The Odd Egg Out: Part Three

One morning, Heromisan woke up to find SikalTsuna's house deserted and empty. So Heromisan had wandered on the streets a bit, until he bumped into a pot-shaped house.

     Outside of the house, there was a row of pets and owners lined up. Approaching a red Scorchio in the back of the line, Heromisan timidly asked, "What's everyone waiting for?"

     The Scorchio smiled at Heromisan, "Why, don't you know? This is where the Soup Faerie lives!"

     Heromisan responded with a blank look.

     The Scorchio chuckled at him, "The Soup Faerie is a faerie that distributes soup to the poor."

     "Oh..." Heromisan let this information soak in, before stepping behind the Scorchio.

     The two ownerless pets chatted while they waited for their turn. It seemed that the Scorchio's name was Okias, and that he had once had an owner. But when a new pet came out, the Ruki, Okias' owner abandoned him for the Ruki. Okias was glad, though, for if his owner would abandon him just like that, it meant his owner didn't care for him.

     After that, Okias bit his owner when he tried to abandon the Scorchio and had flown away. He had traveled for a bit, begging, until he heard about the soup faerie's kitchen. Ever since then, Okias visited the Soup Faerie every single day.

     Heromisan then told Okias about his past, and just when he finished talking, the two pets noticed that they were next. Heromisan watched Okias approach the faerie, receive a bowl of steaming soup, and walk out of the kitchen. Heromisan followed suit.

     While the two pets ate, Heromisan thought about something, something that was nagging at the back of his mind. Suddenly, it came to him.

     Heromisan squirmed in his egg a bit, he felt himself being carried. Suddenly, loud noises filled the air. It seemed someone was cheering about something. Heromisan, out of dire curiosity, wanted to know what the person was whooping about, and was about to break out of his egg, when his egg was filled with purple, foul-smelling smoke. Heromisan immediately felt paralyzed. "Who are you?" asked the baby Lupe, calling out in his newly found voice. "I am Lagunia, a darkness faerie. I have decided that you would be the odd egg out. I have chosen you to be the one who shall not live a life," an evil voice echoed in his egg shell. Heromisan felt his strength fade away. He could barely move. He knew, he would never get out of that egg.

     Heromisan, who was lapping up his soup while that nagging thought unraveled, sat up straight. It was coming back now. He hadn't been able to hatch out. But, suddenly, after months of waiting, his egg shell suddenly broke in half for him, and all of the Lupe's strength had returned.

     "Is something wrong, Heromisan?" asked Okias in a worried voice, noticing his newly found friend had stopped eating and looked dazed.

     "No, uh, nothing. Is that dung floating in my soup?" Heromisan tried to change the subject by pointing at a potato.

     "Oh, is that all? Nah, that's just a potato. Sometimes, the pot does this weird thing by not peeling the potato. I don't quite get that pot. It seems to have a mind of it's own. Must be something to do with that 'endless bottom' spell the Soup Faerie put on it..." Okias explained between sips of soup.

     Heromisan pretended to be interested. He noticed that Okias was almost done with his bowl of soup, so Heromisan started gulping his down.

     As he gulped down his soup, Heromisan formed a plan in his mind. To do that plan, he needed a flying pet-- Okias, of course. Then, well, he would just have to play "Search and Find" once he got there.

     Heromisan lapped up the last drops of soup, he felt bloated. Glancing at Okias, Heromisan noted that the Scorchio was also finishing up his soup.

     "Where do we put the bowls when we're fini-" Heromisan's voice trailed off, gaping at the sight before him. His bowl was disappearing.

     Okias laughed. "When you're done, the bowls vanish from your hand. You see, the Soup Faerie has this other spell-- bowls are always on the shelves, no matter what. And once she put soup in 'em, the bowls disappear into thin air. After all of the soup is gone, of course."

     "Oh... okay," Heromisan was a bit confused, but hoped that he sounded certain.

     "Now, Okias, listen carefully. There's something I haven't told you, for it has just come back to me. Remember, I told you that I woke up in a dump, not able to find my father and what happened on my search, and what happened when I did find SikalTsuna?" asked Heromisan.

     Okias nodded.

     "Anyways, I remember... In that egg... I couldn't hatch. It seems a darkness faerie, named Lagunia, put a spell on the egg. But one day, the shells just split. That's when I found myself in the dump." Heromisan explained, "But wait-- I'm not done yet. I wish to go to Faerieland. I AM going to Faerieland. To seek revenge on this Lagunia that ruined my whole life."

Neopets Never Die

     Okias and Heromisan, when they first met, had made a special bond. So now, Okias concluded what Heromisan was saying, "And you want me to fly you up there?"

     The green Lupe nodded.

     "Well, then what are we waiting for?" Okias spread his red Scorchio wings out, "Hop on!"

     Heromisan eagerly jumped onto Okias' back.

