"Do you want me to knock?" Whispered Artemis to Apollo, who was highly unsettled at the knocker, and quickly nodded at the purple dragon, standing back as she grasped the handle. Once, twice, three times a sound like thunder boomed from the door. Surely someone would've noticed the noise.

They sat for maybe five minutes, Artemis now slumped against the door in her boredom, keen to try and knock again, or, maybe search for another, less noticeable entrance. But, just as she began to sit up, the grand doors swung aside, causing her to flail her wings and crash down near the talons of a dark blue dragon around their age: who narrows her eyes, though not trying to hide the amusement in her expression. Apollo hauled Artemis back to her feet, the Nightwing snapping that she had it handled.

"Well, hello then, stranger. I'm just a guard, there was no reason for you to throw yourself at my feet. " She also had a faint, rather pretty accent, but it differed highly from Apollo's. Objects dangled from her neck on a gold chain, and these oddities ranged from shards of shimmering metal, broken coins, to uncut gemstones.

"Are you a Magicwing?" Apollo asks obviously, making Artemis give an exasperated sigh, still burning with embarrassment.

"I am." The guard tilts her head, leaning forward and ruffling her wings just a bit to stare at the two. "And what might you be?"

Apollo begins. "We're-"

"-here to see the Queen." Artemis interrupts, looking at the Magicwing in front of her and flicking her tail. "I'm sorry, but it's urgent, private business." She held up her wrist, displaying the Desert Rogue flag, to which the guard stared at in surprise. The guard also raised her eyebrows once she noticed the necklace resting on her chest, but said nothing.

"Alrighty." She responded, walking up to a wooden panel on the wall. She knocked her fist against it, and a weird, humming noise filled the air as the panel split in half, revealing a small silver dragon statue. She then put her mouth close to it, speaking to the dragon. "Hey, anyone there?"

To Artemis's surprise, a voice answered back.

"What do you want, Pandora?"

Pandora leaned in even closer now, talking in a whisper. The statue hummed back in an irritated female voice, but Artemis couldn't hear what they said. Soon enough, the Magicwing stood back, and the panel returned to how it was.

"I got the Queen's attention for at least five minutes, if we're lucky." Said Pandora, Apollo blinking at her. "You better be fast runners." She said, stretching her talons and lithe figure.

"Um, what?" Artemis said, a little alarmed. She glanced down at herself, noting she wasn't nearly as muscled and thin as Pandora was.

"You heard me." She grinned, and Artemis could see a gold tooth glittering from inside her mouth. The Magicwing held up her talons and clapped them together. Briefly, Artemis saw nothing but a bright pink light that came from one of the objects dangling from Pandora's neck. Seconds later, she was stumbling alongside Pandora and Apollo in dimly lighted stone halls.

Disoriented, Artemis tried to let her eyes adjust to the lack of light. She manages to step on Pandora's tail(which hurt, mind you), trip over Apollo, and almost smack her face straight into a torch on the wall. That was still burning. She's had enough scorches for her liking.

Just as they arrived, another bored looking guard is peering out from behind two large doors. His grey eyes scan his surroundings, and he begins to shut it. Though, Pandora shouts at him, and he pauses with a long sigh.

The Magicwing skids across the floor, stopping herself with a quick opening of her wings. She then promptly stomps up to the male Magicwing, who looked to be only a bit older than them. She sticks out her tongue out at him in the most childish way possible, just to walk to the doors and open them wider.

"Two minutes and forty three seconds." She hissed at the indigo guard, smug.

"Congratulations, you're now only as slow as a three year old when it comes to your teleportation." He said in a low voice, and Artemis could definitely sense some conflict between the two, who obviously knew each other pretty well.

Pandora cleared her throat and raised her head, gesturing to Artemis and Apollo at the doors. "Well? I'm not going in first." Apollo immediately took the lead, which, Artemis was perfectly fine with. Pandora followed close behind, hooking the door with her tail and swinging it shut.

