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Amid the heat of Vanantic Mountain, a single black Acara
sat, evil stirring in his heart. His eyes, blaring a fiery, murderous red, stared
down at the cold dark, stone floor.
All around him, the smell of sulfur filled the
air, as it rightfully should, considering that his throne sat above a massive
pool of lava that was the volcano's core.
"Tangun!" Stanto roared out, his voice echoing
harshly off the volcano's walls. This caused his voice to sound even more harsh
and loud than it really was.
A small green Poogle rushed into the room, obviously
moving as fast as his little feet would carry him. "Yes?" he answered, his voice
coming out as a mere whimper.
"What is the latest news you have about the
stupid Gelert and his crew? What was his name? Oh yes, Pianto."
Tangun gave another weak whimper and looked
down at the ground ashamedly. "Well, lord, I'm afraid I don't have any good
news concerning that. I'm afraid that we were unable to stop him and now he
has the Light Sword you so desperately didn't want him to have."
Tangun continued to avoid Stanto's evil, red-eyed
glare. The poor Poogle continued to look down at the ground, awaiting the chastisement
which he knew was coming.
"What about the thief we sent to steal the sword
from him? What did you hear from him?" Stanto's voice was a growl, as though
he was refraining from yelling until he had a good reason.
Tangun kept his eyes strictly to the ground,
trying to not look into the master's eyes when he was angry. It was a bad idea
to look the master in the eye when he was angry like this.
"He, umm… hasn't reported in yet, my lord,"
the green pet finally answered.
Stanto thought for a second. "Tangun, look at
me."
Tangun raised his gaze to meet his master's.
He was returned with another gaze; a nasty one. Stanto's eyes weren't filled
with a loving look in them. They probably never had been. They were filled with
an evil that of which can not be properly described with words.
"GET OUT!!!" he shrieked. His voice seemed to
shake the very mountain walls themselves. Tangun turned tail and hurried out
of the room, tears, from the shame of failing his master, welling up in his
eyes.
Stanto sat back in his chair to give the situation
a bit more thought. But all this screaming and thinking was making him extremely
tired. The Acara finally decided to sleep on it. The pet fell asleep almost
immediately.
* * *
Stanto was no longer amid the heat of the volcano's core. Now, he was in a
NeoHome. The window outside showed the spitting image of perfection, a warm
sunny, summer day.
The sound of a door opening came to him, and
Stantocia rushed to meet his owner.
"Good afternoon, Orin," the green Acara greeted
happily. Stantocia watched his owner remove his hat and place it up on the nearby
hat-hook.
"What's so good about it?" Orin barked back.
"Well, the sun is shining and everyone's so
happy. Can we go out and play?"
Orin gave his pet a nasty look. "Shut up," he
shouted, walking to the kitchen.
Stantocia rushed up to meet his owner, wondering
what was up. "What's wrong Orin?" the Acara asked.
Orin turned to the nuisance tugging at his leg.
"I said shut up!" he yelled, whipping his pet with the back of his hand.
Tears welled up in the Acara's eyes. "But, what
did I..."
"Uggg… you just don't listen do you?" Orin shouted,
removing his shoe and hurling it at the innocent pet.
It hit Stantocia square in the head. The confused
Acara couldn't help but break into tears. This only infuriated his owner even
more.
"Don't cry, you little wimp!" Orin didn't say
this in a motherly tone; more of a commanding one.
This only brought more tears to the Acara. At
this, Orin cracked his knuckles. "We'll solve this problem," he said mercilessly.
Suddenly, Stanto was no longer in the living
room on that warm, sunny day. It was night time. Several years had passed with
much of the same treatment that had occurred on that fateful day.
Stantocia sat in his cage, barely big enough
to fit him. He was hungry; he hadn't been fed in days.
The Acara was no longer sad like he had been
on that day. He was just angry, angry all the time.
Outside the cage, Orin sat on the couch. He
was watching some TV show and laughing, always laughing. Why did he get to laugh
when Stantocia sat alone and hungry in his cage? It wasn't fair.
Stantocia let out a weak cough, causing his
already-aching stomach muscles hurt more. In response to this, Orin looked over
at the caged-Acara.
"Got something to say?" he barked, sipping on
a can of Neocola. Stantocia only continued to stare at him, his red eyes no
longer radiating love but now, only hate.
"I said, do you have anything to say?" Orin
repeated himself. His pet only continued to stare in evilly response.
"I guess I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson
about what to say when I ask you a question!" Orin bent down to open the cage
and reached in for the Acara.
But something inside Stantocia snapped. He was
no longer going to let this human beat him like an animal.
Stantocia jumped up and attacked Orin in the
face, clawing and biting for all he was worth.
"Ahh!" Orin threw Stantocia to the ground and
started to run after him, his face full of claw and bite marks.
The Acara jumped up through a window and out
into the pouring rain. Orin came outside, but only to the door. He wasn't about
to run out into the rain.
"Don't you EVER come back, you stupid animal!
You hear? Never!" Stantocia turned tail and ran out of the yard.
Down and down streets the pet ran until he was
too tired to continue and found refuge from the rain under a dumpster in a nearby
alley.
Orin couldn't treat him that way. As the Acara
lay there, he began to plot his revenge. He was filled with more hatred than
any pet should be. He knew that Orin, and all humans for a fact, would feel
sorry for what they had done.
And yet, a part of him still felt good. But
before anything else could be thought of, Stantocia fell fast asleep.
* * *
Stanto awoke to find himself still, as he had always been, sitting on his
throne in the heart of Vanantic Mountain. The smell of sulfur one again filled
his nostrils. It had all been just a dream, memories of a time long ago.
"Tangun!" he summoned, beckoning his Poogle
assistant. Tangun came running in, waddling in as his legs were too short to
allow him to move fast.
"Yes master?" he asked, breathing heavily as
he had hurried from what he was doing to get here fast.
Stanto thought for a minute, trying to remember
what it was he wanted. "Nothing Tangun, never mind. It was nothing," he spoke
finally, this time in a strangely soft voice.
Tangun whimpered, bowed to his lord, and turned
and walked out. As he did so, Stanto went back to thinking. About memories of
yesterday gone by, about what he would do about this Gelert, and about what
the world would be like when all humans were gone.
The heart of hatred was always thinking.
To be continued...
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