Where there's a Weewoo, there's a way Circulation: 196,790,935 Issue: 941 | 30th day of Swimming, Y23
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Kaia's Secret


by essees

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Kaia stood at the foot of Shenkuu’s largest cave, young and determined. Whispers of the cave’s magical powers had tickled Kaia’s ears throughout her childhood, captivating her with stories of the mystical beings that supposedly lived at the cave’s heart. Shenkuu lore was filled with stories of travellers who were blessed by the mystical beings, so long as they survived the trek into the cave.

      Like all beings, Kaia harboured a secret wish: that she was not the only faerie in Shenkuu. Her existence, even though she loved her dear friend Reizo, was lonely. Everywhere she went in Shenkuu, neopets marvelled at her, but never particularly wanted to befriend her. Kaia knew she was different, being Shenkuu’s only faerie, and she longed for just one faerie friend, and she thought that the cave was her best shot at finding others like her in Shenkuu.

      Kaia had long mused to herself that the mystical beings that inhabited the cave were faeries. Who else could be responsible for blessing the cave’s travellers? Sorcerers? Witches? Of course not! Only benevolent faeries would dole out blessings to those who were brave enough to find them. Besides, Kaia couldn’t be the only faerie in Shenkuu. She had to have come from somewhere. She had to belong somewhere.

     She took a deep breath and flew into the cave.

      After what felt like ten hours, Kaia was exhausted. She had been flying through the expansive cave, lost and alone. There was not a single being in sight, not even a tiny petpetpet. She sighed, letting her wings droop to the floor as she sat.

     Rummaging through the knapsack she brought, Kaia realized she only had a handful of tea biscuits left. She had thought that she would reach the center of the cave in a few hours. How foolish and arrogant she had been; she had heard the rumours of travellers getting lost in the cave, never to be found again, and she had thought she could make the journey in a few hours.

     Frustrated, she threw a biscuit at the cave’s wall. Kaia felt her eyes beginning to well up with hot, angry tears when she heard something familiar. How could she be hearing the song of a Naleap, so deep in the cave? She wiped away her tears, searching for the source of the melody.

     There it was! A Naleap, pecking at the crumbs of the tea biscuit Kaia threw! Kaia jumped up, excited to see something alive in the cave.

     Kaia sang out to the Naleap, offering it another tea biscuit. The Naleap flew over to Kaia, landing on her hand.

     “Hello, little one,” Kaia cooed at the little petpet. It pecked at the tea biscuit in response. Kaia waited for the bird to finish the biscuit before speaking again.

      “I don’t suppose you could help me,” Kaia said to the Naleap, who cocked its head in response. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten myself lost, looking for the cave’s center.”

      At that, the Naleap chirped excitedly. It flew from Kaia’s hand and circled above her head, as if it was indicating that Kaia should follow it. Kaia got up to her feet.

      “Are you willing to help me?” Kaia gasped. The Naleap chirped again and flew down a corridor. Kaia rushed to follow the petpet.

      A few hours of flying later, the Naleap brought Kaia to a dead end. Kaia felt her heart sink. Of course, it was silly for her to have trusted the Naleap knew where it was going. It was probably lost inside the cave, same as her.

      The Naleap stared at Kaia, almost as if it were sizing her up. Kaia felt a chill roll down her spine when the Naleap suddenly became surrounded in a veil of purple smoke. Kaia coughed, her eyes watering up from the mysterious purple haze.

      When all had cleared, there stood a woman in the Naleap’s place.

      “Hello, Kaia,” the woman said, grinning.

      “Hello,” Kaia responded. She paused for a couple of seconds, but then felt brave enough to ask, “How do you know my name?”

      “I know everyone’s name, dear,” the woman replied. The woman turned slightly, and Kaia gasped at the sight of her wings.

      “You’re a faerie!” Kaia exclaimed.

      The faerie’s smile turned sinister, and she let out a small cackle. “Not just any faerie, my dear. A dark faerie.”

      Kaia took a few steps back. She had heard of dark faeries before.

      “Kaia, you’ve come searching for me.”

