Superstition

     The silver Draik had just finished up purchasing some spooky treats — a candy corn pumpkin, a pumpkin chip surprise, and ghost marshmallows — when he caught sight of a pulsing amber and orange lump beyond the hill he was climbing.

     "Hmm. I haven't completed a quest for the Brain Tree in a while. That'd be nice to pay him a visit, and especially around this time of year," he pondered aloud.

     Decision made, he quickened his pace towards the Brain Tree. There's never a moment to waste when you only have one day off from work per week, after all.

     Along the way, he was met with festive Neopians preparing for the holiday. Groups of Neopians, some dressed up already for the occasion, strolled past him: a princess Acara, a sorceress Kyrii, a robot Buzz. Sometimes it became difficult to tell if they were dressing up for the holiday or not, he realized. All, even those not seemingly dressed up, chattered and laughed excitedly, their paper bags from the day's outing crackling.

     Meowclops skittered about in the shadows, while Ghostkerchiefs floated about lazily in small groups through the air. The sun shone through the haze and dark, leafless trees of the Haunted Woods.

     When Vlad arrived at the fork in the path, he expected to see a line of a few Neopians waiting to complete a quest for the well-known tree. However, the path was completely empty.

     The Brain Tree rested with its eyes closed, branched hands folded before him.

     Vlad approached cautiously. He hadn't completed a quest for the tree in at least a few months, and couldn't quite remember the proper etiquette — especially when having to rouse the tree from resting.

     Vlad stood before the enormous tree and cleared his throat. The Brain Tree did not move.

     "Um … excuse me! Sir, er, Brain Tree!" Vlad called out.

     The Brain Tree instantly roused, stretched its scrawny arms, yawned, and looked at Vlad with its huge red eyes.

     "SO!" He boomed. "You have come to accept a quest from The Brain Tree, the most intelligent and sentient tree in all of Neopia, have you?"

     Vlad quivered a little. He knew that this tree was — maybe not exactly kind — but at least just and harmless. Still, the might and sheer size of this creature troubled him. His hands shook a little, and he stuffed them in his jean pockets.

     "Yes, Brain Tree … uh … sir," Vlad replied.

     "Such manners! I appreciate those who understand my significance."

     Vlad thought he saw the Brain Tree hold himself a little taller, or maybe he imagined it.

     "Now, young, naive Neopian … I request the time and place of death of citizens of Neopia past. It is so that I may check my current records. I do not like to hold incorrect information in this brain!" Here he lightly tapped his brain with one of his stick hands.

     "If you agree to find this information for me," he continued, "I will reward you with neopoints and an item. Do you accept?"

     Vlad felt relieved that he had passed the most difficult portion of the quest-giving process.

     "Yes!" Vlad said emphatically. "I accept."

     The Brain Tree nodded — if that was somehow possible — and said, "Good. I need the date and place of death of a Jade Lavender."

     Vlad was ready to nod and say 'yes, of course,' but he halted at the name. Surely that name couldn't be correct. There was a misunderstanding.

     "Wait! That can't be right, can it?" Vlad said, but the Brain Tree had observed his partial head nod and taken it as clearance to continue.

     "Good. You will have three hours to complete my quest. I await your arrival. Now, begone!"

     The great tree slammed a root, spinning Vlad around. Vlad scuttled off towards the main Haunted Woods path, where he panted and tried to regain his wits. He cast a glance back toward the tree, but he was already in repose again, eyes shut, hands folded.

     Vlad knew there was one thing he needed to check before he continued any further on his quest.

     Vlad quickly removed his sneakers and stuffed them into his knapsack with his new packages. He spread his wings wide, jumped, flapped, and flew toward Neopia Central. This flight would take him at least an hour, but now filled with purpose, he flew at speeds he had not thought possible.

     ---

     Vlad landed ungracefully on his friend's front lawn, just narrowly missing her newly planted starflowers. He checked his leather wristwatch; it was 5:45 p.m. It had only taken him thirty minutes to fly from the Haunted Woods to Neopia Central.

