Hiya peoples!

A note to Vampire Slushie: Yes, Marche did marry Ritz and have kids with her.

Author's note: They are in St Ivalice, not Magic Ivalice. Well here's Chapter two! R&R!

Chapter Two – The Gran Grimoire

A few minutes upon entering the grey, lifeless street, Brendan's excitement had faded quickly, but he was still walking quite fast. Serena was not far behind him, and poor little Tammy was having trouble keeping up.

There was nothing to see, really. Paint was peeling off the buildings, the wood of the doors chipped, and the tin roofs and walls had large cracks in them, the tiled roofs broken and in pieces on the ground. There was not another form of life there at all, save the many rats and stray cats.

'Do either of you feel that we should be getting back now?' asked Brendan.

Serena rolled her eyes and said, 'Oh, and I thought you were the one who said 'Come on, it'll be fun'! Right, Tammy? Tammy?'

Suddenly realising the fact that her sister was no longer beside her, the white-haired girl looked back and saw a small figure behind her, waving to them. Serena had almost panicked, but felt relieved to see her sister was alright.

'Tammy!' she called. 'What are you doing!'

But the younger girl didn't appear to hear her and was still running towards her older siblings. When she was very close to them, she immediately opened her mouth to speak.

'You run too fast!' whined Tammy. 'Too fast!'

'Tammy, what were you doing over there?' inquired Brendan. 'You had us worried!'

'Sorry,' she murmured sheepishly, 'But you've got to see what I've found!'

Serena piped in at this point. 'You found something? What, where?'

'Tammy, if it's a cat, we can't keep it. So just let the poor thing go.'

'But it's not a cat, it's a book.'

Serena raised an eyebrow. 'A book? I thought you couldn't read. Besides, what would a book be doing around here?'

Tammy placed her hands on her hips. 'Oh, I don't know what it's doing here,' she said in a matter-of-fact voice. 'But the pictures are still cool!'

'I suppose we could see that book. Nothing better to do, anyway,' mused Brendan, walking over to them. He turned to his sister. 'What do you think, Serena?'

Serena thought for a moment. She wondered why Tammy was so interested in one book. Books never interested her much, either. Her uncle read a lot, but that was only when he was in hospital.

Then she thought of another issue. Her father and mother would be home soon, and the longer they stayed here, the higher their chances of being caught at home late. They couldn't afford to spend much more time here. But, then again, they could just take the book home and look at it later.

Her mind was made up. 'Fine, but mum and dad will be home soon. We'd better just take the book home and then look at it. That alright with you, Tammy?'

'Fine,' said Tammy, a little disappointed.

Tammy led them to an old building, pushing the wooden door. It opened with a creaking noise

'Looks kind of like…a book shop,' observed Brendan, looking at the rows upon rows of shelves. There wasn't much light, but there was enough to make out hundreds of books on them. The blond-haired boy picked up an old book from the floor, which had torn pages and a cover that was falling off.

'It must be a used book store,' said Serena, looking around. 'It's old, and the books don't have price labels on them.'

'I heard of this place, once,' said Brendan. 'Mr Randell said there was a store somewhere in town where he once bought an old book. He brought it back, though, he said it wasn't interesting. Now, it looks like the place is aband-'

'Here it is!' said Tammy, running to him and almost stumbling, most likely from the weight of the 'book' she was carrying in her hands. She held it out. 'This is the cool book!'

Serena took it and looked at it. The book looked old, older that any book she had ever seen. It had a hard, golden cover, and a sort of golden rope bound the two ends of the covers. The title of the book seemed to be written in some sort of ancient language, the figures unfamiliar to Serena.

She looked at Tammy. 'Tam, I think you've found something…'

Tammy looked excited. 'Really?' she squealed.

'Yes, now there is one more thing to do.' She added, like an afterthought.

'What's that?' asked Brendan.

'THAT WE NEED TO GET HOME NOW!'

The other two suddenly realised that they had only ten minutes to get home. The next events passed like a blur; Serena stuffed the book in her schoolbag, Brendan dropped the novel he had been inspecting, and Tammy started to run as fast as her legs would allow, the other two following suit.

They arrived home eight minutes later, poor Tammy nearly collapsing from exhaustion, Brendan supporting her, Serena supporting him, and a wall supporting Serena.

'Are…you two…alright,' she puffed.

'Yeah,' gasped Brendan, sweat dripping from his forehead. 'Not sure about Tammy, though.'

Tammy was on the floor, on her back, exhausted. Brendan bent down and helped her up.

'Okay,' he said, 'here's the plan: I'll take Tammy to the bath, and you hide the book somewhere.'

'BATH! But I don't wanna take a bath! Why can't I just take it tomorrow?'

'Tammy, that's what you said last week,' said Serena. 'You're taking a bath now.' It was an order, not a request.

'But I don't wanna!' she shrieked.

'You have to,' said Brendan coolly. 'Besides, you're covered in sweat! We can't have you like that, with or without our parents. Now, I'm taking you to the bath.'

Brendan picked her up and carried her, holding her around the mid-back and stomach. He had to endure all her arm flailing, kicking and screaming before he finally had her in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Serena went to her room, stuffing the book below her bed.

