Vlad Masters leaned back in his chair in the comfort of his own castle's office. A black leather clad book rested on his face, covering his tired features. The desk in front of him was covered in books, scrolls, scattered papers and journals, all written in different languages and symbols. A golden dove in a gilded cage rested on a coffee table on the other side of the room, chirping endlessly. Vlad had tried everything to make it stop, but nothing would make the glittering bird shut up. 

The elder halfa groaned, feeling a migraine coming on. He heard the doors of his study open and the clinking of glassware being placed on his desk. The doors quickly shut as Vlad removed the book from his face and looked at his desk. A hot cup of green tea was sitting on a clear spot on his desk. Vlad felt a small smile creep on his face as he picked up the cup and took a sip. He almost spit it out immediately as he felt a pulsing warmth rise in his chest. 

Vlad swallowed and groaned. "I do wish you would stop appearing so suddenly," he complained, staring into the shadows of his office. 

A ghost with features completely hidden by a tattered dark purple cloak floated out of the darkness, narrowing its red eyes. "And I wish you would make some progress on our research," the ghost snapped back, annoyed.

Vlad raised an eyebrow at his ally. He took another sip of his tea before setting the cup down and picking up the book that had been resting on his face moments ago. He opened it flipping through the pages, landing on a random page and hitting it with the back of his hand. "I have been searching for answers for the past three months!" he said, exasperated. 

He set the book down, sifting through the piles of papers and scrolls on his desk. "I have been searching, reading, and translating endlessly, all while trying to run a backwater city!" Vlad exclaimed, pushing papers off his desk. "I have found nothing, not one thing that could get us closer to finding out who and where the Ancients are! Meanwhile you disappear doing heaven knows what!" Vlad breathed heavily, having finished his outburst. Normally the elder halfa would have not lost his composure so easily but months of hitting nothing but dead ends had Vlad Masters at the end of his rope.

The feature-less ghost remained silent. It floated closer to Vlad's desk, crouching to the floor to pick up a soft blue leather bound book with black and gold symbols covering it. "We hit a standstill because we both lacked the knowledge to read this text," the ghost mused, opening the book and flipping through it's decaying pages mindlessly. "But now," the ghost continued, extending a green, skeletal hand that held a tiny silver book, "we may have all our questions answered."

"What is that?" Vlad asked, eyeing the small book. It was no bigger than the ghost's palm, with a silver cover. Tiny writing could be seen on the front but Vlad couldn't make out the words.

"This, dear Plasmius, is a Spirit Tome," the ghost explained, childlike glee in their eyes. "It holds infinite knowledge of, well, everything," the cloaked specter finished with a shrug.

Realization flickered in Vlad's eyes. A devious grin appeared on his face as he took the Spirit Tome from the ghost's skeletal hand. "Which includes unknown languages, I assume?" he asked with a smirk, holding up the tiny book.

The ghost nodded. "They are very rare and hard to find," they explained, taking the Spirit Tome back. They cleared the desk of all clutter and placed the Tome on the desk next to the book Vlad had stolen from Ghost Writer's library months ago. "Luckily, after you destroyed that Ghost Writer's domain, many of his collections were scattered about the Ghost Zone. I was lucky to find that little treasure," the red eyed spirit chuckled.

Black rings appeared around Vlad's waist and spread over his body, transforming him into his evil alter ego, Vlad Plasmius. He stood and leaned over the desk, staring at the two books. "So how do we use it?" he asked.

"If the legends are correct," the ghost said, placing a bony finger on the Spirit Tome, "if you connect the item you wish to gain knowledge of with the Spirit Tome, the answers you seek shall appear before you." A second green hand made of bone opened the blue leather bound book, flipping to a random page. The nameless ghost placed their hand on the page, closing their eyes. 

Vlad glanced from the Tome to the book, to the cloaked ghost, and back to the Tome. Nothing was happening. Just as Vlad was about to comment, a pulsing glow began to emit from the Spirit Tome. The elder halfa tilted his head in wonder and turned his gaze to the stolen book. The symbols on the page began to ripple, shifting and moving until they formed... words. Actual English words!

"Butter biscuits, it worked!" Vlad cried out in disbelief. 

The cloaked ghost opened their eyes, removing it's bony hands from the books. Vlad scooped up the blue leather bound book and started flipping through the pages, eyes widening in amazement as he saw every page in the book had been translated from unintelligible symbols into words.

"Fascinating," he whispered, skimming through the pages. He closed the book, placing it back on his desk and grabbing the Spirit Tome. "With this, finding the Ancients will be as easy as slicing through cream cheese," he snickered.

