The Flight of Faerieland: Part Three

     "Coming! Just a moment!" Fyora called out.

     She opened the door and on the other side stood Kitya.

     "Sorry to disturb you, Fyora. You wrote down that you need these two books but never actually took them. Here you go! By the way, you didn't exactly put everything back where it was but that's fine. I need something to do besides sitting at a desk all day."

     Fyora looked at the books. One of them was from Auyora's archives and the other was a book labeled History of Faerie Queens.

     "Forgive me, I was distracted and did not remember to put the books back. Sorry for all the trouble, and thank you for bringing these books up."

     "No problem, Fyora. I best be taking off now, need to ensure the library stays quiet."

     Kitya headed back toward the library, leaving Fyora about half an hour to get ready for the Faerieland council meeting. She gathered her things and headed toward the meeting room. The meeting room had a round table with comfortable Fyora Armchairs. It was in a tower so one could glance out and see all of Faerieland. It was breathtaking, but the faeries still remembered a time when they could look to the east and see many Neopian lands. Such a view was but a memory now.

     Celandra was already in the meeting room, setting out some tea and pastries in large pink platters at the middle of the round table.

     "Thank you, Celandra. Now please, take a rest," Fyora said.

     "Thank you, Fyora," Celandra replied. Celandra curtsied at Fyora and headed back to her chambers.

     Fyora quietly took out a roll of parchment and began writing down all the steps to the Rite. When she had finished, she heard loud speech coming from the corridor.

     "Those two again!" Fyora thought to herself. She stepped out and sure enough it was Illusen and Jhudora, yelling at each other for some petty reason.

     "Your quests are worthless compared to mine, and nobody wants to visit that muddy little glade of yours!" Jhudora shouted.

     "I don't see anyone jumping for joy at your bluff," Illusen jabbed back.

     "Good morning, you two!" Fyora exclaimed, abruptly ending their bickering.

     "Good morning, Fyora!" the two said in unison. They then stared each other down for a few more moments before taking seats at opposite sides of the table. Pretty soon the rest of the faeries arrived and sat in their usual seats around the table. Siyana was always to the right of Fyora and Jhudora to the left. Jhudora usually sat next to Fyora so she would not be tempted to fight with Illusen during the meeting. Siyana sat next to Fyora because she was Fyora's advisor when Altador was under attack by the Darkest Faerie.

     Fyora cleared her throat.

     "I have a special announcement. Last night I was looking at ancient writings and I may have discovered a method to get Faerieland back into the skies."

     Everyone quieted down as soon as they heard this.

     "While I was reading, I saw a vision with my ancestors. They have instructed me in a special Rite. I have come to present this information to you all."

     Fyora told the councilmembers everything that her ancestral spirits had revealed to her including all the details of the rite. When she was finished, there was a long awkward silence.

     "How do you know that this is actually a true vision and not a figment of your desperation?" asked Jhudora.

     Illusen glared at Jhudora.

     "What? It's an honest question," Jhudora insisted when she saw Illusen's glare.

     "It is a fair question," Fyora said. She stood up and began pacing around the table.

     She continued. "I do not know if this will work. I know it is difficult to support something when you unsure if anything to will come to fruition. However, there are many things in sorcery that we cannot see, but we trust that they are there. Invisible spirits and some magical spells are among us yet they are not visible at all. It is our blind faith that allows such trust to exist. I am requesting for some of your faith in this. After all, blind faith is better than none at all. Now it is time for me to ask you all, will you join me in this? This will not work without all of you on board."

     With little hesitation, Siyana stood up next to Fyora.

     "I am with you," she said.

     One by one each of the faeries stood up to join Fyora. Psellia was next, followed by Illusen, then Nereid, followed by Nuria, and finally Jhudora.

     "Thank you all for supporting me in this. Now the next decision to make is when we perform the rite. We will require some time to gather quest items. Psellia and Siyana, I know the next two days will not be possible given that King Altador needs you for Altadorian Council duties. Thus, to be safe, I would allow you all a full week to collect quest items for the Rite. Are we all amenable to this?" Fyora inquired.

     Psellia and Siyana looked eager to get started. Nuria and Nereid gave it a little thought and began to nod. Jhudora opened her mouth as if ready to say something, but Illusen glared at her. Despite this, Illusen herself was skeptical. She looked around the room and noticed that most of the other faeries were on board so she nodded as well.

     Over the next few days, the faeries began appearing to a handful of random, unsuspecting Neopians asking for quest items. Of course, Neopians still flocked to Illusen's Glade and Jhudora's Bluff for quests so those two faeries didn't really have to travel much. It was quite shocking for most Neopians that these famous faeries were visiting them asking for quest items. Most of the items were quite expensive; nobody wanted to give the spirits anything besides the best so the faeries made sure they sought out the most affluent of the Neopians. Even, Nigel, Neopia's greatest stockbroker, was willing to help.

