Author's Notes:

Right then, first re-released chapter. Opinions are welcome and all negative ones will be met with bloody steel. I mean open arms....yeah...open arms. Anyways, ended up foregoing the third person shift, as i got about a third of the way through this chapter before decided it was WAAAAY too much work to change it and there was too much little bits I kept missing. So yeah, first person still, but with better grammar and a few tweaks here and there

I gave a groan, as for the umpteenth time since I was sealed as an iron statue, my nose decided it would be the perfect time to start itching again. GAH!!!! When is this damned God Iron spell gonna wear off!!! I thought, wishing that the final defense spell I had used back then would just wear off and let me out already. It's bad enough that I was stuck in this hunched pose I said, my body leaned forward as if I were about to lean in and protect someone or something. Ugh, this is gonna leave me with a serious case of back pain when we get out.

For the love of Celestia's fat flanks we know your nose itches. We hear each other's thoughts remember? The voice came from the small bipedal feline currently perched atop my shoulder. It could honestly be worse. We could be stuck as a lawn ornament rather than a indoor art piece. At least the maids keep us polished and clean. I gave a mental nod, agreeing with the feline before sighing internally as I tried to tune out the itching. My mind drifted as the two of us waited out our impromptu imprisonment, wandering back to the events leading up to me becoming an iron statue in a world full of anthropomorphic creatures of myth.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK DING-DONG

I gave a low groan, slowly climbing out of bed to the sound of incessant knocking on the front door. I gave a yawn as my slightly pale hand, laced wity small cut scars running across my fingers, reached up, ruffling my short almost brown-blonde hair. "One sec!" I shouted, hoping whoever at the door was patient enough to give me a chance to change into some decent clothe.....

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK DING-DONG

Or apparently they were in such a god damned hurry they felt the need to nearly knock the door down and ram the doorbell hard enough to crack the button. I ighed and threw on a pair of shorts and a clean t-shirt, walking over to the door. "I'm coming cool your jets!" He grumbled, leaving the bedroom and walking down the hall to the front door of the one story house. He opened the door, a slightly irritated look held on his face before it was replaced with a look of confusion. At his doorstep was a man in his mid to late forties, slightly thinning black hair that faded to gray along the sides. He was dressed in what looked like a standard business suit, white shirt, black tie and jacket, pants and shoes to match. What Connor focused on however was the large brown briefcase in one hand, and a rather thick manila envelope in the other.

The businessman, who he simply dubbed 'Suits', looked up from the folder. "Mr. Connor Fortino?" The young man blinked, looking at Suits, before giving a single nod. The businessman opened his briefcase, pulling out a clipboard before handing the surprised guy the envelope. "You've been summoned." Connor blinked, taking the envelope. "Sign here please." He shook his head a bit before looking at the clipboard. It was a standard notice of delivery and receipt. "Everything is in that envelope. We'll see you soon." He said, turning and leaving before Connor could really say anything, before getting in a simple black car and driving off. The only thing running through the young man's mind at the moment before even looking at the letter was Did I just get served by the men in black?

He gave a sigh and walked inside, shutting the door and heading to the kitchen. While he was a heavy sleeper, once he was awake, he was awake until at least late at night. He walked over to the Keurig, popping in a cup and placing a mug underneath, closing the latch and hitting start. He lifted up the slightly hefty envelope. It was a typical manila envelope with a label for the recipient's name and address. However it was what was in the upper corner that caught his attention. In the corner was the logo for an Italian law firm, along with the address based out of Florence, Italy. "Oh great, first thing in the morning and the mafia is coming for me."He said with a groan, shaking his head. "I need caffeine before I can process this." He said, grabbing the finished cup of coffee and knocking back a quarter of the hot nectar of the gods. He set the cup back down and opened the letter, looking over the papers before finding the initial letter. Thankfully whoever had sent it had the wherewithal to make sure it was in English. "Thank god because my Italian sucks." He said before taking another sip of coffee.

