Schrodinger's Human: The Star Child
Halfa's aren't natural by any stretch of the imagination and they certainly were never supposed to come into existence. Yes, you could come come back as a zombie or a revenant, maybe even return as good as new or the complete opposite, but never truly return so... cleanly split.
Despite being the balance of both the living and the dead, Danny Phantom was never truly supposed to come to pass and was a happy accident, a one in an extremely rare umpteenth chance, rather than Danny Fenton dying in the unfortunate lab accident like in all the other timelines and multiverse.
Despite the truly miraculous odds of his survival, the young Halfling realized something was wrong somehow, when he awoke in the hospital. At first he thought it was because of the lab accident causing the scarring on his body and face that made people look away, but that wasn't it. It has been months and yet nobody looks his way.
Not once since the accident has his parents, sister, or his friends (or anyone, really) have looked him in the eyes. He just suspected that they must've felt guilty for getting him hurt...but then even his rouges seem to have always averted their gaze when they fight, so what gives!? Was the damage that severe? He likes to think he healed up pretty nicely with just a few prominent scars.
As Phantom, they weren't even visible! Then one day, he snapped after a particularly rough fight and demanded an answer, pinning the ghost and demanding, screaming, that they look him in his watery eyes.
"We can't! We physically can't look at you without adverting our gaze. Even the humans you call friends and family are unable to so much as look at you. We don't know why!"
It made Danny stop and think. Did...did he get a meta gene awoken from the lab accident? For his sanity, he deduces that it was some form of attention repellant power, that had to be it...right? After confronting his friends and family, they told them the same thing. At least the explanation was there. It made the pain bearable when he was around them.
Then the fight with Pariah Dark happened and everything went down hill from there (he just didn't know it yet).
It made Danny glad that the Ghost King couldn't see him properly (he stuck to the side with the eye patch) and continued his assault on the blind spots with gusto. It took a while but he eventually felled Dark and took the title of King of the Infinite Realms, much to his shock.
With the Ring of Rage and Crown in his possession, he returned to Amity Park exhausted, muttering to himself a desire before he let sleep take over.
"̸̙͐M̷̫̕a̶̯͗ỳ̸̲b̶̙͆e̵̳͋ ̸̹͆n̴̗̏ó̴͙w̸̖͂ ̵̢̀a̶̳͛ş̷̈́ ̴̡̒Ķ̵̊î̷̝n̸̻͌ĝ̷͕,̴̤̈́ ̵͓͗I̴͇͌ ̵̙͑c̸̣̀á̴̮n̷͕͝ ̴̫͐ơ̸̱r̷̮̆d̵̜͗e̷̲̊r̶̞͐ ̸̘̉g̵̖̈́h̵̝͊o̶̦̓s̷͎͂ț̷̂s̶̢̐ ̶̰̚t̵̠̐ỏ̵̺ ̷̘͋g̸̩̕o̷͉͝ ̵̣͋b̶̮͋ā̵̩c̸̨͆ǩ̵͍ ̴͙͘t̴͈͛ǫ̶͊ ̷͇̓ṱ̸̚h̴̞̀e̸̱͋ ̸͖͋R̸̲̀ë̸̪́ả̷̺l̸̙͝m̷̡͘s̶̢͒.̴̮̓.̵̤́.̸͖̈́ȁ̵̡t̸̖͂ ̵̺͐l̵̙͐e̴̢͘a̴͙͆s̶̼̔t̶̢̔ ̷̭̑ú̸͇n̸̗͗ť̷͖ǐ̷͜l̸͇̄ ̸̛̬I̶̺̾ ̶͔͂c̷̫̿a̸̟͊n̶̺̓ ̴̻͝f̶̦̒i̴̥͗ň̶̡i̸̡̊s̷̗̄h̶͖͐ ̵̝̒a̵̧̓ĺ̷̮l̷͍͐ ̶̤͠m̵̲̆y̷͎̐ ̸͙͌s̷̘͛c̵̯͋ḣ̵̖o̴͔͂o̶̫͝l̶͕͛ī̴̼n̴̝͋g̵͝ͅ ̷̨̿f̵̤͆ì̸͈r̸̥̆s̸̠̎ť̶̞,̶̧̑ ̸͈̅i̵̠͌n̴̻̉c̵̩̈́l̷̳͌ǘ̷̲d̵̟͂ĩ̸̳n̴͓͌g̴̪̈́ ̸̲̈c̸̗̿o̶̪͆l̴̤͋l̵̹͋ë̶͍́ä̸̼́g̷̼̑ủ̶̝e̷̩̿.̶͕̂.̸͈̾.̵͖͂I̴̞̽ ̵̣͘w̴̙͝i̵̯̚s̸̼̈h̸̦̉ ̸̟̓t̶̡͒h̵̨͊á̷̖t̵̛͕ ̷̨̿ĩ̴̡t̵̳̐.̷̫̄.̷͙̔.̶͎̃w̶̲͊a̶̳͝s̶̨̋ ̷̫̓t̴̜́h̵̢͌a̵̗͌ṯ̷̾.̵̠̕.̶̤́.̷͓̍ḛ̷̈́a̵̙͘s̷̭̔y̴͈͂.̵͉͂"̴̼̍
(Maybe now as King, I can order ghosts to go back to the Realms...at least until I can finish all my schooling first, including colleague...Yeah right...I wish that it...was that...easy.)
