The Faerie Pet: Part Six

Naiyania smiled kindly at me. "I was trapped in darkness many years, waiting for your arrival. Thank you, Floater, for releasing me."

     "I-I didn't… I mean… you're welcome," I said. It wasn't as if I'd actually had a choice. The power had come up in me, and I'd had to let it out. In my surprise and awe at seeing Naiyania, I had almost forgotten about the power. Where had it come from? Or had it always been in me, and I'd just never known it was there?

     "You are the faerie pet," Naiyania said. "We faeries have known for a long time that there would be a pet endowed with powers of Water and Light faeries born on Neopia. You were born with those powers, Floater, but you did not know it until today. This is the day that your true self has risen."

     I nodded, not knowing what to say. I knew it was true now. I was the faerie pet. Yet…what did that mean to me? I didn't feel any power anymore. I was the same Flotsam I always was now. But before, just minutes before, I had broken through the dark chamber and freed Naiyania.

     "Being a faerie pet is a responsibility, Floater," Naiyania said softly.

     I gulped. I don't like responsibilities. I can barely handle the ones Nut gives me, and my siblings know I'm sort of immature.

     "You are responsible for using your powers for good, not evil. Water and Light, two of the strongest elements, reside within your heart. Your powers will come to you when you truly need them. Your duty is to become pure, a pet of kindness. Then you will be worthy of your powers," Naiyania told me. "This is what you must strive to do throughout your life. When you become completely pure, you will gain full control over your powers. Until then, you will be unable to summon them of your own means."

     I nodded. I wasn't sure I understood. I knew I hadn't summoned my powers today; they had risen of their own accord, without my expecting it. But being pure? How was I supposed to strive to be…pure? And what else did she expect me to do with my powers, now that I'd freed her?

     "Unlike most pets in Neopia, you have the strength to battle the greatest evil," said Naiyania. "Dark Faeries, and their allied forces, which we call the Darkness, are spread all over Neopia. An ordinary pet cannot come close to truly defeating a Dark Faerie. The strongest pets can only knock a faerie down in combat, but they cannot remove the darkness. You can. You have the power to destroy darkness, Floater, for you have the power of Light. And your powers must be put to use."

     I didn't know how to do that. But I believed everything Naiyania was telling me. How could I not? I knew it was true. I didn't know how to use my powers, but I knew that somehow, I would achieve the goals she was setting for me.

     "You are, and always will be, the faerie pet," Naiyania said. "You can only reach your goal as a faerie on your own, without my help. Be aware, however, that I will be here to assist you. You are my subject, and though you will not live in my sanctuary, I am still your teacher. You released me from the darkness, however, and I must thank you."

     Naiyania looked at her hand, and a small, spherical pendant on a gold-colored wire appeared in her palm. The pendant was divided down the middle into two colors. One side was bright yellow, and the other side was aqua blue. The pendant was glowing steadily, with a yellow glow from one side and a blue glow from the other. Naiyania bent down and slipped the gold wire over my head. The pendant glowed warmly against my skin.

     "Oh, it's beautiful," I breathed. "Is it really for me?"

     Naiyania smiled. "Remember me by this pendant. Thank you…"

     The Water Faerie turned and swam away. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was beautiful, the very image of a true queen.

     Naiyania moved over to the pile of rubble that had been her palace, and for a moment I felt a glimmer of guilt for having been responsible for its destruction. The Water Faerie swept her staff over the rubble, and a flash of light engulfed it; then the rubble was gone. Bare ground stood in its place. Naiyania raised her staff high, and its blue orb began to glow.

     I watched in amazement as a foundation rose from the ground, all by itself, and then around it rose walls. Slowly but steadily, the walls grew higher and higher, and the orb on Naiyania's staff shone brighter and brighter. The palace was being restored. Towers formed, and a roof, and there it was, shining in all its glory. It was more beautiful than I had ever seen it, and every stone was a rich aqua color, nothing like the pale blue of the old palace. And the walls no longer seemed fragile. They glowed strongly, shining through the ocean, with power and life coursing through them. The palace no longer needed the Sea Sapphire to keep it standing, for its queen had at last returned.

     "I have rebuilt my palace," Naiyania said softly, turning to face me. "You must go now, Floater. You have a destiny to fulfill…"

     I didn't want to leave. The ocean was full of life now, with aquatic pets of all colors and kinds swimming around with joy at being free. And there was Naiyania, the beautiful Water Faerie queen. I had to leave this wondrous place?