After a few minutes of reading over the letter, his eyes widened and his confusion grew. According to the letter, his paternal great grandfather had passed away, and in the will left him the inheritor of his estate. "Great grandpa George? Huh. Well I can say I didn't see this coming." He thought aloud, thoughts wandering to his now deceased relative. His great grandfather was the founder and former CEO of Redfox Pharmaceutical, one of the largest companies in the world. Now while he was never that close with the, as a few family members put it 'drug lord', even though all his dealings were with actual medicines and not illegal narcotics, he still remembered some times playing with the old man in a countryside home in the states. "Wonder if that's what he left me. Though why an Italian law firm?" He muttered to himself. Looking through the papers more, it was revealed that it was in fact a home out in the Italian countryside that was being left to him, along with the land it resided on.

To hear that his great-grandpa had a home in Italy didn't surprise him too much. It was that despite only having met him a few times at family get togethers he was brought *cough*dragged*cough* to, he named the young man the sole inheritor of his estate there. He shook his head to clear away the errant thoughts, returning to reading the letter. Looking at the law firm's second letter, it stated that he actually needed to come to the law firm in Italy as it was a legal process in their country and technically out of jurisdiction in the US. Included in the letter were a plane ticket to Italy, a temporary international driver's permit, and a car rental pass. Someone would pick him up at the airport to bring him to the office and then after that drop him off at the car rental location. Well.....looks like I'm going on vacation. Better let work know i'll be gone for a while. He thought before finishing off his coffee and grabbing his cell phone.

With the wake and funeral done, with me meeting a few of the Redfox family members as well as some of my cousins and uncles I hadn't seen in a few years,all that left was meeting the lawyers concerning all the legalities about me taking over the property. I met with a few layers, discussing the house and property. Turns out my great-grandpa completely owned the land and house, no mortgage left to be paid, and apparently in his will he set up an account with the water, gas, and electric companies to have the bills paid for as long as the house was kept in his family. After some hemming and hawwing, it came to the decision I would live there for a few weeks to check the place out, clean it up, and take care of any of the items left behind. After the meeting I walked to a cafe and grabbed a quick bite to go before hopping in my rental car, switching the GPS to english before driving out to the house.

Much to my surprise, figuring for a retired CEO it would be some massive manor, it was a surprisingly average 3 story, four if you counted the basement. I drove up the pathway, parking in the drive before getting out and going up, unlocking the door. I half expected there to be a light layer of dust but the place was pretty well kept. After setting my luggage down in the master bedroom, taking a quick shower, and finishing off the food I grabbed, I began going through the house, making a list of everything of major interest. I went through cataloguing several paintings, sculptures, knick-knacks, along with several chests full of clothing. One chest had me laughing a bit, as there was a black jacket with some iron studding and banding, heavy black boots, some wristbands, and somewhat baggy khaki style pants. Apparently great grandpa had an insterest in gothic fashion.

I shook my head and went to lift the chest full of clothing, giving a groan as I stumbled back a bit, bumping against the wall. "Gah damn chest is heavier than it loo....wait, what was that?"I say, having heard a small thud behind me as I look at the wall. "Sounded like something fell loose." I set the chest back down, going around into what I discovered was an old study. I looked around for what could have made the sound, seeing what looked like a wooden panel on the floor just behind the desk. I look and see a decent sized portrait of great grandpa George and great grandma Leanna back when they were younger. I smiled at the picture, noticing how happy they looked in it. Returning my focus back to the wooden panel, I picked it up, looking back at the painting. "I wonder....nah couldn't be....could it?" I set the panel down on the desk, carefully lifting the portrait off it's fastenings. As I move it, I start to see a hole in the wall, shaking my head. "Seriously, secret compartment behind the painting? Come on." I say, setting down the portrait carefully. Inside was a glass case, and inside that was a strange looking amulet, carved out of some kind of opaque lime green crystal. The central design bore a rough shaped dragon's head with an almost metallic and block like pattern surrounding it.

