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Princess of Prophecy II: Kalara's Secret - Part One


by saeryena

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PROLOGUE

Winter is always bitter, but it’s less so in Altador, even though the winds are fierce tonight. She doesn’t bother to wrap her coat around herself. The winds are only pleasantly cool; Altador has only fallen to an inch of snow, and none more falls from the starry sky.

      Her boots make tracks leading to the palace. She knocks on the door.

      The Queen of Altador answers.

      She looks into the eyes of the Green Wocky she knows so well. The Queen still looks at her kindly. Surely she cannot know of the great plight that has happened. Either that, or it simply doesn’t matter to Her Majesty, which she finds a bit hard to believe.

      In fact, the Queen has heard, but the Faerie Queen told her what had to be done. Her Majesty is very happy to see this Neopet, no matter what her past. She has always been happy to see her.

      With a smile, the Queen lets her in.

     Here is where the story begins...

      I suppose you should already know my name by now. I have already told you one story of my life as a prophetic princess, but as Princess of Altador neither I nor my mother Kalara are well known. My name is Saeryennan, and I am a Royal Cybunny. My father is King Altador, and my mother is a beautiful Green Wocky with long red curls.

      That is all the family I thought I had—until a few days ago, when she came to Altador.

      It was the same day that Nyvenne, the Air Faerie who gifted me with prophetic visions, returned from her petrified state. The months without my protector had been quite unsettling. I had no idea whether she was all right, and I had no prediction as to when she would come back. And when Faerieland fell, my heart nearly shattered as by then I was certain I would never see her again. I was also quite worried that it had landed on my father, who had tried to find out who was behind this dread calamity.

      But all my fears turned out in vain, for both my dear father and my favorite Faerie, along with Psellia and Siyana, returned unharmed.

      I remember waking up and looking outside at the light of Altador. It was beautiful, and for that one moment my mind was oblivious to the predicament that threatened the whole of Neopia. Every day, it seemed things were as they were before, and my father would be laughing in the dining hall, and my mother smiling.

      She hadn’t smiled all that time when he was away. She had been unhappy, pacing about the palace and seeking no company aside from myself and my Faerie Snowbunny Calissa. I had been unhappy. My mother and Calissa were the only family I had left. She had tried her best to rule in my father’s absence, but she made her decrees only to her ladies-in-waiting. They were to tell the parliament what was to be done.

      In the meantime, she’d been encouraging me to not be so sad, but how could I help it? I was worse off than she was. Most of the days found me shut up in my room or in my parents’ room, staring at my father’s picture. And I would often think of Nyvenne. I would try to dream of her, but no one can truly be in control of their dreams. The whole kingdom seemed sad. Even the sun would not shine as bright. Only Calissa was truly content, fluttering around the vast palace.

      But on that fateful day, before I could remember our sorrowful situation, I caught sight of a figure in the distance, flying toward my window. Interested, I immediately got up and looked to see what it was.

      “Nyvenne!”

      I flung the window open so as to let the Air Faerie in.

      “Saeryennan!” she said.

      I ran into her arms. “I missed you!”

      “Your father’s here as well,” the Faerie said.

      Immediately I got dressed and made my way to the entrance hall. My mother was there, finally looking quite pleased. My father made his way in, followed by two more Faeries.

      Overjoyed, I gave my father a big hug and did the same with Siyana and Psellia.

      “Saeryennan!”

      My father laughed jubilantly as he picked me up and whirled me around. Then he embraced me.

      “Oh, my beautiful little princess! I thought I’d never see you again!”

      “Kalara?”

      I turned at the sound of the voice. It was not a voice I knew at all.

      Atop the stairs going to the entrance hall, I saw a Speckled Xweetok. She looked as though she was about to sigh.

      “Who... is she?”

      My mother turned and looked at me sadly.

      “Come this way,” she said. I held her hand and we walked to a side chamber. She closed the door behind us.

      “Sit down,” she said. I did, and so did she.

      “The Xweetok’s name is Alyxandra,” my mother explained. “She cast the spell that petrified the Faeries.”

      What?!

      “No!” I screamed. I stood up and slammed my right foot into the ground. “I am NOT living in the same house as... ugh!”

      “Saery, wait!” my mother called, but I wouldn’t hear anything of it. I stomped up the stairs into my room and slammed the door.

      “Saery...”

      My mother’s voice came through the door. I sat on the green canopy bed and crossed my arms.

