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"What the--!?" the Lupe jumps to her paws, and stares in
shock.
"I don't know!" I bellow. My other paw now sets
itself into the blaze, too.
I feel sick to my stomach -- especially when
I jump completely into the fire.
The flames dance around me as if they are in
a ballet, and I still do not burn. An icy sensation seems to wind around me,
and my mind starts to play tricks on me. Suddenly, I am on Mystery Island at
the Harbour, and then at the Brain Tree in the Haunted Woods. Each scene is
complete with smells, and different weather. It feels so real it is daunting.
Then, everything stops. The fire goes out in
a sudden rage, and I am back in the cave. I can barely trace the image of the
Lupe and Annalyssa.
"What was that?" the Lupe asks. Her voice is
uneasy.
"I-I don't know," I stammer.
"And why are you now like that?"
"Like what?"
The Lupe runs over to her handbag and pulls
out two items. One is a lantern, and one is a mirror. She holds the first item
next to me, and the second in front of me.
When I look at the reflection, the Neopet staring
back just isn't me. It is not a Silver Gelert, but a Darigan Kougra. It's not
a normal Darigan Kougra, though… it's eyes gleam a spine-chilling orange, and
it's fur is not purple, but pure black. I am dumbfounded, and cannot manage
to speak a word at all.
The red Lupe brings the mirror down, and gulps.
"Turned like that," she says.
I simply fall to my knees and stare at the ashes
of the fire. I want them to scream the answer of what happened to me, but they
don't.
The Lupe sets her hand on my shoulder as she
stares at the ashes, too. "Well will find the answer," she whispers. "We will."
"We as in us two… or as in Annalyssa and I?"
"You mean the Aisha? S-she might not make it
through, uh -- I don't believe I've gotten you're name."
"Riona," I mutter. "My name is Riona."
The Lupe nods. "I am Mariella."
"Yes, I saw on the cave entrance." I sigh, and
scoop a pile of ash into my left paw.
"Oh, I see. But I promise you, Riona, that I,
Mariella, will help you find why this happened to you. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Why don't we set off now?" she asks.
"I-I guess." I do not want to leave Annalyssa,
but I decide I will anyway. I have done many crazy things lately, and this will
just be another addition to the list.
"Come on then." Mariella starts towards the
mouth of the cave.
I blow the ash into the fire-pit, and then get
to my paws and follow.
**************************
The snow/rain has stopped, and the ground is now simply sheeted with the remains
of it. The sun is shining in the sky, and now I see Mariella's genuine image
in natural light.
She is a rather pretty Lupe, and looks good
with red fur. Her yellow eyes are the color of honey, and I can almost smell
the saccharine aroma hanging in the air.
Then, whenever I look at her, I think of my
image. I am another version of a Darigan Kougra, except I look more evil. And
I still do not know why.
**********************
Mariella and I have been walking for a long while when we arrive at an area
full of Neohomes. It is then that I realize that I'm hungry, and thirsty, and
tired.
So badly do I want to stop at one of these homes,
and ask - or maybe even beg - for food, or water, or a place to sleep, but what
would Mariella say? I do not know, nor do I want to.
So the two of us pass this area, and soon, there
are no more Neohomes in site. It is just us.
"Where are we going?" I suddenly ask.
"Just trust me on this one, okay?" she replies.
"We are going somewhere, right?"
She nods, and then says no further words. I
want to ask more questions, but I do not. We keep on going.
***************************
Finally, we arrive at Mariella's planned destination. It is a small body of
water, and I am confused. She has brought me so far so a simply body of water?
Despite being horribly confused, I am even thirstier.
I drop to my knees, and just as I am about to start slurping at the water, Mariella
yells, "STOP!"
I swivel around, and frown. "Why?"
"That water… it's… it's the Water of Truth.
You cannot drink it."
"The water of what?" I ask.
"Truth, Riona, Truth."
"What does it do?"
"Concentrate on it very hard, and then ask a
question aloud. It will answer you."
"In a voice?"
Mariella nods. I turn back around and stare
at the water with great concentration.
"Now," Mariella says.