And like a true wish upon a star, it overidded all logic in the universe to the Boy King's whimsy. The ghosts left over night and all natural portals sealed themselves shut with no means to open themselves back up anytime soon.
And across the planet it vanished as well, stray pools of fermented ectoplasm, medicines that used it and even machinery powered by the stuff went missing, with the exception of the Fenton Ghost Zone Portal, that sealed it self with no means for anything to enter or exit.
The young Boy King's actions were far from subtle.
Many are now without their precious magic, Gods have llst their powers, the Speed Force had been stripped away, and Lanterns across all the emotional spectrum found themselves on their homeworlds with rings that failed to respond, their lights snuffed out. Two birds are now sound asleep, unable to open their eyes.
But before Nabu had been pulled out of his Helmet, he told his wearer one cruical message.
"The Source has been sealed away by a being powerful enough to possess all Sapient life in Multiverse, The Anti Life Equation has been unleashed."
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Would You Like to Buy a Vacuum From Beyond the Realm of Human Comprehension?
It was almost 6 in the evening. This late in the summer, the sun would be going down in the next hour or so. Paula was going to have to lock up and double check her wards soon. Without the sun, things would get bad, she just had the feeling.
Like always, she started at the back of the house, checking the witching jars hidden among the double row of sunflowers that ringed her house. The witching jars had confirmed utility against the Wet Things, but the sunflower was merely a superstition that Paula inherited from her mother and her mother’s mother. The story was that devils and other dark things wouldn’t cross the flowers of the sun.
There was no empirical, scientific measurement to prove that was true when salt and silver worked so much better. But the comfort that the flowers brought to Paula was immeasurable.
The sunflowers follow the sun with their bright yellow and black faces, and for a moment Paula swears that they turn towards the front of her house, much lower than the actual sun approaching it’s inevitable daily end.
Then there was a loud, but not impolite, knock at her front door.
It wasn’t too late for visitors, but an uncommon time for one to be sure.
Paula quickly goes back inside, locking her door with brass lock and salt on the ground. She moved quickly through her small home to the front door. Through the looking glass she tried to spy who it was, for a brief second all she could see was a wide smile and an errant ray of sunshine temporarily blinded her before resolving into a charming looking woman in a brown leather hat, radiant smile, and wavy yellow hair that reminded Paula of the comforting feeling of her long ago lost first great love.
“Hello ma’am, I was wondering if you were interested in buying a vacuum. I can promise you that you’ll never see another opportunity like this again in your life,” the woman says, her voice like spring, refreshingly warm.
Vacuums, old world tech, from the world before the Shift, before the Slip, and well before the Fall. She’s heard stories of a seller of vacuums wandering the wastes beyond the Dust Desert just outside of town, but Paula never believed them.
