The Tale of an Unknown Faerie

      The doors opened to reveal a hurrying Faerie Elephante guard. The Queen smiled at the sight of her guard in greeting.

      “Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Adelle is here! You know, the Unknown Faerie from last time!”

      The Faerie Queen's smile vanished. Unknown Faeries were a most important matter. Unknown Faeries were very rare and peculiar, indeed. They were the faeries that were born without magical powers. They were dressed in pure white and simple dresses and had clear wings. They were forced to choose an ability, and if they were unable to, were turned into something so horrible, faeries only whisper of it... a Grey Faerie.

      “Send her in,” she said sternly.

      A young and confused faerie walked in. She had chocolate brown hair and deep brown eyes. She looked scared and timid. “He-he-hello, Your Majesty,” she said shrilly.

      The Queen smiled sympathetically. “Do not be nervous, Adelle. You were here last time, and you were perfectly fine. Relax; you shan't be harmed.”

      “Alright,” breathed Adelle, relaxing a bit after being soothed by the Queen.

      The Queen smiled. “I am here for you, even though I am a queen and you may be scared of my power. Now, we met last time and discussed your current Faerie State, right?”

      Adelle nodded.

      The Queen turned to Flavio, who was shaking and gasping for air by the doors. “Flavio, may you please excuse us?” she asked him. Flavio nodded and bowed clumsily and dashed outside, closing the almighty doors behind him with a soft thud.

      “Two weeks ago, you came to visit me. You are an Unknown, as you are aware, and I gave you a week to thoroughly ponder your new power. Have you decided?” said the Queen.

      “Oh yes, Your Majesty,” said Adelle, fumbling through a purse she had brought. “I brought my essay about my choices, like you said.” The Queen took it and read it incredibly fast.

      “You chose Water, Light, and Earth?” asked the Queen.

      “Yes. They are the nicest ones, plus they can help Neopets a bit,” said Adelle confidently. That was something I love, Adelle thought. Helping Neopets is the best feeling. You feel warm and fuzzy and like you belong. Plus, they look up to you in admiration. It's a pleasant thing.

      “Very well. Now, the representatives of each faerie power are in that room over there. Let me go fetch the Water, Light, and Earth Faeries, yes?” asked the Queen. She gracefully rose from her seat and almost floated to the room behind her throne, her lavender robes barely touching the floor. She came back with a Water Faerie in a floating water-filled bubble, a radiant Light Faerie, and Illusen. “These faeries will be showing you their power. You are to start tomorrow, with the Water Faerie, then the Light, then the Earth. You have four days to think. On the fifth day, you must come to me before the sun sets and tell me your decision. If you do not, you shall be eternally condemned to a magicless life... a Grey Faerie,” explained the Queen.

      Adelle gulped and bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

      “Before you go, take this. It's a map that will glow when you need to report to us. Just touch the glowing area, and you shall appear at your destination,” said Illusen, handing Adelle a battered and worn map.

      Adelle was about to thank her, but the Map glowed and she became hypnotized. She touched the glow, unhesitatingly and admiringly. She was at her house now.

      * * *

      The next morning, Adelle woke up and did her morning routine. She then realized the map was glowing. Again, that sensation as if she had no control of her body and she felt like bowing to the map came. She touched it.

      She reappeared in a fluffy white cloud. It felt light and soft under her feet. She saw fountains of water splashing from a cloud to the next. “The Healing Springs,” she whispered in admiration.

      A blond faerie with a brilliantly blue tail sat in a cloud, looking at a hand held mirror and adjusting her shell hair clip. She noticed Adelle, standing there, gasped lady-like, and motioned for her to come.

     She patted the cloud next to her so Adelle could sit there.

      “Hello! Are you Adelle?” she asked cheerfully. Adelle nodded. “Goody! We can get started!” she shrieked happily.

      “I am the Healing Springs Faerie. My real name is Kendra. You can call me what you please,” she said in a bubbly and happy voice.

      “I am a Water Faerie. Water Faeries are the best! We are water, the most abundant element in Neopia. We can easily travel to and fro by using our powerful tails. They may look delicate, but they can travel at more than 150 kilometers per thirty minutes, if the water is in a good condition.”

      “Wow,” said Adelle.

