CONJUROCALYPSE: Part Five

      They made their way back to the Haunted Woods Neolodge. They past Glambia, whose face went from excited to see them both to somber as soon as Mutini shook its head. She looked down and said not a word to her locals sitting at the wooden island in the middle of the Neolodge.

      The small Aisha said not a word as they entered their room but sat at the table where her and Glambia talked over tea. She placed the bottle on the table and stared at all that was left of Conjure. Her guild.

      “Aissshy, you went Count Roo Roo in Neopian Central over that nasssty smelling chew toy… why aren’t you going Korbaty now?” Mutini looked at her with a shade of concern across its face.

      The small Aisha looked at the bottle, half staring and half with concern. The mangy kad was right. She hadn’t let the anger control her since she was in the dirt pathway. Even after she seen it, she had completely kept her cool since then. She didn’t understand why the hunger wasn’t taking her over either. She could feel its heat radiating from the bottle. It called to her, but not in the same way the hunger once did.

      “I’m not sure. Maybe something is wrong. I can feel it, the magic in the bottle. I just don’t feel the hunger like I used to. It is as if it is all gone. Maybe all the magic is gone, contained in this bottle. All, except me. I’m the only one left, Mutini. I’m all alone. Conjure is no more.” The small Aisha said melancholy.

      “Don’t talk like that Aissshy. We’ll take back the magic to your guild and restore it. You’ll see Conjure again.“ Mutini tried to reassure her.

      “Yeah, I think I owe you the Neopoints in my bank, don’t I? Don’t worry kad. You’ll get your fair share of them once done.” The small Aisha said in a passive voice.

      Mutini shrugged a half-hearted agreeing sigh and jumped up on the bed. It curled up in a ball and laid its head down. It watched the small Aisha until sleep took over it.

      The small Aisha stared at the bottle. She was lost in the colors of the swirling magic inside. She wondered if she was going to be able to restore her guild magic, even if she held it in her hand. She felt unsure of how to proceed. Crone had been defeated, but she felt the same - having no one left but herself left of Conjure. She wondered if Conjure was restored inside the bottle. If everything was back to normal inside the swirling prismatic colors.

      The small Aisha looked at the sleeping kad on the bed and then back to the bottle. She gripped it with both hands. She longed to join her guild inside the bottle. She wanted to be reunited with her friends, family and guild members. She grabbed the bottle top and pulled it off.

      The swirling light shined bright from the top of the bottle. The small Aisha waited for the prismatic sparkles to pull from her body and enter the bottle. She held it close to her face.

      Nothing.

      Nothing was happening. She wasn’t being absorbed into the bottle. She was confused. She is part of Conjure. She is the guild leader. Why wasn’t she being absorbed with her guild members? Angrily, she slammed the top back onto the bottle. All Conjure magic was absorbed into the bottle, including Crone. But she wasn’t. What was wrong? Did she change too much? Was it because she was Transparent? Did she no longer hold any guild magic inside her?

      The small Aisha remembered what Glambia said: that pure heartbreak and rage surrounds a Transparent for them to become Transparent. So maybe in order for her to go back to being normal, she needs to surrounded by love and pure happiness? She would have to restore her guild’s magic for that, she thought. She was just so tired, so it would have to wait for a moment.

      She laid the bottle down on the table, wrapped her arms together and laid her head down to sleep. She was hurt and needed the comfort of the darkness. It reminded her of the black creatures her guild members had become. As much as she could, she couldn’t shed any tears. But she was exceptionally tired. She was warm for the first time since the lake. She shut her eyes for a moment.

      The small Aisha slept.

      The kad opened its eyes. Mutini had seen the whole thing. It looked concernedly at the small Aisha. Mutini knew that it must do something it wasn’t ready to do, or knew how to do, to help her. Standing up and stretching, it stealthily made it way to the table, grabbed the bottle in its mouth. It took one more look at the Aisha and snuck out the door.

      Mutini headed back towards Conjure headquarters.

      The small Aisha woke up as the light started shining inside the room. She stretched. Her eyes opened slowly, yawning in the process. It felt good to get a little shut eye. She had been fueled by pure rage and anger for quite some time. She felt chilly, cold, even in the sunlight. Her eyes jerked wide open. She looked around for the bottle of Conjure magic. It wasn’t anywhere on the table, under, in the room… it was gone. She noticed the mangy kad was gone.

