Elemental

      Queen Fyora was seated on her elegant lilac throne, casually reading a document addressing the Faerieland Petpet Store, when someone knocked on the door.

      “Come in,” said the queen, still reading about the petpets.

      The violet doors opened with a creak, letting a stream of happy sunlight spill into the room. A Light Faerie, clothed in a bright yellow dress, rushed into the room, her wings fluttering with nervous excitement. She drifted down to the purple floors, bowing in respect of the royal that sat before her.

      “Ambrosia,” Fyora said, now looking at the faerie that knelt on the ground. It was her Head Assistant. “It’s very nice to see you. Is there anything important going on?”

      Ambrosia got up off the floor, and, brushing herself off, said, “Hello, Your Highness. It is very nice to see you too. I just came here to say that it is a special time.” She paused, grinning. “It’s time for a new Faerie to grace Neopia with its wondrous ways! And, according to the timeframe, a very special Faerie will be upon our world this year.”

      Fyora gasped. “No, this cannot be. Is it that time already?”

      Ambrosia nodded. “Is something wrong, Your Majesty?”

      Sighing, Fyora sank deeper into her throne. “Ambrosia, you may not know this, but ‘special’ Faeries are Faeries that have a choice in what element they are. You,” she said, indicating Ambrosia, “had your element picked for you, but ‘special’ Faeries decide on their own.”

      “What’s so bad about that?” Ambrosia asked, honestly confused.

      “You must not have heard the story of what happened one thousand years ago.” Fyora sighed and began to tell the tale, a tale she knew all too well.

      ***

      “Your Highness! Your Highness!”

      Fyora’s assistant, Siyantia, burst into the room, squirming around in her blue dress. The Air Faerie paused, bowed, and rose.

      “The day has come, Your Highness,” she said, panting heavily.

      After catching her breath, Siyantia led the queen into a circular room with a dome for a ceiling. In the middle of the room was an illustrious fountain, as white as the Tooth Faerie’s teeth. It held a statue of Fyora holding a magical orb. Water brought forth from only the most well known Water Faeries cascaded out of the orb, splashing into a pool at the bottom, where colors swirled around. All Faeries emerged from this fountain, and, depending on what swirling color the fountain had displayed, were given a specific element. Reddish-orange swirls meant that the Faerie’s element was fire, while a bubbling deep blue determined the Faerie’s element was water. If deep purple was shown, then the Faerie was bound to be dark, while if bright yellow was the fountain’s color, it proclaimed that the Faerie would have the element of light. Green meant earth was the Faerie’s chosen element, and white meant that the selected element was air.

      Today, however, the fountain was pink, meaning that a very special young Faerie would emerge from the fountain’s colorful waters.

      Siyantia gazed at the pink water, permanently pasting it into her mind, for this was an extraordinary event that she might not get a chance to see ever again. Looking up, she stepped aside and let Fyora do her work.

      Fyora stood directly in front of the fountain, her arms straight in front of her, her hands cupped. Aiming her eyes directly at the orb that was part of the statue, she chanted,

     “A special one is on its way,

      This very moment on this very day!

      Give me the power to let them in,

      The power to let this Faerie win.

      Only magic can help this new one

      Find her place under the bright sun.

      Let me help her by bringing her forth

      Aruka mantahna kintayo caborth!”

      A swirling pale purple orb formed in Queen Fyora’s cupped hands. She kept charging more energy into it, repeating that last line (Aruka mantahna kintayo caborth!”), until, finally, she dipped the lavender orb into the fountain. It bubbled and rippled, creating small waves that thrashed and crashed around the fountain’s sides. Fyora patiently waited until the rushing water died down, then took her hands out of the water. Lying on her hands was a young Faerie.

      Garbed in a pink robe, the small Faerie was only a little over four feet tall. From the position in which Fyora was holding her, her long, dark hair, made even more beautiful by its violet streaks, fell down.

