It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry guys I had the worst writers block writing this chapter. Words refused to spin themselves together, but I finally did it!

Tucker got the notification for the text from Danny first, before Sam did. It came about the time Danny would usually show up to meet them before first period would start.

Danny: Guys, sorry I'm not there

Danny: I kinda hurt my foot last night fighting a ghost.

The words "hurt" and "ghost" seemed to flash in Tucker's face first, and he couldn't help the worry in his chest as the images couldn't help but crop up in his mind. How badly did he hurt his foot?

Danny: I got Jazz to let me stay home by faking phantom pains.

Danny: Whoops?

Danny: But I promise I'll be in tomorrow. It should be healed enough by then

He snorted in amusement, but brushed it aside. Was Danny making fun of his own pain? Shaking his head, he quickly typed out his answer.

Tucker: Don't worry about it too much. Just get some rest.

Tucker: And would you stop trying to fight ghosts alone?

Tucker: I can't patch you up if you keep going off on your own!

Danny: Hey, it's not my fault they come after me randomly!

Danny: Anyway have "fun" at school.

Sam, beside him, looked at her phone and let out an annoyed grunt before pocketing it again. She looked…tired. More tired than usual. Besides, the way she snapped at Paulina yesterday was…normal, but not something she normally does that quickly.

"Sam, are you ok?"

"Obviously." She huffed, crossing her arms. "How don't I look ok? First Danny asks Paulina out and now he's skipping school because he was being stupid. I'm perfectly fine."

He frowned. "Hey, don't act like that when you won't ask him out yourself. It's not his fault he doesn't know you want to go to the dance—"

"But I don't want to go!" She wouldn't look at him. He raised an eyebrow and she sighed, crossing her arms. "Ok, maybe a part of me wants to go. But whatever, no one's going to ask me out anyway."

Tucker shrugged. "I can take you."

The bewildered look she gave him almost made him laugh. She huffed and looked away. "Haha, very funny."

"Hey, we're friends, aren't we? No one's going to go to the dance with us so we might as well go together. Hell, we can ask Danny if he wants to go too. It'll be way more fun than the three of us staying home on Halloween." He grinned as she laughed this time, a genuine one that made a bit of that tiredness on her face fade.

"You are a genius Tuck."

"I have my moments."

"Very rare, once-in-a-blue-moon moments, yeah."

He nudged her, and she elbowed him back, the two of them dissolving into laughter.

"Now come on, smarty pants, we have classes to go to."

O~O~O

"Danny?" Mom stood at the door, poking her head in to the lump of blankets on his bed. "Sweetie? We're going out, so you're going to be alone for a while."

A low grunt answered her.

"If you need anything we're just a phone call away."

Another grunt.

"…bye sweetie."

The door shut and, almost immediately, a bright light flashed from under the blankets. Dark hair popped up from underneath and Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. In the distance, he could hear the voices of his parents fading before the front door closed. Odd – usually he couldn't normally hear things that far.

{That's another power to add to the list.}

"Hm…you can say that again." Danny muttered, rolling over onto his stomach. He nearly regretted staying home – it was just so boring. But it's not like he could just walk around school all day. And he'd have to explain to Jazz how he got this injury (he was unsure if Mom or Dad would notice) but the thought was just…not something he wanted to deal with. At all.

"Can we please try not to get our foot injured next time?" Danny asked aloud while grabbing his phone. "I'd rather not skip another school day."

{I can't really control how they attack us, you know. We're just lucky she didn't take our entire foot off.}

Danny grimaced, then scowled in annoyance as he realized his phone was already at 50%. What was up with this thing? Sure, it's an old phone but it never usually acts up like this.

{Maybe you can ask Jazz for a new one.}

He shrugged, opening up a game app, shifting so he was sitting up with his pillow on his lap. Really, he had absolutely nothing better to do until Sam and Tucker got home from school. He just hoped to god that his parents will be gone for the rest of the day. It wasn't too much to hope for that, was it? It's not like it's necessarily fun to have them home…and he was able to talk to Phantom much easier without worrying they would walk in any second.

