Creating the Perfect Paradise: Part Three

by ekatzy

In Parts One and Two...
Tina, Baby, and Usulia are adopted by a poor Neopian. Baby and Usulia are happy to live with Kit, but Tina isn't contented to live with a poor, lower class Neopian. After living with Kit for only two days, Tina decides to run away, vowing that she will never set foot in Kit's old, run down house again...

I knew where I was going. It's not like I was just wandering around aimlessly. I was heading to the home of Dr. Death. Dr. Death's frightening name belied his true nature; he was really a kind Techo who would help me. I knew him well because he spent hours comforting me when I was distressed after being abandoned by my million-neopoint-owner. I was glad that I was well disguised, because I knew that the journey would take me at least two days and I knew that Kit would have NeoPolice searching for me. Sure enough, by dawn, I had seen two police cars. One even stopped to say to me, "Excuse me, we're looking for a pretty blue Aisha, have you seen her? Her name is Tina..."

Of course, I said no, but after that I was careful to hide when I saw any people because my makeup was wearing off. After nearly three days of weary travel (by which time I was my normal "pretty blue Aisha" self!), I finally reached the small blue house next to the Neopian pound. It was raining, and I was soaked to the bone. The paint was peeling, and I could hear the wails of miserable NeoPets inside of the small cement building beside the bleak little home. I shivered. I wasn't looking forward to going back into one of those cramped little cells. I almost caught myself thinking of my friends back at Kit's home, but I quickly shook myself and thought that I would soon be living in a huge mansion.

Looking at the gray door of the little blue house, I was about to ring the doorbell but I heard voices on the inside. I knew that the old, disgruntled Techo lived by himself, and the voices meant that he had a visitor. I thought to myself, Well I can't go in there while he has a visitor so I will have to sit out here in the rain for a while longer. I sighed, and was about to go wait in the bushes when the door opened and an amused voice said behind me, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

I thought frantically, it's over now, I am never going to live with a rich Neopian! Slowly, sadly, I turned around to see who was talking to me. The woman was tall. Very tall. She was very slender, and she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had long, sleek blonde hair. She wore a pair of light blue flare jeans, and a blue belly shirt. And she had a pair of...

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe who I was seeing. It wasn't a woman as I had first thought. She had a pair of wings. It was a Faerie And not just any Faerie If it was a normal Faerie, she would have been about a foot tall. No, this one was about 6 feet tall.

Which could mean only one thing. This Faerie was the Uber-Air Faerie The head Air Faerie One of the most powerful faeries, save the Faerie queen herself. I was dead meat. I waited for her to curse me for running away. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, waiting for the blow. It didn't come. Cautiously, I opened my eyes. The Faerie was smiling at me. She saw how frightened I was and laughed. While she was laughing, Dr. Death came out and stood beside her. He looked at me severely, which was one of the last things I expected him to do. I cowered. I had expected him to come rushing over to hug me, and to say, "Don't worry, we'll get you a home!" but instead he glared at me and said, "You have been very naughty, young lady. Fortunately, this lady...er, Faerie here has been looking for a pet just like you for a long time. You're going to live with her."

It was too good to be true. Not only was the Uber-Air Faerie beautiful and powerful and famous, she was probably very rich. I smiled to myself. I could imagine all of the servants I might have, the jewels and toys and games and fun outings. I smiled to myself.

"Look!" said the beautiful Faerie, "she's smiling! She must have been treated horribly at her old home!"

I nodded quickly and said to her, "Yes, I was, it was terrible!"

The Faerie looked at me and said, "Well, you're certainly not headed to an easy life with me."

My smile faded a bit as I said to her, "What do you mean?"

The Uber-Air Faerie looked at me like I was stupid. "You don't know...? I came here to find someone who will clean my home for when I have company, and to help my cooks! Did you expect that I needed a pet? Did you expect a life of pampering?"

My jaw fell open. I couldn't believe my ears. I looked at Dr. Death, but he avoided my eyes. I looked back up at the Faerie, and I felt like I was going to cry. At least I didn't have to work when I lived with Kit! The Faerie smiled kindly at me.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, and just because you will be working for me doesn't mean that I will treat you badly," she said. "I'll give you a room, toys, and other things you need. I will try to spend time with you and try to get to know you, but I don't know about how much time I will have to do this, so I'm not promising. Now, come on, I'll buy you lunch and help you pick out some nice outfits for when I have parties and you'll be helping serve the..."

She never finished her sentence, because I began to wail. I looked at Dr. Death through my tears, but he was busy taking the fees from the startled Faerie Soon I felt myself being led away from the pound. Now, more than ever, I wished I could be in the pound with those wailing, miserable animals.

As we walked from the pound, the Faerie said to me, "Well, I guess you aren't used to physical labor. Let's just discuss some basic things, then, shall we? Firstly, my name isn't just "Uber-Air Faerie," it's Jenevieve, but you aren't to call me that. Now, how would it look to my distinguished guests if the powerful Faerie had a servant who called her by her first name? No, I would prefer that you called me Miss Uber-Air. Let's see what else I am forgetting... oh, yes. I will pay you a small amount of money for every hour of work you do, depending on what kind of work. I will pay for your room and board, and your basic needs like food and clothing. When you're not working, you will be allowed to do whatever you like, so long as it isn't noisy or disruptive. Please don't leave the grounds of my home without permission, and soon we can loosen up the rules, as soon as I find out what kind of NeoPet you are." She paused to look at me.

"What else, what else... oh yes! I chose you because of your pretty blue color, and because I absolutely love Aishas, but you need a suitable uniform for when we have guests. What do you like to eat? I'll treat us to a nice lunch, then we'll go have you fitted for some nice clothes that you can work in."

She looked at me, and I mumbled, "I like sea food" very softly.

Jenevieve laughed and said, "Very well then. We're off to Maraqua!"

As she put her hand on my head and guided me further and further away from the pound, I became more and more aware of the terrible mistake I had made when I left Kit's home...

After eating and picking out several pretty outfits, I found myself being led to a small room inside of Miss Uber-Air's mansion. Jenevieve walked me into the room. She glided over to the window, her wings fluttering gracefully.

"Look, Tina!" she said, pointing to the large home that Kit had looked at on our previous trip to Faerieland, "that's the home of the Faerie Queen herself! You'll get to meet her in one month if you behave yourself, because she's holding a housewarming party! See, she's been building this spectacular new home for years, and she can't wait to move in! I'll need a personal maid to accompany me to the party, like all of the other Uber-Faeries. If you are good, I'll choose you, all right?" I nodded numbly.

That was a bright spot on the horizon. Dimly, I remembered a tale that my incredibly wealthy owner had told me before putting me up for adoption...

"In Faerieland, if you are fortunate enough to see the Faerie Queen herself, you have a chance of being just about one of the luckiest Neopians around! If she's not busy (this is very important, you don't want to disturb her because that would make her very angry) you just might be able to talk to her. If you say the correct things and please her, she'll grant you a wish. Now, the things you have to tell her are stories of extraordinarily brave NeoPets who have gone out of their way to help a Faerie If your story pleases the Queen, she'll want to go and reward the NeoPet you told her about, and of course she'll want to reward you for your help. So, she'll grant you one wish. Now, be warned: if she thinks you're lying, you will be punished beyond your worst nightmares."

Remembering that story, my future suddenly looked twice as bright. I would be a very good NeoPet for the next month, I would see the Faerie Queen, and I would tell her about how I had gone out of my way to help Jenevieve. She'd have to reward me twice: once for the helpful information, and once for helping a Faerie. Yes.

To be continued...