The Daughters of Ilere

     Amongst the pink-hued cloud tops of Faerieland and in the very heart of the purple towers that made up Faerie City lay the sprawling campus of the Faerie Academy. Magical folk from all across Neopia came to study a wide curriculum of subjects ranging from elemental spellcasting to advanced mystical weaponry within the lavender brick walls of the Faerie Queen's pride and joy. She had always envisaged a place where she, alongside her esteemed faculty, could pass on their knowledge to the next generation of both Neopets and Faeries alike in order to make their shared world just a little bit better for all. As noble an ambition as that was, she knew all was not well.

     Terrible news from the lands of Neopia below had swept through the establishment, creating an atmosphere of melancholy and mistrust that Fyora had not seen in her realm since the loss of the kingdom of Altador many centuries earlier. Following an all-consuming war, the land of Meridell was no more. The Earth Faeries in her school had been worst hit by this tragedy, most left on edge by the events with others vowing to do something to rectify the situation. The Faerie Queen had been forced to quell such outbursts, however. As sad as it was they had no place to interfere in the affairs of Neopians like that. Her pragmatism had not gone down well with some.

     It was in this hum that Fyora found herself exhaling softly, eyes closed. Stood in her wooden-clad classroom in front of a select group of her most talented students, she opened her eyes. It was time to get back to what she enjoyed most. "Now, class," the Faerie spoke firmly, her eyes darting around the eclectic gathering who were scattered around the room's semicircular seating arrangement, "I was wondering if any of you here could identify this artefact." Gently waving her hand over an item that lay on the desk to her right, a small smile appeared when one of her star student's own hands immediately shot up. "Yes?"

     "It's a Cloud Charm!" gleefully exclaimed a brunette in the back.

     "That is correct," congratulated Fyora warmly, "Illusen."

     A childlike grin appeared on the young Faerie's freckled face, the first in a long time. Of all of the Earth Faeries enrolled in the Faerie Academy, the loss of the kingdom of Meridell had hit the brunette the hardest. When she graduated, Illusen's plan had always been to move to their wildwoods and live in harmony with the natural world and local farmers around her. Now she felt a little lost on the inside. She certainly didn't want to have to move into her mother's less than cheery abode. Her expression faded upon looking to her left, though. The eye-rolls of an underwhelmed older sibling could dampen anyone's delight.

     At the end of Fyora's latest delve into the origins of ancient artefacts and why some quickly become dated, her students filtered out of her classroom and into the ornately decorated corridors on the way to Valeane's self-defence training. Tightly clutching her ancient tomes, Illusen was busy thinking about how to increase the magical powers of gemstones when her train of thought was abruptly derailed. "You should not place so much worth onto the words of Fyora," Jhudora stated pointedly before stopping in front of her younger sibling, "She will not be Queen forever."

     Illusen froze, her gaze fixed onto the Dark Faerie's back. Fyora would not be Queen forever? Although it was true that she was not the first ruler of the Faeries and probably wouldn't be the last, these words were almost... traitorous in the current climate. Her authority had been weakened by the fall of Meridell and there had been open talk of perhaps her no longer being best placed to lead her kind. Not that there had been any challengers to her throne though. Faeries weren't as naive as Neopets thought. It was time to change the subject. "Uh." Quickly. "So, um," the brunette stumbled over her words, "some of the Light Faeries are having a sleepover tonight to try to, you know, cheer every-"

     "I have schoolwork," Jhudora responded bluntly, choosing not to turn her head.

     Illusen frowned before speaking softly, "Mother said that we have to stick together."

     "Mother isn't here."

     And with that, the Dark Faerie walked away.

     -----

     Shimmering hues of orange and red danced across the clouds of Faerieland as the sun dipped beneath the expansive maritime horizon below, the crescent moon of Kreludor having already taken its place in the skies above the city of Faeries. The Faerie Academy was winding down for the night, with most of the scholars having headed back to their onsite campus dormitories for rest. Or parties as happened to be the case this particular evening. Light Faeries weren't ordinarily known for their late-night festivities but even their sunny dispositions had been dimmed with events of late so it had come to this. A good old-fashioned sleepover with lots of ice cream. Supplied by Taelia, of course.

