Home Bitter Home (Invite Only)

[monster]

He listened intently, his eyes fixated on the creature. He nodded every so often as he thought."Seems like one predicament you're in there..." He replied and scratched his chin. He had never heard of any of this, but he was sure it was a tad stressful. He blinked a few times.
"We never had enemies. Even those who invaded the castle weren't our enemies. They were just taking the wrong paths in life." He shuddered at the thought of remembering the horrible event. He shoved the memory of it back into this brain and went back to reality.
"I hate to change the subject so quickly, but is there a room I will be staying in?" He wanted to check out what room if any he would have to bear with over night. If the room had chairs, then he would be most pleased. If it had a bed... the idea of laying down would be superior in temptation. But the dizziness had to be kept back.

[mugenginga]

Belphegor chuckled, "It is kill or be killed in my home world. Especially the side of it that I hail from. Some have deluded themselves to think one upon the Throne would change that. As for accomodations, take your pick. There are more rooms in this building than you might realize. Feel free to wander if you like."

He made no indication as to what he'd be doing, however. He was interested in seeing if Michale asked about the Throne he'd mentioned.

[monster]

"What is a throne, exactly?" He said with a curious wince to his face. He felt rather dumb with asking about such tedious things. They didn't have a lot of these words and things. He looked a bit puzzled, wondering why there could be so much tension in one place. That's how some places in the universe seemed to be really. Ah yes, the miltiverse word came to mind again. He would ask about that later, in the morning perhaps.

[mugenginga]

Bephegor thought for a moment he was being teased, but realized it was a genuine question. It was no wonder this creature felt lost here, he was obviously suffering culture shock.

"Well, in this context it refers to a position of power. If it is possible, think of the power of your Council in the hands one man. Some worlds seem to allow a woman to have this power, but it does seem in the minority. That king word I used before would be the one to hold the power of the throne," he paused, and smirked, "And if you think you are annoying, let me get rid of any doubts. You are, but I suppose you can not help it. You are quite obviously the type that does not enjoy being in the dark about things."

[monster]

"Ah yes, now I get it." He nodded in understanding. "No, I don't. I prefer to know as much as possible. My people are people of learning and knowing. If I do not learn or know, then my world... gets turned upside down, if you will." He nodded once more and looked at the man. "I would much like to question this place and other things further but I'm afraid I must sleep for the night. My magic gets restless when my alertness is down. Thank you again for giving me such a place to stay." He bowed a simple bow. "I must be finding a room now." He smiled and began to explore.

[mugenginga]

Belphegor nodded as Michale wandered off. A few of the spiritual inhabitants of the castle swirled around him at his unsaid bidding, "Alert me if anything comes up."

He made sure to say no more with the risk of Michale hearing. The ghosts and such of the castle had been used for this purpose before, they would know what he meant by anything. He turned towards where Michale had left. He was interested in seeing what the humanoid discovered.

(OOC: Basically, Michale won't be surprising Belphegor and the demon will know everything he does.)

[monster]

The place was surely bigger than he imagined. His glowing eyes wandered around the place, darting from left to right taking in the entire scene. He proceeded down a hallway, noticing it had a few doors lining it. With each door he opened it, peeking inside. Some were old bedrooms and some were just unexplainable. He managed to open a door but jumped back and fell down, startled. A mirror had been conveniently placed so when you open the door you see your own reflection. It took him by surprise, and it spooked him nearly out of his wits. He mumbled something in his native tongue and stood, brushing himself off. "Geez, what a place" Closing the door he proceeded down the hall.

He opened another door but remained in the doorway. His brow lifted as he looked around with intrigue. It had no bed, but it surely had chairs. Nodding in approval, he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. It was lovely really, the decor and everything. Dusty and old, but he loved how welcome and at home he felt. His hand touched the head of a chair and it slinked down to the arm as he turned to sit down. Slowly, it seemed, he sat. Sighing with delight and exhaustion, he flipped his head back. He shrieked, catching site of a large mounted head or some creature.

With that, he pushed and tumbled backwards with the chair. He rolled over onto his knees and looked at it with fearful eyes. "What, what is that!?" He choked hoping to get an answer, but knew he would probably get no reply. He took a step back, hitting a table. This of course, startled him too and he found himself running from the room and into another. This place was far too strange for him!

