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Bluey opened his eyes and moaned. “Where am I?”
“Home!” screeched Dragoon happily, jumping on
him. “You’re awake! You’re alive! Get up! Get up!”
“Okay, okay,” Bluey said, sitting up from the
couch he’d been lying on. He looked around. He was in his Neohome.
“Man, I had the strangest dream,” Bluey murmured.
“And you were there!”
“You weren’t dreaming,” Dragoon replied, smiling.
“We escaped from Nikola’s jewel.”
“No, I really had a dream. You were there. We
were in a restaurant eating lots of food. And it was all cheap. Mmm, food.”
Dragoon rolled his eyes and called, “Spirit!
Darkmoon! Dantus! Aurelia! Bluey’s awake!”
“Bluey!” cheered Spirit. “We were worried about
you. What happened?”
Darkmoon and Dantus came in, too, then Aurelia.
“Dragoon invited us over,” Aurelia explained.
“Yeah, we’re going to party over our defeat of
Nikola!” Dantus finished.
“Oiy, Nikola!” Bluey’s eyes widened. “I left
her in the realm! And it was destroyed!”
“Well, at least we’ll be rid--” Aurelia smacked
Darkmoon. “C’mon, even villains have feelings. Tell us what you did, Bluey.”
He thought for a moment, guilty and remorseful.
“I don’t really remember it all...it happened so fast. She asked me to let her
go, and the portal was shrinking.... I guess I darted through without her.”
“I don’t blame you,” Dantus said. “She seemed
so cruel, and she was, really. But she used to be good. I could feel it.”
Bluey nodded. “Now that I think about it, I wish
I hadn’t. I didn’t mean to. She wasn’t truly evil...she didn’t understand the
impact of what she’d been doing. And she was sorry for it in the end.”
“It’s not your fault, Bluey. You did what you
had to do,” Aurelia said lightly, patting him on the back.
Dragoon looked down. “In the end...yes. She came
to an end. I think she deserved it, but maybe she wasn’t that different from
us.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment, in remembrance.
“Well, that’s nothing like we expected,” Dragoon
mused. “But at least you’re safe, buddy.”
“Yeah. Do we--no, this isn’t a good time.”
“No, what is it?” Darkmoon pressed.
“It’s just that...I feel so bad, but--” Bluey
wanted to get the attention away from him. “Do we have any food?”
They did, having bought enough for a feast. So
the group ate and talked around Bluey’s kitchen table. They were shaken but
needed to give closure to what they had been through.
“I’m going to keep in touch with some of the
other freed ones,” Aurelia said. “We’re getting back into Neopia. So much has
changed--I can see that already--but there’s still stuff that’s like I remembered.”
“Yes,” said Dantus, smiling. “The food and bottled
water’s the same, at least.”
The topic grew lighter, but Bluey’s mind was
still troubled.
“How did I get back?” he wondered aloud.
Everyone at the table looked at each other and
for a moment no one spoke.
“The portal led us back to Faerieland,” Spirit
started. “Near the Hidden Tower.”
“We all found each other, but you were missing,”
Aurelia spoke. “Everyone was a bit dazed, so we didn’t think that much of it
at first.”
“Then we saw you. And you were knocked out. Probably
because the portal had only seconds before it closed, and the power was centered
on you.”
“You didn’t wake up. We were worried--we didn’t
want to lose you,” Darkmoon pitched in.
“But we brought you home. And you’re here now.”
Bluey looked at them all. It was exactly as he
thought. And yet...different than he would have hoped.
“Well, it’s all over now,” Darkmoon assured.
“It’s spring. There’s a lot to do in Neopia.”
“Yeah, I haven’t played Meerca Chase in awhile,”
Aurelia agreed.
“I should visit the Snowager again soon,” Dragoon
mentioned.
The topic grew more casual, like they were all
old friends meeting back at a once-known place.
Bluey felt a bit isolated. He needed more time
to think, to recover the pain. He had changed. He knew it.
He excused himself to the living room for a few
moments and sat back on the couch awhile, thinking. And his troubled mind started
to release the grief that would never fully go away.
Yes, he had done what he needed to do. His actions
were justified. He had needed to save everyone, and himself, and he had. But
he felt remorseful. Would he actually have saved Nikola, if he had gone back?
Would he have saved her even if it meant he might have been destroyed?
“Bluey?”
“Hm?” He looked up to see Dragoon, who seemed
concerned.
“What is it?”
“Oh,” Bluey shook his head, “nothing.”
Dragoon stared at him, puzzled. Bluey had always
been open with him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Look, if you need anything--like to talk--don’t
hesitate. I saw you. I understand.”
Bluey said nothing, and Dragoon looked down.
“You were very brave, you know,” Dragoon whispered.
“I don’t think I could’ve done anything without you with me. Remember how you
saved me from the palace?”
“Yeah...” Bluey thought for a moment.
He had rushed into Nikola’s room and awoken Dragoon.
It all happened so quickly...Dragoon had been stunned, a bit woozy from Nikola’s
spell.
“Just trust me,” said Bluey, pressured by fear
of what Nikola could do to Spirit and Darkmoon. “Remember Nikola?”
“Uh...yes. Where am I?”
“Doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.
Come on!”
Then they had run, run to save everyone.
Bluey smiled. “Yes, I remember.”
“Me too. And like I said, if you need anything--”
Dragoon said.
“Yeah...but I’m fine. Just tired, I guess.”
“Ah, well, that’s no wonder. We all are. Go have
some cake. Dantus is going to eat it all if you don't hurry up.” Dragoon, a
little relieved, walked back into the kitchen.
Bluey sighed and looked out the window again.
He thought he’d seen something azure, a familiar sparkling blue, but when he
looked again it was gone.
The End
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