Rumors

The warm sun caressed his bare skin, confirming the arrival of the summer season. The lush gardens of Fablehaven were erupting in vibrant color. The breeze whispered of the woods, crisply clean air, and the freedom from school. After saving the world from demons, settling small matters of 'Knights of Dawn' business, and the hard work of catching up and completing the school year… It felt so nice that it was the start of summer vacation.

"Okay Hugo, aim me right for the deep end."

And what better way to celebrate the first day of Summer Vacation than to have Hugo fling you into the pool?

"FIRE!"

Seth was soon in the air, rising nearly enough to be level with the main house before gravity's tug brought him descending towards the pool. He wished he had a camera: the splash from his brief flight shot water several feet up and out. There was also the familiar shriek of prissy sister meeting gallons of parky pool water. Smirking to himself, Seth emerged from the depths, stroking up to the side of the pool. Sure enough, there was Kendra, sopping in her tee shirt, jean shorts, and sneakers. Apparently, she hadn't planned to get wet.

'YEEESS- I mean, whoops!' Seth snarked mentally.

Kendra glowered at the younger boy. "Seth…"

He gave his most innocent look that he could muster; which wasn't much, for he was enjoying the look on her face too much. "Uh… Kendra, watch out; splash zone?"

Kendra rolled her eyes, brushing wet strands of her hair away from her face. "Starting off the summer with a bang?"

"No, with a splash. The bang will have to wait for when my order of firecrackers arrive."

"Of course."

"Headed to the Gazebos for your date?" Seth teased, batting his eyelashes.

Kendra gave him a hard look. "It's not a date, dweeb. Bracken just wanted to show me-"

"Quit making excuses. You have a MAJOR crush on the dude," Seth remarked, flashing a cheeky grin at his sister before backstroking away from her fury.

"You're unbelievable…" she huffed, marching away.

"Don't go spreading your cooties to me when you kiss him; I have a perfect track record I'm not planning to break anytime soon!" Seth called after her. "AND NAME YOUR FIRST KID AFTER ME!"

Snickering, Seth contented himself with floating on his back, lazily watching various fairies flitting about. The distant rumble of a car reach his ears, catching his interest. Being a secret, magic preserve, visitors to Fablehaven were sparse. Clambering out of the pool, Seth made his way to the front of the house, utilizing the shade of the trees for stealth.

With the driveway coming into view, Seth could see the sleek Mercedes. With a cheer in his head when he spotted Vanessa, Warren and Tanu. Just as he was about to pop out and greet his cousin and friends, Seth became aware of the urgent atmosphere of the conversation being held between the Knights and his grandfather. Being the curious kid he was, Seth stayed hidden to eavesdrop.

"…and then there was a report of the town being stolen into another dimension; the ghost zone."

"Previously known as the 'Infinite Realms'… the very same one according to Agad."

"Any idea as to whom was responsible?"

"Many claimed it was the ghost king. Though by the sounds of it, it wasn't the original monarch of the realm if the stories have any truth to them. What was really interesting was the description of Phantom."

Phantom? What's a Phantom? Seth inched closer, trying to catch more of the conversation.

"-some incidents that depict him as a villain, the research we put in show him to be innocent."

"…hostile ghosts… the media dubbed him 'Inviso-Bill'," came the snarky tone from Warren.

Seth ducked deeper into the shadows when the group strode into the house. Phantom? Ghosts? Another dimension? Summer had only just started and Seth found something interesting. Due to his distance and the fact that the adults were using low voices, Seth could only get snatches of the conversation. Of course, he couldn't ask the grown ups (at least, not yet) his questions about what they were talking about, so he'll ask someone else.

Since the adults were in the study, Seth came into the house, changed into his camo shirt and jeans, and ducked back outside without being questioned. He barreled through several flower bushes, squishing them and sending fairies off in frantic flight. The fairies tittered and shook scolding fingers at the retreating form of the boy.

Finding the familiar path, Seth hurried through the woods to his desired destination.

"-no, it's definitely out of bounds."

"Are you blind? It was within the lines. That means I now have the advantage."

Grinning to himself, Seth stepped out onto a tennis court. Two satyrs, one having redder hair and longer horns than his companion, were glaring at each other over the net.

"Guys." Both satyrs turned to the new arrival. The redhead grinned at Seth. "Can you please tell Doren here that the ball was out of bounds?"

Doren huffed, pointing a finger at Newel. "You must be going blind. It was waaay inside the lines!"

Seth shrugged. "Sorry guys, I wasn't here for that so I can't really judge…"

"Naw, it's fine." Newel waved a hand in a careless manner. "So, what're you here for?"

"Actually, I wondered if you guys could fill in some blanks for me-"

"Let me guess: something big is happening, the grownups had a whisper conversation that you sort of heard when you shouldn't, and now you're itching for another adventure." Doren surmised, adopting a 'thinking hard' look with his chin resting between his pointer finger and thumb.

