The sound of Melon and Poogie screaming brought Alison and Julie running. Rumples
was in the hall, clutching what looked like a firefly in a bottle. Alison threw
the door open. An Aisha was standing there, triple its normal size, with glowing
red eyes, and purple and black clothes, and fur. When she saw the golden tail,
Alison realized it was KiwiBonk. She was wearing the pendant that the Faerie of
Darkness had given her. Melon and Poogie were crumpled at her feet.
“Melon!!! Poogie!!” Julie screamed. Alison was frozen in horror.
“AT LAST MY TRUE VITALITY WILL BE REVEALED.” KiwiBonk roared in a terrible
voice. “NO LONGER AM I JUST A SIMPLE PET. I AM A POWERFUL MINION OF THE DARK
ONE!!!!!!!!” KiwiBonk made a beam of lightning between her paws. It illuminated
her face, so it was the only thing to be seen. Melon and Poogie’s bodies disappeared
in a swirling purple mist.
Alison heard a tiny voice behind her say, “I grant you the Ability ‘Heal.’
” Rumples’ form appeared in the mist. Alison realized the firefly in the bottle
must have been a Light Faerie.
Rumples used his new ability on KiwiBonk. Since it was light and she was dark,
she screamed in pain. She shot a bolt of lightning at Julie, who ducked.
“She’s trying to kill us!!!” Julie shrieked.
“It’s the pendant around her neck!” Alison yelled.
“She’s been blessed by a Dark Faerie, and she’s forever tainted!!!!” Rumples
cried. He cast his ability again. It appeared to have no effect.
“I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY THE DARK ONE.” KiwiBonk let out an evil laugh.“THERE’S
NOTHING YOU CAN DO!!!!!”
Alison discovered that KiwiBonk had slowly been taken over by not just the
Faerie of Darkness, but by a greater force of evil, much darker and more sinister.
That’s why she was doing so good in the BattleDome, and why she looked so eerily
fit. The Darkness inside her was fighting the good, and it was winning. She
had to do something to reach KiwiBonk, not the darkness that was controlling
her.
“We have to help her fight the darkness before it’s too late!!!” Alison yelled.
Rumples radiated his ability again and again. The evil KiwiBonk shuddered.
“IT IS TOO LATE...” KiwiBonk said, but there was a shred of doubt in her voice.
“KiwiBonk, listen to me! Can you hear me? It’s Alison!”
“I CAN HEAR YOU.......” the huge Aisha seemed smaller.
“Do you remember that time that we went to a secret guild meeting, and Snuffs
ate all the food?”
"What are you doing?" Julie yelled.
“I REMEMBER.........” Her skin wasn’t as purple as before.
“Do you remember the time you sold everything in our house to buy a Lost Desert
Paintbrush?”
“HOW COULD............I forget?”
“Do you remember the time you landed in the Rainbow Pool, and painted all
of Faerie City?”
“...yes...” KiwiBonk now looked like her normal self, except her eyes. They
were still red. The Aisha swayed on her feet, then collapsed in a faint.
As Alison rushed to her unconscious pet’s side, tears streaming down her face,
three things happened. The purple mist disappeared and the walls of KiwiBonk’s
room were visible once more, Chino and MinxJade appeared in the doorway, each
with an armful of Light Faeries, and the whole house started shaking. Chino
and MinxJade grabbed Rumples, who was spent, having used up a lot of energy
handling his ability. Julie scooped Melon and Poogie up in her arms. Just as
suddenly as it had started, the shaking stopped. The three Aishas’ slitted eyes
grew large. Julie’s mouth hung open as she stared at something behind Alison.
She whirled around.
The Uber Faerie of Light, and the rarely seen Space Faerie stood in front
of her. The Space Faerie looked exhausted, and the Light Faerie looked very
mad.
Without a word, the Light Faerie glided over to KiwiBonk. Alison and Julie
squinted their eyes, because the Faerie was too radiant to look at.
“Is this the pet that has been having nightmares?”
“No. These five have been having nightmares.” said Alison, pointing to Chino,
MinxJade, Rumples, and the lifeless forms of Melon and Poogie.
“So this pet hasn’t been having nightmares?” she asked.
“No, she said she’s been having good dreams.”
The two Faeries looked at one another. They seemed surprised at this answer.
“Perhaps I was feeling the pain of another pet.” the Space Faerie said.
“We’ll see about that.” replied the other Faerie. “Is this not KiwiBonk, the
Aisha with the golden tail?”
Alison nodded.
“My sister was very interested in this pet. Perhaps because she was weak of
heart, and could be easily swayed to join the Dark ones.”
“She didn’t... seem like she had a weak heart.”
“Yes, but she had been blessed by a Dark Faerie. That left her with a fragile
spirit.”
“Oh...”
“Maybe we owe you two an explanation.” said the Space Faerie, gesturing to
Alison and Julie.
“It started like this,” began the Light Faerie, “The Space Faerie, who can
feel the pain of pets living in this world, began to have terrible nightmares.
I suspected my sister, the Faerie of Darkness, to be behind it. Since I was
perceptive of darkness, I was sent to find the pet with the bad dreams, so the
Faeries could put a stop to it. The Space Faerie came with me. I began to feel
a lot of Darkness coming from this place in the Lost Desert. The dreams got
worse. They became daytime hallucinations.”
