The Cursed Paintbrush- Transformation
Two months passed and the usually peaceful Meridell was in an uproar… Illusen was one of their most beloved icons for their country, and now that she had disappeared, the villagers started to blame each other… Rather them than me, I thought uncharacteristically. But then the situation stealthily got worse: the local Neopets started to link the frequent 'monster' sightings with the new owner in the village (Sabrina/me) and they were a very superstitious bunch…
The local Neopets started to attribute every single cause of disaster onto me! Personally, I never liked all this foolish talking they always whispered about… "The monster stole our berries;" they started to say, "Our Kaus won't milk," I just tried to tell them that it wasn't me that was causing the catastrophes, but they avoided me like the plague… What did I do for them to hate me? I sighed. Aqua helped me out, but I saw that the strain of losing her Kacheek was getting to her…
"Go away, monster…" A plain blue Ixi giggled, "Monsters aren't allowed here."
"Really," I said bitterly, "Am I a monster?" The Ixi shut up after that, but he spread the word to his friends… Word gets around quickly in Meridell, unfortunately…
Truth to be told, I soon found out that I could no longer predict when- or what- I would transform into next time… And the changes happened more frequently now- much harder for me to control… That fact terrified me, I tried the medicine I was prescribed by Dr. Gertie, but they either didn't work- or they soon lost their original effect… The Darigan paint-brush really was a curse- at least to me! Poor Aqua rang up Sabsalinaishia…
"Hi Sabsalinaishia," said Aqua on the telephone.
"How's it going with Sabrina," whispered Sabsalinaishia, covering the mouthpiece so no Neopets at home can hear her conversation. "Did she find the cure yet?"
"No, and listen… The villagers are suspicious of us, Illusen is missing; we can't find her and the Shadow Usul took off with the potion! Worst of all, my little Scorpachick has also vanished! Oh, Laura, what do we do?"
"Yeah, I heard about Illusen on the news just now on Neo-TV. And I presume the N.T. press has been after you guys as well? I read an article about it…"
"Yes, the reporters have been chasing us around after they interviewed the villagers! They believe everything they've been told about us!" Just then there was a crash somewhere in the Neo-home and Sabsalinaishia tried to hang up…
"Got to go, El." said Sabsalinaishia quickly.
"No, Laura, wait!" cried Aqua… "There's something you need to tell us- Do you know where the Secret Laboratory is?"
"Secret Laboratory?" Sabsalinaishia frowned on the other side.
Jdogsrox started yapping on the other side of the phone, the green Kougra-turned-Lupe was making it hard to hear…
"What's going on?" Jdogsrox yelped, "I want to hear the talk!"
("Yeah, me too!" chorused Mysteria none and Parlrina… Then JakeM joined in.)
"Guys, just chill out!" yelled Sabsalinaishia at them. Ella winced to hear Laura shout, the voice was amplified on the phone!
"Yes, it's… North-East of Mystery Island." said Sabsalinaishia as she checked the map. "It shouldn't take you two THAT long to travel from Meridell…"
"Uhhh… Thanks for the info," Aqua replied…She'll tell Sabrina about her plans later…