High Court of the Ghost King
Ghost King, Wes Weston, and Post Reveal
AO3
Word Count: 2633
Danny was not sure how this had happened. No, that’s not true. He knew exactly the series of events. He could trace back, day by day, to the moment this timeline had been set in motion. He also knew that that was a load of bull, and that he could easily manage to trace this as far back as he felt, being that he was the apprentice to the Lord of Time and all. As it was though, he was tracing it back to nine days earlier. Nine days ago when he’d been talking to one of the Far Frozen yetis in a back corner of Amity Park Park. That had led to four days ago when the largest blizzard in recorded history buried Amity Park in seven feet of snow, which had led to two days ago when he had gone flying off in the Specter Speeder to visit Frostbite to talk about how he did not mean seven feet, he had just meant enough to close Casper High for a few days so he could catch up on his sleep schedule and maybe actually get a book report finished. He hadn’t known about the stowaway, but he’d heard the news of a missing kid when he got back to his house. And then, three hours ago, Dora had sent a messenger to tell him that the yetis had apprehended a human trespasser. Given that he was the king of the Ghost Zone (and possibly also the god of the yetis) and that the human realm of Amity Park was his lair, he had complete jurisdiction over the human trespasser. He had been planning on just sneaking them out of the Ghost Zone and paying back Dora and Frostbite tomorrow. Of course, one hour ago, he’d found out that someone might have mentioned to someone else that there was a human in the castle who the Ghost King himself had been summoned for, and word might have spread from there to another someone else, who may have told everyone they knew that there was going to be a trial, even though that was not ever conveyed to them.
And that was how Phantom found himself borrowing the courtroom of the Dragon Queen Dorathea, surrounded by hundreds of important ghosts from the far reaches of the Zone, glaring at Wes Weston. He had plans for the evening, damn it, and now he was here, holding court, because Wes freaking Weston didn’t know when to stop. The air around Phantom seemed to warp with power and annoyance. Wes did not seem to understand the gravity of his situation.
“What the hell, Fenton?” One of the ghosts, a tall sharp fellow, stepped forward towards Wes and raised his hand menacingly.
“You shall refer to His Majesty by his proper title, or not at all, human.” He spat the last word like the worst possible insult. Wes didn’t seem bothered.
“It’s alright Cornelius. He is unfamiliar with our customs.” Phantom called back his herald in the ghost tongue common in Dorathea’s kingdom. “As far as he is aware, I am simply his weak classmate who happens to be dead.”
“That does not excuse his behaviour, Your Majesty,” Cornelius spoke angrily. “He must be punished for his insolence.”
“I’m aware, Cornelius. And I plan on doing so-”
“Seriously Fenton, what’s going on?” Wes was annoyed that no one was explaining anything to him. Phantom groaned. As much as he was pushed around at Casper High, no one dared interrupt him when he was holding court. Even Technus shut up when the Ghost King was speaking in court, and Phantom would not allow Wes to ruin that reputation.
“Cornelius.” Phantom muttered and nodded towards Wes. Cornelius stepped up, and with a giddy expression, slapped Wes across the face. “Thank you.”
Wes didn’t say anything, but he had fallen over backwards, eyes and mouth open in shock. Phantom waited for a few seconds. When Wes didn’t show any signs of getting back up, Phantom sighed and began the official court proceedings.
“For the sake of the human, I will continue in English. I am aware that not everyone understands English, so there are translators among you.” There was a pause as many of the onlookers moved around the stands to find said translators. When the shuffling quieted down, Phantom continued. “As of now, the High Court of the Ghost King is in session.” There was a flash of bright light, and suddenly the Crown of Fire sat amidst Phantom’s white hair and the Ring of Rage glowed on his right hand.
On the ground, Wes muttered “Ghost king?” under his breath. Phantom made eye contact with him, and continued.
“This human, Wes W. Weston, stands on trial, as requested by Lord Frostbite of the Far Frozen. Could the legal representative of the Far Frozen read the charges?”
A smaller yeti stood from within the crowd, and leaped down next to Wes, cracking the ground beneath them. Phantom and Wes both turned to the yeti. They pulled a scroll from a hidden pocket, opened it, and began to read. “The Far Frozen charges this human with stowing away on the Great One’s speeder, trespassing in the homes of Wintermire, Icebeam, and six others, and stealing food from Lord Frostbite.” The yeti rolled the scroll back up, bowed to Phantom, and leaped back into the crowd.
