I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment proposes only, no money involved.
It was the same dream again. I am falling head first through the Ghost Zone the spiraling green sky spinning around me fast and faster as a mass of land came towards me. Then I slow and did a fluid front flip landing gently at my feet.
Looking up I see the dreary castle, its walls covered in black vines and that's foundations look less then steady. One of its towers had collapsed, unable to withstand the test of time. The front gate looks as if worn down over hundreds of years; the wood was rotting and hardly connected to the rusty metal joints.
"Please… help… us…" It was the same voice as every night before and the night before that. Every night for the last two weeks I have had this same dream. I began to walk slowly towards the front gate. I reached forward and placed my hand on it. Every night since this dream had started I would place my hand on this door, and every night I would suddenly be jolted awake.
But this time… this time I did not wake up. My eyes widened as the door slide opened with ease despite all the rust on its hinges. Dust scattered, kicked up by the motion of the door. I walked into the castle while taking careful stuck of my surroundings. The inside was almost as dreary as the outside of the place.
I moved through the entry hall and further into the castle. It was starting to get darker and darker, but with the ghostly glow that was escaping from my body there was enough light to see. But it was making me even more nervous. Any enemy would be able to see me from a mile away.
Then I came across a door that was almost as tall as the front gate. There were still signs of what must have been beautiful carvings of the now worn wood, and the golden hinges were better made to withstand the tests of time. Ancient runes and pictures of great and powerful beasts surrounding a figure of a young woman with a large feathered dragon behind her.
"Hurry…" The voice was definitely coming from inside the room. I hesitated for a moment wondering if it was some kind of trick. But I knew that my conscious would never let me rest again if I turned back now.
I reached up and with a little more effort, pushed upon the doors. There was a momentary blinding light coming from the room. I shielded my eyes to protect myself from the sudden contrast. But once the light died down and I had entered the room, I was stunned by the sight that lay before me.
I was standing in front of want must have been the grand hall of the castle. On either side of me there were stained glass windows that, unlike the rest of the castle, seemed untouched but time. The windows were depictions of ghosts that I know. They were both good and bad, and ranged from Cujo all the way to the Fright Knight. Each looked as if the ghost in the depiction was in pain and trying to drag themselves away from some kind of large eye with tentacles coming out of it.
This was astonishing, but not as breathe taking as what was at the far end of the room. On top of a risen platform that would usually hold the thrown of the lord of the castle was a giant crystal statue of a large feathered dragon. It was as flawless as some of the statues that I had seen Frostbite make back in the land of the Far Frozen. I walked towards it in awe. It was such a drastic contrast to the rest of the ruined castle that it felt like it was drawling me in.
As I got closer I noticed as small enclosed area between the wings. In the center was a small table, and on the table was another crystal figure, this one of a young woman. She had short hair and was dressed like one of those exotic dancers from the movies about old Egypt, with the two piece cloth dress and the accessories. On her head was a sort of tiara. But none of that really caught my attention, because I was too busy looking at the sword that was stuck into the chest of the figure.
It was a rather curd looking sword with a black handle and a jagged blade. "Please… remove the sword so that I can be free." The voice said. I was starting to think that the statue of the woman was not really just a crystal figure. The voice all along had more of a feminine quality to it. I nodded, not wanting to speak, lest the dream be broken again.
I reached forward and grabbed the sword and began to pull. Just like with the doors I hardly needed to us any of my strength to remove it. I staggered back and fell on my butt with the sword still in my hand and the figure began to glow with a soft light. Color began to come to the body and soon I could tell that the woman had blond hair and grayish blue eyes alone with a deep tan.
She kicked her legs over the side of the table. I sat there watching as she ever so slowly stretched out like a cat and yawned. Rubbing her shoulders she looked at me and smiled. "Thanks for waking me up, but you sure took your sweet time getting here. Couldn't you have moved a little faster?" She hopped of the table and stood in front of me leaning forward slightly with her hands behind her back. "Hi there, my name is Lumina. It's nice to finally meet you." She threw out one of her hands and helped me back to my feet.