      “We are terrific swimmers, as you can tell! Our wingless bodies and tails make us zoom incredibly fast! We can also breathe underwater! Do you know how much of an advantage that is? You can't drown at all! Plus, it comes really handy when you're in a swim race or competing to see who can last underwater the longest!

      “Water is not as calm as it seems, though. You can freeze it and use it as sharp ice. Or, you can create giant waves, and sometimes, with help of the Air Faeries, hurricanes. Water is something you won't want to mess with.”

      “I've always thought water was a calm thing, actually. But I love to help Neopets; can you help them in any way?”

      Kendra laughed heartily. “Of course! Being in charge of the Healing Springs, I can cure Neopets! It's wonderful being able to make them all better, all because of my simple magical waters!” She giggled. “In fact, here comes one now!”

      Excited at the thought of seeing a Water Faerie in action, Adelle hid behind a cloud so the approaching Neopet wouldn't be scared of her.

      “Hewo, Water Faerie!” greeted the Baby Aisha.

      “Hi, Zoe! Come for your treatment?” sweetly inquired Kendra.

      “Yeth. Can you do it now?”

      “Sure! Just dip your tiny paw in the water- there you go- and stand there,” said Kendra. She then closed her eyes and raised her arms dramatically. Then she slowly brought them down, while speaking in a strange tongue Adelle had never heard of.

      The Baby Aisha and Kendra glowed light blue for a moment, but then it faded. “There you go, Zoe! Your health is completely restored!” exclaimed Kendra.

      Zoe was grinning for a moment, but it died down when Kendra had said she had her health restored. “What?!” she fumed, not sounding cute at all. “But I hath fifty of eighteen hitpoints! Now I ithn't powewful any mowe!” She started to sob, and her annoyed owner came to fetch her. She soothed Zoe and carried her away. Zoe looked at Kendra and stuck her tongue out briefly, but then resumed sobbing.

      Kendra muttered at the Aisha when it went away. Adelle emerged from her hiding spot, careful not to giggle. But she had questions to ask, and they were more important anyways.

      “Kendra, why'd you do that to her if you knew she hated it?” Adelle asked.

      Kendra sighed and looked at Adelle with sad eyes. She drooped her head. “I have no control over that,” she said miserably, “I just tell them to dip in the magic water and I raise the power in the water. The water chooses; it's always random.”

      “Well, can't she just do it again until she gets what she wants?”

      “No, it's only every thirty minutes. The waters think that what they give is sufficient and they shouldn't keep coming back. Also, when that happens, she gets annoyed and won't come for the rest of the day. How'd you like my ability? Want to be a Water Faerie?” said Kendra, saying the last part happily and curiously.

      Adelle shrugged. “I like helping Neopets, but every thirty minutes isn't enough. I'd like to help them continuously. But I like the tails, they're very interesting,” she added quickly because Kendra looked hurt when she had confessed water wasn't what she wanted.

      “Oh. Well. Okay. That's all. Have a nice day,” said Kendra, depressed.

      Adelle waved goodbye (Kendra didn't return it. She was too busy moping in her pool of water) and ran to her house. Water was a possible choice, but she knew there was more.

      * * *

      On the second day, Adelle had to go to a Light Faerie. She was to wait by the famous Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity. When she arrived there, she saw a bright and glowing Light Faerie waiting for her, stroking the Grundo Plushie lovingly.

      “I'm Helaine, a Light Faerie as you can tell. My lesson today is short and simple. We guide lost Neopets through the darkness and shine for them. We naturally hate the Dark Faeries, of course.”

      Adelle nodded in agreement. She disliked Dark Faeries, too.

      “Being a Light Faerie isn't too fun. You just shine. The end. However, we Light Faeries are united by one purpose only...”

      “What's that?” asked Adelle, curious.

      “TRADING CARDS!” excitedly yelled Helaine, and she pulled out a bunch of them from nowhere. “We're obsessed with collecting them all! I have sixty eight so far... but if you become a Light Faerie, we can trade cards if you have more than one!”

      “Ah... no thanks, Helaine,” stammered Adelle, backing away from her.

      “But it's fun! It's a great hobby! We can trade!” shouted Helaine.

      “Bye,” briskly said Adelle, running far from the Trading Card nerd. Light was certainly not what she had thought it was.

      * * *

      Adelle woke up quietly. “The third day,” she whispered to herself as she rose. “Tomorrow I decide.”

