Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: Ugh, such a long delay since things have been so hectic and every time I went to work on a fanfic something came up. But we're here now so enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 6: Apprehension

Vlad's POV

Drawing wisdom from my previous mistakes with Danielle I knew better than to test my luck again because I genuinely did not want her doing anything reckless in another stubborn attempt to prove me wrong. I know perfectly well how capable she is, but even so that does not mean I want her diving head first into danger. Especially not while it would be near impossible for Danielle to call for help this time due to the literal absence of her voice. Therefore, getting back into her good graces was far more important to me which is why I took such a huge risk with her brother by sharing my secret with him as well to help alleviate some of her lingering doubts about what I might be 'scheming' behind her back.

Thankfully Jason is fiercely loyal to his sister and already trusts me a great deal given the fact that he's been relying on me to keep Danielle safe a lot more than their parents. That, to me, made him more than worthy in my eyes of being included in our inner circle. Not to mention Jason has already accepted the fact that his sister is half-ghost wholeheartedly which is something I highly doubt Jack and Maddie would be as willing to do even if she is their daughter. Their hatred of ghosts simply runs too deep so whose to say what would happen if they ever found out the truth themselves...

At any rate, Jason was a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected revelation to be sure but that was understandable so since he seemed to have hit his limit Danielle and I agreed to limit his involvement in the rest of our little escapade to recover her stolen voice. That's why the next morning, while Danielle was still asleep, I quickly set about making preparations to make sure Jason would have everything he needed in our absence, including protection. Either way I didn't want him to feel trapped in the manor and as near as I can tell the Banshee isn't interested in him or even knows Danielle has a brother.

It was pure coincidence that Jason just happened to be there when we were both enraptured by the Banshee's death song. Therefore I decided I would have my vultures keep a close eye on him just to be safe and allow Jason to carry whatever anti-ghost weapons his sister gave him to defend himself with. I also decided to give him a little extra spending money so Jason could order something to eat provided I don't already have it at home. I even instructed my limo driver to take him wherever he wishes to go since I'd rather not have Jason driving himself at present in the unlikely event of a random ghost attack by one of Danielle's usual enemies.

Of course, when I actually went to speak to Jason about this I was hardly surprised when he asked me where the library was again since a few choice volumes had caught his eye during the tour yesterday. Personally I was pleasantly surprised he decided not to treat me any differently than before despite the fact that I've been half-ghost since before they were born. Jason was certainly curious about it, I could see it in his eyes, but he had obviously decided to wait before asking his questions until after we've dealt with Danielle's problem. Regardless, I made sure to inform Jason of our plans and let him know that I already had a less...obvious ghost shield than the one at Fenton Works currently activated so unless he decided to venture out into town he should be perfectly safe here.

That helped him feel more at ease, but much like the first time, while we were on the subject of protection he made it very clear that if anything happened to his little sister we would be having some serious words. In response, I just smiled and made the joke that I'd sooner die than let anything happen but it was a bit late for that which earned a nervous chuckle from the young man. And just to tease him a little more about having ghost powers, once it was time for Danielle and I to begin our journey I transformed then teleported before his eyes which must have shocked him but sadly I missed his reaction.

Thankfully I made it to Danielle's room just as her eyes flutter opened and she sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Upon noticing my presence Danielle opened her mouth to say good morning, but was disappointed when nothing happened. Sadly I had a feeling that might be the case so after walking up to her I explained sympathetically. "I had a feeling the effects of whatever happened last night wouldn't last. But don't worry my dear, we're going to get your voice back today for certain. I promise."

Danielle nodded, looking frustrated as she leaned over to grab her notebook again, set it on the bed and then briefly went to the restroom to change clothes before joining me again. After reviewing the information she shared with us last night, I was pleased to find that I already knew the area Danielle described where the Banshee's lair was. So with that settled, it was finally time for us to leave once she also transformed and the the two of us simply phased through the floor and went straight down to the lab.

