From Thyora to Fyora

      It was fifty years into Thyora’s reign when she disappeared that day. Fyora was off at Neoschool studying Neopian History. It was a boring class and Fyora started to go to sleep.

     “Fyora, please wake up; this is important stuff and I don’t want you to miss this information,” reprimanded the Meerca Professor. The old Meerca had no name; everyone called him Professor Meerca.

     “Awww... but Professor, I need my beauty sleep. All faeries need it,” protested Fyora.

     “See me after class,” Professor Meerca said angrily.

     Snickers came from the class as Fyora’s face turned bright red. She was in for it. Her mother, Thyora, wasn’t going to be happy when she found out she got in trouble in History class again.

     “What’d he say to you?” asked Psellia, who was Fyora’s best friend.

     “Oh just a bunch of stuff about how history helps us learn from our past mistakes and that I should pay attention, especially when one day I’ll be Faerie Queen. I think I know Faerieland history well enough. All I need to do is just look at my family history,” replied Fyora.

     “Oh, that’s kind of the same for me. My mom is in the Faerieland Council, so I guess I can ask her about history,” said Psellia.

     “My mom’s been busy lately; everyone’s saying she’s not a good leader and it seems most of Faerieland is against her. They just don’t understand how hard a queen works,” said Fyora sadly.

     “Hey, Fyora! My parents think your mom is a bad leader! She’s too weak to lead Faerieland! How’s it feel to have a weakling mom?” taunted the dark faeries that always hung out in the courtyard of the school.

     ZAP! “HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT MY MOTHER!” shouted Fyora angrily. “I WANT TO SEE YOU TRY TO LEAD FAERIELAND!”

     “FYORA! What are you doing?! You know wands are not allowed in Neoschool. They are weapons. You are now suspended from school, and don’t even count on coming back until at least two weeks,” bellowed an angry Professor Meerca.

     The dark faeries snickered and walked away. Psellia looked at Fyora and shook her head. “That wasn’t necessary. You have to control your anger sometimes; you are going to be a leader of Faerieland someday and you can’t go around zapping people every time they violate a law of Faerieland,” advised Psellia.

     They both started walking home together.

     “I’m sorry. It’s just hard for me sometimes. Did I surprise you?” said Fyora, laughing weakly.

     “Kind of. Your wand is special; it’s designed for a queen. Powerful, isn’t it? What magical core substance in it?” Psellia asked.

     “Faerie dust from the wings of a baby faerie draik; it’s a really rare substance. It’s my own wand and it only takes orders from me somehow. Nobody else can use it,” replied Fyora proudly.

     “Hey, would you like to come over today? It’s okay with my mom until she finds out I got in trouble,” Fyora asked.

     “Sure, I might be able to talk her out of grounding you,” said Psellia.

     They arrived in front of the Faerieland Palace. The two draiks guarding the door bowed down to Fyora and opened the door.

     “Thank you. This way, Psellia. Don’t want you to get lost here.” Fyora chuckled. “Mom, I’m home,” she shouted. “Mom? Are you there? Hmm, that’s funny; she never goes shopping at this hour.”

     “Fyora... did you see your mom today? I haven’t been able to find her,” stammered Psellia’s mother, who had just come through the door.

     “No, I thought she was here the whole time,” said Fyora anxiously. “Did something happen?”

     “May I be of any help?” Psellia asked. “Oh, hi, Mom.”

     “Not right now. I think my mom just went somewhere for a day, maybe on a foreign affairs trip?” said Fyora, trying not to act worried, “Oh well, I guess I’ll show you around the castle.”

     “Sorry, Fyora, Psellia has things to do. She can come over sometime next week; bye,” said Psellia’s mom.

     “Mom, why do you have to ruin everything? I wanted to stay,” said Psellia.

     “Now, don’t you talk to me like that young faerie!? Now let’s go,” Psellia’s mom commanded.

     “Sorry, Mom’s being a witch today,” whispered Psellia.

     “Bye then...” said Fyora.

     By nightfall, Thyora still hadn’t returned to the Faerieland Palace. The Faerieland Council members didn’t know what to do and neither did Fyora. Though Thyora’s leadership was questionable to many people, she never missed a council meeting and all the council members were worried too. Suddenly a blue glow appeared in front of all the council members.

     “What’s that? What’s happening?” questioned the council.

     “I’ve seen this before; it’s the spirit of a faerie,” said Fyora.

