The Halfa Prince (Book 1) *RE-MASTERED*

Chapter 15: Take Back the Keep

Third Person POV

As the castle entered their field of view, the not so merry band of ghosts and humans were getting nervous. They had one shot, one chance to make everything right again. If they failed, the Ghost Zone would fall under the rule of a new, potentially even more tyrannical Ghost King. As they grew closer, Nocturne and Clockwork led the way, keeping their eyes peeled for any surprise attacks. Fright Knight exited the speeder and mounted his steed, acting as backup and protecting the humans inside the speeder.

Surprisingly, they arrived at the front doors of the castle without issue.

"Maybe he doesn't know we're coming?" Tucker said, hope in his voice. Soon after he finished his sentence, the castle rumbled and the doors creaked open.

"Or not," the technogeek sighed. 

The humans armed themselves with every piece of ghost fighting equipment they could find. Jazz equipped herself with the Fenton Ghost Peeler, Sam grabbed the Fenton Foamer and a Fenton Wrist Ray while Tucker opted for the Fenton Ghost Gauntlets. Geared up, the three humans exited the speeder, following close behind the three ghosts. As soon as they entered the castle, the doors slammed shut behind them with a force that nearly knocked the humans to the ground. Darkness was all around them until Fright Knight unsheathed his sword, letting its ghostly flames light their way. 

As they began to make their way further into the castle, Clockwork suddenly slammed down his staff, bringing everyone behind him to a halt at the entrance of a darkened hallway. "Wait," he whispered, "something isn't right."

"Yeah, you're right," Sam added, "We're standing in a dark hallway while Danny is in trouble! We have to help him!" The goth began to charge past Clockwork into the hall when the entire hall started to turn sideways. Sam stepped into the hall and slipped, her fall aimed directly at a suit of armor holding a very real, very pointy sword.

"Lady Sam!" Fright Knight cried out, flying in to catch her and return her to the entrance of the hall with the others. While Sam recovered from the shock of what just happened with Tucker and Jazz looking after her, Clockwork muttered to himself.

"Clockwork, mind sharing what is going through that old cog-brain of yours?" Nocturne huffed.

"Yeah! What was up with the moving hallway? Did it always do that?" Jazz cried out.

The purple clad spirit shook his head as he shifted to his toddler form. "Vizier must have found his Relic... but how?" he said to no one in particular. Turning to the rest of the group, Clockwork explained, "Vizier is the Elder Spirit of Space. He is using his powers to bend and shift the castle to his will in order to prevent us from finding Danny."

Clockwork cursed himself in his mind for not considering that Vizier might have his Relic with him. This made things much more difficult. "We must stick together and be wary. The castle could move and change at any instance."

The group nodded in agreement and pushed into the now sideways hall, being careful to avoid the suits of armor holding various weaponry. They made it through the hall with no further issues and pressed onward. They made their way through seemingly never-ending stairways, rooms that lead to nowhere, windows that became doors and underneath rugs that became stairs.

"It feels like we've been doing this for hours and we've gotten nowhere!" Jazz shouted. "How are we ever going to find Danny in this labyrinth?" She fought the urge to let tears spill from her eyes. Her fear of losing her brother could not cloud her judgement now, she had to stay positive.

"Patience, Jasmine. We will find Danny. We just need to outsmart Vizier," Clockwork assured her.

Nocturne huffed, "This ceased to be interesting hours ago, it is just redundant now. If I had my Relic, we would have been in and out already." The large spirit crossed his arms and bowed his head to enter a rather small room filled with painting. The others followed after him as the doors slammed shut behind them and disappeared.