Defenders & Artefacts: Broken Rules

     Location: Kitchen

     Discoveries: Baby Vandagyre, Wooden board, Cirrus

     Azul petted the Cirrus, which was gleefully floating and gliding up and down in the air. It was fluffy and warm to the touch, as well as extremely energetic. It loved to swoop into the bag and snuggle with the Baby Vandagyre, which adored touching the misty surface of the Petpet. That made Azul more confident in taking care of the baby, as it was mostly occupied with the Cirrus now.

     They had already left the Kitchen and were back to the Basement Landing. Azul had got a notification on his wristband that Purpura had found the Stairs from Basement and that’s where they were now heading. It ended up being a clever idea not to use the wooden board to find them. He was the only one left in the Basement and he had no specific plan in mind, other than making his way upstairs and regrouping with his fellow defenders. He turned left into the Gym.

     He hadn’t been in this room before and the first thing he noticed was a pair of untied shoes lying on the floor, with a faint yellow glow surrounding them. Their laces were half eaten by pests and the shoes looked discoloured. He glanced at this wristband to check the notes. He could gain a point in movement if he interacted with them, but that would mean that he would have to stop moving and stay in the Gym. He considered his options. What would his father do in a situation like this? He realised that he did not have enough movement to make it up to the Foyer. His movement would have to stop inside the stairs, therefore his decision was easy.

     He squatted down and inspected the yellow aura around the shoes. The shoes magically tied themselves up and stood upright. Then they started sprinting around Azul. The Cirrus let out a squeal and started chasing them, leaving little wisps of cotton candy in its path. After three laps, the shoes fell on the floor and untied themselves, with the yellow aura disappearing. Azul had gained a point of movement, but he had to wait longer before joining his friends. Even though he still felt anxious about making the correct decision, he believed in himself.

     Purpura

     Location: Ballroom

     Discoveries: Mask, Moehog skull, Pair of dice

     Purpura fell backwards onto the polished hardwood, with a pair of dice in her hands. Unfortunately, these were neither the bow nor the throwing stars that Orion instructed them to discover. Her head throbbed and felt sore after all the effort in the mind world. She massaged her temples to relax them and then checked her wristband. Its purple light was too much for her eyes, so she squinted to be able to read the notifications without straining her eyes. She was informed that the Secret Dice had both good and bad effects associated with them. After rolling them, she would get an outcome based on the final value. This could range from raising one point in a skill, in the best case scenario, or lowering all her skills to their lowest point, in the worst case scenario. She felt that at this stage, they were too much of a gamble to use. If any of her skills lowered below their minimum value, she would be rendered unconscious and thus incapable to continue this mission. Nevertheless, she tucked them away for future use. The map also informed her that Verde had already found the bow in the Attic.

     “That means that only the throwing stars are hidden somewhere in the house,” she thought. “It would be very useful to have a second weapon.”

     The Ballroom bordered the Hall of Heroes and the second weapon had a possibility of being hidden there. In addition, she hadn’t had the chance yet to explore earlier, having fallen down the slide against her will. She was still intrigued by the yellow glow she had seen around the statue of the First to Rise. She glanced back down where the Usul dolls used to be and thoughts came to her mind. They had now disappeared from the room, and from her life. With teary eyes she continued straight into the Hall of Heroes.

     The first thing she noticed upon entering the room was the hole on the left hand corner, where the slide had involuntarily led her down to the Basement Landing. She got closer and saw the crumbled tiles around it and its metallic surface reflecting the light in the room. She flanked inside but she couldn’t see the end of the slide. She kept her distance from the slide and turned around to examine the rest of the room.

     The statues were frozen in time, arranged in a circle around the sun emblem of Altador. On the opposite side of the room, big glass windows let in an abundance of light. The sun brushed against all the statues, making the sculptures’ details more prominent. Purpura stared in awe at the exaggerated highlights of each statue and the dramatic shades cast by the light. Her eyes locked on the statue of Siyana, still surrounded by the yellow aura. She passed between the statues of the Sleeper and the Wave and stood opposite the statue of the First to Rise, which was situated between the Protector and the Thief. As she was admiring its beauty, Siyana came alive. Starting from her legs, up to her torso and her wings, ending with the flowy hair, the statue started moving as if life was breathed into her. She lifted off the pedestal and flew up to the ceiling of the Hall. Her hair made of stone was waving as she flew around, above Purpura. Purpura stared at the faerie fly while the yellow light from the sun painted the statue in shades of amber. After a few laps, Siyana returned back down, gracefully stepping on her pedestal and assumed her original pose. Slowly, starting from the head and moving down to the legs, she started turning back to hard stone, as Purpura felt her clarity increasing by one point.