"Um… hi. I'm Danny." I replied, not really sure how to act when a statue becomes a living person… then again… this was all just a dream. At least… I think it is.
She giggled a little. "This is more than just a dream, Phantom. But we can talk about that later. I still need to free the others after all." She said as if she could read my mind. I was only slightly surprised by her use of my other name. After all, the name Phantom was whispered thought the Ghost Zone, even if the Human world still saw it as little more than a rumor.
She walked to the edge of the raised platform and placed her hands in front of her chest. Then she spread her arms out in front of her, each hand was glowing with a circle of light spinning around them. They looked like the kind of magic circles that you see on cartoon shows with all the strange runes and symbols. After a moment's pause, she began to sing. It was a rich sound, even if I couldn't understand the words.
As the sound reverberated through the hall, the stained glass tapestries began to give off their own light. As the lights faded from each of the windows, the depictions changed from those of my fellow ghosts being tortured, to ones of proud warriors in varying white armors who I couldn't recognize. Then the ground around me began to shack as the dragon statue began to crack. The awakening of the dragon was nothing like Lumina's. The glass shattered and the dragon gave out a violent roar as he spread his massive wings that smashed against the walls causing a whirlwind of dust and feathers.
His entire body grew brighter and brighter until it felt like the light was a physical force in the room. "Thank you again for freeing us Phantom. As our appreciation, the Lightsworn will help you in the dark times to come. See you later." I heard Lumina's voice cutting through the light. And then… nothing.
I wake with a start for find that I had fallen out of my bed. I brought the back of my left hand across my forehead to find that I was covered in a cold sweat. After that I noticed the weight in my right hand. Looking down I found that it was my alarm clock. My eyes widened. "Shoot, I am going to be late to meet with Sam and Tucker." I said to no one in particular as I quickly started to move to get dressed.
I couldn't find any of my clean clothes so I just grabbed some of the less dirty ones. They had been airing out for a few days, with a little deuteron no one would notice. It was the same white t-shirt with a red dot in the center that I was more or less known for wearing. I was half way to the door when I remembered my Duel Disc.
I reached back into my room and grabbed the silver contraption. I wasn't really that into the whole Duel Monsters thing, it was just another thing that Sam had managed to drag me into last year and I found that playing along was easier than arguing with her. Just like when she decided to smuggle in robotic frogs into the science class and release all the real ones.
But after some rich guy in Japan made holographic simulators for the game it magically became popular. This really made Sam mad since it was stamping out 'her individuality' or something like that. But after my Dad caught wind about the whole thing with the holograms he decided he would make one of the Duel Discs himself and gave it to me for my fifteenth birthday.
That's why I was being laughed at as I walked down the street with a silver and green Duel Disc with the Fenton green ghost logo on it. It really got under my skin that people laughed at my dad. Sure he was a bit goofy, but whose parents aren't? I think they should be impressed that he managed to recreate something in a couple of weeks that took a multimillion dollar company mouths to make.
It wasn't even that different looking other then the part that holds the deck. He even added a hidden Ecto Gun, though I don't know why, so to make my dad happy though I carried it around with me on weekends. And today I was supposed to meet with my friends at the local restaurant, the Nasty Burger.
"Sorry I'm late, I kind of slept in." I said as I sat down at our normal table.
"Don't worry man, you're not that late." Tucker reassured me. "So was it another all nighter fighting ghosts?" He asked.
"No, I just keep having that same dream again and again." I admitted.
"Danny, this is getting a little serious, are you sure you don't want to talk to Jazz about it?" Sam asked. It wasn't the first time she had expressed that opinion.
