 Ari and Sam sprinted down the narrow pier.
"Careful!" Margot called from behind them. "Don't fall in!"
The three siblings stopped, all breathless, in front of the Jetsam who watched over Ye Olde Fishing Vortex in the ruins of old Maraqua. "Three poles, please," Margot said, flashing her best Peophin smile.
He studied all three of them before reaching toward the wall at the back of his stand and selecting three different fishing poles. Instead of handing all three to Margot, he handed one her, one to Ari, and one to Sam. He always picked the pole to match the Neopet.
"Thanks!" The younger two, who were Kyrii brothers, raced to the end of the pier and cast their lines. Margot followed them a little more slowly, a little more dignified, and cast her line into the murky water, too.
They expected to be waiting most of the day to see what they would catch, but before even a minute had passed, Ari let out a cry of delight.
Margot dropped her fishing pole on the pier and turned to help him reel in his catch.
"No, I can do it!" he insisted.
A moment later, his expression turned from stubborn determination to disappointment. The hook of his fishing pole wasn't wrapped around the handle of an exotic, expensive potion, but was buried in the bun of a Watery Hot Dog.
"Oh well," he murmured. "At least lunch is free today!"
Margot grinned. She checked the line on Sam's pole and then returned to her own, reaching for it just as it started to slide off the pier and into the murky water... |
Author: phadalusfish
Date: Aug 19th
|
|
...Margot gasped in surprise and quickly grabbed her pole. She managed to snag the very end of it just before it was yanked off the pier and into the water below. The Peophin could feel that there was something big and heavy on the other end of the line that was pulling hard on her fishing pole.
"Ari! Sam! Help me, please!" she cried out, feeling her grip on the pole start to slip.
The Kyrii brothers rushed behind her. Sam wrapped his arms around her waist while Ari grabbed more of the pole, doing his best to pull it back some so that Margot could reel more of it in.
It was a slow and difficult process, but inch by inch, they were able to get a better grip on the fishing pole. Whatever was on the other end of the line, however, wasn't giving up.
"Whatever is on the other end of this line must be huge!" Sam said.
"I hope it's something valuable!" Ari added.
"Guys!" Margot said, keeping their attention, "On three, we all pull at once, okay?"
The two Kyrii nodded and braced themselves for one more big pull.
"One... two... THREE!"
The three of them pulled back hard on the fishing line, and a mighty splash rose out of the water, soaking them to the bone. They had been successful, though.
On the other end of Margot's fishing line was...
| Author: dr_tomoe
Date: Aug 19th |
|
...An Auction Genie plushie!
"Really?" Margot huffed, upset.
All of a sudden, the plushie transformed into the real Auction Genie! "Behold! ‘Tis I, the Auction Genie!"
"What do you want?" Margot asked. She wasn't at all impressed.
"Hello? Genie? Maybe I'm taking the day off to grant some wishes..." The genie laughed.
"He's going to grant us wishes!" Sam said, smiling.
"What do you mean 'us'? It was my fishing pole!" She pushed past her brothers and shooed them away.
The genie looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "Look, I know you think your brothers are annoying, but maybe if they didn't exist, you'd feel differently and miss them."
"That's a great idea! I wish I didn't have two pesky, nosy, annoying brothers anymore!"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive! Oh, I've never been so happy!" she squealed.
"Alright, let's see how your world would be different if you didn't have your two Kyrii brothers..."
Purple smoke with glittery gold specks suddenly surrounded the genie and Margot, and the wish was granted...
| Author: courtney8blue
Date: Aug 20th |
|
...Margot looked around eagerly, thinking of all the peace and quiet she could have if she were finally left alone. She then froze when she saw two little Kyrii looking up at her, their eyes wide with shock and confusion.
Margot whirled back toward the genie to call him on his fake showmanship, but there was nothing there. Gold glitter was floating peacefully in the water, quickly dissipating and leaving no evidence of its source behind.
"Darn! I knew it couldn't be real," Margot huffed, trying to hide her disappointment.
"Um, Margot?" One of the younger Neopets was shuffling around, with a voice that was now even more annoying and high-pitched than usual.
"What?" she snapped, trying to ignore them and pretend that they hadn't just seen her wish that they weren't there.
"I feel funny. And... ew, what are these?" Her sibling had raised a paw up to its face, investigating its new... eyelashes. Margot then suddenly noticed dozens of little inconsistencies -- the voice, the eyelashes, the subtly different silhouette.
"Sam?!?" She was frantic, but an edge of excitement was making her grin uncontrollably.
The genie did grant my wish! she thought. It took away my brothers and replaced them... with sisters!...
| Author: flick_swish
Date: Aug 20th |
|
...This had gone even better than Margot could have ever imagined! Her pesky little brothers as girls! She could hardly contain her laughter. For once, it seemed like she wasn't the tail end of the joke, and to be completely honest with herself, she had always wanted a little sister... now she had two!
"Now, what do you expect to do about this?" Ari said, clearly trying to hide his embarrassment. "Mom is not going to be okay with this, and neither are we!"
"Oh, come on! You make a cute little sister!" Margot boasted. "Not to mention, I could really do a lot with your hair! So cute!"
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny Margot, but I'm serious. What are you going to do about this?!? We can't just stay like this forever!" Sam cried with a true look of worry in her eye.
Margot looked down, and she knew that she couldn't leave them this way forever. After all, imagine the trouble she would be in when they got home!
"Okay, let's get to work!" she said as she cast her line back into the murky water...
| Author: wilzone_wade
Date: Aug 21st |
|
...A few hours later, and after countless complaints from the new girls, Margot set aside her fishing pole.
"We're not getting anywhere," she sighed, standing up. "All we've caught is a few Butterfish and a stinking left shoe."
