Cliffs
Life seemed to jumble when I got home. Aizii had
obviously been waiting for me to return - my room was decorated, a Petpet was
waiting me and a package was lying on the table, wrapped up, with a yellow tag
with "Sesebia" scrawled on it.
"What do I do with it?" I asked, staring at
the yapping red dog running around my feet. It was bright red, with small devil
horns poking out of its head and a long red tail with a pointy tip protruding
from its back.
"It's a Petpet," Ade said eagerly. "You name
it and then it's yours. You have to feed it, train it and play with it. Mine's
Kate."
I glanced at the yapping puppy and smiled.
She reminded me of someone I had once known; a young Yellow Shoyru named Daffodil.
She had never stopped talking and was always on the move.
"Daffodil," I said simply. Ade looked at me
curiously, like I was going insane. "I'll call her Daffodil."
"If you must…" Ade said, raising her eyebrows.
***
The parcel turned out to be a paintbrush. Not just any paintbrush either.
Pale blue, with large purple stripes through it, Ade informed me jealously that
this was a striped paintbrush, an expensive, rare item that changes the colour
of the pet. It was a once use item, so Aizii didn't get any money back from
it, but she didn't complain once.
Aizii took me to the rainbow pool, where a
faerie dipped the paintbrush in the pool. The water was a bright, crystal blue
and my reflection was perfect. The Faerie turned to Aizii and smiled.
"Would you like to paint her?" she asked softly.
Aizii's face broke into a grin and she nodded excitedly. The Faerie turned to
me. "It won't hurt, I promise," she said. I smiled nervously at her, and
watched as Aizii painted her wings, my reflection changing as I did. First my
wings changed, going from a dull yellow to a vibrant, crystal blue. The flesh
turned a lilac pink. Then she painted my arms and legs, the limbs turning crystal
blue, lilac stripes interrupting it. Lastly, my head and body was painted, engulfing
my whole body in crystal blue and lilac stripes.
"Wow…" I muttered, examining my new colour
in the pool. Just as I turned round to thank Aizii, I heard a yell.
"SESEBIA!" I watched as a familiar looking
Shoyru ran towards me, her eyes blazing. The Shoyru was in the process of being
painted Starry, but hadn't been completed. Half of the Shoyru's body was a dark,
navy blue, with golden stars dotted across the body. The other half was a lighter
blue, plain and simple. She grinned at me. "It's Kayz!" she exclaimed.
"You found an owner then," I said, amazed.
She nodded at me and pointed at a young boy, who was talking earnestly to Aizii.
"He's called Pip, and he's great."
My heart stopped dead. The boy turned round
and looked at me. It was Pip. His hair was slightly longer, but his eyes were
still haunted and his hair still a dark brown. He smiled and started to walk
towards us.
"Sesebia! Oh god, I thought I'd lost you.
I'd been looking for you for ages!" Pip exclaimed, beaming at me. I turned away,
a strange mixture of emotions flowing through me. "Sesebia, please, come back.
I was young, stupid. I didn't realise you had been gone 'til I got home and
found the house hacked. Oh god Sesebia, I'm sorry!"
I glared at Pip and tried to swallow the lump
in my throat. "You told the hackers to hack you. You liar! I know what you did.
Leave me alone. Find someone else. I have an owner now."
Pip glanced at Aizii and bent down towards
me.
"She's got nothing compared to me Sesebia.
Remember our trophies, our money. Come on Sesebia, come home," Pip tempted.
I bit my lip and shook my head slowly. I glanced at Aizii, who was hovering
a metre or so behind nervously. I realised then that I liked Aizii, I didn't
want to be with anyone else.
"I'm sorry Pip, I belong to Aizii. Go get
another scrub Mynci, just not me."
With that, I walked off, leaving Pip and Kayz
behind me. Aizii looked at me and patted my head reassuringly. "Home," she said
softly, and we walked off.