     Wandering through the maze of candlelit stone-clad dormitories on her way to the gathering, Illusen decided to take a quick detour to check up on her older sibling. The young Earth Faerie was worried. They used to be so close but now all the Dark Faerie seemed to do was push her away and stay in her room when not in class. She hadn't been the only one to notice the change in Jhudora's demeanour but she was the one who was going to do something about it. It's what Ilere would want. Carefully clutching a tray of her Cream Cookies in both of her hands, she was certain her sister's favourite snack would break the ice.

     Approaching the door to Jhudora's room, Illusen paused.

     A strange lilac glow emanated from its border.

     "Jhu-Jhudora?"

     The Earth Faerie shook her head sharply. It was probably just her imagination.

     Leaning into the door handle with her elbow, she slowly opened the wooden door so as not to let any of her Cream Cookies slide onto the tiled floor below. Tripping up over her own feet as she entered, Illusen kept the tray level at all times. Only for it to crash to the ground moments later. The sight that greeted her left the brunette in shock.

     Stood in the centre of the room was Jhudora, surrounded by a lilac haze that seemed somewhat familiar to Fyora's star student. Flanked on either side by her desk and bed, they along with the walls of the room had been scorched with runic lettering. A faint smell of burning filled the air, the spell responsible having been ruined by the sound of the tray clattering to the floor. As the ghostly light dissipated, it dawned on the Earth Faerie what she was witnessing. Their mother had chosen to leave Faerieland in order to further explore the Dark side of magic without fear of judgement. It looked like her eldest was more interested in the Darkest kind.

     Scrambling to pick up her Cream Cookies from the floor, Illusen couldn't believe that history was repeating itself. With Ilere's departure to the swamps of the Haunted Woods still fresh in Faeries' minds, the two siblings were already treated as outsiders by many. This would only make things worse for both of them. "What do you think you are doing, sister?!" she pleaded, "You know as well as I that Queen Fyora outlawed that sort of magic centuries ago!"

     Jhudora turned to face her sister, her eyes possessing a fiery glow that not even a Fire Faerie could muster. Her sibling gulped. Striding towards the brunette, the Dark Faerie remarked with a smirk, "Like I said earlier, dearest sister, Fyora will not be Queen forever."

     Illusen gasped.

     Before promptly shoving her rescued Cream Cookies into Jhudora's face in a blind panic.

     Buying herself a head start, the Earth Faerie ran off as fast as she could down the dormitory halls. As her foe wiped the food from her face, the fiery glow in her eyes was replaced by a similar one in her heart. The Dark Faerie sent out a warning that echoed down the chambers and reached her sibling's ears. "Mark my words, sister!" it reverberated amongst the stonework, "There is nowhere in Neopia you can hide from me!"

     -----

     Just to the south of the main campuses of the Faerie Academy, the Faerieland Library was open to all magical folk who were passing through the kingdom but during the daytime was usually filled with students desperately revising for their next exam. When the busy note-taking was finished for the evening, the ornate architecture would fall even more silent and the doors would close until sunrise. Like most buildings in Faerieland though it lacked glazed windows, which meant that it wasn't uncommon to see anxious students dodging the Faerie Kougra wardens in order to sneak in and study for a bit longer. It also made it an excellent hiding place in general.

     Crouched below one of the many wooden benches laid out in the grand hall, Illusen buried her freckled face into her hands. She needed to tell her Queen what her sister had been up to... but she just couldn't bear the thought of it. Jhudora was still family, after all. The thought of keeping it from Fyora, her mentor, was equally painful though. Flying to the Haunted Woods and telling her mother wasn't really an option either as there was a pretty good chance that Ilere would be more impressed than concerned. Regardless of what the brunette did, her sister was coming after her and there was no telling what she would do. You don't just ruin an elaborate incantation by a Dark Faerie and expect them to forget about it in a hurry.

     The Earth Faerie sighed. There was nowhere she could hide.

     Illusen looked up.

     ... But what about when?

     Popping up from beneath the table, the brunette remembered the plotting that her fellow Earth Faeries had been up to before their Queen had put a halt to it. There was talk of travelling back in time to before the destruction of Meridell in order to stop it from ever happening. Illusen had thought it to be fanciful at best but they were adamant that Zylphia's 'Tomorrow's Magic Yesterday' would allow them to do so. Fyora had ended that dream though with a firm, two-pronged warning. The first part being that changing the timeline could have disastrous consequences, potentially damaging spacetime itself and causing some sort of time warp. That wasn't what had put them off though really. It was her second warning: That no Faerie possessed enough magic to even perform such a spell and it was far too risky to even try.

