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Eliv stared into the fire he had made. He figured he wouldn't
be able to sleep, too much was running through his mind. These thoughts were running
wild inside his mind, knocking other tidbits of information around. Eliv shook
his head. Maybe his name didn't mean Evil Death. Perhaps it was Vile Death. That
would work too--the death of his father was vile. He shook Albert awake.
"Hey, Albert, wake up." Albert groaned
and looked up, his eyes glazed over.
"Let me sleep."
Eliv laughed. You've heard him laugh-it's
cold, spine tingling, and just downright scary. Albert woke at the laugh; it's
just one of those things you can't sleep through. "What?"
Eliv sat down on a rock. "I don't think
my name is Evil Death."
Albert groaned. "Duh, it's Eliv Thade.
You woke me up for that?"
Eliv sighed. "No, I'm not finished. I'm
talking about the meaning of my name. I think it might be Vile Death. You can
unscramble the letters that way, too."
Albert stared at him. He blinked. Then
he resumed staring. "Are you sure?"
Eliv nodded. "Look," he grabbed a stick
and drew the letters of his name in a patch of dirt, "See? Vile."
Albert stared at it. "I suppose you're
right. But we're still going to find your mom."
Eliv grunted. He had hoped he could kill
two Pterii with one stone-solving the puzzle and not having to find his mother.
"I know what you're thinking, Eliv, and
there still might be another answer. Maybe all the letters stand for another
letter. Unscrambling words doesn't solve everything, you know." Albert had been
stretching as he spoke. "You ready to go?"
Eliv made a small noise in the back of
his throat and Albert assumed it meant yes. Albert began walking and Eliv followed.
They passed many guilds, one of which
was for beautiful pets only. Many pets of that guild had pressed their noses
against the window for a better look. When the head of the guild saw, she promptly
closed the blinds on their heads and gave them a long lecture about staring
at those less fortunate in the beauty department.
Near sundown they had reached the Neolodge.
Eliv was wishing he lad a Lenny paper mask. Many pets stared at him and thought
he was some dorky Kacheek that had put on his Halloween costume a bit too early.
They checked in, and the kind shadow Gelert handed them their room keys.
Albert walked down the hall, Eliv in tow,
headed for the elevator. A blue Zafara, apparently the janitor, and a sharply
dressed blue Lupe got off as Albert and Eliv got on. Albert pushed the button
for floor three. They finally reached their doors. Albert handed Eliv his key.
"There's your room," he pointed across the hall, "and here's mine. Lets take
a look around our rooms and the head downstairs for some decent food. I'm famished."
Eliv, being silent, nodded. Albert walked
into his room and saw a desert Kyrii busily dusting everything in sight. Albert
stood in amazement, aghast at how quickly she worked. She then replaced the
duster in its designated spot on her cart and rushed out. "Good day sir."
And then she was gone. Albert stood there
for another minute and then tested the bed. Nice and comfy, he thought
to himself. He reluctantly got up. Eliv was standing right outside his door.
"Let's go eat."
Albert nodded and locked the door. They
took the elevator down, which the Kyrii maid was dusting vigorously. They got
off and looked between their two options. "Restaurant or burger bar?" Albert
asked.
Eliv looked between the two and had an
immediate decision. "Burger bar. It's not as fancy."
Albert nodded and they took a seat. A
sweet yellow Kacheek took their order. "Thank you for ordering, your food should
be out soon." She gave a little curtsy and skipped to the back kitchen. After
a short five minutes of silence, their food was given to them. The Kacheek curtsied
again and was off.
Both of them dug in hungrily. When only
the fries were left they began to talk. Albert grabbed a French fry and dipped
it in some ketchup. He grabbed a napkin and wrote on it using the ketchup as
ink. "So here's what your name is, right?"
Eliv looked at the letters. They spelled
Eliv. "Yup."
"And this was our first guess." He wrote
the word Evil on the napkin underneath Eliv. "Right?"
"Yup."
"And this is what you think it really
means." He wrote vile at the very bottom. "Right?"
"Yup."
Albert stared at it for a while. "Argh,
my brain hurts. And when my brain hurts my whole head hurts. Let's just pay
and go."
Eliv nodded. The Kacheek came back out.
"Here is your bill, sir. Have a nice day."
Albert read it--700 NP. Not too bad. He
dug out 1,000 and placed it on the table. "Keep the change."
The Kacheek nodded gratefully. Eliv and
Albert were walking away when the waitress called to them. "Sir, excuse me,
sir. Did you need this napkin that says 'live' on it?"
Albert waved his head nonchalantly. "No,
just trash it-wait… what does it say?"
He rushed back over. The Kacheek pointed
to the letters. "There. In the middle, it says 'live' and, oh dear. I was reading
backwards again. I'm sorry. Did you need this?"
Albert stared in disbelief at the napkin.
"No, you can throw it away. But thank you…" he read her name tag, "Mystida.
I don't think you know how much you've helped."
He handed her another 1,000 NP. She accepted
it, confused. Albert rushed back to Eliv. "Don't you get it? Evil backwards
is 'live'. I bet that's what it is."
Eliv thought hard. "Live Death? But everyone
dies when they're alive, or so I thought. Well, thanks to her, we have another
clue."
Albert shook his head, completely bewildered.
"Well, Eliv, I think we'll need to find your mother tomorrow."
