" This is quite different than I expected," Aunt Diana remarks as we fly toward our destination. Without a guide, it would be impossible for her to traverse the floating islands and purple doors.
" What did you expect?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow.
" Less green"
I snort, " I wasn't kidding when I said the realms were made of ectoplasm."
" But how was I supposed to know that meant everything would be green?" Aunt Diana asks, pouting.
" It's common knowledge? Like it's one of the few things Ghostbusters got right," I say, surprised.
" Ghostbusters ? What is Ghostbusters ?" Aunt Diana asks.
"...A movie franchise from the 1980s," I say slowly, " ring any bells?"
" No, I can't say it does," Aunt Diana says.
" That's a travesty! It's a classic! You've got to make some time to watch it," I say excitedly.
Aunt Diana smiles, " I'll put it on my to-do list and get back to you." It's not long before the keep comes into view. Its base is made of obsidian, and it blends into the crystal as it gets towards the top. The light shines off of the reflective service, splintering into rainbows of neon, almost like it's settled within the northern lights. The grounds are lush with extinct plants from forgotten realms and winding walkways. " Wow," Aunt Diana gasps as they land on the keep, " It's beautiful."
" Thank you," I say, unconsciously preening, " I had some help redesigning it. You should have seen the last guy's place. Besides the throne room, everything else had been repurposed into a dungeon."
"Which, at the time, was necessary," says the glowing purple Knight floating towards us, " Pariah was a lot of things, but he didn't necessarily end anyone."
" Yeah, cause after life imprisonment, with no Obsession outlets, is so much better," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes, " because pushing your subjects towards suicide is better than ending them yourself and getting your hands dirty."
" An opinion we both share, Your Highness," the Knight says before asking, "Is your tag along here for the meeting?"
"Oh, yes, sorry, where are my manners? Fright Knight, this is my cousin, Diana of Themyscira; Diana, this is Fright Kight. My head is security and a loyal friend."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Aunt Diana says, reaching to shake his hand.
Fright Knight stares at the appendage before slowly grasping it, " You as well. Welcome to Phantom Keep." We step into my black and white semi-circular throne room. The throne is silver with purple upholstery and embedded with small shining gems. " Is everyone here yet?" I ask as Fright Knight walks with us into a side hall. It's adorned with pictures of me, some from my coronation, others from adventures and political visits. As we get farther in the pictures, they start losing the staunch air of aristocracy and become more personal.
" No, sir. Only half have so far," Fright Knight says.
" Well, that's better than I expected," I say, sighing as we reach the room. The room is similarly decorated to the throne room in shades of black and white. All the chairs, but one, are upholstered in green, with the other in purple, " see ya in a bit."
" Great One!" Exclaims Frostbite with a smile.
" Hey," I say, going in for a hug.
Frostbite returns it, "You and young Jason got back well yesterday, I take it?"
" Yep, no problems."
" And this is?" Asks the six-armed ghost, Aunt Pandora, voice neutral, but her eyes betray her; they are narrowed, calculated.
"She's my guest and a JLA representative," I say.
" Whom you neglected to mention yesterday," Frostbite counters.
" Yeah, that's on me," I say, scratching the back of my neck. " but I didn't think it wouldn't matter. We're on the same side, and I thought she and Pandora would benefit from meeting each other. Auntie Pan, you've been saying you've missed having sisters. I know you have Auntie Dora now, but I thought you'd like to meet another one, and Auntie Diana wanted to meet you, too, and Peepaw."
"Calm yourself, child," says Peepaw, reassuring, " you've done nothing wrong. Pandora's just concerned. Showing up with an unknown in a time like this is enough to make any spirit worry."
" You could have been coerced into bringing her," adds the purple horn ghost, Uncle Nocturne, " demigods are known to fight on the side of their parent decides most beneficial."
" And no one commands me to fight for or against a cause. The league and I want to help because it's the right thing to do," Aunt Diana interrupts. " I am only here to help," she side-eyes Pandora and Clockwork, " and maybe, if you have me, reconnect with family."
" A sentiment I agree with, daughter is Zeus, but one that must be acted upon another time," Peepaw says, heading towards their seat right as the doors open, " the others have arrived." Three eyeballs, Observants, flood into the room along with my uncle's Vortex, Undergrowth, with Fright Knight bringing up the rear. The ghosts scramble to their seats, ready for the meeting to begin.
An Eyeball, with purple irises, I'd nicknamed him Kevin, brings out folders and announces, " We have been called here today by councilman Frostbite, by order of his majesty, High Prince Phantom, to ascertain the threat the humans possess," the eye wanders to Diana, giving her a look of disdain, " before you share your findings, your highness, much explain why you brought a living with you today?"
