Jhudora's Valentine

Jhudora drummed her long, pale white fingers impatiently on the arms of the chair. Her perfectly manicured lime green coloured nails echoed sharply, a frustrated tap-tap that resonated in the gloomy surrounds. Her piercing eyes penetrated the dark light, and she sighed audibly.

     How horribly frustrating. Her potions would soon be beyond repair, and she needed those ingredients. Where were the pathetic grovelling pets today? Her 'helpers' and servants who were usually anxious and thrilled to be awarded even the slightest of errands were absent today. And what a day to pick, at that. So much depended on just a few ingredients, just a few more items, and her potion would be complete…

     Time rolled by, heavily and slowly. The morning passed, and no helpers arrived. No pathetic minions. No loyal servants. Jhudora pouted in her chair, and the green mist twisted and writhed around her, sympathising in its own way. Jhudora knew that she really should have planned the timing of the potion better. She should have known that on this day, neopets everywhere would be too busy celebrating to think of her. On Valentines Day, she was next to nothing. It was the same every year.

     Valentines Day was Jhudora's least favourite day of the year. Or at least, it ranked pretty highly on her list. Joy, happiness, love... Yuck. Now, Jhudora Day- that was a good day. Or… Halloween, Halloween was fantastic- evil, witchery, magic... Jhudora gave a satisfied peal of evil laughter remembering the tricks and jokes she had played on that do-gooder sister of hers last Halloween.

     Last Halloween… Last year… The connection brought back a few unpleasant memories. Jhudora's eyes lost their temporary gleam, and her scowl reappeared. The look was much more normal, for her. Try as she might, she could not help but think of that day, a year ago exactly……

     * * * * * * * * * *

[Jhudora, 1 year ago]

     Jhudora was pacing angrily, furious that such a complex potion should go to waste, thanks to a silly holiday. It was pathetic, truly. And to celebrate love? Pah. Ridiculous! Why even such a holiday was necessary, was beyond Jhudora. And yet, she just knew that that sister of hers would be parading around throwing hearts and giggling like a little girl all day long. How could they even be related? Jhudora seriously had to wonder, sometimes.

     It took a good while for Jhudora to make herself angry enough to decide to fetch her own ingredients. It was not as simple a decision as one might assume. Firstly, there was the bother of making oneself presentable. Jhudora may be an evil faerie, but there are certain standards that even dark faeries must adhere to, if they are to expose themselves to the public eye. Even though Jhudora didn't go in for all that expensive shampoo rubbish, it would certainly not do to look a mess. And of course, on top of that, there would be questions from the city dwellers, and sly glances, and shops that would refuse to sell to her, and...and...ugh. So much trouble! And all because of one silly, stupid little holiday.

     But the potion was important. And it was complex. And she had been working on it for a long, long time. So Jhudora gritted her teeth and prepared herself for a trip to the main market, where hopefully she would be able to find all that she needed relatively quickly.

     A short time later, Jhudora was flying through the clouds at a relatively high altitude, not thinking to pause and take in the beautiful, marshmallow-like clouds surrounding her, nor the shimmering oceans beneath, focussed only on getting the ordeal over and done with as soon as possible.

     Jhudora skirted Meridell (merry… she could hardly bear to say the name, let alone go to the place) with a wide berth, and descended with the ease of long practise as the marketplace appeared beneath her. Everyone stared at her. She glared back, angrily. Her presence announced to one and all that no one was around to do her bidding- simply by being there she was losing status. Eyes dark and malicious, she strode forwards purposefully…

     …But something flew down through the air, and hit her right in the face. Jhudora whirled around angrily, and shouted "Who threw this? Go on, who was it?" Her voice was heavy and laced with poison. The marketplace which had been so crowded only moments before was now empty. Fuming, Jhudora turned to face the thing which had hit her. It lay on the cobbled ground, just a stride away.

     The object was pale pink in colour, and rectangular in shape. It smelt fairly strongly of flowery perfume- whether others could smell it too, or if it was just Jhudora's intolerance of such smells, she did not know. The pink envelope was stamped with a scarlet red heart, embossed with a single gold star in the centre. It lay there quite innocently on the pavement, smiling benignly at the turquoise sky above.

      Jhudora blushed an impossible shade of crimson. Unfortunately, it clashed somewhat with her hair, and a glint of her reflection in a nearby window increased the vividness of the colour, and strength of the clash. Jhudora was mortified. With a hurried swirl of her pitch-black cloak, Jhudora and the offending item vanished. A purple shape became rapidly smaller in the sky as she flew away as fast as her wings could carry her.

     * * * * * * * * * *

[Neopia Central, 1147 Pant Devil Lane, 1 year ago]

     Far beneath her, a rather embarrassed Kacheek was trying to puzzle out exactly why his Mysterious Valentines Card had not been received by the intended recipient. Carla would not be happy at all- she would think that she had been forgotten. She did think that she had been forgotten. Cery would have some serious explaining to do later…

     * * * * * * * * * *

[Jhudora, 1 year ago]

     Jhudora arrived back to her cloud in a terrible state. She threw up the boundaries and hid herself away. She could not remember ever being so confused before. She was absolutely furious- her mind was filled with venomous, angry thoughts.

     But at the same time, in a tiny corner, something had been dislodged. A little piece of her small iron heart had been revealed, exposed. There was a part of her that was touched by the gesture, flattered even. A Valentines card. For her. Her, the most evil of all faeries. There actually was someone who did not hate her…Perhaps someone who understood her. ..

     But before Jhudora could recognise any change in herself, she automatically swamped it out, in anger. How dare someone play a prank on her, a vicious joke such as that. Why, she must have revenge! It was insulting- as though such a great faerie as she would ever deign to accept such a token!

     With those thoughts, Jhudora seized the pastel envelope and tore it into small pieces, throwing them haughtily into the wind with a haunted expression.

     She didn't notice that the green swirling mist lining her cloud stealthily ensnared a small piece, and wedged it into the cloud, for her eyes were misted over with thoughts, anger, and the tiniest bit of confusion.

     * * * * * * * * * *

     [Jhudora, present day]

     Jhudora shuddered. She would not, could not, think of that day.

     The faerie settled more deeply into her chair. She would not be going shopping for ingredients this year.

The End