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Finally, after the light had vanished and the smoke had
cleared up, I sat down on the cloud.
My friends just stared at me.
Finally, it was my best friend Cathy who broke
the silence. "Jen, what happened here?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I'm ready to
lie down right here and sleep for a week!" a soft, golden voice said, "You have
had strong magic running through you. Fatigue is to be expected."
I turned around to face… the Uber Light Faerie.
Unlike Jhudora, the Uber Light Faerie was the
ultimate definition of beauty. Hair of gold cascaded around a perfectly shaped
face, with a pointy nose and full lips. She had a slim, delicate-looking figure.
It seemed as if the shyest, weakest Jubjub could break her in half. Her glittering
golden dress accented that figure. A smile played upon her lips. Her eyes were
glowing gold, full of joy and mercy and sparkle. Quite a contrast to the dull,
lifeless eyes of the one I had conquered. Or is it the one she had conquered?
Startled, I scrambled to my feet.
The faerie laughed. "No, my dear, lie down.
Save your strength."
"What did you do to her?" Emerald asked. He
was genuinely concerned. I was touched, but I could tell he was asking another
dumb question. "EmeraldFlame555," the Uber Light Faerie said. "You are overprotective
of your owner, is that so? You consider yourself 'the man of the house' despite
your sister's attempts to insult you," Ruby blushed.
"You need not worry, young Scorchio," the Faerie
stated calmly. "With a bit of rest, she'll be good as new. Like I said before,
there was powerful magic flowing through a body that wasn't built to withstand
it."
"Next time," Emerald said, annoyed. "I'll be
the one with the magic running through me. I'll be the one who sleeps for a
week. Not Ridergirl."
The Faerie smiled. "The one you call Ridergirl
was the only eligible vessel through which we could send magic this powerful.
'Why not you,' you ask?" Emerald nodded. "Which qualities do we look for in
a vessel? That is the secret of the faeries." The light Faerie replied mysteriously.
The light Faerie reached down into the cloud
and uttered a sentence in a strange, ancient-sounding language. Several scrolls
and maps popped out of the cloud. She rustled through them until she found the
ones she wanted. "The plans for the e-gate. I ought to show this to my Her Royal
Majesty, Queen Fyora. We now have enough evidence to prosecute Jhudora. I'd
love to see what her punishment would be. Perhaps a month without magic? Or
maybe the Queen will turn her into a toad." The Uber Light Faerie giggled at
the thought of a toad giving quests.
"So," Ruby said. "I guess this is goodbye."
That's when I realized that I would never see
Ruby and Emerald again. We'd be separated forever, galaxies apart. I'd never
again hear Ruby's tough, determined voice say, "We can do this." I'd never laugh
at one of Emerald's bad jokes.
Cathy was beginning to realize the same thing.
My eyes grew warm and moist. Silently, I hugged my Neopets tightly. "Don't ever
forget me," I whispered. "And remember that, even when times become rough and
I'm nowhere to be found, I'm still with you in spirit."
"We'd never forget you, Jen," they chorused.
Meanwhile, Cathy was having a similar moment with her pets.
"You've been so much more than an owner to us,"
Indigo said. "You've been a friend."
Then, the blue Gelert paused, as if in thought.
Then, she wept openly, "Goodbye Cathy."
"You called me Cathy," my best friend said in
shock.
"I guess I did," the Neopet murmured softly.
"But a true friend doesn't call you by your Neoname, right?"
"Come here, Cathy." Comet held out his front
paws and hugged his owner.
Now even the tough Lupe was getting sentimental.
"Thanks for saving my life out there, ma'am,"
I said to the light Faerie.
"It was no problem. It is, after all, my job,"
she smiled at me. "Thank you, young humans and Neopets for saving our precious
planet from destruction. I have one last gift to give to you."
The light Faerie reached into her pocket and
pulled out a scrap of parchment. She sang. Her voice was lovely, like solemn
bells.
Where ever you go,
Where ever you roam,
I'll be there with you
So it'll be home.
Whatever you are, I don't care
As long as you're my friend I will be there
And when I'm feeling down and blue,
Will you be there for me too?
A golden glow surrounded us. When the light
dimmed, each of the girls had a golden locket. They were all shaped like a circle,
and covered in ornate carvings of vines and leaves. They were nearly identical,
except for the jewel in the middle. Ruby, or course, got a ruby in the center
of her locket. Indigo received a sapphire. Cathy got a diamond and I got a pearl.
Comet and Emerald each got something a bit more
masculine. Their golden trinkets were attached to a key ring. They still got
circle-shaped lockets that opened up, but their ornaments didn't have the pretty
carvings of leaves and vines. True to his name, Emerald obtained an emerald
in the middle of his trinket. Comet got a garnet.
"By calling your owners by their true names,
you have unleashed the key to your lockets. Now you can communicate with each
other as often as you wish."
Glittering golden magic surrounded our new treasures.
It opened them and revealed a minuscule computer with a view of our NeoHomes.
"All you have to do is open the lockets, rub the jewel three times and say the
name of whomever you wish to speak to."
I tested it out. "Comet," I whispered. "Hey,
Ridergirl! Er, Jen. You're on my screen! Wazzup?" Comet made a bizarre face
at his locket, which then appeared on my monitor. I laughed.
"Ms. Uber Light Faerie, we cannot thank you
enough. We…"
She was gone.
Epilogue
Jhudora was found innocent of all charges. Queen Fyora said, "Everyone stereotypes
against dark faeries. It was Dr. Sloth who committed the crime!" How blind of
her.
Every night after dinner, I would talk to my
NeoPets. They were doing well, but as Ruby said, "It's boring here!" I never
told my pets, but I agreed.
The Uber Light Faerie found the scales, fur
and tail hair the NeoPets had left behind. Our NeoPets had their immortality
again.
I'd love to say that we all lived happily ever
after, but my feelings about Jhudora just kept nagging at me.
Finally, one night I had a dream. I was on that
dreaded cloud again, except this time, it was night-time. Only… there wasn't
a moon to light up the blackness, nor stars to shine beautifully and comfortingly.
The dark, treacherous figure of Jhudora glared at me from the other side of
the cloud. "You won't get away with it!" she shrieked. "I had big plans. A mind-wiping
spell on that ditzy Queen. Poison in Kauvara's hay. Illusen, my utter slave.
World domination. And revenge.
"'Why?' you may ask. Illusen was Homecoming
Queen, Queen of the Senior Prom, and Tenth grade Class President! Oh, and Mom
and Dad favored Fyora. They left her the throne when they died. And what did
they leave me? A tiny cloud on the edge of town. Illusen inherited that entire
forest, with the pretty tree houses and such.
"Yes, we are sisters. Illusen, Fyora and I,
along with about twelve other siblings.
"And what about the Kau? Oh, that awful Kau!
Forever brewing her precious potions and stuff. We were in magic class together
throughout Junior High and High School. She aced every test and she was every
teacher's pet! She was even given a formal invitation to study at the Tower
of the Light Faerie!" The normally unattractive Faerie became hideous with jealousy
and rage. "But I will have my day, human. And when I do, you will pay dearly!
You and your beloved NeoPets! Not to mention the Musician and her critters!
You have been warned!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke.
I awoke in a cold sweat. Maybe that speech was
just the ramblings of an insane Faerie. Or maybe it was truth. Whatever it was,
I didn't think I should worry about it. Time reveals all secrets.
With that thought, I lay my head back on my
pillow and drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
The End
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