Faerie Wings III: The Nightmare of Dreamland: Part Eleven

      "This place is amazing!” Illere gasped as she gazed at the breathtaking scenery. She looked up at the bright blue sky and the puffy white clouds. The sight of daisies blooming on the vast green meadow made her smile, and yet she couldn’t help feeling a chill go down her spine.

      “You, earthy-girl!” Aiken barked, approaching Illere. “Is this your portal?”

      Illere nodded and looked ahead to see Kira lying on the grass, her eyes glossy and wide. She ran over to her friend and shook her shoulders. “Kira, wake up now! Come on, the portal will disappear by the time you wake up!”

      “I’m afraid there’s nothing else you can do here, faerie-girl,” Aiken muttered. “The only thing you can do, though, is leave Dreamland with that Air faerie.”

      “What about–” Illere began, and then stopped when her head began to ache and her vision suddenly blurred. Her movements became more wobbly as she struggled to get up, feeling so nauseous that she had to collapse upon her knees once more to rest.

      Aiken sighed and shook his head. “These two faeries will never be able to leave at this pace,” he grumbled to himself as he watched Illere stand up. “Are you sure you’re okay, puny Earth faerie?”

      “I have to get out of here,” Illere insisted, stumbling as she walked towards the portal. “Couldn’t get Kira to awake…and still feeling nausea…”

      Feeling more impatient, Aiken pushed Illere into the portal and trudged over to where Kira was laying. Grabbing her wrist, the blue Kougra pulled her over to the portal and, after bidding a quick farewell, threw her into the portal and watched as the only gateway from Dreamland was closed up momentarily. “This was how things were meant to be,” Aiken told himself. “Now she’s finally gone…and I remain alone for possibly an eternity.”

      Brillare hovered over Illere and showered her with her healing sun rays. “I think Illere will be okay,” she reported to Sirena and Ardore.

      “I still can’t believe we had to change our square formation into a triangle,” Sirena sighed. “Nonetheless, at least Illere will be fine after her nap.”

      “If everything’s fine and dandy, then where’s Kira?” asked Ardore, sounding as if she really didn’t care at all. “Shouldn’t Miss Airhead be out here with us?”

      “It could be that because Kira fell asleep on her bed, she could be lying in her bedroom as we speak,” said Brillare thoughtfully. “This means–”

      “Kira’s finally awake!” Sirena interrupted, yelling loudly. “Let’s go over to her neohome right now and check up on her!”

      “I’ll stay here and check how Illere is doing,” said Brillare. “Ardore, you follow Sirena to Kira’s neohome.”

      “No way,” Ardore insisted. “I have a boutique to look after, anyways. I’m done helping Kira for the rest of the year.”

      Squealing eagerly, Sirena grabbed Ardore’s hand and ran down the hallways and down the stairs. “We need to run quickly if we want to see Kira wake up from her beauty sleep!” Ardore groaned as Sirena continued to pull her through the streets of Faerie City.

      As if she had a terrible nightmare, Kira sprang up on her bed and looked around frantically. Rather than awakening in a grassy meadow adorned with flowers, the Top Air faerie found herself in her familiar bedroom, the periwinkle walls adorned with posters of cute petpets. So it WAS only a dream? Kira thought as she stretched her arms. At least I feel a bit refreshed. I feel as if I’ve been sleeping for ages.

      Once she got off her bed and walked her bedroom, Kira began to feel as if many of her Dreamland memories growing fainter the longer she stayed awake. She could still envision the different sceneries she witnessed, and the Snowbunny she befriended, and the giant rainbow with the odd colour scheme…and Aiken, the Blue Kougra who had previously been a master Neopian thief. I really hope he somehow made it out of Dreamland, Kira hoped, her heart feeling heavy. After all, he wasn’t that bad…

      “RISE AND SHINE!!” Sirena sang as she burst into Kira’s bedroom, an annoyed Ardore lagging behind. The Top Water faerie ran over to Kira and gave her a tight squeeze. “Oh Kira, thank goodness you’re alright! For a second, I thought you would still be asleep, and yet here you are! And you don’t look a day older, either. Your nap must have done wonders for your skincare, girlfriend!”

      “Yippee for her return,” said Ardore unenthusiastically. “Can I go now?”

