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Author’s Note: Special thanks to bludragn3 for allowing me to tackle this
project and for giving me advice throughout the process of writing and revising
it. If I haven’t inspired him, at least I’ve amused him.
~*~*~
Silly me, being alone for so long, I’ve forgotten what it is to love.
Do you seek riches? Come into my lair; it’s no big endeavor.
But be warned, fool: once you touch the sparkling gem,
You will be trapped in my grasp forever....
~*~*~
Bludragn3, a stubborn slate-blue dragon (owner), was
not the type of Neopian to be involved in anything minor. He was brave, daring,
and always seeking a way to make a name for himself. Folks told him he already
had a name--it was Bluey--but he just wouldn’t be convinced.
So naturally, he strutted around the busy Neopia
Central marketplace one spring afternoon like he owned the place. With him was
his green Shoyru, Dragoon, who was one of his three legendary Neopets and his
trusted best friend. They had a purpose for being there, as usual.
“I’m so bored,” Bluey moaned. “Are you sure we’re
out of NP?”
“Only 143 NP left,” reported Dragoon. “We should
probably play some games.”
“Yes, we should.” Bluey kept walking, humming
to himself. He adjusted the strap of a backpack he was carrying. It didn’t have
anything in it, but Bluey thought it would be useful to transport food in, once
they had some.
“Um... now?”
“Oh,” said Bluey. “It’s just that... I’m hungry.”
“Well, if we play some games, we’ll have NP to
buy some food.”
Bluey saw that this was reasonable, but had a
better idea. “Well, why don’t we go to Tyrannia and get some free omelette?”
“That’d take just as long.”
“Oh. Fine, let’s go play some games then.”
The pair walked on through the marketplace, ambling
down the paved Main Street. They dodging Neopians that were frantically running
to and from the shops.
All of Neopia Central was mobbed and everyone
hurried to snatch items for reselling. The streets were alive with shouts, the
rustling of Neopians running by, and the clink-clink of Neopoint coins being
counted and exchanged. All because it was Half-Price Day, the monthly ritual
for shoppers to go out and buy more junk because it doesn’t cost as much as
usual.
The sky was a pale blue with a few pretty white
clouds in the sky, tossing and turning gently in the wind. A cool breeze lightly
brushed against the frantic city down below. The air was fresh and calm even
if the Neopians weren’t. The first bits of spring grass and leaves had already
grown. Some flowers grew in neat patches in front of shops, and aerial petpets
tweeted happily.
“Now, we take a left to get to the games room,”
Dragoon directed.
“No,” Bluey said indignantly, pointing to the
far-off hill Meridell rested on, “it’s that way.”
“Bluey, it’s a left.”
“It’s a right!” Bluey scoffed.
Dragoon sighed in exasperation. “Well, I guess
we can play some Meridell games if you want.”
They started to head out of Neopia Central. Through
the crowd Bluey barely spotted two familiar Neopets scavenging through the Money
Tree’s massive pile of junk items. They were his pets.
“Hey, Darkmoon! Spirit!” Bluey called. He hadn’t
seen them since that morning, but it wasn’t unusual for the family to roam randomly
around Neopia from time to time.
“Oh, hi guys,” said Darkmoon, a green Gelert.
“We were just looking for items. We actually have time to blink before grabbing
them today, since everyone’s so busy buying stuff.”
“Neat,” Dragoon remarked. “We were just on our
way to play some games. I didn’t think of coming here for items. Did you find
anything good?”
“Not really. Just some rotten food and Tombola
items,” Spirit, a blue Zafara, explained.
Bluey scoffed. “Donating rotten food... what
kind of moral example is that?”
“Half of this stuff says ‘Donated by bludragn3,’
” Spirit remarked.
“Hey!”
“Don’t listen to Bluey -- grab all the food you
can. He’s broke,” Dragoon whispered to his brothers.
“I heard that!”
“Aw, cheer up. We’ve got some items at home we
can sell for NP, too,” said Spirit. “We stashed ’em away in the safety deposit
box.”
“Yeah, and there’s always free omelette for food,”
Darkmoon pointed out.
Bluey eyed Dragoon with an “I told you so” glare.
“We should really go play some games--” urged
Dragoon.
“Hey, look! This item was donated by the Snowager!”
“Cool! What a great guy. It’s good that we have
him as a friend, not an enemy.”
“Yeah. Remember that time we bumped into him
in his cave? Classic.”
“But we should really be playing some--”
As his family conversed and Dragoon protested
their lack of gaming, Darkmoon moseyed away to search for more items. He sifted
through the junk, randomly grabbing useful items, until a faint glimmer caught
his eye.
“Hey, guys, look!” he called excitedly.
Spirit trotted over from around the Money Tree.
“What is it, buddy?”
“It’s... something. Something valuable.”
Darkmoon dug through the pile until he found
what he was searching for: a light blue gem that looked like it would fit snugly
in his paw. A little note on it said: “Nikola’s Jewel. Donated by chet_flash.
Description: This is very valuable, but be careful when picking it up....”
“Wow, great find! This is probably an unbuyable
Battledome weapon,” Spirit said, awed. “We’d better hurry up and claim it before
someone else does.”
“Wait; I’m not so--”
“What? It’s just an item.”
“But there’s something weird about it. I’ve never
seen it before.” Darkmoon stared at it.
“Oh, you worry too much.” Spirit picked it up.
“Wait!” Darkmoon pleaded. “Put it down! I don’t
think that’s an ordinary item! It’s magical or something.”
“Well, I’m not going to--” But his sentence was
cut off. Suddenly, Spirit sensed that the world around him was still and silent.
He didn’t see Darkmoon lunge toward him and knock
the jewel out of his hands. But Darkmoon did indeed, and by accident touched
the cursed jewel. He would have the same fate as his Zafara brother.
Their noisy, bright world melted into something
cold and eerie. They were surrounded by a flash of soft light... it was light
blue... like the jewel.... Darkmoon tried to scream but nothing came out, and
a feeling of shock washed over the pair as they went down, down, down....
When Spirit opened his eyes, a crystalline world
surrounded him. The place was gigantic, like Neopia. He gazed upward and focused
his eyes to the light blue dome, shiny and glittering, above him. The ground
was the same -- an endless plane of azure gemstone.
He moaned and sat up, looking around for a clue
of where he was, and noticed Darkmoon lying next to him. He realized they had
both been knocked unconscious.
“Are you okay?” Spirit asked worriedly, shaking
Darkmoon.
“Whuh? I don’t wanna go to Neoschool. Five more
minutes--”
“Buddy, wake up! We’re trapped inside something!”
“Huh? Oh. I told you not to touch the jewel.”
Darkmoon yawned, glancing around. “Now look at what you did.”
“B-but--but--” Spirit stuttered uneasily, “where
are we?”
“Ah, two more greedy souls,” a feminine voice
behind them said sweetly. “I was wondering how long it would take for someone
else to come. Welcome to my lair. Enjoy your stay... it’s not like you have
the option of leaving.”
To be continued....
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