A Witty Draik

      Nicelle had always been the wittiest and smartest Draik to her sister’s, Yaema, eyes. She’d always had a knack for solving puzzles and riddles, and she was definitely one of the best students at School.

      That’s why Yaema was shocked to see her sister freeze when the librarian Faerie asked a question that she couldn’t answer. Nicelle had been acting weird for the last couple of days, her behavior had changed. She seemed absent-minded and her sister was worried.

      But she wasn’t going to tell mom, Yaema wasn't a snitch. The moment they both had free time, she took Nicelle to the park. It was time to ask some questions.

      "I don't want to be rude, but even I knew the answer to what the librarian asked. What is going on with you? Is there something that is worrying you?"

      Nicelle looked at her sister.

      "I am not sure I am ready... to tell you the truth. I don't want you to be disappointed in me." Her voice cracked and her eyes were tearing up.

      "Nooo! Don't worry, please don't cry" Yaema found herself in an awkward situation. She loved her sister and didn't want to see her cry, but she was really bad at comforting people. Usually she just didn't know what to say, so instead of saying anything, she gave her sister a big hug.

      “I was so dumb, I should have never helped Jhudora with one of her quests. She’s a dark Faerie, I don’t know why I helped her”

      Yaema was flabbergasted. She could not believe her sister had helped that evil Faerie. But she still was at a loss to explain why that made her sister unable to answer a question. It's not like a Faerie could steal someone's intelligence, right?

      Nicelle saw the confusion in her sister's eyes and she continued to explain.

      "Do you remember my necklace? The one I always use?"

      It was a beautiful golden collar with tiny gemstones of various colours encrusted on it. Yaema looked at her neck and she realized it looked empty.

      "Where is it?"

      "Jhudora took it away from me. When I gave her the items that she needed, she saw it was sparkling on my neck. It caught her attention and she snatched it from me. I didn't even get my reward for doing her stupid quest. I need to get back my necklace, I don't know what I am going to do without it."

      Yaema wasn't so surprised to hear that the dark Faerie had taken it away. It wasn't the worst thing she'd heard about Jhudora. There was a rumour going on that she had turned an Angelpuss into a Snorkle because some pet took too long to bring her the items she wanted.

      "Why is it so important? Was it like a charm? I'm sure you can buy another one. Probably the Tiki Tack man has something similar in his shop"

      Nicelle lowered her head, she was ashamed of what she was about to admit.

      "I had never been good at solving puzzles... I don't even read that many books. My necklace was magical, it was unique. It's not something I can get from a regular shop. I found it when I visited Coltzan's Shrine, it was buried in the sand. I went on my own to the Lost Desert because I wanted to try my luck in the Fruit Machine. The Shrine is one of the most beautiful monuments in the Desert, I HAD to visit it. When I found the necklace... "Nicelle stopped for a second, not sure if her sister was going to believe her. It seemed like a made up story. "When I touched it, Coltzan's spirit appeared."

      "What?!? I thought you were being serious, I'm really worried about you"

      "I am being serious" Nicelle sighed and continued explaining despite her sister's disbelief " Coltzan explained to me that I had been blessed, that the necklace had a unique power. But he didn't explain to me what it was, he just said that I should be careful and that having it was a huge responsibility. I realized what he meant later that day. When I returned home, you were playing with your Kadoatie remember?"

      Yaema nodded, making a mental note to remember she had to pick her Kad up from the Kadoatery.

      "Well, that day your Kad accidently broke mom's flower vase, and you know how important it is to her because a Neofriend gave it to her”

      “What are you talking about? My Kad didn’t do that. If you broke it and you’re planning on blamin-“ Yaema was interrupted by her sister.

      “It didn’t happen because I prevented it. I went back in time in order to save the flower vase. That’s what Coltzan meant with ‘unique power’ and I… I haven’t been using the great power I had been given in a good way. I was using it to get good grades in school. I’m sorry, I know that you must be disappointed in me.”

      For a second, the younger sister thought this was a very elaborate joke. Nicelle had to be pulling her leg, right? This couldn’t be real. For a moment, she wanted to laugh, but in her head it all was starting to make sense. Nicelle was never late for anything, she always seemed to know the answer to every single question even before it was asked. All this time she had been cheating?! Yaema didn’t know what to feel, anger or disappointment. But she had no time to reproach her sister, she was worried. Really worried.

      “Do you realize the catastrophes that could happen now? Jhudora has that power in her hands. We must do something, we must talk to Fyora!”

      “Do you think they will let us speak with the Queen Faerie? When I tell them the story, they will think we’re insane. You looked at me like I was crazy, too!”

      “We have to try, we have to do something! But if Jhudora has had the necklace for so long, why hasn’t she changed anything?”

      “You wouldn’t realize if something has changed. Whenever you interfere with the timeline, reality adapts and everyone in it does, too, but I think I would notice the change because I am the owner of the necklace, and certainly nothing seems to have changed. Maybe Jhudora hasn’t realized how to use it yet, we have to hurry up.”

      Both sisters set off to Faerieland. It wasn't an easy task to get an appointment with Fyora, but they had to try. They were the only ones who knew Neopia was at stake.

      Yaema came up with an idea, but Nicelle wasn't going to like it. It involved explaining the whole situation to the librarian, someone Nicelle didn't want to let down. She was one of the most knowledgeable Faerie's, her wisdom could only be compared to that of King Hagan.

      When the Faerie heard the truth, she twitched her nose and told Nicelle they would have to have a serious talk after this whole situation was solved. The librarian was quickly able to get the sisters to talk to Fyora.

      Nicelle told the story, for the third time. But this time she didn't get any skeptical eyes. Fyora believe every word she said, and with her charming and peaceful voice she proceeded to explain that everything was under control.

      "This is not the first time something like this happens. Coltzan doesn't have the best judgment... I have told him time and time again not to give such powerful items."

      The sisters were surprised that Fyora could "talk" to someone who was dead. Maybe she had a way to summon Coltzan's spirit as it had appeared before Nicelle's eyes.

      "You don't have to worry about Jhudora, she's not very patient and she'll probably have destroyed the necklace due to frustration. There was no way she could get it to work, because Nicelle was blessed by Coltzan and thus, she was the only one capable of using its power."

      They both sighed in relief. Nicelle didn't even care that her necklace had been destroyed, after all they had been through she just wanted to go home.

      "Now, Nicelle, you were told that having that power was a great responsibility, but you decided to use it for your own benefit, that was reckless," Fyora said, although she didn't sound angry. "I hope you have learned from this mistake."

      "I have, I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to fall behind everyone in class, but I realize I should have studied more. I wasn't honest with the librarian Faerie and I regret it. From now on, I'll study as much as I can to get grades as good as I got while I had the necklace."

      Nicelle went on to apologize with the librarian Faerie, who told her the Library doors were open if she needed a quiet place to study and that she would always be welcomed.

      She became a great student and she learned an important lesson. There's no joy in getting things served on a silver platter. If you work hard to obtain the things that you want, you'll achieve great things in life and you'll be happy.

      The End.