Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Stargate SG-1, Reign, or anything else I reference.
Chapter Thirty-Four: Ancient Secrets
(Kleak, France)
"Hello Jeremy." Danny said as he walked into the cell.
Despite appearances they room they stood in was not actually real. While the memory cube was downloading Jeremy's subconscious, he was using a neural connector to access and control his dreams. It was something he had created combining Alteran knowledge and Goa'uld technology. This way he could get specific answers without having to scan through countless memories.
"Where am I?" Jeremy asked as he stood up. "Why don't my powers work?"
He had watched Jeremy try to blink out of the cell. After that failed, he tried to activate another power to bust out only to see that it did not work. While Jeremy had been hooked up to the machine, he also blocked the man's access to the A.T.A. gene. All the abilities that he had spent so long stealing were locked away.
"I am not here to answer your questions. You are here to answer mine." Danny said.
"Why would I ever do that?" Jeremy asked.
"Right now, you are held to simple walls and behind iron bars. Your cell can become a lot worse if I so desire." Danny said as he caused the surroundings to change.
Now the two of them were standing on the cargo bay door of an Al'kesh flying hundreds of thousand miles above ground level.
"Do you have a fear of heights?" Danny asked.
"No." Jeremy answered looking around.
"Let's see if that remains true after this fall." Danny said as he walked over to the wall and pressed a button.
The door turned intangible, and Jeremy fell through with wide eyes.
Danny looked to the side as the screen activated showing Jeremy's fall. He could see the fear in the man's eyes and hear the terror in his voice as he started to burn as he gained speed. If he actually made contact with the ground, he had no doubt that Jeremy would create a huge crater that would attract visitors as a roadside attraction.
Just before Jeremy hit the ground Danny waved his hand and Jeremy appeared right in front of him with his hands and knees on the hangar door.
"Do you wish to talk, or do you want to actually feel what it is like to hit the ground. Just so you know if you decline my offer again, I will repeat the process for three days before I move on to other methods." Danny said with a smile.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"You wanted something?" Danny asked as he pulled the connector off and looked at Im'kel.
"Queen Mary of Scotland is attempting to contact you." Im'kel said as he held a contact orb.
"Alright." Danny said as he took the orb and watched as Im'kel left.
"King Daniel." Queen Mary said.
"Is there something that you needed?" Danny asked.
"I wanted you to know that your guests have arrived and been given rooms." Queen Mary said.
"That's good. I have promised their family that I would protect them." Danny said.
"Is there anything that I can do to help you?" Queen Mary asked.
"I would like you to take in Phoebe as one of your ladies-in-waiting." Danny said.
It should not be a problem for her to accept as Greer lacked a noble title and was still made one of her ladies.
"If you desire it." Queen Mary said. "Will I be bringing her with me?"
"Are you going somewhere?" Danny asked.
"There has been rumors of lords gathering money in support of a rebel army." Queen Mary said.
"Do you have any idea who is behind it?" Danny asked.
Was Clan Gordon finally starting to make a move? In the original timeline the clan had kidnapped Mary when she arrived in Scotland so that she could marry the lord's son. James would later execute the lord of the clan on Mary's order to prove his allegiance.
"The man in charge is believed to be a member of clan Mackenzie." Queen Mary said.
"Really?" Danny asked as he thought back to what he knew of the clan.
Lord Mackenzie had served Mary father King James and when he died the man turned, he and his men into mercenaries fighting for whoever could afford it. They were loyal Scotsman that would have died at Queen Catherine's hand to keep the secret of King Henry's madness.
"I am going to keep her behind at the castle for now. Separating her from her sisters right now would not do any of them any good." Danny said.
"As you desire." Queen Mary said.
"Be careful and make sure that Sage has a constant guard around you and your husband." Danny said before he ended the conversation. He had decided that these two would rule over the United Kingdom and he was not going to let any Highland lords ruin his plans.
"Contact Raios." Danny said to the orb as he waited for it to connect.
"Yes, how may I, serve my king?" Raios asked.
"How has your searching going?" Danny asked Raios. He had time so he wanted to catch up on what his first squad of adventurers were up to.
"We have just taken down the Harpy that has been kidnapping men that have been travelling the road." Raios said.
The warlocks had not taken his decision to hunted them down lightly. It seems they had decided that if he was going to hunt them down that they would make things as difficult as possible. They summoned monsters to raid his lands and kill his villagers. There were tales spreading of monsters scouring the land, villages being burned to the ground, and people being abducted.
He was certain that they were not vampires. The traces they left behind when analyzed and confirmed by witches that Expression was used to make them. It also confirmed that the warlocks have the Millenium Items and are more than likely aware of their powers. It had gotten so bad he had now formed more squads of adventurers to scour the world and fight. He wanted to make sure they died early and prevent them from forming an army.
