DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Seems we've updated a little faster than usual. Though there wasn't much to answer back to this time. Where did everybody go?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I don't think it's time for summer break yet.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Is it finals? Are all of our reviewers still in school? It just seemed so… quiet. Well… Onyx, what's your opinion on the matter?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I actually want to say that the readers just don't really have anything to review about, hence the lack of reviews. Or… were you talking about the whole 'finals' thing?
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': The former. Well, I guess it shouldn't matter too much, we are posting the story because we want to. It would just be nice to see some reviews that aren't just telling us we should update more. Oh, by the way, Aragon asks if you've bathed yet.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Tell him that he does not need to worry about my hygiene. I haven't skimped on my hygiene at all since we've come here.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Hehe, you're always prepared, aren't you? Can you get me a new exercise wheel? The one I've been using is squeaking too much.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Maybe I should get you turned back to normal, I'd rather not permanently have you as my pet.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': How are you going to change me back?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I'll… figure out something.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Well, until then, let's get the readers to the chapter now. You guys go on and enjoy.
Chapter 65: Paranormal Bazaar
Before I knew it, it was time to regroup with Danny and Scarlet. Juliette and I flew to the center of the bazaar, careful not to run into any ghosts.
"Hey! You two! Down here!" Juliette and I heard Scarlet yell from below us.
"Looks like they're already here," I chuckled before Juliette and I landed in front of Scarlet and Danny.
"I hope we weren't making you two wait long," Juliette said apologetically.
"No worries, Princess, we got here a couple minutes ago." Scarlet smiled.
I looked at Danny, who looked like he just got off of a roller coaster. "Bro, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Danny replied with a small frown. "I think I now know what our laundry feels like… I personally felt like I was going through a washing machine and dryer at the same time, but I'm perfectly okay."
Juliette frowned at Scarlet. "You should know to watch your strength, Scarlet, had you not been more careful you could've wound up hurting Danny."
"Aww, come on, Princess, Danny can handle it," Scarlet said.
"I can handle it," Danny repeated. "But I would like to not be dragged around like a ragdoll next time."
I couldn't help but chuckle at the imagery of Danny being dragged around by Scarlet like luggage. "Well, we should probably get down to business now."
Danny nodded before he said, "We found a whole store that was practically full of cursed items, Scarlet even said a good portion were genuine."
"So you two found the store that sold cursed items?" I said, surprised. "Juliette and I couldn't find anything like that."
"Yes, but we didn't buy anything as we didn't know what you would like for you and your friends, Andy," Scarlet answered.
"Then what are we waiting for? Lead us to the store," Juliette cheerfully said.
Scarlet and Danny both flew ahead, Juliette and I followed. We went at a reasonable pace as there was no need for a high speed chase around here. Scarlet and Danny landed not long after we took off, Juliette and I landed next to them.
"Here it is," Scarlet said as we stood outside a large store that had the words 'Rook's Antiquities' in large print above the door.
"Fair warning to you two, the shopkeep is a bit loopy…" Danny sighed. "He kept going on and on about being a raccoon or something when he was still alive."
"That's… weird," I said as I thought about a raccoon turning into a shopkeeper ghost after it died.
"The weirder part is that he's a human now, no sign of being a raccoon whatsoever," Danny added. "So I chalked it up to him being senile."
"Let's just go in and find what we need," Scarlet said before she walked into the store. The rest of us followed behind her.
"Wow… this place is gigantic…" Juliette remarked with wide eyes when we got inside. "I almost feel like I can't see the back of the store…"
"And look at all the stuff he's selling," I said as I looked around. "They all look like something you'd see in our world."
"The stuff up here is junk," Scarlet quietly said. "The good items are closer to the back."
"How do you tell which items are the cursed items?" I asked curiously.
"They usually give off a certain energy," Scarlet explained as she looked around. She then spotted an object and lead us over to it. "I can feel it as I am now since I have trained myself, but for you, the easiest way to sense it would be to put your hand over the item. Hold your hands over this plate."
