Funny note: All my Observant names always end in an 'O' one way or another. Just a funny way of making fun of their single-eyed status. XDD

I don't own DP. Thanks for waiting!

Chapter 3: Leave?

Tara clenched her hands. Dani and I stood there, shocked.

"Is she alright after all that?" Dani dared to ask.

Picalo gulped, "As we said, Pele was sent away by Clockwork. We believe as you do, that he would never harm her. He merely did that to protect her from the damage that she might have caused under such stress."

Tara gritted her teeth, "What's the mission? I'm gonna take out the rat that hurt Behe and Pele no matter what!"

Dani and I flinched at the angry energy that radiated from Tara.

"What about this mission?" I asked with a warning tone. I still didn't like the idea of going anywhere by anyone's command.

Septimo took a deep breath, "Picalo will explain." Then he floated two yards back.

Picalo looked back at Septimo with a look of betrayal. Septimo just glanced back with a look that said 'hey, this was your idea in the first place.'

Picalo sighed, "Tara, I assume that you are aware of this subject, but for the sake of the Halflings, I will explain the history of the thing. The Observant Council has found that two artifacts of historical importance have been taken from their rightful places. We require that you retrieve the items and place them back in our care. Away from thieves and safely intact."

Tara nodded in response.

The Observant nodded back, "Centuries ago, a young and powerful Ancient created an item of personal importance."

"You moron's lost the book, didn't you?" Tara blurted out. Picalo just stared at her. "You'd be surprised how quickly I catch on," she added.

Dani and I locked eyes, and finally made the connection, "You mean," I said, "You want me to leave Amity Park, the world's number one paranormal hotspot, to recover, A BOOK?"

Dani backed me up, "Have you gone crazy? ! We have better things to do, like cleaning up the borderlines that are supposed to be under YOUR watch!"

For the first time, the Observants looked to be cornered and frightened.

"T-the contents of the journal are unknown! An unspeakable of knowledge or power could be contained in it!"

I rolled my eyes, "Please, you guys are known to panic way too easily anyway. I'll bet it's nothing."

The Observants expression turned to that of confusion. He got in my face, "You don't understand! The journal my have an unbreakable lock, but the thieves have stolen the Skeleton key! They stole it right out of the protection of Behemoth! They are skilled, powerful, cunning, and by the Ancients, they could have obtained God knows what from the journal!"

I stumbled backwards and got away from the angry Observant. Dani actually took two steps in front of me to block him.

The Observant and I glared at each other. I had never actually seen them get defensive, let alone sloppy with their words enough to rant about something, before. Argue, yes; but rant? I never thought so.

The Observant looked a little shocked himself. "Do you see it now?" The Observant said, with full control of himself. "We must act now. Not just because we cannot predict what will become of the Journal, but because when the Skeleton Key lands in the wrong hands, the scum of existence can be let out on a whim."

Tara had become silent. She walked over to me, and placed her hand on my shoulder, "Danny, he's right. Amity Park can be apart from its hero if it means that both our worlds will remain safe because of it. I can't say that I'd rather have anyone else for partners, at the very least. Besides Pele, you guys truly are the only people I've ever trusted."

Dani smiled at her words. I actually frowned. Dani didn't have much to tie her down, and Tara had actually become a close friend to her. I had a whole life that they wanted me to leave behind.

I stared at the ground and weighed my options.

Dani rubbed my back, a gesture my Mom often made to calm me down when I was little.

Then it dawned on me. "Pikaju, or whatever your name is."

The Observant stared at me in confusion.

"You said that the Skeleton Key was one of the stolen things, right?" The Observant nodded. I turned to face Dani, "Didn't we overhear Vlad saying something about that once?"

Dani looked up, "Actually, yes. You mentioned that you heard Vlad talking about it when you put clear, plastic wrap in all of his doorways for him to crash into."

Tara snorted, "You actually did that?" She asked. "Nice!"

I laughed, "Yeah, he turned intangible before he went though every doorway he had for a week; but back to the point. Didn't he mention about going after it?"

