Faeries Don't Forget

     31st October Y7. Halloween had arrived and had taken the Neopian World by storm. Along the streets, Neohomes were decorated spookily with pumpkins, cobwebs and many other decorations. Some even had scarecrows and skeletons hanging from trees, out to scare fellow Neopians. Most of the porches of the houses were lined with lanterns of all designs, glowing eerily in the night.

     ”Stop the boat!!!!” Kathy screamed, trying as hard as she could to run in the high-heeled boots. Kathy and her pets were at Tyrannia trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, they had to cut short their activities as they rushed to board the boat to Faerieland. Apparently, Bluedragon (a Darigan Krawk), had gone into the forbidden Dark Cave, thinking that there was a house there. He was, of course, subsequently bitten by the Beast that dwelled in the Cave, and lost some health. Since he was too heavy for any of them to carry when flying, they had to take the boat to Faerieland.

     The boat was a normal-looking boat, able to take a maximum of 10 passengers per trip. But, once it left the docks, the magic began. As it picked up speed, it suddenly lifted off from the sea and was on its way to Faerieland, leaving a tail of glittering dust to decorate the night sky.

     As Kitsella the Faerie Ixi looked back, she saw her owner perched over the side of the boat looking green. Seasickness in the middle of the air; who would have thought there was such a thing!

     Finally, the boat docked at a Faerieland pier. Wow! The place certainly looked very different during Halloween. It was darker than normal, and looked more like the Haunted Woods. The floor was slimy, the singing flowers lining the pavement were all grey and drooping, and the rainbow was gone.

     They walked slowly down the dimly lit road, trying to find their way to the Healing Springs. Kathy and Kitsella led the way, carrying the bags of candy with them. Ira (an Island Uni) and Blackdragon (a red Shoyru) followed from behind, bearing the weight of Bluedragon on their backs.

     As they were walking, a bright light suddenly flashed in front of them, and ‘Poof!’, the Fountain Faerie appeared. This Faerie gave whoever who did her quests the opportunity to change their Neopets colour at a cheaper price than the Rainbow Pool. Her quests were some of the most sought after quests in Neopia.

     “You have a new quest. The Fountain Faerie wants you to bring her Water Faerie Bubble,” the Faerie said. However, she looked and sounded a little peculiar. When she spoke to reveal the item of her desire, instead of the sweet and soothing mermaid-like voice the rumours speak of, her voice was deep and willowy, like that of the Earth Faerie. Furthermore, there seemed to be a pair of shoe-tips peeking out from the tail of the Faerie. However, since this was the first time they had her quest, they have never seen her up-close before, and decided to ignore these details. After all, Blackdragon was eager to be a Pirate Shoyru, and with Kathy’s current budget, it was going to take them over a year to accomplish the goal. So, the group decided to try their luck doing her Quest.

     After accepting her quest of a bottle of Water Faerie Bubbles, the Faerie vanished as suddenly as she had appeared, causing them to be temporarily blinded as their eyes tried to adjust to the surrounding environment. They decided to heal Bluedragon first before making their way to Mystery Island. They chose to go there because it was the only place in Neopia with a Trading Post. Of course there was also the wise Shop Wizard, but since this was a Faerie Quest, he would simply ignore them.

     An hour later, the group landed safely upon the fair beach of Mystery Island. It was a rough landing, though, as it was night-time and the beach was lit only by the light of the full moon and shining stars.

    “Flags, shoes, witches’ ingredients, it’s all here! You name it, we got it! Fruit juices, healthy snacks for you and your pets, here at Juice Pit!” The streets of Mystery Island were lined with plenty of shops selling all kinds of goods. Some of the shops were so small that their contents spilled over onto the pavement, while others were as big as a mall. But all the shops had a hut-like appearance, with roofs made of leaves and the walls seemed like they were made of sticks and mud. As this was Halloween, the place looked more like a spooky bazaar, with smoke coming out of pots and all kinds of strange looking folks walking around.

     The group approached the Trading Post, which was a warehouse building that was made up of bamboo, similar to the shops. The place was looked after by a Shopkeeper named Sunny, an Island Blumaroo with long white beard.

     The Trading Post housed items that were too expensive to be sold in normal shops, and the items could be sold by trading things with not only Neopoints, but also other items of its owner's liking. Even though the goods were placed openly on the shelves, you shouldn't even think of taking it without paying. Strange things would happen to you if you did...

     Upon entering the place, the group made their way to the Magic Items Section. After searching every nook and cranny of the Section, they at last found what they were looking for. However, upon seeing the owner’s wishlist, a loud thud was heard as Kathy fell to the ground with a look of disbelief on her face. The Water Faerie Bubbles cost 700K, which was almost their entire savings.

     Reluctantly, Kathy picked it up and went to Sunny to make the offer. Fortunately, at that time, the owner of the Water Faerie Bubbles just turned up to check on the offers for that item.

     The owner looked a little intimidating, though, with a scowl that never left his face the entire time that they haggled. In the end, they managed to reduce the price by only 5K Neopoints, as the owner refused to accept anything lower than that.

     The group walked out of the Trading Post feeling empty. But the thought of getting the reward lifted their spirits as they hurried through the busy streets of Mystery Island to get to the beach to take-off for Faerieland. All items for faerie quests were to be given to the Faeries at the Queen Faerie Palace. At the Palace, the Neopian on quest would have to think of their Faerie who would then appear. The beach was the designated spot for landing and take-off for flying pets so as not to cause trouble to the vendors with dusts flying everywhere.

     It was only early morning, but as they flew over Faerieland, trick-or-treat was still taking place in full force. The Palace, however, was a magnificent, but somewhat creepy sight. The towers cast dark shadows over the area, with the constant rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning to give it the ‘haunted castle’ look.

     As they were nearing the Palace, they saw the Fountain Faerie already there, waiting for them in the Royal Garden. She was sitting on the stone bench, looking bored while waiting for the time to pass.

     Upon landing, Kathy walked up to her and placed the item on her hand. She clasped her hand and the item vanished, to be kept together with the ‘gifts’ from her other victims. The group high-fived each other, feeling extremely delighted that they had completed the quest.

     However, after doing so, instead of hearing about their reward, the Faerie cackled loudly. She then took off her mask to reveal her true identity.

     Kathy fell down with a shocked look on her face. It was the Earth Faerie, and Kathy had rejected her quest a few days ago.

     The Earth Faerie smirked upon seeing Kathy’s expression. Satisfied, she took her leave and vanished without a trace. Kathy felt lost on what her next step should be. She had only about 5K worth of savings left, which would not be enough to send her pets to school and also to restock her shop. Complaining would not do her any good, for the Faeries had always been known to side with each other. Instead, she would make the situation worse as they would then avoid her like a plague.

     From that day onward, the group never turned down the Earth Faerie's Quests, for she is always watching....

The End