Queen Fyora’s Void Holiday

     The Faerie Queen sat up and sighed. It was only a day ago when she slipped out of the castle to her winter abode at the remote edge of Happy Valley. She spent her holidays there, away from all the holiday bustle of Faerie City, often hosting guests for holiday bashes.

     “Another day, I suppose I should get breakfast going,” the queen muttered to herself.

     She didn’t bring Celandra with her, which meant she had to do all the chores and cooking.

     She was fine with that. Fyora hovered down the stairs and into the kitchen.

     “Neggs. Yes…”

     Pulling a few Neggs out of her pantry, she proceeded to make Buttered Negg Waffles for herself.

     **

     “Hey, has anyone seen Fyora?” Celandra asked.

     Several faeries, including Aethia, were busy hanging up holiday decorations in the castle. The Battle Faerie set down a large wreath, looking at Celandra.

     “No, but it’s about time for her to go to her winter home. That said, I would have thought she would have brought you along? She didn’t tell you anything?”

     Celandra shook her head.

     “Hmm, she didn’t tell me either and I usually join her to help her out.”

     Aethia rested her head on her right hand as she thought long and hard.

     “Perhaps she neglected to inform us, given the situation with the Void. However, I will say it is unlike her to do that. We ought to check on her.”

     Prior to preparing to leave though, Aethia and Celandra asked any of the other castle staff if they had heard anything from Queen Fyora, but none of them affirmed they had.

     “Wait, is the queen missing? We should report this!” said a Faerie Kougra guarding the Hidden Tower.

     “No, no, she’s not missing. Don’t misunderstand us. We’re just wondering if she left for her winter home already?”

     “She has a winter home?”

     Aethia threw up her hands and shrugged. “You’ve been here for how long? She goes to that home every year.”

     “She does? I just assumed she was too busy to run the tower during the holidays.”

     “Well, anyways, thanks. That’s all I needed to know.”

     **

     Fyora had finished breakfast and decided to pick up the latest Neopian Times to get some light reading in. She slid into a Queen Fyora Rocking chair with the paper. However, her face dropped as she read the front page.

     “Void Continues to Spread Across Neopia” the headline read.

     “Ugh, is the holiday issue not out yet?” She closed her eyes and tossed the Neopian Times away. Her lips began to quiver as tears began to stream from her eyes.

     “If the darn Void would just stop causing trouble... why did I bother taking a holiday at all?” she blurted as she began to sob. “I’ve been such a failure in all of this.”

     She rocked back and forth in the chair to try and comfort herself when there was a knock at the door.

     “Now who could that be? This is not a good time.” Fyora continued sitting and then more knocks came.

     “Fine!” She got up out of her chair and stormed towards the door.

     “What do you want?” she said immediately upon opening the door.

     “Queen Fyora, it’s only me...” Taelia said, standing in the doorway. The Snow Faerie carried a gift bag in her right hand.

     “Oh, I do apologise, I-”

     Taelia put her hand up and shook her head. “I can leave this here and just go if it’s a bad time.”

     “No no, umm... could you stay a bit?” Fyora pleaded.

     Snow covered Taelia’s boots, so she shook them off before stepping into Fyora’s home. Shutting the door behind them, Queen Fyora sighed and sat back down on her rocking chair. She pointed at another empty one and motioned for Taelia to take a seat.

     “You do not look okay,” Taelia said.

     “Is it that obvious, Taelia?”

     “Just a bit yeah. You have tears frozen to your face from opening the door.”

     “Oh uhh... see, I was cleansing my face and...”

     “You can tell me the truth you know,” Taelia quipped.

     Fyora paused and began to sob again.

     “I-I feel like such a failure with this whole Void situation. I feel like others think I'm a failure too, so I didn’t want to spend another day in Faerieland. I came here alone, because I can’t even look at the faces of my own people. I swear they are judging my every move.”

     “Fyora, I don’t think that’s true. The void has been an unprecedented event, and I don’t think anyone expects you to solve it alone,” Taelia said. She pulled out a clean handkerchief and handed it to the Faerie Queen.

     Fyora recoiled.