      Fyora put a hand on her forehead, and the girl suddenly muttered an indecipherable word. She then stretched her arms out, and her wide eyes fluttered open.

     Siyantia stared as Fyora set the girl upright on the floor and inspected her.

      Unlike most young Faeries, this girl had no wings, not even small ones. She’ll have a tough time fitting in with the other Faeries if she can’t fly, Fyora thought. The queen lifted her hands and aimed them directly at the wobbling Faerie, whispering,

     “This little Faerie who cannot fly

      Will soon go up and up to the sky!

      By this spell said by I,

      Fatiga lingada sotissimu smy!”

      The young Faerie immediately levitated up to the domed ceiling, an expression of sheer panic on her face. She gyrated around in the air for a while, spinning and waving her hands around, then shouted “DOWN!” and crashed to the floor. Siyantia and Fyora rushed over as the young one rubbed her head.

      “Are you okay?” Fyora said calmly. The Faerie nodded, and Fyora added, “I’m Queen Fyora. This is Siyantia.” She gestured to the Light Faerie. “Your name is...” The queen trailed off and placed her palm on the Faerie’s forehead, as if she could get the information out of her head. “Deesalvinia.”

      Deesalvinia nodded, and said the first words she had uttered the whole day (besides “DOWN!”), “You can call me Dee.”

      Dee bowed, finally recognizing Fyora’s royal status. Fyora pulled her up from her position on the ground, and spent the rest of the day showing her around the enormous Faerieland Castle.

      For the next few weeks, Dee made new friends as Fyora motherly took care of her. Dee had developed from the shy, quiet girl that Fyora had first seen, to a happy, outgoing Faerie who loved to frolic around the land, and played with all sorts of new friends. One day she would be swimming with a bunch of her aquatic Water Faerie pals, the next day she would soak in the sun with some Fire Faeries, or play flying tag with the Air Faeries, despite her lack of wings.

      Slowly, months passed, then years. Deesalvinia grew, and Fyora knew that it was time for Dee to truly think about what kind of Faerie she was going to become.

      While Siyantia waited out in the hallway, Fyora entered Deesalvinia’s room, closing the door behind her. The room was the old guest room, so everything was Fyora-themed, although Dee had seemed to add a touch of her own style here and there.

      Dee sat on the Fyora Print Bed, smoothing out the covers before finally noticing Fyora. She smiled and plopped herself onto the bed, waiting for the queen to speak.

      “Deesalvinia,” Fyora said, calling the Faerie by her real name to set a serious tone. “You may have already realized that you have some... differences from other Faeries. You do not have a certain element, nor do you have wings.”

      Dee lowered her gaze to the bedspread. She became very uncomfortable whenever anyone talked about her not having wings. She knew she was different, but she didn’t choose or want to be. She just was.

      Fyora, quickly noticing her averted eyes, said, “I don’t mean to make you feel bad. I just wanted to let you know that, at the end of this month, you will have become a full grown Faerie, and before that, you will need to pick an element.” The queen cleared her throat. “So, all during this month, either Siyantia or I will be introducing you to Faeries, to see how their elements work.”

      Dee brightened at the sound of that. Smiling, she shouted, “Cool! When do I get to meet them?”

      Fyora smiled softly. “We’ll begin tomorrow,” she said, hugging Dee and walking out of the room.

      The next day, Dee made sure to get up bright and early to begin meeting with Faeries. After a quick breakfast of Fluffy Faerie Pancakes, Sliced Strawberries, and Orange Juice, Fyora took Dee outside to meet the first Faerie.

      However, when they arrived outside, no one was there except Siyantia. Dee looked around, curious as to where they would be meeting this elemental Faerie.

      “Much to her request, the first Faerie to show you her element will be Siyantia,” Fyora explained, after noticing Dee’s slightly confused expression.

      That’s when Dee noticed the huge grin on Siyantia’s face. She smiled in return, then listened as the Air Faerie spoke.

