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SHIFT

Mission 005: Knowledge is Power

SHIFT Mission Briefing: In recent missions we've encountered powerful magical spells created by a sun shaped gem and a moon shaped gem. We need to know what we're dealing with. For that reason we're sending you to the Alexandrite Library. It's not an exciting mission, but the place is huge and there's a lot of information to sort through. It would simply be too much for one single person to research on their own. This should be an easy mission and a relaxing break for some of you. Simply take your time to find the information and report back to HQ when done.

SHIFT Heroes Deployed on this Mission

Frinkel

Kickaha

Tex

Alex

The scaled deer-like creature known as a Kirin that was known as Tex galloped along a forest road. Two felines road upon his back currently. One of them was a green colored cat with red spiky hair who stood just over four feet. He was naked except for a blue jacket, a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over his back. This was Alex and it was his first time being dispatched on a mission for SHIFT. The other feline was almost half his size. It was a blue cat with tabby stripes wearing only a pair of boots. That was Frinkel and he was finding it harder and harder to remember what species he started as. In addition to the two felines there was one more tiny figure; a coyote fox hybrid. Kickaha was mostly his normal self... Except for the part where he was two inches tall, eleven years old and had giant butterfly wings coming out of his back. He currently sat perched on Frinkel's shoulder as they rode towards the library.

"I have to say..." Alex patted Tex on the side. "This is sure a heck of a way to travel. Beats walking all the way here. Where the heck did you find a kirin?"

"Va savoir pourquoi." Frinkel shrugged at this. "Just came back that way from a mission. Technically he's your senior on this mission."

"Wait he's one of us?" Alex's ears flattened in embarrassment. He had mistaken Tex for a beast of burden.

"Don't worry!" Kickaha chattered happily. "These mistakes happen all the time! Stick around long enough and you'll get the chance to have someone make it with you!"

"I guess that makes me feel a bit better..." Alex muttered. "Wait what?"

Tex interrupted the conversation with a grunt as he reached the end of the travel road. The road dead ended before an enormous building made of stone with stained glass windows. Multiple towers stuck out of the building reaching up beyond the clouds. Two great stone doors marked the entrance to the building with strange runes carved into them. It was completely silent here. The only noise came from the wind blowing the leaves of the forest trees around the building.

"The Great Alexandrite Library." Kickaha whistled. "The largest source of arcane knowledge in the world. Granted, they're not known for their convenience. I suppose being located in the middle of nowhere helps ensure less books are checked out."

"Isn't the entire point of a library that people come and check book out?" Alex asked.

"Depends on your philosophy." Kickaha flew upward to be eye level with Alex. "Some might say the purpose of a library is to share knowledge... Others might say it's to store and safeguard it."

"But either way the books are still here for anyone to read right!?" Frinkel shouted up at the faerie above his head.

"Aheh heh well um..." Kickaha looked sheepish. "Don't worry about it! Let's go inside!"

The cats dismounted the kirin and slowly approached the stone doors. Frinkel began to push on the door trying to shove it open. However the massively heavy door refused to budge under the small feline's strength.

"So um... What about... You said his name was Tex?" Alex looked at the kirin. "Are we going to get in trouble if he comes in with us? I mean I know he's a member of the team! Just the library staff won't know that and what if they think he's a wild animal and-"

Tex responded by huffing, then walking up to the stone doors. He gently lifted Frinkel into the air with one of his horns and slid the small cat away from the doors. Then Tex reeled up on his hind hooves and kicked forward against the door with his front hooves. The door swung open from the mighty kirin's strength as he strolled through quite smugly.

"He used to be the team strategist." Frinkel explained. "And is the one who always pressed us to try to come up with plans before entering. Bref, I think not being able to talk is getting to him."

"I can sympathize." Kickaha nodded in an unexpected display of empathy. He too knew the pain all too well of losing one's voice.

