Amongst the visitors was a shadow Tuskaninny rushing on her way to the coffee shop, her purse flinging about wildly as she avoided other Neopians. She was five minutes late when she finally arrived at the entrance.

"You're always late, Kelsea!" A Fire Poogle remanded her.

"Sorry," Kelsea replied, panting heavily, "I overslept."

"Whatever. Anyway, come on! We'll be late!"

The Poogle grabbed her wrist and hurried for the art gallery. Kelsea didn't know what the purpose of the meetup was; all her friend, Rina, had told her was that it was going to be something interesting. Something that she would definitely look forward to.

"Here we are," Rina's voice dropped to a whisper when they reached at a gathering in front of a painting of Illusen. "Looks like the announcement's about to begin."

Upon seeing the painting, Kelsea's mood soared. She was a huge fan of Illusen and so was Rina. Their fondness for the kind Earth Faerie was what made them get along so well.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A loud voice suddenly boomed. Kelsea couldn't identify who it was because she was surrounded by a sea of Neopets all around her. All the same, she still listened eagerly.

"As you all know, Illusen's Day is just around the corner," continued the voice. "In honor of the greatest Faerie that ever lived, we have decided to prepare a superb gift for her. Everyone of you is gathered at this place because we will need as much help as possible to make this wish come true ..."

Kelsea wasn't quite sure what that was all about, but it sounded like a good idea. Sort of like dividing up the responsibilities of a surprise party so that no one person was overwhelmed by what was needed to do.

"That sounds fun." Rina said, "Though I wonder what we're all supposed to get for her?"

"I guess we'll find out once we get up there."

The line was quick to form. And Kelsea couldn't see the front of it from her position. That was the price of being late, she had to assume. But, at least it was orderly. A few minutes passed, and some other Neopians were walking past her with a small list clutched in their fingers, looks of excitement on their faces as they went to go make preparations.

It didn't take long for Kelsea to reach close to the front, and she saw that there was a large jar filled with little paper slips. She didn't see who was in charge of this, or who's booming voice had gathered them all to start it, but she was more focused on getting her task set up so she could do her part for Illusen Day.

Rina was soon next in line and grabbed a piece of paper, and soon the shadow Tuskaninny reached in as well.

"Let's see what we got." Kelsea said as the two headed out.

Rina looked at her piece of paper and read it aloud. "Gather up some streamers and green party favors." She looked to the Tuskaninny. "Seems simple enough. How about you?"

Kelsea opened hers up and read it aloud. "Get Jhudora to come to the celebration..."

"Get Jhudora to come to the celebration," Kelsea repeated, quietly. "Get Jhudora to come to the celebration!" she said again, in a louder and more incredulous voice.

"No way!" Rina snatched the paper from her friend's hands. She read it to herself, before slowly handing it back to her.

Kelsea glanced around at the others in the crowd, who were happily chatting about their tasks to one another and slowly dispersing. "I've got to ask--someone's got to know--" she sputtered helplessly.

"The voice!" The Poogle said suddenly. "We've got to find whoever made the announcement."

"Good idea," the suggestion gave her renewed purpose. "Maybe it's a joke. Let's find out. Who was talking? I couldn't see over the crowd."

Rina and Kelsea made their way through the crowd of other Illusen enthusiasts, continuing to discuss their current predicament.

"Jhudora and Illusen are sworn enemies! This doesn't make sense," Rina reiterated as she scanned the crowd. "It would ruin the party!"

"I know. We've got to find the person--" Kelsea was cut off by the same distinct, booming voice, suddenly behind them.

"Looking for me?"

The Poogle and Tuskaninny whipped around...

Kelsea gulped and looked down again at the slip of paper in her flipper. "We were a little surprised by my assignment."

The Lenny extended his wing. "May I see?" When Kelsea handed him the assignment, he chuckled. "Ah, yes, I was wondering which lucky soul would end up with this one."

"There's no way we can do this," Rina cut in. "Why would anyone even want Jhudora at the party anyway?"

"Well, she IS her sister," the Lenny reminded them. "Despite Jhudora's disdain for her, there's still a little bit of sisterly love deep down somewhere. You seem like two bright, young Neopians, I'm sure you'll be up to the task."

Kelsea wasn't so sure, but Rina seemed to find enough courage for the both of them. "We'll do it. If this is what Illusen wants, she'll get it."

"Splendid!" The Lenny exclaimed, his loud voice echoing throughout the cavern. "I would love to help you, but my task is to keep our guest of honor occupied until it's time to bring her to the party tomorrow. Best of luck!"

"You got it!" Rina said cheerfully as the Lenny left.

"What were you thinking?!" Kelsea asked as soon as he was out of earshot. "Jhudora might turn us into Morthogs!"

"Remember when he said that thing about sisterly love? It made me think of something. My own sister might just be able to help us." Rina grabbed Kelsea by the flipper and dragged her off. "Come on, I think I know where to find her now..."

"Hey Mina," said Rina, approaching an island Poogle who was sitting on a nearby tire swing.

"What are you guys doing here?" Replied Mina, surprised.

"We need your help," Said Kelsea, handing the piece of paper over to her.

