|
Author's Note: After Sprite the Faerie Gelert and Witch the White Aisha went
to the Twisted Roses Concert, Witch spends the night at Sprite's house. The next
morning, they have a fight and the Aisha leaves. In Secrets,
Chill's dark secret is revealed. Now, Witch has returned to Sprite's house to
try and make amends.
One hates those who make him feel his own inferiority.
The sun painted the sky with its warm rays. A cool breeze
was blowing. Although the day seemed beautiful, two Neopets remained deathly
quiet in a bamboo Neohome. It was as if they could feel the grey clouds moving
overhead, casting shadows and warning Neopia that rain was coming.
Sprite the Faerie Gelert stood frozen, staring
at the ground. What should I do? It was as if her paws were stuck to
the ground, her mouth glued, and her ears incapable of hearing. All she could
do was think.
Currant the Zomutt barked and licked Sprite's
paw. The Gelert smiled but her smile was tainted with anxiety.
Witch scratched her head with one White Aisha
paw and gazed at the Neohome's roof. "Hi."
"Hi," Sprite replied, her eyes boring a hole
into the ground.
"Just happened to be passing by…"
"Oh."
Both of them fell into uneasy silence. The Zomutt
broke the ice by barking one loud and joyous woof.
"Chill's probably on his way home, right this
minute," Sprite said in a rush. "Why don't you stay so you can meet him?"
I'm sorry, Witch wanted to reply but
her pride got the better of her. "Okay."
"Cool. Come in, both of you. I've got a whole
plate of Spooky doughnuts lying around here somewhere!"
Witch heard a note of sincerity in Sprite's
tone. She stepped in. Currant found the plate of doughnuts on one of the bamboo
chairs. He immediately devoured one.
"So…about a while ago…" Sprite began hesitantly.
"Don't." Witch took a small bite out of the
doughnut she got from the plate. "Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter at all."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound
of the door creaking open. Sprite perked up right away. "Chill!" She rushed
to meet him.
Chill the yellow Chia was carrying large, bulky
brown paper bags. He dropped all of them and hugged Sprite tightly. "Hullo,
Sprite."
The White Aisha bit off an extra large piece
of her doughnut. Currant jumped onto her lap. She stroked his fur.
"Hullo there, lil' miss," Chill told Witch with
a tip of his straw hat.
"Hi."
The Chia scratched his head. "Ya just stay here
fo' a while, lil' miss. Sprite n' I'll be talkin' in th' kitchen."
Witch nodded doggedly. She seized another doughnut
from the plate and bit into it.
Chill motioned for Sprite to follow him into
the kitchen. When the two left, the Aisha followed them with her eyes. Sprite
and Chill's Neohome was rather small. The kitchen, besides having no door, was
located only a few feet from the living room. Witch's chair faced it.
Chill began talking in a secretive whisper.
Witch, equipped with two pairs of sharp Aisha ears, listened while eating.
"I've got plenty o' gifts for ya, m'love," Chill
spoke softly. "I didn' want t' hurt Witch over there since I didn' bring 'er
any." The Chia guffawed.
Sprite frowned and put a paw to her lips, signaling
Chill to be quiet. "You're right. She can get sensitive, at times." The Gelert
paused and sneaked a peek at Witch. "It must be because her owner left her all
alone…" Sprite said faintly, her voice filled with pity.
Witch abruptly stopped chewing. Her eyes flashed
wildly. She scrunched her paws together tightly. Witch blinked several times.
She felt the urge to break something…anything.
"I bought ya all the latest Faerie items," Chill
continued in the same whispery tone. "Ya can check 'em out later."
"Wow, thanks," Sprite replied gratefully. She
fought to keep her voice low.
"Look what I got ya," the Chia said excitedly.
"Ya'll love it. I know ya will." He handed her the smallest of all the packages.
It wiggled.
Sprite raised an eyebrow curiously. She undid
the ribbon on top. Inside was a cute Faellie, her lime green eyes sparkling.
The Gelert's mouth hung open.
Unable to keep quiet any longer, Sprite exclaimed,
"OH! OH! OH!" She hugged her Faellie.
Witch was frightened and she didn't know why.
She looked around desperately, found the plate that was full of Spooky doughnuts
a short while ago, and smashed it.
The plate broke into pieces with a clatter.
The sound made Witch relax. She calmly looked at the destroyed remains of the
plate. Chill and Sprite sprinted toward the noise.
"Witch!" Sprite screamed furiously. "That was
one of the newer plates. Chill bought it the other day."
"Can pay for it," Witch replied with dignity.
Chill laughed delightedly. "Never ya mind, lil'
miss. It's fine with m'." He opened one of the paper bags and brought out a
Darkness Faerie Doll.
Sprite's eyes widened. "Wow, that last job you
got must have earned you millions of neopoints."
