The Grey Faerie's Purpose

      It was on this day that a faerie was walking through the dusty, empty alleyways in Neopia Central. This faerie was different though. Her hair, which had once probably been a beautiful, airy blond, was limp and white. The ponytail that she held it in was all but falling out. Her dress had definitely seen better days; there were probably more patches in it than in a quilt. As she stepped in puddles, the water soaked through her ruined shoes. Her wings, once glorious, resembled something close to chicken feathers. She was a grey faerie. The only grey faerie out there, at least, that's what Neopians thought. The truth was that there were many grey faeries out there. This was just the only one that dared show her face in public. Her footsteps splashed through puddles. She didn't care if she was wet. There wasn't anything worth trying for anyway; there was no purpose in fighting.

      After walking like this for quite some time, she realized she was hungry. So, she changed her route and headed toward the Soup Kitchen. As she crossed Neopia Central's main street, she could feel the gaze of Neopets following her. She could hear the giggles and snorts. Before she had time to duck, a faerie Draik pushed her into the puddle. This time, there wasn't a single Neopet that didn't laugh out loud. The grey faerie got up and ignored the Draik. It didn't matter; nothing mattered, not now, not anymore.

      She reached the Soup Faerie, still hearing the cruel laughter of the Neopets. The Soup Faerie gave her a bowl of Minestrone Soup. As usual, she also invited the Grey Faerie to come inside to eat, but she declined. She'd never belong.

      Instead, she sat down into the alley next to the garbage cans to eat her soup. Halfway through it, she saw something in the garbage. Bending over to look in the trash, she saw a dark blue cloak. It wasn't brand new, but it was certainly better than anything she was wearing. It was probably thrown away by some really rich Neopet who could afford a new one as soon as the other got a tiny hole in it. As she took it out of the trash, a striped Blumaroo and plushie Ixi passed by the mouth of the alleyway. The grey faerie could hear the Blumaroo say, "Well, don't they let just anyone into Neopia Central. Digging in the trash, barbarian." The Ixi nodded, saying something that the faerie couldn't hear. However, she did hear the hearty laughter following.

      For once in a very long time, the grey faerie's face tinted pink. She pulled the hood of the cloak up so no one could see her face, which was covered in tears. When she was young, it was never like this. She lived in a manor next to a huge palace in a far away land. Every day, she'd look in her closet and get out something truly beautiful.

      As it started raining again, the young faerie pulled the hood up further. No Neopet would laugh or make fun of her. They would always get along. Once, she lived in a beautiful place. Even the rain looked pleasant. Everyone was friends. Faeries and Neopets would live together in the same land.

      And one day, it had all ended. Her beautiful home had been destroyed. Her wings were gone. Her name was taken. Now, she wasn't anyone. She was merely one out of a million grey faeries. Sometimes, she'd wonder why she didn't hide like everyone else, there wasn't any hope anyway.

      A buzzing noise interrupted her thoughts. Any Neopet wouldn't have heard it, but a faerie, even without all her magic, could even hear a Spyder crawling up a table. The grey faerie focused her hearing. A little part of her brain knew the sound, but the other part just couldn't place it. The noise got louder and louder. And then, suddenly, she knew what it was. It was a noise she had not heard in a very long time. A noise she used to hear every day. A noise that was stolen from her ages ago. It was the noise of wings, faerie wings.

      She stood up and saw, over the rooftop of the nearest house, a darkness faerie. Knowing she had no magic, she did the only thing she could do, she ran. But she could hear the darkness faerie following her. Her footsteps splashed loudly in the puddles, and her follower's wings seemed louder.

      "I don't have a chance," she thought. "Footsteps have never outrun faerie wings."

     Just as that thought ran through her head, she turned a sharp corner and look behind her, seeing the darkness faerie not but a meter away.

      "AH!" she screamed, falling to the ground and gripping her foot. While not watching where she was going, her foot had stepped on a broken glass bottle of orange Ixi drink. Her foot bled profoundly. And to her surprise, it wasn't a pure red blood, but a dark, almost grayish color.

      Her pursuer stopped right in front of her. She wore a sleeveless, dark purple dress. Her curly, dark blue hair, with purple highlights, was tied up in a bun at the top of her head. Her lips, lined with black lipstick, were curled in a smirk. There was malice in those dark lavender eyes, a malice characteristic to any darkness faerie.

      But there was something else in those eyes too. Surprise. "Well, I'd never…" she said, in a sharp, pointy voice. "I just can't believe it!"

      It was at that moment, when the grey faerie noticed that her hood had fallen off.

      "A grey faerie!" continued the darkness faerie. She stood silent for a second, a smile tugging on her lips. Then she started to bend over laughing. "A grey faerie! Oh my… And you actually thought you could get away from me! How pitiful can you get?!"

      That's when the grey faerie remembered part of it. Although she never found out her name, she had seen this other faerie once before. She'd seen her in that beautiful land that once had been her home. But that time, she'd been flanked by thousands of other darkness faeries. And back then, she was taking the orders.

      "Well," started the darkness faerie, her laughing fit finished. "I suppose I'll just leave you here. After all, you can't get any worse." She flew away chuckling. But right as she was about to disappear over the nearest roof, she turned around, "Oh, tell your grey faerie friends that Vyoltra says 'Hello.'"

      Vyoltra, everything else came to her right then. Every Faerie knew of Vyoltra. She was known as the Beauty of Evil, a beautiful darkness faerie, but one that rivaled Jhudora in cruelty. She was one of the Darkest Faerie's closest advisors. Powerful as the strongest weapon, haughty as the day is long, pretty as the sun is bright, sneaky as the cunning fox. That was Vyoltra.

      As the darkness faerie flew away, still chuckling to herself, the grey faerie knew everything she had thought that day was wrong. It did matter. There was a purpose in fighting. There was something worth trying for. It was worth beating her.

The End