Becoming King Skarl: Part One

      Abby always started her day as supreme advisor to the king with these words, the words she had always uttered every morning since the past few years or so.

      “King, today you have...” She flipped through a planner, which was filled with papers and little notes. “Well, you have breakfast with Jeran at 10:00, lunch with your brother, King Hagan, at 1:00, a very important meeting for the welfare of the Cheeseroller, and then-”

      “Whatever,” the king interrupted, grumbling and pushing Abby aside to get to a room in the castle.

      Abby sighed. She hated her job as advisor. The only reason she was here looking after some lazy Skeith was because she needed the Neopoints. If she obtained enough money, she could finally buy a Cloud Paint Brush, and transform herself into a beautiful Cloud Acara, instead of the measly Blue Acara she currently was.

      But, for now, she had to carefully watch the calendar of Meridell’s king, and she could only daydream about how she would blend in with the sky when she was Cloud.

      Shaking off the thought, Abby returned to the real world. King Skarl had stomped away and into his bedroom to dress into his more royal clothes. He obviously seemed angry about something, but Abby just assumed it was his early morning grumpiness.

      “King,” she shouted, knocking on his door. “Just remember that the Cheeseroller wants to know if he should invent a new cheese.”

      And, with that, Abby was off, moving towards more hours of piled-on work.

      ***

      SLAM!

      The doorknob rattled as King Skarl slammed the door of the meeting room, where Meridell officials pondered the thought of a new cheese being rolled down a hill.

      Abby gently brushed her aching head. She already had a migraine from all this hard work, and the last thing she wanted was for the king to throw one of his famous temper tantrums.

      She hurried out of the meeting room, chasing after the king. When she finally caught up to him, he was huffing and puffing with an angered look on his face.

      “I can’t take this anymore!” he screamed, much to the dismay of Abby and her throbbing noggin. “Day after day, all I do is sit around a stuffy castle and work! No enjoyment! No freedom! Just sitting, working, attending meetings, signing documents! It is not fun! It’s the polar opposite of fun! It’s tedious, and I am about ready to quit!”

      Abby gasped in shock, her mouth agape. Surely, the king did not mean this! A leader could not just walk off, leaving his people at risk. It was just plain wrong.

      “You... you can’t quit, sir!” she finally managed to choke out. “What about the people of Meridell? They depend on your leadership!”

      “They’ll just have to deal with it!” the king snapped. He was about to walk away, when Abby blocked his path.

      “How about we propose another option?” she asked, trying to save the situation. “How about a nice, relaxing vacation for a while?”

      The king contemplated this. Finally, he let Abby know it was an okay option by slowly nodding his head yes and walking back to the meeting room.

      When the king was gone, Abby felt a multitude of emotions: happiness (for getting King Skarl to agree to a less devastating plan), sadness (because now she would have to continue working for the sluggish Skeith, whereas, if he quit, she wouldn’t), and finally, anger.

      Abby’s entire face flared up, making it seem as though she was not just seeing red, she was feeling it, too! She clenched her fists and leaned on the wall to prevent herself from running after the king. Her fiery feelings all were around one irritated thought in her mind: How dare that insufficient slob tell me that he gets tired of working? He hardly ever works! I do all the paperwork and planning, while he sits and eats and listens to jokes Neopians tell him! The worst thing is, he doesn’t even care about those Neopians! He would rather spend their funding and taxes on himself than on them!

      After venting out all those feelings, Abby sighed and slunk down onto the floor. A vacation for King Skarl meant no pay, which meant no money for the Cloud Paint Brush. And who would take care of Meridell while Skarl was gone? It was a very confusing predicament.

      ***

      On the day of the king’s departure, Abby had gone to see Skarl off. The day before, they had bought appropriate Mystery Island clothes, so he was all decked out with flowered shirts and the like.

      Before leaving, the king handed Abby a box. It was wrapped in sparkling gold paper, with a royal purple bow sitting on its top.

      “Just a small gift,” the king explained when he saw the look of sheer puzzlement on Abby’s face. “For coming up with this great vacation idea.” Then, escorted by guards, King Skarl exited the castle.

      As soon as Abby saw that the king had safely left, she ran up the grand, winding staircase of the castle and dashed into her bedroom, almost tumbling over a maid in the process. Once inside, she took a good look at the box. She shook it, but it didn’t make a sound. She cautiously took the purple bow off and placed it on her head. Galloping to her full-length mirror, she posed for a second, then burst out laughing.

      Regaining her composure, Abby ripped off the golden wrapping paper, revealing a plain white box. Slowly, she opened the lid and took a glimpse at the contents.

      Inside the box, there was a map.

      Not just any map, but a Secret Laboratory Map. All of its pieces had formed one map, leading to a mysterious island where some mad scientist was waiting for something to zap.

      Abby didn’t know what to feel. She was expecting to open the box and pull out a Cloud Paint Brush. She would have hugged it, danced, and squealed with glee. But now that she had seen what the box had really contained, she didn’t quite understand if she should be happy or not.

      Feeling a pang of guilt, Abby decided to like this gracious gift. If she was lucky, she might get zapped Cloud! That would make her day.

      Smiling, she raced out the door, yelling to the guards, “I’m taking a little vacation, too!”

      ***

      After taking a short boat trip, Abby arrived at the small, secluded island. It was covered in tall grass, weeds, and wilting plants, very unlike the finely trimmed grass and blooming flowers of the castle. The isolated island made her think of Geraptiku and its deserted villages. This place was very similar to it, being that she couldn’t see anyone on it.

      Carefully avoiding petpetpets that were scrambling about, Abby made her way to an old, decrepit building that was covered with vines. Every so often, a spark would shoot out of a tiny opening in the roof, making Abby jump.

      Inside, beakers bubbled, and wires lay in a tangled mess on the floor. Sparks could be seen flying everywhere, and a loud “ZZZT!”, followed by an evil cackle made the hairs on the back of Abby’s neck stand upright.

      She continued deeper into the labyrinth of the laboratory, following the menacing cackle through twists and turns. Suddenly, the scientist whose frightening laugh alarmed Abby was in front of her.

      The Yellow Scorchio wore a white lab coat, which seemed to be stained from indefinable chemicals. His frizzy hair was obviously caused by all the electricity in the place, but the crazy and threatening look in his eyes was caused by something other than shocking bolts.

      “Hello,” he said in a raspy voice. “Welcome to the laboratory. Care for a zap?”

      Abby gulped and nodded. She walked over to a red circle that had been painted onto the floor, preparing for the worst. The laser was pointed directly at her, mere inches from her face.

      The doctor pushed some buttons, turned some dials, and pulled some levers. Abby could feel the laser’s heat accelerating. Static electricity filled the air.

      A shock passed through Abby’s body. It was a feeling of electrocution, except not as painful. She felt a slight change, but not very much.

      As abruptly as it had come, the shocking feeling went away. The laser sizzled and fizzled, leaving a cloud of smoke in the air.

      “You look so... different,” the Scorchio scientist mumbled, poking away at keys.

      Abby frowned. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She guessed she would have to see for herself.

      Without words, the Scorchio handed her a mirror. Abby took it, reflecting a paw. Still blue. She sighed. But wait! That wasn’t an Acara’s paw! It was.. It was..

      Abby held the mirror up to her face, and that’s when it hit her.

      She was now a Blue Skeith, just like King Skarl.

To be continued...

This is my first series in the NT. Comments and criticism would really be appreciated. Thanks! ^_^