Besides, with them out of the lab, that just means that whatever they were planning to make was going to take a little while longer.

{Maybe we can see what they're making for ourselves?}

Danny sighed. "All they're making is stuff to capture ghosts. You know, like the Thermos, and that stupid fishing rod."

Phantom snickered. {Ok that was pretty stupid. But aren't you curious? I mean, once they find the best way to capture ghosts, the next step is hurting them. Especially when they realize how hostile most of us can be.}

"You aren't—" Their mind went over the way Phantom fights. The way he growls in battle and how every ghost he automatically saw was a threat first and a friend second. "...ok I see your point." He pointedly ignored his smugness. "Still, you're being paranoid."

{I'm not being – ok maybe I am, but we're alone! There's nothing stopping us from at least taking a peek at what's in store, right? And we can destroy whatever seems dangerous.}

"We're not destroying anything." He quickly snapped back, annoyance prickling at his fingers. He hated that he was pretty curious too, and besides, it's not like his parents were coming home anytime soon…

In his hands, his phone crackled and died.

"Oh fine." He aggressively plugged his phone in and, with a burst of energy he definitely didn't have before, he grabbed his night table and stood up, keeping his weight off of his injured foot. It wasn't throbbing as much as it was before, but he didn't dare check it just yet. (The bandaging was already pretty clumsy, and he really didn't feel like doing it again.)

Keeping his hand on the wall, he began to do an awkward limp-hop out of his room and down the stairs to the lab.

It couldn't hurt, right?

O~O~O

Sam didn't necessarily hate algebra, but it definitely wasn't a class she favored out of all her other ones. (Actually, she preferred English – she had a bit of a soft spot for writing - but there was no way she was going to let anyone know that.) So, when the attack came, she didn't know if it was a blessing or curse in disguise (later, she would firmly decide it's the latter.)

It wasn't a ghost attack – hell no. It would have been hell if they had a ghost attack when Danny wasn't here and she and Tucker didn't have a Thermos. No, the attack was her body deciding to fight against her – hitting her suddenly with dizziness, nausea, and a migraine that threatened to split Sam's head open.

She aggressively blamed the lack of sleep as her head hit the floor.

The classroom got loud very quickly, either with people hovering over her or those, she would only realize later, who were actually taking pictures of her.

Well fuck you too. She immediately thought, trying to push herself up on her elbows, but another wave of dizziness hit her.

"Manson?" Her teacher's face came into view, her face pulled into a frown of concern. "Are you alright?"

She tried to say, "I'm fine," but what actually came out was a garbled noise halfway between a groan and a pained whimper.

Ugh, she sounded pathetic.

Her teacher grimaced, before turning to the class. Her voice pierced through the chatter.

"Miss Gray? Can you please escort Miss Manson to the nurse?"

Oh hell no.

"I'm fine!" She forced herself to stand, but found that was a mistake. The world spun and she grabbed onto her desk to keep herself standing upright. "Ah fuck."

"Language, Manson." Her teacher turned to Valerie, who's expression looked as if someone just had told her to eat a whole clove of garlic. "Please escort her to the nurse."

Valerie looked as if she would rather throw her out the window than help her, but their teacher's voice held no room for protest. With a sigh that was almost overdramatic, she walked over and hooked her arm around her neck and put her arm around her waist, before nearly dragging her out of the classroom. It would have surprised Sam if she hadn't remembered that she was always right behind her in fitness exam scores.

Sam, at the very least, wished that she would be subtle with how much she hated this. Instead, she grumbled in her ear.

"I can't believe I have to take this stupid loser to the nurse."

"Wow, talk a little louder, won't you?" She didn't bother looking up, but she could feel Valerie's glare. "It's not my fucking fault that she decided you were somehow a good person to take me to the nurse."

"Might as well be." She snapped. "After all it's your own fault for getting into…drugs or whatever—"

"Drugs? Really? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Look, Paulina has it out for you and I don't want to be on her bad side when she hears about this."

