The Mercenary Lawyer: Part One by moonsunangel |  |
Untitled Document
I glanced out the NeoHome window. Why was a human coming
up our driveway? Moonsunangel, my owner, was not famous or anything. We did get
an occasional random visitor though, so I went to the door thinking this would
be a normal talk-and-go case. Wrong. As the girl got closer, I could see that
she was crying. Ummm, okay... I never reacted well to tears, when my sister Chiva
had burst into tears after she accidentally banged into the wall one day, I fled
upstairs and stayed there for a long time. I was shaking even when Skye (our owner)
came up to check on me an hour later. That was unusual, because I almost never
showed any emotion. It weakens you. Maybe I should introduce the family. I have
two sisters, Kashee and Chiva. Kashee is a yellow Kacheek, and the joker of the
family. Under pressure she can think quickly though. Chiva is a Chokato Chia,
the youngest. She's very emotional, either giggling or making sad, pitiful faces
that make me gag. Our owner is moonsunangel, or Skye and I am Ayna a fire Aisha.
Back to the story....
The girl finally reached the doorway where I
stood waiting. She tried to control her sobs, with some effect. "Is-is your
owner-moonsunangel- or Skye- is she home?"
I looked at the girl. "No, she should be soon
though. What's your name?" After a bit of boo-hooing, I finally learned that
she was sugadivababe_123, or Diva. I invited her in, and prepared myself for
the wait until Skye got home. Fortunately, my owner came in after only a few
minutes, stared, and then asked, "Do you need something?"
Diva spilled out her name, and then began talking
about why she came here. I sat up and began to pay attention. This could be
interesting. She had a Chia named the same as her username, who loved to shop.
Two days ago, two Chia Cops had knocked on her door and said that her Chia had
been caught shoplifting from Uni's Clothing Store in the Neopian Bazaar. She
had a week to find a lawyer for her poor Chia, or they would appoint one, and
she was sure they'd find a really bad lawyer so that her Chia would lose the
case... Here Skye intervened gently. "So you want us to be your lawyer?" Diva
nodded tearfully. "But only pets can be lawyers." I saw where this was going
and groaned. Skye chuckled. "Yes, you Ayna. You have the skills of a lawyer,
you can argue a case really well, and you have the highest intelligence rating
of all my pets." I groaned again mentally, thinking how much time this would
take up, and asked Diva, "Why did you come to us?"
"I heard about you from a friend who knew you
from some guild."
Skye nodded thoughtfully, and I knew what she
was remembering. But that has no relevance.
I arranged to meet Diva in Neopian Central in
an hour's time and went upstairs to my room. It was a dark cavern I had created
for myself, well-organized. I picked up supplies that I would need- a flashlight,
a towel, some rope, a lock-picking set, some empty bottles, and a snack, stuffing
them all into a Green Backpack that Skye had gotten for Neoschool when it came.
The Backpack was a bit too bright for my tastes, but I hadn't been able to paint
it or anything so far. Malley, my Blue Mallard, waddled out of my closet and
quacked, annoyed, at me. I grumbled something and grabbed her too. You never
know what a Mallard with an attitude can do. I told Kashee and Chiva I'd be
out, and walked to the Central. It didn't hurt to be early, and I had a half
hour to kill browsing the shops.
I got some Violet Seeds from the Food Shop cheap
and fed them to Malley, who hadn't had lunch (it was a few hours past noon).
I didn't get any deals at the bookstore, which was a real shame, and I chatted
with the Quiggle Health Food Shopkeeper. Funny guy, but since I didn't mind
health food myself, I could tolerate it pretty well. Malley quacked and pattered
around a lot. Seriously, that Mallard is going to go bananas soon, if she hasn't
gone around the bend already.... I checked the time and wandered back to Neopia
Central, where Diva waited.
I could tell she had been there only for a minute,
so I didn't feel guilty. Diva looked awful, her makeup was streaked and her
clothes were rumpled. I began the conversation. "Diva, since this is a case
where you want me to be a lawyer, you're going to have to ‘hire’ me. Which means
you'll have to pay some."
Diva nodded. "I know," she trembled.
I mentally smacked myself for even thinking
of going through this, but I heard myself saying to Diva, "The original down
payment will be 150 Neopoints, please." At least I had come up with a good price.
Diva handed over the NP, which I counted and then put away. "Thank you. Now,
when was the last you saw... umm, sugadivababe_123?"
"Call him Diva, like me. I saw him the night
he was..."caught shoplifting". He said he was going out to shop at Uni's Clothing
Store, and that he'd be back before nine. I handed him a thousand Neopoints
and told him not to buy more than four clothes. He just smiled and nodded and
went out the door, and an hour later the Chia Cops came."
I asked her when this had happened, and she
answered, around seven. I considered this, and realized we were walking aimlessly
around the Central. I motioned Diva to follow me and headed toward Uni's Clothing
in the Bazaar. We might find something there, though I'm no detective (for that
matter, I'm no official lawyer...). The store was closed, and a score (twenty)
of Chia Cops stood guard. For a simple shoplifting case, they were taking it
a bit far. The shop should be open, with security beefed up. Something was up
here. I ushered Diva onto a bench, slipped through a gap in the guard, and found
myself in a dark room. I was unaffected, however, and began searching, examining
every object.
To be continued…
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