Jhudora's Own Quest

      Minutes turned into hours, and the young Neopian’s eyes fell to the ground. She examined them in detail, searching for cracks or breaks in the pristine floor. It only took her a few minutes to find a fault, honing in on it like an Eyrie searching for food. She looked for ways it might cause injury, trying to find out if it needed to be fixed. The faerie had a talent for such things, finding the mistakes that needed to be fixed. It came in handy when she was making potions, because even the slightest mistake could turn a good potion into a bad one. She imagined herself standing at her cauldron, stirring normal contents into a magical spell. Her body relaxed, and she passed the rest of the time thinking of potions and magic.

      The Faerie Queen appeared in front of her almost immediately after she relaxed, as if that was her cue. “Welcome dear child,” the magnificent figure said, and the guest gazed at her in amazement. A wonderful glow surrounded her powerful looks, and pale wings spread out behind the Queen. The Dark Faerie got to her feet, not sure whether to bow or curtsey. She tried to do both, and fell over onto the floor. The Faerie Queen laughed.

     “They say even the sight of me can sweep someone off their feet,” she said, and it was a mellifluous sound. The Great Faerie offered the young one a hand, and she took it. “I suppose they were telling the truth.”

     “Your Majesty,” said the Dark Faerie. “I was told to meet you here. You needed me?”

     The Queen laughed again, and the visiting faerie noticed how its echo rang throughout the castle. She admired that laugh, and even wished she were the Queen of Faeries for a moment. Then she remembered how much work that must be, and discarded the thought entirely.

     “Call me Fyora,” the Queen replied. “And you are Jhudora, am I right?”

     Jhudora nodded, excited that she merited the attention of the greatest faerie in the world. She was almost as excited as when she made her first spell, and that was the greatest day of her life!

     “I have heard of your skill in potion-making, Jhudora, and I wish to ask you a favor.”

     “Anything, Queen Fyora,” Jhudora said, trying to make respect cover up the excitement in her voice.

     “If you’re willing, would you please make me a magic-strengthening potion? I can give you all of the Neopoints you need to buy the ingredients.”

     Jhudora looked at the Queen Faerie, confused. Why would the strongest faerie in Neopia need a magic-strengthening potion? “I don’t know how to make one, ma’am. I know how to make many spells, but that’s not one of them.”

     The Faerie Queen looked Jhudora straight in the eyes, and the Dark Faerie saw great power behind their radiant purple colour. “No one knows this potion except for me. I am trusting you with a great responsibility, Jhudora. I hope your character is as strong as I judge it to be. Will you accept my quest?”

     Jhudora gazed back at the faerie, imagining their places being switched. She wouldn’t trust anyone with this kind of potion, that’s for sure. But who was she to pass up a quest from the Faerie Queen?

     “I accept, Your Majesty.”

     The Great Faerie smiled benevolently. “Thank you, child. But you must memorize the ingredients. It is too important to allow this spell to be written down anywhere. In the wrong hands, it could be a tool of great evil. Luckily, all of the ingredients can be found in Neopia Central.”

     Jhudora nodded in agreement again. “I promise by Neopia and its stars, Queen Fyora.”

     Thirty minutes later, the Dark Faerie was in Neopia Central, having been transported there by Queen Fyora’s magic. She rushed about town, gathering all of the ingredients the Queen had asked for. It was strange, because the spell actually required the basic ingredients for the items themselves. Jhudora had to go to the Pharmacy and retrieve the herbs used in Herbal Scrambled Eggs, the Chocolate Factory for a jar of melted chocolate, the Post Office for the ingredients used in glue, and so many other places she began to lose track of time. Before she knew it, the sun was setting.

     “Finally,” she said, exiting the Coffee Shop in the Art Catacombs. She made her way to the Soup Kitchen, where Fyora said the Soup Faerie would let her use a cauldron and an empty workspace. Exactly as the Great Faerie had said, Jhudora was let into an average-sized room with spoons, ladles, and cutting boards for any ingredients that needed to be sized. Jhudora set out the ingredients and immediately set to work.

     Heating a pot of water was the first step. Next, Jhudora had to stir in sourdough from the bakery with mud from the Pizzaroo, which disgusted her. Why they had mud specially made for pizzas was beyond her understanding.

     “This is definitely a drinking potion,” she said to herself, watching the contents bubble.

     The potion maker stirred it perfectly, exactly four times every ten seconds. She had learned potion-making from every master in Faerieland, and considered herself an expert in the formation of them, although not in the inventing part. With her skillful hands, she quickly had the potion on the last step before it was complete.

     “And one handful of crushed Splime from the Smoothie Shop,” she murmured to herself. The green dust fell into the mixture, which had turned purple throughout the entire process. Jhudora admired the mixture of colours, the dark and the light blending in swirls as she stirred. After three minutes, she extinguished the fire, as instructed, and took her spoon out of the cauldron.

