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MYSTERY ISLAND - Ahh… Mystery Island. The sand, the surf, the sinister kidnapping
plots…
You get the general idea. In any case, there's a story behind every plot and
a tale every character has to tell. Which is why I found myself standing on
the Techo Master's doorstep, eager for an interview.
When I reached the Training School, Ryshu was repairing a burnt hole in the
wall, humming a little tune to himself. "Good afternoon!" he said in an uncharacteristically
perky manner. "How might I help you today? Shall I train your pet in endurance?
Speed? Strength? I will because I can again!"
"I'm not here for training," I said gently. "I'm here for my interview with
the Techo Master. I wrote a letter to say I'd be coming ahead of time."
"Oh yes, yes," the Nimmo said, still perky beyond belief. "I shall escort
you to his living quarters."
Down long hallways made of bamboo and other jungle plants. Through beaded
curtain doors and past classrooms full of training students. Through a window,
I could see the stony, almost foreboding face of Techo Hill. A slight shiver
went down my spine as I remembered the misty figure of the Techo Master floating
in the mouth of the mountain. He seemed so surreal… more like illusions in the
mists than like the Techo Master we all knew. I remembered going out to meet
him, kicking, punching and blocking until he was freed.
Finally, we had reached the Techo Master's living quarters. It was a small,
simple room consisting of only a dried bamboo bed, a few photographs of young
students (including Ryshu) and other pieces of dried bamboo furniture. The Techo
Master hovered in midair above his bed in silent meditation.
So real… definitely as solid as Ryshu and I. Yet I couldn't help but compare
him to the mist-Techo from the mouth of the mountain. "Honorable sensei?" Ryshu
said softly, failing to hide the obvious happiness in his voice. "The reporter
is here."
Gently and gracefully as a falling leaf, the Techo Master drifted downward
and sat Indian-style on the bed. "Enter, young grasshopper."
"I'm a human, thanks," I said dryly. "Anyway, may I begin the interview?"
"Certainly."
"So describe your kidnapping to me. What exactly happened?"
"I had sent Ryshu to train the youngsters on the beach that day, because I
thought they deserved a break. I was alone in the classroom, practicing. Suddenly,
a tall, graceful fire Faerie burst through the door. A belt of yellow stones
encircled her waist and a Kougra Lily rested in her hair. She was wearing clothing
the same flaming orange hue as her hair and eyes. It was those eyes that gave
her malicious intent away.
"Without warning, she charged at me, balls of fire blazing in her hands! Needless
to say, I was terrified. But I gave her one heck of a fight. Dodging fireballs,
blocking punches, and even throwing a punch or two of my own out there. But
in the end, she outlasted me. She had all the advantages. Youth, energy, magic
and the element of surprise. Eventually, I was subdued and thrown, panting and
weary, into a burlap sack. She hauled me off from there. Such strength I never
would have expected from one so small. I traveled for an hour, semiconscious
and, (during the times when I was totally conscious) scared witless.
"Finally, we arrived at Techo Mountain. She seemed to utter a series of letters
to the mouth of the Techo, whispering so that I might not hear. The roaring
sounds of shifting stone filled my ears at the Techo of the Mountain opened
its mouth. With a heaving groan, she cast my sack into the cavern where I attempted
to scramble out. Enraged at my effort to escape, she muttered the words of some
ancient language and cursed me. A curse I wouldn't wish on my worst foe."
I tried in vain to suppress the shivers running down my spine. "What happened?"
The Techo Master replied in a detached sort of manner, gazing out the window
at the Techo's granite face. "Immediately, I felt my body become lighter and
lighter. The color drained from my face and clothing and became as white as
mist on the mountains. All sense of feeling left my limbs, and I found that
I could no longer stand on the ground properly. Instead, my feet hovered a few
inches above the cavern floor. I was ghost… and yet I was not dead. Nor was
I painted with a ghost paintbrush. The Faerie looked at me in the eye, laughing
as though this were a big joke. Wordlessly, I stared at her for many minutes.
Tears of mirth running down her cheeks and her hands clutching her sides with
laughter. That cruel sort of laughter that thrives off of another's pain. Shaking
in silent rage, I endured her taunts knowing that I would not be able to harm
her in my wraithlike form. But before she left, I gave her one last think to
think about. 'Be proud, young Faerie. Not many could defeat me in combat. It
was a great deed you did. But remember, there is a difference between great
deeds and good deeds.'"
