, and that is more horrifying to me. When I was lying in bed, the events of today kept replaying in my mind on a loop and I kept on trying to make myself feel the correct emotions. But I couldnât. Something inside of me is broken.â
Eloise looked down at her hands, fingers wringing and untwisting together in her lap. She tried to force herself to sit as still as Ominis, but it was impossible. She couldnât believe how easy it was to unload all of this onto a stranger, but he didnât seem to mind listening. There was silence for a few minutes, but it wasnât an uncomfortable one. Eloise peeked at Ominis from under her lashes. The boy appeared to be deep in thought.
âI couldnât sleep either,â he finally said. âItâs normal for me, though. I also have a hard time turning off my thoughts, especially at night. This little corner of the common room feels like mine, in a sense. Iâve been coming here to think since I was a first-year. Maybe I subconsciously chose this place because, if youâre right, itâs more hidden than the rest. Nobody will see me if theyâre sneaking around late at night, and itâs so peaceful.â
âThat I can agree with,â said Eloise. âI actually came down here to see what it was like when itâs empty. I donât quite know how to explain it, but this place already feels like home to me. A far sight better than the place I left behind. Places.â
âIf you want me to leave, Iâm fine with giving up my hiding place for a worthy cause.â
âNo,â Eloise said quickly. âIâŠI like having you here. With me. It means I donât have to be alone with my thoughts.â
Ominis smiled and tilted his head, not quite looking at her in that odd way of his. âItâs nice, talking to you. Most people avoid me. I canât imagine why.â
Eloise huffed in quiet laughter. They sat in silence for a while longer, until Ominis broke it again. âYou donât have to answer if you donât want to. ButâŠam I correct in guessing that you and Leo Babbit know each other?â
Eloiseâs breath hitched in her throat. She still wasnât sure how much of her past she wanted people to knowâŠbut she also knew that as soon as the day broke the castle would be swirling with rumors. And, as much as she hated the thought, the truth would come out one way or another. She had been lucky enough so farâŠher name hadnât been said at the sorting due to the unusual circumstances. But, come morning, everyone would put the pieces together once her name was called out by a teacher.
She could test the waters with someone like Ominis, who seemed like the sort of fellow who would take it in stride.
âIâŠlike I said, you donât have to tell me,â Ominis said softly.
âNo! No, itâs fine,â Eloise assured him. âItâsâŠcomplicated. I would prefer if it never came out butâŠif the school I was at before is any indication, everyone will know by lunch tomorrow regardless of if I say anything or not.â She took a deep breath, steadying herself. âMy full name is Eloise Babbit. Leo is my brother.â
Ominis showed no reaction. It gave her the strength to continue.
âI was rejected by my family. As the years went by and I still wasnât showing any signs of magic, I was ignored by my parents in favor of Leo. When my eleventh year came and went without any acceptance letter to Hogwarts, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was actually a squib. Up until then, I had held onto the hope and the day I lost that, I lost everything. I was banished and burned off of the family tree, like I never existed. Until a few days ago, I was learning how to become a perfect muggle wife at one of their horrid finishing schools. My family had already prepared a marriage for me to a prominent muggle family, reasoning that I could at least give them important connections.â She spat that last word out. Even speaking the words was a bitter reminder of the life she had almost led. âBased on Leoâs reaction, he definitely didnât know that I had been admitted to Hogwarts. I donât even know whatâs worse: if my parents knew and decided not to tell him, or if the fact that I was burned off the family tree means that they wouldnât have received a notification.â
She stared at her hands again. What was it about this boy that made her want to unload everything to him? Yes, he had asked her about it, but she still felt guilty for talking to him at all. Like somehow, telling him would make it his problem as well.
âIf thereâs anyone in this school who understands the horrors of oneâs family, itâs me,â he said. Eloise looked up at him in surprise. He chuckled quietly, as if he could see her expression. âMy family are direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin. Absolutely stark-raving mad, pureblood fanatics. Weâve gotten quite reclusive in the past hundred years or so, and donât have much contact with the outside world. Your familyâs inbreeding resulted in fear of giving birth to a potential squib. Mine, in the form of a useless, blind son who has no interest in continuing their crazy beliefs. I guess you could say we are two kindred souls. Maybe thatâs what your aura was trying to tell me earlier this evening.â
âI guess so,â Eloise replied. Both could tell that the other wasnât saying everything on their mind, but she wanted to give him the same comfort he had offered her and decided not to pry. âThank you, Ominis.â
He inclined his head towards her and then moved his unseeing gaze to the large stained glass window. They sat there for quite some time, at least it felt that way to Eloise. The passage of time seemed not to exist as she and Ominis sat there, deep inside their own thoughts. Formless shadows danced behind the window, their regular movements helping to calm her thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity, Eloise found herself stifling a yawn.
âIt seems your day has finally caught up with you,â Ominis said, smiling softly. âI think itâs best if we head to bed. Hogwarts might be more progressive than the muggle school youâve just escaped, but if anyone sees us here together it would just further the rumors already swirling around you.â
Eloise nodded her assent and stood up slowly. She hadnât realized how much time they had spent there until she felt the stiffness in her muscles that only comes from remaining still for a very long time. Ominis also got up slowly, gracefully stretching out his long body in the process. As he stood, she saw him grab his wand out of his pocket, and it began glowing a faint red as he walked. That must be how he gets around, she thought to herself. He did say his wind has a mind of its own.
