Greetings and Beaunvenue my darling readers, truly you have made me feel amazing with all of these reviews and with everyone looking at this. Before we get to the main event there are a few things I have to say to my lovely reviewers.
Seantriana: my oh my, you've already seen through the base of the story and found what it's about! whatever shall I do?
MAyAnny: That, is explained below and my you would bring such fun conversation to a certain triangle I know.
DB-KT: muahahahaha, it's part of my master plan to grab everyone's attention with this story and then I'll take over the world while no one is looking!
Neony022: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL, SOMEONE RECOGNIZES GOOD QUOTES! ALSO, MEIRCI!
Savorix: Sav, Sav you don't understand, this comment is so important to me!
Unlucky Alis: Why thank you! I couldn't understand why I couldn't find any when I looked so I made my own! I will keep on, promise!
With all that out of the way, let's get to the story shall we?
When Danny got back to Sam's room he still felt oddly charged with energy and had to concentrate pretty hard on transforming back and even then he was still feeling hyper. "Woo! That was weird, and kinda fun." Noting that all the pulls of the other summons were gone the ghost boy grabbed the cloth they had set aside for it and started erasing the circle.
"Where were you Danny?" Sam looked up from her latin book with some concern, Tucker from Sam's computer as he finished up the order for a new phone and the parts he would need to modify it properly. "Whoever it was interrupted a pretty important conversation."
"Oh, you'll never guess who's cooking I just had." It was still a shock to him that the quarterback was a good chef, even with the rough toss that he had caught when Danny 'accidentally' put too much force in his throw. He held back of course, didn't want to really hurt the guy, but revenge was sweet. "Dash and Kwan made a deal with me to stay for a little bit, and I kinda said yes before I finished hearing the whole deal. It's weird, I feel like I could take on the Fright Knight right now!" He flopped onto the bed and looked over his friend's shoulder, frowning when he didn't understand the words. "What're you reading up on now?"
"Whoa whoa man, back up." Tucker swiveled completely in Sam's chair and raised a brow, pointing at the raven haired teen. "You made a deal with Dash? Like, you give me this and I'll do that kinda deal? Of the supernatural variety?"
Danny shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. It was like my ghost half took over for a sec and I couldn't say no to the offer. Which is weird, cause what am I gonna do with a trio of teddy bears?"
Tucker snorted at what the offering had been and Sam raised a brow, looking around and noting the lack of bears. "And what happened to them?"
"Hm? Oh, they were frozen under me when I got there and they just… poofed into snow dust when I accepted." He made a poofing motion and snow collected in his hand before forming into the shape of a bear. The snow dust fell away and a confused Danny was holding a plush teddy bear. "Ooookay then."
"Before we go into your whole teleporting stuff into your hands at random power," Tucker cut in before the halfa could get any further, even as he typed that into his file on Danny in his PDA. "I feel we should talk about this king thing."
"I got summoned to Dash's house and spent fifteen minutes without getting much payback with him Tuck," Danny put on the most convincing pity face he could manage and let out a tired sigh. "I don't feel like thinking hard anymore." His friends exchanged a look and Danny almost thought he would be getting away from it all.
"We can't avoid it forever Danny," Sam gave him a sympathetic smile. "besides, you might wanna make sure that no one summons you in your sleep, so you should wait until night time."
"Fine," he groaned and dropped the look. "But what exactly are we going to talk about when it comes to this? I don't know anything about being a king."
"Well, we can start with the Fright Knight." The others raised a brow at the techno geek and he returned the gesture. "You brought him up first, and it reminded me that even though he's been free since Pariah was beaten, he never made any moves to take over the world and send us all into an eternal halloween night or avenge his fallen king. He hasn't been a problem at all."
"Which is weird for someone who looked to be on Vlad's side at the end of it all, although I was kinda blacking out at the time." Still, Danny could have sworn Vlad had said something about turning a knight, which had to mean the Fight Knight, but where had he been all this time? A blue wisp of air flew out of Danny's mouth and a shiver ran down his spine that told him he had more to worry about at the moment. "Well, I said I could take Fright, let's see who wants to try me on now." Light filled the room as Danny changed to Phantom and flew out the window, Tucker grabbing an ecto pistol out of his bag as he headed out the room, Sam doing the same.
