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Part VI – A New Ally
Amity splashed herself in the lake joyfully. The water
was fresh and, supposedly, clean, trickling down her beige fur. Amity was an
island Aisha, and beside her was none other than Shaina, the rainbow Aisha.
Conley was sitting on a Beach Chair further back
away from the two Aishas. He curled up in his seat and let the blazing sun beat
down on his sleek cloud fur inherited from his mother.
“Ah, vacation! I love this life!” cried Amity,
swimming back and forth in the water. “This is the life! If only we didn’t need
to ever go to work, that would be fabulous. Of course, we’d need some money,
but if we automatically made money, then that would be even better.”
“Yep!” was Shaina’s simple reply. Recently,
the president of Shaina’s and Amity’s detective company discovered that Shaina
was actually Aisha Dark Shadow, and he was about to fire them when they began
to tell him the story.
He still didn’t believe them, and he was confronted
by his old colleague, Sir Chancellor. Of course, with him around, the President
believed them less, for the two used to be rivals.
Finally, they got Fyora to tag along and finally
convinced him. He allowed them to go on a two-week holiday, and Sir Chancellor,
too, allowed them to go free. And there they were, on the coast of Mystery Island.
Shaina splashed herself back on shore and rested
herself on the blazing sand of the beach. The sun glimmered overhead, showing
no sign of setting. She whipped on a pair of shades over her eyes and looked
around, a smile upon her face.
“Ah, vacations rule! Vive le vacation! Vive
le vie!” said Amity, also coming onto shore. She covered herself with a towel
and sighed. “But soon le vacation will be over.”
After a while from sitting on the sand, Amity
and Shaina went to a change room to get dressed. After that, they practically
dragged Conley off the beach chair, folded it up, and stuffed it into a bag.
Amity marched around, her hand on her forehead,
shading her eyes. A few minutes later, she dropped her arm and said happily,
“I saw a restaurant! Come on, I’m starving!”
Conley, Shaina, and Amity walked toward a cloth
roof supported with poles. There were naturally wooden tables inside, and there
were many Neopets chatting and eating. A few waitresses were walking about,
and one male Neopet was behind a counter.
“Excuse me,” said Amity politely. “We would
like a table for three, please.”
The Neopet snapped his fingers and out came a
maid. She was a Gelert, who was a fair magenta colour, with large, graceful
wings sprouting from her back. She wore a greyish dress with a white apron on
top. She smiled warily and guided the three to a small table with splintered
seats.
When they covered the seats with their wet towels
and sat down, Conley complemented in awe, “That maid is bea-u-ti-ful!”
“I’m sure she is, Conley. Now, why don’t you
pick up the menu and order your food?” replied Amity. Seeing that he was still
staring at the maid, she whacked him on the head with her small, pocket-sized
menu.
Conley let out a small whine and read his menu.
The maid came back; they gave her their orders, and waited. Conley kept on staring
at her, Amity glaring rather angrily at Conley, and Shaina was smiling, looking
around the small, shady restaurant.
When the three finished eating, they walked around,
the sun finally setting, and the clouds gathering for the night. The sky dimmed
over so slowly, as Conley panted, pushing around a beach ball on the sandy shores.
Amity and Shaina were in deep conversation, hardly noticing where they were
walking.
After about an hour of chatting, walking, panting,
and playing, the three spotted a young Gelert in the far distance. Conley suddenly
dropped the beach ball and ran toward her through the scene of a sunset.
“Hey, isn’t that the maid?” pointed out Shaina,
looking in the Gelerts’ direction. “And it seems as though Conley is following
her. We’d better go too before he gets in trouble.”
Amity yawned and nodded intently, running far
behind Shaina. Shaina had lots of practice running and leaping, being Aisha
Dark Shadow and all.
By the time Shaina reached her, Conley was galloping
right behind. Then there was silence, except for Amity’s heavy panting and complaints
of exhaustion.
“H — hello,” stammered Conley to the maid, his
eyes avoiding hers.
