Fright Knight grumbled to himself, stroking his long beard as he read through a blue, leather bound book. The Codex of Creation. While he may not have been an Elder Spirit, he did serve under one for many years and did manage to learn a bit of First Speak. He sighed as his eyes began to feel strained after staring at the same page for hours. The page containing the prophecy that may or may not involve his former liege.

"Will you give it a rest already? Your sighing is interrupting my reading," an annoyed voice came from the other end of the table.

Fright Knight looked up to see Ghost Writer scowling at him. He raised an eyebrow at the novelist, "Is that any way to speak to your King, Sir Poe?" he chided, though his tone was gentle.

Ghost Writer laughed, adjusting his cracked frames. "You may be King in name, but I'm not buying all this 'reinstating the monarchy' stuff," he said, flipping the page of the book he was reading.

This got Fright Knight's attention. "What do you mean?" the Ghost King asked, closing the Codex.

A sigh escaped Ghost Writer's lips as he turned another page. "The first and only time the Ghost Zone had a ruling kingdom, it ended in disaster. While I agree that the Ghost Zone has somewhat fallen into a worrying sense of chaos, that's how it has always been here," he answered, setting his now finished book on the table and picking up a new one from the large pile that lay next to him. "If the Observant Council truly wanted to do something about it, why would they suggest a system that has already proven to fail?"

"But, the guidance of the Time Master-" Fright Knight stopped himself, remembering a conversation from long ago.

"When I heard the young Phantom was to be our new ruler, well, needless to say that intrigued me greatly," Nocturne said with a smile. "Why now, of all times, would you choose to reinstate the monarchy?" The horned ghost asked, turning to Clockwork.

Clockwork narrowed his eyes, "It was not my wish to bring back the royal family," he said in a low voice.

"Ah, but was it not you who first proposed the idea to the Observant High Council?" Nocturne probed.

No, the Observant Council hadn't asked for Clockwork's guidance on their own idea of bringing back the monarchy. Clockwork himself had brought up the idea. Not only that, the Time Master had also been the one to suggest Danny be their figure head.

Gears began turning in the Ghost King's mind, feeling like he was starting to put the pieces of a much larger puzzle together. "So what do you suggest is truly going on, Sir Poe?" Fright Knight asked.

Setting down yet another book, Ghost Writer pursed his lips in thought. "Well, what other reason would someone have to insert a seemingly useful plot device that seems rather bold and enticing?" he asked. When he only received a confused look from the Ghost King, he rolled his eyes. "To create a red herring," he finished, looking quite proud of himself.

"I fail to see what the colour of a fish has to do with a kingdom, Sir Poe," Fright Knight replied, shaking his head.

Ghost Writer's head slammed to the table, a groan escaping his lips. "Not an actual fish, my King," he said, adding heavy sarcasm to his announcement of Fright Knight's title, "a red herring is a relevance fallacy. Something seemingly plausible, but ultimately irrelevant. In other words..." he said, holding up a red, leather bound book. He threw it at Fright Knight's head, causing the Ghost King to move his head to the side as his eyes followed the book. When he turned his head to face Ghost Writer once more, he found himself staring at the tip of a quill pen positioned dangerously close to his eye. "It's a distraction," Ghost Writer finished, as he flicked his wrist and the quill pen disappeared. The novelist returned to his seat on the opposite side of the table and resumed reading.

'A distraction?' the bearded ghost thought to himself. "But what for?" he asked aloud.

"Who knows?" Ghost Writer answered, not taking his eyes off his book. "Where the Elder Spirits are involved, they could be up to anything. And I guarantee whatever it is, it doesn't bode well for the young halfa."

"I can't speak for Nocturne, but Clockwork seems to have a fondness for the boy," Fright Knight defended, leaning to the side and picking up the red book Ghost Writer had thrown.

"Be it Elder Spirit, Ancient, or beings like you and me," Ghost Writer said, his voice melancholy. "A ghost is a ghost, and it is only controlled and motivated by its desires."

A frown appeared on the Ghost King's features as the negativity of his companion was beginning to drag on him. "That's a rather grim way of looking at things," Fright Knight commented.