The box itself was just a basic square cube of what I assume plexiglass, with at least four different kinds of padlocks on the lid. "Why would great grandpa have such a thing hidden and locked up like this?"I say out loud. Over the next few hours I spent time looking through drawers and boxes for the keys that might go to the locks, but turn out no results. I scratch my head and give a shrug. "Eh, maybe I'll find em later." I say, returning to cataloguing more clothes and art.

It's been about three days since I moved into my great grandpa's old house. Really the only thing of interest was that amulet I found tucked away behind the painting. Granted there was still some actually valuable art that I had offered to a museum, along with a lot of old clothes split between charity donations and one of the local historical societies. Oh, and I still couldn't find the blasted keys anywhere for the case. For now I had take to placing on the mantle over the fireplace, figuring it would make for a good decoration at least.

I had just began putting some of my own clothes I had shipped over from home away in the wardrobe in the master bedroom when something strange caught my eye. The back of the wardrobe looked fine, except for a slight change in the way the knots from the wood seemed to line up. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but after finding that secret behind the painting, I had gotten a little investigative whenever I found something off like that. Turns out great grandpa George loved his secret hiding spots. Over the time I had found three more spots, one with a few pieces of jewelry(most likely great grandma Leanna's), a few folders containing bank statements that I turned over to the family attorneys to settle out, and one containing what appeared to be a rather large sheathed dagger. I left that where it was, not knowing what to make of it.

Back to my current investigation, looked back at the back of the wardrobe, then back at the inside, making a judgement there was at least a 1 to 1 1/2 inch gap between where the back was and where it should be. Thankful that I hadn't trimmed my nails just yet, I began trying to dig them into where the wood seemed off. After several moments of wriggling my nails into the wood and one small sliver later, I had pried the small panel off, revealing a shallow indent with a hook inside, and on the hook was a ring of five polished brass keys. I blinked and looked at them, taking the keys and looking them over. Immediately my mind went to the locked amulet case, and I hurried out to the living room to check. After carefully pulling it down from the mantle I set it on the table before stopping. There was only four locks on the case, but five keys, so what did the fifth one go to? My mind raced for a moment before stopping on the blade I had found. on the hilt connecting it to the sheath there had been a small padlock, one that looked like the smallest key on the ring would go to. I immediately ran to the panel I had found it behind, in the master bathroom no less, and grabbed it, bringing it back to the living room.

After a few moments of testing which key went to what, all five keys currently rested in their respective locks, waiting to be turned. I slowly turned the one on the dagger, hearing the lock click as I removed it, setting it aside. I pulled the blade out, admiring the craftsmanship on it. Despite being hidden for possibly years, the blade showed almost no wear, as evident by the now prominent scratch in the table i had my just by dragging the tip of the blade across it. I set the blade back in it's sheath and began turning the locks on the case one by one, hearing each lock click open and drop to the table. I carefully removed the lid, looking in at the crystaline amulet

hello can anyone hear me?

I blinked and looked around, having thought I heard someone. "Hello? Is someone there?" I say, looking around the room before getting up and checking the front door. Looking outside I didnt see a single soul, and the only car was mine, so I went back inside to the living room, only the hear the voice again.

Hello! Is someone there?

I look around, stopping as I realize that the voice is coming from the amulet. I look down at it, seeing that the crystal seems to be glowing a soft lime green. "Hello?" I say, reaching into the case to grab the amulet. Now, first off my brain should have immediately responded with 'holy crap glowing amulet don't touch, might be radioactive.' But it was like my hand was on auto-pilot, picking up the amulet and holding it up. The crystal felt cool to the touch, but the glow almost made it feel alive. That was my last thought before it brightened almost to the intensity of the sun, a voice booming out

THE HEIR OF IRON HAS CLAIMED HIS BIRTHRIGHT!

Those were the last words I heard before the light suddenly went out, and my mind and vision went dark as the ground seemed to fall out from under me.