Roomies 4: Part Nine

      The grey Wocky stood beside Jan, rubbing his face as he watched Jhudora from across the room. The notorious dark faerie was seated atop of the hospital wing bed with her legs crossed, surround by a circle of plushies. Colorful wrapping paper was strewn about her after having opened each and every one of Jesc’s birthday presents, along with empty boxes and the occasional wind chime. Currently she was oohing and ahhing at the gift the air faerie had received from Jim, the yellow Aisha from the Neohome Planning Committee: a set of nineteen miniature replicas of Neopian houses.

      “Isn’t this one so pretty?” Jhudora smiled dreamily, gesturing to the Faerieland model. “It’s such a pretty little house. It’s a shame it’s so small, though,” she confided to her silent plushie friends. “Wouldn’t it be so nice to live there?”

      “I think she’s delirious,” Jan whispered to Mr. Sully from across the room. The air faerie looked horrified.

      “Not delirious,” Mr. Sully contradicted, shaking his head. “Merely conflicted. Obviously having Jesc inside of her has resulted in some... interesting side effects.” He glanced at the window. The sun was beginning to creep up from the horizon, its rays lighting up the lush green hills surrounded the castle, frosting them with specks of gold. “And anyway, the potion should be wearing off soon. We only have until noon before Vermillion swoops in and destroys everything.”

      “Vermillion is such a pretty color,” Jhudora remarked randomly, turning to face the two with a disconcerting grin on her face. “It’s like loveberries, and Maraquan coral, and Calabats, an—”

      Suddenly, the dark faerie’s face changed. Jhudora’s eyes squinted, and a moment later she was gripping her head, her pointed green nails woven in her thick violet hair. “AH!” she growled, her voice abruptly edgy and harsh. “My head feels like it’s on fire!”

      “Oh good,” Mr. Sully said with a relived sigh. “It’s about time.”

      “OH GOOD?! ABOUT TIME?!” Jhudora repeated, turning to him with her eyes ablaze. “HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF YOUR HEAD FELT LIKE IT WAS ABOUT TO EXPLODE?!”

      “Easy, Jhudora,” Jan pleaded, backing up as if the dark faerie was some sort of rabid petpet. “Calm down.”

      “Easy for you to say!” she spat, closing her eyes and biting her green lips.

      “Jan,” Mr. Sully said, “run and fetch Mrs. Sre.” The grey Wocky was now beside Jesc’s bed. The air faerie was still fast asleep under the covers, but her breathing was altered, and her face was set in a terrifying frown.

      “Yes, sir.” Jan nodded, turning around and running out of the hospital wing.

      “Is Jesc all right?” Jhudora asked through gritted teeth, cradling her head. When Mr. Sully didn’t answer, she raised her voice, all of her pain channeled into her growl. “Sully, tell me right now that she’s not stuck inside of me or else I’m going to blow up this entire building!”

      “Calm down, Jhudora,” he said sternly, looking Jesc over with his careful watery eyes and pulling her dampened blonde hair away from her face. “Only time will tell.”

      “Well, we’re running out of time, in case you haven’t noticed!”

      Suddenly, the door to the hospital swung open, and in ran Mrs. Sre followed by Jan. The dark faerie teacher had an ice pack in her hand, and she passed it over to Mr. Sully immediately.

      “Thank you,” he said, placing the cool bundle on Jesc’s forehead.

      “I was going to try to find a healing faerie, but I decided against it,” she muttered, turning her head to glance at Jhudora writhing in pain on top of her own bed. “Jhudora, are you all right?”

      “Oh, just peachy!” Jhudora snarled though gritted teeth. “Now please—GET HER OUT OF ME!”

      However, it was just as Jhudora shouted this that Jesc awoke, her sky blue eyes wide and dilated. Gasping for air, she sat up, but grasped her head at the blood rush, her translucent wings fluttering gently behind her.

      “Jesc,” Mr. Sully said firmly, placing a paw on her shoulder. “Jesc, are you all right?”

      The air faerie turned towards him. She was still breathing heavily, but she nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She paused and felt the white bed covers with her slender fingers. “I’m back, right?”

