Chiyo had been extra careful in getting dressed to turn into Lunari that night; she didn't want any sounds to alert the Niwa's of her presence. The kitchen was where she went first to check; Emiko had apparently left the traps on, most likely in case Daisuke got up for a midnight snack, and Lunari dodged her way through the room. From the inside of one of her pouches she removed the Singing Pearl and she held it up. A faint glow was emitted but this wasn't enough for the thief. She paced around until she reached the door to the basement, where the light was the brightest.
Before opening the door, Lunari checked for any alarms but could find none. A slight creak from the hinges froze the girl temporarily but she quickly resumed her business.
In Emiko's room a quiet alarm went off, but she just hit the alarm clock on the table next to the bed, and flipped over, letting the sound continue.
Back in the basement, Lunari had just jumped from the top of the stairs down to the floor and she proceeded through another door, following the pearl's guidance, to where the pieces of art Dark had already stolen were. Near the door, a catalog was hanging on a clipboard which the girl quickly picked up and began to sift through the pages.
After locating her prize on the list she began to move through the forest of goods. She went past the Eagle from the night before and picked it up going towards another piece. The pearl began to shine so brightly that Lunari had to either close her eyes and go around like a blind idiot until the light subsided, or put it away. On a shelf sat a jade chest with gold engraved into intricate designs, an obvious Hikari piece. She picked up the box and turned around to begin her traveling home.
The circular room was still empty but Lunari didn't want to take any chances of being caught now. Slowly, she tiptoed to the spiral stairs that went up on the wall. Before going up she placed both the Eagle and the chest into a pack that she hid under her coat and hooked a pack onto the back of her shorts, so it could hide under her coat. Lunari reached the bottom of the stairs that led to Daisuke's room in silence and climbed only to stop near the top to peer into the room.
Daisuke wasn't in his bed; he wasn't even in his room. Dark instead was standing with his arms across his chest and a grin playing across his lips, with an intent gaze falling on the girl. The thief stood up straight and walked up the final few steps into the room. "Hey Dark, you've got some nice bathrooms here," Lunari began jokingly.
"I see, but how about you give me those few things in the pack." He nodded his head in the general direction of the bag with the Eagle and the chest.
"What this?" Lunari unhooked one of the pouches on the front of the shorts and held it up. "Why would you want this?"
"You know what I mean." He sighed out.
"Oh," She dragged out the word as if she was realizing something. "You mean this?" After putting the pouch in its respective place, Lunari held up the pack. "I kinda wanna keep it…" She placed her gaze questioningly on the bag. "It's not all that great but fine, you can have it." The bag went through the air and landed gently in Dark's hands. "I think by now it's safe to go home, so see you around." Too quickly did Lunari go through the balcony door. She began to fly off faster than normal, all the while staring back at the Niwa abode.
Dark opened the bag and a bowling ball with a smiley face sticking out it's tongue greeted him. Another part of the bag popped open and a message written on paper flew up. It said: 'Too slow!' He let out a low growl and went out onto the balcony, where he saw just a dot of white in the sky. "Wiz!" The familiar sleepily went to his master and gave him wings to fly with. He began to push his way through the air at top speeds in an attempt to catch the thief. If he listened closely he heard her laughing, and she was having trouble flying straight because of it.
Whenever he got in range she would put on a burst of speed and come to just outside his reach. At one point she turned and was flying backwards, as she used a feather to teleport from his view.
Below Dark, in an alleyway, Lunari landed on the ground. She didn't want to risk getting caught, by Dark or any officers, so she turned into Chiyo. (A/N: Just in case anyone has issues understanding, Chiyo just changes shape, it's not an alternate person in her like Dark and Daisuke, you know?) As she walked she felt Dark's gaze fall on her, but she acted like she didn't notice. The sound of his feet touching the ground gently alerted her that he was following her by foot now. In her mind, Chiyo mapped out the town that her parents had forced her to memorize.
She was in luck; the next left would get her home and give her a chance to 'notice' the thief on her tail so she could chase him off. Just as she reached the corner she saw some characters she knew wouldn't be fun to pass so she continued on and brought up her mental map again. The third left had her house just down the road; she couldn't go there, unless she wanted Dark to see the girl dressed as Lunari go into her house. The first left would lead to a dead end and the second was a zigzag to the previous road with the people. She decided that, if it was clear, she would take the fourth left, even better though it led somewhere to make Dark suspicious… Hanako's house was just down that road. Chiyo would regret framing her friend but it was that or get caught.
She passed the third left to her house and prepared for the turn but Dark chose that time to fly up into the air and to go back home. Chiyo was so focused on avoiding Dark that she didn't notice the light of a car coming from behind her. An elderly lady was driving and she pulled over with the window rolled down, "Missy, you better be more careful, you had a man following after you."
"Oh, thank you ma'am, I appreciate the help." Chiyo bowed, said her goodbye, and continued on.
The woman pulled forward a little more and asked, "Is that your bag back there?"
Chiyo turned and saw her bag, now filled with the bowling ball and her message to Dark, sitting on the sidewalk. "Thank you again ma'am!" She ran and picked up her pack, suppressing giggles. When she straightened the woman and her car were gone and after searching the sky for the black-winged man she let out a laugh-shuddered sigh and went for the straight shot home.
Back in her house, Chiyo slid to the floor letting out a laugh or two. Her mother was sitting on the couch, much to her surprise. "What's up Mom?"
"I was worried; you've stolen from museums, but never another thief, let alone the phantom thief Dark." She turned off the TV that was being used in an attempt to distract her. "I wanted to watch the news to see your progress but we all know it wasn't being broadcasted. I felt so helpless."
"You don't have to worry; I'm fine… See." Chiyo stood and did a flip and a spin to express her point. "And I brought gifts." She plucked a pouch, the one she had used to taunt Dark before handing him the pack, from its place and dumped the Singing Pearl into a gloved hand. It looked less bright than ever, and if one could see the magic within a piece this one looked dull and lifeless.
"I want to watch bring it over here," Her mother gestured to bring the show in front of the couch.
"It was funny; I had to use a little extra power to locate the loot since I had this pack," She patted the bowling ball filled bag, "Crammed in already. And then I shoved this one in, I thought I was going to break the thing with everything in there. So I took the fake out and hooked it up into a 'hiding place' for Dark to notice, but enough chatter." Chiyo set the pearl on the carpeted floor and took a few steps back. She held her hands out in front of her and began a quick and inarticulate chant. The pearl glowed softly but became brighter as a matching pack to the one sitting on the floor began to appear. The light stopped and Chiyo left the orb where it sat. She picked up the pack and moved to sit with her mother on the couch. "For you," Chiyo said as the Eagle came from the innards of the bag.
An excited gasp escaped her mother's lips when she saw the artwork. Chiyo smiled at the reaction and thought, It's just like Christmas. She pulled the chest from the bag and her mother got serious. "Is that it?"
"No, but since the Singing Pearl can't track all magical items, this is what leads the path to our prize." Both stared at the box with various emotions running through their minds and across their faces.
"When are you going to open it and begin to search?" Her mother suddenly jerked her face to stare at her daughter's eyes.
"I'm not sure; I can wait until the weekend if I'm able to hold off a little longer." She kept her eyes glued to the box.
"The weekend…" Now the usually enthusiastic voice was far off. A sigh and then a few words sent Chiyo off, "Get some rest and we'll see what tomorrow has in store." At the top of the stairs, Chiyo could hear her mother sob as she picked up the pearl and carried the latter as well as the Eagle to put both in the storeroom.