“Umm, hi. Who are you?” she asked, just as Conley
was about to fall over.
“I’m Conley, and this here is Shaina. Back there
is Amity, our friends. We were your customers in the restaurant, remember?”
explained Conley, obviously nervous.
“Oh, I see. Well, my name is Casey. As you know,
I work in the restaurant, but just for a part-time job. I’m getting enough money
so that I can finally have a home in Faerieland, where all my troubles will
be through,” replied Casey affectionately.
“Ah, I see…” mumbled Conley, voice quavering
from his nervousness.
“It seems like you three are on vacation,” she
inquired, and after seeing a wild nod from Conley, she continued. “Where are
you staying tonight?”
“At a hotel,” answered Amity, wanting some attention.
“It’s just around here, really. We could book you a room in the same hotel if
you’d like. We’ve got a little extra cash with us.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I’ve been renting a little
cabin not so far away. Oh! It’s pretty late,” Casey said, giggling. “I had better
get moving!”
The three of them waved, as Casey trotted off
into the distance. After a few seconds of silence, they marched off themselves,
toward their hotel.
***
Days passed, and the three had seen no sign Casey. In fact, they hadn’t seen
her for the rest of the week, and Conley was getting rather restless.
“What if I never see her again?” he questioned
worriedly over and over again.
“Geez, Conley, if you want to see her so much,
why don’t you look for her in the Neopian Directory? You know her name and that
she’s renting a home around here,” suggested Amity, shrugging.
That day, the trio set off to a more civilized
area, or at least more civilized place than they were in beforehand. They walked
around, seeing a few bustling Neopians hurrying along. And under a tree was
none other than Casey.
“Casey!” exclaimed Conley. “I haven’t seen you
in so long. I was worried.”
“He’s telling the truth,” muttered Amity. “He
kept on yapping about you for ages. No offence,” she added without looking at
the Gelert.
“Oh, Conley,” she said. “I wanted to see you
too. But there are so many buildings around here; I didn’t really know where
to go. And I was a bit busy with my work. I’m sorry.”
Before anybody could say something, Amity dragged
both Conley and Casey to another shady area and had a picnic. Both Casey and
Conley were speechless, but Shaina was the same as always, quiet and shy.
By the time they were finished eating and talking,
the sun was descending down the horizon. The sky turned mauve, and stars began
to twinkle above their heads. Shaina was listening to them chat, Amity telling
Casey where they worked, what they did (although not about Aisha Dark Shadow),
and Conley admiring her.
Shaina twirled her head round, and something
from the corner of her eye had distracted her. It looked oddly familiar, but
she couldn’t make out what — or possibly who — it was.
“Shaina? Shaina!” said Amity, waving her hand
in front of her head. “Are you daydreaming? What was it? Shaina?”
Shaina shook her head and they began to talk
again. Casey looked nervously at Shaina, and she stared back. After a few minutes,
they turned their head away and listened to the jabber.
That night, Casey told them that she had better
go to the restaurant she worked in. She was working late tonight to clean up
the restaurant. So she set off into the distance, the sky darkening around them.
Amity and Conley were walking back to the direction
of the hotel, when Shaina said, “I want to go out for a little walk. I’ll be
back in the hotel in a little while.”
Amity and Conley looked at her quizzically, and
then they continued walking. Shaina walked swiftly through the streets, determined
to find Casey. There was something not right, and she thought that perhaps the
blur was Evil Eyes Aisha, and he was after Casey as a hostage.
When she came to a tree, she spotted Casey. She
was leaning against it, looking very nervous. Shaina reached her arm to get
her attention, when she saw something come; she quickly attached herself on
the other side of the tree.
Before she knew what was going on, in came Evil
Eyes Aisha. Shaina’s heart raced, but her head was full of confusion. She leaned
closer to their direction and heard them speak.
“Did you see her, Gelert?” asked the deliberately
snarling voice of Evil Eyes Aisha asked.
