The Ensorcellator

     "Average classes, average lunch--" Blynn was cut off by a sudden cold, wet feeling on her fur. She looked down, aghast, to see that someone had knocked her bottle of cherry juice into her lap. "Average bullies…" She stuck her tongue out in disgust, more disappointed at the waste of the delicious juice than at getting her fur sticky. However, that disgust quickly turned to anger as soon as half her sandwich hit her face with a splat. There was only one person Blynn knew who would commit such a heinous act as to waste food: Vivian the blue Acara, one of Neopia Central 5th District Neoschool's bullies.

     Sure enough, as Blynn blinked the egg mixture away from her eyes, she could see the nasty Acara shaking with laughter, accompanied by her cohorts Missy the red Usul and Kate the yellow Poogle. Missy, who had on way too much jewelry and makeup, was trying to calm Vivian down before she hurt herself, and Kate, who was a little pudgy even for a Poogle, gulped down Blynn's Jummie Roll in one bite.

     "Oh…oh…oh…that was classic!" Vivian managed to gasp out between guffaws. "Really, Blynn, you should have seen your face when you realized your already-filthy fur was all wet and sticky!" She never even saw the red, furry fist coming.

     ***

     "Detention?! I can't believe this!" Blynn moaned, slumping into the hard plastic chair in the school's detention hall. Her tail twitched helplessly, dangling out of the large opening in the chair's back, as she tried to think of what to tell TK, her owner. "I mean, I'm a good Neopet! Good Neopets like me don't get detention! I was just giving that stupid Vivian what she deserves, but the lunch supervisor believed HER instead of ME! I'LL GET YOU, VIVIAN!!" she screamed, getting on top of her desk and waving her fist.

     "Ahem…" The detention instructor, a tired-looking blue Tonu, cleared his throat in what was obviously a "sit back down or you'll be here until Year 10" gesture.

     Blynn felt her cheeks burn as she slid back into her seat, enduring snickers from the other detention students. She hadn't really meant to punch Vivian - well, yes, she had…but it wasn't her own fault, really - oh, yes it was, and there was no use trying to reason a way out of it. Her short temper had landed her in trouble again. "Things would be a lot cooler," she murmured to herself, "if I had some sort of control over people like Vivian…" She quietly drifted off to sleep, trying to think of ways to teach the Acara a lesson she'd never forget…

     "Well, looks like you've served your time," the Tonu suddenly said, his gruff voice waking Blynn up. Sure enough, she had slept through detention, and the other troublemakers rambunctiously scrambled out of the room, their hoots and yells echoing down the hall.

     Blynn walked home slowly, kicking at any stray pebbles on the road and letting out a dejected sigh every once in a while. No matter what she told the faculty, they never believed her accounts of Vivan, Missy, and Kate bullying other students and getting into trouble. She didn't want to involve TK, because her crazy owner would come up with a zany plan undoubtedly involving things exploding and/or catching on fire, which would get the whole family in serious trouble with the Faeries for disturbing the Neopian peace. Hyren could get a little extreme in exacting justice as well, so he was out of the question. And Pharazon wouldn't harm a Zytch, let alone force three mean-spirited Neopets to reform. Blynn trudged home, barely touched dinner (even though it was pizza, her favorite), and slumped into bed, letting peaceful sleep ease her anguish.

     "Dude, you okay?" TK asked, knocking on the bedroom door.

     "Mmfl," Blynn replied, her mumbling muffled by her pillow. TK must have taken a hint from the Zafara's bitter tone, because the house was silent afterward.

     On the way to school the next day, Blynn asked her brothers and Yurble to go on ahead without her, and they gladly obliged, eager to get away from her sour mood. "Why…why?!" she muttered, none too eager to reach the Neoschool. "Why can't I just stumble upon the solution to this problem?!" she yelled to the sky, her arms outstretched in a pleading gesture. Suddenly, she tripped over something and fell to the ground with an "oof!"

     "Ow… what was that?" she asked aloud. She turned and saw a twisted, withered twig on the ground. It looked almost like a Zaptwig, except without the zap, so that's what she thought it was at first. She picked it up and looked it over. Yes, it did remind her of that famous weapon, and she could feel magic running through it.

     "Awesome!" she shouted, waving the supposed Zaptwig around wildly with glee. "Now I can really get Vivian!" Suddenly, a magical blast shot from the tip of the twig, and toward a passing white Wocky. Blynn gasped. "Look out!" she shouted, but it was too late. The magic hit the Wocky full-on.

     Blynn turned away, but she didn't hear any yells of pain. She turned back around to see what had happened, and found that the Wocky was just standing there, looking at her, his head drooped a little. His eyes had become pink, with spirals swirling in them. "…You okay?" she asked him.

     "Yes, master…" the Wocky said in an eerily monotonous manner.

     Blynn put two and two together - the spiraling eyes, the unusually servitory attitude…it had to have been only one thing: hypnosis. To test her theory, she did what any normal Neopian would do. "Hey, go get me a Carrot Fizz Achyfi," Blynn said to the Wocky.