Artemis had only walked a little bit, not even taking her eyes off the ground, before Apollo stopped abruptly, the gold dragon seeming to be frozen in place. Artemis was just about to ask what was wrong when the same thing happened to her. She couldn't move. Her eyes were the only thing that seemed to be working. She frantically glanced around, hoping to catch sight of what did this to them. Well, more like who.

"Your majesty." Rang Pandora's voice, the dragonet sounding irritated. "Please unfreeze our poor guests. I know the maids aren't really fond of cleaning up after a charmed 'sculpture' unfreezes and turns sick."

"Just a moment." Said the Queen, and Artemis finally turned her eyes on Shade. The Magicwing Queen was really nothing special, just a bit larger with a necklace similar to Pandora's, well, and the other dragon now that she thought about it. She had a newly crafted crown that swirled upward in elegant silver spirals and a stud in her left ear, but that was it.

Shade still examined them, though. Artemis felt a flash of panic when she realized her necklace was loosely dangling from her neck, the Queen could take it off any moment. She circled them, intrigued. She poked at Apollo's mask, at which he growled mutely to. She tugged on the end of it, holding it in her talons to examine his face. Artemis, while this was happening, noticed strange runes stitched on the cloth with white thread.

Shade's eyes got a light to them that made her very nervous once she glanced at Artemis, her gaze focusing on the necklace. Shade frowned, now glaring at the Nightwing. She gently grasped a silver coin hanging from her neck, flicking her talon at the two statue-still dragons.

Immediately, Artemis buckled to the floor. Her eyes swam and she felt nauseous, Pandora awkwardly patting her shoulder in an attempt at comforting her. Apollo shared similar effects, though he shook his paw like it had fallen asleep.

"You're Nightwings, aren't you?" The Queens voice had gone ice cold. She raised her chin, slightly, when Artemis nodded. "Why are you here?" She still gripped Apollo's mask, which he stared very intently at like he was trying to get it to fly back to his talons.

"We've come from the Desert Rogues, Geode sent us to talk with you personally-" Artemis began. Shade cut her off.

"Where did you get that necklace?" She fired, ignoring what Artemis was originally speaking of.

The Nightwing hesitated, clutching it in her talons in a protective manner. "I've had it for as long as I can remember." She said finally, Apollo looking at her quizzically.

"What does that have to do with the Rogues?" Apollo demanded. "Your majesty, what about Solar?"

Shade had an oddly triumphant smile now, waving her talon at the gold Nightwing. "I could care less about Solar, even with the biggest army she couldn't harm us."

Artemis felt another stab of panic, flaring her wings, backing up beside a confused Pandora. "Apollo, maybe we should get going then-"

"Guards!" Shade roared, spreading her wings in return, the Magicwing looking much more sinister as she smiled, four dragons in different shades of blue and purple flood out of the small doors behind her. She pointed at Artemis's necklace, dropping Apollo's mask.

"The subjects are here at last."

*******

"Subjects?" Shouted Apollo as Magicwings advanced on him and Artemis. "What in the name of the Titans are you talking about?"

Still very confused, Pandora grabbed Apollo's arm as he outstretched it towards the many Magicwings, whispering a hurried apology as she grabbed Artemis as well. The Nightwing slumped in her grip, scowling.

A sudden rush of air startled Artemis into looking up, where a sack immediately covered her face. She roared in protest as they tied it around her neck, being overwhelmed with the smell of ginger, lavender, and cinnamon. Her eyelids drooped, but she fought to stay awake. She was being dragged now.

"But where? Moons, I guess I'll find out."

******

"Watch the talons!" She roared, her voice still muffled by the knitted, admittedly great smelling sack over her head. She guessed it was to put her to sleep so they could drag her with less resistance. But they had been pulling her down some stairs for a while now, and it had gotten old.

