Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

          Jason had a shitty life.

          That was a fact and there was no point in ignoring it.

          Jason had a shitty life when his dad abused him, and his mom turned to drugs.

          He had a shitty life when Two-Face killed his dad, and he was forced to take care of his mom.

          He had a shitty life when his mom overdosed and died.

          He had a shitty life when he lived on the streets and had to steal to survive.

          He had a shitty life when Batman kidnapped him after he tried to steal the man’s tires.

          Jason had a slightly less shitty life when Bruce Wayne, the Batman, adopted him.

          Jason’s shitty life started to look up when he became Robin at thirteen.

          He had good grades and got to beat up bad guys at night. Every kid wanted to be a superhero and he got to live that dream. Jason got to yell quips and insults as much as he wanted. He got to give back to Crime Alley and protect Gotham’s people. It was the happiest Jason had been since the day he was born. Jason quickly learned that vigilantism was extremely dangerous.

          Jason used his intelligence to find his birthmother once he realized the woman he had known was actually his stepmom. That was when it all went downhill. When he found his mother, she led him right to the Joker. The madman trapped Jason and beat him with a crowbar. Most of his bones were broken as he watched the timer on a bomb tick down. When it hit the moment of six seconds left, Jason gave up. Bruce wouldn’t be able to save him. And he couldn’t.

          Jason died in the fiery blaze of an explosion. He spent the last six seconds of his life mourning all the things he would never do. He had worked so hard for a provisional driver's license and he was only a couple of months from the official test. Jason would never go to prom or graduation. He would never go to college or legally drink alcohol. Jason would never fall in love or have kids. He would never raise a family of his own. He would never get to see Dick say that he liked having Jason as his little brother. Jason mourned the loss of his life. And he died.

          The part that Jason wasn’t expecting was seemingly waking up in a very green place before promptly passing out. Eh, he was dead, how could the green possibly matter? Wait. Did he see someone with white hair and neon green eyes or was he hallucinating? Oh, that would be a problem for future Jason, assuming he was still capable of conscious thought after death.

          Jason was so tired of his shitty life. At least it was over.

Chapter Text

          Danny wasn’t having a very good half-life. He had been crowned one month prior and had immediately told his parents everything. They… hadn’t reacted the best. Jazz said that it was okay for him to not be ready to talk about it. That was the thing, Danny couldn’t find a single decent explanation for why it was so much easier to talk about his own death than what his parents had done to him. No. They weren’t his parents, not anymore.

          Danny could think about what Madeline and Jackson had done — ancients, it was all he could think about! — but he couldn’t vocalize those thoughts. The memory of what they did haunted him. Danny could remember it all. Every. Damn. Second.

          Danny couldn’t go one night since the incident without having nightmares about his moth- Maddie cutting into him with a scalpel. The Y incision marred the flesh and ecto of his stomach. Danny remembered the pain. He remembered screaming but the sound going unheard because the Fentons had put an anti-ghost muzzle on him. Danny remembered the feeling of Jack poking at his intestines. He remembered when the same large hands that had held him when he came out as trans began to strategically break his ribs out of the way. Danny explicitly remembered Maddie ripping his heart out of his chest.

          Danny remembered the moment Jack spotted his core. He remembered watching as Maddie reached towards it. He remembered being filled with new energy. Danny remembered a crackling sound and then Maddie was on the floor. Jack yelled and Danny put all his strength into breaking the cuffs around his wrists and ankles. He couldn’t get free. His saving grace came when the lab door opened. Jazz had heard Jack’s yell.

          Danny couldn’t remember anything very well after that, but Jazz told Danny that she had watched him tase Jack before seeming to seize. She said she got him free and texted one of the group chats about the situation, before rushing Danny through the portal. Lady Persephone was on the other side and got the three of them to the Far Frozen instantaneously. Frostbite kept Danny alive while Persephone kept him in his ghost form. If, at any point, Danny had reverted to human form, he would’ve died in less than a minute without his heart.

          Danny woke up five days later. Persephone was still by his side, still putting her energy into keeping him a ghost. Danny had fully reformed his heart two hours later. His ribs took another four hours. With the ecto-supplements, Danny was healed almost entirely only two days later. In thanks, Danny appointed Frostbite the official royal doctor and gifted Persephone a massive greenhouse in Phantom’s Keep.

          The moment Danny was healed enough, he had a couple of renovations done to Phantom’s Keep. He had a large room turned into a medical center with two doors. One led outside as an entrance for the public of the Infinite Realms if they ever needed care and the second door was the royal entrance that lead to the rest of the Keep. Danny had a second, smaller, and extra private, medical office made for when he or someone he knew was in need of extensive care. Danny also overlooked the building of the greenhouse he promised Persephone.

          The Far Frozen had relocated itself to being only a couple minutes' flight from Phantom’s Keep. The yetis didn’t seem distraught about this development and Frostbite explained that stuff moved in the Infinite Realms all the time. The only time things were stationary was when they were willed to be by the ruler. Since Danny had subconsciously wished that Frostbite wasn’t such a far distance away, the Realms themselves had worked to satisfy him.

          Danny had asked Frostbite how he had shocked the Fentons, and the yeti told him he would need another core exam done. After the appointment, Frostbite explained that cores had layers. The inner core was the memories and emotions of a person past. The inner core was essentially the essence and soul. The outer core was the part that worked as a shield for the inner core. The outer core always had an element of sorts. Danny’s ice came from his outer core.

          That was when Frostbite explained that on very rare occasions, a ghost could have what was known as a middle core. The middle core would also act as a shield to the inner core. It was the final defense. The middle core would also have an element of sorts, but it was hard to realize that someone even had a middle core because the outer core covered and hid it. Danny, as it seemed, had a middle core. It was an electric core.

          Danny stayed in the Realms and trained his abilities. There was no point in going back to the Living Realm. All of Amity Park’s ghosts only went there to fulfill their obsessions. They only fought him and threatened the townspeople to fulfill his protection obsession. Now that their newly coronated king had been so viciously attacked, they wouldn’t dare to cross into the Living Realm without his permission.

          Jazz told Danny that she had gotten emancipated and was going to finish high school online. Danny officially and legally recognized Jazz, Tucker, and Sam as citizens of the Infinite Realms, even if they were only liminal. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz worked together to dismantle the Fentons’ portal and destroy all of their notes on the invention. They used the Infi-map to find a natural portal and reenter the Infinite Realms.

          Ellie finished her travels and joined Danny in the Infinite Realms. She claimed her right as First Princess to the Throne. Jazz ended up claiming her right as Second Princess to the Throne. Sam was given the role of Palace Groundskeeper and Gardener along with the responsibility of occasionally collecting souls that were past their time on Earth. Tucker started working with Ghostwriter as the Royal Records Keepers and he was given the job of handling any issues relating to the Living Realm.

          Danny was taught by Wulf how to open his own portals. On occasion, a ghost would enter the throne room of Phantom’s Keep and petition for Danny to let them fulfill their obsession. Danny would open a portal to a random small town in America but would supervise to make sure that both the ghosts and humans left all encounters unharmed. Danny taught Ellie this skill so that she could help Sam, Jazz, and Tucker into and out of the Realms if they needed it. All in all, Danny thought he was doing well during his first few weeks as king.

          Clockwork informed Danny that two days in the Living Realm felt like twenty-eight days in the Infinite Realms, so a little over twenty-six days living time (LT) felt like one year dead time (DT). Based on that information, Danny quickly found that during the week he healed DT, less than a day had passed LT. Clockwork also told Danny that his body would physically age LT, so a little over thirteen years could pass DT and he would only physically age one year LT.

          With the knowledge Clockwork imparted upon him, Danny spent the next year DT getting his shit in order without feeling like he was being a shitty friend. Sure, for him it felt like a year, but for them, it was a little over three weeks. After his first year DT as king, Danny felt like he got the hang of things. He had met everyone he needed to and had worked his way through a lot of paperwork. He had been summoned to the Living Realm about three times, but it wasn’t too annoying. After the first year, Danny felt ready for anything. Oh, how wrong he was.

          Danny had been on his way back to the Keep from Clockwork’s when he spotted it. A light blue liquidy substance appeared through a temporary crack in reality. It swirled for a moment before solidifying in an ovoid shape. Around the glowy blue egg shape, a fire seemed to light, completely enveloping the blue substance. Around the now flaming ovoid, ectoplasmic gas began to solidify into a humanoid body. Oh shit! Danny just watched a newly-dead form in the Realms. The ghost, entirely formed, opened their eyes for a moment and glanced at Danny before promptly passing the fuck out.

          Danny rushed towards the ghost and pulled them into a princess carry. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know the protocols for this kind of thing. Frostbite would probably know what to do. Danny rushed back home to the Keep and entered the private medical room. He placed the newly-dead on one of the two beds before running to get Frostbite. The yeti didn’t seem too distraught but allowed Danny to stay in the room nonetheless.

          Danny pulled up a chair next to the medical bed and waited. He could do paperwork anywhere in the Keep and he could push his meeting with the Observants to another day. Danny summoned his papers to himself and began reading through them. After hours, the ghost began to show signs of waking. Danny immediately bookmarked and put down the book he had begun reading. The ghost on the bed opened their eyes slowly and raised themself from their reclined position. They looked around the room, confused. Their eyes landed on Danny.

          Jason woke up slowly but didn’t open his eyes. He wanted to cry. If he was waking up, then he was still alive. Except, there was no pain. Jason forced his eyes open and was met with the sight of a hospital room, except it was off. Jason glanced around the room a bit before he noticed the whole ass person to his left. The boy had white hair and green eyes. Oh, so Jason wasn’t hallucinating earlier.

          The boy, Jason realized the longer he looked, was insanely pretty. His eyes weren’t just green, they glowed a green only a shade darker than neon. His hair seemed to defy gravity and it looked both silky and fluffy at the same time. The boy’s freckles seemed to glow like stars. The boy’s skin was very fair, except around his cheeks, which were tinted slightly green. The boy was smiling without showing his teeth.

          When Jason was done admiring the boy, he asked, “Where am I?”

          The boy responded — holy shit those were fangs!— in an adorable voice, “This is the private medical ward of Phantom’s Keep. Phantom’s Keep is sort of my castle. The Keep is found at the heart of the Infinite Realms. The Infinite Realms are sort of a flipside to Earth. Reality is like a penny, one face does not look exactly the same as the other. So, we use the term flipside rather than mirror dimension.”

          Jason took all of that in before asking, “Who are you?”

          The boy furrowed his brow and bit the inside of his cheek before answering, “In the longest of terms I am His Highness, Phantom, Ruler of the Infinite Realms, Emperor of the Dead, Lord of the Damned, Monarch of Fate, Keeper of Reality, and High King of Eternity. In the simplest of terms, my name is Phantom and I’m the Ghost King.”

          Jason blinked a few times at Phantom, “Okay. So, you are super important. Like I should probably be bowing before you. Respectfully, why are you waiting by my ghost hospital bed? Cause I am dead, right?”

          Phantom’s eyebrows furrowed again, and his eyes filled with great sadness, “Yeah. I am so sorry, by the way. I know it’s not easy and I personally took weeks to adjust and months to accept it. I’m here because I watched you enter the Realms and kind of freaked out. It was the first time I’ve ever seen someone, um, do that. It was honestly eye-opening, and I think my advisor purposefully had me leave his place at the time I did. He’s kinda the spirit of time. He goes by Clockwork, but he’s adopted many names throughout history. He’s a cryptic prick. Never explains anything properly.”

          “Sounds like you should fire him,” Jason said once Phantom had finished speaking — god those fangs were adorable. They should probably terrify Jason, but they were impossibly cute. Phantom’s laugh rang out and — holy shit! New favorite sound unlocked!— Jason smirked. The fucking King laughed out loud at Jason’s words before seeming to gather himself.

          “Some days I wish I could, but I think he’s too damn powerful for me to mess with. Most days though, I truly am glad to have him by my side. He should’ve kept the name Kronos though. Kronos is way cooler than Clockwork- Oh! I almost forgot! You need to pick a name. I’ve been referring to them as ecto-aliases. No one goes by their grave name in the Infinite Realms. They can cause dissociation, anxiety, paranoia, and even panic attacks.”

          “What exactly are ecto-aliases and grave names?” Jason inquired.

          Phantom blinked once before explaining, “Sorry, I forgot I can’t assume that a newly-dead knows anything. I didn’t want to make you feel like you were incompetent though. Shit, there must be some sort of middle ground for this kind of thing. Either way, a grave name is the name you had in life. It’s the name that would be on your tombstone if you got a marked grave. An ecto-alias is the name you’ll use during your afterlife.

          “Take a girl named Claire for example. Claire died in a really horrific way, like, I don’t know, let’s say she got violently murdered by her little brother. Now imagine the last thing she heard was something like, ‘Goodnight Claire.’ Now, hearing someone refer to her as Claire will cause her to have a panic attack. So, she chooses to use the name Trapeze or something because she was part of the circus and met her best friend when they were doing a trapeze act together. The name is comforting to her and solidifies her sense of self. It’s euphoric. Is that clear?”

