Hi. My name is blchocobo. You might remember me. I wrote a story some time
back about how I managed to gain revenge on the Koi Warrior for beating me up
and humiliating me. Ever since then, I've met Neopets who would ask me if I
was going to write about any more incidents. Not too surprisingly, a lot of
them want to know more about my big brother, MonoKeras. And even less surprising
(to me anyway) is the fact that while he likes to talk about some of his adventures,
he loves to forget others ever happened. This story falls into that second category.
First, you must understand that I knew MonoKeras as a gold Uni for less than
twenty four hours after I was adopted. His first change to a red Cybunny occurred
the same evening that I came into the household. His change to a Faerie Cybunny
came only a few days later, and my own change from a blue Blumaroo to a desert
one happened shortly after that. So it was as Faerie Cybunny and desert Blumaroo
that we faced the end of the month of Hiding in Year 3.
I had stayed home that morning as MonoKeras got taken down to the Lab Ray
to get zapped. I didn't want any part of it, and gladly chose to stay home when
I could. As a result, I never saw the disaster when it happened. The first I
knew about it was when my owner returned with MonoKeras huddled in his arms.
I opened the front door and stared at the sobbing ball of lavender fur in amazement.
"What happened?"
My owner's own expression seemed to be one of shock, and he didn't bother
answering me verbally. He simply shifted MonoKeras a bit to show his rear end.
I looked and... saw... and understood.
"Sorry, old boy," I murmured as MonoKeras was carried in. Then I winced as
I realized that wasn't a good thing to say, since he was now a she.
It didn't seem to make much difference. MonoKeras' sobs became a bit louder,
maybe, but they'd been continuous for as long as I'd seen him... her! "What
now?" I asked our owner.
"She'll get used to it, I'm sure," he said. I could tell he was having a bit
of trouble keeping his own voice calm. "But...." and he choked a bit while he
looked at me helplessly... "but I'm going to have to put you two in the NeoLodge
this weekend."
MonoKeras's sobbing shut off as if someone had closed a faucet. Dead silence.
Then she looked up at him, her big pale blue eyes still swimming in tears. "Are
you leaving us?" she asked in a near whisper.
"Just for the weekend," he replied soothingly. "I've got a convention to attend,
and..."
He stopped and I braced myself for a fresh outburst of tears. It didn't come.
MonoKeras was looking too scared to cry now. She clung to his arm, Faerie wings
outstretched and quivering.
"Come on, let's see if we can get you booked into a good hotel," our owner
said. I followed him over to the neoterminal and watched as he brought up the
NeoLodge's reservations page.
"How about the Astro Villa?" I asked hopefully. I'd never been there, of course,
but every pet dreams of trying it out someday.
"Noooo... too high. Not worth it."
MonoKeras had brightened at my remark, but now her wings dropped despondently.
"Not the Cockroach Towers!" she whimpered.
Our owner snorted. "I hope not. I'm not that poor, remember? Let's see, get
you something good without paying more points than it's worth.... ah! Here we
go. The Faerie Castle!"
MonoKeras sniffed. "I guess it's appropriate," she sighed.
"Uh huh, now let's see, extras... got to get you access to the restaurant,
of course, and... ah, good, a jacuzzi."
I saw MonoKeras' ears twirl at that remark, but didn't say anything. In next
to no time, we'd gone down to the Faerie Castle and were looking up at its towers
in something like awe. Our owner had managed to pry MonoKeras out of his arms,
but now she'd fastened herself to mine and it was obvious that she wasn't going
to let go. She clung to me as we got checked in, looking around and giggling
at the meaningful look we got from the clerk when our owner booked both of us
into one suite.
"He probably thinks we're honeymooners," she hissed into my ear before giggling
some more.
I wasn't as amused, but at least we managed to get her up to our suite without
incident. I blinked as I saw the huge, airy windows shining in on the pastel
walls and decorations. Even MonoKeras seemed awed, or so I judged from the fact
that she let me loose. Then I looked around and saw her staring into the jacuzzi.
So that was it. From the yearning look on her face, I expected her to dive in
right then and there.
"Now you two have fun," our owner said as he hugged us. I gave him a one-armed
hug back. "Take good care of her, blchocobo, please," he whispered into my ear
as he let go. I nodded silently and he let himself out of the room, taking time
to give me a last wink and thumbs-up sign.
The sounds of splashing from the jacuzzi area told me that MonoKeras hadn't
waited that long after all. I went over to the neoterminal and accessed the
Castle's in-house system to see when dinner was served in the restaurant, and
what was on the menu for tonight.
I must say heads turned that evening as I led MonoKeras into the dining area.
Several hours of soaking and prettying herself up had paid off, and she was
definitely ravishing. For my part, the simple fact that I was a desert Blumaroo
probably caused a few extra looks. Remember, the Lost Desert had just been discovered
then, and although I'd never been there myself I could see myself being categorized
as a Lost Desert native.
We were courteously shown to a table, and MonoKeras leaned over to me, giggling
and whispering as she saw the reaction she was getting from the males in the
room. It was obvious that she was enjoying the attention, even to the point
of near intoxication. I nodded and added a few agreeable comments now and then.
We were just finishing our meal when those attentions materialized in the
flesh. A Halloween Cybunny, complete with cape and fangs, drifted over and bowed
to MonoKeras. "Ahh, my lady, how delighted I am to see this room so graced with
your presence."
