{Sorry for posting a little late, it was Amalgamorph's(LombaxMechanic23's) birthday! You can view what I (Anxiescape) made for her here: https://www.deviantart.com/anxiescape/art/TAoT-Thanatos-Plush-880450581
This chapter takes place a few days after the previous one.
We do not own Danny Phantom or Percy Jackson, only this story and our original characters}
Starting the next day, Danny was thrown into the hustle and bustle of life at Camp Half-Blood. He was glad for the distraction from the events of his first full day at camp. He hadn't contacted Thanatos since his solo trip to the Underworld; Danny didn't want to cause the god any more trouble than he already had. So, he was grateful that his schedule kept him busy.
Camp quickly began to feel like a second home. He even got used to the strange feeling in the attic. It reminded him of the Ghost Zone, in an especially eerie sort of way. He had even gone in once, just to see what was up there.
As soon as Danny crossed the threshold, he immediately got the feeling that he was not welcome. Usually, Danny didn't listen to such promptings, but he listened to this one. There was something about the attic that set his core on edge.
Danny left before anything could happen.
As the week progressed, Danny was thrown into a fun new routine. There were all sorts of classes offered at the camp, and Danny got to try lots of different things. Everyday in the mornings at about 9 AM, either Annabeth or Chiron taught him Ancient Greek, and half an hour before lunch they taught him Greek Mythology.
One day, while Annabeth was teaching him Greek Mythology, a thought crossed Danny's mind. "Hey, Annabeth, I've got a question."
She looked at him, curious. "Yeah?"
"What does it mean to promise something on the River Styx?" He remembered back when he had first met Thanatos, the god had made a promise to him on the River Styx. Danny hadn't really thought anything of it at the time, but now...
Annabeth's eyes widened. "You shouldn't promise anything on the River Styx, Danny." She said gravely. "Not unless it's something that is very important to you. As in, willing-to-risk-your-life-for-it important."
Danny felt a hint of dread begin to grow in his stomach. "... why's that?"
"A promise made on the River Styx is binding." Annabeth explained. "If it's broken, there are serious repercussions for all parties involved."
Danny gulped nervously. "Like... what? Death?"
"Worse than death." Annabeth stressed.
Danny nodded and looked down at his hands. Thanatos had made a promise to Danny on the River Styx. Why would he do that? Was he really willing to face punishment if it was broken? Would Danny face consequences as well?
Danny decided not to dwell on it, at least for the time being.
On Monday, after his Ancient Greek lessons, Danny worked with Aurora on fighting with a sword and other bladed weapons. Danny quickly learned that he was not meant to wield a sword, so they mainly worked with daggers. After his weapons lesson came his private combat lesson with Chiron, since he couldn't take pegasus-riding lessons (on the bright side, Danny didn't have to clean the stables.)
"Where's Mr. D?" Danny asked as he and Chiron entered the arena.
"Mr. D has been called to Olympus on official business." Chiron explained. "He will be gone for the foreseeable future."
"Oh, cool." Danny was absolutely okay with not seeing the wine dude for the rest of spring break, and he didn't think about it again as the lesson began.
During their first private combat lesson, Danny showed Chiron two of his powers: intangibility and invisibility (he wasn't very comfortable with showing off his ecto-rays and other powers just yet.) Chiron seemed slightly disturbed by Danny's abilities, but he took the news in stride, and helped Danny to incorporate those skills into their training.
After lunch, there was a tracking class. It was mostly for tracking animals and monsters, but Danny figured it could also be useful for ghost hunting. After that was cabin clean-up, but since Danny was not officially in the Hermes cabin (or any cabin, for that matter), he didn't have to help with it. So, he had more free time than the other campers.
During his free time, Danny would go into the woods and explore (invisibly. He didn't need the nymphs telling Mr. D anything else.) He also hung out with Annabeth when she had free time. They talked more about Amity Park and life at camp, but they also did other activities. They did some more sparring, and they also spent some time in the rec room (with a bit of help from his telekinesis, Danny was a master at ping pong, much to Annabeth's chagrin.)
On Tuesday, Danny had archery with Sunny, javelin throwing with one of the Ares' campers, and something the water nymphs taught called Ride the Rapids. On Wednesday, Danny helped Annabeth check inventory at the camp store (How did I not know this was here before?) and picked strawberries with some of the Demeter kids before lunch.
