Meridell Mysteries - Part 2: Spa Day for the Gal Pals

     “Hey, don’t sweat it—every faerie deserves to get pampered every once in a while. This one’s on me, anyways.” Grasping Jhudora’s good hand, Illusen approached the front desk, ring-a-linging an astonishingly well-wrought silver bell atop the counter. “Anyone here?”

     There was a bustling from some curtains behind the counter, after which a familiar face emerged to greet the couple (of BFFs). “Illusen!” Delina waved and smiled… then looked at Edith, who’d taken a step back in surprise. What’s she doing here?

     Frowning slightly, Illusen rested a hand on Edith’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t make that face,” she whispered. “Delina’s wonderful, despite what you might hear about dark faeries.”

     “W-wait, th-that’s not what I—” Edith stammered before Illusen turned to Delina.

     The famed earth faerie offered the dark faerie an embarrassed look. “Sorry, Dee, but Edith and I ran into a minstrel group playing that song about me and Jhudora earlier… I imagine Edith thought you were someone else for a second, but she doesn’t mean any harm by it.”

     “Ah, yes, The Faers of Good and Bad,” Delina recited, rolling her eyes so far they almost touched her goggles. “I get why it’s popular… but it’s not exactly a good look for dark faeries like myself. The good ones, or whatever.” With a shrug, she added, “but what can you do? I’d much rather spend my energy keeping the spa running while I’m in town than flying around zapping minstrels who dirty my name.” She laughed, then extended her hand across the counter to Jhudora. “Anyway, I could tell your friend here wasn’t disgusted by my presence. Looks like she’s more… surprised to see me here?”

     “E-exactly right.” Edith fumbled on her words, but managed to say, “I thought you’d be in Faerieland,” as she shook Delina’s hand.

     “Huh, fair enough.” Delina pinched her chin between two gloved fingers. “Well, most years, you’d be right. I’m only here this summer because King Hagan, in all his old, bearded wisdom, is paying me a nice honorarium to practice my nail art, develop new patterns and whatnot. A niche craft, you might say, but who was I to turn down the offer?”

     Edith nodded her head in agreement. All of a sudden, she remembered her broken nail, and held it up for the dark faerie to inspect. “Illusen said you’d be able to fix this,” she admitted sheepishly. “It’s really stupid, but we were jumping around in the bouncy castles down the way and—”

     “Not stupid at all,” Delina said, shooting Illusen a knowing smile. “Our flower girl here just has a habit of getting her BFFs involved in… occasionally wacky antics.” Neither Illusen nor Edith mentioned that bouncing around had been the latter faerie’s idea. “I’ll get your nails fixed in no time.” Delina paused, thinking, then added, “You know what, Illusen? I’ll throw in two ‘spa day’ packages at no extra charge to celebrate your new friend.”

     “No. Way!” Illusen looked half poised to leap over the counter and hug Delina. “You’re amazing, Dee!”

     “Aww, you’re too kind!” Jhudora didn’t want to ruin the mood by saying much else, so she watched Illusen from the corner of her eye instead, heart beating with joy as the earth faerie confirmed their order with Delina. What was this she felt in her chest? Excitement? Anticipation? Companionship? All of the above, perhaps?

     Before Edith had time to dig too much into that, the trio was walking through the curtains to the spa floor. “Uh, before I forget,” she whispered in Illusen’s ear, cradling her broken nail in a loose fist. “What, uh, what’s a ‘spa day package’, exactly?”

     Illusen gave the faintest of grins. “You’ll see. You’ll like it, trust me.”

     Jhudora didn’t like the sound of that, but she had an open mind.

     Well, that was a lie, Jhudora thought twenty minutes later, feet soaking in a warm bath as she reclined in a fluffy chair beside Illusen, cucumber slices pressing wetly against her eyelids. This seems more like an ancient torture method than a luxury, she thought. What is it, death by a thousand cucumbers?

     Drama aside, she guessed it felt okay. The warm water washed over the cracks and sores on her feet, reaching between her toes and under her nails. She hadn’t even known that was possible, but perhaps Delina had infused some strange chemical in the water that rendered it magical. Her hands, soaking similarly in bowls at either side of the chair, felt warm and ethereal, but burned sharply wherever there was a hidden cut or bruise, keeping Jhudora grounded in reality.

     “Hey, Edith?” Illusen asked, her flowery voice cutting through the darkness of the cucumber slices. “We’ll be here for a while, so I thought I’d tell you something. Well, more like admit something.”

     Edith’s heart thumped. Has she figured me out? She realised with a start that this would be the perfect place for Illusen to corner her before admitting she’d figured out her identity. My guard’s down, my hands and feet are out of order, and I’m blinded by cucumbers! How could I be so foolish?

     Before Edith could leap up and flee, however, Illusen continued: “This might sound strange, but I wanted to say that you remind me of someone I know.”

     “Oh?” Edith relaxed, just a little bit. The cucumbers would stay… for now. “Well, I’m sure you know a ton of ‘someones’, seeing how great of a faerie you are. You draw everyone around you in like a light, you know?” She hadn’t meant to say that last bit, but at least Illusen couldn’t see her blush. Who knew I’d finally be able to speak my mind with Illusen like this? She almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

     Illusen shuffled in her seat. “I guess that’s true,” she said, a smile in her voice, “but… no… you remind me of someone special.”

