–EPILOGUE–

SATURDAY 9 PM

"It's quiet." Jack whispered harshly.

"Too quiet." Maddie agreed. Together they drove through town in the GAV. For the past week they hadn't seen hide nor tail of any ghosts. It was like they'd all decided to take the week off, which was impossible.

Ghosts were entirely consumed by their Obsessions, no way would they abandon them for something so simple and human as a vacation. So something must be causing the disappearances.

There was the occasional blob or whisp floating around, but that was a bit of a given. But the heavy hitters were missing, the ones with all the big plans. Even Phantom had 'ghosted' them. It fed into Maddie's theory that Phantom was the one drawing ghosts to Amity. But as the days stretched on she became wary even despite this.

What if the ghosts were planning something big? If they had formed a plot which would satisfy each of them, they could launch something coordinated. Maddie highly doubted it, and Jack decided it was impossible, but she didn't want to rule out any theories quite yet.

"Something's going on, that we don't understand." They agreed. And they needed to do something about it.

What that something was? They weren't quite sure yet.

–SNEAK PEEK–

JULY 27th, 7 PM

Suddenly Danny felt something strange. Everything around him went silent. It was like a vacuum. His core did something- it rumbled in his chest. His vision went black. Everything went black. There was nothing- he was nothing. He lost all sensation.

In an instant, Danny was back. There wasn't any ground beneath his feet and he fell, collapsed on the ground. He felt sore all over. It was almost what it felt like after duplicating but times ten. His lungs shuddered as he took in a breath, only to cough on a mouthful of dust.

Danny blinked to clear away the spots in his eyes. He felt lightheaded, like he could pass out at any moment. Ancients, what hit him?

Danny's gloved hands came into view beneath him. And what appeared to be concrete. He took another breath. Slowly Danny sat up. It made his head spin. His arms shook with exertion.

"What the heck?" Danny exclaimed.

A circle of cloaked figures surrounded him. They were almost as creepy as the Observants. (Almost.) Danny could smell blood- and see it as well. Each of the cultists- for lack of a better word- held out a bloodied palm, which dripped crimson onto the ground.

What the fuuuuuu-

"You fools!" Someone shouted. Danny snapped to look at one of the cultists. This one wore the same cloak, but theirs was trimmed in gold. The leader..? They pulled their hood down in a swift movement and their pale blue eyes locked onto Danny.

"We wanted the High King, not a child!" The leader - he?- snarled. Danny's core flared in anger. How dare they disrespect-

No. This was good. They didn't know who he was. He could play this. Danny shoved every lesson he'd ever learned right out the window. His schooled expression turned into a feral grin.

"Did you go to Walmart for those bathrobes? I think my grandma has the same ones." He joked. Every head swiveled to look at him. Danny's next joke got stuck in his throat.

They had glowing eyes- all of them. All but the leader. He was the only one whose palm hadn't been sliced open. Instead, he held a large tome.

"I thought I was the only one with scary eyes," Danny laughed weakly.

"We'll just have to make do." Leader said again.

"Lights on," He snapped. The cultist next to him snapped to attention, breaking the circle presumably to go find a light switch. The green faded from their eyes as they broke away.

Green- ectoplasm? Danny felt weak. The crown and ring hovered at the ends of his awareness- but he didn't want to summon them. He could salvage this on his own.

Lights flickered on overhead and for a moment Danny was blinded. When he was able to see again he almost wished he wasn't.

A circle had been drawn around him, bearing symbols in Ghost Speak. How in the world did they manage that? It was impossible! Ghost Speak was the very base, the 'code' of ectoplasm, only someone who could wield ectoplasm would be able to even be aware it existed. Danny was the only one who could manipulate it. The Ancients could to an extent, as well, but that's beside the point.

Danny's core thrummed at the symbols. 'King, Power, Light, Gift, Hold, Border, Keep, Death.' On and on the series of words went, looping around the outer circle. None of them could mean anything good. It painted a very bad picture. He looked down at his hands and found another symbol beneath him. 'Take.'