     Vlad scrambled to his feet, brushing off bits of dirt and grass from his knees and elbows as he regained his balance. He hurried to the front door and knocked the gold carrot-shaped knocker three times.

     He heard padded feet hurry over, and a rush of warm air and the smell of buttery biscuits met him.

     A green Cybunny in a pink apron greeted him.

     "Vlad!" She exclaimed, opening the door wider. "Come in, come in, it's so chilly out. I just made some green tea, come join me!"

     Jade was used to Vlad visiting randomly, because of his work. He worked as a postman for the Neopian Postal Service, and would sometimes stop by after a long journey for a break or for a bite to eat.

     Out of breath still, Vlad rushed through the door, collapsing at her kitchen table. The table and chairs were painted white and had pink and yellow swirls floating on them; all of this was a handmade creation by Jade.

     "O-kay, I'm guessing you were in a hurry? Here, I'll get you some tea and a biscuit," Jade said, confused by Vlad's silence.

     Jade padded over to the kitchen, where she retrieved a tray containing a teapot of green tea, a cup and saucer, a plate of biscuits with butter and jam, a milk jug, and a sugar tin. She added another cup and saucer, then placed the tray before them at the table.

     "So … are you okay?" Jade asked, seeing Vlad still remain the same colour white, even after resting a moment.

     "I have … I have terrible news. Well, it's not as terrible because you're here and okay. But … I'm not sure if this is going to make sense."

     Vlad covered his face and shook his head. An anxious Draik who fretted over tiny problems, he was not the best at handling difficult topics.

     "Okay, well try me," Jade returned. Of the two, her nature was much more hardy.

     Vlad slowly uncovered his face. "Alright. So I was in the Haunted Woods for my day off. I went to accept a Brain Tree quest because, well, why does anyone accept a quest? Why not. So I did. And he always asks for the same information, right?"

     Vlad paused and looked at Jade to make sure she was following.

     Jade nodded. "Yeah, date and place of death of some late Neopian. Okay, so?"

     Vlad swallowed. "Well, the name he asked for … was yours."

     Jade laughed. "Okay, Vlad, this has been a nice spooky treat for tomorrow. But seriously, what's wrong?"

     Vlad looked down in his lap. "I'm serious, Jade."

     Jade sighed. "How superstitious are you, Vlad? C'mon. Maybe it's a relative of mine I didn't know. Or just a coincidence. Who knows?"

     Vlad looked up, eyes ablaze. "Exactly! Who knows? We need to complete this quest to find out if it's real."

     Jade laughed again. "Or I'll just haunt you if we don't."

      Vlad clenched his teeth. "I'm serious."

     Jade sighed, looking out the window. She didn't believe in this sort of thing, but it seemed important to Vlad. Light was fading and it was almost sunset. Why not ring in Halloween with a spooky outing? She was in.

     Jade pushed her chair away from the table, standing. "Let's figure this out then! Let me get dressed for the cold, then let's leave and solve this puzzle."

     "Now?" whimpered Vlad.

     "Yes, now!" Jade slammed her paw on the table, rattling the tea set. Vlad saw for a moment the great battledome fighter that Jade is, despite her kind nature and cutesy exterior.

     Jade dressed hurriedly and packed some water and snacks for them, while Vlad unloaded his pack and slipped his shoes back on. Since Jade could not fly, the two walked, set aglow by the setting sun.

     ---

     Vlad checked his wristwatch. It had taken them an hour to arrive at the Haunted Woods, but now that they were here, the end of their journey felt nearer. The fact that they only had an hour and a half left for the quest helped, too.

     The two stood at the entrance to the Haunted Woods, dark-barked trees arching and craning around them, almost like a morose arbour.

     The Haunted Woods had transformed after sunset — now even the locals were abuzz, and everywhere were floating lanterns bobbing about or strings of lights blinking white, orange, and purple.

