Of Lights from Within: Part Two

Also by blubblub317

Alli gasped in fright from the words she had perceived a moment ago. A feeling of terror and anxiety hastily began spreading through her body, causing her to feel woozy and sick at the same time.

      "H-how c-could y-y-you do t-that?" Alli stammered uncontrollably, trying as hard as she possibly could to pronounce her words properly.

      Maddi's eyes began to well up in tears from his sister's shocked reaction. Never had he thought that it would be this terrible.

      "I'm sorry!" Maddi cried, his heart beginning to pound loudly in his chest. "I didn't think it would be that big of a deal."

      Alli's head swiftly jerked towards her brother. The Lupe hissed, "Maddi, do you even know who Hubrid Nox is?!"

      Maddi silently shook his head, tears beginning to drip from his baby blue eyes.

      Alli heaved a sigh and placed her paw on her forehead. "He's an evil overlord," she whispered. "He destroys cities, causes grief in people and pet's lives and he absolutely despises Magax."

      Maddi gasped and then slid his head into his arms. Alli could here him softly weeping, whispering out small remarks of how unintelligent he was.

      Alli placed her arm around Maddi's neck and whispered, "Don't worry Maddi, we'll find a way out of this. Trust me, we will."

      Maddi peered up at Alli. "How?" he asked, wiping some tears from his wet cheeks.

      Alli sighed, her eyes gazing out the window while pondering on what to do. She finally proclaimed, "I really don't know Maddi. All I know for certain is that we'll find a solution to this. And anyways, we're going to Faerieland. Queen Fyora will definitely help us out."

      "Help you out with what?" The voice, drowsy in tone, came from Nora, who had just woken up again.

      "Nothing," Alli quickly said. She plastered a false smile to her face and turned towards the young teenager.

      Nora nodded tiredly. "Mmhm," she murmured. "And I should believe you because…?"

      "Because I'm telling the truth!" A pang hit Alli's heart as she lied to her owner, but she could not bear to turn in her little brother for merely being a naïve child.

      Maddi snuffled, wiping the tears out of his eyes. He then stared at Nora, and trembling, stated, "Alli's lyin'."

      Nora frowned at her silver Lupe, and brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. "Why, Allisamay?" she inquired in a whisper.

      Alli cringed. "Because Maddi didn't do anything wrong," she declared firmly.

      "If only I could believe you, Alli. If only I could…" Nora sighed deeply.

      Alli buried her face in her paws, ashamed at herself. She could've simply confessed to her owner, and said that Maddi took the box from Hubrid Nox by an accident, but instead, she had lied.

      "Why did you do it, Alli!?" the Lupe screamed to herself relentlessly. Yet, the answer did not come, and it would not become, because unfortunately, there was no answer out there at all.

      Breathing heavily, Alli started slowly stroking Maddi's soft and frizzy fur. The little Kougra was sniffling back tears as he stared guiltily at his owner. "Hubrid Nox gave it to me," he muttered.

      Nora gasped stridently, just like Alli had done before and her face turned into a shade of dark crimson.

      "You're not serious!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening as she gazed at the Puzzle Box that was placed on the side of the seat.

      Maddi nodded without a sound. He urged back the tears that were threatening to fall down his face and illustrate how much guilt he really felt in the pit of his stomach.

      Nora gazed at Maddi with watery eyes for what seemed like hours. At long last, she finally budged from her seat. The young adolescent hastily poked her head out of the window and yelled to the Eyrie, "Could you please fly more quickly? I need to get to Fyora immediately!"

      "Yes ma'am!" the Eyrie yelled back. He then added, "Though, that will be an extra cost to the total bill!"

      "I don't care! Just get us to Faerieland as fast as possible!" And with that, Nora slammed the window shut and slumped back into her seat. It seemed so incredibly unbelievable that all these events had happened in one single day. But then, a frightening question slowly floated into her head. Why had Hubrid Nox handed Maddi the Puzzle Box? The question daunted her mind for hours as the Eyrie rapidly advanced to the land of Faeries. Finally, the Eyrie began gliding down, his body and the carriage passing through the many white puffy clouds that were enclosing them. Soon, the carriage arrived on the land with a THUMP and the trio all stepped out, Nora holding the Puzzle Box in both of her hands.

      "That'll be 1500 NP," the Eyrie proclaimed, his eyes glinting with a certain greediness.

      Nora sighed and stuck her left arm in her pocket. Her hand came out with a handful of bills and coins. She handed them all in the Eyrie's paw and said, "Keep the change."

      "Thanks!" the Eyrie said cheerfully. He began flapping his wings furiously and then dove off into the sky, leaving the family all alone at the grand entrance of Faerieland.

      "Well," Nora began, "guess it's now time for us to find Fyora and get this stupid box out of our lives."

      Alli half-smiled and said, "Let's hope it goes that way. Now come on, let's find directions to the Hidden Tower."

      The task was harder than any of the three had assumed, seeing as the Hidden Tower was well… invisible. Despite asking numerous Faerieland residents and shop-owners for directions, they ended up at the Bed and Breakfast with no success.

      Nora sighed, setting the puzzle box onto to the dresser in the spacious bedroom she, Maddi and Alli were staying in. The moon shone in through the large window, and the teenager stared at it as she plopped down onto a creaky bed in the corner of the room. She sighed again, staring longingly over at the two silk-sheeted beds her pets had chosen. They got to sleep nicely while she got a cot.