She followed him and they slowly made their way to the two sets of stairs leading to the dormitories. They paused once they were about to part. âGoodnight, Ominis.â
âGoodnight, Eloise. Iâll see you tomorrow. Or rather, Iâll sense your presence later on this morning.â He gave her a faint smile and then turned to head down the stairs leading to his dormitory. Eloise stood there, watching until she couldnât see the red glow of his wand anymore. With a yawn, she turned towards her room and soon slipped under the covers, sleep finally coming. Before she fell asleep, she had only the fleeting realization that Ominis had not actually answered her question.
The title is a link to everything on ao3, but just in case you didnât catch that, here it isđ«¶
next chapter
#let me know what you think about this chapterđ„čđ«¶#I love the painting bc I hope it captures how Eloise was feelingâŠ.#she does NOT like being noticed#Iâm about to go to the beach#and I hope I can swimđ normally the sea where I live is pretty cold#but this summer is so warm that there are SO MANY JELLYFISH AND PORTUGUESE MAN O WARSđđ«đđ«đđ«#yesterday there I was swimming around like a fool bc I just do laps across the beach back and forth#and less than an hour later all of these jellyfish were being washed up on the shoređł#like you couldnât even walk barely on the sandđłđł#I almost met my demiseâŠ..#in all honesty I suppose they would just sting and overall I might be fine#BUT THAT IS MY WORST FEARâŠâŠâŠ.#my city even created a special jellyfish flag to put up so that people know what theyâre getting themselves into when they swim#but they never put it up until people start being stungđđ#ok none of this was that interestingđđ but there you go#hogwarts legacy#hogwarts legacy fanart#hphl#hogwarts legacy oc#hogwarts legacy mc#eloise babbit#sebastian sallow#sebastian sallow x mc#hogwarts legacy fanfic#also this is probably the longest chapter#so hopefully itâs not too crazy and you actually read itđđđ
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:,)
#ruff draft done ;;w;;#âŠâŠâŠu know what comes next :')#(thats the emote of me crying btw. it's not a nose. thats crynng bc. bc i am . the editor as well. it's fine. no im fine its alright ok i)#P.S.!! it is as long as the longest chapter posted so far (ch 12) (peace sign emoji) we have a chonky chunky time
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Hi again! I loved the new chapter!! It made me stare at my ceiling existentially for an hour (every chapter does) and we finally get Ara oh god. Im kinda an Ara hater. Iâve always kinda hated her but she was slightly redeemable? Until in itf where we get her POV and she purposefully made Zukoâs life a living hell. Thatâs when i became a full fledged Ara hater club member. But it still so hard for me to fully hate her cause yk sheâs a victim too.
Anyways, sheâs a super compelling character and I change my mind every chapter if i hate her or not. So I got bored again and made this . Have a good day!!!
Haha her POV was very much like *hair flip* âyeah I tried to destroy him but it proved to be a lot more difficult than I thought, but I did try.â
Sheâs really an interesting gal right there with a moral compass that is just constantly spinning in circles. Hopefully she can find some solid ground to stand on and eventually build herself a new life⊠weâll see haha.
Thanks for this I adore it!!
#omg omg omg the vibes of this are amazing#seriously ara for the longest time is just like I didnât do anything wrong#until she realized she does EVERYTHING WRONG haha#like girl canât even breath without hurting someone#I love the red background and the figures behind her#she is drawn so well#I love this#ara is one of the characters I enjoy watching people flip flop over#sheâs getting better / THAT BITCH / awww sheâs a victim / SHE ALMOST KILLED ZUKO / but sheâs sadâŠ. / KILL HER#I never know what Iâll get#I mean I will say there are people that have rode the ara hate train from liab all the way to ITF & I respect it haha#same with jet damn it they hate him haha#itâll be interesting how and where she goes from here#*shrugs* idkkkkkkkk#could be good could be bad#we wonât know next chapter because Iâm going to kill Jee or bato off so they wonât stop talking#fucking dilfs#all of them#ok anywayyyy thank you for this#your art and asks mean so much#seriously Iâm giddy smiling skipping throwing up all the normal things someone does when getting fanart#I LOVE YOUUUU THANK YOUUUU#liab#ITF#fanfic art#lilywriter
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No one:
Me at 230 am: hmâŠâŠ Nedzu.