          Jason nodded. Now that he thought about it, he probably didn’t want to be called Jason for the rest of time. There were too many bad memories linked to that name. If he came up with a new name for himself, he could shed those bad memories and start fresh. He could even link it to something comforting in his life. At the moment, he couldn’t think of a new name, but he’d think about it.

          “I’ll need time to think. For now, Blackbird will work, but I’ll definitely change it later,” Jason stated.

          “Okay, Blackbird,” Phantom said, “May I know your pronouns?”

          “Shit, yeah. I’m a guy. He/Him. Sorry, what are yours?”

          “I’m a boy and I use He/Him usually but am open to They/Them,” Phantom smiled warmly, this time with his teeth visible.

          Jason nodded before moving his legs. There was no pain, so Jason decided to try and get up. As he turned his body to the left edge of the bed, Phantom got up from his chair and offered him a hand. Jason took a moment to stare. His skin, from the tips of his fingers to his elbow, was almost like a reflection of the night sky. It was pitch black with stars decorating the expanse of his arms. Phantom’s nails were slightly long but didn’t quite count as claws. Jason felt a slight heat spread across his face. Shit! Jason hid his blush and took the offered hand.

          “No one looks quite ‘normal’ anymore,” Phantom said quietly, “Ghosts go through a sort of puberty. It’s called Obsessions Trance. Obsessions Trance is triggered by a ghost figuring out their obsession. An obsession is what ties us to reality. If a ghost doesn’t find their obsession within one hundred Earth years or so, their connection to reality will weaken and they’ll cease to exist. For example, I went through two Obsessions Trances. My first was stress-induced and I didn’t mutate much. My canines and the teeth next to my canines sharpened and I got more muscular than I previously was.

          “The second time it was a natural Obsessions Trance. It started over the course of five minutes and took an entire three hours for it to wane. That was when I developed most of the non-human features. The skin at my hands and feet looks like the night sky, my freckles look like constellations, and my ears are slightly pointed. I can even sharpen my nails and fingertips into claws when I’m pissed.”

          Jason found himself hating the prospect of having to go through a form of puberty a second time. However, getting cool features would be sick. “What are obsessions based on?”

          Phantom answered quickly, “They're based on either your ambitions, desires, and passions in life or your final thoughts. If you have two obsessions then, you’ll have one based on each. For me, my last thought was me planning on how I could protect my friends and I absolutely loved space, wanted to be an astronaut and everything. Now my obsessions are protection and space. At least they’re not self-destructive.”

          “Oh, I’ll probably have something related to protection. I did the whole vigilante thing when I was still alive,” Jason piped up.

          Phantom got that sad look again, “Teenage heroism isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. I was fourteen when I kicked the metaphorical bucket. That reminds me, am I allowed to know your age, Blackbird?”

          Jason blinked, “I was fifteen, would’ve been sixteen in September.”

          “Oh, I’m sorry. I would’ve turned fifteen on July 30^th. My deathday is coming up soon. August 6^th. I can’t wait for my sisters and friends to pity me,” Phantom said, sarcasm laced in his tone, as he picked up his book and led Jason toward the door.

          Jason frowned, “I’m sorry. Did you say fifteen on July 30^th? As in this year? You said you died at fourteen. How are you already king of a dimension?”

          Phantom shrugged, “The old king was a dumbass who thought he could fuck with my town. I did mention that my first trance was under high stress. I kicked his ass and was crowned the prince. I guess everyone realized that I hadn’t fully matured by ghost standards, so they held off on the coronation until my second trance ran its course.”

          Jason laughed at that and Phantom’s freckles physically glowed brighter — oh that is just unbearably adorable. He glows when he’s happy!

          Jason followed Phantom as they walked through the grand halls of Phantom’s Keep. They entered a kitchen of sorts and Phantom began speaking, “You can stay in a guestroom in the Keep as long as you need to adjust. It’ll be easier for you if there are some living and dead people at the same time. I don’t promise that they’ll be here often, but my friends and sisters do visit. They try to spend their weekends here, but every two days on Earth is a month here. The five days between Sunday and Saturday feel like two months and two weeks. It makes scheduling shit hell.”

          Jason hummed in vague acknowledgment. He was mostly focused on Phantom looking through the fridge. The boy had begun to float and was looking through the very bottom shelves. Don’t give him that. Dead or not Jason was a teenage boy. Phantom was cute. Jason’s thoughts were entirely normal. And it didn’t count as necrophilia if they were both dead. Probably.

          “Can you cook?” Phantom asked out of nowhere.

          “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can,” Jason responded, pulling his head out of the gutter.

          Phantom smiled brightly and placed a few ingredients on the counter, “Okay, then would you please cook for me? I’ve been banned from the kitchen ever since that time I managed set water on fire.”

          Jason’s eyes widened and he smirked, “Of course, your highness. I’ll cook for you. Just what do you want?”

          Phantom’s constellation freckles glowed brightly when Jason referred to him. “I- uhm, I know we have good chicken, so you can probably make something with that. I’m not hosting anyone, so it’s just you and me. I’m not a picky eater. Make whatever you want.”

          Jason kept his smirk on his face and began to stalk toward Phantom. The boy, only just fifteen, backed up against the counter. Jason got very close to Phantom, but he didn’t touch him. Instead, Jason reached around the boy king and picked up the packaged chicken. With his eyes locked on Phantom’s, Jason muttered, “I can work with this.”

          Jason backed away then. He grinned at the sight of Phantom’s blown pupils and shining freckles. He turned away and began to look around the kitchen for the needed spices and tools. He vaguely heard Phantom mention needing to check on some things with a person called Wight. Jason shrugged that off and fell into the calming rhythm of preparing a meal. When he had finished cooking, Jason plated the food. He set the two plates out on the island in the kitchen.

          Phantom reentered the room then. Together they ate in silence. Jason could feel a slight tension in the room as the two ghosts ate. Jason decided to let the tension be until Phantom decided to bring it up. When they were finished eating, Phantom used a sort of telekinesis to make the dishes wash themselves. The king then led Jason to the guest chambers. Jason and Phantom parted ways with a shared goodnights.

          Yeah, Jason had had a shitty life, but he had a feeling his afterlife would make up for it. If nothing else, Phantom was incredibly fun to tease.

Chapter Text

          When Jason woke up the next morning, it took him about five minutes to remember where he was. Oh. Right. He was dead. An uneasiness began to creep through Jason’s body, but he stamped it down as he always tried to do. In life, he had been too quick to feel and made reckless decisions because of that. Jason wouldn’t allow himself to make a mistake like he had with his mother. She had led him to… that clown… with the… the crowbar… and the bomb.

          Okay! That’s enough of that! Thinking about the circumstances of his death was clearly not a good idea. Jason realized that he had begun to hyperventilate and tried his best to calm his breathing. Jason was then struck by the realization he didn’t even need to breathe. He was most likely reflexively doing it. Wasn’t that something to ponder?

          Jason finally pulled himself off of the lavish bed he slept in that night. Did he need to sleep? Was that also reflexive? He should probably ask Phantom for the know-how on being dead. Jason looked around the room more than he had that previous night. He noticed three doors, one on each wall except the wall the bed was against. The first door stood in front of the foot of the bed, and Jason knew that it led back out into the hall. The doors to the left and right were a mystery.

          Jason walked to the right door and opened it. He was met with the sight of a large walk-in closet. Jason then crossed the room and opened the left door. The left door led to a bathroom. Did ghosts need to use the restroom? Did they even need to eat? Phantom had a kitchen and food. But Jason was dead. Did the dead still need to do normal things? Phantom had mentioned that the living people he knew often visited. Maybe the kitchen and bathrooms were for them.

          Jason left the room and began to wander the halls of Phantom’s Keep. He thought he remembered his way around, but quickly found out how wrong he was. Jason started to run down the halls rather than aimlessly wander. Getting lost was not on the day's agenda if Jason had any say about it. Jason found himself in front of large glass doors after about ten minutes. Past the translucent glass, Jason saw a vaguely humanoid shape. Maybe the person inside could point him in the right direction? Jason pushed open the glass doors and entered.

          The person inside the room was a woman. She had extremely pale skin and her hair was a minty green color. The woman turned toward Jason as he entered. She had red irises and blue lips. Jason froze and glanced around the room. It appeared to be a giant greenhouse.

          “Hello there,” the woman spoke suddenly. Jason noted the accent in her voice. It reminded him of a Spanish speaker from Spain. It was slightly different though. He nodded in acknowledgment of the fact the woman spoke. He then realized that it would be more polite to give some sort of response to the woman. Jason could feel the embarrassed flush come to his cheeks as he sheepishly waved at the minty-haired woman.

          She chuckled lightly and smiled, “I’m going to assume you’re King Phantom’s guest. Are you lost, dear? I can guide you back to his highness if you so wish it.”

          Jason simply nodded again. He had already made a fool of himself, and it was better to not make the ghost’s view of him worse. Instinctively, Jason felt as if the woman in front of him was both powerful and important. The way she held herself screamed high society. Jason watched as the woman stood from where she was previously kneeling next to a planter. She brushed off her pants before walking past Jason and out the doors. Shit. Following. Right, he had to follow.

          Jason caught up to the woman but stayed a couple of steps behind her. He fell into the same sort of rhythm with her that he usually had with Bruce. Oh. No, don’t think about Bruce. Jason and the ghost walked for a swift two minutes before they made a final turn into a very open room. At the back wall of the room was a grand throne. Flanking the throne to either side was a door.

          “Would you mind waiting here one moment?” the woman asked with a kind smile.

          Jason nodded silently and watched as the woman floated towards the door to the right of the throne. She knocked on the door and waited only a few seconds before it was opened. The person that opened the door looked like a younger, female version of Phantom. The only glaring difference besides the obvious was the fact that the girl didn’t seem to be touched by the night as Phantom himself had been. She had no star freckles or anything. She looked oddly human.

          “Lady Persephone,” the girl greeted the woman, “why is it that you have chosen to interrupt a meeting of the Inner Court?”

          The woman, now identified as the goddess Persephone, smiled sweetly at the teenage girl, “First Princess Phantasma, it is lovely to see you today. I apologize for the interruption, but King Phantom’s guest has awoken and got lost in the halls.”

          The princess glanced at Jason with a raised eyebrow before sighing, “Yeah, okay. Give us a minute to conclude and my brother will be right out.”

          The princess shut the door and left Jason alone with Persephone. The minty-haired goddess turned around and smiled at Jason. Jason stared back at the goddess with wide eyes. An awkward silence settled on the two of them. Suddenly, the door opened again. Princess Phantasma walked out with four others, including Phantom. The king flew over to Jason with a worried look on his face.

          “I heard you got lost. Are you okay? I should’ve given you a map. I know the Keep can confuse new people. I checked on you this morning, but I didn’t want to wake you. Sorry. I really should’ve given you a map. Please forgive me.”

          Jason smiled and relaxed his posture, “I’m fine, and you’re good. Really, it wasn’t that bad. My biggest question at the moment is whether or not Lady Persephone is actually a goddess.”

          Phantom blinked at Jason, glanced at Persephone, and then answered, “Well yeah. She and Lord Hades rule the Greek Underworld together.”

          Jason nodded along before asking, “And how does that work, you know, politically?”

          Phantom blinked a couple of times before he finally seemed to understand the question, “Oh, I have to teach you Realms politics. Okay, I can do that. In the simplest of terms, I am the highest power. Everyone to have ever lived and died is technically below me. That being said, the Realms are infinite, and I need help running them. Persephone is a Lady. Her title was earned due to the role she plays in the Infinite Realms. She kinda acts as a lord would in feudal Europe.”

          Jason hummed before asking, “I think my new biggest question is, what exactly are the Infinite Realms? You said they were a flipside to Earth, but it seems there’s more to it than that.”

          Phantom bit the inside of his cheek before responding, “Yeah, sorry. Uhm. How do I explain this? Uh, okay, so you know how every religion is basically valid?”

          Jason did not know that, and he vocalized this fact.

          “Oh shit, sorry,” Phantom winced, “Uh, so yeah, every religious belief is valid in its own right. Um, take Christianity for example. Heaven and Hell both exist. There is a door to each within the Realms. Cause, essentially, that is what the Infinite Realms is. It’s basically a hallway that’s lined with a shit ton of doors, except every room is a dimension of sorts. You can open a door and enter a dimension, or you could just stay in the damn hallway. One of the names for the Realms that’s appeared in ancient writings is the Place of Doors. This sometimes gets the Infinite Realms confused with the Rock of Eternity, but I digress.”

          Phantom paused to seemingly let Jason digest all of that. When Jason gave Phantom a thumbs up, the king continued.

          “So, the Infinite Realms are the flipside to the Living Realm. If the Infinite Realms were to be destroyed, then the Living Realm would also be destroyed and soon after that, all of reality would shatter. So, yeah, flipside. But also, the Infinite Realms are exactly as the name says, an infinite number of alternate realms. Because the afterlife in every religion — excluding reincarnation ones — exists, someone has to help me look after them. Because I’m not just talking about Earth religions either. Everything that lives and dies ends up here, and that includes extraterrestrials. The whole concept of religion isn’t just an Earth thing.

