| I was in Faerieland, on a quest -- a quest for myself, for
information, for knowledge and for Neopian history. I reached Fyora, the oldest
and wisest of the Neopian Faeries, to lay my questions before her. She smiled
serenely at me.
"I had a feeling you would come, Kaellya...
one day."
I smiled back.
"Greetings, Fyora."
I knew Fyora reasonably well -- in my many quests
for my pets, I had sought her advice. Yet I was always granted it -- though
many were not. I had never quested for myself before. I was content -- I was
Kaellya, the Story Teller; I was a Faerie-friend; I was a Neopian historian.
Now, I felt curiosity to know what I truly was -- why did I have my white wings?
My unnatural violet eyes? And as I surveyed the room, I wondered again. Why
were there only female Faeries -- and few but well hidden male ones? Why do
pets still suffer with Faerie magic so powerful now? Where do Faeries come from?
In my documenting of Neopian history, I had found many gaps.
And Fyora met my gaze and, before I vocalised
my thoughts, began to speak. The Story Teller was being told a story...
***
"Neopia was not just young. In fact, it was barely an hour old when we Faeries
came to it from another place. Are Neopians so blind now? That they cannot see
what is before their eyes? Still, they are discovering the planet of Neopia!
Never do they dream there may be others. Never do they inquire of the Alien
Aishas or the Space Faerie or just stare at the sky to wonder what is out there.
Yes, Faeries come from somewhere else and for all Neopia's civilization, they
cannot dream of another place just yet.
We were the male and female Faeries who represented
only four elements -- fire, water, earth and air. We came to Neopia. Then, Neopia
had just one inhabitant -- its creator. This was no Faerie or pet but a young
man, who'd engineered complex machines to create Neopia. He saw it as a utopia,
a place of peace, a paradise, where the war that scarred his home planet would
never mar. For that reason, he asked Light and Dark Faeries not to come to Neopia.
I believe you now call him... Dr Frank Sloth. Yes, he created Neopia.
At first, Neopia flourished. Dr Sloth's creations
and machines made many things possible. He was generous and kind hearted. An
idealistic man, perhaps, but with a vision -- a vision of a paradise, and a
future. Pets thrived in Neopia and imagine our pleasure when the first humans
came! An economy was beginning to rise and humans adopted pets to train and
care for. Back then, the Faeries played a much bigger role in the pets' development
-- we would teach them the magic of our element. What existed then could not
be called peace -- for peace is just the time between war. This new world had
never known war, or good, or evil. Those terms had no meaning... then.
So Neopia grew. Pets explored the whole world
and named places in their own language. That language is now known as Ancient
Neopian and the gift of it has been lost to but a few. That language survives
in but a few old books today. Neopians lived in harmony then, so the language
was very idealistic, with no words for war or sword. But that was to come...
The Faeries had almost served their time in
Neopia, helping set up the planet for habitation. A few previously elemental
Faeries had changed and specialised and Neopia now had the Soup Faerie, the
Negg Faerie, the Space Faerie, and so on. It was arranged that, as the Faeries'
time on Neopia drew to a close, that a small number of Faeries would stay. However,
four Uber Faeries would be chosen, each one representing an element, and a Faerie
King or Queen to lead them. That was the spark.
An Air Faerie I was then but I, Fyora, was determined
to become Queen. I watched all the other Faeries and presumptuously decided
that my only real opposition was Tyore, a male Fire Faerie. A big argument broke
out among all the Faeries. To understand this, you must understand us.
Faeries have a superior (a very special type
of Faerie) in charge of them all. Our name for this Faerie is too complicated
for Neopians and I decline to name it in the language you have now. I would
say Elesse (meaning source, root, origin in Ancient Neopian) is a fair name
for it. Orders from Elesse must be obeyed. Because of this system, there were
very few opportunities for normal Faeries to lead others. Only a select band
of Faeries could be picked to help Elesse with its work. Those Faeries gave
up their element (or some have none) and became a different type of Faerie too,
although not equivalent to the leader. To be given a position of power over
other Faeries was a very desirable thing. So even on a tiny planet, over a small
group of Faeries, a leadership was much coveted and sought after -- but only
one leader could be chosen, along with the four Uber Faeries.
First, things were done properly and orderly.
A number of magical aptitude tests, to check fitness for the role, were conceived.
The Uber Faeries had to be the most powerful and best of their element (that
was obvious), but the criteria for the much-desired leadership was unknown.
But as Faeries began to fail the tests, accusations of cheating proliferated
and many minor squabbles took place. We took care to hide these from the Neopians.
When two fighting Faeries seriously injured one another, the tests were abandoned.
The two Faeries, Illusen and Jhudora, continue their fight to this day -- but
they were still to play a major part in Neopia's history.
