A/N: Please do not kill me for beginning this without finishing my other stories that I put on hiatus. Sorry! Anyway, here is chapter one of FFG's sequel. This is a very time oriented story since it takes place in Clockwork's castle. Danny's going to be acting weird, blah, blah, blah. You'll see. Anyway, I do not own dp. Please R&R! You know the rest.

Lesson One

New Beginnings

Three hours since arrival

I would like to start off by saying that I wish I could change everything. I'm not happy with the way things have turned out. I lost my best friend, Tucker. I lost my family. I lost my humanity, my human identity. I lost the town and my place in it. I lost my one and only love, Sam.

I lost everything that I ever held dear. I don't even have my old name to hold on to. I know I had one, but I can't remember it. My parents named me something else. I know that they didn't name me Phantom. They hate ghosts and the word phantom is just another word for a ghost. My parents naming me that would not make any sense. Actually, nothing makes sense. My human life is fading away already. I remember my best friends: Sam and Tucker. I remember my sister, Jazz. I remember having parents but for some reason I can't recall their names. What were they? I think Mom's name began with an M. Ma… Mattilda? No, that's not it. Maggie? No, that's not it either. Martha! I think it was Martha! Yeah! It was Martha! And Dad was… It began with a J. James? Hmm… No. John? Nope. Jacob? Maybe. Jose? Yeah! It was Jose!

Never mind! I can remember my parents' names! They were Martha and Jose! We lived in a town house! It was rather small and snug but it was good. Yep, my parents were Am… Wait. What town did we live in? Wait… I can't remember what town we lived in! What was it? It began with an A. Animal Farm? Was that it? No. Ah man, I can't believe I protected a town and now I can't remember what it was called! Okay, focus. An… Anim… Animosity? Yeah! Animosity City! That was it! That's what it was called! My parents, Martha and Jose… whatever our original last name was, lived in Animosity City with my sister, Jazz, and my best friends Sam and Tucker.

But was does that feel so wrong? Why does everything feel so wrong? My parents' names are wrong. My town's name is wrong. I'm wrong. But why? Why can't I remember anything right? Why is my memory disappearing? I know I'm a ghost but… Shouldn't some things stay? I thought… I thought I would keep my memory a bit longer. I thought it would take time. I thought I could a least write it all down first! But no, my memory is disappearing before my eyes. It is vanishing like smoke into the air, into oblivion where I'll never be able to find it again. It's gone like my name. Ironic that it was my name that was first to go. Now, my parents' names are going. Wait, what am I saying? They are gone! Like everything else that I treasured! All gone!

Six hours since arrival

I fell asleep in my bed. I think I was crying but… I can't remember. Everything is such a blur. I remember Clockwork bringing me here. He said I was his apprentice now. That's cool. I always wanted to know what exactly Clockwork did. But there was something else… Why am I here? I was rejected by someone… Someone I loved. They sent me away. I was really hurt. But why? If they sent me away then they couldn't have been that great of a friend. Why would I hang out with someone like that? That's stupid.

Whatever. If I can't even remember then it can't be that important. I'm Clockwork's apprentice now. I have better things to do.

I stand up and walk into the bathroom. After stripping and choosing a violet scented soap I sink down into the in-ground bathtub. The hot water is soothing. The violet scent of the soap hangs heavily in the air. It's making me drowsy.

I'm getting a serious sense of déjà vu. Have I done this before? Yeah… I did it once before. It was the first time I left, the first time I was sent away. The first time nobody loved me.

But that's not important anymore. Who needs love anyway?! It's just a hindrance. It's just something to hold you back! And I don't want to be held back anymore!

The water in the tub evaporates. Steam rises up and exposes me and the bottom of the tub. I quickly jump out and grab a towel. I wrap it around my waist and glance around me nervously. I hope no one saw me. I pray no one saw me. I don't want to be touched!

Wait… Why am I so scared? No one is here. No one saw me and even if they did why would they care? Why do I care?

The steam is condensing, leaving its wet mark on everything in the room. Even the floor is becoming wet. The mirror is so fogged I can't see myself in it. The plants surrounding the tub are starting to droop. It looks like someone took a giant bucket and dumped it over the room. Note to self: Never get angry while taking a bath.