With the way open the four headed inside the library. They entered a tiled room lined with bookshelves on either side. There were numerous decorations around the table, including strange colored crystals, vases full of exotic plants, and a statue of a sphinx that stood directly in the center of the entrance. Wooden tables ran through the center of the room covered in old brown scrolls. The room stretched on for almost as far as could be seen. Just barely visible the outline of spiral staircase could be seen in the distance leading up to higher floors.

"Je n'en crois pas mes yeux!" Frinkel gave a shout. "This place is massive! It'll take us forever to search through here!"

"Maybe we can find a card catalog somewhere?" Alex asked. "And try to figure things out from there?" At this suggestion Tex became excited. He quickly began to move past the tables looking for a desk.

"I'm not sure how much that will help." Kickaha spoke up. "I mean... Do we actually know what we're looking for?" With that Tex came to an abrupt stop and fell over.

"Well we just have to look up information about those gems right?" Alex responded. "Doesn't seem that complicated."

"Yes but where exactly are we looking?" Kickaha asked as he fluttered over to check on Tex. "I mean we know a sun shaped gem and a moon gem... But do we know what to actually look under? Should we check things related to the sun and moon themselves? Related to faerie tales? Or maybe to monsters? I'm not trying to be difficult; At least not this time. But we don't exactly know what we're looking for."

"I wasn't there for either of these..." Alex muttered. "So I'm not really sure.

"Kickaha and I were there for the sun gem one... And I think Tex investigated the incident with the moon gem... Though I suppose he can't talk to share information on that." Frinkel's ears folded down at the thought.

"GRRRRR!" Tex let out a growl before galloping to the end of the room. He stopped short of an enormous desk with the largest filing cabinet he had ever seen behind it. Tex leaped behind the desk and approached the cabinet. He then very slowly used his horns to slide open one of the cabinets.

"Oh deer, he finally snapped." Kickaha smiled. Then his shoulders sagged a few moments later as no one reacted to him.

"I think he just has an idea?" Alex said.

Tex grunted then very carefully used his teeth to remove a small card from inside the filing cabinet. He proceeded to toss it to Alex before using his horns to pull open another cabinet.

"Hmmm?" Alex paused and looked at the card he was given. The top of it was labeled with the word 'Moon.' Tex didn't answer his questioning look. Instead he began to dig through another filing cabinet before throwing a card at Kickaha.

"GAAAAAH!" The tiny faerie struggled to catch the card that was bigger than him. "A little warning!" His card had the word 'Sun' on the top. Again Tex didn't reply as he began digging again. This time he threw a card to Frinkel.

"Got it!" Frinkel jumped in the air to catch his card. He then looked at it and saw it was labeled 'Magical Gems.'

Tex continued to dig around the filing cabinets. He produced two more cards that he dropped onto the desk behind him. One of them was labeled 'Monsters' and the other was labeled 'Faerie Tales.'

"So I guess we're splitting up?" Alex said. "Each of us takes one card and sees if they can find anything related to what's going on."

"I guess that's all we really can do." Kickaha sighed. "I was hoping for something a bit more... Still we'll be here all month if we go to every book individually."

"So everyone meets back here when we're done?" Frinkel asked. Everyone nodded. With that Frinkel, Kickaha and Alex set off for their different sections of the library marked on their cards.

Tex was left standing alone. He looked between the two cards that were left to investigate. 'Monsters' or 'Faerie Tales.' After a few minutes of consideration he decided to investigate the card that was directly related to his current state. He hesitated before grabbing the teeth. Something had been bugging him since they arrived. Why was the library so empty? There wasn't a librarian or any patrons in sight. He had a bad feeling about that... But couldn't do anything for now. He picked up the 'Monsters' card between his teeth and trotted off hoping for the best.

Alex was the first person to arrive at his destination. The green cat found the card pointed him to a nearby section. He walked past rows of identical bookshelves before stopping in a corner. Silver lined tomes lay upon shelves while pictures of the moon and stars were carved into the walls.

"Well guess I'm in the right place." Alex muttered. This section alone still had hundreds of books to check. Alex sat his bow on a table and looked at them "Guess I have a ton of work ahead of me."