Once there Danielle also gave me the Fenton Phone's she mentioned last night which at first glance looked to be little more than an ordinary pair of earbuds. Although she had already vouched for their usefulness, I decided to spare some time to reverse engineer them so that we both had a pair. Danielle was surprised by how easy it was for me to do so I couldn't help but give her a smug grin in response to her praise, happy to have so easily impressed my little badger. She rolled her eyes at me but accepted them anyway and stepped up to the ghost portal but I stopped her to give Danielle something a little extra.

"Wait just a moment, there's something else I want to give you..." Retrieving a small but thick iron ring that was actually just part of another device I was working on, I placed it on her finger forefinger over her white gloves and explained. "If what we've found out about the Banshee is to be believed then most fae or fae-like spirits are weak against items made of iron so this should prove useful to you. Provided my theory is correct than this ring should cause an allergic reaction so I want you to keep that on just in case she gets up close and personal."

Glancing at the ring a few times curiously, Danielle nodded and floated up to playfully ruffle my hair to silently thank me before once again waiting for me to open the portal since she was eager to get this over with. Not that I blame her, I wanted to teach that wretched ghost a lesson for choosing the wrong girl to steal the voice of. That said, I'll admit that it was going to be slightly unnerving to hear Danielle's voice coming from someone else and I could only hope her presence would be enough to stop me from ripping the Banshee's throat out. Although if I gave into that temptation, it would be no different than what I did to Freakshow which only put Danielle in more danger...

And that was a mistake I did not want to repeat any time soon.

With the tragic loss of Danielle's voice for a second time, that complicated things a bit so I told her to stay close to me. Turns out I didn't really have to honestly because Danielle kept flying in front of me as if she was the one protecting me and not the other way around. Either way, as you can imagine we didn't bother to try and communicate in any sort of roundabout fashion since we didn't want to waste anymore time and needed to keep a low profile regardless to avoid any confrontations with one of her usual foes. Even so, while we were in the vicinity I took advantage of the opportunity to survey the Fight Knight's lair a bit more closely because according to my books on ghost lore its walls held a dark and terrible secret that I was determined to unearth because of its promise of ultimate power.

Danielle once told me the story with some slight reluctance about her brief encounter with the Spirit of Halloween. She even expressed some remorse and admitted it wasn't one of her finest moments or the most brilliant idea picking a fight with a being she barely understood by blatantly stealing his sword for a room in a haunted house. To be fair though, while his lair was real Danielle originally assumed its sole occupant was either a myth or long gone since she had passed by the castle many times before without anyone attacking her to defend their territory. Danielle couldn't have known that the real reason for that was because most ghosts know to avoid the place at all costs since it was once home to a ghost so great and terrible that no one could outright defeat him...

My dear little badger was still a bit naive in that regard. They wouldn't avoid such a choice piece of land like that without a good reason because almost all ghosts are extremely territorial by nature and spend most of their afterlife searching for a place to call home that they would then defend, for lack of a better term, to the death. And the more territory or landmass they control, the greater their power or access to certain valuable energy and resources. One said resource being a stable portal to Earth which is precisely why Danielle's hometown is constantly under attack.

That's why I want to help Danielle become more powerful, I want HER to be the ruling force in this town because I have no interest in it beyond the fact that she was born and raised here. It would greatly improve her confidence too and allow Danielle to relax and focus more on what she wants to do with her life instead of having to struggle for the approval of her parents and peers and frankly fight just to stay alive. True, I could always step in and claim Amity Park as my territory, but frankly that would be counterproductive and Danielle would never learn the value of asserting herself, proving once and for all that the two of us are superior to both ghosts AND humans.

