Sorry for the wait. There's been some drama regarding my place of employment, and I needed to have minor surgery. Things are settling, so I hope updates will start returning to a more regular schedule. I also started making resin dice sets because I'm too depressed to work on my normal projects.

Warning: there are some graphic descriptions of death in this chapter

Chapter 20

"Err… while I'm happy to finally get some answers, I don't particularly think this is the best place to talk. My parents are ghost hunters, and they're in the basement or something," Danny hurriedly explained as he glanced down the hallway.

Clockwork smiled as he shifted to his elderly form. "I appreciate your concern, but there is no need to worry. I temporarily stopped time with my abilities. The medallion around your neck is imbued with my energy. Wearing it allows you to function while time is stopped, allowing us to have a conversation without worrying about outside distractions."

"Really?" He glanced down at the medallion. "I guess we don't have to worry about anything then. So, come on in? Sorry I don't really have much of anything since this isn't my house, but make yourself at home."

A few moments later, Danny found himself sitting backwards on the chair for the antique-looking desk Vlad decided his temporary bedroom needed. Clockwork floated in a sitting position in the approximate center of the room. The ghost had shifted to his child form.

"So, you said we have a lot to talk about?"

The ghost nodded and sighed as he changed to his adult form. "Since our last meeting, the entire realm has been in disarray. The Fright Knight, the ghost who attacked your friends as they escaped, has begun laying siege to large sections of the ghost zone." After fiddling with the staff he carried, he waved it which caused what almost appeared to be some sort of screen to appear, similar to the mirrors in his lair. Images flashed on it showing a ghostly knight with a skeleton army. "In the past, the Fright Knight, once known as Samhain, swore allegiance to the tyrant Pariah Dark."

"Wait, isn't Samhain an old word for Halloween or something? And ghosts have tyrants? I think you briefly mentioned a king before." Glancing towards the desk after rubbing his forehead, he vaguely entertained the idea of taking notes. Actually, that was probably a good idea. Sam would probably kill him if he didn't. "Can you give me a sec? I need to go find paper."

"You can find what you need in the second drawer of that desk."

"Thanks?" He had to suppress a shiver as Clockwork's statement turned out to be correct. It was unsettling in an uncanny way. After settling into a more comfortable position and jotting down the Fright Knight's name, he motion for Clockwork to continue.

The ghost, now in his elderly form, inclined his head. "The barriers between my world and yours used to be much thinner. Those of us who have existed since that time became associated with either concepts or old traditions. The Fright Knight once acted as a guardian of souls who crossed over during the old feast, and ended up adopting the name of that very feast." Images of what appeared to be a ghostly Celtic warrior appeared in the screen he created. "As time passed, the continuing corruption of the realm of the dead and how the perceptions of All Hallows changed, so did the Fright Knight. However, what truly turned him into a terror was an entirely different force."

The image changed to a frightening warrior with fiery hair and one eye fighting a variety of people and creatures. "This is the human warrior who eventually became spirit known as Pariah Dark." Clockwork shifted forms again. "His allies and enemies were in so in awe of him, that his image would influence how some of their gods and heroes were depicted. Upon his death," the image changed to the warrior being struck from the shadows, "his desire for power and his perceived insult of how he died, drew him to the world of ghosts as opposed to true death."

The living warrior from before was replaced with an imposing ghostly figure. "Normally, it takes centuries for a ghost to gain the power Pariah did, but he began gaining strength and followers within a few short years. After first, it was believed his followers were warped by existing corruption and their own fervor, but the true catalyst was Pariah's power. Luckily, it only seemed to affect those who willing submitted to him, but it was enough." Images of ghosts becoming warped and grotesque flashed on the screen.

Back in his child form, Clockwork sighed as the image turned to show the Fright Knight swearing allegiance to Pariah. Seconds later, it showed the two, plus several others, leaning over a map of some kind. It reminded Danny of movie depictions of a war room.

"Pariah began his conquest of the dead. However, he found he lacked the strength needed to fight against some of the most powerful and ancient of ghosts. As a result, his followers employed a number of tactics to help boost his strength." Scenes of something being forged flickered before showing a crown and ring. "The crown of fire and ring of rage – items created to focus and enhance Pariah's strength. However, this is not the only thing that was done." The image changed to ghosts being warped into creatures that looked like the Collectors and Recruiters.

"Wait a second," Danny interrupted. "Aren't those…?"

Clockwork nodded. "These creatures tried to abduct the living, much like how you were once lured way. However, the humans taken were sacrificed to Pariah, in an attempt to make him stronger."

The pen slipped from Danny's fingers. "What… what do you mean by that? Are you saying he ate them or something?"

"Do you remember why your classmates were targeted?"

"Frostbite said they were attacked for their blood." Ice suddenly seem to flood Danny's veins. "Oh god, are you telling me they were killed for their…?" He couldn't say it.

Instead of immediately answering, Clockwork, now in his adult form, gestured to the screen. Horrific images of people being killed in bloody and ritualistic ways. Some were sliced open and drained of blood. Others had their hearts removed. There were even ones which were more grisly. When he had more than enough, the image changed to show ghosts of the people killed being warped into strange figures reminiscent of skeletons.