Alison looked at her pets huddled in the doorway. How terrifying it must have
been for them!
“But at last, now that I am here, it is as I feared. Your pet’s soul has been
consumed by the darkness. The darkness was so strong, it gave those around her
nightmares.”
“Then why didn’t I get bad dreams?” Alison asked.
“Humans are like that. Their souls are stronger, more resistant.” said the
Light Faerie.
“Is KiwiBonk going to be evil forever?” MinxJade said timidly.
“I’ll bring her to the Faerie Queen. She may be able to cleanse her of this
impurity.”
* * *
The Light Faerie and the Space Faerie brought KiwiBonk’s limp body back to
Faerieland. They also brought Melon and Poogie, to put in the Water Faerie’s
care. KiwiBonk had busted them up pretty bad. The amulet that the Faerie of
Darkness had given to KiwiBonk wasn’t actually the cause of the darkness, but
Alison demanded it be destroyed. The Faerie of Darkness was severely punished
for what the Faeries called ‘soul devouring’. Alison never did find out what
they did to her. But not everything was perfect right away. The remainder of
Alison’s pets, the Aishas’ Petpets, and all of KiwiBonk’s friends who were affected
were jumpy for weeks afterwards.
A few weeks later, life had almost returned to normal. Alison and her pets
were allowed to keep the Light Faeries that Chino and MinxJade had brought.
It turns out they heard all the yelling and screaming, peeked in, grasped what
was going on, and ran as fast as they could to the Faerie XPress that brought
them to Faerieland. Then they got a ride back to the Lost Desert, bottles of
Light Faeries in their paws. KiwiBonk’s brothers and sisters still shivered
whenever someone said, "Dark Faerie," but they were slowly overcoming
the fearful past. Chino lay on his stomach in his room, coloring and talking
to his stuffed cat, Rumples was reading a book of poetry, and MinxJade was playing
with Sara Dippity, her pet Bluna.
Ding Dong!
“That should be Julie.” Alison said to no one in particular. But when she
opened the door, it wasn’t her friend. Instead, the Space Faerie, the Faerie
Queen, and five of the six elemental Faeries stood outside the door.
“Hi, Alison.” said a tiny voice. KiwiBonk was cradled in the Light Faeries’s
arms.
“Uh, come in...” said Alison, standing aside so the seven Faeries could get
in.
The Faeries sat down on the couches and chairs Rumples and MinxJade brought
in from the kitchen. The Space Faerie, of course, stood.
“She’s still weak.” said the Light Faerie, and gently put KiwiBonk in Alison’s
arms.
She was smaller. A whole lot smaller. Her fur was sort of grayish, her limbs
were skinny, like toothpicks, and she was wrapped up in a blanket. She looked
just like a baby Aisha. But her eyes were still an intense red.
“The evil is all gone.” the Faerie Queen said. “It had consumed most of her,
so to get rid of it, we had to get rid of most of her, too. She’s wasted away.”
Rumples, Chino and MinxJade came over. Alison knelt down on the floor so they
could have a better look. The three pets looked down on their older sister,
unable to speak.
“She’s smaller than me.” said Chino at last. “And I’m in kindergarten.”
“Can she still talk?” Rumples said.
“I can still talk!”
“Will she ever grow bigger?” Alison asked.
“Oh yes.” said the Water Faerie. “But her eyes will always stay that color.”
Alison and her pets began to talk. The Petpets came over, and Snuffs gave
a KiwiBonk a wet kiss. The Faeries watched the happy reunion, and the Faerie
Queen took the Space Faerie’s arm and led her into the next room.
“Sister, have you figured out which pet was the one that started having the
nightmares?” asked the Faerie Queen.
“Yes, it was all four of the Aishas. I was vulnerable to the pain of the three
youngest ones, and all other emotions of this KiwiBonk.”
“The Dark Faeries may be planning revenge on those four. We’ll have to keep
an eye on them.”
“I won’t let any harm come to them. I’ve had enough pain and nightmares for
a long time.”
* * *
Melon and Poogie forgave KiwiBonk for attacking them. In the weeks that followed,
all of KiwiBonk’s friends helped her adjust to a new lifestyle. For one thing,
she was two feet or more shorter than everyone else, (Everyone else being up
to Alison’s knee or higher.), her eyes were red, and her tail was now very short.
It seemed that most of the Faerie of Darkness’ darkness was centered around
the golden part of KiwiBonk’s tail that she was interested in. So the Faeries
had to amputate it. But Julie, Alison, and their friends Gab and Steph were
able to get enough money to paint the tip of her tail gold again.
KiwiBonk wasn’t sure if her life would ever be the same. One night, when all
the other pets lay in undisturbed slumber, Alison saw KiwiBonk perched on her
windowsill, looking at the moon. As the two of them talked, KiwiBonk admitted
that her life was better before the whole incident with the Faerie of Darkness
unfolded.
“But it could be worse.” she said. “I could be stuck up in a warm, well-lit
tower, forced to sew pink Poogle toys together.”
“Why?” Alison asked. “Is that where the Faerie of Darkness is?”
“Yep. Ha ha ha ha! Sucker!”
It seems the Faeries didn’t remove ALL the evil from KiwiBonk’s heart.
The End | 