"Why did the fire not burn me?" I ask.
The water swirls for a moment, and then a croaking
voice says, "Fire will not burn the one whose destiny lies in the embers."
I tilt my head, baffled by the answer. What
does it mean?
"Whose destiny lies in the embers…" Mariella's
voice is distant.
"You get what that means?" I inquire.
She does not answer me, and agitated, I stare
back into the water. "Why did I turn into a strange type of a Darigan Kougra?"
The water begins to swirl again, and then the
same croaking voice says, "Fire will not burn the one whose destiny lies in
the embers."
"Blimey, this thing is rigged!" Angry, I pick
up a stone and throw it into the waters. The ground beings to rumble, and I
feel as if my soul is being torn from my body.
I close my eyes in fear, and when I open them
again, I am in a different place.
**************************
The place is dark, and nervousness creeps up my spine. My eyes dart around,
and I am breathing heavily.
Chilly air whips throughout the atmosphere,
and there is no sun to be seen in the grey sky.
"H-hello?" I call, my voice quavering.
Silence answers me back, and I bite my lip.
I am beyond scared.
I suddenly hear a distant voice calling my name.
It is coming from behind a tall bush, which sits about 10 feet from me. The
voice sounds evil.
I do not want to go see the source of the voice,
but the unseen forces come back. They force me to walk to the bush and pull
aside the dead leaves to see whom the voice is coming from.
Lying there is a Baby Aisha, except she is not
a normal baby Aisha. She is a rainbow pattern, and has an eerie resemblance
to Annalyssa.
"Fire will not burn the one whose destiny lies
in the embers," she says.
"No!" I scream, the words ringing in my ears.
"Stop saying that!"
"But it's true. Go to the fire, Riona. Go to
the fire."
I bolt away from the area, and am running as
fast as I can. Then I realize I have wings. I start flapping them intensely,
but they do not get me anywhere. They will not let me fly.
I soon collapse from exhaustion. My throat is
parched and dry, and my legs sore. The last thing I remember before closing
my eyes is something kneeling over me and touching my left front paw.
***************************
I awake in a hospital bed. My owner is kneeling over me, and she is stroking
my fur gently.
"Oh Riona," she cries, pulling me into a hug.
"Oh what happened?"
I jerk up, and look around the room. Flowers
cover every surface, and "Get Well Soon" cards are littered across the room.
There is a mirror across from the bed, and when
I look into it, I realize I am not a Darigan Kougra anymore. I am again a Silver
Gelert.
"What happened?" my owner asks again.
"I don't know," my voice quakes.
"What'd you mean you don't know? You've been
out there for blimey, 6 months."
"I have?" My eyes grow wide.
"Yes, darling, you really have. Y-you were found
with this around your neck." She holds up a silver necklace, which has a Darigan
Kougra charm at the end.
I take the necklace, and stare at it. The Darigan
Kougra doesn't look like a normal one, but like the one I was. Trembling, I
slide it around my neck. The charm sits face up on my chest, and the light bulb
in the ceiling glints down upon it.
"That looks good on you," my owner remarks.
I nod slowly, and run my paw over the charm.
The silver is cold, but I do not care. I feel a strange connection with the
necklace… as if it will help me unlock the door of what happened to me over
the last six months.
I pull the hospital bed sheets up, and lay my
head back down on the pillow. "I'm gonna get more rest," I say.
My owner nods, and plants a gentle kiss on my
forehead.
"I love you, Riona," she tells me.
I nod, and then close my eyes. Soon, I am astray
in a world of dreams.
************************
Most of my dreams are average ones, but there is one that stands out. It is
one about a Darigan Kougra named Aylie who survived on her own in the wild for
sixth months, and on the way met a Lupe, and abandoned a friend. It is oddly
like my story, and I think maybe I am Aylie, in another life or something in
that sort.
Aylie even has the pure black fur and orange
eyes like I did, and by the end of the dream, I am confident that I am her.
To be continued...
A/N: And Part Two is done =D Thanks for reading both, and I hope ye liked
them. ^_^ Once again Neomail, me with anything about the story ^_^ | 