Paulina? She hardly pays attention to her – why the fuck does she have it out for her?

Then, the events of yesterday clicked. She began laughing, ignoring how her headache was turning into a migraine and the way her stomach churned. Valerie, baffled, nearly dropped her.

"Hey, would you—!"

"Are you kidding me?" She interrupted her, gasping for air. "She's seriously hung up over that? Has no one called her a bitch before? Because it's sounds like no one has."

Valerie seemed completely baffled, because she just continued to stare at her. "…you're a weird girl, Manson."

She opened her mouth to answer, only to slap her hand over it. Her stomach churned even more. "…bathroom." She muttered, her voice muffled in her hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Bathroom!"

Valerie's eyes went wide. She near dragged her to the nearest restroom and opened the door before pushing her in. Whatever she said afterwards was muffled by the closed door and Sam rushing to the nearest stall to throw up.

"Ugh." She muttered into the toilet, flushing down her sick. "What the hell is wrong with me?" she turned, towards the sink to wash out her mouth when a familiar chill went down her spine, circulating the room.

"…oh no."

She turned – slowly, as slow as she could – to find a woman in front of her, with sickly blue skin, glowing red eyes and long blonde hair pulled back in a braid. Even stranger, she was wearing medieval clothing. The gold around her waist and the circlet around her forehead was rusted over. The ends of her dress were ripped and tattered. There were numerous scars on her hands and around her neck, almost making Sam wonder how this woman might have died.

When she opened her mouth, like any other ghost, her voice crackled and echoed around the room.

"Oracle, I'm here to request your help."

O~O~O

The lab was much neater than Danny expected, considering his parents were experimenting with whatever they were working with just ten minutes ago. Endless pages of data written in chicken scratch were laid out on the table. If it wasn't for the subtle differences in handwriting, Danny was pretty sure he wouldn't have recognized which of his parents were working on which.

Danny let his eyes skim over the data they were collecting – all of it was in terms he couldn't really understand. But ectoplasm was mentioned more than once, especially with the word harvesting.

{…you shouldn't have left your phone upstairs.} Phantom muttered. {We should have Tucker look over this.}

"He's a tech nerd, not a science nerd." He pointed out, trying to decipher the words himself. "Uh…god it looks like they're trying to just find safe ways to collect it and…" he squinted, "...wait…are they…trying to use it in weapons?"

{More like as an energy source.} Phantom corrected him.

"But, ok, look at this." He grabbed a chair, sitting down and shifting through the data to grab the most recent blueprints. "They're trying to make guns, Phantom!"

Phantom shrugged. {More people to help us get ghosts out of our territory.}

Danny paused. "…that's…true…"

{…there's also the chance they're trying to track us – me down.}

"You're…gonna have to explain that one a little bit more."

{Who's the first ghost they've seen so far?}

"…us…"

{So, they're going to want to capture us, right?}

"Are you trying to say they're making weapons specifically to capture us?"

{…ok not specifically us, but we'll definitely be the first ghost they'll try to get.}

He groaned, smacking his forehead against the table and the papers. Maybe it was too much to hope that his parents would leave him and Phantom alone while they do their experiments. But he should have known better. Even if he, as a human, asked them to leave Phantom alone, they would just ignore him.

"Maybe...if we tell them…"

{I'd rather not be a test subject to poke and prod at. Besides, we're fine. We've got this.}

"I'm 90% sure we don't."

{I thought you were bad at math.} He could feel Phantom's cheeky grin, and he elbowed him back playfully.

"Shut up." He laughed, shuffling a bit more through the blueprints. He paused as one caught his attention – the Spector Speeder.

{You have got to be kidding me.} It almost felt as if Phantom was making him lean in closer to it, as if that would somehow change what was written.

A ship designed to travel through the Ghost Zone.

Wow.

"Why the hell do they even need this?" Danny muttered, baffled, and wishing he hadn't left his phone upstairs.

{Research, obviously.} Phantom sighed. {I mean we can't exactly ask them. But…}

"But…?"

