As he stood amongst the magical potions that littered the shelves, he noticed a rather unusual bottle which he didn’t remember stocking the shelf with, so he decided to stroll over to inspect the potion.

As Kauvara took his first stride, the door opened – again with a squeak, and in walked a friendly Gelert.

"Good morning." Said the Gelert with a warming smile, "I'm just here to browse."

Kauvara nodded and continued to make his way to the mysterious potion that sat on the shelf, he picked the bottle up and shook it.

"That’s beautiful." The Gelert excitedly said as she quickly walked over to Kauvara, "what does it do?"

The Kau gasped, "I have no idea." He replied as he pulled the potion closer to his face.

"I'll have it." The Gelert strongly demanded as she snatched the bottle from Kauvara and replaced it with the correct amount of Neopoints that the price tag suggested.

The Gelert quickly opened the bottle and began to drink the liquid, she gulped the whole lot with no effect.

"I demand my money back!" The Gelert shouted in anger.

Kauvaras jaw dropped and he began to speak...

Kauvara gasped as he watched the Gelert begin to shrink. The entire shop was filled with a horrible smell, it was coming from the Gelert who was now glowing and changing.

Kauvara closed his eyes, afraid of what was happening, a feeling of guilt washed over him. He should have never let the Gelert drink a mystery potion. Kauvara was interrupted from his thoughts as he realized the Gelert was no longer making any noises.

Kauvara opened his eyes to see a small Slorg standing where the Gelert had once been. He gasped, he had never seen anything like this in his entire life.

Before Kauvara could say or do anything, the door to his shop opened and in walked a masked figure.

"Good, you have found my Slorg..."

"Wait, that is not yours!" Kauvara exclaimed, hooves reaching down to scoop the Slorg.

The Gelert had only become a Slorg after buying a potion from him, a potion that was most likely made by Kauvara himself. The potion master felt responsible for the Gelert, and he should fix this accident as soon as possible. He is not going to give the Gelert-turned-Slorg to some suspicious masked figure!

"Nonsense," the other Neopian denied. "Listen to me, young lad. I know what my petpet look like, and I'm telling you-- this is exactly my Slorg."

Kauvara began, "but--"

"--No buts!" The masked figure interrupted forcefully, " I'm telling you, this is my Slorg, and I'm taking it with me..."

"And I said this is not your Slorg!" Kauvara looked back at the masked figure and ran out of the shop.

The masked figure ran after him, knowing that the shopkeeper couldn't run forever with the Slorg that he claims is his.

Finally Kauvara reached a house. He knew this house and the person that he knew was there.

"It's okay little Slorg, this house is the house of..." He began to speak to the petpet.

The door swung open and revealed a tall Techo holding a glass of water. "Kauvara! So good to see you again!"

"There's no time, could you hide me in here?" Kauvara said quickly, shutting the door behind him.

"Um, pardon me?" The Techo asked as the Kau hurried to shut all the blinds.

"It's okay. You're safe now. This is my friend Rod," Kauvara said to the Slorg once all of the blinds were closed. "Please forgive me. A Neopet drank a strange potion in my shop and was turned into a Slorg. Then someone barged into my shop claiming that this was his Slorg, and now he's chasing me for it!"

"Goodness, that's certainly odd," Rod said, sitting down at a table with his glass of water.

"And I do believe I know who his masked figure is," Kauvara admitted reluctantly, sitting across from Rod and setting the Slorg down on the table. "Allow me to explain..."

"This doesn't sound good," said Rod.

"This normally would not be a problem." Continued Kauvara, "but, night was beginning to fall and I do not like being in The Haunted Woods after dark. There were all kinds of scary noises and I wanted to get home quickly, however, I was not finished collecting my ingredients. That is when I bumped into Edna. She saw that I was flustered and offered to use a spell to transport me and any ingredients that I needed home. Normally, I would never let Edna use a spell on me, but for some reason this time I did."

"Whats the catch?" Asked Rod, "I know with Edna there is always a catch."

