The Legend of the Rainbow Fountain

     "OH, thank you!" cried Felona joyfully. "As a reward, you are allowed to bathe your pet in the Rainbow Fountain." She gestured towards to magical waterfall behind her. The Neopet let out a low cry of joy, and came out of the water painted in rainbow colours!

     Felona had been living in the Rainbow Fountain Cloud for as long as she could remember. She kept a sharp lookout for skilled-looking Neopians and their pets to help her. She had built the Fountain from scratch, and allowed people who completed her quests use it.

     But why? What does she gain from this? Other than rare and beautiful items?

     This is why....the story was discovered by a Neopian who spends her time roaming Neopia, looking out for strange stories, or legends... She accidentally found Felona's diary near the Rainbow Fountain Cloud. Felona was probably careless and left it there. According to the diary, this was the true reason why she built the Rainbow Fountain. She was an ordinary Water Faerie, until....

* * * * *

     "Help! Help!" Screams came from the Forbidden Forest. 15-year-old Felona was lying on her back on the soft grass of the field, enjoying the sunshine with her 19-year-old sister, Fiona, when they heard the cries.

     "Quick! Someone's in trouble!" cried Fiona, jumping to her feet immediately. Felona followed suit. They sprinted towards the Forest, and found a Baby Uni lying on the floor, looking up in sheer terror. The reason for this was made obvious by three Dark Faeries around her, scowling heavily when they saw the intruders.

     "What are you bothersome pests of a Faerie doing here? Get out!" growled the shortest Dark Faerie.

     "We should be the ones saying that to you," said Fiona, boldly. "What are you doing to the Uni?" She pointed to the baby Neopet.

     "Well, she seemed rather cute," said another Dark Faerie, a disdainful smile playing around her mouth. "She would make a good sacrifice to the Goddess of Dark Faeries who lived a thousand years ago."

     "Help me!" pleaded the baby.

     "Shut up, pipsqueak!" growled a third Dark Faerie. She kicked the Uni, making it cry in pain.

     Felona had seen enough. She and her sister aimed a ball of aqua and shimmering small waves at the Dark Faeries. "What the - " muttered the third Dark Faeries, and she quickly waved her hands. A purple light shot for the sisters, but the sisters' magic was too strong for them, and subdued the cruel Dark Faeries in a matter of minutes.

     The Dark Faeries picked themselves up and glared at Fiona and Felona. "Just you wait... you brats! We'll make you pay!" the first Dark Faerie screeched before disappearing into the woods with her comrades.

     Felona and Fiona rushed to the little Baby Uni. "Are you all right?" asked Fiona anxiously.

     The Baby smiled weakly. "Much better, thanks." She trembled as she stood up slowly. "Thanks a lot."

     "Don't mention it," grinned Felona. "Where's your house? We'll take you there."

     "No need," smiled the Baby Uni. "Well...I guess I'll be going then."

     "Good-bye," chorused Fiona and Felona together, as they watched the Uni gallop out of the woods. Little did they know that they would pay dearly for their act of courage soon.

* * * * *

     It was nighttime already. A week had passed since the rescue of the Uni. The two sisters were sitting beside the Magical River on the side of Faerieland, reading. Most Water Faeries sung quietly at this time, but they did not really like to sing. They preferred to read, and were always hungry for more and more knowledge.

     Tonight, Felona was reading a highly interesting book on how to transform from one faerie to another type, which was a very difficult and dangerous procedure.

     "Oohh, this is pretty," cooed Felona, pointing to a picture of a faerie. She was very much like a Water faerie, except that she was dressed in colours of a rainbow along with the usual Water Faerie sky blue.

     "A Rainbow Faerie," read Fiona aloud from the heading at the top of the yellow page. "No Faerie has ever transformed into one yet. You're not really thinking of transforming are you?

     "Of course not!" Felona protested. "It's the most difficult magic here, it could go seriously wrong...beside, we're just reading for some background knowledge. We're not REALLY going to experiment with it. I do think..."

