A Hero's Journey: Checkmate

     ”Checkmate.”

     The Yellow Blumaroo picked up his black knight and placed it in the way of the white king, which had already been cornered by a black queen.

     “Oh.” The young White Blumaroo sitting across from the table sighed as he looked at the remaining pieces on the chessboard, and how many white ones had been captured and set aside. “I…I didn’t see that.”

     “That’s okay. With practice, you’ll learn to see several moves ahead. You’ve only just learned the basics, after all.”

     “But I really thought I had your king back there…guess I’ll clean up the board. Can we play again after dinner, Father?”

     “Of course we can, Rohane.”

     * * *

     Little Neopia was the newest amusement park to open on Roo Island, boasting attractions, rides, and establishments all themed around various locations in Neopia. And while those drew considerable attention, four park goers were likewise drawing their fair share of attention.

     “Look, Mum!” a young Grarrl crowed, pointing to them. “It’s the heroes who beat King Terask!” He was immediately ushered away by a shorter Lutari with large and sparkly fake eyelashes.

     “Yes, yes, dear, but it’s rude to point. Come along, your father’s waiting for us at the Brightvale Mini Museum.”

     “Aw, but I wanted their autographs!”

     The blue Acara in the group smiled as she waved at the Grarrl. “Don’t worry, if we see each other again, we’ll give you autographs!”

     “Mum, Mum, did you see that? Mipsy talked to me! Mipsy, the super powerful wizard!”

     Mipsy chuckled as she and the red Techo next to her waved at the Grarrl until he and the Lutari vanished in the crowd. “What a cute kid. Right, where do we go first?”

     “I’d like to go to the library café in the Brightvale area until all of you are done with wherever you want to go and whatever you want to ride,” a White Blumaroo mumbled, pulling Mipsy and the Techo with him behind a large statue of the park mascot, a heavyset, jovial Rainbow Blumaroo balancing on their tail and toting a cane that looked like an overlarge, elaborate ice cream cone. “Just…leave me there. I’m not really a fan of amusement parks.”

     “Yeah, we can tell,” the Techo said. “For a Blumaroo, you’re really out of place on Roo Island.”

     “I wonder what gave you that idea,” Rohane commented in the driest tone of voice he could muster, with an expression to match.

     “Why don’t we walk around first, see if there’s anything else you want to check out? Besides the library café, anyway,” suggested a Green Eyrie.

     “Talinia’s right!” said Mipsy eagerly. “Besides, it’s just not the same, exploring the park without you, Rohane!”

     Rohane sighed and then shrugged. “Fine. We can look around together. Anyway, Reuben would kill me if I didn’t bring home any souvenirs, so I might as well look for a nice shop.”

     Before he knew it, Mipsy and Velm had gone on ahead, leaving him and Talinia to follow close behind. They passed by a pizza place that made pies that looked like maps; the roller coaster that twisted, looped and hurtled its passengers along tracks all over the park; and even a Virtupets-themed arcade, until they came across what looked like a large fun house, decorated with images of Neopians on fun adventures and a sign that said, “Inside the Wonderful World of Neopia”. A smaller sign beneath it said, in bold red letters, “Closed”.

     Stationed outside the building was a blue Wocky clad in a striped vest and a straw hat. He immediately left his podium. Dropping a yo-yo onto the ground, he ran toward them.

     “I heard we had some celebs here at Little Neopia but I didn’t think it’d be you lot!” he babbled. “And it’s a good thing too, ‘cause we need your help!”

     “Why?” Rohane asked, glancing over at the fun house.

     “We sent some staff to check inside ‘cause we think someone suspicious got into the house and is messing with the stuff, but they haven’t come out! I don’t know what happened to them!”

     “What kind of stuff?” Mipsy wondered at the same time Talinia said, “Messing around?”

     “Uh, shouldn’t you be asking security, or the Roo Island Constabulary?” The White Blumaroo raised his eyebrows.

     “We did, we did! But they just told us to sit tight and wait for reinforcements,” said the Wocky, whose shoulders drooped as he twiddled his fingers. “But I’m real worried about our staff. Maybe you could take a look?”

     Rohane glanced at his companions.

     “What do you think?”

     “He does sound worried,” Mipsy commented, frowning in thought. “It can’t hurt to have a look.”

     “It’s the only way to get you into a fun house, Rohane,” said Velm. “Ow, you didn’t have to elbow me!”

     Talinia looked at the Wocky and nodded. “All right, Mister…er…”

     “Scram, miss. Miss Talinia, yes?”

     “Mr. Scram. We’ll help you, just let us in.”

     “Of course, of course!” said Scram, bending down to pick up his yo-yo. “Thank you, thank you. We’re very much in your debt. Here, let me just…let you in.”

