A.N. Can this be considered a rewrite if the plot is completely different? Anyways, tell me what you think about this one. One thing. Danny may be a little OC. Just a warning, because many take it too seriously.
Admiral Zhao was known for many things. Some heard about his cunning and talents as a fleet commander. To most he was an arrogant careerist with an overinflated ego, bordering on narcissism. But very few knew about his interests in one particular matter. By spending a long in a forgotten Spirit library hidden beneath the sands of Si Wong Desert, he searched through scrol after scroll for knowledge, which could aid the Fire Nation in its efforts to take over the world. And to allow him further ascend in ranks, among other things.
However, the admiral had lost in a battle against the Northern Water Tribe, and as a result, was trapped for eternity in the Fog of Lost Souls in the Spirit World for killing the Moon Spirit. But, the existence of hidden Oasis wasn't the only thing Zhao had discovered. He may have been arrogant, but stupidity wasn't one of his traits. That secret would have put him in shadows, and the admiral didn't want this. Still, just in case, he had written down everything and kept the information in his rich mansion in the capital.
One inadvertently said word of rumors in the Fire Nation high circles, and there was a squad of soldiers waltzing inside the mansion. They didn't meet any resistance. Zhao didn't have any relatives, so after his disappearance the mansion became empty, awaiting for a new owner. The soldiers were dressed in red armor, with opened helmets, unlike their comrades fighting on continent.
"Search everywhere," an order followed. "You know what we are looking for."
"Yes, War Minister," the soldiers acknowledged the command and scattered around.
War Minister Qin was an mid aged man with gray hair tied in a bun and a carefully attended beard. His eyes were amber, which was the native trait of the Fire Nation. He was wearing dark red robes, with a long collar of a brighter shade of red. He was one of the most important people in the country, being responsible for military technologies and creation of secret weapons.
The soldiers flipped over the entire building. War Minister meanwhile was sitting in Zhao's former cabinet. The room was nice and tidy, even despite a thin layer of dust. The man was not in hurry, with the mansion being so huge, it will take quite a while to search it throughly. After an hour of fruitless search, he sat on a chair, clasping his hands and leaning forward on a table. The minister tapped with his pointing finger as his expression showed his displeasure.
"That's what you get for trusting rumors," Qin muttered, before his eyes fell on Zhao's bust.
'Only Zhao could put his own bust in his cabinet,' he deadpanned mentally.
Suddenly Qin noticed something. There was thin black line on the bust's neck. It was too straight to be a simple crack. Raising his eyebrow, the minister moved its head, and to his surprise, there was a small button hidden in a hollow space. Qin pressed the button and heard a quiet rumble beneath the table. He looked there and saw that one of the small stone plates was opened.
"Hm, intriguing mechanism," Qin mumbled.
The plate was too small to go in, it was only big enough to put a hand inside, what the minister actually did. He felt something soft inside, even though he couldn't actually see what it was. Qin grabbed the item and pulled out. It was a scroll, no, several scrolls rolled in one tube. The minister unrolled them and, sitting back in the seat and closing the bust's head, started to read.
It was quite...enlightening. By the end of the last scroll, War Minister's eyes became as wide as saucers. Hiding such facts was bordering a treason, it could even help the Fire Nation win the war! It wasn't too late, he had time to get to the Royal Palace. Qin rolled the scrolls back in a tube and stormed out of the room. He ordered the nearest officer to regroup and return to their duties, saying he found what he was searching for.
The minister hurried outside and almost jumped into the carriage. He ordered to drive to the Palace immediately. The driver swung the whip and the carriage was pulled forward.
The land immediately surrounding the Royal Palace was barren and rocky, completely devoid of plant life, making stealthy infiltration nearly impossible. The wall encircling this estate separated the palace from the rest of the city. Outside the defensive perimeter were several lush gardens and villas for use by members of the Royal Family, filled with beautiful plants, trees, and ponds.
The palace itself was a single structure; an elaborate tower with triple eaves was at the center, with three distinct wings joining it. The two smaller wings stood on either side of the main entrance to the palace building. There were towers at the ends of these wings as well. Directly opposite of the main entrance was the third, larger wing, which housed the Fire Lord's throne room. And that was precisely where the minister went after passing the guards.