After lunch, Danny found himself in the camp forge, learning the basics of blacksmithing. It was fun, but Danny was glad to get out of the workshop later that day to go chop wood for that night's campfire; it was far too hot in the forge for his liking.
After dinner each day was a campwide activity: on Monday, it was volleyball; Tuesday, it was unarmed combat; and Wednesday was Archery Knockout. Danny did not participate in any of the events. Even though Danny and Annabeth were on good terms (he would even say they were friends), he didn't want to make her any more suspicious of him if he accidentally used his powers during one of the events again.
At the campfire after Archery Knockout, Annabeth asked him why he hadn't participated in any of the activities. Danny told her that he wasn't very good at volleyball and that he had pretty poor aim (okay, that one was a bold-faced lie; his aim was as good as his mom's.)
"Then why didn't you enter the unarmed combat tournament?" Annabeth countered.
Danny shrugged with a smirk. "Didn't want to embarrass anyone."
Annabeth shook her head with a grin. "Careful. I might just tell Clarisse you said that."
"Please don't."
If Danny was being honest, he kind of enjoyed the break from his ghostly hero duties. So, of course, something had to happen while he was at camp.
On Thursday afternoon, Danny had wrestling class with Clarisse and her cabin. He was surprisingly good at the class, though that was likely because he had plenty of experience with hand-to-hand combat from ghost fighting. Clarisse was demonstrating a chokehold on one of her siblings when they suddenly heard a loud conch horn echo across the valley.
Clarisse's expression turned serious and she stood to address the class. "Alright, training's over!" She shouted. "Camp is under attack, go to our cabin and await orders!" She then turned to Danny. "You, stay here and stay outta the way."
Danny was surprised to see everyone hurry out of the arena and towards the cabins. They act like the camp being attacked is a normal thing. Though, I wonder what's out there? Danny had seen some strange monsters during his trips into the forest, such as giant ants and another cat-snake chimera (Danny made sure to stay far away from it.) His curiosity got the better of him, and he hurried outside to see what was happening.
Campers were running around frantically; some were suiting up at the armory, while others were sharpening swords at the forge. As he wondered what to do, Danny noticed a group of campers forming on the beach; some stood at the ready with weapons while others aimed readied bows at something floating above the water. He ran towards the group to see what was going on.
As soon as Danny's feet hit the sand, his ghost sense went off. Oh, great.
"Ghost child! Come out and face me!" Skulker floated above the water. He fired a few ecto-blasts towards the group, but they seemed to bounce off of the air; was there some invisible force-field or something?
Danny would have to look into that later. At the moment, though, he needed to deal with the annoying hunter ghost (really, the correct term would be 'ghost hunter,' but that quickly got confusing with his parents' line of work, so he referred to Skulker as 'the hunter ghost.')
About twenty feet from the group was a dock, with a canoe rack loaded with boats.
I can transform over there. Danny thought. He slipped away from the group and ran down to the dock. After ducking behind the rack and making sure he was alone, he transformed and went invisible. As a last minute thought, Danny flew to the Big House to grab his thermos before flying back to the group.
Skulker was still yelling and firing at the invisible force field. A few more campers had gathered as well, all armed and ready to fight.
Danny flew straight at the ghost, ramming into him. He grabbed Skulker and pulled him down into the ocean before he could react.
When they were about fifty feet from the shore and deep underwater, Skulker kicked Danny in the chest, knocking him back. "Ghost child! How nice of you to finally show up." Skulker sneered.
Danny was not in the mood for this. "How did you find me, Skulker?" He snapped angrily.
"You are my prey, ghost child. I will always find you, and I will never stop hunting you until your pelt is at the foot of my bed!" Skulker extended his arm and fired a glowing white capture net at Danny.
"Yikes, dude." Danny cringed as he dodged out of the way. "You need a new hobby."
"And it seems that you have found one." Skulker fired at Danny again. "Why are you so far from Amity Park?"
"I could ask you the same question!" Danny fired a few ecto-blasts at Skulker, who dodged most of them and growled in frustration at the ones he didn't.
"Plasmius paid me handsomely to find where you ran off to, ghost child." Skulker fired off a few ecto-blasts in Danny's direction as he spoke. "Of course, I don't need to be paid to hunt you down. It's one of my favorite pastimes."