Ghost Writer shrugged. "It's the truth, my King. Even you are no stranger to it." Once more, he finished the book he was reading and placed it to the side. He stood and started floating about the library, looking for new books to add to his pile. "When you first heard of the halfa becoming King, did you not hold the slightest resentment towards him for your past battles? Even when one of them involved him sealing your former master away forever?" he asked, books flying off shelves and following behind him.

Fright Knight opened his mouth to answer, but found himself unable to form a response. He had battled the halfa in the past, he knew that Danny was a strong and capable warrior, that's why he didn't hesitate to serve at his side... right? Despite all the humiliation, the pain of his former master being sealed away once again, and even abandoning his oath to serve Plasmius, none of that mattered. So long as he could serve the... King. "I... I am loyal to Danny, for I believe he will be a righteous King," Fright Knight answered, his voice wavering slightly.

"Your only loyalty lies with whoever is named King," Ghost Writer hissed, casting a sideways glance at the sorrowful spirit. "You are no more free from your desire than the rest of us in the Ghost Zone. The sooner you accept that, the better." Ghost Writer stopped his flight around the library, satisfied with the books he had gathered. He returned to his seat once more and began reading, burying his head in the book so as to make it clear he was finished speaking.

The Ghost King's eyes stared at the closed Codex in front of him, mulling over Ghost Writer's words. He shook his head, opening the book once more. He may be a ghost that had desires of serving a once and future king, but deep in his core he had true loyalty to Danny. He knew that; and now, his former liege needed his help more than ever. Stealing a glare at Ghost Writer, Fright Knight began flipping through the Codex. No longer was he concerned about the prophecy, his new goal was finding information on a certain time-manipulating spirit.

TIS I! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL LINE BREAK! I DEMAND OFFERINGS OF SUGARY SWEETS! YOU MAY CONTINUE READING NOW!

Sam and Tucker exchanged a glance as they sat across from Danny at Nasty Burger. The halfa had his head on the table and had been groaning for a solid three minutes. People were beginning to stare and the managers of the Nasty Burger looked about ready to kick the three teens out.

"Danny, I am begging you, do not get us banned from the only fast food restaurant in this town," Tucker pleaded, reaching out and shaking the raven-haired halfa's shoulder.

Danny stopped groaning and sat upright, only to immediately slam his head back onto the table causing Sam and Tucker to jump in their seats.

Sam sighed, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. She stared sadly at her friend. It pained her to see Danny this upset, but she had to make him snap out of it. If not for his own sake, for Tucker's. If Danny actually got them banned they would never hear the end of it from the technogeek. "Listen Danny," she began, "Nocturne said that they don't even know if the prophecy will come true, right? Something about, stars in the sky or something? There's no sense dwelling on it. Let's just focus on getting you ready for Fright Knight's test."

The mention of a test brought Danny straight back to reality. The teen bolted upright and panic filled his eyes. "A... test?" he asked, sweat forming on his brow.

"Yeah, about the 10,643 Great Battles of the Ghost Zone," Sam continued. "He said that if you fail it he'll force you to start all over again with your history lessons."

The colour drained from Danny's face as he rummaged through his backpack looking for the notes he made during his studies in the Ghost Zone. "I never thought stressing over a history lesson could be worse than sitting through Lancer's classes," he muttered, throwing a notebook on the table and rapidly flipping through the pages.

Tucker shot Sam and thumbs up and the goth smiled. While this wasn't the best method of distraction, it got Danny to focus on something that wasn't a world-ending prophecy for a while. She sighed and leaned back in her seat, furrowing her brow. If even Clockwork didn't know all the details of this prophecy business, then did that mean there truly was nothing they could do? Sure they could wait for Nocturne to translate the rest of the Codex and see if he could find out any additional information, but something about putting all their faith in the starry spirit didn't sit right in her gut.

'And there's no way Clockwork will ever give us a straight answer,' she reminded herself, thinking back to when they defeated Vizier and rescued Danny. Sam had never trusted Clockwork, and she didn't understand why Danny was so willing to blindly put all his faith in the Time Master. He was obviously hiding something, he had to be. Sam closed her eyes, letting her mind wander. There was no sense thinking about it now. She would just have to keep a close eye on her half-ghost friend, and protect him if things got dangerous. She wouldn't let what happened with Vizier happen ever again.

littlest line break here! so happy to see you all again! i baked cookies just for the occasion!

