It was another peaceful night as the ghostly tour bus was making its way to the next city. Inside the bus, Danielle was fast asleep, dead to the world, which allowed Danny and Ember to have some time to themselves.

The two were currently in Ember's room in the middle of a heavy make-out session. Danny was wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants, while Ember was wearing just a tank top and a pair of panties as she straddled his pelvis. While they made out, Ember's hands roamed over Danny's muscular chest and through his raven locks, while his explored her wide hips and plush rear, occasionally giving them a squeeze and earning moans from the rock diva. Deepening the kiss, Danny could feel Ember's generous bust pressed against his chest. She wasn't as big as Valerie, but Danny could tell she was definitely bigger than Sam and Paulina.

Hay, he's a hormonal sixteen-year-old boy, he's going to notice these kinds of things. Sue him.

Eventually they separated so Danny could breath. They then stared at each other, their eyes filled with so much love and passion for each other.

"I still can't believe what you did to Sam," said Danny with a slight grin, showing he was more amused than anything. "And that Irish accent…"

Ember glanced away at the mention of that. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it, Baby-Pop. I always hated my accent growing up since the other kids would just make fun of me for it and it reminded me of my folks, so you can imagine how happy I was when I finally learned how to talk normal."

"…I was actually going to say that I found your accent really sexy."

That caused the ghost girl to blush brightly, hearing the sincerity in Danny's voice. "I…I g-guess I c-could break it out f-for you from t-time t-to t-time, if y-you really w-want."

A slight chuckle came from Danny as he pulled Ember down to him, where he then kissed her on the temple and held her close before he spoke softly. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Ember, and I won't force you to."

"…Ye be makin' it harder to refuse, Baby-Pop, ye know that?" replied Ember, her Irish accent back at the forefront.

Another laugh escaped the Halfa before he reached for the comforter and pulled it over them. They soon relaxed into a peaceful sleep.

-:-

The next morning…

"You know what name is really stupid?" questioned Danielle out of nowhere.

Danny and Ember glanced at each other. The three of them were having a nice breakfast as they waited for the bus to arrive at its next destination and then this. Looking back at the ghostling, they decided to indulge her thought process.

"What name would that be, Danielle?" asked Danny.

"Ellie. It's a really girly sounding name."

"Well it is a short form for the name Eleanor," replied the older Halfa.

"So it's an old person name."

"Where did you even hear that name, Mini-Pop?"

"Someone said it on TV and I don't know why, but it really got under my skin when I heard it," explained Danielle with a frown.

The teens were starting to worry for the little one's mental state. Maybe they could have Jazz talk to her when they get home. In the meantime, it was time to focus on where they were going next.

"So Ember, where are we heading to?"

The fiery-haired girl gave off a grin as she pointed out the window. "See for yourself, Baby-Pop~"

Turning to where Ember was pointing, Danny's eyes widened upon seeing the sight, although Danielle was confused for the most part.

"Doesn't look like much. It's all ruined."

It was Danny's turn to grin as he glanced down at his little clone. "That's because those are ruins, Danielle."

"Welcome to Athens."

-:-

The scent of the ocean breeze filled the air as Danny looked out the window of their hotel room, taking in the sites of the city. He couldn't believe that he was in Athens of all places.

"I didn't think you'd be this excited, Baby-Pop," said Ember with an amused smirk.

This earned her a laugh from the boy. "I recently found an interest in Greek mythology not too long ago, so I'm looking forward to exploring the city later. Besides, Ancient Greece has a connection to astrology and astronomy, which is also up my alley."

"Well I'm glad you'll be able to delve into your interests while we're here, Baby-Pop," replied Ember as she walked over to Danny and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"So what sort of places will we be seeing while we're here?" asked Danielle, walking up to her current guardians.

"A few of the landmarks we'll be seeing are on the Acropolis, like the Theatre of Dionysus, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike, and most importantly the Parthenon. Outside of the Acropolis we can visit the Arch of Hadrian, the National Archaeological Museum…"

"And the Odeon of Herodes Atticus!" added Ember with a smirk. "I managed to book my concert there for the Athens Festival that's going on right now."

"A festival? I want to go! Can we?! Can we, please?!" asked Danielle, bouncing in excitement.

Said excitement caused Ember to giggle while Danny shook his head in amusement.

"Yes, we'll go, Danielle, but not right now. We have plenty of time while we're here since the festival lasts until October," explained Danny, ruffling the ghostling's hair when she pouted. "In the meantime we'll head to the museum to see the Greek artifacts they have and you can learn about Greek mythology in the process."

"I bet the festival would be more fun."

"Trust me, you'll enjoy it."

-:-

"Now Danielle, once we're inside you'll see some things that might freak you out, but I want you to remain calm and don't make a scene, understand?"

The little one was confused as they entered the museum, but soon realized what Danny meant when they made their way to the first of many, many rooms that held the museum's collection of sculptures.

"Ew! Why are they naked?!" exclaimed Danielle as she latched onto Ember in the hopes that the older girl would protect her.

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration while Ember ran her hand through the ghostling's hair in an attempt to calm her.

"That's how things were in Ancient Greece, Danielle," replied Danny, trying to be patient. "Now come on. There's a lot to see while we're here."

Making their way through the gallery, one of the first sculptures they stopped at was of a man looking ready to throw something.