"We have to keep trying," Ari said, her eyelashes sparkling with tears. Suddenly, her fishing pole was being tugged and she leapt to her feet.
"This is going to be it!" she said, her voice getting higher with excitement. "I know it!"
The three of them grabbed the pole and helped Ari reel in the line. At the end of it was... a rusty old can.
Ari threw the fishing pole to the ground and a crack pierced the air, as pieces of the fishing pole sprayed across the ground.
"Oops..." Ari said, glancing over to the stand. The Jetsam was already striding toward them with narrowed eyes.
"What happened here?" he asked, eyes widening when he saw the two Kyrii girls.
"I caught an Auction Genie plushie," Margot said, "and he turned my brothers into sisters."
"Now we can't catch it again!" Ari sobbed.
The Jetsam raised an eyebrow.
"We don't want to be girls!" Sam said.
The Jetsam thought for a minute and then reached down to pick up the broken fishing pole.
"You know, there is another way to find the genie," he said.
"Really?" Ari asked, smiling for the first time since being turned into a girl.
"Yeah, all you have to do is one simple thing..."
| Author: salorich
Date: Aug 21st |
|
"... And that's ALL you have to do," the Jetsam stated after giving the three girls hundreds of directions to follow. "Did you write all of that down?"
"No, I did not," Margot snapped at him. "Forget this. C'mon ladies... we're heading to the Auction House!"
"Isn't that what I told you do to? Oh phooey, I gave you directions for finishing the Altador Plot by mistake. Sorry about that!"
"Good. Bye." Margot stated with gritted teeth. The three sisters then made their way toward the Auction House...
| Author: jarjarhead989
Date: Aug 22nd |
|
...the building was crowded with many Neopets, as was usual. The hustle and bustle of the Auction House was staggering after a fairly quiet afternoon by the fishing hole, and the three siblings quickly found themselves shoved against a wall.
Margot sighed impatiently as she scanned the crowd for the Auction Genie. The far wall of the Auction House was covered with a massive grid, which displayed all of the items that were available for bid and their current highest bidder, plus the number of the auction. Beside the wall was a simple table, which was where the Auction Genie was standing with his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. A long line of Neopets were waiting in front of him, obviously wanting help finding a certain item.
Impatient, Margot stalked through the crowd with Ari and Sam close behind. She dismissed the line and walked straight up to the table, ignoring the yells of protest that sounded.
"Hello. Remember me?" she asked the genie, her annoyance clear. Amused, the Auction Genie played with his golden earring as he studied her two siblings.
"Why, yes. I remember you very well. The Peophin who wished to no longer have Kyrii brothers. How may I help you?"
Margot glared at him and pushed Ari and Sam in front of her.
"I'd like you to change them back to normal, please. Your joke wasn't very funny."
The genie blinked in surprise and then started to laugh hysterically.
"Ch-change them b-back? Haha! I'm sorry, but I can't do that!"
Now it was Margot's turn to be surprised. "What do you mean you can't change them back? You changed them into girls in the first place! It should be easy!"
The Auction Genie straightened his turban, which had nearly fallen off from his mirth, and sighed.
"Well, you see..."
| Author: criniere
Date: Aug 22nd |
|
"Changing them took a lot of magic," he said. "And using my magic constantly to find these Neopians items takes a lot of time, not to mention magic. So with the bit of magic I have left, I can't do any serious magic like changing someone in some way, and I certainly wouldn't do it in front of all of these Neopets. They would swarm me with wishes."
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Margot complained. "Look at them! Can you just sit there and not help them?"
"Yes, I can," the genie said forcefully. "Now ask for an item or get out of line. I don't have all day."
"Fine." Margot thought for a second. "I've got it!" she shouted. "Find me a Strange Potion."
"A Strange Potion?" the Auction Genie asked. "Ha! Like you'll ever be able to buy one of those. They're extremely expensive." But the genie began searching anyways.
"Well, it looks like you're in luck," he said. "There happens to be just one Strange Potion up for auction..."
| Author: flames_unleashed
Date: Aug 23rd |
|
"...Only one..." His voice echoed into Margot's ears. "Only one... Well, my work is done, you may head over to the bidding counter if you'd like to place a bid. Next!" Margot and her sisters were shoved out of the line.
"What did he say?" Ari asked, with her sister repeating her.
"He... he can't change you back, but I know what can," she stated with an aura of hope in her voice. "Quickly, how many neopoints do you guys have?"
"We have 1,996 between us," Sam said, with a confused look on her face. "Why?"
"We're going to make a bid on an item that will turn you guys back to normal. First we'll need more money... and quick, there's only two hours left in the auction!"
Later...
And so, after looking up numerous guides on how to get the most neopoints in the quickest amount of time, the three girls went back to the auction house, with moments to spare.
"I'd like to bid on the Strange Potion, please!" Margot panted with an eagerly excited voice. "Please put all of these neopoints on it." The group then held hands, hoping that they would be able to get the potion. The countdown caused the three to shiver as it reached the last few seconds.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." the Auctioneer counted. "Sold, to... the man with the orange hat."
"Noooo!" the group shouted, gasping for air as despair entered their bodies until the man who bought the potion came to collect it. "Genie... what are you doing?!"
"Well, I felt bad about what happened, so I decided to gather up my savings and buy you this," he said, handing the trio the Strange Potion "I also found THIS in my Safety Deposit Box," he stated, giving the group a second Strange Potion.
"Awwww, Genie... thank you so much!" Margot gave the floating man a big hug as her sisters turned back into brothers.
"So what do you say, Margot?" the twin brothers said. "Can we go fishing again tomorrow?"
The End
| Author: jarjarhead989
Date: Aug 23rd |
