What Would You Do?

by nidoramy

Lucky the yellow Scorchio, and his owner, Sam, were quite a pair. They had never been separated in their lifetime together in Neopia. They weren't poor, and they weren't rich, either. They had enough so that they had a good meal and a warm bed everyday. Not that it mattered to them. All that mattered was that they were together.

It was just like any other day in Neopia. Sam had just come back from his daily shopping routine, and fixed up the regular omelette lunch for Lucky and himself. As the two sat and ate lunch together, bringing up light conversation about the weather and goings-on in Neopia, a very odd thing happened...

A high-pitched shriek sounded out in the street. At first Lucky thought it might be a ghost on the attack, but as he heard, more people began to scream in terror.

"Let's go see," Sam said. Taking Lucky by the paw, he walked cautiously out of the house and into the street. Everything looked perfectly normal. Sam managed to catch a girl who was running past them in a panic.

"What's going on?!"

The girl struggled to catch her breath. She was obviously given quite a scare, and her face was a ghostly pale. Huffing, she managed to explain through broken words.

"The items...everything...gone. The shops in the square are gone. Our NP is gone. The NeoHomes are disappearing one by one. Oh, I hope the pets aren't next." Sam was surprised to see tears start streaking down her cheeks. "Oh, my Poogle, I've got to find her. She wanted to go out on a walk, but I didn't feel like it...oh, Teena..." The girl could say no more, sobs beginning to erupt from her as she began to shake. She seemed quite scared for her Poogle. "I've got to go."

With that, the girl ran away, calling out her Poogle's name as she went.

Lucky and Sam stared at each other with wide eyes. Everything was gone? Even the Faeries? Both suddenly had a strange sense and turned around, only to see that their house was gone. Lucky shuddered and allowed Sam to pick him up in his arms, knowing that he and the others might be next to disappear.

A new, sudden event seemed to catch their attention, and drew them away from what was going on...everyone was leaving. Sam watched as his next door neighbor stomped out of the space where their house used to be, with a sad-looking Skeith staying behind. He hugged his Scorchio closer when he heard a voice yell out from somewhere.

"No, NP, no items, no nothing! Not even any Faeries! You don't even have any of your abilities or equipment anymore! Just the pets! What a joke. I'm leaving Neopia for good!" A whimper, from what sounded like a Kacheek, came in reply.

Lucky held his breath, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. Would Sam abandon him too, and leave Neopia? Sam seemed to read his thoughts, and put Lucky down on the grass. Lucky tried to hold back the tears. Sam and him had always been together! How could he?

Sam cleared his throat. "Lucky, I am not leaving Neopia as long as you are here. That's all that matters to me, and I'm sure that you know it. I don't care that our house and our money is gone, or you've lost all your abilities and attacks. All that matters is you. I'm staying."

Lucky held his breath to keep in the absolute joy he felt. Throwing his arms around his owner, the two embraced for what seemed like forever. As night came, Neopia was completely emptied. Lucky was hopeful when he thought he heard voices other than his or Sam's, but he wondered if it was only his imagination. The two slept side by side on the hard patch of earth where their home used to stand, bathed in the moon's welcoming light.

***

A tickle on Lucky's snout was what awakened him the next morning. Opening his eyes slowly, he felt his back ache from sleeping on hard ground all night. A golden glow snapped him out of his sleepiness, and he shrieked to see a small being on his nose, falling backwards in the process.

Sam woke up from all the commotion. Rubbing his eyes, he sleepily got on to his feet. "What's going..." He stopped abruptly, in pure shock, to see the Light Faerie on Lucky's nose. The Faerie smiled kindly and flitted off of Lucky and onto the grass. "Greetings." Her voice was light and blew in the breeze.

Both Sam and Lucky were too dumbfounded to speak.

"I know," the Faerie replied to their thoughts. "The Faeries are supposed to be gone..."

"What happened?" Lucky managed to ask.

The Faerie smiled almost slyly. "Neopia, before, had become a horrible place with greed-filled residents who only cared about their items and money. They forgot about the true purpose of Neopia--the pets. We, the Faeries, decided to devise a plan. A test, you could say, to rid Neopia of the evils that had come. Yes, we have evil creatures, but there were things worse than an army of Swamp Ghouls or a scheme of Dr. Sloth's. It was the Neopians themselves. Neopia used to be a happy place, until greedy new Neopians came about. They only cared about their status. They tore loving NeoFamilies apart by stealing their money, when the victims had done nothing to them."

"Using our powers, we took away all of Neopia and everything in it. All that is, except for the owners and the pets."

Lucky finally understood. "You mean, nothing's really gone? This was all a test to see who truly cared for their pets, and also a way of cleaning out the evil ones of Neopia?"

The Light Faerie nodded and smiled. "You are a very bright pet indeed, and a lucky one at that." The Faerie giggled at her own pun. Flapping her crystal wings, she flew up in front of Sam's face. "You have done a great deed. You have proven your love for your pet, the true purpose of Neopia. Because of this, I am rewarding you as well as the select others who decided to stay." Turning in midair, the Faerie held out hands and let out a burst of golden power into Lucky. At first he was surrounded by a golden glow, but eventually sunk into him. He trembled slightly and fell to the ground.

"Don't worry, it is only the power you feel," the Faerie informed him. "You have become one of the strongest pets of Neopia, as well as the others. The Faeries will honor and respect you. You will have an endless supply of whatever you need. You will live a happy life because of the great deed your owner has done. New Neopians will come in, and yes, some will be evil. But the test will commence at a certain time each year, and Neopia will be cleaned again."

Lucky felt himself brimming with power, but was concerned. "What about the other pets, whose owners left?"

The Faerie glowed with happiness. "You are a kind Scorchio, dear friend. The new Neopians that will come in will take them under their wing. I will make sure that the ones who take them are pure of heart, so they will not have to go through the same experience again. You are not to tell the new residents about this test." With a wave of her hand, the Faerie twirled and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

***

"The items! Everything! Gone!"

Screams of horror could be heard throughout Neopia. Everything had disappeared.

In a cozy, secure cottage, protected by Faerie power, two humans and two pets sat a table eating a simple omelette lunch together. Lucky sat beside Teena, the red Poogle, while Sam and Teena's owner, the same girl who they had met the last year on the day of the test, brought up light conversation about the weather and goings-on in Neopia. When the screams were heard, all heads lifted. There was a pause.

Smiling secretly at each other, the foursome continued eating their lunch, ready for their houses to disappear for a night once more.

Ending Note: So, what would you do? What if everything in Neopia disappeared, except for you and your pets? And it WASN'T a test? Would you leave in a huff, or stay with your pets? You don't have to wait for a test from the Faeries. Love your pets. Don't get caught up in the hype of money and rare items. If the pets just disappeared, what would Neopia be without them? NOTHING. Neopia IS the NeoPets. What is the point of everything, if there are no pets?

So...what would you do?

The End

All characters and events in this story are fictional.