I didn't take long to get to the Haunted Woods, but once
I was there, I sat for a long time, thinking. The woods looked so spooky, I
wasn't really feeling like going in there - it was unexplored area, after all!
Who knows what could be in there...
I examined the map once more: My little ball
of jelly was in the western woods, to the south of a huge swamp. I would have
to walk for at least a couple of hours to get there.
I sighed and folded the map; I entered the woods
a bit frightened, but after a while I became familiar with the noises and shadows
in the woods and all my fear was gone. Besides, no spooky creature lived there,
and I never found the Swamp Ghoul. I walked for two hours and then looked at
the map again.
"Weird... I should be near this rock that looks
like an Eyrie, but I don't see it. Nor the swamp..."
I walked for two more hours and then three more
until I admitted I was lost. I had followed the map like I should, but those
were unexplored areas, so I couldn't expect the map to be complete... I wandered
through the woods for a week until I finally saw the Eyrie-like rock. I was
overjoyed, but I still had to find the swamp and that was nowhere to be seen.
I eventually reached a huge stinky swamp, and
once I was there, it was easy to locate the ancient studies academy. The building
was almost ruins, but looked safe enough for me to go in.
Inside, there was a big hall with tapestry,
and a receptionist balcony with lists of books and schedules. I climbed the
stairs to the second floor and searched the classrooms. There were many books
and documents, but none regarded the beginning of Neopia or the Crown of Ultimate
Power. I climbed more stairs to the last floor of the building. There were no
divisions in this floor, just a tremendously big library!
There must have been more than a million books
in there, and I checked at least a hundred until it was dark. When there was
no more light, I set a bed with an old curtain and some piled papers and spent
the night there. The next two days were occupied with reading and consulting
books and encyclopaedias, but it was only in the afternoon of the second day
that I found something of interest.
Behind one of the bookshelves there was a desk,
with three drawers full of papers and documents. I searched them and found a
very interesting paper in the third drawer. It was a diploma. It stated that
some Neopet named Gorunda had completed her advanced studies on the beginning
of Neopia, and was now authorised to teach and write books about it. In smaller
letters in the end of the diploma there was 'The completed studies include the
creation of Neopia, Faeries and their culture, ancient artefacts and creatures'
evolution'. Faeries and ancient artefacts! Just what I wanted!
Also in the third drawer, there was a big heavy
book about the evolution of the Cerpull to the Tatsu and Eyrie by Gorunda. It
was rather interesting, but I was looking for something more about Gorunda,
not a thesis about evolution. I found what I wanted in the end of the book.
Along with a picture of the old Nimmo, there was a short biography of her and
in the end... her address! It was not far from the academy, I just had to traverse
the swamp and I would be there. It also said she knew many secrets from the
beginning of Neopia, maybe she knew something about Venera and the Crown of
Ultimate Power!
I left the academy and ventured into the smelly
swamp. There was so much fog I wouldn't even be able to see the Monocerous in
front of my face, and there was so much mud that it was very hard to walk more
than two steps without being blocked by it. I walked the whole afternoon and
the whole night, and the next morning I was facing an old house.
There was a small yard in the front of the house
a wooden fence not in its perfect condition surrounded the property. The wood
in the fence was rotten, and the small metal gate was oxidised. I pushed the
gate and it creaked and opened. The yard was much neglected and weeds and wild
plants ruled it. I had a better look at the house itself and noticed it had
only a ground floor and an attic, and not many windows. I knocked the door and
waited.
Gorunda came and opened the door.
"What do you want?" she asked, giving me a suspicious
look.
"Uh, I... erm..." I didn't know what to say,
I guess I blocked because I finally saw a chance to get what I wanted. The Nimmo
really looked very old and wise. "I am looking for some answers," I said, "maybe
you can give them to me."
"Humm..." Gorunda examined me from head to toe
and then concluded I could go in.
She led me inside and told me to sit on a completely
worn out couch. In fact, the whole living room's furniture was worn out. Looked
like Gorunda hadn't been shopping for at least a century. The wise Neopet sat
on a swinging chair and spoke.
"So, what answers are you looking for?" She
asked, but gave me no time to answer, for she started talking again, "How did
you find me, anyway? Why do you think I can give you those answers?"
"I am looking for more information on the beginning
of Neopia, the Faeries and the artefacts that were created in those early times,"
I began, "I've been studying the location of ancient studies schools and I found
that academy before the swamp. There I found your diploma and thought that maybe
you could help me."
Gorunda listened and nodded, so I proceeded
to my questions.
"Would you happen to know anything about the
powerful artefacts created by the Faeries, before there were even Neopets in
Neopia?"
"Yes, many of the most powerful items of all
times were created back then. Are you looking for something specific?"
"Um, yes, actually I'd like to know about the
Crown of Ultimate Power."
Gorunda was surprised when she heard the artefact's
name and she stood up muttering 'Oh, that Crown...'. I was anxious for some
answer, but I gave the Nimmo the time she needed.
"Oh, that Crown..." she said aloud, "The Crown
of Ultimate Power. I do know something about that."
"Can you tell me how it was forged, and who
forged it?" I asked somewhat impatiently.