          “So anyways, ghosts are born of ectoplasm, memories, and emotions. Sometimes though, creatures can be born in the Realms by just being ectoplasm infused with emotions. One emotion, in particular, sticks out: belief. The conscious belief that something is real or true is an incredibly powerful force. A heavily concentrated amount of belief can form into a sort of ‘false core’. Technically, it doesn’t count as a core because a core is a person's soul and essence. A core has to include memories, but whatever. We use the word core for this weird amalgamation of belief and faith.”

          Jason decided to get more details on whatever a core was later. Phantom seemed to be on a roll with his explanation and Jason would hate to distract him from his train of thought. So, instead of asking right then, Jason stayed quiet, filed away the information for later, and continued to listen.

          “So anyways, this false core works in essentially the same way a ghost core would. Ectoplasm gathers around false cores and solidifies as a body of sorts. These specific ectoplasmic entities develop a consciousness based on what livings believe. This is how certain religious figures such as God and Satan exist without ever having been historically born at one point. Other deities, like Lord Hades, actually do have parents. Persephone herself was once a mortal woman that fell in love with Lord Hades before her death. However, seeing her so devoid of life was painful for Lord Hades. He brought her back and made her immortal. So, in conclusion, yes, Persephone is a goddess.”

          As Phantom concluded, Jason stared at him. The boy king let Jason mull over everything he had just heard. After about three minutes, Jason quietly asked, “So are you in charge of God?”

          Phantom blinked twice rapidly before answering, “Yeah, but God is actually just the title used by the leader of the Christian Heaven just as Satan is just a title used by the leader of the Christian Hell. It’s like the same thing as calling Persephone by just her title. Plus, if they want to, the title can be passed down.”

          “Are you saying that the title of God or Satan has been passed down?”

          “Oh, yeah. We’re at the third Satan of the Christian Hell. His name is Lucifer II. He’s the son of Astraea, the second Satan of the Christian Hell. Astraea is the daughter of Lucifer I. Just cause we’re dead doesn’t mean we can’t pass on our titles if we so wish.”

          Jason paused at that. Okay. This was fine. Everything he had ever known was a lie, but that was totally fine. Jason could adjust. He could adapt. That’s what he did when he lived on the streets. Now he just had to apply that to his entire atheist worldview being crushed within a single conversation. Everything would be fine.

          “Okay,” Jason said, “Well if we’re done with the religion part of Realms politics, then can we move on to the actual hierarchy?”

          Phantom smiled and nodded, “Yeah, sure. Come with me. I can explain ghost biology while we get me some parchment and a pen.”

          Jason sighed and began to follow the energetic king before he stopped and looked around the room. “Where did all the others go?” he asked.

          Phantom didn’t stop walking, “They left the room when I got to the part about the Realms being called the Place of Doors. Phantasma and Wight are my sisters and the princesses. Pharaoh and Keeper are my best friends. They’ve all heard me explain the politics bullshit before. They don’t want to hear the explanation again. Wight’s probably going to go over paperwork with Phantasma. Keeper and Persephone most likely went to the greenhouse to bond over plants. And Pharaoh definitely went to the Hall of Records to deal with stuff.”

          Jason ran to catch up with Phantom. The king hadn’t slowed his pace even the tiniest bit. When Jason caught up to Phantom, the ghost began to speak again.

          “Okay, so cores are basically your soul. They are made almost entirely out of the essence of you as a person. They are memories and emotions gathered into physical form. Cores normally have two layers but on rare occasions, even rarer than having two obsessions, a core will have three layers instead. The innermost layer is called the inner core and it’s basically where your emotions and memories reside. The outermost layer is called the outer core. The outer core is basically a shield for the inner layer.

          “I have a third layer in between my outer and inner core. It’s called the middle core and it’s a final defense for the inner core, but it’s hard to tell if a ghost has a middle core because they're covered and hidden by the outer core. The outer and middle cores have elemental aspects, think Pokemon. I, for example, would be an ice and electric type.”

          Jason snorted at the Pokemon reference but didn’t interrupt. The good student in him kind of wished he could take notes. Eh, he’d probably remember all of this just fine.

          Phantom continued with the impromptu biology lesson, “Cores act as the organs in a ghost’s body. They are the heart, brain, and digestive systems all in one. No, you don’t need to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, or go to the bathroom. The kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms are accommodations for my more lively guests, but you may use them to help you adjust. Most ghosts don’t have any bones or organs and we will not be getting into the one type that does because you are not that type of ghost.

          “A ghost’s body, or form, that encases its core is made of pure solid ecto. Ecto comes in solid, liquid, gaseous, and plasma forms. Ectoplasm, ecto in a liquidy state, acts as a sort of blood for ghosts. Ghosts need to constantly filter and cycle their ecto otherwise it can get super gross and corrosive to the ghost’s core. This is the dead equivalent of having hunger. You can use ecto in any of its states. You can physically chow down on solid ecto, slurp up liquid ecto, soak in gaseous ecto, and even take in ecto-radiation. Some ghosts on the more rabid side decide that eating the ecto-flesh of other ghosts is the way they choose to survive. These ghosts are caught and contained for their crimes against the dead.”

          “Wait, what!?” Jason asked. “There are cannibals here?”

          Phantom glanced to the side at Jason, “Well, yeah. Cannibals die too, Blackbird. Doesn’t mean shit if they’re addicted. However, I wasn’t actually talking about sentient ecto-entities. I was talking about the ghosts of wolves and other wild creatures with no scientific sentient thought. Some of them continue to hunt ghost bunnies and shit.”

          “Oh,” Jason responded. There wasn’t much to say when it was explained like that. In the end, Jason supposed, wild animals were still wild.

          “Look! We’re here!” Phantom said as he stopped in front of a door before opening it. “This is my office where I do most of my work stuff. Wight and Phantasma will most likely be in their offices across the hall.”

          Jason spoke while glancing around the office, “Hey, I was meaning to ask what that was about. Sure, Phantasma is definitely like us, but Pharaoh, Wight, and Keeper all looked, well…”

          “Alive?” Phantom asked with a smile Jason could only describe as playful.

          “Hey, fuck you! I’m trying to be respectful of their current status!”

          Phantom laughed, that beautiful sound, “Yeah, they’re alive. They just chose their ecto-aliases already. And isn’t that just awesome? The teens of America are already choosing what names they want in the afterlife. Doesn’t that just tell you how great the life expectancy is?”

          Jason frowned as Phantom’s voice turned sarcastic and then bitter. The more he thought about it the more depressing it got. Jason gazed at Phantom. He was rifling through some drawers, looking for a blank piece of paper.

          Phantom began speaking again, seemingly rambling, “Phantasma actually originally went by a name that was much more similar to my own. She thought she had to copy who I was and mold herself to be like me. Honestly, I was flattered that she thought so highly of me, but it hurt to see my little sister lie to herself. Trust me, I am all about being your true self.

          “Pharaoh is actually a sort of grey hat hacker in the Living Realm. He’s great with tech and shit. He likes to keep me and the others safe with his expertise. Right now, he’s working to bring technology into the Realms. What we have right now is apparently inadequate. But anyways, his hacking name is also Pharaoh, so that’s where he got his ecto-alias from. And he got the name Pharaoh from the fact that he is the reincarnation of a pharaoh from ancient Egypt.

          “Keeper chose her name because she’s the groundskeeper and gardener here. She also has the job of occasionally collecting an overdue soul for me. Clockwork started calling her the Keeper of Souls due to this obligation of hers. By that point, half the ghosts in the Realms began to refer to her as Keeper. She kinda just went with it.

          “Wight chose her name because it means something like supernatural spirit or something. I wasn’t actually paying real close attention when she told me. To be fair! She told me in the middle of us kicking some ass before I got coronated. It’s kind of her vigilantism name. I suppose they're all like vigilante names in a way. Pharaoh’s a hacker for a good cause, Keeper is kind of a death tax collector slash assassin, and my sisters helped me fight crime at one point.”

          Phantom fell silent. Jason quickly found that he preferred the sound of his voice over the silence.

          Jason prompted, “Hey, Phantasma is the first princess, right? She’s younger than Wight though. How does that work exactly?”

          Phantom handed Jason a piece of paper before answering, “I think normally it works in relation to the Ruler of the Infinite Realms. So, like, Phantasma is my little sister legally, but she is biologically my clone. This technically makes her more viable for my position than Wight.”

          Jason blinked at the mention of Phantasma being a clone. It honestly didn’t matter to him that she was biologically a copy. If Phantom claimed her as his little sister and loved her, then who was Jason to say a sentient girl wasn’t deserving of the life she had.

          Jason looked at the paper in his hands and realized it was a map. He smiled and looked it over. With great joy, he noticed that it seemed to work like the Marauders Map from the third Harry Potter movie. He could see Persephone and Keeper were indeed in the greenhouse and Wight was in her office. Phantasma and Pharaoh, on the other hand, were actually in a room labeled, ‘Cinema’.

          “Found it!” Phantom called out while holding up some blank paper. Jason watched as he set it on his desk and quickly wrote on it. After almost ten minutes, Phantom waved him over to take a look.

King (me :p) the Highest Power

Fright Knight (Halloween Spirit) the Second Power and King’s Protector

---

INNER COURT

First Princess (‘Tasma) the Third Power and Successor of the King

Second Princess (Wight) the Fourth Power

Keeper of Souls (Keeper) the Fifth Power and Friend of the King

Life’s Representative (Pharaoh) the Sixth Power and Friend of the King

---

COURT OF ANCIENTS

Ancient of Time (Clockwork) Advisor of the King

Ancient of Choice (Pandora) Advisor of the King

Ancient of Rest (Nocturn) Advisor of the King

Ancient of Nature (Undergrowth) Advisor of the King

Ancient of Weather (Vortex) Advisor of the King

Ancient of Knowledge (Ghost Writer) Advisor of the King

Ancient of Motion (I’ve never met them, but apparently, their current name is Onward)

---

BALLROOM

The rulers of individual realms.

---

OBSERVANTS

I don’t really know what they do, but they suck at it.

---

GUARDED

Ember McLain, under the protection of the King

Kitty, under the protection of the King

Johnny Thirteen, under the protection of the King

Dorathea, under the protection of the King

Skulker, under the protection of the King

Amorpho, under the protection of the King

Nicolai Technus, under the protection of the King

Youngblood, under the protection of the King

Frostbite, under the protection of the King

Wulf, under the protection of the King

---

REVENANTS

Those that walk the line of life and death.

---

GHOSTS

Dead people.

---

ECTO-ENTITIES

Beings born in the Infinite Realms and have a false core.

---

LIMINALS

Those touched by death and harness the effects.

          Jason looked at Phantom — shit he was really pretty — and asked, “The word revenant describes someone who has returned from the dead, so what do you mean they walk the line of life and death?”

          Phantom shrugged, “I didn’t choose the word, Persephone did. She was the very first revenant. Also, ‘revenant’ is only the official term. Most ghosts refer to them by the modern slang ‘halfa’. Halfa basically means ‘half dead and half alive’. Halfas exist because, contrary to pop culture, you really can’t bring someone back from the dead. You can revive a body and force a ghost into said body, but the ghost is still a ghost. They’re still dead.

          “This is because, when you’re alive, your soul sort of flows throughout your body. Living people can’t perceive it, but it’s there. Anyways, when you die and your heart stops beating, a small tear in reality forms inside your corpse. Your soul instinctually follows the call of the Realms and flows through the tear. Once it enters the Realms, it solidifies into a core. Cores physically can’t return to being soul matter that flows. It stays solid and occupies space in your form. Reviving a body and forcing the ghost inside causes that person to be both dead and alive. It gives them two forms to switch between, their living form and their ghost form.”

          Jason thought about the logic behind the existence of someone that was both dead and alive. It was baffling to know. And it did spark a few questions. “Wait! What name does Persephone use when she’s in her living form?”

          “Kore Bloome”

          “Is she the only halfa?”

          “Oh Ancients, no! There have been halfas from all sentient walks of life. Today, though, only three exist. There were four, but Plasmius kind of died from a heart attack when my coronation was announced and now he’s a full ghost. Other than Persephone, the only halfas in existence are-“

          “Phantom!” Phantasma yelled as she threw open the door, “Johnny and Kitty are in the throne room to petition and you’re on babysitting duty.”

          Phantom groaned — what the fuck! That’s so unfair! Why is that so sexy?  — and asked Phantasma, “Why are they petitioning?”

          The First Princess shrugged, “I don’t know. I think they said something about a date.”

          “Uhh, fine. I want you to help him with keying his room to his tastes,” Phantom tapped one of the rooms on Jason’s map and it suddenly had the label, ‘Blackbird’s Private Chambers’.