"As you can see, Pariah and his followers found more than one use for the people they took. They ended up forming the army the Fright Knight used in campaigns to subjugate weaker ghosts in areas controlled by either one of the ancients or a different ghost strong enough to have followers. Anyone left standing would find themselves fighting either the Fright Knight or Pariah himself." Clockwork paused the image as his form shifted again.

It took a few moments for Danny to speak as his mouth had gone dry. "Are you telling me that this Pariah guy is back? How do you even fight something like that?" He ran his hands over his face, noting his skin felt cold and clammy. Great, was he starting to go into shock? He wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

"No, as of now he is still sealed away." The image changed to show another battle. This time it showed Pariah being subdued and thrown into some sort of casket. "Pariah was eventually defeated due to the combination of the strongest ghosts who were not under his control distracting him while a small group of Ancients managed to create what is now known as the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. Once he was sealed, myself along with the others who were still standing, were able to also seal the Fright Knight and the route the remainder of Pariah's forces." Clockwork sighed again. "My allies hoped Pariah would be sealed for the rest of time. I knew it was possible he would return, so the remainder of us set a number of precautions to make it as unlikely as possible."

Danny let out a shaky breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I can hear the 'but'."

"As of right now, we are not certain whether or not Pariah will be released. We know that there are forces at work trying to either release him or steal his abilities. Either senario has the possibility to bring about destruction across my realm and yours. This is evident in the reemergence of the Fright Knight and the forbidden techniques used to recreate Collectors and Recruiters. However, thousands of different paths are possible within the next several months that I cannot be certain which will be taken. I will do my best to help guide my allies to the best possible outcome."

"Does that mean I'm somehow going to be involved in this?"

"Possibly. Possibly not. All will be revealed in time, but I have no wish for you to be involved in that battle if it comes to pass."

"Great, just great!" Danny snapped as he jumped to his feet. "You're telling me the ghost version of the antichrist either might or might not be released. Those Recruiter and Collector things are already here. I saw the aftermath of a murder! Do you realize that? The reason I'm even here and not in my own house is because I was attacked in my own house!" He paced as he ranted. "I have these weird abilities now, so I should be able to protect myself, but I can't. I can't even figure out how to do the most basic things."

He stopped his pacing and leaned against the desk. "I had a feeling things were bad on your end when you said whatever was controlling the Recruiters found blind spots in your abilities. Do you realize I'm just a teenager?" His hands fell to his sides. "I don't want involved in any of this."

Clockwork passive expression softened some as he shifted forms again. "Daniel, I came to you so you would be aware of the possibilities. Myself, Frostbite and his people, Pandora and her court, along with many others are doing our best to stop Pariah's awakening. For now, I would recommend focusing on strengthening your abilities."

"And… and how am I supposed to do that? It's not like there is a manual or anything for this." Most of his anger left replaced with concern and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, fear.

"That choice lies with you."

Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, he mulled over his options. Sam and Tucker had already helped him figure out how to change forms, and they already knew everything regarding what happened to him. However, they were just as in the dark as he was regarding what he could and couldn't do. His parents were paranormal experts, but they tended to view most paranormal entities as negative. And while he knew they knew something was off regarding him, he still wasn't sure how much he should or shouldn't tell them. There was Plasmius, who had an uncanny interest in him with the matching ability of finding him anywhere. And, last but not least were ghosts like Frostbite and Ember.

Plasmius was already a big no, and as of now, so were his parents. Frostbite was probably busy with whatever needed to be done to stop Pariah Dark, and Ember said she often had trouble traveling to the living world. That left his friends. "While I'd like another ghost to be able to show me what's normal regarding what a ghost can and can't do, that's probably difficult for that to happen at the moment. I guess my friends and I have training to do."

Clockwork inclined his head. "I wish I had the ability to be of more direct help to you, but I am often limited in my options. Frostbite has more direct means of being able to reach the living world and will be sending you regular updates from now on. As for me, I shall take my leave." Tapping his staff, he yelled, "Time in!"

A whirlwind of power rushed through the room forcing Danny to raise his arms in protection. "Hey! Don't think you can just…" When the rush died down, he glanced around to see he was the only person in the room. Even the medallion he had been wearing was gone. "… leave. Just great. He gives me that bombshell and just leaves." Sighing, he found the sheet of paper he had been using for notes. "I should probably text Sam and Tucker now while everything is still bouncing around my head. Knowing me, I'll forget something if I don't."

….

Several text messages and a few voicemails greeted Danny when he woke up around eleven. After replying to a couple, he decided to brave a trip to the kitchen. Luckily for him, Vlad was nowhere to be found. Glad he would be able to eat in peace, he found a spot in the dining room where he wouldn't be as visible from the hall to eat his cereal.

"DANNY! There you are!"

His spoon flew out of his hand from jumping at the suddenness of his dad's booming voice. After a quick round of fumbling the spoon in hopes of grabbing it again, the darn thing slid through his hand. It didn't just slide through his fingers – it somehow slid through his palm before hitting the side of the bowl.

