The Great Apostrophe

Once upon a time there was a little Bloop; his name was Apostrophe. This little Bloop was never painted because he was proud of who he was—he was the last of his kind. He loved to write and he expressed his compassion for others with words; and they loved his writing. He could string together words as though they were notes in a song. Apostrophe created everything, from haiku to novels—he did it all. He knew he had a talent; a brilliant, useful talent. Apostrophe could have kept his gift of changing simple words into something beautiful to himself, but luckily he was not selfish. He believed he had a gift that he could share with everyone, and so he did.

     For centuries, Bloop graced the Neopets and petpets of the world with his talent, and they were all able to in some way use his gift. Great writings emerged in these centuries with the help of Apostrophe. Had it not been for him, there would be no “Golden Book of Spelling” or “Learning Your ABCs and 123s” and what a sad world that would be. During that time, the world of Neopia was at peace. There was no war because people could better express themselves with the help of Apostrophe. It was a golden age in the time that Apostrophe graced Neopia with his talent, but it could only last for so long.

     Before the time of Apostrophe, King P. Furgle the asparagus Chia rose to power, and he was revered. He was the first to create a united Neopia, but for years there was limited communication. Without communication, the land of Neopia could never move forward. Neopets couldn’t open up shops or build neohomes without writing. Because they didn’t have the knowledge of words, they were limited. That is until Apostrophe came. He brought the gift of writing to all and Neopia flourished. Alongside King P. Furgle, Apostrophe made the land of Neopia a happy place where no pet was grey, only bright, vibrant colors.

     However, not everyone was happy. Some wanted to see the fall of Apostrophe and to destroy the great land that King P. Furgle had created. They saw what King P. Furgle had done, and they were jealous of that power. Those evil pets wanted not only to own the land, but to destroy the beauty of it and bring misery down on all of them. This group was led by the evil Doctor Sloth himself. Oh, but he didn’t let anyone know it. He and his minions tried to act as though they enjoyed the ways of Neopia. They acted like they shared similar interest and held common ideologies; however, it was just an act to keep the pets from discovering their true plans for Neopia.

     Finally, the day came. Sloth sent his Moltaran minions to raid Neopia and destroy everything that they could find. He had his Darigan army act as look outs to ensure that no one escaped. Sloth had two special officers in his army that held the most significant tasks. Red Stone was a mean Moltaran Skeith who destroyed everything in his path. He hated the happy atmosphere that enveloped Neopia and wished to drain it from each and every Neopet’s heart. But most of all, he hated King P. Furgle, for had it not been for him, Neopia would have never become what it was. It was his duty to get rid of King P. Furgle and he relished the task. The second officer was known as Dowmin the Darigan Grarrl, and he too was vicious. Dowmin disliked the happiness as well, but what he hated the most was the vibrancy Neopia had. It was so bright and colorful, but he preferred darkness. He wanted to steal all of the colors away from Neopia and leave them in dreary shades of grey. His mission was to capture the beautiful Fountain Faerie so the magical fountain could no longer enrich Neopia with color. And last, there was Sloth who wanted to finally bring down Apostrophe, because without him anarchy would erupt and that is precisely what Sloth wanted.

     All of the evil Neopets rushed into Neopia Central and began their mission to take over. It happened so suddenly that the Neopians were unprepared and could do nothing to stop them. Apostrophe saw a Darigan Grarrl running up the hills and in terror, he fled. The Grarrl hadn’t seen him, but Apostrophe just kept moving, fearing that one of them would catch up and imprison him for the rest of his life. He left Neopia Central, wishing he could turn back to help but knowing that there was nothing he could do; words couldn’t save Neopia this time. He went all the way to Moltara, hoping that all of the evil Moltaran Neopets would be busy elsewhere. He crawled all through Moltara, desperately seeking shelter so that he would not be seen. When Apostrophe reached the Moltara Caves, he came across one that was so dark and empty that he would never be found. He slowly crawled inside with his head down, accepting his destiny of solitude. No longer would he be able to grace Neopia with his talents of writing. The wisdom of written word would be lost without him and he was ashamed for letting everyone down.

     Meanwhile in Brightvale, Officer Red Stone was coming for the King. The land had already been attacked by other Moltaran Neopets, but the Brightvale citizens continued to try to fend them off. Officer Red Stone made his way to the castle and broke his way through the entrance.

     “Where are you, Furgle?” he shouted in the foyer of the castle. Just then he saw movement in the corner of the room. A Blumaroo Jester had been hiding behind an autumn birch tree. Officer Red Stone grabbed the poor Blumaroo and dragged him to the center of the room.

     “Don’t hurt me,” the Blumaroo pleaded.

     “Come out now, Furgle, or your pathetic jester will fall for you,” Officer Red Stone shouted.

     King P. Furgle emerged from a hidden room behind his throne. He refused to let any neopet suffer on his behalf. He was a brave and humble King; never did he put himself before his fellow Neopets.

     “I’m glad you’ve come to join me Furgle. We have some business to take care of,” Officer Red Stone grumbled with a smirk. “I believe you have something I want...”