          Phantasma raised an eyebrow as Phantom left the room. She glanced at the map in Jason’s hands, popped her head out into the hall, and whistled, “Well shit. He fell real hard.”

          “He fell! Is he okay?” worry ran through Jason’s body.

          Phantasma laughed and smirked, “No, he didn’t really physically fall and he’s fine. But you two dumbasses are perfect.”

          The comment offended Jason, but not nearly as much as it made him want to defend Phantom’s honor. How dare she talk about her brother that way? He was her king. Based on the paper that Jason nicked from Phantom’s desk, Phantasma wasn’t even the second most powerful behind Phantom! The comment she made was rude and uncalled for and — wow. That was definitely not Jason’s normal reaction to this kind of thing. Weird.

          The princess gestured to the door, “Come on, Blackbird. After we key your room to you, do you want to spar?”

          Jason followed behind Phantasma, “Spar?”

          Phantasma nodded, “Yeah, did Phantom not get to that part? Ghosts fight a lot. It’s a big part of the Realms’ culture. Fighting is enriching to the cores of baby ghosts. The more you fight, the more mature your core becomes and the faster your core will be ready to go through Obsessions Trance. Not only that but fighting helps ghosts bond with each other. It’s basically the dead version of playing tag on the playground. So, do you want to spar after we key your room to you?”

          Jason looked the young teenager up and down before stating, “Sure.”

          A long silence followed as the two wound their way through the halls of Phantom’s Keep. Eventually, they came across a dead end. Jason watched as Phantasma pushed at a part of the wall’s design. The wall glowed in the shape of a door’s edges. Phantasma pushed open the hidden door and walked through. Jason followed and let the door close behind him. The silence continued until the two of them reached a door in the small hallway.

          Phantasma gestured at the new door, “Here we are. Have fun.”

          Jason furrowed his brow with confusion. Nonetheless, he reached for the doorknob and opened the door. The room past the door was breathtaking. It was everything Jason wished his old bedroom could have been. A large bookcase lined the wall at the back of the room and the furniture looked like it was an antique set from Victorian England. A calligraphy set was sitting on a desk in one corner of the room along with a typewriter. Jason smiled to himself.

          He turned to look at Phantasma, “This is mine?”

          Phantasma hadn’t entered the room yet, but she smiled, “Yeah. Once you touch the doorknob, the room keys itself to fit your tastes. Rooms will adapt over time as your likes and dislikes change. Also, I can’t enter without your permission, no one can.”

          Jason smiled in thought. It was nice to have guaranteed privacy if he so desired it. Phantasma spoke again, “Anyways, Phantom’s room is right next door. Everyone else’s is on the other side of the hall. Anyways, can we spar now?”

          Jason nodded before asking, “When will Phantom be back?”

          Phantasma shrugged, “He limits other ghosts’ time in the Living Realm to one hour LT. One hour LT is about fourteen hours DT. So, you should probably get comfortable and prepare for over half a day without him. He’ll also be tired when he comes back ‘cause Kitty and Johnny are a handful. They like to cause a bit of trouble in the Living Realm. That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is you following me to the gym. We can bond over beating each other up.”

          Jason raised an eyebrow before snorting, “Prepare for one hell of a beating princess.”

          Hours later, Phantom would find both his little sister and his guest in the infirmary. They were both sporting nasty bruises, but they were speaking to each other as if they had been friends for decades. He would later learn from Phantasma that Blackbird was quite the fighter. Phantom would smile and secretly begin wondering about how much he and his cute guest would bond if they ever fought. Would they only become friends, or would the primal dance of the dead reveal more intimate feelings between the two?

Chapter Text

          Fourteen weeks. That’s how much time passed in the Infinite Realms before Jason was buried. It was approximately three months and two weeks. In the Living Realm, only one week had passed. In the Living Realm, the date was August 7^th. Jason knew he was buried when the flowers appeared. Phantom had been in Jason’s room with him when they showed up. They had been talking about books they enjoyed when the vase appeared in an open spot in the bookcase.

          Jason stared at the flowers. He turned to Phantom with a question in his eye. The king looked… conflicted. It was like he was deciding between being proud or sorrowful. Jason caught Phantom’s eye.

          Phantom sighed, “Okay. Um. You see, those are essentially offerings. The dead refer to them as ‘intended’. So, basically, these are a reflection of flowers in the Living Realm. So… yeah.”

          Jason blinked a few times, “That literally made zero sense.”

          Phantom winced, “It’s better if I show you.”

          Jason nodded and waited for Phantom to act. The king stood from where he was previously seated. He held his hand out to Jason and stated, “We’ll be unperceivable the entire time, but we’re going to visit the Living Realm. I’ll warn you now, this will be hard for you to witness.”

          Instead of replying, Jason took Phantom’s offered hand and stood as well. He steeled his nerves and waited for whatever was to come. Phantom shrugged and touched one of the flowers before flicking his wrist in the open air. Instantaneously, a tear in reality formed in the direction that Phantom’s fingertips pointed. Jason flinched slightly as he felt a sudden touch on his arm. Phantom lightly wrapped his clawed fingers around Jason’s upper right arm. The touch brought a gentle heat to Jason’s face, but he attempted to fight it.

          Phantom looked Jason in the eye and promised, “I won’t peek at the name, I swear it.”

          Jason nodded because he didn’t know what else to do. He felt Phantom’s power come over him like gentle falling snow. When Phantom gave the go-ahead, Jason stepped through the portal with the King of the Infinite Realms floating at his side.

          Jason found himself in a graveyard. He turned to look at Phantom, but the king had his eyes shut tight. Jason frowned to himself and began to float — he had learned how to fly when he first fought Phantasma fourteen weeks prior. Jason spotted a group of people in the graveyard, and he began to approach. When Jason came up to the group, he spotted Bruce of all people.

          “Dad?” he couldn’t help the whisper. Phantom flinched at Jason’s voice. Jason was suddenly struck with a thought. He forced himself to look at the grave everyone stood around. There, engraved in the grey stone, the name Jason Peter Todd-Wayne mocked him. Jason swallowed hard and whispered, “That’s my name.”

          Phantom inhaled sharply. Jason turned his gaze lower. Right there, sitting on the dirt, was the exact same bouquet as the one in Jason’s room. Jason blinked at the flowers a few times before stating, “I understand now. The flowers, the intended, they are gifts. Intended are objects left at the grave. If you don’t have a grave, then they are objects that your family intends for you to receive. Am I correct?”

          Phantom silently nodded; his eyes still shut tight. Jason swallowed and looked around at his fucking funeral. He felt his eyes water as he looked at Bruce. His dad was actually crying. Jason held back the tears but failed to hold in the gasp as his eyes landed on Dick. The young man, who had refused to acknowledge Jason as his brother, stood there at Jason’s funeral and wept.

          Dick stood in the back of the crowd, next to Barbara, and cried into her shoulder, “I should have told Jason I loved him. I should have told him I was proud to be his big brother. Hell, I should have accepted him as my damned brother at all! I was such a shitty older brother! God, I fucking hate myself.”

          Jason glanced at Phantom and asked, “Can you hear them?”

          The king whispered, “I can, but their voices cut out when they say your grave name. It’s a spell I learned to avoid intruding upon private things. I’m sorry that I neglected to set it to all of their words. I understand if you feel I shouldn’t hear this.”

          Jason nodded and swallowed once more. “It’s fine and I’m ready to leave now. Please. I want to go. I can’t watch this any longer.”

          Phantom sighed and opened a portal. It too must have been unperceivable to the funeral guests because not a single person there reacted to the rip in reality. Jason floated through with Phantom still hanging on to him. Once they were both through and the portal had been closed, Phantom opened his eyes and glanced at Jason. Jason avoided Phantom’s worried gaze. The king sighed again and trained his eyes upon the flowers.

          “Whoever made the bouquet knew their flowers,” Phantom said, “Heathers mean admiration and solitude; forget-me-nots mean remembrance and love; and marigolds mean death. White heathers specifically symbolize protection and good luck. The bouquet is one of mourning, but also of hope. You can interpret it how you want, but I see it as a promise to remember you even though you’ve died and a message of hope that you are protected during your afterlife. It really is beautiful.”

          Jason studied the flowers in the vase. The bouquet was beautiful. It was mostly white with splashes of purple, yellow, and light blue. Jason wondered who had put so much thought into the flowers for them to send the message Phantom had understood. Actually, why had Phantom understood? When Jason voiced this question, Phantom answered with a bored look on his face.

          “Keeper and Persephone used to communicate with flowers so that I wouldn’t find out what they were talking about. I taught myself just to spite them.”

          Jason laughed and buried all previous upsetting emotions deep within himself. He ignored the dull pain within his chest. The aching sensation had made a home for itself only three weeks after Jason first arrived in the Infinite Realms. Over time, the ache got worse and worse. Now, Jason had to work hard to ignore it. It was probably nothing.

          Phantom smiled at Jason when, out of nowhere, the pain in Jason’s chest spiked. Jason fell to the floor with his hands clutching at his chest. Jason whimpered as his eyes began to roll back into his head. The last thing he heard was a worried shout, “Strix!”

          Danny remembered the day Strix chose his permanent ecto-alias. He had been a guest of the Keep for a full week when he revealed it. His curly white hair and sparkling gold eyes captivated Danny. He remembered how Strix explained that he named himself after a genus of owl. He explained that owls were a symbol of Athena, the Greek goddess of crafts, wisdom, battle strategy, and war. Strix also mentioned that many cultures associated owls with death. Danny liked the way ‘Strix’ sounded. He thought it compared well to the ring of a triangle.

          Danny remembered how Strix’s face relaxed when he told the ghost that he liked the name. Strix had closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again and smiling at Danny. The look on Strix’s face, before he opened his eyes, was the exact same look he had now, passed out in Danny’s arms.

          “Shit!” Danny yelled, “Strix, wake up! Please. Ancients I don’t know what to do.”

          Danny swallowed and picked Strix up into a bridal carry. He focused his will and power into creating a rift. With a sound like thunder, a portal opened into the private infirmary. Danny flew through and set Strix on the bed. Frostbite was already in the room. The dead yeti was at Strix’s side in a matter of moments.

          “What has happened to him, Great One?”

          Danny answered, “I don’t know! He just collapsed in pain. He was clutching his chest.” Horror struck the young king. “Do you think something’s wrong with his core?”

          A solemn look crossed Frostbite’s face. The yeti picked Strix up and moved him toward the medical chamber. Danny remembered learning about the tube-like contraption. As a ghost floated within the liquid substance inside the tube, their core would be scanned. Danny didn’t quite know what readings Frostbite would get, but hopefully, it would help Strix.

          Moments passed silently as the scans commenced. Danny waited off to the side in quiet anxiety. Ghosts didn’t often fall unconscious, and even when they did, they almost never put their hands to their chests in pain. When the monitor finally gave a sharp ‘ding’, Danny rushed over to Frostbite. Numbers and graphs filled the screen in front of them. Frostbite inhaled sharply and Danny’s core began to thrum with worry.

          “What’s wrong?” Danny asked, fear lacing his voice.

          Frostbite sighed and looked Danny in the eye, “It is not good, my king. According to this data, Strix is putting strain on his core.”

          At Danny’s confused look, Frostbite continued, “Cores are made of emotions and memories. If a ghost represses their emotions and memories, then they are basically squeezing their core. This strain piles up until the core bursts, ultimately destroying it…”

          “And when a core is destroyed, a ghost ceases to exist,” Danny finished before pleading, “Frostbite, please, tell me there is a way to fix it!”

          The yeti nodded, “There is a way, Great One, but Strix won’t like it.”

          “I’ll make him do it, whatever it is,” Danny declared.

          The leader of the Far Frozen sighed once more, “You need to make him reflect upon his memories and emotions. He needs to take action. Whether that action is vocalizing, thinking, or even some type of creative output, he needs to reflect. I recommend getting Princess Wight to help him with her psychology knowledge.”

          Danny nodded firmly in understanding, “I see. It will be done. I won’t let him cease.”

          Frostbite smiled softly, or as softly as a yeti could, “He has had a good effect on you, King Phantom. I would hate to see what would happen if he suddenly wasn’t here anymore.”

          Danny smiled before looking at Strix’s floating form. He looked peaceful in his slumber. Danny knew, deep down, that what was to come would hurt Strix emotionally. It was for the betterment of his health, though, so Danny tried not to dwell on the fact. Danny sighed and pulled his phone out of his left thigh, where it had previously rested intangibly. He dialed Jazz’s number and waited for his sister to pick up.

          “This is Jasmine Nightingale, I’m sorry I couldn’t pick up. If the Fentons are calling, please stop. You both know I won’t pick up. If Danny, Elle, Tucker, or Sam are calling, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you ASAP.”

          Jazz’s voice, even prerecorded, had a calming effect on Danny. He began the recording and made sure to speak in code. You just never could tell if the G.I.W. was listening in.

