Of Lights from Within: Part One

Also by chocolateisamust

It was the prime of the day in Neopia Central and the sun was shooting out its great rays of blaring heat, casting it's warmth upon the whole entire city. Many Neopets and owners could be seen crowding around the High Street, anxiously hoping that they could get a piece of whatever item it was they were looking for. However, two pets in particular were not heading towards the overcrowded shops. Instead, they were heading towards the Money Tree; woolen bags set to catch any items that the great tree would thrust towards them.

      "Are we there yet?" Maddi, a young baby Kougra, whined to his sister.

      Allisamay (preferably Alli) heaved a sigh and turned towards her brother. "Maddi! Stop always asking if we're there yet! We'll be there in a minute!" she exclaimed as she flung up her paws in the humid air. The silver Lupe turned her backside towards Maddi and resumed pacing towards the great Money Tree.

      Shortly after, the pair arrived to their destination, anxious and excited at the same time, wondering what items they would be getting today. Allisamay quickly dodged the Neopets that were beginning to crowd around the Tree and began scrambling around the trunk, trying to stuff as many items as she could in her bag. In a matter of minutes, seven items had been neatly placed in the sack. Nora, her owner, would be extremely content with her today.

      "ALLI!!" she all of a sudden heard a voice cry.

      "Maddi?" Alli whispered questioningly, concerned by the sudden shout.

      The Lupe firmly held onto her bag and began weaving through the crowd of Neopets who were crying out remarks to the Money Tree, begging it to give them some rare items.

      "ALLI! ALLI!" the cries continued on, each one sounding more urgent then the prior.

      "I'm coming, Maddi!" Alli cried back.

      At last, Alli caught sight of her baby brother lying on the ground with his arms and paws covering a large and somewhat rusty item.

      Maddi's eyes caught view of Alli and he let out a yelp of joy. "Alli, you won't believe what the Money Tree gave me!" he exclaimed, beginning to rise from his crouch.

      Alli's eyes widened and her mouth fell as she finally saw the item that Maddi had been protecting. It was a Hubrid's Puzzle Box, enclosed in mud and grime, yet somehow glimmering dazzlingly. Alli gasped in alarm and quickly advanced towards Maddi.

      "Where did you get this?" she hissed, making certain that no one could see the frighteningly rare artifact.

      "I already told you!" Maddi said. "The Money Tree suddenly threw it towards me. I caught it before anyone could see me or it."

      Alli continued staring at the box, worried yet excited on how her brother had grabbed such an expensive item. The realization that this article could make her family filthy rich began slowly creeping in her mind.

      She looked up at Maddi and whispered, "C'mon. We need to get home as fast as possible!"

      The siblings began kneeling down while walking away from the crowds that were enclosing them. Alli wrapped her arms around Maddi as he draped his arms around the Puzzle Book. They silently made their way towards home, praying that that no one would catch sight of the item.

      At last, after what seemed like eternity, Maddi and Alli arrived in the front yard of their home, panting stridently with sweat trickling down their brows.

      Alli surveyed the area with her eyes a final time, and then rushed into the 12-roomed residence. She immediately shut and locked the door behind herself. Her brother and her then screamed, "NORA! WE'RE HOME! COME LOOK AT WHAT WE GOT!"

      Soon after Alli's call, a rather weary looking adolescent with curly blonde hair shuffled into the room. "What is it, Allisamay?" she inquired, rubbing her eyes groggily.

      "Maddi snatched something awfully rare from the Money Tree," the Lupe proclaimed. She glanced toward her brother and mouthed 'Show her the box'.

      Now, Nora was expecting her baby Kougra to have perhaps a weapon worth 10,000 Neopoints, or maybe a cheap petpet paintbrush in his paws, not a Hidden Tower artifact. And this, quite frankly, was the reason she freaked out when he presented her the object.

      "Oh Maddi!" the owner exclaimed, grabbing the Hubrid's Puzzle Box from her Neopet. She gently ran her fingers over the darkly colored sides, gasping every few seconds. "Are you positive you didn't steal this, rather than find it? I can't imagine anybody would leave an item so rare for just about anybody to take!"

      "I didn't steal," Maddi yelped back. Accusations always made him angry, especially when not any random citizen, but his own owner was thrusting them out.

      "Okay, then if you did not in fact steal it, where did you find it?" Nora asked calmly.

      "Alli already told you!" the Kougra exclaimed. "I got it from the Money Tree! You know, where you're supposed to take it!?"