When Danny found the ghost that set off his ghost sense he was surprised to say the least. His aura began to change, slowly going from its usual white to an icy blue. "Well well, speak of the devil and he shall appear huh Fright? You know we were just talking about you."
Nightmare reared and neighed in response and the black clad knight narrowed his eyes at the teen. "Daniel Phantom, come with me post haste, there are things that I must discuss with you." Danny's eyes widened a bit before narrowing in suspicion, his arms crossing but loose enough that he could quickly block an attack if it came. Noting the hero's hesitation the Knight pulled out his sword and pointed to a spot in the woods. "I will meet you in yonder forest young Phantom, you have my word that I shall not harm you." Fright then took off toward the trees and Tucker and Sam burst through her front doors.
"Who is it Danny? Someone negotiable?" Sam was really appreciative of the ghosts that actually stopped and listened when Danny reminded them of the laws of the living. Ghost fights were fun and all, but it was more fun to wrap things up quickly and get back to real fun.
"Why are you glowing blue instead of white?" Was it a bit off on the seriousness scale of the situation? Possibly. Was the question entirely valid? Yes. "It's not usually noticeable but your glow is brighter than usual and it's blue."
"In order, Fight Knight asked me to meet him in the woods and promised that he wouldn't hurt me," that earned a snort of 'fat chance' from Sam and a raised brow from Tucker, "And I didn't know I was glowing blue. Today is a weird day."
"Think we can trust him to keep his word?" The goth was skeptical, and reasonably so. "He's got no real reason to be peaceful all of a sudden."
"True, but he's a knight," Tucker raised his arm as he pointed out the - in his opinion - crucial flaw in his friend's reasoning. "Like a legit knight, served for a king and everything Sam. He's honor bound to keep his word. Regardless of the halloween part, being a knight and having his honor would be the biggest parts of his obsession."
"Tucker has a point Sam." Danny made duplicates, which he was getting better at, to pick up his friends and shrugged. "Plus I get this weird feeling that I can trust him. I dunno why, I just do." Sam, though still not really trusting the older ghost, shrugged charged up her ecto pistol. "Plus you two will be invisible and ready to help if he does go back on his word." A grin stretched on the goth's face and she hooked an arm over the duplicate's shoulder to get a better hold when he lifted off the ground and an odd chill flowed through her as they vanished from sight.
Ready to listen, and for an ambush, the trio flew toward where the Fright Knight was waiting while Nightmare grazed on the grass in a nonthreatening way that almost surprised the three teens. When the knight saw Danny land he surprised the hero completely by crouching down on one knee and holding up his sword in his hands with his head bowed. "Lord Phantom, it has come to my attention that you are now aware of your position of power in the Ghost Zone. As such I, your Fright Knight, pledge myself, my service, and my undying loyalty to you, my Prince."
Green eyes shifted to blue and something inside took over as Danny wrapped a firm hand around the grip of the Soul Shredder and tapped the knight's shoulders and head. "I accept your fealty and welcome you as a member of my court," Sam and Tucker's eyes widened in surprise at the authoritative tone the halfa's voice took. There was something about his voice that they couldn't wrap their heads around. It wasn't just his voice that had changed either; his posture was more professional and his movements were more graceful and full of authority that one didn't standardly equate to Danny Fenton. "Rise, spirit of the harvest festival, as my Fright Knight." The elder spirit rose to his feet and accepted his sword from Danny, sheathing it before standing at attention. The teen's gaze lingered on his knight for a moment longer before switching to the trees where Tucker and Sam were. "You guys can come out now, he won't hurt us."
The duplicates disappeared and Sam and Tucker walked into the clearing with their guns down. "What was all that about man? You were acting like you've been royalty all your life." Danny raised a brow at the other boy before Sam spoke up.
"Yeah, I've heard of power changing a person, but that was a bit quick, even for you." She was eying the flaming haired ghost warily, not entirely sure if he would attack them now that he knew they were there, but Danny was trusting him, so she would go along with it for now. "Do you have any explanations Fright?"
"I do, if my Prince wishes to hear it." Danny nodded, both fazed and not that the Fight Knight of all people was asking him for permission to speak. "It is your ghost half responding to the position that you acquired in the battle with Lord Pariah. You have been the rightful ruler ever since, but your ghost half has waited for you to realize who and what you now are before helping you to take the place of a Prince."
