NERA WAITED ANXIOUSLY for the King Mortog to untie the bag she was in. She
thought that anywhere must be better than being in the tightly crammed space
she was in now. Several days had passed before the King Mortog finally came
around to her bag. It seemed like forever, but she had somehow managed through
the awful conditions inside of a bag with little food and water. His slimy fingered
hands opened her bag delicately as he peered in with one large eye. Nera could've
cried since she was so happy to see sunlight, but Mortogs can't exactly cry
with the way their eyes are designed. The best she could do was smile and feel
the warmth on her face. The King Mortog gasped at the colour of Nera, for he
had never gazed upon a black Mortog.
"Amazing," he spoke to himself.
Nera was put into a shiny glass jar and sealed
with a green lid poked with many small airholes. The king Mortog stacked the
jars as he waited for a customer. Only minutes later, a small blue Aisha stopped
in front of the pond, playing with the fifty golden Neopoints he held in his
hand.
"Hello!" the Aisha said, greeting the king Mortog
I'd like to play."
The king Mortog turned around from the stacked
jars and smiled. "Of course! That'll be fifty Neopoints"
The Aisha leaned over toward the king Mortog
and dropped the coins into his hand. He stood and waited as the king Mortog
brought down two jars, placing them in front of him.
The king Mortog stepped back and waited for
the Aisha to choose. The Aisha then carefully looked over each one, and finally
decided to kiss the one of the left. Bending over gently, he gingerly kissed
the Mortog on the top of her head.
He took one step away and waited to see if he
was correct. Nera gasped in awe as a puff of smoke encircled the Mortog, which
was taking the shape of a princess before her very eyes. As the smoke melted
away, Nera could see a sweet-looking green Aisha, in a pleated white satin gown.
Her brown curly hair fell right at her waist where a sky blue ribbon was tied
in a bow.
"Thank you so much!" she cried. "I felt so slimey
as a Mortog."
Turning back once to blow a kiss to the blue
Aisha, the princess pranced away on the dirt road.
The blue Aisha was blushing when he faced the
king Mortog once again. "I'll go on, please."
The game with the blue Aisha continued and as
the hours passed a long line of owners and pets had gathered around the pond
to watch the extraordinary luck the blue Aisha had had.
As the sun began to set, Nera was gathered from
off the stack along with many other Mortogs Twenty, at least. The king Mortog
placed them in a long straight line in front of the Aisha
Nera nervously hesitated to think of a quick
plan.
As the blue Aisha ran his eyes across the row
of Mortogs, Nera winked and smiled and tried to show more emotion that the other
regular Mortogs did not have. The Aisha stopped as he saw Nera act out a lot
of silly acts, such as puckering up her lips and raising her eyebrows. (Or raising
the skin where the eyebrows would have been.) The blue Aisha grinned and bent
down to kiss Nera on the forehead, almost showing no doubt about the Mortog
he had chosen.
Nera waited as the process as began, and she
suddenly had never felt so good to be back in her regular body.
***
"THANK YOU!" Nera cried, wrapping her arms around the Aisha's neck and giving
him a big hug. She brought herself back, saying, "I can't thank you enough.
Really!"
And with that, as quickly as she had transformed,
Nera dashed off out of sight toward the marketplace, which she could see clearly
from the crowds of people and little cottage shops.
Thinking to herself, as she slowed her pace
down into a walk, Nera tried to remember when she had first gotten her job as
the palace magician. There was Luke--the prince, who was the one who picked
the new castle magician. But Nera couldn't remember much else, just that she
was the lucky one chosen. She didn't seem to think that anyone else had come
for the open job, but as she tried to think harder and harder, a familiar face
showed up. It was that of Kau Seer's.
"Yes of course!" she shouted out loud unknowingly,
now noticing a few Neopets had turned to stare.
