Chronicles of the Chosen: The Last Battle - Part One

     I had a friend.

     A tear escaped my eye as I drew a sketch of my owner. I drew on her the most gorgeous ocean blue eyes and dotted her face with freckles, and added smiling teeth to her mouth. I drew her jet black hair flowing in the breeze, silky and smooth.

     I penciled in her favorite green halter top and black wrist warmers. Since my picture didn’t show much of her lower body, I drew her skirt and legs, stopping at her knee. I frowned. The picture didn’t even compare to how pretty Jamie was in real life.

     My owner, Jamie, had taken care of me since the day I was born. We did everything together: Read together, played together, and laughed together. It was just her and me for a long time, and I loved it that way.

     A few years later, Jamie adopted a green Aisha from the pound, named Avery. She was an excellent addition to the family, and I knew it couldn’t get any better.

     I was right; it only got worse.

     It wasn’t about Avery. She wasn’t causing friction or anything. In fact, she was very cooperative. It wasn’t about who Jamie neglected. Both of us were loved equally by our owner.

     It’s almost like she woke up, and thought to herself, “Hey, why don’t I abandon Sandra today?”

     So, early in the morning, she took me to the pound. I was angry, confused, frustrated at my owner. Why is she just throwing me away? Why doesn’t she care about me anymore?

     But, just before she handed Dr. Death the neopoints, she whispered into my ear, “I’ll come back, someday.”

     “I’ll be waiting for you,” I had told her.

     After being abandoned, I met someone; a sweet, green Kyrii named Kathryn. At first, we sort of disliked each other. But, after getting to know her, I realized that she was pretty cool. We became great friends.

     And then... and then...

     “Sandra,” a voice cracked through the door of my dormitory.

     It was Dr. Death’s voice, no doubt. I rolled my eyes.

     “What are you blaming me for this time?” I asked, continuing to sketch Jamie on my Sketch a Pic.

     “I’m not blaming you.” Dr. Death scowled. “I am coming to advise you about your door.”

     “What’s wrong with it?” I asked.

     “Kathryn no longer lives in this dormitory. This door still has Kathryn’s little self-portrait on it.”

     “So? It’s cool,” I said, not really seeing the problem Dr. Death was referring to.

     “So, it makes visitors think that Kathryn’s still here,” Dr. Death growled. “Wash it off.”

     “But sir...!” I exclaimed.

     This wasn’t fair! That picture of Kathryn had been there for years, and now he wanted me to just get rid of it?

     “Wash it off!” Dr. Death repeated, with an angered tone in his voice.

     And of course, I had to obey his orders, whether I wanted to or not.

     ---

     As I shoved the dishrag into the bucket of soap water, I sighed in dismay. Each time I wrung out the rag, I felt my heart break. I wasn’t surprised about how I was acting. I couldn’t just wash off Kathryn’s door without feeling guilty about it.

     The pound has a fun and creative thing when it comes to the doors. Each neopet’s door -that opens to their dormitory - can be decorated any way they wish. Many decorated theirs from floral print to random doodles, and no two doors looked alike.

     Kathryn was an amazing artist. She had decorated her door by sketching a self-portrait of herself on it. The detail and shading were perfect enough to be displayed in the Art Gallery!

     And now I was washing it away.

     Why did she have to be adopted? She was my roommate, and my best friend. We may have not been through much together, but it still hurt to see her leave.

     A tear escaped my eye as I scrubbed off Kathryn’s door. Most of the portrait’s body was washed off, and only her hands and head remained. I swept my dishrag over her face. When I looked at it, the lines began to run. The marker strokes that consisted of her eyes drooped.

     To me, it looked like she was crying, too.

     Suddenly, the door slammed open. The large piece of wood on hinges smacked me straight on the head. The Kacheek, who had opened the door, gasped.

     “Oh! I’m sorry, Sandra. I didn’t see you there,” she said, kneeling down beside me.

     “It's okay, Monica,” I told her. “You didn’t break anything.”

     Monica grinned. She closed the door and stood up on her feet. The Kacheek straightened her signature purple-and-green dress before looking at the almost-blank door. A tear escaped her eye.

     “It looks so... empty,” she said in a small voice.

     I looked down at the ground.

     “I guess she really isn’t coming back.”

     There was an odd silence that hung in the air after saying that. Monica and I just kept exchanging looks at each other, and then back at the door. Then, slowly, Monica bent down, grabbed a dishrag, and began to scrub the door. I joined in, not saying a word.

     ---

     That night, I had a very vivid dream.

     As soon as my eyes closed, I was whisked away to Meridell. The cottages and homes were so lifelike; I could almost touch them. It even smelled like Meridell, with rubbish and potato aroma filling the crisp, autumn air.

