The Tale of the Reject Faerie Queen Doll

     Lilia swirled around to find her slightly chubby Kadoatie biting on the remains of her Faerie Queen Doll.

     “BAD IMOGEN! GO LIE DOWN” Lilia yelled fiercely.

     The Kadoatie looked up at her with big blue innocent eyes, slowly took her paw off the face of the shredded doll, and shamefully walked over to her bed.

     Lilia was on her hands and knees now. Tears rushed to her eyes as she picked up the torn pieces of her favorite childhood toy. When she was a little Kau, her mother gave her this doll (primarily for the avatar - but hey, that’s one nice toy) and told her to guard it with all her might.

     The pink Kau allowed her tears to stream down her red cheeks, as she squeezed the doll next to her heart.

     “How could I let this happen? Mommy gave me this doll and told me to never let anything bad happen to it!... And now- now look at it!” She stared deep into the doll’s purple eyes as she stroked the pink hair.

     “I must buy a new one,” Lilia decided. But where? Where in Neopia could such a beautiful artifact be found?

     Lilia knew where.

     “The Hidden Tower,” she repeated her thoughts, “I must go to the Hidden Tower.”

     She scrambled to her feet, grabbed some essentials as she shoved them into her backpack, and headed for the door.

     With her hand placed on the doorknob, she paused.

     Lilia looked behind her to see her doll lying on the polished hardwood floor. She scampered over to the doll, kissed it gently, and placed it in her backpack.

     ****

     Ten thousand feet in the air, Lilia stepped onto the sequence of puffy clouds that supported the incredible city. Palaces that glistened in the morning sun graced the landscape of what seemed to be never-ending harmony. The air was clear, cold, and fresh as Lilia took a deep triumphant breath in. She made it - she was in Faerieland.

     With her eye focused on the beautiful gates that seemed to glow against the brightness of the day, she heard an unfamiliar noise in the sky. Immediately, Lilia tossed her head back to examine the atmosphere above her.

     Nothing.

     Silence.

     Lilia looked to her right, to her left, and then continued on her way.

     Whistling to herself, the happy Kau began to dream of having her new doll. Her excitement fueled her step, and she strolled a little faster, not noticing her surroundings quite as much.

     “SWOOOOOOOOSH!!....”

     Slightly annoyed, Lilia lifted one eyebrow as she examined the still undisturbed sky.

     “What IS that!?” Lilia blurted out loud.

     “What’s what?” asked a voice behind her.

     Startled by a response, the confused Kau glanced over her shoulder to see an extravagant gold Pteri.

     “Say... haven’t I seen you around?” Lilia asked the glistening creature with suspicion.

     An awkward silence controlled the situation.

     “What’s your name?” the Pteri asked, completely ignoring her question.

     “Lilia. And yourself?”

     “Rugen,” pronounced the Pteri.

     “...Well, it is very nice to meet you, but I must be going. I need to purchase something from the Hidden Tower.”

     “Oh-Well, I can help you, I--”

     “No. Thank you, but no,” Lilia said instantly. She adjusted the backpack, lifted her chin, and again began walking toward gate.

     “Okay. But if you need anything, just look into the sky. I’ll be there!” Rugen called out.

     ****

     Walking up the stairs to the entrance, she reached the gates as they slowly opened, revealing the internal city. It was magnificent. The floors were a polished marble that perfectly accented the gold embellishment on the pillars that rimmed the walls of the circular room. Enormous windows were tastefully placed at adjacent ends and allowed much natural light, enhancing the decoration.

     Intrigued by the flying faeries over her head, Lilia gasped at the sight of the gigantic crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Each crystal glowed a soft purple, which reflected off of the dome ceiling.

     It was crowded. Lilia could hear the low hum of numerous voices that were chattering away. Everyone was busy; everyone had something to do.

     Slightly discouraged, Lilia noticed a faerie sitting behind what seemed to be like the main desk. The faerie was gorgeous. She had chocolate brown hair that was softly curled, and was wearing a light blue dress that had many layers to it.

     “Excuse me, Miss, could you please direct me to the Hidden Tower?” Lilia asked politely.

     The faerie smiled, leaned forward, and said, “If’ay told’ya where tha Hidd’en Tow’ah was, then it wouldn’t be hidd’en, honey, now would it?”

     Completely embarrassed, the ashamed Kau walked back into the crowd of people, as the faerie sat back into her chair behind the desk.

     “How am I EVER gonna find this Hidden Tower? Faerieland is huge, and I’m just a very small Kau,” Lilia thought as she sat on the stairs. Tears began to push at the back of her eyes. She placed her backpack beside her and wiped the tears from her face.

     “HEY! IS THIS WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?” said a familiar voice from above.

     Again, Lilia looked up. It was Rugen! He was sitting on what seemed to be thin air...

     “The Hidden Tower is invisible, don’t ya know!?” he called down.

     Lilia laughed loudly with a huge smile on her face. Then gracefully, the gold Pteri swooped down to help the Kau to reach the invisible tower.

     *****

     “We made it!” shouted Lilia triumphantly upon entering the shop.

     It was quiet. Nobody was there, except for a faerie Aisha behind a desk looking through a checklist of stocks.

     “Good evening” the Aisha said. “Please let me know if you have any questions.”

     The high-class shop was breathtaking. Resembling the finest museums, each item was in glass container for protection purposes. All of it was so beautiful. There were paintbrushes of all types, the rarest trading cards imaginable, even artifacts that belonged to the most famous, or infamous characters of Neopian history. Trembling with excitement, Lilia walked cautiously down the hall of items, fascinated by what she saw.

     And then, at the very end of the hall, to the left, was the doll. The Faerie Queen Doll. Pressing up against the glass, those familiar tears swelled her eyes. Pulling herself from the glass, she went to the Aisha behind the desk and said,

     “I would like to purchase a Faerie Queen Doll, please!”

     “That will be two million neopoints, please,” said the shopkeeper as she was heading back to the storage room.

     “What?” asked Lilia.

     “I said two million neopoints... for the doll,” the aggravated Aisha repeated.

     “But- But I don’t have that kind of money!” the Kau protested.

     “Then I’m sorry, you cannot purchase this item.”

     Lilia’s heart broke. Rugen who was at her side, tried to comfort her. She did not even consider the price of buying a new one. She felt like a failure.

     Placing the backpack on the ground, she unzipped the top and revealed her ripped Faerie Queen Doll. She hugged it tightly and let her tears fall on the doll’s soft hair.

     With a loud sniff, Lilia turned around and walker directly to the Aisha shopkeeper.

     She placed the doll on the desk and said, “I would like to donate this doll to the Hidden Tower.”

     The Aisha lowered her head, examined the doll, and looked back into Lilia’s sad eyes, and said,

     “That is very thoughtful of you. Thank you so much for the donation.”

     Rugen, who was startled at his new friend’s decision, gasped and looked directly at Lilia. Lilia did not return the glance.

     Because Lilia loved the doll so much before her Kadoatie got to it, it would be impossible for her to love the doll just as much after the incident. By letting the Hidden Tower sell it, she would know that someone who could really love it with all their heart would buy it.

     And this is how, my friend, the Rejected Faerie Queen Doll came to be.

The End