Teleported: Part One

      Trinity didn’t mean to say that out loud. It was just that she was overwhelmed with the fact that finally, she was standing in front of the place she had sought ever since she came to the Haunted Woods. The shack loomed behind the bare trees, sending a cold shiver down her fragile spine. It was scarier than the pictures she had seen, or all the stories they told around the campfire. Now all she had to do was actually go inside. Sure, she could just flee out of the Haunted Woods and never return, but she wanted to prove that a little Faerie Xweetok like her was in fact tough, and not delicate like everyone thought. Back home in Shenkuu, all the obnoxious pets would praise her instead of being absorbed with themselves.

      After gazing in uncertainty, Trinity quietly headed up to the door. He shouldn't be home at the moment... this was the time that he was out hunting. Focus, Trinity. Her mind screamed no, but her heart persisted.

      The door creaked open. She was in.

      Trinity now slipped inside the house, back faced to the mystic wonders, and closed the door. She would be known as the brave and fearless Xweetok, which was all she ever wanted. Trinity felt like sobbing, but she swallowed her tears and faced what was behind her.

      Faeries. Everywhere she looked, there were faeries trapped in bottles. Some glowed purple, yellow, green, blue, even red. They were neatly placed on the shelves and tables in their bottles, just waiting to be let out. Trinity moved swiftly about the small home, eyeing each faerie with pity. Some knocked on the glass, pleading to be let out. But Trinity couldn’t free all the faeries. He would probably be back soon, and she needed to grab a bottle and leave.

      The Xweetok approached a table set back farther in the corner of the house. It had merely one bottle on it that glowed purple. A dark faerie was in that bottle. But why was she all alone? Was she dangerous? Was she powerful? The thoughts circled her faster than a poor Neopian scratching off a scratch card.

      The door knob began to rotate.

      Trinity immediately snatched the bottle and took cover under a rather small table next to the door, which was covered by a white, tattered cloth that swept against the floor. She held her breath as the door screeched open. Thumping feet entered, almost tearing through the weak floorboards that held the tiny shack up above from the thick swampy marsh.

      “Things look different from inside a jar, don’t they?” Balthazar boomed, slamming the door shut behind him. Trinity didn’t risk moving the cloth to peer out and see him. “What a nice profit you’re going to bring for me.”

      Something was apparently knocked over, causing an echo of shattering glass to ring in Trinity’s ears. Cursing under his breath, Balthazar hurried away into the other room. Silently glancing from behind the cloth, she saw the hunter with his back turned, fiddling with jagged glass in his giant paws. It was Trinity’s chance to escape. The window above her was opened a crack. Using this advantage, she silently hopped up on the table with the bottled faerie in hand, frantically prying the aged window ajar.

      The hinges let out a piercing screech.

      Balthazar slowly turned around, eyes lit up red in anger as his hard stare fell upon the Xweetok.

      “HEY! YOU! GIVE ME THAT!” Balthazar roared, so loud that the bottles clanked together. Trinity screamed and frantically tried to pry the window open with her trembling paws. Heavy footsteps shook the inside as Balthazar approached closer and closer.

      The window fell open, and Trinity thrust herself through, landing on her back. Cursing herself for still not figuring out how to use her wings and fly, she grabbed the bottle with her mouth and ran for her life, weaving in and out of the dead trees and into the darkness. Balthazar’s booming voice shook the whole forest, but Trinity just ran and never looked back.

      After a few minutes, her legs gave in. She sprawled onto the cold, wet grass, gasping for air. She let her jaw lock on the bottle loosen, and it tumbled to the ground.

      “Hey! Let me out, you wannabe faerie!” the dark faerie inside cursed, banging on the glass.

      “No... not yet, Faerie...” Trinity heaved. “I... will...”

      “You better!” she hissed. “And my name is Ivory, not Faerie! What in all of Neopia were you thinking of going into Balthazar‘s shack?!”

      Trinity sighed. “All I want is to be known as the brave Faerie Xweetok and prove everyone wrong, that we can be tough and courageous.”

      “What a unique way to achieve such a worthless status.” Ivory rolled her eyes.

      It took Trinity a while to finally regain the strength to walk. On her wobbling legs, she stood up and surveyed her surroundings. She must have ran deep into the Haunted Woods, because she never saw this part before.

      “Do you hear that, Ivory?” Trinity asked her.

      “What am I suppose to hear?” Ivory sighed, obviously bored.

      “It sounds like... a whirring machine.”