     Suddenly, I was in a kitchen. The potato smell was quickly replaced by soap smell. My eyes looked down at the ground, and found a green Kyrii, scrubbing the floors.

     Poor Kyrii, I thought with a sigh.

     Just then, a short, blonde-haired girl walked into the scene. She wore a yellow tank top with a black leather jacket covering it. Her skirt was striped with dark and light grey, and her leggings were blue violet. She reminded me of a back-up dancer for Chomby and the Fungus Balls.

     The girl glared at the Kyrii.

     “I told you to clean!” the girl yelled.

     “I am cleaning, N-Noelle,” the Kyrii stammered.

     Noelle’s face turned bright red.

     “LIES!”

     She grabbed a spatula from the counter and threw it at the Kyrii. Fortunately, she ducked.

     “B-but, Noelle...”

     “NO BUTS! CLEAN!”

     With that being said, Noelle left the room. The Kyrii looked straight into my eyes and whispered these words:

     “Help me, Sandra. Please.”

     “What...?”

     Before I could finish my sentence, the scene shifted. We were now in the Living Room, where Noelle was yelling at the Kyrii.

     “You are the worst pet on the face of Neopia! I can’t believe I adopted you!”

     Tears were streaming down the Kyrii’s face.

     “But, Noelle...”

     “You should’ve been left to ROT in the pound!” Noelle screamed. “You’re just a useless, good-for-nothing Kyrii!”

     The Kyrii continued to sob as Noelle turned her back to her. I felt pretty sorry for the Kyrii. No one should have to live like this.

     Suddenly, the Kyrii stopped crying. She gritted her teeth in anger. She hopped up onto her feet.

     “What are you doing...?” I asked her.

     The Kyrii didn’t listen. She held her hands low to the ground. Then, she slowly began to raise them up. She continued to raise them until they were above her head. At first, I had no idea what she was doing. But in an instant, I knew.

     “Kathryn, don’t!” I screamed, but still she didn’t listen.

     Suddenly, the floor around Noelle began to rise. Soon she was high in the air, standing on top of a levitating boulder.

     The Kyrii turned around, with her arms in front of her, and the boulder spun, too. Finally, the Kyrii flung her arms to the side, and the boulder catapulted towards the wall.

     Noelle, panicking, jumped off of the boulder before it crashed into the wall. The whole house crumpled down in front of them. I crouched onto the ground, with my arms covering my head, as the debris fell down.

     Finally, the debris stopped dropping. I lifted my head, and gasped.

     All that was left of Noelle’s house was the floor, and the three of us. Noelle gasped.

     “You... YOU...” she stammered.

     Kathryn slapped her head. She shouldn’t have done what she did. Now the whole world could be in danger just because of her anger.

     “You MONSTER!” her owner shrieked. “I’m reporting you to the Defenders of Neopia!”

     Kathryn’s eyes were open wide. There was only one thing left to do.

     Run!

     She quickly darted out of the destroyed home and into the streets of Meridell. Noelle ran after her, with her eyes bright red. They ran through the town, and out into the fields. Kathryn finally lost her at the forest.

     “I’m safe now,” she said to herself, breathing heavily.

     But suddenly, a bright bolt of green lightning struck in front of Kathryn. She screamed and covered her eyes. I did the same.

     When I finally opened my eyes, I saw a Dark Faerie. Her flawless violet skin complemented her gleaming purple eyes. Her purple-and-green hair fell to her waist. Her dress was long and flowy and touched the ground. I never thought that someone so evil would look so... beautiful.

     “Kathryn, we meet again,” Jhudora said, with an evil smirk on her face.

     ---

     I shot straight up from my bed that instant. Looking around the familiar dormitory I called home, I felt a nice wave of relief. It was just a dream...

     ...Was it?

     “Come on,” a voice whispered. “It’s time to go.”

     I sat up in my bed slowly, trying to calm myself down.

     Kathryn is okay, I told myself silently. She isn’t in danger.

     I gulped.

     Not yet, anyway.

     Finally, I crawled out of my shanty, old bed and walked to the door. Monica was waiting there, her arms crossed, waiting impatiently. We both snuck out into the hallway, pleading that no one was watching our departure.

     What we were doing was secret, and we wanted to keep it that way.

     Monica and I rounded the corner to the end of the hallway. A metallic door, safe from intruders by lasers and alarms, stood right in front of us. Monica crept over to the keypad, punched in the code, and hit the green ‘Submit’ button. The lasers were deactivated, and we could now enter.

     I led the way as we stampeded down the concrete stairs. Monica practically sprinted to keep up with me. We finally reached a door; the very door that led to our secret headquarters. If ANYONE who wasn’t one of us found our headquarters, no one would be safe.

