Third Person POV

Danny and his friends currently stood in the center of a grand library. Shelves filled with books of all sizes and colours reached far up to the ceiling and it was impossible to see the tops of them. The floor was lined with purple and black checkered carpeting while the walls were painted silver. Large lanterns shaped like upside-down goblets hung from the ceiling and fully illuminated the library. There were tables and chairs made of black coloured oak scattered about the room for anyone to sit at and read. Floating about the room was a familiar ghost covered in bandages.

"Ghost Writer!" Fright Knight called out, waving his arms.

Ghost Writer whipped around to face the new comers. Half of his face was wrapped in bandages and his glasses were cracked. His right arm was in a sling and his left leg was in a cast. He had a tall stack of books tucked under his un-injured arm as multiple other books floated around him. At the sight of the four who had just entered, Ghost Writer frowned and floated to the floor, setting the books under his arm on a nearby table.

After the injured Ghost Writer had crashed into Danny's coronation almost three months ago, he had been in a coma for the past two months and only recently awoke. He decided to stay at the castle so his wounds could heal and was using the library as a temporary realm since his mansion had been destroyed. The book loving ghost claimed he had no memory of how he ended up at the castle, just that he felt drawn towards it after the attack.

He walked over to the group, bowing slightly in front of Fright Knight, saying a quick greeting of, "Your Majesty." His eye drifted to Danny as he straightened his back. He grimaced slightly as he muttered, "and Highness."

Danny raised an eyebrow at Ghost Writer's blatant rudeness towards him; it seemed that Ghost Writer wasn't completely over his defeat at Danny's hands and winding up in Walker's prison. "Nice to see that you're back on your feet," Danny said, a slight edge in his voice. 

Ghost Writer adjusted his cracked glasses, scowling at Danny. A strained smile appeared on his face as Ghost Writer turned his attention back on the Ghost King, placing a hand on his chest. "And how may I help you, King Galahad?" he asked, the obviously forced smile on his face growing wider.

The former ghost knight placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, a smile appearing on his face as he said, "I would like to request your assistance in teaching the young Prince the history of the Ghost Zone."

The three teen's eyes widened as they stared up at the Ghost King. "Uh, Fright?" Danny began, picking up the hand on his shoulder and removing it, "when you said you'd teach me the ropes of the kingdom, I didn't think you meant it literally."

The Ghost King tilted his head at the young halfa. "What did you think I meant?" he asked.

Danny shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, "You know, kingly stuff like... making laws or something. Not a history lesson," the teen offered. He looked to his friends for support but they just shrugged in response. Danny frowned, looking back to Fright Knight. 

The Ghost King sighed, ushering the three teens into the room. He sat them down at the table where Ghost Writer had placed his books and pulled out a chair for said ghost to also sit. "Learning the past is important to help move the Ghost Zone into the future," Fright Knight explained as he picked up one of the many books on the table and flipped it open, "so we will start from the beginning."

Danny, Sam and Tucker all groaned. "Of course school would find a way to follow us into the Ghost Zone," Tucker whined, sinking down in his chair.

A glint appeared in Fright Knight's eyes as a smile grew on his face. "Oh that is a brilliant idea!" he exclaimed, "I am your teacher and you are my students." His eyes drifted to Ghost Writer who was just staring off into space. "And Sir Poe can be my assistant! He is quite knowledgeable about the history of the Ghost Zone."

Ghost Writer rolled his eyes, reaching for a book and opening it carelessly. "My mansion used to hold all sorts of ancient texts from the Ghost Zone's past," he muttered. "Stories of the Ancients, Elders, scriptures of different periods and artifacts from a time before even I came to this realm. But it's all gone now." There was a hint of sadness creeping into Ghost Writer's voice as he mourned the loss of his mansion filled with his beloved books. The castle library held many of the same books, but not all of them.

"You must be like, a Ghost Zone expert then," Sam mused, propping her feet up on the table and leaning back in her chair.

