Harmless Wishes: Part Five

     "Those rascals," she whispered. "Eating when they should be making wishes!" She harrumphed. "Ah, no matter. I don't have to wait too long." Her piercing red eyes were narrowed and on her lips was a cruel, mischievous smile…

          **********

      "So, who's next?" Yannagiba asked everyone.

      They were back in his room, in their respectful positions, eyeing the Gelert expectantly.

      "I am," Nadashikoh said automatically with a wave of her paws.

      Yannagiba smiled in relief. Good. Nadashikoh was back to her own good, ah, bad self.

      "I don't care who goes next," Yuki murmured faintly.

      Chi just looked at them wearily. He shrugged.

      "Well, if no one is against this, then I say," Yannagiba said, "Nadashikoh can have the turn."

      "YES!!!" the Faerie Aisha shouted in delight. "FINALLY!"

      "Okay," Chi and Yuki said in unison.

      Better let her have what she wants for a while, Yannagiba, Chi, and Yuki thought simultaneously.

      Nadashikoh eagerly grabbed the bottle of wishdust from Yannagiba's grasp.

      "Hey, take it easy!" Yannagiba growled. "You might break it or something."

      "I'll be careful," Nadashikoh told him. "Really."

      "What are you going to wish for?" Chi asked curiously.

      Nadashikoh took out a pinch of wishdust. "I've given this matter a lot of thought," she said carefully, "and I've decided that the one thing I want in the whole wide world is…" She paused dramatically and hesitated for a moment.

      "Don't you want to ask our advice on this, at least?" Yannagiba grumbled, looking at his sister with half concern and half irritation.

      "Oh, I don't need to," she replied loftily. "I've got it all figured out inside my head. Don't worry." Nadashikoh gazed at the wishdust. "I wish…I wish I was the most beautiful one in Neopia…" She blew.

      Just as they had expected, the mist of sparkling golden glitter returned and surrounded Nadashikoh. When the haze cleared, they were surprised to see that their much-loved sister was no longer there. She was gone. All that remained was the bottle of wishdust, still full of shining, mystical sand.

      "What just happened here?" Yannagiba asked the bottle worriedly.

     **********

      Meanwhile, Nadashikoh found herself inside a breathtaking purple tower. The place, wherever this was, was so magnificent. It was difficult to describe it in words. The beautiful walls were made of purple marble. There were matching marble pillars. As the Aisha stared at the high ceiling in awe, she noticed that it was designed with various stained glass works of Neopets and Faeries. She stooped down to touch the shiny, squeaky floor.

      "This is…simply breathtaking," she whispered as her hand grazed its surface. Suddenly, Nadashikoh stopped moving. "A hand!" She stared at her hand, her very own hand, made of porcelain-colored flesh and the perfect fingers with clean and pretty nails.

      The wishdust had not failed in granting her wish. It had made her into the most beautiful being in Neopia. She was a gorgeous queen with a pair of wings and magical powers, someone who belonged in an enormous castle and kept the Hidden Tower supplied with rare items. The Faerie Queen Fyora, who else?

     **********

      "Let's stay calm," Chi told his brothers. This is turning into a habit, he thought.

      Yannagiba was already pacing around the room, muttering incoherent phrases to himself. He was going crazy.

      "Hysterics won't bring Nadashikoh back," Yuki said quietly, ebony eyes not losing their peaceful presence. "The wishdust will."

      Yannagiba brought himself to a halt. "You're right!" he cried. "All I have to do is wish that Nadashikoh be brought back here." He turned to grab the bottle.

      "Wait," the Chia said seizing his paw. "Let's think for a while. I mean, what if you wish her back and she's…somebody else?"

      "He's right," Yuki said. He closed his eyes then opened them. "Where do you think she might be?"

      "The wishdust was supposed to turn her into the most beautiful one in Neopia. Instead, it brought her somewhere we don't know!" the Gelert wailed. "I can't believe that shopkeeper sold me faulty stuff! I have to return this thing."

      Yuki hid a smile. "For such a smart Gelert, you sure aren't thinking straight," he told Yannagiba.

      "He's hyperventilating," Chi explained. "He'll come back to his senses soon enough."

      "The wishdust always works," Yuki said calmly. "Assuming that our sister is now the most beautiful one of all, where would she be?"

      "Here!" Yannagiba sputtered. He paused to think and frowned. "Maybe she's in a grooming parlour. No, that can't be right."