          “Hey, Jazz. Something happened to my roommate. He’s fine right now, but you might have to play therapist. Whenever you can come by my place, please do. It’s not urgent. I can handle the first part, but you might be needed for emotional clean up… on both our parts. I have a feeling that he and I are going to have a very emotionally charged talk soon. Call me back when you can. I love you and, for Ancients’ sake, stay safe.”

          Danny ended the recording and returned his phone to its place in his thigh. He looked Frostbite in the eye, “I think Strix would be more comfortable waking up on a bed rather than in the core scanner. May I wait by his bedside?”

          Frostbite moved to retrieve Strix, “Of course, Great One.”

          Danny nodded his head and got a chair. He waited for hours, reading and calming himself. Strix woke up quietly, as he had fourteen weeks prior. Danny smiled softly at the ghost.

          “Good morning, Briar. Had a nice nap?”

          Strix smiled, “I don’t know, I can’t remember much of it. I like the sleeping beauty reference, though. So, what’s the sitch?”

          Danny’s smile strained as he said, “Come with me and I’ll tell you. Frostbite cleared you for this, so don’t worry. I need to talk to you in a more comfortable environment.”

          “Ooh! Am I in trouble, your esteemed grace?” Strix asked with a playful smirk.

          Danny felt his cheeks get a tiny bit colder than usual and a restless sort of energy settle into his bones. Danny glanced away from Strix’s beautiful face and gathered his wits.

          “You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you? Come on Birdbrain, we need to talk,” Danny teased Strix. The king had noticed weeks ago that Strix liked to flirt with Danny as if it were a game to see how flustered he could make him. Danny began to play too, just for the fun of it. However, recently, Danny noticed that his… feelings for Strix had become all too real. Of course, Danny wasn’t going to admit his feelings and possibly make Strix feel awkward around him. He liked what they had, and it was enough.

          Strix shrugged and got off of the bed. He phased through the blanket and sheet while floating. Danny felt pride bloom in his chest. He had taught Strix phasing, and the ghost was exceptionally good at it already. Danny led Strix out the door and through the halls. They entered the Keep’s lounge. Danny motioned for Strix to sit on one of the couches as he himself took an armchair. Strix looked a little nervous, and Danny wasn’t getting any less anxious himself. ‘Might as well get it over with,’ he thought to himself.

          “Strix, will you just talk to me?”

          “What?” Strix asked with a grin.

          “I need you to talk to me right now,” Danny stated, seriousness ebbing into his voice.

          “Of course, your highness,” Strix drawled out.

          In response, Danny firmly said, “Okay, no. I need you to drop that attitude. That’s not how this is going to go, not today. Because this is serious and I need to talk to you, seriously.”

          Strix frowned, “Shit, okay. Um, yeah, what do you need?”

          Danny drew in a breath, “You’re lying to me, Strix.”

          Strix looked offended, “Phantom, I have never lied to-“

          “No! No, no, no. You- you’re lying to me. You’re lying to yourself as well. You’re lying about how you feel.”

          Strix narrowed his eyes and scoffed, “Feelings?”

          “Mhm.”

          “Phantom, I feel fine.”

          “No, if you felt ‘fine’, you wouldn’t have passed out earlier. Strix, if you felt ‘fine’, we wouldn’t be here right now. You don’t feel ‘fine’. You are repressing your emotions and that’s not okay.”

          “What is this, a therapy appointment? Are you some sort of licensed therapist now?” Strix asked with a tone that conveyed his anger, but he hadn’t lashed out yet. Danny would push his luck a bit more. This had to be done.

          “No, I’m not.”

          “Exactly. Look, your highness, leave me alone on this. I’m fine,” Strix got up, presumably to leave the room. Danny caught his arm and held on. Strix turned and looked at Danny.

          Danny sighed, “Strix, please. Just trust me. Express your emotions.”

          “The last time I trusted someone, I died. Allowing myself to feel my emotions made me reckless,” he tugged his wrist from Danny’s grip and began to walk away, “We are done here.”

          Danny took a deep breath and let it out. “It was my fault,” he coolly admitted.

          Strix stopped walking. He turned around to look at Danny and asked, “What?”

          “It was my fault I died. I was being stupid and reckless. It was my fault.”

          Strix took a step towards him. Danny counted it as a win.

          He continued, “When I was five, Maddie and Jack… my biological parents, began to build an artificial portal into the Infinite Realms. They finished construction when I was fourteen, only two days after my birthday. They plugged it in and… it didn’t work. They had failed to press the ‘on’ button, which was located on the interior wall of the portal.”

          Strix began to look worried. He took another couple of steps forward. Danny kept his voice steady and low. Yes, he was speaking of his death, but Danny had been through worse than dying. At this point, he was just tired. He regretted the decisions that had led him to his demise, but most of all, he was tired.

          Danny kept talking, “Keeper and Pharaoh came over five days after the failed test. They begged to see the portal. I let them down into my basement, and we fucked around. Keeper took pictures of me holding a hazmat jumpsuit in front of the machine. We didn’t touch anything until Keeper dared me to go inside. We thought it wouldn’t work. We just… I put on the hazmat suit, and I started walking into the hole in my basement wall.”

          Strix was now in front of Danny. He made a grab for Danny’s hands, and the king let him. Danny finally raised his gaze from the carpet and stared into Strix’s golden eyes.

          “I put my left hand against the wall to guide me. It was so dark. I also used the wall in case I tripped on a wire or cord. The funny thing is, I didn’t even trip, I just slid my hand over the button. What were the odds of me putting my hand on the wall at the exact right height to hit the button? I don’t know, but it happened. The portal turned on.”

          “Oh Phantom,” Strix whispered before pulling Danny into a hug. Danny went willingly. The embrace was warm. Danny had the sudden thought that once Strix’s fire core started providing special powers, he’d be even warmer.

          Danny pulled away and sat on the couch. Strix sat next to him while they faced each other. Danny took a few more deep breaths before continuing again.

          “Ten million volts of electricity entered my body. It flowed through my left arm and left behind Lichtenburg scars. I died. The portal opened on top of, inside of, and around me. It felt like I was being consumed by it as well as it trying to break free of my body. The pure ecto from the portal brought me back to life in the same instant I died. Then I died again because I was still touching the wall. I got revived again and again. It felt like an endless cycle of pain and torment. The electricity burned through my veins while the ecto felt like ice.

          “It ended eventually. I walked out of the portal a ghost. My hair was white, and my eyes were green. The hazmat suit’s colors had been inverted and my skin tone was slightly tanner. I think the only good part of the whole ordeal was the free top and bottom surgery.”

          Strix tilted his head in confusion. Danny sighed and explained, “Your ecto-form is a reflection of how you view yourself. The weirdest part is that ghosts can’t age past what they’d physically be if they were still alive. This isn’t even a thing that only affects halfas. The youngest a ghost can make themselves appear is the age they died. The oldest is the age they would be if they were still alive. But, yeah, my form is a reflection of how I view myself. Therefore, my ecto-form has a dick and a distinct lack of titties.”

          Strix laughed a little at that end, “You did not just say, ‘titties’.”

          Danny allowed himself to give Strix a small smile, “I definitely did.”

          A long moment of silence passed and Strix frowned again, “Why do you want me to talk about how I feel? Why do you want me to talk about my death?”

          Danny’s shoulders dropped and he leaned his head back. While staring at the ceiling of the lounge, he answered, “Cores are made of emotions and memories. By suppressing your emotions and memories, you are essentially squeezing your core. It’s like squeezing a grape. The internal pressure builds and builds until it bursts. Your core will be destroyed, and you will cease to exist. The pain you felt when you passed out, was your core sending out a warning flare. It was warning you of the danger it is in.”

          Strix nodded solemnly and asked, “Why do you even care if I cease?”

          Danny almost laughed at the outrageous inquiry, “Strix, I care about you as a person. I like you. You’re my friend. My obsession would also make my afterlife really shitty if you ceased.”

          Strix looked confused again, so Danny continued, “My protection obsession is very psychological. It fucks with my mind. It makes me more violent when my friends and family are in danger. It gives me intrusive thoughts when my core believes I have failed my obsession. I used to seek out fights. I’d find people that wouldn’t hold back, and I’d let them hurt me. My obsession makes me believe that I deserve to feel at least a fraction of my loved ones’ pain.”

          At Danny’s admittance, Strix’s face became horrified. “Yeah,” the young king quietly said, “I haven’t gotten myself hurt because of my obsession’s influence in quite a while. Still, no one I love has ever ceased before. ‘Tasma got close, and I actually considered murdering the fucker that hurt her. I also considered killing myself. Wight’s been giving me psychological advice and I’ve gotten way better at handling my issues, but I fear you ceasing will make me relapse. Please, Strix, don’t do that to me.”

          Strix swallowed hard and nodded shakily, “Okay. I’ll talk.”

          Danny smiled and offered his hand to Strix. Strix held it and breathed deeply.

          Strix began to speak, “Phantom, I was a teenage vigilante. I lived in Gotham. You ever hear of Batman and Robin?”

          “Oh, Strix,” Danny whispered, almost an echo of Strix’s own words minutes prior.

          “Yeah, uh,” Strix replied with a sad laugh, “My older brother was the first one. Well, I mean, my adoptive brother. You heard his voice at the funeral earlier. You heard his regrets about not really accepting me while I was still alive. Though hearing that was great. You know, having proof he actually fucking cared.

          “I was the second Robin. I met Batman when I was thirteen, I uh- You know what, fuck it. We’re gonna start at the beginning because repressing any of it is bad for me. I was raised by my abusive biological father and his drug-addicted wife. My father hit me, a lot. And I had to take care of my stepmom until the day she overdosed and died. From there I was on the streets. And um, I survived.”

          Danny nodded along as Strix gripped his hand a little harder.

          “I was thirteen when I tried to steal the tires off the batmobile. And hey! I got three of them off! Then Batman showed up and I attacked him with a tire iron. He knocked me out and kidnapped me. Told me to refrain from committing crimes. Told me to be a good person. I don’t know. A couple of months later I was jumping across rooftops as Robin. Guess he had a soft spot for delinquents.”

          Strix started to tear up then. He seemed to refuse to let them fall. Danny couldn’t have that. Danny moved the hand that Strix wasn’t holding and cupped the side of Strix’s face. Danny whispered, “It’s okay. I won’t judge and I won’t tell anyone.”

          Strix held it together for all of two seconds before the tears fell. Danny felt his core purr and send out transmissions of love and acceptance. Danny vaguely registered that he had vocally cooed at Strix. Strix cried but still managed to speak coherently.

          “Phantom, I loved being Robin. I loved the feeling of free falling before the grappling hook went taught. I loved the validation of crime fighting. I loved saving people and making my city safer. I loved my education. I was top of my class! Everything was fine for all of two years.

          “And then I fucked up. I had found out that my biological mother was still alive, so I tried to find her, and I did. Phantom, she sold me out. She sold me out to the Joker. And he uh, he tied me up and he had a crowbar. And he hit me, hard, with that fucking crowbar! And I felt my bones break. And I couldn’t do anything but scream and cry and beg. I begged that my dad would forgive me, that he would show up, that he would save me.”

          Strix paused and took some gasping breaths. Danny waited patiently. He could tell that, yes, talking about it hurt Strix, but it was also helping. He could sense the other boy’s core recovering. He could feel it get healthier.

          “Sometimes I felt confident,” Strix spoke again, “I’d taunt the Joker. I’d say, ‘He’s gonna save me. He’s gonna kick your ass. I’ll beat you myself for what you're doing to me.’ And then the Joker would hit me harder. And then he set up a bomb. He gave it a timer and let me watch it tick. He left the warehouse, but before he left, he said, ‘Bats won’t find you, but let’s wait and see!’ I couldn’t really move, I was just so broken. I remember the pain. I watched it tick down. I watched it hit zero!”

          Strix began to sob, and Danny brought his arms around the other ghost. Strix cried and cried. Danny turned one of his hands intangible and reached through Strix’s back to get to his core. He simply sat there, stroking the core to comfort it. He whispered sweet words of comfort to the crying boy. Cause that’s all he was, a boy. He was so young. He had been through too much all too soon.

          Strix composed himself and stopped crying. He removed himself from Danny’s arms, “I uh, I mourned the life I would never get to live. The first love I would never get to have. My first prom. I mourned the fact I would never get to legally drive a car. I would never get my license. I was waiting for my birthday to come around. I was waiting for college. I was waiting for everything. When I turned eighteen, I had planned to give up Robin, just like my brother did. I was gonna shed the title. I was gonna be a literary teacher. I wanted to have a literature degree. I never got any of that.”

          Strix seemed to be done talking. Danny was okay with that.

          “I’m so sorry, Strix,” Danny said softly. Strix nodded and swallowed.

          Danny sighed, “Is the pain gone?”

          Strix blinked a few times before nodding, “Yeah. Yeah, it’s gone. You know, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

          “Sometimes people need to vent,” Danny stated and Strix cracked a small smile.

          “Thank you for listening.”

          “Thank you for sharing.”

          “You shared first.”

          Danny laughed, “That was more of a bribe, and it wasn’t the first time I found myself having to discuss it.”