Artemis kicked out with her hind legs, her talons scraping across a dragon's thigh. The victim of this blind attack shouted out and immediately dropped her bound front legs. She thrashed, the familiar voice of Pandora frantically telling her to calm down. Apollo complained as well, though his voice sounded drowsy.

"Somebody take this stupid bag off my face before I risk it and set fire to everything." She protested. The Nightwing was in a very foul mood at the moment. She felt a tug and immediately took a big gasp of what she expected to be cold, fresh air.

Nope.

The Nightwing gagged at the smell, immediately regretting her decision. "Putitbackonputitbackon-"

She was hauled to her feet by just Pandora now, spotting the vanishing tail of her victim limping back up the stairs.

"Seriously, knock it off." Pandora hissed, pulling her along. She paused for a second before cutting the binds on her legs. "Just don't run away. Trust me. We already passed the worst part." The Magicwing then handed the sweet smelling object back to Artemis, to which she immediately held to her nostrils to block the rotting scent that invaded this place.

"Thank you." She gasped, and the Magicwing just sighed and continued on, her scales flushed.

Artemis narrowed her eyes now, still upset by the dim lighting. But she soon regretted her sight when she saw silver barred cells that were lined up along the hall. It felt like someone had forced a hot rock down her throat, imagining what was held in this prison. And to her horror, she began to hear shuffling from inside the cages. Pandora noticed this, immediately hanging back and holding up a wing to block the Nightwing's sight, hurrying on. She looked..ashamed.

Soon, Artemis, Pandora, untied Apollo, and his two escorts stopped at a decent sized silver cell. Artemis swallowed thickly, meeting Apollo's fierce blue gaze. The escorts forced a set of keys into Pandora's talons, the two then taking off, muttering hurriedly in an almost scared way. Artemis got a feeling this place was a lot sicker than it seemed.

Pandora escorted them into the cell, both dragons looking back at Pandora sadly.

"Please, Pandora-" Apollo began, but the Magicwing just hurriedly shook her head and locked the front of the cell, her face uneasy as she took a step back.

"I'm sorry." She said, taking off out of there as fast as her other fellow Magicwings, leaving Artemis and Apollo deep in the prison that teemed with life...

and something else.

******

Artemis paced around their cell.

"What do you think she meant by that? Subjects? Like royal subjects subjects? What else could she mean? Why did this have anything to do with my stupid necklace? I swear I heard something about it before but-"

"Goodness gracious, Artemis." Apollo groaned. "Please quiet down for a second so I can hear myself think."

She slumped against the wall, covering her head with her wings. She glanced up briefly to see Apollo slumped against the other wall, staring at his talons weirdly.

"Hey, Goldie." She flicked his tail with her own, the gold dragon looking up suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Are.. Are you okay?" She asked.

He hesitated for a second. "As good as I can be locked up in a foreign place in a cell that even I can't seem to unlock."

Artemis stared up at the moonlight that flooded in from the barred roof above them.

"Oh."

She heard loud shuffling from one of the cells farther down from them. Her breath immediately hitched, Apollo freezing as well. The sound of a cell creaking open thundered through the prison. She covered her face with her talons, trying to convince herself they were safe in here.

"Psst."

Her heart thudded in her chest.

"PSSsst."

Talons clicked on the stone floor, and she heard the ruffle of wings opening.

"Hello?" Called the voice, and Artemis felt a chill down her spine. It was...familiar. They said, again."Hello?" That voice. Artemis slowly crawled to the bars of the cell, turning her ear as close to the outside of the cell as she dared. "I know there's at least one dragon in this dump that is capable of talking to me today. Don't be like that."

The voice was eerily deep, though it sounded kinder than it should be. A bit like..

"Darkstalker?" Artemis called suddenly, instantly regretting her decision and scrambling back a little, towards Apollo, who was whispering furiously at her.

"Artemis?"