      "First of all," the Kacheek interjected. "Who is the most beautiful one in Neopia?"

      "I always thought Edna the witch was very pretty," Yannagiba ventured.

      Chi looked disgusted. "You have weird taste," he told him. The Chia turned to face Yuki. "Queen Fyora in Faerieland."

      "But, Edna really is pretty," Yannagiba butted in seriously. He puckered his brow. "Who's this Fyora?"

      Chi and Yuki both ignored him.

      "Right," Yuki said gently. "Now, all we need to do is wish ourselves there and see what happened to our sister before doing anything else."

      "Why do we need to go there?" Yannagiba asked, looking mystified. "What's wrong with just wishing her back to us?"

      "Wishing her back would be too easy, don't you think?" Yuki said slyly. "I, for one, am very curious about how Nadashikoh's doing. Aren't you?"

      Yannagiba blinked. He promptly lunged for the bottle and made a wish. In a matter of seconds, they were in Fyora's castle. The three pets looked around. The palace was a very busy place. Different kinds of Faeries were there, all asking to see the queen for guidance.

      "Now, where's Nadashikoh?" Yannagiba wondered.

      "There she is," Chi whispered in his ear while pointing.

      Fyora, the Faerie Queen, was seated on the throne. There was a frazzled grimace on her stunning face and she massaged her temples bitterly. In front of her, a Light Faerie was talking about some urgent matter.

      "Do I really have to listen to this?" Queen Fyora said, rolling her eyes.

      The Light Faerie pretended not to hear. "As you see, my queen, we need all the help we can get. We, Light Faeries, can't finish the job by ourselves. I would like to request for the help of a few Earth Faeries. But, if your Highness has a better solution, I would be glad to listen and take your advice." She curtsied.

      "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT, OKAY?" Fyora screamed, purple eyes glinting angrily.

      "Queen Fyora," the Light Faerie murmured, looking very puzzled.

      The other Faeries all stopped conversing among themselves after the queen's outburst. Then, just as suddenly, they began buzzing about Queen Fyora's odd behaviour.

      "What's wrong with her?" an Air Faerie whispered to a Water Faerie.

      "I don't know but it worries me," the Water Faerie replied with a shrug.

      "She probably just got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," a Darkness Faerie contributed with a cackle.

      From behind a pillar, the three Neopets looked cautiously at all the commotion.

      "That's not Nadashikoh," Yannagiba said impatiently.

      "Wake up, Yannagiba," Yuki chided. "That is her."

           Grabbing his brothers by the paws, Chi dragged them towards the throne. "Excuse me…coming through…" Startled Faeries stepped out of the way and watched as the three continued walking.

      Nadashikoh's, or rather, Fyora's eyes lit up at the sight of her brothers coming to her aid. She thought she would love being the most beautiful one of all because it had been her dream since childhood. As it turned out, it came with a lot of responsibility (and it was very boring, too). She wasn't ready for that.

      "What took you so long?" she greeted them with a dazzling smile.

      The other Faeries stared, dumbfounded, as the unlikely Neopet trio took Queen Fyora by the hand.

      "Let go of the queen, Neopets!" the Light Faerie before the throne cried out. "Let go of our queen!"

      "Don't worry about me, Faeries," Queen Fyora said with a grand sweep of her arm. "Uh…they won't hurt me. They are…uh, friends all the way from Neopia Central."

      "I wish Nadashikoh would go back into who she really is and for Queen Fyora to return to her rightful place," Yannagiba said after blowing a few grains of wishdust.

      Yuki took a pinch of wishdust for himself. "I wish the four of us were back home…"

      In one enchanting moment, the Faerie Queen Fyora returned to her senses and the four Neopets were gone.

      "Huh?" Fyora said, blinking her eyes. "What happened?"

      "Queen Fyora," the surrounding Faeries murmured worriedly. "Are you alright?"

      "That was close," Nadashikoh's disembodied voice said.

     **********

      The Wocky, still wrapped in scarves, smiled as she gazed through the pool of water. She was sitting on a large rough stone in a small dark cave.

      "Three more wishes," she said with anticipation. "Just three more…"

      She stood up quietly. The pool of water was actually a magical brew placed in a huge cauldron that was so black it almost blended into the darkness. The Wocky dipped her paw in the water. The images in it were distorted until finally, they disappeared.

      "Hurry up and make another harmless wish, dearie," the Wocky whispered ominously. "I can't wait to rule over Neopia…"

To be continued...