          “Thanks anyway,” Strix smiled.

          Danny returned the smile and said, “I may not be an expert in psychology like my sister is, but she’d probably say some bullshit about how now is the time to let go and heal.”

          “Your sister?”

          “Wight.”

          “Of course, she’s a fucking psychologist.”

          “Well, she wants to be. Psychiatrist actually.”

          Strix snorted before saying, “I don’t have the best track record with psychologists and psychiatrists.”

          “Yeah, I can tell. So… Robin, huh? You know I’m definitely going to use that as a nickname if you allow it?”

          Strix nodded, “Yeah, I figured.”

          Danny smiled brightly, “My Robin.”

          Strix sent an incredulous look Danny’s way, “Yours?”

          Danny smirked, “Well, you’re my guest. Let’s just exchange the word guest for Robin.”

          “You’re an idiot, Phantom,” Strix stated humorously.

          “Yet I occasionally have good ideas.”

          “Doesn’t mean you're not an idiot.”

          Danny just sat there for a minute, smiling at Strix. He really was a gorgeous boy. And only a year older than Danny! The age difference wasn’t too large so… Stop it, Danny! He didn’t even know if Strix was into guys in the first place. The flirting could have been harmless fun. A knock on the door of the lounge pulled Danny from his thoughts.

          Danny shot a questioning look at Strix, and, at Strix’s nod, he called out, “Come in!”

          The door was pushed open to reveal Tucker. He was in his formal wear, which was usually reserved for important meetings and trials. The outfit was quite similar to the one Tucker had worn when he was under the influence of the scepter. This outfit, however, covered his stomach and had a cape made of fine gold. The white cloth of the outfit had gold embroidery around the edges. Tucker wore bejeweled golden cuffs, and a golden cloth obscured the bottom half of his face. The only out-of-place thing about the outfit was Tucker’s red beret, which had been left to him after his grandfather died in the Vietnam War.

          Tucker raised an eyebrow at the two ghosts, “Sup, guys. Phantom, you’re needed for a meeting with the Ballroom. Or, as Osiris put it, ‘The presence of honorable King Phantom is required for this sacred congregation to commence.’ I think he was attempting to imitate some old-timey author, but he clearly failed miserably.”

          “There is nothing sacred about those meetings. They're fucking boring and I’d rather not go. Can’t I just say ‘no’?” Danny complained.

          Tucker laughed, “Nope. Sorry, Phantom, the Ballroom isn’t the Observants. You really can’t just blow them off. Plus, from what I gather, Freyja is in charge of snacks this time.”

          Now that piqued Danny’s interest, “Fuck it. I gotta go, Strix. See you again soon. Pharaoh, let us leave for the snacks. I am assuming that you must also attend this meeting.”

          Tucker sighed, “Apparently a few of them want to discuss matters of certain living beings. As the representative of all things living, I kinda have to be there, yes.”

          Before exiting the lounge, Danny turned to Strix one last time, “You should get some rest. If you’re willing, I think you should talk to Wight about stuff. She really is good at the whole psychology thing. Talking to her has been beneficial to the mental health of the entire Inner Court. She’s kinda the resident therapist of the Keep. But, yeah, rest up.”

          After getting a confirming nod, hum, and thumbs up, Danny left the room. He quietly shut the doors behind him. Tucker gave him an odd look before rolling his eyes and walking towards the meeting room. What was that look about?

          Danny spent the next five hours of his afterlife listening to the Ballroom argue about soul custody. He found himself desperately wishing he was back in Strix’s arms. 

Chapter Text

          Jason wasn’t expecting Wight to be in the kitchen. It had been six months since the whole “you’re going to cease” incident. Jason had been getting regular therapy ever since. Wight had actually requested that Jason have a licensed therapist. Dr. Amy Mourning was a specialist in ghost traumas. Occasionally, when Jason was feeling extra good, he would clear Wight to be in the room during a session. On the days Wight was there, she was always quiet, and Dr. Mourning made sure to keep the session away from the more private matters.

          Other than Wight wishing to learn more about psychology and therapists, the two of them never really interacted with each other. Jason breathed in deeply while preparing for the social interaction to come, but he was hit with the scent of pancakes and bacon. Jason approached Wight, making sure that his steps made a sound so as to not spook (haha) her. The teenager, seventeen if he remembered correctly, turned around and faced him.

          “Good morning, Strix!” She smiled, or at least he thought she was smiling, he couldn’t really tell with the mask covering the bottom half of her face.

          Jason returned the smile, “Good morning, Wight. Watcha making?”

          Wight turned back to the stove and flipped a gorgeous pancake before answering, “Pancakes, bacon, and eggs. If you want some, open the oven and take whatever you want. They’re just in there to stay warm. If you want a special order, please specify and I’ll make it.”

          Jason’s smile brightened, “I’m fine with whatever as long as it doesn’t taste like it came out of the garbage. I think the last time I ate was three weeks ago when I made me and Phantom some dinner.”

          Wight frowned, “If you’d like to eat more often, then you can. My little brother is more than wealthy enough to afford our groceries. You should never want something and not receive it here. Oh! While we’re on the topic of my brother, I should warn you, he’s gone for the next week. That is to say, he’ll be in the Living Realm for twelve hours. Clockwork will be running the kingdom as regent while Phantom is away.”

          Jason felt worry spike through him, “Will he be safe? What will I do while he’s gone?”

          Wight’s eyes went wide, “He’ll be fine, don’t worry. Keeper, Pharaoh, Phantasma, and I will all be here in shifts. I’ll spend today with you and call Keeper for tomorrow. Don’t worry about time differences between here and the Living Realm, it’s currently around 8:00 am there. It’s also a weekend, so none of us will be missing school.”

           Jason nodded in understanding, “Okay. I’m glad you all seem to have this worked out. What exactly are we going to do today?”

          Wight smiled, “I was just going to make everyone breakfast. Keeper, Pharaoh, and Phantasma are currently here, but they will be leaving after they’ve eaten. We’ll see what happens next afterward.”

          Jason nodded again before asking, “Am I allowed to eat with you all?”

          Sadness and guilt flashed across Wight’s upper face before she schooled her expression into a kind smile, “Of course! We would all be happy if you joined us. I think this could be the start of a wonderful bonding experience. None of us have really talked to you before. I know that you’ve fought Phantasma, but that’s not the same as truly hanging out and talking.”

          Jason hummed before moving towards the door to the dining room. He sat in the seat he usually sat in while eating with Phantom. The others joined him soon after and they all chatted while he ate silently. Jason would speak to the others soon enough. He didn’t want to force himself into talking with them. His past experiences in the nine months prior had told him that none of them would push him into anything.

          After breakfast, everyone except Wight left. Wight took the dishes and cleaned them before reentering the dining room and sitting directly across from Jason. Jason sighed and spoke.

          “I have an appointment with Dr. Mourning today. We are going to dive into a heavier topic, but I was thinking. You can sit in if you’d like.”

          Wight gasped, “Strix, you don’t have to invite me. Please. I only want to be there when you are absolutely comfortable. Don’t force yourself to invite me.”

          Jason breathed in and steeled his gaze, “I want you to be there, Wight. We’ll be talking about my mother, my biological mother. From what Phantom has told me, you have experience with less-than-perfect parents. I think you could even be comforting today. I want, no, I need you to be there today.”

          Wight breathed in deeply and nodded firmly. “Okay. I’ll go check to see if Dr. Mourning is in the waiting hall. You can make your way to the room and get comfortable. I’ll lead her there when she gets here.”

          Jason nodded shakily before heading off to the recently dubbed ‘Therapy Room’. He opened the door to the room and splayed himself across the singular couch. Facing the couch were two comfortable armchairs. In between the armchairs was a coffee table. When Dr. Mourning and Wight entered the room, the doctor set a mug on the coffee table. One of the first things Jason learned about Dr. Mourning was that the woman loved sweet teas.

          Both the doctor and Wight took a seat. Dr. Mourning took a sip of her tea and pulled a small notebook out of her bag. She opened it to a blank page and lifted her head to look Jason in the eye.

          “Good morning, Strix. How has your week been?” she asked in a calm voice.

          Jason answered, “It’s been fine so far. Today I learned that King Phantom will be away for a while. I will be spending the next week with his friends and family instead. I’ll tell you all about that next week.”

          Dr. Mourning smiled, “Okay, Strix. Today we agreed to speak about a very private topic. Before I go into more detail, are you sure you want Princess Wight in the room?”

          Jason thought for a moment but decidedly ignored the doubt within his core, “Yes.”

          Dr. Mourning nodded before speaking again, “Okay. Strix, would you tell me your mother’s name, please?”

          Jason focused on breathing, even if he didn’t need to, it was still calming.

          “Her name was Sheila Haywood,” he stated before adding a moment later, “I don’t know if she’s still alive or… not.”

          Dr. Mourning wrote something down while nodding, “Okay. Strix, what was your relation to Ms. Haywood?”

          Jason frowned, “I didn’t know her except for a very short amount of time. Sheila had given up custody of me to my biological father and stepmother. I only realized she was my mother shortly before my…death.”

          Dr, Mourning nodded again and wrote more, “When was the last time you saw Ms. Haywood? If you don’t wish to tell me, then that is fine. We can wait until another time.”

          Jason steadied his breathing and roughly stated, “She was there when I died. She led me to my death. I- She fucking smoked while I was being beaten halfway to death!”

          Jason felt his eyes get watery and rage fill his being. He hated Sheila for what she had done. He hated her for betraying him. He hated her for putting herself in danger and trusting the Joker. Still, he had attempted to protect her. He couldn’t help his hope that she was okay. That she had somehow survived.

          After a long pause of silence, Jason whispered, “I tried to get her to safety. I hoped that she was okay. I still do. I must be crazy, doc.”

          Dr. Mourning sighed and frowned, “Strix, we can’t help who we care about. Not in life, and especially not in death. All I can advise is that you try to move forwards. You don’t have to forgive, and you should never forget, but you should try to accept what happened and that there is no way to undo it. When you are ready, I think you should confront Ms. Haywood. Sometimes the cure contains a little bit of the poison.”

          Jason nodded and thanked the doctor for the advice. The session moved on to less heavy topics. Dr. Mourning would ask Jason to recount his favorite thing from the week prior. They would also discuss one thing he disliked about the week. She would then ask him one thing he was looking forward to and one thing he dreaded. It was a standard session with Dr. Mourning, except for the beginning.

          About fifty minutes after the session began, it ended. Dr. Mourning left with her notebook and mug. Wight, who had moved to the couch and offered a hand while he was discussing Sheila, stood up. She seemed to think for a bit before deciding something. She turned to Jason and asked, “Would you like to see if she is still alive? We can check the records.”

          Jason sat in shock for a moment. He contemplated things for a moment before nodding. Wight then led Jason through Phantom’s Keep and into the same lounge Phantom had brought him to six months prior. Wight walked towards the fireplace and whispered something. Suddenly, the green flames were extinguished, and the fireplace opened into a secret stairwell. Jason hadn’t expected that.

          Wight led Jason down the stairs. The stairs opened up into a long hallway. Wight moved to open the first door on the left. She walked through and Jason joined her inside. The room was small and had a second door inside. Wight began to explain.

          “This hallway is entirely secret and hosts the doors to the most private rooms in the Keep. You are not to tell anyone of the entrance. Only the Core and Inner Court know of this hall. This room is the Hall of Records. It holds the information of almost every person to have ever died. The room across the hall holds the Tree of the Ceased. That is where the records of all those who have ceased can be found.

          “The Hall of Records has multiple different ways of being sorted. We can control how it is sorted with this little machine embedded into the wall. We can choose from birthdate, deathdate, birthplace, deathplace, length of life, length of existence, social status in life, social status in death, cause of death, grave name, and ecto-alias. Right now, we can limit our search results to her grave name and about a decade when she may have been born.”

          When Wight had finished explaining, Jason gave her an estimate of Sheila’s age and she began to input data into a bronze machine on the wall. Wight pushed and small, green button. She waited five seconds before opening the second door connected to the room. Jason followed the princess into a large room and found one small bookcase with only three books on the shelf. Wight turned to Jason and shrugged.

          Wight walked over to the bookcase and grabbed the three books. She opened the first and flipped to a chapter titled “Death”. Wight skimmed the pages of the chapter before shaking her head. She then opened the second and did the same. Before she opened the third book, Jason stopped her.

          “When you look through their deaths, what do you read?” he asked, quietly.

          Wight paused in thought, “I am searching for the exact date of death. The first one died seven years ago and the other one died two years ago. If you are worried about your grave name being revealed, we would have to wait for Phantom to return so he can give you kingly permission to view the file.”

          Jason furrowed his brow, “If it is my mother’s file, would I be able to read it?”

          Wight pushed her lips together before answering, “Yes, but we would have to confirm it’s your mother’s. Let’s see… Oh! Every chapter has a photo of the person in life. It’s an easy way to track their appearance in the key moments of their existence. I can show you the photo on the death chapter and you can read it if it’s your mother.”

