Author's Note

Extra long chapter just for you guys XD
Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (At least for those who celebrate it)
Have a great time with your families.

Chapter 9 - Handling a Problem

I tensed as the claw came back to strike my face again. I cringed at the pain of the hit and the soreness of my swollen face. Ow, claw-slaps hurt like shit! I sighed as the griffin took a break from hitting me. I tried to adjust myself in my chair. Ow! I reacted as the rough ropes around my hands moved. Couldn't they have used nicer ropes? Gosh. I began tapping my foot. I licked my lip and tasted blood leaking out of a cut in my lip. Great, this is definitely going to do wonders for my complexion. I retorted in my head. Ugh...

\\

I yawned as I flipped the page of the book I was reading. Trist was looking through and signing more paperwork at her desk. I rolled on the couch Trist had moved into her work office. Uggghhh. I closed my book.

"What is it Phantom." Trist asked without slowing down on her work.

~I'm bored.~ I sat up on the couch.

"Well, we can't do any thing until we get your new outfit and equipment." She straightened a stack of papers and placed them inside a file cabinet.

Ugh. I groaned. I already knew that, but it had already been almost a week since we had gone to Armani. For the past week I had nothing to do as I waited for both Armani and Smith.

"If you're so bored just go check out some of Sawyer's inventions." Trist suggested. My eyes light up at the idea. "Oi! Just make sure not to touch them!" She made sure to mention.

~Alright!~ I signed as I hopped over the couch and opened the door to the warehouse.

I looked at the rows of inventions and walked into one of the rows. I looked up and down, left and right at all the inventions. I stopped and looked at a small hand sized remote control. It had plenty of buttons; fast-forward, rewind, stop, pause, play. Curious, I pressed the power button. Instantly the sound of very loud music spread through the entire warehouse. By the Maker! I looked for the off button but couldn't see it. I pressed the power button again but the music didn't stop. Shit, shit, shit, shit! I panicked. I dropped the remote and ran towards where the noise.

I found the row that was the loudest and ran down it. I stopped at the source; a metal box about the same height as me and had a music record spinning inside. Ah ha! I triumphantly found a switch. I flipped it the other direction and the pin lifted from the record. The record then lowered and an empty disk raised in its place. I sighed in relief to the silence.

After shutting it off I noticed a box with a lens on the side. I picked it up and saw that it had a button on the top side. I pressed the button and a light on the front flashed. Embarrassingly, I had yelped in surprise. I dropped the box and rubbed my eyes to ease the pain on my eyes. Occasionally I would blink as my sight returned. I looked down to see a smashed box on the ground. Oh. . . crap. I picked up the pieces and saw a blanket. I poured the pieces onto the blanket and wrapped up the blanket. I hurried to the trash near the entrance to the lobby. But as I approached the door, it opened.

"I told you Smith, he's been sulking more lately, I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to finally see- Oh, Phantom!" Sawyer looked at me with a smile. I quickly hid the wrapped blanket behind me. Sawyer walked further into the warehouse carrying a large box. I watched as Smith, carrying an even larger box, walked in after him. "Got some presents for you Phantom." Sawyer said as he cleared a table and put down his box. Just in time, Trist popped out from her office.

"Sawyer, you're back. I just finished with most of the paperwork. The ones that need your signature are in a separate stack." Trist reported as she walked up to the table. The table shook as Smith put the box he was carrying on it.

"Thank you so much Trist. You don't know how much you helping is for me."

"Oh, trust me, I know how much." She took a seat on a stool. "So what's all of this?" Saywer smiled.

"Phantom's ticket to entertainment." He opened the box to reveal a load of small balls of two different coloration; some black and some yellow. Sawyer picked up a yellow one and tossed it to me. "A present from Geno and Tina." I looked closely at the yellow ball. It was smooth and was a perfect sphere, all except one part where it was flat and had a picture of a white spark. "It's a flash bomb. If you hit it with enough impact, it will spark the mixture inside causing a bright flash." Sawyer explained as he picked out a black bomb. "This is a smoke bomb." He lifted it so we could see the symbol of a cloud of smoke. " Very self-explanatory, enough impact, it will burst open and spew out a thick smoke."

~Cool~ I signed, growing a mischievous grin while staring at the flash bomb in my hands. I looked up to see Sawyer waiting expectantly. I mean yes. I understand.~

"In the second box, holds Smith's bag of treats." Sawyer let Smith take the stage. Smith opened his box and tossed me a remade harness. It looked the same except for a belt attached to it. The belt looked adjustable. So I can wear it for a while. Sweet. I slipped it on. The strap went from my left shoulder to my right hip, then connected to the belt that wrapped around my waist loosely. Smith reach over and tightened it to a comfortable size.

"Bags hang from belt. Knives fit into slots on middle of strap and potions can be slipped into slots near top of shoulder or some on the belt." Smith explained plainly and straight to the point.

I took a look at the slots. Hmm, five knife slots, three slots for vials of potions and others for more on the belt. I looked at a strap on the left side of the belt and pointed it out curiously to Smith. He smirked and pulled out a large knife inside a black sheathe (although small in his claws) and held it out for me. I picked it up and grabbed the handle. My hand fitted almost perfectly; it was a bit too big. I pulled out the three inch handle to reveal an amazing one sided dagger; black on the blunt side, the sharpened part being a polished pearl-white of the original blade. The blade looked about four and a half inches long. It was the most awesome looking dagger I've ever seen! Awesome, just utter, pure awesome. I admired the blade.

"What is that?" Trist asked. I remembered that Trist didn't know I had this blade.

"Yes, I am interested as well." Sawyer leaned forward. "I've never seen such a white metal."

Smith shook his head back and forth. "Not metal. Dragon tooth." This was news to me.

Dragon tooth huh?

