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"I'm soooooo hungryyy," mumbled Starry, the yellow Wocky.
"I'm DYING-if only we could get to the SDB and
grab something… I KNOW she has tons of food in there," said the muffled voice
of a white Meerca, lying face-down on the furry sofa.
Jasmine, the yellow Kacheek glanced nervously
at the entrance door. "Maybe-maybe she'll be here in a few minutes.."
Minutes passed by, while the three Neopets,
and their petpets, waited for their owner's arrival. After what seemed like
eternity, they could hear the entrance door slam open and a teenage girl rush
in, panting.
"Hi guys! I'm SOO sorry I wasn't here last week,
I've been so busy with projects and homework and everything," the girl bustled
around, two large grocery bags in her arms. "You must be starving… here, I bought
lots of goodies from Neopia Central," she began unpacking the bags and handing
around pastries, sandwiches and jelly for the Petpets.
"Aaaah, that's tons better," Starry swished
her tail happily after gulping down three Chokato Ghostkersandwiches and a chocolate
stuffed pastry. Custard, her Doglefox, was nibbling on some pineapple jelly
with Jasmine's white Ona, Cookie, and Marshmallow, Snowy's Miamouse.
"Sorry about the walls, Sof," Snowy pointed
at the large holes in the white chocolate walls, as she munched on a jam pastry.
"We were getting really desperate."
"It was my fault anyway, I should have left
you with food and plushies," Sofie sighed and looked around at the dents in
the walls. "I'll get them fixed immediately."
"And you can get the rest of the house built,
too! Then we can finally have our own rooms with awesome Nova rugs!!" Starry
said excitedly.
"You could always put us in the Neolodge, Sof,"
Jasmine pointed out.
"Yeah! That'd be SO cool. Last time we went
to the Presidential Palace, there was a jacuzzi AND a spa," Starry reminisced
dreamily.
"Don't forget the heavenly faerie food," Snowy
chimed in.
"Or the maid service, burger bar, tennis courts…"
Jasmine listed.
"PLEEEEEEAAASE, Sof??"
"Oh, all right, I suppose you can spend a week
or two there while I get the house fixed up," Sophie smiled. "Come on, if you're
all done eating, we can go down to the Neolodge Agency now."
* * *
The next morning, the three Neopets were rummaging through their Safety Deposit
Box for shirts, scarves, favourite Plushies, and odds and ends to bring.
"SOFIE!!!" Starry yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Have you seen my Twisted Roses shirt?!"
"SOFIE!!! Have you seen my purple Kau plushie??"
"SOFIE!!! Where's my Kacheek inviso-cloth??"
Standing at the doorway, Sofie nearly fainted
at the sight of the mess. Wading through the piles of strewn shirts, books and
other items, she picked up a few and handed them to her pets. "Plushie, inviso-cloth
and…" she bent down and retrieved a black shirt. "Twisted Roses shirt."
"Thanks, Sof!!" her Neopets chorused delightedly,
each stuffing the item in their Anubis bags.
"It's all right," she said weakly. "Now who's
going to clean this mess up??"
"Oh, that's no biggie," Snowy said cheerily.
She muttered a spell under her breath and the room was entirely neat and orderly
again.
"Right," Sofie blinked. "Right, well, um, I
guess we'll go head to the Presidential Palace now. And I'll be sure to pick
up a few more magic and spell books on the way home… considering chores are
so easy for you now." Her eyes twinkled.
Jasmine, Starry and Snowy all quickly ran out
of the room with their bags, mumbling something about being late, as Sofie glanced
back at the immaculate room with a smile.
* * *
After arriving at the Presidential Palace, waving goodbye to Sofie, unpacking
their luggage in their absolutely breathtaking room, and (narrator gasps for
breath) leaving their Petpets at the Petpet Spa, Jasmine, Starry and Snow decided
to treat themselves to afternoon tea at their favourite lounge, Sunset Café.
