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MARAQUA- The whirlpool has stilled over the wreckage of what was once a great
city. Streets once filled with bustling traders and peaceful merchants are now
eerily empty. Silence reigns, broken by the occasion squeal of a grumpy slug.
This harsh environment is the original home of the Maraquan Acara, recently
discovered off the shores of Mystery Island. Slimy and green, froglike in appearance,
they at first appear to be mutants or monsters, yet they have a certain charm
about them that no monster could possibly have. And, on the Mystery Island beaches,
I had the fortune of meeting on of these rare Neopets.
It was sunning itself in the sand. It seemed a shame to disturb it, but I
was curious to know more about it. "Excuse me, Mr. Acara?" I asked hesitantly.
"If I might have an interview?"
"Reporters, coming to bother me on my vacation," the Maraquan Acara muttered.
"I suppose so. And my name is not Mr. Acara. It's Theodore. Theodore Amphibious."
"Well Theodore," I said, still a bit shy. "Where do you come from?"
"Brooklyn," the Acara snapped sarcastically.
"I'll take that as 'Maraqua'," I replied. "How did you happen to get here?"
"I took the bus," Theodore said sardonically. "How do you think I got here?
I swam!"
"Why did you come?"
"I don't know," Theodore said, stretching out on the sand. "The economy sort
of took a turn for the worse after the whirlpool came. There was that recession
in the Maraquan stock market and jobs are hard to come by in a wasteland."
Something told me I wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Theodore.
"Can we be serious?" I asked. "Why did you come?"
"I jut told you!" Theodore snapped. Then, he looked down at his feet and sighed.
"I haven't rode a bus in ages. You see; I was a resident of Maraqua. Times were
good. The economy was skyrocketing. Even the poorest among us dined like kings
and dressed in fine garb. There was a concert every Saturday on the Kelp Fields,
where I would go and listen to the rock and roll. Times were good. Times were
very good."
"Then what happened?" I asked, heart full of pity for Theodore.
"You know what happened. That king; our empty-headed king started to make
dealings with pirates. That nefarious Long John Kiko… there's a name that shall
forever be etched into Maraquan history. He offered the king gold, jewels, riches,
if only he would make his palace a haven for pirates. The Northwest Tower became
a base for villains, where they made their plans to attack peace-loving nations
like Mystery Island and Neopia Central.
"Then, they made other agreements with the king. They'd supply his army with
state-of-the-art pirate cannons and the latest in pirate weaponry. Maraqua had
no se for such artillery. Peace had reigned over our city for over a century.
No one would want to wage war with us; peaceable creatures that merely wanted
to invent things like utility fish and to cook superb sea dishes. The rest of
Neopia loved us! I don't know why the king took the weapons, but he did. He
agreed to pay the pirates for the weapons, with interest. But as the economy
thrived, the king wanted more and more of our tax Neopoints for his own pleasure.
He bought luxurious sofas fro his living room. He bought grand featherbeds to
sleep on and fine works of art to adorn his walls. And month after month, he
failed to pay the pirates their money.
"Finally, Long John Kiko had had enough of the king's greed and thievery.
He marched right up to the king's throne room and demanded the payment. The
king made up all sorts of excuses about the kelp crop failing, but Long John
Kiko could see right through those lies. The palace was his base, and he had
seen the changes taking place. New furniture here, a grand, elegant dinner there.
He knew that the king was keeping the money for himself. So, he made us all
pay for it."
I gasped. "What?"
"I have no proof that he did this, but I think he might have conjured some
sort of spell in the Northwest Tower. Something to bring on the whirlpool and
destroy the homes of countless Koi, Peophins, Kikos, and Acaras like myself.
Such chaos and devastation I hope never to see again. Roofs were swept off houses.
Families were forced to flee for their lives. Aquatic petpets, tied to a stake
in the yard or just merely forgotten, could not escape the wrath of the storm.
Many young NeoPets, either too weak or too young to outswim the whirlpool, were
sucked back. My young daughter Dorothea was one of them."
"Oh my gosh…" I whispered in awe.
Theodore continued with his story. "I made it to the shores of Mystery Island
and stayed there for weeks, wondering what had become of my little Dorothea.
Finally, when the storm calmed down, I went back to the wreckage to search for
her and vowed not to leave until I had found her. The slugs aggravated me. The
kelp entangled me. Yet I searched ever onward, swimming to the surface only
for air. The weeks passed. I found nothing.
Then, one day I found a pair of Koi, trapped under debris. 'There's no way
we can get out,' one Koi said. 'But take this paintbrush. We invented it ourselves.'
I wasn't surprised. Koi are very brainy creatures, always inventing one thing
or another. 'Paint yourself with it in memory of Maraqua and the tragedy that
can ensue from one person's greed. It will also make you swim faster. Go and
get help!'
I had vowed to stay until I found my daughter, but I could hardly deny these
two Koi's assistance. So, I became the first NeoPet to be painted Maraquan.
I swam to Mystery Island and found a bunch of NeoPets to help free the two Koi.
They then set about making more paintbrushes."
"What happened to you?" I asked. "Did you ever find your daughter?"
"No," Theodore whispered. "Although on my second trip back to Maraqua, I found
this." He held something up. It was a lovely lilac hair bow. Dangling from the
bow was a short gold chain and dangling form the chain there was a gold, heart-shaped
locket. The locket was so tiny, but it glittered like a star when the rays of
the sun hit its polished surface. "It's hers," Theodore said quietly. "I can't
open it. The key is inside of poor Dorothea's diary. A diary that's down there…
somewhere."
"So… now what are you going to do?" I asked tentatively. The Acara hadn't
snapped at me since he began his story. He was actually very kind. Perhaps I
was the one being cruel, asking him all sorts of questions about the destruction
of his only home. Then again, how was I to know of his past heartaches?
"What can I do?" the Acara said despairingly. "What can a person do when he
has lost everything?"
"What ever happened to the king?"
"He was one of the first to leave the city, and is currently in hiding somewhere
in the Mystery Island- Krawk Island island chain."
"Island chain?" I asked.
"Few people know this, but Krawk Island and Mystery Island are just the two
largest islands out of over a hundred. It's sort of like your Hawaiian Islands.
People just recognize the largest ones, making the smaller ones ideal hiding
places. The Chia Police are currently looking for him."
"All of that grief and despair… for the greed of one Koi," I said quietly,
shaking my head in disbelief.
"Yes," Theodore said, eyes watering, but voice revealing no emotion. "My daughter,
gone. For the greed of one Koi. Well… perhaps not gone. Maybe she's still out
there… somewhere…"
Theodore stepped slowly and purposefully towards the sea, eyes vacant as if
enchanted. Enchanted by his won words, words of sorrow and loss, but words of
hope too. Hope that Dorothea might still live in the underwater ruins. Step
by step, inch by inch, he walked into those vast, endless waters. The sunlight
reflected off of the waves, making the ocean sparkle like a beautiful diamond.
It nearly blinded me, and it grew more and more difficult to see the Acara,
until finally, he disappeared from view.
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