"Amazing! Where did you obtain a dragon's tooth?" Sawyer questioned Smith.

"Phantom gave it to me for sharpening. I too have never seen such a metal. While trying to forge it it didn't act like a metal, then I realized that it was tooth, not metal. Entirely different method needed to sharpen tooth. sorry I took so long." Smith explained.

Dude no problem! This is amazing I slid the dagger into its sheathe. I thought, but then realized I had said that in my head and gave him a thumbs up.

"Then where did you get it Phantom?" Sawyer switched his question to me.

~When I first arrived here I was picked up by a group of griffins. Thinking about it now, they were probably human hunters. I stole it from their boss.~

"A human hunter group? Do you remember seeing any banners? Anything they identify themselves with?"

~I remember that they always wore an 'X' and I saw a red banner on the boss's tent, but I can't remember what it had on it.~

"Would you recognize it if you saw it again?" Sawyer quickly asked.

~Yeah, probably.~ Sawyer quickly pulled out a piece of paper and began drawing something. He finished and held up the paper.

"Did it look like this?" I looked at the drawing. It had an eye in the middle with two crossing lines that looked like a claw did it in an 'X' form. My mind clicked it together with my memories.

~Yeah! That's it! But how did you know?~ Sawyer signed and placed the paper down.

"The group's name is The Slashers. They're a gang of griffins only that do all sorts of illegal dealings; from petty thieving to mass murder. Their boss has made a large name for himself as Hawvik Eye-Slasher."

"I wonder how he got that name." Trist lazily asked.

Wait a minute. I thought back to my encounter with the boss two years ago. No... it couldn't be-

"Rumors say that he was embarrassingly slashed down his right eye and made him blind in that eye." Sawyer stated.

Oh wow. And I made him blind it an eye? I rubbed my eyes.

"Now Hawvik slashes the right eye out of his victims until he gets revenge of the one that blinded him. What's wrong with you?" Sawyer looked at me as I continued to rub my temples.

~Uh, yeah. . . I was the one who slashed his eye.~

"What? Are you serious?!" Both Sawyer and Trist reacted the same way. Smith only silently nodded his approval.

~Well I panicked and I had that dagger in my hand!~ I tried to defend myself.

Sawyer let out a stressful sigh. "Okay, at least we know we got to avoid them. If they find out where you are Phantom. It'll be bad news." Sawyer looked inside the box that Smith brought in. "The last things we have in here are your potions." Sawyer reached inside and pulled out two vials.

"This one," Sawyer shook the red-orange vial, "is a fire potion. Inside is a mixture that will light on fire once shattered." He carefully placed the vial down on the table. He then lifted up the green vial in the air. "This is a healing potion. Made to be drunk. Once it is ingested the magical ingredients react with your body causing your body to heal new wounds at an exponential rate. Quite useful, if not for it's side effect."

~Wait, side effect? What side effect.~ I signed.

"Yes, the potion does not give your body the energy needed to heal you. Thus it has to extract enough energy and nutrients that are present in your body to energize your wounds and heal them." Trist and I stood there, not understanding what Sawyer explained.

"He means to say," Smith spoke up, "that the healing potion will heal your recent wounds, but in the process of healing, you'll feel twice the pain of your wounds."

"Oh, okay. That makes more sense." Trist replied. "Why couldn't you have just said that in the first place?"

"That's what I said wasn't it?" Sawyer asked.

~No, it was not.~

"Well fine then." Sawyer crossed his arms. "Armani has your outfit completed, She says to go to her shop and see it."

"Okay, then we'll go now." Trist stated as she got up.

"Right, she said to make haste." I got up and followed Trist out of the warehouse and out into the streets of Griphonia.

\\

"Armani?" Trist knocked on the front door of Snips & Stitches. Apparently it was closed today. As Trist was about to knock again, the door opened. A tired looking pony's face appeared.

"Ugh, what is it? We're closed today!" Lola yawned, revealing her pointed teeth.

"Lola, its Trist and Phantom. Armani said to come over for Phantom's new outfit." Lola looked at us and squinted her yellow eyes.

"Ah, right." She rubbed her eyes. "Well get inside then!" She opened the door further and let us in. "Just follow me." Lola lazily flapped her leathery wings and headed for the door in the back of the store. We went through into the hallway, but instead of going all the way to the brothel, we entered another door. The door opened to a living room complete with table, couch, and a window to the kitchen. Lola landed and yawned again. "Stay here, I'll go wake her up." Lola entered a door to our left.

I took the time to look around the room. Hmm. Armani sure knows how to decorate. The couch and everything seemed to fit together so well. Well, more so than my room. Trist made her way to the couch and made herself comfortable. As I walked over to sit down as well a very sleepy, and messy-haired, Armani walked into the living room.

She mumbled as she headed for a bathroom right next to her bedroom door. I heard the sound of the sink and a toothbrush. After a couple of minutes Armani walked out looking like her usual self. "Haa," She sighed and walked into the kitchen. "I knew that I told Sawyer to send you over as soon as possible. But doesn't her know that I have my beauty rest until two in the afternoon on Saturdays?" I heard the fridge open. "Either way, you two are here." She walked out with three glasses of orange juice surrounded in her magic. She sat down on a chair across from our couch and floated two of the glasses to us.

"Thank you." Trist took the glass from the air. I nodded my thanks and took the other glass.

"As Sawyer most likely told you, I have finished your new clothes." She sipped from her glass, then her horn glowed as a new door opened and two mannequins of a human slid into the living room.

The first mannequin looked to have black skin-tight shirt and pants, with padding at the stomach, shoulders, and elbows. On its hands were a pair of black finger less gloves. There was a matching black mask with openings for my eyes. The mannequin had what looked like a pair of black running shoes.