[mugenginga]

A ghost flicked past Belphegor, who was in the dungeon area of the castle. It was beneath the main castle, and the demon was chuckling at how cliche the place seemed to be. Whoever had constructed this building had seen far too many old movies. Or came from a reality where those movies were reality.

This place had some of the darker ghosts and spirits. What greatly amused him was that the darker ones were not the wandering spirits of prisoners. He walked into a side area and grinned at the way the long since dead hung over the place. He'd used most of his time on the island in research, and it seemed this place was something that may have been used by the Spanish Inquisition of his world. Not that he'd been there when that occured. The times of humanity's depravity he had missed by being stuck between the dimensions. It was almost depressing that his only role in all that had been to lay the groundwork. Teaching humans how to harness fire, to use the wheel in some places.... how he would have enjoyed to lead them down the road to ruin in other ways.

He sensed a more hesitant ghost near the entrance to the area, and he gestured to the spirit. Belphegor thought he was going to have to flex his powers when the ghost finally approached. It was only from his power that it wasn't assaulted by the dark spirits in this area of the castle. So the Bulkavin was stumbling around like the star of some cheap horror flick? He found that amusing. He dismissed the spirit before approaching an Iron Maiden. A cruel grin spread on his face as he traced his fingers around the blood stained spikes. It still seemed rather sharp...

(OOC: If you wanna hold up, I'm gonna ask Jilak if he wants in. He's got Danny from the cartoon Danny Phantom, and it might be fun to throw him in here. XD)

[Jilak]

-Flashback-

It was perhaps two months after the events that had nearly lead to the undoing of the Earth, and the Ghost Zone. And all was starting to fall back into its niche for a certain Daniel Fenton. Perhaps a rephrase is needed. It wasn't so much 'fell back into it's niche' as 'got unnaturally calm'. Or rather, had gotten back into nice from BEFORE the accident with the portal happened. It had gotten to a point where he had to 'go ghost' more for ENTERTAINMENT than NECESSITY. Perhaps all the ghosts coming together with the Ghost Boy had sent them into a level of calm before unheard of. Or maybe having every ghost hunter on he planet aimed on them made the ghosts... uneasy. Then again, it's not as if they weren't ALWAYS trained on them. It was just more... now, they weren't going for Danny. Which gave the teen more time, himself, to hunt the few brave enough to cross the threshold.

But then young Daniel made mistake number one. He let his guard down. And, in fact, MERELY went 'Danny Phantom' for fun, or if he was late. Never to fight ghosts. Not like there were many to even FIGHT, anyway. And those that still persisted were usually handled by his parents or any other on-duty hunters. And then he made mistake number 2. He forgot about... THEM.

'THEM' being the usual's. Skulker, the Box Ghost, Technus, and Desiree, to name a few. Most of the ghosts appearing had been faceless, personality-less messes. Commonly known as 'ectoplasmic pusses'. They lacked the powers ghosts of Danny's world usually portrayed, see. They weren't really much of a threat. Even BEFORE he'd gotten used to his powers, before he could control them, he'd managed to easily defeat at least five at one time.

It had given him a false sense of security. Which was what the ghosts of the Ghost Zone wanted. It was a simple task, really. The Halfa was so easy to trick. His self-righteous attitude assured them of one thing. They had the means to strike. They had the plan. They merely needed the time slot.

After weeks of waiting, a few of the more cynical ghosts had succumbed to thinking such a time would NEVER appear. Most branched off from the plan, until only two remained. The ghost known as Skulker, and the ghost known as The Box Ghost. The plan could still, they surmised, go on without a hitch. They merely needed an appropriate time to strike.

And one appeared soon-after. It had been another three days, now. The child was left alone at his home. His parents were out, his sister was tutoring Dash at his own home for once, and his friends had both been busy. And that meant Daniel was the only ghost hunter present.

It was a few minutes of unprecedented boredom before it started. That meant Danny got through about five channels before a blue mist flowed from his mouth, and his eyes widened. That was... no, it couldn't be... but it WAS. His ghost sense. The one thing that always alerted him when ghosts were present.