#WHY AM I ON THIS MHA KICK#like ok itâs because I keep feeding the fixation sure#BUT HOW DID I GET TO THIS FIXATION IN THE FIRST PLACE?#next thing you know Iâm gonna bring back Sirin au#hm. it genuinely has some of my favorite writing Iâve ever done#unfortunately mha fics that arenât established get like zero engagement because thereâs a constant stream of them#itâs not like rain world where each new fic is awaited with bated breath#I think to this day itâs my longest fic. 15-16 whole chapters. I lost the plot for a while in there lol#I miss having semi popular fics that got attention#like. my rain world fic gets a good 5-7 comments plus any replies to my replies to them#if I actually. kept up with king and lionheart. it would probably get around that too#but ohhhh to be a popular mha writerâŠ#I could probably glimpse that life if I dipped back into owl house stuff but you donât get it.#thatâs not my fixation right now. mha is.#WHICH IS WILD BECAUSE I LEGIT DONT LIKE MOST OF THE STUFF I KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING AFTER SEASON FOUR#It got too high stakes and lost the interesting analysis of its own society#and donât get me started on what Iâve heard about the ending. it sounds like it was really fumbled#but. Iâm doing a rewatch. Iâll give everything after season four a chance but I fully plan to drop it if I get bored again#what was I talking about?#right right. my fics and stuff#I might take some of my favorite bits of all but gone and rework it#I might write a Nezu adopting izuku fic#who knows. itâs 245 at night#good night
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Genuinely this lj liveblog is saving my sanity reading this. They're a lot more analytical than I am for certain things and I really appreciate that. And also sometimes you need the experience of buddy reading a book but you'd never force anyone to read 770 pages of slop.
#twist rambles#vc posting#most importantly it's getting me thru this 40 pg chapter. which my god grateful thats the longest chapter here lol#i do rly want to reread qotd and a bit of tvl before prince les.tat so ill maybe do that? still have BC next but. we stay brave ok. we are#in the home stretch. honestly im just glad i didn't hate b&g writing wise as much as i thought? like mar.ius being the protag sucked and#that was the worst of it but i liked seeing more of bianca and her awesome divorce nature (easily the highlight for me). as well as seeing#events from another pov. this isn't the worst book of the series in terms of wanting to not be reading anymore but im also only 100 pages#into it? so we will see bc i think itll get worse lol. but yeah i love u beautiful liveblogs
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I want to do a HC post of all the crimes I think nendo would commit but I know that's just the procrastination speaking bc I'm tryna write this fic
#CTTD im so sorry baby u deserve so much better </3#im working on it ok ill persevere#saiki k fandom time to get invested in my jjk fic bc when im done w this chapter u get more nendo crumbs đ
#nendo posting#my longest shriek of torment ever
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remember when this blog was created as a sideblog for my writing? pepperidge farm remembers.
anyways, itâs been two hundred years but my story finally got updated.
tldr; let me introduce you to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow - a s1 jack/sawyer fic told from sawyerâs pov covering episodes 1.03, 1.08, 1.11, 1.16, and 1.19 with some changes to canon along the way. (1700+ words, 4/6 chapters completed)
check it out if you want! or don't! iâll be back to my regularly scheduled lost shitposting after this message.
#the chapter count used to be five but uh. outlaws was running extremely long#so now you get six!#this is also now my longest story#and it's not even done yet!#i'm proud ok lol#story: tomorrow and tomorrow and tommorrow
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#in 1500 words this will be the longest chapter and i am not close to being done#NOOO ok. ok Okay i promised myself i didnt care about word count.that may have been an overstatement#what ever#ok#tpg
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Well that's almost 3k words added to Joyce.
#i'm not even done. what#ok morning wyrm thanks for writing all of this down in a tiny notebook to type in#if i don't split this chapter at some point this is def going to be the longest one so far. chapter 6. oh wow#neat
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HI HELLO! chapter 20 of wafwaf has (finally) been posted! im very happy with this one :D
#mythic quest#we are fleeting we are feeling#wafwaf#wafwaf update#fanfiction#ao3#this one was SO FUN TO WRITE#god i love writing dialogue. and angst. and introspection. and ok i think i just like writing in general#this is the longest chapter so far by a LOT and also the most dialogue heavy#watch out!#not very dark all things considered though which is good i guess
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I want to cuddle with my kitty and keep working on my writing but I have to get ready for work now đđđđđđđ
Truly the greatest of injustices
Im now at 4.1k words for INTL chapter 13 tho. And... I haven't even really started the 2nd scene... it's been transition stuff...
I still plan on putting 2 more scenes after this đđđđđ this is gonna be a bit of a long chapter too
#speculation nation#itnl shit#honestly tho the short lil chapters wasnt gonna last forever#it is in my nature to have chapters increase in length over time#in discacc chapters started 6k-10k words ish. per chapter#but it devolved into 12k word MINIMUM with chapters typically being 15k If Not More#longest one i think was 25k? maybe more? i still think Sol is the longest one#anyways. im trying to keep from going THAT long with itnl chapters#but 4k per chapter just is not something i can do lol#im trying to hit certain story beats per chapter oj#ok*#i wanted this to be geo plant chapter but it's not gonna be. this transition stuff is taking too long.#which is... okay... it's probably for the best.#giving readers a chance to Breathe#ive got some important vash & meryl development this chapter and im EXCITED#mostly vash is being a horrible hospital patient lmfao. absolutely atrocious. and he is paying for it in pain.#he thinks it's worth it tho. but the girls are Very Worried about him.#anyways time 2 get ready for work. ugh.
