Faerie Wings: The Fate of Kira - Part Two

     "Come with me," Cyprina said as she lead Illere to the kitchen. After serving Illere a cup of tea, she sat down on a chair and sighed heavily. "Many years ago, long before Faerieland had crashed onto the surface of Neopia, there was a powerful Dark faerie named Sombra. Both Sombra and I were former leaders of our separate faerie factions; while Sombra looked over all of the Dark faeries, I would look after the Air faeries in my own faction."

     Illere sipped her tea as she listened.

     "Then one day," Cyprina said with a faraway look, "one of Sombra's Dark faeries attacked one of my Air faeries. I immediately reported the assault to Sombra, but she just laughed at me and claimed that the attack was nothing to complain about."

     "Then what happened?" asked Illere.

     "Well I decided to stay away from Sombra and her crew to go look over the rest of my girls," Cyprina explained. "I urged my Air faeries to practice their musical lessons, which they were all so delighted to continue for the Faerie Festival. But just as peace had settled, Sombra decided to overpower Fyora and her Faerie Court with a blind-sided attack. And since I was a part of her Court-"

     "You had to fight Sombra?" Illere gasped. "But I thought that only the Top faeries, such as me, were the only faeries required to serve Fyora?"

     Cyprina sighed again. "That's because I was once a part of Fyora's Faerie Court. I had been with her for many years before I had Kira-that was when I decided to leave the Court, as well as my Air faerie apprentices."

     "But what happened when you fought Sombra?" asked Illere.

     "Well", Cyprina said after a quick sip of tea, "at first Sombra was quite dangerous and her combat was much more overpowering than my own. But once I bonded my powers with the other Top faeries of the Court, we were able to overpower Sombra and force her to step down from her attack. Fortunately nobody got hurt-but whatever came of her is something even I don't remember."

     Illere gave Cyprina a surprised expression. While she drummed her fingers on top of the kitchen table, she asked Cyprina, "So, why don't you want Kira to find out about your previous position as the Top Air faerie of Faerieland?"

     "Because I don't want her to get hurt," Cyprina explained, her eyes worried. "Today's attack was a surprise, but it was also a wake up call for me as well. It reminded me that Kira was not the ordinary Air faerie that I had thought she was. In fact-"

     "You think that Kira had inherited the powerful magic that you previously had, am I right?" Illere interrupted.

     Cyprina nodded. "It's very possible."

     "You know," Illere continued, "Fyora has recently begun seeking new leaders for all of the faerie factions. She's already found all of the other faeries, yet she hasn't had a clue about who the leader of the Air faerie faction is or where she could be. So I was thinking that, well perhaps, I could take Kira to Queen Fyora so that she could become the leader of the Air Faeries. Would that be okay?"

     Cyprina bit her lip as she thought of an answer. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt if Kira goes to see the Faerie Queen. Perhaps she could even be taught how to manage and use her powers more wisely."

     "Oh of course," Illere said, nodding her head. "Fyora would never allow any faerie leader to lead her faction without some type of formal training."

     "That's good," said Cyprina. "Because I was worried that she would-"

     "Be forced to fight without enough faerie power?" A voice wondered. Cyprina gasped when she watched her daughter enter the kitchen. "Mother, is it true that I am the Top Air faerie of Faerieland?" asked Kira.

     "Well... yes, you are," Cyprina stammered. "Have you been standing there the whole time?"

     Kira blushed and shook her head. "No," she admitted, "but I've heard what Illere said about me being a faerie leader."

     "I see," said Cyprina.

     "May I go to Queen Fyora, Mother? Please?" Kira begged, her eyes yearning for support.

     "If you want miss, I can take her there myself," Illere offered.

     Cyprina smiled. "Oh alright," she said with pride. "However, before you go meet the Queen you must get yourself some guidance books at the Faerie Bookshop. They will help give you more knowledge about your powers."