     In this new setting, everything felt different to Jade. Her hard exterior felt as if it was cracking. She was not a superstitious person, she had to keep telling herself. But here, everything felt different, skewed. Here was where superstition bloomed, flourished, spread.

     Vlad sensed this in Jade. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Ready?"

     Jade nodded solemnly. "You bet. Let's go," Jade said, and walked speedily towards the Esophagor's lair.

     Both Vlad and Jade had completed quests for the Brain Tree before, so they needn't have worried about where to go to find the answers they sought.

     Jade led Vlad past the signs posted marking the Esophagor's lair. One read, "Beware! Hungry."

     The Esophagor was not facing them when they arrived. No one else was there. He appeared to be humming to himself and bobbing up and down, almost dancing. His shape seemed to not be held down to anything concrete — no stem, trunk, or skeleton. Instead, he slurped about in his pool, an everchanging blue-grey clay phantom.

     "Hey!" Jade yelled, not one for niceties when time was short.

     "Oooohhhhh!" The Esophagor stopped dancing and slowly shifted himself to face the pair. This took a minute, due to his size. He looked like a clock hand ticking in a circle.

     "Neooooopeeeeettttssss, haaaave yoooouuuu arrriiiiiived tooooo feeeeeeed meeeee?"

     "Yes! What do you want?" Jade snapped, all business.

     The Esophagor was not expecting such a feisty response. He scratched his droopy chin with his pointed hand.

     "IIIIIIII wooooooould liiiiiiiiike thiiiiiiiis:" he said, pointing his right index finger towards the sky. A vision of a type of spooky food appeared above his finger: a bowl of impasta spaghetti and meatballs.

     "Easy!" Jade exclaimed, clapping her paws together. "See you soon, E!" she called, grabbing Vlad's hand and pulling him towards the path.

     "Seeeee yooooooouuuu soooooon," the Esophagor returned, partially gurgling his farewell as he sunk back into his bubbling goo pit.

     "C'mon, Vlad, we can do this! To Spooky Foods and then just one more quest for the Esophagor and we're golden," Jade said, hustling along the path.

     Vlad glanced at Jade. Her eyes were ablaze, almost complete fire. Anything she set her mind to, Vlad knew, she could do. This is why he felt he really needed to ask her help before completing this chain of quests.

     Jade accidentally slammed the door to the Spooky Foods shop on the inside wall while opening it. The gold bell on the door danced about like a deranged puppet.

     The vampire Bruce shopkeeper started, and turned to face them, his cape swirling around him and anger visible on his face.

     Jade realized she needed a different tactic here. "I'm so, so sorry about that. Please forgive me. I'll buy an extra item for that scare." She winked at the shopkeeper, who softened, and shut the door gently behind Vlad and her.

     "Can I help you find anything?" The shopkeeper asked, as they both kept turning in circles in efforts to find the requested item.

     "Yes!" Jade said, and rushed to the counter. "I need a bowl of impasta spaghetti and meatballs, please. It's for a quest."

     "Of course," replied the shopkeeper. "Unfortunately, I am out of that at the moment. But my employee responsible for resupplying our shop should be returning soon with a shipment of items. He should be back any moment, maybe twenty minutes? If you don't mind waiting, I'd be happy to sell it to you then."

     Jade looked glumly at Vlad. They both shrugged.

     "Sure!" Jade said, attempting to be optimistic. "That would be wonderful. We'll just sit on that bench out by the path and wait."

     The shopkeeper informed them he would call for them when it's ready. The pair sat outside on the bench, collapsing heavily onto it.

     Vlad checked his watch. "We only have forty minutes left. Even if we purchased this item, we'll be out of time because we won't be able to complete the second quest for the Esophagor." He sighed and scratched circles into the dirt with his shoe.

     Jade nodded. "You're right. Then let's just go to the Brain Tree. I want to face him myself and tell him I'm doing just peachy."