      “Yes, and not a moment too soon,” Mrs. Sre said, giving Jesc a tight hug. “How was everything in there?”

      “It’s was all so lifelike,” she said. “I could see everything, and experience everything, and it was so amazing... except for the scary parts.” She shuddered gently, reaching for Mr. Snuggles who was crushed beneath her, and turned towards Jhudora. “But I saw the reason why Mrs. Pierce is the way she is. It was all one huge misunderstanding.”

      “Go on,” Mr. Sully prodded.

      So Jesc spilled her soul. She told them about the spell book Jhudora had received from her Great-Aunt Kryta, and the prank that Illusen had dreamed up with a bit of help from the sinister pages. She described the Mad Fire, how lifelike it was, and how as the days wore on, the spell messed with everyone’s minds, turning friends against each other, and Jhudora against her favorite teacher. And she talked about Mrs. Pierce deteriorating into the vile woman she now was and her final act of revenge: getting Jhudora expelled.

      Mr. Sully’s eyes widened. “I remember that lab incident now... but I haven’t thought of it in years. That Mad Fire must have had a far-reaching residual radius...”

      “Stupid Illusen,” Jhudora spit out, brushing a speck of dust off her wing. “I had told her not to do the spell, but did she listen to me? No. As stubborn as a moldy rock.”

      Jesc turned towards the window, and her eyes widened. “It’s almost noon!” she exclaimed. She swung her legs out from under the covers and jumped to her feet, dropping her plushie on the bed with a slight boink.

      “Jesc, where are you going?” Jhudora asked.

      “To the courtyard. We need to talk with Mrs. Pierce.”

      “Talk?” Jhudora repeated incredulously. “I think you mean get blasted to smithereens.”

      Jesc stared at them confusedly. “The point of going into Jhudora’s mind was to figure out why so that we could end this peacefully. Right?”

      “Correct,” Mr. Sully said slowly, “but with this evidence, it seems as if it all really was Jhudora’s fault, and I don’t see how this is going to help our cause anymore.” The grey Wocky shook his head. “As sad as it is, I say our only chance is to prepare for battle.”

      Jesc stared at them incredulously for a moment in silence. Then her eyes narrowed. “Well, I don’t,” she said stoically, and with that she turned towards the double doors, sent a blast of air that forced them open, and started jetting down the hall.

      “Jesc!” Mrs. Sre called after her. “Stop!”

      “Ugh, Jesc! What must you always be such a goody-goody!” Jhudora growled, getting to her feet and pulling out her wand. A moment later, the dark faerie took flight, following the wayward air faerie through the crowded halls, weaving between nervous faeries who glanced at her in wonderment as Jesc made her way determinedly to the courtyard to confront Mrs. Pierce.

     ***

      Jim was utterly embarrassed.

      The yellow Aisha rubbed his face wearily and peered through his thick glasses at the Faerieland pamphlet in his paw; he had snagged it from a bookstore mere minutes ago.

      “And over here, we can observe the intricate patterns in the cobblestone streets that are repeated throughout Faerieland,” he read, gesturing to the path at his feet. “These designs have graced the streets of Faerieland for over 10—er, I mean, 10,000 years.

      Jim was the Head of the Neohome Planning Committee, but once Mr. Leemer and his Neohomes 2.0 had stepped into the picture, his world had been flipped upside down. No longer able to sell their own properties at will, Neopians were taking advanced measures to ensure that they purchased the perfect property, and the best way to do this was through tours.

      And unfortunately, with only a few competent interns, no one, not even the Head of the Committee, had been spared from the grueling task of doling out tours.

      “The cobble work is simply magnificent!” a wealthy Faerie Lenny named Mrs. Worthington gushed, clutching her husband’s wing. “Don’t you just love Faerieland, honey? Isn’t it so picturesque?”

      “Very.” The distinguished Shadow Lenny nodded through his monocle. “However, everything seems a bit too quaint.” He turned towards Jim, glancing down at the short yellow Aisha. “Is there anything here a bit more extravagant?”

