Visiting an old friend

We've already established that moody teenagers and walking for extended periods of time, don't mix well. So it was no surprise that the entire group let out a groan when Danny told them to get up and get going.

"Guys, I don't want to have this conversation again. Could you all, for once, suck it up and deal with it?"

There was a silence and then a quiet sign of agreement. They did need to walk and well, it wasn't like any of them knew there way around here. *cough* Tucker and Sam *cough*

So Chronos spend the next 3 hours walking in front of a not so excited group and listening to their whispered conversations. Don't get the wrong idea here; he wasn't spying on them or anything like that. You try not listening to a conversation when you've got nothing to do.

Then again, Chronos wasn't the only one listening in on private conversations. Mr Lancer sure knew how to be stealthy. He would walk between the front and back of the group, listening to little snippets and storing the information for later on. The most interesting bit of info our dear Mr Lancer got was: "Why doesn't he teleport us home, he did that before didn't he? Then why should we have to walk and exhaust ourselves while he can just teleport us back home?"

That did very little to comfort Mr Lancer. It indeed was a rather good question. Their host had teleported them to this trail, who know how far out and then continued to walk the entire time. Why did he do that? Was it because Chronos didn't want to and it was his purpose to exhaust them and lure them right into an ambush? Hold your horses Mr Lancer; Chronos isn't bad, right? Well, he did have a very civil conversation last night, and Chronos didn't seem to be evil?

3 hours and several stops later everyone arrived at Dora's castle.


"Princess Dorothea! Princess! The mail has arrived!"

As a poor servant ran through the halls to find Princess Dora, she was busy with much more important business.

"A little to the left, now up, up, down, right and...up."

"We should've let Technus install it; you just can't decide where to put it!"

"Come on Arthur, don't be a spoilsport."

"And we should've bought the matching surround-sound-stereo-set." Arthur huffed.

Dorothea sighed, she knew that Arthur would become whiny as soon as he saw the television. He was still stuck with the idea that a woman shouldn't decide what to buy, or wear, or anything really.

"PRINCESS DOROTHEA!" An exhausted voice called through the halls. "The...*wheeze* mail...has arrived." With that, the poor servant fell face down on the ground. Only to stand up a few moments later, still catching his breath.

"Oh Gareth, you shouldn't have run all this way. We have hawks to do that for us."

"What! Since when do we have messenger birds?" Gareth half screamed.

"Didn't you get the memo?" Arthur asked, "We've worked with those birds for a long time now...how did you miss them?"

"Well, it doesn't matter now," Dora said quickly; she didn't need another fight. "The mail is here, so let's open it."

The letter was giving off a subtle blue glow, though the seal was what caught everyone's attention.

"Lord Clockwork has sent us a letter it seems; I wonder what it is about?"

She opened it and real aloud.

"Dear Dorothea,

I have sent you this letter as a warning; my apprentice is coming to see you. He will not be alone. His task is to lead a group of humans through the Infinite Realm to the Fenton portal. I would highly appreciate it if you could offer him and his group some shelter and food. I would refrain from asking questions about Sir Phantom; it is a very touchy subject for both the class and my apprentice.

Forever Faith

~Clockwork."

"Well, you heard the guy, ready the guest rooms and prepare a feast for our human guests!"


Meanwhile, Chronos was having the time of his afterlife, walking in front of a class who would rather be anywhere else than here. Because of the lack of fun, most kids were playing useless games to pass the time.

"I spy with my little eye: Purple," Paulina said in a way too chipper voice.

"That door over there?" Star answered while pointing to a random floating door.

"Nope," Paulina replied.

'That one?"

"Nope, again."

"Than that one?" Star was getting annoyed at Paulina."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Ugh!" Was Star's only response.

Suddenly Dash let out a happy yell.

"I spy with my little eye and it starts with a C."

"Castle," Chronos answered for him, a smile forming on his lips.


Dora was patiently waiting for her guests to arrive. She sighed as she put her weight on her other foot, then back, and again. She was nervous. She knew the Time Master's Apprentice, but then again she didn't know him that well. There were rumours about him too. He supposedly was the ghost of a prince, one who defeated his the old ruler. The stoic expression that usually adorned his face gave proof to that. He was so calm and quiet as if he wanted to blend in and not be noticed. The scar he wore also told many tales. How he got, it was a mystery. Dora looked out the window again and almost fell out of the tower as she saw which particular human was with the group. Sam Manson.


Sam was eager to see how her ghostly friend was doing. She hadn't seen her much after the initial incident but had tagged along a few times when Danny wanted to speak to her. She was a second sister to her now, the bond they shared was not unlike the one Jazz and Danny once had. Sam wondered what new improvements the kingdom had made since the last time she visited. Last time, Dora had actually gotten a smartphone. It was still somewhat ahead of her time, but the princess told her that she liked the games on the thing. Who would have thought, that a ghost princess from the medieval times would get a cell phone?

Sam shook her head to clear the memories and focussed on their guide. Chronos was such a strange ghost. It seemed as if he knew them very well, but Sam had never seen him anywhere in the Zone before. He did seem strangely familiar, but she just could put her finger on it. Some of his quirks were so...so, yeah. The way he puts his hand on his neck when he's nervous, or when he pops the p when he says: "Yep."

Sam let out a sigh and watched as the castle in front of her invited her in.


The double door of the castle flew open and there, in all her regal beauty, stood Princess Dorothea. Flanking her on either side were her trusty guards.

"Well hello, Princess Dorothea. It seems that you were expecting us?" Danny said to her while bowing down, grabbing her hand and kissing it.

