Roomies 2: Part Three

      "No, no, Jim!" Jhudora answered. "And shush! We're hiding!"

      "Hiding? From who? And who's that next to you?"

      "Hi, I'm Jesc!" the air faerie answered happily. She was still wet and cramped, but she was happy that she was allowed to talk again.

      "Oh!" Jim said, adjusting his glasses. "You're the air faerie who volunteered to let Jhudora stay with you! Charming! I'm Jim, head of the Neopian Planning Committee."

      "Okay, okay," Jhudora hissed. "Enough with the pleasantries and introductions. Jim, you need to leave now before Mrs. Pierce or some Neopet sees you talking to the bottom of this stand!"

      "Who's Mrs. Pierce?"

      "Never you mind!"

      "S-sorry," Jim stuttered, "but I don't suppose you guys actually like being cramped under there?"

      "It's horrible," Jhudora sighed.

      "Well, if you don't like it here, you can always come over to my Neohome..."

      "You live here?" Jesc asked, her blue eyes wide with wonder. "On this wonderful tropical island?"

      "Yep," he said a bit pompously. "Since I work for the Neopian Planning Committee, I get a nice little piece of land right here. You can come stay..."

      The words were barely out of his mouth when Jhudora jumped out from under the stand (breaking a few glass bottles filled with red sand much to the Tiki Man's horror) and said, "Let's go. Now."

      Without another word, Jhudora, Jesc, and Jim all left the Tombola stand and as inconspicuously as possible, they headed to Jim's Neohome.

      "It's not too far," he remarked, gazing up at Mount Techo as they passed it.

      Jesc was happily sightseeing, standing up on her tiptoes and looking up at the volcano with wonder, but Jhudora was crouching down as low as possible as she walked, trying not to be seen.

      After a few minutes, they reached a neighbourhood filled with Neohomes with gardens full of gorgeous flowers. Jim led them down the street until he reached the largest Neohome on the block. Jesc gazed up at it in wonder. It was three stories high with at least fifty rooms and the outside was painted a bright yellow. "It looks so bright!" she exclaimed as Jim opened the door, revealing a huge home filled with expensive furniture and walls made of chocolate.

      Even Jhudora was impressed. "Not bad," she remarked. "A bit too cheerful, but not bad."

      Jim gave them a grand tour and the two were told to pick out any room that they wanted to stay in. Jim normally lived with his two sisters, Jerra and Julie, but for the remainder of the month they were staying at the Neolodge in Neopia Central, so the gigantic house was empty.

      Jesc automatically picked a room painted bright blue with clouds painted on the ceiling. Jhudora, however, looked at every room carefully before choosing one that was painted purple. Unfortunately for her, however, the room was right next door to Jesc's, but without the wind chimes (they had left all of their luggage at the beach), she actually found enough time to take a long nap.

     ***

      "One number ticket," Mrs. Pierce growled at the Tombola Man who produced a bowl with white pieces of paper. Closing her eyes, she pulled out a number: 347.

      "I'm sorry, Madam," the Tombola man said sadly. "All you get is a booby prize."

      Mrs. Pierce was more frustrated than ever. Not only had she just lost Tombola, but she had spent the entire day looking for Jhudora on the beach, only to be badly sunburned.

      "Where's my prize?" she barked.

      The Tiki Man looked sadder than ever, his flowered shirt all crinkled and his forever-happy smile was gone. "I'm sorry, but all the booby prizes are ruined. We had a bunch of red sand, but Jhudora broke all of the bottles." Then, remembering that he wasn't supposed to reveal Jhudora's name, he muttered, "oops."

      Mrs. Pierce looked up quickly, her glasses almost falling off her nose. "Where is she?" she asked quickly.

      The Tiki Man suddenly looked horrified. "I promised I wouldn't tell. She said she would burn my stand if I tell! I can't tell you!"