I rolled my eyes at the obvious flattery and his slight hissing accent. MonoKeras,
though, ate it all up.
"Why, thank you..." followed by that soprano giggle of hers, "I don't even
know what to say..."
And that's more true than he knows, I added gloomily to myself. "Tell
him he looks most handsome as well," I suggested.
They both turned to look at me in surprise. "Oh, and good evening to you as
well, sir. I assume you are this lady's escort?"
"You could say that," I replied in an almost indifferent tone. "We are together,
but we're brother... and sister." I puffed out a sigh of relief under my mask
as I managed to cover my near slip.
"And an adorable sister you have, sir," he replied as he turned his attentions
back to MonoKeras. He gently took MonoKeras' paw. "Milady, would you kindly
accept the offer of a dance?"
MonoKeras started to look trapped. This was going farther than she had thought
it would. "I..." she shot an appealing look at me.
"I believe that's a yes, but don't take her too long," I cut in.
The stranger stared at me again, not quite able to conceal his annoyance.
"Of course, sir. I would never keep a lady overlong. But I am sure you are simply
abiding by the cultural values of your unfortunately benighted desert, so I
shall overlook the implied offense."
"Of course," I replied agreeably. "I'm sure that the definition of 'late'
in the Haunted Woods is different than what I grew up with..."
He didn't miss a beat. "Yes, no doubt. Personally, I never cared to see your
sands after dark. The only advantage was that those nasty Cobralls you keep
for pets there seem to stay inside after it turns cool."
I shrugged and leaned back. "To each his own favorite fangs, I suppose."
"Ah, yes..." I think I had him there. He decided to ignore me. "But come,
milady, the evening does not get any younger, and the floor is beckoning to
us."
He gently pulled MonoKeras out of her seat. She gave me another pleading look
which I chose to ignore. I'd had my fill of his- her- clinging violet act, and
decided she was adult enough to handle whatever the consequences of her coyness
were.
MonoKeras' suitor seemed to behave himself, but I got bored just sitting there
watching. I left them on the dance floor and went to our suite. I was in bed,
almost asleep, when the door clicked and MonoKeras drifted in with a dreamy
look in her eyes.
"How did it go?"
An ecstatic sigh caused her wings to flutter. Faerie magic took over and she
was literally walking on air as she dreamily responded. "It was wonderful...
he's wonderful... the whole evening has been soooo terrific..."
"I guess you're glad now I didn't stop him from taking you."
MonoKeras hit the floor with a thump. "I would've punched you if you had!"
I grunted and rolled over in bed. Females... I thought to myself as
I drifted off.
I didn't see much of MonoKeras for the next day or two. I wound up in the
suite mostly by myself while she popped in only occasionally, babbling about
the latest terrific thing her beloved Feinseth had said or done. I heard all
about him and his owner, right down to their address and neoterminal number.
I've never minded being alone too much, so I suppose you could say the weekend
went fairly well. When our owner came back for us, he found that MonoKeras didn't
want to go. She was most vehement, in fact. Although he was taken aback by it,
he agreed to let us stay until our reservations ran out. I didn't bother telling
him what was up, I figured he'd find out soon enough.
It was our last afternoon at the hotel when I came into the bedroom to find
a lavender fur draped over the bed, wings spread out on top, and muffled crying
leaking out from the sheets. I stared at MonoKeras as she continued her crying
jag. I carefully climbed onto the bed beside her and gently shook a shoulder.
"Hey... sis?"
"Go 'way," she mumbled.
She'd stopped sobbing, though, which I took as a positive sign. I didn't go
away, I just sat there for another couple of minutes in silence. Finally she
looked up at me. Her face fur was a total wreck from all of the tears that had
been rubbed into it. I looked at her sympathetically. "What happened?"
"Feinseth... he left today."
"Oh. Well, you'll get to see him..."
"No. He finally let me know where I fit into his scheme in life."
I blinked at her bitter tone. "What's that mean?"
"I mean," she bit off, "he's already got a girlfriend. It seems that I was
just a weekend diversion for him. Free entertainment."
"Ohhh..."
"Yeah, ohhh. Oh, what joy, Oh what bliss, oh what an utter fool I've been!"
She began crying again. I hugged her, being careful not to crush her wings.
"Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him one of these days. You don't play
around like that without leaving behind some pretty nasty problems. He'll get
hit in the back with something he never saw coming, you mark my words."
"I suppose. But..."
"Yes?"
"But, well... now that it's over, I can look back and see I should've known
all along. I was just so stupid that...."
"No, not stupid. You were just in a totally new situation and you were enjoying
it."
"Yeah... I guess I was in love with love, wasn't I."
"That's it. Now don't worry about him any, because you've still got a family
that loves you, and you don't need him."
MonoKeras squeezed me tight. "Thanks," was all she said, but her expression
told me everything else I could ask for.
We went back home, and neither of us ever mentioned the incident again. MonoKeras
never knew about the annoyance that Feinseth's owner suffered not long afterwards.
It seems that Feinseth found a Cobrall in his bed, and she had to pay for some
expensive psychological treatments. But it was either that or have a pet that
refused to sleep anywhere lower than the ceiling beams.
I chuckled to myself when I found out the results. Fangs for the memories,
Feinseth, I thought in satisfaction. | 
