Caution: Quills may be sharp Circulation: 184,475,300 Issue: 467 | 29th day of Collecting, Y12
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Princess Mind-Reader: Part Four


by thornfoot2

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Savuk stared at the two neopets hard, deciding if he should really attack them. Sighing, he answered, “I wish I had come here to kill you, Deliluk, but I have come here to tell you something important. Very important. So, would you like to hear it?”

      No one moved.

      The assassin smiled evilly, as if he had gotten them cornered. “The thing I have to tell you is...”

      ***

      “...Victoria is our sister.”

      Silence flooded the room. Victoria’s heart skipped a beat. It can’t be true! she thought.

      It is, Deliluk said sadly. I knew all about it. I didn’t want to tell you... because it would upset you, I thought. So... I am glad that Savuk told you instead of me.

      “Oh.” Victoria broke the silence. “Since you had told us what you had to tell us, Savuk, leave. You don’t need to be here anymore. You are a tyrant, and you are in the midst of a Magic Shop. You break something, you buy something. Got it?”

      Savuk walked over to a vial with bubbly dark blue liquid inside. “What happens if I break this...” he asked questioningly, and pushed the vial to the floor.

      “Stop it!” Victoria said angrily.

      The vial exploded. Victoria and Deliluk fell to the floor to dodge the explosion. Blue gas fluttered around the Magic Shop, and Victoria could see nothing but blue. Quickly she tried to find Deliluk. She could only see her nose through the mess. Her wings fluttered, trying to bat away the gas. Finally, the blue disappeared. Their vision was clear.

      Coughing, she tried to think of what happened. Deliluk was her brother, Savuk was her brother, they were related... Savuk had destroyed a valuable item, and now Kauvara would need to place another order. Sighing, she scanned the area for Savuk.

      Savuk was nowhere to be found. Angrily she picked up a broom and cleaned up the broken shards. Some things were stained blue, however. Victoria tried to clean off a piece of paper in case it was something important, but nothing showed through the blue. In frustration Victoria groaned.

      “Sorry.” Deliluk scrambled up next to Victoria. “Real sorry, Vicky. Let’s clean up this mess. And... I think we should go visit King Hagan, so he knows you’re alive and who you are and what you can do.” He pointed to his head. The Usul slithered across the room in such a shadowy way, Victoria could hardly believe that Deliluk was her friend.

      Victoria sighed. “No.”

      “Pardon?” Deliluk looked back at Victoria. “What did you say?”

      Quickly Victoria looked away; embarrassed. She shook her head, and continued to try to rub off the piece of parchment. Nothing showed. Suddenly Victoria snapped her head up as the door opened and creaked as Kauvara shut it.

      Kauvara seemed baffled at the destruction of the place. “Victoria?” she asked, her hooves clopping on the floor as she trotted over to her. “What happened here?”

      “Lots of stuff.” Deliluk picked up a chunk of glass from the vial, which had flown out and punctured the wall. “Well, the assassin came back, Savuk, and turns out he tried to kill us. And Vicky’s my...” He broke off as Victoria sent him a hard look.

      The Starry Kau continued to look around, and then gazed at the blue paper Victoria had found. She saw a faded “24” imprinted on the piece. “Oh great. The count of what I had of potions was on this paper.” She looked around and found a old wand. “Gift from a faerie,” Kauvara explained. “It was because I was an extreme magic thief – er, magic witch. Now, help me clean up.”

      Why had Kauvara said “extreme magic thief”? There were many secrets of Kauvara’s past that Victoria did not know about, but what they were, they were probably important to mind-readers. It wasn’t always that Kauvara spoke straight-forward, however, she was strange and mystical.

      As Deliluk sidled by, Victoria watched his scar ripple as he blinked. She realized that on his eyelid as well, the white line was embedded on it. She stared at the tiny cuts on her paws.

      All of the three neopets in the Magic Shop had strange pasts.

     ***

      “Deliluk.” Victoria called the Shadow Usul’s name softly. “Deliluk! Deliluk!! DELILUK!!!”

      No one replied. “Deliluk!!!”

      A groggy Kauvara met Victoria in the hall. She blinked slowly and said, “I woke up and I tried to find Deliluk, but he’s nowhere. Go check outside; you’re a bit more awake than I am.” Kauvara sighed and clopped, slowly, very slowly, back into her room.

      Desperate to find her friend, Victoria clambered outside. She nearly tipped over a Nova. It made a low hiss as she passed and opened the door and yelled, “Deliluk!”