     As far as Illusen was concerned, she didn't have anything to lose.

     Back on the main campus, Jhudora was on the prowl. She had been unable to find her younger sibling in the dormitories and was now taking a midnight stroll around the corridors connecting the Academy's classrooms together. Her ruined enchantment had taken a lot out of her and the longer her search grew the angrier she became. The Dark Faerie was going to make Illusen pay to replace all of the magic supplies she had wasted on that spell if it was the last thing she did. Some of those ingredients just weren't available anymore! Taking a corner too quickly, she walked straight into another Faerie coming in the opposite direction. "M-My Queen!" she realised before jumping backwards.

     Fyora had a pained expression, not from the collision, however. "Good, Jhudora," she sighed with some relief, "I was looking for you." Her student couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Even the teachers were supposed to be asleep at this hour. "I am deeply concerned about your sister, Illusen," she elaborated carefully, "I can no longer sense her presence in this place." The Dark Faerie's eyes widened. From the rumours she had heard, the Queen could sense where any of her students were at any time regardless of where they were on Neopia. It was why she handed out so many detentions. "You don't know where she is, by chance?"

     Jhudora's mood soured further. "I am not her keeper, my Queen"

     Her teacher's eyes narrowed. "Your mother would disagree." Fyora tilted her head ever so slightly. She could sense a great change in her student. A power that was not there before. Not much unnerved the Queen of the Faeries but this did. "In any case..." she paused before considering her next words carefully, "...you have proven yourself to be a most powerful Faerie and I fear there is nothing more I can teach you at this school." Jhudora looked perplexed. "So, I shall write to your mother in the morning to inform her of your graduation. You should start making arrangements to move out of the dormitories as soon as you can."

     Before the Dark Faerie could question the decision, Fyora was gone.

     "...What just happened?" Jhudora muttered to herself in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. Make... arrangements? To go where? She didn't have anywhere else to go! She certainly wasn't going to move in with her mother, even if her abode was to her taste. All alone in this world and soon to be homeless, fury swept her being once more. She didn't know how but this was all Illusen's fault. And she was never going to forgive her for it.

     -----

     It was the warmth of the sun's rays that awoke Illusen from her slumber.

     Whilst the caws of the Crokabek told her that she'd succeeded.

     Slowly opening her weary eyes, the Earth Faerie found herself having to shield her vision with her hands as she momentarily adjusted to quite where she was. And when. Lying atop a wildflower meadow with the Lightwater Forest directly to her left, the brunette was in the kingdom of Meridell. Down the hill on which she rested, the newly built white stone Castle gazed over a land that wasn't due any wars for a good few centuries yet. A place of peace and tranquility, away from Jhudora's wrath. Inhaling happily, the newcomer allowed her arms to fall back down to her sides. This was all she had ever really wanted. The politics of Fyora's court were never really her bowl of gruel.

     Her happiness, though, had come at a steep cost. She could feel it.

     The Faerie Queen's warnings were prescient. Illusen's magic had faded. Her previously leafy green wings had drained of all of their colour, now presenting as a melancholic dark grey hue. The glow that all Earth Faeries had, that emanated from within them, had faded alongside her outfit. A passerby would be hard-pressed to guess just what her element was. But she didn't care. She laughed. She had forgotten that she knew how to laugh! All the magic in Faerieland meant nothing to her in that one moment. The brunette was finally at home. As long as she had enough magic to fly around her beloved land, she'd be just fine.

     "Oh, you poor dear!" called out an Ixi Shepherdess, spotting the newcomer atop the hillside whilst on her way to the nearby marketplace. Snapped out of her reverie, Illusen gingerly sat up as the Neopet raced over to make sure that she was well. Wrapping the Earth Faerie in the shawl that she had been wearing as her Babaa congregated around, the local was most concerned by the brunette's weary appearance. "You look terribly shaken up." The Babaa looked concerned too. "Is there anything you need to be fetched?"

     Illusen just smiled.

          THE END