Hello. Not much to say today, but enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 89: Glass

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"Danny," said Valerie, sounding horrified, "what happened to you?"

That was a good question. Another good question would be how to answer it. Luckily, Danny had thought about that on the way here.

He raised an eyebrow. "You were around for most of what happened to me, Val, but I sprained my ankle and got shot since you saw me last."

"You were shot?" asked Mr Lancer, sounding more resigned than shocked. He also sounded concerned, however, and he stood up, legs a little wobbly, and took a step towards Danny.

"Yep."

"Is Phantom here?" asked Paulina, elbowing the teacher out of the way. "Where is he?" she whined, noticing that he wasn't visible.

Danny braced himself. "The only ones here are me, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Dr Iceclaw, and Clockwork." He frowned. "Actually, I don't know if Clockwork is still aboard. I haven't seen him for a bit. He probably had to go take care of something."

Mr Lancer blinked. "Clockwork? As in, Phantom's mentor?"

"Yes," said Danny. "He's our chaperon on our field trip today."

"Then where's Phantom?" asked Paulina, in an aggravated tone. "He's not still stuck in you, is he?" she said, curling her lips.

"No," said Danny, suppressing a twitch of his own lips.

"Danny," said Valerie, getting Danny's attention again. "What do you mean, 'field trip?'"

"The Far Frozen isn't the best place for people with body temperature," answered Sam. "It's cold. Really cold. They don't have enough insulated rooms for all of us."

"We're going to Elysium instead," said Tucker, who hadn't looked up at the other teens since they got on board, instead choosing to pour over his PDA. "Don't worry, it's cool there."

"Not as cool as the Far Frozen," said Danny, with a grin.

"Hard to be cooler than cold."

"Absolute zero."

"You two are such nerds," said Sam.

"Says the nerd," shot back Tucker.

"Anyway," said Danny. "We're going to be moving around a lot, until Libra can set up a place for all of us to stay. They don't deal with large numbers of humans very often. There are logistical problems. It'll be easier for everyone to spread us out. Does that make sense?"

"So we'll be staying with ghosts," said Valerie, distaste evident.

"Yep," said Danny, now turning his attention to the ghostly 'driver' of the carpet. "Thank you for bringing them," said Danny, bowing politely.

"Thank you for taking them off our hands," said the ghost, equally politely. "I hope that things go well for you at trial. Now, if you'll all step off, please? This may be a carpet, but I don't want to take off with you."

The class shuffled off the carpet, and then the carpet took off. Danny waved as it left.

"So," said Mia, "Elysium? Is that, like, Greek mythology Elysium?" She seemed uncomfortable, and she kept looking at Danny with worry. Then again, everyone looked somewhat uncomfortable. Mikey looked downright nauseous. This was an odd situation.

"Sort of," said Danny. "I'll explain in a bit. First, I want to show you all where you'll be sleeping."

He took a couple of steps back, and then turned, leading them to the doors that lead to below-decks. He showed them the hammocks, and the head, not expecting them to be happy about the situation. He wasn't exactly disappointed. Most of them were not. A few of them, Ricky, Hannah, and Mr Lancer, however, were only too happy to crawl into the hanging beds.

Danny smiled nervously at the others. Mikey suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth and ran up the stairs. With his sharp ears, Danny could hear him retching. He winced. He didn't consider that some people would get seasick. Zone sick? The ship didn't rock that much. Really, it hardly rocked at all. It wasn't as if they were on an actual ocean, after all. Poor Mikey. He must have a really sensitive stomach. Danny wondered how he had fared on the flying carpet.

"So, shall we go back above-decks? Or, um, I know that you had questions. I mean, we can do both, or if you're hungry, we have food. Or we can do all three. Oh, and I have to introduce you to Dr Iceclaw-"

"Answers," said Valerie, firmly. "I want answers. What is going on? Why are we here?"

"Um, well," Danny took a deep breath. "My parents are on trial. For what they did to Phantom. It's like I said the other day. They made something that violated a Taboo, and Libra found out." He lowered his voice, and glanced at the people sitting in the hammocks. "They only know about the first thing, though. The Mortifier. They don't know about the other thing. The circle thing. Please, please, don't talk about that. Please don't tell anyone about it. Please, please tell me that you didn't say anything to them already."

"Or what, Fenton?" sneered Dash. Danny sighed internally. Apparently, the time away from Danny and the lair returned his sense of bravado. Or perhaps it was just that Phantom was no longer 'nearby,' to keep him on his best behavior.

"If you tell anyone about that, my parents will almost certainly be executed. So please, please do not do that."

"How do you know that Phantom hasn't told anyone?" asked Valerie. "Or those little ghosts? The will-o-the-wisps."

"He wouldn't," said Danny. "And we asked the wisps not to say anything. They'll listen to me. Or to Phantom." He shrugged. "Whichever."

"Why?" asked Valerie, bluntly. "Why would Phantom do that for you? Apparently, this is a 'serious' thing for ghosts."