Ghost Writer looked up from his book, raising an eyebrow at the goth. "I'm not an expert," he hissed, "I'm a scholar." He closed the book he was reading and rose from his seat, floating about the room. "I know nearly everything single detail about the Ghost Zone and its vast history. I even wrote some of it," he commented as he flew from shelf to shelf, grabbing books and having them float behind him in a large stack. Once he had seemingly collected all the books he was looking for, Ghost Writer returned to the table and dropped the stack of books which had to be at least twice as tall as any of the teens.

The injured ghost traced the spines of the books, looking at them lovingly. "These books are some of the most informative pieces of history the Ghost Zone possesses," he explained. "Especially this one." A soft blue leather bound book with black and gold symbols covering it floated out from the stack of books and into Ghost Writer's hand. He placed the book in front of the three teens and Ghost King who had all become very interested in what Ghost Writer was telling them.

Danny opened the book and started flipping through the pages, only to find none of them had any writing, just odd symbols and images. "This is the most important book in Ghost Zone history?" he asked, shooting a skeptical glance at Ghost Writer, "you can't even read it."

"That's because it's written in First Speak," Ghost Writer retorted, pointing to the symbols. "This was the very first language to ever exist." He placed his non-injured hand on his chin to stroke his beard as another book floated out from the stack. The pages opened and flipped to a page detailing languages of the Ghost Zone. "The methods to translate this language have long been lost to time. Only ghosts from the time of the Ancients and Elder Spirits could read this," Ghost Writer continued, pointing to the languages listed in the second book.

The three teens scanned the book, seeing references to English, Esperanto, Latin, Coptic and even some mentions of Sanskrit. There were multiple different sets of symbols that did not resemble words at all, but none looked anything like the ones in the blue leather bound book.

"So, what's the point of showing us a book we can't even read?" Tucker asked, flipping through the indecipherable pages, squinting at them as if that would magically make the odd symbols form words.

The young halfa suddenly had a realization and stood abruptly. "Wait a second," Danny said, picking up the book, and holding it out to Ghost Writer, "who did you say were the only ones that could read this book?"

The injured ghost adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "Any ghost that existed during the time of the Ancients and Elder Spirits, including the Ancients and Elders themselves," he scoffed, rolling his eyes in the process.

Danny's eyes lit up in excitement, his hands shaking the book. "We know someone who can read this then!" he exclaimed.

Ghost Writer's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "That's impossible!" he cried out, slamming his un-injured hand on the table, "no ghost from that time still lingers in the Ghost Zone. Not to mention the Ancients haven't been seen in centuries and the Elder Spirits all relinquished their duties or perished in the war against the Ancients." 

Danny smirked, "Not all of them. In fact, one of them has really helped me out a lot." The halfa placed the book back on the table in front of Ghost Writer and folded his arms across his puffed out chest. "Does the name Clockwork ring a bell?" he asked, a smug grin on his face. 

Ghost Writer's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He shakily sunk back into his seat, mouth opening and closing like a fish but no words coming out.

"Uh, I think you broke him, Danny," Sam said, feeling slightly concerned about the ghost.

The Ghost King flew to Ghost Writer's side, trying to speak to him or get a response from the shocked spirit while the three teen's looked on in concern.

Danny suddenly felt very guilty. He had only wanted to get back at Ghost Writer a little in a petty bout of revenge for what happened during their last battle. He didn't realize the revelation would have shocked the book loving ghost that much.

After a while, Ghost Writer came back to his senses, resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. "I can't believe you know the Master of Time himself," he muttered, staring at Danny in awe. "All my afterlife I had believed that the Ancients and Elder Spirits were long gone, but now you, my enemy, are telling me that's a lie?"

Danny frowned at Ghost Writer's casual mention that he still considered Danny an enemy but decided to not pursue the topic.

"Clockwork has helped us out in the past, and we kinda owe him for saving Danny," Tucker said, placing a hand on his best friend's arm. Sam echoed the gesture and Danny smiled at his friends.

