"You should know why," Lean responded. "There is a connection between me and the past Monster Protectors."

She did not have to give me a hint, for I had already figured it out myself. If it were possible, my bottom jaw would have hit the ground. That is how much the truth hit - and shocked - me.

Why did she not admit it to me? We were practically the same now that I knew her secret.

Careful to not drop the orb, I slowly turned my body in the ghost's direction and had my mouth hanging open. I wanted to say at least one word - any word! - but I was so taken aback, like that small rocks or a big rock had made contact with a tender part of me, that I was speechless and could not move a muscle.

Lean giggled at my reaction, and then coughed. "Sorry. It is just that you are overreacting."

"'Overreacting'?" I repeated, finally finding my voice. "'Overreacting'? How can I overreact when you have been keeping from me—"

She interrupted. "And everyone else in Forlot. You are not the only one who did not know and the first one to discover it."

I hesitated. "...you are a Monster Protector."

"My job is different from the Monster Protectors, but I am a Monster Protector nonetheless."

I massaged one of my temples with two fingers and tightened my grip on the orb. "I am confused. How in the world can you be a Monster Protector?" I uttered a small gasp, covered my mouth, and muffled, "That is why you know the oath by heart."

"You got that right. The readers may not realize this, but there was foreshadowing that I am indeed a Monster Protector."

"Foreshadowing? There was no foreshadowing!"

The ghost girl proved me wrong. According to her, there was obvious foreshadowing, such as her losing her eyes and her unique fighting skills.

"Those do not count!" I shot at her. "I never knew that the past Monster Protectors had their eyeballs taken out until yesterday, and Mr. Hawk reassured me that fighting is not a main skill that a Monster Protector possesses."

"You claim that you found out yesterday. What is your excuse for not realizing the truth until now?"

"My brain takes a while to process."

"It did not take long when you viewed me in the orb. And you are correct about the whole fighting thing. A Monster Protector is not required to be an excellent fighter, however, it can be a bonus skill. Like your crossbow. You are not required to have that type of weapon on you, but it comes in handy when protecting the right humans and monsters."

I carefully set the orb back on the cave table and flipped my braids back in frustration. "No fan of ours would have ever theorized that you are part of the Monster Protectors."

"Margie? Are you not going to ask the orb where the Monster Protector eyeballs are at? Remember that it can also show the present."

"Oh, yeah!"

I had been both so surprised and a bit angry at Lean that searching for the eyeballs spilled from my mind. I scooped up the orb with both hands and stared intently at it as if I were being hypnotized.

"Greetings, creature from the light," the orb repeated it from earlier. "How may I help you on this fine day?"

"I have another question to ask you. It is an extremely important one, so do not show me a fib."

"I do not fib or lie or whatever you want to call it. I only show the truth."

"Good to hear. Anyway, could you show me where the eyeballs are located? The eyeballs belonging to the dead Monster Protectors."

"As you wish."

Unlike the first time, only one image appeared on the orb. It was the gross eyeballs, and they thankfully were in the same location. They were in a glass jar, and I moved my finger on the orb to zoom out and get a better idea of where the jar was.

"It seems like that the eyes are behind a brick wall," I commented. "But I have absolutely no clue where there could be a brick wall."

"Let me see," Lean said.

I handed her the orb, and she handed back my bag. She brought the blue orb close to her ghostly face and squinted at the image for what felt like forever.

"Lean?" I broke through her hard thinking. "Got any idea where that place might be?"

"Yes," she replied. "We will have to take the orb with us."

"You two are not going anywhere with my orb!" the snake protested.

I expected to see the talking snake at its regular size when I faced him. Sadly, I was wrong.

No longer was I the giant to Dribbles anymore. He was. Dribbles was as tall and big as the cave and towered over me and my ghostly friend, showing us his fangs.

"How dare you touch and look and even think about stealing my orb. It is mine and will not be stolen by some greedy Monster Protectors!"

"We are not greedy!" I disagreed. "Monster Protectors have kind hearts, and we will bring it back to you. We promise. We are just borrowing it."

"I will not believe the lies of a Monster Protector!"

"I am not lying! I vowed to never lie again."

"Dribbles!" Lean intervened. "It is okay. She is good."

The snake locked his orange eyes on her. "Lean Share?"

"The one and only."

"Why the crub are you with a Monster Protector?"

"I owe her everything. Without her, I would have never gotten my eyes back."

I could not help but put on a smile. "It was nothing," I said.

"She is exactly what the title says," my ghost friend commented. "She is not like other people and really wants to help good monsters, like you and me."

Dribbles glared at me. "Prove it."