As Kallisari's new owner opened the door to his NeoHome, he was saying, "Well,
here we are... now you see why I needed to get you to clean this place up!"
Kallisari stared into the interior of her new home and most definitely understood.
Although most of the big trash was gone, her sharp eyes picked out all sorts
of crumbs, dust, and other filth scattered into the carpet and corners. Spider
webs hung here and there around the ceiling, and her broom hoof itched to swing
into action. She slid in behind her owner as she stared around, plotting her
strategy for turning this into a sparklingly clean home.
"Kallisari, may I introduce you to blchocobo. He's my second pet, so I guess
that makes you his sister."
Kallisari stared at the new pet who had come in from the kitchen. "Uh... hi."
"Hello," he replied softly.
Kallisari gulped as she looked at blchocobo's expressionless mask. She'd never
seen a desert Blumaroo before, and didn't know how to take that blank stare.
She decided she would stay as far away from it as possible.
Their owner chose to ignore the awkward moment. "Good, that's nice. Blchocobo,
why don't you show Kallisari around the house. Show her where everything is,
and don't forget her room!"
"Of course," was his calm reply. He held out a paw towards Kallisari. "Come
with me," he invited.
Kallisari did, though she chose to ignore the outstretched paw. Blchocobo
didn't press it, which was just as well for her peace of mind. The next half
hour or so was spent looking through the house, and blchocobo found himself
explaining how almost everything worked. Kallisari had never seen the inside
of a NeoHome, and found it all mysterious- though delightful. She particularly
enjoyed the shower, sliding around happily in it until blchocobo poked his head
around the curtain behind her and told her where the soap was. That was another
new thing, but after she got over her fright, she was out of the mood to try
it.
They wound up in the kitchen where blchocobo explained the intricacies of
cooking. Kallisari simply sat at the table with a totally lost expression on
her face. She'd not even heard of the concept of cooking, let alone how to do
it.
The lesson ended when the front door slammed and she heard a tenor voice sing
out, "I'm home! What's for supper?"
Kallisari totally missed blchocobo's reply as she turned around and stared
at the newcomer walking into the door. She was totally overawed! His bright
golden fur seemed to shine, and his quick movements and expressions conveyed
an open, sunny personality that she loved. He was also the closest thing to
another Peophin that she'd seen since she'd been in the pound, although he had
four hooves instead of two. She decided he must be a land Peophin
"...and smothered with asparagus," finished blchocobo.
"Yuck!" the stranger bared his teeth. "I think I'll pass on supper tonight.
I hate that stuff."
"So do I," replied blchocobo. "I only did it because Kallisari here asked
for it. By the way, Kallisari, this is my older brother MonoKeras."
"Oh! Hi, MonoKeras!" Kallisari said brightly.
MonoKeras didn't seem quite as thrilled. "Hi. Why did you have blchocobo ruin
our supper?"
"But... I didn't! I don't know what..."
"Chill out, MonoKeras," blchocobo said. "I was just teasing. She didn't ask
for it, and your food is safe. Now go get washed up, we're almost ready to eat."
MonoKeras rolled his eyes. "You and that deadpan voice of yours. I never can
tell when it's a joke." With that, he left the room, leaving it a darker place
to Kallisari's bedazzled eyes.
The three Neopets and their owner all enjoyed the supper that was laid out
for them. Kallisari didn't say too much, she mostly just sat and drank in everything
MonoKeras said. And that was a lot! She learned all about many of his past "cases".
She'd never heard of a "detective" before, but it sounded like a dangerous and
exciting business. She learned that he was called a "Uni" and not a "land Peophin",
but that was OK. Uni sounded nice, too. She couldn't help but admire the way
his wings angled themselves in different ways to convey his moods as he talked.
In short, she was besotted. She would have gone to bed that night happily dreaming
of him if it hadn't been for one little incident that happened not long before
bedtime. She was upstairs sweeping when she heard voices drifting up from below.
She recognised her owner's mellow bass and MonoKeras' lighter tenor. They seemed
to be arguing about something, and she carefully slipped closer to the head
of the stairs to hear what was up.
"Yes, I know all of that- now!" her owner was saying. "But I've adopted her
and we're not throwing her out on the streets. Learn to live with it. For pity's
sake, can't you get over a grudge that's months old and in another part of the
world?"
"OK, OK, you win!" MonoKeras replied. "But I'm telling you, I still don't
have to like it. Halloween Peophins are one type of pet that I don't like, and
with good reason, even if you don't believe it."
Kallisari cried herself to sleep that night in her soft new bed. It seemed
to her just so unfair. It had all promised to be so happy, but here she was
caught between one pet that apparently acted nice, but which she couldn't trust,
and another pet that she loved, but that didn't like her. What to do?
What to do over the next few days was clear. Kallisari swept, dusted, polished,
and cleaned almost all day, every day. Work was the only thing that she could
take satisfaction in, and as things began to shine under her dedicated attentions
she drew deeply upon the happy feelings of achievement that they brought her.
She also did her best to change MonoKeras' mind about Halloween Peophins At
first, the results were disheartening, but she could no more give up than she
could use her broom to fly. MonoKeras found all sorts of thoughtful little details
waiting for him around the house... a special mint chocolate from the candy
store on his pillow, his combs cleaned and polished, his trench coat not only
thoroughly cleaned but laid out for him in the morning. Every time he spoke
to her, Kallisari's heart would leap and she would tell herself things were
getting better.
And, after a while, they actually were. MonoKeras began to relax. The first
sign of it was his teasing of her. A quick tilting of her hat down over her
eyes was his favourite trick, but Kallisari would just laugh before setting
it back up right again and staring at him with devotion. She was such a ready
and believing audience that he found one of his best pleasures was getting to
be telling her all of the stories about things he'd done that his owner and
blchocobo had heard too many times already. Unlike them, Kallisari never seemed
to get tired of them, and would always press for more- or even for the same
ones over again.
