Jhudora's Revenge: Part Seven

     “Yes, but it is my home and my life. Fyora, you know that I respect you, but it is not your place to have me live a life that you wish upon me.”

     “Yes, you are right. Still, I can hope, can’t I? You can do, and have done in the past, much good for Neopia, yet you spend your life secluded in your tower.”

     Edna’s facial expression became an odd mixture of a grin and a grimace. “Not always as secluded as I’d like.”

     Fyora laughed. “You speak, of course, of Vendette, Addieana, and their human owner.”

     “Yes.”

     “They are good friends for you. Don’t alienate them as you have some of the faeries.”

     Edna grinned. “Not my fault they can’t take a joke.”

     Fyora gave an admonishing look to Edna. “Making them all have a sudden distaste for all faerie food right at lunch time wasn’t much of a joke.”

     “Perhaps, but you must admit that it was brilliant. And I’ll have you know that it wasn’t an easy task, either. You try doing something like that to all the faeries.”

     “I’d rather not.”

     “Always a goody-goody?”

     “Only when you’re always being so negative.”

     “Let’s move on to a new subject, shall we.”

     “Such as what we do with this mansion.”

     “I think that turning everything pink and fuzzy would be a good idea.”

     “Easily enough reversed.”

     “True. Let’s blow it all to smithereens!”

     “Not quite. I’ll destroy it, to be sure. However, not exactly in such a vulgar manner.”

     Edna frowned, crossed her arms, and snorted. “You get all the fun.”

     “I’d let you help, if I could trust you not to blow us both up in your excitement.”

     “You’d love the adventure. You just don’t want to have to explain it to all the council.”

     “Speaking of the council, the light faerie council and I need to have a chat.”

     “About Addieana?”

     “It’s going to be a very complex day tomorrow.”

     “Indeed. Now, I’m a bit tired, and I could use some rest. If you’d help me get to my tower...”

     “If I didn’t know you better, you’d be off to the healing springs. However, I’d rather not wake tomorrow and find that all my subjects are busy trying to figure out why their hair changes colors every ten minutes.”

     Edna smiled in a manner that conveyed her delight at the idea while expressing her mischievous nature. “More like every hour.”

     Fyora merely smiled and sent Edna, as well as her meowclops, to Edna’s tower.

     Fyora then turned her attention to Jhudora’s expensive home. After momentarily pondering what to do, she settled on a proper course of action.

     The entire layout of the castle was changed that day. Corridors and seemingly endless rooms were created as the castle became the future home for thousands of Grundos.

     As Fyora made the changes, she spoke to herself. “One day, colonization will come to this side of Kreludor. When it comes, the inhabitants will need a place to stay. Now Jhudora may never return, but her efforts creating this majestic beast will not have been wasted.”

     To this day, the underground corridors wait. No dust is gathered and all is kept in pristine condition while Kreludor anxiously awaits the Grundo colonization that will come to the mysterious land.

     ~*~*~*~*~*~

     “You poor pets! Please, come in the water. It should heal you.”

     Addieana wanted to help Vendette into the water first, but she was barely conscious, so she let herself in first so that she would gain the strength needed to help Vendette into the pool.

     “This feels divine....”

     For a moment, Addieana forgot about her brother as the water worked its way over her body. She could feel her dress clean and straighten itself as she felt renewed energy.

     Addieana finally got out of the springs and lowered Vendette into the water.

     About ten seconds later, he started moaning gently, as he gained consciousness and became aware of his injuries.

     Five minutes later, Vendette was fully healed.

     “Thank you so much, water faerie. I am so sorry, but I realize that I don’t even know your name!”

     The water faerie smiled. “You may call me Mutara.”

     “Thank you very much, Mutara.”

     “You’re very welcome. Now, shouldn’t you and your sister be getting back to your owner?”

     “Yes, we probably should.” Addieana frowned and sighed as she led Vendette away from the springs.

     Behind them, they heard Mutara shout, “Try going to the city! You should find transportation there!”

     The two pets shrugged but walked to the city as per Mutara’s instructions.

     When they arrived at the middle of the city, the two pets understood why Mutara had told them to go there. A huge mass of Unis stood in a group while pets lined up to buy a ride to the mainland.