Tucker and Sam shared a knowing look. Neither of the humans fully trusted Clockwork, especially not after what happened the day they rescued Danny from Vizier. The Time Master refused to give them a straight answer about anything and only seemed concerned with the coronation happening as planned. They had tried voicing their concerns to Danny but the halfa had full trust in Clockwork, and insisted that the mysterious Elder Spirit had his reasons for doing what he did. Sam and Tucker had both agreed to not further press the issue with Danny and instead settled for keeping their eyes peeled for anything suspicious that Clockwork might do or be up to.

"The Time Master was actually the one to recommend Danny to be the next King," Fright Knight added, a look of pride appearing on his features. The Ghost King chose to withhold the information that Clockwork had also been the one to suggest the monarchy be revived, as for some reason Clockwork didn't want that information to be known.

"I still can't believe it," Ghost Writer sighed, pressing his hand to his forehead and staring intently at the image of Clockwork. "An Elder Spirit, existing in the Ghost Zone. Completely unthinkable."

"It's more thinkable than you realize," a voice cooed from above the group. Five pairs of eyes looked up to see a gorgeous starry night sky filled with splashes of blue, purple, black and gold. A pale face appeared in the center with glowing red eyes and upturned, curled horns. It's pink-tinted lips parted in a grin as the faint scar running through the face's right eye glowed a soft red.

The group, save for Fright Knight, stared up in awe at the sight before them. The sky slowly grew smaller and smaller, taking on the shape of a body. Eventually, Nocturne stood before them, in all his glittering glory. A mock expression of hurt was on his face as he placed a clawed hand on his starry chest. "Oh little ones, how you hurt me," he said, a fake frown appearing on his face, "you praise Clockwork for being the only Elder Spirit you know, when you have the honor of knowing the almighty me."

The three teens groaned in unison and rolled their eyes. "Sorry if we forgot about you, Nocturne. But typically people don't like to remember that they're friends with someone that once tried to kill them," Sam apologized, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, can't we let bygones be bygones?" the horned spirit asked, a toothy grin appearing on his pale features. The only response he got was three glares. Nocturne sighed as he shrunk his body until he was slightly taller than Fright Knight and gave a quick greeting to the Ghost King.

"N-Nocturne?" Ghost Writer stammered, "The Elder Spirit of Mind?" All attention was on the book loving ghost as he had somehow turned a shade paler than he already was.

Nocturne smiled and bowed his large head. "I see not all beings have forgotten about my existence," he said happily as splashes of gold became more prominent on his body.

Seeing the almighty spirit in front of him appeared to be too much for Ghost Writer as his eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly fainted. He fell to the ground with a crash, shaking the table and causing the stack of books to topple over and scatter everywhere. The three teens had to dive out of the way of the avalanche of books as the Ghost King rushed to Ghost Writer's side.

"Oh wonderful, you made my assistant faint, Nocturne," Fright Knight said with a frown as he lifted the unconscious body of Ghost Writer.

Nocturne scoffed as he watched Fright Knight carry the injured ghost to a couch off to the side of the room and set him down gently. "How is any of this my fault?" the starry spirit asked, crossing his arms.

The Ghost King merely sighed in response, rubbing his eyes. "It does not matter now. I will just teach the young Prince by myself," he said as he started to gather up the fallen books with the help of Danny and his friends.

As Tucker reached for a small book with a red cover, a star covered hand appeared in his vision. The technogeek shrieked in surprise as he scrambled backwards away from the hand. He watched as Nocturne picked up the small book which looked microscopic in his large, clawed hands and flipped through it.

Slamming the book shut, Nocturne smiled down at the group collecting books. "If you are looking for someone to teach the young Prince, who better than me to assist you?" he said suddenly.

Silence filled the room.

"You?" Sam asked, breaking the silence, "Why on Earth would you want to help? You've never wanted to help before."

Nocturne chuckled. "Who better to teach the young halfa the history of the Ghost Zone then a being that has been around since the very beginning?" he offered, increasing his size and letting his body shimmer brightly. Nocturne quickly shrunk back in size and grabbed Danny's arm, lifting the boy to his feet. "Besides," he continued, "I have been quite bored lately and I feel that being a teacher could prove to be quite interesting."