     “My fellow council members, I have chosen to resign as Faerie Queen. I will go to a place where nobody can find me because I have been a failure as a leader and nobody will want to see me anyway. Fyora, I trust that you’ll do better as a leader; you are more fit to be a queen than I am. Well, goodbye all and good luck to all,” said the spirit.

     The spirit vanished in front of the council. The council members all debated about whether it really was Thyora’s spirit. Fyora knew it was her mother’s spirit since all faeries in the “Yora” family could see spirits and identify them.

     “I’m sorry but that really was my mother’s spirit. She’s really gone. Why? WHY? Why did she have to leave us so early?! I’m not ready to be queen. She can’t be gone. I won’t accept this! This can’t be happening!” shouted Fyora, angrily.

     Fyora was angry, confused and upset at what had happened. The council members were shocked too.

     “Well, since you are next in line in the Yora family, you will have to be Thyora’s successor. Since you are entitled to a council of your peers, that means we will leave and allow you to choose your desired council members. Farewell, soon-to-be faerie queen,” said the council members.

     Fyora was all alone. She didn’t know what to do. Her mother was truly gone and the council members had all deserted Fyora. She was depressed too.

     “Fyora, you look terrible. Tomorrow is your ceremony. You will succeed Thyora as queen tomorrow and will be allowed to pick your council. Come on, it’s time to leave the past and look toward the future. Think about your plans for Faerieland. What are your future goals? You can’t be stuck in the past forever,” encouraged Psellia the next day.

     “You know what? You’re right; I’ll start thinking about what I’m going to say to the Faerieland citizens tomorrow. I’ll start thinking about my council too,” replied Fyora.

     The next day came around.

     “Fyora, the citizens of Faerieland are waiting for you,” said Psellia.

     “Okay, here goes nothing; hope I don’t mess up in the middle of my speech,” said Fyora nervously.

     “My fellow citizens: Neopets, faeries, petpets, and petpetpets. These days have been a sad few days. My mother has disappeared and I have no idea how to find her. But now it’s time for us to move on and forget the past. My mother wasn’t a powerful leader and many of you questioned her ability to lead this kingdom. Well, that is about to change. I’m her successor and I should be responsible for leading Faerieland now. My mother failed to help Faerieland recover from the previous faerie wars. I will help rebuild Faerieland. I will help restore the shops and buildings that Thyora had yet to start rebuilding. I will make Faerieland a wonderful place to live and one day we will be again in the Golden Age of Faeries,” Fyora said confidently.

     The crowd cheered.

     “But for me to do all this, I need your help. You all need to stop fighting with your neighbors, whether they are dark faeries or light faeries, water or fire, air or earth. All faeries are not meant to fight each other; we are meant to keep peace amongst all Neopians and give Neopets our blessing. So stop this fighting and let’s all have peace in Faerieland once again,” said Fyora.

     Once again the crowd cheered.

     “It is now time for me to get to work as your new queen; you all have a good evening and I hope to see you all unite as one to help rebuild Faerieland,” said Fyora.

     At this moment everyone bowed down in respect to Fyora. Fyora later formed her council of six members. For the fire faeries, she chose Nuria. For the water faeries, she chose the Fountain Faerie. For the earth faeries, she appointed Illusen. For the air faeries, she appointed Psellia. For the light faeries, she chose Siyana. And finally for the dark faeries, she chose Jhudora. All faeries must have been represented equally in the council and I believe Fyora couldn’t have chosen a better set of council members.

     As you all know, Fyora became a very successful queen. She defeated the Darkest Faerie twice in her reign and helped Faerieland prosper. She was able to open her own shop, which is hidden in one of her towers. Neopians who can find this shop are able to buy rare items. She also was generous enough to start up the faerie quest program. Neopets and Neopet owners who are met by a faerie may choose to do a quest for her. If they succeed, they get a blessing, and if they fail... Fyora is kind enough to forgive them for their failures and they can continue to receive quests. As you can see, Fyora was one of the best rulers of Neopia. Faerieland wouldn’t be possible if she hadn’t taken the throne. But whatever you do, don’t mention Thyora in front of her or she’ll get really upset. She won’t do anything to you, hopefully, but she’ll get quite emotional right in front of you. If you want to visit Faerieland, it’s a nice place to be. See you all there.

The End

     Special note from Fyora:

     Neopians, please don’t ask me for loans, you should all earn the NP for the items in the Hidden Tower.

     Also, do not accept any offers from shady characters in the marketplace and if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Thanks. Remember, as always, if you have any questions, feel free to come up to the palace and let them know what your business is and I’ll try to address your questions or comments.