Her Spirit's Eyes: Part Three

      "It's all so strange..." she said to herself, "I wish I could know what's going on..."

      Laura closed her eyes, she thought about the things that other pets had said...

      "...thing I remember is her touching me and I was suddenly that baby Xweetok..." "...I think Dina might have been doing it." "She's... the Indera..."

      Laura rolled over onto her back. "That's right... Princess Rose mentioned something about her being an 'Indera'..." she whispered to herself, "but what does that mean? What's an 'Indera'?"

      "Ga?" Dina wondered, crawling over to her mother.

      Laura turned her head so she could see Dina. She looked into her pretty indigo eyes, they were so amazing... so unusual... so... magical. But why?

      After thinking for a while, Laura picked up her daughter, stood up, and walked out the door silently.

     * * * * *

      Princess Rose looked at the dagger that was on the pedestal in front of her. It shone in the light of the torches, and although it was adorned with twinkling red rubies, it seemed to be radiating a faint, indigo-colored glow.

      "So this must be the Royal Dagger..." she thought aloud, as she walked up closer to the ruby-adorned weapon. "It's so wondrous, magical... powerful," she continued with a malefic chuckle.

      She clasped the hilt of the dagger in a single paw, and then she heard a poetic message being spoken in her mind...

     "The Indera has been born

     No longer shall I rest

     Awakened now, I turn to you

     And put you to a test.

     I ask you now to slay the Indera

     With my blade so fine

     It's a simple task, I ask of you now..."

      The voice stopped speaking, and Rose grinned. "Indera, you're mine."

     * * * * *

      Laura stopped in front of the house of Sarah, the blue Zafara who claims she knows "absolutely EVERYTHING about Neopia!" Laura took a deep breath, and walked inside.

      She looked around at the large room, slightly surprised. There were so many books piled on the floor, that you could barely walk around. There must have been at least one of every book in Neopia! She then saw a blue Zafara with round glasses in the middle of the room. She seemed to be reading a book before Laura had entered, but had stopped and looked up at the door when she heard the door opening. Her eyes brightened when she saw that it was a visitor.

      "Hello!" Sarah bounced over to Laura. "I suppose you have something you want to ask me? After all, I know--"

      "Absolutely everything about Neopia, I know." Laura sighed, rolling her eyes. "But yeah, I actually do have a question for you... have you heard of something called 'the Indera'?"

      "'Indera,' huh?" Sarah thought aloud. "Now let's see..."

      Sarah flipped open a notebook that was in front of her. It was almost completely full of notes. She flipped through the pages, her eyes roving across the pages. She bit her lip while doing so, not finding anything about this "Indera." Suddenly her eyes stopped. After a few seconds of careful reading, she picked up the notebook and looked back up at Laura.

      "Well, I guess there's a book about it somewhere..." she said, raising one eyebrow.

      "A book?" Laura wondered. "What's it called? Where can I find it?"

      "The book is called 'The Prophecy of the Indera,'" Sarah replied. "But it's a really rare book, and very few copies have even been made. Not even I have it! ...You're on your own finding it..."

      Laura sat silent for a few thoughtful seconds, then finally nodded, thanked Sarah for the information, and headed out the door.

      "'The Prophecy of the Indera'..." Laura said, in slight awe. "So the Princess thinks Dina is some kind of prophesied, magical being? Oh, that's insane." Laura rolled her eyes at the thought, not realizing how true it actually was. "...But there's a book? Gee, I wonder where I could possibly find such a book?"

     * * * * *

      Wanda muttered and groaned as she carefully dusted the desks and shelves of the orphanage. Ardon - who was apparently the head of the orphanage - was mad at her for breaking the lamp, so he made her dust the whole building. She didn't like it very much, but, of course, who would?

      "Hey, isn't this breaking some child labor law, or something?" Wanda suddenly asked Ardon.

      "No, and quit complaining." Ardon talked into a copy of The Neopian Times. "The less you complain the sooner it will get done. Now, hurry up! This desk looks like it hasn't been touched in weeks."

      With an annoyed sigh, Wanda tramped over to Ardon's desk and carefully started dusting it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the other orphan pets watching her with blithe smiles. She glared at them, and they hid away. She rolled her eyes and continued to dust.