"Jazz is the last person I want to know about this." I said sulking. "I just don't want to worry her anymore. After all, she already is worried about what kind of psychological damage that was caused by Dark Dan, or the incident with the Reality Gauntlet, or when Danielle melted in my arms before coming back. Jazz needs peace of mind that I am going to be ok." I said. And just like every other time, Sam nodded in agreement.
"Just remember man that we're always there for you." Tucker said taking a sip from his giant sized cup.
"Thanks guys… but I think I got all the way through the dream this time." I said causing Sam and Tucker to sit forward in interest as I recounted the events of the dream.
"You have to admit, that sounds a little too vivid to be just a normal dream." Sam said once I was done, sitting back in her set. "You sure it is not just Nocturne playing his mind tricks again?"
"If it was, he wouldn't let me wake up." I reasoned.
"Hey Fentonio!" Oh no, it was Dash. The self proclaimed King of Casper High walked up to our table and smacked Tucker's food to the floor for no reason at all. Tucker just glared at the football player. Fighting him was no good since he would just us his influence with the teachers to get back at us if we did. "See this Fentonio?" He said lifting his own new Duel Disc. "This is the real deal. Nothing like that cheap knock off that your worthless father put together out of tin foil and duck tape."
I had to struggle to keep the green out of my eyes. "What are you mad? Why don't you do something about it?" He was trying to egg me on. "Why not a friendly game so that I can humiliate you and put you in your place… again." I was trying to ignore him, but he knew how to up my buttons. "Of course you are not even worth my time. You a loser, just like your freak of a father."
He used almost every word that pissed me off. "You're on!" I practically shouted. "Loser eats that pair of boxers you carry around." I got up and started to walk for the alley way behind the restraint.
Sam and Tucker looked at each other. "Dude, you do realize you don't stand a chance right?" Tucker said as I walked out the door. "He used a lot more money than you to make his deck. Not to mention that even if that Spirit Deck of yours is ironic, but it isn't very good."
It was true. The spirit cards were strong enough, but they went back to your hand at the end of the turn, so I almost never won a game. I never tried to change the deck because it was the one that Sam gave me. "I don't care. I am not going to just let him bad mouth my family all day."
We were now in the alley and most of the kids that were from my school had come out to watch. 'Great, humiliation with an audience.'
"You will win…" I thought I heard the sound of Lumina's voice. But that was all just a dream.
"Since I feel sorry for you Fenton, you can go first." Dash said mocking me. We flipped out the Duel Discs and set up the holographic playing field.
Danny 4000
Dash 4000
"Fine!" I said drawing my hand. I inwardly sighed and then looked down at my hand. "What the?" This wasn't my deck. I looked over the cards in my hand. Then I saw it. 'Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner' but… How?
"Hurry it up. I don't have all day." Dash shouted impatiently.
'I don't even know how these cards work.' I thought to myself. "I play two cards face down, and play Lumina, the Lightsworn Summoner to the field in attack mode." (1000 / 1000) I was hoping to by myself some time to read the cards. But what happened made me forget all about reading cards.
A circle appeared on the ground and as it moved up it slowly revealed my monster. Then she turned to me and smiled. "I told you we would help you, Phantom." I was shocked that what was supposed to be a hologram was talking to me.
I shuck my head once I realized that no one else could hear it. Or else they would have freaked about me being called Phantom. "I end my turn." I said. The top three cards in my deck stuck out. I looked at them questioningly.
"My ability will make it so that you have to send the top three cards in your deck to the graveyard every turn." Lumina told me. I repeated what she had said.
Dash started to laugh. "So that card isn't only weak, it also costs you cards. Way to play them Fentard." But then as I sent the cards to the graveyard the thing light up and spit back out a card.
"'Lightsworn Saber', if it is sent to the graveyard from my deck then I get to equip it to one Lightsworn monster. And it gives them 700 more attack points." I read of the ability and attached it to my Summoner. The golden saber appearing in her hand. (1000 + 700 / 1000)
"So what. She is still too weak to survival against my… Vorse Raider!" (1900 / 1200) The bladed warrior crashed into existence on the field. "Especially after I equip him with 'Ax of Despair', and since I have two of them." (1900 +2000 / 1200) Wicked looking twin axes appeared in the Raider's hands. Dash was grinning at me smugly. "Attack my Raider."