I did as Scarlet said and held my hand over the plate she pointed at. As soon as I did, I felt a strange tingling feeling I had never felt before. I looked over at Danny.
"I felt it too when Scarlet told me," Danny answered my unasked question.
"Heh, and that's one of the weaker ones," Juliette remarked. "I can tell from here it has barely enough energy to be counted as a 'cursed' object. It'd probably only apply the energy to the part of the body that was directly in contact with the plate."
"So what kind of objects are you hoping to find, Andy?" Scarlet asked me.
"I'm hoping for something wearable," I answered. "Like a necklace or a bracelet or a ring, something small and easy."
"Hmm… I think I saw some of those near the back when we were looking around," Scarlet replied. "Follow me and I'll lead you there."
The three of us followed Scarlet to the back of the store. It felt like walking through a corridor with how long it was. I half expected to see doors on the wall. Eventually, Scarlet came to a stop, and I noticed we were very near to the back of the store, seeing a wall up ahead.
"Whoa, look at all this stuff," Danny said with a small whistle.
"Quite a nice find, Scarlet," Juliette said as she walked over to one of the tables and leaned over it, looking at the jewelry. "Some of these are incredibly powerful… I'm astonished…"
"I wonder where he got all this cursed stuff from…" I said offhandedly. "I'm guessing the stronger the object is, the more costly it's going to be. We should just try to find something that will work, we don't need to overdo it."
"What specifically would you prefer? Bracelets or rings?" Juliette asked.
"Bracelets might be more ideal," I said. "Rings could get stuck on a finger or it could fall off."
"Alright, then I'll look at bracelets," Juliette responded. "I've already found one bracelet that I think would work for you."
"How many objects do you need exactly?" Scarlet asked me.
"We'll need about three of them," I answered. "I was going to say four, but the fourth one won't be necessary."
"Let's see. You, me, and Tucker, right?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, I don't plan to take any other humans with us into the Ghost Zone," I answered.
Juliette frowned when she picked up a silver bracelet and floated over to us. "I'm sorry, this is the only cursed bracelet I could find that isn't either too weak or too expensive."
Danny took the silver bracelet, shivering a bit, probably from feeling the cursed aura around it. "It looks pretty cool though."
Scarlet came over to us, holding a thin black choker in her hand. "I found another cursed object that should be within the range you like for it to be in."
"Yeah… I don't see Andy or I wearing that…" Danny said as he looked at the choker.
"I think it might look good on Tucker," I chuckled.
"You mean it might look funny?" Danny chuckled as well.
"Maybe, but don't tell that to Tucker," I said before looking at the other objects. "Now we just need one for me."
"What about this?" Juliette asked as she picked up a small object with a long golden chain.
I walked closer to Juliette to see what she was holding and saw she was holding a golden necklace and at the end of it was a small silver and gold pocket watch with an intricate design.
"In my opinion it's way underpriced," Juliette remarked, looking at the price tag on the end of the necklace.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"It has an incredibly strong energy coming from it," Juliette answered. "Though… there are actually two strange energies coming off of it… one is a regular curse energy… the other makes me a little nauseous for some reason…"
I raised an eyebrow at that before touching the pocket watch myself. I felt the strange energy coming off of it, it was definitely way stronger than the energy surrounding the plate. But there was also a very familiar secondary energy in this pocket watch, and yet I couldn't place my finger on it. Where have I sensed this energy before?
I let go of the pocket watch and said, "You should put it back. Like I said, we don't need anything fancy, just enough to get the job done."
"If you're sure," Juliette responded as she put the necklace back onto the table. "Let's keep looking."
Not even two seconds later after Juliette put the pocket watch necklace down on the table, the necklace started to float and unlatch, opening up.
"Uh… Juliette, is that normal for cursed objects?" I nervously asked when I saw this happening.
