Phantom Trainer: Thanks for the review

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ParisPhantom: Thanks

Pearl84: Thanks for the luck

Royalfuschia: Sorry you had to wait

Dphantom23: Sometimes I don't even know what Empusa/Sekhmet /C's mistress is up to.

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Jeanette9a: You will see.

VideoGamingFreak1213: :D

Alicia: I did try…sorta (I am a procrastinator)

Guests 1&2: I'm trying but remember I do have a life outside of FF.

History101: Thanks.

Midterms and Finals seemed to run together this semester SOOOOO sorry. I also think I made Danny sappy for a moment in this chapter but I ain't quite sure because I know I'd react the same way. Who knows? Tell me what you think please.

Warning: It becomes a little graphic in this chapter…just a little.

I have no ownership of Danny Phantom or its characters but I claim this plot and Empusa.

Chapter 12

Danny Phantom slowly opened his bright green eyes and let out a groan. It felt like Dash had just bashed him against the wall. He sat up, a hand up to his head to try to convince it to stop spinning. He took in his surrounding with a swift glance around. He was back in the throne room but nobody else was in sight. "Empusa!" he spat.

"That's not a nice way to say it."

He looked up at the woman who was now sitting languidly on the ornate chair. "Why'd you take me out of the cell? I thought you wanted both Vlad and me to rot in there."

"I never said that." She said studying her fingernails and holding them up to the torchlight. She then sighed bringing her hand back down "I have a question for you young man."

Danny was a bit taken aback but answered "I'm not answering anything."

She let out a little laugh "It isn't me that needs the answer…you do. I'm just the one who gets to make you think about it. She smiled a little smile and then looked into his eyes intently "Do you trust Vlad?"

The boy started to speak but she cut him off "You need the answer not me. I want you to think about it."

"You might as well have left me in the cell." The boy murmered.

"No, no I couldn't have. In fact you're free to go if you like."

"But…" he stopped speaking and thought to himself "that would mean leaving Plasmius with her." Then again was that really a bad thing, the man had after all tried to kill his father and steal his mother on repeated occasions? Why shouldn't he leave him here to…. He didn't even finish that thought. He knew internally why but his self conscious wouldn't allow him to even think of it. But the real answer that was repeatedly pushed down was: Vlad wouldn't leave him behind if he was alone and or sick. The answer he chose to hide behind was: It's the right thing to do.

"Any time now."

He looked up at Empusa with determined eyes "Let him go."

A wry smile lit up Empusa's face "Exactly what I was hoping you would say."

After Vlad had gained his composure he set himself to one of his best abilities; thinking. Mostly about how to get out and find Daniel; but he found that his mind wandered to fantasies where he imagined what he would do to Sekhmet if she tried to prevent their escape. He took in a deep breath and reset his thoughts. He decided he may as well get rid of the chains, perhaps it might jog some thought or another to arise. Once free he crossed over to where the teen had once been chained hoping that perhaps he might find a clue. There was nothing. He cursed and then out loud said "Sekhmet, if you can hear me know this, if you harmed him there is nothing on this world or any other world that will stop me from destroying you." The proclamation echoed around the cell making it seem like it was being confirmed.

Sekhmet smiled as she heard the vampire/ghost's statement, she shook her head slightly and then turned to Danny who was still staring at her "Your friend.."

"He is NOT my friend!"

The blonde rolled her eyes but continued "is in a very delicate situation." She crossed over to the plain box that sat just behind the throne "If he drinks too much blood he becomes a monster, if he drinks too little he becomes sick to the point of almost dying." She put one hand on the box and beckoned the hybrid to come over. "In this box is something that will take the vampire out of him."

"So why didn't you just give it to us when we first came?"

"Because your…acquaintance needed to pass a test. Did you know that he knew from early on that his acid would cut through the chains? He could've at any time cut his own first, and after drinking you dry would have been able to transport back to anyplace he would've liked."

Danny was horrified; he had thought that Vlad had just realized it could when the man had told him. "So why didn't he?" he asked softly.

"Three things: The first is the dreams."

"Dreams? What dreams?"

"If he wanted to have told you he would, it will suffice to say that they were a warning. The second is that in this room I made him experience pain and a man in pain usually has no desire to do anything. The most important thing however is that he TRUSTS you; nevertheless we need to see how far that trust goes."

Danny started to protest but a look from Sekhmet cut him off.

She turned and grabbed the box and held it before her "We don't have much time before he tries to teleport or does anything else that will exhaust his blood supply. And when that happens he could die or be very near to it."

"So what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to pay my vampire a visit."

"That won't make him very happy."

"Precisely."

Danny was holding the box and was sitting opposite of Vlad but was in his invisibility mode and was hidden from Vlad's detection by the woman's own presence. She had told him to wait there until she signaled to him; and when she did that he was to open the box and use it to 'heal' Plasmius. He had tried unsuccessfully to open it enough to peek at what was inside it but it seemed as if the box was nailed shut. He sighed and continued to watch for her signal.

Plasmius was lying on the cot trying to decide whether he had enough energy to teleport anywhere of if he didn't. "Do I want to die of starvation and fatigue, or die in a thousand tiny particles because I didn't have enough energy to teleport?" He thought grimly. He had gotten better since Daniel had given him some blood but he could feel his energy waning with every passing minute. He stiffened as he felt a familiar and unwelcomed presence. "Hello, Sekhmet." He said without bothering to sit up.

"Hello Vlad." The two locked eyes; red orbs against light blue.

"What did you do to Daniel?" he asked a firm calm in his voice.

"I took him."

"Obviously, but where did you take him?"