"So who's this guy, Baby-Pop?"

"This is the Artemision Bronze and no one knows who it's supposed to be," explained Danny, before pointing at the statue's hand. "See how it looks like he should be holding something?"

"Yeah?"

"Well whatever he was holding was missing when the statue was discovered, so some people speculate that he might have held a thunderbolt, making this Zeus, while others think he held a trident, making him Poseidon."

"Who are those guys?" asked Danielle, looking towards Danny.

"Zeus was the king of gods and the god of thunder and lightning, while Poseidon, his brother, was the god of the sea. They…weren't very good people," said Danny with a grimace.

"That's putting it mildly," muttered Ember, knowing the stories of these two.

The trio then moved onto the next sculpture, one of a beautiful woman, a goat man, and a flying baby.

"Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, her son Eros, and Pan the god of the wild," stated Danny as he pointed at each one. "In some stories, Pan is also the son of Aphrodite, which would explain why he's part of this sculpture."

"How come he's half goat, though?" asked the ghostling.

'Because Aphrodite was just as much of a whore as Zeus was,' thought Ember, before she said aloud. "Same answer as before, Mini-Pop; that's how things were in Ancient Greece."

Next on the little museum tour was a marble statue of man with grapes on his head while being accompanied by Pan.

"Who wears grapes as a hat?" questioned Danielle, finding this statue silly.

"This would be Dionysus. He was the god of wine and really loved to party," replied Danny.

"Basically he was a big drunk," added Ember with a smirk. She then turned to her Baby-Pop. "I bet you could outdrink him."

The boy just rolled his eyes, though. "Yeah, because I could totally outdrink the god who literally drinks wine like it's water."

"Your sarcasm has been noted, Baby-Pop~"

Moving on to another sculpture, Danielle's eyes widened slightly when she saw the woman before them.

"Wow, she's really pretty."

"This is Athena. She's the goddess of wisdom and the namesake for the city of Athens," explained Danny. "This particular statue is called Varvakeion Athena and it is a very faithful reproduction of the Athena Parthenos, which was lost to time."

"She looks ready to kick butt," added the little one.

"Well aside from being the goddess of wisdom, Athena was also the goddess of warfare. She was a warrior woman who wouldn't back down to anyone."

"Like Ember!"

The rock diva grinned at Mini-Pop's words. It wasn't every day that you get compared to a goddess.

Danny chuckled in agreement before he frowned looking at the statue. "While Athena was definitely someone you didn't want to mess with, there was at least one person who despised her. Her brother, Ares."

Upon hearing the name, the ghostling tilted her head in confusion while it was the rock diva's turn to frown.

"Ares, huh? He's the war god, right?" she questioned.

"Right. Whereas Athena focused more on military strategy and generalship, Ares was all about brutality and bloodlust. It's because of this that Ares wasn't well liked amongst the Greeks as Athena was."

Now Danielle was the one frowning. "So he was basically jealous of his sister?"

"Pretty much," replied Danny with a slight grin. Leave it to Danielle to make things sound simple.

The trio then went on to see the rest of the sculptures as well as the other exhibits of the museum, after which it was time to leave…but not before they stopped at the gift shop where Danielle got a plushy of an owl dressed in Greek armor.

-:-

Meanwhile, in the Ghost Zone in a certain ancient realm, a tall blue-skinned woman with four arms and dressed in armor looked out into the distance. Her pure red eyes narrowed in thought as her long, flaming magenta hair flickered.

"Lady Pandora? Is everything alright?" asked a soldier in concern.

"Something is about to happen in the living realm," stated the ancient ghost. She then turned and started making her way to the inner chambers on her realm. "I will be taking my leave to investigate."

The soldier's eyes widened as he followed after his general. "You will be heading to the living realm? Is it that serious?"

"I am afraid so," replied Pandora with a frown. "If what I am sensing is correct, a great evil will soon be upon us and I will deal with it personally."

"But why not ask Phantom to deal with it instead?"

The soldier knew he made a mistake when Pandora turned to him with a fierce glare.

"I will not have that boy do what I could do instead and I refuse to have him involved if this is what I believe it is! Daniel is a strong warrior, but he is still just a boy and even with his experiences he will not be able to handle this opponent," declared Pandora. "No, Daniel is safer at his home and I hope he does not find out about this."

Reaching the inner chamber, Pandora left her soldier behind as she entered. Once alone, she activated a mechanism that opened a secret doorway, revealing her own personal Ghost Portal. Not wasting anytime, she quickly entered the portal for the living realm.

If only she knew that things would not go the way she had hoped.

TO BE CONTINUED

-:-

And we're back, ladies and gents, with the Phantom Family heading to Athens as the next stop on their vacation/world tour.

We even have Pandora making an appearance. Originally I was going to have her make her first appearance in the second half of the Athens episode, but the more I thought about doing that would make her come out of nowhere for what I have planned. So setting her up here instead was necessary.

Next we have the chapter song…

"Flight of Icarus" (3:51) – Iron Maiden

I had to go with this one because there is literally no rock songs based on Athens and/or Greece, so I had to go with the next best thing in Greek Mythology. This song will also fit with what I have planned, so it's not a total loss.

And as always I will try and get the second half of the episode and the interlude out ASAP.