          Jason nodded and waited. Wight opened the book and flipped to the right page. The odd thing was the start of every chapter had only the title and picture. Wight quickly explained that they called it a privacy page. It hid the words from view. Jason breathed deeply before looking at the picture. His breath caught in his throat. It was her.

          “She’s dead,” Jason whispered.

          Wight winced, “I’m sorry, Strix.”

          Jason held out his hands and Wight gave him the book. He flipped to the next page and read. He read the day of both his and, apparently, Sheila’s deaths. Every little moment and word was written out before him. The book even had Sheila’s thoughts, and wasn’t it just wonderful for Jason to read how overwhelmingly guilty Sheila felt as she breathed her final breaths? No! It wasn’t wonderful! It was horrific and awful and traumatizing, and Jason felt sick.

          Jason flipped to the next chapter, the one titled “Manifestation as Ghost”. He read through Sheila’s first few days in the Infinite Realms. He found out that she had taken up residency in Gotham City, Infinite Realms. Lady Gotham had only accepted Sheila into the realm after much begging and pleading. Jason closed the book and stared at the name on the cover. “Sheila Rue,” it said.

          “The titles are their ecto-aliases,” Wight stated quietly.

          Jason turned to the princess and asked, “Do you know flower language like Phantom? He’s been teaching me, but we haven’t gotten to rue yet.”

          Wight nodded slowly, “Rue means repentance and guilt. It is a symbol of eternal suffering and regret. I’d say it can be used for apologies.”

          Jason swallowed around the lump in his throat, “I know what we should do today. You want to be a therapist, and I want to get this shit over with. We’ll see how good you are at stopping me from having a mental breakdown or panic attack when I talk to her. It’ll be a great bonding exercise.”

          Wight winced, “Okay, Strix. If you feel like this is something you need to get over with, then I’d be happy to help you.”

          Jason nodded and shelved the book he was holding. He began the trek to the entrance hall of the Keep, with Wight at his side. Jason asked her if she knew the way to Gotham City in the Infinite Realms. Wight answered with a smile and walked outside of the Keep’s doors. Once she was on the steps out front, she whistled high and loud. Jason was shocked to see a carriage pull up only moments later.

          The red carriage was pulled by two ghost horses. The ghost driving the carriage stepped down and opened the door to the carriage with a bow. The ghost asked, “Where too, Princess Wight?”

          Wight answered, “Strix and I would like to visit Gotham. Please make the trip short, not scenic.”

          Jason silently followed Wight into the carriage and the driver closed the door. When the ride began, Jason asked Wight about the directions she gave.

          The girl sighed, “We quickly learned that the drivers would make the drive quite long when my brother or I were alone with company. We think it is their way of trying to set us up with dates. I currently have no interest in dating and neither did my brother at the time. Nowadays, we have to specify that we want quick travel when alone with only one other person.”

          Jason was supremely grossed out by the thought of the dead drivers trying to set up the royal siblings. Did the driver originally plan to go slow with Wight and Jason alone in the back? Did he think they would do something? If so, then what? Did he think they would have sex? Like some sort of messed up romcom? Well, now that Jason was thinking about it, there was one person he would be fine sitting in a cramped carriage with for hours on end. Privately. Alone.

          And with that, Jason decided his thoughts had gone in a dangerous direction, especially in the company of his fixation’s older sister. Jason could feel the warm blush on his cheeks. He frowned and Wight laughed.

          “I know, right? Phantom and I thought it was ridiculous once we had figured it out. My brother didn’t take a carriage for a week LT. He was quite unhappy,” Wight said.

          Jason smiled then. Phantom was always a good topic… except when Jason’s mind was still on the carriage implications. Damn it! Not the right place and not the right time. Jason looked anywhere but Wight. After a couple of minutes, the carriage rocked to a halt. The door was opened, and Jason was suddenly back in Gotham.

          Jason and Wight walked around Gotham for a while before Jason gathered the courage to approach Sheila’s address. Jason got to the apartment building and walked up the stairs. Something Jason had quickly noticed was the small population of Gotham City compared to what he had expected. As they scaled the flights of stairs, Wight explained that most of Gotham’s population actually went to religious afterlives. The ones inhabiting Gotham after death were either atheists or agnostics.

          Jason knocked on Sheila’s door after standing in front of it for seven minutes. Wight had quietly told him it was okay to leave after five minutes of him standing there. He hadn’t responded and remained entirely silent up until the moment he knocked. If the princess jumped at the sudden sound and motion, then Jason wouldn’t tell anyone. A familiar blonde opened the door only a few moments after the knock.

          Sheila’s face went completely white at the sight of Jason. Jason himself felt like puking up that morning’s pancakes. The two stared at each other silently for a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, Sheila opened her mouth to speak. Her voice seemed to fail her a few times, but she finally forced herself to make sounds.

          “Ja-“

          “Strix,” Jason cut her off firmly, “I am using the name Strix. Don’t use the other name, it’s considered rude, and I didn’t give you permission.”

          Sheila went silent again before nodding, “O-okay. Strix it is. I just…can’t believe that you’re here. Why are you here?”

          Jason glanced to the side before closing his eyes and responding, “I need to talk about what happened. I need you to know that…”

          Jason trailed off and started to get lost in his head when he suddenly felt a warm hand clasp his. Jason breathed deeply and listened as Wight whispered words of encouragement. Jason breathed out.

          “I don’t forgive you for what you did. I- I understand that he was pressuring you, but you ultimately decided to hand me over to him rather than let me help you. So, I don’t forgive you. But, I have decided that I don’t hate you. If- If I had truly hated you, Mother, then I don’t know if I would have tried to save you still. It seems my efforts were in vain, but at least I tried. I tried to be a good son for the short time I knew you. I don’t hate you, but I don’t think I can ever love you. I just want to move past this and move on,” Jason concluded.

          Sheila was silent for a few minutes. When she finally spoke, it was with a broken voice.

          “I am so sorry. I’ve thought about it for every single moment since I entered this place. I should have never hurt you. You were my son, and I had just gotten you back. It was all my fault! Oh J- Strix. I am so sorry. I’m a terrible person and an even worse mother! Ancients, I’ve failed you!”

          Sheila collapsed in her doorway and began to sob.

          “And even- even after everything, you- you still tried to sa-ave me! What did I- I do to deserve your kindness? Nothing! I’m- I’m pathetic!”

          Jason’s lip quivered. He didn’t want to care. He didn’t want to sympathize with her. He didn’t want to comfort her. She had hurt him. She was right, she didn’t deserve his kindness. And yet, Jason knelt to the floor in a fluid motion and hugged his mother. Jason felt her arms wrap around him, and he let go. Jason sobbed and cried and yelled and screamed into Sheila’s shirt. His mother kissed the top of his head and cried out countless apologies and praises.

          Jason heard Sheila call him perfect and brave. She called him strong and resilient. His mother called him a good son and a great hero. She whispered so many kind things as her tears soaked his hair. They cried together for minutes, or maybe hours? It didn’t matter. They held each other and when they pulled apart, Jason felt like there was a chance that he could perhaps forgive Sheila in the future.

          With the possibility of visiting being hinted at by Sheila, and the whole talk over and done with, Jason felt lighter. He felt his core hum with each step he took. Jason ended the day by wandering around Gotham for hours before returning to the Keep with Wight. Before entering his room, Jason quickly turned around and hugged Wight. The princess was frozen for a moment before she hugged back.

          “Thank you, Wight. I told you I needed you today and you didn’t judge me,” Jason said.

          Wight smiled under the mask, “I’ll always be here for you, Strix.”

          Jason pulled back and muttered a small ‘good night’ before closing his door.

          If Wight pulled off her mask in the empty hallway and began to cry, that was her secret. If, when she called Phantasma for her shift, she blubbered about how sweet and kind Strix was, then that was between the two girls. And finally, if Wight whispered about how she approved of Strix as a possible consort for her brother to Clockwork, then that was between the princess and the regent.

Chapter Text

          Jason woke up the next morning to a knock on his door. He opened it and met the gleaming green eyes of Phantasma. The Princess smiled devilishly.

          “Good morning, fucker! Come on, I want to kick your ass,” she spoke as if she was talking about a trip to an amusement park rather than throwing hands in the designated sparring room.

          Jason understood, of course. All ghosts, except those with peace obsessions, loved fighting. He himself enjoyed a good brawl long before he had died; long before he was even Robin. So, Jason just stood up and followed her through the halls.

          The fight was one Jason greatly enjoyed. The sweat soaking his clothes was refreshing and the pain of a few small wounds sparked his adrenaline. The two helped patch each other’s wounds afterward. During that, Jason was hit with a sudden realization.

          “Wait, why are you here? Wight said she would call Keeper next, not you.”

          Phantasma blinked up at him from where she was bandaging up one of his leg wounds. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, we kind of made a change of plans when you were exploring Gotham. Keeper’s mom is taking her shopping, so I volunteered to take her spot. Trust me, Keeper wishes she could be here instead, she hates shopping.”

          Jason laughed at that, and the duo finished patching each other up. Afterward, Jason didn’t really have a clue about what he and Phantasma would do together. They had a lot of time to spare. Phantasma herself solved the issue of having nothing to do with only one sentence.

          “Clockwork wants me to do some political stuff today, so I’ll be a bit busy, but you can tag along if you’d like.”

          Jason nodded, “Yeah, I’ll come along. Hopefully, I can save you from most of the boredom.”

          Phantasma laughed and started to lead Jason out of the training room. They walked the halls until they came across the Conference Room. Many times, during his stay at Phantom’s Keep, Jason had watched Phantom, Phantasma, Wight, Pharoah, or Keeper enter the room for meetings. Jason himself had never been permitted entry.

          Today, Phantasma opened the door and motioned for Jason to walk through. Just inside the door, there was a walkway to the center of the room, where Jason assumed a speaker would stand and present information. The central circle was surrounded by raised seating on two balcony levels.

          Phantasma looked unimpressed by the room, “The official name may be the ‘Conference Room,’ but I like to call it the Coliseum.”

          Jason nodded and silently observed an archway he had assumed to be decorative light up with runes. Out of the shimmering portal stepped Persephone and a man. The man had black hair and a pale complexion. He had an imposing frame, but a soft smile. Persephone laughed at something he said before kissing him and leading him to a couple of seats. That must have been Lord Hades.

          Phantasma snapped to get Jason’s attention and then pointed at the two spiral staircases next to the door before saying, “Those lead up to the Inner Court’s thrones. You can sit in my usual seat, and I’ll sit in Phantom’s. It’ll be easy to tell which ones belong to which people.”

          Jason nodded and smiled thankfully before ascending the steps to the loan balcony above the door. He saw that what Phantasma accurately described as thrones were decorated accordingly to each individual.

          Keeper’s was on the far right when facing the thrones, and it was carved from a black stone. Engraved in the stone appeared to be bright green vines with berries made of purple gemstones. Keeper’s throne also had a plush violet seat and backing.

          Wight’s throne was next to Keeper’s and its base material was also a black stone, though it was different from Keeper’s base. There were no intricate carvings on the sides of her throne. She had teal cushions with orange in swirling patterns.

          Phantom’s throne wasn’t overly showy. It was made of a white stone, most likely marble, and had plain black cushions. Next to Phantom’s simplistic throne, Phantasma’s sat. ‘Tasma’s throne was a gray stone with symbols carved into it in a seafoam green that matched her cushions.

          Pharoah’s throne was the most intricate of them all. His was crafted from gold and most likely ivory. Jewels and gems decorated it in a way that showed off the wealth without being overly flashy or ugly. It had patterns set into it with lapis and rubies. It was remarkable.

          Before sitting on Phantasma’s throne, Jason noticed something. Oddly enough, next to Pharaoh’s intricate throne was a wooden chair. It wasn’t, in any terms, a bad chair. It looked to be made of nice ebony wood and its cushion was a nice deep blue with different colored tassels in each corner. Jason decided to ask Phantasma about it later. Thinking of Phantasma, Jason decided to finally take his seat.

          The room slowly filled with people, or rather, deities. Jason looked out over the many different people. Some in attendance were clearly deities for alien races. Jason eventually tried to start guessing what kind of name each deity would have and what their speech patterns would be like when transferred to the common language of the dead.

          “Enjoying it up here?” a familiar voice said from Jason's left.

          He glared playfully at the Princess, “Would you stop sneaking up on me like that? I’ll make you regret it if you do it again.”

          Phantasma cocked her head to the side, “I might just take you up on that offer. Sadly, duels will have to wait until the diplomacy has been dealt with.”

          Jason smiled before saying, “I thought there were only five members of the Inner Court when you included King Phantom.”

          Phantasma cocked her head to the side before saying, “What are you… Oh! You mean the sixth chair! That belongs to Poltergeist. He’s a halfa of sorts and is basically my brother. Like, he too is kind of a clone of Phantom. It’s kind of hard to explain. I’ll tell you more about him later.”