      “Ah? Is that so? Have you checked your common senses? I hear nothing.”

      Trinity didn’t want to argue, even though she was positive the noise was growing louder and louder with the ever increasing seconds. It was almost like it was coming from the bush in front of her path. She started to retreat backwards, uneasy about it.

      A light blinded her, and she disappeared.

     ***

      “You’re shaking...”

      “Oh, in situations like these, it usually happens.”

      “Charles! Charles, stop doing that! Your hands will fall off and for once, Miles will have nothing to do with it!”

      “Hey...”

      The scenario was pretty usual. At the small table, a crowded family was playing Cheat. Charles, the blue Bruce whose heart was surely bigger than his mind, was the oldest of the group. Then there was Rackquel, the red Ruki who felt as if he was above everyone else. Jillian the green Uni was the next oldest, and she valued family time more than anything else. Lastly the youngest of the group was Miles, the yellow Blumaroo who would rather save the Virtupets Space Station from mutant Grundos than do chores.

      “I’m putting down a queen-”

      “CHEATING! YOU’RE CHEATING!” Rackquel slammed down his set of cards, wearing a proud victory smile.

      “Oh...” Charles sulked and picked up the pile of sixteen cards. “You got me.”

      “Can we go out for a walk after this?” Miles piped up.

      “What? Come on, Miles! The game’s just starting!” Jillian protested.

      Knock knock.

      “If it’s the Tax Beast, tell him we went on vacation.” Charles pushed Miles towards the den. Reluctantly, he hopped over to the entrance, and with a deep breath, opened the door.

      Standing in front of him was the most beautiful pet he had ever seen. A Faerie Xweetok, confident yet shy, stood with an elegant posture how only the wealthy would present themselves. Her delicate blue wings fanned gently in the breeze as she stuck her paw out.

      “Hello, my name is Trinity, and... I don’t know quite how to say this, but... I was teleported onto your front lawn by a mysterious light when I was in the Haunted Woods.”

      Miles froze, but managed to finally talk and shake her paw. “Oh... uh... well... um... hi. That’s a cool story! Want to... come in... only if you want...”

      “I’d be delighted.” Trinity cheerfully headed into the rather small den, home to only an orange couch, three-legged chair, a broken zen mirror, and a beaten up bookcase filled with merely two books.

      “Miles? What are you doing?” a voice asked from the next room. “If you let the Tax Beast in, I swear...”

      “Tax Beast? Where?” Trinity immediately ducked for no legitimate reason. Regaining her composure, she stood up straight as the family trailed in the den, confused by her random appearance.

      “Um... this is Trinity.” Miles stared at the floor.

      “Oh, hello there, Trinity.” The Uni grinned. “I’m Jillian, and this is Charles and Rackquel. I... see you already met Miles...”

      “Yes, he’s very considerate.” Trinity nodded. “May I please speak to your owner?”

      Jillian lowered her head. Charles rocked back and forth on his heels. Miles scratched his head.

      “We don’t HAVE an owner,” Rackquel scoffed.

      Trinity opened her mouth, trying to form a sentence. “What? You don’t have an owner?”

      “We used to.” Jillian stepped forward. “But she hasn’t been here in years. We think she forgot about us...”

      “Of course she did!” Rackquel elbowed Jillian out of the way.

      “Guys,” Charles muttered, then turned to Trinity. “I can‘t remember her name, but... I was created by her first... then she made Rackquel, Jillian, and Miles in that order. I guess we’re just trying to meet end’s need with an owner that hasn't visited us in a long, long time. But enough about us... what about you?”

      Rather depressed from the story, Trinity straightened up and forced a smile. “Well, I’m Trinity... my owner created me a while back. I live in Shenkuu with my brother and my sister, but we were currently visiting the Haunted Woods for a little vacation. And I was painted Faerie a day after I was created.”

      “What a spoiled Xweetok...” Rackquel muttered.

      “Excuse me!”

      “Excuse you.”

      “Rackquel! Stop that!” Miles barked. Rackquel was taken aback by the sudden outburst of his usually solemn little brother, but the Blumaroo just stared ahead out the window.

      “I would love to see how long you last living the poor life, princess,” the Ruki muttered and angrily stormed out of the den.

     ***

      “Trinity!” Christy cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed out into the woods. “Trinity, where are you?!”

      “Holy Fyora, enough of the SCREAMING!”

      Christy whirled around, startled to see a tall, lean, dark faerie behind her, arms crossed and brow knit. “My... you’re a dark faerie...”