     “I don’t deserve your kindness, given I only ever see you once a year out here.”

     “Nonsense, Fyora. You’re busy and I’m just here to see you.”

     “Umm… thanks,” Fyora said, sniffling and then snatching the handkerchief to wipe her eyes.

     **

     “Ready to go?” Aethia said. She peered behind her at Celandra and Orion, who agreed to come along to check on Fyora.

     “S-sure,” Orion said.

     As soon as Aethia took off though, Orion began to have second thoughts.

     “Miss Aethia, you’re going too fast.”

     Celandra moved over so Orion could lie down in the back of the racer.

     “Does that feel better?” the Gelert asked.

     “Y-yes Miss Celandra.”

     Eventually, they came upon a snow-covered clearing and landed there. Aethia pointed them in a direction, and soon they happened upon Fyora’s home.

     “Why don’t you do the knocking?” Aethia told Orion.

     He reached out with his paw and knocked three times. The door flew open moments later.

     “Orion? What are you doing here? Aethia? Celandra? Huh? I didn’t invite you all out here,” Fyora said, bewildered.

     “We’re worried about you and wondered why you disappeared,” Aethia replied.

     Fyora beckoned all of them inside, and the three of them hurried in.

     “Well, it’s cold outside. Come on in,” Fyora said. “Taelia is here.”

     The Snow Faerie smiled and waved, sipping on a cup of hot cocoa.

     “I remember you, Orion! Last year, you showed up to Happy Valley to stop the Advent Calendar.”

     “Miss Taelia...I-I hoped y-you'd remember me for something else but-”

     “You’re alright. I know you meant well. It just surprised me that you tried that given the Advent Calendar had never been stopped before.”

     “Oh… I…”

     “You all should sit down,” Fyora suggested.

     “I hadn’t expected all this company, so I’m sorry, but I hadn’t made any food for any of you to enjoy.”

     Aethia shuffled uncomfortably in her seat.

     “But why did you disappear here?”

     Fyora closed her eyes and sighed.

     “Because I felt you all thought I was a failure for not having any solution for the Void or the grey curse,” she replied.

     Aethia stood up and pulled Fyora into a tight hug.

     “You’re not a failure. I know this because I see you every day and know your hard work and know you do it out of love for Neopia.”

     “But I didn’t solve anything… and I sent our crew out with no plan. That’s hardly a recipe for success…”

     Suddenly, there was a loud noise as Orion opened a cabinet and a bunch of holiday decorations spilled onto the floor.

     “Orion…” Celandra groaned.

     Aethia, however, smiled slightly.

     “Why don’t we help her decorate? Taelia, are you in too?”

     “Oh, I’m not in the mood for…” Fyora began.

     “You just sit back and relax, dear. We’ll take care of it.”

     Fyora folded her arms.

     “Hey, that’s my line!” Fyora exclaimed.

     Celandra pulled out a large pink wreath.

     “Doesn’t this go outside?” she asked.

     “Yes, but there are Faellie ornaments that I attach to it.”

     “These?” Orion pulled out a set of small Faellie ornaments from the pile.

     “Yes, but there’s a trick to them. Let me show you.”

     Fyora picked up one of the Faellies and tugged on the back, revealing a loop of string. She placed it on the wreath and pulled the loop tight.

     “There. The others are all like it.”

     Aethia whispered to Taelia. “I think she’s gonna help decorate. It’s a good step.”

     As Orion continued to decorate the wreath with Faellies, Taelia pulled out a set of stockings.

     “Do you want these out still?”

     Fyora nodded. She took them from Taelia and began to hang them over her fireplace.

     “You know, the truth is, I wasn’t going to have a holiday party at all this year,” she admitted.

     Aethia, holding two large candy cane shaped decorations, overheard.

     “Awww, really? I sincerely hope it’s not because I emerged victorious from the snowball fight. You still got second place, Fyora.”

     The Faerie Queen almost cracked a smile. She shook her head though.

     “No, it’s just been a rough year for me. The Void situation has been stressful, along with wrangling all the world leaders at the council. And then Jhudora and Illusen of course were a handful, and Orion had a lot of things to deal with too, including his visions and being controlled. I feel like I’ve failed you all.”