He began to pull random books off the table and check their titles to see if any looked promising. "Phases of the Moon. Practical, but probably not what I'm looking for. Lunar Calendar, no. Werewolves?" He paused at that one. "Magical gemstones don't really seem their usual style... Put that one in the maybe pile." He set the book on a table then pulled another one. "Werekitten Owner's Manual. Who would need something like that?"

The processed continued for awhile. He placed books back on the shelves that seemed completely useless. Then on one table he made a pile of 'maybe' books that could be related. On another table he made a pile of books that were 'promising.' Soon both tables were completely covered. It was nearly impossible to see over the piles.

"Uggggh." Alex looked at the two piles. "I hate to judge a book by its cover but... That's the only way I'm getting through all these." He started by going through the pile of books he had put in the promising category. He would open a few pages to see if it appeared relevant, and toss it into the 'maybe' pile if it wasn't. One book 'Rituals of the Moon' sounded like it might be what he wanted... But then it turned out to be a list of spells which sounded important... but was mostly for unimpressive things like aiding a crop growth. Again, a useful idea but not what he was here for.

Eventually Alex stopped when he came to a book marked 'Denizens of the Moon.' He paused at this one. How likely was it that they were dealing with actual moon dwelling creatures? It seemed pretty farfetched. Then again... The reports from the previous missions described things not before seen on this planet. He supposed it was possible. He opened the book and began to read.

The letters in this book were strange. They were written in a fancy silver ink and at first seemed to have no meaning. As Alex squinted to read them though realization began to dawn on him. He could understand the letters! He realized that the book itself must have been magical in order to impart its message.

He began to read. It was a strange story... Yet the more he read of it the more normal it seemed. It told the story of strange creatures that lived on the moon. They looked like rabbits and spent all day making rice cakes. It sounded strange at first, but as he read more Alex couldn't think of any other logical thing you'd do on the moon other than make Rice Cakes.

He was so engrossed in his reading he didn't notice he was changing. His tail grew shorter while his ears grew longer. His entire body became squatter as his foot paws became much larger. His paw pads slowly vanished. Alex didn't notice the change until he suddenly found he wasn't tall enough to see over the desk and read the book anymore.

"What the!?" He looked down at himself. His coat was now long enough to be an overcoat on him. He had shrunk to half his size! He had a large pair of buck teeth in addition to long ears. His tail was a tiny little tuft and he was not used to the sensation of his paw touching the ground without a paw pad. His fur was still green and the hair on his head still red... But there were slight changes in his pattern. It was glossier, but in a strange manner. Beneath the shadow of the desk his fur almost seemed to glow like gentle starlight. When he climbed back out into the light it looked normal... Except a bit glossier.

"And now I'm apparently a moon rabbit." Alex slapped himself on the head. At least he knew this wasn't the book he was looking for. He pulled up a stool taller than him to the side of the desk. With a sigh he climbed up onto it and began to check the rest of the books.

Elsewhere Kickaha was having his own troubles with his own investigations. Chiefly among them was that it was extremely difficult for a two inch tall faerie foxyote to pull a giant book off a shelf.

He was in the section of the library dedicated to the sun. It was up on the third floor. Being able to fly he got up there pretty fast. The room itself was well lit with a brightly colored mural of the sun on the ceiling. However he was distracted from the art because he was having the hardest time just getting a book off the shelf. Having tried to pull it off with no success, he instead resorted to squeezing behind the book and pressing his back against it.

"I've heard of doing heavy reading..." Kickaha grunted as he pushed his back against the book. "But this is ridiculous." He then paused and sighed. "It's just not the same when no one is around to hear it." The small foxyote then resumed trying to push the book off the shelf. He pushed his hind paws against the back of the bookcase trying to get more force.

"Come on!" Kickaha grunted at himself. "You can do this! You're smart... Use your noodle!" Kickaha paused as he considered that... Then he flew out of the bookshelf and flew as high as high as he could to the ceiling. He paused... Then dove aiming for the edge of the book. With a barely audible thud he collided head first with the edge of the book. It then slowly slid out off the shelf before falling to the floor. Kickaha attempted to fly away at this point... But disoriented from the impact fell from the air and landed directly atop the now open book.

