"Do you think something's wrong?" a worried voice asked.

"I've never seen King Hagan's messenger run so fast..." another said.

A group of concerned citizens gathered along the road, moments after Partcha, a blue Draik who was the king's official messenger, had run by in a frantic rush to the castle.

Meanwhile, aware that he was mostly likely causing a stir in the (almost) always peaceful land of Brightvale, but unwilling to slow down or stop to explain, Partcha continued his mad rush towards the king.

King Hagan had just finishing a decree that would add even more improvements to education, when his messenger burst through the doors and into the royal chamber.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" the Draik cried frantically, not slowing until he was nearly at the foot of the throne.

Rightfully alarmed, the King sat bolt upright -- he didn't dare to imagine what had panicked his faithful messenger so terribly.

"My lord," Partcha wheezed, finally stopping. "I...

Two servants quickly ran over to fan him, and check his pulse. King Hagan shouted abruptly, "Enough! Leave the messenger there. We have to warn the citizens of Brightvale. They will be much safer in Meridell."

A very wimpy Kyrii, one of the servants, was confused. "But, sir..." he began to say in a quiet voice.

"SILENCE!" Hagan yelled loudly. "Do as I say! Tell everyone in Brightvale the news! Tell them to evacuate! On with you!"

The Kyrii slowly backed away. "HURRY!!! Who knows when she will attack!" the King yelled, booming angrily.

So then, the skinny little servant went all around Brightvale, telling everyone the tragic news. He told the Draik at the Wheel of Knowledge, all of the young children counting potatoes, even the Ixi playing with a wooden sword -- everyone! Exhausted, he returned to the king and told him he had completed his task.

Meanwhile, at Jhudora's cloud, an innocent Uni was handing the faerie a peach. "I got you what you wanted," she said in a quivering voice.

"Very good, my dear. Here's a poisonous lolly... now take it and go!" Jhudora screeched. "I've got much work to do..." A wicked smile spread across her face. "Soon that obnoxious King Hagan and his stuffy little land shall be no more..."

"...have my own kingdom, with which I'll be able to wage war against that tree-hugging Illusen... how I despise her!" Jhudora ranted, clenching a fist.

"Jhu-Jhudora?" came a meek voice from the door. "I've c-come for a q-quest! I-If you d-don't mind. I mean, if you--"

"SILENCE!" Jhudora boomed. Rubbing her temples, she turned around and smiled enchantingly. This visitor was a new one, not like her other faithful stooges. "Ah, yes... come in, dear Ixi. You've nothing to be afraid of from me, I don't bite..."

The Ixi gave a great shudder, and Jhudora was sickened to the core of her stomach, having to feign the slightest sliver of compassion.

"Well, t-this is--"

"Your first time?" Jhudora asked, cutting him off. "Yes, I know. I keep a list of all my... helpers. Instead of fetching me an item this time, though, how about if you help me out by doing something else? Wait right here," with that, Jhudora slunk off into a different room in her cloud.

Searching her dusty shelves for an orb, Jhudora found what she was looking for and snatched at it greedily. The orb was easy to find among her purple assortments, as it was pure white -- a gift from one of the other dark faeries. It hurt her eyes to look at it, but she knew it would handle the job nicely. King Hagan won't know what hit him, Jhudora thought to herself, then cackled.

Rushing back out to the trembling Ixi, she placed the orb in his hooves. "Here... instead of fetching me an item, I want you to give this to King Hagan as a gift. Tell him it's from Fyora."

"But, that would be lying!"

Jhudora stopped. Acting as innocently as she possibly could, she used all her charm to sway him over. "Oh, Fyora wanted me to give it to him. She was too busy with other things. She IS the Faerie Queen, you know."

Apparently, her story was reasonable enough for the Ixi to believe, so he trotted off with the orb. Such an easy task would have a simple reward, but anything was good enough.

Jhudora cackled maniacally once he was gone. "Soon, Hagan, soon your kingdom will be mine..."