"Have you heard of any sign of Mikael?" Danny asked.
The last remaining Original Vampire was still hidden from him. He would attack a place, leave a message, and then vanish like he was never there at all. It was getting on his nerves. The witches on the Other Side were still no help.
"No. However, he is moving it is very quiet. There is no word of his presence." Raios said. "My king do you think that some of your vampires might be helping Mikael?"
"That should be unlikely. Mikael is trying to kill his children. That means it would result in them dying. I doubt the vampires would try to bring about their death like that." Danny said.
"They are a proud species. They may believe that they may survive and so they turn from your glorious mercy." Raios said.
If Mikael continued to be so difficult, then he was going to have to get creative to bring him out.
"True. Either way it is possible so I will look into it." Danny said as he ended that call and started the next.
"Hello King Daniel." Margo Stillman said.
"We are grateful that you have chosen to contact us." Mabel Stillman said.
"How can we serve you?" Mitzy Stillman asked.
"Hello ladies." Danny said with a smile. "I wanted to see how you are doing?"
"We feel grateful that you have come and told us the truth of what we are." Mabel Stillman said.
"I have a mission coming up that I am going on and I want the three of you to come with me." Danny said.
"What is needed of us?" Mabel Stillman asked.
"I am going to search for treasure, and I wanted you girls to join me." Danny said.
"We would love to go with you." Mabel said.
"Great. Iok will tell you what you will be required to wear and drop you off" Danny said as he ended the call.
Now that his calls were done it was time to go back to his interrogation. He wondered how Jeremy had dealt with the simulation. Being hunted by predators in a flat plain while wearing meat slathered in barbecue sauce was probably rather difficult.
0-0-0-0-0-0
(Edinburgh, Scotland)
"How are you enjoying the castle?" Danny asked as he looked at the Halliwell sisters.
"I love it." Phoebe said as she cut into her omelet. "I have never been in a castle like this before."
"When Phoebe was younger, she dreamed of going to the balls that were thrown in London." Prue said with a smile as her eyes were filled with nostalgia.
"You didn't have to say all of that." Phoebe said as she sunk in her seat with embarrassment.
"Then you should enjoy your time here. Queen Mary and her friends are quite nice, and I am sure that they will like you." Danny said.
"And you are sure they will be fine with the fact that I am not nobility?" Phoebe asked.
"I told them you are friends of mine and that is more than enough." Danny said.
"What is Queen Mary like?" Prue asked.
He could feel the concern she had for her sister. She was worried that Queen Mary would abuse her sister due to the fact that she did not grow up in a home like this.
"She likes simple things. Horse riding, tennis, poetry, things like that." Danny said. "There is no need to worry. Queen Mary loves making friends. Just do not betray her or bring up her husband's child and things will go rather well."
"Her husband's child?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, it's complicated but basically her last friend that was her lady in waiting slept with her husband." Danny said.
"Where is the queen?" Piper asked.
"Currently Queen Mary and King/Prince Francis are in the Highlands." Danny said.
He had some thoughts about what to do withe situation of the highland lords did prove to be problematic. He was going to advise Queen Mary to summon all of them to a gladiator arena and have them fight it out until only one is left standing.
"There can only be one." Danny mumbled with a smile.
"What was that?" Piper asked.
"Nothing important at the moment." Danny said.
"Is it something that we should be worried about?" Prue asked.
"I thought you said this land was safe?" Piper asked.
"It is safe. The two of them have just gone to see how their people are dealing with all the recent changes happening in the country." Danny said. "How are you enjoying your breakfast?"
"This taste wonderful. Which of your cooks made this?" Piper asked.
"It was created by a chef named Soma Yukihira." Danny answered. The omelet was the one Soma had made for his first training arc at the Totsuki resort where he had to use eggs to create a dish and serve five-hundred servings.
"Which country is he from?" Piper asked. "I would love to learn dishes like this."
"He comes from Japan but right now he is rather busy studying in the country how to make western dishes." Danny said with a smile.
"I hate to ruin this breakfast King Daniel but I am wondering when we are going to start learning magic?" Prue asked straightforward and bold.
He was wondering which sister would ask.
"It's no problem. As soon as I get back, I will activate your powers and bring teachers to the castle." Danny said. He was rather curious about what powers they would get.
"Have you figured out what we can do yet?" Phoebe asked.
"Not yet but I believe that I have found someone that can give me a hint." Danny said. Jeremy had to have had a reason to choose Piper out of the three siblings.
"Who?" Prue asked.
"Jeremy Rowe." Danny said and watched as Piper's fork fell to the plate.
