"Hey, Dylan! Guess what?"
I ran over to my owner happily.
"I've got something for you! It's a surprise,
though."
Just my luck--it would be. My owner, a Red Shoyru,
left to get it from his owner's Safety Deposit Box, and to talk with his owner
outside. I was left alone in the living room, but I could hear everything that
went on outdoors.
"Ready to do it?" my owner's human asked.
"Yep," came my owner's voice.
I climbed up the wall to look out the window.
Suddenly, a blue ghost appeared.
"Hand over the Poppit!" it snapped.
But before my owner could react, the ghost snatched
it.
"It's the Pant Devil, run!" my owner's human
called.
I ran toward the door, just as they opened it
and ran inside. By accident, my owner knocked me out the door.
"That Poppit was for merging Dylan into a Spoppy!"
my owner shouted.
A what? He wouldn't!
The Pant Devil flew off, cackling with his prize.
My owner almost did. Merging petpets? I'd heard
of it, and it was cruel. Almost a punishment.
"Don't worry, I can buy you a new Poppit."
"Oh no, the Pant Devil got Dylan too!"
Horrified, I hid in the bush. The Pant Devil
hadn't even seen me. As soon as my owner's voice faded away, I ran, ran as fast
as my eight legs would take me. I could never go back now. Never--
"Hey, Dyl, wake up."
"Ahhhhhh!" I yelled. Elle and Phoenix were looking
at me.
"You were screaming," Phoenix said.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Elle asked.
Come to think of it, I did. "Yeah...I thought
I forgot about that," I muttered ruefully. It was when I ran away from my old
owner, and I didn't feel like sharing the details.
"What was it about?" Elle asked.
"I can't remember," I lied.
"I'm glad you're okay, dude," Phoenix said, looking
puzzled.
"Well, I am." I got up and looked at the sky.
It was almost noon.
Elle met my gaze. "We'd better get going," she
said. "Bip's missing."
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "Bip!"
"MY TURNIP TOWER!" a Neopian wailed in the distance. "It's ruined!"
Instantly we all started to run toward the voice.
I lagged behind, and Phoenix noticed and slowed down.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I said, feeling annoyed.
"You don't look fine. And you remember that nightmare,
I know you do."
"The Pant Devil saved me," I murmured. "He virtually
saved my life. But I couldn't go back to my owner..."
Phoenix looked at me, understanding. "Come on,
Dyl, it's okay now."
Elle had already found Bip, and we caught up
with them.
"Hey, guys," Bip said. "Thanks for coming for
me. I...uh...accidentally knocked over someone's tower of these weird vegetables--"
"OUT!" yelled the Lupess who was apparently in
charge. She shoved us out of her field and closed the gate.
"That was rude," Elle scoffed.
I nodded. "Bip, are you okay?"
"Of course!"
"We have to get back up to Faerieland," Phoenix
pointed out. "I think we ran farther from it."
"Oh, let's just hang out for awhile," Bip laughed.
"When's the last time we did anything fun?"
"Never," I admitted. "But that doesn't mean you
had any right to run off."
We argued for a minute or so, but eventually
we all agreed we could stay and have fun for awhile, but then we had to get
going. So we counted potatoes (from a distance, of course), ate some berries,
and wandered into what looked like the Meridell centre or something. A target
was set up near a weird-looking petpet, and we decided to investigate.
"Hi, we're tourists," Elle said, introducing
us. It was pretty obvious that we were, though.
"Hello!" the petpet grinned. "I'm Meracynth--call
me Cynth. I'm a Turtum, a petpet exclusive to Meridell. I've seen some of your
kind here--you're from Neopia?"
"Yep," Bip said.
"And Faerieland and the Lost Desert," Phoenix
added.
"And we're headed for Faerieland now!" Bip laughed,
still bouncing.
"Well, I don't know where it is, but do you want
to play Bullseye?" Cynth asked.
"What is it?" Elle inquired.
I just sat back, watching it all. Cynth showed
my pals how to aim the arrow and hit the target--I already knew how, of course.
When I lived on top of the Book Shop's door, people droned on and on for a week
or two about Bullseye strategies. I had just never seen it in action.