     Within a few days P. Furgle was banished not only from Brightvale, but all of Neopia. He was exiled to Kreludor to spend the rest of his days collecting meteor rocks alone. As King P. Furgle was sent away, Officer Dowmin, the vicious Darigan Grarrl, was already tearing down the beautiful castles of Faerieland to get to the Fountain Faerie. Finally he found her and forced her to relinquish the Rainbow Fountain. He gave her and the other faeries to Jhudora so that she could make sure none of them would be able to use their magic. At last he could destroy the wretched Rainbow Fountain that made the world of Neopia so vibrant with color. As he poured in a vile of swamp water, he laughed with joy, watching the once beautiful fountain turn a horrible shade of green.

     For years the great world of Neopia became a dreary one as Neopets lost hope and all became grey. Under Sloth’s rule, no Neopet was happy. They could not speak their opinions nor could they write any longer without the aid of Apostrophe. There was an endless list of laws strictly enforced to keep the Neopets in order, and anyone who rebelled would be harshly punished. Neopets dreamed of the days when King P. Furgle was in charge and when the world was full of color and diversity. Now, they lived with mundane shades of grey under a ruler who disregarded their thoughts and feelings. It seemed that all of the Neopets and petpets had lost hope except for one, Dee the Ona from Shenkuu. She believed that if she could just find Apostrophe and bring him back, then all of Neopia could unite and overturn Sloth’s empire.

     One night when the Darigan Buzz, John Smith, was supposed to be on guard, he fell asleep. Dee found this as the perfect time for her to break out and go in search of Apostrophe. She slowly crept past him and then ran as fast as she could. She knew that Sloth’s army was everywhere, except for Moltara. No one dared live there before because of the harsh temperatures, so it was the only place that the army left unchecked. Apostrophe had never been found and Sloth was outraged by this, so Dee knew that he must be hidden somewhere in Moltara. She traveled by night for weeks, only sleeping for a few hours in the day when she could find a place to hide. She seldom ate and lived in fear of being caught, for she knew the consequences would be unbearable. She saw many of her friends rebel, and immediately they were sent to Terror Mountain to live in the icy world with the Snowager. She couldn’t stand the cold, so she knew she must be careful.

     Dee finally made it to Moltara City, but could not find Apostrophe anywhere. She searched high and low, occasionally having to dodge a Moltaran. She searched all through the Moltara Caves but could not find the poor lost Bloop.

     “Where could he be?” she asked herself. She sat down, realizing that maybe she came here with false hope. There was no guarantee that Apostrophe was alive nor that she could ever find him. The little Ona began to cry but quickly put her paws over her mouth as she realized she had called attention to herself. She heard stomping as though someone were running towards her. Panicked, she ran in a small dark cave and closed her eyes, hoping that no one would look for her. As the footsteps passed, she went deeper into the cave so that even if they did come in, maybe they wouldn’t find her. She ran into something soft and jumped back, almost letting out a scream.

     “Who’s there?” she whispered. She tried to search the darkness for a figure, but found none. She repeated the question three more times and tried to find whatever she bumped into moments before. Finally, she found it and it was small and shaking.

     “Please don’t hurt me,” it said. Dee recognized that voice immediately.

     “Apostrophe?! Is that you?” she gasped, hope began to flood her heart once more. “Apostrophe, I’ve come to bring you back. You’re the only one who can save us!”

     “No, I can’t. I can’t do anything to help you. I would never stand a chance against Sloth and his army. I failed everyone when I ran away in fear. I’m so ashamed,” he murmured.

     “We were all scared, Apostrophe. Nobody is mad at you; none of us saw it coming. But we can do something now. We can save them, but only if you’ll help.”

     “I’m tired of hiding; living in this bleak cave has been miserable. All right, what do we do?” Apostrophe stood up and stopped shaking. He didn’t feel scared anymore; he wanted change. The only way he could achieve something so great was by setting fear aside and facing the evil forces that had taken over Neopia. Apostrophe and Dee decided they would have to sneak around from place to place, uniting the other Neopets together. Without Apostrophe, they hadn’t been able to write, but now that he was back, they could send secret messages all over to unite the Neopians. And so they set off, and over a course of months they rallied Neopians together in a secret plan to overthrow Sloth.

     Finally the day had come. The guards had become so used to the Neopets cowering before them that they stopped paying as much attention. The Neopets used this to their advantage to work together and defeat the guards. Soon, Shenkuu and the Lost Desert prevailed. Other lands followed quickly after, all striking at once and taking the malignant army by surprise. No longer would they have to live in this restricted world. They could write freely again and live the way they chose. In Faerieland, Neopets from all over came to free the faeries. It was heavily guarded, but once more they succeeded. The Fountain Faerie returned to the Rainbow Fountain and cleansed it of the swampy water. Neopia filled with color once more and the Neopets were free. Apostrophe and Dee escorted Sloth and his minions to the Virtupets Space Station where they would stay. Never again would he be allowed to return to Neopia.

     Neopia flourished once more. Books were written in abundance after years of having none. King P. Furgle never did return to Brightvale. After all the time he spent in Kreludor, he had began to admire the beauty of meteors and found that they were also quite profitable. Everyone wanted a neohome built of glowing meteor rock after they saw his lovely castle. Dee the great Ona was knighted and lived with King P. Furgle, helping to reestablish order in the world of Neopia. As for Apostrophe, well, he had been very missed. He and Dee were praised as the saviors of Neopia and they were so glad for his return, for what a sad world it would be if we couldn’t write.

The End