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Note: This short story is a sequel to Shadows: Sprite. Please read it in order
to understand the storyline better. Thank you. ^^
The truth hurts.
Witch lay in her bed, chewing chocolate gum
and fiddling with her Twisted Roses key ring. Currant the Zomutt was munching
on yet another spooky doughnut near the door. The White Aisha listened to the
loud, crunching sounds her Zomutt produced.
Someone knocked on the door. Three rapid knocks,
Witch noticed. Which can only mean one thing. The Aisha got up and approached
the door warily. "What?" she rasped, reaching for the doorknob.
The door opened. Witch came face to face with
a familiar Faerie Gelert figure. "Hi, Witch!" Sprite the Gelert greeted. Her
smile practically reached her ears. Witch thought she looked menacing with all
her teeth bared.
"Yeah?" the white Aisha drawled.
Sprite showed her the pot of flowers she was
holding. "Look what I brought you! Chill said you'd love them. Don't you just
ADORE their GOLDEN YELLOW color?"
Witch looked at the pot of song flowers. She
longed to place the pot by the windowsill and listen to the flowers' song all
day long. The Aisha didn't change her expression, though. I don't want to
look vulnerable. "They're hideous."
Sprite's smile didn't falter. "I'll just go
in and place this pot on your table." Without waiting for a reply, the Gelert
entered Witch's single-room Neohome. She tripped.
As Sprite screamed, Witch listened, enjoying
the high-pitched sound. She suppressed the urge to smile and picked up the broken
Neo Hits CD that had caused Sprite's fall.
"Uh oh," the Gelert said. "I didn't mean to
smash your CD. I'll buy you another one."
"You didn't. Already broken." To prove her point,
Witch dropped the broken CD on the floor. It shattered into even smaller pieces.
She smiled in satisfaction.
Sprite looked at her paws uncomfortably and
frowned. Then, she looked around. Her jaw dropped. "Your place is a mess!"
"I know. Love it like this." Witch thought her
room had a lot of personality. She had a checkered bed with CDs and other band
merchandise spread on it. She had a dresser with her grooming items on top:
her black Jewelled collar, black mirror, black nail varnish, and black lipstick.
There was also a full-length mirror so she could look at herself and smile without
anyone knowing it. She had a checkered desk for placing all sorts of stuff.
Best of all, Witch had broken toys all over the place. Her favorite was a Broken
Soup Faerie Snowglobe. It made the coolest sound when she had broken it.
"Purple must be one very rich woman. Your stuff
is expensive," Sprite said as she placed the pot of song flowers beside a broken
fuzzie bear. "Why… why are they all broken?"
"Broke them myself," Witch said proudly, "for
the sake of my art."
"What art?" Sprite asked her. She put a paw
protectively on the pot. "Now, don't you go smashing the song flowers! Chill
planted them for you."
Witch shrugged. Currant drew near them, having
finished with his doughnut. In his mouth was a Broken yellow Chia plushie. He
growled at Sprite.
The Gelert shuddered. "Your Zomutt has a crazy
sense of humor. What does he mean by breaking that Yellow Chia Plushie? It's
like he's… planning to do something to Chill!"
Witch shrugged again. "His name's Currant. Just
because Chill's a yellow Chia…" She walked toward the checkered desk and rested
a paw on the pot. She stroked the Song Flowers. They began to sing. The flowers'
song didn't have any words, only a peculiar melody. Witch listened with closed
eyes, memorizing the tune.
It was raining that night, which was weird.
It hardly ever rained on the Tyrannian Plateau. The dry earth absorbed the rain
hungrily, asking for more. The Tyrannian Concert Hall was full of Neopets grooving
to the anguished beat of Twisted Roses. Thunder boomed.
A small White Aisha stood in front of the
Concert Hall, drenched by the rain. Her body shivered as she stared at the burly
Mynci guarding the entrance.
"My owner said she'd meet me inside. Let
me in," the Aisha complained in a hoarse voice.
"We have a NO TICKET, NO ENTRY policy around
here. If you do have a ticket, I'd be glad to let you in. Problem is, you DON'T."
"She said she'd be here," the Aisha hissed.
"She promised me."
The Mynci waved his club around. "Maybe she
is, maybe she isn't. Either way, I have no time for naughty Aishas like you.