     “It was a good idea to return back here,” she exclaimed. She remembered the pair of trainers that had come alive on their own in the Gym. They too had the faint yellow glow around them before granting her a point in movement.

     Now onto her next task. She meant to scan the room for a hidden weapon. Unlike scanning the dolls using her clarity, the weapon could be found using intelligence and she had an ace up her sleeve. Or rather a mask.

     She retrieved the mask that reminded her of the balls she used to attend when she was studying. She attached it on her face, fitting the openings on her eyes and the strap at the back of her head, and felt its effect at once. Two points were instantaneously added to her intelligence and two points were removed from clarity. She had thankfully just increased her clarity by a point which made her feel more certain with her actions. Her intelligence now stood at its maximum and certainly above all her fellow defenders. From the corner of her eyes she could faintly make out the silver accents connecting the top part of the mask and it made her feel like royalty. For a split second, she stopped worrying about everybody else’s safety. Her protective nature was eliminated and Princess Purpura appeared. That feeling, as fleetingly as it arrived so it left and Purpura remembered where she was and her task at hand.

     She was still standing in the middle of the room, right on top of the Altador emblem. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her intelligence, which she could feel flow like a potent river in her head. The immense power she had tapped into allowed her to render the whole room in shades of purple with ease and enter the mind world. The statues looked like they were taken right out of a comic strip, with their outlines resembling hand drawn lines made of ink. The tiled floor had changed from cream and brown to alternating tiles with shades of amethyst and mauve.

     She started scanning the room, moving from tile to tile on the floor, checking above and below every aubergine coloured statue, every nook and corner and even through the gap of the slide she so despised. She kept scanning for a few minutes and didn’t feel her head throbbing or tired. She managed to check the whole room in seconds. Despite the ease with which she could scan the area, she had no success in discovering a weapon in the Hall of Heroes.

     Purpura was gravely disappointed. There was no weapon hidden in this room, she was certain of it. She exited the mind world and the familiar sunlight bathed the Hall in shades of yellow. She frustratingly kicked in the air; this was a big blow to her plan. Any artefact she could get her hands on meant a step closer to her goal, in addition to properly helping with their fight against Albugineo. With the mask still on her face, she gazed outside the window. She wanted to believe that somehow, somewhere out there her parents were waiting for her.

     Verde

     Location: Grand staircase on the ground floor

     Discoveries: Bite, Stringless bow

     Verde checked around the Grand staircase on the ground floor for any sign of Albugineo. He couldn’t find a trace of him. He was convinced that he saw the malicious Wocky disappear in thin air. His hands still felt stiff from punching through the white aura that surrounded his enemy, but he picked up the stringless bow that was lying on the floor next to him all the same and moved straight to the Foyer. He needed to move away from Blanca and Albugineo and concentrate on learning how to use the weapon.

     Upon entering the Foyer, he noticed that the hatch door on the left hand side of the room was open. Purpura had already returned up to the ground floor but Azul was still downstairs, although he should be making his way back up soon. He didn’t linger long in the Foyer, rather he turned right and moved into the Abandoned Room. He stepped into the desolation that characterised that room. Quickly moving across the half eaten carpet and passing over broken table pieces and old furniture, he turned right to enter the Ballroom. He needed a quieter room to study the weapon, not in terms of physical noise but in terms of mental rest. The Abandoned Room was too disorganised and chaotic and his mind was racing.

     He stepped on the hardwood floor of the Ballroom which seemed like an oasis in this wretched house. A mostly empty room other than the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, which reflected rainbow colours on the dance floor, and the big mirror on the wall. He felt that he was in a better state to properly examine the weapon here. He held it in front of him to inspect it. It still had a dull grey surface and no string attached to it. Verde was uncertain how this would help them in their fight, but he had to trust Orion’s words. Orion often worked with the defenders as much as he could, however Verde hadn’t seen him at the briefing meeting. In fact, he realised that he hadn’t seen him for a few days. It was hardly suspicious though, given his frequent trances that make him incapable of leaving the house, or the contrary, making him take the next spaceship to Virtupets for unexplained reasons.

     He closed his eyes and concentrated on his intelligence. Green hues appeared and disappeared as Verde fleetingly entered and exited the mind world. With a final push, the Ballroom turned into a sea of greens. The weapon in his hand looked dull, although it was now painted in a xanadu hue. Verde further focused his mind on the weapon and suddenly green writing appeared in front of him.