Inside, the palace was comprised of enormous halls and retains an intricate array of wings and chambers. Large tapestries lined the walls and elaborate fire-themed images and moldings were laid out all throughout the numerous sections of the structure. War Minister approached the huge doors and took a deep sigh, before knocking. Upon receiving permission, Qin entered the throne room.
It had many black pillars with elaborate gold bases that supported the roof and had black tiled floors. The imposing atmosphere was designed to instill awe and fear in all who enter, intimidating all who face the Fire Lord. The Fire Lord was on an ornate covered throne on a higher platform and was surrounded by a wall of fire. An enormous bas-relief image of a dragon breathing fire adorned the wall behind the ruler of Fire Nation.
The Fire Lord was a forty seven years old man. He had long flowing black hair, and a long thin beard. In his hair rested a golden headpiece, shaped like a flame and symbol of the state he ruled over. Ozai was wearing similar clothes to the ones the minister wore, except his were much richer. The Fire Lord raised his eyebrow at seeing the visitor.
"War Minister Qin, you haven't warned me about your visit," he said in cool voice.
Qin kneeled before him. "My apologies, Your Highness, but I bring urgent news. If I may..."
"Speak," Ozai interrupted, just to get this over sooner. He was just planning to leave.
"I have acquired some information, and I think it may even change the tide of war."
"Zhao used to say the same thing," the ruler commented. "We have already put more than enough resources to make that drill of yours."
"This shouldn't take as much effort, My Lord."
"Fine, I'm listening," Ozai waved his hand.
"I have found an information, which Admiral Zhao preferred to hide from your knowledge," the Fire Lord put a hand on his chin. Since there were no interruptions, Qin continued. "Those scrolls tell about beings, which rivaled spirits since the beginning of times. They are ghosts, souls of humans who died under...special circumstances," he briefly looked on the scroll, "And judging from last recorded event, they are ruled by the Ghost King, by the name of Pariah Dark. He had defeated the spirits and conquered their common world."
"Since when spirits became your speciality?"
"I am only sharing what I have found. If we could gain their sympathy..."
"Are you implying that we should ally ourselves with some ghouls?" Ozai asked in disgust.
"I'm not implying anything, the decision is all yours, My Lord," Qin bowed. "But the Avatar is known to rely on help from spirits, which should create tensions between the Avatar and the King."
"Which does not necessarily make him loyal to us."
"But he could destroy the Avatar. Pariah had defeated the most powerful spirits judging from what is written here. AND, the scroll also describes how to summon him. It states that he won't be able to act against the summoner."
The Fire Lord hummed, rubbing his chin. When he put it like that, the idea seemed rather tempting.
"And how the summoning can be arranged?"
"Not that much, as I said. Here is the list."
Ozai outstretched his hand and the minister put one of the scrolls in it. The Fire Lord examined it and truly enough, the ingredients could be easily found across the country. Surprising, considering how powerful the summoned being supposedly was. But all in all, he was satisfied.
"Fine, you have my permission. But it shall be done out of the city grounds and in secret, before we storm Ba Sing Sae. It should not interrupt you from the main project, am I clear?"
"Yes, Your Highness," the War Minister bowed one last time, taking back the scroll and leaving.
Qin was working tiressly. He had sent message hawks all around the Fire Nation, and one even into the colonies. And while he was waiting, he kept giving final touches to the drill. It was being constructed on the continent because of its sheer size, so he was sending instructions. He planned to oversee its victory himself, but it was too early for departing there.
Upon receiving final ingredient from the eastern Earth Kingdom, namely a box of poisonous white jade bush, Qin decided to finally put his plan into action. Inside the carriage, under watch of an escort, War Minister was rereading the scrolls for thousandth time. He couldn't allow himself to make a mistake. Suddenly the carriage stopped. Removing the scrolls, Qin angrily went out of the transport.
"Driver, why did you...stop," his expression switched from angry to fearful at the sight.
"Good evening, Minister," the teen girl greeted with a smirk.
