TUESDAY 10 AM
Briar burst in while they were mid-conversation. Danny had completely forgotten to watch the time. Briar looked on disapprovingly.
"Ah, I should get going." Danny stood. Andrew did as well, then offered his hand.
"Thanks," Danny said.
"You were much less insufferable than I expected." They shook hands. It seemed that was the best Danny would be getting, this time. Danny left with Briar to go to his next lesson, but paused before the door shut.
"See ya Andy!" Danny pulled the door shut and just in time, as he heard the thud as a book slammed against the door. Oh Danny was gonna be the bane of 'writer's existence. Hehehe.
Now that he wasn't talking to Andrew a wave of tiredness hit Danny. His brain ached with the force of all the knowledge he'd just shoved into it. Danny hoped the next 'lesson' was less of a brain workout.
"What's up next on the agenda?" He asked.
"Next up you have some proper battle and strategy training. Of the current members of the pantheon, Athena was willing to be your instructor. Her placement in your schedule was arranged rather last-minute." Briar said the last statement off-handedly.
"Apparently Pandora put in a good word for you." Briar cast Danny a sidelong glance paired with a raised brow.
"I helped her with some moving troubles," Danny shrugged. Well, it did involve a box. Briar appeared unamused but accepted the answer.
Danny didn't want to spread the tale of Pandora's box being stolen by Boxy, of all people. He wasn't sure if she'd told anyone and didn't want to embarrass her in turn. It did surprise him that she'd remembered him. He didn't really do all that much. It was just Boxy. Aka 'Richard.' Danny shuddered at the thought.
They took off in a different direction this time, a way Danny wasn't at all familiar with. An overly anxious part of him said 'I hope they aren't leading me to my second death.'
"Where are we going?" Danny questioned, if only to quiet that small, stupid part of him.
"The dungeons." Briar responded apathetically.
"Ah, cool." 'Yep, definitely leading me to my death.'
TUESDAY 7 PM
Sam and Tucker didn't see any trace of Danny until dinnertime came around. And by the time they did, he looked exhausted. He was already in the dining room when they arrived, and was conked out on the table. A ghost neither of them recognized left just as they went in. Danny was drooling on the table cloth.
"Difficult day?" Asked Sam. She and Tucker slid comfortably into the seats on either side of Danny. He was sitting at the table's head.
Danny mumbled something into the table.
"I don't understand table talk. Is that a ghost language?" Joked Tucker. Danny moved so his ear was pressed to the table instead of his face being smooshed against it.
"I had an etiquette lesson. I didn't know holding a fork could be so exhausting." With that, his eyes slid shut. A moment later a flash surrounded Danny and his white hair turned black. At the same time, his stomach growled. Oh, and he phased right through his chair.
Woken abruptly, Danny's brain stuttered to keep up. He blinked owlishly up at them from the floor.
"That's gonna get old quick." He said slowly. Danny picked himself back up off the floor.
"Do you keep falling through stuff?" Asked Tucker with an inquisitive expression. Danny's hair snapped back to white as he nodded. Danny collapsed into his chair, slouched yet again over the table.
"Have you had that problem?" Tucker asked in Sam's direction. Sam shook her head. Her day had been rather boring. She and Tucker hung out in Danny's room after he left that morning. She hadn't been having any issues.
"I think it's just nerves." Danny mumbled.
"That's fair. There's certainly a lot going on. It's understandable that you might be feeling overwhelmed." Sam ran a soothing hand through Danny's hair. He leant into the touch. A harsh sigh was dragged out of Danny, and he pulled back.
Lunch Lady/Eleanor came out soon after, boasting about the meal of the night. Sam and Tucker asked about Danny's lessons, but he was so sick and tired because of them that he didn't really want to talk about it. They stopped asking, and instead filled him in on what they'd gotten up to. Tucker had gotten to the first miniboss in one of the games he brought with, and Sam had read through two books from the library, where she'd wandered during the day. Danny was left with conflicting feelings. He was glad Sam and Tucker had good days, but he wished he could've been there for them. Instead of working his butt off from dawn til dusk.
But even though his muscles burned and he was sore all over, he knew this was the way it had to be.
WEDNESDAY 11 AM
Sam paced through the gardens. Danny was busy in lessons and Tucker was busy being a prick. Just because he was the only one with a good home life didn't mean he could rub it in their faces. So what if she didn't want to go home? Yeah she didn't really have much going on here either, but she had her freedom. She'd never felt more like herself than this week. She didn't have to worry about her parents' opinions or tarnishing their 'reputation.' Her steps turned to stomps. She itched to act and put this energy into something. She didn't care what.
