A Celebrity Valentines’ Day Update

      Hanso and Brynn

      While their official duties involve dangerous artifact disposal, there are only so many magical artifacts scattered around Neopia. Occasionally, Queen Fyora has tasked these two with evaluating the security of various parts of the Faerie Castle. Undoubtedly, this ends up becoming a game where Hanso tries to sneak into the Hidden Tower and Captain Brynn attempting to catch him in the act.

      Aside from this little game, the two can sometimes be seen strolling across Faerieland, although the two are huge celebrities who often gather a large crowd. Of course, Hanso immediately starts re-telling everyone his version of the story when it comes to how he overcame Xandra, while Brynn rolls her eyes. Sometimes, to get away from it all, the two have made use of Queen Fyora’s own getaway spots.

      Since the void rift in the sky though, the two of them have volunteered their services to fight the shades. They commented that the emergency across Neopia has brought them closer than ever and that fighting alongside each other has been a true privilege. Torakor has at least given his stamp of approval on their fighting skills as well. But during this break, it’s safe to say these two are likely to be spending their Valentine’s Day together somewhere in Faerieland this year since Brightvale is afflicted by the grey curse. And this time, Hanso promised he wouldn’t steal a gift for Brynn or sell any gifts Brynn gave him.

      Hannah and Kanrik

      Hannah continues to go on with her adventures, although lately she has been staying out of trouble. Kanrik is busy with his duties as the leader of the Thieves’ Guild now, especially with the Battle for the Obelisk still ongoing. In addition, the void has given his guild plenty of opportunities to steal.

      Eventually, Hannah found her way into volunteering in the hospital during the battles against the shades, working as a courier. However, she frequently forgets her equipment like her rope when she’s moving the supplies. Fortunately for her, there are plenty of Tavis Ropes lying around. Kanrik wasn’t in the mood to do any volunteering, so he sat on the sidelines, waiting for opportunities to steal from volunteers.

      It's safe to say the two of them aren’t together a lot, so they do the long-distance relationship thing. However, for holidays like Valentine’s Day, this couple still manages to squeeze in time with each other, although often in random places across Neopia.

      Jazan and Nabile

      King Jazan is often seen as a doting partner for Queen Nabile, fussing over making sure her life is nearly perfect. Unfortunately, things came up, and he was called upon by others to assist with freeing the faeries and defeating Xandra.

      Upon returning, Queen Nabile did receive a fair share of the faeries’ finest jewelry which she wore beautifully. Queen Nabile had enacted official decrees while King Jazan was gone, adding a fashion festival to the calendar which began a day after King Jazan returned from his adventure. His skepticism about the cost of such an event gave way to acceptance as his wife showed him all the perks of inviting guests to stay in Qasala and purchase Qasalan wares.

      As the void and grey curses began, the couple journeyed across the lands to Altador with Queen Amira. King Jazan was skeptical of Queen Fyora’s leadership for most of the council but decided to allow Queen Nabile to do most of the talking, not wanting to associate himself with King Skarl, who spent hours complaining about Queen Fyora not curing his curse.

      As for Valentine’s Day plans, the couple decided to tour Altador together and sample the local food and fashion.

      Tormund and Roberta

      Since their adventure stopping the Darkest Faerie and saving Queen Fyora, Sir Tormund Ellis and Princess Roberta went their separate ways as their duties called for them to return to their respective kingdoms. Sir Ellis, serving as one of the knights in King Skarl’s guard, sought mentorship from Sir Jeran Borodere.

      Princess Roberta, on the other hand, had duties of managing the Brightvale Scrollery, among other things. However, this didn’t stop them from talking to each other. The two exchanged a lot of letters with each other, some requiring multiple Weewoos to deliver.

      Since the grey curse hit their respective kingdoms, the two have been busy defending themselves against the shades. However, that did not stop them from exchanging gifts on the Day of Giving and now Valentine’s Day.

      Darigan and Roo

      Lord Darigan and King Roo were aware of each other, but the two were not formally introduced until they met at an Altador Cup match. Queen Fyora had invited guests over to watch a match between Faerieland and Darigan Citadel, including both Roo and Darigan. The two instantly found that they enjoyed each other’s company. They sat and chatted while playing a few rounds of Cellblock.

