Heart of Gold: Part Two

by Baloyarn

The Discovery
It was morning. The smell of bacon and Neggs floated throughout the house. I got up, and suddenly found my voice. "What was that about?" I questioned.

"What?" Katrycia asked.

"Well, you remember yesterday as well as I do, and as I was attempting to awaken my owner, a sharp pain shot across my forehead, and a dark figure, beautiful she was, was saying, 'You will Pay!' over and over. I just can't shake it off."

"About that... a little while ago, we defeated the Uber-Darkness Faerie in battle. Saved Neopia we did, but, she wasn't to happy about it," Mysteey said.

"Oh, well, what does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"Someday, we will know," Katrycia replied.

"Come on, let's get breakfast!" I shouted.

We all tumbled downstairs to the kitchen. "MMMMMMMMMMMM! Green Apples and Bacon and Sausage and Neggs!" Katrycia exclaimed.

"What a feast!" cried a delighted Mysteey. We quickly devoured the bounty and soon made our way upstairs to play a game of Jub Jub Black Jack. "I win again!" Katrycia squealed. "Hey, I'm new at this!" I laughed. We didn't bet anything, it was all for fun.

"Guys! Can you pick up a few things in the market place for me?" came Amanda's voice.

"Sure!" we said.

We fled down the stairs. Our owner walked us to the market place, pointing out different locations.

"Now, Katrycia, you get the chocolate, Mysteey, you handle the healthy food, I'll stop by the market place to check our till and play a treasure hunt game, and Twincklezz, you get the food. Meet me back here in about an hour and a half," Amanda replied, handing us both lists and about 500 NP. "And then we can go to lunch. You can spend the extras however you like."

We were off. I headed directly to the food store, stashing up on multiple food items such as apples, chocolate milk, cheezy neos, bottles of water, and the like. After I was finished, I directed myself to the rest of the NP. I'd only spent 150 NP. That means there's 350 NP left!

I looked about, glancing at the different stores. Hmmm, I pondered, Toys, books, gifts, Decisions, decisions. I went for the chocolate store, deciding to buy each of them a sweet treat, and a little something for myself. I came out with a bag of White Chocolate sweets. For Mysteey, a Kacheek, for me, and Aisha, for Katrycia, a Shoyru, and for my owner, a Lenny. Still left with 100 NP! This was my day. Glancing at the clock, I calculated I had just enough time to stop at the toy store.

Sure enough, five minutes later, I had emerged with a Yo Yo for Katrycia, an Abacus for me, a Blue Aisha Keychain for Amanda, and a Blue Bouncey Ball for Mysteey. That'll do it, I thought, putting my goodies in a bag and returning to the spot. I still had half an hour left and 50 NP, but I had already decided to save the remainder for Amanda to put back away. The sun shone and NeoPets bustled past me. I perked my ears up, listening for any sign of my family. Suddenly, I bolted. I don't know why, but I couldn't control anything.

I kept hearing that voice, "You will pay!" it repeated. I lowered my ears, stopping, the pain flowing through me, unable to move, paralyzed with pain.

I couldn't shake the feeling all the while that someone was following me. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything. I felt a sharp pain, falling to the ground. It was unbearable, and the earsplitting, "YOU WILL PAY!"s weren't helping. I covered my ears, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not shake it. "YOU WILL PAY!" It rung in my ears.

Suddenly, like my first day in Neopia, it stopped. Ragged bolts of thunder tore across a pitch black sky. Rain began to fall. I was outside of Neopia's shops, panting harder than I had ever done. My bag was where I had dropped it. I grasped it in my hand, opening it. All the contents were still inside, except that blasted Keychain, which I found where I had just been. I shook my head with dismay as the wind whistled in my ears. It whipped around me as I stood there, in an abnormal manner. Something was happening to Neopia. I could feel it.

Putting that in the back of my mind, I snatched the sack full of its contents and headed back toward the shops.

To be continued...