My Vacation: Part Five

Again we return to the tale of my vacation. Me being Ailemea, of course. You might remember me from the past four weeks' Neopian Times? Anyways, last time we met, Jeanie, Haelee, and I were just leaving Mystery Island. Poor Jeanie had also just suffered a sprained ankle. Whoopsy!

     I was in serious suffering. This was probably the destination I had dreaded most. Faerieland. The Eyrie which carried me flew powerfully upward. At least Kreludor wasn't made of clouds, I thought desperately as the large Faerieland Clouds came into view. They're solid; they're not made of air like Science teaches you, I repeated over and over. I even caught myself going through those crazy breathing and calming exercises you do in Training School. I clutched the Eyrie tighter.

     Ten thousand feet was quite high, and we went a bit higher as we flew over Faerieland. Deep breaths, I told myself. I forced myself not to scream as the Eyrie dived down into Faerie City. He flew straight into the Neolodge and landed lightly in front of the reception desk. I slid off, slightly dizzy. Jeanie had already arrived, and was leading the way up the cloud stairs to our room. Blinking, I followed her.

     The beds were made of clouds as well as everything else in the room. The Eyries dropped our luggage on the floor and then left with a nod. Jeanie grinned as she turned to me.

     "So, how do you like it so far?" she asked.

     "I'm not too confident about these clouds," I admitted, staring at the beds.

     "Ah, they're completely solid!" my owner said, completely certain. Just then, a baby Kougra with a shrieking Ona fell through the ceiling, passed through our room, and disappeared through the floor. I glared at Jeanie, who was watching the spot where the two had disappeared, puzzled.

     "Solid, huh?" I said.

     "Just don't step over there, it must be a little unstable," she said, frowning. As if waiting for a signal, a werewolf Lupe and pink Moehog dived after the little Kougra, almost slamming into Jeanie as they fell.

     "This is pathetic - how am I going to get any sleep with them falling through all day?"

     "At least you can't hear them," Jeanie said a bit weakly.

     "Guys? Where did you go? Hello?" a voice called above us. "Ah no!" two seconds later, an owner followed her fallen pets. I slapped my forehead.

     "Alright," Jeanie said frantically. "Let's go have a look at that Employment Agency!" As we left the room, Haelee in her basket, a Faerie Aisha glided through the ceiling, yelling after her family.

     Downstairs, we found the whole family nursing sore heads. Shaking our own heads, we hurriedly left the building. Outside, my stomach lurched at the sight of all the clouds. "I think I'll chance getting killed by falling Neopets," I announced, trying to return inside. Jeanie grabbed me and began to drag me along.

     "Don't be crazy, Faerieland is one of the best tourist spots. You are not going to miss it." She had that tone again. The one I told you about, where she means business. With a sigh, I allowed her to carry me into Faerie City.

     The Employment Agency was rather dull, with some crazy person from something called 'Neopets Staff' telling us all about these weird coupons. There was also no jobs to be done, so it was a rather short trip. As we left the Agency, we paused outside and Jeanie looked up at the sky. Supposedly.

     "You want to visit the Hidden Tower? Check out what Fyora has to sell?"

     I laughed. "Hidden Tower? They haven't changed the name yet?"

     "I heard it is the best kept secret in all of Neopia." Jeanie frowned. I shook my head laughing.

     "That's because it is kept by everyone IN Neopia, Jeanie," I said. She shrugged.

     "Well, I have never been there; let's go." And so she led us up the steps into the palace.

     After a few minutes, Jeanie started dragging me up a tower. "Look! A mysterious light! It MUST be the Hidden Tower," she cried excitedly, leading me upwards.

     "It can't be," I said matter-of-factly, "the Hidden Tower is invisible."

     "Don't be silly," Jeanie said, opening the door. Something snapped into place in my head.

     "NO! Wait!" And then there was a blinding light.

     I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'Oh! They got zapped to Altador!' - well, that's what I thought, too. Anyway, Jeanie and I were blinded for a second. When we could see again, Fyora was smiling at us.

