The Potion

     The Lupe clasped it in his paws and brought it close to his face. He peered into the strange liquid. It looked like water now and he suspected anybody who hadn't shaken it would mistake it for the tasteless, colourless liquid. He pulled out the cork at the top and a torrent of ambrosial scent filled his nostrils. It reminded him of the flowers he would pick for mom on a hot summer's day but it was more vibrant. He sniffed the air. It was magnificent. He began to wonder what it would taste like.

     No, he thought. I don't know what it is. Could be poison. But it was too sweet to be poison. He then remembered the art of trickery that Dark Faeries used to fool their victims. Yes. It could well be poison.

     He clutched the potion in his paws. It might be deadly to drink but it sure wasn't deadly to look at. He would keep this potion all to himself. He would put it in his special box -- the one he kept his most treasured possessions in -- where no one, especially not his brothers, would find it.

     He reached his front door, knocked, and then hid the potion behind his back. His younger brother, Brett, opened it and said hello in a cheerful manner. Kyle replied quickly, eager to get upstairs into the safety of his room. This potion was his and no one, no one, was to see it or touch it except him.

      * * *

     She rubbed her hands together in glee and smiled, her white teeth glimmering and her purple lips shining as the dim light rippled across them. The Dark Faerie looked intently into the purple smoky ball and in there she could see her victim, a young Lupe named Kyle, rummaging around in his room savagely, trying to find the box with his most treasured possessions stuffed away safely inside it.

     "It's working," she said.

      * * *

     He had begun to huff and wheeze as he pulled the big box from under his bed. He uncorked the potion bottle and sniffed once more. Maybe it would be okay to drink. It smelled too good to be poison anyway. He looked intently into the depth of the potion locked away in the bottle. He brought it to his mouth. He tipped it up.

     "Hey!" yelled a voice. "It was Brett. "Wanna play a game of…" He stopped mid sentence. "Kyle, what's that?"

     Kyle, heart racing, attempted to hide the potion behind his back but it was too late this time. His brother had seen and now he'd want it all for himself.

     "I-it's water," he stammered. "You don't like w-water, do you, Brett?"

     "No but…are you sure that's water? You're acting mighty suspicious about it. In fact, I'd say you were trying to hide it from me. What is it really, Kyle?

     "Nothing!!" he yelled, stamping his left paw on the floor. A drop of the potion fell onto the floor and dried instantly. "Just go away before I do something I really regret!"

     "No!" his defiant brother yelled. He advanced towards his brother and Kyle, sensing that his brother would take the potion away from him, quickly gulped the whole thing down. He coughed, gagged and spluttered and dropped the empty bottle onto the floor. It tasted awful, much unlike its scent, and no matter how much he tried to rid of the taste, it still lingered.

     "Now go!" he yelled, even more fiercely than before. The hair on his back stood on end and he snarled. Brett ran.

      * * *

     "It's working already," she said, a slight cackle in her voice. "It shouldn't take long to take on the full effect. And then he'll be mine to take. And mine only," she added.

     She peered once more into the ball she had created with her dark magic. In it, the Lupe was thrashing around in his room, knocking over his furniture and ripping his pillows and duvets. A puff of white feathers erupted from the pillows and filled the room and his younger brother lay, cowering in pain as his back legs became trapped, underneath an upturned cupboard.

     The Dark Faerie smiled. He had turned savage. It was just what she wanted.

     "Incredible."

      * * *

     He was out of breath and hot. What had come over him? He looked around his room with wide eyes. What had he done?

     "B-Brett!" he yelled. "Brett, w-where are you?" He found no answer and was getting worried. Did he leave? Kyle hoped so. He didn't want his brother to see what had just happened.

     There was a noise and a whimper. Kyle looked down at the gap in-between the upturned cupboard and the floor. A tiny paw tried to claw its way out.

     "Brett!" Kyle crouched and took the small paw in his own. "Come on; let's get you out of there."

     Brett cried out in pain as his elder brother took both of his arms and pulled.

     "My legs!"

     "You're trapped! Oh no, hang on, Brett. Just hang on."

     Kyle pushed the cupboard back up and Brett bounded out. He licked a wound on his back leg but there didn't seem any real damage done. Kyle crouched down beside his baby brother and looked into his eyes. They were shaking and watery as though they were trying desperately to hold back tears.

     "Why did you do this?" he sobbed. "This room means so much to you. Why did you have to destroy it?"

     Kyle found that he too was beating back the tears.