He could feel Phantom shake his head. {It's…I'll tell you later. C'mon, give me control I'll fly us back to your room.}

"…why the fuck didn't you do that sooner?"

The only answer he got was an echoing laugh.

The first thing he noticed, as soon as he got back to his room, was the long string of voicemails and missed calls – most of them from Sam and the latest ones from Tucker. There was also a string of texts from their group chat, which he ignored in favor of calling Sam first. The phone barely rang once before her frantic voice came from the other side.

"Where the actual fuck were you?! I thought teenagers don't leave their phone's side for two seconds!"

"I think you're thinking of Tuck." He tried joking, but it didn't even get him a pity chuckle. "What's going on?"

"We have…a situation." Sam sounded…stressed. "It's too…much to explain on the phone. Just get over here and meet us in the library's computer lab."

"There's no attendant at the front desk today." Tucker's voice was slightly distant, but he could still hear him just fine. "So, you can just walk in."

"…Guys, are you asking me to sneak into school?"

"Now is not the time for jokes!" She hissed back. "Just get over here. Lab number 4. And hurry." And with that, she hung up.

"Phantom…?"

{I'll fly us there. Just grab your backpack. I'm pretty sure we're going to need the Thermos.}

He nodded, leaning against his table as he slipped his backpack on, his mind on Sam. What the hell happened that got her so riled up?

The library in Casper High is by the corner of the school, usually with an attendant at a front desk to make sure you have a pass to get in. When Phantom had them land in the nearest empty bathroom and switch, Danny couldn't help but feel slight anxiety. After all, if the attendant was there, now he'd have to probably pass them while invisible. And considering this is a school (and he has no idea how the "notice me not" power works) he can't exactly do that easily.

So, with that on his mind, he headed towards the library, keeping his mind on Lab Number 4, limping the whole way.

And, because he wasn't paying attention, it wasn't a surprise that he ran right into someone. With his foot injured, he couldn't properly keep his balance. His back and backpack hit the floor, and something clattered onto the ground next to his head.

"Shit…"

"Oh!" Above him, Paulina stood, her eyes wide. "Danny!" Her voice lowered into a purr. "I thought you weren't in today – have you been hiding from me?" She hovered over him, and all of a sudden he felt like some kind of animal she had trapped into a cage.

"Uh…no?" Why was Paulina even talking to him? Shouldn't she be avoiding him for basically humiliating himself in front of her? And…does this mean she's been looking for him?

{I have a bad feeling about this…we need to go.} Phantom practically forced him to stand. Danny could feel him glaring Paulina down – almost making the room chill just by himself. {Sam and Tucker are waiting after all.}

Are you…jealous? He bit inside his cheek to hold back his laughter, though found it difficult when he felt the chill of Phantom blushing. He probably would have teased him even more but Paulina let out a loud gasp, her eyes glued to the floor. Danny followed her gaze, and his eyes landed on a beautiful necklace. The chain seemed to be made of gold, connected to a green jewel that reminded Danny faintly of Phantom's eyes. It was familiar, but he couldn't pin where exactly he had seen it.

"That's beautiful!" She squealed, picking it up, her eyes glittering green, reflecting the jewel. "It's for me, isn't it?" She purred, taking a step closer. Subconsciously, Danny found himself taking a step back.

"I-It's for…what?"

"The dance, silly!" She giggled. "You wanted to ask me to the dance, didn't you?"

"Well yeah—"

"And this necklace is a present!"

{She really enjoys jumping to conclusions, doesn't she?}

Danny, practically dizzy from her talking in circles, and the wide grin she was giving him, found himself only nodding. She squealed and immediately put the necklace on.

"I look good in it, don't I?"

"It…definitely stands out…" And it did. The heavy-looking necklace contrasted shockingly with her pink shirt and pastel purple jacket. Her eyes seemed to almost give off the same green light as the necklace, tinted red.

"Well, thank you Danny! See you later~" She winked, before turning and walking off in the other direction, leaving him utterly flabbergasted.