     A red light shone above the door, almost glaring at us with its glow. I firmly said the password that unlocked it.

     “Kadoatie.”

     The red light above the door turned green, and we opened it. We stepped inside.

     In the headquarters (or, as I like to call it, The Lair), a blue Mynci, a yellow Nimmo, and a red Acara were gathered at a tiger-striped table playing Pyramids. Each sat in their color-coded seat, not even glancing up from their game.

     Now is probably the best time to explain what we do. If I don’t explain now, you’ll only get more confused.

     A long time ago, back about a hundred years, a great war was fought in Faerieland. The faeries - including Fyora - were battling the Dark Faerie army, led by Jhudora. The land’s clouds became battlegrounds, and both sides fought tirelessly to win the war.

     Fyora’s side won, but only by a narrow margin.

     Since then, Jhudora has plotted and even attempted to start a new war. A new war that, if Fyora’s army doesn’t prevail, will have the entire world under control of Jhudora!

     Fyora knew that if Jhudora started a new war, the faeries couldn’t stop her alone. So, for the fate of the world, she chose six neopets to help stop Jhudora. Each chosen neopet was given the power to control one element, and it had to be used to help ward off the Dark Faerie’s evil works.

     Kathryn, Monica, and I – along with the blue Mynci, yellow Nimmo, and red Acara, whose names are Maurice, Johnny, and Kendall - are the six chosen neopets.

     Maurice controls the element of water, Kathryn controls the element of earth, I control fire, Kendall controls the wind, Monica controls darkness, and Johnny controls light. Together, it is our duty to help stop Jhudora.

     “Hey, guys!” Johnny said, grinning and waving at me and Monica.

     “’Sup!” Maurice said, glancing up from his cards.

     “How’s it going, Flamethrower?” Kendall asked me, laughing.

     I grimaced at my ‘special’ nickname. Kendall thought of it himself, and he taunted me with it. Monica and I sat down in our chairs and watched their game of Pyramids.

     This is what most of our secret Chosen Neopet meetings consisted of now. All we do is sit around and play Pyramids. Jhudora just wasn’t doing evil. And with Kathryn gone, the meetings were less and less fun each day.

     Maurice looked as his cards, a tired look on his face. He groaned and drew another card. Johnny did the same, sighing. Kendall pouted when drawing a card.

     When it was Maurice’s turn again, his grimaced.

     “What happened to all of the action?”

     He threw down his cards onto the table.

     “What happened to are all of the cool adventures we used to go on? Where’s the evil, the suspense, the danger? All we do now is play stinkin’ Pyramids!”

     He shoved his cards into the card pyramid. Johnny looked up at his friend.

     “But, Maurice--”

     “No!” Maurice cried. “We used to be important! The world used to DEPEND on us! Now...”

     He rested his cheek on his paw and sighed.

     “Now we’re nothing more than super-powered freaks.”

     “We’re still important...” Johnny said, looking like he was ready to cry.

     “No, we’re not! Can’t you all SEE that?”

     Maurice stood up. He headed for the door, without even daring to look at us.

     “I’m done.”

     With that being said, our unofficial leader was gone. Silence spread across the room, with the four of us exchanging doubtful glances.

     Kendall stood up.

     “He’s right. The world doesn’t need us anymore.”

     He walked out the door, as well.

     Monica sighed.

     “Well,” she said half-heartedly. “I guess I’ll head up to my dorm now.”

     She followed Kendall out of The Lair.

     No, I wanted to scream. We’re still important! If we let our guard down, Jhudora would ransack Neopia. We can’t lose hope! And we’re not freaks, we’re... we’re...

     I looked over at Johnny, tears welling up in my eyes.

     “Do you give up, too?” I asked him, on the verge of tears. “Are you going to leave along with them?”

     For a moment, Johnny just stared at me, sobbing, as well. Then, he slowly stood up.

     “Johnny...?”

     Suddenly, the Nimmo ran at top speed out of The Lair, crying loudly.

     I looked around our now empty headquarters. It seemed so depressing without Monica’s giggling, Maurice’s leadership, Johnny’s enthusiasm, and Kendall’s goofy smile. Now that they were gone, it was nothing more than four stone walls and a roof.

     For a moment, I thought, Do I give up?

     “No,” I told myself. “I’m the only one with hope left.”

     The lights flickered, and they shut off, just like that. Remembering that I could control fire, I quickly made a flame appear in the palm of my hand. The little flame was the only light in a room of darkness. I felt the same way... you know, metaphorically.

     I’m not a freak, I thought to myself. I’m... erm...

     “Uniquely gifted,” I blurted out, finishing my thought.

     And so I sat there - flame in hand - alone in The Lair, the only one who hadn’t lost hope.

To be continued...