She was fourteen years old, with raven hair tied in a short ponytail, with golden eyes, which had a gleam of pride in them. Yes, she was proud of herself for catching the lower ranking official unaware.
"P-princess Azula," Qin bowed, "What do I owe a surprise?"
The princess shrugged. "I was bored and a little birdie whispered that you are up to something. I wish to come."
"Of course, Your Highness," War Minister bowed again, inviting Azula inside the carriage.
In another plane of reality, a sixteen years old boy reduced his alarm clock to status of garbage by smashing his fist on it. The hit effectively shut the clock, but the teen groaned into his pillow.
"Another waste of money, nice going Fenton," he muttered, getting up in sitting position. "Why have I even bought it?"
The boy moved his messy hair away from his eyes, almost hidden behind the half closed eyelids. Danny rubbed them with his palm and yawned, before getting off the bed. The teen flinched as his back started to ache. Stupid bullet had inflicted more damage than it should have. Pierced spine had already healed, but it still was painful. Danny looked around the small apartment he was living in.
His home was very small, there were almost no walls separating different rooms. A small kitchen was on the opposite side from the bed, there was no living room whatsoever, only an old TV could grant some entertainment. Only the bathroom could grant some privacy. It was much cleaner than it was when Danny started living here, although it still needed massive repair. He was saving money for that task, but pickpocketing wasn't the most profitable job.
Danny wanted to start working like all normal people, he really did, but he couldn't risk showing up anywhere. Not when there was a govermental branch after him. That's all because of how unique he was. Besides him, there was only one halfa in existence. Halfa was a short term for a half-human, half ghost hybrid. He died very peculiarly, halfway, as the term says. Half of him still remained alive, with beating, even if slowly, heart.
It had also granted him multiple ghost powers, which Danny started commonly using in his daily routine. Mostly it was intangibility to reach into pockets of unsuspecting folk, and invisibility to get away in case someone noticed his crime. The only thing he could do to ward off his mind somewhere was beating up criminals much worse than him: murderers, gangsters, rapists. Detroit was the closest big city to his hometown, and since there was a lot of crimes, Danny decided that his small acts would be drown out by bigger news. In order to hide himself while fighting off the criminals, Danny learned how to use all his powers in human form, but he still resented to use his fists and supernatural strength, and sometimes intangibility.
He would have gone into the Ghost Zone, it was a much better perspective. But now there was only Vlad's portal, and the fruitloop would be waiting for him. He didn't have any intention to run into the crazy old man.
After completing water procedures, Danny reached for a drawer to take on some clothes. He tried to keep them tidy and nice, he even ventured to laundry from time to time. The ghost teen put on black hoodie and dark blue jeans, along with his old red and white sneakers. The hoodie had a NASA symbol on it, reminding the boy about his biggest dream. Danny then took a package of cereal from one of the shelves, along with a carton of milk from the fridge. 'Part of healthy ratio,' the package of dry breakfast said. He should be the healthiest guy in the world then.
When Danny took a spoon and prepared to dig into his food, he got a tingly feeling in his stomach. The feeling was familiar, another stupid cultist was summoning him. The half ghost sighed and calmly picked up the bowl with cereal, while still holding the spoon in another hand and continuing to eat. No idiot was going to interrupt his breakfast. He just hoped that this time he won't be summoned in another end of the world. The irony was about to punch him hard.
The procession following the Princess Azula and War Minister Qin had reached a secluded area deep inside the forest. Azula's face gained a deadpan expression when she saw where they were.
"Pray tell why we are in a middle of nowhere?" She asked, stepping out of the carriage.
"It was one of your father's conditions, Your Highness," Qin responded, following her outside, "Our procedure must be accomplished in secret. And we also needed a place with recently recorded spiritual activity."
"Just do it faster, I'm already getting bored," Azula crossed her hands.
Qin nodded and ordered to begin preparations. The soldiers were following the minister's commands, while he was looking into the scroll to make everything right. First, there was a simple sand. The wind was nonexistent at the moment, so it was very easy to put it in required shape on one particularly big and slim horizontal rock. When it was done, Qin ordered to put candles in each corner of the star.
"The sun had set," Qin said, before taking out a vial with green liquid. "It is time for the last step."