      "What time is it?" Maddi suddenly asked, breaking the girl's sequence of thoughts.

      "Night," Nora replied.

      "No, I mean, what time is it?"

      She shrugged. "I don't know," she said. The girl then added, "But it is time for you, Maddi, to go to bed."

      The Kougra moaned, flopping down onto his own bed. Why did his questions always turn out with bad answers? Maddi pondered over this as he sulkily burrowed under his covers and set his head on his pillow.

      However, the young Kougra did not have much time to think this over, as after merely a few minutes, he drifted off into a fretful and dark slumber.

      **************

      "Maddi! Alli! Time for you two to get up!" These shouts were clearly coming from Nora, because nobody else in their right mind would wake up at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

      "I'm coming," Maddi groaned, squeezing his snug and fluffy pillow against his warm head. He tried to pull his covers up closer to his face, but Nora swiftly pulled them off, leaving the Kougra to lie on the mattress in the cool air.

      "Argh!" Maddi whined. "Don't do that!"

      Nora rolled her eyes and headed towards Alli's bed, which she hadn't noticed was empty. "We don't have time for these little games, Maddi!" she irritably explained as her eyes darted across the room. "I want to get to Fyora as quickly as possible!"

      "How are we going to get there if we can't even find the Hidden Tower?"

      Nora and Maddi instantly jerked their heads towards the bathroom. Standing there with her shoulder kneeled against the side of the door was Alli, all freshened up with a touchy look on her face.

      "Well, well!" Nora said. "I guess I'm not the only one who wakes up early!"

      Alli heaved a sighed. "I couldn't sleep," she explained. "That Puzzle box was giving me terrible nightmares." She shuddered and then advanced towards her brother and owner.

      Nora nodded slightly. "Me too," she replied. The girl turned toward the dresser, where she had earlier set that mysterious box. Both Maddi and Alli saw her expression stiffen as she examined the artifact.

      A tense silence hung in the air for a few moments, but then Maddi said, "I wanna go home.

      Alli smiled pitifully at her little brother. "Maddi," she stated in a rather babyish tone, "we can't do that until we sort out the issues about the box from the villain."

      Maddi glowered, his face twisted into an angered expression. Not even a day prior, Alli had been totally opposed to this whole ordeal, and now she agreed with it completely! The Kougra furiously hopped up to his paws and glared at both his sister and owner. "This is all dumb!" he snapped.

      "No, it isn't, Maddi," Nora proclaimed. "As Alli said, we have to sort out all these issues. It's not normal for a villain to give away a precious object to a little child hanging around the Money Tree."

      Maddi clenched his teeth. "I'm not some little child!" the Kougra growled. "Just because I'm younger than Alli and you, doesn't make me stupid and unable to understand things! Duh, I know it isn't normal for an evil mastermind to give somebody an artifact! I just think that we don't need to make such a big deal out if it!"

      Nora frowned, taken aback by her pet's words. "Maddi," she whispered, "it's not like that. We, as in Alli and I, understand things… differently than you. You might think that we don't need to make a big deal out of it, and that's okay, but we DO need to make a big deal out if it."

      Maddi was infuriated by this time; he had already reached his boiling point.

      "I've had enough of this!" he cried furiously. The Kougra swiftly bounded to the front door, dodged Alli, and began darting away from the home, his ears sweltering with steam. The Kougra continued to run and run and run. He ran away from his nightmares. He ran away from his troubles. And he ran away from his family.

      At long last, Maddi halted to a stop in front of a small mini-castle that held long and thin turrets rising to the highest sky. The Kougra rested his back against the back wall, gasping for breath and wiping the sweat that had formed on his brow. As Maddi began walking away, he suddenly tripped and knocked his head against a concrete substance. He looked around, bewildered. Nothing was there. Only plain and simple air. Wait… it couldn't be. Could it be? The Hidden Tower? Maddi swung out his arm and felt it whack against a wall. It was!

      Maddi stood up from the fluffy, yet at the same time sturdy cloud and began making his way to the front entrance. He slowly moved left, keeping his paw on the wall to try and feel a door. To his surprise, it only took a few seconds to discover an entry. Maddi slowly pushed the door open and quickly stepped inside, not bothering to close it behind him.

      "H-hello?" he asked, anxious from all the quietness that he was suddenly being surrounded by.

      "Yes?" a melodic voice rang. Maddi could perceive the quiet twittering of wings and the whoosh of a cloak being dragged across the floor. An incredibly gorgeous faerie suddenly appeared from the top of the stairs, a kind and gentle smile plastered onto her face.

      "Are you Fyora?" Maddi questioned fretfully, sweat beginning to trickle down his backside.

      Fyora smiled and said, "Yes, I am. Can I help you?"

      Maddi gulped and nodded. He made his way up the stairs and stopped when he was standing alongside the Queen of Faeries.

      "There's something I need to tell you," he said, his eyes peering down at the concrete ground. Yet, he didn't budge his lips for a whole minute.

      Fyora gazed at him with a sympathetic expression. "Don't be afraid," she whispered. "Tell me everything that you need to."

      And at long last, Maddi did.

To Be Continued…