The Imanese Palace
"Ah, you must be Magnolia."
Agent_Magnolia looked up. A yellow Kougra
smiled down at her sincerely. "Um... right."
"My name is Queen Sora of Iman," she
continued. "The Ambassador told me that you would be here." Sora gave a cordial
smile towards Natalie and Sys-op.
"Err... I've heard that Princess Iyani
is involved in a kidnapping plot," Sys-op told Sora.
"Oh, yes! I'm very worried about poor
Iyani!"
"Um... right. So, I'm here to dress up
as her... should I meet her first?" Magnolia queried.
"Oh, right. Iyani, dear?" Sora called
up the stairs. There was no answer. "Iyani! IYANI!"
Suddenly, an Aisha came tumbling down
the stairs. She was golden in colour, and wore a dazzling diadem and many bracelets
on her arms. She wore a pair of orange harem pants, and a short chiffon top
to go with it. "Oh! So you're the secret agent?" Magnolia nodded in reply. "Come
with me," Iyani continued, running up the marble staircase.
Later in Iyani's Bedchambers...
"NO, NO, NO, NO AND NO!!!"
"MAGNOLIA! Stand still!"
Natalie chased Magnolia around Iyani's
room with a pair of harem pants. Magnolia had explained earlier that she had
no intent in wearing them due to a Halloween accident when she was six. Apparently,
she tripped on a pair of harem pants when she went trick-or-treating as a Gypsy.
"It wasn't THAT big a deal, Magnolia!"
Natalie cried, grabbing for her tail but missing. "I mean, come on! A Halloween
accident?"
"It was very emotionally scarring," Magnolia
replied. Finally, Natalie caught up with Magnolia, pushed her on Iyani's couch,
and wrestled the chiffon pants onto her.
"There!" Iyani cried. "Now you look just
like me!" Magnolia was covered with jewelry from head to toe (or paw, rather.)
"Here," Iyani said, giving Magnolia the diadem. "Tonight marks the Imanese Independence
Day celebration in the palace. With all of the distractions, tonight might be
a good time for the kidnappers to strike."
"Right," Natalie continued. "Oh, and
wear this," she said, giving Magnolia a small headphone. Natalie paused. "And
for goodness sakes, Magnolia, wear it UNDER the sash!"
Magnolia was finally ready. She headed
for the door to go back to her guest room with Sys-op. On the way down the hallway,
she ran into a yellow Kiko.
"Ahh, I'm so sorry, miss--oh!" she cried.
"Iyani! You should be more careful."
"No, I'm not Iyani. I'm--"
"Oh, the agent. It's very nice to meet
you." The Kiko held out a fin. She wore red lipstick and many bracelets. She
also wore a golden circlet on her head and a red and gold sash. "My name is
Princess Yvania."
"Ah, the older princess; I remember now,"
Sys-op said.
"Well, you see--I need to talk with you
two." Magnolia looked up in surprise. "Yes, today is the Independence holiday.
Ah, I'm supposed to meet my suitor, Ahmaad, today as well--but that's not the
point. Well, I got this letter for you today."
Magnolia was given a letter by Yvania.
"If it was for me, why did you get it?"
"I was cleaning your guest room with
the maids. I thought I'd give it to you to eliminate any confusion you might
have. Well, I must be going. I'll see you at the festivities, Magnolia."
Now Magnolia was even more confused.
She opened the letter and read it aloud:
"'Magnolia, I know you've come to save
Iyani. It will never work--the Imanese girl is as good as gone. Don't bother
coming to the party tonight. You won't fool me at all. I get what I want, I
came to get Iyani, and I'll get Iyani. Once the Queen sees her gone, she'll
stop this water-stealing nonsense for good. Water is gold in the desert, and
in that sense, Ardea is very poor. Call me N.'"
Magnolia paused. There were a LOT of people
she knew whose name started with 'N.' Natalie, Natasha--No, Natasha would never
do anything of the sort.
Or would she?
***
Iyani was right; the chattering crowd at the festivity made it hard to concentrate
on anything. Even though it was loud, the party was a time of great merriment.
Natalie had somehow gotten into telling humorous stories to a group of people.
"...And so I say to the Uni: 'What do
you mean, "purple?"'" The group, including Sora, burst into laughter as she
began another story. Magnolia rolled her eyes.
