Time passed quickly as they were having so much fun,
and soon, night fell. Meridell had quieted down for the most part, and was romantically
and dimly lit by street lamps and fireflies. The moon was full, hovering over
the planet contentedly in the evening sky.
Mik stood on a wooden bridge by a large castle;
he wondered what was inside, but dared not enter. He gazed down into the peaceful,
gargling brook underneath the bridge,, watching how the moonlight glistened
and danced. Just then, he saw it: Illusen's Glade.
"Meeep meep eep meep?" asked Pie.
"I don't know, Pie," Mik replied, scratching
his head.
"Why, that there's Illusen's glade!" said an
old Gelert farmer. "Gosh, Illusen's probably the kindest most prettiest earth
faerie of them all, I reckon. Why don't y'all pay her a visit son?"
Mik nodded in agreement. "Thank you sir, I suppose
we will." The Gelert tipped his straw hat, and continued pushing a cart down
the way towards the castle.
At Illusen's Glade...
"Meep," Pie cooed, looking up and around.
"Woah," Mik chuckled, as fireflies buzzed playfully
around his head. A misty light surrounded the glade, like a magical fog. Suddenly,
the beautiful faerie lookup out her window with a warm smile. "Oh... good evening!"
"Hi, I'm Mik, and this is my Babaa Pie."
"Nice to meet you. I am Illusen. So... what can
I do for you?"
"Meep eeep mee-eep meep!" Pie said with a goofy
little grin at Mik.
"Ah, you need a place to stay the night, eh?"
said Illusen.
Mik looked funny for a moment, and nodded. Apparently,
Illusen spoke Babaa. And, apparently, Pie wanted to do most of the talking.
He chuckled and said, "As a matter of fact, yes."
"There's a hotel just that way," she said, pointing
out to her left, "the Merri Inn. It's not too expensive, either."
"Thank you, Illusen," Mik said with a smile.
She waved goodbye as they went off.
At the Hotel...
"Welcome to Merri Inn," an Aisha chimed from
behind the desk. She was pink, wearing a white dress with an apron over it.
"Would you like a room?" Mik nodded and said, "Yeah, just a 1 bedroom will be
fine."
"All righty," she said, "That'll be 50 NP. It's
room A45." He muttered something under his breath as he tossed her the fee,
took his bag, and Pie, and treaded up the stairs into his room.
"Finally some rest, eh Pie?" Mik smiled, flopping
down onto the soft bed. Pie snuggled up at the foot of the bed, on a little
pillow. "I think we've had plenty of adventure for one day. But... I'm starting
to worry, about this whole war thing. Maybe we should leave first thing in the
morning tomorrow, OK? Good night, pal."
He crawled under the covers and drifted off to
sleep, totally unaware of what was to happen the next day.
***
The morning sun flowed through the hotel room window, glistening on the dew
drops on the glass. Mik stirred under the covers; Pie was at the window, whining
worriedly.
"Pie," he yawned, sitting up, "What's going on
out there?"
"Meep!" he exclaimed, pointing a little black
hoof at the window. Mik got up and yawned. "What the..." He looked out the window
and shrugged. Wait... something wasn't right!
He grabbed their things and rushed out of the
room. The lobby downstairs was starting to get crowded. He checked out hurriedly,
and ran outside, looking around in horror. Angry mobs of Neopets with torches,
pitchforks and readied Battledome items wandered around Meridell.
We've got to get to the boat dock and get out
of here, he thought, flying above all the angry Neopians to the docks. "Oh,
great!" He moaned; it too was overcrowded.
"Attention," a loudspeaker boomed, "Due to the
sudden beginning of war, all ships will be staying in the remote safety of the
harbours, and will not be running. We are very sorry for the inconvenience,
but there is nothing more that we can do. That is all." Mik clenched his fists;
"What are we going to do?"
He looked at Pie in his bag, who was meeping
frantically and pointing his little black hoof desperately. He was pointing
towards Illusen's Glade. "Great idea," Mik said, and flew determinedly towards
it."
"Illusen! Illusen, we need your help!"
He smiled hopefully as she came to the window.
"Hello again Mik, Pie. What an awful mess, eh?"
"Awful is right! We need to get home, but the
ships--"
"--are being held in the harbours? I know, I
know. Simply terrible..."
"Oh. What do we do?" she thought. She thought
and she thought and she thought. Then, she thought some more, until she thought
of an idea.
"Fight."
"Fight?" Mik questioned.
"Yes, Fight." Illusen answered.
"Meep?" Pie questioned.
"Yes, Meep." Illusen answered.
Mik was terribly puzzled. "How?"
She thought. She turned, looked around inside
of her tree home, and came back to the window soon after. "Here, catch!" she
shouted, tossing an item into Mik's arms. He studied it carefully. "What is
it?"
"It's a Shoyru Grappling Hook. Now, you know
what to do."
"And what's that?" Mik said, still looking it
over curiously.
"Fight."
"Fight? Me? But Illusen, how-"
She had disappeared.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling sound came from underground.
"What the..." He spun around, watching in horror as tons of Neopets screamed
and fled all over the area. "What's going on now?" Mik yelled, scratching his
head.
"MEEP MEEP!! MEEP MEEP!!"
"Meep meep? What the-"
Tons of thick, spiky vines shot up out of the
ground all around them, whipping and waving about viciously. Mik grabbed hold
of Pie and soared up over them.
"They've got to be 10 feet tall!!" he yelled,
as mobs of pets ran in horror for shelter; most of them towards the castle.
The castle! Mik thought, as he bolted off through the air towards the
huge, white palace, towers crowned with gold and royal purple.
At the Castle...
"So, which side are you going to fight for, then?"
the green armoured creature implied to Mik in a British accent from behind a
desk. "The name's Mikasaden... and I'm fighting for Meridell, without a doubt!"
He scribbled something down on a large sheet of paper, and stood up to shake
Mik's paw. "Thank you son, and good luck. Go on now, to the Battledome with
you!" Mik nodded and flew outside past the long line of eager Neopians
Outside, he followed the sign that read "THIS
WAY TO BATTLEDOME" to a large, white building, crowned with a golden dome and
a royal purple glag on top. "This must be the place," he said as he went in.
A red Grarrl at a desk directed him to an arena.
A purple Zafara was being fled out of the arena on a stretcher by a couple Gelert
nurses. Mik gulped, then marched boldly into the arena.
"First match: Mikasaden the red Shoyru vs. Drackonack!"
The announcer boomed over a loudspeaker.
"For Meridell, and for oppressed Neopets everywhere,
I challenge you!" Mik shouted, drawing his Sword of Domar, smirk upon his face.
And with that, the first battle began, fought
with nothing less than pride, honour, and full-force-bum-kicking-action.
The End | 