" For those unaware, this is Princess Diana of Themyscira," I say, standing up, " she is here as a representative of the Justice League and here to help clarify anything we are unsure of. She's here as my guest and deserves your respect."
The other two eyeballs float up, slamming their hands on the table, " that is not for you to decide!"
" Then whom do you propose it is? I don't recall this counsel being enacted for yourself, or any of us for that matter," Aunt Pandora argues from her seat.
The eyeballs twitch, " well–"
" I think," I interrupt with the glare, " we should go on with the meeting. Diana is a trusted member of the Justice League , the same league we asked for help from. Anything we decide today will have to be retold to them later anyway."
" But what of our preparations?" asks Kevin, the eyeball.
"Preparations?" Diana echoes.
"For war," I say, sitting down, paying her no mind.
" But, I thought the whole purpose of these meetings was to negotiate for peace!" Aunt Diana exclaims.
"It is," I say, voice calm, " but you must understand our position. Peace may be the goal, but there's no guarantee we're going to get it. I will not have my people introduced to the world at large with no plans of defense in place. I won't have them unprotected."
Aunt Diana huffs, but the fight drains out of her, " understood. At any point in time you need me to leave the room, I will do so immediately."
" See to it that you do," says Uncle Vortex, " and you may stay. Otherwise..."
"I understand," Aunt Diana says, and all other objections drop. However, the eyeballs don't look too happy.
" Now, I take it, because of Dianas' presence, your meeting with the JLA went well?" Fright Knight remarks.
I nod, "They have agreed to help us with our case to the UN and help pressure the removal of the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW. What is needed today is for us to come to an agreement on what our exact demands are. What do we want from this potential treaty agreement, and what will we give or do in exchange for the ability to visit the living realm. I believe we can all agree nothing goes forward until the GIW and the Anti-Ecto Acts are dismantled? That this is the bottom line to prevent a war."
"Much agreed, Your Highness," sounds out around the room.
"Good," I say, " now, the next thing I believe would be beneficiary is a clause giving us visitation rights. Letting all ghosts travel between the Realms, allowing all to partake in their obsessions."
" Mighty hypocritical of you, Phantom," grouches Uncle Undergrowth, " have you or have you not spent the past year or so pushing us all back into the realms."
" No," I say, rolling my eyes, " what I did was send home those who took advantage of the living. Violent haunting, kidnappings, physical or emotional harm, trying to take over the world, etc. Anyone who came with pure intentions was left alone."
"That's not what it seemed like to me," says Uncles' Undergrowth and Vortex.
Peepaw snorts, "That would be due to your apocalyptic attempts of bonding."
Uncle Nocturne crosses his arms, " how were we expected to know the kid wouldn't like it? We were only playing."
Aunt Pandora hits him on the shoulder, "You should know that roughhousing that hard with a baby wasn't appropriate regardless of whether he liked it or not."
" Especially in the living realm," Frostbite says, " not to mention his role as a protector spirit–"
"Yeah, yeah," Uncle Nocturne brushes them off, " How do you propose humans will keep the peace if someone with malicious intent slips through? You can't be skipping around the planet catching ghosts."
I fold my hands together on the table, " I had a similar concern, but I believe we already have an easy fix." I pull out a much loved Phantom thermos, " I believe a few of you are familiar with a similar contraption. For those unaware, this is a containment device built to hold up to 25 ghosts. There are also models able to hold up to five. I borrowed the base design from the Fentons, but I've changed the circuitry to be more ecto-conductive and made it roomier on the inside. Any unruly Spirit can be sucked up and handled accordingly."
"And what is your definition of handle, your highness?" asks Kay, one of the few female eyeballs.
" If a problem occurs due to their obsession, we can work on ways to redirect them and assign a chaperone for their next visit. Repeat offenders, and those that intentionally cause issues, would be restricted from visiting."
"And those that cause problems, will they be properly punished?" Aunt Diana asks.
" There will be an investigation, of course, to make sure they're guilty of what was accused, then they'll have either parole or jail time," I say.
"What if one of your precious humans," spits Jerry, a greenish eyeball, " captures one of us on purpose? For malicious purposes?"
" Then, I'd call for an external review of them and negotiate their punishment with the living authorities," I say. The eyeballs scowl, but take note of my answer.
" What are the crimes against us that they have already committed?" asks Fright Knight, " the GIW and the Fentons have been terrorizing us for years. Your citizens won't stand for anything less than retribution."
I nod, " I feel similarly. Their actions constitute as genocide, which on earth, is a war crime. Capital punishment. We have video evidence to back up our claims and a plethora of files. They won't be getting away with anything. They will be imprisoned."
" That's not enough," argues Aunt Pandora, " for what they've done–"
I raise a hand, silencing her, "There's only so much a human can take. Anything else would violate their rules against cruel and unusual punishment. Once they die, we can revisit the topic of additional punishment, but until then, this will have to do."