     Jade stood and stamped her foot.

     She turned to Vlad, who remained still on the bench. "Are you ready? C'mon. We've made it this far."

     Vlad nodded, slowly standing.

     Jade quickly poked her head into the Spooky Foods store informing the shopkeeper that the timing would not work out for the quest item, thanks anyways, and informed him that they would be back for some evening snacks after a visit to the Brain Tree. The shopkeeper wished them well, and told them he would keep some snorkle snout warm for them (they did not inform him that they would not be purchasing that particular item).

     Jade and Vlad bustled off to the Brain Tree's rooted spot. Before they could pass the sign directing them to the Brain Tree, Vlad stopped Jade with a hand on her shoulder.

     "Hey, I'm sorry about all of this. I did the best I could. I was just so worried. You're such a good friend, and I would never want anything bad to happen to you," Vlad said.

     "I know. You're an awesome friend. And this has been so much fun! I'm ready to see the end of our Halloween adventure, aren't you? Plus, I told you. I'll just haunt you. It's fine," Jade said, laughing.

     "Yeah, I'm ready to see the end of the adventure, too," Vlad agreed.

     With a nod, Jade marched to the Brain Tree, who was resting again.

     "Alright, Brain Tree! I need some information from YOU!" Jade shouted.

     The Brain Tree jolted awake, stuttering and stammering at this blatant disrespect.

     "Well! Well! Now who is this you have brought along, young Draik? I believe you owe me the information for Jade Lavender," Brain Tree said.

     "Yeah, I'M Jade Lavender! Why are you going around predicting my death? Do you have a crystal ball tucked away in that brain?" Jade said, her volume increasing.

     Vlad elbowed Jade and whispered, "H-hey, he's a great being, remember, be polite …"

     The Brain Tree had truly never experienced something like this. A misunderstanding, miscommunication was not something he expected, mainly because he felt so removed from the faults and flaws of mortals. He supposed he should have specified things, in the case of a search term with multiple results.

     "I'll have you know, young Cybunny, that I am the least superstitious being in these Woods. I am a creature of logic, not lore. Of wisdom, not magic," Brain Tree said.

     The tree then sighed, and shifted his roots, where he kept his book collection (he does not need them for himself — hence, the Brain — but rather for this sort of situation exactly: lending).

     Vlad and Jade looked around them frantically as the ground began to shake and quiver.

     "Now you've done it!" Vlad exclaimed, grabbing Jade's arm.

     But the ground stopped shaking. And a single brown, splintered root appeared before them out of the ground, holding open an old, dirty tome. The page it was opened to showed a yellowed photo of a Cybunny in an outdated dress with a glint in her eye, not unlike Jade's. Below the photo read: Jade Lavender, 23 BN, Neovia.

     "Oh," Jade said, calming finally. "She's … she's from long ago. That's not me."

     The sage tree nodded, giving them time to process it all.

     "She kind of looks like you, though. She has that same gleam in her eye," Vlad said.

     "Yeah … she does," Jade said. "Hey … Brain Tree? Could I keep this page? I want to remember this adventure. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you and … yelling at you."

     "Erm … well … I suppose you may. I have no use for these tomes. It would be good to … share my knowledge," the tree said.

     Jade beamed, gently tearing the page away, folding it, and tucking it into her pink trench pocket. The root closed the book, and disappeared into the soil.

     "Sorry I misunderstood, Brain Tree. I'll be sure to be back another time for a different quest!" Vlad said.

     All of this was quite jarring to the Brain Tree, so he said nothing, gazing silently at the two with his orb-like eyes.

     "Well," Jade said, turning to Vlad. "Back to Neopia Central? Our tea is getting cold."

     Vlad nodded and they turned toward the Haunted Woods square, ready for a ghost marshmallow treat.

     The two did not hear the Brain Tree when he finally sorted himself say, "What about … my validated records?"

      The End.