"You speak as though my two halves are two different people." Danny's voice stayed steady, but inside he was starting to feel nervous as an old fear that he tried to push away began to stir inside his mind.
"Essentially, they are and they are not." Fright paused to find the right words as his mare came up behind him, waiting to ride again. "A spirit is different in mind to a human as well as in body. The differences that your ghost half brings rest within your subconscious mind, a part of you that reacts instinctively in a different way than you would have before you were changed. When a spirit becomes king, they change to meet the duties of a king."
"But you didn't call me king," it was something they all noticed but didn't want to interrupt to find out. "You called me Prince instead of king. Why?"
"Because, my Prince, you have not yet been properly coronated, and the Ring of Rage still adorns Pariah's hand." Always a catch to these things, not that Danny was in any rush for power. "Once you are properly coronated and accept your place as the Ruler of Spirits the ring should come to you." Danny nodded and let out a sigh. He needed to sleep this information away, but he still needed one more bit of info.
"One last question, and then I need you to return to the Spirit World until I call on you again, ok?"
"Of course my Prince." Fright nodded and prepared to open a portal back to his home.
"Recently I was summoned by some humans and when they offered me a deal I took it before I could blink and the payment they offered disappeared. Why?"
"Ah, I see." Sounded like something that was less complicated to explain … or more complicated but he was better able to explain it. "When a powerful enough Spirit is summoned to this plane, a mortal may offer us a deal. Normally they would offer an object of personal value in exchange for something they want that the spirit can deliver, of course the spirit can demand an alternative payment. Once the payment is accepted your power will send it to your own dwelling for you to make use of later. You can, of course, decline the deal, but once you have accepted, you cannot go back on your word, for you are bound by your power to fulfill your end of the bargain as the mortal fulfills theirs."
"Ok," that made some sort of sense, and Tucker was writing everything down so that they could make more sense of it tomorrow. "I get that it was because of my ghost half's instincts, but why would I jump at the chance to get some teddy bears?"
"Stuffed animals made to comfort children," Sam supplied, since it wasn't clear if the Fright Knight was one of those ghosts who had actually died, or if he had been born as a ghost and became Pariah's servant when he grew up.
"The more significant the object offered is to the one offering it, the more powerful the spirit becomes from the exchange."
"This is sounding a lot like demon summoning to me, and I know a lot about demonic summoning." The knight had to bite back a sharp comment on how the teen looked like she would, as it would be unwise to insult his Prince's best friends.
Instead he sharply told her, "There is a difference between ghosts and demons, the main one being that we can enter this plane without being summoned and they cannot, but not many are able to see them all, and simply equate spirits with demons." He turned back to Danny, who's eyes had gone back to green, and his aura back to white. "Both can gain power in similar ways, and both exist in realms beyond that of humans, but spirits and demons are two different things."
Danny nodded and held out his hand, which Fright hesitantly shook. "Alright then, thank you Fright Knight, the information is much appreciated. I need to rest and think on all of this, though, and I need you to return to the spirit world until I call on you again." Fright bowed and mounted Nightmare, ready to take off before the young prince added, "And, if you could, you know, keep some of the ghosts from coming here to make a mess of things, that would be nice."
"I shall do my best, my Prince. Farewell." Bowing his head once more, Fright urged his mare into the sky, where a purple vortex opened up, and closed once they were through, leaving the odd scent of spiced pumpkins in the air.
Danny took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, all the formality melting away as he relaxed himself. "OK, I'm a prince, Dash's teddy bears gave me power and the Fright Knight listens to me now. Did I miss anything?"
Both friends laughed and Sam added, "Your ghost half also has a weird, instinct level affect on your psyche, Dash somehow summoned you through the circle we put up to hold you and when you speak royally you go from white to blue and act like a real prince, and demons happen to be real."
"Other than that you got everything." Tucker finished up on Danny's file, and the little side note about demons and to look more into them later for future reference, and put his PDA away. "You can freak out now."
Danny shook his head with a grin. "Nah, I'll do that gradually. Besides, I think we can handle this. We should probably tell Jazzthough,so that she knows in case we need one of you to summon me and you guys are busy fighting off ghosts." Sighing again he wrapped an arm around each friend and took off toward Sam's house.
Well, that was an info dump wasn't it? Apologies, I'll try to avoid that in the future!