"This is your 'under-armor'." Armani said still sitting on her chair. "You'll wear this underneath your coat. The shirt and pants are polyester, made so you can move easy." Armani floated the pieces of clothing off of the mannequin and towards me. "The padding is for protection of your joints. Though, it is the most minimal of protection. Basic shoes for you to run in. The gloves may feel like leather, but are actually a synthetic leather used by those who detest wearing dead animal skin, but still want that feeling of leather. To put it on you pull on the strap, it's velcro. The gloves also are finger less so you can grab things easier, they also have stitched cloth on the palms."

Wow. I thought. ~Thanks.~ I naturally signed. Then I remembered that she couldn't understand sign language. I moved to reach for my notepad and coal, but then noticed that I had forgotten my bag. I smacked my forehead. Crap. . . I forgot my bag in my room! I fumbled with my hands to try and thank her.

"Is, something wrong with it? Something not to your liking?" Armani tried to guess what was wrong. Soon enough Trist finished her snickering.

"Not at all Armani. He's trying to thank you, but looks like he forgot his notepad at home." Trist answered Armani.

"Oh I see." Armani placed her empty glass down. The overcoat on the second mannequin floated off ad into the air. "This is your overcoat. You're supposed to wear it over your under-armor." I looked at the coat slowly spinning in the air.

The collar of the coat was raised so that it would probably cover my neck. At the legs it splits in the middle at the front and back. At first the entire coat looked black. But it was actually a very dark grey. There was a stripe of a light white reaching from the collar to right above the hip.Why isn't it pitch black like the under-armor?

"Its made of 100% cotton and zips up the back." Armani explained.

I nudged Trist with my elbow. ~Hey Trist, ask why the coat isn't black.~ Trist rolled her eyes.

"He's asking why the overcoat isn't black like the rest of it." Trist reluctantly asked.

"Ah, that." Armani silently sat for a bit. "Not many people actually realize this, but pitch black colors will actually stick out in the shadows."

"Really?"

"Yes, since shadows are not actually pure black. They're shades of grey at most. So if something pitch black were to hide in the shadows, it would be easily seen."

That makes sense. The overcoat hovered over to me and laid itself out. Armani's horn continued to glow.

"I also took the liberty of making you some more clothes." Stacks of black t-shirts and long and short pants. "I also made some socks."

"This is quite the favor you've done for us Armani." Trist said looking at all of the clothes Armani had made me. "Truthfully I'm not sure how we are going to repay you."

"There is no need. I've already thought of the way you're going to repay all of this." Armani said, her face getting darker and serious, yet still held her beauty. " I need something stolen."

"Really? What is it? A precious stone? A priceless painting?" Armani just looked directly at us emotionless.

"A human."

Wait, WHAT? I sat straight up, shocked at what she said.

"You want us to steal-, kidnap a human?"

"No, it's more complicated than that. And rather than steal, I should have said rescue." Trist and I sat quietly.

"The name of the human is Lyn. She was a year old last year when she was kidnapped, so she should be two years old now. The one who stole her is named Sir Arthur Vanhandle, although he has 'Sir' in his name it is only a title and he actually didn't earn it himself. He is well-known human fetishist who lives in luxury in his parent's riches." Armani began telling us all that she knew about him. He used to come to the brothel regularly and always requested Lyn. But then he tried to buy Lyn. I told him that Lyn was not my property and that she was not going with him. He angrily left, but came back as usual the next month. However he had come with another human, one covered in a veil. He said that he wanted to try something new. I didn't suspect a thing." Armani grew silent for a while before continuing. "Apparently he stole Lyn by swapping her with the other human he had brought. And walked straight out of the brothel with Lyn." Armani slammed her hoof on the table, rattling the empty glasses. "HE JUST WALKED RIGHT OUT!"

She blames herself. I realized.

"If she isn't your property, then why do you care so much?" Trist asked.

"I know the rumors about him and how he treats humans." Armani glared at noting. "I don't want Lyn to suffer anymore."

"And you haven't tried to save her before?"

"I have, but with no success. Arthur's father was a very well known veteran from the last war. His home has it's own personal guard."

"Then what makes you think that someone like Phantom can do it?" Trist continued to press Armani. I was quite offended by Trist's statement, but it was true. Why did Armani think I could do it?

"... I, don't know. But it's... a feeling." Armani gave her answer. Trist sat in thought.

"Alright, he'll do it."

"Really?" Armani said questioningly. "You will?"

"Did we even have a choice?"

Armani gave a small smile. "I guess you did not. A favor for a favor. No matter what it is."

"So when do we leave?" Trist asked, getting up from the couch.

"An hour, the Vanhandle home is quite far out from the city. So we'll leave city as soon as possible, and arrive at the house by sunset." Armani explained. "So better get geared up Phantom."

I grinned at the thought of actually doing something after a week of hiatus.Sweet!

\\

A smack woke me up flailing around. I'm awake! What's going on! My vision blurred from sleeping.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, dumbass." Trist smirked at me. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a couple of times to see Armani sitting across from me and Trist sitting next to me. We were inside what looked like an average-sized carriage.

~Where are we?~ I signed to Trist.

"We're in Armani's carriage headed for the Vanhandle Estate. How could you forget that so fast?" Trist eyed me. I looked down at myself to notice that I had my entire new set of clothes on.

Heh, I look badass! I complimented myself.

"Stop admiring yourself, we're almost to the estate and you need to know the plan."

~Alright.~

"Explain to him Armani." Trist looked out the window at the sunset.

"Alright." Armani started. "The main goal is to get in and out with Lyn safely. And if possible, without being noticed."

Well yeah. Isn't that the point of being a thief? I thought to myself as she continued to explain.