     “Well… how so?” Edith inquired, inquisitive.

     “I won’t lie Eddie… You don’t mind if I call you that, I’m sure.” Illusen chuckled, and Edith joined in to affirm the moniker. “You seemed incredibly high-strung and jumpy when I first met you. It’s part of why I invited you to spend the day with me… to give you an opportunity to unwind. Relax. To be yourself.” She paused. “And, to get to spend some time with your obvious hero,” she added with no trace of modesty, prompting Edith to giggle.

     “The other part of why I invited you out with me,” the actual earth faerie continued with playful wickedness, “was so that I could eventually get you to reveal what that shade of green you like is called.” She seemed to wait for a reaction from Edith, though Edith just listened intently for her next words. “And… and, you were alone, I had to extend you a branch. I just knew, deep down, that you would be a lot of fun… if only you opened up to someone. But you were afraid, something was holding you back.” Illusen’s smile grew, Edith could tell from her tone. “I’d like to think I played a role in helping you open up, my new BFF.”

     Edith swallowed. Was that… what Jhudora needed? “Is your other friend… is she alone… a lot?”

     “Friend?” Illusen said with a laugh. “I don’t consider her a friend, at least not really. Honestly, I doubt she knows I think of her… that way.” There was a hiss of air as Illusen exhaled. “I suppose that’s where the similarities between you and her end. This someone and I, we’re… enemies. Well, kinda. Frenemies? Rivals might be a better word. Anyway, I don’t want to be on bad terms with her, and sometimes I think I’m making progress on becoming her friend, but then she withdraws back to this big dark bluff of hers and hides…”

     Jhudora clenched her good hand into a fist as she realised Illusen was talking about her. Then, taking a deep breath, she released it. “Well, what do you think of this… kinda-friend of yours?” She braced herself for bad news.

     Jhudora jumped as someone lifted her hand from the water and began to dry the skin with a towel. “It’s just me,” came Delina’s voice. “I’m gonna fix your nails now. Please, don’t stop conversing on my account.”

     As Jhudora settled back in, Illusen found the words to respond. “I think she’s great, but she gets a bad rap from other folks on account of her harsh attitude and less-than-benevolent behaviour. She’s not always like that, I know it, but it’s enough to get people talking.

     “I’ve always thought there was a deeper cause to it all. Something that makes her feel bitter and lash out. Like a wall that she’s put up to keep everyone out because she thinks they only want to make fun of her.” Another sigh. “All I want is for her to see herself the way I see her, I guess. To understand that she’s not evil, just… in need of some good company to keep her out of a negative cycle. She’ll never admit it, but I know she needs a friend.”

     Edith was dumbfounded. She felt—what was this, a tear?—make its way down one of her cheeks, and she wiped it away furiously, accidentally knocking away one of the cucumbers blocking her vision as she did. Who was she to tear up at such a corny revelation? It’s not as if any of it’s true. But the more she thought about it, the more the accuracy of Illusen’s statement stung.

     What stung more was realising her hand was purple. Purple! She’d forgotten, in her excitement to enjoy a spa day with Illusen, that her disguise had a timer.

     She remembered Delina as she yanked the remaining cucumber from her eye. “Don’t. Say. Anything,” she mouthed, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. For her part, Delina put a finger to her lips and smiled.

     Fortunately, Illusen was still enjoying her cucumber eye mask, blind to the fact that her kinda-friend Jhudora was sitting next to her in all her glory. “Edith, are you still there?” she asked, reaching for the seat beside her and finding only air.

     Jhudora, already halfway across the room, called back, “Just running to the bathroom!”

     “Um, okay—just let me know when you’re back!” Illusen’s wandering hand met Delina’s, and for a moment, her concerns about Edith were allayed. “Delina,” she asked, “there’s this brilliant colour Edith likes that I can’t for the life of me figure out, can you help me with that…?”

     Jhudora rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut with a bang. She turned the lock, and—panting heavily, given her recent ordeal—slumped against the wall. Phew, that was close beyond belief.

     After she caught her breath, she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Yep, that was Jhudora alright.

     No, wait.

     She raised her upper lip in a scowl.

     THERE was Jhudora.

     The dark faerie sighed and retrieved her wand from a pocket in her dress. Closing her eyes, she muttered an incantation over her artefact, which then activated and started to glow a jade green. She was smarter, this time—no timer, the magic would simply last until dispelled. She tapped the wand on her head and felt herself start to transform.

     She opened her eyes and looked down at herself. Yep, she was, again, all earth faerie. “Well, maybe not all, but close enough,” she said to herself with a slight giggle as she put away her wand. The appearance of her dress and nails even remained across the transformations!

     Edith grinned widely and looked into the mirror, expecting to see the resilient and upbeat faerie she was.

     And then she started. No, wait… that can’t be right.

     Jhudora glared back at her.

     She looked down at herself. She was still Edith.