      “Saery, let’s talk about this—”

      “NO!” I screamed through the door at my mother. “I do NOT want to talk! Do you really hate Nyvenne THAT MUCH?!”

      I heard her footsteps echo through the hall. I guess she didn’t want to talk right then if I was going to act this way.

      No sooner had she done so when the family portrait on my wall I was staring at began to look fuzzy. Calissa fluttered over to my side in a blur. I knew what was happening. I was about to have a prophetic vision.

      I found myself in a strange place. It was a lot warmer than it usually was inside, and the walls were a glowing red color. It was most definitely a palace of some sort, but there were torches everywhere, and figures of Fire Faeries with real wings of flame stood guard in front of every door leading out of this long hallway.

      Then I saw Alyxandra.

      She was younger than she had been when I’d seen her on the stairs. She looked about fourteen or so, and she didn’t seem to be in good condition. Her only clothing was an orange rag, and her teal hair was certainly a mess.

      At the end of the hall, two gigantic double doors rolled open. A figure stepped through them. I couldn’t quite make out her features, but she was definitely a Faerie.

      “Saeryennan?”

      My eyes fluttered open. I was lying sprawled on my bed, and Nyvenne was sitting beside me.

      “What’s wrong?” she asked.

      I told her everything—that there was a very wicked Xweetok in the palace for no reason that I could think of, that I was so afraid my guardian Faerie would be petrified all over again, that I was afraid for my father, my mother, Psellia, Siyana, and for all of Altador.

      “It will be just fine,” Nyvenne reassured me. “Xandra’s powers over us are no more.”

      “I had a vision—”

      Nyvenne looked interested. She could always interpret my prophecies.

      “—with her in it. She was in a Fire Faerie’s castle. And she was only fourteen years old.”

      “So you’re telling me... you had a vision of events that have happened before?”

      “Yes...”

      “I... I’ve never heard of such a thing before. Even the most talented of prophets haven’t seen into the past.”

      If Nyvenne could not explain such a thing, then who could? I didn’t know where to turn. And then it hit me—my mother seemed to be the one who’d invited this “Xandra” to the palace. She might know something.

      “Saery?” she said as I entered the dining hall, where she sat next to my father.

      “Mother,” I said, “I had a vision of Alyxandra. I saw her as a fourteen-year-old girl in a Fire Faerie’s castle.”

      “Oh, Saeryennan, you were probably just dreaming,” my father said.

      I wasn’t so sure. My dreams were always either prophetic or a memory.

      “Yeah...” my mother said. “Just a-a dream...”

      “Kalara?”

      I turned and saw Xandra.

      “You!” I snarled.

      “Your... Highness?”

      “I don’t know who you think you are! Why in Fyora’s name did you think you could get away with petrifying all the Faeries?! It’s all your fault! You broke my mother’s heart! And mine too! I thought I would never see Nyvenne, Psellia or Siyana again! So why, may I ask, did you think you had any business showing your face in Altador?!”

      She was about to say something when her face turned fuzzier than usual. I began to lose my footing. The last thing I remember before my next vision was that she looked a bit concerned. Odd, I thought, for someone of her twisted character.

      A grand house was burning. I had no idea at all where it could be, but when I looked up and saw how much the stars shown, there was no mistake that I was in Altador. This building was not my palace, though, and I was quite relieved about that.

      Then I looked over the balcony I was standing on into a garden. There was a circle of flames and my mother was caught in the middle of it! Only she wasn’t nearly old enough to be my mother yet. She looked about thirteen.

      “Kaly!” I heard a girl cry out. I looked down to see Xandra, here at eleven, running out of the door to the garden. She fired a bolt of green light at some of the flames near my mother. They vanished. I saw my mother run into the arms of a Green Xweetok, who seemed very relieved that she was safe.

      Then I heard the faint laughter of a woman. As it got louder, I saw the figure of a Faerie, her face and whole body hidden by fire, fly closer. Had she done this?

      She then picked up Xandra and flew off into the night.

      “NO!” screamed my mother and the Green Xweetok together.

      When I opened my eyes again, I found myself resting in my mother’s arms. I guess she caught me or something. Xandra was still there.

      “You...” I said to her. “You saved my mother. You didn’t have to, but you did. Why?”

      My mother sighed.

      “Alyxandra saved me... because... she is my sister.”

To be continued...

 
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