“So, who are these Grannies?” Tri asks sitting next to Saffy as the pair sit on a bus. “And why are you hanging out with old people?”

Saffy stares out of the window watching the various buildings pass by. “They live nearby me and I occasionally do various errands for them.”

            “And how do they know so much?”

            “They always have their ears to the ground, and they always have their ears towards the latest gossip around town,” Saffy says happily. “If anyone knows anything that everyone’s overlooked it has to be them.”

            They seem like the perfect lot for us to ask, like the sages of old from my own world. Edmond says seriously staring at Saffy. But what are we going to ask, I imagine in a city so large having an odd elderly gentleman isn’t that out of the ordinary?

Saffy stares up at him. “Okay, I kind of heard that, but I missed most of it.”

            “He’s asking what exactly are we looking for here.”

            “Oh, well, just simple out of the ordinary things for now. If we can get their help, we might be able to connect a few dots here and there and then find an actual lead.”

            Hopefully, they can provide the lead we need.

Tri leans back. “As long as this leads to me getting this dumb watch off of my arm then I don’t care where we’re going.”

            “Come on, at least try to take this seriously.”

            “Sorry, but when you refer to our sources as Grannies, I tend to lose my serious edge.”

            “You're no fun,” Saffy says pouting.

 

The pair disembarks the bus and walk up towards a large apartment building as Saffy leads the way. Taking the elevator, they arrive on a higher floor as Tri peeks over the side of the railing to see how far they are from the ground.

            “Alright here’s the one,” Saffy says happily tapping on the door rhythmically.

            “What’s this?”

            “My secret knock, you better not copy it,” Saffy says.

Before Tri can react to the statement, the door swings open and a pair of arms reach out and snatch Saffy inside. Tri rushes in worried as he reaches for the watch ready to transform as he forces his way inside.

            “Saffy!” Try yells out as he enters the room.

            “Cut it out,” Saffy says happily.

            “Oh, dear girl it’s been a good while since you’ve visited us!” An older woman says hugging Saffy tightly. “I was worried you found or boring or something.”

Another older woman exits an adjacent room. “Honey let her go, you're squeezing her too tightly.”

            “Um…” Tri says confused.

Both of them turn towards Tri. “Oh, who is this now?”

            “Hello there,” Tri says nervously.

Saffy frees herself from the old woman’s grip. “These are the Grannies I told you about.”

Tri stares at the women and notes their old, but youthful looks as they turn to face him. “Hello.”

            “You already said that.” One of the two says staring at him.

            “Oh, but he rushed in thinking Saffy was in danger.” The affectionate one says.

            “Yes, but does that make him good boyfriend material?” She asks.

            “Boyfriend!” Tri and Saffy yell out.

            “No way! Tri’s just my best friend he’s not boyfriend material!” Saffy yells out.

The affectionate one blushes and looks at the other. “Oh, that’s what we used to say. Well before we tried it and got together.”

            “Honey you promised not to tell her until she’s older.” The other says.

            “Oh, Saffy’s mature for her age. She can handle a little dirty talk.”

Saffy blushes. “Please don’t talk about that kind of stuff with Tri here, it’s super embarrassing,” Saffy says nervously.

            “Oh but…”

The other one puts her hands on the affectionate one’s head. “We’re sorry we haven’t introduced ourselves. My name is Macie, and my partner here is Selene.”

            “Hello,” Selene says happily.

            “So, Saffy, what’re you doing here today?” Macie asks happily.

            “It’s not that we’re not happy to see you, but it is a random visit,” Selene says.

            “Well, I’m looking for any information about some rumors you might have heard of,” Saffy says nervously.

Selene raises her head. “Rumors, huh?”

            “We’re looking for someone. He gave me something, but then he disappeared so I’m trying to find him.” Tri says.

Macie smiles. “A something, huh? Is this a code for something, drugs, a weapon, or something else that’s dangerous?”

            “That’s right, Saffy you shouldn’t be going near dangerous things.”

            “Hey, Tri isn’t…”

            “We know,” Macie says happily. “We just wanted to confirm something from his face. Since he stayed stern, this must be a truly important situation.”

            “Yes,” Tri says.

Selene sighs and looks towards Macie who nods at her. “Fine, we’ll help you out. But we don’t really have much on lost persons.”

            “The town is a talk about ghosts though.”

            “Ghosts?” Saffy asks nervously.

            “Yeah, folks keep saying that they’re seeing people in old-timey clothes floating around and then quickly fading away,” Selene says happily with a slight grin on her face. “Normally I wouldn’t pay these any mind, but the other day I swear I saw a ghost floating by downtown.”

            “Come now, ghosts, seriously. The only thing I’ve heard about are those street punks.”

            “Street punks?’ Tri asks.

            “They’re some group of punks causing trouble across town, they’re quite annoying,” Macie says sighing.

Saffy smirks. “This is nice and all, but we need to know any information about the old man.”

            “Well, I’m not sure if this is your guy, but I have heard something,” Macie says seriously. “Apparently there’s a vagabond who frequents the parks and asks people for food whenever he runs across him. I’ve heard he’s harmless so no one’s really taking him all that seriously.”

            “That could be him,” Tri says seriously. “Now we just have to find a park.”

            “Oh, try the Fisher’s Park, it’s said he tries fishing around there a lot,” Selene says happily.

Saffy smiles. “Thank you, Grannies,!”

            “Of course, deary, now don’t forget to visit us with your boyfriend again,” Macie says jokingly.

            “Tri isn’t my boyfriend!” Saffy yells out.

 

The pair leaves the apartment and make their way to the elevator as Tri leans against the back with Saffy pressing the buttons. Edmond appears between the two and stares ahead.

            That was an informative trip. We’ve located some form of information in the end and discovered things we weren’t looking for. Edmond says.

Tri turns his head. “Increasingly people are seeing the Phantoms.”

            “And Edmond said that more Phantoms were descending onto the world.”

            Meaning complete and utter chaos.

Tri slams his hand against the elevator. “And none of this is our problem. Our problem is finding the old man and getting this stupid thing off of my arm!” He yells out holding out the Phantomizer. “That’s our only concern.”

            “Whatever you say,” Saffy whispers.