Coltzan's Shrine

     A young blue Aisha with short orange hair babbled on as she pulled a bored-out-of-her-mind red Ixi along the dry grounds of the Lost Desert. The Ixi looked over her shoulder every so often, perhaps hoping their owner or someone would stop them from going on this incredibly lame "journey" (as the Aisha liked to call it). Heck, right now, the Ixi wouldn't have cared if Darigan or Sloth came out of nowhere and decided to kidnap her. Anything to get away from her annoying and hyperactive younger sister. No such luck. She sighed and turned back to her sister, who was still blabbing on about something

     "Why are we doing this again, A.G.?" the Ixi interrupted whatever the younger girl was saying, peaking over her shoulder one last time. The Aisha giggled a bit, not even bothering to look at her sister.

     "Don't be silly, Pup, I told you already. We're going down to Coltzan's Shrine to get our well deserved one million neopoints."

     Pup groaned and rolled her eyes. A warm wind blew at a bit of her bangs that hung freely across her right eye. She brushed it back into place and continued walking, grumbling about her sore feet. The Aisha, on the other hand, joyfully hummed the Meepit Juice Break theme as she skipped across the sandy plains. She never seemed to tire.

     "I can't believe you believe that garbage," Pup finally said after a while, hoping maybe she could stop this journey once and for all. "Everyone knows that that whole 'Coltzan's gonna give you a million neopoints if you come at a certain time' story is a lie."

     Not a good good thing to tell her. A.G. stopped in her tracks. She turned around to face her sister, fire in her eyes. Even Pup found this a little intimidating as she slowly backed away from the tiny but fierce Aisha.

     "It's not a lie!" A.G. whined, stomping the sand, making a footprint that looked twice the size of her actual foot. "I know a person who said he won... like... millions at the shrine. It's true!"

     Pup snorted. Garbage. Complete and utter garbage.

     "And who exactly did you hear this from?"

     A.G. hesitated for a moment. She shuffled her foot around in the sand for a bit.

     "Ya know... that Acara. The one I hang around with sometimes. The one with the cool hair and the awesome owner who gets him everything and-"

     "Cliff?"

     "Yeah."

     Pup had to hold back a laugh. Cliff, the same guy who had cheated her foolish little sister out of five thousand neopoints by saying that her found the cheapest Baby Paint Brush ever and that he'd go get it for her if she gave him that money. She never got her PB, nor her money back, but yet Cliff had a brand new scarf he somehow had managed to afford.

     "And you believed him?" Pup chuckled; she just couldn't help it. This was gold to her. "And where are these neopoints of his? Last time I saw him he didn't look much richer than before."

     "Of course not!" A.G. shouted. "He gave most of his money to the Money Tree. He's very generous, you know."

     This time Pup had to hold her breath to keep from bursting into tears of laughter. This story just kept getting better and better.

     "Oh wow, you just get stupider every second, don't you?"

     A.G. winced. That hurt! This, she knew, was a good time to play the little sister act.

     "P-Pup," she sniffled, even managing to force a couple of fake tears. "Why are you soooo mean to meeeee?!! I'm your wittle sister, don't you WUV me? You're such a big meanie! I'm telling Krisy! Waaah!"

     Pup just stared at her. A.G. was a girl of nearly thirteen; did she actually expect her to fall for that act? But A.G., on the other hand, had no intention of making her feel guilty; she just wanted to annoy the heck out of her until she cracked and agreed to continue on their little journey in peace. It worked.

     "Fine!" Pup shouted, twitching ever so slightly. "I go along quietly, but we better make this journey quick."

     A.G. squealed with joy and hugged her reluctant sister around her waist.

     "Ooooh yes!! I'll make it quick, I promise. You won't regret this journey, though. We're gonna be sooooo rich!!"

     "Doubt it," Pup mumbled.

     "And I'll finally be able to get that Baby Paint Brush I've always wanted."

     "Doubt it."

     "And you'll finally be able to afford that Fire Paint Brush you've had your eyes on for so long now."

     Pup's face softened a bit. For as long as she could remember, Fire was the only thing she wanted to be painted. To her it was the coolest color ever. But Fire Paint Brushes were nearly one million neopoints, and that was just points they didn't have. It wasn't that they couldn't make it, it was just Krisy (their owner) would tell them that there were more important things than that that she needed to get first. She then went on to rant about food, housing, and all that, but by then Pup had tuned her out.

     "Think about it," A.G. wrapped her arm around the dazed sister. "You'll be be the envy of all your friends. People will complimenting you on how good you look. It'll be great. You'll be... like... famous!"

     Pup shook her head. A.G.'s exaggerated fantasies always ruined it.

     "Look, I already said I'd go along." Pup tried to put on an angry face again, although not doing a very good job of it. "Now just shut up and get going."

     A.G. smirked. Ticking off her sister was almost as good as one million neopoints.

     "Trust me, it'll be so worth it. Oooh, this is gonna be so great!"

     A.G. tugged some more at her sister's arm. Pup followed, no use trying to fight it anymore. She sighed. She wished she had at least brought some Borovan or NeoCola or something to drink. She wished they were there already.

     "Don't worry, we almost there," A.G. stated, as though she was reading Pup's mind. "Just a few more min..."

     A.G. stopped. She looked up. Her grip on Pup's wrist loosened a bit (much to Pup's relief). There before the two young neopets was Coltzan's Shrine in all its golden and shiny glory.

     "We're here!" A.G. squealed, skipping around the shrine in a child-like fashion. "We're here! We're here!"

     A.G. sang happily to herself as she continued to skip around the massive tower. Pup just watched her quietly. Finally, they could get this over with and go home. If A.G. would just settle down and do this...

     "Can we just get this over with?" Pup finally snapped, causing A.G. to stumble over her feet a bit. Once the girl regained her balance and patted her dress back down, she checked her watch.

     "Just one more minute," she stated, almost shaking with excitement. "It has to be exactly the right time."

     Pup watched as the watch ticked away. A few more seconds. 5... 4... 3... 2...

     "Oh great Coltzan!" A.G. suddenly chanted, throwing herself on her hands and knees as though she was performing some sort of strange ritual. Pup stood back. "We've come from afar to collect our gift. Oh great Coltzan, what treats do you bestow on us?"

     The face of an aged Lupe appeared in front of the shrine. He looked down upon the girl and smiled.

     "I have something special for you," he stated before disappearing. A.G. could hardly contain herself. She bit down on her lip to keep herself from squealing out in complete joy.

     "Did you hear that, Pup?" A.G. babbled excitedly, grabbing her sister's shoulders and shaking her until she felt like she would nearly throw up. "He said he has something special for me! I can't believe it. We're going to be rich! Totally rich!"

     But Pup wasn't paying attention to her sister; she was too busy looking down at the ground, trying her hardest not to laugh.

     "Yeah, look behind you, A.G. Your gift has arrived."

     A.G. turned around almost instantly and looked behind her. Her smile dropped.

     "It's a... it's a..."

     "Go on," Pup smirked.

     "It's a banana!"

     "Not just a banana, it's a Mummified Banana," Pup corrected, unable to contain her laughter any longer. Pup clutched her chest and nearly keeled over, tears of laughter streaming down her face. A.G. just stood there, in some sort of state of shock. Blink, blink.

     "But... I came at the right time... A banana?"

     Pup wiped the tears out of her eyes and wrapped her arm around the stunned Aisha.

     "So much for the million neopoints, hmm?'

     "Yeah but... Come on! A banana?"

The End