     Most of the items were made from gold and silver. Fyora took a few things out of the Hidden Tower as well to offer.

     Fyora, meanwhile, went into the library to study the designs of Coltzan's Shrine and use them for inspiration. Within an hour, she had sketched a design that was like Coltzan's Shrine but much taller, nearly ten feet taller.

     "Celandra, please prepare a message to a few of my architects. Tell them to halt their tasks for tomorrow and work on this shrine instead. I already have the marble blocks needed to build it."

     Celandra went off to contact some of the finest architects in Neopia in order to enlist their help.

     The reaction from Faerieland's architects was muted. Several of them noted that the Rite was not guaranteed to work and wanted to continue repair Faerieland. They did not want to waste their time with building the shrine. The same sentiments were echoed elsewhere. Many of Faerieland's residents were left scratching their heads as well, wondering why Fyora would put so much time and effort into a task that could turn up empty. Rumors began to spread that Fyora was losing her mind and a handful even suggested that she should appoint a successor soon.

     Despite the negativity, after a couple of days of waiting a few architects decided that they were going to trust in Fyora so they assembled and met with the Faerie Queen.

     "I entrust you all with a very important task. We are going to be building a shrine with this fine marble. This shrine will aid us in raising Faerieland back into the sky," Fyora addressed the architects.

     She show them the design and asked how long it would take. After briefly deliberating, the architects came back with an estimate of a week.

     "Alright. Please take your time and be sure to follow the design exactly."

     A week later, the shrine was finished, and the faeries had collected their three finest items.

     The shrine itself was colored pink as expected with the pink marble mined from the Faerie Caves. At the top was a capstone the shape of a pyramid. Fyora had meticulously inscribed the required ancient faerie manuscript. The faeries stood around the shrine and waited until sunset. They then gathered around the shrine in a circle and laid their items at the foot of the shrine. Celandra stood behind them to be the required Neopet witness.

     Meanwhile, the Faerieland streets were empty as usual, with many residents staying in because of the irritating smell of kerosene. Fyora looked around to see if there were any other residents that might witness the rite but found none. That was okay of course, since Celandra was present. Still Fyora thought it would have been nice of other Neopians would be able to witness the result of the rite should the spirits grant Fyora's wish.

     "Alright. Would everyone please lift these items to the top of the shrine using levitation? You may use either your arm or your staff," commanded Fyora.

     The ring of items rose slowly to the tip of the shrine.

     "Alright, there is no turning back after I do this."

     Fyora raised her staff and summoned a very dark cloud above the shrine. It was rather small, just enough to float over the shrine. This cloud would produce the lightning necessary for the rite. She waved her staff and lightning bolts shot out of the cloud, striking the marble shrine. The marble began to emit a bright glow as the lightning strikes continued. Fyora then looked down at Auyora's book clutched in her hand. She turned to the page where the incantation was and began to recite in the ancient faerie tongue.

     The faeries waited for what seemed to be forever. They stared into the sky, hoping that perhaps the spirits would listen. Fyora's heart began to sink when she did not see a pillar of light coming down from the sky.

     "Please...," Fyora thought as she continued to recite the incantation. She was wondering what was taking so long when the sky began to open up and a narrow beam of light descended upon the shrine. It was a pure white glow. Within a few minutes, the beam grew wider and brighter as it continued descending. Fyora continued to recite as the pillar of light descended. The light reached the shrine, causing the thunder cloud to dissipate and the quest items to rise into the sky. The faeries stopped their levitation spells as Fyora continued to recite.

     About an hour later, the items had risen out of sight.

     "Whew, that was somewhat relieving," she thought to herself. She moved closer to the pillar of light and spoke.

     "Oh Spirits of Neopia, hear our pleas. Our land has lost her flight and Neopia's skies are no longer safe. Please grant our land a second chance in the skies again."

     The faeries waited another hour and began to grow restless. They whispered amongst themselves.

     "They weren't pleased with our offering," Illusen whispered.

     Jhudora began telling Illusen that Fyora made the entire thing up, but Illusen turned away, not wanting to listen. She wanted Jhudora to be wrong.

     "Maybe they will grant it in the future," Fyora reassured herself. She did not want to think the spirits had rejected her wish. The whispers grew louder as the faeries grew more restless in their doubts. For a moment, Fyora wished they would all quiet down. She began to pace back and forth in front of the shrine.

     Another half hour passed and some of the faeries began to grow impatient.

     "It didn't work! Faerieland will not rise again! The spirits are against us!" Jhudora shouted.

     "Fyora, could you explain why nothing is happening?" Illusen inquired with a hint of desperation in her voice.