"Ugggggh why did I do that head first?" Kickaha asked himself as he dizzily stood up stumbling across the pages. His tiny claws tore at the delicate paper of the book's pages making small rips as he moved around. He paused looking down as he realized what he had done. "Maybe it'll be fine."

And then Kickaha burst into flames.

"What the gaaaah!" Kickaha gave a shout running around on the page leaving little tiny flames behind him. He then paused and stopped running as he realized he was not in fact in any pain. He looked down at the pages of the book. It said something about creatures of the sun. "Okay... So I apparently have sun powers now. At least that's all that-" And then Kickaha exploded.

Kickaha blinked a few times as the flames from the explosion cleared. He was surprised to see he was in fact unharmed. He also... appeared to be back to his normal size! Or even a big taller as now as he towered above what remained of the book on the floor. He slowly raised up his arms to look at them, then paused as he noticed they were now wings with golden and red feathers. As he moved his wings flames danced over them. He examined his entire body seeing the red and golden plumage over all of it. His cloak was on fire and slowly burning away.

"Well... This is a little different." The freshly transformed phoenix spoke. "But now I'm going to need a fireproof cloak!" He was more concerned about that than the sudden change in form... At least the eleven year old was over four feet tall now! That was taller than he had been as an adult! He turned to face the bookshelf now that he could handle the books to look for a new one.

... And saw that the shelves were on fire as were the books.

"It... It was like that when I got here." Kickaha muttered and slowly crept away from the bookshelves.

Frinkel was the next to arrive at his destination. The books on magical gems were kept on the second floor. They were in an area decorated with gemstone encrusted lamps and paintings. Even the books had gems laid into them!

Frinkel paused at this. He remembered that the book they had found in the forest had looked like that. It had been a large tome with a gem in the shape of the sun pressed into it. Did that mean he had found where it came from? Frinkel swallowed hard and looked through the shelves.

None of the books appeared to be missing from the shelves. They were stocked completely. Granted he had no idea of knowing how these were organized so that didn't confirm it wasn't taken from here. It was going to be a massive pain to check all of these. He only hoped that they weren't all cursed like the one in the forest. He slowly pulled a book from the shelf that contained a large red garnet.

And immediately the gem began to glow and engulf him in life.

"Allez!" Frinkel shouted. He couldn't believe his luck! The first one he pulled! The light engulfed him and his body began to change. He didn't get any taller or shorter... But his ears became slightly larger. His boots seemed to vanish as his claws last their ability to retract. His fur shifted and became a uniform blue. And then... The changes seemed to stop.

Frinkel looked down at the book. The gem was gone as was the glow. He sighed in relief that was all that changed... Only for the glow to immediately resume. This time it was coming from his head. He reached up a paw and felt that the garnet was now sticking out of his forehead! He tried to remove it! But he couldn't! As he pulled on the gem a strange item began to grow around his chest and back. He paused and looked down at himself. It was made of garnet, just like the gem. It fit him like a shell... But almost gave the appearance that he was wearing a breastplate made out of a gemstone.

"The first book!" Frinkel complained. At least he was able to talk. He looked back at the book to see what it was about. The pictures showed a creature that was almost like a cross between a cat and an armadillo, but with a gem sticking out of its head and its shell made out of the game gemstone. It was called a carbuncle in the book. "Just... I'm not supposed to be a carbuncle! Or a cat! Or... A wait..." He paused listening to the sound of his own voice. "I think I started speaking normally again!" That was an improvement at least.

Frinkel looked back at the bookshelves. Considering what had happened he was reluctant to grab another one. Still this had to be where the book was from! Right? Except... The magic was different. The whole reason HQ was scared was because of how instantaneously the transformations occurred. There was no flash of light or gradual transformation. In this specific case he got both.

These weren't the books he was looking for.