          Jason just nodded and stayed quiet. The meeting was long, and he couldn’t really focus on what was being discussed. They were all speaking in the ghost language, Spiriklin, which was more about interpretation and feeling than actual words. Jason was still learning how to interpret the many different feelings and auras conveyed in Spiriklin, so he struggled to follow the conversations.

          Finally, Jason watched Phantasma stand in the center of the room and say, “I, Phantasma, the First Princess of the Infinite Realms and Successor to the King, call this gathering of the Ballroom to a close. See you all again next month.”

          Phantasma sat on King Phantom’s throne again and waited for the multiple thousands of deities to leave. She sighed in relief as the final person exited through a portal. Jason waited as a ton of tension seemed to seep out of the princess’ being. She eventually turned to face him and said, “So… you wanted to know about Poltergeist?”

          As the two of them walked the halls, Phantasma talked about her mysterious sort-of-brother, “He is technically Phantom from an alternate future that occurred after a freak accident where all of Phantom’s loved ones died. In that timeline, Phantom couldn’t cope with the pain and destroyed the last of his remaining humanity. The only upside to that alternate future was that Phantom hadn’t defeated Pariah Dark yet, and therefore, was not the King of the Infinite Realms.

          “If he had been, a lot more damage would have been caused and a lot more people would have died. In that future, humanity was massacred by this evil version of my brother. The remaining humans had to resort to living in cities that were covered by anti-ghost shields. Phantom was forced to fight this alternate version of himself and made sure the accident never happened.

          “This may have resulted in that future never happening, but that version of Phantom now exists outside the bounds of time. He still exists. Clockwork kept him imprisoned. A lot of stuff happened, but eventually, he got out and later was mostly reformed. He got a human body, which was a clone of my brother, and became a halfa in a way.

          “He goes by Poltergeist now and has been integrated into our siblinghood. He cared a lot about Wight when he stopped being a psychopath and grew to care about me. Geist and Phantom still have issues sometimes, but they go to therapy together and try to be better for us. Because of everything he did, Poltergeist was barred from ever having the chance to become King, but he told me he would have renounced the right anyway. He doesn’t want that sort of responsibility.

          “We let him sit in on meetings with us and he actually has some good ideas for making peace and stuff. Just letting you know, Geist isn’t the nicest to strangers, but he’s heard a lot about you. I think he actually does care about Phantom, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, because he threatened to murder you if you ever hurt Phantom. I guess he couldn’t help taking the role of oldest sibling, even for Phan.”

          Jason digested everything as ‘Tasma launched into some stories about her eldest sibling. It scared him a little bit to think of someone strong enough to tear apart the world. He wondered a million different things and worried about the possibility of Poltergeist returning to the side of evil. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Phantasma.

          “And we are one hundred percent certain that Phantom himself will never turn evil. It’s why Clockwork is his most trusted advisor. CW makes sure the King follows any path except the ones where he turns to the dark side. Clockwork has also assured us that Geist will never again dip to such a low point as he had in his timeline.”

          Jason sighed with relief and asked, “What are we to do now, ‘Tasma.”

          The princess groaned, “I have a bit of paperwork to file, including going over the stenographer notes of the gathering, which will take forever. I’m very sorry, Strix, but you’ll have to find entertainment for yourself. Some ground rules are as follows, you can go anywhere in the grounds of the Keep, except the secret hallway. And you may take a chariot to Gotham, but that is the only other place you may go. Sorry for the restrictions, but it’s for your safety.”

          Jason made his understanding clear and split off from the princess. He read through at least seven books from his room’s library before a knock sounded at his door. Princess Phantasma smiled at him and mentioned how she was finally free for at least two hours. She also mentioned how she had to switch off with Pharaoh in about three hours as well.

          “Wait, I thought I had at least a full day with you, though,” Jason said.

          Phantasma stopped walking and looked at Strix, “Yeah. On our first day, we sparred and went to the gathering. I spent the entire second and half of the third doing paperwork. Then I had a meeting with Clockwork, which took however many hours. So yeah, I only have three more before I switch out with Pharaoh.”

          Jason asked, “So you’re telling me I’ve been reading nonstop for over twenty-four hours?”

          Phantasma shrugged, “Yeah if that’s what you’ve been doing since I left you alone. Ghosts don’t really need to sleep or eat, so we can easily lose track of time. Humans' meal and sleep cycles actually help them measure time decently, especially if the meals have regulated items at certain times. For example, if you put someone in a locked room with no light for hours and then gave them bacon and eggs at dinner time, they would probably assume it was morning. At least I think that’s how it works, I’m not a scientist.”

          Jason mulled that over before realizing Phantasma was leading him to the cinema room. He then asked, “Are we not gonna spar?”

          The princess shook her head, “Nah. Pharaoh wants to play video games with you, and I really need some relaxation in the form of rewatching The Fast and the Furious.”

          Jason just hummed in agreement as Phantasma got the popcorn machine running. The first movie was good, and they started 2 Fast 2 Furious, but Phantasma paused it when Pharaoh arrived. She bid Jason goodbye and left the cinema. Pharaoh sort of stared at Jason for a bit. They had never been alone together before.

          “Have you ever heard of Doom?” Pharaoh asked out of nowhere.

          Jason nodded before asking, “What’s your placement on the International Leaderboard?”

          Pharaoh’s eyes gained corner creases, a sign of a wide grin. “I’m sixteenth,” he said with a proud gusto.

          Jason eyed him with a challenging stare, “Well, I bet I can beat you in the game. I used to be ranked nineteenth. That isn’t far off of sixteenth.”

          Pharaoh laughed, “Oh, you’re on, man!”

          After the game had booted up, the two of them slipped into a very casual and easy coexistence. Of course, Jason was the one to ruin the peaceful energy.

          “If you don’t mind me asking,” he began while they waited for a new round to start, “What is your job? I’m not trying to be rude, or anything, I’m just genuinely curious as to what being ‘Life’s Representative’ means.”

          Pharaoh’s eyes widened as he slowly turned to look at Jason. He blinked a couple of times before saying, “Strix, buddy, you can’t just ask a guy what his political position means.”

          Jason scrambled to fix the situation, “I’m so sorry! I was just being nosey; I didn’t know it would be a sensitive topic.”

          Pharaoh stared at his controller, “I know you didn’t know. It’s unfair of me to be upset at you. I just… I’m not very happy about the position I’m in. It’s funny, I used to always wanna be special, but now that I am, all I want is to be normal again. Well, I guess I never was truly normal, just blind to what made me stand out.”

          Jason didn’t dare interrupt the other boy as he continued, “As ‘Life’s Representative’ I basically represent literally anything alive. When the Ballroom decides they’re mad at the living, they yell at me. I can do literally nothing about why they’re angry, but I still deal with most of their anger. I think they believe I can control everything that’s alive just because of my job title. I’m not just ‘Life’s Representative’ though, I’m also known among ghosts as the Reincarnate. As you can probably tell based on the title, I’m someone who has reincarnated.”

          This time, Jason did speak, “I was under the impression that reincarnation was impossible due to the whole core situation… unless… Were you born with a core, Pharaoh?”

          Pharaoh laughed, “No, I wasn’t. Reincarnation is actually super rare and that is actually the reason why. You already know about death rifts, right?”

          Jason tilted his head, “Is that what you call the hole that opens up when someone dies? The thing that gets a soul into the Infinite Realms?”

          “Bingo!” Pharaoh said, “So the thing is, sometimes death rifts don’t open. We don’t know the reason why, they just don’t. Two things could happen to the soul if the rift doesn’t open. The first thing, and the most likely one, is the soul wanders its home planet until it either finds a naturally occurring portal into the Realms or it finds some ectoplasm outside of the Realms. This situation ends with the soul forming into a core and gaining an ectoplasm body.

          “The second situation, which is incredibly rare, is where a life rift opens instead of the death rift. When a soul travels through a life rift, it enters a new living body. These new bodies can be any species in the entire universe. Because the soul isn’t a core, the being the soul belongs to will not be able to remember its previous life or lives until it finally gets a core. And just so you know, reincarnating may be rare, but it is even rarer to have been reincarnated two or even three times.”

          Jason nodded respectfully, “So, everyone who has reincarnated is called a reincarnate.”

         “No, actually,” Pharaoh stated plainly, “I’m the only one. And the article ‘the’ that comes before the word ‘reincarnate’ is very important. Everyone else who has ever reincarnated is called a repeater or an experienced. They’re seen as wise, but they don’t have more political pull than any other everyday ghost. I’m the Reincarnate because I’ve reincarnated more times than anyone ever before. The only people who were even close to me in numbers were my previous lives.”

          Jason processed that before saying, “But you just said it’s incredibly rare to reincarnate three times. How many times have you-”

          “Over two trillion.”

          “…”

          Jason didn’t know what to say. The two of them went silent for a long time. The only noises were from the videogame and their controllers as they continued to play as they had throughout the conversation.

          Eventually, Jason worked up the courage to ask, “How do you know?”

          Pharaoh hummed, “I instinctively know every single language to have ever existed among every sentient species in the entire universe. Well, I either already know the language without knowing I know it, or I learn a couple of words and am suddenly fluent. Both are known signs among repeaters that hint at who they were if they haven’t yet recovered all of their memories from all of their lives. Sometimes Phantom and I will talk in dead alien languages just to piss off Keeper.”

          Jason watched as his character shot at an NPC. They had switched from PvP mode to the adventure-type game mode before the whole conversation began. Jason ran through his thoughts, trying to sort them out before he opened his big mouth again.

          Pharaoh beat him to it, “I’m not upset by the fact that I’ve reincarnated so much, I’m upset by the theories. Some people think that I am the soul of the first life form in the entire universe, and therefore the first soul. They say that would be the only explanation for why Life itself seems to never want me to enter Death’s domain as a resident. Let me tell you, that is the least upsetting one, and actually a little flattering.

          “No, the worst one isn’t the ‘First Soul’ theory. The worst is the ‘Last Soul’ theory. Some ghosts, even some deities, think that I will only get a death rift when the last sentient being dies. That I will be that final sentient being. They don’t even think to consider what that would mean for me. Can you imagine if you were the only person in the world? Let’s even go so far as to say the only living thing, period. I would be the loneliest being ever. There would be no one to talk to, nothing to befriend, and no hope for the future. I don’t want to be lonely.”

          Jason took a moment before saying, “If it ever comes down to there only being one sentient thing in the universe, I swear to find my way into the Living Realm and befriend it. I don’t care if it’s you or some other poor soul, no one deserves to be put in that situation.”

          Pharaoh looked at Jason and smiled, “Phantom said something similar to that when I told him the theory was bugging me. He said that no future resident of his kingdom would die alone if he could actually do something about it. He wishes he could be there for modern-day people who go through a very similar thing. Even the Ghost King has to abide by certain laws. Plus, Keeper collects a few souls and said that she forced Clockwork to tell her when I was forever dying, so she could guide me here.”

          Jason rolled his shoulders back and focused his attention on the screen, “Your friends care about you a lot. I wish I had known you all when I was still alive. Maybe I would’ve been a bit braver when facing my death, especially knowing I would have more free time with friends.”

          Pharaoh hummed again, “Well, I for one am glad to know you now. Keeper’s getting better at identifying people based on their souls using magic. Maybe in my next life, if I even have another, you’ll be able to find and haunt me. Let’s be clear, the haunting thing has to be friendly.”

          Jason laughed, “Aye aye, Captain! Nice haunting only for this here ghost.”

          After that conversation ended, they moved on to other, lighter, topics. They talked about favorite movies and shows. They complained to each other about disappointing adaptations. After the second day shared between the two was over — a day they had spent binging shows and playing a bunch of other games — they had become very good friends.

          When Pharaoh left the Infinite Realms and saw Sam waiting, he smiled. Tucker asked her for an update on how Danny was doing, and she just sighed. She asked him how Strix was doing, and he told her that he was nice. He advised that she talk to him, rather than ignore him as she had most likely been planning to do. Sam just rolled her eyes in response.

Chapter Text

I've recently re-read what I have, and I decided I can't let my mistakes go... so I have edited and will continue to edit small mistakes so they aren't there anymore. I still need to redo the math for the timeline, because I'm pretty sure I got the conversions wrong a few times, but otherwise, things should be pretty fine. If anyone wants to re-read the fic and make note of mistakes in the comments, I would be ever so grateful.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter Text

Y'all... I've lost the file with the next chapter on it.

I had cute scenes written on it and everything!

I know I didn't delete it, but I don't know where it is.

Microsoft hates me, but I am going to be researching ways to find the file again, just cause I don't want to lose those scenes.

Btw, expect the next chapter by late August to early October. If next semester starts fine (and I retrieve the old scenes), then that should be around when I finish it.

Thanks for reading! Ciao!

Chapter Text

A doctor just took my teeth. I keep mistaking my bottom lip for my tongue. I'm scared of swallowing, cause I feel like I'll choke. This is terrible. I should've gotten them taken out sooner.

Oh! I found the file with the chapter and scenes, though. So that's great! Also, I'm like, mostly lucid right now. YAY!

Laters!