      “We should at least get Kira some ice cream,” insisted Sirena, freeing Kira from her grasp. “Then we can tell her everything that’s happened while she was in Dream-World.”

      “It’s called ‘Dreamland’,” Kira corrected. “And why, what happened?”

      “Nothing really important,” said Ardore, “Just an upcoming Princess Coronation and the next faerie princess being that Dark faerie Diana what’s-her-face.”

      “Diana?” asked Kira. She thought for a few moments and then gasped, “Wait, do you mean Delilah??”

      “Yeah, her,” said Ardore. “It’s not really important news.”

      So Aiken was right; there really is an upcoming Princess Coronation, Kira thought, feeling anxious over her friend Delilah being crowned the faerie princess. Then she felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach. “You guys, how far away is the Princess Coronation?”

      “Three days, I believe,” said Sirena. “Now, about the ice cream…”

      “I think we should devise a plan to protect Delilah from Suzette,” said Kira, “at least, if Suzette decides to show herself at the Coronation.”

      “Well she’s already attacked two other faeries, so a plan wouldn’t be bad idea,” agreed Sirena. “Let’s talk it over with Brillare and Illere later.”

      Kira nodded. “Before we do, I want to go see my mother. I can’t wait to give her a big hug and seeing her smile!”

      The day of the Princess Coronation came quickly. By noontime, Kira and Illere were following their fiend Delilah around, guarding soon-to-be crowned faerie princess from any attackers–and Suzette. While the sun was setting and the sky began to darken, Delilah was seated in front of a vanity in the royal palace, watching through the mirror as a Light faerie brushed her hair. “I’m really glad you’re alright, Kira!” said the Dark faerie cheerfully. “Are you sure you’ve recovered from your Dreamland experience?”

      Kira nodded, forcing herself to smile. “I still feel tried sometimes, but mostly I’m fine. The faerie physician I spoke with said I should be completely energized by the end of next week.”

      “Isn’t next week the last week to study for the Faeriewood midterms?” asked Delilah.

      “You’re right,” Kira groaned. “Oh well, I suppose I can just cram every night and day.”

      Illere gave Kira a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I would be glad to help you catch up on your studies. How about we start tomorrow?”

      “That’s sounds great! Thank so much, Illere,” said Kira gratefully.

      “No problem.” Illere turned to Delilah and asked, “So, are you still nervous about the Coronation ceremony?”

      Delilah nodded. “Fyora promised it wouldn’t take a while, and yet I still feel as if my stomach is full of petpetpets. At least after this, I can begin preparations for my duty as the future Faerie Queen.”

      “How did you find out about your fated destiny?” asked Kira.

      “An Air faerie named Ms. Livonia shows up at my home and handed me and told me I must meet with Fyora immediately,” Delilah explained. “Apparently Fyora had been planning for weeks for my Princess Coronation, and she had even able to clear some time in her schedule so she can tell me about my future.” She chewed on one of her long, purple fingernails. “I’m still nervous, though. I mean… I’m the next princess of Faerieland?”

      “It’s a tragic crime,” a quiet voice snarled from behind the three faeries.

      Delilah turned and saw a strange faerie standing behind her, wearing a deep purple cape and hood. “Who are you? What do you want?”

      Kira took a step towards the faerie. “Suzette!” she cried. “You better leave the palace immediately!”

      “Oh, and what will you do if I don’t?” asked Suzette. “Will you be sending me on a trip to Dreamland?”

      “You backstabber,” Kira sneered angrily. “I can’t believe I thought you were actually a friend of mine! To think if I never took that book from you, I would have never been sent to your mind prison!”

      Poofing up a long oak staff, Illere pointed its round end towards Suzette. “We know exactly what you wanted to do, Suzette. Don’t try and pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about.”

      Suzette’s darkened eyes glimmered. “Oh I see…so you two faeries and your princess think you’ve solved the whole riddle correctly?”

      “Oak Twister!” Illere chanted, and a light green tornado slithered out of the staff and towards Suzette, who calmly stood and watched the twister swirl around her. After the twister disappeared, Illere and Kira noticed that Suzette was no longer wearing her hood and cloak, which lay next to her in a heap.

      Suzette looked up at the girls and exposed her face and wide, sinister eyes. The two faeries, and Delilah, couldn’t believe what they were looking at: Their foe was an actual Darkest faerie!

      To be continued…