Frinkel sighed. At least he could mark them as not needed. Maybe there was another one that would work different... But he wasn't willing to press his luck while he was still bipedal. If they couldn't find the book anywhere else he could come back. For now the carbuncle set off to meet up with the others.

Tex was the last one to reach his destination. The spiral staircases simply were not meant for six and a half foot long kirins. Then his section of course turned out to be on the fifth floor. He struggled to squeeze up the stairs and was actively panting by the time he reached the monster section.

This section of the library was dimly lit. It was filled with realistic looking statues of various monsters such as dragons, chimeras and manticores. At least Tex hoped they were statues. Judging by how realistic they looked they could easily be taxidermist projects. He tried not to think about that... Or think about the fact that he himself was a monster that might be seen as a future project by whoever did this. Instead he forced himself to try to dig through the shelves.

Pulling books out was slightly difficult. He had plenty of strength to do it. He just couldn't grip things with his hooves, meaning his only way to grab things was with his teeth. It was just hard to get a grip on the books without having a high risk of destroying them. Even if it weren't for wanting to respect the library he'd never want to damage as something as precious as these books!

So slowly he began to go through the books on monsters. There were plenty of encyclopedias explaining different monster types. He even found one on the kirin form he currently occupied. Apparently he was supposed to have magical powers now. It would be nice if the book had explained how to use any of it. Still... The way these things went by the time he figured out how to use them he would probably have lost them.

He moved on. He wasn't interested in books on various types of monsters. He wanted something on how to transform someone into a monster with so little effort. On that matter... This section was deficient.

Still books related to each other were organized close together. He figured he could save time by checking out individual sections than every single book. He began to find eating habits of monsters, and how to care for them. But again still nothing on how to transform people into them. He slowly moved through the monster section continuing this process as methodically as possible. As he continued through the life-like monsters were slowly replaced with cute dolls instead. Soon the stone floor gave way to a colorful carpet.

Tex paused examining his surroundings. It looked like he had just stumbled into the children's section. Why was the children's section right next to the monster's? Why did the greatest source of arcane knowledge in the entire world even have a children's section!? It didn't matter. He couldn't physically ask these questions and there was no one around to answer anyway.

He paused preparing to head back then stopped. It seemed unlikely but could there be anything of value in this section? He pulled a picture book off the shelf. It was a cute playful story about the happiest troglodyte meant for younger kids. No sooner had he opened it up than he felt himself began to change.

The kirin began to shrink. His legs soon felt wobblier and less steady. His horns shrunk down to small stubs. His entire body frame became smaller and lower to the ground. In a few moments he went from being over six feet in length to only being about two and a half. He was a small kirin cub now!

Tex dropped the book. Of course that had happened. He had grabbed a book from the children's section. What did he think would happen? He growled and retreated from this section of the library. Searching hear had been a giant waste of time. At least it would be easier for his smaller frame to get down the stairs.

A few hours passed before everyone returned to the first floor of the library. All of them returned in defeat and in new bodies. It took them a moment to recognize each other... But in this line of business one tended to get used to their allies suddenly changing form.

"I didn't find anything useful." Kickaha spoke up first. "And like, there's nothing in the Sun section. Nothing at all. And there probably never wasn't and no reason to go check there."

"I found some magical books." Frinkel spoke up. He was still getting used to moving around with his garnet shell on. "But they don't seem to work the same way as the old ones."

"I didn't have much luck either." Alex spoke. He had his bow back on his back though it was now too big for him. "But I did find a pretty good recipe for rice cakes once we get back."

The three all turned and looked at Tex at this point. The kirin stomped his foot against the ground and managed to look very sheepish for something covered in scales. It wasn't hard to figure out he hadn't turned up anything useful himself.

That meant the only clue left they had to check was Faerie Tales. They all looked at the remaining card from the catalog on the desk. If they didn't find anything useful here... It meant they'd have to search the entire library; a process that would take months. They each exchanged glances. Less than hopeful they headed to the final section to search together.