"There are about 30 guards protecting the mansion. Most of them patrol the outsides while only a few are actually patrolling the inside. When we arrive, we'll wait until night falls and have you enter over the wall in the back gardens. From there you'll have to find a way into the mansion's basement from the outside. There should be a door outside that can access the basement. Inside the basement there should be an old door connecting to the mansion's wine cellar. Find the stairs and make your way to the kitchen. You won't have to worry about any of the staff, since most will have already gone home by sun down." Armani explained in detail.

Wow, shes thought this through huh? I adjusted myself in my seat.

"Somewhere inside the kitchen is a hidden door that is said to lead to Arthur's dungeons. That's where you'll likely find Lyn." Armani finished explaining the plan to me. "Any questions?" I shook my head. "Okay then, make sure you have everything ready for when we arrive." She closed her eyes.

Hmm, do I have everything? I began checking that I had all of my stuff. Let's see... Throwing knives, potions, mask. I check one of the bags on my belt. Ah, it's the... flash bombs. I checked the symbol on the ball. I tied the bag and opened another. Empty, empty, smoke bombs. I adjusted my overcoat, but this caused another problem. Uh oh. I lifted myself up in an effort to pull my pants. WEDGIE! Shit! My skin tight pants started to constrict on my jewels. Maker have mercy! That hurts! I fumbled with my clothes until I was able to relieve the pressure on my loins. Ahhh~. I heard a snicker and quickly turned to looked at Trist, who I saw quickly turn her head back to the window.

"Well, if your done with your shenanigans. We've arrived already." Armani said opening the door and stepping outside. Trist opened the door on her side and exited the carriage as well. I turned to the side Armani exited and hopped onto the dirt path outside.

I looked around to see that we were in a dead-end dirt road in a forest. The sun was barely peeking out from the horizon. I saw three figures at the front of the carriage. Is that, Smith? I walked to the front of the carriage. I took out my notepad.

+Smith, what are you doing here?+

"Ugh, should have expected this if he couldn't even remember where he was." Trist sighed.

"Phantom," Armani spoke, "Smith is going to fly you over that fence." She pointed at the thinner side of tree further in front of the carriage. It looked to be about 40 yards away. The fence itself was made of metal and looked pretty tall. "He will also bring you back out once you find Lyn."

+Oh, okay.+

"Once Smith flies you over the fence, you'll have four hours max to find Lyn and get out. If you aren't out by then, we'll conclude that you were captured and we'll leave." Armani warned me of my time limit. She looked towards the sun. "We will have to wait a little longer before you head out. It isn't dark enough for you yet." I nodded in agreement. She then went back inside the carriage and brought out three chairs. I took this time to chat with Smith, whom was leaning on a tree.

+So. You were the one pulling the carriage?+ I asked him as I sat down at the base of the same tree.

"Yes." Smith blatantly answered back.

+Thanks for reforging my dagger.+

"It is fine. It was a nice experience to use different methods. I called it Cadmus."

+Cadmus?+

"Your dragon tooth dagger. There are some properties of dragon teeth you should know." He added.

+Like what?+ I was curious. How awesome can my 'load-out' get?

"Dragon teeth are naturally fire-proof, acid-resistant, and can cut through magic." He listed its attributes. "It also doesn't degrade as you use it , so you won't have to constantly sharpening it. Unless you want to."

+Wait, it can cut through magic?+ I picked at the one thing that seemed to pop out at me.

"While blades made of dragon bones are usually capable of splitting incoming magic projectiles and even magic beams. You small dagger will not. It can however cut through magic barriers and magic tassels."

+Ok. I guess that makes sense.+ I wrote as Armani called for me.

Ooo! Is it time? I looked for the sun which was no longer there. Sweet. It wasn't so dark that you couldn't see.

"Okay Phantom, it's time. It'll get quite dark soon so Smith will fly you over right now while he can still see." Armani stated. Without warning Smith grabbed my upper arms with his front claws and started to rise up.

Whoa, okay there. Thanks for the heads up. I snapped as Smith moved just over the tree tops, just enough so my feet brushed the leaves. Well there go the new shoes... Soon enough we reached the fence. The fence was actually a few feet taller than the trees. Smith slowed down and went a bit higher to get over the metal fence. Watch the spikes! Watch the spikes! I lifted my legs up over the spear-tipped fence.

Once over I could see that the mansion's back garden mainly consisted of a three foot tall hedge-maze with guards equipped with lanterns patrolling it. There was a stone walkway cutting through the middle, with a fountain in the center of that. Occasionally there would be a flower bed scattered around the maze. Smith descended slowly, trying to make as little sound as possible with his feathery wings. A little off the ground he let go of my arms and I landed quietly on the lush grass. I turned and gave him a thumbs up, only to see him already turned around and flying back out of the mansion grounds. Well then, thanks for the good luck.

I made sure my gloves were on tight and slid on my mask. I adjusted it so I could see through the holes. In the short time it took Smith to fly me over here, it had gotten dark enough so that my eyes had to adjust. It did so by me blinking and a yellow tint around my eyes faded in. Huh... That's new. I knew I could easily see in almost complete darkness, but when it did happen my eyesight didn't change. I pondered about my night-vision until I heard steps in the grass and dove into the closest hiding spot; a blueberry bush.

Hey! these are blueberries! I picked one and plopped it into my mouth. Mmm, yup. Definitely blueberries. I began picking a few and toss them into my mouth. I continued to even as two armored guards walked by.

"Ugh, I really hate being assigned to this house." One of the guards said.

"Yeah, so you've told everybody a million times." The other retorted.

"Yeah I know. But it's just that the actual General Vanhandle isn't even living here! It's his freaking spoiled ass son!"

"We can't help it, we're sworn to since the General's family needs to be kept safe." The guard said informatively, "Even if his son is an annoying son of a bitch and his wife is sleeping with a different man a night."

"Haaa." The first guard sighed. "I wish I'd been posted at Fort Hitan. My friend got posted there. Great sunny weather, sandy beaches, and the smoking hot chicks!"