"Not many people know about this. I'm surprised
you knew about its existence," Gorunda sat down again, and gazed at me, "When
the Faeries were the only creatures inhabiting Neopia, they liked to experiment
with their powers. They created artefacts and spells just for the fun of it,
and then stored them in the palace and forgot about them. That's how most of
the Hidden Tower's stock was produced. But there was one particular Fire Faerie
who was awfully fond of creating artefacts. Not only that, she always made them
very powerful. Her name was Venera, and she was the most mischievous and determined
of all Fire Faeries. Her hobby was creating artefacts and inventing weird spells.
And she was good - her fame and productions were known even by the Faerie Queen,
Fyora! But one day, Venera started to have some ideas. She began to believe
that artefacts or spells were not powerful enough if they used just one sphere
of powers. She trusted more than one sphere of powers was required to create
something so magically powerful, that not even Fyora could compete with. At
first, it was just for fun that Venera asked her Faerie friends to combine their
powers with hers in the creation of magical items, but once she realised how
powerful the combination was, her mind started to be full of wicked ideas."
Gorunda interrupted her story to offer me some
tea or coffee. I accepted the tea and offered to help, so that she could continue
to tell me Venera's story in the kitchen. I followed the Nimmo to the kitchen
and helped her with the tea while she continued.
"One of those ideas was that she could be more
powerful than Fyora. It was a very wicked thought, but it was indeed possible.
You know that the Faerie Queen's powers are great, but if Faeries from different
kinds gather their strongest powers, they can overcome Fyora's. And that's exactly
what Venera discovered. Her ambition grew wild and she began to want to take
Fyora's place. But she knew the other Faeries wouldn't support her decision,
so she acted despicably and tricked powerful Faeries from all kinds into casting
potent spell using all their powers, and Venera gathered all that power. Then
she forged a Crown and introduced the power gathered into it. It was the most
powerful artefact ever created - it would give so much power to whoever wore
it that they could beat Fyora with one hit," Gorunda told me while we were waiting
for the water to boil and then made the tea. We went back to the living room,
and I asked Gorunda to keep telling me about Venera. The story was truly fascinating
me. Such an ambitious and clever Faerie, such a powerful artefact... I longed
to know more, so I listened attentively to Gorunda's words.
"As I was saying, the Crown provided immense
power to the user. Venera planned to experiment with the Crown before she used
it on Fyora, so she went to the forest wearing the Crown and cast a dreadful
spell on the first faerie she found. It was a Water Faerie very dear of Fyora,
and the spell made her faint and absorbed all her powers. Venera was thrilled
with the success of her creation, but what delighted her more was the unexpected
effect of absorbing the defeated Faerie's powers. That meant it got more powerful
every time it was used, so you can imagine how much power it would have if she
used it on Fyora," Gorunda sipped her tea and giggled at my attention.
"Please, Gorunda, continue. What happened next?"
I felt like a little child that was being told a Fairies tale. In fact, I was,
but it didn't feel like I was working. I was truly amazed at Venera's wickedness.
"Venera named it Crown of Ultimate Power very
appropriately, and she was off to defeat Fyora. However, the Faerie Queen wasn't
in the palace, so she had to wait for the next day. And that was not good for
her plan, for the beaten Water Faerie told Fyora what Venera had done to her.
Fyora was furious at Venera and, without wasting a single second, stormed into
Venera's home and took the Crown from her, giving no time for the audacious
Fire Faerie to use it against the Faerie Queen. Fyora concluded that the Crown
of Ultimate Power was far too dangerous to exist in Neopia so she tried to destroy
it, but it was no use, it was so powerful that it reflected the spell. The only
solution Fyora found was to seal the artefact and then send it to the end of
Neopia, where no one would find it, protected by several enchantments. As for
Venera, the Queen considered her too wicked and dangerous to live among the
Faeries, so she was exiled in a place so remote that the chances of anyone finding
her are ridiculously minimal. She was trapped inside a cave, surrounded by six
spells, each one cast by a faerie of each type, that prevented her from escaping.
She could not break them, for the last spell, the Faerie Queen's spell, disabled
her powers while she was surrounded by the sleeping fog," Gorunda finished her
tea, taking a long time to sip what was left of the warm liquid.
"Do you know where she is? Or the Crown?" I
asked, hoping that I would have some more information for Sloth when I returned.
"I think," Gorunda said while walking towards
a big bookshelf and taking a big book out of it, "that this old book of legends
has something about it... Of course it's just a legend, but there is always
something true in a legend."
She turned page after page and showed me a paragraph
about the location of Venera's exile. It stated that to reach it, one would
have to travel to the other side of Neopia, traverse a large river that surrounded
a burning desert, and deep within the jungle that was inside that desert, there
would be a volcano, and inside that volcano one would find Venera. It sounded
quite complicated, but I just wrote it down and felt really proud of myself.
I asked about the Crown's location, but Gorunda knew nothing about it.
I thanked Gorunda for the tea and help and then
ran through the swamp as fast as I could. The next reunion was in four days,
so I had no time to loose. I hastened through the woods, and when I was in the
Haunted Woods market I hurried to get to Krawk Island. I didn't stop to eat
or to rest and used all my agility and strength to run all the way. I arrived
at the beach in the nick of time. The Dark Faerie was already getting ready
to teleport the horde of beasts and monsters and thieves that was at the beach.
Oh, I couldn't wait to tell Sloth what I knew!
To be continued...
Author's Note: What are your comments on this part? Are you enjoying the series
so far? Any advice on what I could have done to make it better, any feedback or
comment, Neomail
me! Everything is greatly appreciated! | 