     “Confused troupes’ stance” read the sentence, carved in the air in lime green letters. Verde stared at it. He didn’t know what it meant or how to treat this cryptic phrase. Its solution eluded him. What made him angrier was that this task would have been right up Blanca’s alley, had she not betrayed them. She was always interested in riddles. He wondered if the house was manifesting the clues in such a manner due to her affinity for cryptic puzzles. A lot was at stake. It was vital that this mission be a success and he had to see it through, for the honour of the Defenders of Neopia and the oath he had taken after Camp. Success would lead to his promotion and to fulfill his goal of truly being able to defend Neopia.

     He tried to remember the past, imagining himself back during their training. Blanca’s favourite instructor was Lightning Lenny, the famous defender with the power of super speed. He was the one who taught them all about cryptic clues and how to decipher them. During one of his missions, he had to decipher clues, fight and defeat Eyrieki, an enemy keen on cryptic riddles, as well as mass havoc. Ever since, Lightning Lenny became the tutor of young and aspiring defenders in the tricks and riddles department, Blanca’s best subject. Funnily enough, Eyrieki had been awakened by an archeologist, Blanca’s occupation. Verde couldn’t help but chuckle at all the coincidences during this bleak time.

     “Confused,” he repeated out loud, while still maintaining his connection with the mind world, “I am fairly certain that’s a pointer for anagrams.” He was quite sure that words that have to do with confusion, scrambling or mixing alluded to anagrams.

     “This leaves me with troupes and stance,” he continued. “One of them has to be a definition and the other one has to be the scrambled word.” His mind was getting tired. Keeping a hold of the green world was having its toll on him. “Let’s assume that stance is the definition. Could I think of an anagram of the word troupes which signifies stance?” He sketched each individual letter in his mind, in lime green. Then, he started rearranging them in the air, spelling meaningless words, until he stumbled on a possible answer. “Posture!” he exclaimed so loudly in his mind, that his head throbbed from the noise of his own voice. “I have to learn the correct posture for this weapon,” he concluded.

     He picked up the xanadu coloured weapon and held it awkwardly with both hands. Unfortunately, despite all his previous adventures, he never had the chance to learn proper archery. He lifted it up in front of him, holding it from the middle and only using his left hand. He held it in such a way so that the sharp ends pointed up to the ceiling and down to the floor. Nothing happened. He slowly rotated the weapon, keeping his back stretched and straight. His mind was telling him he had to exit this world soon, the struggle was heavy on his head. He kept rotating the weapon and as soon as it reached a horizontal position, the right quarter of it changed colours from xanadu green to a shiny black. He believed that the change of colour of the weapon must have signified that Verde had found the correct posture.

     He exited the mind world and stumbled to the floor, the Ballroom returning to its original colours. This had been too much for him. He glanced at the weapon in his left hand, still held in a horizontal position. He saw his face partly reflect back at him on the now metallic black quarter of the weapon, just like in Orion’s vision. He knew they were on the right path.

     Blanca

     Location: Creaky Hallway

     Discoveries: Crystal ball

     Blanca felt a sharp pain, rushing from her feet up to her head, a swift tinkle of electricity which disappeared in a wisp. She was standing on the Upper Hall, having traversed the Creaky Hallway with ease. Verde had managed to defeat Albugineo once, but little did he know that Albugineo would return even stronger than before. She couldn’t hold back a chuckle. While in the Creaky Hallway, she had successfully used the crystal ball she had found hidden in the Rotten Room. She had foreseen and foretold, looking through its spherical smokey surface, that the next item to be found in the house would be a pair of dice. In doing so, she impeded the hunt of the defenders to find the second weapon which would allow them to defeat Albugineo more easily. After using the crystal ball, its smoky white interior turned pitch black, a sign that it required to recharge. She started cackling maniacally at the thought of her brilliant idea she had triumphantly carried out. Nevertheless, she needed to carry out her part and assist in the physical fight against them.

     She marvelled at the wooden handrail of the staircase for a second - its details were truly mesmerising - before starting to climb down the stairs to reach the Grand Staircase on the ground floor. Scorch marks could be seen on the floor and on parts of the steps where Albugineo’s knuckles had struck. They left a black hue, almost like soot, in the shape of a small explosion wherever it had touched. She walked straight over the marks, leaving them behind and entered the Foyer.

     The room was empty, with the hatch door open. Standing in the middle of the room, she checked her wristband for the map. The white map showed a blue dot in the Gym on the basement floor, a green dot in the Ballroom and a purple dot in the Hall of Heroes, both on the ground floor.

     “Azul will soon cower and join his friends for protection. He will come running upstairs soon enough to hide in their shadows as he always does,” she thought while debating if she should go downstairs and battle him or stay on the ground floor. She did not let herself properly realise the similarities between her and Azul. Both were struggling to prove their worth and be seen for who they were, and to escape the chains that held them captive due to how others perceived them.

