An Unlikely Solution

      "What is it, Mom?"

      "I've been thinking. Your eleventh birthday is coming up soon!" Zeida nodded, curious to know what was going to come next. "Well, let's be honest, that's pretty old in the whole world of Neopia. I thought I should get you something really special this year, and I know that you're pretty tired of your current colour, so.... How would you feel about a paintbrush?"

      Zeida's eyes briefly lit up, imagining the possibilities. She had been a cloud Aisha for quite a few years now, and Maria was definitely right in suggesting that she's a little bored with it. But then she frowned. "But, Mom... you know we don't have much money..."

      Maria shook her head from side to side, vehemently dismissing Zeida's comment. "Look, I've been saving up for a while. You know, in hopes that they'd finally come out with Neoschools! But seeing as that is clearly never going to happen, I feel that it's quite appropriate to give you a big gift this year."

      "Well... how much do you have saved?" asked Zeida, not wanting to get her hopes up.

      Maria smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's not too much. But I should have enough to get you a Disco Fever paint brush, if you're interested!"

      Zeida rolled her eyes. "Mom, that was such a passing phase from like three years ago. Disco is SO over. Look, you really don't have to get me anything special. I'm good with just the regular plushie and birthday cake."

      Maria frowned. "I really want to do something special for you this year, though... Are you really sure?" Zeida nodded in response, and Maria sighed. "All right, all right. Have it your way." Zeida smiled, gave her mom a hug, and headed back up to her room.

      Sitting on the windowsill, Zeida looked pensively out the window onto the sight of her brother and sister playing a game of Gormball with some of the Neopets from next-door. 'I really would like a new coat...' she thought to herself. 'It's just, ever since I was just a young Aisha I wanted to be Lost Desert! But it took all of the Neopoints mom had to paint me Cloud. I don't want to ask for anything more. Lost Desert has never been a realistic option in this family.'

      She sighed and decided to go for a walk to get her mind off of things.

      As she walked out the front door, her sister Zvetty called out to her, "Hey, Zeida! Do you wanna play Gormball with us? You, me and Kazu make an awesome team!"

      Zeida smiled sadly. "No, thanks, I'm just gonna go for a walk around the neighbourhood." Zvetty shrugged and ran back to her game.

      As she walked down the lane, Zeida noticed what appeared to be someone sprawled out on the ground in front of her. It was a Faerie, which wasn't surprising, since their Neohome is located in Faerieland. She ran out to see if the Faerie was okay.

      "Excuse me, are you all right?" she asked, holding out a paw to help the Faerie up.

      "I'm fine, I'm fine!" said the Faerie shortly, ignoring Zeida's kindly offered paw. When the Faerie turned around, Zeida saw with horror that the Faerie was none other than Jhudora, the most evil Dark Faerie of them all! Ever since the unfortunate day when she failed one of Jhudora's quests, Zeida has been terribly afraid of her.

      "Uh- um- I'm really sorry Miss Jhudora ma'am!" Zeida said quickly, turning around to rush back home.

      "Wait, wait. Sorry. Could you hear me out for a second?" asked Jhudora. Zeida winced slightly before turning back to face her. "Look. I have a problem. Other than my balance." Zeida forced a smile. "It's... it's actually a really big problem. You know that awesome wand I have? The Wand of the Dark Faerie? You know, that you would have received had you actually managed to not fail miserably at my quests?"

      "Okay, okay, I get the point; move on!" said Zeida, glaring. Jhudora smiled awkwardly.

      "I'm just all out of sorts, sorry. You see, my wand has gone MISSING!" she exclaimed, with horror. Zeida's eyes opened wide. "I don't know what I'm going to do... I've been looking for it everywhere, but to no avail!"

      "So um... I guess you want something from me...?"

      "I want you to help me find it, of course!" replied Jhudora, glad that she caught on. Zeida grimaced.

      I don't want to help her! thought Zeida. I mean, I guess I do feel bad for her. But she's always so mean to everyone! Ahh, but I like helping people. Even if they don't exactly deserve it. Should I do it?

      As if to conveniently relieve her of any doubts, Jhudora continued: "Your services won't go unpaid. I'll give you something. Anything! Anything in all of Neopia"

      'Hmmm...' thought Zeida. 'My Lost Desert paint brush? Is it worth it? ...Yeah, of course it is!!' "Alright, I'll do it," she replied. Jhudora grinned.

      "Oh, thank you! Thank you!!!" exclaimed Jhudora. "All right, let's get started."

      ***

      For the next few hours, Zeida and Jhudora searched high and low all over Neopia. They first looked on every cloud of Faerieland, and then they began to try all of the other areas, too. They traversed the horrible cold snow of Terror Mountain, endured the scolding heat of the Lost Desert, and swam the depths of Maraqua... but they were met with no luck. Then, Zeida had a bright thought.