Danny shrugged, helplessly. "You didn't say anything, did you?" he asked again.

"No," said Mia, shooting a near-sighted glare at Valerie. "We didn't. At least, I didn't. Honestly, I had forgotten about that part of this whole, this whole thing." She ran her hands through her hair. "I just want to get this whole thing over with and go home, Danny."

"Me, too," said Danny, giving her a small smile.

"Hey, why can't we do that right now?" asked Lester, abruptly. "You're in charge of this boat, right? And you know where the portal is, don't you?"

"Two reasons," said Danny, raising a pair of fingers. "One, how do you think that all those agents got in to the Ghost Zone? You remember the agents, right? I know not all of you were there, but they tried to kill mom, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Lester, Nathan, Paulina, Dash, and I. I kind of don't want to go out that way. Thing is, all the other ways are... tricky." Both Vlad's portal and the Infini-Map crossed his mind. He shook his head. "None of them are ways that we can take right now. The other reason is that Libra would track us down. There is a reason that Adrestia is called Adrestia the Inescapable, and I doubt that their other enforcers are slouches." He sighed. "I'm not as familiar with Libra as I am with the Feathers. I don't know what their policies are. But I'm not going to try to go against them."

"Of course you aren't," said Dash. "You're a wimp, Fentini."

"Dash," said Kwan, slowly, reluctantly, "I don't think that this is a good idea."

"You were acting all tough when Phantom was with you, but you, you're nothing without him, and you're holding him back, with your wimpy-wimpy do-dah sissy act."

"Oh?" said Danny, delicately, ice in his tone. Dash's accusation had managed to set off a dark and aggressive part of his personality. He still wasn't entirely well. He was still on the defensive, still touchy, and he was reacting to the threat as a serious one. Which it was. Dash was an idiot who couldn't be trusted with his own safety, let alone anyone else's, and if he gained control of the situation, then everyone here would be in danger.

"Yeah! If you weren't a wimp, then we'd be home already! But you're just being, like, a wimp to all these ghosts. I bet that you're just running away, like usual."

Danny's eyes went narrow. "And you're a role model for, what, fortitude? Toughness? If I recall correctly, when we were in the woods, you ran at the first sight of the wisps. Are you really denigrating me for not wanting to draw the ire of people who are millions of times more powerful?"

Dash seized the front of Danny's shirt, and pulled him up to his eye-level. "Are you making fun of me, Fentonia?"

"Mr Baxter!" exclaimed Mr Lancer, attempting to struggle out of his hammock, finally recognizing the brewing fight.

At that moment, an expertly aimed, steel-toed boot flew over the heads of the assembled students, and hit Dash in the head. He dropped Danny, who landed lightly on his good foot. Dash whirled, and the other students parted like the Red Sea to reveal Sam in stocking feet, her other boot in her hand, Tucker standing next to her, clutching his PDA as if he expected Sam to throw it next.

"What the hell, Manson?" asked Dash, angrily, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well," said Sam, "far be it from me to interrupt Danny finally introducing his fist to your face, but this is getting ridiculous. You did hear him when he said that there were ghosts on board, right? Dr Iceclaw could probably rip your head off, and Clockwork could arrange it so that you were never born. I think that renders all of this moot."

"I don't think that Dr Iceclaw would rip anyone's head off," said Jazz, coming down the stairs.

"Nah," said Danny. "He's a big softy. Is Mikey okay?"

"He said that he gets motion sickness easily," said Jazz, shrugging. "I guess that it's a good thing that we'll be in Elysium before too long."

"How long is that?" asked Mia.

"Three days, about," said Danny. He bent, gingerly, favoring his leg, and picked up Sam's boot from where it had fallen. "Here, Sam," he said, tossing it back to her.

"What is Elysium like?" asked Mia.

"Well, the part we're going to is a city," said Danny, brightly, glad for the change in subject.

But before Danny could finish, Dash re-inserted himself between Danny and the rest of the class. Danny sighed.

"We're not done," growled Dash.

"Look, Dash," said Danny, "you have good qualities, you really do, but you're being an idiot. You don't know what's going on here. You don't know how to deal with ghosts."

"I've done fine before," said Dash, tilting his chin up, and folding his arms. "I took on that ghost pirate that stole all the adults."

There was a murmur of assent from the other students, and a yelp of surprise from Mr Lancer.

Dash smirked. "You, on the other hand, ran away like the loser you are."

"I got tossed over the side of the ship," said Danny, flatly. If Phantom hadn't shown up, I would have face-planted onto the pavement, and he wasn't keen on bringing me back up." He rubbed the side of his face. "Do I really need to fight you, or whatever?"

"You think you can take me, Wimp-ton?"

"Dash, I help Phantom fight ghosts."

"I would advise that you do not fight," said a deep rumbling voice.

Danny smiled. "Everyone, this is Dr Iceclaw. Dr Iceclaw, this is my class, and my teacher, Mr Lancer. Except for Mikey. Mikey is having a bit of seasickness upstairs."

