The Grass is Always Greener: Part One

     Her brother Vilmori was a green Lupe, and very happy that way, thank you very much, despite repeated offers to paint him from an ever-hopeful owner. He was quiet, eager-to-please and so a foil to Jatalle’s strong personality. The third member of their family was Wroulf, a baby Lupe. He was still just getting over being regarded as ‘the new one’ after his adoption intruded on the best-friendship of Jatalle and Vilmori. He was smart, and tended to see things that Jatalle missed, and to have his own ideas. He was smart enough, however, to keep most things along these lines to himself and only stepped in if necessary.

     Together, the pets made up a tight-knit trio who, under Jatalle’s enthusiastic leadership, and generally with the ignorance of their well-meaning owner, lived by their own terms most of the time.

     And today, that involved sitting around Neopia Central, pet-watching and trying to amuse themselves. There was the Healing Springs to watch, which was always worthwhile and brought up good memories for Vilmori. The usual crowd by the Money Tree, diving in for various treasures, and there was always the owners sprinting around the shops as they caught restocks, occasionally leaping for joy with a new coveted item. A lot of people were crowding around Uni’s Fashion Boutique.

     “New item out?” asked Wroulf lazily, noticing the seething mass of people, clasping Neopoints and watching the shopkeeper anxiously.

     “Yep,” answered Vilmori, the only one of the three to pay any attention at all to the news. “Some kind of fashion item. I don’t see the appeal, but you know how crazes come and go.”

     Suddenly there was a yell from the shop. A few of the faster owners had snagged themselves pairs of the new item, and were waving their prizes around triumphantly. Jatalle squinted to have a look.

     “Looks like some type of sunglasses,” she announced. “Quite distasteful really, garish pink. I can’t really even think of an outfit they’d fit!”

     But no-one who was buying the glasses seemed to share her opinion on that matter. Their lucky pets were soon sporting the new fashion accessory and parading around happily. The Aisha could hear their boasts from all the way across the plaza, and shook her head in disdain.

     By the next morning, though, her mind had been changed. It seemed as though every pet in Neopia was sporting a pair of the glasses, and she was jealous. Over breakfast she faced her owner.

     “Please can I have a pair? Please?! Everyone else has one. They’re really nice, rose-coloured really, and would match my headdress.”

     Wroulf bowed his head while he recalled the “garish pink” remark of the day before, but stayed silent. Meanwhile, Vilmori hated arguments or demands, so the green Lupe was eating his toast and deliberately not listening. Her owner frowned slightly, thinking it over.

     “They’re really quite expensive, I don’t know how everyone else has been able to afford them!” she remarked.

     “Tarla,” replied Wroulf. He had been watching as the glasses resurfaced in the Ixi’s giveaway, and the many Neopians happily walking away with the treat. His family had missed her rewards due to an engrossing game of Bilge Dice, but Jatalle was now in a huff, desperate to have the item bought for her. Sensing a fight, the baby Lupe decided to distract his sister. He convinced her that a breath of fresh air would do her good, and chivvied her out the door, while Vilmori followed behind.

     But every pet in Neopia seemed to have picked up on Jatalle’s bad mood. Snippets of conversation drifted towards them as the trio wandered around Neopia Central. It was the usual complaints, but magnified and passed around.

     “Remember when there weren’t as many thieves? Honestly, I can barely move without losing Neopoints to someone.”

     “...back then we all helped each other and were all best friends forever.”

     “The avatar is IMPOSSIBLE to get on Destruct-O-Match III. As I was telling my friend the other day, it’s just cruel really.”

     “I can barely move in Faerieland these days, for all the buildings. Quite slows me down.”

     “I miss when everything was 8Bit, not just the Chombies!”

     “My friend’s neighbour’s sister’s cousin’s pet paid 100NP for a Draik egg. I’ll never be able to afford one at today’s prices!”

     “...every other person had a Super Attack Pea...”

     “Remember when...?”

     “I miss...”

     “Back in the Good Old Days...”

      Vilmori sighed. He had talked these over before with such pets, but reasoned argument didn’t seem to work too well, and he generally gave up after a few moments.

     Wroulf was also listening, but his thoughts were following a different track. Every pet in sight was wearing a pair of those stupid rose-coloured glasses...