     "I…I don't know." He found that was all he could say before his throat seemed to seize up to prevent his bottled feelings and questions from escaping.

     "What was that potion?" Brett enquired.

     "Nothing," his brother replied immediately and with a sharp edge to his voice. "Just forget that you ever saw it. Okay?"

     "Okay," his brother replied. "Just make sure that you NEVER do anything like that EVER again! Because I like you just the way you are." He smiled. Little did he know that today would be the last day he would see his brother.

     Kyle left his room, regardless of his brother's yells for him to return and clean up his mess, and proceeded downstairs.

     "Hi," called his eldest brother. Kyle ignored him.

     Kyle's eyes had glazed over but were wide open as if he was looking at something fascinating but that he was the only one that could see it; something fascinating in his mind. He knocked the vase of flowers from the shelf with a swipe of his left paw and the vase smashed into tiny little pieces on the floor, the flowers lying limp in the pool of water that had once been their source of life. The sound of the glass smashing did not stir Kyle's senses. He was in a world of his own.

     Kyle's owner came charging into the hallway, demanding to know what was going on. Kyle ignored her too and left through the front door, slamming it shut behind him. It slammed with a bang making both his brother and his owner jump.

      * * *

     She watched with glee as the Lupe destroyed the homes in his town. He could get inside them so easily. You could do anything you wanted when you had the power; the power of darkness; the power of evil. She clapped her hands together as she watched him destroy house after house and saw Neopians running in fear for their lives. With this abrupt chaos, and with a savage Lupe seen by all, no one would suspect the Dark Faerie for anything. She could take over Neopia, start afresh, with new towns and cities, and she would be the ruler of it all. She would have to get rid of 'him' first though. She glared at the Lupe. He was still doing a perfect job but no matter how well or bad he did it, it would still lead to the same thing; death. He could talk. He could spurt out everything if he wanted to. She wasn't about to take that chance.

      * * *

     Kyle had done his deed at Neopia Central, leaving people crying, houses and shops ruined, and headed next for Meridell. Meridell had very little to begin with but this did not bother the savage Lupe for the darkest of all Dark Faeries was controlling him and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

     "Please stop!" the owner of Ye Old Petpets pleaded, but Kyle wouldn't. The Petpets were huddled up one corner in a quivering mass as Kyle thrashed his way through the store, destroying everything.

     He had started to wheeze from tiredness but he had completed four more jobs. He had destroyed Meridell, Faerieland, Mystery Island and Terror Mountain and, as the day turned slowly to night, and the chilly winds had moved in, Neopia was nothing more than a wreck. Shops lay unused and derelict as did homes, trees and plants had been ruined, and everything was a mess. Even Neopets and Petpets were roaming the streets, sodden with tears and full of sorrow and anger.

     He felt something tugging at his heart; like an unknown force beckoning him. Someone was calling him, someone far away. He had to go there. "Follow the clouds" an icy voice said in his head. "Follow the clouds and you shall see me."

     It was a woman's voice. She had a strong accent and sounded very powerful. He would follow the clouds just as she had ordered him to. He started to walk forwards not really knowing where the clouds would lead. Minutes passed, and then hours and the clouds were gradually darkening. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, making the surrounding clouds turn purple. And then he saw her; A Faerie, standing in the clouds, her arms outstretched and her hair billowing outwards.

     "Come to me," the voice said in his head. "I have the power you need. Come to me."

     And so Kyle did. His head seemed miles away and his eyes were going in and out of focus. He no longer had any control over his body, it seemed. He didn't care though. He couldn't.

     "I'm glad you arrived," the Faerie said. "I was beginning to think you had tugged free of my grasp. I see that it isn't the case. Do you know why I've brought you here, Kyle?"

     "No," he replied, dully.

     "You were… how can I put this? My slave, weren't you?"

     "Yes," he replied in the same dull tone.

     "And would you like to carry on? Would you? Would you not tell a soul about anything? Would you take the blame all by yourself, leaving me out of everything so that nobody would suspect anything?"

     "Of course."

     "Lies. I know everything, Lupe. I know what you're feeling, what you're thinking. You are lying to me. And for that you must pay the ultimate price; death."

     Kyle's heart was pumping wildly and his head was spinning. He tried to run but found that his legs would no longer support his weight. He dropped to the ground as the Dark Faerie raised her hands. Bolts of lightning erupted from the dark clouds and the thunder bellowed, the sound ricocheting through all of Neopia. And then the clouds were gone. And so was Kyle.

The End