      “Today, I will be showing you all the aspects of being an Air Faerie,” Siyantia said, floating in the air. She stretched out her arms, and, aiming her index fingers exactly at Dee, yelled, “Largonza prosteros deymut!”

      A blast of air exploded from her fingers, creating a breeze so big it made some passing Neopians drop their belongings. Dee’s long, violet-streaked hair flew back, rustling and flowing in the sudden bursts of wind.

      The flow of air slowly died down, leaving only a few drifting papers in its wake. A Poogle ran off to catch the documents, grumbling with annoyance.

      Siyantia turned to Dee. “Now, you try. Just repeat what I said.”

      Dee nodded nervously, then stretched out her arms and pointed her fingers, shouting, “Largonza prosteros deymut!”

      The wind picked up again, this time at a higher speed. The Poogle’s papers were nearly crushed by the gusts of blowing air. The exasperated Poogle opened his mouth, as if to say something, but abruptly shut it when he saw Fyora. He grabbed his papers and ran.

      Siyantia twirled a finger, and, out from thin air, a Wand of the Air Faerie appeared. She clutched the item, saying, “Cloud!” Before her, there appeared a puffy white cloud, which she jumped upon.

      “You see, I have put a spell on this wand, “ Siyantia explained, jumping off her seat on the cloud. “If I say certain words (like ‘cloud,’ for instance), it will perform a spell, without me having to actually recite the whole thing! Here, watch.” She pointed her wand at the cloud, saying, “Charge!” The wand glowed with white light, then made a whirring noise when she said, “Tornado!” Suddenly, a twister appeared before them. It whirled and twirled directly towards a tree, and seemed to almost hit it, until Siyantia shouted, “Stop!” The twister disappeared in a flash, as the wand sizzled with energy, then died down.

      Siyantia rose up into the air. “I hope this inspired you to be an Air Faerie. Now, let’s go get Queen Fyora.” She turned towards the door of the Faerieland Castle.

      Dee froze for a while, astonished by two things: number one, Siyantia had been able to do all those cool spells, and number two, Fyora had not been there to se it. She sort of remembered the queen leaving, though why anyone would want to miss that, she had no clue.

      A few days later, Fyora took Deesalvinia to congregate with another Faerie, Edyliana. Edyliana was a Light Faerie, and Dee practically had to shield her eyes when she first saw her.

      “Hello, dear,” Edyliana softly said, conjuring up a ball of light. “I suppose you want to see what Light Faeries do.” She giggled. “Well, you’re in for a treat.” She took the ball of Light energy and threw it towards a dimly-lit alleyway. As soon as the ball touched it, the alley transformed into a pathway that sunlight streamed into, filled with brightly-colored flowers.

      Edyliana turned away from the pathway, and made another orb of Light energy. Pointing it at a nearby Neovision monitor, she yelled, “Yzra kirtego hyed!” After a flash of light, the monitor sizzled and fizzled, no longer broadcasting the show that was previously on. Dee’s eyes widened at the destruction of the monitor, disgusted that a Faerie would ruin a valuable item, but, at the same time, questioning how the Faerie did it.

      After a few more Light Faeries spells, Fyora returned and took Dee to meet the next Faerie, an Earth Faerie by the name of Kiyvahnila. The Faerie was garbed in a short green dress (which she said was made out of organic materials), and she sat on the thatched roof of a small shack in the middle of a wooded area that Dee had never even known existed.

      After saying a quick hi, the Earth Faerie got straight to the action. Kiyvahnila pointed at a spot on the ground, chanted, “Jila sorankkos quertinalilmah!” The soil of that particular area broke open, letting a long vine emerge from the muddy earth. The vine shot straight up into the sky, twisting and curving and bending as it rose and rose. It wrapped around Dee, which frightened her for a minute, but then made her laugh as it bounced her around, causing her to do odd flips and flops and gymnastics moves as she bent with the vine. When it finally let her down, she wobbled like she had done when she emerged from the fountain.