Juliette didn't respond, she was staring at the object with wide eyes.
"I'm going to go with no," I said, getting an uneasy feeling.
"What the heck?" Scarlet said in shock. "Everyone back up!"
Scarlet grabbed the stunned Juliette's arm and started backing away from the moving watch necklace. Danny and I also backed away, not sure what was happening.
Then all of a sudden, before anyone could react, the pocket watch necklace shot itself towards me. I only had time to let out a surprised yelp before I felt the cold chains wrapping itself around my neck, causing me to jump back on instinct and fall to the floor on my back.
"Andy!" Juliette yelled in concern.
"Bro!" Danny yelled as well as he rushed over to me.
I felt two energies, one foreign and one familiar, surging around inside of me. It was a strange sensation, unlike anything I had ever felt before. No, that's not completely true, I am familiar with the feeling of something foreign surging inside of me, but it didn't make it any less scary. I grabbed onto the chain that had wrapped itself around my neck and tried to pull it off. I couldn't move the chain, it was like trying to lift up a heavy boulder made of steel.
"W-what's going on? What's it doing to me? Why can't I get it off?" I yelled in panic.
"It's not really doing anything," Scarlet answered as she lifted me up to my feet. "It's just sitting there on your neck."
Funny, it certainly didn't feel like it's not doing anything! I tried to lift the chain again, but it was still impossible. "C-can someone get this off me? I can't seem to remove it."
"Let me see if I can try," Scarlet said as she came over and grabbed the chain of the necklace. She then began to pull her hands apart with all her might. After a few moments, a metallic cracking noise was heard.
"Um… what was that?" I asked.
"Is it working?" Danny asked before we all watched in amazement as Scarlet's metal gauntlets shattered.
"What the heck?" I said in shock.
Scarlet was looking at her shattered metal gauntlets in even more shock.
"That… how did that happen…?" Scarlet managed to ask. "Those… gauntlets have taken much stronger attacks… they shouldn't have shattered like… like… glass…"
"O-okay, okay, let's not panic," Danny quickly said before I could really start to panic myself. "Why don't we talk to the owner of the store? Surely he could get that watch necklace off."
"Let's hope so," Juliette frowned.
"Where would the owner be? At the cash register?" I asked, wanting to get this weird necklace off as soon as possible.
"Which is most likely at the front," Scarlet said, her hands glowing before new gauntlets formed, replacing the shattered ones. "These should hold until I can get new ones. As for seeing the owner, we should probably take the items we want to purchase while we go up there. It'd be easier than having to make two trips and we shouldn't forget the original reason we came here is to purchase cursed objects."
"Yeah, we still have the bracelet and the choker," Danny said, holding up the silver bracelet and the choker we picked up earlier.
Since the shop was so big and long, we decided it would be faster to fly to where the cash register was. For some reason, I found it a bit hard to fly than usual, it was like something heavy was weighing me down. Danny and Scarlet flew ahead, but I had trouble keeping up. Only Juliette took notice of my slower flying since she didn't take off as fast as the other two.
"Are you feeling okay, Andy? Or are you just flying slow for my sake?" Juliette asked as she flew next to me.
"No," I answered with a frown. "I feel like my body weighed ten times more than usual…"
"Hmm… perhaps the necklace is the cause of the trouble," Juliette guessed. "Cursed objects affect ghosts in different ways, but one common way is that it limits the powers of a ghost by making it harder for them to access their powers."
I sighed, "Great, I'm wearing my own personal ghost limiter."
I had to push myself to go faster, it took more effort to try and catch up to Danny and Scarlet. Thankfully it didn't take us long to reach the cash register, where we saw tall and lanky ghost man with brown hair, blue glowing eyes and green skin.
"How can I help you lovely children today?" The man asked with a sly smile.
"Are you the owner of this store?" Scarlet asked.
"Why yes, I am, Tom Rook, at your service," The man, named Tom Rook, greeted.