"Good afternoon, Mademoiselles, I am Pierre,
and I shall be your Maitre d' this afternoon. What would you like to order?"
said the snooty voice of a green Quiggle in a stiff tuxedo.
"We'd like to share your Afternoon Tea Special
for 3, with a pot of Chamomile tea, please," Starry requested.
"Certainly, Mademoiselle," Pierre swept off
into the kitchen.
Minutes later, they were happily sampling Kau
cream cakes and sipping tea. They chatted about the new facilities in the Presidential
Palace, all of which they were eager to go to. The conversation quickly drifted
to the café's increasing popularity, to which they quickly noticed, were currently
serving many Aishas that afternoon.
Starry took a large bite out of one of the ham
and cheese wingwiches, not noticing the Aisha at a nearby table watching her
carefully. For a moment, she continued chewing on it without taking a bite,
with an odd expression on her face, when she suddenly screamed.
"WHAT?? What?? Did your tooth fall out??" Snow
peered at her, alarmed.
Starry, however, did not answer, and continued
to scream, as a Speckled Bruce at the next table glared at her.
Pierre rushed out, asking, "Mademoiselle! What
is the problem here?"
"THIS!!" Starry waved the rubbery wedge of what
was supposed to be ham. "THIS," she motioned dramatically, "is NOT a slice of
ham in my wingwich. It's a piece of rubber!!!"
The lounge became deadly quiet as every customer
tried to listen to the large commotion. Several turned around in their seats
and peered interestedly at their table, much to Snowy and Jasmine's embarrassment.
"Mademoiselle, I deeply apologize for this-disturbance,"
Pierre humbly bowed, turning a crimson shade. "Let me please take this dish
away and I shall certainly reprimand the chefs," he scuttled away.
"If I were you, dear," a speckled Bruce at the
next table said loudly, "I would certainly inform the hotel's manager concerning
this absolutely dreadful incident. It would be terrible if the authorities aren't
informed, most assuredly,"
"Starry!" Snowy hissed. "Why did you have to
be so dramatic about it? Couldn't you have just pointed out the obvious prank
to Pierre, eat something else…" she shoved a gooseberry sandwich at the Wocky,
"and not make such a big deal out of it??"
"Oh no," Starry's smile broadened. "You see,
Snow, we're dining at a very classy café, at a very classy hotel. I would certainly
not expect such a dreadful prank to get away just like that," she imitated the
Bruce as Jasmine snickered.
"Quite right, dear," the speckled Bruce totted
over to their table and extended her paw. "Let me introduce myself. Lady Elizabeth
Marlin, Duchess of Snowy Valley-and a distant cousin of King Skarl."
Before any of them could ask how she could possibly
be related to the king of Meridell at all, she leaned in and whispered, "You
see, there's been rumours lately around the meat imported from Meridell. What
with the war going on and Kass's attempts to assassinate dear Skarl, none of
the farmers have been paying much attention to their cattle." She tossed back
her mane of curls and continued, "Undoubtedly, this is inexcusable-goodness
knows what will be happening to this hotel's reputation in the future."
"Ahem," Pierre had returned with a very disgruntled
red Kyrii and a large shadow Lupe behind him. "Excusez-moi, Madame, so sorry
to interrupt, Monsieur Montague would like to have a word with these young ladies."
"Indeed, you must excuse me, Lady Elizabeth,
terribly rude of me to interrupt." The Shadow Lupe gave her his most winning
smile. "May I, however, ask Pierre to escort you back to your table and tempt
you with a sparkling flute of rose wine? On the house, of course."
The Speckled Bruce slightly perked up at the
mention of free wine, but grudgingly waddled back to her table, still keenly
listening to their conversation.
"My most sincerest apologies to this incident,
Mademoiselle. I have called upon several detectives, and the renowned Chia swordsman,
Sir Fufon Lui, to investigate on this case. Meanwhile, is there anything else
in our dishes that appeared to be rather-unusual?" Montague asked, as the red
Kyrii wrung his chef's hat, muttering to himself in very rapidly.
