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Jhudora's Cloud, Faerieland
Point of View: Owners
They were escorted to Jhudora's Cloud by five air faeries
and five light faeries, as well as the Air and Light Uber-Faeries.
"We cannot enter the cloud until you break the
curse," the Light Uber-Faerie explained. "Once you do, we will enter and help
you out. To get to the Spell Chamber is simple; to get back out is a different
matter entirely, as the Cloud tries to keep visitors from escaping by moving
walls. My magic can force the walls into the shortest way back to the entrance,
so it's less of a problem for me. After you break the curse and lower the shield,
we will come to the Spell Chamber - stay there, or we may not be able to find
you. Once we come, we will lead you back out. Do you understand?"
sirSquire nodded; he guessed the pets did, too,
as the Light Uber-Faerie nodded and said, "Good luck." sirSquire turned around,
took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal.
The first thing he noticed was the air. It was
stale, like a house that had been shut up for too long. The second thing he
noticed was the light, dimmed by the shield. Not wasting any time, he stepped
into the portal.
After he popped out of the other side, he pulled
out the roll of paper the faeries had given him.
Turn right, then the third left, and straight,
and at the end of the hall turn left, then the door on the right? sirSquire
wrote, then tore off that piece and dropped it. It floated down, then disappeared
as one of the pets picked it up. He waited for them to read it and respond.
Another piece of paper appeared, with "That's
what the Faeries said," scrawled across it. sirSquire picked it up, and
pocketed it. And so they went, stepping over sleeping guards, turning right,
then taking the third left, and straight at the intersection, left at the end
of the corridor, and finally, arriving at the door in.
"Everyone here?" sirSquire wrote, then
tore that piece off and dropped it. A few moments later "Yep. Door got
blasted off its hinges! Some curse" -- "let's go" then appeared.
He took that piece and pocketed it.
Spell Chamber, Jhudora's Castle, Jhudora's Cloud, Faerieland
Point of View: Pets
"DANY!"
"Uh-oh,"
"Meeki!"
"Rigara?"
"14265!"
"Reexam!"
"Ho, hum..."
Serennaa leaped at Dany, who would have been
knocked on his back, had he not jumped and hovered at the right moment.
Meeki and 14265 hugged, Reexam and Rigara grinned
at each other (being Jubjubs, they couldn't really do much more than that),
leaving 4_ears to feel left out.
Serennaa noticed, turned, and asked, "Who's she?"
"4_ears4444, 4_ears for short, she helped out."
"Helped, eh? Well, if she got you back... 4_EARS!"
She leapt. A brief "mmmphl" could be heard from
4_ears before Serennaa started up: "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..."
"What, you can do that but I can't?" Meeki muttered.
After introductions; many paw-, tail-, or foot-shakes;
and Dany and Meeki prying Serennaa loose ("Come on, Serennaa, you're embarrassing
me..."), Serennaa frowned, and said, "Okay, so you're rescued, but where's sirSquire?"
"Right here," answered Dany.
"Really? I don't see him..."
Dany explained to Serennaa, Meeki, and Reexam
about the curse.
"Oh -- I'd better make sure he's here..." Dany
said suddenly.
14265 unrolled his tail, in which he had been
holding the roll of paper and pencil, and offered them to Dany.
"You still here?" he wrote, and set
it down.
Moments later it disappeared, and a few seconds
later, a second piece landed on the floor nearby.
Yep. Just looking at the potion - looks like
it's boiling. You wanna go first?
Sure.
He dropped the piece, and glided to the edge
of the cauldron. His left wingtip, Fyora had said. Slowly, he bent his wing,
and dipped his wingtip in -
"YOW!"
- and he froze, and started glowing. Blue sparks
flew around him as his wingtip became see-through. In the center of his wingtip
was a non-see-through ball, glowing blue. It slowly left his wingtip and dissolved
into the potion; the sparks faded, Dany stopped glowing -
- and a splash of potion went flying as he jerked
his wing back. One of the shards hovering around the potion-sphere started shaking,
as though it couldn't make up its mind whether or not to go in.
A paper appeared. "Is it really hot?"
"Tell him it's freezing," said Dany. Serennaa
did so.
"Great. Me next", came the response.
Those who could see over the cauldron's edge saw as what looked like an arm-shaped
bubble of air plunged itself into the potion.
Even though the pets couldn't see sirSquire,
they could see the light that surrounded him. The light was in the shape of
him, and sirSquire and Serennaa felt like they could almost see him. The sparks
came, and the bead of light left sirSquire's arm and went into the potion...
then the sparks stopped, the light faded, and he was gone again. The arm-bubble
nearly flew back out of the cauldron. The shaking shard made up its mind, and
flew into place.
"Okay," said Dany, facing the group of pets.
"You three still need to do yours... what if 14265's first, then 4_ears, then
Rigara?"
The pets nodded, and 14265 stepped forward.
"My tail, right?" he asked.