Now the whole picture was becoming clear. In
her thoughts she could see Kau Seer introducing himself to the prince, giving
away vital information that explained his crime of turning Nera into a Mortog
Kau Seer had boasted he was related to Kauvara, somehow. It all fit together
now--Kau Seer and Nera both wanted the magician job, and Nera was undoubtedly
the better magician. Kau Seer, being a distant relative of Kauvara's, only the
most famous magician in Neopia, was secretly jealous and wanted the fame for
himself. She looked around for something to write on, and found an ad for a
game having to do with marrow. She ripped the ad off the tall wooden pole, a
lantern dangling from the top, and ran quickly to the market place in search
of a pen.
She stopped at the first shop she could see,
which was a small run-down store made of twigs. Plastered over the door (or
the cut-out hole where the door should have been) was a yellow banner with crumples
every here and there. "midevil foods Inn hear" was written in some messy handwriting.
Nera stepped in and could see a few lopsided shelves filled with fat loaves
of yeast bread, a few bowls of a sludgy like porridge, some half-rotted tomatoes,
and a few pitchers of juice.
Nera tried to hold back her disgust as she turned
to the shop keeper, who was a cheerful brown Meerca. He smiled joyfully as Nera
began to speak. "Hello! Would ye haveth a pen?"
The Meerca thought for a moment, rubbing his
chin, and then grinned as he pulled out something from a compartment in his
cardboard desk. He slid over a small bottle of midnight black ink.
"Hopeth thys will do," he said to Nera, still
smiling.
"Oh, uh...yes..." Nera replied uncertainly. "...Thank
ye."
The Meerca nodded, "Of course."
Nera tried her hardest to fit her hoof into the
small jar of ink but it just wouldn't do. Looking around the room for something
to write with, she finally looking at the construction material of the house.
Twigs! She pulled one of the small branches carefully, so she wouldn't make
the whole shop collapse, and brought it back to the desk. Quickly she wrote
out what she could remember of Kau Seer and stuffed the paper in her pocket.
She then slipped the jar of ink and twig along with the paper, just is case
is she needed them later.
Turning to the Meerca once more, she asked, "Wouldeth
ye happen to knoweth of a carriage?"
"Er...no, sorry."
Nera and nodded and thanked the Meerca again
as she headed out the doorway.
Sighing out of disappointment, she began to walk
toward the next closest shop. Just before entering the store of a bunch of loud
pet pets (including a few Mortogs, which make Nera shudder) a piece of paper
tacked onto the door caught her eye.
It was the same ad she had written on before.
It had a big picture of an enormous marrow held in a cart with wheels. A farmer
was standing next to it, grinning.
Nera looked at the large wooden crate and smiled
to herself. Glancing to her right, she saw the large marrow in the distance,
a crowd gathering around, that matched the one in the picture.
Nera began running as fast as she could toward
the game, knowing now she finally could get back to the palace.
***
"Aaaaall right, everyone! Quiet down, quiet down. Is this not the most gigantic
marrow you have eva seen?" The crowd roared with applause as the Wocky farmer
pointed at the marrow on display. "One guess of da weight per person--getta
guessin'!"
A large sheet of paper was passed out to the
crowd, where each wrote their name and their guess. As the audience drew their
attention to the Wocky, Nera crept behind the enormous marrow, where the wooden
cart in the ad stood. She grabbed hold of the handles of the cart, like a wheelbarrow,
and began to move it out of the field and onto the pebbled streets.
Nera had gotten a few feet past the game when
the Wocky farmer turned and saw her. Nera's heart pounded with nervousness.
She tried to act as casual as possible, still continuing pushing the cart.
"You goin' to get a new marrow?" he called out
to her.
"Uhhh...yes..." she replied, hoping she could
pull this off.
"Ain't it kinda early?" he questioned.
Nera thought for a few seconds, then answered,
"Well, tomorrow's competition starts very early!"
The Wocky nodded and waved goodbye.