Go away before I lose my temper!"
The Aisha continued to stand there with a
stubborn expression on her face. The Mynci brought down his club. The Aisha
scampered away, looking frightened. She rushed blindly into the dark. "You said
you'd be here but you're not! I HATE YOU!"
The Aisha stopped running. She looked around
and saw nothing but vast, dark expanse. Her lower lip trembled. Tears began
to fall. Suddenly, she heard someone singing. The voice belonged to a woman.
The Aisha wiped away her tears and listened to the beautiful voice. It sounded
so surreal.
"I'm here," the voice said. The Aisha felt
someone hugging her but she couldn't see anyone, only darkness. "Forget about
your owner. She left you." The Aisha began crying again. "Hush. The truth hurts
but you must accept it. Don't worry. I'm here now…"
"Are you alright?"
Witch opened her eyes. Sprite was looking at
her strangely. The Aisha placed a hand on her cheek and noticed that it was
wet. Witch immediately wiped her face on her Twisted Roses shirt.
"Are you alright?" the Gelert repeated.
Witch shrugged. "Yeah. Something got into my
eye."
"Oh," Sprite said with obvious relief. "Whew.
For a moment there, I thought you were crying." She laughed.
Witch hated her, then, and she wondered why.
Is it because she laughed? The Aisha looked at Sprite.
"Do you have food around here?" Sprite asked
cheerfully. She sat on the floor.
"Yeah." Witch opened one of the checkered desk's
drawers and found a pack of chocolate gum. She took a piece before tossing the
pack to Sprite.
"Is this the pack I brought?" Sprite began to
chew. "I just love chocolate gum. Chill…" The Gelert paused and looked at the
ground.
Witch heard the love in Sprite's voice when
she mentioned the Chia's name. "Nah. That's my own pack," Witch replied, sprawling
on the floor beside her.
"A while ago, you mentioned something about
art. I'm an artist. I paint a lot."
"Yeah? Artist, huh? Music's my art."
Currant barked. Witch rolled her eyes and looked
around. She spotted a Spooky Doughnut on the bedspread. The Aisha tossed it
to Currant. He wolfed it down.
"So, you break things for the sake of music?"
Sprite frowned. "I don't get it."
Witch stood up without saying a word in reply.
She grabbed the clock on her bedside table. "Listen and learn." With all her
strength, Witch threw the clock across the room. It hit the wall and broke into
pieces with a definitive clang. The Aisha turned to look at Sprite.
"I still don't get it."
Witch rolled her eyes. "Didn'tcha hear it? Music.
I made music."
Sprite continued to frown. "More like, noise."
"Didn't expect you to understand. But you asked
so I answered. Problem with Neopets these days is they don't appreciate real
music when they hear it."
"Boy, you sound like the cranky, old Techo at
the Tyrannian Ticket Booth."
Witch flinched.
"Silaw, you sure I'm gonna like it in there?"
a young white Aisha asked skeptically. A woman with long, golden yellow hair
and deep, blue eyes smiled at her. She took one of the Aisha's paws in her hand.
"You like music, don't you, Witch?" The Aisha nodded. "Then, you'll love it
here."
Witch relaxed and looked excitedly at the
Concert Hall entrance. Silaw gripped the Aisha's paw tightly in one cool hand.
Together, they approached the Mynci who guarded the place.
"Tickets, please!"
Silaw gave the Mynci two silver Jazzmosis
tickets.
"Yes, you have tickets! You may proceed!"
"Witch, will you listen for a minute?" Sprite
pleaded.
The Aisha rubbed her eyes. "Yeah."
"Well, Chill came into some NP's. He asked me
what I wanted to have. Boy, I could think of all sorts of things to buy with
those NP's. I thought of buying Faerie Colourpedia or maybe Neggery Notes."
Sprite's eyes lit up. "Then, I thought of buying a Chokato Sundae instead or
maybe a Chokato Cake."
Witch rolled her eyes. "Get to the point."
Sprite nodded. "I was just getting to the point.
See, I remembered something I've wanted to buy ever since I was a little Gelert.
I've never been to a concert before so I bought two tickets to tonight's concert!"
Witch's paws became clammy. "Two?"
