Rosalina and the Way-Weird Beast

      Rosalina stood at the back door, pressed against a tree. She turned to Wendy, who was behind the corner. After Wendy nodded once and added a thumbs up, Rosalina opened the door and tiptoed inside, Wendy following right behind her. The duo crept through the kitchen and into the hallway. Then they headed left, entering the dining room just as Lenny and Margo were crawling through a broken window.

     “Good thing somebody decided to break this window before we could,” said Lenny.

     “You guys didn’t have to follow me inside,” Rosalina whispered. “I would have been fine by myself.”

     Margo folded her arms over her chest. “If you couldn’t get our Neoflu tablets order correct, why would I trust you to confront Wilbur by yourself?”

     Rosalina made a face. “You could never let that go, can’t you?” she hissed, still trying to talk quietly.

     “We would never let our darling Rosie enter the manor of the beast without supporting her,” Wendy insisted. “Best friends stick together.”

     “Besides, this sure beats any of my Neovision dramas,” said Lenny. “Who needs to see the shallow lives of rich Neopians when you could tell a Werelupe to stop having problems?”

     Rosalina scanned the room and ducked underneath the table. Once everyone joined her, she whispered, “We have to get to Wilbur’s bedroom. I’m sure he’s still in there, being his usual weird self.”

     Wendy and Lenny left the hiding spot first. After clearing the premises, Rosalina and Margo emerged next. Then Rosalina led everyone out of the dining room and up the staircase. She tried to tiptoe up the steps, careful to stay upright without a single slip. Once they made it to the second floor, the group headed down the hallway towards the second flight of stairs. But they were stopped halfway by Aiden and Luke, who was welding a shiny gold club.

     “Seriously, what is up with the golf clubs?” Lenny scoffed.

     Luke charged, but Rosalina was able to avoid his swinging club. Margo was stuck in the elbow. “Ouch! Watch where you’re swinging that thing,” she hissed, rubbing her wound.

     Wendy snatched the club and swung it a few times before it flew out of her hand and struck Aiden’s head. “Let’s go, team!” She led her partners to the stairs and, following Rosalina’s directions, climbed the stairs heading upwards.

     “And this is why you don’t quit baton practice to pursue interpretive dance,” Lenny chided. “Do you think those Werelupes would have cared for your ‘I’m a tree swaying in the wind’ routine??”

     “Can we [i]please[/i] question Wendy’s life choices AFTER we’re finished?” asked Rosalina, stepping firmly onto the last step.

     Margo pointed to Wilbur’s bedroom door. Rosalina was the first to reach it. Just as she reached for the doorknob, the door flew open and two Werelupe butlers stood in the doorway. They each blew a whistle, and within minutes a group of Werelupes had arrived in the hallway. Rosalina was relieved their stomping had stopped; it felt like an earthquake was shaking up the house. But seeing Aiden and Luke growling alongside their beastly peers increased her uneasiness.

     “There’s no need for growling. We’ve come in peace,” said Margo firmly.

          A Werelupe lunged at Margo with black claws. Margo ducked, avoiding another Werelupe that attacked from behind. Wendy was fighting off two Werelupes as Lenny ran down the opposite end of the hallway, luring away three Werelupes. Unsure what to do, Rosalina slipped out of the hustle and hurried to Wilbur’s door, which had been shut. She shook the doorknob, but the door was locked.

     [i]Of course he chooses to lock it.[/i] Rosalina kicked the door. “Are you in there, Wilbur?” she shouted. “Your favourite prisoner is here to, you know, lend a helping hand!”

     Rosalina ducked just as Luke swung his club. It crashed into the door, making a small hole. “Look what you did,” said Rosalina, hoping Luke would bust the door down for her.

     “It’s your fault, Meepit-napper,” hissed Luke. He threw his cub aside and, after howling, dug his claws into Rosalina’s jeans.

     “Hey! These aren't second-hand!” Rosalina tried shaking Luke off as she stumbled into Wilbur’s room. The little Werelupe clung on stubbornly until a weak roar made him let go. Rosalina turned around and saw a wheezing Wilbur leaning against the fireplace. Sweat was dripping off his fur as he clutched his chest.

     “Wilbur!” Rosalina rushed to his side and pulled him up into a sitting position. Beanie waddles over and patted Wilbur’s knee.

     Coughing, Wilbur swatted Rosalina away. “I don’t need your pity, peasant,” he croaked. “Just leave.

     “Yeah. Leave, peasant!” Luke stuck his tongue out at her. He gave Wilbur a hug. “Why are you hurting?” he whimpered.

     [i]Two-faced twerp,[/i] Rosalina fumed, though she was also curious about Wilbur’s condition. She wanted to somehow pin this on Luke, but couldn’t think up any good excuses.

     “It’s that dreadful curse, Luke,” Wilbur croaked. “That illness that’s been spread across Brightvale may be the thing that’s making me so ill right now. But don’t worry....I’ll be....okay....” Wilbur closed his eyes and fell asleep.

     Rosalina shook Wilbur fiercely. “No, Wilbur! Wake up! You can't take a nap during the climactic battle!” Wilbur only snored. At least it was a sign he was okay, and for once, Rosalina was relieved to hear this dreadful sound!

     The door flew open and Aiden stepped inside the room with his army of Werelupes. Aiden snorted, “Great, we came too late. That pastel monstrosity put a sleeping spell on him too!”