The section on Faerie Tales was rather strange. It was on the first floor but near the back of the library. The stone floor abruptly gave way to grass that was somehow perfectly trimmed and healthy despite being inside. Flowers of multiple colors grew out from beyond the grass. Bookshelves sat in this makeshift indoor field, but they were only half the height of the other ones. At the center of the field was a small pedestal. A single closed book sat upon it. Into the cover of the book was carved the image of the sun, and a crescent moon around a snowflake. The two appeared to be drawn as if they were meant to be orbiting each other.

"Those are the symbols!" Frinkel shouted excitedly. "Those are the exact same design that were on the gems!"

"Does that mean we found it?" Alex asked.

Tex slammed his hooves against the ground angrily. It had been right here out in the open the entire time! Everything else had just been a giant waste of time.

"So I guess someone should go grab it?" Kickaha spoke up. "But... Not me!" He was still getting used to the whole fire erupting from his feathers thing. He wasn't about to go grab the book they actually needed.

"I'll grab it." Alex hopped up to the book. The rabbit looked around nervously as if expecting something to happen. He then slowly lifted the book off the pedestal and looked around. Again nothing happened. With a sigh he opened it up. There were strange letters written inside of it. At first he worried this meant he was in for a repeat episode of the moon book... But nothing happened. No magic came into play... He didn't suddenly understand the letters... Nothing happened.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Kickaha complained. Tex shot him a glare.

"But I can't read it." Alex complained as he held up the book to show the strange lettering to the others. The words were written in some form of symbols. They were absolutely beautiful... But no one could figure out what any of it meant.

"Maybe if we take the book back to HQ someone can translate it?" Frinkel suggested.

"Seems like our best bet." Kickaha admitted. "Though shame we seem to have lost our ride back." He shot a glance to Tex who was now far too small for all three to ride on. Then again... Until he got the whole fire thing settled he probably shouldn't sit on any of his teammates.

Tex was hesitant at the idea of taking the book with them. He would have rather checked the book out from someone than just walk off... But with the place abandoned it didn't seem like there was much of a choice. He sighed and followed the others as they began to walk back towards the entrance.

It didn't take long before they were at the massive stone doors again. They continued on without stopping... And then the entire library began to shake.

"WHO DARES!?" A voice boomed throughout the library. Suddenly the stone statue of the sphinx near the entrance began to move. The human faced lion leaped from her position as pieces of stone fell away revealing flesh and stone. Two yellow eyes glared down at the group as she towered over them. The quadruped beast was easily at least fifteen feet tall! She could easily crush any of them beneath one paw. "NONE SHALL REMOVE THE STORED KNOWLEDGE OF THE GREAT ALEXANDRITE LIBRARY!"

"We just need to borrow it!" Kickaha tried interrupting her. "We promise we're going to bring it back."

"NO EXCEPTIONS CAN BE MADE!" The sphinx boomed. "ONCE A TRANGRESSION HAS BEEN PUNISHMENT MUST BE SWIFT! YOU MUST NOW FACE THE ULTIMATE TRIAL!"

"I don't like the sounds of this." Frinkel muttered.

"I have a good idea of how to clear this trial." Alex reached for his bow. At least he tried to. He found he couldn't move his arms to grab it. "What the?"

"WHEN YOU ENTERED THE LIBRARY YOU ENTERED MY DOMAIN AND-" The sphinx began to cough and then spoke in a much softer voice. "Sorry, doing the big shouty voice is murder on my throat. Anyway as I was saying you're in my domain. When you enter my domain you agreed to abide by my rules and thus are within my power. You may take no hostile actions or disobey my orders. It's all written in the terms and conditions on the plaque right outside the doors." Tex slammed his head into the floor at this.

"Huh can't believe we've fallen for that one twice." Kickaha muttered.

"Now then the rules are quite clear." The sphinx posted. "If you wish to ever leave this place you must complete the ultimate trial. A TRIVIA CONTEST!"

"That doesn't seem too bad." Alex spoke.

"ALEX NO!" Kickaha shouted.

