The Forgotten Faerieland: Part One

      She often spoke of the time when she caused the fall, but now she seldom speaks about it. I was chosen to guard and watch over her so that she could cause no more trouble. Nobody expected her to reveal the truth to me.

      She was a faerie Ixi like no other. Her wings were the softest, her fur was the most beautiful, her smile could pierce a heart, and her heart was also the emptiest. Other pets ran to her for beauty tips, but she had only one thing to say

     "The only beauty that I possess will not last; there are more important things in life than appearances."

     She knew that who she really was would someday prove to be far more important that what she looked like. Something felt wrong, but she didn't know what. The daily monotony annoyed her, but it wasn't causing trouble. She didn't know that a dark faerie named Baelia was scheming the downfall of the faerie pets.

      Baelia growled, "Those pets don't deserve to live here. I'm a faerie, but those pets are just winged freaks. Why, I saw an Ixi today whose wings were almost prettier than mine! But that will change, soon."

      Baelia had read that removing a pet's, or faerie's, wings would turn them into some shade of grey. She'd been plotting ever since she saw Tuirsa fly past her one day.

      Everybody said that it was Tuirsa's fault for aiding Baelia, but that was because Tuirsa was never allowed to give her side of the story. That and Baelia lied to the entire faerie council by saying that Tuirsa had turned on Faerieland to help her. I was one of the few humans honored to be allowed to live in Faerieland, especially when all of this was going on. I remember when Fyora called me forward and put Tuirsa into my care.

      Tuirsa was sitting alone one day as she stared down at Neopia and sighed deeply. A faerie Xweetok silently floated towards her and sat down quietly. After a moment of silence, she spoke up.

      "Anything wrong, Tuirsa? Oh, I guess you're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

      Tuirsa nodded gently. One of her best friends had been a Ruki named Riki. For some reason, Riki never grew wings or grew up. She seemed to be permanently a baby, but her mind grew normally. Tuirsa had been immediately drawn to the small Ruki. One day, a few months later, Riki was taken away. Fyora came to the two of them and sent Riki to Neopia, saying softly, "She belongs there, not here. I'm sorry, Tuirsa."

      Since that day Tuirsa had been more withdrawn, taking no pride in her appearances at all. She wanted to go visit Riki, but leaving Faerieland would result in no good. It would disgrace faerie pets, Faerieland, and Fyora as well if she left. Instead, to ease her pain, she would look down to Neopia all the time and think about her wingless friend, Riki.

      Her only other friend was a faerie Xweetok named Xewwy. Xewwy and Riki had been the only pets that cared about Tuirsa for who she was, not what she looked like. Neither Xewwy or Riki had to be the prettiest or most beautiful pets; it was their personalities that counted in Tuirsa's opinion.

      Tuirsa sighed deeply again and spoke. "Someday I have to go down there and find Riki. I don't care about the details, I can't be separated from her forever."

      Xewwy just sat there by her and spoke lightly. "You may have to be, Tuirsa."

      Defiance came into Tuirsa's eyes. "I don't have to, and I won't anyway." The defiance, however, soon melted. "I can't defy the faerie council, I mean, my defiance could cause trouble for all of the faerie pets because people look up to me. I can't stand it! I just miss Riki so much…"

      Xewwy looked at her with eyes full of compassion and caring. "We don't know what the future holds, so let's just live for the present, ok?"

      Tuirsa sniffled and looked at her gratefully. "Ok."

      Baelia started flipping through her records, because she certainly didn't have time to rip off every pet's wings individually. She would have to find some way to change faerie to some other color.

      After she had finally given up, she threw her head down in disgust and muttered, "Is it really THAT hard to change all pets of a certain color to a different one? I know I'm powerful enough, but if I can't find what I need, it does me no good!"

     Baelia continued to yell in frustration. As she was walking out of her small library, she kicked a set of bookshelves so hard that they fell over. Baelia rolled her eyes and was about to make them put themselves back when something caught her eye. It was a glint of grey hidden amongst the other colors of her books, which were mostly dark purple and some black. She started to read the book.

     There are only two ways to make pets or faeries grey. One way is to rip off their wings. The other way is to recite a poem similar to the one written below, but the subject may vary.

     The faerie pets shall be no more.

     Penetrating them to the very core.

     So this poem shall be a ray,

     And turn all faeries pets to grey.

     There was a note on the side of the page that annoyed her slightly, though. It read, In order for this to work, all pets must be in one area and all must hear the poem when it is spoken.

     That might pose a problem, but Baelia knew that she could somehow find a way around it.

     "Xewwy, something feels wrong. I've never felt like this before. I feel like hatred or evil is being amassed, and I feel like somehow my existence is the cause of it."

     Xewwy stared at Tuirsa, not speaking, but thinking. Finally she came up with a response, "Perhaps you're just thinking about Riki too much and about how you're the prettiest. I don't think anything is going on. I mean, you could be right, but why would someone not like you? You're really nice, and not vain like a lot of the other pets I've seen."

     Tuirsa saw the wisdom and truth in Xewwy's words and didn't speak of it again, but she kept having a nagging feeling that something bad was in the process of happening.

     I was just a normal human living in Neopia when Fyora one day summoned me to Faerieland. Now I wasn't anybody special or beautiful, I was just another human living in a mainly pet's world. As it turned out she watches humans and pets a lot. It turns out she liked me and invited me to live in Faerieland with her. I may not have been exceptionally bright, but I knew this chance would never come again so I accepted. Apparently there was a slight catch as there would be some pets sent down to Neopia, and it would be my duty to teach them whatever they would need to know if they were going to Neopia. This was an easy task for me as there was little to know. While this was happening, Baelia was putting her final plans into action, but you're not quite there yet so I shall continue with Tuirsa's story.

     Baelia was no longer slightly annoyed, but very annoyed now. There was never a time when all faerie pets were in one place, not even when Fyora called a meeting. There were always some that didn't go or didn't have to go. She finally shrugged and reasoned, "Even if I don't get all of the pets, I can at least get that rotten Ixi. I hear her name is Tuirsa, so I shall get even more joy by pronouncing her name as I remove that creature's wings and watch her be forever banished to Neopia for her crimes of treachery against Faerieland… despite the fact that there are no such crimes and never will be."

To be continued...