Finally the reunion day arrived. Once more, we met with
the Dark Faerie at the Krawk Island's beach and she took us to the reunions
building. We sat around the round table, placed our bags of NP on it, and waited
for Dr. Sloth to come.
When he finally entered the room, everyone was
happy. And not happy for not having to wait more, but happy to deliver the Neopoints
and get another job or a reward. We were actually happy that we worked for Sloth,
and at this point we all supported him entirely. We truly saw him as our leader
- Somehow, he managed to put this trust in us.
"I see you all worked very hard this couple
of weeks," Sloth said with a grin, noticing the huge bags on the table, "That's
perfect."
Sloth grabbed all the bags that were on the
table and gave them to the Dark Faerie. She counted them with a spell and then
set them on the corner of the room. Sloth sat on his throne-like chair and spoke
again.
"You are all very competent, and I like that.
You shall receive your reward now," Sloth commanded the Dark Faerie with a look,
and she blessed every thief in the room. Each of us had just received 100 HP.
I felt so strong; this would certainly be helpful!
"Does anyone have anything to say before we
proceed to the second topic of this reunion?" We didn't know there was a second
topic, so this statement caused curious looks to appear in every Neopets' face.
This was my chance of telling Sloth about the twenty million I had for him.
"Uh, Dr. Sloth?" I said aloud, "In these two
weeks, I managed to get more Neopoints than the ones necessary. I didn't give
them to my group," Eclipse was surprised like I had never seen her before, and
the rest of the group was stunned, too. Trying to ignore them, especially Eclipse,
I continued, "I decided to give them all to you, Doctor. Here you go, twenty
million Neopoints," I took the bag from my belt and put it on the table. Everyone
was amazed. Purrow was impressed, too, and that pleased me.
"Twenty... twenty million! Boy, how did you
get that much money?" Sloth was astonished, too.
"I sold some fake snow paint brushes, and those
dumb humans fell for the scam and paid me millions of Neopoints for them. I
also stole from the big shops' tills, too."
Sloth gave me a huge proud smile and said, "Good
job."
I felt proud and ashamed at the same time. Eclipse,
who was sitting next to me, looked hurt, and the rest of the group was feeling
betrayed. How could I have done that? Eclipse wasn't even looking at me anymore,
and that was what hurt more. But at the same time, Sloth was proud of me; he
liked what I did, and I was sure he would reward me afterwards, those were enough
reasons for me to feel happy, yet, I wasn't.
"I told you before I needed the money for a
big plan I have. Now it's time to spend the money we have. There will two groups.
Then, according to your group's goal, you shall go travelling around Neopia
trying to accomplish it. One group will speak to all the beasts and monsters
that inhabit Neopia and tell them to be in the next reunion in two weeks time,
where an army will be created; the other group shall search all the wise people
of Neopia and ask them about Venera and the Crown of Ultimate Power," Realising
no one has ever heard of such artefact, Sloth started to explain, "A long time
ago, when there weren't even Neopets and Neopia was only inhabited by faeries,
there was a particular Fire Faerie who created a very special artefact, the
Crown of Ultimate power. To forge it, she stole power and energy from faeries
of all kinds, and joined her own in an exceptionally powerful spell. This crown
that Venera created, would give to whoever wears it powers so great they can
only be imagined. Of course, Fyora, who was already queen of Faeries then, considered
the crown 'too powerful' and took it from Venera. She was exiled and the artefact
was sealed and sent to the end of Neopia. I want that Crown. And again, I need
your help. You will help me, won't you?"
Everyone said they would help him gratefully.
I said that, too. I believed this plan could work; I was entirely with Dr. Sloth,
even if I had to upset my friends to help him. Everyone cheered and 'Hip Hip
Hooray' was heard several times. Sloth stood up and made a small speech to the
overjoyed thieves in the room.
"I shall have that Crown, I shall be allies
with Venera, the banished Faerie, and I shall rule Neopia! And you, my faithful
helpers, you will all be so greatly rewarded..." Sloth crackled and laughed
evilly, accompanied by the Dark Faerie.
Next, we chose what we would like to do. I chose
to go on a quest to find more information on Venera and the Crown of Ultimate
Power. Eclipse chose to find the beasts for the army, but I think it was only
to not be near me. Once everything was settled, Sloth told a Grundo to bring
a special drink. We celebrated and drank in honour of Sloth and the plan that
was to be successful.
When all the matters had been discussed, and
it was really late, the Dark Faerie teleported us back to the beach. But I wasn't
teleported.
"Uh, what happened? Why didn't you teleport
me, Dark Faerie?" I asked, afraid that something was wrong.
"I wanted to talk to you. I hope you don't mind,"
Sloth answered.
"Oh, it's okay, Doctor," The Dark Faerie was
gone and I was alone in the room with Dr. Sloth.