      Mrs. Pierce frowned under her breath and mumbled, "Well, if you can't tell me the easy way, you'll just have to tell me the hard way." Pulling out her wand, she made a complicated swish, muttered, "Veritas!" and a bright light surrounded the Tiki Man. "Now," she asked, "where is she?"

      The truth spell worked and against the Tiki Man's will, he mumbled, "Jim's Neohome." However, he didn't end there. "I love carrots... Cybunnies scare me... I got this shirt from the Advent Calendar..." He continued to mumble facts about his life until Mrs. Pierce put her wand away. Then, without a word, she headed into the direction of Jim's Neohome.

     ***

      The sun was setting and after a filling dinner, Jim excused himself, saying, "I'm sorry, but I have to leave now. I just got neomail from a colleague on Krawk Island. They're building a Neohome there and they need some help. I"ll be back in an hour. Please make yourself at home." Then, leaving Jesc and Jhudora at the dinner table, he left.

      Jesc was a bit shocked at his sudden departure, but Jhudora knew that Jim was constantly working.

      There was silence for a few moments, and then Jesc suddenly shouted, "Let's play charades!"

      "No charades!" Jhudora said, rubbing her head. She never wanted to hear the word "charades" again, so Jesc just got up and said, "Okay then. I'll just go and watch the sunset outside. Wanna come?"

      "No," Jhudora said bluntly, sitting on a rather large couch. "I think I'm just going to take a nap."

      Jesc shrugged. "Suit yourself." Then, heading towards the door, she walked outside.

      The sky was a mixture of blue, purple and pink and the sun was a brilliant gold that was slowly sinking down past the horizon. Jesc found herself enchanted by its beauty and she stood there for a few moments, basking in its golden light...

      She was suddenly snapped out of her stupor when she saw someone walking down the street towards the house. She couldn't make out who it was in the glare of the sun, but as the figure got closer, she could hear the clicking of shoes and the mumbles of, "I'm going to get you, Jhudora."

      Involuntarily, Jesc shrieked.

      Mrs. Pierce looked up. "Jesc!" she shouted.

      Jesc turned around as quickly as she could and ran towards the house. However, right before she slammed the door, a spell hit her dead-on in the back. She didn't know what it did, but she quickly closed the door just in time. Mrs. Pierce was locked out.

      "What's the racket?" Jhudora shouted, sitting up from the couch, her hair frizzy, as she listened to Mrs. Pierce frantically knocking on the door, wanting to come inside.

      Jesc opened her mouth to tell Jhudora that Mrs. Pierce was right outside... but nothing came out. She couldn't make a sound. The spell she'd been hit with had made it so that she couldn't speak!

      In her mind, Jesc remembered learning about silencing spells. There were only temporary, but she couldn't wait for it to wear off. She needed to tell Jhudora NOW!

      Jhudora looked at her strangely as Jesc struggled to say something, her mouth moving, but no words coming out. Irritated, Jhudora said, "Listen, I'm not playing charades with you!"

      Charades! The idea was perfect! Jesc nodded her head quickly. They needed to play charades; that was the only way she would be able to tell her that Mrs. Pierce was there.

      Jhudora scowled, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. "One game only!" she shouted.

      Jesc nodded again, ignoring the loud, insistent knocks on the door, and started acting as quickly as possible. She was pointing to her ears.

      "Ears?" Jhudora asked. Jesc shook her head, pointing to her little Usul earrings. "Earrings? Usul earrings? Uh... pierced ears?"

      Jesc nodded her head rapidly. Jhudora was close.

      "Pierced ea... Mrs. Pierce!" Jhudora concluded triumphantly.

      Jesc nodded even quicker.

      "HERE?"

      Jesc nodded so fast that she felt as if her head was about to fall off.

      "WELL, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Jhudora stormed, grabbing her wand.

      Jesc frantically pointed to her mouth. Jhudora apparently didn't understand that she couldn't speak and muttered, "Whatever. Anyway, we can't hide in here anymore. I'm just going to have to confront her."

