Falling into the Pot - Edna's Story: Part Two

      We soon were going to find out. We felt the trunk moving around. When it opened, our eyes were hurt by the light. The Kau peered down at us, grinning. "My dears, it is time for us to go to my home in the Haunted Woods! Don't move, it will only make things worse."

      She shut the trunk lid and the cart rattled some more. A few hours later we had arrived in the Haunted Woods. The lid opened and no light came to blind our eyes. It was murky and dark where we were now. The Kau grabbed us and shoved us into her dimly lit shack.

      "Now, now, dearies! Don't fret! I've taken you here for you to begin your new futures. What is your name, darling?" She spoke to me.

      "Edna!" I scowled.

      "How about you?" she asked my sister.

      "Ophelia," Ophelia said meekly.

      "Great! Edna and Sophie, you be. Now let's talk about your futures. How old are you both?" the seer asked.

      "We're both seventeen," I said grimly.

      "Okay, so you are old enough to work. I think you both need to be separated, though. You two will never work well together." The Kau glanced down at us.

      "That's right!" Ophelia said.

      "Okay, so we won't work together," I glared over at my mutated sister.

      "All is well, then." The Kau smirked. "Let's send you into the Werelupe Woods. See how long you can fend for yourself!" She grabbed my sister and they both walked out of the door. The Kau locked it from the outside, so I could not get out to save my sister.

      I never heard from Ophelia ever again, as she decided to take the Seer's name of Sophie and stick with it. She has deceived her family and will never be welcome into my tower again. However, that is another story. Let me finish my autobiography first.

      An hour later the Kau came back into her hut. I glowered at her and turned my head disdainfully from her. She smiled an evil smile and grabbed me by the shoulders. She sat me down on one of her chairs and her eyes gleamed down on me.

      "Edna, my dear, you are quite the troublemaker. Take a glance down at this prophecy and see if you cannot figure it out."

      I peered down at it and read aloud. "Sisters two, born together, are so alike but yet the differ. A dreadful potion gone askew, can these two witches save you? One a Zafara, the other an Ixi, the latter is kind the other is tricky. Put them to work and you will see which one is the diamond and which one deceives ye."

      "Can you tell me what it means? Decipher it, if your little brain will let you." The woman smirked down at me.

      "My sister and I were born together. We are so similar yet so different. The Cheering Potion I made went wrong, but my sister and I can still save people from doing it to themselves. I am a Zafara and she is an Ixi. She is kind and I am tricky. If you put us both to work you can see that she is kind and I am a cheat!" I growled.

      "Ooh, the word cheat is better than 'deceives ye.' Thank you, my dear. Good deciphering, by the way." The Kau wrote 'cheat' into the prophecy. "Now, darling, care to set off to work in the front of the Haunted Woods?"

      "I'd rather not!" I replied truthfully.

      "Okay then! You can set off at once! The old Witch Tower is empty and you are now to occupy it. Just ask people for items and give them junk and tell them to stop by my fortune telling hut every once in a while. Got it? Good!" She shoved me out and showed me to my new home.

      It was rather nasty at first, yet it is now my only home. The Kau showed me up to the top of the tower and left me to set off for work as a new quest master. I was the oddball Quest Place at the time, considering the only other quests came from Faeries. I was rather reluctant to see the seer place a huge sign outside my tower advertising people to come in and stop by her fortune telling hut after doing a quest.

      The next day I had my first quest to designate. An unsuspecting Shoyru came in and asked me to assign him a quest. I smiled down nicely and grabbed my stirring spoon. I needed a few more items to complete my dinner for tonight.

      "Can you spare your time to get me some Turkey, Asparagus, and a Red Kacheek Plushie?" I asked. (I had odd taste at the time.)

      "When do you need it back by?" the little guy asked, a cute smile on his face.

      "Before five o'clock, if it is possible. I will reward you, dear!" I said, stirring the contents of my dinner some more.

      "Yes, ma'am!" The Shoyru zoomed down the steps of my castle and came back with the items I had asked for moments later.

      "That certainly was fast!" I said, throwing the items into my pot. My dinner started to steam and I cooled it quickly. "Now for your reward, you amazing little guy!" I walked over to my cupboard and saw a delicious looking Techo hand. I tossed it at him. "See ya!"

      He looked down at the Techo Claw and back up at me with a sad look on his face. "Bye." He turned and walked out. I heard him say "I'm never coming back here again!" silently as he trudged down the stairs.

      I never did have that many visitors for a while after the Shoyru left. I did have some curious Neopians looking for trouble and not a quest. The only thing I will say is that they got what they deserved.

      Then came October of 2003. What a wonderful year that was! My quests were starting to drop down and so was the number of visitors to the Kau's fortune-telling tent. I was so giddy that I was making a special brew for Halloween.

      Then everyone came tramping into my tower! It was the twenty-eighth day of October and everyone was telling me the exact same thing. "This spooky avatar would look great on the neoboards."

      What were they talking about?! One of them finally handed me a newspaper and I saw they had done the worst thing possible. There was now an avatar all about me! This was going to boost visitors so much that I would run out of rewards to give questers!

      I put a limit of ten quests a day on my bidding and many of the Neopians hate me for this. Because I am so mad about the release of this evil avatar, I will only give it out to the luckiest of lucky folk. I doubt that more than 10% of the Neopian population has my avatar.

      After my avatar was out for a while, I was feeling depressed. Almost everyone hated me since I would never give out my avatar to them. Everyone says they want to throw me into my own pot to sizzle for three hours, broil, and then be their lovely dinner for Christmas!

      I knew I had to set out and avenge the wicked Kau seer for taking my sister and I away from our home and turning us into our new ugly, mutated form. A few people came in to do quests and I told them that if they aided me they would receive my avatar.

      They were rather happy to help me go fight the Kau, only because of the avatar. We set out at once and to make this story fit to print, the Kau apologized to me and never made another prediction again.

      After I had retaliated to the Kau, I settled down in my castle for a while. I now give out my avatar as well as a tad bit better prizes for tougher quests. People now say they don't want to throw me into my cauldron, but that it wouldn't hurt if the Cheeseroller Techo managed to trip into some brew!

      I already have this great book contract and so I'll be going to photo shoots and to sign books for people. I think it will be quite a life, yet rather dull. I'll still always be up to the Neopet who wouldn't mind a challenging task or becoming my next noontime meal! Why don't you come up and visit me in my tower some time? I'd love to meet you and if you bring this story, my biography 'Edna,' my collectable card, stamp, or even plushie, I'd be delighted to sign them for you. We may even become friends, and then I may teach you all my secrets from magic to flying! You may even be able to help me with my dream of becoming a super model. Oh, yes! That reminds me!

      Where are my Heart Shaped Sunglasses, Fizzy Ummagine Potion, and Frizz Free Mane Cloth? You have two hours, four minutes, and seven seconds to retrieve these items for my 'Super Model Brew!' Hurry up!

The End