"Yeah, could you get this watch necklace off me?" I asked, holding up the watch itself for him to look. "It just clamped itself around my neck and it won't come off."
"Sorry, no can do," Tom Rook responded. "I find the items and sell them. The best I can do is give you a small discount for your troubles."
"Are you kidding?" I frowned. "I don't want to buy this crazy watch, I want it off me!"
"Well you can either pay for it or you can stay in the store," Tom said. "I can't take the necklace off and I am definitely not letting you walk out without paying for it."
"Andy, how about we pay for it and try to find someone who can take off the necklace?" Danny suggested.
I wanted to argue with that and say that it was ridiculous, especially since it wasn't my fault the stupid watch decided to clamp itself on me. But I didn't want to cause trouble and I also had a strange feeling that this man would be dangerous if I refused, so I let out a defeated sigh and said, "How much do we have to pay for it?"
"Is that the only item you are purchasing today?" Tom Rook asked.
"We are also purchasing these two," Scarlet said as she put the silver bracelet and black choker on the counter.
Tom Rook leaned in and looked at the tag on my necklace before looking at the two items. "Normally it would be a total of 250 Ectos, but since I am applying the slight discount for your trouble, I will say its a total of 200 Ectos."
Since I was unfamiliar with how the currency worked here, I looked at Juliette and asked, "Is that a lot?"
Juliette leaned in and whispered, "From my limited experience with your currency, I would say it is a 2 to 1 transference. So it would be 100 dollars, I believe."
I groaned, "So not as bad as it could've been, but still a lot…"
"Do we even have that much?" Danny asked in concern.
"Yes, we do," Scarlet said as she pulled out a wallet from her armor and opened it up before plucking two glowing blue notes from the wallet, which she handed to Tom Rook. "There you are."
"Thank you, I hope you children have a great afterlife," Tom Rook smiled.
With that out of the way, we walked out of the shop. I sighed as I looked down at the necklace watch. "We got three cursed objects as planned… too bad one of them is stuck on me."
"We should head home now, bro," Danny stated. "We can figure out the whole necklace thing later. Perhaps we can find something in Mom and Dad's lab to help get that thing off."
"Yeah…" I sighed before I looked over at Scarlet and Juliette. "We should go now before it gets late in the real world."
"Aren't you forgetting something, Andy?" Juliette asked.
I looked at Juliette. "What am I forgetting?"
"The weapon store?" Juliette answered.
I shook my head, "We just spent 200 Ectos for our stuff."
"That's nothing, Andy," Scarlet said with a broad grin. "I've earned more than 200 Ectos on a single job before, and I've done lots of jobs while saving up my money. If you want something else, feel free to ask."
"Well, there is one thing I wanted to get. Not so much as use, but something that could help me mold another type of weapon," I said.
Scarlet's eyes sparkled all of a sudden, making me a little worried about what she would do. "I can help you with that."
"You ca-" I yelped when Scarlet grabbed my arm and started dragging me, much like how she did with my brother earlier.
Well now I know how Danny felt when Scarlet dragged him through the bazaar. I couldn't move much, my arm was in slight pain from being held tight and pulled, and my feet hurts from the friction. Couldn't she have just flown me?
"Where's the shop?" Scarlet asked as she continued to drag me.
"Slow down and I'll tell you!" I yelled, feeling like my arm was about to be ripped off.
"Okay," Scarlet said as she slowed down and stopped.
"Let me go and I will show you where the shop is," I instructed as Scarlet continued to hold my arm.
As Scarlet let go of my arm, Danny and Juliette managed to catch up to us. Danny was chuckling.
"Did you have fun on the Scarlet Coaster?" Danny laughed.
"Oh shut it you," I grumbled. "Just follow me and Juliette, we know where this weapon shop is."
"It even has armor, Scarlet, so you could possibly get yourself new gauntlets," Juliette mentioned.
Scarlet smiled, "That's something I was hoping for."
