Mira Squad Tales-Portals

      “I know you’ll have trouble remembering, given the, er, circumstances, that I’ve put you in, but do remember anything prior to me knocking you out cold? The Lupe Pack are investigating the portals and we know that you were involved in it, even if you were an unwilling participant.”

      “My mind’s still foggy, but I vaguely remember being attacked by a Green Kacheek claiming to be Magon on the Coincidence. I’m confused though, shouldn’t Scintilly have records of it?” I had to tell him that his MLA had been out of commission since the attack but had been able to provide us with a few still pictures. He began thinking a little bit more.

      “Before you knocked me out, which I remember vividly, I think I was in Brightvale, but I don’t remember why I was there in the first place. Other than that, that’s all that I can provide you.” I nodded and got up from my seat, thanking him for his time.

      As soon as I was out of the room, I sighed to myself. I thought that the doctor would remember a lot more even though he was under someone’s control, but just like what had happened after dealing with Ebenezer the Blue Yurble, none of his victims could remember what had happened while they were under his control.

      Seeing as there was nothing else for me to do, I decided to check on Forest and Shadow Breeze to see how they were progressing with their research. Much to my surprise, when I entered Forest’s office, I saw Aaron and Brooke with them, making some notes. They looked up when they saw me.

      “I know you put us on standby for the upcoming battle, but we feel that we’ll be more helpful working on the case instead of idly sitting around doing nothing. We’re no scholars, but we do have some insight on Ramtor’s Spellbook as we have it used it in battle before, back from we’re from,” Brooke told me. I could not disagree with them as we were still on a case that needed to be solved.

      I did not know how long it would take, so I took a seat and listened to what the small team had to say regarding the supposed forbidden dark magic. It was good to hear that my mother did identify some possible spells, like one that could drain the magic out of a Neopian or Faerie or even impersonate a Neopian. I could see why those spells mentioned were considered forbidden as it was likely that someone would abuse it for their own personal gain.

      As the conversation continued, there was a knock on the door, prompting Forest to tell whoever was outside to come in. It was the Abnormal Investigators. Once they entered the office, Katrina the Yellow Aisha told us that they gathered some more information on the portals, thanks to the recent battle. This was definitely good news.

      “First off, trying to identify the Neopian responsible for controlling those poor Neopians and creating the portals was a massive pain in the neck, but thanks to the knowledge of both Mana and Seras, we now know who we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with a Draik, one that wields a lot of magic and possibly power and influence,” Ocean said.

      “Despite that knowledge, we still don’t know the identity of the Draik, so we figured we’d talk to you, hoping that you would be able to give some insight,” Mana added. I placed my hand over my mouth and part of my nose as I began thinking of the Neopian that fit the criteria.

      “Hmm, this may be a bit farfetched and the information may not be true, but there are stories of a Draik named Terask with enough magic and power to rule all of Neopia. In fact, he thought that he was the most powerful Neopian that he called himself the ‘King of Neopia’. How he managed to gain that much power is anyone’s guess,” I replied.

      “There are rumours of Terask being the ruler of either Meridell or Faerieland at one point, but there’s little information to support that. There’s also speculation that Terask was ‘immortal’, but that’s only because of the magic and power he wielded, leaving him practically untouchable. It’s the reason why he was merely sealed away and not defeated,” Shadow Breeze continued. I noticed that both Aaron and Brooke were thinking about something after hearing the name, so I asked them if something was wrong, snapping them out of their thoughts.

      “Not really, we’re just thinking about a tabletop RPG game from our world. The only reason why we’re mentioning it is because the final boss in the game just also happens to be a Draik by the name of Terask. The game is vague in details as to how he was able to usurp Fyora from her throne and take over Faerieland briefly, declaring himself king in the process, but he was eventually defeated by a small group of adventurers. It’s likely that in your world, Faerieland was attacked by Terask, but no records were ever produced as the Faeries kept it a secret for various reasons.”

      Seeing as there was a possibility that Fyora the Faerie Queen and other Faeries fought Terask, I decided to head to Faerieland to confirm, bringing Shadow Breeze, Brooke and Ocean with me as a precautionary measure. Our first stop was to the Faerie Weapon Shop, where Aethia the Battle Faerie worked in her spare time. I gave her the context of the situation before asking her about Terask.

      “The so-called King of Neopia? That’s not a question that I often get asked about, but I can confirm that he did attempt to take over Faerieland as I did participate in the battle roughly four hundred years ago, though not as the Battle Faerie, that would have been my predecessor, Valeane. Either Queen Fyora or Mira the Space Faerie might know more about that battle.”