Dora was extremely flustered by the gesture and was at a loss for words for a second, she soon recovered and spoke.

"You are right; we were expecting you. Clockwork sent us a letter, to prepare for your arrival."

"That old Cuckoo Clock never ceases to amaze me," Danny muttered under his breath.

"Well then, shall we proceed?"

"As you wish milady."

4h agoAnd so our hero and his little group marched on into the castle.

Having been in this castle many times before Danny didn't need a guide to get around, but he couldn't be found out, or he had hell to pay. So he let himself be guided by Dora's first in command, Arthur.

"And on your right is the throne room, where our dearest princess will be crowned queen when she finds the right king to rule at her side."

"Why not rule alone? My first impression of your princess was rather good; I think she would be a fine queen on her own."

"Ahh, that's where you're wrong Mr Lancer. You see, she can't be queen without a king because there would be no offspring. No-one to take over the throne when the time comes." Danny blurted before catching his mistake.

"That's right Lord Chronos, but may I ask how you know that?" Arthur asked.

"Uhm, Clockwork's history lessons?" Danny answered while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Arthur? Are you done with the tour, I think our guests are quite hungry."

There was a chorused "YES", and everyone was brought to the dining room.


Dora was sitting at the head of the table, Danny to her left and Arthur on her right. The rest was mixed up with Tucker and Sam sitting next to each other and Lancer on the other end of the table. The awkward quiet that hung above was starting to get uncomfortable so Lancer restored to question time.

"Sorry, if it is not my place to ask Princess, but why do you have human food here?"

"Don't worry I won't bite or anything ask any question you like, but to answer your question I need to tell you a story.

When Dora told her tale of her brother and Sam, everyone listened with awe, except for Sam, Tucker and Danny.

Sam was watching the others reactions when her gaze fell on Chronos. He looked happy that she was telling a fun story it seemed but got awkward as soon as Danny Phantom was mentioned. He would keep rubbing his hand on his neck while hearing about Phantom and he looked a bit embarrassed too. Sam looked at him again, and she swore she saw him fill with rage when Dora spoke of the time Aragon tried to force Sam to do something. It was odd seeing him display so much emotion. Especially now, during a story, he didn't partake in. She frowned, and he caught her eyes. Before she could comprehend the emotion that flickered on his face, it was gone. Just like the other emotions he'd shown a couple of moments ago. He just wore a stone-faced mask now. She sighed and continued to listen to Dora's retelling of the story.


After dinner, everyone was shown to the guestrooms. Danny opted to stay behind and catch up with Dora. She didn't know him very well in this form, but he knew her inside and out. He was stopped however when Sam walked up to the ghost princess and started talking to her. He gave the girls some privacy and retreated to his own sleeping quarters.


"Sam! How are you doing?" Dora asked, real concern in her voice.

"The real answer?" Dora nodded. "Like s***."

"It's been what, four months now? And I still can't get over it. Everything reminds me of him, especially our guide," Sam said in an exasperated tone.

"Lord Chronos? He does bare striking similarities to Danny doesn't he?"

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Well, if look past the eyes and the scar, he looks just like Danny. Did you notice he has the same voice too? If I didn't know any better, I would say it's him."

Sam's world stopped.

Was it possible? Her best friend still alive? Hanging out with Clockwork all this time?

In rapid succession, a surge of emotions passed through her. Relief was the first one, followed by disbelief, coming up next was betrayal and in the end, it settled on anger.

How could that insolent boy think to worry them like that? She and Tucker went through hell and back again. The nights spent crying herself to sleep. All those days spent sulking in her bedroom, not wanting to come out because there was no Danny waiting for her on the other side. She was livid and would not rest until she figured out exactly what hat happened.

"I must go now, see you tomorrow Dora," Sam called over her shoulder as she left the bewildered princess behind her, and stomped over to the guestrooms.


"TUCKER!" She bellowed without warning as she stormed into the room. The boy in question shot her a frightened look, because what would have happened to make Sam so mad? He just hoped he wasn't the one because else he had hell to pay.

"Get your sorry a** over here...Now!" She yelled again. Tucker gulped but complied, fearing for his life.

Sam stalked away and continued her stampede over to Chronos' quarter. She knocked on the door with her fist. Tucker had followed her and watched as the door opened to reveal a very astonished Chronos. He yawned and looked at Sam. He sobered up immediately when he saw her angry expression.

Sam grabbed hold of the ghost his wrist and practically dragged him back to the main sitting room. He looked at Tucker with a fearful expression in his eyes, silently asking what the heck was going on, but Tucker only shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. As if to say he didn't know either. He sat down in the chair opposite of Chronos as he sat opposite of Sam. The woman in question let out a huge sigh, to keep her calm no doubt, and took a deep breath in. She steadied her eyes on the ghost and retraced his featured. Dora was right; he looked exactly like Danny under his mask. She looked at him again and cleared her throat.

"I wanted to have a word with you...Danny."

Danny looked back and forth between his two friends. Tucker looked just as clueless as he was and confusion at Sam's comment showed on his face. He looked back at Sam and gulped. Sam shot him a glare that could kill an entire city if she wanted to. All the cluelessness from Tucker was wiped away by Sam's death glare. She knew, and he was in serious trouble. So what soothing words did his mind come up with?

"Oh...Crud."


A/N

Sorry if this chapter is shorter than usual, I had loads of trouble writing it and it seems my muse if on holiday. Sorry once again for the late update. Thank all of you who left a review, favourite or follow. A special thanks to Barely Existent for commenting on every chapter! It was you guys who pulled me through this update with all your positive reactions. I thank each and every one of you! Sit tight for the next chapter!