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Faeries' Dilemma


by chat_adik

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Also by eleete

“Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Icey screamed, and moved just in time to avoid the falling pink blocks. She gave a huge sigh of relief before going down and continuing on with her digging.

     After a few lines down, she saw a white petpet happily eating his way through the thick multi-colored blocks of ice.

     “Hi!” Dieter the polarchuck greeted enthusiastically, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Oh, yeah,” he said, pondering for a moment, and then continued, “No one ever came here before- except AAA once. And his sister, Abigail.” He shuddered. “But they were pretty weird. I’ve got no one to keep me company since, except for the snow worms, but I’d hardly count them as good company- they would always try to eat me.”

     The snow faerie replied, “I’m Icey, and yeah, this is the first time that I’ve been here.” Both of them continued descending down the place, being wary of the colorful falling blocks and the occasional snow worm.

     After a moment, Dieter asked, “So, why are you here? Not that I’m complaining,” he said quickly, “but I’m just curious. What brings a faerie like you here? I understand that you’re a snow faerie, and that, you know, you’re in your element; we both are. Why aren’t you doing what Taelia does and hand out quests?”

     She scowled. “We may both be snow faeries, but that doesn’t mean that all snow faeries hand out quests. Besides, handing out quests in this area is her, um, specialty. She wouldn’t want other faeries as competitors.”

     The petpet nodded. “You have a point. I’ve heard a rumor about a big-shot snow faerie that went to Terror Mountain to open a quest hut. Word is that she liked to brag about being the top employee in the Faerieland Employment Agency in Faerie City. Taelia chewed her out,” he chuckled.

     “I kind of feel sorry for her,” she said, laughing, “But she should have known that Taelia would react badly to that. She’s famous for her temper.”

      “I’m not sure if it actually happened, since I’m pretty much secluded in here, but if and when I get out of this place, I’ll make sure not to make Taelia angry if our paths cross.”

     “You and I both,” Icey seconded. “But why are you here in the first place? Don’t you get bored and lonely sometimes?”

     “I do get lonely sometimes,” Dieter said, “being away from civilization, but I don’t get bored here. I need to constantly be on guard. The snow worms here are Rooth- I mean, ruthless.”

     He offered a block of green snow.

     The snow faerie declined hastily. “It looks very tempting, but I’ll have to pass on that. You eat it.”

     “Don’t mind if I do,” he said, and devoured it in one bite. “So,” he said conversationally, “how did you get here? And why are you here? Not that I mind,” he repeated hastily.

     “I actually don’t know,” Icey said, frowning, “One minute, my friends and I were in my room talking about what jobs we would like to have, or activities we would like to be doing, and the next thing I knew, I was teleported to this place. Not to offend you, Dieter, but I want to get out of here. I miss my home, even if I was only away for a few hours. It’s too cold for me, even if I am a snow faerie. I don’t even bring my coat.” She shivered.

     “No offense taken, Icey. I understand. I personally don’t mind it here, but I won’t complain if I were back in my toasty little igloo, either, even just for a few days.”

     "Polarchucks live in ig- never mind." She sighed. “Let’s go further down then, Dieter. I think we haven’t even reached the halfway mark in this level. Plus,” she added, “that snow worm to your right is creeping me out, even though it’s still frozen. What say we don’t thaw it out?”

     “Okay,” he said, shrugging. “There are still a lot of snow worm-guarded gems left anyway.”

     ~*~

     Astra, a space faerie, looked up from the tiled floor, rubbing the back of her head. “Where am I? How did I get here?”

     A green Kacheek garbed in a red robe and a blue Grarrl, who looked like a guard, both peered down at her. She stared back. “And who are you?”

     The Kacheek spoke up. “Actually, the question should be, who are you? Are you here to take the examination, too?” He frowned. “No faerie ever came here before.”

     The guard scowled. “She doesn’t look like she could spell that well. She’ll just be wasting our time.”

     The faerie replied acidly, “SHE is right here. And,” she added, glaring, “I can spell just fine. In fact, I think that I could out-spell you without taxing my mind.”

     “Well,” he replied sarcastically, “what a great accomplishment that would be, since you look like you don’t even have one.”

     “Don’t have what?” she asked, puzzled.

     He chortled. “A mind. See? What did I say?”

     She bristled. “Well, then we could conclude that me with no mind is smarter than you with one. What does that say about you?”

     “Oh, yeah? Well-”

     “Ahem.”

