Orb of the Fire Faerie

Dedicated to: bellabutt78, ryansmum, gellingirl_713, muhsmush78, danielle_zhu, and the other people who supported me :)

"Ahh, perfect!" exclaimed the pleased voice of Ember, the Fire Faerie. She was brandishing a perfect orb of flame in her hands.

      The Fountain Faerie shied away and crossed her arms.

      "Ember, what in the name of Fyora is that?"

      Ember frowned back at her. "Well, my dear Fiona, it is an orb. The Orb of the Fire Faerie! It is where I keep all the secrets to my magic. It is far more valuable than the book that Fyora allowed me to publish for the Neopians."

      Fiona frowned. "But…but what if one of your enemies stole it and used it against you? Your powers would diminish and you would die!"

      Ember twirled around in a circle, copper hair flowing around her. "Nonsense!" she exclaimed happily. "Everybody loves a Fire Faerie!"

      How wrong she was.

      ~*~

     "Shhh…Arara…" mumbled a Fire Scorchio nervously.

     "I AM quiet, Anin, most Poogles are quiet when they try and steal the Fire Faerie's orb of magic," answered the Fire Scorchio's partner in crime, Arara the spotted Poogle. The two desperate thieves were trying to steal the Orb of the Fire Faerie so they could sell her magic and afford to pay off their debts and maybe even start a Neohome.

      "Anin, I found it," whispered Arara. "The Fire Faerie's Orb of Magic." The Spotted Poogle slipped the glowing orb into her sack and the two snuck away quietly into the night.

      ~*~

      "FIONA!" came a startled shriek of anger.

      Fiona, the Fountain Faerie, who had been sleeping over at her sister's house, bolted out of bed in shock and screamed, almost scared to death, and dashed to the kitchen, bathrobe and all.

      "What?" she gasped.

      "I told you not to touch my orb!" she screeched, hair almost sticking up straight from her hair.

      Fiona crossed her arms in an effort to settle her heart. "I have not touched the 'Oh Great Orb of the Fire Faerie'."

      "Then where is it?" she screamed, pointing at the empty case where the glowing orb had stood.

      "How am I supposed to know?" Fiona said crossly, folding her arms.

      "Now what will I do?" wailed the desolate Fire Faerie. "All my magic! Gone! I am finished! Forever! Oh! My magic!"

      Fiona frowned, worried. Without magic, faeries would diminish and die. Ember could not die…she was her sister! She could not let her sister die! "What can I do to help?" asked the Fountain Faerie worriedly.

      "Help me get my magic Orb of the Fire Faerie back!" Ember screeched, tearing at her hair.

      Suddenly, the Faerie slumped to the floor, color rushing out of her body. "My magic," she said. "The one with the orb is draining the magic out of my orb!"

      In a few minutes, the Fire Faerie was bedridden, with no energy left in her body.

      "I will return with your orb," called Fiona. "I just need to think of something!"

           ~*~

     Fiona was sitting on her fountain, hands in head and frowning. She had been thinking for ages and she still could not think of anything at all!

     Suddenly, she was flipped over backward in her fountain as a Spotted Poogle and Fire Scorchio cannoned into her. Spluttering and dripping wet, she emerged from the Fountain with the help of the two Neopians.

      "Sorry," said the Fire Scorchio. "I'm Anin, and my partner here is Arara. We were just on our way to complete a Water Faerie Quest. Can you help us? We're looking for "From Eggs to Feathers".

      Fiona felt as if she had fallen into the Fountain all over again. A Quest! A Fountain Faerie Quest! She could offer to paint one of these pets a different color if they brought her Ember's Orb of the Fire Faerie.

      "I think I have the book in my closet," she said. "And I will give it to you for no charge if you do me a favor! I need you to do one of my Quests!"

      The two Neopets exchanged bemused glances. "We-we would be honored!"

      The swap was made, and Fiona gave one of her Quests:

     You have a new quest!

     The Fountain Faerie wants you to get her: 'Orb of the Fire Faerie'!!

     Anin and Arara glanced at each other, eyes bulging and mouths open. Did the Faerie know that they had stolen Ember's orb the night before?

      "All right," Anin said hurriedly, rushing away.

      The two dashed behind the fountain and murmured: "Should we give up Ember's Orb of the Fire Faerie just to be painted another color?"

      "I'll throw in 100,000 Neopoints!" called Fiona, who had been eavesdropping.

      The two Neopets frowned and started whispering so they wouldn't be overheard. "I think we should do it!" Arara said triumphantly.

      The two emerged from behind the fountain and said: "Here you go, lady!" Anin exclaimed, drawing Ember's orb out of their pockets.

      Fiona started getting suspicious. Ember's orb was one of a kind. Maybe these two had stolen it?? "Thank you!" she exclaimed. Clapping her hands twice, a large moneybag appeared in Arara's hands. "And here is your color!" she said, deciding for them. Fiona pushed the two Neopets into her fountain and said: "Great! Now you're invisible. I guess you can steal more Faerie items now, huh?"

      Arara and Anin blushed red and tucked the swag bag into their sack, just in case the Fountain Faerie should have other thoughts about giving them 100,000 Neopoints just to return the item that they had stolen.

      The Faerie winked and waved, pocketing the orb. Before the invisible Neopets could even apologize, she whistled shrilly for her Faerie Peophin and flew all the way to her sister's house.

           ~*~

     "Ember?" Fiona asked timidly. What if her sister had already diminished? She had no idea if all the magic was drained out of the orb. Would it be completely useless now?

      "Do…you…have my…?" asked Ember weakly from her bed. She couldn't even move her head to see.

      "Yes!" exclaimed Fiona, drawing out the glowing bulb of light. She placed it next to her sister and waited for the powers to be drawn out of the orb and back into her sister's wings.

      The magic was all out of the orb in several minutes, back into the Faerie's wings. "Keep the orb," said Ember. "It's just a pretty keepsake, now. I have all my magic in my wings again. You can release the Orb of the Fire Faerie to the Neopians if they ever have a Fire Faerie Gallery or something like that. I'm just happy to have my magic back! And I now know that I should never take my magic and put it into some kind of normal object."

      Fiona nodded, satisfied and even a little smug.

      She pulled a little shell from out of her pocket; she had found it while fishing in the Underwater Fishing Cove.

      "Hey!" exclaimed Ember. "That's a really pretty shell! Hmmm…what about The Shell of the Fire Faerie! This would make a brilliant place to keep my magic!"

      Ember waited for a response.

      "Fiona? Fiona! What do you think of the new name?!"

      Silence.

      "Fiona!! I have really learned my lesson, but don't you think 'Shell of the Fire Faerie' rolls off your tongue nicely? I shall really have to consider the thought!"

The End