Adventure to Roo Island by Prof. Milton Clodbottle

     Roo Island’s population is composed of Blumaroo at 95%. It was certainly entertaining to see all of them bounce around the island all day. I left Roo City, which was too crowded to possibly be the host of a colony of Fleafs, and headed to the small villages to the south of the Island. One of them was literally surrounded by tons of colonies of Fleafs. I knelt into the damp soil and started looking for a young Fleaf. I was on the point of capturing one when my magnifying glass became all blurred. I took a step back and noticed it was beginning to rain. By the time I gathered all my belongings, it was raining so heavily I couldn’t see a foot from me. In my search for Fleaf I had wandered too far from the village and in the rain I couldn’t find it. I saw in the distance a construction. I ran in that direction and found myself in front of a castle. I was stunned for a minute. It couldn’t be King Roo’s castle; I was too far from it. I knocked on the door and waited patiently. No answer. I decided to take a look inside and hoped nobody would mind. I sat on a chair by the window and waited for the rain to stop.

     I hadn’t noticed that it was getting darker and darker outside. I really misjudged the time spent studying the Fleafs. It seemed like the day passed right before me. Suddenly I heard a noise coming in my direction. It was soft footsteps. Whoever it was, he wasn’t heavy. I stood up in embarrassment, hoping the owner wouldn’t be mad at me. My heart stopped for a minute when I saw the Blumaroo coming my way. Then I started relaxing again and a smile appeared on my face.

     “Greeting, Mister, may I ask what are the purpose of your visit?” the Blumaroo asked me.

     “Oh, I’m really sorry, Mister. I was in a hurry when the rain began to fall. I didn’t know where to go. I knocked on the door, but...” I explained to him in a rush.

     “I don’t mind, I understand. It happens from time to time,” said the curious Blumaroo, with a wide smile.

     “Sir, I don’t want to be rude or something but... are you a Halloween Blumaroo?” I asked my host shyly.

     “Indeed, I am. You seem amused by that. Roo Island is well known for its touristic aspect and I’m Count Von Roo here,” he said, grinning.

     “Oh, I see. Does anyone actually believe that? It’s quite absurd. I have an edition of 'Gallery of Evil' here and it’s clearly stated that the actual Count Von Roo lives in the darkest part of Haunted Woods,” I said, getting the book out of my bag.

     “Count Von Roo lives wherever he wants to live.”

     “I’m sorry, what was that?”

     “Oh, nothing; if it’s clearly stated in your book, well, it must be true.”

     He walked for a minute around the room, never taking his eyes off me. “So, if you’re going to be trapped here for an undetermined period of time, you might want to get comfortable. Follow me to the living room. We could play a game of Deadly Dice,” he told me.

     I did follow him to the living room, wondering what Deadly Dice was, but I was up for a game. “So tell me, what are the rules of this game?”

     “Quite simple! We roll the dice. Highest number wins, the lowest loses.”

     “What is at stake?”

     “You want to bet? Very good. You win, I let you go. I win, your soul is mine.”

     “Wow, you’re really into that Von Roo character, aren’t you?”

     “More than you could ever imagine.”

     I started feeling uncomfortable. What if? No... It couldn’t be. So I played with him and I lost. He stood up and chuckled at his victory. He started to float my way... wait a minute, float? Then it hit me. He was Von Roo! There was no doubt about it! I stood up and started backing away from him. I needed to find a way out of it. I did bet my soul and I lost. What should I do? Then, I had an idea. I didn’t know if it would work but it was definitely worth trying.

     “Wait! Aren’t you bored of this Deadly Dice thing? It’s getting old,” I told him with the most confidence I had.

     “Ha! Trying to get away? It won’t happen,” he snapped.

     “Oh, no. It’s just, don’t you want to try new games some time? I didn’t want to insult you, but that game is really too simple. Dice-A-Roo is really much more interesting.”

     “Dice-A-Roo is silly. I won’t play Dice-A-Roo with you.”

     “It wasn’t my intention. What if, to be fair, I propose you a game too? So you play my game, same bet.”

     “Yeah. I’m not opposed to this idea. Deadly Dice does get old.”

     “Very well, then I propose we play enigmas.”

     “Then we shall. What are the rules for those enigmas of yours?”

     “I tell you one. If you know the answer, my soul is yours. If you don’t know, then I’m free to go.”

     “Seems fair.”

     “Okay, so there it is. When and where did William Techo died?”

     “Ha! A quest of the Brain Tree. Very clever of you. Too bad we are on such good terms. It won’t take me long to have the answer. Don’t need to deal with that grumpy Esophagor.” As he said those words, Von Roo turned into a giant bat and flew out the window.

     “It won’t take long before you know the answer, but it will take me even less to get out of here!” I took all my belongings and ran outside. Now that the rain had stopped, I found my way to King Roo’s castle and asked for a room. King Roo himself listened to my story and told me to be careful from now on. I fooled Von Roo once; I won’t fool him again.

     After a night of nightmare, I packed my things for the travel back home. King Roo gave me a Fleaf so I wouldn’t have to come back and risk my soul again. “Take this with you and be careful. You could always pay me a visit, when the sun is still up.”

     When I got home, the first thing I did was to look for my Neopedia. I found it under my bed. At the page of Von Roo, it said he was living in a castle on Roo Island. I should have known better than to limit the power of Count Von Roo. I added the Fleaf to my Habitarium and looked at it. The Habitarium is pretty, but it was missing something at night. I know! It was missing nocturnal petpetpets! So it seems I must pay a visit to the mayor of Moltara. Lightmites are in abundance in the caves. This time, I’m taking the Neopedia with me, I told myself. But I didn’t and that is a whole other story, another adventure I might share with you one day. But for now, good night, Neopia!

The End