Seven hours since arrival

I decided that I didn't need a towel. I'm a ghost. I can turn intangible to dry myself off and turn invisible if I don't want anyone to see me. And besides, who cares if someone sees me? If they don't want to look at me, they can turn away or close their eyes. I'm not going to hide myself. I'm good-looking. I'm clean, healthy, and fit. My teeth are white and I don't have bad breath. My hair is white and shiny. It literally has its own sort of glow to it. My skin is smoothed and unblemished. I don't have blood shot eyes. And I have muscles. Yeah, I'm toned and proud of it. I bet the majority of the male ghosts in the ghost zone can't brag about their physique!

So, yeah, why hide something good? I'm good. My body's good. Why hide it?

With this said, you probably won't be surprised when I say that I'm lying naked on my bed. I'm rather happy about it too. There's some sort of draft or spectral breeze in the room that feels really nice. It's petting me just right. So relaxing. I think I'm going to take another nap. No need to strain myself. None at all. I'm safe and sound with a wonderful breeze massaging my whole body. That's nice. I don't need to be concerned. I don't need to open my eyes and double check to make sure that I really am the only person in the room. No need. None whatsoever. Zip, zero, zilch. I'm perfectly safe.

I roll over onto my stomach. My back was too warm. Yeah, that's it. I needed to cool my back off. Still a nice breeze. I like how its hands are moving on my back…

Wait! The wind doesn't have hands!

I sit up and search frantically around the room. Nobody. Well, nobody that I can see. I don't sense any other presences either. Weird. I could have sworn I felt hands on my back.

I search the whole room. Nothing. I'm both relieved and even more worried than before. Relieved because nobody is there, worried because I'm scared that I am going insane. I mean, I really thought someone else was there. Am I going crazy?

Eight hours since arrival

I put my jumpsuit back on. Clockwork is going to be showing up soon anyway…

"Do you like your room?"

"Yeah," I answered. See? I was right.

"Good. Follow me. You have a lot to learn," he floated out of the room and down the hallway. I followed him.

In comparison to my room, which is warm and much more inviting, the hallway is cold and dank. Definitely not a place to hang out. The walls to either side of us rose up into darkness. They were made of grey stones that were covered with mildew. Sconces held torches. Red flames burst to life once we came within a foot of them. They extinguished themselves once we passed them.

After about twenty feet we made a right. Unlike my hallway, this one had many doors. They were wooden with brass doorknobs. No signs gave any clue as to what they contained.

This went on for a while. Another twenty feet and we made left. Same sort of hallway. Another five feet and we made a right. We came to a huge crossroads. At the center was a stone mosaic featuring a clock. Stairs branched out from it at each hour, rising up to other levels. Beyond the stairs were more hallways and corridors. To be blunt, it was amazing.

"Where do all of these lead?" I wondered aloud. Clockwork didn't answer. He continued forward to the corridor across from us. I followed more slowly, still studying my surroundings.

The next hallway was the same as the previous ones. Boring. More unidentified wooden doors, mildewed stones, and sudden flashes of light from the torches. I yawned.

"Are we there yet?" I asked.

Clockwork didn't answer. Thus we floated in silence some more.

"Where are we going?" I tried again.

Still no answer. This was boring and rude! Why wouldn't he tell me anything! He invited me to be his apprentice and now he had the nerve to ignore me!

"Hello? Apprentice talking! Where are we going?"

Nothing. I hummed loudly, coughed, sneezed, and made other noises. Despite my antics he still ignored me.

We finally came to a room and what I guessed was the end of the line. A strange tv-like devise showed flashes of strange scenes. People, places, events played on it. It looked like some sort of slide show. Bells, cogs, clocks, and other bizarre things hung from the walls and the ceiling. I looked around and started feeling dizzy. I blinked hard trying to clear the feeling. I stared at my feet. The world was spinning and my vision was blurring.

"There's no place to go!"

"No place to but the future!"

Finally I was able to see again. I looked up and saw several medallions hanging on the wall. The letters CW were inscribed on them. They looked oddly familiar like the rest of the room.

I felt something poke the back of my neck. I turned around. Clockwork was holding a scythe, pointing it at me! I backed up.

"What's going on?!"

"Lesson one: You might be a full ghost now but you will respect yourself and others. Understand?"

I nodded. He put the scythe down. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It felt weird. I decided I didn't like breathing anymore.

He sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You don't remember much do you?"

I blinked. How does that matter? Couldn't we just start the training? I was about to ask him that but I remembered what he just told me. "No, I don't. Why is that important?"

"I can not answer that. That is for you to discover."