For the Altador Cup: Part Two

     "She remembers! I thought you said she wouldn't remember. You have no idea how hard it was for me! I had to give her a sleeping cookie WAY before schedule. Now everything's messed up and it's all your fault!" whispered the Wocky, who seemed very peeved with the Kougra.

     "My fault? How can it be my fault? I was only supposed to capture her. You're the one who's supposed to take care of all the mind mumbo-jumbo. I don't know any magic, remember?" replied the Kougra.

     "But Sam, I can't do any of that stuff with her! For some reason, she still remembers that she's supposed to be on the Meridellian team, instead of the Altadorian!" snapped the Wocky.

     "Maybe you're just not trying hard enough, Tilly," stated Sam, coolly. "Or maybe she's just one tough cookie. If you can't make something, I'll go to Camilla. Remember, though, once I go to Camilla, there's no leaving Camilla. So if you can make anything, even something that you have to administer all the time, do it. We've come too far without Camilla to just give up now."

     "Oh fine," replied Tilly. "But tomorrow you're going to come see her. Or she's going back where she came from."

     "Deal," said Sam.

     "Alright then. But you'd better keep your end of the deal... Whenever you fall through, it just makes me so angry!" replied Tilly, springing into the air. As she began to try to fly over Sam's head, her back left paw got caught on a particularly tall tuft of hair, and he went crashing to the floor.

     * * *

     Trinna loved her room. I mean, who wouldn't love a room like this? The only rooms better than those in the tower above the Hall of Heroes in Altador were those in Fyora's palace, and those had magic to decorate them!

          Because Trinna was an ambassador from Faerieland, her room was painted in the most incredible shades of pink and purple. The floor had a beautiful soft wispy carpet in places, and paint in others. The entire craftsmanship of the room made it actually seem as if you were in Faerieland.

     Flopping down on the bed, Trinna opened her suitcase, got out her book, and began to read. Just as she neared an exciting part, she heard voices out in the hall. While she couldn't tell what they were saying, the conversation seemed urgent. Suddenly, Trinna heard someone cry out. Springing into the air, Trinna zoomed out the door.

     Her eyes met with a peculiar sight. Lying with his face to the floor and his legs and tail up was a shadow Kougra. Sam, remembered Trinna. Hovering near him was a very nervous-looking faerie Wocky.

     "Oh!" cried Trinna. "What happened here?"

     "W-well," stuttered the Wocky, "Sam was just coming to talk to me, and I got upset, and I sort of tried to fly over him, but I knocked him down! Oh, will he be alright?" she blurted, seeing that Trinna was flying over to Sam with a purpose.

     "Yes, yes, he'll be fine," replied Trinna, placing her paws over Sam's right and left front paws. A golden light suddenly burst forth from Trinna's paws, causing Sam to suddenly jolt awake.

     "What, what happened?!" Sam asked.

     "Don't worry, you just fainted, and you got some nasty cuts on the stone floor. You're fine now. This Wocky was very worried about you!"

     "You were, Tilly? Really?" he said.

     "Yes, Sam, I was. I'm so glad that this Xweetok was here to save you!" replied Tilly.

     "Thank you, so much, Miss," Sam said to Trinna.

     "Thank you," Trinna replied. "My name is Trinna. I'm the new ambassador from Faerieland, remember? We met briefly this morning." Turning to the Wocky, she said, "I take it you're Tilly?"

     "Yes," replied Tilly. "As a thank you for your help, would you care to have tea with us, Miss Trinna? My house is quite near to here, and Sam can take you. Please join us."

     "I'd love to!" answered Trinna.

     "Good then. I'll come by here tomorrow around 3 P. M. NST and take you over there," said Sam, addressing Trinna.

     Upon that note, the three parted, each looking forward to acquiring a new friend.

     * * *

     Ellie woke up with a horrible headache. Her door was open, so when she moaned loudly, Tilly was able to hear her.

     This was what Tilly had been waiting for. After slipping Ellie the sleeping potion in the cookie, Tilly had kept her asleep using more of the same liquid. This gave Tilly plenty of time to begin the process of trying to make a potion strong enough to even temporarily convince Ellie that she was playing for Altador. Eventually like with all the others, Ellie would decide that it was just better in Altador anyway. It wasn't like anyone was being held against their will, at least not for very long. Who wouldn't want to live here in Altador? thought Tilly as she carefully measured out the proper amount of potion. I mean, everything's so perfect, even without magic!

     Taking the cup that held the proper amount of memorandum potion, Tilly began to walk through the house to Ellie's room. Memorandum potion was very difficult to make, considering you needed a little bit of elemental Faeriellium, and that was tough to get your hands on. She'd learned the recipe from a young dark faerie who was apprenticed to Jhudora. That was back in her bad-girl days, before she decided to use her gift for dark magic for more important and wholesome purposes than to make her teacher forget that she'd flunked that last practical magic exam.

