Chapter Text
Bright light was the first thing he became aware of. The light stabbed through his eyelids, causing an instant headache and making him aware of all the aches and pains in his entire form. The next thing he noticed was the noise. Loud voices, speaking gibberish, crashed into him and amplified his hurts. Finally, he felt hands on him, pulling him out of his resting place.
The hands on his body ignited the wounds, which still hadn’t healed, causing even more pain. He felt himself be lowered to the ground, and all he knew was pain as the voices kept speaking.
“...ny..”
“Yo… jesty….”
“..an’t hea... us…”
As the pain receded somewhat, the world around him seemed to come into focus.
“Danny!”
The voices finally resolved into words, and he recognized that name. Slowly, ever so slowly, he cracked his eyelids open. He was rewarded with light like daggers once again, and scrunched his eyes closed immediately.
“Bring me the chalice,” a familiar male voice said. He couldn’t place it though.
“Here it is,” a warm voice said, presumably to the man. This voice calmed him, and he relaxed into the sturdy hold of whatever he rested against. Suddenly something cool pressed against his lips, and he immediately accepted the liquid, drinking it quickly.
“Slow down Babypop,” another familiar voice laughed. He realized arms were holding him in a seated position. He listened to this voice, and drank slowly, the water (was it water? It had a tangy aftertaste) restoring some of his strength. After an eternity, his headache receded as well.
Finally, he was able to open his eyes. He looked up and saw three very familiar faces smiling down at him. Two women, one with blazing blue hair and the other with a green braid. The man was more like a cyborg, with metal armor for skin and a smirk on his face.
“W-what…?” he tried, only to cough and sputter.
The woman with the green braid spoke first. “Your ma- erm, D-Danny,” she said, and he remembered that was his name. “You have been asleep for a long time. We finally found the Skeleton Key and were able to free you.”
Danny’s head spun. He had no idea what she was talking about.
“Do you remember what happened?” the blue haired woman asked, concern creasing her features.
Danny slowly shook his head, closing his eyes again to try to remember.
“Of course the whelp doesn't remember!” the cyborg said -Skulker, Danny suddenly remembered. “He’s always been useless! He made a terrible king anyway, I don’t know why we thought this would work!”
“Hush babe!” Ember, Danny also remembered, hissed. “He’s been in there for almost a century, give him a break!”
“Danny?” the other woman asked, in a much gentler tone. “What do you remember?”
Cautiously, Danny opened his eyes again, trying to wrack his memory. “I-I’m not -s-sure…” he stuttered.
“That is alright,” she smiled. “We will help you remember, and determine what to do next.” She squeezed his shoulders in reassurance, and he realized she had been holding him up.
Danny took a deep breath and glanced around the room he was in. It looked like a throne room in an old Dracula movie. The high arches, stones carved like human skulls, torches, and candles all would be exactly how Sam would want to decorate her home.
Sam.
With a gasp, Danny sat up completely straight, mind swimming. The sudden movement caused pain to lance through his body, but he couldn’t let it distract him.
“What?” all three of his rescuers asked at once.
“Sam!” Danny rhasped, panicking. “D-did you say… Have I been asleep f-for a HUNDRED years???”
The woman Danny now recognized as Princess Dorathea, the ghost princess, looked down at the floor sadly, not meeting his eyes. Danny swung around to Ember and Skulker, who also looked away. He thought he saw brief flashes of shame cross their faces.
“There’s no way.”
“Your Highness,” Princess Dorathea said.
“Stop!” Danny tried to shout, but it came out as a cough. “S-stop with that,” he managed.
“He’s right Princess D,” Ember said. “He’s not the King anymore.”
Danny swung back around to Ember. “Anymore?”
She had the decency to look abashed. “Sorry, Babypop, I forgot you don’t remember yet.”
Suddenly, Danny did remember. It was like waking up from a terrible dream, where you think the nightmare is reality but then your real life floods back in. Only in his case, his reality was the nightmare.
He remembered taking the throne. That had been great, for all of five years. He remembered trying to abdicate, and the Observants intervening. He remembered Vlad. And, in a very hazy memory filled with pain, he recalled being shoved into a sarcophagus. Then nothing.
Danny pulled his knees up to his chest and curled into himself.
This wasn’t happening.
This couldn’t be happening.
Please.