"Now, what's Natasha up to?" she asked
herself, looking over the crowd. Finally, she saw two figures behind the silken
curtain covering a balcony. One was a Peophin; the other was an Aisha. Magnolia
marched over to the curtain and poked it open, the figures not noticing.
"Bring her straight back to Ardea, Ahmaad,"
the Peophin told the Aisha. "I don't want any failures either, this is my one
shot at a good ransom."
So Iyani was only a pawn! "Natalie,"
Magnolia whispered into the headset, careful not to knock her sash off. "That
Peophin on the balcony is Natasha!"
"Yeah, and so I say to the Kau--I know,
Mag, who's the Aisha, then?--'why the long face?'" was Natalie's reply.
"I don't know--some guy named--"
"AHMAAD!" cried a voice. Magnolia turned
to her side; Yvannia had heard the conversation! "And NATASHA?"
"I-I can explain," began Ahmaad.
"I leave you for one minute and...YOU
RUN OFF WITH THE AMBASSADOR? I thought you were my fiancée!"
Magnolia blinked confusedly. That wasn't
quite what she expected. Suddenly, two Kyrii ran into the room and grabbed her
from the balcony. "HEY!" Magnolia cried as she was dragged out of the room.
"No--WAIT!" Ahmaad cried. "That's not
the pr--oh, forget it."
Undisclosed location in Iman
"This isn't the princess! Where's Iyani?"
A yellow Kiko cried, throwing a tied-up Magnolia's sash to the cold, stone floor.
"Ugh, you people are SO fired! And where's Natasha? She should have been here
by now."
Suddenly, Natasha ran through the door.
"Yvannia!"
"WHAT? Yvannia? But you were just back
at the--and--but--" Magnolia stuttered.
"That wasn't me, you idiot. I'm Yvannia's
twin sister, Yvannia."
"Um... I never knew that there was another
princess in the family," said Magnolia, turning to Natasha.
"I told you that there were two, just
to keep our plan," Natasha replied. "Ardea thinks that the rogues are still
stealing water, but it's really me. I am! I've been continuing the irrigation
system that they set up."
"But why? Aren't you the ambassador?"
Magnolia asked.
"No--definitely not! And once the Queen
asks for Iyani back, they'd have to meet with our demands AND end the war! Not
only would I have enough water to live in the desert and farm cheops plants,
and money to start my business, but also none of that Ardea/Iman nonsense to
get in the way!"
"So you did all of this to sell cheops
plants? And Ahmaad was just a distraction?" Magnolia asked, disbelieving.
"Yes and yes. I've already got the water.
All I need now is that princess." Natasha went over to a number pad on the wall
and pushed a few buttons. "Oh, and have fun with this." Natasha and Twin-Yvannia
left the building.
Suddenly, a soft computer's voice sounded.
"Detonation sequence initiated. Base destruction in 30...29...28..."
"Not good." Magnolia sighed. The door
was thrown open and Natalie ran in, along with Sys-op.
"MAGNOLIA!" Sys-op cried, scrambling
to untie her.
"It won't loosen at all!" Natalie observed,
frantically attempting to pull Magnolia's bounds apart.
"Oh well. Natalie, I just wanted to say
that I'm sorry for all of the times that I ever might have--"
"3... 2..."
"OH, FORGET IT!"
Imanese Palace
Iyani sat in her room brushing her fur when
the 'Ambassador' burst in. "Oh, Natasha. Are the festivities too much for you
already?"
"No." Natasha grabbed for a rope.
"N-Natasha. W-What are you going to d--NATASHA!"
Iyani threw herself off of her stool, barely missing Natasha's rope.
"I should have taken care of this a LONG
time ago, Iyani!" Natasha lunged for the princess again, missing her by mere
inches.
"But--what happ--why are you trying to
tie me up?" Iyani stood by the window, and Natasha ran for her once again.
"I've got you n--"
CRASH!!!
"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
SPLASH!!!
"Wow." Iyani stared out into the garden.
"Good thing that marble fountain was there to break her fall."
Neopian Hospital
"Back again, huh, Agent_Magnolia?" a Chomby
nurse asked the Aisha lying on her hospital bed.
And so, Twin-Yvannia, Ahmaad, and, of
course, Natasha were sent straight to jail for their crime. Magnolia, Sys-op,
and Natalie are still in the Hospital... again. Finally, the Ardea/Iman war
ended, and Yvannia had to find another fiancée. Chief still doesn't pay Magnolia
enough for her job. Maybe it's about time Magnolia got a vacation.
The End | 