"That is the thing," said Kauvara. "There was no catch. She just said that I had to pay her back with a few of my potions, or else."

"That is not bad," replied Rod.

Kauvara gasped, "I forgot to pay her back..."

"So, you see the situation that I'm in." Kauvara said, "I'm almost positive that she's behind this."

"Well, first thing we need to do is make sure that he's safe." Rod said, pointing to the Slorg, "Until we get this whole thing sorted out, he's in danger the most."

"Right." Kauvara said, and she placed the Slorg in Rod's care, who opened a secret safe on his wall in another room and hid him in there.

"Second," Rod said, "Did Edna specify which potions that she wanted?"

"Ummm....Kauvara said, closing her eyes and thinking hard, "She said a Strange Potion, a Lutari Healing Potion, a Potion of Concealment, and a Slippery Floor Potion. I thought it was odd at the time, because aside from the Strange Potion, it would probably be less hassle for Edna to just ask the Shop Wizard. I think that's why I forgot about it, because they were so mundane."

"Then could you just not gather those in your shop and get them to Edna?" Rod asked.

"All aside from the Strange Potion." She answered, "That one takes a week to prepare and I haven't even started on gathering the necessary ingredients to make one."

"And in the meantime, we'd still have the trouble with the mystery assailant." Rod said, "I doubt it's Edna herself, but perhaps someone she has enlisted or perhaps..."

Rod's sentence was cut off by the sudden sound of the hidden safe that he had just placed the Slorg in being torn open from the other room. Both Kauvara and Rod rushed in to see the masked figure holding the Petpet, only without his mask.

Revealing Edna's Shadow...

"I... Leave the Slorg out of this!" Kauvara said. "If you want something to take back to your Mistress, take me instead."

Rod gave his friend a stare, as though Kauvara had gone crazy. The Shadow merely laughed. "How noble, but I'll be taking the Slorg now. You know what you have to do." And, quicker than Kauvara could react this time, Edna's Shadow flitted from Rod's home, Slorg in hand.

"This is awful. I should have never let that Gelert drink the potion," Kauvara said.

Rod put a hand on Kauvara's shoulder. "Chin up, friend," he said encouragingly. "This should be easy for you. All you need to do is make a potion to get the Slorg back, and you're GOOD at making potions, remember? This isn't the end of the world."

"It could be," Kauvara said, voice muffled through her hooves. "Part of the reason I hadn't started working on the potions yet was because of how difficult it is to acquire the ingredients. You see, the key ingredient to a Strange Potion is..."

"So we're going to the Haunted Woods?" Rod asked. He grabbed a coat off the wooden rack by the door.

"Apparently, but I know a trick no one knows about the Brain Tree. If you give him his favorite food beforehand you can control what he gives you as a reward. You just have to be able to complete the request and then you're good." The Kau informs his friend.

"What's his favorite food?" Rod asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It's..."

"We better get over to the Spooky Food Shop to get some from the vampiric Bruce shopkeeper." Replied Rod.

"Let's go," said Kauvara walking out the door.

****

"If it croaks, flaps, or slithers, chances are you can buy it here! Yummy!" said the Bruce as Rod and Kauvara entered the shop.

"Hi there," said Kauvara. "Can we please get one Brain Ice Cream?"

"That will be 4,000 Neopoints please." Said the Bruce.

"4,000 Neopoints?" Said Kauvara, "that is crazy! I will give you 3,500 Neopoints."

"I accept your offer of 3,500 Neopoints," said the Bruce.

"Next stop, Brain tree." said Rod.

Kauvara and Rod started towards the Brain Tree when they heard a loud crash. They looked in the direction of the Brain Tree and gasped when they saw...

How will this story end?

"I'll go stop her." The Techo says to the Kau. "You go for the Brain Tree." He runs off into the distance, leaving Kauvara to head northwest. He didn't have to travel far. Before long, he was at the base of the Brain Tree, it's oakwood base and orange head towering above him. Bright red eyes gleamed at him in the darkness.