      She mentioned increasing security precautions but needed to speak to Fyora about it. Aethia decided to close the shop up for a short period of time so that she could speak to Fyora about the preparations.

      Our next stop was the castle to inform Fyora about the situation, and we immediately went there with Aethia, hoping that the Faerie Queen was not busy. Fortunately for us, she was not, so we were able to request an audience with her. She carefully listened to what we had to say before responding.

      “While I understand that the Mira Squad is investigating the possibility that Terask may be responsible for the portals, the only information that I can confirm to you is that he was sealed away, one of the Faeries responsible for sealing him was me. Other than that, I cannot give you any more information.” While I was disappointed with the answer, I had a feeling Fyora was only telling us out of necessity, given the circumstances. Still, that little tidbit was useful.

      Seeing as we had nothing else to do in Faerieland, we decided to return to the DoN so that we could plan our next steps. Aethia had to remain behind so that she could advise Fyora and prepare for a possible invasion.

      When we returned, Ocean came up to me, asking for a current map of Neopia. I was happy to help, so I pointed out the large map Forest had hung in his office. She carefully studied it before asking me where Terask was likely sealed away.

      “Based on the information that we were given, it’s likely that the spell was used in an isolated place to reduce the chance of someone accidentally breaking that seal. Although the Lost Desert, Shenkuu and Tyrannia are sparsely populated, the Faeries had to be aware of their existence while the rest of Neopia was not during that time, thus eliminating them as potential spots, as well as Terror Mountain. Altador is in a similar position, having disappeared at one point. Virtupets is a recent addition and has some anti-magic in place, also eliminating them. And it would not make any sense to seal anyone that powerful under Faerieland while it was still floating.”

      “In other words, you’ve just ruled out most regions and cities. The only one that doesn’t fit is the Haunted Woods or any isolated islands, which are the perfect place to seal someone.”

      “Regarding any potential islands, it’s unlikely that someone was sent there as the Faeries need a place that’s close enough to monitor the seal just in case it needed to be patched up. Magic does have its limitations, which is also the reason why Kreludor was not chosen,” Shadow Breezed piped up, even though he was not asked. I nodded in agreement.

      After hearing the information given, Ocean began creating a basic timeline of events with magic. We helped her out by adding information that was relevant, like when Magon was sentenced and sent to Meepit Oaks. Soon after, she quickly glanced at our work and the map before coming to a conclusion.

      “Given the information that we have, if Terask was sealed away in the Haunted Woods, then it would have likely been in a location far away from civilization. More than likely, that seal was damaged in some way at some point, allowing the ‘King of Neopia’ to take advantage of it. That could explain a few things, but it’s mostly speculation at this point.”

      Initially, after we were finished, I had thought about sending the Abnormal Investigators to check out the Haunted Woods for any traces of the seal, but had decided against it, mainly due to the sheer size of the Woods. There was also the fact that thanks to the various legends surrounding the Woods, there was only a partial map charted as barely anyone wanted to chart something with a lot of unknown dangers, even for someone well versed in magic. That was not a risk I was going to take, especially with another battle on the way as I needed the full strength of the squad.

      As we were discussing strategies, there was another knock on Forest’s door. He got up from his seat and opened the door to a Faerie Meerca messenger who gave him a letter. He quickly glanced at it before giving to me. Although I was confused, I opened it.

     “To Detective Blizzard,

     I am busy making preparations for a possible battle with Terask and unable to talk to you in person, hence the letter. Although Queen Fyora has forbidden me from communicating to you regarding Terask for safety reasons, I actually disagree with her position and am disregarding her orders, seeing as you, the Blue Tempest, and the rest of the Lupe Pack Detectives are the children of the legendary Winter Sage, even if none of you are at her level of magic. There is also the fact that like your mother, you are running the clandestine Mira Squad, so I have complete faith in you and your team. Should the need arise, use the spell listed on a separate paper to seal the ‘King of Neopia’ again. I wish you good luck in the upcoming battle.

     Aethia the Battle Faerie”

      I smiled to myself as it had been a long time since I had heard the title given to me before removing the second piece of paper from the envelope. Unfortunately, the spell Aethia had given us was written in the language of Ancient Neopia and no one within the Mira Squad knew how to speak it, thus rendering the Battle Faerie’s help useless. I still appreciated the fact that she was more willing to help us out than Fyora was.

      As soon as we heard the internal announcement for all Neopians within the DoN to prepare for battle, I motioned the team to head out, making a quick stop at Judge Hog’s office to confirm what we were supposed to do. This time, with the preparations already in place, the DoN would not be caught off guard.

To be continued…