Shadows of the Past

A Danny Phantom Fanfic by Quill N. Inque

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Chapter 12: Epilogue

"Awaken."

From outside the boundaries of Danny's unconsciousness, a quietly sibilant yet gentle tone whispered softly in his ear, its ancient cadence layered with age like a dusty tome in a forgotten library. Slowly at first, and then gradually gaining momentum, Danny Fenton slowly returned to the waking world, his fingers twitching, then flexing with strength renewed. His eyelids fluttered, and again that eerily soft yet benevolent voice seemed made the hair on the young man's neck stand on end.

"Awaken, Danny," it repeated. "It is time."

The second utterance of that mysterious whisper seemed to act as a pail of ice-cold water, for the force it carried belied its lack of volume. With a gasp and a start, Danny's cerulean eyes flew open like window shutters, their gaze disoriented and somewhat scared as he bolted upright-

Danny suddenly flinched, expecting a twinge in his arm where Walker's sword had plunged into his flesh, but his heart almost skipped a beat when he realized that no such agony was forthcoming. Indeed, though his stunned gaze could scarcely comprehend it, Danny looked upon the limb that had been so cruelly marred to see now that the skin was unbroken, the bones undamaged, and the sleeve of his shirt unstained with the rusty red of oxidized blood. No scars did he bear, no bullet wounds or sword cuts nor any other painful souvenirs from the battlefield did Danny carry engraved upon his person.

Another wave of shock and disoriented confusion washed over him, for the tattered and bedraggled Continental uniform that Danny had previously worn seemed to have disappeared as well. No sword hung at his side, no musket lay strapped across his back, and no pistol lay tucked in the now-vanished belt around his waist. The ghost boy was now clad in his typical dress of white T-shirt and blue jeans, devoid of the foul instruments and accessories of war.

Danny's heart began to beat a little bit faster as slowly ran a finger down the length of the familiar wooden desk in which he sat. His pencil was still held in his hand, and Danny almost dropped it from his nerveless grasp as he gazed around at the still forms of his classmates.

It seemed as if someone had pressed a gigantic "pause" button on some all-powerful remote control, and such an allusion would not be entirely inaccurate. Lancer's mouth still hung open in mid-lecture, his chalk halted in the middle of its sojourn across the board. Dash and Kwan were frozen in the middle of their surreptitious texting, their phones held below their desks with their thumbs hovering over the tiny keyboards.

Clockwork, Master of Time and Keeper of the Eternal Sands, smiled kindly as he materialized out of thin air, his staff held lightly in an almost loving grip.

"Welcome back," the ghost said.

"What…? How….?" So great was Danny's confusion that he couldn't summon the brainpower to form coherent sentences. "What did you do?" he asked, after finding his tongue.

"That depends," Clockwork replied cryptically. "What do you think I did?"

"You turned me into a killer, for starters," Danny told him acidly, his voice cracking with grief whilst he glanced at his hands, as if he could see the blood upon them. "I've taken so many lives that I've lost count, did you know that? I've killed men in cold blood, thanks to you and your so-called lesson!"

"Do not despair," Clockwork's tone was sage. "You are free of guilt, Danny. I know that you have never and will never kill anyone. You could not have slain those men, for you never even left this very room."

"What?" Danny asked, bewildered. "So…it wasn't real?"

"Oh, it was very real," Clockwork assured him. "Very real, at least, to you. You must understand, Danny, that I am the shepherd of Time, its steward and caretaker, rather than its overlord."

"Could you stop being squirrelly for just a minute and tell me what really happened?" Danny asked desperately. "I mean, I know you've got an image to maintain or whatever, but I could really use some answers here."

Clockwork grinned. "Danny, I will not deny that I was grieved at the contempt you displayed. But even so, surely you would understand that actually sending you back to an extremely important event in the timestream such as the Revolution could quite possibly have grievous consequences on the here and now. Such a momentous curve in the flow of time must under no circumstances be altered or changed in the slightest way; to do so would risk the formation of a paradox or even the creation of an alternate timeline."

"And that's bad, huh?"

"An occurrence like that would nullify all of existence," Clockwork agreed. "I have already taken that chance once before. You know exactly what I am talking about," he added. "Changing the past to prevent the creation of your future self was a gamble of such enormous magnitude that you could not possibly hope to comprehend it.