"GOING GHOST!" He yelled on instinct. Tonight... would be interesting. It took him a moment of silently searching before he heard a familiar laugh. What followed was a sigh. The Box Ghost? Seriously? He was bored out of his mind and all the GOOD ghosts were busy being hunted? Lame.

Nevertheless, he gave chase, lifting into the air. He followed the ghost into... the Ghost Zone? Wait... had The Box Ghost just... caught himself? Well that was... unexpected, to say the least. But Danny assumed it was a trap, assumed it was a poorly veiled attempt by Boxy to do... something. He wasn't sure what. But he knew something was wrong.

And so he flew through the portal, throwing caution to the wind. He could still hear that laughter, vaguely see The Box Ghost off in the distance. It was a long flight, but eventually, he cornered him.

"Okay... stop already... I've caught you..." Danny said between pants. To be quite honest, the long chase had tired him out juuuuuust a bit. He was out of practice, perhaps. What followed next shocked him. It wasn't so much the EXCRUCIATING pain, but more the fact that it had come out of, quite literally, nowhere.

It was a beam of ectoplasmic energy. And the one to fire it soon revealed himself, becoming visible. Skulker, a ghost hunter in his own rights. In that ever ghost he 'caught', he promised to 'rest their pelt at the foot of his bed'. He was preparing to deliver a monologue, when something happened that was NOT a part of their plan.

A natural portal appeared behind the ghost boy, whisking him away. Skulker and The Box Ghost each had only a second to give a cry of 'NOOOO' before it closed. Young Daniel Fenton was gone. And as he was soon discovering, he didn't have a way back.

-Dimensional Island-

A ripple appeared above the Dimensional Island. It soon shifted into a glowing, green, circular shape. It seemed to be slightly spinning. A child, perhaps 14 years of age, was deposited. He had taken up his human form once the beam connected to him. Perhaps he really WAS out of practice. Usually he could take buildings falling on him without going human form.

And he found himself falling, unable to catch himself. He hadn't been able to fly outside of ghost form easily, in the first place. So it was only logical that he couldn't do it at all, now. Lack of practice, as has been stated. So, obviously, he just had to take ghost form, fly above the sky-line, and try to figure out where the portal had taken him.

So... why wasn't he able to take ghost form? No matter how hard he tried, he didn't seem to... surely he could still access his powers. He'd done it seconds ago, hadn't he?

"Going ghost... going... ghost..." Danny's eyes widened as fear began to overtake him. He was fast approaching what appeared to be a castle, and if he couldn't fly, well... he'd crash right into it and keep going.

"Go ghost, go ghost!" It was at this point that urgency kicked in. He began to yell, trying to force the transformation. Something was wrong. That was obvious. He should've been Danny Phantom by now, flying above the world. But he wasn't. He was, instead, Danny Fenton, falling towards a building of DOOM.

He could only watch as he approached, terrified. His life flashed before his eyes for a moment. He was no more than a few seconds away, now. And then, as if it was his last hope...

"GOING GHOST!" Daniel exclaimed with all his might, reaching as far inside of him as he physically COULD. And then the familiar white/blue rings appeared around his waist, spreading upwards. His white shirt with the red dot was replaced by a black shirt with white highlights and a 'DP' emblem. The 'P' being inside the 'D'. His blue jeans were replaced with what appeared to be the bottom of a black jumpsuit, his boots being white in shade, the pants being black. His white-gloved hands reached for his throbbing head. He opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was his close proximity with the castle. At the speed he was falling, he didn't have time to pull up. His only choice was to trust that his intangibility still worked. Luckily for him, it did. However, as soon as he was through the roof of the castle, as soon as he was in a room, his intangibility faded, and he collided with the floor. 'it hurt like hell' would be an understatement. Because his earlier speed had only been slightly deterred.

Surprisingly, his ghost sense proceeded to go off. He was... ASSAULTED by an odd energy... there seemed to be an abundance of ghosts there, yes. But there was something else. Something more... dark...