     Luke ran to Aiden’s side. “She’s an evil Meepit-napper,” he screeched. “Eat her!”

     Aiden grabbed Rosalina’s arm and pulled, but Rosalina pushed herself towards the sleeping Wilbur. “You ain’t gettin’ closer to him, traitor,” Aiden sneered.

     “I’m not….going down….fur….freak,” Rosalina grunted. She yanked her arm away just as Wendy and Lenny stormed into the room, each armed with a plank of wood.

     Rosalina hurried to Wilbur’s side. “Isn’t there anything we can do to help him?” she asked the Werelupes.

     Aiden scoffed. “Why in Neopia would [i]you[/i] of all creatures care for him? He let you, a prisoner, in here and sent us, his true friends, to bring you back.” Several Werelupes muttered in agreement.

     “No way. I can't leave Wilbur.” Rosalina shook Wilbur again. “You hear that, Mr. Hairy Jailer? Wake up and send your lowlife dweesels back where they belong! Please, for the love of Neopia’s gaming community!!”

     “That’s enough, traitor.” Aiden grabbed Rosalina’s arm and pulled her away fiercely.

     “Wilbur, you have to wake up!” Rosalina shouted, fighting against Aiden’s grip. She ignored the sudden stream of tears going down her cheeks as she continued her pleas. “Do it for that annoying brother of yours! Hey, wake up and we can play another game of Feed Florg! I promise I won’t cheat and save the Warfs on your turns.” She bit her lip and shouted, “FOR YOUR ONLY FRIEND, WAKE UP ALREADY!!”

     A flash of yellow light blinded Rosalina. She fell to the ground, shielding her eyes against the sudden brightness. When the light had finally disappeared, Rosalina removed her hands and stared at what was lying in front of her; a royal Lupe with glossy dark blue fur was blinking his brown eyes and rubbing his head. A baby Lupe was crying and hugging the older Lupe.

     Confused, the royal Lupe looked up at Rosalina and asked, “What happened?”

     “Wilbur?” Rosalina gasped. Trembling, she cautiously approached the royal Lupe and offered a hand.

     “Yes, it’s me.” Wilbur inspected his fur. “I can't believe it. The curse has been lifted!” He picked up the baby Lupe and swung him around. “We did it, Luke! We broke the curse!”

     Rosalina coughed. “Technically [i]I[/i] broke the curse. You just fell into a coma.”

     “You did it!” Luke ran to Rosalina and hugged her legs.

     “Oh yeah, [i]now[/i] you wanna be sweet,” Rosalina scoffed. She turned to Wilbur. “But I don’t get it; how exactly did I break the curse?”

     A red Lupe in butler attire piped up, “My guess is your declaration of friendship towards Master Wilbur was able to break through that Faerie’s wretched curse.” He nodded. “Good show.”

     “So it’s finally over?” asked Rosalina, hopefully.

     Wilbur grinned. “Yes, Rosalina. It’s finally over.”

     ***

     “Ooh, I can't wait to party-it-up in Wilbur’s fancy manor house!” Lenny swung the picnic basket as he strutted to the front steps.

     “I can't believe you’re keeping the Stealthy Uni look,” Wendy remarked. “Unless your look is in all the fashion magazines.”

     Lenny tossed his hair. “When you take part in a legendary revolution, of course you need to keep your iconic look for a few more weeks.”

     Rosalina snorted. “Oh puh-lease. While I was having my super emotional moment with Wilbur, you guys were debating whether or not to return for me.”

     “By the time we reached you, everything was fine,” said Wendy. “You handled everything by yourself, and you should be very proud.”

     “Like how I’m so proud of myself,” Lenny added. “Today, we shall celebrate every one of us!”

     Rosalina rolled her eyes, but she had to agree; there were so many things to celebrate. After Wilbur’s curse was lifted, the epidemic that had struck Brightvale miraculously ended. Everybody who had fallen ill recovered. There was a bigger celebration going on in the village square, but Rosalina thought it’d be better to spend the day with Wilbur. The front lawn of the manor was flipped with the waitstaff, each made up of a different species of Lupe.

     A smirking fire Lupe watched Rosalina approach Wilbur, who was wearing a dapper blue suit. “Is your neck too sore from holding your head all high and mighty?” asked Aiden.

     “I like your pink hoodie,” said Wilbur.

     “And I like your snappy suit,” said Lenny. “Though it needs a tie.”

     “So, um, you sure you wanna go back to the Haunted Woods?” asked Rosalina.

     Wilbur shrugged. “There’s no reason for us to say here anymore. We need to go back.”

     “That’s a shame.” Rosalina felt her cheeks burn. “I mean, good for you and, um, a shame you have to leave this pretty house.”

     “If the house is up for sale, I’ll gladly take a look at it,” said Wendy, accepting a glass of pink lemonade from a maid.

     “Since this is our last day in Brightvale, how about we make the most of it?” Wilbur nudged Rosalina. “Last one to the game room is a ball-stealing gnome!”

     Luke hurried over.” I wanna play too!” he squealed. Beanie toddled over to Rosalina and tugged her pant leg.

     Rosalina scooped up Beanie and snuggled the frisky Meepit. Then she said, “You’re on, Wilbur! Eat my sparkly, purple dust!” In a flash, she was running up the steps two at a time.

     The End.