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Jessa, who was sleeping in the bed she had earlier been
in, awoke late the next morning. Very late. In fact, the old-fashioned clock
on the maple nightstand next to Jessa's bed read 11:08 am.
Jessa frowned, cocking her head. Why hadn't
Chocolate, Carri, Marr, Franklin or Sareona woken her up? I'll ask them later,
she thought to herself.
Then, Jessa called, "I'm up! Can someone open
the door?"
No response. She frowned again. "I'm up! Can
someone open the door?" Her voice was louder this time.
Still no response. Scowling, Jessa turned over
(she had not yet gotten out of bed). She certainly wasn't tired, but what else
was there to do in this room? Nothing.
So she gently closed her eyes and tried to fall
back asleep. She eventually did, and she only awoke to the sound of the front
door banging open and closed 1 hour later.
~~~
Anna had discovered a drinking fountain in what she assumed to be a Faerieland
park the night before, which was an obvious relief to her mouth. She slurped
down the cold, soothing water for at least five minutes, but then settled down
on a dark purple bench and fell asleep. Perhaps if she surveyed her surroundings
more carefully, she would not have ended up in the situation that she did.
She was awakened at 11:10 am by the sound of
a harsh female voice ordering her removal. Anna groaned, slowly looking up at
the source of the voice. It was a petite Faerie who was dressed completely in
the lilac shade. She also had lilac-tinted eyes and lilac-colored hair. It did
not take Anna long to identify her.
It was Fyora, the Faerie Queen, and Anna had
unknowingly just slept in her forbidden gardens.
"Oh gosh!" Anna yelped, leaping to her feet.
"I'm so sorry! I thought I was in a park!"
Fyora clicked her tongue distrustfully. "And
why should I believe you?"
"I don't know… but I am telling the truth! I-I'll
do anything to repay you."
"Hm…" Fyora murmured, "Well, I do need a new
guard at the Hidden Tower."
"I'll take it!" Anna immediately cried.
"You better not try to steal anything… afterall,
I will be watching you," Fyora warned.
Anna nodded. "I will not try to steal… I promise."
"And do you have anywhere to live, or will I
have to provide you with somewhere? I mean, I don't think you have somewhere
to live, as you were sleeping in my garden, but I suppose I could be wrong."
"I don't have somewhere to live," Anna whispered.
"Ah, okay then. Follow me into the palace, and
from there, Lindra, one of the maids, will escort you to your living quarters."
Anna nodded as she then followed Fyora toward
the humongous palace doors.
~~~~
When Jessa heard the door open, she immediately sprung to life. "I'm up!" she
yelled. "Can you open the door?"
"Oh jeez, she's been locked in there for probably
quite a while now!" Chocolate's voice exclaimed. "Carri, can you go open the
door for Jenna?"
"Yeah, okay." Carri skipped toward the door
and yanked it open. "C'mon Jen-Jen," she said, "we've got a surprise!"
Jessa couldn't help but grin. Surprises were
always fun. So she merrily trotted after Carri, who was now walking down the
hallway.
They were greeted by Chocolate, who was clutching
a pile of papers in her right hand. "Wanna know the surprise?" She asked eagerly.
Jessa nodded vigorously. "Yup!" she exclaimed.
"We're adopting you!"
"B-but you're only allowed to have 4 pets! That
can't happen!"
"It can when you tell those who certify the
adoptions a sob story about a homeless toddler!" She put her other hand on her
hip, proud.
Jessa gasped, pulling Chocolate into a hug.
It seemed as if she had completely forgotten about Caitlyn. But perhaps she
should've remembered her, due to an event that happened nearly 9 months later…
~~~~
8 Months, 28 Days Later…
~~~~
Anna leaned over the glass case, staring in awe at the Ghostkersword. She knew
that she was supposed to be patrolling the Hidden Tower, but the weapon was
just so beautiful! Suddenly, the door leading in swung open and in walked a
tall, blonde-haired teenager. Although Anna did not recognize her at first,
the recognition soon came when the human came over to Anna and tapped her on
the shoulder.
"Excuse me," the teen said in a rather polite
tone, "I was wondering how much a Fire and Ice Blade costs."
"2 million," Anna replied perfunctorily. She
had memorized each and every item's price by heart.
"Ah, I see. And the Faerie Queen Doll?"
"2 million."
"Portable Kiln?"
"Three million, one-hundred fifty-eight thousand."
As the adolescent went on, Anna felt oddly like
she used to know this person. But she could not directly place the voice with
somebody she knew… at first at least.
Suddenly it hit her light a blast of lighting.
This was Caitlyn.
"Caitlyn!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms
around Caitlyn's waist. She knew that this action was inappropriate, but she
had missed her old owner too much for words to explain.
"Erm… do I know you?" Caitlyn asked.
"It's Anna." Anna did not think before she spoke.
"Look, you're not Anna, as my Anna is sitting
safely at home."
"But it is Anna! That Anna at your house isn't
the real one! I AM ANNA!"
Caitlyn stared at Anna, a funny look in her
eyes. She was sure this Acara was insane, or something like that at least.