     Fyora was about to speak when suddenly, doubt overwhelmed her. She seemed unable to find the words to respond. For the first time in a while, Fyora was speechless.

     "What should I say?" Fyora thought frantically to herself. Doubt had clouded her mind.

      Moments later, she spoke.

     "I-I do not know."

     The faeries all gasped.

     "It didn't work... Fyora's wrong... She's wasting our time!" she heard them say.

     The faeries were all upset with Fyora now, and were quick to let Fyora know. Even Psellia and Siyana, looked at Fyora and shook their heads.

     Fyora turned and began to walk away, trying to hide her tears. Moments later she heard a voice in the wind. It was a soft but distinct whisper.

     "Fyora... why do you weep? We heard you loud and clear."

     She turned around.

     "What was that? What did you say?"

     The voice was gone. Moments later, the light in the pillar began to expand outward until it had surrounded Faerieland in a bright glow. It was about that time when all the residents of Faerieland awoke and stepped out of their Neohomes.

     They gazed at the light in awe. Some of them were fearful and seemed to be trembling. Others looked curious, wondering what was going on. At that moment, the ground began to shake and sent the entire population in a widespread panic. Their screams began to echo throughout Faerieland. Queen Fyora quickly flew over to them.

     "Do not be afraid, Neopians. It appears that our land will soon regain her flight. It may seem scary at first, but everything will be back to normal soon. I might suggest sitting down for the ride though," she said, addressing the panicking crowd.

     About ten minutes passed and the shaking grew a bit stronger at first but slowly subsided. Fyora looked around and gasped. She could clearly see an edge where the land sort of dropped off. Upon further observation, she knew what was happening.

     "It appears that our land is just barely hovering over the ground!" she exclaimed.

     An hour later, Faerieland appeared to be about sixty feet in the air.

     "It is indeed. At this rate, it looks like it will take about a week for Faerieland to rise back to ten thousand feet. It might be a good idea to have everyone go about their daily business until then," Siyana suggested.

     "I feel heavier, and my knees hurt," complained Jhudora.

     "Until Faerieland settles in the air, the pull of gravity will be more intense. Perhaps we should suggest that residents stay indoors until we stop rising?" suggested Illusen.

     "Perhaps we could use anti-gravity spells. I could fetch the air faeries for you, Fyora," Psellia offered.

     The faeries continued to talk all at once on how to proceed. Finally, Fyora raised her finger to her lips and shushed gently.

     "We should act in unity. I do not think we can get all the air faeries to help out on such a short notice. Anti-gravity spells are rather draining too so I would probably shy against that method. I would much rather prefer we tell them to take a little rest for the week," she advised. She then turned to the residents who were still gazing in awe at what was happening.

     "Citizens of Faerieland, what an amazing sight this is. We will finally return to the skies we call home. You might notice that getting around might be a bit tougher for the next week or so. Therefore, I hereby decree that there will be a holiday this week."

     At this the entire crowd cheered.

     "All hail Queen Fyora!"

     For the next week, Faerieland continued to ascend. Faerieland did seem like a ghost town though. Residents kept to their Neohomes, although they frequently stared out the window. Finally, Faerieland hit her original height of ten thousand feet and the pillar of light faded away. Faerieland continued to float but Queen Fyora knew something was missing.

     "Celandra, it looks like our land is floating, but all I see is rock everywhere. I think we need to put the cloud in place ourselves. Please help me assemble the air faeries and the water faeries so we can restore the clouds.

     Psellia and Nereid arrived quickly along with a sizable group of water and air faeries including the healing springs faerie. The water faeries began to form puddles of water while the air faeries used their air spells to vaporize the water. This formed white, puffy clouds. The residents watched closely as the faeries worked to restore the clouds. Although Faerieland looked like it used to, there was much to do. Structures were still in need of repair and some of Faerieland's streets warped while rising.

     "Neopians! It is good to be in the air again. However, there is still much to do. We must be diligent in repairing our infrastructure. Right now though, I think this deserves a little celebration."

     The residents all cheered and began to celebrate with a festival. The atmosphere was filled with jubilation. The faeries and faerie pets stretched out their wings and flew from cloud to cloud. They were finally free to fly in any direction without worrying about hills or other obstacles.

     News of Faerieland's rising ripped through Neopia and caught the attention of Lord Darigan and Emperor Akeno. They immediately scheduled a Skies of Neopia meeting with Fyora to congratulate her and also to work on restoring the safety of the skies. The two were originally going to retract their idea of sending faeries to defend the skies and wanted to come up with a different plan.. However, the unprecedented flight of Faerieland resolved all of the issues and reaffirmed their confidence in Queen Fyora.

     Queen Fyora was a bit tired of all of the commotion and quietly retreated back to her room to lie down for a quick nap...

To be continued...