He even began teaching her. The first order of business turned out to be how
to count higher than ten. It took some time for her to comprehend the decimal
system, but when she did, it was almost like a Peophin back to water. Kallisari
had a good intellect, but it simply had never had a chance to be used for "civilised"
things. She also learned to write, after a fashion. MonoKeras actually became
very patient with her about it, and was eventually rewarded with having little
notes left for him around the house.
Their owner watched the whole proceedings with amusement. Blchocobo seemed
not to be bothered by it- but then, nothing seemed to bother him in the first
place. His was the "no comment" of all no comments. Kallisari's distrust of
him began to lose its potency. Besides, she was much too concerned with MonoKeras
to pay any attention to him. He became just another part of her background.
Indeed, he might as well have been a piece of furniture for all the trouble
she took in thinking about him.
Kallisari was sure that MonoKeras must have been the first one to mention marriage.
But, when pressed, she had to admit she wasn't totally sure. It's just that
he must have been, because she would never have thought about it. She was sure
of that!
One morning, the subject of marriage actually came up at the table. It hit
an immediate snag: their owner.
"No, certainly not. You're a bit too young yet, MonoKeras. Wait a while before
you decide something this important. As for you, Kallisari, you should really
consider it. I know what you think, but I also know that you don't have nearly
as much experience in life as you should. You need to get outside a bit more
and see some of what is happening out there in the wide world."
Kallisari pleaded and MonoKeras argued, but he was firm. They finally had to
settle for the promise that they could get married when MonoKeras had his birthday.
That was several weeks away yet, but to Kallisari it seemed an eternity.
Fortunately, the eternity was a happy one. Or at least it was until The Accident
happened.
Afterwards, that was how Kallisari always thought of it- "The Accident." It
happened one morning while Kallisari was busily mopping the front hallway. She
heard the clatter of hooves from outside racing towards the house. Kallisari
immediately ducked. She'd learned long since that MonoKeras could race ten times
faster than she without half trying, and when he was in a hurry the only thing
you could do was to get out of the way.
The problem was that her bucket of water didn't know that. A golden streak
went by Kallisari, but the thud of hooves was interrupted by a splashing sound,
then a loud clang. Kallisari's eyes popped open as a dull thud shook the room.
She looked up to see a pile of golden fur against the wall and rushed over just
as MonoKeras pulled himself upright. Blood was streaming from his nose, and
Kallisari panicked when she saw it. Refusing to listen to his muffled reassurances
that it would be all right, she immediately ran out and grabbed a handful of
towels and some cold water.
MonoKeras accepted her help and they soon had things pretty well cleaned up,
although he was still bleeding. He held a pad of cold wet towels to his nose
while he told her to go make up an ice bag. When Kallisari got back with the
ice, MonoKeras was stretched out in a chair.
The only sounds for the next couple of minutes was MonoKeras' shallow panting
as he breathed through his mouth, the splashing sounds as Kallisari finished
cleaning up the mess, and her own low-voiced commiseration over the whole sorry
incident.
That changed abruptly when she started to take a wad of bloody towels to the
bathroom. The smell triggered an obscure memory, and her tongue instinctively
took a taste. The coppery sting was immediately recognisable.
Kallisari laughed rather weakly. "Your blood tastes like a Kiko's, MonoKeras."
"Wha? No it wuddn't, blood iss niffrent for eash innavisual," he replied in
a slur. Oblivious to the riveted look on Kallisari's face, he continued. "Speshul
for me, cause I'm magical. If you dasted my blood, you'd rememmer it for sure."
Kallisari stood frozen in horror. Edna's cackle sounded in the back of her
mind, and then said "your worst enemy!"
"Noo!" She shrieked. Sobbing, she fled from the room, threw the mess of towels
through the bathroom door as she ran by, then shut herself up in her bedroom
and curled up sobbing on her bed. No! It couldn't be! For the first time in
her life, Kallisari understood the true horror of that word "curse". Shame flooded
through her as she realised what she'd almost done. She'd been a fool, and worse.
Here she'd cozied up to her old tormentor without a thought or care in the world.
She groaned as she remembered every little thing she'd done for him, and felt
dirty as she recalled the endless enthusiasm she'd had for all of his silly
boastful stories. He'd used her so badly! All she'd existed for was to fulfil
his every whim, when he'd been the one that had made her life pure torture all
those months ago. Now she understood that conversation with their owner. No
wonder he hadn't liked Halloween Peophins!
The sun climbed through the sky, but Kallisari didn't budge from her bed. She
was totally sick with life and- even worse- with herself. It was in the afternoon
when a slight click sounded at the door. She opened her eyes to see blchocobo's
red paw dump in a small slate-blue figure before the door shut again. It was
Steelplate, his pet Anubis. She and Steelplate stared at each other, and he
immediately scampered over to her bed, begging to be lifted up.
Kallisari wasn't in the mood for company, but her mental resolve wasn't any
match for those pleading little eyes. She pulled Steelplate into the bed with
her, and he rewarded her by licking her tears off her face. She giggled in spite
of herself as the tickling continued.
Eventually she and Steelplate cuddled together, and she stared into space,
dry-eyed and hurting, as she felt his little body breathe in and out in his
sleep. She appreciated his comfort, but it hadn't really helped the situation
any. She still felt betrayed, hurt, used... and doomed.
The curse's cords had cut into her heart tighter than any of the cords in that
bag had cut into her skin. Because despite all of the hurt, she still had to
admit that she loved MonoKeras.
To be continued... | 
