This Glass Container: Part Three

     She closed her eyes and blissfully spiraled through the raindrops, which were pounding towards Neopia at a steadily increasing rate. She was free... Free from Balthazar, free from the infernal glass container that had imprisoned her, free from the pathetic and worthless Neopets that demanded a reward from her, and their strange owner, who simply could not be scared, even by a Dark Faerie such as herself. All of those troubles were behind her now.

     She would be back in Faerieland soon enough, and then she would meet up with her Coven. And they would greet her warmly – or as warmly as Dark Faeries skilled at the art of heartlessness could manage. They would explain to her the long nights they spent looking for her, and how they plotted revenge against Balthazar after realizing he had been the one to take their sister.

     Jaede could imagine it all in her head, for that could be the only scenario. Although other, less wonderful ones crossed her mind, she pushed them away. This golden future, clearly depicted in her mind, drove her onwards for the next few hours in the pouring rain and harsh wind, as lightning lit up the sky around her.

     ***

     Jaede touched down on the magically condensed cloud fixture that was Faerieland, her home, and one day her kingdom, when Fyora was taken down. She nodded appreciatively at the walled city before her – such wonderful weather really brought out the best in this place. All the frilly pinks and purples lost their shine and became shades of gray, and the rain hissed through the cloud at her feet with a deliciously menacing sound.

     The Dark Faerie folded her beautifully evil-looking wings behind her back and strode confidently forwards. She hoped she still looked dramatic, even with her designer purple and green Faerie robe torn and ragged. She would have to get a new one as soon as possible.

     Jaede walked through the open city gates and turned right at the first chance she got, onto a run-down street that progressively became ridden with all manner of trash and refuge. One of the many streets that Fyora tried to hide from tourists; one of the many streets Dark Faeries without much infamy inhabited.

     On both the left and right, abandoned – or seemingly abandoned – warehouses lined the alleyway. It was hard to distinguish one from another in the rain – Jaede could just barely see three meters ahead of her – but she counted the buildings as they flashed by as compensation for her limited vision; she did not want to miss the right one.

     Finally, she stopped outside an old Neocola storehouse. After assuring herself that it was the right one, by examining the pattern of rotting boards plastered over a sign screaming “NEOCOLA!”, she quickly ducked underneath the small overhang the building offered.

     Jaede tried to make sense of her tangled, water-soaked violet locks, but gave up and settled for just smoothing it down. She shook out her wings, took a deep breath... and opened the door.

     The meeting going on in front of her looked exactly the same as the last meeting she had half-participated in. Everyone was crowded around the same – or at least a similar – black cauldron, but it was bubbling this time with an eerie pinkish liquid. Claudessia, Valeria, and Maude sat at the same places – at the head of the group – and the entire warehouse was filled with shivering petpets in dismal petpet crates.

     The drenched Dark Faerie saw that they had all been talking animatedly before her entrance, but now everything was deathly quiet. Everybody glared over at her, and no scowl was more pronounced than Valeria’s. Claudessia’s was close, however.

     “What brings you to our sacred Coven, you poor excuse for an evil Faerie?”

     Jaede was completely taken aback by her reception, but tried to maintain her calm and confident façade. “I am part of your Coven, Claudessia the Evil. I am Jaede the Malevolent, and you permitted me to join less than a week ago.”

     Laughter erupted around the warehouse. “‘Jaede the Malevolent,’” mocked Valeria in a high, whiny voice. Jaede’s mouth fell open in shock. Why would Valeria, of all Dark Faeries, do this to her?

     “You’re no longer part of our Coven,” sneered Maude triumphantly. “We realized how weak and useless you were when Balthazar attacked and you were taken. You were never any help to us, and if you can be captured so easily, you will never be a help to us. So strap on some gossamer yellow wings, no-longer-Sister, because you might as well be a Light Faerie with all your evil talents.” Laughter once again filled the room. Jaede took a step backwards in disbelief.

     “W – What?” she gasped. The room was spinning; the cruel laughter of her former friends filled her ears. “You can’t do that!”

     Between peals of laughter, Claudessia managed to gasp out, “Yes... I... can...”

     “NO!” shrieked Jaede, bright green flames flaring in her fists as anger took over. “NO!” She sent a stream of fire towards the center of the group, but she really hadn’t expected it to do much damage; and it didn’t. Maude made it disappear with a flick of her wrist.

     “Valeria!” Jaede turned to her sister. “Valeria – please... I’m your sister...” She took a hesitant step forwards, hand outstretched.

