Chet Flash wuz here Circulation: 184,180,878 Issue: 481 | 11th day of Awakening, Y13
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The Valentine


by sheik_30999

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Caiden grasped the scissors in his paws and began snipping away at the red construction paper in front of him. He was making a half Valentine’s, half thank you card to one of the most unappreciated, yet vital Neopian he knew: the Space Faerie.

     It seemed kind of weird to the green Blumaroo that though everybody chatted endlessly about their role models, such as King Altador, Fyora, and Isca, he never heard anything about the faerie who had saved the whole of Neopia from Dr. Frank Sloth. It was so unfair! Without her, they’d all be robots and would have to pretend they liked being that way.

     Well, he thought, I’ll just have to show her that she’s still appreciated.

     Soon, he was done cutting the paper and looked down at the red heart he’d made it into. Not too shabby. He took the bottle of school glue beside him and dotted the middle and outline of the heart with the sticky white substance. Then he pressed it on to the white card he’d folded. It looked nice.

     “Caiden!” his older sister Melissa called. “Dinner’s ready! Our owner made our favorite, Shrimp Spaghetti!”

     “Not yet,” Caiden protested, “I’m almost done with my card!”

     “That card? Oh, come on, Caiden, you have got to be kidding me.”

     “I’ll be down there in a sec, alright? Geez.” She’d been bugging him repeatedly today, and his temper was growing quite short.

     The front door opened and then shut closed, signaling that someone had entered their home. “Hey, Mel!” a voice called. It was Melissa’s best friend and valentine, Rick the plushie JubJub. He was pretty nice, and liked listening to Caiden more than his own sister did. “Sorry I’m late.”

     “No, no, you’re right on time,” the spotted Techo replied from the couch. “We’re having Shrimp Spaghetti for dinner and chocolate covered strawberries afterward.”

     Chocolate covered strawberries! Those were his favorite! He needed to hurry. Quickly, he wrote a few kind words inside the card.

     He stuffed the card in an envelope and wrote down the address, then rushed downstairs to send it; and by send it, I mean he ran all the way to the post office to drop it off, his tail acting as a spring as he bounced along.

     The green Chia who delivered the mail took the envelope and stared at it in horror. “Sir,” he asked, “Are you REALLY sure you want to send it to this address?”

     “Of course,” Caiden replied with a frown. See? he thought angrily, No one appreciates the Space Faerie! Not even the postal delivery guy (or whatever his name is)! “Just send it, please, alright?” He walked away, leaving the Chia confused.

     “Why would he want to give a Valentine’s card to... ah, well, kids these days,” he muttered. “Time to get the old diving suit on.”

     The Blumaroo hopped in the door and into his house. The smell of noodles and seafood wafted under his nostrils. Caiden took a deep breath to inhale the scent; it smelled so delicious. He bounced into the dining room, where his owner, Travis, was already serving dinner to Melissa and Rick.

     Travis smiled. “Hey, you’re just in time,” he said cheerily. “I was wondering when you were coming down from your room. You’ve been locked in there all day!”

     “He’s locked in there every day,” Melissa teased. “Probably to avoid the sunlight. I’m beginning to think he’s Count Von Roo.”

     Caiden rolled his eyes and took a seat. “I’ve been working on the card for the Space Faerie.”

     Before his sister could respond, Rick commented, “That’s great! It seems you never hear of her these days, do you? It’s nice to know people are still openly supporting her.”

     “Why her, though?” Melissa snorted, “Everyone knows Fyora is better.”

     “No, she isn’t!” Caiden groaned, “See, that’s the problem with this society! Everyone takes her for granted! She stopped Sloth from taking over Neopia! She has cool prizes from a scratch card! She... she...”

     “Has blue hair?” Travis suggested.

     “Yeah, that too.”

     “Still--” Melissa began.