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Electric Trains are the Future Chapter 10: An Unexpected Disruption
Previous Chapter (9) - Current Chapter - Next Chapter (11)
We hit the angsty part today, sorry. Well, next chapter is the angst, this chapter is the catalyst. But for now, we send the group to go find a new village! We're ramping up for the climax of the first part, and then we're on to new pastures!
Chapter Summary: Jubilife needs to expand with all of the incoming immigrants, and Ingo and Akari are the right people for the job! Chapter Word Count: 4848 Chapter Warnings: Major Character Injury (Skip from the blue text to the next linebreak)
As always, read here or on AO3 with additional notes! Reblogs and comments are always appreciated.
-
13 Weeks since Elesaâs Disappearance
âSorry, Uncle, but it seems that Solgaleo canât get a lead on it,â Elio says, stroking the fur on their giant lion before feeding it a malasada. âHe can feel that a Wormhole was here, yeah, but he canât really get anything else.â
Emmet is standing with Elio and Volo down Tunnel 3 in the Nimbasa Subway System, in the approximate location where Ingo had disappeared during an inspection. Emmet clearly remembers what had happened. Several Depot Agents had seen figures of Pokemon rushing out of the way of trains in Tunnels 3 and 4, and once they were able to shut the lines down, Ingo and Emmet had split up to check each tunnel.
Ingo never came back. Emmet had found a small purple Pokemon, incredibly injured from when it had been clipped by a train. When he described it to Elio, the young Champion had exclaimed it mustâve been a Poipole. Emmet had cared for the Pokemon for a time before it suddenly disappeared.
Just like Ingo.
âUncle?â Elioâs voice snaps Emmet out of his reminiscence, and he turns to face Elio. âAre you ok?â
âI am Emmet. I was thinking. I am fine, yup,â Emmet says, his smile looking verrrrrry tired, but still real. âThis is where Ingo disappeared. An Ultra Wormhole makes sense.â He nods, and looks over as Volo clears his throat.
âSince we didnât get any leads, should we get going?â He was back in his baggy blue hoodie, hands buried into the pockets. âWe did make plans to talk with Cynthia.â The âoldâ man began to tap his foot and look around the group. âAnd I really donât like how these tunnels feel. I feel like Iâm being watched.â
âYes,â Emmet says, turning and beginning to walk down the tunnel, back towards the Subway terminal. âWe should get going.â
â
16 Weeks since Elesaâs Arrival
The sun in the coastlands was brutal now that summer was beginning to roll in. With how bitterly cold the winters got, and how the Icelands stayed under a constant sheet of ice, one would expect cooler summers. But Ingo was a Unovan. He lived just as far north there as he did here, and he knows how hot the streets can get in the height of summer.
Elesa and Miss Akari, meanwhile, managed the heat by wearing lighter clothing for the expedition. Miss Akari had changed into the pajama shirt sheâd worn when she first arrived and wore thinner pants that covered her legs, and Elesa had modified yet another uniform to be thinner with removed sleeves, and shortened her pants to capri length. Ingo refused to remove his coat and hat, though he had the sense to remove his Pearl Clan tunic. If they came across Palina, he was sure sheâd understand.
âSo, game plan!â Miss Akari says, putting a map of the Coastlands down on the table for both adults to see. âKamado and Sanqua want us to find the best place to build an additional settlement for the Galaxy Expedition Team. Weâve been getting a lot of new incomers, and Jubilife is almost full!â The girl smiles and nods, satisfied with her explanation.
âWe also need to remember to plot our course around Pearl and Diamond Clan lands,â Ingo says, picking up the fountain pen that he had haggled from Ginter, and circling the upper cliffs of the bay, and the area around Aipom Hill. âIf we put tracks on these lands, we not only break the treaties, but risk discontent. The Clans and Jubilife are allies and on good terms, but if we accidentally start an invasion, then we have forgotten about safety checks and gone into a dangerous tunnel.â
Elesa swats his shoulder softly, drawing his look. âWeâre not going to start anything, you Worry Seed! I donât think Akari is that dumb!â She very much leaves the implication that Akari is dumb enough for other things unsaid.
Akari, thankfully, didnât catch on, and motioned for the pen from Ingo. âYeah, Iâm not gonna start nothinâ,â she says, circling the area at the end of the bottom hook of the bay, where the sand spreads out like a hand. âWe already have a base camp here at Sandâs Reach, and itâs far enough from where Basculegion usually rests that it shouldnât be an issue.â
The trio look at the map for a few moments, plotting the various courses there. Eventually, Ingo speaks up. âThough we already do now, we would have to route freight lines for the settlement through Aipom Hill itself, most likely right where Iscan lives.â He reaches over and grabs a pencil this time, marking the path of least resistance from the beach of Gingko Landing to Sandâs Reach. âWhile Iâm sure he will be fine with us simply having a route past his house, it might cause a logistical problem down the line.â
âWhat?â Akari looks at the map intensely for a few moments, then shakes her head. âThey donât need to go that close to the cliffs, Uncle Ingo! Thereâs other ways through that pass!â She grabs the pencil as soon as Ingo sets it down, and amends his route to cut north of the pass, right over the mountains.