     Fyora hung her head, but Aethia reached and propped Fyora’s head back up with both hands.

     “But Fyora, you weren’t the only one bearing this burden. Think of all the folks who fought the shades, all the volunteers at the Neohospital. You helped inspire so many to help!”

     “Y-yeah and you helped m-me break the lyre curse by having Seshatia, Jhudora, and Illusen keep an eye on me.”

     Aethia released Fyora’s face, and Fyora relaxed a bit more. Celandra went over to give Fyora a hug as Orion put the finishing touches on the wreath.

     “Oh, that looks great. Want me to help you hang that up on the door?” Taelia offered.

     “S-sure Miss T-Taelia?”

     “You’re so formal about all this. You can just call me Taelia.”

     A rush of cold air flooded the room as Orion opened the door. Taelia quickly hung the pink wreath decorated with tiny Christmas Faellies. The wind was strong, so it took both Taelia and Orion to push the door shut.

     “Perhaps we should have put that one on the inside.”

     “Um Taelia, I had a question about Terror Mountain. Do you know of any ruins here?” Orion inquired.

     Taelia looked at Orion seriously.

     “I know of some ruins, but I am unsure what your purpose would be to visit them.”

     “When I had visions while the lyre was still controlling me, they indicated that there’s another musical cylinder nearby. I believe collecting them all would help me understand who is behind those visions.”

     Taelia looked over at Fyora, who was busy hanging up decorations, and back over to Orion.

     “She would be upset if she found out you were still putting yourself in danger. But I can tell you where to find the ruins.”

     Before they could continue, Aethia swooped down.

     “Oooh, is there a party here?” Aethia asked.

     “No, we just needed a break,” Taelia replied.

     At that moment, a Celandra Ornament fell to the ground and shattered.

     “Ugh! See! I can’t even hang an ornament right now!” Fyora yelled in frustration.

     “Fyora, it’s ok, why don’t you sit down and allow—”

     “I’m going ruin this holiday for everyone….”

     “Fyora, please stop that, you’re not ruining anything,” Celandra said.

     “Y-yeah, nobody thinks that,” Orion stammered.

     “We all are trying to make the best of the holidays knowing that Neopia faces challenges,” Aethia said. She took out a broom and swept the broken ornament up.

     Celandra then brandished another Celandra Ornament and placed it on a replica fir that they were decorating. After watching others decorate the fir, Fyora picked up a Bartamus Ornament.

     “This one was a gift from Jhudora. I should make sure not to drop it.”

     She placed it next to the Celandra Ornament. Soon they had finished with their decorations and Fyora sat back down in her rocking chair.

     “Thanks for all your help, everyone. I wasn’t even certain I wanted to celebrate anything this year,” Fyora said.

     The others sat around the fireplace with her. Taelia had brought out marshmallows and graham crackers for them to roast as they gathered around it.

     “It may have been a tricky year for all of us. I remember fighting all those shades,” Aethia said.

     “I-I remember you and Seshatia and Illusen and Jhudora helping me overcome the curse of the Lyre,” Orion added.

     “I remember keeping things in the castle in order while you were away,” Celandra chimed in.

     “And I, well I probably didn’t do anything too differently this year, but there were plenty of Void Essences to collect in my neck of the woods,” Taelia said.

     “The point is, this year changed a lot of things for us, but we all did that to help Neopia and each other. So, there are still reasons to celebrate, even if we did not fully succeed yet,” the Battle Faerie continued.

     Fyora nodded slowly. “I guess you’re right. It just felt a bit hopeless, but it’s true. We all shared in the struggles this year and I guess I can’t count out all the relationships I have either. I’m still not fully over this, but I think at least we should still celebrate holidays this year.” She stuck a marshmallow into the fire with a stick and then made her own s’more.

     “Mmm… these are delicious. Thanks, Taelia. Taelia?”

     The Snow Faerie was back in the kitchen and emerged with a kettle.

     “I have hot cocoa!” she said, smiling. “Who wants some?”

     “Me!” everyone said in unison.

     The End.