The Lost King of Geraptiku: Part Two

      "Yes," Zar said. "We shall talk like this from now on, understand?"

      Donis nodded.

      "Good. You shall also not tell anyone that we can communicate, understand?"

      Donis began to nod again, and then asked, "Why not?"

      "Would you believe it if someone told you that they could talk with petpets?" Zar asked.

      "No… I can barely believe that I can do it!" Donis thought... shaking his head in disbelief.

      "Well, you can."

      Zar slithered across Donis' bed, and stared at Donis, his serpent-like face extremely close to the Chia's face.

      "You may find what I'm about to show you a bit strange. Are you prepared?"

      Donis gulped and nodded.

      "Good. Please touch your forehead to mine."

      Donis closed his eyes and leaned forward, his dark blue hair intertwining with the jade-green feathers on Zar's head. All of a sudden, the room went spinning, and Donis felt like he was going to be sick, but lucky for him, he hadn't eaten anything all day.

      When the spinning stopped, Donis opened his eyes, and couldn't believe what he saw. They were in a giant golden room, with the same golden throne in the middle that Donis had envisioned earlier that day, but this time there was a blue Chia with light green eyes sitting on top of it. He was wearing a golden chain around his neck, upon which a light blue jewel was strung. On his head was a giant, multicolored-feathered headdress, which glinted brightly in the sunlight that shone through the glass roof. At his feet, a red Krawk was bowing, and seemed to be begging the Chia for something; however, he did not seem to be getting his wishes.

      "Is that-" began Donis.

      "Yes," Zar interrupted. "That is you on that throne. You are the rightful King of Geraptiku."

      ***

      "WHAT?!?" screamed Donis. He and Zar were back on his bed in Neopia Central and Donis was standing on it, flinging his arms around in disbelief.

      "I-I don't believe it! Geraptiku has been destroyed for Fyora-only-knows how long! How can I be the King of a destroyed City?" he yelled, plopping down next Zar, who was, amazingly, calm throughout the whole ordeal.

      "Yes. It is destroyed NOW. Settle down and please be quiet while I explain."

      "SETTLE DOWN?" he screamed. "How can I settle down when you are lying to me!"

      Just at that moment, Donis' door came crashing open.

      "How DARE you interrupt my nap!" Fyren came storming into Donis' room, and stopped when he saw that Donis was not alone.

      "What's that?" he asked nervously, pointing at Zar.

      "That's Zar. He's my... er... petpet," Donis answered.

      "Oh… uh… cool." Fyren took a step back, away from the bed.

      "You're not afraid of him, are you?" Donis raised his eyebrows and smirked at Fyren, who was now slowly moving towards the door.

      "Uh… of course not! Now I have to go finish my nap." Fyren turned around and ran, very swiftly back to his room, and slammed his door.

      Back in Donis' room, Zar was grinning widely as Donis rolled around on his bed, laughing hysterically.

      "That was great!" he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

      "Now, as I was saying," Zar said, turning to face Donis, "you did notice that Krawk that was kneeling in front of you, correct?"

      Donis nodded and thought, "Who was he?"

      "That was Lord Vagio. He was begging you to let him be your chief advisor, which I might add, is my job, and I thank you for not firing me. A few days after that incident, you were out at the orphanage in the center of town, doing a fundraiser. I was waiting for you back at the castle. You never returned for dinner."

      "What happened to me?" asked Donis.

      "Lord Vagio captured you. He erased your memory, and brought you here, to present-day Neopia Central. You have been missing from Geraptiku for at least 100 years," answered Zar.

      "Wait a minute," said Donis, furrowing his brow, "You mean to tell me that I'm a hundred years old?!?"

      "Actually, you are 117," nodded Zar. "Somehow, Lord Vagio brought you through some sort of time portal to present-day Neopia. Then he went back through the portal to Geraptiku and destroyed the city, after he had taken your place as king and tortured the citizens for about 100 years."

      "Wow. He sounds like an evil guy," Donis said, still shocked at all that had been told to him.

      "He is," said Zar. "Now, as your official advisor, may I advise that you go downstairs open the door for Mistress Hana? She's having a bit of trouble with her keys."

