A Quest for Faerieland: The Trilogy - Part Two

      “Jane, catch!” Cellestia cried when noticing the Eyrie flying high above the panic, throwing the snowball as hard as she could. Jane snatched it out of the air with her claws and raced out of the cave safely.

      It seemed only Cellestia was left. The Snowager let loose another batch of his icy rage, sending monstrous crystals of ice directly toward her. As she closed her eyes and braced for impact, three large bangs came from right in front of her. Opening her eyes again, she saw Jory swinging his muscled, meaty tail at the icicles, stopping them in their tracks. Before the Snowager could send out a third attack, Jory and Cellestia ducked and ran out of the lair to join their crew.

      “Excellent work, mateys!” John congratulated them. “We are victorious! Let us take these weapons back to the shop, and then head back to the ship with the Pink Faerie Snowball!”

      “Thank you, thank you, kind heroes!!” The Ice Crystal Shop owner thanked, his yellow wings flapping excitedly in gratitude as he took the rescued weapons they’d brought him. “And may Neopia bless good fortune to Faerieland!”

      Satisfied with their first mission, the crew of six departed back onto the ship.

      “On to Tyrannia!” John yelled. “Which way, Cellestia?”

      “Due east,” she called back. “Just a few miles from this spot. You can see it if you look.”

      She was right. Tyrannia was in perfect sight of the Terror Mountain dock, since it was in fact located right next to Terror Mountain.

      In less than five minutes, the crew was once again stepping off the boat and onto the docks.

      “Right now we be in the jungle, so be very careful and watch out for--” But before John could finish, a loud ROAR caused all six of them to jump with surprise. Turning around, six large Grarrls appeared from behind the trees. The largest of them stepped to the front of the gang.

      “I am Grarrg, the Battle Master, and I have been sent here to battle you!”

      The five neopets looked at each other in fright. Did they seriously have to battle, and for what reason? It definitely had to have been the two evilest faeries’ idea, the Darkest Faerie and Jhudora.

      John whipped out a sword and pointed it at Grarrg.

      “So be it! En guarde!”

      Jory stepped in front of Cellestia and Stanly, the only two crew members who weren’t built for battles. His strength would make up for both of them.

      “Let us fight!” Grarrg yelled, he and his team charging at them with teeth bared and claws extended.

      “Let’s!” John agreed, holding his sword high and charging back, his crew fearlessly following suit.

      But little did they know that they were being watched by two sets of terrible eyes. Eyes that belonged to the two most wicked villains in all of Neopia. Eyes that were planning more traps that very moment. They were the eyes of the Darkest Faerie, and Jhudora.

***

      The battle lasted between the six Grarrls and the six crew members for what seemed like an hour. Grarrg, the Battle Master and the leader of the six Grarrls, had no intentions of losing whatsoever. But, that would be expected from anyone with the title, Battle Master.

      However, the neopet crew and their leader John, a strange Neopian with an obsession of pirates, had fought tooth-and-nail for much too long and were utterly exhausted.

      Jane, a cloud Eyrie who had been using aerial attacks for the past hour, now flew at nearly half the speed as what she had started out flying at. Stanly, an island Chia, and Cellestia, a yellow Wocky, who had no strengths, had still done their best to fight by throwing large stones at the Grarrls, but they knew the stones did nothing but aggravate the Grarrls even more. Don, the Darigan Mynci, used his spikes and claws on the Grarrls, but he was quite small compared to them and also couldn’t do much damage.

      That left John and Jory to really do all the fighting. John was a Neopian, not a neopet, but he was muscular and quick-footed. And he had a sword.

      Jory was a mutant Skeith, so he was most definitely the most formidable opponent for the Grarrls out of the rest of his crew. His giant tail and body easily knocked down the Grarrls, and his sharp teeth and claws frightened the knocked-down Grarrls into actually staying knocked down.

      Lless than a half an hour later, only Grarrg, John, and Jory remained standing. The five other Grarrls had actually gotten up and retreated, while the four other neopets lay off to the side, too injured and exhausted to get up.

      Unfortunately, Grarrg showed no sign of weariness or real injury. It was rumored he could fight for weeks non-stop and still not feel tired. But then again, he was the Battle Master.

      “His side,” Cellestia mumbled through her pain to John and Jory. “Strapped to his side.”

      The two fighters looked at Grarrg’s side, utterly confused by her words. That is, until they saw what hung from his side.

      “The Flaming Dagger of Fire!” John cried to Jory as he dodged Grarrg’s attack. “That’s the weapon we need!”

      “Are you implying something?” Jory asked, ducking to avoid Grarrg’s huge fist. But he knew John wanted him to grab the dagger. The only question was, how to do it?

      “I heard you escaped the pound,” John commented to Jory as he swung his sword at Grarrg. Grarrg ducked.