     "Welcome to the Hidden Tower! Here's your free souvenir picture," she said, handing us the picture she had just taken. I looked desperate and Jeanie looked eager.

     "I didn't know anything in the Hidden Tower was free... " I muttered, staring at the picture.

     "What was that?" Fyora said sternly, glaring at me.

     "Nothing," I said innocently, beginning to browse the shelves. Jeanie started looking as well. "Is there anything here that isn't above five hundred thousand?" I said, annoyed.

     Jeanie stared sadly at the Baby Paintbrush. "These used to be two hundred thousand a couple years ago," she said with a frown.

     "Really?" I said, curiously looking closer. She nodded and shrugged.

     "Well, we won't be buying anything here today, come along," she said, taking my paw and leading me out of the tower. I waved at Fyora and she smiled in return.

     Outside, Jeanie looked around with a contemplating look on her face. Finally, she started walking out of the city.

     "Hey, where are you going?" I asked, frowning at the clouds once again.

     "Let's go to the races," she said with a hopeful grin. With a sigh, I jumped onto her, attaching myself to her back as she walked.

     It was a long walk, seeing as the races were a couple miles from the city. I closed my eyes and imagined being firmly on the ground... ten thousand feet below. Shuddering, I sank my claws into Jeanie's shirt and hung on tighter.

     "Ow! You stop that," she cried, slapping at my paws. I weakened my grip a little, but did not climb down. We finally reached the Poogle races and Jeanie forced me off her shoulders. As she wandered off to bet, I checked out the racers. There were a few fit ones; however, number Two kept jumping around and couldn't sit still. And also there was a rather fat one that was eating food that some owners were forcing on him.

     Jeanie soon returned with a bet on number one, and informed me that we had to wait a couple of minutes for the race to start. I shrugged. So?

     We gathered into the crowd as the races began. Jeanie and I whooped for Poogle One, however it was number Two that won. Jeanie was a little disappointed, but I comforted her by allowing her to carry me to the Wheel of Excitement. I stared suspiciously at the light faeries turning it, but Jeanie immediately threw over the amount of Neopoints required.

     The light faeries smiled and gave the wheel a jerk. Psh! It landed on the question mark, and Jeanie's disappointment deepened. I towed Jeanie back to the Neolodge. Haelee woke up and yawned at us as we entered the room. I crouched down next to her and stroked the cardboard.

     "How have our neighbors been acting?" I asked. Her reply was to glare at the ceiling. I laughed and picked her up. I turned around to find Jeanie napping. I grinned at Haelee. "Shall we fetch her something to eat for dinner?" Haelee sparkled her eyes at me.

     Cautiously, I fished Jeanie's Neopoints from her pocket and then put Haelee's leash around the Ditsy's neck. "I can't have you running around like a wild petpet," I said when she glared at me.

     We sneaked outside and out of the Neolodge. Once outside, I again felt my stomach twist at the sight of the clouds. "We'll just make this a quick stop," I informed the wide-eyed petpet. She stuck her tongue out at me as if to say 'coward.' I glared at her and began to lead her towards the food shop.

     As we entered the Faerie Foods shop, Haelee broke off from my paw to chase some other petpets. I watched her for a moment with concern, then began to browse the Earth Faerie's goods. After a few minutes of contemplation, I bought a couple Blueberry Faerie Bubbles, and then ran to fetch Haelee, who had dashed outside.

     Outside, I looked around frantically for her. "Haelee!" I called, and for the second time on my vacation, I heard a familiar desperate cry. But this time, there was no petpet running towards me. "Haelee???" I called anxiously, running towards her cry. I soon found her.

     Three cruel Grarrls stood beside the edge of the cloud. The middle held Haelee hanging over the edge. Fury flamed up inside me. "Hey!" I roared at them. They looked up in surprise. "Put her down!" They arched brows at me, and then laughed. Haelee whimpered, and that fired me up even more.

