Savak: The Redemption - Part Three

On the far side of the passage in the faerie tower, Savak sat down in front of a colorful, but somewhat dull looking door. He looked at the door a moment before he raised a paw to knock. As he did, the door opened suddenly. Savak stepped back slightly, then spotted the familiar light faerie on the other side.

    “Greetings, Savak,” Jearii said. “It’s good of you to come on such short notice.”

    “It’s alright,” Savak replied, stepping through the door.

    “Come with me,” Jearii said as she led Savak across the room. Savak took a look around as he followed. The first room was a circular chamber with a domed ceiling. Bright light poured into the room through the top of the dome, illuminating the entire chamber. The dome was supported by several white marble pillars. Each break between the pillars was adorned with translucent silk draperies, tied back to allow passage between them. “This is a lovely place,” Savak commented.

    “It is my family home,” Jearii said. “Most of my family is gone, right now, trying to track down Dr. Sloth. I remained behind to take care of this place, and you, Savak.”

    “I’m glad someone’s watching over me,” Savak mumbled to himself. He regretted saying it once it was out of his mouth. But looking up, he saw that Jearii hadn’t responded. It seemed she hadn’t heard him.

    Jearii led Savak out of the circular chamber to a slightly darker room on the side. Once he entered it, Savak noticed several shelves lined with vials, beakers, and other glasses, most of them filled with strangely colored liquids. One bottle in particular caught his interest. It was a round bottle with a long neck, corked off. It was completely filled with a smoky substance. Before he could inquire about it, Jearii lifted the bottle and brought it over to Savak so he could have a closer look.

    “Savak,” Jearii said. “I would like you to meet the creator of the Medallion of Submission, the dark faerie, Velora.”

    Savak watched the bottle curiously as the smoke cleared, revealing a small, dark looking figurine. The faerie met Savak’s curious gaze with a look of contempt. “So is he your new minion?” she asked, sneering. “Not much to look at, is he?”

    Savak’s ears twitched as he contained himself. “You’re one to talk,” he shot back. “At least I still have my freedom.”

    Velora only rolled her eyes, sitting down in the bottom of the bottle, faced away from the Lupe. When she did, Jearii set the bottle back down where it was before. “She never was very friendly,” she said. “Even less so since I had her apprehended.”

    Savak nodded in understanding, then asked, “Is it right for a faerie to catch another faerie?”

    Jearii only looked directly at Savak, studying him before she responded. “The faerie’s presence in Neopia is to observe and advise,” she said. “Though we may bestow gifts upon those who assist us, it is not our position to interfere with anyone on Neopia’s surface unless directed to do so. Velora’s medallion was created with the express purpose of controlling the mind of the average Neopian. Queen Fyora herself directed me to address the matter. I gathered plenty of evidence that Velora has been controlling Neopians all over the world. When the queen ordered Velora’s capture, there was a fight…

    “An unfair one, I should mention,” Velora put in.

    Jearii glanced briefly at Velora before continuing. “…And once it was finished, I placed her inside the bottle. She’s been in there for several decades.”

    “More like seven,” the dark faerie corrected. “And it hasn’t exactly been pleasant. There’s nothing to do in here! She doesn’t even give me any proper literature!”

    “I let you read one of my books yesterday,” Jearii pointed out.

    “Yeah, like I said,” Velora sneered, crossing her arms. “No proper literature.”

    Sighing, Jearii gestured for Savak to follow once more. Savak followed, glancing again at Velora as he passed. It was easy to assume that nothing would ever please her. He put the thought aside as Jearii spoke again. “Velora has already been found guilty of willfully interfering with the affairs of Neopians. However, unless we can find and destroy all her magical devices, we cannot conduct sentencing.”

    “What was the sentence?” Savak asked.

    “Exile to Neopia as a gray faerie,” Jearii said. “But, since the Medallion of Submission still exists, we cannot remove all of Velora’s magical power. This is why she had been contained for so long. All the outlets for her power must be destroyed before her magical energy can be removed.”

    Savak nodded in understanding. Most of what she said made sense to him. What other questions he may have had were forgotten when he saw Jearii open a cabinet on the other side of the room. He sat down nearby, watching as the faerie shuffled through the contents of the cabinet, looking for something specific.

    “What are you looking for?” Savak asked.

    “Tools that I have not used in…there they are,” she said, pulling out a slim black box. Setting it on a nearby table, she turned to Savak. “May I have the medallion for a moment?”

    “Uh, sure,” Savak said. Removing the medallion, he placed it in Jearii’s hand. As he did, his fur suddenly faded from white to its original red. Before he put the medallion on so many months ago, Savak was a red Lupe. The medallion changed that. In fact, he had grown used to being white, and it felt strange to be red again. It took him a moment to get over his “new” old color before his thoughts returned to the matter at hand. “What are you doing?” he asked Jearii.

    “I’m making sure that this medallion is working properly,” Jearii said, probing the gold disk with the glowing tip of one of her tools. “After seventy years, I’m surprised it hasn’t lost more of its power.”

    “You mean it’s losing its power?” Savak asked.

    “Yes.” Jearii set down the medallion and looked directly at Savak. “You see, any vessel containing energy will lose its charge eventually, whether it’s used or not, unless it has something to replenish its power.” She picked up the medallion again, turning it over in her hand. “Despite the fact that this medallion has been out of my care for so long, it seems that all it needs is to have its energy restored.”

