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Inside is a medium sized room. The walls are painted a deep
red, and the wooden floor is covered with a navy rug. The room is fully furnished
- and I mean fully. It has a bed, sofa, table, stove, fridge and so much more.
"Why are you showing me this?" I inquire.
"There used to be a Neopet who lived here. Her
name was Aylie, and she was a Silver Gelert. Her story was well, quite similar
to yours. She disappeared, and when she came back, she had no recollection of
what happened. She was found with a necklace, Riona, and the necklace was this."
He walks over to a drawer, opens it, and then pulls out a silver necklace. The
charm on the end is a Silver Gelert. It looks just like me. And the necklace
I wear looks just like Aylie, the Kougra from my dreams.
I do not know what to say.
"Aylie," he continues, "left a few years back.
She said to find out something about her past, Riona, and about some water.
I dunno what it's called, but maybe uh -"
"The Water of Truth," I whisper.
"Yes…but how did you know that?"
"I've been there."
"When?"
"Over the last six months."
"Then you do remember!"
"Yes, but that's one of the last things that
I do."
"But you do still remember! Tell me about it,
Riona."
I shake my head slowly. "I cannot do that."
"Why not, may I ask?"
"I just…can't. But can I go back to my hospital
room really quick? I forgot something."
He nods, and I casually walk off.
I feel bad for lying to Dr. Yaree, but he couldn't
know that I am really trying to go to the Water of Truth. I have a strange feeling
that the last thing I remember - the creature kneeling over me - was really
Aylie.
It takes me only a matter of minutes to get
out of the hospital building. And once I'm out, I simply run through the night
towards where I remember Mariella's cave being. Because from there, I have memorized
the path we took to the Water of Truth.
I soon realize that I will not be able to arrive
in one long run. It is far from Neopia Central - about 5 hours to be exact.
I need to pace myself…
*********************
I stop to rest at about 12 am. I know I still have a little more than 2 hours
to go, but I am so tired, that I also know that I will not make it without any
sleep.
It only takes a matter of minutes to drift off
into slumber. But after that, I have no dreams.
**************************
I wake up at 6 am the next morning, and immediately venture off. At the mere
time of 8:12, I arrive at the Water of Truth.
Before attempting to transport myself to the
other world, I decide to ask it a question…to see if it gives me the same bogus
answer.
"What is my name?" I ask, my voice sarcastic.
The water starts to swirl, and then says its
low croaking voice, "The water will not answer the one who speaks in cynicism."
I jump. It did not give me the same answer that
it had six months prior. "Why did you give me a bogus answer six months ago?"
I ask. My voice is shaking.
The water does not answer me, and I sigh. I
do not ask any further questions, and simply take a stone from the side of the
path and throw it in.
The ground starts to rumble, as expected, and
I close my eyes. Again when I open them, I am in that darkened place.
****************************
"Aylie?" I call, my voice quaking. "Aylie?"
Nothing answers me, but I will not give up.
I continue calling for Aylie.
After twenty minutes, I think of giving up.
But then a voice answers me.
"Is that you, Riona?"
"Aylie?" my voice squeaks.
"Yes, Riona, it's Aylie! Don't you recognize
my voice?"
I now see the image of a Darigan Kougra advancing
towards me. It is Aylie, the Kougra from my dreams.
"Aylie," I whisper.
"Yes, Riona! Now do you have the necklace?"
"The what?"
"The necklace! Do you not remember what you
left for?" she sighs.
"I don't really even remember you, Aylie."
"Oh my…the same thing happened to you as it
did me." I can see a single tear form in her right eye.
"Aylie, p-please explain what happened."
She sets her paw on my shoulder. "I'll explain."
I nod, and then she starts talking.
******************************
"I found you blacked out, and I brought you back to my home. When you woke
up, you told me of a red Lupe, and you're friend, and the Water of Truth. I
was startled, because it was almost the same exact thing that had happened to
me. You were a Darigan Kougra at the time, Riona, and I was a silver Gelert.
I told you that I used to have necklace, and I left it at a hospital a while
back. And then I said that currently I had a Darigan Kougra necklace. The magic
of the necklace is only released on one who is that color, and you of course
were. It will turn them back to their prior color, and the closest Neopet to
the color of the actual charm. It turned me Darigan, and you back Silver. I
was okay with it, at first, but then soon I longed to be a Silver Gelert again.
And the only way was for you find the necklace, Riona. You'd go find it, and
then come back here, and find me again. It would turn you back to a Darigan
Kougra and me to a Silver Gelert, but you didn't care, because you only wanted
what I wanted. After 6 months of being here, you decided to go get it. And that's
all I know."
******************************
I stare at her as the reality sinks in. Aylie was one of my friends, and I
had risked how I looked to make her how she wanted to be. But that still does
not answer the question of the flames. So I ask her about this.
"The flames… you told me about that, too. And
we found out, Riona, that you hold a gift," she replies.
"What kind of gift?" I ask.
"You are resistant to flame, because of your
destiny. When the Water of Truth told you that you're destiny lies in the embers,
it didn't mean it literally. But, Riona, if you hadn't gone into the fire, none
of this would've ever happened. And this was your destiny."
I nod slowly. "Do you care that much if you
stay a Darigan Kougra?" I whisper.
"Not as much as I thought I did." She gently
closes her eyes. "I don't want anything else bad to happen, Riona. We were best
friends, and now because of my selfishness, you don't even remember me."
"You're not selfish, Aylie."
"Yes, I am… I really am."
"I'll volunteer myself to go back to get the
charm."
"I don't care anymore Riona. I guess not at
all. Stay here. With me."
I slowly sling my paw around her shoulder, and
lean my head against hers. "I only want what you want, Aylie."
She looks at me, and smiles. "And I want you
to stay here."
"Then I will."
And even though it feels as if I don't know
Aylie, I really do. And with her and me, I know everything will be fine. There's
just some things that you know are true, and this is one of them.
And as the two of us walk towards the area Aylie
tells me that we live in, I feel happy inside. I do not look back once. Neither
does she.
The End
A/N: And that's the end of 'Embers' Series! Thanks all who liked it from
the beginning, and I would like to say now g'night/g'day, and see you later
^_^
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