Dani arched an eyebrow, "Hey, you're the one who overheard him. Maybe we should go check out his house."

I nodded, "We need to get home to tell Sam and the rest of the crew about this, too."

Tara nodded, "While you're at it, bring plenty of eggs, and toilet-paper for the old man," she remarked sarcastically.

We laughed while the Observants just looked confused. Dani and I tried to leave, but Septimo called out to us.

"You have one hour, then you must return to here and be at the Observant Council. That is all. You will receive everything that you'll need for your mission then."

I frowned since one hour really wasn't enough time.

"We'll try," Dani said sternly.

The Observant squinted at us, "Tara, you come with us right now."

"Lead the way," Tara said.

Dani and I could hear the sarcasm in Tara's voice all the way from outside Clockwork's tower.

"Race you!" Dani shouted in an attempt to lighten things up.

"You are on!" I replied. We raced at full speed to the portal.

…

We came through the portal and found Sam, Tucker, and Jazz hovering around the lab as they waited for us. We landed clear away from them, so they all ran to us and tackled us to the ground anyway.

"We were so worried!" Jazz shouted.

"Dude, I thought they weren't gonna let you come back!" Tucker shouted.

My eyes were shut. I didn't hear anything from Sam. I'll admit that I was a little bit disappointed.

Two minutes later, time that seemed to be much more precious at that point, the team finished expressing their worries.

"So, what happened?" Sam asked, much calmer than I'd expected her to be.

I paused, "I've got to go do something, but Dani would be happy to explain!"

With that, I shoved Dani forward and took off for Vlad's mansion just outside of Amity Park's more active areas.

I was well gone, but I image that if I'd stayed, she'd be giving me the same look that the Observant had been giving his partner.

…

The flight seemed like nothing to me. I was at Vlad's in minutes with only Klemper as a distraction. It was a nice distraction as a kind of bittersweet moment to play hero for Amity Park. I was beginning to think that it would be quite a while before I would be able to do it again.

I was fairly careful when I got to Vlad's. Even though, he doesn't actually have much anti-ghost equipment, being as he's a ghost, he hires ghosts, and unlike Tucker, Vlad still didn't know how to calibrate ghost-equipment to ignore him.

That was a splendid advantage, if you ask me.

I flew all around the house, knowing that if Vlad were there, he would've already found me. After a few minutes, I was relaxed enough to phase though the floor and into Vlad's lab.

Deserted and a mess, two states that Vlad wouldn't normally allow.

At first, I suspected that Vlad had been attacked; but that didn't add up. There were no burn marks, and only certain parts of Vlad's lab were messed up. Entire sections had been totally left alone, without a single speck of dust on a single item on the shelves.

That was another thing that worried me. Vlad clearly hadn't been gone long, so where did he go, and why had he left his lab in such a state? Was it some kind of ht and run deal?

Finally, I came to the farthest point of the lab, which lead to a small alcove filled with books. Kind of like a library, filled with books that smelt as old and musty as they probably were.

My curiosity got the better of me, so I briefly scanned the shelves, and made sure to take a closer look at the books that looked to be recently touched.

Finally, I came to the desk placed in the middle of the room. There were papers, notes, scrolls, and books all over the place. I scanned most of the shelves, and then paid more attention to the items set closest to the desk chair.

After that, I settled down to pay close attention to the scroll that was carefully placed within reach of the desk chair.

I carefully turned the scroll at an angle, so that I could read it. I made sure to be extremely careful with the old piece of paper.

The writing was very small and faint, but with my sharp eyes, I found that I still read it all right. Unlike the various other pieces of work, this one seemed to be some ghosts' personal account of events. It read…

I have finally found my Brother. As the events have turned out, he left my side to go forge an item with his own hands. He chose, for some reason, to create a book. A book, which he plans to use for what, he does not yet know. Or at least, he will not tell me.

I worry about him. Now, with his new position, he has found the courage to attempt things that he would not attempt otherwise. I fear that he has found a particular ally in the Ancient of time far too soon, but I must trust the decisions of the eldest Ancient, and respect his decisions.