Without the tests, chaos broke out. I was the
only one who passed the official tests for leadership but Tyore came a close
second. Every other Faerie failed miserably. Faeries began to take sides, some
supporting Tyore, some supporting me. It was one fateful day that a small band
of Faeries came from beyond Neopia without informing Elesse. They were Dark
Faeries, who had been forbidden to visit Neopia so that this new world would
never know of the difference between good and evil. As soon as the Dark Faeries
arrived, Light Faeries came too to balance the equation. Some Element Faeries
began to lean towards the light or the dark rather than remain neutral and when
that happens, you know there is a problem.
Tyore openly used Dark magic, magic that had
been banned on Neopia. In retaliation, my supporters used Light magic. I did
not but concentrated my efforts elsewhere. We managed to shield the Neopians
using elemental magic -- they lived their lives blissfully unaware of the differences
that were splitting the Faeries. But it could not last.
I know now that I was wrong. While I did not
use Light magic, allowing my supporters to use it made us the guilty ones as
much as those who used Dark magic. The battle between good and evil was being
replayed in Neopia as it had been replayed throughout the universe and has been
replayed in Neopia since. As Tyore upped his attacks, we increased ours. Finally,
the thing we had been dreading came to pass...
Jhudora has been an Earth Faerie, as was Illusen.
The two were originally close friends but, in the tests, the two turned against
each other and fought. When the two sides appeared, Jhudora abandoned the earth
to practise Dark magic and supported Tyore. In opposition, Illusen used Light
magic and joined my forces. (Illusen was later to return to her Earth element,
but Jhudora never did.)
It was a new day, full of promise, early dawn
stroking soft hues along the palette of the sky. Illusen and Jhudora were fighting,
as usual. As white, yellow, black and purple magic sparked around them, they
strayed perilously close to the barrier. We were all tired and had grown less
vigilant - for the barrier was weakening. As my Faeries began to fade away,
worn out from the constant drain on their magic, gaps appeared in the barrier.
Unaware, Illusen and Jhudora forced their way through one of those gaps. I,
miles away, instinctively felt a sense of foreboding.
I recalled all my Faeries but it was too late.
Across Neopia, pets and humans looked up at Good and Evil, battling in the sky.
As they looked upon the Faeries with awe and respect, they saw nothing odd at
first. Jhudora and Illusen were but entertainment to them. But soon, other Faeries
began to show. The barrier had gone - Tyore's forces were pouring in and mine
came to meet them. Pets cheered in delight at the coloured magic streaming across
the sky, thinking it but a game. I left my aerial fortress to try to stop the
fighting - but it was futile. The sky filled with magic and many Faeries began
to fall, stunned, down to Neopia. Bolts of magic, Light or Dark or elemental,
began to hit pets below. Cries rang out into the air and there were few Faeries
available to help those who were hurt. I had failed -- the day I feared had
come.
Neopia had lost her innocence. Pets knew good
from evil, war from peace. Humans fled or were forced out by battling Faeries.
Pets formed packs, trying not to see the destruction around them, yet they were
never safe. Our war later spawned one amongst Neopets -- that tale is contained
in the history books (as the Great Aisha Wars). Sloth, whose vision of a paradise
was torn apart, lost his mind. He believed only in ugliness and destruction
- the only things he had seen last forever. It unhinged him -- he began making
mutations of his beloved pets and plotting against what he'd created.
Amidst it all, I wandered lost. I could not
help those who cried out to me, for were they friend or foe? I knew it should
not matter. I had to be neutral, to use neither good nor evil, neither light
nor dark. I had to be the grey between black and white. But I was lost and I
wandered through the wasteland in my head, watching as Faeries fell...
Of course, Elesse had word of Neopia's problems.
He sent his most trusted aide to sort it out. Few have the privilege of serving
Elesse directly and those who did were often non-elementals. This Faerie had
two names -- she was known as the Faerie of the Heart and the Faerie of Stories.
She was unusual, even for a Faerie -- with white, feathery wings and violet
eyes. She observed the battle and saw the heart of the matter and the truth.
I was honoured when she came to me, lost and wandering... and she told me a
direction... and the truth.
To lead Neopia, one could not be good or evil
-- one had to be neutral. And neutrality comes at a price. Truth has never been
beauty. Lies are beautiful -- they have to be. But truths are ugly. I did not
want to hear her, even if I should have. But she saw something in me still.
She saw through the light and my airs, my arrogance, to something that could
be Faerie Queen one day. She smiled at me -- that smile has never left me. It
was full of pure joy, hope and happiness. She was never selfish: she must have
known then what she would do.
"In your heart, you wield not your Air element
or Light or Dark and your heart must be your guide, Fyora. Your heart will lead
you true. I am the Faerie of the Heart and the Faerie of Stories. They are closer
to each other than others realise. The story you are in is being written with
your heart, Fyora, and the story is this planet. Neopia is wonderful - it can
be an imperfect paradise yet. This is Neopia..."
She waved her hands at the raging wars, the
devastation, the destruction.
"This is Neopia -- look after it."
Her words remain with me still.