     When one electric Uni spotted Addieana, it nudged its island counterpart and nodded toward the two pets. The island Uni nodded and, with the electric Uni, approached them.

     The electric Uni said softly, “You are Princess Addieana, are you not?”

     Addieana gasped. “Yes, but how can you know that?”

     “It is of no importance. My friend and I will take you and your brother down to the Haunted Woods. Free of charge, of course.”

     “I would want to pay you, and I’m sure that my brother agrees.”

     Vendette nodded. “Addieana is right. We should pay you. My owner can pay you easily! Plus, I can fly on my own.”

     The island Uni shook his head. “No. Would you dishonor us so?”

     The electric Uni nodded her head in affirmation. “It would be dishonorable to us. Please, it is only a small favor for the great princess.”

     “I’m not exactly a great princess, but I will agree to not pay you.”

     The two Uni grinned simultaneously. Vendette flew lightly onto the back of the electric Uni while the island Uni helped Addieana onto his back.

     After their initial jump from Faerieland, Addieana addressed the island Uni on which she rode.

     “Are you two just friends, or are you related?”

     “Both... sort of. We were in the pound together. Do you know what GUP is?”

     “I’ve never heard of it.”

     “You may or may not know, but some humans didn’t like that other humans could be new to Neopia and adopt a very rare pet. They didn’t think it was right that the human could just adopt the pet instead of taking the time to bond with the pet, then paint it. So the humans did something about it. They bought loads of Green Uni Morphing Potions and fed them to some of us. They called it the Green Uni Project. We were both gupped.”

     “You don’t seem to care one way or the other.”

     The island Uni shrugged. “Not all humans are good, not all humans are bad. An action can be made in any one of a number of ways. Some did it to ensure that a pet got adopted by someone who would love the pet for his or her personality instead of his or her color. Others did it because they felt a sense of power when they took a rare or valuable pet and turned it into a common Uni.”

     “You and your sister then...”

     “I was a desert Hissi. When I became a Uni, it was... interesting. A human adopted me, had me drink the potion, then abandoned me again. I will admit that I miss being a Hissi, but I do not hold anything against the human. I got a job taking pets from Faerieland to the mainland and vice versa, then painted myself island.”

     “We’ve already spoken so much, but I don’t even know your name.”

     “My name is Vordesht, but I go by Vor.”

     “That’s quite an exotic name.”

     “Not as exotic as my sister’s. Her name is actually Exotic.”

     Addieana laughed. “What was she before she was turned into a Uni?”

     Vordesht winced and cringed. “Her story is a bit more complicated. She was gupped by her owner, but before that she had been a faerie Draik. She loved being a Draik, more than anything. You see, I didn’t know anything about flying, and although I had hands, I was still a Hissi and so my movements were limited. She, as a Draik, had everything. She greatly loved her owner, and in turn was loved. However, her owner supported the Green Uni Project and to show her support, she gupped her only pet, Exotic, and put her in the pound.”

     “That sounds so horrible.”

     “It was. It’s not even totally that she was gupped, it’s that it was against her will and she was thrown into the pound afterward. We were actually both adopted by the same person. They took in gupped pets and zapped them until they were a color other than blue, green, red, or yellow, then re-pounded them. Well, we didn’t want to go back to the pound, so we ran away after Exotic became electric. We never looked back.”

     “I’m so sorry, Vor.”

     “Well, it was a good way to pass the time. We’re nearly at the Haunted Woods already.”

     “Vor, I wish I could do something for you and Exotic.”

     “You can. I know that Exotic dreams of being a Draik again. Not faerie, I’m sure, but still... If you could do that for her, that would be more than enough.”

     Addieana smiled. “I’ll try to arrange something with my parents.”

     “That’s all I can ask of you. Now...”

     Vor and Exotic allowed the pets off their backs, smiled, then flew away to Faerieland.

     “Vendette, we have a job to do.”

     “You mean find your parents after we get back to Veritas? Not to mention making sure that Edna is ok.”

     “Well... all that too. I’m talking about helping Exotic become a Draik again.”

     “I think I missed something.” Vendette grinned sheepishly. “I kinda fell asleep on the ride here.”

     Addieana rolled her eyes and laughed. “You would!”

To be continued...