***
"Are you all right?" Aizii asked over dinner. We were sitting down in the
dining room, eating omelette. I had a cheese omelette, whilst Aizii was picking
at a pepper one. Ade hated every omelette except Sausage, and so was eating
it greedily.
"Fine," I said quietly, picking miserably
at the omelette.
"Not hungry?" Aizii asked, concerned.
"No, I'm fine," I repeated.
"Sure?"
"I'M FINE!" I yelled angrily. Silence fell
over the table and we continued to eat. After dinner, I expected I would be
left to cool off, but, instead, Aizii came over to me, holding a set of hat
and scarf.
"Come on," she said. "We're going out."
"Where?" I asked, refusing to put on my scarf
or hat.
Aizii ignored me, pulling on a coat. She glanced
back at me and, seeing that I hadn't put on either garment, she added, "You'll
be cold if you don't put it on you know." Reluctantly, I pulled on my hat and
wrapped the scarf around my neck and followed Aizii out of the house. I didn't
know where we were going, but I hoped it wasn't the pound.
***
We ended up on the top of a steep cliff, the wind howling and chilling us
to the bone. Aizii was right - I would have been cold without my hat and scarf.
Below us, the sea crashed into the rock. Aizii went and sat at the edge of the
cliff, her legs dangling over the edge.
I slowly edged towards her, frozen by the
long drop below us. Aizii was staring at the slowly setting sun, neither smiling
nor frowning.
"How can you sit like that?" I asked carefully.
Slowly, I sat down next to her, although my legs stayed firmly on the ground.
"I'm not quite sure," Aizii said, never taking
her eyes off the sun. "I just don't look down - I'm actually terrified at the
moment." I knew she was telling the truth by the tightness of her body and the
way her hands tightly gripped the earth.
"Why are we here?" I asked. This chit-chat
was lovely, but I knew Aizii was thinking of something else. Aizii's shoulder's
dropped and she turned to face me.
"I want you to tell me what's wrong," she
said simply.
"What's wrong," I repeated. Aizii nodded once. I turned away, thinking. What
was wrong? I hated most humans, but I have a reason. I thought I was safe with
Gary and Sarah, I was wrong. I thought Pip loved me, I was wrong. Nothing was
wrong, I was wrong. I shrugged and stood up, still faced away from Aizii.
"Ses." I turned round.
"I am not Ses!" I said angrily. Aizii looked
like she could kick herself. Relenting slightly, I muttered, "I was called Ses
by Sarah. She got rid of me. I was called Sesebia by Pip. He got rid of me.
So what can I be called? I suppose you'll get rid of me."
Aizii stood up abruptly, an emotion flashing
in her eyes I hadn't seen before. A mixture of hurt and anger. In a tight, clogged
voice, she retorted,
"I don't disown pets," she said. "And I won't
disown you." I sat back down and looked out at the darkening sky, not really
seeing anything. Hot tears stung the corners of my eyes. It wasn't because I
was upset - it was because I was shocked. Aizii's words were spoken by someone
who believed what she said, so fiercely that it affected her to be accused of
it.
"Call me Ses," I said suddenly. Aizii sat
down next to me.
"What?"
I took a deep, shaky breath. "Call me Ses."
"Okay…Ses," Aizii paused. "What d'you say
we go home?"
Home. My home. I knew then where my home was.
It was with Aizii and Ade. "Yeah," I smiled. "Let's go home."
The End
Wait! Sesebia still lives with Aizii, Ade, Kate and Daffodil. Now, Drakona14
has joined them, along with his Blue Alkenore, Barney. Drak, a Halloween Kougra,
was also adopted into their family, found during a stormy night. But that's
a different story altogether…
Fin
So it's the end then. First all, thanks to everyone who responded to this with
comments, suggestions and just a friendly Neomail. Also to a few people others
who helped along the way. They know who they are.
As per usual, Neomails
are appreciated. All characters apart from Aizii, Aidhru, Sesebia and Drakona14
are made up and do not exist. | 