      “MUTINI!!” The small Aisha snarled. The anger she once wondered why was gone was back. It was like a thousand twisting dark novas inside her soul being ripped out by a laughing Carnival of Terror Clown. She ragged and flipped over the table in front of her before dashing out the door of the room. She sprinted past the wooden island with Glambia filling out paperwork. She floated out the door of the Neolodge into the warm light filled Haunted Woods. She felt around for the warmth of her guild magic.

      She felt nothing. It was too far away. But she didn’t to feel it to know where Mutini went.

      She sprinted off towards the broken gate, through the dark, malevolent barked covered trees in the mist. She ended up in the desolate rubbish piled Neopia Central. She started to tire but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to stop until she got her guild magic back, again. To think that mangy kad could take it from under her and use to harness even more Neopoints from her angered her and twisted her soul… She just dealt with one delinquent soul, now she has to deal with one more. One more she trusted, one more she started to think as a friend. The first and only friend she’s had since she’s started this journey.

      Maybe the mangy kad was right. The world had changed. Never again would she trust anyone ever, she said as she ran through the cobblestone streets to the dirt path that lead to her guild headquarters. Her tiring feet and legs cried out but she didn’t care. It didn’t matter to her. She could feel her guild magic. She could feel the warmth it radiated. She was right. Mutini brought it back to her guild as a ransom.

      She approached the now voided guild doors that were blown to pieces that first night. She huffed and puffed as she struggled to catch her breath. She sank down into the dirt, her cloak encasing her as she went. She cried a loud, and the pulse that came with each word, shook the very foundation the guild stood on.

      “MUTINI YOU LIAR. YOU MANGY KAD! GIVE ME BACK MY GUILD MAGIC, NOW. OR SO HELP ME I WILL FIND YOU. I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND BLESS YOU THE SAME FATE AS CRONE. DO YOU HEAR ME!? MUTINI!” The small Aisha exclaimed.

      “I hear you Aissshy. I’m right here.” Mutini walked out from behind a large piece of door that lay on the ground. “I have your guild magic yesss, but not for the reason you think I have it.”

      “FOR WHAT THEN? For MORE Neopoints? How could you steal the one thing so precious to me and hold it hostage??” The small Aisha heavily breathed out. Each word harder to say than the last.

      Mutini took increasing steps forward toward the small Aisha. She could see its face.

      It was crying?!

      “How dare you accuse me of taking away something so preciousss to you, when you tried to do the same to me?!” Mutini exclaimed.

      “HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF STEALING WHEN YOU WERE THE ONE TRYING TO STEAL YOURSELF AWAY?” Mutini cried out, almost hissing in anger.

      “What in Neopia do you mean, kad?” The small Aisha huffed. She was confused. She felt this was a trick.

      “YOU TRIED TO ABSORB YOURSELF INTO THE BOTTLE, AISSSHY. WHY DO THAT!? DON’T YOU THINK PEOPLE CARE ABOUT YOU?” The kad snarled through flowing tears. “HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT SUCH A THING?!”

      “This is a trick. You just want your Neopoints I promised you and more!” The small Aisha couldn’t believe that Mutini seen that. She thought he was asleep.

      “Get zapped by the lab ray you Faerie! I don’t care about your blesssed Neopoints. I care about you! You’re the first person to even treat me like I mattered sssince I broke out of the Kadatory. Everyone else just thought me a mangy kad, a uselesss dung bottom feeder. I’m not! I’m a petpet! I have feelings too! And you trying to absorb yourself into that bottle threatened sssomething more precious to me than your stinking Neopoints! YOU AISSSHY. YOU!! How could you? You’re my only friend.” Mutini cried out.

      The small Aisha stared at the bawling kad in front of her. She knew it wasn’t lying. Mutini was shaking with anger, hurt and resentment towards her. She sighed. She finally understood now.

      “Aww, Mutini, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know or realize... I thought I was alone in this. I was so blinded by rage and hurt of losing Conjure, I forgot to look for Conjure values around me.” The small Aisha softly spoke.