" How can you make sure it's enough? What if the humans are sympathetic to them and they lighten their sentence?" asks Uncle Vortex.
" We can send a realm representative," I shrug, " most likely someone with experience with the legal system."
"A fine decision," says Peepaw, then they look at Aunt Diana, " have we decided upon anything outside the realm of possibility?"
" I don't believe so," she says, " however, you have yet to say what you will offer up in return for visitation rights."
" That could be rather difficult," says Frostbite, " much of the Realms is inhospitable to humans. Staying here for days at a time could have adverse effects."
" It may be true that we are limited in exports, but I don't see why we can't open up the realms for tourism," I say.
Uncle Nocturne sighs, " Frosty just pointed out why we can't."
" No, he just said why we can't have extended stays," I correct, " short visits shouldn't be a problem."
"What would they gain for coming here besides saying they visited?" asks Uncle Undergrowth.
" We are the home to extinct floor and fauna; animals humans have never seen. Similarly, with civilizations, Princess Dorthea has been trying to modernize and attract visitors. Her citizens would benefit from humans visiting, and the humans would be able to interact with people from other times. As long as they signed waivers and were given the do's and don'ts of how to interact with ghosts and were supervised? It could go great. Other independent ghosts like Ember, Technus, and even the FarFrozen," I look at Frostbite, " could benefit by showing their technology to new markets. This would allow them to stay up to date on what's going on in their fields and mix the different types of technology and media. Many could benefit from this type of agreement."
"How would they get around?" asks Kevin.
" The Fentons were able to create the "Specter speeder" to transport themselves and others in the realms; Great One, do you believe you would be able to replicate it?" asks Frostbite.
" Definitely," I say, " and possibly improve it."
" What I want to know is: what did they ask for more?" asks Fright Knight, " humans are quick to draw civilizations into war. What if they ask us to fight for them?"
"I wouldn't agree to it," I say, voice harsh. "their allegiance lies with the Infinite Realms, not the living one. If they want to go out and play mercenary, I wouldn't be opposed, as long as it is understood by both parties, at the end of the day, that they serve and are a part of Infinite Realms. Not whichever nation or group has hired them."
Quiet permeates around the room until Uncle Nocturne clears his throat, "Ms. Diana, I believe this would be a good time to leave the room."
" Thank you for allowing me to participate thus far," Aunt Diana says, getting up.
" No, thank you for joining us," I say. " Fright Knight, please escort Diana to the council sitting room," he smiles at her, " if you're needed again, someone will come to fetch you, and if not, I'll come to you after the meeting is over. There is a basket of human-safe refreshments if you want anything, and please, help yourself to any books; we'll try not to be too long."
" Thank you, Your Highness," Aunt Diana says, bowing before following Fright Knight out.
They wait until Fright Knight comes back before continuing. " if we are forced to go to work, what do you intend to do?" asks Peepaw, leaning on their staff.
"Well, first and foremost, Frighty, how many standing troops do we currently have?" I ask.
" 11,014, Your Highness," Fright Knight says, leaning against the wall behind me.
"And how many can you safely order and train before it gets too much?" I ask, "Before the UN meeting?"
Fright Knight is quiet for a moment before saying, " 300,000, on the low end, 500,000 if they show promise."
I nod, " I will raise the required amount before leaving today." Then I look around the room and sigh, "Pandora, would your people be willing to help train and fight with Fright Knight?"
" Of course, Your Highness," she says.
" Good, now, besides your armies, I believe we would benefit from having Skulker scout any talented individuals for the war effort and have him assist Fright Knight with patrols," I say. " I don't want humans slipping into the realms. We need a patrol schedule for active portal areas. Civilians and children are to be escorted back to the living realm, but all hostiles are to be captured and interrogated. By the time we are done with them, I want them to appear the same way they arrived. No torture." My stipulation caused the Observants and Uncle Vortex to frown.
"Where are these hypothetical prisoners supposed to be held?" asks Uncle Undergrowth, " I doubt you're going to pull a Pariah and convert the keep into a dungeon."
"Walker's prison. I know he has the means to make it human-proof," I say, " and he and his guards at least have experience with tricky prisoners."
"But how would Walker enforce his rules? How do we get information?" Asks Uncle Nocturne, "Humans are a lot... squishier than we are. Walker is known for going too far."
" The Great One could always outline what would be considered acceptable or not, from a human standpoint," Frostbite says.
" I can, and I'm willing to do so," I agree, " however, it may take me some time. Acceptable punishment isn't a universal thing; it depends country by country. I would have to do some research first."
"You should have plenty of time," says Peepaw.
" Technus and the other technology-inclined ghosts could be of help too," I muse, " they could keep track of online traffic and disrupt cyber attacks."