Just then…

'TAMMY! COME BACK HERE NOW, YOUNG LADY! WAIT! I SWEAR, I SWEAR, YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS! NEVER!' Brendan was charging down the stairs, chasing Tammy, who was both giggling and panicking at the same time.

Serena shook her head sympathetically. 'Poor Brendan. I pity him. Shame he doesn't have a twin brother to keep the raging banshee down.'

'SERENA, IF YOU DON'T GET DOWN HERE TO HELP ME THIS INSTANT, YOU'LL BE NEXT!'

Serena gulped. Brendan was usually a calm person, but when he was angry, he would probably scare the wits out of Satan himself.

'Tammy, if you just take a bath now, nobody will get hurt.' Serena hurried down to see Brendan looking down at his younger sibling, a desperate look on his face.'

While Tammy seemed to think this over, being the stubborn person she was, Serena heard a familiar voice:

'We're home!' it was their father, Marche Radiuju, followed by their mother, Ritz.

Tammy took this moment to run out of her brother's grasp, only to hit her father's stomach. She looked up at his face as her siblings entered the entrance hall.

'Um…hi, daddy,' she said nervously. 'I…I was just…'

'Why are you covered in sweat?' demanded Marche sternly. He looked up at his other children. Brendan was panting, and Serena looked like her usual self. 'And you two, as well.'

'Well,' said Serena, 'You see-'

Just then, Tammy gave Serena her un-rejectable puppy eyes. Serena tried to resist her, but, after a moment, gave in.

'…Uh, my, uh Teacher came late! So, um, uh, my class was held in abit so yeah."

Marche raised his eyebrows and sighed. He looked over at Ritz who sighed as well, "Well, if you say so, but on another issue, Tammy, you are going to take a bath now."

Tammy groaned. 'Can't I have it tomorrow?'

'No, Tammy. Now walk upstairs and take a bath this-instant.'

'No! Why can't I just have it tomorrow?'

'Because you haven't had a bath in a long time. Now, come on.'

Ritz picked up her struggling daughter, and carried her back upstairs. Marche looked at his two older children. 'Well, now that that's taken care of, I take it you've got some homework to do?'

'Um, uh…' Serena fell mute, trying to think up an excuse. 'Well, you see…Brendan did his in the library. And, um, I handed in all my homework early, and so they let me off!'

Serena cringed. Her father would surely not believe that pathetic excuse.

Marche raised his eyebrows yet again. 'Okay, first thing's first. Serena, since when did you hand your homework in early. The only time you hand your homework in is at least two days late. And secondly, Brendan, in al my life I have not seen you go to the library once, even if you had to.'

Serena and Brendan were mortified. 'Um, uh, people change?' Serena felt like hitting herself over the head with a saucepan.

Marche shook his head. 'Okay, I'll let you do it tomorrow. But no more lousy excuses about it.'

Serena and Brendan both nodded vigorously, and started upstairs.

'Oh, and one more thing.'

They both turned their heads.

'You weren't really rushing home, were you?'

Half an hour later…

Poor Ritz had finally managed to give Tammy a bath, if not a proper one. Serena and Brendan had changed out of their dirty clothes, had showers, and were in their pyjamas. They were patiently waiting for Tammy to finish her bath so that they could look at the book. They were waiting in Serena's room.

Finally, after a few more minutes, their younger sister finally came into the room, looking very excited.

'Well, that took a while,' said Brendan. 'Are you two ready?'

'Yeah, why wouldn't we be,' asked Serena rhetorically.

'Never mind.'

'Oh, come on, open the book!' whined Tammy. 'I wanna see the pictures!'

'Oh, yeah, the book.' Brendan reached for the book below his sister's bed, placed it in his lap, and opened it.'

'What's it say?' asked Serena.

'You tell me,' said Brendan. 'You're the older one.'

'Yeah but that doesn't mean I can read Ancient Egyptian, or whatever this is.'

'Look at the pictures!' said Tammy, pointing at the drawings.

Brendan frowned. The first image was obviously that of a human being, if not in the present day, but the others were unknown to him.

'I like this one!' squealed Tammy, pointing to what looked like a small, furry creature with bat-like wings, a shirt, and a giant pompom sticking out of its head. This, of course, was a Moogle.

'Hey you two,' said Serena, 'is it just me, or does this look a woman with rabbit ears?' She indicated the strange creature she had been referring to which, as we all know, is a Viera.

'Never mind those two,' scoffed Brendan. 'Check out the overgrown lizard.' He pointed to the individual which we, the readers and writers, know as a Bangaa.

'And what about this thing,' asked Serena, pointing to the last image. 'Doesn't it remind you of a sheep?' The image was, of course, a nu mou

'Dunno,' answered Brendan. 'You two, check out the symbols. They must really be ancient!'

'Tammy, Serena, Brendan! Dinner time!' They heard footsteps approaching. Brendan quickly slammed the book shut and shoved it back under the bed.

Well, it wouldn't have mattered if he'd just left it on top of the bed. There was loads of junk in Serena's room; old skateboards, wheels from them, and a load of old toys and balls. It was such a mess, that it would be paradise for a rat! Surely a single book would not look out of place.

They hopped off the bed, and left the room.

Unbeknownst to them, a small glow had emitted from the book below the bed…

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To most people, Nu mou do not look like sheep. But to me, they do. Please review!