Sam (not Samantha, or Sammykins, or any other ridiculous names her parents had tried to call her by) spun around violently. Her boots clapped against the stone path as she made her way determinedly to a patch of pink flowers. She abhorred pink. And she felt like breaking something. Her hands refused to stay still.
But what made her angriest was how badly she was shaking.
Sam snatched up one of the plump, pink blossoms and tore out a petal. Then immediately dropped the entire flower as a shrill scream rang out. Heck- this was the Ghost Zone, why wouldn't the flowers be sentient? She felt horrible, she stooped down the pick the flower off the ground and tried to put the petal back-
Something shoved Sam to the side. She was thrown to the ground and the flower ripped from her hands. Sam flared at the treatment, who-
"How dare you?!" She'd recognize that beaked face anywhere. Her mouth tasted faintly of chlorophyll.
Undergrowth grew in size, dwarfing Sam- who was still on the ground. Undergrowth's red eyes swelled with anger alongside his size, they burned suddenly with recognition.
"Daughter?!" He growled demonically. Vines sprouted up from the ground, wrapping around Sam's legs and arms. With a rush of adrenaline she kicked them off and went sprinting through the garden. Sam's heart hammered against her ribs. She darted past bushes and flowers, under arches and past pillars. She took a corner too fast and slipped on a pile of leaves, skinning her knee and falling to the ground. She looked around wildly and saw a vine rounding the corner. Sam struggled to her feet and started up running yet again.
Until a root shot out of the ground and tripped her up. Sam raised her arms to protect the fall she knew was coming, but it never did. Instead she fell onto something soft, kinda cold and also a little bit slimy.
Sam opened her eyes and saw that she'd landed on a huge leaf of some kind. She couldn't help but remember the last time she'd seen plants that big.
The root was still wrapped around her foot, Sam tried to pry it off but didn't get very far. She tumbled off of the plant, hiding under the leaf, and pulled at her trapped limb. The root refused to give up.
The cobblestone path gave way and Undergrowth sprung up out of the ground.
"Get the hell away from me!" Sam shouted. Her knee twinged with pain as she yanked. The root was weakening, ever so slightly. It creaked as it hadn't a moment ago.
Undergrowth ducked to meet Sam's gaze. Sam was surprised to see purple eyes, instead of red. Had they always been that color? He didn't have any pupils, but it was a softer color. His spikes were gone too. He was also wearing clothes, strangely enough. Ew.
"If you do anything to me you're gonna have so many people after you, Danny beat you up last time." Sam seethed. She retreated farther under the leaf. Her leg cramped in protest, Sam rubbed at the muscle hoping for it to stop. She felt so vulnerable. She was powerless here, Danny was her best card to play. Not that she'd ever tell him that.
She didn't want to be mind controlled again.
"I didn't mean to scare you," Said Undergrowth in a hushed voice. As though talking to a scared child. He lowered himself to Sam's level. Her blood boiled at the treatment.
"You did a hell of a good job with that one. That's sarcasm, by the way." She snarked.
"Let me go and leave, you're not welcome here." Sam glowered. Undergrowth was one of the few that Team Phantom had called unredeemable. Like Vortex, Undergrowth just seemed to be an agent of chaos with his own agenda.
"I'm the caretaker of these gardens. It startled me when you attacked that poor bloom, I reacted on instinct when I felt its pain. I didn't mean to lash out." Said Undergrowth. That was a lot more… eloquent, than the last time Sam had encountered him. He was more 'Raaaagh feed the children, attack your friends, rawr- murder your family.' Or at least that's from the little she remembered. Most of it was a green blur.
"What's up with your eyes?" Sam questioned. Undergrowth hummed.
"If I release you, will you stay? I owe you, especially you, an explanation." His expression saddened.
Sam had no intention of really sticking around, but nodded. She wouldn't be coming back to the gardens, one thing's certain. She'll just have to find somewhere else to avoid Tucker.
The root retreated back into the ground, leaving angry red marks on Sam's leg. It was almost rope burn, but not quite that bad.
Once it relinquished its hold, Sam sprung to her feet. Only for a wave of white pain to run up her leg. Her vision turned black for a moment and she swayed on her feet. The ground quickly came up to meet her. Sam stumbled, but managed to save herself by leaning on a pedestal which held a flowerpot. No way was she getting anywhere in this state. Two steps in and her leg would buckle.
