A LONG TIME ago, way, WAY back. Back to the time before there were owners,
when it was just Neopia Central. No Faerieland, no Tyrannia, no Mystery Island,
no nothing! There was no Battledome, and there weren't very many items.
But back to that long-ago land. It was a time
when Neopia was just one great land mass, divided into several smaller kingdoms.
There were sixteen to be exact, although three were so tiny that they only mattered
at social gatherings. There were four main kingdoms. Arpanz, Nova, Lapil, and
Hystac. Nova was known as a country full of great warriors, Arpanz was known
to keep to themselves and help everyone, Lapil was known to be under evil influence
and mean to just about everyone, and Hystac was just doing its best to stay
on everybody's good side. Lapil was run by King Olcan and his wife, Sandrika.
Olcan was the evil one, the rest of Lapil was probably full of ordinary people,
but no one who went there lived to tell about it.
Alex was from Hystac. He was always being teased.
He was a green Gelert, had sixteen siblings, was shy, and wasn't going to inherit
anything. His other siblings were "important". Each of them was being trained
to be a member of the royal court, even though only Eza, the oldest son, was
going to take over the country.
Alex was being trained to be the commander of
an army, though (as Jared, one of the noble's sons, often reminded him) he was
too shy and weak to ever become a fighter. Not to mention he was eleven, which
is quite young to be training for battle. He tried his best, though, doing what
his teachers told him, and following every bit of advice he got. He never could
get the hang of it, though, and was always making a fool of himself.
He was too ordinary. He wasn't mean, and he wasn't
exceptionally nice, either. He was just plain. Especially when it came to people.
Everyone, whether of nobility or not, he treated as polite as possible. This
included servants. They brought his meals to his room (he didn't like eating
at the formal dining hall), and he treated them kindly. He wasn't a favourite
amongst the workers at the palace, but he wasn't one they dreaded (unlike Jared).
He never thought much about servants, because they had always been there. They
were just... there. Sort of like gravity and air, you stop appreciating them
after a while. But all that changed when-
"Oof!"
He ran into Jackie.
"Watch it, you little slime ball! You should
watch where you're going!" A girl's voice said from the ground in front of him.
"Me?!? You were the one running around like an
Elephante!" The prince dusted himself off and stood up just as the girl was.
"Oh! Your highness!" She stumbled into a kneel
at his feet, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you!"
"Oh get up, I don't care. It was an accident.
Get up!"
She jumped to her feet and laughed.
"What?"
"You have a leaf wrapped around your ear..."
Alex wiggled his ear and the leaf came free.
He took a moment to look at the Kyrii he had just ran into. She had bright red
hair falling in curls all over her face. She had sparkling green eyes that looked
like emeralds. She was quite a, uh, different looking Kyrii
"What's your name?"
"Jackie. You're the youngest son, right? Prince
Alexia of Hystac, I believe?"
"Just call me Alex."
Just then they heard the loud shouts of a fat
yellow Mynci running across the hall, "Hey weakling! Wait up!"
"Oh no! Jared!" Alex winced and decided to wait
for the attack.
"You're not just going to stand there, are you?"
Jackie asked. Hearing the hideous bellows of the obese Mynci had made him forget
she was standing there.
"What else can I do?"
She rolled her eyes, "Come on!" She grabbed his
ear and began running. It was all Alex could do to just TRY and keep up. She
ran out into the wide courtyard surrounding the palace. She ran to the corner,
where a wall of hedges surrounded a beautiful grove and shoved him in a bush,
"Comfortable?"
"No..."
"Too bad. Hide there."
"They pick on you much?"
"Yah, all the time."
"And you don't defend yourself?"
"They're better than me at everything. I'm not
too good of a fighter anyway."
"Nonsense! You're the one who's going to grow
up and be some sort of commander, aren't you?"
"Just because you're being trained for something
doesn't mean your brilliant at it. Besides, you wouldn't know the first thing
about how hard it is! You've probably never touched a sword in your life!"
She made a rather annoyed sigh, "You keep saying
that and you'll never be good at anything!"
