Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I got roped into a volunteer job, I got banned from the computer, and I've been working on a new fanfic. It's for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, if anyone cares.

Disclaimer: You see a girl of about thirteen being dragged out onto a stage with a microphone by a woman in her twenties. The girl is screaming, "Maggie! No! Not the disclaimer! Please please please no!"

The woman, Maggie, replies, "Liana, no disclaimer, no fanfic. As your lawyer, I am forced to advise you-"

Liana yells, "Unhand me and I'll do it!"

She is released by Maggie, who shepherds her up to the stage and hands her a notecard. Liana mumbles, "Idonotownfablehaven-"

"Louder!" Maggie insists.

Liana yells, "I DON'T OWN FABLEHAVEN! Happy now, Maggie?" she adds. The lawyer nods.

And now, on to the story!

~*~

The message said:

Leatara, Dioni, Merwenna, Joyra, Caroilana, Dougan, Warren, and Kendra: The bulk of the Knights were taken out of commission at a gathering. We don't have any other operatives up to the standard required for this mission, so we need you to do it. Brace yourselves. You're not going to like this.

The Society has discovered a talisman that will allow them to rehouse the spirits of the artifacts into other objects without having the artifacts themselves anywhere nearby. The Knights have known about this talisman for a very long time, and, in fact, we have the means to locate it. Dougan knows all about it. He'll tell you.

We need you to locate the talisman before the Society does. If it takes more than a week, we'll cover for you at the concert. With luck, you'll find it in a matter of days. Keep your fingers crossed.

This mission must be kept strictly confidential. Tell no one.

The Lieutenants.

I think you can tell why cautious, stern Leatara wasn't very happy. We had no way to resist a summons like this.

After the note was read aloud by Dioni, there was a silence lasting about ten seconds. Then, Merwenna laughed with joy, Dioni tossed the message in the air and did a handstand, Joyra looked bewildered, Caroilana played a joyful chord on her violin, Leatara sat there looking sulky and annoyed, Warren looked bemused, Kendra did a cartwheel, and Dougan sighed and looked exasperated.

After all the hullabaloo had been suppressed, Warren looked at Dougan with an expectant expression. "Well?" he asked. "What's all this about you knowing how to find the talisman?"

Dougan looked reluctant, but he answered. "Hidden somewhere that very few people have gone and returned alive-I'm not sure where it is, but that will change-is a talisman that senses the spirits of magical artifacts and captures them, rehousing them in nearby objects that are similar to the original artifact. It was wrested from the clutches of the Society five hundred years ago by the Knights of the time and hidden. A "spirit seal" was created to help locate the talisman, and given to the first Keeper. The Keeper was a Lieutenant. Over the past five centuries, it has changed hands many times. The Society has never attempted to find it, which I find odd. Anyway, the Keeper is always a Lieutenant, and, a few years back, it passed to me when the former Keeper died from a malignant tumor. I never thought it would be needed, but now it is. I hope none of us come to grief finding the talisman."

Leatara looked as if she thought we would, but no one payed any attention to it.

The thought briefly crossed my mind that maybe she had a point with not liking having to do this mission. I dismissed it- Lea was a pessimist by nature.

Maybe I shouldn't have. Sometimes, the worst does occur. This was one of those times.

A/N: I've been bad about updating. However, two wrongs don't make a right. So set a better example and show be how to behave by reviewing!