      By lunch, Deliluk was nowhere. Deep in thought, Victoria turned over her hot dog miserably. Stabbing it with a fork, it was soon mush. She pushed her plate away from her. “I’m not hungry.”

      Kauvara sighed and took the plate and put the mush of hot dog in the trash and washed the plate. Kauvara watched the Faerie Wocky get down from the chair. She said, “My dear, I know you miss Deliluk, but if he’s moved on, you’ve moved on, perhaps the connection broke.”

      Deliluk? Come here buddy, talk to me, Victoria called out in her mind. Deli!

      Nobody answered. Had Deliluk closed up his mind? Would it be three years before Deliluk answered? Sighing, Vicky began organizing some Starlight Potions.

     ***

      Rain began to sprinkle down from a thunderhead above. It wasn’t long before Deliluk was in the middle of a downpour. His fur pressed against his skin, he headed off for Brightvale. If Victoria wasn’t coming with him, Deliluk would make sure King Hagan knew that Vicky was alive. He cut himself completely from Victoria’s mind.

      That little Princess. She was perfect and had a nice home where she was loved. Back where Deliluk had been, he had been on several missions, stealing, bombing houses, and ultimately having a little duel with his brother, giving him his scar.

      Deliluk was beginning to get a little urge to talk to Victoria. In silence, he trudged on the wet grass, feeling the cold, wet rain. He lifted his head to the sky and opened his mouth, trying to receive a drink. Barely anything came into his mouth, and he gulped. Deliluk’s throat felt a little better, but not much.

      Oh, he remember what had been on the news of the Neopian Times one week: PRINCESS KILLED BY ASSASSIN, BODY TAKEN. But only Savuk, Deliluk, and Victoria knew the truth. When Savuk had arrived back to the Masters Of Mind, the MOM Society, he had told them he buried Victoria’s body. But there Deliluk had been, the so-called life-less body come back to life.

      Muck covered Deliluk’s paws. Is this how Victoria had been when she was running away? Thunder rumbled and lightning cracked; a jagged fork cutting across the sky. He was blinded temporarily; Deliluk blinked to see everything clear again.

      Sighing, Deliluk continued to walk through the sludge. Suddenly, through the blinding lightning and the petrifying thunder, Deliluk could see a shape looming up ahead. He scrambled and saw it was a cottage. He knocked on the door, and a Mutant Acara opened the door.

      “Welcome to my home.” She seemed bored. “I haven’t had a visitor in days. Come in; take a bath, and eat, and I’ll set you on your way.”

      Deliluk bowed his head respectfully. “Thank you...”

      The Acara smiled. “Call me Miss V.”

      “Thank you... Miss V.”

      As soon as he was dry from taking a bath, he joined Miss V at the dining room table. She seemed nice enough, yet mysterious.

      Miss V suddenly said, “Stay for the night, if you please. Through this storm, you won’t make it very far before lightning strikes something. It’ll go on for awhile, sir. Now, can you introduce yourself, like I introduced myself?”

      Deliluk was dazzled by Miss V’s kindness, even if she was a Mutant Acara. He nodded slowly, as if he was tried to move it through corn syrup. He replied, “My name is Deliluk, and I’m headed toward Brightvale. You seem so lonely here.” He couldn’t help but say that sentence.

      The Mutant Acara didn’t even mind. She sighed and stared out the window. “Visitors don’t ever come, because they hear of me, this Mutant. They are constantly reminded of Vira.” She shivered. “I am even called Miss V. My name is so close to Vira, that I must call myself Miss V. So here I stay, in fear that one day, there will be a mob to hunt me down. They mistake me for Vira.”

      “Oh.” Deliluk felt immensely bad. “I’m very sorry.”

      “But I’m glad to have such a handsome face!” Miss V said, her voice bright and happy. Lightning flashed. “Now, it’s a good thing I store toothbrushes, because you’re going to want to brush your teeth. You’ll want good sleep, and it’s a good thing I have a guest room!”

      Quickly, Deliluk replied, “I am like you, Miss V, because everybody doesn’t like Shadow Usuls. So, ultimately, I am feared too.”

      When Deliluk closed his eyes to sleep that night, he couldn’t help but think there was something strange about Miss V, even if she was kind and nice.

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» Princess Mind-Reader: Part One
» Princess Mind-Reader: Part Two
» Princess Mind-Reader: Part Three
» Princess Mind-Reader: Part Five
» Princess Mind-Reader: Part Six



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