TheAsphode Meadows

By Kellie Fay

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, and Nickelodeon.

This idea came to me while I was writing "The Siege" of where Miss Daily's mother had been and where she went after she left Maddie. It also nagged at my creativity demons that we don't know what happens to people who don't become ghosts in the DP universe, and what will happen to Danny if he ever does die. You might want to read "Missing" before you read this, I'm not sure if you'd need to see that story to understand everything, but this first chapter is before missing or Destabilized. Enjoy!

And yes Orca Song is done, and this is going to be a quick two shot.

Before D-Stabalized

In retrospect the whole thing was Skulker's fault. If he hadn't been chasing both of them, Phantom might not have taken that route. Then again if she hadn't been chasing Phantom in the first place Skulker's might not have found either one of them.

Now the two enemies worked as allies both running from the Ghost Zones greatest hunter zipping through the night trying to get an advantage.

"You know I would have caught Skulker already if you hadn't worn me out chasing me all night" Phantom complained.

"Shut up and keep flying!" Valerie shot back. Skulker had some new jet pack, and it took everything the two of them had to just keep ahead of the hunter.

"I've got an idea," Phantom said. "I found a new way into the ghost zone the other day. It's a little weird, but we should be able to lose Skulker. Follow me."

Valerie followed close behind the ghost boy's tail until they came to a building in the middle of town. Upon seeing the building Valerie gave Phantom an incredulous look. "You have got to be kidding me."

Phantom snugged. "Nope," he answered.

Phantom was wrong, it wasn't weird. It was downright creepy. The porthole lay in of all places a funeral home. "How did you find this?" Valerie asked.

"The Fentons were here the other day. An old friend of Maddie's died. I was watching them, and I saw some guy come out of the closet then go back in with the guy who died. I figured it's a way into the ghost zone. "Come on let's go. Skulker right behind us."

Reluctantly Valerie put her hand in Phantom's and allowed him to phase her into the funeral home. Fortunately at three o'clock in the morning nobody was around. Valerie tried to ignore the instinctive chill she felt. The last time she had seen one of these places she had been six at her mother's funeral.

"Come on it's this way," Phantom said, fortunately he ignored the rooms where the caskets lay. Instead he went for what looked like a small storage closet. Again he placed his hand in Valerie's, and phased them through the closet.

A brilliant light blinded Valerie for a few seconds. When she could see again she found herself hovering over a huge grassy lawn where hundreds and hundreds of ghosts just lay dozing, basking in the light of a bright circle in the center of a hazy pink sky. Valerie couldn't even count the number of ghosts present here or see to the end of the field.

"Are you sure this is the Ghost Zone Phantom?" Valerie asked. When she didn't get an answer she began to look around worried. "Phantom?"

She found Phantom hovering near to the bright shining vortex on the sky. She opened her mouth to berate him for deserting her, but the words died in her throat when she saw Phantom staring at the vortex like a three year looking at a Christmas store window.

"Why can't I come now?" He asked the light wistfully. Valerie didn't hear an answer, but Phantom must have, because he then said, "well, no. Can I wait here?"

"Phantom," Valerie asked getting worried now. "Who are you talking to?"

"Don't you hear the singing Valerie?" Phantom asked. He closed his eyes trying to listen harder. "It's beautiful"

"No, I don't hear anything Phantom. Where are we? Is this the ghost zone?"

"Sort of," Phantom answered, he floated down to a clear spot on the grass and lay down with his hands behind his head staring up at the glowing disk in the sky. "Andrew said there's a door back there that leads to the rest of the Ghost Zone. It's so peaceful here."

Following Phantom to the grass, Valerie agreed that the area possessed an uncommon beauty, but the way Phantom acted here upset Valerie. He didn't seem to care that they were lost here. He wanted to stay. Valerie watched Phantom's eyes drooped then closed. He took in a deep breath of air rolled over then fell asleep.

Like every other ghost here! Now frightened, Valerie shook Phantom hard trying to wake him. "Phantom! DANNY! Wake up! We can't stay here!"

Thankfully Phantom managed to open his eyes, and look at her puzzled. "Valerie? Why can't I stay here?"

Hoping she could keep him focused Valerie kept talking. "You have to take me home Phantom. You got me here in the Ghost Zone; you have to get me out of it!"

"Oh, "he said absently. Whatever weird spell that held him, obviously made him not remember that. He sat up slowly then took another longing look at the disk above him.

Valerie shook him again. "Come on Phantom! Snap out of it! Take me home! "

Phantom blinked twice, and gave her the saddest of looks like she just asked him to give up a cherished toy. He took her hand and flew up away from the disk to a violet door that looked old splintering with the color washed out.

"Is that the way to the rest of the Ghost Zone?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah," Phantom answered. Again he hesitated looking up at the shining disk reluctant to leave it.

"Phantom please!" Valerie begged she reached out, opened the door, and pushed Phantom through before she flew through herself.

Once on the other side of the door Valerie relaxed. This looked like the ghost Zone she remembered from when Skulker kidnapped them. At her right Phantom shivered a little and looked at the door behind him. "It's cold out here," he complained. He gave Valerie a pleading look. "Please can I go back to the meadow?"

"No Danny," Valerie insisted. "you have to take me home!"

Getting out of the area didn't help Phantom recover one bit. In fact he looked like he was about to cry. He had his hand on the door with a pained expression on his face.