     They smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

     “As much as it amuses me, we still have a long day ahead of us.” The Kacheek paused for a moment, and then continued, “Since you are not here to take the exam, why don’t you help us screen the participants then? G here,” he said, referring to the guard, “can always correct you if you are wrong.”

     “I’m sure he would,” Astra said snidely, earning a look from him.

     “So,” the Kacheek continued, as if nothing had happened, “this game is called Imperial Exam. All you need to do is to let the participants spell a word from the list. If he or she spelled it correctly, then he or she could go through the door. If not, then he or she has to leave. Also remember that they are only given one try. Do you understand?”

     “Sounds simple enough,” she said.

     A few minutes later...

     “Please, please give me one more chance,” a white Acara begged, tears forming in her eyes, “Please!”

     “Sorry,” Astra said sadly, “but everyone is only given one chance.”

     The Acara sobbed, “But I was so nervous, I-”

     “Look,” the faerie began, already irritated with the whining, “you had a chance and you blew it. Don’t try to garner any sympathy from me, I’m just doing what I’m told to do.” She glared. “Got that? Besides, how would you feel if the others got a second chance and you didn’t?”

     The Acara stopped crying and glared back at her. “Whatever,” she said, and left.

     “Look who’s the sore loser,” Astra yelled at her retreating back, earning an eye roll from the guard.

     “I think I’ll do just fine,” Astra said triumphantly, then muttered, “I just wish that I knew how I got here. In the meantime, I’ll just do my task and keep annoying G here; now THAT'S entertaining.”

     ~*~

     “Help me!” the little angelpuss screamed. “Please, I beg you! Don’t let the evil Balthazar eat me! Save me! Save me!” Upon seeing the earth faerie, it yelled even louder. “Rescue me, please! I’ll do anything!”

     Terra blinked. “Save you from what?”

     The angelpuss looked annoyed. “From Balthazar, silly! Didn’t I just say so? Now hurry, save me before he eats him. I’m too cute to be eaten.”

     She glared at the petpet. “Look, buddy. If you want my help, then it’s best not to antagonize me, you know? And I don’t even know where I am. And who’s Balthazar? His name sounds familiar...”

     The angelpuss pouted, looking sorry. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, pretty earth faerie. I’m just very scared of the hunter, Balthazar, who likes to eat little petpets like me. The world would lose a great petpet if I were to be eaten- I haven’t even traveled around the world yet; how can everyone know of my cuteness if-”

     “Put a lid on it, Sammy,” a doglefox snapped. “The level hasn’t even begun. We’re all tired of your whining. Perhaps it’ll be better if Balthazar did eat you. One less pest in the world after all.”

     Sammy the angelpuss looked murderous. Before it could retaliate, however, the gate was opened. All of the other petpets scattered, trying to be as near to the middle of the place- where a large pen stood, as possible.

     “The level has begun!” a yellow Kacheek exclaimed. He was clad in a farmer’s outfit, and was frantically grabbing petpets and putting them inside the pen. Terra merely stood, watching.

     “Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here? My name is Samrin,” the Kacheek greeted her. “And,” he added quickly, “if you know what’s good for you, you’d better hide, too. Balthazar’s fond of faeries.”

     Terra’s eyes widened with recognition, and panic. So that’s why Balthazar’s name was so familiar- he also hunted faeries, and trapped them inside bottles. She gulped. She didn’t want to spend her life trapped inside a bottle. Well, to be fair, nobody did. She tried to enter the pen, but the door was jammed.

     “Oops,” Samrin chuckled. “Looks like I have to help you get inside. Blame the rules. Hold on, I’ll help the last couple of petpets first, and then I’ll help you. Stall him for me, will you?

     “Stall him? How do you propose I do that?” Terra asked hysterically.

     “What is this delightful aroma I smell?” a deep, menacing voice called out. “A faerie! I smell a faerie.” With every word spoken, the footsteps grew louder and louder.

     Terra shouted, “Hey, tall, dark and nasty! Here I am, come and get me!” As soon as Balthazar caught sight of her, he smiled menacingly. “He he he, you’re mine,” he said and ran after her.

     “You better be quick, Samrin,” Terra shouted as she ran up and down the area, getting Balthazar’s attention as one by one, the last few petpets were being carried to safety.

     “Don’t worry,” Samrin said, winking, “I’m a professional. Just one more.”

