Sands of Time: The Beginning - Part Four

     “Excuse me, sir,” Jehea said as she approached a desert Scorchio, who was a guard, “But I have very urgent matters to speak of with Princess Amira.”

     “I’m sorry, but I have been specifically commanded by Metthallion, head of the Royal Sakhmetahn Guard, not to allow anyone in. And even if I hadn’t been commanded to do so, it is still much too late to request an audience with her majesty now.”

     Jehea and Aspire wandered away.

     “Now what?” Aspire asked.

     “Easy! We don’t have these cloaks for nothing.” Jehea and Aspire easily slipped past the guards, and got out from behind their cloaks as they approached the throne room. “Ready?” asked Jehea, from one side of the doorway leading to the throne room. Aspire nodded and they both entered the room, to be met with the sight of a bored Amira.

      She didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised when they entered.

     “Your majesty, I bring you your father’s crown!” Jehea announced as she pulled it from her bag. At this, however, Amira perked up immediately.

     “We took it from L’ahn, who were planning on smuggling it into Shenkuu. Then, the leader, Metthallion, was going to trick you into starting a war with them. And in Sakhmet’s weakened state, L’ahn was going to conquer it, then Qasala, Shenkuu, and eventually Neopia.”

     Amira shook her head and laughed. “Okay, some of that is a bit believable, but Metthallion is one of the most trusted guards in the city. He would never betray me.”

     Jehea frowned. “With all due respect, your highness, I didn’t come all this way from Shenkuu to be laughed at. This is the truth! Advisor Wessle, Princess Sankara, and Princess Vyssa are in on it too!”

     Amira scowled. “Silence!” she said, “Maybe Sankara would do that, but my own sister would never, ever betray me.”

     “That is correct.” Vyssa walked into the room, “These two must be lunatics.”

     “How dare you say that about me?!” Jehea growled, “Maybe I’m not a princess, but I believe I’m every bit as important as you are! Did you know that if I hadn’t tried to get your silly little crown back in the first place, my brother would already be healed from a horrible illness he has! But for some reason, I knew this was what I had to do.” She fired at Vyssa and Amira. “However, I didn’t think this would be the thanks I would get for rescuing one of the last memories you have of your father.”

     “Whatever. Give me my father’s crown,” Vyssa said.

     Jehea glared at her. “No.”

     “That’s it!” Amira shouted. She got up from her thrown and snatched the crown from Jehea. After placing it in Vyssa’s paws, she turned around and slapped the Lupe.

     Jehea had a fire blazing in her eyes, but she didn’t touch Amira. Instead, she said, “You know, that just illustrated how much of a bratty, spoiled, obnoxious, pitiful excuse for royalty you are.”

     Amira held herself back. “Guards! Throw these street scum out of my palace!” she shouted. But there was no reply. Suddenly, she heard something. All three of the neopets in the room (Vyssa had left after she got the crown) ran to the window. And all three of them didn’t want to believe what they saw.

      Sakhmet was being burned in various places here, captured various places there. The smoke dyed the midnight sky pitch black.

     Amira glanced at Jehea. “You were right... I’m so--”

     Jehea cut her off. “I forgive you; now you must defend your kingdom!”

     “But none of the guards are here! They’re probably helping destroy the city, under Metthallion’s orders!”

     “But the guards have to listen to you, right?” Aspire spoke up. “Go to the balcony where you make the speeches, and tell as many as you can to spread the word that you want them to stop!”

     Amira smiled a bit. “Brilliant!” All three ran to the balcony. “Attention, all of you in the Sakhmet Royal Guard! I, Princess Amira, order you to--” Suddenly, a small dart hit Amira on the back of her neck, and she collapsed. Princess Sankara and Princess Vyssa walked into the room.

     “Finally, she’s quiet,” the Aisha complained.

     “Yeah, I was wondering if that would ever happen. I figured that dart would work, though,” Vyssa added, laughing.

     Jehea spun around angrily. “Don’t you two care that your city is getting destroyed?!”

     “It’s not mine,” responded Sankara in a sulky voice.

     “Yeah, and hello, I get paid so much, I can just have the city rebuilt after Metthallion rules Neopia,” Vyssa said.

     Jehea looked at the two in disbelief. “Vyssa, your people are terrified out there!”

