Sol Dreaming: Part Five

     "HOW COULD YOU!?" Aquamarine howls, in a ruin that her brother would do something so malodorous. She goes to bang the cage, but remembers Sol's words of caution and stops. She gets an idea. (I have a plan,) she thinks to Sol.

     (Well, it's about time!) he thinks in jest. Aquamarine smiles, then quickly realizes that this would arouse suspicion and replaces the grin with a frown.

     "Easy," Maroon says with a sneer. "I was tired of you two always being showered over. What about me! Sure, I may not be the little one, or the responsible elder one, but why that a reason to TOSS ME ASIDE?!" the red Kau bellows. He goes and kicks a nearby stack of boxes with one of his hooves, causing the tower fall down and make a huge mess.

     "I was hardly showered over! I'm the normal one! How dare you say that I got more attention!?" Aquamarine barks at him.

     "I'm the middle Neopet, that's why! I was the youngest, and then all of the sudden I have another sister! I was too young to hang out with you, but too old to play with Sunshine without looking like a complete idiot! I mean, she hasn't even started neoschool yet!" he wails animatedly.

     The Lupe lowers her head and shakes it slowly, while a not-so-sleepy Sunshine lies on her back and stares at the ceiling. Pendleton shies away from Maroon, looking a little confused, as if he has never seen someone like this before.

      "Go ahead, ignore me. Pretend as if I'm not talking to you. You'll be sorry! Neopets might not be able to die, but they can be put out of the way!!!

     "Lucky for me, I was the one in the family who got really good grades. Using my cornucopia of smarts--see, I am the smartest Neopet in the family!" he adds when the Lupe puts on a bewildered expression, and then continues, "I found that the Slumberberry Potion can be used to put them aside. One dose is ok, two will put you into a continuous sleep. I knew you wouldn't take it, so I made it into a gas form. In two hours the gas will go off. You'll be sleeping forever."

     "Wow, Maroon. So it was all a trick to get revenge? Good job, then. You had me fooled. You really did," Aquamarine says, congratulating her brother. The Lupe then tips the smallest of winks to her sister.

     Sunshine mouths an "Oh" of understanding to her sister, unnoticed by anyone but her sister, and then pipes harmlessly, "Why didn't you tell us you were jealous? I would have let you play with me. I would have shared my Baby Rattle. I don't play with that anymore."

      "Shut up!" the Kau snaps at his younger sister.

     "That's not a very nice thing to do to Sunshine, now is it, Maroon?" Aquamarine taunts her brother disapprovingly.

     "Shut it!" he roars, stamping a hoof and flaring his nostrils.

     "You shouldn't talk to Aquamarine that way," Sunshine says with a very innocent look on her face. Her solemn expression would look adorable to anyone other than those in the room.

     "I SAID SHUT UP!" he screeches. Aquamarine has him right where she wants him.

     "If all of you don't shut up, I'll lock you all in here," Lord Harry says in a annoyed tone.

     "SHUT UP!" all three Neopets shout in unison. Lord Harry looks taken aback.

     "If either of you says another word, you'll wish you were never created," the Kau says, panting hard.

     "Another word," Sunshine gasps, on the verge of collapsing into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. She then, as predicted, collapses into a giggle fit.

     The Kau lets out a deafening cry of frustration. He then makes a beeline to a control panel. He pushes a large blue button. The electric force field on the cages turns off. He darts for the cages. He kicks Sunshine's cage open while Aquamarine works on hers.

     "What are you doing? Stop! Pendleton, get Ido to round up Section One!" Lord Harry screams to Pendleton. The man scurries off for reinforcements.

      "Fly out of here!" Aquamarine screeches to her sister, who's fluttering over her cage. Sunshine nods and flies up the chute that Aquamarine had fallen down out of.

     A hundred men in green trench coats enter the room. They try to catch her, but it's too late.

     "NO! GET HER!" Lord Harry shrieks to the men. Seventy of them rush out of the room, but a large amount of people are still in the room.

     Aquamarine opens her cage. During all the confusion, no one noticed she was trying to escape. They are more focused on Sunshine. She quietly tiptoes to the door.

     (You're going to make it!) Sol yells his thought to the Lupe.

     (I hope so,) the Lupe thinks back, but less excitedly and more anxious.

     "NOT SO FAST! YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE!" Lord Harry roars. As soon as he says that, Aizel and Pendleton return. They grab her by either arm and slam her against the wall with a rather large THUD. The rest of the men surround her, blocking her exit and vanquishing any chance of escape.

     "The Shoyru may have escaped, but you won't!" Lord Harry shouts. He's shaking with anger. His hair looks rather ruffled and his face is turning red. His eyes are bloodshot.

     (A little help would be nice,) Aquamarine thinks crossly to Sol.

     (Yeah, wouldn't it?) Sol thinks, trying to sound helpful.

     (I was talking about you!)

     (What do you want me to do?)