He was somewhat confused to find the land in a panic. White-faced commoners rushed down the neatly kept streets, and the air was filled with yelling and exclamations of panic. The entire population seemed deeply distressed about something, but the Ixi hadn't the faintest idea what.

He ignored them, shrugging, and made his way to the castle gates. The guards stopped him briefly, but after quickly explaining his mission to them, they let him pass.

One burly guard, a Skeith, ushered the Ixi to the throne room. "A visitor, Your Grace," he boomed. "He says he has a gift for you."

King Hagan glanced at him distractedly. "A... gift? Well, we could use anything right now. Maybe we can sell it to raise funds for defense, or... what is this gift, anyway? Bring it here."

Obediently, the young Ixi held forth the pearly white orb. "It's from Fyora."

"What a lovely gift!" the King exclaimed, smiling suddenly at the sight of it. "Perhaps it has some hidden use. Maybe we can somehow use it against that dratted Jhudora!"

The Ixi frowned. "Jhudora? But she--"

King Hagan had already reached forward, though, and lifted the shining orb from the Ixi's hooves. As he gazed into its misty depths, the white glass began to glow...

...King Hagan began to change -- he became taller, slimmer, and his wings grew big and purple.

The king lifted up his head... he'd been transformed into Jhudora! The other Neopets thought Jhudora had switched places with King Hagan!

"Attack, men!" a Kougra shouted. The army of Neopets ran forward, with their swords and shields drawn; some of the attackers were riding Unis.

"Captain! STOP!" Hagan shouted, obviously confused. The king didn't realise that he'd been turned into Jhudora. Then he looked down at his hands. He then looked down at his hands -- they were purple, with green claws. He suddenly flapped his wings and soared up.

"Captain, I am King Hagan!" the poor King shouted.

"Liar! You are obviously Jhudora, the evil faerie! What have you done to our King?" the white Kougra yelled at "Jhudora".

Jhudora cackled as she grew shorter, fatter and her wings shrunk. She became green, and her muscles bulged.

A moustache sprouted, followed by a beard. As a royal coat appeared, her transformation was complete.

Still in possession of her powers, Jhudora created a long string of chains to bind her, and a padlock to hold the chains in place. She placed a gag over her mouth, then waited for the troops to arrive.

After and hour, the white Kougra captain and his troops rushed in, weapons at the ready. "Mmmph!" was the muffled cry that they heard coming from under Jhudora's throne. Following the cries, they rushed over, then pulled out what appeared to be King Hagan!

"Your Highness! We have caught Jhudora at our castle... Brightvale is safe!" the captain said as he undid the chains (by using his claws) and took off the gag.

"Thank you, captain. I'll see to it that Jhudora is taken care of, once and for all." There was a triumphant glimmer in "his" eye. They brought in "Jhudora", who was tied up and chained. As "she" looked up, the new King Hagan could see that she'd been gagged, and had many security devices attached to her.

"I'm going to take care of you, Hagan. Don't worry, I'll take good care of your country, although it could use a bit of redecorating," "Hagan" whispered to "Jhudora". "I'm going to enjoy watching you scream."

King Hagan spent a lonely night in the dungeons, still with every bit of security around him. There were two guards outside the cell, who were watching him diligently...

Above, Jhudora was quietly enjoying her victory over the imprisoned King and the citizens of Brightvale. Even the real King Hagan's closest guards seemed blind to the fact that Hagan wasn't exactly acting like Hagan.

Though slowly at first, changes soon came to Brightvale. "King Hagan" raised taxes, claiming that the Kingdom needed more funds in order to properly equip themselves to defend against Jhudora's army, which would surely come to rescue her.

The Great Hall's usual bright decorations began to disappear, replaced by darker, more depressing shades of ebony, grey, violet and emerald. The throne became twisted and discolored.

Oddly enough, the people of Brightvale said nothing. They silently went on with their business, keeping their heads tucked down low to stay out of sight. Besides, King Hagan had never let them down before.

On a cool night, Jhudora (disguised as King Hagan, of course), stepped out onto the balcony, basking in the glow of the moon.

