The Faerie of Ars Arcanium: Part One

"Hm? What is it, Diak?" She asked him. Diakumablo looked concerned and threw some snow up into the air. It was quickly whisked away by the wind that was picking up more every minute. "Think there's going to be a blizzard huh? You may be right. Should we make our way back down the mountain?" Sinisal asked him. Diakumablo shook his head and tapped his wrist. "Not enough time? Okay, well we should be close to Taelia's place. I hope she doesn't mind us asking to stay until the blizzard stops blowing." Sinisal said.

[i]"She won't. She may sometimes get a little irked. But that's only by pets who go out in dangerous weather and get lost. You'll think they'd all know better."[/i] Diakumablo quickly signed to Sinisal.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right there." Sinisal agreed, able to keep up with Diakumablo's rapid signing. Diakumablo was an impatient Kougra so he often did his signing as fast as he could and he knew that Sinisal was reliable enough to be able to keep up.

They approached Taelia's place and were greeted warmly enough by Taelia herself, whom had allowed them to stay and seemed to not have minded their request for shelter from the coming blizzard. However, the Snow Faerie seemed somewhat flustered by something other than their coming.

"Miss Taelia? Is there something wrong?" Sinisal asked her politely. Taelia looked up from checking the ingredients she needed for a spell and sighed.

"Yes, there is young Neopet. You see, none of my spells are working how they should be." Taelia replied. Diakumablo looked at Sinisal, looking a little alarmed.

"What do you mean, Miss Taelia?" Sinisal said, looking concerned.

"I mean the problems with magic around all of Neopia, it's affecting me and the other Faeries too." Taelia said. Diakumablo and Sinisal stared at her in shock. It was true that magic seemed to be going haywire recently and any Neopet who tried to use it would never get the desired result. It was causing quite a lot of trouble for Neopia, but they weren't aware that this was affecting the Faeries of Neopia too. "Something must be wrong at Ars Arcanium." Taelia continued. Diakumablo rapped his fist on the floor a few times so the Faerie would look at him.

[i]"Miss Taelia, what is Ars Arcanium?"[/i]He signed to her. Taelia looked confused, then looked to Sinisal. Sinisal realised that Taelia couldn't understand sign language, at least not at the speed Diakumablo did it at so she answered the unasked question.

"He asked you what Ars Arcanium is. I'm also interested in this knowledge." Sinisal said.

"Well, Ars Arcanium is the origin of all magic in Neopia. Before the Faeries ever existed, there was Ars Arcanium. Ars Arcanium takes the form of a gigantic tower and at the very top of it is the Ars Arcania, an orb which is the source of all magic. All creatures that use magic draw their power from the Ars Arcania, even Faeries. If something goes wrong at Ars Arcanium, the Ars Arcania's power wavers and magic stops working how it should. There should be a Faerie there called the Ars Keeper to fix the problems before they start to affect us like this but it seems whatever is wrong with Ars Arcanium maybe too much for her. We don't know since the portal to Ars Arcanium, the only way to get there is closed and no one can open it back up again, not even Queen Fyora herself." Taelia explained.

"So, what happens if the Ars Arcanium's problem remains unresolved?" Sinisal asked. Her voice shaking. She was afraid of the answer to that question.

"Well, we may have to brace ourselves for the end of all magic..."

~x~

The blizzard ended in the afternoon of the next day so Sinisal and Diakumablo said their goodbyes to Taelia and began to start their descent back down the mountain. What Taelia had said still weighed heavily on both of their minds, even though Taelia had assured them that a solution would be found, she hadn't sounded all that sure. Diakumablo tapped Sinisal on the shoulder. She looked at him.

"What is it, Diak?" She asked him.

[i]"I want to go to Faerieland."[/i] Diakumablo signed.

"Faerieland? Why do you want to go there?" Sinisal asked him. Diakumablo tapped his forehead, his way of telling her that she knew the answer.

"Oh, of course. You want to see if there's anything we can do about this Ars Arcanium. Diak, I really do doubt there's anything we can do." She said. Diakumablo fixed her with a hard stare.

[i]"We won't know until we try and we've got magic of our own that I'm sure neither of us want to lose,"[/i] He signed to her, fierce determination in his features. [i]"And if you're not coming, I'll just go by myself!"[/i]

Sinisal sighed.

"Oh alright. Since you're so determined we'll go and see what we can do." Sinisal said. Diakumablo grinned at her, knowing that he'd always win any argument between them. "Oh, stop grinning like a loon and get to flying! We have a long way to go." Sinisal said to him, already airborne. Diakumablo flapped his vine-green wings and soon joined her in the air.

[i]"To Faerieland!"[/i] He signed and led the way.

~x~

They landed in Faerieland to see it in a state of muted confusion and worry. Of course the fact that magic was failing was more strongly felt here than anywhere else.

"Things certainly are grim here..." Sinisal commented and Diakumablo was inclined to agree. Faeries flitted around busily as usual, but there was a lot less cheer in the air and all the Faeries and Neopets alike had worried looks on their faces. No one really acknowledged either Diakumablo's or Sinisal's presence.

"Well, let's go and ask the price of eggs, shall we?" Sinisal said. Diakumablo raised an eyebrow. "It's an expression, Diak." Sinisal said. "It means let's go and ask around for some information."

[i]"Well, why didn't you say so instead of using a silly expression?"[/i] Diakumablo asked, looking a little annoyed. Sinisal deigned to ignore him as they made their way through to the centre of Faerieland, the castle. But before they could reach the castle, they were stopped by a familiar voice that called their names.

"Diakumablo, Sinisal! Over here! It's me, Zyerii!" The voice called. They both turned to the direction of the voice to see a young ghost Lupe running over to them in an effortless lope.

"Zyerii! How good to see you!" Sinisal called back to him. Diakumablo nodded enthusiastically, very glad to see him. Zyerii smiled at them both.

"It's good to see you too!" He said happily.

"Zyerii? Where did you go?" Another voice said. A white Faerie came up from behind Zyerii and paused with an unsure look at Sinisal and Diakumablo.

"It's okay, Alyss. These are friends of mine." Zyerii assured her.

"Hi, my name is Sinisal and this is my best friend, Diakumablo. But you can just call him Diak." Sinisal said. Diakumablo dipped his head in hello while he studied Alyss. He realised that Alyss was one of the few typeless Faeries in Neopia, characterised by her white hair and wings. Typeless Faeries were not born with an element unlike most other Faeries which often meant they were destined to be a great and unique faerie like the Battle Faerie and the Space Faerie, two great Faeries who had started out typeless gained their colours when they found their unique place in the world.

"It is nice to meet you both, I am Alyss." Alyss said quietly.

"So anyway, why are you two here?" Zyerii asked them.

"We're here because of a place called Ars Arcanium." Sinisal said.

"You mean, you're here for the same reason I am? To see if there is anything you do could do?" Zyerii asked. Sinisal and Diakumablo nodded.

"Exactly! Zyerii, do you or your friend know anything?" Sinisal asked him.

"Actually Sinisal. There can be something done about it and Alyss here is the very key to it."