     The potion needed to sit for thirty minutes, so Jhudora let herself out of the room, locking up behind her. She waved to the Soup Faerie as she passed, who was busy ladling Golden Juppie soup into the bowl of a yellow Skeith who looked as if he had gone to the Battledome a few too many times. Making her way to the center of the town, she stopped to breathe in the fresh air.

     “Queen Fyora is using you,” said a mysterious voice, and Jhudora coughed mid-breath in surprise. She looked around for a source, but it didn’t make itself heard again. The young faerie relaxed, and turned to make her way back to the Soup Kitchen.

     “She doesn’t need this strength potion, does she?” the voice questioned, causing Jhudora to whirl around. But the voice fell quiet again.

     “Is this the Darkness inside of me?” she wondered, then continued on her way back.

     “You can’t let her have this potion!” the voice exclaimed, angrier this time. “She’ll abuse it, and use it to control all of Neopia.”

     “Be quiet,” Jhudora said aloud, but the voice could not be stopped.

     “If you do this, you’ll be letting Faerieland fall at her feet.”

     Doubt entered Jhudora’s mind, and the Darkness exhaled in success. “Now you see things my way.”

     “No, I don’t. I’m just contemplating what you’ve said,” she retorted.

     The Darkness remained quiet, but she could feel it reading her thoughts. Finally, it laughed happily. “Now will you listen to me?”

     Jhudora waited for the Darkness inside of her to continue.

     “Go to the Money Tree and retrieve one of its branches, then return to the potion. You must do this quickly, or the potion will set.”

     “Why one of its branches?” she asked, but she had already started moving towards the designation.

     “You don’t think all wands are made out of metal, do you?”

     Jhudora jumped in excitement. “You know how to make a wand?” she asked, having wanted one all of her life.

     “Of course. Any faerie’s inner darkness can tell you, but most think it’s too dangerous to speak with us.”

     Jhudora was so overjoyed that she didn’t listen to what the Darkness had said. She rushed to the Money Tree, waking it from its slumber.

     “I don’t have any donations right now,” the Tree groaned.

     “I don’t want any items,” she said. “I want to ask you for one of your branches!”

     The Money Tree suddenly woke up with a start. “What? Why would I give you one of my branches?”

     “It’s because of Fyora,” she said, and the Money Tree looked amazed.

     “Why didn’t you say so?” the being said, shaking his limbs until a thick, stout branch fell down at Jhudora’s feet. “Don’t worry, that one was going to fall off in the winter anyways. What’s Fyora doing nowadays?”

     “Trying to take over Faerieland,” Jhudora replied, then ran off towards the Soup Kitchen. “Thanks for the branch!” she called back.

     “No problem,” he said back, then said to himself, “That can’t be true.”

     Jhudora heard the Money Tree call out for someone other than her as she went, but she ignored it. She burst through the Soup Kitchen door, fumbling with the keys to get the door open. As soon as she did, she shut it closed behind her for privacy.

     “What now?” she whispered to the Darkness, and it filled her head.

     “Carve it,” it answered, and Jhudora set to work.

     “Hurry,” it urged, and she glanced at the potion. By her count, she had ten minutes before it set, but carving her wand wouldn’t take too long. She had already thought about this day for so long, she knew exactly what she wanted it to look like.

     She carved the handle, leaving a small pommel at the end. Next, she carved a spiral into the handle, reminded of the swirling colours of the potion. Finally, she curved the end of the branch into a sphere, being careful not to notch it accidentally. “Finished,” she announced.

     “Not quite,” the Darkness said, and put an image in her head of the improvised wand.

     “Are you sure?” Jhudora said, but the Darkness stayed silent in response.

     “Fine,” the Dark Faerie said, hollowing out the sphere and cutting it into three prongs that resembled a Kougra’s claw.

     “Now, drop it into the potion,” it ordered. Jhudora felt it was almost as excited as her. Sensing her question, he decided to reply.

     “All Darkness knows how to make the wand, but the potion you put it into can vary. This could be the strongest wand since Fyora’s!”

     “Then I can protect Faerieland from her with it?” Jhudora said questioningly, and the Darkness grunted in her head.

     “Sure, that’s exactly what you can do.”

     Exactly as the Darkness said that, the thirty minutes was up. Jhudora watched in awe as the green and purple swirls of the potion settled into position and any bubbling still happening stopped. The potion shifted, as it forcing something up from the depths of the cauldron. That was the first time Jhudora saw her wand.

     The colours of the potion had inhabited the wand, making the bright green swirl around the dark purple in the same way. A glow emitted from it, granting Jhudora a warm sensation in her arm. Her magic seemed to flow into it, then magnify and return to her.