"Finally," Azula muttered. "What's in there?"
"A special mixture of herbs which is supposed to have magical effect in certain conditions. Now," the minister took out a dagger from his robes. "The last ingredient, the summoner's blood."
"Wait," Qin stopped from making a cut on himself. "For what purpose is it?"
"Ehm..."
"You want to bind it to YOURSELF, don't you? You have mentioned that this being will be forced to obey summoner's every command."
Qin winced almost invisibly. But the princess noticed that and smiled innocently. "It will be a shame if father finds out about your egoism," she said with fake pity as the minister paled. "But...I'm very kind, I'm not going to tell anything. But this thing will serve me, am I clear?" Her tone turned demanding.
"O-of course, forgive me, Your Majesty. Give me your hand, please."
Azula did as requested and Qin left a small cut on her finger. A few drops of blood fell inside the vial, and to everyone's surprise, the green liquid started to glow. War Minister approached the sign and poured the liquid on the sand. It started glowing with the same color, and the light was followed by a blinding white flash, so bright that everyone present had to cover their eyes. When they finally looked at the results, people were dumbfounded to say the least.
There was a teenage boy, wearing strange clothes they never saw before. He had messy pitch black hair and ice blue eyes, which gave slight chills even to the princess. On one of his fingers was a strange green ring with a skull. The weirdest part was that he seemed in a middle of food consuming.
Danny examined the place he was in. So far he was surrounded by a bunch of people in crimson armor, some of which had no weapons at all, which was weird. Two people stood out, and a girl was what caught his attention. She didn't seem to fit into the cultists he expected. Others fit just fine. He found her quite pretty, but the looks could be quite deceiving, he knew that. And there was something in her eyes what made him wary and put the half ghost on guard. Shrugging internally, Danny took another spoonful of cereal.
"So this," Azula pointed at the older teen. "Is your 'powerful otherworldly being which can destroy armies?" She asked in a language unknown to Danny. He waited till they say more, so one of his abilities kicks in. The ghost teen just kept eating.
"Th-there has to be some kind of mistake," Qin looked into the scroll.
"Or maybe you shouldn't have trusted some waste of paper," the princess crossed her hands. "You brought some peasant instead of a King of Undead."
Danny sighed mentally, at least he wasn't mistaken for Satan in disguise. "I'm afraid I rule only over ghosts, lady," he said sarcastically, and all the eyes turned to him.
A little ray of hope shone in Qin's stomach. "Do we have an honor to speak with the Great Pariah Dark?" He asked, causing Azula to roll her eyes at the minister's toady act. Still, she was intrigued by what that teen was about to say.
"No, I'm Danny. Danny Phantom," he answered, taking another spoonful. He will use his nickname for now.
"But why are you here, brat?! We have summoned Pariah!"
Danny blinked, before glancing down at the summoning sign, and the letters drawn around.
"Simple, this thing doesn't summon Pariah," he stated as if it was obvious, continuing to eat. "It summons the Ghost King, who, by the way, is standing before you."
"Are you his son or something?"
Danny chuckled. "Not exactly. I just slayed that brute and took his place."
That was...unexpected. If it was truth, then the kid was more powerful than he looked. Azula smirked, she liked this way of thinking. Deciding to act, she stepped forward.
"I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, the one whose blood was used to summon you. You are my servant now."
Danny raised his eyebrow. Why wasn't he surprised that he was in another world? He supposed it was as it should be, otherwise Clockwork would have interfered and took him home. But the situation he was in wasn't the most pleasant one, even if everything would be a nice change from living in slums.
"I would have applauded in joy, but my hands are occupied," he deadpanned.
Phantom threw the bowl away and accidentally knocked out one of the soldiers after hitting him in the face. Danny clapped slowly.
"Enough, servant, you come with me," Azula ordered.
"Do I look like I have a choice?"
He didn't know a thing about the world he was in, so it was only logical for him to follow. All that 'servitude' thing hadn't actually bothered him. He could leave whenever he wanted because he wasn't entirely ghost.
"No you don't. Let's move out, father will be interested to hear about this...development," the princess glanced at the Minister.
Qin gulped.