     Before Aquamarine can respond, Pendleton rips the backpack off of her backpack. "NO! Don't! You-" Aquamarine shrieks, struggling violently to get at Pendleton; to rip, tear, and hurt. But Aizel clenches Aquamarine's throat with a strong hand. The Lupe's arms fly up to Aizel's hands. She tries to pry them off, but they are too strong. She struggles to breathe. She tries to bite his hand, but her head is immobilized. Feeling woozy, she thinks, Maybe Neopets really can die...

     Pendleton snickers sinisterly at her. He brings unzips the backpack and brings it close up to his face, and then a bright white light comes out....

     "AUGH!!!" Pendleton lets out a cry of pain and drops the backpack. It falls gracefully to the floor, its strings pointing to the door. Pendleton brings his hands to cover his eyes and bumps into Aizel. Aizel curses at Pendleton as he stumbles. He relaxes his grip on Aquamarine. The rest of the men surrounding them are blinded too, wandering around the room like bats in the daylight.

     (Well, my cover's blown,) Sol thinks to Aquamarine, floating level to her eyes. For some reason the light doesn't bother her.

     (Yeah. The blinding thing kinda let everyone know you're here; just a bit. But hey, whatever works!) she thinks back to him in a happy tone.

     (Let's blow this joint,) Sol thinks gleefully, bobbing up and down. Aquamarine can almost see him laughing.

     (I hear ya!) Aquamarine thinks in agreement. She breaks free from Aizel's death grip with ease. Then she laughs a successful laugh, one full of triumph.

     "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Lord Harry shrieks to the men on the floor. Pendleton and Aizel fumble to get up, with Pendleton still with his one hand covering his eyes and another hand groping for something to grip. The others feel around for the Lupe with their eyes shut tight; many banging into each other or falling down over others.

     Maroon charges into the mass and tries to knock down his sister. But his eyes are blinded with anger, so he misses by a few yards. This makes the mass even more pell-mell.

     Aquamarine leaps over Aizel and pushes down a few others on her way out of the room. She jumps over three boxes and pushes open a door with an abundant amount of energy. The door turns out to lead outside. Aquamarine has never been so happy, full of excitement to see a tree; the sky, full of warmth from the sun; to feel the soft, green grass under her paws; to see the bottom of Faerieland's clouds hovering high above.

     "Free!" the Lupe squeals, jumping up with gladness. She spins around three times fast with her paws reaching up to Faerieland, soaking up the large feeling of the outdoors.

     But a hand clamps her mouth shut. Aquamarine starts and starts to scream, but the sound is obviously muffled by the hand.

     Oh no I'm caught this is the end I'm not going to get away this is it I'm going to be asleep forever and no one will be able to help me, Aquamarine panics, struggling to get out of the tight grip.

     "Shh, be quiet. I'm here to help you," a voice says.

     The hand turns the blue Lupe around to face her. A tall girl with red hair and about fifteen years old faces her, greeting Aquamarine with a smiling face.

     "Who are you?" Aquamarine asks stupidly.

     The girl's smile widens ear-to-ear. "My name is Isabel, but call me Izzy. I'm here to help you escape," she says while studying the Lupe over intensely.

     (Who's this?) Aquamarine thinks suspiciously to Sol, who has been quiet since the girl, "Izzy," had appeared. She knits her eyebrows together.

     (Can't tell,) Sol thinks distractedly. The ball of light hovers behind Aquamarine, out of sight from the girl. Aquamarine perceives that Sol is very uncomfortable and apprehensive, but of what she's not sure... at least not right now.

     "I'm Harry's sister," the girl says, as if she read the Lupe's mind. Aquamarine blinks. "I know you don't remember me, but you have to trust me. I know how to make his plans fail miserably, but I need your help, ok? Sol needs to help us too. Yeah, Sol, the jig is up; we can let her know now. Good job, by the way. You could have done it a little more realistically, though. Just kidding," the girl continues, craning her neck so she can look over the Lupe to glance at Sol.

     "What?" Aquamarine stutters. This is her former owner; the one who loves her. But she knows Sol? This is too weird, even after what has just happened. By now I should assume anything is possible... not doing too well at this, am I?

     "Yeah, I know Sol. I sent him to look after you when I caught wind of Harry's plans. But that's not important... well, it is, but not right now. What is important is that we stop my brother, ok?" the girl says, staring intently into Aquamarine's eyes.

     "Okay. What's the plan?" Aquamarine sighs. Izzy whispers the crazy plan into one of Aquamarine's ears.

     * * *

     "This isn't going to work. No way. Nope, it's got a snowball's chance in the Lost Desert. It's not going to work!" Aquamarine hisses to Izzy while crouching outside of the room where Lord Harry is pacing restlessly.

     "Yes, it will. Here we go..." Izzy stands up.

     "Hi!" Izzy cries, popping into the room.