"Oh wow," Said Mina as she read the slip. "This is such a hard task."

"How can we pull this off?" Questioned Rina.

"I have an idea," Mina replied, "it is risky though."

Mina went inside and came out with a pen and a piece of paper. Mina started to write, reading aloud as she wrote. "Dear Jhudora, Please come to The Catacombs tomorrow. We are having a special event and would like you as our guest of honor. Signed, Queen Fyora."

"Mina!" Kelsea gasped, "we cant lie! This plan is a bad idea, it is going to backfire"

"Its fine," said Mina, "it will get Jhudora there, that was your task. You just need to drop this off and not let her see you.If Jhudora catches you she will..."

Kelsea felt slightly sick. "She doesn't really do that, does she?" she asked nervously.

"It's true!" Mina said fervently. "It happened to the friend of someone I know! Or was it his cousin...?"

Kelsea felt slightly better at this shaky evidence, but still extremely apprehensive. She'd never even seen the Dark Faerie, but of course had heard plenty of things...

"I'm still not sure this is going to work, but I can't really think of a better plan either. Will you come with me?" Kelsea asked, looking at Rina.

"Well," Rina said uncomfortably, "I'm supposed to be gathering supplies for the party, right? I don't think I can travel to Faerieland and still have time to shop. I'm sorry."

Kelsea felt let down. Of course, maybe if she hadn't been late...

"I'll go with you," Mina said confidently.

Kelsea and Rina looked at the Poogle in surprise. "You will?" Kelsea asked. "Why?"

Mina shrugged. "I'm not doing anything right now anyway. Besides," she added with a mischievous grin, "it might be fun to trick Jhudora."

Kelsea couldn't see what the fun was in potentially eliciting the wrath of a very powerful and influential Faerie, but she wasn't going to argue if it meant she didn't have to go alone.

Rina shook her head in exasperation. "Mina, you'll get into serious trouble one of these days, you know."

"I'll be fine," Mina said in an offhanded way. "Anyway, let's get going," she said to Kelsea, then strode off towards the dock. Kelsea waved goodbye to Rina, and followed.

***

By the time they made it to Judora's Bluff, Mina's confidence had slipped, but only by a little. She quite cheerfully walked up the path leading to the tower, with Kelsea following behind much more cautiously. Mina quite suddenly halted; Kelsea was far enough behind, though, that she stopped before running into her.

"Ok," Mina whispered to Kelsea, "here's the plan. I'll go in and ask Jhudora for a quest, and while I'm distracting her, you should find a good place to leave the message. I don't think it will take long, though, so try to hurry."

Mina entered the castle alone. Kelsea looked around the entrance to try to see if there was somewhere she could put the message where it would be visible to the tall Faerie. The door handle was the wrong shape to hold a piece of paper, and she didn't have anything with her to tape the paper to the door. Finally, she decided to roll it up and place it in the runners of the ivy growing on the side of the tower. The task completed, she retreated to the relative safety of the trees that lined the pathway. She sat underneath to wait for Mina.

It was only after she'd watched several other Neopets coming in and out of the tower when she realized there was something wrong. Mina shouldn't be taking this long. Where was she?

Heart beating hard, the shadow Tuskaninny walked down the entranceway. She tried to surreptitiously scan for Mina, but she had a feeling she wasn’t pulling it off very well because she kept getting funny looks from the Neopets hustling back towards the door.

Regardless, there was no sign of the island Poogle as Kelsea continued to glance here and there. Before she knew it, she realized she was in line to ask for a quest - and there wasn’t even a hint of the Poogle anywhere! What was she going to do now?!

Abruptly, she was face to face with the Dark Faerie.

“Welcome to my home,” Jhudora smirked. Was Kelsea imagining it, or was the glint in the Faerie’s eyes particularly malicious? No…surely this was normal. Wasn’t it? Jhudora didn’t know why Kelsea was there…right?

With a start, Kelsea realized the Faerie had continued to speak as terrified questions had run through the Tuskaninny’s mind. What had Jhudora been saying?

“How about it? Do we have a deal?” the Faerie asked. Her eyes seemed to burn into Kelsea.

“I accept!” Kelsea blurted out. The Faerie had probably just been telling her about what she needed, right? Now she’d tell her what item to get, just like Illusen always did, and Kelsea could go…right?

“Excellent,” the Faerie said with a dark smile, “Now head back down the hallway to my left, and wait for me. I’ll join you…shortly. Very, very shortly.”

Kelsea gulped. What had she just agreed to? Knees shaking, she walked down the hallway…

"Mina," Kelsea said joining her friend, "What is going on?"

"Shh," said Mina in a hushed tone. "We cant let her hear us. Jhudora needs our help, she has a plan involving Illusen's gathering tomorrow. I am not sure what the plan is, but I know its going to be bad. Did you see the look in Jhudora's eye? Whatever she is planning is big, and not good. We need to figure out what it is."

Before Kelsea could reply she saw Jhudora enter the hallway. Mina was right, the look in Jhudora's eyes was pure evil, what was she up to?

"Alright," Jhudora said waving her hands. "There is a gathering tomorrow at The Catacombs, which i imagine is in honor of my sisters birthday. I am going to destroy the whole thing and I need your help."