"Cease writing, quills down, time is up," Fright Knight's voice boomed as he gleefully looked at his three pupils.

Sam placed her quill next to her paper, a satisfied grin on her face. Tucker and Danny however, let their quills slip out of their hands and clatter to the floor. The technogeek let his head fall to the table while Danny busily ran his hands through his hair. The tests in front of the three teens glowed in a purple light as numbers floated off the page.

In front of Sam, the number ninety-two glowed brightly. For Tucker, a wobbling sixty-four managed to light up the back of his neck. And lastly, Danny closed his eyes, awaiting his fateful grade.

As he waited for the decree from Fright Knight that he would have to redo all of his history lessons, four gasps echoed through the room. Danny opened his eyes to see a flaming one hundred glowing in front of his face. The halfa's jaw dropped as he stared in disbelief at the number in front of him.

"Who knew the halfa had a brain in that head of his," Danny heard Ghost Writer mutter from somewhere in the vast library. Normally he would shoot a glare at his former enemy, but the pride swelling in his chest had his eyes glued to the flaming numbers.

"I knew you could do it, my liege," Fright Knight said happily, walking up behind Danny's chair and patting the teen on the shoulder.

'Did that last minute study session really pay off?' Danny wondered to himself. He tried to think back on what he had written down, but found he couldn't remember anything. Almost as if he had gone into a trance. 'Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm free from history lessons!' the halfa thought happily.

Fright Knight cleared the chalkboard at the head of the table, preparing his material for his new lessons, when all light in the library vanished. As voices began to cry out in alarm, a beautiful night sky appeared on the ceiling.

"Hello, humans. I come with news regarding our little Phantom," Nocturne's voice purred from above as the stars swirled around to form a smiling mouth.

"Can he ever make a normal entrance?" Sam grumbled, glaring up at the stars on the ceiling.

The darkness began to collect in the center of the library's ceiling as light returned to the room. When it had all gathered in the center, the tall form of Nocturne appeared with his body showing prominent splashes of purple and blue colours mixing with his usual black starry form. "And what would be the fun in that, hm?" he chuckled, descending to the floor next to Danny.

"And what, pray tell, causes you to disturb my lessons this time, Mind Master?" Fright Knight said, his tone clearing trying to remain civil while also making it clear his patience was running thin.

Nocturne's smile fell and his eyes narrowed. "I come with news from Clockwork," he declared, casting his gaze around the room, as if looking for any unwanted listeners.

Aside from Ghost Writer, who was hurriedly hiding himself among the bookstacks, all attention was on the Elder Spirit.

Nocturne sighed, "I fear that rumors of a world-ending prophecy have reached the Observant's Council." His red eyes glanced at Danny, and he felt a pang in his core. Clenching his teeth he shuffled away from the teen, "As of right now, the Council knows very little about the prophecy, including whether or not it is true or just a baseless rumor." Nocturne felt the attitude of the room relax. "However," he continued. "The Council is now placing Clockwork in charge of figuring out if the prophecy is true."

Danny, Sam and Tucker all exchanged glances. "But, isn't that a good thing?" Tucker asked, "If we know the prophecy is real then Clockwork can tell us how to stop it."

Danny nodded excitedly. This is exactly what he had wanted Clockwork to do last night! While it sucked that it took the Observant Council to force the Time Master's hand, at least they were going to get an answer.

Nocturne shook his head. "I'm afraid this is the worst possible scenario for our little halfa," he sighed. He floated closer to Fright Knight, unaware that a stray tentacle wrapped itself around Danny's ankle.

"The Observant Council does not hesitate when it comes to beings that threaten the safety of reality," the starry spirit continued. He looked to Fright Knight knowingly, as the Ghost King's eyes filled with dread. "If they discover the cause behind the Phantom Prophecy," Nocturne continued, his voice cold, "They will have given Clockwork the order to eliminate the threat to the timeline."

"So, in other words," Sam said, her heart sinking to her stomach as she looked at Danny, the white-haired teen's complexion having gone deathly white.

"They're gonna tell Clockwork to kill me," Danny said, before his eyes rolled back into his head and all he knew was darkness.