Juliette and I lead Scarlet and Danny to the weapon shop we were at earlier.
"Wow, Wolf's Armory? I've heard great things about this place!" Scarlet excitedly stated as we walked towards the shop's entrance. "I hear he's an up and coming blacksmith with the skills of a master."
"Is a ghost wolf running this place?" Danny asked curiously.
"No, it's a ghost man with the name 'Wolf'," I answered. "Oh and just so you know, he doesn't use people's actual names. For instance, he called me Mr. Amethyst."
Danny laughed at that, "Why?"
"Because of my eye color," I said. "And it's not that funny, you'd probably be Mr. Peridot."
"It's a common practice for weapon and armor shops in the Ghost Zone to use fake names for their customers to conceal and protect their identity," Scarlet explained as we entered the store.
"Ahh, welcome back, Mr. Amethyst," Wolf's voice greeted as we entered. "I see you brought your friends along, does this mean you're ready to purchase that pistol I was showing you?"
"A pistol?" Danny asked. "Why would you need a pistol, bro?"
"It's so I can craft my own," I responded. "I'd like a pre-built pistol to model my own creation after."
"Huh… that sounds like a good idea," Danny said with a small smile.
"I didn't expect you to be friends with the Ghost Vanquisher, Mr. Amethyst," Wolf said as he walked up to us.
"Ghost Vanquisher?" I questioned.
Wolf pointed at Scarlet. "The Ghost Vanquisher, the ghost that kills other ghosts. I didn't expect them to be female though. There are other names besides 'Ghost Vanquisher' that were given to her. The Holy Assassin, the White Flash, the Final Sight. I'm more than happy to welcome you to my store, on the condition that you cause no trouble, Vanquisher."
Sounds like Scarlet's got a reputation around here. I guess I should've known since she has slain many ghosts before. I thought to myself.
"Do not get me wrong, by the way, I mean no disrespect, Vanquisher. There are many things that you are known for in a good light. For instance when you saved a group of children from enslavement, or the time you cut down an evil ruler in his throne room," Wolf continued.
Scarlet didn't look to be too bothered by what Wolf said, instead she said, "It's fine, I didn't come here to make friends or enemies with anyone. I'm here to see what you've got that would interest and benefit me."
Juliette raised a brow at how official Scarlet sounded.
"Of course, Miss Vanquisher," Wolf bowed his head.
"I'm going to look for gauntlets, you three, let me know when you have the weapon or weapons you want," Scarlet said with a smirk before she walked off into the store.
"Wow, Andy look," Danny said to me before showing me the dual swords. "Didn't your future self use those?"
"Yeah, I thought the same thing," I said. "But I don't think I'll be buying swords today. A small gun is easy enough to hide, but imagine if I brought home a sword. Mom and Dad, and maybe even Jazz, would have a heart attack!"
"Not... really…" Danny said. "Most of the rooms in the house have different weapons hidden everywhere. I mean our desk lamps turn into blasters!"
"I can't pretend I have a normal family with you," I grumbled. "Actually even though our house is filled with weaponry, I don't think our parents would approve of bringing home ghost weapons. They know they didn't make any swords out of ectoplasm after all."
"Unless we said we found them and were studying them," Danny smirked. "And if we hid them well, we wouldn't have to worry."
"You could always purchase the weapons and store them at the Opera House," Juliette remarked.
I looked at between Danny and Juliette, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you both want me to purchase a sword."
"Well considering we're here, it would make the most sense to purchase whatever we desired so we wouldn't have to come back for some time," Juliette pointed out. "I'm not telling you to buy anything specific."
"On the other hand, I am. If a future version of yourself uses swords similar to those ones right there, then perhaps it means that you should buy those swords and base your swords off of them." Danny smiled.
I chuckled at Danny, "You just want me to use those because my future self looked cool using them."
"Well hey, why not, right?" Danny shrugged sheepishly. "Looking cool is a huge bonus. Who knows, just looking cool could end up scaring some ghosts away."