     "Knock, knock!" said Tilly, as she entered Ellie's room. "Is your head troubling you my dear?" she continued, as she sat down on Ellie's bed.

     All poor Ellie could do was manage to nod.

     "Aww, then you're in luck!" crowed Tilly. "I've got just the thing for that headache. Drink up!"

     Propping up Ellie's head, Tilly slowly administered the potion. That would make sure that no suspicions arose at tomorrow's tea. Eventually, Tilly was sure, they'd sway Trinna into helping them in their cause. However, it wasn't an issue that should be rushed.

     * * *

     At the appropriate time the next day, Trinna heard a knock on her door. Springing into the air, she quickly sped across the room. Taking a moment to compose herself, she calmly opened the door to find a very energetic Sam waiting for her. He looked as if he had been doing some sort of serious physical activity. Maybe he's on the Altador Yooyuball team, thought Trinna.

     "Hey, Sam," Trinna greeted him, smiling. "Are you on the Altador Yooyuball team?"

     "I'm not just on it!" replied Sam energetically. "I'm captain! At least now that Winberto broke his leg. But I'm confident that I can lead the team to victory! This year, Altador's gonna win!"

     "Oh, I don't know. Mystery Island is looking pretty good."

     "You're rooting for them? I assumed you'd be going for Altador or Faerieland."

     "Well, I was going to, but I was actually born on the Island. Why does it matter? You seem so disappointed."

     "Oh, it's nothing. I was just hoping that you'd be there to support me, with Tilly."

     "Well, of course I will! I can cheer for two teams. And now that I know you're playing for Altador, I'll be even more inclined to cheer for them. How does that sound?"

     Sam smiled and nodded. "Good," he said. "Then, we'd best be off. It's only a short way to Tilly's house, but she does get so annoyed when we're not right there at the time that her cookies come out of the oven. She loves to make cookies, and I don't really know why. They're super good, and I love to eat them. You'll love them, I'm sure."

     * * *

     Tilly's house was in a beautiful neighborhood, filled with green trees and grass, and flooded with sun. The houses were pleasantly large, and some even had fountains. The street was paved with cobblestones, but this was done in such a way that it was perfectly smooth, while still providing traction whether you had paws, fins, or hooves.

     One particular house stood out from all of the rest. It was painted a cheery Altadorian sun-yellow, and it had a beautiful fountain in front, with a statue that looked like Siyana. Aside from the color of this house, the fountain was quite different from all the others. It's probably one of a kind, thought Trinna when they were right in front. To her surprise, Sam turned on to the walkway to the door of the house. So this is Tilly's house, she thought.

     Sam rang the doorbell, which was quickly answered by a fairly flustered Tilly. She led them inside, down a corridor, and into a bright, clean kitchen. In the corner sat a Light Faerie Stove, and in the center stood a Kauvara Table, polished to a brilliant shine. Sitting at the table was a faerie Ixi, sipping a cup of Snowberry Tea.

     "Welcome, welcome!" Tilly said. "I was just about to take the cookies out of the oven when you came in. Here, have one, won't you?" She handed one first to Sam, and then to Trinna.

     "Thanks, Till," replied Sam, biting into the cookie.

     "Yes, thank you," added Trinna. "Who, may I ask, is that?" She pointed to the faerie Ixi.

     "Me? My name is Ellie. Very pleased to meet you," answered the Ixi, standing up and offering her hoof to Trinna.

     "I see you're faerie! Maybe a little later we can go flying," suggested Trinna, taking the hoof in her paw.

     "Yes, that would be nice. Come, now, you can sit right here! I'm sure Tilly will be out in a moment with some more of this delicious Snowberry Tea. Unless you prefer a different flavor, of course."

     "Oh, right, the tea!" cried Tilly, dashing out of the room.

     While Tilly was off getting the tea, Sam and Trinna sat down at the table.

     To spark some conversation, Sam decided to introduce Ellie more properly to Trinna. "She's on the Altador Yooyuball team with me," he said. "She's our star player."

     "Oh, please, Sam, I'm nowhere near as good as you," Ellie blushed.

     "Okay, well, I can agree with that," answered Sam, smiling like he was the king of the land.

     "Hey!" Ellie laughed, and flew around in circles above Sam's head.

     "So, Ellie, were you born in Altador?" questioned Trinna.

     "Yes... Altador. Although I've always wanted to live in Meridell."

     "Really?"

     "Yes. I- "

     Suddenly, Ellie was cut off by Sam. "She's just joking. What a kidder she is! Hah. Although, she has been to Meridell, Altador is the only home for our Ellie. Isn't that right, Ellie?"

     "Oh, right..." she trailed off.

     This entire exchanged seemed very strange to Trinna. There was just something... peculiar, about Ellie, and at that moment Trinna decided that she was going to find out what was up.

To be continued...