      Jesc shook her head. She wasn't exactly sure if that was a good idea, but Jhudora's mind was set. Without another word, she ran outside with her wand, leaving Jesc inside the house.

      Jesc quickly grabbed her own wand and followed quickly.

      Outside, the sun was still setting and the weather was beautiful and calm. However, what was happening was anything but calm. Jhudora and Mrs. Pierce were dueling. Spells were flying everywhere. Colorful puffs of smoke hung in the air, streaks of light darted across the sky, and Jhudora and Mrs. Pierce were bending and ducking, trying not to get hit. Jesc had to duck twice as spells came her way and she eventually had to conjure up a force field. She wanted to shout "STOP!" but nothing came out of her mouth.

      It was then that it happened. Jhudora had finally spotted Jesc and shouted, "Come on! What are you waiting for? Help me!" However, in the space of time it had taken to deliver her message, Mrs. Pierce had shot a spell at her and it hit her squarely.

      "HA!" Mrs. Pierce shouted triumphantly, raising her wand in the air. "Now we'll see who the liar truly is!"

      At first, Jesc had no clue what she was talking about, but then she heard Jhudora speak. At first, she couldn't understand the babble of words, but they soon became clear.

      "Mrs. Pierce is the most infuriating faerie I've ever met... carrots are disgusting... one day I want to put Queen Fyora in her place..."

      "No," Jesc muttered, and with a jolt she realized that her voice had returned. But she still couldn't believe what Mrs. Pierce had done. She had performed a truth spell, a restricted spell, on Jhudora.

      "Why?" Jesc demanded, anger building up inside of her. "How could you do this to her? She's done nothing to you!"

      "Oh, quite the contrary," Mrs. Pierce hissed, her eyes flashing red. "Ever since I first met this sorry excuse for a faerie, I knew that she was bad news. Always trying to get me fired, always trying to embarrass or outdo me! But now, she's the one about to be embarrassed when she tells all of Neopia the truth about what happened in the winter. Everyone knows that you and Jhudora pulled that little 'prank,' but no one admitted it. So guess who got the blame? ME!" She spat out the last word.

      "But truth spells aren't allowed! Queen Fyora made up that law!"

      "Who cares about some stupid queen? Once Jhudora admits what she did, I'll be the queen! Everyone will be overjoyed that this terror of society has finally been caught in her web of wrongdoings and I'll be the hero that caught her! And you, Jesc, the air faerie who got in my way, will be nothing more than an outcast. Of course, it didn't have to be that way."

      "What do you mean?"

      Mrs. Pierce smiled evilly. "If you had just admitted it in the first place, none of this would have happened. All you had to do was tell me..."

      "What kind of faerie would stoop low enough to betray their friend?!" Jesc shouted.

      "Friend?" Mrs. Pierce repeated, shocked. And then she laughed. "You really thought that Jhudora was your 'friend?' Jhudora has no friends! All she cares about is herself and no one else!"

      "That's not true!" Jesc protested, her eyes filling up with tears.

      "Oh yes, it is." Mrs. Pierce turned her head towards Jhudora who was standing motionless on the grass and still muttering. Jesc strained to listen to her words.

      "Petpetpets are useless vermin... my quest rewards are sometimes really cheap..." At first it was just random phrases, but then Jhudora said something else. "I think Jesc talks way too much and is so annoying..."

      "Ha!" Mrs. Pierce shouted, victory shown on her face. "See? She thinks you're an aggravating, happy air faerie! Not a friend!"

      Jesc's heart quickly sank. Had Jhudora been lying to her the entire time? Jesc knew that she got on her nerves and Jhudora always was saying that she was annoying, but she never knew that she hated her so much and that she really meant it. The tears in her eyes began to fall.

