Myka walked down the aisle, the Dream World flickering unnoticeably. Her dress barely touched the ground. One would think at a moment like this, she would smile, but tears replaced it. She couldn't smile at the man standing next to the priest; she didn't love him. She looked for Pete in the pews, but he was nowhere in her sight. As she drew closer to the front of the room, her heart beat faster and faster. Myka began to feel light headed as she got closer, and began to notice the room flash from an ugly, rotting room to the beautiful interior of a big, gorgeously decorated church. Myka stood in front of him, staring at him, hoping Pete would come in soon.
"We have gathered here today to unite two wonderful people in holy matrimony. Before you say your vows, we ask family or friends to speak now, or forever hold your peace," the priest said. The room was silent. Pete stood up slowly.
"I would like to kindly object to those two getting married."
"So, what're we lookin' for today?" Claudia asked Artie happily. She had her elbows on the tabletop, holding her head. She looked at him with a smile.
"Actually, it's just Pete and Myka this time. You are staying here and helping me with inventory in the Dark Vault," Artie informed her. He saw the smile fade almost immediately.
"C'mon, Artie, I haven't gotten out in ages," Claudia whined.
"And by ages, you mean since Thursday," Artie reminded her. He continued to write on the paper before him. Claudia grunted in disappointment.
"What're you writing?" She asked.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you know," Artie said, turning his back to her slightly. Pete entered the room after finishing his part of taking inventory.
"What is that beautiful smell?" He asked, waving his nose in the air. He looked at Artie. "You can't hide them forever."
"And what would you be referring to?" Artie asked, pretending not to know what Pete was talking about. He scratched something down on the paper and turned to look at Pete. A blank expression was on his face.
"Do not play this game with me. I will win," Pete threatened. Claudia looked at Pete when he talked and at Artie when he talked.
"What are you guys going on about?" Claudia asked them.
"Curiosity killed the cat, Claudia. You sure you wanna be that cat?" Pete asked, looking at her. He made weird expressions on his face.
"What is with you guys?" Claudia said, scowling as she walked down the stairs leading to the many rows of artifacts.
"Gimmie the cookies, man," Pete said when Claudia left. He held his hands out to Artie.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Artie said, his nose gesturing near the door. There, on a shelf, above stacks of paper, were some chocolate chip cookies. They looked like perfectly shaped cookies made for food photography. Pete's mouth watered when he imagined perfectly manicured hands ripping the soft cookie in half, the chocolate trying to cling together. He took four big steps and was now getting a bird's eye view of the beautiful works of art.
"Man, you are awesome," Pete said, his mouth half-full. He turned around to Artie, who was still scribbling an illegible phrase or paragraph onto the backside of his old, yellowed loose-leaf paper. "And what do you keep writing? You're being very… Incognito," Pete wondered aloud. He tried to sound smart by using 'incognito' in a sentence, although he was not quite sure what it meant. An awkward silence filled the room for around a minute or two. The only noise to be heard was Artie's continuous transcribing.
"Well, I'm gonna head over to Leena's," Pete determined after he figured Artie wasn't planning on speaking to him anymore. "Talk to ya later." He waved to Claudia, who was coming back up to head to Leena's.
"Mutual thoughts, huh?" She asked Pete when she caught up to him.
"I guess so," Pete replied.
"Hey, what was with that 'curiosity killed the cat' thing back there?"
"Whadda you mean?" Pete asked.
"What, you and Artie said it," Claudia pointed out.
"Oh. It was just the first thing that came to my head," Pete said. Myka came down from the stairs, having no clue what the conversation was about. They had just arrived at Leena's, sitting at the table to eat dinner.
"Whatcha talking about?" she asked, sitting down. She looked at both of them.
"Curiosity killed the cat," Claudia used. After stating this, she smiled. Pete snickered quietly.
"Okay then. I guess you aren't finding out about where Pete and I are going to be going," Myka decided. She took a few bites of her dinner. Silence descended onto the room, the only sounds were the clicks made from Myka's eating utensils. Claudia looked at Pete, her gaze asking Pete if he knew anything about their mission. He replied with a look that said he hadn't a clue. "Really?" Myka asked. She looked at Claudia and Pete.
"What?" They asked in unison. Their eyes were wide and they stared at Myka.
"You don't care where we're going? Not even you, Pete?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure Artie's gonna tell us later, so..," Pete began. He started to eat too. Myka made a weird sound that sounded like, "meh," but Claudia and Pete weren't sure.
L A T E R
"The artifact you're looking for makes people see things. It goes inside of people, so if you're seeing things, it's probably in you. If it gets dislodged or moved, what you see flickers," Artie explained.
"But how does it get into you?" Myka asked.
"Someone has to stab you and shove it inside," Artie said. "Or surgically implant it."
"Do you know what it looks like?" Pete asked, hoping Artie would have a clue.
"I heard it looks like a coin. Gold, big, but from a different country. I think it was from Japan or India," Artie said, starting to move on. "Pete, you're going to need this. Don't open it until you know it's time," he instructed, handing Pete a familiar piece of yellowed loose leaf paper.
"This is what you were writing?" Pete asked him, slowly peeking inside the folded paper.
"Yes. You're going to need it. Do not open it," Artie said, pointing at the paper in Pete's hands. Artie explained the rest of the case to them and told them they would have to go pretty far. Pete and Myka got packed up and got in the car, driving to the big state of New York.