I've made plenty of threats in the meantime and shown what happens to those who cross me or dare to harm her, however, until Danielle stops letting others dictate her actions there's only so much I can do to stop them from seeing her as an easy target. Thankfully this time our only enemy is the Banshee who stole something of Danielle's and is otherwise uninterested in expanding her territory, but the problem remains that she too thought she could get away with making a mockery of Danielle by going after her in broad daylight. Now it was our turn to strike back with swift and righteous fury at the heart of the Banshee's domain to prove her wrong about ever making such a foolish assumption.

Returning my attention to the matter at hand when Danielle drew me from my thoughts by grabbing my arm when we reached the bridge that the ghostly prince she met told her about, I gently patted her hand which was still hooked around my arm and replied. "Yes I see it. I've been to this area before so deducing which island her lair is located should be easy. I just never had a reason to come back here until now."

Then I shrugged before continuing. "Still, while I'm thinking about it we should probably turn invisible here to avoid detection until we know for sure we're in the right place. Just keep holding onto my arm and once we reach the first island we'll see if you can sense anything given how you seem to still have some connection to your voice much like the telepathic link I share with my duplicates since they are merely extensions of myself."

To my surprise Danielle's eyes seemed to shine excitedly when I slipped into an explanation about duplicates and she seemed eager to hear more but grew disappointed knowing she couldn't ask the questions that came to mind as a result. After that, with a sigh she nodded and her green eyes narrowed to focus intently on the path ahead of us. It was slightly disconcerting how diligent Danielle was keeping an eye out for danger because it meant that she was constantly on alert, ready to snap into battle mode as it were. I could understand why she developed those instincts but the part that bothered me was that she had to do that just to survive so many unexpected ghost attacks.

After all, by the time I learned she was half-ghost like me, Danielle had already been using her ghost powers at a very advanced level because unlike me, she did not have the luxury of discovering their full potential at her leisure when she needed them to protect herself. Especially since Danielle had to find out how to conceal them on the spot after the accident with her parent's ghost portal while the development of my powers was a bit more gradual and I wasn't living with a pair of 'professional' ghost hunters. I could only imagine the fear, pain, and uncertainty Danielle must have endured, but even so, for her sake and my own I'm glad neither of us are alone anymore...

Thanks to Danielle, the accident that ruined my life turned out to be a blessing in disguise because now I could pass on everything I've learned to this wonderful young lady who might as well be my daughter instead of Jack and Maddie's at this point. The two of us are unique and exceptional individuals, but sadly, what sets us apart from everyone else has also forever barred Danielle and myself from living entirely normal lives. That goes double for Danielle who still has her whole life a head of her so full of potential being wasted on playing the hero for those who don't deserve it. Even now I cannot deny that part of me still longs to become the doting father that shields Danielle from the harsh realities of life so that she won't have to suffer all the same things that I have.

Drawn back to the present by the sound of singing, I had to stop Danielle from abruptly letting go of my arm when we heard it coming from one of the many island's we were passing. There was no mistaking it, that was Danielle's voice. However, I couldn't help but smile cruelly at the irony that that little thief was only making it easier for us to track her down by showing off her latest stolen prize for all to hear. And when Danielle's throat started to flash faintly in response, mimicking the melody, it only confirmed that we were in the right place.

Still, we would need to be careful from here on out since according to Danielle the Banshee has been known to set traps in her lair that include more than her death song. But while I call it her death song, it didn't always have to be so. Since this ghost prided herself in pretending to be a Siren she most likely spent her free time luring other ghosts into her lair to seduce and enthrall them with the power of her voice.

How the Banshee found out about Danielle's singing talent however, I had no idea which was troubling, to say the least. She either had to have been spying on her without my knowledge or heard Danielle singing by pure chance. That being said, the Banshee clearly wasn't try to hide and continued to 'lure' us closer to the island which seemed to be her lair. It looked like an ancient forest with tall trees towering over our heads, thick fog snaking over the ground's surface, and small firefly-like orbs of lights dancing hypnotically through the air. And since almost every ghost's domain is like it's own pocket dimension with a phantom sky above it, we could see shafts of moonlight sift through the branches of the trees casting long shadows as we landed on the unusually teal-colored grass which was damp with dew at our feet.