"No," Starry frowned, thinking. "The cream rolls
were very nice."
Noticing the Kyrii's teary eyes, Snowy added,
"The chocolate éclairs was particularly wonderful."
"I am glad you enjoyed the cakes, Mademoiselles,"
Montague beamed, looking sideways at the sniffing Kyrii. "Our head-chef, Leppy
LaPain, here, was very distraught to hear about this ah-shall we call, mystery
meat in one of his culinary delights."
"Exactement! Sacre bleux! Nevair, een my whole
life have I evair had my dishes sabotaged! Zees ees an outrage!" the Kyrii cried.
"And I will most certainly make sure that the
culprits are caught, good sir!" shouted a Chia, striding into the café, his
violet, velvet cape sweeping behind him. "En garde!" with one quick swish, he
pointed his sword at an invisible opponent and did a series of smooth twirls
with it, before he swung it back on his waist belt. He bowed deeply, nearly
dropping his enormous feather hat. "Sir Fufon Lui at your service."
The Shadow Lupe nodded his approval as Jasmine, Snowy and Starry looked at
the Chia in amazement and disbelief. "Ah yes, right on time as usual I see."
"And not a minute too late!" the Chia cried
dramatically. "Now where is this offensive piece of evidence??"
"Right here, Monsieur!" Pierre dashed back carrying
a silver platter, with the slab of rubbery meat on it.
"Hmm. Yes, yes," Sir Fufon Lui frowned. "I have
seen this type of case before. And normally the culprit would in fact be one
of the least conspicuous in the crime scene." He peered around the room, carefully
gazing at each of the customers. He strode to Madame Marlin's table and gazed
at her fixedly. "Tell me, Madame, where were you at 3:45 pm today?"
"Right here!" she exclaimed loudly. "Having
scones and tea with dear Mr. Goodrich."
"But how can you prove it??" the Chia rambled
on.
As the speckled Bruce sighed exasperatedly,
Montague quickly stepped in and commented; "Now really, Mr. Fufon, is this interrogation
on dear Duchess Marlin really necessary? She is a regular customer here!"
"Most certainly, Montague old boy! Every Neopet
that was present at the crime scene must be considered as a possible culprit!"
the Chia puffed himself up.
"But how do you know that the mystery meat was
placed by a customer and not one of the waiters or someone else??" Starry asked
him, confused.
"Indeed, Mr. Fufon, do tell us," Montague pressed.
The Chia sighed. "Mr. Montague, Mademoiselle.
Perhaps it is not clearly evident to either of you or anyone else here, but
a waiter could not have possibly placed the mystery meat, as Lapin here would
have seen him! Lapin, of course, could not have sabotaged his own dishes, and
it would be entirely ridiculous to consider the meat to be fake from the market!"
he exclaimed.
"And why is that so? I have heard of the cattle
problems in Meridell lately," the Duchess questioned. "Would it not be possible
to have fake meat from the market?"
"But I would have seen it!" cried the Kyrii,
outraged. "Zees ees a LaPain weengwich we are speaking about, een wheech I greell
zis ham to perfection, and eet ees entirely eempossible to cook fake ham, Madame!"
"Exactly!" Sir Fufon Lui hopped up and down
in excitement.
"This is all well and good Mr. Fufon, but how
does this relate to Madame Marlin?" the Shadow Lupe asked.
"You see, this is not really Madame Marlin!"
the Chia triumphantly continued. "Oh no, the Aisha thieves have gotten sneakier
every day-"
"AISHA THIEVES??" Madame Marlin echoed loudly.
"What in Meridell are you talking about??"
"Aaah," the Chia still persisted, then stepped
forward a few steps, inching closer to her. "Then, you would not mind me saying,
Madame, that I am much more fond of Meridell meat than the ones imported from
Snowy Valley?"
"Not at all," the speckled Bruce smiled sweetly.
