Chapter 9:

Danny:

I felt my eye twitch. Clockwork and Ghost Writer looked at me in amusement. I narrowed my eyes at Clockwork.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"
"But of course."

Clockwork smirked and left Ghost Writer and I. After the hearing, it was decided. I wore the Ring of Rage on my hand and the Crown of Fire was safely put up in Clockwork's Tower. I needed to work on my lair though, or I guess it's Phantom's Keep now since I took over Pariah's Keep. Anyway, before I could do any of that, I had to be 'educated'. Phhss.. I kind of hate this.

Ghost Writer cleared his throat.

"Anyway," he bowed slightly, "we must get with your studies."

"Didn't I do this before the hearing?"
"Not all of it."
I groaned.

"Freedom," I moaned. Finally, I was done. Ghost Writer looked at me amused.

"Quite so, apparently. Just remember the rules, and everything we spoke of, and you shall make a great King."

He bowed his head respectfully and I bowed my head in reply.

I flew out of the library. Freedom! Finally! Now I can- oomph!

I rubbed my head. Leave it to me, officially the new Ghost King to run into someone. Just great…My eyes widened.

"Skulker."

He bowed his head, though he didn't look too happy.

"King Phantom."
I felt my eye twitch. That was yet another thing that I will not get used to as King. I detected the slight growl of annoyance in Skulker's tone. I sighed.

"Skulker, it's fine, really."

Skulker's eyes widened. He stood up straight.
"I may never be friends with you, Phantom, but you are a full ghost and therefore not on my lists. Of course, you could be worth more as King...however, even I am not that dull."

I raised an eyebrow.
"Is that a way of asking for a truce?"

Skulker nodded.
"Not only myself. The others, Desiree and Ember included, have all agreed that we wish to not get on your bad side. This doesn't mean we will leave the human world alone, and a few may cause a few troubles every now and then…but we do not want-"

"-To threaten the King," I finished, "I understand and I accept. Thank you."
Skulker nodded in respect and flew away. I felt a bit of relief knowing that the ghosts won't cause trouble so much. Now, next on my agenda is my lair…

Pariah's Keep wasn't Pariah's real lair, per say. It was the castle of the King. As the new King, the castle shall be built to my liking. It…molds itself into my image. Kind of cool. I had Ghostwriter help me with design plans, or rather his books helped me anyway.

I had a design written out. Ghostwriter nodded in approval. My idea:

The castle had to be rebuilt from scratch because of my battle with Pariah, because of this, it would take longer to be built and needed some help. I didn't want another ruined castle, so the walls are to be made with Frostbite's help, using ghost ice. We will still use the typical ecto-plasmic walls, but reinforce it with ice inside of the walls. The door, however, would be pure ghost ice.

The castle would be a bit bigger, somewhat. That way, if needed, I could house guests (Danielle and, in case of an emergency, the Titans). But, it would looks smaller, with hidden rooms that none will know about besides myself, Clockwork, Frostbite, and Ghostwriter.

Anyway, the second floor of the house acts like the housing. The staircase outside leads to the front door on the second story, it is my 'personal' housing. The living room was to be rather large, with enough room for the furniture that was going to be added later (after all this is just a layout). Then, there were four large bedrooms (one for myself, one for Danielle, and two for guests). Of course, each room was to have a personal bathroom (well, ghosts don't really 'go', but we like to stay clean). Then, there's also a personal housing kitchen, being simple, and then having the small dining room. Then, there is my personal 'office', which is just a small room that I claimed as my man cave.

The first story acted as the 'castle for the Kingly duties.' Two large doors, traditional to the ballroom dancing doors, would be made of ghost ice, but have designs in them. The first room someone would see would be the ballroom, for kingly parties, and there was a large spiral staircase that would lead upstairs. There was also a private office. It was to be large for council meetings. There was a large staff kitchen and an even large dining room.

Then, there was the hidden story. The one that went underground. There were only three entrances to it, one being on the second story, one on the first, and one being outside. Each entrance was to be carefully hide and ghost signature sensitive with extra security. It had my lab for my inventions, a very large lab, but it wouldn't be the first thing you see. The entrance to the lab is hidden in that hidden story. I planned to use this story for my lab and for emergencies. It had the same supplies as the second story, but many more bedrooms, bathrooms, and other rooms. It extended two floors underground and the third underground story was my lab.

"Very smart," Ghostwriter said. I smiled.

"Thank you, and that's just the castle…"

Around the castle there was hidden obstacles. There was a large maze, made so none could fly over or through it. There was a moat surrounding the castle, but there was a lot of space between the castle and the moat. In that space was a magnificent garden with tables and chairs, made for outdoor parties.

The only way to get through the maze without actually going through the maze was by Danny. There was a hidden electronic device at the beginning of the maze (made by Danny and Technus). It was hooked on Danny's ecto signature (which is as unique as fingerprints). By using that device, they could all be in the castle because the maze, which looked like planets, would split in half, making a path.

Danny smiled.

"Now, to get to work…"

Hours later, the Phantom's Keep was finished. The ballroom entrance doors were made by the ghost ice and looked nice with the words 'Phantom's Keep' in a thicker, curly ice writing (the same words on the door on the second story). The rooms were basic enough, so Danny was happy.

"I guess I better get going…Goodbye!"

He waved goodbye to Frostbite and the others.
"Thanks!"