     Then I remembered Nut and my siblings. I hadn't thought of them since Naiyania was released, but now I realized that they were probably worried sick about me. I turned around and swam away, away from the beautiful undersea sanctuary where Naiyania ruled again. The pendant she had given me glowed brightly from its place around my neck.

     I swam through the tunnel that led to Naiyania's kingdom and emerged in the other part of the sea. As soon as I crossed into the ocean beyond, I heard a scraping noise and looked behind me. A large boulder had rolled into place in front of the tunnel mouth, effectively blocking it. I would never be able to return to Naiyania's kingdom again.

     My thoughts tumbled around inside my head as I swam rapidly up through the water. So much had happened today, and I had discovered more about myself than I had ever known. I have power… I am the faerie pet… I must become pure… All these things whirled around in my mind. I swam higher and higher through the water, little thinking about where I was going. The pendant around my neck was a glowing reminder of my true self that I knew I would never forget.

     At last, I broke through the surface of the water. To my surprise, it was night. Stars hung in the dark sky above me, and the moon shone on the dark waters off of Mystery Island. Had I been gone for that long? Where was my family?

     I paddled slowly around the Mystery Island beach. Shadows covered the sand, and hardly any pets were there anymore. I wondered if Nut and the others had gone home without me. No, of course not. They wouldn't do that. If I knew my family, Nut had probably torn up the island looking for me, Sparkler was probably scouting from the air, Quiggler was serving to assure the rest of the family that I was all right, and Lulu was most likely clutching her Slorg and worrying. Well, I couldn't let that go on for much longer. I swam around the island, looking for them.

     A shout surprised me. "Floater! Floater, is that you? Floater!" It was Sparkler's voice. "HEY, GUYS, I FOUND HER!"

     I looked up and saw my blue Shoyru sister hovering above me. She flew down low over the water and cried, "Floater! You're all right! Do you have any idea how incredibly worried Nut and Lulu are? We thought we'd lost you! You dove down and didn't come up…we thought you'd drowned or something!"

     "I can breathe underwater," I pointed out.

     "Well, you know what I mean. We thought something awful happened to you down there. Lulu wanted to go down and find you, but Nut wouldn't let her. She didn't want to lose her Kiko, too." Sparkler glanced at the glowing pendant around my neck. "Hey…where'd you get that necklace?"

     I stared out at the glistening dark waters, remembering all that had happened. "Naiyania gave it to me," I said softly.

     Sparkler looked confused. "Who's Naiyania?"

     Before I could explain, shouts reached my ears, and I saw the other three members of my family running down the beach towards Sparkler and me. I paddled towards the shore, and Sparkler flew beside me.

     "Floater!" Nut and Lulu were yelling at me with no small amount of relief in their voices.

     Quiggler was grinning as usual and calling, "Hi, Floater! We're glad you're back!"

     Talk about underestimating something. They were ecstatic to have me back. Nut and Lulu practically grabbed me right out of the water and almost smothered me with hugs. Lulu made her Slorg hug me, too, and he left slime on my fins, but I didn't really mind. Quiggler and even Sparkler were grinning like crazy with relief and joy that I was safe.

     "Floater, what's that?" Lulu asked, pointing to the pendant.

     "A Water Faerie gave it to me," I said.

     "A Water Faerie?" Lulu looked at me wonderingly.

     "I'll tell you the whole story later," I said. "I had quite an adventure down there."

     "We're going home now," Nut announced when things finally calmed down. "And, Floater, you have to tell us what happened on the way back."

     So I did. My family was astonished, to say the least. None of us had ever thought that I was anything but an ordinary blue Flotsam. Now, though, we knew differently.

     We got back to our regular life at home in Neopia Central, and over the following weeks they hardly thought about the powers that I now knew I had. But I thought about them. I put Naiyania's pendant in a special place in my room, and I remembered her every time I saw it. I also remembered my goal.

     I have an obligation to use my powers. I cannot control them yet; I have to try to gain the ability to summon them at will. I'm trying hard, but I'm nowhere near my goal yet.

     On that day so long ago in the Mystery Island ocean, my life changed forever. I am, and always will be, the faerie pet.

The End