Pishicu and the Wisdom Council: Part Six

      So when Pishicu awoke, she was expecting the same to happen to her. I mean, it was only natural. So why didn't the thing she was laying on feel either cold or hard? If anything, it felt velvety.

      "Where am I?" Pishicu tried to mutter, but her lips made not a sound. She opened her eyes, and then closed them fast because of all of the light of dawn that filled the room. She tried it again, this time pacing herself so she wouldn't be as shocked.

      Well, she was still shocked, but not by the light. The whole room wasn't what she expected. It was totally against the kidnapping code. It was nice, it was cozy, it had a chandelier for goodness sake! In all actuality, it was nicer than her own room!

      "Oh, you're up?" inquired a kind voice.

      Pishicu spun around, to see the source of the noise. It turned out to be a very pretty Faerie sitting by her bedside. She had long, blond hair, rosy cheeks, purple eyes, and a red dress.

      "Wh-where am I?" Pishicu stuttered again, quite taken aback.

      "Oh please don't be alarmed little Poogle. I dare say, you've had quite enough excitement last night!" the Faerie replied with a gracious laugh.

      You bet your wings on that, Pishicu thought to herself.

      "I'm terribly sorry about the way you were brought here. You must have been positively terrified. I'm certain I would have been-- Cupcake? They're chocolate," she continued as she offered the Poogle a silver tray, which she declined. "Yes, Amar was awful harsh. She can be at times you know... But deep down she's really a great girl. Makes wonderful tea! I'll have to get you some later." She then busied herself with a cupcake that she had taken off the tray herself.

      The Faerie looked very delicate. Every mannerism, every feature, seemed thin and perfectly planned, or at least that's what Pishicu thought.

      "Umm, yeah, but, where am I?"

      "Oh dear! I never answered your question did I? I'm so forgetful sometimes! Why, if I didn't have my wings attached--"

      "Yes, yes that's fine! Can you please just tell me where I am?" Pishicu repeated again, this time a little slower. It was obvious this Faerie wasn't overly bright.

      "Oh! Inside Faerie Castle! Amar brought you," the Faerie said.

      A thought struck Pishicu; Terskun had said the headquarters for the Wisdom Council were in Faerie Castle. "The Wisdom Council! Are you on the Wisdom Council?"

      "Hmm? Oh yes, of course. I'm a member. I suppose you know all about that now, don't you? Kinda defeats the whole purpose of only the members and Fyora knowing doesn't it?" the Faerie giggled. For a second a strange look flashed across her face, but it cleared instantly.

      Pishicu started to laugh at the mere thought of this Faerie being on the Wisdom Council, but then turned it into a cough as she remembered how Terskun had described all of the Faeries on the Wisdom Council.

      "Y-you're a Dark Faerie then!" Pishicu exclaimed as she jumped back. "Y-you're going to do something awful to me! I know what my brother said, I know--"

      "Please calm down little Poogle! Please, I'll explain everything to you, truthfully, this time," the Faerie urged.

      "Truthfully?" Pishicu inquired. She adjusted her glasses so that they were fixated perfectly on her nose, for they had slipped a bit when she had retreated.

      "Yes, truthfully. A bright little Poogle like you can't tell me you believed the trash your little brother and his friend probably said about us!" the Faerie laughed with a broad grin. "Oh no, we're really not bad at all. Terskun just didn't like us since he disagreed with our decisions and made everything very hectic indeed."

      "That's because you wanted let in some Dark Faerie into Faerieland, even though she looked rather suspicious!" Pishicu protested furiously.

      "You mean Jhudora? Why, we let her in because of what she did for our economy! She gives half of what she reaps everyday to us, and if that's a bad Faerie then I swear I'll jump off the highest tower!"

      "But- but-" Pishicu stuttered. She was losing her holds to what Terskun had told her. "But why did Terskun and the others want to escape from the Wisdom Council's bonds? If you weren't that bad to them, then why did they want to get away?"

      The Faerie looked at her gently, almost as if she pitied the Poogle. "Dear, dear, that is a sad tale, indeed."

      "How so?"

      "Well, you see the Faeries before us were very lenient. Whatever the pets thought they agreed, and so the Neopet side of the Wisdom Council got used to having all of the power. Well, when we got into power and wouldn't bend so easily, they got mad. It was horrific how jealous they got, absolutely horrific! They threatened us, they insulted us, they even spat at us, but we would not compromise our morals. So finally, they got sick of not getting their way and wanted to quit. Of course, it is an extreme dishonor to quit the Wisdom Council, so they apparently decided to be reincarnated instead. Deary, don't you find it sad how far some pathetic people will go to salvage their egos?" the Faerie sighed as she took another sip of tea and placed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

      But Pishicu wasn't going to give up just yet, she still had one piece of evidence. "That's a lie, you tortured them! I know you did! I asked Terskun and Fedle about it, and Fedle couldn't even say anything! Admit it! You hurt them!" she screamed.

