After concluding the ritual to clear out the spirits from Valicross' staff, Dr. Pike pulled Mage Qing aside to talk. This left Olivia on her own to record that final messages of the spirits down on paper, which she did out in the Castle courtyard. Once finished, there wasn't much else left but to head home and figure out how to deliver the notes.

Olivia walks back towards town, not really paying attention to the path in front of her. She has her nose buried deep within her notes instead, frowning and muttering to herself. "Well, the note to Kadin's ex-fiance' should be easy enough to send – I can just ask Natasha or Inaya for help with that," she says, thinking aloud. "And I guess the other witch's remains will also be easy enough to return. Still, it's the remains from the orphanage that's gonna be the trick… "

"Halt where you are!" calls out a voice from seemingly nowhere. Well, probably from the forest, really. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

Olivia's notebook flies from her hand at the sudden sound, landing about a foot away from her with a soft paf! Then she sighs, stoops to pick it up, and calls out irritably, "If that's you, Gunther, gimme a break, willya?! I'm tired and hungry and I don't have time for games!"

"You look like Olivia. But I can't be sure. Olivia has been avoiding me lately. Maybe you're a doppleganger plotting an invasion," the voice calls back. Of course it's Gunther. Who else could it be? "Can you prove you're Olivia?"

Olivia rolls her eyes heavenward and continues walking again, steadfastly ignoring his command not to move. Besides, she figures that Gunther's just going to keep up with her progress, anyway – from wherever he is. "When I caught you spying on Lady Inaya, I nearly made you deaf by screaming into your own listening apparatus. There, how's that for proof?"

There's a bit of silence. "That wasn't funny, either," the reply finally comes. The canopy of a nearby tree parts and Gunther comes soaring through the air. One flip later and he lands on his feet before Olivia. One of his feet starts tapping and he asks, "So, why have you been avoiding me?"

Olivia shoots the Kadie boy an annoyed glance and simply walks around him, forcing him to jog to keep up with her if he wants to chat. Putting her notebook away as she talks, she says over her shoulder, "I've been helping Mage Qing for the past few days. In fact, he just finished breaking apart the necromancer's staff and freeing the spirits trapped in there. I went along to help identify the remains, so I would know where to return them. So I haven't been avoiding you, Gunther, I've been working!"

"You could have invited me along," Gunther counters and does walk along with the Skeek, "First Zahn has been off doing stuff with Amelia, and now you vanished on me too. At least the otters have appreciated having me around." Another bit of silence, then he asks, "So, the whole Necromancer saga is finally over? Everything related to him is gone?"

Olivia rubs her forehead with one hand and tries to calm down. I really must be tired if Gunther's starting to wear on me so soon… she thinks. Aloud, and in a quieter voice, she says, "We certainly hope so. After all it took to defeat him… and then keep his spirit locked in that box the witches have… and finally the effort it took to dismantle the staff… " She trails off, shaking her head. "Morgan was right. The man was like an evil weed."

"That's good. I was worried maybe he had allies or something," Gunther comments offhandedly as he walks. "So, I guess we'll just be back to the occasional crisis of Amelia picking a fight with one of Clover's gang." With a glance towards Olivia, Gunther also observes, "And you look like you need a nap or something. Or a vacation. I bet the otters could rent you a boat and you could go swamp fishing."

Olivia has a sudden memory of being chased all over the swamp by the goons hired by Djivan's father and grimaces. "Well, I really could use that vacation, but not on the swamp! Had enough of swamp-boating for a while. Besides, I'd really like a meal and a bath, first… I don't know how long it's been since I ate last." She scratches one ear idly and muses, "I kinda lost track of time while within Valicross' staff. Easy enough to do in a place like that."

"Gunther!" shouts a squirrelly voice from further ahead on the path. A dark-furred Kadie is approaching the pair now.

Gunther is about to answer Olivia when his tail frizzes at the shout of his name. "Ack, hide me!" he declares … and darts behind Olivia. Nevermind he's a lot more poofy than Olivia is.

Amelia approaches, and smiles to Olivia. "Oh, how've you been, Liv?" she asks pleasantly. "From Gunther's reaction, I take it he feels guilty about something."

"What the-?" Olivia says, her eyebrows nearly vanishing into her hairline at Gunther's abrupt reaction. At Amelia's approach, however, she quickly turns back again and greets her friend. "Hello Amy! Oh, I'm all right – just tired and hungry, is all. And, uh, what has Gunther done this time?"

"Why do people always assume I've done something?" Gunther wonders from behind Olivia. "I'm just being cautious. Amelia is known to thump people for nothing at all!"

"I do not thump people for no reason!" Amy replies, then in a softer voice explains, "But somebody stole the pants right off of Aiken Briar the other night, while he was passed out in one of the guest cottages. You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you, Gunther? Given that you have your nose into everything and all."