"You have Jeremy?" Piper asked.
He could hear the surprise and fear in her voice. She was afraid of what he would do to him. It seems that it was still too soon for her. Even after learning that he intended to drown her in evil and kill her entire family she still cared about him. It would probably take time for her to get over him.
"He was the last bit of business I had to take care of when you three got on the Al'kesh." Danny said.
"May I see him?" Piper asked.
He knew that if she was not infected with Nish'ta right now she would probably demand him to tell her where he is.
"Not yet. Once I have finished questioning him then you can talk to him." Danny said.
"Are you torturing him?" Piper asked.
"There is no need for torture. I plan on getting my answers and then I will kill him painlessly." Danny said for her benefit.
He would not ignore the risks the witch posed. The longer that he kept Jeremy alive the easier chance there was for his brothers to do a locator spell to try and find him. He also planned on going even further by killing him off world so there was no chance that he could join the Other Side and warn his brothers.
0-0-0-0-0-0
(Rouen, France)
"Drop them down." Danny said to the Al'kesh flying above him as he sat on a cliff overlooking the river, he was set to travel on. He could see the ship hovering in the clouds.
The transportation rings dropped down behind him revealing the Stillman sisters. The three of them were wearing different body suits that covered their bodies and showed off their curves. Mabel was wearing a green jumpsuit, Mitzy was wearing a red one, and Margo was wearing yellow one.
The suit that he is wearing is bulkier than theirs. The majority of the suit is white except for the chest plate and the belt. They are a green that matched his eyes. The symbol of Nirtti is atop the center of the chest plate. Like the other suits he and other duplicates wore this was designed to have abilities that reduced the need to use his powers. This suit had been created for this very mission.
"You look great." Danny said as he walked to the sisters, but his focus was truly on the glass case that Margo is holding in her hands.
"I don't mean to question you my king but how is this model supposed to help us find the treasure you are looking for?" Mabel asked as she handed off the ship.
"It is not a model." Danny said as walked to Mabel and took the case from her hands.
"What do you mean?" Mitzy asked.
"I mean this is what we are going to ride to find the treasure." Danny said as he walked to the cliff's edge.
"You intend to use your powers to make this ship larger?" Mabel asked.
"As much as I would love to ride the ocean micro-sized right now, we have more important things to do." Danny said as he pressed a button on his suit.
It is a holiday tradition on Dinai that he started two centuries ago. Shrink some Jaffa down to serve with him as crew and hunt fish as if they were giant monsters from earth's history. Have canal races as each of them piloted boats. Shrinking technology had so many fun applications as long as you had a way to return the people to normal size.
Otherwise, it was just a disaster.
"Are you alright? Are you cold?" Mitzy asked.
Seems she had noticed his shiver.
"Just thinking about the past." Danny answered as he lowered his ship off the cliff and to the ocean turning it back to its original size. He then waved them forwards "Come and tell me what you think of my ship."
The ship is a brigandine. It is fifty-six hundred centimeters tall and thirty-nine hundred centimeters long. It had a rocket system in the back and a lion for a face. It had a well-stocked kitchen, workout room, library, workshop, submarine, mini-boat.
"It is like no ship I have ever seen before." Margo Stillman said as she looked down to the ship.
"For good reason." Mitzy mumbled thinking no one would hear her.
"I think it looks wonderful." Danny said as he looked at Mitzy.
"I apologize." Mitzy said.
"Who designed this?" Mabel asked.
"It was designed by a carpenter named Franky. I had always wanted a ship like this so when I became king, I had one created in the image of his." Danny said giving the abridged history. "Now let's go." He jumped off the cliff pulling the sisters along with him.
"This is crazy!" Mitzy yelled as she fell behind him.
The words she was yelling trailed off the further he got ahead of them.
There was a smile on his face as he could see the grass carpet on the ship approaching closer and closer.
He pulled himself to a stop and turned to watch as the girl approached the ship. Their eyes closed and their hearts beating five times faster than normal. Before they crashed through the wood and into the floor, He used his suit to project bubbles of anti-gravity that enveloped them as their descent slowed and they floated over the ship.
"Fun right?" Danny asked with a smile on his face.
"Your definition of fun is different than ours my king." Mabel said as they floated in the air.
"You three worry too much. I just wanted to see how you would react to skydiving. It is a very common activity in my kingdom." Danny said as he lowered them to the ground and allowed the bubble to pop.
"We probably would have enjoyed it more if we knew that you could do this." Mabel said.
"A surprise is no fun if you know that it is coming." Danny said with a smile.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Are you sure that this is the place?" Mabel Stillman asked as she looked at the cave.
"I am. Your ancestors made sure that no one would find them." Danny said as he turned the ship's wheel and docked the boat.