Undergrowth neared, expression one of concern. Sam held up a hand to keep him back. He kept his distance. What was he playing at?
"If we're having a conversation, I wanna do it inside." Sam said strongly. Despite her eyes beginning to water. Undergrowth's face went blank for a moment.
"Alright. But let me carry you." He bargained.
"We're going to my room." Sam countered. If anyone came looking for her, that was probably the first place they'd go. Undergrowth nodded. It was a deal, then.
Undergrowth neared and Sam let him move her. She ended up in his arms laying longways, cradled in the stems. It was undeniably comfortable, but she couldn't help but stiffen. She reached a hand up to her neck to protect it. That was where he'd used his creepy mind vines to control everyone last time. The gesture probably wouldn't stop Underrowth if he was determined, but it gave her some small modicum of control.
WEDNESDAY 11 AM
Tucker fumed silently in the foyer. Sam had stormed off in… one direction or another. And right now he didn't want to chance running into her. So he found a bench and plopped down. It was underneath one of the staircases, so he was hidden from most of the room. Tucker just didn't want to deal with people right that moment.
Tucker ran a hand through his short hair. Sam could be so difficult, and hard headed. He wasn't trying to tell her what to do. He just wanted her to keep an open mind.
Tucker understood that Sam and her parents didn't get along. But he also understood that relationships can change over time, and that family dynamics can shift. He just doesn't want her to cut off any ties before she's had a proper chance to consider it. Tucker knew Sam, if she'd been planning this from the beginning she would have been vocal about it. They've all been shoved into a new situation that, for two-thirds of their trio, was better than the life they were currently hiding from.
Tucker knew he was in a unique position. Of the three of them, he probably had the most ties to the Real World. He had his mom, his dad, and his technology- he would never be able to stay away from the Real World for very long. Danny had Jazz, but not much besides that. His parents were a touchy subject, but Danny would probably take a chance to get away from them if it was offered. Sam didn't really have any of that. She didn't have any siblings, and her parents were always being the antagonists of her life. Maybe Sam's grandma counted, but she was old. Sam was probably half-planning on her becoming a ghost.
Sam didn't have any ties to the GZ, but she was enjoying the freedom she had. It was obvious she wanted to keep it. Tucker just hoped she wouldn't wake up one day and realize 'hey, maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side,' but it's too late. If she stayed in the GZ it wouldn't be an easy transition to go back home. She'd probably be reported missing before too long, and that would also bring up a whole new round of headaches.
If he could at least convince her to wait until they graduate, then maybe by then things will have changed or he can change her mind.
Incensed by his decision, Tucker stood. Knowing Sam, and he knew her pretty well, he'd bet she ran away to either her room or the gardens. Probably the garden, so she wouldn't be easily found. Tucker ducked out from under the staircase and was surprised when there was a whole group of ghosts standing in the foyer, looking around as though lost.
They were probably one of the most cohesively human-looking groups he'd seen yet. They looked strangely familiar. They all had dark skin of varying shades, and black hair. Their style of dress was obviously Egyptian and they were decked out in gold. Were it not for the, similarly gold in color, glow which surrounded them Tucker might've thought they were alive. Just his luck, Tucker stood there with his jaw hanging open for far too long.
"Ah, hello!" Said one. It was a man who appeared a bit older than the rest, dressed perhaps a bit fancier. His black hair was streaked with gray. The leader of their group, then? He walked up to Tucker and he could see the black eyeliner 'kohl?' around the man's eyes.
"Are you to be our guide?" He asked. The voice rang strangely in Tucker's ears. It took a moment for the meaning to register.
"Uh sorry, I'm not- I'm not a guide. I was just heading out." Tucker pointed at the door. A puzzled look crossed the leader's face. He turned back around to exchange glances with their group. He retreated back to them and spoke to a few different members. After a conversation another broke away and approached Tucker. This one was younger than the others. They were shorter than Tucker.
"What are you called?" They asked in a quiet voice. This whole situation was rubbing Tucker the wrong way. He'd love to stick around and maybe find out why he felt so strange in their presence, but he needed to find Sam.
"Uh, My name's Tucker." He could only imagine Sam's train of thought. A wave of gasps spread across the group. Was Sam spiraling like he was?
"And I'm really sorry, but I need to go." Politely as he could, Tucker worked his way past them and to the front door. Someone tried to grab his shirt, but he dodged their hands.
"I'm sure someone will be along to help you in a bit!" Tucker shouted behind him before switching to a jog, bee-lining for the gardens.