Chapter Text
chapter 1.
Danny has heard the stories. The stories of how those kissed by death are tainted with a white streak of hair. The stories of how death embraces people, tells them everything will be just fine, leaves a gentle kiss upon the crown of their head that changes their hair to a white colour. He's heard how the white parts of their hair is a reminder, a brush of death's lips for them to remember and use to keep pushing on in life.
He thought they were joking, though.
That old man down the road would use the stories as an excuse for why he doesn't dye his grey hairs (“Maybe they'll turn white!”), and no one would believe him.
His parents would use it as an excuse to fuel their obsession. They'd wax poetry of how white hair is proof that ghosts do exist after all. They could never find out why a ghost would kiss someone, they aren't conscious after all, though they'd conveniently forget that line of thought for the next invention they thought up.
Danny thought the stories were all fake. He never believed them.
That is, until the accident.
Sam dared him to go into the portal (“For the picture, Danny! Cmon!”), and Danny did. He did. And he tripped.
And he felt pain. The surge of electricity that went so deep into his being (Further than the bone, further than the heart, into his very soul), and the ectoplasm that brought him right back (overandoverandover) everytime his heart gave out.
Danny couldn't tell you how long he spent in the portal, being killed and revived and killed and revived and killed and revived over and over.
What he could tell you was how he felt a low, almost imperceptible, presence around him. How a soft hand carded through his locks, whispering soft nothings of just hold on, it'll all be over soon. How a litany of soft kisses were placed upon his head.
How he came out of that portal with white hair.
Now, Danny never believed the stories in the past. He'd never considered the possibility of Death being able to touch someone (how could it? His parents described Death as a ghost, and ghosts obviously aren't real).
But he could believe in the soft kisses to his hair that felt like home (and home was soft hugs, and orange hair, and warm fudge with the smell of oil. But home was also the end, it was you'll be fine, just rest, it was the comfort that this Being gave him as he was ended over and over). He could believe in the fact that the hair of his ghost form was a snow white colour that gave him a sense of remember, remember, you are not alone, I am with you, do not forget child.
…
So, Danny didn't usually believe in stories. But he believed in this one.
Then, after his accident. After he came back (did he?). The attacks started happening.
And Danny wondered.
He'd always wondered. Wondered what the stars were like, wondered how a black hole was formed, wondered what made a planet a planet, wondered how he could get his parents to look at him like they do their inventions, wondered how nice it would be if his parents hugged him. Wondered, wondered, wondered.
He wondered how it was that no other ghost (because ghosts were real, actually, actually real) had hair as white as his. He wondered why it was that they all had a double take upon seeing hair as white as snow.
He wondered why a flicker of hesitance would light in their eyes, seeing him in his entirety.
…
Danny started hearing the story more, after the ghosts arrived in Amity.
Vlad would wax poetics about how one kissed by death must be worthy of being his heir. Pff. As if. If Vlad deserves an heir, it'll be in the form of a compact mirror, since all he ever wants for an heir is a mini-me.
His parents would remark upon how the stories must have been false (they aren't they aren't they aren't he's felt it) because none of the specimens they've seen have had white hair other than Phantom. They would remark upon how riveting it would be to rip Phantom apart molecule by molecule, to figure out if he's the only one of his kind with white hair, is it connected to how an ectoplasmic-entity felt towards themselves before their death?
His parents liked to wonder, too.
At school he'd hear of how Phantom must be one of the ones kissed by death, because he protects them every day. Phantom likes that assumption. He likes to think he helps them, helps to Protect them. He likes to think he was wanted by Death, if not his parents (he is, he is, he is, come home my small Ancient, wanted wanted wanted).
…
Danny went to the Ghost Zone, and he met people there. He met ghosts there. He met Frostbite, who had fur as white as the snow of his domain.
He was glad he wasn't alone, but, again, Danny wanted to know.
But, when he asked Frostbite about why his fur was white, he just wouldn't give him a straight answer! He evaded, and dodged questions, and said “It just isn't the same as yours, Great One.” And that annoyed Danny, but he let it go, he isn't entitled to answers, he just kind of wanted them (needed them, he needs to know the truth, please tell him, please, please, please).
He had a lot of friends in the Ghost Zone, but not one of them had white hair. That was… Odd.
When he met Clockwork, and saw the beard of his old form, he asked the same question. His answer was… more than Danny had gotten before. That's for sure.
“Clockwork? Why is your beard white?”
“Well, Daniel-”
“Danny.” He corrected, then whined, “C’mon, Clockwork, I've told you so many times!”
“Danny, I imagine it's similar to those stories you heard about in your hometown.”
And Danny thought about that. And he hated it.
“You got kissed by death!? Ewww!”
And, well, Clockwork tried, but fourteen-year old Danny was firmly under the impression that it was disgusting and gross.
Every time that he thinks back on it, though? He'd very much like the answers he'd run away from, actually.
…
Everything in Amity is going fine. It's been four years since the portal opened, and Danny's got a routine.
He's… Content.
His (Haunt) home is safe, and Phantom likes Protecting it, but Danny hates that his parents are still hunting him.
He spoke with his rogues, too, and the conversations were enlightening. He learned that they only attack him because he's a young Protection Spirit, whatever that means, and the portal invited them into His Haunt for attacks so he could learn to protect it.
Ghost culture is based on attacking. Huh, who would've guessed? Certainly not him, considering it took him nearly two years to learn it.
He would've thought that defeating Pariah Dark would push him to learn this kind of stuff, considering, in the most technical of terms, it made him the new king.
But, alas, that wasn't until he was eighteen, and he was stressed enough as is, so it was put on the back-burner. Forgotten about.
He knows that Everything is as it's meant to be, but Clockwork, please! It's not that hard to give Danny a reminder of how old he is!
Danny turned eighteen.
He got crowned, which, apparently, was a lot bigger a deal than he thought. His ghost form got an upgrade, making him more powerful than before.
The Ring Of Rage was on his finger in both forms, now. Cool. The Crown Of Fire manifested differently for him, more like a crown of ice, or stars. Nebulae floated around the crown, which was icy and floated just above his head.
The issue, though, was that the upgrade to his ghost form was big, huge even. It made his ecto-signature more pronounced, more easy to detect, and, well… His parents, and the GIW noticed, how couldn't they?
It didn't help that some of his ghost form leaked over to his human form, either. His hair now had white parts on the sides that put him on the radar. His eyes glowed green when he got too intense of emotions, too.
And, with his ghost form leaking over, so was his ecto-signature.
That was a problem.