The Chia coughed. "Wal, ya can say that again."
He pressed the doll into Witch's dirty paws. "This 'ere is fo' ya."
Witch stared at the doll noncommittally. It
was different from all other Darkness Faerie Dolls for it had amethyst eyes
that gleamed in an almost lifelike way. She wanted to let go of it badly but
the doll's soft skin burned through her paws preventing her from letting go.
She glanced at Sprite.
Sprite had her paws crossed over her chest,
a frown growing on her face. He looked at Chill with contempt. Then, she gave
Witch a fiery gaze that made the Aisha draw back.
If looks could kill, I'd be gone, thought
Witch. "What's it for?" she asked Chill accusatorily.
He shrugged. "It's jus' a lil' present. Ya dun'
have t' thank me fo' it o' anything…"
Don't want it! Witch wanted to yell but
no words came out. "Have to go home," she said, instead. Still holding on to
the doll, Witch hurried out of the room with Currant following hot on her heels.
"Good riddance," Sprite muttered under her breath.
She shot Chill a murderous look. "I thought you said you didn't buy her anything."
Chill chuckled. "M'love, she was listenin' t'
ev'ry word! I thought she'd love a lil' surprise."
Sprite took deep, shuddering breaths. "How much
did that doll cost you?"
"Oh, th' usual," Chill replied offhandedly.
"Would ya like t' look at m' other presents fo' ya?" He opened another one of
his packages.
"What job did you get this time?" Sprite asked.
Chill ignored her question. He smiled and took
out a bunch of Bottled Dark Faeries. "See what I got ya?"
Sprite looked at the bottles curiously. "Are
those for real Darkness Faeries?"
"Yep," he said proudly. "Ya can be th' strongest
pet 'round with dark powers! Ain't that great?"
The Gelert eyed Chill skeptically. "Isn't darkness
bad?"
Chill guffawed. "Who ever told ya that? O' course
not."
Sprite thought about it. Chill is a good
Neopet. He would never ever suggest anything bad. He would never hurt me.
"So…what do I do with them?"
"Ya jus' open a bottle and release th' Faerie.
She'll bless ya with a magical ability."
Sprite took one of the Bottled Dark Faeries.
She took a deep breath and pried open the lid.
******
The dark, nimbus clouds released their burden
onto Neopia. Huge, heavy drops of rain splattered angrily onto the ground. The
mild breeze had turned into a gale. Neopets and humans covered the busy streets,
all running for cover.
One little Aisha was different from the rest.
She was ill at ease, alright, but not because of the rain. Witch tried to walk
home calmly, ignoring the Darkness Faerie Doll that was scratching her fur.
She moved leisurely, skirting through the streets like a Neopian athlete trained
for all kinds of weather. Currant barked beside her.
Mud splattered onto her fur as she stepped on
a puddle of dirty rainwater. The doll, still hanging on tightly to Witch's paw,
remained clean. The spray of mud seemed to disappear without even making contact
with it.
Suddenly, a jolt of pain shot up Witch's paw.
She yelped and struggled to remove the doll from her paw. The lifeless creature
continued to hurt her. "Help me, Currant! Can't seem to get it off me."
The Zomutt jumped up and down. He barked again.
Witch sighed. "Oh, Currant. You're useless." She winced but resumed walking.
The rain began to fall even more heavily. Witch
had a hard time peering through the rain, what with the pain in her paw increasing
with every step. A few moments later, she slipped on the wet street and fell
to the ground, unconscious.
Witch was roused by a wet tongue licking her
face. She wiped her cheek with a paw. "Currant!" She opened her eyes and prepared
to scold her Zomutt. Her eyes widened. "N-n-not p-p-possible." She was back
in her very own room, lying on her checkered bed. Currant sat beside her with
his tail wagging.
Witch sensed a familiar ache. She looked at
her throbbing paw. "Hopeless. Something's different about this doll." As she
said the words, the doll seemed to nod her little head. Witch thought she saw
a cruel smile.
"Must be tired," she told herself feebly. "Must
be all the doughnuts I ate."
She closed her eyes resignedly. "Sleep, need
to get some sleep." Witch curled up and placed the paws holding onto to the
doll near her head. "Maybe, I'll wake up and find that this is all just a…realistic
dream." Finally finding a comfortable composition, Witch fell into deep slumber.
The doll seared through her paws like fire.
Currant gave Witch a protective look from his
place on the bedspread. He jumped down and faced the bed. He slid under it and
emerged a few moments later carrying the Light Faerie Pencil inside his mouth.
Currant hopped back onto the bed and positioned himself beside Witch. He watched
the doll reproachfully for several minutes. Having satisfied himself that the
"thing" wasn't going to move, the Zomutt yawned and finally closed his eyes.
Outside, the grey clouds poured even more gargantuan
raindrops, drenching everything in sight.
The End
| 