     Jatalle was sunk too deep in self-pity to notice much going on, but even she pricked up her ears when a quiet sound attracted them.

     “Psst!”

     She glanced round. The two Lupes had also heard, and were rapidly looking down the nearby paths.

     “Psst!”

     This time they were expecting it, and six eyes trained themselves on a bush just off the path. There was no-one else around, it seemed obvious that the strange person was trying to attract their attention. Slowly they headed towards the bush. As they walked around it to the back, a figure crawled out from in between the leaves. It took a few moments for them to place him, but slowly it dawned on Jatalle.

     “...Nigel?” she asked in surprise. For before them, with his usually so smart suit wrinkled and creased, a frown on his face and black shiny shoes covered in mud, was the yellow Chia who was widely regarded as one of the richest pets in Neopia. He ran the Stock Market and made a nice income from selling shares. But she had never seen him far from the Stock Exchange before, and certainly never looking like this.

     “There’s a big problem!” began Nigel in a low voice. The three siblings leaned in closer, but he motioned them along. “We need to be somewhere where no-one can hear us.”

     After a rapid debate over where such a place might be, the four pets found themselves in the Tiki Tack shop on Mystery Island. It wasn’t totally deserted; occasionally a newer owner wandered in, looked delighted to see the goods on offer and parted with a sizeable pile of Neopoints for a new Toy Sailboat. There was also occasional intrusion of more experienced players, who looked around as if seeing nothing, then left looking dejected. But other than these rare occurrences, they had the place to themselves.

     “Have any of you noticed anything... strange?” asked the Chia. Mutely, Jatalle and Vilmori shook their heads, but Wroulf spoke up.

     “Those glasses, the pink ones. They’re everywhere now! And there seems to be some unhappiness around Neopia. Lots of complaints.”

     Nigel nodded while Jatalle looked surprised. It was still a bit of a shock to her that her youngest brother spoke in front of others, let alone when he said things she hadn’t noticed. Ah well, everyone was lucky sometimes, she thought as Nigel began to speak again.

     “That’s it! But to explain a fraction more, I’ll have to go back several years. Not many pets know, but I am in charge of a little more than just the Stock Market. A sizeable percentage more, in fact. I help to control the Neopian Economy. It is part of my responsibility in this role to control what enters and leaves - what new items are available and what is retired. The rose-tinted glasses are unauthorized invaders into the highly-regulated clockwork! And somehow, they are bringing back strong and often untrue feelings of nostalgia. In fact, that appear to be so powerful that they make people long for the past even if they were not around at the time, and never experienced it. This is highly irregular.”

     The two older siblings looked a bit dazed. His manner of speaking was precise and strange, and they had got a little bit lost. Wroulf tried to make sense of it all.

     “So, you’re saying that these new glasses are not meant to be in Neopia at all, and they’re making everyone miss the past? Who put them in shops then, and who gave them to Tarla?”

     But here the Chia shook his head.

     “I have my suspicions, but I need help! I chose you three because you were not wearing the new contraptions, so you might have a chance. Will you lend your aid to this cause?”

     Once again, the language was obscure, but the meaning was obvious. All three siblings instantly smiled and agreed. The plan was easy, and quickly agreed upon. At an appointed time, Jatalle would start to speak in Neopia Central. She would make a strong plea for the innovations and improvements of the current time, while Vilmori and Wroulf joined the crowd that would surely gather around her. They would act as bystanders, and start agreeing with what she was saying. This would affect the crowd mentality and pets there would also start to agree. Such agreement with the apparent majority is a common power within Neopia, and soon everyone would be on their side. It wasn’t the most exciting plan to save everyone, but it would be effective. Nigel was sure about that.

     Soon, the island Aisha was standing in the Plaza. Her speech began. But something was wrong. The crowd that formed was angry, and disagreed despite her brother’s enthusiastic “I think she’s right!” and “Hmm... I see her point.” The growing group of pets complained that there were too many impromptu speeches nowadays, and that it was annoying. They began to surge forward. Vilmori and Wroulf, suddenly scared, ran to the front towards her, but the crowd continued. It was crowd mentality, certainly. But it was against the siblings. The two young Lupes reached their siblings and grabbed her hands, but they seemed to be trapped against a brick wall. Angry pets lined up in front of them. Jatalle took one more step back, as far as she could go.

     Then the World went yellow.

To be continued...