     "Oh thank you!" Kira exclaimed as she hugged her mother. With Illere behind her, Kira lead her out of the house and towards the Faerie Bookshop. As soon as she entered the store, she led Illere to the Magical Spells section.

     "Hey Kira!" Leah shouted from behind the front counter. "We received more copies of Space Faerie Tales today! Would you like to buy a copy for twenty percent off?"

     "No thanks," Kira said, scanning the bookshelves in front of her. "Hey Leah, do you have any books on Air faerie magic?"

     Leah rubbed her chin as she thought. "Well, we do have a book entitled 'All about Air Faeries' in the Faerie section. I don't think it has anything about magical spells, but I bet you'll learn a lot about Air Faeries from it."

     "What about this book?" Illere asked as she presented Kira with a copy of Breathe. "This book is also about Air Faeries. Do you think it'll help?"

     "Maybe," Kira said with slight doubt.

     "There aren't many magical books here because Brillare hasn't given me anything new in quite a while," Leah explained.

     Illere looked worried. "Are you saying that you've also noticed Brillare's absence as well?" Leah nodded.

     "Who's Brillare?" asked Kira.

     "She's a close friend of mine," Illere explained. "In fact she's-"

     "The shop's closing now," Leah interrupted. "Sorry you couldn't find what you were looking for, Kira. Perhaps I'll see you again tomorrow?"

     "Or maybe Fyora could lend you something to read instead!" Illere suggested with an eager smile.

     "Fyora? What do you mean?" Leah demanded. Without hesitating, Kira told Leah the battle that had happened earlier and her new position as Top Air faerie. Leah laughed out loud and said, "Are you kidding me? YOU, of all faeries, are supposed to be the Top Air Faerie of Faerieland??"

     Kira rolled her eyes. "Come on Illere," she said, leaving the store while Leah continued with her laughing fit.

     "So, would you mind if I pick you up tomorrow morning?" asked Illere. "I can take you to Queen Fyora right away so that you can begin your training."

     "That sounds great!" Kira said excitingly. Her body shivered with delight as she walked back home. Just thinking about her new powers made her even more excited about meeting Fyora: The Queen of all the faeries!

     ***

     "Sisters," Rosia said as she turned to face three other Dark faeries, "we have a problem." Two of the Dark faeries rolled their eyes.

     "Please tell me that it's not about that Air faerie we met today," Daphne pleaded. She turned to the Dark faerie beside her and said, "Oh Violet, if only you were there! Then you could have used your dark fog to help us defeat the enemies."

     "What enemies?" Violet, who was the youngest sister, wondered.

     "Just two scrawny goody-goodies who thought that they had won the day," Rosia explained. She turned to Velma, who was the second oldest sister. "Do you agree that that Air faerie I met today was who I thought it was?"

     "Perhaps," Velma said in a sly voice. "If she really is who I think she is, then she should be seeing Fyora any day now in order to retrieve her faerie treasure."

     "You mean those 'treasures' that we've already taken care of already?" asked Daphne. Velma nodded. "Well then," the third oldest sister said with confidence, "this faerie shouldn't be too hard to deal with after all!"

     "Don't be so sure of that, Daphne," Rosia insisted. "Remember what our mother told us: We should never underestimate the scrawnier faeries."

     "Yes," Velma agreed. "After all, we still don't know exactly what this Air Faerie can do without her token. And if she does retrieve her token, as well as master its power soon after, then I guess we can just kiss our dreams goodbye... forever."

     Violet trembled. "So is that what she's going to do? Find her faerie token and use it against us?"

     "Too bad Rosia can't find her amulet," Daphne snickered.

     Rosia scowled at her. "Listen, you! I will find that amulet soon enough. But before I do that, we must stop that Air faerie from completing her quest-especially the second one."

     "Oh great, so now there's two?" Violet grumbled.

     "Yes," said Rosia. "And if we can't stop that twit from finding her faerie power source, her Air Faerie Token, then she would for sure find her 'Air faerie treasure'. And we must stop her from finding that-especially if she's really the descendant of you-know-who."

To be continued....