Sekhmet just smiled at the man and then sat down next to him and put a hand on his forehead, causing him to stiffen even further "Oh Vlad you are running out of energy, you won't even stand for fear of wasting it too much. Not even to confront me."

"If I felt it necessary I would, but you have changed the subject."

"True." She sighed and took her hand off his head and placed it in her lap "I let him go, giving him a choice to stay and save you or go back to his family."

Vlad laughed "Either the rat will play the hero or he'll run."

"And what do you think he chose?"

Plasmius fell silent as he considered the boy's personality and then gave himself a small smile "If he ran he would've ran because he would've brought those brats to come help or to make you think he ran. No, he would never leave another behind."

Empusa just smiled at him "Are you so sure?"

Vlad held back a growl at the woman and instead smiled "Most definitely."

"Congratulations, Vlad Plasmius. You have just defeated the guardian" She said quietly and then vanished.

Danny jumped when he heard Sekhmet mind-speak to him.

"Now you may open the box, he has passed my second test. Inside you will find the Vampirblut and will know what to do with what's inside. BUT the choice is yours if you will do what is needed."

Frowning at the vagueness of the instructions he opened the box and held back a gasp as he saw what lay inside. It was a long dagger; about as long as his forearm, pure black all the way through. Inscribed in red on the thin but hard blade was a name: Vlad Dracul. But what the heck was he supposed to do with it? Instantly his mind flashed back to when he and Sam had been talking about vampires one day after school, she had been showing him one of her favorite books.

"It says here in this book that the only way to get rid of a vampire is to stab them through the heart."

His mind reeled; stab Vlad? "Oh God." He looked at the dagger and over at Plasmius and back to the Vampirblut. He had to open it and he had a feeling that he was not supposed to let Plasmius see it until… He closed the box again and regained visibility causing Plasmius to look up.

"Daniel! Are you all right?"

The teen glanced down at the box for a brief moment and then back up at Vlad "Yeah."

The man's gaze also went to the box "Is that the Vampirblut?"

"Yeah" the boy said quietly.

The vampire/ghost came over and stood in front of Daniel and put a gloved hand on his shoulder "Let's see it then."

Danny swallowed and put his hand on top of the lid and then let it drop back to his side "I can't." But he had to otherwise Vlad would be a vampire forever; his intuition told him that it wouldn't kill Vlad but…

Vlad's voice went quiet too "You can't what, little badger?"

The younger hybrid looked into the older hybrid's eyes and asked in a very quiet voice "Do you trust me Vlad?"

The black-haired ghost was a bit taken aback "Wha- why?"

"DO YOU TRUST ME?!" the teen screamed close to tears not sure if he would be able to carry through.

Going silent for a minute the man thought about it and then nodded.

Danny let out a small sigh but his body was shaking "I'm so sorry Vlad but I have to." The man frowned in confusion as the boy opened the box's lid slowly and then, still keeping what it was away from Vlad's sight, grasped his white gloved hand around the Vampirblut's pommel and lifted it slightly.

Vlad came around the box to see what it was; then the half-ghost boy struck causing the older half-ghost to open his eyes wide in shock as the dagger bit through cloth and flesh.

Danny almost gagged as he felt the blade slide between the man's ribs and deep into Vlad's heart. It felt as if the dagger was pulling, causing it to go even deeper in the vampire's flesh.

He could feel the blade slide along his ribs cutting through skin, sinew, and muscle; he felt it hit his heart. Screaming he fell to his knees and then to his side; Daniel and the dagger going down with him. He suddenly felt as if something was sucking life out of him and he looked at the dagger; which was pulsing with black waves as it absorbed…blood. He was not bleeding anywhere out of the wound but into the dagger.

Danny saw it too and try as he might he could not let go of it nor could he draw it out he let out a yell of frustration and tried with all of his might to pull it out with no results. He stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked into the Sekhmet's eyes. They were sad but had resolve in them.

"The hardest part of a curse is not being able to endure it but breaking it." She said softly and looked to where Vlad was gasping in pain. She let a small smile show through "As a goddess I am the most happiest when I have fewer subjects. He is the first in a very long time to pass both tests and therefore be able to regain his human standing…mostly human in his case" She then crossed over to Plasmius and knelt down putting his head in her lap and touched her forehead to his "You were cursed because of your lack of trust, and now your trust will set you free." She looked up at Danny, her head still touching Vlad's and said "You can pull out the dagger whenever now, but be warned Phantom, pull it too early and some vampire will remain inside of him.

Danny nodded and looked at Vlad's face, which was drawn in intense pain, more accurately into the man's red eyes; looking for affirmation from the man.

Vlad forced himself to meet the younger hybrid's green gaze; he knew Daniel wanted Vlad to tell him when to pull it out but he could feel himself slipping away. He swallowed trying to keep conscious but he shook his head and let himself fall into the deep black welcoming the retreat from pain.

Once again almost gagging at the feel of the blade sliding amongst flesh, Danny pulled the dagger out; hoping against hope that he did not pull it too early. He was about to throw the knife out of sight when something caught his eye; the blade now read Vlad Plasmius.

"It records the last vampire that it took." Empusa said taking the dagger away and wiping the blood off of it "Your friend will need some help, the transition from vampire back to normal can be as difficult as the first change. Take him home your quest is done. Take the portal."

"What portal?" Danny snapped, he was tired and just wanted to sleep.

She gave him a wry smile "The one that just opened behind you."

Nodding, he dragged the unconscious man to it and hopped in taking the older hybrid with. The portal vanished out of existence leaving Sekhmet, Goddess of Vampires, alone once again.

There will be one more chapter after this, I am once again sooooo Sorry that this took forever to get up. I don't know when the next one will be up but hopefully I can force myself to type fast ;) P&H