"Nevertheless, I knew that it would take more than a lecture to shake you from apathy," the ghost continued, "But there was no way to do this without jeopardizing the flow of time, so I improvised. The moment I appeared in your classroom, the very second I was through-"

"Yelling at me?" Danny grinned crookedly.

"Put bluntly, yes," Clockwork admitted. "For what it's worth, I do feel somewhat guilty about losing my temper like that, though I stand by my statement that your punishment was just."

"I could have died!" Danny said incredulously.

"You were never in any real danger," Clockwork replied. "Now, if you'll let me finish?"

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, it was but the work of a moment for me to trap your mind in a powerful illusion," Clockwork went on. "I ensnared your consciousness in a dream-like state that replicated, with almost complete perfection, the world that I wanted you to see firsthand. All the things you experienced while in the spell's confines appeared as they truly were over two centuries ago, the events and occurrences playing out as they would have if you'd actually been there. What seemed like a trip to the past was, for all its realism, little more than a reflection, a shadow of that which has already come and gone." Clockwork's tone turned somber. "And now I want you to think, Danny. Through me, you have felt all that they felt, done all that they did, and seen what they saw through their eyes. You have shouldered every burden, taken part in every ordeal, and endured trials of such enormity that they would have broken the minds and hearts of lesser men. And with all this in mind, I must ask you…" the Keeper of Time leaned forward slightly. "What will you take away from it all? What have you learned?"

Danny was silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I learned the fear of approaching battle, the sting of defeat and the thrill of victory. I learned about suffering, starvation, and hardship, of trials endured, and sacrifices made. I learned the sadness of seeing friends die in battle, the horrors of war and the sting of oppression, and I felt how great the burden of history is upon one's shoulders."

"It's heavy, isn't it?" Clockwork asked with a wink. "Such a weight is not easily borne, but that doesn't mean that no one can carry it. Great individuals are merely ordinary individuals who answer a higher calling, Danny, those who fight for or work for something greater than themselves. And for the most part, they aren't famous people, either; everyone, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, has within themselves the capability to change the course of the future and be remembered for such by those around them, to leave the world a little bit better a place for their treading upon it. But like everyone else, you have to come to that decision on your own, for it is yours alone to make. You see, Danny," the ghost finished. "True immortality isn't about living forever…"

"It's about what you do with the time you have," Danny added. "And what you leave behind for everybody else."

Clockwork smiled. "At last, you understand."

"Yeah," Danny grinned back. "I do."

A/N: And thus, our tale comes to a close! I sincerely hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I LOVED writing it! XD And I do hope to see you all again VERY soon, for within the next week or so I shall commence publication of "The Emperor's Hand," which will be the fifth installment in my signature X-Men Evolution saga, the Historical KURTTY Series (Seriously, it'll be up REALLY SOON, so keep an eye out! ^^) While I'm on that note, I do wish to send a special and heart-felt thank-you to the readers of the aforementioned series for their patience in allowing me to write "Shadows of the Past" before "The Emperor's Hand." I know you've all been waiting, and I assure you that you will NOT go unrewarded! Furthermore, an even BIGGER thanks is owed to the KURTTY readers who read and reviewed this story is also in order, and so to Indigo-Night-Wisp, AmuletSpade, acosta perez jose romero, and Gabry, I send you all my gratitude! But we mustn't forget that there are others who are deserving of thanks as well, and thus I send a warm shout-out to ToiletFacility, DBack47, Codiak, Arteesta, Hinata28h, pearl84, CatalystOfTheSoul, KatiekkxD, Kokushoku Arashi Akuma, crazytechnicolrmess, itsbeenasecret, gothsamphan14, Biisaiyowaq, PhantomPhoenix4, Pterodactyl, Hikari Urania, ImNoHeroImTheVillain, Missing me, Uncontained-Epicness, Lord Jace, Nightwing 509, Wildfeathereddragon2, Danny Phantom Phanatic, and foreverfan62! You ALL have my eternal thanks for sending me so much encouragement and wonderful feedback, and I can honestly say that the response to this story totally BLEW ME AWAY! It gives me no shortage of joy and pride to present this, the final chapter, as a gift to you all!

I am, and shall ever be,

Your humble servant,

-Quill N. Inque