      She walked calmly to her vanity mirror and brushed her chocolate brown hair. She stared at her deep brown eyes. Was she ever going to be a faerie at all? Would she become a Grey Faerie? She shuddered at the thought. As she brushed her hair, she saw the Faerie Queen in her mirror. It made her drop her hairbrush.

      “Your Majesty! You scared me,” admitted Adelle.

      “Today's the third day, Adelle.” said the Queen quietly and looking downwards.

      “I know,” said Adelle flatly.

      “I have gone to the faeries and asked them how the lesson went. Apparently, Water is a possible choice, but Helaine said you truly despise Light.”

      Adelle blushed.

      “Just be prepared for tomorrow, Adelle. I sincerely hope you find your true calling. Now, the map is glowing. Illusen is waiting.”

      Adelle's brain turned to gelatin again and she walked mindlessly to the map, touching the glow.

      * * *

      Next thing she knew, she saw Illusen standing there, smiling with her hands behind her back.

      “Hi, Adelle. I will be your Earth instructor. Follow me,” said Illusen.

      Illusen explained how Earth faeries depended on the earth for their magic powers. It made them stronger when they were around shrubbery or forested areas. They sometimes had gardens and were very helpful, or at least Illusen said.

      “Come,” Illusen ordered, “Let's tour the castle.”

      Meridell's castle was so unlike Faerieland's. Faerieland's was welcoming and friendly, painted with warm colors and sending off a gleeful emotion. Meridell's looked cold and magnificent, standing superior above all other structures in Meridell.

      The castle's guards bowed to her and let her enter when they saw Illusen.

      “King Skarl lives here,” explained Illusen as they approached the throne room, “and look, there's a commoner.” A Yellow Kacheek had told the King a joke, and the King looked displeased. He ordered his guards to throw out the Kacheek and to give him some Stale Bread for bothering to come up at all.

      “That's cruel!” gasped Adelle as they left the castle and headed to Illusen's Glade.

      “I know!” agreed Illusen. “They have no plants inside at all!”

      “No, I meant how the King gave him that despicable loaf of bread! Shouldn't he feed them better?”

      “Yes, he should, but that's how he is. He'll never change, no matter what,” sadly said Illusen.

      “I wish there was an alternative,” said Adelle. Then, suddenly, an idea crawled its way to her mind like a Symol digging underground. “Waitaminit! There might be! Bye!” she exclaimed. Since she couldn't wait for the map to glow again and take her home, she flew all the way to Faerieland.

      A normal faerie would have been exhausted, but Adelle was pumped with energy.

      “Mother, Mother! I need your wise culinary help!” yelled Adelle.

      Her mom was in the dining room, attempting to solve the Crossword Puzzle.

      “Mother, Mother! Is there any kind of food that is yummy and satisfying?” asked Adelle.

      Her mother was hesitant for a moment, thinking. “Well, yes, I guess. Soup is tremendously popular, and it warms you up real quick. You can make many types of it, too. Wonderful stuff, really. Why?”

      Adelle smiled broadly, her eyes sparkling. “Because I know what I want now,” she said.

      * * *

      Two days later....

      “Today, the 20th Day of Running, is when Adelle the Unknown Faerie shall decide her magic power. Shall she not be able to, she will be a Grey Faerie, powerless and wingless, a disgrace to most of us. We shall begin.”

      The Faerie Queen sat in her throne, and the three representatives for the powers sat in a semi circle around her (Kendra was in what looked like a water-filled bubble again).

      Adelle was in the middle, standing, awaiting her chance to speak.

      “Adelle the Unknown Faerie, have you reached a verdict?” coolly asked Helaine, who was mad at Adelle.

      “I have. Your Majesty, I feel bad for those Neopets who are not fed enough, who cannot look forward to a joyous meal of many foods. That is why, Your Majesty, fellow faeries, I want to be a separate type of Faerie.” Kendra, Helaine, and Illusen all looked at each other. The Queen looked like she knew what was coming.

      “Water Faeries help Neopets, but not too often. Light Faeries, no offense, Helaine, have nothing to do (“None taken,” vaguely said Helaine); Earth Faeries are much too earthly. I want to help everyone, full time, by feeding them. I want to feed them soup,” said Adelle, full of energy and excitement.

      The Faerie Queen smiled. “Adelle, formerly an Unknown Faerie, I now dub you... the Soup Faerie.”

The End