Rigara nodded. A Jubjub nodding is almost as
interesting to watch as a Jubjub shaking its head. 14265 took a deep breath,
and lowered his tail in. He squealed, and the same thing happened to him as
happened to Dany -- the glowing, the sparks, the ball of light. He yanked his
tail out, rubbed it a bit to warm it up, and stepped back to the group. Above
the cauldron, another shard snapped into place. 4_ears did the same, and as
she came back to the group, her ears slouching slightly, she muttered, "Why
isn't it ice?" The third shard went into the sphere. Only one was left.
Rigara walked up to the cauldron and stopped.
She was a good two feet shorter than it.
"Need a lift?" Serennaa offered, and scooped
Rigara up, setting her on the edge.
"My center? So I have to jump in this stuff?"
She shivered, rolled onto her toes, and back, and onto her toes, and back, and
forth, and back, and forth...
"Oh, come on already," Dany muttered, coming
up from behind and pushing Rigara in. She squeaked.
The magic was a bit more impressive for her,
as the potion did something funny to the light. A rainbow of colors played across
the ceiling and walls, and the potion itself seemed to be glowing. Then it stopped,
and there was a lot of splashing. Serennaa quickly lifted Rigara out of the
potion, scowled at Dany, and set the Jubjub down. With a faint click, the fourth
and last shard of magic sealed itself into the potion-sphere.
It started humming, and everyone turned to look.
The hum climbed in pitch, until it was to high to be able to hear: "DUCK!" someone
yelled.
And it shattered, sending splinters of frozen
potion into the walls. The potion erupted, as if a giant bubble had been popped
in the bottom of the cauldron, drenching everyone in sight.
"It tastes horrible," said Meeki.
Dany looked up, and saw that the potion had drenched
sirSquire as well, and the potion formed a sort of covering that looked like
some sort of flimsy, hollow, moving statue of him. Then he realized there was
more there than potion.
The curse had been broken.
Spell Chamber, Jhudora's Castle, Jhudora's Cloud, Faerieland
Point of View: Doesn't Matter
sirSquire looked around, and grinned.
"SIRSQUIRE!" Serennaa shouted, and her owner
didn't have time to duck before she bowled him over. "ImissedyouImissedyouImissedyou..."
she ranted.
"Can't -- breath -- uh...." he stammered.
Someone yanked her off his stomach.
"You know, Serennaa, you're really embarrassing
when you do that," sirSquire gasped. He sat up and looked around. "Hi guys.
You must be 4_ears, and you're Dany and Serennaa, of course, and you're..."
His voice trailed off.
"What?" Dany asked, and turned around.
When the Dark Faerie at the Faerie meeting said
that returning the magic would reverse all the effects of the potion, she meant
all of the effects. Including the sleeping, and the freezing. Jhudora had been
frozen.
Now she wasn't.
"Come to rescue your friends, eh?" She raised
her hands to perform a spell.
"Cover your ears," said Reexam, loud enough for
the pets and sirSquire to hear, but not Jhudora. They did so. 4_ears curled
her ear stalks down to press over her other ears. Meeki had to roll sideways
until her tail covered both of her ears, leaving her upside-down. Serennaa stuffed
her paws into the bottom of her ears. Dany and 14265 just covered their ears
with their paws - they were lucky enough to have both paws and the right-sized
ears. Rigara smiled, but didn't cover her ears - not that she could have --
or that she really had ears...
Meeki saw Reexam and Rigara curl their lips back
as if hissing, and suddenly Jhudora leapt back, covering her own ears, but it
was too late - whatever the Jubjubs were doing, it was a useful battle move,
and Jhudora staggered and slumped against the wall. The Jubjubs stopped hissing
and grinned. The other pets and sirSquire uncovered their ears.
"Clever," said sirSquire.
"What did you do?" 4_ears asked in awe.
"Jubjubs 'aren't aggressive, but they can defend
themselves when threatened with their deafening screech,' " quoted Rigara. "At
least, that's what our description says. We've found it's more of a deafening,
powerful, power-reducing screech."
"Fools," whispered Jhudora. She raised her hands
again. "Try this instead!"
"A cage of light,
to stop this plight,
we summon here,
and heal the ear!"
Everyone in the room turned to see the five light
faeries hovering just inside the doorway. Jhudora stopped slouching, having
been healed by the spell, but was surrounded by a cage of light.
" 'And heal the ear'? " A voice asked from behind
the light faeries. Everyone in the room turned (again) to see the Light Uber-Faerie
standing there. Behind her stood five air faeries, and the Air Uber-Faerie.
"Nothing else rhymed," said one of the light
faeries.
"Fear?"
"Oh, yeah..."
The Air Uber-Faerie stepped forward. "We heard
the Jubjubs screeching," she explained, "and realized what must have happened.
It was too far off to hurt us, fortunately. Sorry about not thinking that Jhudora
would unfreeze."
sirSquire shook his head. "We didn't realize
that either."