Newel clapped with hands together, rubbing them with anticipation. "What juicy rumors did you stumble across this time.

"Not sure. Does 'Phantom', ghost invasion, or 'Amityville' sound familiar to either of you?" Doren slowly shook his head in response.

"Hmm, it sounds like a bad movie plot to me," Newel chuckled.

Seth thought for a moment, "… How about 'Inviso-Bill'?"

Both satyrs eyes widen in surprise. "You mean the ghost kid?" Newel asked incredulously.

"Ghost kid?"

Doren's face showed the realization that he had. "Ah, now I get- Seth, I think you meant 'Amity Park'. And Phantom, or his full name Danny Phantom, is the protector of the town. The gossip about the ghost kid has been spreading quickly as of late."

"What can you tell me about him?" Seth asked, his interest piqued.

Newel shrugged. "Not much since it's fairly new. The main part that caught everybody's attention was the claim of him being a human who is part ghost."

Eyes grew three sizes too large. "Wha? How?!"

"No idea on the how. Maybe one of his parents was a ghost. All that is known is that he's around yours and Kendra's age and battles all sorts of foul creatures that try to harm the people. There was the rumor of the town getting sucked into another dimension, then this Danny Phantom kid brought it back. Also something about time travel, overthrowing corrupt governments in alternate realms and the like…"

An excited grin stretched across Seth's face. "So like a superhero… Okay, that sounds cool!"

"Figures he would be into something like that," both satyrs chuckled.

…~~~oOo~~~…

When Kendra reached the pond, she paused to take in the serenity of her surroundings. The clean, white gazebos contrasted against the lush greens of the hedges, trees, and shrubbery. Fairies flitted about, maintaining the exotic flora or the mini Eden. At the far end were a trio of dryads (hamadryads? She still found it difficult to differentiate between the two). Memories trickled in to the front of her thoughts; plenty good and bad. When her eyes fell on the boathouse, she blinked back tears from the memories of the naiadic housekeeper.

'Wish you were here Lena.'

As she approached closer to where she and Bracken agreed to meet, Kendra caught wind of an urgent, hushed conversation from behind a large Azalea bush. Creeping closer, Kendra could make out the voice of Bracken.

"Is her majesty sure that it was-"

"The unicorn Alstus saw her himself. She had somehow wormed away during the battle at Shoreless Isle. She claimed a stake close to human civilization." The female voice was laced with trepidation and seriousness.

"Well, this is most distressing."

"There is other news my lordship," a gravelly, masculine voice Kendra guessed to be an Astrid spoke up, "Her majesty, thanks to Agad's quick reaction, was able to identify the magic signature. Lord Bracken, we're dealing with the return of the Reality Gauntlet."

Even though nobody uttered a sound for a good moment, Kendra could practically hear the surprise from the revelation. "The Reality Gauntlet?!" Was Bracken's whispered response.

"An exact location could not be determined, but it was estimated that the Reality Gauntlet was used in the area of the Great Lakes. Quite similarly, that's within the same parameters of her influence has been spreading."

"The Knights of Dawn should be made aware of the situation-"

"Agad's already at the main house and Warren will be returning with a report…"

At this point, Kendra had backed off some distance. "Bracken?"

Bracken stepped out from behind the bush, accompanied by a human-sized fairy and an Astrid. Giving his permission for their leave, Bracken faced Kendra with a smile as both his companions left. "Kendra! How are you doing?"

Kendra could tell that his cheeriness was a bit forced. "Is everything alright?"

Bracken's face fell. He let out a sigh, "I wish that I could say yes… I really need to talk with your Grandfather."

The walk back to the main house was laced with tension. Kendra couldn't bring herself to break the silence. Not that it was necessary, for they reached the yard.

"Kendra!" Her brother called, waving at Kendra from the edge of the pool.

Kendra strode up to Seth. "I thought you were swimming?"

"Something big is going on. Warren and the others had just come back and were pretty insistent."

Kendra thought back to the pond. "I think you may be right. I overheard Bracken talking about something called the Reality Gauntlet."

Seth rose a questioning eyebrow, looking quite intrigued. "What I heard from Vanessa, Warren and Tanu, there's someone called Danny Phantom who fights evil ghosts and creatures. And he's half-ghost, half-human."

"How can someone be half-ghost?"

Seth shrugged. "Dunno. The Reality Gauntlet; it sounds like one of the artifacts like the Sands of Sanctity or the Font of Immortality. Could it also be a key to a evil ghost prison?"

"It could be a possibility…" Kendra then noticed Seth headed to the house, recognizing the look on his face. She caught up to her younger brother, giving him a knowing look. "You're going to eavesdrop, are you?"

A hum was his only acknowledgement of the statement. Their footsteps thudded from the wood porch. Just as Seth's fingers touched the doorknob, the door was pulled open, revealing Grandma Sorenson. Her expression said enough. "Your grandfather needs to speak to you."