      “This is no time for that!” Jory swiped at Grarrg to avoid being bitten.

      “How’d you do it?”

      “I just ran, basically.”

      “Show me.”

      “Huh?” Jory asked, backing away from Grarrg for a moment. “Oh!” Taking a few more steps backs, Jory stared directly at Grarrg, leaned down a bit, and charged.

      At first, Grarrg really had no idea what was happening. Then, it suddenly hit him. Literally. Jory slammed right into Grarrg’s stomach, sending him flying backwards into a cave wall. His weapon flew right off him, onto the ground in front of John. John picked it up.

      “Help me carry these guys back to the ship,” John commanded, but Jory could tell he was impressed by the smile on his face. Grarrg moaned with confusion and pain as Jory scooped Cellestia, Don, and Jane onto his back. John carried Stanly.

      Quickly they hightailed it back onto the ship, pulled off the dock, and sailed Southwest.

      “Our next stop is Brightvale,” John told them. “Meridell contains no items we need; however, Brightvale has an armory shop we must visit. The Light Faerie specifically requested we get the Assassins Tunic for her. It helps protect people against darkness spells.”

      “We should leave the others here to heal,” Jory suggested he anchored the boat onto Brightvale’s dock.

      “I agree. By the time we return, they should be in good shape.”

      Suddenly, Cellestia’s Meowclops appeared from the Captain Cabin’s window. Walking over to Cellestia, it began licking her wounds. Miraculously, the wounds slowly began to heal right before their very eyes.

      “Gracious! We have a healer on board! This be the best pirate crew ever!” John cried happily. “Now, Jory, let us continue on our mission!”

      Jory sighed but smiled as he followed John off the ship. John was definitely weird, but still a very kind, fun guy. If only he could have a real owner as wonderful as John. But Jory knew his fate. As soon as the mission was over, he and Cellestia were going to be thrown back into the pound.

      “Halt!” a mighty voice commanded suddenly. To their surprise, King Hagan himself stepped in front of them right before they were about to enter the armor shop.

      Immediately, John and Jory bowed in respect. King Hagan coughed with slight awkwardness and waved at them to stand up.

      “That Jhudora is an evil one, but she gave me a brilliant idea the other day,” the King said. “All foreigners who wish to visit Brightvale must first indulge me with a bit of wisdom of their own. If your wisdom pleases me, I will reward you. If it does not, you are banned. Only the wisest of neopets and Neopians may be in Brightvale.”

      “We need Cellestia!” Jory whispered. “Her intelligence is greater than both of ours. She’s read hundreds of books!”

      “But she’s injured. We couldn’t drag her out here in her wounded state just to say one sentence.”

      “I’m waiting.” King Hagan tapped his foot impatiently.

      Jory and John stared at each other, their minds rushing to come up with a phrase of wisdom quickly.

      “Um, uh...” John mumbled.

      Jory thought and thought. He only had seconds before King Hagan would send them away, then Faerieland would be doomed, and everyone would hate them. But wisdom wasn’t something you could just force up. Jory snapped his fingers.

      “That’s it!” Jory said excitedly, turning to King Hagan. “I have some wisdom for you!”

      “Well, tell me!” the King demanded.

      “A knowledgeable man knows he has limited knowledge.”

      King Hagan rubbed his chin and pondered all Jory had said. He seemed not displeased.

      “Eh, not the best or most original piece of wisdom I’ve ever heard, but, tell you what, I’ll give you one item of your choosing if you promise to leave.”

      “We want an Assassins Tunic!” John said.

      King Hagan snapped. A frail blue Draik in a yellow and green robe rushed out from a nearby store carrying the Assassins Tunic. John took it, bowed to the King once more, and left. Jory quickly followed behind.

      “Excellent work!” John praised as the two boarded their ship. “Amazing job!”

      The other crew members were up and about, all healed. Cellestia was petting her Meowclops, saying the same things to it John had said to Jory. They were all healed.

      “Where to now, Cellestia?” John asked. “I hope ye all were good while we were away!”

      “Pretty much straight ahead! Southwest!” Cellestia told him, staring at her maps of Neopia.

      John turned the wheel slightly to the right as they headed to the Haunted Woods, where they would attempt to get their hands on a Skeletal Fire Gun.

      Arriving in ten minutes, Don tied the ship to shore as everyone else gathered off the boat. Sticking close together, the six of them went into the Haunted Woods.

      “The Haunted Weaponry shop is just over here,” John told them. The Haunted Woods was spooky, and he could tell his crew was scared. He was, too.

      “Sorry, we’re fresh out,” the Halloween Scorchio told them when they asked for the Skeletal Fire Gun.

      “What?! But Faerieland is in danger!!” Jane cried.

      “Tough luck.” The Scorchio laughed. The six left in anger and depression.

      “That’s it, we failed.” Stanly kicked the dirt with his foot.