     "All right, all right, Miss Whiny," grinned Fiona, thus receiving a soft punch from her sister.

     Felona was about to read on about what happened to faeries who tried and went wrong with the transformation of a Rainbow Faerie, when she heard a soft snap of a branch. She froze. She suddenly felt the hairs on her back prickle. She had a very funny feeling they were being watched.

     "Fiona..."

     "Hm?

     "Do you hear something?"

     "What?"

     "I think we're being watched..."

     "It's just your imagination. There's no one out here," Fiona replied, and went back to peruse a thick book she was holding, "All about Air Faeries".

     There were no more noises. Felona tried to shrug off the shiver going down her spine, but she just could not get rid of the eerie feeling inside her. She finally dismissed the sound as a noise made probably by a squirrel.

     Several minutes passed in silence, when soft snickers near them broke the silence. Felona's head jerked up and saw her sister's head do the same. There WERE being watched, there WERE people near them, she did not imagine it...her sister knew it too. And something told her that the people near them was so-not-good people.

     "Ah, Water Faeries," a woman's voice rasped behind them.

     Felona and Fiona spun around in fear. Towering over them, were four Dark Faeries, though none were the ones they had fought in the woods before.

     "W-what..." Felona sputtered.

     "I suppose you were the ones who insulted our sisters last week?" said the nearest Dark Faerie coldly. "Our leader has sent us. We will not let you off that easy." Without warning, two Dark Faeries grabbed hold of the sisters in a vicelike grip. Felona couldn't have screamed even she wanted to - her vocal cords did not seem to work properly.

     The Faeries pushed the Water faeries to the floor roughly. Fiona tried to get up, but the tallest Dark Faerie pushed her back down.

     "To business," she smirked. "You have no right to pit yourselves against us -

     "We always have done!" yelled Felona. The Dark Faerie holding her gave her a tight slap. The sting of it only made Felona angrier.

     "Stay away from my sister!" cried Fiona, and finally managed to push the other Dark Faerie holding her away. She got up before anyone could push her back down.

     "Keep hold of her!" shouted the tallest faerie to the one holding Felona. The other three faeries aimed the same purple light that the Dark Faerie in the woods had tried to use on Fiona. She quickly dodged it and used her own magic to defend herself.

     With mounting terror, Felona struggled to free herself, desperate to help her sister. But her captive's grip was too strong. In a moment of desperation, she bit the Dark Faerie's hand.

     "Argghh!" screamed the Dark Faerie. She let go immediately, and Felona raced toward the battle.

     "Felona, stay back!" cried Fiona. "It's too - "

     A Dark Faerie cursed and shot a purple flame at Felona. She could not think, and just stared blankly at the flame, which seemed to head for her in slow motion.

     "NO!" Fiona screamed, and thrust herself between her sister and the purple flame. It it hit Fiona squarely on the chest.

     It seemed to take an age for Fiona to fall. She fell sideways and her body curled into a graceful arc before she hit the floor.

     "FIONA!" yelled Felona. She bent down, hardly aware of the faeries brushing past her and disappearing into the darkness. All she could think about was her sister. She shook her violently but Fiona's eyes just would not open.

     Felona could not believe it, she would not believe it, she shook her sister some more, telling herself that Fiona had just passed out, she would wake up -

     "Fiona!" sobbed Felona. Finally, she let the horrible truth wash over her and let her sister's still-warm body slump onto the grass. She held her face in her hands, tears pouring silently through her fingers.

      * * * * *

     It was the crack of dawn already. Felona was lying on the same spot as last night. She had fallen into a fitful sleep after grieving over her sister's death for hours. She woke up abruptly and remembered the past night's events. A fresh wave of despair engulfed her again, as she stared at Fiona's dead body. She made a split decision and was about to push her sister's body into the deep river beside. Her sister always loved swimming. She would rest in peace at the bottom. She rolled Fiona's body was about to push it into the water when small particles of white dots light rose from her Fiona's white lips.

