I'm going to briefly cut over to MJ and Gwen's perspective before jumping back to Peter and Quill at the beginning of this chapter. Hope that's not too confusing for you guys.

Episode 128: The Missing Darkhold!

MJ watched the blizzard that was raging just outside the glass doors of the Marémon Theater she and Gwen had entered not too long ago. Then suddenly the lights flickered, making MJ nervous.

"Hope we don't lose power while we're in here," Gwen said, noticing the flickering lights. "I would hate to perform onstage in the dark."

"It would be worse than that," MJ said. "Not only would the lights be out, but there would be no heat so we would freeze in here."

Gwen flinched at the thought. "Do you have any Element-type Marémon that can breathe fire?"

"No," MJ shook her head. "My Marémon are Mutant-type."

"Right, the Noirspi and Hamder are of that type. What's in that third PDB you have?"

Looking down at the third PDB on her belt, MJ said, "It's my new Marémon."

"What is it?"

"You'll just have to find out when we compete."

After Chavez finished giving Peter and Quill the tour of the Kamar-Taj Realm, they stopped by the Seeing Crystal where Wanda was. It was a globe-shaped crystal ball the size of a beach ball that showed swirling snow and dark clouds.

"How does it look outside the Marémon Realm, Wanda?" Chavez asked.

"Not good, I'm afraid," Wanda said with a disappointed frown. "I must tell Master Wong about the blizzard."

"Want me to take the boys to the library in the meantime?" Chavez suggested. "I just finished giving them the tour."

"Sure," Wanda agreed.

As Wanda briskly walked away, Quill and Peter followed Chavez to the library which they passed by on the tour. It was bigger than it looked from the doorway, with shelves of scrolls and a few books under glass cases.

"That's the Book of Cagliostro," Chavez said, pointing to a glass case with a book that had chains wrapped around its metallic cover. "It's the only thing Ancio left behind when she was killed by Kaecilius, so Strange decided to put the book under magic-enhanced glass to prevent anyone else from stealing it."

"Magic-enhanced glass?" Peter didn't quite understand what Chavez meant.

"It's basically a magical alarm system," explained Chavez. "When someone touches the glass, a high frequency sound will emanate from the glass which Marémon can hear. That'll cause the students' Marémon to come out of their PDBs and run toward the source of the sound, thus cornering the would-be thief."

"What if a Marémon touches the glass instead?" asked Quill.

"Same thing will happen," replied Chavez. "And if they use magic to steal the book, a trace of their magic will be left on the glass to make it easier for us to find them."

Under another glass case was the Book of Vishanti, which was said to give a Sorcerer all the knowledge they needed to defeat any enemy imaginable. Then right across from it was a third glass case that had a book stand with no book inside.

"Oh, no…," Chavez muttered.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"That glass case is supposed to have the Darkhold," Chavez said pointing to the empty glass case. "But it's not there."

"Someone must have taken it," Quill realized. "We need to tell Wong."

In Wong's office, Chavez, Peter, and Quill saw Wanda whispering something to Master Wong before she noticed them and backed away.

"How was your tour of the library?" Wanda asked Peter and Quill.

"I just found out the Darkhold is missing!" Chavez said. "But the glass case hasn't been moved or broken into."

"How odd," Wong said, still not looking directly at Chavez or the boys. "Wanda, could you please take a look at the glass case where the Darkhold was placed?"

"Certainly, Master Wong," Wanda said as she bowed.

Back in the library, Wanda looked carefully at the empty glass case. She then held up her hands and a red energy glowed from them.

"What is she doing?" Quill asked Chavez.

"Looking for traces of magic," Chavez said. "It's a basic magical exercise the students of Strange practice on a daily basis."

"So you could find traces of magic with your magic too?"

"Yes, I could. Though I'm not good at it yet."

"Quiet!" Wanda snapped. "I need to concentrate."

And so Chavez and the boys remained silent as Wanda's hands glowed brighter. She then took another look from every angle of the glass case and shook her head.

"There's no traces of magic that I can see," Wanda said. "So the thief or Marémon who took the Darkhold must have used non-magic means to steal it."

Peter immediately thought about Felicia Hardy, also known as the Black Cat. She and her Marémon Blaccet could have stolen the Darkhold easily enough, given what they were capable of, and Felicia did seem interested in the book before Wanda grabbed it.

"Did anyone else come to the Kamar-Taj Realm before me and Quill?" Peter asked Wanda.

"Like who?" Wanda asked.

"I don't know, maybe a girl with platinum hair."

"You mean Felicia Hardy?"

Blinking, Peter said, "Did you read my mind?"

"Of course I did," Wanda replied. "And no, Felicia did not come here before you and Quill."

"What about while we were touring the Realm with Chavez?" Quill suggested. "She could have shown up then."

"But I was at the Seeing Crystal the whole time, remember? So if she did come in through the portal, I would have seen her," Wanda pointed out.

"Maybe whoever took the Darkhold hasn't left the Realm yet," Chavez said. "We should close the portal in case the thief tries to escape."

"Good idea," Wanda said and looked at Wong. "May I do that?"

"Yes, you may," replied Wong.

So Wanda went back to the courtyard with Peter, Quill, and Chavez following her. She made 'W' signs with her hands at where the portal was, causing a pair of red glowing doors to appear which shut closed.

"Now no one can go in or out of the Kamar-Taj Realm," Wanda announced, causing the students to stop practicing their moves. "Someone here has stolen the Darkhold, and Master Wong intends to get to the bottom of this mystery!"

To be continued…