An Unsolved Mystery

"There are targets in the meadow. First one to touch one of them wins." Lucien looked to Yang, thinking about the unfair advantages. "You do have a point." Thinking for a moment Lucien scartched his head, racking his brain for a solution. "I got nothing. Unless Ying and I do it looking like humans then it wouldn't really be fair to you." Lucien sighed and put his hands back on his hips. Unless he found a way to get out of doing it in human form then he was going to be stuck there. Was there a way to make the race fair? Too bad Yang couldn't shift at will. Wrinkling his brow Lucien smiled and looked to Yang.

Pulling the necklace out of his pocket he held it out to Yang. "See if you can figure it out. Perhaps it gives you invisibility or something."

Yang shook his head" Its ok you keep your necklace. I've already decided on my form. I'll just be a regular wolf." He said as he turned into a wolf.

Ying smiled. "I was going to do that to anyway. So what do the targets look like?" She asked Lucien. She was surprised he seemed to have already planned all this out.

Lucien pocketed the necklace and smiled, staying in his form as a vampire. "The targets look like... targets. They sit on the ground and have a circular pattern printed on them, the middle circle being red. The targets are hard to miss, really." Lucien smiled again, stretching his back and standing straighter. "When you're ready it'll start, if you don't have anymore questions." Lucien stayed where he was, waiting once again for word from the twins. He would start when they started, and that's how it should be. Staring forward he began plotting his path. He could take the most direct path and head down the river, getting out of the water at the halfway point and running the rest of the way. It sounded good to him, at least.

"Were ready when ever you are." The twins said.

Ying turned into a wolf and waited. She didn't want to be the first to go. It would look weird if she took of running and the others were still behind waiting.

Yang looked around trying to find the quickest but safest route to the meadow. The others seemed to know what they were doing, maybe he would just follow them.

Lucien raised an eyebrow, going over his route once again. This would be fun, good excersize for today at least. "I shall count us off then. On the count of three, go. One, two, three." When he said three Lucien took off, not waiting around long enough to see if the twins did the same. He hoped they did, because he didn't like looking like an idiot. Cutting through the trees he stopped momentarily, soon locating the swift moving waters of the river. Jumping in he swam along with the current, getting out of the chilling water and shaking furiously he began to bolt toward the meadow, reaching the borderline forest and nearly smacking into a tree.

The twins immediately started running. Both following Lucien, it was already decided that they were going to be in on this together. Ignoring everything around them and focusing all their energy on their feet they ran faster and faster. They could see Lucien and were already gaining on him, unless he sped up they would pass him within minutes.

Stopping before hitting the tree Lucien blinked furiously and picked up the pace. Running as fast as he could, dodging the trees as he went. Being in his vampire form he was running twice as fast as he could in human form, smiling lightly as he ran. It was fun to go fast. Speeding up even more he got to the meadow and stopped momentarily, staring at the targets. He wanted to know if he was the first one here or if the others were here, too. So what if it was stupid, he was going to see. Curiousity came before victory.

While Lucien was busy being curious and stopping to see if he was alone, the twins were able to rush past him. They each touched a target. They returned to normal and gave each other a high five.

"Good try gramps. Your faster then we expected." Ying said happily. They underestimated him and came close to losing, it was a good thing he had a short attention span.

Lucien smiled as they rushed past him, holding his position. They could win. It was no fun to be the winner. Losing was more entertaining, believe it or not. "Funny how it happens, but I've been there and back twice. That necklace is pretty cool. It creates these awesome freakin' holoforms and stuff and it's just amazing. You oughta try it." Lucien smiled and kicked the ground with his shoe, fingering the necklace in his pocket.

Looking up to the twins he grinned and walked toward the target. Touching it lightly he sat on it, picking at his nails. In truth the twins had won, but the necklace's unknown power just seemed to be fun to play around with.

The twins blinked surprised when he told them about the necklace and how he had actually beat them twice.

"That can't be right. I thought you didn't know what it did. Thats why we were looking in those books." Ying said. A little disappointed, she didn't like losing.