"I need my question answered..." A deep, rough voice booms. The Kau pulls the Brain Ice Cream out, then places it inside of the macabre plant's mouth. The mouth twists shut, chewing the ice cream joyfully before breaking into a full smile. "Why this is my favorite! How did you know? Nevermind that! Please tell me, sir, what you would prefer as a suitable reward for the completion of my quest."

"Brains a la Tree, if you'd be so kind." Kauvara says politely.

"Very well! Now for the quest. Bruce Gelert died a long time ago, and I need to know where, and when, for my records. You must go and find this information out. Return to me within 0 hours and 53 mins, and I shall give you your prize."

The Kau immediately started running towards the Esophagor, he knew he'd have the answer for him. Luckily the guy wasn't far off.

"II AMMM HUNGGRRYYY..... feeed mmeee annndd I wwilll reeewwaardd yoouu...." The blueish, red eyed mass requested.

"Sure I will find you food." Kauvara tells him.

"Thhhaannkk yoou foorr heellppinggg...I neeedd 1 moorree ffoodss.. 1 hour(s) and 16 minute(s). Please hurry!!!" The creature announces, as he holds a picture of a Festering Coffee.

The Kau pulls out the shop wiz and buys some for 1, 250 NPS, then he feeds it to the Esophagor.

"MMMMMMMMmmmmmm Nowww essoophagorr happy!!!! The Esophagor says 'Bruce Gelert dieeddd innn thhee yeeear 26 BN. Geett mee morre foodd anndd I wwiill telll yoou thee pllaaceee..."

Now he could answer one of the Brain Tree's questions! Quickly he started the quest again.

"Thhhaannkk yoou foorr heellppinggg...I neeedd 3 moorree ffoodss.. 1 hour(s) and 36 minute(s). Please hurry!!!" This time he needed Pumpkin Pot Pie, Snotty Ghost Toast, and a Box of Skull Truffles. As fast he could, he made the purchases. Again feeding them to the blubbering mass.

"MMMMMMMMmmmmmm Nowww essoophagorr happy!!!!" The Esophagor says, "Bruce Gelert dieeddd iinn The Haunted Woods."

Finally! He went back to the Brain Tree and submitted his answers.

"Thank you, you are correct!" The Voice booms as it gives him the Brains a la Tree and 1754 NPs. As soon as the prizes were in his hands, he pulled out a half made Strange Potion, removed the lid and placed the gourmet dish inside. Immediately the liquid absorbed the dish, then he watched as it turned silver. He began running again, this time he was going towards the Spooky Petpet Shop where he had last seen his friend go after the witch.

"Leave me be, you braindead moron!"

"Please ma'am! If you'd wait just one more second. He's bringing back your payment."

Kauvara clambered up the path to see Rod alongside Edna, at the entrance to the shop. The Techo was blocking her from going inside by holding his limbs out. He signaled to the Techo and Rod looked at him in utter relief as he pointed to the Kau. "There he is ma'am. Told you he would come."

Edna's glaring face turned around to see Kauvara, with the potions in his arms. She gave a small huff as she came to stand in front of him.

"Finally decided to pay me back, have you?"

"Yes ma'am! Sorry it took this long, but I'm afraid I forgot." The Kau answered honestly. She snatched the potions from his hold, then handed him the basket on her hip.

"Then I won't be needing this then. Your Slorg is inside it, no worries. We're done here fellas." She told them as she left, headed in the direction of her tower.

Kauvara popped open the lid to the basket to see the Slorg, and lifted it up to hug it.

"How are you going to fix them?" Rod asked, he felt happy they'd gotten the little guy back finally, but there were still questions burning in the back of his mind.

"I think in time, I could come up with a cure. Until that happens though, they will live with me. It's the least I can do." The Kau said thoughtfully. "I also want to say thank you Rod, you've proven yourself to be a great friend."

"Anytime! This is will be an awesome story to share with the tavern folk won't it?" Rod laughed and with that, they began their lengthy journey to return home, their newest friend in tow...

The End.