The Apprentice of Thanatos

Chapter 32: Kindred Spirits Part 1

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Hello! We're back, as promised! Here's a nice chonky chapter for y'all, and we apologize for the wait. The next chapter is mostly written, and we hope to post it in about a month? Maybe?

We do not own Danny Phantom or Percy Jackson, only this story and our original characters.

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Vlad POV:

     "File 10406-VM." A video file of Daniel and Valerie fighting one another appeared on the large holoscreen in front of him. "Stop." The video paused on a closeup of Daniel flying with his tail. "Analysis." Various readouts popped up around the frozen frame, which Vlad merely skimmed over before going to the next video.

     "File 10406-VX." An up-close shot of Daniel in combat. "Analysis." More pop-ups appeared, containing graphs of data that Vlad had already spent hours looking over.

     "File 1874-MI. Analysis. File 2416-SM. Stop. File 3299-IM. Stop. Analysis."

     The holoscreen now covered in various pictures, videos, and scientific data, Vlad leaned back against his worktable. He glanced lazily over the information—he'd seen it all far too many times for his liking—and drawled: "Conclusion?"

     A green loading bar appeared in the center of the screen, and Vlad took the brief moment of downtime to let out a heavy sigh. He dragged his hand over his tired eyes as his mind wandered back to almost two weeks ago, when he had been searching for Daniel after the teen's mysterious "trip."

     For the last couple of days, Vlad had spent his time staking out all the bus stations and airports within a 200-mile radius of Amity Park, searching for Daniel Fenton. The young halfa had mentioned an upcoming trip during their encounter a few days earlier, but Vlad hadn't been able to get anything else out of him before he had disappeared.

     The young halfa rarely left Amity Park for more than a day, but Daniel had been missing for an entire week. Obviously, Vlad was concerned—he considered Daniel as his own son, after all. Vlad had paid Skulker well to find Daniel and report back to him, but the ghost had never returned. Typical. One should never trust others to get the work done.

     So that Monday, Vlad found himself at yet another airport, flitting invisibly between the different terminals and glancing through the airplanes as they landed. He had just been about to check the latest plane arrival when all of a sudden, the air around him turned frigid and he felt a hand grab his shoulder. An almost overwhelming sense of dread washed over Vlad as he turned around and came face-to-face with what could only be described as an angel of death.

     Vlad tried to phase out of the being's grasp, but found to his surprise (and dismay) that he could not. The other leaned in, their expression cold and displeased.

     "You will leave Daniel alone, Vladimir Masters." The angel's golden eyes glowed with such an intensity that Vlad was certain it could see into his very soul. "Or there will be consequences."

     Vlad couldn't speak—something about this entity made it difficult to do so. Their golden eyes bore into Vlad's blood-red ones for several long, agonizing seconds before they released their grip on Vlad.

     "Leave. Now." They commanded.

     Vlad didn't need to be told twice. He disappeared in a cloud of magenta smoke, eager to get away from that airport as quickly as possible. And as soon as he got home, Vlad began his research on angels of death, and ancient beings that dwelled within the Ghost Zone.