Nera sighed deeply in relief. She pushed the
cart around the corner, and knowing she was no longer visible to the Wocky,
she began to run, making the cart faster and faster, until they reached the
top of the hill. Quickly, without losing speed, Nera hopped into the cart, as
if it were a carriage, and her new "carriage" went rolling down the hill, practically
of control.
Fortunately, although Nera was somewhat of a
reckless driver, the roads were empty for they had all run to play the marrow
game. She bumped into the occasional tree or bush, but soon learned how to steer
the cart. She really had no idea where she was going, but figured since she
knew the her castle was very far away from the farmlands, she'd keep going south
until she saw someone to ask for directions.
About an hour after driving, the cart becoming
slow (since there weren't many hills left to make the cart fast), Nera stopped
where she saw a Skeith tending to his garden full of Rose Trees.
She hopped out of the back of the cart, saying
to the Skeith, "Excuse thee... does ye knoweth of any...castles?"
The Skeith was surprised as he looked up to see
an ixi dressed up in bright orange robes.
"Uh...yes," He began, "There's one right down
that road." The Skeith pointed with one of his yellow claws toward a familiar
white brick road nestled in yellow-leafed trees.
"Oh, thank you so much!" She cried, skipping
off toward the brick road.
When she came closer to the brick road she noticed
the white colour had deepened into a grey, and as she walked more, the grey
became black. Nera saw the cream coloured bark on the yellow trees peel and
darken. As she entered the court yard, all the rose bushes had barely any leaves
growing on them, and the roses drooped their heads toward the ground.
She was as confused as ever, walking through
her once beautiful home. Even the castle itself had changed since she had gone.
The paint peeled away and gathered on the pathway. The glass doors were now
cold iron gates, and the pond had turned into a filthy water.
Nera pushed open the gates with a loud creak,
and as doing so, a loud cackle arose from the dining hall. A voice began to
speak in a crackled whisper, like the wind as it rustled the leaves on the trees.
"Welcome back, Nera."
***
"Clever one," Kau Seer said as he began to creep out from the shadows. The
whole castle was black except for a small light from the kitchen. The light
came closer and closer to Nera until she was face to face with a Grarrl servant.
He held a candle in his claws.
"Hello," the Grarrl greeted.
"Um...hello," Nera replied, turning away from
the Grarrl and walking briskly toward Kau Seer. She whispered, so only he could
hear her, "What have you done to the castle?!" Kau Seer turned to the staircase,
where a figure walked slowly down the stairs. The figure stood along Kau Seer.
Nera could now see the figure was Luke.
"Oh Luke!" Nera cried. She flung her arms around
his neck, only to be pushed away. Luke looked at Kau Seer. "Do you know who
this is?"
"Oh. No, I haven't seen her ever in my life,"
Kau Seer replied, smirking.
Nera's eyes widened. "What have you done?!" She
yelled at Kau Seer.
Luke patted her on the shoulder. "Shh, shh. An
extra room is available if ye wouldeth want to stay the night."
"I am not staying as a guest--I am to be your
wife!"
Luke was confused as he stared at Nera. "Actually,
she does look somewhat familiar," Luke said to Kau Seer.
"Have we met before?" he asked Nera.
Kau Seer grabbed Luke's shoulder and turned him
back toward the stairs. "Don't you have some cleaning to do?"
Luke began up the stairs without questioning
Kau Seer at all. As soon as Nera lost sight of him, she said to Kau Seer, for
the third time, "What have you done?" She said it in a serious tone of voice,
staring sternly at Kau Seer, as he smiled.
"Hmmm, well, Nera," he began, "You do know I'm
the better magician and all. I have the spells and wisdom to just...brainwash
an entire community! I could brainwash the whole of Neopia, you know, and that'd
be including you, and everyone would listen and obey ME!"
Kau Seer paused a moment and waited for Nera
to reply, but she couldn't be bothered. She was racking at her brain to try
and remember some of her spells from her secret book.
"Do you like how I've redecorated the place?
I think it looks really great."
Nera nodded, but really was paying no attention
at all.
