Prompt by Cyroclastic. Phic phor the Phight. Kind of short and drabble-ish.
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Danny touched down at the edge of Mattingly, feeling vaguely like that might be more polite (and prudent) than just flying straight to Dora's castle. He was somewhat nervous. It wasn't often that strange ghosts flew up to him, handed him a letter, and promptly vanished.
Actually, it was never. That never happened. Except now it had.
The letter was from Dora, known also as Queen Dorathea of Mattingly, and it had asked Danny to come at his 'earliest convenience.'
Well, now wasn't exactly convenient, but it was early, and it was the best he was going to get, honestly. His life was a mess, and this sounded important.
Feeling oddly exposed, Danny floated down the streets of Mattingly, hovering just a few inches above the ground. They had paved the roads since he was here last, Danny noticed. He wondered why. It wasn't like ghosts really needed roads to walk on. Maybe they just liked how they looked? Or maybe they had a lot of non-flying traffic.
The town as a whole was much more cheerful and active than the last time he'd been here. There were people out flying, laughing, doing things. They looked happier.
They were however, staring at him. Not blatantly, but he could still tell. Maybe it wasn't so odd that he felt exposed.
But they weren't hostile stares. So. He decided to count that as a positive.
He reached the gates of the castle and was immediately ushered in. The herald ghosts brought him through the green and black stone halls and up to a tower, where Dora was overseeing the placement of a number of large, neon-bright tapestries.
Dora caught sight of him before the heralds could do any announcing. "Sir Phantom," she said smiling, gliding over to him. "How are you?"
"I'm good," said Danny, "um, your majesty." He winced. Was that the right form of address, he didn't know. "What's up? I mean," he tried again, "what did you want to talk to me about?" It didn't look like Aragon had gotten out, which is what he'd initially been worried about, so now he was just confused.
Dora took Danny's fidgeting hands in hers. "I want to knight you," said Dora.
Danny's mind went blank. "You want to what?"
"Knight you. I assumed that you were already a knight when I first met you, but when, well," she delicately declined to mention her time in the human world, "I realized my assumption was false. Of course, by that point, I was accustomed to thinking of you as 'Sir Phantom,' and the matter slipped my mind entirely. However, now that things have settled somewhat, I want to rectify my oversight." Dora nodded sharply. "What do you know about swordplay?"
"Um. Mom gave me some lessons on using the Fenton Machete," stuttered Danny.
"A beginner, then," said Dora. "You'll have to learn. Some traditions are worth keeping. Sir Oswic!"
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The Ming Monks circled Danny, Sam, and Tucker. The three of them had taken temporary refuge in the temple. Vlad had, once again, not arrived at quite the same time as them.
"You will help us defeat the demon?" asked the wizened leader.
"Yes," said Danny. "We will."
"Hey," whispered Tucker, "can you translate for those of us who don't know Japanese?"
"Chinese," corrected Danny. "We're in China."
"Do you know how to use a sword?" asked the monk.
"Yes," said Danny, switching back to Chinese. "But... maybe not like you do."
The man nodded. "You will learn."
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Vlad grumbled as he applied a salve to his bruises. If only his ego was as easily cared for. Everything had been going so well, but then Daniel and his friends had to interfere again. And that map! The nerve of it.
But, more importantly, Vlad had thought he knew everything of import happening in Daniel's life. When had the boy found the time to learn how to fence? When had he learned how to fence so well? Especially considering his truly atrocious grades in school.
How Daniel could still get Cs and Ds when he was so obviously intelligent was beyond Vlad.
Clearly, Vlad would have to be more observant concerning Daniel's activities.
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Danny landed in front of Mattingly Castle after double-checking for trackers and bugs that looked like tiny Plasmiuses. The guards at the gate gave him a little wave, and hit the button that made the doors pull back. Danny smiled. It was always fun to see how Mattingly had progressed in the time since he had last been there.
"Guess what!" he said, excited, "I beat Vlad in a sword fight!"
"Great!" shouted back one of the guards. "Now you just have to beat Sir Oswic!"