"Now if you would kindly leave Mr. Goodrich and I alone, we have important matters
to discuss." She gestured airily at the snoring Skeith behind her.
Sir Fufon Lui bowed deeply, but in a few quick
moves, tipped an entire tray of custard-filled sponge cakes on the Bruce's lap,
causing her to fall off her chair in shock. Meanwhile, his sword jabbed Montague,
who jumped back in surprise, knocking over the Bruce's small purse.
"Oh!" the Shadow Lupe bent down to pick up the
purse. "So sorry, Madame."
"Give me that!" Madame Marlin snapped, grabbing
her purse away from him, as several items dropped to the floor-amongst which,
were the two slabs of identical mystery meat and a rock-hard fruity scone.
The customers at nearby tables gasped at the
sight, while the Speckled Bruce struggled to gather her belongings, turning
a dark shade of puce.
"Madame Marlin!" Montague gasped, in shock.
"What--??" He looked at the Chia for explanation.
"Aaah, you see, Montague, you have much to learn.
Madame Marlin here, has been plotting for this incident for many months," the
Chia explained.
"She's an AISHA thief??" Snowy glanced at him
in disbelief.
"Not quite," Mr. Fufon smiled. "The Duchess
here was attempting to open a grand holiday resort in Terror Mountain, but she
was lacking one very important factor-customers." Two Eyrie patrol officers
had rushed into the café and stopped anyone from leaving. "She decided that
the easiest way would be to steal customers from other hotels, namely this one.
So she spread rumours about the imported meat from Meridell, and hired several
Aisha thieves to help her out."
Two beautiful Aishas at a nearby table were
glaring at the Chia as he spoke. "One or two Aishas sat around the lounge, and
would call upon a waiter from time to time, while the other carefully slipped
one of the mystery meat or fake scones in replacement."
"And no one noticed?!" Jasmine asked incredulously.
Sir Fufon Lui smiled knowingly at her. "Not
at all. Aisha thieves are very skilled at sneaking." He glanced at the Aishas
who were glaring at him. "By doing so, they hoped to create a huge scandal surrounding
the hotel and drive the customers away-into their resort."
"How will we be able to find out which Aishas
are the thieves and which aren't??" Montague looked around dubiously.
"Very simply," the Chia walked towards the table
of glaring Aishas and pointed towards the identical miniscule brooches on their
dresses. "They aren't easy to take off." He then turned to Pierre, and asked
him, "Tell me, my good man, do many Aishas dine here?"
"Not particularly," Pierre answered. "They usually
prefer the Garden Terrace Café by the pool.
"Would this be perhaps, because Aishas, in general,
prefer to enjoy the outdoors?" Sir Fufon Lui asked her.
"Possibly."
"It's quite unusual to have almost half of the
guests as Aishas then," the Chia responded. He quickly spoke to several of the
Eyrie officers to inspect all the Aishas and arrest them accordingly.
"Brilliant, Sir, absolutely brilliant!" Montague
congratulated the Chia. "We owe you a week's stay, with maid service and burger
bar, I suppose?" he whispered discreetly.
"Add in pool access," the Chia winked.
* * *
"Whew," Jasmine sighed as the three Neopets sat by the cozy fire in their
room much later. "What a day."
"Yeah," Snowy yawned. "I guess if you weren't
so dramatic, Star, Madame Marlin wouldn't have been caught."
Starry laughed. "And we wouldn't have gotten
complimentary Neggnog."
"Cheers to that!" Jasmine took a sip from her
mug.
"Think we'll have a nice, peaceful day at the
spa tomorrow?" Snowy asked her.
"With Starry??" Jasmine raised her eyebrows.
"Not likely…"
The End
**Author's Note: Firstly, I'd like to thank you for reading my story. I
would love comments or suggestions and you're welcome to ask any questions about
my story. =) The main characters in this story (Snowy, Starry and Jasmine) were
based on my own Neopets and any similarities with names in Neopets (which I'm
sure of) are purely coincidental. =P
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