      Since then, they’ve kept up with the tradition of meeting up during Altador Cups and enjoying their time together. At some point, it felt like they had become more than just good friends as they often exchanged letters with each other. Eventually, King Roo invited Lord Darigan over to Roo Island to enjoy more games including Dice-A-Roo.

      During one such visit though, they received Queen Fyora’s message and made their way to Altador. Lord Darigan, unfortunately, had to deal with King Skarl’s bickering over the past. King Roo’s presence made the situation better, often suggesting a game to cool everyone off.

      Their Valentine's Day plans this year involve a visit to Shenkuu, a place where the two of them haven’t traveled to, although King Roo has heard of their games. As for Lord Darigan, he’s eager to sample their products and establish trade between the Citadel and Shenkuu.

      Jhudora and Illusen

      Wait, these two aren’t together? They are as far apart as one could imagine, right?

      Well, it wasn’t always like this. Jhudora and Illusen used to both live in Faerieland and went through the Faerieland Academy together. The two of them were always seen together at the academy. After they graduated, the two decided that they preferred a different approach to faerie quests. Therefore, the two of them set up “Illusen’s and Jhudora’s Quests”.

      The plans went off without a hitch and the quests turned out to be very popular. This all changed, though, when the pair decided to differ in opinion on the prizes the quests should give, though and eventually, both sides claimed the other side betrayed them when they went off and crafted their own vision of the grand prize for completing all their quests. Illusen felt extremely hurt and moved away from Faerieland. To this day, these two faeries became bitter rivals.

      However, when Valentine’s Day rolls around, both Illusen and Jhudora seem to long for the past where they could hang out on that day and exchange gifts, but neither side believes they should be responsible for making the first move.

      Fyora and Aethia

      Queen Fyora knew Aethia before she became known as the Battle Faerie. She kept her feelings to herself though, knowing she had a lot of work to do as a queen, and that she didn’t really have time for relationships, especially because a past relationship didn’t turn out so well, but more on that later.

     Once Aethia mastered the swords of fire and ice, she gained the title of Battle Faerie and inherited the defense forces of Faerieland as a result. That meant the queen and Aethia could see each other daily.

      Some time passed, and then Fyora invited Aethia over for tea. The two of them became very close to each other before, one day, they asked each other to be Valentines. After that first Valentine’s Day, Aethia became Fyora’s staunchest defender, deepest friend, and strongest confidant. They are inseparable and rely on each other to get through the difficult times.

      The void and grey curses sent Aethia volunteering to be on the front lines. Knowing that Aethia would do that, Fyora did not oppose it, supporting Aethia in any way she could, often demanding a status report from those around her to make sure she was okay.

      This time, they spent Valentine’s Day away from the business of running Faerieland, ensuring that they make time for each other and enjoyed each other's company. That looked a bit different as Fyora remained in Altador observing the effects of the grey curse and the void. That did not stop them from having their usual fun sparring matches, especially when they decided the coliseum was a good place to hold one.

      Fyora and the Faerie Artificer

      Not much is known about this relationship, other than Queen Fyora lamenting how it ended. But we do know that it affected her approach to Aethia, which was more cautious. One might speculate that Queen Fyora and the Faerie Artificer were very close to each other and unfortunately, that closeness led to a greater sense of hurt when the relationship crumbled. It’s possible that the core dispute was one born out of concern.

      The Artificer was known for experimenting with magic, and perhaps out of concern for her and Neopia’s safety, Queen Fyora demanded an end to those experiments. That resulted in an insurmountable amount of resentment and frequent arguments out in the open in Faerieland.

      Not much else is known currently, and Queen Fyora is not sure if her past partner is even around now. But she still laments the end of the relationship, but refuses to answer any questions about it.

      A short blurb in The Culture and History of Faerieland mentions that at one point, Queen Fyora spent weeks preparing a Valentine’s Day celebration for the Artificer. Now, that all seems to be a distant past.

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      Well, there you have it, folks; a current accounting for all the current statuses of Neopia’s celebrity couples. Hopefully, you are now all informed with the most useful knowledge for Valentines’ Day and know that Neopia’s celebrities are celebrating with you and your Valentine this Valentines’ Day, regardless of the void and grey. We hope that this gives you all inspiration to not let any curses stand in the way of the deepest friendships in your lives.