      Donis nodded, and ran down the stairs to the front door. Upon flinging it open, he found that Hana was indeed having trouble with her keys. She stopped fumbling with them, and smiled at Donis.

      "Thanks, Donny," she said, flinging a bag of groceries at him. "Help me bring in the groceries."

      She walked inside; her bag of items banging gently against her blue-jean clad knee. Donis was walking slowly behind her, dragging the heavy bag into the kitchen.

      "Thank you," said Hana, lifting the bags onto the counter. "Go tell Fyren that dinner is ready," she said as she unwrapped a few heated Meat Wraps and placed them on plates along with a few heads of broccoli.

      There was no need to tell anything to Fyren, for as soon as the Meat Wraps had been unwrapped, the house was filled with the same thunderous noise that had greeted Donis earlier today.

      ***

      After dinner, Donis ran back upstairs and closed his door, making sure to lock it on the inside this time.

      "Zar?" Donis asked, looking around for the Quetzal.

      Zar lifted his head and looked at Donis from his little petpet bed on the floor by the window.

      "Yes, Donis?" he asked, slithering out of the bed to come to Donis' feet.

      Donis plopped down on the floor and said, "How come you knew that Hana needed help? Can you see the future or something?"

      "Not exactly," said Zar. "I can read the minds of people that are in trouble or need help."

      "How come you couldn't save me from being captured by that Lord Vagio guy, then?" Donis asked.

      "Well, I can only read their minds if they are within 10 miles from me. You were 11 miles away on that day. I should have been with you…" Zar said, shaking his head.

      "Don't worry, Zar! I'm still alive, aren't I? Which reminds me… how did you know I was here? How come you are still alive after all these years? Did you follow Lord Vagio through the time portal thingy?" Donis asked.

      "No. I am still alive, because Quetzals can live for hundreds of years. There is also a spell on the rulers of Geraptiku that states that the advisors of a king will live as long as the king lives. I followed you from the alley near the pound where I have been hiding for the past 100 years," Zar answered.

      "Wow! I didn't even notice you! How have you been able to stay in hiding for that long?" Donis asked.

      "I have my ways, Donis." And with that, Zar slithered back to his Snowager Petpet Bed, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

      "Gosh," Donis thought out loud, "I'm a King of a destroyed land, I can talk to my mysterious advisor who's a petpet, not to mention go back into his memories with him… is this a dream?"

      Donis pinched himself in response to his question, and immediately squealed from the pain.

      "I guess not!" he said, lying back onto his bed, staring up at his ceiling. SLAM! His bedroom door opened with a deafening bang, making Donis spring up in surprise.

      "Donis, guess what!" Hana walked over to his bead and sat down, plopping a rolled up piece of parchment right in front of him.

      "What?" asked Donis, staring intently at the ribbon-tied piece of paper.

      "I got the Secret Laboratory Map!!!" she squeaked, untying the ribbon to reveal a very new-looking map.

      "That's great!" said Donis. "What does it do?"

      "Well, if I follow it, then I get to go into the Secret Lab in which a ray will blast your pets into a different color, species, gender, or change their Battledome statistics and more!"

      "Wow," exclaimed Donis.

      "I know," Hana said, picking up the map and staring at it. "What I don't know, is whom I'm going to take with me."

      "Er…" said Donis, "I don't know…it sounds kind of scary to me. Take Fyren! He would like it, I think."

      "You really don't mind?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

      "Not at all." Donis smiled.

      The secret was that Donis actually didn't want to go so he could stay home and ask Zar more questions, but he didn't let Hana know that.

      "Ok!!! Fyren and I will leave first thing tomorrow morning, and we will be gone all day. There is food in the refrigerator and the plates and bowls are in the cupboards. Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone!" Hana leaned over the map, kissed Donis on the forehead and said, "Good night, Donny!"

      "Good night Hana," said Donis as Hana skipped out of his room and down the stairs to her bedroom near the kitchen.

      Donis smiled again, and crawled under the covers of his big oak bed.

      "Good night Zar," he thought, closing his eyes.

      "Good night, King Donis."

      Zar slithered up onto the bed where Donis was now fast asleep, and curled up next to him, the feathers on his head gently touching Donis' right hand, and fell asleep.

To be continued...