Eliv stretched as he woke. Small beams
of sunlight were peeking around his curtains, waiting for their chance to blow
full force. Eliv walked over and opened the curtains. He shut his eyes tight
in agony as the light rushed in his room energetically. He groaned and walked
across the hall to Albert's room. When he knocked, a slightly muffled 'hang
on' acknowledged him. He waited, and Albert finally opened the door.
"Come on in. I was just fixing us some
coffee. These cups don't disappear in a puff of smoke, I thought you'd like
that." He turned the coffeemaker on busily.
Eliv sat down in a chair. It wasn't as
comfy as the one he had back home, but it would do. He adjusted his shoulders
and leaned back. "So where are we going to look?"
Albert watched approvingly as hot, black
liquid poured into the pot. He then breathed the reenergizing aroma. "Well,
I did some research, and Winding Wood Drive is in between the two shops you
told me about, so we'll check there first. One thing that would be helpful,
though, is do you remember her name? We could look her up in a Neomail listing."
Eliv narrowed his eyes in concentration.
"No. Sorry."
Albert sighed and turned the coffeemaker
off when the pot was filled to his liking. He poured two cups, handed one to
Eliv, and took a long sip of his. "Then we'll do it the old fashioned way, we'll
look."
Eliv stared off into space. He wasn't
up to running around all day. He took a deep breath. "Let's get it over with,
shall we?"
Albert nodded and led him out the door
through Neopia Central. It was crowded throughout, and after an age of pushing
and shoving through random groups of pets, they finally arrived on Winding Wood
Drive. It was a cozy street, the actual road created in designs of bricks. Young
pets rode by on bikes and scooters, talking as they enjoyed the wind whipping
at their faces. Eliv looked at them longingly, wishing he could have had a normal
childhood. The pets just stared at him and held a subdued conversation between
themselves. Eliv looked down at his feet and Albert comforted him.
After a bit of examining houses, Albert
pointed to one in particular. Flower boxes lined the two identical windows flanking
the door. The door held a sign that read 'Mrs. Kacheek'. They nodded to each
other and started up the walk. Eliv's head turned suddenly when he heard the
wail of a siren. A stretcher was being wheeled carefully down the road, guided
by two bikes. Green Gelerts drove the bikes. By glancing at the badge, Eliv
saw they worked at the hospital. Albert pulled at Eliv's arm.
"Come on! They just left from the side
door of this house." Eliv followed Albert. They ran after the bikes. It was
considerably easier to get through the crowds this time, as the bikes had cleared
a path. The stretcher was brought into the hospital, and Albert and Eliv followed
it. Eliv caught a quick glance of the elderly Kacheek's face, and there was
no mistaking it. That was his mother. He jogged along behind the Gelerts, and
when he finally caught up he could have kicked himself. If only he had come
before, he might know. She couldn't die now. Albert caught up, and Eliv mustered
up some courage to ask the feared question.
"What happened? Is she…"his voice trailed
off weakly. The Gelerts did not note Eliv's appearance, which he was grateful
for. They continued solemnly.
"She had a stroke-the old age, you know.
She probably won't live. She's coming around now, which is a miracle, but she's
incredibly weak. I don't think she'll live to see tomorrow." The one on the
left shook his head as he spoke. He hated and loved his job. It was great to
save lives, but sometimes…
Eliv choked back what he was amazed to
discover as tears. His mother opened her eyes and looked up. Her expression
was that of surprise. "Eliv, my son. I thought I would never see you again."
She rested to gain enough energy for her next sentence. "What's wrong?"
Eliv looked down at her, and a hole grew
in his heart. He wished he could have gotten to know her before this. "Mom,"
tears were now streaming openly down his face. Albert followed silently. "I
need to know… what does my name mean?"
His mother beamed up at him. "It means
many things, my little Eliv."
Eliv managed a small smile. "It has to
do with my father, doesn't it?"
His mother nodded, or at least tried.
The strength was leaving her body quickly. She closed her eyes as the Gelerts
moved her from the stretcher to a bed and then left. She sighed. "My time has
come, and I am sorry I haven't had the chance to explain as much as I would
like to have." She blinked slowly, and her eyes began to close again. "Goodbye,
my little Eliv, my little…Veil."
And so Eliv Thade's mother passed away,
having revealed the true meaning of Eliv's name.
***
Eliv's story, the one we all know from the reliable Neopedia, had been partly
true. He wasn't dead, but he had been given a puzzle he couldn't solve. It wasn't
given to him by a servant, but by his mother. And it had been given in the simple
form of his name. He always assumed it to mean Evil Death. In the end, he received
partial credit. Eliv's name meant all he had discovered-Evil, Vile, and Live;
but the main meaning was Veil. All had been applied to his father's death, and
because nobody knows what happened that night, it was covered, in a way, by
a Veil.
After his new discovery, Eliv went back
home with Albert in tow. He continued giving out his anagrams and continued
to live his life normally, but it would never be the same. He no longer felt
as evil as he had before he had his little adventure, but still managed to act
the part of a deranged maniac. As for Albert, he was stuck at the graveyard.
The Ghostkerchiefs were as reckless as always, and he has the bruises to prove
it.
The End
Author's Note: I think I'd like to dedicate this story to my deep friend,
Franke, who inspired me to try to make something deep. If she reads this author's
note, I can promise you she'll be in hysterics by this sentence. Speaking of
hysterics, I'll also dedicate this story to Tara, who has always supported my
writings (deep or no). And a special thanks goes to falcon970 for letting me
use Mystida as a character.
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