The Jewels The Guardian and The Ghost.
By Kellie Fay
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all related characters belong to Butch Hartman. I don't make money out of this. If I did I wouldn't need to work for a living.
Chapter 2: Here we go again.
Sam was right of course. After a week of managing a full night sleep Tucker and Sam saw Danny dragging himself to school clearly exhausted.
"Danny? What happened to you?" Sam asked concerned.
Danny sighed. "It seems that Skulker hasn't heard about the benefits of a good nights sleep,"
he answered with a yawn.
"Or he doesn't care," Tucker added.
"Did you catch him?" Sam asked.
Danny nodded. "At about 3:30 this morning." He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I am so gonna crash and burn today in school."
"Good morning," A voice behind the three of them said cheerily. Sam, Danny and Tucker spun around to see Miss Daily standing behind them.
"Oh, hi Miss Daily," Danny said quickly. Well the adrenalin rush was good for him staying awake.
Before he could say anything else, however, the math teacher knelt down and looked Danny directly in the eye. "You look horrible, Danny. You'd better come with me right now and we'll see if we can't get you ready for class."
Before Sam or Tucker could protest, the math teacher took Danny, and guided him into the school leaving Sam and Tucker alone.
"What can she do ten minutes before class?" Tucker wondered.
Sam thought about the fact that she didn't have Danny alone that first day when even Danny admitted something happened to him. "I don't know," Sam answered moving towards the school. "But I'm going to find out." Tucker ran to catch up with her.
Miss Daily's classroom contained a connecting office. Considering how often they were in and out of rooms in the school they weren't supposed to be in, they knew where every window in the school lead into. When Sam found Miss Daily's office she saw that the window was open so Sam used Tucker as a step stool to look inside.
Unlike the rest of the teachers, Miss Daily seemed to prefer comfort over professionalism. True there was a desk, a full bookcase, and a file cabinet, but on the file cabinet lay a lace doily with a vase and fresh flowers. On the top of the bookcase rested a spider plant, and the chairs in the room were large and cushioned. Even the guest chair was comfortable. Miss Daily came into the room with Danny in tow, and plopped him down in the large soft chair. Danny looked as if he was being dragged to his doom. "Miss Daily I don't think -"
"That will be quite enough of that Danny," She said. When Danny tried to speak again she knelt down and looked deeply into his sky blue eyes. "Hush now," she said softly. "I didn't bring you in here to hear stories. I brought you in here to help you. Don't be afraid." She reached out and brushed back his jet black hair out of his eyes. "It's all right." Danny's expression slowly dropped from terrified to only confused.
Miss Daily continued to stroke Danny's hair as if he were a pet cat. "Just relax," she crooned gently. "Close your eyes."
Danny suddenly winced and tried to shake his head. "No," he muttered with a yawn. Sam standing on Tucker's back clutched nervously at the windowsill.
Miss Daily still stroking Danny's hair leaned over and whispered into his ear. "Don't fight it, Danny. Just give in. Your body, your mind and your spirit are in need of a great deal of rest that you have not been getting." She placed the palm of her hand on his forehead, and said, "I promise you Danny, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help. Forget your fears. Go to sleep."
Sam watched with morbid fascination as Danny's eyes drooped then closed, and with a little sigh his body relaxed completely, falling back against the cushioned chair.
Miss Daily smiled gently, and caressed Danny's forehead. "There now, that's better isn't it?" She asked the sleeping teen. Sam was torn between jumping through the window and demanding that she wake Danny, or thanking her for allowing Danny to get some much needed rest.
Sam watched Miss Daily place one hand on Danny's head, and one over his heart. "May one be as ten until my class is done." With that she rose to her feet and said, "And as much as I'd like to leave you here, I don't want anyone to get suspicious, so. This time the gestures didn't require her to touch Danny. She traced in the air in front of him and said, "Walk within the dream. Recall all you see and hear within until the waking world calls you back." She took Danny's hands in hers. Instantly Danny's eyes opened, and he sat up. Just like that first day of class, however, there was no real awareness in Danny's eyes.
It's exactly like that first day of class only Danny wasn't fighting it that time. That's why she didn't want me touching or talking to Danny it probably beaks the spell! Wait a minute Our math teacher can cast magic spells? Who is she?
Miss Daily led the bespelled Danny out of her office and into the classroom. Instantly Sam jumped from Tucker's back to the windowsill, and climbed in the open window. She then turned and helped Tucker pull himself in.
They jumped off the window together and Tucker rubbed his lower back. "Next time can we do this without the combat boots?" He asked annoyed.
"Sorry," Sam said embarrassed. "But Tucker, she cast some kind of spell on Danny. He's asleep, but she made him open his eyes and follow her like he's sleepwalking or something. Sam stared at the door to the classroom. She took in a deep breath. "I'm going in."
Tucker nodded, and took up a position slightly behind Sam on her left. Sam took in another breath, swallowed, then opened the door.
Miss Daily sat at her desk grading papers. Danny sat quietly at his desk staring into a book.
I'll lay ten bucks Danny never even turns a page, Sam thought to herself.
Miss Daily looked up, and smiled at the pair. "Do you always come into the school through a teacher's window Miss Manson?"