     "I'm warning you!" I warned. They laughed harder. That was it. If there is one thing I hate to no end - it's being laughed at. Furiously, I tackled the closest Grarrl to me. I had the element of surprise; thus, he went tumbling over the edge. Screaming, he fell towards earth. In a swoop, rescue faeries caught him and began to yell at him. I glared at the remaining two Grarrls. "Who's next?" I growled.

     ~~~

     Minutes later, I reentered our room, a shaking Haelee in my arms. Jeanie woke up and yawned, rubbing her eyes. She jumped at the sight of me.

     "What happened to you?" she asked. "You look all fired up!" She frowned. "You didn't get in a fight, did you? Are you okay?"

     "I'm fine. I don't know about those Grarrls, though," I said. Jeanie stared penetratingly at me, demanding an answer. I shrugged. "They were gone drop Haelee off Faerieland." Jeanie gasped and Haelee leaped into her open arms and squeaked miserably. This vacation hadn't been going too well for her.

     "I got dinner," I announced, holding up the bag of Blueberry Bubbles. Jeanie grinned.

     "Great, I'm starved!"

     ~~~

     The next day we left Inner Faerieland and began to tour the Outer more thoroughly, Haelee on my head, me on Jeanie's shoulder. Our first stop was the Rainbow Fountain. The faerie there smiled apologetically at us as we approached. "Sorry, it seems all the magic has been used up. Too many bathing pets, I guess." Jeanie smiled.

     "No problem, we're just looking around," she said. The faerie nodded.

     "Don't forget to check out the Healing Springs; my sister never seems to run out of magic." The faerie laughed. We laughed as well, even though we weren't sure what was funny.

     "Very well then, see you," Jeanie said, and started to walk away. Perched on her shoulder, I looked around to see the faerie talking to some other tourists. They handed her a book of some sorts and she tentatively looked around. When she believed no one looking, she sneaked one of the pets into the pool and then forced them out again, now an adorable Royal pet. I gasped. How unfair! With a sigh, I faced forward, shaking my head.

     A while later, as the Healing Springs were a few miles from the Fountain, we arrived. Nereid greeted us with a smile. "Hello, how can I help you?" she said pleasantly.

     "I was wondering if you could heal my pet?" Jeanie asked, gesturing towards me. Nereid looked me over and then handed Jeanie a Dewberry Reviver.

     "Here," she said. "Use this wisely." She then turned to help some other Neopians, and Jeanie strolled away for a couple paces then stopped.

     "Wanna go for a swim?" she asked with a smile. I stared.

     "We just got our healing for a half hour," I scolded her for having such a thought. She rolled her eyes.

     "Whatever." Then without warning, her shoulder jerked and I flew into the nearest spring. I screamed, and fell. And fell. And kept falling. I looked up and saw Jeanie staring through the water that mysteriously floated above a hole in the clouds. I screamed louder, falling surely to my death.

     Then, out of nowhere, long slender arms encircled me and I found myself staring straight into the face of Illusen. She stared in surprise at me. "Where'd you come from, little one?" she asked in concern. Unable to speak, I pointed straight upwards. Her eyes followed where I pointed and she shook her head. "Nereid really needs to fix that hole," she sighed.

     Then, slowly, she began to ascend and she carried me right through the hole through which I had fallen.

     "Okay, okay! Calm down!" Nereid was soothing Jeanie, who was rocking back and forth in apprehension, a wailing Haelee in her arms. "Now, what happened to your pet?"

     "Hole... fell... Ailemea... gone... " Jeanie moaned. The Water Faerie gasped.

     "She's right here, Nereid," Illusen said, rising up fully out of the miniature spring. "She was lucky I don't get along with Jhudora or else I wouldn't have been coming to yell at her," she said with a slight smile. I shuddered. Jhudora's Cloud was definitely not a stop I would be making - not anymore at least.

     Jeanie stared at me in disbelief, then with a cry of relief, she grabbed me and rocked me back and forth. Haelee only kissed my face endlessly. I looked over and saw Illusen shaking her finger at Nereid for a few minutes before flying away. I watched her, and suddenly couldn't wait to get to Meridell. Thankfully, it was our next stop.

To be continued...