"With this spell, I declare..." Jhudora began, slowly waving her hands to and fro. As the words rolled from her lips, a shaded green mist began to flow from her fingertips.

"The people will grow to hate, they will no longer appreciate... all that's good, all that's true. As their disdain grows, they will become vain. On the outside, they will twist to mirror their hate."

With a loud cackle that would have chilled the bones of even the bravest soldier, Jhudora laid her curse upon the once-happy kingdom of Brightvale.

As she drifted back into King Hagan's chambers, Jhudora glanced over the large map spread neatly across a war-styled table.

From thin air, a dart appeared, rolling slowly between her fingertips. With a small snap of her wrist, Jhudora threw the dart. It struck a small image of a white castle, with colorful banners tossed in the wind.

"Now, on to Meridell. I dare any to oppose me!!"...

...King Skarl was slumped on his throne, drumming his fingers impatiently. An irksome Ixi was standing in front of him, reciting a "joke".

"So then..." The Ixi paused, trying to stifle laughter, "The Baby Acara said to the Lupe..." At this point, the Ixi started to laugh uncontrollably, "Why don't you try to whack a Kass in diapers?!?"

King Skarl raised an eyebrow as he watched the Ixi roll about on his floor.

He motioned for his guards to take the Ixi away, when a blue Draik dashed into the room. His guards were bowled over, and a panting Partcha halted at the King's feet.

King Skarl hiccoughed loudly in shock, knocking his crown askew. "What in Neopia's name are you doing, and how did you get in here unannounced?!?" a disheveled King Skarl cried.

Partcha didn't even stop to catch his breath. "Brightvale... bad... something... Jhudora... magic ball... chased out... me..."

The King replaced his crown impatiently. "What's this about Brightvale? Speak louder, child!"

Partcha spoke: "It is my thinking, your highness, that Jhudora has done something terrible to Brightvale! I know, it's impossible, because she's in the dungeons and all, but... everyone's miserable, and grumpy, and... the King is acting funny... and apparently I'm the only one who notices!" The Draik finished despairingly, glancing at King Skarl with hopeful eyes.

The king blinked twice, then started laughing so hard that the very foundation of the castle shook. "That's... heehee... impossible! Jhudora's not stupid... haha! I can't believe you... oh my...!"

While all of this was happening, a crowd of dancing guards began swing Partcha around by the paws. "You did it, you made the king laugh! You made the king laugh!"

The king stopped laughing abruptly, then seized Partcha, dragging the unfortunate Draik into his private office. "Tell me everything..."

Partcha told him everything. All that he knew, anyway.

The king frowned deeply. "Mysterious orb from Fyora, eh? Methinks something terribly wrong is afoot here..." The king paused, coming quickly to a decision. "We will go to Brightvale, with many guards... let's congratulate this... "brother" of mine on his capture of Jhudora..."

With King Skarl's suspicions now aroused, he set out towards Brightvale, taking half of his force with him...

"What do YOU want?" a Kacheek guard said, rather grumpily.

"We would like any audience with the King." Partcha said with an air of importance.

"Well, I suppose... If I have to. What are you doing here, anyway?" the Kacheek grumbled again, clearly unhappy this time.

"Tell King Hagan that we've brought an army -- you know, to help him against Jhudora's army." King Skarl stated. With that, the guard trudged away (rather slowly) to tell "King Hagan". Finally, after a very long wait, the guard returned.

"Okay... you may go in." said, still possessing a glare in his eyes. The King, the Draik, and representatives of Meridell's army all walked in. King Skarl was surprised by how the guard had treated him, as he'd usually known him to be friendly. Skarl gasped as he stepped into the main hall of the castle. Instead of the bright yellows and greens he usually saw, it was adorned with dark purple and black. His suspicions were instantly fortified.

When they finally reached the great hall, King Skarl made sure that everyone was in the room before shouting:

"SEIZE HIM!" Pointing a finger at "King Hagan", Skarl declared: "That is NOT my brother!" Upon the king's order, the representatives of Meridell's army rushed forward, their swords drawn before them.

