Night Wind
By: Wilona Riva
Disclaimer: Butch Hartman does; I don't.
In Shadow
Silent instructions formed themselves in Phantom's mind as he led the sun-cursed ryu to his place at the foot of the Night Queen's throne. Her face, hidden in shadow, looked down upon them with an unreadable expression.
"Who are these you bring before me?" she asked quietly.
This whole room is encased in shadows, Maddie thought. What is to become of us?
A blinding flash of light to her left revealed her son at Vlad's side, holding an old-fashioned lantern. Still dressed in his jeans, t-shirt and sneakers, she noted. That boy. He bowed formally to the woman on the throne.
"Permission granted to speak, my little phantom," Lunaris' voice spoke out once more. Maddie jumped when she realized where she'd known the voice from.
"These are the ones who dare intrude upon Night Wind territory," he stated.
"DANNY!" Jack exclaimed in surprise at his son's tone. Bell hit him slightly in the shoulder and shook his head warningly.
"Thank you, my little phantom," the Queen of the Night Stars said, her starlit robe swirling about her feet. Turning her dark eyes to the hunters, she frowned.
"Explain yourselves," she commanded.
Vlad rose to his full height of 5'10. "We most certainly do not," he answered. "It is you who must do the explaining. You have kidnapped my daughter and godson, thrown us into prison when we've done nothing wrong and now you would force us to join your people. We will do nothing of the sort."
One of Phantom's hands began to glow with an emerald light. "No one dares talk to the Queen of the Night Stars in such a way," he hissed. "You will die, ryu."
"My little phantom," came the Night Queen's soft whisper. "I ask you not to defend my honor. The ryu was granted permission to explain his and the humans' presence in our land. Would you deny him this?"
Phantom shook his head negatively.
"Then be at peace," she told him, a bit of warning in her voice. "Or perhaps you are eager to taste the sun's warm rays once again?"
Maddie watched her son tremble in fear at that threat and remembered his week of shadow hopping. "Give me my son back and Vlad his daughter, and I promise we shall never return to this part of the Ghost Zone again."
Lunaris cocked her head in amazement at the mortal huntress. "Why should I entrust my little phantom to you, a mortal who has no claim to his blood?"
Phantom winced. Queen Lunaris was judging the human female's capabilities as a guardian.
"I gave birth to him," the female stated, ticking off the marks on her fingers. "I raised him, taught him how to defend himself against your kind, placed him in the best schools, gave him all the nourishment and love a growing boy needs."
"And what say you, hunter?" the Night Queen addressed the male at the huntress' side.
"We played games," Jack replied. "Lunaris, this is nonsense. Release Danny into our care; he is our son."
"And what say you, my little phantom?" she asked Danny.
Phantom raised his head. "I have no memories of my time in the sun-cursed lands," he admitted. "I feel no attachments to these mortals, but I feel the call of the last of my kind. I must go to him."
"In that case, let the humans and half-ryu enjoy the great feast we have prepared for them," the Queen of the Night Stars announced. A great table appeared at her command and the phantoms sprang forward to guide their guests to their seats.
"Half-ryu," Lunaris called out to Vlad, who turned around at the sound of her voice. "If I were to release Sunset to the four winds of the world above, she would die a most horrible death from the sol star. Do you wish this fate upon her?"
"No," Vlad admitted.
"Then here she will remain, where she has found her purpose."
"What about Daniel?"
"Phantom is Night Wind. I do not know this Daniel you speak of."
Vlad sullenly acquiesced to the ghost queen. "As you have commanded, my lady. Perhaps we can make some other arrangement for the boy."
"Go and eat," Lunaris told him amusingly. "Why waste all we have prepared for you?"
Clockwork raised his staff and vanished in a swirl of the hands of time. The Watcher gave a sharp cry.
"Time Master!"
L'orb and R'ye gripped one another with fear. Never had they'd seen the Time Master so angry. The Watcher looked at them and shook her red locks. She'd seen this all before and she'd live through it again as long as the cycle continued.
"LUNARIS!" the Time Master's bellow caused everyone to fall to the ground as he appeared when the ghostly clock struck midnight. "You will release Phantom to the humans. I. Placed. Him. There. For. A. Reason."
"Punctual, aren't you?" the Queen of the Night Stars deadpanned.
"Enough banter," Clockwork said, levelling his staff at the Queen of the Night Stars. "The Seventh will stand beside the first and the union between the two kingdoms consummated. Let the boy go."
"No," Lunaris said, lifting her head defiantly. "My little phantom is where he belongs."
"Then so mote it be," Clockwork said, raising his staff high and slamming the butt end into the sapphire floor. A strange ripple swirled throughout the room, followed by darkness.
Phantom opened his eyes and heard the sound of his own voice reading to Dusk, who was leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Are all humans like that?" Dusk asked him, when he reached a stopping point.
"Not always," the Night Lord said, noting Bell's appearance and nodded in greeting.
"And so we begin the cycle anew," Clockwork muttered, turning off the viewing portal. "Go, your parents will be looking for you soon, Jasmine."
"For infinity," the Watcher replied.
"To infinity if we must," the Time Master replied.
Perhaps some day in the far distant future, the kingdoms of the Ryu and Night Wind will become one. Danny Phantom may yet still arise to find the seventh of his kind. Oh, there is so much more to this story, dear reader, than I was given to tell to you. Alas, the Clockwork Chronos has denied me what we all desire to know. So be content in this knowledge until we meet again in Fallen Emerald.