An Adventure Into the Night

The following story takes place a few years in the future.

Joanna the Faerie Queen sat on her throne in the Faerieland castle. It was Y20, and that day marked her fifth year as the Faerie Queen. She succeeded Fyora as Faerie Queen in Y15. What happened to Fyora, you ask? Well, she grew too old to run the kingdom. She didn’t have any heirs, so the throne went to her advisor, Joanna.

      Life was perfect. Her every wish could be fulfilled. Running Faerieland was very simple. All of its inhabitants were well-behaved and by the book. No one dared to break the law. She didn’t have to deal with any criminals.

     She was very different from Fyora. For one thing, Fyora was quiet and calm. Joanna was feisty, noisy, and loved to have fun. But, they both loved Faerieland and strived to keep it a beautiful place to live. Most Neopets thought Joanna was a great name, but the queen thought it was too formal.

     The only time she was ever on the edge of her feet was summertime. That was when tourists from all across Neopia flocked to Faerieland to see all of the beautiful scenery and shop at elite boutiques. There were never any problems with tourists, but it didn’t hurt to be too careful.

     Joanna picked out a grape from the fruit bowl from Maria’s paws. Maria the Faerie Xweetok was her young advisor. It was Maria’s job to execute all of Joanna’s demands. But most of the time, she had to stand next to Joanna’s throne to keep her company. She and Joanna grew close over the years.

     Joanna yawned and asked Maria, “What time is it?”

     “It’s 7 PM,” replied Maria, looking at her watch.

     “Already? Then, it’s time for my daily walk around the kingdom.”

     She got up from her throne, and quietly exited the castle. It was bright and sunny outside. Neopets and faeries were walking along and enjoying the good weather.

     “Good afternoon, your Majesty,” said a Pink Kacheek.

     “Wonderful day, isn’t it?” asked a Fire Faerie

     “Oh my goodness! It’s the Queen!” shouted a tourist. Joanna smiled and walked faster.

     Joanna sighed and said to herself, “Everything’s fine here,” as she walked back into the castle. Maria was patiently waiting at the entrance for her arrival home.

     “How was your walk?” asked Maria.

     “It was fine.”

     “Great. I’ll ask the chef to make you dinner.”

     “Maria, can I ask you something?”

     “What is it?”

     “Do you ever feel that life is getting repetitive? Every day, it’s the same thing. Nothing new or exciting ever happens here.”

     “Well, that’s how life is. Something exciting will happen eventually.”

     “I hope you’re right.”

     Joanna went to bed after a filling dinner. The next day, it was the same routine: breakfast, reading in her study, lunch, a nap, an evening walk, dinner, bedtime.

     It was past 9 PM, and Joanna couldn’t sleep. She was thinking of leaving Faerieland, visiting all the different places of Neopia, and not thinking about what to do next. She thought that it was about time she had an adventure. She didn’t want to leave completely. Her kingdom needed her. She thought she should go overnight and come back in the morning.

     She slowly got up from her big bed, and began to walk over to the front gate of the castle. But she quickly realized that she needed a disguise. She was too easily recognizable with her flowing gown, wings, and hair. “I must not be seen by anyone,” she said.

     In her large closet besides her bedroom, the queen looked around for wigs, wings, and dresses. There were so many items to look through! “It will take forever to find anything!” she exclaimed. Clawing through the drawers, she found a yellow dress. Joanna noticed a small pair of high heels under the pile of clothes, that perfectly matched the dress. It had clear plastic flower embellishments, and the heels were thin. In her armoire, she found a short blonde wig. Along with a pair of yellow wings she bought recently at the NC Mall, she put everything on.

     Looking at herself in the mirror, Joanna thought she looked just like a light faerie! “There’s one more thing I need,” she said. She took out a small box and put on green contact lenses. “Perfect! Now, no one would recognize me!”

     Knock knock.

     “Joanna? Is that you?” It was Maria.

     Joanna thought quickly. She took a big pillow and hid it under the covers, and escaped through the window. To leave no trail behind, she closed the window before she flew away.

     “What’s going on?” asked Maria, as she opened the door. She saw the queen sleeping peacefully and she quietly closed the door. “She must’ve been talking in her sleep.”

     ****

     Overlooking Meridell, the Faerie Queen felt happy. The wind was in her face, and she never felt more free. Waving at other Neopets flying around, she made a landing in Meridell. This wasn’t her first time in Meridell. She had visited a few years ago for one of King Skarl’s great feasts.

     Joanna played Ultimate Bullseye, won a trophy, and was laughing at the other Neopets who couldn’t even hit the target. She was never able to do that the last time she visited. It may have seemed immature, but it was so tempting.