      Nora nodded, setting the rare item onto the surface of a wooden side table. She shifted her glance from the puzzle box, to Alli, and then to Maddi in a steady pattern. These words were so unbelievable, yet her Lupe or Kougra had never been pets to lie. She knew there were those who did; her own friend, Melissa, had a Christmas Kyrii who fibbed on a daily basis. But that Kyrii definitely was not Alli nor Maddi!

      "I think we should go see Fyora," Nora stated sternly. "We'll ask her if this box resembles one that she has sold recently. If so, we will ask her for the buyer's name. After obtaining that information, we'll set out for their house, and ask if they want the box back. If so, we'll give it to them; if not, we'll sell it and get Neopoints for our own family."

      Alli frowned. "But Nora," she replied, "you only leave things at the Money Tree if you don't want them."

      "Yeah!" Maddi agreed. "You only leave things if you don't want them!"

      Nora set one gentle hand on her Kougra's cheek, and the other on her Lupe's. "You guys," she whispered, staring them each in the eyes briefly, "this is not a situation where you two decide. This is one of those rare times when I am the decision-maker. Now, each of you, go pack a bag or two; I'm going to make a hotel reservation. Faerieland is far away, and it'd be best to spend the whole night there."

      Alli scowled; Faerieland, in her opinion, was a place full of preppy little pets that lived in one-hundred room mansions with butlers and servants and maids and more. She didn't want to go to a land like that. But alas, as Nora had stated, she had no say in this.

      "C'mon Maddi," she muttered resentfully, "I'll help you pack."

      The two siblings slowly made their way upstairs and into their shared bedroom. They both groaned at they thought of actually having to go all the way to Faerieland just to give an 11,000,000 NP item back.

      "This is so unfair!" Maddi exclaimed when Alli had shut the door. "I found the item! Why does Nora want us to give it back?!"

      Alli sighed and began rummaging around her drawers for some books to read during the trip. "I really don't know," she softly said. "I guess the thought of having such a rare artifact in her very own Neohome must have frightened her."

      Maddi made a grimace and pulled out some toys from under his bed. "She should be excited, not scared!" he remarked disgustedly.

      It only took a few minutes for the pair to finish their packing. Her suitcase firmly gripped in one paw and Maddi's backpack draped over her left shoulder, Alli slowly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, wishing so very badly that she could stay at home with her Puzzle Box.

      Maddi and Alli made their way downstairs and up to the entrance of the house, where Nora was stationed with her own suitcase in her hand. Nora immediately caught view of her pets' dejected appearances.

      "C'mon guys, it's not that bad. We still might have a chance of keeping it," she commented, hoping that the two would cheer up.

      But alas, they didn't, and instead moaned and pushed her to the side, stepping out into the fresh air.

      Nora stepped outside as well. The Eyrie cab had already arrived, just like she had requested ten minutes ago. The family slowly and quietly jumped into the black carriage and grasped onto their suitcases, making sure that they didn't fall out of their hands and paws. Once the three were all seated, the Eyrie's wings began flapping wildly and before they could blink, they were soaring in the air and were off to Faerieland.

      "Are you sure we have to go, Nora?" Maddi inquired after they had been airborne for a few minutes. "We can still go back now, you know. Me and Alli will be fine if we do."

      "Alli and I," Nora mechanically corrected. "And no," she quickly added, "we will not be turning back."

      Maddi sighed, slumping down in the hard wooden seat. He irately crossed his arms and let out a groan. The Kougra desperately wished that he had not taken the Hubrid's Puzzle Box, and had instead let some other pet have it. Then he'd be safe at home playing with his collection of keyrings, rather than in an uncomfortable Eyrie taxi on the way to Faerieland.

      "Which hotel are we staying in, Nora?" Alli suddenly asked, breaking Maddi's chain of angry thoughts.

      "Actually, we're staying at some Bed and Breakfast," she replied.

      "What's that?" the Lupe questioned.

      "Well, it's at somebody's Neohome. They rent out rooms for a fee, and I rented out one for the night."

      "We're staying in somebody's house?" Maddi asserted.

      "Yup," Nora responded.

      Maddi slumped deeper into his seat. This, for an unexplainable reason, made the situation worse than before.

      "Anyways," Nora then said, "I'm going to try to take a nap; the ride to Faerieland is quite long."

      Alli nodded; Maddi didn't reply at all. Nora softly shut her eyes, and within 10 minutes, the faint echo of her snore rang throughout the carriage.

      "Alli," Maddi whispered to his sister upon hearing the snore, "can I tell you something?"

      "Yes," Alli replied, her voice in a whisper as well.

      "Well, I didn't really get the box from the Money Tree." His tone was, for some reason, full of guilt.

      "Then where did you get it?" Alli asked, alarmed.

      "F-from a Chia. H-he said his name was Hubrid Nox."

To Be Continued…