     * * *

     The lights inside the fun house had been switched off, but Mipsy and Velm lit their wand and staff, and led the way. They walked down a hallway full of murals from early Neopian history and plaques that mentioned fun facts about Tyrannia and snippets of Tyrannian research. There was even a lever which, when pushed, caused a screen to light up with a bespectacled Skeith offering beginner lessons on speaking Tyrannian – and which Mipsy accidentally activated when she bumped into the wall.

     “Sorry.”

     “Do you notice anything?” Rohane asked, drumming his fingers on his sword hilt while Talinia quickly switched off the monitor. “I can’t hear anyone, or anything, besides us.”

     Velm furrowed his brows, the glow of his staff casting shadows on his face. With his other hand he traced Lost Desert hieroglyphs into the air, which shimmered gold before dissipating like mist.

     “I sense something, and it feels familiar.” The red Techo gasped softly. “Feels like a teleportation spell…it must be a teleportation orb!”

     “What?” Mipsy blurted out. “But why would there be one here?”

     “I guess that’s what we’ll find out! It’s coming from here!” He started toward the right, only glancing briefly over his shoulder to check that his friends were still following him. They passed by a row of mirrors, and he pointed to an entrance into a large chamber with display cases and desks, figurines and models. The walls were adorned with more murals and landscapes. There were pink and lavender clouds from the time Faerieland was still in the sky, the unmistakable turrets of Meridell Castle, and…

     “It’s us,” said Talinia slowly, reaching out to touch a mural that depicted all of them in Faerie Palace, facing down King Terask, an enormous four-armed Draik.

     “This is awkward, but there’s no teleportation orb.” Rohane gestured to one of the glass cases, which housed a map of the Lost Desert complete with miniatures of himself and his traveling companions, and the routes they had taken while traversing the land marked out with thick felt dotted lines.

     “But that’s impossible!” Velm exclaimed, before suddenly snapping his fingers. “Wait. If we can’t see one, then it must be – “

     All of them heard a bang and a click.

     “The door!” Mipsy hurried to tug at the handle, but it was locked. As she raised her wand, a foul green smoke began pouring into the chamber.

     “Velm, shields!” said Talinia thickly, trying to wave the smoke away from her face. But the Eyrie was already beginning to slump against one of the desks.

     “What’s…no…”

     Before his world went black, Rohane felt as though he – and his companions – were falling, as the smoke took their strength away.

     * * *

     ”You cheated, Reuben!”

     “What do you mean I cheated? What’re you talking about?” A teenage White Blumaroo stood up abruptly, jiggling the chess pieces on the table. He put his hands on his hips and glared at Rohane.

     “You swapped my rook around with your pawn!” Rohane said, pointing a finger at him. “I saw you!”

     “I did not!” Reuben shot back.

     “Did too!”

     “Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Reynold emerged from the kitchen, shaking some water from his hands. “Mind telling me why you’re fighting?”

     Rohane glared at Reuben. “Reuben cheated! He changed my rook with his pawn when I was getting close to taking his queen!”

     “Look, I can’t help it if you’re jealous of your big brother,” said Reuben, rolling his eyes. He made a big show of sitting back down at the table and gesturing at the chessboard. “If you want to win, I think you still could…”

     The yellow Blumaroo peered closely at the board and the pieces left on it, stroking his chin. Silence reigned in the living room. The tension between the two young Blumaroos could be cut with a single knife stroke.

     Finally, Reynold straightened up and stared intently at Reuben.

     “I passed by here on my way to the kitchen and saw your board. There’s no way that rook and pawn could wind up like that. So, Reuben, put those pieces back. No cheating.”

     Though Reuben did as he was told, he shot Rohane a venomous look. Rohane stuck his tongue out at his brother in retaliation.

     Reynold just sighed.

     * * *

          When Rohane finally regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that he could not move his arms fully. He tried to stretch them out but felt as though something was holding them back. That “something” turned out to be steel manacles fastening his arms down on a wooden table.

     And when he tried to stand up, he found that he was tied to a chair in front of the table, and his ankles were chained to the table, which in turn was bolted to the floor.

     On the table was a chessboard, already set up with pieces made to look like different Neopians – a Grarrl here, and a Yurble there, with knights astride upon large Whinnies.

     The black pieces were on his side, but there were three empty spaces in the second row of the lineup. The White Blumaroo frowned as he continued to look around and saw only a stone chamber lit only by several torches mounted in the walls and in a chandelier overhead, with no windows and a single door at the top of a set of stairs. There were dusty game trophies, plaques and certificates, along with various toys, board games, and collectibles shut up in a wide glass case, as well as tapestries depicting various arcades – like the one in Little Neopia.

     He sat bolt upright.

     There was no one with him. His friends were not there.

     At the sound of a creak, he craned his neck toward the door, which opened to admit a Wocky in a striped vest toting a yo-yo.