“Who are you?” Paula asks cautiously, one hand on the door knob, the other on a worn and dusty sickle, kept near the door for protection.
The seller speaks a name that slips from Paula’s mind in a way that should have concerned her but resolved a moment later into “Eloise”.
Paula takes a pinch of the salt from the floor around the threshold, and opening the mailbox she flicks some out, hitting the woman in the worn traveling boots. Nothing sparked or bled smoke.
The saleswoman didn’t flinch.
“I shall submit to a test of silver or a trial of riddles if you so choose.”
Paula cracks open the door and slips out the edge of her sickle, not pure silver, but enough to damage anything that would darken her doorstep. The saleswoman, still smiling, extends a hand and pricks her finger against the blade.
“Satisfied or shall I recite a limerick for you to prove-”
Paula undoes a rune and a lock and opens the door. “What do you want? The sun is going to be going down soon, and I have wards to check.”
“I shall take only a few moments of your time, I shall be gone long before the sun will set, and you have my utmost promise that you shall be entirely safe while I’m on your doorstep,” the woman says in response.
The seller was pretty. At first, Paula thought, in an ordinary way, but as she kept looking the woman grew prettier among the details.
She smiled at Paula. “Would you be interested in a vacuum cleaner, ma’am? I can promise you, you’ve never seen one like this before. May I come in?”
The smile was so warm and disarming, that Paula found herself wanting to say yes. She knew she shouldn’t, there had to be a trick to it, but there was something safe about this woman named Eloise.
Paula let her inside. “Fine. But make it quick.”
Another charming smile, or perhaps the same one never left her face since she first knocked at the door.
The saleswoman swept into the house, her wheeled case barely making a sound.
Paula locked the door behind her and turned expecting to see the saleswoman opening her big case to reveal the product. Instead, Eloise was already facing her, vacuum already out and ready to be shown off.
It wasn’t a pretty thing, if Paula was perfectly honest. A pale yellow and red contraption, that was actually a little garish if she looked too long at it. As best as she could tell it appeared to be some kind of… molded plastic bags hung with some stainless steel acting as a base or foundation. Paula was positive there were no more factories, at least within 500 miles of the Dust Belt that she lived on the ever encroaching edge of, that could manufacture molded plastic like they used to in the Old Old World.
“There you have it, the last vacuum you will ever need,” Eloise said with a bright smile.
Now that the salesperson was within Paula’s house it was easier to get a good look at her. Well worn traveling boots that went up to her knee. Sensible pants. A long, brown leather duster. A wide brim hat. All of it sensible, all of it a bit dusty from the world outside the door. But she seemingly lacked the things that every traveler of the Dust Belt needed: a mask, eye protection, a weapon. Eloise was either foolish, or… completely unafraid of the fate that comes with testing the creatures of dust and shadow that haunt the nights and spaces between.
Paula was going to ask a question but Eloise continued with her speech before she could put a voice to the thought.
“Of course it is solar powered, so if you simply leave it in a sunny spot for 6 hours or so it will fully charge up. A battery will last at least 3 days of hard use, which I’m sure you’ll find plenty of out here. And I know how important solar power is out here with your… faulty electric grid. Things haven’t been the same since the fall of Niagara.”
Niagara. An old name, from before even the first Fall. A name that none would recognize, save possibly Paula, who was a researcher of the Before, trying to save or reconstruct the history and technology of that bygone world.
“You know of Niagara?” Paula asked.
Eloise smiled, this time a knowing smile. “I do. It was a sight. The way the sun would cause rainbows in the water spray.” The salesperson went quiet for a moment, as if remembering something from long ago.
“I shall not bore you with the technical details but this unit has one of the greatest filters you’ll likely ever see. It captures dirt and dust and collects it here in the back.” Eloise taps the back of the unit, the bulkiest part but one that still fit the relatively slim design. “You’ll only need to change it out once every solar year. And I see that you are a woman who is a firm believer in the power of salt circles. If you flip this switch here, you active a special mode unique to this model that will divert and purify any salt you collect and put it here in this little detachable container. This will allow you to clean your whole house and reuse any salt you collect in a new circle.”