At first glance anyone would think we were in a forest on Earth, that is, if it wasn't for all the unusual plant life we came across that seemed to glow from within and the ghostly creatures we saw deftly weaving between the trees watching our every move. Not to mention the real moon was nowhere near that large to the point where it seemed as though you could fly up and touch it.

At any rate, it turned out to be a good thing that Danielle had the foresight to provide us with some protection against the Banshee's magical voice which seemed to reverberate throughout the entire forest and I did not want to risk the chance of not being able to resist her spell through sheer force of will. I was definitely more powerful than the Banshee as far as raw power was concerned but since the voice she had stolen belonged to Danielle, whose phantom voice also managed to shroud my mind along with her brother's momentarily, there was always a small chance that I could bewitched by it again now that we had reached the source.

Still, that actually gave me an idea on how we might be able to catch the Banshee off guard provided she hasn't heard of Vlad Plasmius. She doesn't seem to get out much unless she gets bored and goes looking for a new voice to play with and this region is so other-worldly that I highly doubt she's up to date on ghost-related affairs in the modern world. And that, will be her undoing.

Smiling a little as Danielle looked around in wonder despite the seriousness of the situation, I made sure to grab her undivided attention by saying. "Alright Danielle, I have a plan for how to proceed but it may require a lot of deception on my part. Do you trust me?"

Nodding without hesitation I brushed a few stray hairs behind her ear that were distracting me and then carefully explained my plan to her. To put it simply, I was going to pretend to be another victim of the Banshee's 'siren song' to get close and distract her while Danielle searched for the flowers that contained the stolen voices. They had to be stored somewhere nearby to ensure that the Banshee could switch between them when the mood suits her as if putting on a different necklace to match her gown so they match.

Besides which, those would need a vessel of some sort to be kept in since the Banshee couldn't use more than one at a time. And my theory is that since Danielle is her most recent victim, her flower will be the most vibrant in the Banshee's collection. That and Danielle would surely be able to sense her own power radiating from the blossom as clearly as she felt it through whatever unseen power still connected her to her stolen voice...

Danielle looked worried after I finished my explanation so she hugged me tightly as if to say 'be careful' and I did my best to reassure her that I would be alright. Charming people is my specialty after all since I am a businessman as well as a bit of a celebrity seeing as I'm the richest man in the world. In that regard, I might as well be considered royalty in the Ghost Zone thanks to the vast power I hold in both worlds. But I digress.

Basically, Danielle would be following behind me invisibly while I 'blindly' followed the voice straight to the Banshee and played the part of a brainwashed idiot. And once her guard was down, Danielle would begin searching the Banshee's domain while I entertained our unsuspecting host. I wasn't too worried for myself though, just cautious since it would be foolish of me to be overly confident in this unusual situation. But even if I did fall under the Banshee's spell, I could never forget my little badger just as she never truly forgot about me even when Freakshow tried to strip away everything that makes Danielle so special.

The love and loyalty we share despite not being related by blood is stronger than any spell. I've seen it with my own eyes when Danielle broke free from his control. And the only time her resolve wavered is when that low life disguised himself as me which is why I'm doing my utmost to avoid a similar setback since the Banshee is using Danielle's voice to dig her claws into unsuspecting victims, a voice that means the world to me. So even though I know for a fact that Danielle is not the one singing, my feelings remain the same about wanting to see her power reach unimagined heights which means I could always get caught up in the illusion of that becoming a reality for the wrong person...

Or in this case, the wrong ghost.

Danielle's POV

I had to keep telling myself that Vlad's plan was a good one even though I really didn't want to see him in the same situation I had been with Freakshow where I wasn't myself anymore even if he was faking it to trick the Banshee. Honestly, I wanted him to call the whole thing off so we could think of something else or just kick the Banshee's ass as a team. I also didn't like the idea of that Banshee thinking she had won the ultimate prize once she saw Vlad stumble into her lair while supposedly at the mercy of her hypnotic voice. She would see that as proof that her evil plan to steal my voice was working flawlessly and that there wasn't anything I could do to get it back.

