Invisible Paint Brushes rock Circulation: 188,728,398 Issue: 528 | 13th day of Sleeping, Y14
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Deimetrios and Bluefire


by ladycat1413

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"Deimetrios!" Zelda_Mags' angry, rough sounding, voice filtered into my consciousness. Great. Just great.

     The Tyrannian Kougra burst into my room (without knocking, as usual), wearing her favorite dress.

     "Deimetrios, what did you do with Donatello?" Without waiting for an answer, she ripped my warm blanket off me and bared her fangs in my face.

      I sighed. "Zel, I never touched your petpet."

     She screamed in frustration, and stalked out, probably to hunt down Balloon. I sighed again, and got up. I glanced in the mirror. An scruffy looking emerald green Lupe stared back at me. Our owner, Chas, had created me a few days ago. She is short, has long brown hair, hazel eyes, and is incredibly stubborn. I was jolted out of my thoughts as I heard Balloon's indignant shriek as Zelda tore through her room. I then picked up my Illusen's Comb and tried to untangle the horrifying mess that was my fur.

      After a few hours of reading music that Zel and I had written, and practicing my guitar, I heard the front door open, and Mom, along with an Electric Kougra, walked in.

      She said without preamble, "This is Bluefire. I adopted him from the Pound."

     Another Kougra. Great. Like this house doesn't have enough of them.

     "Zel! Balloon! Come here for a second," Mom called from the living room. Zelda, being the oldest, came in first. She still looked really, really, really angry. Soon after was Balloon. Balloon was also Electric.

      Balloon, staring at Bluefire, asked, "Well, Deimetrios, isn't it nice having another guy?"

     Bluefire stared at me as I muttered, "Yeh, sure. Wonderful."

     Our lovely mother said, "Well, that's great! We will have to enroll him in Neoschool of course, and the best part is that he'll be in 9th, just like you, Deimetrios!"

***

      That night, while we were eating a supper of Tigersquash, Strawberry Jelly, Baked Potatoes, Neocola, and Bread and Butter Fish, Balloon suddenly asked, "Have you ever been to a concert on the Tyrannian Plateau, Bluefire?"

     We all stopped eating and looked at Bluefire.

     Bluefire cleared his throat and answered with a voice like electricity crackling (he IS an electric Kougra), "Yes, I saw M*YNCI."

      Momma asked, "Those tickets are kind of expensive, aren't they?"

     "Yes," he answered, "but my ex-owner was a billionaire, and I was her only pet."

     Mom said, "Well, we don't have much, we mainly have about 89,000 Neopoints usually."

      Bluefire smiled (for the first time since he showed up) and said, "Money doesn't mean much to me. I grew up alone, so having three siblings is wonderful."

     We all smiled at him and continued eating. Zel finished first and wandered off calling for Donatello. Mom sighed and put her plate away to help Zel look for her Fire Werhond.

     After supper, Bluefire asked, "Deimetrios, do you have any spare books I can borrow? I like to read, and I was hoping to squeeze in about thirty minutes of reading before bed."

     I said, "Sure, I have a few faerie books and Lupe adventure books."

     He asked, "No Kougra books?"

     I looked at him and asked, "I am a Lupe. Why would I have Kougra books?"

      He looked embarrassed, and said, "Well, I thought that because you grew up around them, you would have a few." I instantly felt bad for treating my new brother like that.

     I said, "Put it down on the list, and Mom will pick it up when she goes to the Book Store."

     His electric blue face (literally) lit up. I asked, "So, uh, Bluefire, when did you get painted Electric?"

     He replied, "First, I was Royal, then Striped, then Maraquan, then Faerie, then Tyrannian, then Electric. It seemed that I was always looking for something new."

     I said, "Whoa. I'd never know what to do with all those different color changes."

     He smiled bitterly and said, "It wasn't as wonderful as people assume. Well, I'm turning in; I guess we'll be sharing a room."

     The next morning, Mom, Bluefire, and I all went to the Neoschool to enroll for the coming school year. Zel and Balloon both said they had something to do. Who knows what Kougras do in their spare time? Not I and I certainly wasn't going to ask.

     When we arrived at the Neo-middle-school, the nice Skeith security guard let us through the gate. We went straight to Principal Skelton's office. The Halloween Gelert ushered us into his office.

     He said, "Okay, Bluefire, we officially have you on record now, so Deimetrios, you can be his guide around the school this coming year!"

     Mom asked, "Is there any record of anyone ever enrolling him before?" The principal looked oddly uncomfortable, as if he had bad news, and did not know how to break it to us. Bluefire looked sad for a moment, before his expression switched back to its usual neutrality. I looked up from my paws with real interest.

     Principal Skelton said, "Yes, there was an um, incident when a young woman came in and asked about enrollment, but at the time, the school was closed for construction, and we weren't accepting new students. She got very angry and stormed off. That was the last time I saw her, except for on the Neovision."

     My mom looked confused, and asked, "Why was she on the Neovision? Was she some kind of Movie Star or something?"

      The principal looked away before saying uncomfortably, "No, she was found in a coma by Kiko Lake. She disappeared from the Neohospital soon after." What followed that sad statement was a perfect example of an awkward silence.

     I stood, flexed my paws, and said, "Well, I think it's time to leave now." We all stood up, shook hands and paws, and walked out.

     On the way home, we stopped by Hubert's Hot Dogs. Mom broke the depressing silence by asking, "Why didn't you tell us, Blue?"

      Now he had a nickname. His ears twitching back and forth, Blue said, "I don't like to talk about it, for obvious reasons."

     Mom blushed and said softly, "I'm sorry, Blue, I didn't think."

     I said quietly, "We all have something we never want to talk about."

      That statement got me two very curious stares. I busily took a bite out of my plain ole hotdog.

     Once we got home, Blue dragged me to our room and said, "I'm going to try to find my old owner, and I need your help."

     I said, "What can I do? I'm just a plain old Lupe, nothing special. No special powers, no special abilities."

      Bluefire smiled and said, "That's exactly why I need you, Demetri. We can find her, just by using our brains, and your Lupe nose and good senses." Demetri... No one had ever given me a nickname before.

     "Sure, Blue, I'll help you out."

     "Good now we need to really start packing, who knows how long we're going to be gone."

     "Oh come on, how hard can it be?"

     Blue smiled and we started planning. As we set out that night, backpacks full of Battledome weapons, healing potions, food, maps of all the lands and spare clothes I had only one thought. This adventure was just getting started...

The End

Bluefire is a figment of my overactive imagination, and Deimetrios is now Baby.

 
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