     “Perfect!” she exclaimed, and picked up the well-crafted device. The Darkness agreed.

     “Now drink the potion,” it said. “We can’t let Fyora use it, can we?”

     “I guess not,” Jhudora replied, and poured the potion into a cup. As she did, it seemed to condense magically so that the entire cauldron fit into a single cup.

     “Whoa,” the faerie murmured in surprise. She brought the cup to her lips, letting the drink pour into her mouth and down her throat. It seemed the moment she started drinking, it was finished.

     Only seconds later, Jhudora felt the power flooding through her. Her magic was increased tenfold, and she seemed to know ways to use it that she had never thought of before. She gazed at the wand in her hand, which increased her already increasing power, and thought of the strength she had.

     Suddenly, the door burst open. Fyora stood in front of Jhudora in all her glory, her own power seeming to burst forth and attack Jhudora’s newfound ones.

     “You were going to use this potion to take over Faerieland, weren’t you?” Jhudora screamed at her in anger. It seemed any rage she had kept inside now lashed out at Fyora.

     “Poor child,” the Great Faerie said. “You’ve let your Darkness take control. You had such potential, too. You would have been one of the great ones.”

     Jhudora spit at the feet of the Queen. “Nonsense. My Darkness just told me the truth. Why else would you need a magic-strengthening potion? You traitor.”

     Fyora’s face remained solemn at this, then just said “The Rainbow Fountain is dying.”

     Jhudora was shocked for a moment, recoiling at Fyora’s words, and the Faerie Queen used this. She teleported them both back to the Castle in Faerieland, and waited for Jhudora to recover her wits.

     “You’re lying,” Jhudora said in denial, but Fyora shook her head. “I’m sorry, young one, I really am. But your actions have been motivated by greed, Darkness in each and every thought. I cannot allow you to wreak havoc on Neopia ever.”

     “What are you saying?” questioned Jhudora angrily, her rage returning slowly.

     “I have placed a spell around Faerieland with the help of other Great Faeries. You will not be able to leave again.”

     “No!” shouted Jhudora. “Impossible!” She ran out of Faerie Castle and rushed to the edge of the cloud. Weaving her way in between the crowd of Neopets, she cursed them all for every good deed they’d done. When she reached the edge of Faerieland, however, she couldn’t fly off of it. “It can’t be!” she raged again, then turned to the castle.

     “I will make you pay, Fyora, and until then I’ll have no contact with anyone like you!”

     Turning away from the house of her enemy, Jhudora raised her wand. The Dark Faerie forged a cloud from the air and pieces of the already-made Faerieland. Stronger and stronger, she wove her magic into the wisps of white. Finally, she was left with a purple cloud of he own making, and she stepped onto it.

     “This will be my home, and if you ever come here I will destroy every house from here to your horrid castle!” The cloud moved as far away from Faerieland’s main cloud as Jhudora could go, then stopped abruptly. Even her magic couldn’t pass the boundaries Fyora had set. Jhudora settled down, letting her rage fester and planning for the day she could have her revenge.

     Back in the castle, in her private chambers, Fyora looked at her two friends. The Fountain Faerie had come after hearing the news from a messenger that Jhudora thought Fyora was taking over Faerieland, and the Space Faerie had arrived shortly after. They all knew that the Darkness had consumed Jhudora.

     “What are we going to do?” asked the Fountain Faerie.

     “Once I leave Faerieland, the barrier will weaken,” the Space Faerie mentioned.

     “I know,” sighed Fyora. “We must hope that she won’t be strong enough to break them.”

     “This is the second time it has happened, Fyora. When will you learn not to trust Dark Faeries?” the Space Faerie said angrily. “And what are we to do about the Rainbow Fountain?”

     “I’ll stop trusting Dark Faeries when they stop being good potion makers. And we’ll do the same thing we did last time for the Fountain!” Fyora got to her feet, letting her power fill the room. “I’ll make the potion myself, and we’ll heal it. But there is no way that I will let you convince me to banish this one, too. The Darkest Faerie is where I draw the line.”

     “Fine,” the Space Faerie said. “I trust your wisdom, Fyora.” With a flash, the Space Faerie disappeared.

     “I’ll keep an eye on her. I know she’ll try to make the potion again, but the storekeepers already know to keep the ingredients from anyone but me. And your fountain will be fine.”

     “I know,” the Fountain Faerie answered, then returned to care for the fountain.

     Fyora walked to the window and stared at the purple cloud. Jhudora had already constructed a house with her powers, and Fyora could sense spells being made to protect the cloud from the Faerie Queen. Maybe she shouldn’t have given Jhudora a quest, but Jhudora had deserved her own quest, no matter how it had turned out.

The End