"Uh, no I wouldn't know anything about that at all. Probably served him right, anyway. Anyone smart wouldn't just fall asleep in the middle of a room," Gunther says quickly. He does try to keep Olivia between himself and Amelia still, though.

"Mmmm-hmmm," Amy says, looking suspicious. "What are you doing out here anyway? Did you finish your chores already?"

"Searching for invaders, of course. I just know that Jack has an army stashed somewhere," Gunther insists.

"Emmett is watching Jack," Amelia says. "If he's up to anything, Emmett will otter it out of him."

"You trust Emmett with watching him?" Gunther asks, then bursts out laughing. "Boy is that a poor plan. I mean, it's Emmett. Unless you bribed him with something, he'll get distracted."

"He trained Nene and Bebe, remember," Amy points out, and taps Gunther on the nose when he peeks out from behind Olivia. "And you trust them, don't you?"

"Trust them? They're fawning over that Jack person," Gunther grumbles at the sudden reminder.

"Well, if you don't trust anyone else to look after him, then why are you here harassing Olivia?" Amy asks pointedly.

"I told you, I'm looking for his army," Gunther insists and crosses his arms. Remembering something else, Gunther notes, "And oh, I think Bebe likes Zahn. At least, she gets a weird, dreamy, look when she talks about you two. She kept trying to interrogate me about the archives too and why we have a hot tub in there."

Olivia just shakes her head and grins while all this is going on – then realizes that she has developed a headache from a lack of food. "Uh, as exciting as this is and all, could we please walk towards town and talk at the same time?" the Skeek asks. "I gotta get something to eat and a nap before I fall over!"

"Oh, did you have a busy night Olivia?" Amy asks, and takes the Skeek's hand in case she's about to fall over. "I just had breakfast a little while ago at the Inn. Waffles, slathered in butter and syrup with some fresh applesauce on the side and… "

Olivia squeezes her friend's hand and says gently, "That sounds wonderful, Amy – but you're not helping by telling me that." Then she pulls the Kadie girl along with her as she starts again towards town, giving her a brief rundown of what happened when Valicross' staff was dismantled.

In a huff, Gunther follows along. His tail twitches in agitation.

"Huh, Buffy showed up?" the Kadie asks, then turns to Gunther and says, "And no, you can't go after the vampire bunny."

"Man, you never let me go after anyone. Aren't we supposed to destroy vampires?" Gunther complains.

"You got to go after that gang of thieves, didn't you?" Amy retorts. "And we are supposed to destroy monsters that are threats to the community, there is a difference."

"How do you know she isn't a threat?" Gunther counters.

Olivia nods. "She did – wanting to keep an eye on Morgan, or so she said. She really helped us out by freeing some of the spirits trapped in Valicross' staff, though. Even Mage Qing seemed to appreciate it."

"She's… Morgan would have told me if she was a threat," Amelia says. "And hear that? She's helpful. She's less of a threat than you are, Gunther."

"I am not a threat to the town," Gunther retorts as he gets more and more agitated.

"Well, then Buffy can't possibly be one, right?" Amy notes. "How's Djivan holding up after his family reunion, Olivia?"

Olivia looks a little worried as she answers, "Still rather depressed, actually. Gunther was just mentioning that it looked like I needed a vacation… perhaps Djivan could use one, as well!"

"Speaking of a threat to the town, where is that rat?" Gunther asks.

Amy pats Olivia on the shoulder, and turns to Gunther to say, "We're going to be talking about girl stuff now. Romance, dating, and so on. This is your last chance to flee."

Gunther holds his ground for the moment. "Will it help me with otters?" he finally asks.

Olivia pokes Gunther in the side with one fingertip and says, "Djivan is NOT a threat to the town. To the otters' pocketbooks, maybe, but not Stonebarrow as a whole."

Gunther ows and rubs his side.

"Of course not," Amelia says to Gunther. "You have to talk to an otter for advice on otters."

Frowning, Gunther tells Amelia, "I think you're trying to get rid of me. You could have just said you wanted to talk to Olivia alone."

"That was my backup plan," Amy notes. "But I figured it would only make you more curious."

"I'm not stupid, you know," Gunther points out. "I can figure out when you're trying to get me to leave."

Amy just looks at Olivia, then back to Gunther. "Well, be a gentleman then and let us have some privacy. Then maybe I'll tell you a story later on, okay?"

Olivia grins at Gunther and adds, "Besides, if you stay, then you'll have to hear more about… the rat!"

"Yeah, right," Gunther relents, "I'll go … do something." The Kadie then darts back off into the woods to do who knows what. Knowing him, it'll be dangerous.

"Better stick to whispers, just in case," Amy whispers to the Skeek. "So, you need a little time away from it all, is that it?"