“Yes, Evil Eyes Aisha, I did,” replied Casey.
“Is she suspecting anything?” Evil Eyes Aisha
hissed, his beady red eyes glaring at Casey and the tree.
“I do not think so, Evil Eyes Aisha. Her sidekick
fancies me,” explained Casey, rather proud of herself, although shaking as Conley
was when he was talking to her.
“That’s good news,” tensed Evil Eyes Aisha.
“But hopefully you do not fancy him back?”
“Of course not!” exclaimed Casey disgustedly.
“Good,” was Evil Eyes Aisha’s reply. “Then we
shall complete our task quickly, will we not?”
“Yessir,”
Shaina didn’t know what came over her. She was
overwhelmed with hatred, confusion, and heartbreak. Poor Conley didn’t know
all this, but in fact, Shaina didn’t know what was happening either. It was
all so confusing — was Casey working for Evil Eyes Aisha? If so, why? And what
were their evil schemes? Shaina ran as fast as her legs could bear through the
grass. She raced up to the hotel, went to their booked room and saw that both
Amity and Conley were fast asleep.
***
The next night, Conley was waiting for Casey. Shaina couldn’t tell him the
news, or else he’d be heartbroken. He may not believe her and call her a liar,
or anything else horrible. She couldn’t tell anyone until she herself fully
understood.
Casey appeared a few minutes later, and perhaps
a few seconds after she waved, Evil Eyes Aisha snatched her up in his paws.
Casey let out a scream or terror, and Shaina froze. Was this real, or was this
just part of the plan?
Conley, predictably, raced up to her and plunged
into Evil Eyes Aisha. He snarled and growled at the Aisha, attempting to save
Casey. Casey yelped and yelped, but Shaina could do nothing but watch.
“Shaina!” barked Conley, Evil Eyes Aisha dodging
his bite with ease. “Help!”
Shaina knew that if she didn’t do something,
someone would be hurt. She had to protect Conley, but she couldn’t trust Casey.
Shaina changed her fur into black, and ran rapidly toward Evil Eyes Aisha and
swiped him with her claws.
Conley was tired and injured, for he had not
had a single battle before. He was simply outraged, his face from his peaceful
cloud self into a fuming scarlet, and his sleek, smooth fur into a ragged pelt.
Shaina battled a good fight, as Conley called
Sir Chancellor on their communicator. A battle with Evil Eyes Aisha was never
an easy one. Soon she injured Evil Eyes Aisha enough that he released Casey.
Conley was extremely glad, and ran up to her.
She just stood there with a blank expression in her face. Conley sprinted closer,
and as he did, she had a more determined, and evil appearance.
She put her hand in front of Conley and took
out what looked like metal disks with black and red painted on top.
“See these?” she said, signaling the disks.
“These are Gelert Frisbees. They can knock your head off in one blast.
Then Casey neared Conley in a position that made
him unable to move. He whimpered in pure confusion, as the attention turned
back to Evil Eyes Aisha.
“Very good,” grimaced Evil Eyes Aisha. “Now
you will get your reward. You shall have a home in Faerieland with the rest
of the Faeries. This is my gift to your great work.”
Evil Eyes Aisha took out ten Fire Bombs and tosses
them into the air. He cackled and jogged away, the evil laugh floating about
in Shaina’s head.
“No, you can’t do this to me!” screamed Casey,
dropping her Frisbees. “You can’t do this to me!”
Fire sputtered around, burning the grass and
the plants around them. Everywhere was mayhem, and Casey was on her knees, sobbing
with tears flowing down her cheeks. “This can’t be happening…” she moaned to
herself.
Amity dragged Conley out, and he no longer cared
for Casey. Amity called for Shaina, but Shaina refused to leave. “I can’t leave
Casey here like this,” she said stubbornly. She attempting to lift her, but
failed. “Casey, come on! You’re not going to survive if we don’t leave!”