He didn't have time to worry about that, however. The Fenton Thermos, the item he used to capture ghosts, fell before him. He noticed something... odd. His hair, usually snow white in this form, was the ashy black of Danny FENTON. He focused for a moment, the rings appearing again, washing over him. And once again, he had snow white hair, glowing green eyes, etc.

He looked at his surroundings. He appeared to be in a... dungeon, of some sort. Odd. Danny didn't remember a ghost dungeon... well, other than Walker's dimension. And it lacked the 'NONE SHALL PASS' foreboding glow. It was then that Danny noticed something else about his... current surroundings.

Someone was there.

[monster]

( OOC: My brain is now thrown for a loop, thanks Jil. Thanks. ><)

Quickly springing to his feet, the alarmed Bulkavin was soon headed down the hall in record speed. Every room seemed to have something stranger than normal in them. Nothing was right about this place now, nothing at all. His breathing became heavy as he found himself running somewhere... anywhere for that matter. Wasn't long until he lost his footing and fell to the floor, flailing his arms into the air as he descended. THUD! Oh what pain this trip had cost him! Almost as a childish reflex, he curled himself into a fetal position, hands tucked close to his chest, knees as far as his animal like legs would let. His face was burried in the tangle of body, tears beginning to swell in his eyes.

"I want to go home" he found himself repeating. This wasn't like him, not this weird way of acting. It was like he was just a child again, how he felt when he was taken from his family to go study at the castle. This all seemed too familiar. Remembering good times in the castle he was used to did nothing in the castle he was in now.

He sobbed, long drawn out weeping with hiccuping breathes and bodily twitches. His heart was heavy, the sorrow deepening as home sickness began to settle in. Where was he in the castle? Who knew, who cared. He found comfort in his thoughts, his tears, and in the cold dank floor beneath his quivering body. For the first time in his life, he felt like dying.

[mugenginga]

Belphegor felt the spirits in the area react towards the new arrival. The emotions were mixed, and the most positive was a quiet bemusement. The most negative were really too violent to put into words, but it was long then lines of various forms of dismemberment. Belphegor lifted his finger off the spikes of the Iron Maiden. The gathering of spirits in front of the door to some of the back cells was enough to be tangible to most humans, let alone one such as he.

Still in true demon form, he walked forward towards the door. He shooed away the ghosts and pulled open the door. It fulfilled the old horror movie cliche and made a horrible squeaking noise. He walked in and saw a... teenage boy? He seemed to be some kind of tainted ghost, there was far more mortality to him than belonged. He seemed rather disorientated. Belphegor cleared his throat, hoping to catch the attention of the new arrival. He wasn't "native" to the castle, in any case.
-----

The hesitant spirit from before swirled around Michale before shooting off down the hall. The current "Lord" of the castle would want to be updated about this development. It meant returning to that area of concentrated darkness again, but it was better than being destroyed by the demon. If only because this particular spirit felt it to be its duty to protect the non violent residents of the castle...

[Jilak]

That really shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was. Danny's ghost sense was going haywire. It was obvious that he wasn't the only person in the room the second he crashed in. That didn't stop him from nearly leaping out of his skin when Belphegor cleared his throat. That energy felt oddly... familiar.

In any case, Daniel leaped to his feet, turning on the demon, holding out his... thermos. Well, at least he didn't look particularly 'threatening'. Which, all things considered, may have actually saved his life.

"Stay back! I have a thermos and I'm not afraid to use it! Er... BEWARE!" Danny exclaimed, waving his arms in a rather Box Ghost-like fashion.

Beads of sweat found themselves pooled upon the half ghost's forehead. His mind was still reeling from the fall, and his body showed the effects. He was disoriented, lucky to not have attacked Bel. Because in his current state of mind, it was entirely plausible for him to see the demon as part of Skulker and The Box Ghost's 'plan'.

The fact that Daniel's mind was continuously making comparisons between the demon and Pariah Dark wasn't helping matters...

[mugenginga]

A particularly defined presence passed through several walls of the stone castle. It should be pointed that it was a presence because most couldn't see it.