"Well… maybe I could buy one sword and try practicing with it when I have the time," I said, looking at one of the swords.
"The swords are actually a set, you have to buy both together," Wolf said. "As for the pistol, I have it waiting up at the register for whenever you are ready to purchase it."
Danny, Juliette, Scarlet and I were flying through the Ghost Zone together, having left the bazaar after purchasing our items. Scarlet was carrying all the weapons we bought since she could carry them with ease. I had to put in more effort to fly because of the cursed object around my neck.
"I'm glad we easily found the exit that lead closer to your home," Juliette said.
"I still can't believe I let Danny talk me into buying the two swords and an assault rifle of all things!" I grumbled. Danny's puppy dog pout is still just as effective on me as ever.
"Hey, an assault rifle would be a very cool weapon, and a bigger upgrade from that puny pistol," Danny said.
"There are other weapons that I would recommend once you master the pistol," Scarlet commented. "There is a stage between assault rifle and pistol which is the SMG, then there is the regular non-assault rifles. After assault rifle there is a large variety of weapons. There are also a ton of variety of types of weapons within each class. For instance next to the pistol is the revolver."
"Scarlet, I don't need gun lessons," I grumbled. "I just wanted something for a longer range. I'm not going to specialize in guns though."
"Well that pistol isn't going to do too much at extreme range," Scarlet replied. "Pistols are meant for closer combat. Not hand to hand or anything, but about as far away from you as you could throw a rock with all your might."
"Hey, maybe we can go over to the Opera House for some training," Danny suggested. "Scarlet could help us with summoning more weapons."
"Later on, Danny, you have priorities you need to attend to first," Juliette stated.
"As for summoning more weapons, Danny, not every ghost can learn how to craft weapons," Scarlet said. "We'd first need to test if you are capable of shaping your energy."
"No problem," Danny said with a smile. "But like Juliette said, that'll have to be for later. We need to inform our friends of the plan."
"I can see the portal up ahead, we're almost home," I said in relief, seeing the familiar swirls of the Ghost Portal.
"A question for you two, have you ever tried to cover up the portal?" Juliette asked as we got closer to the Ghost Portal.
"We do have a metal door that slides the Ghost Portal shut," I answered. "It's supposedly ghost proof, but Danny told me certain ghosts could still phase through it from time to time, like with a ghost dog."
"Then why not place an object out here in front of the portal in an attempt to hide it?" Juliette suggested.
"What would be big enough to cover up the portal?" Danny asked.
"Any of the giant floating boulders found scattered all around the Ghost Zone," Scarlet replied. "And there are always large objects constantly showing up. For instance, we passed a tall building that was not there before. It looked like the building had either exploded or fell down due to an earthquake or something of that nature as there were both scorch marks on the building and cracks in the walls."
"That's… interesting," I said in wonder. So destroyed buildings and objects could end up in the Ghost Zone?
"She's right, after all, a part of my home came over with me," Juliette responded.
We reached the portal and looked at each other, "We'll think about doing that later. I'm just ready to go on home." Danny said.
"You two go first, I am not risking the safety of my Princess," Scarlet stated.
"Yeah, we'll check to see if the coast is clear," I said. "Danny, we should go invisible just in case our parents are in the lab."
Danny nodded and turned invisible. I didn't turn invisible right away, I frowned as I remembered the cursed watch around my neck. I had to put in more effort before I was able to make my body invisible. I could see my brother's transparent body, it was almost weird, I wasn't used to looking at other invisible ghosts. Both of us nodded to each other before we flew through the Ghost Portal.
Danny and I landed in our basement lab, looking around for any signs of Mom and Dad.
"Looks like we're clear down here, you go check the kitchen, I'll get Juliette and Scarlet," Danny quietly said to me.
"Right," I said before Danny flew back into the Ghost Zone. I flew up the stairs silently, before turning myself intangible, having to concentrate more, before sticking my head through the door.