     ***

     A green Lupe and a red Scorchio stepped onto the clouds of Faerieland. The Lupe had a determined spark in his eye, while the red Scorchio held an air of adventure.

     "I... I have a feeling. A strange feeling. It seems to say, 'Go to the purple clouds...'" whispered Heromisan, staring at the nasty clouds, which seemed to ooze evil.

     "Well, You did say a darkness faerie was the one who cast that spell on you..." Okias started to walk towards the clouds.

     Heromisan nodded, following the Scorchio.

     When they reached the clouds, Heromisan held Okias back.

     "I don't want something bad to happen to you," explained Heromisan. Okias looked a bit disappointed, but nodded.

     Heromisan stepped onto the purple clouds, and tramped through them. It was then he saw her.

     A smirking dark faerie was chatting with Jhudora. Heromisan knew that this was Lagunia.

     "You! Lagunia, ruiner of my life. Taking away my father, trying to keep me from even experiencing the joys of life! Do you not know me? I am 'The Odd Egg Out'!" Heromisan charged the startled darkness faerie, taunting her with that title she had given him.

     Lagunia felt the Lupe's paws wrapped around her neck. She gasped and wheezed, but then recited something.

     Heromisan felt dizzy, sick to his stomach. But, no. He must keep on. He must. With that, Heromisan kicked the faerie. Once again he charged, this time, crushing the faerie, wrestling with her.

     "Jhudora, help me!" wheezed Lagunia, struggling.

     "You should be able to hold your own... but seeing as you're a young faerie, I'll toss you this. Now, hold your own in this battle. It wouldn't be fair to help you but not this Lupe," Jhudora sneered as she tossed an amulet to Lagunia.

     "Wear it on your neck!" Jhudora watched the fierce struggle, cackling all the while.

     Lagunia pushed Heromisan off of her, barely having time to catch the red amulet and pull it on, over head, onto her neck.

     "No, no, no! Your magic shall not defeat me..." Heromisan tackled the faerie again, clawing at her.

     "But, Jhudora, how do I use it?" cried a frantic Lagunia. She was getting so nervous, she started forgetting some of her spells.

     Jhudora just smirked. If Lagunia wasn't good enough to defeat a three month old pet, Lagunia wasn't good enough for her.

     Once again, Heromisan was pushed off, but once again he tackled her.

     This time, when Heromisan tackled Lagunia, he was able to tear her wings to shreds.

     Lagunia, screaming in rage and pain, angrily tried to use the amulet, but failed. Instead, she kicked Heromisan off, trying to rack her nervous mind for one little spell. Just as a simple, easy spell was in her mind, Heromisan got up, ready to lunge.

     Heromisan once again tackled Lagunia. But both were too near the edge.

     They both started falling, Heromisan whispering, "This is for you, SikalTsuna, for you Okias, and for you, any innocent pet, cursed by this faerie."

     Lagunia just screamed all the way, not able to use her ripped wings. All she knew was that she was falling with useless wings. All spells or magic where wiped from her mind. As Lagunia screamed, she had a strange thought, "It's as if I was a stone statue falling..." With that, the faerie was silenced, for she turned to a stone statue, plummeting down, the amulet was the cause of that, but Lagunia would never know this.

     Okias, who had wondered what was taking Heromisan so long, had jumped onto the cloud, just in time to watch both pet and faerie fall.

     "Heromisan..." Okias' scream fell onto the air, seeming to linger before fading away.

     Okais felt dazed. Turning he saw Jhudora smirking down on him. Okias glanced at the edge where he had last seen Heromisan before backing up, out of Jhudora's stare.

     Running off of Jhudora's cloud, Okias flew out of Faerieland. He could, at least, search for Heromisan. Maybe he had survived the fall...

     No matter how hard he searched, Okias never found Heromisan. He seemed to just have vanished... like the Soup Faerie's bowls.

     But without even trying, Okias did find Lagunia. When he learned of the Ruins of Maraqua, Okias had dived down. After all, despite Okias searching for two months, he still looked for Heromisan in every new place. Wandering around in the ruins, Okias saw nothing that showed signs of life. Sighing, Okias was about to go back up, when he noticed a grey statue. Okias glanced at it, when he saw a glitter of red on the all-grey statue. Where had he seen that glitter before?

     Okias stared at the amulet. He was sure he had seen it on Lagunia. This was Lagunia. Okias stared, first at Lagunia's stone face, then at the amulet. Lagunia was here, where was Heromisan?

     Okias searched some more, before going back up for air. When he came back up, Okias pondered something for a moment.

     Lagunia had turned into a stone statue, down the ruins. Yet, no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find his friend. But Okias vowed to never give up searching. For Heromisan had to be somewhere. After all, Neopets never die.

The End

Author's Note: Thanks, Whimsycallie, for looking over my first series!