      Besides demonstrating how to make monstrous plants erupt from the ground, Kiyvahnila showed Dee how to make simple medicines out of herbs, how to get all of nature to obey your commands, and how to build a shelter out of sticks, leaves, branches, and various grasses. Dee then waved goodbye to the friendly Earth Faerie that had taught her so many new things.

      A week passed, and Fyora decided it was time to introduce Dee to a Water Faerie. They stood on the edge of Faerieland’s cloud, preparing Dee. Fyora tied a mystical necklace (made of different kinds of kelp and seaweed) around Dee’s neck.

      “This will allow you to breathe underwater,” she explained, securing the necklace around Dee’s neck once more. She smiled at the young Faerie, before saying the words she had uttered before,

     “This little Faerie who cannot fly

      Will soon go up and up to the sky!

      By this spell said by I,

      Fatiga lingada sotissimu smy!”

      Just as before, Dee shot up into the air, levitating. By now, she had gotten kind of used to this whole flying thing, so she zoomed around, doing loops while hovering over the cloud.

      Fyora motioned for Dee to back up, so she did. It was at this time that the queen shouted, “DOWN!”, sending Dee plummeting towards the ocean below. Dee screamed, freefalling towards the water. She hoped that there were no coral or rocks to harm her when she fell. She toppled downwards for a few more minutes (it was a long fall from all the way up in the sky) before she finally smashed into the ocean, creating an enormous splash and shrieking so loudly that the Neopians on a nearby beach became very alarmed.

      The icy water struck her body, causing her to nervously flail around for a bit, before realizing that the water could not harm her anymore.

      From behind a coral reef, a Water Faerie floated out in front of Dee. Her cyan tail shimmered in the aqua depths of Maraqua, and it was only then that Dee realized how beautiful this place was. Everything seemed to glisten and gleam, from a bright green piece of kelp that continually swayed, to the fins of a Flotsam, busily swimming by. Dee looked down at herself, and noticed how her hair seemed brighter and shinier, even though it remained its same color of violet-streaked black.

      During the next few hours, Deesalvinia was taught how to blast a stream of water from her hand (to do this, she chanted, “Garfondei rikijo bunvu!”), create enormous, air-trapping bubbles, and swim as fast as a Lupe could run. She learned these spells and skills from Fingswerva, the Water Faerie she had seen before.

      When it was time for Dee to return to Faerieland, Fingswerva thrust her arms out in front of her and said, “Nairva quinsperosa keentet anah!”

      Dee was immediately engulfed in what seemed to be some sort of miniature typhoon. She went up with the rising waters, hardly having time to shout a “Goodbye!” to the Water Faerie down below. The typhoon was tall enough to carry her up to the safe clouds of Faerieland, where Fyora watched her clamber about on the water, amused.

     Lending her a hand, Fyora led Dee back to the castle, waiting a few days before going to see another Faerie.

      The next Faerie Dee met was Esponsa, a Fire Faerie. Her red-orange hair matched her outfit, which was the same color as the flame she had conjured up in her hand. Soon, Dee knew how to make flames, shoot fire from her fingertips, melt extremely cold things, and try not to burn her clothes (this last one was definitely the hardest). Before leaving, Esponsa and Dee performed one last Fire Faerie spell. They placed their hands together, whispering, “Igorama hybib pipiphy.” Flames erupted from their hands, startling a few pets that were playing a game of tag close by. They quickly put out the fire before anyone could get hurt, then Esponsa and Dee said their goodbyes before Fyora came to pick Dee up.

      For the next few days, Deesalvinia played with her friends, thinking that her meetings with the Faeries were over. But, there was one Faerie she had forgotten about: the Dark Faerie.

      Fyora led her to a quiet, somewhat spooky house that had been painted a deep, dark purple. The door creaked open, and out stepped a Dark Faerie. The Faerie’s long purple hair reminded Dee of her own violet streaks. The Faerie curtsied and grinned at Queen Fyora, who gave Dee a hesitant look before leaving. Dee suddenly remembered that this was the day before she had to decide what type of Faerie she wanted to become.