“And how do you plead, Weston?” Phantom turned back to Wes, who had finally managed to close his mouth.
“Um, uh…”
“Do you plead guilty or not guilty?” Phantom asked, emphasizing the first option. It would be so much easier for both of them if Wes stated his own guilt.
“I uh, I plead guilty?” Wes whispered, confusion written across his face. Cornelius turned to Phantom, who nodded back.
“The King accepts your guilt,” Cornelius shouted. The crowd applauded, though many were disappointed. They had wanted to see the human on trial for more.
“Are there any other charges to be brought against Weston?” Phantom scanned the room. He could see the various nobility and common ghosts alike frantically trying to come up with a crime Wes had committed, but none of them were confident enough in their ideas to challenge Phantom. They could see the King was tired and wanted to get this over with. “Alright then. By the power vested in me, I declare you, Wes Weston, guilty of stowing away, trespassing and stealing. For stowing away, I sentence you to twenty hours of service, as dictated by Lord and Lady Fenton of Amity Park. For trespassing eight times, I sentence you to eighty hours of service upon your death, as dictated by Lord Frostbite of the Far Frozen. For your thievery, I sentence you to fifty hours of service upon your death, as dictated by Lord Frostbite of the Far Frozen.” Phantom finished, and the crowd cheered. The yetis present were by far the loudest, especially Wintermire, who already had plans for what Wes was going to do for him.
“I now declare the High Court of the Ghost King closed. All are dismissed.” Phantom floated up from his seat as the Ring and the Crown disappeared in another flash of light. The rest of the ghosts began slowly filtering out. Many were taking their time to converse with friends or to see what would happen next. It had been quite some time since a human had stood trial and not been sentenced to death in the Ghost King’s Court. It had also been quite some time since the Court had been held, and Phantom was so different to the previous King, that many weren’t sure that was a bad thing.
Phantom lowered himself down to where Wes had managed to finally stand up, and switched back to English. “And now, asshole, I’m taking you back home. Follow me.”
Wes followed as Phantom floated down a corridor hidden in shadows in the back of the room. They moved in silence for a few minutes, before Phantom pulled a hidden ladder down from the roof.
“Up you go,” he said. Wes climbed the twenty feet up to a panel in the roof of the hallway. Phantom had already flown through the roof, and Wes was not keen on being left behind.
He poked his head out into surprisingly bright open air. The Fenton Specter Speeder was parked twenty yards away, and Phantom was off to the side talking to a very well dressed female ghost.
“Thank you for letting me know, Dora. And thanks for letting me borrow the courtroom.”
“Of course, Danny. You’re my friend.”
“No, but seriously, thank you. If there’s anything I can do,” He gestured vaguely.
“Come by tomorrow for tea. And do bring your friends. It’s been too long since we’ve had time to relax together.”
“I will. School is still closed for at least a week, so we can stay for longer this time.”
Dorathea laughed. “From what I heard, you may have had something to do with that.” Phantom winked, but didn’t answer.
“I will see you tomorrow, Your Majesty.” He bowed.
“And I will see you tomorrow, Your Majesty.” Dorathea bowed as well. When they both straightened up, Phantom went in for a hug. If Wes didn’t know about Danny and Sam, he would have thought there was something going on here. They were hugging very tightly.
“Now then, Mister I-Think-It’s-A-Good-Idea-To-Sneak-Off-Into-The-Land-Of-The-Dead,” Phantom was right in front of Wes now, shocking him out of his thoughts. “Get in the Speeder.” Wes did as he was told.
Phantom expertly piloted the ship into the Ghost Zone’s sky and set it on autopilot to the Fenton portal, before making his way to the passenger section of the ship, where Wes was being uncharacteristically quiet. He let his transformation rings wash over him, reverting his color scheme back to normal and setting him down on the floor with a clunk.
“I know you have questions. We have two hours before we reach the portal.” Wes made eye contact with Danny, who was relieved to see confusion and anger. He had been expecting emptiness, so this was a good sign.
“They called you the Ghost King.”
“Yes.”
“You’re the King of the ghosts?”
“The ghosts, and the Ghost Zone, and sort of the human realm as well, but that’s more just a title than anything. It keeps most of the ghosts out of Amity though, so I guess it comes with some perks.”