     As soon as he spotted the last petpet being assisted by Samrin, Balthazar grew incensed. “Why you... earth faerie! That does it! Now I’m really mad.” He quickened his pace, and Terra, sensing his increased anger, ran faster.

     “Samrin!” she yelled. “Now’s a good time as any.” Lucky enough, the both Kacheek and the pen were near her, while Balthazar was a good ten feet away from her.

     “Nooooooo!” Balthazar exclaimed, seeing the faerie being whisked off to safety. “I will have my revenge!” he promised, and disappeared suddenly.

     Terra sighed wearily. “Now that’s a relief. Where did he go? How do we get out?”

     The Kacheek blinked, confused. “Out? You can’t get out. We all can’t. The cycle’s continuous, you know. Petpets get out, Balthazar chases them, I save them, and it goes on and on and on...”

     Terra screamed.

     ~*~

     The snow blocks shook. Some of the snow worms and other monsters encased in ice managed to break free from their icy prison.

     "What's happening?" Icey asked. "Is this an earthquake?" She ducked just in time to avoid being crushed by a huge block of ice.

     Dieter looked equally perplexed. "I don't know." He shook his head. "This has never happened before. But look at all the free gems! They're all here for our taking. We just need to escape from the snow worms." He licked his lips in anticipation. "Sounds like fun!"

     "Fun?" Icey echoed. "This does not sound like my idea of a fun time. Fun is not racing away from a predator. Fun is competing with others, using one's strengths to outwit the opponent."

     "I guess we have different definitions for fun," Dieter said, smiling. He ate a yellow block and took the green gem.

     "I'll say," Icey muttered, and then grinned, "but I have to admit, you're great to be with. A little too adventurous for my taste, but still great. But this kind of very, very fast-paced life isn't for me."

     She could feel her body winking out of existence. Which was a weird feeling, she had to admit. Maybe she'd be back to her world soon. She hugged the polarchuck. "Thank you for helping me stay alive," she said solemnly.

     The polarchuck chuckled. "Oh, don't mention it," he said, then stopped. "On second thought, do mention it, please. A companion or two could be sent my way. Your being here made me realize how lonely I am."

     "I'm sure once word has spread that there's a game like this, lots of adrenaline junkies would come and visit you."

     Dieter brightened up. "Are you sure?"

     "Yes, I am," Icey laughed. "Now, I must say good-" and was gone.

     "-bye," Dieter finished, even though Icey was no longer there. After a few moments of silence, he went back to work.

     ~*~

     "HAHAHA! You don't know how to spell," G sang in a sing-songy voice. "Is that how you spell occur- o-c-u-r-r?" He kept laughing hysterically.

     Astra scowled. "I didn't hear her correctly, okay? She was mumbling, so I assumed, wrongly, I might add, that she spelled it correctly." She bonked G on the head with the scroll. "Now stop laughing."

     G didn't stop.

     "Next!"

     A green Shoyru stepped up.

     "Spell 'galaxy'," Astra said.

     The Shoyru began spelling,"G-A-L-A-" then suddenly, Astra disappeared.

     They all blinked.

     Then, the green Kacheek screamed, "Peace at last! Oh, thank you, thank you!" He kissed the ground in thanks.

     All were stunned. Finally, one asked, "Is he always like that?"

     "Uh, no," G replied. "In fact, this is the first time I've heard him yell. It's rather... surprising."

     ~*~

     "Tasty faerie. Yummy faerie. Delicious faerie. Mouthwatering faerie....," Balthazar droned on and on and on, until Samrin caught her and pushed her towards the pen. The round ended.

     "Hey, Samrin! I'm getting a little tired here," Terra complained, sitting down.

     "Faerie up, sister. Don't be such a wimp," the angelpuss ordered.

     Terra was getting pretty annoyed with the whiny, arrogant angelpuss. "Look, buddy, I'm also saving your hide here. I wonder what would happen to you if I don't distract him, hmm? We all know that before I came here, he always went for you first. So I wonder what would happen if I demanded to be saved by Samrin first, which, I'm sure, he would agree, since I have put myself on the line one too many times." She winked at the others.

     The angelpuss paled.

     "Uh huh," Terra said, "so quit your yapping or we'd throw you to Balthazar."

     The angelpuss scowled, but didn't say another word.

     "Thought so," Terra said, "Now," she rubbed her knuckles together, "before we begin the next round, it would be better if all of you take turns distracting him. I don't think I'll be around here forever, so you'd have to strategize to be able to beat him."