      The Dark Faerie (who introduced herself as Trinakoa) led her inside the scary house, into a room containing a large couch. They sat down on it, Dee looking nervous, the Faerie looking mischievously happy.

      “So, I hear you have to decide what kind of Faerie you want to be,” Trinakoa said. When Dee nodded silently, she continued. “Well, I suppose you want to be a Light Faerie or a Fire Faerie.” The Dark Faerie sighed.

      Dee looked up at her. “Actually, I’m considering all the types.”

      Trinakoa looked surprised. “Really?” She sighed again. “Well, I’m sure you would never become a Dark Faerie anyway, even though it’s the best element to choose.”

      Dee questioningly glanced at Trinakoa. “Why is it the best?”

      Trinakoa gave her a small smile. “Well, just think about it. If you become a Water Faerie, you have to stay in Maraqua all the time, never to return to Faerieland. If you choose Air, you have to stay up in the clouds all the time, and you probably never get to go back to the land. If Fire is your element, you have the guilt of burning things all the time, which is really bad for the environment. If you want to be an Earth Faerie, you probably would never come back to Faerieland, because there’s a scarce amount of forested areas.” Trinakoa frowned. “And, if you want to become a Light Faerie, you always have to take pity on others, acting as if you are the best or something.” Her gaze fell to the floor. “But, I guess that’s just my opinion.”

      Dee contemplated this, then said, “Hey, you’re right! Maybe I will become a Dark Faerie.”

      She was still pondering the choice of being a Dark Faerie when Fyora picked her up, when it was time for dinner, and before she fell asleep.

      Fyora had invited all the Faeries that had influenced Dee’s decision (Siyantia, Edyliana, Kiyvahnila, Fingswerva, Esponsa, and Trinakoa) to the decision-making ceremony for Dee.

      “Sisters, we have gathered here today to see what element our dear Deesalvinia will be choosing as her own,” Fyora happily said. She then turned to Dee. “And now, Miss Deesalvinia will be telling us her choice of the elements.”

      Everyone cheered as Dee bowed. Then, it was time for the announcement.

      “The element I will call my own is...” she said, pausing just for dramatic effect. All the Faeries crossed their fingers or silently pleaded with their eyes, except for Trinakoa, who just smiled at Dee.

      “The element I will call my own is the Dark element!” Dee happily said, smiling and waiting for grins in return. However, the Faeries just frowned, especially Fyora, who had the most disappointed look Dee had ever seen.

      Fyora glanced sadly at Dee. “Very well then,” she said. “It is from this day that you shall be known as...” She sighed in a melancholy tone. “Deesalvinia, Dark Faerie.”

      A swirl of purple formed, surrounding Dee as she transformed into a Dark Faerie.

      When the swirling stopped, Dee was wearing a dark purple dress, with violet and red wings jutting out of her back. She had still kept her violet-streaked black hair, but that was about the only thing that she had kept. She looked very different, and there was an evil, mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

      Dee grinned maliciously at Fyora. “So long, Fee,” she called over her shoulder, as she took Trinakoa by the hand and walked out of the Faerieland Castle with her.

      ***

      Ambrosia gasped once the story was over. “I can’t believe she would do that to you!” she said, looking hurt.

      “I couldn’t, either,” replied Fyora, wincing at the remembrance. “The worst thing was that the ‘special’ Faeries become one of the best of their element, meaning that Deesalvinia was the best Dark Faerie around.”

      “Was?” Ambrosia confusedly asked.

      “I couldn’t just keep letting her do evil things, now could I?” Fyora inquired, walking away from Ambrosia. When she was far away, she added, “The world will never be ready for a Faerie like that. The world will never be ready for Deesalvinia, the Darkest Faerie.”

The End

Comments and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! ^_^