I frowned when I saw Dad was in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. I didn't see Mom anywhere, she could be in the living room. This could be a little complicated, but as long as the Ecto Security System is off, we should be able to sneak Juliette and Scarlet out without too much of a problem.
I pulled back from the door and floated back into the lab, seeing Danny with Scarlet and Juliette. I returned to my normal visible self and let out a sigh of relief. It's becoming more of a chore to use my powers right now.
"So how did it look? Are we clear to head upstairs or should we just go through the ceiling?" Danny asked.
"We'll have to go through the ceiling," I said. "Dad is in the kitchen, and Mom is most likely in the living room where the front door is."
"You two turn intangible and follow us," Danny instructed as he turned intangible.
"Wait, make sure you go invisible too. We still have to pass through the first floor of the house before we get to safety," I said. "We want to make sure nobody sees us, for all we know, Mom might be in her office."
Danny nodded and turned invisible, Juliette and Scarlet following suit, leaving just me. I sighed as I struggled to turn myself invisible and intangible, but I was feeling tired from the effort. This was embarrassing, it was as if I had been reduced to when I first got my powers except the cause of the reduction was something physically trying hold me back. I managed to get my body transparent, and flew up into the ceiling. I passed through Mom's office, a room that I rarely ever went into, and kept going until I got to my and Danny's room. I could see Danny, Juliette and Scarlet were already there, waiting for me.
As soon as I returned to my normal visible self and landed on the floor, I began panting. It feels like I've been running ten miles without a break.
"Maybe you should refrain from using your ghost powers until we can get that necklace off of you, Andy," Juliette suggested in concern.
"Yeah… that would be… a good idea…" I panted before a ring of light flashed around my torso, changing me back into my human form. I felt a lot better being in my human form, but I noticed something. "... The watch is still on me!"
I wanted to rip this stupid trinket off me, but I sighed before I said, "Well, you two can phase through our window or wall from here. You should be able to get back to the Opera House without too much trouble."
"Yeah, and you should go before our parents come up to check on us," Danny pointed out.
Juliette noticed Hope on my bed. Hope looked up at Juliette and Scarlet.
"Hey, Hope." Juliette smiled.
"Well, look at what the two brothers dragged in," Hope chuckled. "You figure out what was going on?"
"Yeah, Scarlet was chasing after Johnny 13," Danny answered.
"It's good to see you're safe and sound, Hope," Scarlet said. "I would like to stay longer, but for now, my Princess and I need to get going. I'll leave the cursed objects here"
"Thanks, we'll see you two later when we need to go back to the Ghost Zone," I said as Scarlet and Juliette phased through our wall after Scarlet put the choker and bracelet on my desk.
I looked out the window to see that it was already mid afternoon.
"Wow, we've been gone for a while," Danny remarked. "It was noonish when we left and it's already 4:30."
"I wonder if Tucker and Sam have been calling us," I said. "We get no service while in the Ghost Zone."
"I'll see if I can get a hold of them now," Danny said as he turned back to his human form. Once back to normal he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.
While Danny was doing that, I decided to study the watch necklace that was still around my neck. I couldn't lift the chains off me too far, just enough where I could easily pick up the watch itself.
"Cute necklace you got there, Andy," Hope said with a smirk..
I sighed and said, "Yeah well, it's really attached to me."
"Ha! Attached! Good one," Danny laughed.
"You like it that much?" Hope asked.
"No! It's attached to me, as in I literally can't take it off." I frowned, and glared at the laughing brother.
"Did you find a cursed object that binds itself to the closest being?" Hope chuckled. "Wow, I didn't think you'd ever be so careless."
"A cursed object that binds itself to the closest being? That's a thing!? Why didn't anyone tell me this?" I all but shouted dramatically.
"Probably because it's a rare occurrence," Hope answered. "Binding cursed objects are the stuff of fairy tales."
"Is there any way to get it off?" Danny asked.