      “Yeah, blah, whatever, I’m not going to grant your pets some secret power or whatever it is that you want,” the faerie snapped. “My name is Ivory. And you’re here interrupting my nap because...?”

      “Oh, please help me, Ivory! My pet, I think she got lost in the woods!” Christy whined. “She’s a Faerie Xweetok named Trinity, and-”

      “You missed her about ten minutes ago.”

      “Huh?”

      Ivory picked at her nails and then looked up at the distraught owner. “I was trapped... in a bottle... and a Faerie Xweetok randomly snatched me and ran away from the evil mutant Lupe that catches faeries for profit. Duh.”

      “Oh no, Trinity would NEVER... go into Balthazar’s shack... she’s just too delicate and shy! That wasn’t Trinity. I’m sure of it.”

      “Then you don’t know your pet at all,” Ivory snapped. “Look, I can either take you to Fyora and SHE can find your precious pet, or you can look and look forever and NEVER find her again.”

      Christy wiped away the forming tears in her eyes. “Please, take me to Fyora.”

      “Fine. But it’ll cost you.”

      “Name your price.”

      “Fifty-thousand Neopoints.”

      Swiftly, Christy reached inside her purse and pulled out a bag. “Here you are. Now please, I have to go see Fyora.”

      Ivory stood in shock, but stiffly took the bag. “Impressive. Well then, next stop, Fyora’s place.”

     ***

      “Are you sure you want to go by yourself?” Jillian stood on the steps of her house. Her and her siblings had just shown Trinity all around Neopia Central (besides Rackquel, who basically lagged behind the whole time). There were so many enjoyable moments that Trinity shared with the family. It was like she had already known them for years.

      “Please. I’ll be right back,” Trinity promised, certain of what she had to do.

      Jillian gave a confused look, shrugged, and headed inside. Trinity, with the directions Jillian had previously given her, made her way to the Auction House.

      Inside was pure chaos. So many people were bidding or putting things up for auction. There was screaming and cheering, stuff that Trinity had never been around. After much wandering, she caught sight of a Scorchio who looked to be in charge.

      “Step right up, we’ve got a bunch of items going fast! Say there, miss, you want to bid?” He waved his mallet over a large table filled with junk items.

      “Um... no... can you tell me where the paint brushes are?”

      “Take a left right here, and you’ll see it. Follow me.” The Scorchio made his way through the crowd with the Xweetok trailing close behind. When they managed to make their way to a crowded table, Trinity grabbed a Faerie, Lost Desert, Disco and Island Paint Brush.

      “I’ll take all four for three million each.”

      The Auctioneer almost dropped his mallet.

      “I’m in a hurry.” Trinity thrust four bags full of Neopoints at him. “Please, can I just take them?”

      “Well, this isn‘t really how an auction works, but...” The Scorchio stood baffled and took the bags as Trinity rushed out of the Auction House, heading back to the abandoned family.

     ***

      “Oh majesty, hail Queen Fyora of Faerieland and all of Neopia,” Ivory said in a purposely flat voice. “This Neopian wants your assistance-”

      “Um, thank you, Ivory. I can take care of it from here.” Fyora, obviously embarrassed, gestured for Christy to approach her throne.

      “Whatev, Queenie.” Ivory nudged a stunned Christy, who timidly stood gawking at the beauty of Queen Fyora, who in turn wore a confused and solemn expression.

      “Queen Fyora, please, my beloved pet is lost and I don’t know where she is! Her name is Trinity, and she‘s been gone since this afternoon!” Christy tried to keep from sobbing.

      “Don’t cry, dear,” Fyora soothed her. “I’ll check my staff and see where she is.” Sure enough, the picture in the crystal came up to show Trinity running into a house.

      “That’s her! That’s Trinity! Is she all right?!” Christy almost became hysterical.

      “Trinity’s fine. She’s going into a house, I believe? It looks like she’s in Neopia Central.”

      “What?!” Christy scrutinized the picture that appeared in Fyora’s staff, shaking her head. “We don’t know anyone who lives in Neopia Central. Oh no, will she get hurt?!”

      “More than likely, no.” Ivory rolled her eyes.

      “Ivory, please bring her to Neopia Central,” Fyora instructed professionally.

      Ivory’s face dropped. “Oh please! Fyora, Queen, Majesty... this is just not fair!”

      Fyora glared.

      “Humph. Fine,” the dark faerie muttered. “Let’s all do what FYORA wants because she’s the queen!”

To be continued...