      "Um, Miss Jhudora?" began Zeida. Jhudora looked at her, seething (the journey had not improved her already callous demeanor). "Have you considered that perhaps Illusen took it?"

      Jhudora glared at her for a few more moments before her face relaxed. She smacked her palm to her head. "Ugh, of course! HOW did I not think of that? I guess since Illusen hasn't really done anything to instigate a fight in a while, other than just existing, I kind of forgot about her."

      And so they traveled to Meridell. They passed King Skarl's magnificent castle and went over the vast plains and rolling hills until the finally reached Illusen's Glade.

      Illusen saw them approaching and came out to meet them. "Jhudora! What on Neopia do you think you're doing here?!? You're going to frighten away all of my helpers."

      "Look, Illusen, don't you go thinking you can play innocent with me. I know you took my wand, now give it BACK!" screeched Jhudora. Illusen looked at her, her expression genuinely confused and rather annoyed.

      "Jhudora. Seriously? I didn't take your wand! But of course you go blaming me, naturally," started Illusen. Jhudora could feel a tangent brewing, and having no interest in hearing it, interrupted her.

      "Okay, fine, I'm sorry!" she half-heartedly apologised. But then her voice grew small. "But, really... do you have any idea who might have taken it? I just don't have any idea what to do with myself; I've lost my most prized possession!"

      Illusen considered her options for a moment. On the one hand, she was dealing with her mortal enemy whom she generally truly detested. On the other... she imagined how she would feel if she were to ever lose her own staff. She sighed. "Okay. I have no idea who might have taken it, but I guess I can help you. How about we go ask Fyora? She is the Queen, after all." Jhudora nodded.

      "Sounds good." And so they headed off to Faerieland. "Look, realise that this is a onetime thing, us working together." Illusen rolled her eyes.

      "Don't make me regret helping you."

      ***

      They finally reached Faerieland. Zeida was quite exhausted by this point; it had been quite a long day. 'It's all going to be worth it, though. I'm going to get my Lost Desert Paint Brush!!'

      The three of them reached Fyora's Hidden Tower. 'Ah, so this is how you get there!' thought Zeida. 'Good to know, good to know.' Fyora saw them approaching and pulled something out from behind her back. It was...

      "My wand??? What are YOU doing with my wand??" questioned Jhudora, stunned.

      Fyora smiled. "I'm sorry to have caused you distress. But it appears that my plan worked out just as I had hoped it would." They all stared at her in confusion. "Don't you see? Jhudora, Illusen. You spend all of your time fighting with each other! Just once, I thought it would be nice for you to see how it felt to work together. Perhaps we could try having a truce?" She looked at the two Faeries with hope in her eyes.

      Jhudora glared. "Really, Fyora? No chance." And with that, she grabbed her wand from Fyora's hand and stormed out. Fyora sighed.

      "We kind of enjoy our fight, I think," said Illusen, shrugging sympathetically. "You know. Healthy competition and all that." She continued with a sterner voice, "But seriously. Don't ever do that again." She turned and walked out, too.

      This left Zeida awkwardly alone in the Hidden Tower with Fyora. She frowned, realising that now that Jhudora had her wand, she really didn't care about holding up her end of the bargain. Fyora noticed the look in the Aisha's eyes.

      "What's wrong, little Aisha?"

      Zeida sighed. "I had run into Jhudora when she was frantically searching for her wand. She told me that if I helped her, she'd get me whatever I wanted. Anything in all of Neopia! Normally I wouldn't have agreed to this, because she is Jhudora, after all. But... it's my birthday in a couple weeks. All I've ever wanted was to be Lost Desert, but mom's never been able to afford that, so I would never ask it of her to try. I just thought that this was my chance. Guess I should've known better than to trust a Dark Faerie. But it's okay... I guess being Lost Desert really isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things. This has been a really long day away from home, and I'm just happy that I can go back home with my family now."

      Fyora smiled. "While you may not have received the compensation you desired, you did a good deed by just trying to help someone out. Now, let us get you home!" Fyora escorted Zeida back to their Neohome, which was only a few clouds away. Before leaving, Zeida saw Fyora talk to her owner for a few minutes, but she thought nothing of it. It had been a very long day.

      ***

      A couple of weeks passed by, and it was Zeida's birthday!

      "Zeida, are you ready for your present?" asked Maria after they had finished eating a delicious Chocolate Faerie Cake. Zeida nodded. Her eyes grew huge as she saw the gift. "Oh my goodness! MOM!" she exclaimed. This was beyond her wildest dreams; it was a Lost Desert Paint Brush! "I'm SO happy! Thank you so much!!! But... however could you afford it?"

      "Let's just say I had some help from someone who thought that you were quite a kind, promising little Aisha," replied Maria with a cryptic smile. And at that moment, Zeida looked out the window and could have sworn she saw Fyora looking down at them from a couple clouds away, smiling.

The End