"'What do you know about greatness, old Techo?' she asked me. 'I know about
greatness. I have put a great and ancient spell on you making it impossible
for you to leave this cave unless someone frees you with the right combination
of punches and blocks. If they can get past the mouth first, which I find highly
unlikely. I created the password myself.' Without another word, she left Techo
Mountain, closing the mouth behind her."
I moved towards the window in an attempt to catch the Techo master's eye.
"What happened next?"
Still he avoided my gaze. "I stayed there for days, not knowing what was to
be my fate. In the total darkness of the cavern, it was hard to see the light
of hope. Questions ran amok through my head. Who was this fire Faerie? Why would
she, or any others, wish me ill? How were Ryshu and the Training School doing
without me? How was Mystery Island doing without me? Would I ever escape this
cave and get my old body back?
"For days I pondered this, feeling as insubstantial as the mists that I was
now made of. Until finally one day, I thought I saw a crack of light near the
cave's mouth. Impossible, I had thought. It's been dark in her so long that
I forget what light looks like. But it wasn't impossible. Some Neopians figured
out the password to enter the cave. Time after time, they struggled to find
the correct combination of blocks and punches, struggling to set me free. And
when the right combination was discovered… oh I was so glad! With a shimmer
of red Faerie dust, I was solid again! I could feel the granite floor beneath
my feet. I could feel the breeze on my scales. I could exit the cave and enter
the world of sunlight and life! Never again shall I take this world for granted."
He turned away from the window and looked me in the eye. "Never again."
I smiled. "So did you ever find out who that Faerie was?"
"Indeed I did. I saw her again soon after I was rescued and before she took
that final journey into the volcano. She's the daughter of a former pupil of
mine. Decades ago, Flamenne Lilia was one of my most promising students. Powerful,
beautiful, a lot like her daughter. She even wore the same belt and had the
same Kougra Lily in her hair. Flamenne loved Mystery Island, from the dense
tropical jungles to the golden sandy beaches. But she was fascinated with the
volcano, especially after I told her legends of the beast that lay within. 'Poor
thing,' she had said about the beast. 'All cooped up in a volcano all the time.
I want to free it! Or at least give it company.' It was her life's dream to
go into the volcano to meet this beast. Unfortunately, the lava was too hot,
even for her. She didn't know the cooling spells to make it safe. A generation
later, Flamenne's daughter Magmarra learned the spell from a shaman she found
and agreed to help him set the beast free. I don't think she knew what she was
doing. That beast, as she ironically found out later, has a whopper of an appetite."
"So you don't hold any blame against her?"
"No. The poor child didn't know what she was doing."
"And what about the shaman?"
The Techo Master cringed. An awkward silence. I watched his eyes glaze over
as he thought to himself. "Unlike Magmarra, that shaman did have ill intent."
The Techo Master said, his voice dripping poison. "He only wanted to see us
all destroyed."
I dared to ask. "Why?"
"His race is… a primitive race called the Chakaros. Long, long ago, the Mystery
Islanders were nothing more than a primitive tribe called the Pangoros, named
for Mango Pango. The Pangoros and the Chakaros constantly fought for territory
on the island. One day, one of the Pangoros, who happens to be the Tombola Man
today, found a tiny little Moltenore, a bit of a runt, really. He cared for
it, feeding it and feeding it and feeding it until it was huge! Ten feet tall,
with monstrous teeth and claws! The Tombola Man used the Moltenore in battle,
driving the Chakaros to nearby islands. This island has belonged to the Pangoros
ever since. But the Chakaros are a crafty race, keen on getting their island
back. Which is why the Tombola Man, the Tiki Tour Coco, the Island Mystic, Jhuidah
and I were appointed the guardians of the island."
"And the shaman came to reclaim the land of his people? I don't see how unleashing
a giant Moltenore on it would help, especially if it was the Moltenore that
drove them out in the first place."
A fearful look crossed the Techo Master's face. "The shaman knows a spell
now that his people didn't know back then. It can… control the minds of petpets."
"Odd," I commented.
"In the wrong hands, this spell could be disastrous. But it's not a problem
now. He's gone. The Moltenore is gone. The kidnapped people are safe again.
The Pangoros survive. Mystery Island survives."
"And for that," Ryshu said, still leaning against the doorway. "We are eternally
grateful."
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