      Wanda looked up and noticed the opened Neopian Times in front of Ardon's face. She couldn't help but notice one of the comics on the back of the paper, and read it, sort of hoping it would cheer her up a bit.

      "HA! HA! HA! HA!..."

      Ardon looked up from The Neopian Times and glared at Wanda. Wanda began to stifle her laughter until she stopped.

      "...sorry, I'll... I'll shut up." Wanda blushed.

      Wanda saw the other orphans watching her, again. Both her and Ardon shot a glare at them at the same time. The other orphans hid away, but Wanda could still hear them giggling.

      When Wanda had finished dusting off the desk, she went over to the library, noticing that the other orphans were following her with giggles. She groaned as she turned into the library, and the others followed her. Then she suddenly turned around with an irritated look on her face.

      "Why are you all following me!?" she shouted.

      "We're going to make sure you dust the shelves," said a red Wocky, folding his arms, "and dust them well!"

      "And if you don't, we're telling Mr. Ardon!" added a green Kacheek.

      Wanda rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. She felt so lonely at times, all of the other orphans just loved to see her get in trouble. This is mostly why she hated life at the orphanage.

      "Don't complain!" exclaimed a red Shoyru. "Remember, 'the less you complain the sooner it will get done'!"

      "Yeah... whatever," Wanda muttered under her breath. She started to dust the bookshelf.

      She was carefully dusting the shelf, when she heard the other orphans whispering and giggling behind her. They're plotting something... she thought to herself. Then she started bracing herself for a spit-wad in the back of the head, or a loudly read poem about how stupid she was, or something of the like. The evil suspense was killing her...

      She spun around, "WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE GOING TO DO, I'LL TELL ARDON!!!"

      Turning back around with a frustrated look on her face, she continued dusting. She heard the other orphans giggle behind her, but she didn't even want to know why. She started to concentrate on the shelf she was dusting, trying to ignore the other orphans. Then, suddenly, an old-looking book caught her eye...

     * * * * *

      Laura carried little Dina to a large building shaped like a wizard's hat... the Shop Wizard's home.

      As she stepped inside, she looked around at the surroundings. There were many books across the walls, a lot like Sarah's place, but the books were more nicely arranged, plus there weren't quite as many, so it was much easier to walk around.

      A small, orange JubJub wearing a wizard's hat and cape walked up to Laura. It was the Shop Wizard.

      "Hello!" he said. "Welcome to my home. I am the Shop Wizard. Who might you be?"

      Laura took a breath, "Hi... I'm Laura Songdream. This is my daughter, Dina." Laura made a gesture with her head towards the baby Xweetok in her arms. "I was wondering if you could help me find an item..."

      "Of course!" the Shop Wizard said with a chuckle. "I'm the Shop Wizard, that's what I do!"

      "Yeah... I was wondering if you could help me find a book called 'The Prophecy of the Indera.'"

      The JubJub nodded, and then he closed his eyes and muttered some magic words. They stood there for several long seconds when the Shop Wizard finally opened his eyes, again.

      "Nobody in Neopia sells that item," he explained, "and not many people have it, either."

      "Not many people have it, huh?" Laura said, fingering Dina's delicate, purple hair. "Who does?"

      "Well..."

     * * * * *

      Wanda looked at the book. The cover was old and torn; the pages were slightly yellowed. The title of the book was "The Prophecy of the Indera." It seemed interesting, something about it. She looked behind her, the other orphans were distracted with something. She gave a brief smile, and carefully set down the duster and pulled out the old book, carefully flipping through the old pages...

      "'Grand magic, the Indera uses... it makes them hard to find... the indigo with purple eyes... can posses any body, any mind...'" Wanda's curious expression changed to a more solemn one, "...Dina?"

      Wanda silently read some more of the book, it seemed extremely important somehow... she wasn't sure why...

      "Slacking on the job, are we?"

      Wanda jumped at the sound of the red Wocky next to her. She quickly closed the book and shoved it back onto the shelf. "Aah! Oh, I, uh..." she stuttered, "sorry, I'll... I'll dust now."

      She picked back up the duster and continued dusting, attempting to ignore the others giggling behind her. She continued thinking about the book, was the "Indera" that it mentioned really that baby Xweetok she had met earlier? She wasn't sure, but she knew that...

      "You're not dusting faast enoouugh!"

      She rolled her eyes and continued dusting.

To be continued...