     She visited Sinsi the Ixi and played Shapeshifter, she ate at Merifoods, and even told King Skarl a joke or two. He didn’t laugh, but she thought that the joke was hilarious.

     Q: What do you call a pack of Baby Airaxes drinking from a bottle?

     A: A Plushie Aisha making a basket of apples!

     “Haha. Don’t you get it?” Joanna asked.

     “Hmph,” replied King Skarl.

      An Acara was just closing up a vegetable stall, ready to go home, when he saw a Light Faerie walking around happily, but a little lost. He thought that if he helped her find what she was looking for, she would reward him with some Neopoints.

     “Excuse me, can I help you?”

     “Hmm?” asked the Joanna

     “Can I help you find something?”

     “No, thank you. What’s your name?”

     “Jack. You know, you look familiar...”

     “No, we haven’t met before,” said Joanna, as she got ready to flee. She couldn’t risk being recognized.

     “Yes, I have! I was delivering vegetables for King Skarl’s feast back in Y15. Joanna the Faerie Queen helped me empty out my wheelbarrow before she entered his castle. You look just like her!”

     “No, you don’t know what you're saying.” Joanna had had enough. She lifted her feet from the ground, and tried to fly away.

     Jack pulled at her wings tightly to stop her. To his surprise, they tore off, revealing purple wings!

     “I knew it! You’re the Fae---”

     Joanna quickly flew away again, fixing her fake wings. She managed to pick them up before she left. Who knew such a small Acara had a tight grip?

     “That was close.”

     Joanna flew away, not knowing where she was going. She wanted to surprise herself.

     ****

     About an hour later, she was in Terror Mountain. It was a cold night, but Joanna didn’t worry too much about it. Even though it was late at night, the place was still lively. Bruces were sliding, Blumaroos were singing and bouncing, faeries were giving out quests.

     Joanna was browsing through shops, when she reached a dead end. She slowly backed away, thinking which way to go. She had travelled too far to backtrack her steps. She shrank to a smaller size so that she could fly faster and locate a way out.

     THUMP! It felt like she hit glass. The queen was in a bottle! A cork was inserted into the mouth of the bottle. Joanna was trapped.

     “Ha ha ha! I caught you, little faerie!” said a Skeith. “I’m going to make lots of money from you. You look one of a kind.”

     The Skeith, named Mike, carried the bottled faerie to his shop and put her on a shelf.

     Thumping and screaming, Joanna tried to escape, but there was no way out. If no one bought the bottle and released her, she couldn’t make it back to Faerieland before sunrise. Everyone would be looking for her.

     She sat down and cried. She felt awful. All she wanted to do was have some fun for a change, and now she had to suffer the consequences. The shop door opened with a loud creak. Mike was happy. Not many people came to his shop at night. He pointed the customer over to the bottled faerie, and convinced her to buy it. The customer agreed, and put the bottle in her bag. Joanna had fallen asleep, at the time.

     When Joanna woke up, she found herself still in the bottle, but in a bag. She looked up to see who was carrying her. She didn’t know her, and was thinking of a way out.

     The customer, a blue Draik, noticed the faerie wasn’t sleeping anymore.

     “I’m glad to see you’re awake. It’s my friend Maria’s birthday. You’re her present, so smile when I give you to her, okay?”

     Joanna’s ears pricked up when the Draik said, “Maria.” She thought that she was referring to Maria, her advisor. But there are millions of Marias in Neopia. The odds that it was going to be her were slim to none.

     The Draik took the bottle out of her bag, and gave it to her friend Maria. Joanna looked to see who it was, and it was her advisor! She was relieved, but upset. Joanna had forbidden anyone in Faerieland to keep or buy Bottled Faeries because they were cruel.

     Although Joanna was furious, she kept quiet. She had managed to loosen the cork while Maria was talking. Her plan was to escape the second they went past her bedroom. She would then get back into her purple gown, and pretend like she was sleeping throughout the night.

     The plan went perfectly as planned. Joanna hid under the bedcovers as the sun rose. Maria entered the queen’s bedroom with breakfast, and lifted the covers from the bed.

     Maria dropped the tray of food, when she saw a different faerie in the bed. She had blonde hair, and green eyes. “Who are you?” she screamed.

     “What?”

     “Get out! You don’t belong here.”

     “It’s me, don’t worry.”

     “Joanna?”

     “Yes. Who did you think it was?”

     “I don’t know. Why did you color your your hair? Since when did you have green eyes?”

     “Huh?” Joanna was scared. She forgot to remove the wig and contact lenses. “Oh, I was just messing around with things I found in the closet. Haha,” she lied.

     “So did you have a good night?”

     “Oh, better than you would ever imagine.”

The End