Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom
Note: To the recent guest reviewer, that's right! Vallen is the genderbent version of Valerie in this story and I'm considering adding some Gray-Ghost romance into the mix. You can find drawings of him on my Deviantart "SecretSigil" or my tumblr "The Soul's Pulse" along with the rest of my genderbent cast, including someone I've been excited to bring back in this very chapter! Not every character has been genderbent of course, but most of the main younger members of the cast have been so things still make sense.
Chapter 4: Defiance
Danielle's POV
I actually didn't mean to fall asleep on the way to Vlad's place. I was faking it while leaning against the cool glass window, hoping to overhear something that might tip me off to what he's up to. But when my brother let me rest my head on his lap like he had done so many times when I was little, I drifted off to sleep before I could catch myself.
I heard the first part of their conversation though, too bad I've already heard all of those things before so that was a bust. I had a plan though. Oh yeah, Vlad's not the only sneaky person around here because I was going to head back to our lab at home while he's busy showing Jace around. Jace even agreed to distract him even though he was worried about me gallivanting off into the Ghost Zone by myself to figure out what sort of lair this Banshee has even if I'm not going to go there to fight her, not yet at least.
To be fair, I know I could have waited for another chance to convince Vlad to let me go with him but I didn't want to risk him locking me out of his ghost portal. Luckily, Jace was already on my side so if Vlad tried to use him as an excuse for me to stay so he doesn't freak out over me disappearing from my room Vlad was sorely mistaken. Either way, after Jace carried me to my room and Vlad left to 'attend to some business matters,' I waited until the coast was clear before I put my own brilliant plan into action...
Grabbing the pillows off the bed, I arranged them so it looked like I was still sleeping there and pulled the blankets up over them so they'd have to come closer to see it wasn't me. I knew it was childish and wasn't about to fool Vlad in the slightest, but I did it anyway and jotted down a quick note for him that I was positive he'd find. I hated going behind his back like this, but I was only doing this since he's the one purposefully keeping me out of the loop and treating me like the same scared little girl I was before when Freakshow tried to brainwash me.
But I'm not.
There are still plenty of things I could do to help stop the Banshee. And I was going to prove that to him one way or another whether Vlad liked it or not! So once everything was ready and I was positive he wasn't close enough to sense me I transformed. I already texted Sam and Trish to let them know what was going on just in case and told them not to tell Vlad where I had gone unless they had to since I left a note for him. Normally I would have snuck over to one of their houses to make a battle plan beforehand but I didn't have that much time; plus it would have taken forever to keep writing everything down for them to get my point across.
I was a little nervous about going to the Ghost Zone, but I flew right back towards Fenton Works anyway because that was the only way to keep Vlad from finding out right away that I was gone. Thankfully Vlad convinced mom and dad to go out on patrol tonight which meant I had full access to our portal. Before heading inside though, I needed to grab a few things.
I haven't used this invention yet personally but I had a feeling the Fenton Ghost Peeler might come in handy separating my voice from the Banshee by force if I had to since it technically isn't part of her at all. I took a thermos too just in case I had to trap her in there indefinitely so she couldn't steal another girl's voice ever again. At least, that was my back up plan since I honestly don't know how long ghosts CAN stay trapped inside a Fenton thermos since I usually release them back into the Ghost Zone as soon as I get home.
If nothing else, I wanted to show Vlad that I'm not a kid anymore! I know what the Banshee is now and I'm prepared for her tricks so all that's left for me to do is go in there, find her, then kick her ass. She just caught me off guard before, that's all. It could have happened to anyone, even Vlad. I'm not going to wallow in self-pity anymore. No, I'm going to make sure she'll regret ever messing with me.
But more than that I wanted to show Vlad that even though I still want him to be part of my life and for us to work together as a team, I don't want him to keep rushing over to fix all of my mistakes otherwise I'll never get any stronger. I'm not the naive girl I was when we first met, I am Dani Phantom damn it! And Vlad's right about one thing, these ghosts need to learn the hard way that if they continue to screw around with me or my town I'm not going to hold back or stop myself from taking the fight to them...