"Not to mention being located in Trineton. Their grilled cod is the best!" The other guard added, licking his beak.

"Yeah, and the hot chicks!" The first repeated.

I couldn't hear their conversation anymore as they walked further away. I picked one more berry and flicked it into my mouth, only to find it tasting rotten and having a bad texture. Uugggg, rotten! I spat it out and shook my head to mentally get rid of the taste. I climbed out of the blueberry bush into a crouch and looked over the hedge. Looks like there are six groups patrolling the garden with two guards in each group. I scanned the garden and looked for a path closer to the mansion. Looks like this way is clear. I stayed in a crouching position and headed in the direction of the two guards from before.

It was easy to avoid the guards since each group had a lantern. All I had to do was watch for the bright lights with my enhanced vision. After a while of sneaking and hiding, I made it to the end of the hedge-maze closest to the mansion. I looked left and right. I saw a pair of wooden doors that slated down. It had a small lantern handing above the door. I was about to dash across the gap to another bush to hide in, when I saw a light approach from around the corner of the mansion. I crouched behind the hedge as another pair of guards pasted by. I overheard their conversation.

"Man ah hate havin' ta work the night patrol!" One guard complained.

"There's nothing we can do. We got randomly chosen man." Replied the other guard.

"But Dilan hasn't had ta do the night patrol in a month!"

"Yeah, seems like he rigged it. But we can't do anything about it without evidence that he did rig it."

"Damn it! Today was Kentian Fried Chicken today! You know how much aye love chicken!"

"Mhmm." The second guard agreed as they walked out of earshot.

Hmmm, Kentian Fried Chicken. Sounds tasty. I should mention it to Geno. Maybe he can make some. I thought before looking around for any other patrols and dashed across the gap between the hedge and the side of the mansion. From there I stuck to the wall and reached the door. My vision's yellow tint went awayOkay, there's probably a lock. So how am I going to- what the? I looked at the door, didn't have a lock. But... Usually these doors have a lock on them... I looked around and saw the lock on the ground near the side of the door. The lock was disfigured and had a yellow ooze all over it. The hell? Is that acid? I decided to ignore it and opened the door. It opened to a set of stone stairs leading into darkness. Well, guess this is the basement. I stepped through the doors and closed them behind me.

Oh Maker! It's so hard to breathe with this mask on! Damn it's dusty as hell in here too. I used my arms and swatted in front of me. As I did, my eyesight gradually tinted yellow again. I began to make out the stairs and started down the old steps.

I reached the wooden bottom and saw boxes and crates covered in more dust and cobwebs. Wow, it's like they haven't come down here in years! I stepped forward further into the basement. The basement was rather large, as expected considering that it was a mansion. I looked at the boxes as I passed and spotted something halfway through.

Is that a box of bags? Once I looked closer, I saw that it was indeed a box full of bags. Curious, I picked a brown leather-bag and inspected it. It indeed felt almost like my synthetic leather gloves, yet a little bit different. It was about the same size as my duffel-bag, but looked to be strapped across the back. It actually had a zipper going across it. Cool. Wait... I looked at the side of the bag to see an odd pentagram. I decided to unzip it to see if anything was inside. As I opened it, to see nothing but a black void inside the bag. What the hell? I reached in a hand inside, but my arm kept going. I watched as my elbow disappeared inside the bag. My fingers began to feel a cold sensation and I quickly retracted my arm out of the bag in fear. I was speechless at the wonders of this bag. I... Want it. I took the bag's strap and flung it over my arm and made sure it was on my back.

I looked around and found a door. Although, the door was already slightly opened. I hurried to the door and slowly opened it to find myself peeking into a cellar. Closer inspection showed it to hold walls and barrels full of wine. I stepped through the door onto a stone brick floor. Unlike the old basement, the wine cellar was cobweb free and looked to be regularly cleaned. Guess they like their drinks to be clean as can be. I moved to close the door connecting to the basement. It clicked as it closed which made me spin and try to open it again. Shit! It locked! I pulled on the handle but it wouldn't budge. Great, no going back through there. Gonna have to find another way out.

I saw the stairs Armani said. I walked over to them, making my way by some stray barrels lying around the room. I reached the stairs and first checked if they made any sounds by putting some weight on the first step with my foot. It didn't make a sound. Good. You can never be too sure. I slowly repeated the process with each step before moving up until I reached the door at the top. It wasted some time, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Peeking through the door to see an extravagant and well-equipped kitchen. The lights were all out, but that was no problem for my enhanced vision. I whistled at the impressiveness of the kitchen before covering my mouth quickly. Shit... I paused to hear if anyone noticed me. After few seconds I stepped into the kitchen.

Okay! Made it to the kitchen. Go me! I triumphantly said to myself. Now then, hidden door. Hidden door. I checked through the kitchen. I looked at the fridge. Could it be behind the fridge? I looked behind the fridge, under it, and inside it. Ooo! Cookies! I took a cookie and closed the door to the fridge. I bit into the cookie as I moved on in my search for the hidden door. Mmm, chocolate chip.

I looked at the stove, each cabinet, and the island-counter in the middle of the kitchen. What the hell? I began to get frustrated. I just checked the entire kitchen! There is absolutely NO WHERE else to check! I paced back and forth in front of the door leading to the cellar. I paused mid-pacing and turned to look directly at the door right next to the cellar door. Wha-. When was this here!? I racked my head as I looked at the new door. The door had a metal plate that said 'Pantry' . A pantry, of course a mansion's kitchen would have a pantry. I rolled my eyes and opened the pantry door.

I walked into the spacious pantry. I could easily walk a couple more feet without reaching the wall. there were shelves filled with produce. I continue to walk further inside, looking in between the foods for a switch or any sign of a door. As I was about to reach the end of the pantry I heard a muffled squeak.