The Uber-Faerie looked at the cauldron. "I see
you broke the curse," she commented. "Congratulations."
"That potion tasted horrible!" Meeki piped up.
The Air Uber-Faerie laughed.
"Um, not to break up the moment, but could we
get out of here?" A voice asked from behind Jhudora. Everyone in the room turned
a third time, and noticed the cage, still locked, Usul and owner still locked
inside.
"A cage of air,
we compare,
to this cage of metal,
make air like a petal!"
Everyone watched as the metal cage started shifting
into a petal shape, as it slowly melted into air. The Air Uber-Faerie glared
at the spell casters. "You're as bad as they are! 'Make air like a petal'? "
The pets, owner, and air faeries chuckled, and
the Usul and her owner opened the door on the cage and stepped out.
"Thank you," said the owner.
38629 Main Street, Neopia Central
"Listen to this," said sirSquire, looking up from The Neopian Times. It was
the next morning. " 'No pet or owner can deny that what happened three days
ago was a work of evil. Jhudora, the Dark Faerie, cast a spell over Usulover
and her Usul, Lusu. The curse was that no owner could see, hear, or touch a
pet, and no pet could see, hear, or touch an owner. In a desperate attempt at
stopping the curse from taking hold, Lusu shot a Rainbow Sticky Hand at a jar,
and added the jar to the potion. Unfortunately, the jar held an ultra-power
building herb, and the curse, instead of being stopped, was enabled to curse
all Neopia. Dany770, sirSquire01, 4_ears4444, Rigara, and 14265 were attacked
by pieces of the curse's magic - ' Attacked? How about, sneakily became holders
of it? ' - and were summoned to Faerieland to break the curse, as it could only
be broken by returning its pieces. After the curse was broken, Jhudora tried
to attack the pets and owner, but sirSquire01 valiantly led the pets in a fight
against Jhudora. After a long battle, Jhudora was subdued, and the five escaped.'
Valiantly led the pets? A long battle? Come on! 'See the Editorial for details.'
It doesn't even mention the Faeries!"
"Maybe the faeries told the papers not to, so
they wouldn't get loads of mail," suggested Serennaa, who was cooking pancakes
for breakfast.
"Probably. As it is..." sirSquire set down the
paper and looked at the heap of envelopes that were the Neomails he'd gotten.
Large red letters hovered above them, spelling out YOU HAVE 100 NEOMAILS! "Trash
the lot, I say," he continued, pressing down firmly on the middle of the pile.
The envelopes faded and disappeared, and the red letters evaporated. A knock
came at the door.
"They're not showing up in person now, are they?"
Growled Dany.
Sighing, sirSquire crossed the room to the door
and opened it. The red Usul they rescued looked up at him.
"Uh, Usulover, my owner, wanted to say, well
thanks... she sent me because, er, she didn't think you'd read it if she sent
a Neomail..."
sirSquire nodded. "Yeah, I just deleted the fifth
batch."
"Oh, wow, Usulover's just letting the second
hundred stay where it is, that way she can't get any more."
"Good point. I think I'll try that."
"Oh -- she also wanted me to give you this."
Lusu held out a Rainbow Sticky Hand. "As a thank-you." I blinked.
"Oh, no," I said quickly, then added, "but thanks
anyway."
Lusu smiled. "No, my owner just wanted to get
me to be a fighter in the Battledome. I was hoping I could drop it off somewhere
and say I lost it..."
"I see. Well, have you seen Reexam and Rigara?
They're the Jubjubs -- they handled themselves pretty well against Jhudora,
and they might be looking into the Battledome."
"I will," she said, and turned to leave. "Oh
yeah... she also said to tell you to burn any copies of The Neopian Times you
get. Whoever wrote that article didn't do a good job of it."
"I saw. Well, see ya, I guess."
"Goodbye."
I smiled, closed the door, turned around, and
my smile disappeared. I forced it back.
"You lied when you told me that Dany had burned
those pancakes, didn't you?" I asked Serennaa innocently.
"You said WHAT?" Dany shouted at his sister.
"Um, er, ah, uh..."
"Didn't you?"
"Yes," said Serennaa in a very small voice.
"Give me the frying pan," I ordered.
"But I --" she stammered.
"Give me the frying pan," I said again.
"I read the directions this time --"
"GIVE ME THE FRYING PAN!" I said, nearly shouting.
"Oh, all right..." she said, and handed me the
frying pan.
Half an hour later, I decided to give Dany a
chance to "learn from my show of what not to do when cooking pancakes," as I
so quickly put it, and try his hand.
Fifteen minutes after that, we decided that Dany
was even worse than I was.
We had cereal that morning.
The End
Authors note: sirSquire01 (me), Dany770 (my pet), Serennaa (my other pet),
katrika (Meeki's owner), Meeki, and 14265 (Meeki's brother) are real. Everyone
else I made up.
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