      "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bring Jhudora here to Faerieland. I think the center of the city is a perfect place for everyone to listen to her confess!" Mrs. Pierce laughed evilly and then narrowed her eyes. "And as for you, Jesc, I suggest that you cooperate with me from now on. Now, goodbye." Mrs. Pierce then turned around and began to walk towards Jhudora who was still saying random things.

      Jesc's shoulders slumped and she pocketed her wand. "If Jhudora doesn't care about me, then I don't care about her," she muttered. Her normally bright blue eyes were dull with tears as she prepared to kick off the ground and fly home to her sister. "Goodbye, Jhudora," she whispered.

      It was then, just as she was about to take off, that Jhudora shouted something else. However, this time it wasn't just a random phrase. This time, it was something much more meaningful.

      "Despite the fact that I always say that's Jesc's annoying," she spoke, "I've never actually admitted how much I care about her."

      Mrs. Pierce froze at the words. She had been ready to take Jhudora with her and fly away, but the confession had made her stop.

      And Jesc had stopped, too. Her wings were no longer tensed, ready for flight and her tears had stopped flowing. "It... it was a truth spell!" she stuttered, "So she's telling the truth!" She then turned her head towards Mrs. Pierce angrily."YOU!" she shouted, running over. "You made it seem as if she doesn't care, but she does! And you're not taking her away!"

      "Stay back!" Mrs. Pierce said, pulling out her wand, but her voice quivered and her hand was shaking.

      "I will NOT stay back! Now, let go of Jhudora!" As Jesc shouted, she realized for the first time that a small crowd of Neopets had left their Neohomes and had gathered around the three faeries, watching intently.

      "NO!" Mrs. Pierce shouted. "I've waited far too long for my revenge and she will announce the truth whether she wants to or not!" She then turned to face the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen! Neopets and faeries! You are about to witness the nefarious Jhudora admit to her latest crime, destroying a Faerie Academy classroom! Listen carefully! The truth will be out any second now!"

      "Don't listen!" Jesc pleaded to the crowd, but Mrs. Pierce just laughed.

      "Jesc, your effort's futile. You can't stop the crowd from listening anymore than you can stop Jhudora from telling the truth!"

      An idea suddenly popped into Jesc's head, an idea that she never would have come up with if Mrs. Pierce hadn't done it to her. "I may not be able to stop the crowd from listening or stop Jhudora from telling the truth, but I can still stop her from being heard!" And with that, Jesc abruptly turned towards Jhudora, waved her wand, and blasted a spell at her. The spell hit Jhudora dead on.

      And Jhudora was silent.

      Just like Jesc before, her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. The truth was still hidden.

      "NO!" Mrs. Pierce shouted in agony, her hands clutching her grey-streaked hair, but Jesc ignored her. Silence spells were temporary and she needed to get Jhudora out of Mystery Island and back to Faerieland, but she didn't need to worry, because at that moment, there was a loud gasp from the crowd. Jesc turned her head in confusion, wondering what had made them gasp, and saw none other than Queen Fyora.

      She was as regal as a faerie could be. She had long, silky hair and deep purple eyes. Her dress was long and elegant and her wings were light and delicate and perched on her head was a white-gold tiara.

      And she was walking up to Jesc.

      Jesc found herself talking faster than she had ever talked before

      "Oh Queen Fyora, it's an honor to meet you and I'm so sorry that you had to come all the way here from Faerieland which is pretty far, I know, and you must be tired, but Jhudora is in a lot of trouble. Mrs. Pierce, the fire faerie right there, was a teacher at my school, the Faerie Academy, and was trying to get Jhudora to admit that she got her suspended so she followed us here and she put a silence spell on me so I couldn't talk and then she put a truth spell on Jhudora and I know that truth spells are forbidden, but she didn't care and she wants to be queen, so I then put a silence spell on Jhudora so she wouldn't be able to tell all of her secrets and... and..." She trailed off, gasping for breath.