"Like I said, find a new hobby!" Danny fired a double-handed ecto-blast that sent Skulker reeling backwards. He unclipped the Fenton Thermos from his belt. "And tell Plasmius to leave me alone when you see him in, oh, about a week!"
"What? NOOO!" Skulker wailed as he was sucked into the thermos. "IT'S SO CRAMPED IN HERE!"
Danny capped the thermos with a sigh. At least I thought to bring this. He then went invisible and returned to camp.
Upon returning to the beach, Danny saw that the group of maybe fifteen campers had positioned themselves in a loose phalanx formation, weapons bristling over their shields. Chiron was pacing behind the campers with his bow in his hands, tail flicking back and forth. Annabeth walked with him, and she was talking to him about something.
Crap, they're gonna be on high alert for who knows how long because of Skulker. I-I've gotta do something. Danny needed to let the campers know the danger had passed, so he thought for a moment before coming up with what was, admittedly, a pretty stupid idea.
Danny moved to where Skulker's shots had hit the invisible force-field and became visible.
The campers shouted in alarm and pointed their weapons at him; a few even shot arrows in his direction, but he easily dodged.
"Wait, I'm not the one that attacked you!" Danny hurriedly called out, holding his hands up in surrender.
Chiron ordered the campers to stand by and moved in front of the formation. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He demanded.
"I'm Phantom, and I was just passing by when I saw Skulker attacking you guys and decided to help." Danny answered, noticing how Annabeth's eyes lit up when he said his name.
"How do we know you didn't order that thing to attack us?" Clarisse called out, pushing her way to the front of the formation.
Danny glared at her, offended that she would suggest such a thing. "I didn't tell him to attack anyone! Skulker just tries to hunt me down so he can mount my 'pelt' on his wall," He paused. "Or was it to make it into a rug?"
Several of the campers looked disgusted. Even Chiron looked disturbed. "Well, thank you for the help, Phantom." The centaur acknowledged cautiously.
"You're welcome." Danny bowed nervously. "Now, I'd, uhh, better get going!" With that, Danny went invisible and flew back to the Big House, ignoring Chiron calling after him.
Danny fell to his knees as soon as his feet touched the floor of his room, breathing heavily. What the heck was I thinking? He thought as he transformed back to human form. They're gonna find out, I shouldn't have done that... Danny's heart hammered in his chest as he pulled himself into a seated position and leaned against the bed, trying to control his breathing. Danny brought his knees to his chest and rested his head against them in an attempt to ground himself.
In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. Danny silently repeated a breathing exercise Jazz had taught him years ago for when his anxiety flared up.
After several minutes, Danny had managed to calm down and steady his breathing. He stood up just as someone knocked on his door. Taking one more deep breath, Danny opened the door to find Annabeth still in her armor. She pulled him into a hug before Danny could say anything.
"Whoa, Annabeth. You okay?" Danny asked, awkwardly hugging her back.
"You disappeared when that ghost showed up. No one knew where you went and I thought that..." Annabeth trailed off.
"Hey, I'm fine." Danny said, pulling out of Annabeth's hug to look her in the eye.
"Then why did you disappear?" Annabeth questioned.
Danny chuckled mirthlessly. "I've seen what Skulker is willing to do to get to his prey."
Annabeth frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I live in Amity Park, remember?" Danny reminded her. "Skulker chasing Phantom is a common occurrence. I told you about him on Sunday."
Annabeth nodded, but she still looked confused. "Why were both of them even here? They've never been recorded leaving Amity Park before."
"Not true. Phantom's been seen in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Maine." Danny corrected, remembering his run-ins with Vlad and when he saved Nico and Bianca back in November. "And Skulker's also been seen in Wisconsin."
"But why would they be here? On the shore of Camp Half-Blood?" She countered. "And why did Skulker mention a 'ghost child'?"
Crap. Annabeth, why do you have to be so dang smart? Danny thought in frustration. "I... dunno, Annabeth. I can't read ghosts' minds."
"Hmm." Annabeth thought for a moment. "Was Skulker talking to you? 'Cuz he only said it when you showed up."
... Well, then.
Skulker is so gonna pay for this later. "Uhh, maybe? I mean, my parents are ghost hunters, so, uhh, ghosts tend to come after me and my sister a lot." Danny said, rather lamely.