      “Faerieland is doomed!” Don crossed his arms and sulked. “And it’s all our fault.”

      “Maybe not,” a voice hissed at them from the shadows. Slowly, a hunched-over Nimmo dressed in old, slightly ripped carnival clothes slithered towards them.

      “What do you mean?” John asked as the neopets cowered behind him.

      “The Brain Tree will give you a reward if you can answer his question,” the Nimmo replied.

      “Really? Thanks!”

      Before the creepy Nimmo could reply, the six rushed out of the Deserted Fairground and back into the Haunted Woods. Walking up to the Brain Tree, John called,

      “We’d like to do one of your quests!”

      “So be it,” The Brain Tree boomed in a loud, all-knowing voice. “Tell me, mortals, where and when did Michael Tonu die? I need it for my records.”

      “My former owner said you have to do two Esophagor quests to complete one Brain Tree quest.”

      “Easy enough,” John said. “The Esophagor asks for Spooky Foods, right? Which aren’t that expensive. I’ll go do the quests. Cellestia and Jory, come with me.” Turning to the other three neopets, he explained, “Cellestia is smart so she can remember the answers, and Jory is strong and can defend us in case we get attacked.”

      The other three crew members nodded as Jory, Cellestia and John headed out to the Esophagor.

      “I require a Glaring Eye Wrap,” the Esophagor groaned from hunger.

      Quickly, the three rushed over to the Spooky Foods shop, bought it, and brought it back.

      “Thank you,” the Esophagor hissed, gobbling his food down. Cellestia nearly threw up. “Michael Tonu died in 32 BN.”

      “32 BN, 32 BN.” Cellestia repeated to herself. “Got it.”

      “Now I require Pumpkin Ice Cream.”

      “I’ll go get it,” John smiled, giving Jory and Cellestia a thumbs-up as he wandered off.

      Twenty minutes later, John returned empty handed.

      “Where is it? Did you eat it on the way?” Jory asked humorously.

      “No,” John replied sadly. “Turns out, it costs over a hundred thousand neopoints.”

      “Whoa!” Cellestia and Jory said in unison. That was one expensive ice cream!

      “Can’t you choose another food?” Cellestia begged the Esophagor. He shook his head no.

      “Well, we have one answer,” John said. “Maybe we can guess the other!”

      Leading them back to the Brain Tree, John explained the situation to the other neopets.

      “Michael Tonu died in 32 BN,” John told the Brain Tree. The Tree nodded.

      “Now, where did he die?” The tree asked.

      “Um... Faerieland?”

      “No.”

      “Tyrannia?”

      “That is incorrect.”

      “Maraqua? Brightvale? Meridell?” Cellestia chimed in.

      “No, no, no, and no.”

      “Um, I only gave you three answers. You said ‘no’ four times.”

      “Because you were going to say Terror Mountain next, and that’s wrong, too.”

      “Roo Island? Shenkuu?” Jory asked.

      “No, and no.”

      “Lutari Island?” Don asked.

      “No.”

      “Jelly World?” Stanly asked.

      Everyone, including the Brain Tree, laughed.

      “Silly neopet,” the Brain Tree chuckled. “Jelly World does not exist.”

      “Neopia Central? The Haunted Woods? Kreludor? The Space Station?!!” John asked.

      “No, no, no, and nooo!”

      “What place haven’t we said yet?” John asked. “It seems like we’ve said every place in Neopia.”

      “What about Altador? That’s the last place!” Jane sighed.

      “Nope,” The Brain Tree replied.

      “Hey, wait a minute!” Cellestia stopped, staring angrily at the Brain Tree. “You said you didn’t know when or where Michael Tonu died, so how can you tell whether we’re right or wrong with our answers?!”

      “Yea!” John agreed. “If you don’t know when he died, how do you know 32 BN is actually right? And if you don’t know where he died, how can you know whether the places we guess are right or wrong?!”

      “Um, well, you see...” the Brain Tree mumbled, shifting his eyes. A few native neopets had begun peeking curiously out of their homes and the shops. Cellestia was right.

      “Well? I’m waiting,” John scolded.

      “Um, hey, look,” the Brain Tree leaned down close to them. “You’re causing a scene. How’s about I just give you what you’re looking for, and you leave it at that, okay?” Using one of his long branches, the Brain Tree pulled out a Skeletal Fire Gun and handed it to John. Standing up straight, he added, “Now leave my presence, mortals!” to keep up his image.

      Grinning, the five neopets and John walked away.

      “Next is the Lost Desert,” Cellestia said. “We can walk there from here. It’s only a couple of miles.”

      Trudging through the dark forests of the Haunted Woods, the six suddenly found themselves plodding through mounds of sand. Looking up, they could see the sun beginning to descend. They didn’t have any time to waste. They needed to get these weapons to Faerieland, and fast.

To be continued...