"I see," said the doctor, looking at Dash with narrowed, yellow eyes, clawed hands clasped behind his back. Dash quailed, taking a step back. Dr Iceclaw stepped forward, looming over the quarterback. "Daniel is my patient. He is recovering from injuries sustained in defense of the Infinite Realms. You will not harass him."

"Uh, sure," said Dash.

Danny wasn't sure how to feel about this. On one hand, he was glad to not have to fight Dash, and he was feeling a lot calmer, more level-headed and less reactionary, now that Dash wasn't pushing his buttons. On the other hand, he suspected that he was just pushing the confrontation with Dash back, not avoiding it altogether.

Then, too, he was a little worried about how quickly he got angry. Maybe it was just a reaction to everything that had happened, a reaction to the stress, his patience running out.

Dr Iceclaw smiled down at Danny. "I don't suppose that the young man upstairs- Mikey, was it?- would mind me taking a look? I may have something that could help him."

"Probably not," said Danny. "I'll introduce you."

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"Enough!" shouted Themis, bringing her gavel down hard on the table, frowning deeply. Had she eyes to see, she would have been glaring at the assembled advocates. There were hundreds of them, squeezed into the circular room. Many of them were hovering a dozen feet up, eschewing table space for elbow room. "Phantom's status as a ghost is not only unimpeachable, it is immaterial to these proceedings! The only voice in that matter is Libra's, and we have chosen to prosecute this case. All that should concern you, is how the trial unfolds, and which of you belong here." The last part was hissed. Even that portion of the initial committee, which was a minor, almost cursory, formality in most trials, had not been finished.

The room went quiet, but not silent, at the threat. Good enough.

"Lord Issitoq," said Themis. "I suggest that you remove yourself and your associates. This trial is being arbitrated by Libra, not by the Observants."

A titter moved through the crowd.

"Lady Themis," replied Issitoq, his tone barely civil. "Considering the social standing of the persons involved in this trial, I believe that all citizens of the Infinite Realms deserve a say in it."

"No. They do not," said Themis. "I will not change my standards and go against everything I believe in for anything, especially not for something so petty as the social status of the victim." Unspoken: You are treading dangerously close to asking me to go against my Obsessions.

"Lady Themis?" called an advocate, hesitant, but not hesitant enough to refrain from taking advantage of the lull in conversation.

"Ivy, is it?" asked Themis.

"Yes, ma'am. Ma'am, most of the human witnesses do not yet have advocates."

"I am aware of this."

"I propose that we delay the initial committee until they do have advocates, or to select a temporary representative of their interests."

Themis nodded. She had expected such a motion. "I will take your suggestion under advisement. Issitoq," she said, returning her attention and her ire to her fellow Judge, "I notice that you are still here. Despite my lack of your most prominent feature, I can detect your presence. Remove yourself or I will have you removed."

"Very well," said Issitoq, standing with a rustle of cloth. "I do hope that you do not regret this, Themis."

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Issitoq flew through the treasury of the Panopticon, ignoring fabulous riches and priceless artifacts, lost masterpieces and objects of arcane power. He did not show it, but he was furious.

First, treating that abomination as a proper ghost... Treating it as a human would have been too good for it. Then, Themis practically throwing him out of the initial committee...

And Clockwork.

Issitoq swallowed a snarl.

But this whole situation could be remedied. Issitoq would not allow that abomination, that simpering pet of Clockwork's, to become King. He would stop it. He would preserve order. He would preserve balance.

He, unlike those power-hungry Ancients, and his supposed 'equals,' those fools who thought that they had a right to call themselves Judges, was going to do his job.

Issitoq came to a stop as he reached the back of the vault. He glared at the wall, and the great, green-black stones that made it up as if they were responsible for all the inconveniences in his life. Then, he raised one clawed hand to the ornate, eye-shaped brooch that clasped his robe, and, with the other, touched the wall. It dissolved into mist, which Issitoq easily stepped through, and then reformed behind him. This was the inner vault, the secret vault, the place where the greatest, most powerful, and most dangerous treasures of the Observants were stored.

This place was not like the outer vault. There were no artifacts simply lying out on display, no extravagant show of wealth and power. Instead, this room looked like nothing so much as a bank vault filled with lock boxes in the human world. The only thing lying out, on the rectangular wooden table in the center of the room, was a book. It was a catalog of all the items within.

Once, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire had resided in this room. No longer. Both had been claimed by Smith. Another slight against the Observants.

But that was not what Issitoq was here for. No. He was looking for a much older object. One of the oldest. One of the most powerful. He opened the book, and trailed his fingers down the first page, until he came to the entry he wanted.

He floated to the appropriate drawer, and, again using his authority as the foremost of the Observants, opened it. Carefully, he removed the object that laid within, a delicate, twisted sculpture of eggshell-thin glass, tied to a slender golden chain. It was full of luminous green sand. The corners of his eye crinkled in pleasure. This. This would let him right all that was wrong with the Realms.

All of it.