“That’s very impressive,” Paula had to admit.
“And if you need to get into those hard to reach nooks and crannies, well we have this extension,” Eloise says as she pulls out a plastic tube that bends and folds while making strange little noises that ends in a foot and a half long silver metal… nozzle for lack of a better word. The extension was strange and didn’t seem to belong to the rest of the vacuum.
“It has a little hole at the tip and it allows you to really get into those corners and clean up any dust mites trying to break in and undo your home’s safety. And it is made with consecrated siderite so in a pinch it will function as a fairly lethal weapon.”
“Surely this cannot work as well as you are selling it.” Paula was suspicious and growing more so by the second. “I’m afraid this isn’t for me.”
“May I do a demonstration? To prove to you my product’s efficacy?”
Paula sighed. There was something about Eloise that she couldn’t just outright refuse. If all else fails she’s going to have a clean carpet. “Fine.”
“When you purchase this model it comes with a manual that tells you how to clean and take care of the unit, but it also gives helpful tips on how to vacuum, and certain patterns for bestowing certain benefits of having a clean room. I’ll do a very basic anti- clockwise pattern for metamorphosis and a feeling of bountiful energy.”
Eloise turned on the vacuum, which wasn’t as loud as Paula thought it would be. She stood in place near the threshold of the room that lead towards the front door and the stairs up to her bedroom. No matter how Eloise turned and moved in strange circular patterns pointing out how things are working and the beauty of a clean and open space, Paula never saw her turn her back. This bright and chipper woman seemed to be exceedingly careful, perhaps more so than Paula gave her credit for. But even knowing that Eloise wouldn’t ever turn her back on her, Paula tried to look for the movements, to catch her turning in a strange way to move around her living room, but she never caught it. She was just always looking at Paula or in a slight profile. It was exceedingly odd.
In the demonstration, Eloise pointed out a few rogue dust devils that Paula had missed in her earlier cleaning. They were strong enough to do anything yet, but if they were clever, in a few days they could start undoing wards overnight and invite something truly nasty inside or become something nasty themselves. Eloise and the vacuum destroyed them with minimal effort or fuss, which is more than Paula could have done.
After collecting some of the salt that was picked up in the demonstration and reapplying it to the circles and wards the demonstration ended.
“It is a very impressive machine you have there,” Paula admitted. “What’s the catch? What payment do you want for it?”
Eloise smiled, wide, bright, and a touch predatory. “I want very little. I like knowing that I can help keep people safe and warm. Just on days that you can see the sun, I’d like you to go outside and stand in its brilliance and say a word of thanks. No more than 10 minutes of quiet contemplation in the sun, on sunny days.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Paula felt the hair on the back of her arms stand up. Her skin felt tingly and warm. The room bristled with energy and she felt more awake and alert. Maybe that’s why she only now noticed that Eloise had the most brilliant yellow-gold eyes. A color not natural to humans.
“You promise that’s it?”
Eloise took one of Paula’s hands in her own tanned, warm, worn hands and held them there for a moment. “I swear it.”
Paula had heard stories of deals made with devils and Saints, genies, and the Wet Things. None of them went well. But those were stories, legends. Weren’t they? This pretty woman behind her was offering a simple tool to help her maintain her small home and stay safe. And she only asked for thanks in the sun on sunny days. This close to the Dust Belt, there were only so many days she could see the sun when it wasn’t covered by swirling dust storms.
“Very well,” Paula said, taking the deal.
“Wonderful!” Eloise beamed at her. “You can take this model right now. Or I can put in an order for you for a different color scheme or an advanced model with more luxury features that I don’t think you’ll need.”
“If you’re willing to part with this one, I can take this one right now.”
“That is agreeable.”
The bargain was struck and the deal made, and Eloise made to leave. She walked backwards telling Paula to study her new owner’s manual, and Paula swore that the sunflower heads followed the mystery salesperson as she walked up the sidewalk and then away into the approaching evening where Paula just suddenly lost sight of her.
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