"Phantom you have to snap out of it!" Valerie demanded.

"Perhaps would be best if you took him to my Tower where he can recover," a new voice said. Suddenly before them floated a tall adult ghost with a hood and a staff that had a clock on the end. He had a jagged scar over one eye and wrist watches on both his wrists the way some girls wore loads of bangle bracelets.

This ghost caught her by surprise. She pulled out her ecto-gun, but before she could fire she heard the words, "TIME OUT" and her world faded to white.

When Valerie came back to herself she found herself in a strange clock tower surrounded by different gears and well clocks. Valerie also saw a number of monitors showing different scenes. Valerie suddenly did a double take and stared at two of the monitors. One showed her first battle with Danny Phantom almost two years ago, and the second showed her waking and dragging Phantom from the strange ghost meadow.

Suddenly Valerie heard her name being spoken in a frantic frightened manner, following the sound Valerie came upon Danny Phantom seated in a large recliner drinking from a teacup. Next to him sat a weird looking child ghost who had the exact same voice as the ghost who called to her before.

"Valerie is fine," the child ghost said shifting to the ghost she remembered. "She is here in the tower. I had to stop time to bring you both here. She reacted to my presence badly."

Phantom let lose a stressed out chuckle. "Don't tell me, I don't want to know. She is okay though?"

"Better than you are Ghost," Valerie said gently. "What happened to you?"

"Still trying to get an answer to that," Phantom said looking at the strange time ghost, who had now transformed to someone much older. "Valerie this is Clockwork, the ghost of time. He's never in the real world unless on business, so no hunting."

"Uh hi," Valerie said uncertainly.

Clockwork nodded then turned his attention back to Phantom. "In truth I am not surprised you reacted so strongly to the Asphode Meadows. Your primary nature is good. All good spirits enter the Ghost Zone through the Asphode Meadows and then are given their options."

"Options?" Phantom asked surprised. "I understand why they wouldn't let me go on, but how can anyone not choose that place?"

"You arrived at the Meadows rather abruptly," Clockwork reminded him. "the Spirits who enter The Ghost Zone through that rout are given time to adjust and choose. The Spirits you saw at the Asphode Meadows are all waiting."

"Waiting? Waiting for what?" Valerie asked.

"Friends, loved ones," Clockwork explained. "would you not wait for your Father if death separated you from him?"

"Keep my father out of this," Valerie snapped. "Nothing could make me into a ghost!"

"You don't get it Valerie," Phantom shot back at her. "Clockwork hasn't used the word 'ghost' once talking about the beings resting there. Ghosts are restless spirits weather human or otherwise. Believe me nobody there is restless, and I get what Clockwork is saying. No matter how much I liked it there, if moving on meant not seeing my friends again until they died I would wait for them."

"So you'd sleep until they got there? What's the difference?" Valerie asked.

Clockwork gestured to one of his viewing windows. "Because Sleepers can awaken," he explained. All Valerie could see were rows and rows of sleeping spirits, but then one of the sleepers sat up, looking distracted. Then they floated up to one of the half dozen doors in the sky and vanished. "When one chooses to wait, they dream of friends and family. If they feel they are needed they may return. They do not have the power of a true ghost, but often all is needed is a gentle nudge in the right direction."

"I get it now," Phantom said. Valerie looked at Phantom in alarm, because he spoke in those same distracted tones he did while in the Meadows. "If things had come out differently, I would be there already."

"If things had gone differently, yes," Clockwork confirmed.

"You still want to go back there." Valerie said shocked. "That place almost had you. You would have slept forever if I didn't make you leave."

"Probably only a day or two," Phantom said startling her. "Someone back home would have started to worry, and then I would have realized that I needed to go home." He looked up at Clockwork for confirmation.

"Most likely," The strange time ghost agreed.

Valerie wondered how Phantom could be so sure of that, and where was his home? Instead she asked, "but you still want to go back now?"

Phantom sighed, and looked at the window wistfully. "I'm not going to leave you here in The Ghost Zone, Valerie, and I know you didn't see and hear the things I did, but it's so nice there. It's one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've ever seen. You can't not want to be there." Taking a deep breath he then said, "but I can wait." He turned away from the window and said, "come on, it's time I take you home."

Valerie suspected that he deliberately didn't look at the door leading to The Meadows when they left the tower. Through the whole flight through the Ghost Zone Phantom remained quiet. His mind obviously elsewhere.

He led her back oddly through the Fenton Porthole then taking her hand phased her through the ceiling out to the night sky of Amity Park. "Home sweet home," he said, "you can get home by yourself right?"

Valerie gave Phantom the oddest of looks. By now they were usually at each other's throats for one reason or another. Normally she would have turned the tables on Phantom already, and try to trap him, but right now hunting Phantom just seemed wrong. The faraway look in his intense green eyes told her that he wouldn't need much excuse to go back to those meadows.

"I can get home fine ghost, don't worry about me," she said. "you better go to your home and get your head on straight. Cause tomorrow I'm back after your ectoplasmic butt."

Phantom now gave her an odd look realizing that she could be hunting him, but chose to end the hunt here. "Suit yourself," he said. He rose up into the night sky and simply vanished.

This was definitely a weird night, Valerie thought to herself. She pointed her jet sled in the direction of home and flew off into the night.