The Moderately Evil Faerie: Part Two

      The Dark Faerie Sisters stared in disbelief as they stood in the main entrance to Jhudora’s home. They were expecting something different. Something dark and sinister. Instead, they were greeted by a gaudy, cluttered home painted with only purple and green. Jhudora picked up a Bartamus and held it close to her as she smiled brightly, “I only have one bedroom, but I can let you girls stay in the Bartamus nursery.”

      “Bartamus . . . nursery . . .” Malice just stared in shock as she noted the fact that there were multiple Bart amuses jumping and flying around the room. Jhudora nodded and let the Bartamus in her arms fly free. She led them to a purple door and opened it. Malice’s eye twitched as all of the Bart amuses in the room began letting out happy shrieks as they saw Jhudora.

      “I know I have beds somewhere in storage – sometimes I just say the first thing that pops into my mind when people ask for quests!” Jhudora laughed, “And I can always ask for whatever you want, of course. We’ll need to find you all disguises. I think your wings might be small enough that you could pose as whatever faerie we can find costume wings for. . . Oh! We’re going to have as much fun as Ill-“ she paused and looked back at the sisters, “I mean, as much fun as me and the Bartamuses always have.”

      The sisters stared at the room. It smelled surprisingly good for the large number of petpets lodging there. Jhudora smiled brightly, “I’ll get cleaned up and we’ll talk about our first acts of kindness! Be careful with my babies, though!”

      The sisters all gave confused nods as Jhudora quickly sprinted away.

      “You two always make plans without me,” Spite sighed, “But this one, I’ll never understand. We found a Dark Faerie who’s secretly a goody two shoes and we say ‘Yeah! Let’s be good and great and whatever!’”

      Vanity looked over at Malice, who was trying to figure out where she could sit down without disturbing too many Bart amuses. She gently knocked a few of the petpets off of the single couch in the room and sat down. Malice took a deep breath before explaining, “We’re weak. We’ve never been strong faeries, even when we’re working together. We were minions, but our end goal is to get revenge for our big sister.”

      Vanity began to beat her wings so that she was hovering over the petpets that were vying for her attention, “So, what if we found a Dark Faerie who was strong, lived in Faerieland, and could get close to Fyora without anyone batting an eyelash?”

      Spite nodded her head slowly. She was always the densest of the sisters, but even she could see the merits of the plan her sisters had formulated.

      Malice continued, “Spite, think about it. This faerie can ask for anything. Anything. Jhudora could ask for any relic, and no one would think she was up to something. She told us just now that sometimes she just says the first thing that comes to mind! And with her mind blinded by all of the goodness she sees in us, we can plot out the perfect scheme to get revenge for The Betrayer!”

      Spite continued to nod as she asked, “Do we know what the plan will be?”

      “No.” Vanity let out a defeated sigh, “We don’t know. We want it to be something that gets revenge on Fyora for turning our sister to stone, of course. But do we want to punish all faeries? Do we want to punish Fyora? Do we want to ruin her, or do we just want to make her uncomfortable? We don’t know, and we won’t know until we actually plot it all out.”

      “So . . .” Spite looked down at her hands, “We’re going to be a goody two shoes like Jhudora for ages and ages and then finally you two will figure out how to get revenge on Fyora. Then, we’ll just run away from Faerieland and keep doing what we’ve been doing all along?”

      Both sisters nodded. Spite let out a long sigh, “I don’t want to be good.”

      Before the sisters could respond, Jhudora ran into the room in her normal attire. Her smile was so wide, the sisters could see her pearly white teeth. Jhudora pulled Spite into a hug as she began to rattle off their itinerary, “First, we need to set up your beds so that you have a place to sleep. The little Bartamus babies can migrate over to my room! Then we need to figure out your disguises, and then . . . I think Neopia Central is our first destination! Feed the poor, lonely Kadoaties . . . volunteer with The Soup Faerie . . . Donate to the Money Tree! Oh, my dearest friends, we’re going to have so much fun!”

      The sisters stared in shock. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Before their eyes, the bubbly faerie with purple skin suddenly became one of the most menacing beings they had ever seen. Her eyes began to glow slightly as she snarled and made her way to the door. As soon as she threw it open, the sisters could see a Uni quivering outside of the door. The Uni stuttered, “Miss . . . Jhuh . . . Miss . . . Jhuh . . .”