      Kaia swallowed. “I thought - I thought that there must be a faerie living in the cave. I always heard stories of travellers being blessed if they found the heart of the cave.”

      The dark faerie grinned. “So you assumed it must be a faerie giving out these blessings.”

      “Yes. I didn’t know dark faeries give out blessings,” Kaia blurted. The dark faerie looked offended.

      “Sometimes we do, Kaia, sometimes we do. And I have something very special planned for the faerie of Shenkuu.”

      “What do you mean?” Kaia asked, in horror.

      “What the stories about me don’t tell you is that every blessing I give out is a curse in disguise,” the dark faerie laughed.

      “I don’t – I don’t want any blessings from you,” Kaia stammered in response. “I don’t want anything from you.”

      “Oh, Kaia. It’s too late for that. After all, you came looking for me, not the other way around. We could have left the past in the past if you had just stayed in Shenkuu.”

      “I never did anything to you!” Kaia protested.

      “Kaia, don’t you understand what I’m telling you?” The dark faerie hissed, “You’re from the cave.”

      “But that would make me…”

      “A dark faerie, too.”

      Kaia shook her head vigorously. “I’m not like you. I’m good.”

      “Which is why I abandoned you in Shenkuu when you were just a little faerie. Surely, you must remember that.”

      “No, no, no. That can’t be true.”

      “Whether you accept it or not, it’s true. You were the weakest dark faerie I had ever seen. I wanted nothing to do with you. I thought I had rid of you forever, but you came back here. That, my dear, is going to be your downfall.”

      The dark faerie began to wave her hands around to cast a spell. Kaia knew she couldn’t do anything to stop it, so she braced herself.

      “Kaia, for your foolish quest into this cave, I have decided to bestow upon you a gift, the gift of The Sight. For the rest of your miserable life, you will be burdened with the gift of being able to see terrible things that are happening around Neopia.”

      “And I’ll stop them!” Kaia growled.

      “Not always, my dear, not always. You might be a failed dark faerie, but there is darkness that lingers in your heart. A part of you that wishes for bad things to happen.”

      “I’m not like you. I don’t want bad things to happen. I never have.”

      “You tell yourself that, Kaia. But as you grow more powerful, The Sight will grow more powerful with you. Eventually, the darkness you see in your visions will overpower you. You will grow dark, and when you do, you’ll come looking for me again, to join me.”

      “I will never become a dark faerie!”

      “Don’t you see, Kaia? You already are one.”

     ---

      Kaia lurched up in her bed, panting and sweating. Where was she? Oh, she was in bed. It must have all been a dream, even though it all had felt so real.

      She flew up from bed, shaking away the nightmare from her shoulders, and decided to go tell Reizo that she changed her mind about going to the cave.

      “Good morning, Kaia,” Reizo greeted her friend cheerfully when she opened the door.

      “Reizo, you won’t believe the nightmare I had last night!” Kaia said, hugging her best friend.

      Reizo handed Kaia a cup of tea. “Well, you’ll have to tell me all about it!”

      Kaia opened her mouth to speak when her vision started to fade into black. “Reizo?! Reizo?!” Kaia called out. Her vision cleared up, and she saw a baby Gnorbu fall into a river, thrashing about against the overwhelming current. When Kaia tried to reach out to the Gnorbu, she felt Reizo’s hand instead. She shook her head vigorously, and she was back in Reizo’s home.

      “Kaia! Kaia! What happened? You were muttering something about the river.”

      “Reizo, I need to go.” Kaia flew away before Reizo could ask her a second question.

      Kaia’s heart raced as she glided over the river, frantically searching for the Gnorbu from her vision. She heard cries for help and followed the sound until she finally found the Gnorbu, hanging onto a slippery rock in the middle of the current. She swooped down to save him.

      The Gnorbu thanked Kaia profusely, and so did the residents of Shenkuu once they heard what Kaia had done. Overnight, she became the hero of Shenkuu, beloved by all. But inside, all Kaia felt was horror at the realization that her nightmare had been real.

      She was a dark faerie. And she would hide that for the rest of her life.

     The End.

 
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