|
"Wake up, Skeithena," said Luperusse, prodding his older
sister. "Wake up! We got a letter from Sharon." Luperusse finally managed to
wake her up by waving the letter in front of her face. She bolted up.
L&S,
I received this mail from a certain Jhudora.
I don't know who she is, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I do
know that you'd want to read it ASAP.
Here it is:
"Luperusse and Skeithena, we now have DellaNeve
imprisoned, and Ghicaccio as a slave, as you know. Are you willing to take their
places? If you do, then DellaNeve and Ghicaccio will be free.
I bet you're thinking no, being the goody-goody
bravey-heads you are. Well, think again! If you don't take their places, then
Ghicaccio will be freed, and you, Luperusse, will be my slave. Ghicaccio and
Skeithena, you two will join DellaNeve in the deepest, darkest part of the Ice
Caves, and freeze there too :) Have fun deciding :)"
"Argh!" yelled Luperusse. "SAVE ME!"
"What?" said Skeithena and the Uber-Darkness
Faerie simultaneously.
"ARGH, help me! The most evil villain
in Neopia uses SMILEYS!" shouted Luperusse.
"Oh. This isn't the time for jokes you
know Luperusse. We're in big trouble right now, what should we do?" she asked.
Luperusse put a paw on his forehead worriedly.
"Well, duh. Better lose us two than lose us all, right?"
"It could be a trick," said Skeithena.
"But that's life. We should risk our lives for him. I mean, Della's a good NeoPet,
isn't he?"
"As far as I know. He doesn't Chia-hunt
at least." Chias were one of the few things that Luperusse really liked. He
thought that Chias looked like cute little bean bags, and his room was very
colourful - with his giant collection of Chia items.
The Uber-Darkness Faerie sighed. "I'm
sorry, but I can't help you any further. I have my own business to attend to,
and I feel that I won't be much help here." She smiled, somewhat gravely. "I'll
see you soon... that is, if Jhudora doesn't get you, and... well, good luck."
The Lupe agreed. "Yes, we'll need it.
But let's go home before we rush off to do anything, Skeithena."
***
Ixi knocked on the door. Sharon answered. "Yes, hello, how can I help you?"
"You can't," Ixi snapped rudely,
"but I want to talk to Luperusse." He did not mention Skeithena. "Don't just
stand there, you, get on with it! Bring me to Luperusse. Now," he added.
"Yes sir," said Sharon, with a hint of
sarcasm, and invited him in. Ixi ignored her and strode straight past her into
the NeoPets' bedroom, where Luperusse and Skeithena were talking.
"Good, you received our mail," said Luperusse.
He turned to Skeithena: "Sorry for not telling you, but I invited Ixi to come
along as well. Ixi, it's a little, uh, dangerous. More than a little, but anyway,
do you mind it?"
Ixi looked proud. "No, of course not!
I'm game, if it makes me an even bigger hero - I mean, I'm game if I'm going
to save Neopia."
"You're not going to save Neopia, Ixi,"
said Skeithena sharply. "We are going to save an innocent Baby Lupe and
her brother. And if we're going to need the help of a bigheaded, specist Lupe,
well, I'll take it."
The Faerie Ixi looked like he was about
to argue, but then he shut his mouth. Luperusse was looking a little angry and
Ixi knew how strong he was. "Okay, then, Skeithena and Luperusse."
"Yeah, it's about time you learnt how
to pronounce our names. Not Skeena and not Oopus. Well, we'd better get going
- to Jhudora's Cloud!"
"Remember, I'm not going to risk my own
life - you are. I'm just going to... get the credit... I mean, get some
credit if you guys get out of it... "
"Get out of it alive and free? Fat chance,
but we're doing this for DellaNeve and his sis."
***
"So you're willing to trade yourselves for those two stupid Lupes?" cackled
Jhudora. "Very wise, very wise! And what about that Ixi over there? A Faerie
Ixi!" she added, her eyes glinting evilly.
"No, he's not going to risk his life,
he says," said Skeithena offhandedly.
"All right. Now Skeithena, you come over
here and sign this piece of paper. It's bound with special Dark magic, which
even you haven't heard about. Once you sign it, you have to do exactly
as the paper says. It's like a powerful magical contract. There are no tricks
here, Skeithena. The oldest person, among the two of you, must sign it, as I
already have done. So go sign it!" She laughed. "It's so powerful that the only
person who can't sign it is the Uber-Light Faerie and her brat, Starbright."
The paper read:
I, Skeithena, agree to have Luperusse as Jhudora's
slave (to take Ghicaccio's place), and I agree to take DellaNeve's place, to
be imprisoned in the Ice Caves. In return Ghicaccio and DellaNeve will be freed.
Signed, Jhudora. And there was an empty
space for Skeithena to sign the paper.
Luperusse and Ixi watched Skeithena's
claw quiver as she signed the form. It was a sign of how scared she was that
her signature was so messy that it was practically unreadable.
This didn't seem to bother Jhudora. She
laughed happily and waved her hands, freeing Ghicaccio, who promptly spat out
the Jhudaberry which had enslaved her.
The four Neopets knew that hope was now
lost for Skeithena and Luperusse.
Ghicaccio picked up the saliva-covered
Jhudaberry and threw it in Jhudora's face. It hit. "Free my brother," snarled
Ghicaccio. It was very odd to see a Baby Lupe grumbling like she thought she
was Luperusse.
Though Jhudora wasn't one who obeyed orders
much, she did obey Ghicaccio, and with another wave of her hands DellaNeve appeared
out of thin air. He looked in a terrible condition, his fur ragged and his breathing
harsh. There were even small pieces of ice and frost stuck in his fur.
Then the baby Lupe turned to Luperusse
and Skeithena. "Well... thanks," she said hesitantly. "I'm... grateful that
you are saving us... and sacrificing yourselves." Her twin brother nodded. "Little
thanks to you, just standing there," Ghicaccio added angrily, pointing
her tiny paw at Ixi.
Jhudora waited for Ghicaccio to finish.
Then she grinned and looked at Skeithena. "You're going to look like him, soon,"
she smirked, gesturing at DellaNeve. "And you -" she pointed a painted purple
fingernail at Luperusse " - you're going to be my slave."
Ghicaccio and DellaNeve would be free,
at least.
But Luperusse and Skeithena would not.
To be continued...
Nope, our heroes haven't lost yet! There'll be more in the next issue :)
Meanwhile, feel free to Neomail
me with any comments, complaints, questions, suggestions, or just to have a
friendly chat! Thanks and have a nice day :)
| 