"I suppose you haven't seen the whole of the
castle yet. You can go and look about. You're no harm to me anymore! You're
whole room was cleared! All your spell books are gone! Haha!"
"Oh. Yes, Kau Seer. I'll do that," Nera replied,
walking up the stairs.
As Nera reached the second story, she slipped
off her shoes and she ran as quickly as she could, trying not to create any
noise or draw any unneeded attention.
At the fourth floor she could hear the footsteps
of a few guards nearing. They turned to stare at Nera who smiled and began walking,
as casually as she could, up the stairs.
To her relief, they kept on walking down the
hallway.
She arrived at the tenth floor exhausted, but
decided it was no time to take a rest.
Pressing her shoulder into the door, she pushed
it open to greet her room once again. However, this time, it was stripped of
all it's furniture. Little strands of hay stuck up through the cracks of the
old wood. Nera bent down in the centre of the room and threw back the weak floorboard.
To her surprise, all that she could see was
straw. Her old spellbook was gone.
***
Nera shoved her hooves into the small space and felt around for the book.
To her relief, slipped under another close floorboard was her blue spell book.
She blew the dust that had begun to gather on the top cover and began skimming
through it.
She flipped to the shield section, looking at
various invisible shield spells, each one defending against different elements
and attacks. She picked the one she thought would likely be the most helpful--absorbtion
of shock attacks.
She found a few attacks she thought would be
helpful--Two Defence and Two Attack--casting a total of four upon herself, the
maximum number of spells one can be in power of.
Stuffing the book in one of her robe pockets, she ran out through the doorway,
not bothering to close the door behind her.
She stopped at the steps and examined the staircase.
She pushed the banister forward, but it didn't budge. Now knowing it was sturdy,
she carefully jumped up and sat on the slippery wood railing. With a soft push
and a small yelp, she was sent flying down toward the First Floor.
She began counting to herself as she passed
each floor--Nine, eight, seven, six, five...I must do this more often...four,
three, two...one more to go!...I'm here!
Nera, being inexperienced at sliding down the
banister, once sent flying across the room, as she had forgotten to slowed to
a stop at the end of the railing. She landed with a skid across the marble floor,
quite embarrassed as she saw Kau Seer turned and shake his head slowly.
"What are you doing?"
Nera flattened down the back of her skirt and
walked straight up to Kau Seer.
"Now, Kau Seer! Undo any spells you've made
and leave Meridell. If you fail to do that right now, you will face the consequences."
Kau Seer chuckled, holding his belly as if he
was embarrassed that it was large enough that it shook when he laughed.
"Nera, Nera. Now how do you plan to do that?"
He voice suddenly became very serious. "Your spell books were burned. Your room
was cleared. You talk foolishness, peasant." Nera clenched her teeth, but held
back her anger...for now, at least. "If you do what I say, everything will go
smoothly."
"Haha!" Kau Seer yelled, "Nothing you do will
stop me from taking over the whole of Neopia!" And with that, Kau Seer fired
a shock beam from his hoof at Nera, smirking as it headed her way.
Nera grasped the invisible shield in her hooves
and directed it to the beam. Kau Seer's mouth hung open as the beam bounced
off the shield, coming straight back at him. He threw his arms over his face
as the shock beam hit him, knocking him off his feet and onto the floor. He
rubbed the back of his neck and slowly sat back up.
He spoke in a scraggly voice, as if he had just
woken up. "I am not leaving this castle..." And he suddenly regained his voice
and began to yell, "I will not!"
He stood and rubbed his hooves together, slowly
creating a red fiery ball between them. He cackled and threw the ball with all
his might, right at Nera.
Nera dropped to the floor and the ball passed
over her. She closed her eyes and muttered a verse, suddenly becoming nothing
but a shadow--her second defence.
She leaped across the room, being careful not
to stand by the candles, as the light would reveal her. Kau Seer stood in confusion
as he looked about the large dining hall with the light from a single candle
that stood on a wooden desk.