      "Breathe, child, breathe," Fyora said calmly and after Jesc had filled her lungs with several gulps of air, Fyora asked, "Now, what's your name?"

      "Jesc."

      "Okay, Jesc, just sit down and I'll take care of everything."

      Jesc nodded and watched Fyora walk over to Jhudora. With a wave of her wand, the truth and the silence spells were removed and Jhudora could talk.

      "It took you long enough," she mumbled and Jesc was so happy that she couldn't help but run over to her.

      "Oh Jhudora! I was so worried and I thought you didn't like me and that you just thought that I was a nuisance but then you said that you did care and..."

      "And you will never repeat a word of what I said, got it?" Jhudora said threateningly.

      Jesc smiled and just said, "It's good to have you back."

      "Well, it's good to be back. That spell was horrible! And it left a bad aftertaste! I feel like I've just eaten about 500 pieces of asparagus!" She made a disgusted face. "Now," she said, looking around, "where's Mrs. Pierce?"

      "Fyora's taking to her."

      Jhudora glared. "Fyora isn't my favorite faerie in Neopia, but at least she's better than Mrs. Pierce."

      And with that, they walked over to hear Fyora talking to Mrs. Pierce.

      "Vermillion Pierce!" the queen said loudly, in front to the crowd. "Not only did you perform a truth spell on Jhudora, but you were going to trap Jesc in the air faerie tower in the Faerie Academy for the entire summer vacation AND you sent a false explanation letter to her sister, Mirasol. You are apparently not a suitable teacher at the Faerie Academy and I hereby fire you."

      "WHAT?" Mrs. Pierce shouted. "You can't do that to me!"

      "I can, and I did," Fyora said coolly. "Just be thankful that I didn't have you arrested for using a truth spell! Now fly to the Academy, pack your things and head home."

      Mrs. Pierce turned away, her pointy glasses perched on her nose and her eyes flashing a dangerous red. "This is all your fault," she said to Jesc and Jhudora. "You did this to me!"

      Jesc smiled innocently. "You only did this to yourself," she said with a smile, and with an evil glare of enmity, Mrs. Pierce flew away into the night.

      With that said, all of the Neopets who came to watch the scene traveled home, leaving only Jhudora, Jesc and Fyora outside.

      "You know," Fyora said to Jhudora, "You can be the new Proper Uses of Magical Abilities teacher. After all, you have plenty of experience."

      Jesc smiled excitedly. It was great that Mrs. Pierce was gone, but it would be even better to have Jhudora as a teacher! Jhudora, however, just gave a strange laugh.

      "Me? Yeah right! I'm not the teaching type and besides, who would want to go to a school taught by me? I just want to head back home and give out some quests."

      Fyora nodded her head and said, "Okay. If that's what you wish, I'll just have to find someone else." And with that, she nodded and flew away.

      The sky was freckled with stars now and everything felt perfectly right. Mrs. Pierce was fired, Jhudora hadn't revealed her secret, and Jesc was ready to go home and see her older sister. They had won. Finally.

      "Well, now that this is all over, we better get back to my cloud," Jhudora muttered, fixing her hair. "Then you can get your five million plushies and wind chimes out of my house and you can head home." She gave a weird smile. "It's going to be nice not having to listen to your annoying voice anymore."

      Jesc smiled back, knowing how Jhudora truly felt on the inside. "I'll miss you too, Roomie."

      And with that, they kicked off into the night, the stars shining high in the sky, not knowing that there still was one person that they had forgotten...

     ***

      That same night, the Haiku Kougra was woken up late at night by a loud knock at his front door. Drowsily, he opened it with his green paw and was prepared to say that he was closed for the night, when he saw the Tombola Man in front of him, talking nonstop.

      "... I think 'Roll up' is a really cool phrase... people who frown scare me... I never take my mask off... flowered shirts are cool... I love working at my Tombola stand..."

      The Kougra raised his eyebrows and sighed. "I'll call Fyora in the morning..."

The End