Ghost Zone Trip (pt. 8)

Despite all that they faced the first night of the trip, Arthur and Morgan went on to have a fun and peaceful vacation together. Once they finished camping they went on to visit some more landmarks, try new foods, and just generally travel around with just the two of them as company. Neither of them regretted their time together... with the exception of when it came time for Morgan to have to return home on Sunday. 

"-Thanks again for letting me stay with you, Arthur." Morgan mentioned to the ghost prince as they were heading back to the portal Morgan came from a few days ago, "This has to be one of the best weekends I've had in forever."

"And to you, my lady. It was a pleasure to have you with me... I only wish it could've been longer." Arthur gave a sigh, already missing his precious huntress. Sensing his mood going down, Morgan reassuringly squeezed his hand, "Hey, don't worry... you can still visit me like you did before, remember?"

"...yes, I know. But still.." Arthur looked at their grasped hands, "When will I get the opportunity to be alone with you like this, on a longer period of time? I have my duties to the throne, and you with your hunter duties. Surely that'll eat up our time..."

Realizing this, Morgan's smile soon faded too. Aside from this weekend trip, she wasn't sure what the future was going to hold for them once they get back to their old lives. As high-ranking and kind as Arthur was, he was still a ghost nonetheless... and to hear of one of the resident ghost hunters dating one would surely cause some people to talk. 

"...Well, either way. Let's keep our heads up, hm?" Morgan tried to perk up the mood, looking up at Arthur as they stepped in front of the portal. The swirling green vortex from behind her was just beckoning for someone to step through.

"-Right, that is the best we can do for now." Arthur gave a nod, his smile slowly returning once he looked back at her, "In the meantime, I wish you the best of luck, my lady."

"You too, Arthur..." she replied, turning to go face the portal. Only a few steps forward though, and she stopped, "...wait, there is... one more thing..."

"Hm? And what's tha-" Arthur started to ask, but then was stopped when Morgan just stepped over and pulled him down to her level... her lips pressing against his. Naturally, this made the ghostly prince freeze up at first in shock... but not even that lasted long, as soon he melted into it and pulled her in closer. 

A minute or so passed, before Morgan finally let go and smiled once more at him... a blush still clearly present on her face, "...w-well, see you later, Arthur..."

"...y-yes.." Arthur stuttered out, still a bit shy but having enjoyed the kiss nonetheless, "Til next we meet...Morgan."

With that, the two bid eachother farewell at last... Morgan soon turning back to the portal and slowly stepping inside it. Deep down, the ghostly prince wished that she didn't have to leave so soon... but his mind knew better. So, after standing for a few moments in silence, Arthur let out a sigh and finally turned to head back to his own home. 

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Unbeknownst to Morgan this whole time, things haven't exactly been as peaceful back in her own home. Originally wanting this trip to be kept a secret, Tammy wasn't really that good at lying as Morgan's family could tell she was hiding something on the other line. It didn't take long for them to deduce from her missing hunter gear that she had ran off somewhere aside from just a simple slumber party. Once they informed Darryl he helped team up with the family to track down where Morgan could've gone, and their best guesses led to an activated ghost portal.

"Sam, let me know when you and Val find some more clues at the other portal." Danny spoke to his wife on the phone, as he was already phased into his Phantom form ready to find his younger daughter, "Darryl, Lili and me are gonna stay put to see if she'll show up."

"Darryl! Please will you calm down a sec??" Lili tried to console her fuming friend, who was pacing back and forth in frustration, "No, Lili! Can't you see how serious this is?? This has to be one of the most selfish, irresponsible things Morgan's pulled on us!" Darryl exclaimed in anger, "She seriously thinks she can just walk out on the city without even telling us where she's going?? We could be facing one of the worst ghost attacks right now and she wouldn't even be here to help!" 

"-Whoa, chill out! Morgan wouldn't do that!" Lili insisted out of sheer sisterly instinct, "She's probably on her way home right now, no need to paint her this way!" 

"She's part of our hunter group, Lili! We have responsibilities to always protect Amity Park!" Darryl argued. 

"Well she's MY little sister, Darryl! And I don't like you treating her like some guard dog!" Lili argued back, not amused with how much her best friend is talking down about Morgan. 

The two could've went on to debate some more, but the sound of the reactivating portal signaled that they didn't have to. They along with Danny, who just got off the phone, turned around as they saw Morgan casually walking through without a care... only to freeze up upon seeing her dad, sister and Darryl all staring back at her.

"...u-uh, h-hey..." she awkwardly greeted, trying to lighten the mood the best she can, "H-How long have you all been hanging out down here?"

"Long enough." Darryl bluntly replied, turning his glares onto her as he and the rest of the smaller group went to confront her, "Where the hell have you been??"

"U-Um..." Morgan gulped nervously, realizing she's been caught, "I-I was in the Ghost Zone..."

"-Morgan, you know you're not allowed to go anywhere near the Ghost Zone by yourself, what were you even thinking going down there??" Danny demanded to know, "Any number of ghosts could've snatched you up and we wouldn't be there to save you! Haven't you learned anything from the last time??"  