     “I don’t care,” said Vyssa. Then, all of them heard a loud crash as the palace doors fell to the ground. “That’s our cue to leave. Ta-ta!”

     “Look,” Aspire acknowledged, “Amira’s beginning to wake up!”

     “If we can get her to control the guards, she can set them against L’ahn!”

     “Err... I don’t think she’ll wake up in time...” Aspire said nervously as he pointed towards the throne room entrance. Metthallion walked in, with Coltzan III’s crown sitting on his head. Trailing behind him were several of L’ahn and the palace guards. When the Draik saw Jehea, he got angry.

     “You!” He drew a sword, as she drew her katana. And just in time, as he was flinging his sword towards her almost before she could pull out her weapon. Meanwhile, some of the guards came to their senses that their princess was on the ground, unconscious, and part of that was L’ahn’s doing. And so, they began to battle as well.

      For Jehea and Metthallion, it was a heated battle, and with each movement she made, she knew that her brother was at stake, her newfound friend was at stake, her country was at stake, and her life was at stake. She couldn’t lose. It wasn’t possible. She knew that, for everything that was dear to her, she must win. ‘For Mother, Father, Shenkuu, Aspire, Cyrahn, Ronix, and Neopia, I must conquer Metthallion!’ Her mind pressed her on. However, she came to a point in this battle that she had come to in her last battle: the two were precariously close to the edge of the balcony: one wrong move or trip up, and they would be gone.

      But she made a vital mistake: while she tried to cut at Metthallion’s leg, he brought the hilt of his sword down on her head. She was nearly knocked unconscious.

      Then, the Draik held her up over the balcony. “If it weren’t for you,” he hissed, “my plan would have worked. But I had to do it this way. Now, any last words before you fall to your doom?!” She scanned the throne room behind Metthallion, and was pained to see Aspire on the ground, too hurt to move. Cyrahn and Gebji were huddling together in a corner, trying not to get squashed.

      Amira, though struggling to get to her feet, couldn’t make it, and kept falling. Her voice was too faint over the noise of battle to be heard.

      “You’d rather leave silently?” Metthallion sneered. “Your choice...” Jehea closed her eyes and prepared to be dropped when she was gently put on the balcony. When she opened her eyes, she saw a knocked out Metthallion on the ground, and a desert Hissi who looked somewhat familiar helping her to her feet.

     “Sahrden?” she asked.

     The Hissi nodded. “I realized that if Metthallion ruled Neopia, it would be a horrible place. Neopia is split up into different areas for a reason.”

     Jehea smiled momentarily at him, then rushed to Aspire. “Are you okay?” she questioned anxiously. The Bori opened his eyes.

     “Did we do it?” he asked.

     “Almost,” Jehea answered. She limped (Metthallion had hurt her leg) over to the motionless Draik, took the crown from his head, helped Amira up, and placed the crown on her head. “Now we’ve done it.”

      The guards managed to round up nearly all of L’ahn’s forces, with the exception of its leader, Metthallion, and Princess Vyssa, Princess Sankara, and Advisor Wessle. Though slightly unnerved by that information, Princess Amira was relieved that most of L’ahn was captured. She showered Jehea and Aspire with gifts, and none of them sustained major injuries. Sahrden was pardoned and made a member of the Sakhmetahn Royal Guard, and Aspire was asked to take Wessle’s place as advisor, which he gratefully received.

      As for Jehea, she went home. She was welcomed by the loving arms of her family, whom she related all of her stories to.

     “See?” said Ronix, who was still recovering, “I told you you’d be out there, beating bad guys and traveling Neopia.”

     Jehea smiled. “Well, I just want you to be proud of me.”

     “Jehea,” the Eyrie whispered contentedly. “I was proud of you long before you did anything special. I’m just extra proud to call you my sister now.”

     And so, Jehea’s life went back to normal. She still cooked, still cleaned, and still cared for petpets. But now, she could outmaneuver her brother using nearly any weapon, and could speak Sakhmetahn better then anyone in the village.

     And that, my friend, is The End of the Beginning.

     Jehea awoke in her house for the first time for a few days, but it was still quite dark.

     ‘Hmm... I could’ve sworn I heard something...’ she thought to herself. She walked over to her window and saw a note.

     Jehea~

     I’m not done yet.

     ~ Metthallion

The End

Hope you liked my first series! And if you did, don't worry: I plan on writing more 'Sands of Time' stories.