The strange case of Miss Prichisina

      The Acara was immediately transported to the Neopia Central Hospital, where she received emergency care. She has made a remarkable recovery and is now able to speak of what happened. According to Prichisina, she was studying the flora of the forest, when she slipped on some rocks and fell into a small ravine. She hit her head and was unable to stand up for a long time, and when she could, she was completely disoriented. She claims she picked a random direction and just walked in the hopes of finding civilization.

      Miss Prichisina is a Neovian citizen and an aspiring intellectual. While out of immediate danger, doctors insisted that she take it easy for a period of time and that she be kept under supervision, as head wounds are no joke.

      Ema and Sweety, her step-sister and cousin respectively, moved in with Prichisina shortly after she was discharged from the hospital. Their other sisters, Lulubell, Lady and Sophie, were going to join them soon, one by one. It was going to be a little tight, going from one Neopet household to six, but Prichisina was absolutely ecstatic about having company.

      When Ema and Sweety arrived, they were met with an extremely friendly and happy young Acara, wearing a dark pink dress, matching pink hat, and glossy blue eyes. Ema noticed she wore the hat inside the house too, but didn’t comment on it. Maybe it was just a fashion choice.

      Looking at her and everything she was doing, one would have never guessed Prichisina was a hospital patient only a couple of days ago. She was very lively, travelling from place to place, making Neopoints, doing jobs, fighting in the Battledome even, and buying her new housemate's nice things. Really, it was her looking after Ema and Sweety, not the other way around as it was intended.

     “How many books have you read so far, dear?” Sweety asked her, seeing a stash of brand new ones on a table, price tags still on.

     “100!” Prichisina said, excited like a child. “I plan on winning a Neopian Book Award!”

     “I support you!” Sweety laughed.

     “I did a little research,” she continued, “and winning a Booktastic Book Award might be easier. I’ll have to travel to Kreludor quite a bit!”

     “Don’t tire yourself too much, remember?” Ema said. “Besides, you’ve got all the time in the world to do it.”

     “Yeah!” Prichisina smiled.

     More than caretakers, the Ruki and the Kacheek were more of common-sense-filters for Prichisina. She wanted to do everything and beyond. Become the top employee at the Faerie Employment Agency, get high scores on every game she liked, break records, read, write, sing, dance, fight, travel, and discover. If she could move at the speed of light and clone herself, she certainly would have. At times, it felt like they had to velcro her down.

     They did not know her too well prior to the going missing debacle, but they liked her well enough once they met. Sweety and Prichisina got along splendidly. Sweety had always been mellow and carefree in nature. It was almost funny seeing her in vintage-style clothes walking down Neovian Streets.

     Ema liked Prichisina too. She lived in Altador and was a huge high-achiever too back in her youth. Ema had Battledome aspirations, wanting to become a master fighter and to kick everyone’s butts. She got her own butt kicked a lot more though. She didn’t have the money to train properly, nor the understanding of how to do it properly. Seeing Prichisina learn much faster and actually win fights was nice to see!

     Living in Neovia had an odd feeling to it, that Ema could not quite pinpoint. A sort of restlessness and strange boredom. She used to be the breadwinner in her old household. Now that Prichisina did everything with little outside help, it kind of felt like Ema had nothing to do anymore. She’d sit at home and stare at the books, or the Petpets playing, or the clock, or the walls, feeling bored out of her mind. How was she supposed to fill her time now?

     Ema, although she didn’t voice it to Sweety or the rest of their family, also felt a little uneasy in Neovia. Prichisina was very polite and pleasant to be around, going above and beyond for them. When two of Ema’s sisters, Keyllyna and Jeanette, couldn’t move over, Prichisina gifted them Paintbrushes so they could get by with a fresh look. Prichisina was saving for a Paintbrush of her own but bought the gifts with no second thought. Honestly, it felt like she had no concept of money. She lived life with child-like wonder, self-indulgent and forever dreaming for more. Prichisina was always smiling, always cheery, eyes always wide in surprise, full of curiosity. It was unnerving, but Ema couldn’t quite understand why.

      Prichisina bought herself a Barlow from Krawk Island, naming it Bubu. It was a cute little critter, that made funny noises from its smushed nose. When the Kyrii handed her the Petpet, Prichisina was smiling and bouncing in place like a little girl. Bubu stared at her uneasily, tail between its legs. Prichisina didn’t seem to care, carrying it home in her arms. Bubu took well to the rest of the house, but for the longest time would freeze and reluctantly allow Prichisina to pet it. Now that Ema thought of it, her own Altachuck and Sweety’s Gangee were distant from Prichisina. She was admittedly a stranger, and all three Petpets eventually came around to her, it still made her wonder what was up with that.