      The Faerie looked at her unscathed at the remark. "The mere thought of hurting another just so they would agree with us is repulsive. I'm sure they just made that up to get you on their side! Terskun's a very good actor, always has been-- You should have seen him in the annual Faerieland play last year! But anyway, the only ones who ever got close to doing anything wrong to another member of the Wisdom Council are them!"

      "What do you mean? They tried to hurt you?" Pishicu asked aghast. Though it was hard to believe, the Faerie had made some decent points. Terskun and Fedle had most likely lied, no matter how convincing they had seemed. They hadn't wanted to tell her anyway, and she couldn't believe how gullible she had been to think that they would have been truthful.

      "Not hurt us technically. No, just get us out of the Council. With us gone, Fedle would be the only member and it would be up to him to chose the remaining members of the council," the Faerie spat with much distaste. She gripped her teacup unnaturally tight, and drained it until only the dregs remained.

      The Poogle was so shocked at this that she dropped her glasses that she had been cleaning on the velvety comforter. "What? When did they do this?" she cried as she picked them up again.

      "Why, the night Amar found you! You see, she was only mean because of what they had been trying to do to us! She gets a bit carried away sometimes... Anyway, you know those orbs they had been holding?"

      "Yes... Terskun told me about them a bit... Of course, he could have also lied..."

      "As you might have heard Amar mention, the orbs are called Eternity Orbs. Every time someone joins the Wisdom Council they are created by an old, sacred magic which promises that a member of the Wisdom Council is a member for all eternity. But if a member dies, quits, or in your brother's case gets uses a potion to make him incapable, the orbs explode, meaning that they no longer have bonds to the Council. The Cybunny Fedle stole our orbs from a sacred room, and he delivered them to his little friends. There, they started to recite a sacred chant that was created to expel members from the Wisdom Council if they got to power-hungry or something of that like. Our orbs would have been destroyed if they had succeeded, and the only decent members of the Wisdom Council would have been gone forever from it," the Faerie explained, now sounding much more intelligent that she had before.

      "That's terrible!" Pishicu exclaimed. It was a bit different from what Terskun had told her, though, and she found that rather strange. "Well, at least Amar came and retrieved the Eternity Orbs from them so they can no longer do it!"

      The Faerie fidgeted uncomfortably, and gazed wearily out the window.

      "Is something wrong?" the Poogle inquired.

      "Well... I hate to worry you, but..." the Faerie began.

      "But?"

      "But all of the little pets, with the exception of Terskun, still have the Eternity Orbs. If the pets were to ever be freed from the prisons Amar placed them in, they would surely destroy them!" the Faerie gasped in a very melodramatic manor. "And I'm sure Terskun's already looking for his dirty comrades! Oh, if there was only someone who would be willing to risk life and limb to go, find the pets, and take the orbs away from them... I wish I could, but it's ever so risky to leave the Wisdom Council..."

      Pishicu's magenta ears perked up. "I'd do it!" she cried.

      The Faerie looked at her, the woes fleeing from her young face. "Seriously?" she questioned. "Oh, you would actually do it? Oh, thank Neopia for you!"

      "What do I have to do?"

      "Nothing, just get through a cave and find the pets. It's terribly simple! Here, I'll create a portal to send you to the first land where it is located!" she said as she waved her hand. Suddenly, a violent violet portal appeared out of nowhere.

      Pishicu ran over to it, and was about to jump in it, but them something poked from inside her.

      "Wait," she murmured. "How do I know that you aren't the one lying? You sound convincing, but so did Terskun and Fedle!"

      The Faerie gazed at her gently with her large, purple eyes. "Look in my eyes and tell me that I have told you a fib."

      The Poogle did so, and suddenly a wonderful emotion spread over her. The Faerie wasn't lying, curse her for thinking such! She started to turn around again, but then she remembered something.

      "By the way, I never got your name-- What is it?"

      The Faerie smiled, and continued to allow her eyes to bore into the young Poogle's mind. "My name is Sisle."

      Pishicu knew it was bad, but somehow when the Faerie gazed at her she could hardly draw a foreboding feeling at all. Afterall, this Sisle Faerie couldn't be too bad; she had treated Pishicu like a dear friend though she hardly knew her! Besides, Terskun had obviously lied to her once, why shouldn't he have done it again?

      "What a pretty name," Pishicu finally replied, a silly smile on her lips. "Well, I best be going."

      Sisle nodded and whispered, "Good-bye little Poogle."

      Then Pishicu jumped down the violet vortex and sped off into the unknown.

To be continued...