There were thirteen spots around the circle, and each held a cultist with a dripping hand. Leader wasn't at one of them, instead sandwiched between two others who were. Huh, 14- that was just his unlucky number, wasn't it?

The crown and ring were desperate to appear. He didn't need them- yet. He fought to keep without.

"So you lit up the room, now would you mind illuminating me on why I'm here?" Danny stumbled to his feet. The world spun. He tried to hide his fumble. He thought momentarily about floating up to be taller than the cultists, but a sharp stab through his core proved that was a bad decision. The light-switch cultist returned and his vision went white for a second as they stepped back into place. Danny faltered, legs trying to give out from underneath him.

Danny didn't miss that their eyes went back to bright green- his green.

What, were they like, draining him, or something? That would explain the weakness. It couldn't be good for the cultists, too much and it'd poison them. His being a halfa was probably the only reason they weren't already dead. Humans couldn't properly wield it either, so what was their goal? Were they trying to kill themselves?

Leader scoffed.

"Your King was our intended, we have no use for a weakling such as yourself." He closed the book and put a hand on his hip.

"Remind me to leave this ritual book a bad review on Amazon." Said Leader. Another cultist nodded in response. Why did that sound familiar?

"What'd you want him for?" Danny questioned. He took a step forward, and the cultists flinched. Their circle expanded as he neared the edge.

"That is none of your concern." Said Leader matter-of-factly. Danny reached out a hand and immediately regretted it.

A scream was torn from his throat as a wave of pain ran through his body. His nerves were on fire- pins and needles- cold. Ice cold. The ground disappeared beneath his feet and he dropped like a stone. His ankle twisted- his jaw clenched- it felt like his teeth would shatter. Lights exploded behind his eyes and his scar -the scar from his death- it burned. His throat went raw. It was worse than blood blossoms.

Visions of The Accident flashed before Danny's eyes. Was he dying? Again?

The wave finally passed his toes and dispersed. Danny couldn't move, if he thought he was sore before, now it was scaled tenfold. He couldn't breathe. His core throbbed.

Then suddenly, it was all gone.

Danny opened his eyes suddenly, and all he could see was awash in neon green. He lifted his hand. Ah, Justice. The ring has materialized on his left thumb. That left no question as to the glow. There was a weight upon his head. Ah- it would seem he'd lost control.

"The King mocks us!" Shouted Leader. Heckity.

"He dares hide behind illusions and trickery!" There was the sound of a book being slammed against the concrete.

That couldn't be good.

A/N:

OH MY GOODNESSSSSSSSSS

AAAAAAAAAA

I'm writing this note out beforehand, but if you see this at the time of posting (or shortly after) it is reasonable to guess that I am still in panic mode 3

Kingship, cults, and daddy issues galore! (Mommy issues too ofc but it didn't fit in the sentence)

I plan to continue this, either on my own time or it'll probably end up being for next year's Invisobang, lol. I may come out with one-shots set in this universe if it strikes my fancy, just one-off things I find myself wanting to write.

That was actually the initial idea for all of this, to lay a groundwork for me to write Ghost King/Everlasting Trio one-shots for. It's kind of evolved into more and I'm proud of myself for a long commitment 3

This isn't really that long compared to what others have managed to accomplish for invisobang, but it's a big thing for me!

I had a fic that made it to like 44k before I abandoned it. It was an absolute drag and I no longer found any enjoyment in it. It was just a drain on me, creatively and emotionally. I absolutely dreaded opening the word document each week, and every moment I wasn't working on it haunted me.

I feel that for this venture I've managed to pace myself better, and I still find enjoyment in writing this! (Somehow! It makes me happy!)

This fic will likely (maybe. possibly-) get an overhaul later down the line, like ACINT(G)M did. (Am I doing my own acronym right? I dunno lol) Speaking of, as of writing this I have no clue what this fic is gonna be called!

That's a decision for posting-day me, haha!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this ride. And maybe even look forward to the next one? Thanks!