The holographic monster ran at me swinging around his two axes. "Phantom, the trap!" Lumina shouted.
"On it, I activate my trap card, 'Lightsworn Barrier'. If one of my Lightsworn monsters comes under attack, then I can cancel the attack by moving the top two cards from my deck to my graveyard." I grabbed the two to cards in my deck and sent them to my card graveyard.
Just like before the graveyard light up. Twin claw mark like green tears formed in the air. And out came a face I knew. "Wulf?" I said in shock. Then Wulf's body was engulfed in light and his black fur turned white and his green hoody into white armor. He had a staff in his hand which had claws like attachments instead of the claws themselves.
He now looked more like a polar bear with a ponytail then a wolf. He turned to me and smiled. "Vi liberigis min, frato." He said in Esperanto, so I couldn't understand him. But that really was Wulf.
I looked at the card that had moved out of my graveyard. "'Wulf, Lightsworn Beast', he can't be normal summoned, and if he is moved from the deck to the graveyard then he is automatically summoned to the field." (2100, 300)
Dash grunted. "Doesn't matter, I will get you next turn. Your Beast still isn't all that strong. I place two cards face down and call it a turn."
I drew my card. 'Great, he has two traps, and they are probably all about attacking, since this is Dash.' I looked over my hand. "Phantom, why don't you play my ability?" I heard Lumina said. I looked at her and nodded.
"I activate Lumina's special ability, this always me to discard one card from my hand and bring out a Lightsworn monster from my graveyard, as long as it has four or less stars." I said. Looking at my graveyard I saw that I had removed another Lightsworn monster during my time moving cards from my deck to my graveyard. "I choose 'Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress' in attack mode." (1700 / 200) Another Ghost appear, this time it was Desiree. Another flash of light and she looked like the monster on the card, with her white cloths and holding a staff.
"Big deal, more weak monsters." Dash just blew her off.
"No one talks about me like that!" Lyla shouted. "Phantom, thank you for returning me to what I once was. Now activate my ability and destroy one of his traps." Lyla said to me.
"I activate Lyla's special ability, by switching her to defense position I can destroy one card in your magic or trap zone, and I choose the face down card on your left." The card was revealed to have been mirror force.
Dash had shielded his eyes from the breaking of the holographic card. "So what, none of your monsters could have attacked me anyways."
"It is called a strategy, try making one, since I still haven't used my normal summons for the turn." I said. "I now tribute Lyla to call out 'Celestia, Lightsworn Angel'" (2300, 200). This time it was Pandora that appeared before me before turning into the beautiful angel holding a staff and clothed in white armor.
"I have been freed!" She shouted in the same commanding voice that she had always used as a ghost. "Now Phantom, since you Summoned me by sacrificing a 'Lightsworn', I can destroy two cards at the cost of the top three cards of your deck." She informed me.
"I use her power by moving the top three cards of my deck to the grave to destroy your Vorse Raider and your last face down card." I said.
"No way!" Dash said as his cards were destroyed. His face down card and been 'Magic Cylinders'. "But… I am defenseless now."
"Nice of you to notice." I said with a smile. "Wulf, Pan… I mean Celestia you know what to do." Wulf ran up and swung one of his claws at Dash and then Celestia called out a holographic bolt of lightning that hit Dash. Dash gave out an involuntary girly scream and fell to the ground. "Eat your shorts, Dash." I said give to two fingered salute, the universal signal for 'that's game'. The holograms faded away and my monsters waved goodbye to me.
Everyone was either whispering or openly laughing at Dash as he ran away trying to get away from the deal. "Danny, that was assume. Where did you get those cards?" Tucker asked as he got to me.