What he was not mentioning was the glowing barrier in front of them or the floating symbols charged with power.
"See for yourself." Danny said as he waved his hand and caused the defense to become visible to them.
"How are we going to get through there with a ship this size?" Mitzy asked.
"We aren't." Danny said as he walked to sisters.
"What do you mean?" Margo asked.
"The ship is equipped many useful tools. Including a submarine." Danny said as he walked over the door that led to the rooms below. "Follow."
"What is a submarine." Mabel said from behind him.
"Think of it like a small boat with a cover on the top that allows it go underwater." Danny said as he opened the path and moved down the ladder.
"Let's go." Danny said as he pressed the button, and they were launched from the boat.
"So pretty." Margo said as she looked through a screen to see the fish that they were swimming alongside.
"When you have time later, I can have one of the Jaffa bring you back here. Right now we have a job to do." Danny said as he saw that they had come up to the shore.
"Give me your hands." Danny said as he held his out.
The moment they touched he activated another function of his suit and teleported them above sea level and to the cave floor.
"Wat are we to do now?" Mabel asked.
"Now I want the three of you to touch the barrier." Danny said.
The three of them descended from the coven and from what was explained to him they would be able to bring it down.
"What kind of traps are inside?" Mitzy asked as she turned to him.
"They are simple traps. They would mostly fool people that had no magic. We do not have to worry about that." Danny said as he walked after them. "Wait." He stuck out his arm so that the girls did not continue.
"What?" Mabel asked.
"We have run into our first trap." Danny said as he looked at the path ahead of them.
It may look like normal stone but in fact was made of two types of clay. The problem was if you stepped on the wrong type of clay, it would rise and drag you to your death. His suit could tell them apart so that he could avoid them.
"What should we do?" Margo asked.
"We go over it." Danny said as he turned to them and projected anti-gravity bubbles that lifted the sisters off of the ground.
He brought the sisters down once they were past the trap. "Now we can continue."
"Are all the traps going to be like this?" Mitzy asked.
"If you mean easy to avoid then yes." Danny said.
"What trap is next?" Margo asked.
"We are about to come up to it." Danny said as he walked through a passageway.
"What is it?" Mabel asked.
"Look." Danny said as he took aim at the gargoyle in front of them.
"What does it do?" Mitzy asked.
"If activated the room will be sealed and the gargoyle statue will conjure huge amounts of water that would drown whoever was searching for this cave." Danny said.
"That sounds horrible." Margo said.
"Yeah, this is so not the outfit that I want to die in." Mitzy said.
"We are halfway there." Danny said as he led them past the trap.
Where do all of these passages go?" Mabel asked.
"They stretch for miles through France. Some lead to farms, others through the catacombs, and one of them even leads to Notre Dame." Danny said.
That had been a surprise to learn. If anything could be said of the ancient Rouen witches, it was that they were very brave and very clever. From what he was told by witches on the Other Side it was that so they could reach this place wherever they were no matter the trouble they were in.
He stopped walking when he found himself in a room surrounded by gargoyle statues. The room was illuminated by supernatural light. The coven did good work Even centuries after the coven was destroyed their works are still working as intended. That was a claim that many Alterans could not make. On the floor is what he assumed was the coven's symbol. Three squares on a purple field. A white and yellow square crossing over a red one
"What are we going to do now?" Margo asked.
"Now we move to the treasure room." Danny said as he aimed his arm at the gargoyle statue with a broken gourd.
He fired a beam that caused the gargoyle to shrink below baseline human view. He walked through the passageway and down the steps. "Let's go. Activate your helmets."
"How do we do that?" Mitzy asked.
"Tap the center of your right wrist." Danny said.
"It's so cramped. Are you sure this is the way?" Margo asked.
"Yes. The suit can see everything in this hallway." Danny said.
The floor they were standing on was another trap. Their helmets allowed them to see as if the cave was full of natural light. It was good because if they tried to use a light not created by a spell like a flashlight or a torch the crystals on the wall would turn into lasers and the floor would crumble revealing spiked stalagmites on the ground.
"Here we are." Danny said as he looked at the wall that made the end of the passageway a dead end. "Now you three touch the wall."
"Alright." The sisters said as they walked in front of him and did as he said.
A portion of the wall disappeared leaving them room to walk through. As they stepped through the door, they found a chamber filled with chests. He would look into them later. Right now, his focus was on the book atop the dais.
It should be the Rouen coven's grimoire.
He walked up to the book and reached out to touch it. The barrier that prevented others from touching it stopped him for a second before he pushed through and shattered it.
"Is it what you were looking for?" Mitzy asked.
"Yes, it is." Danny said with a smile as he looked at the book.