Elesa sighs as Ingo carries on. âMiss Akari, you forget that you and I have the ease of Lady Sneaslerâs help. Even with her, we make only a two-car train. But if we need to build and supply a new village,â he smudges the line that she had made, then taps his original route, âthen we have a freight train and must go through the pass. We can check the route again today, but we would need to discuss the plans with Adaman and Iscan to be sure.â
Miss Akari crosses her arms and huffs, knowing that Ingo was right but not wanting to admit it. Ingo, meanwhile, was proud of himself. Once Kamado and Sanqua had learned that Ingo was the head of transportation for a region the size of Unova, they had asked him to help with the planning of the next settlement. Someone with such expertise in planning trade routes and roads for moving people was invaluable, and the Galaxy Team was not going to pass it up.
The silence is broken when Elesa taps a spot on the map, a lake across from Firespit Island. âWhat about here? Would this be a suitable place for the village, if we can find a way through the mountain?â Labeled under the name âSpring Pathâ, the lake was isolated from everywhere else unless they took a boat all the way around the Veilstone Cape. But in a straight line from where the trio were now, they would entirely avoid dealing with the Pearl Clan land that stretched down Veilstone and the Castaway Shore, as well as the area directly around Firespit.
Ingo and Miss Akari look up at each other, both trying to communicate silently. How steep were the cliffs? Was there a shallower part to take carts? Maybe a small cave system that could be extended, and kept lit so that Zubat didnât infest it? Were there any Alpha nearby that they would need to try and coax into relocating?
After a few moments of silently debating it between each other and alone, Miss Akari takes the pen and circles the lake. âThis might work. I havenât gone up here much, so I donât have the best idea of what we need to do. But,â swapping the pen for the pencil, she circles the area of the cliffs that separate the lake from the main area of the Coastland, âif we can find a way through here, itâs viable.âÂ
Ingo looks at the map to think of ways around Akariâs conundrum, and eventually he shrugs. Dancing in excitement of her victory, Akari rolls up the map and puts it away before pulling out her Arcphone and opening the map app on it. âSo, this one doesnât show any more detail at all. But I can have it track my movement so that it plots a path for us!â She holds her finger on the screen and puts a pin. âThere, itâll track us now!â
âThen letâs hope we donât have to go up and down cliffs, Akari,â Elesa says, ruffling the teenagerâs hair as she starts walking down towards the beach. âBut no use worrying about that until we get there. Might as well use the thing to route a way around the Alpha nests, no?â
The group carefully makes tracks through the Coastland, keeping off the sand itself to keep the path as straight as possible. The Alpha Walrein that normally rests on the coast north of the cliffs had decided to come visit the main coastline with their children, which Ingo made sure to note down as a potential obstacle to future routing.Â
To say nothing of the normal Alpha Drapion, whose Skorupi minions caught wind of the trio as they passed by, even with the wide berth. Ingo didnât miss the larger Pokemon trudge towards the edge of its territory. Nor did he miss the fact that it trailed their movement as they skirted around the Pokemonâs nesting area.Â
Just from those two brief encounters, Ingo was second guessing this potential location. With this many Alphas nearby, most traders wouldnât want to take the route, even with easy tracks for them to follow, let alone villagers with little protection. Gripping the brim of his cap, he looks down towards the ground as he walks, thinking to himself. Theyâve stuck to the cliffs to the west of the area, barely staying in sight of these Alphas, yet the fact that they had to worry about them meant that they would have to worry about them again in the future.
Eventually though, Akari pops her hand up, her phone screen lit up. âWeâre at the point!â She puts her hands to her hips triumphantly and looks around expectantly, though Ingo was unsure what she was hoping to find. All he could see was a cliff.
âAkari?â Elesa asks, tapping the teen on the head. âWhat are you Seaking? Cause Iâm not seeing much of a path.â Ingo had to agree with her, there wasnât much of a path at all. He knew to the east was a path up the cliffs towards Veilstone Cape, and eventually to Lord Arcanineâs grave. But that went in the opposite direction, and was decidedly in Pearl Clan territory.
Miss Akari crosses her arms and looks out east anyway. âWe could see if thereâs a place on the path that way that could either be workable, or maybe carved into a path with Pokemon?â It seems that Miss Akari had already given up on the idea of using this as a way to keep out of Clan territory, and she didnât even sound too sure of it herself.Â
Ingo opens his mouth to speak, but Elesa cuts him off. âThat could be the case,â she says, walking past Miss Akari while tapping her chin. âHow about this, Skiddo. Iâll go check that path for places we can use, and you two,â she pauses, pointing at Ingo and Miss Akari before pointing up the cliff and continuing, âcan HM08 your way up the cliff and look for a way down on the other side.â
Ingo frowns, not that there is much of an outwardly difference. âI am not sure thatâs the track to go with, Elesa. Honestly, that proves that this route is unsustainable for travel if we are needing to make concessions before construction begins. Always remember your safety checks, as Emmet would say.â
âAnd safety checks are why Iâm having you two check up there,â Elesa says, gesturing to the cliff face again. âSticking to the path down here isnât too rough, so I can Gogoat around with ease!â She pops a cute little pose, putting her hand on her hip and popping it to the side while flashing a peace sign up by her face. Ingo had to struggle not to laugh at her joke, since he was trying to prove a point of not approving of the plan.Â
But before the point could be argued, the pair were surprised by Akari blowing two loud notes from her Celestica Flute, then looking at the pair with a smile. âSneaslerâs on her way!â Elesa pumps her fists in excitement while Ingo just gives her a flat look.