"Wait," Kelsea cried before she could stop herself. "There was what looked like a letter outside your door in the runners of the ivy growing on the side of your tower. Maybe you should see what it says..."

She tossed her purple and green hair over her shoulder. "Fine, I shall go and get it. You all stay here. It shouldn't take too long."

As soon as Jhudora left Kelsea took a deep breath and addressed the room. "We have to figure out a way out of this. We can't let Jhudora destroy the gathering!" she explained.

One Neopet, a shadow Gelert scowled and raised an eyebrow. "Why? Illusen is a coward and a weakling. Who cares if her party gets destroyed?" he said in a jeering voice. His opinion was met with assent from the rest of the assembled Neopets, sans Mina.

"But there will be so many other people there, and not just for Illusen. We can't let their rivalry result in so many people getting hurt!" Kelsea cried.

Mina elbowed her. "Shut up!" But it was too late.

"Again: who cares?" the Gelert said. "Weren't you paying attention, or are you just dumb? Jhudora promised that everyone who helps her will get a free Wand of the Dark Faerie. No one here is going to pass that up. If your delicate morals are getting in the way, maybe you should have gone to precious little Illusen instead."

At that moment, Jhudora came back in and slammed the door. "Change of plans." She brandished the note. "Apparently the meeting has something to do with me. I don't know what it is, but I do intend to find out. The bargain is still on, but we will have to tread cautiously. Fyora being in attendance will... complicate things. We will need full secrecy and discretion."

"If it's secrecy and trust you need, you may want to deal with her before we start planning," the Gelert said, jabbing his thumb toward Kelsea. "She tried to turn us all against you while you were out..."

How will the story end?

Jhudora looked down her nose at the frightened Tuskaninny. "Is that so"? the dark faerie mused. "interesting..."

Just then, a knock sounded at Jhudora's front door, and the faerie sighed in annoyance. "I'll be right back," she grumbled as she stalked out of the room. "Don't go anywhere!" she called over her shoulder as she left.

The Neopets waited in silence, the majority of them glaring at Kelsea. The little Tuskaninny was wringing her hands, desperately trying to come up with a new plan, when Rina came prancing through the doorway, Jhudora close behind her.

Kelsea's eyes widened, but she stayed silent. What was Rina doing here? She was supposed to be gathering supplies and had been too busy to come. She glanced at Mina. The Poogle gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head, but said nothing.

Rina's entrance seemed to make the others forget about Kelsea as they watched the newcomer warily. Rina flashed a smile. "I'm so excited to help with Jhudora's plan! Aren't you?" she said to no one in particular. The others relaxed a bit, and Kelsea had been forgotten as Rina continued to chatter on.

Jhudora cleared her throat loudly in an effort to be heard over the chattering Neopets. "Forget the plan," she said briskly. "I think we're just going to play this straight and see what happens," she added, and left the room without another word. Everyone followed her hastily out of her home, and the group made its way to The Catacombs.

Once she was sure no one was watching her, Kelsea edged closer to Rina. "What are you doing here?" she whispered. "I thought you couldn't come!"

"Mina and I came up with a backup plan, in case you got into trouble," Rina said quietly. "If you weren't back at The Catacombs in an hour, I was to come see what happened and do what I could to help. I saw you were in some trouble, so I tried to distract everyone. Luckily it worked! And," the Poogle continued, "it looks like the plan is going to work after all, since we're on our way to the party, with Jhudora!"

Kelsea nodded, but she didn't share Rina's confidence. They weren't at the party yet, after all.

A short time later, the group of Neopets, led by Jhudora, halted a few hundred yards from the entrance to The Catacombs. The dark faerie turned to face her followers and began to give them instructions, when a movement caught the faerie's eye. The group of Neopets looked on in stunned amazement as Jhudora's face turned beet red and she clenched her fists in anger. Everyone turned to see what had angered Jhudora so, and gasped when they saw...

"Illusen!" Jhudora screeched. "Why are you here at a gathering that's meant for me?"

Illusen had been approaching The Catacombs at a brisk pace, but when she saw Jhudora, she slowed, though continued to move forward.

"I don't understand what you mean," Illusen said cautiously. "I thought this was a party for Illusen Day, and that you had come to celebrate with me as I hoped you would."

The earth faerie's sad face seemed to soften Jhudora a tiny bit, though no one would ever admit that they had seen that. "Ugh, Illusen Day," she sneered. "How could I forget? But forget I did," she said, hoping to wound Illusen further.

Illusen said nothing, but continued toward The Catacombs and entered without a backward glance.

Jhudora huffed in annoyance, but motioned to her followers. "We came all this way; we may as well go in," Jhudora sighed. "There at least better be cake."

The group shuffled into The Catacombs, with Kelsea, Mina, and Rina bringing up the rear. Kelsea caught the eye of the party organizer pointed at Jhudora, and grinned. They had done it! It was messy, and complicated, but the girls got the job done, and they had given Illusen what she wanted. It didn't turn out to be quite the cheery reunion Illusen had hoped for, but it was a start.

THE END.