April 7th, 5:36 Pm.
That's when it had happened.
When Danny Fenton was no more.
Most people think he had jumped.
His friend Tuckerrefused to believe that. He insists that he was pushed, and in the privacy of his home, ponders on why his buddy couldn't save himself.
His parents were grief-stricken, blaming a ghost, and themselves.
His sister didn't say a word.
Valerie, who had once been an almost-girlfriend, was horrified. She abandoned her ghost hunting, in case she should come across her deceased friend's spirit.
Sam refused to go in public, never wearing any colors aside from black, her cheeks always tearstained.
Even the school bullies were dejected, wondering why they bullied the slim teen. And why they were unable to forget him.
His sister never shed a tear.
The police were stupefied. Who would want someone like Danny Fenton out of their lives?
A detective said the boy was too stressed with his life. School, detention, the embarrassment of having ghost hunters for parents.
His sister hid from the media
Even the ghosts were confused.
Phantom was always there! Always ready to fight and kick some butt. Who had killed the whelp?
None of them claimed to have been the murderer, even though many spirits would think of it as an honor.
Skulker was disappointed to loose his prey, and nearly stopped hunting entirely.
The box ghost stopped coming into the human relm, claiming there were too many memories.
His sister lay on her bed, thinking.
She looked to the side, staring at something in her doorway, nodding absently and watching sadly as something glided over her head.
"I'm sorry there is nothing I can do….I wish there was."
She paused, sighing.
"Why me, though? Just because I was the last one to see you before-. Oh… that is the reason."
She grabbed her pillow, clutching it against her chest, while resting her chin on it. Her loose-hanging red hair fell about her face, hazel eyes still weary.
"If you ever want to talk about anything, I will be here"
She attempted a smile, though it quickly faded. Jazz glanced toward her mirror, looking at her own reflection. The shadows passing over her eyes gave her a haunted look, shirt wrinkled as if she had slept with it on.
But, in the reflection, across from her on the bed, sat Danny Phantom.
His white hair was tipped with black, Eyes glowing a brilliant sapphire. His black and white jumpsuit had been replaced by baggy jeans, and a black tee shirt.
The characteristic logo still adorned the chest of his shirt, and the ends of the sleaves were banded with white. His hands were encased with white gloves, the pallid boots still present.
As jazz looked in the mirror at her brother's form, she couldn't help but sigh.
He was invisible, forevermore.
Only in a mirror, could someone see him, and even then, only at night, when his ethereal glow gave him away.
Yet his sister could see him as if he were still alive, or even half alive.
"I wish I could do something to help, Phantom, But I cannot."
He nodded, navy eyes locked onto her hazel ones.
"If you want, I could keep the fenton phones in case….. Okay. Never mind then"
She nodded forlornly, hugging the pillow closer to her chest.
"I understand."
His mouth made no movement, his voice completely in her mind.
Phantom floated upward, starting to drift toward the door of her room.
"Danny?"
He made no movement to stop, starting to sink through the floor.
"Phantom."
The specter stopped, looking back over his shoulder.
"Will I ever see you again?"
He hesitated, rising back out of the floor, landing softly on carpeting.
The boy walked toward her, eyes drowning the girl in sadness.
He reached around her neck, a thin silver chain forming from his fingers, draping across her shoulders. Resting upon her collarbone was a delicate emerald dragon, wings spread as if in flight, one of the spikes upon its back holding the chain.
It glittered softly with an ethereal light, and the girl looked down at it, smiling for the first time since her brother's death.
His breath whisked across the nape of her neck, cold, but oddly comforting. His voice was just next to her ear, whispered.
"No… Never again"
And he was gone.
No flash of light, or departing phrase.
Just an otherworldly necklace around the throat of a beloved one, and a whisper of wind floating across the trees.
Jazz stared for a moment at the little dragon, watching its glow pulse faintly.
She smiled to herself, slipping into bed and pulling the covers over her shoulders.
She whispered the phrase that would become like an evening prayer, said every night for the rest of her life, until she lay on her deathbed, and the little dragon dimmed for the last time.
"Fly free, my Phantom.
Soar on the wind
And between our worlds
Let loose your sorrow
But never forget"