"I want to make sure you know how grateful I
am for that 'little' extra you brought. You could have kept it for yourself,
why didn't you?"
"I don't need it. I can steal it again whenever
I want, but I know you need it, Doctor, for the plan," I answered Sloth honestly.
"What's you name?" Sloth showed some interest
in me, and that delighted me. Something weird was happening, I actually liked
him, I didn't think he was pathetic anymore.
"Dalí."
"Dalí? What kind of name is that?" Though
said in a semi-offensive way, this question didn't upset me.
"The girl who created me said it's the name
of a great painter from Earth."
"I see... And that girl, is she your owner?"
"Oh, no, she isn't. She left me."
"She left you in the pound... How do you feel
about humans, Dalí?"
"They suck."
"You know, I like you, boy. I really like you,"
Sloth smiled at me and patted my back.
"I feel honoured, Dr. Sloth."
"Go now, start your quest. I'm sure you will
be successful and find something about Venera or the Crown of Ultimate Power."
Sloth teleported me to the beach and I walked
to my place, thinking about the short dialogue Sloth and I had. I was feeling
very proud and very honoured and willing to help Sloth to the end, even though
he hadn't rewarded me. Somehow, he transmitted me such a sense of safety.
I got home and sat on the couch, turning the
TV on. I called for Eclipse but no one answered. I went to her room and saw
that all her stuff was gone. A little post-it was on the window; it read:
Dalí,
I
feel disappointed. I thought you weren't the kind that
would betray a group. Sure you were the one stealing all
that, but why didn't you tell us you were getting extras
for Dr. Sloth? Did you want all the credit to yourself? I
don't understand... You weren't like that when I met you.
Remember when we used to tell each other everything?
What happened to that? You were such a nice and loyal
guy, Prince Charming; you weren't greedy at all.
Anyway,
I can't stay here, I'm going to Licoperdon's; at
least he is my friend.
Eclipse
I crumpled the note and threw it to the bin,
furiously.
"Fine," I thought, angrily, "You don't wanna
stay here, you can leave; I don't care. Sloth likes me and that's what matters
now. Gosh, what is wrong with you, Eclipse?!"
I was truly mad at her. If she wasn't able to
understand that was what was necessary to please Sloth, then why should I even
be friends with her?
I walked to the kitchen, upset with the matter
and got me something to eat. Eating was usually helpful in stressful situations,
for me. As I was throwing everything I could get my paws on in the blender,
I tried to control my feelings and thoughts towards Eclipse. I was very cross
and wasn't thinking straight, so some very wicked things popped in my mind,
like keeping the Shadow Aisha in the battle dome arena, as a punchbag to other
pets.
The green-brownish mixture was finished, and
I poured it in a tall glass. It tasted good despite the awful appearance. Still
fuming about what had happened, I went to the living room and lay on the couch,
sipping my drink and watching TV. The news was on, and it was interesting.
"...stealing incredibly high amounts of Neopoints,"
I heard the news presenter say, "Statistics point that over 1,000,000,000,000
NP were stolen. Neopia never lived anything like this, and everyone is worried.
Fyora, the Faerie Queen appealed that Neopians don't panic. Suggestions to prevent
being robbed include increasing shop and NeoHome's security, and being more
careful when walking on the street. The Faerie Queen also said it's probably
just some new gang that is going to be stopped by the Chia Police sooner or
later. There are no reasons to worry, but just in case, Shylock Holmes and Groson
have already started an investigation on the case."
I smiled and realised we were already having
an impact in Neopia. The Lenny reading the news was now showing a graphic of
the Neodaq and she said it had been going down since the new 'gang' started
to steal. We were even having an impact on the stocks market! I was extremely
happy with the news--so happy I even forgot about Eclipse. That night, I slept
quietly, not having a single dream about Eclipse haunting my sleep. Instead,
I dreamt about ruling Neopia with Dr. Sloth.
The next day I spread all the maps of Neopia
worlds I had on a table and gathered different books about the wise people of
Neopia and famous schools and academies. The table was so full of papers I had
no idea where to start. First, I glued detailed maps of each world of Neopia
on the wall, and a bigger one, not so detailed, with unexplored areas of Neopia.
Then I read all the books and after three days of intense studying, I was able
to mark the accredited academies and schools on the maps. I marked them with
little balls of red jelly, and the homes of wise people with yellow jelly. There
was an ancient school, which was no longer accepting students, located in the
Haunted Woods--really in the woods, not in the inhabited place. It was the only
piece of jelly I had on the map of unexplored areas, so I decided to begin there.
The fact that it used to be a school dedicated to the ancient studies also helped
my decision.
I put the unexplored woods' map in my pocket
and headed to the Haunted Woods where my quest would begin.
To be continued...
Author's Note: What are your comments on this part? Are you enjoying the series
so far? Any advice on what I could have done to make it better, any feedback or
comment, Neomail me! Everything is greatly appreciated! | 