âFine,â Ingo says, pulling his cap down a bit to cover his eyes. âOnce my Lady arrives, we can depart from this station.â Miss Akari dances in place in joy, then high fives Elesa. Ingo stews, having been betrayed by not only his adoptive niece, but by his own girlfriend.Â
After a few minutes, Lady Sneasler climbs down the cliff that Ingo and Akari were about to scale. Elesa waves as she turns to head off, and Miss Akari climbs up into Lady Sneaslerâs riding basket. âNow, my Lady,â Ingo says as he walks toward the cliff with his hands behind his back, âweâre planning on checking if the cliffs on the other side are conducive to regular travel.â Sneasler has a look of realization across her face, then nods enthusiastically. âI know that you would be able to traverse it easily, so Miss Akari and I need to check for ease of human travel.âÂ
Sneasler rolls her eyes and points at Ingo. âSnea?â Ingo just nods, and she shrugs before starting her way up the cliff. Adorably, Miss Akari sticks her arm out and waves at Ingo now that the basket is facing him, and Ingo waves back, his eyes crinkling slightly in his own kind of smile. Once Lady Sneasler gets a good distance up, her claws easily digging into and gripping the stone, Ingo begins to climb, finding the best path of handholds and footholds that he could.
The climb up looks like it will be easy, with plenty of handholds in view already, though it would take some time to actually traverse, giving Ingo the time to think. Since Elesa arrived, Unova not only had a name in his mind, but it was actually a real place to return to. Elesa would definitely go home, sheâs talked about it a few times since sheâs been here, and he thinks she may be getting homesick with how heâs been catching her looking at her Xtransciever.
Ingo missed Unova as well. He missed his mother Eiko in Anville; he missed his uncle Drayden and cousin Iris in Opelucid; he missed the sound of the Subway running down the tunnels as he would rest between battles. He missed his daily life with Emmet, and their teams, all 14 Pokemon and two humans in one house, existing together.
But can they even go back? Ingo remembers a few days after Elesa arrived, Miss Akari had admitted that she probably wouldnât be able to send her or Ingo back. The fabric of time-space was still weak, and Dialga and Palkia were apparently refusing to do anything like that again. She said she had another plan, but nothing came up after that. Ingo wasnât sure if the plan was being worked on or not, but the young girl had thrown herself into the Pokedex soon after.
And can Ingo even go back? Heâs a Warden, an important member of the Pearl Clan, even if he doesnât spend too much time around the Clan as a whole because of his duties and the general discomfort that the others felt with his origins. And in Jubilife, he was expected to conduct the Galaxy Team and various villagers in battling, teaching them how Pokemon battles work and how to properly care for them. He also had friends among the Wardens and Leaders, and each attachment was beginning to feel like a chain.
Ah, he has reached his destination. Ingo pulls himself up over the cliffâs edge, nodding to Miss Akari and Lady Sneasler, who were chatting as they waited for him. Even after 2 years of climbing the cliffs alongside her, Ingo could never match Lady Sneaslerâs speed. âI have arrived at the station,â he calls out to grab their attention, gripping his hat.
Miss Akari jumps over to him and points away from the cliff, in the general direction of their destination. âThen weâre set! Letâs go check out the path!â Without a momentâs more wait, she starts moving. Lady Sneasler takes a moment to look back at Ingo, as if asking if she should follow, and all Ingo can do is shrug before following himself.Â
After a few minutes of walking through what was honestly a calm route, Ingo speaks up. âSo, Miss Akari, I do feel the need to ask.â Once heâs sure that the girl is listening, he continues. âJust as you donât know the stations and towns in Unova, I donât know those in Sinnoh. Is there actually a town here in your time?â
Miss Akari chews her bottom lip in thought for a moment before answering Ingoâs question, which he took as a sign that his suspicions were right. âReally, Iâm not sure. Veilstone is supposed to be in this area, but the coastline is really different.â She pouts and puffs her cheeks out slightly. âI feel like the cape that Arcanine is buried on has either eroded or was taken down somehow, âcause that is not there back home.â
Ingo brings his hand from his cap and strokes his beard in thought. âThat is a lot of stone to remove in a century and a half.â
âItâs a big change, yeahâŠâ Akari says with a sigh. âNot only that, but Eterna, Oreburgh, and Floaroma seem to be in different places if their names are in the right spots, and Jubilife is Canalave in our time. I couldâve missed that sort of thing in school, but it feels wrongâ
âIf it helps, there are historical references to my position in this era,â Ingo says quickly, hoping to stop Akari from a potential spiral. âIt was a joke my brother and I would share, so if we are indeed from the same 2022, then this is indeed the past of your region.â They walked silently for a few moments before he continued down similar tracks.