"Did…did I just get a date to the dance?" He muttered.

{Yeah, you did. I guess that means our plans are cancelled.}

Hey, wait a second! Don't go acting like this is my fault! You're the reason I went to go ask Paulina in the first place! I never knew she'd actually be interested!

{Well you didn't have to say yes!}

You try saying "no" when someone's talking circles around you!

Instead of gracing him with an answer, Phantom grumbled. Suddenly, his presence felt…diminished. Not that it vanished, but as if he had walked off to sit in the corner. Danny rolled his eyes and walked into the library. He'd deal with his temperamental ghost later – Sam and Tucker had some kind of emergency.

Computer Lab Number 4, like on most days, was empty except for Sam and Tucker who sat in the back, the two of them at different computers. He could tell they hadn't heard the heavy door open and close, or hear him as he walked up to them.

"So…what happened?"

Sam jumped first, nearly lashing out. Instead, she glared at him as if he was to blame for her reaction. He was almost startled – she looked like shit. She was pale, her cheeks flushed as if she was coming down from a fever. He could feel Phantom's interest piqued, and yet he didn't say anything.

"Where have you been?" She demanded almost immediately.

"Limping my way here." He answered dryly, grabbing one of the chairs to finally sit between them.

Tucker, at the very least, looked sympathetic. "How's your foot?"

"Better." He answered truthfully. "It stopped bleeding. But, I'm not important. What happened?"

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other before Tucker waved a hand.

"You should tell him."

She took a deep breath. "Ok…alright. Earlier today…I suddenly got really sick in class. I nearly fainted and I threw up later—"

"Holy shit, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She quickly answered. "Just…later…a ghost appeared in front of me. And…she called me an Oracle."

O~O~O

Sam stared, bewildered at the ghost in front of her. She kept a grip on the sink, more than aware that she didn't have the strength to run away. For a moment, she thought of screaming for help – but who could help?

"You're frightened." The ghost seemed…guilty? Or like she felt guilty. "Please forgive my sudden entrance, but I needed to request your help as soon as possible."

Her mind was reeling, not just from the headache. "…just…give me a moment…uh…you aren't…going to kill me?"

To her absolute surprise, the woman looked almost offended. "I don't hurt those who haven't angered me. Well…" she sighed. "That's the problem. I cannot hurt those when I am angered anymore. I've lost what has given me power, and if I search myself, I am afraid the Ghost Child who has taken this territory as his own would be furious with me."

"You're…gonna have to back up just a little…" She took a deep breath, wishing she had the Thermos with her or at least the energy to run from this. For now, if the ghost just wanted to talk…it didn't hurt to continue the conversation. "What do you mean you 'can't hurt people anymore?' Why would you want to hurt people?"

"The Ǵ̶͢͜͞h̴̨̛͢o̷̧͘s̴̢̀͠t̀̕ ̸̢̛Z̸̧̨͘͢ó̧͘ǹ̴̢e͡͏," her voice, suddenly speaking in a language she did not know, filled with static before she continued, "is a terrible place, sometimes you meet those who are peaceful, and those who are hostile. My power allowed those around me to fear battle. But I was foolish, curious, and I've lost my amulet here in the Human World!" Her voice trailed off into a despair-filled wail. Large, light green tears fell down her face as she sobbed. Her screeching rang in Sam's ears. She immediately put her hands over her ears – the lights in the bathroom flickered and nearly went out. "Who knows what the other ghosts will do to me and my lair once they find out – and my Mother! My Mother will surely be disappointed! My Brother will not hesitate to send me to the dungeons for my incompetence—!"

"Ok! Ok I get it! Just stop crying!" Sam hissed, watching the door with a pounding heart. They were trying to control the situation, not make it worse. "I…I guess I'll find your amulet for you? Why would you even go to me for this?"

The ghost sniffled. "You are the nearest Oracle in the area. And I've told you already, the Ghost Child will surely destroy me if he found me in his lair."