Not anymore.
Now, if I were a Banshee, what sort of spooky lair would I have? In my dream, there was lots of water so maybe something that looks like a pond or a lake? Once I actually made it into the Ghost Zone I knew I had to stay alert and out of sight since I had a lot of enemies here.
I do have a couple of allies now though, Cujo and Wulf, but sadly I wasn't sure that they would be able to really help me in this particular situation. I've been learning Esperanto to talk to Wulf instead of relying on Trish to translate what little she knows to something somewhat understandable, however, since I couldn't talk at all right now that would only make us harder to understand each other. Not to be rude either, but he might not even know how to read for all I know. As for Cujo, he's a good dog but if I couldn't give him any instructions either or a scent to follow that wasn't going to do me any good either.
Which means this time I was pretty much on my own.
Thankfully I knew which places to avoid, and honestly, some of those places were ones that I've only heard about. Like Walker's prison for instance which thankfully I've never been to. In fact, I think the first time I ever saw the Ghost Zone was when that nerdy ghost named Sasha Poindexter overshadowed my body and trapped me in her monochrome copy of Casper High from back in the '50s. Looking back it makes me wonder if the other people I saw were really there or they were just manifestations of her former tormentors she subconsciously created since she was 'trapped' in those painful memories of the past? Who knows.
Ghosts are just weird sometimes...
All that aside, I didn't want to stick around in one place for too long since Vlad was bound to notice I was gone eventually so since she's an older type of ghost with her own folklore and everything I set off for that section of the Ghost Zone where most of the medieval-like stuff was like the Fright Knight's lair. I'll admit though that stealing his sword that was really stupid of me. I shouldn't have but I guess I panicked when Diana's haunted house room we had to set up for Mr. Lancer to keep us out of detention was so much better than mine. Then again, she probably hired someone to set it up for her since Diana isn't THAT creative.
Anyways, I doubt the Fright Knight would accept an apology from me at this point given how I sent him packing back to the Ghost Zone, but still, I couldn't help thinking about it for some reason as I passed by his lair. Getting back on top though there had to be something around here that could lead me to the Banshee's lair. Most of the islands all looked like they had bits and pieces of the ruins of some long lost civilization floating around and that's when I spotted another castle that was a lot different from the Fright Knight's. This one had tall dark spires, a mote, was surrounded by dead trees, and honestly it looked more like a large cathedral.
Curious, I flew closer and suddenly had this odd sensation that it was way too quiet here, too still. There was even a lake I thought might be worth checking out since there was barely a single ripple on the surface; although this one probably had anything to do with the Banshee. She seemed more like the solitary type unless she's showing off her latest stolen voice or looking for a new victim.
Landing beside the lake I started floating around the perimeter, searching for anything even remotely mystical about it when an arrow suddenly whistled past my cheek and embedded itself in a nearby tree. I managed to dodge the next volley of arrows by ducking behind the trees. Since I didn't have time to deal with this idiot I was about to call it quits and leave when another ghost appeared, this time with a huge ax, who chopped down the tree behind me in one fell swoop and it nearly crashed on top of me and one of the branches scratched my face on the way down. I just barely had enough time to roll out of the way too.
Now, normally I'd be slinging witty insults at them while we fought, but I quickly had to remind myself I couldn't. It kind of sucked the fun out of it really. Either way, I had already overstaying my welcome so once I got enough distance between myself and those two ghosts, I smirked, waved at them as if trying to say goodbye and then pulled the Fenton thermos off of my belt. I figured that if I caught them that would at least get them off my back long enough to get out of here.
But unfortunately when I tried to activate it, it wouldn't work!
What the-? Come on you stupid thing, turn on already! Fiddling with it and hitting the button really hard with my fist as if doing that would magically make it work, I didn't notice that the archer was aiming an arrow right at me with a net attached to it. He was just about to shoot when-
"W-what is the meaning of this? Lower your weapons this instant! Um, right! That is no way to treat a lady!" A voice suddenly cried out from nearby and my head snapped up.
