The Secret Trio

Epilogue

"Fairies?"

"Real."

"Giants?"

"Real."

"Vampires?"

"Called Strigoi, but yeah, real."

Everyone who had been at the final battle with William was gathered outside the council chamber, waiting for their meeting to begin. It was a beautiful day on the Island of Draco, a week after the battle. Danny, Sam, and Tucker had reacted to the island without much surprise, but Randy and Howard were gaping and staring at everything that went by. They had been going on during the wait asking Jake which magical creatures were real.

Howard's eyes were alight with amazement. "What about mermaids?" he asked. Jake rolled his eyes.

"Real." he said calmly. Both of the Norrisville boys let out fascinated gasps, and Randy clapped his hands.

"Oh, I change my mind. This is the brucest thing in the history of bruce!"

"Are we dreaming, Cunningham?" Howard asked breathlessly. Lao Shi gave his grandson an exasperated frown.

"Jake, I do not think we should be telling them so much prior to the council meeting."

"Ah, c'mon, G, they saved the world with us! I'm sure the council will let them-"

"Not until the meeting is over." the elder stated firmly. Jake sighed and shrugged.

"Sorry, guys." He turned his back and began chattering with Trixie and Spud, as Danny, Sam and Tucker ignored their conversation and chattered among themselves. Randy ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"This is heavy, Howard. Real heavy."

"Tell me something I don't know, Cunningham," Howard replied, gazing into the sky as dragons of all colors flew overhead and trained. "We were perfectly normal freshmen and then that all changed when you became the Ninja. Now we're part of this whole thing."

"I hope so." Randy said uneasily. Howard frowned.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I don't know if they'll let either of us remember any of this. Ninjas have their mind wiped at the end of their term, and I highly doubt they'll let us keep our memory of the magical world too."

Howard bit his lip, trying to think of something to say to reassure his best friend. He shrugged. "Well, we don't know, Cunningham, maybe they let some Ninjas keep Ninja-ing on. Don't, uh, lose hope yet?"

"I'll try not to." Randy's eyes drifted to Team Phantom. "I wonder what the council will make of them, especially Danny. He's..."

"Insanely, absurdly powerful! He-"

"I can hear you. Come over here if you're gonna talk about me." Danny called. The boys complied and walked the few feet over to the Phantom trio. Danny smiled. "So what were you saying?"

"Nothing," Howard insisted, "just mentioned that we think you're powerful."

"Oh. Thanks." Danny said, sounding a little embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "What makes you say that?"

"That wail you used." Randy explained. "It was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it; how'd you learn that one?"

"Eh...um..." Danny looked away from them, to Sam and Tucker for help. Tucker crossed his arms.

"It's a really long story." he said.

"And Danny's usually doesn't feel comfortable repeating it. He had trouble giving us all the details." Sam furthered. Danny shook his head.