I froze in place and looked down. It looked like the rest of the flooring, except I could see a faint light coming from the cracks in between the boards. I kneeled down and found a finger hold. Getting a good grip, I pulled up and the floor opened to reveal a set of perfectly cut, stone brick stairs spiraling down. Of course there would be a trap door. I stepped down and lowered the trap door down again.

I walked down the spiral staircase. Every once in a while there would be an electric light. My vision returned to normal as I descended. It soon became too hard to breathe with the mask on so I took the mask off. Oh! What is that smell! Ugh! It's all fishy! I covered my nose and mouth to try and block out that musky fish smell. However the further down I went, the smell just got stronger. Oh Maker. I think I'm going to throw up! Luckily for me, I reached the end of the stairs.

I walked directly into a dead-end room with a single iron-barred cell taking up half of the room. Odd enough, the room was dimly lit unlike the staircase. I squinted, concentrated on one spot, and blinked. And just like that my vision tinted yellow and I began to see what was inside the cell. What I saw made me cringe.

I saw what looked like a big bed, with red sheets. Off to the side was a drawer that had candles on top of it; some melted and others not. On the same wall was a bunch of. . . toys. I didn't even know. But there were whips, little balls, and . . . fake dildos. The fuck man! This guy's crazy! I heard a jingle of chains and I spun my head to look in the opposite corner of the cell to see a hunched over body. Is that?

I walked closer and the figure pushed further back against the wall. It is. Lyn. I looked at the naked human girl inside the cell. She had brunette hair and only looked to be twelve years old. This is what a two year old human looks like for them? She looked well fed and, personally, looked to have a pretty attractive body... Wait what am I thinking! I smacked myself across the face multiple times. She looks like a twelve year old! But they did say that humans mature at two years old... But she looks twelve! Although I am thirteen. No! No. I mentally argued with myself. Until she chirped and tried to move closer to me only to stop because of the cuff and chain on her ankle. She stared at me with her pair of raspberry colored eyes. I put a hand on the bars and she backed up to the wall again.

I looked at the iron bars and found the metal bar door. It had a lock on the door. And of course this door has it's lock. I took out my lockpick set and began working on the lock. After a bit, and one pick later, the lock gave a satisfying click. Booya! I got better at this! I put the rest of my set away and slid the door open.

I stepped into the cell, which disgustingly felt sticky. Okay... That is also, very gross. I made my way to Lyn as she huddled into a tighter fetal position in the corner. I reached out my hand. It's okay Lyn. I'm not Arthur. My name is Phantom. I'm here to rescue you. I paused with my hand still out. Why am I speaking in my head? It's not like she can understand me. I- I stopped mid-thought as I heard her let out a series of chirps and she reluctantly reached out her hand to me. I watched as she placed her hand in mine. She moved away from the wall and gave another series of chirps.

I looked at the cuff on her ankle; it too had a lock. I was about to take my lock pick set out, when I got another idea. You know what? Screw locks. I grabbed my dagger by the handle and looked Lyn in the eyes. Now don't get scared. I took out my dagger and brought it down on the chain. The dagger cut through half of the chain. I brought it back and brought it down a second time. It cut through the rest of the chain. There you go. I lifted her up. Okay, let's get out of here. I led her out of the cell and up the stairs. Woo man the faster we get out of this fishy dungeon, the better!

I saw the wood of the trap door and pushed up on it. It creaked open, but I ignored it and pushed it all the way open. I climbed out of the staircase and turned to help Lyn up. Alright, now we can probably find a window to get out and reach the spot where Smith will pick us up. I rushed ahead as Lyn slowly followed behind me. I opened the pantry's door and entered the kitchen. To be greeted by a blow to my gut. I fell backwards onto my back and into the pantry.What? Who-. I looked up at the griffin holding a spear in his claws. Another guard stood behind him holding an electric lantern.

"Looks like a human, sir." The guard with the spear reported before he moved out of the way to allow another, griffin through.

This griffin was wearing a bright, light-blue suit and a polka-dotted bow tie. His hair feathers were groomed back away from his face and gelled as hell. "Dehahah!" He laughed at me with is mouth wide open. "So The Guild thought they could kill me with a fucking human?! They're underestimating me too much." He chuckled. "Bring him with us, and don't be afraid to rough him up a bit!" He added at the end as the spear-guard grinned and whacked me in the side of my head, causing me to blackout.

\\

Riiiight... got caught in the stomach with a spear. I remembered how this snobby son of a bitch, literally a son of a bitch, was able to catch me. Although, it be honest, it was that guard with the spear over there that did all the hitting. There was a light directly aimed on me so my eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness that was present in the rest of the room. The baby blue suited griffin, who I now know to be the ever so nice Arthur Vanhandle, walked into a spot where I could see him again.

"I did not know The Guild was training humans to do their dirty work." Arthur grabbed my hair and pulled me close to his face. "Did they really think that even a trained human could kill me? An idiotic, stupid human?!" He very painfully threw my head by my hair back. "How strange. For a human, even trained, to be so well equipped." He walked to the edge of my sight. "A dagger," I heard him pick up something, "It seems to be the only thing you could have killed me with." I heard him slam the item back onto a table. "But! As to be expected from a dumb ass human!" He smacked me in the back of my head with his claw.

Oww! What is this guy even talking about? What guild? I wasn't here to kill him. He walked in front of me. As Arthur continued ranting about this guild. Something caught my eye behind him as one of the guards silently cover another's mouth and stabbed him through the gut. The end of the sword poking out from the guard's exposed chest. The guard with the sword slid the sword out and carefully laid the guard on the ground as he moved quietly to the next guard. I watched, wide-eyed, as he went from one guard to another without being noticed by Arthur. Soon enough, he slit the throat of the last remaining guard and stood behind Arthur as Arthur paced back and forth in front of me.