That didn't clear it up at all, but Sam still nodded. "O-Ok just…what's your name and what does your amulet look like and do? I can't go off of nothing."

"My name is Dora. My amulet is gold, with a green jewel, and most will say it is a cursed object. Whenever I lose my temper, I am transformed into a dragon."

Sam felt like screaming. Why the hell was something like that in the human world? Does this mean there was someone that could snap at someone and turn into a dragon running around?

"…and…where did you last see this amulet?"

"I had run into the Ghost Child…" She looked almost sheepish. "I fought him and I lost it in the midst of the battle. I was fortunate enough that he was not angered enough with me to let me escape."

"R-Right…I'll…find your amulet for you then…"

She beamed. "Thank you, Oracle! I will not forget your kindness!"

O~O~O

"…and she left."

Danny stared, his mouth falling open and his eyes wide. "S-So…?"

"So," Sam turned to computer, almost frantically. "We've been working to research on this bullshit. Whatever the hell Oracle means to ghosts isn't the same as humans. Because to us it means telling the future—"

"It's a human who's soul has been touched by a ghost. Someone who is sensitive to us, and that ghosts can go to for help." Phantom suddenly spoke, both sheepish and worried. Sam and Tucker stared.

"You…knew this already…?" Sam whispered, before her voice turned into a growl. "And you didn't tell me when that happened?!"

"I-I…" Danny sputtered. "I barely even knew myself!"

"Then how come you just explained it to us?!"

"That wasn't – I –!" He faltered. Why the hell hadn't Phantom said anything earlier? He poked at him, but he still didn't answer. Quickly, he just shrugged. "I guess…there's some things ghosts…innately know?"

She fixed him with another glare that said, "you're on thin ice," before she sighed, "I…need time to think. And you're going to tell me everything you know about this Oracle shit." She then turned to Tucker, "And you've found something about the amulet, right?"

"Yeah, of course I do." He pulled up the picture of the exact necklace Danny had earlier. He could feel his heart drop in his chest.

Oh no.

"The Cursed Amulet," Tucker read off the website, "those with terrible tempers are said to turn into a horrible beast while wearing it. Legend says the last who held it was a young princess held captive by her cruel mother and brother. When she snapped, in protest of wishing to go to the royal ball and meet her suitor, she turned into a dragon, killed her mother and everyone who attended the ball. Her brother, who also held a similar amulet, fought her and they both died in the rubble of the castle. From then on, both amulets have been lost." Tucker looked back up, "So, obviously, she – Dora I guess? Was buried with her amulet, so technically since the amulet died I guess it followed her to the afterlife?"

Sam sighed once again. "Great, wonderful. So that amulet that killed a bunch of people is just, you know, with whoever the hell the 'Ghost Child' is."

Tucker, not seeming to notice how pale Danny was sure he was getting, frowned. "How the hell are we supposed to figure out who that is? Who knows how many ghosts are in Amity by now. And we have no way to track them! And if they have the amulet, how are we going to get them to hand it over? They sound like a pretty dangerous ghost if they can beat up a dragon."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Danny said dryly, head in his hands. He could feel Sam and Tucker's eyes on him.

"You're the Ghost Child?!"

"How do you think I got this cut on my foot? I fought a dragon and she turned into a lady in front of me." He squirmed as Tucker grinned triumphantly.

"Awesome! Our search is almost over then!"

"You…do know where the amulet is, don't you?" Sam asked slowly.

"Uh...well…" He said slowly, "I…think it fell into my backpack during the fight…"

"Weird." Tucker hummed.

"And…I didn't realize until I bumped into…someone…before I got here. Because it fell out of my backpack."

Sam and Tucker went quiet, staring at him in pure horror.

"A-And…" He gulped. "That person…uh…well, she thought it was a gift for when I'd ask her to the dance…"

"Oh no."

Sam closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. "Danny. Please don't tell me you gave a cursed amulet who turns people into a dragon to Paulina."

"…then I won't tell you."

With that answer, he wasn't at all surprised when she grabbed her backpack, stuffed her face into it, and screamed.