     "Yes, master…" the Neopet intoned, slowly turning toward the Food Shop and stiffly marching toward it, arms outstretched like some kind of zombie (which he practically was).

     "Hurry it up!" Blynn barked.

     "Yes master!" the Wocky yelled, putting all 32 of his movement points into use as he raced into the Food Shop, grabbed the can of Achyfi, threw the Neopoints at the Chia shopkeeper, and thrust the drink into Blynn's outstretched paw in seven seconds flat.

     Blynn popped the can open and took a sip. "Sweet," she said with a mischievous grin.

     ***

     "Well well, if it isn't the Zafara dweeb again," Vivian said with a sneer, stepping into Blynn's path in the hallway. Missy and Kate flanked her like all good lackeys should, making sure nobody got past Vivian without persecution.

     To the three bullies' surprise, Blynn just smiled sweetly, her paws behind her back. "Hey, guys," she said. "Can you please move out of the way? I don't want to be late for history class, you know…"

     Vivian peered curiously at her. "What do you have behind your back?" she questioned.

     "Oh, just something really cool that I found this morning…but I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in it…" Blynn replied, her tail thumping excitedly on the linoleum floor.

     "Why should YOU get something cool, when I obviously deserve it more?!" Vivian barked.

     "Yeah, show us what it is!" Missy demanded.

     "I hope it's edible…" Kate said, mostly to herself.

     From behind her back, Blynn produced what appeared to be a Zaptwig - Vivian's owner had several in her collection, so they were familiar to the Acara. "You know we're not allowed to carry Battledome weapons on campus," Vivian pointed out. "Maybe I should go tell Principal Skeithly and get you suspended…"

     "Say cheese!" Blynn shouted, firing a magic bolt from the tip of the twig. There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly Vivian, Missy, and Kate were standing in the hall with blank expressions and swirly eyes.

     "What would you have us do, master?" all three of them droned in unison, using more advanced grammar than usual.

     Blynn thought for a moment, rubbing her furry chin. "Vivian…you can go clean the bathrooms…with a toothbrush!"

     "As you wish, Master." The blue Acara plodded off, leaving her friends to await Blynn's next orders.

     "Missy…go wash all that junk off your face!" Blynn cried with glee, "and Kate…go get me another Achyfi, I'm thirsty again." As the two Neopets went to fulfill Blynn's bidding, the Zafara hugged her strange new weapon. "I have a feeling things are going to get a lot cooler around here," she whispered to it.

     For the rest of the day, Blynn had three servants at her beck and call. When she couldn't think of any other menial tasks they could carry out, she had them perform stupid stunts like climbing to the top of the gymnasium, running around screaming that Sloth was invading, and jumping on the couches in the teachers' lounge. By the time school let out, the Acara, Usul, and Poogle had landed detention for a month.

     "I can't WAIT to do this all over again tomorrow," Blynn said, after cunningly commanding them to go home and act completely normal until they saw her again. As she skipped home merrily, singing an old Sticks 'n' Stones song, there was a flash of light and Blynn suddenly got a face full of yellow dress.

     "AHEM," the owner of the dress said. Blynn hesitantly looked up to see that she had bumped into a very irritated Light Faerie with folded arms and a grumpy expression. The Faerie's shimmering yellow wings fluttered impatiently. "I see you found my Ensorcellator," the Faerie said.

     Blynn backed away. "Your Ensorcewhatsit?" she asked, confused.

     The Faerie pointed to the magic twig in Blynn's paw. "The Ensorcellator…a weapon capable of hypnotizing any living thing to do the holder's bidding. That one is the prototype. You see, the other day I stopped in Neopia Central to run some errands before delivering it to the Hidden Tower, and I must have dropped it by accident. I can only hope that you haven't been causing any mischief with it, young Zafara…"

     Blynn looked around nervously. "Bwah!" she shouted, aiming the Ensorcellator at the Faerie.

     A shield of blinding light surrounded the light Faerie, and the magic blast deflected onto the cobblestone ground, where it fizzled and died. "Ah ah ah," she scolded, snatching the Ensorcellator from Blynn. "Running amok with a powerful magical item and attempting to use it on a Faerie? You should be ashamed of yourself."

     Blynn put on her best Baby Zafara face and looked up at the Faerie with big, watery eyes and a pouty lip. "You're…you're not gonna tell Fyora on me, are you?" she pleaded.

     The Light Faerie groaned. "Well, I guess since this is a first-time infraction, I'll let you off with a warning." Blynn sighed with relief. "But," the Faerie continued, "next time you see something like this lying on the ground and it's not a Random Event, bring it straight to a Faerie, okay?"

     The Zafara nodded. "I don't suppose everybody I hypnotized is gonna go back to normal now, are they?" she asked.

     "Yes, they are."

     "Aww, dung."

     "More importantly, young Zafara, have you learned your lesson?" the Faerie asked.

     "I sure have!" Blynn said. "Next time I accidentally obtain a powerful artifact…"

     "Yes…" the Faerie prompted.

     "…I'll sell it for a fortune instead!"

     The Faerie hit her forehead. "Some pets never learn…"

The End