We all know that Pariah Dark is the evil powerful king of the Ghost Zone. But what made him so evil? And so powerful? This story was going to be a one shot but we will all see how far it can go.
How should I start this? I guess I should introduce myself. I am the Ghost King, Pariah Dark. Once I ruled the Ghost Zone with an iron fist. Now however I spend my days locked in a sarcophagus by the forever sleep; unable to do anything but think.
As you might or might not realize I am dead. But unlike every other ghost I did not use to be human. My family was pureblood ghosts. That was why we were royalty. The Dark bloodline runs back several millennia. But pureblooded ghosts have a tendency to disappear mysteriously after awhile. Greedy siblings wanting the throne may have had something to do with it.
The problem with royal families in the Ghost Zone is that ghosts don't die. How could we? The only way to obtain the crown was through treachery. Even I had a fair hand in that.
What's my story? My story is a long one but I don't think I will be going anywhere for a while. I think I will start from my child hood when my mother and father were the king and queen, about two centuries ago…
"Son you know that you have to go to school. Stop being invisible this instant." My father was floating around my room looking for me. He was a thin ghost, pale face, (although that was natural for ghosts) and not very strong. I was about eight and had no intention to come out of hiding.
I wasn't a particularly naughty kid. Actually I was probably the most innocent ghost in the entire zone, but today I was acting worse than usual.
I did not want to go to school. The other kids teased me even though I was royalty. I wasn't ugly; I had regular short green hair and wore normal clothes. No, they teased me because I was royalty. Father looked up and snatched me out of the air. You can't stay invisible for long when you're eight.
"Now listen to me Jeremiah. Your mother and I are very busy. Please be a good boy and don't attack anyone." I forgot to mention one thing; my real name was not Pariah. It was Jeremiah Joseph Dark. I hated that name.
My father dragged me kicking and screaming out to the bus. He shoved me on and the doors slammed in my face. Father flew away without even a glance back at the bus. If he had he would have seen a little kid of eight years standing there looking lost and scared.
The other children glared at me with contempt. "Aww the poor wittle pwince didn't want to come to schoowl today." The ghost who had spoken was a tall fat kid. He wasn't even trying to mock me with his slurred words. He actually talked like that.
Unfortunately for me we had assigned seats on our bus. Guess where mine was? I floated over and sat down next to the fat kid. He punched me and continued talking. "So what's it feewl like to be the son of the two weakest wulers in the hiwstowy of the Ghost Zowne?"
I stared at my feet. What he said didn't exactly sting, but it was embarrassing that my parents were so lame. They hardly made any laws, and when they did they were stupid and no one bothered to enforce them.
The rest of the ride was pretty much the same way; him taunting me and I feeling sorry for myself. It was a daily ritual and it surprised me that he always found something to tease me about. Finally after a ten minute ride that felt like eternity the bus arrived at our school.
When we got off the bus I was shoved into the ground. I sat up, spitting out the dirt as I did, and turned to face my torturer. To my horror it was Fred Knightly, the school bully, although everyone just called him The Fright Knight.
"How is his royal highness doing today?" he asked in a sickly sweet yet still evil tone. Fred was strange. He wore a full suit of dark purple and black armor all the time except for his helmet. Here was a guy who wore exactly the same thing everyday and I was the one being beat up.
One of the teachers appeared and Fred instantly changed. "How are you doing today Mrs. Banshee?" Mrs. Banshee smiled down at him and then frowned when she looked at me. She grabbed me by the collar of my dirt stained shirt and lifted me of the ground. As we left I watched as Fred smiled with all of his evil glory and waved at me.
If I had not been taught that it was an improper thing to do I would have made a face at him, but being royalty as I was it did not seem fit. Mrs. Banshee dragged me into the oppressive building that was the Ghost Zone's first school.
Unlike how I acted when I was dragged to the school bus I simply floated behind her in quiet dismay. I didn't know what I had done that had caused my teacher to get mad at me, but when it came to my punishment there didn't always have to be a reason. The teachers hated me too.
The doors to the principles office slammed shut behind me. Our principal was an old looking ghost named Mr. Frank N. Stein. He used to be a mad scientist who tried to bring things back from the dead. Let's just say that he wasn't successful and was very bitter about it; especially when he heard that someone with a similar name got famous for it.
When you combine an elementary school principle with a bitter ghost you get Mr. Stein. He didn't look up when we came in and didn't say anything until the door slammed again and Mrs. Banshee was gone.
Principal Stein looked up at me with a look of someone looking at a particularly ugly bug; hideous and easy to squish. I tried not to fidget under his glare. "What have you done now Mr. Dark?" I opened my mouth to answer but he cut me off. "You picked a fight with Mr. Knightly didn't you? Well we will just have to give you a fitting punishment."
I stared at my feet to keep him from seeing the tears in my eyes. Later in my life those tears would become hatred, but for now they were simply the tears of a sad little boy. Mr. Stein began talking again. "I don't see why you feel that you can attack other kids. You may be the king's son but here you are just the same as every other kid."
My teeth clenched and for the first time in the eight years I had existed I talked back. "If I'm a normal kid then why don't you treat me like one?" I blinked in surprise and covered my mouth. A strange feeling coursed through me. It felt good to stand up for myself… or it did at first.
Principal Stein stood up and was glaring at me so hard that his face had gone red. Instantly the good feeling died in my chest. I could almost see the steam coming from his ears. "Get this brat out of my school!" he screamed. The secretary came in and pulled me out of the office.
They sent a bus to take me home early. I sat silently thinking about what had happened. It was a small light to hold onto in the darkness of my life that once I had stood up for myself. Even if this was the last time I did it.
Finally I was home at my castle. The bus driver threw me a hateful look and pushed me out the door. I stumbled and fell and I heard the wheezy laughs of the driver before he shut the door and drove of.
I looked up at the gloomy red castle that I had lived in for my whole life. Its dark windows glared back and I ran inside to escape their gaze. I walked to the throne room and saw my mother sitting alone knitting in one of the two chairs in that huge chamber.
She didn't even look up when I entered. I walked up and felt my face go red in shame as I tried to explain why I was home several hours early. "Um, Mom? I know that I'm not supposed to be-"
"Hi son, is school over already? Well if that's the case than you'd better go to your room and do your homework." She continued knitting and I felt an unknown feeling swell inside me. It was hatred.
"No school is not over. Since I am a royal prince everyone tortures me and the principal sent me home because he's a jerk." I glared at her and waited for a shocked response.
That isn't what I received though. "That's nice dear; now go do your homework." I blinked in surprise and floated to my room. Twice today I had fought back. And twice today I had done something else too.
I had felt hatred, and I had felt power.
I think it's a good start to a story don't you? Unfortunately I think that I'm going to have to make up several ghosts to keep this story moving. The only other old ghost that I can think of is Clockwork. Any suggestions?