"TO THE DEATH!" The sphinx finished her sentence. Tex shot Alex a glare.

"What!?" Alex looked hurt. "She was probably going to say that anyway! Probably."

"You will be asked three questions!" The sphinx spoke. "For each correct answer you will be given twenty-five points. You must amass at least fifty points if you wish to keep your lives! Now then... The first question for twenty-five! If a courier bird is released from the north guard tower flying southward at a velocity of 5 miles per hour... And a second bird is released from the tower 15 miles south heading northward at 3 miles per hour! How long will it take before the birds pass each other?"

"Hey no fair!" Kickaha shouted. "You said this was trivia! That's a math question!"

Tex began to stamp his hooves against the ground. He knew how to solve this one! But he couldn't talk and that was extremely frustrating right now.

"Um well erm..." Alex tried to think. It was difficult to try to work this all out in his head then.

"Ummmmmm." Frinkel decided to give it his best shot. " Two hours?"

"WRONG!" The sphinx boomed. "Death has moved one step closer to you! Second question for twenty-five points! What sound does a dire corgi make before it attacks!"

"I don't know but I imagine it would be quite adorable." Kickaha muttered.

"WRONG!" The sphinx shouted. "It is terrifying! That's two questions wrong!"

"Wait that wasn't an answer!" Kickaha protested.

"STILL WRONG!" The sphinx shouted.

"You can't just do that!" Frinkel objected.

"According to the terms and conditions yes I can!" The sphinx smiled to herself. "And now the final question! Get this one wrong and you'll lose all the points you've gained so far."

"What points?" Alex asked.

"But get this one right and you'll get a whopping 100 points! Thus making all previous questions completely pointless!"

"Why would you design the game this way!?" Frinkel cried.

"Because it's more dramatic this way! Now final question! What is in my pocket?"

"That's not trivia question!" Kickaha threw his wings up into the air. "That's not even riddle! Now you're just being a jerk!"

"Answer the question!" The sphinx shouted. "Or forfeit your lives!"

Tex slammed his hooves against the ground in frustration. He knew he had heard this riddle before! There had to be some kind of trick to guess the right answer. It couldn't just be blind luck."

"Let's see... Maybe there are bits of string or some coins?" Alex suggested.

"No that'd be too obvious." Kickaha muttered. "It's probably something only a sphinx would have. Maybe some kind of nose lotion?"

"Nose lotion?" Alex tilted his head.

"Sphinxes have very sensitive noses." Kickaha nodded.

"I doubt that's it. I'm pretty sure it'd be something that actually exists." Alex replied in an annoyed voice. The two continued to whisper back and forth trying to come up with an idea until Frinkel interrupted them.

"Um... You're not wearing any pants." Frinkel spoke to the sphinx. "You have no pockets."

"WRO-" The sphinx paused then looked down at herself. "Oh... That is... Correct. That means you get the 100 points. Well... This is embarrassing. I didn't order dinner yet because I was planning to eat all of you. I don't suppose you'd mind just pretending you got the last question wrong so it'd be easier on me?"

"NO!" Frinkel, Kickaha and Alex yelled at the exact same time.

"Ugh fine... Mortals are so selfish." The sphinx rolled her eyes. "Fine you passed the challenge. You won't die... But you still get the second worse punishment one can ever receive... Banishment from the library!" The sphinx picked up Tex in one paw. "You're banned." She tossed him out the door. "And you." She tossed Frinkel next. "Oh you're banned." She grabbed Alex and threw him out. Then she paused and looked at Kickaha. The phoenix smiled innocently. "Oh you're totally banned. I know what you did to my books." With one swift motion Kickaha had been tossed out the door as well.

The stone doors slammed shut leaving the four just sitting outside.

"Well um..." Kickaha stood up and brushed himself off. "Mission accomplished!"

"I don't feel very accomplished." Alex complained.

"You get used to it." Frinkel muttered. Tex nodded in agreement. With that the four set off walking down the long road out of the forest.

SHIFT

Mission 005: Knowledge is Power

Mission Complete