Confused, I looked up and saw the familiar gaze of that dragon-ghost I fought ages ago who owned an enchanted arm-brace with a crystal eye on it that let him literally turn into a dragon, or anyone else who wore it actually if they get too emotional. Off the top of my head I couldn't remember his name since Sam only looked it up once when we were trying to figure out more about the random dragon that kept appearing all over the place, but since he was obviously helping me right now I didn't really care. For the time being he didn't seem like an enemy so I waited to see what the other two would do in response to his orders.
Once they saw him approaching us, both ghosts bowed their heads low and knelt down on one knee to show him their respect. Neither of them said anything to him but they patiently waited for him to give them further orders and meanwhile I was busy wiping some ectoplasmic blood off my cheek. I wasn't too worried though since it wasn't too deep and would be healed up as good as new by the time I made it back to Vlad's place.
Meanwhile, my rescuer shifted nervously in front of his subjects but after shooting me another curious glance and turning around to look at the castle, he mustered up his courage and ordered more confidently. "Go. I'll take care of this intruder myself so return to your posts at once!" Exchanging looks, the guards bowed their heads and the archer shot me one last glare before flying off to follow the other one back to the front gates.
I sighed in relief when they left but I was even more surprised when the ghostly prince who rescued me blushed and offered me his hand. "Are you alright milady? Forgive me, my brother Prince Aragon does not take kindly to unwelcome guests no matter the reason. But when I saw the guards attack you I couldn't stand to see them harm a young lady such as yourself. Especially without due cause. After all, you certainly don't look that dangerous. Besides, clearly, you must not know who rules this realm otherwise you never would have risked-"
Blinking a few times after I let go of his hand and started brushing the dust off of my suit, he finally recognized my insignia and gasped. "Wait, I know you! You are Dani Phantom, are you not? I didn't recognize you at first since your hair is much shorter now. N-not that that's a bad thing! Oh, what am I saying...?"
I nodded but I didn't want to risk him finding out I couldn't respond to his comments so I smiled, waved, and was about to leave this freaky place before something else happened when he grabbed my arm and exclaimed. "Please wait, since you're already here I-I wish to apologize to you, my lady. When we first met my actions were quite unseemly, especially for a second prince, and I humbly beg your forgiveness. At the time I was having great difficulty controlling my powers you see and was rather irritated about it but that is no excuse for my barbaric and destructive behavior though..."
I frowned at him a little and tried pulling my arm away more insistently but his grip was like iron. I mean he wasn't being unfriendly or anything but I was starting to get antsy because I really had to get back home before Vlad freaked out about me coming here by myself in this condition. Thankfully my princely savior was starting to realize that holding me back only made him seem like more of a threat to me so he finally let go of me.
Bowing to me once again, he blushed. "Ah, that's right. Where are my manners? I completely forgot to introduce myself. I am Prince Dorian, second prince of this realm. And if I may be so bold, might I ask what you are doing here? It's dangerous to venture out alone, even for a ghost of your caliber."
Giving him a skeptical look, I decided to trust him since he seemed nice enough and this was as good a chance as any for me to ask a friendly resident of the Ghost Zone if he happened to know anything about the Banshee. After all this, it wasn't going to get any easier for me to find a ghost here that doesn't want to rip my head off. Of course, I'm not afraid to knock a few heads around if I have to to get some answers, hell I might even go as far as to pay Skulker's lair a visit as a last resort to get some information out of him. I figured that'd be my safest bet ironically since Skulker wasn't allowed to hunt anymore thanks to Vlad's threats to reduce him to a pile of scrap metal.
After making up my mind, I glanced around until I spotted one of the arrows that archer left behind and knelt down to use it to write in the dirt. Puzzled, Dorian moved so he was standing behind me and read what I was writing down aloud. "A ghost stole my voice and I came here to get it back. Do you know anything about a banshee living in the area?"