She was about to storm out of the Hidden Tower
when something in her brain seemed to just… click. This Acara's voice was so
familiar… the way she talked. Caitlyn started suddenly believing that perhaps
this really was Anna, and not the Acara at home…
~~~~
The Real Anna Found
Fake Anna and Fake Jessa Are Really Missing Shiiell and Mareesha
~~~~
The story, of course, made the front page. How the truthful Anna had been returned
to Caitlyn, how the impostors were really missing Shiiell and Mareesha, and
how the real Jessa was still missing.
And as usual, Chocolate was reading the Neopian
Times when it came out. Little did she know that her own Jenna - her beloved
little Aisha - was now being searched for by all of Neopia. And anybody who
found her would be not 6 million, not 7 million, not even 9 million, but 10
million Neopoints richer.
~~~~
"Those pets you took weren't really Anna and Jessa," Franklin proclaimed,
shoving the Neopian Times into Carri's paws.
"Huh?" she asked.
"Read, Carri, read."
And she did.
"That's weird," she stated after she finished.
"And you're telling me. Anyway, Chocolate's
letting me go out now to look for the missin' one. She's really excited, because
she says that 10 million is enough to waste precious time. Do you wanna come?'
Carri sighed. "Well, since Marr and Sareona
are out all of today, and Chocolate has to do some shopping, I'm stuck watching
Jenna."
"She can come," Franklin said.
Carri grinned. "Then I'm in! When are we going?"
"Now."
"Okay! JENNA C'MERE! WE HAFTA GO SOMEWHERE!"
Soon, Jessa trudged into the room. "Where?"
she asked.
"Well, ya know how that really rich person's
pets were missing and then returned like 9 or something months ago? Well, they
found out that the returned pets really weren't hers, so we're going out looking
for the real missing one - just one of them though. One of the real one's has
already been returned."
Jessa's head suddenly started pounding; she
had tried to clear her old life from her mind, constantly telling herself that
fake pets were in her place. She had really shunned it all away… afterall, she
was happy now. But now, the world found out the truth. She was sure to be returned
to Caitlyn some way or another!
"What should I do!?" she screamed to herself.
Her first option was say that she didn't want
to go and then hide in the house 'till all of this commotion was over. Or she
could go out with Carri and Sareona and simply try to stay out of everybody
else's site. Or… or she could tell them the truth.
No, Jessa thought, I can't tell them
the truth… not now… not after all we've been through together.
But then again, what else was there to do? Everything
else would just cause things to become more chaotic… forever would Neopia be
on the lookout for her. Taking in a deep breath, Jessa looked up at Carri and
Sareona.
"They're not going to find her," she stated
loudly, "because I am her."
"That's silly, Jenna."
"No," Jessa said, "it's the truth."
~~~~
The goodbyes were tearful and hard, but Jessa knew she had to go. She had
to end Caitlyn's suffering… and Anna's too. Afterall, neither of them knew of
her whereabouts.
And she was returned to Caitlyn later that day.
She went by herself… afterall, the Aisha did not want to cause Chocolate's family
any trouble. They hadn't done anything blameworthy. Only she herself had…
~~~~
Jessa pounded on the door twice, and then stood there, waiting for somebody
to answer. Her eyes were blurred with tears, and her bottom lip was trembling.
She could not believe that she was going back to the life she had abandoned
so long ago.
Soon, the door was opened, and standing on the
doormat was no other than Anna. She was wearing a tired expression on her face.
"Who is it?" the Acara groggily asked.
"It's me, Anna," Jessa whispered, "It's me."
Anna did not have to listen to Jessa's familiar
voice even one more time to be positive that it was she. Bursting into tears
of joy, the Acara pulled her long-lost sister into a hug. A hug that she thought
would never happen.
~~~~
That night, Jessa lay in her old bed, the covers pulled up to her jowl. The
moon shone through the large plate-glass window, casting a silver glow around
the Aisha.
Suddenly, Jessa crawled out of bed and sneaked
up to the windowsill. She stared up at the crescent moon and the twinkling stars,
knowing that miles below in a Neohome on Mystery Island, Chocolate, Carri, Sareona,
Marr and Franklin might be watching the same sky.
This, for some odd reason, comforted her. Glancing
one last time at the outside world, Jessa tiptoed back over to the bed and burrowed
under the covers.
As long as the moon shines during the night,
and the sun glares down upon all of us during the day, I'll remember you all,
she thought.
Smiling to herself, Jessa then closed her eyes
and drifted off into slumber. Her dreams were all good ones, filled with love,
laughter and the good things about life.
The End
A/N: Thanks for reading my series -- I hope you enjoyed reading this as much
as I enjoyed writing it. I love feedback, so don't hesitate to Neomail me with
comments about the story. Also, Sareona, Carri, Marr and Franklin belong to me
on this account, chocolateisamust. Mayaunni is mine on my spare account, layaushi.
Anna, Jess, Shiiell etc. are simply figments of my imagination -- I did not base
them on any real existing pets. Anyway, I know how tedious my own blabbering gets,
so see g'day/g'night^^
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