"Gee, you're real encouraging."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
They sat there talking, and Jackie told him that
she was the cook's helper, and that everyone in the palace thought she was obnoxious,
while Alex told her about how Jared and his two friends are always being mean
to him, and all about life as a prince.
"I wish I were a princess, it must be very easy
being something of nobility."
"Actually it's not." Said Jared as he came through
the hedge, followed by Theo and Arcane (like two loyal disciples ought to).
Jackie jumped up and made a yellow bird appear on her finger. She stroked it's
head and then let it go, trying to make it look like she had been talking to
the bird all along, "Hey, servant... have you seen the weakling?"
"Pardon me?"
"Oh come on... that horrible prince who thinks
he can fight!"
"There are a lot of princes that live here. Seven
in fact."
"Don't get cute with me. I demand to know where
the weakling is, and you know which one I'm talking about!"
Jackie plunged her hand into the hedge and grabbed
Alex's sword, which he carried always. At the sight of a sword, Jared backed
away as Theo and Arcane drew out their swords. She blocked their attacks with
Alex's sword, then swirled in between them and grabbed Jared's sword right out
of its hilt. She blocked Arcane's attacks with the sword in her right hand (Alex's),
and Theo's attacks with Jared's in her left. She finally knocked their swords
away, and the two went running. She pressed Alex's sword at Jared's throat,
and threw the other sword down at her side. "I don't know any weakling princes.
I know of seven who are very good princes. And I know one who's hiding in a
bush from a nerdy little nobody who thinks he's better than him. Come out here,
Alex."
Alex scrambled out of the hedge, covered in leaves.
Jared laughed, "Oh great, now you're getting servant girls to defend you!" He
grabbed his sword from the ground and was hoping to catch Jackie off guard,
but she knocked it out of his hand. It spun at Alex's feet.
Jackie pressed the sword closer to Jared. "Oh
really? You know, if Alex, there, told his father what you were doing to him,
he could have your head cut off."
Jared sucked in a breath and stood perfectly
still.
"Now, apologise!"
"To who?"
"Whoever you think needs to be apologised to."
"I'm sorry."
"To who?"
"The weak... I mean Alex."
"Who?"
He sighed, "His Highness, Prince Alex of Hystac."
"Much better, and what for?"
He sighed again, "For calling him names."
"Anything else?"
"Teasing him."
"And?"
"And tossing him in the castle moat, for putting
a pin on his seat at the formal dinner two weeks ago, for stealing his sword,
for carving his and Skira's name in a heart on the drawbridge, for chasing him
around the castle, for not treating him with respect, am I forgetting anything?"
"Apologise for anything you think is necessary."
"If I was doing that, I wouldn't have said anything."
Jared mumbled under his breath. Jackie kicked him in the shin.
"And for knocking his fighting." He finished
in a hurry, "That's it."
"Good, then you can go."
Jared scrambled for his sword, stood up and shoved
it in its hilt with great dignity, then took off in a dead run back to the palace.
Jackie stared after him sternly until he was
out of sight, then doubled over laughing, "Oh that was good. Sweet taste of
victory!" She held Jared's sword in the air with triumph, "Why do you carry
this thing if you don't know how to use it?"
"That was an AMAZING display of loyalty, there.
And the way you learned how to manoeuvre the sword in such a quick hurry-"
"What? You actually think I could do that in
those few seconds that I had? Ha! I think you're avoiding my question. Why do
you carry a sword if you don't know how to use it?"
"I know how to use it!" He snapped.
"Uh-huh... and that's what the whole 'I'm not
very good' thing was about, right?"
"I'm working on it." He mumbled, pride shattered.
"Uh-huh... with those teachers of yours? Ha!
I've watched you train. They're horrible!"
"They're the best in the kingdom!"
"They're horrible."
"Oh, and I suppose YOU can do any better?"
"Yep!"
"Ha!"
"Wanna see? Get me another sword and let's have
a duel. I'll beat you BADLY!"
"All right, fine! Meet me here in two hours!"
She shook her head and laughed, then ran off
towards the kitchen.
To be continued... |