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After the accident, Danny had been relieved that he still looked mainly like himself. He could pretend that he was just a kid with ghost powers. Sure maybe he had kind of died, but he was still alive. He still looked normal.
And then Undergrowth had happened, and his core started to mature, things had started to change.
It had started small. When he was in ghost form his skin began to get paler. He hadn’t noticed anything at first, not until Sam pointed it out.
After that, he’d tried to be more observant. He was not only getting paler, but his skin was taking on a slightly blue color.
And then his human form had begun to look pale as well. Mr. Lancer had given him a strange look one day and told him he should spend more time in the sun.
The fangs at come next, and Danny had to be careful not to open his mouth to wide or people would see. Not that people were really looking at him these days. Most of the time, Danny noticed that if someone glanced at him, they’d quickly look away. Even Dash was avoiding him.
And what was worse was that even Sam and Tucker never looked him in the eyes anymore.
He’d ask them what was up, and they’d answered that looking at him was unsettling. That it made their skin crawl and activated their flight reflex.
Danny stood in his ghost form in front of his mirror at home. He tilted his head side to side, reached up to feel his ears. They were slightly pointed now. His freckles were slightly green and if Danny looked closely they resembled the current position of the stars. He ran his hands through his hair which had begun to float on its own, not fiery but like he was underwater or in space. He felt along his head till he came to the two points that had begun to grow. He frowned and thought of Nocturne who had horns growing from their head. He examined his fingers which had begun to grow longer and end in sharp claws.
He steeled himself and met his gaze in the mirror. His eyes were still green, but they swirled like the portal and his irises had grown to cover nearly all of his sclera. His pupil looked darker than black and made Danny think of black holes.
Danny transformed into his human form. This one was at least mostly normal, if you ignored the paleness, fangs, and the strange quality his eyes had. They didn’t look different, but according to his friends, looking into his eyes made them think of a powerful predator.
What was happening to him?
Did ghost’s have their own sort of puberty?
Frostbite had said his core was maturing. Was that what was affecting his appearance? But a lot of the ghost’s he had met still looked mostly human. Why was he changing?
He turned away from the mirror. It didn’t matter. He had too many other things to think about. He had a test he hadn't studied for and a project he hadn’t started. And with his luck they would probably be a ghost attack.
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Danny had gone back to ask Frostbite what was happening, and the ghost yeti had confirmed that his core maturing was what was causing the changes.
“But why is it causing these changes? There are plenty of ghosts that still look human?”
“It depends on the ghost’s core and on the level of energy they have. Halfa’s have always been powerful, and you were made in the birth of a permanent portal.”
“So?”
“That means that you will be very powerful one day. Your form is changing to reflect that. You have met Noctorn the Dreamer and Undergrowth Guardian of the Green, their forms changed to reflect their cores and energy levels. The same is happening to you.”
“But I don't want to change.”
Frostbite had given him such a sad look then. “To fight the design Fate has woven for us always leads to disastrous results.”
“But I changed the future. I stopped Dan.”
“That was another timeline, the Great One. And you had the help of Clockwork Guardian of the Will Be.” Frostbite set a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “But worry not, Great One, these changes are merely of appearance. Who you are will not change.”
Danny had left after that.
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One year later
Danny’s human form hadn’t changed much more besides the fact that not even his friends would look at him directly anymore. But his Phantom form…
His ghost form had stretched to a height of three meters, his arms and legs were long and his feet and hands ended in claws. His skin was skin tinged blue and several patches were covered in hoarfrost. His eyes were completely green except for the black holes of his pupils, and his green freckles still reflected the position of the stars. His hair was longer and floated unencumbered by gravity. His mouth was full of teeth and his face looked sunken with his cheeks covered in an ever shifting pattern of frost. And from his head grew antlers covered in hoarfrost. They were big, extending two feet above his head and two feet to either side of him.
And above his head floated a crown made of ice and the aurora borealis.