      “Well, there’s the Faerie Queen’s palace,” Jim said. “I know from a personal experience that it’s exceptionally beautiful.” He didn’t mention that during that particular experience he had broken inside with the help of a white Weewoo, gotten into a shouting match with a burly guard, and interrupted a faerie trial all in the process.

      “But everyone’s seen pictures of the palace.” Mr. Worthington frowned. “It’s plastered all over Mansions Monthly. Isn’t there some bit of architecture that’s more obscure? Something that we can be inspired by without being just like everyone else? Something more secluded?”

      “Er...” Jim muttered nervously, rifling through the pink brochure. The pamphlet was full of random facts about Faerieland, but barely mentioned any of the architecture beside the palace. “There’s the... uh...th-the...” Suddenly, his brown eyes fell upon a small blurb about education, and everything clicked into place. “How about the Faerie Academy?” he asked, glancing up at his clients.

      “The Faerie Academy?” the Shadow Lenny repeated with a frown. “I’ve never heard of it.”

      “Well, I happen to know a faerie who attends there. She’s always raving about it. It’s made from a mixture of white stone and magic, and comes complete with six towers, a courtyard, an expansive well-maintained lawn--”

      “Oooh!” Mrs. Worthington cooed. “Sounds marvelous! Let’s go take a tour of that, then!”

      “Okay. Follow me.” Jim glanced down at the map in his hands, getting the address of the Academy, and started to lead his clients there.

      “How verdant!” Mrs. Worthington cried. Jim was leading the couple away from the clustered buildings of the city into a more natural area. Green grass wove its way from the enchanted clouds beneath their feet, trees as tall as castle towers stood beside the cobblestone path like royal sentries, and wildflowers were sprinkled on the ground like pinpricks of Narwhool white and buttery yellow.

      “Are we almost there?” Mr. Worthington asked after a few minutes of walking, pulling at his collar with a night-black feather. “I say, I hadn’t expected it to be so secluded.”

      “It’s right over here,” Jim said, leading his way around a corner with a gesture. “Tada.”

      Mrs. Worthington gasped. “It’s stunning! Brilliant, brilliant! But sir, may I ask what the giant green dome is for?”

      “Huh?” Jim asked, turning towards the castle for the first time.

      Jim had seen the Academy only once before, and although he could still see the beautiful architecture, the purple flags that flew from atop the towers, and the grandly arched windows, a hazy green bubble covered the entire castle and most of the lawn, eclipsing the Academy’s beauty with its vile sheen.

      “Um, I don’t know,” Jim said warily, cleaning off his glasses on his shirt before replacing them on his face. “I guess it’s for... faerie purposes?”

      “Well, despite the bubble, it really is quite stunning.” The Shadow Lenny nodded. He turned towards Jim, his eyes sparkling. “Do you think we could get a tour of the inside.”

      “Er, I’m not sure,” Jim admitted, stepping a few paces toward the bubble. It seemed to wrap around the entire Academy, warping in the light as the sun made its way high into the sky. Curious, the Yellow Aisha extended a paw to touch the barrier, but yanked his hand away almost immediately after. The bubble had sent a strong jolt of electricity through him, singeing the fur on his paw and leaving him with an uncomfortable tingling feeling.

      “I’m guessing that’s a no,” Mrs. Worthington said sadly, her beak turned down in a frown. But Jim wasn’t paying attention to her. His mind had slipped into math mode, and calculations began to play across his brain as he examined the bubble.

      “Do either of you have a pen?” Jim suddenly asked, turning towards his clients expectantly.

      “Um... yes, I do,” Mr. Worthington said curiously, reaching inside his breast pocket to produce a handsome looking pen. When Jim uncapped it and began scribbling on the brochure, the Lenny frowned. “My good sir, may I ask what you’re doing?”

      “Writing a letter to the Queen,” Jim said quickly, signing the hasty note with a scribble. “Something here is not right.”

      “You mean the bubble?” the Faerie Lenny asked incredulously, stepping away from the barrier as if it had bitten her. “Is it poisonous?”

      “I’m not sure,” Jim admitted, glancing up at the castle, “but I’m fairly positive that it’s faerie magic. And as far as I know, faerie magic isn’t supposed to be used to singe innocent neopets.”

To be continued...