     But Valeria’s face was as cold and unmoving as stone as she jerked her head “no” ever so slightly. Jaede’s face fell.

     “I am disgusted that you share the same blood as me,” said Valeria coldly, Claudessia and Maude grinning evilly behind her. “But you are no longer my sister. Haven’t you heard? Mother disowned you. She said you were ‘a disgrace to unlawful society.’ Perhaps you should take Maude’s suggestion at face value; strap on a pair of yellow wings and disassociate yourself from us. You are not evil, mean, or even nasty enough to be in my sight. You are weak.”

     The impact of her – no longer – sister’s words hit Jaede like a physical blow. She was not worthy enough for the Coven, and only because Balthazar had captured her. She was nothing.

     Tears streamed down her face as she ran out the still-open door and took to the skies, and they fell down to Neopia thousands of feet below, indistinguishable from the raindrops that fell from the heavens.

     Without the Coven, she was little more than a shell of a Dark Faerie. She had the appearance, but not the substance – she was weak, worthless, a nobody. She would be unwanted by everybody, a misfit condemned to forever roam Neopia without a home, without a friend. Her arrogance had withered away to almost nothing, as well as her confidence and sense of belonging. Those feelings were gone, and she doubted they would ever return to her.

     But this was how I was before, she thought bitterly. Talentless and unskilled, with a mask of cattiness and armed with hollow boasts. And now her mask was gone, too.

     Jaede did not know where she was going. Her sense of direction was gone in the storm, and all she knew for certain was that she flew away from Faerieland, away from the cloud that had been her home, where she was no longer welcome among her kind. It did not matter where she went, anyway – a Dark Faerie was not welcome anywhere.

     The strangest feeling overcame her – one of the feelings, she was sure, that she was supposed to have learned to dispose of as a Dark Faerie. After a moment, she guessed that it was the pathetic feeling of wanting to be loved. It had always been there, she now knew; her mother had not loved her, and nor had her sisters, especially not Valeria. She had been fooling herself all these years, pretending that they held some sort of place for her in their hearts.

     But love was not a Dark Faerie emotion. It made sense – love did not have a place amongst spite and malice. But what did not make sense was Jaede’s sudden longing, stronger than anything she’d ever felt before, to be something other than a Dark Faerie.

     ***

     Jaede did not know how she got there, or even how she remembered where it was, but a few hours later saw her on the roof of Bessie’s Neohome. She sat shivering, back against the chimney, with her knees pulled to her chest and chin resting on top of them. It was still raining. The water plastered Jaede’s tangled violet tresses to her head and neck, and her gown to the rest of her body. The fabric was nearly black in places where it was supposed to be purple, waterlogged as it was. Her usually pale skin was now deathly white, and her aura, instead of a healthy lavender, was now a sickly blue. If she stayed out much longer, she would catch something. And she doubted that the Neopian Hospital took in Dark Faeries, or knew how to cure them, for that matter.

     The defeated Dark Faerie didn’t notice when Bessie returned, lugging a slab of dark wood roughly in the shape of a door. She was awakened to the human’s presence, however, when there was a loud bang and the girl cried out. Curious, Jaede flew down to see what the problem was.

     “Why, hello, Jaede,” said Bessie pleasantly, rubbing her arm where the wood had apparently fallen on her. “Would you mind giving me a hand?” Her tone suggested she was visited by Dark Faeries at night during storms often.

     In silence, Jaede helped Bessie place the wood over the doorframe so that most of the storm stayed outside. When they were done, the human sighed and sank into a couch. Jaede stood awkwardly by the makeshift door, dripping onto the carpet underfoot.

     “Oh – I’m sorry!” exclaimed Bessie after a moment, jumping up. “How rude of me – would you like a cup of hot Borovan, perhaps? Maybe a blanket?”

     “Yes, that would be... nice,” said Jaede slowly, but her human hostess had already vanished. The Dark Faerie sighed and took a seat on the floor, not wanting to destroy any furniture with wet stains.

     “Nice,” repeated Jaede, toying with a strand of wet hair. Perhaps being nice wasn’t so bad after all. Of course, she didn’t have to act as wonderfully kind as Illusen, but maybe being a Dark Faerie wasn’t her calling.

     A sudden image of herself in strap-on Light Faerie wings came to mind, and she smiled, a genuine, heartfelt smile for the first time in her life. She wondered vaguely if the NeoCash Mall sold them.

The End