Yang shrugged he didn't really care who won. Some how he expected he would beat them.

Lucien smiled and shrugged, looking smug as a bug in a rug. He pulled the necklace out and it began to glow, shining bright in the darkness. Lucien raised an eyebrow at the necklace and watched it, looking to his side where something seemed to appear. The blob of colors began to take on a shape, turning out to look a bit like Lucien. The body, the hair... all that was different was the face. Lucien took a step away, still holding the necklace. Blinking furiously at his replica he swatted at it, hand making contact with something hard.

"Must you do that? I have feelings too, you buffoon." This came from the holoform, Lucien flabbergasted. The prince looked to the necklace and shoved it back in his pocket. That really wasn't supposed to happen. Yellow eyes looked to the twins, a what-the-heck look going on all over Lucien's face. "Oh don't look so bewildered. You are the one who summoned me, are you not? My people can be stupid sometimes." Lucien looked to the holoform and punched it in the shoulder, looking offended.

"Who the heck are you supposed to be?" The question was semi-rhetorical and really didn't need an answer. Lucien stared at the figure, wondering if it had came from the necklace and, if so, how to get it back in there.


((Haha! I have figured out what I want my necklace to do! XD I do love have ancient things that have cool powers ))

The twins looked confusingly at Lucien and the strange furry blob that appeared out of no where.

"Don't look at us like that, we have no idea whats going on. We thought you did since you said only a few seconds ago you knew what it did.....funny it doesn't really look like you." Ying said.

"It looks like one of those weird balls people make out of animal fur." Yang commented.

Lucien stared at the form, glaring at it, studying it, trying to figure out why it was here. Looking to the twins Lucien admitted to his lie. "I was just kidding around. You guys beat me. But..." The holoform decided to comment to Yang about his comment on how it looked like a ball of animal fur. "I am not a ball of animal fur, I am a creation of that stupid magician to serve the keeper of the neckace." The holoform stated this matter of factly, crossing it's arms in defiance. It acted something like Lucien.

Lucien yanked the necklace out of his pocket and began messing around with it, trying to get the thing back inside. The holoform watched him quietly, laughing occasionally. "Honestly, kid, all you have to do is put it on and say the magic word." Lucien stared at the holoform, wanting to punch it again. It was really annoying and irritating. If not for curiousity the prince would've tried to rip it's head off.

Lucien placed the necklace around his neck, feeling a bit feminine. "What's the word, then?" The prince asked this quietly, staring at the holoform. The holoform laughed and looked to Lucien, a bit disgusted. "You think it's nice being trapped in there? I'm not telling you what the word is." Lucien stared at the holoform, wishing he was near his journals. Looking to the twins he sighed and asked, "Have any ideas of what the word may be?"

"I have no idea.. maybe you should repeat all the things you said earlier and see if that works." Ying offered

Yang wondered exactly what the little ball of fur was suppose to do. It didn't look like it would be able to do much. He watched Lucien and the furry thing talk.

Lucien shrugged, thinking about the words. Perhaps it was something he had said earlier. Perhaps it was somethign totally different. Thinking for a moment Lucien grinned and said a single word; Please. The holoform dissapeared into the necklace and as soon as it was gone the prince shoved the piece of jewelry into his pocket. "I'm never doing that again." Looking back to the twins he forced a nervous smile and looked up to the sky. The fireflies were out, dancing around, lighting the sky up slightly. His yellow eyes stayed trained on a certain one of them and he had his mind set on catching the little bugger.

The twins were so pre occupied with the furry ball and Lucien that they didn't even notice the fireflies.

"Aw their so beautiful." Ying said. Her eyes memorized by the sight. "I'm so glade you took us here gramps." She said smiling at Lucien.

Yang sat down on the ground and looked up. It was a pretty sight to watch.

"Hey gramps? What will you do...when you re claim your throne and all that stuff." Ying asked curiously. He may not want to be a king but she was still curious about what his plans would be.