She tilted her head. No way. "Darkstalker? It's me! Holy moons, you've got to help us!" She stayed in the middle of the cell, clutching her necklace out of fright and amazement, Apollo sitting back with a horrified expression. Artemis gripped the cold silver with her talons, staring deep into the darkness. Orange eyes suddenly blinked back at her. She shrieked, throwing up her wings , Apollo shouting, causing whoever was in the cells near them to stir in their sleep.

"Why are you scared?" The voice floated out of the dark. The orange eyes blinked, suddenly becoming black. At the same time, Apollo frantically balled up the thin blankets that were given to them around a broken plank of wood he tore from one of the beds. He set it alight, and Artemis got a good look at who the voice belonged to.

A tall, ebony black Nightwing stood in front of their cell. Silver teardrop scales gleamed in the corner of his eyes, and he smiled.

"That's not possible." Artemis whispered, shaking her head. "That's not possible."

"So there's another dragon that's been talking to you all this time." He leant forward. "Hm?"

"That's not possible." Artemis repeated.

Darkstalker sat down with a thud, the large dragon clasping together his talons. "You won't believe me?" He shivered, his black eyes swirling into a stormy color, and the dragon responded, in a perfect imitation. "Maybe you'll listen to your sister?" Said now-Prophecyteller.

"Who are you?" Apollo cried, because Artemis was too stricken to speak.

Finally, they saw the true form of this nightmare. They watched Prophecyteller's face twist and distort, the wings on the dragons back becoming longer, head and shape sharper. A Magicwing stood in front of them now. Dark grey, dappled with green, gold, and blue. His orange eyes blazed, and his horns were oddly shaped. He bared sharp fangs, his wings darkening to a more red shade.

He spoke in his voice, the one he used for Darkstalker. "So nice to meet you in person." He smiled sideways at Artemis, the Nightwing shivering and clutching her necklace. "My name is Mimic, I'm a fellow freak."

Apollo snarled. "You're the only freak here. Now what the hell do you want?"

"I'm just formally greeting my friend, son." His head shifted into that of a female Daywings, and he spoke in a bright voice. "There's no problem with that, I'm sure!"

"I don't know you." Artemis said finally, her eyes pale and terrified. Mimic's head returned to normal, the Magicwing staring down at her with fiery eyes.

"Sure you do." He growled, deep in his throat.

"You've spent too much time with that sarcastic hybrid." Darkstalker's voice echoes in her head, louder this time.

Artemis clutched at her ears this time, tears forming in her eyes.

"It turns out it's ridiculously easy to manipulate a Magicwing made item." He gestured to her necklace. "All it took was a little extra..pizzazz in the right places, and, you know how it goes." He ran his talons across the silver bars, a shrill noise being made. "As soon  as we sensed the necklace in use, and as word got around that a dragon changed into a different tribe in front of a whole school-" he clapped his talons together. "We immediately sent out our very best to put an enchanted crystal in every place imaginable in the Sky Kingdom. Those who weren't meant to find them just got a nice surprise.."

"That was you." Artemis rubbed the tears from her cheeks, looking down at the necklace. "The whole time."

"That necklace can only be used by a Nightwing heir." He said fiercely, jabbing his talon at her. "Once that signal went off we made sure you talked to 'Darkstalker', and we made sure you got the second piece. I frightened Shadowbender out of the way~" he sang. "You would walk right back into our talons, little freak. Right where you belong." Mimic giggled. "And you brought your brother with you, how amazing is that?"

"Heir... freak?" She inhaled shakily, confused. "Brother?"

Apollo looked at her before turning back around to bare his fangs at Mimic. "You're crazy." He spat, the Magicwing's mouth curling into a smile.

"Oh really?" He cackled, his talons curling into a fist as he aggressively banged on the bars of the cell next to them, and screamed at the prisoner inside. "GET UP YOU LAZY EXCUSE FOR A DRAGON."

A low growl can be heard, and Artemis and Apollo back up in fright.

"Why don't you just talk to dear ole' daddy?"

He unlocked the cell and hauled out a black Nightwing.