     Samrin nodded. "That's a good idea. We do have a few minutes before each round. We could think of plans so that Balthazar would be caught off-guard. So, we could do this for next round....-" Samrin said, and together, they began to think of ways to outsmart Balthazar.

     A minute or so before the round began, they were all ready. Samrin thanked her. "We owe you a lot for your wonderful idea. This will surely save a lot of petpets." He kicked the angelpuss gently.

     "Yeah," the angelpuss said grudgingly, "thank you."

     As Terra was about to reply, she disappeared.

     "Well," the angelpuss exclaimed, "how do you like that? She just disappeared!"

     The Kacheek herder answered, "She gave us a great plan," and shrugged. "It wasn't her place here. Although... I'm sure Balthazar won't be too happy to know that she's gone."

     ~*~

     Eight faeries appeared in Queen Fyora’s living room.

     “Huh? Icey exclaimed, disoriented. She sat on the nearest chair. The others did the same.

     “Where are we?” Astra asked. The other faeries frowned.

     A beautiful faerie wearing a purple dress walked into the room, smiling fondly at the eight young faeries all scattered around the room.

     “Queen Fyora!” Aquina, a water faerie gasped. All of the faeries bowed to her.

     “Hello, young faeries. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, so, ask away,” she announced.

     All of the faeries asked questions simultaneously.

     “What happened?” Terra asked.

     “Why are we here?” Icey inquired.

     All of the other faeries- Aquina the water faerie, Ember the fire faerie, Shadow the dark faerie and Emmy the tooth faerie asked similar questions.

     Except for Wanda the light faerie.

     “I HATE SHENKUU WARRIOR!’ Wanda exclaimed, shrieking, “I HATE CLIMBING!”

      Silence.

     “So,” Icey began after a long pause, “you guys all went inside a game, too?”

     When they all nodded, Icey continued, “So where did you go? I went inside Snowmuncher. Even though I’m a snow faerie, the cold there’s too much, plus the snow worms kinda freak me out.”

     “I went to Imperial Exam,” Astra announced, “and let me just say that the guard there is an arrogant fool,” she finished, rolling her eyes. “The game was simple enough, but the whining of the participants leaves much to be desired.”

     Terra spoke up. “I went to Extreme Herder. Balthazar gave me the creeps. And so did the wimpy angelpuss,” she added.

     “Shenkuu River Rush,” Aquina the water faerie said. “As a water faerie, of course I love the water, but falling down all the time isn’t fun at all.” She grimaced, remembering the various times she fell face-first into the water.

     Wanda was about to speak up; however, Ember the fire faerie cut her off, grinning. “I think we all know how you feel about Shenkuu Warrior, Wanda.”

     The other faeries all nodded their heads, laughing. “Well, it’s true,” Wanda said defensively. “Just don’t play that game if you want your nails to be pretty and perfect,” she warned, grinning.

     “Carnival of Terror,” Ember said. “I hate clowns!”

     “Then the game should be perfect for you,” Astra piped up.

     “No thanks,” Ember shuddered. “There’s so many of them and only one of me.”

     Shadow the dark faerie spoke up next. “Edna’s Shadow. Don’t ever play with Edna,” she said seriously, shaking her head. “She’s a very bad partner.”

     Emmy the tooth faerie was the last to speak up. All of them looked at her expectantly. “Kass Basher,” she said finally.

     “Isn’t that your favorite game?” Icey asked. “Then you must have loved it.”

     Emmy shook her head. “Not when I was the one who has to bring the kass back to the starting line. I was so tired! I kept wishing for the players to choose the bread instead of the bat; at least it wouldn’t be that far.”

     While the young faeries talked about what happened in the game world, the Faerie Queen listened and smiled. After some time, the queen spoke up. “The reason why you have been transported into the games is because I have heard that you are all unsure of your future. Your teacher told me that you didn’t want to do what the other faeries do- give out quests, and so, I thought that if you were transported into the game world, you would be able to experience first-hand gaming. And you did. So I have a proposition for all you-,”

     All of the faeries listened with rapt attention.

     “All of you didn’t like the games that you have experienced, right?”

     They all nodded.

     “But,” Fyora continued, “you all love to play games, a different game from the one you have experienced,” she added immediately, seeing the looks on the faeries’ faces.

     “And so,” she said, “what about a game where all of you are there- where you all race against one another? Where you all put your skills to the test to determine who would be the greatest racer of all?”

     And so, Faerie Cloud Racers, the game, began.

The End

 
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