     “Dinner’s ready, go ahead and eat,” Travis said quickly before the siblings could get into a heated debate over which faerie was better. Immediately, the Neopets forked heaps of spaghetti into their mouths, using a napkin when necessary. Soon enough, everyone was done and all the supper was gone, so Travis brought a bowl holding mounds of chocolate strawberries.

     Caiden pondered the whole Space Faerie thing quietly. Why didn’t anybody seem to like her? She was more important than Fyora, more heroic than the Battle Faerie, and had way cooler hair than Jhudora, in his opinion. Then again, half the people who didn’t value the faerie were either supporters of Dr. Sloth or just plain crazy. He sighed heavily, taking a strawberry and biting into it gingerly.

     “What’s wrong?” Melissa asked, though she wasn’t really concerned at all.

     “What’s so bad about sending a card to Neopia’s hero?” he replied.

     She paused thoughtfully. “Nothing, really, if you think about it. But I just don’t see how she’s so important.” She bit her tongue. Now her brother was going to go on a rampage, and she knew it.

     Caiden felt his eyes widen dramatically. “SERIOUSLY? SHE SAVED THE WHOLE WORLD FROM THE CLUTCHES OF SLOTH! WITHOUT HER, WE’D ALL BE SLAVES OF HIM AND EVERY SLOTH APPRECIATION DAY WE’D HAVE TO BE LIKE THE GRUNDOS IN CAPTION CONTEST 1177! DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT TO HAPPEN? DO YOU REALLY WANT FREEDOM TO BE OUT OF OUR REACH? DO YOU?” He stopped and gathered himself mentally and took a deep breath. “You’re messing with my whole Zen thing, Melissa.”

     She smirked. “That’s what older sisters are for, aren’t they?”

     Travis cleared the dishes. “Okay, who’s up for the Shenkuu Valentine’s Day Firework Show? I heard it’s pretty amazing.”

     Fireworks? Caiden thought excitedly. I haven’t seen those for three years! “I’m perfectly fine with that.”

     “Well, then, we don’t want to be late, now, do we?” Rick said, hopping off the chair he’d previously sat on. “It’ll be about an hour if we take an Eyrie Cab. Let’s go!”

     It took them only forty-five minutes until they arrived at Shenkuu. Since they were early, they got to test out their stuff at the Lunar Temple, meditate under cherry trees, and scream at the top of their lungs as they tumbled down a series of waterfalls in an inflatable raft. Soon, it was time for the firework show. They all sat under a large weeping willow and watched the lights explode in the sky like beautiful, reject rainbows. Some were red, some blue, and others so loud that their ears rang.

     After a while, Rick asked, “Hey, Caiden, what address did you send that card to?”

     “953 Cosmic St., Maraquan Ruins.”

     He cocked his head, staring up at the lights, now forming a large pink heart shape. “What? That’s not the Space Faerie’s address.”

     Now it was Caiden’s turn to be surprised. “Wh--what? But Melissa told me--”

     “No, I said 953 Cosmic Street, GALACTIC RUINS.” The Techo shook her head. “I never said anything about Maraqua!”

     The Blumaroo winced as a loud boom filled his green ears. “I sent it to the wrong place, then!”

     Travis put a hand on his pet’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said, hardly heard as dozens of fireworks went off at once. “But if the Space Faerie didn’t get it, who did?”

      ~*~*~*~

     Somewhere, in a dry underwater cave similar to the Underwater Fishing grotto, sat a faerie with violet skin, dark hair and piercing red eyes. She stared at the letter a Chia had delivered a moment ago. It was sealed with a sticker in the shape of a heart. The faerie shrugged and opened it. Strawberry-scented stationery slipped out of the envelope, covered in neat, cursive handwriting. Her eyes scanned the letter. It read,

      To the most amazing faerie who has ever lived, thank you for keeping Neopia safe and happy! Just wanted to let you know that you’re the greatest! Happy Valentine’s Day! ~Caiden

     The Darkest Faerie smiled. “I KNEW I had a fan club!”

The End

 
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