      Jhudora snarled, “Do you want a quest, you pathetic Uni?”

      The sisters stared in shock as they watched the Uni slowly nod. Jhudora rolled her eyes and responded to the Uni, “Either get me a pair of costume faerie wings, or I’ll turn you into a slorg. Do you hear me, you pathetic excuse for a Neopian? Do you?”

      The Uni let out a soft squeal as he nodded his head, “Yes . . .”

      Jhudora jeered, “The clock is ticking.” She slammed the door and turned around, her sweet smile back on her face. The sisters all stared in shock, unable to process how someone could go so quickly from saccharine to spite. Without missing a beat, Jhudora picked up one of the Bart amuses and asked, “What do you want to wear as your disguises?”

      The sisters exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

      “Since it’s Neopian Central, we should stick to the basics. Nothing crazy like a Fire Faerie from the Lost Desert, you know? Nothing intense like an imitation Taelia, either, since it’ll be nice and sunny! No one pays too much attention to me when I dress like a Neovian, but I think we’d get away with dressing like we’re from Shenkuu . . .” She paused and sighed, “You probably wouldn’t get too much attention dressed like you’re from Shenkuu at least. Your wings aren’t as big as mine.” The sisters were in too much shock to respond, so Jhudora continued, “Of course, we should all match to some extent. It would look a little awkward if we all wore capes, though. Girls, I am very inspired! Vanity, I’m sure you have plenty of ideas!”

      Vanity shook her head slightly to clear her mind before responding, “I am usually too vain to hide my own beauty.”

      “Oh, yes, of course.” Jhudora nodded as she looked around the room, “You three probably need your sleep. I’ll go and find the beds in my storage room!”

      Malice cleared her throat, “Actually, if you have a storage room . . . We’ll just stay there.”

      “Oh.” Jhudora’s gaze became slightly blank as she realized her oversight, “Yes, of course. Everything is already there. Watch out for any pests like miamice. This way.” She led the girls to a spiral staircase that descended into the lower level of her home. She sighed, “Things are more messy than the used to be. The fall of Faerieland kind of jumbled everything.” The sisters descended into the basement. As soon as they saw the state of the room, they all stopped in their tracks.

      “Wow . . . “ Malice whispered as she looked out at complete disarray.

      Jhudora nodded, “Yes, it is overwhelming. Girls, I’ll let you set up your place to sleep. You may find clothes down here, too. Think about what you want to do, or where you want to go if Neopia Central doesn’t suit you.”

      The sisters all nodded as Jhudora made her way up the staircase.

      Though there was barely any light filtering in through the few small windows at the top of the walls, the sisters’ eyes could easily adapt. They all began to hover through the room, trying to find anything resembling a bed.

      Spite was the first to find one. She used her magic to move all of the clutter on it before sitting down on it, her legs crossed. “So, we’re in the house of someone who can instantly switch from insanely good to insanely evil. We have some vague idea of a plan to use her as a pawn in a game of kacheekers against Fyora. We’re going to have to pretend to be the kindest faeries in all of Neopia . . . And apparently there’s a place called Neopia Central.”

      The sisters groaned as they searched for something to sleep on. Malice responded tersely, “That’s about it.”

      Vanity sighed, “I never actually thought there was a place called Neopia Central.”

      “I’m afraid of her,” Spite admitted, “I can see why all Neopians are afraid of her, because even when she’s nice, she’s kind of scary.”

      Her sisters paused before staring at Spite in shock. They were closer to The Betrayer than anyone else in Neopia had ever been. They had attempted to take over Neopia with her and watched firsthand how she had earned the name The Darkest Faerie. However, they were most shocked because they had to admit – they were afraid of Jhudora too.

      “Malice . . .” Vanity glanced at Malice as she slowly began to ask, “Do we run?”

      “No,” Malice slowly sat down on a pile of old clothes, “We play along. We use her instability to our advantage. We’re going to use her for our own gain. What’s the worst that can happen?”

      Her sisters silently stared at her, afraid to suggest the worst possible outcomes. As her sisters continued to stare at her, Malice realized what their eyes were saying. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. “I’m afraid too.”

      To be continued…