I opened my eyes to see what it could yet be.
I heard a soft sound behind me. Tyore was standing
behind me. His long black hair was loosely tied back and his purple eyes affixed
me to the spot. His Fire element had long been abandoned and he was a skilled
practitioner of Dark magic.
"Fyora... this time I will not come second to
you! I am the dark, the shadow that lurks at every street corner, the embodiment
of evil. I am a part of even the purest nature. I am in my element and you are
still lost." Tyore twisted his lips into a smile.
I looked at him silently and he seemed to waver
slightly. Then he drew back a hand and sent a ball of black magic hurtling towards
me and I skipped aside. I prepared to summon my own magic but hesitated, overwhelmed
by doubt. What magic was I? What magic did my heart wield? Good against evil
was a battle replayed through many universes, in all worlds with intelligent
beings. But even if evil triumphed, good had hope still, and if good won, then
evil vowed to rise again. That battle had no end. That was a battle I did not
want to fight. Eternal battle has no victors, only losers.
I knew it all then, as I do now.
I could not wield the light or the dark or any
element. I must be neutral to be Queen. I must learn to let go and to hold back,
must be all things and nothing at once. To fight Tyore would be to oppose Dark
-- I could not do that. I had to balance the magics. This flash of understanding
gave me a guide and I followed my heart from there.
"I will not fight you, Tyore."
He smiled again. "You will..."
He began to summon magic -- any magic. All around,
Faeries dropped from the sky, friend and foe, drained of their power.
"You must control all magic to rule Neopia and
Neopia's Faeries!" he hissed.
"You must wield none," I replied.
"Fool! The Faerie King must be the most powerful
of all the Faeries!"
Tyore filled his body with the magic and rose
above the ground. He pointed a finger at Neopia.
"Will you let me destroy it?" he asked, his
purple eyes aglow.
I could not reply but a voice spoke for me.
"No."
A figure with white wings stepped forward. It
was the Faerie of Stories and the Heart.
"You are wrong, Tyore. The Faerie Queen is the
most powerful of all the Neopian Faeries but yet she has little magic at all.
Her power lies in balancing the scales and preserving Neopia."
"Then she has failed!" Tyore cried.
He lifted his hands above his head and sent
a long surge of magic downwards. Neopia began to disintegrate, land and water
choked in blackness. I was lost in the dark again, but through it, my heart
told me there was still hope - and I listened. I watched a white winged figure
step forward and watched the Faerie of the Heart and Stories. She looked upwards
and Tyore faltered.
With a single thrust of her wings, she hovered
over all Neopia. She surveyed the land and smiled. As she raised her arms, she
conveyed her last words to my ears alone.
"This is Neopia. Look after it."
From her swirled her magic -- fire, water, earth,
air, darkness and light. She was all in one. Her power surged out of her until
her figure was no longer visible and all Neopia was rejuvenated and filled with
pulsating colours. Then, suddenly, she was gone. The magic faded and she was
nowhere to be found - but her magic filled Neopia, living on within it.
She brought Neopia back from the brink. Pets
still hid in packs, Neopia was still filled with imperfections, but it was alive.
Those wounds the Faeries had to leave to heal themselves and bear the shame
silently. A curse was placed that a Faerie could not spend too long around a
human without hurting them, so that Faeries could not interfere disastrously
again. Things could not go back to that idyllic paradise Neopia once was --
we all had to change.
Neopia has been threatened, torn apart by many
wars and disasters, but always the Faerie lives on and Neopia survives yet.
She made a great sacrifice for Neopia. What can I say to you? This is Neopia
-- look after it."
Fyora ended her tale there and paused.
"We honoured her with a new name - Faerie of
Faeries. Elesse sent Tyore and his followers away and ordered most male Faeries
off Neopia - its own reasons, I suppose. Elesse talked with me for days. I gave
my first order- that Faeries must not return to Neopia until the time was right
and wounds long healed. We locked ourselves up in our glass spires, far above
the land. You know the story from there -- it's history..."
I nodded slowly and turned to leave but paused
at the exit. Something compelled me to ask a final question.
“What became of the Faerie?”
“They say she did not truly go – that her spirit
earthed itself in Neopia and in every true Neopian. She will return as a Neopian,
they say…for she loved to tell stories.”
I regarded Fyora clearly.
“A Faerie of Stories, a Faerie of the Heart,
with angel wings and violet eyes…” I trailed off.
“Not ‘a’ but ‘The’…The Faerie of Faeries.” She
dipped her head respectfully to me.
I looked at her with my violet eyes, spreading
my feathery wings, trying to read her expression. Finally, I too dipped my head
and took off.
The Faerie of Faeries was still watching over
Neopia…
The End
Author’s note – Please offer me any feedback/suggestions/criticisms you
may have – all is appreciated! I suggest that if you enjoyed this, you should
read Manicla’s Story after this to learn what happened after Fyora took charge.
Other stories will also refer and link into this.
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