Kau Seer felt a cold rush of air from behind
him as he grasped the candle off the desk. Before he had a chance to turn around,
a jagged ball of hard ice collided into the back of his head, throwing a gold
earring to the floor. He was knocked flat to the ground, laying on his side.
He slowly rubbed the sore spot where the ice had hit, and found his headache
was too painful to sit back up.
Lying there, Kau Seer managed to mutter a few
phrases to himself, directing a lifted arm to Nera.
Nera was taken by complete shock as she could
see thick, forest green vines breaking out of the walls like sprouting flowers,
only with unmeasureable strength and speed. They shot forward, throwing themselves
around Nera and wrapping around her. She looked as if she had ropes and ropes
of green tied around her. The vines brought her to the wall they came out of,
sandwiching her between the wall and them.
I have to think fast! Nera told herself.
She lay there against the wall as Kau Seer recovered
from the headache, now standing up. He began forming another fire ball, aimed
at Nera. Nera could not reach her shield nor could move, as the flame headed
toward her.
***
Nera began biting through the vines as quickly as she could. She tore through
them as if they were paper. Unfortunately it didn't have the most pleasant taste,
but biting as fast as she was, she couldn't taste anything anyway.
The fire ball gained speed, passing over the
dining hall table. Nera had finally bit through enough vines that the tight
grip had been loosened, enough for her to squeeze out. She squirmed her legs
out, falling to the floor, just as the fireball hit the place on the wall where
she was.
Kau Seer held back his anger brought out a potato
launcher from a sack in one of the large pockets in his robe.
Nera was dodging potatoes before she realised
what was going on. She fell to her stomach on the floor, and began crawling
beneath the hundreds of potatoes Kau Seer had fired. When Kau Seer found Nera
was no longer in sight, he was too late to search for her, since Nera had already
crawled her way to where Kau Seer was standing and had fired dozens of small
explosive faerie acorns.
"Oomph! Ah! Ouch! Eee! Oh! Erk! Oi! Aiee! Eck!"
Kau Seer cried, as he was pelted with the little explosives.
Kau Seer finally fell to the floor as one final faerie acorn hit him in the
back of his head, the same spot where the ice ball had collided. "Oooohhhh..."
he said aloud in pain.
By that time Luke and the rest of the servants
had all gathered in the Dining Hall, from hearing the continuous noise of small
explosions.
"Kau Seer has been defeated," Nera told the
crowd.
They watched in amazement as Kau Seer slowly
dissolved into little more than a small cloud of purple and yellow-checkered
fog. The fog circled the dining hall, then gathered itself into a smaller and
smaller cloud. And finally, it disappeared.
The people stood shocked, whispering to one
another about the strange ixi who had suddenly appeared in their castle. The
crowd, including Nera, watched as sun began to flood through the stained glass
windows. The iron gates melted away. In its place stood the beautiful glass
doors Nera remembered well. Through the glass, looking out into the garden,
the filthy water in the pond evaporated, bringing back the the clear blue waters
that dazzled like diamonds in the morning sun. The bricks were restored to its
natural, stunning white, and the rose bushes blossomed new pink buds. Everything
had been restored to the way it was.
Before the crowd had a chance to argue with
what had happened, all of their memories had been replenished, for the spell
had broken. None of them remembered anything of the Kau Seer battle, nor the
castle being in ruins.
"Nera!" a familiar voice cried, as the people
parted to make way for Luke. "You're back!" Nera flung his arms around his neck
and kissed him on his cheek.
***
At the end of the day, Nera sat on the floor in her room, looking at the crumpled
piece of paper with the information she had written about Kau Seer. She shook
her head slowly, lifted up the loose floorboard, and stuffed the sheet of paper
away. Kau Seer's spell upon the castle had been destroyed.
***
Soon after, Nera and Luke were married, becoming Queen and King of their kingdom.
Kau Seer was never heard of again. What more is there to say?
They lived happily ever after.
The End | 