     She turned right to enter the Abandoned Room. The chaos that prevailed in the room filled her with a sense of satisfaction. Her ultimate dream. This would be the state of the whole Defenders of Neopia squad when she would be done with them. She knew that Verde was in the room straight ahead. Despite her eagerness to continue onwards and defeat her former colleague in the Ballroom, she was still bound to her movement which had run out.

     Albugineo

     Location: Entrance Hall

     Outside the Entrance Hall, bright, small, white dots started gathering from different directions. They quickly assimilated into a blob of bright white light which instantly took the shape of a malicious white Wocky right outside the door. Albugineo had returned stronger than before, with his aura brighter and larger in size.

     He pushed the main entrance door with such force that it swung open vigorously and the handle hit the back wall with a loud, metallic clank. He moved into the Entrance Hall, annoyed. That weakling, that Kacheek had outsmarted the mighty Albugineo. His revenge would rain upon the green Kachek, each drop a reminder of his wrongdoing. He glided straight through to the Foyer, ignoring the open hatch door, and turned left into the Abandoned Room. He felt her presence before he saw the bright white aura filling the room. Blanca was standing amidst broken furniture and destroyed floor tiles.

     “Right through this door?” he asked her as he glided towards her, pointing at the door leading to the Ballroom.

     “Show him no mercy,” she replied with a malicious smile, stepping out of the way to let him pass. Despite having the whole room to float through, she knew her brother, she knew his arrogance and she knew that he would decide to pompously cross through exactly where she was standing.

     Albugineo entered the Ballroom. His white aura was reflecting on the polished floor, resembling a white puddle which followed his hovering feet as he levitated through to find Verde. He saw him on one knee, struggling to stand up with the weapon in his hand. He gave him no warning. From his aura emerged two white shuriken stars which dislodged and hurled, spinning towards Verde. Verde looked up and let himself fall on his belly on the floor to dodge them. The shurikens grazed past him and hit the hardwood floor, scratching it with a screeching noise, before disappearing to merge back into Albugineo’s aura.

     Verde was tired. He couldn’t stand up. While laying on the floor, he turned his head up to see a knuckle made of white, translucent aura hurling towards him. It punched him and pushed him back, making him slide with ease on his stomach on the varnished floor for a few metres and hitting the mirror on the wall. With a groan Verde realised that he had lost a point in a physical skill, specifically in movement. At least the weapon was still in his hand.

     Albugineo looked at his achievement and, as if it was trivial, ignored him and started gliding straight towards the Hall of Heroes to meet his next prey. He entered the sun lit room and momentarily squinted his eyes because of the sudden change of lighting. He gazed around at the statues of the Neopets he used to call heroes. He respected none of them now. Even the Darkest Faerie had been a disappointment.

     He found a Purple Zafara standing in the middle of the room right on top of the sun of Altador, surrounded by the statues. Purpura was looking outside the glass stained window and instantly turned around as she felt him approach her. Albugineo noticed the silver mask that covered the top part of her face. The silver parts that made up the bridge and connected the eyeholes were shining bright as the sun caressed her face, painting the face with eerie shadows. She saw him approach her further and she started moving backwards, never turning her back to him.

     “There is nowhere to hide, little princess,” Albugineo mocked her, “I will treat you all equally, isn’t this what the Defenders are preaching?”

     She had backtracked enough to hide behind the statue of Jerdana, the Protector. Through the marble cloth that Jerdana was twirling in the air, frozen in time, Purpura vigilated Albugineo. He had turned his view towards her, a malicious grin in his face. His head was stooping low although his face was raised up, enough for his green venomous eyes to lock with hers. His white aura turned into multiple long, thin spikes that lashed outwards from all directions and flew towards her. Resembling a giant cocoon, the thin spikes passed over the statue of Jerdana, their objective to engulf both protectors. Purpura quickly fumbled through her pockets and found it.

     With swift movements, she took the Moehog skull and held it firmly in her hands. She extended it upwards above her head, as she turned to look down to the floor. It was the first time she averted her eyes from Albugineo. The white aura spikes all converged into a single bright line and were being attracted and absorbed by the skull. The orange hair on top of the Moehog skull stood upright, as if electrified by the energy of Albugineo’s attack. While the skull was acting as the mediator between hunter and prey, a yellow light jumped from both Moehog horns and hit Purpura right in the mind. The energy from the impact pushed her backwards and she hit the brick wall. The skull had successfully mitigated the physical damage and converted it to mental damage; and Purpura lost a point in clarity, putting her extremely close to defeat.

     To be continued…