Tucker took a step back behind Sam. She, however, refused to be intimidated. "What did you do to Danny?" She demanded.
Miss Daily sighed sadly. "Danny is fine, Sam. He's just sleeping."
"Then why are his eyes open?" Sam asked, folding her arms over her chest.
Miss Daily rolled her eyes and made a small annoyed groan. "Okay it's more like at trance, but if you leave Danny alone, when the class is done he'll feel as if he got a full night's sleep. All you two have to do is not speak or touch Danny for the rest of the class. The trance is pretty fragile. If you try to get his attention it will break and I doubt he'll let me set it again."
"He didn't want you to set it now!" Sam replied outraged. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"
Just then the bell rang for class. "The rest of your class is coming Sam," Miss Daily answered. "I don't think you want to have this conversation right now do you?"
Sam glanced nervously at the door. She could hear the other kids coming. She looked back at Danny who was still staring blankly at the book, and then at her teacher. "No," Sam mumbled. Dejected she went to her seat between Tucker and Danny.
The other kids began to file into the room ignoring the three. Tucker grabbed onto Sam's arm and whispered. "Sam what are you waiting for? You heard her. The slightest distraction will snap Danny out of it!"
Sam looked at Danny. His blue eyes fixed on his notebook, clearly vacant but not darkened with stress. The worry dimple that formed often between his eyebrows was missing. He wasn't smiling, but at the same time he wasn't frowning or looking miserable either. In fact Sam thought he looked rather content.
"He looks so peaceful," Sam said sadly. "She said he's getting rest that he needs. I...I can't, you do it, Tuck."
Tucker glanced at Danny then sighed. A small frown crept into his expression. "Maybe after class," he said.
The class passed in a blur for Sam. She kept one eye on Danny at all times. Danny just kept listening and taking notes oblivious to his friends' concerns. He didn't even blink when the bell rang signaling the end of class. Miss Daily called out, "Miss Manson, Mr Foley, and Mr Fenton, please wait a moment." Once the rest of the kids were gone Miss Daily shut the door and nodded to Sam.
Ever so gently Sam touched Danny's hand. "Danny?" She called softly. "Danny wake up."
Danny blinked and shook his head. Suddenly his eyes went wide with fear. "Miss Daily No! Wait! He stopped confused then looked around. "What happened?"
Remembering what she witnessed Sam asked, "What do you remember?"
Danny frowned in thought. "The last thing I remember we were in her office. She said she just wanted me to get some rest. When she touched me...I...I don't know what happened. I just couldn't keep my eyes open."
"Miss Daily cast a spell on you to let you get some sleep." Sam Explained.
Danny glanced at Tucker who nodded emphatically. "It was exactly like last time, Danny. You were eyes open nobody home again."
"Again?" Danny frowned. "How could she do that to me?"
"Better question Sam asked worried. "Where did Miss Daily go? She was right here."
Tucker looked up and noticed a slip of paper on the desk nearest the door. "I didn't see her leave either, but she left us a pass again."
Danny and Sam looked at each other. They knew that they both had dozens of questions, but now wasn't the time for speculation. "We'd better get to class," Danny said.
Later at lunch Sam said, "You know guys, I've been thinking, and I've got a theory about Miss Daily."
Danny finished his milk, and gave Sam an odd look. "I'm listening."
Sam took a bite of watermelon from her fruit salad and chewed carefully before speaking again. "I think Miss Daily is a witch."
Tucker finished his sandwich and looked at his two friends. "You're not serious Sam,"
"I am totally serious!" Sam answered indignantly. "How else could she have cast a spell on Danny?"
"Okay so our new math teacher is a witch," Danny muttered finishing his lunch. "Why is she so interested in me?"
All three teens fell silent at that. There could only be one possible reason why a witch would be interested in Danny. None of them wanted to bring up that topic.
"We should avoid her," Sam said firmly.
"How can we? She's our first period teacher?" Tucker asked.
Sam nodded her face serious. "We can't cut class, but anytime we don't have her, we're going to have to keep our distance."
Danny sighed, but he didn't argue. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be harder than it sounds.
Coming Soon Chapter 3 More Magic!
Miss Daily moved from bush to bush plucking off leaf laden stems from several different plants. Danny could smell the fragrant lavender and sage wafting up as she pinched off the leaves and twigs. Around the circle of plants there were four candles at each compass point. There was a small fire in an grey stone dish in front of the eastern candle. Gathering the herbs she picked into a bundle Miss Daily lit the bundle and went about lighting each of the four candles. She then placed the bundle onto the stone dish.
Looks like she's going to do some magic now, Danny thought warily. Maybe I'd better back off.
"Actually friend, you'd be better off if you came into the circle with me." Miss Daily said startling him.
Danny thought about making a run for it, but she didn't seem very concerned with him. It was as if she didn't care if he joined her or not. She obviously knew he was watching the entire time and did nothing to stop him so she didn't care if he knew what she was doing. With a shrug and a sheepish grin he, turned visible, floated down and joined her in the circle. "Do I want to know why it's better if I'm in the circle?" He asked.
"I could tell you," The magical math teacher said wryly. "But it would spoil the surprise." When Danny began to worry that he was being tricked she laughed. "Believe me its nothing bad," she said to reassure him. "In fact you might even enjoy it."