Already getting fed up with her dad's patronizing tone, Morgan's initial nervousness soon faded as she sighed in frustration, "-First of all, Dad... I didn't stay in the Zone all by myself this weekend, I was accompanied by a...um, g-good friend! Secondly, I brought my hunter gear with me so I wouldn't have any problems fighting against ghosts down there if they gave me trouble... besides you let Lili go there plenty of times and-"

"-That's WAY different Morgan, and you know that!" Danny sternly reminded her, "Lili had longer experiences handling the Zone's inhabitants, you know that! Those weapons of yours can only handle so much before they're bound to break! It's just not worth it to stay there on your own!" 

"-But I JUST told you I wasn't all alone, Dad! I HAD someone else there with me!" Morgan argued, "Oh really? Who?" Danny questioned, not really buying her story. Morgan felt herself clam up again, still not sure whether or not she should reveal so soon about Arthur.

"...U-Um, I uh... can't tell you." she mumbled, looking to the ground shyly, "...but you don't have to worry because he's a ghost and he knows his way around the Zone-"

"-Wait, this friend of yours was a guy??" Danny realized, now finding more reasons to get upset, "-Oh no, Morgan you can't be serious! Some ghost creep was with you the whole time?!" 

"-Creep?? Dad no, you got it all wrong! He's a great guy-!" Morgan tried to smooth things over, but got silenced once Darryl stepped in again, "Morgan, one of the number one rules about ghost hunters is to be wary about being alone with other ghosts! For all we know, he could've just been using you as a rouse to get his way through the portal!" 

"He was NOT, Darryl! Will you just listen for one second?!" the poor huntress was already getting fed up with all these jumped conclusions, "He. Was Not. A Creep! He was JUST helping me around the Zone and all we did was hang out! He did nothing to harm me, and if he did I would've easily handled it myself!"

Sensing there about to be more tension on the scene, Lili did what she could to break it up, "W-Wait, come on now! You guys aren't really being fair to Morgan!" 

"Huh?" Darryl and Danny gave her a look of confusion, while Morgan sighed in relief, "Thank you, Lili... that's what I've been trying to-"

"-I mean she's JUST been through the Ghost Zone for 3 whole days, filled with ALL sorts of the scariest places and creatures! Surely ANY of them could've given her nightmares!" Lili went on to inject, moving to wrap an arm around Morgan as if she were in danger, "What she needs now is some love and support! Can't you see how frightened she is?? She could even be hurt too, for all we know!" 

Struggling away from Lili's grip, Morgan's mood went right back to being frustrated as she couldn't believe her sister's words, "-Ugh, Lili! Did you NOT hear a word of what I JUST said?? I'm NOT hurt, I'm NOT scared, and I did NOT deal with some "creep" for the past few days! I handled myself FINE! Why can't you all believe that?!" 

"Morgan, because of what you did we don't even know what to believe anymore!" Darryl narrowed his eyes at her, "You shirked out of your hunter responsibilities, lied behind our backs, and threw us all in a panic for the last few days! How could you be so selfish?!"

Stung by those harsh words, Morgan could feel herself crumbling as the tears started to form, "...I...I-I'm sorry..."

"...Well, you better be, Morgan." Danny took a long, deep breath, "Because you aren't allowed anywhere near the Fenton portal OR the Ghost Zone anymore... ever. Understand?" 

Gasping at that implication, Morgan tried one more time to object, "-Dad, please! Y-You can't just-!"

"-Morgan, I'm serious. I just don't think I can trust you around that stuff anymore. You're my daughter, and I can't let you get hurt. I just can't." her dad explained, his tone trying to turn a bit softer seeing how tearful she was getting, "Sweetheart, I know this may hurt right now, but really... it's for the best."

As comforting as he was trying to be, all Morgan could do was look away. Pushing him, Lili and Darryl aside to stomp up the stairs, she could feel the tears falling knowing that she was just robbed from ever seeing Arthur again. Not even the fact that she survived a whole weekend in the Ghost Zone without a scratch could've proved to them that she could handle herself. In their mind, she was still just the helpless little baby of the family... the one without powers who couldn't possibly take on a lair of ghosts let alone one. Though for the past few days she felt strong knowing she had Arthur by her side... even within her family home, she never felt so alone right now...

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Here's the next part to my Ghost Zone trip arc, following after this part  . Here, we lead up to Arthur and Morgan saying goodbye to eachother, as they were finally able to relax for the rest of the weekend keeping eachother company. Though Arthur was already feeling lonely that Morgan had to leave so soon, she tries to assure him that it won't be the last time as she even seals this with a kiss. One more fluffy moment later, and she steps away to head back home. 

Meanwhile, her secret couldn't be hidden from her family any longer as they ended up guessing that Tammy was lying about Morgan spending the weekend at her house. They split up into a search party until Morgan finally arrives through the portal, already confronted by her worried and upset family (plus Darryl). Though Lili briefly tries to salvage the arguing, she just ends up making it worse by treating Morgan like a toddler who went through a scary haunted house. 

Feeling so embarrassed and upset at all their patronizing, Morgan can't take it anymore once her dad Danny orders her to never go near the portal OR the Ghost Zone again. She soon storms up to her room in tears, both upset at being barred away from Arthur AND for being treated like a little child even after the growth she's gone through as a hunter...