Danny tore his arm out of Nocturne's grip and floated away from the Elder Spirit, sending a scowl his way. He opened his mouth to protest when he was interrupted by Fright Knight.

"You do have a point," the Ghost King mused, placing a stack of books on the table.

Danny whipped around to face Fright Knight, utter shock on his face. "You've gotta be kidding me," the halfa sighed, "After all that he's done? You're just gonna say yes with no hesitation?" Danny was shocked at how easily Fright Knight was agreeing to the idea, especially since it seemed that the Ghost King seemed to have an even greater grudge against Nocturne than Danny and his friends.

Fright Knight ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, "I am not fully thrilled by this option either, but Nocturne is one of the oldest spirits in the Ghost Zone. If anyone can accurately teach you the history of this realm, it would be him." 

Nocturne sent a toothy grin Danny's way, his eyes squinting ever so smugly. He had thought it was going to be a stretch to ask Galahad to help teach the young halfa but it appeared his worries were all for naught.

The three teens continued to glare at the starry spirit, when chairs suddenly appeared behind them, sweeping the teens off their feet and bringing them to the table. The Ghost King took a seat at the head of the table as Nocturne slithered to the side of the table opposite to the teens.

After clearing his throat Nocturne held out his hands, bellowing a quick, "Sleepwalkers, form!" Immediately, large green ghosts with their eyes sewed shut appeared out of the floor. 

Danny, Sam and Tucker all went on the defensive, with Danny readying an ectoblast while Sam and Tucker charged their wrist rays. Fright Knight remained motionless.

"Now now," Nocturne cooed, "let us not be hasty now. My Sleepwalkers are not here to harm you." The Sleepwalkers began flying about the room, gathering books and stacking them into specific piles on the table in front of each of the teens. "To teach you children the history of this great realm, we absolutely must start with this," the starry spirit insisted, picking up the soft blue leather bound book that Ghost Writer had been showing them earlier. 

He turned it over in his hands, looking at it with wonder and fondness in his eyes. "I thought all copies of this book were destroyed so long ago," he said quietly, a genuine smile appearing on his face, "I'm glad to see that I was wrong."

Nocturne held out the book to the group, gesturing to it dramatically. "This is the Codex of Creation," he began, his voice sounding almost mocking when he said the name of the book, "this little book is the book each Elder Spirit was gifted and contains a collection of all our knowledge."

Tucker raised his hand which caused him to receive confused glances from everyone in the room. "What?" he said, "force of habit." 

Nocturne raised his eyebrow, but after a quick explanation he learned that a raised hand was a sign that a student had a question. The starry spirit nodded to let Tucker know he could speak.

"You, Clockwork and Vizier are the only Elder Spirits that we know about," Tucker started, "how many of you are, or were there?"

Sighing, Nocturne placed the book on the table, taking a seat. "It appears I have overestimated how much you children know," he mumbled. With a wave of his hand the table was cleared of all books and the Sleepwalkers disappeared. His hands reached to his horns and removed the silver chain attached to an iridescent gem hanging from his horns. He placed the gem on the table and a glittering hand over the gem.

"It seems starting with the book will not be enough," he mused to no one in particular. "We will have to start at the very beginning." Nocturne's hand that was covering the gem slowly began to turn white and the other four seated at the table felt their eyes become glued to the hand. "Prepare yourselves," Nocturne warned, "this experience is not always the most pleasant feeling."

Danny, Sam and Tucker felt their eyes begin to water as they could not stop staring at Nocturne's pure white hand. A ringing sound grew louder and louder and seemed to be coming from inside their skulls. All at once the ringing stopped, and their vision went pure white. 

Then everything went dark.

A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter took a while. Life and writer's block got in the way. BUT I do think I now have a semi-permanent schedule in place. Updates for this book will come out every Saturday (or at least every other Saturday) I'm slowly starting to work on 'A Different Kind of Hero' again, as well as putting in some work on some other books I plan on releasing/updating soon. Thank you all for staying patient with me and I'll see you in the next update!

P.S. I'm sorry if the story seems a bit slow right now. I swear it will pick up soon.