     Felona stared, and then remembered something from a book she had read long ago. When a person died, the spirit would rise in form of particles of white light after one night. As she watched it rise higher and higher, Felona simply could not bear to let her sister's spirit go free. Suddenly,an idea came to her.

     She took off an emerald necklace hanging around Fiona's neck. It was a truly beautiful piece of jewellery, and Fiona always wore it, even when she slept. Her spirit was rising higher and higher, and Felona could not afford to waste a second. She pressed the catch to open the translucent emerald oval, and, her voice trembling, chanted a spell she had learnt from one of her magic spellbooks:

      "Guardians of Spirits, hear my plea,

      Let the spirit released not go free,

      Instead, trust me enough to guard it,

      So now, hear this:

      Send my sister's spirit back to me.

      As I will it, so must it be."

     She then raised the necklace. The spots of white light swirled around, and for a frightening second, Felona thought the spell had not worked. But the lights gathered together, and shot towards the open emerald oval.

     Felona hastily closed the gem, which was giving off a radiant white glow that reflected in her blue eyes. She put the necklace around her own neck, and, while trying to suppress the well of sadness that was in danger of overwhelming her, pushed the Fiona's body into the river.

     Felona watched her sister's body and caught a glimpse of her white face for the last time. Though Fiona was dead, she looked as brave, kind and clever as ever. Once she sunk to the bottom, out of sight, Felona lifted the emerald oval to her face, wondering what to do. She thought of taking revenge, and to kill the Dark Faeries the same way as they killed her sister. As the feeling of hatred rose, the gem glowed even more fiercely. The spirit inside seemed to be telling her not to do so. Felona's anger quickly died down as it had come.

     Spirits did not like to be confined, Felona knew that. She had to set her sister's spirit free somewhere pure and holy. But Felona could not let it go. She thought and thought until her temples pounded. She was about to give up when an idea struck her again. Felona picked up the book she read the night Fiona was murdered and quickly turned to the page of the Rainbow Faerie. Her eyes travelled to the part where instructions were on how to transform into one. The page warned Felona it was very dangerous, it could go horribly wrong...but she did not care. She tucked the heavy book under her arm, and hurried off to own her home in a waterfall near the gates of Faerie City.

* * * * *

     She had done it -- finally. Felona the Water Faerie had successfully turned into a Rainbow Faerie after ten months of hard, hard work.

     Felona, with her new-found powers as a Rainbow Faerie, blessed her waterfall home with pureness and holiness. It had not been easy, trying to turn into a Rainbow Faerie. Some ingredients were only found in places that were invisible, or in places that needed enchantments to be broken through in order to get in. Not to mention the loss of a lot of Neopoints to buy rare items for the potion to turn a faerie into a Rainbow Faerie. But, with perseverance, Felona finally managed to transform. Every time she wanted to give up, she just had to look at the emerald necklace to keep her going. And now, for the final spell. Taking a deep breath, Felona whipped off the necklace around her neck. She clutched the necklace, held out her hands to the waterfall and chanted:

      "Magic of all time,

      I command you to work this spell:

      Release my sister's soul,

      Yet I plead you not to let it go away.

      Release her spirit into this magical and eternal fountain,

      As I will it, so must it be."

     Felona opened the emerald oval. Immediately, the familiar spots of white light rose from the gem. They attracted to each other and moved toward the waterfall. The water glowed a dazzling light that caused Felona to shield her eyes. It took several minutes to disappear, then the waterfall sparkled and the white light subsided.

     And that was how the Rainbow Fountain was formed. Her sister's spirit was flowing freely in the magical waterfall. Even though Fiona was dead, her spirit could still go on to do good in the form of the fountain. Fiona's soul would cause any Neopet to be blessed, and the items Felona collected from Neopians who completed her quests were to be an offering to Fiona, and also to use the items to brew magic potions or create weapons that had amazing effects when used properly.

     The Rainbow Fountain will be forever magical and pure, and Fiona's spirit will always reign together with Felona, like the two sisters have always done.

The End