Furthermore, I now have a sneaking suspicion that they are aware of something that I am not. That we are not aware of. It is as though my Brother is preparing for something, but for the existence of me, I cannot detain what that is.

The journal, as an item of my Brother's own creation; can be fused with his own power. Or storage of techniques to pass on, or as a cache of energy for him to call upon when needed, and even simply as an item to document his endeavors, as I have done with scrolls.

On and related matter, he has paired this book with a lock that has no key to fit. I do not understand why he would arrange this, but I do believe that it is related to the rumors of a key that can unlock any lock, no matter of any factor. Has he created the journal merely to test such a rumor? Perhaps, seeing as my Brother has always been the kind of being to take a challenge that has yet to be declared.

"So, Vlad does know about the journal," I mused, "and he's been after the Skelton Key for a while now…was he going after the key to unlock the journal in the first place?" I frowned in thought and then read further.

Furthermore, there has been some concern amongst the Ancients regarding the two most recent additions to our ranks. My Brother, they do not find to be trustworthy because he is a loyal friend to the other new member in question, young Pariah, as he calls himself.

This Pariah…he is wise, powerful, ambitious, and he is by any stretch, fine and qualified enough to rise to our sacred title. Fewer and fewer ghosts are being born of the Existence itself in theses times. Furthermore, many of the few of those ghosts are weak, as if the Existence itself is tired and is convinced that we are established enough to maintain our strength.

It concerns me how little I feel of it. It's fading, and I, along with my fellow Ancients, do not like it in the least.

Returning back to the subject of Pariah. I wonder, have the other Ancients have also felt the receding presence of the Existence? If they have, they surely realize that we will be on our own, left to our own devices, forced to squabble for power.

I can only hope that the Original Six remain a tight-knit force as they have for millennia. At the same time, I hope that I never become like them. To share such a bond with another being, that our identities combine, and we misplace our sense of self…

Perhaps I will find the time to enlighten upon these matters, when the facts come to reveal themselves…

J.F.

I rubbed my eyes. "What the heck did I just read?" I asked the room. "Okay Danny, this is all weird enough as it is, so just break it down."

I listed the facts in my head, "Vlad clearly knows about the journal, and that the Skeleton Key is the only way to unlock the journal, and he may have set out for the key in the first place just so that he could unlock the journal…So it's a journal apparently, on top of all that."

"Second, the Journal belongs to the Brother of an Ancient, an Ancient himself, I guess, with the initials "J.F." and somehow, Pariah Dark, and I think Clockwork are mixed in for good measure...I'll have to ask him about this."

I paused, "Wait? Pariah Dark was an Ancient?" I sighed, "Alright, I'll never get this whole mess figured out. It's just some guy, writing in his scrolls, because he has nothing better to do."

I frowned at the scroll, "But maybe, the other's can gleam something from this...Wow. I really need to stop talking to myself."

Carefully, I picked up the scroll and rolled it up. I turned to face the ceiling, "Well, I guess it's me and the Fruitloop all over again…"

I took the time to scan the rest of the books. Then I went out into the lab again and searched for anything that I might've missed the first time. Maybe something was bugging me in the back of my mind, or maybe I was just trying to stay away from home as long as I possibly could.

I came across some blueprints that were carefully folded away and labeled with the name "Fenton." My parents had been looking for those. They weren't hugely important, just a redesign for the Fenton Thermos, but still.

My eyes burned neon green as I flew out of Vlad's mansion.

Why so petty, Vlad? I thought.

Yep! Little action, lot's of plot that won't be answered until heaven knows when!

Review please, and thank you for reading! I'm going back to regular Sunday updates, but I'm going to skip this Sunday and come back on the 15th. I've decided to edit my older stories, just to make them easier on the eyes, and since school's started the extra half-week will be put to good use in the editing process. The story will still be the same, I was pretty good at preventing plot holes and major story errors. Comas were my biggest challenge.

See you on the 15th!