"Yes," Sprite said, pleased with herself. "One
for you and one for me. Twisted Roses is playing tonight."
Witch opened her mouth to protest.
"No excuses, Witch. It's obvious that you're
a Twisted Roses fan. Think of this as a thank-you present from me. You know,
for… what you did last week."
Witch looked subdued. "Alright, already. I'm
coming," Currant barked. "What about my Zomutt?"
Sprite waved a paw offhandedly. "We can leave
Currant with Purple."
"Purple won't be coming home tonight."
Sprite was surprised. "When is she coming home,
then?"
"Don't know."
"Oh. Then, we'll just bring Currant to Chill's
place," Sprite smiled. "I know! You can spend the night at out Neohome. We can
have a Slumber Party."
Witch snorted. "No, thanks."
"I won't take no for an answer. I'll take Currant
home with me now. You gear up for the concert. See you later!" Sprite bribed
Currant into coming with spooky doughnuts.
Three minutes later, Witch was alone. She climbed
onto her checkered bed and cried. Only the weak cry, the Aisha thought
sternly. Stop crying. But the tears didn't stop coming.
******
Witch and Sprite stood in front of the Concert Hall. Both Neopets were garbed
in what they imagined as rocker chic. The White Aisha wanted to laugh at Sprite
who was wearing a green Jhudora T-shirt, red satin collar, and disco aisha glasses.
The key she always wore hung around a Sweet Necklace instead of the velvet ribbon.
She looked more like a seasonal punk than a rocker.
Witch examined herself self-consciously. Not
bad, she thought. Witch had added a heart shaped charm to her usual Twisted
roses shirt, Jazzmosis hat and glasses outfit. She had even touched up her claws
with black nail varnish and reapplied black lipstick to her lips. Witch wondered
why she suddenly cared how she looked like.
"Yes, you have tickets! You may proceed!"
Witch was jolted out of her thoughts by the
Mynci's booming voice. She gave him an undisguised look of contempt before following
Sprite into the Concert Hall.
"We've got GREAT seats!" Sprite shouted above
the noise of the other Neopets.
Witch nodded. She looked around at the other
excited pets, all with their owners or friends. The Aisha took a peek at the
stage. Her throat suddenly hurt.
"Silaw, where are you going?"
The blue-eyed woman stopped packing her things
for a moment. She looked affectionately at Witch. "It's time. I must leave."
"You coming back soon?" Witch asked worriedly.
Silaw reached for Witch's paw. "Look, a new
band's arriving in Tyrannia tomorrow night: the Twisted Roses. You'll love them.
I already have two front row tickets."
"Tickets won't be going on sale 'til tomorrow.
How'd you get tickets so fast?"
The woman smiled mischievously. "I have my
ways. Now, I'll be at the Concert Hall tomorrow night, waiting for you."
"You promise?"
Silaw gave Witch a hug. "I promise." She
stood up, yellow suitcase in hand, and headed for the door. "Goodbye, Witch.
I'll be back before you know it." Silaw turned to give her Aisha one last smile…and
disappeared in a ring of blinding light.
"Silaw!" Witch yelled. She ran toward the
door and halted. Lying on the doorstep was a beautiful yellow pencil with wings,
glowing in the sunlight. The Aisha picked it up. It felt warm.
"Boy, you look mesmerized."
Witch slapped herself with one paw. She glanced
quickly at Sprite. The Gelert was no longer looking at her. Witch felt relieved.
"Look! There they are." Sprite pointed at the
stage. "Twisted Roses!"
Witch didn't look. Instead, she closed her eyes
and listened to Twisted Roses play. You were right, Silaw. You knew I'd love
their music.
"You're crying," she heard Sprite whisper in
ear. "And I'm not mistaken this time."
Witch opened her eyes and touched one tearstained
cheek. "Know what?"
"What?"
"This is the first time I've ever heard Twisted
Roses play…"
Sprite raised one eyebrow and frowned in a puzzled
way. Then, she shrugged and lost herself in the beat.
All around Witch, humans and Neopets jumped
out of their seats and danced. The Aisha remained seated, unmindful of what
they were doing. She closed her eyes again and listened with trained ears. She
drummed her paws on the edge of her seat.
You promised, Silaw. Still waiting… won't
wait forever.
The End
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