"Sorry, Sweetie." His mother appeared from behind his dad and returned his spoon to him before sitting down next to him. After laying a few papers down, she gently grabbed the hand the spoon somehow passed through and examined it. He had to repress an involuntary shiver at the feel of her gloves.

Danny quickly removed his hand as he glanced at his dad, who took a seat across the table. "What's up?"

"We got the preliminary results of your tests back!"

"Okay, and?" When his parents' expressions fell, dread began to gnaw at him. "Right. Something tells me I should be worried."

His mother took his hand again. "Remember, Danny, this is just a preliminary result. We are going to recalibrate and run them again as a precaution later today before running more advanced tests on your samples. But we've found evidence of ecto-contamination."

He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Is that it? Our house sits on top of a laboratory with a portal to who knows where. Our food sometimes gets contaminated and spontaneously comes to life. You do know that's not normal, right?"

"Mmmm…. Ecto-wennies…" His father grinned sheepishly at the glare his wife sent his way. "Right. We'd expect a low level of it for people who are in the house a lot. Your mom and I definitely have much higher levels than an average person, even with all of our precautions."

"But, we regularly check our contamination levels to make sure they stay well within safe ranges," his mother finished. "But Danny, your levels are abnormal. And from what we can tell, it's not the same type you'd get from ambient exposure. It's more like what you'd see from an actual ghost… actually, that might be what finally got the Fenton Thermos to work." She rubbed her chin as she considered it.

Danny just waved it off. "You said it yourself. Something changed after my abduction, but you can see I'm perfectly fine." As he tried to deflect the conversation, he again asked himself why he was so desperate to keep the truth hidden from his parents. They could possibly help him, but the nagging voice in the back of his mind kept showering him with 'what ifs'. "On top of that, you already said you want to retest my samples. Why are we even talking about this before that?"

His mother sighed. "You're right. We should have double checked our results before we came to you."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. "So," Danny started in hopes of breaking it, "make any headway with stopping that thing that broke into our house?"

It seemed to be the right thing to say as his father's eyes lit up. He launched into a lengthy, excited, and somewhat roundabout explanation of their current results. As he explained that their capture and containment inventions had great initial results, but they needed some more testing to see if it would be able to hold the creature terrorizing the town.

For a moment, the normality of the situation helped Danny forget about his worries for a while.

…

Danny's afternoon was spent at Sam's house as a combination of having Sam and Tucker help him catch up on his missed school work while giving them a summary of what happened with the Box Ghost and Clockwork. Saying that both were upset at the news was an understatement.

"You're telling me that an insane power-hungry ghost might be released, and there's nothing we can do to stop it? Is there a reason we're not panicking? Or trying to do something?" Tucker ranted with a raised voice and wild eyes.

"It's not like we can safely enter that world," Sam snapped, as she tapped the notebook in her hands. "Besides, who'd believe us?"

"It also might not happen," Danny irritably reminded him.

"Yeah, but unlike you, we can't defend ourselves," Tucker countered.

"Excuse me? I can't do a damn thing! Whatever I am now," Danny triggered his transformation into his ghostly form, "didn't come with any type of manual. I don't know what I can do or how to figure that out. It's not like I can ask another ghost to help me."

"What about the Box Ghost."

"You mean the ghost currently trapped in Vlad's laboratory under constant supervision from Danny's parents?" Sam deadpanned.

"At least I'm trying to think of things!"

She gave him an evil smile. "If you're so convinced we need to do something to give us a fighting chance, why don't I help get you guys in shape? It's at least a start."

Tucker back peddled immediately. "Nononono! That's okay. I mean, it's not like this we know this will happen with absolute certainty."

"You're the one who just spent the last half hour freaking out about not being prepared."

After closing his text book to catch his friends' attention, Danny sighed. "I actually think I agree with Sam on this. It couldn't hurt. We don't have to do anything too insane – seriously Sam, neither of us are anywhere near as athletic as you. You need to go easy on us."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll make an exercise plan tailored to wimps."

Tucker turned to Danny and grimaced. "She's seriously going to try to kill us, isn't she?"

Just as a reminder, the Fright Knight is also the spirit of Halloween in DP lore.

So, Pariah Dark. I was double checking some of the background of him, and realized that he was partially inspired by Odin from Norse mythology. However, after looking a few other things, I discovered there is a person from both Germanic and Norse mythology (Hagen/Hogni) who was a prolific warrior who was missing an eye, so this helped influence the explanation of his origin. Interestingly, one of the Celtic gods of death, Cernunnos, is also depicted as being horned.

And I realized that I screwed up some time frames. Chapter 12 – 20 all occur within a few days of each other. I had to fix chapter 18 to make sure everything matched.

Chapter 12: Danny stumbles upon attack Saturday morning
Chapter 13: Conversation with Plasmius on Sunday morning
Chapter 14: Attack by Collector very early Monday morning
Chapter 15: all Monday
Chapter 16: all Monday into very early Tuesday morning
Chapter 17: very early Tuesday morning
Chapter 18 - 19: Still Tuesday
Chapter 20: Tuesday into Wednesday

I don't know how common they are elsewhere, but my home state had in-service days, where the staff would be working, but the kids had a day off. This is how I'm fixing it.