" What about other forms of surveillance?" Asks Jerry.
" What of the other halfa? Plasmius employs birds, yes?" Asks Kevin, "Would they be a viable option?"
" No," I say, voice harsh, " the buzzards are loyal to Vlad, and he's an opportunist bastard. If we're forced into war, he'll fight for whatever side he can exploit to his advantage. Plasmius is to stay far away from any plans."
"Yes, Your Highness," sounds off the council.
"Then whom do you suggest we use for surveillance?" asks Kay.
"Shades. they won't be noticed by ordinary humans and have the means you communicate and navigate the living world," I say.
"But wouldn't that be counterintuitive?" asks Fright Knight, " the whole point of your degree was to keep ghosts out of the living realm."
I huff, " While counterintuitive, it's our best option. Fenton tech isn't sensitive enough to pick up Shades, and the GIW is armed to the teeth with that tech."
"There is no point in arguing about this," Peepaw says, " in the end, it will be the humans that ultimately decide our fates."
I look around the chamber at their weary faces and say, "I believe that is enough for today. Meeting adjourned." The observants leave immediately, and my uncles are quick to follow. " I'm going to get some parchment; I'll meet you all in the sitting room. With me, please, Fright Knight."
"Yes, my liege," Fright Knight says, following me to my office and then to the outdoor training grounds.
Once we get out there, I kneel on the ground, press my hand into the soil, and order, " Rise. " One after another, skeletons dig themselves out and stand to attention. Some are just bone, but others have thin skin stretched over them. " It seems you've lucked out, Frighty; some draugers answered the call."
" They will help greatly," Fright Knight agrees. " They'll be able to lead units in my steed."
I brush off his hands and order, "Head to the barracks and await further instructions." They march off in formation, and I ask Fright Knight, "Do you think our efforts will suffice?"
" For the sake of humanity, I hope so, sir," Fright Knight says. " If it becomes a fight, do you truly believe you'll be able to stand against Earth? It's still your home."
I bite my lip, "My allegiance is to the realms, regardless of my personal attachments. Come on, let's go back in. We can't keep them waiting for long."
"Yes, sir."
When we got to the sitting room, we found Aunties Diana, Pandora, Frostbite, and Peepaw having tea. " Sorry for taking so long," Danny says, " there were a couple of things we had to take care of."
" It's no problem," Aunt Diana says, " we were just discussing our familial connections."
" Yeah, it can be pretty confusing," I agree, slumping down into a chair.
" I don't understand what is so difficult about it," says Frostbite, " family is what you decided it is. Core adopting just makes it official."
" Human adoptions don't change them biologically like ghost ones do, which is the most significant difference. Well, that and you can't choose what kind of bond you're creating. It's either a parent and child one or nothing at all," I explain.
" Which is the part that confuses me," Aunt Diana admits, " Kronos, sorry, you said you prefer Clockwork now, is your grandfather, but Pandora and I are your aunts–"
" Don't forget Nocturne, Vortex, and Undergrowth. They have uncle-nephew bonds," Frostbite cuts in.
"Yes, and them too, but you never made parental bonds," Aunt Diana continues, " if you were going to make all those bonds, why not make parental ones?"
"Well," I say hesitantly, " it's not so much that I can't make parental bonds. I just don't want to. I have parents, Baba is great, and mother... well, she's mother. They both have their faults, but they're my parents. I can't just replace them."
" Which is completely understandable," Peepaw says, " no one is forcing you to replace them."
" I know, it's just.." I trail off.
" A complicated subject?" Aunt Pandora offers.
" Yeah, that." I agree.
" Do you have a bond with Danny, Mr. Frostbite?" Aunt Diana asks.
" Yes," he nods, " but it is different than his others. Instead of bonding as a family, we bonded as mentor and mentee."
" Oh, how did that happen?" Aunt Diana asks.
We share a look, but Frostbite answers, "We both helped each other with a precarious situation, and eventually, a bond grew. It could have changed into a familial one, but his other bonds have a different origin than mine. With the Great One being so young, it could cause negative effects to create a familial bond with one another."
Aunt Diana's head tilts slightly, " different origins? I was under the impression you were all Neverborns. The personification of Concepts?"
" Yes, we are all Neverborns, but that's not what I meant. All of the others, besides the Great One, were created in Greece. My people and I, on the other hand, are the descendants of the Norse Jötunn. Mixing mythologies isn't good for the young. He could be adopted eventually, like Aphrodite. Her origins can be attributed to the Sumerians," Frostbite explains.
After the explanation, Aunt Diana drops the topic, choosing more light-hearted topics, and enjoys the evening, drinking tea and bonding with new family.
I watch as one of my men load my bags onto the plane, "We will be together once again soon, my beloved. You and my Habibi's."