     One time, Ema woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She didn’t want to wake up anybody else, so she quietly made her way through the dark. In the bathroom she was blinded by the light, ruining what little her eyes were able to adjust. When she was done and she went back into the dark hallway, she might as well have been blind. Ema used the wall to get back to her and Sweety’s shared bedroom. She cursed under her breath when she bumped a painting, scratching it against the wallpaper. Then she jumped out of her skin and screeched when a door opened and beyond it, she saw a pair of wide, vacant eyes.

     “It’s me! It’s me!” Prichisina rushed to her, holding Ema by the shoulders.

     Ema panted and stilled her heart. “Goodness… I’m sorry…”

     “It’s alright.” Prichisina said. “Are you alright? Were you sleepwalking?”

     “What? No! I just went to the bathroom…” Ema said. She didn’t like looking at Prichisina in the dark. Her eyes looked creepy. Was she wearing a hat to bed too?! “I should go back to bed...”

     “Good night!”

     “Good night…”

      They went shopping together the next morning, raiding the Crumpetmonger of all her stock. Prichisina had a sweet tooth and a seemingly endless stomach. Neovia enjoyed a sunny day, with few clouds and a gentle breeze. A bunch of younger Pets were playing in the street with their Warf. They dashed away when the girls passed by. Ema looked at them from the corner of her eye, catching them whispering and glancing towards Prichisina. She turned around to see Prichisina looking at them as well.

      “Did I do something wrong?” She asked out of nowhere.

     “No, they’re just being silly. Don’t mind them.” Ema said.

      Prichisina seemed genuinely upset. “I’m not creepy, am I?”

      “What, nooo…!” Ema said, trying to sound convincing. “They probably know about, you know,… you going missing and all that. It is a strange occurrence but I am not THE strangest thing that ever happened here, let’s be real, but… still… You got a little reputation out of it.”

      “I have a reputation?” Prichisina asked.

      “I guess… It’s not every day that somebody goes missing without a trace and just pops back up like nothing happened.”

      “… I suppose so.”

      The rest of the walk home took place in silence, uncomfortable mostly on Ema’s part.

      A few nights later, all three sat on the front porch of their house, drinking juice and watching other Neovians go on late-night promenades, and small Pets playing, ignoring their parents calling for them to come inside. Prichisina was really enjoying herself, pointing out everything.

     “Something tells me you’d go out there and play together with them too.” Sweety smiled.

     “I would!” Prichisina said. “It looks so much fun!”

      Ema mentally agreed that it did look fun. Why did young Pets get to have all the fun? Why couldn’t an older Pet play ball and badly ride a bicycle? I mean, she could, but she’d embarrass herself if she fell down. Maybe she could do it somewhere no one would see her.

      “I’m really happy.” Prichisina said out of nowhere, breaking her train of thought.

     “I’m glad you are!” Sweety said, squeezing her hand.

     Prichisina paused for a long moment, the corners of her smile going down. She seemed concerned. Her expression looked genuine, making Ema understand why she felt uneasy about her for the longest time. Prichisina felt fake. She was too nice, too cheerful, too excitable. She was doing everything and too much. Her saying she was happy was real, as was the way she fell deep in thought.

     The three stood in comfortable silence for a bit, watching people come and go, greeting some and wishing them a goodnight.

     “Back in the forest…” Prichisina began to say, seeming to carefully think through every sentence. “I fell and hit my head. It felt like I couldn’t move anymore, and it was so dark. I was so scared…”

     “That’s in the past now, dear.” Sweety said, rubbing her arm in a comforting way. “You’re safe and sound now.”

     “There were so many things I wanted to do…” Prichisina continued. “So many plans for the future… So many new things I wouldn’t get to see… I didn’t want it to end.”

     Ema listened without saying anything, watching her strange eyes and shaky voice.

     “So it didn’t.” Prichisina sighed, straightening her back and resuming her smile. “I… pulled myself up and looked for help. I’ve made it a point to do as much as I can. Try as much as I can. Live as much as I can. There are so many things in our world! Every day I learn something new and it’s truly so much fun! So much to learn! So much is yet to appear! I want to participate in all of it! I love it!” The sparkle in her eyes was real too.

     Sweety gave Prichisina a hug. Ema smiled, feeling a strange sort of endearment towards her new sister. A lot of things were strange now but I suppose she just ought to get used to it.

          The End.