Vlad set the Tome back on his desk and knelt down to grab a fallen scroll that he had been trying to translate for nearly six months. As he grabbed it, a flash of light from the corner of his eye caught his attention. The elder halfa stood and saw that the Spirit Tome had vanished. 

"Where did the Spirit Tome go?!" Vlad cried out, searching for the tiny book. He turned his gaze to the cloaked ghost, who had been oddly silent about the disappearance of the book.

"Before you waste your breath, no I have nothing to do with the Tome's disappearance," the ghost uttered, sounding mildly annoyed.

"Well it can't have just vanished!" Vlad stated, slamming his fists down on his desk.

"Actually, it did," the ghost replied without missing a beat. Noticing Vlad's expression growing angrier and more confused by the second, the dark purple clad ghost tried to explain, "According to legend, you can only use the Tome once. After its use, it sets adrift once more, and no one knows where it will end up."

At this point, Vlad was seething with rage. "Then why did you waste it translating one book?!" he questioned angrily, "You could have asked for the knowledge of who the Ancients are, where they are, or how to find them!" The elder halfa breathed heavily, trying to calm himself.

The cloaked ghost tilted their head. "But," they began, "where would be the challenge in that?"

Vlad felt his core drop into his stomach. Was this ghost serious? Were they purposefully trying to make their search for the Ancients that much more difficult? Or did they have another motive? The return of Vlad's migraine stopped all his thoughts as he sunk back into his chair. Blacks rings appeared around his waist as he fell, transforming him back into his human form. He reached for his cup of green tea that had now gone cold. He took a sip regardless and sighed. "Leave me," he ordered, "we will continue tomorrow."

The ghost narrowed their red eyes at Vlad, saying nothing. The cloak covering their features swished as they whipped around and disappeared into the shadows of Vlad's study.

Vlad groaned, taking one last sip of his cold tea. He stood, taking one look at the mess surrounding his desk and telling himself he would clean it up tomorrow. He left his study and made his way up to his bedroom, preparing himself for a dreamless sleep.

Tomorrow he would begin his research anew, with the book stolen from Ghost Writer's mansion at his disposal. The mere thought of it put a small smile on Vlad's face and made his core pound with eagerness. But it would have to wait for tomorrow. Right now, he had a warm bed waiting for him with his beloved cat.

THE ALL MIGHTY LINE BREAK APPEARS! YOU ARE FORCED TO GIVE UP ANY AND ALL OFFERINGS TO ME IMMEDIATELY! THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION AND PROCEED WITH READING THE CHAPTER!

The sound of ticking clocks echoed throughout Clockwork's empty viewing chamber. Suddenly, they all stopped, creating a deafening silence. That was soon broken by the gentle clinking of the many viewing screens gently knocking into each other. An image of a darkened hall appeared on the main screen and began to ripple as Clockwork and Nocturne emerged from the image.

"Well," Nocturne said softly, his eyes wide, "that certainly was interesting."

Clockwork shifted between forms rapidly, wincing slightly, before settling on his middle aged form. He turned his attention to his staff, adjusting the time obsessively. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed something small and silver glittering. He ignored it and turned to Nocturne who was busily adjusting the iridescent pedant hanging from a silver chain attached to his upturned curled horns.

"Save it Clockwork," Nocturne said quickly as the Time Master opened his mouth, "I know the rules. Not that I could tell anyone anyway. Even I barely understand what just happened."

Clockwork's expression became deadpan as he floated back to his main viewing screen. He tapped his staff on the screen and the image of the darkened hall faded away.

"I hope all of this will be worth it," he muttered to himself.

"Even if it isn't," Nocturne chuckled, moving to Clockwork's side, "it is certainly going to be one of the most interesting things I have seen in a very long time."

As Nocturne's laughter grew louder, Clockwork couldn't help but stare at his own reflection in the viewing glass. He reached up to touch the scar running through his left eye and his expression hardened. He couldn't back down. Not now. Not when he was so close. Everything was beginning to fall into place, just as time intended it.

The screen rippled until an image of Danny Phantom appeared on the screen. Clockwork pressed the stopwatch button on the top of his staff and the image began to move, showing the current events of Danny Phantom. He was flying through Saint Graal Castle with his friends and King Galahad as the Ghost King appeared to be giving them a tour of the castle.

"Poor little halfa," Nocturne mused, "he has no idea what's coming."

"All is as it should be," Clockwork said, not particularly responding to Nocturne. As the starry spirit continued to watch the screen, Clockwork turned away from the screen, floating to the doors leading out of his chambers. Danny's laughter echoed behind him as he passed through the doors, slamming them shut behind him.

A/N: Hey all! Sorry that this chapter is kinda short. I wanted to include it in the last one but I felt like it was already too long, so you get this mini chapter instead! Hope you enjoyed it! And as always, I'll see you in the next update!