"Well from the fairy tales, the user has to learn a lesson or find the creator of the object or someone all powerful to free them from the binding curse," Hope responded.
I opened up the watch, surprised to see there was an actual clock inside the thing. Unfortunately, it seemed to not be working. None of the arrows were moving, the second arrow hand wasn't ticking and it appeared to be stuck at 5:28. I then raised a brow when I saw the minute hand dart forwards for a split second before returning to 5:28. Well that was weird. Then again there's nothing normal about this binding necklace watch.
"So it looks like you might be stuck in that for a while," Hope said.
"Gee thanks," I groaned. It's like with Dora's amulet all over again. At least I don't have to worry about turning into a dragon if I get upset this time.
"Hey, Sam, it's Danny," Danny said while on the phone. "Any chance you could come over? Andy and I need to talk to you about something."
I couldn't hear what Sam said, but from Danny's expression I could tell that she might've been worried about us.
"We're fine, Sam, we got pulled into the Ghost Zone by Johnny 13, but we're fine now," Danny responded to Sam. "Yeah, just come over, but uh… don't bring Tucker. We'll explain why later."
"Oh? Why not bring your other friend?" Hope asked as Danny hung up. "He is supposed to help you in this mission, isn't he?"
"He is going to be helping us," Danny answered with a nod. "But… it would be better to wait until we're actually putting the plan into motion to let Tucker know. Otherwise the plan will be the only thing on his mind and he might slip up and let out part or all of the plan on accident, especially to a girl that might ask him who the winner would be. There was one time where he was so concentrated on something that he blurted out that he had a crush on Sam at some point."
I stared at Danny.
"What?" Danny asked, seeing that I was staring at him.
"How in all of the world and Ghost Zone did he not give away your secret of being part ghost?" I asked with my hands in the air.
"Sam is usually there to keep him in check," Danny replied. "And most people wouldn't believe him anyways. But this is something else, we can't risk anyone knowing about the plan."
"True," I said with a nod. "We'll just tell Sam, and explain it to Tucker after we get into the Ghost Zone with him..." Then something dawned upon me. "Wait, Danny, don't you usually trust Tucker with these things? Why did you decide not to tell him? I mean normally I would've been the one to tell you we shouldn't tell him."
"Because right now he's getting a lot of attention from girls at school," Danny explained. "Meaning he is a lot less on guard than he normally is."
I looked at Danny and he frowned.
"Look, I'm just trying to be logical about it, bro," Danny said. "There's nothing wrong with that. I want to make sure that Sam is as safe as possible and that means that only she and us know about the plan."
"Yeah… okay," I said before thinking to myself. Have I rubbed off on Danny more than I realized? I mean I know Danny can be logical, but he usually thinks with his heart than his head.
"While we're waiting for Sam, why don't we play some video games?" Danny said with a smile.
"Don't you two still have the homework from your first two classes to do?" Hope spoke up.
Danny deflated at that, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"I think we have some time to play before doing homework, it's been a long day for us," I said.
"No, Hope is right, we should get our homework out of the way first," Danny responded.
I looked at Danny, starting to get a little concerned. "... If you say so, bro." What is up with Danny? He's acting a little weird...
Reviews
LoveAngel5952: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yeah, we're still here and I don't know why you would think we gave up on this, we posted not very long ago.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I'm glad you like the story and think it's amazing, but we'd like to hear your thoughts on why you think it's so good. And what indicated that we were giving up on this story?
Guest: DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': … We never gave up, we never left. Sure we haven't been updating that often, but we've still been updating.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Adding the ghost bazaar made a bit of sense. There would have to be a place for ghosts to go get things or trade things that they have. The ghost bazaar also makes sense as a place to spend the money that exists in the Ghost Zone.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': We thought it would be a good chance to show the ghost bazaar while getting our characters prepared for when they need to go to Aragon's castle. And thanks, the artist who made the cover art was kind enough to create it.