A/N: This will be my first published fan fiction. Constructive criticism is appreciated and reviews are adored.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or anything related to it.
Prologue:
Pariah's Keep. A dark and desolate realm of suffering and horrors, as remembered by the older ghosts of the Ghost Zone, that had once been a shining example of hope. So many had lost their lives due to, what could only be described as, Pariah's madness despite the brief but violent battles that actually took place within the rotting walls and upon the ecto-plasmic blood-stained grounds surrounding it. The older ghosts liked to think of it as a reminder of the idea that power corrupts, but those that were closest to Pariah before the events that would be later forgotten in history knew of a different reason. Not that they were willing to share it with the rest of the ghost community for fear of sympathy for the ghostly tyrant that had forced the proud Ghost Zone and its citizens to its knees.
It was here, upon the battle-scarred grounds, that the feared ghost king had declared his stake upon all of Amity Park, considered a gateway into the human realm by even the weakest of specters. It was here that ghosts and humans had worked with one another in order to engage the ghoulish army of the seemingly all-powerful Pariah Dark, though the humans remained ignorant of this fact at large. It was also here that the legendary Pariah Dark was defeated by a mere fourteen-year-old child and locked away within the Coffin of Forever Sleep once more in the hopes that peace would enter the lands once the Ghost King was sealed once more within his small prision.
With the Crown of Fire taken and the Skeleton Key missing, there was not a single way to be freed from the coffin in which the ghost king slumbered and let his rage boil. His personal knight had vanished, much to his displeasure, and no other servant was able to fully function in the absence of their ghostly master. No…that wasn't quite right, now that he thought about it in a brief moment of clarity. There were exactly four servants of his that were still capable of their sentience without their master, a feat that few of his servants could attest to. He had sent them away in secret for his plans of vengeance against those whom had sealed him for the first time, knowing that there was little reason for them to fail in the tasks that he had assigned him. Where could they be though?
Were his faithful servants not aware that their lord and master had been sealed away once more? Had his vassals abandoned him like so many others had in the past? The mere memory of the betrayals over the millennia brought forth a blinding rage and a deep sadness to his soul. No! The four servants were blindly loyal to him, almost fanatically so. Then again, it was rather obvious why they were so loyal to him as he had breathed life into them from his very own essence, granting them abilities and knowledge to rival that of the demi-gods of old.
Though the Coffin of Forever Sleep did put Pariah Dark into a deep slumber so that he could not physically break out of the confines of the legendary item, it did not shut down his powerful mind, the very reason that so many assassination attempts and threats against his well-being had failed before! Though he was only equipped with his wits, that was really all he needed in order to be freed of the accursed coffin.
Though he did speak nor whisper, Pariah began to pour in as much energy as he could in order to let out a mental roar out through the eerie vastness of the Ghost Zone to each and every last one of his most loyal servants that had spread out far and wide across the vast space of the Zone.
In the farthest corners of the Ghost Zone, four figures, each mounted upon a fiery steed of dark energy, and separated by an almost infinite amount of space, paused in their actions. Though so far away from one another, they each were connected by their minds and soon raised their heads one-by one in the direction the mental roar had erupted from. After a moment of silence, each one uttered a single word that barely reached their ears. "Master…." they breathed out in awe and reverence at the god-like ghost that had given life to them.
"My servants!" Pariah Dark bellowed out, his mind unable to conceal the sense of triumph he held as he communicated with the four servants all at once, something that his servants paid no mind to as their Master's state of mind was not something that concerned them. After all, their Master was God in their eyes and God was infallible no matter how he felt at the time.
"Bring me the Skeleton Key and my Crown of Fire! Free your Master from this infernal coffin and slaughter any fool whom would dare stand in your path! Go!" Pariah commanded. "Yes, my master." each one of the servants murmured one by one before they took off on their demonic steeds.
Though their speeds seemed inefficient in their eyes, to any passerby they roared across the vastness of the Ghost Zone as a black blur of sheer speed beyond that of any other ghost that was ever known before. The weaker ghosts that were in their path were unfortunate as they were torn through with little to no effort while the four ghosts traversed the Ghost Zone. The stronger ghosts were more fortunate as they instinctively sensed the presence of the oncoming ghosts and dived out of the way to avoid the four demonic steeds. Sadly, the ghosts were not fast enough to avoid losing a limb or two to the marauding servants of Pariah Dark.
The four ghosts shrouded in their darkness did not speak of their destination, but moved in unison in one specific direction. Not once did they think of pausing in their journey and not once did the thought of consulting an outsider for directions cross their minds. In the distance, one could only see the glowing and swirling vortex of a mechanical archway with the word "Fenton" emblazoned on top. Though they knew of other portals, many of which were doubtlessly closer to the items in which their Master sought, the four ghosts felt oddly compelled to go through the specific Ghost Portal.
Far from where any of the servants of Pariah Dark was, in the very heart of the Ghost Zone, an ancient ghost with a deep, royal purple cloak and a massive staff with an ornamental clock on one end of it paused for a mere moment, as if something had taken him by surprise for the first time in many millennia, a feat that not even the Master of Time could recall with the same clarity he had now. The moment passed quickly, however, as the ghost changed his form from that of an elderly, but wise man into that of a small and mischievous child with a smirk of amusement as if he knew a secret and wasn't willing to share with any adults.
"Well now," the young Clockwork said as he turned once more to his massive viewing screen, "it seems as if my time is up, a pity. The question is, Daniel, is your time up as well?" he asked more to himself than anyone else as he smiled mysteriously to the large screen before him.
On the viewing screen, a lone, lean teen with snow-white hair and glowing green eyes flew through the skies of Amity Park, a free smile adorning his lips as countless people below him waved up to him in awe. To some, he was a hero that was granted upon them by the heavens, protecting them from the horrors that the other ghosts could potentially bring upon them if left unchecked. To others, he was a blight upon all of society that brought pain and suffering with the reckless actions he engaged upon daily with the other spectral annoyances. To the ones that knew him the most, he was simply Danny.
The teen seemed to have not a care in the world as his ghostly body sailed through the blue skies without worry or fear for the first time in a long time while the Ghost Master of Time watched him, sparing him an almost pitying glance to his young charge that was ignorant of the oncoming dangers that would soon present themselves to him.
Turning his back on the viewing screen once more, Clockwork began to prepare for the future that would come to him. As it always did.
Author's Notes:
So how was the prolouge? Short, compared to the oncomming chapters, but I'm happy to hear what you think, be it good or bad. Read and Review!