âHave you made any progress on returning us to our original homes?â Ingo had stayed behind by a pace or two while they walked, so he was able to see Akari stop in her spot, and so he stopped as well to let her think.
After a moment, Akari pulls out her Pokedex and turns to show him the filled out page for Munchlax. âI caught my last Pokemon yesterday morning. My Pokedex is complete, outside of one page that I think is⊠The Pokemon that sent me here.â Sheâd mentioned this Pokemon before, a deity from her region supposedly. She puts the Pokedex away and steps over, pulling out the phone that she had with her. âThe page appeared after I got this text.â
Come to the Temple of Sinnoh for your final test.
âAccording to Arceus,â Akari says with a grimace at acknowledging who she thinks brought her here, âI should be going to the Highlands to see Him.â She sighs and puts the phone to her mouth, biting the small protrusion on the top before leaning against Ingo. âI was afraid to go, and leave you two behind. And not get to tell people good-bye.â
Ah, Ingo could see the problem. She was worried about the same thing he was, having put roots into Hisui, only to rip them up. âI miss home, Uncle Ingo,â she says softly, staying leaned up against his arm. âI miss my mom, I miss Auntie Cynthia, I miss Lucas and Barry. But Iâm also scared to leave here, âcause Iâll miss everyone, like Rei, Irida, Adaman, LaventonâŠâ
Ingo lets her linger for a second as he thinks. Akari had begun to feel truly at home, which makes sense. Sheâs still a child, in the bigger picture, and despite the trials she went through here with Volo causing the rifts and Kamadoâs less than stellar reactions to disaster, sheâd found a place to be comfortable. She had adults to rely on, a friend her age to spend time with, Pokemon to bond to. He could see her dilemma quite clearly.
Sighing, Ingo reaches up and takes his hat off, then plops it down onto Akariâs head. As she looks at him with a soft giggle, he points a finger upwards while keeping her left arm behind his back. âFollow the rules. Safe driving!â He steps back and points at her. âFollow the schedule. Now, everybody smile!â He pauses briefly to let her smile, before asking softly, âHave you checked safety?âÂ
Giggling through a smile now, Akari nods and mimics his current stance, putting her left hand up and her right behind her back. Sheâs been through this before. Even before Ingo remembered his past, heâd remembered this phrase, and often used it to help cheer her up during rough days. âEverythingâs ready!â They both click their feet together and spin to face their path, pointing outwards before shouting âALL ABOARD!â
Akari struggles to not fall into a giggle fit, and Ingo smiles at her, a genuine soft smile, before snatching his hat back. Akari immediately tries to grab it back while he holds it high above her head. âYou can have a hat when you are a depot agent, young lady.â
âFine then,â Akari says with a huff, crossing her arms and facing away. âIâll be a depot agent, and fight so well that Iâll replace you in the Single Lines!â The both share a laugh, Ingoâs echoing off of the cliffs around them and nearly covering Akariâs entirely. After they calm down, Akari bumps her shoulder against Ingo and points at the cliff ahead. âWeâre here!â
The pair approach the cliff and look over the landscape below. Itâs nearly a sheer drop from their position, with the need of either Pokemon assistance in this time period, or machine-made paths in their time. Looking down, Ingo could see several swarms of Mothim in the area, including two Alphas actively engaged in a territory dispute. He lets the silence hang for a moment before gripping his hat. âThis line is a bust, Miss Akari.â
His teenage passenger stays silent a moment longer before pointing over at the raised rock formation in the center of the area. âWell, thereâs the lake. I recognize this area,â she says, her shoulders slumping. âItâs where I caught Giratina. Thereâs a cave on the water inside of the crater.â She kicks a rock by her foot, launching it over the edge of the cliff in front of them and tumbling down. âI came by the water last time, so I forgot it was this areaâŠâ
As the girl starts to wallow, Ingo pats her shoulder. âItâs fine, Miss Akari. Even if this line did not lead to a station, it is still information to use for future expeditions.â He watches her look out at the area below them and then pick herself back up. âNow, let us reverse course and return to our previous station. We shouldnât keep Elesa waiting.â
âYeah, donât wanna keep Auntie held up much longer,â Akari says with a half-hearted grin, turning around on her heel and starting back towards the far cliff they had climbed. The way she swung her arms mirrors how Emmet had always walked when he got excited, swinging like the stiff arms of a toy soldier or nutcracker. âBesides, itâs not all bad, we got some exercise!â
âWe get exercise daily, Miss Akari,â Ingo says, laughing as he falls in line with Lady Sneasler. âWe couldâve used this time to prepare the route to the base camp and discuss plans with Iscan.â He didnât want to rain on her parade entirely, but she had delayed their course pretty heavily.
