Hey everyone! I'm BACK!! Yay! Betcha you all thought I had died or something, hehe. Sorry about the reeeeeeeeeaaaaalllllly long posting wait, I had MAJOR writer's block. Well, on with the show!
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Artemis crept noiselessly up the stairs, holding his breath. He had heard the strange sound only a minute ago; he was down in the kitchen fixing a midnight snack, the time being about twelve thirty. His sensitive ears pricked up, hearing the abnormal click, click, click, bleep sound another time. It started every ten seconds, and the boy reached the landing. Artemis' dark, almost black navy blue eyes darted suspiciously back and forth with each passing step. He reached his computer room, glanced in, and passed, turning sharply when he heard the noise, seeming to be coming from there. His feet padded across the carpet, stopping to turn, Artemis realizing that there was nothing, just his computer. As soon as he had turned and went downstairs, two black figures flickered into view.
"Menari kerali, Matana."
"Sai. Lena terai mure na."
The first figure that spoke nodded in dangerous approval, and unclipped a small leather pouch from their belt, handing it to the second person. They took it with welling malice in their shady silvery blue eyes, creeping over to Artemis' desk and, setting the pouch on top, retrieved a notepad and pencil from the nearby drawer. Something had been written before the two figures faded out of view again, all knowledge lost from their presence.

The next day, Artemis awoke in his bed with a start. 'I had a rather odd dream last night,' he thought.
'I dreamed that I was in a deep forest, and suddenly there was this person standing before me. They had a deep green cloak wrapped about them, shading their eyes, which shined with an eerie light. They spoke in a strange tongue; all I could decipher was "Darkness, stone, and black wings". Then they disappeared, leaving me alone. A shadow passed overhead, and I looked up. It was a black bird with leathery wings and armor; it was gone just as swiftly as it had appeared.'
He shrugged. 'Then I woke up.'
He smirked and got out of bed to go to check his e-mail. There was none when he reached his study and checked, and turned to go downstairs, but froze when he spotted the pouch on his desk. Artemis reached the desk, and, picking up the bag, opened it curiously. What lay inside surprised him. It was a little key. He plucked it out, and inspected it with great confusion and curiosity. It seemed to be made of some black rock, obsidian most likely. At the head of the key a glittering jewel was set; it shined with the clarity of a diamond, the clear blue of a sapphire, and the fiery heart of a ruby, melded together to form one beautiful stone. Artemis gazed at it for a brief moment, then he noticed the paper. He picked it up with his left hand, the right holding the key, and his lips moved as he silently read the riddle, poem, or verse, whatever it was; it read:

When a phoenix knows its end days are nigh, it gathers a black forest and lights it afire. The dying phoenix is captured in the licking tongues of flame, its majestic body being consumed by the fire, thus bringing its life to a dramatic end. One thousand years later, another legendary firebird is borne from fire, ending its life in the same way when it discovers it is going to die...
Artemis raised an eyebrow at the lines of writing held in his hand. He shrugged, folded up the paper and slid it into his breast pocket, taking the key and placing it beside the paper in his pocket. He turned and walked down the stairs to go have breakfast, pondering about the strange events that happened today.

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Well, how did you like that little fic of mine? If I get more than 20 reviews then I'll continue. I know it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't if you don't think about it and just review! ^-^ Also, I got that phoenix part from John Doe, and I changed it a little cuz I thought it was cool, and I like firebirds, they're cool!
Well,
Ja! (I hope everyone knows what that means now.)