Olivia whispers back, "I think that's a good idea. Perhaps it would cheer Djivan up a little – and it would give me a break before I have to track down the families of the people whose spirits were tapped in that staff."

"I've got a nice place in mind, very secret," Amy confides. "I took Zahn there. Are you afraid of heights?"

Olivia blinks at Amy a few times, then whispers, "Um, no, not really. I can't speak for Djivan, though. But I haven't heard him mention such a fear… why do you ask?"

"Well, part of it is high up," Amy notes. "And you'll need to stay there if you stay overnight, to avoid the trolls."

Olivia gives her friend a very odd look, then asks, "And a vacation to this place is supposed to relax us?"

"Well, it is about as private a spot as you can get," Amy admits. "Just don't think about the trolls, and focus on the being together part. How hard can it be to keep Djivan out of trouble and focused on you, after all?"

Olivia just stares at Amelia for a minute, then laughs at last and throws up her hands. "All right, we'll try it – I guess you just can't have a date in Stonebarrow without a little doom involved! So, how do we get to this place? And more importantly, how do we not get picked off by random, marauding trolls?"

"Well, I can take you there, or give you a map to follow," Amy offers. "And the trolls only come out at night, and maybe not even every night. It's safer than the underground apartments."

"Oh, Djivan needs to be blindfolded though," Amy adds. "He can walk a plank blindfolded, right?"

Olivia thinks this over. "If you gave us a map, I'm sure that between the two of us, we could figure out how to get there. And I'll have us both pack our throwing knives for some protection, just in case!" At Amelia's last request, she asks, "Why does he have to be blindfolded?"

"Well, so he doesn't know the way there," Amy says, matter-of-factly. "And also so he won't think of trying to escape from you."

Olivia gives Amelia that odd look again, then asks, "If you don't want him to know how to get there, then why are you trusting me with the information? This is all starting to sound a little suspicious… not to mention more and more dangerous by the minute."

"Well, of course I trust you with it," Amy says. "But guys will just try to go back alone and poke around at things until something goes wrong. I suppose I should just show you the place first then, and let you decide?"

Olivia walks beside the Kadie girl in silence for a little while. Finally, she says, "Tell you what – give me a few hours to have a nap and a meal over at the Weaver's and then meet me at the gypsy's camp. Then you can explain this place to Djivan and we can both decide if we want to have our, er, date of doom there. How's that?"

Amy hmms, but nods. "Okay, if you want to spoil the surprise and all," she agrees reluctantly.

Olivia nudges Amy in a friendly way. "I don't think you have to give away all the details when you talk to him. You just have to let him know what risks are involved and let him make his own decision on whether he wants to go or not. I really think he'd appreciate that more than me telling him right before we get there, 'Oh, by the way, you have to walk the rest of the way blindfolded… and you're not scared of heights, are you?'"

"Well, still seems… unnatural to actually ask him about it," Amy says, crossing her arms. "He should be grateful for the offer in the first place."

Olivia simply shrugs and says with a mischievous twitch of her whiskers, "When you're finished telling him about this place, he may still be grateful for the offer to go. He has this bad habit of being attracted to trouble… which is probably why he's dating me in the first place!"

"But you're not trouble," Amy says. "Well, except for Loom #4. Otherwise you're just a norm-… uh… sweet girl!"

Olivia laughs at this and answers, "I'm not so sure Isolde would agree with you there… and after all that I've been through lately, I can't really blame her for that opinion!" Then she looks askance at the Kadie girl and asks, "So, will you meet me in front of Djivan's wagon in a few hours? So we can talk to him about this date spot you have in mind?"

"Okay, sure," Amy says. "I have to go back to arrange something with Dr. Pike, so this is my be-kind-to-people-I-don't-like-very-much day anyway."

Olivia stands very still in the middle of the path for a few moments and looks at Amelia. At first, it seems as if she isn't terribly surprised by what her words imply, then her expression changes to one of hurt and resignation. Just as swiftly, however, the Skeek's face clears and she says mildly, "All right, I'll see you there. And if Djivan and I end up going, perhaps when we get back you and I should have a little talk of our own."

"Awww, you're going to get on my tail about not liking Djivan, aren't you?" Amy complains. "I can't help that! Something about him just makes me itch."

Olivia puts a hand gently on her friend's shoulder. "Amy, I'm not mad at you because Djivan isn't one of your favorite people. I know well enough that he's done a few things to annoy you. I just don't understand what it is about who he is that 'makes you itch,' as you put it. That's why I think we need to have a talk so you can explain that to me. But, all in due time," she adds with a smile. "I still need some food and that nap, after all. So I'll see you soon!"

"Okay, get some food and sleep and soap," Amy says, then heads back for the castle. "Why, why couldn't he have fallen for Clover instead?" she mutters to herself.