I was barely paying attention to where we were going apart from invisibly following behind Vlad as he floated through the trees towards the sound of my voice that the Banshee was using. I scowled thinking about who else she might have already lured here before and what sorry fate awaited them. Plus I still had a really bad feeling about this when I shuttered at the memory of what Freakshow put me through and the thought of Vlad falling under a similar spell genuinely terrified me.

We had our earbuds for protection sure, but in the end would they be enough...?

I was taken aback when all of a sudden the trees thinned to reveal a large lake that reminded me so much of the one from my dream. There was fog was swirling across the surface which was smooth as glass and in the middle of the lake, there was a small island with huge willow tree with dozens of water lilies floating around it almost like little fairies dancing in a circle. That's when I saw the Banshee again just behind the willow who was literally gliding across the water with her bare feet and dancing with her was-

Prince Dorian?! What is he doing here? Oh god, this is bad, I need to stop Vlad before she notices him! Rushing to his side, I tugged hard on Vlad's cloak and he nearly stumbled back but I caught him and led him back into the edge of the forest and out of sight just before the Banshee finished twirling around with her captive partner. This changed everything. It was one thing for us to go against the Banshee by herself, but the only reason I found out what I needed to about her was because Dorian helped me since he wanted to make up for acting like a literal dragon the first time we met.

Turning visible after pushing Vlad against trunk of a tree so we were completely out of sight, I shakily grabbed his hand to write, 'Vlad, that ghost with the Banshee is Prince Dorian. He's the one who warned me about the Kelpie's she keeps as pets and told me where to go. But if he's under the Banshee's spell she'll probably order him to turn into his dragon form and attack as soon as she realizes we've tricked her. We have to get him out of here before-'

"Danielle, stop!" Vlad whispered harshly, pulling his hand away from mine and firmly grabbed my shoulders, his expression stern.

Shaking his head as his grip on my shoulder's tightened, Vlad hissed. "This doesn't change anything. Whether he's here or not we can't stray from the plan because if we do the Banshee will suspect something is wrong before you get the chance to find out where she's hiding your flower. Besides, she might just let him go if I appear to be a much better prize in her eyes."

Loosening his grip on me when he realized he was hurting me by mistake, Vlad's expression softened and he rested his forehead against mine after letting go and gently placing a hand to support the back of my neck. Then he said softly. "Trust me, I know exactly what I'm doing. As for your friend, I'll do what I can to keep the Banshee's attention on me. If it seems apparent she plans to dispose of him by feeding her to her Kelpie's though, I'll drop the act and rescue him for you as a favor since he did help point us in the right direction which saved us from wasting more time aimlessly searching the Ghost Zone for her. Does that sound fair?"

I nodded reluctantly, still not happy about any of this. And honestly, I wanted nothing more than to just fly right over to her and rip that stupid Banshee's hair out since I was beyond pissed off now! It was one thing when this was only about me, but now she was using MY VOICE to toy with one of the few ghosts who actually didn't want to be one of my enemies. From the sound of it, he wanted to be friends or at the very least allies which is a new but welcome change in my book.

That's why I had to save him.

I trust Vlad but the problem is I also know he doesn't care about others the way that I do so if he could get away with it I know he wouldn't lift a finger to help. He might be able to ignore it when someone is obviously in big trouble, but I can't. It's my fault Dorian decided to come all the way out here on his own only to get caught up in the Banshee's twisted mind games just like it was my fault Vlad killed Freakshow and made everything worse. So I refused to let things escalate like that again if I could help it, even if it meant going against Vlad's plans to do the right thing and putting myself in danger again for the sake of someone else whether he liked it or not.