      “Yeah, well, Negg-head. I was all about Neopoints at first. Then about the time we got to Glambia’s and you had taken off to Crone, I felt worried. That’s not me. The great Mutini doesn’t get attached, but I got attached to you. I felt like I belonged sssomewhere; with you. And you threatened to take that away.” Mutini dismissed the small Aisha’s heartfelt apology.

      The small Aisha opened her arms up towards the kad. Mutini stood a moment, not understanding the gesture at first. It then realized what the small Aisha was offering and rushed in embrace her. They sat in silence for a few moments. The small Aisha felt warm, once again.

      “I’m sorry, Mutini. You will always have a home within Conjure… with me. I’m so sorry. Help me restore the guild headquarters. Help me give you a home.” The small Aisha said adoringly.

      Mutini withdrew from the small Aisha and slinked back to the large piece of door it appeared behind. A few moments later, it turned the corner with the bottle of guild magic in its mouth. It brought the swirling bottle of prismatic light back to the small Aisha’s hands. The small Aisha pat Mutini’s head softly and spoke words of thanks.

      They both walked into the guild headquarters together. They walked down the empty, soundless halls, rounded the corners and made their way into the great portal room. They slowly inch their way into the center of the room. They stopped at the very center where the guild crest laid in the floor: a large monogramed C in stone of all colors from all over Neopia. Written on the stones are the names of all the past and current guild member’s. The small Aisha motions Mutini to a petpet stone. Mutini enables a claw and strikes its name into the stone.

      The small Aisha then opened the bottle and poured out the magic. It flowed like wispy smoke onto the stones, covering it in thousands of prismatic sparkles. Blinding light poured upwards from the multicolored rocks. Rushing water could be heard as the light cycles through all the colors of the rainbow. The light overtook the small Aisha and kad.

      It filled the room.

      The light blinded them for a few moments. The sound of the light rushed over their ears until it deafened them. The first sound they heard was the barking of a Zomutt staring at the small Aisha happily wagging its tail. It then picked up a worn out faellie plushie and runs off around the great portal room.

      The small Aisha glanced at Mutini whom was covered in a bright pink light. After it dissipated she noticed its mangy half fur was now a silky, clean pink color. She gasps and Mutini looks at its new found body. Mutini stared at the beautiful shiny white gem hanging from its collar. It shed a tear of joy and then smiles wide with happiness at the small Aisha.

      “AISHY! LOOK!!” Mutini gasped at the small Aisha as a golden light overtook her body.

      The small Aisha she looked down at her hands and seen her beautiful brown skin had returned, adorned by all the glittering jewels of the sun that she once remembered. She cried happy tears as she picked up Mutini and held him close.

      They turned to see the guild members returning one by one. A Faerie Xweetok laughed happily by the table covered in a white lace adorned by small delicate teapots. The table next to it, occupied by a Spotted Kau was passing out avocado themed foods. They saw a long table covered in various styles of pizza, still steaming as though they were fresh out of the oven. The smell of borovan was strong as a Royal Kyrii walked past holding a small delicate tea cup and quietly sipped from the mug.

      There were guild members removing Neggs from a numbered board on the floor and laughing at each other over something funny under one. Some were sitting around and tossing neatly wrapped gifts to each other. Some were standing over by the wall, writing on note cards and smiling as they read the ones already hanging there.

      The small Aisha laughed softly as someone became alert to the zomutt sniffing nearby presents left over from a birthday party not too long ago. The excited Zomutt wagged its tail over to the corner of the room where the pastel colored novas were hovering from the ceiling. Other guild members there were smiling and pointing at their names etched into the novas that sparkled as they softly hummed.

      One Neopian rushed around asking if anyone wanted to help feed the poor Kadoaties with them, while others chimed in over others about challenges they needed to complete. The great portal room buzzed with life and sounds the small Aisha thought she’d never hear again. It was such a welcoming sound that she closed her eyes to soak up all the delightful sounds of Conjure once again breathing life into Neopia.

      The small Aisha looked down at Mutini and sighs a happy sigh as she cries happy tears.

      “Welcome to Conjure, Mutini. The best place in all of Neopia.” The small Aisha smiled wide and laughed.

      “Welcome to your new home.”