"Hey, c'mon, Dyl, why don't you try it?"
Phoenix knew I wanted to, but I was just too
perplexed at the minute to have fun. "In a minute, Phoe." Now, how were we to
get to Faerieland? There must be a way, I reasoned.
"DYL!"
"All right, fine." I stubbornly walked over.
"Just take this, aim, and pull on the lever until
you think you should let go," the Turtum explained, gesturing toward his contraption.
I did, and on the first shot I looked over to
the target. A perfect bullseye.
"Wow, you're the best I've seen all day," Cynth
marveled.
"It's nothing," I muttered. "Listen, Cynth, it's
nice to know you, but we gotta go."
"Dylan, can't we stay longer?" Bip asked anxiously.
I shook my head. "No, guys, I've got a plan.
We have to leave now."
"At least take some Neopoints," Cynth offered
kindly.
"No, sorry, but we have to go."
"All right then, take these--so you'll always
be able to practice and come back to see me someday." Cynth handed me three
arrows and a tiny bow. "Use them well."
"Thanks," I murmured, getting up and gesturing
for everyone to follow me.
So we bid farewell to Cinth and headed back toward
Neopia Central. We didn't walk ten paces before we saw an odd display. There
was a huge, strange creature, and next to it a sign that said:
THE
TURMACULUS
Legends
speak of a petpet a who had a gigantic
appetite. As he ate, he grew, and as he grew, he
ate...
until one day this colossal petpet could not
move
any more. The Turmaculus can be found in
the
land of Meridell, sleeping nearly 24 hours a
day.
If you can wake him up, chances are he may
be
able to help you with an item, or a healing
spell...
just don't catch him in a bad mood (we
weren't
kidding about his appetite!)
"Hey, should we go for it?" Phoenix asked.
"I don't know--'don't catch him in a bad mood'?
Let's just keep going," Elle said anxiously.
"I think we should give it a try!" Bip explained.
In one moment, everyone looked at each other,
and turned their heads toward me.
"Come on, guys, I'm sick of making the call.
If you all want to try it, fine by me, but I'm backing away where it's safe."
Phoenix sighed. "Okay, then; me, Elle, and Bip
will try it."
"It's 'Bip and I,'" Elle corrected. "I'm
staying with Dylan."
She stood back with me and we watched as Phoenix
and Bip try to sing, bang pots and pans, and otherwise just try to make noise
to wake up the monster.
"Hey, guys," Elle called with a laugh, "why don't
you poke him with a stick?"
Not knowing the consequences, Bip did just that.
Instantly the Turmaculus woke up and, grumbling, rolled over and nearly crushed
Phoenix and Bip.
"Ahhhh! Dyl!" Phoenix exclaimed.
"We've got to help them!" Elle shouted to me.
What could I do? I felt through my pocket (Yep,
Spyders have pockets. I don't know how, but we do.). I had my arrows, a bow,
and...something else. I took it out--it was a piece of a carrot. Suddenly I
had an idea, and I stuck the carrot on an arrow, aimed, and fired--right at
Phoenix's mouth.
"Now, everyone, DUCK!" I screamed.
BOOM! The Turmaculus looked at the exploded
bits of Floud with a puzzled gaze, Stunned, it backed off and fell asleep. I
shielded my eyes until the fire died down a bit, and went to find Bip and Phoenix.
"What did you do?" Elle gasped, looking
at Phoenix.
"Um...I exploded," Phoenix admitted. He was smaller
than before--but that was thankfully the least that happened to him after his
third "reincarnation".
"It was their only chance," I laughed. "I've
seen what Phoenix does when he eats carrots. And I figured that could save him
and Bip."
"Thanks, Dylan!" Bip said, bouncing merrily.
"We've really got to go now," I said urgently,
"before that guy wakes up again." I cocked my head toward the Turmaculus.
"Phoenixes are mystical bird-creatures that frequently
burn up, but a new phoenix is reborn from the ashes," Phoenix explained as we
crossed the border separating Meridell and Neopia. "I stay the same... sort
of."
Elle looked shocked and amazed.
"Well, what do you expect?" he laughed. "That's
why they call me Phoenix!"
To be continued... | 