“I wanted to live in Faerieland… and my wish
will become true, wont it? There will be no more troubles, no more worries,
no more evil…and I will be free forever… forever…”
Shaina tried to heave Casey again, but Casey
screamed, “Leave me alone! I want to! I want to! Leave me alone!”
And with that, Shaina raced out of the fire and
the billowing smoke. Coconut-looking Neopians were everywhere, spraying water
at the blazing fire.
“Conley!” yelled Shaina, seeing her sidekick
with no expression upon his face.
“I thought she was kind. I thought she was nice.
But she betrayed us. She isn’t our friend. She is a traitor. She —”
“She didn’t know!” Shaina interrupted. “She’s
innocent, don’t you see? The same person you longed for every day of our vacation
is in the fire! All she wanted was some peace, Conley!”
“But she’s a traitor,” reminded Conley.
“If you don’t help, I’ll make you look like a
traitor! Now let’s go!”
Conley scurried reluctantly behind Shaina. What
he saw in there did not please him one bit.
Casey was surrounded by smoke and fire, grinning
evilly. She seemed to inhale as much smoke as she possibly could, and Casey’s
sleek fur was ruffled and burnt, while her wings seemed to look as though they
were crumbling.
“Casey…” mumbled Conley.
“Why are you here?” screamed Casey. “Leave me
alone! I’m going to Faerieland… I’m going to Faerieland…”
“You can’t go now,” said Conley. “We need you.”
“Need me?” questioned Casey. “Hah! That’s a laugh.
Nobody’s needed me before. I’m just an outsider. They all hate me. They detested
me. And then I was painted Faerie — and my fur… it all changed then. They all
admired me, but of course, not for whom I was. They just liked how I look. Just
because I was Faerie. But I’ve hardly ever been to Faerieland. I wanted to go
so much, but I didn’t have enough money. That’s when I met Evil Eyes Aisha.
I thought he would help. He said I had to go get Aisha Dark Shadow, and in return,
he’d let me go to the heavens. And then, and then… I found them. A cloud Gelert
who seemed to like my personality, but was first attracted by my looks. He laughed
at my jokes. He smiled and commented everything I said. But he didn’t care.
He left me in the fire. He didn’t save me. But it doesn’t matter now; I’m going!
I’m going!”
By that time, Shaina and Conley both realized
she was going insane. Before they knew what else was going on, Casey fell unconscious.
They grabbed her and dragged her out of the fire. Conley’s eyes were full of
tears, and he sighed deeply when the Neopian Ambulance came to pick her up.
“You were right, Shaina. She was innocent. It
was her want for something that made her do that. Everybody would have. But
now I’m just not sure — not sure if she’ll be here to go to Faerieland with
us,” sniffed Conley.
“Conley,” assured Shaina. “She’ll be okay.”
***
And okay she was. Casey woke up nearly a month later, all healed. She had her
memory back, and thanked Shaina, Amity, and Conley for helping her. She had
cried many times in front of their faces, saying that she was so foolish to
do such a thing as harming a person just to get to Faerieland.
What was even better was that everybody realized
Shaina was a heroine. After saving Casey, she put out the fire and saved buildings
from burning down, and brought many of the nearby Natives into the hospital.
The day that Casey was well, Fyora came for a
visit.
“Hello, Casey,” she greeted warmly. “I’ve heard
much about you, dear.”
“Faerie Queen…” mumbled Casey. She stared wide-eyed
at Fyora and said, “Sorry for staring at you. I know it’s rude. It’s just that
I’ve never seen you in real life before, just pictures. And I’ve only seen pictures
of Faerieland too. When I was younger, I used to pretend —”
“Hush,” Fyora said softly. “I’m here to take
you all the Faerieland, and I will arrange for you to work in the Hidden Tower.”
***
And that the Faerie Queen did. The three visited Casey every week or so, and
went on with work. Shaina remained being Aisha Dark Shadow, fighting crime as
always. But there was still one enemy she had never defeated; and that was Evil
Eyes Aisha.
To be continued...
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