"I... guess that makes sense." Annabeth said slowly. "You should probably go and see Chiron before he sends another search party for you."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I probably should."
Annabeth smiled good-naturedly before heading back downstairs.
What am I even going to say to Chiron? Danny fretted, ruffling his hair in frustration. He paced around his room, trying to decide what to do. He could tell Chiron that he was Phantom, but that would open a whole other can of worms that Danny was not currently willing to deal with; would Chiron think that Danny was a monster or something? Would he make him leave the camp, or would he... would he just kill him? With how everyone had reacted to Phantom... Danny wasn't sure if telling Chiron was the best idea.
He could also just tell Chiron nothing, but Danny had a feeling that that wouldn't work, either. Just about everyone heard Skulker say 'ghost child', and it was likely that more than a few people knew that the ghost was referring to Danny after he had stepped onto the beach.
After several minutes of contemplation, Danny came to a decision: partial truths. He would tell Chiron the bare minimum. He really didn't want to give the centaur any indication that he was Phantom or that he knew more than he was letting on, but he still needed to let him know that the camp was safe.
After taking a moment to mentally prepare himself, Danny walked down to the first floor. There he found Chiron, in his wheelchair, staring into the lit fireplace.
"Uh, hey, Chiron." Danny greeted as he entered the parlor.
"Hello, Danny. I was wondering where you had gone." Chiron turned to face him, a welcoming yet thoughtful look on his face. "Annabeth tells me that you have seen our... 'visitors' before in your hometown."
Danny rubbed his neck. "Yeah, sorry about disappearing. I've, uhh, learned that whenever one of Phantom's enemies shows up, it's best to get out of the way."
Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"
"Well, when one of his enemies shows up, he's often not far behind, and there's usually a lot of mess and destruction afterwards." Danny explained.
"I see." Chiron nodded in understanding. "Luckily, despite that creature's intentions, there was not any damage done here today."
"I've been meaning to ask, what's up with that?" Danny questioned. "Is there, like, a magic force-field or something around the camp?"
Chiron smiled in amusement. "Why, yes, I suppose that's one way to put it. There is a magical barrier around the valley that protects us from outside forces." Chiron's smile faded as he changed the subject. "Danny, do you have any idea why those two showed up at this camp in the first place?"
Danny looked away guiltily. It's my fault... my being here put the camp in danger. "Nope... no idea."
Chiron watched him carefully. "What do you know about these 'ghosts'?"
"Well, my parents are ghost hunters," Danny answered more easily. "So I guess I know more than most people. These specific ghosts come from a place called the Ghost Zone. Tha- I mean, my mentor said that it used to be part of the Underworld."
"Hmm," Chiron leaned back in his wheelchair. "Well, those two were certainly not like any ghosts I've ever encountered. They seemed to have corporeal bodies, unlike most shades. And the mechanical one..."
"Skulker." Danny supplied.
Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Skulker?"
Danny nodded. "That's what he calls himself."
Chiron looked unimpressed, but he continued. "Alright, then. 'Skulker' was able to physically attack the barrier, which makes me think he isn't so much a ghost, as he is a monster. That in and of itself wouldn't normally be too much of a problem, since monsters often try to enter the camp. What's concerning is that he seems to be sentient. He was able to communicate with us, and where most monsters would be scared off, he chose to continue his assault. At least until the other one showed up."
"Yeah, but it's fine now, isn't it?" Danny tried to assure him. "I-Phantom took care of Skulker, so the camp's safe."
Chiron didn't look convinced. "I don't know..." He trailed off as he watched the smoke crawl its way up into the chimney, before turning his attention back to Danny. "Speaking of your mentor, I think you should mention this to him." Chiron said seriously. "Although Phantom helped us today, I don't trust him. Ghosts never have good intentions, and spirits running loose in the mortal realm is dangerous. That's why your mentor captures them and takes them back to the Underworld where they belong."
Danny tried not to wince at the centaur's words; he knew that Chiron didn't know he was Phantom, but... it still hurt. "Yeah," Danny mumbled. "I'll talk to him tonight."
{Vlad, why do you have to be so rude; sending Skulker to do your dirty work. And now Skulker is stuck in the thermos until Danny gets home.
We have a few offshoots of Danny's week at camp planned, such as his first sword lesson with Aurora and his first private combat lesson with Chiron. Let us know if you want to see anything else.}