"Do they not know that I am Arthur Pendragon Vanhandle?! I am strong!" Arthur ranted louder. "I am just as influential as my father!"

"Sir." The guard with the sword called to Arthur.

"What is it!?!" Arthur demanded while still glaring at me.

"We've found a dead body sir."

"What?!" Arthur spun around to face the guard. "Where is-" He stopped as I a sword quickly impaled him straight through his heart and out his back. The power of the sword sent droplets of Arthur's blood flying at my face. I continued to watch as the sword slowly exited Arthur's dead body

"Heh heh haha!" The guard started to laugh. I blinked and my vision changed to a lime green as I looked at the guard. And just for that split second that my vision was green, the guard looked different. He had yellow eyes and his coat looked as if it had turned into black plates of armor.

Arthur's body fell to the ground. "Y-y-you w-were th- the!" He pointed at the guard from the ground. Without warning the guard guillotined Arthur's head clean off. Blood splattered everywhere.

"Yes," He replied to the headless griffin on the floor. "I am that assassin." He showed a toothy grin as he laughed some more. Suddenly he spun his head and looked at me with his griffin face. "Now~ what, to do, with you~" He took a step closer to me with each pause in his sentence. He smacked the lamp that was inhibiting my sight.

The light bulb broke causing the room to be engulfed in darkness. Panicking, I concentrated and blinked to activate my enhanced vision. I saw the griffin guard right in my face. Shocked at the invasion of my privacy, I instinctively tried to get away from him. "Oh?~ This is different too." He backed up and looked down at me. "Nice eyes you got there buddy. I like that shade of yellow." He nodded. "What are yo doing here?" He took a closer look at me. "Trying to be a thief? Or are ya just trying to rescue your little girlfriend over there?" He shook his head towards the corner of the room. I looked and saw Lyn backed up in the corner. She had a face of hatred and disgust on her face while it looked like she was hissing. At this griffin.

"You are a very interesting human you know that?" The guard continued to talk to me. "A normal human would have noticed me in a heart beat from my presence. But you, never did react like your little lady friend over there. Plus, you got some arsenal over there." I tried to looked where he pointed, but could see it since it was behind me. Irritated, I grabbed the chair I was attached to and spun it 180 degrees.

Now I was looking at a table of all my gear, laid out. "Gotta admit though," He slowly turned he chair so that I would slowly see his face. " You were a really good distraction. Got that spoiled brat to think you were an assassin. Ha!" He let out a laugh at the end of his sentence. "Just goes to show you how much of an idiot that guy was."

I continued to stare at him in fear of the thought he would kill me. "Mmm, that tastes gooood~." He said out of no where. "Oh wait. Where are my manners!" He backed up from me and flew up into the air. "My name is Cryptos." He bowed in the air. " An assassin of the Assssassin's Guild." His normally purple eyes flashed yellow for a second as he elongated the 's' sound in 'assassins'. He seemed to notice this and covered his mouth in an 'Oh My!' fashion. "Oh my, sorry for that. That tends to slip when I get, excited."

"Anyway, I must be going. Don't want to be caught or anything so~" He pulled out one of my throwing knives from behind his back.

When did he! I struggled in my bounds. Shit!

"I must get going, but! I find you very interesting." He threw the knife upwards. I followed the knife as it embedded itself in the ceiling. "Don't want something like you to be caught either. If you continue doing... Whatever you're doing. I'm sure we'll mean again." He grinned once more, pointing up. I looked up to see the knife again, except it dislodged itself enough to begin falling back down. It fell with its blade directly facing down.

Oh fuck me! I closed my eyes and prepared myself for death. But all I felt was the loosening of the ropes on my hands. I opened my eyes and pulled my hands in front of me. Haa... I still have all my fingers. I flexed my ten fingers. Wait a minute. He-. I looked up at the guard only to see him gone and an open window. ...The hell...

I sat there in thought until I realized that I need to get moving. Wait! How long has it been? I untied the ropes binding my ankles and got my gear from the table. Once I made sure I had everything back on I walked over to Lyn, who by now had calmed down. She didn't have any chains holding her, except the cuff around her ankle and the bit of chain left on it. I grabbed her arm and helped her onto her feet. Come on we have to go. I pulled her. She followed me without resisting. I approached the window to and looked out. There was a bush right below the window. Alright, we can probably just jump down and survive, maybe. As I got up onto the windowsill and sat on the edge I heard a pounding at the door.

"Mr. Vanhandle, " Another series of pounds. "Are you okay? Sir?!"

Oh uh. Shit we gotta go! I grabbed Lyn;s hand and pulled her with me as I fell into the bush below. Ow. I think I got some leaves where leaves should not be... I lifted myself up and stepped out of the bush. I looked to she a disoriented human laying in the bush still. Quickly, we need to hurry. I grabbed her arms and pulled her up onto my back. I walked as fast as I could with a 2 year old equestrian human on my back. I hope it's not too late. Please still be waiting. I made my way through the waist-high hedge maze.

Surprisingly, the guards that were out here were gone. Most likely rushing inside because of the commotion. I walked into the area Smith had dropped me in and looked around in the darkness for the large griffin. Damn it Smith. Please be here! I grunted as I couldn't support the weight of Lyn and laid her on the ground. I sat down on the grass and sighed. Out of no where the large bush next to me rustled and Smith's head popped out of it. The shit?! Smith?! I jumped in shock of him popping out.

"Finally, you arrived." Smith stated as he shook out the leaves and branches stuck in his feathers. "Sorry for surprising you." I was more surprised that someone as big as him could hide somewhere. He swung around a small lantern that gave off enough light to see only outlines. "Looks like you got Lyn. At least I think you do." I saw him squint. "All I can really see is your yellow cat eyes."