“Do they know you’re,” Wes gestured wildly at Danny. “You?”
“You mean, do they know I’m just an undead corpse being possessed by my own revived soul?” Wes nodded apprehensively. Danny snorted. “Yeah, yeah they do. I actually think it makes them more likely to respect me as their king. I’m not your average ghost. I’m powerful. They like that.”
“Who was that ghost you were talking to, that lady at the end?”
“Dora? Oh, she’s the Dragon Queen. We were in her castle.”
“Wait,” Wes held up his hands to make sure Danny would listen. “If she’s the Queen, and your the King, does that mean…” He trailed off. Danny laughed once and shook his head.
“No, not at all. I’m the Ghost King, as in, all ghosts everywhere and that whole thing. She’s the Dragon Queen, meaning she’s the queen of the Realm of the Dragons. It’s sort of like she’s the governor of New York, but I’m the President. There are a bunch of other minor kings and queens throughout the Zone, but I’m on top. Dora’s just a good friend. She helped a lot with teaching me how to actually be the King.”
“Do your parents know about all of this?” Wes asked.
“Yeah, they do.”
“That’s why they’re always so quick to shut me down whenever I say anything about you as Phantom.”
“Yup!” Danny said, popping the ‘p’ sound. “It’s not super helpful to my whole ‘stay under the radar because there’s at least one government agency that would love to take me away’ thing when you’re going around shouting about how I’m Phantom.”
“But you are.”
“Uh huh, but I don’t want anyone to know. It’s safer for me when they don’t know.”
“And you’ve never said any of this before because?” Wes trailed off, waiting for Danny.
“Because I fully expected you to go off and tell the whole school if I said anything. I’m only telling you now because I had Cornelius slap you and I want to make up for that. Also, because now you’ve seen what I can do if you do to you if you say anything.” Danny smiled, and Wes could have sworn he saw a glint of light reflecting off of fangs. “By the way, that sentencing was serious.”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh yeah. I can’t just let you get off. You committed some pretty serious crimes, at least by ghost standards. When murder’s off the table, other stuff is significantly worse. The only reason you aren’t being executed right now is because I’m nice. Pariah would have had you killed without a second thought.”
“What was my sentence again?”
“Of course you weren’t listening,” Danny muttered. “Just a lot of community service. Most for Frostbite when you actually die and become a ghost, so you got some time there, but some for my parents.”
“Why for your parents?”
“You snuck into their house, onto their Speeder, and now they’re taking the flack because you’ve been gone for two days and everyone is blaming them and their ghost portal. And the ghosts recognize them as being positions of authority over the human realm, so I can.”
“So you’re making me work for them? For free? Isn’t that child labor, or slavery, or something?”
“No, not at all,” Danny said. “Because neither Danny Phantom nor Danny Fenton are going to make you do anything. Danny Fenton has no authority over you, so that’s useless.” He smirked. “Danny Phantom, on the other hand, is both the ghostly ruler of your entire town, and also the dead guy who saved your life, so when he suggests you do something, it’s a good idea to listen.”
Wes nodded, eyes wide.
“So, you’re going to get back to Amity Park and tell everyone how you were kidnapped by a ghost, just any generic ghost, please don’t come up with or use a preexisting name, and then you’re going to say that Phantom came and rescued you. Now, like anyone who was just threatened by a dead man, you want to learn how to defend yourself and how to protect the town from ghosts in the future, so you’re going to tell your parents that you want to help out at FentonWorks. My parents can find something for you to do. Of course, all of this is just a suggestion from Phantom, but I’d recommend you listen.” Wes nodded again.
“No, I got it. I got it.”
“Good, because if you don’t, I will have to change your sentence to something significantly harder. After all, as the eternal overlord of the dead, the god of the cold, and the junior apprentice of Time, I need to set an example, and many of my subjects have a deep-rooted sense of justice.” Wes stayed silent as Danny finished. After a few minutes with not a peep between them, Danny made his way back to the cockpit and took over the controls.
Wes saw the flash that indicated that he was back to being Phantom up there, but didn’t react. He was already planning on how to get out of this. If the Fenton’s knew, that would make it harder, but he’d also probably come away with more information about both Fenton and Phantom. Maybe that would be enough to convince his classmates...