His eyes widening in fearful recognition, Dorian blurted out. "The Banshee?! Yes, I have heard of her! That vile witch has stolen the voice of many a fair maiden even back when my brother and I were still alive. Aragon was furious when she did the very same thing to his favorite minstrel a few hundred years ago. Pray tell, what do you wish to know about her? Please my lady, if you'll allow me to I'd like to make amends to you for the trouble I caused when last we met and to help you in any way I can before this opportunity slips away."
Relieved that Dorian actually did know something about the ghost I was looking for and because he seemed very earnest about helping, I wiped away the other words and wrote. 'Can you tell me where she is?'
Frowning he explained. "I can, but you must not underestimate her Lady Phantom for her lair is full of traps to ensnare any ghost who dares venture there. Some say she even raises Kelpies who patrol the waters there. They are dark fae creatures native to Ireland who lure humans onto their backs then drown them and devour all but the liver. They may not be able to do the same here obviously since ghosts cannot satisfy their hunger, but they're still dangerous all the same. Then let's not forget that her voice can also lure you into the darkness and most who fall under her spell are never seen again..."
I was touched by how concerned Dorian was about me even though I hardly knew the guy, so to reassure him I placed a hand on his shoulder and wrote. 'Thanks for the warning. That's all I needed to know. Don't worry, I have friends who can help me deal with them. You've been a big help.'
Beaming at me Dorian took my hand in his and kissed the top lightly in a very princely manner. "I am glad of it! I only wish I could do more for you but alas...I must be going before I am missed in court. I pray for your safe travels my lady and I will make sure the guards do not trouble you again on your way out of our realm. With any luck, they're still too busy preparing for the Hunt as we speak. It's my brother's favorite pass time although it appalls me how needlessly cruel he is to his prey." scowling to himself, he pulled his hand away after helping me to my feet then pointed towards one of the islands in the distance that looked like part of a broken bridge.
"Beyond that bridge you will find islands that are home to many varieties of aquatic ghosts. Eventually, you may come across a few ice ones as well; but take heed, if you do see anything like that it means that you've traveled too far. At any rate, I trust you can make your way back to the real world on your own?" Dorian asked, smiling warmly at me.
I nodded, smiling back at him since it was kind of cute the way he was acting all sweet and charming like the kind of prince you'd see in a fairytale with a heart of gold. After that I gave Dorian a friendly hug before pulling away again, my heart feeling lighter because despite the near disaster I almost had when those other ghosts cornered me, I actually managed to find what exactly I was looking for which was a welcome change. Now that I had some idea of where we needed to go and learned about a few of the traps the Banshee might have waiting for us I was a lot more confident about getting my voice back than I was before.
And so with that, I made my way back to the Fright Knight's lair since I already knew how to get to the Fenton portal from there. Unfortunately, I was so giddy about my successful trip here I was totally oblivious to the other pair of eyes watching me leave, hidden in the shadows of the dead forest as I left Dorian's kingdom far behind me...
I was just about to pass over the Fright Knight's lair when I felt a sudden chill and stopped in my tracks. It's like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over my head and the frigid water was trailing down my spine, filling me with dread. Whatever or whoever I had just sensed was dangerous, that much I knew, and I didn't want to stick around to find out who was radiating such a hostile aura. It was probably one of my enemy's who spotted me flying this way so I looked around wildly as I sped through the Ghost Zone to reach my parents portal and that's when I saw him...
Vlad, he was waiting for me in front of the portal with an angry look on his face, arms crossed. I winced because now I knew that HE was the one radiating that dangerous aura because Vlad looked absolutely livid. And even if I had something to say in my defense, I couldn't so as I slowly approached him I made sure to keep my head held up high because let's face it, I had as good of a reason to be here as he did since I wanted to get my voice back just as much. No matter what, I refused to let him make me feel guilty about taking the initiative since he's usually happy when I do that.