     “Jhudora! Either illusory magic doesn’t work on mirrors, or this is going to be one of those surreal self-reflection bits,” the faux earth faerie said to… Herself? Said to Jhudora.

     The dark faerie rolled her eyes. “You’re so predictably pleasant, it’s pathetic.”

     Edith frowned.

     “Oh, don’t frown, I just want to talk.” Jhudora managed an almost taunting smile. “Come now, ‘Eddie’... if that is your real name.”

     “You know it’s not, Jhudora. And I don’t like hearing it, coming from you.”

     The dark faerie sighed. “You’re taking this whole being Edith thing too far, babe. And trust me,” she added with a dismissive wave of her hand, “it’s not a good look for you.”

     Edith folded her arms. “I’ve received a lot of compliments today, Jhudora… at least, other Neopians aren’t running away from me.” She briefly hesitated, then pointed an accusatory finger at the mirror. “If anything, I think being Jhudora isn’t a good look for YOU! You’re mean, grouchy, actively malicious… When was the last time you danced? Went out and bought bread? Bought… anything? Before today, when was the last time you left your bluff, just to get out, without some crazed plot in mind? You can’t even function normally in society.”

     Jhudora frowned, almost pensively. “Alright, alright,” she said with a swallow, “no need to go for the throat. Look, Edith… I know that you just wanted to see how life would be if you were treated normally. See how life could be without having to be mean or grouchy. Or actively malicious?” She exhaled deeply. “I guess that one is true, too, much as it may hurt to hear. I mean… you succeeded. You showed me that maybe I don’t want to be those things. That maybe it would be nice to dance every now and again.” She looked to the side. “Nevertheless… I can’t change. I have an image to uphold.” The faerie gave a thin smile, and looked back at Edith. “Surely you understand.”

     “An ‘image’? More like baggage,” Edith spat, gesturing to the mirror.

     The dark faerie grit her teeth. “Look, you did what you set out to do. You won, I already admitted that.” She flung her hands in the air. “I just don’t see why you have to risk our very being by getting this emotionally close to Illusen… again! We HATE her! DESPISE her! That is part of our image! You know this, you know what she did to us—”

     “We? Us?” Edith recoiled, though, and became defensive. “You mean you! It’s on you, Jhudora. You keep yourself locked up, your desires for friendship and companionship hidden away. Literally hidden behind this… this facade that is me!” She ran her fingertips quickly down her body. “What Illusen says about you is right. You’re alone. You don’t want to be alone, but there’s a reason you’re alone. You’re so preoccupied with maintaining some permanently negative view of yourself that you’re willing to push away all of life’s joys, even the tiniest ones. JUST so you can wallow in your own self pity. JUST so you can blame everyone else and play a victim. JUST so you can keep telling yourself that no one cares about you, that no one has a reason to.” Angry tears formed in Edith’s eyes.

     Jhudora, likewise, looked about ready to cry. “I… said you didn’t have to go for the throat,” she squeaked. “You… you know I’ve been hurt before, Edith. Including by Illusen. I… don’t want to be hurt again. I don’t want to see YOU hurt.”

     Edith shook her head. “The only person who has been hurting you,” she began with a level tone, “for a long time, now, Jhudora… has been you.”

     The earth faerie turned to leave.

     “Wait!” Jhudora called back. Edith turned to look at her. “I don’t fault you, Edith,” Jhudora said, wiping away a tear in her cucumber-free eye. “If I were in your situation—feeling this close to another faerie, to anyone, let alone Illusen—I’d probably act the same way. I would lose myself in it.” She paused. “Don’t forget who you are. Or… Who you can be. Who WE can be. I… I don’t think I want to hide anymore,” the dark faerie added with a sigh. “You showed me that. So, please—when the time is right—free me. Free yourself.”

     Edith gave a single nod, lingering a moment longer before she unlocked the door and hurried out of the bathroom.

     The faux earth faerie returned to the spa chairs, where Delina and Illusen were deep in a conversation about nail polish colours. It seemed, for better or worse (nah, definitely better), that Illusen had moved on from the discussion about her kinda-friend. One part of her wished she could’ve heard more from Illusen about Jhudora… about herself… but the other part worried that she would eventually get to the bad stuff, and she desperately wanted not to hear that. Not from Illusen. Not right now. Especially not after her conversation with… herself.

     “Hey, Edith,” Illusen began, flashing her still-wet nails at her new BFF. “Look! Delina was able to recreate the colour I liked so much using the necklace you got me as a reference!”

     Delina raised an eyebrow at Edith. “I didn’t take you as much of a shopper,” she teased, “and much less as a gift-giver. I guess it was a very special occasion.”

     Edith waved a hand dismissively. “It was nothing. I just thought the colour looked nice on Earth—I mean, on Illusen. No other reason.”

     “I’m sure.” Delina helped Illusen up out of her chair so she wouldn’t smudge her nails. “Well, my work here is done. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of the festival with fresh new nails, you two—and Edith, keep an eye on the clock, in case you need to ‘use the bathroom’ again.”

     Edith gave Delina the slightest of side eyes before following Illusen out the door.

     To be continued…