The Aisha Queen: Trials and Triumphs

Chapter 2: The Faeries Meet

by jigglypuff158

The next day, Sapphira woke Fay up when the jewels in the cave wall reached their brightest, which was when the sun shone directly on them at 9:30 a.m. (They would start getting dim again at 4:30 p.m.) She said, "Come, we must join the fleet of Water Faeries. One Water Faerie alone isn't strong enough to withstand the Dark Faeries by itself, but a whole fleet is!" After breakfast (a Green Apple, Bread, and a sip of Water) Fay and Sapphira went outside the cavern and looked for the Water Faeries that would lead them to the Faeries' Meeting.

"Look, there they are!" Fay spotted them. Far away in the water, a huge fleet of Water Faeries was obviously going to the Faeries' Meeting. Fay refreshed her Underwater Breathing. Sapphira motioned for Fay to grab one of her tail fins. Then, Sapphira shot through the water like a bullet. Fay tried to help by treading water and paddling. Soon, Sapphira and Fay were at the head of the fleet.

Fay asked another Water Faerie, Blue Lace, "Why is Sapphira at the head of the fleet and why is her hair and tail laced with jewels?"

Blue Lace replied, "She is the Uber-Water Faerie. Queen Sapphira lives in luxury. We regular Water Faeries are well off and we can afford velvet and the like, but we cannot have our caves decorated with jewels. Queen Sapphira can."

Fay asked Sapphira, "What species are the pets that will be there?"

"All Aishas," Sapphira answered. "But the Dark Faeries have left only a handful. You are exactly one-twentieth of the remaining Aisha species."

"I wish there were more Aishas in the world," Fay wished.

"There could be," Sapphira told her, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"What do you mean?" Fay nearly lost her grip on Sapphira's tail.

"Well, I won't say much, but an ancient prophecy made by Gwen the psychic Light Faerie says that several times when the Aisha population is running low, a pair of Aishas will always restore it. The names are always different every time…but you must know that an Aisha named Faerie_Green is part of the seventh pair, and the seventh pair is supposed to meet within about two days."

Fay mused on this a while, but she was distracted a little while later. After surfacing for a breath of air, (for Water Faeries needed some air just as much as we do) Blue Lace told her that they were nearing some sort of building.

"It's a grey stone building that must be the Faeries' Lair!" she excitedly told Fay. "It's built over a narrow finger of water that stretches way out. That must be the Water Faeries' Entrance. Then there's a path from the woods for the Earth Faeries, a path from the lower worlds for the Dark Faeries (this, she learned later, had been closed up for some time) and an opening in the roof for Light, Air, and Space Faeries. There's even a path set with flames for the Fire Faeries!"

"There's no mistake," Sapphira said, "That is the Faeries' Lair!"

The fleet of Water Faeries sped towards the narrow finger of water. They dived underwater and passed underneath the walls. When they came back up again, Fay found she was in a marble pool inside the building. All the other Faeries were already there. Fay got out of the water, shook herself dry, and joined the other Aishas at the feet of the Faerie Queen. (Only the Uber-Faeries and the Faerie Queen were seated, on magnificent marble seats to sit on.) Since all the Faeries were talking amongst themselves, no one but Fay herself realized her impoliteness at shaking herself dry. Fortunately, the heat from the Fire Faeries soon evaporated the water on the floor. Suddenly a very old Light Faerie came in. It was Gwen the psychic Light Faerie.

"Sisters, I have news of the Uber-Dark Faerie. She is being held prisoner by none other than Dr. Sloth himself!"

The Faeries and Aishas all fell silent. The Space Faerie broke the silence by addressing the group.

"Do you think we should rescue the Dark Faerie from Dr. Sloth or do you think we should leave her there?" No one said a word. They were all thinking. But they didn't have much time to think…not before evil laughter rang out. It was the Uber-Dark Faerie, with her minions and - Dr. Sloth and his Grundos!

"This looks bad," the red Aisha next to Fay said to her. Fay nodded. She turned her eyes back on the Space Faerie, who rose and said to the Dark Faerie, "How did you escape from Dr. Sloth?"

"Ha!" Desdemona (the Uber-Dark Faerie) replied, "I wasn't captured by him at all! I took the opportunity of meeting him to persuade him to join my minions and me. And with the invincible Dr. Sloth with me, I shall destroy the Aisha race!"

"Very, very bad," Fay said to the red Aisha.