So, I decided to play one more game of Ultimate Bullseye
-- and I got a score of 24. So 24 + 12 = 36. 36 x 6 = 216. So I gave myself
pocket money of... 216 NEOPOINTS!!
Might as well not spoil it. I headed to the
National (no idea why they call it this, people every use it, it should be in
International Neopian Bank) Neopian Bank to deposit some. But I heard
whispers around me - about my mum - lucky they didn't know who I was!
"Have you heard...?" a voice asked her friend.
"Heard what?" the Friend asked back.
"Have you heard about the new Neopedia entry?"
Friend 1 asked.
"No, what?" friend 2 asked back.
"You know, that Jhudora girl?" Friend 1 asked
again. They answered like every question with a question.
"Yeah. Who doesn't? She's in the Times like
every week." Friend 2 finally non-asked.
"Yeah. And she doesn't do all of those things
everyone accuses her of doing!" Friend 1 also non-asked.
"So... Illusen's a liar?" Friend 2 asked.
(At this point of eavesdropping I hid a smile.
I'll tell Illusen that next time I was with her.)
"No," Friend 1 said. "She has spies ... and
slaves ... and a ton of other people at her command!"
I gasped. The two friends looked at me the way
Illusen might have done - well friend 1 did, anyway.
"Can we help you?" Friend 2 asked. It occurred
to me that she had an "American" accent.
"Um," I smiled, "No."
I went to the bank and deposited 150 NP. So
that now made 2,628 in my bank account. Not bad :)
On leaving, I quickly snuck a look at my mum's
Neopedia entry (that someone had left on the table, like typical leaders). Even
in THAT she hated Illusen. And then, everything finally dawned on me.
I went home as fast as I could; it took like
half an hour longer than from Meridell - maybe mum was waiting for me.
Lucky for me, she wasn't just as I arrived I
saw her go through the same door that I used when I was scared out of my wits
by the Rock Beast/Grarrl. But when she opened the door, something different
was behind it. A code box. It looked like she typed a password, it let her in
... and there were like 50 NeoPets, faeries, users, and petpets! Hannah was
there - and actually, so was Illusen's Staff. Yay :)
I decided to actually sneak inside and hide.
Then I'd find Hannah ... and we'd get everyone outta there!
So. I walked into my house as silently as I
could. I slowly approached the door. I ran past mum when she was turning to
see who accidentally tapped the door (me).
But once there, everything was too hard. Each
prisoner was in a cell (ack!) that was blocked by a code. This was not going
to be easy.
Hannah mouthed to me, 'What?'
I mouthed back, 'Truth.'
She mouthed back, 'Huh?' only she didn't mouth
it and actually whispered.
I groaned. Mum would pick up her whisper. And
my groan.
I was right; I heard her sigh.
"Jhuisa, what do you want?"
"Um ... uh ..." I came up with an idea. "The
truth."
"Now?" she half-sighed, half-laughed.
"Yup," I said, "You have spies, don't you?"
"I might have, yes," Jhudora said, "What's it
to you?"
"And, you spy on Illusen. That's why she hates
me. That's why you -" I pointed at her, "- are a liar."
"And that's why you're grounded," Jhudora said,
folding her arms.
"And, I don't even care," I said. "Besides,
why punish a Kacheek for being five seconds late? It's FIVE SECONDS!"
"Exactly," mum said, her eyes narrowed and making
me almost turn down and cry, "Five seconds. He was late. Five seconds can mean
the difference between failure and success! In fact," she paused, "it is."
"And, why criticize Illusen, when no-one there
actually cares? The only reason everyone will ever DO your dumb quest is because
they want a dumb Wand of the -"
"SILENCE!" Jhudora yelled. "Please Jhuisa, you
will go straight to your room and stay there. If I ever hear you downplay me
again, you'll have me to face."
"Whoa," Hannah said under her breath.
"Not doing it. No way. Nuh-uh."
"Jhuisa, don't forget we have people --" Jhudora
began, so angry she could have blown up Mystery Island, "watching us, and
if we're not careful I'll go on and reveal what an idiot you are." I finished
for her.
"You'll never understand," Jhudora said - I
believe she used the same words like a month later.
"Big deal," I replied - very differently to
the person she said it to a month later.
"Actually, it is," mum replied, "Watch your
mouth!"
"Or what?"
"Or -- or -" mum had trouble thinking up a good
punishment. "Or - you'll be a memory."
"Yeah," I replied, "It hasn't occurred to you
yet that NeoPets can't die?"
"I know that," mum said, "But they can disappear
- on a one-way journey."
"Right," I said, "A never-ending holiday? All
right."
I suppose Jhudora was making being a villain
look very hard.
Jhudora remained silent. But her eyes said everything
she could not find words for. It was a sort of passionate hate; it could scare
the living daylights out of most of us. But not me.
Then, slowly, mum put down her wand. Me, Hannah,
and everyone else stared open-mouthed at this gesture.
"Now," she said, "We use hands."
I wanted time to freeze. I bit my lip. I was
not very strong - at least compared to my mum. I would fail. I knew it.
I was jerked out of my time-freezing-hope moment,
as Jhudora made towards me. I jumped into the wall. Dumb me. I could at LEAST
do something more impressive.
But then I gasped. Because, standing at the
door, clad in green, standing defiantly, was Illusen.
"You said hands," she said to my mum, shrugging,
"I can do that."
"I -- her -- um, OKAY," she said, reluctantly.
"Let the games begin," Illusen shrugged again.
I stood back. I stood on something lumpy...
a broom or something. I looked down. It wasn't a broom. It was Illusen's Staff.
I gasped. I realized that if I could work it,
I could get everyone in the room to - er, stop being prisoners.
I just had to work out how to work it.
Or maybe -- this wand wasn't the answer? Because
there was my mum's wand on the other side of the room, and it was more likely
to unlock Dark magic.
I silently got to the other half of the room.
I got to my mum's wand.
"Wands out!" I told Illusen. She retrieved her
wand, and, like me, pointed it at Jhudora. To our surprise, she sobbed. I looked
at Illusen and shrugged. "Trap," I suggested.
Then I pointed to wand at the ceiling and concentrated,
hard, on everyone being free. A bolt of silver light shot out, hit the ceiling
and rocketed in 50 different directions, making all the locks unlock.
A stampede for the door erupted. I tossed the
wand away, and walked out with Hannah.
I had made a friend. But mum wasn't too happy.
"Good thing that's not the everyday," mum huffed
as we ate toast (TOAST!) for dinner.
"It isn't?" I asked, faking surprise.
My mum knew this but also knew I was kidding
her. "Nope," she smiled.
"Drat. I was looking forward to beating you
again."
"Not in your lifetime," mum smiled wider. "But
you're still grounded for a week."
The End
Author's Footnote: Well, good to see that's sorted :) Keep checking back
for more Jhuisa/Hannah stories soon!
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