Cat eyes? Well that's new information. I'll need to look at myself in the mirror. I thought as Smith approached the fence. I coaxed Lyn that Smith was okay to be near and she clung onto Smith's right side as I climbed onto his left. Smith lifted off the ground in a single beat of his wings.

I looked back over my shoulder at the mansion as we flew over the metal fence. The lights all over the mansion were on, and I could see griffins in armor running, panicked, through the windows.

I cringed at the cold air stinging the cuts on my face. Yet it was also refreshing, at least after what had happened. Even without my vision, I could see the lights of the carriage as we descended. As we touched down Armani rushed to the aid of Lyn with a towel. Lyn flinched at the touch of a stranger, but then seemed to recognize Armani. Lyn chirped, then cuddled in close to Armani's fur. Armani looked at me as I sat leaning back on my arms. "Thank you Phantom. From me, and Lyn." She said, tearing at the eyes. Armani then proceed to support Lyn as they headed for the carriage.

I continued to sit there, looking at the stars and crescent moon in the sky, as Smith stood next to me silently as usual. Soon enough Trist walked up to me. "Damn, you got beat up." She commented.

I huffed a laugh and smiled at her. ~Thanks for the welcome back.~ Trist returned the smile.

"It's what I do," She shrugged. "come on it almost 3 in the morning already." She stuck out a claw and I gratefully take it as she helped me to the carriage.

\\

"While that was an extraordinary tale that Phantom told. We can not ignore one factor." Armani stated as Lyn fell asleep at her side.

"The strange griffin." I stated.

"Yes, from the descriptions Phantom gave. It is easy to tell that this, Cryptos, is not a griffin. He is clearly a changeling. Though he does not seem like one of the normal changelings."

"Sounds like an Infiltrator to me." Smith spoke from the front of the carriage.

"Care to explain?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

"While in the military, we did come across different types of changelings." Smith began. "From all the information from Phantom's story, Cryptos sounds like an Infiltrator-Class changeling."

"Why is it that we don't know this?" Armani asked.

"The special class changelings do a very good job of leaving no witnesses. Although it is also mostly the government covering up any incidents involving special class changelings."

"You say special class changelings" Armani emphasis Smith's use of plural. "Does this mean that there are multiple different types of special changelings?"

"Yes Armani. From the information I was given, there are currently three different classes a normal changeling can become. The first being the Infiltrator. Infiltrator-class changelings are specialized in disguising themselves. Infiltrators are born with a higher affinity with their disguising magic and don't need to copy another's appearance. They are also able to disguise as griffins, ponies, and even diamond dogs. It's unknown it they are able to be anything else. The most defining characteristic of Infiltrators are their ability to spit acid from a gland inside their mouth."

"That is amazing, yet also frightening." I commented, shivering at the thought of anyone being a changeling and not even knowing about it. "I'm surprised that Phantom survived an encounter with one of those." I looked down at Phantom laid out sleeping on the same seat I was on.

"You're right to be afraid Tristana." Smith comforted. "Though the Infiltrators tend to be more rational and logical than the rest of their hive. So this tends to make them less subservient to their queen."

"The second class is the Breeder. Easily the most creepy to encounter. Breeders are specialized in reproduction. While it is said that only the changeling queen can lay eggs. Breeder changelings are the main form of reproduction changeling hives use. Physically, the breeder changelings have a larger abdomen and stinger. Using their stinger, Breeders inject eggs into a host. The eggs will absorb the host's magic then hatch.The changeling larva will then burst out of their host. You usually tend not to see Breeders outside of their respective hives."

"Maker! And I thought learning how a pony was born was bad." I exclaimed and made a motion like I was throwing up.

"That is quite disturbing and horrific." Armani commented.

"Yes, I lost a few squad mates to a couple of Breeders once. It was a gruesome sight just to see them inject someone with the eggs." Smith paused for a second before continuing. "The last class of specialized changeling are the Titans. Titans are specialized for brute force and defense. They are twice as large as an ordinary changeling and have a thicker chitin armor. However, due to their enormous size and hardened shells, they lost the ability to disguise themselves. Because of this loss, most if not all Titans are usually put as guards for the hive or, on the rare occasion, used as the first wave in a frontal assault."

"Those three are currently the three known special-class changelings we know of. However, there was one more thing that was found. The changelings have an elite guard that personally protect the queen. They only number six, but they are said to be the best of the hive. The Elites are said to be of any type of changeling, even an ordinary changeling." I felt the carriage slow as Smith took a deep breath. "My squad faced an Elite once... That damned bug nearly wiped out my entire squad of six."

"Do you think that Cryptos was an Elite?" Armani asked.

"He could be, from how he took out the guards undetected. But, Elites are only found near a hive's queen." Smith explained. "He would have to be either an ex-Elite, if they could ever stop being one, or a rogue changeling."

"Rouge?" I repeated.

"A changeling with no hive. They were either exiled or rebelled and left the hive."

"What would you say happened?"

"I'd say he left willingly. Since he's an Infiltrator, he is more free thinking than other changelings. The only thing I don't know. Is why his eyes seemed to be yellow, not green."

"Yeah, aren't changeling normally green because they feed off of the emotion of love?" Armani added.

"Yes, they infuse the gel-like substance together with the love they acquire and it causes it to turn green." Smith replied.

"He won't be a threat right?"

"Most likely not. He said he worked for the Assassin's Guild. The Guild strictly enforces that the assassin is not to involve anyone not involved with their assassination target. Although, they can never really tell if the assassin followed this rule or not." We all stopped talking and only the sounds of Smith's steps and the wheels rolling across the dirt road. Phantom snorted in his sleep, causing Armani and I to look at him. He yawned and adjusted himself.

"That really is a special human you have Trist." Armani said to me.

"Yeah, I guess he is." A smile grew on my face as I looked at Phantom's sleeping face.