    As Savak watched, his ears perked with interest, Jearii cupped the medallion in her hands. A warm glow radiated from her palms for a moment before she opened them again and handed the medallion back to Savak. The Lupe picked up the medallion, examining it for a moment. “It doesn’t look any different,” he commented.

    “I didn’t change its appearance,” Jearii said, slightly amused. “I’ve only given it a fresh charge. If anything, it should make your fur stand on end more often.”

    Shrugging, Savak slipped the medallion over his head again, and watched as his red fur paled again to white. Sighing, he looked up at Jearii. “I miss my old color,” he said.

    Jearii shook her head. “There’s nothing I can do about that, unfortunately,” she said.

    Savak nodded and sighed. “Alright, I suppose I should get Lilia back home. Thank you for allowing me to visit this place, but I must be going. I have many things to do, and not a lot of time to do them.”

    “Of course,” Jearii replied. “We will meet again, Savak.”

    “I’ll look forward to it,” the Lupe replied as he turned to leave.

    Jearii walked him to the door he had entered from, waving to him as he walked down the passage to the waiting transport. Heysha was still waiting for him inside the ferry. As he boarded, she confronted him. “So, did you enjoy yourself?”

    Savak took a seat on the transport before replying. “I suppose. I learned a few new things about this,” he said as he pawed at his medallion. “But I didn’t learn anything that I could use now.”

    “And what’s going on now that has you so troubled?” Heysha asked, a note of concern entering her voice. Savak shook his head.

    “Nothing you should worry about,” he said, laying his head on his paws. As the transport left the landing pad, Savak thought back to his meeting with Jearii, cursing himself for not asking her what she knew about Dr. Sloth’s whereabouts. He sighed as he reflected that if anyone could get information on Dr. Sloth, Lukas was the person to go to.

    * * *

    Once again, Savak found himself on the path to Jason’s house, followed closely by Heysha. Night was falling, and a few stars were starting to show between the gathering clouds. Neither Lupe had spoken much since the ferry left Faerie City. Even now, the silence was making Savak grow uneasy. He felt he had to say something to Heysha. She didn’t seem happy with him, and he wanted her to understand the position he was in. But how could he do it?

    When they reached the front walk to Jason’s house, Savak stopped and turned to the blue Lupess. “Heysha, I think we need to talk.”

    “We could have done that on the way,” Heysha said, pushing past Savak. Savak ran after her and cut her off.

    “Will you listen to me? Look, I’m sorry. I know you wanted to visit the plains. I…I should have told you before. Lilia’s been kidnapped.”

    Heysha looked Savak squarely in the face. Concern started to filter into her eyes as she asked, “Kidnapped? By who?”

    Quickly, Savak explained what happened on the plains, relaying to her the story Kosek gave him. The Lupess stood quietly, trying to hide her concern as he explained. When he was finished, she looked down at her paws. “I see,” she said. “But…do you really need to go alone on this?”

    “Yes,” Savak said. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

    “But what if you fail? What then? What if I…” She hesitated as she finished. “What if I lose you?”

    Awareness crept over Savak as he heard the fear she expressed. He suddenly realized, on some level, how much she cared about him. He also realized how attached to her he had become over the few months he had known her. Slowly, he drew closer, touching his maw to hers.

    “You won’t lose me,” Savak promised silently. “I’ll be careful. And…”

    “Heysha! Where have you been? Jason and I have been worried about you!”

    Both Lupes turned to see Lukas standing at the door to Jason’s house. He was twitching his tail behind him irritably, though he was trying to hide his amusement. When he saw the Kougra, Savak turned to him, nodding.

    “Hey Lukas,” he said, feeling a little warm. “I was hoping to speak with you about something.”

    “Really?” Lukas asked, padding along the front walk to stand beside the white Lupe. He glared at Heysha for a moment before she walked into the house, her ears and tail low. Once she was gone, Lukas sighed and turned to Savak again. “What did you want to talk about?”

    “Dr. Sloth,” Savak said bluntly, glad that Lukas didn’t ask about what had gone on only a moment ago. “Have you heard anything about him recently?”

    Lukas shook his head. “I haven’t heard much. My contacts have had a hard time keeping track of him even when he made an appearance in that factory last year. Though, most of them think he may have started some operations on Virtupets again.”

    “Virtupets?” Savak asked. “Isn’t that that station orbiting Neopia.”

    “Yes. Sloth runs most of his operations on board his station. Ships full of his minions come and go from the station all the time.” The Lukas chuckled darkly as he added, “He even has a tourist operation running up there.”

    Savak suddenly looked to the sky. “So that’s where that strange craft went…” he muttered, turning to Lukas. “How do I get there?”

    “There’s a spaceport in Neopia Central,” Lukas said with a slight hesitation. “Mostly, it’s used to send supplies and tourists to Virtupets. Do you really want to chase after Dr. Sloth?”

    “If I can get Lilia back, yes,” Savak said, mostly to himself. Before Lukas could ask anything more, Savak nodded to him. “Thank you for your help, Lukas. I’ll see you later.”

    “Um…bye,” Lukas stammered as Savak padded away. Savak felt sorry for not telling Lukas about Lilia, but he was sure Heysha would fill him in on it after he left. What he needed to worry about was finding that spaceport so he could get to Virtupets and save Lilia.

To be continued...