âOh, itâll be fine.â Akari waves her hand in dismissal. âI know for a fact that the camp becomes a city in Sinnoh. Itâs Sunyshore, the last city before the Elite Four.â She spreads her arms wide like sheâs showing Ingo a floating image of the town. âA few buildings built on the shore, with raised platforms of solar panels that you can walk on to access the Lighthouse or Volknerâs Electric-type Gym.â She turns around and walks backwards so she can shoot finger guns at Ingo. âPretty sweet, yeah?â
âSo it was the correct choice, and this was a whim.â Again, Ingo didnât want to actively rain on her parade, but this was absurd. They had spent almost two hours on this diversion, and it was completely unneeded. All it had done was send Akariâs mental state into disarray thinking she had been derailed so heavily that her future didnât exist here for a brief moment.
âWell, kinda, yeah,â Akari says, visibly deflating and turning back around. âI was thinking we could find a place for Veilstone, but yeah, this was⊠This was kinda useless. Sorry.â Lady Sneasler shoots Ingo a tired look, basically reading as You donât know how to talk to kids, and trots to catch up to the teenager, licking at her hair. âHey! Sneasler! My hair is fine, I donât need to be groomed!â
Ingo breathes in deeply and sighs before stopping next to the two parked girls. âI was not trying to imply that you made a worthless decision, Miss Akari.â Normally, he was the one to put out the bad news to an employee at work, as Emmet was far too blunt for his own good or Cameronâs self-esteem, but with the girl who genuinely saw him as an uncle figure, he was struggling. âSimply that this wouldâve been better done by checking here after we had set up the other line. Weâve lost daylight, yes, but not the way.â He pauses for a moment, trying to think of how to wrap this up, though Akari cuts him off instead.
âYouâre good, Uncle Ingo,â she says, reaching out to gently shove him. âIt just sucks being wrong, yâknow? Especially when it normally works ou-â Akari pauses suddenly, her brows furrowing and her head snapping towards the cliffs that they were approaching. âDo you hear battling, Uncle?â
That sets off alarms in Ingoâs head, and he tilts his head to listen closer. He hears the Growlithe in the distance running through the trees, the occasional Staravia or Chatot flying by, but beneath it, yes, he can hear a battle. There was a pattern to it, and then what sounded like a burst from a generator. Elesa was battling something.
âShe needs our help,â Ingo says, immediately making for the cliff and looking down to see his partner fighting off the Alpha Drapion from earlier. It had seemed interested, and apparently enough so to leave its nesting area to investigate what they were doing. Looking back, he calls to Akari, âSheâs fighting an Alpha, we should move to assist! All aboard!â
He turns back as Akari starts scrambling into Lady Sneaslerâs basket, and kneels down to look for a foothold on the cliff face. Seeing one, he plants his hand and pivots, briefly hanging off a loose grip before his foot lands on the hold, and then he braces himself. A hurried Lady Sneasler comes over the cliffâs edge now, turning in midair to sink her claws into the stone, and quickly makes her way down the cliff.
Ingo moves fast to keep pace, moving from handhold to handhold, foothold to foothold in practiced motions. Release my hands here, plant my feet here, grip my hand here. Release here, plant here, grip here. Release, plant, grip.
Cool your engines, Ingo! Remember your safety checks! Is everything ready?
Before he can react, the small ledge where Ingo had planted his foot crumbles under his full weight, not only leaving him with no support from below, but also causing gravity to tear his fingers from the stone they were clutching.Â
Itâs a short fall to the next ledge, his extended right leg meeting it full force, and he can feel the bone snap, the pain nearly causing him to black out. He falls backwards, twisting to try and catch himself, his head barely missing the edge as he free falls for a moment. He swears he hears Akari and Sneasler, but he canât focus to hear as the ground is now rapidly approaching him. Tuck and roll enters his mind, but he canât get his body to respond, still twisting itself to try and right itself.
His shoulder connects with the ground, the bone snapping audibly before his head hits next. His flip completes as he slides across the ground on his back, and finally blacks out.
â
In Sinnoh, 16 weeks after Elesa had disappeared into a space-time distortion, Emmet falls to the forest floor and lets out a loud scream as he clasps his left arm.
#submas#submas fic#pokemon legends arceus#pokemon legends arceus fic#warden ingo#subway master ingo#pokemon ingo#ingo#gym leader elesa#pokemon elesa#elesa#pokemon akari#akari#major character injury (fic)#electric trains fic#my writing#I found out today that you can't underline on tumblr. That's dumb.#The next few chapters do get pretty angsty but it'll be ok all will be well#who fucking cares about spoilers I want to assure you instead#also this is the longest chapter so far lul#whoops
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alright its finally time for GOLD SILVER AND CRYSTAL BABEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
#I LOVE JOHTRIO SOOOO FUCKING MUCH IM SO EXCITED TO SEE THEM AGAIN. I LOVEEEEEEEE THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH#serena.txt#pksp reread#gsc reread#<- this is the tag i'll be using. doesn't really roll off the tongue but its ok.....#anyways strap in guys this is the longest chapter of the whole series so we're gonna be here for a while LOL
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when your favorite work isn't everyone else's favorite đ
#bones talks#ok well second favorite#my whumptober is my top favorite because it was so fun and such a great experience#and is probably everyone elses favorite too#but my second favorite and longest work goes unloved đđ#i think theres something to be said about serialization#i really need to split my long stuff into chapters#i just like dropping 20/30/40k fics and then dipping#not that i do it often but i do like doing it
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