     “You!” Rohane cried, straining against the chains.

     But Scram was not alone. Accompanying him was someone else – a tall, Green Blumaroo in a ratty robe and with an imposing glare, carrying nothing but a small velvet pouch in his gnarled fingers. The Wocky started doing some tricks that occasionally caused his yo-yo to either scrape against the wall or drag onto the floor, and then immediately dropped it to pull out a bugle from his pack. Then, upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, he blew a single discordant note on the bugle that stung Rohane’s ears.

     “His Royal Highness, King Roothless, master of all games!” the Wocky announced, though not with much enthusiasm. Digging into his pockets, he scattered confetti all around the Green Blumaroo in front of him.

     “So,” Roothless began as he approached the table with the chessboard, “we finally meet. I’ve heard about you, your heroics, your adventures…but most importantly, how you’ve solved your fair share of puzzles and problems along the way.” He smirked, revealing yellowing teeth, as he sat down at the other side of the chessboard. “It’s always so nice to find another Blumaroo who isn’t a complete fool.”

     “You’re a complete fool for capturing me in the first place,” Rohane growled, his chains rattling. “Where are my friends?”

     “You will treat King Roothless with respect!” the Wocky interjected. His yo-yo was back in his hands and with it, he smacked Rohane on the side of his head. “He is Neopia’s greatest gamer and solver of puzzles!” Neither Blumaroo noticed the fleeting expression of exasperation on the Wocky’s face.

     “Thank you, Scram. Oh, right, right. How rude of me.” Roothless held up his pouch and undid the drawstring, shaking it over the board.

     Rohane’s jaw dropped when he saw Mipsy, Talinia and Velm – now the size of chess pieces – tumble onto the chessboard squares. All three of them looked around, their faces morphing from bewilderment to shock and panic.

     “Rohane, what’s going on? Why are you giant?” Mipsy cried.

     “No, the question is, why are we small?” Velm corrected her. The red Techo sniffed and added, “I know this spell. It’s a shrinking spell, and something must happen before we can return to normal.”

     Talinia beat her wings experimentally and tried to fly, but an invisible force slapped her back down onto the board. Mipsy and Velm ran to either side of the board, only to find the same force field keeping them from escaping, before hurrying back to where Talinia was getting back onto her feet with a soft grunt.

     “What did you do to them?” Thankfully Rohane had just enough arm movement left to bang his fists on the table, not noticing his three friends flinching at the sound and the impact. “I don’t care if you’re a king or whatever, change them back, and let us go, or else!”

     “Or else, what?” Roothless asked smoothly. “You’re chained to this table, with your friends the size of petpetpets and trapped upon my chessboard.” The Green Blumaroo flapped a hand at the manacles. “You’re not leaving until we play a game of chess. I assume you’ve heard of it?”

     “And what makes you think I’ll play chess with you?”

     “If you win, I will return your friends to normal.”

     “And you’ll let all of us go?”

     “Of course, of course. But if you lose…then I suggest you all make yourselves comfortable in my dungeon.”

     Rohane gritted his teeth as he tried one more time to pull his arms from his shackles, or free even just one foot to kick the table, but to no avail. All he could do was glower at Scram, who looked very pleased with himself as he opened a small set of Kacheekers and set it up on the grimy floor.

     “I hope our magic still works, at least!” Mipsy drew her wand and gave it an experimental wave. A rainbow of sparks fountained from it, but before she could do anything else, she, Talinia and Velm were suddenly flung into the ranks of the black chess pieces with a flick of Roothless’ wrist.

     “Hey!” Rohane exclaimed. “Don’t hurt them!” Peering at his companions on the board, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were unharmed, albeit a little dazed – and still little.

     “You’re missing three pieces on your side, aren’t you?” said Roothless, his fingers steepled together. “Here. I’ll let your friends join our game as your pawns. And I’ll even sweeten the deal. If you can get any of your pieces to the very end of the board, not only will they turn into queens, but you’ll be able to change one rule, any rule, in this game.” He grinned widely like a Kadoatie that had just cornered a Miamouse. “Now, shall we begin?”

     Roothless didn’t even wait for Rohane to answer, and pointed to one of his white pawns, which had been carved to look like an Aisha. “To D4, pawn.”

     The Aisha pawn shuddered, suddenly leaped up, and moved as Roothless ordered it to, walking on its little carved legs.

     “What now, Rohane?” Talinia called. “It’s your move, isn’t it?”

     “Right.” The White Blumaroo nodded and said, “Talinia, to D6.”

     After loading her bow, the Green Eyrie strode forward and faced the Aisha pawn, which had a sword at its side. Roothless’ grin grew wider.

     “Very well. My knight, from G1, jump to F3.”

     To be continued…