"Fools!" Jhudora shouted. "Did you really think you could stop me now?"...

...as the guards rushed towards Jhudora, she emitted a large puff of green smoke, allowing her to disappear. King Skarl's guards became frantic.

"Where did she go? How are we supposed to find her now?" one of the guards asked. No one knew what to do, when Partcha suddenly said, "I think I know what to do... to the dungeons!"

King Skarl, Partcha, and the guards rushed down the stone steps into the dungeons. "Why are we down here?" King Skarl asked.

"If that was Jhudora, then King Hagan is the one down here in the dungeons. Only he can put everything in order." Partcha explained.

King Hagan (still in the form of Jhudora) was sitting on his bed in the dungeon. When he saw King Skarl and the guards, he leapt up.

"Brother! What are you doing here?" he asked, approaching Skarl near the cell bars.

"We've come to save your kingdom, Hagan." King Skarl explained. "Jhudora's wreaked havoc everywhere in Brightvale. Luckily, your faithful servant Partcha realized that something was wrong and sought me out for help."

At that moment, the doors to the dungeon burst open, and King Hagan's guards were standing in the doorway, with King Hagan's voice ringing in from behind them. "They're trying to free the prisoner! Seize them!"

King Skarl drew his sword and...

Everyone looked over at King Hagan, who had been the one to cry out. He grabbed the bars of his cell and leaned in, his head poking through the spaces. "Skarl, please do not fight my guards... I do not wish for them to be harmed!" he pleaded.

The room was immediately filled with confused whispers, mostly from King Hagan's guards. Why would Jhudora, the great dark faerie, show some compassion for them?

Jhudora flushed red with anger. "It's a trick!" she cried, "That faerie is trying to turn you against me! Seize that traitor brother of mine and throw him into the cell with her!"

King Hagan's guards hesitated, before brandishing their weapons and stepping forward.

King Skarl clutched his sword tighter. "So then, brother," he snarled, "We are just supposed to let ourselves be captured?"

"I... I don't know," King Hagan said solemly. He hung his head, wondering if he would ever be free again.

That's when he began to change. First, his hair began to grow shorter, turning from purple and green to yellow. He became shorter, and larger, and his skin slowly became green again.

Jhudora was changing as well, growing taller and regaining her dark, malicious looks. She opened her eyes, wide in horror, and stared at her hands. "The spell! It's... wearing off!"

"That's right, Jhudora." One of Skarl's guards stepped forward -- it was Illusen, disguised as a lowly warrior. The small Ixi Jhudora had tricked into giving Hagan the orb stepped out from behind Illusen, promptly sticking his tongue out at the wicked faerie.

Illusen smiled at Jhudora. "I guess it's lucky I know how to reverse your spells, isn't it? Looks like you've failed to get rid of me yet again. I suggest you don't bother this kingdom again... because I'll be watching." she finished, her eyes narrowing at the dark faerie.

Jhudora, who was now looking like herself again, clenched her fists in anger. "This isn't over!" she screamed before disappearing in a large cloud of smoke.

Later, after King Hagan had been gratefully freed from the damp dungeon, Illusen stood on the balcony of the castle. She waved her hands in the air and muttered a few words under her breath, casting a spell that would nullify the previous one. When she was finished, Illusen turned towards King Hagan, King Skarl, and Partcha. "Brightvale should return to normal in no time. Jhudora really has no idea how simple her spells are, and how easy it is to reverse them."

King Hagan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said. Turning to Skarl, he placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Thank you, as well."

King Skarl grunted. "It was nothing... brother," King Skarl grunted, his face flickering to a smile for a moment.

King Hagan finally turned to Partcha, the faithful messenger. "It is you I should thank most of all," he said, taking the Draik's hand and shaking it in gratitude. "For realizing something was not right in Brightvale. How can I repay you?"

Partcha rubbed his chin. "Well," he began with a smile, "How about a grand celebration feast tonight, if you don't mind?"

That's exactly what they did.

The End