"To be honest, I think they are from the Ghost Zone." I said and my friends' eyes widened. "Remember that dream I told you about. That card, Lumina, the Lightsworn Summoner, she was the statue that came to life in my dream." They looked at each other as if wondering if I was ok. "And every time I played one of the other, I would see a ghost turning into the card. Wulf, Desiree, and finally Pandora." I looked a little depressed. "You don't believe me, do you?"
Sam bit her lip. "There is an easy way to check. Go to the Ghost Zone and ask Pandora herself." Sam finally said. We were about to go, when a voice was heard, this time all of us could hear it.
"I am afraid that would not do you any good." It was the voice of Celestia, formerly known as Pandora. We all stared at the card as it glowed. "I am no longer in that realm. Since Phantom has set us free, we have all returned to the Realm of the Beasts."
"So… there are no ghosts?" Tucker said a little hopeful. Ghost attacks really were a pain in the butt.
"No, there are still ghosts. But some of us were not always ghosts. We were the Vanguard of the Realm of the Beasts, also known as the Lightsworn." Celestia told us. "Ten thousand years ago, we were all placed under a curse by the Great Beast, a creature that once threatened to destroy both your world and the Realm of the Beasts. We were morphed into the shapes of the shadow creatures that you refer to as ghosts and banished to live within the World of Shadows, or the Shadow Realm."
"Ten thousand years… that is a long time." I said in wonder.
I heard a chuckle. "We didn't exactly sit on our hands the entire time. But the time did affect us. Only Wulf truly still remembered our passed. The rest of us had given up on awakening our Summoner, and our Guardian Dragon. We even forgot our real names." It was a bit of a sad statement.
"But then Wulf, who had often come to visit me in my prison, told me about you Phantom." It was Lumina's voice again. Her card was now glowing and I could see an outline of her. The same as I could with any invisible ghost. "You heard my summons and released me. To think that a Human Shadow Monster hybrid would be the one to finally free us from the curse."
"Monster… is a little harsh isn't it?" I deadpanned.
"That isn't what I meant… it is like how you call us monsters in the card game. It is a label for people of that world. The Shadow Realm is made up of Shadow Monsters, or you call them ghosts." Lumina said trying to clarify. "But this isn't the time for that. We need you to go and help prepare the Pharaoh. The Great Beast from ten thousand years ago is going to be awakened. We need you to help save the world by protecting the chosen ones so that they can finish the war that started over ten thousand years ago."
"And there goes my Thanksgiving break." I said miserably. "So what do I need to do?" I asked.
"Please reconsider we real… wait your agreeing? Just like that. And here I was lead to believe that Humans had become less willing to believe such tales." She said confused at my willingness.
"You're a glowing children's trading card. Obviously the normal bounds of logic no longer apply." I said with a shrug. "Besides, no one has tried to take over the world this week. We are over due."
"The world has changed more than I thought in the last ten thousand years. Or maybe the others were right, and you are just a strange child." Lumina said. "I need you to go to Domino City in Japan. We believe that the Pharaoh is there."
"Japan… that is a long flight." My shoulders sunk. I looked to Sam and Tucker. "Don't suppose that you two and cover for me until I get back can you?"
"Danny… this is weird." Sam said looking at the glowing card. I don't think she could see the spirit of Lumina. "Just remember that if you need back up we will grab the Fenton Jet and be there as fast as we can."
"And if you need any remote tech support, you know you can call me." Tucker said with a smile.
"Thanks guys." I said with a smile. I ran into the alley and transformed into my ghostly persona… only my costume was different. Gone was the jumpsuit, and in its place was armor in the same still as the armor that had been on Wulf. Only mine was black with white trim. My Duel Disc was also still there, only black and the Fenton green ghost replaced by the Phantom Symbol.
I started flying towards Japan and sent the time on the way reading the effects of my new cards. Maybe I was going to start getting into Duel Monsters… no, I just needed something to pass the time.