It was, in fact, a mostly transparent fourteen year old boy with eyes carrying maturity beyond his apparent years and medium length hair held in a short ponytail. His manner of dress looked like he'd been killed at some Renaissance Fair, although the ornate looking longsword sheated at his side seemed rather ornate. The circlet and earrings indicated what he really was. The spirit of a long dead prince, and actually the prince of the castle and heir to the lost throne.

He hovered above a section of floor before dropping down through it, using the intangible powers as a ghost in the most common method. He hovered a few feet above the accursed dungeon floor. The demon who had made himself lord of the castle upon finding it was standing in a doorway.

The prince known as William VI, commonly Will and even Willie had those few he had been close to remained in the castle, hesitated for a moment. Belphegor seemed to have found something interesting. He glanced towards the other ghosts in the dungeon. Most of them were bound here by their crimes. Those that had followed that vile usurper, the one who had killed his parents, throne him in this dungeon... Will narrowed his eyes and floated forward.
-----

Belphegor had to fight back laughter, and the way his face contorted made it obvious that's what he was doing. Actually, it probably reminded the poor teen of a certain archrival. He took a few steps forward to better look at the arm waving teenager. He glanced down at the thermos, his own abilities with ingenuity and invention quickly figuring out its purpose. He smirked and gestured to the leering ghosts near the boy. They were all dressed in outfits that made them look like they came from some medieval era, and didn't seem in the least friendly.

"I don't know what sent you in here, child, but I somehow don't think that cup of yours can hold everyone here. And as it is, they are rather eager to rip you limb from limb. As for that cup, it won't work on me," he grinned a bit, revealing vampiric like fangs, "I am not a ghost, after all."

William floated through the wall, coming beside Belphegor. His eyes widened when he saw the white haired teenager. This... well, the way Belphegor was standing and the ghosts of the dungeon were leering could only mean the visitor wasn't a ghost for reasons of evil. He had a similar presence to the two remaining innocents in the castle... who was he?

(OOC: Pausing for reactions. Will would feel rather different to the other ghosts in the dungeon, and especially Belphegor.)

[Jilak]

That was rather disconcerting. The demonic fangs, the way he was holding back his laughter... all reminded Daniel too much of one of his enemies. Vlad Tempes Dra-wait, wrong Vlad. Vlad Masters, also known as Vlad Plasmius is the one we should be concerned with at the moment. My mistake.

In any case, the other ghosts near him were unsettling, to say the least. After all was said and done, he'd probably end up needing a new jumpsuit. But that was another matter for another time. At the moment, he had to worry about not becoming a FULL ghost.

Danny held a hand out, threateningly. For a moment, nothing happen. And then it was lit aglow with an ectoplasmic blast. He didn't release it, of course. It was more to say that if push came to shove, he'd fight for his half-life. And then he'd ponder on how death for a half ghost worked.

And then he noticed William. At the very least, the ghost felt less... evil, than the others. To be quite honest, he wouldn't have 'noticed' William had his ghost sense not gone off again. He was too busy trying to look RAWR THREATENING. The half-ghost decided to try for the diplomatic route before matters got worse, however.

"I don't wanna have to do this. But if you're with Skulker and The Box Ghost, just let me go, and I won't bother you."

[mugenginga]

Belphegor looked genuinely confused for about half a second. What was with this visitor? Skulker? Box Ghost? He knew the words, but it quite frankly sounded like something you'd find on some stupid teaching program.

"I don't know of those you speak. As for letting you go..." Belphegor glanced around, "You're the one that so rudely came into my home. And I see no reason to protect you from those tied here."

Will's eyes got wide. He noticed the shift in Belphegor's stance. He planned on walking out on the arrival and leaving the oddly suited teenager to be destroyed by the other spirits here. His need to deliver the message was suddenly lost.

"You need to lea-" the prince began to shout.

William didn't get to finish his sentence, however. Belphegor had thrust his open palm to the side and a black stream bordered in purple shot from it. William was impacted in the side and shot towards a side wall. The energy, whatever it was, seemed to alter his general intangible construct. It appeared the same, but he certainly didn't fly through the wall. He hit it. Hard, and in a manner Danny likely painfully remembered. He slid down onto the ground and winced as he tried to push himself up.

"Know your place, whelp," he snarled at William.