     "Isabel?" Lord Harry says hoarsely, halting his pacing. Caught offguard, a surprised look appears on his face. Only for a second, though; then the expression is replaced with one of confusion. He soon recovers, though, and pulls the girl into an awkward hug. He pulls away after a moment and holds his sister at arm's length. "You look... radiant," he says after a while.

     "Thanks," Izzy says, sporting a grim smile.

     "What have you been up to all this time?" Harry asks his sister.

     "Not much, really... how about you?" Izzy answers with a shrug.

     "Same here, really. Just planning to take over the world. Stuff like that," he also shrugs.

     "I see. Sounds interesting. Can I help?"

     "Sure, I guess. I don't see why not...."

     A pause prolongs the moment. "Sorry, but this is for your own good," Izzy says, her voice grim. She slams her brother into the wall with a THUMP!

     "Now!" Izzy shouts to Aquamarine. The Lupe tosses a round bottle of thick purple liquid to Izzy, who fields it expertly with one hand.

     "What the - you can't!" Lord Harry screeches. Izzy pours the contents of the bottle into Lord Harry's mouth, who has no choice but to swallow the purple liquid. Izzy then backs away as Lord Harry drops to the floor, unhurt.

     "I'M MELTING, MELTING! OH!" he screams. To himself, he adds, "Ok, so I'm not really melting, but anything for some more drama..."

     They turn back. Harry is still there. "Sleeping potion," he gasps.

     Izzy beams with satisfaction. "It was for your own good. You needed it. Did you really think we were going to let you take over the world just because we know you... or thought we knew you?" Izzy says, adding a bit of philosophical words, shrugging her shoulders, not making heads or tails of what she just said. She continues, "Just wait until your men see what happened to you... speaking of which, they're still a little blinded after what just happened with Sol. Try sunglasses next time. Oh, you might want to get them out of here. The gas is going to fill the room in fifteen minutes, and I don't think you want them in here."

     She then pats the top Aquamarine's head and smiles broadly at the Lupe. "Come on, Aquamarine. Sunshine's waiting for us. And you're probably hungry. I can't wait to start splurging on you and Sunshine. Hurry up, we're going home." Izzy and Aquamarine walk out of the room, with Sol bobbing behind.

     (What about me?) Sol says, though he knows perfectly well that Izzy needs him.

     "You too, Sol," the girl says to the ball of light, and leaves Lord Harry in a confused and infuriated state.

     Then it dawns on Aquamarine. She realizes that everything is going to turn out ok.

     * * *

     Later that hour...

     Sol, Izzy, and Aquamarine safely arrive at their home on Mystery Island with a lovely beach view, just as the sun is sinking low beyond the horizon. As anticipated, Sunshine is safe and sound, sitting in the living room, but not alone. Izzy's other Neopet, a spotted Gelert, is there too. You could say that Sunshine and Spot are getting along grandly... but then you would be lying. They are very stiff towards each other. Aquamarine does not like Spot either. She knows that from the moment she lays eyes on him. Spot is older than Aquamarine; Aquamarine is so used to being in charge, as she is, no, was, the oldest.

     But that is going to end up being the least of their problems yet to come... not if a few people and a certain very sleepy man have anything to do with it.

Fin

     (But wait!) Aquamarine thinks urgently to Sol.

     (Yes?) Sol inquires.

     (You said the biggest help of all is green, and Captain Quack was definitely not very helpful. After all, he ditched me. Not to mention the enemy was wearing green. Lots and lots and lots of green.)

     (Did you happen to notice what color Izzy's socks are?) Sol thinks. Aquamarine senses that Sol is smiling.

     Aquamarine looks at Izzy's socks, then smiles broadly. She's wearing a pair of lime green socks.

Done

     "But we don't want it to be over! We demand a sequel!!!" the trio whimpers.

     "Fine! Anything to shut you up at this point! This one had to end, though, deal? A never ending story wouldn't be good," 30pets writes exasperatedly. Aquamarine opens her mouth to argue, using the song that never ends as a defense.

     "Or, I could go back and rewrite the story so the evil villains win," 30pets threatens. She goes back a couple pages with her eraser poised for action.

     After pondering what would happen, Aquamarine then sighs and finally shouts frostily, "Okay! No need to be harsh or anything!"

     30pets smiles, and then writes assertively... extremely assertively:

FINISHED. DONE. END. OVER. BYE.

     ...(well, with the exception of my little farewell speech)

     Author's Epilogue:

     ...Just for the record, I will get even with those three for delaying the end of my beautiful story (a sad look appears on the trio's faces while 30pets laughs like an evil maniac).

     "How come you got to get to interrupt your own ending?" Aquamarine barks.

     "I'm not going dignify that with a response," 30pets writes.

     "Why not?"

     "That would ruin my ending."

     "I think you are a page too late."

     "I realize that, but I'm the author so I-"

     Izzy takes 30pets' pencil from her. She considers erasing the page, but decides to let the two embarrass themselves. She writes:

The End