"That childish little stunt you pulled may fool your parents Danielle, but I for one am very disappointed in you. Surely you can do better than that? So unless you weren't actually TRYING to hide what you were up to, then you have some explaining to do my dear. If not to me, then to your brother. He's the one who found the note after we finished our tour of the mansion and came to see if you were feeling up for having some dessert but you were nowhere to be seen." Vlad frowned but I just glared back at him stubbornly.
Seriously? You're really going to try to play the 'disappointed' parent card on me when I know damn well you were probably planning on doing the same thing yourself? Too bad for you, Jace was in on it so it's no use trying to use him as an excuse for me to wait in my room like a good little girl either. I thought to myself floating over to the portal with a sigh and opened it.
Or, well, I was about to anyway when Vlad grabbed my wrist and made me look at him, his solid red eyes surveying my face until it fell on the scratch on my cheek which he reached up to stroke gently with his thumb. Some of his anger melted away once Vlad knew I was safe but it didn't leave him completely. After that Vlad pulled me into his arms, his warmth enveloping me, but I didn't hug him back because I, on the other hand, was kinda pissed.
I know for a damn fact that the only way Vlad could have gotten here ahead of me is if he already knew where the entrance to the Fenton portal was on this side. That meant he's been keeping tabs on me and knew exactly where I would be once I tried to come back home since I obviously wouldn't be able to get in through his portal if he locked it. But even though ours is still acting up and opening randomly, my dad installed a genetic lock on the portal's controls a while ago which helped reduce how often it happened at least...
So unless Vlad hacked into our security system and added his genetic signature to it too or bypassed it completely, he shouldn't be here. Not that it mattered anyway because now I had the information he needed about our enemy so I figured we might as well go back to the original plan of beating the Banshee now that we're together again.
Pulling his arms off of me, I grabbed his hand and even though it took a while to write it all out I told him. 'I found out where the Banshee's lair is and I know what some of her tricks might be. If we go there now we might be able to catch her off guard. Jace should be fine on his own for a few hours since I gave him one of our parents weapons from home to protect himself with. I'm sorry I tricked you, but I knew that if I didn't do something fast I had a feeling you were going to leave me behind and I didn't want that. I trust you, but I want us to do this together.'
Wrapping his fingers around mine once I finished writing all that down with mine, Vlad looked into my eyes and shook his head, saying. "No, not tonight. It's true that I wanted to take care of this myself, but since you put yourself at risk to get ahead of me I think it's best that we return home to discuss the matter further. You can tell me what you found once we get there."
I opened my mouth to argue with him when all of a sudden I felt a familiar whooshing sensation as Vlad teleported us away from the Fenton portal and back to his own in less than two minutes. I felt a bit dizzy from the abruptness of it all but it was over before I could do anything about it. It saved us a longer trip back I guess, however, I didn't like the fact that Vlad didn't even give me a choice.
I really hate it when he pulls this kind of shit but once we crossed the threshold into his laboratory, Vlad began with a hallow laugh. "It serves me right for thinking I could contain you, my dear. You are, after all, like a force of nature when you put your mind to something. I do admire that, I do, but even so...this should not have happened. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't trust me Danielle or have to hide the truth from me like you do around your parents. And I can't stand the thought of you seeing me as your enemy again."
Straightening up, Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose after changing back to his human form and told me to go to my room and wait for him while he recomposed himself. I could tell he was trying to resist the urge to lecture me so I hastily nodded and took his advice, running up the stairs as fast as I could to give him some breathing room after changing back too. After all, I had already pushed my luck enough as it is with him tonight when Vlad had every right to be angry with me.
I wasn't exactly sure what was going on with him, but at the last second, right before the door to the lab closed behind me, I could have sworn I heard Vlad tell himself in a slightly shaken voice. "Just a little longer Vladimir, and then this will all be over. She'll be safe once I have everything I need and then there won't be any ghost foolish enough to ignore our power. Once they're finally put in their place, this will stop happening. It has to..."
